Wounds
Chloé and Marinette both went to sleep in their double beds. The bed was better than Marinette had expected, the sheets were soft and retained heat, the pillows were fluffy and she was able to fall asleep easily.
The bluenette woke up by her alarm blaring from the nightstand between her and Chloé’s beds. Once she turned off the alarm on her phone, Marinette turned on the lamp hanging from the wall above the dresser. Next, she made sure Chloé was awake before changing into a simple navy blue, short sleeved blouse and dark grey, high waisted khaki pants.
“Morning bug.” Chloé yawned as she made her way to the bathroom.
“Morning Chloé. Black or grey sweater?” Marinette asked, holding up her black, button up sweater and her dark grey, opened sweater with pockets.
Chloé looked between the outfit and the two sweaters. “Grey, matches your pants.”
We finished getting ready before knocking on Adrien’s door across the hall.
“Adri, come on, it’s time for breakfast.” Marinette called from behind the door.
Adrien opened the door a few moments later. “I wish mornings were later.” The blond rubbed sleep from his eyes.
“Oh don’t worry Adri, you can sleep later.” Chloé laughed as she began to lead her friend towards the elevator.
The trio ate breakfast at a table far from the rest of the class. Marinette made sure that there were almost seven regular sized tables between her trio and Lila. Not long after the class settled down, Dick walked into the hotel with another man. The man was bigger than Dick in muscle and height. He sported a brown leather jacket, black shirt and pants, combat boots and his sunglasses tugged his shirt collar slightly. Marinette could feel a dark aura around him and she was slightly concerned.
“Hey kids, this is my brother Jason. Jay, this is Marinette, Chloé and Adrien.” Dick said in perfect French, sending Marinette a wink.
Jason looked at each teen, almost seeing how much of a threat each could be, before addressing them all in French. “Hello, I’m Jason. Dick told me a bit about each of you.”
Marinette smiled politely. “It’s nice to meet you Jason. I’m Marinette.” The look on Jason’s face when she spoke English was funny enough to get a chuckle out of Dick.
“You didn’t tell me they spoke English.” Jason grumbled, but the smile on his face showed that he was amused.
“Only us three. The rest of the class never bothered to really learn the language.” Chloé said as if she were royalty speaking about filth.
Marinette nudged Chloé, giving her a stern look. “Chloé and Adrien also had private English lessons outside of school. When we became friends, we started tutoring each other in the course.”
“Sounds like fun.” Jason smiled at the three teens.
Dick looked at his phone before putting it back in his pocket and straightened his posture. “Alright everyone, it’s time to get going. We have a half hour to get to the museum.”
A few grumbles were heard for the still tired students, along with a handful of cheers for the students who were more awake. Lila was walking to the bus as if she were a queen walking to her throne. It put Marinette’s guard up.
The drive to the Gotham Museum was quiet. Some students were getting a few extra minutes of sleep, while others were quietly using their phones.
“Okay everyone!” Dick said into the mic at the front of the bus. “We have arrived. Please get out of your seats carefully, if anyone trips, we will be talking to anyone who was close to the person who tripped. If we find any funny business happening, students involved will be warned once before they will face punishment.” Dick scanned the bus before continuing. “There are security cameras facing every angle of every room. We can and will get video footage of anything we deem unacceptable. We will be quiet while going through the museum, respectful to everyone and everything inside and outside of the building. No photography is allowed while in the museum, unless you are in the gift shop. If you would like, you may turn your device in and me or my brother will hold them in one of these bags while we are in the museum.” The bag Dick held up was a clear backpack with a few pens and paper inside. “If you hand in your device, you will be handed a sticker and a pen to write your name on the sticker and place said sticker on your device. Jason will now give you all a rundown on safety here in Gotham.”
Jason took the mic from Dick and stood up. “Listen up because I’m not going to repeat myself.” Jason’s features were cold and calculating. “The museum has faced many villain attacks over the years. If a villain or any other criminal is in the museum, you will follow mine and Dick’s instructions so you don’t get hurt. Students who act against our instructions can either get hurt or wind up dead.” A few students started whispering but had quiet down when Jason resumed talking. “Stay with the group, do not separate from the group. There will be no horse play, rough housing, or verbal attacks towards any student. Seeing how this is a larger group, the class will be divided in two. One group will go with Dick and the other will come with me.” Jason handed the mic back to Dick and sat down.
“Okay, group time!” Dick’s cheery tone came through the bus speakers. “Group one will be Lila, Alya, Rose, Jeleka, Mylene, Ivan, Sabrina. Group two will be Alix, Kim, Nathaniel, Marinette, Chloé, Adrien, Nino. I’m going with group one and Jason will be with group two.” Dick handed the driver the mic, turned back to the class and spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him. “Group one, please come with me. Group two, please stay in your seats.”
Group one left the bus and followed Dick into the museum. Jason waited a few minutes before having the second group follow him into the museum. All of group two handed their devices to Jason before leaving the bus. As they walked through the museum following their museum tour guide, Marinette tried to remember as much as she could for designing.
Marinette’s favorite part of the tour was the portion of the Wayne family. It was interesting for her to hear about how the Wayne family started as immigrants and over time became a large influence in Gotham. Marinette liked hearing about the way Bruce changed Wayne Enterprise to giving back more to the city then the company already was.
After nearly two hours of touring the history of Gotham, the tour guide brought the group to the gift shop. Marinette sent her a grateful smile before heading into the shop.
After the museum, the class went to the Gotham gardens for a few hours before going back to the hotel. Marinette was just leaving the bathroom by the entrance when she noticed that everyone was gone. She quickly called Chloé.
“Where did you guys go? Bustier said that it was close to a forty minute trip back, an hour with traffic, so we should use the bathroom before leaving.” Marinette was trying hard not to panic.
“Once everyone else got into the bus, Bustier had the driver pull out. We’re passing the shopping plaza by the hotel now.” Chloé sounded pissed, Marinette could hear Adrien calming her down.
“Chlo, I’ll be fine. I’ll walk back to the hotel. It’s still mid afternoon. I should be there soon. I’ll share my location with you so you can know where I am.” Marinette hung up the phone and pulled up Google Maps for directions.
Marinette was about an hour and a half away from the hotel if she walked quickly. It was getting a bit darker than she had planned. Marinette made sure to text Chloé and Adrien every few minutes.
A half hour into the journey, Marinette felt someone tailing her. She quickly put her phone into her pocket before looking back. “Tikki, text Dick and tell him to track my phone. Send him a shit ton of texts until he answers and Chloé too.” Marinette whispered as she picked up speed.
Another quick look behind her and the man from a few moments ago was also picking up his speed. Clearly following her. Marinette quickly broke into a sprint. She didn’t know where she was going, but she kept running. Marinette knew that she couldn’t go back to the hotel with the man following her, that would bring him to her classmates and any other possible victim. Marinette stopped for a moment, a brief second to turn a sharp corner and the man pulled her into a nearby alleyway. One of his large hands covered her mouth, while the other wrapped around her waist, pressing Marinette into the man’s chest. Marinette bit, screamed and flailed, but it was no use. His hand moved slightly, covering her nose as well as her lips and in a few minutes, everything went dark. The last thing Marinette could feel was Tikki flying into the side of her shirt.
Marinette woke up slowly to the sound of yelling.
“Oh come on! Why can’t we just sell her?” A man yelled out from at least a yard away.
“We can’t sell her. She’s high profile.” Another man, who was far closer to Marinette had said. “She’s the winner of Wayne’s latest competition. We can use her for ransom, which means far more money.”
Marinette slowly opened her eyes and took a quick scan of the room before shutting them again. There was a catwalk above her head, a door around seven feet away from Marinette to the left. There were four men visible, but most likely more. Three of which had guns. The fourth was walking closer to Marinette.
“Besides, we’re never allowed to play with the merchandise when selling them off. This time we can.” The second man said.
Marinette was beginning to like the man less and less. Whoever he is, he’s had experience with kidnappings. Marinette felt a rough glove caress her cheek before it forcefully jerked her head from one side to the other, up and down, before dropping her face.
“Are you sure you didn’t kill her Hugh?” A new voice asked, sounding a little worried.
“I didn’t kill her. She’ll wake up soon.” The man who held her face grunted. “If not, I’m sure Billy would like to have a go at her. We all know he’s got a thing for dead teens.”
As if sensing her distress, someone broke at least two windows.
“Let the girl go!” A deep voice punctuated each word forcefully.
The sound of gunshots was heard almost immediately after. Marinette felt Tikki untying the ropes. Once the miniature goddess was done, Marinette quickly ran for cover behind a crate while she looked for a way out. There were five men in suits. Once in full black, anyone would know he was Batman. The second was wearing black and blue. The third man wore a grey suit under a brown jacket and a red helmet. The fourth was wearing a black and red suit and what seemed like a red and black cape. The fifth was wearing green, red and yellow, along with a hood. Out of all of the five, Marinette felt unsettled about the man in the helmet and Batman. Batman for obvious reasons, but the man in the helmet for two simple reasons. He was fighting quite aggressively and had guns strapped to his legs and most likely a few more weapons inside his jacket.
The traffic light should have been on her radar. He was quite aggressive as well and had enough blood spilled due to his sword to fill two or three blood bags. However, Marinette couldn’t help but feel comforted by his presence. Almost drawn to him.
Marinette quickly ran out of the room, transformed and found a new way into the room. Ladybug quickly took out two men. As she scanned the room, she could tell the traffic light had far too many men around him to fight by himself. Ladybug quickly took on two of his men. There was another man coming up to join the fight, only he stopped a few feet away and pulled out a gun.
“Get down!” Ladybug yelled, running to push the traffic light to the concrete floor.
Ladybug was pushing the male down, shielding him from the gun when it went off. A bullet shot through the air, piercing Ladybug in the rib cage. She let out a cry of pain as her body crumpled to the floor.
“Robin! Are you two okay?” Someone yelled from across the room, they almost sounded like Dick.
“She was hit!” The male, Robin, yelled back.
“I’m fine!” Ladybug yelled, standing up and attempting to continue the fight.
Robin moved closer to Ladybug. “You’re not okay, you were just shot. Go hide.” Robin hissed. “If you refuse to stop fighting, look for a teen girl. She ran out of the hallway behind us.”
Ladybug huffed. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Go. Meet me at the Wayne Enterprise roof tomorrow at midnight.” Robin nudged Ladybug towards the hallway.
Ladybug didn’t like the fact that she was being pushed away, but this wasn’t her city. So she listened to Robin. There was no doubt that people were looking for her as a civilian. Marinette was about two blocks from the building with the other heroes when she felt light headed. Marinette stopped at the top of a building and laid down. Her transformation dropped, causing her bullet wound to hurt even more. However, the pain made her tired. Someone came running over towards her.
“Marinette, Marinette. Stay with me. Come on, stay awake. It’s Jason, come on, stay awake.”
Marinette could barely make out his bright red helmet before passing out.
Marinette woke up quickly once she heard alarms going off. Almost immediately she tried to get up. Two sets of arms quickly pinned her back into the mattress and Marinette started to flail and scream. Her vision still hazy, she could barely see anything with the bright lights.
“Marinette, you safe. You in the hospital. My name is Dr. Kathy.” A woman said loudly to Marinette’s right.
Marinette stopped trying to get away, but didn’t relax. Dr. Kathy walked closer to Marinette. Marinette couldn’t find any distinct characteristics in the woman other than she was taller than Marinette.
“Marinette, you were shot three days ago and brought here by Batman. Do you not remember talking with Mr. Todd, Mr. Grayson and Mr. Wayne yesterday?” Marinette tried to remember but couldn’t, so she shook her head no. “Okay, well the three of them are back again today. I will tell them that as of now you don’t remember anything from yesterday.” Dr. Kathy said before walking out of the room. Nobody came into the room for another few minutes.
“Hey kiddo.” Marinette registered the voice as Dick’s. “How you feeling today?”
“Hey.” Marinette mumbled softly. “I can’t, I can’t remember anything from yesterday. Dr. Kathy said that you came in to see me?”
“You don’t have to worry about it kid.” Dick sat at the edge of Marinette bed.
Marinette’s eyesight was getting better. She could clearly tell who each person in the room was based on their faces. It brought a slight smile to her face.
“Does my class, friends and family know about what happened?” Marinette’s smile dropped once the words left her mouth.
Jason let out a few choice words before dragging over a chair next to Marinette’s bed. “Yeah, they all know. You can’t fly home for a while until the doc clears you, so for now you’ll be staying with us at the manor.”
“Oh, okay… can I have my phone please? It was in my purse.” Marinette asked before remembering that her purse was dropped in the alleyway.
Dick leaned over to the small table by Marinette before handing her the purse. “Here, you had me worried before with all of your texts. Timmy had to trace your phone and we found it in an alleyway.”
Marinette curled into the hospital bed. “I’m really sorry.” Marinette said softly, her next words came out in a never ending stream. “I’m really sorry. Ms. Bustier said that we should all use the restroom before we leave and when I walked out, everyone was gone. I used my maps app to get directions to the hotel but felt someone following me. I knew that I would be putting my class and others in danger if I led him back to the hotel, so I turned off my phone and just started running through the streets. I was turning to go down another street but he had caught up to me. I’m so sorry.”
“Marinette, you did nothing wrong. You got left behind the moment you were left without a competent adult.” Dick tried to comfort the girl.
Marinette nodded, barely listening to the words Dick was speaking. She opened her phone to find multiple texts from various people.
Queenie: Marinette are you okay?! Marinette, why aren’t you answering your phone.
Queenie: Marinette, it’s been two hours. Why aren’t you answering your phone?
Maribug: Hey guys.
Queenie: Holly shit MARINETTE ARE YOU OKAY? WE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF ‘DINNER’ WHEN BUSTIER GETS A CALL SAYING THAT YOU WERE SHOT!!!!!!!!!!!
Minou: Easy there Chlo, we were all worried. Are you doing okay Mari?
Maribug: I’m fine. I will be living with Mr. Wayne for the rest of the trip I don’t know what the plan is. I just woke up a little while ago
Minou: That’s great Mari! We’ll miss you
Maribug: I’ll miss you guys too
Marinette sent a few texts to her parents before putting her phone down on the bed next to her. “What’s the plan?”
“Well, you have been discharged under the rules that you’re not allowed to be doing any physical activities. You are allowed to walk around the manor so long as there is someone with you.” Bruce had begun speaking for the first time that visit. “Dick, Jason and I will be waiting in the lobby.”
The three men left and Marinette opened her purse to grab a hair tie to put her loose hair.
“Marinette are you okay?” Tikki asked once the coast was clear.
Marinette felt a stream of pain as she moved her arms to put her hair back. It was too painful, so Marinette let her hair stay down. “How come this hurts so much now? I feel like I’m in more pain than when I was shot.” Marinette held back a wince as she continued to move her arms and upper body.
“They had to get the bullet out of your chest. It ended up getting lodged in one of your ribs. You were in surgery for almost three hours.” Tikki used some of her magic to ease the pain of her holder.
“Thanks Tikki.” Marinette sighed as the pain lessened.
Once Marinette was changed, she stepped out of the room. Bruce, Dick and Jason were all sitting in chairs by the lobby. Well, Jason was sitting in a wheelchair.
“Why are you in a wheelchair Jason?” Marinette asked once she was closer to the men.
Jason looked up at Marinette, sending her a playful glare. “It’s not for me silly.” Jason stood up and rolled the chair over towards Marinette. “Sit.”
“I can walk Jason.” Marinette argued, crossing her arms for emphasis. However, when she winced at the movement, Jason carefully sat her into the chair.
“Girl gets shot in the rib and thinks she’ll walk out of the hospital.” He muttered.
“Most men can’t do that.” Dick chuckled.
“That's because men are babies.” Marinette mumbled, a small smile graced her lips when Jason started laughing.
Jason wheeled Marinette out to a large vehicle. An older man stood in front of the passenger door and immediately opened the back door for them.
“Marinette, this is Alfred. Alfred, Marinette.” Jason introduced the two.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Dupain-Cheng.” Alfred put a gentle hand on Marinette's shoulder.
“It’s nice to meet you too. Please just call me Marinette.” Marinette offered the man a warm smile.
Getting out of the wheelchair and into the car was a slight struggle since she had to bend down to get through the door. But Marinette pushed through. Texting her friends updates every so often. While on the drive, Marinette pieced together what happened the night she had been shot. Hearing Dick’s voice, Jason being the man in the helmet. That must mean the whole family was the Bat team Adrien was excited about.
Maribug: Just pulled up to the manor and HOLY SHIT THIS PLACE IS HUGE!!!!!
Marinette sat with her eyes wide open. This is where she’ll be staying!
Jason snorted. “If it makes you feel better, the place just has big rooms. Granted there’s like a hundred of them but still.”
Marinette nodded, not even knowing what Jason had said. The manor was ginormous. The stone and brick exterior was carefully crafted to make the manor look like a miniature castle. When inside Marinette wanted to cry. The careful wood framing, the beautiful paintings of families and scenic views, the furniture was newer but didn’t clash with anything. The manor was obviously up to date on its technology as well. Dick and Bruce had let Jason bring Marinette on a small tour on the way to her room.
“Pixie-Pop, how about I give you a tour later once you’re settled in.” Jason teased the petite girl for reacting in such a way. “Dick will probably end up interrogating you later with what happened the other day
“Thanks for letting me know.” Marinette said sarcastically. “This place is beautiful.” Marinette said softly as she turned in a circle before stopping to look at a photo of a happy family of three. One boy and his parents. The photo was obviously painted some time in the mid 1980’s. Compared to other portraits Marinette had seen, this family looked truly happy.
“That’s Bruce’s parents. The photo was painted about a year before they died.” Jason said softly.
Marinette remembered reading about them. “They were killed outside of a theatre, correct? I did a lot of research before coming here. Mr. Wayne watched the murders. I’ve seen a fair share of death but I can’t fathom what it would have been like to watch your parents life fade away in front of your very own eyes.” Marinette wiped away a stray tear.
“That was a long time ago. Nevertheless, I keep that photo as a reminder of them. My parents were good people.”
Marinette turned around to see Bruce Wayne standing before her. “I’m sorry for your loss. However, if I may say so, you are a good person Mr. Wayne. I did a lot of research about you and your company, since taking over Wayne Enterprise you have helped Gotham become a better place.”
“Thank you Ms. Dupain-Cheng.” Bruce offered his hand, Marinette happily shook it.
“Thank you for letting me stay here for the time being. If anything happens please tell me so that I can fix it.” Marinette smiled politely. “Also please call me Marinette.”
Dick walked into the room shortly after Bruce. “Marinette, how’s the tour?”
Marinette though for a minute. “How much do they know about me? They’re the Bat Fam, did they look up everything about me and who I am? Do they know about MDC?” Marinette began spiraling.
“Marinette? What’s wrong Pixie-Pop?” Jason asked, snapping Marinette back to the present.
Marinette looked up at Bruce and schooled her emotions. “How much do you know about me? My personal, professional and hero lives all included.”
Bruce didn’t say it out loud, but Marinette had not been what he was expecting. From what he could find in the short amount of time, Marinette was not like most teenagers her age. She didn’t have a very active social media, the only things she posted within the last few years were with the same four friends or her family. In the beginning of her social media days she was quite active and had her classmates with the exception of Chloé Bourgeois in most posts. Now all of the class’ social media was around everyone but Chloé, Marinette and Adrien, usually around stories from Lila Rossi.
“Of course. I’m assuming you know about us to an extent?” Bruce asked seriously.
Marinette nodded. “I was able to piece things together as to who each of you are. You obviously being Batman, Dick being Nightwing, Jason being Red Hood. I assume Timothy Drake is Red Robin and your son Damian is Robin. However, I am not going to jump to conclusions since I do not have all of the facts. I have yet to see your younger sons but based on my knowledge I believe I know who you all are.”
“How long did it take for you to figure us all out?” Bruce asked, his voice never faltering.
“I was trying to figure everything out in the car. Jason told me who he was on the roof. I had recognized Dick’s voice when he was yelling after the gunshot. I pieced together that Dick and Jason were your sons when we were at the hospital. Tim Drake is also one of your sons and it would make sense for him and the rest of the family to be a team of two out of five of you were heroes.” Marinette listed the points she used to come to her conclusion. “Now, how much do you know about me? My personal, professional and hero lives all included.” Marinette’s eyes showed that she was nervous, maybe scared but she wouldn’t back down.
“Jason knew that you were Ladybug. We know that within the last few years you only post with certain people from your class and your parents. You’re a fashion designer and very talented. Your parents own a bakery that is ranked one of the best in Paris. When you were thirteen Ladybug made her first appearance with her sidekick.”
“Partner and his name is Chat Noir.” Marinette interrupted. Jason and Dick looked at her like she grew a second head.
“Okay, your partner Chat Noir, to defeat Hawk Moth. Over the course of the next few years the team expanded but two out of the original heroes seem to no longer come to battles while two new heroes take their places. Hawk Moth has gained an ally and as of the last year he has stopped attacking as frequently. That is all we know about your hero identity.” Bruce stated.
“Well then I guess we know what we need to know about each other.” Marinette said before her features softened. “Thank you again for letting me stay here for the remainder of my trip. I’ll do my best to stay out of trouble.”
The four carried what could be a civil conversation before they heard yelling.
“Get back here you sleep deprived, coffee addicted, imbecile!”
“Get away you gremlin!” A man yelled before jumping behind Jason and running out the room.
The teen boy who was chasing him slid down the railing and landed before running after his brother. His hand barely brushed Marinette’s when the two teens froze. Marinette opened her eyes and only saw the boy. She thought it was too dark to really see and wished there was a little bit of light to light up the area around them. Immediately there were soft lights shining between the teens, that’s when the boy looked up.
“What the?” He stood up and turned in a circle. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know but I think it’s some part of our subconscious.” Marinette wasn’t sure but thought that throwing around ideas wouldn’t be a bad thing.
“This is happening because I touched your hand. How did the lights get here?” He asked.
“I couldn’t see much of anything so I hoped to have some light to see.” Marinette thought about there being a comfortable space for them to sit and talk and suddenly a black couch with blankets appeared. “This is weird.”
“You thought about this?” He asked as he gestured towards the couch.
Marinette shrugged. “I thought about a comfortable place for us to sit.”
Marinette took a seat at one end of the couch and wrapped herself in a blanket. The boy sat down very formally on the opposite end. The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Marinette thought about having a large whiteboard for them to write on with multiple different marker colors to use. Marinette stood up and started writing on the board.
“What are you doing?” The boy asked.
Marinette drew a line down the muffle of the white board before handing the boy a marker. “You are going to write down your name and anything else you would talk about when you first meet someone.” Marinette said before writing down her name and some of her favorite things.
•Name: Marinette Dupain-Cheng
•Favorite color: Pink
•Favorite food: Macaroons
•Hobbies: Designing, sewing, drawing, baking
•Hero identity / identities: Ladybug
•Dislikes:
>Liars
>Cheating
>Rudeness
>Bullying
>Violence
>Being led on / tricked
•Likes:
>The truth
>Designing
>Being with family and friends
>Trying new things
>Helping other people or things
•Name: Damian Wayne
•Hero identity: Robin
Marinette looked at her list before closing her marker and taking a step back. The boy had finished before her but she was okay with that. Looking at the list he made she smiled softly. “It’s nice to meet you Damian.”
“Dupain-Cheng.” Damian said curtly.
“Okay, so you’re a quiet and excessively formal person. Well you know a little bit about me and I won’t pressure you to tell me more than you want to. However, I do want to get to know you Damian.” Marinette smiled softly.
“Tt.” Damian offered his hand for a handshake which Marinette happily returned.
That’s when everything went black again. When Marinette opened her eyes she saw Jason and Tim looking down at her. “Where am I?” Marinette asked as she sat up.
“You touched Demon Spawn and the both of you dropped. We brought you into the family room to see when you would wake up.” Jason explained.
“Okay, where’s Damian?” Marinette asked as she eyed the room seeing no sight of the boy.
“Damian, I swear to god.” Dick mumbled as he and Damian walked into the room. “Why are you like this?”
“Because I was raised in the league until I was ten then by father.” Damian explained before looking at Marinette. “Dupain-Cheng.”
“Hello to you too Damian.” Marinette said with a soft roll of her eyes.
“Dinner is ready.” Bruce said as he walked into the room. “How are you feeling Marinette?”
“Fine I think. I’m sorry if I worried any of you.” Marinette bowed her head.
Even Damian’s face darkened slightly at her apology.
“Marinette, you did nothing wrong.” Dick said as he sat next to Marinette.
Marinette just nodded. “Can I get something from my room please?” She asked weakly.
“Of course, Damian, can you please bring Marinette to her room?” Bruce asked.
Damian turned and led Marinette to her room. Marinette mumbled a soft thank you before walking into her room and closing the door. She quietly ran to the farthest corner from the door and slid down the wall, quietly crying. After a few minutes she calmed down and walked into the bathroom connected to her room to fix her makeup. Once she was done she slowly opened her door.
“No.” Marinette said softly as she saw Damian leaning against the opposite wall from her door.
“You don’t know what I was about to say.” Damian stated coldly.
Marinette raised an eyebrow and sighed. “If you were going to say ‘are you okay’, ‘do you want to talk about it’, the answer is no.”
“Well, I wasn’t going to ask any of those questions. I was going to ask if you wanted to eat dinner without the rest of the family. You’re obviously not okay and asking if you want to talk is redundant. I can quickly grab some food for you and lead you somewhere more private to eat if you would feel more comfortable.” Damian stated with almost no emotion.
Marinette smiled softly. “Thanks Damian, I would like that.” Damian nodded, led Marinette towards the kitchen and grabbed some food. “Would you like to eat with me? You don’t have to but I don’t know, I just…”
“Of course. My siblings are bothersome anyway.” Damian filled another plate of food before walking out of the kitchen and to a family room like area with a table and chairs. “What do you want to talk about?” Damian asked once he put the food down and sat down.
Marinette sat down across from Damian. “I really don’t want to talk about anything Damian.”
“Okay fine, however I need to ask you some questions.” Damian stated.
“I thought Dick was going to interrogate me?” Marinette joked.
Damian’s lips twitched before settling into his normal frown. “Yes however, father ended up interrogating you instead. He only got the overall information he needed.”
“So you’re going to ask me questions that are more personal?” Marinette said tiredly as she moved her food around her plate.
“Yes.” Damian said before pushing his plate out of the way so he can place his hands on the table. “You’re friends with Adrien Agreste, Chloé Bourgeois, Luka Couffaine and Kagami Tsurugi. Your parents run a bakery that you and your family live over. You go to the school across the street with most of your friends. When you were thirteen you became Ladybug who soon became a phenomenon across Paris. In school you became the class president and your deputy was Alya Césaire. Whenever there was an akuma, you would go missing a few minutes prior to Ladybug’s appearance. When Lila Rossi came to the school, the two of you did not get along. Rossi left and everything went back to normal. When Rossi returned you were expelled but shortly after you were welcomed back to the school and your history of expulsion was erased. Since then, you are class president with Agreste and Bourgeois as your CO deputies. You no longer post things with your class and they never seem to include you, Bourgeois or Agreste in anything. You seem to only have four friends in Paris. You’re constantly getting hate emails and texts from your peers on your old phone. You changed your number a few months ago and you don’t send any responses to your old classmates. Your principal is new and you have already gotten him to stand up for you unlike your old principal. The Ladyblog has since been replaced with Lila. That’s all of the information my family has about you.” Damian leaned back slightly. “I however know that you design for multiple big names such as Jagged Stone, Gabriel Agreste and Clara Nightingale. You have a big name and a small circle of clientele but that doesn’t mean you don’t design for someone who asks for a design to wear for a nice occasion. Your deputies are Chat Noir and Queen Bee. Your other friends are Viperion and Ryuko. You are loyal to your team which is why you have let Queen Bee, Viperion and Ryuko stay by your side for the last few years. Hawk Moth hasn’t been a large threat like he was a year ago and you are happy about that but it’s also off setting.”
Marinette was impressed that Damian got almost everything. “You’re right, about almost everything. I’m loyal yes but the reason my team has been together for so long is not just because I’m loyal to them but because they are also loyal to me. The reason Rena Rouge and Carapace are no longer parts of the team is because they can’t be trusted. My team works like yours, we are a family and it took a lot for us to get to the place we are in now. So yes I’m loyal to my team but that’s not something I give lightly, they have earned my trust.”
“That’s the reason you have a small circle.” Damian raised his eyebrows.
“I have a small circle because the people I trusted left!” Marinette’s lip quivered. “Lila took my class from me. I won’t let someone get close to me like everyone else.”
Damian smiled slightly. “That’s all I needed.” He stood up and grabbed his plate.
“That’s all you needed? That’s all you needed!” Marinette slammed her hands on the table. “You did all of that for what?! To see what makes me snap?! What kind of sick person digs into someone’s life then walks away once they snap!?”
“In the world I live in, it’s my job to figure out what makes others snap.” Damian stated as he stared down at Marinette.
“I know that look Wayne, that’s the ‘I’m better than you and you should be scared of me’ look. It’s not going to work. I’ve stared down much worse than you. You’re nothing more than an arrogant prick and that is all I need from you!” Marinette spat before storming out of the room and towards her room. Marinette closed her door and locked it before transforming and jumping out of her window.
“Demon Spawn? What just happened?” Tim asked as he and Dick ran into the room.
“I got to know her better. I’ll be in my room.” Damian shrugged before walking out of the room.
“Pixie-Pop?” Jason asked as he knocked on Marinette’s door. “Hey, it’s Jason. Marinette?” When Jason didn’t get an answer he picked the lock. The window was opened but other than that there was no Marinette. “Marinette?!”
Ladybug jumped from rooftop to rooftop through Paris. She was so happy that Mr. Pigeon decided to strike because she wanted to be in Paris.
“What’s the situation?” Ladybug asked as she landed next to Viperion.
“Hey LB. Mr. P got mad about some kids messing with his birds.” Viperion stated.
The fight was quick. Within fifteen minutes the team was heading back to the Eiffel Tower.
“Not that I don’t love you LB but why are you here?” Viperion asked.
Ladybug huffed and leaned against a pillar. “I met my soulmate today. He’s a total prick.”
“Woah!” Viperion laughed. “You’ve only cursed when talking about Rossi.”
“Well, this one knows about me and everyone. He and his team figured us all out within a few days. He knows everything and decided to see what ticks me off.” Ladybug said angrily. “He got under my skin and once I snapped he just said ‘that’s all I needed’.”
“Damn, what did you say?” Viperion asked as he wrapped an arm around Ladybug’s shoulders.
“I told him that he was an arrogant prick and that was all I needed from him.” Ladybug stated. “Is it wrong that I feel bad but I still want to bash his face in?”
Viperion shook his head as he tried to calm down his friend. “Nope! He’s totally a jerk. However, you need to calm down.”
The two did a quick calming exercise before Ladybug stood up. “I need to get going. I still need to tell the others.”
“I’m here for you Ladybug.” Viperion gave a soft smile before Ladybug stepped through the portal to her room in the manor.
Once she dropped her transformations she took a deep breath.
“Pixie-Pop!” Jason cheered as he hugged Marinette.
“Hey Jason. What’s up?” Marinette asked nervously.
Jason held Marinette in front of him and stared her in the eye. “We heard yelling so we went to check it out. Dick and Tim went to find Damian and I came to find you. You weren’t here and the window was opened.”
“I needed to get to Paris.” Marinette stated.
“That doesn’t explain the window being open.” Jason raised an eyebrow.
“Okay so I may or may not have hopped out the window while I was transformed as Ladybug and then shortly after needed to get to Paris for an akuma.” Marinette confesses. “But I came back shortly afterwards, I needed to talk to one of my teammates.”
Jason sighed. “Fine.”
“Fine?” Marinette was a little confused.
“Yes, fine. Next time let us know before you just disappear though?” Jason smiled softly.
“Fine.” Marinette giggled before getting serious. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to find your youngest brother.”
Jason nodded and brought Marinette to Damian’s room. “Demon Spawn, open the fuck up.”
“What do you want Todd?” Damian called from inside the room.
“Seeing as I’m being nice, open the damn door.” Jason stated as he leaned against the doorframe.
Damian opened the door and looked between the two. “What?”
Marinette grabbed his wrist and everything went dark. Then they were back into the mind space. “I really don’t like you right now.”
“Congratulations.” Damian said sarcastically. “Is that all?”
“No.” Marinette swung a punch.