Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette knew that Tom Dupain was never her biological father. She knew that. She also knew that despite that, he treated her as his own, so she never really bothered asking either of her parents who her real father was. Sure, the guy might have given her half of her DNA but she was happy with both Tom and Sabine and wouldn’t trade the way she grew up for the world.

Y’know, before her life turned into a sad story and the author decided that they wanted to be a nuisance and had Mrs. Mendeleiev force them to take a blood test and then make a report on their family heritage.

She was 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 fine!

And despite her mental mantra she still couldn’t convince herself that.

And finally, a week later, everyone had received the results.

The first thing Marinette did when both of her parents looked at her with raised brows as they held a box that obviously was the results of the blood test was smile sheepishly and wave…

Like an idiot.

Her mother frowned as she stared intently at the box in front of her. “Honey, why didn’t you tell me that you took a blood test?” Sabine said, frowning at not only the girl but also the box which stood very threateningly in their presence. “Well, I never really cared about him anyways. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful that I’m here and all that but I guess I just never really cared about who he was. I have you guys.” Marinette said softly, a smile blooming its way on her face as her parent’s expressions softened.

“Well, as heartfelt as that is, that still doesn’t change the fact that you need to do this report.” Tom said, smiling ruefully before he shook those thoughts away. Marinette nodded because what else was she supposed to do?

“Tell you what. I’ll tell you who your real- I mean 𝑏𝑖𝑜𝑙𝑜𝑔𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 father is before you have a heart attack when you look at that test.”

Of course, Marinette nodded. Mothers know best as she learned from watching Disney. And also she was sure that she really would have a heart attack because what if it was some psycho?! What if he was really mean?! What if-

“Bruce Wayne.”

Marinette.exe has stopped working

Meanwhile…

A very sleep deprived Tim Drake-Wayne slowly drank from his cup of coffee in the batcave. He was banned from going on patrol because everyone told him to get some sleep.

Including Damian.

And that’s saying something.

But he couldn’t sleep and was instead looking at conspiracy theories on the internet because what else was a sleep deprived guy supposed to do?

Write Fanfiction?

Well, now that he thought of it, it would be very entertaining. Not to mention therapeutic to constantly smash keys.

So he opened a new google doc and started to write a Batman x Catwoman fic because again, what else was he supposed to do? They were already a couple so what harm was it actually going to do?

And then a portal thingy appeared. And a redhead dressed up as a rabbit calmly walked out.

“Don’t write the fic, Tim. It’ll mess up the future.”

“Wha-”

And then she and the portal were gone.

At this point, Tim was either hallucinating from being so sleep deprived or that actually happened and he wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

He’s not taking any chances though and decided to delete all the remains of the fic.

And then realized he had no more coffee in his cup. So he went up and made a cup of coffee. And then sat back down to continue looking at conspiracy theories that he’d probably forget the next morning because he was so tired.

Or he could do something productive like look at all the entries for the Martha Wayne Foundation trip that would allow one class from each school to go to Gotham.

——

“We’re going to Gotham!”

And with those words from the wonderful teacher Madame Bustier, Marinette...just wanted some coffee. Sure, she was the one who submitted the entry for the Martha Wayne Foundation Trip but that was before her brain processed that technically the woman was her grandmother. It was already bad enough that her head still hurt from where she had tripped when she found out who her father was. And it certainly didn’t help that Lila seemed to up her game and Hawkmoth’s akumas were still being a pain and getting stronger. Oh, and both Alya, Nino, AND Adrien were acting a little stranger than usual. At least, not in the bad kind. They were suddenly doing a lot more group hangouts. Why? Marinette didn’t know nor did she care. They were her friends and she’d be insane without them at this point. And yes, although she still liked Adrien, her obsession had dwindled down into a normal, healthy, crush and she was now able to speak full sentences around him without foaming at the mouth.

What was especially worrying her was the fact that Tikki suddenly seemed to know a lot more than what she had initially been told. Suddenly, being able to trust her gut when it came to giving out the miraculous was really being able to sense if they’re a true holder of a certain Miraculous and if they’re supposed to be the one wielding it? And then suddenly there was the new information that there could be multiple true holders of the same miraculous all at once?

That little kwami was definitely foreshadowing something and Marinette was determined to find out what.

“The trip is going to be sponsored by Bruce Wayne!”

Alya better make her a good coffee for this. She was NOT mentally prepared to go on with the rest of the day without at least a decent cup of coffee with that new revelation.

“I’ll be passing out the papers that your parents will be needing to sign. And don’t forge your parent’s signatures.”

And with that, the rest of the class pointedly giggled at a blushing Kim who looked as if he were trying to be swallowed by his seat. “It was once. And we were what? Ten?” a small whimper came from the boy after he had said those words.

And then suddenly all the attention went from him to the resident sausage-haired liar sitting in the back. “I actually used to know the Wayne’s! We go way back! I used to date Damian before I had met MDC! Unfortunately, both Damian and MDC liked me. I had to go for MDC though. Damian was so upset but he was so sweet about it! We left on good terms though. He’s probably one of the nicest people I know!” Lila said with a small smile dancing its way across her lips as if reminiscing old memories.

Oh, yeah! That’s right. Lila had been going out on secret dates with MDC, an up and coming designer that had Clara Nightingale, Jagged Stone and other famous people begging for more.

In other words, Lila was lying about Marinette.

And couldn’t Lila have y’know, googled who Damian Wayne was? Practically all of Gotham had dubbed him ‘The Ice Prince’. Marinette was pretty sure ‘sweet’ or ‘nice’ wouldn’t be used as a word to describe him if any of the articles that she’d read about her newfound family in Gotham were anything to go by.

Who was she to judge though?

She may be related to them but that didn’t mean that they had met before.

And because of this trip, there was a low chance of them 𝑛𝑜𝑡 meeting.

Where was that cup of coffee?

Thankfully, class was then dismissed and lunch was soon approaching. Marinette couldn’t be more grateful that her school allowed kids to go home for lunch if they didn’t want to buy their meals.

Unfortunately, that meant explaining to her parents why she was going to Gotham.

Of course she could wait until 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 school instead of during lunch but that would mean that she’d be panicking for the rest of the day. She’d much rather get it done a lot sooner than later.

So, being the responsible girl that she is, Marinette decided to talk about this with her parents about the field trip.

And by talk, she meant just handing the piece of paper to her mother while she ate so she wouldn’t be able to talk.

It was a fool proof plan!

——

Correction. It 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛’𝑡 a foolproof plan.

Instead, her mother turned into some sort of police officer while she was the criminal. She had been interrogated like no tomorrow! Of course, Marinette knew that her mother was just worried about her and was just making sure that she’d be comfortable seeing or being near her family in Gotham. And yes, Marinette was nervous. Beyond nervous actually, but this was her chance to actually meet her family. Even if they didn’t know if she was a Wayne or not, it’d actually be a little nice to get to know their jobs better, even if they never knew of her existence.

Of course, even if they 𝑑𝑖𝑑 somehow find out about her, she’d have to decline. Marinette wanted to build a name for herself before she even went anywhere near touching the subject of being a part of their family with a ten foot long pole so it wouldn’t seem that she was only joining the family for money and fame.

And with that being said, well, thought actually, Marinette tried, and failed, to calmly walk into the airport with the rest of the class trailing behind her, y’know, because she was class representative and the teacher, though kind, put 𝑤𝑎𝑦 too much trust in teenagers.

At this point, she was only grateful that Kagami was allowed to join the trip. Thankfully, her mother let her join their school and she was in their class. And although it was definitely weird between her and Adrien, she seemed to have calmed down and rebuilt their friendship after they put an end to their relationship. Marinette didn’t know the cause of why they had suddenly broken up after it had started off so well, but she wasn’t going to question anything. It was their relationship and she wasn’t going to stick her nose in where it didn’t belong.

And speaking of sticking her nose in where it didn’t belong, Lila seemed to have found a new favorite topic of saying how close she was with the Wayne’s, especially how close they had become after Bruce’s second son ‘Jared’ had died.

The only thing Marinette had to say to that baloney is that first of all, his name is Jason and second of all, call her a theorist, but Bruce Wayne ran a multi-billionaire company and could probably buy and sell 𝐺𝑎𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙 fifty times over again. So putting all that information together, wouldn’t it make sense that in the small chance Jason 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 to have survived, wouldn’t Bruce have invested in the best money could buy in order to save his son? Of course, this was just assuming that he did survive and the amount of money the man has because she didn’t feel like doing math but she was most likely right.

And now, here they were, going through security as Lila was spewing absolute garbage from her mouth. Though she did have to bite back her small laugh at the absolutely enormous eye roll that Adrien had done. Any bigger eye roll, and his eyes would’ve probably popped out of the socket.

Thankfully, they spent only a short amount of time, though there was a small inconvenience from a certain 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑜𝑛𝑒 while going through security, where Adrien immediately made a beeline, caught up and started chatting with her. There was a new pink to his cheeks though, but Marinette was sure that it was because it was slightly cold inside the airport. Younger her would’ve been catastrophizing over the sudden development but now she just didn’t feel like she needed to rush into anything. Other than the fact that she doubted that he felt that way for her, Marinette was grateful for their friendship and wouldn’t trade it for the world. So on the rare occasion that he did like her, she was going to let him tell her about his feelings first.

But emotions apparently wasn’t what the author of her life had planned for her at the moment because as soon as Adrien caught up to her, he immediately started saying that he had actually convinced his father to get her first class. Well, actually a 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑 first class and had conveniently not given a name.

Okay, maybe the author of her life 𝑑𝑖𝑑 plan to add emotions to this moment of her life but she wasn’t exactly complaining.

And Adrien, bless his sweet sunshine personified soul, helped her in her state of lack of sleep as they boarded the plane.

——

Adrien didn’t know what to make of his life at that exact moment.

Maybe confusion.

Maybe worry.

Maybe pure joy.

Maybe even the sudden urge to curse and swear at his younger self for not realizing his feelings sooner.

And yes, Adrien had finally realized his emotions and gained a small handful of brain cells.

And by that he meant he had finally fallen completely and utterly in love with one Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

And on the way realized just how much his borderline obsessive crush on Ladybug was truly holding him back from reaching his true potential.

Yes, he’ll always love Ladybug. He’ll admit to that much. But there was such a thing as loving someone platonically and that was his relationship with his partner in (Fighting) crime.

But the main thing that was bothering his love life was the fact that these past few weeks, Marinette had been acting abnormally...silent.

Hence why he was so confused and worried.

The joy though was from one adorable Marinette peacefully resting her head on his shoulder.

If anyone were to ask, he’d laugh and call someone crazy if they mentioned his face that was most definitely creating a new shade of red.

But that wasn’t important.

What was important though was the fact that Marintte had been...quiet. It may be something that he didn’t need to worry about, but here he was, worrying about it.

But that could have been Marinette just not liking Lila.

And no, he still didn’t believe in taking the high road. He had finally realized that Lila really was hurting others by promising them things that she couldn’t give them. Not only that, but also by convincing the teacher and principal that she had so many illnesses that she actually didn’t have. They could lose their jobs if she didn’t get punished for it.

So he was secretly trying to find a way to expose the liar as a surprise for Marinette.

Feeling bored though, Adrien checked how long they had into the flight. Four hours left.

Though speak of the devil and she will answer.

Lila had suddenly walked into first class and shook Marinette awake before Adrien could stop her.

Groggily opening her eyes, Marinette glared at Lila. “Whoever woke me up will face a very painful future.” Marinette told the Italian in a tired, yet murderous, voice.

Note to self, don’t wake Marinette up when she’s had little sleep.

Lila blinked slowly, almost fearfully, before she smirked. “Sorry, Marinette! My tinnitus was acting up again! I just knew that you’d be able to help me!” Lila said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

Marinette scowled threateningly at the liar. “Cut the crap, Lila. You don’t have an audience and neither of us believe you” Marinette grumbled. Suddenly, Lila’s sweet facade crumbled and she glared at Marinette.

These past weeks, Lila had gone back on her promise and started targeting Marinette again. Whether it was because she sensed that he was going back on his or because she was a liar and lied about the promise too. Whatever it was, most of the class, minus Alix, Kagami, Max, Kim, Alya, and Nino, had basically turned against Marinette. That might’ve sounded like a significant amount of people, but that was easily around half the class, maybe even more, against her, though Mylene and Rose were still sweet, they tended to avoid and look fearful around Marinette.

Lila glared at Marinette one last time before she scoffed at the two of them, though she seemed surprised to see that Adrien was not only awake, but actively glaring threateningly at her. Lila growled at the two of them before she sauntered away.

“She’s been too quiet.” Marinette drawled out tiredly.

“What about when she accused you of giving her the wrong time when we left? Or how about how she slipped metal into your pocket so security would go off? How about how she accused you of stealing her ticket to first class. Or how she keeps waking you up everytime you just begin to fall asleep?”

“Too quiet.”

Adrien chuckled lightly at her stubbornness before a blur of yellow appeared before them. “Adrikins, we both know that she’s right. That 𝑖𝑠 abnormally quiet of Lila.” Chloe said as she scowled at the general direction of economy.

Adrien shook his head slowly before he too looked at economy. “She’ll probably be too busy going through Gotham lying about the Wayne’s to pay attention to us.” Adrien drawled out as Chloe raised a perfectly manicured brow at him.

“Adrien, it’s Lila we’re talking about.” Marinette finally said in a bored tone. Adrien couldn’t help but concede with what she was saying.

“Touche.”

Adrien was only glad that Marinette and Chloe had somewhat formed a friendship. Apparently Chloe had decided that it’d be a good idea to google the Wayne’s and was surprised when she found out about Bruce’s addiction to adopting kids with dark hair and blue eyes. Adrien didn’t know what that meant. Whether it be because Chloe was convinced that Bruce would adopt her or another reason, Adrien didn’t know. But she had somehow convinced her mother that Marinette was a good friend and wealthy. Adrien knew that Chloe really did want to be friends with her classmates but her mother prevented her from doing so.

That didn’t defend her actions but it at least showed that she did care.

His thoughts were interrupted by their meals being given to them, though they all grimaced at it.

“I refuse to eat this sorry excuse of food.” Chloe said, picking the piece of offending food with her fork.

“It’s worse in the economy, Chloe.” Marinette said as she too glared at the unappetizing meal in front of her. “How is that supposed to make me feel better?” Chloe but in as she pushed the food away from herself.

“Because Sabrina and Lila are eating it.”

And with that, Chloe laughed good naturedly. Adrien didn’t blame her one bit after her best friend had left her for the fools gold.

Now Adrien didn’t blame her for 𝑤ℎ𝑦 she left because Chloe can be rude and self-centered at times, but she did care deep down. Even if she rarely showed it.

Adrien could see the amusement and sadness sparkling in Chloe’s eyes, though he could also tell that she was significantly happier than she was weeks ago.

“Touche, Dupain-Cheng, Touche.” Chloe said before she sniffed haughtily.

And at that moment, Adrien had to stifle a yawn. Apparently it was very tiring to sit and do nothing for hours on end.

“Sunshine, you need sleep. No arguments.”

——

“Oh, Marinette! I’m SO glad you didn’t go through with it.”

And with that being said from the she-demon in disguise, Marinette was whisked away by security.

And with that, one long and agonizing interview for something she didn’t do.

“No sir, I am not holding any firearms or weapons.” Marinette answered in a monotone voice. No matter how annoying and time consuming this is, the security guard didn’t deserve her ire no matter how tiresome this was getting. He was just doing his job after all.

“We interview the source, Apparently you were discussing terrorist activities.”

“I was not sir, Lila must be mistaken, I’m simply here for a class trip.”

“You’re wearing a bulletproof vest.”

Okay, so maybe she wanted to be protected. This was the most crime ridden city in the world after all! What did they want her to do, sit still while she got shot at?!

“My family is protective, they know how dangerous Gotham can be.” They were not fans of the horror stories Maman used to tell them about this city. “They insisted I have it as protection.”

“Makes sense,” He sighs from across the table, checking through some paperwork, “You’re fourteen, here on a class trip, right?”

“Yes sir.”

“Well if you’re here on the Wayne funded trip they probably did an extensive background check” He paused for a minute and looked deep in thought.

“Alright then, you can go.”

“Are you sure?”

“We literally have super villains walking through here every other day. You’re holding no weapons and have been endorsed by the Wayne’s that’s better than most people that have been in here.”

Well, he certainly wasn’t wrong.

“Well if you’re sure,” Marinette stands awkwardly walking to the door as he waves her off. “Is there anything I need to sign, or…”

“Unless I want to fill out extra paperwork, no.” He seemed so tired and Marinette wished she could somehow get back at Lila for making his already tiresome job even worse.

“Have a good day then!” She smiles brightly, getting a small one in return.

Marinette then walked away and continued to get lost in the literal sea of people. For such a crime ridden city like Gotham, there sure were a lot of people and tourists.

Marinette kept apologizing to each and every person she may have accidentally bumped into until she reached the rest of her class...at least until her phone buzzed with the familiar tune of an akuma alert. Great.

She quickly asked Adrien and Chloe to take care of her bags while she made an excuse of having to call her mom before she ran into the bathroom to deal with the akuma. Quickly sprinting into an empty stall, she put on the horse miraculous and called for her transformation into Lady Mare, a combination of the horse and Ladybug Miraculous, before she called upon the horse’s power and made a portal into Paris. Stepping out of the portal though was easier said than done when what felt like the world’s population of pigeons was everywhere.

Mr. Ramier had been once again akumatized into Mr. Pigeon.

Just great.

Lady Mare quickly de-transformed into Ladybug and walked over to the edge of the building of which she stood on and sighed loudly.

She was supposed to be away from the chaos caused by Hawkmoth right now!

No Cat Noir in sight, though.

He had the right idea.

Thankfully, Mr.Pigeon was one of the tamer akumas and she was easily able to capture and purify the akuma before casting the cure.

Unfortunately, Chat Noir wasn’t there so she either had to leave as soon as possible and not bother with comforting Mr. Ramier and dealing with the press or she could stay and maybe miss her class, although the teacher should know better than to leave a teenage student behind in Gotham of all places.

That being said, Marinette slowly walked over and stood before the man and smiled sweetly while she offered a few words of comfort. Thanking her, Mr.Ramier stood up and left while she had waved off the press. Better not keep her class waiting too long even if she had better things to do.

Combining the miraculous again, Marinette teleported back into the Gotham airport and back in the bathroom before de-transforming completely and exiting the stall. She sighed in relief when she realized the only person in there looked to be a blind elderly woman. Of course, Marinette helped the woman get to her destination before she herself made her way to the front desk.

“I’m sorry, your class left a few minutes ago.”

And with that Marinette quickly texted Chloe her predicament.

Fortunately, they were all going to the Wayne Hotel instead of immediately going somewhere else.

Unfortunately, she had no idea how to get there, excluding Kaalki, but she doubted that the Kwami would appreciate having to be used so soon after the akuma.

So like any sane person in the city of crime with people with unsavory intentions around any corner, she hailed a taxi.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long.

Of course, with any fortune, there was a price.

Literally, there was a price and she had no money.

Oh, and someone had grabbed her wrist at the last second.

Turning around, Marinette had to stop her jaw from hitting the floor when she met the obviously sleep-deprived person who had stopped her from reaching her destination.

By that, she meant that the man had told her of why it was unsafe to get into the taxi, especially when it was someone pretending to be a taxi driver.

Another person with unsavory intentions.

And like any sane person, when the man offered to take her to her destination, she accepted.

Thankfully, Chloe had been smart enough to take her bags…

Until Marinette remembered that Chloe had told her that they had been stolen during a scuffle.

Fudge.

Well, at least all of her valuables were in her backpack that she had been carrying with her while her luggage had only had clothes.

Shuffling slowly behind the man, she followed him into the car, well limo actually but that was just being specific.

Of course, by the time the engine had started, the man had already introduced her to a chauffeur of sorts who went by the name Alfred.

“Oh, shoot. I knew I forgot something. I’m Tim, Tim Drake.”

And…

Cue the panic.

Of course she got into the exact same limo as one of her adopted siblings.

Maybe she should stop being such a sane person.

But those were topics that she’d dwell on later. For now, she’d just pretend that she wasn’t just about ready to jump out of a speeding vehicle.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Alright, so just because this was technically her brother doesn’t exactly mean that she was going to, y’know, tell him that.

Besides, that was something for her to know and for them to find out. They 𝑎𝑟𝑒 supposed to be the world’s best detectives after all.

If anyone asks, it was pretty easy to figure out that they were vigilantes. They weren’t exactly too subtle about it...or maybe that was her brain putting too much thought into something. Either way she now knew.

For now though, she’d stay quiet and question why no one had figured them out yet.

“Gotham is awfully dangerous for a lady like you, Miss Dupain-Cheng. If I may ask, where to?” Alfred said.

Was there a chance that what he said had possibly been a coincidence?

“Wayne Hotel. I’m here on a class trip. They left without-I got held back.” Marinette said, frowning.

Tim’s eyes narrowed momentarily. “You wouldn’t happen to be here for the Martha Wayne foundation trip, would you?”

Of course he knew, he was a flipping burgers Wayne!

“Yes, actually. I submitted the entry for my class.”

Yes, that’s it, play dumb.

Lila would say that wouldn’t be too hard for her.

Brat.

“Really? And they just left you here? All alone? In Gotham of all places?” Tim asked, his voice layered in concern.

Well, at least he wasn’t a spoiled brat like Chloe was.

“Yeah, they don’t really like me all that much.”

Tim nodded silently before he just about shot up out of the car. “We forgot your bags!”

“Stolen.”

Tim then relaxed a bit before going back into a state of panic. “That’s not okay! What are you going to do about your stuff?”

Marinette shrugged. “I mean, I guess I could just run to the store or something. All that was in there was clothes. I had all my valuables on me at the time.” Not exactly a lie, but she knew that she wasn’t going to go to the store. She wasn’t going to waste all of her money on clothes that could easily be replaced with help from Charlotte. Not that she would ever run out of money.

Tim nodded silently at that while Alfred...looked like he knew beyond too much. “That is very responsible of you, Miss Dupain-Cheng.” Alfred said, the gleam in his eyes not going away.

Fudge.

Abort mission.

Ah, now to figure out a plan on how to safely jump out of a moving vehicle.

“Yes, well, you have to learn how to be responsible when there’s an emotional terrorist feeding off of negative emotions. Add to that the fact that he doesn’t have a sleep schedule, believe me, I tried to find a pattern.”

Alfred nodded sagely while Tim...looked beyond confused.

“Emotional terrorist?” Tim, well, Tim looked like he was going insane.

Although, if she had no idea what was happening and then someone had just so casually told her about an emotional terrorist and their lack of sleeping habits, she’d think she’d be going insane as well.

“He goes by the name Hawkmoth. If you want more information, my best friend has a blog about it, though she does sometimes tend to post theories based on little to no evidence.”

Tim jerkingly nodded as if he had something else on his mind.

Of course, Marinette stayed silent as he pulled out his phone and started typing, most likely texting someone.

The rest of the ride was spent in a comfortably if not slightly tense silence.

But that was expected.

At least she didn’t feel like jumping straight out of the car. Not yet at least.

For now, she sighed as she grabbed her backpack and got out of the limo before bidding Tim and Alfred farewells.

At least neither of them were bad to be around.

So, Marinette watched as the limo drove off before sighing once again and entering the hotel and going straight to her room with Alya.

Fortunately, there was no Lila in sight.

----

Tim, in pure panic (and lack of sleep), quickly turned on the computer in the Batcave and searched up one Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Why?

Because she looks so much like Bruce it’s terrifying.

Of course, he got what he expected. Highly talented and detail oriented in fashion, black hair and blue eyes. And obviously Tom Dupain was her 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝-father. And she was most likely a martial artist.

Most likely Bruce’s kid then.

Unfortunately, no one but Alfred noticed that he had forgotten to search up the Ladyblog.

And no one but Alfred knew what was really going on.

Chapter Text

Marinette couldn’t help but sigh in frustration.

As soon as Marinette had cleaned up, gotten dressed and stepped out of her hotel room, Madame Bustier was just...there.

Standing there very creepily.

Yes, Marinette knew she didn’t mean to come off that way but she should know better than to just stand and wait outside a students room.

Even if this is Gotham.

“Good morning, Marinette!” the red headed teacher said with a bright smile. At this point, Marinette was convinced that the cheery grin was her default expression and she wasn’t sure if that was concerning or not.

“Good morning, Madame Bustier.” Marinette said, forcing a bright smile onto her face.

She was tired, sue her. She got left behind...WHILE SHE WAS TRYING TO SAVE PARIS, sorry if she just wants the class to wait a few more measly minutes.

It took her 5 minutes to stop Mr. Pigeon.

Does that mean that her teacher didn’t even let her students have a bathroom break after a what...8 and a half hour flight?!

Not to mention the mental and emotional drain of being anywhere near her biological father’s adopted son.

So yes, she was very tired.

And she was sure that whatever Madame Bustier was going to tell her, more like ask, was going to drain her of energy even more.

She may be the wearer of the Miraculous of luck, but Marinette was by no means lucky.

At least right now she wasn’t.

“I stopped by your room this morning because Lila said that she would need to go to the Botanical Gardens earlier than the schedule has planned because of a few allergies she has. I was wondering if you could change the time and date of when we’d be leaving…”

To which Marinette blinked tiredly at the woman.

Was she serious?!

She spent actual weeks planning this trip so it would benefit everyone in this class’ future, including Lila’s.

If the teacher or anyone else wanted this trip to be scheduled differently, she should’ve been informed a lot sooner.

Like as soon as she made a packet with all the information about this trip several weeks before they got on the plane sooner.

But she’d yell at her teacher another time.

For now, she just went with blinking slowly at her teacher for a few more seconds as she wished for a cup of coffee.

After a few seconds of utter silence from the girl, Madame Bustier must’ve gotten confused?

Yeah, Marinette didn’t know what went through her mind but she could say with complete accuracy that she actually expected a good answer.

So naturally being the great student that she is, Marinette did in fact give her reasoning.

“Madame, if you, Lila, or any of the other students wanted or needed the schedule to have been changed, I needed to be informed as soon as they got the information packets. The very same information packets that I handed out weeks ago. I would have been happy to accommodate Lila’s, or anyone else’s needs but I wasn’t informed of them.”

“But-”

“As it is, the whole trip is practically planned minute by minute, I can’t just change one part of it without changing the entire trip, and I really don’t feel like doing 3 weeks worth of replanning for a trip I already planned. Lila will have to go in her own free time without dragging the entire class into it.”

The red headed teacher nodded slowly as if seeing reason before she smiled, though it looked a bit too wide to be real.

“Yes, well thank you, Marinette. For informing me of this. I’ll tell Lila that that’s what you said. I’ll see you in half an hour. We’ll be touring Wayne Enterprises then.” Madame Bustier said before she softly sighed and walked away, leaving Marinette to question just who planned the trip because now they were going to be touring Wayne Enterprises.

Oh, yes.

That’s right.

She just had this conversation.

She was the one who planned it.

Innocence, or in her case nativity to her ‘father’s’ identity, IS bliss.

For now, she’d just scream into her very soft pillow for five minutes before getting breakfast.

At least the class couldn’t be stupid enough to leave her behind again, right?

Right?!

——

Whoever had left a tiny foreign student unattended and forgotten in Gotham was going to pay.

Dick had wanted a semi-normal morning.

He woke up, got ready for the hopefully exciting day of being a tour guide for France’s best students, maybe if he was lucky, strike up a business deal with the Agreste’s and/or Bourgeois since they’re children were both in this class.

But NOOO…

The teacher had apparently forgotten a student at the hotel and NOBODY, bar the Agreste and Bourgeois heirs as well as Nino Lahiffe and Alya Ceisaire, was even looking for her!

Don’t even get Dick started on how they looked more than willing to just start the tour without her.

Or how one of them did nothing but lie and slander his family all while trash talking the missing student.

Not to mention the girl’s horrendous outfit and hairstyle!

Who would WILLINGLY dress up as a sausage!

And no, he was NOT going to bring up the mullet and the old Nightwing uniform.

Or how the teacher is insisting that the missing student was just being petty and misbehaving.

Scratch that, he would mention that.

He would also mention that that comment sent him over the edge.

At this point, he’d be pretty dang upset if smoke or fire WASN’T bellowing out of his ears.

His only saving grace was one Kagami Tsurugi.

And man, was it such a relief to see not only a familiar face, but also one who seemed to know what to do in this situation.

Never once had Dick been so grateful that he practically forced Damian into attending his school’s fencing classes.

Thankfully, Kagami had informed him that the missing student, one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, had a few friends here in Gotham that were willing to give her a ride.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng…

Dick can’t help but let his brain go straight to the ramblings that Tim had had the night before after getting home from a business trip.

And Dick can’t help but remember how in said ramblings, Tim had described her as a mini female Bruce.

And now Dick’s subconscious is telling him that if she is anything like the rest of them, she’ll get here as dramatically as possible.

Of course, Dick didn’t know that was his subconscious and just thought that that was his inner Jason.

Imagine his surprise when a tiny 5’2 black haired, blue eyed girl that looks scarily like Damian and Bruce rides up on a hot pink motorcycle with starbucks in hand and says in a cute voice, in which he can’t help but notice barely had a french accent and had it not been for his years in training he would have missed, ‘I got coffee, what did I miss.’

If this wasn’t his sister, Dick promised that he’d adopt her himself.

——

Marinette had never been so thankful that Penny had recommended a friend of hers into being Marinette’s assistant.

Seriously, Charlotte was a lifesaver.

As soon as she realized that the class had left her behind, she called up Charlotte and told her the situation.

To which the kind hearted woman immediately drove over to her from where she was visiting family here in Gotham.

With a beautiful hot pink motorcycle and the best smelling cup of coffee from starbucks Marinette had yet to come across.

So, she called up Kagami about the situation and told her to tell the class about what had happened before she made her way to Wayne Enterprises.

And as soon as she got there, she couldn’t help but put a name to a face.

Specifically their tour guide’s face.

And she couldn’t help but notice that he looked exactly like Richard Graqyson, the same Richard Grayson that Bruce Wayne had adopted.

She’d panic later.

She is too high on caffeine to care at this point.

And what happened as soon as she got there in style?

Lila blamed her for the fact that they left fifteen minutes earlier.

And Lila blamed her for making a scene.

The fact that people actually believed her says more about their intellectual capability than Lila’s.

Thankfully, Richard, or as he liked to be called, Dick, didn’t seem to believe anything the Sausage-haired liar said.

Marinette could literally not express how grateful she was for that.

Nor could she express how awful his jokes were.

The only good things that came from those puns were that they definitely made the tour…interesting to say the least.

Seriously, why do so many people in her life like puns?!

First there’s her Dad, and Kim, then Cat Noir, and now this guy?!

They were all horrible at making jokes.

But if she maybe sorta giggled at a few of them, only Chloe, Kagami, and Adrien would know.

She’d swear them to secrecy later.

For now, she’s going to ignore all of the curious glances that Dick was throwing her way that he seemed to think he was being subtle about.

Seriously, how had no one figured out their identities yet?!

It’s like watching someone fall in slow motion.

And Marinette was NOT having it.

Nor was she having being left behind…

AGAIN!

Which is exactly what happened.

Three times in twenty four hours…

At least none of them had the authority to take away her ride.

Take THAT, Liar Rossi!

So, she pulled up a map onto her phone, grabbed her motorcycle, and started on her way home.

At least tomorrow she’d be going to Gotham Academy.

——

“Ohmygod Jason, the child was adorable!”

A raised eyebrow from the man Dick was conversing with.

“And she looked like a mini Bruce!”

Jason just started rubbing his temples.

“She even laughed at a few of my jokes!”

“Dick, I swear, you cannot adopt her.”

“I said she looked like a mini Bruce, didn’t I?”

The exasperated expression that followed that comment was enough Dick would’ve gotten a picture for blackmail if he wasn’t so excited.

“And?”

“And so that means that no one will have to adopt her if she’s already our sister.”

“Don’t you dare bring that child in the dumpster fire known as our family.”

“Too late! She’s going to GA as part of the trip!”

“No.”

“And I might or might not have pulled a few strings so she’s in Damian’s class.”

“My god, Dick, why are you like this?”

——

Marinette slowly shuffled onto the bus, coffee cup in hand.

She had no idea why she was getting on her bus with most of the people she now has passive aggressive friendships with, excluding Alya, Nino, Adrien, Chloe, and Kagami, of course when she has her own motorcycle and license.

But now she was dressed in the absolutely horrendous school uniform that students at Gotham Academy were forced to wear.

Have the students or faculty no shame?!

As Marinette pondered, she subconsciously avoided the foot that tried to trip her from a certain someone with sausage pigtails and an orange romper.

Marinete was able to register the small huff of irritation from said someone, but chose to ignore. it

Only when she was able to sit down and finally come to a conclusion that no, the students and faculty have no shame, was she able to register that ignoring it made it one hundred times worse.

Marinette couldn’t help but slightly shrug when she thought of whatever ‘truly awful thing she had done to poor, sweet, Lila’.

Thankfully, she wasn’t pondering how she’d be able to undermine the sausage stalker when Adrien sat down beside her.

Yes, Marinette hated the Italian with a burning passion.

But she didn’t want the girl to die a gruesome death at her hands.

And yes, Marinette really did think about how to hide a body late at night.

What was she supposed to do?

Sleep?

Hah, sleep and her have a very...complicated relationship.

In other words, they hate each other.

Thankfully, Adrien didn’t seem to share the same feeling about her as sleep does.

For that, she’s immeasurably grateful.

She was also grateful that they got to Gotham Academy when they did.

She had no idea how much longer she would have last Lila lying about anything Batman, Bruce Wayne, or celebrities in general.

She just knew that it wasn’t for much longer.

She also knew that whatever happened, she did not want to come into contact with the apparent ‘Ice Prince’ of Gotham that just so happens to go to this school.

She did anyway…

What horrible luck does she have that she just so happened to be in the same class as him.

And then partnered up with him for a project.

Seriously, where is this sudden influx of bad luck coming from?

——

Lila couldn’t help but let herself smirk.

Just this once while no one was looking.

She had just walked onto the beautiful campus of Gotham Academy while being followed by the rest of her class.

Well, the rest of her class excluding Marinette and her now significantly smaller friend group.

The ‘everyday ladybug’ and her group were slightly ahead, sucking up to their tour guide.

Lila was about 80% sure that his name was John or something.

He was tall, had a strong build, with beautiful sky blue eyes and dark midnight hair with an annoyingly bright and sunshine personality and smile that she had caught herself quite a few times looking behind him for the wagging tail of a puppy that had just been given a large bone.

So physically, amazing.

Add to that, he was their age.

He seemed to have a lot of people crowd and come to him for help in the hallways.

So socially, magnificent.

He also mentioned his parents being reporters for the Daily Planet all the way in Metropolis.

So economically, he was perfect.

Although she couldn’t help but add that most of the people who went to this school were rich or had rich parents.

So, it would be amazingly beneficial if she got the students on her side.

But also incredibly risky if they ever found out and broke out of her control.

She silently winced as she thought about all the lawsuits that would come her way if anyone other than Marinette found out.

She even read somewhere that Damian Wayne attended this school.

Her so-called ‘ex boyfriend’ would be going to this school. Though it was rather unfortunate that he liked avoiding cameras and hiding so it was going to be difficult to tell if it was him or not. So all she needs to do is make sure she didn’t screw up.

At least she had gotten her mama’s ‘talent’.

She wasn’t allowed to use it, but what her mother doesn’t know won’t kill her.

And on cue, one of her classmates eyes narrowed at her in disbelief and Lila could practically see that they had started questioning her lies.

So, she let her olive green eyes glow emerald for a few seconds and felt the tingling energy travel from her eyes to her finger tips.

And then...oops…

Max isn’t questioning her anymore.

The only problem was that every time she used her special little talent, she blacked out for a few seconds.

Thankfully, that also worked in her favor.

So, she subtly tripped herself into Kim.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Kim. It seems I’ve gotten another dizzy spell.”

The idiot in front of her scoffed lightly.

“It’s not your fault, Lila. You can’t control all the diseases that you’ve got.”

Lila forced a sweet and thankful smile onto her face.

“Oh, thank you!”

She couldn’t help but think that he should have offered to take her bags.

And then suddenly Sabrina came from behind her and offered to carry them herself.

Perfect.

Unfortunately, John or whatever his name was had seen her using her powers and she knew now she had lost a chance of ever getting him under her control now that he knew the truth.

And the horrified expression on his face only proved it.

Oh well, it’s not like his parents were actually important people…

Rich, yes.

But important?

Not so much.

Yeah, being a metahuman is amazing.

But her abilities apparently didn’t matter when she walked into the classroom half an hour before lunch.

Unfortunately, her dim-witted classmates had to be split into groups of six.

And her group just so happened to be Kagami, Marinette, Alya, Juleka, and Sabrina.

And not even Lila could hold in her scoff at that.

The only good ones here were Alya and Sabrina. Juleka didn’t know that she lied yet but if Lila was certain of one thing, the gothic girl was too shy to tell anyone anything.

Alya and Sabrina on the other hand…

Sabrina would do anything Lila told her to do and Alya believed almost anything she told her even without the use of her powers.

The other two though…they were a problem.

And scary.

Kagami Tsurugi was terrifying when anyone messed with her or anyone she cares deeply about, one of which was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

And Lila has seen the baker’s daughter pull a collapsible bo-staff from a clasp on her back and proceed to use martial arts to beat up a few guys three times her size.

Hey, don’t blame her.

You gotta know your enemy.

But even knowing the enemy wouldn’t help her get what she deserves.

Not yet at least.

And especially not when her enemy was paired up with their tour guide and some other kid that apparently was on some sort of trip for the last few days in New York.

Unfortunately, when he entered the classroom, her heart dropped.

He was obviously a few years older than them, but that wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that he looked almost exactly like Marinette.

The only difference between them being his emerald green eyes and tanner skin.

Lila couldn’t help asking herself what exactly was going on and if Marinette had any siblings or other family members she forgot to mention to any of her classmates.

If Marinette was able to convince this boy that she was probably related with solid evidence that she was a liar, then there’s no way she was going to be able to get the girl’s family member against her.

Though she couldn’t help but ask herself what the boy was doing here. This IS a school for the rich kids.

And the last time Lila checked, Marinette was just a baker’s daughter.

But there was also the fact that her Great Uncle was a famous chef…though he was from Shang-Hi.

Lila shrugged the thoughts away before she turned to Sabrina.

——

“Father.”

Bruce looked up at his son in confusion.

Damian’s naturally serious voice sounded…even more serious. And that was worrying him.

So, like any worried father, Bruce raised an eyebrow for his son to continue talking.

“You know of the exchange class from Paris, correct?” Damian asked, his face and voice dead serious though he could sense the nervousness practically radiating off of his son.

Bruce nodded, not knowing how else to respond in this situation.

“They are incompetent. They hang off of the lies of Lila Rossi like they’re from God himself, though Kent tells me that while guiding the class around the school, he heard her making ridiculous claims about numerous celebrities, including us. He also recounted how it seemed like one of the classmates was second guessing her before her eyes changed color and the boy then went back to his cult-like behavior. Father, I believe Rossi is a meta. I was able to get DNA from her and wish to either confirm or deny this theory.”

Bruce…did not know how to respond to that.

Though he can’t say he was surprised that his son would be willing to do this.

But the fact that a meta seemed to be abusing their powers and manipulating their class did seem serious, so he agreed to let Damian conduct his own investigation.

“Is that all, Damian?” Bruce asked when he noticed that Damian was still lingering near his door.

The boy slightly nodded and Bruce immediately knew that this was also very serious.

“A few of the exchange students were able to tell that Rossi is a manipulative leech. I was able to read over their files and even I must say that I’m impressed.” Damian said, his eyes never leaving his. Bruce could almost instantly say that whatever his son was going to say next was going to shock him.

Did that stop him from asking anything?

No, no it didn’t.

“And should I be concerned?” Bruce asked, eyes narrowed and posture tense.

“No, Father. Quite the opposite, actually. You remember the Tsurugi, Agreste, and Bourgeois heirs, am I correct?” Damian asked, somehow tenser than he was.

“Yes, Damian, I remember Kagami and her other two friends that she’s told us about.”

“While their files were adequate, none impressed me more than Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She is highly skilled in the bo-staff as well as the katana. She is a master in almost as many martial arts as I, and seems to also have some experience in gymnastics. While usually this may concern me and I would be convinced that she was a member of the League of Assassins, I can say with complete confidence that that theory is false as I have also read over the rest of her families’ files, none of them have ever had any contact with the league.” Damian said with a small, almost unnoticeable, smile.

“Damian, what are you saying?”

“She is an activist in helping animals and is against fur skin clothes and the whatnot despite being a more than adequate designer. While she may be tardy to class most times, she is the top student with straight A’s in class. She is class president and organized the whole trip in a little more than a week and got more than double the profit during a food sale when getting enough money for the whole class.”

“Damian.”

“I was partnered with her on a project with Kent and despite how much of a distraction he is, the both of us were able to get more than halfway done with the assignment that is due a week from now. She didn’t even need much of my help despite being Kent’s age.”

Bruce...had no idea how to respond to that too.

“Father, I demand that you adopt her.”

“Damian.”

“She fits the criteria. She has dark hair and blue eyes.”

“Damian, I can’t just adopt anyone.”

“Father, you did it with Todd. If you can adopt anyone, so can I!”

And with those parting words, Damian stormed out of his office, leaving Bruce with a mild headache, a file on a girl his son was demanding him to adopt, and leaving him to undermine said son’s attempts at forging the adoption himself should he refuse.

This was going to be a long day…

——

The next few days have been...weird to say the least.

For example…

Marinette thought that working with Damian would have been difficult with his icy personality that everyone loved to give him.

Marinette didn’t see it.

Yes, he was definitely blunt to the point of being rude. But Marinette liked to think it was a prime example of there being a difference between being nice and being good.

Marinette just didn’t get why the older boy was so insistent on being around both her and Jon.

Especially her.

He barely left her side during the school day unless they were in different classes, and that wasn’t a lot.

Marinette had thought that he had figured out that they were related but then she realized that he had technically been acting like this since the first day.

That, and she had no doubt that he would’ve said something about them being related if he knew.

If Marinette didn’t know any better, she’d say that Damian was slightly protective of her.

Which made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Though she can’t say that it was the worst thing to have ever happened to her.

Getting to know Damian had been...nice. Weird and definitely energy consuming at the beginning of it all. But still nice.

Bonus points that for some strange reason, it completely angered Lila to no end. That and Damian didn’t seem to believe a word that the sausage-head said.

Though she can’t help but want to tell him to get Jon a new pair of glasses.

They were not helping him keep his identity a secret.

She was really considering just giving him a new pair of glasses with an actually good glamour herself.

But giving one of her new best friends more magical protection for his identity was not going to help her.

Not when she’d been left at the Wayne Botanical Gardens at least.

She had gotten a text from Alya about ten minutes ago that she had tried to get the class to wait for her while she used the bathroom but just as she was about to press ‘send’ when she tried to tell Alya that she was okay, her phone died.

And now it was dark.

And the muggers behind her thought they were being sneaky when they were following her.

Marinette would have led the men into an alley and taught them a lesson there but that was in Paris. Gotham is a lot more dangerous than Paris will ever be.

So instead, Marinette slowed down some, waited for the guys to make a move, flipped one man over her hip and then punched him in the throat, effectively knocking him out before she turned to the second one who looked slightly miffed.

So she did the only thing she could think of.

She punched him in the face.

Though she couldn’t help but let her nose crinkle in disgust when she caught a whiff of alcohol.

“And here I thought I woulda had to have helped you.”

Cue Marinette getting whiplash from spinning around so fast to look at the owner of the voice.

And holy cheese balls he was tall.

Like seriously, was she short or was Red Hood just extremely tall.

Of course, now all she has to do is look at his absolutely horrendous helmet and give a good answer while trying not to puke.

Why did he call himself the Red Hood when it was a helmet?

It made no sense whatsoever.

And why did the helmet have lips?

Pushing the thoughts of his horrendous fashion choices aside, Marinette looked back at the muggers.

Don’t judge.

The man that she could now identify as Jason Todd was really tall and his fashion needed to go into the furthest dumpster in the universe and burn there.

Excuse her if she was too shook at the sight of the weird lips on his helmet.

“Yeah, well, crime waits for no one and I really don’t feel like getting mugged.”

The vigilante laughed at that. It was light-hearted and Marinette couldn’t help but feel like it was an absolute miracle that the man was able to remain upbeat in the most crime-ridden city in the world.

“Right ‘bout that.”

Marinette couldn’t help but let herself smile.

Yes, she felt the effects of the Lazarus Pits radiating off of him just like how she felt that Chaos Shard on Damian.

And yet Red Hood was able to remain optimistic despite the unstable energy in him.

“And when you do wait, all you get is injustice, a black eye, paperwork, and questions about why you have a black eye.” Marinette said with a small smile, remembering the first time she went out to stop a normal crime that wasn’t an akuma with Officer Raincomprix.

And with that, helmet head clutched his stomach and laughed until he was wheezing.

“I like you, kid. Got a name?” Fish lips said as he reached up(not by much) and ruffled her hair.

Marinette glared at him once he finally removed his arm, making him tense just a bit.

“Of course I have a name, it’d be ridiculous if I didn’t. I’m Marinette.”

And then he asked the cursed question.

“Well, Marinette, what is a girl like you doing around here at night? Gotham’s streets are dangerous, y’know?”

Marinette flinched slightly, though he obviously noticed it if by the way he tensed was anything to go by.

“My class left me behind while we were at the Wayne Botanical Gardens for a field trip. My class is from Paris.”

Marinette was completely done covering for the people she had once thought were her friends.

Red Hood whistled lowly before a small beat of silence passed.

“Well, dang, you’re far from home. Please tell me they at least did roll call.”

A shake of her head.

“Is this the first time? Please tell me that this is the first time.”

Another shake of her head.

“Please tell me you at least know how to get back.”

Okay now, he sounded desperate.

But a flinch and holding up her phone was all the man needed to know.

And he was not happy.

Marinette will never understand why it felt so much better to travel by grappling hook than by yo-yo.

——

“So we’re just...not gonna talk about how moonlight looks exactly like a mini female B, right?” Jon asked with a small grin, not knowing of the chaos he was about to unleash.

“Moonlight?”

And yes, Jon should have mentioned that Damian was extremely protective of their unofficial little sister.

“Yeah, Marinette.” Jon asked, his grin now completely taking over his features as he thought about the girl who was like a sister he never had.

A glare from Damian should have been all he needed to know to stop.

He didn’t get the hint.

Thankfully, Jason in full Red Hood uniform came up to them almost as soon as he finished patrol, so at least now Jon won’t have to worry about a kryptonite infused katana.

“Marinette? As in Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

Damian’s eyes narrowed at his brother while Jon nodded excitedly.

“How do you know her?” Damian asked, tense and looking about ready to attack Jason.

Jason took off his helmet and Jon could see even through the white’s of his mask that his eyes were narrowed.

“She beat up a few muggers who were tagging her.”

Both Damian and Jon tensed at that but Jason kept going.

“She didn’t even turn around. Just punched them and knocked ‘em out in one hit. Thing of beauty, really. I helped her back to her hotel after that.”

Damian seemed to relax after that comment.

“She looks like you and Bruce though, Demon-Spawn.”

And then Damian went right back to tensing.

“I swear she glared exactly like you, too. I almost wet myself. Y’know, if she wasn’t sweeter than a cupcake.”

Jon could now hear rushed, frantic, and loud footsteps coming towards them and turned just in time to see an equally frantic Tim with coffee in his hand, not that that wasn’t unusual.

“I have news!” was the only thing Tim said before he took a rushed sip of his coffee, giving the perfect chance for Jason to make a comment.

“Well, if it isn’t going to be about how Marinette Dupain-Cheng is more adorable than a puppy and can still kick mugger butt, then I’m not interested.”

Tim blinked at Jason in confusion a few times before he looked back at Damian and Jon.

“Well, more like how she’s actually Bruce’s daughter.”

“Ha! I told you!” Jon said with an excited shout.

“Not gonna ask about that...But I was gonna say that a few weeks before they came here, her school did a biology project.” Tim said, his voice slightly higher pitched with excitement.

“Yes, and…” Jason said, motioning for Tim to continue, though Jon can’t help but feel like Damian was being oddly quiet.

When Jon looked at his best friend though, Jon couldn’t help but think that whatever Damian was going to say was going to shock Jason and Tim.

Just then, Dick and Bruce walked into the Batcave.

And they had both heard at least a fraction of what they were talking about.

So, at Bruce’s slightly confused look, Tim said in a cheery voice, “And...well, Bruce, you are the father!”

“A ‘you are the father’ reference. Nice.” Jason looked at ease for a few seconds before he dragged his hands through his hair.

“What the frick! You got to meet her before any of us! Uh Uh. Pixie-Pop’s too sweet to be related to either of them.”

Of course, at this point Bruce had frozen in shock, Dick was squealing about a new sister, Tim was arguing with Jason, and Alfred had just walked into the Batcave with scones.

“Wait, shoot. Damian’s always going on about being the blood son.”

Jon couldn’t remember who said it, but it ended with Damian tensing.

“She...never told me.” was all the older boy said, his voice slightly raw with emotion and eyes rounded a bit.

“Dames, think about it, she’s only here for a few weeks. Not to mention, have you met her?! She’s too humble to admit something like being a Wayne.”

Damian seemed lighter after that, though even Jon had to admit that he was slightly upset that Marinette had not told them anything about this.

But, if Jon was anything, he was an optimist.

And ever the optimist, Jon knew that Marinette had a good reason for why she didn’t tell them.

“Oh, when her class left her behind at the airport, Alfred and I drove her to the hotel. She mentioned something about there being an emotional terrorist in Paris.”

“I’m sorry, WHAT?”

Chapter Text

When Damian had first found out that Marinette had yet to tell him that they were siblings, it hurt. Yes, Damian did see why she might not have told him, but that didn’t stop him from feeling slightly betrayed.

Especially when Damian considered the fact that he had to find out about it at the same time as the imbeciles he was forced to call brothers.

So yes, Damian felt only slightly betrayed.

Not as much as the whole Heretic ordeal.

But still slightly betrayed.

It was what caused his very sour mood that made all the nuisances at school part like the red sea the moment he exited the limo, to which he said quiet farewells to Pennyworth.

Damian then immediately had his trademark scowl swiftly crawl across his face before he walked briskly through the doors and into the crowded hallways toward his locker and gathered all the materials he would need for all of his classes.

Getting to class though was easier said than done when at least thirty students were murmereing not so quietly around a few students that Damian couldn’t get a look at.

So, Damian then tried to subtly listen in to what the other students were saying.

“You don’t think she’ll-”

“The liar deserves it.”

“Ten bucks says that liar liar pants on fire punches first.”

“What?! No way! She and Nette look far more closer to crying-”

“Yeah, Cesaire looks pissed-”

Damian blinked slowly once, twice, and then pushed his way through the crowd.

The meaning of what they were saying flew right over Damian’s head and all he wanted to do was get to class.

He couldn’t help the wrinkle of his nose and the curl of his lip when all the students kept accidentally prodding him while they tried and failed to whisper.

He also couldn’t help the way his heart felt like it dropped to the floor when he saw what exactly the students were talking about.

Nor could he help the way his face paled slightly when he finally realized the meaning to what exactly the other students were saying.

Damian of course knew exactly what he was doing.

He was not reacting to his emotions.

Don’t get confused.

So, Damian subtly herded the students to go back to class while he confronted the students from France.

Eventually, it was just the French students and him in the hallways and he still couldn’t help himself from white-knuckling his notebook.

Most of the class seemed to be curled around Rossi in a protective bubble while they glared at the other students from their class.

Cesaire’s lip was curled distaste and she too seemed to be white-knuckling her books. But it seemed that she was going against Rossi, not with her.

Damian also noticed that Lahiffe was standing right beside her with an arm around her shoulder looking at Rossi with just as much hatred.

Kubdel and Kante stood slightly behind them looking just as, if not more intimidating, which Damian could see coming from Kubdel. Kante was more likely to have stood by in Damian’s opinion so this reaction surprised him, especially seeing as how Damian had seen his hand twitch towards his pocket whenever someone tried to speak to him, which just so happened to be where his phone was. It was a bad habit he had noticed that Drake had when he didn’t want to socialize and would rather be on his phone.

In the center of them all though, Damian had noticed a head of blonde hair, to which his mind immediately went to ‘Agreste’. Though the scowl on the blonde’s face was abnormal.

It took some time, but Damian finally saw midnight locks that shone blue, and despite his previous anger, his heart melted slightly as he looked at her.

The only problem was that Marinette seemed to be wrapped inside Agreste’s...protective embrace.

Well, that and she had tears streaming down her cheeks as she tried to curl into herself.

Damian’s scowl deeped at he looked at the crocodile tears that Rossi seemed to be shedding before he walked over and stood between the groups.

“Would someone mind explaining to me what the heck is going on?” Damian demanded, glaring at Rossi with a burning hatred. Nobody who was anybody was going to be allowed to treat his sister that way, and even if they were somebody, he wouldn’t allow them to even look at her the wrong way. Yes, her silence had hurt him, but he did understand why she had kept silent and he couldn’t help but feel slightly thankful that she seemed to care so much.

“Marinette threatened Lila in the bathroom. We’re just making sure she pays for it. The other’s are apparently protecting a bully.” a boy said with a snarl. A streak of blonde hair that was a stark contrast to the dark black of the rest of his hair was curled up. Le chien.

Damian thought for a second before he turned on his heel towards Agreste with a fury. The fear that glimmered in his forest green eyes and his slight tremble was enough to make his hold on his sister slack a bit, so Damian scooped the tiny girl up into his arms and held her close.

“I don’t know what you’re going on about or what you think you’re going on about, but nobody, I mean nobody is allowed to talk that way to or about my little sister.”

Marinette stiffened slightly in his arms but he just held her tighter and pressed a small kiss to her temple. Marinette just snuggled closer to him in response and Damian couldn’t help but mentally preen at himself for calming her down, even if only a little.

Agreste and Lahiffe sucked in a sharp breath while Kubdel, Cesaire, and Kante looked smug. The rest of the class paled ghost white, though Rossi seemed to smirk some despite the pale, almost green tint to her skin.

“I-I, but you-” was said in a small, high-pitched voice. Lavillant.

“That’s a lie,” Raincomprix hissed, “Marinette doesn’t have any siblings.”

“And if she did, she would have told us.” Couffaine mumbled quietly.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! You know how two-faced Marinette is,” Rossi said with a fake sob, making Damian freeze when he heard the comparison to the rouge but the girl continued on as she glanced at him, “I’m so sorry, but your sister has been bullying me-”

“Silence, you harlot!” Damian ground out through his teeth, making everyone, including the teachers that had only just come out to see what the commotion was about, stand rim-rod straight.

It was one thing to compare his sweet sister with Harvey Dent of people.

It was a whole new thing to call her a bully right to his face when Rossi was quite obviously lying.

Combine both of them…

And Damian was not happy.

The only thing that stopped him from the sudden urge to kill the liar were the whimpers coming from his sister.

Damian growled at them one last time before he led Marinette towards a quiet spot in the library.

“What-What about class?” Marinette asked, curling into him as soon as he had led them onto a lone bean-bag.

Normally, Damian would glare and threaten anyone who tried to form any sort of physical contact with him, but this was different.

Maybe some of it could be attributed to his time with his family and away from the league, or something else entirely.

Damian couldn’t explain why or even how the girl had somehow wormed her way into becoming an irreplaceable part of his life, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it.

Damian pulled her into a tight hug and slowly rubbed her back in what he hoped were calming circles the way Grayson had comforted or talked him down from something when he was particularly upset about something.

“They can wait. You’re already top of the class. Everyone needs a mental health break every now and then.” Damian said in what he hoped was a soothing voice.

Marinette nodded jerkily into his shoulder and Damian will forever deny the way his heart broke every time Marinette tried to suppress one of her sobs.

Eventually, her sobs slowed down to whimpers and the whimpers turned into sniffles.

“I’m sorry.” Marinette mumbled almost too quietly for him to hear. Her voice was raw while her eyes were red and puffy and Damian couldn’t help but feel like he could have done more to help.

Damian hummed lowly, an indication for her to continue.

“I’m s-sorry I never told you about being your sister.”

The statement itself was easy to understand; it was the meaning behind it that made Damian pause.

And Damian knew Marinette well enough that when she apologized, it wasn’t just an ‘I’m sorry’ and be done with it.

It was a whole lecture or speech able to make him feel like it was Pennyworth who was giving it.

So, Damian frowned slightly.

“You were doing what you thought was right. Besides, I was able to put some thought into why you wouldn’t have told me.” Damian said gruffly, adding in an awkward shrug at the end.

Marinette nodded slightly and embraced him in yet another hug.

Moments later, they had pulled away, a bright grin on Marinette’s face while Damian himself had a rare, barely noticeable smile grace his face.

“We should get to class before Lila causes too much more trouble.” Marinette said with a sharp edge to her tone.

Damian nodded and they both wordlessly grabbed their things that had been mindlessly discarded on a nearby table.

The both of them eventually got into class and the day started on just as it normally would have, excluding the fact that by the time they actually got there, Bustier and his teacher had been in a heated argument.

By the time his teacher came in with an exhausted sigh and no Bustier in sight, they would have been halfway done with their second class with only another thirty minutes until lunch.

So, the rest of the class was spent trying to settle the other students down and taking a few rushed notes before the students fled the classroom for the cafeteria, likely to gossip about what had happened in the hallway earlier, to which Damian was suddenly very grateful that he had led all the students away.

By the time both he and Marinette were halfway done eating with an over optimistic Kent, Damian couldn’t help but feel as if he was forgetting something important.

And then the alarms went off.

“Ah! No need to panic everyone, I’m just here to see my dear boy, Damian Wayne. I’m sure daddy dearest would pay up a boat load to keep you safe, right Dami?”

Damian couldn’t help but flinch at the nickname. It was just another reason why he resented his mother for giving him a name that people could easily call him ‘my blood’ without even realising it.

He also couldn’t help the way all of the French students resembled trapped mice.

Wide eyed and stock still as their gaze switched from between him and his sister.

Yes, Damian really can’t help but hate the Joker sometimes.

——

By the time Joker had been dealt with by Red Robin, Nightwing, and Red Hood, her class had been sent back to their hotel and Marinette couldn’t help but be thankful that she had finally gotten Damian’s phone number.

That of course never stopped the rest of her classmates’ shock when they first heard Damian’s full name.

The angry snarl that tore through Lila’s throat when she realized just exactly who exactly they were will forever be ingrained into her memory in the absolutely best way possible.

Of course when Marinette realized that for the rest of their time here in Gotham they would be interning at Wayne Enterprises, she couldn’t help but facepalm.

Alya looked at her in concern while Adrien seemed slightly fidgety.

“Kagami told me she lost a competition to Damian Wayne,” Adrien said suddenly, eyes wide and full of wonder, “And Kagami never loses in fencing.”

Marinette shrugged, knowing very well that secret identities were called 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠 for a reason, even if the entirety of the Wayne’s were obvious about it, with exception of Jason.

Although, to be fair, Jason Todd 𝑖𝑠 legally a dead person.

Adrien suddenly turned to her with wide, admiring eyes. “Mari, your brother beat an olympic level fencer!” he saids with a wide grin, to which Marinette nodded silently with a small smile.

Max suddenly came up behind her with Markov flying behind him. “I knew he looked familiar. Markov and I were able to find a few pictures of him earlier this week. The two of you look almost exactly the same.” Max said with a smile of his own. His lack of talking like...well, he usually did, surprised Marinette but she’d dwell on that later.

Blinking away her momentary confusion, to which she can’t help but mentally take note that so had the rest of them, Marinette smiles at Max.

“To be honest, I always knew Papa was never my biological father. Knowing that Bruce Wayne was actually the father? Not so much.”

At that, a few of her classmates’ eyes widened.

“I actually didn’t even know who he was until my Maman told me when she found out about the biology project for Madame Mendalieve.”

Cue the over dramatic and loud gasps from her classmates’.

“Okay, but a ‘you are the father’ reference? Really, Mari?” Alix said with an exasperated sigh, dramatically facepalming.

“See! That’s exactly what I said!” A deep voice said from behind them.

Marinette turned around so fast she almost got...whiplash.

Wait a minute…

Marinette couldn’t help but let her mind wander to the night before and her conversation with Red Hood…

And immediately recognized the voice behind her to be the fish-lipped helmet head.

Seeing the man without the cursed helmet was slightly different.

Like the slightly concerning scars on his face and his bright blue eyes that held a tint of green...and unfortunately for her, mischief.

The green could be blamed on the Lazarus Pits, though Marinette felt more like flinching round him than she had the night prior, which could again be attributed to the Lazarus Pits.

Yeah, she’d have to ask Tikki and Plagg how to heal the effects from him later.

And the Chaos Shard from Damian.

Yeah, Marinette had a lot of questions about how they had to use those dangerous magics that the Miraculous had created.

But Marinette shook the thoughts away and leveled a small glare at the man.

“Aw, and here I thought I was going to get a new little sister.” Jason Todd said with an overdramatic pout.

Marinette didn’t know what happened but the uncomfortable feeling that she had before had actually subsided.

Marinette glared at him once again, and this time, he flinched back.

Marinette then proceeded to look back at her class, only to see that Alya was shaking in her shoes.

“I-I...You’re Jason Todd!” Alya said with a small squeal. She already had her phone out, though Marinette could tell that she wasn’t recording. Marinette couldn’t help the small smile from crossing her face when she realized that Alya had finally listened to her advice in waiting for permission to record others.

The small talk they had about Lila last night must have finally gotten to her head about being careful about recording other people.

“Yes, and..?” Jason drawled out with a small smirk.

To which marinette mentally facepalmed. Seriously, did this man forget that he was legally a dead person?

“B-But you died years ago! H-How are you...Marinette...shoot!” Alya panicked, a slightly crazed glint in her eyes.

Jason’s eyes widened, as if remembering something important. The awkward silence that followed for the next few seconds were spent with Alya getting her head screwed back onto her body and Jason thinking about what to say next.

Was Marinette silent the entire time?

Yes, yes she was.

But only because she liked the chaos that she knew would follow.

“Yes, well, I guess you guys are the first to see me as a, y’know, not a dead person since I died. We’ll be leaving a public statement later.”

The excuse...was not half bad actually.

Still absolutely horrible and needed lots of planning but it was still decent enough to actually work.

Of course, when Alya heard those words, she immediately started getting over excited again, leaving Adrien and Max to attempt to calm her down.

Yeah, Marinette was pretty sure that the rest of the class was in one of the hotel rooms, likely talking about what had happened throughout the day.

Of course, that left Jason and her just standing there, to which the man subtly directed her into a quiet, secluded spot.

Marinette, of course, followed him.

Hey, if she could somehow become friends with the supposed Ice Prince of Gotham, then she could easily get into the good graces of the Red Hood.

So yes, Marinette followed him.

Once they were somewhere quiet enough that they wouldn’t be heard and safe enough that no one would think of attacking them, Jason cut the ice.

“Alright, listen lil’ Pix, Timbo found out about that biology project you did and Bruce just so happened to find out,” Jason said with sincerity practically radiating off of him, “And Bruce, while definitely not the most emotional, cares about his kids. He will try to talk to you during your internship at WE.”

Marinette...yeah she lost all thoughts after that.

The warning was nice though.

“BUT, he will leave you be if you tell him to.”

Marinette raised a brow at him.

Y’know what? She was feeling a little chaotic and she just so happened to know their identities.

Might as well get the secret off her shoulders now.

Well, their secret at least.

“I don’t mind if he comes to talk, I actually get to know the man I share half my DNA with. The real question is, how did you know I was here?” Marinette asked, an eyebrow still raised.

Yes, Marinette knew exactly how he knew that she was here at the hotel, he was there to help herd her class to the bus.

That didn’t stop the bright blush from spreading across his cheeks though.

“I-I...well, you see.”

For a man that had just come up with a good excuse as to why he had suddenly come back to life with the excuse of a public statement, he was doing a horrible job about this.

“Last I checked, you were back at GA with the Joker. The only way you would have been able to get here in time with us is if you followed.”

Jason paled white.

“To be fair, both you, Damian, and Tim suck at not being obvious. And Jon. The glamour was horrible. And why glasses of all things.” Marinette said, a smirk gracing it’s way across her face.

“Shoot.”

“If you’re worried about me telling anyone, I’ve already sworn myself to secrecy. I won’t tell a soul.” Marinette said. Alright, she liked chaos, but even she knew the importance of secret identities.

At Least Jason seemed slightly less tense.

And he at least didn’t freak out too much.

Yeah...this was going to be one long conversation.

——

Adrien had yet to completely understand what had happened the past few weeks.

And he would continue not to until the end of their trip.

Would he regret this later? Yes, yes he would.

But here he was, standing outside Wayne Enterprises trying to start his internship along with the rest of his classmates.

When they finally got inside, Adrien couldn’t help but notice that their tour guide from a few weeks ago was also there.

Adrien was pretty sure that his name was Richard Grayson.

Adrien was also pretty sure that his father and Nathalie had mentioned him at some point.

Yeah, he wasn’t completely sure.

But he was completely sure that he was confused about half an hour into interning.

He and Marinette had surprisingly chosen the same thing, Business Management.

For Adrien, his father had told him to intern there so that he would one day be able to take over the company.

He was certain that Marinette’s reason was that she wanted to have her own business in fashion.

But, again, they were interrupted by one Lucious Fox telling Marinette that she needed to go to Bruce Wayne’s office.

And for once, Adrien understood.

But apparently, his class didn’t when it was finally time for lunch.

“Oh, I bet that Uncle Bruce is suing Marinette! I hope he doesn’t go too rough on her. I know how much of a jokesterDamian is. He probably just was joking the other day.” Lila said with a sugary sweet, fake, smile.

“Or Marinette got her hands on him and became an ‘honorary’ sibling.” Kim said with a sigh.

Adrien had been forced to stay silent by his father, but he had tried his best to try and stop Lila.

Unfortunately he had run out of ideas and his father had a tighter leash on him than he’d like to admit.

And it wasn’t until that time that he had finally realized that their previous tour guide was nowhere to be found.

Until he found him with Marinette and what looked to be the co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises.

And that’s when he realized that Richard Grayson was Bruce Wayne’s oldest and first adopted child.

To which Adrien then proceeded to go brain dead along with Alya once he told her exactly what he had found out.

At least now he won’t have to worry about Lila for much longer.

——

Okay, so apparently Tim wasn’t messing with him when he said that there was an emotional terrorist in Paris.

He just failed to mention that Marinette was one of the heroes who was in desperate need of help beating said emotional terrorist.

Though she had a pretty strong theory that it was Gabriel Agreste.

Seriously, the fact that she was able to deduce that amazing theory that it was someone close to the class because of so many akuma attacks that happened in her class as well as the fact that when she was temporarily expelled, there was immediately a Scarlet Moth attack.

Not to mention the fact that their schedules completely aligned.

Yeah, Dick was already Zeta-Tubing his way to Paris.

Good thing Jason had told them that she already knew their identities.

Plus Jon’s.

And a jab at the whole glasses thing was another major bonus.

And yes, while the fact that his little sister was a hero was surprising and extremely worrying, Dick had somehow found it in himself to be proud of the girl who was risking her life everyday for her city.

To which Dick at that moment just wanted to meet one Sabine Cheng and hug the life out of her for training her daughter so well.

But instead of being able to get surveillance on the elder Agreste as well as being able to hug and be very thankful to one Sabine Cheng, Dick was forced to fight Clayface who had recently escaped Arkham Asylum.

So, as usual when stuff like this happens, Dick sighed, put on the Nightwing uniform, and then proceeded to put the rogue back into Arkham.

But by the time he got back to the manor, his plan had been found out and he’d been forced to wait until he got permission from Marinette.

And he had to wait for the rest of his family too.

Yeah, it wasn’t exactly Dick’s best day, but he at least was given a heads up from Marinette about something to do with the Lazarus Pits and the Chaos Shard that she felt on Jason and Damian.

Apparently, the god-like beings known as kwami that power the miraculous had created both the Pits and the Shard and Marinette just so happened to recognize them and was looking for a cure.

Since then, Jason’s been on cloud nine and Damian...was less stabby than usual.

Though he had been less stabby than usual for a few weeks now.

A god-like kwami told him that their magic felt calmer around her because of her soul?

Yeah, Dick was thoroughly confused.

Though Tim freaking out about how upset he was that Cat Noir used his bo-staff like a sword really made his day.

Hopefully, whatever happens, they’ll catch Hawkmoth.

——

~le time skip~ (I’m tryna wrap this up)

The moment Marinette got home from the class trip from Gotham, she face planted onto her bed.

Apparently the emotional whiplash from suing a liar was more than she’d thought.

It wasn’t even Lila that caused it.

It was purely the rest of her class. They apologized relentlessly about everything that had happened.

And Marinette forgave them.

It’d take time before they’d have friendships like they had before Lila, but she was willing to meet them halfway.

Yes, Damian had informed her and the rest of the family that Lila was a manipulative metahuman and the only way to break out of her control was if you specifically knew the truth.

And it apparently had to be knowing the truth and not second guessing?

Yeah, Marinette wasn’t completely sure.

All she knew was that her friends had been manipulated into thinking things that they didn’t actually think about so she couldn’t really fault them for that.

The sudden shrill ring of the newest hit from Jagged Stone cut her thoughts.

Picking up her phone slowly, Marinette looked at the ID: Tim.

Marinette physically could not tell how thankful she had been for Tim these past few weeks.

Seriously, the guy may have a very concerning addiction to coffee, but he was a genius.

Although, she also has a very concerning addiction to coffee.

And he had helped her set up quite a few cameras around the Agreste Manor for Barbara who had unfortunately been on vacation during her trip so Marinette had yet to meet the woman on anything other than short video calls.

With Cass and Stephanie, who happened to be two other people she had yet to meet.

And that’s when Marinette remembered that she had an incoming call from one of her brothers.

She talked with Tim a few more minutes, apparently they had caught sight of a dark, purple and black butterfly escaping through a well hidden window at Agreste Manor.

And mere moments after Tim said that, the akuma alarm rang and the next thing Marinette knew, what do you know, Hawkmoth found a new victim.

...That took a lot less time than Marinette would like to admit.

So, she bid farewell to Tim, hung up the call, and then proceeded to save Paris.

Thankfully, she hung up after Tim told her that he and the others were Zeta-tubing their way here to Paris immediately after the fight.

——

Damian’s grip on his katana slackened a bit.

Not by much, but enough to silently berate himself for it. Only to immediately get angry with himself for feeling that way.

Agreste’s father was apparently Hawkmoth and Damian had to be someone who had to witness his reaction to it, something he was not looking forward to doing.

While Damian had looked and nodded at Ladybug, who he had earlier found out to be his little sister which was something he’d already yelled about.

That was basically their way of saying that the both of them would inform the blonde later of his father’s terrorism acts.

But apparently that wasn’t needed. Not when a bright blinding green enveloped around Cat Noir only to reveal Agreste in near tears.

The poorly hidden sobs that wracked through his body were enough to make even Damian pity him.

Of course Damian also knew what it was like to have an evil parent.

He also knew that at that moment, his sister sprinted towards Agreste before she held him tightly in a hug.

Would Damian complain and threaten Agreste later?

Yes, yes he would.

But that would be after the shock of his father being a terrorist had stopped haunting him until Damian deemed him well enough.

Then he, Todd, Drake, and Grayson would all go threaten the boy.

Thankfully, now they didn’t have to deal with Lila Rossi as she had been sent to a Juvenile Detention Center and would later be sent to a prison when she was of age, as were the laws of a meta not only failing to inform the government of their powers but also abusing them for their own gain, something that Damina was very thankful for.

Damian shook himself out of his thoughts and roughly grabbed the older Agreste by the, what Marinette liked to call ‘candy cane’, and led him outside to where Todd and Drake had informed the police.

Damian can say with complete confidence that he was a little horrified when Marinette had first called him that. His little sister…should definitely not be calling someone that.

And then Damian met the elder Agreste in person and immediately understood.

His sister was too innocent to call someone that without realizing the implications.

She was referring to the horrendous necktie that the man wore.

His thoughts were interrupted when the feeling of being watched crept over him so he immediately looked down at Agreste who was glaring at him.

The fight had been short, seeing as how they were unexpected and Mayura, now known as Nathalie Sancoeur, had been in the middle of a dizzy spell and a coughing fit.

That and the both of them were absolutely horrendous fighters.

Damian at this point had thrown the fashion mogul on the ground at the feet of Officer Raincomprix, who was by no means no Commissioner Gordon but still an adequate officer.

Damian clicked his tongue softly before he turned swiftly on his heel and back into the large Manor. It was by no means Wayne Manor, but it was still large enough to house more than two people like it did mere hours before.

Upon getting inside though, it left Damian slightly confused.

But that was just contributed to the fact that he couldn’t see anyone in it.

Damian had then heard slightly rushed footsteps coming towards him and turned to see Kent, now as Superboy.

“I did an x-ray and, well, there’s something you might wanna see.” Kent said, sighing before he flew straight into what Damian knew was Gabrial Agreste’s office, to which Damian followed as quickly as he could.

When he got into the office though, he was greeted by the sight of Kent lightly pressing a few buttons on a painting of what was probably Agreste’s missing wife.

The elevator that appeared out of almost nowhere should have surprised Damian more than it did.

It didn’t but it should have.

Both him and Kent entered the miniature elevator as it slowly descended into what was probably a hidden basement underneath the semi-large Manor.

Exiting the small elevator was easier said than done when both him and Kent were crammed into it, though they were immediately welcomed onto a narrow walkway that appeared to lead into a small underground garden.

It was dark and Damian was immediately put on high alert when he saw Emilie Agreste in what seemed to be a glass casket in the middle of a butterfly garden.

She wasn’t dead, as it looked like she was on some sort of life support and her chest was slowly rising and falling with each breath, but she might as well have been if the deafening that followed was anything to go by.

Marinette seemed to have transformed back and held Agreste in a very protective embrace and the boy, unfortunately, seemed unwilling to let her go.

Kent seemed to be leveling a cold look at the boy, something that Damian was determined to ask questions about later.

The four of them spent the next few minutes in an uncomfortable silence, most of which was spent with Marinette just staring and analyzing the comatose woman with Adrien wrapped up like bubble wrap in her arms.

Damian could faintly hear the descension of the elevator before the sound of light footfalls distracted him.

Damian turned to look over his shoulder as soon as Todd had approached them, to which he immediately took off his helmet.

“Holy Heck.” was all that the man said with a gasp.

Damian continued to stare at the man he was unfortunately forced to call a brother.

Thanks to Marinette, the white streak in his hair had disappeared as well as most of his anger that was contributed from the Lazarus Pits, something that still seemed to catch Damian off guard.

The effects from the Chaos Shard had also been removed from him and for that, both he and Todd knew that they’d forever be indebted to Marinette.

“I think I can heal her.” The voice was soft and quiet and Damian had a hard time hearing it.

He still heard it and he knew that there would be another person indebted to her.

——

Jon glared at Adrien.

While the expression was usually not something that Jon liked to associate himself with and preferred to let Damian have it all to himself, Jon deemed it a necessary evil.

Adrien visibly, and audibly, gulped and Jon couldn’t help but feel a little bad.

It must have shown on his face if the way Adrien seemed to relax slightly was anything to go by.

So, Jon just sighed and looked at Adrien with a small frown.

“Look, you’re a good guy, but Marinette’s basically my sister,” something he had to remind her siblings about when they noticed how closer the two of them were, “If you hurt her, I won’t forgive you.”

Adrien nodded firmly, understanding sparkling clear in his forest green gaze.

“I wouldn’t dream of hurting her.”

Jon looked up into his eyes, well, down seeing as Jon was taller than the boy, and immediately knew that he was speaking the truth.

So, Jon sighed and nodded again, a signal for a certain someone to come in.

“Good, but if you hurt her, I won’t hesitate.” Jason said, gun in hand as he pointed it at Adrien.

A quick x-ray told him that it was empty, but Adrien didn’t know that, so Jon also signalled for him to put it away.

Damian also suddenly came in and looked from between him, Adrien, Jason, and the gun that he was fumbling to put away.

“Hurt my sister and both my katana and I won’t show mercy.”

And with those parting words, both of the Wayne’s dramatically turned and left, leaving an exasperated Jon and a very pale and hyperventilating Adrien.

Great, now he just had to explain to Marinette that her brothers broke her boyfriend.