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Language:
English
Series:
Part 4 of Maribat Stories! , Part 1 of Becoming a Family
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Published:
2024-08-23
Words:
1,345
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1/1
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29
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995
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The Family that They Couldn’t Be

Summary:

Lila had convinced Tom and Sabine that Marinette was no good. So they sent her to live with her biological father in Gotham, Bruce Wayne.

He doesn't even bother to resesarch and gives her a buncha strict rules to follow, and basically makes Marinette a prisoner in a way. Of course, nobody knows she's innocent.

So imagine their surprise one day when they overhear a conversation between her and her friend?

Perhaps they should have actually looked to see if Marinette was such a bully as others said she was.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

The Bats and birds were creeping through the hallways, returning from patrol, when they heard noises. They saw light coming from the ajar door to the library, and they all crowded near it, trying to see what was going on. 

 

Marinette sat at a table with a book in hand. 

 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng Wayne had been a new addition to the family, although not a very wanted one. Sabine Cheng, her mother had called Bruce a few months ago, telling him that she had a daughter, his daughter, who was a troublemaker, bully, and just uncontrollable. She told him that she would be sending her to Gotham, because she couldn’t handle the stress anymore.

 

Bruce had taken the child in, of course. But strict rules were enforced. A curfew at 8pm, limitations on spending money, and somewhat constant surveillance. She was cold and prickly, not unlike Damian, but her reputation kept the Waynes from getting close to her. Nobody liked bullies. 

 

Bruce gritted his teeth. It was WAY past curfew. He would need to speak to her about this later.

 

She was humming as she flipped through the book.

 

“That’s my book!” Jason hissed lowly.

“It’s in the library. Technically, the library books belong to all of us.” Dick pointed out. Jason grumbled something like ‘still’.

 

The ringtone of a phone rang. Marinette’s phone. Tim raised a brow.

 

“I cut off her phone after certain hours, though! How the heck is that working?” Answers were cut off as they heard Marinette smile. She picked up the phone and accepted the call.

 

“Mon cherie.” 

 

“Marinette!” It was on speaker. A male voice, filled with exhaustion, but enthusiasm as well.

 

“Hi Adrien.” Marinette whispered quietly. She sounded upset. The bats exchanged confused glances with each other.

 

“...Still calling on your burner phone I see.” A burner phone? Really? Tim sighed. No wonder it was working. He didn’t know she had a burner. He would block it tomorrow.

 

“They won’t let me use my other one after curfew. Even though I tried to tell them that I can only call my friends at this time. I guess they don’t like the idea of a bully having friends.” She spat out the word bully with so much venom that Dick flinched.

 

“They really believe those lies?” Lies? What did the boy mean?

 

“I don’t think they want to believe in me. I’m obviously not wanted here,” Marinette sighed. A sense of dread crept into the boys. “Lila’s winning.” Who was Lila?

 

“Ugh!” The exclamation from the boy was abrupt. “I hate it! I hate everything! Mari, you don’t deserve this! You are the kindest, most selfless person I know. And If people can’t see through Lila’s sweet wiles and lies, then they’re the fools!”

 

A slight silence. The words spun in the Waynes’ heads like a nauseating tornado. Something was wrong.

 

“Fools…that have control over my every move right now, Adri,” Marinette’s voice was sad, resigned. “There’s nothing I can do. They don’t even try to listen.” Jason made eye contact with Tim, the concern for Marinette shared. Tim pulled out a computer. [Where he got that from I dunno]

 

He started searching for this ‘Lila’.

 

“I thought that Bruce Wayne is your biological father?! Doesn’t he try to listen? Shouldn’t he try to listen to his daughter that he never even fucking knew about rather than the woman who ran away and lied and hid you and then spewed lies that she never even fact checked?!” The boy spat.

 

Although Marinette’s back was turned to the door, the bats still saw the tears dripping off her cheeks onto the carpet below.

 

“He’s the one who restricts me the most.” More silence. Tim’s computer pinged quietly, the results coming up. He stifled a gasp. The others leaned in to look.

 

“Lila Rossi, otherwise known as Cerise Azine, or Isabella Crowlett. She’s a meta, powers of persuasion. It’s hidden, but if you look carefully, every school she goes to, she targets a well liked student to get rid of. She lies, persuades, works her magic. She turns everyone against her target. A few students have— they’ve committed suicide because of her lies. I…think her target’s Marinette. I think we’ve been gravely misunderstanding everything. Sabine Cheng was turned against her daughter.”

 

Bruce paled.

 

Jason sucked in a strangled breath. Dick looked crestfallen. Even Damian looked a bit ashamed.

 

“We didn’t even give her a fucking chance,” Jason groaned. “We’ve fucked up so badly.”

 

The phone conversation continued.

 

“Adri, I hate this place!” Marinette’s voice was thick with tears. She shut the book and slid it away from her on the table. “I’m miserable here. I want everything to stop, I-I want to just go to sleep and never wake up. I want peace, mon cherie.”

 

Bruce felt sick. What had he done? He brought justice, he protected the weak. And he had just accused an innocent, had turned away from the truth.

 

What kind of detective was he?

 

[A shitty one Bruce, a real shitty one]

 

“Mari, I know you can be strong, okay?” The boy’s voice turned soothing. “My father agreed to let me go to Gotham for a bit to prompt the Gabriel brand. I’ll be there to help soon, okay?” Marinette let out a sharp gasp.

 

“Y-you're coming?”

 

“Yes, mon amour. I will be there soon. So hold on, Mari.” 

 

“...Okay.”

 

There was a short pause. Dick had tears in his eyes as he recalled all the times he had ignored her.

 

Damian was silent. But he thought back to a certain occasion.

 

“I detest people like you, harlot. Preying on the weak, harassing others. I believe those people who repeat such actions deserve nothing short of hell.”

 

“...You don’t know me at all, Damian.”

 

“Tt. I do not need to know you when your reputation precedes you.”

 

“I wouldn’t know much about hell, but I would say it’s better there. Because the gods know the truth when the world doesn’t.”

“I still can’t believe your family,” Adrien’s voice cut through their thoughts. “I thought family should trust one another, and even if your father sucks, at least your infinite amount of siblings?”

 

Marinette scoffed.

 

“Let’s see, Richard ignores me 90% of the time because he feels uncomfortable around such a ‘bully’, Jason scowls whenever he sees me because he believes in helping children and apparently it hasn’t crossed whatever peabrain he has that I might need help, Tim is a half dead coffee-obsessed insomniac that I would usually bond with, but he’s supposed to be the smart one and he’s convinced I’m the bad guy. Does he even research? What a fake. Oh, and Damian, the guy I’m actually related to,” Marinette paused her word vomit to gag. “Ugh, the first time I met him, he basically told me to go to hell.” 

 

Heads swiveled to Damian. He looked away.

 

“Damian!”

 

“I simply said what I thought was right at the time.”

 

“Family isn’t the people you're related to Adrien,” Marinette sighed. “Or adopted into a family or whatever. Family is sympathy, a family understands, a family is a support that will catch you whenever you fall. A family trusts each other even if someone has some secrets and even if someone has a bad reputation. A family uses their experiences with someone to determine what they think of you, not the words of others. A family is…love. And currently, the only family I have is you. Not that sad excuse of parents that Tom and Sabine are, or this bastard of a bio dad that doesn’t care enough to try. …Adrien, you’re the only person keeping me up.”

 

“I guess I should know that by now. ...You’re my only family too, Marinette.”

 

“I… have to go, mon cheri. Call me later, okay?”

 

“Of course, mon amour, love you.”

 

“Love you too, Adrien.”

 

The call disconnected. Marinette dropped her head into her arms, and her quiet sobs filled the silent library.

 

The Batfamily only watched in shame at the sister, the daughter, that they failed.

 

Notes:

So...I read a bunch of angst and then I was like eyyy I know there's some maribat fics out there where Marinette is sent to Gotham for her 'behavior' but hardly any of them are finished, so lets make my own!

I WILL HAVE A PART TWO!!! I WILL HAVE ANOTHER FIC SOON THAT EXPLORES MENDING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THEM, BUT ITS GONNA BE SLOW AND ANGSTY. Imma rip open a wound and shower it with salt.

But please stick around, and please comment your thoughts so I actually have enough motivation to continue! Thank you for reading!

Lolli_EE

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