Chapter Text
Marinette closed her eyes and sighed. The guy she just drained had a pretty high blood alcohol content and she was feeling a little tipsy now. It was worth it though, she had seen him eyeing up girls all night and trying to prey on the particularly drunk ones. She had been able to lure him in by pretending to be wasted herself. She pulled out a mirror so she could check her makeup. She had just a dab of blood on her lower lip and she reached into her purse to grab a handkerchief to wipe it away.
There were footsteps in the alley and she pressed herself against the wall. Looking back to where her victim was lying on the ground she saw one of the Gotham vigilantes drop down next to him. Marinette stood very still and stopped breathing. It wouldn’t do to be caught after all. Vampires weren’t exactly common in America, she wouldn’t have the support system she needed if she got into a situation.
The vigilante took his time checking over the body and surrounding area. He was clearly investigating, and that was bad news for her. She had seen in the news that there was speculation about her victims, but none of the major news outlets had run the story yet.
After what seemed like an eternity the vigilante left and Marinette stepped out of the shadows. She made her way back to the main street with haste and then blended into the crowd. Tonight had gone well, and now it was time to retire before the morning light came around.
---
Jason had been investigating this case for weeks now. He had found a pattern to the missing person’s case, at first it had been a loosely related connection. The missing persons seemed to all be last seen going to some seedy club in the bowery, and about half of them had prior arrests for sexual assault. That last one made him pause, maybe it was someone just cleaning up the street, if he was honest, it was helping him if someone else was also tracking down sexual assaulters. He couldn’t be everywhere at once after all, but the fact that there had been so many over just a short time was concerning.
He got dressed in some clothes that he could get into a club in and then headed out. He needed to see if he could find the culprit. Someone was causing these disappearances, and, if the body from last night was any indication, this was something bigger than he had ever gone up against.
---
Marinette noticed the guy pretty quickly. He was tall and built like a brick house, and he had been staring at her for the last ten minutes. He didn’t look like a creep, but that level of attention in a seedy bar like this usually didn’t spell anything good. She put on her tipsy act and grabbed her credit card from the bartender cashing out her tab.
She had made it about ten steps down the alley when she heard the footsteps behind her. She wasn’t hungry per se, but she could eat, and tall, dark, and handsome would be more than a meal.
“Miss!” He called out to her and she turned around, making sure to stumble a bit to keep up the facade.
“Oh, you’re from in the bar!” She giggled and batted her eyelashes. “Whatcha doing?”
The man brushed his hair back. “You look pretty inebriated, and this isn’t a safe area to be walking alone. Can I pay for a cab to get you home?”
That was not what she had been expecting. “Huh?”
“Sorry if that’s forward of me, but I wasn’t sure if you’d feel comfortable with me walking you home, so I figured offering you a cab home was better.” He gave a sheepish smile.
“That’s… really thoughtful…’ she trailed off.
“Jason, my name is Jason.” He introduced himself and held out a hand that she shook. “So, can I call you that cab?”
She gave him a smile and shook her head. “I’ll be okay, I know these streets well.”
“Well, in that case, would you let me walk you home?” He asked.
She thought it over. If he was genuine then she would get some company on the way home, if he turned out to be a creep she would get a meal, win-win. “Sure, but I really don’t live far from here.”
Jason shrugged. “That’s okay.”
She started walking home and had to put some effort into remembering to fake her drunken state. Jason seemed actually… safe.
She arrived at her apartment building and turned to look at him. “Thanks for walking me home.”
“Of course, I couldn’t let you be out here alone, there was a body found a couple of streets away from here you know.” He offered out a hand. “Be safe out there, okay?”
Marinette blinked twice, not many people knew about the body from last night… “Uh, thanks.” She tilted her head and nodded to herself. “Do you uh, want to come in for tea?”
Jason gave a half smile. “Just tea though, yeah? I’m not going to take advantage of you.” He gave a soft half laugh so she knew he was teasing, but she knew that his words were genuine.
Marinette pushed in the code to get into the building and then lead him up to her apartment. She prayed that she had remembered to put her things back in place as she opened her door. Looking around quickly she saw that things were indeed put away, and the kitchen looked normal.
“Uh, go ahead and take a seat in the living room, I’ll make the tea.”
She went to the kitchen and checked the cabinets and smiled when she saw the tea she kept in there for her visitor. It was getting close to empty so she needed to remember to pick some up next time she went out. She let the tea finish brewing and then grabbed a couple of glasses. She wouldn’t drink her’s but it paid to keep up with appearances.
“I hope that Earl Grey is okay. It’s all I keep in the apartment.” She walked out with the tea and set it down.
“That’s perfect, it’s one of the few teas I drink.” Jason smiled and took his cup from her.
Marinette held her cup between her hands and smiled. “Have you always lived in Gotham?”
“Born and raised,” he responded like there was a joke that she was missing. “Your accent is interesting, a blend of something?”
Marinette gave a coy smile and nodded. “I was born in Paris, learned English in England, and then lived in Georgia for a long time when I first moved to the states.”
“What brought you to Gotham?” He asked.
Mariette smiled brightly as he sipped from his tea. “An old friend lives here, so I moved to be closer to him.”
“Where are your parents?” Jason took another sip of tea and she was glad that she hadn’t burned it, or at least if she did, he was too nice to comment on it.
“They died when I was young.” She answered honestly. After all, at over 250 years old 19 was in her youth.
Jason gave a soft smile and grabbed her hand softly. “I’m sorry, my parents died when I was a kid too.”
Marinette wasn’t sure how to respond to that. It wasn’t like she could say she watched her parents lose their heads in the middle of the revolution after all. “It’s hard.”
Jason nodded and then tilted his head. “You look young for 21 though.”
Marinette nodded. “Oh, I’m actually 22, I just have chronic baby face.”
That made Jason laugh and she loved to hear it. His laugh reminded her of Adrien. He looked at his phone when it buzzed and set down his tea cup. “Oh, I have to go. It was nice meeting you Marinette. I would love to talk to you again sometime. Could I give you my phone number?”
Marinette nodded and pulled her own phone out of her pocket. “Sure!”
They exchanged numbers and then she walked him to the door. “Be safe out there.”
“I will be.” She closed the door behind her and sighed against it. He was nice, but he was clearly hiding something, and it was weird that he knew about the body. She didn’t think it had made the news, but maybe he had a police scanner. Whatever the reason, she needed to keep an eye on him, and the fact that he was good eye candy wouldn’t hurt.
---
Jason answered his cell as he walked out of the apartment building. “What is it, dickhead?”
“And a good evening to you too!” Dick said cheerfully.
Jason rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”
“You’re working the missing persons’ case, yeah?” Dick asked moving into a more serious tone.
“Yeah, got a lead yesterday when I found a body for the first time. I think I have the pattern figured out, but I just need to figure out who is taking these people.” Jason walked back in the direction of the club where his bike was stationed. “I’ve got it under control.”
“That’s what I told Bruce, but he wants you to come to the cave and give us a briefing over the case.”
“Well, tell daddy bats that I will not be doing that,” Jason responded and hung up without giving Dick a chance to respond.
He made his way home and decided that tonight was a bust, but, on the bright side, he did get to talk to a pretty girl.
---
They had spent weeks texting each other. Marinette was funny, and she had really interesting stories about her life in Gotham, though she really only texted him at night, it made it easy to not have to explain why he was asleep so long in the mornings though. He asked her about it one time and she said that she was just a nocturnal person and her job allowed her to stay that way. She was secretive as to what that job was, but she was honest and open about so much that he didn’t mind.
Jason wished that he had been able to see her more often, but the missing person’s case was taking too much of his time. There had been two more disappearances, and the only thing he could find linking the disappearances were bouncers telling him that they had had to kick the men out of the club for harassing women. Part of him wanted to let the whole thing drop, if Bruce hadn’t been threatening to come clean it up himself Jason would.
“Master Jason,” Alfred greeted him at the door. “So good to see you for tea my boy.”
“Hey, Alfred.” Jason handed over his jacket and then walked toward the kitchen. “I’ve missed you.”
“You haven’t been by the manor in so long I thought you were ignoring my invitations on purpose.” Alfred gathered the tea tray and brought it over to the nook.
“Just been focused on this case, and I met someone.” Jason smiled. “I think you’d like her Alfie, she has an old soul like you.”
“You will have to bring her by to meet us at some point then.” Alfred gave one of his soft smiles. “Now, tea time.”
They chatted over tea and Jason felt better. Tea with Alfred was always soothing. “You know, Marinette drinks this same blend of Earl Grey.”
“Marinette?” Alfred asked.
Jason nodded. “The girl that I’ve been talking to. I helped her get home from the club safely a few weeks ago, we’ve been talking ever since.”
“Oh dear,” Alfred said with a hint of concern. “You will have to bring her by, I want to meet her.”
The door from Bruce's study opened and Jason stood up. “Got to go, Alfred, see you next week?”
“Of course, and please, do bring miss Marinette with you.” Alfred walked him to the door and held out his jacket.
“Thanks, Alfie, I appreciate it.” Jason departed from the manor and rode his bike towards his safe house. He needed to get home before he could go out and search for the culprit after all, and Marinette would be calling him soon.
---
Marinette was getting dressed for the night. It had been about a week since she last fed, and if she was going to see Jason tomorrow then she needed to feed tonight. She put on her normal club outfit, made sure she had her ID, and then walked out the door. Walking into the alley by her apartment building she had a static feeling on the back of her neck that was telling her something was wrong. She spun around and came face to face with Red Hood.
“You know, it’s not safe to be out here alone.” His voice sounded kind through the modulator.
“Don’t worry, I can handle myself.” She smiled and turned to walk towards the club that was her target for the night.
“Let me get you to your destination safely.” He offered and Marinette couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
“I’m just headed down the street, I’ll be fine.” She kept walking. “But feel free to tag along if you really want to.”
He laughed and she shook her head. At least Gotham vigilantes were courteous and seemed to genuinely care about their citizens.
Marinette got to the bar and finally looked behind her again. “Well, see ya around I guess.”
He nodded his head to her. “Be careful out there, miss.”
“Thanks.” Marinette rolled her eyes again and then turned to look at the bouncer. “Hey, Trey! How’s it going?”
“Pretty good Mari, see ya later. Let us know if you have any trouble.” He waved her in.
She didn’t have to wait long for someone to come around and start to inappropriately touch some of the girls. The guy was the same as all the others, acting drunk just to get a pass from the girls when he got too close. She smiled and put herself in his line of sight and then waited for him to come over.
“Can I buy you a drink?” He asked over the music, leaning in close to get in her personal space. “I’m Micheal.”
“I was actually thinking about leaving.” She responded.
“Want to go to my place? I don’t live far from here.” He leered at her and she giggled and nodded.
“Sure!” She got up and followed him out of the bar. Trey waved to her and made sure she was good to go home and she smiled and nodded. He was one of her favorite bouncers.
They got into an alley that was dark and dead-ended. “Okay little girl, show me what you got.” Micheal reached out to grab her but she made a side step faster than he could blink.
“Oh, I’ll show you.”
Marinette struck fast, there was no need to be fancy with it, he was a meal and a particularly creepy one at that. She was about halfway through draining him when she heard footsteps coming from the open end of the alley.
“Micheal thought you were gonna call us when you found a pretty girl!” One of the guys called and she froze. She could probably easily hold her own against two more assailants, but the three guys who were walking into the alley looked strong. No problem though, she’d just get a little… messy.
She blended into the shadows as the men approached, they made it to their friend’s body and gasped. “What the hell man?”
The other two looked around and finally one of them saw her. She smiled wide showing off her teeth and hissing a little.
“W-what are you?”
“Your worst nightmare.” Marinette let out a twinkling laugh and the men tried to run from her. She sprinted past them and got in front of the mouth of the alley. “Leaving so soon?”
She laughed again at the fear in their eyes. “You fucked around, hunted down I don’t even know how many girls, and now you’re going to know what it feels like to be the prey.”
Marinette took a step forward and the men tried to back up from her. She struck fast and broke the first man’s kneecaps so he couldn’t go anywhere while she took care of the others. She snapped the second man’s neck and bit into it tearing open his throat messily so that the blood would drench her. She wanted to put the fear of God into the remaining man, chasing him would be so satisfying. When she finished she ran after the third guy. He had almost made it down the street when she tripped him. She grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him back to the alley.
“What is it that men like you tell their victims?” She sneered. “It’ll all be over soon?”
“N-no! I-I didn’t! Please!” He struggled, dragging his hands on the concrete trying to get a handhold.
“You don’t understand! She’s a monster!” The first man was crying out and Marinette dropped creep number three to spin around and see who he was talking to.
Red Hood was standing over the man and Marinette’s eyes widened. “Fuck.”
His eyes snapped up and she stood there like a deer in headlights for a moment too long.
“Hey!” He called out to her and she bolted.
She heard the gun go off once and kept running. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.” She muttered under her breath as she ran towards her apartment. She was faster than the average human, but she wasn’t sure if that would include vigilantes that ran around the city for a living. Sure enough, she could hear him behind her keeping pace.
“Stop! I’m not gonna hurt you!”
Marinette looked around wildly and found some shadows dark enough that she should be able to melt into them. She darted around the corner and then melted into the shadows hoping that he hadn’t seen her. She could be mostly invisible in dark enough shadows, but if you were searching it wasn’t like she became incorporeal.
She stopped breathing and watched as Red Hood turned to come into the alley she was hiding in. “I know you came this way, just come out. I just want to talk.”
He started coming towards her hiding spot and she took a step sideways, accidentally kicking a can in the process.
“Got ya.” He reached out and grabbed her, pulling her away from the wall. “Woah, how did you do that?”
She hissed at him. “Let go of me.”
He gave her a look over and dropped her. “What the hell?”
She swiped a leg and made him stumble and used his distraction to start running again. This was bad, she needed to get home and get cleaned up, fast. It might even be time to run towns. She hoped not, though.
Marinette made it to her apartment building and let herself inside then sprinted up the stairs. She got into her apartment and locked the door behind her. “Shit.”
She went to the bathroom and stripped out of her blood-soaked clothing then got into a hot shower. “Oh, this is bad.”
After a long shower, she stepped out into the now steamed-up bathroom. She looked at her clothes on the floor and groaned. Those would need to be destroyed and that was one of her favorite skirts. She walked into her bedroom and grabbed a pair of pajamas. Tonight could not get any worse.
Then there was a knocking at her door. She sat up in bed and stared at the door to her bedroom. It was still late, so who was at her door?
“Marinette?” It was Jason’s voice. “Will you let me in?”
She sprinted to the bathroom and gathered her bloody clothes into a trash bag. Shit shit shit, why was he here, he wasn’t supposed to be here till tomorrow night.
She finished cleaning up as fast as possible and then went to open the door. “Jason?” She faked a sleepy voice hoping he would think he had woken her up.
“I think we need to talk.” He sounded serious and walked into her apartment.
“What do you mean?”
“I saw you tonight.” Came his response.
“What do you mean?” Jason placed his helmet on the coffee table and she gasped. “You’re…”
“Red Hood, yeah.” He looked up at her from where he was sitting in the armchair. “What other secrets do you keep from me?”
“I…” She sat down on the couch and looked down at her hands. “I…”
“What are you?” He asked in a quiet voice. “Because I don’t think that I can be right. My idea is lunacy.”
“I’m a vampire,” she whispered.
“Heh,” he let out a huff of a laugh. “This is insane. Vampire?”
Marinette nodded. “I know it seems crazy… but I can explain?”
Jason closed his eyes and seemed to just… compartmentalize it all. “Let’s start with an easy one. You’re the cause of the disappearances?”
“Yes.” She bit her lip hard enough to pierce her skin.
“You can bleed?” He asked suddenly.
She nodded. “I was human once. My blood still runs through my body, vampirism is a mutation, not the living dead.”
“You don’t need to breathe though?”
“No, I still do, but I can hold my breath much longer than a human. Kinda like I can run faster than the average human.” Jason stared at her. “How much of the legends are true?”
“Well, I can’t cross running water on my own, silver burns me, religious symbols don’t actually do anything, the rice trick isn’t real, I can’t eat or drink-”
“The tea?” Jason interrupted.
“I keep it for an old friend when he visits.” She smiled. “You’d like him, he’s a protector, like you.”
“Protector?” Jason asked.
“Oh, did you not know? I could smell it on you, assumed you’d figure me out sooner or later because of it, but hoped that it would be on my terms.” She sighed. “I understand if you want me to leave, and I will.”
---
Jason sat there thinking. This was a lot to take in. His kinda sort of girlfriend was a vampire. Somehow this wasn’t really the most surprising thing that ever happened to him. He was still sitting in the armchair and staring at his hands.
“What about drinking animal blood?” Jason suddenly asked.
“Can’t.” She said like she had expected his question.
“What do you mean you can’t?” He furrowed his brow. “Blood is blood.”
“Why don’t you go eat grass then? Wheat is grass so obviously, both must be edible. Or how ‘bout some deadly nightshade? Must be a misnomer considering they're related to tomatoes,” she countered.
“Point taken, how do you even know that ?” He asked.
“You pick things up after a couple of centuries, fuck off.” She glowered at him.
“Woah, I just wondered.” He put his hands up. “Why don’t you feed off of a willing subject? Someone who you could feed off long-term?”
“I’d need a lot of people for that, and I don’t feel like getting staked by trusting someone I shouldn’t have.” She shrugged.
“So a stake through the heart, that really works?” Jason was still trying to keep the reveal as something he could control.
“Yeah, stopping anyone’s heart will kill them, well, most anyone I guess.” She snickered.
“You could drink from me…”
“You wouldn’t be able to satisfy me.” She answered.
He tried to make it into a joke. “I mean, you don’t know-”
“Nutritionally.” She cut him off.
“Bagged blood?” He tried.
She shook her head again. “Too many chemicals, besides, I’m protecting women this way.”
Jason sighed. “I like you, but I don’t know if I can…”
Marinette got up and closed the distance between them. “Jason, just… could you… okay, this is difficult, I know, it’s hard to take in that I’ve been killing all these people, but… It’s only people who deserve it.”
Jason stood up and pulled her in close. “That’s not the problem, I just don’t know how many more supernatural things I can handle in my life. I’m already a zombie.”
“Protector. You’re a protector.” She corrected him.
“What does that even mean?” He asked tracing a hand over her back.
“It means that you have a natural aura that shields people you care about. It also means you will stop aging whenever you want to. You don’t think it’s weird that you have barely changed in years?”
“How would you even know that?” He asked.
“Lucky guess?” She laughed. “That and you showed me that picture of you and your brother from a few years ago and you look identical.”
“So I’ll live forever?” he asked her.
“No, just as long as you want to.” She snuggled into his chest and then paused. “Oh… I should go. This is bad.” She started to pull away but he held onto her.
“What’s wrong?” He let her pull back enough to look at him.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re a Wayne?”
“I’m not?” He responded.
“Then why do you smell like Alfred? Sworn protector of the Wayne Family?” She asked.
“I was adopted?”
“Did I say bloodline?” She asked, looking at him with a furrowed brow.
“Mari, I’m not a Wayne… not since I died.” He watched her face and she huffed out a breath.
“It’s not about legality, it’s about being claimed by your protector. You’re a Wayne, and Alfred is your protector.” She sighed. “And I shouldn’t be here, not with you, not when I could-”
“Mari, how do you know Alfred?” He held onto her wrists tightly.
“I met him when I was in England.” She tried to pull away from him.
“How long ago were you in England?” Jason asked.
“Jason, let go of me.” She begged.
“Marinette, how long ago were you in England?” he asked again.
“Jason please! you’re hurting me!” She cried out.
There was a knock on the door and Jason turned to look at it. “Are you expecting someone?”
He watched her eyes widen in fear. “No, almost no one knows I’m here.”
Two raps came this time. Short and careful. “Marinette, who knows you’re here?”
“I can’t be here Jason, I can’t, please, let me go.” She struggled in his arms and he looked back at the door when the next polite knock came.
There was a scraping at the door and then it swung open. “Miss Marinette, I think we need to talk.”