"What the hell?" Alf jumped at the new voice, despite the fact that it sounded more tired and confused than angry. He slowly turned, eyes widening at the sight of the muscular young man in the doorway to the kitchen, clothed in nothing but a pair of pajama bottoms.

"Ah, Master Jason." Mister Pennyworth said smoothly. Alf marvelled at the man's calm demeanor. "This is a guest of Miss Kyle, who has been kind enough to assist me in some baking this afternoon." Blinking, Jason looked at him, then at Alf, and back to Mister Pennyworth. He then mumbled something incoherent, shuffling into the kitchen and taking a seat. As he did so, Alf peered over, taking particular note of the man's gait.

"What're you looking at, runt?" Jason grumbled, upon noticing him, as the butler began preparing a mug of coffee for the still-tired crimefighter.

Alf tried to hold his words back, he really did, but his intense need earlier to restrain how much he talked had begun to ebb after the hours in Selina's company. "You have two feet." He finally blurted.

Both adults blinked at him, Pennyworth in bemusement and Jason in utter bewilderment. "Uh... Yeah?" After that, Alf resolutely kept his mouth sealed.

He and the butler set about finishing the rest of their dessert items, and for a while the boy was able to lose himself in the tasks before him. But, as with all things, the preparations came to an end, and they were left with three trays absolutely covered with treats and sweets.

"Um... What now?" He asked quietly.

"Now, young sir, we are going to take these trays out to the rear patio, and enjoy ourselves for a short time before your host arrives to collect you again."

Alf's eyes widened. "Are we going to eat all of this?" He jumped slightly as Jason let out a harsh bark of a laugh.

"Kid, I don't think you're big enough to eat a quarter of what's on one of those stacks, let alone half of the whole spread total."

"You've never seen me eat." The kid countered. Jason merely grunted, returning to his coffee. Chuckling, the butler patted Alf on the shoulder, before smoothly grasping and lifting one of the trays. He waited for the boy to follow suit, threw a single arched eyebrow at Jason, then turned and strode from the room. Expecting to lead the way to the rear patio, Alfred was pleasantly surprised a few moments later when young Alf hurried around him, holding up his own heavily laden tray and making a beeline for the most direct route to their destination.

He made sure not to let it show, though. A good butler kept his expression studiously blank in the face of most emotions.

Unsurprisingly, young Alf beat his namesake to the double doors leading outside, and, as his hands were busy holding the tray, the boy balanced on one foot to use the other to turn the handle. It was only when he reached the arrangement of furniture that Alf paused, looking uncertain.

"On that table there, young sir." The elder directed him, setting his own tray down upon the same piece of furniture. A few moments later, Jason came shuffling out as well with the third tray in his hands.

"So, since I don't think I slept long enough for everyone to have gotten back yet, who's all this for, Alfie?" The muscular man asked neutrally, setting the last of the desserts on the table.

"Our downstairs guests, actually. I'm sure you can recall what fearsome appetites the members of the Allen and West households harbor."

Little Alf paled while Jason groaned. "Speedsters. Why do we have speedsters visiting, again? It's not because of you, is it kid?"

"Uh..." Alf tried to come up with answer, but he was in too great a panic for anything to come out. If Selina and Cass were sharing information about him, and anyone was able to connect some of the dots, there was no telling what damage to the timeline might be caused.

Glaring slightly as the pipsqueak remained silent, Jason was about to ask another irritated question when a blur came through the patio doors and skidded to a stop beside them.

"Hi Jay! Hi Mr. Pennyworth! Hi Alf!" Irey grinned at all three of them, before descending on one of the dessert trays. A couple minutes later, the others who'd been meeting in the Cave below the mansion arrived as well. Alf found himself shrinking slightly under Bruce Wayne's steely gaze, though he gained some measure of comfort from Selina ruffling his hair as she came to stand beside him. Cass settled on a patio chair beside Jason, while Barry joined his great-niece at the desserts.

"So, Alf." The elder speedster began to speak after downing several pastries. "We've done a little swapping of information - nothing too detailed, so don't freak out on me - and have come up with a tentative plan to help get you back to your proper place and time." Despite the cold hand of fear that had gripped his insides at the start of Barry's statement, Alf found himself growing hopeful. "I'm going to manipulate a bit of Speed Force energy to put, basically, a distress beacon on you. I won't have it last very long, but if you've got speedsters from your own time looking for you, they'll be able to sense it and get a bead on your temporal position. Does that sound okay with you?"

Hesitantly, he nodded. Barry continued to eat a little more (building up his strength, he said with a wink) before he came over and kneeled in front of the redheaded boy. Carefully, the speedster rested his hands on Alf's head and left shoulder, concentrating on the residual energies the kid carried with him. Then, with a deep breath, he brought up a few flickers of electric orange light, and sent them reverberating through the boy and into the Speed Force.

Alf let out a giggle before he could stop himself, making Barry smile. "Tickles, yeah? That's a good sign." They kept it up for a few more minutes, until the speedster cut off the flow of energies and sat back on his heels, sighing. "Alright. Now we just have to wait to see who responds to the signal, and hope Professor Zoom doesn't show up."

"That would be bad," Alf agreed, startling the pair of speedsters, who had been yet to hear him talk. "But he keeps getting his butt kicked by the Flash and Bat Families, so I don't think he'd be stupid enough to come here of all places. That was why he attacked me and Mom and Dad and Richard when we were on our way back from the picnic in Central City-" Realizing he was rambling, Alf's eyes widened, and he clapped both hands over his mouth.

Selina rolled her eyes. "Kid, you aren't going to completely obliterate the proper timeline just because you go and ramble for a minute. Personally, I think that bottling up all those words is what's causing you to release so many of 'em at once when you get started." Alf just sighed behind his self-made gag.

Jason stared past them as he munched on a scone. "So, Allen, what would a response to the 'distress beacon' look like, exactly?"

"Mm? Oh, probably a glowing oval of light showing up for a few seconds, which is the door to the Speed Force that one of us can use to travel around reality."

"Something like that thing, then?" Their heads all turned to look at a portal, matching Barry's description, as it appeared on the manicured lawn behind the mansion's patio. And then someone stepped out of it.

A/N: After months of silence, I am finally back on a roll, updating all my old stories again. So, another chapter or so to finish this tale off, and then Alf's first adventure through time will be complete!

That's right. I said FIRST. The little birdie's really gonna hate time travel when I get through with him and his family. Muahahaha...

Any guesses on who's coming to get the kid?