Chapter Text
Working with Tim was like a dream come true. He set Marinette up with a small room that he had outfitted with everything that she had needed to make their commissions and more. The room was literally a single step away from being a professional set up, the only hold up was the size, which she couldn’t begrudge considering his time constraints and the reality she was only one person.
It was nice to get to work all day on her career of choice without having to worry about schoolwork and other interruptions. Tim for better or worse, had kept true to his word about him coming in during his free time. Stopping by for a ten-minute break here and there to work out her price model for commissions was not always a welcomed break yet still very enlightening.
Each time he came, he would leave abruptly as work called him back, leaving Marinette to focus once again on the family’s designs. A project she had gotten so wrapped-up in, she forgot to ‘bother’ Damian at some point before the lunch break. Which in reality, was all his fault, as she had fussed far too long on his design, needing it to be perfect.
Unfortunately, when her alarm sounded reminding her of her ‘commitment’ to have lunch with her husband, she entered his floor to find him nowhere in sight. Her previous desk neighbor gave her pity by informing her that ‘Mr. Wayne was currently in a meeting.’ A meeting that had no end in sight, so she’d be better off grabbing something to eat before her break ended.
She hated that she didn’t get to spend lunch with Damian, but she couldn’t help that work got in the way. So, she resigned to the fact and ended up in the Gotham Botanical Gardens, looking for some inspiration for her designs.
Once again, the flowers perked-up with her arrival. As much as she planned to sit and work as their beauty gave her so many ideas, she couldn’t help wanting to walk among the foliage. She dropped Tikki off into some beautiful sunflowers allowing her to zoom at her own pace, the small goddess offering up her own healing with her presence. Both worked to cover all if not most of the large gardens in their healing auras.
Ivy worked hard to give the best to the plants under her care, but she was not the goddess or Kaiduan of Creation, she could not heal like they could. Even as Marinette finished a lap of the garden, those strolling through gave voice to the renewed beauty and brightness in the garden not often felt nor seen.
Marinette wanted to slap herself when she realized that Lila was right, she did tend to preen slightly when others recognized the contributions she gave. Rather, she felt like she was happy, not at the recognition of her efforts, but that people could see the good her effort created. In Gotham, it was her efforts to balance Plagg’s essence.
“I should have known you were back in my garden when my babies began to cry with joy.” Marinette spun around quickly to the voice that she easily recognized belonging to Poison Ivy.
“Ms. Ivy.” Marinette said as she swallowed the bile that rose to her throat. She had spared her secret divulgence to Dick and Ivy the last time they met, but she should have known that it wouldn’t prevent Ivy from trying to satisfy her own curiosity later.
“Ms. Ivy. I like it, but you can call me Pam. All my friends do. And you Ms. Marigold, are a friend. Right?”
Marinette did not know how to answer. She definitely didn’t want to be an enemy and it seemed impossible to remain merely acquaintances at this point… but friends?
“Marigold?”
“The last time we met I believe one of your friends called you Mari. I find you to be gold among fools. And marigolds just happen to be some of my favorite flowers. I know that you will become one of my favorites, my babies love you and so, I know I will come to love you.” She came to take her hand. Marinette knew she should fear someone who was once an eco-terrorist, but there was far too much sincerity in her eyes. “Now, I would love to know just how you seem to be healing my plants.”
Marinette took a deep breath. The truth was out of the question. Revealing that she was Ladybug and had a piece of the soul of the Goddess of Creation was not going to happen. So, part truth, after all, the definition of meta was quite vague. “I have the ability to heal, but I would appreciate if you kept that knowledge to yourself.”
“Oh Marigold, you needn’t worry. I think I proved last time that I can keep your secret. From everyone but Harley that is, she is far too perceptive.” She winked at Marinette, causing her to surprisingly relax further. “So, you’re a meta. You don’t have to share but do you know how your powers work?”
Marinette paused. How much was she willing to share with Pam. Dick seemed to somewhat trust her and he was Nightwing, so... “I have an aura that heals plants.”
“Not quite a plant whisperer than, just a healer. Can you heal anything else?”
Marinette shrugged her shoulders and shook her head once. Hoping it conveyed something like, ‘not that I know of,’ without her having to say it.
Pam’s eyes softened but her eyebrow quirked up, almost like she didn’t quite buy it. “What a blessing you are. Have you ever tried to heal anything else?”
Yes, it was the first power she obtained outside of a transformation. But she shook her head feeling like she had hinted and therefore given away too much already.
“One of my friends has a daughter, of sorts, that was hurt by a deranged clown. He broke her spine and put her in a wheelchair. I just wonder if you might be able to help?”
“Joker.” Marinette had heard of the deranged clown of Gotham and the chaos and misfortune that seemed to follow him. It was likely Plagg’s essence that called him into the city and further deteriorated his mental state to become the villain he was today. It felt partially like she was responsible for the consequences of his wake, even if there was no rationality behind the feeling. If the city was more balanced perhaps Pam’s friend’s daughter would not be in a wheelchair.
“Achoo.” An over exaggerated sneeze caused the woman to turn to someone walking up the path in their direction. “They say you sneeze when someone is talking about you and look at that, the two of you were. I wonder why I didn’t sneeze twice.”
The Joker in all of his hideous glory outfit, stood before them, his sadistic smile aimed at Marinette. She freaked slightly wondering how much of their conversation the clown had heard. Pam quickly pushed Marinette, behind her shielding her from the psycho.
Marinette was panicking slightly, knowing that Tikki was in the flowers somewhere and she was unarmed against the most unhinged villain in Gotham. Going through the Miraculous available to her, she conjured the Mouse knowing that the Bats were already aware of her presence in the city. But the use of Mullo would be a last resort as she didn’t dare tip her hat to the Joker.
“I was just walking around when I noticed that something wasn’t right. I followed it and it led me here… to you two. Now we both know that Ivy isn’t right in general.” Said woman hissed under her breath. “So is the one your protecting have something to do with the pleasantness that suddenly is overwhelming the gardens?”
“Just a new blend to the fertilizer, it’s doing wonders don’t you think?” Pam spat.
Marinette could feel something start to wind around her legs, she looked down to see vines, likely moving due to Ivy’s influence. She tried not to focus on them so as to not alert Joker, but she hated not being in control and she knew that they would eventually do something more than simply wrap around her legs.
The Joker laughed before he looked straight at Pam with his head tilted slightly down. A small smile was barely visible thanks to the scars that marred his cheeks, giving him a sinister look. “Sure, then you won’t mind if I take the girl then if she is no value added.”
“You’ve known Pam-a-lamb long enough to know she’d neva just hand someone ova to ya.” Harley walked into the small clearing with a comically large mallet resting in her hands.
Joker smirked at the voice of the newcomer, his eyes never leaving Marinette even as he tilted his head in Harley’s direction. “She may not, but I know you have a hard time denying me anything.”
“That. Was the old me. The new me, can only give ya pain.” Her excitement did not quite match the threat in her words.
“I suggest you leave before you get hurt, Joker.” A third feminine voice entered the garden as Cat Woman slank her way towards the small group. Marinette now found herself protected by a thief in a catsuit, an ex-girlfriend with a vendetta, and a meta who could control plants. All trying to save her from a clown who may or may not know she had some kind of power.
The Joker laughed, the sound causing her hair to stand up on her arms. A transformation at this point was impossible. If Ladybug or Multimouse made their appearance at the same time as Marinette conveniently disappeared, the Joker would make the connection. And he was the last one that needed to know about her alter-egos.
“Nah,” He snapped his fingers and twenty gunmen, complete with clown make-up, came to stand behind him. “I think I’ve found a new plaything and I want to take her home to see what she can do.”
The twenty men droved forward towards the three Sirens at the direction of the Joker with a simple flick of his wrist. Marinette was instantly drawn back by the plants that had been wrapped around her legs, straight into a bush that could easily cover her. Tikki immediately crash landed into her face having waited for an opportunity to return to her holder. Marinette cuddled her briefly before placing her in the same pocket of her blazer as Mullo. She quickly placed the Mouse Miraculous around her neck to not risk losing it during the inevitable chaos.
Marinette peeked out of her hiding place to observe the fighting around her. She felt guilty leaving others to fight her battle, but this was the Joker, she was not prepared.
Catwoman was currently keeping several men at bay with her whip. The men had been disarmed and their weapons were scattered around them. As each went to grab at them, Catwoman would strike out with her whip preventing them from grabbing the weapon while striking with her legs at the others that were trying to take her down.
Ivy was doing her best to direct new vines to help her against the men currently attacking her, while maintaining a connection with her old ones. Five other men were currently wrestling with Ivy’s vines, using their knifes to try and cut themselves free, only to have new branches replace the old.
Then there was Harley who was also currently holding back a good number of men with her mallet. They were more vicious with their attacks on her than the others, likely on the orders of her scorned ex. Knocking her back occasionally with a well-placed punch or kick only to have the favor returned by Harley’s mallet.
The three Sirens were doing well holding their own against their attackers, but they were clearly outnumbered. Which meant that the Joker was able to make his way over to the bushes that Marinette had been deposited into with three of his goons.
Marinette might have been able to make an item that could help her, it was also one of her new powers that she was practicing outside of a transformation. The ability to make a lucky charm of sorts but with her getting to create what she wanted instead of what Tikki, or was it the universe, thought would help. Only problem was that it took a lot of energy, she hadn’t ‘matured’ enough to be able to do it every time she wanted. So, there was no way that she would have time to focus enough to create one and it would likely leave her more vulnerable to the Joker.
She tried her hardest to back out of the bushes without being noticed by Joker and his men, but her efforts were in vain. He immediately saw her red shirt in the foliage and send two of the men to grab her. Knowing that stealth had failed, she stood-up and went with the ever-popular, running. Her efforts were partially thwarted by the plants as they grabbed at her outfit, causing several rips to her blouse much to the designer’s chagrin.
Getting out of the bushes had cost her some valuable time and distance between herself and her would be capturers. Fortunately, she was faster than most would suspect, and she pushed herself to increase the distance as she made her way to the park’s exit. Hopefully when she made it to her freedom, she would be just another face in the crowd to the Joker and he wouldn’t be able to figure out her identity to try and see what powers he thought she possessed.
The exit stood not fifteen feet in front of her and she could taste her freedom, only for it to be soured by the taste of more malice in the air. Surrounded by the bushes that framed the exit stood the Penguin and Riddler with several of their own gunman.
She slid to a stop to keep herself from running into them, knowing that doing so would lead to a different death sentence. Unfortunately, the pause gave Joker’s men the time to close in.
“Well, isn’t this a riddle. What could the Jokers men want with this little beauty?”
“Must be worth something. Maybe we should take her ourselves and find out?”
There was only a single word that she could use to describe her situation…Fucked.