"When I get my hands on that slimy good for nothing time jumper he's gonna wish he'd never messed with my family, never started stealing Speed Force energy, never been born-!"

"Enough." The man said gently, catching the agitated speedster's wrist. "We'll find Zoom, we'll find Alf, and then we'll make that bastard regret ever touching our boys."

"We'd better." She growled. "Or I'm going to start tearing the entire timestream apart."

-LRR-

Selina yawned, stepping out of her bedroom and stretching. A grin snuck onto her face at the sight of Alf sprawled on the sofa, mimicking the same limpness of the various cats laying on and beside him. Looking away, Selina did her customary scan of the room, checking to make sure nothing had changed in the hours after dropping off to sleep.

Alf had finally dropped from exhaustion about sunrise, and it was now mid morning. Aside from the sunlight peeking in, everything appeared just as it had last night... Except for the backpack sitting underneath the window sill. That was definitely new.

Stalking across the room, Selina swept her eyes over the object, noting that all the zippers were open and there were no wires or explosives visible. Not until she spotted the Bat symbol hand stitched onto the top of the bag did the woman pick it up to peer inside.

Main pocket: boys clothes, practically the perfect size for Alf.

Secondary pocket: three cans of the gourmet brand cat food she occasionally splurged for.

And tucked into the pouch on the side was a note: I listened. Don't be mad. Bernie's Diner. Lunch. The handwriting was the scribble-print very distinctive of the recently-learned-to-read Cassandra Cain, Black Bat. Selina liked the girl, quiet as she was, but the fact she'd apparently heard some if not all of the conversations last night did not bode well.

Well, at least Cass would be paying for lunch.

Alf was awoken by a t-shirt thrown in his face. He flailed in startlement, ending up crouched on the floor with a birdarang raised and ready to be launched. Selina quirked an eyebrow at him, causing the kid to redden as he put away the projectile and picked up the article of clothing.

"Where'd you get these?" He asked, also noting the pants and green jacket in her hands.

"Apparently, one of the other Bats dropped them off for you this morning." Alf froze, his mind spinning over the possibilities inherent in that statement.

"Uh... Which won? And how- how much did they hear?" He gulped.

"Cassandra. And her note didn't say, but we're going to meet her for lunch, so get a move on." Taking a deep breath, Alf took all the offered clothing and retreated to the bathroom to change. Selina hummed to herself, taking the delivered cans into the kitchen, followed by her pets who recognized what was coming.

Not until all the cat food had been dished out and mostly consumed did Alf emerge again, his uniform neatly folded and clutched to his chest. The new clothes did hang a little loose on him, but they were better than anything Selina could have gotten in a hurry. She handed him the pair of sneakers that had been at the bottom of the backpack, and after changing herself, the two departed for their meeting.

Out in the daylight, Alf stuck noticeably close to Selina's side, hands in his pockets and eyes continually sweeping all along the streets and alley entrances. Gotham or not, the woman though he was being just a tad too paranoid. She reached out an elbow and nudged him, getting the kid to jerk his attention away from their surroundings and up at her.

"What?"

"Come on Alf, I know you've probably got serious surveillance training, but can you relax a bit? You're starting to make me nervous, and that ain't easy to do."

"Sorry." His gaze dropped to the sidewalk below his feet. "I'm not used to being out in the open like this without my at least some of family around in case of an emergency. Kidnapping attempts, villain attacks, things like that."

Selina felt like smacking herself. Clearly, the Wayne family was just as wealthy and important in the future as the present day, meaning that of course the kids would still be targets for creeps looking to make a ransom score.

"That happen often to you?"

"Bunch of times people have tried, but we fought them off. I've only been taken twice, and Dad came and got me really quick both times." Alf rubbed both of his arms, though despite the shudders he couldn't suppress their was a small smile on his face. "He beat the snot out of 'em."

"I bet he did." Selina chuckled. "Physical violence towards those that harm their children seems to be hereditary in you Waynes."

"Us Waynes," Corrected Alf, his eyes once more wandering the streets and missing Selina's momentary pause of surprise. She forced the sudden flutter of her heart to slow down, reminding herself that she wasn't supposed to ask the kid about his slips of the tongue, desperate as she was for clarification of the obscure statement. The two remained silent as they moved across the half a dozen blocks to Bernie's Diner.

It was a pretty small establishment, but well-kept and with decent food for this part of Gotham. Selina was fairly certain the owner's name was Margaret rather than Bernie, but that was beside the point. The thickset older woman behind the counter arched an eyebrow as she entered, but the look immediately softened when Alf slipped in as well, especially as he glanced around nervously and remained glued the Selina's side.

"Help yerself t' a table, hon." The woman smiled at them. Selina nodded her thanks, guiding the kid over to a corner where he'd be able to sit and easily observe the entire room. Alf shot her a grateful glance, then returned to his scanning as a man with a couple of menus walked over.

While both Selina and Alf looked over their options, the door opened again, and the kid's eyes widened as Cass walked in.

The slim young woman's gaze immediately jumped to the two of them, but she first went to counter and sat on one of the swivel stools. "Hello, Margaret."

"Mornin' sweetheart. Usual for ya?"

"Yes, please." A few minutes later, a plate of thick waffles covered in syrup, powdered sugar and juicy strawberry slices. At the sight of it, Alf's jaw dropped and he stared in longing.

"Bet I know what you want to get." Selina murmured in amusement. The kid tried to answer her, but words failed him as Cass picked up the plate, slipped off her stool and walked over to them, sliding it in front of him.

"Uh-" Alf looked back and forth between the massive amount of food and the ever so slightly smiling young woman.

"I decided you needed cheering up." She whispered to him. "Enjoy."

Permission granted, Alf grabbed the silverware beside him, ripped the napkin off and dug in. Within minutes, his face and the surrounding tabletop was liberally smeared or speckled with the flying syrup and cream while Cass and Selina attempted to avoid the barrage.

"So, somehow you overheard some things last night." The older woman stated when there was a pause in the mauling of waffles.

"On the roof." Cass clarified. "Bruce knows I listened, but I did not tell him the details."

"Good, or else I'd have to smack the both of you." Alf nearly choked on his mouthful of food at that statement, but Selina ignored him. "Now, did you come up with any ideas on how to help Alf get home?"

"We ask other time travellers." Cass spoke as though that was obvious. "If it was a speedster's fault, then a speedster can fix it."

Alf swallowed his last bite and frowned at them. "That's... Not quite right."

A/N: Geez, is it just me, or are these chapters getting longer? I might even get the next one out as quickly as a few days from now - three day weekends spent at my dad's place are good for writing, as opposed to the ones working on my mom's farm at least.

Anywho, things will be picking up soon, and we'll be getting a few jumps in time to see how Alf's family is handling his disappearance, along with his reluctant working with modern-day people to try and get back home.

There will, needless to say, be more plot twists on the horizon. Muahaha...