"You should take her to that café on Fifth Ave." Jon declared, "She loves sweets and they serve a variety of tea there. It's perfect!"
"Marinette, remember to be courteous of his diet." Kagami spoke, "Don't go anywhere there are few options."
"I think Damian is picking the place this time so that won't be a problem." Marinette replied.
"Is that seriously what you're wearing?" Jon shouted.
"What is wrong with my outfit?" Damian questioned.
"Oh, nothing." Jon snarled, "It's just your usual suit. It's a date, Damian! You're not going to a gala; dress down, like if we were going somewhere."
Damian rolled his eyes and walked back into his closet.
"I have the perfect outfit for you!" Adrien shouted, pulling out the viral strawberry dress, "It's perfect!"
"Adrien, I really don't think-" Mari began to refuse.
"It's spring. You look great in pink and as a designer can you really refuse?" he countered.
Marinette sighed and grabbed the dress.
"Make sure you wear your red bow heels." he shouted.
"What?" Marinette yelled, "No way!"
"Are you going to wear your converse and clash." Adrien smirked.
Mari growled and went back into her room.
"Hurry up!" he called back, "I'm doing your hair and make up, too."
Marinette couldn't help but feel utterly ridiculous right now.
'How did I let Adrien talk me into dressing up like this? I feel so stupid right now!'
Marinette smiled, embarrassed, as she waved to Damian.
'Jon, I'm going to kill you.'
Damian took in Marinette's appearance and felt completely underdressed. She was wearing a short pink dress with flowing sleeves with strawberries and Jon had convinced him to come in jeans! Marinette was wearing heels; she never wear heels! Damian was already thinking which piece of kryptonite he was going to use to kill his best friend with.
Marinette looked around the tiny café. It was definetely something new. They had never eaten there before. She could see stands her family used for cupcakes, but these had.....sandwiches?
Damian gulped as she looked around. She seemed excited.
'Maybe Jon was right; I'll just maim him.'
'I never thought Damian would like these kind of things. This place reminds me of the galas he always complains about. He told me he hated finger food so why are we here? Did I say something to make him think I would like this? Is this because I told him I want jalapenos on the veggie pizza last time?'
"I apologize for being underdressed, Marinette." Damian spoke.
"Are you kidding?" Marinette questioned, "I feel overdressed. Adrien suggested this outfit."
"Jon suggested mine." he admitted.
Marinete giggled, "What else did Jon suggest?"
"Coming here." Damian admitted.
"Seriously?" Marinette asked, "How about we split a veggie pizza? I'm buying."
Damian stood up quickly and rushed to pay. Marinette just giggled at his urgency.
'I knew he didn't like this place.'
"So, did Agreste suggest the hair, too?" he questioned, looking at her hair in space buns.
"Yeah." Mari spoke, " He insisted. He said something about wanting to style my hair like this for awhile and how he needed it to be long enough."
"That I don't mind." Damian stated, "Although, I'm sure you are eager to get out of those heels."
As Damian drove them over to her apartment, Marinette texted Adrien and Kagami. She lied and said the date had been a disaster and she was at home. The moment they arrived, Damian texted Jon saying there had been an accident at the café and he desperately needed a change of clothes. He told him they had gone to her place as it was closer to the café.
Damian quickly hid in her room and Marinette sat on the couch facing the door. She buried her face in her hands as she heard footsteps pounding the hallways like a stampede. Her front door was thrown open.
"What happened?" Adrien shouted.
"I have my blade!" Kagami cried, holding it up in the air.
Almost instantly, Jon barreled into them shouting, "I have clothes!"
"Ow." Adrien winced, "Jon?"
"Who is he?" the fencer demanded.
They turned to Marinette for answers, only to see her glaring at them. They hadn't even heard her get up from the couch.
"Sit down; now!" she demanded.
Jon had never seen Marinette pissed off, but Adrien had.
'Not good!'
Adrien quickly grabbed Kagami's arm and pulled her to sit down where Mari had been. Jon wasn't sure what was going on, but he rushed to sit next to the others.
"You can come out now." Mari called out and Damian walked out.
"Hey!" Jon whined, "You said-"
Damian grabbed the clothes out of his friends arms and went back to his girlfriend's room.
"All three of you made this date a disaster." Marinette claimed.
"But-"
"We didn't know where we were going so we were dressed horribly." Marinette stated, "As a fashion designer that is a huge no in my books. While I don't mind Damian dressed casual, it would be fine if we were going to the mall, the movies, or a shopping date. I'm wearing a $200 dress that you insisted I wear."
"But you look so cute!" Adrien defended himself.
"I'm in heels, Adrien!" Mari shouted back.
Kagami even looked at him, like he lost his mind.
"You had us go to a tea shop." she spoke, pointing to Jon.
"Damian likes tea and you like sweets." Jon shrugged.
Kagami sighed, "She grew up in a bakery. She bakes all the time. Marinette probably has five different types of bread or sweets in her kitchen, right now."
"While it's great you thought of both of us, they have specials on certain days. They were serving roast beef sandwiches today." Marinette explained.
"Oh." Jon whispered, sinking lower into his seat, praying that Batcow would forgive him.
Damian walked out of the room and took Marinette's spot as she walked into her room.
"Where did you get these ideas?" Damian demanded.
"Manga." they all answered.
Marinette walked out of her room in a new change of clothes. She kept her hair down, but was red crop top and black short. She had even traded in red heels for some white converse high tops.
"So?" Mari questioned.
"Manga." Damian answered.
Marinette facepalmed, "Swap mangas or something, but next time you want to give advice, make sure everyone has read it. Also, make sure you all agree with it."
Kagami pouted, "So, I don't need my blade, right now."
"No, Kagami." Mari responded.
"Fine." the fencer replied, sheathing it away.
"I'm sorry, Mari." Adrien spoke first.
"I'm sorry, Damian." Jon declared, " I was only trying to help."
"As was I." Kagami stated.
Mari smiled and grabbed Damian's hand, " Alright, well, now that that is over with; let's go."
"Where are you going?" Kagami questioned.
"We're gonna go on a pizza date." Marinette answered.
Damian spoke, "We are picking it up and then heading to my place to watch movies."
"It sounds boring." Huffs Adrien.
Mari stuck out her tongue at him and turned back to her boyfriend, "It sounds perfect."
The trio of friends pouted as all their hard work went to waste.
'Weirdos.'
As the couple walked out of Marinette's apartment, the three new friends began to go over what manga they had fixated on for the date and others they had read.
AN: Hey look, I'm back!!! I hope you guys are ready for this next part of the IKEA Verse. It's a three-parter from Bruce's POV. I had so much fun with this and am glad to be back writing for this universe. Hope y'all enjoy it!
Chapter 1
Staring out across a purple and umber field, three moons hanging low on the horizon, and an approaching alien army marching ever closer from a distance, Bruce feels a headache forming along the base of his skull.
And he’s very sure it’s not because of the army.
Normally, he keeps his emotions as dampened as possible, especially while in the suit, but it’s only him, Clark, and Diana standing guard in this watchtower. He hasn’t slept more than twelve hours in the past four days, and he deserves to grumble a bit about an impending stress headache.
He pulls down his cowl, rubbing aching temples with glove-clad hands.
“You feeling okay?” Clark asks, like the mother hen he pretends not to be.
“No,” Bruce grunts.
“It’s only an army, gentlemen. We’ve faced worse before,” Diana says from her seat. She repetitively, one might almost say nervously, sharpens a pair of knives Bruce swears were already so finely edged they could cut air, but he won’t mention that to the armed warrior princess.
“I’m not worried about the army. We’ll be fine.” Bruised, battered, and bloodied perhaps, but they’ll be fine.
Clark tilts his head, looking like a human, non-yellow version of Big Bird. “So why the headache?”
Bruce sighs. “My children are doing something stupid.”
Clark and Diana look at him askance.
He has categories for his headaches. They are all distinct, so much so he named them according to the type of situations they arise from. The Situation-has-gone-to-shit headache, the Joker-has-escaped-Arkham-again headache, or, a personal favorite, the Press-are-being-stupid headache.
This particular headache is a slow build. Bubbling at the base of his neck and slithering its way into his temples. It pounds in time to his heart and sends a feeling of nausea down his gullet.
It’s his My-children-have-done-something-stupid-and-the-consequences-have-spiraled-out-of-control headache.
It was one he was very familiar with.
“How- but… they’re on Earth,” says Clark in confusion. “Did you get like, a text or something?”
“No,” Bruce says plainly. His headaches never lie. He bet if he calls right now, they would either not pick up at all, or they would, and utter chaos would be occurring on his home planet more than several million miles away. Where he can’t do anything.
This is why the headache warning is completely impractical and unneeded.
“Then how do you know?” Diana asks.
“I always know.” They’ve worked with him for long enough, they should already know this.
Clark shakes his head. “It’s not that I don’t believe you about the headache B, but isn’t it more likely it’s just from stress and lack of sleep. None of us are as young as we used to be.”
“Speak for yourselves, mortals,” Diana says with a half-hearted smile. Her immortality was an ever-lingering shadow over her friendships. It didn’t stop her from making friends though.
“Well, we can’t all be perfect immortal warrior princesses,” Clark responds with a smile. He places a hand on her shoulder and gives it a squeeze. A silent acknowledgment they were all still there. Together.
For now.
Bruce shoots them both an unimpressed stare. “If it was just from stress and sleep deprivation I would be able to handle it.” Plus, that headache is completely different from this one, he knows what his Lack-of-sleep-too-much-stress headache feels like, but this isn’t it. “No, it’s specifically the headache I get when my children are causing problems.” He sighs, pulling out his interstellar communicator. He really should focus on the approaching alien army, but he can at least set the groundwork for dealing with whatever problem has arisen when he gets back.
He shoots Alfred a text letting him know about the headache, and to locate his children as soon as possible.
Had he known this would be the case all those years ago when he first adopted Dick… well, he still probably would have done it. He loves all his kids to the moon and back. Headaches and all.
“I don’t get headaches about my kids,” Clark grumbles. He pauses, thinking. “At least not before I’m sure they’re causing trouble.”
“That’s because your kids don’t cause trouble the same way mine do,” says Bruce, thinking of the unique and eclectic skill sets each of his children possessed. Yes, much more potential danger-making than two kids with superpowers. “I need the early warning system.”
A screeching alarm sounds on one of the monitors. Bruce checks it. The approaching army’s scouting parties finally arrive in range of their volleying.
“Ready?” he asks, pulling up his cowl. All frustrations and weaknesses melting away. This is serious.
Diana stands, sheathing the knives, and poses herself to leap into action. “Verily. Let’s show this scum who not to mess with.”
Clark comes over and places a hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “You sure you’ll be good?” Bruce only gives a silent glare back. He’s fought on broken bones and with poison running through his veins. A headache is child’s play. “Alright, alright just making sure. Let’s get this over with and get home, so you can deal with whatever mess your children have created.”
“Perhaps, it won’t be so bad,” muses Diana, winding up her lasso, as their first enemy comes into range. “Your children are smart and creative warriors. Certainly, they can rescue themselves out of whatever trouble they’ve risen.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about them getting out of trouble,” says Bruce. He’s trained them better than that. “I’m worried about anyone else who might get caught up in the chaos.”
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Clark reassures. “They’re good kids.” He shoots down an enemy drone ship with a blast of laser vision. “What’s the worst they could do?”
Another shiver rolls down Bruce’s spine. Oh, he’s sure it could get very, very bad. After all, he’s trained them. But considering a giant alien tank, covered in spikes, and lobbing explosive mortars drops down thirty feet away, he feels Clark’s last comment, in all its misguided naiveté, deserves to go unanswered.
He’ll deal with whatever chaos his children have concocted when he’s back on earth.
0o0o0o0o0 (line break) 0o0o0o0o0
A day and a half later the aliens are defeated and the reigning government properly reinstated. The Justice League, given their due thanks and medical assistance, board back onto their ship and settle in for a long interstellar trip back to the Watchtower. By the time medical clears him, Bruce is barely able to keep his eyes open. When he finally beams down from the Watchtower, it is so late it’s inching on early.
Thankfully, no one’s in the cave when he arrives. His chest is bandaged, and his concussion is minor, but he’s in no mood to deal with people. He strips out of his suit and takes a hot shower. The cave’s water pressure hits the right spot on his sore and battered body. Once finished, he retrieves a pair of comfy clothes stashed in his locker, and downs a handful of extra-strength pain meds from the med bay.
He glances back at the computer. Once upon a time; ten, even five years ago maybe, he'd seat himself down and work till the sun came up. Checking and double-checking all the going-ons in his city until he was sufficiently informed. Now though he can't even begin to muster up the energy to care. He knows his children, for all that they might have caused problems he'll have to deal with once he's more awake, will have handled everything. If this city's not on active fire (which it isn't, Bruce did check that) it can wait till tomorrow.
Or, well, later today.
Bruce ambles over to the elevator.
He sighs once the doors close, slumping against the metallic interior. A hand run across his still-damp hair hits the bump that caused the concussion; he winces. Every twinging bruise splayed across his body throbs in a synchronous agonizing orchestra. He’s been in far more extensive pain than this, more times than he can count on all the fingers and toes of his adopted children, but for some reason, he needs the elevator wall to keep himself standing.
Clark was right. They weren’t getting any younger.
Retirement was in his future soon. If he wasn’t dead before then.
But the mission continued, as it always did, and until Bruce could no longer rise to meet it, he would continue to fight.
But for now; sleep and extra strength pain meds.
He barely remembers walking down the corridors to his room, much less falling face first into his bed. By the time his head hit the pillow, he is fast asleep.
0o0o0o0o0 (line break) 0o0o0o0o0
Morning comes all too early.
It also comes with an unexpected wake-up call.
“Rise and shine, Master Bruce,” says a suspiciously smug voice. Bruce groans at the sound and shoves a pillow over his face as Alfred throws open the heavy brocade curtains letting in a stream of mid-summer sunlight enter his room.
“What have I done to deserve this betrayal?” Bruce hisses, brain entirely too foggy to recall if he’d done something to piss Alfred off before he left for space.
“This isn’t betrayal Master Bruce. It’s eleven-thirty and high time for your day to begin.” Bruce hears Alfred puttering around his room like a well-practiced dance.
“I just fought an army to a standstill and prevented a terrorist coup on an alien planet. Can’t I just skip existing today?” Bruce feels that is more than fair. He would like to continue sleeping.
“I’m afraid opting out of consciousness is an unfeasible course of action for you today, dear boy. However, I did bring you breakfast if you’d like to pry yourself out of bed long enough to enjoy it.” Alfred’s voice is calm and steady. The elderly butler doesn’t allow food in bed. Ever. So, breakfast in your room is as close to breakfast-in-bed that the residents of Wayne manor get.
Bruce peaks his head out from under the pillow. Sure enough, Alfred has a breakfast platter set up over at his seating nook. Fresh fruit, a fluffy omelet, steaming blueberry scones, and a piping hot French press full of pitch-black coffee.
Oh.
Oh no.
Bruce’s sleepiness evaporates in an instant. “I don’t get breakfast in my room unless I’m sick or dying, and since the Watchtower med bay cleared me, I’m currently neither of those things.” A familiar pounding pain, this time manifesting right behind his eyes and seeping outward takes up residence in his head. Bruce closes his eyes and rubs at the lids with his thumb and pointer finger.
This is his Alfred-is-about- to- give-me-bad-news headache.
He takes a deep breath, braces himself, and asks, “How bad is it?”
The elderly man doesn’t turn around, continuing to straighten the objects on the platter. It’s his own form of fidgeting. “I also have yesterday’s newspaper available for you to peruse.”
Bruce groans, smacking his head against the headboard. “The newspaper? They managed to get themselves in the fucking newspaper!”
He loves his children.
He swears he does.
But he is absolutely gonna wring their necks.
“In or out of masks?” he asks, dreading the answer. Maybe it’s in masks. Maybe he can manage the fallout without having to resort to press conferences, official statements, or-
“You have several missed calls from Wayne Enterprise’s PR team.”
“Fuck.”
“Verily.”
Throwing off the covers, Bruce doesn’t bother to hide a wince as sore feet hit wooden floors. He treads to the sitting area, draping his Batman-themed dressing gown – Dick’s most recent Christmas gift – over his clothes. Laying himself across the chaise lounge, he snags a blueberry scone and stuffs it into his mouth.
Alfred sits opposite, in the chair on the other side of the coffee table, and pours himself a cup of tea.
Years ago, the proper uptight butler would never have broken propriety to sit with his charge and eat. But at this point; he’s raised Bruce, grandparented seven traumatized children to adulthood – despite several dying and resurrecting, along the way- kept a manor house running by himself on nothing but spite and dedication alone, became the equivalent of a triage medic with the amount of stitching and emergency surgery done over the years, and been the sole voice of reason for a house full of over-dramatic-theatre-kids-turned-vigilantes.
He adds two lumps of sugar to his tea and offers Bruce the newspaper with an unreadable face.
There are a few moments of silence as Bruce scans the words, digesting the story laid out in black and white on the pages.
“An IKEA?”
“Yes sir.”
“And whose grand idea was that?”
“I believe Master Richard’s.”
Bruce sighs. The headache intensifies.
“What were they trying to accomplish?”
“A good old-fashioned game of hide-and-seek.”
Bruce shook the paper. “How does hide-and-seek turn into property damages, worker strikes, and-” he squints at the paper. “Ball pit insurrections!”
“I’m afraid you will have to hear the entire story from the children Master Bruce, I’m not sure I could do the tale justice.”
Bruce narrows his eyes, now Alfred is just being cagey.
“Security threw them out?”
Alfred sips his tea. “No, they insisted they left voluntarily. Although, all but Damian are now banned from every IKEA on the eastern seaboard, and Master Timothy has spent the past day and a half fielding media outlets and assessing the amount of compensation this incident will require to quietly smooth over.”
Rolling his eyes, Bruce says, “This is going to fuel media speculations for weeks. Quiet is not on the books.” He grabs another scone but stops halfway to his mouth. Rereads the article. “Damian’s not mentioned.”
“No, he’s not.”
“He’s not banned like his brothers.”
“No, he’s not.”
Alfred’s face is very still.
“Alfred…”
“The children, Master Bruce.” Alfred insists again. “I assure you; you’ll want to hear the full recounting of their shenaniganry from them.”
Bruce sighs, again. “The girls would never do this to me. The girls would never get involved in something like this.”
“No…” Alfred says, slowly, reaching for a scone. Bruce covers his face with his hands and leans back against the lounge, the dull throb behind his eyes accosting his brain full force. “If you turn to page four, you’ll see a local pet shop was uncovered as a front for the Russian mob. Spoiler and Black Bat were instrumental in helping the police smoke out the perpetrators. Less helpful would be the subsequent three-hour car chase across the southern half of the city, but that’s neither here nor there.” He picks up the French press. “Coffee, Master Bruce?”
Bruce wishes he was back in space fighting the alien army.
AN: Alright that's the end of chapter 1. Should have the next one out sometime Monday. I hope you all enjoyed it! Thank you all for your wonderful comments and reblogs over the past few days. It warms my heart and makes me giddy with joy how many of you love this silly little series. I hope that this can brighten your day as much as you brighten mine.
If you want to read this on ao3 you can click here!
(Pst... If you think I'm great and my writing is entertaining, maybe check this out!)
When the queen needs help, the king arrives without a need to be called.
#hedoesnotmindtobecontrolledsolongasitsbyher
Hot. That was the first thing that went through Marinette's mind when she saw the blonde. It had been three years since they once seen each other and the change was way too dramatic. He and gained a few inches and lot of muscles. His looks were out of this world.
Her eyes widened as feeling she thought she had left behind a long time ago began to resurface. Her heart began to beat frantically as the men in front of her continued speaking to her with that infuriating smirk on his face.
"What cat got your tongue," he asked getting up from the chaise and heading towards her. His movements looked almost seductive in the bluenette's eyes. He stood in front of her leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Cause I'm sure I haven't possessed it yet"
"Uhh," she said dumbly as her brain began to short circuit. She yelped as he swiftly pulled her fully onto the room shutting the trap.
"Now tell me my dear," he says slowly backing her onto the wall slamming his right hand next to her head while cradling her face with the other. "What exactly did I do that warrants being cut off for 3 years."
He brings his face to her neck inhaling her seance. "Not only that but I return to find you've found another man"
His hot breath set tingles across her skin. Marinette had turned beat red. She had utterly been rendered speechless, she thought she had a few more hours before she had to face Felix once again.
"Someone's been a very bad girl," he whispers drawing himself back from her neck and staring at her. "You trying to break my heart love"
"Break your heart?" she questions. As far as she knows they had never romantically been together.
"Yes love, a few months after our separation I come back to see you and find you confessing your love to my cousin of all people," he hisses.
"It was a a part of the act," I defend offended that he would think I'd ever fall in love with that spineless coward.
"Good, he did not seem like your type anyway," he said green eyes shining as he pressed a kiss on my nose. "Now tell me is falling in love with another man all apart of the act well?"
She had no answer for this question though it seemed as though her silence was confirmation enough for her. He sighed heart break clear in his eyes.
"Don't look at me like that," she said tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "Don't look at me as if you did not try to kiss Ladybug"
"Marinette sweetie you are Ladybug," he says causing her to look at him in shock. Felix registered her shocked features eyes widening. "Wait you thought I did not know?"
He hocked his finger on her chin forcing her to look at him. "Is that why you cut me off? Is that what pushed you to him?" he asked searching desperately for answers. "You you thought I would would betray my feelings for you"
Once again her, silence gave him all the answers he needed. "Marie I've loved you for as long as I knew what the word means, they never has and they never will be any other girl for me"
"I-i-i," she stuttered causing the boy to pull her closer to his chest as she began to sob.
"Shhh baby it's okay," he said as he hugged her.
What hurt more than knowing she had fallen for another men was hearing that he had caused her pain. He wiped the tears of her cheek. Pinning her to the wall once again as she began to calm down.
"Maybe we can still fix this," he said as he began to pamper her neck with little butterfly kisses. "Maybe I could make you forget all about this other man.
"How?" she whispered meeting his intense gaze with her own.
"By having you scream my name instead," he whispered breath tickling her lips as they were half centimeter apart. Bang.
The trap door opened causing both of them to jump. Felix groaned as he withdrew himself from hee, fixing the intruder with a glare fir interrupting their moment.
Chloe walked into the room unfazed by what she was walking into and the glare that was thrown her way.
"Good you're here," she said unbordered by the blonde's anger.
"I was just about to continue catching up with my queen before you disturbed," he bristled causing her to snort.
"Not so sure she's yours anymore, should have seen her throw aside another girl like a raf doll for touching what hers," Chloe said causing the boy to growl. "Our queen is quite possessive"
The blonde growled at the comment.
"Don't worry Chloe that won't last long, afterall I don't plan on letting the Queen go," he says running his hand down Marinette's cheek before pushing away, knowing very well whatever moment they were having had been disturbed.
"Well now that's done," Chloe says to their general direction. "Let's get down to business."
"Right," Marinette says straightening up as she heads towards the blue eyed blonde. "Has everyone been contacted, I need an immediate status update."
"Well Aurora and her new partner Mireille have been updated on what's going on, the school shall be warned of the incoming storm tonight," Chloe states earning a nod from the other two. "Marc has been informed and is going to be here with the red head betrayer after classes end, traitors have officially been kicked out of the court, though I feel as though this has decreased our size dramatically. Lastly I feel as though you've already contacted your family"
"Yes Chloe I've contacted my family, don't worry much about our size I've got that covered," she said with a small smirk.
"Now love you know very well what that look does to me," Felix said snaking his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him.
Marinette huffed nudging the blonde with a quick behave aimed his way.
YOUROFFICIALREPIRTER@BLONDIE
I have what most would call the scoop of a life time. The court is back and they're after someone's head. Prepare yourself Dupont.
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.
The boys have a conversation with Bruce before all hell breaks loose.
we're gonna ignore the fact I haven't posted in months, for compensation can I give you an extra-long chapter? BTW yes I did finish editing this during class, I'm also not great with pranking siblings, and since this was the way to tell them bout Marinette/Ladybug I ran with it.
Read from the beginning:
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“Ok, Damian, have fun.” Dick turned to his brothers. “Well, boys it looks like we’ll have the apartment to ourselves Damian’s staying with Marinette tonight.”
“And you're ok with that?!” Jason asked, shocked Dick would let their youngest brother stay over with his girlfriend.
“Oh don’t give me that they’re both eighteen now and something tells me Marinette’s parents will keep more than one eye on them. So what do you guys want to do tonight.” The three brothers had decided that this trip to Paris would also be family time, especially considering how they didn’t really get any of that during the year.
“Movie?” Tim asked.
“Which one.” Jason was not watching another
“How bout this one?” Tim picked up the box that Damian had left sitting out on the coffee table earlier that morning. Jason plucked it from Tim’s hands and began reading the title.
“Night of the living statue. Are you sure this doesn’t even seem scary?”
“I mean there’s always the crowbar wielding clown we could watch.”
“Oh yeah, that one got burned a while ago.”
“Fair enough.”
“So Night of the living statue it is,” Dick said, already making the popcorn.
------------------
“No don’t go into the basement, oh come on!” Jason was yelling at the screen.
“Jason you know they can’t hear you right?” Tim said rolling his eyes, which were illuminated by the laptop screen sitting in front of him.
“I don’t care Replacement the fact they’re doing it goes against every bit of common sense, it just doesn’t make, well--”
“Sense?” Dick supplied walking back into the room with the third popcorn bucket of the evening.
“Exactly I just don’t get it!” Jason held out his hands and made a grabbing motion for the bucket Dick easily sidestepped him and plopped down between the two.
“Ok, Tim popcorns back computers off.” He said as he finished getting settled.
“But I’m almost in, five more minutes and we get authentic Wayne manor security footage, and that’s better than any movie.
“Rules are rules replacement you agreed to the trade so you have to deal with it,” Jason said munching on popcorn.
“He’s right, and anyway if you keep going at it we’re gonna get a call from Al-” Right on cue, the video call screen popped up on Tim’s computer. He groaned before hitting accept.
“Hey, Alf good to see ya ol’ buddy ol’ pal! How’s the good ol’ USofA?” He said in an overly perky voice.
“Master Drake if I might request you stop attempting to hack onto the Batcave system it would be much appreciated.” Alfred’s voice rang over the call.
“Just hacking into security footage, huh?” Dick said glaring at Tim, Paris was a no hero weekend and Tim just broke that.
“I uh… I’m gonna go.” He said ending the call, moving quickly he closed his laptop grabbed a handful of popcorn, bolted over the couch to the room he was staying in, and closed the door.
“Well, that’s the last we’ll be seeing of him tonight,” Dick said moving to grab his phone. He opened up Alfred’s contact at called him back. “Sorry, Alfred he’s just itching to get a case. He’s gotten really bored seeing Paris like a normal person, well as normal as you can get given we’re Waynes.”
“Don’t worry about it I have one of those as well.” He panned his camera over to where Bruce was sitting cowl down at the computer in the Batcave. Dick and Jason both gave a small laugh.
“How is he doing?” Dick asked.
“Oh same as usual, sulking during the night, acting like a complete buffon during the day.” Jason laughed, Dick heard Bruce mutter through the phone, and Alfred brought the camera over to Bruce.
“Hey, Bruce how ya doing?” Dick asked innocently.
“How am I doing? Let’s see Richard, my sons hijacked the plane to go to Paris on a whim with no planning whatsoever, I got a call from Damian’s school that he was absent today. I'm also dealing with a very angry Italian ambassador, oh and with all the girls out on other missions I’m dealing with the entirety of Gotham and WE by myself for who knows how long. How do you think I feel?” The bags under Bruce’s eyes were more pronounced than usual as he berated his two older sons for a few more minutes, “now do you two have a reasonable explanation, or am I going to be feeding your asses to Harley Quinn for therapy sessions this week.”
“Damian has a girlfriend,” Dick said smoothly, Alfred and Bruce both paused, looked at each other, and burst out laughing.
“Please Dick if you’re gonna come up with an excuse at least make it a plausible one,” Bruce said while Alfred was attempting to compose himself in the background.
“I’m telling the truth, her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She’s in his class and apparently, they’ve been dating for the last few months.”
“I’m going to search her up and if you’re lying to me it’s three therapy sessions with Quinn.” Dick shivered remembering the last time that happened, He had been suspended over a shark tank until he admitted he needed to start putting himself first. Bruce typed a few things on the computer and let out a sharp whistle. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
“See I told you,” Dick said smugly.
“That doesn’t change the fact that---” Bruce was cut off as they heard a scream come from Tim’s room.
“Sorry, Bruce gotta go check that out. Call you later.” Dick ended the video
following Jason to Tim’s room where they saw him sitting over his computer furiously banging on the keyboard.
“Woah Woah replacement if you keep that up then there won’t be any computer left to type with.”
“I don’t care! Someone cut the power and I was in the middle of checking Parisian crime records.
“Don’t freak out,” Dick said calmly, “I’ll go check the fuse box, you and Jason can go check the router. Ok?”
“Ok,” Tim said taking a breath. He put his computer aside and walked out of the room with Jason following him. Dick tried to call Damian to find out where the fuse box was, but for some reason couldn’t get a signal inside the apartment. He walked out onto the balcony waving his phone up wildly seeing if a bar would show up. He sighed as he brought his phone down. Nothing. As he turned to go back inside he felt a small pinch on his neck he moved to swat at it and he felt nothing. As he stepped forwards his eyelids began drooping, he stumbled and reached for the railing. He missed and before he slipped into unconsciousness he felt the bite of cold cement against his arms.
---------------------------------------
When Dick woke up the sun was streaming through the living room window. He felt a weight on his stomach and when he stretched his neck up he saw Jason was lying on him, with Tim lying on the top of the pile. He laid there a moment as the night caught up to him, he began formulating who would knock them out, and how he was going to get out of this dogpile when a sharp“Ahem” sounded from the doorway. Standing there was Damian in jeans and a shirt.
“Well, it looks like you guys had a blast last night,” Marinette said poking her head in. It was the first time Dick had seen her without pigtails, instead, she had her blue-black locks tied back in a messy bun and she was suspiciously wearing Damian’s sweatshirt.
“You want to tell me why Father called me last night wanting to know all about my girlfriend and why I hadn’t told him about her yet.” Jason and Tim gave simultaneous groans of annoyance as Dick hopped up.
“Listen Damian I can explain,” He said stepping forward. He felt something hook his foot. “What the--” he got out before red paint came crashing down on top of him. Jason and Tim, both awake now, shot up trying in vain to avoid the downpour only to stumble into more strings. Before anyone could blink glitter rained down from the ceiling sticking to the paint coating the boys. A camera flash later saw them giving the death glare to Damian as he and Marinette stood off to the side trying not to laugh.
“What. the. Hell.” Dick said as he wiped paint from his eyes.
“If you want to live Demonspawn you better hope that this paint comes out,” Jason said as he attempted to shake glitter from his hair.
“If Con ever finds that picture Jason isn’t gonna be the one you should be scared of,” Tim said dangerously low. Damian finally cracked and started laughing. Collectively the three batboys stopped and looked up in shock. They hadn’t heard Damian laugh before, sure they’ve heard the evil laugh and the Robin laugh but never his laugh, it was soft light, and infectious. Before long Marinette was laughing too, while Jason Tim and Dick were all smiling.
“Ok you were right that was better than anything I could think up,” Damian said as he composed himself.
“Hey give some credit to Luka,” Marinette said, “He was the one who suggested glitter.”
Jason’s eyes widened as he realized that not only did Demon spawn pull a nonlethal prank, but Marinette was in on it. Not just Marinette but some kid named Luka too.
“Wait back up, you’re telling me you guys decided that you should knock us out, and then dump red paint and glitter on us?” Tim said blearily.
“Well, we couldn’t just come out and tell you,” Marinette responded.
“Well we could, but this is revenge for your little family trip,” Damian interjected.
“Tell us what? That you hate us with a passion? You’re an evil psychopath?”
“You know for a family of detectives you guys can be rather slow.” Marinette slammed a hand over her mouth realizing what she had said. “I’m sorry I didn’t me--”
“I love you so much right now,” Damian said gawking at her, Marinette blushed.
“Ok, will one of you two please talk to us rather than whatever,” Jason gestured vaguely to the two of them, “that is.”
“What color is the glitter?” Marinette said as she turned her attention from Damian. She sounded almost like a school teacher would when talking to children.
“Black…” The boys responded in unison.
“And what color is the paint?”
“Red.”
“So what’s red and covered in black spots.”
“Lady----- Oh for fucks sake,” Tim said slapping his hand on his forehead.
“There it is,” Marinette said triumphantly, a smile spreading across her lips. A few moments later Jason and Dick both gasped as the information finally sunk in.
“Why can’t anyone in this family be normal.” The second youngest Wayne lamented.
“Well, at least this means you can join my team and me on patrols. I bet that’ll make Paris a little more interesting.” Tim perked up.
“Woah. Woah. Woah. We can talk all that out later but you need to go get cleaned up before the paint stains the carpet.” Damian interrupted, he didn’t like the fact Marinette was talking about patrol with his brothers.
“I would like to remind you that this was your plan, Damian,” Dick said.
“It may be my plan but it’s someone else’s carpet now go.”
The three boys were shepherded to the bathroom while Damian and Marinette cleaned up the mess left in the living room. All three of them were rather impressed with the way the two of them had revealed Marinette’s identity, although it went unspoken how if anyone revealed it there would be serious consequences.
It took them over an hour to even begin making a dent in the glitter-paint combination that covered their bodies. Dick having been directly under the bucket had it the worst, with Jason coming in at a close second. Jason thought he had at least gotten out the stuff in his hair during his shower, only to look in the mirror and let out a quiet fuck. Dick gave him a questioning look, in response, Jason just pointed to his hair. Where his white streak was now stained a deep crimson. “This means war.”
This is for @ozmav @mindfulmagics @maribat-archive @realrandomposts for inspiring me to do this even though I’m probably annoying you people.
She moved to Gotham after defeating Hawkmoth to study abroad
During this time she begins her time on Project runway
Even after having commissioned her work to celebrities such as Clara Nightingale and Jagged Stone she is out in the bottom 3 in 2 occasions
This causes her to work even harder to win
Marinette creates looks based off of Ladybug, the miraculous team, and the heroes of Gotham (Chat’s Miraculous was taken long ago, before defeating Hawkmoth)
Her Robin look was the one that made her the win (it was a simple, but elegant black blazer with a small robin embroidered on the right breast pocket, a white-based shirt with prints that resembled a bird making its nest, black slacks, and brown dress shoes).
The judges loved her craftsmanship, “You have magic in the tips of your fingers!”
“The embroidery is so detailed, how did you have time for that?”
“I love it! Marinette Dupain-Cheng you are Project Runway’s 20XX’s winner!”
*Cue Marinette being so happy she burst into tears*
After this, she begins working on building her brand. She began shipping her clothes internationally. Her work becomes huge in Asia and blows up, K-pop and C-pop idols love her. BTS was once caught using her clothes as airport fashion. Jackson Wang and BOYSTORY are always wearing her clothes.
Because of this Marinette’s celebrity clientele, just became a heck of a lot bigger.
Jagged now brags about her work at every red carpet event he goes to (if he didn’t already).
“Jagged, please. Jagged no. Jagged why?”
Clara does the same, but not to Jagged’s extreme.
Marinette is constantly embarrassed by this and try’s her best to give credit to the other contestants she met on the show. They all loved her and were as happy as they could be when she won.
All of this leads to Jagged introducing Marinette to Bruce Wayne.
“I hear you’ve been Jagged’s exclusive designer since you were fourteen? That’s impressive.”
Marinette waves it off, “I was just trying to help a friend.”
“I was wondering if I could commission you to create mine and my sons’ next charity gala suits. I’ve seen your work and it is very practical, most of the designers sacrifice functionality and practicality for aesthetic. But you seem to know that there is more to it then looking nice, your work seems to be able to be on the go as well.”
Of course, Marinette agrees, “Y-Yes! I would love to!”
This leads to a later fitting session at the Wayne Manor to get their measurements.
“Ah, Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you’re early,” Alfred points out while Marinette waits for entry.
Alfred allowed for her to get inside after a moment.
“On time is late and early is on time, Mr?”
“Pennyworth, but you may call me Alfred. That is exactly what I always say, Madame.”
“Well, in that case, you can just call me Marinette.” She smiles at the well-seasoned gentleman.
The well-mannered man shows Marinette to the living area to wait on Bruce and his sons.
What she wasn’t expecting was for two men to come barreling down the stairs, locked in combat over a trivial subject. “Take it back, Todd!”
“Not a chance, Demon Spawn!”
“I’ll break every bone in your body so badly, that not even the Lazarus pits could undo the damage caused!”
“When you say things like that, you just prove my point!!”
Marinette silently watched as the two continued their squabble. ‘What’s a Lazarus pit? I’ll have to ask Master Fu.’ (After defeating Hawkmoth, Master Fu retrieved Tiki. But that didn’t stop her guardian training.)
Eventually, the two boys got physical and Marinette decided it was time to intervene.
“Say it AGAIN!”
“You are JUST like your grandfather! You bra-”
“Umm, excuse me... Who are you two?”
The two stop to see a small, French woman physically keeping the two apart. The boys look completely gobsmacked.
“The better question is who are you?”
“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I’m here to get Bruce Wayne and his sons’ measurements for a piece he commissioned me to do. I’m a designer,” She said smiling, extending her hand.
Jason takes it before Damian, “I’m Jason Todd-Wayne, nice to meet you.”
Damian scowls, “How polite of you...” he murmured to himself.
Marinette looks to the boy who has yet to introduce himself, “And you are?”
Both Damian and Jason’s jaws dropped, she really didn't know who they were. She was in their house for Pete’s sake, “I’m Damian Wayne.” Damian took her hand and gave it a kiss for added effect.
“Show off,” could be heard from Jason’s direction.
Marinette didn’t care for what the peanut gallery had to say, she was bright red after Damian did that.
At this moment, Dick, Tim, and Bruce walked in at the same time.
“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you’re early,” Bruce said walking to greet her.
“I didn’t want for you to wait for me, also you can just call me Marinette. It feels weird when someone older and with a much more esteemed reputation calls me Miss.”
Once she finished speaking, Tim basically ran to her at the speed of light. The Flash, who?
See all the boys enjoyed Jagged’s music, but Tim, Tim was the grade A fanboy that everybody at least knows of. He’s watched every interview, heard every song, bought every album, poster, t-shirt, and every bit of merch he could get his hands on.
Needless to say after all the praise, Jagged gives to his personal designer, Tim knows exactly who she is.
“It is an honor to meet you Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I am Tim Drake-Wayne. I’m a big fan of your work.”
“You like fashion, Timmy?”
“I’m interested, sure, but Ms. Dupain-Cheng has done work for Jagged Stone. Since. She. Was. Fourteen. Her work has won awards since she was fourteen!” Tim said, disgusted by his brothers’ not knowing who she is.
“Please, it was completely by chance I met Jagged. Plus, I wasn't the only designer he’s ever had.” Marinette tried to take the attention off of her achievements.
“You just the only one who has made Jagged look like something other than an eggplant. I love the guy’s music, but his outfits before you... they looked cheap.”
Dick moved to speak, “It’s true, looking back at his old ensembles, there was a dramatic shift in craftsmanship. I’m Richard Grayson-Wayne, but you can call me Dick.”
Marinette’s face rivaled her old Ladybug costume. “Please, it was nothing. I made a million mistakes when I was designing back then. Anyway, let’s talk about what’s happening today. Your measurements for your suits. I assume Mr. Wayne has more important things to do after this.”
This got the boys to get down to business (to defeat the Huns) and shapes up real quick at the sound of her “serious” voice. The same one she used to use when Chat Noir used to flirt in the middle of an attack.
She when in order of oldest to youngest. Bruce, Dick, Jason, and Tim, were all done. Damian had been waiting patiently for his turn, watching her work.
Marinette had this habit of sticking her tongue out whenever she was hyper-focused, Damian found this endearing. While she was getting his measurements, he was staring hard. This did not go unnoticed by the Batfam.
After she’s finished, it’s kinda late. Alfred invites her for dinner and Marinette graciously agrees. Marinette helps prepare the dessert, Alfred repeatedly told her she didn’t have to, but she insisted.
During dinner, the Batfam began to ask about her personal life, “So, are you seeing anyone?”
“Master Dick, that is not appropriate to ask a young lady!”
Marinette almost chokes at the question, “That’s... um... I just got out of a controlling relationship. I... um... really don’t feel like talking about it.”
Adrien had done a number on her mentally, once he discovered she was Ladybug he wanted her and him to get together immediately. She agreed after some time, but Adrien was always pushy. He always pressured her into doing something that she wasn’t comfortable doing. One day she had enough, she told him that she was done. Let’s just say that didn’t go over well. Marinette shifted in her seat as she recalls that night.
Damian seems to notice this and tells her that she doesn’t have to say anything if she doesn’t want to, Marinette appreciates this and thanks him.
Quickly Marinette switches the topic, “I really like that Gotham has heroes, that protect the city. They make me feel safe like I'm back in Paris.”
This gets all the boys’ attention, Bruce asks her why.
“In Paris, there were heroes to protect them from a magical terrorist, named Hawkmoth. He possessed people who were at their worst and turned them into these things called, Akumas. Ladybug and Chat Noir were the heroes. After he was defeated, Ladybug and Chat Noir retired.”
Damian was baffled by how the league did not know about this, “Why haven’t we heard about this?”
“Mayor Bourgeois kept everything quite to keep tourism flowing, but if you really want to know about it there’s a blog. Be careful though not everything on there is reliable.”
Tim makes a mental note to check it out later.
By the end of the meal and time to go home, all members of the Batfam+Alfred give and get Marinette’s personal contact info.
They gained a friend and a new designer.
Let me know if you want more because then and only then will I do more. This is my first time posting my writing, so please be nice. Thank you for taking the time to read it though! :)
Edit: here’s the ao3 link https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Farchiveofourown.org%2Fworks%2F20572886&t=MGFkNWY5ZDVjOTcwNmIyOTU3YjM0OGQwOTc1YTU5MWZkNDlkNzliYSwwZjg5ZTA1ODIyY2M5MGUyNWYxY2YyMzYyZTY3ZjY2NmNjNzIwMDg5
Have some headcanons while you wait for the next chapter!
Jagged and Clara
- Before her parents had the bakery in Paris, they owned one in America.
- They were neighbors with Jagged, who wasn’t famous yet.
- The Dupain-Cheng’s and Jagged Stone became very close, so when Sabine got pregnant, and they decided to move to Paris, Jagged Stone kept in touch.
- When Marinette was born, Jagged who was slowly building his career, became honorary uncle
- Marinette fell in love with designing, but she also fell in love with music
- Jagged had tried to teach her how to play the guitar, but she was absolutely horrible at it, and it didn’t take long for Marinette to start learning the piano instead
- When Marinette was 11, Jagged introduced his favorite little niece to Clara
- Marinette fell in love with the way Clara performed, and she would find videos on the internet teaching how to do different dances of Clara’s
- When Marinette was 12, she performed in front of Jagged and Clara for the first time, and when she was 13, she had officially become Clara’s understudy
- Marinette, after 2 intense years of study and practice, debuted with the song ‘Midnight’ as NeTi
- Her music was a mix of rock and pop, with sharp choreographies to go along with it
Lila and the sheep
- Lila and the class still mostly follow canon
- When Lila returns, Marinette is 14, still Clara’s understudy
- Lila pushes the class away from Marinette, using lies, as well as Marinette’s lack of time for them
- Marinette and Adrien still decide not to expose Lila
- By the time Marinette debuts at 15, Lila had fully succeeded in isolating Marinette from her friends
- The class is nowhere near as close as it was before, but they can’t really put their finger on why
- When Marinette blows up in Asia as NeTi, the class doesn’t know
- Marinette never tells them about her career, both because she doesn’t feel like she owes telling them that, but also out of fear that they would start treating her better because of that, and just because of that
Master Fu and Ladybug
- Marinette and Master Fu meet on an almost daily basis for Marinette’s training to become the next Guardian
- When Marinette is on tour, which she usually tries to keep as short as possible, she’s given the horse miraculous, and a special bracelet to alert her of akuma attacks
- She’s usually lucky, but if an akuma attacks while she’s performing, she’ll ‘faint’ to get off the stage
- Those fights usually end up being amongst the shortest, because Marinette doesn’t want to keep her fans waiting
- Whenever this happens, the other artists on the tour with Marinette will usually perform some of their own songs until Marinette is ready again
Marinette/NeTi
- Marinette becomes very popular in Asia, especially in Japan and China
- Marinette took her time to learn Chinese, with the help of Master Fu and her mom, and she is now fluent in it
- In her last mini-album, ‘Circus week’, Marinette made a Japanese version of her title track
- Marinette has made 2 full albums, ‘Butterfly’ and ‘Galaxy’, both of which she went on tour for
- Marinette is slowly learning to speak Japanese with the help of Kagami
- Marinette always designs and makes her main outfit of every release
- Marinette and Luka are not as close as they used to be, because Marinette didn’t want to ruin Luka’s relationship with his sister, which was very close to happening
- Marinette can fluently speak French, English and Chinese
- Master Fu is trying to teach her the language of the Guardians
- Marinette is 17, and has been an idol for almost 3 years soon
Adrien/Chat Noir
- Still an obsessive asshole
- Has almost killed LB on accident a couple times, but has yet to actually attack her
- He rants to Marinette about his problems with LB
Other
- When a miraculous is forcefully taken from its holder by a Guardian or other, the holder will forget about miraculous. This is a safety mechanism, preventing previous holders from trying to get revenge.
- Losing your miraculous this way is a bit like waking up from being akumatized
- The memories will be lost after the holder wakes up the next morning
