#lila rossi salt maribat

[nana-mizu-shiki]

It good. Read. Kudo. Do it.

[mochinek0]

Diner Girl

"So, we finally get to meet your girlfriend, in person?" Tim questioned.

"I'm already regretting this decision." Damian declared.

Jason chuckled, "Why? You think she'll like us more?"

"More like drive her away." Damian snarled.

"Relax, Little D." Dick smiled, "We won't do anything of the sort. Besides, it's been three years."

Damian sighed as they pulled up to the diner. Marinette had stated she was busy working until 5pm. The Wayne boys couldn't wait to meet her and asked if they could meet her at her work for a quick bite. They even said they could head out from there and take her home. He knew his brothers would try to convince her to change and go out instead.

Marinette heard the ding of the door opening and turned to see her boyfriend and his family. She smiled and looked at the clock.

'Thirty more minutes until I get off the clock. Maybe they'd like some appetizers.'

The Waynes sat down and saw Marinette subtly wave at them.

"My God, did you see her?"

"It suits her."

"I'm shocked she hasn't dropped anything yet."

Tim quickly took out his phone. He made sure to look interested at it, as he noticed the people in the booth behind them point at Marinette. He made sure his phone was still focused on them as his little brother's girlfriend approached the table.

"Sorry, for the wait." Mari spoke, "What can I get you to drink?"

"Hey, Pixie. Can I get a strawberry milkshake?" Jason questioned.

"Pixie?" she repeated.

"Because you're tiny and cute." he smiled.

His answered earned him a quick kick to the shin by Damian.

"Ow! You brat!" Jason yelled.

Damian flipped him off.

"Ignore them." Dick commented, "I'll take a limoncello float."

"Black coffee." declared Tim.

"Damian?" Marinette questioned, "Chai tea?"

"Yes." he answered.

Marinette smiled and walked away from their table.

"Oh, so she knows you favorites now?" Jason teased.

"Shut up." Damian growled.

"The butter knives aren't sharp enough and you know it." Tim sighed, noticing the girls in the next booth glaring at them.

Tim continued to appear interested in his phone.

'This isn't going to end well.'

Lila smirked as she tipped over her drink and it clattered to the floor.

"Oops." she spoke.

Alya snickered as the drink covered the floor.

"Clean it up, Lila." Adrien declared, "Now."

"Why would I do that, Adrien?" Lila questioned, "I don't work here."

"Well, if that is how you think, I can say you won't have a job anywhere." he replied.

Alya, Nino, and Lila looked at him shocked.

"You can't do that!" Alya shouted.

Adrien smiled and leaned back, "It's my father's company. Father expects perfection everywhere; especially in public."

"But my wrist hurts!" Lila whined, "It's why I spilled it. It was an accident."

He sighed, "We both know you're full of shit."

"Adrien!" Alya gasped.

"You are only special in your own head and it shows." he declared.

"Dude!" Nino cried out, surprised.

Marinette walked towards the table behind them and slipped on the scattered ice. Damian quickly grabbed her, preventing an accident, but the drinks still fell to the floor.

"Marinette!" the manager shouted.

"It-it wasn't my fault!" she stammered.

"You're fired!" he roared.

"But-" Marinette tried to refute.

"It's fine, Habibiti." Damian spoke.

"Yeah." Jason replied, "We'll leave."

The manager glared at her, "See! Now, you are making the patrons leave."

"The only reason we came here was to see Marinette." Dick annouced.

"Besides, " Tim spoke, "maybe you should hire Sausage Hair, there. Seems she'll be out of a job soon."

"Were you spying on us?" Alya shrieked.

"Recorded your conversations, too." Tim commented, "Planning to trip her? Classic."

"You're just jealous that Pixie Pop is better than you." Jason replied.

Lila stood up, in outrage, "I'm the daughter of an ambassador! I am a model for Gabriel Agreste! I travel the world and help with various charities! I know Prince Ali of Achu and Jagged Stone. I help Prince Ali in his environmental charities and I'm Jagged Stone's niece!"

The Waynes laughed. The manager noticed Marinette covering her mouth, but she was laughing, none the less.

'What is going on?'

"One: Prince Ali works in children's hospitals, not environmental projects." Dick stated, "He donates to our charities, all the time."

"Two: Marinette knows Jagged Stone. She is his 'niece', as well as his personal designer." Tim declared, "She doesn't even need this job, but she thought it would get her out of having kids thrown her way for unpaid babysitting gigs, at the last moment."

"Three: You are a waste of space from what Blondie was saying." Jason scoffed.

Damian smirked, "Go ahead. Tell her who we are Agreste. You've spoken to us before."

Adrien relaxed and smiled, "You're the Waynes. Your father is an international billionare."

Lila and the manager's faces drained of color.

Damian turned his glare to the manager, "Four: The only reason we were in your pathetic place was because of the angel in my arms."

"What's so special about her, anyways?" Alya snapped.

"She's my girlfriend." Damian announced.

The Waynes smiled behind him. Lila tensed up and looked between Marinette and the Wayne. Adrien just smiled and the manager sensed he had made a huge mistake.

"Come along, Angel." Damian spoke, "We'll take you home and we'll treat you to dinner."

"I have five restaurants ready to take our reservation in three hours." Tim declared.

Dick smiled, "We can settle it in the car."

"Sorry, I was such a bother, Damian." Marinette whispered.

Damian leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips, "You are never a bother to me. Though, you also have to thank Agreste there. He was trying to get the bitch to clean up the mess she made, before you came over."

Marinette smiled, "Thanks, Adrien."

"Oh, you're welcome, Mari." Adrien replied,, "Sorry, you ended up falling and getting fired."

Marinette just shrugged it off, "Like Tim said, I don't need this job. I just tired of Alya and Nino dumping their siblings at me for free babysitting gigs. I mostly took this out of spite. I'll be moving out of my parents' place this year; I didn't want to deal with packing and trying to take care of kids for some people who hate me."

"Come on, Pixie Pop!" Jason shouted, "Let's blow this popsicle stand!"

Dick smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, "We can drop you off and we can go change in our suits that you made us."

Marinette smiled brighter, "They fit, right? Nothing needs to be adjusted?"

"Are you kidding me?" Jason asked, leading the way out the door, "Like a glove! Best monkey suit I've worn!" making her giggle.

"Do we need to stop anywhere to get you dressed up?" Tim asked.

Mari scoffed, "You think I wouldn't have dressy clothes? I have to travel with Jagged to his functions."

"Rock and Roll!" Jason smiled.

Damian kept his arm snug around Marinette's waist as they left the diner with a smile.

"Move, Lila." Adrien demanded.

"Huh?" she spoke, confused by the hostility coming out of his mouth.

"I need to leave." he declared

"But-" Nino spoke.

Adrien pointed to the door as Natalie walked in. She quickly spotted the blonde's coiffed hair and walked towards them.

"Adrien, those were-" she bean.

"The people Lila just humiliated herself in front of and they recorded the whole thing?" Adrien stated, throwing her fully under the bus.

Natalie glared at her as she quickly moved, allowing Adrine out of the booth. Adrien walked around the mess and spotted one of the dishtowels that Mari had dropped onto the floor. He picked it up and threw it right in Lila's face. She sputtered as she removed the soaked towel from her face. It was painfully obvious by the two toned skin color that most of her makeup was wiped off on the wet towel.

Adrien smiled, "You might want to get use to your new job."

"They know Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Natalie questioned.

"Marinette is dating the youngest Wayne. Unless, Mari puts him in a good mood, Lila is likely to-" Adrien declared as his phone went off rapidly.

He pulled his phone out as Natalie looked towards her tablet.

"Oh, never mind. Timothy Drake-Wayne blasted Lila on twitter. The co-CEO of Wayne Enterprise just showed the world how two-faced Father's model really is." Adiren overdramatically sighed, "He posted the whole video of Lila pretending to be injured and purposefully making Marinette slip. He also posted Marinette getting horribly fired and all of the Waynes calling Lila a huge liar to her face. That's really not a good look for Gabriel."

Natalie tightened her grip on the tablet, "I'll call your father to see how he wants to deal with this new situation, seeing as we were suppose to meet the Waynes tomorrow."

Adrien smiled, "I'm pretty sure that the girl Lila got fired is the Waynes' personal designer."

Lila gulped and slowly sat back in the booth.

"If that is the case, I agree with Adrien, Miss Rossi; I would start looking for a new job." Natalie commanded.

Adrien walked out of the diner with Natalie in tow. Lila sat there frozen until Alya reached out and touched her hand.

"It's gonna be okay, Lila." Alya smiled, "It's-"

Lila tore her arm away from the journalist grasp and glared at her. She got up quickly and tried to rush out the door. In her hurry, she had forgotten about the spill and slipped. Lila fell forward but landed awkwardly, attempting to catch herself. She was rushed to the hospital with a broken arm.

As Nino drove Alya home, she sniffled as she looked through her phone. Her blog was being torn to shreds by people around the world. They were pointing out every lie and detail on how everything Lila said was fake. The comment that hurt the most was: I can't believe this blogger wants to be a reporter! Doesn't this girl know the basics for a reporter? It's called fact checking! Google isn't that hard to use!

TAGLIST:  TAG LIST:  @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @vixen-uchiha @abrx2002 @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

[dax-enfinity]

I am a sucker for reunion fics so I got an idea: mari meeting her class and parents once again under circumstances after she just disappears to gotham city, cue them meeting the bats

[goggles-mcgee]

A Little Birdy Told Me 20

AO3

Beginning Last Chapter

Summary: Damian continues to try and get more information about the akuma class and Marinette while Dick is having an off day and just wants it to get better.

Only one brother gets what they want.

CH 20:

Damian may have jumped the gun on that one. 

He admitted that, willingly, in the privacy of his own mind. 

“To Dupain-Cheng? I mean sure but why would you like to know.” Chloe asked with narrowed sharp eyes.

Bourgeois was sharp, as were all his acquaintances so there was no point in lying, though he was confident he could do so flawlessly, his acquaintances had proved to be somewhat trustful. They all kept secrets if asked unless it was something trivial which confused him to no end. Allegra could ask they don’t tell anyone what she shared with them when it came to her having trouble mentally or her parents fighting but the group would tell almost everyone in the group how Claude had a crush on so-and-so from class-whatever. Richard said that is just how teenagers and friends are but it didn’t make sense to Damian and he tried many times to make it make sense. The only thing that made him feel better is the fact his father also didn’t understand. When he was in med school he told him how his study group kept his fear of bats to themselves but when he admitted to not being a fan of some musician that that information was shared and laughed at, but he stated clearly that the laughing wasn’t at him, just at the information as a study group member had explained. Again. It was strange, but Damian felt like this wasn’t one of those moments that they would share his information with others. 

“It goes without saying that what I tell you does not leave this table,” he began, “I know I said that if I knew something I wouldn’t tell, but given Bourgeois’s forthcoming, I too can be a little forthcoming. Dupain-Cheng is now a ward of my Father for the rest of the exchange.”

Vogel nodded and glared at everyone at the table as if to ward them off even thinking of telling anyone what Damian was saying. It was…nice and appreciated. Vogul reminded him of Cassandra sometimes and it always left him feeling warm yet wrongfooted. The blonde wasn’t his sister but sometimes she felt like it and that also confused him. Nonetheless he gave Vogel a small nod of appreciation. “After the events at Wayne Tower and what followed, it was decided that my father take care of Dupain-Cheng for the remainder of the trip and actual chaperones are being flown in. The original plan of having the class merge with ours has been effectively thrown out the window and negotiations are being made where to place everyone as they will be separated. Dupain-Cheng and her friends will join our class but it hasn’t been decided where Rossi and her sycophants will go.” 

Allaway pursed his lips together and looked deep in thought, it was like he was trying to organize everything that was said and unsaid. He was someone who liked puzzles and mysteries. “You guys are building a case?” It was posed as a question but Damian knew the other boy better. It was a statement. Damian simply leaned back in his chair to give Allaway his attention, it took the boy some time to voice his thoughts so Damian waited before responding. “The question is, who is the case against?” 

“I would think that obvious by now Allaway.” Damian scoffed. 

Allaway stared at Damian intensely until he let out a deep sigh, “Yeah, I know, I was saying it to be dramatic.”

“You’re always dramatic.” Damian countered.

“No. That’s Claude.” Allaway shot right back.

“Guilty!” Hardy sing-songed. Damian conceded. Hardy was always dramatic. Every announcement he made to the group or even the school was so rich in dramatics that Damian wondered if the boy practiced what he said every day to make sure it was the perfect amount of dramatic or if it was something instinctual. Damian felt like it was the latter. Sometimes Hardy’s dramatics confused him but Vogel was good at explaining what the dramatic boy was saying, she was basically the Hardy Translator.

“We are getting off topic.” Bourgeois sighed. “You really want to know everything that witch did to Dupain-Cheng, Wayne? Then you better buckle in and take notes.

Damian nodded and pressed the hidden button on his watch that Lucius Fox and his son Lucas upgraded at Bruce’s request, that would record the rest of the conversation. Though he did take out a notebook and pen, he never wrote in pencil, writing in pencil showed you were not confident in your writing or knowledge. He was trying to break out of the habit though as it was one Ra’s made sure ‘stuck’ with his heir. His grandfather would never settle for anything less than perfect and the one time Damian took a test in front of his grandfather and used a pencil, he was punished. Damian hid a wince at the memories of that particular lesson and instead stared at his watch, it was a replica of his Grandfather's watch , the one he wore when he was murdered. It was a bit morbid but it was the thought behind it that made it one of Damian’s most prized possessions. 

It had been a little after he had been…introduced to his father and a little before his father’s seeming demise at Darkseid’s hand that Bruce had taken Damian aside into his study to talk to him. Damian thought it would be another reprimand of his methods but had been surprised when Bruce handed him a small box with a bow on it. He had been so hesitant, so wary, so suspicious that his father had gently taken the box from him and opened it to show a watch. A rather nice watch though Damian had noted its somewhat dated design. Like someone had purposefully made it look vintage.  “ It’s made to look like my father’s watch, your grandfather, though I have no doubt you were…informed of my parents before you came here -”

“ I know everything about you, Father, and my grandparents .” Damian had interrupted, eager to prove his knowledge, his worth. 

“ I don’t doubt that, Damian, but you were told about them by people who did not know them. That makes all the difference. There is time for stories so you get to know them like I knew them but this is the first one I will tell you. ” Bruce had looked sincere yet a bit uncomfortable, Damian had chalked it up to his father’s weakness of not getting over his parent’s death. Such a weakness was not allowed in the League, but Damian had said nothing of the fact even if he could. Richard had been teaching him just because you could doesn’t mean you should. It was confusing but his father seemed to agree with the sentiment so Damian was doing his best to learn it. 

His father continued. “ When my father was ten, his father bought him his first watch. I never met my grandfather, but when I was young, my father told me grandfather wanted to start a new Wayne tradition. When the heir of the family turned ten, they would be gifted a watch. I’m afraid that the reason is lost in time and forgotten memories but my father wanted to continue this tradition. I got my watch on my birthday and 9 days later my parents died. My father had been wearing his birthday watch that night .”

Damian hadn’t wanted to interrupt but he did want to touch the watch and his father seemed to understand that so he passed back the gift and watched as Damian had caressed the face of the watch with his thumb. 

“ I admit that I have bought your brother's watches as well but I know you are struggling to accept them. I won’t lie and say I understand but I want to feel connected to them, to me, to this family. I wasn’t able to give you a watch on your birthday but I am giving it to you now. I had this made for you in the image of your grandfather’s watch because I want to show you how important you are to this family and me. I could have easily given you a new watch as I had your brother’s but you deserve a connection to your roots. I hope you like it. ”

Damian had only nodded but the small smile his father gave in return had filled him with such warmth he hadn’t known what to do other than let his father put the watch on him. Later, Alfred would explain that Bruce had the watch built with many hidden features to keep Damian safe and to make sure his son wouldn’t be without a way out of a situation. The watch was made to resemble the Rolex Submariner that Damian had seen in a case along with a broken pearl necklace and some loose grimy pearls. He knows they were keepsakes of his grandparents that Bruce kept in a protected case in the Cave. He didn’t really believe it would make him feel any more connected to the Wayne name than him already being Bruce Wayne’s biological son but wearing the watch and seeing the original in its case when he was down in the Cave actually did make him feel connected in a way he couldn’t explain. Thus it became one of his most prized possessions much like his first straight double edged sword his mother gave him for the earliest birthdays he could remember. 

Damian inhaled slowly then exhaled to bring himself out of his memory before he looked up at Bourgeois and gave her a short nod. “Proceed.” 

___________________

Dick was doing all he could to relax and show Marinette the company’s botanical gardens as it was something she had wanted to do. It was good to see her smile and flit from plant to plant like a little honey bee or something, but Dick couldn’t get rid of his tension completely. He was always like that after dealing with Two-Face even if it wasn’t the usual confrontation between the two, i.e mask to two faces but it still left him feeling the same. Angry, restless and most annoyingly, scared. He wasn’t the same little scared Robin but dealing with Two-Face always made him feel like he was. He thought he worked past all that! But seeing Marinette in his arms with a gun pressed to her head brought uncomfortable flashbacks of a different tiny black-haired blue-eyed child. A child who got cocky in his skills as Robin and helper of Batman. He could still feel the long-since healed injuries throb in phantom pain. Dick couldn’t help the flash of another black-haired blue-eyed child, older than the first when he learned that being Robin wasn’t magical or whimsical. Thinking of that never did him any good, if anything it brought about an enormous amount of guilt and anger that Dick didn’t know what to do with. 

“Mari-gold?” A very familiar voice pulled Dick out of his thoughts and he cursed himself for being so distracted. 

“Ivy!” Marinette shouted out in glee as she ran to hug the woman she had seen fairly recently. It made Dick smile though, this kid loved with her whole heart and it was something he admired. 

“Now what are you doing here, Sapling?” 

“I came here with Mister Dick and Mister Tim. Though we lost Tim pretty early on.” Oh yeah, they did. Though Dick was willing to bet Tim just went to the coffee shop nearby, he seemed to have a built in radar for knowing where they were no matter what part of town they were in. It was kind of funny though since Tim wasn’t even a big fan of coffee, he more so just needed the caffeine. The guy preferred tea but he was really particular about which places made the best tea, specifically a good ol’ Dirty Chai. 

“And what brings you to the Gardens today, Ive?” Dick asked, deciding to partake in the conversation. 

“Oh just making sure they are doing okay and to give the workers a restock of my special fertilizer.” That made sense, Ivy was, on-the-down low helping the Wayne Botanical Studies team. While Harley helped them more with their night time business, Ivy was content to help in the more official business. With the occasional helping hand stopping a threat if they “got in over their heads.” Her words. 

“You make your own fertilizer?” Marinette asked. Look, Dick was also curious about that but after finding Ivy and Jason talking one night with these big-ass smiles on their faces, all teeth, he was like 80% sure that fertilizer was some of Jason’s…problems. But there was no way in hell that Dick was going to try and confirm that, and he sure as hell would not be telling Bruce that little theory. 

“Yes! It takes time but it-”

“My Passion Lily! I got your Matcha Lemonade and look! I found a wild Wayne.” They were interrupted by Harley, which was not a surprise, and she was dragging a resigned looking Tim with her. 

Ivy merely huffed out a laugh at her wife before taking the offered drink with a kiss to Harley’s cheek. “Thank you, Peanut, I also found a wild Wayne and a little Sapling.”

“Mari-Doll!” Harley squeaked out before almost knocking the poor girl off her feet in her hurry to smother the girl in a hug. Surprisingly they didn’t fall over. 

“Hi Harley!”

“You guys saw each other the other night?” Tim said, confused. 

“And?” Marinette and Harley asked in unison. It made Dick giggle and helped relieve him of more of his pent up tension. 

“Well since we're all here, why don’t we walk around together?” Dick offered. “Bruce wanted Tim to get some fresh air so try not to let him sneak off again.”

Tim gave an offended squawk which had Marinette laughing once more. “I’m fine!”

“Yeah, okay Timmy-Boy.” Harley said with a scoff as she laced her arms together with Ivy and Marinette. “And I’m the Queen of England.”

“You do need some time outside the Manor Tim. It’s not healthy to stay cooped up.” Ivy said as she happily walked with Harley and Marinette. Though she did grab Tim by the scruff of his shirt and manhandled him toward Dick. He looked very much like a cranky kitten. 

“What is this? Pick on Tim day?” 

“I believe Damian has that scheduled for next month.” Dick wished he was joking.

Marinette obviously noticed he wasn’t if her raised brow was anything to go off. “Oh?”

“He stepped on Titus’s tail three months ago, on accident.” Dick explained. “But Damian is very good at keeping grudges and he’s very good on cashing in on favors.” 

Tim merely whined in response and Dick couldn’t help but pity his brother for a second before he remembered how Tim used him as a human meat shield when Condiment King randomly joined in on a fight against some robbers. Apparently he was also planning on robbing the jewelry store after keeping a low profile from his then-recent prison break. Needless to say it took Dick forever trying to get the mustard smell out of his costume once again and had to beg Alfred for help once again. Even though Alfred refused to help with cleaning anything CK contaminated, it spiked his blood pressure or something like that. Dick thinks it’s because of all the first times he helped clean them up when the rogue had been new on the scene. That had been a long month and Dick had seen how Alfred got more and more annoyed each time they came home covered in mustard, ketchup, you name it. It was awful. Truly. So Dick didn’t feel all that bad. Stephanie was already coming up with a list of things to tease Tim about. She specifically waits for the days Damian declares will be Pick-On Drake Days so she has lists on lists compiled for that very reason. She hoards them and never shares until the scheduled day. Duke surprisingly joined in too and started making his own list. 

“He’s very dedicated.” Marinette giggled out.

“That’s one word for it.” Tim grumbled. 

From there they had a good time touring the different gardens with Ivy acting as a somewhat tour guide and Dick could see it was really helping Marinette unwind as well. The interview with Jim and Harvey had really gotten her tense which was totally understandable, it would be intimidating for anyone. Tim tried to escape a couple times but after Dick teasingly asked if he should get Tim a child-leash and Ivy offered to make one out of vines he stopped. He even seemed to be relaxing a small bit. It was nice, really and it seemed to be something that Dick needed too without realizing it. Eventually they went out for lunch and after they went their separate ways. The drive back to the Manor had been nice too, normal traffic and a nice playlist helped. Tim and Marinette had even made some good conversation, though Dick got worried at the mention of PowerPoints. He hoped it was nothing serious, but the fact that Tim found someone as obsessed with planning and making PowerPoints was a little frightening. Maybe more than a little, Dick could only take so many Tim PowerPoints. He loved his brother, dearly, with his whole heart, but his PowerPoints were long and…thorough. He even tested people on the more important ones with a freaking Kahoot match. Cass and surprisingly Damian always won those. 

As they made their way into the manor Dick was pretty much planning on taking a good, lengthy nap to catch up on the sleep he hadn't gotten last night. His brain felt fried and scrambled, like it couldn’t decide whether to sink into the depressing thoughts from before or just remember the good time at the gardens they all had, even Tim surprisingly had a good time. As he sunk into the couch in the family living room his mind seemed to settle on both. His eyes closed and he saw Marinette laughing and smiling at their afternoon activities, then it would flash to her being held against Two-Face. He could hear the rogue’s laugh deep in his bones, then it changed to the Joker’s unique cackle. Marinette changed from her to him to Jason at blinding speeds. He could hear Marinette’s voice firm and confident in contrast to the fear in her eyes when she told him there was no time and that she would lead Scarecrow away. He could hear her yelling and telling Alfred she and they weren’t safe. He heard his own cries and shouts mixed with Two-Face’s voice. He could hear what he imagined Jason sounded like when the Joker beat him to death. He could hear the accusations of others about his jealousy of Jason being adopted. 

That unfortunately brought up memories of the talk he had had with Bruce once upon a time about Jason and adoption. It felt like he had had to fight not only tabloids but even Bruce about nonexistent hatred. Dick never hated Jason, but he had been so caught up in his anger with Bruce that he let it affect his and Jason’s relationship. He had just been so angry and it wasn’t an excuse but sometimes it seemed like he was even trying to justify his actions to himself. Though there was some jealousy and hurt there that he didn’t know what to do with, okay he did know what to do but the fact it would have to involve talking to Bruce and Jason was not something that sounded fun nor easy. He liked a good challenge but that idea sounded impossible. Like yes, he was Bruce’s son now but for so long he was just a ward, like Marinette was now, he called Bruce dad, they lived together, they fought crime together, they took care of each other, and yet it took years for Bruce to adopt him. But Jason? Dick knew Jason was Bruce’s son, his first son, his favorite son. Jason got the Bruce Dick had always wanted and it had hurt. Jason’s death had impacted Bruce more than his parents. That was a fact. 

And…And Dick had no idea where this was all coming from. He knew he didn’t know Marinette well as her class’s tour guide but seeing her held against Two-Face, mere centimeters from danger had thrown him. She reminded him too much of himself and too much like Jason before his death. She wasn’t a Robin, she would never be a Robin, but she had been a hero like one. She saved her people as fiercely as a Robin protected Gotham and its people. She took the weight of her world on her shoulders, much like a Robin. She was a child turned soldier due to circumstance just like a Robin. Marinette was a Robin in soul with no Batman to guide her and maybe that was for the best but looking at how lost she looked when she spoke about the ‘akumatizations’ in Paris, Dick wished she had had her version of Batman. A mentor who could aid in the fight, who shared the knowledge and responsibility. Yes, there were other heroes, they were like her version of Teen Titans, but that’s just it she was just barely a teen, a child, when she took up the mantle of hero. And from the pictures Tim showed the family of the other heroes, it wasn’t hard to guess that the other ‘Holders’ were teens themselves. Seeing as Adrien was also a teen and a former hero. 

Dick, in a weird, roundabout way, felt responsible for Marinette. As soon as she looked at him with hope, determination and fear in her eyes he was hit by a wave of protectiveness for her. She looked at him like Damian did when he first complimented and criticized his work as Robin, he and Marinette had also pulled off a plan as smooth and seamless as Dick and Damian had been when they were the Dynamic Duo. Or as Dick liked to call them, The More Dynamic Duo. He knew his family was kind of freaked out by how well Marinette and Damian seemed to get along, but not him, sure he teased a bit but he just had a feeling they would be friends. Damian had been trying to get himself out there and make friends and he did have some! He just called them acquaintances right now but Dick knew it wouldn’t be long till they were bumped up to friend status. Though Jon would always be Damian’s best friend even if they weren’t in the same school anymore. They still video or phone called every day and they played games with each other online. Which games? Dick could never remember but the point was, Damian had grown and was very capable of making friends, it just took him some time. 

Speaking of time , Dick thought as his gaze lazily glanced at the clock on the wall. If he slept now, he knew he would not go to bed after patrol tonight. So with much reluctance he pushed himself up and off the couch. He figured he could see if Marinette wanted some company and maybe the two of them could get some tea and snacks from Alfred and tour more of the manor when they were done. It would help in the long term of Marinette’s stay so it was productive! When he got to her room he saw that the door was slightly open but it was still he knocked, if he could dodge a Pennyworth Lecture he would even knock his own bedroom door. As he did so though, the door opened more and with it came an overwhelming energy that left him feeling suppressed yet energized. He wasn’t around magic a lot anymore, but it always left him with the same feeling so he ditched being a gentleman and waiting for an answer and just barreled into the room to see what looked like a closing portal. 

“Shit!” That would be a dollar in the Swear Jar, but that wasn’t important. What was important however was the fact Marinette was missing, a portal had seemingly opened in her room and closed, and…and there was a note on the bed? 

‘Dear Any Wayne That Finds This,

Actually, are you all Waynes? I never asked, I should have asked. Anyways, please don’t freak out if you come to my room and I’m not here. Ladybug needed my help back in Paris and opened a portal to get me there. I shouldn’t be too long and hey! Maybe I’ll be back before anyone reads this but if I’m not then just don’t worry. Ladybug will return me once the akuma is dealt with.

 -Marinette who is very sorry if someone does end up reading this and is pleading they don’t worry or get angry.’  

“Double shit.” Dick said as he read over the letter. 

That was another dollar for the Swear Jar. 

_________________

Dick “Flying” Grayson @toflyistofall

Oops.

____

Bruce Wayne @therealbrucewayne

RE: Dick “Flying” Grayson @toflyistofall

       Oops.

Richard John Grayson-Wayne. What did you do?

_____

JBIrd @sidesteppeddeath

RE: Bruce Wayne @therealbrucewayne

       Richard John Grayson-Wayne. What did you do?

Ha! You got full government named Dickie! @toflyistofall

_____

Dick “Flying” Grayson @toflyistofall

RE: JBIrd @sidesteppeddeath

       Ha! You got full government named Dickie! @toflyistofall

Oh come on! I didn’t even add tags! How did he respond so fast?

#hahaimindanger

Next Chapter

[ghl-osty]

Do you have any Lila + batfamily fic recs?? Ty!

Perfect Sense, by PurpleBooks58 on AO3!!! one of my favorites.

[lily-drake]

Master List Part 2

Master List Part 1

Dickinette

Biosibling!Dickinette: Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Part 1 Part 2

BioDad!Dickinette:

Of Broken Hearts and Shattered Minds

Ric Rolled: Part 1 Part 2

Casinette: Sibling!Cassientte: Stop in the Name of Your Sister: Part 1 Part 2

Bruce:

BioDad!Bruce:

Where is She?!

You've Got to be Kitten Me: Part 1 Part 2

He Stole My Heart So I Stole His (Felinette) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

BioDad!Month (2021): Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Everything after Part 11 was posted exclusively on my Ao3.

Found Family:

Watch What You Say: Part 1 Part 2

Adopted Into a Better Life

Drabbles/Story Ideas

Batman Specific:

Why are you here Batman?

In a Different League: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

6 Times Tim Suffered Alon + One Time He Doesn't

[editorofeverything]

FIC SEARCH

I’m looking for a fic I read here on tumblr sometime in 2021 I believe. It was a daminette Lila/maybe class salt fic where Lila was lying about knowing the Waynes and got their names mixed up. The only part I distinctly remember was Lila calling Tim Drake “Tim Todd” and it cracked me up so much that I mentioned it in the notes of my fic and I’m still getting comments asking about it. I’m pretty sure it was a fic where Damian went to Paris and joined the class, but I read so many similar ones one after another at that time that I don’t remember any more concrete details. If anyone knows which fic I’m talking about please let me know!!

[miraculousxdchelpdesk]

So hi lol I forgot about this blog.

[hamsteriffic]

Miraculous Fandom Stats 2023

A Visit to Gotham

…and beyond

As promised here are my stats for Miraculous Ladybug fics on Ao3 with crossovers only. To see a snapshot for Miraculous Ladybug without crossovers click here.

📈 The data presented here is a snapshot of the Fandom on 06 Jan 2024

Don't be mad! I'm just a stats hamster.

🖤 Proportion of Crossover fics

At the time of posting, Crossover Fics accounted for 13% of the total fanfics on Ao3 (9177 works) (Fig 1A). They were predominantly featured in Batman All Media Types (5097 works) or DCU (1034 works), accounting for 68% of all crossover fics (Fig 1D). The majority of the works were rated for General (39%) or Teen Audiences (39%) (Fig 1B).

Fig 1. Proportion of Miraculous Ladybug works posted on Ao3 in 2023 [A] featuring crossovers (grey) and without crossovers (black); [B] and the proportion of all works posted on Ao3 as of January 06, 2024 (9177 works). [C] The proportion of cross-overs outside of the MariBat fandom as well as [D] the growth of the top ten fandoms in crossovers in 2023 (red) are also presented.

Excluding works from the MariBat fandom, the second highest number of works to be crossovered with ML was Boko No Hero Academia with 348 works (3%) and is also the fastest growing crossover fandom, almost doubling in works in 2023 (141 new works) (Fig 1C-D).

🖤 Top 10 Fandom Crossovers

Here are the crossovers in a Table format.

Table 1. Top 10 Fandoms in 2023 and percentage change compared to 2022.

Popular Tags used in 2023 (number of works) and percent change compared to 2022:

Fluff (246): -2%

Angst (161): -1%

Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug (130): -1%

Lila Rossi Bashing (127): +1%

Alternate Universe (100): -7%

Hurt/Comfort (94): -2%

🖤 Top 5 Relationships

Fig 2. Top 5 relationships in ML crossover fics in 2023 and percentage change when compared to the year prior.

While works tagged with Adrien/Marinette has increased by 3% in 2023 when compared to the year before (Fig 2) the top 5 relationship pairings have not changed with Daminette taking first place.

Relationship Tags with Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug across all time (from Highest to Lowest):

Damien Wayne (1870 fics)

Adrien Agreste (1237 fics)

Jason Todd (806 fics)

Tim Drake (580 fics)

Dick Grayson (321 fics)

Hope this entertained you! Until 2024, same stats time, same stats channel.

Sodium Content and Methodology below the cut:

🖤 Top 5 Salt Categories

Look, Marinette is in Gotham for a reason. Usually it’s because of some sort of common table condiment/seasoning. Here is a breakdown:

Fig 3. Frequently tagged salt and character bashing tags across all crossover works prior to 2023 (green) and new works posted/updated subsequent to Jan 01, 2023 (dark blue). The change in numbers to the previous year (where present) are indicated.

Methods

Partitioning

To see changes in crossover fics in the ML fandom over time, I have tracked the number of crossovers posted to Ao3 per year.

Data was filtered by the date the fic was last posted, between 01 Jan - 31 Dec for each year.

Note that older fics may get updated, this data is only a reflection of the fandom at one moment in time. This analysis was performed 06 Jan 2024.

Filtering

Note that I have followed the Ao3 definition of a slash representing romantic relationships and & indicates platonic relationships.

[dizzying-faust]

So now that I got polls, I wanna ask this

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Following Your Arrow Might Not Be So Easy

by StormOfWolves This is 1) A saltfic, 2) A found family fic, 3) Verrryyy self indulgent. Marinette gets a gift from Jagged, kicked out of her parent's home, and finds a new family all in a short time (I kinda suck at summaries so...please give it a chance?) Words: 501, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Series: Part 1 of Self-Indulgent Fics Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Markov (Miraculous Ladybug), Alix Kubdel, Nino Lahiffe, Kagami Tsurugi, Luka Couffaine, Marc Anciel, Max Kanté, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Félix (Miraculous Ladybug PV), Sabrina Raincomprix, Juleka Couffaine, Lê Chiến Kim, Chloé Bourgeois, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Jason Todd, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Cassandra Cain & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Stephanie Brown & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Dick Grayson, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Max Kanté, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Markov, Juleka Couffaine & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Alix Kubdel, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Tikki, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Lê Chiến Kim, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Sabrina Raincomprix, Marc Anciel & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nathaniel Kurtzberg Additional Tags: Miraculous Side Effects, Protective Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Plagg is a Little Shit (Miraculous Ladybug), Supportive Plagg (Miraculous Ladybug), Original Akuma (Miraculous Ladybug), Lesbian Juleka Couffaine, Bisexual Chloé Bourgeois, Bisexual Kagami Tsurugi, Pansexual Luka Couffaine, Bisexual Nino Lahiffe, Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain Bashing, Lila Rossi Bashing, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Evil Lila Rossi, class salt, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Adrien salt, Marinette owns a teashop, Dead Master Fu (Miraculous Ladybug), Guardian of the Miraculous Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Bee Chloé Bourgeois | Queen Bee, Fox Juleka Couffaine, Ladybug Kagami Tsurugi, Black Cat/Mouse Marinette, Rabbit/Snake Luka, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette can use all the miraculous, Jasonette bromance, Timari bromance, Daminette bromance, Chaotic Marinette, Supportive Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne is Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug's Biological Parent, This is a self indulgent crackfic via https://ift.tt/MfYSX9I

[ms-starflower]

Young Survivors — Part 5 — Maribat

<Previous | First | Next > AO3

So. I had to fight with this chapter to write it. We had a couple of disagreements.

Thanks to @izanae and @jumpingjoy82, for reading over this and reassuring me when the only thing I wanted was to delete everything.

Still no Jason, tho, sorry guys. I was sure it would in this chapter but, apparently, Marinette is damn bent on meeting as many Batfam members as possible before Jason. And the chapter was getting really long, so I had to cut it.

Also, I wrote my first ever fight scene here. It’s short, and feels a little bit awkward, but it’s not all bad sooo... Mah.

Taglist:

@frieddonutsweets @imarivers8 @queenz-z @emistar0 @jayjayspixiepop @waffleyunsure @bigpicklebananatree @kking13 @redbullgivescaswings @ritacrow-blog @marvel--unsolved @redgemsposts @alexizlazy @toodaloo-kangaroo @gajer-1226 @adrestar @noisydeputyturkeybear @unoriginalmess

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gotham Academy was as Marinette remembered it to be. Well, the front yard was, at the very least.

The class was in the gymnasium, trying to socialize with the GA’s students, while their teachers were talking on the side about today’s proceedings.

They were there for less than twenty minutes, and Lila had already stopped three of her friends’ attempts to talk about Wayne.

Marinette found that way more amusing than she should, and Lila obviously knew it. She was glaring at her like it was her fault that her story was about to become ashes.

It’s not like Marinette was the one to propose Gotham in the first place, was it?

“Why Gotham?” A GA’s student asked loudly, looking around him with curiosity, and getting everyone’s attention in the process. “I mean, it’s really not the first city I think of for a graduation trip. It’s Gotham.”

“I was overruled,” Marinette muttered quietly, but in the silence, everyone heard and turned toward her curiously. She shrugged. “What, he is not wrong. I proposed Rome and London, but those morons wanted Gotham. They really think the city is ‘not that bad’, and it’s a quote.”

A couple of GA’s students snorted, looking at her classmates incredulously.

“Wait,” the guy that asked the question said, holding one of his hands up. “You chose Gotham over London or Rome. What the hell guys? Why?!”

“We did it for love!” Sarah, one of Lila’s friends and a romantic at heart, exclaimed with a bright grin, totally obvious of the panic she was making Lila feel. “A couple of years ago—”

“You grew up here in Gotham, didn’t you, Marinette?” Lila cut in, almost screaming over Sarah with a wide, falsely curious smile. She skillfully ignored the curious, and incredulous, looks people were giving her because of her non-sequitur. “I mean, maybe you prefer to go by Mei, now? I heard it was your real name?”

“It is the name that was given to me at birth, yes,” she said, turning around to look at Lila and ignoring the curious stares everyone was now giving her. “But you really don’t have to bother, Lila. Tom and Sabine chose Marinette, and I’m fine to go by that.”

“So, what advice do you have for surviving Gotham,” Lila continued as if she didn’t say anything, and Marinette wondered if she was the only one seeing the anger and contempt in her eyes. “I mean, as a street rat, you did grow up in the middle of Gotham’s criminals, you probably know a couple of helpful pieces of advice, don’t you?”

“Well, it was eight years ago, Lila, I don’t think any tips I give you would be really helpful today,” she started with a strained smile. “And I would really appreciate it if you would refrain from saying things like ‘street rat’, please.”

“Why? Isn’t it what we call people living in the street here?” Lila asked with fake confusion, trying to play innocent. “I mean, that’s what you were, living in the street–”

“Surviving,” Marinette hissed at Lila, eyes narrowed and hands clenched into fists at her side. “I survived life in Gotham’s street, Lila. And I would kill you before letting you insult any of the children doing the exact same thing! You don’t know anything about my childhood–”

“I know that you mother was a whore,” Lila said, her disdain badly hidden, and Marinette could see that a good part of her class were now looking at her with wide eyes. “And that you choose to live on the streets.”

“Wow, illuminating. Do you think I’m the only Gotham’s orphan with a mother who was a prostitute, Lila? Do you think I’m ashamed of her?” Marinette asked with a disbelieving laugh, before putting one hand in front of her mouth, ignoring the deafening silence and the staring. “And living in the streets was a hundred time better than living in an orphanage in this city, ten years ago. Well, at least if you wanted to survive.”

“It couldn’t have been that bad,” Alya started, trying to stand up for her friend.

“Oh, it was,” Marinette cut in, not wanting to listen to her half-assed argument. “What the Waynes, the three not corrupted cops of this city, and Batman did in ten years is astonishing, Alya. Just ask around you, Gotham is better than it was three months ago, let alone ten years.”

Alya looked around her with uncertainty, but didn’t open her mouth. Marinette sighed tiredly, letting all of the tension in her shoulder go.

“So,” a girl with blonde hair and red dyed tips, standing with a blond guy a couple of meters to Lila’s left, asked her with a thoughtful look at Marinette’s dress. “The embroidery…”

“Is for my mother,” Marinette finished, chin held up and with a bit of challenge in her tone.

She was going to go pay homage to her mother today, and she was wearing a replica she made of her mother’s favorite dress for the occasion; a vintage halter blue dress with white accents and a white bow around the waist.

The only difference with the original dress, and what the girl was talking about, was the black embroidery in the corset of the dress of a blooming camellia.

“I wondered, when I first saw it,” she said with a short nod. “I’m Ashley, by the way, sorry for your mother.”

“Thank you, Ashley,” Marinette only said, giving her a nod of her own in reply.

“Why?” Alya asked curiously, because she didn’t know how to mind her own business, apparently. Beside her, Lila grimaced at being the center of attention again. “Why are you sorry for her mother? What is so important about some black flower?”

“Tt. Do French people have any notion of privacy?” a black haired guy asked, from his place on the bench, looking at Alya and Lila with clear disdain. His eyes looked toward her, probably to assess her reaction, before looking back to Alya and rolling his eyes when he saw her open her mouth. “Black camellia are usually embroided in clothes to commemorate prostitutes that were murdered, and of which the murderer was not caught.”

“All of them,” the blond beside Ashley said with an eyebrow raised. “Said it like it is, Wayne, the GCPD don’t go around eluciding prostit—”

“Wayne?!” Alya exclaimed in a high pitched tone, somewhat echoing Marinette’s own thoughts, and getting the undivided attention from the classroom.

Though, now that she knew, Marinette could see it. His hair was styled differently, and coupled with the uniform, he was somehow different from the couple photo she saw on social media (when the filter she put on to block anything Gotham-or-Wayne-related failed her), but it was Damian Wayne.

Marinette had the feeling things were going to become a lot more interesting, all of the sudden.

“Yes?” he asked, and she really wanted to know how he could put this much disdain in one word. It was impressive.

“I— Uh, it’s just—” Alya paused, looking around her with a frown. She stared at Lila for a minute, but the girl only ignored her, gaze fixed on her nails. “Nothing, I was just surprised.”

“You are an awful liar,” he told her, matter of factly, like he didn’t just insult her. Alya spluttered, affront written across her face, and Marinette snorted quietly.

“How— What— How dare you? You can’t just—” she choked out, her face redder than a tomato.

“I fail to see what I said to cause such a reaction,” Damian told her, standing up from the bench, and the best part was that he looked sincerely confused. “Your excuse is subpar, and you didn’t even pull it off with halfway decent lying skills.”

All of her classmates were looking at him with shocked expressions, but the GA’s students weren’t really surprised, making her think that it was somewhat of a frequent situation.

“People tend to react badly when called liars to their face,” Marinette told him, her amusement clearly noticeable. She couldn’t help but look toward Lila as she said it, the girl only glaring when their eyes crossed.

“What should I have done? Letting her think that I believed her pitiful excuse of a lie?” Damian asked her, his eyes narrowed with disbelief, studying Alya like she was a particularly exotic insect.

Marinette was prevented from answering by the GA’s teacher clapping into his hand. Mlle Petit and Mr Marchand were standing at his right, and another GA teacher at his left.

“Alright children, my name is Mr Andrews,” he started with a beaming smile, looking over all of them. “And today we are going to play a little game. You will be put in pairs, and we want you to get to know each other until we make you change partners, like on a blind date. But, you have to speak exclusively in English, until we signal for you to switch to French only. No cheating, alright?”

Everyone agreed more or less enthusiastically, and he started to call out names, the other teachers making the students sit in front of each other, each pairs a couple of meters beside the other.

The first couple of discussions were very awkward for Marinette, the GA students were either trying to awkwardly, and very obviously, talk around her mother, or had an uncomfortable view on her childhood. That they very enthusiastically shared with her.

One girl even had the gall to tell her that she was lucky her mother was dead, or she would probably be a prostitute herself now. Marinette would have punched her, if the teacher hadn’t made them change partners at that moment.

“So, this girl doesn’t seem to like you very much,” Ashley said once she was sitting in front of Marinette, her eyes darting toward Lila.

“Seriously,” Marinette started in a deadpan. “What gave it away?”

“I like you,” she said with a smile. “But seriously, why did she expose your life like that? What's her problem?”

“She thinks I’m responsible for all the problems in her life,” Marinette said with a roll of her eyes.

“And are you?” Ashley asked, a bright grin stretching her lips.

“Only a couple, I swear,” Marinette said with a mischievous smile. “And she really had it coming.”

“What did you do?” Ashley asked, leaning forward, one of her eyebrows raised.

“Well,” Marinette said, holding her hands up to point at their surroundings. “I organized this trip.”

“Does she hate Gotham that much?”

“She has nothing against Gotham per se, more about–”

“Okay!” Mlle Petit cut in, talking in French. “I don’t want to hear anything but French now!”

“So, what does she hate about Gotham?” Ashley asked in an accented French just a little bit broken.

“Oh, good French!” Marinette told her with a smile. “And, honestly, you’re probably going to know sooner rather than later, I wouldn’t want to spoil the show.”

“You can’t flaunt a good story and then keep silent, it’s not fair.”

“I assure you, it would be better for you to hear about it from someone else,” Marinette told her with a smile. Ashley stared at her in silence for a minute, probably trying to gauge her sincerity, before sighing, her shoulder deflating.

“Give something, at the very least,” she said, looking at her with sad puppy eyes. “Please?”

“Just keep an eye on Wayne,” she finally said with a small smile.

“What does Wayne have to do with anything?” Ashley asked with a frown, before her eyes widened suddenly. “Is she one of those? I mean, usually it concerns his older brothers but—”

“Alright! Gotham’s students, move to the right!” Mr Andrews said with a smile, and Marinette only smiled at Ashley’s pout.

There were another couple of students, even some that were genuinely nice and funny, and then Marinette was face to face with Damian Wayne.

“Why are all of your classmates asking about my alleged ex-girlfriend?” Damian Wayne started as soon as he was sitting in front of her. Marinette only blinked, taken aback by the question and his sharp tone. He seemed to notice, because he closed his eyes with a sigh, before continuing with a scowl. “You seem less stupid than the great majority of your classmates, I was…hoping you had the answers to my questions.”

“Okay, right. That was the most roundabout compliment I ever received, and I grew up with Chloé Bourgeois,” Marinette said, looking at him with an amused smile. “But no matter, ask away, kid.”

“I’m not a kid,” he replied, his scowl deepening.

“You definitely are,” she told him, and it was true. It wasn’t as noticeable in pictures, but from this close she could see how young he really was. She couldn’t help but wonder how her classmates didn’t notice already.

“Whatever,” he said with the tone of someone who had an older sibling, and knew how to identify a lost battle. (The casual thought of Jason only hurt a little bit.) “Why do your classmates think that I have an ex-girlfriend that they know personally?”

“Because someone they know personally told them she was your ex,” she said, still trying to stay out of the situation as much as possible, but not willing to lie.

“It’s this Rossi girl, isn’t it,” he said with an almost scary scowl, probably aiming for a questioning tone, but missing it spectacularly.

“What?” She was genuinely surprised, how in hell did he guess that? “What makes you say that?”

“Father and Drake told me to be wary of her and her lying,” Wayne said, making Marinette open her mouth in surprise. Mr Wayne knew about Lila’s lies? Tim knew? How? “Altough, I didn’t think all of your classmates would be stupid enough to believe her.”

“Yeah, they are not the sharpest tools in the toolbox, I will give you that,” Marinette said with a wince. “I stopped caring about making people see her lies a while back, if I’m being honest.”

“I fail to see how that would be your responsibility,” he told her, and while he had a point, it was something she took so long to understand, the fact that he said it so matter of factly was somewhat insulting.

“Yeah, it took me a while to get it, though,” she just said, shrugging.

“In French now, kids!” Mlle Petit exclaimed with a handclap.

“How did she associate herself with the Wayne name, exactly?” Damian said, in perfect and still botherline snobbish French.

She internally repeated his sentence with a slow blink, wondering where this kid learned to talk French. After a second, she shook her head to clear her thoughts; rich people would simply never cease to amaze her.

“Nothing more than saying that she was your childhood friend, and that you became more than friends two years ago,” Marinette said quietly, not wanting her classmates to hear her.

“I don’t have childhood friends,” Wayne said with a sneer, his eyes moving toward where Lila was staring at them, before looking back at Marinette with a frown. “Wait, two years ago?”

Before Marinette could say anything more, someone laughing hysterically grabbed everyone's attention. She turned toward the sound to see Ashley, lying down on the gym floor, almost choking on her laughter.

The fact that she was talking to Jeremy-the-class-gossip, who was looking absolutely flabbergasted, probably meant that she was now aware of Lila’s story about Wayne.

“Miss Lewis, I am glad to see that you get along so well with your partner,” the GA’s teacher, the one who didn’t introduce himself earlier, started with an indulgent smile on his face. “But maybe try to keep your volume down, so as to not bother the rest of the students.”

“Yeah— Yes,” she choked out, her laughter dying down slowly. “Sorry Mr Seabrook, I won’t do it again.”

“Good,” Mr Seabrook said with a quick nod, before turning toward the rest of the students, who were still all looking toward Ashley and Jeremy with curiosity. “Get back to work, everyone!”

“Two years ago,” Wayne said again, still shooting looks toward Ashley.

“Yeah,” she said with a grimace. “In all…fairness, she didn’t know you were thirteen at the time.”

“That doesn’t really make it better,” he told her, unimpressed.

“I know,” she said with a small smile, just before Mr Andrews made them change partners again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Being in Gotham for almost two whole days without being caught in an attack, Rogue or otherwise, had literally been a miracle. Marinette honestly didn’t expect it. It was more than she had asked for.

She was totally filing a complaint to the Rich Parents Club, though, because, despite her time pickpocketing GA’s students in her youth, she had genuinely thought that Gotham Academy actually had some sort of security.

Honestly, she had been betting on the museum, tomorrow, for their first attack in Gotham. And praying for a run-of-the-mill mafia boss or some wannabe-Catwoman.

Obviously, she had known it was too much to ask for. She had.

But, for fuck’s sake, did they had to be attacked by the fashion disaster of Gotham? She gets the enigma-riddles aesthetic; with the question marks, and all that crap, she really did, but that shade of green? That was inexcusable. There was no apology on earth, or beyond, strong enough to excuse the use of that shade.

“When I heard about Frenchies in our good ol’ Gotham,” The Riddler started, a frankly disturbing smirk on his lips, his question mark cane-staff-whatever twirling in his hand. “I had to come say bonjour, you understand. I even brushed off on my French! Am I not such a considerate man?”

Marinette gritted her teeth to keep herself silent, feeling like she was just about to snap. This trip was hitting her nerves way harder than she had anticipated.

She saw Alya make a move to grab her phone, and stared at her with the harshest glare Hyppolyta teached her. And, thankfully, the girl did have some survival instinct and aborted the movement.

“I will need a volunteer for the next part of the show,” he said with a large motion of the arms, pointing toward the thing his goons were installing with his cane. Marinette didn’t like the look of that. “I even promise to let them live! If they answer the question correctly, of course.”

He turned toward one of his goons with a nasal laugh, like he just did the best joke of the decade. The man, wearing weird purple underwear over some sort of catsuit in this awful shade of green, forced out a laugh at his boss’ ‘joke’. It was painfully obvious that his laugh was everything but sincere. Nygma huffed, before turning back toward his hostages.

“Well, I’m waiting,” he said, when nobody spontaneously volunteered. He made a motion with his cane and the four goons that weren’t busy with the machine-thing pointed their guns back on the hostages. “Tell you what, if I don’t have a volunteer in thirty seconds, I will shoot three people.”

Marinette internally cursed her time as Ladybug, her soft soul, Gotham in general, and the fact that Damian Fucking Wayne was opening his damn mouth. She cursed The Riddler’s fashion sense too, for good measure. Or lack of, in this case.

“I volunteer,” she said, before The Riddler could realize that he had a prime hostage specimen just under his nose. She was not about to let one of Bruce Wayne goddamn children put himself into the limelight, thank you very much.

“Ha! Wonderful!” He exclaimed with a twirl of his cane. Marinette could see the scowl Wayne threw her way, but skillfully ignored it. “Take a seat, dear.”

Swallowing, but keeping her chin up, Marinette walked to the complicated-looking chair he pointed her to. Once seated, she looked up at the box-thing that was suspended above her, her heart speeding a little bit at what she saw.

There was a trap door. It was closed, but something was leaking out. Something slimy and green – somehow, the same awful shade as Nygma’s suit. What the hell? What sort of obsession Nygma had with this color?! It couldn’t be healthy.

Well, neither was his obsession with death traps and riddles, but whatever. This green was almost worst, alright?

A drop of the thing fell toward her, and Marinette moved her hand just in time for the substance to hit the arm of the chair.

And eat through it.

Marinette looked up with the slimmest start of panic, only to find herself face to face with Nygma's smug look. It felt deliberate.

With how it fell just when she sat down? It couldn’t not be deliberate, calculated.

Despite how long it’s been, Marinette forced herself into Ladybug’s mindset. She took a deep breath, forcing down the panic and squared her shoulder. Nygma tilted his head slightly, obviously curious of her sudden change, before a gleeful, and frankly disturbing, smile stretched his lips.

“Oh, I can tell that you are going to be a fun one!” He exclaimed with a hysterical laugh, clapping his hands around his cane. “So, in honor of our French guest, I will start with a riddle dans la langue de Molière! Riddle me this! You can find me two times in the year.”

He said it in almost perfect French, a sadistically joyful gleam in his eyes that made Marinette pause. Why— Oh.

Oh.

He didn’t know she was one of the ‘French guests’.

She had felt cold during lunch, and Ashley lended her her uniform’s jacket. Marinette was still wearing it, and despite the fact that her dress’ skirt was the wrong color, if you don’t really pay attention to details like color scheme — something that The Riddler very obviously doesn’t do — she could pass for a Gotham Academy’s student.

He thought that he had her trapped.

It was going to be fun, indeed.

“You can find me one time in the week,” he continued, oblivious of her realization, still in an almost perfect French. “But you can’t find me on the day, what am I?”

“So,” Marinette started slowly, a small smile taking over her lips, making Nygma narrow his eyes with suspicion. “Deux fois dans l’année, une fois dans la semaine, mais pas dans le jour? It’s the letter N.”

“Good, good,” he said without the cheerfulness he had earlier, his eyes focusing down at her clothes, before looking toward another GA’s female student. His lips thinned when he noticed the difference, before stretching into another smile. “Another one! Since she is so good at it!”

He turned around, addressing the last sentence to his hostages. Marinette used the distraction of Nygma and his goons to glare at Wayne, who was making his way toward one of the armed goons, trying to make him telepatically understand to abandon whatever his dumb plan was.

He ignored her with almost as much skill as she had ignored him.

“Riddle me this! What can be used to sit,” Nygma said in English, probably hoping that she wasn’t overly fluent. “to sleep, and to brush your teeth?”

Marinette frowned at this one, not thrown off by the language but by the riddle itself. What the hell?

“I don’t have all day, little miss,” he said, his smile back on. “I will need a reply, or I will have to push this button here.”

Twirling his cane in an over dramatic move, he moved the question mark aside to display a red — obviously — button.

“A chair!” She blurted out, in English, and the way Nygma froze ever so slightly kept her going. “A bed, and a toothbrush.”

“How surprising. I like you,” he said with narrowed eyes, and a terrifying — if Marinette hadn’t been in Ladybug mode, at least — smirk. “Another one for the Frenchies!

“Riddle me this!” He exclaimed, pointing dramatically at her with his staff. “What is higher than the Tour Eiffel, but infinitely lighter?”

“Its shadow,” she replied without even blinking, the reply almost automatic. And maybe that’s why her next words flew out of her mouth — or, more probably, her survival instinct just took its vacation days. “You should try better ones, I’ve resolved this one in middle school.”

Nygma’s hand tightened around his staff, his thumb twitching, his lips thinning.

“Alright, alright, who am I to disappoint my crowd,” he said between his teeth, taking a menacing step toward her. “Riddle me this! The more you add, the lighter it is; what is it?”

“The more the lighter?” She repeated, distracted by someone discreetly getting in with one of the high windows behind Nygma. She almost let her surprise show when she realised it was Signal, but stopped herself just in time. She needed to distract the man, and there was no better distraction than anger. She huffed with fake derision, making his eyes narrow. “Holes. And here they said you were good with riddles.”

She could hear a couple of GA’s students gasp in shock, and she could see Wayne facepalm on the edge of her vision. Which was rich coming from him, seeing as he was reading himself for jumping a goon with a freaking gun.

“Careful, little girl, you wouldn’t want to outgrow your amusing value,” Nygma said slowly, before tightening his lips in thought. They were whitening from the pressure he was putting on them. “Alright. Riddle me this! If you ask me a question, I always say the truth, but can only reply with ‘yes’ or ‘no’. What question can you ask to keep me silent or making me lie?”

“That’s it? That’s your ‘hard’ riddle?” Marinette asked with a scoff and fake disbelief, internally thanking the kwamii, her Mom, and Jason for looking over her. She wouldn’t have the answer if her papa hadn’t had his riddle phase a year ago. This one stuck with her, for some reason. The phrasing was different, of course, but probably only because of the fact that she heard it in French before.

“Is this your answer?” Nygma asked, slamming down the bottom of his cane on the floor.

“No. My answer is; I ask you ‘Are you going to answer to this question with ‘No’?’” Marinette said with a falsely polite smile. She could see that Signal had caught on what she was doing, somehow, and gave her a thumb up to tell her he was ready. Probably. Maybe. She hoped, at least. Wayne — despite how dumb she thought his plan was — was also in place to take down his goon. She took a deep breath. “So, since your riddles are not that challenging, what about I give you one? Is that okay?”

“You— What?” Nygma said, blinking in surprise. He apparently decided to ignore my insult toward his riddle skills, because he just huffed incredulously. “Well, you can try to challenge me, of course!”

“This both describe a gorgeous person, and an excellent punch,” Marinette said with one corner of her mouth up in a smile, her muscles tensing in preparation.

“This?! You think this is challenging?!” Nygma said with incredulity, throwing his head back with a hysterical laugh. “A knockout, girl!”

“No, you misunderstood,” Marinette said slowly, making Nygma stop and all his goons stare at them with horror. Well, the distraction was a success.

“Wha—” She sprung at him before he could even finish, punching him quicker than he could stop, holding back only the slightest bit of the strength wearing the earrings for so long gave her.

“I was talking about your knockout, loser,” she told Nygma’s unconscious body, before kicking him again, purely for her personal satisfaction.

Before the goons could even get over their shock, Signal took out three of the gun-carrying goons, and Wayne — somehow — took out the last one. There were four other goons, the ones that had been busy with the chair-from-hell’s installation, and two of them sprinted at her with the intent to hurt.

But they didn’t take their guns out, the morons.

She saw the other two engaging Signal, and noticed Wayne — the stupid kid — make a move toward her, probably thinking it would help. Thankfully, for Marinette, not for the poor kid, Lila used this opportunity to latch onto him. This girl’s priorities would never not astonish Marinette.

She crouched low to avoid a punch, making goon number one — Liam, he had a Liam’s head — punch goon number 2’s — this one’s gonna be a Charlie — shoulder. Leaning back on her hand, she threw her leg out to trip up Charlie, who only jumped back to avoid it.

Liam tried to kick her, but she grabbed his leg and pulled at it, making him trip. She let go quickly, before he could use it as leverage, barely ducking under Charlie’s punch. Rolling to get back up, she kicked Liam in the face before he could get back up, making him see dark.

Only to be crowded by Charlie, who grabbed both of her arms. She saw Signal coming toward her, his goons probably already out, but took care of Charlie with a kick just there, before he could reach her.

Grabbing his crotch with both hands, Charlie let out a pained whimper before falling on his knees. Marinette smiled when she saw Signal wince, rolling her eyes and knocking Charlie out.

“Well,” Signal said in the gym’s silence, looking down at The Riddler. He then put one hand on his ear, and Marinette recognized the gesture as turning on a comm. “Tell the cops they can come in, the situation is clear.”

He walked toward Nygma as soon as he finished, taking out zip cuffs from his utility belt. Marinette smiled at him, before quickly walking toward where she had seen Ashley last.

She ignored the way everyone was staring at her.

“I’m so sorry about your jacket,” she started as soon as she found Ashley, grabbing the sleeve where Charlie had so rudely bled and showing her.

“What?” Ashley asked, staring at her with wide eyes.

“I put blood on it, and I know how much of a bitch it is to wash when it dries. I promise, I will pay for the cleaning or replacement!” Marinette said, just as the door of the gym burst open, and a bunch of cops entered the place.

One cop wearing glasses and a trenchcoat, somewhat vaguely familiar to Marinette, walked directly to Signal and Nygma’s unconscious body, two uniformed cops in tow. He talked with Signal for a second while the uniformed cops took Nygma, before they both turned to look in her general direction.

Marinette didn’t like where this was going. Eight years away from Gotham did nothing to curb her aversion to cops. She didn’t have to work with cops, as Ladybug, and had been massively grateful for that. And she didn’t want to add her cops-related anxiety to her already overfilled plate, thank you very much.

Her hopes were dashed when Trenchcoat called out to a cop talking to the teachers, talked to him for a moment, and sent him her way. She closed her eyes, letting go of Ladybug’s mindset with a breath — no way the tone she would take with him as Ladybug would fly with a GCPD’s cop.

“Miss?” The man asked her, somewhat politely, but with a dash of incredulous disdain in his tone. She opened her eyes just in time to see him looking her up and down, and obviously finding her lacking. Well, it seemed like the tone of this discussion had been set. “The commissioner asked me to take your statement, so if you could tell me what happened?”

“Of course, Officer,” she said with a polite smile faker than Lila’s stories, only to rile him up.

With how disdainfully he said the word ‘statement’, as if such a task was beneath him, there was no way the guy was an officer. Though, she would wager that his promotion was a very recent affair.

“Sergeant,” he corrected her with a strained smile, his grip tightening around his pen. Bingo. “Sergeant Brinley.”

“Oh, sorry,” she said with a slight chuckle, not actually calling him sergeant though. “You want to know what happened, right?”

“Yes, please. In as much detail as you can.”

“Well, The Riddler burst through the door of the gymnasium just after we came back from lunch. Lunch ending at 1:30pm, I would say it was twenty to two when it happened?” She said slowly, watching as he wrote that down. “There were goons, guns, and threats. My faith in fashion was threatened with green, The Riddler, surprisingly, asked some riddles, Signal came to save the day, punches were traded, and then you bursted through the doors.”

Brinley looked taken aback, probably not anticipating the abrupt change in her tone. He blinked, and she could see him go through everything she said again.

She had said a lot of things quickly, but, fundamentally, nothing of value or that he didn’t already know. It was a skill hard-earned in the streets, when she was seven, and one she was particularly proud of. (Jason taught her how to do it.)

“I will need more details for the statement, miss,” Brinley told her, tapping his pen against his notepad almost violently.

“What more details could I give you?” She asked with fake disbelief, watching a vein in his temple pop out.

“Tell me more about when the Riddler came in,” he said after a calming breath.

“Well, you wouldn’t believe it,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “But he walked through the door, and suddenly, he was there.”

“Miss, don’t force me to arrest you,” he replied, eyes narrowed.

“For what? Giving you a statement?” She said with a raised eyebrow. “I’m telling what happened in ‘as much detail as I can’. Nothing I said was a lie, was it?”

“What about the riddles?” He spat out, knowing that she was right.

“He asked a couple of those, some were even good,” she told him with a sunny smile, and he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath.

“Who answered them?”

“Someone.”

“Miss—” He started in a hiss, only to be cut out by a hand on his shoulder. They both looked toward the owner of the hand, only to see Trenchcoat standing there with an amused smile, Signal a couple of steps behind him.

“It’s okay, Sergeant Brinley, I will take it from here,” he said with a soft voice, his amusement barely noticeable. Brinley’s shoulders sagged, in relief or defeat, Marinette wouldn’t know, and he sighed. “Why don’t you go back to help Braxton with the teachers?”

“Alright Commissioner, thank you.”

The three of them watched Brinley make his way toward the teachers, where they were talking to a woman, probably Braxton, in silence. Then Trenchcoat and Signal turned to look at Marinette, studying her for a moment.

“I’m commissioner Gordon, nice to meet you, miss,” he said, emphasizing just slightly the ‘miss’ to push her to introduce herself. And she suddenly realized that Brinley didn’t even ask for her name. What incompetence.

“Dupain-Cheng,” she said slowly, his name and slightly familiar air making her brain works overtime. Until it suddenly came back to her, the memory hitting her almost violently. “You’re James Gordon!”

“Yes? Do we know each other?” Gordon asked with a curious expression, the man was probably used to this sort of reaction, though. Signal was also looking between them, obviously curious.

“No. No, we never met,” she said slowly, still reeling from her realisation. “I saw you in the paper.”

Camellia Street was well known for its distrust of cops, it was far from being a secret. Her mom and all her coworkers would constantly warn the Camellia’s kids against them. But she could remember, almost vividly, of one glaring exception.

Over ten years ago, the Gotham’s Gazette made their frontpage about James Gordon, with his picture and everything — Marinette was even sure he had already been wearing a trenchcoat at the time. She couldn’t remember why, but she thought it was about a bunch of dirty cops he arrested.

This particular paper made the rounds in the Camellia for weeks afterward. And the Camellia people started to talk, between each other, about what Gordon did for them, how he helped some, and arrested others.

Marinette could remember her Mom, one finger pointed at Gordon’s face on the paper, talking with one of her friends and coworkers. “This man is probably the only cop in all of the GCPD I would ever talk to,” she had said, tapping the paper to emphasize her words.

“Alright, Miss Dupain-Cheng,” Gordon said, obviously realising that there was more she wasn’t saying. “I couldn’t help but notice that you weren’t really helpful with Sergeant Brinley.”

“I don’t have the best track record with the police force, Commissioner Gordon,” she said with a little smile, making his eyebrows lift in surprise.

“Will I find a criminal record for you, Miss Dupain-Cheng,” he joked, but she genuinely paused, frowning slightly.

“Honestly,” she started thoughtfully. “I have no idea.”

“How can you not know if you have a record?” Signal asked with disbelief.

“Listen, no offence,” she said, looking quickly at Gordon before turning her focus toward Signal. “But the GCPD, ten years ago, was petty enough to stick a record on an eight years old.”

“GCPD? You’re from Gotham,” Gordon said before Signal could say anything, she could see his eyes looking down quickly toward the mostly hidden black camellia on her dress, before looking back up at her. “That explains the weird accent.”

“I got that a lot this week,” Marinette said with a smile, somewhat amused that he didn’t mention her embroidery. She looked around, making sure that nobody was listening, before adding. “And, if you want to look up the record, you will need to look under Leyton.”

Saying her last name out loud was far from as weird as hearing people call her Mei. She got used to hearing Leyton used again, in the last four year, because of her commissions work, where she was known as Sandy Leyton.

As a way for her to honor both her Mom and Jason.

“Leyton,” Gordon said slowly, staring at her without blinking for a moment, his hands failing at his side. “Are you… Mei Leyton? Born on July 9th 2003 in Gotham General? To Margaret Leyton?”

“How—” She stammered out, taking a step back in surprise. “How do you know that?!”

“Kid, I thought you were dead,” Gordon sighed, taking off his glasses to pass a hand on his face. “I looked for you for years.”

“Why?” She asked incredulously, crossing back her arms in front of her protectively. “I was just another street kid that disappeared, one more or less, it didn’t matter. I was unimportant.”

“Not to Jason,” he said with a pained grimace, because he knew Jason was dead. Of course he knew. “He was at the station every week until… If Wayne didn’t keep him out, he would have camped in my office every day.”

“He did?” She asked with a wet chuckle, a small smile on her lips. She could see Signal go stiff with surprise, probably realising who they were talking about, but she paid him no mind. “He looked for me?”

“Of course he did, the kid loved you like a sister,” he told her softly, looking at her face carefully. “Can I ask what happened?”

“Human trafficking,” she said with a shrug. “They were caught in France, and the social service didn’t want to send me back to Gotham, so I was adopted by a couple of Parisians. Surprisingly, they weren’t really keen about letting me go back to Gotham, either.”

“I can see why they wouldn’t want to send you back, but they should have notified us,” Gordon said with a frown. Marinette winced slightly.

“Yeah, I think that’s my fault,” she said slowly. “I didn’t really give them my name, you know. No offence, but, cops. So, they didn’t really have much to go on, beside that I was from Gotham. And I wasn’t even the one to tell them that.”

Gordon sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose just under his glasses, making them heft up. She had the feeling that Signal was staring at her, but it was hard to be sure with his helmet-like mask.

“I can’t even fault you for that,” Gordon finally said, passing his hand on his face, again. He looked at her for a moment, before adding softly. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you,” she choked out, swallowing the lump in her throat. “So! You wanted to know what happened with The Riddler!”

Gordon looked at her with a knowing look, but he let it slide and got back on topic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Did you hear that?!” Duke, the Signal, hissed in his comm as soon as he was out of hearshot. “Did you hear that or am I turning fucking crazy?!”

“I heard it loud and clear,” Oracle said, her tone clearly astonished.

“Calm yourself, Thomas,” Damian hissed quietly, because of course the kid would have put on his earpiece at the first occasion.

“Calm myself? Calm myself?! Gordon just said that Jason loved her ‘like a sister’!” Duke replied with urgency. “Am I the only one who want to know who the fuck she is?!”

“I remember Mei,” Oracle said almost absently, and Duke could hear the sound of her keyboard in the background.

“You knew her?” Duke asked, jumping on his bike and heading for the Batcave.

“Oh, no, we never met,” Oracle replied lightly, almost too lightly. “I remember the search for Mei. B still has the file as an open case in the Batcomputer.”

“Does Todd know?” Damian asked, as curious as Duke, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

“No, of course not. Why would B tell him,” Oracle said, sarcasm dripping in loads from her voice. The sound of the keyboard stopped suddenly, before restarting quicker than previously. “Fuck. Why does Dupain-Cheng have a file on the Batcomputer?!”

“What?!” Duke exclaimed with wide eyes, almost stopping his bike. “Did he know? B, did he know that she was Mei?!”

Barbara stayed silent on the other side for a while, making the tension in Duke grow. If Bruce knew where Jason’s sister was, and didn’t tell him… It was going to be bad.

Very, very bad.

“No,” she said finally, and Duke could hear the relief he was feeling in her voice. Fuck, Duke knew Damian was probably relived. “Thank god, but no. Nothing in there even implies that Dupain-Cheng has any link with Mei Leyton. Which is weird for a couple of reasons, but mainly because I can’t see why Dupain-Cheng would have a file in the Batcomputer if not for that.”

“We need to talk with Bruce,” Duke said as he entered the passage to the Batcave. “And Jason.”

“Yes,” Oracle said firmly. “But we need to talk to Bruce before we talk with Jason.”

“School is cancelled because of the attack, I will be there in twenty minutes.”

[mochinek0]

Daminette December 2022-Masterlist

1-Ice

2-Murder

3-Puppy

4-Dragon

5-Storybook

6-Giggle

7-Red

8-Submission

9-Tangled

10-Ambush    11-Art

12-Feather

13-Entwined

14-Toxic

15-Side Effects: 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

16-Chaos

17-Outline

18-Alien

19-Hands

20-Rage

21-Green

22-Forgive

23-Swim

24-Joke

25-Demon/Angel

26-Honour

27-Dress

28-Family

29-Shimmer

30-Extra

31-Beginnings

@maribat-calendar-events

[lovely-lynn]

If You Mess With Me, You're Messing With My Family

Summary: Being a Wayne means many things. It means being emotionally constipated and stubborn. It means having guilt and hero complexes the size of an entire country. It meant late nights,it meant fist fights and screaming matches but above all, being a Wayne meant that you always had someone watching your back. Wayne's protect their own, for better or worse. No one could mess with a Wayne and Lord help the one that tries. (Also known as Lila threatens Marinette but doesn't exactly get the reaction she's expecting)

_________________________________

If there was one thing Marinette hated more than anything else in the world, it was liars. Whether it be from the media or a certain classmate. In recent weeks, Marinette had gotten really good at ignoring Lila's eyes. It wasn't easy by any means. It had taken several long conversations with Alfred to come up with a plan that would keep most of the heat off of her and eventually put an end to Lila's lies. She wisely made Alfred promise not to tell her siblings. He agreed on the conditions that she keep him informed and that she promised to let them know if it got out of hand. To say Marinette was grateful was an understatement.

Her family was overprotective to say the very least. Even Damian, as prickly as he may be at times. Marinette had no doubt that if they were aware of the situation, they would come swooping to the rescue with lawsuits and most likely some blood in the mix. It was never good when a Wayne lost their temper. Lex Luther had found that out the hard way. She smile fondly at the memory. Had it created a bit of a media storm? Yes. Had it been worth it? Absolutely.

The plan Marinette had cooked up involved a lot of sitting back and waiting, as much as it pained her to do so. Sitting back made it look like she was submissive . It made it look Luke she was bowing down. However, it was necessary. Evidence was a lot easier to collect without everyone hating you. Plus if an incident were to happen, her father would undoubtedly hear about it and that, as she had already pointed out, wouldn't end well.

Despite how much she hated it, Marinette was proud at how well she played her roll. Not that she would have expected anything else, she was the daughter of Batman after all. Lila wasn't the only one who knew how to manipulate the situation in their favor. It was a back and forth game at this point. A game that, despite being frustrating, Marinette couldn't deny she kind of enjoyed. If only to watch the poorly concealed rage on Lila's face when she realized she had been outsmarted. The key to this tactic was mind games, something all the bats were exceptionally good at. By far Marinette's favorite, was to stay silent and watch Lila talk herself into a corner. Everyone had something that caused them to slip up. Lila's was her constant need for attention. When things go quiet, Lila would talk to fill the space in order to keep the attention on her. This often caused her to inadvertently contradict herself or leave small discrepancies in her story. Then all Marinette had to do was point those out. The hard part was pointing them out in a way that sounded genuinely confused and interested instead of accusing and frustrated. She also had to leave some of the alone lest it look like she was trying to search for the bad. Marinette's problem was that she often got over excited which led to mistakes on her part. Patience was something she was working on. She chose to focus on the bigger holes Lila left in her stories. Besides, the goal at this point wasn't to expose her. It was just to sew seeds of doubt. Just enough that people began to take her word with a grain of salt. Maybe someone might actually end up googling her claims for once.

Marinette had worked long and hard on this plan and she could tell it was beginning to work. People no longer followed her blindly. There was even people who would point out contradictions before Marinette had to. In short it was working perfectly. She should have known something would go wrong.

You see the only thing Marinette hated worse than liars, was people who lied about her family. That was by far the quickest way to make her blood boil. Her brothers weren't the only ones that were protective. Being a Wayne means many things. It means being emotionally constipated and stubborn. It means having guilt and hero complexes the size of an entire country. It meant late nights,it meant fist fights and screaming matches but above all, being a Wayne meant that you always had someone watching your back. Wayne's protect their own, for better or worse. No one could mess with a Wayne and Lord help the one that tries. That is why the thing that caused Marinette to break her perfectly crafted disguise, to ruin all the progress she had made, was when she heard Lila Rossi say,

"Damian is a complete and total jerk, He's so mean to everyone. If I was his parent I would have shipped him off to some behavioral correction school," Lila stated confidently. Instantly Marinette's blood pressure sky rocketed. Though Lila at least hadn't tried to paint Damian as sweet and innocent or claimed to be dating the fierce eight year old. IF she had their would have been nothing stopping her from jabbing her pencil into her neck. Still, Damian might be a brat at times, but he was her brat and no one was going to talk about him that way. She could barely hear Alya's reply over the blood roaring in her ears.

"Wow girl, you certainly seem to know the Wayne's well," The astonishment and admiration in her voice almost made Marinette feel sorry for the gullible reporter. Almost.

"Oh yeah, well I traveled to Gotham not long ago. Me and Richard really hit it off. We've been talking ever since," Lila added a rather convincing blush at the end. Marinette's control, snapped. Dick was 24 years old, a stark contrast to their 14.

"Prove it." Marinette's voice was like steel as it rang through the classroom. Everything went silent as her comment seemed to echo throughout the room.

"Excuse me?" Lila questioned, narrowing her eyes.

" You heard me. Show us the text messages that you apparently have had with Richard Grayson," Marinette demanded. Fake tears welled up in Lila's eyes.

"Are you- Are you accusing me of lying?" Her voiced trembled rather convincingly. Marinette might have been impressed if she wasn't so angry. Marinette could feel her face flush but for completely different reasons than Lila.

"Marinette, come on, not this again. I thought we got past this," Alya cut in, disappointment lining her voice, " There is no need for this jealousy. Just because Lila has done some cool things doesn't mean that your accomplishments are lesser."

"Oh believe me I know. I never implied that I felt insecure and I have no reason to be jealous. What I have implied is that I am tired of the lies that spill from Lila's mouth. Especially when those lies can ruin someone's life and reputation," Marinette snapped. Lila let out a sob and Alya opened her mouth again but Marinette fixed her with the significant 'bat glare' as she continued, " I refuse to listen to the poison that you feed everyone you speak too. So listen close Lila cause I'm not going to say it twice, stop the lies or I will stop them for you. And I promise you that my way won't be nearly as pleasant, " The silence in the room was deafening. Several people in the room sat in shock at the cold, angry outburst from their generally sweet and gentle classmates. More people appeared to be angry about her accusations. As he temper began to boil over, she made the wise decision to remove herself from the situation. The last thing she needed was to be akumatized or give into the urge to punch her classmate.

Marinette reveled in the way that the door slammed behind her as she exited. She quickly made her way to the bathroom and took a deep breath once she entered. She paced the floor, attempting to rid herself of her anger induced energy. She still seethed with rage but the longer she was away from the classroom, the calmer she got. She had just managed to reign in her temper once more when she heard the door open behind her, admitting Lila Rossi. Lila stood with a triumphant smirk.

"Alright Dupain-Cheng it seems someone has forgotten our little conversation. But since you've been a good little girl up until now, I will give you one last chance. You are either with me or against me. Your choice but I can assure you my way won't be nearly as pleasant," Marinette had to physically hold herself back from lunging at the girl. Instead she let out a humorless laugh, more of a cackle really, that sent grown men running. She steeled herself, exuding as much confidence as she possibly could. Gone was Marinette Dupain-Cheng and left in her place was Marinette Wayne. Hero of Paris, Vigilante of Gotham, Daughter of Bruce Wayne. Marinette was done pretending to be anything less than the confident girl she was

"My father raised a daughter who was kind, empathetic, responsible, trustworthy, willing to help others, forgiving, someone who put others before herself, and someone who would do the right thing even when it was hard,"Marinette said,slowly walking towards Lila, " But my father did not raise a push over. I have never let anyone walk all over me and I'm not going to start now."

"I will ruin you," Lila spat but Marinette just laughed. The laugh was more genuine this time as she found the prospect truly amusing.

"Oh I would love to see you try. Many people have said that sentence and all of them have yet to succeed.You see Rossi, I am more powerful then you could ever dream to be," Marinette thought of all the tabloids, political figures, and haunty businessmen she had faced over the year. If they couldn't beat her, with all of their resources and influence, than Lila Rossi certainly couldn't.

"Who do you think you are?" Lila scoffed, Marinette had to give it to Lila, she had her to waiver or show any signs of uncertainty. That was more than most people could say. It was common knowledge in Gotham not to make a Wayne angry. They had proved time and time again that they will stop at nothing to gain justice.

"Marinette Wayne, daughter of Bruce Wayne. Trust me Rossi, you can't touch me," That caused Lila to pale ever so slightly, and a look of fear flashed through her eyes. A normal person would have missed it but Marinette had been trained in observation since before she knew what the word meant. It sent a sense of satisfaction rushing through her.

"I will take away everyone you care about. I will turn all of your friends against you,"Lila threatened and Marinette had no doubt that she would and honestly, she didn't care. Lila could have the gullible attention seekers who wanted nothing to do with you unless you benefited them. They didn't want friends, they wanted stepping stones. It would hurt yes,that much she knew, but she had people that would pick her back up.

"Is that supposed to scare me? "Marinette question raising an eyebrow at the empty threat. Lila might be able to convince the akuma class but her best and most trustworthy friends, the ones she held most dear, were not so easily fooled. They may live in Gotham but Marinette had no doubt her siblings could be in Paris within the hour. Whether through Zeta tube,which they had ensured was in place before she moved, or by certain super individuals.

" It should ," Lila replied, standing firm. Marinette smiled,

"Honey, I'm from Gotham, you don't scare me," Marinette mentally put Lila next to any of Gotham's villains and laughed. She left out the fact that all of those villains she had fought at least once. Her nightly activities with her family might be fairly new in Gotham but they weren't in Paris. Marinette shuttered as she remember when they found out that she was Ladybug. To say they had been unhappy was an understatement. It wasn't so much that she was a superhero that had been the issue. It was the fact that she hadn't told them or gone to them for help. It was the fact that she was facing her struggle with Hawkmoth alone. Of course her working with Chat Noir hadn't helped any. His incessant flirting and goofing off had not gone over well. That paired with the fact that he was a boy had her siblings, specifically Jason, after his head.

"You won't be so confident when I'm through with you," Lila stated firmly, fire in her eyes.

"Bring it on Rossi. But let me warn you, Wayne's protect their own. If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us and trust me, that is not something you want to experience. Do you know why?" Marinette asked, face only inches away from Lila's own," Because we Wayne's, never lose,"and with that final statement, Marinette strode confidently out of the bathroom. She paused a second in the doorway before adding, "And Lila, if you ever lie about dating my eight year old brother again, there will be nothing that will save you from the full extent of my wrath," Marinette didn't look back as the door closed behind her and she made her way back into the classroom.

This was me venting not gonna lie. Its not my best work but I really loved the concept and so here we are. Let me know if you want me to add to this. As always let me know what you want to see next!!!!

If you want to be added to a tag list please fill this out: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1MqvFcx4vx-XVy8Ev7QcQxPH-KcsMRHukBmnsZeMq8e0/edit

Tag List: @achaoticmess1, @queenz-z, @laurcad123, @couffeeine, @luna025

[goggles-mcgee]

A Little Birdy Told Me 19

Beginning

Last Chapter           Next Chapter

Summary:  Just another day at Gotham Academy, well, Damian wished it was. His acquaintances seem to like to make it anything but.

Damian was not having a good day despite his father’s wishes. For the record, he did try to have a good day, it’s not like he purposefully went into the school with the intent to not, but it seemed like any good luck he had had in the last couple of days (which wasn’t much mind you) ran out. The whispers were what had tipped him off to begin with, usually he could brush them off as nonsensical youth gossip and carry on but the stares coupled with the whispers put him a bit on edge. He hadn’t done anything to his knowledge to warrant the behavior he had observed when he walked in but he didn’t let it show that anything was amiss. He merely strode to his locker and dropped off his afternoon class books before shutting it and locking it swiftly. Damian had tried to be nonchalant about his locker in the beginning, but when it had been broken into in his first week he had been livid, and upgraded the security courtesy of Drake. Apparently some schoolmates just wanted a peek into the newest Wayne’s locker and see if there was anything damning they could use against his Father to sell to some tacky tabloid. Needless to say, he and his father had been less than amused and in Damian’s case, hopeful that he would not have to stay in the ridiculous establishment. 

As he had said, luck was not on his side back then, so why would it be now? 

“Oh our favorite and sometimes benevolent Ice Prince of Gotham Academy.” an annoyingly familiar voice sang out as the body it belonged to slumped against the locker next to Damian’s. “Have you heard the latest gossip, my liege?” 

“Hardy. How many times have I told you I do not listen to drivel?” Damian replied in the most monotone voice he could pull-off. The one that made Drake throw pillows at him because he disliked how robotic it made him sound. 

“Oh, of course, of course Milord. But…this “drivel” as you call it has to do with you.” Claude Hardy, active member of their drama club, well-liked, class clown and as always an avid gossiper told Damian. Damian didn’t talk to him a lot, or well, it was better to say he tried not to. With Hardy came Allegra Vogel: accomplished flutist, ballerina, the queen of gossip and his class’ president, Alan Lopez: writer, soccer player and like his friends Hardy and Vogel, a gossip and Sebastian Allaway: one of the school’s best track members and whose parents own and run The Cottage, the restaurant that replaced Bamonte’s Restaurant after Don Maroni died and The Maroni Family dissolved (assumedly). An odd group of…almost friends, more so associates maybe to him, he wasn’t sure yet if they were friends but Damian would admit they were entertaining at the least.

“Can you never just get to the point, Claude?” The newest addition to the friend group, and Damian’s associate circle asked dramatically. Damian’s gaze shifted to look over at Gotham Academy’s latest transfer Chloé Bourgeois. Nicknamed Queen Bee by the friend group, but Damian noticed she always smiled sadly when she was called that. Perhaps her friends noticed too because Queen Bee quickly shortened to just Queenie. Both nicknames were ridiculous if you asked Damian, he somewhat disliked nicknames. It was fine when Dick did it, because he did it out of affection, Jason did it to be a dick and Tim did it to be annoying. Well that was his theory in any case. 

“You missed it too Queenie!” Hardy helpfully pointed out. 

“Traffic was worse than usual but I’m not that late Drama King. English hasn’t even begun.” Bourgeois snarked back.

“Bourgeois has a point. The school day has barely begun, how have we missed anything vital?” Damian asked with a furrowed brow as he closed his locker and led the group in the direction of their English class. 

“It’s sad how you both don’t get here early enough to socialize like proper socialites,” Hardy sighed dramatically before he perked up and looked at them with a glint in his eye. One Damian was not a fan of as it often painted trouble for him. “That class exchange thing, the one Damian’s father is funding, the class arrived the other day and oh boy was Headmaster Hammer not amused!”

Damian stiffened but kept walking, the news startled him but he was not going to let it show. He could not let anyone know he knew about the class already and especially not about Marinette. “Oh? I thought they were supposed to start next week? That’s what Father said. I would also like to point out that one cannot be late to gossip as I was not here to begin with.”

“Exactly. At least Wayne has brain cells that work.” Bourgeois teased. 

“Are we teasing Claude?” And now another person was walking with them and Damian had to resist the urge to sigh loudly. It was too early to be this social. 

“Don’t we always Allegra?” Bourgeois asked as though the answer was obvious which to be fair it was. The group did tease Claude an absurd amount, but he just made it so easy. 

“Oh yes of course. How silly of me to forget.” The other blonde responded with a teasing laugh.

“Why are you guys so cruel? I’m just here, existing. I’m just a little guy.” Claude pouted. 

“You are taller than us.” Damian pointed out a bit bitterly. He was of average height for his age but it seemed like a lot of his male classmates surpassed average in grade school. 

“ANYWAY. Sir Ice Prince and Queenie, you both weren’t here on Friday-” 

“I had an appointment, I told the group this on Thursday.” Bourgeois interjected.

“I didn’t want to leave Richard alone after what happened at Wayne Tower on Thursday so my father excused me from class.” Damian threw in, in some way it was the truth. Dick had been rather…wound up after the situation at the Tower and the run in with Brat Chat hadn’t helped anything. He may be playing it off but Damian knew his older brother well and he knew that Dick was holding everything in still. So it was no surprise that Dick was sticking around Marinette more than the rest of them. He was worried about the girl, that much was clear and it didn’t take a genius to guess it was because he felt responsible for her being Fear Toxined when he was there and able to do something, but the fact of the matter was there really wasn’t much he could have done. Dick was stubborn though and would continue to blame himself until Dupain-Cheng was safe or until Damian could beat sense into him. He had no problem exercising the second option. Dick was too hard on himself. 

“That’s understandable. How is he doing?” Vogel asked softly. 

“Better.” He replied honestly. 

“I’m glad Dick is doing better, but you and Chloé really did miss one hell of an…interesting day.” Hardy continued. Damian merely hummed in response, he knew it was futile to try and argue that he was not interested because Hardy didn’t care. Or just didn’t believe him; either option was equally annoying. “Like I said, that French class the school is doing the exchange with arrived on Friday. Like the whole class. I can tell you guys now, they did not make a good impression on our dear schoolmates.”

“Oh…yeah…the class exchange. You said they’re French?” Bourgeois asked nonchalantly, though Damian could see her body stiffen as stutter as they walked before she collected herself. 

“Yeah. I thought they’d be nice to speak with. Especially this small group that had been discussing music but…” Vogel scrunched her nose up, it made her distaste well-known. Though, Vogel was not one to hide how she felt to begin with so the expression wasn’t a surprise. Especially to Damian who had knowledge of the class already and he knew he wouldn’t like most, if not all of them. “Instead of telling me about their songs and band and such they only spoke about this girl in their class. I swear, you would think she was newly Sainted or the like with how they looked at her and talked about her. It was like experiencing a cult without actually being in the cult.”

“Oh yeah. It was some real Jim Jones’ shit.” Hardy readily agreed.

“Language.” Damian couldn’t help but quip. He was too used to telling Jason, Tim and Steph that so they would have to add to Alfred’s ‘Swear Jar.’ 

“And the teacher acted like their behavior was normal!” Hardy continued as though he hadn’t heard Damian. Brat. “She acted like they were perfect little angels.”

“It was disturbing.” Vogul shook her head.

“The teacher…” Bourgeois was inspecting her nails, feigning disinterest but Damian could see the subtle shake in her hand. “What was her name?”

“Why? Think it might be your old one Queenie?” Hardy asked with a smile but the twitch of his brows told Damian he was worried about the answer Bourgeois might give. “What are the chances of that?”

“Just- What was her name, Claude?” 

“Uh, something with a ‘B.’”

“You’re beyond help Claude. How do you not remember?” Vogel asked.

“Look. In my defense, I don’t like her and I don’t pay attention to things I don’t like nor care for.”

“You’re horrible. Her name was Caline Bustier. Her class was supposed to be placed in ours but apparently now, that’s not even certain. I think I heard someone say Headmaster Hammer was not at all pleased with how they came in and demanded their schedules. I guess their class president was supposed to be present but she was not there. Word on the street and from the horse’s mouth is that she went missing after the whole Two-Face, Scarecrow situation at The Tower.” Vogel was as connected as ever. Damian was impressed she had all that info already given it had only been a few days since everything went down. Not to mention a weekend passed, which meant some of her sources were not available to talk with, or so Damian assumed. She probably had them all on speed dial for all he knew.

Another thing he observed? All of them looked at him like he had answers. He did, but he wasn’t going to say anything, it was for Marinette’s safety after all. So he sighed like he did best, “Even if I knew something, I wouldn’t tell you.”

They nodded. “Fair.” Hardy said with a shrug, he was used to those kinds of answers. He would have to be since he had been bugging Damian since he started at Gotham Academy. 

Bourgeois had stopped walking and though he wanted to just head into the classroom, it was quite literally fifteen steps away from them and if he went ahead it would be incredibly rude to ignore whatever was bothering the girl. Alfred impressed upon him how a gentleman behaved and leaving Bourgeois in this situation was most definitely against Alfred’s teachings. As though the man himself was watching him, Damian stopped walking and barely held in his complaints. His grandpa was terrifying when he wanted to be, especially when it came to manners. Damian shuddered at the memories of Alfred’s etiquette training but managed to hide it as he turned to face Bourgeois who honestly looked close to passing out right there in the middle of the hallway. “Bustier?” She gasped.

“Chloe?” Vogel asked as she placed a hand on the other blonde’s shoulder. 

“Oh my god, they are your old class.” It was a statement rather than a question from Hardy. The Style Queen Heiress’s reaction was all the answer they needed but she did give a stiff nod. The answer was…interesting to say the least but it also put Damian on edge. If that was her old class then she must have known about Lila Rossi, granted she had been at their school for about a year now but due to the family’s research, Damian knew the Lila situation had been going on for about four years. So Bourgeois had been in that class when it was happening, Damian knew the school sounded familiar, he just couldn’t remember why. He, of course, had done his own research into Chloé Bourgeois when she had been announced as the new transfer student but admittedly he hadn’t dug too far as Dick and Alfred told him that was not the way to make friends. He couldn’t help being cautious, it was a skill he had to learn very early in the League, so anyone new that came into his life he couldn't help but be suspicious of.

Honestly, he did the bare basics of a background research on Bourgeois that the fact he was being surprised by a fact he could have found out if it weren’t for ‘manners’ and ‘courtesy’, he would have found out about Bustier’s class before the exchange program was finalized. He could have prevented so many annoyances by arguing with his father about them. Though that would have meant never meeting Dupain-Cheng… he didn’t know how to feel about that. “We can speak about this after class. The bell is about to ring and I for one would rather not be counted late while I have the ability to be on time in mere steps.” Damian announces as he walked on, he would gather whatever information he could from Bourgeois at lunch, he had time. 

_______________________

[LUNCH]

Chloé took a deep breath in to calm herself for what felt like the millionth time that day. Ever since she found out her former class was the one that won the spot for the Gotham Education Exchange she had felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest all day. She didn’t want to face them, she wasn’t ready to face them, ever since her move to Gotham Chloé had changed and she knew it was for the better. There was no Hawkmoth in Gotham, so no reason to not feel, and well, Jean-Claude made her go to therapy and though she found it ridiculous to begin with, she had to admit it did actually help if you put the work in. It was the end of collège for her when she realized just how absolutely miserable she was. Her parents’ fighting had gotten worse, her classmates were all sheep, she knew that before but she thought they had grown some kind of backbone when Marinette started standing up for herself but then that liar joined the class and things changed. It was terrifying to see just how fast everyone turned on the person they called their ‘Everyday Ladybug’. If they turned on her that fast, what would happen to Chloé? 

What happened was nothing she hadn’t expected. Much like Dupain-Cheng she had been sent to the back, at first she had been there with Sabrina but by 4’eme* the redhead had left her. She had the mercy of not being targeted by some of the classmates “pranks” like Dupain-Cheng had been but no one spoke to her, no one acknowledged her unless they absolutely had to. Chloé had tried to get her dad to do something about it but that was when he and her mother’s fights started getting bad and they paid less attention to her. The only one who seemed to care what was happening to her was Jean-Claude, he tried to help as best he could but there was only so much he could do. She thought Mme Bustier would do something as she had always been on her side but when Chloé tried to complain she was hit with that good old infamous ‘good example’ bullshit. It was like a slap to the face. Usually hearing that would have brought a smug smile to her face because it wasn’t her getting that talk, she was the one who got her way and the others were supposed to be the ‘good examples’. 

It threw her for a fucking loop is what it did and it sent her in a deep depression. She was so used to getting her way by throwing tantrums, throwing money or just in general throwing something someone’s way, then all of a sudden she couldn’t get her way by doing what she used to do and she was lost, utterly lost. Her mother and dad kept fighting, sometimes she expected it to get physical with how close both got to one another while shouting and maybe that was the one saving grace that never happened but she never wanted to see her mother throw her heels at her dad ever again. That was as physical as it had gotten and it scared her because one of those times one of the heels almost hit her when she tried to enter the room and beg them to stop fighting. That was the last time she tried. By her last year, 3’eme, they had at least taken to fighting with each other through their assistants and poor Jean-Claude in a ridiculous imitation of Mlle Sancoeur (she never did like when Chloé called her by her first name despite the fact she has known her since Chloé was in diapers.) But when they got lawyers involved they didn’t fight over one thing, one important thing, her. 

No. She was thrown around like the shared house furniture trying to be divided, except where they argued about who kept what piece of furniture, they argued why the other should keep her. They did it with her in the room. It was then that she realized that neither of her parents’ really loved her, oh she always knew with her mother there was never any love, but when her dad didn’t fight for her? It hurt more than she cared to admit and that was the day of her final akumatization, Folk-Tail. From pictures she had seen her hair had grown down to her feet in its ponytail but it took on the likeness of a scorpion’s tail, her skin had turned gray but it looked like she had cried after just putting on mascara that was definitely not waterproof since she had black streaks starting from her eyes going down her face, she wore what she always imagined Princess Potentilla wore when she was made to live in the small house by her jealous mother and on top of her ponytail sat a crown of forget-me-nots. The tale of Princess Potentilla and Prince Narcissus had always been her favorite fairytale. It was no surprise that her akuma had been fairytale based since at that moment in time all she had wanted was for her life to be like the fairytales Jean-Claude had often read to her. She just wanted a happy ending. 

Apparently her power was to assign roles to people, roles of famous fairy tale characters or creatures that she felt they reflected. Since she herself had been a sad reflection of Potentilla, her father was of course King Cloverleaf and her mother Queen Frivola. Those she did not personally know were given basic roles like a villager or the like. She had gotten to most of her class given they were hanging out at the park that day in celebration of their last year of collège. It was no surprise that she found out Lila had been turned into the Big Bad Wolf, what did surprise her was that she had hit Dupain-Cheng and the girl had become Melinette, the helpful, powerful fairy from her favorite story. It shouldn’t have been so surprising and yet it was. It was after she had been defeated that she reflected on it all, her akuma had been surprisingly truthful with what she herself felt but was too scared to acknowledge. Her father was only interested in what had his attention like the glory of being Mayor and his true love running his hotel much like King Cloverleaf loved being King but only because it gave him the means to hunt to his full pleasure. Her mother was a vain woman who cared too much about her reputation much like Queen Frivola who thought herself the most beautiful woman and threw the most lavish balls but when she saw the beauty of her daughter, she hid her from the kingdom out of jealousy. She had no Prince Narcissus. Yet she had Marinette, determined, helpful, kind Marinette who was very much like Melinette, the fairy who raised the Prince. 

If she had hit Hawkmoth with her ‘tail’ he for sure would have been Grumedan the Evil Enchanter. It was that akumatization and everything else going on around her that made her snap. She didn’t want to be like her mother or her father. Hell, she had spent so many years trying to be like her mother in an attempt to get the woman to just get her name right! Chloé didn’t even know who she really was but she wanted to find out and she knew that wouldn’t happen in Paris. She broke down to Jean-Claude about it all, she cried for the first time in a long time, she didn’t care if she got akumatized again, she wanted to cry, she needed to cry. That was when Jean-Claude took charge, he yelled at her parents, demanded a meeting with them and the lawyers outside of Paris because he knew emotions would be high and he demanded parental rights over Chloé. In some ways it shocked her and at the same time it didn’t because he was always the one taking care of her. He wanted her. He cared for her. Chloé had zoned out after his demand because she was just so overwhelmed, someone actually wanted her; she missed the fight and following negotiations. Since her parents didn’t want to take care of her Jean-Claude would be her parent, they wouldn’t change her name since Jean-Claude fully expected her parents to still provide for her.

Oh she knew they fought that with everything they had but Jean-Claude told her after the fact that he essentially blackmailed them. If they provided for her by sending money to her and Jean-Claude after their move and if they kept her as their heir for their respective businesses until she was old enough to decide if she wanted to take over either business, then he wouldn’t go to the media with some illegal stuff he knew had gone on and absolute neglect the put their child through. They folded quickly since there was nothing more important to Audrey and André Bourgeois than their reputations. Before she knew it, after all the necessary paperwork was completed, she and Jean-Claude moved in with his sister Margot in Gotham, New Jersey. It was quite the move and it was hard to adjust but Jean-Claude was patient with her but firm, they arrived in the summer which was the perfect time for her to start therapy apparently. She thought it would be hard adjusting to Gotham and its unique brand of crime but it really wasn’t. Costumed weirdos running around causing havoc? Old news. No Miraculous Cure? Now that, that was scary and took time getting used to. 

All in all she thought she was getting better and growing. She had friends, actual friends! She liked hanging out with them, listening to them, just in general being with them, she didn’t have to fake anything around them. Sure she had a hard time with Damian but that was just because he was so standoffish and kind of reminded her of Felix which wasn’t great but she was starting to separate the two in her mind. Though both boys were fond of their families, Damian wasn’t as conniving as Felix nor as fake, he was simply blunt and in some way it was refreshing. She liked their little odd group of friends and one acquaintance who was becoming a friend and she didn’t want anything ruining it. Especially not her old class but she was still fragile and they had the power to set her back and she didn’t want that at all. But Chloé Bourgeois was not someone who bowed to anyone and she wouldn’t start now but…she would talk to Jean-Claude about it all and maybe see if her therapist would be available for more sessions or even on speed dial. 

“Chloé?” Allegra’s voice tore through the murky fog that her thoughts had become and she finally realized she had somehow made it to their table. 

“Hey. You okay Chlo?” Sebastian asked. 

“This is about your former class, is it not?” Damian asked but the way he said it made it sound like it wasn’t a question. It made her wince.

“Damian. A little more tact next time please.” Allegra said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“But he’s not wrong is he?” Claude asked next. 

Chloé looked at her friends and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, her hands clenched and unclenched around her lunch tray that she hadn’t noticed she didn’t set down and she took in another deep breath. “I am…I’m scared. I was not the best person to them as I’ve told you all before, I was a bully. But towards the end of my years with that class things changed. They changed. They didn’t speak to me. At all. Me and Mari-another classmate, we were isolated, basically banished to the back to be all but forgotten. Well…I was. Dupai-the other classmate, she wasn’t as…fortunate?”

“Fortunate?” Allan echoed.

Chloé nodded. “I would take my fate over hers any day. I was forgotten in a way, but they did bad talk me and insult me when they knew I could hear but they never acknowledged my existence. It was like I wasn’t there in the room while they were talking. But Ma-my classmate, they bullied her, worse than I ever did and I admit I bullied her for years. While I did it out of jealousy and to just get her mad or in trouble, they did it to break her. I did nothing to help. I was going through things, yes, but that’s no excuse and I don’t know how I’m going to face any of them.” 

It was quiet. Awkwardly quiet. Chloé was close to just pushing away from the table and just storming out because everything she was feeling was too much but a small yet loud ‘Hm’ stopped her and called her attention. It came from Damian who was staring at her with his calculating eyes that gave her the creeps from time to time. It was like he was trying to pull your secrets out of you with his eyes. She stared back at him as he stared at her and leaned his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers and resting his face on his hands. “So you know Lila Rossi. Tell me about her and everything she’s done to Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

Well that was not what Chloé expected him to say.

________________________

Chloe Bourgeois

@Bee-utifulMe

School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready to call my therapist.

#imdonewithtoday #gothamacademy #itsbarelynoon 

💞MAPS💞

@ImTheMapImTheMap

RE: Chloe Bourgeois

       @Bee-utifulMe

[School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready…]

Mood.

#Iwasnotpreparedforthatenglishtest #TTuTT 

Notes: 

*4'eme (3'eme) are the last two level of schooling in college (French schooling). College typically goes from ages 11-15, 4'eme is for those 13-14, 3'eme is 14-15.

Prince Narcissus and The Princess Potentilla is a fairy tale that you can read here if you would like context -> HERE

Next Chapter

TAGS: @kurogaya913 @xxmadamjinxx @chez-pezeater @northernbluetongue @sonif50 @drama-queen-supreme @tinybrie @vixen-uchiha @unabashedbookworm @mochinek0 @vivilakitty @mindfulmagics @yin-390 @melicmusicmagic @iglowinggemma28 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @interobanginyourmom @hunter-shyreen @ginamarie1512 @silvergold-swirl @heldtogetherbysafetypins @luciferge @lunar-wolf-warrior @housekitty711  @kae690 @themcclan @zazzlejazzle @shadowberrybinch @slytherinqueen2432 @huntressofthenight0516 @etheralentity @eliza-bich  @creator-josie @sassy-spocko @mortally-strange-candy @driftingmoonlitpetals @fiendsangelical @minotaurlord9 @spicybelladonna @slytherinhquinn @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @rikku052 @domena151 @qs-queued-tall-tales @my-name-is-michell  @tamoni112 @crazylittlemunchkin @resignedcatservant @lamestplaceontheinternet @shamefullove  @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @poshplumcot @schrodingers25 @this-is-vander @mariae2900 @st0rmy-w1th1n @imspectralboiii @sinfulfoxbeast @slytherin-batbitch @elspethshadow @nataladriana9 @violatiger8 @paradoxal-occurance @a-fan-of-art @only-lonely-stars-twinkle @cupcakeandkisses @marcy-senpai @doggiediva13 @palvine-of-the-alvins @zeldagatha @redscarlet95 @graduatedmelon @tinyterror333 @echpr @two-faced-biatch @silvia7272 @hufflejournals @queenmj10  @risingmoonyue @sweet-coconut-water @sturchling @corabeth11 @elliecake5 @vgirl-10123   @uwuteamleader @fanficaddict4ever @virgil-is-a-cutie @mintychaewon @whomthefyck @miukiiu @trainflavor @a-star-with-a-human-name @fandom-trapped-03 @sayuricorner @aestheticnpoetic @kawaiigiantjudgefish @motherly-type @sunkenshipsanddreams  @tbehartoo @dagnysdawn @nanakeid @clumsy-owl-4178 @purplesundaze @rowanrouge @captainartsypants @animegirlweeb @novicevoice @chaosace-e @hauntedwintersweets @emootaku-666 @athena452 @lunammoon @risingmoonyue @pirats-pizzacanninibles @ellenlovepl @zestyzealot @agirlwithhercrazydreams @maribat-is-lifeblood  @immafangirl @insane-fangirl-of-everything @kittydemon9000 @make-the-stars-stay @prudencerika  @fantasiame  @liquid-luck-00 @theymakeupfairies   @alysrose-starchild @trippingovermyfeet @solangelo252 @ichigorose @ihavehomeworkbutistillhere @ultimatetornshipper @miraculous-trinity-leo @jayjayspixiepop @mercenaryangel @weirdo-with-no-beardo @lovelyautumnsunflower @varianscarlet @kking13 @bygge00 @i-am-creator28 @missanalysis @miyatalksshit @snowymarvel1205 @alcoholic-barney @echpr @ev-cupcake @its-maemain @atiredartistandacat @whatschooldoesntteachyou @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @stella17luna

[aliensunflower-fics]

CHANGING FACES Chapter 3: Where Are We Going

[ Prefer to Read on Archive of Our Own? Link HERE! ]

[ Previous Chapter - Next Chapter ]

After years of dealing with each other Lila Rossi win's when she  convinces Hawkmoth that Marinette is Ladybug. In order to throw off  suspicion and keep the Miracle Box safe Marinette and her supportive  parents leave Paris and head to Gotham of all places. In this new place  away from her friends and her unhealthy routines Marinette is forced to  confront herself and change for the better. Helping her on her journey  is a surprising new friend and potential ally. When Alya missing her  friend learns about the chance to win a free trip to Gotham she  convinces the class to work hard to qualify. When her new life clashes  with her old one will Marinette be able to hold on strong to her new  confidence or will she crumble under the pressure?

( This fic will be for the most part comedic, fluffy, and sweet, with  only a bit of seriousness to tie it together. With only the mildest salt  because I don't think the class or Adrien are bad people just that they  can be naive and selfish thanks to the canon writing. I hope you enjoy  reading this work and have fun with me on this journey. )

CHAPTER 3:

Where Are We Going

Marinette felt tired. Not the kind or tired that could be slept off but something DEEPER. It was an exhaustion that seeped deep into her bones and left her feeling heavy. Her limbs felt like rocks and her fingers ached. Her mind begged for the sweet escape of dreamless sleep. Yet voices tickled the edge of her conscious mind slowly leading her back to the waking world. Whoever was talking was trying to be considerate of her, speaking in hushed tones with all the lights but a small table lamp off. 

 Blinking slowly, Marinette’s groggy mind took in the hideous pattern on the hotel's cheap curtains and the smell of cheap greasy takeout pizza somewhere in the room. Finally her ears seemed to pop and the whispered voices of her mother and father hit her brain causing her muscles to relax. They were here, they were all safe, as Marinette’s eyes drooped she smiled contently ready to let her mind drift away to the black seas of sleep once more. That is until she heard Tikki’s signature squeaky voice thanking ‘Tom’ for the sugar cookies. All at once Marinette felt wide awake and bolted upright, shocking everyone in the room into silence. 

 There on the other side of the hotel room sitting in the too small, too cheap wooden chairs eating cheap pizza and terrible store bought sugar cookies and holding a conversation like old friends was Marinette’s dear parents, her kwami and Trixx who looked like they were delighted by everything. 

 The silence stretched for a moment or two before Sabine sighed, shook her head and smiled warmly at her daughter. 

  “I think we have some things to talk about mon petite choux, but first why don’t you grab a bite to eat you must be hungry and its going to be a bit of a late night.” 

 At her mothers words Marinette felt her breath hitch as she swallowed down her panic, with a small nod she inched closer to the end of the bed nervously taking the offered slice of pepperoni pizza. It was lukewarm and greasy but biting into it felt like heaven as her body finally registered just how hungry she was, as usual her mother was right. For a while Marinette just ate her pizza with her parents while the Kwami nibbled on their provided cookies. It was strange and peaceful. As Marinette finished up her second slice and reached for her third the silence was finally broken again by her mother who seemed to know what she said while her father still languished in uncertainty.

  “Marinette… We… We just want you to know. How proud of you we are.” 

 Marinette swallowed hard and looked away, unable to make eye contact with her family.

 “H-How did you figure it out? Kwami can’t tell others who there chosen are a-and… I thought- at least Fu told me that magic was protecting my identity?” Marinette heard her father’s nervous throat clearing as Tikki swallowed down her cookie and hovered up to Marinette eye level.

  “They figured it out earlier after you fell asleep, Marinette. I let them see me and told them who I was. It all seemed to fall into place after that.”

  “But…Tikki WHY? T-The rules w-we cant just… Have… Have I not been a good enough Ladybug? Are you leaving?”

 Tikki gasped in horror and flew over quickly soothing Marinette by hugging her face.

  “No, no! My little bug it's nothing like that I… I decided you needed some help. Marinette you have been doing such a good job and you have been doing it all alone for so long. Master Fu was foolish to think anyone could or should carry such a heavy burden without support and we should have broken the rules a long time ago!”

 Marinette nodded numbly trying to process Tikki’s words. She did not want to admit it but she’d been drowning for so long that as horrible as it felt to have her identity exposed as terrifying as it was to go against the rules she felt relief flooding her system as she exhaled a shaky breath. 

 “How much did you tell them?” At this her father let out an awkward cough and shifted in his far too small hotel chair trying to get comfortable. 

  “She told us a lot. Marinette sweetie… We're not mad. We could never be mad, you’ve been so strong and so brave, your mother is right, we are so proud of you.”

 Marinette felt her face flush and her eyes burn as hot tears gathered in her burning tired eyes. She had never once become Ladybug for the praise or fame she had never expected or wanted it, and in fact she had many times resented being Ladybug hated the lies and the act she had to put on each and every day to keep others safe and to keep them out. But hearing her parents tell her how proud they were felt like a weight being lifted off her heart. A broken hiccup left her body and Marinette realized she was crying.

  “M-Mom Dad… I’m- I'm so sorry! I n-never wanted to lie I-I had to I-I’m sorry im so so sorry.”

 “Oh non! No no no my little one my sweet pastry!” Marinette felt the warm heavy arms of her father envelop her as he moved to the bed, the cheap mattress dipping under his weight causing her to fall into him. “You don’t need to apologize for anything.”

  “Your friend Tikki told us about the rules the previous master put in place. She told us about everything you have been through. Our big strong girl. If anyone should be sorry it's us. We should have known it was you, even with magic guarding your identity how could we be so blind.”

 Marinette sobbed harder at her mothers words, opening her arms to accept her mothers embrace as she cried harder.

  “B-But I’m the reason Hawkmoth burned down our home! I’m the reason the bakery is gone! I-Its all my fault!” 

 Marinette felt her mother stiffen at her words and was shocked when her mother pulled back and grabbed her face firmly into her calloused hands forcing Marinette to stare into the fiery eyes of her mother. 

  “Marinette Dupain-Cheng none of this is your fault! That reject Disney villain has been tormenting Paris for years! He has killed people with his akumas and never once shown remorse or guilt for using even babies to achieve his goals! And you, our brave beautiful girl, you have saved people's lives over and over, you have given up hobbies, concerts, and your own peace of mind to be a hero. Your father and I are scared for you, were angry at Hawkmoth, we wish we knew sooner but angry? Never, not with you my beautiful little peanut.”

 As her mothers words sunk in, Marinette felt a fresh wave of tears fill her eyes and she threw herself into her mothers arms while her fathers large warm hand rubbed circles into her back. 

 They let Marinette cry until she was done and had her breathing back under control at which point they gave her water and more food. While she drank and ate, a sudden thought hit Marinette.

  “What are we going to do now?” 

 Tom and Sabine exchanged a look before nodding and smiling at each other. As Sabine got up to retrieve something from there meager belongings Tom beamed warmly at his daughter though Marinette did not miss the tired bags that hung under his eyes.

  “Did we ever tell you about how we met my little choux bun?” 

 Marinette’s eyebrows creased together as she thought about it. 

  “You met… At college right? Dad was doing a baking course and mom was studying business. Mom had been working herself too hard and not eating so her blood sugar totally crashed and you found her half collapsed on a bench and offered her pastries right?” 

 Tom chuckled fondly at the memory and nodded. 

  “Yes, that's right. But do you know WHERE we met?”

  “Where? … Dad, what do you mean? Wait… You didn’t meet in Paris?” 

 Sabine giggled at her daughter's shocked expression and sat next to her once more, opening the old family album that had been lucky to survive the fire in a fireproof safe. As she flipped through the pages Marinette took in all the familiar pictures of herself and her family, the bakery, and her childhood from her first time making cookies to her first tooth, but as they flipped to older pictures Marinette began to see more things she did not recognize. Her parents' marriage, a small private affair in some miscellaneous park. But then they flipped past even those going back to even younger images and Marinette realized quickly what her father was hinting at.

  “These pictures… You guys met in… America?”

 Sabine smiled warmly as she touched a picture of her and Tom’s first cake together. “We met in Gotham.” 

 Marinette sucked in a breath of air as her eyes widened. She looked between her parents' confusion and questions evident on her face. After a brief silence Sabine cleared her throat and flipped back to some older photos and began her tale.

  “When I was little, your grandma had very big dreams for me. She wanted me to become a big shot business woman, make lots of money and take care of the whole family. She made me study endlessly and never cared about my own dreams and passions. Just like your great uncle I liked to cook but your grandma did not care. I worked hard and got accepted into an American college. I knew how dangerous Gotham was but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get far away from your grandma and your great uncle encouraged me. He told me I needed to free myself and learn what I wanted to do. The rest you know, I was studying so hard I never ate and then your dad found me.”

 Marinette nodded slowly then looked at her dad curiously. He smiled and leaned over to flip the albums pages before pointing at a beautiful old building with a much younger Grandma Gina and Tom in front of it.

  “As you know your Grandma Gina and Granpa Roland had a rocky marriage. Your grandma liked to go fast, and she liked to see the world and everything in it. Your grandpa thought moving that often wasn’t good for me so he refused to go, this made their relationship rocky, they were always fighting. Finally your god-father Alfred got in the middle, he suggested a compromise. A second home somewhere fun and exciting for Gina and we could spend our summers there. Grandma chose Gotham the same place Alfred lived and I spent my summers there growing up even after the divorce. So when it was time for me to go to college I decided I wanted to live in Gotham and attend the college baking course. And then I met your mother.”

 Marinette mulled over the new information carefully taking in the photos carefully. 

  “How long did you and mom live there?”

 Tom chuckled slightly and flipped through several pages until they landed on a photo Marinette had never seen before. She was a newborn baby in her mothers arms as her parents were posed in front of an old bakery. Marinette realized that it was the same building as the earlier picture with her grandma and her dad.

 “I was… BORN THERE?” Marinette touched the image in awe and then felt a sting in her heart, “Why didn't you ever tell me? Why not talk about it? H-How did it never come up once when grandpa Alfred came to visit!?”

 Sabine exchanged a look with Tom before she cleared her throat. 

  “We… Your father and I… We loved Gotham. It is a gloomy place with a lot of crime and problems but the people there are GOOD people. They protect their own, and they work hard to try and make their city better. It was the place where we met, the place we got married, and the place where we had you, our beautiful little girl. But…”

 Marinette felt her stomach drop. “But?”

  “It is dangerous there Marinette. And when you were still just a baby you and your mother got pulled into a bad attack, you both came out okay thanks to Batman but we realized then that our life wasn’t a safe one to raise a baby in.”

 Sabine nodded gravely to her husband's words. 

  “Your father and I both knew how to defend ourselves. We even taught other people self defense on weekends at the local gym as volunteer work. But you were just a baby and we got scared about losing you. So we made the decision to abandon our lives in Gotham and come to Paris. We always told ourselves we’d go back to Gotham someday when you were older and until then we didn’t talk about it, not because we didn’t want to but because I wasn’t ready yet I got so scared remembering almost losing you and when we were finally ready to tell you and move back to Gotham you… Met Alya.”

 Marinette blinked confused and furrowed her brows. “What does Alya have to do with this?”

 “Well…” Sabine looked over at Tom who took over the conversation.

  “You had been getting bullied by Chloe all those years. We were doing everything to get you out without pulling you from Dupont because we knew it was one of the best schools, but it wasn’t working. We saw how your confidence was dipping and how you were so unhappy so we thought that maybe it was time to make the move. You were 12 and knew how to defend yourself thanks to all your lessons with your mom and me. But then you came home from your first day of school and you were so happy.”

 Sabine smiled fondly. “You had made a friend and you were talking about how excited you were, then you ran for your class president position and won and we saw how you were blooming and we could not take that away from you so we pushed Gotham aside.”

  “But… But you both love it there?! Why would you do that why didn’t you tell me at least I-I don't understand-”

  “We didn’t want you to make a decision for our sake.” 

 Marinette snapped her mouth shut, denial dying on her lips. She knew exactly what her parents were talking about. Since Lila had begun manipulating the class and having them ask more and more of her, Marinette had learned that she had a serious problem standing up for herself. If her parents had approached her wanting to move to Gotham when she was younger even with her Ladybug responsibilities she would have folded like a deck of cards and likely stretched herself thin trying to make everyone happy and do everything. 

 “We wanted you to have a choice about the move. And you have always been so caring and considerate of others and if you had known how much me and your father loved Gotham we knew you’d agree to move even if you didn’t want to. So we held off saying anything and we were just happy to see you become so confident and happy.” Sabine bit her lip and chewed at the loose skin. “Recently… We had seen how stressed you were becoming, and how your friends were treating you. Before all this happened we were planning on telling you again and asking you if maybe you’d like to move to Gotham, but now with everything… Well the conversation happened a bit sooner than we had planned. But what do you say Peanut? Wanna go on a new adventure and move to Gotham?”

 Marinette nodded slowly and looked at Tikki and Trixx on the table who had been enjoying there cookies in relative silence the whole time.

 “Tikki, what do YOU think?” At the name the small god blinked her antenna twitching.

  “I think you need to be the one to decide Marinette this is your life, and you are our guardian. We trust you because you have always taken such good care of us all these years.” 

 Marinette flinched at Tikki’s words and dug her nails into her skin. She wanted to deny Tikki’s words but she knew the tiny god was speaking from the heart. Marinette often gave the kwami freedom, she talked with them, she was their friend and guardian and she valued them as people, something Tikki and the others had told her was rare so even though Marinette did not believe in herself she believed in the honesty behind Tikki’s words.

  “I… I’ll need to use the horse Kwami Kaalki to travel back to Paris whenever an akuma happens.”

  “That's not a problem, you have the same blood sugar problem as your mom so we can inform whatever new school you go to that you might need to leave class at times to take care of that.” 

 Marinette blinked, shocked at her dad's willingness to lie but then she snorted and smiled. It felt nice having someone to help her guard her secret identity.

  “If Marinette leaves Paris Hawkmoth will stop suspecting me as Ladybug so that's a bonus, I’d be able to decompress after fights and let myself feel emotions without worrying about akumatization. I also won't have to worry about the bakery getting crushed by another toddler akuma.”

 Tikki and her parents watched her in silence letting her talk herself through her thoughts and plan as she often did when processing her stress and fear.

  “Gotham has some of the best schools, and I’d be living in Uncle Jagged city AND in grandpa Alfred’s city… But… But where will we live, how will we make money, and what about school and then there's Alya and everyone back home and what if Ladybug gets to Paris too late??”

 Before Marinette could spiral further her mother took her hands and squeezed hard pulling Marinette out of her downward fall as she tools several deep breaths and focused on her mother who was guiding her through the breathing slowly.

  “You don’t need to worry about all the details, Marinette. We still own the old bakery from the pictures, your father and I could never bring ourselves to sell it so we kept it. It will need a bit of paint and the Marinette touch but it's got good bones and it's a bigger building.” 

  “As for school, well… You may not know this but your godfather Alfred is the butler and in many ways the father and grandfather to a very rich and influential family He’s told us all about Gotham Academy and I know my beautiful incredible daughter will be a perfect fit.”

  “Gotham Academy? Are you sure we can afford it? And don’t tell me your gonna have grandpa Alfred ask his employers for a favor! I don’t need or want the help of some rich people we don't know.”

 Sabine laughed openly at Marinette's pouty face. “My daughter? Need a hand out? No, but Alfred has told us all about the scholarships there. You are as brilliant as you are talented even if it is a bit past the start of the school year I’m sure we can get you one and if not we will find another school that recognizes what a talent you are.”

 Marinette’s cheeks flushed red at her mothers teasing proud words and she pulled nervously on her long dark hair as she bit her cheek and thought about it.

  “What about… Alya and my friends? Moving it sounds so amazing, a fresh start, somewhere new, the ability to let myself feel, and the distance from Hawkmoth it all sounds incredible but… What if I lose everyone here?”

 Tom squeezed his daughter's leg comfortingly and smiled at her warmly. “Do you think Alya and the others are the type of people who will just forget you?”

  “... No… I trust Alya. It's… Someone else I don’t trust and I’m worried what that person will do.”

 “You're talking about that Lila girl again aren't you?” Marinette nodded stiffly, leaning into her mother for comfort.

  “If she hasn’t succeeded yet, then I don’t think you need to worry. BUT if she does succeed then painful as it may be you will learn who your real friends are, but what you need to decide now is where you trust Alya to be your friend even if you're across an ocean.”

 Marinette took a moment to think, letting her mothers words hit her fully. Alya was her friend and despite all the damage Lila had done and all the problems shed created Marinette still cared about Alya and valued her friendship and she knew despite everything that Alya felt the same. They were bffs and for now Marinette was willing to trust in the bonds she’d made and believe that Alya would be there for her ocean or not. 

 Marinette took a deep breath and felt her heart and mind settle. She knew what was best now, for ladybug, for the kwami, for her family, for paris, but most importantly what would be best for herself and who she wanted to become moving forward. 

 Looking at her family, Marinette smiled warmly.

  “Gotham, sounds perfect.”

[ Wanna Support Me? Donate HERE! ]

[ Wanna Read More? Masterlist HERE! ]

( I hope I’m releasing the chapters at a good steady pace and that you guys like it so far feedback and comments are always appreciated and thank you for your patience with my spelling and grammar english is not my first language! )