One of the things she’s heard about Bruce is that he is extremely stubborn when sick or injured, always escaping from the manor to fulfill his obsession of fighting crime. Does she agree that her father should quit with the lack of self-preservation attitude and accept bedrest? Yes. But will she stop being a hypocrite and cease her similar stubbornness? Hell no.
A sick red-nosed, migraine-victim Marinette sneaks out the door carefully. Alfred has advised her to rest the previous day but she is done lying around doing nothing and being coddled by her brothers especially when they hid away her sewing materials and the kwamis refuse to let her transform, stealing away their Miraculi.
She knows she has an advantage this time. The two people who have a chance to stop her, Cass and Alfred, are currently away from the manor. After making a somewhat cohesive plan with her addled brain, she wraps a duvet around herself and covers her head, mimicking a cloak, and moves out.
She meets Tim in the hallway, who’s carrying a tray with a bowl of soup.
“Oh no you don’t,” he says. But before he can intercept her, she launches herself, does a flip over his head and continues to run.
“How the hell can you do that when you’re sick?!” She faintly hears Tim cry out behind her. It will only be a matter of seconds before he contacts the others, so she has to move faster.
Dick and Jason appear at the top of the staircase, coming out from either side.
“Stay in bed, Pix, you have to recover,” Jason tuts.
“You should go back to bed!” Dick springs on his feet.
“You should go back to therapy!” Marinette sticks her tongue out, prompting a dramatic gasp from her brother.
The two start coming towards her but Marinette—despite her aching throat—makes an unintelligible screech, with the duvet still covering her, and jumps on the banister to slide out of reach. She scurries to the foyer where the last challenger, Damian, awaits.
“Not this time, Marinette.” Damian waves his katana in front of her.
Marinette wordlessly puts on her best pouting face.
Damian falters, lowering his weapon, which gives her the opening to make a beeline towards the front door. Unfortunately, she sees another obstacle outside the manor.
The fuck? Why is Duke here? Isn’t he supposed to be on patrol? She grits her teeth, glaring at her brother through the window.
“Grab her!” Dick yells nearby.
Marinette wastes no time and reroutes towards the grandfather clock. She opens the entrance, punches in a code to lock it, and heads down the Batcave.
She stumbles a little when she searches the cave for a way to escape. Her fever is going up, she’s sure, but there is no way she’s letting that stop her. Finally she sees her golden ticket: the Batmobile, and grabs the keys that Bruce has hidden as a spare. The engine purrs beautifully, a contrast to the maniacal cackle from her lips. Before the vehicle gets out of the manor’s grounds, she slaps on a domino mask from the seat pocket as a disguise.
Marinette looks around the breakfast table. It's too peaceful. At least for the Wayne Family. She stabs her eggs with her fork and raises her voice above the chatter.
"Hey Dad, what do you do every night?"
The entire table turns quiet as Bruce looks up from his plate. "What do you mean?"
Marinette shrugs. "I just notice you slip out of the manor every night. What do you do outside?"
She notices most of her siblings making subtle nervous ticks at the thought of their secret coming out to her. Bruce coughs. "Well, that's . . . it's a secret matter, sweetheart."
Marinette nods in understanding, taking a sip of her tea. "I honestly thought you've stopped your 'nightly adventures' because you're with Selina now. You're perfect for each other."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah!" She rolls her eyes. "I'm not a kid. I know what adults do at night. I'm trusting you're using protection because there's so much of us already."
Her siblings watch with eagerness and amusement, not saying a thing as she grills Bruce. Stephanie's eyes are twinkling. Damian wears an arched eyebrow. Tim is snorting milk out of his nose.
"I think you're misunderstanding," Bruce denies weakly. "I'm not---"
"No, it's okay! It's nothing to be ashamed of. Totally normal."
Her father squirms. "But it's not what you think---"
"He definitely goes around the city, Mars." Dick chimes in happily. "Oh, and sometimes, he does a little dress-up if you catch my drift."
"Gross. Did not need to know that." Marinette shudders. "Dad, just make sure to take care of Selina too, okay? I like her a lot."
"But---"
"And if you're going out tonight, try to be more discreet okay?"
Fox DCW will be on a short break! Thank you everyone for reading, reblogging, and commenting <3 Your reblog tags make my day!
The series will be back in time for Bio-Dad! Bruce Wayne Month (September 1st). I have so many things planned and I'm excited to share them.
Jason crosses his arms. “Of course she’s going as me. I’ve saved her a million times already; I’m her hero!”
“When she didn’t even need saving, Monsieur Bucket Head,” Tim mocks. “She’s going as Red Robin. She has all the ducks I put all over the manor before!”
“Fools,” Damian butts in. “I’m her favorite Robin. It is only right that she dresses up as Robin.”
“Keep dreaming, little D,” Nightwing says smugly. “She’ll take inspiration from her eldest brother, a.k.a. the best vigilante ever.”
Stephanie walks in, chuckling with Cass. She’s dressed as a witch, complete with a pointy hat and a mini cauldron with purple candy in it. Cass matches her with a vampire look: realistic fangs, red contacts and a long cloak. Both girls look at the boys with amusement.
“What if she dresses up as Batman?” Stephanie wonders out loud.
The brothers simultaneously freeze.
“No!”
“She wouldn’t!”
“That’s preposterous!”
Bruce strolls into the grand hall with Selina. Both are dressed elegantly for the company gala that doubles as a halloween party. “Who will dress up as Batman?”
“Marinette,” Steph replies.
Bruce’s face instantly lights up with pride. “That’s a good choice.”
And to this, the others voice out their disagreement. Amidst the commotion, a figure darts down the stairs in a blur while squealing, “Selinaaaa!”
Lo and behold, there’s Marinette, wearing a costume that is an obvious tribute to Catwoman. The sleek headpiece and tinted goggles frame her face perfectly, her suit captures all the details of Selina’s original getup, and her tail whips around with every subtle movement.
She traps Selina in a hug, beaming brightly. “Do you like my costume?”
Selina takes one look at the boys’ flabbergasted faces and pinches her cheek. “I love it, honey.”
*Set Post-Hawkmoth defeat, but before Mari moves in with the Waynes. Thank you to the people over at the MGI server who suggested the subjects for each member
When Ladybug and Chat Noir arrive at the headquarters, a few Justice League members come to meet them. The two Parisian heroes can’t help but notice that the JL are feeling a little off. Tired, restless or slightly distressed.
“Why do I have a feeling you know something about this?” Chat whispers to Ladybug.
“Umm—”
“I’m doing homework right now.” Marinette props her legs up to her chest, adjusting the camera of her tablet so she can see the video call properly. “Do you happen to know anyone I can ask for help?”
“On what subject, sweetie?” Bruce asks.
“Uhh, a lot. Here, I’ll send a list to you.”
Her father hums as he scans the list. “What about your brothers?”
She wrinkles her nose. “Them? No. Not them. Any other suggestions? Do you want to help me?”
“I wish I could. Unfortunately, I have meetings lined up for the next few days. I’ll send you some contacts of mine to help.” Bruce types on his laptop. “I’ll let them know ahead of time that you’ll be calling.”
“Cool. Thanks, Dad.” Marinette looks up and gawks at the names on the list. Did he seriously send these. . .?
“I’ll tell you about it later,” Ladybug whispers back.
“I am glad that you can join us, Ladybug.” Wonder Woman steps forward and takes her hand. “The Paris situation may be solved but there are still a lot of things to take care of.”
Ladybug guiltily notes her lack of energy.
“Hello? Auntie Diana?” Marinette says after warily dialing the number.
“Marinette! Bruce said that I’ll be able to help with your History homework.” Diana says. “Ask away, dear.”
“Right, let’s see . . .”
As it turns out, she’s not any better of a teacher than Plagg. While Marinette appreciated her rambles about her own adventures, she only needs the gist of the progression of industrialization in Europe. She still patiently listens for a couple hours, however.
“You both seem so young,” Superman mumbles from his seat while hunched over a notepad.
Ladybug hides her wince. “Yeah, we get that a lot.”
“We first started when we were thirteen.” Chat casually stretches. She elbows his side.
“Uncle Clark? I got this article-writing homework . . . We have to write an essay about the Paris tragedies.”
“But that’s such a broad topic!”
“I know! I complained too, since it can bring up some traumatic memories for my classmates, but our teacher won’t budge.” Marinette shudders.
“Alright, first you have to . . .” Clark Kent then proceeds to spill his waterfall of ideas, which Marinette knows will exceed the maximum word count.
“And—wait a minute, I can just write it for you!”
“Huh? But Uncle C—”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll have it done before your deadline.”
Something tells Marinette that he’ll be neglecting his civilian job for a while.
“Thirteen? Who allowed you children to fight a terrorist at that age?” Green Arrow frowns.
The Parisian duo sigh at the same time.
“Okay! Thanks for helping me with Physics, Uncle Ollie.” Marinette adds the units of her answer at last. “One last thing, do you mind if I ask you a bit about Math?”
“What is it?”
“It’s pretty long. Uhh, wait a sec, I’ll send you a picture.”
“What’s with these messy solutions? The answer’s wrong. You have to do it this way . . .”
“But Uncle Bars said—”
“Barry? Nevermind what he said. I’ll send in the right solutions.”
The Flash is giving the archer the stink eye. “We’re here to talk about Paris, not about their ages or qualifications.”
“Hello—”
“Marinette! You asked Oliver about your Math homework?!”
“Yeah, I just wanted a second opinion—”
“But my answer is correct!”
“Uncle Ollie said no, though . . .”
“Argh! Just wait, I’m gonna run over to him. He’s simplifying the stuff that can’t be canceled out! I already told him!”
When Ladybug fidgets a little, Chat gives her a look of suspicion. She thinks about not telling him what transpired in the span of twenty-four hours.
“How old are you both now? Seventeen? Eighteen?” Aquaman butts in to ask them. “Is an Atlantean diorama a good school project? It is, right?”
“So Uncle Art, I was thinking of having an aquaponics project for my—”
“Ha! How nice to see you curious about Atlantean culture!”
“Wait, I said aquaponics—”
“You can quote me, the king himself! What do you want to know?”
Ladybug fights back a groan and a scowl towards Batman, who’s busy working on the computer. This is all Dad’s fault.
BONUS:
“Marinette, what grade did you get for that essay?”
“. . . A fifteen out of twenty.”
“Fifteen? Out of twenty?! She gave an extensive essay written by Clark Kent, proofread by Lois Lane a fifteen out of twenty?!”
original prompt | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
Marinette sometimes wonders why her family is awful at keeping secret identities.
Then she thinks of one reason: their excuses never line up. She witnesses it firsthand one day when Jason enters the living room, wearing a cast and an arm sling.
She fakes a gasp. "Jason! Your arm!"
"'Tis but a scratch, Pix." Jason waves it off. He picks up the jacket he's looking for and stretches one arm to ruffle her hair.
"What happened to it?" Marinette asks.
"It---" Jason's phone chimes before he can get an answer out. "Next time, I'll tell you. Gotta go now."
He exits the room quickly. Moments later, Damian appears with his sketchpad in one hand.
Marinette looks up from her phone. "Dames, do you know what happened to Jason?"
"Tt. He was being reckless as usual." The preoccupied Damian searches the room, perhaps for his pencil. "Fell down from his apartment."
Marinette blinks. "Why am I only hearing this now?"
He rolls his eyes. "It is no surprise for Todd to get injured often."
---
That afternoon, she sees Dick in the kitchen, looking around for home-baked snacks to eat. She opens the fridge to hand him a slice of cake that she already prepared.
"Do you know what happened to Jason's arm?" Marinette grabs a slice for herself.
Dick laughs out loud. "His arm? I bet him he can't catch an M&M in his mouth while doing a flip."
"Spoiler alert." The eldest smirks. "He can't."
Marinette hums, not bothering to question that this couldn't have happened the previous night because Dick just came back from a trip that morning. And she's seen Jason without a broken arm the day before.
---
Next, she manages to catches Tim on his laptop in the dining hall. She looks at the stack of papers on the table, checking if he hasn't messed up signing any of them due to sleep deprivation.
"I saw Jay today. His arm is broken," Marinette says. "Any clue what happened to him?"
Tim sips on his coffee, not even blinking once. "Space dinosaurs. They got him last night and sent him off to the moon, I'm sure. Apparently one of them was a robot hybrid and their leader's a pterodactyl. He's lucky he got away with just a broken arm."
---
At that point, the responses don't even surprise Marinette anymore. What's amusing to her is that none of her siblings realize that they've given her conflicting answers.
She runs into Cass in the city and she brings up Jason's arm.
With a deadpan face, Cass replies, "He was being an idiot."
And she offers no additional explanation.
---
"Do both of you happen to know why Jason's arm is broken?" Marinette raises an eyebrow.
"Jason's arm is what now?!" Duke nearly spits out his drink.
"Yeah, I saw him this morning. It looked pretty bad."
Duke mumbles something about getting extra work because of that. Marinette looks at him with a mixture of confusion and pity.
"I know why!" Stephanie sips loudly on her straw. "You won't believe it. This drunk girl attacked him out of nowhere last night and twisted his arm!"
" . . . What?"
"His ego is in a worse state, trust me."
---
Finally---finally---Marinette manages to talk to Jason herself. She corners her after dinner time and points to the cast.
"What happened to you, Jay?"
"This?" His face scrunches up in an effort to find the perfect story. He gives up and says, "I fell on the stairs."
"You fell on the stairs?"
"Yup. I slipped and fell."
Marinette nods in understanding. "Will you be okay?"
"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He reassures her with a smile.
---
Of course, Marinette knows the real reason.
She was there when Jason broke his arm.
Inari watches carefully as Red Hood grapples to another ledge. A stray cat shrieks out of the blue, startles him, and he wobbles in his swing, giving him a bad landing.
The vigilante lays face down on the ground, grunting in pain.
Inari grimaces. "Ouch."
She puts on her earpiece and sends a distress signal to the location.
