Chapter Text
Marinette was a lot more careful than usual on her nightly run. The turtle didn’t offer any natural stealth and the bats were on the lookout for her if her encounter with them last night was any indicator, so she couldn’t afford to slip up.
So imagine her surprise when a bright voice suddenly called out right behind her,”Hello there!”
“Augh!”
The figure was hanging upside down from a streetlight laughing as she fell over. He was lucky she wasn’t on a rooftop, honestly! “Oops. Sorry.” He covered his mouth with his hands to hide his obvious laughter.
She frowned at him,”No you’re not.”
He shrugged, flipping rather dramatically to stand next to her, effectively cornering her into the alley she was standing in. “It was a little funny.” His suit was mostly black, with a vibrant blue symbol on his chest and a few highlights. Normally Marinette would admire the craftsmanship, but unfortunately she was too busy trying to remember which one this was.
Pivoting, she crossed her arms,”So are you here to arrest me?”
“Depends, should I?” Nightwing, she remembered, smirked at her.
Two could play at that game. “I’m not doing anything wrong.” She shrugged. Let him waste time asking questions so she could plan an escape.
He frowned,”Well- hold that thought, we’ve got company.” He lunged behind her, and when she sidestepped she noticed the shadowy figures lurking behind her.
They quickly fell into a rhythm with each other, with the turtle’s slow and bulky fighting style complimenting Nightwing’s acrobatic and fast attacks. It brought Marinette back to her days in Paris a little, just with the roles reversed.
There were multiple times she had to throw out a last minute shield to protect him, and every time seemed to catch him off guard. She understood the suspicion but that didn’t make it any less annoying. The thugs were quickly tied up and while he waited for the police to arrive, she took the opportunity to slip away.
Unfortunately it was only about an hour later when she heard footsteps trailing behind her from her position on the rooftops. “Thanks for the assist back there.” Nightwing was grinning at her, a good enough sign for her to entertain him.
“I’m here to help.”
He looked thoughtful at that,”So I’ve been told… tell you what, how about you tag along with me tonight?”
Now that was strange. He wasn’t jumping straight into questioning? There had to be something more to this. “And you’re… not leading me into a trap?”
“Well if I was I wouldn’t tell you now would I?” Nightwing laughed.
“Fair enough.” Studying his face for any sign of deception, Marinette was surprised when she didn’t find any. Of course, Nooroo or Duusuu would’ve been better for being sure, but she trusted Wayzz’s instincts. “Alright, but I’m leaving if we run into one of your teammates.”
After he silently agreed, they started making the rounds together. She followed his route from a distance and joined in on any fights that appeared. It was nice to have a team again, even if it was temporary for now.
Nightwing broke the silence once they had gone a while without running into anyone, criminal or no. “So, you’ve said you’re here to help, but how exactly?”
She hummed, deciding how much information to give him while they were still at odds. “This city is very very sick. I’m here to give it some medicine.”
“What?” He stopped, sitting down on the roof. So they were having a Talk, got it.
“It’s not a magical cure-all, you bats are already a huge help,” Marinette needed to make sure he understood that she wasn’t undermining their efforts. It’s because of them that it’s curable now. “But I’m giving you an extra boost we’ll say.”
He didn’t look convinced, but shrugged. “Weirdly cryptic, but ok.”
That wasn’t what she was expecting. “Really? That’s it?” She was prepared to give a whole speech if she had to.
He smirked at her,”Should it not be?”
“Well no,” She rushed to explain herself. “I just assumed you would question me more.”
“Your teammates told you about the others, huh?”
Teammates? “My- Oh!” Right, they thought there was a bunch of miraculous holders running around Gotham and not one stressed out of her mind 19 year old. “Yes, they did. They apparently weren’t very welcoming.”
Nightwing definitely caught her slip-up, but he didn’t comment on it. “…Yeah they can be like that. How about your team?”
“Huh?”
“What’re they like?” His smile turned sharp in a way she didn’t like. “Do you guys get along?”
Did Marinette get along with herself? Sometimes. When she wasn’t busy making bad decisions under pressure. Although, she wasn’t doing too bad right now, she hadn’t slipped up other than that one time! “Um… I must confess I’m not the most. Social. Of all of us.” Yeah sure let’s go with that.
More of that sharp smile that she was quickly learning meant he was definitely onto her. “What? You seem plenty friendly to me.”
“That’s…” She scrambled for an answer until she heard a buzz coming from Nightwing. “Is that a call?”
He put up a finger to his ear, silent for a moment before giving her one last smile, this one much less predatory. “It’s probably best if you leave unless you wanna meet the others.”
It was sweet of him to warn her. In fact, this whole interaction was very pleasant she decided, a welcome change of pace from her usual encounters with the Gotham vigilantes. “Alright. Thank you for trusting me, Nightwing.”
“Yeah-“ His eyes widened. “Wait! I never caught your name!”
“Verte.” She called after him, leaping into the night before he could say anything else.
The newly named superhero landed in an alleyway far away from her talk with Nightwing before letting herself try and figure out where she was. Verte didn’t recognize any of her surroundings, the fact that she had only moved a short while ago catching up with her.
Normally she would panic, but she felt a sense of calm similar to when Ladybug had a plan wash over her instead. It would be okay, she just had to keep hidden and find an area she recognized so she could go home. Or, actually Kagami lived near here if Marinette remembered correctly, if she could remember the address, her friend wouldn’t hesitate to let her stay over.
Plan set in place, Verte decided to wander the streets, placing down the occasional talisman to ease her burden down the line. “Stop right there!” A very familiar voice called out above her.
Red Robin landed in front of her, tense and ready to fight, just like when he ran into one of her Multimouse copies. “Deja vu much?” Verte mumbled to herself.
“What was that?”
She smiled calmly,”Nothing. What’s up?”
“I won’t waste time.” He snapped impatiently. It occurred to her then just how late it was and knew that it was very solidly Verte who didn’t have a problem with that and not Marinette. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
Verte, completely none the wiser of the insomnia she would have later because of her choices, tilted her head,”What’s the hard way?” If she could get him to leave out of exhaustion that would make things easier for her.
The staff pointed in her face answered that question for her. “We bring you in for questioning if you’re as cryptic as your team.”
It really was unfortunate for him that she had so much experience dueling Cat Noir and thus knew exactly how to counter Red Robin’s weapon of choice. Verte sucked in a breath, prepping Marinette for what she was about to do. “Sorry.” She said to both him and herself.
The shellter erupted before he could do anything, leaving one very tired vigilante confused. “Wha- what is this?”
“It’s a shell. Good luck trying to break it.” Verte sat down on the ground, not much more comfortable than standing and definitely not as sanitary, though she had seen worse when transforming into Ladybug last minute.
“So you do have magic…” Red Robin muttered to himself.
She found herself smirking,”I thought that was pretty obvious.” Did the illusion yesterday not give it away?
He huffed, crossing his arms,”Whatever, you can’t stay in there forever, but we have all the time in the world.” At the reminder of his team, Verte sighed.
“I’d be willing to talk here, if you’d like.” She was definitely feeling some of that stubbornness Mullo warned her about. Verte would get one of these vigilantes to understand that she wasn’t a threat sooner or later. Marinette hoped it was sooner. “I just don’t want to be arrested.” She added.
Red Robin sighed, not taking a seat but relaxing slightly,”You know, it’s pretty suspicious how you all keep saying that and then running.”
She winced,”That’s fair. Sorry. What do you want to know?” How much could she keep hidden?
“How many of you are there?”
One. “You’ll meet about thirteen heroes max during our stay,” Marinette couldn’t afford to risk all of the miraculous and that number was already dangerous. “But if we can we’ll keep it to a minimum.”
His eyes widened, and he finally sat down. “How on earth did thirteen metas slip past our radar entirely?”
“In your defense it’s a bit more… complicated than that.” In that there was only one of her, and she wasn’t even meta to begin with, she just had magic jewelry and pocket gods that were imperceptible to technology. How were they supposed to plan around that?
“Explain.”
How much was safe to tell Red Robin? She couldn’t afford to tell him everything obviously, they needed to trust Marinette more for that. But something about his determination and willingness to talk made her want to tell him, even just a little bit. “We aren’t always magical, our power comes from certain objects we carry, so it’s easy to hide.”
Please don’t ask about the objects, please for the love of Kwami don’t ask about the objects- “What kinds of objects?” Verte will give him some credit, he knew how to ask all the right questions to make her annoyed.
She crossed her arms, reminding her of their first encounter as Multimouse even more,”That’s more information than I’m willing to give, sorry.” It surprised her that she somewhat meant it too. Verte was sorry she couldn’t give him the closure of understanding what he was working with, but Marinette knew that she couldn’t afford to give him that for her own safety and the safety of the box.
Red Robin looked like he was about to say something when he paused,”Hang on.” He put a hand to his ear like Nightwing did earlier, something she was learning meant he was communicating with someone. “Yes I’m here. I’ve got one of our visitors cornered, she’s been talkative so far but I can bring her in if I need to.” She froze. “Ten minutes? Yeah I got it.”
Ten minutes for what? Backup? Until he arrests her? Verte was fine keeping up her shield while they were talking, but she couldn’t keep up if he tried to fight her, not while she was so tired and not used to the turtle. “I don’t want to be taken in.”
He seemed surprised by her change in tone, allowing some of her desperation to show turtle or no. “Well then explain what you’re actually doing here, not just ‘I want to help’.”
Verte huffed in exasperation, patience running thin. “But that’s what I’m doing! You’re smart, surely you’ve noticed that things have been changing recently?”
“Changing?”
“Villains are quieter, the sun shines more often, it hasn’t rained in a week!” She listed off, watching Red Robin put the pieces together on his own before finishing. “Almost like the city itself is healing.”
It took a few seconds for him to respond, likely running through the last several weeks to see if she was right. “It has been calmer recently…” He eventually admitted.
She let herself be smug for a moment before becoming more serious. “But it’s fragile, if I- if we leave now, things will go back to normal, or even worse.”
There was a lot to doubt, she knew that, so Verte once more let Red Robin stew in his thoughts. “How… how can I be sure you’re telling the truth?”
She looked him in the eyes as best as she could with his mask, letting some of her blue shine through the haze willingly to add weight to what she was about to say. “Right now? You can’t. We aren’t near anything I’ve done before. You’ll just have to trust me.”
It was a risk. From this point forward Red Robin would see that all the miraculous holders had the same eye color, and after that point it wouldn’t be too hard to imagine them being the same person. But he was smart, Verte knew that he would probably puzzle that together eventually anyway.
White stared expressionless into blue for a few moments until he stepped away. “Why are you doing this? None of you seem to be native, and we haven’t exactly been welcoming. Why bother?”
“Because no one else will, and this city needs help.” That seemed to stun him for a moment, so she sheepishly smiled,”Plus… it’s a bit dangerous for me to leave at this point.”
“Why?” He sat again, looking strangely worried for someone who was interrogating her.
Verte couldn’t hold back Marinette’s anxiousness from showing through her fidgeting. “Apparently because I’ve been tied to the city, if I leave while it’s still healing I’ll get very sick.” Tikki didn’t say how sick, but judging from the kwami’s reactions, she’d say the chance of recovery is slim.
Red Robin stared at her again, clearly studying her. Verte studied him back, finding hesitation and confusion, but also hope in his expression. He stood, breaking the trance,”Go.”
“What?”
He frowned at her,”I still don’t trust you but…” His expression softened a little, looking more tired and resigned than anything. “I don’t want you to get hurt either. We’ll pick this up later.”
Slowly, she let down her shield, slipping into the shadows of the alley with nothing more than a quick whispered,”Thank you.” Verte couldn’t even be certain he heard.
When she turned the corner, she looked back to see two shadows in the alley she left behind, one much larger and bulkier than the other. A gruff voice echoed throughout the alleyway,”What happened?”
Red Robin responded a second later, unfazed. “She got away.” Verte took that as a sign to leave before they found her again.
Marinette crashed into her apartment with slightly more grace than she had the night before, detransforming and feeding the Kwami before sitting on her bed to think about her next move. All of her limbs begged for sleep but her mind as usual, craved answers.
Wayzz hovered next to her calmly,”That boy was rather kind to let you go.” His tone was pensive, like he was thinking of something.
“It was nice of him. And to hear me out after all the teasing.” She hummed.
Trixx stopped pretending to not be listening in on the conversation,”Oh are you talking about that bird boy? I liked him!” Vixen had been very fond of him if she remembered correctly. Although, she couldn’t remember much of last night this late and with so little sleep.
Her yawn cut off whatever they were going to say next,”Thanks Wayzz, but I don’t think I can go out as Verte twice in a row.” She gently took off the bracelet and handed it to him to put back in the box.
He smiled,”Perfectly understandable Marinette, thank you for letting me stretch my legs.” If she were more awake she would’ve asked what legs he was talking about, but awake Marinette wasn’t in the building currently and sleep deprived Marinette wasn’t as corrupted by Adrien.
“I think I’ll need to stay off their radar for a while, but I’ll still go out. Nooroo?” She gestured for the butterfly hiding in the back talking to Sass.
He hesitantly floated forward, landing in her palm clutching his pin. “Are you sure master?”
“Of course I am, but I’ll only use you if you’re okay with it.” She poked him with a smirk,”And remember, it’s just Marinette.”
Nooroo smiled at Marinette and pinned his miraculous to her,”I can do it. It’ll be good to help someone for once.”
She slept so soundly after that it was easy to ignore that it was 4:00 AM and that she had agreed to lunch with Tim the next day, forcing her to get out of bed before at least 2:00 PM.
***
Tim was not having a very good morning. Last night had dragged on way longer than usual, then he stayed up long to try and compile a list of possible suspects for who MDC was, but quickly ran out of things to narrow them down. He stumbled into the kitchen reaching for the coffee maker only for his family to ban him from it again. They had even managed to find his emergency energy drinks, so he was left to go to work running on fumes.
He couldn’t even be all that excited about meeting with Marinette in the state he was in. Tim felt worse about canceling though, and knew that seeing her and getting another hint would brighten his mood a little at least.
When he got to the meeting spot, he was surprised to find her zoning out with heavy eyebags, examining her surroundings with shocking sharpness. Marinette’s outfit was no less put together though, with this one being a dark purple sundress with flowy sleeves and a white belt, another MDC original, what caught his eye the most however, was the beautiful ornate pin she wore. It was white with an abstract butterfly engraving on it and complimented the look perfectly. So she knew how to accessorize too. Not shocking considering she works for a fashion designer.
Her hair was down too, only half pulled back by another butterfly clip in the back and framing her face beautifully. She looked elegant and almost otherworldly with her dazed expression.
That was enough of that train of thought, Tim! “Hi.”
Despite how zoned out she was, Marinette didn’t react to his sudden presence behind her, merely turning to him with a slight smile. “Hello. We’re meeting a friend of mine today because the others have cut off my coffee supply.” That explained her demeanor.
It was almost like she could read Tim’s mind, he was just about to suggest another coffee shop. “Sounds good to me.”
They fell into step next to each other, both too tired to engage in small talk for now. It was refreshing honestly, to not have to worry about keeping up with her. Marinette was letting him keep quiet, there were no crimes or immediate work concerns, and the sun was shining, all in all not a bad apology from the universe for that morning.
At the thought of the sun however, Tim did find his thoughts drifting back to Verte not for the first time since their encounter. She was the standout of the three he had talked to, actually giving him information but still carefully keeping her cards close to her chest. She was patient and calm, but got genuinely anxious when the threat of being arrested came up, and seemed to genuinely care about what happened to the city.
Marinette glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and cleared her throat,”Any theories so far?”
The silence was nice while it lasted, but this was good too, Tim conceded. “You haven’t given me a lot to work with, you know.”
There was that smile again, the one that meant trouble. “I know. Coffee first, then I’ll give you another hint.” She opened the door to an apartment building and eventually they found themselves knocking on the door of one of the apartments inside. It opened to reveal a woman their age with short black hair who looked far too awake for this early in the afternoon. “Kagami!”
A quick hug was exchanged between the women. “Marinette, good to see you.” Kagami softened noticeably before turning to him,”Who’s this?”
She rushed to introduce them,”This is Tim, a potential client, I brought him here for our meeting.”
Kagami raised an eyebrow as she let them in,”Hm. Might I ask why?”
The apartment was decorated minimally with a mixture of photos covering the walls and expensive furniture. It surprised Tim, considering they weren’t in a wealthy part of town. Marinette chuckled nervously behind him,”So, here’s the thing…”
“Chloé scolded you for your sleep schedule again didn’t she?” Her friend deadpanned.
It didn’t take a detective to assume that was a friend of theirs, but even he was surprised at her answer,”It’s not that bad! It’s only been three days since I’ve slept, but work ran late last night and I need a pick-me-up.” So she was just as bad as him? No wonder Marinette was so tired when they met up.
“And how will our guest take his coffee?” Kagami sighed, sounding used to her friend’s insomnia.
“Just whatever Marinette’s having please.” Anything with caffeine in it for the love of god.
She hesitated,”Are you sure? She likes an unhealthy amount of sugar in hers.”
The woman in question took to cleaning the living room, paying them no mind from what he could tell. Honestly Tim could use something sweet after all the stress he’s endured with looking for any trace of the metas and his usual work. “Sounds perfect.”
After a quick nod, Kagami smiled at Marinette conspiratorially,”I see why you picked him.”
What? Picked him for what? She did introduce him as a potential client, but the knowing glint in her friend’s eye was suspicious. Did she know about his test? Did she know who MDC was?
The three of them sat at the coffee table sipping their drinks peacefully. Further proving that she was rich, Kagami had served them very expensive coffee, and it was even more delicious than he hoped it would be. “This is great!” It was like the fog was lifting from his mind, allowing Tim to think clearly. Take that family! Marinette had his best interest at heart!
…Or maybe just her own with how quickly she was drinking hers. “Right? Kagami always gets the fancy stuff.”
Her friend chuckled,”You can blame Felix for getting me hooked.” He assumed that was a friend of theirs.
“Oh yeah, speaking of which where is he?” Marinette looked around the apartment like this Felix would just materialize even though he had been missing so far.
“He’s in London for business and to visit Adrien.”
Marinette nodded,"Righhht, I remember them mentioning that.” She frowned at him. “Sorry Tim, it’s been a while since we’ve chatted.”
Honestly it was nice to sit and observe her when she wasn’t working. She was bright, and commanded the attention of the room just by smiling or laughing, which wasn’t that surprising if she handled all the public relations for MDC. “It’s alright, how long have you guys been friends for?”
They both paused, thinking, Marinette hummed,”Has it been five years now?”
“Just about.”
Something about that stood out in Tim’s mind but he couldn’t put his finger on why. “She was interested in my crush at the time so I didn’t like her all that much, but then we discovered how good a team we make and we’ve been inseparable ever since.” She explained.
He would have let it go if not for that smile. That same smile Marinette had a tendency to give him specifically. Or maybe just all her potential customers, he had no way of knowing. She wanted him to latch onto that. But why? “That’s great.” He smiled politely.
A phone started buzzing on the table and Kagami stood up,”Pardon, I have to take this.” The caller ID said Tomoe from what he could tell.
“You ready for your next hint?” Right, why he was there in the first place. Tim nodded, mentally prepping himself for another all-nighter depending on what it was. “She’s closely associated with the Agrestes.”
He paused,”Like Gabriel Agreste?” Like Hawkmoth? He held himself back from asking.
It didn’t matter because she frowned, though not at him. “Yes, but she wasn’t close with him and obviously didn’t know that he was Hawkmoth.” Her uncanny ability to read his thoughts was starting to make him nervous. Was he that easy to read?
Regardless, that was big. The Agrestes were not social people, and the list of people close to them *and* who made public appearances was short enough to work with. He was pulled from his thoughts by Kagami entering the room again,”I’m back. Don’t give me that look Marinette I’m not giving you a refill.”
Tim looked over at her to find a set of puppy dog eyes that he almost fell for right then and there. It took him a moment to remember that he couldn’t give her what she wanted,”But Gamiiiiiiiiii, We’ve been so busy with work recently, don’t I deserve more?”
“You work with her?” She worked with MDC?
Kagami nodded,”We collaborate, yes.”
He was about to ask more questions when a loud chime sounded from a phone on the coffee table and Marinette jumped,”Oh shoot that’s my alarm! I’m so sorry to cut this short Tim but I’ve got to go!”
That worked for him, he needed a computer in front of him as soon as possible so he could work on that list of suspects, and his lunch was almost over. “I should head back to work anyways, thank you for the coffee Kagami.”
The rushed out the door with her shouting one last,”Your a lifesaver, love you bye!” Before Marinette was gone.
Kagami chuckled at her friend’s antics,”Goodbye.” She turned to him, gaze shockingly sharp. “Good luck with the test Tim.”
She left him standing there in shock for longer than he probably should’ve been considering he was already suspicious of that very fact, but still. She knew he was taking the test for MDC’s list. Did she know who the designer was?
Work does by for the rest of the day until Tim could sit and finish his list, and what he found was even more shocking, and yet made perfect sense.
Kagami Tsurugi, at age fourteen moved to Paris and was later reported to be dating Adrien Agreste. They broke up a few weeks later but her mother, Tomoe Tsurugi, remained close business partners with Gabriel Agreste until his arrest as Hawkmoth. She has since been very private, only appearing at select events and rumored to be dating Felix Fathom, cousin of Adrien Agreste, though neither have confirmed anything.
It all made perfect sense, she and Marinette were business partners, she had close associations with the Agrestes and he definitely recognized the Tsurugi name even if he had never met Kagami before that afternoon. Plus, that would explain why Marinette brought him over to begin with, the coffee was a coverup so they could meet! Or, actually she did genuinely need that coffee, but he was sure that was the plan before anyway.
Kagami was MDC.