The family returned back from patrol to see Dick in front of the television, in a state of shock. He had been benched with a broken leg, but they hadn't expected to see him still awake.
Jason laughed, "Did you finally find out that disco…. is in fact dead?"
Richard sat frozen, staring at the frozen screen.
"Hey, are you okay?" Tim questioned, putting his hand on his shoulder, "You did remember to take your pain meds, right?"
Dick snapped out of his stupor, "Yeah. Just….never expected this song."
"A song?" Damian rolled his eyes, "Did a rogue make it or something?"
"We should all get some sleep and-" Bruce suggested.
"We know her; the singer." the eldest admitted.
"Huh?" Tim spoke, "Do you know any singers?"
Bruce shrugged his shoulders.
"Well, who is it?" Jason demanded.
"She dated Bruce." Dick stated.
Jason scoffed, "Like that narrows it down."
"Play the song." Damian demanded.
Dick replayed the video. It said Lyric Video-Vampire.
'Doesn't sound familiar.'
Hate to give the satisfaction askin' how you're doin' now
How's the castle built off people you pretend to care about?
Look at you, cool guy, you got it
I see the parties and the diamonds sometimes when I close my eyes
Six months of torture you sold as some forbidden paradise
You gotta laugh at the stupidity
'Cause I've made some real big mistakes
But you make the worst one look fine
"We know her?" Jason asked himself, not able to put a face to the voice.
"WE know her." Dick spoke up, pointing between them, "Tim may know of her because of…….his detective work before he moved in. Damian's never met her."
I should've known it was strange
You only come out at night
"She knows!" Damian exclaimed.
I used to think I was smart
But you made me look so naïve
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me, oh
Bleedin' me dry like a goddamn vampire
"Are you sure?" Tim asked.
"She knows about Father; about us." Damian stated, "It's about his playboy habits."
"So it's a song about him dumping her and she's pissed off." Jason spoke, "Can't say I blame her, but there aren't that many chicks from Brucie's past that know."
And every girl I ever talked to, told me you were bad, bad news
You called them crazy, God, I hate the way I called them crazy too
"There's maybe……ten woman." Jason speculated, "Wait, is it prior Zombie mode?"
Bruce sighed, "I've asked you to stop calling it that."
Jason looked at the screen, but every face he recalled looked so different.. He knew his memories were still jumbled up.
How do you lie without flinchin'? (How do you lie? How do you lie? How do you lie?)
Ooh, what a mesmerizin', paralyzin', fucked-up little thrill
Can't figure out just how you do it, and God knows I never will
'Cause girls your age know better
Jason whipped his head around, "That's Mom?"
"Mom?" questioned Tim and Damian.
Bruce just stared at the screen, feeling the color drain from his face.
I've made some real big mistakes
But you make the worst one look fine
I should've known it was strange
You only come out at night
Dick changed the screen from the lyrics of the song to the official music video. In the middle of a the stage stood a petite woman, dressed in black. She was surrounded by red curtains and candelabras.
"Looks like Phantom of the Opera." Tim stated.
"Gothic Victorian." Damian spoke up, "A good choice to describe Gotham without mentioning Father by name."
"That's Mama Mari!" Jason shouted.
"Yeah." Dick said softly.
Jason sat on the floor as the music video played on, "I tried looking for her, before I came back. How did she get a single?"
"She has a whole album from what I'm seeing. She's under an alias. Even her own label from before is gone." Dick admitted, "She was Jagged Stone's Unofficial niece and designer, remember? She had more connections than Bruce, from a very young age. Bruce had connections because of Wayne Enterprises and money. She actually knew people. Says if anything, she probably wrote down her frustrations and Jagged found them, making her sing."
I used to think I was smart
But you made me look so naïve
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me, oh
"The song doesn't explicitly say that Father left her." Damian declared, "Only that she felt used and betrayed. She knew of Father's nightly outings, but it sounds as if Father treated her as any other woman. He made excuses instead of simply telling her."
Bruce quickly left the room.
"Does she know about Selina or Talia?" Tim asked, "Is it possible he slipped and cheated with her?"
"I hope not." Richard responded, "I hope not."
"Is-Is she happy?" Jason questioned.
"I don't know." Dick replied, "There's no trace of Marinette Dupain-Cheng anywhere, but there's no obituaries either. Her parent passed away last year, in an accident. The bakery was shut down and sold. The last time anyone saw her was at the funeral."
"She would have done well as a Wayne." Damian spoke up.
"What makes you say that?" Tim questioned, "Though you would have been on Team Mom."
"She knows how to hide and keep secrets." Damian answered.
Bleedin' me dry like a goddamn vampire
"Tch, how long ago was this?" the Jason asked.
Dick looked up the date of the concert, "Maybe…five years after the break up. Why?"
"You don't see him?" Jason said, standing up and pointing to the pianist, "Luka. Loverboy still has feelings for her. Pathetic."
"Well, he moved on, too." Dick answered, "I don't know what happened , but I looked up his old band. He's married and has a kid on the way. There's a picture and I even ran facial scan over it; it's not Mama Mari."
You said it was true love, but wouldn't that be hard?
You can't love anyone, 'cause that would mean you had a heart
I tried to help you out, now I know that I can't
'Cause how you thinks the kind of thing I'll never understand
"Why did you call her Mama Mari?" Tim questioned, his older brothers.
Jason sighed, "It's what we called her. She was…..Mom. We'd get home and she was in the kitchen baking cookies or making dinner. She helped make our clothes. She was busy, but she always had time for us. We thought Bruce was gonna marry her."
"Mama lived in the manor." Dick continued, "Sometimes she would be up before Alfred. Maybe it was just that she never slept. She was a prodigy, like you Tim. She was desiging clothes for rock stars, musicians, runways, when she was only thirteen. She was making a name for herself. Bruce adopted me and was dating her. Later, I left and Jason was here. She treated us like her sons. We were her boys. She always said how much she loved us."
"What happened?" Damian pressed.
"I don't know." Dick admitted, "I was mad at Bruce. I was in Bludhaven. It could be because of Jason's death. It could be because I left. I never called or came back to Gotham until I heard about Jason. Even then, I didn't come to the manor. I found Bruce, kicked his ass, and went back. I only came back because Tim became Robin and Barbara was injured. I asked Bruce and he said she was gone. I'm sure Alfred was the one hurting the most. He lost Jason and Marinette was like a daughter to him."
I've made some real big mistakes
But you make the worst one look fine
I should've known it was strange
You only come out at night
I used to think I was smart
But you made me looks so naïve
The way you sold me for parts
As you sunk your teeth into me, oh
Bleedin' me dry like a goddamn vampire
Jason scoffed, "Bruce pulled away and fucked things up…again."
"Why would he have made excuses?" Tim asked, trying to make sense of things, "As much as it pains me, Damian's right. She knew.
"I don't know if he knew that." Jason admitted, "We knew it. She helped bandage us and everything. She helped us practice acrobatics."
"She might have been more flexible that me." Dick stated, "I looked, when I came back. There was papers about Bruce with girls at galas; sometimes one on each arm. If she wasn't gone before that; she took the hint and vanished."
Damian smirked, "She made sure the World's Greatest Detective could never find her again. I wished to have met her."
Bruce sat at the BatComputer and watched the video play again. He let the tears roll down his cheeks; he knew his kids wouldn't disturb him right now.
'Did you really know? All this time, Marinette and you never told me? You never -'
"I've looked for you, Marinette." he whispered, "I don't know how you keep alluding me. I heard about Tom and Sabine. I know you have nothing tying you to Paris anymore. I've looked up every fashion designer I could. I never imagined you would become like me; a recluse. I knew how much u hated Gabriel and yet I've turned you into him, haven't I?"
'Do you know about Jason being alive? Have you seen the team grow? Do you know about Damian? Am I the reason you won't return to see them? They miss you. I miss you, My Shining Star.'
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