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Chapter Text

Even if he was very young, having turned 4 not too long ago, Damian al Ghul understood that some precautions were needed in order to survive in the League of Assassins.

He’s not to show disrespect to their superiors, nor mercy to his opponents, he’s not to express weakness of any kind, and must strictly adhere to the educational program Mother had made for him.

The Demon Heir was required to be perfect, a useful resource gathered for Grandfather, and if he wasn’t, then there were no need for an heir.

Interrupting while preparing himself for today’s routine, Talia’s assistant knocked at the door, “Mistress will be expecting you by her chamber” notified.

The boy suspected at the unusual statement, his schedule had never been modified.

“Understood”, answered shortly after.

Without wasting another minute, he headed where he was instructed. Walking through large halls, never unaware of his surroundings, never letting his guard down, he only stopped when he stood before a dark wooden door. “Mother, may I come in?”

“You may” replied straight away, so he moved forward quietly, closing the door behind him, until he was in front of her.

“Damian” she demanded, putting such emphasis on his name that the boy almost flinch; that voice equals punishment, he did not like punishment.

“Yes, Mother?” responded leaving no place for silence in between.

With a quick gesture to her assistants, who were set at the side of her room, and then the door, Talia ordered them to leave. She did not alter her deadly gaze till all of them left.

“Son,” said as the 4-year-old relaxes the posture he didn’t even know had stiffened “It is vital for us to have a conversation on certain topic.”

“What is it, Mother?”

“Do you know what soulmates are, my son?”

The question disconcerted him, “No, I do not think I was informed about that subject.”

“Well, dear. You may sit, I will explain it to you.”

He did as she offered, sitting in the chair set across her, slightly curious. What could be so important that Mother felt the need to teach him herself?

“Damian, as you know, our world is really big. And in it, billions of people live every day differently” explained with no hurry. “This universe was their ways to bring the correct people together, people that would benefit from existing next to each other.”

“Which implies, that in this world, that person the universe chose is the only one worthy of you,” she leaned closer and put a finger up “just one person can be your equal in every aspect, and the universe took the time to bind you as one, your soulmate.”

A small silence made its appearance as she paused to choose the right words… With her finger now laying on the center of his chest said “Someone your own core is screaming for you to look for.”

His eyes go wide at the statement. He understood what she meant, he felt what she described. How could she know about it?

“You have been doing marvelously hiding it. Nonetheless, you must still do so. Nobody shall know about that ache, do you understand?” asked severely, he nodded as she leaned on her chair once again.

“Tell me, how far does it want you to go?”

Far? Not comprehending, he tried concentrating on his chest. It’s not an ache as Mother has described it, it didn’t hurt. It’s more like a feeling of deep sadness so unbearable that demands to be relieved, “I am not certain, Mother. If the strength of it defines that, I believe It wants me to go very far…”

“That is not good” she hesitated for a while seeming thoughtful. “You have to listen to me very closely, Damian.”

“Always, Mother.”

“You do not need to trust me. No, do not ever trust me, do not even try to love me, son. I would not dare to ask any of this after the things I have done. But believe that I love you.” Talia let her voice break just for an instant.

The boy stiffened in his place, he knew better than that. Anyway he managed to nod to let her see she had his attention.

“This soulmate of yours clearly does not belong to the League, do you know what that means?” He almost answered the rhetorical question.

“It will not matter if they are your equal, or if the universe itself placed them in this world to be next to you, that will not matter to us. You will have to end their life, as your Grandfather wishes,” she paused for a second, lowering her voice “and I do not want that for you.”

The idea of his Mother going against the League obviously alarmed him, yet he avoided questioning her.

“Why does Grandfather want them dead?” requested to know instead. The mere thought of the life of their soulmate being taken away, and by his own hands, despaired him. He didn’t show it, too much of his emotions had been seen and that wasn’t something he wanted her to take acquaintance.

“While you are designated as equals, the universe wants to make sure you stay as that. Your abilities, the knowledge that we gave you, will be given to them as well... I am sure you get how it could compromise us now.”

Damian was thunderstruck, however, affirmed “They are a threat for us… Would Grandfather consider requiting them?”

“The reunion will happen, I have confidence in that, but I do not believe it will be soon.” Talia approached and surprisingly crouched before him. “Son, it will be too late for them, they will not understand our ways.”

“What should I do then? You said you do not want that, but if an order is given I will have to obey… I have no power to act against the League.” The last sentence let her know he would if he had it; if all of this was a lie, he should start digging his own grave.

Well, he saw it wasn’t when she said “You will leave the League” with such low voice that if his heart had beaten louder, he would have missed it.

“I will be chased and killed.”

“Not if you follow your training correctly, it will happen when I say you are ready.” She stood up, “Now leave, your classes for today will be dismissed as you prepare for your first mission.”

“Yes, Mother.”

The last thing he remembers was leaving her room to let an assistant guide him to the area where some of his masters were waiting for him. The mission was clear: infiltrate and kill, nothing more.

He obeyed; he hated it, but no choice was given. If he hesitated even for just a sec, there was no way he’d make it up alive…

He didn’t anyway.

What wasn’t as clear to one of his associates was that ‘infiltrate’ implied not being seen. He was stabbed by the enemy and bleed out before he could creep back to the base.

And all his obedience dissipated after the first dip in the Lazarus pit since his birth.

Chapter Text

Sabine was making dinner today. She started cutting some vegetables, which were going to be put in the pot once the water was boiling for the stew. Then, she sliced the chicken in small pieces, so her little daughter could eat them comfortably.

There was no rush, as the sun hadn’t set yet. Her daughter was playing in her room, and her husband was at their bakery downstairs, with some of the last customers of the day.

“Oh my-!!” She cut her scream when she saw that the little figure she had glanced suddenly standing behind her was Marinette,

“Hi, maman” said the girl with no expression.

“Hi, honey. Were you sneaking to scare me?” asked looking amused that she didn’t hear her.

Marinette looked at her mother genuinely confused, “No… I wanted to ask you if I could eat macarons before dinner, I’m hungry.”

“Ah, yes. But only two, or you won’t finish your food later; go with papa, he’ll give you some.” The girl did as indicated, leaving Sabine concerned in the kitchen watching her walk away in completely silent steps, like she had practiced for them to be like that.

Tom made his way into the apartment after a while, with Marinette in his arms eating, and a smile on his face. “This tiny tiger came downstairs so stealthily that she almost scares me to death!” said as he laughed.

“Tom, I think we need to talk” stated his wife with no second thought. His face turned pale instantly, eyes open widely, and smile dropped. “Oh! That’s not what I meant. No, we’re good, love. We need to talk about this recent… disclosure, with Marinette too.”

“Oh thank god, you two are really trying to scare me to death.” He breathed out, relaxing his shoulders.

“Maman, papa. What are you talking about?” demanded to know the little girl, irritated as she didn’t understand.

“Mari, didn’t you notice that you don’t make any sound as you walk?”

“...No” she furrowed her eyebrows. It wasn’t on purpose; otherwise, she would have told her parents that it was just a joke, they seemed to be pretty distressed.

“We haven’t taught you about soulmates yet, didn’t we?” said Sabine turning her gaze from her daughter to her husband, who shook his head as form of negation. They hadn’t felt the need to talk about it, it was something that they resolved a long time ago, and nosy family members lived a little bit to far for them to get their noses in the topic until something was discovered.

“Sweetie, did you know that there exists one person in the whole world who will be able to do anything you learn to do? And that you also will be able to do everything they learn to do?” Tom attempted to explain easily. Mari’s eyes showed her surprise.

“That’s your soulmate, honey.” Her mother carried on with the explanation. “You two are bonded by the universe, that’s why you can be sneaky like that.”

Her eyes started to shine, “That’s so cool!” she jumped from her father’s arms. “I want to learn a lot of things! Can you teach me how to bake? And self defense? And Mandarin? Oh! I want to know how to paint like Maman, too!”

“Sure, sweetie. We’d love to teach you.” Tom answered as both parents laughed at her enthusiasm. “Now, how about you go to play in your room for a while, so we can finish dinner?”

“Yes, pap- Ah! I almost forget, is that the same reason that my chest feels… really sad?” Those words came out of her mouth with a seriousness you wouldn’t expect from a 4-year-old.

They both nodded, it didn’t cross their minds to tell her why. Then Marinette complied, running upstairs with a bright grin. The smile that was drawn in her parents face slowly faded. Tom embraced his wife, as she said “Poor child… what could he be experiencing?”

Assuming the worst, without knowing it could be even worse than whatever they’ve been thinking, they consoled each other.

…

Marinette was a smart girl.

She understood the situation, she knew something wasn’t right about her soulmate.

She saw her parents when she asked about the feeling, they looked so worried, they couldn’t even answer her properly. They tried to hide their concern from her, and she didn’t like that.

Standing in her room, she decided that nothing about it would be worrying them ever again.

Chapter Text

Damian thought that one day he’d get used to living in the League, just like his Mother, his masters, or any other child who had grown up here did. He believed he’d be hardened to killing, to seeing his hands stained red with the blood of his victims, to listening to their last breaths as their life left their bodies. He hoped for the empathy he felt for them to vanish, as it was supposed to.

Yet, it never happened.

He’d wake up covered in sweat, shaken by the nightmares that haunted him every time he slept, grateful for having his own room, so nobody would witness such sign of weakness. He’d secretly pray to whatever that could listen to him, not that he believed it existed, for mercy, for all this suffering to end once and for all.

He’d hope for Mother to consider him good enough to escape soon. However, this desire of freedom didn’t stop him. All Damian needed to do was to block the feeling so it wouldn’t obstruct his training, nor his studies or his missions, and that’s what he did.

His studying program was filled with everything necessary to a professional assassin.

Chemistry was mastered less than a year while tutored. Math posed no problem, as he saw the patterns and applied them with ease. History wasn’t a priority, but basic common knowledge was memorized, so it wouldn’t be a problem when disguising.

He had mastered languages such as English, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, and a few others by the age of 9, not counting Arabic, his mother tongue. Linguistics studies didn’t cease there, as Talia noticed his exceptional retention capacity, she encouraged him to learn more, for example: French…

He already had perceived that Mandarin wasn’t new to him when professors began their classes, as he understood the basics. Nonetheless, when the French ones began, he knew everything, to the point that he even had to fake his accent to avoid suspicion.

It was annoying, but at least he learned something about his soulmate.

One of his least favorite skills to develop was poison immunity; Mother guided him from an early age to drink small amounts of different poisons, that increased as time passed. It hurt like hell, and the thought of consuming it all had crossed his mind multiple times, not to be performed. He knew he’d be resurrected over and over.

By the time he turned 11 years old, his training had become so deadly that one careless mistake could mean another dip in the Pit.

His masters weren’t merciful, and he neither, no matter how much his instincts screamed begging him to stop, it was kill or be killed. He mastered every weapon that touched his hands, with katanas being his preferred blade, and became an expert in countless martial arts.

It had been a while since his last death, and after the death of a few dozen high-level instructors at his hands, Talia decided it was time for the mission.

Ra’s al Ghul heard of his achievements and approved a solitaire mission for his heir, to prove himself to the League, as Mother had recommended. Damian knew for a fact that they wouldn’t let him go that easy; despite calling it ‘solitaire’, he was convinced someone would be following his steps.

He was right, of course. What the boy didn’t expect was that his Mother would be taking that place, his plans for getting rid of the spy were trashed that second.

“Damian, this is the last time we will see each other” she said, coming out of the shadows, right when the mission was accomplished. “You will live with your father from now on.”

“Father? ...Batman?” he asked knowing the answer.

“Yes, son” affirmed anyway. “You will be known as Damian Wayne henceforth, as your father’s name is Bruce Wayne; Damian al Ghul is dead.”

“How will you convince Ra’s that you did not find my body? That bitch knows for a fact that you can throw a few body parts to the Lazarus Pit and he’ll grow a new and renovated heir, not that I don’t want to leave the cult.” The boy said, with a sharp and unapologetic tone.

Those words shocked his Mother for a moment. “I would like to think that you will not talk about me like that.”

“Not that you’ll hear about it” he deadpanned.

“Anyway, do not worry about it. It is impossible for the Pit to clone you just from dry blood and a hand, and it would be inconvenient to try and train 11-year-old from scratch. It is much more efficient to make a new one” explained unbothered.

Damian furrowed his eyebrows. “Are you going to cut off my hand? I’d prefer the left one.”

Talia let a chuckle escape her lips, this was the first and last time he’d hear her laugh. “That is unnecessary, I’ve already taken care of everything, and your father would make sure I will not be able to hold a weapon again if he finds out I cut his son’s hand.”

Her last sentence confused him, “Why?” questioned.

“Oh, you will see. Now, we have a long trip to Gotham; it would be better to leave right away.”

So they did.

Not many days passed before they arrived at their destination on a clear night, the best moment to jump across rooftops and be seen by Batman.

They stopped jumping around when they sensed someone following them; as they thought, it was indeed Batman.

“Talia, what are you doing here?” asked the grown man with a voice that sounded like a growl.

“Bruce-” attempted to answer.

“No names on the field” he interrupted.

“Right, Batman, just the man I was looking for.” This made him rise an eyebrow, not that they’d notice. “I have someone I need you to take care of” she said to proceed pointing at Damian with her hand.

“I don’t need to be taken care of, Mother” the boy protested.

“And why would I?” asked the man ignoring him.

Damian didn’t like that, “I thought he was the best detective in the world; I didn’t know it was self-proclaimed” he said crossing his arms.

“This is Damian, your son... Our son.” The woman revealed, Batman was stunned. “I am faking his death, his place does not belong in the League.”

“We did not have… Intimacy, Talia. What are you talking about?”

“No, we did not. I had my ways to gather the resources. You should really work on your drug immunity,” she explained “and do not be fooled by the color of his eyes, that’s the doing of Lazarus water.”

There was a moment of silence until the woman broke it, “Well, with things cleared, I have to go back. I still have to deal with the whole the-Demon-Heir-being-dead stuff. Goodbye, Damian.”

Nothing else was said as she walked away.

After a brief, awkward moment of unbroken eye contact, Bruce put two fingers where his ear was supposed to be under the cowl, “RR, tell Agent A to prepare a room for a kid.”

A moment later, they made their way into the Batcave. Swinging across the city was a really efficient mode of transportation.

There, Damian was greeted by a bunch of people, he could count three females and five males. “Welcome to the flock!” they said in unison.

“Who are they, Father?” asked the new member of the family in a flat tone.

“Those are Alfred, my father figure and butler, and my kids.”

“Is any of them biologically yours?”

“No…”

“I see… In case no one informed you, you have an adoption problem. I don’t want more siblings; sort that out” the boy deadpanned.

The crowd of Batman’s children burst out laughing.

“I like him. We’re keeping it” said the one with a lock of white hair.

The one that seemed to be the oldest child responded “Oh he’s definitely part of the family now. We’ve got a new Robin!”

“Hey, B! At least this one has green eyes” joked the blond girl, clutching her stomach from laughing too hard.

“Where did you find him?” asked the one holding an energy drink, “I hope you checked if he has parents.”

“I’m his only biological child, Damian al Ghul. Are you deaf? Did you not hear me calling him ‘father’?” stated with condescending tone.

“Don’t speak to your brother like that” Bruce commanded.

“Yes, Father” the boy replied, standing straight as a soldier.

The room fell into a deathly silent at the name “al Ghul”, everyone in it was perplexed, with open mouths and wide eyes. Except Alfred, of course, who calmly said “I believe It would be convenient to introduce ourselves to Master Damian before dinner time arrives. I’m Alfred Pennyworth, you may call me Alfred, or Alfie if you prefer.”

The introductions followed: Dick giving him a nickname already, ‘Little D’, Cass signing hers in sign language, and the others going straight to the point. Then Batman took off his suit, and Alfred started guiding them to the manor.

As they were going upstairs, Dick attempted to grab his new little brother from the sides, so he could carry him on his shoulders, resulting in a blade they hadn’t noticed the young boy had, almost making his neck bleed.

“Damian, no threatening your brother! Or anyone”, ordered his Father.

“But he was about to attack me!” he wailed, and the man sighed.

“We don’t attack family, son” said in a soft voice while kneeling at his son’s height, a ‘most of the time’ has muttered by Jason, earning a hit from Tim’s elbow. “This isn’t the League, you’re safe here… We don’t kill either; you won’t have to do so anymore.”

Damian felt troubled, he looked into his father’s eyes and saw genuine worry drawn all over his face. What if he’s lying? He felt like crying; his eyes burned. “Alfred, can you show me my room?” he asked, wanting to escape.

Alfred obliged.

Alone in his room, he cried. For the first time in his life, he let himself cry until he had no more tears. And he felt good.

Maybe nightmares would still haunt him. Maybe, when he closed his eyes, he would still see the faces of those he killed. Maybe his hands wouldn’t be clean ever again. And maybe, the world wouldn’t forgive him.

But now, for the very first time, he felt protected.

He had a family.

...

Damian became the new Robin; in his words ‘the best Robin’. And two years flew by.

He would still get a little murderous from time to time, but a few knives thrown a day became two or three knives thrown a month, a really good improvement.

The remains of Lazarus Pit were still present, and he knew how to deal with it, but Jason’s tips were useful to control his rage on those days when the effect was worse. He’d be a little menace, but mostly by choice!

He really liked fighting crime and swinging across the city with the grapple gun; it put his skills to good use.

He never stopped learning, he needed to go to school, but he had the opportunity to know more about arts, history and literature; Jason would try to get him to read every classic known in his spare time. He also made a friend, who just happened to be Superman’s son. And he found a new hobby, too! Painting, and was pretty talented at it.

A lot of new languages filled his repertoire, between them: Romanian, a little bit of Kryptonian and Tamaranean, Portuguese, and more; Dick had joked about whether he was competing with Bruce, which led to an internal competition that he was determined to win.

Apparently, he inherited his Father’s need for adopt orphans, as he got a few pets: Titus, Alfred the Cat, Bat-Cow, Terry, Goliath, and Wiggles; he was prohibited from adopting more after he came across his second dragon.

Life was better.

Everyone around him helped; most of his thoughts weren’t dangerous for him anymore.

Not that he would ever be caught saying it, but he was grateful for the family he had. They loved him for who he was: a little boy who happened to be a little menace from time to time. And even if he wasn’t comfortable talking about some things with them yet, he knew he wouldn’t lose them.

He wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.

Chapter Text

Marinette was far from being a normal girl; at this point, she couldn’t say if her soulmate was to blame.

She knew she was more clever than most adults around her expected, but every time she showed it, a lot of unwanted attention would overwhelm her. As she grew up, people began questioning her: they’d always asked right away about her future partner, someone she hadn’t even met yet, assuming it would explain her capacities.

None of them considered that, maybe, they were her own skills.

She could solve problems in pretty creative ways, and understand others emotions and needs with ease. She was passionate about history and literature, that knowledge stuck on her head and never left, random facts ran through her mind on a daily basis. Designing, knitting, sewing, everything related to fashion, were stuff she loved to do. And she was extremely good at gaming, driven by her competitive nature.

These were supposed to be the things that defined her.

But how do you think a child would turn out if conditioned to an environment where they’re constantly told that they’re lucky, to be grateful, for what they’re supposedly given from their soulmates?

Easy answer: with their self-esteem destroyed, their confidence lower than hell, and the biggest existential crisis you can imagine.

Her close friends would try describing her as kind, compassionate and supportive over anything else, bright, charming, patient, loyal and sincere too.

Marinette didn’t believe it, she was lucky, nothing more.

That wasn’t her… She hadn’t done anything to earn it.

She was losing herself.

She hated being called sincere; hypocrite felt more accurate to her standards. While despising liars, she had been hiding everything she knew about her soulmate from everyone since an early age, and ironically, they still belittled her.

The girl had been handed plenty of reasons to justify her behavior.

…

Mari had started attending school two years after her first glimpse into the soulmate world, and it went worse than she had thought it would.

Not only did social interactions at that age involve large and proud monologues of the skills you obtained, because getting things without effort was cool, but she managed to be excluded by almost all children the very first day.

It wasn’t her fault, it seemed that she magically had some really good reflexes, and had trained in self-defense. When some kids tried to sneak up on her from behind, her instincts kicked in. The next thing she noticed was the kids lying on the ground, on their backs, shocked and about to cry.

At least she met Kagami and Nino, who weren’t terrified by her actions. Quite the opposite, they were amused. They claimed her as their friend right off the bat.

There was also a blond girl declaring to be the Mayor’s daughter who was really mean to her, well, to every child near her, but especially to Mari. She couldn’t tell if that was just her personality, if she was trying to bully her, or if she just needed attention.

Her school days passed without many other incidents.

…

Now, she could tell. Chloe was all three options!

A few years later, with Mari had turned 11, the blond girl came to her and apologized for trying to humiliate her all the time. It was an authentic apology, the only reason she wasn’t crying was because her mother had done her makeup that day. So, of course, the dark-haired forgave her.

Then Chloe introduced Adrien to the group that same year. He had implored his father to study with her, and he obliged. Her parents had great influence, and his greed outweighed his need for an unpaid and overworked son. They got along really fast; he was a lovely boy.

Once they got used to Chloe’s sassy personality and Luka joined the team, they became the inseparable six.

Marinette started to open up about her secrets after years of friendship. Nothing crazy like that she tried training martial arts and couldn’t find one that she didn’t perfectly know, or that she already understood whatever they did in class apart from the writing and art subjects.

Nino updated Adrien, Chloe and Luka about what happened their first day of school, they were stunned, even more when they were told how many flour sacks he saw her carry at once in the bakery. She had been working a lot to control herself, so she didn’t react wildly as often anymore, but her strength was something she was proud of. Mari told them about the time she was trying to learn Mandarin with her mother and from one day to another she spoke as a native, she had to express her desire to try other activities to prevent her from finding out and interrogating her about it.

It was hard, but she accomplished to tell them that she felt her soulmate was far away, some of her friends could relate. Those who didn’t, Kagami and Chloe, began to make a lot of weird and crazy plans to reunite them.

She still begged for the things she confessed to be a secret between them, making a fuss was the last problem she wanted to deal with. It ruined the girls’ plan of making a website with that information as an easy way to reach foreign people, but it didn’t really matter: Plan A was discarded, they still had from B to AD and wouldn’t stop fabricating them.

They were aware that Kagami and Nino had been friends with her for as long as they could remember, and for them to find this out just now, it meant it was a really big deal for her.

Her wishes were respected, and she felt she had the best friends she could ask for.

…

One day Mari tripped on the stairs outside her classroom, and while she was trying to avoid spilling her cup of coffee before even getting into the building, “القرف” she cursed in a language she didn’t recognize. Her friends let out a gasp in unison.

“¿¡Qué mierda!?” was all she managed to get out of her mouth.

The blond girl who was leading the way turned around, looking at her with an ever-growing grin “Mari…” said hardly containing her excitement when approached. “You’re a polyglot! Oh my, I’m so jealous” she furrowed her eyebrows jokingly, as her smile remained just as bright, hitting her slightly in the arm with the back of her hand.

“Arabic and Spanish,” informed Kagami behind her, ready to catch her “that makes five languages, right? Including French”

“Well…” she didn’t want to lie, but saying the amount of languages she was able to speak wasn’t an option she was willing to take for now.

“Huh, I thought it would make like six” blurted out the blond counting with his fingers, everyone looked at him. “Last month I overheard what I assumed was Japanese. You know, when she was panicking about her Art project.”

“She knows Italian, too. I showed her some songs the other day and I didn’t have to explain the meaning to her” confessed the young guitarist.

“Seven languages, wow… Is there any other we forgot about?” asked Chloe astonished.

Marinette let out an awkward laugh, “Guys, can we talk about this later?” pleaded, hoping they would let it pass. They all stared at her with suspicion.

“Sure, dudette. But we will remember, you can’t get rid of us” said Nino playfully.

She knew that in fact, she could, they wouldn’t force her to do anything she didn’t want to.

That didn’t stopped her from pouting.

…

Of course everything couldn’t be that perfect.

Naturally, something else had to happen the moment she finally felt better about hiding fewer secrets to her friends.

The universe seemed to love bothering her over and over...

An inconsiderate, coward, despicable, insufferable, and pathetic man decided that the best way to deal with his middle-age crisis was to terrify all Paris with the powers of a magical jewelry that took bad emotions and transformed them into weapons of mass destruction.

And that wasn’t the worst part.

An old man believed it was a great idea to give two 13-year-old another pair of magical jewelry and send them to fight them with no precautions.

Marinette was one of those teens; she wasn’t having a good time.

She was given the miraculous of creation and good luck, and surprisingly, she felt she knew what she was doing. Swinging around the city with her yo-yo and fighting the akumas was kind of easy, even more with the knowledge in martial arts, her detective intuition and the immunity from the suit. Anyway, hitting akumatized people felt a little bit too familiar.

At least she was doing better than her partner in crime, whom they concluded she’d be training from time to time.

That wasn’t the issue, she always was willing to help everyone who crossed her way, and she wouldn’t doubt in saving Paris from that maniac.

The real problem was that she was just a teen, who went to high school, where there would be tests she’d have to study for. At the same time, she was trying to start her own business as a fashion designer, and help her parents with the family business, the bakery.

She did not have free time.

Not only was her caffeine addiction, which was already a thing pre-being-Ladybug, increasing; Hawkmoth was a pain in the ass. That lazy good-for-nothing didn’t have a life: he sent at least an akuma per day whenever he felt like it, while never appearing himself. How could they find him and retrieve his miraculous if there were no clues to begin with? They couldn’t even count with the police, nor the government, to help them with the search for the terrorist; what a bunch of incompetents.

Something else was added to the list of things that would steal her time: learning how to hack government systems.

Mari wasn’t new with the secret identity stuff. She hid from everyone, except her best friends, that she was slowly making herself a name in the fashion world. Regardless, this secret was meant to be known by no one, as the safety of the whole world relied on her.

That’s too much for a teenager, don’t you think, Master Fu?

…

Controlling emotions was hard.

At least 90% of Parisians would agree with that.

Marinette thought she was really good at it. She’d always been, right?

Well, no. It seems that hiding how you react to your emotions wasn’t the same as controlling them. You could trick everyone, but Hawkmoth would know.

She learned this the hard way.

The first time an akuma almost accomplished to get to her earrings, she was alone in her room having an anxiety attack. Their main villain had been sending his little black butterflies day and night. Those were weak, sure, but if the goal was to exhaust them, it was working.

She was forced to leave class every day at some point, which limited her study time. Her friends were conscious of this; she was acting strange and avoiding every question asked. At least they talked to her, letting her know they wouldn’t push for more, but that didn’t mean they weren’t worried, they cared, and she could reach out whenever she felt like it.

She thought she was a terrible friend.

Mid-terms were approaching, and her Literature project wasn’t finished. Every time she managed to write two sentences, an akuma would appear and interrupt her, and if this was their first time fighting it, that implied losing not less than an hour.

Making excuses for her parents was getting harder and harder, she just couldn’t disappear in the middle of the day without them noticing, and the pretext of designing clothes in her room was wearing thin.

Stress was overwhelming her, and the lack of sleep wasn’t helping. If it hadn’t been for Tikki who calmed her down as soon as she saw it, the akuma would have gotten to her.

She quickly looked into ways to properly regulate her emotions.

…

The first time an akuma actually got to touch her, she thought the world would end.

She had an argument with her nosy relatives during lunch. Needless to say, Sabine and Tom were standing up for her, but her other family members were a bit old-fashioned and they were pushing her buttons so much.

They kept alluding to her soulmate as a ‘he’, but that wasn’t what truly made her mad. They were insistent about referring to them as a romantic soulmate, her future partner in life. Then, they involved her friends trying to get her to admit whether it was the model or one of the musicians, commenting as disrespectfully as possible about the future of the latter.

And when they gave up, the conversation turned back to her. They kept insisting that it was time for her to start doing something productive with her time, some activity that could be fruitful for both of them. “Why would he want to know how to, I don’t know, knit? He’s going to think you’re useless!” they said. That was the last straw for her.

Marinette stood up, hitting the table with her hands “I don’t care! I couldn’t care less about what someone I don’t know thinks about me” she said, her voice increasing in volume with her rage, as Tikki was in her purse trying to calm her down.

“You are the one that believes it’s useless. And guess what? I don’t owe you anything! I’ll do whatever I fucking want with my time and I’m sure It’ll be ten times more productive than whatever you do with yours. You can save your concerns, because I don’t owe them anything either! I won’t live my life up to the expectations of a complete stranger that you insist is the love of my life, even less to your expectations!”

Everyone at the table was speechless; her parents were proud, while the others were unable to believe what she just said.

Their faces changed abruptly, showing fear.

“And if you ever try to talk about any of my friends the way you did before I’m going to—” She was cut off by an akuma possessing a bracelet she had used that day. Her first instinct was to avoid feeling scared for what it could mean; she didn’t need him to know.

“Dame Destin, I am Hawkmoth. I can give you the power to destroy the ties of destiny—” said the man before being interrupted by a maniacal laugh from the girl.

Fighting against the mind control was definitely harder than she has imagined. She could feel all the anger inside her multiplying hundreds of times, but when he began his monologue, she couldn’t control herself. “The old man said Dame Destin, how can you be so pathetic? Your ass must be jealous of all the shit you spit through your mouth” she scoffed.

The terrorist was almost too stunned to speak, “...You can name yourself, miss. All I need in return—” she interrupted again.

“Listen very closely, you decrepit parasite. If I ever find out who you are, I’m going to make sure you never see the sun again. I’ll shove your tiny butterflies so far down your throat that you’ll wish you had never gotten your hands on that fucking little artifact. Are we clear?” she said but didn’t stop. “Go ahead, try crawling into my head again and I’ll rip you apart from the inside out. I dare you.”

That wasn’t what he was expecting at all. She managed to avoid his mind control without breaking the link just to intimidate him. A 13-year-old girl threatened him and it worked; he knew she meant every word.

“Until next time, young menace” he said as she slammed her wrist on the table to let the akuma out of the bracelet.

Marinette took a deep breath and sighed. “Wow, that felt good.”

She went upstairs to her room avoiding the looks from their relatives. Nobody would bother her for now, so she sneaked out to capture the akuma before it infected someone else.

When she was about to transform, she noticed that Tikki was nervous “Hey, Tikki? Are you okay?” the girl asked.

“Yes, I just… Do you think he sensed the miraculous magic from you?”

“Oh, I assure you he did not. He would have tried even harder to akumatize me if that were the case”

“I see; that was kind of dangerous” said Tikki, relieved.

“Yeah, I don’t really know what happened to me there. I was so furious.”

“I’ve never seen you like this, Marinette. Maybe we could talk after you purify the little butterly” offered the tiny god, and she nodded.

In that moment, she realized she had to add an emotional terrorist harassing her as a civilian to the list of things to deal with.

Chapter Text

Today wasn’t a good day for Damian.

He hadn’t slept well for a while. Even though he thought he’d been doing better, lately the guilt was consuming him again.

The boy had been trying everything he could to redeem himself. He felt he needed the world to forgive him, and for that reason, he was committed to save as many lives as he had taken. Robin was an effective way to make it happen.

Sometimes, though, that wasn’t enough.

The previous night, he had gone undercover with his Father at a gala. Kent had asked for assistance, convinced that Lex Luthor had planned something big; his villain had been a little too quiet recently.

The mission failed. They couldn’t gather any significant information due to a rogue attack, something they should had anticipated; it was a Gotham gala after all. But it didn’t end there, five -probably- innocent people lost their lives.

With all the people he had seen die in front of him, you’d think that he was used to it.

Clearly, he wasn’t. What hurt him the most was knowing he could have prevented it if he had escaped in time. He was already seen as a little menace who carried his sword to every event, but the public shouldn’t see the 14-year-old being able to knock out ten armed rogues by himself.

Then, he had the scare of his life: he woke up to that feeling of deep sadness from his soulmate being gone for about half an hour, but his heart didn’t calm down for the rest of the day after it returned.

Added to make things worse, the side effects of the Pit were hitting him hard this week. He had been controlling them just fine; he hadn’t done anything he’d regret, just a few casual threats to his brothers here and there. However, his mental health was deteriorating.

Damian knew his Father would notice when they patrolled, so he asked to skip it tonight. Bruce was a bit startled: he had to order his son to rest from his duties as vigilante at times, and this was the first time he has requested a break. Unsurprisingly, the boy was told to take the whole day off instead.

Now he was at the manor trying to figure out how to spend his time. Painting was a great idea; it would allow him to channel all his anguish onto the canvas and turn it into something more productive. But he wasn’t feeling inspired, nor did he have the energy.

The next option was spending time with Alfred. It was a safe alternative; he knew how to handle him on days like this.

When he went downstairs to the kitchen, he was greeted by the butler “Good morning, Master Damian.” The boy managed a nod in acknowledgment. “I will be making today’s lunch. Feel free to sit, I would appreciate the company.”

Damian sat at the counter, and Alfred cut an apple for him to eat in the meantime. He observed him moving around the place taking care of various tasks: cutting vegetables, boiling something, mixing ingredients in a pot, and washing every utensil he used along the way.

Then he saw him kneading a dough, suddenly wanting to do the same. “Can I… try baking something?” asked the boy, catching his grandfather off guard.

Nonetheless, he replied “Of course, will you need my assistance?”

Damian shook his head in negation, already looking for the equipment he’d need.

He definitely hadn’t be taught how to bake, yet decided to take account of that later. Measuring the ingredients, mixing them at the right pace, piping the batter into even circles, and placing them in the oven at the perfect temperature; all this required patience and practice, but he’d bother his future self to think about it.

While the shells baked, the filling was done. And after they cooled, he put together the most delicious and best-looking macarons Alfred had tasted in his life.

All of a sudden, Jason entered the kitchen. “Hey, Alfie! What did you make? It smells like heaven,” he said as he grabbed a baked treat and popped it into his mouth “and it tastes like it, too!”

“Those macarons were product of Master Damian’s excellent abilities. I must agree, they are fantastic” complimented the veteran.

His older brother choked at the statement, nearly spitting it out. Damian frowned and muttered “Fuck off.”

“HEY! I heard that, language!” complained Todd, but he gave him the glare, “Okay, okay. They’re good though, if you didn’t poison them.”

“I should have”

“Don’t be like that, Demon Spawn. You know you love me.”

The younger rolled his eyes, it wasn’t a good time to start an argument with any of his family if he still wanted them alive.

“Well, I came to say that Dickhead will be here for lunch, and B told me that he and Replacement would arrive soon. Steph and Duke were busy with some stuff I didn’t care to remember” announced his brother.

With that said, they moved into the dinner room, where Grayson was already seated, talking with Cass. Bruce and Time showed up a few minutes later, just in time.

He ate lunch mostly in silence, while her brothers interacted with each other in the least chaotic way possible. He could feel his Father’s concerned gaze, but he ignored it; the boy didn’t even want to blink today.

When all of them finished their food, Alfred brought out his macarons for desert. Everyone except Damian, who had eaten enough, took one and devoured it.

“Wow, Alfred. What did you change? These are the best you’ve made yet” said the eldest brother.

“Nu-uh, Demon Spawn made them” Todd revealed, leaving them shock.

“They’re poisoned” Damian deadpanned, and you had to see the look on their faces. But Jason blurted out laughing, so he quickly said “April fool’s.”

“Little D, it’s September...” pointed out Grayson, and he just shrugged.

Bruce coughed awkwardly, actually believing him for a moment, “I wasn’t aware that you could bake, son. They are amazing.”

“Apparently, I can” he answered.

Just as his Father was about to question him, Tim spoke up and proposed “I’ll pay you if you make me something like this every week”

“Why would I need money? My Father is a billionaire.”

“Good point… I’ll owe you a favor, then.”

“One bake, one favor.”

“I’ll be in debt for life!” he whined, Damian simply raised an eyebrow. “Fine, deal.”

“And you let him manage the company?” Jason turned to Bruce, “How are you still a billionaire?”

“My personal life choices have nothing to do with the family business”, Tim defended.

Her sister caught their attention, “Would… bake for me?”

“Whenever you want, Cass” said Damian.

Drake gasped in fake indignation “Favoritism! Betrayal! By my own flesh and blood!”

“You’re adopted” his three brothers replied in unison.

Tim crossed his arms and pouted, while the rest laughed.

…

That same day, before sunset, Damian decided to go for a walk. He had spent most of the afternoon avoiding to think in his room after tending to his pets, and now he wanted to do so outside.

The mansion’s gardens were immense; if he took enough time nobody would be bothering him for a while. So, he did.

Eventually, he came upon a hill surrounded by trees, where the remaining sunlight filtered through their branches; it was a beautiful view. He walked to the top, laying down on the ground.

Closing his eyes, he focused on his breathing, slowly inhaling, holding, and exhaling. It went on like that pretty long time, when he opened his eyes again, the sun had already set.

He felt… Calm.

Too calm.

Why the hell was he so relaxed? Literally an hour ago, he was trying not to actually kill his brothers.

He didn’t feel anger. The Lazarus side effects were gone.

How was that even possible? What had he done to make them disappear? They weren’t supposed to be temporary; Jason had lived with them ever since his resurrection, and he only dipped once!

Oh, boy. Damian was so confused; flabbergasted once he saw the tiny flowers encircling him. Those certainly weren’t there before.

He hurried back to the manor and went straight to the Batcave, where his Father was working on some report at the Batcomputer.

“Father, I need a blood test, now” he demanded.

“I thought you were sure we were related” joked, still typing.

“I don’t feel anger anymore”

“Why would you—” Batman froze, stopping mid-sentence as he realized what it implied. The man spun around in his chair, almost knocking it over when he stood up. A flash of hope crossed his face.

“I don’t know how it happened, It’s just gone”

The man collected the supplies needed, moving as fast as he could. Within minutes, he was already drawing his blood with a syringe, which was redder than they’d ever seen it.

Less than an hour later, the results indicated a minimal concentration of Lazarus compounds, practically undetectable without the advanced tech from the Batcave. It hadn’t vanished totally, but it was no longer enough to trigger the usual side effects.

“This doesn’t tell us anything else. What could have caused it?” Bruce asked, though he knew his son had no answers.

“I’ve been trying to keep it under control all week, it was stronger than ever before, and then… I lay down somewhere in the garden. It was gone when the sun set”

“That’s... odd” Bruce murmured, “I’ll be taking blood samples once a week to track its progress.”

The boy nodded, “Also, I was… surrounded by flowers when I opened my eyes” confessed, earning a confused look from his parent. “There were none before.”

“I guess I’ll have to find a way to contact Ivy as a civilian.”

With nothing left to say, Damian turned around to the exit, and Batman returned to his desk to process this new information.

“Damian,” Bruce said, catching his attention.

“Yes, Father?”

“I’m glad you don’t feel anger anymore.”

His words, paired with the warm smile he had as he said them, made his son’s throat tighten, roughly avoiding to shed tears.

It wasn’t fair, he thought, making his way up to the manor.
Why him but no Jason?

…

As you may know, Bruce had contingency plans for everything.

Sometimes, a few dozens for each situation. Heroes going rogue? Of course, minimum three for each of them. His kids being kidnapped? Maybe two hundred. Random shit you wouldn’t believe it could happen until it does? Never doubt him to have at least one.

However, you may also know how the universe loved to mess with this plot armored vigilante.

Batman, Robin and Red Robin were in an abandoned warehouse at Crime Alley. They had spent last month investigating the trafficking networks in that part of the city instead of Red Hood, who wasn’t really stable for now. Their goal was to take down a drug ring that had been working in and outside Gotham.

It was pretty easy to track, and that’s what should have tipped them off. It did, actually.

It could be related to some Luthor’s operation to process kyptonite they hadn’t discovered before, perhaps was a Gothamite villain trying setting up a trap for them, or a rising crime lord who was really bad at hiding their job. They had plans to deal with any of that.

Any dubiety was gone as soon as the three vigilantes landed in that room.

It was a trap, indeed.

From the vents emerged red gas, which was instantly identified as Fear Toxin, quickly filling the enclosed space.

They had prepared masks to prevent any drug enter their bodies, including Scarecrow’s, and they’d been building up some resistance by now, but the toxin seemed to be a newer version, clearly stronger.

They never said their plans were perfect.

Red Robin was incapacitated within seconds after the exposure, that wasn’t typical of him. His mental strength wasn’t to be underestimated, he should be able to overcome this with logical thinking, he had trained for that. Yet there he was, kneeling, heavily breathing.

“Skin… Absorption” he managed to say, “I… I feel it… Lungs.”

With the gas mask, Batman was covered from head to toes, so it took a while to infect him, his defenses still weren’t able to keep up. He was the next one to be paralyzed, barely standing on his feet. This couldn’t be good, the toxin was far more powerful than any other they’d been exposed to, and it must have been combined with some poison, or they would be charging against the illusions their subconscious created.

The Batman was immobilized. The stronger member of the Batclan, the man who used his emotional constipation as an advantage, the fear itself was intoxicated.

And Robin… He just stood there. Never changing his defensive stance.

“Look what we have here,” said Scarecrow as he made his appearance “the Dark Knight himself and his little soldiers defeated by their own mind. Isn’t it poetic?”

“Ah, Robin, aren’t you a brave boy? So confident on the outside. But tell me… What’s making you tremble beneath it?” he asked starting his monologue, “What is my masterpiece showing you, young boy? Is it the death of your dear colleagues by your own hands? No… Maybe you fear to be the disappointment of your daddy?” He flinched slightly. “Do you? What a cliché!”

He didn’t know how, but Damian remained completely conscious, and tricked the rogue.

There was a humanoid figure before him, ungendered, with no recognizable features apart from a smile, which vanished as blood emerged from their mouth. Cuts were drawn all over its body, and it collapsed, melting away into its death. This was an hallucination and he was aware of it.

Then, Scarecrow walked to Tim, “Oh, wasn’t your greatest weapon sharpened enough tonight? How delightful! To be betrayed by your own mind… Did you think I couldn’t break your fragile defenses? Too bad you didn’t take my warnings seriously. How does it feel to be a failure? Raise your head, look what your arrogance had done to your loved ones…” He saw his steady gaze break and laughed, “Sublime!”

“And you, the master of control…” next one was Batman, whom he had to turn around to see, “Is his corpse colder this time? You couldn’t save them… What’s your p—” The youngest took the opportunity and acted, sneaking and hitting him at the side of his head with enough power to knock him out.

It didn’t work; the man managed to inject more toxin directly on Damian’s leg from the floor. He kicked him on the head and didn’t hesitated on tying the villain’s wrists and ankles while disarming him once he was out.

“Oracle, Scarecrow’s down. Call the police, send the Batmobile. I’ll look for a sample of the new toxin, we’ll need antidotes” ordered over comms.

“Done, Batmobile arriving in 5, cops on their way, around 8 till they get there.”

“Got it” he said, retrieving a vial of red liquid.

The boy went back where the other vigilantes were, carefully carrying each one by the shoulders, trying to no startle them. Even if their conscious enough to not go crazy while they stayed steady, he didn’t want to risk being slayed by a Batarang for not being cautious.

In a moment, the police took Scarecrow away, and the Batmobile drove them back to the Batcave. He told Dick and Alfred to look after them until he had the antidote. He needed to put his mind on it quickly. It didn’t steel much of his time, as their compounds didn’t vary too much. So he was applying it in no time.

Now, the interrogation could begin.

“How—” Bruce began to ask.

“I don’t know” his son interrupted.

“How do you not know?” questioned his brother.

“I— Fuck you, Drake. I don’t know, It didn’t feel like something I could do… It just happened.”
Bruce and Tim exchanged concerned glances. His Father was the first to speak.

“Son, do you know what a soulmate is?”

“Yes, why wouldn’t I?” he replied, a little offended.

“No reason. Do you have one?”

Well, the topic he wanted to avoid was finally brought up. Perhaps if he didn’t say anything… No, they’d assume he didn’t, and lying wasn’t necessary. It was such a taboo in the League, but he could trust them, though they might overreact, and then they’d ruin everything— Was he overthinking?

“...Yes” he admitted.

“I knew it” whispered Tim.

“Have you met?”

“No. I don’t want to, not yet” he saw the man loosen his shoulders; he probably thought they were in the League.

“So you know where they are, What are you comfortable telling us about them?”

Damian appreciated that. It was kind of an interrogation, but they weren’t forcing him.

“They’re most likely in France, and probably have Chinese heritage. I actually believe that my great ability to solve problems comes from them, not you, It’s really different. They seemed to be really smart, charismatic, optimistic, artistic… And trustworthy. They are a good person.”

“Charismatic? So you’re a dick because you want to?? I thought you just didn’t have social skills!” said his brother, joining the conversation once again.

His Father decided to ignore him, “Hm… I trust your judgment, but could you tell me how do you know that?”

“Agh, I really don’t want to” he grumbled, but he knew that doing so meant fewer problems for the future, when he’d want to look for them. “Remember when we all met? When I almost cut Grayson’s throat?” They nodded, “and you told me that I didn’t have to kill anymore… That family doesn’t kill each other” he paused for a second, trying to find his words.

“I took it too easy, don’t you think? An assassin who had been brainwashed to not feel any guilt since birth, understanding that killing was wrong just because some old man cosplaying as a bat said so?”

“I don’t see the point in the cos—” the furry tried to defend himself, Tim held back his laugh.

“Let me finish” Damian cut him off, “I know that was because of them… I’ve also been suspecting they had something to do about the Pit’s rage, this incident kind of proves it to me” confessed.

The Lazarus madness was almost gone by now; his Father kept his word about the blood tests, and the results showed it was decreasing over time.

Bruce looked like he was meditating about it, evidently they weren’t just a normal person. Not that he foresaw any other option, as it appeared to run in the family to attract aliens and superheroes… Or both. At this point, it’s going to become a tradition.

He had learned from his children’s unconventional methods that trust was really important if his intention was to keep his kids around, even if he was extremely paranoid.

He would have loved if his youngest hadn’t waited 5 years and a circumstance that gave it away to tell him he had a living soulmate, but he could understand that he had quite the history of not taking things well, and Damian’s of keeping them to himself. Batman might write some contingency plans for that day. Still, he wouldn’t press him about it.

“When you’re ready, we’d like to meet them too”

“I’ll see. They could be too good for this family, you’re all insane.”

“Hey! We can control ourselves, most of the time, we won’t scare them away” said Tim, attempting to comfort him.

Bruce huffed and smiled, “If you can tolerate us, I don’t think they’ll have any problem. Don’t forget, they can do whatever you can too.”

That, in fact, comforted him.

“Right...”

With that, the interrogation ended.

…

Three more years passed after he had to tell his family about it, and Robin was assigned a mission with Batman, in no other place than Paris!

The Justice League found traces about who could be Deathstroke’s next target; the former Mayor of this city, André Bourgeois. The man had great influence, wealth, and wasn’t the most clean politic, so he could have made some enemies here and there. He fitted the criteria. And his Father had requested his help, as his plan required two people.

Damian wanted to meet his soulmate on his own terms; it just hadn’t been the right moment to do so, none of the last 19 years were. He just was putting it off as long as he could.

I guess the universe didn’t like that.

Every member, literally all of them, were inevitably occupied with their civilian lives, some crusial mission, off planet, or in another dimension; only Batman and Robin were available. And none of his siblings could go instead of him either, because it was a JL operation and they weren’t supposed to know about it. Needless to say they did, but someone had to stay in Gotham anyway.

This was the first time he’d be setting foot in France, where they allegedly were from and could be living. He wasn’t nervous, not at all. Why would he? There wasn’t a chance they’d meet in suit.

Yeah, he was nervous, of course.

Almost on the verge of an anxiety attack, in fact, as they were getting closer to Europe in the Wayne’s private jet. With every kilometer traveled, he the distance between them shrinking; it was a relief in his chest that felt better the closer they got.

Six hours later, they arrived, and Damian knew his soulmate was in this city.

He just needed to focus on the mission, thought taking a deep breath.

Chapter Text

Marinette turned 14 years old, and this last months hadn’t been what she’d expect.

Apart from becoming a hero with the help of a pocket-size god, with no previous magic training nor knowledge about the villain she and her partner had to defeat, the identity of guardian of the miracle box had been compromised.

Master Fu was their only mentor, the only person who had a little more insight in the Kwami’s world, who was preparing them to have more control over their powers and one day take the mantel of guardianship. Now he was gone.

He had been forced to give up the guardian’s title to Ladybug to protect the rest of Miraculous, which resulted in his memory being erased.

This meant that she became the guardian. Another responsibility added above of their civilian ones, sixteen tiny gods and the magical jewelry they were linked to were under her care. Another thing that she was alone to deal with.

Chat Noir was doing everything he could, but he wasn’t the most reliable partner. Don’t get her wrong! She’d trust him with her life, she had done it before. After getting used to each other, their personalities and fighting styles, they were unstoppable.

The matter was that he would sacrifice himself too easily in the middle of a battle the moment he saw no alternative, he was impulsive, and even if that worked for their dynamic, some day it would cost them a lot. Additionally, his personal life interfered too much with his duties, leaving her to fight on her own more than once in a while.

She came to several conclusions as a consequence of discussing about this matter with the Kwami.

First, they would need a base out of HawkMoth’s reach, one that no one but Kaalki, Tikki and Plagg, meaning their holders, knew how to find. Coming across an empty bunker in a desolate area was not as difficult as she expected, cleaning and adapting it with Chat to make it habitable for humans and suitable for the experiments they’d need to do was definitely the hardest part.

They had very limited funds, and even if breaking in abandoned buildings to collect materials saved them some money, it took some time to make it look decent.

Next on the list was the identity reveal. They had learned after studying journals and manuals left by previous holders, that they didn’t wait at all, they were given the Miraculous at the same time by the Order in some instances. One of Master Fu’s untranslated books recommended it, the bald guy from the Order of the Guardians they revived not so long ago did, too!

Mari was scared to do so. Her partner didn’t know, but she had erased a timeline where he was akumatized because of this. Apparently, he intercepted an akuma directed to her as a civilian, leading to the end of the world, and moon.

Calming her down, Tikki told her that the reason was the timing; it wasn’t the right time, nor the place, to find out. Apparently, they had to choose to do so, not figure it out, the balance would be kept as long as they trust each other.

They talked about this in the bunker, Ladybug confessed what happened when Bunnix sent her to the future explaining why she didn’t want to do the reveal until the books told her it wasn’t really prohibited. Chat was mortified, it was good that they were far from Paris.

Anyway, she told him that if he was ready, she was willing to do it now. They agreed to wait a few days, until their anniversary as heroes, to have time to process and mentally prepare themselves.

The day arrived sooner than later, and their villain was kind enough to gift them an easy akuma, Mr. Pigeon, and keep his ass still for the rest of the day. At least, they weren’t exhausted when they met at the Eiffel tower to teleport to the base.

When they stood there, they knew it was the moment. Both breathed in, closed their eyes, and called their detransformation. Then, when they opened them and a second of shock passed…

They burst out laughing.

“Oh my—”

“I can’t believe—”

“You—”

“It was always you!” managed to say the blond.

Marinette was confused, “Huh? What do you mean?”

“Mari, don’t you know how we call you? The whole class say you’re their ‘Everyday Ladybug’. It was so obvious!” Adrien said as he swiped tears from laughter with his hands.

“Me? Obvious? You make puns, Adrien. Cat puns. You’ve called me princess on and out of suit. Oh god, I hate magic. I feel so dumb right now.” She put a hand on her forehead, trying not to think too much about the embarrassing nickname their classmates gave her, even if it was fitting.

“Well, at least we know that it wasn’t me finding out your identity what made me jump to catch that akuma. I’d have done it anyway.” He winked at her.

“Adrien, if you try to touch one as Chat instead of Cataclysm it, I will Cataclysm you.”

“Hey! I was trying to say something cute.”

She sighed, “Okay… Well, the cat’s out of the bag.”

He snorted, “Now what, M’lady?”

“We need to avoid nicknames in public when detransformed; LB, Chat, Chaton and Bugaboo are forbidden, too obvious. We don’t know how much the magic will protect us, the one you gave me wasn’t really uncommon.”
He nodded enthusiastically.

“We also need to have our backs when disappearing to transform, it’s quite relieving that we already have our schedules.”

“But mine is changing every week…”

“We have covered that, I have contacts. How did you think we managed to get you out of the photo-shoots? Chloe’s wishes can not be denied.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.”

“I think I’ll have to resume the Cage-Breaking operation, too” she muttered thoughtful.

“The what?” he asked, startling her a bit.

“The guys and I have been putting together a series of plans to give you more freedom” she confessed, looking at his eyes with determination, “Your father had exploited you enough. You study for 6 hours at school and work more than 8 for sure, you don’t have any time for yourself, hanging out with us, and being a hero, while sleeping what you need. And that without talking about your diet! If we hadn’t been feeding you, you’d be malnourished.”

“So… You’re suing him?” said the blond rising an eyebrow.

“I wish, but we need to have enough proof, and I don’t want to ruin your life either, kitty.”

“I wouldn’t get in your way” he shrugged, “We all know how little he cares about me, even if he’s the only one I had left... In a month your own parents had treated me more as his son than he have ever had in fourteen years. I can help you with anything you need from the inside.”

“I think this is a good time to tell you that I’ve never stopped suspecting about him being HawkMoth. You know, instincts” the girl told him waving her hand dismissively, “That and the book… And that dictatorial attitude… Well, a lot of things, he just fits, but either he’s hiding something or his behavior is weird enough for me to compare him to that criminal.”

“I’m still kind of skeptical about it, but I’ve learned to trust your gut at this point.”

“Perfect! Now to the next topic” Mari clapped her hands, brushing away the unwanted worries, and looked at him straight in his eyes with a smile, “We are forming a permanent team.”

Adrien instantly had a grin on his face, “Huh, I wonder who we could choose, princess.”

…

Ladybug and Chat Noir didn’t waste time discussing it, and went straight to deliver the jewelry to their new holders.

The cat gave Chloe and Nino, in separate moments, the Miraculous of the bee and turtle, respectively. While the girl did the same for Luka and Kagami, with the Miraculous of the snake and dragon. They didn’t need much introduction, as they’ve been temporary heroes a few times before.

After Ladybug took her designated partners to the base, she opened a portal to Chat, bringing the rest of them with him.

“Oh” Chloe froze as soon as she looked around the room, “I think I fucked up already.”

“Huh? What do you mean, Queen Bee?” said their designated leader worried.

“Um… What happens if I recognize someone in the team?”

“I find this amusing” Ryuko smiled slightly.

“Pss, M’lady” called Adrien whispering, “I think soulmates aren’t identity friendly.”

“Oh my— How didn’t I see this coming?” she ran a hand through her hair in disbelief.

“Good thing that ours aren’t around Paris… It’s weird if I think too much about it” he shuddered, he’ll overthink about magic and destiny in another moment.

“Queen Bee, Ryuko, we were expecting to wait until you advanced in your mental training to proceed with the reveals. I hope you work harder now that your significant other is at risk if he tries to akumatized you” explained the pigtailed girl.

Both heroes looked at each other and nodded.

Carapace furrowed his eyebrows, “Reveals? Training? Didn’t you call us for a mission or something, dude?”

“Actually, we are here to ask you to become a permanent part of the team” Ladybug explained, a tiny smile appeared on her face, “You have proven to be trustworthy to be Miraculous bearers. I could speak for both of us that we’d be more than pleased if you agree. We are aware that free time is something you may lack. So, apart from spending a few hours in training, and patrol from time to time, we won’t expect you to appear at every akuma attack, just to assume the responsibility when you’re available.”

“Even I can’t show up to every battle” said the green eyed, “not something I’m proud of…”

“That’s why Paris needs more heroes. Chat can’t get away from his civilian life as much as we’d want, and I have been late to battles more times than I’d like to admit” she tightened her grip on her arm, “We need help, and we believe you could provide it. Together, we could have a better chance to defeat HawkMoth.”

“Ladybug…” Viperion caught her attention, “I’m honored. Count on me, I’ll do my best to fight by your side” he said without question.

The rest of the soon-to-be-stable heroes hesitated a little longer, this was a big decision to take on their lives. But with their comrade taking the initiative, they quickly found themselves accepting the mantle.

They began to discuss a schedule right after everyone agreed helping: a reliable but dynamic enough itinerary that covered time for physical and mental training, as well for patrols. Making up believable and creative excuses, formulating backup plans and exchanging them between teammates was next on the list.

Mental training became urgent, so Marinette designed a program with useful exercises to repel akumas, and taught them how to block important information, as their identities, from her own experience. Chloe and Kagami worked diligently to avoid putting at risk one another in case of being akumatized, and everyone else followed their example really close; no one wanted to endanger their loved ones.

Sparring when they managed to coincide at the base was all the physical training they could get, some of them had knowledge and experience in many types of combat. Those who hadn’t, learned mostly by seeing, imitating and adapting.

In half a year, the main heroes agreed to allow the reveals, judging that they were prepared enough. Almost all of them were shocked; Luka somehow knew it a while ago, it makes sense with the nature of his Miraculous. Seeing all the faces behind the masks, realizing they were friends and never knew, just left them wondering who Ladybug and Chat Noir really were.

The mystery didn’t last.

Adrien and Mari detransformed, and every hole in the plot of their lives was filled. Eyes opened wide, heads were hold, jaws dropped, words failed to be said.

The blue eyed boy smirked, “Everything checks out now, doesn’t it?”

…

When you have a lot of things to do, time goes really fast, specially when you’re a teenager.

That’s how the next three years passed.

Between training, dealing with whatever HawkMoth had planned, trying to figure out who he was, and living their civilian lives, their days didn’t have enough hours.

Chloe once said “If I knew I couldn’t have my beauty sleep for a month, in summer, I would have told you to go fuck yourselves.” She didn’t mean it, she’d always wanted to be a hero, but that showed the gravity of the situation.

Marinette became something above a coffee addict, she earned complete control over her sleeping hours. With some mixture of coffee, matcha, guarana, sugar, and other ingredients she won’t be caught saying, she could stay awake for a week. And with her special tea, and reassurance that Tikki would woke her up if anything happened, she could be knocked out for the next 24 hours.

You’d say that it’s unhealthy, but how do you think she managed to get her business going, fighting terrorism, going to school and help with the bakery of her lovely but sometimes neglecting parents?

Mari was doing all in her hands to end this as soon as possible, and she didn’t want her teammates to give up their personal lives to help with her responsibility. So blame her for caring about her friends and overwork herself a little.

Trying to contact the Justice League didn’t pay off. The Miraculous Team slowly gave up, calling once a week, then once a month, to no calling after another year without response. At least they wouldn’t have to deal with akumatized heroes, right? Metas were plenty dangerous in that state.

With Max guidance, she learned a decent level of hacking and programming during his time as temporary hero. Both developed a system that would track the corrupted akuma’s route from cameras all through Paris in no time, reducing the area where the villain could be releasing them; Agreste’s mansion remaining weirdly near the center.

Still, they couldn’t incriminate him just like that.

Or maybe they could. The authorities wanted him gone by yesterday, so as long as they had the Miraculous safe in the Box once again, and no more magical butterflies could mutate the citizens, they could pretty much frame anyone.

Anyway, that’s not what they were going to do.

Even with logic and instincts pointing towards the answer, the whole team was nonetheless skeptical about it.

Marinette thought she could be biased. Adrien was her best friend, they had been through a lot together, and everyone wanted the best for him.

Getting rid of his abusing father was something they saw convenient.

Maybe too convenient…

Or that could be the magic clouding their vision!

Because of this, they needed proof. Undeniable evidence that once given no one could doubt their word, not even the government.

That’s how Marinette put to use her detective skills and stalker tendencies. Not a detail would escape her archives, nor a hair would be overlooked when leaving his house.

But he didn’t

…

Two years later, the Miraculous Team defeated their main villain at the age of 16.

The young heroes were going nowhere for a while.

Gabriel’s schedule, being something private, should have told them something. But it was suspiciously full at the time an akuma would attack, there wasn’t a day where he didn’t have an alibi.

There were no cameras other than outside, or at the entrance, so they had no eyes in his office, where he supposedly spent most of his time.

And he was living in seclusion! What meant he didn’t go out a single day since they started the investigation. Plagg, who wouldn’t be seen if he had cameras they couldn’t detect, didn’t have the chance to explore the place at all.

Until one day, Gabriel knocked on Adrien’s room door.

“Adrien, in a few days I’ll have to leave for a work meeting. I expect nothing from you but to respect the rules I’ve set; you’ll be left alone that day” he said sharply.

“Yes, father” Adrien said. “Wait! Could I ask you something?” he asked before he fully closed the door.

“Yes?” Gabriel’s eyebrows slightly rose, without changing his gaze.

“Could I invite my friends that day? We would be on my bedroom all the time, then you wouldn’t have to worry about it. They could be here before you leave, so you can see them!” He begged, looking into his eyes with hope.

“Which friends?”

“You know, Kagami, Chloe, Luka, Nino and Marinette!”

“Oh, I see, Bourgeois and Tsuguri. Yes, you may invite them, we’ll do as you said.”

“Thanks, father!” The boy smiled at him as he finally left hi room, with no suspicion of what was planned behind his back.

In such a short period of time, the team recuited Max, who had been working behind the scenes along them for a while, to build tiny high-tech cameras, small enough to fit inside a Kwami’s mouth, and easy to hide or disguise.

When the day arrived, he stayed at the base monitoring the operation. Once everyone left the house, he gave them green light.

“Wow dude, your room is so big I never get bored of exploring it” said Nino, and their Kwamis flew everywhere, leaving cameras.

They found the basement where the butterflies rested, then the one where Adrien’s mother lay. With their job done, they slowly returned to their holders.

As soon as they saw the tiny gods, they knew they were right.

Playing a movie on his TV for noise, the team consoled their friend, who was lost in thoughts.

The evidence was gathered the next day, and that night was the last time an akuma would terrorize Paris. HawkMoth lost the Miraculous of the Butterfly, as well as the Miraculous of the Peacock, and Gabriel Agreste was arrested.

Fixing the damaged Miraculous was all it took to break the curse upon Emilie, who revealed herself to the public to maintain custody over his son.

…

As the city no longer had a terrorist that scared people from doing any evil, after his defeat the crime rate increased.

The team decided to patrol the city in pairs, taking the risk of having the Miraculous in circulation. When another two years passed, and Parisians began to forget about the source of their powers, their fear vanished.

This night, Ladybug and Chat Noir were sitting on a rooftop, resting from their shift.

“Hey, Chat… Do you think about your soulmate often?” The girl asked.

Surprised, he turned to her and answered, “Well, I try not to, at least not too much, you know? But I wonder who they are and what could be doing from time to time.”

“I kind of freaked out about it a while ago,” she confessed, “Do you know what Tikki told me?”

“I have no idea, M’lady. What did she say?” His head leaned gently to one side.

“Tikki and Plagg were the first soulmates ever, creation and destruction came to existence together, at the same time, they called themselves ‘pairs’.” She went silent for a second, thinking about what it means. “It’s everything about balance, isn’t it?”

“I’m sure you’d know more about it, guarrrdian of the balance” he joked.

She rolled her eyes, “What I’m saying is that everyone is so fixated on soulmates romantically… They’re just souls that came to existence together.”

“That sounds prretty romantic to me, honestly.” Chat grin grew as he poked her with his elbow on her ribs.

“Oh my— Chat! I’m being serious here!” Ladybug whined.

He laughed, “Okay, Okay. I’ll stop, but I really think it sounds a bit romantic.”

“I know, but what if I don’t want that?”

“And what if you do?”

“Exactly! And what if I do? I’m supposed to protect the Miraculous with my life, and we know they’re not soulmate-friendly, how could I trust a complete stranger? People may have forgotten, but we didn’t.”

“If it is everything about balance, I don’t think the universe would do something to disrupt it” he shrugged, turning his head back to the landscape.

A few moments passed as Ladybug processed the conversation, then she broke the silence with a smile, “That’s the smartest thing I’ve heard you say in that suit.”

Chat Noir gasped, pretending offense, “I’ll let you know that meowster my prrecious cat puns take some purrception, prrincess! I’m pawsitive you don’t know anyone who could meownt such a prrfect prrfurmance mid-fight like meow, fur real.”

She groaned, but soon after, she started laughing, “Stop buzzing me!”

“Meow” he said shaking his head, smiling.

“...Thanks, kitty.”

“I hope you feline better, bugaboo.”

She then pushed him off the roof, and caught him with her yo-yo between giggles.

…

Days passed, then weeks, then months. Everything went without much problem, the heroes were used to the new rutine. Marinette didn’t fix her sleep pattern completely, but she was sleeping every night! That’s progress.

These last years, she managed to take on even more commissions under her brand, consequently gaining recognition from different parts of the world and generating a considerable income for her future.

Her friends were still a bit worried about her workaholic nature, so they made her take a day off at least once a week to hang out at their base and spend time with them.

Today was one of those days, her friends were resting and playing games, while Marinette was relaxing in her on way, baking some cookies for them.

The cookies were in the oven, and she was cleaning after her. Carrying a bowl to the sink, she felt a change. The sudden feeling made her drop the bowl, echoing throughout the place.

She brought a hand to her chest, resting it there, taking deep breaths to calm down. Then, her friends rushed to the kitchen.

“Mari? Are you okay?” Asked Luka as he entered.

She took another deep breath, “Yeah, I— I’m alright.”

Chloe walked up to her, carefully brushing her hands over her arms, worry written all over her face, “What happened? Do you need something?” she said softly.

“No, no. It’s okay. I just—” she interrupted herself, taking one last deep breath, “I feel like… They’re getting closer.”

“Who?” asked Nino, everyone turned to look at him, waiting for him to catch on. “Oh. Your soulmate, right.”

“I’m okay. Maybe they aren’t even coming to France, right? They could be in, I don’t know, England? Spain? Portugal? Belgium? Italy? What are the odds of them specifically coming to Paris? Are they looking for me? I’m not ready to meet them! What do I do? I should lock myself in my room to finish my commissions, then I won’t freak out, if they don’t see me they won’t know—”

“Mari! You are freaking out. Come on, breath with me.” Ordered the blond boy, the girl complied, as she sat on a nearby chair.

“Mari, listen to me,” said Kagami kneeling before her, “You’re Ladybug, Marinette. You’re a superhero. You fight criminals everyday, you win every time, you have defeated death and world ending scenarios over and over, and you’re still standing. You won’t die for meeting your soulmate, everything is going to be okay, alright?”

“Act as you would normally, Luka suggested, “You don’t have to go out and look for them, everything will happen naturally, trust me.” He smiled softly at her side, running his hand on her shoulder.

“Well, that makes sense… Thanks, guys. I don’t know what would I do without you.” She opened her arms and soon she was embraced by all her friends.

She was really grateful for the people who surrounded her.