A/N: Thanks for the reviews, guys. You rock!

Don't own batman, yaddah yaddah yaddah, you know the drill.

P.S. - steelec 1, are you secretly psychic or something?

Alfred smiled politely as the last of the guests left the Mansion. When the door finally closed, he paused for a moment and closed his eyes, sighing. These really weren't nice people, and despite supposedly having 'class' as they called it, they still managed to leave a mess behind.

And then there was the small matter of Master Bruce disappearing half way through the party, and his negotiations with the mayor's liaison. The pig-headed buffoon had spent the rest of the night loudly (And drunkenly, if he was being quite frank) demanding that Bruce show himself, or the entire power of the mayor's office would be down upon him before he could blink.

The aging butler knew that he would have to find some subtle way of making Master Bruce pay for that. Maybe he would let Master Timothy try out his waffle recipe again. With a fire extinguisher at the ready, of course.

Alfred went to grab his broom and begin the tedious process of sweeping up the floor when he heard giggles coming from the open balcony door. He had found a couple out there earlier in quite the compromising position and had taken great pleasure in telling them to, as the kids say, get the f**k out.

Walking cautiously outside, he braced himself for another drunken and snooty aristocrat to escort of the premises. What he found made him want to… what was the term Master Richard had used? Oh, that's right, face-palm.

Master Bruce and his charges were sitting in a circle on the roof, along with Miss Gordon. A pile of cards were lying in the middle of the group, and they appeared to be getting along rather well, for once.

Alfred smirked inwardly. He had just found Master Bruce's punishment.

Clearing his throat loudly, he hopped onto the roof (Being in the Queen's service in his younger years had done wonders for his agility) and cleared his throat loudly. Five heads simultaneously whipped around to stare at him.

Master Richard was the first one to speak. "He… hey, Alfred. Is, ah, is the party over already?"

Alfred stared at the young master until he looked away uncomfortably. "Yes it is. In fact, it was over almost twenty minutes ago. I am quite appalled that you all didn't at the very least come down to see your guests out."
Master Timothy, ever the honest one, could not keep his mouth shut in the face of authority. How he could keep an entire secret identity is far beyond Alfred.

"It wasn't our fault! Barbara—"

They all turned to look at the empty space where she had once been. Alfred noted that sometimes she seemed like more of a Bat than Master Bruce did. She certainly had the sneaky part mastered.

Master Damien, of course, could not waste the opportunity to antagonize Master Timothy. Which was exactly what he had been hoping for.

"Oh, please, Pennyworth. As if I would ever willingly spend time with this incompetent fool. We were merely—"

"Incompetent fool?! Excuse me, who was the one running scared from a bunch of Bruce's skank-y exes tonight?"

Damien scowled, but before he could get a word in, Bruce growled, "Skank-y?"

Master Richard grinned. "C'mon, Bruce, you gotta admit that they have a certain element of skank to them."

"How dare you speak to father this way?"

"That exactly what you said last week when one of them cornered you at the last party!"

"I said no such thing!"

Alfred stepped back and watched his handiwork unfold. The boys would be arguing for hours now, and Alfred would just be able to sit back and enjoy the show, so to speak.

"I bet you're pretty proud of yourself, huh?"

It took every ounce of control he had to not jump at the sound of Miss Gordon behind him. She really was a Bat.

Alfred primly hopped off the roof and dusted off his trousers, ignoring the sound of blows being exchanged. My, that had escalated rather quickly. Oh, well. They are more than capable of stitching themselves up this time.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean, Miss Gordon. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a ballroom to clean."