#Maribat Luka

[liquid-luck-00]

Marks of Magic

Day 8 Familiar of Maribat Spooktober 2023

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Language and cursing is used

2230 Words

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Six years had passed and Marinette decided it was time to go back to Gotham.

She was taking a break from her designs for a bit and Luka and Jagged asked if she wanted to tour with them for a bit.

And who was she to say no. She loved them both, one was her boyfriend, while the other was his dad (and her pseudo crazy uncle). Gotham was Jagged’s hometown so it made sense for him to stop there on his North American Tour.

So here she was after six years, the cold autumn air was chilly but not too cold yet. The sky just starting to shift into dusk, casting more shadows than usual. She and Luka were walking hand in hand under the giant white oak when she noticed it. The stage, the cannons, the man standing in that horridly tacky green and purple three piece suit.

“Well that’s a familiar sight.” She sighed watching the progression make its way to the park entrance. “Come on. From what I’ve seen the Riddler has toned it down a lot ever since that new guy came in.”

“And how are we to help?” He grinned at her knowingly.

“Please riddles are child’s play.” She waved pulling him along.

“Let’s see, let’s see. You their black and red dye. Answer 3 riddles and the city goes free.”

“Why not.” She shrugged at the rogue.

“Why do zombies never win…”

“At poker?” She finished the riddle. “It’s because they have a tell-tale heart.”

She grinned remembering the grin that was erased from this timeline.

“How did you?” He looked at her quizzically. “Never mind. Walk on the living, they don't even mumble, step on the dead…”

“They mutter and grumble.” She finished again, the familiarity of the situation making her smile. “Leaves, of course. So are you going to give out some new riddles or at least cut the theatrics.”

“You’re a meta aren’t you.” He accused.

“Nope. I’ve just heard them before.” She popped the ‘p’ while tilting her head to the side.

“Here’s the next one.” He started but didn’t get to start it before she interrupted him.

“While some spring forward, I choose to fall back. Come and join me while you sit on a haystack. I may show a movie with a crazed maniac, I will for sure host a festival to give you a heart attack.” She started to laugh as the rogue stood shocked. “Do you only have a limited autumn library, or did I just get the only repeat performance.”

“You’re that little girl.” He stood shocked at this little revelation.

“And I can knock you on your ass again if you’d like.” She smiled.

“It’s not nice to tease him, he is a villain after all.” Luka murmured hugging her.

“Please if I knock him down it would be far softer than if it was the bat.” She pouted loud enough for those who gathered could hear.

“Want to test that theory?” Speak of the devil and he shall appear, Batman.

She tensed slightly, resisting the urge to glare at the ‘hero’ that stood just behind the Riddler. “I wouldn’t want to overstep.”

“Besides we have somewhere to be, Melody, we wouldn’t want to show up after a fight do we.”

She crossed her arms and pouted, puffing out her cheeks.

“I don’t care, but your dad does…” She huffed.

“Are you really that girl?” Riddler still gawked at the two of them, before seeming to make up his mind.

Just like all those years ago he charged her. And just like before she punched him in the nose. Luka let her go and jumped back, knowing she was going to throw him over her shoulder.

“Yup…” The riddler breathed out. “You’re that same girl. But you’re right softer than Bats.”

He laid on his back, not even trying to move.

“Wow!” A new voice shouted from behind her. “You’re tiny! I didn’t think you could actually do it.”

She turned and saw a young boy, maybe 14 or 15. He was in a mask, in a variation of the classic boy wonder suit, a new Robin. Her breath caught and she doesn’t remember how to breathe for a moment.

How could he?!

How could Batman let another child take up the mantle.

She couldn’t believe it, she was horrified, but more so she was livid. She wanted to march up to him and slap him. She turned and there was a tug on her wrist.

“He isn’t worth your anger, love.” Luka hummed, calming her enough that she remembered to breathe.

“Your right.” She shrugged. “Besides if I ever get arrested it isn’t going to be for this.”

She laughed, which he joined into.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we need a quick statement.” A gentleman, drew their attention, the coat, glasses, and the now salted chestnut hair.

“Commissioner Gordon, right?” She smiled at the officer. Sure she ran into him once but that day is in the forefront of her mind at the moment.

“Yes. How did you know?” He blinked.

“An event eerily similar to this one, a few years ago. You drove…” Her eyes started to tear, but she blinked them away quickly.“Jay and I home after.”

A light seemed to blink on and she thinks he recognized her, just as quickly his eyes turned somber.

“You’ve gotten big.” He seemed to sniffle, but she isn’t sure if it was because of the cold or if he knows what happened to Jay. But he shook his head before getting back to his duty. “Right, a statement…”

They gave a statement before turning, well Luka turned her, she assumes it’s because of Batman. She feels his stare on her and it really was starting to fucking piss her off.

•••

“You don’t have to go, Marinette. “

“I know I don’t have to, but it’s important to Jagged.” She sighed before waving a hand. “Besides I only met them once, I doubt they remember.”

“If your sure.” Luka asked her again, to which she nodded.

They grabbed their jackets and walked down to the lobby of their hotel.

“You ready to meet and old friend of mine, you two?” Jagged slung an arm around each of their necks the moment they stepped off the elevator.

“As much as we can be.” She smiled as she and Luka linked their hands, while Penny ushered them outside.

“So how are you liking Gotham, Mari?” Jagged asked her after she was staring out of the window a while.

“I’ve been here before. Everything is familiar but different, you know.” She sighed.

“I get it it’s been too long since I was back here.” Jagged tried to get her to talk but dropped it soon enough.

She never forgot her promise and she is living it. She became one of the newest and popular fashion houses in not just Paris but was starting to gain even more traction internationally. Her personal client list was populated by some of the biggest A-listers including Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Prince Ali, the Tsurugi Family, the Graham de Vanily family, and even the Queen family. She travelled the world to find inspiration, and if she helped s few people with her magical abilities she smiled at their faces. Hell she was named one of the twenty under twenty, the year before for her work with environmental textiles.

Before she knew it the gates of Wayne manor were opening before them. The same intricate iron work she remembered opened into perfectly manicured lawns on either side of the long driveway.

“Jared it’s good to see you.” A cheerful voice called from the doorway, Bruce Wayne.

“Brucie! Ah, your right mate!” Jagged slung an arm around his old friend.

“These must be your boys!”

“This is Dick and Tim.” Bruce smiled placing a hand on each of the two he mentioned. “And are they yours, Jared?”

“My son, Luka, and his sweetheart and my future daughter in law, Marinette.” He waved towards both of them.

“Jagged!” She yelped in embarrassment, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Alfred good to see ya!” Jagged bounce right past the two men and child, towards the eldest gentleman.

Marinette however could feel three sets of eyes on her, and she wanted to scream. Luka tugged on her hand and squeezed, centering her.

“Dinner is ready.” Alfred commanded everyone’s attention, so they made their way to the dining room. They sat down and she tried to avoid eye contact, not really paying attention to the conversation. That is until…

“You look so familiar, we must have met before. Now I remember, Nettie!” Her head snapped up and directly at Dick. “So what have you been up to, Nettie.”

“Please… Please don’t call me that.” She tried to keep her voice level but she knows it is shaking. Her knuckles were turning white as she gripped the napkin in her lap.

“Why not? It’s cute.” The younger boy, Tim, she recalled answered trying to break the tension.

“Because the only person who can call me that is dead.” She got up and started walking out of the room.

“Give her space.” She heard Luka say, probably to Jagged or maybe even the Wayne’s, she isn’t sure.

She was originally going to walk out side but at the last minute she decided to climb the stairs. She only walked this way twice, once when she dumped half of her life’s trauma on this family and the second the morning after.

She turned the handle and it was as if time had frozen. Books piled on the bedside tables. A backpack thrown haphazardly on the desk, notebooks had spilled from it onto the floor. She walked in and sat at the foot of the bed. Model cars, motorcycles, and even engine parts littered the bookshelves. She knows dinner has probably ended but she didn’t move, she wanted to cry, but that feels as if it might be insulting at the moment.

Knock.

Her head snapped from the window, a crescent moon floated low over the trees, towards the door. She doesn’t know who she expected, but it wasn’t Dick, maybe Alfred if she’s honest.

“Room for one more?” He asked quietly. She nodded and walked in, instead of sitting next to her he sat on the ground in front of her. “Im sorry. How? How did you know?”

“It wasn’t like him.” She sighed. “Did you know?”

“Yeah.” He leaned back. “I was so angry with Bruce, he didn’t even tell me I had to find out through the paper.”

She stared at him now. “His death wasn’t in the paper, I was looking for it but it never came. Oh kwamii, please no.”

She covered her mouth, Robin’s death was made public not Jason’s. So if she knows and he knows, the two of them stared at one another.

“Marinette?”

“If Jay was… are you… were you… that means Tim is… so is Bruce… no never mind don’t answer that.” She stood. “Nope. Nope. Nuh-uh!”

She looked at him and he was just staring at her.

“Marinette, how do you know?” He stood and placed a hand on each of her shoulders stopping her from pacing.

“I was there.” Her voice was resolute, staring right at the person who called himself Jay’s brother.

“You saw…” He couldn’t finish his sentence.

“I was angry at you for not telling me, but you didn’t know.”

“Two months, Bruce wouldn’t tell me for two months, and then I snapped.” His eyes turned dark.

“Live.”

“What?” He watched her, pleadingly, as she seemed to pull him from his dark thoughts.

“Live. That was the last thing he said. We were trapped in that warehouse, the bomb, once we noticed it was almost over.” He listened, his grip on her shoulders lessening. “I tried to get us out but the door was stuck, I held him until it exploded. The next second I was back in my apartment before I passed out. I didn’t have enough magic to save us both.”

Tears finally flowed from her, Dick was also crying at this point. They just cried for a while, that is until everyone decided to try and find them. Luka and Alfred were the ones who did.

“I didn’t know.” Dick finally spoke, his voice hoarse, from his tears.

“How could you?” She wiped the last of her tears away.

“We should have said something to you. You were his only friend.”

“Master Dick.” Alfred handed him a handkerchief.

“You truly a Paon, Alfred.” She smiled.

“Tell Jagged I’ll meet you guys back at the hotel, Luka.”

“You better not be planning anything.”

“Me.” She smiled, a glimmer in her eyes. “Never.”

•••

A portal appeared under her and she disappeared.

“Melody.” He called out but he knew she didn’t hear, so he shook his head, a laugh that turned into a grumble. “I better not read about this tomorrow.”

The two others looked at him as if he could explain, but really he doesn’t think he should.

The fact that this man has a miraculous means he can be trusted, but with what he knows he is wary.

She seems to trust both if her song was any indication and they don’t mean to hurt her. But it’s not his secret to tell.

Next

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Taglist:

@jennifer-rose123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @joydone07 @mizzy-pop

[mae-dwrites]

Rue - Chapter 6

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Zoé didn’t really understand why she of all people was here.

Yes, she knew about the Miraculous, but she came to Paris after they defeated ShadowMoth. The only reason she found out was because she overheard Chloé talking to Marinette about the Miraculous and her being Ladybug. She didn't expect to be a part of anything, not really. The support system? Yes, absolutely! Because even if she didn't get it she could still be there for them.

But here she was sitting in a chair, in the comfy conference room in her sister’s hotel with Marinette holding a comb out to her. To say Zoé was anxious would be an understatement.

“You don’t have to take it, I can choose someone else,” Marinette reminded her gently. Zoé looked between Marinette, the comb, and her sister.

“Shouldn’t you give this to Chloé?” Zoé just wanted to be the support really, but not this kind of support. More of she didn’t expect to become this type of support. She wasn’t entirely against it but…

“Chloé can become unstable with certain types of magic or very specific Miraculi. The Bee Miraculous became one of those, while on the outside she is a perfect match on the inside her soul becomes hungry,” Marinette explained. “The Miraculi are very ancient magic, so they’re very raw even in the form they take. Chloé has a soul that can become uncontrollable.

“It’s like when you mix the wrong chemicals together,” Alix said behind her. “Usually a bad result whether that be an explosion or no reaction at all.”

“Wouldn't there not being a reaction be good?” Zoé turned to Alix. Alix always had this sly-knowing expression, not the kind she saw from the wolf-like actors and models that thought they were better than her. This was friendly, a more gentle, and sometimes a borderline teasing look.

“Think more in a classroom, the teacher is wanting the lab to result in a specific way. So if you do it wrong your grade will suffer. You dig?” Alix raised her brows with a smirk.

“That does make sense,” Zoé mumbled. “But why am I getting the Bee?”

“Well I trust you,” Marinette smiled. “You've never told anyone, the press, your other friends, or even your fiancée. You've proven you can be trusted even when we already trusted you. Also while you're not a perfect match inside or out, you're still great for it. You're not likely to explode as Alix put it.”

Zoé glanced down at the comb before looking at her sister, her hair had been growing out. The natural brown coming out, no doubt that she would have them redone before her next meeting or public appearance.

Chloé raised an eyebrow at her, Zoé looked at the comb before looking back up to her sister. A whisper of a smile Zoé could make out on her sister.

“Honestly Zoé you doubt her choices now of all times? Dupain-Cheng has never left us astray, has she? No, the answer is no. She was Ladybug, take the comb before she has to give it to someone unworthy of it.” Chloé raised her nose in the air.

Zoé looked at the comb again, her sister was never one to make a compliment outright. So to hear her say that someone other than her would be unworthy made her swell.

Zoé looked back at the comb, she looked at Marinette again who simply smiled. A face of kindness, kindness that Zoé had always been met with. Kindness that always hid what Marinette truly felt, she always wished she could break past that, to see what she really felt. Those moments weren’t often for Zoé, now certainly wasn’t one of them.

Zoé finally reached for the comb, doing so the Kwami came out. Pollen if she remembered correctly, a bee-like in appearance with a strange pattern of blue and yellow eyes. They were a bit unnerving, but when you looked past that they were quite charming truly. Zoé liked to think this was the kwami’s “stinger” as she didn’t actually have one, and the string was what made people scared of bees.

“Hello my queen,” The kwami floated in front of the blond. “I await our path for your achievements.”

Some members let out a chuckle at Pollen’s words. Her formality and devotion had made Zoé giggle on occasion as well. Zoé nodded to Pollen with a smile before glancing at her sister, she knew how much her sister loved Pollen, her favorite Miraculous had the Bee. She had gone into detail about how it practically hurt not to have it, though she had also stated she feared that it was mainly due to her soul’s hunger for the comb. She did love Pollen, but she could never truly be her holder.

Chloé only stared at Pollen, her hand brushing the collar necklace. The black was simple enough that no one would notice it, or at the very least brush it off. It had become hers as it was the one she was the most stable with. Barkk nuzzled her to comfort her, Chloé glared at the dog kwami. It held no true malicious towards the creature, truly Chloé adored the dog as much as her dear Pollen. Chloé scratched Barkk as she glanced around the room.

Luka had caught her attention, his body, despite his best efforts, was tense. The young man watched only Marinette, while he had gotten over her obviously a part of him never did. It hurt to watch him, for Chloé at least. She had no doubt it was painful for Alix to watch them, as in her Burrow she literally watched over all of them.

Luka had been turning the bracelet around ever since Marinette had returned it to him. As an adult, he could start a second chance and go back to that second chance, and if you had used the Miraculous as a teen you could even go back to then. That at least had been as much as Chloé had been aware of from her times babysitting the Kwami when they were younger. They humored her, though Chloé felt more as if they were pitying her. So they let her know what differences there were between children and adults, as teens were never “a thing” when they were created. Just child and adult, and even then it varied.

The extra power that came with being an adult was why it was the Miraculous was usually avoided in use unless it was clear they were needed. Truly Chloé knew more than she should, no doubt that the Order would have a field day if they knew just how much all of Marinette’s friends knew collectively. Chloé and Alya did know more than anyone in the group, not counting Alix and Marinette of course.

Sabrina reentered the room giving Max a nudge, Max laguhed bringing Marinette’s attention to them and cleared her throat before speaking.

“Now as for Emma and Hugo,” Marinette’s voice brought Luka and Chloé from their heads. “I was already talking to Adrien before all of this to properly expand into America. I already had everything set up, Adrien was to stay here with the girls while I went scouting big cities. Now I,” Marinette sighed her exhaustion coming through.

“I can’t leave the girls here, and I don’t want to dump them on my parents.” Marinette shuffled looking away from everyone. “I’m going bring them with me to America. It’s the only option I could best come up with, without making them miss both of us.”

She left the floor open for anyone to take, she didn’t hold herself up like the leader she had been for so long. She hunched into herself, looking away from her allies, her friends, her…family.

“Marinette are you expecting us to be mad at you?” Alya asked from her seat. She sighed and rubbed her nose moving the disguised glasses.

“You must be getting truly hopeless if you believe we would be mad at you for moving to a different country,” the blond in the corner spoke up for the first time. Duusuu nested in his hair an expression close to a glare stayed on Félix. Alya and Chloé both shot the man a glare. Alya never got over him attacking Marinette after they defeated ShadowMoth, and Chloé…was well Chloé. She never did like Félix, truly.

Félix ignore them looking at Marinette who finally looked up at her friends, the young woman looking skittish, which depending on the situation wasn’t unusual. Alya looked back to Marinette taking her in like others around the room.

“Oh Mars,” Alya got up from her seat, making her way to her best friend. “You’re trying your best. You want to protect your family on all fronts, two years ago you sent them to London with Adrien to visit Félix to protect them.”

“And Mara still went after them,” Marinette said, desperation in her voice. “The girls and Adrien didn’t deserve that! Félix didn’t deserve to deal with that either.”

“Marinette you always think through your options and pick what you believe to be the best course of action. Which more often than not is from what I have grown to understand over the years,” Félix spoke up his eyes steady on Marinette. “It’s not about deserving, you didn’t plan for that wraith to go after them so soon. I still don’t understand why she insisted on getting Adrien over the girls. I’ve tried and failed to, but we can not win every fight.”

Marinette opened her mouth only for Chloé to cut in, “Dupain-Cheng. Do not say a single word right now! Or so help me I will do something drastic.”

Marinette sighed but nodded.

“Marinette you try your best, and your best is always enough. Your best is more than anyone tries!” Alya grabbed Marinette’s face, “You are Marinette Dupain-Cheng! There’s nothing you can’t accomplish.

“Being Guardian and a mother is going to be hard. You knew that and those dumb monks looked down on you, but you’ve made it work. You’ve proven you can be in the modern world and have a family while still protecting the Miraculi. You’re so resilient, and even more stubborn than any of us. I would have given up a long time ago if I were in your place,” Alya laughed shaking her head fondly.

“Marinette we could never hate you,” she finally said making Marinette look at her.

“There’s a lot you’d have to do to get rid of us,” Sabrina smirked with a hand resting on her hip.

“There is a higher likelihood of us losing our jobs than us hating you Marinette,” Max stated.

“What Kanté said,” Chloé gave a rather harsh look to Marinette. Marinette felt a smile tugging at her despite how she felt.

“I wouldn’t say exactly that but the sentiment is there from me too,” Félix stated from his corner of the conference room. Chloé frowned and Alya rolled her eyes but Marinette faced Félix, well as much as she could with Alya holding her face captive, smiling gratefully.

Félix gave a small smile to the Eurasian woman, he certainly wasn’t the closest with her, but there was an understanding between the two. Félix wouldn’t admit to being friends but Marinette always caught his smile right before he hid it when she called him her friend.

“Some of us could go to America with you, it would be a bit counterproductive to give us these to be prepared to help you if you moved to another country,” Zoé spoke up. “I have to head back to America with Jojo anyway.”

“Nino has a movie offer to direct so we’ve been discussing moving over there temporarily. But since my application got accepted might be more permanent,” Alya said, giving a squeeze on her shoulders.

Chloé sighed, “I suppose I could join you all if necessary.”

Zoé and Sabrina giggled getting a glare from Chloé. Marinette sighed with something like fondness, it made the others have even the smallest of smiles.

[dessarious]

What Makes a Family? Pt27

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Marinette walked down the stairs to find Cass scowling at Bruce and signing rapidly. Selina was whispering with her Maman, who looked far too amused, so Cass had to be laying into him pretty hard. Damian was looking on in confusion, but the other boys were nodding along with whatever her twin was saying. She really needed to have Cass teach her to sign. Chloe appeared next to her.

"I'm actually learning new terms. You sister is extremely creative with swearing." Of course, that would be what impressed Chloe. Mari had to wonder how much of it was just not knowing common terms, so she made up her own.

"I don't want to mess up her relationship with him." Chloe scoffed.

"Given the way the others are reacting, this isn't the first, or worst, of his overstepping. I'm thinking this is a long overdue rant."

"You did what when I was with Babs?" Dick's indignant shout startled most of the room. "Yeah, I'm never bringing anyone home ever again. Not unless I've been married for two years." Mari sent Chloe a questioning glance.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Yeah, if Chloe was saying that... she really didn't want to know.

"You've never known when to butt out, old man. The difference this time is that you don't have any right to butt in in the first place." Jason's tone was downright hostile.

"She's my daughter."

"A biological connection doesn't mean you own me. I'll be eighteen in three months anyway and I'm completely financially independent, so if you want any type of relationship with me, it's going to be on my terms, Mr. Wayne. Those terms will include not interfering in my relationships with others, romantic or otherwise, and not telling me how I'm allowed to live my life." He looked like he was going to argue, but Cass signed at him before standing beside Mari. He looked at the boys for help, but the only one not glaring at him was Damian.

"Marinette, you're young. You have no idea the danger-"

"Do not pretend you know anything about me or my life, let alone what I do and do not know. I assure you, I know what I'm doing, and Luka and Kagami are not a threat or a problem. If you can't accept that, then you can leave." She hadn't wanted to get to this point so soon, especially since it put Cass's ability to stay in question. Unfortunately, she also wasn't willing to set a precedent with him by letting him think he could act this way with her. She'd been around enough powerful people to know that if she didn't set boundaries now, she'd never be able to enforce them. Jagged was proof of that.

"Perhaps we should discuss this privately." No way was that happening. She could almost see the hero lecture waiting to burst out of him.

"After what you just tried to pull, and your apparent history of browbeating your kids into things, we're not about to let that happen." Tom's voice was harder than she'd ever heard it. "If you won't respect my daughter's boundaries, you'll be asked to leave." The emphasis he put on 'my daughter' caused Bruce to flinch. She would feel worse about it if not for the fact that all her siblings, besides Damian, seemed to approve of it.

"I think we should separate for the time being, and try this again later. Tempers are high, so we all need space to calm down." Sabine sounded cheerful enough, but there was a hard edge to her words that everyone caught. As much as Mari thought it was a good idea, they were in a bit of a time crunch.

"Given that they're only going to be here for a week, it might be best to get things settled. But, if Bruce isn't willing to compromise, there's not much point in continuing this discussion." She could hear how tired she sounded and given the concerned looks at her and glares at Bruce, everyone else could, too.

"By compromise you mean letting you decide everything." The sulkiness in Bruce's voice made her roll her eyes. Yes, this had to suck for him, but he couldn't honestly expect her to let him just take over her life.

"No, but there are going to be things that aren't negotiable. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, and I'd appreciate the same courtesy. We know next to nothing about eachother, and until we do it's not really fair to have an opinion on each other's lives." He didn't seem to know what to do with that. She was sure that, for a man used to being in charge, it wasn't something he had experience with. "I want to get to know you, all of you, but I'm not going to change who I am or how I live my life to do it. If you can't accept that, you can leave."

Cass hugged her from behind, and Mari could feel her twin glaring at Bruce. As much as she had hoped it wouldn't be necessary, it was obvious who Cass would side with in this. Of the boys, Jason seemed firmly entrenched on her side, Dick and Tim were more of a neutral, and Damian just seemed confused, but he'd most likely side with Bruce for the time being. Hopefully, it wouldn't destroy her chance of getting to know him permanently. When it became obvious Bruce either couldn't or wouldn't back down, Selina went over to start whispering in his ear. Alfred had been scarily silent through everything, and Mari really wasn't certain what to make of it.

"You need my help." Selina rolled her eyes, and Alfred just shook his head. The man really needed to learn when to back down.

"I need Cass. That's it." He flinched, and even the boys were trading looks. Bruce was closing off. She could see it. "I need to show Cass her new school. Why don't you take the evening to think things over? We can try this again tomorrow when everyone is calmer." Bruce looked about ready to explode.

"That sounds like a good idea. Master Bruce, we should head back to the hotel." The glare Bruce sent Alfred didn't phase the man at all. The stern look he sent back had the boys looking like they were ready to wet themselves.

"Fine." Bruce signed something at Cass and she felt her twin stiffen up behind her. Chloe looked like she was about to start screaming at him, too.

"Miss Cassandra will be staying with Miss Marinette. Indefinately." Alfred's tone was frigid and just about everyone seemed to be cowering or eyeing the man like he was going to explode. Even Bruce hunched in on himself a tiny bit. "Now we really should be on our way."

Mari had a feeling Alfred was going to be having a long conversation with Bruce. She just hoped it had the desired outcome. The man obviously had control issues, and she couldn't afford to have him try to take over her life. She had a feeling she was already going to have a major issue with Batman trying to step on her toes once he actually went through an Akuma attack. She couldn't count on there not being one before he and the others went home. Not to mention, if she'd heard right, he could just use some tech the Justice League had to teleport back at any time. She'd have to ask Cass about that, too.

Selina practically pushed Bruce out the door, while the boys followed under Alfred's gaze. Before going joining the rest, Jason shoved a piece of paper in her hand with a wink. She had a feeling he was one brother she could count on not to run to Bruce with information.

Once they were all out of the door, Mari felt herself relax. She felt terrible that things had gone downhill so quickly, but there really wasn't another option at this point. She couldn't afford to show weakness. There was far too much at stake, both in her personal life and as a hero. Cass tightened her hold on Mari.

"He needs time. He'll calm down."

"Unfortunately, time isn't something we have right now. If this doesn't get better, I'm going to have to force him to leave Paris before Hawkmoth is back in fighting form." She didn't even want to think about how much that would piss him off. She had a feeling Batman's ego wouldn't take too well to being thrown out of a city by another hero. Alfred and Selina would take her side... at least she thought so.

"Alfred will make things right." She wasn't quite sure what Cass meant by that, but she hoped she was right. She opened the paper that Jason handed her and heard Cass giggle behind her.

If you need someone to help you hassle B, give me a shout. ~Jason

It had five phone numbers on it. If she didn't know his 'occupation', it would seem excessive. It did mean she had at least one of her brothers on her side when it came to Bruce though. Whether that was a good thing or not was yet to be determined.

"Why don't we head over to the school? There are a few clubs meeting, so I know the building is open. That way, you can get a feel for the layout before tomorrow." She knew it would stress Cass out if they didn't scope out the building. It was going to be bad enough being around so many new people.

"You don't want to eat first?" Given the looks her Maman was shooting at the door, she was more worried about them running into Bruce than the actual food, but it was a good idea anyway.

"Of course, Maman. We wouldn't want it to go to waste." Especially since she made enough to feed the whole city again. Maybe she should text Jason and see if he wanted to meet them at the school and they could bring him some. "Maybe we could take some to go as well. I wanted to show Cass the houseboat, and if it's late enough, we might stay there." It wasn't a lie, just not the whole truth.

"Probably a good idea. It'll give your father and I time to talk to Bruce should he decide to come looking for you." She really hoped he didn't. Her Maman might actually kill him. She would text Selina or Alfred to make sure he didn't come over, but she had a feeling that would have the opposite effect she was looking for. After they ate and while her Maman was boxing up food, her Papa motioned her out into the hallway.

"What's wrong?" She heard the panic in her own voice and her Papa winced.

"Nothing's wrong. I didn't mean to worry you. I just wanted to make sure you were handling everything alright. I know things have been tense, and you tend to overthink everything without letting anyone know." She leaned forward slightly, and that's all it took for him to envelop her in a hug. Her Papa gave the best hugs.

"What if he makes her go back?" She knew it was an irrational thought, but it wouldn't go away. Her Papa hugged her tighter.

"That's not going to happen. We won't let it, and more importantly, Cass won't let it. I truly don't believe there's a force strong enough to separate the two of you. And if there is, Plagg will get rid of it." Marinette started giggling and couldn't stop. It was a little disturbing that she found the image of Plagg getting rid or Bruce amusing, but she was willing to chalk it up to stress.

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[1moonflame8]

MLB x BATMAN Fanfic Idea

So I don't remember who had the idea first but they inspired mine. Marinette is Alfred's mom but here is my twist.

Alfred is the child of Marinette and Luka (I love Lukanette). Alfred is born with magic and is immortal just like his parents (blessings from the Kwamis) but Alfred hides that he's immortal with an illusion glamor that makes it seem like he's aging when in reality he stopped aging at 21 and looks just like his father but the tips of his hair are red.

The Batfamily are shocked when Marinette suddenly arrives at the manor to visit her son who then reveals the truth about himself to the Batfamily.

The chaos!

[mind0zone]

Evangeline Keys

And a series of MariBat related quotes!

Eva: A list of people getting therapy the moment I get rich; Everyone.

Dick: I think that’s an exaggeration?

Eva: it’s not, you’re after Jason.

🕸️

Mari: So now that I found out he’s my dad I’m heading to Gotham

Felix and Eva (whose both been to Gotham, met Bruce Wayne, saw his chaotic children): why do you carry this luck around you?

Mari: Pardon? 😃

🕸️

Eva: I hate people who go “I wouldn’t wish that on my worse enemy!” I would, and I’d double the prayer as well.

Jason: are you sure we can’t adopt you too?

Dick: Jason, No!

Jason: Jason, Yes!

🕸️

Eva: Luka has every right to be the villain, I’m sorry Mari, you fucking failed.

Luka: Eva-

Mari: END THIS, THIS IS THE THIRTEENTH TIME!

🕸️

Eva: I used to think I like children, and would restrain from ever feeling like hitting them…and then you happened.

Damian: I was raised by assassins, you wouldn’t be the first to hit me.

Eva (who now feels bad and slightly mothering instinct): no, but I’m going to be the first to give you a hug and say it’s okay…

Damian(has been here before):BACK YOU DEMON!”

🕸️

Eva: Out of all your newfound Siblings who is the favorite?

Batboys (listening in):…

Mari(without missing a beat): Cass.

Eva (nodding in approval): right answer

Cass (smiles):

🕸️

Eva (after Damian got benched): free my boy, he did all of that, but it don’t matter!

Damian: I’ll excuse you purposefully horrible grammar, in turns of thanking you for your agreement.

Tim: ten people got injured horribly, and three are yet to be found.

Eva: and? Sounds like a them problem.

Damian: As, Miss. Keys, says.

Eva: Damian we talked about this, it’s Eva, Hun. 😕

🕸️

Eva: listen I’m not an orphan, but my dad and mama has been going on business trips without me lately, and I’m close to just coming to the conclusion they up and died.

Bruce: your adoptions papers are already filled out, nothing to worry about

Eva: MY WHAT NOW? 😟

🕸️

Eva: Not going to lie, Timothy Jackson is Drake-Wayne, spectacular name, your parents may have failed at parenting you, but name making they got 10/10

Tim: please go back to London

Mari: She stays.

Felix (missing their alone time and peaceful nation): No, she needs to go home!

Mari (without missing a beat): I will FIGHT you Felix!

🕸️

Eva and Felix (discussing the shared obviousness of Bruce Wayne’s identity): 🗣️🗣️

Tim (joining in cause he found out at nine):🗣️🗣️

Bruce (standing there blankly after asking a simple question): 🧍

🕸️

[wonderwomanpleasesteponme]

Soulmate Maribat au where Damien's soulmate mark is a ladybug, Marinette has three soulmate marks a robin, a black cat and a snake, Adrien has two soulmate marks a ladybug and a snake and Luka also has two soulmate marks a ladybug and a black cat.

[dax-enfinity]

I got an idea:

Tim or one of the other Bats being a Jagged Stone fan and dragging Dick to one of his concerts in Gotham where Luka is also performing since let’s imagine that once in who knows how long Jagged has a world tour and he decides to drag Luka with him for reasons

It ends up with Jagged recognizing Dick since it turns out that Jagged has known Bruce for years causing the two of them to meet once the concert ends backstage and they hit it off quickly

(Bonus: Tim being an MDC fan and meeting Mari thanks to Luka and Jagged most likely in Gotham)

[sugarfluff59]

Guys I have an idea for a new daminette fic.

Ok, so what if Marinette decides to go to Gotham University rather than ESMOD or any university in Paris after defeating hawkmoth, because she needs some time away from the toxic environment. And you know the usual her losing all her friends due to Lila except for Adrien (he finally realised his mistake and came around), Chloe, Luka and Kagami.

They will all be about 18-19 years old, and all are very successful already. Marinette will be a singer, designer, model in secret so nobody really recognizes her or knows that she is filthy rich.

She is very pretty and smart, and when she starts studying at Gotham University many boys (good and bad) are in love with her and try to win her heart and make her theirs.

Damian in this fic is only sweet and caring toward her and cold towards everyone else as he fell in love with her on first sight, and thus also tries to make her his girl, and is kinda obsessed with her.

This fic, will not really involve much about the bats and miraculous as Marinette renounced her guardianship and gave the miracle box back to the Order which she had restored. So basically, she does not remember being ladybug in this fic and her memory is altered by other memories which never really happened because of the miraculous magic to cover up the gaps.

She will be a very girly girl in this fic who kinda needs to be protected and Damian was assigned as her protector by Bruce secretly as she is staying with the Waynes, because she was adopted by Jagged Stone and Penny Rolling (who asked Bruce to be her host during her stay in Gotham), after her parents fell for Lila's lies.

Anyways that's all, and since I don't possess a single writing bone in my body, I hope someone likes my idea (which is honestly inspired by multiple different fics) and decides to write it.

[hellishere7980]

IMW Chapter 10

Lady Miracle stared at him, waiting, watching as after a moment, his chest rose. Pained rattling breaths shook his body with the effort it took to make them and his face twisted in pain. It was physical, she could see that in the way his body reacted, but the way his face fell and the sob that left him, she knew he was feeling everything.

But he was still alive.

Movement out of the corner of her eye drew her out of her appraisal of the Agreste patriarch and she saw that it was Duusu and Nooroo. Lady Miracle wondered what it was like for the two Concepts to finally see the man that had used their magic to hurt millions of people being punished after seven long years. To finally re-join their fellow Kwami after a hundred years of being ‘lost’.

They watched every move Agreste made, every twitch and shudder and relished every broken sob and scream of agony that had left him and was still escaping his lips. They were waiting for her, and the realisation gave her an idea.

“detransform.”

Destransforming herself, Tikki appeared in a small ball of light in front of her, hovering almost protectively she glared down at the man who had abused two of her brethren as her aura joined Nooroo, Duusu and Plagg’s as they reunited without words.

Marinette closed her eyes, reaching within her she summoned each of the Kwami and they appeared, one by one, in glowing balls of power and light, their aura’s joining the others and filling the dome as they stared down at Gabriel Agreste with predator-like focus as he whimpered.

Not a single one of the nineteen Kwami moved. But their auras fluctuated and pulsed as they tried to reign in their anger as magic, ancient, dark and dangerous danced through the air, causing Marinette’s hair to stand up and she struggled to not shudder at the feel of overwhelming power.

“Curse him as much as you desire.”

Marinette turned and walked towards the edge of the dome, making a portal as the Kwami stilled. The tension in the observatory snapped with an explosion and she stepped through the portal as screams and other sounds were drawn from Paris’ infamous terrorist. If his screams under her curse were bad, they were nothing compared to that.

Closing the portal behind her, the noise stopped immediately and all that was left was the silence.

It was like a plug was pulled, and all energy she had drained out of her. She couldn’t believe it. It didn’t seem real. After years of battles, struggles, emotional repression and abuse were over.

“We did it.” Marinette whispered in shock, letting her spoken words shift the weight off her shoulders and felt immediately lighter.

For the first time since she picked up the Miraculous of Creation and Fortune, swearing to free Paris from Shadow Moth, Marinette felt free. 

“We won.”

Court Proceedings

“Uhh, B” Tim walked down into the Batcave. “You’re going to want to see this.” he went to the Batcomputer, typed something in, and brought up news coverage of a court case.

The second Bruce read the title his face darkened he said, “call everyone down.”

—

“All rise. Department One of the Supreme Court of Appeals is now in session. Please be seated.”

As everyone in the court took their places, the Judge began to present the case. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Calling the case of the People of Paris, France versus Gabriel Agreste, previously known as ShadowMoth. Are both sides ready?”

“Ready for the People, Your Honor.”

“Ready for the Defence Your Honor”

“Lady Miracle?”

“I’m ready,” the Defender nodded her head. As she walked to the podium, Lady Miracle looked around the courtroom. The case was to be heard in the Palais de Justice. The room looked too clean for the dirty truths that were about to be revealed. Making her walk to the stand painfully short.

She wasn’t the only one asked to testify against Gabriel. Some of the most deadly Akuma victims and the most frequent victims were also present: Ondine, Mr. Ramier, August, who had just turned 2 years old the previous month, etc. Other reporters who had seen multiple battles also stood witness.

They filled the pews of the courtroom and in the back stood the other reporter with their cameras. The cameras that would broadcast the court case to the entire world. Where everyone would know of what went down in Paris. The mayor of Paris and the President of France both agreed to keep the Akuma attacks hidden from the rest of the world. The last thing Paris needed was for the Justice League to come in and mess up what fragile structure they had built. Heaven knows what would've happened if Superman or Batman had come and been akumatized. So instead they blocked the media and moved the JLE headquarters out of Paris to Marseilles.

Once Lady Miracle made it to the podium the Clerk came up to swear her in. “Please stand. Raise your right hand. Do you promise that the testimony you shall give in the case before this court shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

Does it count that the ‘Gods’ already loved her? I mean the kwamis are gods so…?

“I do”

“Please state your name and occupation for the record.”

She gave the clerk a deadpan look because everybody knew who she was and exactly why she was there. But she answered anyway.

“Lady Miracle, Hero, and protector of Paris, France.”

“Thank you. We will now begin the questioning.” As madam walked up to begin questioning, the rest of the world was able to see Lady Miracle for the first time in all of her glory.

She was asked basic questions about the fights, etc.

She ended her testimony by saying- 

“I judged and punished Gabriel according to the laws of the miraculous order and then proceeded to turn him into the authorities so that he may also face judgment in the courts of Paris.” Lady Miracle said her face was hard and showed no emotion. For a while no one spoke, everyone was too busy processing what they had heard.

“Thank you, Lady Miracle” the Judge spoke, finally breaking the silence.

“Am I done?” She asked.

“Yes, unless the Defender has any more questions to ask?”

“None, Your Honor.”

“Then that is all, Lady Miracle. Thank you for your time.”

Lady Miracle stood and made it back to her seat.

“Next,” the judge continued, “ we will hear the testimony of Gabriel Agreste.”

.............

“And what about Marinette?”

“Who?” Gabriel glared at the person who asked him the question.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She was the only person in the Akuma class, besides your son, that you never akumatized.”

“Oh, her,” Gabriel spat, “trust me, my friend, it wasn’t from lack of trying. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was an absolute menace for me. Despite not having powers like that pesky bug and cat she still managed to foil my plans. I tried everything I could to akumatize Marinette. I blacklisted her from multiple fashion houses, hired crooks to scare her and steal, had her fashion website taken down for ‘plagiarism’, I even went as far to make a deal with one of her classmates to make her school life a living hell.” he sneered, “Yet for some reason, that pesky brat managed to contain her emotions enough so my Akuma’s couldn’t possess her.”

“And you’re just going to admit to that?”

“Of course.” he said matter of factly, “My fate has already been sealed. There’s no point keeping any more skeletons in the closet. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was going to be my masterpiece. If I was able to akumatize her I could have gotten Lady Miracle and Chat Noir’s miraculous and I could have—” he was cut off by a series of bubbles escaping from his mouth.

“What was that?” The person off-screen asked horrified.

“That was the annoying curse that—” more bubbles “was placed on me so I don’t reveal too much about the miraculous. Regardless, Mme. Dupain-Cheng remained obnoxiously optimistic for the past six years, or she just blocked off any emotion that I could have manipulated.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.

“O..kay, on to the next question.”

Gabriel Agreste had a week-long court trial that started a week after his revelation. While the length and speed at which the trial began and finished was abnormal, Paris had wanted justice to be served as soon as possible after years of trauma. It was televised throughout France and everyone in the country watched it, many businesses and schools showing it on screen. Compiled by her and handed over to the group of lawyers prosecuting Agreste, it had been easy for Marinette to label everything nicely and put it in a folder to hand over. She already had a portfolio on the man, both Shadow Moth and Gabriel, all she needed to do was add what she had found at Agreste Manor when Ladybug was cursing Gabriel.

Some of the evidence included bribes that had been made too, and accepted by board members of Collège Françoise Dupont. Many staff members had also been bribed, the most notable being Principal Damocles, to ensure the Akuma Class stayed together. Phone calls and text messages between Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur, as well as between Gabriel Agreste and Lila Rossi, about akumatisation plans and Scarlet Swarm ideas. They dated from the day his identity was discovered back to the first Scarlet Swarm years earlier which included conversations about Nathalie being Mayura.

The calls and text messages were backed up by video footage from Agreste Manor’s security system of the three as they brainstormed different powers that akumas could have in future and planned the next Scarlet Swarm. The prosecutors had akuma flight patterns that showed that Agreste Manor was the epicentre and the building remained unharmed during most of the attacks no matter the magnitude.

There were files Gabriel had made on each of the past heroes, labelled by their hero names, holding photographic evidence that he had had stalked them on multiple occasions after their reveal, despite the Temps being thirteen at the time. The only file that wasn’t labelled by their hero name was Marinette’s, and upon closer inspection it was revealed why.

The file had been made before and she was revealed to have been Princess Justice and later Queen Mean and was filled with plans on ways to akumatised her. It was the largest file out of all of them and it showed she had been stalked by the middle-aged man.

It was almost an obsession, his interest in getting her akumatised. On the plans that failed he had jotted little notes how to improve whatever traumatic or upsetting thing he made happen to her that had nearly caused her to become one of his akumas.

It was disturbing and more than a little numbing as Marinette listened and watched footage, read documents and learnt about how obsessed the middle-aged man who had terrorised her city had been with her for years.

Luka, her honorary brother, had held her hand for the duration of the trial, gently rubbing circles on her skin with his thumb. Felix and Kagami muttered about defiling his grave, small and dangerously. Jagged, Zoe and Penny sat in stony silence tapped their legs like they did when they were planning to destroy someone.

[noisydreamlandkoala]

The Queens Court

CHAPTER SIX: EXPLANATIONS

YOUROFFICIALREPIRTER@BLONDIE

Our residence bonde does not seem that exited for the choice in court members.

#youllbesurprised

After hackling  Chloe into an agreeing on having Juleka as a probationary member of the group they sat in a circle, some on the floor, chaise, bad and any chair available awaiting for Marinette's explanation. Marinette sat between Felix and Luka fidgeting nervously.

Both boys saw this and grabbed a hand next to them gently squeezing it in comfort, whilst glaring at one another. Chloe of course still found her friends predicament amusing and couldn't help but throw a smirk at their direction. She enjoyed chaos and this right here was filled with it.

"Can yall stop trying to figure out who's dick is bigger than who's for five minutes," Chloe huffed with a smirk and mischievous look in her eyes. Marinette narrowed her eyes at the sight.

"What do you say Marinette," Luka whispered into one ear.

"Wanna check so we can end this fued once and for all," Felix whispered into the other causing Marinette to squeak as she turned bright red while Chloe cackled. No nope, this was not happening, they were now working together?

"No nope no," Tim said shaking his head. "As tge second most chilled brother *Duke clears his throat*, third most chilled brother I would like to say that I will burry you alive watch it"

Marinette took a deep breath attempting to chase away the redness on her cheeks.

"So some of you need to be briefed on my past, others need an explanation of why I broke the group up or why I cut half of yall off for three years-"

"Cause your original reason is unbelievable," Chloe added causing a few of the group members to sneaker.

"Then they are those who want to know about the Lila situation," Marinette continued ignoring her best friend. "So all in all I need to start at the very beginning of my life."

"Let me assist you," Jason says clearly in a rush. "Bruce was irresponsible, she was the consequences of that mistake now let's get to this Lila chick."

"Baby bat you need to calm down and let her do this in her own pace," Dick says causing the dark haired boy to huff.

"So as Jason so helpfully put in," Marinette said causing Chloe to snort. "I'm Bruce Wayne's child, my father and mother were in a brief relationship that resulted in my birth. Sadly she lost her life when she gave birth to me. She left me to my father at the time, but he still had a few things going on in his life so my aunt took me in with promises of letting me visit during summer and winter break, you know for the holidays,"

"So you grew up in Paris?," Aurora asks eyes shinning.

"No I grew up in China," Marinette answers with a small laugh. "That's how I met Marc, he's part of the rich dangerous family community."

"Oh," the blonde simply says allowing the girl to continue her story.

"So Sabine Cheng raised me, allowing me to do a bit of back and forward between China and Gotham," she continued. "Galas were a big part of the agreement I had galas both in China-"

"Which is where we met," Chloe added before muttering. "I brat"

"And Gotham-" She continued without missing a beat.

"White is where I fell for her," Felix says throwing a smirk at Luka.

"I actually remember a lot of fighting during that day," Dick says causing a few giggles to erupt from the room and an annoyed look to cross upon Felix's features.

"Yes it was hate at first sight," Chloe cackled.

"Though it kind of ended when he saw her punch a grown man in the balls," Babs adds.

"My all time favorite Gala moment," Jason says dabbing fake tears with a fake hankerchief.

"I was never officially introduced to society as either a Wayne or a Cheng for the first couple of years because both parties wanted me in the spotlight thinking I was still too young," Marinette continued.

"Especially since mother was heiress of their entire family fortune," Chloe adds.

"And her Father was one of the richest man in the world and she was at the time his only know heir," Felix continues.

"It's a good thing you weren't there when Damian arrived actually," Tim quips in.

"Otherwise he would have killed you," Stephanie says side eying tge boy.

"Another thing that helped was that I was 2 years older than you," Damian mutters.

"I thought you were going to bring up gender," Jeleka mutters somewhat drawing attention to her once more. The girls ability to dissappear and be forgotten was honestly scary.

"My mother raised, I learnt quite awhile ago you do not underestimate the opposite gender," The boy said with a winch.

"What happened with his mother?" Aurora asked.

"We don't talk about that," multiple voices echoed.

"Alright," Aurora says putting her hands up in surrender, being a reporter didn't mean she was stupid. Something told her if she continued to dig she wouldn't leave to tell the story.

"So when Damian was forced to go to School, he dragged me along stating her wasn't going to suffer it on his own," Marinette says. "So I relocated to Gotham."

"And we followed," Chloe and Felix say at the same time.

"Felix followed Marie around like  a puppy dog at the time and took her relocation as an excuse to finally be close to her," Chloe continues with a smirk.

"And Chloe was obsessed with the bluenette and wanted everything Marinette," Felix laughed as the blonde girl blushed.

"You had a crush on her?" Kagami asks causing the blondes blush to intensify.

"Yes but I got over it when we were 12, I kind of knew I stood no chance," she admitted glancing at the blonde boy sitting next to the bluenette before her eyes trailed towards Luka. "Though maybe I should've tried harder."

It was obvious she was trying to shift the attention from her anger to the possibility of the blonde boys anger. But Felix did not take the bait, he smirked at her clearly counting this encounter as his victory.

"Don't worry I felt something for Marinette as well it's nothing to be embarrassed about," Kagami says offering the blonde an awkward nudge, she was clearly not used to social interactions. Chloe stared at the girl who was already staring at her, the two kept eye contact for longer than was considered friendly.

"Wait you two are gay," Aurora shouted shattering their moment causing Felix to chuckle.

"Yes/I'm bi," Chloe and Kagami answered causing the blonde to squeal.

"Ok so I had been dragged to school against my will," Marinette said continuing with the story. "Which was annoying because I had spent my whole life being homeschooled,"

"More like being groomed to one day take over the world," Chloe mutters.

"You'd think being raised by mafia leaders is bad," Marc shivered. "The mafia is scared of the Chengs"

"Well so we sort of took over the school, we were groomed to be leaders and became just that as soon as we entered the social environment we did just that," Marinette continued on ignoring the interjections.

"Plus Marie wanted to rid the world of all evil," Felix says with a smile. "And I'd follow my queen to the ends of the earth."

"But it soon became too much for me, somehow information about me was leaked, paparazzi was everywhere all the time and the kidnapping attempts," Marie says.

"On the plus side you got Harley and Ivy to completely adore you," Dick interjected earning a small smile from the girl.

"Yeah but I was young and at the time I wanted at least a shred of normalcy," Marinette says. "So for my 11th birthday I asked for them to make it all go away."

"And they delivered," Jason says with a bitter smile knowing very well he was one of the reasons she wanted to escape Gotham, well at least his death was.

"So they moved me to Paris where my Aunt had gone after falling in love with uncle Tom," she continued. "We gained different allies to help me blend in,"

"And where she went we followed," Chloe says pointing to Felix, Marc and herself.

"We once again took over our new school," Felix continues.

"Riding the school of all that is bad," Marc continued on.

"Picking up strays along the way," Chloe says eyeing Nathaniel before tearing her gaze away from him and muttering. "Though some of them did not deserve it."

"The world soon forgot of Marie Wayne, for I had disappeared just as soon as I had appeared," Marinette continues. "Life was okay for about three years before I had someone say something that haunted my everyday living."

"'don't you regret it' those four simple words got me thinking about everything, what if I was doing the world more bad then I was good," she said voice cracking as a single tear slipped down her cheek." I was destroying lives, people were afraid of me, I felt like an oppressor, a villain. And I felt as though no one truly knew me, they just knew the ruthless queen."

"So you asked the gang to split apart," Chloe says with a tinge of guilt finally realizing her friends inner temoil.

"Yeah not my finest moments, I'm sure if I had talked to yall-"

"We would have told you how wrong you were," Jason finished off for her.

"And how much good you'd actually done for us," Aurora says clearly heartbroken at her queens mental state.

"We bow down to you Marinette because of your kindness," Juleka surprisingly says followed with a bow.

"Because of your heart," Felix says following the Goths example.

"Your melody," Luka says with his bow.

"Your bravery," Kagami says.

"Your loyalty," Chloe says with a smile as the rest of the group added their own compliment followed with a bow.

"I'm very grateful for this show of affection," Marinette laughs feeling a bit lighter then she had in years. "But I'd really like to continue this story."

"Yes we're getting to the Lila girl," Jason says firmly followed by a few growls from different members of the group.

"Yes well a few months after the group split, I was honestly ready to come to yall and burden you with my feelings, then a certain incident happened and it completely broke me," Marinette says causing Felix to look away in guilt. "It wasn't even the person's fault it was all a misunderstanding that communication could have solved"

"Communication is a new court rule," Chloe declared.

"So I spent the next couple of years as a shadow of who I used to be, I ignored all that was wrong and made friends who did nothing but walk all over me," Marinette says tears flowing once more. "I did everything for those people, I even went as far as losing myself and the threw ne aside over the words of some liar who can't even style her hair!"

"I'll brief everyone on the rest, you don't need to continue Marie," Chloe says earning a greatful smile from the crying bluenette who was now squeezed in between her suitors.

"Thanks Chlo," she says causing the blonde to beam at the nickname.

"Yeah, yeah you softly," The blonde said feigning dismissal. "Let's plan our revenge."

YOUROFFICIALREPIRTER@BLONDIE

The court is out for blood.

#lrwerecomingforyou

***

[unkownsimoperson]

Marinette: *to herself* I.. just want a boyfriend..

Alya: *slams door open* It's about time, b#itch.

Marinette: Alright, what're my options??

Alya: Alright, *pulls a whole a#ss projector out of nowhere* *points with a stick to Adrian's photo* so this one has a lot of money and he would treat you good, and you'd be set for life.

Marinette: *nods*

Alya: *slides to Peter's photo* This would be really, really nice to you, and he treats his aunt well.

Marinette: *nods*

Alya: *slides to Luka's photo* This one, is like, totally obsessed with you, and in love with you.

Marinette: *nods*

Alya: *a couple photos slide past rapidly, showing all the Mari simps* And these are some really good ones. *Damian's photo slides past* Actually, this one, this one doesn't want you at all, so ignore that one. And uhh-

Marinette: *jolts up* W-wait!! Why doesn't that one want me?!

Alya: Doesn't matter. He would treat like sh#it anyway, and he's 5'7 so just ignore it.

Marinette: *blushs* Bu-but, what's his name..?

Alya: *wtf* Are you serious?! You have all these options-

Marinette: Yeah I want that one, the one who doesn't want me. That's-that's the one I want

Alya: *done with her bs* This b#itch dumb. Dumb, dumb as h#ell. *shakes head in disappointment*

Marinette: Can I have that one please?? *smiles innocently*

Alya: Sure. Just take it, I don't- I don't give a f#uck. Just take it.

[liquid-luck-00]

Marks of Magic

Day 1 Moon

Maribat Spooktober 2023

Next

I don’t know if this is going to be a stand alone or a short part story or if it will be the whole month.

Let’s see where it takes us.

I’m restarting my permanent taglist since I’ve been inactive for so long. Sorry!!!

Language and cursing is used

1500 words

~~~~~~~~~~

Three years.

THREE YEARS!!

she has dealt with this stupid Moth's reign of emotional terror. And she is done.

She is done with Chat's dumb jokes and worse, his unwanted advances. she is done with having no one she can trust. she tried giving second chances to Alya, Nino, and even Chloe. But each time she did they broke her trust again and again. She stopped calling on other holders.

She is done with fighting this war alone. She reached out to the Justice League but they laughed in her face. So she stopped asking for help.

The Akumas would target the non-holders group of heroes so often and defeat them or worse until the cure would be cast. that they either left the city or gave up.

she is done being alone and fighting this uphill battle alone.

She doesn't know when the change happened but it did. Her suit darkened and changed, to a point where most was a pitch black. Accents of red and black spots littered the suit, but it darkened.

She couldn’t stand it anymore, her hero life is suffering because she had no one to turn to. That leaked into her personal life as well, she couldn’t trust her friends, so as the guardian, she wiped their memories of ever being a holder, and in Alya’s case the fact she is Ladybug. On top of that Lila held on to her threat, and it came to pass, the class turned on her, as they iced her out of their lives she did the same. She focused herself into her brand and grew her client list.

•••

"Seriously Gurl!" she heard Alya starting to stomp up the steps towards her. Marinette didn't look up from the tablet she was currently reviewing before class started.

"You could at least look at me!" Her hands slammed down on the desk infront of her.

"Alya." She responded, making a note on the document. "What can I do for you?"

"Cut the Snark, Marinette, we all know what you did."

"Oh really." A smirk played on her lips. she looked up at her ex-friend. "Do tell, what did I do?"

"Lila can't even stand being in class since your here."

"And.."

"You really are a bully, Mari, how can you not even show remorse for what you did."

"Your right, I don't." Marinette stood up. "Granted you haven't told me what I did yet." she crossed her arms, watching the other girl get madder at her 'attitude'.

Alya was about to respond when in walked Lila, but with one big difference. Gone was her long hair and stupid sausage pigtails that framed her face. Now it was cut short, a Pixie cut that now showed off her high cheekbones and her eyes, that were Puffy and rimmed in red from what she assumes were tears. The girl looked at her quickly before averting her gaze and dove into her seat. Mari didn't say anything. It was shocking to see her this way, so much she almost dropped her defensive posture. Luckily she didn't say anything as Mdm. Bustier walked in to start the class.

Mari quickly sat down as Alya flew down the steps to console the Italian.

The class period seemed to stretch out longer than normal, but that only caused her mind to race more with every tick of the clock.

All to soon Mdm. Bustier clapped her hands, pulling her from her stupor. "I would like to congratulate Marinette for being our lucky winner to spend the next semester at our sister school, Gotham Academy."

Every one turned towards her, if she looked closely their smiles were forced, almost sneers.

She never applied for it.

Her eyes travelled to her ex-friend, Alya who looked triumphant.

But jokes on them. She was glad. Glad she wouldn't have to deal with them for almost six months now.

So she smiled.

Not one of her strained smiles that had become so common place, but a true genuine smile.

The rest of her day went by in almost a blur. Teachers and other classmates would congratulate her but it didn't register fully. A plan forming in her mind.

•••

She was glad that there was no akuma today. As soon as school let out she got to work.

Through the photos she took of the grimore she learned, during dire situations, the butterfly could embue its own holder as a champion. Gabriel Agreste, then came back into the forefront of her suspects.

She didn't suspect to act on it, but while outside she saw him. Gabriel moved to a subterranian green house, where she then saw a kwamii.

She didn't think and acted on pure instinct.

she dove through the window, Agreate turned and before he could say anything she charged at him.

The yoyo in her hands extended into a weighted bo staff. Agreste getting over his shock called on his transformation. The two of them danced circles around the other as their weapons clashed in the underground room.

"How?!?!" she heard him snarl at her, but she didn't answer.

She was tired of this bull shit.

Tired that this peice of crap of a man made her life a living hell for three years.

Until ...

A flash of light enveloped the room. There Gabriel Agreste knelt on a knee, his hands balled into fists as he glared up at her. The butterfly Miraculous clutched in her hand.

A spark eminated and from it out came the kwamii of transmission, Nooroo.

"Ladybug... I..." The kwamii tried and failed to speak.

"Please go and retrieve the Peacock and the Grimore." She said never taking her eyes off of Agreste.

When he returned she placed both Miraculi in her yo-yo and finally spoke again. "Why?"

"I don't need to explain myself to you." He practicaly spat.

"No you don't, but I want to know the reason before I deal out a verdict." she hummed.

"And why would you be doing something like that, Ladybug." He tried to stand but fell back, too tired or too hurt, she doesn't know. She lowered down to meet his eyes, but didn't say a word.

In that moment he was so defeated, he finally collapsed to the ground barely able to lift his head to speak. "No use telling you now. You’ve already won."

He attention pulled towards the large window, seeing the full moon overhead illuminating their conversation.

"I guess that’s true. But why wouldn't I want to know why. Why I fucking fought for three years against you for so long. I need to know why." She stared up at the moon not sparing the man a glance.

"For her." There was a silence but she didn’t look at him, not yet. "All she wanted was a child, but in order for him to grow, she had to..." He didn't finish his thought.

She looked back at Agreste, she took in his battered spirit and body before standing again. She looked around the room until her eyes landed on it, a cyro chamber with who she assumes is Emily Agreste. "No matter what, there’s always a price for a wish. to bring her back something else must be taken from you."

"Please. Please just do what you have to."

"No. You have to live with the fact that your decisions ensured she would never wake up. That she was wrong to place her faith and love in you." She pulled out her Yoyo and flew out of the room, back home. The moon's light guideing her.

She fell onto her bed dropping her transformation as she thumbed through the grimoire until it landed on a page of spells.

She doesn’t know if it’ll work or not, but it’s worth a shot.

"As the guardian of the miracle box I, Ladybug, call upon the powers of the Kwamii held in my protection."

She closed her eyes and continued to recite the word she’s read over and over for the past few months.

"For my conviction is absolute and I release the Kwamii from their jewels, never to be used again by mortal beings."

Several voices were heard in front of her now, all the Kwamii she’s met floated in front of her in between her self and the moon. She doesn’t know how but even Plagg was among the others.

"Is this truly your wish guardian?" Was spoken by both Tikki and Plagg.

"Yes." That’s single word rang resolute within the empty room.

One by one each kwamii approached her, said a goodbye and thanks before disappearing.

Plagg came towards her and was the first to place his miraculous in her hand.

"Your one hell of a kid, Pigtails. Be unappoligetic. If you ever need to." He held up a paw. "Just give me a shout."

"Plagg!" Tikki exclaimed.

"I said what I said." He cackled before dissapearing.

She heard Tikki sigh before hugging her cheek. "You've grown so much, my little bug. "She pressed a flipper to her earring." Plagg's right though. If you ever need to. Call upon our power and we will lend it to you."

"Thank you Tikki." she felt tears beginnig to sting her eyes. Tikki dissapeared. "Thank you. All of you."

~~~~~~~~~~

Next

[the-coffee-fandom]

Coming Home To Peaceful Disaster

By: the-coffee-fandom

For: @newdog14

Damian hadn’t expected anything when he had come home that night. It had been a long day and all he wanted to do now was have a cup of his lovely girlfriend's famous hot chocolate and sleep.

He tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator slowly traveled up the floors, the red numbers flashing higher until they got to six. Finally, his floor. He had moved out of the manor quite a while ago. He had needed more space, in a mental sense from his family and responsibilities, and with his romantic side of it he saw getting his own apartment the perfect thing to do.

The manor was plenty big enough for them, sure. But he’s had his brothers walk in on far too many make out sessions and he was really getting annoyed at how they couldn’t respect his space. His art room was precious to him. It was his favorite spot in the house. He had made an effort to respect their space and their stuff and they hadn’t paid him the same respect, not completely at least.

So now he had his own room here where he had everything he could need organized exactly how he wanted it and it was completely respected. No one else would barge in unnoticed, no stealing of supplies without asking just because they need it, no one would accidentally mess up his pieces because they were where they shouldn’t be. If someone wanted to enter, they’d knock and make sure it was ok to be in there. Sometimes they’d silently join him just to keep him company while working on their own things. Damian found it refreshing and only made him love them more.

He slid the key into the keyhole, unlocking and opening the door of the apartment. A quiet creak groaned out, the hinges crying out. Damian frowned and made a mental note later to fix that. For now he slipped in, slipped his shoes off and left them near the hat rack, hung his jacket up on the coat rack near the door, and headed towards the kitchen in search of his roommate Marinette.

He was really happy when he found her just there. She hadn’t noticed that he had entered yet, too busy in her own world. She had headphones in and her head was bobbing to an unknown beat as she beat eggs in a bowl. Her black hair shimmered in the low kitchen light as it swirled around her as she spun. She came to a stop, and swayed her hips as she stood in place. Damian was mesmerized. He loved his girlfriend's little quirks; the way she could dance so freely as if no one was watching. Although, she only ever did it when she thought she was alone. She was filled to the brim with shyness and though he’d tried helping her ease out of it, there were just some things she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed of.

So like a good boyfriend, rather than continue to enjoy this rare show, he cleared his throat loudly, louder than anyone would need to to ensure she had heard since she was wearing headphones and who knows how loud her music could be.

Her head shot up and blue met green. The blue ones widened comically causing an upturn of Damian’s lips. He couldn’t help it. Her face lit up in a blush as she looked down at her shoes to hide her face, her hair curtaining over it.

“How long have you been there?”

“I just got here. I’m sorry.”

It used to be hard for Damian to apologize. He used to never see the need to. Why apologize when he hadn’t done anything wrong? But he had grown a lot and realized that sometimes it wasn’t black and white. Sometimes he had to apologize for things he didn’t think were his fault, he considered the other side's feelings and realized that maybe they feel just as hurt as him and if he wants to mend something, he is able to take that step as well rather than expect everyone else to do so for him. With his loves, he was gentle and made sure that they felt comfortable. If he did something that made them uncomfortable like watching the beautiful little excited dancing Marinette would do when she baked, he’d be sure to apologize.

“That’s… a lot of chocolate don’t you think?” Damian changed the subject so Marinette’s mind wouldn’t linger on it and send her into a spiral. She really was far too nervous; sometimes she just couldn’t see her beauty the way everyone else could.

Marinette lifted her head and grinned sheepishly at him, “Yeah I got a little carried away.”

A little carried away consisted of every surface of their kitchen having some sort of chocolate dessert laid on it, freshly baked by the baker's daughter herself.

“Are we running a bakery now? A chocolate one that is?” He joked, making sure to emphasize to her that he was joking by smiling.

Marinette giggled and shook her head, “No I just had made a bigger batch then necessary and realized the flour needed to be used up soon so I thought maybe we could just give some to your brothers but then it kind of spiraled from there and there was more flour then I thought. Then I decided I wanted a variety and started making other treats and no one stopped me.”

Damian chuckled, “no one stopped you huh?”

Arms wrapped around his waist from behind and a nose nudged his neck, attempting to bury itself into the crook of his neck. Damian tilted his head slightly to give more room. He was rewarded with kisses that trailed up to behind his ear. A tongue darted out along his neck and made him shiver before a pleasant warmth was settled against his ear.

“I know I asked, but this isn’t what I meant. For chocolate that is. She was so excited when I agreed, I didn’t have the heart to stop her,” the person behind him breathed into his ear.

Damian took a moment to let his eyes flutter closed, going lax on the person behind him who gladly accepted holding his weight for him for a moment, hugging him close so their whole front was pressed snuggly to his whole back.

“I see. Wouldn’t want to ruin our little hearts fun.”

“Never. With how stressed she’s been lately? She needs it. Besides, it just means more treats for us,” they grinned against his neck.

“I am literally still here guys?” Marinette huffed indignantly.

“Oh we know,” the boy with dyed-blue hair winked over their boyfriend's shoulder.

“Be nice Luka,” Damian jokingly scolded his boyfriend.

Luka pouted at him but Damian just rolled his eyes and pulled out of his arm. Luka relinquished his hold and stepped over to the counter where treats were laid, immediately beelining for a chocolate croissant. Damian walked over to Mari and pressed a kiss to her forehead, enjoying the way her eyes fluttered closed and she leaned into the contact. He let his lips rest there for longer than needed, not that either of them minded. He just wanted to rest for a second against his tiny girlfriend. When he did pull away his eyes caught on something.

“Is that for me?”

Marinette turned to see what had captured her sweet Damian’s eyes only to find it was his favorite of her chocolate creations: Hot chocolate.

She beamed up at him and nodded enthusiastically, “I thought you could use some.”

Damian’s eyes softened as he looked down to his thoughtful girlfriend. He hooked a hand under her chin and generally pulled her head up so he could bend down and press a sweet kiss to her lips.

“Thank you my love.”

“Anything for you two.”

He walked over and poured himself a cup, already finding the marshmallows out of the cupboard. He pulled a big handful out and shucked it into his cup. He put a few more. Just in case some fall obviously. Or Luka might nick one or two of them when he passes. No other reason

He pops one in his mouth and surprises everyone including himself when a moan comes out. Marinette truly left no stone unturned. She had filled the marshmallows inside with chocolate.

Marinette giggled as she went to add the eggs to the rest of the ingredients she had prepared.

“You have him moaning already Marinette. You truly are a gift.”

Damian was glad he had nothing in his mouth at the moment. He shot a glare at Luka who was completely unaffected and only winked at him.

“You know what else would be a gift? If you did what I had asked you earlier,” Marinette shot a good natured glare at her blue haired lover.

“I did though, didn't I?”

“No you didn’t.”

“I did everything you asked though?”

“Taking out the trash, then?”

Luka’s eyes darted over to the overfilled trash can and remembered when Marinette had asked him hours ago to empty it for her. Which had completely slipped his mind because he was stealing the frosting she had been making and that had then turned into a make out session.

“I’ll see to it right away ma’am.”

“Good.”

Damian smiled softly as he watched the pure domesticated life he was somehow managing to have. His heart was filled with such warmth he felt that his previous, younger, anger led self might have thought he was sick and needed a hospital. It was something he had never felt before he had met these two. They completed his life in a way no other could.

Marinette slipped a last thing in the oven and handed Damian the bowl to clean for her, silently asking with her eyes. He dutifully complied and put it in the dishwasher. He poured two more cups of hot chocolate and came over, all three carefully in his hand and put gently on the coffee table, joining his lovers already snuggled up on the couch together. He sat on Marinette’s left while Luka sat on her right, pressing her snuggly in the middle.

They put on some mindless tv that kept them slightly entertained. But then Luka’s hand traveled to his thigh and squeezed, bringing his eyes up to his light blue ones. Luka leaned over Mari to press their lips together, stealing his breath.

When he pulled away out of breath, Marinette barely gave Damian time to collect his own before yanking him down by the collar and kissing him as if it was their last time. His head spun. His lovers had that talent. When she pulled away, Luka gently tug her into him so he could kiss her. Damian watched as his hand trailed up her side causing her to shiver before coming to caress lightly at the nape of her neck.

When they pulled apart both were breathing heavily. Luka met eyes with him before they flicked down then back up lightning quick.

“So, who’s your friend?” Luka joked with a seductive grin, “Why don’t you introduce us?”

They would truly be the death of him.

[dessarious]

What Makes a Family? Pt28

Beginning   Previous

"Well, this is it." Marinette didn't know why she was so nervous about this. It was just a school. A school with great access points and camera blind spots. So, wonderful for hero work, but pretty terrible for student safety. Bruce wouldn't try to pull her out because it was less secure than the fortress Cass said her brothers went to, would he? Worse, he could insist on installing updated security and make her life a lot harder. Note to self; do not let Bruce know anything about her school life.

"You need to unclench Dupain-Cheng. You're making me nervous and that doesn't happen." Chloe's dry comment at least let her breathe again. "And I thought I hated this place." The way she muttered it, Marinette was fairly certain Chloe didn't mean to be heard.

"It's not that. I just occurred to me that Mr. Wayne might check security measures if Cass is going here and that could be... inconvenient."

"Yeah, Damocles doesn't say no to powerful people, especially if they're willing to foot the bill. You're going to want to get ahead of that." Great, if Chloe was onboard with her paranoia, she needed to start planning. Wonderful.

"If he does, I'll have Alfred make sure there are holes. The roof for sure." Cass was studying the building with a trained eye.

"You're sure that will work?" Bruce didn't seem the type to allow holes, especially if he wasn't the one using them.

"I'm sure." Cass gave her hand a squeeze and Marinette relaxed slightly. Given Hawkmoth's tendency to attack during school hours, they needed safe ways to leave the building.

"Alright, let's get you familiar with the layout. While I have no intention of being separated while we're here, I'd rather you be comfortable navigating the building on your own." Cass gave her hand another squeeze in response. Marinette wasn't certain why she was so reluctant to have Cass here, but she knew it would only get worse when it was full of people.

Marinette felt even more on edge as they entered the courtyard. The only thing that kept her from noping straight out of there was knowing that Luka, Kagami, and Chloe were watching their backs. The five of them should be able to handle any threat. It didn't stop her from jumping when a voice sounded from above them.

"I can't believe you asked me to meet you in a school." Jason sounded disgusted, and when she looked up, she was met with another surprise. Damian was next to him, scowling down at her. Well, there went her hopes that Bruce wouldn't get involved. As they walked down to meet them, Marinette tried to come up with a Plan B.

"I also asked you to meet me in an hour, so we would be on our way out." She did not want the boys to come along on the tour, given she'd planned on giving Cass a rundown on the best places to disappear and show her the massive gaps in the limited security. "Why don't you two stay here and eat with Luka, Kagami, and Chloe? I'll give Cass a quick tour and we'll be back in fifteen minutes."

"Why did you invite us here if you didn't want to spend time with us?" She wasn't certain what to do with Damian's tone, but his tense stance screamed hurt. She really didn't know what to do with that.

"I do want to spend time with you, which is why I told Jason to be here later so I wouldn't have other things to do."

"And yet you only invited him." There it was. She debated how much she should say.

"I did. He's the only one who seems completely supportive of my boundaries with Mr. Wayne, and he's also the only one who's given me their phone number. I was hoping to get advice from him and Cass about how to approach everyone. I have a feeling that I'm going to have a tense relationship with Mr. Wayne for the foreseeable future, but I would still like to have a chance to get to know the rest of you."

Damian was scowling, but he seemed to be looking through her. Marinette glanced at Cass and her twin offered a comforting smile. Jason, however, seemed to be holding his breath. Eventually, Damian pulled out his phone and handed it to her with a new contact open. She put in her number but left the name blank so he could put in what he wanted. That got a raised eyebrow.

"I do not understand why you're so insistent on shutting Father out. He has a lot of experience that could be valuable to you. You should listen to him." Well, she didn't think they'd get here this quickly.

"Two reasons. First, he's not offering advice. He's trying to control how I live because he thinks he knows better than me. Second, have you ever heard the phrase, take advice from someone who has the life you want?" Damian shook his head. "Well, I don't want M. Wayne's life. Given his romantic history, he's the last person I would want advice from. Yes, he seems to have settled at the moment, but his current relationship with Selina in newer than mine with Luka and Kagami. Given what happened at my parents' house this morning, I certainly don't want his advice on how to have a relationship with the rest of you. My business is exactly where I want it to be, and I can scale it up whenever I'm ready, so I don't need his input on that either. While I wouldn't mind talking to him about it, he seems the type to simply try and take over."

Jason was nodding along to everything she said, but Damian was still scowling at the floor. Cass started signing at him, and his expression turned more neutral.

"Why are you so certain he's wrong?" He at least sounded interested in her answer.

"About my significant others, or in general?"

"Both."

"Well, I know Luka and Kagami, and he doesn't. Not to mention he hasn't given a reason that he distrusts them, so I have no reason to trust his instincts over mine. As for everything else, I'm not certain he's wrong. But until he's willing to have a discussion with me instead of trying to tell me what to do, I'm not going to listen to his opinions on things. Especially things he knows nothing about."

"Good for you. He'll steamroll you if you give him an inch." Jason sounded... proud maybe? "Demon Spawn is still at the stage where he thinks B can do no wrong. He'll learn." Marinette winced.

"Please don't call him that around me. My Maman isn't the only one that doesn't like insulting nicknames. And at his age, his Papa should be infallible. Honestly, I should not have had that discussion in front of any of you, but especially not Damian. And I am sorry about that." Both boys were just staring at her like they couldn't comprehend her words. Given that Cass had laid into Bruce with everyone present, maybe they didn't. Finally, Jason cleared his throat.

"Trust me, you want witnesses. And you don't want other people's opinion of you to be based only on B's grumblings. While most of us know better than to trust outside opinions, you don't want anyone biased against you because he complained."

Marinette managed a distracted hum as she thought of the implications. Not only with Bruce's family. Batman was well respected and a leader of the Justice League. He could cause her an innumerable amount of headaches. She might have to introduce herself to them before he had a chance to claim she was inexperienced, or worse, inept. One more problem to worry about.

"I'm sure it will be fine. I've overcome people thinking badly of me based on other's words before. I can do it again." She could tell her tone was off by the way Jason studied her. It didn't help that Chloe was muttering curses in most modern languages. Cass leaned into her side.

"We should look around. You two stay here." Damian still looked like he wanted to argue with Cass, but Jason grabbed his shoulder and squeezed hard enough that the boy was glaring at him instead.

"You know I'm not going to turn down food. Come on Dem-uh, Damian. They be back before we're finished, and you can keep grilling them then." The Boy let out an annoyed noise, but didn't protest. Chloe herded them back outside, while Cass tugged Marinette further into the building.

"You don't like it here." Marinette could only offer her twin a strained smile.

"It was better when Chloe was still here, but it's my last year."

"We'll make it better." Marinette let out an amused laugh.

"I'm sure you're right. I hope the fact that Alya has figured out Lila's been lying all this time will help, too. Though it could complicate other things as well." Cass hummed in acknowledgement. Given she hadn't met any of the class yet, she had to take Mari's word for everything. "Come on. I need to show you the best places to be able to disappear."

While the school wasn't small, it still only took them ten minutes to do a walk-through. It was honestly a little depressing how little security she had to point out. Between that, roof access, the bathrooms, and that one classroom that for some reason was never in use, she covered all the easy, safe escape points. When they made it outside, Jason was joking around with the others. Damian was studying everyone, but he did look less hostile.

"How's the food?" Marinette could tell how Jason felt by the grin he turned on her.

"It's amazing!"

"It is adequate." Jason looked like he was about to argue with Damian, but Mari waved him off.

"Adequate because you've had better or simply because you don't like this type of food?" Damian blinked at her, and she had to wonder if people ever asked about his preferences. He hesitated before answering.

"The spices are not to my tastes." She started talking with him about foods he did and didn't like. Jason was looking at them like they'd each grown two heads. She had to wonder why a civil conversation caused such a reaction, but that was a later problem. Right now, she just wanted to keep Damian talking to her without hurling threats.

Talking about food led to him being a vegetarian, which led to his pets. Soon she was cooing over pictures of them all while Damian detailed how Alfred the Cat tripped up just about everyone in the family. Pretty soon, they were talking about the logistics of having pets on a boat with Luka. She hadn't really considered it, but she had always wanted pets.

"Cats have a long history of being on board for vermin control. It would probably be good to get them as kittens, so it's easier for them to acclimate. I could be more help if I could see the vessel."

"Sure. I have plenty of pictures." Jason and Damian both frowned at her, but she couldn't completely read the expression.

"Why not just show us?" The way Cass was glaring at Jason, Mari knew she wasn't reading too much into his tone. Before either of them could react, Chloe let out a snort of laughter.

"Because no one wants to drive that far right now, given we have school tomorrow. Their 'not a yacht' is too big to get here from the ocean, so it stays on the coast." The fact that they almost always went there using Kaalki wasn't something she needed her brothers finding out just yet.

"Not to mention it's her choice to invite you to her home." The warning in Cass' tone seemed to surprise the boys. Mari was going to have to be careful coming and going for a while. The Bats were almost certain to break into it at some point in the near future. Probably more than once. It should take them a few days to find it, given it wasn't in any of their names. Of course, that would shoot up a whole different set of red flags. It also meant Bruce would almost certainly tell the rest of them she was Ladybug. She'd have to talk to Cass about outing the Bats to her team, so they were prepared. It wasn't the way she wanted it to happen, but there wasn't much choice. Chloe would probably put it together on her own once she caught up. It was widely known that Batman and Catwoman were an item.

"I'd love to have you guys over, but probably not this visit since you're planning on leaving before the weekend. That and I honestly don't have the energy for whatever lecture Bruce is going to come up with for why it's irresponsible to buy something that expensive so young, let alone with other people."

Damian looked thoughtful, but Jason had a guilty expression. Apparently, she couldn't trust him yet. She really didn't want to have to start lying to people again. Why couldn't anything just be simple?

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[intercoursefluids]

Well That Happened Chapter 19

Damian had just crossed the threshold of the bakery with Luka when his phone started to ring in his pocket.

“Ah, that’s probably your dad.” Luka told him, removing his arm from around Damian (Damian had entirely forgotten it was there-) and giving him some space to take the call.

A glance at caller ID proved Luka to be right, his father’s contact proudly on display.

Damian glanced suspiciously at Luka, slowly answering the call as Luka grinned at him.

“Hello?”

“Damian! Where are you?” Bruce asked quickly.

Damian could hear his siblings in the background. It would seem everyone else had already found each other.

“The Dupain-Cheng Bakery.” Luka mock whispered to him when Damian looked to him for an answer.

Damian was slightly surprised by himself, there was no reason for him to have followed Luka so blindly. It was concerning.

“I’m at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery, why?” Damian replied, watching as Luka walked away to greet the woman behind the counter.

“We are on our way.” Bruce said, hanging up the phone immediately after.

Damian blinked, shaking his head before putting his phone away.

He felt strange.

Mildly delirious maybe? He felt distant and present all at once. It was a strange feeling.

“Damian!” Luka called out snagging his attention.

Damian looked up, spotting Luka waving at him from a set of stairs.

“Come on, Marinette’s up here.” He said, waiting for Damian to join him before he continued up the stairs.

They ascended the stairs together, Damian blindly following Luka as he tried to decipher his inner turmoil.

Luka knocked on the ceiling, pulling Damian from his musings as he did so.

Damian looked at him, wondering when they had begun ascending a second set of stairs. He was also surprised to find Luka’s hand on his back.

He hadn’t noticed him put it there.

The ceiling opened up to reveal Marinette standing above them. She smiled when she saw them, opening the trapdoor up the rest of the way and letting them both in.

“You okay, Damian?” Marinette asked, walking further into her room and sitting on her chaise.

Damian pursed his lips, letting Luka guide him as he tried to find an accurate answer.

“I’m… not sure.” He decided on.

Marinette tilted her head, moving closer to him and gently reaching out to touch his arm.

She seemed to be looking for something in his reaction and whatever it was, she seemed to find it.

“I think I know what’s wrong. You feel kind of floaty, right?” She asked, tugging him towards a set of stairs in her room.

Damian nodded, letting her pull him along.

She had him take off his shoes before ascending the stairs.

Luka did the same, climbing the stairs before them and collapsing on the bed.

Marinette ushered Damian up in front up her, telling him to lay down and laying down beside him.

“No one has a name for it yet, but its basically Paris’s special version of shellshock.” Marinette told him, her head resting against his shoulder.

“The Cure takes the anxiety, panic, and general distress from it but our bodies and minds still need to process what we went through. It leaves you feeling kind of floaty and distant, but at the same time you’re too present. It can be pretty overwhelming. Especially if it’s your first time experiencing it.” Luka continued, he scooted closer to them, laying shoulder to shoulder with Damian as he stared up at the ceiling.

“And this helps?” Damian asked.

He could feel it helping some, it was grounding, calming,

But it wasn’t quite enough.

“Yeah, it works best for us at least. Physical contact and pressure help a lot for us.” Luka told him.

“We would normally be a lot closer than this, but we don’t want to make you uncomfortable. Not everyone likes physical contact.” Marinette said, rolling onto her side to look at him.

Damian hummed, pressing his lips together as he thought about it.

He was very picky when it came to physical contact. Everyone who knew him knew that.

He had already been in physical contact with Marinette several times, including now. It didn’t feel bad when he was touching her, it felt more like touching Jon or Dick than it did touching a stranger.

And Luka, well, Luka had been in almost constant physical contact with him since they first met. He didn’t feel bad either.

Honestly, Damian noticed more when Luka wasn’t touching him than when he was. It was strange.

“Yeah, Luka’s just like that. I just try not to think about it.” Marinette said.

Damian turned to look at her, concerned that he may have been speaking out loud.

“Oh, you didn’t say anything.” She reassured him. “I just recognized the look on your face. Everyone has that look when thinking about Luka.”

Damian decided not to dwell on that.

“I think, I’ll be fine with more contact.” Damian said hesitantly, not sure what exactly it would entail but not against finding out.

Luka was the first to move, propping himself up against some pillows before opening his arms up wide.

“Come here.” He said encouragingly.

Marinette nudged him, grabbing a blanket as she scooted them over to Luka.

She had him lay down first, directly on top of Luka before she laid down on top of Damian.

She covered them with a blanket before settling in, wrapping her arms around Damian’s middle as Luka encircled them both.

It was strange. Not bad, but strange.

He was surrounded by pressure on all sides and very warm.

He imagined that a heated, weighted blanket might have the same effect.

It was kind of nice he decided, letting himself relax against them.

It was strange, Damian thought. To blink and suddenly hear birds chirping outside.

When he had closed his eyes, the sun had just begun to set. Now it was shining brilliantly from Marinette’s skylight directly into his face.

Marinette groaned, pulling the blanket up to cover her face as the sun tried to blind her as well.

“What time is it?” Luka asked from behind Damian, his voice gruff with sleep.

Damian fumbled around in his pockets, trying to find his phone as he shielded his eyes with one hand.

“Its 8.” He responded, squinting at his screen.

“In the morning?” Came Marinette’s muffled question.

“Yeah.”

“It’s too early.” Marinette groaned loudly.

“Really?” Damian asked with a yawn. “I’m usually up by 5.”

“Around 7 for me.” Luka chimed in, his forehead resting against Damian’s shoulder.

“That sounds awful. Why do you do that to yourselves?” Marinette gripped from under her blanket fortress.

Damian sighed, rubbing his eyes and trying to sit up.

“Noooooo.” Marinette complained, refusing to get up.

Luka chuckled, releasing Damian and peering down at Marinette from over his shoulder.

“Let him get up, Mari.” He told her, reaching around to softly poke her.

Marinette reached out, grabbing his hand and not budging an inch past that.

“Just go back to sleep.” She tried to convince them.

Honestly, Damian was tempted by the offer. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept that well and would not mind doing it again.

He needed to call his father though.

He was honestly surprised his family hadn’t blown up his phone with messages and calls last night,

“I need to call my father.” He told her.

Marinette huffed a sigh, lazily sitting up to glare at him sleepily before rolling off of him and curling up in a ball around a pillow.

“Morning people.” She huffed like a curse.

Damian climbed off of Luka carefully, taking a mental inventory as he did so.

He was sore, probably from staying in one position or too long. His arms were covered in red marks, and he felt sweaty.

Damian stretched, looking over at Luka as he did.

“Are you okay? I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.” He said, taking in the red marks covering his arms, the small part of his chest Damian could see, part of his neck, and one of his cheeks.

Basically everywhere Damian and Marinette were laying on him.

“i’m fine, my legs are tingling but that’s normal. Did you sleep well?” He asked.

Damian nodded, running a hand through his hair as he unlocked his phone.

His throat was sore too, he needed some water.

The trapdoor to Marinette’s room opened, an older woman walking through and smiling at Damian and Luka as they turned to look at her.

“Oh good, you’re awake.” She said, glancing at the blanket mound that was Marinette. “Most of you are awake.” She corrected.

“Breakfast is waiting for you downstairs, oh, and Damian.” She said, singling him out. “Your dad with be here to get you at noon.” She said, before turning and walking back down the stairs.

Damian stared after her, wondering how she knew his name when movement from behind him drew his attention.

Luka had leaned over and was gently shaking Marinette’s shoulder in an attempt to wake her up.

“Come on, breakfast is already downstairs.” He told her, trying to coax her from her cocoon.

“Leave me aloneeee.” She whined.

Noon came a lot sooner than Damian had thought it would and soon his family was waiting for him downstairs with John Constantine, ready to send them back to Gotham.

Marinette’s parents had been surprisingly nice that whole morning.

Apparently, Mrs. Cheng had seen the look on Damian’s face and figured they were going to nap upstairs.

When Damian’s family came looking for him, she had explained on his behalf and said he was more than welcome to spend the night.

Damian had been both grateful and mildly embarrassed by the situation but had ultimately decided not to dwell on it for too long.

“It was lovely meeting you, Damian.” Mrs. Cheng said, giving him a hug goodbye.

“Make sure you come back to Paris sometime.” Mr. Dupain said, patting Damian on the back.

“I’ll try.” Damian replied, stepping away to stand with Marinette and Luka as his father started talking with Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng.

“Well, you helped me with my problem here in Paris. Maybe I’ll come help you out in Gotham.” Marinette told him, nudging him in the side.

Damian smirked, glancing down at her.

“Maybe, Gotham is an entirely different breed of crazy though. You sure you’d be able to handle it?” He asked.

Luka laughed, leaning against a wall while he watched them.

Marinette glared at him in response.

“Don’t do that, it’s just as bad when Alix does it and I don’t want you to start.” She said.

Luka’s grin grew in response.

“i didn’t say anything-”

“But you know something-” Marinette cut him off.

“Damian! You ready to go?” Dick called out, standing in front of the portal Constantine had summoned.

Luka stood up, planting his hand on Damian’s shoulder with a wink and a cryptic “We’ll see you soon.” before he walked away.

Marinette quickly said her goodbyes, telling Damian she hoped to see him soon before chasing after Luka to scold him for being a cryptid and not tell her what he knew.

Damian shook his head, walking over to join his family at the portal.

“So.” Dick started, slinging his arm around Damian’s shoulder. “A two for one deal?”

Damian’s following protest was cut off as they stepped through the portal.

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[mind0zone]

Every day my heart yerns for that one miraculous fanfic where Marinette was singing So Sick from flyleaf

(I forgot the name and I can’t find it anywhere)