“Normal”
The Agreste's Winter Ball was under way and only a select few were invited, of course with their plus one.
So many fashionable clients and business personnel held it in high regard. Security was tight and anyone who was anyone attended.
So, everyone wondered who let children attend.
As children of fashion's powerhouses: Adrien Agreste and Chloe Bourgeois were invited.
The first one to blame was Adrien. He had given a ticket to Nino, who brought Alya as his plus one.
Sabrina was given hers by Chloe and invited Alix as her plus one.
Lila was given her ticket by Gabriel and was told to be Adrien's plus one. She accepted knowing she had her prize in her reach.
Max was currently invested in an internship and was required to attend. He selected Kim as his plus one, hoping he'd cause a ruckus that would get him thrown out sooner or later, without endangering his position.
None of them knew how Marinette got a ticket.
Their eyes lingered on her as she walked in with a boy slightly older then her. He was tall, tan, dark haired, and had green eyes, but no one knew who he was.
"I bet she slept with him to get a ticket." murmured Lila, taking a sip of champagne. "Probably." answered Alya, in response.
Nino was beginning to question his relationship with Alya. She was amazing when they first started dating and had such big dreams, but now it seemed like all those things he had fallen in love with that made Alya….Alya, were shoved onto the back burner. She had done nothing but criticize Marinette, who he had known for years.
"Hey, Nino." whispered Alix, "Do you know who the stuffy guy with Mari is?" "No, but she looks happy." he whispered back.
The group watched as a businessman approached them and struck up a conversation.
"Woah, how did Marinette get Bruce Wayne to talk with her?" questioned Max, as Kim dragged him towards the buffet table. "Who?" asked Alix. "Bruce Wayne. He's the owner of Wayne Enterprises; they have their hand in everything!" exclaimed Max. "He probably went to talk with the brat who came in with Marinette." stated Alya. "You don't think they'll get thrown out, do you?" Lila asked, faking her concern. "Well, only one way to find out." Kim said, between bites, pointing towards Gabriel and Adrien Agreste, walking towards Bruce Wayne.
"Bruce Wayne, it's a pleasure to see you again." announced Gabriel. "Ah, Mr. Agreste. Thank you for inviting us." answered Bruce. "Yes, the invite was a most pleasant surprise." spoke the young man next to Bruce.
"Gabriel, allow me to introduce, my son, Damian Wayne, and his plus one, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." spoke Bruce. "Miss Dupain-Cheng, it's a pleasure to meet you again. I have heard only good things regarding your designs." Gabriel revealed. "Thank you, Mr. Agreste!" Marinette smiled.
"Hey, Marinette! I didn't know you would be here." spoke up, Adrien. "Hello, Adrien." she responded, "How has your modeling been going?" "Lila hasn't been making the shoots easy." he responded. "We work in conditions we don't like, Son." announced Gabriel, "But we work through them to progress." "It's okay, Adrien. I usually ignore those shoots. I never regarded anything past the clothes before, but Lila's presence, she doesn't know how to work the camera angels and it throws off the feeling of the apparel, in my opinion." smiled Mari.
"You would know best, Mari." stated Damian, "The Wayne Retail section is always on the look for new models and designers. Even we have been, selecting fewer and fewer from the Gabriel female line."
"I was unaware your son was following in your footsteps." replied Mr. Agreste, shooting Bruce a look, acknowledging his lack of feminine clothing in circulation. "He is, at least on the business aspect. I'm afraid he's only here in regards to Marinette and her love of fashion." spoke Bruce, "My other sons wished to remain in Gotham to keep the place running." "Is that so?" asked Gabriel, glancing towards his son, "How admirable. I'm afraid Adrien is only the face of the company. He lacks the cutthroat confidence needed in the line of fashion."
Bruce and Marinette noticed Adrien flinch at his father's ruthless word, basically calling him useless.
"Perhaps, but maybe his talent lies elsewhere." smiled Bruce, catching Adrien's eye of surprise.
"Perhaps. He does mostly take after Emilie." retorted Gabriel.
Damian's enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps behind them, rushing towards them. Out of his peripheral, he saw one of the waiters charge at them with scissors, ready to strike, and Marinette was in the line of fire!
Quickly, he turned and side sweeped the waiter's legs, causing him to stumble and fall on the floor, dropping the scissors. Damian is on his back and has a knife to his throat as the scissor slide between his father's legs.
"Why did you just attempt an attack on my fiancée? " Damian shouted, digging the knife just a little deeper.
Suddenly the attention was drawn to their group, if it hadn't been already. Darted gazes, flickered between the young man holding a knife to the waiter's throat and his revealed fiancée.
The group all looked at Marinette's left hand to see, that sure enough, she was sporting a ring.
"Damian! Put the knife away!" shouted Bruce, breaking everyone out of their shock. "He attempted to attack her, Father! Are you suggesting we left him get away with this? He came after her with a pair of scissors!" Damian shouted back.
"Dami, it's okay." Marinette smiled, crouching down next to him and reaching out to touch his shoulder, "I'm fine. You protected me, right?"
Damian nodded and released his captured prey, as security rushed onto the scene.
"Son, how did you get a knife through the metal detectors?" they asked. "Polycarbonate pocket knife." he replied, as if it would explain everything. "Did you steal from Dick, again?" asked Bruce. "He shouldn't leave his things laying around!" replied Damian, slipping it back into his pocket.
Meanwhile, Gabriel is rethinking just how 'perfect' Damian is compared to his own son.
Lila glares as everyone is talking amongst themselves on how glad they are that Marinette was okay. They were on her side, not a minute ago. How could they have shifted their concentration so fast? Now, she had to play carefully. Marinette had acquired an overprotective man. He seemed ready to kill anyone who laid a hand on her.
Marinette's eyes flicker to the man behind Damian reaching into his coat. She notices the movement and yanks on Damian's arm, throwing him towards the floor. "DUCK!" Mari shouts.
She rushes at the secondary waiter and tackles him to the ground. Quickly, she gets him in a headlock, causing him to fire the gun off towards the ceiling in panic. As she hears the chamber click empty, she easily slips into a cradle hold. Everyone is stunned that the petite fiancée also took on an attacker. Security rushed back, arresting the accomplice.
Bruce sighed as someone is walked out for a second time.
'Why is it always my family that starts something or is somewhere in the middle of said drama? Why can't we be normal? Can't we have a normal outing for once?'
"Marinette, are you okay?" asked Adrien, reaching his hand out for hers, blushing red. Who could have imagined that sweet and innocent Marinette could be such a badass?
"I’m fine. Thank you, Adrien." Mari answered, reaching for Damian's extended hand. "That was reckless and stupid, Angel!" shouted Damian, pulling her up and into his arms. "You're only saying that cause you didn't realize they were there." she smirked. Damian pulled Marinette into a kiss and whispered, "Don't you ever scare me like that again."
"Oh my God, Gurl! Why didn't you tell me you could do that?" shouted Alya, rushing over, with the class not that far behind. "Who's this?" questioned Damian, pulling her just a little bit closer. "Alya Cesaire; I'm Marinette's best friend." the budding journalist smiled. "I've met her best friend. You're not her." he replied.
Alya looked at Mari to counter his claim. "He's not wrong." was the response she got.
'How could Mari say something like that? They were friends since she moved there; since her first day at College.'
"You've changed." Alya said with a glare. "I'm not the one that's changed, Alya. I've just stopped being a doormat to everyone's needs. I'm through being left out of everything." retaliated Mari. "We don't leave you out-" countered Alya. "When was the last time you came to my house or you called to hang out at the park?" questioned Marinette.
Alya found she couldn't remember. 'Had it really been that long?'
"So, what? This guys teaches you some fancy new moves and-" she stopped as a burst of laughter was heard. She turned to see Kim, Nino and Chloe laughing. 'What's going on?' "What's so funny?" she asked.
"Those aren't new." said Kim, between laughs. "Mari's always been like that." Nino answered, taking deep breaths." "She got suspended on the second day of primary for beating up Kim cause he stole her juice box." announced Chloe, wiping the tears from under her eyes."
"What?" she looked back to Marinette, who seemed unfazed by this becoming common knowledge.
On the other hand, Lila was feeling faint. This was who she had threatened? Marinette had never seen her as a threat. She was only humoring her.
"My Angel may wear pink, but it doesn't make her any less fierce." Damian spoke up, before sending the woman in his arms a small smile.
"How?" asked Alya, still confused.
"My parents." replied Marinette, rolling her eyes, "Papa was a pro wrestler in his teens and Maman is a black belt in several martial arts. She's been teaching me since I could walk."
Bruce sighed.
'Why isn't anyone in this family normal?'
"I apologize for my son and his fiancée creating a disturbance in your event, Mr. Agreste." spoke Bruce, snapping them out of their conversation. Marinette turned back, wide-eyed and began to apologize fore creating a scene. Damian, realizing this was someone who his Angel idolized, apologized as well.
"It's quite alright. You both defended yourselves, admirably. I will help with the investigation against you both. I apologize for not doing a better job with my security." stated Gabriel, "Now, Marinette, I believe you were telling me about the fashion line you were working on."
Damian smiled as his Angel began to glow with excitement and began to converse about her ongoing project.
"So, how did you meet Marinette?" asked Adrien. Damian turned to see Agreste's offspring. Marinette had told him about Adrien: how she use to have feelings for him, how she took his advice against outing the liar who plagued her, how she had come to realize he knew nothing of the outside world.
He was just a wide-eyed with wonder as she had stated. He had a child's view of the world.
"I met Marinette in Gotham, by accident. I heard a scream and was ready to help, but when I got there, Marinette had taken down three men my father's size. It was very…captivating. She turned to me with a fierce gaze and when she realized I was no threat, her eyes changed to these alluring sapphire gems. I met her several days later, again, and asked her to grab some coffee with me. Once my brother's found out, it didn't take that long for them to try and spar with her. She laid them flat and so far that has been the best day of my life. Soon we'll have many more days like that." Damian spoke, turning his gaze back to Mari.
Bruce shook his head at his son's idea of romance. He's not sure how the universe did it, but they found someone to match his son's tenacity and they were able to calm him down.
Damian glanced back to Adrien and found his eyes filled with amusement and wonder. "That sounds so wonderful! A real love story!" he whispered. "I assume you have a plus one, as well." Damian stated. "Unfortunately, my father forced me to bring Lila." Adrien pouted, "I don't see why; he has me glued to his side to remind everyone I'm the face of his brand."
"What do you like to do, Adrien?" interrupted Bruce. "I like playing the piano. I use to play with my mom all the time. I like videogames and science. Father prefers I spend my time learning Mandarin and fencing when I'm not modeling his clothes." Adrien said, glancing quickly in his Father's direction. "Perhaps, your Father and I can come to some sort of agreement. Excuse me." Bruce left the conversation, as quickly as he had entered.
"What just happened?" Adrien questioned, turning towards Damian. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing much more of each other, Agreste. I'll inform my brothers of your timed arrival. I'm sure they'll appreciate another player to take down." Damian spoke, sauntering off to his fiancee.
