Posting this because there isn't enough biodad! John Constantine content.
[Masterlist]
(Part 2)
-----
I feel like this should be a Damianette story or just platonic relationship after Jon got aged-up to seventeen and Damian wanted a friend his age but doesn’t want to admit it.
So basically there is this big bad in Gotham using magic that Batman was fighting at the time and enlisted John Constantine to help out.
John realizes that the villain is using a Miraculous.
“Oh. I think I know how he gets his powers. And lucky for you, Bats, I know an expert on this special brand of magic.”
And he did the smart thing and called up Marinette who at the time was already Guardian and was looking for other lost Miraculouses like in the Treasure Hunter AU I wrote.
He calls her at a really bad time. She was in the process of being chased by the guardians of the place. Monsters and evil spirits.
“Hello, Dad. What do you need and can you do it quickly?”
“Hey, sweetheart, it’s me. How is my little cupcake up to these days?”
“You called at a bad time.” Gunshots.
“WAS THAT A GUN I HEARD? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, YOUNG LADY?!”
“Somewhere in Japan. Getting a Miraculous. And why can’t you call me to check in on me and not ask me to help you with whatever mess you got yourself into.” More gunshots sounds and it was telling that Marinette was using a gun.
“Where did you get a gun? And don’t you have school?”
“It’s summer break. Don’t worry Maman and Papa know. Well, the fact that I am in Japan anyways.” Marinette sounded a little out of breath. Roaring and horrifying sounds at the other end. “Can we do this later?”
“As it happens, there is a villain going around Gotham with what I think is a Miraculous.”
Swears on the other end.
“Oi. Watch your fucking language, young lady.”
“How about a No and move the fuck back, old man. I am coming over right now.”
“Old man? I am not that old-” as a magic blue portal opens up in the Bat Cave.
And a red Chinese dragon comes out with someone riding it.
Its rider was a black-haired girl. She had a trench coat similar to Constantine's. I imagine her with a fedora. Like Carmen Sandiego style but not red. Sometimes red but only when she has to steal it from a museum or high security places and she leaves a name card with the name Carmen Sandiego. A sword strapped to her back and a dagger to her thigh.
She had a gun in her hand which she used to shoot the monsters as it was halfway through the portal and yelled out the spell to close it.
“Brilliant entrance but you are in lots of trouble, little lady. What were you thinking about going to another country unsupervised? And isn’t there still a butterfly problem in Paris?”
“One, I wasn’t unsupervised. I had Tikki, a billion years old being and a sort of god. Two.Well, it got boring trying to track Hawk-bitch down. And I found this legend about a guy with a Miraculous who disappeared in the temple and thought hey, more miraculous could mean another edge to defeating Moth-man.”
More bickering and John grounding Marinette who was acting very nonchalant about it.
Okay, at this point, I should say that Batman and Robin are in the background trying to make some sense.
Batman is surprised to find out that Constantine has a daughter who is also involved in magic like her Father but an apparently more specialised kind called the Miraculous. He is a little miffed that he didn’t know about John having a daughter. He did consider it weird at first that she had a slight french accent unlike her father’s Liverpool accent although she pronounced some words like he does.
He also connected some dots that she is also the Parisian heroine, Lady Rouge who Wonder Woman introduced to the League a while back and had declined to join the Young Justice or Teen Titans until everything in Paris was resolved.
Damian on the other hand was suspicious of the new arrival and came to the same conclusion as his father about the daughter thing.
Batman after a few minutes, clears his throat.
The Constantines stop arguing.
“Bonjour. Batman. Robin. Pleasure to meet you. I am Mari Constantine and yes, I am this homeless looking man’s brilliant daughter.” “Hey”
“Well, Mari. Your father thinks you can help us with this new criminal turning Gotham upside down. Literally in some cases. He said that you might be able to help us.” Batman said as he pulled up zoomed in picture of the Miraculous.
Mari looks through the Miraculous grimoire and tells them all about it and power-ups, basically the most effective thing to defeat the guy is to get the Miraculous off them. Plus a spell that would make the Miraculous ineffective if casted within a certain radius of it.
“Thank you for the information, Mari. Constantine, let’s go.”
Mari made to follow them.
“You young lady are grounded and staying here.”
“I don’t need another supervillain using the Miraculous which are my responsibility as Guardian to retrieve them for their own misuse and wreaking havoc on the city. And what if there is an akuma in Paris? I can’t go there if I am grounded in the Batcave although it is a cool place to hang out.”
“You can portal back to Paris but you are not going to follow me. Understood?”
“yes. crystal”
“Good. After me and Batsy get the Miraculous, you can do your Guardian duties.”
Damian snickers. Until Batman cut his mood short, “You are staying behind too. Robin.”
“But Father, why? I am much more capable than Constantine.”
“Hey!” Both father and daughter.
Damian is staying behind too because of the Miraculous power or other reasons and keeps an eye on Mari.
Damian stays behind and there were some protests about mari mad about having a babysitter and Damian doesn’t want to be a babysitter. Despite the two of them being around the same age.
“I got an eye on you so no funny business.”
“Okay, Dad, I am not going to have sex with Robin.” Mari said with a shit- eating grin. Robin definitely didn’t blush.
“I hate you sometimes.”
“I love you too, Dad. Go save the world. Byee.”
John eyes her suspiciously because she is not one to give up that easily usually.
He casts a spell to watch her as they leave. and which she totally knew about.
“So...I have one question.”
“Tt, ask and don’t bother me anymore.”
“Is Batman Bruce Wayne?”
Damian looks up, totally caught off guard.
“I am going to take that as a yes.”
Puts sword at her neck. “How did you find out?!”
“Opened up Google Maps and saw that we are under Wayne Manor. Connected the dots. Also I already knew when Dad made a bet with me once to find out Batman’s secret identity but he never did confirm it for me. And can you please not tell your father about this? I don’t feel like being interrogated by the Bat in the future yet.”
“Father must know about this.”
“I saw you looking at Scarlet here. An animal lover then? You can give her some belly rubs. She deserves it after helping me outrun those monsters.”
His silence was brought. To pet a dragon.
One thing after another and he ends up bringing out his pets-Jerry the turkey, Goliath the dragon-bat, Titus- and her introducing him to her other pets like a hellhound, griffin and other mythical creatures who mostly roam free but come to her when she calls for them and also the kwamis, at least the ones who came with her.
After 30 mins have passed, “So Robin how do you feel about disobeying our fathers?”
“I am in.”
“Depends. Are we going after the (villain's name) ?”
“Yes.”
Awesome montage of them getting rid of the spell John casted and flying out of the Batcave on their respective giant flying pets to the villain’s base.
Meanwhile, their fathers are not doing so well and are trapped in a death trap. John can’t say the spell because the villain made him unable to talk.
“At least, the kids are staying put.”
Cut to Damian and Mari jumping off their pets and onto the roof. Taking out the guards posted there and going into the building all sneakily and also taking out the guards that come their way.
They dropped into the room where their fathers and the villain is.
“Why am I not surprised?”
Villain starts an evil monologue about his mastermind plan to which Damian cuts it short by trying to cut him down with his katana. Mari goes to deactivate the death trap.
They are evenly matched with Damian’s training and the Miraculous.
Mari steps in as Damian was about to be killed. Taps on the shoulder of the villain and when he turns around, gives an awesome right hook that knocks him out.
Takes away the Miraculous and curses him. Wiped the dude’s memories of it.
“When I said stay in the Batcave, I meant stay behind at the Batcave. What point of being grounded, don’t you understand?”
“You mean, Oh, Mari, light of my life, my wonderful daughter, thank you for saving my ass. You are the best.’ by that, right?”
-----
Mari and Damian exchanged numbers and email addresses.
As she was about to leave the Batcave, “It’s been nice meeting you, Mr. Wayne.” and leaves with a wink.
John ‘ungrounds’ her for the look on Batman’s face.
-----
After this, Marinette and Damian become friends who bitch and vent to each other about their alter egos and various villains of their respective cities. (In codes, just in case) They also share updates about their pets and love of drawings.
They have that type of friendship where they trade favors. Mari calls Damian to Paris sometimes to help out with the akuma of the day and Damian sometimes calls her in when Bruce doesn’t let him go investigate a case so he can sneak out by magical means or as back up for when his brothers were too annoying to deal with.
It’s summer break so no missing school.
John and Bruce are aware of their friendship and some of the shenanigans the pair gets into behind their back.
-----
-----
Right. how this all started...
John and Sabine first met when the latter was still in college somewhere in France. John was tracking down a demonic entity which was targeting Sabine for some reason and she was the next target.
John saved her life and exorcised the demon. There was a heat of the moment thing and they had a one-night stand. There were a few more flings and hook-ups after that night.
And nine months later, Marinette Cheryl Cheng-Constantine was born.
When Sabine first found out, she called John to come over and he thought that it was a call for another hook-up and was very surprised to find out that it was not and that he was going to be a father.
They both like each other but do not want to be in a relationship together so they both remained as friends and John agreed after some strong-arming at the very least to meet his daughter before he goes to do his job. And pay for child support. And help Sabine during her pregnancy.
Pregnant Sabine was someone you don’t want to mess with. And John has never met a demon or anyone scarier than her.
He was at first not into meeting his child and there was a self-pity party he threw himself with how the child was going to live a bad life because he was the dad and how he destroyed every good thing in his life.
That’s why he is going to meet the baby once and leave maybe a letter and the occasional birthday present and stay out of their life. Forever.
The day Marinette was born and it took one look into her eyes for the HellBlazer to fall under the spell and all of his plans to stay out of her life to burn away.
At first, he tried. He really tried but he couldn’t do it.
Lasted 4 months before he came back, wanting to place protection spells on her and sigils around the house to keep away the forces of Heaven and Hell and other entities so they won’t use her against him as a bargaining chip.
Sabine calls him to babysit. He could have refused and Sabine would have easily found a babysitter. He moans and whines about how he is a great mage and not a bloody babysitter. Sabine retorts that it is actually called parenting since he is Marinette’s father. He grumbles but in the end, agrees.
The great John Constantine is wrapped around the little girl’s finger.
He was around for some of Marinette’s firsts. Her first word was “John”.
It made him cry. He wasn’t a good man and he doesn’t deserve someone this precious. His daughter doesn’t deserve someone like him as a father but fate made it that way and what can you do about it.
After an exhausting week of doing the usual and coming back from Hell, he saw that Sabine had sent him a video. It was Marinette taking her first steps.
Chas swears that in all the years that he has known John Constantine he has never seen the man look so happy.
------
When Tom came into the picture, John was there to take care of a toddler Marinette while Tom and Sabine went on dates.
Insert John threatening a much bigger Tom while holding a baby Marinette with wide eyes and hugging a teddy bear with the same coat as John’s. (It was something Sabine brought on a whim and to tease John when he came around.)
Tom is supportive and treats Marinette like his own flesh and blood.
John resolved to leave for good now that Tom would be there to be a father figure for Marinette.
That plan fell into the drain the moment he was going to leave for what was supposed to be the last time before Sabine pulled him back and knocked some sense into him.
His face was a big giveaway. Sabine knows that despite his claims of being a terrible father for Marinette, he was a good one and damnit she was going to make sure that Marinette would get to know her actual father.
Tom later made an awkward talk with John about how he was not going to replace John’s role as Marinette’s father.
Marinette was the flower girl at Tom and Sabine’s wedding. John was there too.
During bedtime, John would read her stories and use his magic to make it come to life. Although he would feel a little drained afterwards, it was worth it to see her smile.
Sometimes he told stories about his tamer adventures. (After cutting out some of the inappropriate bits)
------
When Marinette was about 5 or 6, Sabine was out on an errand and Tom was at home with Mari and helping her with her homework. There was a crash downstairs at the bakery. Tom went down to check it out to find John lying on the ground.
With a weak cough, he said, “Close the door. Close it.” Before losing consciousness
Tom did before a man with pitch black eyes slammed against it.
Thankfully John had installed heavy wards around the bakery when it first opened.
They held against the demon on John’s tail. Tom brought John inside and unsure of what to do, grabbed a rolling pin on the counter.
The man outside started pounding on the glass door and every time his hands touched the door, light glowed outwards, showing the invisible magic barrier around the bakery. Sparks and steams fizzled with every pound.
Despite the reddening and burns of his hands, the not-human didn’t slow down.
“ʝօɦռ....ʏօʊ ӄռօա ȶɦǟȶ ɨȶ'ֆ օռʟʏ ǟ ʍǟȶȶɛʀ օʄ ȶɨʍɛ ɮɛʄօʀɛ ɨ ɮʀɛǟӄ ȶɦʀօʊɢɦ ȶɦɛֆɛ աǟʀɖֆ. օռƈɛ ɨ ɢɛȶ ʏօʊ,” He laughs, the sound sends chills down the large man’s spine, “ȶɦɛʀɛ ǟʀɛ ֆօ ʍǟռʏ ȶɦɨռɢֆ ɨ ɦǟʋɛ քʟǟռռɛɖ ʄօʀ ʏօʊ.”
Tom knew that Marinette’s father was a con man. Come on, Master and Practitioner of the Dark Arts and Occult. But he was a good father nonetheless despite all his flaws and Sabine liked him enough so that was good enough for him.
Before today, magic was just the sleight of hands and use of fancy tools to sell the illusions. Now, with a could-be-a-demon knocking on his door to get to the father of the girl he sees as his daughter, he’s not so sure.
“Tom? Qu'est-ce qui se passe? (What’s going on?)” A little voice came from the stairs, “Dad!” Marinette padded across the floor to the body of her passed out father.
She shook him awake and there were a few soft slaps to the face.
“Dad, what’s happened?”
John mumbles, “Demon…. possessing some rich guy….. Exorcism…. Doesn’t like me very much…Don’t worry...wards going to hold.”
John manages to stand before falling down and Tom catches him before he hits the floor. He has a concussion. Tom turns to Marinette, “Go, Hide and don’t come out until It’s safe.” which she did
Unfortunately, a while later, Sabine returns from her night out and the demon upon seeing Sabine. “ɛӼƈɛʟʟɛռȶ..”
The demon possessed Sabine and the previously possessed dude hit the sidewalk with a thud.
“ɨռȶɛʀɛֆȶɨռɢ....” The voice coming out of Sabine didn’t sound like her mother which scared Marinette a lot. “օքɛռ ȶɦɨֆ ɖօօʀ օʀ,”the demon pulled a knife out of thin air, ,“ȶɦɨֆ ɮօɖʏ ɢɛȶֆ ɨȶ.”
Tom hesitated until the demon put the knife on Sabine’s neck and put enough force for a thin line of blood to be shown.
He opens the door and the demon knocks him out. Stepping over his unconscious body and looking down on it, “ʄօʀ ȶɦǟȶ, ɨ ǟʍ ɢօɨռɢ ȶօ ʟɛȶ ʏօʊ ʟɨʋɛ ʊռȶɨʟ ɨ ǟʍ ɖօռɛ աɨȶɦ ʝօɦռ, օʄ ƈօʊʀֆɛ.” and cackles. The sound was so wrong and unnerving and little Marinette tried very hard for her sobs not to be heard.
Too bad the demon had super hearing. “Come out, my little blossom. Maman is home. Why don’t you come out and give me a hug?”
It sounded so much like her mother and she nearly believed that it was her mother and not some entity in control of her body.
But she knew better from John’s stories of dealing with demons and how they would use the voice of loved ones to lure them out and into a trap. (Definitely not something one should tell as a bedtime story but Marinette was very different and had an unconventional childhood with John Constantine as her father.)
Wait...she got struck with an idea but she wasn’t sure if it would work.
Before she could do anything, the door of the cabinet she was hiding in was opened and she was dragged out.
The demon lifted her a few feet above the ground by the collar of her dress.
“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica.” Marinette was now screaming the words at the top of her lungs. She repeated the spell over and over again with fierce determination.
John, being his paranoid self, taught her the spell for an exorcism, just in case. Demons spared no one, not even a girl.
It screamed “NO….” as Sabine’s body contorted in strange angles before a dark shadow seemed to be dragged down into the ground. It made a desperate attempt to possess John before it was pulled away and disappeared. There was no sign that there was a demon attack.
After John woke up, he managed to piece together that his 5-years-old (Sorry 5 and a half) daughter sent a demon back to hell.
He was a very proud dad. (He was a tad worried about the consequences from this event and demons hold one hell of a grudge. He wanted his daughter to live a very safe and happy life. The bakery’s wards also need an upgrade.)
He also got the job of explaining what he actually did to Tom. And lots of reassuring.
Sabine, on one hand, was not happy that Marinette knew how to do magic. That is until John told her that he did it just in case so she can protect herself and later it was agreed that Marinette can learn some Magic spells and charms to better protect herself and when she is older, she can decide if she wants to continue or not.
And he just spent hours with the most beautiful girl in the world
And all that was ruined because his brothers don't have lives of their own apparently
Heck Grayson had a wife waiting for him back in Jump, but he wasting his time here
Damian glared at his brothers and tried to pull Marinette away from them
But failed when he felt tug on the back of his shirt
Jason: Not so fast Demon Spawn aren't you going to introduce us to your little friend here
Damian growled at his older brother and was going to tell him to shove it when Marinette interrupted
Marinette: Hi I'm Marinette and this is Captain
Dick grabbed Marinette's hand: Hello there little lady, I'm Dick, but you probably already knew that
Tim: Hey I'm Tim
Jason: And I'm Jason we're Demon Spawn's brothers
Marinette: I'm glad to meet you. I've heard a lot about you all
Tim: Awwww you talked about us Dami. I'm touched.
Damian: Yes I've talked about you, you coffee attic, now that you've met her you can leave.
Damian tries once again to leave with Marinette
Dick: Dont be so rude baby bird. It's great to properly meet you Marinette. Damian won't shut up about you
Damian face went red
Marinette giggling: Oh really?
Jason: Honestly he talks about none stop.
Tim: Okay let's stop teasing him, before he burst into flames
Damian: okay if you guys are done embarrassing me. Marinette and I are on our way to lunch
Dick: Why not bring her to the Manor? Alfred makes the best food.
Damian: I don't know if I was a good idea
Tim: Ahh don't hog Marinette all to yourself
Marinette whispering in Damian's ear: I won't mind if we do go, I would love to get ti know your family more.
Damian: Okay let's head to the Manor, just give Alfred a heads up
Jason: Of course
As they waited in a near by park, the other bat boys tried to endear themselves to Captain
But Captain was having none of it
One strange boy hanging around his girl was enough thank you very much
Ace found that hilarious
Jason: Aw come on Captain you won't even look at me?
Captain just huffs and turns is back to Jason
Jason: Oh come on!
Marinette and Damian was laughing at the display
Jason acting hurt and over dramatic: Why must you laugh at my pain?
Marinette: Sorry most of the time it takes a while for Captain to warm up to people
Right as Marinette was saying this Captain trotting up to Damian and butted his hand asking for a pet
Damian of course obliged giving Jason a smug smirk
Jason: Oh shut up Demon Spawn
Soon Alfred came to pick them up and took them to the Manor
When they got there they were met by Bruce
Damian: Father? I was not aware you were home?
Bruce: Yes I decided to take lunch here today
Bruce turned to the girl under Damian's arm: You must be Marinette. I'm Damian's father Bruce, it's great to meet you
Marinette: It's great to meet you too.
Lunch was spent teasing Damain and getting to know Marinette more.
The whole family had a great time talking and joking and embarrassing Damian
And Captain even let Alfred pet him
He respected how good an Alpha Alfred was
The doggos (a/n: I can hear Captain growling at me for calling him that) was roaming the grounds
Titus and Ace introduced Captain to Batcow and Alfred the cat
And spent the rest of the afternoon playing
Marinette had a wonderful time at the Manor, after lunch the boys gave Marinette and tour of the Manor, and Damian gave her a private tour of the gardens.
As they watched the sunset over the horizon, Marinette and Damian shared their first kiss.
It was so sweet and innocent
Damian gazing into Marinette's eyes: Mari is it okay if I kiss you
Marinette giving him a dazzling smile: Yes.
Their lips connected and they both felt fireworks
Damian would have loved to stay there like that forever or at least for a couple more minutes, but the couple was pushed away from eachother by Captain
Marinette: Aw Captain
Marinette put her arms around Captain giving him a nice little cuddle
Damian gave a little glare at Captain, but it was soon melted into a smile as Damian also gave Captain a little pet
Damian once again dropped Marinette and Captain off at their hotel
Marinette and Damian shared one last kiss good night, before Marinette and Captain headed inside
Marinette: Good night Damian, I'll see you again in a couple of days
Damian: I wish it could be sooner, but yes. I'll make sure to text you when I get home
Marinette: Please do
That night the pair of young lovers laid in their beds goody smiles on their faces as they thought of each other and imaging the future they could have together.
But I also have bad news. I have a very severe case of writer's block with this particular fic and have exams in next month. So I decided to put this on hiatus for the foreseeable future. I really want to finish this and I have some ideas on how to continue but I just don't know how to move this forward. I do want to finish this since it is my first official fic I have posted here.
Thank you everyone who has been following this story so far and for being so patience. There is some good news. I have Chapter 10 half-written and will post it some time if I ever finish it. Love you guys.
[Masterlist]
(Part 1)(Part 8)
------
(Words in English is bold)
Chloe watched the scene unfolding in front of the entire school. Marinette and her ‘fake’ boyfriend were ‘tearfully’ saying goodbye. There were a lot of ‘I will miss yous.’, promises and some tears. Honestly, at this point, she was hoping for them to have their tongues down each other's throats. But both of them are too stubborn to admit that they actually like each other. They would be a very cute couple if they actually dated. Fuck that curse that makes them ‘fall in love with each other’. Like it was some Harry Potter bullshit.
Luka even said that their melodies harmonise with each other. That is a sign that they would make the ultimate couple. But no…. Both of them were too stubborn.
If only those two stop dancing around each other.
At least, Tim was still going to be in Paris to help the Miraculous Team’s search for Hawkmoth. The past week had been spent catching up on each other’s life, complaining about hero (vigilante) work and narrowing down the suspect list for Hawkmoth. So far everything has been pointing towards Gabriel Agreste. It would be hilarious if Hawkmoth had had the Black Cat Miraculous under his nose for over a year.
Damian and Marinette had finally finished their act and-
Holy Shit! This must be a dream.
They were kissing.
Full-on lip-locking in front of the entire school.
And where the hell is her phone?!
Chloe frantically looked through her bag. This was a certain possibility that Chloe was hoping would happen when Damian volunteered to be tribute. She needed proof that her ship had sailed and rubbed it in Tim’s face that she had won the bet. (He claims to know his brother and said that his younger brother would never kiss Marinette for the sake of an act.) When her yellow phone emerged from the bottomless pit that was her bag, he was already gone on his way to Gotham. She hoped at least someone got a picture of the kiss. She was not letting Marinette live this down.
--------
“Hey, before I go, Dupain-Cheng, you are tolerable and I wouldn't mind having you as my bride.” Damian said in a low voice. Which sent some shivers through Marinette. It was illegal to sound that sexy.
“Well-,” Marinette cleared her throat as her voice came out in a higher pitch than intended. “Well, you were an amazing fake boyfriend, even if it was for a week and thank you for doing this. Shame that I never got to kiss the Damian Al Ghul Wayne.” She teased.
Damian’s ears tip turned red to which Marinette was proud of until the blood son of Bruce Wayne smirked, looking towards the courtyard where many students were gathered to see the couple’s goodbye.
“We have to fix that, won't we?”
He proceeded to kiss her.
Marinette froze in shock at the contact before her brain kicked in and she began moving her lips against his.
It ended too soon for both their liking.
“You bastard.” Marinette hissed while their foreheads touched each other.
“True. Um... Goodbye, Dupain-Cheng. I have a flight to catch.” Damian said before he got into the car taking him to the airport. His cheeks were flushed. The same went for Marinette.
Marinette admittedly was still very dazed and in a blissful state of mind. Absent-mindedly waving goodbye to the spot where the car was. Damian Wayne was one hell of a kisser. And that bastard had to do it in front of the entire school. How was she supposed to not fall in love after that mind-blowing kiss?!
She wasn’t sure if she would be able to concentrate in class today. (Not that it mattered. She already knows all of the material. She has a few PhDs under her belt and is currently taking some online college courses. Her new role as Ladybug had made her unable to take as many courses as she would have liked in the recent years.)
She was broken out of her state by Chloe and Alix swinging their arms around each of her shoulders.
“Soooo,” Alix began with a teasing smirk “How was it?”
“How was what?”
“Mari-bug, how much did you enjoy your goodbye present? I swear that the entire courtyard got hotter.” Chloe said with too much glee and a glint in her eye which Marinette didn’t like.
“You guys see me kiss Damian all the time. So what if our last kiss before we see each other in person again got a little out of hand?” Marinette tried to shrug it off nonchalantly. Hopefully, the class wouldn’t question the fact that she hadn’t kissed Damian at all until today and Chloe’s insane plan to get Adrien off her back worked. He hasn’t approached her at all since he had tried to prove that Damian was trying to cheat on her with Lila of all people.
Chloe was going to be smug for days over the fact that her plan worked.
“Anyways, we are still on for tonight, right?”
“Yes, Marinette, stop worrying. We will be there. And Tim is getting close to finding well... you-know-who.”
“Who? Who are you trying to find?” The unwanted voice cuts in.
The trio rolled their eyes and proceeded to ignore the orange-clad Liar, switching the topics to Chloe’s mother up-coming fashion show. (Alix just nodded along and hemmed and hawed where appropriate. Pretending to understand the difference between different fabrics and styles.)
“Hey! I was asking you. Who is this you-know-who that you were trying to find?” She blocked their path. They were plotting something for sure. She just has to find out what.
“None of your business, Rossi.” Chloe snapped.
Lila started tearing up, “But I jus- just wanted to ask a question. I- I am sorry if I disturbed you.”
“Lila asked you a question. No need to be so rude about it.” Alya joined in, sneering.
“Well, she was very rudely interrupting our conversation, Alya.” Marinette pointed out.
“Lila is just very sensitive and you made her cry.” Alya said as she comforted the Italian. “You guys are the biggest bully ever to make her cry like this. She asked a question. No need to get so defensive over it. Just answer it.”
The trio resisted to roll their eyes.
Just another day of dealing with Lila’s bullshit and the class’s herd mentality.
---------
Someone knocked on the door of Tim’s room in the Wayne Penthouse. (Room was too generous a word. It was more of a no man’s land after a tornado had gone through it with computer screens everywhere set up like a command centre.)
“Jason, for the last time, I don’t know where your guns are. Don’t you have like trackers on them- oh. Hey, Chloe. Marinette.”
The two Parisian girls came in and made their way through no man’s land, trying to not to step on the mess on the floor. Along with them came the tantalizing aroma of coffee.
Marinette offered Tim the cup of coffee to which he perked up. He snatched it and took a sip, instantly feeling energized.
“Woah, where did you get this?”
“It’s Marinette’s special brew. She makes it when she has lots of commissions or when the finals are coming up. Honestly, I don’t know how she ingests the stuff. It would be better if she sleeps instead.” Chloe replied as she removed some of the things on his bed and made herself comfortable.
“Sleep for the weak, Chloe and it’s normal coffee with some magic infused in it to give me a boost.” Marinette retorted as she sat beside Chloe.
“Normal for you maybe. That stuff has the maximum amount of espresso shots legally allowed.”
Tim took another sip of the nectar of the gods (Marinette mentioned that Kwamis were a little like gods, right? If some of their magic is used in this coffee, then coffee is truly the nectar of the gods.),“You are my most favourite person on the planet right now. (Kon was off-planet) This is Heaven, Paradise and every good thing in the world in a cup. You are my new bestie.”
“You have to fight Queenie for the title and it’s nothing. I thought you might need it. This is the least I can do for all your help.”
“Well, your theory seems to check out,” Tim replied, “You said the Butterfly and Peacock brooches were lost in Tibet years ago, right? Gabriel Agreste and Emilie Graham De Vanily, his then girlfriend and now ‘late’ wife, were there on their around-the-world trip and one of their stops happened to be Tibet, specifically the area where you said the Miracle Temple would be. And I matched up the lack of akuma attacks with the periods of time when Agreste was out of town. It mostly matches up although there are a few inconsistencies. It’s possible that Mayura was using the Butterfly during that time to throw us off track because his assistant and the top suspect for Mayura, Natalie Sancouer, had stayed behind during those trips when the akuma attacks happened. At least, that’s the theory. I also found something you might find interesting in the blueprints of the Agreste Mansion.”
Tim tapped on his keyboard a few times, pulling up the plans for a butterfly window and an underground lair on one of the screens before showing the two girls.
“The workers were paid off to keep this a secret. Oracle, our resident tech genius back in Gotham, found something else too. A few months before Hawkmoth’s first debut, Gabriel Agreste purchased everything necessary for a butterfly garden. There are also a lot of receipts for butterflies which I bet is how he has a constant supply of akumas.”
“So either Gabriel is secretly a butterfly enthusiast or he is Hawkmoth.” Marinette groaned at how the man didn't know the meaning of subtle, “How have we not caught him yet?”
Chloe side-hugged the ravenette, “He’s a coward that doesn’t come out of his dark hole that often because he knows you would utterly destroy him when he does appear and you are not preoccupied with saving Paris. I mean your mother is an assassin for crying out loud.”
“Yeah, I would.” Marinette absent-mindedly nodded in agreement before stiffening as she realized what Chloe said.
Marinette went out of her embrace and looked at her with a sharp look, “Wait. What did you just say, Chloe?”
Chloe scoffed, “Don’t try denying it, Dupain-Cheng. The room full of weapons your family has, how good at martial arts your mom is, how you don’t flinch at the sight of blood.” She listed off the reasons with her fingers.
“That- That doesn’t mean anything and there are perfectly reasonable explanations for them-” Marinette denied.
“And you really should be careful when you talk about things that are supposed to be secrets in public places. I know and understand Japanese too, Mari-bug. I heard you and Damian talking about having assassins for mothers on one of your ‘dates’.” Chloe smugly said.
Marinette sighed and flopped onto Tim’s comfortable bed, knowing there’s no point in keeping Chloe from snooping further into her family business.
“As long as you don’t go around telling the others about my family secret, I won’t have to cut out your tongue.”
“Or your fingers,” she added as an afterthought as she brought out her hidden switchblade and started playing with it. “And remember that I am good with needles and threads and know how to hold someone down while sewing their mouth shut.” She pointed her blade in Chloe’s direction.
Chloe nervously moved away from the bed, closer to Tim and hid her hands under her legs. Tim scooted away not wanting to be near a possible dead-woman walking, childhood promises be damned. He lived with assassins for siblings, and knows that threats like that are very real.
“You are joking, right?” The blonde said. “I mean, I did apologize for bullying you all those years ago. We are friends now.”
“Maman takes her secrets seriously, especially this one. But I think she trusts you enough to keep something as important as this. Although you did just say it in front of Tim. Superhero or- Sorry I mean Vigilante or not, that is not something you should casually bring up in a conversation in front of anyone.”
“You can tell Mama Cheng that I am not going to do that anymore. And I will take this secret to my grave. Promise.”
“You better or you get into it earlier than you think. So Tim, I don’t know you very well but can I trust you to keep my family secret as well?”
Tim didn’t like the way she was looking at him. He tried not to show how unnerved he was with the look in her eye. He had faced many different villains and psychopaths. Something tells him that Marinette was better to have as an ally than an enemy.
“Yeah. Yes. Definitely. I would very much like to keep my tongue and my fingers.” He quickly replied. He was also not willing to lose any more of his body parts. Thank you very much.
“Great, now that’s settled.” Marinette put away her switchblade and clasped her hand in front of her, all the while with a smirk on her face that would not bode well for Hawkmoth. (Somewhere across Paris in his mansion, Gabriel felt a chill run up his spine.)
