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mochegato · 4 months ago

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Even the Losers

Chapter 39

Chapter 1 Chapter 38

um… if bad parenting and borderline stalking are triggers, this might not be the chapter for you. Also TW for dissociation

The feeling was freeing, or rather free. Marinette felt like she was floating, completely free from any tethers; to the ground, to a person, to her emotions, to reality. She was free from responsibility, free from expectations, free from worry, free from anxiety, free from pain. It was warm and embracing and above all, comforting. The temperature was perfect, just the right side of warm. There was a low-lying white noise that was just loud enough to let her know something was there without intruding on her peace.

She could float away forever and be completely content. There wasn’t a single reason she could think of not to just let it happen. She could just…

Her euphoria was brutally interrupted by a weight dropping around her body bringing her consciousness crashing down to reality. She blinked once, twice, and a few more times until the scene in front of her came into focus, or, more accurately, the person in front of her.

She narrowed her eyes as her brow furrowed trying to make sense of what she was seeing. The utopic scenery had been replaced by something decidedly more mundane and darker, and a man crouching in front of her. “Jason?”

“Hey there Pixie Pop,” he said quietly, or maybe it wasn’t so quiet. Her ears were still adjusting, the white noise from before now sounding like a constant buzzing, like live wires surrounding her, sometimes humming quietly in the distance, sometimes sizzling so loudly she had the instinct to cover her ears. His eyes darted to the side in a harsh, judgmental glare in time with one of the louder bursts, but returned to her with a soft look. “I thought we lost you for a second there,” he continued so gently, it was like he was speaking to a sleeping baby. “Thought you might have gone somewhere we couldn’t track you.”

His lips curled up in a soft smile, but her eyes were locked on his eyes. They were filled with concern, but searching, waiting, a bit of relief easing into them the longer she looked, the more clearheaded she became. He raised his hand, fingers seemingly reaching toward her, but it froze almost instantly, his fingers clenching instead before he lowered his hand resentfully. “How you doing?”

“Fine. Thank you,” she answered instantly. The response wasn’t even a conscious decision, more like reflex. Instead, she focused on trying to orient herself absent of the buoyant feeling she had just been torn away from and allow her body to properly register her current environmental input, which was significantly harder than it should have been.

At a loud sound from him, her eyes snapped back to him from wherever they had wandered while her mind was doing the same. If anything, the scoff he had let out helped ground her into reality, gave her a familiar warm feeling. It was the normal response she got to that answer. Whether it was Alya or Nino or Adrien… She froze, the reality hitting her like an akuma's blast.

Adrien.

She looked around wildly, the heavy blanket she hadn’t noticed before falling from her shoulders, not noticing the panic start to set in to Jason's eyes as he watched her sudden, frantic movements nor the way his entire body tensed and he bobbed in place, like his body wanted to lurch toward her but his mind was keeping him in place.

She searched for a few seconds before letting out an indignant growl at remembering her phone was still where she had left it the night before; in her purse at Max’s apartment. Now, she had no way to know how Adrien was doing or check on him. She almost hissed at the incessant white noise that refused to go away and prevented her from being able to focus, but it stopped when her eyes caught on Roy’s phone, and she lunged for it. She wouldn’t be able to open it, but she’d at least been able to see if there were any messages.

There was only one message, Chloe warning them Bruce found out she wasn’t there and had left the hospital. Nothing important and hardly helpful at this point. Nothing about Adrien. She checked the time it had come in. Forty-five minutes ago. She pressed her lips into a thin line. Surely, if there had been anything to worry about, she would have sent that as well… But that was forty-five minutes ago, and anything could have happened in that time and she had no way to find out. She couldn’t even open his phone to actually respond and demand… request an update.

She huffed and tossed it back on the coffee table glaring at it like it was the root of her misfortunes. She yanked at her shirt, her fingers instantly finding the burl in her hem and aggressively rubbing her finger and thumb over it.

“Hey,” Jason interrupted softly but firmly, easing into her personal space to make sure she was hearing him. “It’s okay. There’s no update on Adrien. He’s still doing okay… strong. His vitals are strong,” he assured her with the confidence of a man who had a direct link to his monitors, which he definitely did not have. However, if there had been any change Bruce, Dick, and Damian would have known about it before they left, and they would have notified everyone. Since they didn’t say anything about that, just that Marinette wasn’t there, he was positive Adrien was fine.

There was no way they wouldn’t have said something.

Almost no way…

It was unlikely they would allow themselves to be distra…

He sighed heavily and hung his head. “Tell you what, Pixie Pop, I’ll have Duke check now and let us know just to verify.”

She watched him intently for a few seconds, studying him like she was trying to determine if she trusted him. “He’s still there?” Her voice broke slightly midway through the sentence. Her fingers let go of her hem and eyes dropped for just a moment when he nodded. When they returned to him, they had transitioned from suspicious to wary. “Markov will have better knowledge,” she finally advised quietly.

“Ahh, but I don’t know Markov’s phone number,” Jason shrugged, purposefully injecting levity into his tone.

Instead of lightening her mood as he’d hoped, she shrunk away from him again. It was a slight thing, but with him watching her as carefully as he was, he noted it, internally cursing himself for misplaying his hand. “Tell Duke to have Markov call you,” she suggested curtly.

“Yeah,” he agreed quickly. “I’ll have him give Markov my number as well.”

“You don’t have to,” she shrugged. To his relief, she seemed to have relaxed at least back to the level she had been at before his earlier joke.

Jason raised an eyebrow at her. “My number is unlisted.”

She scoffed. “That really isn’t relevant. He’s gotten the CIA director’s number before… allegedly!” she added quickly.

He blinked at her again. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her, but it really didn’t seem like the right time. He opened his mouth regardless but before he could ask… he wasn’t even sure what he wanted to ask, a roaring voice put an end to their conversation, both of their heads whipping toward the sound.

“…didn’t even realize she wasn’t in the hospital for what? Hours?” Roy screamed. “And now you’re declaring some divine right to her?”

“We didn’t realize she wasn’t there because we were told she was sleeping and she shouldn't be disturbed,” Bruce yelled back. “So, we waited outside her room all night. When we discovered it was Adrien’s room not hers, I came to see her for myself after being LIED to all night after MY DAUGHTER ALMOST DIED.”

“Jesus, Bruce. Last night wasn’t about YOU!” Roy took a step toward Bruce, but Dick stepped between them, holding his hands out toward both of their chests. “When will you get that through your fucking titanium skull? Everything isn’t about you. This is about Marinette and Adrien, and what they need.”

“And what they need is to be safe!” Bruce thundered. “And I needed to make sure she was, after a night where she wasn’t. But I couldn’t because you were hiding her. I didn’t know where she was and if she was safe. As her father, I needed to make sure she was and act to make sure she was.”

Roy narrowed his eyes, studying him assiduously, taking his time before responding. When he finally did, his voice had been lowered, but the tone was just as acidic. “So, you had to break into my apartment to do that? Into my room? Come at Marinette?”

“We meant to just see if she was okay then leave,” Dick interjected calmly. “We didn’t come at her.”

Roy looked at them critically, disgust curling his lips as he spoke. “And it took four of you to do that? And all invade her space? While we were sleeping? While she was sleeping?”

“Hey, I was trying to stop them,” Jason interjected. “Don’t group me in with this shitshow.”

Bruce glared at him and took a breath before responding to Roy’s accusation, but it clearly did little to abate his anger, while his expression eased slightly after the action, his eyes stayed dark. “We were worried,” he gritted out.

Roy narrowed his eyes at him. “You’re smarter than that. You all are. You could have checked with anyone else. You didn’t care to, because how she felt didn’t matter to you. Only how you felt.”

Jason scoffed and turned back to Marinette, examining her expression and body language closely as everyone spoke around her. “They could have tried. I wouldn’t have answered. They could have tracked me.”

“Yeah, don’t think we’re done talking about that,” Dick growled. “You knew. You knew and didn’t tell us.”

“No, I did not,” he touted proudly. “And we definitely are done. You can talk all you want about it. I’m out. You chose your side. I chose mine. Hers.”

“There are no sides here!” Dick thundered so loudly even Damian winced at the anger lacing the words. “We are all trying to protect and supp…”

“How did you know where I was?” Marinette cut in. Her words were quiet, emotionless, yet demanding more attention than all the angry yelling that had had been filling the room. She realized she probably should have been paying attention and know what the yelling was about, but the niggling feeling in the back of her head was now a full on blaring trumpet in her ear.

“Huh?” Dick asked in the same overly innocent tone Etta and Ella would use when they had said more than they meant to and was hoping Marinette or Alya hadn’t heard it, but it was the way everyone froze at her question that confirmed her instinct more than anything else.

“What, sweetheart?” Bruce asked, his voice soft and tentative.

She stared at the phone like it was an escape room clue and if she stared long enough, it would provide the answer to everything while her mind whirled like the Flash on crack. The longer her mind ran, the more things fell into place. This was it, that niggling feeling that wouldn't go away for days before. She was finally closing in on it. It felt right. This was it the final thing. “Chloe texted Roy forty-five minutes ago. It’s been forty-five minutes. That’s not enough time.”

“Not enough time for what, sweetheart?” Bruce encouraged, keeping his voice at the same gentle tone. He tried to edge closer to Marinette, but Roy’s glare kept him at a distance.

“Assume five to ten minutes to get to the car and out of the parking lot,” she started remotely. Her eyes finally lifted, but rather than looking at any of the people in the room, it was to examine the completely intact, not broken-down door to Roy’s apartment. “Five to ten minutes to get from the car and pick the lock to break into Roy’s apartment, at the quickest. Most people would take ten to fifteen, but you were in a hurry. You wouldn’t have taken the time to pick the lock if you didn’t think you could do it quickly.” Her eyes drifted to the wreckage in the hallway. “Five minutes for the fight, that leaves twenty to thirty minutes for the ride from the hospital and however long I’ve been…” her eyes dropped down, “distracted.”

Her eyes shot up to Bruce, her eyes narrowed in analysis. “That leaves no time for doubt. You knew where you were going. How did you know?” She quirked her head to the side a moment before her eyes drifted over to Jason then Roy and back to Bruce. “Jason didn’t tell you. Roy didn’t tell you. My friends didn’t tell you… so, how did you know?”

Bruce and Dick glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes, both straightening up at the same time in a perfect example of nurture over nature, further highlighting their history, a history Marinette hadn’t been allowed. “We traced your phone,” Bruce stated confidently.

Damian frowned at Bruce’s answer, his eyes darted between Dick and Bruce, both standing abnormally stiffly, not enough that it would be noticeable to anyone outside of the family, but after a decade of living in the League and years of living and fighting with his father and his team, their unease was blazingly clear, as though they had done something remorseful. But they hadn’t. There was no reason to lie. His father hadn’t done anything that any other concerned father wouldn’t have done, anything that he hadn’t already done with the rest of his children. Their reaction made no sense.

Marinette’s brow furrowed at his answer, the answer not fitting into her puzzle. A red herring threatening to lure her away from the correct conclusion. Her fingers found the burl in her hem as she absently rubbed it. “My phone isn’t here,” she corrected slowly in sharp contrast to how quickly her thoughts were moving. “I left it at Max’s apartment. Chloe has Roy’s number in case something happened with Adrien. If you’d traced my phone, it would have led you there. But you didn’t go there. You came straight here. You knew. There were so many possibilities, so many more likely possibilities, but you didn’t try any of those. You knew where to go. Where I was. Without doubt.” Her eyes narrowed further. “And you don’t want me to know how you knew.”

“Marinette…” Bruce started weakly, desperately.

But it was Jason’s words that kept ringing in her ears. Suddenly she froze, her fingers paused mid-stroke over the burl and her chest not even rising to take breaths. The force of her realization snapped into place almost hard enough to leave an echo in the room. Her eyes slowly panned down to her fingers for a moment before she shot up and unceremoniously yanked her shirt over her head, bending slightly to bring the fabric closer to her examination, as though just holding it wouldn’t get it close enough. She didn’t need better taste in fabric, she needed better taste in who she trusted.

Everyone but Roy spun around as soon as she started lifting her shirt. Roy, however, stared at her in morbid awe. His eyes sweeping toward the breasts he’d been imagining since the day he met her, and cursing that the shirt was still in the way, especially with her body angled slightly away, for hardly a second before drifting to the dark bruise at her fully exposed ribs. It wrapped around her body, darkening as it moved toward her back. He stumbled forward, moving toward her, terrified of fully seeing her back but needing to do it regardless.

He gasped at the full extent of the damage she’d concealed. She’d said the doctor cleared her. She’d said she was fine. He had known it was at least partially a lie, that she’d withheld some information, but he’d never imagined it was this bad. The bruises on her face were nothing compared to the deep ones on her back. They extended almost the entire breadth of her back, some so deep the blackish purple was mottled with maroon. She had to have at least a few cracked ribs, possibly broken. She should have never been allowed to leave the hospital.

She shouldn’t be able to stand, let alone have taken on some of the fiercest fighters on the planet. Granted, they weren’t actually trying to fight her, but even breathing should make her sob in pain. He didn’t know whether he should be impressed or horrified, but decided a combination of the two was the best option.

“Oh, Marinette,” he uttered in helpless horror. He reached toward her to run his fingers over the bruises as if they might not be real and touching would make them disappear, but he dropped his hand before they could make contact and make it worse for her. He dropped his eyes and forced himself to take several breaths before looking back up stopping when he saw his shirt haphazardly strewn over the back of the couch from the night before. He grabbed it and gently pulled it over Marinette’s head, being extremely careful not to let the collar rub against her face.

He continued to help ease the shirt over her body and her arms through the sleeves even as Marinette’s head shot up, fire in her eyes and hand clenched around her shirt, the burl facing outward accusingly. “You bugged me,” she screeched. As soon as Roy got her hand through the sleeve, she launched her pajama shirt at Bruce, nailing him in the head. She was pulling her pajama pants off before he’d even reacted to the hit. “You tracked me! You put a tracker on me like I was some kind of dog.”

She tossed her pants at him too, but the unbalanced weight distribution caused them to shift trajectory slightly, hitting Dick in the back of the head instead. “Do I have to remove my underwear too?” she demanded. “How many of my clothes have you violated?”

“No! It’s not like that!” Bruce whipped around to face her, eyes wide with panic, but immediately dropped them remembering why he’d turned in the first place. “No Marinette no that's not...”

She lunged forward like she wanted to get into his face, but changed her mind, throwing her arms out with a tortured groan. “You want to know who I am, make sure I'm safe, without actually having to talk to me? Not actually having to interact with me. Why is that such a horrifying thought to you? Why is the idea of being near me such a nightmare? What is it about me?”

“Marinette, you have to… please stop moving around so much,” Roy begged quietly. “Your back…” He reached out to encourage her to sit, but faltered again before he could make contact, not confident there was anywhere he could touch her that wouldn’t hurt her.

Finally registering the fact Marinette had been wearing a shirt, Bruce turned back to face her. “No! No, Marinette, that is not true. Not in any way.”

But Marinette was beyond listening to him. He’d made his feelings more than apparent. With every interaction, he’d made his dislike clear. She was fine to exist, but actually interacting with her? Actually appreciating her as more than an accessory to parade out to the public? That was too much. Clearly.

God! He hadn’t even wanted to acknowledge her. He only did it because his hand was forced. Why did she listen to his excuses? Why was she so stupid? How pathetic was she to grasp at the smoky whisps of attention he was allowing to waft in her direction and not demanding the entire fucking fire?

She backed away from him until her legs hit the couch, fighting the tears building up behind her eyes held in by nothing more than sheer fucking will power. “Why is this so one-sided with you? I have to push and push and try. I try so fucking hard. I have to open myself up and expose the rawest parts of me. And you just keep looking for the easiest way out. The laziest ways that you can know I'm okay without actually having to try. Without putting any effort in. Why is everything about you and nothing about me? Why am I the only one showing that I care? Why am I the only one trying? Why am I the only one exposed?” Her voice, which had been so strong and aggressive, bolstered by righteous indignation moments before was now broken, filled with frustration but most of all, pain.

“Marinette,” Dick whispered, now realizing it was safe to look at her, his voice intentionally as non-confrontational as possible to ease her ire, “Marinette, I promise it isn’t like that.”

“The fuck it isn’t,” she screamed, her voice back to the steel it had been before.

“I don’t understand,” Damian inserted. “Trackers are common, especially when there are threats. We all have them. Why wouldn’t you?”

“Because I wasn’t consulted,” she screamed, her eyes staying on Bruce the entire time. “Because I’m an adult, not a child. Because it’s called autonomy over my own fucking life. He’s getting more information about my life than I agreed to give. Illegally I might add. All so he didn’t have to actually speak to me. So, he didn’t have to try. Because it was done as an investment in his image, not a relationship with me.”

“That’s not fair! I was trying to make sure you were safe,” Bruce assured her through gritted teeth, barely restrained frustration evident in his tone and tensed muscles. “I do want you in my life. As much as you will let me. I love you! I love you and I want you to be safe, but you’re not. There had been threats, multiple threats. Hell Marinette, you’d already been kidnapped once. I needed to know that we could find you if it happened again. That I could keep you safe next time. I just needed to be able to find you.”

Jason straightened up and turned to glare at Bruce, standing as a protective barrier between Bruce and Marinette. “You should have asked,” Jason said lowly. “You said you would before you did it. You told us you’d talk to her about safety before taking any measures. You lied. It’s not a surprise. And that’s on me, on all of us. We shouldn’t have believed he’d be better to her than he was for any of the rest of us.”

“Jason,” Dick hissed, focusing his anger at Jason. How could he not understand he was making it all worse. How could he not understand they needed to stand together or they were going to fall apart and he wasn’t sure if he could duct tape them back together again. “We need to deescalate here. You’re not helping.”

“No,” Jason growled back. “I think we haven’t escalated enough before. That’s how we got here.”

“I want you all to leave,” Marinette stated with a cold determination. “Leave the apartment. Leave my life. I want you out.”

Dick gasped, but Bruce looked broken. “Marinette, you don’t mean that.”

“I do,” she nodded resolutely. “I’ve seen this play out. I’ve seen this all throughout Adrien’s life. The way his father controlled him in order to protect him,” she spit the words out like venom. “All to keep him safe.” She scoffed loudly and shook her head, the rage in her eyes transitioning slowly to disappointment and disgust. “I’ve heard all the excuses. At this point I wouldn’t be surprised if you turned out to be a supervillain too.”

Bruce choked very intentionally avoiding everyone’s eyes in the room. “It is a parent’s job to protect their child. I’ve failed you before. I wasn’t about to let it happen again. I won’t let it happen again.”

Marinette let out an unimpressed huff. “No, you just found new and more creative ways to fail me.” She almost softened when she saw the devastation her words reeked in Bruce, her words hitting their mark with far more accuracy and depth than she had anticipated. But she refused to take them back. They weren’t wrong and it was time he understood, felt a fraction of the pain she’d felt because of him, a fraction of the desolation, so he understood why she couldn’t let it continue. She couldn’t survive in these circumstances the way Adrien had. She wasn’t resilient the way he was. “I want you gone. I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want… you.”

“Marinette, we need to talk about this, talk this through,” Bruce pleaded, panic setting in for the first time. “We’re a family. We need to work through this like a family.”

She cocked her head to the side and puckered her lips as if in thought. “If I understand our history correctly, that means I get to send you away when I’m tired of you, which I’m doing now.”

Bruce paled and Dick gasped, but Jason tilted his head to somewhat contain a bark of laughter. “Damn. Holy fuuuu…”

“That is not what happened, and you know it!” Bruce exclaimed, frustration back in his voice as he advanced toward Marinette.

Roy stepped forward, his hand held up to stop him. “You heard her. It’s time to get out.”

“Roy,” Bruce hissed threateningly.

“No. She’s not ready to talk to you. She needs time. And you're not talking to her. You’re not saying the things she needs to hear,” he stated in a frustrated growl, meaning more than Marinette understood. “You need to give her space and time. You need to leave.”

“She’s our sister, our family!” Dick bellowed.

Roy turned his glare to Dick. “I’m not the one that needs to remember that.”

Dick stalked forward, eyes solely for Roy, trying to tower over him despite being slightly smaller than Roy. “You’re really doing this right now?”

Roy squared up against him, ready to take whatever Dick was going to dish out without backing down. He wouldn’t let Marinette down when she needed him the most. His promise to protect her might have been facetious… kind of… mostly, but he had every intention of keeping it. Even if it was against her family. Fuck, from his experience, families usually were what people needed the most protection from. “You once told me you’d choose her over me, and I said I’d do the same. The difference is, I wasn’t lying.”

Dick’s glare somehow got even colder. “Are there any…” he paused taking a moment to find a way to phrase his thoughts without revealing their identities, “women associated with us that you haven’t fucked and left? And now you’re playing the big, bad protector? You’re hardly a knight in shining armor.”

Roy snorted so hard, he almost doubled over. “You’re going to try to call me out on that? You? You have no room to judge, buddy.” Roy’s glare turned colder than Dick’s had been, colder than they had seen him give them before. "You've done enough damage for today. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s the only thing you’ve done today. It’s time for you to leave before you make it worse."

Everyone continued to stare at each other like their glares could intimidate each other into submission, hostility rolling off Bruce, Dick, Jason, and Roy thick enough it seemed to obscure the air itself. But Damian? Damian watched Marinette. The night had clearly not gone the way any of them had expected, but it had definitely hit Marinette harder than anyone else.

She stood tall, projected strength and determination in both her body and eyes, but the longer he looked, the more he could see the cracks in the façade. Her muscles were shaking from the strain of keeping her body so rigid, it was almost imperceptible, if he hadn’t been watching her so intently, he would have missed it.

But it was her eyes that gave everything away. The fire was there, but once you looked past the flames, there was devastation. The scorched remains of any faith or hope she once had for them, maybe for the world as a whole. He’d seen that look before. He’d had that look before and he knew how dangerous it was, not for the people around him… although, yeah, in his case it had been dangerous to the people around him, but because of how it had threatened to destroy him. They needed to leave before they salted the earth and lost any chance of regrowing their razed relationship with Marinette.

Damian laid his hand on Dick’s arm, waiting until he sensed Dick had shifted his attention to him before allowing himself to take his gaze from Marinette to meet Dick’s eyes determinedly and shook his head curtly.

Dick furrowed his brow and opened his mouth to argue, but Damian looked over at her pointedly and Dick followed his gaze, his shoulders slumping at the sight. He was right. She seemed like she was positioned aggressively, but from personal experience he knew that position was meant to protect herself more than attack. It was like an injured kitten puffing out her fur to look more intimidating to scare her opponent out of fighting. The harder they tried to look scary, the worse the hurt, and she was trying awfully hard to look scary. She was weak and hurt and viewed them as the enemy.

He took a breath and glanced at Roy who was still standing like a rampart before Marinette, refusing to let any danger touch her. What Marinette needed was loved ones protecting her, making her feel safe. Ideally, that would be them, her family, there for her no matter what. However, regardless of how they felt about her, she still didn’t see them as family. There was no trust, and maybe that was justified after what Bruce had done. And trust and comfort were not things they could shove down her throat and make her feel.

“Okay,” Dick announced, clear and loud. “We’ll go…”

“The Hell we will,” Bruce seethed.

Dick turned toward Bruce, knowing better than to attempt to touch him at that moment, instead standing with purpose in front of him. “We will go,” he repeated definitively. “We will go because she asked us to. We will go because that is what she needs right now.”

He chanced taking a step closer to Bruce and lowered his voice so only he would hear. “It’s too much, Bruce. It’s too much all at once. She’s shutdown. If we stay it will only drive her further away.”

“She’s…” Bruce roared motioning violently toward Marinette.

“Safe,” Dick finished for him. “She’s safe.”

“And she sure as fuck doesn’t feel that with you,” Jason added stepping up behind Dick.

“Not helping,” Dick hissed.

Jason shot him an unimpressed look but didn’t say more.

Damian stepped toward Marinette and faltered on the second step, ultimately deciding to set his foot back down. “If you need anything, please let me, us, know,” he stated, voice only slightly wavering. “I’m willing to… I’ll do whatever you need.”

However, when Marinette showed no signs of having heard him, her disappointed glare never leaving Bruce despite all the commotion around her, he nodded and left, trusting Dick and Jason to remove his father, but he couldn’t be there any longer. He couldn’t watch her pain and know he had a hand in it. He needed an escape just as much as she needed space.

“Fine,” Bruce growled. He leveled his gaze on Marinette and there may have been an attempt to soften his glare, but if there was, it didn’t translate to his eyes. “We’ll go, but this isn’t over. You are my daughter. I’m not giving up on us.” He waited a beat before stomping out of the apartment. Dick opened his mouth, but closed it slowly and nodded to them instead before following Bruce out.

Jason glared at the door for a few moments then turned to watch Marinette hoping to gage how much damage had been done, and the sight was beyond concerning. He started toward her but Roy stepped in his way, not even backing off when Jason leveled him with his deadliest glare. “Sorry man. I know. I do. But…” he took a long breath and looked back at Marinette, “you didn’t see the way she reacted to you last night… or maybe you did.” He turned back to Jason, eyes pleading. “She doesn’t know who to trust and I know it sucks and it isn’t fair, but…”

Jason groaned and dropped his head then glared at the door again. “And I’m linked to them. Fuck.” He breathed heavily for a while, pushing deep, rough breaths through his nose before he shook his head. “He just can’t stop fucking me over. I’m not even… fuck.” He took another breath and nodded, fixing Roy with a pointed look, “But you make sure she knows I’m here if she needs me. Anything, and I mean anything and I will drop anything for her.”

Roy nodded and patted him on the shoulder. “And let me know when you think she can have me around.” He waited until Roy nodded again before making his way toward the door pausing and looking back at him just before reaching it. “And if she needs a hug, I’ll give her the longest, warmest hug she’s ever gotten. Make sure you tell her that.” He nodded again and opened the door but paused again before closing it behind him. “And tell her I love her.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Roy promised quietly before closing the door and turning back to Marinette ready to comfort her again if she needed to break down or offer her things to break if she needed a safe way to vent her anger, whichever way she needed to respond to the messed up situation Bruce had put them in.

But instead of the overwhelming wash of emotions he’d expected, she was like a statue, body frozen and eyes blank as they faced toward the door Jason and the rest of her family had disappeared through. There wasn’t a trace in her face of the justified hurt or anger that should be there, that would be there if it were him. Hell, if it had been him, at least a quarter of the room would already be destroyed. But Marinette? If he couldn’t see the slight flutter of his shirt as her chest moved with far too shallow breaths, he would have thought she had been replaced by a statue.

“Hey, Fire Flower,” he cooed gently. He approached her tentatively like she was a skittish animal, but she didn’t react. His shirt fluttering was the only sign of life even as he moved into her eyesight, just inches from her face. He stroked her hair gently, hoping to pull her out of herself like he had earlier, and gently prodded her to sit, but unlike before she didn’t react to his touch.

“Baby, I… how are you feeling?” He waited in front of her for a full three minutes for her to respond before trying again. “I’m so proud of you, Fire Flower. You were so badass. You are so strong.” He waited again for her to respond, but she was still frozen. It was so much worse than she had been in the hallway and so much more terrifying for him.

She was gone. She was gone and he didn’t know what to do. He was not trained for this. But he knew with absolute certainty that if he didn’t pull her back now, she would be gone for weeks if not months. She’d warned him that she did this. He’d known and thought he was prepared, but seeing it in person was terrifying. His adrenaline was pumping, his heart thundering. He felt helpless.

“Lian’s mom is an assassin!” he screamed then immediately sucked in a breath.

Marinette continued staring at the door for a few more seconds then blinked once. Twice. Several more times. She shook her head like it could wipe away her haze. “What?”

“I…” Roy started, eyes wide, now panicking for an entirely different reason, “okay, that's a lot. I know that. That was a mistake. I shouldn't have said that. That's a lot to take in and entirely too early. I'm sorry.”

Marinette stared at him, mouth agape. “What the hell!”

“I know,” Roy groaned. “It's way too early and too much. I'm sorry.” He looked around desperately for a clue of what to say now, but there was no saving it and he knew it. He threw his hands up helplessly. “I'm not good at this. I was just trying to get you not to block everything out.”

“Did you just say your ex-wife is an assassin? Like in Creed?”

He puffed out his cheeks and looked down. “I mean, we were never married.”

“That is not the part to get stuck on,” she snapped.

“Yeah, no, right. I… I get that,” he nodded.

Marinette snapped her mouth shut. “I don't even…” Her eyes narrowed. “Is that even true?”

“No?” he stated with so much uncertainty it sounded more like a question. Marinette continued to stare at him. “Okay, yes. It's a long story. I can't really explain right now or rather that isn’t important right now, but we should probably get dressed and get to the hospital...”

“Yeah,” she snapped. “Good idea.” She walked past him to get her shoes, ready to no longer be in this apartment.

“… and get you checked out,” he finished.

“What!” she spun around. “No! I'm fine.”

Roy leveled her with an unimpressed glower, all anxiety drained away in favor of frustration. “I saw your back. You're not fine. If nothing else, we should ask the doctor for some proper pain medicine. There is no way you aren’t in extreme pain. And they can see how your ribs are.”

She scoffed and went back to getting her shoes on, unsuccessfully hiding her grimace as she bent down. “And what are they going to do when they find out my ribs are cracked? Or even broken? They're going to tell me to be careful. Maybe wrap them. Which, I was being careful until those…” she motioned vaguely toward the door.

“Assholes,” Roy filled in for her.

Her lips pushed together in a thin white line and glared at him then the door. “Yes, assholes, burst in.”

Roy sighed and pulled his shoes on as well, mind still warring over impressed or horrified at her apparent immunity to pain and stubborn refusal to receive help. It had to be genetic, right? He wanted to settle on frustrated anger, but ultimatums and strongarming wouldn’t help with Marinette. But manipulation? And using her weaknesses against her? That he could do.

“At some point we really need to discuss how you know how to triage fractured or broken ribs, but I get the feeling I won’t be able to handle that information at this point in time. But they are also going to check for internal bleeding,” she started to object but Roy spoke over her, “because Adrien would be heartbroken and possibly homicidal if he woke up and you were in a coma from internal bleeding because nobody convinced you to go to the doctor and then he’ll have to spend the rest of his life in prison because he killed me for not forcing you to and Ollie used his money to get him the max sentence.

“Then Lian would be an orphan and Jason, Dick, and Ollie would get into a ridiculously drawn out and petty legal war over who got to take her in, which would be ridiculous because obviously Dinah would win despite not getting involved in all that. Then Ollie would either turn against Dinah, or, more likely, wear her down until she married him again, then you’d all have to be, well not you, because you’d be in the coma, or me because I’d be dead, but the rest of the world would have to deal with that clusterfuck of a public and private relationship, which would make Lian vulnerable and leave an opportunity for her mom to sneak in and appear like a more stable option, which to be honest at that point, she might be.”

He held the door open for her with an entirely too self-satisfied smile. “And you don’t want to be responsible for Lian ending up with an assassin, right?”

Marinette stared at him stunned for a few seconds then shook her head. “So that’s what that feels like. I don’t like being Uno Reversed.” She stomped through the door, or at least tried to, but the waver in her steps and light foot falls so she didn’t rattle her ribs, dulled the effect significantly. “You missed a few catastrophic options,” she called over her shoulder, “but only because you don’t know Chloe and Felix enough to know how they would have made it all worse.”

Tags:

@maribat-bdbwm @jayjayspixiepop @redscarlet95 @alice-hazelwood @deathssilentapproach-blog @unoriginalmess @alyssadeliv @emotionalsupportginger @frieddonutsweets @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @toodaloo-kangaroo @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @iloontjeboontje @wolf-for-life @maribatserver @aespades @prettylittlebutterflie @imarivers8 @certainmuffinbagelcalzone @ritacrow-blog @unoriginalmess @demonicbusiness @kking13 @lady-bee-fechin @blur-of-colours @kittenmywaythrulife @kashlyn @loysydark @nerd-nowandforever @queenz-z @crazycryptidgirl @lilfuturescars @corporeal-terrestrial @ultimatetornshipper

#maribat #roynette #biodad Bruce Wayne #Even the Losers #bio!dad bruce

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starwarsmum · 5 months ago

Text

Maribat BioDad Bruce AU

AO3 - Series Link

Child Support

Happy Mother's/Father's Day

Numb

Milk Carton

Not Invulnerable

Torture

A Long Overdue Talk

Meeting the In-Laws

#maribat #mlb x dc #maribat au #maribat biodad bruce #jasonette

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 5 months ago

Text

Bad tune, but it rhymed

Maribat Biofamily September

Day 26: Milk Carton

@maribat-calendar-events

It had started when Dick absently turned his milk carton around after pouring himself a glass, sighing when he found a new face printed on the side.

It was good, of course, getting a child’s face out there when they went missing. The program itself had led to very few success stories so far, but the successes had still happened. Anything that helped people find kidnapped children was a good thing.

It was, however, a slightly depressing thing, to turn your carton around during breakfast and see a missing child’s face on the side. To know that, if they were printed on the side of a carton, they’d been missing for quite a while. To know that most kidnapping victims didn’t live past the first few days.

He crossed one leg over the other, peering at the face on the carton. At the name inscribed beneath it:

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

His lips pressed into a thin line.

Well, he supposed that he knew what case he was going to be investigating today. Maybe it would be good for Robin – for Damian – to have a relatively nonviolent case to solve. The kid wasn’t coming around to the ‘please don’t murder people’ mentality, which was… certainly exhausting.

Dick wondered if this was how Bruce had felt while raising him, way back when.

It wasn’t as if he could ask a dead man for his thoughts, though.

His eyes flicked to the plate of waffles in front of him. Barely picked at. They were soggy with syrup. Alfred’s waffles were always amazing, but these days they were just… okay. Dick wasn’t sure whether this was a sign that Alfred was depressed, or if it was him.

As terrible as it was, he hoped that Alfred was the one who was depressed. Dick had too much on his plate right now, he didn’t need a mental illness making it worse.

His eyes flicked to the smattering of pills beside his plate. Absently, he counted them out, and then popped them into his mouth. With a few swallows of milk, his pills were gone, and the years of medical complications that came with crimefighting had been abated once more.

He picked up the milk carton again, shaking it to see whether there was enough milk left to bother keeping.

His eyes caught on the young girl’s face again.

He could bring this family closure, if nothing else.

He leaned back in Bruce’s – his – chair, squinting up at the last known footage of Marinette, dated to a little over two months ago. She had been with her friend at the time. They had gone out shopping, as teens are wont to do. The friend was holding her bags for her. They swung between the pair of them with every wild wave of the boy’s hands as he spoke. Marinette dodged the assailing bags with a practiced kind of ease, chatting peacefully.

Until her friend, Adrien Agreste, tripped over a piece of sidewalk that had jutted out more than expected, and went sprawling over the ground.

For a moment, Marinette paused. Squinted at her friend, trying to gauge whether he was okay. From the looks of it, Adrien had skinned his knee, but frankly he was lucky that he hadn’t impaled himself on a discarded needle. Once she had assured herself that he would live, she pointed and laughed.

They were just teens having fun. There was a hair of tension that never left their shoulders, sure, but they were hardly more tense than any other Gothamite walking past them.

The Agreste family hadn’t filed a police report, claiming that Marinette had walked Adrien home and then left their doorstep, never to return. It was entirely possible that Adrien Agreste and his father were the last people who had seen Marinette.

Most kidnappings are done by people who knew the victim.

“Robin,” Dick called, spinning in his chair. Damian was struggling with the clasp on his cape, but immediately stopped when he noticed Dick was looking at him. The cape slid to the floor behind him. Dick, kindly, decided not to point this out. “We’re going to Little Paris.”

There was, surprisingly, quite a bit of information on both of the teens. Adrien was an Agreste, a child who modeled for his father’s relatively successful fashion line. According to way too many articles speculating on the personal lives of children, the two had been friends for years – and, perhaps, more.

Dick wasn’t interested in rumors, so he went with what was confirmed: they were childhood friends. They were both the children of French immigrants, and had bonded because of that.

There was also a high chance that they had bonded over their intellect. They both made top scores on every test.

Much to the chagrin of their teachers, who would complain that Marinette had a tendency of passing out cold in any class she deemed ‘unnecessary’ – considering Marinette’s parents owned a bakery, the strange sleep schedule checked out.

But Adrien was a star student in every sense of the word. A perfect attendance record, grades that never dipped below a 95, never causing a fuss…

Adrien’s mother had passed away sometime last year. His grades hadn’t dipped in the slightest.

Batman and Robin stepped through the silent house, careful not to let their shoes squeak on the tile floors. The frankly ungodly number of alarms had been deactivated, but that wouldn’t mean anything if they woke someone up prematurely.

Most of the people who happened to hear something in the middle of the night assumed that it was simply their house settling, or someone in a nearby apartment, or the AC clicking on, but rich people were unlikely to let any sound go. Sure, they might assume similar things, but they would also likely investigate, if only because they had paid millions for their houses and therefore were almost offended when it wasn’t in perfect condition.

They stepped into Adrien’s room.

Despite the late hour, the teenager wasn’t home.

Batman and Robin shared confused glances. Teachers hadn’t discussed a sudden uptick in delinquency from Adrien. Hadn’t mentioned a single behavioral change in any of the files Dick had managed to get his hands on.

Perhaps the teen was just sneaky?

Dick worried his lip for just a moment, before remembering that that wasn’t a habit befitting of Batman. He pointed for Robin to check Adrien’s computer, and then began searching the room.

The place was clean. Not classic ‘rich people’ clean – too clean. There was no laundry in the basket, nothing that seemed out of place, no hint that anyone lived there at all.

And, apparently, the computer was out of battery, as Robin was forced to plug it in.

The hair on the back of his neck prickled, and he resisted the urge to try and flatten the issue. The cowl would have prevented it anyway.

Robin finally managed to boot up the computer.

Only to frown.

Because the computer’s logs hadn’t shown any activity for over two months.

… Marinette wasn’t the only one that had been kidnapped.

And, for some reason, no one had reported this. Not the police who had supposedly stopped by for questioning, not his teachers.

Not Gabriel Agreste.

There was only one kind of person who could get away with this sort of thing in Gotham.

“Robin, heat vision,” Batman said, immediately swapping over himself. A film covered his eyes, and he grimaced as he picked up on a couple of heat signatures a few floors down.

Batman and Robin were on the first floor.

He sighed.

They could either brute force their way down with gadgets, or painstakingly search the house for a way down.

But these kids had already been missing for over two months.

Subtlety in this kind of scenario would only prolong their suffering.

“Robin, subdue Gabriel Agreste,” Batman said. As wary as Dick was of leaving Robin with a person who could be deemed as ‘evil’, the two teens would need someone with a delicate touch, and Dick didn’t trust Damian to be particularly gentle when he wasn’t watching.

Robin immediately rushed out the door.

Not a great sign.

Dick allowed himself a silent sigh.

And then he started cutting his way through the floor.

It wasn’t long before he found himself in a Cold War-era nuclear bunker. Not a great one, considering Batman had been able to get through it without much effort, but that was definitely its original intention.

Now, though, it seemed to be a holding cell.

The two teens were passed out on the floor, wrapped around each other, probably to stave off the cold. But, as if feeling their gazes, Adrien blinked awake. Dull eyes blinked at him for a minute, uncomprehending.

Dick fought back a wince. Slowly, his hands out in front of him to show they were empty, he approached the pair.

“Hey,” he said, softly. “I’m going to get you out of here, okay?”

Marinette didn’t stir even when he spoke. Her face remained pressed into Adrien’s chest. Adrien hugged her closer, as if trying to hide her from view.

“Go ‘way,” Adrien slurred.

“I won’t hurt either of you,” he promised, taking another careful step forward. “I’m here to help.”

Adrien seemed to realize that Batman kept getting closer to them, because he sat up, slowly, dragging Marinette with him.

“Is she okay?” Batman asked, deciding to change tactics. “She’s pretty out of it.”

Adrien shook his head. “‘S fine, she can fix herself when she wakes up.”

“Are you sure? What if she doesn’t wake up?”

Adrien’s eyes widened in horror.

Dick might have felt a little bad about manipulating a probably-drugged, definitely-traumatized teen, but frankly he really was worried about whether she would wake up. Neither of them were in good health, that much was clear, and the Batcave had basically all of his equipment.

Slowly, Adrien dragged the both of them to their feet and started stumbling over.

Dick watched Damian tend to the two teens, Marinette’s lax expression pinching just slightly as an IV of saline solution was inserted into her arm, Dick noted that Marinette honestly didn’t look that different than Damian.

In fact, they looked eerily similar.

He glanced at the blood he had already collected from both of them for the sake of checking their vitals, since there was definitely something in their systems keeping them as well-behaved and docile as they were.

Adrien and Marinette had probably been dosed with the same thing. And Dick really needed to assuage the creeping sense of dread.

But, as he ran it through the machine, and pulled up her DNA…

He found that his suspicions were correct.

Her DNA matched Bruce’s and Damian’s.

Dick pressed his face into his hands, groaning a curse, uncaring of whether it was ‘unbecoming’ of him.

How was Bruce managing to make his life miserable from beyond the grave?!

#maribat #i dont wanna tag #its a biodad bruce fic ok ok #and bruce is in the timestream #there. info done. bye.

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the-coffee-fandom · 2 years ago

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══❀══╡°˖✧❦✧˖°╞══❀══

MASTER LIST

══❀══╡°˖✧❦✧˖°╞══❀══

Gif by @the-coffee-fandom please do not repost or steal, tumblr kind of killed the quality with its file size max

∘₊✧────────✧₊∘

❥ Timari :

Marigolds Pierce My Skin

Cat’s Don’t Always Chase Birds

A Duck And A Ladybug (Roommates Edition)

Coffee Is My Love Language

Into The Depths Of Our Minds

Death Came For Me

I Don’t Need To See Stars (I Saw You Instead)

Don’t Overwork Yourself (Trust Me Because I Love You)

A Date With Sleep

❥ Bio Dad :

Dreaming Of Anemone

My Identity Is By Your Side

My Heart Is Tied To Family

Argue With Me Sister

First Meetings Aren’t Always The Best, But Sometimes They Are

❥ Damianette :

Memories Filled With You

Hold Me Tight Till Mornings Light

Some Angel’s Die, Some Angels Fly

Sister!?! Preposterous!

❥ Jasonette :

The Cookie Problem

❥ Dickinette :

Did You Fall From Heaven? (No It Was The Chandelier)

❥ Cassette :

Death Bouquet

❥ Multi-ship :

Valentine’s Day Special 2021

❥ Collabs :

Leave (And Ignore The Pain Behind My Eyes) (Written with @miraculousmelodies ; Timari)

Alphabet Soup (Written with dragonbug, @jinx-jade, @legends-live-in-memories, @shamrockace, RayBell (Shard_Of_Stained_Glass), @tylindel, @wildbookcat ; multi-ship)

Friendships A Fine Line I Could Never See (Written with @miraculousmelodies and Ever_lore ; Timari)

From Your Favorite Chaos Gremlins (Written with @miraculousmelodies and Ever_lore ; found family)

Don’t Blame Me (Written with Ever_lore)

In Sickness And In Health (I’ll Love You) (Written with @coolkid-mcgee, Miarculas, @miraculousmelodies ; Timari)

And That’s The Tea (Written with @serenescribbles and @miraculousmelodies ; Jasonette)

Sunflower (Written with @izanae, @newdog14, @nitwitjustice ; Timari)

Pure Sugar (Written with @coolkid-mcgee, @izanae, @miraculousmelodies ; Timari)

Captive Hearts (Written with @boldlyanxious, @izanae, Ever_lore, @jumpingjoy82, @the-witches-you-couldnt-burn ; Jasonette)

Memories Of Family: A Pass Story (Written with @izanae, @jumpingjoy82, @serenescribbles, @the-witches-you-couldnt-burn ; Family)

If Baldness Was A Crime (We’d Solve It With Crayon) (Written with @jumpingjoy82, Ever_lore, @miraculousmelodies, @serenescribbles ; Timari)

If Your Girlfriend Gets Mad (We Fix It With Logic) (Written with @miraculousmelodies, Ever_lore, @nitwitjustice ; Timari)

If Your Nemesis Fights Back (We Kill Him With Glitter) (Written with @miraculousmelodies, Ever_Lore, @nitwitjustice ; Timari)

❥ Series :

Rim Drake (Timari Crack Fics)

Flowers Aren’t Always A Love Language (Unconnected Hanahaki au’s)

Team Issa’s Stolen A (Event Collection)

❥ Collections :

Admission Fee Fics (Co-ran with @velveteenshadow)

❥ Related Works :

No Stronger Bond Than Ours @serenescribbles (Inspired by Sister!?! Preposterous!)

❥ Gifts :

And They Were Roommates @jinx-jade (Damianette)

Hearts Entwined TheNumberFairy (Tim/Marinette/Stephanie)

Time’s TikToking sunshinyy_rose (Damianette)

Not Crazy, Creative sunshinyy_rose (Damianette)

Paying For A Strangers Coffee May Lead To Unexpected Results @peachieplanetssb (Timari)

Tim-Marry @izanae (Timari)

Mastermind! @peachieplanetssb (Timari)

Petals Of You @ggomos-maribat (Timari)

When All Is Too Much Lean On Me @tylindel (Timari)

Camellia Japonica @ggomos-maribat (Timari)

Smexy Chocolate (Or Coffee Overlords) QueenKitten101 (General Pairings)

Coffee Lovers @miraculousmelodies @tylindel Ever_lore (Timari)

“I’m the favorite!” “No you’re not you little-” @ellienettie (Dickinette)

Never Enough Time Butterflies_and_Ladybugs @jumpingjoy82 (General Pairings)

No Stronger Bond Than Ours @serenescribbles (Family)

What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been @izanae (Jasonette)

❥ Awards :

Tag Team Tournament 2022 ~

High score & Most submissions

Challenge Accepted

Java Junkies MVP

Maribat Awards 2021 ~

Runner up in Most Underrated Maribat Fic

Maribat Awards 2022 ~

Most Underrated Author

Best Historical/Fantasy AU (as well as runner up)

❥ My Art :

Damianette Soulmates for @tree-reads

Vee Owl House

King Owl House

Only Rocketships Timari Scene

Only Rocketships Sheep Costume

Only Rocketships Cover

❥ Check Out These Super Cool Authors :

miraculousmelodies

Tylindel

treereads

mochegato

Miracle-Sham (ShammrockTales)

Jinx-Jade (Trial_and_Error)

Newdog14

ggomo_springtime

Paintball_169

serenescribbles

ScarletImpulse

Boldlyanxious

TheLadyEarlOfAces

Vukaaa

Celestial_Ruined_My_Life

mic_is_dead

Infernam

peachieplanets

Birdie2170

❥ Want to join me on discord?

Timari Coven

Holy Miraculous, Batman!!!!

Maribat Server

❥ Things I help run

Maribat Prompts Blog

❥ Inbox messages open for questions, suggestions, ideas, recommendations, and otherwise!

.・。.・゜✭・.・❀・゜・。.

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arty-chase · 1 year ago

Text

Who Made Me a Villain (5)

To the ppl who read my fics only on tumblr, I am sorry. I have been posting a lot on ao3 and I keep forgetting that I have a tumblr acc. I will try to be more mindful in the future.

--------

[Masterlist] [Ao3]

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Here) (Part 6)

-----

“B, what’s all this?” Dick asked during one of his visits to Gotham. He was here for Alfred’s cooking.

Upon seeing the eye bags on Bruce, Dick was understandably worried. “Have you slept at all, Bruce?”

“A few days ago, Rebel brought something serious to my attention.”

Bruce had spent days working on the case Rebel had dropped into his lap. He felt that she had summarised the situation too simply. Or she was unaware of what the full extent of the situation was due to her lack of experience and knowledge.

John Constantine was unhelpful in getting more information on the Miraculous but did confirm their presence in Paris in the same period Rebel had given. Rebel had given more information than him.

Zatanna said that she would sort through her father’s journals to give him a definite answer but told him that it was likely Rebel was telling the truth about Paris. There were surges of the magical equivalent of earthquakes from Paris which her father had gone to check out a few years ago.

Diana had overheard their conversation and talked about how her mother used to wield the Ladybug Miraculous. She promised to talk to her mother for more information. Bruce decided to ask Doctor Fate later if his research wasn’t enough.

However, the thing that had Bruce tearing apart his training dummies like they were paper was the good-for-nothing, sham of a man that Paris had for a mayor.

Mayor André Bourgeois had blocked all news about the akuma from getting out of the city. He didn’t report about it to the Justice League European branch and blocked all attempts to prevent others from reporting it. His reasoning was that the child heroes were enough. That was just the political side of things.

To further make things worse, the heroes who were stationed in France all claimed to have been told to be relocated to other cities by the Justice League Headquarters. They did as they were told under the assumption that someone else would be filling in for them. Just before Hawkmoth struck.

Bruce investigated that lead and it appears that someone had sent out that order but Bruce hadn’t figured out who it was yet or whether it really was sent by one of the Justice League. Either they had a mole or the JL Headquarters needed a new update to their systems.

Then, one of Zatanna’s contacts in Paris had informed her that magic helped in preventing news of akuma reaching outside of Paris.

By the time Dick came to the Manor, Bruce was hours deep into the many footage he had spent the most of the day collecting from the internet. He started with the first akuma where Ladybug and Chat Noir were practically strangers shoved together and forced to rely on each other. He didn’t like that the Parisians were forcing the love narrative between the two of them. Ladybug had the sense to focus on her job and remain professional while Chat Noir tried to enforce the love story. He was not pleased with that interview.

The Ladyblog that was run by a very dedicated teenager was very helpful in getting raw footage of most fights, albeit a bit shaky and blurry. He was currently watching the blog owner’s interview with Ladybug. How she got an interview with the very elusive heroine Batman doesn’t know. There was something about the heroine that caught his attention. It felt like he had met Ladybug before.

Dick skimmed over the notes Batman had taken. He whistled. “This is pretty crazy.”

“Why are you doing all of this research?” Dick asked.

“Hawkmoth. I am trying to track him down.”

“Wait, you are telling me that there is a powerful supervillain in Paris and these kids are heroes? They look like babies. They don’t even know how to properly fight.”

“We are already too late. Hawkmoth has been defeated and stripped of his powers.”

“So what’s the problem? Is he coming back?”

Bruce sighed heavily and showed off his days of research to Dick.

“Rebel had been planning something for months. Something big. I asked the reason behind it all. She asked me to bring him to justice and she would call it all off. Apparently, the leader of the hero team, Ladybug, gave Hawkmoth the equivalent of the slap on the wrist and Rebel doesn’t agree with him being off the hook that easily. He got his wife in exchange for giving back the Miraculous under his possession and didn’t face consequences for his little foray into villainy.”

“How does she know what happened to Hawkmoth?” Dick asked, “It just says that no akumas was seen for a month and then, Ladybug announced that Hawkmoth was defeated before disappearing forever.”

“According to her, Rebel used to be one of the heroes going against Hawkmoth.” Bruce told him.

Dick nearly fumbled the file in his hand due to the surprise.

“Oh. Um. That- That explained a few things. The experience in fighting. Those acrobatic stunts. Former hero, huh.”

It left a bitter taste in his mouth. The thought of somebody who was once a hero turning to the dark side.

Dick changed the subject. “Any luck finding him?”

“I have one suspect. He’s the one that fits the profile.”

Bruce handed Dick a file.

“Gabriel Agreste.”

Dick looked through it. “He’s a fashion designer. That doesn’t exactly scream evil to me.”

“Even without Rebel’s hints. He’s still suspicious.” Bruce said. “I am meeting him in a month to get a feel for him.”

Dick closed the file. “Even if he is Hawkmoth, it’s been a few years since his defeat. We can’t just take him in.”

Bruce suddenly looked very tired.

Tim popped up from where the pile of blankets besides the Batcomputer that Dick hadn’t noticed. Dick’s and Bruce’s voices have woken him up.

Dick definitely did not scream.

“Tim! How long were you there?” Dick asked, putting his escrima sticks away.

“A few hours I think.” Tim replied and yawned.

“Anyhoo,” Tim started, “Rebel had already taken care of that part. She had been using different accounts to sow seeds of conspiracy theories and rumours for people online to find Hawkmoth’s true identity. No mention of Gabriel being Hawkmoth or it won’t be taken seriously if the truth comes out. I think she is trying to spread the idea that Hawkmoth must be taken in to face the legal system.”

“Why is she going that far?”

Bruce was silent for a moment. “Hawkmoth was part of the reason she was framed for murder.”

“Framed? Why do you think that she was framed? Her father is the Joker. The Joker. The one who killed Jason.”

Bruce stiffened. Jason had left Gotham after their last showdown. Last Bruce heard of him, Jason had teamed up with Roy Harper to form his own mercenary team.

“I know. But children are not their parents.”

Bruce handed Dick another file.

“Her case file and the transcript of her trial. Read it and draw your own conclusions.” Bruce instructed.

Dick took it.

“You are not going to like it, Dick.” Tim said.

—--

A day later, Dick came back, storming into the Batcave.

He slammed the file in front of Bruce.

“What the fuck is wrong with people? How did something like this get past you?” Dick demanded furiously.

There was the last thing that was cherry on the icing of the cake that was this whole situation.

Rebel was not supposed to be in Arkham Asylum. She was not supposed to get a life sentence. She was not supposed to have fourteen charges of first-degree homicide to her name.

Dick read the trial proceeding.

It was way over exaggerated and very dramatised. He thought that he was reading the script for a courtroom soap opera drama. Dick even went as far as to hack into the French government to get the untranslated copy of the files and it was just as bad but in French. It didn’t take him long to find the blatant amount of bribes that were tossed around. The very obvious abuse of power. Every odds was stacked against Rebel. The unnecessary DNA test that unfortunately brought her to Gotham.

No wonder Marinette Dupain-Cheng turned to a life of crime. Everyone was dead set on labelling her the bad guy.

Then, he read Gabriel Agreste’s involvement in the case. His son was part of Rebel’s old class. Their classmates spoke about Rebel’s stalker tendencies towards him. But Dick kept an open mind, knowing how exaggerated everything was. Gabriel had blacklisted Rebel from every company in the fashion industry he had connections with. That move confused Dick until he found out that Rebel was trying to be an aspiring designer. It was essentially salt in her wounds.

Dick simply couldn’t understand the witch hunt against Rebel.

“Bruce, we have to do something about this.” Dick said.

“The only thing we can do right now is bring Hawkmoth in before Rebel takes it into her own hands.”

“What do you mean by that?” Dick asked.

Tim injected. “You already know that Rebel had been acting suspicious for the past few months. She had been meeting up with several different villains and secret projects we couldn’t figure out until now.”

“We found a warehouse in Washington connected to her that contained these strange stone statues.”

Bruce pulled up a picture of the stone statues in the warehouse.

“Now look at the clip of the first akuma attack.”

Bruce played a clip of Stoneheart attack. The monster looked similar to the stone statues in the photo.

“Going through the akuma fights and her movements in the past few months. It is obvious what she is trying to plan.”

Picture of Rebel talking to many different ice villains with a powerpoint presentation and a clip of the Glaciator attack.

Picture of a machine that could create floods that the Teen Titan had managed to shut down a few years back and picture of Paris being flooded.

Picture of Weather Wizard, next to a picture of Stormy Weather.

“She’s trying to recreate akuma fights.” Dick concluded. “And making it seem like Hawkmoth was back.”

Bruce nodded gravely. “I wouldn’t have figured it out if Rebel didn’t deliberately let me in on her plans. She exposed a great problem we had missed. She is giving us, the League, a chance to rectify our mistake.”

Rebel was not counting on the legal justice system to bring Hawkmoth to justice. She was counting on him as Batman to make sure that Hawkmoth ended up with the same fate as her. His reputation torn apart and dragged through mud. Behind bars for the rest of his life with the supervillain mark following him everywhere.

Or she will forcefully do it by bringing the whole world down to force the Justice League in carrying it out.

“Without Ladybug’s miraculous power, it would be disastrous for us and we would have a lot of civilian casualties.”

“I don’t think she would do that, Bruce.” Tim argued.

“Then, lock her up.” Dick suggested.

“Arkham is currently in no position to take her in.” Bruce said. He looked resigned.

Dick looked at Tim for an explanation which he helpfully provided. “It was being renovated a few months ago to put in a new security system. In the chaos, her records were wiped out from the system and her physical reports went missing. Every copy was gone. So even if we arrest her now, we have to find a pretty good justification to keep her there legally. We only have these copies because Bruce regularly back-ups the Arkham database onto the Batcomputer and the Bat-net.”

Dick cursed. While they could just put it back, it wasn’t worth the headache if it was erased again.

“What about the police? Won’t they have her records?”

“Same thing. We think she did it when Clayface attacked the police a while back.”

“How about her original case that sent her to Arkham?”

“It was erased too. We need to get to Paris in order to access their database or if she erased her case, then we need to get the physical copy and we would have to go through so much legal bullshit to get it. That will take months.”

“She covered everything.” Dick said, amazed.

“She thought of all the possibilities and covered all of her bases. She had been staying under the radar and not getting caught.” Bruce said.

“He means that he got caught in her traps if we try to catch her.” Tim said with a shit eating grin on his face.

Bruce grumbled.

“You? How did you even get caught?” Dick asked.

“Rube Goldberg machines.” Tim answered.

“Rube what?”

“Here.” Tim opened up Youtube and showed Dick a video of a marble rolling down a pipe and then knocking down a row of dominoes in a spiral which continued to set off a chain of reactions that ended with a ball going neatly through a hoop and triggering a banner that said ‘WOW!’ to pop up.

“So that’s what it is called.” Dick commented. “Aren’t these like super complicated to do? She couldn’t have set them up that quick …unless she had them set up beforehand.”

“According to my research, she has at least 50 of these set up in different locations around Gotham. There are videos of people setting these off on purpose. Rebel is always making more. They usually have victims stuck in a net or a hole. Or have water, paint or liquids splashed onto them.”

“She did that? That picture you sent me where Bruce had yellow pain all over him?”

Bruce glared at Tim.

A derisive snort came from the entrance of the Bat cave.

They all turned to look at the newest addition to the house.

Damian Al Ghul. Well, Damian Al Ghul Wayne now.

“I find it hard to believe that this one petty criminal got the better of all of you.” He said mockingly.

“Damian.” Bruce said. “Even if she is just a petty criminal, she cannot be underestimated. You must never underestimate your opponent, no matter how deceiving they look.”

“Perhaps Father, you and Drake aren’t good at doing your jobs.”

“Like you would be any better catching her.” Tim said under his breath.

“If it was up to me, she would be killed on sight.” Damian continued.

“Damian, we do not kill here. People deserve another chance to redeem themselves.” Bruce explained like he had a thousand times before.

Damian scowled. “I don’t need to kill. I have brought in targets alive before.”

The way he said it implied that those targets were in a state where their hearts were the only things that could still move.

“Do you really believe that you can catch Rebel?” Tim asked.

“I don’t have to believe. I know I can.” Damian answered, disdain in his voice that Tim dared to doubt his skills.

“I bet you can’t.” Tim taunted.

Damian lunged but was stopped by Dick who grabbed his shoulder.

“Boys!” Bruce shouted. “Tim, stop antagonising him. Damian, you know you aren’t allowed to go out on patrol.”

“No!” Damian demanded. “Drake has issued me a challenge. I will not back down. I will prove to him and you that I can catch that petty criminal that goes by Rebel.”

His declaration was filled with the determination and stubbornness that all eleven year olds seemed to possess.

Bruce rubbed his head at the oncoming headache.

He knew that despite whatever he gave, Damian would go behind his back and against his orders to fulfil his self-assigned mission of capturing Rebel.

“Tim, this is all your fault. I am blaming you for this. You will be washing the Batmobile for a month.” Bruce said after some thinking.

“Bruce!” Tim complained. “What did I do?”

“You started it. And Damian, I will let you go after Rebel.”

Damian gave Tim a smug grin.

“However,” Bruce continued. “There will be a few conditions.”

Damian stood up straighter and paid attention. “One, Nightwing will be with you.”

“What? Why, Bruce?” It was Dick.

“I am busy with the Hawkmoth case. Tim and Damian shouldn’t be together. Cass and Steph are busy with their own things. I don’t think Jason wants anything to do with me and he’s out of town. Babara has no desire to watch Damian.”

“Thank you, Bruce.” Oracle’s voice came from the Batcomputer.

“Tch. Grayson is an acceptable choice.” Damian said with a sniff.

“Fine. I can stay for a week or two. Give me a few hours to sort some things out.” Dick threw up his hands in defeat.

“However, he will not be helping you. He is going to be monitoring your every move and he will intervene if it was a life and death situation.” Bruce added.

“Fine.” Damian replied.

“Two, when you bring Rebel in, she should not have sustained any life-threatening and fatal injuries. She should also possess all of her limbs intact.”

Damian scowled harder. “I know my limits. Anything else?”

“Three, do not kill anyone to achieve your goals.”

“Got it.”

“Your deadline to bring her in is in three months. You will report to me on your progress every morning. That’s all. Any questions?”

“No. I will not fail you, Father.” Damian said seriously.

“Does anyone else find this funny?” said Dick. “Son of Batman hunting down daughter of Joker. Children of two arch-enemies repeating history.”

“That only means that I am destined to bring her in.” Damian further solidified his mission.

—--

Forty-eight hours later, found Damian, currently going by Redbird, tied up, covered in green paint and dangled upside-down over a vat of something that smelled utterly foul.

Rebel landed near Nightwing and asked, “So what’s the deal with the new kid?”

Nightwing extended a hand dramatically towards Damian, “That’s Batman’s blood son.”

Rebel frowned. “Is this going to be a thing now? Child of Batman versus child of Joker. Because I really don’t want to hurt the kid that much.”

“I AM NOT A CHILD.” Redbird yelled as he struggled against his restraint. “Nightwing, help me get untied and catch the villain!”

“Would a dip in that kill him?” Nightwing asked, pointing at the vat of whatever that was. He wanted to stay more than 20 feet away due to the smell alone.

Rebel shrugged.

“Probably not. It’s just water from the Gotham River with the contents of the nearest dumpster emptied into it.”

Nightwing shivered. He had taken a dip in the icy cold waters of Gotham River before. It was not pleasant. And the amount of showers he had to take to finally get rid of the smell.

“Good news, Redbird.” Nightwing shouted back. “You won’t die if you fall.”

Redbird threw some words in Arabic that sounded a lot like swears.

��So… I ask again. What’s up with the kid?”

“He thinks that Batman would accept him as the one true heir of the Batman title if he catches you.” Nightwing explained. “It has nothing to do with the blood rivalry thing. He’s trying to prove Batman wrong by trying to succeed in catching you when Batman and Robin - especially Robin - couldn’t catch you.”

“It’s there like a deadline for this? Because I really don’t want to play cats and dogs forever with the gremlin.”

“Oh yeah. There is.”

Rebel smirked. “That means I just have to up my game then. Thanks for the heads up, Bluey.”

Nightwing’s smile faded as he realised his slip-up. “Damn it. Baby Bat is going to kill me.”

“Hey, can I use that nickname?”

“Does it matter if I say no?” Nightwing said.

“Nope.” Rebel said with a laugh as she slipped away into the shadows.

—--

A Bat signal shone in the night sky. Calling Batman to action.

However, it was not Commissioner Gordon who met Batman on the rooftop that night.

“Commissioner-” Batman immediately went on guard as a petite figure of Rebel greeted him instead of the broad shoulders of the Commissioner.

“What did you do to him, Rebel?” Batman growled out.

“Chill, Mister Bat, he’s dealing with an anonymous tip off for his latest case at the other side of the city. I just flipped the switch to your nightlight to get your attention. Less messy than other methods, don’t you agree?” Rebel explained as she switched the Bat-signal light off.

He glared at her. “What do you want?”

“A week is up. So what are you going to do?”

Batman gave a tired sigh. To be honest, he had forgotten about the deadline. There were so many things he had to take care of. Starting with the possible Justice League breach. An entire city being under attack and no one noticing until the problem was gone. The investigation into who Hawkmoth was. Finally, dealing with a testy Damian who didn’t take his loss against Rebel well.

“My conclusions showed me that you were telling the truth about akumas. I would like to apologise on the behalf of the Justice League for our massive oversight. You were a child that had to fight a war without support.”

“I won that damn war. Without your help.” Rebel said defensively.

“Yes. You did. I am not criticising your achievement, Rebel. I am just pointing out that you were a child fighting those monsters everyday and some of those monsters had been a family or a friend. You shouldn’t have to carry a burden like that on your shoulders. Even Nightwing had me to look after him until he could step out of my shadow to fly on his own.”

“We weren’t alone.”

“You weren’t. You had other people who were as clueless as you about what to do. No one taught you the basics. You had to learn how to fight all on your own. You had to learn to do it right on the first try because a mistake would cause you everything. I am sorry that we weren’t there to provide that guidance.”

“Why are you apologising for that? You didn’t know.”

Batman’s frown became deeper. “That is exactly the problem. Something this big slipped under our radar.”

He went on to explain about how the oversight occurred. If anything, Rebel looked surprised by the news.

“So you're telling me that I could have had help. I wouldn't have to do it all on my own if it wasn’t for a lot of people meddling.”

She sounded angry. The comment about her doing it all on her own confirmed a theory Batman entertained. There was a little evidence that pointed out otherwise but with magic there was no telling if the evidence wasn’t faked.

“We never realised until now. We have failed you.” Batman apologised.

“Kwami. All this time. I thought you were too busy with your own world-saving to pay attention to Paris. Fucking Mayor Bourgeois. Fuck Magic. Fuck whoever mess with your systems. Fuck Hawkmoth.” Rebel screamed. “What else? What else do I have to know that I didn’t know?”

“That’s mostly it. I am here to get your account of what exactly happened during those years.” Batman paused (Dramatic bitch) “I also need you to confirm the identity of Hawkmoth.”

“Well…” Rebel inclined her head for him to continue.

“Gabriel Agreste.”

Rebel smiled from under her mask. “Bingo. As expected of the World’s Greatest Detective.”

She pulled out a flash drive from her pocket and handed it to Batman. “Here’s everything I wrote down from what I remembered.”

“How did you know I would ask for it?” Batman asked as he took it and put it away in his utility belt.

“I didn’t. I was going to send that to every news station when I start my Armengeddon plans.”

Batman stared at Rebel, waiting for her to hand over her Armengeddon plans she had given the other villains.

Rebel stared back at him defiantly.

“Hand them over.” Batman demanded.

“I already gave you what you needed.” Rebel said with a raised eyebrow, pretending to be oblivious about what Batman wanted.

“What about your Armengeddon plans?”

“Oh. Those plans. Yeah. Gimme a minute.” Rebel reached into her jacket inner pocket and took out a slim notebook. She tossed it to Batman who expertly caught it.

He flipped through it and noticed the jagged edges of pages torn out. He also noticed that none of the plans that involved other villains were in the book.

“Where are the missing plans?” Batman asked harshly.

“You thought it was going to be easy?” Rebel said amused. “I want definite proof that you are working on taking him in.”

“How long do I have to get you proof?” Batman asked cautiously.

“When is the deadline for your son to catch me?”

Batman knew that tone. He had heard that tone from the clown before Joker pulled out the punchline.

“In three months.” He answered.

“That’s around when the plan is supposed to start anyways. Then, if you don’t have it by the time Redbird catches me, you won’t get the plans. However, if he doesn’t catch me by the three month deadline, you will get the plans and I will tell the others that everything is called off.”

Batman had a feeling that if Rebel wasn’t wearing her mask, there would be a smile on her face identical to the one Joker would usually wear for his maniacal plans.

Children aren’t always their parents. But they sometimes inherit their parent's worst traits.

“Deal.”

What other options did he have but to play along with her games.

—-

After Rebel was gone, Redbird came out of the shadows.

“Father, what is the meaning of this?” He demanded. Redbird had been hiding to unleash a surprise attack when Rebel proposed that inane condition to Batman.

Batman sighed. “We will talk more back at the Cave.”

“I want an explanation now.”

“Just hold off trying to catch her for at least a week, Redbird. I am not going to stop you from your task. Maybe use that time to observe her instead.”

Redbird huffed but nonetheless accepted the compromise.

“Fine. It gives me more time to make more well thought out plans.”

“Since she would mostly be at school, you won’t have to do much.”

Batman grappled off the roof and Redbird followed.

When they reached the Batmobile, Redbird turned to his father and said.

“Father, I have been thinking. Perhaps I should infiltrate her school in order to get closer and gain more information on her movements.”

Bruce looked at him in surprise, remembering the first time he suggested Damian going to school and being told that he was never going to step foot into a subpar teaching environment.

“Are you sure, Damian?”

“I am sure.” Damian said firmly.

“I will call the principal in the morning and arrange everything.”

—

“Come back here, you-” The insult was lost as Redbird comically stepped on the rake. The handle hit his face like those old cartoon gags.

A slew of Arabic curses were unleashed.

"Tick-tock, birdy." Rebel taunted as Redbird held his broken nose. "It's nearly midnight and I am not still not in chains or behind bars."

"I should have your tongue cut out for your insolence."

"That threat lost its charm about two months ago." Rebel replied in a bored tone.

"Be more creative. Like ‘I will slowly take a small piece of your tongue a day, roast it and force feed it to you’." Rebel declared with an imitation of Redbird’s voice but slightly higher pitch than it actually was.

“I will gladly do so.” The threat probably would have sounded more intimidating if Redbird wasn’t still holding his broken nose and didn’t sound like he had a very bad nasal problem.

Rebel covered her mask with her hand as if trying to hide a smirk.

“Well, little bird, if you are done with your threats, I will be off- WHAT THE FUCK!”

Rebel didn’t look where she was going and had fallen down the hole in the roof that was hidden with a tarp..

Redbird grinned as he peered over the hole where Rebel had fallen into a cage he had set up to work like a bear trap.

“You aren’t the only one skilled with traps in this city.” He boasted.

Nightwing landed, giving Redbird an appreciative whistle and applause.

“Good job, baby Bat.”

“Call the police, Nightwing. Tell them I have the fiend, Rebel, in custody.” Redbird said.

“Sure thing.”

Redbird turned to give Rebel a smug look at his sure victory. It immediately got wiped out as he saw Rebel dangling her legs over the hole she fell down a few minutes ago.

She gave him a cheeky wave.

“HOW?” Damian exploded. “HOW DID YOU ESCAPE MY FOOLPROOF TRAP?!”

“It’s not foolproof if a fool like me could get out of it that easily. Nice setup though. Gave me a few ideas for my next project.”

Redbird growled and launched himself at her. Rebel rolled out of his way.

Landing nimbly, Redbird charged at her and threw a few attacks. Rebel effortlessly dodged every one of them.

Nightwing watched with a bored look on his face as Redbird chased Rebel around the rooftop.

“Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk. I'm a woman's man, no time to talk ....”

Rebel took out her phone and turned off her alarm as she ducked a birdarang.

“It’s midnight! And you know what that means. You just failed your mission.” Rebel announced cheerfully.

Redbird yelled in anger and charged at her.

Nightwing stepped in between the two to restrain Redbird.

“Chill, baby bat. You need to calm down. She won, fair and square.”

“And just as promised, I will send over the plans I made for the other villain to the Big Guy.” Rebel continued as she walked backwards to the edge of the rooftop.

“See ya around, Birdies.” She said as she jumped back off the roof while giving them a finger salute.

Nightwing hurriedly let go of Damian and ran to look over the parapet wall. Rebel appeared to be perfectly fine after a five-storey drop and was calmly putting her helmet on. She got on her bike and drove off.

“Um… guys.” Oracle’s voice came over the comms. “There is actually fifteen minutes left until midnight. She lied.”

The two vigilantes looked at each other and cursed. They grappled off, trying their best to catch the cunning villain.

—

“I am sorry that I failed you, Father.” Damian reported.

Three months should have been more than sufficient for him to complete his assigned task successfully. He even had subjected himself to the establishment called a school in order to catch Rebel.

Each time, he thought that he was close to capturing the most slippery villain in all of Gotham. Something would interfere in his plans and Rebel continued to walk free.

Head down ashamed as he kneeled on the cold floor of the Batcave to receive his punishment. Damnit, why was his vision getting blurry?

The shadow from his father’s cape moved closer and blocked out the light. Damian braced for the pain.

Damian was confused when he felt his Father placed his hand on his head. It felt… odd and comforting.

“It’s alright. You did your best. Even with the restriction I placed on you.” Bruce said.

Damian’s confusion increased.

“But… I failed.”

It did hurt to admit his failure but he was more confused by his father’s actions. Grandfather would have given out some sort of punishment by now. Like going against some of the League’s Finest on his own.

The hand moved from his head to his shoulder.

“Look at me, Damian.”

Damian obeyed and met his father’s blue eyes. The colour reminded him of the flowers his mother would sometimes wear in her hair when Grandfather was out of Nanda Parbat.

“Even if you had failed in your task, you still had helped me.”

Damian was flabbergasted.

“How?”

“In order to capture her, you monitored her every move. Because of you and your reports, I knew her every move. Avoiding your attempts kept Rebel so busy that she wasn’t able to work on her plans as much. Which gives me more time to work on how to bring Hawkmoth in.”

“I still failed.”

“And I am telling you that you still did a good job. You can learn from this experience and learn how to do better.” Bruce said.

“Aren’t you going to punish me?”

“No. I am not going to punish you for this.”

The answer seemed to have shifted Damian’s worldview. It broke Bruce’s heart to know how Damian had been treated. Being punished for failure which made Damian scared to fail.

“How.. how can you…”

Damian didn’t seem to comprehend that there would be no punishments for failing.

“Damian.” Bruce said gently. “I know that this is hard for you to comprehend but we do things differently here. We do not kill. And we do not punish people for simply failing.”

“But Drake… Batmobile.”

Oh right, grounding.

“I will reiterate. I will not physically hurt you as punishment for failing your mission. I do not like raising my hand to people I call family. Yes, you are part of it now, Damian, no matter how unexpected your arrival was. I prefer giving you chores to do instead. Like washing the Batmobile. Giving Ace a bath. Organising the case files. Helping Alfred around the Manor. Even then, it’s only if you misbehave and go against the rules of the Manor. And you may see them as pointless but they were put in place to keep you safe. I don’t want to see any of you hurt. Yes, including you, Damian.”

Bruce hoped that he got through Damian. Made him see that things were different now but they were a good kind of different. Maybe now Damian would let him in and be the better person Bruce knew he could be.

Bruce thought all of this as he hugged the slightly shaking boy in his arms who hid his face with Bruce’s chest. ------ (Part 6) ----

Taglist: @toodaloo-kangaroo, @iloontjeboontje, @buginetye, @angelwreckedd, @anoires-blog, @ever-since-i-was-young, @shutupandactuallylisten, @its-maemain, @vel-vee, @kashlyn, @officiallydarkgeek, @jayjayspixiepop, @cmouse, @transheso, @thecrazyfantrolls, @just-a-random-girl-loves-anime, @maddiesupdates, @the-dumber-scaramouche,

#who made me a villain #biodad! joker #cue bruce being a good dad #introducing insufferable damian #morally grey marinette/rebel #mlb x dc #ml x dc

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angellyslion · 11 months ago

Text

BioDadClarkKentxBioMumBruceWayne pt 2

J'attends anxieuse l'arrivée de ma mère. Je fais les cents pas dans le hall de l'hôtel me rongeant les ongles. Je vois bien que cette action enerve la blonde qui m'a accompagné.

- Mari-Gold arrête de faire ses vas et viens tu vas me tendre folle !

- Désolé Chlo, je suis terrifiée ! Et j'ai une très mauvaise intuition due à cette rencontre !

- Assieds-toi et respire. Quel est le pire qui puisse se passer ? Découvrir que ton père est un superméchant ? Ou qu'il soit l'actuel dirigeant du monde.

- Même si je n'aime ce nouveau régime au moins le monde est plus sûr. L'avantage c'est que Papillon n'est pas resté longtemps à terroriser Paris et à part nous deux personnes s'en souvient. Tout le monde pense que c'est une illusion collective. Il y a de forte chance que Superman soit mon père.

- Comment peux-tu en être si sûre ?

- Si ma mère s'appelle Brianna Wayne et que c'est elle qui dirigeait Wayne Entreprise. Tout le monde sait qu'elle fait confiance à Clark Kent qui est un des seuls journalistes qui la. Je sais qu'ils sont des amis proches. Quand Superman a pris le pouvoir son identité civile à été révélée ce qui fait que logiquement ma mère est Batwoman. Elle l'invite souvent à ses galas. Ils ont bien pu avoir une partie de jambes en l'air à une de ses soirées. Il faut dès fois qu'une seule nuit pour concevoir un enfant. Et…

- Tu peux arrêter de parler de ça. Je n'ai pas besoin d'entendre ça !

- Chlo, ça fait partie de la vie.

- Mari-Gold, c'est juste étrange de t'entendre parler de la vie sexuelle de tes parents potentiels.

- Tes parents ont fait de même pour t'avoir !

- Merci Mari pour l'image mentale !

- Je t'en prie Chlo ! Je lui tire la langue. Nos enfantillages sont interrompus par une voix forte qui me fait tresaillir.

- Marinette Dupin-Cheng est-elle ici ? Je me tourne lentement vers la source de la voix et répond d'une petite voix et m'avance d'un ou deux pas

- C'est moi.

- Tu ressemble à ta mère !

- Heu… Merci… Je réponds hésitante.

- Tu sais qui je suis ? Demande l'homme flottant à quelques centimètres du sol. Les bras croisés au niveau de sa poitrine. Je jette un rapide coup d'œil à Chloé pour avoir un Indice sur la réponse à donner. Elle secoue la tête

- Vous êtes Superman, le nouveau dirigeant de la terre. Je réponds sûrement de moi. Et potentiellement mon père, je réponds dans un murmure. Je vois qu'il hausse un sourcil.

- Je vois que tu es au courant des choses.

- Alors c'était une supposition, merci d'avoir confirmé les faits.

- Tu es comme ta mère ! Tu analyse vraiment tout. J'espère que tu n'as pas hérité de son côté bornée. Je n'en supporterai pas une deuxième !

- En parlant de ma mère où est elle ? C'est elle qui devait me rencontrer aux dernières nouvelles ?

- À la Watchtower !

- Elle n'était pas au New Jersey hier ?

- Si. Tu vas venir avec moi. Tous les trois nous serons une famille. Je peux entendre que son ton est devenu sérieux. Même si je veux poser d'autres questions, elles meurent dans ma gorge.

- Est-ce que ça peut attendre une semaine. Après je serai en vacances

- Désolé Marinette, tu rentres avec moi aujourd'hui !

- Mais…

- Je dirai à Miss Bustier que tu as pris une insolation et que tu te reposes. Déclare Chlo.

- Merci Miss Bourgeois. Maintenant Marinette vient ici. Je hoche juste la tête et m'avance vers l'homme. Il sourit. Même si c'est censé être rassurant ça a l'effet inverse.

Nous sortons de l'hôtel, je fais un signe d'adieu à Chloé. Il m'amène à une voiture, il m'ouvre la porte passagère. Je le remercie et monte.

- Nous allons à un endroit appelé "Le Mausolée" où un tube-zéta nous attend. Il sera enlevé une fois que tu sera installée.

- D'accord. Durant le trajet je ne parle pas et regarde le paysage défiler sous mes yeux. Jusqu'à arrivée au porte de la Villette.

Une fois téléporté dans ma nouvelle demeure, ça va être étrange de vivre dans l'espace. Je pense que je ne me laisserai jamais de la beauté de la vue. Je n'ai pas essayé de me battre je sais très bien que je ne pourrai pas gagné et personne peut refuser un ordre su nouveau dirigeant

- Marinette tu m'écoute ? Je rougis jusqu'au oreilles.

- Désolé !

- Je t'amène voir ta nouvelle chambre. Je viendrai te chercher pour que tu puisses rencontrer mère, nous mangerons ensemble et apprendrons à faire connaissance.

- Bien.

Je le suis docilement et ignore les regards sur moi. Il s'arrête devant une porte.

- Ici sera ta nouvelle chambre. Celle d'en face est celle de ta mère et moi.

- Merci. Il me laisse seule. J'ai envie de hurler et de retourner à Paris. Je me sentais comme une prisonnière. J'ai pu voir toutes les caméras. Heureusement il n'y en a pas dans la chambre. Je me doute que les autres héros rapportent mes moindre faits et gestes à l'homme. Je ne l'appellerai jamais père ou papa de bon cœur.

Après un temps indéfini. Il vient me chercher. Je rencontre ma mère pour la première fois. Je dois l'admettre je suis son portrait cracher. La seule différence hormis l'âge, c'est que mes cheveux sont plus clairs. Durant le repas je m'efforce de sourire. J'évoque ma passion pour la mode et le désigne. Je n'évoque à aucun moment ma vie de super-héroïne. Au fur et à mesure de l'échange je me détends comme le fait Brianna. J'étais contente de rencontrer la personne qui m'a donné naissance. Je sais que m'habituer à tout ça prendrait longtemps. Il ne faut pas oublier que je dois toujours faire mon deuil.

#biodad au #miraculous ladybug #marinette dupain cheng #Biodad Clark Kent #injustice League #Superman's Regime #Biomum Bruce Wayne #female bruce wayne

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suzukiblu · 3 months ago

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Do you read much fic yourself? and if u do, do u have any recs?

I kinda read fic in fits and starts, to be honest? Like it ebbs and it flows, pretty much, hah. So sometimes I read a TON of it and sometimes I pretty much don't read any at all. So like, currently not really, but previously enough that I def DO have recs, haha.

Not an exhaustive list of my faves, just some random Good Ones I can think of off the top of my head ( all some variant of DC or DPxDC ).

( also def read the tags on these, there's def some tags on a few of them that at least some people would wanna know about before reading. )

Catching Icarus by Fantasyfire ( YJA!Conner gets Super-adopted, interdimensionally-speaking. Fully the inspo for that "the last son of Krypton meets Hypertime Kon" WIP of mine, for the record. )

I Want It That Way by WynterSky ( Tim/Kon but make it 90's and also an emotional rollercoaster. )

Stress Relief by daemoninwhite [ nsfw ] ( Kon goes to a sex club in space for some free-use/stuck-in-wall-style stress relief and gets exactly what he wants. )

Jasmine Luthor by Die_Erlkonigin6083 ( Jazz finds out her biodad is Lex Luthor and literally does not care until she finds out CONNER Luthor exists. )

The Unnecessarily Dramatic Death of One Jasmine Fenton by Rowan_the_Escapist ( Jazz and Jason meet at a party and it all goes to shit pretty quick. fyi I will chew on this worldbuilding and also this version of Jazz/Jason until I ALSO die. )

Lazy Sunday by Faeriekit [ nsfw ] ( . . . I did not think I'd be so into Jason/Tucker but uhhhhh turns out I'm real into Jason/Tucker and especially into Jason getting consensually hypnotized into a househusband while absolutely desperate for his boyfriend Dom to fuck him, go fig!! )

The French Mistake by Vamillepudding ( The wrong Bruce is in this reality but he's a much better dad than the right one, so is that really a problem?? )

Buy One, Get One by iselsis ( Incubus!Jason gets rescued/surprise-adopted by Batman and then tries to figure out if it's safe to ask Bruce to save his succubus!mom from his shitty dad. )

Catherine/Bruce Medieval AU by iselsis and PotatoLady ( I am not emotionally well about this whole entire concept, hahaha. Omegaverse medieval AU where Bruce beats Willis in a fight and therefore wins whatever belongs to him. Which in this scenario includes Catherine and Jason. )

bystander by greeneyedfirework ( Batfam omegaverse where alpha!Jason finds a messed-up Robin!Dick in heat and it is a Problem(tm). One of the specific genre of omegaverse-Robins-in-distress that was inspo for the "Robin gets nested" WIP. )

Eyes Like Kryptonite by dragonez ( Lena Luthor gets a strange Kryptonian on her balcony who doesn't know if he's from an alternate reality or time-travelling and wants specifically HER help. Kara/Lena. )

your ghost i will gladly bear by merils ( Interdimensional Timkon featuring two Robins on a rooftop while they're both dead. THIS CONCEPT, I LOVE IT. )

This isn't how things are supposed to go. But we've always been unorthodox. by RenkonNairu ( Please and thank you for this slightly niche and highly interesting omegaverse take including omega!Kon, bless. Also Tim/Kon and Bruce/Clark, accidental and deliberate and deliberately-AVOIDED bonding, and the shitty version of Lex/Clark. )

Fairy Godbrother by envysparkler ( Batbrothers accidentally-on-purpose decide to meddle in another reality's version of themselves in quick succession, or over the course of several years, depending on how you timestream it. )

. . . . . . like, just go check out thebodydies and Briarwitched, I cannot effectively narrow down the options there, haha, just gooooo.

#anonymous #rinrecs #not sfw #meaning some of these links but not all #and I marked the not sfw ones #omegaverse mention

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brucewaynehater101 · 9 months ago

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Hear me out for something Silly. Jack is not Tim's biological parent. Jack, Janet, and Tim all know this. So does Tim's biological parent. Tim does have contact with his Biodad and they do get along wonderfully. When he has time off from his very busy job and thinks it's safe, he will 100% drop by Gothem to see his son. Even if they can't see eachother a lot, Tim and his dad are still very close.

As for how this happened, Janet and Jack had a three way with a *very* interesting stranger about the time Tim would have been conceived. Since he didn't exactly look like Jack, they did a DNA test and then called the guy and asked him to do a DNA test. He told them he would but only if he got his DNA back after the test. Just one of his weird quirks that worked as Rizz on the pair.

Honestly though, it's nothing short of a miracle that they got The Question of all heroes to do a paternity test, but then again. He has always wanted to be a dad and this is an opportunity that just fell into his lap! And the day he walked into his son of 7 years old standing infront of a corkboard covered in pictures and string? It was the proudest day of his life. He had little Tim talk him through all of the strings and explain his theory and Tim started by smacking his little hand on the board and saying in the most manic voice, "BATMAN IS BRUCE WAYNE."

By the end, Question was pacing around the room as Tim also paced around the room, both rambling at eachother as they used Bruce's connections to uncover who well over half the leauge are. Does Question feel a little guilty about finding out his coworkers identities? Maybe. But he doesn't care, he's bonding with his son! His son is brilliant!! Not even he knew who Batman was!!! He could never have been prouder and it nearly made him cry.

Years later when Tim became Robin, he freely told Question about it and while Question didn't approve fully, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop his brilliant, wonderful, adorable, *stubborn* son. Tim could out stubborn a hundred mules, just like both his mother and his father. Maybe he could even out stubborn the both of them, as evidence by Question being the one to cave first. He caved on the condition that Tim get *proper* training and go to a few people of his choosing after he trains under the people that Bruce wants him to train under. Tim agrees and gets a few extra teachers in his time away.

Tim does not tell the Bats that Question is his Dad, simply assuming that if he could figure out who they were at 7 years old, they can figure out something as simple as who his parent is. Turns out, all of the Bats think that Jack Drake is his father and he doesn't find this out until Jack dies. When he does so, Bruce asks where Tim is going to stay and he replies, "with my Dad and his wife, obviously." To which there is quite a bit of confusion until Tim scoffs and crosses his arms as he states, "Jack Drake was never my father. He and Mother were very open about the fact that they had a 3 way and the other guy there is my biological father. I've been in contact with him regularly since I was 3. Sure he's not there all the time but he makes sure to visit minimum once a month. Usually at least twice a week. He's a good person and I'll be fine living with him and his wife. Hell, he's been trying to get me to move in with him for years anyways! Honestly, I thought you already knew this Bruce. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see my Dad." And simply walked out if the cave.

The Bats. Don't know who his father is. Nor for lack of trying though. His dad is The Question that man leaves no evidence of anywhere he has been and never walks into cameras. He leaves just enough that they know he's real. Jason has seen the man with his own two eyes and swears he is a red head, but the man vanished before Jason could say a word to him. However Damian saw Tim talking to someone with black hair and and blue coat on patrol, but didn't get a look at his face. The guy was gone before Damian could get there and Tim tells him that it was his dad doing a mid patrol check in, which he does sometimes.

There is nearly a very big fight about civilians and identity hiding until Tim snaps, "HE KNEW FROM THE DAY I KNEW. HE HELPED ME WITH MY FUCKING EVIDENCE BOARD AND ENCOURAGED ME. BESIDES, HES NOT EVEN A CIVILIAN ANYWAYS!" And before anyone can question it, he goes on a long rant about how it can't be that hard to piece together who his dad is because they haven't been hiding it from them At All and how disappointed he is in them. As he does so, he is texting someone and when asked who, Tim snaps, "my Dad! I'm telling him to come to the Batcave because you're all idiots who couldn't find the link between us!" This leads to Bruce getting angry about inviting strangers to the Batcave and Tim scoffs about Bruce having invited his dad there before.

30 minuets later, when The Question walks in and says, "Hello Batman." Bruce turns to him to ask why he's there but Tim cuts in and says, "finally! Dad, can you believe that none of these idiots put it together?! They have no idea were related!" And Question just says, "but. We've been living together for nearly a year. I've known you all your life and you are the greatest thing I've ever helped to create." And Tim blushes a bit at the last part but plays it off by insulting The Bats, "right? And they call themselves Detectives!"

They spend the next hour roasting the Bats together and also mentioning off the walls crazy theories that are actually true.

Years later when Tim goes on the Brucequest, he doesn't go alone. He shows his evidence to his dad and Question and Huntress both come with him to help. Tim doesn't loose his spleen thanks to them but they do have to team up with the LOA because they have Tam held hostage. They also blow up the leauge but all credit goes to Tim and when they get Bruce back, they try to give credit to Tim but the Leauge just points at Question and Huntress and says, "those two did it."

Holy shit. This AU is fantastic.

I do not know nearly enough about Question, and you've pointed out the errors in my ways. I should know more about him because you are absolutely correct (also, AUs that speculate who can be Tim's bio parents are hilarious to me).

Fuck. I just binged some of his content (a very small amount), and I swear to gods this man is hilarious. His dry wit, conspiracy theories, humor, and overall demeanor is grand. I should find more.

Anyways, I absolutely love how Jack, Janet, and Question are peacefully coparenting. There's no drama or tension. Jack isn't jealous or mad. They just raise Tim together.

Tim and Question bonding over theories, research, stalker tendencies (referencing when Question said he goes through everyone's trash), and pin boards is adorable. This is a friendship/mentor bond I didn't know I needed in my life until now.

I'm also vibing with Question messing with the Bats while Tim us legitimately confused how they haven't figured anything out yet.

I'm also imagining post Jack's funeral (if this is a good dad Bruce AU), that Bruce turns to the newly orphaned Tim. He has adoption papers metaphorically behind his back and does a blue screen at realizing that Tim has been hiding even more parents all this time. It seems his adoption addictions were stopped this time, dagnabbit.

#tim drake #dc universe #thank you for the ask!!!!#dc au #question dc

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sunfang · 5 months ago

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(Batman & The Signal #3)

The more I read about Duke the more I realise the fandom knows literally nothing about Duke except:

"he's a Robin!" (not really, by any real standards of 'Robin'. He was a leader in We Are Robin, but he's never worked with any Batman under that title)

He's one of Batman's kids! (he was fostered for MAYBE 18 months our time and his parents were also living at the Manor at the same time. He's been with relatives since early 2018: first his cousin Jay and now I believe his mum Elaine since 2022 or so?)

He is a meta with light-based powers (which he does not discover until Dark Nights: Metal and rarely uses on page instead of hitting things with batons)

The other Batkids consider him a sibling! (Uhhh well he has a relationship with Cass, and appeared in several family group scenes while he was fostered, which mostly noted that none of the others knew him as more than 'the new kid'; since he moved out of the Manor he has not done so)

Look, at this point he's an outer Bat family member, on a similar level to Harper Row, Helena Bertinelli, Julia Pennyworth, Luke Fox or maybe at best Stephanie Brown.

Unless you're talking about WFA he's not an inner circle character who is a 'Wayne'.

#batfamily #batfamily meta #duke thomas #duke is the leader of a movement that reclaimed robin from ‘batman’s sidekick’ to ‘gotham kid who takes matter into their own hands’#he only agreed to training under batman under the condition that he won’t be a robin #when dick and jason in 2 separate instances refer to duke as a robin he adamantly tells them that he’s not a robin #duke: please don’t group me in with the rest of you sidekicks thank you very much #as for fostering #bruce gave duke an offer at the end of superheavy in batman (2011) 50 #in all-star batman duke undergoes his cursed wheel training while living in the manor with his parents #then in batman & the signal duke is living with his cousin jay as his guardian #in that time duke has never referred to bruce as his dad #which makes sense as his parents are literally living with him the entire time he’s with bruce #also later on duke finds out abt his evil biodad gnomon while his stepdad is still jokerized so he’s got enough daddy issues on his plate #all that’s to say that even tho he’s not a robin or bruce’s kid bruce still treats him really well!#bruce gave him personalized training/a suit/a secret base (!)/recruitment alongside cass to the outsiders #duke wanted to be an independent hero and bruce gave him all the resources he needed in order to succeed #they have great camaraderie and i really like their friendship

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mochegato · 9 months ago

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Even the Losers

Chapter 38

Chapter 1 Chapter 37

TW: A lot of tension in this chapter as well and a bit of a mental breakdown. Also, when reading, think Black Widow.

Marinette jerked violently as solid ground interrupted her freefall, or rather solidish ground. It was spongy but solid enough to make it hurt wherever she made contact. Unfortunately, she landed in a supine position, meaning the entire back of her body made painful contact. However, the ground seemed to find the already injured areas and rose up to meet those areas harder than the rest of her body, just to drive home the agony.

She almost cried from the pain in her back, ribs, knee, head… really it would be easier to say what parts of her didn’t hurt after her fall. She immediately started thrashing against the restraints holding her down and compounding the throbbing. She easily ripped them off her, offering a small mercy for her aching body and she indulged herself with a moment to breathe easier.

Steeling herself, she stayed motionless but allowed her eyes to dart around the area. Her body tensed, her mind running too slow or maybe too fast, driving the pain out of her mind as she tried to place herself and catalog the danger level, which was near impossible with her mind not functioning properly and in the darkness that seemed to follow her like a sentient shadow. She couldn’t escape it even in this new place.

It was far too dark to make out the space around her. So, relying on her sight was out. She couldn’t hear anything except a static whooshing singing in her ears, not even the gasping breaths she knew she was taking. All other noise seemed to be sucked into a sensory vacuum. So, relying on her hearing was out as well. She couldn’t smell anything in the air, which at least meant she wasn’t near a natural water source or nature at all. So, she wasn’t outside… or she was just breathing too hard and fast to be able to register the smells. Damn it, that meant she couldn’t rule out anything. She couldn’t taste anything and refused to try; she was overwhelmed not stupid. So, relying on her taste was out.

That only left using what she could feel. Not exactly ideal, but at least this time she could feel, which was a damn sight better than the alternative. It was dulled, like she was wearing several pairs of gloves, but there was feeling, and the longer she sat, the more she could sense. She pushed her body to feel, to inform her of as much information about her environment as it could, shutting down all of her other useless senses.

The ground beneath her, rather than being solid like stone or a man-made floor, was springy, a bit like thick layers of moss or a padded floor. But it was there, and she could feel the expanse of it. She inched her hand out to one side and felt a sharp, straight edge indicating she was either on the edge of a ledge or platform of some kind. Whatever it was, she was grateful to have the reassurance of something holding her up, something with substance and measurable boundaries.

She reached out on her other side, but instantly clamped her mouth shut to silence a whimper attempting to tear from her body from the movement. All the pain she’d forgotten about just moments before came rushing back. Her body ached and her head throbbed as she gaped for breath, but she refused to let out the sound until she knew her situation. Allowing an enemy to know how injured she was could be potentially deadly and she had no idea how many enemies were around and how well they could hear. She wouldn’t allow anyone to have that kind of insight. She couldn’t. She closed her eyes and took a long deep breath instead, only slightly wincing from the pain radiating from her back and slicing through her chest.

When she opened her eyes again, they caught on a light she hadn’t noticed before. A light she was absolutely positive had not been there moments before. It wasn’t possible. The light stood out like a lighthouse, illuminating a path in front of it and forcing all around to notice it. She stared at it warily but intently. As she stared, she realized it was a yellow strip of light, a yellow that was pulsating.

Worse, suddenly the silence was also shattered as noise plundered the quiet. Muffled arguing. Her world froze; the pain gone again in an instant. There was nothing except that tiny strip of light, arguing, and the flood of memories from the space she’d left only moments before. Everything was repeating, or maybe it never stopped, it just continued on, the only things to change were a solid floor and the color of the light.

As the arguing got closer, behind what she now realized was yet another door, or maybe the same door, her heart ramped back up to dangerous levels, preparing her body to move, but she couldn’t yet. She wasn’t prepared to face them yet. She’d been given a warning of what was to come. She normally wasn’t so lucky, and she had no intention of squandering her slight advantage. But she needed more information before she acted… and more backup.

“Spots on,” she murmured again, but her heart sunk when just as before nothing happened. He had blocked her from transforming in this new place too. But it didn’t matter. She’d made a promise to Roy that she would do what it took to protect him and Lian and she was going to keep that promise, no matter what it took. She allowed a microsecond of aggravation before she started planning.

Unfortunately, a microsecond was all she was given before the door burst open, and with a sudden, blinding light, Hawk Moth’s akuma had arrived.

The akuma was illuminated from behind with the yellow light, everything obscured except for its shape. Its mass took up the bulk of the frame, almost enough to block out the light, but only for a fraction of a second. It stepped forward allowing the blinding light to flood in again, bright enough to sear her vision. But another akuma stepped immediately behind to block the light yet again, leaving an afterimage of the first akuma.

The arrival had happened before she could assess the situation let alone start to make a semblance of a plan. She’d lost her advantage and was going to have to act on the fly. Which she hated doing, but it had become so common fighting akumas it was now her strength, or maybe it always had been. Master Fu had said that was one of the reasons she had been so perfect to become Ladybug and a Guardian. Yes, she had lost her original advantage, but she was going to give herself another and she was not going to squander that one.

The akuma in charge hadn’t even taken a full step into the room before the akuma behind it started arguing with it. “… get…” Marinette only half listened to their words, focusing more on their body language; how did they carry themselves, did they favor a side, were they human appearing or was their akumatization clear in their form, was there any indication what their powers might be. The akuma in the door turned to glare behind it. “… her alone,” the second akuma continued, much to the first akuma’s umbrage.

So, it appeared there was a bit of dissension in the ranks. That was it, her advantage. She could only see two, but there had been four akuma created. The other two had to still be in the room behind the door. She knew how many. She knew what they were. She knew what they wanted. And she knew they weren’t working cohesively. That was everything she needed to know. She was in charge here.

Marinette groped around her until she found a weapon behind her; light and soft but broad. She could work with that. She’d have to. The first akuma seemed to be done with the argument and had turned its attention back to Marinette, but she was already in motion. She tossed the weapon at the first akuma and immediately followed behind it, launching herself at it feet first.

The first akuma shoved the weapon out of its face just in time to see her inches away, her feet not quite aimed at the center of its chest, but rather a few inches off center. It twisted slightly to let her slide past, but as she anticipated, it grabbed her as she sailed through the air, seeming more like a figure skater pair finishing a lift than enemy combatants.

It’s second nature for people to either bat away or grab things coming toward them and when it’s a living thing, and not a snake, the second will usually win. It’s an instinct so ingrained, not even becoming an akuma was able to break it. But even if it had been, she had a backup plan.

What she had not anticipated was the second akuma pulling the first akuma’s arm back violently as it had made its way into the room. So, while, luckily, it acted as she expected and was now unintentionally supporting her as her feet slammed into the second akuma, the pull had shifted her trajectory and slowed her. She was still able to slide between the first akuma’s arm and body, its arms closing in on her just as she hit the akuma behind in the chest with a slightly dulled force, and a bit off the mark she had intended.

She made an impact. Just not as much of one as she needed.

She held in the groan of pain that tried to rip from her throat at the pain from the severe compression on her bruised back and her knees. She hadn’t been fully successful, but there had been a yell of “Akuma” at the same time, which she hoped drowned out the telling noise.

The second akuma groaned as it doubled over, but not before Marinette redirected her momentum to flip back over the shoulder of the first akuma who was still holding her while she held its arm in a death grip. The move caught the akuma off guard, which is what Marinette was hoping for. It folded forward easily with her momentum, too shocked to realize to let go, bringing its upper body, and more importantly, its head closer to the ground, more specifically, to her knee level.

She jerked her knee into its face in one smooth, firm motion. Luckily it was the knee that hadn’t already been injured because she was positive she couldn’t have hid that groan of pain if she’d used her other knee. Unluckily, kneeing an akuma in the face without a magical suit was still rather painful. Even without magical assistance, the human skull is incredibly thick, and it hurts like a son of a bitch when hit, whether you’re the one hitting or getting hit, with the assistance of being an akuma however, that magic flowing through someone’s cells and reforming their anatomy? Her knee was already throbbing.

The first akuma let go of her to move its hand to its face with a pained groan. She backed away just enough to body check its side, knocking it off balance. Normally, she would have kicked him over, but at this point, she didn’t know if her knees could take it and she needed to preserve them for the moves she was positive she was going to have to pull out later in order to deal with the akuma in the next room.

As if to prove her point, her other leg wobbled and almost gave out at having to support her full weight. She needed to move. If she stopped for too long again, she was likely to just collapse and never move again. “Akuma” she heard again but brushed it off as she ran toward the second akuma.

She would have to deal with whoever was screaming akuma later. She understood their fear, but there was an order of operations here. Deal with the akuma first, keep them away from the public as much as possible, reassure the public during the fight if necessary and if it wouldn’t interfere with the fight, unless a panicking public would make the situation worse. Limiting the damage was the first priority, and sometimes that included the public spirit. It was a set list of priorities and exceptions that had been drilled into her and Adrien since Stoneheart… the first Stoneheart, though its subsequent appearances reinforced the order of operations.

The second akuma, now standing straight again, held its arms out toward her like it was trying to inject calming vibes. Yet another lesson she’d learned; never let an akuma inject you with anything. It was never as fun for the injected as it was for the akuma.

She almost laughed at its position and the fact that the other two had stayed in the hallway. It was like they were just setting themselves up for her, so she didn’t have to use her fists or bad knee. And what was it with akuma and fighting one at a time? That fact seemed not to have changed between the first Hawk Moth and this one.

She grabbed its wrist and wrenched it away from its body in a painful twist. It moved with the wrist to minimize the strain on its bone but pulled her in close as it twisted. Instead of fighting it, she went with the momentum and used it to her advantage, using his strength to propel her up and around its back. Like its predecessor, it grabbed her when she spun over its back feet first, but again like its predecessor, instead of holding her in a vice grip to stop her, it was just moving her, which in this instance she hadn’t expected.

However, it didn’t matter. If anything, it actually helped her. Her next move didn’t depend on the strength of its grip. She swung her legs up and around its neck and used her full weight to swing across its front and under its arm, keeping her legs locked around its neck, forcing it forward and down, giving her the vantage to knock its already off-balance body fully to the ground. Not a knockout, but sidelined for a few precious seconds while she assessed the situation with the other two akuma she knew were in the room beyond.

She didn’t give herself a moment to overthink her next move or even acknowledge the scream behind her letting her know they were akuma and not to stop. As if she could do anything else.

She barreled through the door into the room beyond ready to take on the next two akuma, but almost bounced off a wall that immediately met her. It wasn’t a room but rather a hallway, filled with more doors.

She faltered momentarily as flashes of the doors from the space before took over her vision. The thought of what might be behind these doors took over for a second. The fear. Were there more akuma? More loved ones? Oh God, what if Adrien was dying behind one of them? And the longer she stared the longer the hallway became, more doors appearing, each concealing a terrifying mystery.

Her breath stuttered but she immediately shook it off at a noise behind her and mentally cursed herself. She’d gotten distracted and turned her back on the akuma. These were mistakes she couldn’t afford to do. These were mistakes she knew better than to do. What she did need to do, was reassess, and quickly. She would only have one, maybe two seconds before she would have to act.

They were in a hallway. A fairly narrow one at that with a bookshelf, which unfortunately only had what looked like kid’s toys. Weapons would have been better, but that wasn’t what she was given and at least it was close to her. She narrowed her eyes as a new plan formed.

The narrow space restricted her freedom. Legwork would be much harder, kicks wouldn’t have the impact she needed, which is likely just as well since she didn’t know if her leg could handle it. She was going to have to rely on her hands, which she really didn’t want to do. They were still raw and bruised, possibly fractured, from the earlier fight, but she didn’t have much of a choice anymore.

If the next two akuma were like the first two, they were larger than her, stronger. If the muscles and breadth of the chests of the first two were any indication, substantially so. She would have to continue to use their strength against them, using it against each other would be even better. She had to rely on surprise, strategy, forcing them to use their strength against one another and as a support for her, if she could just figure out how.

“…don’t want to hurt you.” The words reach her ears, but all she heard is them handing the how to her. She’d heard lies like this before. It was a tactic so commonly used by akuma to throw her off balance, make her drop her guard, that it was basically part of the akuma script coming right before “just give me your earrings and Chat Noir’s ring.”

But she’d learned long ago not to trust anything an akuma said. The only thing she could trust was that they would pretend to follow their lies just long enough to convince her. Once it became apparent their lies weren’t working, they would drop them faster than Chloe dumping a boring date. So, she had at least two to three more moves before they dropped the act and started fighting back full force. Two or three more moves to impact the direction of the fight. Two or three more moves to protect Roy and Lian.

They were close now, or at least one was. Apparently, picking up your feet when you walked wasn’t included in the akuma training. She grunted as she heard yet another, “Akuma!”, because yeah, she knew they were akuma. That’s why she was fighting them.

She stayed frozen for a few more beats so she wouldn’t give away any indication of her plan. When the shuffling indicated the akuma was within arm’s reach, she moved. She lunged forward, grabbing a puzzle fortuitously sticking out from under a pile of sundry toys on the bookshelf and spun around slamming it into the third akuma’s face. She only had to readjust her aim slightly having accurately guessed its height as somewhere around the first two akumas’ heights. The cheap wood splintered all around them, several pieces ricocheting back into her face as tiny wooden hero figures bounced against the walls before landing innocently near their feet.

She was moving before she assessed the results, calculating as she moved. She had been right, there were only two akuma in the hall, but the first two looked like they were making their way into the hall as well. The puzzle didn’t appear to have done much damage, but did appear to have surprised the akuma, making it lurch to the side. While it fell to the left, Marinette launched herself at the wall to the right, pushing off against it with her good leg and an arm to support her leg and considerably more effort than she would have liked. She was not going to last much longer with moves like that. God, she was never going to hear the end of this from Tikki.

She pushed herself up and around, gaining more height in the move and twisted as she punched. She braced herself for the pain that was about to come. The impact was almost certainly going to hurt her as much as the akuma, but it also had the potential to incapacitate it long enough to give Roy and Lian enough time to escape, assuming no extra akuma invulnerability.

What she hadn’t anticipated was it shifting smoothly, letting her punch graze across its front as though it was familiar with the move and could anticipate the trajectory. The akuma closed its arm around her side, pulling her against its body. She tried to twist out of it, but its other arm clamped down from her other side effectively trapping her arms down. Fortunately, it was an insecure hold, made so quickly, it forced the akuma to stretch awkwardly.

She struggled with mock fierceness that looked like she was putting effort in without actually exerting much energy, her legs flailing like she was a kid learning to swim, partially to break free, but mostly to test its grip on her. She anticipated it wouldn’t let her go so easily, what she needed to know was where the vulnerabilities were, so she knew where to focus her energy when she had formed a new plan and was ready to put real effort in.

She blocked out the raised voices around her, only minorly registering the “Marinette!” yelled at her, choosing instead to focus on forming her plan and the fourth akuma approaching slowly. “Marinette!” it called out to her again, trying to break her concentration, but she kept planning, taking in all the details around her. “…hurt you.” The fourth akuma was smaller than the other three, shorter than her, but it moved with confidence and purpose, the kind of confidence akumas exuded by nature.

But the important thing was it just admitted they were no longer pretending not to want to hurt her. That had to change her plan again. She couldn’t rely on them planning to hold back any longer. They would go full force so she had to as well.

Her blood froze when one of them yelled, “Her back!” She had no idea how they knew her back was injured, making each twist and spin feel like a sword being plunged into her chest, but she wasn’t going to give them the opportunity to act on it. She needed to get out of its embrace immediately.

On her next flail, she lifted her leg a bit higher and to the side, like she was going to kick the akuma approaching her, but instead she threw her full weight into a twist at the last second and pushed against the wall. The move surprised the akuma holding her into slacking its grip enough for her to slip out as it stumbled back against the door opposite, crashing through it and almost tearing it off its hinges before the akuma caught itself.

She barely caught herself from crashing to the ground, but the strain on her back, knee, and hands became too much and she wasn’t able to hold in her wail of pain before it tore from her lips. She stood slowly sliding up the wall for support. Her arms wrapped around her middle in a vain effort to stem the sharp throbbing from her ribs. The third akuma groaned as it stood, pulling her attention over in its direction, but her eyes immediately moved past it into the room beyond the doorframe.

The framed posters of Red Arrow and the Teen Titans as well as the stuffies on the bed indicated it was meant to be Lian’s room, but this one was different than the version from the floorless place. Thankfully, this version didn’t have Lian curled on the floor. She had to still be with Roy, wherever he was. She hoped they were far away, but she was never that lucky. They had to be behind one of the other doors… one of the doors to which the akuma were now blocking her access.

She straightened up a bit quicker than she should have and had to clamp her lips closed, her teeth digging into them to keep them closed, further ripping a cut from the puzzle pieces. But she didn’t feel it as a newfound determination overtook her and shone in her eyes. They would not hurt Roy or Lian or anybody else, not because of her. She dropped her head forward while she gathered her breath, her back straightened until she was no longer favoring her left side.

She almost chuckled at the fourth akuma who was edging toward her like she was an injured animal, which, in fairness, she was. But it was its words that made her scoff. “We don’t want to hurt you. You need to stop.”

So, they were going back to that. They’d already admitted they wanted to hurt her and were aiming for her most vulnerable spots. She wasn’t sure if they thought she hadn’t heard or if they thought she was that dumb. Or maybe they thought she was so weak and desperate, she’d be willing to grasp onto any tenuous whisp they offered to end the fight. But, regardless of what they thought, they were wrong. She’d never lost a fight against an akuma and she sure as fuck wasn’t going to start now.

The old Hawk Moth would have known that.

Marinette finally lifted her head and let out a mirthless chuckle that sounded closer to something Hawk Moth would have voiced than something anyone would expect of her. She met his eyes, not so much looking at him as through him, as she wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand. “Oh, honey, I’ve only just started. This is a warmup for me. A game,” she hissed. Her lip curled in a sneer, bearing her teeth as she spoke. “You’re a challenge.” Her eyes glinted dangerously as she bounced back into a starter stance. “And I love a challenge.”

There was a few beats of stunned silence before the second akuma threw its head to the side and retreated back down the hallway, giving itself space to move later. “Aw Hell no. I don’t like it when she throws that back at us. No. Not okay.”

“Marinette…” the fourth one started, approaching her slowly with hands held up in a calming motion, just like the other akuma’s had been previously. But like the other’s attempt, it had the opposite result making her tense further, which was only aided by yet another scream of “Akuma.” This time she was able to discern Roy’s voice, confirming that he and Lian were still in the immediate area and thus very much in danger.

She narrowed her eyes and blocked everything else out, focusing solely on cataloging every detail so she could form a plan. A fake kick toward the akuma closest, which it would easily dodge, but the move would just be a cover for her real move; an elbow to the face. The force from the move should be enough. The dodge should push him toward where she intended her elbow to hit. Once she’d broken its nose, again assuming the akuma’s anatomy allowed for its nose to be broken, she could shove it into the first akuma, who had eased closer to the fourth. If its nose couldn’t be broken, it would still snap its head back diverting its attention and giving her the chance to body check it.

When the fourth akuma had gotten a few steps away, she acted. She kicked out toward its knee but she kicked with her bad leg and ended up crying out in pain herself instead from overextending her leg further than her injury would allow. Her eyes clamped shut and she allowed herself to take a breath before moving. During that break, she heard a firm, “Hold back,” but was moving before they finished the last word. She was not about to hold back. She was going to have to drop her plan and improvise, damnit.

“Marinette!” the fourth akuma called out in mock concern. “You need to stop, Marinette. We are not here to hurt you.” She scoffed, they may or may not intend to hurt her, it very much seemed like they didn’t know themselves at this point. But if it was the intention, she was confident it was purely so they could give the honor to beat and maim her to someone else. But, regardless of their plans for her, they were there to hurt Roy and take Lian. And she couldn’t allow that.

When it stepped closer to her she swung her elbow toward its face, which it easily dodged, but when she pulled the arm right back on the same arc, she grazed its jaw. It seemed surprised at her contact and took a second to respond, a moment Marinette used to position herself for an uppercut. “Marinette. Sister,” it gulped. Her swing faltered enough it was able to easily dodge the hit, though she wasn't positive whether it was as much the falter as his skill. She shook her head and struck out toward his chest with a palm heel strike. “Tzih tzih,” he tried again as he stepped back up out of her reach. She jumped forward with a high kick that he ducked under. “Jiějiě!”

The last move had the advantage that it had pushed him back until he hit the end of the hallway and had nowhere else to go. She swung out with a right hook to end this fight, again bracing herself for the pain. However, just before she made contact, the akuma tried one more time, "sœur.”

She blinked, her arm loosening instantly, redirecting before her eyes focused and finally registered not only who was in front of her but that it was not an akuma pretending to be Damian. It actually was Damian. In front of her. Whose nose she was about to break. Who she had attacked and treated like an enemy. Her little brother who already had trust issues. Her innocent little brother who had come to check on her and protect her… but had betrayed her earlier… because he was a kid and didn’t know better.

She stumbled back. It was too much. There was too much to process. If he was Damian, not an akuma, that meant the rest weren’t akuma either. They weren’t akuma. There was no akuma. There was no Hawk Moth here. But he had been here… or there. He’d been… It was all swirling around in her head overtaking and clearing out all in its path until nothing was left, like an F5 tornado.

“They’re not akuma!” Roy’s voice broke through the gasping as he broke through the line of men. “Back the fuck up assholes, you’re crowding her.” He softly cupped her shoulders to get her to stop moving and to look at him. When her legs started to shake uncontrollably, he gently helped her down and to lean against the wall. His hands instantly hovered over her body like he was afraid contact might be the last thing that pushed her over the edge and tumbling into unimaginable pain.

“What was that?” the third man asked.

“PTSD,” the second hissed. He kept his distance from her but crouched down to her level, trying to take in as much detail about her status as he could from where he was. “That’s what that was and just one of the reasons I told you you should not fucking be here and was trying to get you the fuck out and leave her the fuck alone.”

Roy stood and spun to face them, his expression thunderous, his eyes cold, and his tone accusatory. “She’s already hurt and you decided to attack her?” he yelled. He almost took a step toward the first akuma but refused to leave Marinette open to them to come closer. “Can you do fucking anything that isn’t about fucking you, Bruce?” He turned toward the third akuma. “I expected better of you, Dick.”

“We were just checking on her,” Bruce insisted. His voice was calm and authoritative, but everyone there, at least all the people who were still aware of the world around them, could hear the quake in his voice and could see a overwhelming of concern as he studied her.

“We didn’t attack her,” Dick objected lowly. “She disappeared and nobody knew where she was.”

“Everybody knew where she fucking was!” Roy thundered. Everyone flinched slightly, even Jason, who knew it wasn’t directed toward him, everyone except Marinette who was still leaning against the wall, her eyes directed toward the opposite wall and her knees pulled up but not too close to her body, almost like she wanted to pull them in to form a ball, but something was stopping her.

When he spoke again, Roy’s voice was lowered but somehow even more chilling. “Everybody knew and collectively decided it would be the worst possible decision to let you know. And look at that, we were right. Because you don’t give the slightest fuck about anybody but you and what you want.”

He narrowed his eyes at Dick, moving between him and Marinette when he tried to edge closer to her. “And you might as fucking well have attacked her,” Roy growled. “You tried to sneak up on someone who still has massive PTSD from years of violent attacks through her teenage years and just got back from a vicious attack that almost killed her brother in front of her eyes. What the ever-loving fuck did you think was going to happen?”

He shot them another deathly glare before turning his back on them to focus on Marinette. She was completely unresponsive. He crouched directly in her eye line but her eyes didn’t move toward him, nor did her pupils constrict. She was gone and he was a bit terrified he wouldn’t be able to bring her back, but he had to try. He stroked her hair gently and kept his voice as soft as he could despite his thundering heart. “Hey, Fire Flower, how are you feeling? They hurt you?”

“You are not helping,” Bruce growled

“I disagree,” Roy hissed back, only taking his eyes from Marinette for a few seconds to shoot him a warning look. “Baby, I want to move you to somewhere more comfortable. Is that okay? Can you walk?” He wanted to give her the space to respond in her own time but when she still hadn’t responded after several minutes, he gently urged her up, his arms never leaving her the entire way to standing, both supporting and protecting. She went with him easily. He wanted to believe it was because she trusted him, but in her current state, he didn’t know that she even registered who he was.

They had only taken a few steps before she finally spoke, her voice shaky and barely audible, but Roy would take it. In fact, it might be the best thing he’d heard all month. “I’ll buy you a new one,” she promised.

Roy’s brows furrowed in confusion, and he tried to catch her eyes but they were fixated on the floor in front of her, specifically several of the puzzle figures that had scattered to the floor when she had hit Dick with it. “Mari, you don’t have to…”

“…and I’ll pick up those toys,” she added almost vacantly, her eyes moving to the stuffies and assorted items that had fallen in the fight, including that damn doll Lian loved so much.

Roy sighed heavily and tried to usher her onto the couch as quickly as possible. “We are absolutely not dealing with that until we’ve kicked the assholes out and slept.”

“Am I one of the assholes?” Her tone had somehow become even more distant as she dropped on the couch.

He knelt in front of her and took her head in his hands, finally forcing her to meet his eyes, though as soon as he did, he almost wished he hadn’t. Her eyes were blank, lifeless, almost like Lian’s doll. “You absolutely are not an asshole,” he assured her, or tried to anyway, hoping something would get through to her, if not right then, then when words would make it through to her. “You are perfect.”

She scoffed and tried to move her head away unsuccessfully. Her effort was too apathetic and her muscles too shaky from having been pushed to the brink of exhaustion to accomplish her goal. “Perfect storm,” she grumbled.

“Perfect fit,” he corrected softly.

Chapter 39

Tags:

#maribat #roynette #biodad Bruce Wayne #Even the Losers #bio!dad bruce

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starwarsmum · 5 months ago

Text

The penultimate day of Maribat BioFamily September! Prompt today is torture

@maribat-calendar-events

Tim was looking forward to having Marinette visit Titan's tower. Ever since he had joined Bruce as Robin, Marinette had been a big sister he never knew he'd wanted. Dick had been a brother in arms as well as someone who tried to look out for and train him, but Marinette had made the time to bake for him, to ask about his day and celebrate little accomplishments.

Even now that he was working with a new team, Tim enjoyed when Marinette would take him for a day out. He definitely had a minor crush on her when he first joined Batman - she was smart, witty and refused to take any of Bruce's nonsense even if she was a little traumatised. Fortunately, it had faded pretty quickly when she had only treated him as a younger brother.

“Hey, Conner, Marinette's going to be here any time now, do you know where the extra controller is? Cyborg said he would play her, see if he could give her a challenge,” Tim said, glancing over at his best friend. When all he got was a shrug, he sighed and searched under the sofa cushions.

He still hadn't found it by the time Marinette rang the doorbell, so he gave up so that he could let her in. She smiled at him when he opened the door, carrying two large bags that he assumed were full of pastries. She started chattering to him, following him up the stairs to the kitchen to put the bags down.

They ended up watching movies and Marinette fell asleep on the sofa. Tim snorted and covered her with a blanket before ushering the team out. They had different work to do, and Tim needed to call Bruce. He changed into his suit, knowing that if the conversation took a turn, he would need to be ready.

While he was talking to Bruce, the tower quietened considerably, giving a peaceful aura to the place. The peace was shattered when Red Hood stepped out of the shadows. Hanging up on Bruce, he faced the anti-hero, wondering what on Earth he could want.

It became apparent very quickly that what Hood wanted was to take all of his frustrations out on the new Robin. Tim fought as hard as he could, but Hood was too angry, too volatile, and when they entered the Hall of Fallen Titans, the lack of a Jason statue only enraged him further.

Marinette awoke in the dark, but not in silence. She could hear crashing and shouting and she leapt to her feet. She raced towards the sounds of fighting, slowing only slightly when she heard the words, “I was a Titan, too!” She saw a discarded suit, a shiny red helmet and raced forwards again.

She watched in horror as two Robins fought each other. Tim, the Robin with the black and yellow cape, was bleeding freely, laying on the floor with the older Robin standing above him. Her body moved before she could think, forcing her way in between the two.

The second Robin faltered as she spread her arms wide, staring up at him. It was like she was a formidable foe rather than a scared eighteen-year-old, trembling in front of an angry man who seemed intent on killing her little brother.

Tim, lying on the floor, coughed and groaned and Marinette flinched. She wanted to check on him but she didn't dare turn away; she couldn't until she knew for sure. She lifted a hand slowly up to the man's face, taking his mask away so she could see his eyes.

“Jay?” She whispered, heart breaking when he jerked away from her sharply. “How- what are you doing here? You- you died, we buried you. Why didn't you come home?”

“That isn't my home,” he replied harshly, glaring down at her. She swallowed but angled her chin up towards him. She didn't say anything back, but her heart ached at the anger and loneliness in his voice. “The moment I was gone, he replaced me with this- this pretender. And so did you,” he whispered, hands clenching as Tim stirred on the floor behind her, reaching feebly for her.

“You promised,” Marinette breathed, forcing back the tears choking her. “You said you would come home, as soon as you could. But Red Hood's been running around for at least a month, and you didn't come by once. Even if it didn't feel like home, I needed you.”

“No, you didn't,” Jason snarled back at her, grabbing her upper arm and hauling her closer. They were practically nose to nose as he glared at her, eyes wild. “I checked in on you, and you were playing happy families with my replacement! You sent me off to my death but you made him stay home and go to school.”

She ripped her arm out of his grasp and slapped him. His head jerked to the side and she gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. He stood, motionless and she felt her heart breaking all over again. She had tortured herself over his death, blaming herself for encouraging him to find his mother, for lying to Bruce and Alfred about where he was. She had finally been healing, she had been in therapy for so long but hearing him say that he blamed her…it was like he had ripped open every carefully stitched wound and poured acid into her veins.

“You're right, it's my fault,” she whispered at last, stepping back towards him. He looked at her, confused and she longed to pull him close, to comfort him. “I'm the reason you went after Sheila, I'm the reason Bruce didn't catch you and stop you. I'm the reason he didn't get to you in time. I thought- I thought I was helping you, that I was doing the right thing but I messed up, Jay. And if you need to- to hurt someone, to make it even, then hurt me. Tim's just a kid, he hasn't done anything wrong.”

Jason looked shocked, as if the thought of hurting her had never crossed his mind. He didn't step away from her though, and she took another tentative step forward. She was almost touching him, his breath blowing across her face as he panted. She raised her hand back to his face, wanting to touch him again.

But the moment her hand made contact with his cheek he jerked away again. He shoved her away from him and she sprawled on the floor. He stalked around her, reaching for the R on Tim's chest and ripping it off. And then he was gone, grabbing his helmet and other suit as he went.

Marinette rushed to Tim's side, sobbing openly as she checked his vitals. He was still breathing and Marinette sobbed even harder in relief. With shaking hands, she pulled out her phone, calling Dick for help, begging him to come quickly.

By the time he arrived, Marinette had freed the other Titans, finding them restrained in various rooms. They all had a similar story to tell - they had been working when Red Hood had ambushed them. They were all angry at the state of Tim, who was looking worse for wear but no longer unconscious.

“Marinette, I'm so sorry this happened while you were here,” Tim said earnestly, grabbing her hands to keep her attention. She scoffed, looking at him like he had lost his mind but he persisted. “No, really. I should have made sure you were secure before I started working, or drawn him out of the building-”

“Tim, buddy, if there is an innocent party in this entire mess, it's you,” Marinette said, stubborn but gentle. “Seriously, I've come to terms with the part I played in the whole thing, but you weren't there and Jay shouldn't blame you for my mistakes.”

“Mari, it wasn't your fault either,” Dick interjected, frowning at the girl. She snorted dismissively, waving a hand as if to shush him. He slammed a hand down onto one the the counters in the medical room. “Dammit Mari, it wasn't! The only people to blame for what happened to Jason are the Joker and-”

“Don't lie to me, Dick,” Marinette said, angrily. Tim watched in awe - he had rarely seen Marinette angry before and it was as fascinating as it was terrifying. “You weren't there, I told you before that I told Jay to go after his mother without backup. He told me he would stay if I asked him to and I didn't. Ask Bruce if he blames me, I dare you.”

Dick looked away and Marinette gave a harsh laugh that sounded suspiciously like a sob. Tim sat up in the bed he had been laying on, but Marinette was already moving out of the room. Dick looked like he was going to follow her, but sat back down with a sigh instead.

“I don't understand, why would Bruce blame her for Jason's death?” He asked, bewildered. “She didn't know about the whole Batman thing until after I joined the team, so she couldn't have known she was talking to Robin. It would be really illogical to blame her for wanting Jason to find his mom, given everything she's been through.”

“Yeah, you're right, Tim,” Dick said with another sigh, still looking in the direction she had walked away.

#maribat #mlb x dc #maribat biofam sept #maribat biodad bruce #dc x mlb #ao3 #ao3 fanfic #fanfic #sleepover #tw violence

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