Marinette, Damian, and Jon were sipping coffee. Jon suddenly held up his phone. "Quick, a picture! I'm sending this to everyone in the court. Say cheese!" @maribat-get-in
55) TEAM: DAMIAN DOMINANCE BY: @KronoDOMINANCE(2011) TYPE: DIGITAL DRAWING PROMPT: “ARE YOU FLIRTING WITH ME OR THREATENING ME?, WE NEVER TALK ABOUT IT BUT WE BOTH KNOW, WHEN DARKNESS MEETS THE LIGHT, TOO LATE ‘CAUSE YOU’RE MINE NOW, YOU WISH I LIKED YOU, WE’RE UNFINISHED BUSINESS, PASTEL COLORS, YOU’RE DEFINITELY THE ONLY PERSON I WOULD DO THIS FOR, SOMETIMES I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU ACTUALLY CHOSE ME, I DON’T EVEN WANT YOUR ATTENTION—THAT MUCH, THIS IS WHY NO ONE HUGS YOU, IS MORE THAN CHEMISTRY.”
@maribat-get-in
MGI CIVIL WAR 2025
@maribat-get-in
Prompt: are you flirting with me or threatening me?", demon marks, demon hunters, we're not heroes, i'm gonna show you how it's done, you got a dark side guess you're not the only one, jealous much?, we were never on the same side, you wish i liked you, i don't even want your attention-that much, is more than chemistry
MARIBAT? GET IN CIVIL WAR TIME Y'ALL! Get ready for a whole lot of Daminette peoples
@maribat-get-in
Link to AO3
“I just can’t take it anymore,” Marinette whispered into the air between them. Damian was his usual, brooding self and she hated that he wasn’t anything except slightly detached from what was happening. Couldn’t he see it? The stress fractures in their relationship, the way she pulled away from him a little more every day.
“Then perhaps we should talk more about you taking a break from work, to-”
“No, Damian, I can’t take this anymore,” she said a little louder. “This. Us. Our relationship isn’t- it isn’t healthy anymore and I can’t keep pretending that it’s going to get better. I have to leave.”
“Tt, don’t be absurd, everything is fine-”
“No, it’s not. It hasn’t been for a long time and the fact that you don’t see that is my fault as much as it is yours. But it’s over. I’m choosing me, instead of this crazy life where you go out every night, searching for answers that aren’t out there. When was the last time we really shared a bed? Not when we have sex, I know we’re still good at that, but when we lay in bed, all night. Just sleeping. Because I can’t remember it, and that kills me. And I’m all out of reasons to stay.”
“And I don’t get a say in this, I suppose?” Damian replied angrily, his jaw tense.
“I’ve given you so many- it’s been months since I told you something wasn’t right, Dami. So no, you don’t get a say now. But I didn’t want to just vanish in the dead of night, we both deserved the chance to say what we needed to tonight. But I’m going, and there is nothing you can say that would change that.”
“Then leave, I wouldn’t want you to think I was keeping you a prisoner,” he scoffed. Marinette could see that this was hurting him, but she wasn’t sure if that was because he still loved her, or if it was because he didn’t like that he hadn’t seen it coming. And that hurt her, because she deserved to know that the man she was in love with loved her back every bit as fiercely. And she didn’t know that anymore, so she nodded and walked away with a single suitcase and rucksack.
_ _ _
Damian followed her along the rooftops, keeping low to the tarmac of the roof and letting himself take no breaks.
It had been two weeks since she had broken up with him and left their shared apartment, and he missed her every day. He was angry, and lonely, and he hated that he hadn’t seen it coming because- because he had been in love and thought that it was reciprocated. How long had she been secretly harbouring fantasies of abandoning him? When had she begun to yearn for her freedom, as she so obviously had by the actions she took now?
The way she flaunted her newly single status by going out in the evenings, flirting with people who came close, was like a punch to the solar plexus. The air in his lungs would vanish and he would have to curl in protectively to soothe the ache. She said they had deserved the chance to say their last words to each other, but that wasn’t true. She wanted to say something to wound him, she wanted him to know she thought him a failure as a partner.
He looked over the messages on the phone that he had cloned, seeing invitations from numbers he didn’t recognise offering to take her for a meal. And many more from an old classmate of his: Archie Livingston. He had never been overly fond of the man but he hated him now. He knew that Marinette had formed a friendship with Archie but it hadn’t been anything he was overly interested in.
What if he’s the reason she wanted to leave, a nasty voice in the back of his head sneered. Damian hated that voice, always telling him that he wasn’t good enough, that Marinette would leave him when she saw who he really was. And it had been right, hadn’t it? So maybe it was right and Marinette hadn’t waited to officially end things with him before she started warming someone else’s bed.
He shied away from that thought, if only because their texts seemed to be mostly cordial, at least on her side. He had always known Archie coveted Marinette, had made no secret of his admiration for her and belief that she could do better than the ‘Ice Prince of Gotham’. But he’d never quite dared to either confront him or divulge this information to Marinette, in case things changed because of it.
And now he would never know if it was the cause of their break up. The only way he might find out if they moved past the step of friendship would be in the tabloids, because Marinette would feel no obligation to tell him.
He watched as she made her way back to her new apartment, a small thing that she barely spent time in, and wondered why the sense of being wronged was shifting. He had been wronged, he knew that. But maybe…maybe he had wronged her first.
_ _ _
Marinette had gotten used to being alone long before she broke up with Damian. So going out and spending time with people without worrying how it would look, or if she would miss spending time with him by being with someone else was nice. But she also enjoyed being by herself on purpose for quiet moments.
That wasn’t to say she didn’t miss Damian. She did, more than she had thought she would when she had ended things, maybe believing that she had already said goodbye in her heart so what difference did it make? A big one, apparently. For example, she now got dozens of messages from guys who seemed to think that just because she was single, she must be desperate for company.
The exception to all of that was Archie, who had been the one person who hadn’t made her feel insane through all of it. He’d given her a shoulder to cry on when she needed it and went drinking with her when she just wanted to forget it. She was careful not to give away any information that wasn’t hers about Damian, but that still left plenty of room to wail about how she hated herself for thinking he would be different for her.
So after two months of being single, she was completely thrown when she ran into him at a coffee shop she didn’t think he knew about. He wasn’t much into coffee, and had always seemed to be more indulgent of her habits when they’d gone to them. Spotting Tim at the counter made more sense, and she wondered if he was still just as grumpy at being out in public as he was before.
“Marinette, I didn’t expect to…how are you?” he said, eyes fixed on her like she was the only person in the room. It was different to how she remembered him looking at her in the last months they had been together. No, it was more like when they had first met and he made her feel like she was the only thing that mattered in his world.
“I’m doing better,” she said cautiously, fingering her bag strap and wondering if she should cut the visit to the coffee shop short. Sure she wanted caffeine but was it worth putting herself through the stress of this encounter? “How…how have you been?”
“Angry,” he said, though there was no sign of it in his voice. “And then in denial. I think I am closer to acceptance than I was before, though some days it feels further than others.”
“Oh.”
“I’m not saying this to convince you of anything,” he continued, eyes getting a far away look. “I want to. I wish I could go back and undo the harm I did when I let you believe I didn’t love you, even though you are the only person in this world I have ever been sure I do. Because I would have burned the world for you and still would.
“But I will let you go, because it’s what you want, what you need. I’ll leave now and you can rest assured that I won’t follow you,” he said quietly, eyes back on her and piercingly focused. She shivered under the intensity of his gaze and he started reaching before hesitating and pulling back suddenly. “I’m sorry.”
She couldn’t find any words, the emotions she thought she’d been getting past fresh once again. It took her a moment to realise Tim had caught up to him and they were leaving the coffee shop. She didn’t think, just moved towards him faster than she’d moved since she stopped donning a magical suit to fight villains.
“Damian, wait!” she called, catching his attention abruptly. He swung around to stare at her, the look in his eyes now guarded but edged with hope. Tim faltered momentarily before muttering something to his little brother and walking swiftly away. She caught up to him, slightly breathless but now determined. “You didn’t wait for me to answer.”
“I thought the silence was your answer,” he said cautiously, eyes boring into hers. “You do not need to tell me that you do not wish to continue. I am aware of my faults and I cannot-”
“I still love you,” she blurted out, heart pounding in her throat as he stilled completely. “I know we have a lot to work on - hell, we need to sit down and have a real conversation about what we both want and need moving forward - but if- if you’re willing to put in the work to fix things, I want it. I want you, the you I fell in love with and so badly hope is still in there.”
“You’re sure?” he breathed, closing the distance between them and placing a hand on her forearm. She nodded wordlessly, her voice failing her completely. He gently brushed a hand against her cheek, questioning, and she leaned into it wholeheartedly. She’d forgotten how calloused his hands were, how obvious his training and work was in his touch. “I missed you, more than I can possibly say.”
She still couldn’t speak, but she nodded again and he swayed towards her. It was halting, unsure, and she wondered if he was scared of breaking this delicate truce between them by asking for too much too soon, like she was. How could she possibly know that kissing him wouldn’t set them back to where they’d been months ago?
But then the tension snapped and he kissed her hungrily, his lips almost harsh as they melded into one another. She returned his fervour, fingers seeking to bury themselves in his hair. They moved intuitively, the path from his jaw to his hairline one they knew by heart, and she sighed as they found the silky strands and tilted his head.
They were cut off when someone crashed into her and almost sent the pair of them sprawling. She yelped and clung to him as he snarled at the back of the woman who was hurrying away from them. But when he turned back to her, his expression softened and he traced her lips with his thumb.
She didn’t know if it would work out, but she was willing to give it a try.
Marinette turned and stared down at her first mate, Adrien, and felt herself relax slightly. Things had been difficult on the ship and the only person she fully trusted anymore was her first mate. They’d been hunting Miraculous since she got her sea legs fully under her, a motley crew of people she had met on ships she ransacked and instinctively felt she could trust though not fully. She never told them what they were looking for and she never told them where they were going next.
The problems had started when they took on board a young woman who said she was running from a particularly nasty lord who wanted to force her to wed him. She described him as twice her age with a penchant for young wives and she feared for her life, so the rest of the crew had of course begged Marinette to accept her on board.
And ever since she had been part of the crew, things had been off. Marinette found that the crew were getting their orders mixed, or forgoing their own duties to help this Lila with hers. Marinette was positive that she was a liar, but couldn’t prove it and didn’t want to alienate her crew just to assert her dominance. Adrien had cautioned her what could happen if she didn’t let some things go.
So even though Marinette and Adrien knew that Lila was a liar, they didn’t force her from the boat. It didn’t stop Marinette from calling the woman out at every available opportunity, but then she would turn on the crocodile tears and Marinette found herself getting disappointed looks from what used to be a very loyal crew.
“What’s up, chaton?” she asked when Adrien finally approached her. He glanced around carefully and she got a tingle in her spine that told her he had news about a lost gem. “Where?” she breathed, lips hardly moving.
“New York,” he said equally quietly, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Something about an eagle in the old texts.”
“Hmmm, I think that said something about liberty when I saw it,” she mused, turning to face the sea and allowing Adrien to watch her back. Just because her crew were supposed to be loyal didn’t mean she was stupid about it. Especially after everything with Lila. “Okay, the thing we need to look out for that far across the sea is…bandits, obviously…and isn’t that near to Gotham coastline? I remember hearing something about a ship that flies a flag with some sort of flying creature on it. I can’t remember if it was a crow, or something like that.”
“With you, we’re untouchable, m’lady,” Adrien said cheerfully, pushing away from the side and forcing her to turn and face him to make sure her back was covered. He was slowed down when Plagg, in the form of an average sized black cat, leapt onto his shoulders and Marinette smiled at the cute interactions between them.
Sighing and turning to glance at the open sea again, she set her jaw and nodded. Things weren’t quite right aboard the Ladybug’s Heart, but she was sure that heading to New York to plunder the ship that would be moving the treasure Adrien spoke of was the right move.
_ _ _
Damian stared at the report in front of him. His father had entrusted him with finding the pirate ship that had been ransacking ships, seemingly at random, for the past three years. With no discernible pattern to the attacks, it was a nigh impossible task, but he had accepted it nonetheless with the intent to prove himself worthy. His brothers and sisters had all proven themselves before him on various malcontents, but he was the youngest and therefore needed to cut his teeth on something bigger.
The ship known only as Ladybug’s Heart was believed to be captained by a woman with a cutthroat approach to thievery by making an example of one member of the crew of any ship she commandeered. The poor souls she made examples of were never seen again, and the remaining crew were left with barely enough food to see them to the nearest shore.
But in a stroke of unusual luck on his part, someone had reported seeing the ship lurking in a New York bay, hardly a stone’s throw from Gotham. He wouldn’t even need to be at sea for long to capture her, a skeleton crew sure to be enough to capture such a cowardly upstart that ambushed hardworking people instead of earning honest coin.
It took little effort to get a crew he could use together that didn’t include his brothers, sisters, or father. Their business of privateering was well known in Gotham and paid well enough that it was easy to get people willing to do the work. He would also be captaining the ship himself, having no patience for anyone else to do it for him, so he called Jon to join him as his first mate.
It took only two days to reach the shores of New York, and from there he could already see the ship with the cat and ladybug flag flying high. The crew seemed to be in high spirits when he looked through his telescope, although there was a woman and man who seemed to be deep in conversation slightly to the side.
“Pull alongside the ship,” Damian commanded, preparing to board and subdue the crew himself. But the moment the gang plank was placed - surprisingly easily, which should have given it away - the woman who had seemed to be completely absorbed in her conversation leapt across the gap, landing in front of him and brandishing her sword and an impish grin.
“Monsieur, put down your weapon if you please,” she said, her voice sweet and melodic even as she threatened him. She kept him back, dancing delicately as the rest of her crew boarded and overpowered his own. There were far more people aboard her ship than he had assumed there would be, some of them not even bothering to cross as she fought with him.
In spite of his obvious size advantage, none of his blows were hitting correctly. She had a parrot on her shoulder, chittering and unbothered, and he was growing frustrated with his inability to disarm her. And then his grip somehow slipped and his sword clattered to the side. He could see Jon looking at him, alarmed, but he kept his eyes on the woman.
“Might I know the name of the woman who bested me?” he asked as calmly as he could.
“Marinette, Privateer,” she said, a grin that would send lesser men running. “I would ask for your name but it is unimportant.”
“It’s Privateer Wayne, and I am here to place you under arrest for your piracy,” he said boldly, chin held high. “You are a villain and a danger to decent, hardworking folk, so I suggest-”
“The only difference between you and I is a stamp on a piece of paper,” Marinette hissed as his words clearly found their mark. Damian found himself enchanted by the blue of her eyes, and tried valiantly to ignore the flutter in his stomach. Then she straightened up and shot him a smirk over her shoulder as she sashayed away. “It’s been a pleasure, Privateer Wayne, but I really must be getting back to work. Ships to plunder, planks to have walked…Say goodbye to your second in command, because his days are now numbered.”
Damian made eye contact with Jon and shook his head minutely. Whilst Jon could subdue the crews of both ships, it would be unwise to tip their hands so early. And whatever she thought she would be able to do to Jon he would shrug it off. So Damian allowed one of her subordinates to tie his hands - the knots were horrendous, he would probably be able to work his way out of them relatively quickly - and settled for glaring after the crew.
When Marinette was back aboard her own ship, she kicked the plank that was connecting them into the water before signalling that they should make haste and sail away. The man they had pulled away from the other ship was quiet but didn’t seem afraid as she pulled him over to one side to speak with him.
“What’s your name?” she asked briskly, not willing to give away what she planned to ask him to begin with. Whilst she could tell that he was the right choice to have taken from the other ship, she wasn’t sure he was going to be willing to turn against his former captain so easily.
“Jon,” he said, voice quiet but not cowardly. “I’ve heard of you, you know. Everyone says you’re vicious and bloodthirsty but I don’t buy it.”
“I do hate to be what anyone expects,” she said with a smile, feeling more at ease once he started talking. This was someone she believed was going to be a friend, and Tikki chittering happily on her shoulder made her believe it all the more. “You know, my crew is made up of people I take on from other ships. And I think you’d be a good fit on this ship-”
“Captain, we have a problem,” Adrien said, rushing over to her and grabbing her arm to pull her closer to him. She frowned but allowed it, as Adrien wouldn’t interrupt this unless it was important. But he only said one word as he pulled her after him. “Lila.”
“Of course,” she growled, stalking over to the main deck to confront the crowd that was being riled by Lila. She had Alya’s ear and Marinette’s second longest standing crew member was nodding seriously and looking concerned. “What are you all doing above deck? We’re supposed to be rowing out of here before the other ship gets loose and tries to capture us.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Marinette,” Lila simpered. And Marinette was instantly leery, considering Lila hadn’t been around long enough to call her anything other than ‘Captain’ or ‘Madame’. “It’s just…wasn’t that the ship of Damian Wayne? He’s a notorious privateer, who never lets his prey get away. And you left him alive. I thought we were pirates!”
“Just because we’re pirates doesn’t mean we kill indiscriminately. Or we likely wouldn’t have accepted someone with so many maladies aboard our ship when every other able bodied person pulls their weight,” Marinette said with a sharp look at the woman. “Regardless, I’m the captain and what I say goes, so if I say to leave the other ship intact, you will leave the ship.”
“Well perhaps you shouldn’t be captain then,” Alya said, which made Marinette’s head whip towards her.
“Excuse me? This is my ship and if you want to remain aboard it-”
She didn’t see the hit coming.
Damian had been watching the going-ons of the ship as he worked on his bindings, which took longer than he thought they would. But Jon was still aboard the other ship so Damian trusted him to ensure the crew didn’t escape. He was mildly intrigued when the crew seemed to be staging a protest on the deck, and even more so when Marinette came back into view to shout at them for not getting to work. Or at least that’s what he assumed was going on.
But then the largest member of her crew hit her in the back of the head and she went limp and lifeless as the others dragged her to the railing of the ship. It took very little effort for them to throw her overboard and Damian’s jaw and heart clenched as he watched it unfold.
She fell from the ship head first, crashing into the waves and disappearing below the tumultuous surface. But Damian had already been moving, throwing himself into the sea before he’d even been able to free his hands in his efforts to swim after her. His eyesight wasn’t fantastic under water but it was good enough that he could see her sinking, fast. Her hair had torn free of its braid and was floating freely around her, making it hard to see if she was awake - though the lack of thrashing indicated that she was unconscious.
The ropes at his wrist suddenly loosened and he was able to propel himself towards her much more quickly. She felt both fragile and sturdy in his arms and a distant part of him marveled at it even as he swam desperately for the surface while pulling her along. He gasped for air when they finally broke free, but she didn’t follow suit, and he worried that he was too late.
But rather than focus on that, he pulled her over to his ship, dragging her aboard and working to free her of the corset that was probably constricting her breathing. She wore a loose blouse underneath it but it was practically sheer after her dip in the water. He would probably feel slightly improper later, for undressing her so matter-of-factly, but just in that moment he only cared to make sure she was breathing.
“Captain, is she-”
“Breathing, though only just,” he said, words coming out in between one gasp for air and another. He focused on ensuring there was no water in her mouth or throat that he could see before rolling her onto her side in case she vomited. Salt water had that effect and he didn’t intend for her to vomit on him.
When it seemed clear that she was just unconscious, he moved her to his cabin and sat watch to ensure she didn’t try to overthrow his command.
_ _ _
When Marinette woke up, it was earlier than he had anticipated. He was fairly sure it had something to do with the parrot that had flown in and joined her about twenty minutes after he had her situated in his room. She looked fairly unwell, so he held out a bucket and she emptied her stomach of salt water into it before thanking him and laying back down with a groan.
“Ugh, Tiks, this is the worst,” she moaned, the parrot chittering and landing on her chest. Damian raised an eyebrow but waited until she spoke to him directly again. “Where’s my ship?”
“Sailing somewhere,” he shrugged, smirking when she glared at him. “It looked like a rather heated discussion you were having with your crew before I saved your life, care to tell me what it was about?”
“They- some of my crew decided they would rather not follow my orders right now,” she muttered, eyes flickering to his before looking down. It shouldn’t have made his heart clench and yet…
“Mutiny,” he murmured, not enjoying her flinch as much as he assumed he would have after chasing her for the better part of a year. She buried her face in her arms and curled into a tight ball to block out the world.
“I guess that’s what it was, yeah,” she said in a pained whisper, looking up at him with anguish in her eyes. “But I have to be out there, doing what I do for the better of the world. So it doesn’t matter that the little weasel took my ship from me. I have to get back out there and I have to continue with my work. And if you’re choosing to get in my way…”
“I do not intend to get in your way,” he said in a low voice, unsure entirely of why he was saying any of this. He hadn’t planned to absolve her of her crimes but the words were out of his mouth now and he could hardly shove them back in.
“What?” she said, sitting up straight and staring at him. “But you have me dead to rights, I’m a prisoner aboard your ship-”
“I have orders to capture and secure the captain of Ladybug’s Heart,” Damian said with a shrug, raising an eyebrow at Marinette when she furrowed hers at him. “Which you are currently not the captain of, no? Therefore I have no reason to arrest you.”
“Oh. What about the rest of the crew?” she asked softly, curiously, almost like she didn’t care what he said. “My friend, Adrien, has always traveled with me. I very much doubt that she will have kept him as her first mate given how loyal he is to me.”
“And you believe he is still loyal?” he asked, curious as to whether it was possible for a pirate to form a true bond of friendship.
“He is. We have…a certain way of doing things but we are a team first and foremost so no matter what, he’ll be on my side.” He envied her for the confidence in her voice. Even after several years working with Jon, he wouldn’t say that he trusted him implicitly. He knew that when they were of the same mind there was nobody more implacable but if they were at odds…he didn’t know. And not knowing was like a needle under a fingernail sometimes: painful with nothing he could do about it.
“I do not know how you expect me to get him for you when you have no ship and he is with your mutineers,” was all he said, though his mind was stuck on the fact that Jon was on said ship.
“So you’re saying you don’t have a plan?” she asked sceptically, smirking when he scowled slightly. “Or you don’t want to share your plan with me.”
“Does it matter which? You needn’t worry about the outcome,” he said in a low voice, reaching past her to take hold of the handcuffs he had kept close by. She raised her eyebrows at him, the question obvious in her face and he flushed. “You will, of course, have the option to be cuffed and kept in the main part of the ship but I assumed you would prefer to be locked in here where nobody will bother you.”
“You think a pair of cuffs and a locked door will stop me?” she asked, holding her hands out anyway. He swallowed as he cuffed one hand and secured the other one to the bedstead. It brought his head much closer to hers and he had to concentrate on the task at hand to stop himself doing something foolish.
“I think that I am being extremely generous by not letting that ship go,” he murmured, acutely aware that she was only inches away from him, captured between his arms.
“Liar, you need to get your first mate back,” she said with a confident smirk. “But I would be more than willing to assist you-”
“Contrary to whatever you believe, I am not a fool. But I promise I will be lenient on your first mate, provided he does not fight me.”
“His name is Adrien,” she said softly, leaning forward so that her face was scant millimeters away from his. “And thank you, Privateer Wayne. We may never be on the same side, purely because of our professional differences, but you are a gentleman and I appreciate your consideration.”
Damian swallowed and drew slowly away, lips tingling as if they were also wondering how it would have felt to close that gap.
_ _ _
Marinette was out of the handcuffs in moments, Tikki transforming into her small kwami form to phase through the metal. She sighed and rubbed the wrist even though it barely hurt. She had no intention of escaping the room but she would much rather have free motion than to be trapped if someone decided to go behind Privateer Wayne’s back to hurt her.
“Tiks, can you head over to the ship and check on Adrien and Plagg?” she asked in a low voice, relaxing when the kwami nodded before switching back to her parrot form and slipping out of the window. Marinette sighed and lay down on the bed, deciding that she could afford to get some sleep while she waited for anything to happen.
Damian, meanwhile, was concerned that Marinette’s parrot had somehow found its way to him without any way out of the room he had locked. He came to the conclusion that she hadn’t been joking about getting out of the cuffs and he only hoped he hadn’t made a huge mistake in leaving her on board.
The Ladybug’s Heart had been dawdling in the open sea and Damian wondered if it was complacency or stupidity. Even if capturing Marinette had been enough to stop the Privateers from trying to capture it, Marinette herself would still be a potential threat to the mutineers. He only hoped that Jon hadn’t tried to do anything without his say so.
But no, he approached the ship without issue and found that he could get on quite easily. Everyone aboard seemed to be enjoying themselves with loot stolen previously and libations, so Damian merely filtered into the crowd until he could approach Marinette’s usurper.
“Captain Lila,” he said loudly when he was feet away, smiling when she faltered and glanced around. She very clearly did not anticipate being confronted when everyone around her appeared to be on her side. He saw Jon sitting to the side with who he assumed was Adrien and sent him a pointed look. “I am here to place you, and your crew, under arrest.”
“Me and my crew have done nothing wrong,” she said in a high pitched voice that sounded like panic. Meanwhile, Damian noted that members of the crew were disappearing below deck at speed, Jon making short work of the inebriated ones.
“I beg to differ, captain,” he sneered before relaxing again. His sword came out of its sheath and he started prowling towards her with the intention to distract her from her vanishing crew. “But tell me, when you stole this ship, did you think that it would be taken from you before you had a chance to grow into your captaincy?”
“This is my ship, and nobody is taking it from me,” Lila hissed, unsheathing her own sword. But from the way she was holding it, Damian could see that she had no idea how to use it.
“A ship you acquired through treachery and violence,” he said thoughtfully. “Worry not, I plan on taking the captain of the Ladybug’s heart into custody immediately. I have a warrant for your arrest and I am not the sort of man to fail at such a simple task.”
“But- you already have the captain of the-” she faltered as she finally realised that her crew had all but vanished. The only people left were Damian, Jon, and Adrien, and Damian smirked at her as she paled considerably. The sun was setting, causing a golden light to wash over them all and Lila squinted against the light.
“No, I have a woman that was thrown from this ship and assures me that you are the captain of this vessel. And you confirmed it as well, which is very helpful.”
“How dare you,” she shrieked, throwing herself forward desperately, sword swinging wildly. It was very little effort for him to sweep in and disarm her as her guard was abysmal. Within moments he had her defenceless and trapped against the railing of the ship, fear and anger in her eyes.
“I think we shall have very little issue seeing you imprisoned for your crimes,” he said condescendingly, motioning for Jon to take her into custody as well.
_ _ _
By the time Privateer Wayne returned to his own ship, Marinette had had plenty of sleep and was once again awake and waiting to see how everything had gone. She didn’t bother to re-cuff herself, as she didn’t think anyone would believe that she had been cuffed for the entire time.
When the door unlocked, Tikki flew in ahead and landed on her head, settling immediately into her hair. Marinette smiled and looked up at Damian as he entered afterwards, closing the door softly behind him before coming over to her.
“Adrien is safe,” he said immediately, somehow knowing that it was her most pressing concern. Her shoulders relaxed again and she gave him a grateful smile before swinging her feet off the side of the bed and walking cautiously towards him.
“Thank you, for making sure he was safe,” she said quietly, her movements slow but fluid. “I appreciate it more than I can say. Was your first mate, Jon, alright as well?”
“Perfectly fine. He assisted in taking the others into custody and is currently ensuring the ship is docked at New York to await a trial. The captain of the Ladybug’s Heart is unlikely to get free without hefty fines and a term in jail,” he said, a smug smile on his lips. His very kissable looking lips.
“Well, I’ll have to thank Jon as well. He was a very agreeable hostage when I took him from you, and it sounds as though he remained valuable even after I was thrown overboard,” she said casually, still moving closer to Privateer Wayne. She could feel when his breathing hitched, her hand coming to rest on her hip as she pulled level with him. “How long will I be staying aboard your vessel, Privateer Wayne?”
“Tt, it is Damian. It feels ridiculous to call me by my surname when you call my first mate by his given name,” he said in a low voice, cheeks tinged red.
“Very well, Damian. Thank you, Damian, for saving me,” she said in a hushed tone, practically nose to nose with him. He seemed slightly flustered but nodded jerkily nonetheless. The movement brought them closer still, and Marinette steadied him slightly, hands coming up to press against his chest.
And then she moved away, grinning at him from under her lashes before bowing to him. And then she was out of the door, locking it nimbly and disappearing to find Adrien. She had ideas of how to get back to her ship, and she was almost positive she could build her crew quickly enough. It seemed a shame to leave Damian behind but she doubted it would be the last she saw of him.
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