"Last Chance" has met and surpassed 20,000 views! I'm so excited! A lot more than the 40 favorites must be liking the story . . . Thank you so much for your attention! I appreciate every single one of you that have given Elle a chance, guests and members alike. If you like it - please Fave it!

This is entirely from Dick's POV. On the timeline, this is approximately two and a half weeks from December 25th.

WARNING: Strong Language . . .

The Hamiltons dressed for dinner.

Dick adjusted his tie and slipped on a dress jacket. He glanced over at Elle as she made a few last minute adjustments to her hair, and her bare minimum make-up. She had piled it high and left long curls to flow down her back. This style always drove Dick a little crazy. Those curls teased him; only partially hiding the creamy skin of her neck.

She wore a midnight blue cocktail dress that had a conservative boatneck front and long sleeves. It clung to her curves and ended at the top of her knee, but when she turned around the dress plunged deeply down to her waist; leaving her entire upper back exposed with the exception of three lines of draped beads. Those curls continued to dangle temptingly.

Dick found that he was hungry for something other than food all of a sudden. Elle met his eyes in the mirror, and the slightest hint of a smile curved her pale-pink lips.

"Dessert," she promised, and stood.

Dick took the opportunity to nuzzle her bare ear, earning him a giggle. He sighed as the sound of it eased the tension that had been building in him since that morning. Elle had been so quiet and withdrawn from the moment they left Bludhaven. It didn't improve much upon their arrival. He could tell she was fond of the servants, and that she loved the house, but he could see what she meant by it seeming to swallow her up. It made him wonder exactly what her childhood had been like.

He saw pictures of her smiling and laughing, but every so often he would come across the occasional photo of a pensive Elle, or a thoughtful Elle, and then there was one that had bothered him, no matter that it was beautiful and artistic. Elle looked like she was maybe twelve in it. Her head had been turned away to the side and angled down as if she were looking at something on the ground nearby, but her expression had been one of intense sadness.

The camera had caught the sheen of tears in her eyes, although none touched her cheek. A commiserating pain had stabbed his chest as he stared at the photo. He wondered what it was that had so saddened her, but didn't want to ask Elle about it in case the memory would bring back those feelings from before. He didn't want Elle to be sad. The expression looked foreign on her; all wrong as if it didn't belong there.

What was Cedric thinking, though, keeping that photograph up? Certainly every time Elle saw it, whatever terrible memory it invoked would return to haunt her.

Dick was glad that he had come, however. He didn't like the thought of Elle here by herself without some kind of support system. The servants were sympathetic, but unlike Alfred, they were still just servants. Dick remembered Elle greeting Franklin. The butler seemed to be a little more to her than the others, but the employer/employee status still hung there between them. Alfred was more than a servant, for all that Bruce paid him. He was family, and Dick had always held a place in his heart for the man who had been more like a grandfather to him than he had as any mere servant.

But who had been there for Elle? Her grandmother . . . But the way he understood it, Elle would only spend a month or two around Christmas or else a portion of a summer in Italy with her grandparents. The rest of the year would be spent with a distracted father whose spare attention was spent whittling away at his daughter's self-confidence, aloof servants, or with a brother with whom she obviously didn't get along . . . Or she spent it alone.

The woman he had discovered over the past few months was like a treasure. She was happy and optimistic; loving and forgiving; sweet, caring, and thoughtful. Elle was filled to the brim with the simple joy of living. He would never have dreamed that she had been lonely and neglected for the majority of her life. She reminded him of those early spring flowers that would push through the hard, snowy crust to bloom in the most brilliant and glorious colors even while the rest of the world around them was still grim, cold, and barren from the long, harsh winter.

They entered the family dining room together. It had beautiful rosewood paneling and long windows along one wall and a huge fireplace dominating the room. What immediately caught one's eye, however, was the gargantuan Christmas tree situated in one corner near a window and bordering a roaring fireplace. The fire made the room just a bit too warm, but it did bring out the scent of the fragrant pine that decorated the mantle. It was utterly picturesque; like something one might find pictured in one of the home decorating magazines during the holiday season. The colors were crystal, white, and an aquamarine blue. The color of the sea . . .

The table the room boasted was long enough to seat twelve people, but Dick didn't doubt that it had eaves that could be added to extend it. He held Elle's chair for her and walked around the table to sit directly across from her. The table was too wide to reach across. He thought fondly of meals at the small dining table in Elle's apartment, or those evenings when they would sit across from each other on the couch or the bed and feed one another from each other's plates.

Cedric entered the room next in a wheelchair. Dick recognized Hendricks, one of Cedric's bodyguards, pushing the wheelchair to the head of the table.

"Welcome to my home, Richard," Cedric told him; his voice much weakened from the commanding one that Dick remembered.

Frankly, Dick was shocked by the man's appearance. That Cedric was up rather than in bed was surprising; he looked like he was wobbling on the knife-edge of collapse. No wonder Elle had come back to the room so upset. And this kind of deterioration in the span of just two weeks was completely unnerving in its reminder of man's ultimate mortality.

"Thank you, Mr. Hamilton," Dick nodded respectfully. "Your home is truly beautiful."

"I built it for my Esmeralda," Cedric smiled; his eyes going soft at the memory of his beloved wife.

"Ah, yes, the beautiful Esmeralda," came another voice from behind them. It was a strong voice that bespoke the entry of a powerful man. "My father is never one to pass up the opportunity to brag on his perfect second-wife; the epitome of womanhood."

Dick turned and saw a tall, broad-shouldered man with blond hair and just a hint of distinguished gray touching his temples. He had a broad forehead; a thin blade of a nose; high cheekbones; a harsh mouth, and square jawline. Aiden Hamilton looked like the kind of man who commanded empires. His blue-eyes were hawk-like and cold, and Dick didn't doubt for a moment, unforgiving.

"Father," the man dipped his head in grudging respect to the elder man.

He stopped behind Elle's chair, and Dick had to fight the sudden urge to throw himself across the table at the other man. His eyes narrowed as Aiden placed his large hands over his sister's delicate shoulders and leaned down to place a chaste, brotherly kiss upon her cheek. The two siblings couldn't have been more different and still share a genetic link.

Elle's eyes were on her lap, and while her face did not betray her thoughts, Dick could sense her revulsion. He frowned, reconsidering his initial judgement that jealousy and sibling rivalry was behind the brother and sister's estrangement. The feeling that just washed over him from head to toe couldn't stem from something as common and mundane as typical resentment. It made a joke out of what lay between he and Jason.

He found himself shuddering in her stead.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, sister," Aiden asked smoothly, but Dick heard the slight snide tone that the word 'sister' held.

Aiden moved to the table and stretched his hand across. Unwilling to remain seated while this man stood, Dick pushed to his feet. He shook hands with the other man as judgements were made by both parties based upon the other man's grip.

"Richard Grayson-Wayne," Dick said; saving Elle the trouble. It wasn't necessary, but Dick decided it wouldn't hurt to toss Bruce's last name into the mix. And he wasn't sensitive over his nickname. He'd had it forever, and sarcastic comments were incapable of drawing a rise out of him, but no sense in giving the other man any other ammunition. He didn't know why he added the rest, but he opened his mouth anyway. "Bond-mate."

If he hadn't been looking in the other man's eyes, he might have missed it. Aiden Hamilton had been more than willing to dismiss him as unimportant until Dick clarified his relationship with the man's sister. Aiden reconsidered the man in front of him for a long moment. Then it appeared . . . Hatred.

It made Dick blink. Such a strong reaction, even if it were only limited to the reflection in the man's eyes. Hatred . . . By association?

Aiden Hamilton hated his sister. Elle's reaction concerning her brother suddenly made sense and again made whatever rift that existed between Dick and Jason shrink considerably in comparison.

Surely, he was wrong, but what he had glimpsed in Aiden Hamilton's gaze made a mockery of Dick's hesitation to assume the worst. Dick sat down slowly, keeping Elle's brother in his line of sight. This wasn't a man he wanted at his back.

Aiden straightened and moved to his seat at the opposite end of the table from his father. "I suppose then that congratulations are in order," he murmured.

Elle shifted in her seat, but made no comment. Dick watched her, waiting for her usual bubbly personality to return and with it some kind of snarky, funny remark to distill the tension that was thick in the room. He was to be disappointed.

"Indeed, it is," Cedric agreed. "Champagne is in order. Bring up the Gout de Diamants," he waved a hand weakly to his steward. The man disappeared silently to do his employer's bidding.

Aiden blinked. "That's a pricey toast, Father."

Dick wasn't ignorant of fine wines and champagnes, certainly, but he didn't consider himself a connoisseur. Most of the time, while attending one of Bruce's events, he nursed the same glass all night, or dumped most of it in a convenient receptacle. Getting drunk or even a bit tipsy was a dangerous risk in his line of work; particularly in Gotham and Bludhaven. He glanced at Elle, noting her own surprise.

"It is a very expensive bottle," Elle told him; looking a little shocked.

"Gout de Diamants . . . 'Taste of Diamonds'?" Dick translated.

"Bella," Aiden laughed. "The little queen of understatement." He turned to Dick and explained. "A magnum of Gout de Diamants runs over two million a bottle."

Dick's mouth dropped open. He swung around to face Cedric. "Are you serious?"

"Nothing but the best for my Bella," he said fondly.

Elle blushed and ducked her head. From the corner of his eye, Dick watched as Aiden shot her a glance.

"The only thing that might make it better would be if you had a date for me," Cedric teased, good-naturedly.

At least one person was enjoying himself tonight, he thought. Dick hadn't even talked with Elle about the possibility of marriage. She would never bring it up first, he knew, but pushing this now would take the magic from any proposal when it finally happened. In fact, Dick had been hoping for the opportunity to speak privately with Cedric this weekend. He sighed.

Elle flashed him a panicked look, and blushed even deeper.

"Poppa, you mustn't force the issue," she said, hurriedly. "We are already bonded. Marriage is a little redundant. There is no rush." She looked across the table at Dick. "I'm in no hurry. Don't allow him to pressure you."

That she worried that he wouldn't want to marry her even after they were bonded sent a flurry of emotions through him that Dick didn't immediately recognize. He decided that they were . . . unpleasant. He smiled at her, but remained silent. Despite the need to reassure her of her importance in his life, he wasn't yet prepared to have his own plans discovered prematurely.

"Redundant or no, your grandmother would have my head if I didn't at least bring the subject up," Cedric told her.

Elle facepalmed, groaning. "You've been talking to her, haven't you?"

"Bella," Cedric crooned. "Your nonna is old world. She believes in the sanctity of marriage despite its 'redundancy', you understand. She knows that the surface world would not recognize the bond in its place."

Aiden looked up from his water glass, intrigued.

"That's not entirely true anymore, Poppa," Elle corrected him. "There are such things as common law marriages."

Aiden set his glass down. "Since when have you ever been common, little Bella?"

Dick didn't miss the sarcasm that laced the brother's words. He might have, though, if he hadn't been already aware of the trouble that existed between Elle and her brother. It was subtle. The man was careful not to be obvious. The butler knew of the animosity, but Cedric himself seemed oblivious . . . Or else he purposely ignored it, and maybe even encouraged it? No, that couldn't be so . . .

Cedric frowned at her. "A common law marriage is not for my daughter."

Dick caught another wave of panic from Elle. She was afraid of his reaction. Dick, however, wasn't so much upset by the topic as he was by her own reaction to it. He was concerned by Aiden's anger and hatred, and even more by Cedric purposeful insensitivity. He realized that she, too, was feeling his own discomfort and, like him, couldn't pinpoint the exact cause of it. She thought his worry was over the pressure to marry being placed on him by Cedric.

Dick sat forward and picked up his own water glass. "Elle is correct in that there is no need to hurry this, sir. We are content right now to get to know one another better rather than move too quickly into the next step. It would look odd to our friends should we rush right into a union without at least a short period of courtship."

"Commitment frightens you, does it, Richard?" Cedric tilted his head at him. The older man thought he had Dick pegged. He would learn his error soon enough.

"Nothing about having Elle in my life frightens me, Mr. Hamilton. Neither of us appreciate having our lives dictated to us, however, even by well-meaning relatives." Dick winked at Elle.

He was relieved when he saw a genuinely happy smile flit across her face, even if only for a moment. A wave of love, happiness, and gratitude washed over him.

The steward reentered the dining room holding a silver bucket of ice with a magnum of what Dick assumed was the ridiculously-priced champagne. The bottle was dark and decorated with a distinctive label created, he discovered, in 18 carat white gold and in its center was one 19 carat, smooth-cut diamond. It appeared to Dick that the bottle was worth more than its contents.

Cedric waved the steward away from him and toward his son. Aiden looked a little startled and somewhat put out by the maneuver. He was being forced to open the bottle in celebration of his little sister's good fortune. Ever the obedient son, Aiden picked up the bottle and held it appreciatively, spending a moment admiring the craftsmanship.

With a shrug, he expertly popped the cork and began filling the crystal champagne glasses that had materialized in front of him by the ever-efficient servants in his father's employ. Dick and Elle received their glasses at the same time. The bubbling liquid was the palest gold in color. Its bouquet was light and fruity, and Dick took the time to appreciate it. It wasn't every day that he was privileged enough to drink a $200,000 glass of champagne, after all.

Cedric stood up; his balance obviously precarious. Hendricks stepped forward, hovering protectively. Picking up his glass, he held it up and looked upon his daughter.

"To my beloved daughter, Arabella, and her bonded mate, Richard," he said. "May your lives together be long and prosperous and filled with happiness . . . and perhaps, if I am lucky, the sound of little feet before long, eh?"

Elle's mouth dropped open and the blush was back with a vengeance. Dick was a little surprised, but he managed to keep his composure. If he blushed, it wasn't more than a pale pink flush barely visible across his olive complexion. He had gotten oddly used to Cedric's unusual interest in his and Elle's sex lives. He had assumed that the man's interest was limited to the bonding process, but this, at least, made more sense. Cedric was hoping for grandchildren, and wasn't above a little guilt and manipulation in order to get it; such as allowing Elle's new boyfriend to share a room with her.

Aiden coughed, but when Cedric's sharp gaze flew to him, the other man merely nodded sagely.

"Here, here!" he said a little too enthusiastically, and tipped the glass up. That the expensive champagne was meant to be savored did not faze him in the slightest apparently as everyone watched Aiden drain his glass. He held his newly-emptied flute up to be refilled.

Cedric sat back down with no little assistance from his bodyguard. He required a moment to regain his breath. Dick narrowed his eyes as the startling changes. The man's pallor had increased just from standing a few minutes. Dick wondered if the doctor was still in residence. Cedric looked as though he should be gracing a hospital bed rather than presiding over an extremely uncomfortable family gathering.

The meal followed. Several courses filled with delicious recipes. The chef that Hamilton employed was gifted. It wasn't Alfred's, of course, and Dick thought that Elle might even be able to give the man a run for his money, but it was enjoyable all the same.

Dick focused on eating more than conversation. Although, no amount of good food could sweeten the atmosphere nor provide a bevy of noncontroversial topics. Finally, a white chocolate-cherry tart was served with a sweet white dessert wine much to his relief; the signal that the dinner was nearly over.

Cedric had mostly picked at his meal, as had Elle. Aiden had eaten with gusto. Whatever tension was still in the room, it apparently didn't affect the appetite of the current CEO of Hamilton Industries.

"I suppose you have given no more thought as to joining the family business, Bella?" Cedric asked. He ignored the dessert but favored a cup of coffee instead.

Aiden pushed his half-eaten tart away. So, something had finally made the man sit up and take notice.

"Poppa," Elle set her fork down and leaned back in her chair. "We've gone over this so many times. I don't know why you keep insisting bringing it up. I have no desire to get involved in the business. That's Aiden's job. He does more than well enough. Why mess with a good thing?"

Cedric lifted an eyebrow. "How do you know how well your brother does in business?"

Elle blew out a breath in frustration. "I might have read over some of the reports that you keep having your secretary send me. It just ensures me that the company is in good hands and I can devote my time to pursuing a life beyond the boardroom without you guilting me about it."

Dick watched as Aiden slowly relaxed against his chair. He was worried, Dick decided. Cedric wanted Elle in the company and Aiden considered his sister a potential threat, perhaps? Why? Elle's passion was music. Even if she never sought fame, Dick knew she would always keep a finger in the field that held her heart.

"It seems a waste of a degree, my dear," Cedric was saying. "And you have a talent for it."

"I also have a degree in music, Poppa," Elle said, obviously having repeated this conversation many times in the past.

"No woman on your mother's side of the family has been able to pursue a career in music past a few years. You will not be able to either," Cedric insisted.

"As a singer, Poppa. No woman on Mama's side has been able to pursue a career as a singer," Elle clarified. "Although I understand why now, there are a lot of other options open to women in the music business. I do not have to sing to remain in it and be successful."

"Have you nothing to add to the conversation, Richard?" Cedric turned his intensity on Dick. "Surely you are beginning to understand the dangers of a Siren having a singing career?"

Dick met Elle's gaze before he answered carefully. "Elle isn't planning to seek fame."

Cedric scoffed, furiously. "She doesn't have to. Fame will come seeking her!"

Dick frowned and glanced back at his mate. She, too, was frowning over her father's ramblings.

"Are you just saying this to get me to do your bidding," she asked slowly.

"It is a sad fact that there is nowhere on the planet for a Siren to sing in safety," her father declared flatly.

Elle played with her fork silently for a long moment before tossing it down on the plate with a clatter, and shoving it back away from her in a fit of pique.

"Why? Why can you not simply support me in the path I have chosen for myself," she asked him angrily.

"You would make the most amazing negotiator on the planet, Bella," Cedric insisted. "No one would be able to beat you . . ."

"Aiden . . ." Elle sat up and pointed back at her ominously quiet brother.

Cedric slammed his palm down on the table. "Aiden is competent. Your brother can hold his own, but his success comes through his ruthlessness rather than through any real talent at negotiations. His way is one of innuendo or out-in-out threats!"

Elle gaped, her gaze involuntarily flickering back in her brother's direction. How Aiden could keep silent . . . Dick was impressed. He would have been yelling long before now.

"You have the talent, Bella. You have the knowledge to take the company into the future. You have a natural instinct . . ."

"I disagree, old man," Aiden finally spoke up. Anger edged his soft words. "Bella is naïve and far too trusting. She would not be able to cope against the sharks in this business. Her very 'sweetness' would be her swan song, so to speak."

Cedric narrowed his gaze upon his son. "Do not spout your jealous ramblings to me. If she would just set her mind to it . . ."

"Leave it alone, Poppa!" Elle begged.

"I built this company from the ground up," he told them. "I know who I want to see replace me in the pilot's seat."

"Aiden is already acting CEO," Elle reminded him, sharply.

"Not for long," Cedric declared, hotly.

"What?" The single word came out menacingly; drawing Dick's attention back to the brother.

"I met with my lawyers over the past week," he announced. "I am leaving Bella controlling interest of Hamilton Industries." Cedric's eyes flashed at his son. "Maybe if you are nice enough to her, she would decide to keep you on as a figurehead."

Silence reigned . . . for all of ten seconds.

Dick's gaze shot over to Elle only briefly. He turned to Aiden. The man's face was shocked and pale, but then it darkened with anger.

"You can't be serious," Aiden finally burst out. He stood up so quickly that the chair behind his fell back with a loud, startling clatter. He pointed in Elle's direction. "She is to get everything?! After all that I've done for you and Hamilton Industries? I am your son and this is how you propose to treat me?"

Cedric stared at the man he had raised to adulthood from his first marriage. Cedric was not blind. While Aiden was satisfactory in his role as CEO, he had inherited his mother's emotional instability. It hadn't been a factor until now because Cedric had been active in the business and able to mitigate any problems that would arise from his son's mistakes. Unfortunately, without someone to balance him, Aiden was as likely tear the business apart as to build it up.

"I have not forgotten you, Aiden, but I also know that Bella will not reach her true potential without incentive. I have now given her that. The company's future will ultimately rest with her . . . to succeed or fail." His eyes rested on his daughter. "I have faith that you will rise to meet this challenge head on. I believe you will succeed and rather spectacularly at that."

Elle was shaking her head. "No, Poppa! No! Take it back! Call up your lawyers and undo this now."

"You only say that now," Cedric told her. "Once the shock has worn off . . ."

"I don't want it," Elle yelled, getting to her feet. "Give it to Aiden! He's been working for this all his life!"

Cedric leaned back in his chair and waved for Hendricks to take him back to his room. "It is already done."

"Then I will undo it," Elle threatened.

"You cannot. It is specified that the stock cannot be sold or transferred to any but your bondmate or your children or your children's children." Cedric smiled in Dick's direction. "I understand that you have taken classes in business."

Dick knew he probably looked as surprised as he felt. He had no more desire to run Hamilton Industries than he did Wayne Enterprises. He was dreading the day he might have to step into that role, but had high hopes for Tim in that regard. Surely, his brilliant brother would save him from a life behind a desk.

"The specifics will be spelled out to you upon my death." Cedric smiled. "Aiden, I promise, you are not forgotten. You will get Hamilton Trading."

"That's a sop!" Aiden slammed his fist down on the table. "Hamilton Trading falls under Hamilton Industries' umbrella! She will still be my boss! I have been working towards this all my life, and you want to give it to a child who doesn't even have a care for the business that you and I have made successful together! I will not have this!"

"It is your choice, of course, Aiden. You will get the Penthouse, one hundred million, and the control of Hamilton Trading. It is yours. Build your own empire! Do whatever is necessary to make it succeed. Take what I give you and enjoy it, or you can blow it. You can burn it to the ground, for all I care." Cedric told him before the doors to the dining room closed behind him.

Aiden turned on Elle in a hot rage.

"This is your fault," he snarled at her; moving around the table in her direction. "You and that bitch of a mother you had. Even in death that woman continues to plague me through you!"

Dick scanned the servants' reactions. Most had turned and left the dining room with Cedric, and the rest were moving to exit before the family squabble got out of hand. Elle spun around to face Aiden.

"I had nothing to do with this," she told him; trying to appeal to his reason. But Dick saw very little reason remaining.

He leapt to his feet, and then he was on the chair, then the table, and then flipping in mid-air to get himself between the brother and sister. Aiden was not so far gone that the lightning fast move didn't startle him.

"What the hell?" The thirty-five year old stepped back and then narrowed his eyes.

"This is your fault, too," he growled low as he faced Dick. "Had you not come into the picture, the old man wouldn't have done this. He would have been content to wait these two years for Bella to make a fool of herself and come crawling back to him. He would have seen for himself that she hasn't the wit to run her own life, let alone the likes of his company. You made this possible; you and that fucking bond!"

"Did you not hear her," Dick didn't want to be forced to hit him. He attempted to reason with him. "She told him she didn't want it. She told him to give it all to you."

"That little bitch has been taking from me her whole life," Aiden told him; his voice dangerous in its sudden calm. "You should run while you can . . . Before she takes something irreplaceable from you as well."

"We can work this out between us, Aiden," Elle said. "We can get our own lawyers! We don't have to stand for Poppa's manipulation. As usual, he is trying to force our hand. You know I'm right!"

"Right?" Aiden had begun to turn away, but looked back at her with a burning hatred that he no longer cared to hide. "Nothing has been 'right' since the day you were born. But the old man was right in that I will stop at nothing to succeed."

The tight smile that played across his face, sent a chill up Dick's spine. He felt an echoing reaction from Elle.

"Merry Christmas, little sister," he said. "I'll be seeing you at the gala tomorrow. Don't forget to save me a dance."

The promise held an ominous note that belied the spirit of the season as Elle's older brother stormed out of the room.

REACTIONS?

Uh oh, this doesn't bode well. Cedric might love his children, but his idea of parenting sucks!

"Nonna" is Italian for Grandmother . . . :D

Oh, and the Gout de Diamants is considered the world's most expensive champagne. In 2015, the price ranged upward of $2.1 million dollars for a bottle (a magnum is the equivalent of TWO regular bottles of the wine). The amount of glasses it holds is dependent of the size of the glass (a flute is typical for champagne). Cedric seemed the type who would buy this for a celebratory toast. The bottle is as I described above with the white gold label and the large diamond on every bottle. I, of course, have never had an opportunity to taste the champagne (not much of a drinker in any case, even had I known someone who could afford it), but did a little research to find the description of its taste (light and fruity).

Cedric's estimated personal worth runs to $438 million dollars. A mere drop in the bucket compared to Bruce's billions . . .