Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

For as long as she could remember, Marinette had spent one month every summer with her family in the states. Although they weren’t related by blood, they were still as close as any family could be. Her nona had met the Kents years ago, even before her Papa was born, and had grown close with them. A couple of years after her Papa was born, the Kents had their son, her Uncle Clark. Her Papa had practically grown up with Clark as his little brother. So it just made sense that, as the family continued to grow, they kept in contact. Like when Marinette was the first grandchild. And when Conner came into their lives (something that still confused Marinette). And then Jon. Although Conner’s introduction into the family was much later in his life than hers and Jon (they were both born into the family, while Conner just appeared one summer; which was probably one of her favorite memories from before Jon was born), he wasn’t any less a part of their family. They cared about each other. All of them. So they wrote to each other. And had plenty of video calls throughout the year. And sent presents. And had family gatherings. Like the annual trip to Smallville. Usually, Marinette’s family (most times, even her nona would come for a few days) would spend two weeks of the summer with her Grandma and Grandpa Kent in Smallville. This year, however, was different. For the first summer ever, Marinette would be following her cousins and Aunt and Uncle back to Metropolis to spend some more of her summer outside of Paris. Her parents claimed it was to give her a break from the drama in Paris. It was also to give her a break from akuma attacks (in their minds, anyway). No matter how much she cared for her extended family, she knew she couldn’t tell them about the Paris situation. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that her family wasn’t exactly normal. And even though she wasn’t exactly sure what it was that was different, she didn’t need her Uncle Clark to get overprotective (and angry) and get akumatized. That would be the opposite of a solution.

So instead of letting the stress of the Paris situation get to her, Marinette decides to relish the time with her family. She only got to spend time on the farm once a year, after all. Might as well make the most of it while she could.

“Mari, Mari, Mari!” Marinette’s pulled out of her thoughts by her younger cousin running over to her, practically vibrating with excitement. She grins, ruffling his hair.

“What?” She asks, laughing. He grins widely.

“You remember how Dad said we would be back in Metropolis in time for the annual 4th of July fireworks show put on by Superman?” He asks. She nods. “Well my best friend gets to come and you finally get to meet him!” Marinette just grins, happy to see the kid so genuinely happy.

“That’s only if we survive the road trip back.” She reminds him. He looks at her, narrowing his eyes.

“You’re not really gonna try and bug Kon the entire way back are you?” He asks with a sigh. Marinette shrugs, grinning.

“He’s my big brother too. And I haven’t had my entire life to annoy him like you did mine, just most of it. So I have to make up for lost time.” She says. Jon pouts.
“Please Mari! Please don’t annoy him too badly!” He pleads. Marinette sighs dramatically, but decides to take pity on the kid.

“Fine. I guess I could promise to be on my best behavior.” She says. He relaxes. “If...”

“If what?” Jon asks, looking suspicious. Marinette grins.

“If you can convince Grandma to get Uncle Clark to stop bugging me about the surprise I have. It’s not much of a surprise if you guys figure it out ahead of time.” She bargains. Jon tilts his head to the side, almost as if he’s listening, before nodding.

“Deal. But that includes playing songs that you know he hates.” Jon says firmly. Marinette immediately agrees. She’d have plenty of time to annoy Conner once they were actually in Metropolis.

---

The second the car stopped at the park, Marinette threw herself out of the car and onto the ground dramatically. She waits until her Uncle has moved from the driver’s seat to where he can see her, before she starts acting like she’s hugging the ground.

“Land!” She cries, stifling a laugh at Jon’s giggles.

“I’m not that bad of a driver!” Uncle Clark protests. Marinette sits up and makes eye contact with him, raising an eyebrow. He huffs. “Lois?” He asks. Marinette snorts as her aunt shrugs.

“I love you, but I’m going to have to agree with Marinette on this one.” She says, turning and winking at her before moving to the back of the car. Marinette spots Conner getting out of the car and raises her arms up.

“Help!” She calls, grinning as he huffs, but still walks over and grabs her hands, helping her into a standing position. She grins. “Thanks!” She says, walking over to help her aunt grab the picnic basket and other stuff they’d brought. Although it wasn’t a holiday that most French citizens celebrated, the 4th of July was one of Marinette’s favorite holidays. Mostly because she was usually with her extended family either on the actual day, or close enough that they still celebrated it. Cracking open the picnic basket, Marinette grins at the sight of her Grandma’s famous apple pie. She’d been kind enough to make an extra one for them to bring home (not that it would last past today with her cousins and Uncle eating it).

“Hey Mari, could you grab the basket?” Her aunt asks, trying to balance the bag of sparklers and all of the blankets. Marinette nods with a smile, grabbing the basket and stumbling slightly as she adjusts it.

“You got it M?” Conner asks, his hands almost empty. Marinette nods though, determined to carry the basket herself.

“Let's move out, men.” She commands, grinning as Jon immediately falls into line. She quirks an eyebrow at Conner, who rolls his eyes before falling in line behind his little brother. “Forward, march!” She calls, moving quickly so that she could catch up with her aunt. She catches Lois’ eyes as she glances back, snorting softly at the sight. Marinette just grins, the happiness and safety she felt in her heart leaving her to feel relaxed overall. With the help of the kwamis, she’d managed to make it so that Hawkmoth couldn’t release an akuma for an entire month. The spell was complicated, and had made her sick for an entire week, but it was worth it. It meant she was able to enjoy an akuma free summer with her family doing silly things, like marching around a park to prepare to watch a huge fireworks display. Marinette breathes out a sigh of relief when Lois finally stops and starts laying out the blankets. A soft poke on her arm makes her turn, quirking an eyebrow at Conner.

“Want me to take that?” He asks, gesturing towards the basket. She purses her lips and shakes her head. Conner sighs. “You carried it all the way over here, trust me, we know you’re strong. Just let me help my baby cousin.” He says, ruffling her hair. Marinette gasps, practically shoving the basket into his hands so that she could fix her hair.

“You’re such a pain sometimes, Conner.” She huffs, readjusting her ponytail and headband. Conner just smirks, making her scowl. She was an only child, so Jon had always been like a little brother to her. Adorable and annoying at times, but easy to boss around (most of the time, and she hasn’t been super bossy since she was twelve). She was also pretty sure that Jon looked up to her, so she always tried to be a good role model (once she got out of her bossy phase). Conner, on the other hand, was very much her older brother. Which meant he was annoying, he picked on her, and was incredibly overprotective. But she wouldn’t trade either of them for anything. They meant the world to her.

“Damian and his family should be here soon!” Jon announces, a wide smile on his face as he practically vibrates with excitement. Marinette smiles.

“Sweet!” She glances around, realizing her uncle was MIA. “Where’s your dad?” She asks, frowning. Jon shrugs.

“Maybe he had a work call. They always seem to be able to tell when Dad’s back in town. Or Mom.” He says solemnly. Marinette suppresses a snort at her cousin’s tone. Jon was never super serious. Overall, he’d always been a pretty happy kid. Which made moments where he acted serious just that much funnier.

“Oh my god, don’t tell me B’s adopting habits rubbed off on Clark.” A voice says, approaching their group. Marinette tenses, but relaxes at the wide smiles on both Conner’s and Jon’s faces. Even her aunt grins at the mystery group of people.

“Bruce! How nice of you to join us.” She says, her voice light and teasing. The oldest man in the group smiles.

“Yes, well, I couldn’t let Damian have all the fun. And I am sponsoring the fireworks after all.” He says with a wide grin.

“Lois, please tell me B didn’t rub off on your husband.” Another man says, a pleading look on his face. Her aunt just laughs.

“Your father is the only serial adopter here, don’t worry about that.” Her aunt says, grinning. Marinette takes the opportunity to step forward slightly, and wave at the group.

“Hi! I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She introduces herself, waving slightly at the group.

“She’s the totally awesome cousin I told you about!” Jon interjects, running to stand right in front of the youngest boy, who Marinette assumed was Jon’s elusive best friend. The boy glances at her, his face unreadable before he says something quietly to Jon who just grins. Feeling completely left out, she glances back at the rest of the group. Who had still not introduced themselves.

“And you are?” She asks, quirking an eyebrow as almost everyone in the group dropped their jaws. Frowning, she moves slightly closer to Conner. “What’d I say?” She asks softly. He snorts.

“They’ve gotten too used to their celebrity status in Gotham.” He says, his voice light and teasing. The guy with a white streak in his hair rolls his eyes.

“Maybe these losers have, but I haven’t. I’m Jason Todd, nice to meet you.” He says. Marinette smiles back, hands twitching slightly at the excess of chaos magic hanging off the group. She’d definitely need to talk to Tikki about it later.

“Likewise.” She says, before glancing at the group around him who had (finally) seemed to put themselves together again.

“Apologies, Miss Dupain-Cheng. I’m Bruce Wayne. These are my sons, Dick Grayson, you met Jason, Tim Drake and Damian Wayne.” The oldest man-Bruce- says, pointing everyone out. Marinette grins, waving lightly. As she makes eye contact with Tim (a name she recognized from some of Conner’s stories), she can’t help but let her smile widen at the slight red on his cheeks. Glancing at Conner, she snorts, seeing the exact moment on his face that he notices the blush. Deciding to save Tim from whatever overprotective rant she was sure Conner would go on, she pokes her older cousin.

“Hey.” She hisses out, poking harder as he refuses to look at her.

“What?” He hisses back, glaring at her. She grins.

“Race you to the swingset.” She says, beginning her run before she even finishes talking. She knew the chances of her losing were good. Her cousins were freakishly fast. What she hadn’t expected, though, was for all of the other guys (except Bruce Wayne) to join in on the chase. Laughing loudly, she pushes harder, determined to at least beat the Wayne boys. She manages to reach the swings just after Jon and Conner, grabbing one of two swings left. She snorts as the Wayne boys throw elbows, and trip each other to try to get the last swing. The rest were so caught up with their little fight, they hadn’t noticed Tim sneak by them and grab the last swing. Marinette turns to him, grinning as she swings.

“Impressive.” She says. Tim grins back, breathing heavily. Marinette issues a challenge to her cousins to see who can swing the highest, laughing loudly at Conner’s pout as he attempts to get the swing to go higher. She lived for moments like these.

---

Once it was fully dark out, (and Superman had already welcomed the crowd) her Uncle Clark came back and dropped onto the picnic blankets (where Lois and Bruce sat) with a huff.

“You okay?” Marinette asks softly, inching forward a bit. He nods, moving his face out of the blanket to smile at her.

“I get to spend the evening with my amazing family and friends. Of course I’m okay, kiddo.” He says. Marinette rolls her eyes, but grins.

“You’re such a sap.” She teases, leaning back onto her blanket. He grumbles, but doesn’t say anything else. Marinette settles onto the blanket (she’d picked the one with Conner, Tim, and Jason; the last one had Damian, Jon and Dick), shivering slightly. It might be summer, but it was dark out and they were close to the water. And she already had strong reactions to the cold thanks to Tikki.

“Would you, uh, do you wanna borrow my jacket?” Tim asks softly. Marinette shakes her head.

“Oh, no, I wouldn’t wanna take your jacket-” She starts, but Tim cuts her off.

“It’s not a big deal!” He insists. “I’m not cold or anything, I just brought it for the look.” He says, laughing lightly as he rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Marinette grins.

“Okay. Well, I’d really appreciate it then, Tim.” She says softly. He nods, immediately slipping the jacket off and passing it to her. She puts it on and immediately sighs in relief at the warmth. She gives him a wide smile. “Thank you.” She says. He nods.

“Yeah, no problem.” He says, his voice light. Marinette smiles, eyes wide as the firework show starts. It was bigger and grander than any show she’d seen before, except for maybe the fireworks display at Disneyland Paris. It was the perfect end to an amazing day.

Chapter Text

“WAKE UP!” Conner yells at the top of his lungs. Marinette screeches and falls off her bed, glaring up at her older cousin.

“What the heck was that about?” She asks with a huff. He grins.

“Wanna go get breakfast with me and Jon and Tim and Damian?” He asks. Apparently, the entire Wayne family had decided to stay the night in Metropolis. Something she didn’t think was a big idea, but had definitely shocked her Uncle Clark for some reason. Narrowing her eyes from her spot on the floor, she scoffs.

“You woke me up for that?” Marinette asks, giving him an incredulous look. Conner shrugs.

“The diner has good coffee and pancakes.” He says, knowing exactly which buttons to press. Pursing her lips, she nods.

“Fine. Now get out so I can change.” She says, leaping to her feet and practically shoving him out the door.

“We’re leaving in ten minutes!” He calls as she slams the door.

“Kay!” She calls back. She dresses quickly, spotting the jacket she’d borrowed from Tim the night before sitting on her chair. Oops. Marinette grabs it and her purse, making a mental note to pass it off to Tim once she sees him so she doesn’t accidentally forget.

“Mari!” Jon cheers as she walks into the living room. She grins.

“Hey kid.” Marinette says, ruffling his hair, laughing at the annoyed look on his face. The look disappears almost immediately, his eyes widen slightly.

“You never told us what the surprise was!” He complains. Marinette grins, noticing her aunt and uncle glancing over at her expectantly.

“A couple of months ago, I applied for an exchange student program.” She starts. It had been an extremely long conversation with Tikki, trying to convince the kwami that she could handle being Paris’ hero while not living in Paris. But she had to try. She had to at least attempt to make communication with older heroes without the French government breathing down her neck. “There was a certain city that was accepting students, so I applied and got in!” She says excitedly. Her uncle grins.

“Metropolis?” He asks. She winces slightly.

“Close!” She says. He frowns, immediately understanding.

“Mari-” He starts, but she cuts him off.

“Uncle Clark, I’m not a little kid anymore. Plus, you guys will be so close and it’s for an entire school year. And it’s an amazing opportunity. Besides, Metropolis wasn’t even accepting exchange students this year.” She says. He pouts, but Jon cheers.

“Yes!” He yells, pumping his fist into the air. Marinette laughs, bracing herself as the kid runs at her and hugs her.

“Is that Tim’s jacket?” Conner asks suddenly, eyes narrowed as he stares at it. Her uncle’s small smile is wiped away immediately.

“Why do you have Tim’s jacket?” He asks. Marinette huffs.

“What’s with the third degree? Yes, it’s Tim’s. I have it because I was cold last night. I didn’t get to give it back then because I fell asleep and Conner carried me to the car. I only have it now so that I can give it back to him at breakfast. Now are we gonna get waffles and pancakes, or talk more about a jacket?” She asks, arms crossed as she quirks an eyebrow. Lois snorts, not even hiding it, while Jon grins widely. Conner sighs, but grabs his truck keys and heads out the door. Marinette grins, nodding her head for Jon to follow. This would be a fun year.

---

Marinette grins as she’s shoved into the booth. Apparently, Damian and Tim’s other brothers weren’t happy that the two were going to get breakfast without them. So they’d also shown up, meaning they were placed in one of those giant half-circle booths instead of a normal one. Since she was the shortest (despite not being the youngest), she was made to scoot all the way to the middle. Apparently Jason and Dick were “too old” and Damian had just scoffed when Jon suggested they could sit in the middle. She’d accepted her fate though, and was actually pretty happy when Tim slid in to sit on her left. Followed almost immediately by Conner sliding in to sit on her right. Jon and Damian immediately launch into a conversation about some video game they were both excited about, while Jason teases Dick about some girl named Barbara. Tim’s arm accidentally bumps into her, and he mutters a small apology. She just smiles.

“Do you happen to go to Gotham Academy? I’m part of their exchange program this year and it’d be nice to see a familiar face.” Marinette asks, deciding to start a conversation. He shakes his head, a small frown on his face.

“I uh, kind of dropped out of school?” He says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“If my parents and Uncle Clark wouldn’t kill me, I’d do the same.” She laughs. “I’d much prefer to spend my time working on commissions.” Tim’s face brightens slightly.

“Commissions?” He asks. Marinette nods.

“I’m actually a designer. Well, when I have the time.” She laughs. Tim grins.

“That’s awesome. Maybe you could show me some of your designs some time?” He suggests. She nods, grinning.

“Of course! Oh, hey, here’s your jacket by the way.” She says, passing it over to Tim. He smiles softly at her.

“Thanks.” He says. “You can borrow it any time.”

“Can you not flirt with my cousin?” Conner asks with a huff. Marinette narrows her eyes and whacks his arm, hissing lowly at the pain.

“Jesus Conner, stop working out.” She says, moving her hand to sit under the table. Conner frowns, the worry immediately clear on his face.

“Let me see your hand, M.” He says. She shakes her head. He huffs. “M, seriously, what if you broke it?” He asks. She scoffs.

“Kon, I hit you, not a wall. Yeah, it hurts, but I didn’t break my hand hitting your arm.”

---

Marinette blinks at the doctor standing in front of her, trying to comprehend how the hell she’d managed to actually break her hand by hitting her cousin’s arm.

“Are you alright ma’am?” The doctor asks, a frown on her face. Marinette nods, giving her a tense smile in return. Just another thing to add to her ‘the Kent side of the family is weird’ list. She’d started it when she was four, and saw her Uncle Clark fly. Of course her parents hadn’t believed her, and Uncle Clark had changed the subject every time she tried to bring it up. Eventually, she just accepted it as something that wasn’t supposed to be talked about. So now, when she spotted Jon or Uncle Clark hovering off the floor, she kept her mouth shut and looked the other way. Apparently, Conner being as tough as a brick wall was something she’d just have to add.

“Your parents are never going to let you stay with us again.” Her uncle groans, dropping his head into his hands. Marinette snorts.

“It’s a broken bone, and I’m a klutz. It’s not like I’m pregnant.” She jokes, immediately regretting it as her uncle pales. “I’m not- oh for Pete’s sake.” He leaps to his feet, pacing around the small room while they waited for the doctor to bring in the supplies for the cast.

“Bruce gave Conner the talk for me, I haven’t had the talk with Jon yet, how am I supposed to give you the talk? This is a lot. How does- oh my god are you dating Tim?” He rambles, stopping in front of her and looking desperate. Marinette sighs.

“Sit down before you give yourself a heart attack, old man.” She teases lightly. He frowns, but sits. “Now, you don’t have to give me any talk, Uncle Clark. Maman and Papa already did. Quite a while ago. I’m not dating Tim either.” She says, trying not to snort as his shoulders visibly relax.

“Listen, Bruce is my friend, but I’m not sure if I approve of any of his sons dating you.” He says. Marinette smirks.

“Luckily for me, Papa would approve as long as I’m happy.” She says. Clark narrows his eyes.

“I thought you said you weren’t dating Tim?” He says. She shrugs.

“I said I wasn’t, not that the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.” She says. He opens his mouth to argue, but Marinette cuts him off. “Like I said this morning, I’m not a little kid anymore. Plus, Tim is super nice and funny. He’s also really smart and fun to hang out with. I mean, I don’t think he likes me, but if he did ask, I wouldn’t say no to a date.” Her uncle sighs, a thoughtful look crossing his face.

“I guess it could be worse.” He says. Marinette raises an eyebrow.

“What do you mean?” She asks.

“You could be old enough to date Dick.”

---

A week after getting her bright pink cast on, Marinette was back in Paris. She had an entire semester to pack for, after all. She’d be going back home for the winter break, but probably not sooner. Well, not as Marinette. Carefully placing her sewing machine in the special suitcase she’d gotten for her supplies, she nearly falls over when she hears the obnoxious ringing of her phone. Reaching over, she grabs it and answers, a small grin on her face when she sees the caller ID.

“Hey Tim.” She says. They’d exchanged numbers at the diner (right before Conner was a traitor and texted Uncle Clark to pick her up and take her to the hospital for her hand), and had been talking pretty consistently ever since. It helped that, apparently, neither of them had a sleep schedule. Insomniacs unite, and all that jazz.

“Have you ever heard of an akuma?” He asks, in lieu of a greeting. Marinette freezes. She thought that the rest of the world didn’t get news about attacks.

“You haven’t told my Uncle or cousins about this, have you?” She asks, instead of answering.

“Not yet, but- Marinette, is that stuff actually real?” Tim asks. Marinette sighs, plopping down onto her chaise.

“Yes. Akuma attacks are real. I’m assuming you found the Ladyblog?” She asks.

“Yeah, some of these videos-” He starts, but she cuts him off.

“Stick to the attack videos. The theory videos are awful examples of journalism.” Marinette sighs. He laughs lightly. “What? My aunt is Lois Lane and my Uncle is Clark Kent. I know a little about journalism.” She laughs.

“Some of the attacks are pretty graphic. Why hasn’t the Justice League shown up?” He asks. Marinette huffs, remembering to be careful so that she didn’t accidentally reveal her identity.

“No clue. You’d think they’d care, but I guess not. It might have something to do with the fact that Ladybug’s power erases all of the physical damage.” She says.

“Physical damage?” Tim asks. Marinette sighs.

“Just physical. Everyone, except for the person who was akumatized, remembers what happened. Unless they become a mindless minion. But everyone else? The ones who get crushed or die or injured or see something awful? Yeah. We remember.” She says quietly. It’s silent for a minute before Tim speaks again.

“I’m so sorry.” He says softly.

“Nothing you can do about it, Tim. Except, please don’t tell my US bound family.” She begs.

“Why not?” Tim asks.

“Uh, because Uncle Clark would be super overprotective? And he’d probably be mad, and negative emotions are not great in Paris. So just- just don’t say anything please.” She sighs out.

“Fine. Wait. You can’t have negative emotions?” He asks. She pinches the bridge of her nose. It was sweet that Tim cared, but he hadn’t mentioned going to Paris any time soon, so she also wasn’t quite sure why he cared so much.

“We can, it just makes us vulnerable to being akumatized. I can explain more when I get back to Gotham, but for now, maybe look over the Ladyblog? Write down any questions you have. I’ve kinda put off packing and I really need to finish before my flight tomorrow.” She says.

“Oh crap, yeah. Of course. Um, do you need someone to pick you up from the airport?” Tim asks. Marinette smiles.

“Conner’s supposed to pick me up, but I’d love it if you came with him.” She says softly.

“Cool! It’s a- I’ll see you then.” Tim says. Marinette grins.

“See you then, Tim.”

Chapter Text

Conner glares at his best friend as they drive away from the airport in Metropolis. Apparently, despite the fact that both he and Clark had told Marinette repeatedly not to fly straight to Gotham, she hadn’t listened. But she hadn’t thought to say anything until after her plane landed, which meant she was stuck at the airport waiting for them to get there. Which meant he got to ride in a truck for almost an hour with his best friend…who was apparently in love with his baby cousin.

“Don’t give me that look, Kon.” Tim says. Conner huffs.

“I’ll give you whatever look I wanna give you.” He grumbles. Tim rolls his eyes

“I don’t understand why you’re so mad.” He says. “It’s not like I woke up and said ‘hmm, how can I ruin my friendship with Conner today?’ Marinette’s just-”

“Important. To a lot of people. She’s basically my little sister, Tim. Why her?” Conner asks, frowning. Tim bites his lip, eyebrows furrowed. Conner recognized it as his ‘this is a case that I’m having trouble solving’ face. It didn’t make him feel better.

“Look man, I know it’s not what you want to hear, but I don’t know why I like her.” Tim says, shrugging helplessly before sighing. “But, I do know that you are my best friend. So if you really don’t want me to let her know I like her like that, I won’t.” Conner groans.

“Now if I tell you no, I look like the bad guy.” He says. Tim raises an eyebrow.

“There is, quite literally, no one here but us.” He says. Conner rolls his eyes.

“Obviously, but Marinette will find out. She always finds out.” Conner says ominously. Tim snorts, shaking his head.

“Yeah, you’re not gonna scare me off that easily.” He says. Conner grins.

“I’m not trying to scare you. If I was trying to scare you, I’d remind you that Clark is her Uncle and has known her since she was just a dot on a shitty picture.” He says. Tim’s eyes widen slightly and Conner snorts. He knew that Tim was a good guy, (he also knew if Marinette knew that he was having this talk with Tim she’d kill him), but sometimes it was hard to look at Marinette and not see the five year old kid he’d met so long ago.

***

Something Marinette wishes she would have thought of, was the probability of an attack on the Gotham airport. She definitely knew that it was a possibility. How could she not? Her uncle told her again and again not to fly into Gotham. That she should fly into Metropolis and then just commute. And now she was going to have to listen to him say ‘I told you so’. Frowning at the man monologuing in front of the terrified crowd, she tries to place him. A burlap sack mask. A pointy hat. Farm clothes? If it weren’t for the fact that literally everyone else looked terrified at the sight of the man, Marinette might laugh. His costume was almost as bad as Gigantitan.

“I hope you’re all ready! This new batch is…quite strong.” The man cackles, and that’s when it clicks. Scarecrow. If she didn’t have a bright pink cast on her hand, she might face palm. His costume was clear enough (despite its rough appearance, he was quite clearly a scarecrow). Marinette tenses, waiting for him to move and attempt to inject someone. She wasn’t exactly going to volunteer, but she did want to try and help however she could. But as she hears the screaming start, she realizes: it’s gas.

***

“Shit.” Tim says. Conner glances over, frowning.

“What happened?” He asks, noticing his friend’s phone going crazy.

“Scarecrow attack.” He says. “At Gotham Airport.” Conner’s eyes widen and he presses down on the accelerator. “Kon, slow down! You can’t help her if your truck crashes.” Conner grits his teeth, but lets his foot off the accelerator.

“Your city sucks, man.” Conner says, working hard to make sure he doesn’t accidentally break the steering wheel. Tim huffs.

“It’s not that bad.” He tries to argue. Conner looks at him incredulously.

“Tim, my cousin has been in Gotham for less than an hour and she’s already at the site of a rogue attack.” He says, anxiety creeping up. “Bats on his way?” He asks. Tim rolls his eyes.

“Of course he’s on the way. Reports are saying that the gas is a new strain, so he’ll need to adjust the antidote again.” Tim rambles on, typing rapidly on his phone. Conner’s stomach sinks.

“What’re the odds she found a place to hide where the gas won’t reach her?” He asks. Tim winces, and Conner’s shoulders drop as the feeling of failure weighs heavily on him. He couldn’t even pick her up from the airport safely. Deciding to use Tim’s distraction, Conner presses down a little more on the accelerator. His truck could handle it, and he needed to save his little sister.

---

Marinette’s hands shake as she sees the carnage around her. Her parent’s bakery was complete ash and her stomach flips when she sees her maman’s wedding ring in the rubble. They’d been inside.

“Ah, Miss Dupain-Cheng, do you see what happens when you try to outsmart me?” Hawkmoth asks, a snarl on his face. Marinette’s eyes widen as she steps back, eyes scanning her surroundings to try and find something to help her. She wasn’t transformed, so she couldn’t- holding her hand out again, Marinette’s eyes widen. When did she have time to transform? How did he figure out her identity?

“You’re not going to win this.” She says firmly. Hawkmoth throws his head back, a loud cackle chilling her to the bone.

“Oh Ladybug, I already have.” He says. She blinks, then gasps in pain as Chat Blanc appears from nowhere, slashing at her arm. Marinette stumbles backwards, shaking her head.

“No, no this can’t be happening.” She says, yelping and ducking as Blanc tries to throw a cataclysm at her.

“Oh but it is M’Lady.” Blanc says, a large, twisted grin covering his face.

“It can’t! You already know, you-” She stops, her mind clearing slightly. “This is all fake.” She says.

“What was that?” A blob asks, appearing behind Hawkmoth. Marinette blinks again, trying to force herself to see what’s actually there.

“This is fake! It’s not real!” She yells, trying hard to push down the impending anxiety attack she can feel creeping up. The blob starts to come into focus, enough that she can see the burlap.

“Hmm. Interesting. It seems you have some sort of resistance. Care to stand still so that we can give you a little more?” Scarecrow asks. Marinette scoffs.

“Not a freaking chance.” She says, lunging forward and landing a hard hit on his face.

“Stupid girl!” He screams, stumbling. Marinette has to pause, wait for the blob to stop wavering so much. The second he’s back into focus, she throws another hit, the sickening crack that follows does little to stop her. Instead, she spins and manages to land a kick on Scarecrow’s head. The blob wobbles as it melts into a puddle on the ground. She lets out a shaky breath, the panic that had arrived with the adrenaline rush creeping back up. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a blob approach.

“Don’t move any closer.” She says, whirling around and facing whoever, or whatever it is. She blinks rapidly, tears of frustration popping into her eyes as she tries to make out who it is. Blinking, she gasps as the only thing that comes into focus is the gun in the blob’s hands. Immediately, she launches herself at the blob, screaming in frustration as she tries to disarm them.

“Stop!” The blob yells. She huffs.

“What, and let you shoot me?” She screams back.

“You can actually hear me?” The blob asks. She scoffs.

“No, I’m on the phone- yes I can hear you.” She snarks. The blob laughs, and she lets her shaky fists fall slightly. “You’re not gonna shoot me, are you?” She asks, still struggling to see the blob.

“‘Course not. It’s not really my style to shoot kids.” He says. Marinette frowns, trying to place the pieces together to figure out who exactly is in front of her.

“Red Hood?” She asks. The blob snorts.

“Good job, kiddo.” It- Red hood- says. Marinette grins, overly aware of her heart beating in her head- her ears throbbing with every beat of her heart. Taking a shaky breath, she sticks out her hands, trying to lower herself to the ground. “Whatchya doing kid?” Red Hood asks.

“Well, trying not to focus on the fact that I’m currently having a panic attack.” She says, slightly breathless. “Also, very tired suddenly, so I’m just gonna stay here.” She says, pulling her knees up to her chest and laying her head on them. She just needed a little nap.

---

Conner’s heart stops as he runs up to the airport, spotting Marinette unconscious on a stretcher. His eyes immediately find Jason, in his Red Hood gear, standing next to her. Conner raises an eyebrow, hoping he gets the message.

“She’s fine. She tired herself out punching the hell out of Scarecrow. Broke her cast and probably delayed any healing she had on that hand.” Jason says lowly. Conner huffs, relief flooding through him. He could wait to see her closer, as long as he knew she was okay.

“Don’t- run away- like that- again.” Tim huffs, glaring at him. The police blockade had meant that they’d been forced to park quite far from the actual airport. Running that was no problem for Conner, and usually Tim would be fine too, but for some reason, he’d decided to carry the too-big sign Jon had made and the box of cookies Lois had sent (Jimmy had made them for Marinette when he heard she was in town).

“Why’d you bring the stuff?” Conner asks, quirking an eyebrow. Tim glares at him.

“So that we could greet her properly despite the madness.” He says. Conner snorts, shaking his head towards the stretcher.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna work lover boy.” Conner teases. Tim’s face reddens, but then drops into a frown.

“What happened to her?” He asks, looking at her intently.

“Apparently she punched Scarecrow and broke the cast and rebroke her hand.” Conner says. Tim blinks.

“Really?” He asks. Conner nods.

“Yeah. She can hit pretty hard. Y’know, if the person is normal.” He says. Conner’s eyes narrow in on Marinette as he hears her heart and her breathing pick up. Shoving past the police officers and leaving Tim to apologize for him, he makes it to Marinette’s side just as she wakes up. She blinks at him, smiling sheepishly.

“Oops?” She says. Conner huffs.

“Next time Clark and I say ‘hey, this is dangerous’, maybe don’t do it.” He says. Marinette deflates slightly, instantly making him feel bad. Sighing, he opens his arms. She grins, wrapping her arms around him. He pretends not to notice when his shirt gets a little damp. That’s what big brothers are for, after all.

“I think you should be able to go, if you want your friend here to take you to the hospital instead of the ambulance.” Jason tells Marinette. She frowns.

“Really? I don’t have to give a statement or anything?” She asks. He snorts.

“God no. It was a mass attack, we’ll get statements from someone who doesn’t need to get their hand fixed.” He says. Marinette frowns, glancing down at her cast and wincing.

“I’m never gonna get out of this stupid thing.” She complains, practically glaring at the cast. Conner snorts. Good thing she doesn’t have heat vision, or she totally would have burned off her hand.

“C’mon kid. Tim and I will take you to the hospital.” Conner says, helping her off the stretcher.

“Tim? He still came?” She asks with a blinding smile. Conner nods towards the watching crowd where Tim was standing, obviously trying to hold up the sign without dropping the cookies. Marinette laughs softly, immediately running over to him.

“How long til he asks her out?” Jason asks. Conner can practically hear the smirk, even if he can’t see it. Conner grins.

“What makes you so sure he’ll be the one asking her?” He counters. Jason nods.

“Touché. Ten bucks says he asks her out.” Jason bets. Conner snorts.

“Yeah right. Twenty says she asks him.” He holds out his hand, shaking Jason’s hand. “Can’t wait to get my twenty dollars.” Conner teases, walking off towards Tim and Marinette, pointedly ignoring the small jabs that Jason mutters. Stopping in front of the two, he frowns at the way Marinette was cradling her arm.

“Get that look off your face, Kon. It’s not that bad.” She says. He rolls his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. Like that time your leg wasn’t so bad and then you had to have surgery to fix it?” He asks. She narrows her eyes.

“Don’t you dare bring that up, Conner Thomas Kent. Not unless you want me to bring up the time that you said you liked-” Conner quickly puts his hand over her mouth.

“You wouldn’t dare.” He says. She gives him a look that says ‘try me’. Huffing, Conner drops his hand. “Fine. Let’s go.” He says, turning and heading off towards the truck.

“Can we stop for coffee on the way? I’m exhausted.” Marinette pleads. Tim grins.

“I second that!” He says, giving Marinette a dopey smile. Conner purses his lips.

“You get tea.” He says. Marinette gasps.

“What did I ever do to you? I thought I was your favorite cousin.” She says with a pout. Conner rolls his eyes.

“You’re my only cousin.” He reminds her. She pouts.

“I’ll let you have some of my coffee.” Tim says softly, grinning as Marinette’s face lights up. Conner debates calling him out, but decides not to. After all, the ‘you get tea’ was directed at both of them.

Chapter Text

Marinette sticks her tongue out in concentration, trying to calm her spiking frustration. Trying to knit a sweater with a clunky cast on her right hand was annoying. But she’d started the project two weeks ago, and was determined to finally finish it. If only because she had finally moved into her Gotham apartment and thought the Sirens themed sweater would be nice to wear on a chilly night. Apparently the other exchange students lived with a host family. But after several sets of forms, and meetings with her uncle and aunt (who were only half an hour away), the school had agreed to let her live in an apartment by herself. She honestly thought that the deciding factor wasn’t the plethora of forms her parents had signed, or the meetings with Lois and Clark. No, she was pretty sure the deciding factor was when Jagged had popped in and talked to the school. So it goes. Just as Marinette finishes up the last couple of stitches, the akuma alarm on her phone blares. Jumping slightly, she reads over the information on the alert. Repeat akumatization- Sandboy. Marinette frowns, before she remembers the time difference. Right.

“Tikki?” Marinette calls, jumping up, looking around for her friend.

“Ready, Marinette.” They say with a grin. Marinette smiles and portals to Paris. Sprinting across the rooftops, she double checks her yoyo to make sure she’s going the right way. She comes to a halt in front of her best friend, grinning widely.

“Hey M’Lady.” He says, bowing with a flourish.

“Hey Kitty Cat.” She says, giving an equally obnoxious bow. He laughs, before his face settles into something more serious.

“Saw the alert, but I haven’t seen any sign of Sandboy. Just the nightmares he’s leaving behind, and-” Chat pauses, wincing. “They’re much worse, M’Lady.” Of course they were. The first time there had been an akuma like Sandboy, the horrors of Paris’ situation hadn’t sunk in. There hadn’t been any mass deaths at that point, but now…now there had been too many. Far too many.

“No!” A shrill scream, one filled with heartbreak and anguish, catches Marinette’s attention and she runs towards it, all of her inhibitions disappearing as she sprints towards her mother’s frantic screaming. She skids to a stop several feet away as she sees her own limp form on the ground. Marinette winces at the visible gunshot wound in her head. She hadn’t lost sight in battle like that in a long time, but hearing her mother scream like that? It overrode everything else. Taking a steadying breath, she grounds herself again.

“You okay?” Chat asks, landing softly beside her. She sighs.

“Yeah I just- we can talk later. Let's go find Sandboy.” She says. Chat nods with a sad smile. Time to fight the nightmares.

---

Sitting at the top of the Eiffel Tower with her best friend by her side, Marinette tugs her knees up to her chest and lays her head on Adrien’s shoulder. Their reveal had been incredibly anti-climactic, but it had helped them sort through their feelings (or lack thereof). Honestly, it really was just a matter of time before they both accidentally chose the same alley to detransform.

“She hasn’t told me to my face, but I know she’s upset that I’m in Gotham.” Marinette says softly, her words almost getting lost in the wind. She knew that her maman didn’t agree. That she, like Clark, thought Gotham was far too dangerous. But Marinette knew that she could handle it. And it’s not like she was going to live there forever. She just had to do something to increase her chances of talking to the Batclan. After all, they were a team of vigilante detectives. She needed their help. They had to unmask Hawkmoth soon. She was tired. Adrien was tired. Paris was tired.

“Do you ever wish you could just explain it to her?” He asks softly. She shakes her head immediately.

“No. I couldn’t. I love my parents, but I don’t think they’d take this well. Our entire family is normal, we thrive off of that.” Marinette sighs. Normal, except for the slightly odd Kent side. But even then, she was pretty sure they didn’t do anything as crazy as dressing up in a suit to fight crime. She frowns slightly. Okay, maybe she shouldn’t think too much into that.

“I get that. I don’t-” He pauses, and Marinette glances at him out of the corner of her eye- wincing at the pained look on his face. “I could never tell my father about any of this. Or anything I actually enjoy. Nothing that says who I really am.” He says sadly. Marinette frowns, reaching over and squeezing his hand. Despite being in a relationship with Luka for almost a year and a half, he hadn’t told his dad. But since he was now seventeen, his dad had started pressuring him to ‘find a girl’ so that they could promote the brand more. She knew it was something that had been weighing heavily on him for awhile, and she just wished she could do something to help him. Unfortunately, Agreste's lawyers were good and her lawyer had yet to find a way to break Adrien out of his contract (the only thing keeping him modeling, and, on the same foot, in ‘need’ of a girlfriend).

“Wish you could’ve come with me to Gotham so that you could’ve had a break.” Marinette says. His face brightens slightly, a smirk on his face.

“Hey, you still need to tell me about that Tim guy. Is he good enough for my best friend?” Adrien asks, wiggling his eyebrows. She laughs. It was nice, sitting with her best friend.

---

Wrapped up in her new Sirens sweater, a travel cup of coffee, and her sketch book in hand, Marinette climbs up the fire escape to sit on the roof. She’d sat on the tower with Adrien for hours, but while it was nearing four am back in Paris, it was only ten in Gotham. Which meant she still had plenty of time to design and think. Humming softly, she starts working on a sketch for Jagged’s new tour jacket. She was a little slower than usual, and it was messy because of the cast, but she couldn’t just stop designing til it came off. Not only did she have her business to think of, but she also knew that she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else if she pushed away her creative whims for any period of time. Every time he started a new tour, she made him a new jacket. This one had a faux leather base (the only type of leather Jagged would wear) and she planned on incorporating elements from the new album cover throughout the design. Sometimes, it still shocked her how far she had come. From Eiffel tower sunglasses and an album cover, to exclusive designer for both Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. She’d also done commissions for several other celebrities. Every time she got a request, she felt giddy. It didn’t even feel real at times. A couple of soft thuds immediately yanks her from her thoughts. Snapping her attention up, she relaxes slightly as she recognizes one of the figures.

“Hello again, M. Red Hood.” She says with a small smile. Glancing at the other vigilante, she tilts her head as she thinks. And who was- “Nice to meet you, Red Robin.” She says with a small wave. He returns the wave before he focuses in on her sweater. Frowning, she glances at Red Hood and quirks an eyebrow. He shrugs.

“Ignore him, kiddo. What’re you doing on a roof this late?” He asks, crossing his arms. She can’t see his face, but she’s certain he’s giving her some variation of a Concerned Dad Look™. Marinette frowns, pulling out her phone to double check the time. Almost midnight. She winces.

“In my defense, I came up here at like, ten.” She says.

“That’s not better.” Red Hood says with a scoff.

“Is that an MDC original?” Red Robin asks suddenly. Marinette blinks.

“What?” She asks. He points to her sweater.

“The sweater. Is it an MDC? I remember they posted a teaser picture of it on their Instagram a couple weeks ago.” He says. Her eyes widen slightly for a moment. Red Robin followed her on Instagram? Was he a fan?

“Uh, yeah, sorry I just didn’t realize anyone would recognize it.” She says. He grins widely.

“Well I’m kind of a fan. Not only do they make some really cool stuff, but I like looking into the mystery of their identity.” Red Robin says. “I would never expose it, or anything, obviously I understand secret identities. I just like looking into all of the different theories.” Marinette grins.

“Yeah, that’s a pretty cool part.” She admits.

“Do you know who they are?” He asks. Marinette weighs her options. She didn’t really like lying to people. She tried to only lie about her secret identity stuff. On the one hand, this would link her too closely to MDC for comfort. But on the other hand, how else would she be able to explain getting a commission from one of the most elusive designers of the last three years? Sighing, she nods slowly.

“Yes, but I really can’t-”

“No! I mean- sorry, I don’t want you to tell me. If I figure it out, I want to be the one to do it.” He says. Marinette grins, nodding.

“If you two are quite done with your flirting, I think the pixie over here needs to go back inside. Maybe get some sleep?” Red Hood suggests. Marinette rolls her eyes, sticking her tongue out at the man while she tries (and fails) not to see the blush on Red Robin’s face. She couldn’t get a crush on him, not when she really liked Tim. She’d feel awful.

“You’re worse than my cousin Conner. I swear. Ever since I came to Gotham, he’s been the ultimate mom friend. Actually, I think he’s worse than my actual mom, sometimes.” Marinette whispers the last part, furrowing her eyebrows. He’d technically banned her from coffee after ten. That, obviously, wasn’t working out for him. Hopefully though, his mom senses wouldn’t tingle and alert him of her coffee intake over the past couple of days. She’d never live it down.

“C’mon kid, I’m just looking out for you. And I’m sure your cousin is too. Gotham’s dangerous as hell.” Red Hood says, his voice slightly gentler. Marinette sighs, but stands up and collects her stuff.

“Fine. But just because I’m pretty sure that, despite not even being anywhere near here, Conner will suddenly show up and drag me off to bed if I don’t go now.” She says. Stranger things had happened.

Chapter Text

“I thought you loved me!” Marinette groans, her face contorting into a grimace. Conner just blinks at her, not saying anything. “Seriously Kon, what’d I do to you? Huh? Tell me one thing I did to deserve this and I promise to stop complaining.” She adds. He nods, crossing his arms.

“Okay, how about the fact that you were up and designing when I walked in?” He asks. She raises an eyebrow.

“I live here, Kon. I fail to see how that’s deserving of having my coffee privilege so rudely taken away from me.” She complains, hands on her hips. Conner narrows his eyes.

“Because I know you, Marinette. And if you had actually slept, you wouldn’t be awake yet. Can you honestly tell me that you didn’t stay up all night designing again?” He asks. She purses her lips. She hated lying, but coffee….

“I-”

“And remember, your tells are super obvious.” He says. She groans, grabbing a pillow from the couch and throwing it at his face.

“You are such a jerk, Conner Kent.” She complains, glaring at him. He grins.

“It’s called being the big brother.” He says. She huffs.

“It’s called being a coffee thief.” She says, mocking his tone. He grins.

“Come on, you need a nap. And when was the last time you ate something?” Conner asks, frowning slightly. She rolls her eyes.

“Honestly Kon, you’re worse than my mother.” She complains. He shrugs.

“If you would remember to take care of yourself, I wouldn’t have to remind you. But you need sleep and meals Mari. Just like everyone else.” He says. Marinette scowls.

“What if I don’t want to take a nap?” She asks. Conner frowns.

“Are you having nightmares again?” He asks. She’d had nightmares on and off since she was little. She wasn’t sure what started it, but she’d never had a completely normal sleep schedule. Even before she was Ladybug. She shakes her head.

“No, not really.” She says. It’s not a lie. The nightmares that she’d been having since she was little were vastly different from the new nightmares she avoided by designing or drinking coffee. The other nightmares were faded, almost as if she was trying to pull forward a memory that didn’t completely exist anymore. But her current nightmares, now they were always vivid and detailed. It usually had to do with dying. Or seeing people she loved dying. Or watching children die. Just, overall, death.

“Then you should at least try to sleep Mari. It’s not good for you to stay up for days on end.” He chastises. She huffs.

“Fine. I’ll go take a nap, you go get food and I’ll eat when I wake up.” She says, practically shoving him out the door. Conner opens his mouth to say something, but she shuts the door, slumping against it with a huff. Kaalki zips out of their hiding spot, snorting at her. Marinette pouts.

“Come now, Guardian, pouting is not becoming.” They say firmly. Marinette’s eyes narrow.

“Do you have a suggestion on how I can get coffee?” She asks. Kaalki grins.

“I am certain you have a friend whose love for coffee is almost as great as their fame.” They say cryptically. Marinette frowns, until realization hits her.

“You want me to ask Tim to help me get coffee?” She asks in a hushed whisper. She knew that, theoretically, there was no way that Kon could hear her. But at the same time… Kaalki nods.

“I will even offer my assistance in helping you get to a coffee shop without your brother knowing.” They say with a grin. Marinette doesn’t even bother correcting the kwami. She’d always thought of Conner and Jon as her brothers more than her cousins anyway. The kwami’s words register and Marinette raises an eyebrow.

“Why can’t I just portal out by myself?” She asks. Kaalki hmphs.

“Because I refuse to help if you aren’t meeting that boy.” They say firmly. Marinette rolls her eyes, but sends Tim a quick text.

hey, it’s Mari. would you like to grab coffee at Java Junkies?

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Marinette asks. Kaalki grins.

“You should get ready quickly. He will say yes, and you need to be out of here before your brother returns.” They say. Marinette frowns, still not quite understanding the kwami’s visible excitement. It was just coffee. Glancing over at Tikki, who had begun giggling, Marinette frowns.

“You too?” She asks. Tikki nods. “Et tu, Brute.” Marinette sighs.

“Marinette, you just asked Tim on a date.” Tikki says. Marinette’s eyes widen.

“Did I?” She asks, panic shooting through her. Sure, she’d wanted to ask him for a while, but what if he hated her? What if he didn’t like her like that and they ruined their friendship? What if he didn’t think it was a date but she did because of her friends and then she made things awkward?

like a date?

“This is for the greater good.” Kaalki says, as Tikki nods solemnly. Marinette shrieks indignantly, lunging forward to try to grab the phone before the kwami can interfere more.

“You should get ready, Marinette.” Tikki says as Kaalki grins widely. Marinette glares at the two.

“He’s in! You’re going on a date with Timothy Drake Wayne!” Kaalki sing-songs, zipping around the room while they giggle. Marinette’s eyes widen and she immediately abandons her attempts to get her phone, instead focusing on getting ready.

“How long do I have?” She calls from her room, frantically searching for an outfit. She knew the kwamis could hear her, though.

“He asked if he should pick you up, but I said you’d meet him there in twenty five minutes.” Kaalki says. Marinette’s eyes widen.

“You couldn't have given me more time?” She says, grabbing a black top to pair with her red skater skirt. She might as well channel her inner Ladybug. Rushing throughout her room and the bathroom, she finally takes a step back and glances at her reflection with ten minutes left until their meet time.

“You look perfect, Guardian.” Kaalki says with a grin. “Just missing some glasses.” They add. Marinette snorts, but picks up the glasses and places them on her face. They immediately shift into golden rimmed glasses with large circular frames. She adored them, and didn’t mind wearing them. If she was going to be in Gotham for a while, she might as well start wearing them now. Less suspicious later on.

“Kaalki, full gallop.” Marinette says. Kaalki grins as they’re sucked into the glasses. Glancing at Tikki, Marinette grins. “You coming?” She asks. Tikki nods, and Marinette opens a portal into the bathroom at the coffee shop. Peeking her head in and seeing no one else, she drops into the room fully. Immediately dropping the transformation and closing the portal, she passes Kaalki a sugar cube and lets the two kwamis go into her purse. Marinette leaves the little stall and looks at her reflection in the mirror. Adjusting her hair, she takes a deep breath and walks out into the shop. Spotting Tim as he walks in, Marinette grins and waves. He smiles back and she immediately relaxes, her earlier nerves dissipating almost instantly. This was Tim, the boy who gave her his jacket the first time they met just because she was cold. The one who drank too much coffee, and was sweet and sarcastic. He was a good guy, and now she was on a date with him. Marinette walks over to him, standing next to him while they wait in line. A date with Tim and coffee? Today couldn’t get any better.

---

Conner was trying really hard to give his baby cousin her privacy. He wasn’t trying to mother hen her, but he also knew how dangerous Gotham was. He was there when the dangers of Gotham had taken Jason Todd away (before hell spat him back out). He was there when the corrupt city took away Tim’s parents. He was there when it took away Bruce Wayne, leaving a family broken and his best friends lost. He knew how dangerous Gotham, and the Waynes were. He could handle it though. He was a clone of Superman, for crying out loud.

But his little cousin? The one who asked him to tea parties when she was little, the one who suffered from nightmares she couldn’t explain, the one who never questioned why he still looked sixteen- she was more fragile. Conner knew that she wasn’t weak. He knew she was a badass, but it didn’t matter how badass a person was. They could still get hurt. They could still die. Which is why, even though he wanted her to have privacy, he couldn’t help checking in on her. Make sure she was sleeping and eating and not staying on a roof for hours upon hours. Honestly, Jon was younger than her and sometimes he thought that the kid could take care of himself better than Marinette could. He frowns as he remembers her hesitance when he asked about the nightmares. If she was having them again, surely Tom and Sabine had taken her to the doctor so that she could get her prescription again, right? Unless they didn’t know. But Marinette had always been so open with the family, the whole family. About her feelings, her hopes and dreams, her fears. Everything. So what had happened that she, suddenly, thought she couldn’t tell anyone? He hated that there was something bothering her that he couldn’t fix. Not that she’d let him fix it anyway. She’d always been extremely independent, even when she was a kid. He grins as he thinks of the time she got stuck on top of the fridge at Ma and Pa Kent’s house in an attempt to get a cookie. Marinette had always been an interesting person. He just wishes she would take better care of herself.

Readjusting his hold on the bag of food in his hand, Conner sighs. He was trying to take as long as possible to get back to her apartment since he knew she was a light sleeper. He knew that the second he opened the door, she’d wake up and wouldn’t attempt to sleep again for days. It was hard to convince himself that he didn’t need to try and listen in for her. Surely she was sleeping, right?

Chapter Text

Marinette laughs at Tim’s joke as she takes another sip of her coffee. Maybe she should listen to Kaalki more often. Sure, they were a little too obsessed with fame (and soap operas), but they always meant well. And they were right now, too. Had it been nerve wracking in the half hour leading up to the date? Yes. But was it, so far, the best date she’d ever been on? Also yes. Not that she had a lot of dates to compare it to. There was that short amount of time that she dated Luka, plus her date with Nathaniel while he was an akuma.

“Wait, he did what?” Marinette asks, eyes wide. Tim grins.

“He brought an elephant into the manor. And he actually managed to hide it in the ballroom with Dick’s help. I’m pretty sure the only reason Bruce caught on as quickly as he did was because Jon showed up and yelled ‘there’s an elephant in your house’.” Tim says, laughing. Marinette snorts.

“That kid can’t keep a secret to save his life.” She says, prepared to launch into the story of the time he told her each and every present she would be receiving for Christmas- when the large windows near their table shatter. Eyes wide, Marinette grabs Tim’s arm and yanks him back, both of them wide eyed at the glass covering the floor of the shop.

“You’re hurt.” He says, reaching up to her face. Marinette winces as he pulls a small piece of glass out of her face.

“What the hell is going on?” She asks, clenching her fists. The windows had shattered, but no one had burst in. Tim frowns.

“I have no i-” He starts to say, cutting himself off as his phone starts ringing. He answers it, frowning. “Hello?” He says. Marinette watches as his face falls into a frown. Before he can say anything else though, a group of men with guns rush into the cafe. Marinette’s eyes widen and she steps closer to Tim, almost standing in front of him. He was famous in Gotham. And she didn’t really understand it, but she knew from conversations with Conner that the Waynes were often targeted during attacks. Well not this time. Not if she could help it. But the group had guns. And they were coming straight for her and Tim.

“C’mon then. Let’s go and no one has to get hurt.” One of the men grunts out, aiming his gun right at her. Marinette lets out a shaky breath and glances at Tim. He looks panicked, but nods. Apparently they were going along with the hostage situation. As she’s yanked forward harshly, a bruise surely forming on her wrist, a thought pops into her head. Conner is gonna be pissed.

---

Conner takes a deep breath before unlocking his cousin’s apartment and walking in. He goes about putting away the few groceries he had picked up and setting out the takeout for her to eat now. He frowns when she doesn’t immediately run into the room. She’d always been an extremely light sleeper. So he decides to listen for her, panic shooting to his chest when he doesn’t hear her breathing or her heart beat in the apartment. Running to her room, he throws the door open. Nothing. The bed hadn’t even been unmade. But there were pieces of clothing thrown everywhere. He blinks in confusion. Where could she have gone? Why wasn’t she sleeping? His eyes narrow as he realizes she probably went to get coffee. But why wouldn’t she just wear- his eyes widen. That backstabbing little shit. Pulling out his phone, Conner quickly pulls up Tim’s contact and hits the call button. He has to resist the urge to completely smash the phone before he even answers.

“Hello?” Tim says. Conner huffs.

“I’m assuming Marinette is with you? Getting coffee? You do realize that she hasn’t slept in days, right? You two cannot enable each other like this. You both need to do a better job of taking care of yourselves, Tim. Don’t make me get Dick. You’re my friend and I trust you, but if you’re going to date her or whatever, then I really need you guys to look out for each other. And I’m not putting all of this on you but-”

“C’mon then. Let’s go and no one has to get hurt.” An unfamiliar voice says. Conner immediately freezes.

“Tim, please tell me you’re watching a movie.” Conner says quietly. The silence on the other end is deafening. And then he hears a pained hiss from his baby cousin.

“Drop the phone Wayne, or the little bitch gets it.” The same voice says. Conner hears the telltale sounds of the phone hitting the ground and people walking away, their footsteps giving an unfamiliar crunch. Cursing under his breath, he hangs up the phone and calls Dick. Time to save the disaster duo.

---

Marinette did not watch the sunrise this morning and think ‘today’s the day I’ll ask Tim out, and get kidnapped and held for ransom’, but sometimes days don’t go like you plan. Instead, she was tied to a chair (as was Tim, except he’d been knocked out on the drive over) in an abandoned warehouse. Honestly, why were there so many abandoned warehouses? Sitting quietly, she watches as the men with guns continue to patrol around the room. They weren’t the brains of the operation, clearly. So who was? Who was behind it? And how did they know to target her and Tim? Had Tim been followed? Or had someone snapped a picture of them while they were distracted? She forgot, sometimes, about the obsession most people had with the Wayne family. It wasn’t exactly a big topic at school, since the only Wayne still attending GA was Damian. Sure, he was a genius and Bruce’s biological son, but the students knew not to mess with him. Which included talking about him. But now in this situation, she’s suddenly hit with the reminder that there are people who hate Tim’s dad (for what reason, she’ll never know. He literally donated so much money to charity), and who are willing to do anything to make the man upset. Or to get some fast cash from him. Though, from the research she’d done on Gotham, she was pretty sure the villains had a low success rate of actually getting said money before Batman shows up. Just as she’s starting to think that maybe these guys really kidnapped them with no greater plan, a man walks in. Marinette blinks in surprise at his waist coat and top hat. This wasn’t a villain she knew.

“Oh, what a delightful child.” The man says, grinning widely. Marinette’s eyes widen slightly. He was staring right at her.

“We also got the Drake Wayne boy, boss.” One of the men with guns says. The man waves him away, shaking his head.

“No need, no need. Not when we have found an Alice.” He says. Alice. Top hat. Marinette silently curses. Mad Hatter. Of course. She should’ve guessed by his stupid hat. Though it wasn’t nearly as bad as the Riddler’s green, question mark covered suit.

“I’m not Alice.” Marinette says quietly. He frowns.

“Of course you are. You just need some tea.” He says. He snaps his fingers and one of the men goes away, she guesses to get tea. She glances at Tim, relieved by the subtle rise and fall of his chest. “Oh Alice, you can’t be distracted by such a boy.” He tuts, narrowing his eyes. Marinette shakes her head.

“I- no- I’m not- I won’t be distracted by him. Especially if you just let him go.” She says. If he was going to be focused on her, might as well get Tim out of there safely. The man raises an eyebrow.

“Let him go where? He’d spoil our fun, Alice.” He says. Marinette opens her mouth to argue, but quickly shuts it when she sees the goon return with tea.

“Here you go boss.” The man says, passing the cup to Mad Hatter. The man walks over and offers it to her. She shakes her head.

“What’s the matter, my dear, don’t you care for tea?” He asks. She glances at Tim and the man huffs. He leans forward and grabs onto her jaw, forcing her mouth open.

“Stop!” She screams, struggling against him. Her mouth explodes in pain as the hot tea is poured into her mouth. He crams her mouth shut, the vibrations echoing across her skull. She tries not to swallow the tea, breathing through her nose instead. Mad Hatter’s eyes narrow as he nods for one of his goons to help. The man smirks, pinching her nose. Marinette begins to panic, desperate for air.

“Just drink your tea.” Mad Hatter says softly. Tears welling up in her eyes, Marinette swallows the tea. For a moment, everything seems fine. And then she starts to get tired and the colors and figures around her melt together. The last thing she sees before she blacks out is a hat being lifted up and onto her head.

---

Conner was beyond pissed.

“You can’t go out there, Kon. You have to stay here.” Dick says again, trying to move past him. Conner glares at his oldest friend.

“Like hell, Dick. She’s my baby sister, you realize that, right? If we were in Metropolis and Damian was in danger, you’d go out in costume, wouldn’t you?” He asks, arms crossed. Dick pinches the bridge of his nose.

“It’s not my call, Kon. B said you have to stay here. You guys can’t just show up in Gotham all the time just because Marinette is here.” He says. Conner’s eyes narrow.

“And why not? Why does he get to make that decision?” Conner asks. Dick huffs.

“Look, can we have this conversation after my brother and your sister are safe?” He asks. Conner grits his teeth, but nods. He watches as Dick, the last of the Bats in the cave, drives off on his bike. Deciding to just accept the consequences that would no doubt occur, Conner pulls out his phone.

“Hey Conner. You still with Mari?” Clark asks. Conner winces. “Conner?”

“She left. I went to get food for her ‘cause she wasn’t sleeping, but that’s not important because she was kidnapped. I think I’ve narrowed down her location to a warehouse near the pier.” He says.

“Do you need backup?” He asks, and Conner’s pretty sure he can hear the wind as the man flies towards Gotham.

“Batman said I’m not allowed to go to her in costume.” Conner hisses. Clark lets out a low sound, obviously frustrated.

“Fine. But I’ll be there. Be prepared to meet us at the hospital in case she needs medical attention.” Clark says before unceremoniously hanging up. Conner yells, punching the cave wall, leaving a huge hole. Not that he gives a shit. He stalks out of the cave, his emotions a flurry of anger and worry.

Chapter Text

Tim groans, blinking as he takes in his surroundings. Attempting to stretch, his eyes widen when he realizes he’s tied up. Memories flood back in rapid succession, and he inhales sharply. Glancing around the room in an attempt to figure out what’s happening, he frowns. Where were the guys with guns? He wasn’t a hundred percent sure, but he was almost positive they didn’t work for Joker, Riddler, or Scarecrow. His bet was on either Penguin or Mad Hatter.

“Marinette.” He says softly. She must be behind him, right? That’s why he couldn’t see her? Trying not to let his panic overwhelm him, he manages to turn his chair around, bit by bit. Once he’s turned enough to see his previous blind spots, his heart drops to his stomach.

“Marinette!” He yells, hoping she’ll yell back from somewhere. Where was she? What the hell happened? He yanks on the rope tying his hands back, trying desperately to get out of his restraints. Just as he’s about to get the rope off of his wrists, the door flies open.

“What happened?” Jason asks, storming into the room, guns ready. Tim grits his teeth as Dick and Damian drop from the ceiling, Bruce not far behind.

“Considering the fact I woke up two minutes ago, I don’t have any freaking clue.” He huffs out, still fighting against the rope.

“Tim, calm down.” Dick says softly. Tim ignores him. “Tim! You’re going to hurt yourself, knock it off.” Dick chastises him, moving behind him to untie him. Tim’s shoulders slump.

“Men with guns shattered the windows at the coffee shop and then took me and Mari. They knocked me out, so I’m not even sure who took us.” He says, rubbing his raw wrists once Dick lets the rope fall.

“It’s not your fault.” Dick says quietly. Tim scowls. It was totally his fault.

“Nightwing, contact the cave. See if he can listen for her to narrow down her location.” Bruce says. Tim frowns.

“You convinced Kon to stay away when Marinette was in danger?” He asks. Bruce nods.

“Of course I did.” He says. Tim shakes his head.

“You might as well call Clark. He’s definitely on his way to Gotham, if he’s not already here.” Tim says, standing. He wasn’t sure why B thought it would work to keep the Kents out of this. If there was one thing he knew after spending time with Marinette, it was that all of the Kents were extremely protective of her. Even Jon, despite being younger than Marinette, was protective of her. The odds of the entire Superfamily showing up in Gotham today was definitely much higher than Bruce thought.

---

Clark Kent was pissed. His niece, his only niece, had been kidnapped in Gotham. And Bruce wasn’t the one to call him and notify him of it. Despite the fact that Bruce had ensured Clark that he would keep an eye on her and make sure she was staying safe. That’s all Clark had asked. He thought it wasn’t too hard of a request, since they were friends and he was certain (despite his objections) that his niece was falling for Tim. But apparently, Bruce was more of an idiot than he thought. His ringing phone yanks him from his thoughts as he continues his flight towards Marinette.

“Hello?” He says, not bothering to check the caller ID.

“Clark?” Bruce says in his Batman voice. Clark narrows his eyes.

“Have you finally decided to let me know that my niece is missing?” He asks harshly. Bruce sighs.

“I was going to notify you once we had her safe.” He says. Clark scoffs.

“Did you forget that I am just as capable of helping her as you are?” Clark asks.

“Did you forget Gotham is not your city?” Bruce asks. Clark scowls.

“I don’t give a damn if it’s my city or if it isn’t, Bruce. What I care about is my family. And right now, I’m her best chance of getting saved. If you want to bring in the Mad Hatter, head to the abandoned theater on 8th street, but I’m taking care of Mari.” Clark says firmly, hanging up the phone as he flies faster. Knowing Jon, he’d also be on the way. He was definitely listening for him to give her location. Hopefully, Conner was ready to show up at the hospital for her. He and Jon would have to wait at least an hour to see her, since they were technically still in Metropolis. He’d face the repercussions with Bruce later. It’s not like the man wouldn’t have the same reaction if one of his kids were stuck in a villain attack in Metropolis. And Clark would actually alert him, and let him help. Instead of being an asshole and trying to brush over the situation. Hovering right outside of one of the broken windows, Clark peers in, stomach rolling at the sight. There were several kids sitting around a table, cups of tea on the table in front of them. They were all dressed in dirty costumes. They were all pale with hollow cheeks. All except for the girl at the head of the table. The one who, along with tea, had a top hat on her head. The blue dress she had on was obviously too big for her. As was the unnaturally wide smile stretched across her face as she clapped.

“What did he do to her?” Jon asks, eyes wide in horror. Clark frowns. Marinette was the only one of the hostages with a hat on, so apparently, Mad Hatter hadn’t been confident in his ability to control her with tea only. But the fact that he’d decided she was his new Alice? That was concerning.

“Mind control.” He says simply. Jon winces.

“I kinda hate the Bats’ villains.” He says. Clark nods in agreement. He hated even more that Marinette was stuck in Gotham for the next year. If only there was a way to get all of the rogues out of the city while she was there, he’d definitely sleep a little easier. Taking in a deep breath, Clark gets ready to save his niece.

---

Alice adored Wonderland. There was no place that she’d rather be, than at the Mad Hatter’s house for a cup of tea. Her friends were all there with laughter and songs to share. It was wonderfully perfect, and perfectly wonderful.

“Alice my dear, you want to stay here in Wonderland, don’t you?” Hatter asks, filling her cup again. She blinks. “Alice, you want to stay, don’t you?” He asks, pushing the cup towards her. Alice furrows her eyebrows, but nods slowly. What a strange question.

“Of course I want to stay. It’s my unbirthday!” She says. Hatter grins.

“Excellent answer my dear. Time to fight for that right.” He says. Alice frowns.

“But fight who?” She asks. The March Hare, the Dormouse, Cheshire- they all wanted to stay at the party too. She glances around again, eyes widening when she sees the card soldiers. Immediately understanding, she charges forward, ready to defend her friends.

“Ma’am stop! Your family is worried about you.” One of the cards says, blocking her hits. Alice frowns.

“My family is here, with the Hatter.” She says. The card frowns.

“Marinette, please, I don’t want to fight you.” The other card says.

“Who’s Marinette?” She asks, shaking her head. “Just go back to the Queen of Hearts, please. I don’t want to fight you.” Just as she thinks the cards might give up, she hears a crash. Looking around wildly, trying to figure out where the crash could come from (they were outside for heaven’s sake, and the Tweedles had been relatively calm), she sees it. The Jabberwocky. Alice’s eyes grow wide and she scrambles back, immediately moving so that she can stand between the beast and her friends. The Jabberwocky lets out a loud shriek (though briefly she thinks she can hear words within the shriek), pausing before charging towards Hatter. Immediately, Alice moves to stand between the monster and her friend.

“Help me, Alice!” Hatter says. Alice nods, wishing she had some type of weapon to try and cut the beast down. The chatter from the cards and the shrieks (why were there words within the shrieks) start to overwhelm her. Suddenly, she misses a coming swipe from the beast. A pressure is ripped from the top of her head and she blinks, swaying slightly as she tries to understand what’s happening. What was clear seconds ago, was now muddy. Colors swirled together as she struggled to put pieces together. Alice. M. Alice. Mari. Alice. Marinette. Al-. Marinette. Dropping to her knees, she grabs onto her dress, frowning. This wasn’t her dress. With shaking hands, she reaches up, sighing in relief when she feels both her glasses and earrings still on. The commotion of a fight going on around her makes her scoot backwards so that she could hide underneath the table. She’d be no good in a fight right now, she was still trying (desperately) to piece together everything that had happened. Memories of ‘Wonderland’ wash over her, but she knows they aren’t real. And she hates that she can’t figure out how to fit them into her memories, and what actually happened. Why was she here? Who had she- Marinette’s eyes widen as one thing stands out in her memory. She had been with Tim. Peeking out from under the table at the others seated at it, she frowns when she doesn’t see Tim. Where was he? Glancing around the room, she raises an eyebrow. Batman was holding Superman back from punching the Mad Hatter (who already looked worse for wear), Superboy (the younger one), Robin, and Red Hood were dealing with the goons. She yelps when someone touches her shoulder. Immediately, she scoots back away from it, relaxing slightly when she sees it’s just Nightwing.

“Hey, it’s okay, kid. Can you stand?” He asks softly. She nods, crawling out from under the table and standing. She winces at the sight of the other hostages seated around the table. They looked awful. “Focus on me kiddo, okay? We’ve got medics coming for them. Do you know who I am?” He asks. She nods.

“Nightwing.” Marinette says. He grins.

“Good. Now, do you know where you are?” He asks. She frowns, glancing around.

“Not- not really. I’m hoping we’re still in Gotham.” She admits. He chuckles.

“Yeah, sorry. I just meant what city. Do you know your name?” He asks.

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Are there any other hostages here?” She asks. He shakes his head.

“None that we found.” He says, and Marinette feels the color drain from her face. “What’s wrong?” He asks.

“I was on a date when the attack happened.” She says. “His name’s Tim Drake, we have to find him. He- I’m pretty sure he was okay before the Hatter put the hat on me.” She says, clenching her fists to keep them from shaking. She’d never forgive herself if something had happened to Tim. If she wasn’t strong enough to save him.

“Tim Drake is safe. He was found at an abandoned warehouse across town. Worried for you, but no serious injuries.” Nightwing says. Marinette’s shoulders slump in relief. He was okay.

“Good.” She breathes out. Before she can ask any other questions, she’s lifted up into a hug. Squeaking in surprise, Marinette gently pats Superboy’s head.

“I’m so glad you’re okay.” He says, hugging her tightly. Marinette quirks an eyebrow, but hugs the boy back.

“Thank you?” She says. He drops her suddenly and takes a big step back, eyes wide.

“Sorry.” He says. Marinette smiles softly. She’d had times where she’d reacted in a similar way with akuma victims, even if she didn’t know them. Sometimes it was just relieving to know that they were okay, and you were okay, and that the day had been saved.

“It’s fine, don’t sweat it.” She says gently before glancing over at Superman. “Not that I’m not thankful, but why are you here? I didn’t think the Supers dealt with Gotham villains.” Superman frowns.

“Oh, um, we were called in by a concerned citizen.” He says. Marinette raises an eyebrow.

“Really? Who?” She asks.

“Conner Kent.” Superman says. Marinette’s eyes bug out of her head.

“My cousin? He- oh my god, he’s gonna kill me!” She groans, dropping her head into her hands. She glances up. “I am so sorry he called you.” She apologizes. Superman shakes his head.

“Nonsense, ma’am. I’ve done several interviews with your aunt and uncle. I will always show up if someone they care about needs to be saved.” He says, sending a glare to Batman. Marinette decides to unpack that later.

“Well, thank you. I should probably head home-” She starts to say, but Batman interrupts.

“Actually, Miss Dupain-Cheng, you will need to go to the hospital. Just as a precaution after the mind control.” He says. Marinette frowns, but agrees to go. Anything to get out of the glaring match that Superman was apparently trying to restart with Batman.

---

After a long weekend of babying from her cousins and uncle (thank god for Lois finally pulling them back to Metropolis with her), Marinette was back at school. She liked Gotham Academy. It was far different than any school she’d attended in France. Sure, there was definitely a hierarchy here that she didn’t really fit into, but at least she knew that it was there. There were no surprises when it came to where she fit at Gotham Academy. She appreciated that.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng to the counselor’s officer. Marinette Dupain-Cheng to the counselor’s office.” The monotone of Mr. Mack (the secretary in the main office) drones over the intercom. Everyone in the lunchroom who knows who she is immediately looks at her. She feels her face heat up as she grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder. Could Ms. Miller not wait until her study hall or her work study classes? Did she have to need her right now when everyone would be talking about it? Hurrying out of the cafeteria, Marinette makes her way to Ms. Miller’s office. Knocking twice on the door, she waits.

“Come on in!” The cheerful voice on the other side calls. Marinette frowns. That was unusual. Gently pushing the door open, Marinette blinks in shock at the sight. “Come on in, Marinette, come take a seat.” Ms. Miller says, gesturing to the seat next to the other occupied seat. The one that had Bruce Wayne.

“Am I in trouble?” Marinette asks. Could Bruce Wayne have her deported for getting his son stuck in an attack? Would he? Had he? Ms. Miller laughs.

“Of course not, dear. Now come, sit.” She says. Marinette nods, slowly sinking into the seat. She sits stiffly, confused at the kind smile on Bruce’s face.

“How are you doing, Miss Dupain-Cheng?” He asks.

“Uh, fine?” She says. She hadn’t really had the chance to talk to Tim (what with her family being crazy, and how she was certain he’d want nothing to do with her now), and she really hoped that that wasn’t what this was about.

“Mr. Wayne is here because of your selected interests for your work study classes. You’ve mentioned to me that you want to own your own fashion business one day, correct?” Ms. Miller asks. Marinette nods.

“That’s amazing, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Very ambitious.” Bruce says. Marinette purses her lips.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Wayne, but I’m not sure I understand the point of this meeting.” She says softly. Bruce laughs, and Marinette tries to ignore the pointed looks her counselor was giving her. She knew that Bruce Wayne was important, but why was he here? Talking to her about her classes?

“I apologize, Miss Dupain-Cheng. You see, Wayne Enterprises often does outreach programs with schools in the area, and we also try to involve the company with work study programs. Since you are interested in managing your own business, I believe it would be beneficial for you to do your work study hours at Wayne Enterprises. You could either eat lunch here and then come to the office, or you could leave after your last class before lunch and have lunch at Wayne Enterprises. Our cafeteria is of the highest quality.” He explains. Marinette blinks in surprise.

“Wait, really?” She asks, excitement thrumming through her. This was the opposite of getting her kicked out of school and sent back to Paris. This was an AMAZING opportunity! Bruce nods.

“Of course. There is a PA position open in my office. You would be working alongside my secretary and myself to see the inner workings of a business at the CEO level.” He says. Marinette’s eyes widen.

“Oh my- this is- this is amazing!” She squeals. Bruce chuckles.

“I take it that’s a yes, then?” He asks. She nods.

“Yes, yes, of course!” She says.

“Excellent. I will leave the paperwork with you to fill out today, and we’ll get you started at the office tomorrow.” Bruce says. Marinette grins, standing to shake his hand as he stands to leave.

“Thank you so much, sir.” She says. He nods, shaking her hand before leaving. This was going to be awesome.

---

BONUS

Bruce glances down at his ringing cell phone, smirking as he answers. He doesn’t even have the chance to answer before Clark is yelling at him.

“You can’t just give her a job at WE to make up for everything, Bruce!” Clark yells. Bruce snorts.

“Shouldn’t you be more supportive? She seems excited.” He says. Clark groans.

“You’re only doing this because you want her to date Tim.” He complains.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Bruce lies. Clark huffs.

“You do realize that doing this makes me automatically win the bet, right? Because you are totally cheating.” Clark complains. Bruce smirks.

“I think you’ll find that this was actually part of the larger bet. Lois was involved, too.” He says. He stays on the line long enough to hear Clark’s betrayed gasp, before he hangs up. So what if this was a little nudge to push Tim and Marinette back in the right direction? The two obviously liked each other. Sometimes a little bit of divine intervention was needed.

BONUS BONUS

Kaalki shivers. Tikki glances at them worriedly.

“What’s wrong?” They ask. Kaalki frowns.

“Somewhere out there, someone is trying to take command of my ship.”

Chapter Text

Glancing down at her phone, Marinette’s eyes widen. Immediately hitting the call button, she bounces her leg up and down nervously. A scoff from the person next to her on the subway makes her wince apologetically, working hard to keep her leg from shaking. The second the call connects, she begins whispering frantically.

“Sarah, please tell me that was a joke. It was a really good joke, right? Right?” Marinette pleads. The soft laugh (immediately followed by a cough) lets her know it isn’t a joke.

“Sweetheart, you’ll be fine. You’ve been working with me for almost a month. Why are you so worried?” Sarah Johnson, Bruce Wayne’s secretary and her mentor, asks. Marinette groans. It’s not like she could admit that she uses the woman as a shield since Tim refused to talk to her outside of work. And she wasn’t going to let him talk to her at work. Especially about their disastrous first date a month ago. Not that that was his fault, but she still wished he would have talked to her about it. Especially since she was the one taken to not just a secondary location, but a third location.

“Please don’t leave me alone, Sarah! How about I be your assistant for the day. I’ll go get soup and medicine and tissues and-” She rambles on, crossing her fingers that the older woman would agree.

“Hon, you know you can’t.” Sarah says gently, coughing a few times before sighing. “And not to hurt you even more, but I doubt I’ll be back this week.” Marinette groans, dropping her head into her hands. Briefly, Marinette considers not showing up either. She’s sure Bruce would understand if she told him that her classes were overwhelming right now and she needed the extra study time. But just as quickly as she thinks it, she dismisses the thought. It wouldn’t be fair to Sarah, who she could tell was really sick.

“Fine.” Marinette sighs, trying not to sound too upset. “Seriously though, if you need me to bring you something after work, just let me know.” She adds. Sarah laughs.

“Thanks kiddo. I’ll let you know if I need anything. Good luck.” She says, before hanging up. Marinette pinches the bridge of her nose. She could do this. She could do this.

---

Taking the corner quickly, Marinette sucks in a deep breath. She couldn’t do this. Tim was officially stalking her in the office, now that she didn’t have Sarah there as a buffer. It’s not that she didn’t still like him. She did. A lot. But she didn’t want to talk to him about it at work. It wasn’t professional, and she was trying her best to be seen as a professional. Just as she’s able to steady her breathing, her bluetooth device she has in her ear alerts her to an akuma. Mentally cursing her luck, she finishes the short walk to Mr. Wayne’s office. Knocking on the door, she waits til she hears him before entering. Opening the door, she falters slightly, seeing Tim there. She hadn’t realized he would be in there. How did he get there before her? Shoving the thoughts aside, she moves forward. She needed to get the documents to Mr. Wayne and get out so she could go protect her city.

“Here are some papers that I-” She starts to say, but her bluetooth starts ringing. “Just a moment please.” She tells Mr. Wayne, turning and pressing the answer button. “Wayne Enter-”

“LB? Hey, uh, I-SHIT! I know you’re kind of- oh come on, give me a break. You on your way?” Adrien yells, Marinette’s eyes widen and she glances at Mr. Wayne before slipping out of the office.

“Will you be okay for like, three more minutes?” She asks softly. Adrien yelps.

“Yeah, just- hurry please.” He pleads. Quickly hanging up, she pokes her head back into the office.

“I know that this isn’t very professional, but one of my friends back home is having an emergency. Would it be alright if I go call him?” She asks, biting her lip. She needed to go. Now.

“Of course. Would-” Mr. Wayne says, but she rushes off with a quick ‘thanks’ the second he agrees. Now to get to Paris.

---

Marinette yelps, dodging underneath another sword. How was this her life?

“Do you have any idea who has the akumatized object?” She calls over to Adrien. They were both fighting decently, but he was obviously doing better. Marinette wasn’t exactly fond of close combat. Preferring to be at a distance so that she could use her yoyo. Unless it was hand to hand combat. But close range weapons combat? Not her favorite.

“I have no idea.” He huffs out, trying to fight several of the swordsmen at the same time. Marinette wraps an arm around his waist and pulls them up to a roof. It was time to regroup and think.

“Okay. So, what do we know about this akuma?” She asks. He frowns.

“That they have minions dressed like something out of the Han dynasty. And before you got here, they were singing.” He says. Marinette blinks.

“Singing?” She asks. He nods.

“Some song about being a man.” He says. Marinette raises an eyebrow at how familiar it sounds. And then it hits her.

“Chat, have you never seen Mulan?” She asks incredulously. He shakes his head.

“Uh, no. You have met my fa-parents, right?” He asks. She winces, but nods. Yeah. Makes sense that Gabriel Agreste wouldn’t like his son watching Disney movies. Marinette sighs.

“We’re definitely having a movie marathon later. For now, we’ll be looking for Mulan. I’m not sure if she’ll be in a dress or her armor, but she might have a tiny dragon with her.” She says. Adrien blinks.

“Tiny drag- ya know what, I shouldn’t be surprised.” He mutters before launching himself off the roof in search of Mulan. Marinette goes the opposite way, steering clear of the minions with swords. It takes almost fifteen minutes of searching the city (apparently this Mulan was great at hiding), but eventually she spots her.

“Ladybug! Hand over your Miraculous!” The girl demands. Marinette’s eyes narrow.

“Never.” She says, scanning the girl to try and figure out what the akumatized object is. Noticing the flower tucked into the girl’s belt, Marinette frowns. That wasn’t part of the original outfit. Calling upon her lucky charm, she sends a signal to Chat as the plan forms in her head. Chat shows up within moments and Marinette lets out a short exhale. “I need you to focus on the flower tucked into her belt. If you can get it out to break it, do that. We don’t need to risk a cataclysm so close to her.” She directs. He nods.

“What are you doing?” He asks. She smirks.

“I’m being the distraction.” Marinette says, before charging the girl. As expected, she pulls out a sword. Marinette whirls around with her own sword (thank you luck charm) and begins fighting. A slash on her arm makes her wince, but she doesn’t stop. All she needed was for Chat Noir to grab the flower. Then it could be over. Marinette lifts her sword at an angle, trying to block a hit, only for the other girl to change the direction of her sword and pierce through her shoulder. Gasping in pain, Marinette jumps back, barely able to continue holding the sword up.

“LB!” Chat yells. Marinette turns, letting out a small breath of relief as he breaks the flower in half. Throwing her yoyo out, she swiftly catches the little butterfly. Purifying it, she tosses up the sword, a wave of exhaustion washing over her as the little ladybugs feed off of her energy. Pushing back her own bad feelings, Marinette kneels in front of the victim. A little girl with a scowl and a baseball cap stood there, refusing to make eye contact with her.

“I hate him.” The little girl says, her voice filled with venom. Marinette blinks.

“Who? Hawkmoth?” She asks. The girl scoffs.

“Of course I hate him, but that’s not who I’m talking about.” She says. Marinette frowns, glancing at Chat. He scoots a little closer, crouching down and grinning at the girl.

“Who is it? Maybe we could talk to him?” He suggests. The girl scowls.

“I’m sure he’d love for you to talk to him.” She says, glaring at Chat as she says ‘you’. Marinette gives her a moment, watching as the girl’s shoulder slumps and she sighs. “Marco is a boy in my class. He told me that girls aren’t as strong as boys, and that they can’t fight as good as boys, and that they can’t do sports as good as boys. It made me mad.” She says, glancing up.

“Well he’s obviously wrong.” Chat says. The girl’s eyebrows shoot up, like she’d been expecting Chat to agree with Marco.

“Really?” She asks. Chat nods.

“For sure. I mean, have you seen Ladybug? She’s stronger than me, and she’s a great fighter. And I know that there are several girls in Paris who are much better at sports than boys. Even some sports that used to be boys only have been taken over by super talented girls.” He says. Marinette grins, and nods.

“Chat’s right. This boy obviously doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I think Chat and I should check in with him, just to make sure he understands that comments like that could be classified as bullying.” Marinette says, trying not to laugh at the pleased look on the little girl’s face. Now to go teach a little boy a lesson in misogyny.

---

Appearing back in the bathroom, Marinette winces as she glances down at her watch. She’d been gone for over an hour. Hopefully Mr. Wayne wouldn’t be too mad. Opening the door, Marinette yelps as a person practically falls into the bathroom.

“Tim?” She says incredulously. He smiles awkwardly at her from his spot on the floor.

“Uh, hey, Mari.” He says. Marinette frowns, reaching down for his hand to help him up. Once he’s standing, she reaches up and brushes off his blazer.

“What were you doing leaning up against the door like that?” She asks, pulling her hands back to cross her arms. He winces.

“Uh, B sent me to check on you. You seemed pretty upset when you left, and he was worried.” He says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“And you were leaning on the door because?” She asks. He frowns.

“I knocked a couple times, but you didn’t answer. I was trying to figure out if you were even in there.” Tim says flatly. Marinette sighs.

“Sorry, I just- I guess I didn’t hear you. I was kind of caught up in talking to Adrien.” She lies. She hated it. But lies kind of came hand in hand when you were a hero of sorts. Tim’s eyebrows scrunch together slightly.

“Oh, uh, is he okay?” He asks. Marinette frowns. Tim didn’t know how heavy that question was. How could he? Was anyone in Paris really okay right now? Was Adrien, who had been suffering emotional abuse from not only a terrorist but his father as well, okay? No. Not at all. She sighs.

“He’s okay for right now.” She says. A half truth. Tim nods, but doesn’t say anything else. They stand in an awkward silence for a couple minutes, before Marinette nods. “Right, well, I’m just gonna-” She starts to walk away, but Tim catches her wrist, immediately dropping it when she gives him a look.

“Sorry, I just- do you hate me?” He asks. Marinette blinks.

“What?” She asks. He sighs.

“Because of the whole attack thing at the coffee shop. I- I would understand if you hated me for that.” He says. Marinette blinks again. What was he- did he think she blamed him?

“I’m sorry, do you think I blame you?” She asks. He nods. Marinette sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and suppress the headache she can feel forming. “Tim, I don’t blame you. I was never mad at you.” She says. This time, it’s Tim’s turn to look confused.

“Wait, really?” He asks. Marinette nods.

“Yes, really.” She says, glancing down at her watch. “Look, I’ve already been away from my desk for way too long. Could we talk about this after work?” She asks. Tim brightens.

“Yeah, yes, I’d love to.” He says. She smiles.

“Great. Meet you at the front doors at 5?” She asks. He nods, waving slightly at her as she turns to walk away. Marinette freezes when she sees Mr. Wayne standing there, a triumphant smile on his face.

“Sorry, Miss Dupain-Cheng, I was just looking for my son.” He says. Marinette nods, giving him a confused smile.

“Of course. I’m gonna go get back to work.” She says, walking away swiftly. The Waynes were odd.

Chapter Text

Marinette takes in a deep breath as she stands and waits for Tim at the end of work. She’d tried to work up to time to clock out, but Mr. Wayne had practically shoved her out the door once it hit 4:45. If she didn’t know any better, she’d assume that he was working with Kaalki to try and make sure they work things out. Finally, as the clock hits 5, Tim runs towards her from the elevators. She raises an eyebrow as he nearly falls, giving her a wide grin.

“Hey.” He says breathlessly.

“Hey yourself. I’d suggest talking about this over dinner or coffee or something, but I have a sneaking suspicion that your dad would follow us.” Marinette says with a small grin. Tim frowns and glances behind him (where Mr. Wayne was standing, giving him a thumbs up) and sighs.

“Yeah, you’re definitely right. So, what’s the plan?” He asks.

“I was thinking we could pick up dinner and go to my apartment? That way we still get to eat and talk, but we don’t have to worry about your dad following us.” She says with a small laugh. Tim grins.

“Great! Let’s go.” He says, holding out his arm for her to take. She does, and she’s pretty certain Kaalki pokes at her through her purse. They could work this out.

---

“So you really thought I blamed you for us getting kidnapped?” Marinette asks, raising an eyebrow before taking another bite of her takeout. Tim winces.

“Yeah, well, it was kind of my fault. I mean, my family gets put into hostage situations a lot.” He says. Marinette shrugs.

“Honestly, I don’t blame you, Tim. Besides, you’re the one who was kind of abandoned in a warehouse. I mean, I’m sure that was terrifying. And if I’m being honest, I thought that you’d be mad at me for that.” She admits. Tim blinks.

“Mad because Mad Hatter chose you for his sick games instead of me?” He asks. Marinette shakes her head, sighing.

“No, because that wasn’t on either of us. That was a choice he made. I mean that I wasn’t strong enough to get us out of that situation. I tried, but then he force fed me that tea and everything kind of melted away.” She says softly, swallowing back the bile that threatens to appear. She’d never been akumatized, so this was the first time that she had ever had someone take complete control of her body and mind. It disgusted her. Especially as someone who was actively fighting an emotional terrorist who did the same thing. Tim reaches over and lays a gentle hand on her arm.

“It’s not your fault, Mari. If you won’t let me take any blame for this, then you can’t either. I’m just- I’m glad we’re both okay.” He says softly. Marinette smiles.

“Me too.” She says. She winces as she feels Kaalki pinch the back of her arm. “Is there any way I could convince you that this is our second date?” She adds. Tim’s eyes widen slightly before he grins.

“I’d like that.” He says. “Hopefully this date won’t end with a rogue attack.” He teases. Marinette snorts.

“Don’t jinx us.” She says with a wide grin. She could get used to this.

---

Two weeks of akuma attacks, school assignments, and mini dates later, Marinette and Tim finally both had an evening where they were both completely free. It was super rare, with her commissions and schoolwork and his co CEO duties. So the idea of an evening where they were both free to just sit and relax and eat food and enjoy each other’s company was amazing. Already dressed in her comfy clothes, Marinette switches her TV on and changes it over to YouTube. Tim chose dinner, so Marinette got to pick what they watched. Searching for her favorite channel, she grins at the new episode. Clicking on it, she quickly hits pause, letting the words ‘Buzzfeed Unsolved’ sit on the screen. A soft knock at the door makes her jump up and rush over to the door, opening it, she frowns.

“Conner? What’re you doing here?” Marinette asks, frowning. Conner grins.

“What, don’t have time for your big brother anymore?” He teases. Marinette huffs.

“Well, no, that’s not-” She tries to say, but Tim walks up, eyebrows raised.

“Kon. What are you-” He starts to ask, but Conner cuts him off.

“I just came by to hang out with two of my favorite people.” He says, grinning widely. Marinette’s eye twitches.

“How fun.” She says, hoping Tim will be the one to ask him to leave. Instead, the traitor, glances down at the takeout.

“Well I think we have enough food.” He says. Marinette forces a smile on her face. Just what she wanted. Her cousin, who was basically her older brother, crashing her date. Sure. Why not.

“Perfect!” Conner says, walking into the apartment. Marinette raises an eyebrow at Tim. He winces slightly, shrugging. So apparently, her cousin had managed to come all the way from Metropolis on the first night that Marinette and Tim would be able to hang out uninterrupted. Accepting her fate, Marinette walks over and glares at Conner until he moves from the middle of the couch to the side. Flopping down onto the middle seat, she scoots closer to Tim, ignoring Conner’s glare at her boyfriend.

“Okay! Let’s watch this.” She says, hitting play.

“This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved, we discuss the death of Jason Todd. A case that has both disturbed and intrigued theorists to this day.” Ryan Bergara, the host of the show says. Marinette jumps as both Conner and Tim begin choking. Hitting pause, she springs into action, trying to help her boyfriend and her brother. Both boys stop choking almost as quickly as they began and she frowns.

“Are you guys okay?” She asks, frowning. “Tim, I thought cold cases were kinda your hobby?” She asks. He raises an eyebrow.

“Does the name Jason Todd not sound familiar to you?” He asks. She shrugs.

“I know that your older brother is also named Jason Todd. But there has to be more than one Jason Todd in the world, right?” She asks. Tim sighs.

“Sure, M.” He says, shaking his head. Marinette frowns, feeling slightly left out with the knowing look Conner was giving Tim.

“Okay.” She says shortly, hitting play on the video again.

“This one honestly gives me the creeps though.” Ryan adds with a sigh, shifting some of the papers on the desk. Shane gives him an unimpressed look.

“It’s not fun.” He says.

“No, it’s not fun. A child died.” Ryan agrees.

“I’m not stoked.” Shane admits.

“Well, everyone seems to want to hear about it so here we go.” Ryan says, the screen darkening as the white timeline appears on the screen. “On April 3rd 2010, billionaire Bruce Wayne took his youngest son, Jason Todd, on a trip to Ethiopia, a decision that would prove to be fatal.” Marinette grabs the remote and hits pause, blinking as she tries to figure out what’s happening. Turning to her boyfriend, she raises an eyebrow.

“I’m guessing your dad didn’t adopt two kids named Jason Todd.” She says flatly. Tim winces.

“Well-” He starts, but she shakes her head and turns to Conner.

“Kon?” She says, giving him her best puppy dog eyes. Conner glances between her and Tim before sighing and shaking his head.

“No. He didn’t.” He says. Marinette huffs.

“Why do I always befriend the strangest people?” She mutters under her breath before hitting play, ignoring Tim’s offended gasp. Her eyes dance across the screen as the yellow and blue text pops up.

“Bruce Wayne as in, CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Bruce Wayne?” The yellow text, Shane, reads as it appears.

“Yup.” The blue, Ryan, replies.

“Isn’t he the one who sued that one reporter for publishing rumors about his family?” Shane asks. Silence.

“Please don’t sue us, Mr. Wayne, these are just theories.” Ryan says. The screen switches back to the two men at the desk, where Shane was giving Ryan an exasperated look.

“Wasn’t there an official cause of death?” He asks.

“That’s only part of the strangeness.” He assures. Marinette’s eyes narrow as they go through their theories. The first one didn’t make any sense to her. It was also the official story. Jason had been kidnapped, and while Bruce was working on getting the ransom, they roughed Jason up too much and killed him. It didn’t make any sense to Marinette (for multiple reasons), but she guessed the authorities were even more gullible than she thought.

“Theory number two, his death was related to Justice League powerhouse, Batman.” Ryan says. Marinette ignores Tim’s quiet yelp and Conner’s sharp inhale. She didn’t want to think of the implications.

“What would Batman have to do with the death of a child?” Shane asks incredulously.

“According to several witnesses from Gotham, Batman and his team always show up when a Wayne or someone affiliated with the Waynes is in danger.” Ryan says. Shane blinks.

“That could be because they’re superheroes, Ryan.” He says. Ryan shakes his head.

“They’re vigilantes, but this theory also connects to another theory. One we discussed when we were talking about making an entire video on Batman.” Ryan says. Shane frowns, then groans.

“No.” He says. Ryan laughs maniacally.

“Oh yes. Theory number two is that Jason Todd was caught up in a villain attack due to his adoptive father being Batman.” Ryan says. This time, it’s Tim who grabs the remote and pauses it.

“This is all insane, right?” He asks, an awkward smile on his face. It didn’t match the panic that was clear in his eyes. Marinette raises an eyebrow.

“I don’t know. The whole butts match theory is pretty interesting.” She muses, before adding, “Though I prefer the theory that my Uncle is Batman.” Tim’s eyebrows shoot up before he snorts.

“What?” He asks, the panic in his eyes subsiding. Marinette decides not to read too much into it.

“Someone on reddit started a thread about how insane it is that people think Bruce Wayne is Batman, and someone added that it would be much more likely for it to be my Uncle Clark. So now there’s an entire subreddit about it.” She says with a shrug. Tim snorts, shaking his head.

“That’s amazing.” He says. Marinette grins.

“I thought it was pretty funny. Could we please see the rest of the theories?” She asks. Tim tenses, but nods and hits play.

“Billionaires don’t help people, Ryan. Next theory.” Shane says, completely dismissing theory number two. Marinette and Tim both snort. She glances at her cousin, grinning at his grin. At least the two boys were no longer freaking out. Not that she wanted to think too deeply into that. Ryan, of course, doesn’t skip to the next theory. Instead, he dives deeper into it before the white text finally displays the words ‘Final Theory’.

“Our last theory is that Jason Todd is not dead.” Ryan says. Marinette raises an eyebrow. She wondered how many other cases had theories that were actually right.

“What?” Shane asks. Ryan nods.

“It would make sense. Jason Todd was not used to the spotlight and press that came with being Bruce Wayne’s son. This theory is that Bruce saw how negatively the press was impacting his son’s mental health, and helped him to fake his death. This would explain why several citizens in Gotham have taken to twitter to announce a sighting of Jason in the past three years.” Ryan says. Marinette takes the remote and stops the video once more, giving Tim a look.

“Does the public think Jason is still dead?” She asks incredulously. She’d seen him in public many times. And he was never wearing any kind of disguise. Like, ever. Tim winces.

“Uhhhhh.” He says intelligently. Marinette sighs and turns to Conner, raising an eyebrow.

“Sorry Mari, not gonna work this time.” He says. She pouts, but doesn’t push anymore. Obviously if her boyfriend’s family wanted people to know Jason was alive, they’d announce it. But he was obviously alive. And also not hiding his identity. The only question was why? She wasn’t sure it was something she actually wanted to know, though. Some things were better left unsolved.

Chapter Text

Marinette Dupain-Cheng didn’t ask for much in life. She’d like a permanent solution to the villain that was tormenting her hometown, but for now she would settle for the little solutions that were temporary. She had a good relationship with her friends and family. She had an amazing boyfriend and a great job. She was doing well in school. Apparently, when counting her blessings, she’d forgotten to add ‘not being kidnapped’ before she moved to Gotham. Because now, here she was, being kidnapped for the second time. It was kind of frustrating. Technically, she could (probably) break free. She wasn’t weak by any means, and she had Tikki with her as well. The problem was that Ladybug couldn’t show up on the other side of the world. Hawkmoth would notice. She didn’t doubt that the man had some kind of news alert set up for her if she appeared in news outside of Paris. But that led her to this situation. One that she did not appreciate.

“Is there a reason you’re putting me in a freezer?” She asks the man in front of her. He frowns at her.

“Aren’t you scared?” He asks incredulously. She snorts.

“Of you? No. Of the amount of work I’m going to have backed up on my desk when I get back to the office? Yes. My supervisor is out on vacation right now. Much needed, but still. That means that all of her secretarial work that she usually does is delegated to me. And believe it or not, Mr. Wayne is not particularly organized when it comes to his schedule as a CEO.” Marinette says with a sigh. It was an understatement. Trying to get him to show up for meetings (prepared and on time) was almost an entire job itself. Which was weird, considering the fact how he always seemed to be able to show up and crash her and Tim when they were hanging out at the manor.

“Well, if you’re not scared now, you will be when I turn the temperature down!” The guy threatens, though his voice waivers slightly. Marinette sighs.

“Do what you must, but this isn’t going to get a reaction out of any of the Waynes. At most, you’ll have an angry journalist hunting you down.” She says. The man frowns.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asks, pausing as he’s closing the door.

“My Uncle is Clark Kent.” Marinette says. The man shrugs, obviously not afraid, and shuts the door. Once he’s gone, Marinette spares a glance at the camera in the corner. Okay. So she couldn’t transform, and she couldn’t even talk to the kwamis and ask them for help. Or advice. She shivers. Hopefully it won't be too long. Letting out a soft breath, Marinette shivers again. She’d never liked the cold. Especially cold where it was just cold for no reason. If the weather insisted on being cold, she wanted snow to back it up. Something pretty to counteract the negative feelings that the cold gave her. But there wasn’t a single snowflake in the freezer. Just the bitter cold making her eyes droop. Yawning, Marinette lets her eyes flutter shut. If she couldn’t attempt to break out, then she was going to get caught up on her sleep.

---

Conner Kent was a worrier. If anyone asked, he would deny it every time. It didn’t fit the persona that he presented for everyone else. But, it was true. He was a worrier. Especially when it came to people he cared about. Especially if those people were completely human and accident prone. He also liked to think that he’d developed a sort of sixth sense for when Marinette was in trouble. After all, she’d been like a little sister to him the entire time he’d known her. When he saw an incoming call from Tim, he knew something had happened.

“What happened?” He says, in lieu of a greeting.

“Wow, Kon. Not even a ‘hi’ or ‘hello’?” Tim asks sarcastically. Conner huffs.

“Hi, hello. What happened?” He asks. Tim lets out a breath.

“Mari didn’t show up today. And she didn’t call to let us know that she’d be late and I’m kind of freaking out because of the whole Mad Hatter really likes her thing.” Tim rambles out. Conner frowns.

“Isn’t he still in Arkham? I thought you guys could keep your villains locked down for at least a month.” Conner huffs out. Tim scoffs.

“Of course he’s in Arkham. But other Rogues aren’t. And if he’s shown any interest in her while in Arkham or while telling other Rogues, who knows- oh shit.” Tim stops and Conner feels his stomach drop.

“What?” He asks.

“She’s being held in a freezer.” Tim says quietly. That’s all Conner needs to hear before he’s dropping his phone and heading towards Gotham as quick as he can. Forgot Bruce’s stupid ‘you can’t be a hero in Gotham now just because your family is here’. That’s the least of his worries right now. Right now, he needs to focus on his little sister and finding her before she freezes to death.

---

Conner’s heart sinks as his eyes are immediately drawn to the slumped form of his cousin when the freezer door is thrown open. Rushing over to her, he tries not to panic at her lack of reaction.

“Marinette? Mari? Hey, wake up.” He says, shaking her gently. Nothing. He tries to listen, freezing as he struggles to hear her heartbeat. She couldn’t be- she wasn’t dead. Not Marinette. She couldn’t. Desperate to try and wake her up, he wraps the blanket he’d brought around her and pulls her into his arms before rushing out of the freezer. Instead of staying inside, he rushes out of the building and into the uncomfortable heat outside. It was one of the rare hot days of September.

“Kon?” He hears a voice say softly. Dick’s voice. Conner shakes his head, biting back his tears.

“She’s not- she’s fine. She has to be fine.” He says stubbornly. He glances up at Dick, glad he can’t see the pity in his friend’s eyes. He doesn’t need the pity. Because Marinette is okay. She’s fine.

“Kon, I’m not- the readings-” Dick tries to say, but Conner cuts him off.

“No. She’s fine. She’s Marinette, she’s fine.” He repeats, holding her a little closer. Dick frowns.

“I’m sorry Kon.” He says softly. Suddenly, Tim’s landing in front of him, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Is she-” He starts, his voice cracking. Conner shakes his head.

“No. Marinette’s fine. She’s fine.” He insists. Before Dick can argue with him again, Marinette makes a small noise. Conner gasps, looking down at his little sister.

“Mari?” He says softly. She doesn’t answer, but shifts slightly.

“Oh my god.” Dick says under his breath before pulling out a phone. “B, she’s alive. Gonna need an ambulance on location.” Conner lets out a sigh of relief. She was alive. Marinette was alive.

Chapter Text

Sitting in the library of Wayne manor, Marinette huffs. Ever since she’d been kidnapped and gotten too cold (okay, so she kind of hibernated), Mr. Wayne had all but insisted that she work from the manor instead of the office. Not that he knew the real reason she’d kind of hibernated. But she could tell the man still felt bad, because some part of him believed it was his fault. He promised that it was only for a week, while Alfred was away. Apparently, once Alfred returned from his trip to England, he’d drive Marinette from school to Wayne Enterprises to reduce the possibility of her being kidnapped. Fun. Just as she’s about to get up and walk home (really, she was fine and it was awkward working alone in Wayne manor), a cat slinks into the room. Marinette’s eyes widen slightly.

“Hey, kitty.” She calls softly, holding her hand out. The cat hesitates slightly. Tikki sticks their head out of Marinette’s bag and waves at the cat. Somehow, that’s enough and the cat makes itself at home on Marinette’s lap. Smiling happily, Marinette goes back to her work. Maybe working from the library at Wayne manor wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

---

Conner walks into the manor to pick up his little sister. It was finally her last day of having to work at the manor, and he was determined to get her to agree to hang out over the weekend. She’d been spending most of her time with Tim or working. He missed her. Walking into the hall, he immediately frowns at the sound of arguing. He almost tunes it out, until he realizes it’s Marinette and Damian. Grumbling under his breath, Conner swiftly walks towards the library, where the noise was coming from. He pauses in the doorway, blinking in confusion at the smirk on Damian’s face. It wasn’t his ‘I hate you’ smirk. It was more like the kind of smirk he’d give Jon.

“You cannot take Alfred the Cat or Titus home with you, Dupain-Cheng.” Damian says, and Marinette huffs, glancing down at the cat in her arms.

“But why not? I would love them just as much as you do and you could always visit them-”

“I looked at your pet policy for your building. No pets.” Damian says, and Marinette sighs, her lower lip sticking out in a pout. “I suppose it would be alright for you to come visit them on occasion.” He finally says. Marinette brightens up immediately.

“Really?” She asks. Damian nods.

“Of course. Afterall, Alfred the Cat does not like most people. You seemed to have impressed him.” He says. Conner just blinks in shock. What the hell kind of parallel universe had he fallen into?

“Hey kid.” He finally says, stepping into the room. Marinette grins.

“Hey Kon. Are you familiar with Alfred the Cat?” She asks, petting said cat gently. Conner tries not to scoff. Of course he was familiar with the demon cat. He’d torn apart the last jacket that Conner accidentally left at the Manor. Never again.

“Uh, yeah. We’ve met.” Kon says, instead of voicing his dislike of the cat. He wasn’t stupid. He knew that Damian knew where Bruce kept the kryptonite. Marinette looks at him for a minute, like she’s expecting him to say or do something else. Eventually though, she just sighs and presses a small kiss on the top of Alfred the Cat’s head.

“Be good, chaton. I’ll see you again some day.” She says before passing him to Damian. Conner just blinks at the exchange.

“Kent.” Damian nods at him before walking out of the room. Conner turns to Marinette and raises an eyebrow. She just grins and shrugs.

“One day I was working and Damian stormed in because he couldn’t find Alfred the Cat or Titus, who were both with me, by the way. He accused me of trying to steal his pets, but once I assured him that that wasn’t my intention, he kind of mellowed out. I think I’m his second favorite of the Kents.” She teases with a grin. Conner snorts, throwing his arm over her shoulder.

“I have no doubts there, kid.” He says, shaking his head. His little sister was awesome.

---

Marinette shivers slightly, sitting on the roof of her apartment building. Sure, this probably wasn’t one of her best ideas, but she was tired of doing nothing. Her time hanging out with Conner had been cut short because of akuma attacks in Paris. Again. It seemed that every time she was doing something that she actually wanted to do, like hanging out with her family, or Damian’s pets, or Tim, Hawkmoth striked. Every. Freaking. Time. There was only so much a teenage superhero could handle. And she was tired. Part of the point of her exchange program was getting an audience with the bats so that she could talk to them about Paris. Sure, they’d saved her a couple times, but she wasn’t in the right headspace either of those times. Once she’d been drugged and under mind control, and the second time she was in a cold induced coma. So sitting on the roof of her apartment during the time she was sure they’d be on patrol? Seemed like a good enough back up plan. A sudden thud behind her makes her whirl around, fists up just in case it wasn’t one of the bats. Seeing the familiar black and blue suit, she relaxes.

“Oh, hello.” She says.

“Uh, hi? What’re you doing up here?” He asks, sounding slightly concerned. “It’s pretty chilly tonight.” He adds. Marinette winces slightly.

“It’s not that cold.” She insists, waving off his concern before taking a stabilizing breath. “Besides, I needed to talk to a bat, so I just had to take my chances with the cold.” Nightwing frowns.

“Is something wrong?” He asks, and she shakes her head.

“No, well, kind of? But I’m not in immediate danger here, if that’s what you’re asking.” She says. Before she can explain more, Red Hood drops down, his head tilted.

“Red Hood!” She says happily, having already met the vigilante several times would hopefully help her not stutter over her words too much. Like she’d just been doing with Nightwing.

“Uh, hey kid. Why are you always on rooftops?” He asks, his robotic voice tinged with humor. Marinette shrugs.

“Just happens sometimes, but I promise I have an actual reason this time.” She says before taking a deep breath. “I have been asked by Paris’ heroes to try and request a meeting between them and Batman. I also have this USB drive from Ladybug that has the basics of the Paris situation.” Marinette says, looking between the two men and wishing she knew what they were thinking.

“What?” Nightwing says, his entire face scrunched up. “Wha- since when does Paris have heroes?”

“And why the hell are they sending you to do their dirty work, kid?” Red Hood asks, crossing his arms. Marinette flinches.

“It’s not their fault. They can’t exactly leave Paris vulnerable right now and I’m already here so…easier, I guess? And uh, we’ve had heroes for four years or so.” She says.

“Why hasn’t the Justice League been informed about them?” Nightwing asks, and Marinette has to bite back a snarky remark. Of course she’d notified the Justice League. In the beginning. When she was a scared twelve year old little girl who had no idea what she was doing. And they pushed her aside. Told her to stop making prank calls. But that wasn’t publicized. The mayor’s attempts at reaching them however…

“They have.” She says, straightening her back. “The mayor told us that he reached out and that someone from the League told him to call back when there was an actual problem in Paris.”

“And they…they didn’t do anything?” Nightwing asks, she shakes her head.

“No. But, it’s okay! Our heroes had it handled…mostly. But it’s been going on for a while now and I guess they’re ready to actually ask for help so here we are.” Marinette says, rocking back and forth on her heels to try and push down the awkwardness of the situation. Before either of the vigilantes in front of her can say anything, Red Robin swoops in, frowning.

“What exactly is going on in Paris?” Red Hood asks, sounding frustrated.

“I-”

“Marinette!” Conner calls, climbing onto the roof. She blinks in surprise.

“Uh, Kon? What’re you doing here?” She asks, frowning. Had she forgotten about a hang out? Or a family thing?

“I was just in the area and thought I’d drop by.” He says. She raises an eyebrow.

“At midnight?” She asks. He huffs, but doesn’t say anything. Marinette decides to file it under the ‘Kent side of the family is weird’ section of her brain. Turning to the vigilantes, she passes the USB to Red Hood (since she’d met him several times already). “I don’t really have a personal way to get ahold of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but they said they’d keep an eye on the tip line on the Ladyblog for a while.” She says, mentally making a note to actually remember to look at the tip line. Most Parisians didn’t use it anymore. It didn’t help, it didn’t stop attacks or prepare anyone. Any new messages would (hopefully) be from Batman to set up a meeting.

“Why are you actually their messenger?” Red Robin asks, finally speaking up. Marinette blinks, frowning.

“Because they need all the help they can get.” She says firmly before glancing at Conner. “I’m actually going to bed at a normal hour tonight. Feel free to crash on my couch.” She says before turning to go back inside. She’d done it. She’d reached out. Hopefully it would work out.

Chapter Text

A few days after her run in with the bats, Marinette was back in France. Not in Paris, though. As much as she needed the Justice League’s help (well, mostly Batman), she didn’t trust them to keep their emotions in check in Paris. Which led to a meeting in Versailles.

“How’re you holding up?” Chat asks softly as they wait for the League to show up. Marinette sighs, letting her shoulders slump slightly.

“It’s hard being needed in two completely different time zones. And I’m not needed there like I am here but…” She trails off, shrugging sadly.

“But you’re happier there.” He says. Marinette winces.

“I know I told Maman that I wasn’t going to move there permanently, but there’s just something about it.” She sighs, thinking of how much Gotham had grown on her.

“Are you sure it’s just Gotham and not a certain somebody?” Chat asks, wiggling his eyebrows. Marinette snorts, shoving him gently.

“It’s not just him.” She says. And it’s not, but Tim is definitely a positive of staying in Gotham. Suddenly, they’re not alone. Batman grapples over to their building, along with Wonder Woman, a Green Lantern, Flash, Captain Marvel and Superman. Marinette tries not to look at Superman for too long. His face was way too similar to Clark’s, and she was trying to convince herself it was just a coincidence. Something she wouldn’t be able to do if she looked at the man for too long.

“Hey, do I know you?” Green Lantern asks, his eyebrows wrinkled together as he stares at her and Chat. Marinette has to bite her tongue from saying something rude. Taking in a deep breath, she lets it out slowly as she nods.

“Yes, actually. Every time I called the Justice League to request help for Paris, you are the one who answered. And you are the one who told me that I needed to ‘get a hobby’ and ‘stop calling all the time’ without ever coming to Paris.” She says, not even trying to control the amount of disdain in her voice. She strongly disliked this Green Lantern. She knew there were several, and she just hoped that the others weren’t as obliviously destructive as this one. He frowns.

“Okay, hold on a minute-” He tries to say, but Wonder Woman whirls on him, her eyes dark.

“Are you telling me you never personally came to Paris to check up? How many calls for help did you ignore?” She asks, not raising her voice but still holding enough anger in her tone to make the lantern flinch.

“I called every time there was an attack for almost a year. There were some days that there were multiple attacks. The mayor called several times as well, but he was ignored too.” Marinette pipes in, trying not to let her frustration with the Green Lantern negatively impact the rest of the meeting. She really did need help figuring out who Hawkmoth was.

“And how long has this been going on?” Superman asks, his voice soft. Marinette spares a short glance at the man- she really didn’t like how much he looked like her Uncle, she really didn’t want to know if her Uncle was a hero- before answering.

“Four years.” She says flatly, trying to ignore the small whimper from the man.

“Superman.” Batman says lowly, putting his hand out as if to block the man from going towards Green Lantern. Oh crap.

“But it’s fine. We’ve managed, and there haven’t been any lasting physical effects.” She reassures them. Chancing a glance at Superman, she frowns at the look on his face.

“What about…what about mental effects?” He asks, his voice tight. Marinette thinks of the nightmares and the increased anxiety since the appearance of Hawkmoth. She sighs.

“I’m not going to lie, there have been lasting mental effects. It’s almost impossible for there not to be when emotions are being weaponized. But we’re doing the best that we can. People are coping. They’re adapting.” She says, trying to reassure him. She watches him warily as he turns and glares at Green Lantern.

“We WILL be talking about this later.” He says shortly. Green Lantern pales, but nods. “We are here to listen to you now. Whatever you need, we will do our best to help.” Superman promises. Marinette lets out a small sigh of relief before straightening and nodding. Time to talk logistics.

---

Clark’s jaw clenches as he continues to watch through the distress calls from Paris. He manages to find footage from battles as well, posted by a teenage blogger. The more he watches, the more he wants to hurt something. His family has been in danger for years. Why didn’t they say anything? Why is he only hearing about it now?

“Are you okay?” Bruce asks quietly, his voice less gruff than normal, walking into the room. Clark sends his best friend a look.

“Would you be okay if you found out one of your kids was living in a city where they were being attacked daily because of emotions and you did nothing for years?” He asks. Bruce grunts.

“Fair enough.” He sighs out. “But Ladybug’s powers, they fix everything. I know they don’t fix any emotional issues-“

“Did you know Marinette has always suffered from nightmares? Ever since she was a little girl, she’s had horrible nightmares. And now she lives in a city where those nightmares could get her friends or family killed- even temporarily- if some psycho with powers decides to take advantage of her.” Clark says, trying to control his breathing. He was beyond angry. It wasn’t just worry for his family’s physical safety, but their emotional safety. Conner had come to him with worries about Marinette and her lack of a sleep schedule. Was that her way to cope and keep the nightmares away? How long has she been sleep deprived in an attempt to not be akumatized?

“All we can do now is try to help Paris’ heroes. And try to keep something like this- a situation going unchecked for years- from happening again.” Bruce says firmly. Clark nods in agreement, then sighs. He couldn’t just move past this. He needed Hal to know that he messed up. Big time.

“I’m going to go talk to Hal.” Clark says. If Bruce didn’t have his cowl on, he’s sure the man would have a raised eyebrow. “He needs to understand that this can’t happen again.”

“Agreed.” Bruce says.

“I’d also like to ask him some questions. Like why the hell he thought sweeping this under a rug was a good idea. Will you go with me?” Clark asks. He didn’t like losing his temper, and would prefer to have someone there to keep him in check. Bruce nods, clenching his fists so that his knuckles crack.

“Of course.” He says. Clark blinks at him.

“Bruce, I need you to be good cop.” He says. Bruce shakes his head.

“I’ve never been good cop in my life.” Bruce says simply. Clark snorts, feeling slightly lighter. He’d feel even better after he had the chance to interrogate Hal.

---

Marinette sighs as she hears the akuma alert go off. She was home for fall break (she couldn’t actually afford the trip, but Mr. Wayne had insisted for some reason) and was finally spending time with Adrien outside of hero work, but of course something had to ruin it.

“Chin up, M. Maybe it’s just a small one.” He says, trying to be optimistic as usual. A loud explosion from the direction of the bakery makes her pale.

“Let’s fix this quickly.” She breathes out, grabbing her best friend’s hand and tugging him to a safe place for them to transform. She knew that she could fix the damage. That even if the explosion had done something to the bakery, it could be undone. It didn’t mean that it hurt any less knowing that if she had just defeated Hawkmoth years ago, that none of this would have happened.

“Hey,” Adrien starts, squeezing her hand gently. “We’ve got this. Don’t let yourself spiral now.” He says quietly. She nods, breathing in deeply before letting it out shakily. They had this.

---

Clark was losing his mind.

“Let me go, damnit!” He yells, pounding on the containment cell. “I have to go to them.” He yells, ignoring the bitter tears. He’d just watched the bakery crumble. His brother’s bakery. The camera had been able to pick up his brother and Sabine just as they were about to leave the bakery. Just as it collapsed. He knew they were gone, but Marinette- she still had a chance. He knew she was in Paris for her fall break, but he wasn’t sure if she’d been out with friends or at home when- when it happened.

“Clark, you need to calm down!” Bruce orders, his voice a low growl. “You know damn good and well that you can’t go to Paris. Can you imagine the kind of destruction Hawkmoth would use you for?” He asks.

“But Marinette-”

“You can’t do anything to help her if you get akumatized, Clark. Right now, Paris’ heroes have a perfect track record. If you charge in there, angry, they might lose. And nothing would be fixed.” Bruce says firmly. Clark’s shoulders slump.

“Could I at least try and call her? I- I need to know.” He says. Bruce nods.

“You’re connected.” He says after a moment.

“Call Sunshine.” Clark says, listening to the sound of the phone ringing echo throughout his cell.

“Hi! This is Marinette! I can’t come to the phone right now, but I’ll try and get back to you as soon as- Oh shut up, Conner. I do not sound like a robot! I- Oh crap. Um, I’ll call you back!” Marinette’s voicemail message ends, and Clark orders the phone to hang up before he has to leave a message. After all, Marinette hadn’t talked to him about the situation in Paris. What was he supposed to say? I saw the bakery fall on your parents and I just had to make sure you were okay?

“Incoming call from: Kiddo.” Echoes throughout the cell. Clark turns to Bruce who simply shrugs.

“Accept call.” Clark says.

“Dad? Dad, please tell me it’s not true.” Jon rushes out, his voice frantic.

“Calm down, what are you talking about, son?” Clark asks, suddenly worried for his youngest.

“Damian said that there’s a supervillain in Paris and he told me that he knew how to watch the news in Paris so we hacked into the news and-” Jon stops and takes a deep breath, his voice breaking as he adds: “It’s gone, Dad. The bakery is gone.” Clark inhales sharply, turning and glaring at his best friend. He didn’t want the boys to know about this. He didn’t want to chance either of them running off to Paris. Because they loved their Aunt and Uncle, but with Marinette in Paris…there was no telling what the boys would do.

“Son, it’s going to be okay.” Clark says, ignoring the fact that he still doesn’t feel like it’s going to be okay. “Ladybug and Chat Noir, Paris’ heroes, haven’t lost yet.”

“There’s a first time for everything.” Jon says softly, sending a stab of pain through Clark’s heart.

“Stay with Damian, Jon. Don’t do anything silly. It’s going to be okay.” Clark says, and now he’s trying to convince himself too. Everything would be okay, right?

---

Five hours. Marinette slumps onto the bean bag chair in Luka’s room, exhausted, but happy to see how relaxed Adrien was as he cuddled up with Luka.

“That was a rough akuma.” Luka says, a knowing look in his eyes. The three had never had the ‘hero’ conversation, but she was almost certain that Luka knew. After all, he had the snake Miraculous for a couple years. Until he had to give it back to go on tour with Jagged. Marinette just groans, sinking further into the bean bag. Sighing, she grabs her phone out of her purse, eyes widening at the number of missed calls from her cousins. On top of a missed call from Clark.

“M? You okay?” Adrien asks. She frowns.

“I- I don’t know yet. Excuse me.” She says, moving out of Luka’s living room and into the small hallway. After he graduated, he bought an apartment. Apparently the ambiance of the city was better for writing new music than the house boat had been. Deciding to start with the call that concerned her the most, she calls her Uncle.

“Hello?” He says, answering almost immediately.

“Hey Uncle Clark. I was just calling to check that everything’s okay. I have a ton of missed calls from you and Kon and Jon. I was just making sure you guys are okay.” She says, nerves shooting through her. What if Ma fell? What if Pa-

“Oh, we’re all fine.” He says. Marinette lets out a breath.

“Really? Even Ma and Pa?” She asks.

“Yes, Mari, we’re all fine. How’s Paris?” He asks, changing the subject. Marinette laughs lightly.

“It’s uh, same old same old.” She says, deciding not to go into details. “Are you sure the boys are okay?” Clark laughs awkwardly.

“Oh, uh, yeah. They just…miss you.” He says, his voice going up slightly at the end. Marinette frowns, but decides not to mention it. He’d say something if someone was actually in danger or hurt. And it’s not like the Kent side of the family were the only ones keeping secrets. She definitely had plenty of those, too.

“Well, I’ll be back tomorrow evening. I have plans with Tim for dinner, but maybe me, you, Lois and the boys could grab breakfast on Sunday?” She suggests. She wasn’t sure what was bothering her cousins and Uncle, but she did miss them. She’d seen them way more over the last couple of months than the last two years combined.

“That sounds do-able.” Clark says, and if she had to take a guess, she’d say her Uncle was smiling. As she hangs up, she can’t help but think about the sheer number of calls. And the fact that they came after she had her meeting with the Justice League about the situation in Paris.

Chapter Text

Two weeks after her return to Gotham, Marinette was back in the swing of things. Everything was going well, and though she wouldn’t take it for granted, she was trying to enjoy it. It was rare that things went easily these days. Letting out a sigh, she steps out of the elevator on the top floor and freezes.

“Adrien?” She says, blinking in shock. He grins.

“Mari!” He calls, running to her. She immediately drops her bag and meets him halfway. He picks her up and spins her around, hugging her tight. They hadn’t had time to talk after the last akuma attack, but it was a rough one. Lots of bodies. Those were always the hardest.

“Uh, Marinette?” Tim says, sounding confused. Marinette releases Adrien after one final squeeze and turns to her boyfriend.

“Adrien, this is my boyfriend Tim. Tim, this is my best friend, Adrien.” She says, gesturing between the two. Adrien grins, giving Tim a short wave.

“Nice to finally meet the guy that Marinette hasn’t shut up about.” He says, and Marinette feels her cheeks turn bright red.

“Adrien-” She starts, in a warning tone, but stops as Gabriel and Natalie step out of Bruce’s office.

“Ah. Mlle. Dupain-Cheng. My son told me that you were participating in a work study program in Gotham. I just didn’t realize it was in a business setting.” Gabriel says, his face slightly pinched. “I thought you were interested in fashion.” Marinette gives the man a tense smile.

“I am, M. Agreste, but Gotham isn’t exactly known for its fashion.” She says with a forced laugh. Gabriel raises an eyebrow.

“And yet you chose to move here instead of say, New York?” He says. Marinette bites her tongue. Why was he suddenly interested in what she did? “If you decide Gotham isn’t everything you had hoped it would be, you have a place in the work study program at Gabriel.”

“Are you trying to take my best intern, Gabe?” Bruce asks, stepping out of his office with a chuckle (fake and forced). Marinette isn’t sure how, but Gabriel’s face gets even more pinched.

“Of course not. Just making sure Mlle. Dupain-Cheng is aware of her options. Come, Adrien.” He says, stepping towards the elevator. Adrien shoots her a pleading look and she clears her throat.

“M. Agreste, could Adrien join my friends and I for dinner tonight?” She asks, trying to keep her face neutral. Gabriel purses his lips before glancing at Natalie.

“Adrien’s schedule is clear after 4pm, sir.” She says after tapping on her tablet. Gabriel nods sharply.

“Very well then. Send him an address and he will join you. Adrien, come.” He says. Adrien grins at her, giving her a short wave before following his father onto the elevator.

“Bye Mari.” He calls, grinning at her until the elevator closes. Marinette snorts, shaking her head before turning back, raising an eyebrow at Bruce and Tim.

“You know I’m not going to take M. Agreste up on his offer, right Mr. Wayne?” Marinette says, quirking an eyebrow. Bruce huffs.

“Of course I know that. Doesn’t mean I appreciate Gabriel trying to poach you when I’m in the next room.” He says, before frowning at her. “You know you can call me Bruce, right?” He asks. Marinette shrugs. She knew she could, he’d told her before, but it was different in an office setting vs when she just saw him as her boyfriend’s dad. Turning to Tim, she grins.

“Do you wanna join me and Adrien for dinner? I’m gonna call Kon, too.” She says, running the plans in her head already, almost missing the odd look on her boyfriend’s face. “What’s wrong?” She asks, instead of letting him answer her first question. He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.

“What? Nothing. Nothing’s wrong, why would you ask that?” He asks. She frowns, rerunning the past couple of minutes in her mind. She didn’t see why he was- oh. Oh.

“Tim, are you jealous?” She asks. His face reddens immediately, but he shakes his head.

“No. Of course not, why would I be jealous?” He asks. She nods.

“Okay, well, that’s good. Because Adrien and I both have boyfriends that we like very much.” Marinette says matter-of-factly. Tim blinks, the red on his face fading slightly. “So, dinner?” Tim winces.

“I have a lot of work to do.” He says. As much as it sucked, she knew he wasn’t exaggerating. It wasn’t easy being a seventeen year old CEO, but she missed him. They hadn’t been able to spend much time together since she got back from Paris.

“Take a small break, for me?” She asks. He opens his mouth, and Marinette thinks he’s going to say no again, but then Bruce (who she’d completely forgotten about) intervenes.

“Tim, spend time with your girlfriend and her friends. I’ll take care of everything here.” He says. Tim raises an eyebrow.

“You? Really? Today’s Sarah’s day off.” He says, looking worried. Bruce chuckles.

“Of course I’m sure. I am capable of running my company for one evening.” Bruce says. Tim glances at her and Marinette gives him a hopeful smile. He gives her a small smile in return.

“Okay. Just don’t mess with the contract from LexCorp. I have something special to add to that.” Tim says, and Marinette doesn’t miss the mischievous glint in his eyes. As much as it would be a pain when Lex Luthor inevitably tried to set up a meeting somewhere down the road for the chaos that Tim was surely planning, she wasn’t going to try to stop him. She’d heard enough horror stories from Conner about the man that she would happily let a little misfortune come his way.

---

Marinette decides instead of making dinner, she was going to order pizza. Mostly because she knew that Adrien wasn’t technically allowed to have it, and he was definitely super hungry because of his diet on this trip. Which she was certain was an insanely low number of calories. Plus, if she ordered food, it meant she got to spend the half hour before Conner and Adrien show up curled up on the couch with Tim. The choice was obvious, really. They were watching the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, but really it was more of background noise. For Marinette, anyway. Laying in Tim’s arms, it was easy to start to drift to sleep.

“Hey Mari?” Tim says, shifting slightly. Marinette glances up at him.

“Hmm?”

“You know how in those old movies couples would make mix tapes for each other?” He asks. Marinette nods.

“I’ve always thought that was really cute.” She says, closing her eyes again.

“What do you think is our song?” Tim asks. Marinette opens her eyes and sits up, pursing her lips as she thinks.

“Well, it can’t be anything too cheesy.” She says. Tim nods in agreement.

“That’s what I thought, too. But every love song I can think of is cheesy.” He says, and Marinette’s heart skips a beat.

“Well who said our song has to be a love song?” Marinette asks. Tim frowns.

“If it’s our song it has to be like, about our relationship, right?” He asks. Marinette shrugs.

“I’m not sure. But if it’s our song, then I think we should get to pick it. Even if it’s not what most people would think of as a couple song.” She says. Tim hums in what she assumes is agreement. Before she can suggest ideas for their song, someone knocks on her door. “Probably Kon.” She says, standing and glancing through the peephole before grinning and opening it.

“Hey Mars. Found this guy just hanging around out here.” Conner says with a grin, nodding towards Adrien. Adrien winces.

“Sorry. I didn’t want to come over too early, but when my dad said I could go-” He starts, but Marinette cuts him off.

“Don’t worry about it. How’s pizza sound for dinner?” She asks, stepping to the side and letting the two in.

“Sounds great!” Adrien says excitedly. Marinette glances at Conner who just shrugs.

“Fine with me. What’re you watching?” He asks, plopping down on the couch next to Tim. Marinette raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms. Conner rolls his eyes but moves over so that she can sit by Tim.

“Guardians of the Galaxy.” Tim answers, nodding at Adrien, who immediately perks up and waves back.

“A superhero movie? Really, Mars?” Conner groans, slumping down on the couch. Marinette huffs.

“Don’t act like you’re two, Conner. Besides, this is definitely not the worst superhero movie ever.” Marinette says, mumbling the last bit. Adrien nods in agreement. They were definitely thinking of the same movie.

“What do you think is the worst superhero movie, then? Cause a movie with a talking raccoon and tree? Not exactly high on my list.” Conner complains.

“Uh, Thor the Dark World is obviously the worst.” Tim says, but Marinette shakes her head.

“You’ve obviously never seen the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie.” She says.

“Yeah. There were musical sequences.” Adrien adds. Marinette shivers.

“As much as I love Clara, I can’t believe she did that.” She says. Tim blinks.

“Hold on, the Parisian heroes have a movie?” He asks. Marinette nods.

“Oh, yeah. And it caused an akuma when it first came out.” She says. Tim blinks.

“Was it really that bad?” He asks. Marinette shrugs.

“I mean, some kids liked it? But the akuma was actually because the director felt like he wasn’t getting enough credit.” She says. Tim snorts.

“Really?” He asks. She nods.

“Oh yeah.” She says.

“If you two are done flirting, can we please order some pizza? I’m starving.” Conner complains. Marinette rolls her eyes, but stands to grab her phone so that she can order the pizza. Before she can hit the call button, a circle of blue light appears in the room and her stomach drops. Not now. Why does it have to be now? Before she can blink again, Tim has his arms wrapped around her and Conner’s pushed Adrien next to her before standing in front of them in a defensive position. Marinette just squeezes her eyes shut, wishing this was all a dream. But just as she feared, it wasn’t. And Bunnix steps through.

“Oh- mini bug. And the baby cat, good. You’re both here.” She says, completely ignoring the other two. Marinette steps out of Tim’s arms, glaring at her friend.

“Is there a reason you’re here?” She asks, gritting her teeth. Bunnix glances between Tim and Conner before wincing.

“You haven’t told them yet, have you?” She asks. Marinette huffs.

“Oddly enough, no. And I wasn’t planning on it but here we are. Now what the hell was so important that you had to come in and mess things up again, Bunnix?” Marinette asks, arms crossed.

“Hawkmoth outsourced. One week from now. Neither of you made it.” She says, and Marinette’s eyes widen.

“I- what do you mean?” She asks, all of her former anger replaced with fear.

“He akumatized a willing party. Someone who is evil down to the bone.” Bunnix says.

“Who?” Adrien asks, his voice rough as he steps up next to Marinette.

“The Joker.” Everything stops. Conner and Tim tense, and Marinette inhales sharply as Adrien grabs her shoulder with a gentle squeeze.

“And we…we die?” Marinette asks, unable to keep her voice from breaking. Bunnix winces, and nods.

“Okay what the hell is going on? Who the hell do you think you are?” Conner demands, moving so that he’s between her and Bunnix again.

“Kon, it’s okay-” She tries to say, but he whirls around, his eyes watery.

“Like hell it is! You’re not dying. Especially not to that clown freak.” He says, and Marinette notices the shaking in his hands.

“Mari, what’s going on?” Tim asks, his face pale. Marinette looks at Adrien who simply shrugs.

“We’ve obviously gotta go with her. Might as well let them know so they’re not freaking out too much.” He says, his voice tired. Marinette squeezes her eyes shut, willing everything to go away. But when she opens her eyes, nothing had changed. She looks between her boyfriend and her older brother, and takes a deep breath.

“I’m Ladybug.”

Chapter Text

“Shit. You are not mincing words.” Adrien says, sucking in a breath. Marinette whirls around and glares at him. Obviously she didn’t want to tell her older brother and her boyfriend about something like this right now. Obviously this wasn’t her decision, but she was kind of running out of options. And apparently, running out of time too, considering the fact Bunnix had appeared.

“What did you want me to do, Adrien? It’s not like we have time to really sit down and have a conversation about it right now.” She huffs. Bunnix points at Marinette.

“Minibug is right. We need to go. Now.” She says. Because of course Bunnix is only helpful when Marinette has already agreed to do something she really, really doesn’t want to do.

“Hold on, wait a damn minute.” Conner demands, his voice shaking. “You can’t just say something like that and then run off, Mars.” He says, voice breaking. Marinette winces before reaching out and giving her older brother’s hand a tight squeeze.

“I don’t have a choice, Kon.” She says simply. “Tikki, spots on.” She says, letting the familiar wave of magic wash over her. She forces a smile on her face, hoping Conner can’t hear her heartbeat through the suit. It would definitely give away how anxious she was. How unsure she was on her chance of actually coming back. But she had to try. Because if she didn’t…if she didn’t, she had no doubt that the Joker would cause the end of the world. Not just Paris.

“Oh, so- uh, okay.” Adrien stumbles over his words. “Plagg, claws out.” He says before turning to Bunnix.

“Mari-” Tim tries to say, his face unreadable. Marinette shakes her head, giving him a small smile that she hopes isn’t as sad as it feels.

“I’ll explain when we get back, okay?” She offers, leaning in and giving him a short kiss before following Bunnix into hell.

---

Tim stares blankly ahead at the empty space where the ring of light once sat. The place where his girlfriend and her friend had just disappeared. Apparently to fight the Joker. Because apparently, his girlfriend was a superhero.

“Did that really just happen?” Conner asks, his voice tight. Tim nods, unable to find words. “She’s coming back, right?” Conner asks. Tim blinks, turning to his best friend.

“What?”

“That woman that took them, she said they died. Mari dies.” Conner says, his voice barely audible. Tim’s eyes widen slightly.

“She- no. It’s Marinette. She said- She’ll explain it when they get back. She’s coming back.” Tim says firmly, sitting on the couch and pulling his knees up to his chest.

“Tim-”

“She’s coming back.” Tim repeats. Conner lets out a shaking breath.

“Should I call Clark?” He asks. Tim shakes his head.

“Not yet.” Tim says. Conner winces.

“Tim-” He starts, but Tim shakes his head.

“We don’t have any information to give him. We don’t know where they went or how to get to her. All that’ll happen if we call Clark is that he’ll panic.” Tim says, trying to ignore the anxiety flaring in his chest. Marinette would be okay. Wouldn’t she?

---

Sighing, Clark takes a sip of his coffee.

“I don’t see what the problem is. All I’m doing is helping young love to blossom.” Bruce says, a familiar glint in his eyes. Clark frowns.

“I just don’t see why you have to continuously meddle in-” He pauses, eyebrows scrunching as he tries to figure out what’s different.

“What’s wrong?” Bruce asks. Clark shakes his head.

“I’m not sure.” He says, racking his brain to figure out why the world suddenly sounds quieter. It hits him, like a ton of bricks, why his world suddenly sounds quieter. There’s a missing heartbeat. “Marinette’s heartbeat- I can’t find it.” Clark says, barely registering as the mug shatters in his hand. Bruce’s eyes widen slightly before he’s pulling out his phone and calling someone.

“Hello?” Tim’s voice floats through the phone, and Clark can hear the tension.

“Is Marinette okay?” Bruce asks immediately. Clark hears Tim inhale sharply, and his stomach drops.

“I- I don’t-” He stammers out.

“I need to go.” Clark says, looking between Bruce and the window behind him. Lips pressed into a thin line, Bruce nods and Clark is immediately gone. Flying as quickly as he can to his niece’s apartment. Trying, desperately, not to immediately jump to conclusions. But it was hard. Because he was tuned into the heartbeats of those most important to him. Ma and Pa. Lois. Jon. Conner. Tom. Bruce. Marinette. And now he couldn’t hear her. She was just gone. There had been no warning. No heartbreaking moment where he could hear her heart slow down. It was like she had popped out of existence. Gone.

---

Marinette looks around her city, trying hard to tune out the sound of Adrien gagging. The smell of burning flesh sat heavy in the air. It was something she’d never gotten used to, no matter how many akumas utilized fire. She clenches her fists, trying hard not to let her emotions overcome her like they want to. But it was hard when she could see where her parent’s bakery had once stood. Could recognize some of the corpses around her. Unsurprisingly, Hawkmoth was among them. Why the man had thought he could partner with the Joker and live to tell the tale was beyond her. Yes, Hawk Moth was an asshole. Yes, he sucked. Majorly. But the Joker? He was a monster that lived among men. He was not a threat to be taken lightly.

“Are you ready to try not to die, Chaton?” Marinette asks, unable to hide the tremor in her voice. She may be angry and ready to fight, but she was also terrified. The Joker was unpredictable on a good day. Add in a willing akumatization and some type of power? She wasn’t sure if they could make it out of this one.

“I just need you two to try and get his akumatized object. It’s a flower on his suit. Once you do, we can figure out where this began and try to stop it. I’ll be watching from the Burrow to help as much as I can.” Bunnix says before disappearing in a flash of light. Marinette grits her teeth. Why Bunnix couldn’t have just gotten the object for them and then had them do the detective work, she’d never know. Alix was her friend, she really was. But adult Alix? Bunnix? Was a pain in her ass.

“She’s really not very helpful, is she?” Chat asks, with a sigh. Marinette shakes her head.

“Not at all. Ready?”

“Ready.” They charge forwards, towards the Joker and the walls of flames. The heat from the fire burns them, despite their suits. That was one of the bad things with fire from akumas. It could break through their suits. They charge after the Joker, and Marinette does her best to block out his horrible laughter, and his terrifying smile as he fights back. She wasn’t even sure what power Hawkmoth had given him, because at this point, he was just using weapons. A crowbar, a gun, a bat. Marinette hisses in pain as the crowbar connects with her shoulder, the bone cracking. Apparently, the crowbar was part of his akumatized form. Lovely. Every time Chat Noir or herself gets close enough to grab the flower, Joker’s attack escalates. Marinette glances at Chat, nodding towards a building far enough away from the Joker where they could take a breath. And actually plan something. He nods, and they move in sync swiftly, landing on the building.

“He’s acting too frantically.” Marinette says, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Chat nods.

“If we can distract him-” He starts, but Marinette shakes her head.

“I’m not sending either of us too close to him alone. He’s insane, and running on power from his akumatization.” She says. He sighs, shaking his head.

“Well we have to do something. We can’t just hope we’ll eventually get lucky.” He points out. Marinette frowns. It felt too early, but-

“Lucky charm!” She calls out, frowning as a hotel roomkey falls into her hands. Glancing at the words on it, her frown deepens. “Isn’t this where you and your dad are staying?” She asks. Chat glances at it, then nods, frowning. Marinette sighs. That would probably come in handy later, but there was no way to use it as a distraction. Especially since she didn’t want to take the fight to Gotham- she pauses. Gotham. Batman. Now there’s a distraction idea for the Joker.

“Should I be worried?” Chat asks, looking at her face (and she was sure she looked a little maniacal at this point). She shakes her head.

“No. But I definitely have a plan on how to distract the Joker. I just need some help from Trixx.” She says, grinning. They could do this. They could win this. They had to win this.

---

Marinette stumbles into the Burrow, Chat holding her up the best he could.

“Okay, great! Now all we have to do is go back and stop this from happening in the first place and then you can cast the cure and everything will be okay. I think I’ve narrowed-” Bunnix starts, but Chat interrupts her, the distaste towards Bunnix clear in his voice.

“For some reason, my dad spilled the beans to the Joker about everything happening in Paris. Joker contacted Hawkmoth and everything went down from there. Just get us to the hotel I’m staying at. Right after I left my dad to go to Mari’s.” He demands. Bunnix blinks, but nods, moving swiftly. Marinette takes in a shaky breath, sinking slowly to the ground. Chat looks at her, his face pinched.

“Don’t worry about me. Just stop the Joker from talking to your dad. It’ll be-” She winces as her shoulder throbs. “It’ll be fine.” Although their distraction had worked, Joker had still managed to beat the hell out of her after she grabbed the flower from his suit. That man had many, many things wrong with him.

“Here we are.” Bunnix says.

“Stay here, LB. Bunnix, come help me shove the Joker into Arkham and explain to my father that telling supervillains about other supervillains is a bad idea.” Chat huffs out, stepping out of the Burrow. Marinette watches them leave, frowning as she tries to figure out why Gabriel would do it. Why would a fashion designer willingly talk to one of the biggest creeps in Gotham? Why would he tell him about Hawkmoth? Why did it feel like she was missing something? Before she can continue spiraling for too long, Chat and Bunnix walk back in.

“Time for you to do your thing, Bug.” Chat says gently, holding out a hand for her. Marinette grabs onto it thankfully and pulls herself up.

“Miraculous Ladybug.” She says, tossing the roomkey up. She lets out a sigh of relief as the ladybug magic washes over her, her injuries dulling to a small phantom pain. She glances at Bunnix. “Can you please drop us off now? I should probably explain some things a little better.” She says, trying to push down the anxiety thrumming inside of her. She never wanted to tell her family about Ladybug. It wasn’t something she wanted Conner or Jon or her Uncle Clark to have to worry about. Because out of all of her family, they were the biggest worriers. Bunnix nods, but doesn’t say anything else before opening a section of the Burrow. Marinette and Adrien both let their transformations drop. Their kwamis definitely needed some rest. Adrien steps through first, not even bothering to tell Bunnix bye. Marinette starts to step through, but pauses and turns to her friend.

“I understand why you needed us, but I’m still hurt. And Chat is too. But if you need us again…” Marinette trails off, and Bunnix nods. Giving one last tense smile, Marinette turns back and follows Adrien back into her apartment. The second she steps through, she freezes, her eyes wide.

“Why is Superman in my apartment?”

Chapter Text

“How did you-” Superman starts, looking between her and Adrien. Marinette shakes her head.

“Uh, I actually have a few questions before you go if you don’t mind.” She continues talking, not giving the man a chance to try and ask his questions first. “First of all, where did you even come from? Last I checked you’re not a Gotham hero, and Batman doesn’t exactly seem to be the type to like other heroes encroaching on his territory. And another thing, why are you inside my apartment? What makes you think that’s okay, even if this was your city?” She asks with a huff, crossing her arms. This was supposed to be a relaxing evening. It definitely wasn’t relaxing anymore, and while that wasn’t Superman’s fault, he was also not helping.

“Your Uncle sent me.” He says. Marinette quirks an eyebrow. It seemed….plausible. She knew her Uncle had interviewed the man several times. But she also knew that it was hard to look at Superman without thinking of all of the ways the man was similar to her Uncle, which was an incredibly unhelpful line of thinking.

“And why would he send you? What possible reason would he have to ask you to come check on me without even hearing from me? And why would you bother to come to another city just because a reporter asked you?” She asks, raising an eyebrow. Sure, she may not exactly want to know if her Uncle and Superman were one in the same, but it wouldn’t hurt to try and get any possible information. Just in case he is the hero and she can (one day) talk to him about all of the hero stuff. Superman frowns.

“It was me.” Conner says, and she turns to him.

“You called Superman?” She asks, not bothering to hide her disbelief. She was almost positive Conner didn’t even like the hero. He shakes his head.

“No. I called Clark and he called Superman. You disappeared, Mars. With some random woman who claimed that you died. So be pissed at me all you want, but you scared the shit out of me, M.” Conner says, crossing his arms. Marinette tries to be mad, she does. Sure, she hadn’t exactly told Conner not to involve the adults, and it felt a lot like snitching for him to call Clark but…

But during her time spent unable to feel her family’s emotions, she’d gotten really good at reading their expressions and body language. And even though she was standing right in front of him, completely unharmed, she could still see the worry and fear on his face. The look on his face that made it clear he was waiting for her to disappear the second he wasn’t looking.

Lunging forward, she wraps her arms around her big brother, holding him tightly as she tries not to cry. She was so overwhelmed. She just wanted a break. But she knew the second she tried to sleep, she’d see the corpses and smell the burning flesh. She was so tired.

“I’m sorry.” She whispers, and Conner tightens his hold on her.

“It’s okay, Mars. I’ve got you. You’re okay now.” He says softly. “Sorry for bothering you, Superman. But could you let Clark know that his niece is safe?”

“I don’t-”

“Now.” Conner says. And if Marinette wasn’t already basically convinced she knew the truth about the man’s identity, she definitely was now. Pushing the thought aside, Marinette decides that’s something she needs to worry about at a later time. When she hadn’t just dealt with an akumatized Joker in an apocalyptic future timeline that no longer existed. Yeah, that was normal. There’s a sigh and a slight breeze, and Marinette lets out a shaking breath. It would be so much easier to stay hidden in her older brother’s arms. To pretend that nothing had happened, that he and Tim (and how was he reacting? She hadn’t even looked at him) knew nothing and thought she was still just normal Marinette. But she also knew that that ship had sailed. Taking another second to collect herself, Marinette slowly pulls away from Conner and looks between Tim and Conner, wincing apologetically at the uncomfortable look on Adrien’s face.

“I uh, I guess you probably want an explanation about the whole Ladybug thing, don’t you?” She asks quietly.

“You don’t have to tell us anything you don’t want to.” Tim says suddenly, and Marinette blinks in shock. Tim, her boyfriend, the one who was obsessed with cold cases and mysteries, was offering her an out. A chance to not talk about being a hero since she was twelve. A chance to pretend nothing crazy had happened. A chance for exactly what she’d been wishing for just moments before, even though she’d barely spared a glance at him since returning from Bunnix’ mission.

But she wouldn’t do that. She couldn’t do that. Not when she finally had an opening to tell someone, other than Adrien. Especially when that someone included two people that were important to her. Taking in a steadying breath, Marinette collects her thoughts and clears her throat.

“I want to tell you. Both of you. It started in collège…”

---

Clark heads back into Bruce’s office with a scowl on his face.

“You know, people are going to start thinking I’m having an affair with Superman.” Bruce says with a sigh. Clark snorts, taken aback by the sudden comment.

“What?” He asks. Bruce nods towards the window he’d come through.

“You, coming and going through my window at Wayne Enterprises? The number of times you’ve been spotted in Gotham, recently? I’m surprised Vicki Vale hasn’t written anything yet.” He says with a shrug. Clark rolls his eyes at the mention of the woman. She had never failed to get under his skin. Lois also disliked the woman, but she was always much better at hiding it than he was.

“Oh, because Vicki Vale is such an amazing journalist.” Clark huffs out. Bruce shrugs.

“It’s what Gotham has. We don’t have Clark Kent or Lois Lane. We have Vicki. Now, are you going to tell me why you flew in pouting, or am I going to have to call my son?” Bruce asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Marinette and her friend Adrien popped out of a portal in the middle of her apartment.” He says, frowning. “And before I could ask, Conner made me leave. And no, I don’t know what they’re saying because your son has one of those white noise machines that messes with my hearing. Thanks for telling him about that, by the way.”

“But they’re all okay?” Bruce asks, ignoring his slight jab. Clark slumps down in a seat.

“I think so. I just don’t understand what’s going on. First, she doesn’t tell me about the hero situation in Paris. And now she’s running off in portals with random people who, according to Conner, see awful versions of the future.” Clark rambles, dropping his head into his hands.

“Sometimes, when children get older, they stop communicating as-” Bruce starts, but Clark cuts him off.

“I just want her to be safe. That’s all I want for any of my kids, Bruce. And when things like this happen, I just- I don’t know what to do to help.” He says, wishing he could do more. Bruce just clasps his shoulder, a silent reassurance that he would be there for him, and Clark tries to make himself believe that everything will turn out alright.

---

“So that was intense.” Adrien says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Marinette huffs out a laugh, trying not to cry. It’d been a very long, very stressful day.

“That’s an understatement.” Conner mutters under his breath. His face was still turned down into a frown, and Marinette was trying not to panic at the idea of him being mad at her. She’d explained everything that she could, to the best of her ability. Including the fact that not telling him earlier wasn’t because she didn’t trust him or Uncle Clark or Jon or Aunt Lois. She just hoped he believed her.

“What can we do to help?” Tim asks. Marinette’s eyebrows raise as she blinks at her boyfriend.

“Huh?”

“Well obviously Hawkmoth needs to be stopped, right? So what can we do to help you?” Tim clarifies. Marinette shakes her head rapidly, flashes of the carnage they’d just stopped running through her mind. She couldn’t let Tim or Conner get close to any of that, couldn’t risk either of them getting hurt. It would destroy her.

“Stay here and stay safe, that’s all you can do.” She says. Tim frowns.

“But we-”

“Please.” Marinette cuts him off, reaching out to grab his hands, letting herself breathe a little more as he immediately rubs circles on the backs of her hands. “It’s not- Paris isn’t safe. Adrien and I, we’re used to it. We know what to look for and how to help when someone is akumatized. We’re still working on figuring out who Hawkmoth is and how we can stop him for good, but we just- I just- Please. I can’t lose you or Conner.” Tim looks at her, his facial expression almost completely unreadable.

“Fine. I won’t get involved.” He says, and Marinette raises an eyebrow. That was…easier than she’d expected.

“Promise?” She asks. Tim nods.

“I promise that I, Tim Drake, will not interfere in the situation going on in Paris.” He says. Marinette leans in for a hug, unable to shake the feeling that Tim would try and find some kind of loophole so that he doesn’t technically break his promise.