#MaribatMarch Grave

[miracle-sham]

Hold Your Wake Softly, for the Dead Sleep Lightly.

| {MaribatMarch2020, Week 3, Day 17: Grave} |

| [Ao3 Link] | | [Masterlist Link] |

| Triggers/Warnings: Major Character Death, Temporary Character Death, Graveyards/Cemeteries, Mentions of Death, Explicit Language/Swearing, Blood and Minor Injuries. |

| It's been six months since she died, so Jason goes to visit her grave. Only sometimes things aren't quite as they seem, and dreams are merely reflections of reality. |

| Word Count: 1794 |

-<◊>-

| A/N: So this is probably going to be my last Maribat March ficlet. I've been super busy and I got ill again (which is why I've not responded to comments yet, sorry!), so I've barely been able to get any writing done, and most of the fics are turning out not great. This fic is the only one that turned out well and I'm happy with it. I've not really got else much to say, so uhh enjoy! |

| If you want to be tagged in future oneshots/fics, or a specific Au, then comment or send me a DM/ask! |

| Also side note, Don't Like? Don't Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

-<◊>-

 Jason knows he's dreaming. But what strikes him as odd, is that he's dreaming. He's not dreamt since his dip in the Lazarus Pit. Weathered nightmares and night terrors, sure. But not the stuff of rainbows, sugar plums, and happiness, no. Although, this dream he's dreaming isn't exactly that either, so perhaps it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

 He can't quite tell where he is. The surroundings are completely unfamiliar. He's on a roof, that much is clear. But it's not a roof in Gotham, no. Jason knows the roofs of Gotham like he knows the back of his hand. If he had to guess, the roof looked European in style, maybe Gothic French/Parisian if he had to guess specifically. There are poles and fairy lights strung up around the roof, and a picnic blanket is laid out with a basket overflowing with sandwiches, pastries, and fresh fruit.

 And as lovely as the scene is, the disconcerting part, is the phantasm sitting beside him. A phantasm in the guise of his lost love. Just sitting there, alive and breathing—with her eyes, so bright, twinkling in the low light—and her dazzling smile, the lovesick one he'd always catch her doing when she thought he wasn't looking.

 Jason can almost imagine the warmth of her. But this is a dream, and she's nothing more than a phantasm. So there's no real warmth. It's just his imagination. Not that that knowledge does anything to ease the aching of his wretched and bleeding heart.

 He's almost tempted to stay here. To indulge in this love-stricken reverie of a dream. But he can't. Not tonight. Not when tomorrow he'll wake with the dawn and trudge over to the cemetery and lay a bouquet of marigolds upon her grave.

 It almost sickens him, to need to leave this place. He'd love nothing more than to hold her in his arms one last time. But she's not real.

Jason feels a need to wake up, for the sliver of peace in the hopes that he'll forget this torturous dream upon waking. It hurts. It hurts so much to be close to her only for her to be a phantasm.

 No sooner does he think this, he feels the darkness of the dream ending pull at him. Tugging him away from the rooftop with her and tossing him into the swirling shadows of dreamless sleep.

-<◊>-

 Except, he doesn't wake up in his bed from a dreamless sleep like he expected to. No, he finds himself in a bleak observatory with a giant window that has a butterfly design in it. The edges of the room are shadowed, as only the window and a circle in the centre of the room are illuminated with faded blue light.

 There's a shimmer in the centre of the illuminated circle, and a young child kneeling on the floor flickers into view. No matter how much he tries to focus, Jason finds himself unable to tell what the child looks like. It's almost as though there's a magical glamour surrounding them that makes it impossible to see their true appearance.

 Jason walks to the edge of the circle and stares at the child. They're holding two pieces of jewellery, one in each hand. In their left hand, is a pair of red and black spotted earrings and in their right hand, is a black and green ring.

 Two strange small creatures float above the child's hands. The one floating over the ring, is a weird-looking purplish-black cat with green eyes. The one floating over the earrings, is an even weirder looking red and black spotted bug thing.

 Jason squints then furrows his brow, the child and the creatures appear to not have noticed him yet. Yet.

 “I want to make a wish.” The child says solemnly.

 The bug creature looks pained at that statement. “There'll be consequences.”

 “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” The cat creature pipes up.

 The child bites their lip. “I know and I don't care. I want to bring the previous Ladybug holder back to life.”

 The bug creature starts to tear up. “Mar—” it pauses. “The previous holder has been dead for six months.”

 A chill runs down Jason's back and his mouth becomes inexplicably dry. Fuck, he thinks weakly. They're talking about her. He drags a hand down his face and bitterly blinks back tears, feeling so fucking conflicted.

 The child tilts their head to the side and closes their eyes for a minute. “I know. I still want to bring them back. Again, I don't care about the price. The previous holder shouldn't have died.”

 The cat creature narrows its eyes at the child. “If you bring the previous holder back with the wish, it won't be an immediate revival. Whoever pays the price for the wish will spend the next six months slowly wasting away as the previous holder returns to life.”

 Jason feels sick because as much as he misses her like a lost limb, he doesn't want to subject her to the trauma of coming back to life and digging herself out of her own grave, like he did.

 The child hums. “Like a portable charger? Drain the power in one object to recharge the other object?”

 Huffing, the cat creature rolls in its eyes. “That's one way of putting it.”

 The child nods. “Do I get to choose who pays the price?”

 “No, the person who pays the price must be of equal value to the previous holder. For example, you couldn't pay the price because you're too young and don't use a power to achieve a goal.” The bug creature explains, shaking its head.

 The child frowns and puts the earrings and ring on. “Okay. Tikki Spots on. Tikki, Plagg, Unify.”

 The following flash of bright light temporarily blinds Jason.

 “Using the power of the Ladybug Miraculous of Creation and the Cat Miraculous of Destruction, I wish that...—”

 The world fades to darkness and silence before Jason can hear the rest of the wish.

-<◊>-

 It's the dawning of the wake, with its claggy skies above and claggier mud underfoot; rain splatters against the pavement in a constant solemn cadence. Rusted wrought iron railings are all that stands between him and his love.

 Jason treads slowly, shoulders hunched, gaze averted. He's walked this path before. Too many times, the others would claim. He bites his lip and blinks back tears. He follows the path to the marble gravestone, her gravestone.

 Falling to his knees upon the grave's soil, he lightly traces the stone's engravings with one finger, silently muttering along.

 When he runs out of words to trace, he closes his eyes and leans his forehead against the stone. Digging his hands into the grass and soil, he can't help but let out a hollow sob.

 The minutes ebb by as he slowly recomposes himself. The cold wet mud of the grave clings to him, both that and the rain chills him to the bone.

 He sighs, then swallows thickly. “Hey, Mari. I know missed visiting you last week, I'm sorry. I got caught in a bit of a scuffle in our—uh night job.” He quickly glances around incase anyone's nearby, but on such a dreary day like this, there's not another soul in sight. “I attempted to bake your signature macaroons last night. They turned out fairly well but they're shit in comparison to how you get them to turn out.” He chuckles hollowly.

 “Last night whilst out on the night job, I found a tiny blue kitten with the most piercing blue eyes ever. Kinda reminded me of you, so I kinda ended up adopting it. I think you both would get along like a house on fire if you met. I was going to bring her today, but well you can see what the weather's like. Don't really want to get the thing sick when it's like this.” Jason rambles idly, not really putting too much thought into what he's saying.

 He huffs and pauses for a second, “Actually speaking about last night, I had the fucking weirdest of dreams. And it wasn't just a weird pit nightmare like it usually is—”

 He's cut off as a swarm of black ladybirds converge around the cemetery. On autopilot, Jason stumbles to his feet and backs away from her grave, eyeing the swarm with calculative apprehension.

 As he does that, the swarm sweep over her grave before dissipating into the sky.

 Jason holds his breath, waiting to see what the ladybirds did.

 A minute passes in silence, and just as he's about to step closer, a muffled and sickening scream emanates from beneath the grave. Fragments of last night's dream rise to the forefront of Jason's mind. “Fuck!”

 He throws himself forwards and starts desperately digging into the mud with his hands. “Come on, come on, come on…” Each second passes as slow as molasses but eventually, the mud starts to gradually give way underneath him.

 A grasping hand breaches the surface and starts frantically clawing at the ground. A wave of nausea hits Jason like a brick wall. He hesitates for a split second before fixating on digging up the mud around the hand. With each scoop of mud dug away, the hole around the hand starts to widen and widen until a second hand breaches the surface. With increased desperation, Jason continues to dig and dig and dig.

 After another couple of minutes digging, the hole's big enough that Jason can see the coffin shards and ripped scraps of clothing among the mud. He grabs at the arms and pulls with everything he has but the resistance is nearly equal.

 Gritting his teeth, he continues to pull until the resistance against him suddenly weakens and he stumbles back, dragging the cor—body of Marinette out of the grave.

 Jason let's go of her after a second and drinks in the sight of her, alive and breathing. Under his breath, he whispers, “Mari…”

 Frankly, she looks awful. Skin pallid, eyes bloodshot and glassy, freckles faded, hair dull, hands bloody. Her clothes are ripped, muddied, and bloodied. Earthworms, as well as other underground creepy crawlies, fall off her.

 Her eyes manage to focus on him for a second but almost immediately after, her eyes roll back and she collapses, unconscious.

 Jason rushes forwards and grabs her, to stop her from hitting the ground. Dazed, he fumbles for his phone and calls Bruce. “Marinette's alive.” He immediately blurts out, “She fucking dug herself out the fucking grave and she's unconscious and injured.” It takes all his willpower not to choke on his words.

 “We'll ready the medbay. Tim will pick you, he'll be there in five.”

-<◊>-

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, likes, and reblogs are much appreciated! |

| @maribat-march2020 | | @vixen-uchiha |

[lady-literature]

Death

Ive been wanting to rewrite this thing for a while now so here you guys go! credit to @bunathebunny for the original idea | @maribatmarch-2k21 | find more here

Marinette dies during the final battle with Hawkmoth.

Paris watches her fall, watches her take Hawkmoth with her, watches a child make a sacrifice she never should have had to make. Paris mourns and lays her to rest and sings her praises like she was the hero instead of the tragedy itself.

Her parents are too heartbroken to stay in the city their daughter loved (too furious to stay in the city that killed her) and so they run to Gotham.

Six months pass, and when Marinette wakes up in her grave, clawing her way out of the dirt and wood until she is bloody and staggering, there is no one waiting for her at home.

***

Marinette comes back wrong.

Not that, I think, there’s a way to come back right.

Dying changes you. And dying with the power of Creation thrumming through your veins? With the ancestral magic of a thousand Guardians crackling against your skin? With the history of a lost people stuffed inside your head and naked desperation clawing at your heart and the cries of your best friend echoing in your ears as you fall and-

Marinette comes back wrong.

***

Most of Paris knows she’s there, hidden in the shadows and watching.

It’s hard not to when criminals start turning up beaten and broken, screaming about little girls covered in blood and bruises and spots. When plenty of people have seen her flying across the rooftops or lurking in alleyways that are dark even as the sun shines bright.

They do not call her Ladybug anymore, for she is no longer their hero.

Marinette doesn’t mind. She is an afterimage, a ghost story, a thing that was once a girl but is now wrong wrong wrong.

Now they call her the Girl in Red.

They say she is benevolent. They say she is vicious.

I suppose it depends on who you ask.

(I suppose it depends on what they were doing when they met her.)

***

She has wandered the streets of Paris for many years when she comes across a man who is like her.

She meets him quite by accident, wandering through the shadows of her alleyways. They lock eyes—acid green clashing against inhuman blue, both glowing too bright in the shadows to be natural—and the pair of them freeze.

Well, Marinette freezes as much as she ever does, which isn’t much. The edges of her waver and mold to the shadows she’s in and the longer she stands there, the more she flickers.

Bloody then not then back again. Like she doesn’t quite know who to be.

Marinette looks up at him, and in her battered and broken mind, she cannot decide what he is.

He is a man who smells like death but is not dead. A man who is lost, wandering the world without a home just as she is. A man who is trouble, the same kind she bares her too sharp teeth at and hunts where it’s too dark for others to see.

(But isn’t she herself trouble? Hasn’t she heard the whispers and rumors people spin of her? Hasn’t she, herself, left the bodies of people too broken to ever fix lying in alleyways without a second thought?)

(People are much more fragile than she remembers.)

***

Jason looks down at her, this impossible child who is pale and terrifying and so indescribably other, and something in him cracks.

She is familiar, but not in the sense that they’ve ever met before.

No- she is familiar because under all the blood and bruises and demonic bullshit, he can still see the little girl hidden behind it. He can still recognize the look of a child dragged into a war that was not theirs because, once upon a time, that kid was him.

(Jason looks down at her and, in her place, he sees a little boy in red and green and gold.)

It’s been a long time since Jason was a hero—a lifetime ago, really—but he can’t ignore a kid in need. Even if she is creepy and kinda see-through and not quite human.

Which is good, he supposes, considering that after their first meeting, the little runt never leaves his side.

***

Jason leaves Paris two weeks later and when he goes, Marinette goes with him.

Paris is her city, is the only city she’s ever known… but it’s also the city that got her killed. She remembers little about Before, but she hadn’t needed to. The whispers people make behind their hands tell her more than enough.

Marinette has stayed in Paris for long enough, she thinks, bound by a duty she no longer needs to uphold.

Big Brother tells her of a different city, one plagued by madmen that lives in endless night. So many dark streets and people in need of saving, so much trouble teeming beneath the surface, just waiting for her to snap and snarl at it.

(Big Brother also tells her of the Bat that watches over the city. He speaks his name with scorn and an aching sort of longing that makes Marinette think of lost children and homes where no one is waiting for you.)

Jason grinds the whole of Gotham’s underground beneath his heel and Marinette stands at his side, a vicious shadow that people only ever get the chance to underestimate once.

Together, they are the Red Siblings, and together, they are Gotham’s worst nightmare.

[emixion]

Teen Titans - Day 9 - Maribat March 2021

Just a headcanon list for today. This is an old idea i had based on the Teen Titans: The Judas Contract movie. Angst ahead.

@maribatmarch-2k21

​ao3 link

The Titans (Robin, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Starfire, Raven, Wondergirl and their newest member, Ladybug) are fighting a particularly tough villian

In a rare moment, Damian is left in a vulnerable position but is pushed out of the way by Ladybug, who is left very injured.

Damian loses his mind. 

Whether or not Damian already knows that Ladybug is his girlfriend, Marinette, or if this is how he finds out is up to you.

But regardless once her transformation drops Damian is a wreck.

The other Titans manage to apprehend the villian and Raven takes Mari back to the tower to heal her.

All while Damian is crying and screaming and cursing, trying to stay as close to Marinette as Raven will allow.

The other Titans are silent but they are very stunned and disturbed.

They have never seen Damian like this and it shakes all of them to their core. It’s frightening to witness the utter destruction of Robin’s carefully maintained composure.

All of them except Garfield.

Once back at the tower, Raven begins healing Marinette. The others have to remove Damian from the room since he’s so hysterical. (It takes Jaime, Gar, Kori and Donna to drag him out.)

Outside the room, Damian sits on the floor next to the door. His hysterics have calmed down considerably but he’s still crying. The other titans aren’t really sure what to do and ultimately decide to give the boy space.

Again, except for Garfield.

Gar crouches down next to his sobbing teammate, tentatively resting a hand on his shoulder. Damian, doesn't slap his hand away, he doesn't glare or tense up, he doesn't do anything but cry.

"My angel," Damian croaks. "She protected me. She pushed me put of the way. My Nettie, oh god, Marinette." Garfield gently wraps an arm around the other boy, lets him cry against his shoulder. Minutes tick by but Garfield holds steady like a tree.

He lets Damian let out of all of the anguish and doesn't falter for a second. He knows this feeling, it's the worst feeling in the world. He wouldn't wish it on his worst enemy, let alone a teammate. So he says a silent pray for Marinette. That she may make a full recovery. That no one  else on his team will ever feel the pain he felt the day he lost his diamond.

Later, after Raven announces that Marinette was stable and should recover, a grateful yet embarrassed Damian asks Gar why he did what he did instead of just leaving him be like the others. 

Gar gives him a sad smile and says, “The way you were screaming...I know how that feels. Marinette is your Terra.”

The days go by and the Titans visit. 

They send her comforting smiles and well wishes, ask her if she needs anything.

Starfire and Jaime give her hugs.

They pat Damian's shoulder, who is all but permanently seated by her side on their way out.

Then comes Garfield.

He smiles gently at the recovering girl and takes her hand. "I'm really glad you're okay, Marinette." he says softly, grateful that this hadn't ended in another tragedy and heartbreak. Then he beckons Marinette closer, leaning in her ear to tell her a secret. "Keep that little bastard close, okay? He loves you more than you'll ever know."

Marinette blinks in surprise before her face breaks out into a smile and she nods. "Thank you, Garfield." she whispers and said boy pats her head and leaves the room.

Once he's gone, Marinette turns to look at Damian thoughtfully, reaching an arm out in a silent request for him to come closer. He wordlessly goes to her, sitting at her bedside.

She presses their foreheads together and lets Damian tangle their fingers, lets him use his free hand to cup her cheek and pull her in for a kiss. Lets him murmur how glad he is that she's okay. She has every intention of keeping him close.

And later that day, Garfield visits a certain grave and tells his diamond all about Damian going soft for a girl in ladybug spots.

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 13: Reverse Robins

ao3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Their Ages:

Damian: 25

Tim: 19

Steph: 18

Cass: 17

Jason:17

Dick: 11

Marinette: 8

Jason had a plan to bring Tim home for the holidays. Tim hadn’t responded to the invitation that Bruce had sent him. It didn’t necessarily shock anyone but Marinette had been really upset. She adored her second eldest brother and on the rare occasion Tim was in the Manor or the cave, he was always accompanied by the eight-year-old who followed behind him chattering on about whatever she had found interesting.

Tim was probably given the same place as Dick had. Though everyone had accepted that if Marinette had a favourite it would be Cass. Which was understandable.

It was funny how Dick had latched onto Damian and Marinette with Tim. The two of them had somehow managed to get attached to the two brothers, whose rare interactions usually ended in arguments.

His plan was simple. Take Marinette with him on patrol and go to one of Tim’s safe houses. Let her use her puppy eyes on him and if that doesn’t work, Jason can probably bribe him with Alfred’s food. Jason’s sure they won’t have to resort to bribery. He’s seen the Damian Wayne give in to her puppy eyes. (Cass had managed to take a video and had sent it to Jon, who sent it to the rest of Damian’s friends. Damian had taken to threatening to stab anyone who brought it up but none of them took him seriously.)

All he had to figure out now, was how to sneak her out on patrol with him. Dick had started his training but Marinette had decided she was going to help Steph and Alfred with comms and whatever little help she could provide around the med bay. It was adorable. But none of that helped with getting her out of the house, even if he picks a day where he’s on solo patrol, Alfred would notice that Marinette was missing.

In the end he tells Alfred he’s taking Marinette to talk to Tim. Alfred agrees, probably because its weird to see the most cheerful person in their house being gloomy. Even Bruce had tried to distract her to help her feel better. Not that it had helped.

He tells Marinette about his plan and she agrees. Tim doesn’t show up in the cave in the days after he tells Marinette of his plan. He seems to be avoiding the family completely in fact. He’s sure Marinette’s noticed too. Marinette gets more and more excited before his next solo patrol. The day he tells her they’re going; she’s practically bouncing in excitement. The whole family notices but doesn’t say anything, glad to have their ray of sunshine back. Jason thinks Cass knows and isn’t saying anything but he isn’t in a hurry to find out. For all he knows Marinette might’ve just told her.

He stays behind in the changing rooms for a while. And once he’s sure everyone’s left and he comes to grab Marinette, he realises Dick is still there. Dick will definitely notice his sister’s disappearance but he might tell Damian if they tell him where they’re going. And if Damian shows up, Marinette’s pleading or not, they weren’t going to achieve anything. Thankfully, Dick heads back up a while later, he must have been tired out by his training.

Jason hands Marinette a domino mask and takes his bike. He knows better than to grapple around Gotham City with a child. Steph just smiles at them as they scurry across the cave. He’s not shocked, if Cass knows than Steph definitely knows. At this point he’s just glad Marinette didn’t tell Dick.

They head to the safehouse Tim had been in the last time. Hopefully, Tim’s there. Jason doubts he’s gone on patrol, since he’s been trying to avoid the rest of them, he’s probably just working on case files.

Tim is there. Jason parks his bike in an alleyway and hands Marinette the mask solvent. She removes the mask soon enough and they go to find Tim. Marinette knocks on the door. Jason behind her, hidden in the shadows. The door opens to reveal Tim with a scowl on his face looking straight ahead, and before he can make out Jason in the shadows, Marinette hugs him, joyfully squealing, “Timtam!”

Tim looks down, bewildered, at the tiny kid that has currently wrapped herself around Tim.

“Marinette? What are you doing here?”

Still clinging on, she continues to speak happily, “Jayjay brought me.”

Looking up Tim spots him immediately, stepping forward, Jason offers him a sheepish grin.

Tim narrows his eyes at him, “why are the two of you here?”

Jason ignores his question and says, “we should head inside, don’t wanna bring attention to ourselves,” gesturing to his costume. And Jason walks into the apartment, steadily ignoring Tim glaring daggers behind him. Marinette has stopped clinging onto Tim and is skipping into the house dragging Tim behind her once he shuts the door.

Marinette goes back to hanging off of Tim like a monkey once he comes to a standstill.

“Mind telling me why the two of you are here?”

“Don’t look at me, Pixie was the one who wanted to talk to you.”

He looks at Marinette, who offers him a blinding grin. Tim melts a little and sits down, Marinette now having settled on his shoulders. He can’t wait to check out the footage from his mask later. This is going to hilarious. Gotham’s scary anti-hero caving under grins from his littlest sibling.

Marinette cuts to the chase, clambering of his shoulders, she sits cross legged on his lap, eyes wide and pouting. Jason stifles his urge to giggle. She looks up at him, and says sounding so sad that Jason wants to wrap her up in blankets and eat chocolate until Alfred scolds them, “Bruce said you’re not coming to the Manor next week.”

“I- what?”

She sniffles, and damn is Jason impressed, “for the holidays, Damian came home yesterday, Jon will be there next week. Cass and Steph are both there, B’s taken the week off from work. You’re the only one not coming.”

He’s still staring at Marinette with wide eyes, and a confused face. But he sounds perfectly collected when he says, “And do the others want me there?”

She gives him an indignant look, “Of course they do, why would they send an invitation if they didn’t want you there?”

“I don’t know,” he says, phrasing it as a question.

“Great, then you’re coming,” she says happily.

“I am?”

Jason almost feels bad for Tim. Almost. He’s not physically hurt, the worst thing from this encounter would be when Jason sends his mask footage to Tim’s friends as revenge for the whole trying to kill him thing. Marinette’s going to develop a reputation of getting grown heroes (or anti-heroes in this case) to cave under smiles before she meets any of them.

Marinette continues cheerfully, “yup. It’ll be so much fun. Alfred promised he’s gonna make everyone’s favourites. Yours included. And then the gifts. Don’t forget to get gifts, by the way.”

“Uh…sure.”

They’ve been out for at least two hours, if they don’t leave now, they might not make it back to the cave before the others do. Before Marinette can start on another tirade, he interrupts her, “We’ve gotta go now, if we don’t wanna be grounded.”

Marinette pouts but she gets up. She hugs Tim one more time and makes him promise that he’ll be there the next week. She skips out of the apartment happier than Jason had seen her all week.

They reach the cave before the others. Marinette informs Alfred and Steph that Tim agreed to come and Alfred ensures her that he’d take care of the necessary arrangements and that he’s glad that she convinced Tim to join them. She casually says, “he thought we didn’t actually want him here, that’s silly. Of course, we want him here.” She misses the sudden pain in Alfred and Stephanie’s expressions

Steph puts a hand on the bouncing Marinette’s shoulder, “maybe you should keep reminding him.”

Marinette looks at her and nods gravely, “ok.” She yawns then and Alfred sends her up to bed. Telling her she’s had a long night. Marinette wishes them all good night and rushes up the stairs.

The next morning Marinette informs the others, that ‘Timtam’ will be joining them and they have to get him a gift. No one provides Bruce with an answer when he asks how she knows, even though Jason’s sure all his siblings know by now.

True to his word Tim shows up the next week. He leaves at the end of the week. But Marinette and Jason now have an established system. It takes Tim, three more times of the same process before he catches on. He’s not immune to it though. So, every time Tim turns away from their “family bonding” Jason takes Marinette to whatever safe house he’s in and Marinette talks him into coming. Eventually they don’t need to do that and Tim just agrees the first time.

Being Dick's sister, she's been performing most of her life, she'd be able to pull off the whole fake tears thing..

[miracle-sham]

I posted a Jasonette ficlet called Hold Your Wake Softly, for the Dead Sleep Lightly about two hours ago. But Tumblr's made it disappear from the tags and I've not got time to repost the ficlet so I'm just shoving a link here. Hopefully this won't disappear as well.

[emixion]

Court of Owls - Day 17 - Maribat March 2021

this one is very short but has a lot of background. Please see the ao3 link for some explanation. @maribatmarch-2k21 ao3 link

“You…you’re one of them, aren’t you?” Damian’s voice was hoarse as he spoke, looking at her with wide, disbelieving eyes. “You’re one of the people they resurrected.”

Marinette looked at him guiltily. “It would appear so.” She mumbled, a sad smile spreading over her face.

Damian shook his head in denial. “No,” he insisted. “No, there has to be another explanation, you’re not-“

“I am, Damian.” She cut him off. “I’m so sorry.”

“You can’t be!” Damian argued, his voice rising. “You can’t be-“

“I died in the summer of 2017.” She said gravely, watching on helplessly as his face crumpled..

He shook his head again, not willing to believe it.

“That was five years ago, you would’ve been born in 2001.”

“I was.”

“No.”

“Damian-“

“No!” He brought his hands to his face, tears welling in his eyes. “You lost your memory in a car crash, just like the autopsy said!”

Marinette stepped closer, her gentle hands covering his. “No, I was killed in battle in Paris, France. My body was seized because I am a former Miraculous holder. “They stole me and wiped my memory, then placed me here to track your family.” Her tone was soothing but the words cut into Damian like a knife. “I remember now. I didn’t then, but I do now.“

Marinette…” Damian choked, grasping her hands. “How long before..?”

“Not long. It’s a miracle I haven't had to regenerate yet.”

Damian’s heart nearly stopped.

“We can revive you, we can take you to a Lazarus pit or..”

Marinette simply shook her head. “I’m already living on borrowed time, Damian. I was never meant to come back.”

“It doesn’t matter if you were meant to, what matters is that you’re here now. We can’t just let you go.”

Her hands moved to his shoulders. “You can, Damian. You have to. This…thing that they’ve turned me into. That isn’t me. The real me died five years ago. The only way to keep me alive is to endanger you and your family. I can't do that.”

Tears spilled down Damian’s face as he crushed her against him in a desperate embrace. Had she always felt so cold? “I won’t let you go.” he cried stubbornly. “I won’t.”

Marinette sniffed, tears falling down her own cheeks.

“You have to.” -

In Paris, France, a young man stood before a certain grave, his face hidden from view by his hood. He came here for closure, to see it for himself.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

2001-2017

Beloved daughter and friend

Damian knelt before the grave, his hands gripping the grass, teeth clenched.

‘I’m going to purge every god forsaken owl from that court.’ He swore. ‘I promise you, Marinette.’

[emixion]

Death - Day 14 - Maribat March 2021

This one’s angsty. Fair warning. Based on Damian’s death from the Batman Inc. comics. @maribatmarch-2k21 ao3 link Marinette pulled the maroon hoodie closer around her shoulders, sniffling into the collar. The soft fabric still smelled like him.

It had been approximately 46 hours since Damian had died, and Marinette felt like she was drowning.



Every breath she took was excruciating. She felt her lungs heave with every inhale and exhale, like she was floating in space where everything was cold and there was no air.



Marinette had been bullied, beaten, targeted, and forced to save the world countless times, but the worst moment of her life was watching the boy she loved be stabbed by a warped clone of himself, completely powerless to stop him.



She wished she could’ve done something. The least she could’ve done was convince him not to leave the batcave in the first place. After all, the attack on Wayne Tower was by Leviathan and his mother, who had a bounty on his head.



Though she was rightfully terrified, her boy was ever stubborn, and she knew that trying to stop him would be a fruitless effort.



She wished she had tried harder.



The last thing her beloved boy had said to her, crouched down and murmured was “stay here.”



She hadn’t, of course. She had left her post and bolted across the room just in time to see Heretic pull his sword out of Damian.



In that second her world wobbled and tilted, falling off of its carefully placed axis.

She froze in utter horror and stayed that way until Bruce’s agonized cries of a grieving father pulled her out of the dissociative state. Only then did the tears start to fall.



Marinette winced as she recalled Bruce’s screams devolving into sobbing as he found his son.

He blamed himself, but Marinette blamed herself.



If she had just convinced him to stay in the cave…



Stifling a sob, she buried herself further into the hoodie. 

Tikki flew up from her place beside her at the sound of her cry, nuzzling into her chosen’s head. She knew there were no words in any language that could soothe the ache of a lost love, but maybe her presence would be enough comfort to ease even a fraction of the pain, and if not, at least assure the poor girl that she was not alone in her grief.



“T-Tikki-'' She choked out, in a tone that only really indicated recognition, not any other reason to speak.



“It’s alright.” Tikki murmured, placing a tiny kiss against her midnight hair. “I know, I know.” she crooned. 

Marinette’s crying waned in and out of the border of hysterics as she recalled every memory she had with Damian like they were precious jewels.



The day they met, their first date, first kiss, playing with Titus, meeting the family, patrolling the city, every instance of his forest eyes that she could recall was another wave of sorrow crashing over her already broken and bloodied heart.



“I need to go, Tikki.” Marinette hiccuped after she’d taken control of her cries for the most part. “I can’t be here in Gotham. I need to go home.”



Tikki wasn’t sure if that was a great idea considering Marinette’s emotional state and the fact that Hawkmoth was still active. It didn’t seem like a great combo.



As if sensing her hesitance, Marinette continued.



“Everything I look at, everything I see, it’s all just him. It’s all his presence and I feel like it’s gonna kill me, Tikki. I feel like I’ve lost my mind.” She slurred.



Looking into her chosen’s tired, bloodshot grey eyes, she understood the reasoning and nodded her agreement.



The day her plane took off, The Wayne family stood in shock over a certain grave. It was empty.

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 14: Death

ao3

part 2, part 3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Marinette stands in the same spot Tim had probably been however long ago, and starts talking.

“I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, but I just heard.” She let out a bitter chuckle, “They called me halfway through my first class and said that my grandfather was on the phone and that there was a family emergency. It took me a second to realise they were talking about Alfred, even though we all think of him that way, he would never introduce himself as such. Not unless it meant they wouldn’t let him speak to me otherwise. That probably should have been the first of many indicators that something was wrong. And then I actually spoke to Alfred and I don't really think I registered what he said at first.” She smiled sadly, " how could I? I still don't know if it was that I didn't want to believe him or genuinely didn't think there was a possibility he was speaking the truth. "

She fell silent then, a lone tear slowly making its way down her cheek, “when I walked into the cave, I was expecting Cass, Dick and Tim to be preparing for patrol, not Dick lecturing a little kid in a Robin suit. Were you even planning on telling me I had a little brother or were you waiting for one of the others to tell me first?”

She's crying she realises dimly as tears trace their way down her face.

“Who’s apparently Talia al Ghul’s son. He launched himself at me with his katana, screaming, “there’s an intruder in the cave Grayson,” she makes a crying laughing sound, “under any other circumstances it would have probably been funny, but I just stared at Dick in horror and Dick had to grab Damian back by the cape. Said something to him and he stormed off. I just continued to stare. Dick in the Bat suit, was not something I thought I’d ever see again. He’s gonna break y’know, with you gone. The whole family has fallen apart, Cass left for Hong Kong, handing the mantle of Batgirl to Stephanie, I don’t even know what’s going on with Jay, Alfred’s keeping it together but that’s just Alfred, Babs is probably the most level headed right now and Tim-”

She broke off into a sigh, “well, I’m worried about him. Apparently, I witnessed the after effects of Dick giving the Robin mantle to Damian without telling him. That clearly didn’t go well. I have no idea what he was thinking doing that without talking to Tim beforehand, I get his reasoning, I really do but that was a shitty thing to do. I can’t even begin to imagine how he feels-”

She breaks off again a sob escaping her, “Dick sorta caught me up on the things I missed, and I looked through the cave footage, and I’m not the least shocked about Tim’s reaction. I had to call Cassie Sandsmark and Steph to have some idea of what happened, it’s still very vague but it’s all I know. But, the two of them were clear on one thing, he’s leaving to continue his search. Because Dick didn’t believe him, told him they’d put him in Arkham. Honestly, I’m not even sure how it devolved into this mess.”

She sits down facing the grave and after a considerable pause continues, “I’m staying. Mr. Bug can take care of Paris. Dick’s going to need help. They’ve moved out of the Manor, using the penthouse instead. Probably too many painful memories for Alfred and Dick. And I don’t know about Damian. Dick’s signed himself up for a lot with him. I can’t leave him to take care of both Damian and Gotham alone. You might’ve managed it but you’re not exactly a model of mental health either. Maybe me being here will help with Damian’s mindset of being the Batman’s sole heir since he’s the blood son. Doubt Talia told him about the biological daughter. Afterall he had no idea who I was.”

She curls in on herself, sobbing freely, “It isn’t fair. I know Death isn’t fair not that Life is either but I can’t help but feel angry by the unfairness of it all. We still need you. Every single one of us, even if we might never get the chance to tell it to your face.”

"I still need you," she whispers, her voice breaking.

She stops, perhaps her father’s allergy to processing emotions was genetic, “I read Tim’s research or whatever little he had. I think he’s right. I hope he’s right. However, I doubt that he knows for sure either. But I need him to be right. I need you to be back. I need whatever corpse that has been buried in the ground here to be a fake or a clone or, or something,” her voice getting more desperate as she continues, “You can’t be dead. I need my dad.”

She sits there for a little longer, letting out all the tears. Eventually she stands up, pulling herself together and wiping away her tears. Leaving the cemetery hoping her brother’s right and her father’s lost in time.

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 9: Teen Titans and Day 10: Creatures and Cryptids

ao3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Marinette and the others were at the tower celebrating Tim's return. They had been overjoyed to hear of his return and by the time they had left for their rooms it had been fairly late. She was checking her phone when Adrien messaged her. Her sleep addled brain was confused for a moment until she remembered that London was eight hours ahead of San Francisco and Adrien had probably just woken up.

Kitty: Marinette!!!!

Kitty: I googled the meaning of cryptid and look what I found!!!!

Kitty: cryptid/ˈkrɪptɪd/Noun

1.an animal whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the yeti.

Kitty: That would make the Kwamis cryptids, there existence isn’t really substantiated.

She stared at the phone; it was too late to deal with this but she responded anyway.

Bug: I’m pretty sure they’re just normal creatures Adrien

Bug: I’d tell you to go to bed but its morning there so…

Bug: however im sleeping now. Good night.

Sighing she fell asleep, she’d ask Tikki about it tomorrow.

.oOo.

Marinette returned from Breakfast with cookies for Tikki and cheese (that’s not camembert) for Plagg and some food for if any of the others decided to come out. The two of them spent the most time out of the miraculous box, Tikki obviously staying with Marinette and Plagg joining them nearly every other day. The Kwamis preferred to stay in her room, some of them had wanted to explore the tower, but she had told them not to, she didn’t want to scare her team mates. Though, she doubted Raven would get scared.

Handing the food to the Kwamis, she lets Trixx out and waits for a bit before asking them about Adrien’s findings. Tikki hummed thoughtfully while Plagg remained absorbed in his cheese. “Well, technically I guess both could apply. While there are ancient scriptures and such that show our existence none of them provide concrete evidence. The only people who are usually aware are the Guardians and the users. In current times that would just be you and Adrien, given that Master Fu removed Gabriel and Nathalie’s memories on the functioning of the Miraculous before he lost his when he passed over guardianship.”

“What Sugar cube’s trying to say is technically to everyone other than you and the kid, we are cryptids.”

Trixx who had been silent up till this point, piped up, “ooooh, your team mates don’t know about us. Can we please go around pranking them? Spreading some necessary chaos? Pleaaaase?”

Plagg had gotten a look in his eyes that spelled mischief. Tikki just sighed. Marinette was torn. On one hand she knew it wasn’t exactly right but on the other hand Plagg and Trixx might just carry out some convoluted plan without her permission. It would make more sense to know what exactly they were doing, also it would definitely be fun to watch them freak out hr team mates. Grinning at Plagg and Trixx, Marinette agrees. Tikki just sighs and shakes her head, Marinette thinks Wayzz would probably have the same reaction, but she can’t bring herself to care. They’re going to wreak havoc on the rest of the team.

.oOo.

They went with Victor first. His one mechanical eye meaning that he would only be able to see the Kwamis through one eye and he would probably just brush it off and wouldn’t alert the others. Marinette and the Kwamis hid while Kaalki talked his ear off. Making sure to stay out of sight other than a few glimpses. Leaving him confused at why he couldn’t see anything. Eventually they heard foot steps and hurried out, Kaalki calling out a bye.

.oOo.

Gar was next. The other Kwamis had managed to talk Wayzz into taking part in their elaborate prank. So, when Gar was eating alone, Wayzz went in and started commenting on the most random things. Garfield had responded completely casually the first time and then had turned to look at Wayzz and freaked out. He ran out of the room calling for Raven and screaming about spirits and that she had to make sure they weren’t being haunted or anything of that sort. Marinette and the Kwamis just snickered as the others in the tower started yelling at Gar.

.oOo.

They had unanimously agreed that they were not going to try anything on Raven.

.oOo.

Kon and Bart had been the next on the list. They were easy enough, they spent enough time around each other that it wasn’t hard to catch them together. They were playing video games when Xuppu and Nooroo, the both of them having been extremely eager to join, showed up next to Bart and Kon and started making a mess and calling out insults every time they made a mistake and floating out of sight when they turned to look. Eventually the two of them got worked up enough for Kon to use his X-ray vision. The two of them had phased through the floor and returned to her room not wanting to test whether or not they would show up on his x-ray vision.

Unsurprisingly the news got to Tim, which she knew would get him worked up and more paranoid then usual but she was going to have to tell them about the Kwamis soon enough. She’d put a stop to it if it was affecting his physical health.

Bart had decided that Gar had been right about the haunted spirits and had gotten Raven to check the whole tower. Raven had done so, and in front of the whole team had declared there was nothing to worry about, there were no spirits the only magical prescence in the tower was positive and whatever had happened was probably harmless. She had then proceeded to tell them it would probably end soon while giving Marinette a pointed look, to which she just guiltily smiled back. Raven the sighed and returned to her room.

.oOo.

None of them had actually seen the Kwamis, Marinette realised when the Kwamis went to Cassie. While she knew the others thought something was going on, she wasn’t too worried about it. This unfortunately had its disadvantages. Sass had gone to Cassie and had gravely started, “Cassandra Sandsmark-“

“Tell Ares he can go fuck himself,” she snapped and then walked out of her room to the training room leaving the Kwamis and Marinette in confusion.

Mentally noting to check up on Cassie later, they decided to move in onto their next victim.

Robin.

.oOo.

They couldn’t get to Tim. They had been called for a fight and Marinette had to transform. In the end she had to use more than one Miraculous, revealing to the others that it had just been her and the Kwamis messing with them the whole time.

“I thought the tower was haunted,” Gar complained.

“I was there,” Marinette repeated, “It was incredibly funny.”

He just groaned in response. They had returned to the tower not long back and had not moved away from their current topic since then. Bart had calmed down in about five minutes of nonstop talking and Sass had decided he was going to explain things to Bart himself. Victor had just frowned in exasperation and walked out. Raven having already known had left for her room as soon as they returned to the tower. Kon was laughing at Gar’s misery and Tim had started talking to Wayzz about the Kwamis and such. Marinette had pulled Cassie aside and told her that she was there when Cassie spoke to the Kwamis and that she was there if Cassie wanted to talk. Cassie had given her a nod told her that she’d think about it and had left.

She was explaining everything to Gar now, she had finally gotten around to when Xuppu and Nooroo had gone to Bart and Kon. Kon had stopped laughing at Gar immediately at that point. When she mentioned what happened with Raven, Gar shrieked, “she knew?” At which everyone still in the room burst out laughing.

Hawkmoth's defeat in this was before Miracle Queen. Master Fu then modifies Gabriel and Nathalie's memories and hands over guardianship to Marinette and loses his memories and then joins Marianne. The temporary holders dont get the miraculous.