In a Snowglobe
By Paige (moon345@earthlink.net)

***

	Barbara Gordon gave herself the once-over once more.  Her slacks and 
sweater were lint-free, her hair was well done and her feet were nice and 
straight and right where they should be.  
	She heard the familiar ding of her proximity alarm several seconds 
before the doorbell rang.  She made a quick check of her monitor to ensure 
that the visitor was who she wanted it to be, and did another quick check of 
her vast techno-arsenal, making sure everything was as it should be.  
	Satisfied, Barbara left the control room and made sure it was closed 
off and hidden away before she grabbed her coat and answered the door.
	"Well, I don't get a chance to see this too often," was the first thing 
out of her mouth after she unlocked the door and opened it.  Her visitor 
grinned.
	"I was feeling wild."
	"Oh, you crazy thing, you.  Coming to the door like a normal person!"
	"Shocking, isn't it?"
	Barbara smiled as she pulled her peacoat on, buttoned it and added a 
scarf and gloves to make sure of her warmth outside.  "Very."
	Closing the door behind them, and making sure it was locked, Dick 
Grayson smiled back.  "Well, I'm glad I'm keeping things interesting.  Are we 
going to follow that trend tonight?"
	"You know it, Boy Wonder."  Both headed for the elevator and upon 
arrival, Dick swung his arm gallantly towards the door, indicating that his 
companion enter.
	"Ladies first."
	"Thank you, kind sir."
	"No trouble at all, for such a beautiful miss."
	"Okay, Grayson.  You're laying it on a bit thick now."
	"Didn't hurt to try."  Dick shrugged and added after a moment, "No 
music.  I approve."
	"Oh, I don't know.  We could get some good U2 in here."
	"Oh, sure.  But then people would never want to get off.  That would be 
a problem."
	It was at that moment the doors opened.  "But, see, Babs?  No music, no 
problem."
	"Hmm.  I don't know about...," her voice trailed off suddenly as they 
left the heated building and entered the street.  "Oh, wow...," she breathed.
	"Pretty nice out, huh?"
	"Like living in snow globe.  None of it's trampled yet."
	"Here, at least.  Just turn the corner.  But it's still snowing, so 
there's hope."
	"Uh-huh."  Barbara was too enchanted by  the scene to comment further.  
She'd obviously seen snow every year.  But she had been cooped up inside her 
building for the past three days, coordinating relief effort that the JLA had 
been helping with in a Midwest state struck by blizzards.  Looking out her 
window at the scene just did not do justice to the city's lights, the faint 
stars, and the snow that was reflecting it all, making the ground sparkle.
	"Would you believe it if I told you I made it snow just for you?"  
Dick's voice was suddenly very close to her ear, making a stray hair tickle 
her ear.
	"No, but I'm going to kiss you anyway."
	They still hadn't moved from the front of Barbara's building.  Dick's 
fresh smell of aftershave and a worn leather jacket filled her nose, and his 
hand on her cheek warm her face, and -
	"Hey, Babs?"
	Somewhere in the back of her brain, Barbara was glad she wasn't wearing 
her glasses, because Dick's frozen breath was billowing in her face and would 
have surely fogged up the seeing apparatus.  "Hmm?"
	"You think maybe we could, y'know, actually leave your house.  And then 
come back and kiss."
	"One more minute," Babs mumbled, pulling a set of blue eyes closer to 
her face again. 
	"Who's the wild one, again?"  Dick managed before his voice was 
muffled.
*
	"The snows all mushed here,"  Barbara commented.
	"Mushed?"
	"Slushy.  Squishy.  Mushy."
	"Tushy."
	"That has nothing to do with snow," the redhead protested.
	"Sure it does.  If you fall in the snow, your tushy gets mushy."
	"Care to demonstrate?"
	"Hey!  Who's holding your roasted almonds?"  
	Barbara considered this.  "I guess you're safe, then."
	"Good.  So,"  Dick surveyed the street they were walking down.  "What 
do you want to do now?"
	"Let me see...,"  Barbara made a show of tapping her lip thoughtfully.  
"It has to be something in the spirit of Christmas, you see, Boy Wonder."
	"Of course, of course.  But you have to make it good, because at 
midnight, Christmas Eve is over and all good little vigilantes have to report 
to Batman then."
	"You just want your gifts."
	"Darned tootin', sister."
	Barbara giggled.  "Cute."  She smiled as they passed a still-open 
bakery.  Doing a double take, she smiled again.  "I know what I want to do."
*
	"I guess we're lucky shops stay open late on Christmas Eve,"  Dick 
said, with three boxes tucked under his left arm.  
	"It's only seven o'clock,"  Barbara pointed out, three more boxes set 
safely in her lap.
	"You expect stores to stay open past that?"
	"I expect all to appease the wishes of the mighty Oracle," she teased.
	"Which is why we're doing this, I guess."
	"I see you grinning, bucko.  You're enjoying this as much as I am."
	Dick continued his grin.  "I wish I had thought of this.  
It's...touching."
	"I'm a giving person.  Anyway, we only have two more places to go."  
Barbara stopped her chair in order to free her hands so that she could 
consult a list.  "The Women's Shelter is nearer.  We'll hit the Children's 
Center last."  Barbara started rolling again when she noticed Dick staring at 
her.  "What?"
	Dick smiled for the umpteenth time that evening.  "You've got little 
snowflakes in your eyelashes."
	"You've got 'em, too, my friend."
	Dick raised an eyebrow.  "Do they look as good on me as they do on 
you?"
	"I don't know.  They make you look kind of like a gingerbread man"
	"I'm going to just take that as a 'yes'."
*
	Young, energetic voices added to the din of silverware hitting and 
scraping plates that managed to be heard even from behind closed doors and 
windows.  Light from electric bulbs blazed out of uncurtained windows and 
illuminated the immediate street area outside the building.
	Both Dick and Barbara went up to the door, trying not to make too much 
noise, despite the fact that they couldn't possibly have been heard over the 
sounds of feasting children.  The door was unlocked, and Dick opened it 
slowly.  Barbara held it open after Dick took the last three boxes from her 
lap and set them just inside the door.
	"Excuse me?"
	Dick, who had been leaning over to set the precious packages down 
jerked suddenly, and was rewarded by a hit in the rear courtesy of the door 
that Barbara let go of in her own startled state.
	Babs looked at the smiling woman, and couldn't help but smile back.  
The voice had sounded like it belonged to an older woman, but the person who 
had spoken couldn't have been more than thirty.  
	Barbara offered an explanation while Dick straightened up.  "We were 
just dropping these off."  Barbara indicated the boxes which were neatly tied 
with green string.  "I'm sorry if we disturbed -."
	"No, no."  The woman brushed the apology off.  "I just get suspicious 
this time of year, thinking everyone who comes in is trouble.  Gotham doesn't 
seem to have many quiet holidays."
	"No, it doesn't," Barbara agreed, a little more sadly than she wanted.  
	Dick cut in, changing the subject back to the boxes.  "We just wanted 
to give these to the kids."
	"Cookies!"  the woman laughed, peeking into one box.  "They kids will 
love these.  Thank you so much...,"
	"Dick."
	"Barbara."
	"I'm Martine.  Please, you have to join us for dinner.  I have to thank 
you properly for this."
	"Well...,"  Barbara started, not wanted to be rude.
	"Oh, that's not necessary,"  Dick protested not even close to half-
heartedly as he headed for the main room where the children were eating.
*
	"Is he your boyfriend?"  a little voice whispered.  Barbara glanced 
down at the little girl with wide, almond-shaped eyes to her left who 
pointing at Dick.  Dick, who was at the other end of the table didn't notice.  
He was showing a boy and girl of about eleven how to propel yams.
	"I guess he his,"  Barbara smiled, helping the girl add more 'smashed 
fertatoes' to her plate.
	"Do you like him?"
	"Sure.  We're friends, too."
	"But he's a boy!"  the little girl, whose name was Mai, looked 
absolutely shocked.
	From across Barbara, one of the oldest children in the center looked 
over at Barbara.  Babs scratched off the title of "child" for this girl, 
because she was about Tim's age, and looked just about as mature and 
responsible as him, as well.  "You get to boss him around, don't you?"
	Babs smiled an evil sort of grin, that if Dick caught, would have 
guaranteed Barbara at least ten backrubs.  "Oh, yeah."
	The girl grinned.  "Just give 'em a sweet smile and rub their ego and -
,"
	"They're done for," both finished together.
	"Does the grocery store have boyfriends?"  Mai wondered, deciding maybe 
boys weren't so bad after all.
*
	"Most of these kids won't be adopted and will continue being wards of 
the state.  Ashleigh and Dylan will be able to leave once they turn eighteen, 
but the younger ones here have to stay in the system for awhile still,"  
Martine said, quietly to Dick.
	"I know the system, all right,"  Dick sighed.  He knew how fortunate 
he'd been to have been taken in by Bruce.  And he'd seen a million times over 
in his years as Robin and then Nightwing that older, orphaned and abandoned 
children didn't have a lot going for them.   "It makes you very grateful for 
what you've got."
	"It does.  But we strive to make these kids' childhoods as happy as 
possible here."
	Dick glanced around.  There was plenty of food to go around, the kids 
were all in clean clothes and the building was warm and in good repair.  "It 
looks like you've been doing a good job of that.  I take it you've got an 
outside benefactor?"  Dick had an idea of who might give so much to a 
children's home, but decided to ask anyway.
	"The Wayne Foundation funds us almost completely.  Bruce Wayne may not 
seem like the world's greatest guy... Such a playboy!"  Martine shook her 
head.  "But he does good."
	The man who had thought of Bruce Wayne as the world's greatest guy all 
through his childhood, thought of what that playboy was doing right now.  It 
was cold and snowy outside, and he was out there fighting a never ending 
battle.
	"He does,"  Dick agreed simply.  And then, with his mind on Tim, who 
would be out patrolling, sacrificing time with his father, and Batgirl, who'd 
be out there as well, he added,  "Maybe these kids will some day, too."
*
	Ashleigh was sixteen years old, educated, and clean for two years.  She 
had her GED already, and took night classes at GSU with the help of financial 
aid and student loans that she already had plans to repay.  
	Barbara was delighted to be having a conversation with the girl.  
	"You're a girl after my heart,"  the redhead commented, after 
discovering that Ashleigh was not only a loud and proud O.G., but that she 
was also a devout Knight's fan and wanted to do something with computers.
	Ashleigh laughed.  "So, what brings you two here?"  she asked, 
indicating not only Barbara, but Dick as well, with a pointed thumb.
	"We were just looking for things to do until midnight and got the idea 
to drop off surprises to some people.  We're celebrating with the rest of 
our...family tomorrow."
	"Sounds nice,"  Ashleigh replied, passing a napkin to a four-year-old 
with a broken nose.  "Something tells me you know a little bit about lonely 
Christmases."
	Dick, who was refilling glasses of milk, commented, "Something tells me 
everyone here does."
*
	"Here's a good one.  Jingle bells, Batman smells...,"
	"Robin laid an egg!"  Barbara added quietly, poking the man singing in 
the side.
	Dick reconsidered his choice of song.  "Okay, how about  'All I Want 
For Christmas?'"
	Anyone walking by the unassuming building would know exactly how many 
pairs of front teeth Santa needed to bring.
	The man with belly like a bowl full of jelly was going to need a bigger 
sack.
*
	"No way."  Dick shook his head, causing a cascade of snowflakes to fall 
from his hair.  It looked almost as if he himself were a snowglobe, and 
Barbara wondered if she could get him to shake his noggin again.  The snowy-
haired man continued.  "We were not there for only two hours."
	"It's nine o'clock,"  Barbara pointed out.  "Buy a watch."
	"I have a watch.  It's water resistant and has a three-year warranty.  
I just choose not to wear it on days like this so I have an excuse for being 
late.  Plus," he continued, "I have an excuse for talking to women."
	"Uh huh."
	"Watch."  Dick stopped, turned towards Barbara and blocked her path.  
He leaned closer to her to offer an irresistible smile.  "Excuse me, miss.  
Do you have the time?"
	Barbara looked back at Dick, and decided the flutter in her stomach was 
from laughter, and not the I'm-too-sexy-for-my-kevlar look Dick was giving 
her.  Barbara would have impressed many a woman, because she broke eye 
contact within seconds and glanced at her watch.  "Nine-oh-three."
	Dick nodded approvingly.  "Now, see, I could start in with a great 
pick-up line, relating to time and -."
	"Absolutely, positively, NO puns with clocks, watches, or time."
	"Hey!  What about -."
	Dick, once more, stopped in mid-sentence.  This time, it wasn't because 
he was cut off, but rather because he had seen something, put two and two 
together, and had come up with an idea.  The look on his face almost made it 
appear that a light bulb really had gone off on top of his head.
	"Dick?"  Barbara's left, snowflake sprinkled eyebrow arched 
questioningly.
	Dick pointed down an alley, where there were considerable drifts of 
snow against building walls, but only light enough to create the illusion 
that the snow was something much more magical than mere frozen precipitation.  
And Dick bought into the magic instantly.  "I shall become a snowman,"  he 
announced.
	Babs considered this.  "Would you settle for just making one?"
	"Yes, but not right here," Dick mused, assuming that Barbara was going 
to suggest to build it right in the alley next door to a delapitated 
crackhouse only because he himself was originally going to.  He added to his 
statement.  "I have just the right idea and place."
*
	Most people would have never noticed it.  The fact is, it takes a 
trained ear and a well-developed sixth sense to notice a kevlar-clad Gotham 
vigilante landing on soft snow with sound absorbing boots.  Especially when 
your back is turned and you're talking to someone about bright lights and 
candy.
	Barbara and Dick, or perhaps even Nightwing and Oracle, - because 
surely that's what part of their brains registered the sound first - did not 
have that problem.  They just pretended they had an incredibly good reason to 
go back in the alley and disappear into the shadows before any passerby 
noticed.
	"Hey, Robin."  Dick waved.
	The person who had landed in the alley from the rooftops above nodded.  
"Hey.  Just thought I'd give you a 'Merry Christmas' before you hit the 
rooftops.  Or the keyboards."
	Barbara smiled.  "You too, Boy Wonder."
	"What's going on beyond the streetlights?"  Dick asked.
	"Slow night.  Two muggings, a homeless person suffering from frostbite, 
one abandoned baby.  It made it, and when I checked in with the hospital, an 
aunt had claimed her."
	"Good.  Hopefully it'll stay slow."
	"The boss isn't counting on it - it's still early.  You'll be up at 
twelve?"
	"Even if I lose a glass slipper."
	Barbara rolled her eyes.  "Here, Robin."  She reached into her purse 
and pulled two identical objects out.  "Want a candy cane?"
	"Hey, no feeding the birds,"  Dick grumbled as Robin thanked the 
redhead and took the candy.  
	"I'll pass the other one on to Batgirl."
	"Be safe up there," Barbara said before the caped teen disappeared back 
into the snowy night.
	"Now can we leave?"  Dick managed to keep the anxious tone out of his 
voice.  "We'd better take the bus."
	"Too slow,"  Barbara argued.  "We have less than three hours to get 
this job done."
	"We can take the bus to your place and then take the Port-a-Babs."
	"Port-a-Babs?"
*
	"I'm very proud of you Barbara.  You didn't try anything in front of 
your building."
	"Excuse me?  First off, I was only kissing you in front of the tower 
earlier.  Second, I'm driving and therefore can kick you out of the Port-a-
Babs at any time.  Third -"
	"Ah, so you admit it's the Port-a-Babs."
	Barbara sighed.  "Oh, for the love of...,"
	"Are we there yet?"
	"Almost.  Watch the road and quit asking me.  And quit calling the 
hummer a Port-a-Babs.  That sounds like a toilet."
	Dick heard the order, but decided not to say anything more for the 
moment.  The fact was, he had been watching the road.  He was just busy 
scanning for accidents or hitchhikers instead of streetlights and landmarks.  
	Now that the Port-a-Babs had left the City of Gotham, there were less 
cars passing them, and if it weren't for the heavily snowed-on roads, Barbara 
would have sped up.  And most likely, Dick would have urged her to go faster, 
too.
	The place they arrived at had a gate, effectively locking people out.  
Dick had easily passed over the walls as Nightwing many a time.  Barbara, on 
the other hand had never been through the gate or over it.  And because 
neither were going to go over it, they were content to go through it.  
	"Say 'hello' to my little friend,"  Dick cackled as he produced an 
array of lock picks.
	Barbara decided to bite, but just this one time.  "Hello, little 
friend."  Dick responded by almost dropping the pick he needed to open the 
gate in surprise.
	After a few moments of snowy silence, a 'click' was heard from the lock 
on the gate and Dick grinned, swinging it open.  Both entered the grounds of 
Brentwood Academy, a mission on their minds.
*
	"Alfred has a room."
	"Yes."
	"And that's the window for it."
	"Yes."
	"We can't put the snowman here.  The angle and lighting is all wrong.  
It won't be fully visible."
	Dick stopped rolling the large ball of snow.  He glanced at the window, 
the few lights around him, and then kneeled down and did the calculations in 
the snow.  Barbara held back her laugh until the man stood back up and rolled 
the bottom piece of the snowman to the spot Babs had originally designated.
	"Now for the next piece,"  Dick said, brushing the snow from his pants.  
That did little to help, because the snow was already melting and soaking the 
trousers.
	"Think there's a corncob pipe around here?"  Barbara wondered out loud.  
	"Ha.  Keep on gathering buttons, pretty lady."
	Barbara already had a lapful of assorted buttons, eyes, and even nose 
rings.  These important items were really key rings, pebbles, and frozen 
berries that she had liberated from the Port-a-Babs or on and under the 
various shrubbery at Brentwood.
	Dick completed the second piece of the snowman and started on the 
third.  Babs used all her strength to navigate through the snow and find a 
tree with low enough branches that she could reach.  She broke off two and 
then broke them again to ensure that they were of equal length.  Satisfied, 
she returned back to where Dick was completing the body of the snowman.
	Barbara moved around to face the designated front of the snow construct 
and started adding buttons to it, while Dick attached the stick arms.  They 
worked diligently, with Dick humming "The Twelve Days of Christmas" while the 
pile of snow was made into something a bit more decorative.
	"Very nice,"  Dick said, scrutinizing their handiwork.  He reached for 
the scarf he had snatched from Barbara's apartment and had stored in his 
pocket.  "Do you want to put it on?" he asked, indicating the warmth-giving 
piece of cloth.
	"You bet," was the reply, and before Barbara could finish that thought, 
she was lifted up so that she could wrap the scarf around the snowman's 
"neck" properly.  "What do you think?"
	"I think we've created a masterpiece.  Just one more thing to add."  
Dick waited as Babs passed the item he had been referring to over to him and 
set it in its proper place.  "Voila."
	"Voila, yourself, Boy Wonder.  I'm freezing; let's say we blow this 
popsicle stand."
	"'Blow this popsicle stand?'" the one addressed echoed.  "Aren't I 
supposed to be saying these things?"
	"Dick."
	"What?  Oh, heck.  Let's beat it."
	"There.  You said 'Let's beat it',  and in a Michael Jackson voice.  
We're even."
	At this point, the two had started 'blowing that popsicle stand' or 
'beating it',' and had started back for the gates.  Just as they turned the 
corner of the building they were circumfrencing, they spotted one sole man in 
a bathrobe, winter jacket and boots, walking a dog.
	"Uh-oh."
	"Did he see us?"  Just as the redhead asked that, the man, who Tim 
would have recognized as Dean Nederlander, saw the pair.  He had them 
effectively trapped, because he was in the way of the gates.
	"Let's just keep heading for the gates, like we're supposed to be 
here,"  Dick suggested, doing just that.  "Maybe he won't say anything."
	"Right," Barbara snorted, because Nederlander was already striding 
towards the two, dog in tow.  Changing his game plan, Dick formed his most 
idiotic 'pay me no mind, I'm silly' grin and started straight for the dean.  
Babs could only sigh and follow.
	"Hi!"  Dick said, still grinning idiotically as he came up to the dean.  
Barbara decided that since Dick seemed to be channeling Bruce Wayne at a 
social event, and was doing a very convincing job of acting clueless, she'd 
play along.
	Keeping his distance from the dog who was only eyeing Dick slightly as 
he urinated in the clean snow, the former Boy Wonder spoke again.  "I think 
someone over-trimmed those trees," Dick said worriedly, pointing at the trees 
that had long since given up their leaves for the winter.
	"But the pines haven't lost any leaves.  How curious,"  Barbara mused.
	"Oh, I'm sure they've lost some -"
	"Excuse me,"  Nederlander interrupted, "what are you doing here?" 
	Dick opened his eyes wide and stated his reason as if it were obvious.  
"We were worried about the trees!  They look absolutely sickly!"
	"Sickly?"  Nederlander look down at Barbara questioningly.  Barbara 
responded by looking at the trees worriedly.
	"Oh, absolutely.  Those trees are definitely ill.  I'll bet it's Yellow 
Ash disease."
	"They're elms,"  Nederlander pointed out.
	"Even worse!"  Barbara gasped.
	"It's Ash Yellow, and I think it's time for you both to leave," the man 
responded, moving towards them as though to usher them towards the gate.  
Dick, either wanting to have more fun with this, or just slipping too far in 
"brainless" mode, protested.
	"But the trees!  Aren't you worried about the environment?  Why, the 
students at this school need a healthy tomorrow, with healthy trees!"
	Nederlander looked at Dick annoyedly, and Barbara cut him off before he 
could say anything.  "Oh, no!  We've forgotten Manku, the crusading tree 
squirrel!  We'll have to get him and come back!"
	Dick looked at the dean.  "If you'll excuse us, we have an 
environmental emergency."
*
	"Well, that was fun."
	"Trees, Dick?"
	"Everyone loves trees."
	Barbara made a "hmm" sound and continued to drive.  After a moment, she 
said, "I actually think one of those trees had Dutch Elm."
	"The one next to the row of pines?  I noticed that too."
	"Hey, Dick?"  Barbara asked, glancing over at the man with that name.  
"Do you think it's...weird we noticed that?"
	"Naw.  Now, noticing that the bushes nearby had been trimmed with six-
inch shears at a thirty-degree angle?  That's weird."
	"No, what's weird is noticing that the trimming was done by someone 
about five feet, nine inches,"  Barbara argued.
	"Well, noticing that the third bush had several bent branches due to 
the passing by of a stressed-out teen vigilante is weirder."
	"Definitely,"  Barbara grinned.
*
	"Laila, got me on my knees, Laila.  Beggin' darling please, Laila.  
Darling, won't you ease my worried mind..."
	"My name's not Laila,"  Barbara pointed out, killing the ignition, 
which made the speakers quit rolling out songs for Dick to sing along to.  
Barbara as really starting to wonder what it was with Dick and music that 
evening.
	"But the song's name is.  And it's a nice song."  Dick looked at 
Barbara with a look of pure seriousness, which might have fooled another, but 
not the redhead.  "Don't you think it's a nice song?"
	"I do, but it gets stuck in your head very easily.  Besides, wouldn't 
you rather hear some holiday songs?"
	Dick shrugged, and looked about himself.  "Are we going to get out of 
the Port-a-Babs?"
	"Yes, and we're going to have some cocoa before I have to let you go 
off into the rooftops."  Barbara activated her chair lift as Dick opened the 
passenger door and hopped out.  They both headed for the elevator that would 
take them up to Barbara's apartment and put them a little closer to the night 
world of vigilantism.
	"I had a nice chat with my parents today,"  Dick said conversationally, 
keeping his tone light.  
	"I'm glad.  Dad and I went to visit Sarah...it was hard, but nice."  
They both left the elevator in silence, lost in their own thoughts for a 
minute.  
	Dick spoke again as they entered the kitchen,  "Do you have the big 
marshmallows?"
	"Big and small, AND red and green sprinkles, Boy Wonder."
	"Forget Boy Wonder, you're a Boy Scout.  Always prepared."
	Barbara laughed softly as she got two mugs from her cupboard.  "And I 
can make a pretty mean campfire, too."
	"I'll bet,"  Dick said, grinning.  After a moment, he added, "So."
	"So,"  Barbara agreed.  "It's nearing midnight."
	"Yep.  I think I'll have to drink and run, Babs."
	Barbara poured the hot chocolate into the two mugs, and handed Dick the 
sprinkles.  "I had fun though, Dick.  I'm glad I got to spend Christmas Eve 
with you."
	"I'm glad I got to spend Christmas Eve with me, too,"  Dick said.  
Then, as the hot beverage made contact with his tongue, he added, "Ow!"
	"That's what you get for teasing."
	Dick made a face.  "Ah tan't talk."
	"What?  You want me to return your Christmas gifts?  Okay, then."
	"You're mean."
	Barbara laughed.  "Oh?  You want me to tell all of the BPD you sleep 
with a teddy bear?"
	"Dat's it.  Ah'm oudda here."  Dick took a large sip of the relatively 
cooler drink, and set the mug on the counter.  "I can't take all this abuse."
	Barbara glanced at the digital display on her stove.  It was definitely 
time for Dick to slip from civvies into the blacks and blues of Nightwing.
	"Fine.  Run to the big, bad Batman and whine."
	Dick made a mock expression of dignity, "I don't whine."
	Barbara followed Dick into the control room where he grabbed his duffel 
bag containing everything a vigilante on the go needed.
	Once ready, he looked back at the redhead waiting to see him off.
	"See you when the sun's up?"
	Barbara smiled.  "You can count on it.  Your present is waiting."
	"Did you get my list?"
	"Dick, singing "All I Want Is a Hippopotamus For Christmas" is not a 
list."
	"So you got the list?"
	"Bye, Dick."
	Laughing, Dick bent down to get close enough to hug the redhead, and 
then both give and receive a kiss.  "Bye, Babs."
	"Merry Christmas, Boy Wonder."	
	For a few minutes after Dick left, Barbara sat and thought.  After a 
moment, she went to the living room, and put in an Eric Clapton CD.
*
	Bright and early, on a beautiful, sun-and-snow-sparkled Christmas 
morning, Alfred went to his window and looked out.  Down below, standing tall 
and proud was a snowman holding a sign.
	"Merry Christmas, Alfred!" was what the sign, the snowman, and the 
makers of it happily declared. 

-End