Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The heat rippled around her, threatening to consume her whole. She had to run; she had to get out! The thick smoke invaded her lungs and she coughed, trying to expel the noxious fumes. She stumbled through the bakery, her view obscured by both the smoke and her tears. She perked up with the sight of the door in front of her and opened it, grateful for the fresh air as she ran out. There was a firetruck and an ambulance in front of her, and two paramedics rushed to her, helping her walk. An oxygen mask was placed over her face, and she drifted off.

She awoke to white. Where was she? Her body was covered in bandages and she winced when she tried to move. She coughed a few more times and someone came in.

“Oh, Miss Dupain-Cheng! How nice to see you awake.”

Marinette blinked a few more times, the bright white of the room nearly blinding her.

“What-what happened? Where am I?” she rasped.

The nurse smiled a sad smile.

“You were in a fire in your home, Tom and Sabine Bakery, and now you’re in Gotham General Hospital. ” the nurse explained, and the memories came bombarding back into Marinette’s mind. The fire, the smoke, how she was lucky she was on the bottom floor because it was so much easier to get out.

Her parents had been upstairs, sleeping, and Marinette had snuck downstairs for a midnight snack.

Speaking of her parents…

“W-where are my parents?” Marinette’s voice cracked. She was ashamed to admit she had forgotten about them in her haste to get out.

The nurse’s sad smile disappeared. The pity was obvious on her face.

“They passed away in the fire. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

Just like that, Marinette’s whole world came crashing down. Her parents, the ones who had cared for her and raised her, were dead. She would never bake with them or work in the bakery with them. She would never go shopping with her Maman or play video games with her Papa. 

A choked sob escaped her as memories with her parents flooded her mind. Marinette would never be able to make any new ones…and it was all her fault.

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It had been six months since the fire; since Marinette’s world had been turned upside-down.

She had been sent to an orphanage first. That didn’t last very long. The people who ran it were overworked and were too tired to pay too much attention to the kids. The older kids would pick on the younger ones and steal food and toys. Marinette was small, so she never had a chance. She ended up running away after two months. 

For four months now, she had been living in the streets, begging for scraps of food. The days were long and full of hunger, and the nights were even longer, full of nightmares and memories.

It was all her fault her parents were dead. She was selfish; she should have gotten them. She should have done something! She should have died instead of them.

Finally, on the six month anniversary of their deaths, Marinette broke. She was numb all day long, and everything sped by as if she were on auto-pilot. Night fell and she was caught up again in her never-ending stream of self-loathing. Before she knew it, Marinette was somehow on top of Wayne Tower, looking down at the ground. It was so far below her.

What if she jumped?

She wouldn’t be cold and hungry anymore. She wouldn’t suffer and she could see her parents again!

Just three steps.

Marinette took a step forward, tears streaming down her face. Sobs were wracking through her entire body and her shoulders were shaking. She couldn’t stop the ugly wailing she let out. 

She vaguely registered the thumping of someone behind her on the roof, but her mind was too scrambled to think clearly.

Just two steps.

She was almost there.

Someone called out to her, but she didn’t hear the words over the static in her head.

She took another step forward.

Just one step.

She was on the ledge now, her toes barely hanging off the edge. This was it.

It's not like anyone would miss her.

She was about to take the last step when someone pulled her back.

She looked around her, seeing the Bat Family surrounding her. Her body felt like lead and she crumpled to the ground in a heap. Everything became too much and she blacked out.

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Marinette woke up again nestled in someone’s arms. They were zipping through the air but all she could focus on was how comfortable and warm she felt. The person carrying her said something, but she wasn’t awake enough to understand it.

“Merci, Papa,” she mumbled, before falling asleep once more.

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The next time Marinette woke up, she was on a comfortable chair in some dark and dreary place. Her head was still fuzzy from sleep but this didn’t look anything like the alleys and warehouses she would spend her nights in.

“Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?” A voice called from behind her. She looked and found it was Nightwing.

“Where am I?” she replied.

“The Bat Cave. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Bonus:

1 month1 later, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was introduced to Gotham as Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Wayne, the newest adoptee of Bruce Wayne.

Chapter Text

Marinette had been living with the Waynes for two months and it was already infinitely better than her time at the orphanage.

She always had food and a warm place to sleep. All her new siblings loved her (even Damian, no matter what he’d say). There were a few things that stayed the same. She was still a bit depressed, but talking to Dinah Lance helped her. Occasionally, Marinette wasn’t convinced of her self-worth and it took everyone to help her out of her slump. And the nightmares. Sure, everyone got them sometime, but hers came almost every night, full force. 

One night, it was around 2 am and she couldn’t go back to sleep, so she went to the kitchen to see if Tim was there. He was usually awake and was always nice to sit with when she had nightmares. Looking around the empty kitchen, however, Marinette realized that tonight was the night Alfred wrangled Tim into bed.

She looked around the kitchen for ingredients. Sometimes when she woke up, she would bake using her parents’ recipes. It might bring some tears to her face, but it helped keep their memory alive.

Tonight, she was in a macaron mood. People always said her parents had the best bakery in the city, but the macarons were a crowd favorite.

Marinette grabbed the almond flour and the sugar before hearing footsteps in the hall. She peeked around the corner and saw Damian walking her way, rubbing his eyes. He looked like a child, wearing pajamas and rubbing the sleep from his eyes when he woke up too early.

Marinette hadn’t talked to him all that much. He was still prickly and definitely didn’t like that she was the new child. Of course, it also felt like he (and everyone else) were hiding something, but it was probably just paranoia.

Damian was obviously confused as to why she was awake at 2 in the morning, but a short answer - “Nightmares” - stopped his questioning. She invited him to bake with her, and it broke Marinette’s heart that he had never had a macaron. This tiny, lonely child must be taught!

After that night, Marinette felt like she bonded with Damian pretty well. He was no longer aggressive towards her and occasionally came to bake with her late at night.

She was also very protective towards him. One day, when they were at school, there were a few kids calling him names and being racist little pieces of garbage. Naturally, as the protective older sister, she calmly stepped in and made them stop.

Ok, so maybe ‘calmly’ wasn’t the right word. Let’s just say, the school called Bruce to pick them up and the bullies were bloody at the end. Don’t worry, they weren’t hurt too much.

At home, he looked up at her with small, wide eyes, and said, “Thank you.”

And she looked right back at him and said, “No, thank you .”