fledermaus
Nightwing95
Over the roar of the air, Dick heard Harley talking to him. “Do you rememba what it was like the last time I did that? Was coiled around ya like a snake.. I bet it feels a bit betta to have it done with your consent doesn't it? Not like I can get much of a grip anyway..” He smiled ruefully as he too let his mind drift back to one of the many times they'd tussled on behalf of their respective mentors.
"It sure does. For a gymnastic psychiatrist, you sure know how to give a guy a run for his money or, should I say, a hard time" replied Dick. They seemed to be losing most of Gotham's traffic now, pulling away into the meaner streets of her dark underbelly. Cars only came here if they were too cheap or too feared to steal, the property of lowlifes, mobsters or both. The law often turned a blind side to Gotham's uglier districts too, preferring to only venture in when they were sure the city's costumed vigilantes had incapacitated any criminals for them. Even after all these years, it disheartened Dick to see sections of his city in such disrepair and so abandoned by the boys in blue. Maybe Harley and the other villains were right when they called it an unending crusade, a fight with no end.
His passenger did not seem to share his somber mood, however, and was currently reaching under his arm to experimentally jab at buttons on the dash. Half a second before she jammed down the front grappling hook (for latching onto cars ahead), Dick took one hand of the handlebars to avert disaster. “Oh come on.. just let me press a couple buttons of dem shiny buttons on the dash-” It was funny, he mused, how her irrepressible attitude seemed much, much less annoying when she was working with him and not against him. It was just like Stephanie, or Tim or even Jason...
“Which one makes this thing go full turbo.. You's got a full turbo button right?! I seen what B-man's car can do enough times, don't try n tell me this little beauty cant do the same..”.
He shook his head and said "Give me a few moments to find us a straighter stretch and I'll show you what this beauty can do." With that, he jinked around a few corners and came to screeching halt at the head of a long deserted stretch of road.
"Press it on three."
Dick revved the engine and started off at a good speed. This section of the road ran through some of Gotham's many neighbour hoods of partially abandoned warehouses and industrial buildings. There were only rats and beggars to see him humour Harley.
"One..."
Well, okay, fine, not just Harley. He so rarely got a chance to play with his motorbike that this was almost as much for him as it was for her.
"Two..."
And he knew what was waiting at the end of this road, a little memento from his rowdier days. He remembered stealing the Batmobile and taking it down this straight. Good times...
"Three!"
Harley pushed down the button and the engines gave an ecstatic roar of enthusiasm. The whole bike lurched as its speed went from respectable to utterly insane in the space of handful of seconds, jerking both of them backwards. Dick was suddenly even more glad of Harley's... friendly grip, as it stopped her from shooting off over the back wheel. As it was, they pelted down the road at an eye-wateringly high speed that blotted out all sound other than the cacophony of the engine and the squeal of the tires.
And all too soon, the end of the road. And, of course, the surprise. Some long forgotten hero of a Gothamite had once rigged a large series of planks and metal spars together into a respectable ramp, one now used by hundreds of devil may care bikers, drivers and teens had used since. On one memorable occasion, Dick had used the long road to build up speed in Bruce's precious Batmobile and shot over the ramp so fast he'd accidentally triggered the vehicle's propulsion capabilities. It'd been the first time he'd felt like he was flying since that night at Hailey's circus...
Not the time for reminiscence though, this wouldn't be easy with two passenger. He went to say a reassuring word to Harley but it was lost in the slipstream. But when they went over the edge of the ramp, he heard her screaming, either in terror or exaltation. If he knew her at all, probably the latter. The tricky bit was landing it on the follow up ramp but Dick wasn't worried. Even if his skills weren't up to the task, he knew Harley's reflexes were like a cat's. She'd land rightside up, even if the bike didn't.
He needn't have fretted, however, as she leaned her weight forwards at just the right time to make the landing as smooth as possible. They still came down hard but not roughly enoguh to throw them off or even call for a significant slow down period. Instead, Dick revved engine and gunned on to Amusement Mile, an exuberant grin plastered over his face. Who's the wild one now?
"It sure does. For a gymnastic psychiatrist, you sure know how to give a guy a run for his money or, should I say, a hard time" replied Dick. They seemed to be losing most of Gotham's traffic now, pulling away into the meaner streets of her dark underbelly. Cars only came here if they were too cheap or too feared to steal, the property of lowlifes, mobsters or both. The law often turned a blind side to Gotham's uglier districts too, preferring to only venture in when they were sure the city's costumed vigilantes had incapacitated any criminals for them. Even after all these years, it disheartened Dick to see sections of his city in such disrepair and so abandoned by the boys in blue. Maybe Harley and the other villains were right when they called it an unending crusade, a fight with no end.
His passenger did not seem to share his somber mood, however, and was currently reaching under his arm to experimentally jab at buttons on the dash. Half a second before she jammed down the front grappling hook (for latching onto cars ahead), Dick took one hand of the handlebars to avert disaster. “Oh come on.. just let me press a couple buttons of dem shiny buttons on the dash-” It was funny, he mused, how her irrepressible attitude seemed much, much less annoying when she was working with him and not against him. It was just like Stephanie, or Tim or even Jason...
“Which one makes this thing go full turbo.. You's got a full turbo button right?! I seen what B-man's car can do enough times, don't try n tell me this little beauty cant do the same..”.
He shook his head and said "Give me a few moments to find us a straighter stretch and I'll show you what this beauty can do." With that, he jinked around a few corners and came to screeching halt at the head of a long deserted stretch of road.
"Press it on three."
Dick revved the engine and started off at a good speed. This section of the road ran through some of Gotham's many neighbour hoods of partially abandoned warehouses and industrial buildings. There were only rats and beggars to see him humour Harley.
"One..."
Well, okay, fine, not just Harley. He so rarely got a chance to play with his motorbike that this was almost as much for him as it was for her.
"Two..."
And he knew what was waiting at the end of this road, a little memento from his rowdier days. He remembered stealing the Batmobile and taking it down this straight. Good times...
"Three!"
Harley pushed down the button and the engines gave an ecstatic roar of enthusiasm. The whole bike lurched as its speed went from respectable to utterly insane in the space of handful of seconds, jerking both of them backwards. Dick was suddenly even more glad of Harley's... friendly grip, as it stopped her from shooting off over the back wheel. As it was, they pelted down the road at an eye-wateringly high speed that blotted out all sound other than the cacophony of the engine and the squeal of the tires.
And all too soon, the end of the road. And, of course, the surprise. Some long forgotten hero of a Gothamite had once rigged a large series of planks and metal spars together into a respectable ramp, one now used by hundreds of devil may care bikers, drivers and teens had used since. On one memorable occasion, Dick had used the long road to build up speed in Bruce's precious Batmobile and shot over the ramp so fast he'd accidentally triggered the vehicle's propulsion capabilities. It'd been the first time he'd felt like he was flying since that night at Hailey's circus...
Not the time for reminiscence though, this wouldn't be easy with two passenger. He went to say a reassuring word to Harley but it was lost in the slipstream. But when they went over the edge of the ramp, he heard her screaming, either in terror or exaltation. If he knew her at all, probably the latter. The tricky bit was landing it on the follow up ramp but Dick wasn't worried. Even if his skills weren't up to the task, he knew Harley's reflexes were like a cat's. She'd land rightside up, even if the bike didn't.
He needn't have fretted, however, as she leaned her weight forwards at just the right time to make the landing as smooth as possible. They still came down hard but not roughly enoguh to throw them off or even call for a significant slow down period. Instead, Dick revved engine and gunned on to Amusement Mile, an exuberant grin plastered over his face. Who's the wild one now?