Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette's POV

Soulmates were a common thing. Not common enough to where everyone had them, but still common. It was usually on your 16th birthday when your soulmate mark would come, if it was a mark at all. That wasn’t always true for everyone though. Sometimes it was something that wouldn’t happen until you met your soulmate in person, but in those cases you meet them young. It was also usually different for different people. Some would magically get a tattoo that matched their soulmates. Some could visit their soulmate in their dreams and sometimes, like in my case, you won’t have a soulmate at all. At least not yet.

My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I was Paris’s superhero up until a few months ago. Things have been a bit of a struggle now that I don’t have the villain Hawkmoth to distract me. I would say the same for my partner Chat Noir but he seems to be so much happier now that he is free from his father. On his 16th birthday he even found a birthmark on his right leg out of nowhere. Turns out that a friend of ours, Kagami, had that same birthmark since birth. Their soulmate bond allowed them to share the same beauty marks, birth marks, freckles and scars if they had any. I was a little upset that it meant that Adrien would never be my soulmate. I always hoped.

My school bully Lila has been making life harder for me. She had always made life hard but her comments about how I would never have a soulmate hit home for me. Everyone around me seemed to be finding their soulmate or have at least found out that they have one. Not me though.

I had just had my 18th birthday a few weeks ago and that was going to be my last hope. I’ve heard that some soulmate bonds don’t show up until then but I had no such luck. Nothing changed. Nothing at all. My friends said that they could be younger than me and therefore it wouldn’t show up until their 18th birthday but I had lost hope. Keeping my hopes up for something that probably wasn’t going to happen was making me depressed.

Now I was just waiting for the day that I graduate because I really wanted to leave this place. I was grateful that I wouldn’t have to be here for too much longer. Final exams were coming up. I would miss my parents and the few friends I have but I could see how toxic this place is for me. Master Fu would also want me to get the Miraculous out of the city if he were still alive today. I’m grateful that I at least have the miracle box to give me some guidance. I still have a purpose.

“Hey, Marinette.” Adrien said from beside me. “I’m going to Kagami’s house after school today. You want to come?”

“And be the third wheel again? No thanks, Kitty.” I laughed.

Adrien gave me a sad smile before talking again. “Are you letting that liars’ words get to you again? Bugaboo, you are a strong, independent woman. Why are you so worried about a soulmate?”

“I know.” I smile up at him. “It’s just that now I’m the only one in class without one.”

Adrien looked around the room for a moment before leaning over to whisper to me. “If I’m being completely honest, I’m pretty sure Lila has been lying about having shared dreams with her ‘soulmate’.”

“Well yeah.” I chuckled. “I thought that was obvious.”

“You know,” Adrien smiled at me. “I heard about this app for people without soulmates.”

I cut him off right there. “No, Adrien. I’m not that desperate.”

“Okay, okay.” He put his hands up in surrender. “I just want you to be happy. You and I both know that you of all people deserve it.”

“Thank you, Adrien.” I smile at him. “You have fun at Kagami’s today.”

Just then, the bell rang dismissing the school for the day. I began packing up all my things.

“Hey, Mari.” I look up to see Rose talking to me.

“Hi, Rose. What’s up?” I stand up and fling my bag over my shoulder.

“Nothing much.” She smiles sweetly at me. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Nothing that I’m aware of. Why?”

“Can we have a sleepover at your house? I feel like we don’t talk anymore.”

This surprises me. Though me and Rose are still friends, she tends to spend more time with Alya and Lila who for lack of a better word hate me. “A sleepover? Who all would be coming?”

“Well me and Juleka. I was also thinking of inviting Alix and Mylene.”

“That sounds great.” I smiled. She knew better than to invite Alya and Lila and I was grateful for that. “What about Chloe and Sabrina too?”

Rose’s face fell at that. The rest of the class hasn’t grown to like them as much as me and Adrien have.

“Oh, don’t worry about inviting us.” Chloe spoke up, clearly hearing our conversation. “Sabrina and I will be doing some important shopping with my mother this weekend.” She winked at me before leaving the classroom with Sabrina, her newly discovered soulmate.

“Okay.” Rose brightened at the news. “So, what do you think? Is a sleepover okay with you?”

“Sure, Rose. Just let me tell my parents. What time will you be over?”

“How about 5?” Rose began to brighten even more. I always did enjoy her cheery attitude.

“Sure. I’ll see you then.”
---------
The entire time me and my friends were watching the movies, I couldn’t help but to occasionally glance over at Rose and Juleka who would occasionally trace the small tattoo they had on each other’s wrist. It was their soulmate tattoos. A beautiful deep purple rose covered in thorns. It was stupid how irrationally jealous I was. That made me look over to Mylene who seemed to be bobbing her head to a beat I couldn’t hear. Her and her soulmate Ivan could hear the same songs in each other’s head. No doubt she was hearing something right now.

And then there was Alix. Her soulmate bond was strange but not because there was three in the group. It was strange because sometimes when one would be thinking inside their own head, the other two would speak what they are thinking out loud. It took a few weeks for the three of them to control it but they sometimes have outburst here and there.

I looked back over at the TV just in time to see the credits start to roll.

“This has been really nice.” I smiled at all of my friends after what I think is the third movie that had just ended.

“It has.” Mylene agreed.

“What time is it?” Alix yawned.

“We’ve been up all night.” I laughed. “It’s almost 6. Maman and Papa should be up soon to make us all breakfast.” I turned my phone around to show everyone the time.

“Your parents always make the best food.” Rose says cheerfully. “What do you think they will…” She went quiet as she stared at me.

“What is it Rose?” Juleka stared at the blonde before following her line of sight back to me.

Soon enough, everyone was staring at me. It made me feel self-conscious.

“What is it?” I began to feel my hair to make sure nothing was too out of place. “Is there something on my face?”

“Your eye.” Alix pointed at my face.

I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times. “Is there something wrong with my eye?”

“Uhh. I don’t know.” Alix stood up and grabbed my arm, effectivity pulling me out of my chair and towards my vanity mirror. “Look.” She pushed me towards the mirror.

I looked around at everyone’s shocked faces in confusion for a moment before turning my attention to my reflection in the mirror. My left eye looked fine. The same bluebell shade it always was. It was my right eye that made me gasp in shock. It wasn’t MY eye at all. Not even in the slightest. Instead of the blue color it should be, it was a rich emerald green. It was a beautiful color but didn’t match my face at all. I’m not really sure how long I stared at my reflection in shock before someone spoke up.

“Does this mean you have a soulmate?” Mylene asked.

Her question made me rip my eyes away from my reflection to look at her. “You think that’s what this is?”

“Maybe today is your soulmates birthday!” Rose squealed. “Maybe the reason why you didn’t find out you had a soulmate on your 18th birthday is because they weren’t 18 yet.”

“Your probably right.” Juleka nodded.

“Green must be their real eye color.” Mylene added.

My head was starting to spin as everyone talked around me. Me? Having a soulmate? I looked back at my right eye in the reflection.

Heterochromia iridum. I had no idea where the word came from but for some reason, I know for a fact that that is what it’s called when you have two different colored eyes. It's considered a mutation to those born with it. I wanted to ask myself why I knew this word because I knew for a fact that I never bothered to learn it. I wanted to scream, laugh and cry all at the same time. I mean, I asked for a soulmate, right? Am I getting what I really wanted that easily?

There was a knock coming from my door that quickly quieted everyone’s questions. It was my maman. “It sounds like everyone is awake in there. You mind if I come in?”

“Uhh, sure.” I said after a moment of silence. I didn’t want to turn away from my own reflection out of fear that it would go back to normal but I did anyways so I could look at my maman.

“Did you girls even go to sleep?”

“No.” I answered and finally maman looked at me.

She blinked at me a few times and then took a step closer to get a better look.

“My goodness.” She whispered. “When did that happen?”

“I think right at 6 O’clock.” Alix spoke up. “Her eyes were normal a few minutes ago.”

Maman stared at me for a minute longer before breaking into a huge smile. “Well this is great news! Tom! Get up here!”

“Coming!” Papa called from down stairs. A few moments later, he was staring at me too, with a giant smile on his face.

Chapter Text

Damian’s POV

“Master Damian. Breakfast will be ready soon.” Alfred knocked on the door.

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. Today was my birthday. Without a doubt my family would be planning something and it was infuriating. I always hated when my birthday fell on a weekend because that means Grayson wouldn’t have to rein it in. We didn’t have work or school tomorrow.

“I’ll be down soon.” I called back.

I pet Titus just as I do every morning before I quickly get myself ready. I don’t even bother looking in the mirror. As I reach for the door knob, I end up tripping over my own feet. I’m swift in correct myself before I stumble any further but this catches me off guard. Looking at the floor, I see that there is nothing but flat ground beneath my feet. I’ve never done that before. I find myself grateful that Titus is the only one with me because that would have been embarrassing otherwise. Shaking my head at the thought, I reach for the door knob again and finally make my way out of my room.

Titus is quick to race off in front of me and I keep a leisurely pace as I make my way to the dining room. I’m in no hurry because I know there will be something ridiculous waiting for me when I get there.

And of course I was right. Everyone yelled ‘Surprise’ the moment I stepped into the room. I only stared at them all in disappointment as they all look at me with a strange shocked face in return.

“I told you not to do this.” I walked past all the streamers and balloons to go ahead and sit down at the table so I can quickly start to make my own plate.

“Uhh… Baby bird?” Grayson said. He really had the audacity to look at me like he was surprised that I didn’t jump with joy when seeing them all.

“What?” I stared at him blankly. I was not looking forward to whatever ridiculous birthday speech he was going to come up with.

“Are you just going to act like nothing is going on?” Drake had the same strange look Grayson had. In fact, they were all looking at me like that.

“It’s my birthday. And?” They were all starting to get on my nerves.

“No… It’s not that.” Todd shook his head but his eyes never left mine.

“Master Damian. I believe you should go look in a mirror.” Alfred suggested.

I would have argued but everyone seemed to nod in agreement. Even Father, who never went along with my family’s usually mischievous plans. I sighed and stood up to turn around and face the large ornate mirror that hung on the wall behind my usual seat in the dining room. I stepped forward to look at my reflection.

I had an annoyed look on my face, which was normal. Not a single hair was out of place and my clothes fit perfectly, as always. It wasn’t until I looked at my eyes that my family’s strange expression finally made sense. My left eye was its normal green color but my right was a bluebell blue. I took a closer look to make sure what I was seeing was real and my brothers haven’t somehow snuck a colored contact in my eye. I knew they couldn’t. They would never be able to get away with it but I still had to check. This was with out a doubt very real. Heterochromia iridum.

“What’s going on?” I looked back at my family in shock.

“I… think that’s your soulmate mark.” Father said.

“Well I’ll be… Demon spawn has a soulmate!” Todd laughed.

That’s when it all finally sunk in. A soulmate. I never really thought about having a soulmate. The idea of it is foreign to me. Both my mother and my father have no soulmates. I guess I should have though about it more though. Grayson is soulmates with Barbara. Todd is soulmates with Kara. Drake is soulmates with Stephanie. I should have seen that I was next. Life is always complicated like that.

For the first time in my life it made me wonder what kind of person was made for me. In the case of all my brothers, they were paired off with someone who would balance the other out. Grayson was a bit playful and Barbara knew how to bring him back down to earth. Todd could get a bit angry and Kara knew how to handle him. She could even over power him if he jumped off the deep end. Drake and Stephanie were two halves of the same coin. They all made sense but what about me? What was this person like? They must have blue eyes. That’s all I really knew, I guess.

“Take a seat, Damian.” My father finally said after awhile.

I nodded and found my way back to my chair. I silently began to eat my food again as more thoughts ran through my head.

“They must have gotten one green eye of yours where you got one blue of theirs.” Drake said.

“I wonder what they will look like.” Grayson said with a smile.

“I wonder what they will act like.” Todd laughed.

“I think I might have a way of finding them.” Drake added.

“How?” I asked without thinking. Everyone stares at me and it’s at this moment that I realize how out of character that simple question was. I seemed eager and I was never eager to do anything but punch people in the face.

“Oh, you seem excited, Baby bird.” Grayson grinned at me.

His smug look made me want to punch him in the face.

“Well if this is the only thing we have we can run your new eye through our facial recognition software.” Drake said. “It’s only a partial part of the face but it can still narrow it down. Maybe you will find out a little bit more as time goes on. These bonds are meant to be a way for soulmates to easily find each other. There might be more that we just can’t see yet.”

“He’s right.” Father nodded. “Have you noticed anything else strange happening this morning?”

I immediately think back to my outburst moments earlier. That very much was unlike me. And me tripping over my own feet? That can’t be a coincidence. I would mention this but maybe I’m overthinking things. Plus, I don’t want my brothers laughing over the fact that I tripped. “No. I haven’t noticed anything.” I lied.

Father looked like he didn’t believe me. He didn’t say anything either way.

“Wow. We’ve got a real mystery on our hands.” Drake said with excitement.
---------
It was after patrol and I was laying in bed wide awake. I had a million questions running through my head that I had no answers for. I hated it. Before I knew exactly what I was doing, I threw my feet over the bed and made my way out of my room. I went down to the kitchen and started to grab ingredients out of the pantry.

I’m not sure why I’m doing it, but I’m making cookies. I’m not even sure why I know this recipe. I’ve never baked a day in my life, yet for some reason I’m going through the motions like I’ve done it a million times.

Once the cookies were finally in the oven, I sat down on the floor in front of it and stared in wonder at the cookie dough rising. What was happening? I never really had much of a sweet tooth.

“Master Damian?”

I looked up to see Alfred looking down at me. At least he didn’t look as confused as I felt. “Yes, Alfred?”

“Why are you sitting on the kitchen floor?”

“I’m waiting on my cookies to finish baking.” That was the only answer I could give him.

“Since when do you bake, Master Damian?” Alfred smiled at me.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Since today, I guess.”

“It’s a nice skill to have.” Alfred nodded. “Let’s hope these cookies are good.”

“They will be.” I said without a second thought.

Just then, the timer for the oven went off. I quickly stood up and grabbed the oven mit and pulled out the cookies to cool. They smelled oddly familiar but I knew the sweet aroma was new to me.

“They look great, Master Damian.” Alfred nodded in appraisal.

“Yeah… They do.” I stared at the perfect cookies in awe.

“I knew I smelled something sweet.” Todd said as he walked into the kitchen. “Why didn’t you tell me you were making cookies, Alfred?”

“Because I wasn’t, Master Jason.” Alfred said. “Master Damian made them.”

“Demon spawn baked cookies?” Todd laughed. “Good one, Alfred.”

“I am not joking, Master Jason.”

Todd finally stopped laughing to stare at me. All I did was stare back. There was no point in arguing with him.

“Why did you decide to bake cookies?” Todd asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Where did you get the recipe from?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” I snapped. “Why do you care?”

“Can I have some?” Todd ignored me and decided to walk over to the cookies to get a better look at them.

“If I say yes, will you leave me alone?”

“For tonight.”

“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “You can have some.”

The cookies were actually really good. So good in fact, that Todd had to wake the whole house up to try them. Todd kept up his end of the bargain and left me alone for the night but the rest of my brothers didn’t. I should have seen this coming.

Chapter Text

Marinette’s POV

Ever since my eye color changed, I have been acting a bit strange. I could no longer eat meat anymore. That was one of the biggest changes. It made me sad. I just couldn’t help but to think of the animals. I also had this strange urge to go out and patrol the city but I don’t need to do that anymore because Hawkmoth has been taken care of. Tikki said that this could all be connected to my soulmate. She had seen a lot of soulmates in her day and I trust her judgment.

“You might want to hurry up, honey.” Papa said, breaking me out of my thoughts. “You don’t want to be late for your last week of school.”

“I know!” I heard the harshness in my tone and I immediately felt appalled at myself. “That was rude, Papa. I’m sorry.” That was another thing that had changed. I got irritated too easily with people.

“It’s okay, honey. I know you have a lot on your mind.” He smiled at me.

“You’re right.” I nodded before standing up and grabbing my bag. “I should get going. I’ll see you after school.” I gave each of my parents a hug. “Love you.”

Most of the time I was thankful that I lived so close to my school, but I didn’t feel that way today. Time to mentally prepare myself is something that I’m currently lacking. Everyone would notice my eyes. A part of me was curious how Lila would take this though. She was banking on the fact that I didn’t have a soulmate.

My thoughts wonder to my friends. Adrien, Kagami, Chloe… they would be upset that I didn’t tell them right away. But I couldn’t. I’m still not sure if I’m ready for their reactions. I’m just grateful that my friends that know about this promised to keep it a surprise to the rest of the class.

“Hey, Marinette!” I heard Adrien from behind me.

I reluctantly turned around on the school’s steps to look at him. “Hey, Adrien.” I smiled.

There was that look again. The look of shock and then recognition. I had a feeling that I would be seeing that a lot today.

“Woah, Bugaboo… Your eyes.”

“Yeah, I know. Kind of crazy, right?” I grinned nervously at him.

“You have a soulmate!” He ran up to me to give me a hug. “I knew Lila was wrong.” He took a step back to look me in the eyes again. “Your eyes look so cool. How long have they been like that?”

“Since Saturday morning.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“No. I’ve been trying to wrap my head around all of this. I’m sorry, Adrien.”

“That’s okay.” He put his arm around my shoulder and started to walk up the school’s step with me. “So, do you have any idea who your soulmate is?”

“Not a clue.” I shrug. Before he can say anything else, I continue. “I know this sounds crazy but I think that I’m doing things they would do.” Adrien wouldn’t laugh at me. I think that’s why I’m telling him.

“Why do you think that?” He asks when we stop in front of our lockers.

“I’ve notice that I’m doing things I would never do. You know I can’t eat meat anymore? I just can’t do it. It makes me sad.”

“That’s not so bad.” Adrien gives me a comforting smile.

“Yeah but I’ve also been a bit snappy lately. It’s very unlike me. You know I try to always be nice.”

“Oh.” Adrien nods in understanding. “Maybe you are getting a window into their personality.”

“Okay, but if that’s true…” I lean closer to him so I can whisper. “Then why am I getting this strange urge to go patrolling the city at night?”

“That’s a good question.” Adrien’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. “Maybe they like to help people as well?”

I smile at the thought. The idea of someone enjoying the act of helping those in need puts me at ease.

“There you are, Dupain-Cheng.” Chloe said cheerfully from behind us. “How was your sleepover? I bet it wasn’t nearly as fun without me.”

I turn around to look at her and before I had the chance to answer her questions, she gasped in shock.

“Your eyes!” She screeched. “Oh my God!”

Everyone was looking a me now. Chloe didn’t know how to be subtle.

“Yes, I know!” I snapped and I mentally scolded myself for sounding so harsh. Chloe didn’t seem to care though.

“That liar is going to eat her words now!” She laughed and Sabrina was laughing right along with her. “Come on. She’s already in class. Let’s go see what she has to say.”

“Chloe… I really don’t want to make a spectacle out of this. It would be wrong to rub it in her face.”

“Okay, Miss Goodie-two-shoes.” She rolls her eyes. “We have to go to class either way.”

“She’s right.” Adrien smiles at me. “Let’s go.”

I take a deep breath. “Okay, fine. Let’s go.”

I tried to hide behind Chloe, Sabrina and Adrien when we walk into the classroom but they are quick to move to their own seats, leaving me standing there like an idiot. Of course everyone who didn’t know already was staring at me. Even Miss Bustier was staring.

The second I begin to walk to my seat, Alya is the first one to speak up. Very typical of her…

“What’s up with your eyes, Marinette.” She says with a hint of annoyance in her tone.

“I don’t know. They just look like that now.” I barked back. I didn’t even seem to regret my tone this time.

“You have a soulmate?” Alya said in disbelief.

“Yes, Alya. Do you have a problem with that?” I mocked her tone.

My bluntness seems to have caught her off guard. She just shook her head and sat down with a huff. I sat down too and began to wish that the bell would ring already. Everyone is getting on my nerves.

“I’m sure it’s just a colored contact.” Lila said from behind me. I turned around to yell something at her but Rose spoke up first.

“No, it’s not.” She said sweetly. The fact that she was defending me made me smile. “I saw her eye color change right in front of me. It was amazing.”

“Rose is right.” Mylene agreed. “Me, Rose, Juleka and Alix all saw it.”

Lila just scoffed in answer. I almost wanted to laugh at the fact that she was outnumbered. Looking over at Chloe, I held my gaze with her for a moment and we both smirked. I knew she heard Lila’s annoyed scoff too.
---------
English and science were the last two classes of the day. They were my worst subjects. Anyone could tell you that. If it wasn’t for the fact that Adrien sat next to me and would help me out every now and again, I’m sure that I would have failed those classes already.

Miss Bustier was doing something different today, unfortunately. We were going up to the front of the class and speaking. It was a part of the speaking exam for English. I didn’t like going up to the front of the class and speaking French, let alone English. I’ll be honest, most of the class wasn’t any good at speaking English either except for Max and Adrien. Usually, I would try to base my speaking off of those two but of course Miss Bustier called on me first. Maybe she knew of my plans?

I slowly made my way to the front of the classroom and turned to face all of my classmates.

“Okay, Marinette.” Miss Bustier smiled at me. “I want you to describe to the class in English your favorite activity.”

And suddenly I’m speaking in perfect English like it was my first language. Am I speaking in an American accent too? I’m pretty sure that I am. Weird.

I’m talking about fashion, of course. My favorite activity was making and designing clothes. Everyone knew that. It was a simple topic and I found that I described it rather quickly. When I was done, I looked around at everyone. Miss Bustier looked at me like she was proud and the rest of the class looked at me like I had grown a second head. I would look at me like that too. When did I learn to speak English so well?

“Good job, Marinette.” Miss Bustier clapped. “You must have been studying.”

“No actually… I haven’t.” I shrugged.

“Oh… Well either way, good job. You may take your seat now.”

Nodding, I numbly make my way back to my seat.

“I think your soulmate is American.” Adrien whispered to me shortly after Ivan started his speech.

“Yeah. I think so too.” I said back. At least it gave me a general location. America was a big place though and this gave me a lot to think about until it was time for science class. Truly my worst subject… or so I thought.

We had an exam today on the Periodic Table of Elements. Miss Mendeleiev gave us all a blank periodic table and we had to fill it in. It was supposed to take us all class to finish but to my own surprise, I finished it in five minutes. When I turned it in, Miss Mendeleiev looked at me like I was crazy. She glanced at the paper for a short minute then back at me.

“Marinette! I will not tolerate cheaters in my classroom. Especially on such an important exam.”

Her accusation angered me so I glared at her. “I didn’t cheat.”

She hesitated when seeing the look on my face. “I-I find that hard to believe, Marinette.” She looked at my paper then back at me. “You finished this faster than Max.”

“Okay. And?” Was she trying to tell me that I’m not smart enough to finish it this quickly? The audacity…

“Alright.” She stood up. “I’ll give the whole class an A if you can prove to me that you aren’t cheating, and if you were, then you are getting a zero. You can’t retake this exam and failing could mean that you fail to graduate.”

“Fine.” I stared at her blankly.

Miss Mendeleiev was shocked at my confidence. Did she really think I would turn that opportunity down? She was sorely mistaken. After a few seconds, she finally broke out of her shock and quickly grabbed a dry erase marker to begin sketching out the squares of the periodic table on the white board. “I’ll be watching you closely. Go ahead and fill it out.” She held the marker out to me with a satisfied smirk. She really thought that she's backed me in a corner, huh? Jokes on her.

I didn’t say anything else as I took the marker from her. I could feel her staring at me as I filled out the table perfectly. In the back of my mind I was wondering why I knew this so well but I decided not to question it. My rage at her accusation got the better of me and I was going to prove her wrong even if it meant giving Lila a free A.

I filled out the last square, put the cap on the marker, set the marker on Miss Mendeleiev’s desk and quickly took my seat so I could enjoy the show. Miss Mendeleiev just looked at the board in shock for a moment. She was clearly looking for any flaw she could find but there wasn’t any. Served her right.

“Now the class gets an A, right?” I asked after a few minutes of her blankly staring at my work.

“Yes…” She nods. “Yes, they do. I-I’m sorry Marinette.” She looks back at me.

“Next time don’t accuse someone of something like that unless you have evidence.” I frowned at her before smiling brightly. “And you’re forgiven Miss Mendeleiev.”

“Awesome!” Kim spoke up from behind me. “Looks like I don’t have to take this exam anymore.” He crumbled up his paper.

And then the class erupted in cheers.

Chapter Text

Damian’s POV

School was as frustrating as ever. People can’t seem to mind their own business. I was trying really hard not to yell at everyone who asked me about my eyes. Even my teachers seemed to stare. To my own surprise, I was nice. Well nice for me. I just ignored the stares and never snapped at anyone. Maybe that’s why people had the gall to stare even more.

A strange urge washed over me and I felt like I needed to talk to someone about this. Like a friend. I never wanted to share anything with anybody, yet today I did. I decided the person to talk to was Jon. He was the only friend I really had.

I checked my phone to see that the last time he texted me was on my birthday. I never texted him back. Better late than never I suppose.

***
Damian: Hey Jon.

Jon: Damian! Are you texting in class? Is something wrong?

Damian: No, nothing’s wrong. At least I don’t think anything is wrong.

Jon: Really? What’s up then?

Damian: I’m not sure. I think this soulmate bond is messing with my head.

Jon: Soulmate? No one told me you had a soulmate! This is great news.

Damian: Maybe you weren’t the right one to talk to.

Jon: No! I’m the perfect one to talk to. Tell me about this soulmate bond of yours.
***

I sighed at his excitement. I wanted to be angry but for some reason I answered his questions anyways.

***
Damian: At first, I only thought we had a physical marking. My right eye is blue now. But now I’m starting to do things I usually wouldn’t do and I’m acting differently than I would usually act. I think I’m adopting my soulmates mannerisms.

Jon: Yeah, I think I can tell… That’s unfortunate for them though. Now they are going to start acting all crabby like you.
***

I hadn’t thought of that. I’m not the only one being affected by this. My soulmate must be acting like me. How would they feel about that? Their life would no doubt be very different from my own, I’m sure. I was feeling kind of bad for worrying so much about myself. So what, I bake cookies now and are starting to think about the feelings of others? They were probably having a tough time dealing with my way of thinking.

I look back to my phone to see that Jon has texted again.

***
Jon: Tell me all about your soulmate. What do you know about them?
***

This isn’t really what I wanted to talk about but I couldn’t find it in myself to ignore him so I told him what I knew.

***
Damian: My soulmate has blue eyes and likes to bake. They are considerate of others and I think they can be clumsy sometimes. That’s all I’ve really got.

Jon: Well they sound nice enough. If you find out who they are do you plan on meeting them?

Damian: I don’t know. What if they don’t like me?

Jon: Are you serious? Do you even know what a soulmate is?

Damian: Yes, Jon. I’m not stupid.

Jon: Well then you know that it’s impossible for your soulmate to hate you.

Damian: I know. I have to go now. I’m in class.

Jon: Ok Damian. I’ll talk to you later. Good luck with your soulmate thing. Keep me updated.
***

I’m beginning to think that talking to Jon wasn’t my best idea. He didn’t really make me feel all that better. A least I didn’t have the urge to talk about this anymore.
---------
Alfred had just called me down for dinner. Dinners lately have always consisted on soulmate talk. They want updates from me but I refuse to share it with them. Maybe I’m just being stubborn? I can’t tell anymore. This soulmate thing is driving me crazy. Maybe this person is a bit scatter brained?

I was lost in thought as I went to go take my seat. I tripped and ended up falling onto all fours just as I was reaching for my chair. It went quiet for half a second before a few of my brothers burst into laughter. I quickly got up and sat in my seat as embarrassment got the better of me.

Looking around, a saw that the majority of my family was amused by my sudden clumsiness, but my father looked like he was calculating something. Alfred kept a neutral expression the whole time. I could always count on Alfred to not make a scene.

“Damian.” My father said and everyone else quickly went silent. “Are you feeling any different? Be honest with me, son.”

I wanted to lie. I would have lied. After all, this was none of his business and I’m more than capable of handling this on my own but for some reason, denying his help and lying to him felt wrong. I sighed before answering.

“Yes. I’m feeling very different.” Now everyone was staring at me. It made me nervous.

“How so?” Father asked and he almost sounded comforting. It made me smile, but only for half a second.

“I think I’m adopting the mannerisms and skills of my soulmate.”

“Are they clumsy?” Todd joked.

“Yes.” I answered without hesitation. Todd was quick to become serious when he saw that I was serious too. I guess he figured this was no joking matter.

“This would explain your sudden skill for baking.” Drake added.

I ignored that point, seeing as I already pieced it together. Instead I said, “I’m worried about how my soulmate feels about picking up my mannerisms.”

It was quiet for a moment before Drake spoke again. “I tried the whole facial recognition thing. The computer only narrowed it down to about half a million people. One single eye just isn’t enough. It would help if we had at least a general location of where they could be but we have nothing.”

“They’re probably older than you.” Grayson said.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“Well in most cases it happens on a persons 16th birthday. Some happen when the two meet and, in some cases, it happens on the 18th birthday. It’s always on the youngest’s 18th. That was clearly you. I don’t know why these are the rules but they are.” Grayson shrugged. “The universe works in mysterious ways.”

“Damian, do you want to find your soulmate?” My father asked.

The thought was terrifying to me. It was a strange mixture of yes, absolutely and no, definitely not. Whoever this person was, was making my life a small bit difficult. I wasn’t angry with them. It wasn’t their fault but could they be angry with me? I can’t tell. “I don’t know.” I eventually answered.

“Well you do know that the media has caught wind of your eye’s color change.” My father said.

“Yes.” I sighed. Soulmates were common and the media didn’t absolutely blow up over this but this change was noted. If this person was looking for me then they might not have such a hard time finding me. “Maybe I should leave it up to them if they want to come find me…”

“I think that’s a great idea, Damian.” My father smiled at me. “Let’s just hope that this sporadic clumsiness won’t get in your way.”

That made me think for a moment. I’ve been on patrol a few times and haven’t had a problem yet. Maybe I’m just lucky? Or maybe they are only clumsy when they are lost in thought? It seemed to only happen to me during those situations.

Chapter Text

Marinette’s POV

“Maman.” I asked timidly.

“Yes, dear?” She said after swallowing her food.

“I want to go on a soulmate journey.” I said quickly.

Both of my parents stopped what they were doing when they heard that. Soulmate journeys were common. When people found out they had a soulmate and they didn’t know exactly where their soulmate was, people would travel the world to try to find them. Some soulmate journey success stories even became so popular that people have written best seller books about them. We even see the success stories on the news every now and then. Headlines would read ‘They traveled for 10 years to find their soulmate’.

“A soulmate journey?” Papa looked skeptically at me. “You just finished high school. We haven’t even gotten your exam test results back yet. Are you sure jumping into this is the best idea?”

“Your father is right.” Maman nodded. “And travel isn’t cheap.”

“I know and that’s why I’ve been saving my money. You knew I wanted to see the world outside of Paris.” They knew how I felt. They knew I wanted my time away from this city.

“Yes, but we though you would at least give it a year. Traveling by yourself can be scary. Do you even know where to start?” Papa asked.

“Well yes. Adrien has been helping me with that. They are in America. Specifically, the east coast.”

“How do you know that?” Maman asked.

“Well, when my eye changed colors it was 6 in the morning. That has to mean that it was midnight on my soulmate’s birthday. I looked up the time zones of the world and it would mean that they are in the eastern time zone in America.”

My parents stared at each other for a moment before maman spoke again. “You don’t have to rush into this, honey. You can give it some time.”

“But maman… I know what I want. I’ve thought about this. I’ll pack up my sewing kit and I’ll still be doing commissions while I travel. I have a means to make money. I have a passport and a destination in mind. I’ll call you every night if you want me to. I’ll let you know where I’m at.” I pleaded.

I can see my parents inner struggle from here. I’m their only child and letting your only child leave the nest was probably hard for them. I didn’t let up from the pleading look in my eyes though. I’m 18 and even if they said no, I could go anyways. I would just feel better if they said yes. And eventually, after two solid minutes of my silent pleading, they did say yes.

“Oh my God! Thank you!” I hopped up from my chair to give them both a hug. “You two are the best parents in the world.” I smiled at them.

“I know.” Maman laughed. “Can you at least wait to leave until the school sends you your diploma? We need to be sure.”

“Of course, maman. I’m not going to pack up and leave right now. I still need to say goodbye to my friends.”
---------
Saying goodbye to all of my friends was harder than I thought it would be. I said goodbye to Luka, Juleka and Rose first. Luka was happy for me and his soulmate, a tall brunette who played the drums as well as he played the guitar, seemed to be very happy for me too. Luka always told me that she was a little jealous of me because Luka had once had a crush on me. I guess she was glad to see that I had a soulmate.

I said goodbye to Adrien and Kagami next. They were absolutely supportive just as I knew they would be. Adrien even told me to take good care of Plagg and the rest of the Miraculous while I was gone. He is the only other person who would know where the Miraculous would be.

Next was Kim, Max, Alix, Ivan, Mylene, Nathaniel and his soulmate Marc. It was like a small farewell party. It almost reminded me of a simpler time before Lila showed up and ruined everything. The only thing that would have made it complete was Alya and Nino. Lila kept them away from me though and I wouldn’t be saying goodbye to them. Not that Alya would want me to anyways.

Now I was on my way to say goodbye to the last of my friends, Chloe and Sabrina. I was meeting them at Chloe’s hotel and they were going to help me pick a flight. The doorman recognized me right away and told me to go straight up to her room. After a short elevator ride and a walk down the hall, I knocked on her door. It was like she was waiting for me because the door swung open instantaneously and she yanked me inside.

“I just found out something absolutely amazing.” Chloe grinned brightly at me. “Isn’t that right, Sabrina?”

“Absolutely.” Sabrina nodded enthusiastically.

“Well hello to you too.” I laughed at their enthusiasm.

“This is no joking matter, Dupain-Cheng.” She handed me her phone. “You can thank me later. Look.” She pointed at the screen.

“Okay?” I said before reading the article on her phone.

It was written in English and normally that would have been a problem but I can read it just fine thanks to my new soulmate bond. It said;

“Damian Wayne now shows his mark of a soulmate in the wake of his 18th birthday by eye color change. The youngest Wayne’s right eye has now been changed from green to blue and this is the only visual soulmate mark of the whole family. In an interview a year back we asked Mr. Wayne if any of his children had soulmates. He confirmed that his three oldest did at the time but that his family preferred to keep these matters private…”

The article continued but I scrolled down to see if there was a picture attached to the article. There wasn’t.

“Damian Wayne?” I asked. “What does he look like?”

“I looked it up and apparently the Wayne family is very secretive.” Sabrina said. “The only time they are ever photographed is at large events they hold. The most resent photo I have is about 8 months back for a grand opening of some science building Bruce Wayne built.” She showed me the photo on her phone. “He’s the youngest one standing on the far left.”

The picture was taken right before the largest man, who I assume is Bruce Wayne, had cut a large red ribbon. He was surrounded by his sons, two to his left and two to the right. To his right was a man dressed in a suit just as nice as Bruce’s. He was a handsome man but he looked as though he hadn’t slept in days. To the right of him was a man dressed far more casually than the rest of them. He had dark hair just like the rest of them but he had a strange white streak in his hair and it looked as though he had been sticking his head out of the widow of a fast-moving vehicle, his hair was so windswept. The first man to the left of Bruce was a man almost as tall as him. He looked to be the happiest of all of them and he was waving to the camera like he was born to be the center of attention. It reminded me of the winning smile of a performer.

And then I finally looked at the youngest, Damian. I immediately recognized the eyes. All of his brothers had dark hair just like him but they also had blue eyes, whereas he did not. That was the only similarities any of the son’s really had though. The emerald green was a stark contrast compared to the rest. He stood out in that way. Then I really took a look at him. He was shorter than all the them but that was typical. He was 17 at the time this picture was taken. He also had this half bored half annoyed look to him like he didn’t want to be there. Putting his expression aside, he was extremely handsome. Even in the comparison to his family members, who were all also handsome. I realized that every single one of them were very fit. It made me wonder what their exercise routine was like.

I stared at his face for a bit longer. It made me sad that I took away one of his green eyes. They were undoubtedly beautiful and brought out the best features of his face. His strong brow and chiseled jaw line. It made me wonder what he would look like smiling. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that he would look beautiful.

“They live in Gotham.” Chloe said, effectively cutting off my train of thought.

“Gotham?” I asked.

“Yeah. It’s a large city and is notorious for being quite dangerous.” Sabrina told me. “The Wayne’s are one of Americas most wealthy families.”

“They are billionaires!” Chloe said excitedly.

“Chloe, I don’t care about money. I care about love.” I rolled my eyes at her.

“Yeah yeah, I know.” She waved her hands in dismissal. “So, we looked at flights from here to Gotham. The prices aren’t too bad and we found some pretty cheap hotels you can stay at when you get there.” Chloe dragged me over to her computer to show me. “I even took the liberty of looking for a fabric store. There are only two of them in the city but it should be enough to still continue your commissions.”

I watched as she showed me everything she found online. “Wow, Chloe. This is great. Thank you.”

“I know, right? Aren’t I the best?” She ginned at me. “So, when do you want to leave?”

“This weekend, I guess.” I had no reason to wait. I had gotten my diploma earlier today and so my parents could no longer complain.

“Ok, so the flights are about 8 and a half hours long so if you take the first one available on Saturday you will arrive in Gotham at bout 6 P.M.” Chloe spoke as she pointed to the computer screen. “It will be getting close to sundown though. Do you want to book a later flight so you arrive during the day?”

“No, that should be fine.” I grinned. “So, Damian is his name, huh?”

“It’s exciting, isn’t it?” Sabrina said.

“Yeah… I thought it would take me awhile to find him.”

“Count yourself lucky that Sabrina and I are such great detectives.” Chloe smirked.

“Actually, we just googled his birthday and the word soulmate.” Sabrina informed. “That article was the first link to show up.”

“Way to give away our secrets, Sabrina.” Chloe rolled her eyes before smiling back at me. “So, what do you plan on packing?”
---------
I had one large carry on backpack and two suitcases to check in at airport security. I will forever be grateful that the miraculous don’t set off metal detectors. Taking off my earrings or having to explain the box full of jewelry in my backpack would have been difficult to explain.

My parents almost made me late for my departure. They had a hard time saying goodbye. I was crying by the time I got onto my plane.

I had a middle seat. This was the cheapest seat I could find and I realize why. I will no doubt be one of the last to get off the plane. A man in a cheap business suit sat at the window seat and an elderly woman sat at the isle. I was thankful the woman sat there because every hour she had to get up to use the restroom.

It was about halfway through the flight that the man beside me fell asleep. He was slumped over with his head on the window and his occasional snore was the only indication that the man was still alive.

“I’m Margret.” The woman beside me spoke up. You could tell that French wasn’t her first language due to her heavy accent. “What’s your name, young lady?”

“Hi, Margret.” I grinned at her. “I’m Marinette.”

“What brings you on this flight to Gotham?”

Small talk… Great. I’m not really in the mood for small talk but I wasn’t about to be rude. “I’m on a soulmate journey.” I answered.

“A soulmate?” Margret smiled. “Is that perhaps why your eyes are different colors?”

“Yes ma’am, that’s right.”

“Why have you decided that Gotham is your first stop?”

“I’ve got a bit of a soulmate bond. Everything that I have learned about him points me in the direction of Gotham.”

“I see.” She nods. “Gotham is my home. I was only in France for vacation. It was on my bucket list.”

“Bucket list, huh?” I smile at her. “So, what’s Gotham like?”

“Awful.” She laughed dryly. “There are psychotic clowns running the streets and grown men dressed up as bats and birds punching said clown in the face. The city is a mess.”

“Oh.” I frowned.

“Oh, but it’s not all bad. If you get past all the crime lords and vigilantes, you’ll find that the city is alive with culture. The city has its good parts. Especially the parts Mr. Wayne has dipped his toes into. I believe that man is single handedly keeping the city alive.”

“He’s that super popular billionaire, right?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “You know, I remember the day Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed. That news shook the whole city.” Margret frowned. “Bruce was only a kid. He witnessed the whole thing.”

I did my research on the Wayne’s. That’s one of the first stories to come up when you search Bruce Wayne. “It must be horrible being known as the man who witnessed his parent’s death.”

“I agree.” Margret looked off like she was thinking of something. “You know, he’s done well all things considered. He’s always made it his job to try and keep the city safe the only way a billionaire can. He funds all these wonderful things in his parent’s names. With the case of most kids, I’m pretty sure that an experience like that would really mess a kid up. Instead, he chose to make something good out of the experience. He tries to make sure nothing like that ever happens again.”

“You sound like you know him pretty well.”

“Oh, no. I’ve never met the man.” She smiled at me. “I’ve just heard enough of his speeches to get a good understanding of him.” Margret looks at me for a bit. “So, do you have a plan when you get to Gotham?”

“Not really. I have a Hotel that I’ll be staying at and I design and make clothes so I will have commissions open to make some money while I’m in the city. Other than that, I guess I’ll just have to find a way to track my soulmate down.”

“You make clothes you say?” She brightened up at that. “You know, a good friend of mine runs a fabric shop in the city.”

“Really? Which one? Vivian’s Fabrics or Leo’s Designs?” I asked curiously.

“Ugh. Don’t even bother with Leo, that sellout. He’s the worst. Viv is a dear friend of mine. She has the quality stuff.”

“That’s great to know. I’m sure I’ll be stopping by her shop soon. I couldn’t pack all my fabrics with me after all.”
---------
I was glad to see that there was an abundance of Taxi’s lined up just outside the airport. I stuffed my two suitcases into the trunk of the car and took my backpack into the back seat with me.

“Where to?” The driver asked.

“Gotham hotel, please.”

“Really?” The driver looked skeptically at me. “I don’t go that far north.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t like getting mugged.” He said nonchalantly. “I’ll take you as far as 23rd street. The hotel will be about five blocks north of there. All the other Taxi drivers will tell you the same.”

I thought about that for a moment and sighed. “Okay. Take me to 23rd street.”

“You got it.” And we drove off.

The taxi driver didn’t talk anymore than that. I was kind of thankful. It allowed me to look out the window to see the city.

This place was very different from Paris. There were dark alley ways on every street and rusty fire escapes showered the side of every building. Not a single window was left open and all the curtains were drawn shut. Even those on the mid to upper floors.

Though it was close to sundown, the city was still eerily cloudy. Like any minute it could come a downpour. Every once in awhile the taxi driver would have to lay on the horn to scare off a few drunks fighting in the street. I can see now why Margret would call this place awful. The only pretty thing I could find in sight was a large towering building we passed in the very center of the city. The sleek building had a large ‘W’ at the very top and I immediately recognized it as the Wayne Enterprises tower.

We only drove for another five minutes before the taxi driver pulled over. “This is your stop.” He said.

“Thank you.” I payed the taxi fare and went to the trunk to get my two suitcases. The minute I closed the trunk, the taxi quickly turned around and sped off in the opposite direction.

Five blocks? I can do this.

As I walked, I pulled up a map of the city on my phone to make sure that I was going in the right direction. For some reason the map felt familiar to me. One glance and I knew exactly where I was going.

I was walking down the third block when I felt someone following me. I knew what they saw. A small girl carrying large suitcases filled with unknown treasures. I was without a doubt an easy target in their mind. I am about to prove them wrong.

Chapter Text

Damian’s POV

The weekends were usually busy days for the criminals. That’s the main reason we start patrol earlier on the weekends. The sun hasn’t even completely set yet.

I was nearing crime alley when I saw it. A heavy-set man stumbling after some girl walking down the street carrying luggage. My best guess is that she’s heading for the Gotham Hotel. That, or she had some friends on the north side. I begin to follow them.

The man was clearly drunk. He couldn’t walk in a straight line to save his life. I was just about to intervene when the girl made a sharp left turn into a dead-end alley. What was she doing? I look down at them from my perch on a fire escape.

She stops at the back-alley wall and turns around to stare at the man. That’s when I see her eyes. I recognized them. They were just like mine but mirrored. It caused me to freeze. All I could do was stare at her determined face as she talked to the drunken man. I took her all in.

“Are you looking for something, buddy?” She yelled at the man.

“Just… gimme your things and I won’t hurt you little girl.” He said before stumbling towards her.

“Yeah… That’s not happening, bud. Why don’t you get lost?” As she spoke, she seemed to carefully observe the man as he stumbled closer towards her.

“Oh, so you are looking for a fight?” The man smirked at her.

“No. But I will if I have to.”

“This will be easy.” The man chuckled before running straight for her.

I knew I should be intervening but I couldn’t. I worry for her safety but something inside me told me to wait and see what she does. To see if she can handle herself. And handle herself she did.

The moment the man was within arm’s length from her, she was quick to sweep his legs out from under him. Her movements reminded me of myself, oddly enough. Simple movements I learned at a very young age.

The man was too drunk to put his hands up in time to stop his fall. He landed face first on the concrete. He tried to get back up but she was ruthless. A swift kick to the side of the head had him sprawled out on his back and knocked out cold.

She was walking back to her suitcases by the time I could move again.

“Oracle, send police to my location. An attempted mugging.” I said over the comms before finally making my way down to the alley.

“Got it.” She replied.

The moment my feet touched the ground she snapped her head in my direction. At first, she looked ready to fight again but then recognition flashed in her eyes and she relaxed.

“Oh, it’s just Robin.” She sighed. “If you would have been here 2 minutes earlier you could have dealt with that guy.” She pointed to the drunk sprawled out on the alley floor.

“No, I was here just in time.” I smiled at her. I never smile at anyone. How strange? “I saw you work your magic on him.”

“Hmm, let me guess…” She grabs both her suitcases and walks closer to me. “You want to tell me that it’s dangerous walking the streets of Gotham all alone? Or did you want to tell me that my form was a little off? Because I’ll admit that that wasn’t my best.”

“Uh, no. I was hoping you would stay long enough to give the cops your statement when they arrive.”

“Sure.” She finally smiled at me and I almost wanted to drop to my knees at her beauty. It was like I had just witnessed an Angel descend onto Gotham. “My hotel check in isn’t for another 20 minutes. I’ve got a little time.”

“So, Angel…” I said almost breathlessly after a short bit of silence. “What’s your name?”

“Angel?” I heard half my family say in shock over the comms.

I chose to ignore them to instead watched the fascinating shade of red this Angel in front of me was turning. Was she blushing at the name? I sure hope so.

“My name is Marinette.” She finally said.

“Marinette.” I smiled at the name. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Robin.” She giggled for a moment before stepping over the passed-out man and letting her suitcases roll over his body. “He’s going to feel that in the morning.” She joked.

By now the police sirens could be heard clearly. It wasn’t that long before the flashing lights could be seen and the police cruiser pulled up to the end of the alley. I quickly zip tied the man’s wrists together and began dragging him towards the police car.

“Hey, Robin.” The officer said. “Busy night, huh?”

I just nodded as I fling the man into the back seat.

“You must be who he was trying to mug?” The officer asked Marinette.

“Yeah but he didn’t do such a great job.” She chuckled.

“You were lucky Robin was here to save you, huh?”

“She didn’t need my help.” I spoke before she could. “I’m just here to help clean up the mess.”

“Really?” The officer looked shocked. “Well I guess he messed with the wrong girl.”

“You got that right.” Marinette laughed. “Robin said you needed a statement from me?”

“Oh, right.” The officer took out their note pad. “Just give me your full name and what exactly happened.”

“I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I was just walking to my hotel when this man started to follow me. He wanted to rob me of my things but I stopped him easily enough. That’s about it.”

“Short and to the point.” The officer nodded before putting the note pad away. “Well try to stay out of trouble. It’s dangerous around these parts.” They said before walking back to their cruiser and driving off.

“You want me to walk you to your hotel? People might not be as inclined to rob you if I’m around.” I offered.

“That’s very nice of you to offer, Robin.” She said as she started to walk out into the street. “Sure, I wouldn’t mind the company.”

I was quick to catch up to her. We walked in silence for about a block before I spoke. “So, what brings you to Gotham?”

“Oh, you know… The friendly people. The beautiful scenery.” She laughs. “No, I’m just kidding. I’m on a soulmate journey.”

“Really?” I grin at her.

“Yeah. Now that I’m finally here I just have to figure out where to find him. I’ll probably give it a few days before I go searching for him though. I need to settle into the city first.”

“Do you already know who your soulmate is?” I asked a bit timidly.

“I do actually. You know, this might sound weird but I wasn’t really all that good at speaking English before I got my soulmate mark. It wasn’t until I suddenly started speaking perfect English in an American accent that I had my first clue.”

This caught me off guard. Our soulmate bond allowed her to speak a new language over night? I wasn’t aware it was this strong. “What is your first language then?”

“French.” She answered. “I’m from Paris.”

French, huh? I already knew how to speak French. This explains why I haven’t learned a new language.

I look up to see the Gotham Hotel right in front of us and I frown. “Looks like we are here.”

“I think you are right.” She smiles at me. “Thank you for walking me here. You didn’t have to do this.”

“It was no problem, Angel.” I look down at her. “It’s my job to keep people safe.”

“A very noble job, Robin.” She giggles. “You stay safe.” She waves at me before walking into the front doors of the hotel.

I hadn’t realized I was standing there long after she was gone until I felt the presence of someone behind me. I turned around to see my father smirking at me. Of course he was smirking at me.

“I see that you have found her, Robin.” Batman says.

“Yes, but she hasn’t found me.” I say before shooting my grappling hook off to make my way back up to the roofs.

“Sounds like she was planning on it though.” Father said from right behind me. “Looks like she wastes no time.”

Chapter Text

Marinette’s POV

This hotel is a dump. Sleeping here last night on the rock-hard bed was tough. It was cheap and affordable though and that’s why I’m here. Today I will be heading to the fabric store. I checked my email and I got two commissions for a simple blue knitted scarf and a black skater skirt. I looked on the website and the materials I need are in stock.

“How are you feeling, Marinette?” Tikki asked me. She was very vocal about her distaste of this place last night. She was used to the pampered life we had back in Paris.

“I’m doing good, Tikki. I’m sorry you don’t really like it here.”

“I shouldn’t have complained so much last night. I’m just a little disappointed that I won’t be having cookies as much as I used to. A kwami’s got to eat.”

“I know, Tikki." I frowned at her. "Who knows? Maybe convenient store cookies aren’t that bad.” I joked.

“Only on way to find out, right?” Tikki grinned.

“Are you ready to hit the town?”

She hesitated. “Are you sure leaving the miracle box in the hotel room is okay?” Tikki looked worried.

“Your right.” I tapped my chin in thought for a moment. “Would you say Wayzz is the most responsible besides yourself?”

“Sure, I guess.” Tikki shrugged.

I quickly opened up the miracle box and put on the turtle bracelet.

“Hello, my guardian.” Wayzz greeted.

“Hey Wayzz. I need a favor from you.”

“What is it?”

“I’ll be gone for a few hours and I’ll need you to keep watch over the miracle box. I’ll keep it hidden under the bed but if anybody tries to take it, I want you to use my iPod to message my phone.” I showed Wayzz how to navigate the iPod. “I have my MDC Designs twitter account logged onto twitter on this device and I have my regular twitter account logged onto my phone. If you need me to come back just type anything into the DM’s to my regular account, got it?”

“Got it.” Wayzz nods. “You can count on me.”

“Alright. Just message me once so we know it works.” I hand him the iPod.

Wayzz messages me a quick ‘Hello’ and I hide everything back away before grabbing my purse with my wallet and phone in it and take my room key. I take a deep breath as Tikki slides into my purse and exit the hotel room making sure its locked behind me. Just in case, I hang the ‘Do not disturb’ sign on the door before walking down to the lobby. I’m grateful that this places elevators still work because this is a very tall building and I’m on the third floor from the top.

The city is much quieter in the morning hours. The criminals and drunks must be asleep during the day. My first stop is the convenient store two blocks west of here. I promised Tikki some cookies and the airplane peanuts I had yesterday was wearing off. Looks like I’m having a bag of chips for breakfast. Better than nothing I suppose.

The convenient store was pretty empty. It was a Sunday morning though and I figured most places looked about the same. I got a small pack of cookies, a bag of chips and a bottle of water. After paying for my food, I carefully put the small pack of cookies next to Tikki in my bag and opened the chips to start eating them. The streets were oddly familiar to me and I seemed to know exactly where to go to make it to Vivian’s Fabrics.

The store didn’t open for another 30 minutes so I paced myself getting there. The farther south I walked, the better the streets looked. They still weren’t the best by any means but you can tell the north side of the city was the worst side. When I hit 23rd street I finally realize why the taxi driver from yesterday stopped here. It was like some weird invisible barrier.

More people seemed to freely walk the streets once I got to this point. People were still cautious of the people around them but you could tell they were more comfortable walking around.

After a few more minutes of walking I finally made it to Vivian’s. The street I was on was clearly a small shopping district. The bottom floors of all the buildings were all shops and what must be small apartments sat on top of them.

The Fabric shop was a bit smaller than the one that I use back home but it looked well stocked inside. The glass front store had a sign on the door with business hours posted. I knew I was early. I still had a few minutes until the place opened so I decided to sit on one of the wrought iron benches that was in front of the store and began to finish off my bag of chips and water. By the time I got up to throw away my trash in a trash can by a bus stop a few yards away from me, I heard the chime of bells as the door opened behind me. I quickly made my way back to the store.

“Hello, baby.” An older, dark-skinned woman with greying hair greeted as she held the door open for me. “I’m Vivian. Have you been waiting out here for me to open up shop?” She smiled warmly at me.

“Oh, I was a little bit early.” I smiled back. “You opened up right on time.”

When I stepped inside, I smelled the familiar scent of fabrics all around me from jeans to silks to fleece. I liked it here.

“Say, you wouldn’t happen to be the gal Margret told me about, would you?” Vivian said and the way she asked it made it seem like she already knew the answer.

“Oh, yeah.” I nodded as I scanned the rows of fabrics. “Margret sat on the seat next to me on my plane ride here. She recommended this place to me.”

“I ought to thank her.” Vivian smirked. “Is there anything specific you are looking for, sugar?”

“Yes. I need a royal blue yarn and a black cotton blend material.”

“Anything special you’re making?” She asks as she walks down a row of fabrics and I follow.

“I have some commissions I need to make.” I answer. “I’m making a scarf and a skirt.”

“A fashion designer, huh?” She smiles as she stops in front of a row of black fabrics. “Would you say you are good at telling different fabrics apart?”

“Yeah, sure.” I nod.

She just quirks an eyebrow in return before gesturing to the fabrics beside her. A test? I knew fabrics like the back of my hand.

I skipped over the black lace because I knew that was too easy. Instead, I felt the fabric next to it. It was soft, a bit shiny and quite stretchy. “90% polyester, 10% spandex. A common blend.” I felt the next one. “Cotton.” And I kept going down the line. “Nylon. Silk. Velvet. Crushed Velvet. Faux leather. Acrylic felt.” I finally stopped when I reached the end of the row of fabrics. When I looked back at Vivian, she was smiling at me from ear to ear.

“Well it seems you do know your stuff. What’s your name, sugar?”

“Marinette.”

“Well, Marinette.” She walked back over to the front door and locked it. “You mind following me upstairs?”

I raised an eyebrow at her then back at the locked door.

“Oh, that?” She laughed. “Honey, I’m not here to do anything weird. I just don’t want anybody to walk in and steal something while I’m gone.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

I began to follow her to the back of the shop towards some back doors. One door was labeled as a restroom and the other was labeled as employees only. She used her key to unlock the employees only door to reveal that it leads to a stairway.

“Follow me.” She hobbles her way up the stairs.

She’s quite slow but I’m patient as she makes her way up. At the very top of the stairs is a landing that’s probably only about ten square feet. There’s a window on the farthest wall that looks out to the brick building next door and there is a large potted plant standing in front of it. On the left wall is a door labeled as 1A and on the right a door is labeled as 2A.

“I own this building.” Vivian said as she stands by the right door. “That means I own the shop and the two apartments on top of it. I live in this one.” She opens the door to 2A. “It ain’t much but its home.” She waves for me to follow her.

The inside is small but cozy. Just as you walk in, to the left is the living room where a small loveseat is backed up to the wall next to the door and just a short walk to the other side of the room is a small TV stand with an old timey cube TV sitting on top. To the right of the TV is a door. Then when you look to the right of the front door there is a small two-person dining table. In the back-left corner sits the small kitchen. There is only one window in this entire room and its on the left wall, just beside the loveseat.

“This place is cute.” I finally say.

“Yeah, it’s a little cramped.” Vivian walks over to the dining table and sits on one of the chairs. “Have a seat.” She points to the chair across form her.

I close the door behind me and take a seat.

“So, Margret only told me a little bit about your situation. You came to Gotham on a soulmate journey?”

“That’s right.” I nod.

“Am I correct in assuming you are living in a hotel right now?”

“Yeah.”

“Well how about I offer you a deal?” She smiles sweetly at me.

“A deal?”

“Yeah. You see, I didn’t always run this shop by myself. It was me and my husband Lenny who first bought this place 45 years ago. Believe it or not, we were 18 when we got this place.” Vivian grinned at the thought. “Anyways, my husband died 3 years ago. Lung cancer.” She frowned.

“I’m sorry to hear about that.”

“Egh. I told him them cigarettes would be the death of him. He didn’t listen. Stubborn old man.” She chuckled dryly. “Anyways, after Lenny died it was me and my daughter Gina who ran this place. Gina just moved out two months ago. I don’t blame her. She just married her wife and she wants to start a family. Can’t really do that in this place. Too small.”

“I see.” I nodded.

“So how about this. I’ll let you move into the apartment across the hall and instead of paying me rent, you help me out around the shop. I’m not any good with the manual labor like sweeping the floors or cutting the fabric. I’ve got arthritis.” She sighed. “What do you say, sugar?”

“Oh, wow. That’s so nice of you.” I grinned as I really thought about this offer. It didn’t sound like such a bad idea and I usually got this feeling when someone was trying to do something bad. Vivian wasn't the kind of person that would set off any alarms. She was strangely nice for someone living in Gotham. “Is that apartment like this one?”

“Come on.” She stands up. “I’ll show you.”

It’s a short walk across the hall. Vivian unlocks the door and lets it swing open as she steps aside for me to look in. It was the exact same layout as Vivian’s apartment. I was surprised to see that there was furniture in here, although it was all covered in plastic. The furniture looked more modern than the furniture across the hall. I guess that this was Gina’s style when she lived here. Ikea furniture. That worked for me. There wasn’t a TV though, not that that really mattered.

“The door by the right of the TV stand goes into the bedroom and there is a door to the bathroom just as you walk in to the left.” Vivian informed. “You can go look if you want.”

I nod to her as I walk through the apartment. I eye the kitchen as I walk past. The appliances look like they should work. Opening up the bedroom door, I look in to see a simple queen-sized bed with no sheets or blankets on it on the farthest wall facing the door. I look to the left to see the door that must lead to the bathroom. I make a mental note of that as I look to the right of the room. There is a window on the right wall with a tall dresser in the corner to the right of the the window and a tall full-length mirror in the opposite corner next to the window.

I look back to the bathroom door and walk over to it and open it up. It wasn’t very big, although I expected as much. I liked the smallness though. It was cute. Just as you walk in and to the right, there is a small towel closet with nothing in it. To the left is a simple sink with cabinet space underneath and a large mirror hanging above it. Next to that is the toilet and then on the back wall is a simple shower tub combo. There was no shower curtain. I eventually made my way back to the front door to talk to Vivian.

“So, what do you think?” Vivian asked.

“It’s a whole lot nicer than the hotel, that’s for sure.” I grinned.

“You will also get an employee’s discount if you work here.” She added with a smile. “I’m sure that will help with your commissions.”

“Alright then.” I nodded. Who knew there were such nice people in Gotham? This situation would certainly suit me. “When do you want me to start, boss?”

“Boss?” She chuckled. “Just call me Viv. And I’ll allow you to bring all your stuff here first before I start working you. It’s only fair.”

“Alright.” I nodded.

“And one more thing.” Viv said as she was unhooking a key from her key chain. “I’m a nice ‘boss’ but I won’t hesitate to kick you out if I feel you aren’t upholding your end of the bargain. You got that, sugar?”

“You can count on me, Viv.”

“Good.” She looked at the key in her hand. “I was planning on putting an ad out for an apartment for rent and a job offer but it looks like I don’t need to do that anymore. I had this contract all written up for whoever moved in and so before I give you this, I’ll need you to sign it.”

“A contract?”

“Yes. Take my advice. Read every contract thoroughly before you sign it. In Gotham, you might accidentally sign away your right to breath.” She shook her head before disappearing into her apartment for a moment.

Seconds later she came out with a small packet of paper. “Here.” She handed it to me.

And so, I read it just like she said. It was simple enough. I’m held responsible for any damages outside of the AC, pluming and appliances. The furniture is mine to use but not mine to take once I leave. No pets. I’m pretty sure kwami’s don’t count as pets. There was even a part that said my rent could be payed as labor for her business. I was also signing on for one month. I guess she knew I wouldn’t want to stay for too long.

“How did you have all of this ready for me?” I asked. It was a little suspicious.

“Margret.” She said. “She was telling me that you might accept something like this. That woman is sharp. She’s a lawyer you know and she drew this up for me. If you decide to stay later than one month then we can sign another one.” Viv held out a pen for me.

I took the pen and reread the contract one more time before signing the bottom.

“Well.” She smiled as she took the contract from me and then handed off the key. “I’ll be making spaghetti tonight for dinner and you are more than welcome to join. I know you don’t have any food or cooking utensils yet.”

“Oh, right.” I nod. “Where would be a good place to get all my necessities?”

“If you aren’t picky, two shops down from us is a thrift shop. They get donated all kinds of things. I’d check there first after you move all your things in. There is a grocery store a block east of here. There is also a home goods store 4 blocks south of here. They are a bit pricey but you should find anything you absolutely need that isn’t around the small shopping district near here.”

“Thank you so much, Viv. You are a life saver.”

“You are the real life saver. Running this business is hard at my age.”

“Well then I’m happy to help.”
---------
Tikki was ecstatic that we were leaving the hotel. She even bragged about how she’s the reason we have good luck coming our way. Maybe she’s right? She is the kwami of luck and creation after all. In any case, Wayzz didn’t argue with that fact when we told him the good news. He was happy too.

Walking through the streets during the day isn’t nearly as scary, not that I was scared before. I still got quite a few weird looks for walking through the streets carrying luggage with me. Maybe they were also staring because I was walking so fast. I was excited. This is my first ever apartment.

Viv greeted me when I came back into the store.

It was a bit of a struggle pulling my suitcases up the stairs. Especially the suitcase filled with my sewing kit and supplies. I made it up there just fine though and decided that the first thing I would do is make a list of all the things I would need to buy.

Towels, a shower curtain, all of the kitchen necessities like pots and pans, pillows, sheets, and blankets. The list went on. It looks like I’ll have to do my commissions later. The rest of my day will be spent shopping on a budget. Things are starting to look up. I can’t wait to tell my parents tonight.

Chapter Text

Damian’s POV

Sleeping was a little hard for me last night. I had way too much on my mind. I told Drake last night to not look her up. It felt like an invasion of privacy to me but I knew that he was doing it anyways. He probably knew more about my own soulmate than I did right now.

It made me think back to her face. Her beautiful and angelic face. She couldn’t be made for me, right? Deep down I knew she was but it was still odd to me. Every one of my brother’s soulmates were in some way a part of the lifestyle we had. They all knew what we really were. It made me scared to get close to her. She didn’t deserve to be dragged into this violent world we choose to live in, even if she has shown that she can take care of herself.

“You look like you have a lot on you mind, son.” Father said. “Aren’t you going to at least eat breakfast?”

“Right.” I nodded before I began to eat the food on my plate. It was cold. How long was I sitting here doing absolutely nothing?

“Oh!” Drake shouted from beside me. He was staring as his phone. “She just checked out of her hotel!”

“What?”

“Yeah. She’s leaving I guess.” He shrugged.

Leaving? She can’t be leaving. She hasn’t even been here 24 hours yet. My body was moving me out of my seat before I had even realized.

“Where are you going?” Father asked.

That made me stop. Where was I going? I couldn’t just show up as Damian out of nowhere and ask her not to leave. That would look suspicious. I’m technically not suppose to know her. “I’m suiting up.” I finally said.

“You are going to chase her down as Robin?” Grayson asked.

“No…” I had to think about that for a moment. “I won’t bother her. If she wants to leave then she can leave.”

Todd was about to say something but my father held up his hand to silence him. “Just stay out of sight, Damian.”

I didn’t look back at them as I made my way down to the cave to suit up. I raced out into the city in record time. As I got closer to where her hotel was, I kept an eye out for her. She couldn’t have gotten far.

And then that’s when I saw her. She was easy to spot. She was moving much faster than everyone else and she still had her suitcases. My first thought was that she was running for the airport but then she took a sudden left turn. That’s when I noticed her smile. She was happy.

So, she isn’t leaving after all? I sighed in relief. I should go home and tell everyone but for some reason I kept following her. She wasn’t lost, that’s for sure.

Eventually, she stopped in front of an old shop in the Oldtown shopping district. It was one of the more quaint parts of the city. The store she walked into was an old Fabric shop I never really looked twice at. Until now. The shop was oddly appealing to me. I made sure I was close enough to hear her as she walked in.

“That was fast, sugar.” The woman who ran the shop said.

“It was wasn’t it?” The door had just closed as she walked in. I made my way to the roof next to the shop so I could try to hear them batter. It was hard to do but I caught the gist of it. “I’m just happy to be out of that hotel. Thank you again for this opportunity.”

“Don’t mention it. Go ahead and put you things away in your apartment. I won’t ask for your help today.”

“Thank you, Viv.”

An apartment? In less than 24 hours she has somehow moved into an apartment above a fabrics shop? Any decent apartment in Gotham has at least a two-month waiting list. How was she so lucky?

I catch sight of something moving in a window on the side of the building so I duck down and take a closer look. There is a huge plant in the way but I can see her heaving her two large suitcases up the stairs. She fumbles for a key in her purse before unlocking one of the doors and disappearing inside.

That’s when I finally realize what I am doing. Is this considered stalking? Shaking my head, I stand up and prepare myself to grapple across the street and back to the cave. I was about to pull the trigger when I hear the sound of a window opening behind me.

“Robin?” I heard her ask.

Turning around slowly, I see her leaning her head out of a window and looking up at me where I stood on the roof across from her. It must be the window in her apartment. “Yes?” I ask nervously.

“What are you doing out so early in the morning?” She asked cheerfully with a smile. That made me relax.

“Oh, uh… just an early morning patrol.” I put my grappling hook back on my belt and took one step closer to her window. There was still a good ten feet between us. “Nothing is going on though. Mornings are usually quiet.”

“I see.” She grinned brighter. “It’s nice to see you again. Do you remember me from last night?”

“Of course.” I nod. “You beat up the drunk and I walked you to your hotel.”

“Yep. That’s me.” She giggled. “And thankfully I’m no longer in that hotel. That place was a dump.”

“And now you are living on top of this fabric shop?” I gestured to the building.

“You bet.” Marinette nodded. “So you better keep this block safe for me, you got that?” She joked.

“I’ll try my best.” I smiled in return.

“Well,” She stood up straight to no longer lean out the window. “It was nice seeing you again, Robin. I should be going shopping now. This apartment is pretty empty.” She pointed to the room behind her. “I’ll let you get back to patrolling the city. I just wanted to say hi.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “Stay safe out there, Angel.”

She began to blush at the name again. “You stay safe too.” She waved before closing her window again and walking off.

I made sure not to linger because I didn’t want to get caught again. I was quick to make my way back to the cave.

As I entered, I was greeted by all of my family. Even Barbara and Stephanie were here. Usually they had better things to do in the mornings. No doubt they would want to hear about what had happened.

“Hey, Baby bird.” Grayson said. “How are you feeling?”

“She’s not leaving the city.” I answered their unspoken question.

“She’s not?” Stephanie smiled in surprise. “That’s great news!”

“You heathens couldn’t mind your own business to save your lives.” I scoffed.

“So where has this ‘Angel’ of yours moved to?” Todd wiggled his eyebrows mockingly at me.

“She’s moved into an apartment on top of a fabrics shop.”

“Well that seems perfect for her.” Drake nodded. “She’s got some crazy luck.”

“What do you mean by that?” It angered me that he seems to know more about her than I do.

“Well, she’s an aspiring fashion designer. She’s even got commissions open if you want to order something from her.” Drake smirked.

The word ‘fashion’ set something off. Another wave of knowledge I didn’t know I had. How to crochet and sew and knit. Color schemes and fabric types. I thought it was Marinette who brought my attention to the fabrics shop, but no. It was also the appeal of the fabrics themselves. It’s strange to suddenly realize you know something you have never learned. What else could I know now that I have not yet realized? What other skills did she have?

“…ello! Demon spawn!” Todd was yelling at me. “What’s going on with you?”

“I know how to sew.” I answered quietly.

“What?” All but Alfred and Father had said.

“I just realized that I know how to sew.” I said before walking off.

Chapter Text

Marinette's POV

Before I even knew it, I had already spent an entire two weeks here in Gotham. In that time, I still haven't gotten used to seeing so many heroes around. It's comforting though because it almost feels like I know them. Oddly enough, it almost feels like they know me too but maybe I'm wrong. Maybe its the paranoia of being in a new place but it almost seems like they are watching me. Or keeping tabs on me? I've seen them flying by my window almost everyday this week but I'm pretty sure that my apartment is just on their daily patrol route. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I promised myself that two weeks was all the time I would allow myself to settle into the city and I was beginning to feel restless not actively seeking out Damian Wayne. He was so close, yet so far. Working at the fabric shop and decorating my own apartment was fun though and Vivian was sort of like a loving grandmother to me rather than my landlord/boss. I actually enjoyed my time with her. At nights after I finish up my commissions, I've been doing a little extra research on Damian and by this point Vivian has figured out who my soulmate is. She was oddly worried that he was my soulmate. Apparently he is known to the locals as the 'Ice Prince of Gotham'. She said he was a bad boy and 'not the fun type'.

I have a window into what he is really like though and although he can be a bit snappy, I can feel it in my soul that he is a nice person deep down. Most people probably only see the smart, sophisticated and rich boy part of Damian Wayne but I can feel how much he cares for this city and how much he loves animals. Anybody who cares so much could never really be all that cold. I can tell that this is a persona that he wants other people to see and in my experience, when people act this way, it's because they are hurting. This just makes me want to find him that much more.

"I'm thinking about closing the shop tomorrow." Viv said, cutting off my train of thought. "I haven't seen Gina in awhile and I think it's about time I go and visit her. Plus, I know you want to go find your soulmate." She grinned at me.

"Thank you, Viv. But I still don't know how to find him. I thought about going to Wayne manor but it's got 24 hour security and there is no guarantee I can get in."

"Well, tomorrow is Monday. Just show up early at Gotham Academy." She grinned. "But that plan will only work for so long. From what I understand, this is GA's last week before school ends."

"Your a genius, Viv! Why didn't I think of that?" I laugh.

"My genius comes with age, sugar." She jokes. "I hope you find him tomorrow."

"Me too." I look at the time on the clock on the wall. "It's almost quitting time. You coming over to my place for dinner later?"

"Absolutely, baby."
---------
Tikki had to wake me up in the morning so I wouldn't be late. Usually I didn't have to get up until 8:30 because the shop opened up at 9 but school in Gotham Academy started at 7:15. It was a 30 minute walk to the school from here and I was grateful Tikki woke my up in time to give me 30 minutes to get ready. I wasn't all that into hair and makeup but I still wanted to look presentable if this was going to be my soulmates first time seeing me.

I was oddly calm as I made my way down the street in the early morning. GA was on the southside of Gotham so I wasn't as worried about someone trying to mug me but I was still cautious. I have a feeling that Damian is a very punctual person so I timed it to where I was one of the first people on campus.

There was one singular security guard posted by the schools gates but he didn't even look up at me as I passed. I guess I was non threatening. He probably knew I wasn't a student because the ones that I saw were all in uniforms and I wasn't wearing one. I shook my head at the security guards incompetence.

I decided to wait at the schools front steps. I knew that this is where all the students have to pass in order to enter the school. Now it was just a matter of being patient and keeping an eye out for him. He shouldn't be too hard to spot.

The closer it got to 7, the more and more students showed up. Almost every single student stared at me as they walked past. They even seemed to whisper to their friends about me. My guess is that they know why I am here. I'm sure they saw my one emerald green eye and recognized it. That was when a student who was braver than the rest approached me with a flock of his friends hiding behind him.

"Hey." A boy with reddish brown hair said. "Are you Damian Wayne's soulmate?" He spoke to me like he was talking to a criminal that could snap at any moment.

"Yes. I'm pretty sure I am." I nodded, a bit confused by his actions. "Why do you ask?”

"We were just curious." He gestured to his friends behind him. "How do you feel about being soulmates with the Ice Prince?"

"Fine, I guess." I couldn't help but to laugh at the name being used so casually. "I don't really know him all that well though. I'm just happy to be meeting him."

My laughter seems to have put them all at ease and they smile at me too. "You must not be from around here." He says. "You seem really nice. You aren't what we expected."

"Oh?" I raise an eyebrow at him. "And what did you expect, hmm? Did you want me to stand here with a sour look on my face and glare at anyone who dared to look twice at me?" I morphed my face into a soul piercing glare just to prove my point.

Everyone took a few steps back from me and the boy who was talking to me seemed to falter where he stood. "N-no. I-I Didn't mean..."

"I'm just kidding." I laugh at them. I hadn't realized I could have that effect on people. "I understand your curiosity."

"Oh." The boys shoulders relaxed as he sighed and the rest of his friends followed suit.

Before he could talk again, a girl at the back of the group spoke up in almost a panic. "He's coming!"

And just like that, everyone around me scattered. I was confused for a moment before I saw him walking towards me. He wasn't looking at me, but rather looking down at his shoes like he was lost in thought.

He was ungodly handsome and was taller than I expected. His shiny black hair was perfectly styled and not a hair was our of place. I wasn't a fan of the schools uniforms but somehow he made them look good. His broad shoulders filled out his jacket well. His strong features were striking to me and yet again it made me wonder what he would look like smiling. In an instant his eyes flashed up to mine like he was aware of someone watching him.

It was like the world had stopped. I was acutely aware of all the people around us who were watching but they didn't seem to matter. He was all that mattered. He was all that I wanted to see.

I watched as instant recognition flashed across his face and I finally got what I wanted. A smile. One so kind and gentle, it made my heart sing with joy. I saw his hardened features soften right in front of me and I felt like melting right there in front of him. Such a look should be illegal. It was like a weapon that pierced straight through my heart.

I wasn't sure who moved first or how long we had stood there staring but eventually we made our way towards each other. I felt like I wasn't moving fast enough. I was over eager to get to him because I needed to make sure he was really there, that he was actually real.

And then we collided into an embrace. Maybe our first interaction should have been a hello and us introducing ourselves but this felt way more natural. He was warm and he smelled like home to me. Not home as in the bakery or my apartment but home as in a place I belong. A place where I would always be welcome.

"You found me." He whispered into my hair in Arabic.

"Of course I did." I said back in Arabic too. Suddenly realizing I knew this language didn't even phase me at this point.

Reluctantly, we finally took a half step back so we could look at each other.

"I have so many questions for you." He said in English.

"Me too." I sighed in relief before shaking my head to clear my thoughts. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng by the way. It's nice to meet you, Damian."

"Nice is a bit of an understatement." He chuckled. "I'm so happy that you found me, Marinette."

"Sorry for the wait." I laughed.

"What's going on out here?" I heard a teacher say from the schools front doors.

It was now that I realized how many people were watching us. Every single one of them has awed expressions on their face.

"Come on, students!" The teacher said. I still couldn't see them through the crowd. "Get to class. No loitering on the front steps!"

"Come with me." Damian grabbed my hand and we started to walk off in the opposite direction of the school.

My heart skipped a beat as I looked at our joined hands. "Where are we going?"

"Away from the school so we can talk."

"But what about your classes?"

"School is practically over." He said as we turned into the student parking lot. "I finished all my exams last week. Being here was merely a formality." He smiled back at me as he pulled a key out of his pocket to unlock his car.

I always knew he was rich but knowing it and seeing it was two totally different things. The car that he opened the passenger door for was unlike any other I had ever seen. I would say that I knew nothing about cars but I would be lying. Of course I would know everything about this car in front of me. It was an all black McLaren P1 LM. This car cost millions of dollars.

It took me a moment to finally realize that he was waiting for me to get in. I quickly sat in my seat and put my seatbelt on as he shut the door for me. Seconds later, he was in the drivers seat and was starting the car. I had to admit that it made me excited when the car roared to life.

"Are you going to tell me where you are taking me?" I smiled over at him. "Or is this a surprise?"

"No its not a surprise." He beamed at me and I had the feeling that he has never smiled so much in all his life. "We are just going to Gotham Park. It's quiet there compared to the rest of the city."

"Do you go there often?"

"Sometimes but usually I go with my dog, Titus."

"Titus." I grin at the name. "I know how much you love animals. I can't wait to meet him."

"And I'm sure he can't wait to meet you. In fact, I'm pretty sure all of my family is dying to meet you."

"I hope they like me."

"I would personally beat them all into next year if they didn't." He said seriously.

I couldn't help but to giggle at his brooding face. This seems to have caught him off guard.

"What?" He asked.

"You look so cute when you are being all serious."

He begins to blush at that but smiles at me anyways and that makes my heart flutter all over again.

"We are here." He finally says after awhile as he pulls over and puts his car into park.

Chapter Text

Damian's POV

I hadn't expected her to show up on my schools front steps. Surprises were never something I ever enjoyed but I was happy to be proven wrong just this once. Finally being able to just be "Damian Wayne" in front of her was a relief. I hadn't realized how much I longed for her to just say my name and not "Robin". It was music to my ears every time my name ever left her mouth.

We were walking through the park at the moment. Her eyes danced all over the place as she took in her surroundings but she never stared at anything for too long. Her eyes always seemed to find their way back to mine like she was making sure I was still with her. I wouldn't dare leave though. I've found something far too precious that I could never find myself walking away from.

"Wow. I didn't realize Gotham could be so beautiful." She said from beside me. "I can see why you would come here with Titus."

That comment finally made me look away from her and around to our surroundings. "This park is pleasant, sure, but I believe I have found something far more beautiful." I look back at her face just in time to see her blush.

"And they call you the Ice Prince?" She giggles. "You don't seem so icy to me, Damian."

"You are the only one I would want to say that." I said honestly. "Although lately I haven't been as 'icy' as I usually am. I think that's all thanks to you."

"Yeah." Marinette laughed. "Talk about a weird soulmate bond. I thought it was just the eyes at first but now I seem to stand up for myself more and I do things I've never done before."

"Yes." I nod in agreement. "Could you imagine my family's amusement when I suddenly start baking and randomly trip over my own two feet?"

"Oh." She frowns at me. "So you have inherited my clumsiness? Sorry about that."

"It doesn't bother me, Marinette." I give her a comforting smile. "The clumsiness never really gets in my way when it really matters though. Maybe I'm just lucky?"

She looks amused at that. "Or maybe I'm lucky and you have inherited that too."

"Really?" I smirk down at her slightly amused face. "I didn't realize clumsiness and luckiness went hand in hand."

"They do in my world." She suddenly takes my hand and drags me towards a bench so we can sit.

I couldn't help but to stare at our joined hands for a moment before I talk again. "I wanted to ask... What have you learned about me because of our soulmate bond?"

"Well you are a vegetarian and therefore now I'm a vegetarian." She smiles softly at me. "You also speak multiple languages and now I do too. That's pretty cool." She begins to speak in Arabic just to prove her point. "You are also quite the animal lover. You love this city and wish to protect it and you are very, very smart. There are probably a ton of things I don't realize that I know right now but I actually do because of you." Marinette smiles again before switching over to French. "What about you? What do you know about me besides that I like to bake or that I'm clumsy?"

I don't even think twice as I answer her in French too. "You are incredibly kind and are always thinking of others. You are creative and have an eye for design. You are also constantly aware of the emotions of the people around you. It was strange for me to be so aware of them too. You make me notice things in other people that I never bothered to notice before. You are truly incredibly caring and also, you seem to be a great problem solver. I thought I was good at that but your way of thinking has helped me in more ways than one."

Her smile gradually widened as I spoke and after I was finally done, she gave my hand a gentle squeeze before speaking in English again. "I'm glad you said that. I was afraid you wouldn't like my way of thinking. I didn't want this soulmate bond to be a bother to you."

"Really?" I chuckle. "Because I was afraid that I was being a hinderance on your life."

"Definitely not." Marinette shook her head. "I mean I did get a little annoyed with people when I usually wouldn't but you really did help me. I even got to put a few of my school bullies in their place. I never would have done that otherwise."

"People were bullying you?" This fact made me angry. How could anyone bully such an Angel?

"Well yeah." She shrugged. "But high school is over now and I've graduated."

"Who was bullying you and why would they do that?"

"It was just this liar Lila and my ex-best friend Alya. I always called Lila out on her lies and Alya believed her over me so they just stuck together and tried their best to make my life miserable." She chuckled dryly. "Lila even said so herself by making a promise to 'make my life miserable'. Jokes on her though. She can't keep that promise now that I live thousands of miles away."

"Well they sound like pompous idiots that you are better off without."

"Yeah, you are probably right." She sighs. "I just wish that I could have saved Alya from that liars lies. There is nothing that I can do about it now though and I'm sure with her trying to enter into colleges right now she will be finding out about the lies the hard way."

Her sad expression practically boke my heart. I couldn't stand her looking like that so I took one of her hands in both of mine to grab her attention. "You can't beat yourself up over this. You said yourself that this 'Alya' girl chose the liar over you. You can't be held responsible over other peoples choices. You do that and you will always be upset. I don't want you to be upset." I whispered the last part.

She looked surprised for a moment before breaking into a blinding smile. "You are absolutely right, Damian."

Marinette suddenly gave me a hug that caught me off guard, but only for a half a second before I returned the hug as well. I didn't dare let go until she did.

"So," She smiled up at me. "what do we do now?"

I stare at her soft features for a moment as I think about her question. "How would you feel about going to my place for lunch? Alfred makes some of the best food."

"Alfred?"

"Yes. He is our family's butler but really he's more like family."

"Will the rest of your family be there?" She had a mixture of nervousness and excitement in her tone.

"No, not all of them. Just Todd and Stephanie."

"Who are they?"

"Jason Todd. He is one of my adopted brothers. Stephanie technically isn't a part of the family but she might as well be. I believe father sees her as a daughter in most ways. All but legally that is. She is also my other brother, Tim Drake's soulmate."

"Oh." She nods with a smile. "That sounds great. I would love lunch at your house."

"Okay then." I stand up and she follows suit. "Let's go."

Chapter Text

Marinette's POV

The manor was unlike anything I had ever seen. You would have thought we had just drove up to a castle or a cathedral, it was so extravagant. It really captured the gothic beauty that surrounded everything in this city. There was no doubt in my mind that this building was hundreds of years old. The most striking thing would have to be all of its roof peaks and windows. It made it look so intimidating yet also so inviting at the same time. It brought a comforting feeling of home, oddly enough. This made me even more curious what the inside would look like.

My train of thought was cut short by laughter coming from beside me and this made me look over to see Damian's amused face looking back at me.

"What?" I ask.

"It's you." He shakes his head playfully. "You look so awed by this." He jerks his head in the direction of the manor as we pass it by to head into the large garage.

"Well yeah." I say as I stare at the wide variety of cars inside the large garage we entered. "I live in an apartment above a fabrics store, not in a..." I gesture all around me to prove my point. "a manor. This is very different from what I am used to. Oddly familiar though." I giggle.

Damian shuts off the car and stares at me for a moment. "I'm going to apologize now on behalf of whatever Todd and Stephanie will do when they meet you. I would say that they normally aren't like that but they are both over the top most of the time."

"They sound great, Damian." I give him a comforting smile. "And don't worry about me. I can handle whatever they throw at me."

He just laughs as he exits the vehicle and makes his way around to the passenger side to open my door. "Come on, Marinette. Let me show you around." He offers his hand to me and I gladly accept it.

The second we walk though the door from the garage that enters the house, we are greeted by an older gentleman wearing a nicely tailored suit and stark white gloves. His expression is neutral but I swear I saw a spark of recognition when his eyes met mine. His presence was comforting to me. Like I could tell him all my secrets and he wouldn't dare speak a word about them to another soul. He was instantly trustworthy.

"You're back early, Master Damian." As he spoke his eyes never left mine. "I see you have brought a guest."

"Alfred, this is Marinette, my soulmate. Marinette, this is Alfred."

"Hello, Alfred." I hold my hand out for him to shake. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise, Miss Marinette." He gave me a warm smile as he shook my hand. "Welcome to Wayne manor. Feel free to come to me if you need anything. I am at your service."

"Oh, uh... Thank you." I grin.

"Should I be expecting you for lunch today, Miss Marinette?"

"Yeah." I nod as I finally look around at my surroundings. Everything was lavish on the inside. There were marble floors and crown molding and crystal chandeliers. This place looked like it was built for royalty. "This place is beautiful." I finally say.

"Thank you, Miss Marinette." Alfred smiles.

"She's here!" I hear someone say with excitement from the left of me. She is a beautiful blonde who was smiling at me like she was seeing a unicorn for the first time. "Jay! Get down here. She's finally here!" She says as she runs closer to me.

"Stephanie." I hear Damian say sternly.

She just ignores him and gives me a hug, effectively causing me and Damian to let go of each others hand. "I'm Stephanie, but you can just call me Steph." She says as she steps back to look at me. "Oh, wow, You're so cute."

"Uh... Thank you, Steph. I'm Marinette by the way." I smile at her excitement. Its nice to see someone with so much joy. She is a breath of fresh air.

"What are you screaming about, Steph?" I hear someone else say on the other side of the room.

We all turn around to look at our newest member to join us. I recognize him from a picture I saw a few weeks back. The white streak in the hair was very telling. He is one of Damian's brothers. I watched as he stares at me for half a second before breaking into a smile.

"Now I get it." He laughs. "Demon spawns soulmate is here." He steps closer to me and gives me a mischievous grin. "I'm Jason, Demon spawn's coolest brother. Blink twice if he is holding you captive."

I couldn't help but to laugh at that. "Demon spawn? No." I shake my head as I laugh some more. "Damian isn't holding me captive. I'm the one who sought Damian out."

Both Jason and Stephanie stare at me in shock for a moment before looking at each other then back to me. "Well aren't you precious?" Stephanie finally says.

"Oh, uh..." I didn't know how to answer that. "Thanks, I guess?"

"Come on, Marinette." Damian takes my hand as he stares daggers at his family members. "Let me show you around."

"Okay." I smile at him as we walk away.

I look back just in time to see the camera flash. It was Jason who took the picture.

Damian stops in his tracks to glare back at his brother. "Really, Todd?"

"Oops." He shrugs. "Forgot the flash was on." He grins at us.

I look over to see that Damian looks rather upset with his brother at this. "Hey." I get his attention and his demeanor immediately changes as he looks at me. "They are just curious, Damian. I told you I could handle whatever they throw at me." I giggle. "Don't you want to show me around?"

"Of course." He relaxes before we begin to walk off again.

"I think your family is nice" I say when I think we are a far enough distance away. "You know, I kind of wish that I had a big family. Its just me and my parents back home. I have no siblings."

"Sounds peaceful. I can never get much peace and quiet around here."

"Well it sounds like you will never be bored." I giggle.

"That is a true statement." He grins as he takes me up a rather large set of curved stairs.

"Where are we going?"

"To my room. That's where Titus is."

This makes me excited. Maybe its his influence with his love of animals but the thought of seeing a dog brings me joy. We take a left down a hallway and stop on the third door on the right.

"This is my room." He grins at me before opening the door.

I am immediately greeted by a large Great Dane. He brought me comfort and I cant help but to smile.

"Hello, Titus." I reach over to pet him and he instantaneously starts to wag his tail.

All of my attention seems to gravitate to the large dog and I find myself sitting on the floor with him as I pet him. He rests his large head in my lap as I coo at him and I'm not really sure how long I was playing with the Great Dane before Damian finally spoke up. "I think he likes you more than me."

I look over to see that Damian is now sitting on his bed watching us with a pleased look about him. "Are you jealous?" I ask before giving the dog a quick peck on the top of the head.

He just hums for a moment before grinning at me. "Possibly, but you aren't soulmates with Titus so I think I still out rank him." He jokes.

"You're right." I laugh. "Sorry, Titus." I pat the dogs head and he just gives me a happy bark in return.

"How about I show you around some more of the manor before Alfred calls on us for lunch?"

"Sure." I stand up and finally realize where I am at.

Damian's room. It was oddly tidy. The four post bed where Damian is sitting was made perfectly and there was a corner of the room dedicated for Titus. There was also a cat tree by the window that caught my attention.

"You have a cat?"

He nods as he gets up off of his bed. "Yep. Alfred the Cat. He roams free around the manor. I probably only see him maybe once or twice a day. He's quite aloof."

"Oh, well I'm sure I will see him eventually." I grin before meeting up with Damian by his door. "Where are we going next?"

"I'll finish showing you the upstairs before we go back down."

"Okay."

The house was beautiful and everything was so elegant. The upstairs consisted mostly of bedroom and bathrooms but there were a few libraries. Why you needed more than one, I don't know. The downstairs is where all of the cool things were at. The kitchen was immaculate. They had two refrigerators and four ovens. That was more than my bakery back home. By the time we made it to the dining room, there was a ruckus going on by the front door.

"I knew this would happen." Damian said with a hint of annoyance.

"What is it?" I look up at him and ask.

"I'm sure they will make there way here any second." He sighs as he takes my hand and we leave the dining room.

We were in a hallway when they found us. I recognized the other two of Damian's brothers from the one picture I saw a few weeks ago but there was also someone I had never seen before. A redheaded woman in a wheel chair being pushed by the oldest of the Wayne boys.

"There they are." Jason and Stephanie said at the same time.

"Hey, Marinette." Stephanie ran up to me and put her arm around my shoulders. "Let me introduce you to some more of the family." I followed to where she pointed as she named off everyone. "This is my soulmate Tim." I waved to him before she continued. "Then there is Dick and his soulmate Barbara."

"Hello, everyone. It's nice to meet you." I greeted.

"Wow, Baby bird." The one named Dick smiled over at Damian. "Stephanie was right. You better not mess this one up."

"Wasn't planning on it." Damian said with a straight face, a bit annoyed.

"Baby bird?" I smiled at Damian then back to Dick. "What a cute nickname. Certainty better than Demon spawn."

"Yeah." Barbara nodded before wheeling herself closer to me. "Dick is quite fond of his nicknames. I'm sure he will find one for you." She holds her hand out for me to shake. "You can call me Babs by the way. If you ever need any help putting any of them in their place, just come get me. They wont bother you for too much longer." She winks.

"Thank you." I instantly like Barbara for some reason. She feels very trustworthy to me.

"So, how did you end up finding Damian?" Tim asked.

"A simple google search. I was waiting for him on Gotham Academy's front steps this morning."

Tim nodded before speaking again. "You know, Damian has been acting a bit differently since his eye color changed. Am I correct in guessing that you are acting different too?"

"Oh, definitely." I nodded. "For example," I turned to Damian and started to speak Arabic. "Do they know this language?"

"Not fluently, no." He grins at me as he replies in Arabic too. "Sometimes, when I'm angry at them I will just yell at them in Arabic. They never seem to know how to respond."

"Oh, so we can talk about them in front of them without them ever really knowing?"

"Yes." He answers back in English.

Tim looked confused for a moment before speaking again. "I'm guessing you never knew that language before?"

"I also didn't know English. I was only fluent in French." I shrug.

"That's a whole lot cooler than Demon spawn suddenly knowing how to sew or bake cookies." Jason laughs.

"Yeah." I agree before catching sight of something in the corner of my eye.

It was an old grandfather clock through an open door to a study. I didn't know why but for some reason it had special significance to me. I began to walk closer to it to inspect it further. The study the grandfather clock was in was beautiful just like the rest of the house but for some reason the very ordinary grandfather clock itself stood out to me.

"What is it, Marinette?" I heard Damian ask from behind me.

I look over to see that everyone is staring at me with an odd expression. Curious? Worried? I didn't really know. Instead of dwelling on that, I took another step closer to the grandfather clock. The clock wasn't working. It wasn't ticking. Instead the hands pointed straight up at 12 O'clock. This was wrong and I knew it. Not because it wasn't noon... No it was probably a little past 11 but that isn't where the hands should be. Oddly enough it should be at 10:48.

"Marinette." Damian put his hand on my shoulder to get my attention. "What's wrong?"

"The clock." I say. "It's wrong."

"Oh, yeah." Stephanie laughs almost nervously. "That thing has stopped working for awhile know. We need to get that fixed."

"No." I shake my head. "I think... its supposed to not work?"

"What?" Everyone says in unison.

"Yeah." I look back at Damian. "Does 10:48 mean something to you?"

And everyone goes quiet.

Chapter Text

Damian's POV

"What is it, Marinette?" I ask.

Marinette was staring at the grandfather clock that leads down to the cave. She looks back at us with an expression that I can only describe as curious calculation. Was it possible that she knew something?

She looked away from us and back towards the clock to take a few steps closer to it. I could tell she was staring at the hands of the clock. They were both pointing straight up at noon just like it always does when someone exits the cave from this point. It was its resting position.

"Marinette." I reach for her shoulder to grab her attention. "What's wrong?"

"The clock. It's wrong." She says with absolute certainty.

"Oh, yeah." Stephanie laughs nervously in a bit of a scramble. "That thing has stopped working for awhile now. We need to get that fixed."

"No." She shakes her head, determined. "I think... its supposed to not work?"

"What?" I say at the same time as the rest of my family. How could she possibly know that?

"Yeah." She looks back to me. "Does 10:48 mean something to you?"

Of course that meant something to me. That was the time that my grandparents were murdered. It was also the time we had to use to open the secret passage behind the clock to get into the cave. The real question was how she new that so specifically. It took me a moment to realize that everyone was just quiet and staring at her.

"Why would you ask that?" I eventually say.

"I don't know." She looks back to the clock. "I have this feeling. I think its our soulmate bond. This clock means something to you. And the time? 10:48? It has some significance with it. I can feel it. It's just like how I feel that I can tell Alfred anything and he would always keep my secrets. Or how trustworthy Barbara is. You obviously feel that way too, right?"

"O-oh." I nod. Our soulmate bond was doing a whole lot more than mannerism and skill sharing. Our knowledge pool was now one and the same, if not a little bit blurred. Possibly it would clear up over time? If she payed enough attention to everything I wouldn't doubt she could figure it all out. She is observant and I know that. A sense of panic should be washing over me but I was oddly calm. She must also be calm under pressure. Instead, all I could do was smile at her. I wanted her to know, but it wasn't my secret to tell.

"There you all are." Alfred speaks up from the doorway. "Lunch is almost ready." He looks around at all of our faces carefully. "Might I suggest you head down to the dining room?"

"Great idea, Alfred." Grayson said almost overly cheerfully. "Come on. Let's go." He gestured for everyone to leave ahead of him.

I take this opportunity to grab Marinette's hand. She looks at the clock for a second. I could tell she hasn't forgotten but she smiles at me anyways before walking out of the room with me.

"So, Marinette." Stephanie grabs her attention. "What kind of food do you like?"

I could tell that she was trying to keep her talking so the topic of the clock wouldn't come up again.

"Well, I just recently became a vegetarian thanks to Damian. I'm sure that I like whatever he likes. I do have a bit of a sweet tooth though." She giggles.

"Oh yeah." Grayson nods. "Baby bird here made some cookies awhile back and they were absolutely phenomenal. I'm sure he somehow got the recipe from you."

"Well I did live in a bakery most of my life. I know quite a few recipes."

"If they are anything like the cookies I would love to try them sometime." Todd added.

"I'll be sure to make you something some time." Marinette nodded.

We were now entering the dining room. I pulled out a chair for her to sit in and after pushing it in for her. I took the seat next to her. Moments later, Alfred came out with our food. I watched as she filled her plate with all of the food I would normally get. It made me smile as I filled my plate as well.

"So, Marinette." Drake looked at her with a bit of calculation in his eyes. "Do you think you have picked up all of Damian's skills?" He said as he absent mindedly played with his fork.

"Hard to say." She said after swallowing a mouth full of food. "I never seem to know I have these skills until I need them. So far I would say most likely." She shrugged.

"Hmm..." He nodded to himself for a moment before suddenly throwing his fork at her.

It would fly past her head. I knew it would. Still, I should have at least tried to block it from her. I didn't though. She was much faster than I was. Faster than I thought possible to be honest. She caught it mid air and flung it right back at him. It hit Drake square in the chest and though I should be mad at him for using her for a bit of an experiment, I couldn't help but to laugh at her uncanny accuracy. Drake even had the audacity to look a bit surprised.

"Master Tim!" Alfred scolded him. "How very rude of you."

"Nice one, Marinette." I continued to laugh.

She couldn't help but to smile too. "Testing my accuracy, Drake?" She mimicked my way of talking.

She wasn't mad, although she should have been. What kind of idiot throws a fork at someone they just met?

"Woah." Todd laughs. "You do have all of his skills."

"Are you kidding?" She smirks. "That was all me."

"Are you saying you could have done that before becoming soulmates with Damian?" Stephanie asked curiously.

"Oh, uh..." She looked down at her plate for a moment. "Maybe, I guess." She shrugs.

Her sudden mood change made me think she was hiding something. She was fast. Much faster than I was, I'll give her that. Maybe that's why she wasn't afraid on her first night here in Gotham. She wasn't even fazed by that drunk man. I suddenly realize that she was never really a helpless girl before. She could always take care of herself. I stared at her for a moment as I thought about this. That was when her earrings caught my attention. They were simple and nondescript. They felt important for some reason though. Extremely important.

"I'm sorry about Tim." Stephanie said. "He lets his little investigations and theories get in his way sometimes."

They all continued to talk and eat as I stared at her earrings. For some reason the name "Tikki" was associated with them but also the words "Miraculous", "Creation" and "Luck". That's when I thought back to earlier in the day when she said that she was lucky. I suddenly realize that that wasn't a joke. Something about these earrings actually brought her luck.

"What is it?" She turns to look at me.

"Those earrings." I point to them. "They are important to you. You feel the need to protect them. To guard them. But... not just them?"

Her eyes went wide and I knew that I was right. She was protecting something much more important than just herself. Just like me and my need to protect the secret of the bat cave. I didn't like that she had to carry this burden alone though. I had a whole family who knew my secret. She seemed to be all alone in this. It wasn't right.

"Angel." I whisper in Arabic. "Who is this Tikki and why must you guard the earrings all alone?"

Recognition sparked in her eyes as she stared at me. I knew I had given myself away. She looked around at the rest of my family who were looking at us with extreme confusion before looking back at me.

"I think I realize now why the universe chose us to be together." She said in Arabic. "You know, when I first got this soulmate mark I had this strange urge to go out at night and patrol Paris. I didn't have the need to do that anymore. Hawkmoth was defeated."

The name Hawkmoth brought on a wave of new information I didn't know I knew. A super villain that terrorized Paris. He wanted her earrings. Ladybug's earrings. And Chat Noir's ring. The Miraculous.

"Do you understand?" She continued in Arabic. She seemed to brighten as she continued to talk. "We are one in the same. We aren't as different as I though we were. We do the same thing. We protect people. We help people."

"What is going on?" Drake ask. "I feel left out."

"I have the feeling that this is something you will have to talk to your whole family about." She said in Arabic. "I need to talk to Tikki too. I know I'm the guardian and the decision is ultimately mine but I will always ask for her input first. She is one of my most trusted friends."

"Uhh, guys?" Todd asked. "Care to fill us in?"

"I will talk to them all about it later, Angel." I tell her in Arabic. "But I still have a ton of questions."

"I know." She said in English. "Me too."

"Yeah, I don't like this feeling of not being filled in." Drake said.

"I'll tell you about it later." I told him.

The rest of the time after lunch was filled with average chatter but me and Marinette couldn't help but to look over at each other with knowing smiles every once in awhile. I think we both found it comforting that we wouldn't have to keep secrets from each other anymore. Even though we have only known each other for a short time, upholding the secrets just felt wrong. Like fighting against gravity. I'm pretty sure we couldn't keep secrets from each other even if we tried and I honestly didn't really mind that. I wanted to tell her everything.
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"I'm sorry if this complicates things with your family." She says as I'm driving her home.

"Don't worry about it, Angel." I smile over at her. "Honestly, I'm kind of relived. I just hope that father understands."

"Yeah, I know." She said as I stopped in front of the fabrics shop. "You'll text me, right?"

"Of course." I say honestly.

"Okay." She nods as she takes off her seat belt. "I'll see you around then?"

"Absolutely, Angel."

She reaches for the door but stops just before touching the handle. She quickly turns around and leans across the distance of the car to kiss my cheek. I hear her giggle at my stunned expression before exiting the car and making her way inside the shop. All I could do was stare after her as I touch the spot on my cheek where her lips touched me. It felt oddly warm.

I wasn't sure how long I sat there before I could finally put my car in drive again and pull away. The drive home was a blur.
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It was shortly after my father had arrived home and we were all sat down for dinner.

"So, Damian." My father had said once we were all settled down. "I heard that Marinette sought you out today?"

"She did." I nodded.

"And she was so cute." Stephanie added. "You should have seen her throwing a fork at Tim."

"She threw a fork at you?" Father raised an eyebrow at Drake.

"Only after he threw it at her first." Grayson said. "She was so fast. It was incredible."

"Tim!" Father scowled at him.

"I had a theory." Drake shrugged. "The fork was never going to hit her... and I was right. She caught it mid air and threw it right back at me. She is just as skilled as Damian."

"Or I'm just as skilled as her." I said.

"What?" Drake's brows knit together when I said that.

"It's our soulmate bond." I said. It was now or never and I wanted to get this conversation out of the way. "We share the same knowledge. That's why she was so interested in the clock."

"What do you mean you 'share the same knowledge'?" Father asked.

"It's what we were talking about at lunch. I realized something about her. She isn't just a regular girl. She is a lot more like us than I originally thought."

"I'm confused." Barbara said. "What do you mean? Are you saying she knows about us?"

"Yes, but its not her fault. I'm not sure we can keep secrets. We seem to know what the other knows."

"The eyes are the window to the soul!" Drake suddenly shouted. "You aren't just soulmates. I think your souls have merged!"

"Hmm." Father seemed to be thinking about that. "I think you are right, Tim. Your soul makes up who you are, what you know and how you act. The eyes are the window to the soul." He nods in confirmation.

"What a strange soulmate bond." Alfred says. "Truly fascinating."

"So you aren't mad that she knows?" I asked.

"Son, she is your soulmate. I knew she would have found out eventually. It's just a lot sooner than I thought. And if your souls have really merged then I know that she wouldn't dare tell anyone else because I now that you wouldn't."

"Wait." Drake looked at me like he had just realized something. "You said that you were just as skilled as her? What did you mean by that?"

"I think its up to her to share."

"I believe we should visit her during patrol tonight." Father said after a moment of silence. "We all have some things to discuss."

Chapter Text

Marinette's POV

Today went nothing like I had expected, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I got answers. More answers then I ever thought I would. Answers to questions I never bothered to ask because I never thought I would learn them. Answers like who Gotham's heroes were. But most importantly, I got the answer to the number one question I had since I first found out I had a soulmate; what kind of person was made for me?

I found it strange that our soulmate bond allows us to know things about the other without us ever sharing. I have to admit that when he first asked about my earrings, I was a little shocked, but then everything fell into place when he called me "Angel". Oddly enough, I was glad he knew and I had the feeling that he was glad I knew as well. Our lives revolved around secrets and it was nice to be so completely open and honest with someone. And what better person to do that with than your soulmate?

I told all of this to Tikki shortly after dinner and I asked her about her opinion about it all.

"I trust your judgment, Marinette." Tikki said. "And I believe that Damian and his family will bring new meaning to your life." She sighed before looking sadly at me. "I watched you fall into a bit of a depression after Hawkmoth was defeated and Adrien found his soulmate. I know you never truly said it out loud but you loved being Ladybug and you thought you loved Adrien. I see now what true love looks like for you and how differently you act around Damian compared to Adrien. You are so much more free and yourself than you ever were with Adrien. You see that, don't you?"

I think back to my early days where I was crushing hard on Adrien and I can't help but to cringe. He was an unhealthy obsession when I thought that one act of kindness meant true love. It is true that Adrien is kind, but I see why Kagami is his soulmate and not me. I also see now why Damian is meant for me. We bring out the best in each other just like Kagami and Adrien bring out the best in each other.

"I do see that, Tikki." I give the kwami a smile. "Damian is different. More different than I ever thought my soulmate would be but that's okay. I see that we were—and maybe still are—hurting. I get this feeling that being together is the only way to truly heal. Does that make any sense?"

"That makes perfect sense, Marinette." She stares into my eyes for a moment. "Have you ever heard of the saying 'The eyes are the window to the soul'?"

"For some reason I feel that I have."

"Does that make you wonder why your soulmate mark deals with the eyes? Or that your knowledge has grown and your personality has widened?"

I feel like I have been told this before. This revelation isn't new to me somehow. Our souls don't just belong to each other, they have merged into one. "We now share a soul." I whispered.

"Truly the largest form of soulmates." Tikki grins at me. "I have never seen anything like it in all of my existence." She giggles. "And I have seen a LOT of soulmates."

"I guess I should feel special."

"You ARE special, Marinette. You always have been."

"Thank you, Tikki." I smile at her before becoming serious again. "So you think it's okay if I tell Damian's family about the miraculous? I mean, he already knows about me. He can't help but to know about me just like I can't help but to know about him and his family. And I feel like I know his family... No wait. I do know his family. I know that I can trust them with my life. I can trust them to save the world if I really needed them to."

"You are the guardian Marinette, and if you feel that you can trust them then I trust them too. Plus, it would be nice to talk to someone other than you and the other kwami's." She laughs.

"This is so strange." I laugh as well. "Who would have thought that my soulmate was a superhero too? Or that his whole family would be superheros?"

"It all makes sense when you really think about it." Tikki nods.

I was going to say something back when I suddenly saw a shadow—or multiple shadows—fly past my window. I throw a quick glance to Tikki and she immediately understands and hides under my pillows on my bed. Walking to my window, I peek outside to see six sets of mask covered eyes staring back at me.

This would have been menacing or scary to any other person but it wasn't to me. Instead of freaking out, I just opened up my window to see them better.

"Hey, guys!" I smile brightly at them.

"I believe we have some things to discuss." Batman said.

"Right." I stand up straighter to look at them all. "We do."

I take a few seconds to look around at my surroundings. There is only about eight feet between the building I'm in and the roof of the next building where everyone is standing. Without a second thought, I backed up a few feet to give myself a running start and leaped through my open window. I heard a few people gasp, probably Batgirl and Nightwing, but I knew what I was doing. I used the windows ledge as a springboard and leaped across the open space. It was short but the small time I was in the air was exhilarating. I missed this feeling.

It was easy for me to land on the roof of this building. I looked around to see a few shocked faces and a few impressed. Damian on the other hand looked proud and Batman kept a neutral expression. This was typical though and I knew it.

"You wanted to talk?" I asked.

"Yes." Batman nodded once. "Robin has recently brought something to our attention. I'm assuming you know what this is about?"

"Yes, I know what this is about. Strangely enough, I know a lot. Way more than I should." I glance over at Robin who gives me a soft smile. "I'm sure you have some questions for me and I would be happy to answer them."

"We know that you know everything." Red Robin said. "Or at least everything he knows." He points to Robin. "But what I want to know is what secret you have that even he wont tell us."

"Right." I smile at them all before sitting cross legged on the rooftop. "I guess I should start off with saying that I am a lot more like all of you than you actually think."

"Meaning?" Batman said.

"I once patrolled the streets of Paris before my old partner and I defeated the villain that terrorized the city. His name was Hawkmoth. He was super powered in the same way me and my partner was. By the Miraculous."

"Miraculous?" Nightwing asked.

Robin was the one to answer for me. "They are magical jewelry that grant powers. Hawkmoth had the butterfly Miraculous that granted him the power to give others superpowers, only he used it for evil. He wanted the other Miraculous so he sought out those with strong negative emotions and sent out akuma's. These akuma's attached themselves to an object on this person and afterwords, Hawkmoth offered them a deal to gain powers to help in their revenge or what have you. In exchange, they had to steal her and her partners Miraculous."

"Akuma's?" Batgirl looked confused.

"They are butterflies that he has corrupted with his Miraculous." I answer. "It's what the butterfly Miraculous does."

It was quiet for a moment before Red Hood finally spoke up. "No offense, but that all sounds crazy."

"Are you calling her crazy? Or are you calling us liars?" Robin snapped.

"Robin, it's fine." I laugh. "I would think it's crazy too if I had never heard of it." I look around to everyone. "Would you like to meet someone who could change your mind?"

"And who would this be?" Batman asked.

"My kwami."

"Your what?" Batgirl said.

"My kwami. She is the magical entity that is bound to my Miraculous. The Ladybug Miraculous." I point to my earrings. "She is the embodiment of creation and luck."

"I would like to meet her." Red Robin said with genuine interest.

"Okay." I look back towards my window. "Come on out, Tikki."

I watch as Tikki pokes her head out before slowly making her way to me. Everyone but Damian has a look of surprise on their face, even Batman. Damian just looks excited though. This is his first time seeing her.

"Hello." Tikki greets. "I'm Tikki. It's nice to meet all of you."

Damian comes to sit down across from me. "It's nice to finally meet you too, Tikki."

"And I thought that I had the weirdest soulmate." Red Hood laughed. "But I think that having tiny flying creatures bound to magical jewelry really takes the cake."

"She isn't the only one. You see, I'm the guardian of the Miraculous." I hold my hands out so Tikki can take a seat in them. "It's my job to protect them. Just like it's your job to protect this city. Just like it was my job to protect Paris."

"Oh, now you've really got me curious." Red Robin took a seat next to Robin and Batgirl followed suit by taking a seat next to him. "How did you get a job like that? Did you inherit the Miraculous? Are they family heirlooms?"

"No." I frowned. "I was chosen to be Ladybug by the previous guardian."

"And he died." Robin finished. "His name was Master Fu."

"It's still so weird that you know that." I laugh. "Only Adrien ever knew that."

"Adrien." He said with a straight face. "You liked him. You even hoped that he was going to be your soulmate at one point."

"And you never thought about having a soulmate at all." I nodded. "I guess the world had different plans." I poked him in the ribs playfully. "I like it this way better though."

Robin gave me a crooked smile in return. "Me too."

"Aww, did you hear that Hood?" Nightwing said as he and Red Hood took a seat too. "Robin is being all cute with his 'Angel'."

I look around at all of the people sitting in front of me and I have this overwhelming sense of family all of a sudden and I knew Damian could feel it too. I look up to Batman who is the only one not sitting with the rest of us and I find him already looking at me.

"Marinette." He says. "This seems like a rather large responsibility for someone so young. You are only 18." He steps closer to me to stand just behind his family.

"I know." I sigh. "But I don't mind. I enjoy having a purpose. It's what's kept me so level headed all this time."

Batman smiles when I say that. "I understand. Having a purpose brings guidance." He looks at his youngest son then back to me. "I still have a few questions but I believe we will get plenty of time to ask them later. We all just wanted a bit of an explanation to all of this and I believe we have a better understanding now. We should get back to patrolling the city."

"You're right." I stand up and everyone else follows suit. "Thank you for talking with me. I'm so happy you all came tonight and I hope you know that you can trust me."

Batman steps forward and puts a gentle hand on my shoulder. "My son trusts you Marinette, therefore so do I."

I couldn't help but to break out into a smile. Knowing that he trusted me brought me genuine happiness. Before I knew exactly what I was doing, I wrapped my arms around the caped crusader for a hug. I knew most people wouldn't like the idea of hugging the Batman. He was terrifying to most people, but not to me. I relaxed when he eventually hugged me back.

"You should get back to your apartment." He says as he gently pats my back.

"Oh, right." I take a few steps back to see that he was giving me a fond smile. "I wont hold you up anymore."

"Wow." Nightwing says. "Aren't you just pure sunshine." He smiles at me. "We'll see you soon, Marinette."

"See you soon." I say.

I watch as one by one, they shot their grappling hooks off to leave until Robin remained. He waited until the last of his family members were out of sight before turning to me and closing the distance between us. Tikki found this as her opportunity to zoom back inside my apartment window.

I look over to see Robin pull something out of his ear that I recognized as his comm and switched it off before putting it into a pocket.

"Red Robin wouldn't shut up. He kept asking questions." he said.

"You can answer any questions they have about the Miraculous. You can give them all a crash course tonight if it will shut them up." I joke. "I know how much you don't like them bothering you."

"Thanks but that wasn't what he was asking, although I know he has those questions too." He shakes his head at the thought.

"Well then what was he asking?"

"Why I'm staying behind."

"Why are you staying behind?"

He's quiet for a long moment before he speaks again. "I'm wondering when you are going to find everything out. It seems we need a push in the right direction to remember what the other knows."

"What am I supposed to be remembering?"

"I want you to know everything but I'm afraid of what you will think." He looks at me with a sad expression that I don't like seeing. I want him to be happy again. "I don't know if I will regret this but for some reason I want to tell you everything. No... I need to tell you everything."

"What is it?" I ask as I reach up to touch his face.

"It's about my past. About before I lived with my father."

And a rush of information hits me all at once. He was young. So extremely young and easy to manipulate. Born into the League of Assassins, he was trained to be the perfect killer by his mother and grandfather. He killed so many but he didn't know any better. He just thought that was the way of life was until his father showed him a different way. He knows better now but not back then and he can never bring all of those people back. He wished he could but he can't. He's ashamed and thinks I will be to.

"No." I say as I feel a tear run down my cheek. "I will never be ashamed of you. You grew and you are no longer that person anymore. You didn't know any better. It's okay." I hold both sides of his face so he can't look away from me. "It's okay."

"But it's not okay." He whispers. "All of those people. Their families. They will never be okay."

"I know. But you aren't to blame. You didn't know any better." I give him a tight hug. "You were a child. Nobody should ever force a child to do that. Your mother and grandfather were horrible to do that to you."

"I know." He sighs into my neck. "So you don't hate me?"

"I could never hate you." I look up at him again. "And thank you for telling me this... sort of."

"I think it's your influence." He finally smiles at me again. "You make me want to put everything out onto the table. I want to share everything with you."

"Me too." I smile back. "So how long until one of your family members comes to track you down because you turned off your comm?"

"I'd give it another minute and a half." He shrugs.

"That's too bad." I laugh. "I would love to invite you in."

"I can come back later tonight if you want."

"Sure." I nod. "See you after patrol?"

"Absolutely, Angel."

"Robin!" I hear Nightwing before I see him. "Batman said put you comm in and no more distractions."

"That's me. I'm the distraction." I giggle. "You get back to work." I wave before turning around and taking a running leap back into my window.

By the time I turn around they are both gone from the rooftop. I smile at myself before shutting the window.

"That went well." Tikki said.

"It sure did, Tikki. Now help me clean up this place. Damian is coming back." I chuckle.

Chapter Text

Damian's POV

I've never really been all that eager for patrol to end but tonight felt different. Most of the time the patrols were the highlight of my days. They were what I looked forward to the most. Instead, today I am looking forward to it ending. The only problem was trying to get away from the rest of my family. Oddly enough, I didn't think it all the way through when I promised Marinette that I would visit her tonight. My family will have a field day with this. I had to think of a way to do this quietly.

I didn't let this distract me from my duties though. I took out a group of Penguin's men and a couple of people trying to rob a liquor store. Father wouldn't appreciate it if I were to start slacking.

"Let's call it here for tonight." Father said, suddenly right beside me. I was on my own just moments before. "Everyone head to the cave."

"You got it." Batgirl replied over the comms. "See you soon."

I was going to head to the cave and find a way for me to sneak out to go see her a little bit later but father stopped me before I could grapple off of the roof.

"Wait a minute, son."

I glance over at him to see that he is looking at me with that serious scowl he always gives when he is about to give me one of his 'helpful' speeches. Sighing, I say, "Yes, father?"

"I know you are going to go see her." He cracked a smile at me. "I can see the cogs turning in your head about how you were going to give us the slip. It wouldn't have worked, whatever it was."

"Aww, are you trying to sneak off and be Romeo?" Nightwing said over comms.

I was about to yell something back but the look on my father's face made me stop short. He said nothing but instead took out his comm and gestured for me to do the same. I followed suit and he held his hand out to me like he was waiting for something. I was confused for a second before I realized that he was asking for my comm. I eventually gave it to him.

"Just be back before breakfast." He smiled at me. "And please don't do anything stupid. I'll keep everyone back home in line."

"You're just... letting me go?" This confused me.

"You would have gone anyways. I know you two have much to discuss." He patted my shoulder. "As long as you stay out of sight and don't do anything rash, I will allow you to go."

"Wow." My mind was blank. I thought for sure that he would tell me that visiting her as Robin was a stupid idea. "Thank you, father."

"No problem, son." He said before taking off in the direction of the cave.

I wasted no time as I raced across the city towards her apartment. As per my fathers advice, I made sure to stay out of sight. When I reached the apartment I was looking for, I saw that her window was slightly cracked open and her lights were on.

It's like she had sensed I was near because it was only seconds later when she came up to the window to look out. I couldn't help but to smile when her eyes caught mine. She quickly heaved the window open the rest of the way.

"You coming in, boy wonder?" She gave me one of her dazzling smiles.

"Of course, Angel." I nod.

She backs out of the way for me and I take two large steps forward before jumping across the distance and swiftly landing inside her room. I look around for a moment to take in my surroundings.

Magazine clippings and photos were taped all around her room and I recognized them as inspiration for her fashion designs. Her bed was made with a simple light pink bedding and the door to what must be the small living space was open. I could see the couch just through the doorway with a table sat in front of it with all of her sewing supplies sitting on top and a couple of unfinished commissions.

I hear the window shut behind me and the curtains draw closed. "Wouldn't want anyone seeing Robin in my apartment, now would we?" She laughed. "So what do you think of the place? I mean, I know its not like the manor but its cozy."

"It feels very homey to me." I smile. "Its hard to really explain."

"I think I understand." Marinette nods before going to sit at the foot of her bed.

"Where is Tikki?"

"She just ate a plate of cookies. She fell asleep on the kitchen counter." She giggles. "We can wake her if you want."

"No, that's fine." I take a seat beside her. "It's late anyways."

"Speaking of which, when do you have to be back home?"

"Father said before breakfast."

"Really?" her eyes go wide with surprise. "I thought I would only get you for an hour max."

"Father is being... very understanding."

"You think my hug warmed him up?" She jokes.

"Possibly." I grin back at her. "Although I think that my father just likes you and is happy that I have a soulmate."

"He's a good man." Marinette nods. "I think he just wants whats best for you and for you to be happy." She turns her body towards me and pulls her feet up onto the bed. "He cares about you. He cares more than your mother or grandfather ever did."

She's right, of course. It took me far too long to realize that as the truth but I'm glad that I did. If I'm being honest, I'm still not completely used to the idea of a supportive family because I spent so many years without one.

"Hey." Marinette grabs my hand, effectively pulling me out of my thoughts. "I promise you that your family and I will always be on your side, no matter what."

I reach out to touch her face with my free hand without thinking. I can't help but to be so enamored by her kindness. I linger there for an instant before tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear and then letting my hand fall limply in my lap. "Thank you, Angel."

"You know, I don't mind." She gives me a shy smile. "You can touch my face if you want to."

A ghost of a smile touches my lips before I finally turn my full attention to her. "I'm just not used to this. In all honesty, I've never really thought about what it would be like having a soulmate, but you know that of course." I shrug. "I don't know if there is some line that I could be crossing. I don't ever want to do anything that you don't like."

It's quiet for a short moment before she slides closer to me. "How about this." She says. "I promise to tell you if I don't like something if you promise to do the same for me."

"I think that's simple enough." I grin.

"Good." She lets go of my hand to instead bring both of hers up to my face.

I watch her features carefully as she timidly runs her hands through my hair. I can tell that she is looking for any sign of discomfort from me but I only give her a soft smile in return. I hadn't realized I was so touch starved until this moment. I'm loving every second of this.

Her features suddenly change from timid to curious as she stares into my eyes. Well my mask, really. I realize now that she can't see my eyes.

I feel her move her hands down to the sides of my mask and I know what she wants to do. I know she is waiting for me to say it, too.

"You can take it off. If you want to." It comes out as a whisper. It almost feels wrong to speak at this moment.

She hesitates, but only for a fraction of a second before taking off my mask with the gentlest touch. Marinette breaks into the most dazzling of smiles and I am reminded yet again why I call her Angel. She takes my breath away.

"You know," She says. "I was kind of upset that I took away one of your eyes. The green is so beautiful but now I see why its like this."

"The green and the blue do complement each other well." I agree. "Although I think it suits your face much better than mine."

Her blush is beginning to be one of the best sights in the world to me. I loved that I could have this effect on her and I longed to see it all of the time.

"Are you trying to flatter me, Damian?" She eventually says.

"Absolutely." I whisper.

"Well you're doing a good job of it." She says, a bit flustered as she looks down at her lap. "For someone who hasn't thought about this much, you sure are good at this whole soulmate thing. I feel like I'm lagging behind. You're making my heart race."

"You do the same to me just by smiling." I reach out to gently hold her chin and tilt her face up so I can get a better look at her. "It takes my breath away every time."

She looks at me with this awed expression. Like nobody had ever said anything like that to her and it made me wonder what kind of person would take her mere presence for granted. She needed to know what her smile could do. It can light up a whole room. Hell, I think that it has lit up my whole life.

"I swear you are trying to kill me by giving me a heart attack." She says jokingly as she gently takes a hold of my hand that is holding her chin. She pulls my hand away from her face and mindlessly plays with it for a moment before speaking again. "I'm so happy that you turned out to be my soulmate, Damian. You are exactly what I needed and didn't even realize it. Everything you tell me and everything that I learn about you has made it all clear to me. We have been hurting for way too long and now we have the solution. Each other."

Her telling me that she has been hurting sparked something in me and it pained me to realize it. She was hurting but she was good at putting on a brave face. It might have taken me a long time to realize this if she hadn't said anything, but now I know. All of those years of being alone. All of this responsibility suddenly dropped into her lap at such a young age. Saving the world unbeknownst to the world outside of Paris. Loosing her best friend to that liar. And throughout all of this she just had to act like everything was okay, even to her parents and her partner who she should be able to tell everything to.

I realize now what she means. We are the solution. She can tell me all of her secrets and in return, I can tell her all of mine. Suffering in silence was no longer an option for us. We would know everything and that was okay with me.

I mean sure, my family knew all of my troubles but they could never really see into my mind like she can. I was never comfortable enough to share but now, with her soul being a part of mine, I felt okay to open up. And now she has the courage to speak out where she never has before. We do bring out the best in each other.

"I hadn't realized until you said something." I gave her a comforting smile. "You act so cheerfully all of the time."

"Well lately I haven't had to fake it. Something changed, I guess." She intertwined our fingers together. "I'm genuinely happy now that I am with you."

"My brothers tell me that this is what having a soulmate is like." I use my free hand to tuck another stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Genuine happiness. It's nice, isn't it?"

"Sure is." She nods as she leans into my touch and closes her eyes.

Her eyes slowly open after a moment and I watch as her expression changes into something like hungry determination. It sparks excitement in me when I watch her lean in close. I meet her halfway before closing my eyes and when our lips touch its unlike anything I have ever felt before.

How stupid I was to never look forward to something like this or to even fantasize about it. Her soft lips cemented even further that she was truly an Angel. It was like a fire was set ablaze inside me and brought new life. My stomach did excited flips when our kiss deepened and I realize now that I will never forget the taste of her lips. She's like pure sugar.

My hold on her hand tightens and I let my free had wrap around her waist so I can pull her closer to me. She lets out an excited squeal before running her fingers though my hair and gently tugging on it.

We loose track of time but eventually we pull apart to catch our breath, but our hands stay firmly locked together. My mind is foggy with pure ecstasy as I stare at her slightly disheveled state. She gives me a smile in return.

"Wow. That was... something. Should I say thank you?" She laughs.

"No." I shake my head. "I think I should be the one thanking you."

"We'll just call that team work."

"Well I would love to work with you some more." I smirk at her.

"I'll make sure to clear my schedule for that." She nods before standing up. "I'm going to go get some water. Come with me?"

"Sure." I stand up with her and she leads the way as I follow her out.

I spot Tikki on the kitchen counter sleeping on an empty plate. Marinette and I let go of each others hands as she grabs a glass out of a cabinet. I lean against the counter as I watch her fill up her glass out of the refrigerators water spout.

"You want a glass?" She asks.

"Sure."

She hands me the glass she had just filled and walks back to the cabinet to get another one. I chug the water, surprised at how thirsty I really was and was finished by the time Marinette started to drink hers. She drinks about half of her glass before speaking again.

"So are you going to sleep over? Because I'm not sure that is the best sleeping clothes." She gestures to my outfit.

I look down at myself. I had almost forgotten I was wearing the Robin costume. "I guess you are right. Maybe I should go home?"

"No!" She says suddenly. "I mean... just wait here for a moment." She walks past me and back into her bedroom.

She is only gone for about a minute before she comes back with a bundle of grey fabric.

"This should fit you. I made it for a client but they canceled last minute. Apparently I was too overpriced for a pair of high quality sweatpants." She hands them to me. "They might be a little baggy on you but its better than being too small. Sorry I don't have a shirt for you."

I hold up the pants to examine them. "That's okay. I never sleep with a shirt on anyways."

"Oh." I look up to see her blushing. "I guess it works out then." She looks down at her feet for a moment. "So are you going to be sleeping here tonight?"

"Only if you want me to."

"I'll always want you around." She says shyly, still looking at her feet.

"Okay then." I smile at her. "I'll stay."

"Great." Marinette looks back up at me with a smile. "You can change in the bathroom. It's just through the other door in my room. Your mask is still on my bed so I would grab that so the whole set is together. I would hate for Bruce to blame me if anything went missing."

"No, I'm sure he would blame me." I laugh before heading into her room again. I grab my mask before heading into her bathroom to change.

I immediately catch my reflection in the mirror. My hair was a mess and what was probably lip gloss was smeared on my mouth but otherwise I had to admit that this was the happiest I had ever seen my own reflection. I chuckle to myself as I undress and neatly fold my suit so it doesn't crumple. After yanking on the sweatpants I look at myself in the mirror one last time before opening the door.

She was sitting in the center of her bed waiting for me. In the time that I was in the bathroom changing she had already changed herself. She was wearing a simple pair of shorts and a tank top and I realized that this was the most under dressed I had ever seen her. I like this very relaxed looking Marinette.

That was when I realized that we were just staring at each other wordlessly. It made me curious what she was thinking because she gradually started to blush. I smiled in return before walking over to the bed and sitting on the edge.

"The pants aren't too big." I say.

"I see that." She says before patting the spot next to her.

I happily pull my feet onto the bed and make my way next to her.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?" She asks suddenly.

Beautiful? No one has ever called me beautiful. Brooding and smug maybe but never beautiful. It surprises me that she even says this. "No." I eventually answer.

"Why do you look so surprised?" She began to giggle. "You've had to have seen your own reflection before. I mean look at you, Mr. Six-pack."

I'm not sure why this made me blush, but it did. I could tell that Marinette saw it too because she began to playfully smirk at me.

"Who knew I could get a reaction like this out of the infamous 'Ice Prince of Gotham'?" She put her hand on my shoulder before running it down my arm slowly and then intertwining our hands together.

I stare at our joined hands in happiness for a long moment. "Can I kiss you again?" I eventually ask.

"Of course you can."

I let go of her hand so I can gently take both sides of her face. She looks me in the eyes expectantly and then down at my mouth and up again. This small gesture drives me wild and I quickly close the distance between us.

As our kiss deepens I have to remind myself of what my father had told me before I came here. That I shouldn't do anything rash. I'm starting to realize what he actually meant because when Marinette's hands wrapped around my neck and then slowly started to let her hands slide down my chest, I couldn't stop myself from letting my hands wonder as well. Everything just felt so right.

But I was a rational person and I knew better so I pulled away before I would get to a point of no return.

"I think you are trying to get me in trouble, Dupain-Cheng." I said a bit breathlessly.

"What are you talking about?" She giggled, out of breath too. "You are the one who asked if you could kiss me."

"I did, didn't I?" I sighed before falling back onto the pillow. "I guess I got a bit carried away."

"We both did." She says and I feel her shift herself and lay on the pillow next to me. "But it looks like you are the more responsible one."

"I'm not sure if it's the best idea to leave me as the responsible one." I look over at her to see that she is already looking at me with a smile on her face.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I was almost irresponsible." I shake my head. "Father told me not to be rash."

"I see." Marinette giggles. "I wonder what he thinks we are doing right now."

"I'm more worried about what my brothers think we are doing right now. No doubt they are going to bother me when I get home."

"Let them think what they want." She reaches over to play with my hair. "I wont let it bother me if you wont."

"You've got a deal, Angel." I close my eyes and smile at the sensation of her fingers running through my scalp.

"Why don't you go to sleep." She whispers. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Okay."

And moments later I drift off into peaceful sleep.

Chapter Text

Damian's POV

I awoke to the orange glow of a morning sunrise and a strange weight across my chest. Looking down, I see that it's Marinette's arm that is slung across my chest and I can't help but to smile as I remember last night.

Marinette is sprawled out next to me with her hair spread out all around her face like a halo of hair. I can't help but to find her gentle snoring a bit charming.

I watch her for a few minutes longer before sighing. It's getting close to breakfast time and father will be expecting me home soon. After picking up her arm and laying it softly at her side, I decide to go and change before I wake her.

My Robin costume is still folded in her bathroom where I left it. I fold up the sweatpants and replace them with my costume so I can put it on. I don't put my mask on yet though. I'll do that just before I leave.

Stepping out of the bathroom, I see that Marinette hasn't moved an inch. I was about to go wake her to say goodbye but something tiny and red caught my attention by the doorway. It was Tikki.

"Good morning, Damian." She said.

"Good morning, Tikki."

"Before you wake her up to say goodbye" The kwami flies right in front of my face. "I want to personally thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"For making her happy. She hasn't been like this in a long time." She glances over at Marinette sleeping in the bed and then back to me. "I know that she is doing the same for you but it still feels right thanking you anyways."

"I see." I give the kwami an awkward smile. "Well you're welcome, I guess?"

"Please do everything you can to keep that girl happy. She deserves it."

"Of course." I say honestly.

Tikki gives me a curt nod and then a smile before zooming out of the room. I make my way back to the bed and I sit on the edge for a few moments before finally waking her up.

"Marinette." I say as I gently shake her shoulder. "I have to leave soon."

"Hmm?" She says tiredly as she lifts her head up to look at me. "Oh, hey Damian."

"Good morning, Angel." I brush the hair out of her face. "I wanted to wake you up to say goodbye. Father is expecting me."

"Goodbye?" She frowns at me. "Do you have to go?"

"I wish I could stay..." I sigh at her disappointment. "But I can't. I still technically have school and I shouldn't be skipping anymore days. Even if it is merely a formality at this point."

"You're right." She slowly sits up and smiles at me. "It would be rude of me to keep you captive here."

"I honestly wouldn't mind that." I chuckle.

"Yeah, but I do have work in a few hours. Viv will be wondering why I've locked myself in here."

"Wouldn't want your boss to worry." I nod. "I guess I have to go. I'll see you soon though?"

"I'll be counting on it." She gives me one of her signature smiles.

"Goodbye, Angel."

"Wait!" She says and grabs my wrist before I could get off the bed. "Can I get a kiss before you go?"

"Absolutely."

I don't even hesitate to close the distance between us. For some reason this goodbye kiss is a whole lot sweeter than the ones we had yesterday. This one wasn't as hungry but I liked it just the same. I linger there for a moment with our foreheads touching after we break away from the kiss before I finally put my mask on.

I walk over to the window and pull the curtains back to look outside. No one is out and walking around yet. "I'll see you soon, Angel." I look back at her with a smile.

"See you soon, Damian." She waves from her bed.

I heave the window open. The moment I make it to the rooftop across from her window, I turn around to see her still smiling at me from her bed. I think about that smile the whole way back to the cave.

I was fully expecting my whole family to be waiting at the cave when I got there but oddly enough, it was only father.

"You're right on time, Damian."

"I promised I would be back before breakfast." I say as I begin to put my suit away.

"You did." He nodded. "And it seems you kept all of you promises."

I look over at him, a bit confused. How could he possibly know what I did or didn't do? I decided to ignore him as I changed into regular clothes.

"I'll be going upstairs to take a shower and then I will join you all for breakfast. I wont be long." I start to walk past him.

"Hold on." He grabs hold of my shoulder to keep me in place. "You aren't planning on skipping school again today, are you?"

"No." I sigh. "Besides, Marinette has to work today."

"I see." He stares at me for a moment. "Look, son. If you wish to spend time with her, try not to make a habit of doing it as Robin. We don't want an accidental love triangle in the media's eye. Marinette might not be well known around Gotham but her eyes will be recognizable."

"I know, father. I wasn't planning on making a habit of that."

"Alright." He lets go of my shoulder. "Be quick. Breakfast is almost ready."

"I know." I walk away without looking back at him.

While on my way to my room, I end up crossing paths with Stephanie. I recognize her spark of excitement when seeing me and glare at her to try to stop her from conversing with me. It doesn't work.

"Hey, Damian. How was spending the night at Marinette's?"

I ignore her and choose to continue walking to my room.

"Did you have fun? What did you talk about?" She kept pace with me.

I decided to not even look at her as I continued to walk. Maybe she will go away if I pretended she isn't here.

"Did you talk to her flying kwami thing? Or did you two talk about your feelings? She seems like the girl who would talk about her feelings."

I had finally reached my bedroom and was reaching for the door when she decided to ask one more question that caught me off guard.

"So, how was your first kiss?"

I snap my head in her direction and stare at her, a bit shocked. Did she seriously just ask me that? And how did she know?

"So you did kiss her!" She squealed in excitement.

"Who kissed who?" Grayson asked as he was exiting his room a few doors down from my own.

"Damian kissed Marinette." Stephanie answered.

"Really?" He grinned that stupid grin at me. "Way to go, little D. How was it?"

And of course I began to stupidly blush at their questions and that only made Stephanie squeal even more.

"Was it like a sweet little peck or was there tongue involved?" She asked.

"I'm... taking a shower." My voice cracks as I suddenly open my door and shut it in their face.

"You still have to eat breakfast with us!" Stephanie yells through my door. "We wont forget about this."

I scramble away from the door and begin to pull out my school uniform before starting up my shower. If I could, I would sneak out to avoid breakfast all together but then father would be disappointed in me and I knew I would never make it far. There are way too many cameras in this place.

My shower is longer than usual but only because I am trying to waste time. Soon enough though, I have nothing else to do and I begrudgingly have to make my way down stairs.

All eyes are on me when I enter the dining room. It felt like my birthday all over again only this time I knew why they were staring at me like that. I try to ignore them as I take my seat and begin to pile food on my plate.

"So..." Stephanie grins widely at me. "Are you going to tell us about it?"

"Why do you care so much?" I snap.

"Oh, come on, Baby bird. This is new and exciting for everyone. Especially you, apparently."

"Yeah." Todd agrees. "You've got us all curious. We want to know all about your first kiss with your 'Angel'." He smirks. "We never thought we would see the day."

"The young Master does not have to share if he is not comfortable with it." Alfred says.

"Thank you, Alfred." I mumble.

"That's fine." Stephanie nods. "I can always just ask Marinette herself. I can take Babs with me and we can make it a girls thing."

"You'll tell us bout it, right?" Drake asks.

"Depends on the kind of information we get." Barbara smirks. "Us girls got to stick together."

"Please don't go and bother Marinette too much." Father shakes his head. "You wouldn't want to annoy her right off the bat."

"Of course, Bruce." Stephanie smiles. "Who do you take us for? We'll buy her lunch before we bother her."

"Oh, and that makes it better." Grayson rolls his eyes.

"I'm going to school." I suddenly stand up to leave, too annoyed by this conversation. "And don't bother my soulmate."

=========
Marinette's POV

"You seem happy today, sugar." Viv said as I was sweeping up the shop. "I'm guessing yesterday was a success?"

"It sure was, Viv. Damian and his family are wonderful."

"You met Mr. Wayne?"

I think back to actually meeting Damian's father. I mean, yes I technically met him but not in the sense that she thinks. I stood in front of Batman of all people. Most wouldn't associate him with the famous billionaire philanthropist, Bruce Wayne.

"I did." I eventually say. "He seems to like me. I even gave him a hug."

"You gave Bruce Wayne a hug?" She looks a little surprised at that. "Well I'll be..."

If she thinks that's crazy I wonder how she would react to me hugging Batman. I can't help but to laugh at the thought.

"It's good to see you so happy. Tell me about him." Vivian grins at me.

"He's not as bad as you thought he would be. I think he is more misunderstood than anything else. He is very sweet and kind to me and we tell each other everything."

"So the Ice Prince is sweet and kind? Never would have thought." She lightly shakes her head.

"Well I think he is only like that with me. He's not just all bark and no bite. He's very much still the 'Ice Prince of Gotham'."

"It sounds like you know him well."

"Like I said. We tell each other everything. We keep no secrets."

"Reminds me a lot of me and Lenny back in the day." She looks off like she is remembering something sweet. "I'm glad this is all working out for you, sugar."

"Thank you, Viv." I look over at the clock. "It's almost lunch time. You got any plans?"

"Probably going to eat leftovers from dinner last night. We had steak and potatoes. I would offer you some but I know your vegetarian."

"That's alright. I'll find something to eat."

The sound of the front door's bell chimed, causing us to look that way. I immediately recognized both of them. A spunky blonde and a beautiful redhead in a wheelchair. Stephanie and Barbara.

"Welcome to Vivian's Fabrics. I'm Vivian." Viv greeted. "Can we help you ladies' with anything?"

"Hello, Vivian. I'm Barbara and this is Stephanie. We actually came to see Marinette here."

"Oh, well I didn't realize you made friends." Viv smiles at me.

"Yeah." I nod. "Steph and Babs here are like Damian's sisters. I met them yesterday."

"Well it seems like you made a good impression." Viv jokes. "They came back for seconds."

"We were actually wondering when your lunch break was, Marinette." Stephanie said. "We wanted to hang out for a bit."

"Three minutes actually." Viv answered for me. "But you can take her off my hands right now if you like. Just bring her back in an hour." She winks at me.

"Sounds great. What do you think, Marinette?" Barbara asked.

"Sure. What are we doing?"

"Eating lunch, obviously." Steph said. "There is a cafe not far from here."

"Awesome." I grab my bag from behind the counter. "Let's go."

I follow them out of the store and we make it about ten feet before I speak again.

"It's good to see you two again. This is a nice surprise."

"We thought a little bit of a girls time would be fun. We know you are new to the city and you probably don't have many friends." Barbara smiled up at me.

"And you'd be right. Viv is probably my only friend and she's old enough to be my grandmother. Don't tell her I said that though."

"Your secret is safe with us." Steph laughs.
---------
The cafe that they took me to was nice and served plenty of vegan and vegetarian safe options. It was small though and the only place we could sit at with Barbara's chair was at an outside table. After we all ordered our food, the conversation started back up again.

"So how are you liking Gotham so far?" Barbara asked.

"Other than some drunk trying to rob me on my first night here, it's not too bad. In all honesty, I like this place better than Paris."

"I think you might be the first person to ever say that." Stephanie chuckles.

"Maybe it's just the company I keep." I shrug. "Although some might disagree with me and say that the 'Ice Prince of Gotham' isn't good company to keep."

"Usually I would agree with that statement but Damian seems to have softened up for you. Must be your personality's input." Steph says. "Although that didn't stop him from being a little crabby this morning."

"He was crabby this morning? But he seemed so happy when he left my place."

"And he was." Babs said. "At least until we started asking questions. I guess he didn't want to share."

"But he shared enough. I mean, I've never seen him blush before." Stephanie grinned. "He was ignoring all of my questions until I asked him how his first kiss was. It was just a guess on my part if you two actually kissed but his reactions solidified it to be true."

"Wait." I stare blankly at Stephanie. "I was his first kiss? Really?"

"Well yeah." Barbara nods like it was obvious. "He was never really all that interested in kissing anyone before you came along."

"Wow." I think back to the kisses we had yesterday. Although he did seem nervous about possibly crossing some invisible barrier, he kissed like a pro. It was perfect in every sense of the word. "He could have fooled me." I whispered out loud without thinking.

"Oh, really?!" Steph squealed. "It was that good, huh?"

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" I cringe at myself.

"You sure did." Barbara laughed.

"Can you tell us about it?" Steph smiled sweetly at me. "I love hearing the cute stories of soulmates first kisses."

A part of me, probably the part ruled by Damian's influence, told me to tell her to mind her own business but another part of me wanted to share. I always loved having the fun girly talks with the friends I had back home and it was nice to still have it here. I knew these girls were trustworthy and although they would share some of this to their other family members, I knew they wouldn't try to embarrass me. In the end, I decided to share.

"He was really sweet actually. We were sitting on my bed just talking about our soulmate bond. He would touch my face so tenderly and then quickly pull away like he was afraid of my reaction. He told me he didn't want to cross any lines but I obviously told him it was okay and we promised to tell each other if we were crossing some line. I did it more for his sake. I couldn't even find a line to cross to be honest."

"Aww. How very gentlemanly of him." Barbara said with a fond smile.

"He was very gentlemanly. And that was when I took off his mask and we looked into each others eyes and..." I trail off as I think back to that moment. I never felt emotions so strong. "and that was when we first kissed. I felt the fireworks, you know?"

"Aww, you guys are so precious!" Stephanie reached over to pat my head.

Just then, the waitress comes out with our food. We say our thank yous and begin to eat for a bit.

"So tell me." Steph says after awhile. "How was the kiss? Was it short and sweet? Hot and heavy? Something in between?"

"I'd say the first one was something in between. The second one was the hot and heavy one and the third was short and sweet." I say between mouthfuls.

"Oh, do tell about the second one." Steph grins widely at me.

"Don't listen to her." Barbara say. "You don't have to tell us anything if you don't want to."

"Well there is nothing to tell." I shrug. "I mean it was my own fault for convincing him into changing into only sweatpants and offering him my bed to sleep in. All he asked for was another kiss and I got a bit carried away. Unfortunately, he stopped it before it could get too far."

"Wait wait wait." Stephanie looked at me like I was crazy. "I'm just going to skip over some of that and get to the point where he stopped it? Really? You were completely willing and he stopped it?"

"Yep. He said his father told him to not do anything 'rash'." I shrug. "He was right to stop it in all honesty. We don't need to go that fast. I was just a bit caught up in the moment. We both were."

"Wow. I guess he really has been working on his restraint." Barbara laughs. "And he does actually listen to Bruce. He should be proud."

I finish off my last bite of food before answering. "Damian actually really admires and respects his father. Trust me. I would know. It's the same way I know how he trust you two. He trusts all of his family really. He finds most of you annoying, especially Jason, but he still trusts you."

"We all find Jay annoying." Stephanie laughs. "Just don't tell him I said that."

"Or do tell him." Barbara says. "I mean, I tell Kara all the time and she agrees with me. She is his soulmate too."

"Kara." I think about that name for a moment and I suddenly realize who she is. "Supergirl." I whisper.

"Well you really do know everything he knows... I see why Timmy thinks you are so fascinating." Steph nods. "It must be weird sharing a soul now."

"Not really." I shake my head. "It feels complete somehow. Like this was how it was always supposed to be."

"Very poetic." Barbara says before flagging down the waitress and handing her a credit card.

"I was willing to pay for my own food." I say.

"Today was our treat." Steph smiles sweetly at me. "Oh, and one more thing. Bruce wanted me to invite you over for dinner tonight. He thought that a formal introduction would be better than the one we had last night."

"Dinner sounds great."

"Cool. What time do you get off work?"

"Five."

"We will have someone pick you up at 5:30 then." Barbara said. "And let's keep it a surprise for Damian. He doesn't know you're coming."

"Oh, wow. Thank you." I smile. "And I love surprises. I can't wait to see his face."

"No problem, Marinette. You're like family now." Stephanie stood up and offered me a hug. I quickly gave her one in return before also giving Babs one.

We happily chatted while they walked me back to work and I thanked them again before sending them off and promising to see them in a few hours. I was happy to be going back to Damian's house. It gave me an excuse to dress up again tonight.

Chapter Text

Damian's POV

School was insufferably long and more boring than usual. I really didn't understand the point of going to school at all this week if we weren't going to be doing any learning. I'd honestly be more willing to take another world history exam again if it meant not having to watch another awful World War 2 documentary. It also didn't help that practically the whole of the school was staring at me again. Word travels fast and I knew they knew the reason why I missed school yesterday.

Being back home wasn't any better though because I found out that Barbara and Stephanie actually did go and see Marinette for lunch today.

"Your soulmate is so cute, you know that?" Stephanie said the second I stepped inside the house. "She talks about you like you are the best thing that has ever happened to her."

"What did you say to her?" I glare at her as I begin to walk to my room.

"Nothing much. Me and Babs just had lunch with her today and the way that she described you was quite a shock."

I stop short just before I begin to climb the stairs to look at her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well everything that she described was so sweet. She even called you gentlemanly. I didn't know you could be a gentleman."

"What did she tell you?" I could hear the nervousness in my own voice. If she did know everything, I didn't want Stephanie running her mouth to my brothers.

"Oh, don't you worry about that." She laughed. "We are keeping it between us girls."

"Really?" I raise my eyebrow at her. "I find that hard to believe. You aren't even going to tell Drake?"

"Timmy doesn't need to know this. Besides, I want Marinette to like me. It wouldn't be very nice to tell all of her secrets. Plus, now I feel like Barbara and I know more about you than the rest of the family."

"Oh, really?" Todd spoke up from behind us. "And you're not going to share? How rude."

"It's not nice to eavesdrop, Jay." Stephanie smirks. "Plus, I'm pretty sure this is information you wouldn't care to know."

"Well now I am afraid to even ask." Todd walks closer to us. "But now I'm even more curious. How much did she exactly share?"

"More than I thought she would. Apparently she trusts us because Damian trusts us."

"I kind of wish I didn't. You all are annoying." I begin to walk up the stairs.

"She said that too." Stephanie yelled after me with a laugh.
---------

I had just fed Titus dinner when someone knocked on my door.

"Hey, demon spawn." It was Todd. "Alfred said to get downstairs. Dinner is almost ready."

The way that he spoke peaked my curiosity. He had the same tone he always had when he was excited and trying to hide it. It made me irritated.

I opened the door to see him staring at me with a stupid grin on his face.

"What are you trying to hide from me, Todd? You are never this happy to see me."

"I'm not hiding anything. Come on. We don't want to be late for dinner." He began to walk off towards the stairs.

"You can't possibly think I'm that ignorant to where I would actually believe that, would you?" I asked as I made my way downstairs as well.

"You can believe whatever you want, demon spawn." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes but otherwise kept quiet as I followed him towards the dining room. My suspicions about him hiding something was further solidified when he stopped short of the dining room to turn and look at me. Or possibly watch me? I couldn't tell.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Quit being annoying and just get into the dining room."

"I should be telling you the same thing." I huffed before walking into the room ahead of him.

That's when I saw her and I finally understood. She was standing there talking to my father looking like an absolute angel, as always. She was wearing a striking red blouse and a pair of black shorts that show off her long legs perfectly. But none of that really compared to the breathtaking smile she always had when our eyes met. I still couldn't quite comprehend that it was me who brought that smile on. I wasn't worthy.

"Angel." I finally say. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Well yeah." She giggled and it was like music to my ears. "Me telling you would ruin the surprise so... Surprise! Bruce invited me to dinner."

"Normally, I don't like surprises very much but I think this is the exception."

"Well I'm glad you like it." She ran up to me and gave me a hug that I felt was too brief.

"I was just telling Marinette here that it was good to officially meet her." Father said. "And it's great seeing you two happy."

"Right you are, Master Bruce." Alfred chimed in. "By the way, dinner is ready. Would you all like to have a seat?"

"Yes, Alfred." Father said. "Thank you."

=========
Marinette's POV

It was nice being seated with Damian's family at dinner. It felt whole, oddly enough. They felt like family just as much as Maman or Papa did.

"So, Marinette." Bruce spoke up after everyone was settled for dinner. "Barbara told me you, Stephanie and her went out for lunch today."

"Yeah." I nod. "And it was such a pleasant surprise too. I don't have any friends in the city and it was nice to just sit and talk with them as friends."

"You hear that, Babs?" Stephanie said. "We are her friends. She likes us." She gives me a huge smile and a wink.

"I knew we would be." Barbara smiles too.

"And do you not want to be friends with the rest of us?" Jason jokes.

"I never said that, Jason." I chuckle. "I see all of you as my friends."

"I wouldn't be friends with Todd. He will get on your nerves fast." Damian said nonchalantly from beside me.

"That settles it then." Tim spoke up. "You are all of our friends except Jason."

"Hey, now! Don't give me the short end of the stick. Pixie-pop is my friend too." Jason said.

"Pixie-pop?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. You know, because you are so small and sweet."

"I like it." Dick nods. "Although I was thinking more along the lines of 'cupcake'. What do you think Marinette?"

"I like them both." I can't help but to giggle. "Your family sure does love to give me nicknames, Bruce."

"Yeah. It's usually a family thing." He smiles softly at me. "I think that my kids like you."

"It's like you have been initiated." Stephanie says excitedly.

"No, not quite." Tim smirked at me.

"What, throwing a fork at her wasn't enough." Jason chuckled.

"Are you not curious what she is made of?" Tim asked.

"Are you saying you want to spar with Angel?" Damian asked, a bit shocked.

The thought was kind of intriguing, I had to admit. How many people could say that they sparred with the members of the bat family?

"I'm not saying we should do it right now. We are eating." Tim shrugged.

"How about after dinner?" I asked.

Damian looked a bit surprised at that but Tim looked happy that I accepted the invitation.

"You are okay with sparring them?" Damian asked.

"Sure." I patted his knee under the table. "I'll spar with you too if you feel left out."

"I'd like to see that." Dick spoke up. "Would the two of you be a perfectly even match?"

"No, I don't think so." Tim said. "Damian is naturally stronger than her but I think she is naturally more flexible and fast. Only their knowledge base would be the same. It would be an interesting fight though." He nodded as he thought about it.

"It would be interesting." Bruce concurred. "And if Marinette is willing then I will allow it."

"Okay." Damian looks at me with determination. "If you want to spar then we can spar." He cracks a smile at me.

"Sounds like fun." I nod. "Count me in."
---------
I was thankful that Stephanie let me borrow some workout clothes because the ones I came in wasn't exactly sparring worthy. She gave me a simple pair of shorts and a tank top.

The training room was familiar to me but I obviously have never been here before. There was all kinds of exercise and training equipment all over the room and a large sparring mat was in the very center. An entire wall that was covered in weapons also caught my attention and oddly, or not so oddly enough, I was drawn to the swords. Katana's to be exact.

"Elegant, aren't they?" Damian said from beside me.

"Yeah." I smile at Damian and then back to the swords. "They certainly have a beauty to them."

"They pale in comparison to you though." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Ugh, don't do that." Jason said from behind us, effectively cutting us apart.

"What, you want to spar with me first?" I ask with a smirk.

"I thought you were supposed to choose the best for last." Jason jokes.

"Oh, you think that highly of yourself, huh?" I laugh.

"Is Jay going first?" Stephanie asks as she and the rest of the family enter the room.

"That's up to him." I say. "But I think he's chickening out. I think he's too afraid to go first."

"I am not chickening out." He marches his way to the sparring mat with pure determination. "If you want to do this, we will do this."

"That a boy, Jay." I get in position across from him. "Whenever you're ready."

I can feel all eyes on me but I don't let that bother me. I instead watch Jason carefully. I know how he works and how he moves and that's why I knew he would step forward at me with his right foot first. I stepped back at the same instant to keep the same amount of distance between us. I'm waiting for him to loose his patience because that is when he is at his most venerable. He takes another step towards me and I take one back.

"You scared, Pixie-pop?" He asks.

I don't answer because I know this will upset him even further. Instead I just smile and side step him when he runs for me.

"Are you not going to throw a punch? We are sparring, not playing keep away." He says with a huff.

I just shrug and skip backwards to put some more distance between us.

That's when I see his demeanor changed. My simple childish act threw his patience out the window and he threw an annoyed look my way.

"That's it!" He said before running head first at me.

His stance was no longer clean and precise as he ran towards me and I took advantage of this. I side stepped him again but held my foot out at the last second, causing him to trip. He caught himself on all fours but it was already too late for him. I was on his back in an instant.

I put him an a simple rear naked choke-hold. He tried to reach behind me to try to pull me off but it was easy to dodge him. He was being too frantic and predictable. It only took another 15 seconds before he fully collapsed to the ground and tapped out.

I hear a round of applause around me and looked over to see everyone looking at me with appraisal.

"Good job, Angel." Damian said.

"Not bad." Tim nodded.

"You okay, Jay?" I helped him off of the ground.

"Yeah... I'm good." He nodded, still trying to catch his breath.

I patted his back for a moment before looking back to everyone else. "Who's next?"

"Me." Dick spoke up first. "But you aren't going to get me with those same gimmicks." He laughed as he made his way to the mat.

"Wasn't planning on it." I watch Jason leave the mat and then get into position across from Dick.

"Give it your best shot." Dick said, waving me forward.

I knew what he was doing. Dick could be quite observant and was far more patient than the rest of them, excluding Bruce of course. He wanted me to go first so he could read my movements. I already knew his movements and style though. He was quick, flexible and quite over the top with his special brand of flair. He moved fast and confused his opponents so I would do the same. I knew that he had never fought someone with his style because no one was ever quite as flexible or fast, including all of his family members. Not even Stephanie but she was close.

I took a few steps back before running towards him and taking a flying leap. He just barely back flipped out of the way but I stayed on him. I made quick advances and made sure there was no opening for him to get a hit in. My goal was simple. Back him into a corner. Literally.

It took a few moments of my steady and rapid attacks to get him where I wanted him but when I did, I let myself hesitate so he thought he had the upper hand. He went for a right jab but I did a split and ducked under his blow and then came back up on the same motion to grab ahold of his out stretched arm. He tried to back away but he couldn't go far because he was in a corner and I took this opportunity to turn around and heave his arm forward, effectively trowing him over my shoulder.

I followed him to the ground and pulled his arm tight against my chest and wrapped my legs around his arm to put him in a near perfect arm bar. He tried to reach over with his other arm to try and get himself free but my hold was too tight. I pulled back on his arm slightly and he tapped out half a second later.

Yet again, more applause was heard as I helped Dick back up.

"Wow. You really threw me for a loop." Dick laughed.

"I kind of have an unfair advantage." I pointed to my head. "I know what Damian knows. I know how all of you fight and what has worked in the past." I shrug.

"That seems kind of unfair." Stephanie frowns.

I smile as a thought occurs to me. "You want me to fight you and Tim together then?"

"A 2v1?" Tim looks to Steph and then back to me. "Are you sure about that?"

"Absolutely." I look over to Damian who is already smirking.

He seems to know what I am doing. And by the look of Bruce's face, I'd say he does too.

"Alright." Tim nods and both he and Stephanie make their way to the mat.

Anybody else would have thought that a 2v1 would be a stupid idea and in most cases you would be right. I was fighting Tim and Stephanie though so that gave me an advantage. Tim and Stephanie were soulmates and therefore they always over compensated to make sure that the other wasn't harmed. They cared more for the well being of the other than themselves and I could use this to my advantage.

Tim made the first move and I expected that. I easily dodged his attack and instead of countering to hit him which would have been the most logical, I went for Stephanie who was just to the left of me. I didn't hit her with my full strength but I got a good blow to her ribs which caused her to stumble back a bit.

Tim immediately got in between me and her and went for another attack. He was prepared to keep Stephanie safe so after I side stepped his attack, I brought myself closer to Stephanie. I knew he would step in front of my blow. This one was a bit harder than the first and when Tim stepped in and I made contact with his jaw, he fell back onto the mat with a loud thud.

I knew that this would cause Stephanie to step in and take the lead, not that Tim was trying to get up. I had the feeling he was seeing stars at the moment.

I decided that taking Stephanie to the ground was my best option because I knew that she wasn't the best grappler. I had the feeling that Damian took her down this way many times.

I didn't hesitate to tackle her to the ground. She put up a good fight but in the end I put her into a choke-hold as well and she ended up tapping out. By the time we had both gotten up, Tim was just now getting up on his knees.

"You okay, Tim?" Me and Stephanie said at the same time as we both offered to help him up.

"That right hook gave me an instant head ache." He looked up at us with a smile and took both of our hands for help standing back up. "I'm just now seeing straight."

"I'm sorry, Tim. Maybe I shouldn't have punched you so hard." I give him a comforting smile.

"Nah. I've been punched harder." He laughs. "It's nice to know what you are finally made of."

"Still, I didn't need to punch you that hard."

"I think you didn't punch him hard enough." Jason laughed. "Don't hold back. Timmy can take it. That was an uneven fight anyways."

"Always so helpful, Jay." Stephanie rolls her eyes before looking over at me with a smile. "Good fight though. I guess you completed Tim's initiation."

"Not quite." Tim takes a seat at the edge of the mat. "I still want to see that fight against you and demon spawn."

"Should I go get popcorn?" Barbara joked.

"No eating in the training room." Bruce shook his head.

"Party pooper." Babs and Dick said in unison before bursting into laughter.

I smiled at the two of them before looking over to Damian. "So what do you say? After seeing all of that are you sure you are still ready for this fight?" I joke.

"I'm always up for a good challenge, Angel." He gives me a confidant smile as he walks up to the mat.

Chapter Text

Damian's POV

Marinette stood across from me looking far too happy to be sparring but I knew better than to underestimate her. I watched as her eyes flickered around the room and then back to me. She was reading her surroundings and she was good at it. Better than I ever was until now. We had the same knowledge but she knew that. The question was how we were going to use that knowledge.

We aren't mind readers and our bond only lets us share long term memories and skills such as things that we wont forget. So, that means our short term memories and our split decision making aren't shared. We are still our own people, only now we have a shared soul. That doesn't mean that we wont have a good idea on what the other will do. We know each other best after all.

She stepped forward at the same time I did and this caused her smile to widen. It was distracting and I had the feeling she knew that so I did the same. This is when all hell broke loose.

She was lightning fast and I knew right away that she would use this speed to her advantage. Keeping up with her proved to be rather difficult, but I managed. It was also easier to do when I knew every move she knew. It was still strange to see her do moves that only the League of Assassins taught. If she wanted to, she could be lethal.

That's when a plan came to mind. I would exhaust her. She was patient and quick but she wouldn't last forever. I wasn't even her first fight. I was her fourth. All I had to do was keep her at arms length while not consuming my own energy. Normally I'm not the one to not fight back and just wait but I figured that this was my best option.

I had to concentrate, therefore I had lost track of time. It could have been half an hour before I started to see the first sign of exhaustion from her. That might have been because every now and then she would back off and just watch me, but I gave her no indication of a forwards attack yet so she would return to the offence.

When she did start to show signs of exhaustion though, that's when my plans really took action. She was no longer as quick or fluid now. This brought her advantage down to a manageable level and now it was my turn to show my own advantage. My strength.

I didn't like the idea of actually hitting her so I decided to incapacitate her. To keep her from ever being able to land a hit on me but that meant that I had to get her to the ground.

She saw my weight shift and she tried to out maneuver me but her legs didn't move fast enough. I tackled her to the ground within seconds.

I could feel her shifting to try to gain the upper hand but I used my weight to pin her legs to the ground and hold her arms above her head. Moments later she let out a sigh.

"Looks like you got the brawn and the brain, boy wonder." She smiled up at me. "Now you get the bragging rights to the rest of your family."

"I've never seen you show that much patience, Little D." Grayson said from the left of me. "Way to go."

"You can thank me for that." Angel chuckled. "Can you let me up now?" She looked up at me with an innocent smile.

"Oh, right." I quickly got off of her and held my hand out to help her up.

"I must say, Marinette," Father walked up to us. "I am quite impressed with your skill. Not many people spar with my family and best most of them. At least not without super powers."

"Well I do have a super power... Kinda." She points to her head. "It's knowledge. I know more about all of you than most other people. Plus I have my own skills." She shrugs. "Although I think those skills gave him the advantage." Marinette jerks her thumb in my direction. "That was a very Marinette thing for him to do." She winks at me and that small gesture makes my heart go wild.

"I'll say." Barbara laughs. "Damian just waited. I've never seen him wait for anything. All in all, I think that this has been beneficial to both of you."

"I would have to agree with that." Father nods before looking directly at Marinette with a familiar determined face. "Marinette, how would you feel about joining me and my family in keeping Gotham safe?"

I would say that I'm surprised by my fathers offer, but I'm not. I don't think any of us were. He saw a strong young woman with a good sense of justice in need of a little bit of guidance. She was right up his alley and if it wasn't for the fact that she already had parents and was over the age of 18, I'm pretty sure that he would have offered to adopt her. Despite what my father says, he really does have a soft spot for helping kids.

I look over to Marinette and see that she doesn't seem surprised either. Instead, she gives him a bright smile.

"Thank you, Bruce. I'm so happy you asked me." She pauses for a moment. "You know, ever since I got to Gotham I've had this urge to suit up at night and watch over the city. It feels like something I have been missing." She looks around at everyone's faces and then back to father. "And I would be happy to join you but I have a few questions first."

"Of course." Father gives Marinette a small smile. "Ask away."

"My main concern is how I would get here at nights. I have a day job working at a fabrics shop and I can't just leave Vivian to run she shop all on her own. She needs my help."

"I have a day job as well, Marinette." Father says. "And if I'm not mistaken, you have signed a contract with Vivian to live there for a month in exchange for your rent being paid by working at her shop?"

Marinette nods.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean you have to stay there at nights. If it would suit you, we have a room here for you if you would like. Damian's schooling ends after this week and I'm sure he would be happy to drive you to and from. You wouldn't be starting here until a suit is made anyways. That will take a few days and that gives you just enough time to explain to your boss what you will be doing. Well not exactly of course but you know what I mean."

"Wow. You have really thought this through." Marinette smiles. " But I have one more question before I say yes though."

"And what is that?" Father asks.

"Will I have creative liberty in designing my suit?"

"You will." Father chuckles. "And I'm sure Lucius will be happy to work with you."

"Oh, Lucius Fox!" She says suddenly like she just remembered him. "I can't wait to meet him."

"How would you like to meet him tomorrow?" Father grins at her.

"That sounds great." She says excitedly. "Oh, I have so many ideas to share with him. This is so exciting."

"I'm glad you think so." Father gently pats her on the shoulder. "I should call him and inform him of this news. I look forward to working with you, Marinette."

"Thank you, Bruce." She gives father a hug and you can tell he still isn't used to her affectionate nature because he is awkward in returning it. "And thank you for this opportunity. I think I really needed a new purpose. At least that's what Tikki tells me."

"I'm happy to help." He pats her back a few times before she finally steps away from him. "I must be going now."

"Steph, I think you are right." Grayson happily puts his arms around Marinette's shoulders shortly after father leaves the room. "She is precious. I think you really warmed up Bruce's heart. You know he's not really the hugging type."

"He's only not the hugging type because no one ever freely hugs him." She smiles up at Grayson. "I mean, everyone loves a good hug."

"That might be true if you are the one giving the hugs, Angel." I say.

"Demon spawn is right." Todd nods. "Welcome to the team, Pixie-pop. Good luck ever getting rid of us now."

"Oh, you wouldn't ever want to get rid of us, would you?" Stephanie asks with a hint of sarcasm.

"I don't have any plans to." Marinette giggles before looking down at her phone. "Oh! It's getting pretty late and you all still have patrol tonight. I should be getting home."

"I'll drive you." I offer.

"Thanks." She grabs my hand and begins to drag me out the room. "I'll see you all later." She waves to the rest of my family.

Though we keep up a conversation our whole way back to her apartment, I can't help but to think about the fact that she will be getting a room just a few doors down from me in a few days. The idea of being able to see her anytime I wish was a thrilling thought. Fighting by her side to keep Gotham safe wasn't so bad either. Life with my newly found Angel was nothing short of a miracle.