Prepare yourselves for a good time . . . No Warnings! Just fun!

"This is a nice park," Bruce commented as they followed the path that led to the area reported with the best sledding hills. "Bludhaven has a nice restaurant and a nice park . . . Who knew?"

"What?" Dick glanced at him as he pulled one of the sleds behind him. "You thought that we had only two sides of town, eh? Bad and Worse?"

"I live in the bad part of town then. We only get the occasional muggings. Dick's apartment's in the worse section. You have to dodge the bullets between the building and where you park your car," Elle deadpanned.

Bruce sent her a startled look and then glanced at Dick. "Is she joking?"

Dick snorted. "She's joking," he assured the man. "We walked home from the gym together last night just as the storm hit. Three blocks and not one, single bullet did we have to dodge."

Alfred followed along, walking beside the woman in question. The insulated container that carried lunch and thermoses of hot chocolate was perched on top of the sled Dick was dragging. "The weather channel reports that the storm hit the area sometime after midnight, Master Richard. Do you mean to tell me that you and the young miss were at the gym that late?"

"I have a key, Alfred," Dick explained, "and an agreement with the owner." He went on. "I've been taking Elle there to teach her a little self-defense, but I think I'd like to do a session over at the manor soon. I need help showing her how to defend herself against multiple attackers."

Bruce frowned. "Isn't that overkill, Dick? She shouldn't need that extensive of training, I would think."

"Then you'd be wrong," Dick snapped. He caught himself immediately and sighed. "Sorry. It's just that she was attacked again while leaving work the other night. Three men."

"What? My God, are you all right, Elle?" Bruce glanced at the petite woman that ambled cheerfully along next to Alfred.

Elle waved his concern away. "Never better," she smiled. "I was fortunate enough to be rescued by Nightwing!" She sighed and fluttered her eyes, dreamily.

Bruce did a double take, and then looked back at Dick warily. Did she know? Dick's face was carefully schooled and appeared impassive. There was a story here, Bruce was sure of it.

"Seriously, he is just the dreamiest hero," Elle gushed; totally straight-faced. "And I'm really beginning to see the benefits of that costume he wears. I mean when you see him in it, you just know that you are really in for it. You know what I mean? Criminals of Bludhaven beware!"

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "Indeed."

Dick hunched his shoulders and winced. He bit his lip, but said nothing. Bruce, however, was concerned. He moved closer to his eldest son, bumping his shoulder slightly.

"Do you think this will be a problem," he asked quietly.

Dick shrugged, a slight smirk appearing on his face. "It's just a little bit of hero worship, Bruce. Nothing to worry about."

"I suppose she'll have to be told, eventually," Bruce mused, a slight frown marring his features.

"Yeah . . . eventually," Dick agreed.

Bruce glanced at him again. "You're not . . . jealous, are you?"

Dick shot him a look, but shook his head. "No, of course not!" He denied. ". . . Much," he murmured under his breath. He ignored Bruce's smirk.

Elle continued to sing Nightwing's praises to any who would listen. Tim and Damian snickered, and would inject a suitably snide remark occasionally; a situation that had Dick amazed. None of the boys' comments were of each other and neither were actively trying to kill the other. However, after about five minutes of Elle's thinly-veiled innuendo, Dick apparently hit his limit.

"Elle, if you start in on his butt again, I swear I will take you home," he threatened.

"Is it my fault that his is so yu . . ."

"Elle!" Dick snapped.

" . . .mmy?" Elle finished with a sigh.

A snort brought Dick's head swinging around. One of Bruce's hand slipped up to rub his mouth. The man appeared to be struggling to contain his mirth. One didn't even realize most of the time that the man actually had any mirth to contain, and seeing his eyes sparkling with it made Dick smile. When a chuckle escaped, Dick dropped back to walk beside his girlfriend for a moment. He leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Elle grinned at him with good humor. She had taken him at his word that she could make his family relax and laugh. Her teasing him was worthwhile when she had everyone in stitches. None of them realized yet that Elle knew that he was Nightwing or that she had figured out each and every one of them. They had decided to keep her knowledge to themselves for a little while longer.

They rounded the base of a hill and Elle gasped. There were families and friends all sliding down the slope in front of them; children and adults all laughing and squealing with joy. She did a little hop as her excitement increased visibly.

"Ooh, look! Oh, my gosh, I can't wait. Hurry! Let's go," she spurred them on.

Elle dropped back and grabbed Damian's free hand, and tugged him to greater speed; pulling him and his sled with her as she began to run up the hill. She looked back over her shoulder at Tim.

"Come on, Tim! Don't be a slacker! Race you to the top," she called back.

Tim glanced at the rest of them before breaking into a run, pulling his sled behind him. Elle slipped and went down on one knee in the snow. Damian paused to help her up, allowing Tim to overtake them. He passed them laughing, but Damian didn't take off after him immediately. He actually stayed long enough to make sure Elle had her balance. She was laughing and pushing at him to go on without her.

Dick stopped and stared. Bruce and Alfred stood beside him, gaping. The two boys actually seemed to be having a friendly competition. Even more amazing, neither were going as fast as Dick knew them to be. They were holding back so that Elle wouldn't be left far behind. For a child as competitive as Damian, this was truly a step forward for him.

"Is he . . . smiling?" This awed question was whispered by Bruce.

"I do believe he is," Alfred answered.

Damian looked back over his shoulder and called encouragement. Where was their little assassin now? It appeared that the assassin was gone and only the little boy had been left behind.

Dick grinned. "Come on," he told them as he moved forward. "We can't let them have all the fun."

Bruce took the sled from him and gave him a nudge. "Go on. You aren't going to let them beat you, are you? Not the Great Nightwing of Bludhaven . . ."

Dick stared at him for a moment. Bruce making jokes about one of their night personas in public? Of course, he was speaking low and there was no one close enough to hear, but it was something of which he was always extremely careful. He saluted the man, grinned at Alfred, and then took off at a run; bounding up the hill as if there wasn't eight inches of snow on the ground.

When he reached Elle, Dick grabbed her elbow and pushed her up the hill with greater speed. Tim and Damian glanced at each other and grinned, actually grinned, and the race was on. Dick didn't have a sled, but he was dragging Elle. She yelled at him to run ahead and win it for her, and she didn't have to ask twice. Dick used his longer legs to eat up the space that yawned between him and his brothers. He had caught up to them by the time they were cresting the top. When Dick started to pull ahead, Tim and Damian both dropped the reins of their sleds and tackled him; the wrestling match ensued.

A couple of minutes later, a shrill whistle caught their attention and the three Wayne brothers glanced up to find Elle sitting on one of the two sleds at the top of the hill. She held the reins to both sleds in her gloved hand, and waved at the snow-covered trio.

"I win," she chirped, happily and broke into peals of laughter.

Dick grinned, and in seconds he was on her. Elle squealed and tried to run, but he grabbed her and then they were both rolling around in the snow. He kissed her pink nose.

"Sneaky," he declared.

"Strategy," she countered.

He rolled off of her and let Tim pull him to his feet. Damian helped Elle up. Bruce and Alfred joined them a few minutes later.

"So, in all that activity, did any of you scout out a good spot for us?" Bruce looked at the snow-covered group with amusement.

They moved across the top of the ridge until they reached a likely spot. Elle was staring at a particularly large group of college students fifty yards further along. They didn't have sleds, but was using giant inner tubes. Each inner tube would generally have three or four students on them when they would go down the hill. Occasionally, the students would hold four inner tubes together while another half a dozen more young people piled on top, and then whoever was left would push the entire group down over the hill.

Dick called her over, and Elle pulled her fascinated gaze from the scene back to their own group.

"Are you ready," he asked.

Elle stared at the sled, and bit her lip nervously. "Do I go down by myself?"

He smiled. "Only if you want to."

"I'd prefer to go down with someone else," she murmured shyly.

Dick stared at her for moment. This was not the same person that was shouting encouragement to everyone just minutes ago.

"Elle, have you been sledding before," he asked gently.

"Um . . . What if I say no?" She peeked up at him with pink cheeks.

"I would say get over here and sit down." He handed her onto the sled, and instructed her where to put her feet. He then sat down behind her and wrapped one arm around her waist. "You're going to love it," he promised, as he used his free hand to push them to the crest.

Bruce put his hands on Dick's back. "You ready?"

Elle gulped and clung to Dick's arm like her life depended on it. The hill hadn't looked nearly so big from the bottom.

"Oh God! Wait! Wait!" She blew out a breath, closed her eyes, and quickly nodded. "Okay, now! Hurry, before I change my mind!"

Bruce gave them a hard shove and the sled tipped over the edge. Elle opened her eyes and practically pushed Dick off the back of the sled so hard did she try to lean back into him.

"Hold on!" Dick yelled, laughing.

Elle screamed almost the entire way down, causing several people to stop and stare at them, but she was laughing hysterically by the time they reached the bottom.

Tim and Damian flanked Bruce as they watched the spectacle of Elle's first sled ride. Damian had yet to try it either and he looked skeptical at the sport.

"Why is she screaming," he demanded to know. "There is nothing dangerous about this at all! I've skied in the Alps and the Himalayas. This . . ." he sneered. "This is nothing!"

Tim looked at the younger boy from around Bruce. "It can still be fun."

Damian looked over at the idiocy of the college students Elle had been fascinated with earlier. "At least that looks to be mildly amusing."

"This is supposed to be a family affair," Bruce reminded him as he pulled another sled into position.

Dick and Elle walked up the hill away from the newly-laid track.

"Do you want to go next, Damian?"

Dick smiled at his little brother. He knew that Damian had never done anything so mundane as going sledding in the snow. Damian opened his mouth, but took one look at Elle's laughing face and sparkling eyes, and closed his lips around his sarcastic complaint before it could exit. He nodded instead.

"Are you going down by yourself for the first time, Damian?" Elle finished dusting off the last of the snow from her pants. "It's more fun, I think, if you go down with someone else."

Damian looked at Tim and grunted, turning away. He wasn't actively trying to kill the other, but the hell if he would go down the hill with him on a sled.

"Come on," she said. "It was fun! I'll go down with you."

"It will get faster as we pack the snow down further," Dick promised.

"Fine." The boy grumbled.

He didn't want to be the one to ruin Elle's fun. Damian climbed onto the sled reluctantly. Elle climbed on behind him, wrapping him up in both arms and giving him a squeeze. Damian blushed, but didn't complain.

"Ready?" Dick put his hand on one of Elle's shoulders as Bruce did the other.

"Set?" Bruce called out next.

Elle squealed and shivered, squeezing the breath out of Damian in her rediscovered excitement.

"Go!" Both men cried and pushed the sled forward.

Like the first, Elle screamed and laughed the whole way down the hill. When they reached the bottom and hit the pile of snow that she and Dick had left with their run, She fell over, yanking Damian face-first down into the snow with her. She jumped up, grabbing the sled and started running back up the hill; leaving Damian to clamber out of the snow pile by himself. He brushed the snow off of his face with one hand, but he was grinning.

Dick didn't think it was his first sled ride that did it, however. He watched as the boy ran after Elle. She glanced behind her as Damian gained on her and screeched. She tried to run faster, but started laughing so hard that she fell into the slow just as he caught up with her. Damian grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it down the back of Elle's jacket, causing her to squeal. Damian took the sled and finished pulling it up the hill. He didn't remember to stop smiling until he reached the top and saw Tim staring at him. He promptly grimaced and drop the reins.

"Your turn, Drake. Try not to have a heart attack," he snarked.

"We have room enough to make another track," Dick suggested, pulling another sled to one side of the track they had created. "We can race later on."

Elle was panting as she scrambled to the top of the hill. She stared at the others with poorly-concealed awe.

"You guys must have the most amazing stamina," she remarked, pushing her hair back ineffectively from where it was escaping her knitted toboggan.

It took a while, but with concentrated effort, both tracks had been packed down and were slick. They took turns racing down the hill, and while it still didn't have the danger to it that Damian seemed to crave in his entertainment activities, everyone was still having a good time. Actually, a very good time. But then so was Elle . . . And when Elle was happy, everyone else tended to be happy, too.

It was definitely a perk.

When it was Dick and Bruce's turn to race, Tim and Elle prepared to push Dick as Damian and Alfred stood at Bruce's back. At first, Dick seemed to pull ahead, but then Bruce's weight gave him more speed and he quickly met and passed his son's sled to win. They were curious at what was going on at the top of the hill as they watched the butler and the girlfriend conferring behind Tim and Damian's backs. It wasn't until they reached the top again that they discovered that Elle had talked the most stoic and proper of all English butlers to take a turn racing her down the hill. Dick grinned.

When the two were perched on their respective racing sleds, Dick behind Elle and Bruce behind Alfred, neither were in a position to see Elle and Alfred share a wink.

"On your mark," Tim called out.

"Get set," Damian yelled out next.

"Go!" The boys cried simultaneously.

Dick and Bruce ran forward pushing the two to gain momentum, and Elle and Alfred were off. Almost immediately Elle grabbed snow and chucked it at the speeding butler; smacking the man in the shoulder. Alfred retaliated in kind, and suddenly the race turned into a Battle Royale as the two attempted to knock the other off of their sleds with chunks of snow.

The four males at the top of the hill gaped at the change in rules, but the sounds of Elle's laughing squeals and Alfred's own baritone guffaws ensured them that this new aspect of the game upped its entertainment quotient for the participants by a lot. All at once one of Alfred's snowballs smacked Elle in the face and she promptly tumbled backward off of her sled. Dick's mouth dropped open as she rolled a couple of feet only to jump up and throw one last snowball of her own at the butler's receding back. The lucky shot struck the elder man in the back of his head, knocking off his hat, but by this time Alfred had reached the end of the line. As his sled collided with the impacted snow, he flew forward and landed face first in the pile.

Dick and Bruce shared a shocked look, and then they took off, barreling down the hill; Tim and Damian right behind them. Elle got there first, but by then Alfred had already pushed himself up into a sitting position. Both competitors were laughing their heads off by the time the rest of their party caught up to them.

"Alfred, are you all right?" Bruce knelt beside the elder man.

Alfred paused in his chuckling to reassure the younger man. "Why, of course, Master Bruce. It takes more than a little snow to get the better of me!" He looked up at a snow-drenched Elle. "That was an excellent throw, Miss!"

"Thank you, Alfred," she snickered, still trying to shove her tangled hair out of her face. "And your aim was definitely spot on," she said, rubbing her nose.

"Drake and I want to race again," Damian burst out.

Dick laughed as the two raced back to the top of the hill. "Yeah," he agreed. "I have to admit, I would like a rematch myself." He met Bruce's eyes as his father helped Alfred to his feet. "Are you up to it, old man?"

"Old man?" Bruce turned around. There was a sparkle of challenge in his blue-gray eyes. "You're on! Be prepared to eat snow!"

Later, as Elle cheered the boys on their third snowball race, and Alfred began gathering their things together, Bruce and Dick stood off to the side, discussing the events of the day. Dick hadn't seen Alfred laugh like that in . . . Well, ever! Bruce had had to lean on Dick as he wiped his eyes weakly.

"That," the elder man said, "had to be one of the best things I have ever seen Alfred do."

"Did he not take you sledding when you were a boy," Dick asked.

"He would take me occasionally, but Alfred only ever pushed. He has never even been on a sled that I know of. Maybe when he was a child, but never after he became my valet and butler. I am positive I would have remembered it if he had." Bruce smiled as his gaze fell on Dick's newly-bonded girlfriend.

"Arthur said there was no magic in her, but Elle getting Alfred on a sled; grins and laughter out of Damian; keeping the peace between him and Tim . . . There has to be something more there." He said.

Dick glanced at Bruce, but he didn't appear upset. In fact, he appeared quite relaxed after three hours of sledding with the rest of them. Dick had even heard that rare belly laugh when they were remembering Alfred racing Elle down the hill. Dick thought he knew what Bruce meant. Never would a day of sledding have ended so well, had they attempted this without her; of that he was sure.

"I'm afraid that the hot chocolate is all gone, Miss Arabella," Alfred was saying as the boys topped the crest.

"Aaww," Tim pouted. "No more hot chocolate? What are we going to do?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I have got to try that once before we go," Elle declared.

She was pointing in the direction of the college students that were still out. Most of the other families had gone, and a few new families had taken their place. She waved as she headed off in that direction.

Dick glanced at the others and then trotted after her. Tim grinned and rushed to follow. Damian bit his lip. It was obvious he wanted to go as well, but held back. Bruce watched dubiously. While he wasn't so sure this was a good idea, the students had been sledding for the past couple of hours without injury or incident.

"Do you want to go, too, Damian?"

The boy glanced back at his father, clearly torn. "Do you think they will let me?"

Bruce felt his eyebrows rise in surprise. Damian never displayed nervousness or doubt. "Why wouldn't they?"

Damian shrugged; looking down at his snow-covered feet. "Because I'm so young."

"Since when has that ever stopped you from doing what you want?" Bruce sighed. "Damian, it's okay to have fun. You saw for yourself that it didn't stop Elle or Dick or Tim. Go on," he shooed his son after the others.

"You don't want to join them yourself, sir" Alfred asked. He smiled as he tucked the one of the thermoses into the insulated container they had brought with them.

Bruce watched a group of college-aged kids go careening down the hillside, screaming. He smiled. "Uh, no . . . Thanks, but no."

"Perhaps Master Dick was correct earlier," the elder man commented lightly as he continued his task.

"In what," Bruce frowned at him.

"You are an old man," Alfred chimed. He stood up and stretched his sore muscles. "Welcome to the club, sir."

Bruce huffed, but glared silently. Alfred ignored the glare. He had become immune many, long years ago. He quirked a knowing eyebrow and allowed his stiff, British, upper lip to relax enough to quirk up into a smirk.

"Fine," Bruce growled. "I am not an old man," he called back over his shoulder as he stalked off to join the rest. His back to the butler, he allowed himself a smile, however.

It did look like fun.

REACTIONS?

It's kind of fun to watch the Bat Family enjoying a 'normal' family activity for a change . . . They don't get it often enough!