Hi! Could you do a daminette one shot where Damian transferred to Paris to keep an eye on the situation and ends up befriending Marinette. Then Chat Noir is reckless and they have to replace him and Mari chooses Damian, and after a while later his family come to visit and he never told them he was the new holder of the black cat miraculous?
So, let’s just make sure that this is clear: Damian Wayne did not mean to assume another hero identity when he transferred to Paris. It just happened. Because of reasons entirely out of his control…. okay, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. He had befriended Ladybug’s civilian identity because she was the only one is his class who wasn’t a complete and utter fool. And he may have acted heroic in Akuma situations, but what was her expected to do? Not protect the people of Paris? That was like asking a dog to not wag their tail when they were happy for Batman’s sake! So maybe his actions inadvertently lead to him assuming another alter ego, but it wasn’t intentional!
Originally, Damian had only moved the Paris and transferred to Francois DuPont and Mlle Bustier’s class because it had the most Akumatized in the same environment constantly. He wanted to figure out what had to happened to someone in order for them to get akumatized and who Hawkmoth was and how to take him down. His father had been curious and thought that someone within the city to observe the people might be the smartest and easiest way to gain more data about whatever was happening in Paris. So to Paris Damian had moved.
Originally it had been a burden and he had spotted the cause of the Akumas within the class and even outside of it almost immediately. One Lila Rossi, a horrible actress and liar who had almost everyone wrapped around her finger and pulled the strings that lead to almost all of the Akuma attacks he had witnessed. It all disgusted him. The fact that no one saw through her, no one made the connections and that no one seemed to fact check anything, especially that reporter girl was eating it all up and believing everything the Italian girl said ; it was really sad how gullible a supposedly great journalist was. He was sure that the Kents would be appalled at her horrible journalism - admittedly he was tempted to send Jon a link to the website and tell him to show us mother and video her reaction to send it to him.
Than he had befriended one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the only one of his classmates with a tiny bit of sensibility in them. She was kind, lonely and brave, standing up to Lila despite the glares, hate and isolation it resulted in. He had to admire that about her. Marinette’s friendship with him started out subtlety, so subtlety that even he couldn’t tell it was happening until three months later when he was in her bedroom with her, coaching her spoken English skills. He had to take a moment to compose himself when he realized just how far gone he was.
Than, two months later, Marinette had crashed into his living room, tears streaming down her cheeks, a silver ring in her hands and a red and black creature hugging her cheek and whispering reassurances to her. Damian had his sword drawn, on high alert until he spotted the fragile figure of his best Parisian friend curled up on his leather coach. The moment her heart wrenching sobs registered, he had discarded his weapon and sat down beside her, gently turning her to face him. Thinking quickly about what Grayson would do, he hand pulled the small bluenette against his side and began rocking her back and forth, humming a lullaby that Grayson had taught him from his own childhood.
When he had asked what caused her break down, after he sobs became quite sniffles and the waterfall of tears became a trickle down her face, Marinette had explained that Chat Noir - who was their classmate Adrien Agreste - had gone too far this time and she was forced to take his Miraculous. She curled her hands, which she had kept clutched to her chest up until then, showing him the small silver ring resting on her palm. Damian had pulled her closer once she had told him, however vaguely, what had happened. Ever since he arrived, half a year prior, he had seen how that alley cat acted, how unprofessional and pushy he was. He didn’t take any of attacks seriously and constantly flirted with Ladybug, even though she made it clear on multiple occasions that she wasn’t interested. Honestly, Damian thought he was a pathetic excuse of a hero and learning how he had treated Marinette - who was Ladybug and that should probably have shocked him but it made so much sense he was surprised he didn’t notice before - did not help his view of Agreste, who had stood by and let Lila do whatever she wanted, let her bully and manipulate and lie her way to the top and use their classmates. He had half a mind to beat some sense into that pathetic boy.
But than Marinette had offered him the ring. And he had accepted. After all, Ladybug needed a new partner and Paris needed a new protector and Marinette needed support in her time of need. And so Zili Alqatah (Shadow Cat) was born. He was Ladybug’s new partner and Chat Noir was no where to be found. He was very different from the ‘leather’ clad hero, much more serious and helpful to Ladybug. His hero outfit was layered black fabric, looser but practical pants with black calf boots, black gloves, a green lining to everything and a black cape with a hood that had had cat years on it that cast a shadow that cover the top half of his face, only his neon green feline eyes visible through the darkness. It was a mix of his Robin and League of Assassin outfits’ style and Marinette, the fashion expert, approved of it so he didn’t mind. Besides it was practical and a little comforting to him. He missed doing hero work.
At first there was a lot of scandal surronding the new Black Car miraculous holder, people speculating about the reason. It was such a strange thing, how gossip worthy a new hero was. In Gotham, if a new Bat showed up the general public just shrugged and collectively said ‘whatever’ than moved on like nothing was different. Paris’s tabloids, newspapers, TV channels, blogs, gossip sites, everyone was abuzz with what could have happened. At first he and Marinette had worried Adrien might do something but the next time they saw him, he acted like he didn’t know anything and he really didn’t. His memories were altered to make it seem like he was never Chat Noir and for that they were both grateful. One less thing to worry about.
After the initial transition, after the buzz died down and Paris got used to Zili Alqatah, everything was fine. Hawkmoth was still taking advantage of the citizens, the people still loved the Miraculous Duo and the heroes went on with their days and nights. Though Damian did start training Marinette in more violent martial arts, teaching her what the League if Assassins had taught him. Marinette was strong and could hold her own but she wasn’t confrontational. She looked for openings while defending herself and almost never went on the offensive. That had to change.
So for the next six months, they fell into a new routine, growing closer every day. He didn’t remember that his family was coming to visit during the summer until Grayson showed up at his apartment with dozens of bags, Todd and Drake in tow. He’s eyes widened and he almost slammed the door on them but Grayson pushed his way in, babbling happily. He dropped his bags in the hall that lead to the living room and kitchen than swept Damian into a hug, who didn’t protest anymore, which freaked his other brothers out. A year ago he would have squirmed and yelled to be let go but now he just patted his oldest brother on the back with a monotone greeting.
Todd ruffled his hair and Drake nodded to him before disappearing into the kitchen to make himself a coffee. Unfortunately for him - and to Damian’s great amusement - Marinette had slowly transitioned Damian from coffe to tea and the youngest Wayne no longer had a single grain of coffee in his home. His cry of dispair made Damian cackle.
“So,” Todd was the first to speak once they settled in the living room with mugs of tea, Drake still bemoaning the lack of coffee in Damian’s kitchen, “what’s up with the radio silence Demon Spawn?”
Damian took a sip of his tea before he answered, “Life in Paris is a little chaotic Todd, if you couldn’t already tell. I haven’t had the time to spare to chat about insignificant details of my life. After all, I trust you still received my monthly reports just fine, no?”
Idly, he thought that Marinette would elbow him in the ribs for being so rude to his brothers while trying not to laugh. She found his remarks funny, despite constantly chastising him about being more polite to everyone around them.
“Yeah, but B was getting a little worried. We all were.” Grayson said and while his younger brothers half heartedly tried to deny it. Damian was unconvinced and had to smirk.
“My apologies then.” Damian said, sincerely. He really hadn’t meant to loose touch with his family but being Zili Alqatah has taken up a lot more time than he anticipated and navigating the minefield that was his and Marinette’s classmates without commiting murder a full time job in his opinion.
They spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with one another and Damian’s older brothers were surprised that he didn’t protest or try to weasel his way out of it. In truth, Damian had missed his family and wanted to stay involved with the Family. They caught him up on the latest Gotham Gossip, told him about some of the stranger confrontations they’ve had with Rogues and some of the fun little things the family had done. Damian found he had sourly missed this. It was nice to be with his family again, despite him refusing to voice that sentiment. He had a suspicion his brothers felt the same way.
After it had gotten dark, Damian and his brothers left is apartment and went to the restaurant of The Grande Paris hotel too meet with Bruce, who had been stuck at the Wayne Enterprises building in Paris , meeting with the board to make sure everything was running smoothly. Surprisingly, Damian had hugged Bruce when they arrived and everyone questioned their reality but Damian didn’t act as if anything out of the ordinary had happened so the others followed his example but added that to their mental list of ‘Evidence That Demon Spawn Was Replaced By Aliens/Robots/Demons’.
The evening had gone smoothly right up until the Akuma attack. People were screaming, ducking under the tables, running out of the room and trying to protect their loved ones.
“Get our if here! Now!” Damian yelled at his family, pushing them towards the door as his brothers tried to protest.
“We can take ‘em!” Jason fried to protest but Damian just shoved him harder, making him nearly topple down a flight of stairs.
“No you can not!” The youngest Wayne snarled at them, “wait until Ladybug and Zili Alqatah take care of this and than we can talk.” Than he slammed the door shut, pulling the fire alarm to lock it automatically. He desperately hoped that his family would be smart enough to to interfere. Who was he kidding. They probably would.
“Plagg, I’m screwed.” He whispered as his Kwami floated in front of his face, his luminous green eyes the only thing he could see in the darkness of the supply closet he choose to transform in.
“Yeah you’re Kitten. Yeah you are.” The black Kwami answered with a laugh in his voice
“Alright, what’s bothering you?” Ladybug asked once she tossed her bungee cord into the air and it burst into millions of glowing ladybugs that flew around Paris, fixing all the damage done by the Akuma.
“My family is here. They don’t know but they suspect something is wrong.” Alqatah said, ignoring the beeping of his ring.
“Oh. I’ll come by your place in half an hour with some macarons and cookies okay?” The bluenette offered as she opened the doors to the balcony.
“Alright. Bring a slice or two of cheesecake too.” Alqatah requested as he turned towards the stair way he had shoved his family into. Lucky they hadn’t gotten out yet.
“Will do! Bug out!” Ladybug threw her yo-yo and leapt from the rooftop as Zili Alqatah took a deep breath and opened the door to the stair way.
He closed his eyes as he de transformed in front of his family, speaking before any of his brothers or his father could even open their mouths, “I will explain at home.”
Marinette didn’t like that Damian had to reveal himself to his family but she knew he had no choice. His family was very good at deducing well, everything and it was no use trying to hide anything from them. But she wanted to keep their identities between just the two of them. It made their relationship feel special to her.
Using her key, she opened Damian’s front door, carefully balancing the pastery boxes she brought with her on the palm of her hand. The familiar action helped her slip into their routine, causing her to call down the hallway, “Dami!”
“Yes?” She heard Damian call back distractedly from the living room.
“Do you have tea in the living room or should I put the kettle on?” She yelled as she closed the door behind her and toed off her shoes.
“There is tea here but could you grab one more mug? And utensils?” The holder of the Black Cat miraculous replied.
“Okay, be with you in a moment.” Marinette ducked into the kitchen, grabbing her mug off of the counter and opening a drawer to scoop up a lot more small forks than was strictly needed.
Exiting the kitchen through the door that lead into the living room, she dropped the mug with the forks in it onto the table, carefully placing the pastery boxes down next to it. Flopping down on the sofa next to Damian, she couldn’t help but remark, “you should actually do your dishes once in a while Dami. The pile in the sink is almost as tall as I am!”
Damian opened his mouth to reply to her but was cut off by the surprised and slightly fearful voice of Jason Todd, “What the actual f**k!”
Zili Alqatah’s Family (next)
I’m sorry if the Arabic is wrong, I had to use a translator app😓
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