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Chapter Text

The Ladybug Miraculous had quite a few side effects. Marinette was able to think quick on her feet, she was a skilled tactician in battle, and her reaction time was half that of a normal human. Most notably, the Ladybug Miraculous granted its user the force known as Miraculous Luck, which, depending on the situation, was sometimes more of a curse than a blessing. Marinette didn't get to choose how that good luck manifested. For instance, when she needed an extra day to finish a history project, her school closed down due to a gas leak. Or when she wished for a fresh start after the defeat of Hawkmoth, her parents were offered a deal to grow their bakery business in America.

Marinette assured her parents that she didn't mind moving. After all, most of her class had already moved on. Lila had been deported to Italy, narrowly avoiding jail time. Chloé (much to her dismay) was sent by her father to an all-girls boarding school in England. Adrien was taken in by his Aunt Amelie (as Gabriel was in jail and Emilie was declared brain-dead) and moved to England as well.

No one else from Marinette's class left the country, but many of them moved out of Paris. Nathanial was accepted to an elite art school in Marseille. Max was accepted to a gifted program at an elite school in Bordeaux. Officer Raincomprix was transferred to Toulouse and took Sabrina with him. Juleka and Luka both started homeschooling after their mother sailed the houseboat down the Seine to the city of Rouen.

Worst of all was the loss of Alya. Her parents were horrified that the son of Hawkmoth was in the same class as their daughter, and promptly pulled Alya out of class and decided to move out of the city. Alya begged them for weeks but nothing came of her protests. In the end, Alya left too.

The Miraculous Luck could do a lot of things, but it couldn't keep her friends together. Those who remained at François Dupont filled holes in other classes. Marinette tried to make the best of her new class, but she felt no real connection to them. When her parents proposed the move, Marinette jumped on the opportunity. In Gotham, she wouldn't be haunted by the ghost of her old life.

Marinette cut her hair, leaving it choppy and just above the shoulders. She donated all of her brightly colored clothes to the thrift store down the street and created a new wardrobe for herself. It was toned down and mature, much more fitting for Gotham.

Marinette left Paris a much different girl than the naive fourteen-year-old who thought she could save the world. She was ready for a city like Gotham, a city that didn't make any promises, a city where Marinette could set down some new roots.

At first, it was easy to fly under the radar at Gotham Academy. It was a school filled with the self-absorbed children of millionaires and billionaires, after all. Marinette was there on scholarship - her good grades, leadership experience, and working-class parents combined to cut her tuition down by 75%. Marinette quickly learned that scholarship students were at best ignored, and at worst mercilessly bullied. So Marinette kept her head down and vowed that she would get through the year unscathed.

There was one variable, however, that the Miraculous Luck wasn't able to account for. Marinette's entire plan fell apart thanks to one boy: Damian Wayne.

Marinette became acquainted with Damian Wayne through the school's rumor mill. She learned that he was one of the most wealthy and most attractive people in the school, but he was thought himself too good to spend time with any of his fellow classmates (Marinette couldn't fault him on the last bit; she also found the students at Gotham Academy to be difficult, to say the least). Marinette also learned through the school's rumor mill that Damian spent quite a lot of time staring at her. Given that Damian had never paid the slightest amount of attention to a Gotham Academy girl before, this was a big deal. Suddenly Marinette was the farthest thing from under the radar. Everyone who used to look down on her wanted to be her friend. It was exhausting.

Marinette resolved to ignore Damian Wayne - an easy task, given that she still didn't even know what he looked like. Now that everyone was staring at her, it was hard to

"Why?" grumbled Marinette. "Why couldn't my so-called Miraculous Luck help me get through one normal year of school?"

Tikki shrugged from her spot inside of Marinette's backpack. "Maybe all of this attention will turn out to be a good thing?"

"I doubt that." Marinette glanced around, checking that no one had spotted her talking to her backpack. There was one spot in the cafeteria that was hidden from view, a window-sill nestled behind a pillar, bordered by a wall on one side and an out of order vending machine on the other. Marinette sat on the window-sill every day to eat lunch, with Tikki as her companion for the meal.

"I think your problem is that you're overthinking this. Miraculous Luck always works out in the end, even if there are some obstacles in the middle."

"I just want this horrible school year to be over," sighed Marinette, setting her head down in her arms.

"Don't give up yet, Marinette. I have high hopes for this school year," said Tikki.

Marinette had some serious doubts but picked her head up anyway. Maybe this year wouldn't turn out the way she expected. Marinette defeated Hawkmoth, the greatest villain Paris ever faced. She could survive a year of high school.

Marinette was going to survive her senior year of high school. Damian Wayne on the other hand... Marinette still wasn't sure if she was going to let him survive the year, after everything he put her through.

"Excuse me?" a sickeningly sweet voice piped up from behind Marinette.

Marinette put on her best disinterested-face, took out one headphone, and turned around. "Yes?"

There were three girls standing behind her: a blonde, flanked on both sides by a brunette and a red-head. The blonde girl had a smile on her face but a devious look in her eyes. Marinette had long ago learned to spot manipulators, and this girl had it written all over her. "Are you Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"Yes."

"My name is Julie Cooper. I was just wondering... Are you dating Damian Wayne?"

Marinette huffed in exasperation. "What do you think?"

Julie's eyes narrowed. "I just wanted to warn you. I mean, did you really think that Damian Wayne would seriously date a girl here on scholarship? You should break up with him before you get hurt."

"It was a rhetorical question. I'm not dating Damian Wayne. It's just a rumor."

Julie instantly perked up. "Oh, good! I was beginning to think that Damian had lost his mind. I mean, I'm sure you would be a nine or a ten at a public school, but at Gotham Academy, you're like a seven, maybe an eight on a good day. Most of the girls who go here are actually hot, not just," the girl waved her hand towards Marinette. "Above average."

Marinette wasn't sure if Julie meant for her to feel flattered or offended, but her words had the strange effect of making Marinette feel both all at once. "Um, thanks? I'm going to go now."

Julie's brunette friend suddenly paled as the girl started to tug on Julie's sleeve. "Um, Julie?" she whispered.

"What, Nora?" Julie's eyes widened as they fixed on something behind Marinette.

Marinette turned around to see what the cause of their concern was. Or rather, to see who the cause of their concern was. It was a boy, tall and scowling. "Are you done here, Cooper?"

Julia nodded, a nervous edge to her voice, "Bye, Marinette." She and her two friends hurried off, exchanging frantic whispers.

"What do you want?" asked Marinette with a sigh. She was tired of dealing with boys who were only interested in her because Damian Wayne was interested in her.

"I wished to apologize."

"For Julie? Did you put her up to this?"

The boy looked confused. "No, of course not. I meant that I wanted to apologize for everything, not just Julie Cooper."

"For everything?" The truth suddenly dawned on Marinette. "You're Damian Wayne! I didn't think that you would be so tall."

"You didn't know what I looked like?" There was real shock in his voice.

"Well, by the time I learned that you had been staring at me everyone was staring at me, so that wasn't much help in figuring out who you were."

"You could have googled me."

Marinette shrugged. "I could have, but it felt weird to google one of my classmates. I pretty much just resigned myself to never figuring out who you were."

"I should have approached you sooner. I've wanted to apologize for a while, but every time I've caught you alone you've looked like you wanted to be left that way."

"I'm not a fan of most of the students here."

"The students here can be..." Damian searched for the appropriate word. "Tiresome. I resigned myself to a dull four years of high school in their company. That is, until I saw you."

Marinette cocked her head. "Why me, though? I'm nothing special."

"You're different than everyone else here."

Marinette stiffened. "I know. I've been told. I'm here on a scholarship which means I don't belong," she snapped

Damian shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. You move through life differently than all of the other students here. You don't care about the gossip or drama - at least, not until you were right at the center of it all. You've seen the real world, so you float above the high school drama. You're just so... so..."

"So what?" Marinette's tone softened.

Damian ran his hand through his hair, ruffling it. The addition of the messy hair added a certain charm to his otherwise polished exterior. "I've been brainstorming for the right word for weeks. The best I can come up with is pure. You don't let yourself become affected by anything in this school."

It was a very flattering description of her. It was also very on the nose. "I'll forgive you, Damian Wayne, but only on one condition."

"What?"

"I want to get to know you, and I have a feeling that you feel the same way."

Damian nodded. "It's a deal."

Maybe her Miraculous Luck wasn't so useless after all. Marinette had expected to go the whole year without making a single friend. Now, it seemed that she might make one after all.

Chapter Text

Damian didn't know why he couldn't stop staring at the new girl. Objectively, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was cute, he supposed. But there were plenty of attractive people at his school, so that couldn't be the reason for his fixation. Perhaps it was the way she dressed, without any trace of self-consciousness. Or it could be her ambivalence to the drama of high school, the way she ignored every rumor. Or perhaps it was the way she treated everyone the same, from scholarship students to the children of billionaires. In Marinette's eyes, everyone was equal. The combination of all of these phenomena led to one conclusion: Marinette was an enigma, and one that Damian wanted to understand. So he watched her, puzzling over the mystery that was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Damian's first mistake was that he should have been more subtle. He made sure that Marinette never caught him staring at her. However, he had not been sneaky enough to prevent his classmates from noticing. The rumors started flying, and suddenly everyone in school knew that Damian was interested in Marinette. It became a lot more difficult to investigate Marinette. Hesitant to approach her directly, Damian resigned himself to never getting to know the girl.

Damian's second mistake was that it took him so long to apologize to Marinette. At first, he rationalized his mistake. The rumors were the fault of his classmates, not him. But as Marinette experienced harassment from the students of Gotham Academy, Damian could no longer ignore his guilt. He knew that he should have found a way to stop the rumors before they spread so far out of control. It was his fault that Marinette could no longer go to school in peace.

So Damian finally made his first good decision concerning Marinette Dupain-Cheng and apologized. He didn't have very high hopes for her forgiving him. Not after Damian watched Julie Cooper harass and insult Marinette just moments before his arrival. Yet, ever the enigma, Marinette found it in herself to forgive him. Her only condition was that they spend time in each other's company, an opportunity that left Damian unable to believe his luck. It was everything he wanted: forgiveness from Marinette along with the opportunity to get to know the real her.

Later the same day, Damian's good luck continued. He was assigned to patrol with Dick that night, the most tolerable of his many siblings. His second stroke of luck was that Dick let him go off on his own. "Be on the lookout. A convenience store six blocks away was just robbed. The suspects shot the cashier and fled on foot. I'm going to talk to the police. You try and track down the suspect, then meet up with me."

Damian nodded as he took off down a side alley, listening for any sign of trouble. Damian heard the sound of footsteps coming down the alleyway. The person was hurrying, the sound of rubber soles against pavement giving away their position. "Freeze!"

If there was anyone Damian didn't expect to see standing in the dark alleyway, it was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She stopped dead in her tracks, a deer in the headlights look on her face. "Technically, I'm not breaking any laws right now," she squeaked out.

Damian couldn't quite believe what he was seeing. "Gotham has a ten o'clock curfew for individuals under the age of eighteen. That is a law, which you are currently in violation of. Do your parents know where you are?"

Marinette held out what was in her hands. It was a Tupperware box filled with crumbs and bits of pastries. "To answer your questions, the curfew provides multiple exceptions, one of which is for individuals who are working. My parents own a bakery. Everything that's left over at the end of the day gets taken to the homeless shelter on Third Street. I'm supposed to take it over in the morning before school, but by then everything's stale, so I've been walking it over in the evenings after the bakery closes. Technically my parents know that I deliver the leftover, they just don't know when I deliver the leftovers. But also technically this is for a job, so I'm not in violation of the curfew either way."

Damian blinked "You mean to tell me that you've spent every night for the past few months on the streets of Gotham? Do you know how dangerous that is? How are you not dead in a back alley somewhere?"

Marinette shrugged. "Just lucky, I suppose."

Damian couldn't believe what he was hearing. "There's no such thing as luck on the streets of Gotham." Damian couldn't help but shout the words. A combination of fear for Marinette's life and anger at her dismissal of the dangers of Gotham fueled his desperate need to convince her that she was making a bad decision.

Marinette didn't seem concerned. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

That wasn't what Damian wanted to hear. "Your parents were right to tell you to deliver the leftovers in the morning. Gotham is a dangerous place at night. You need to stay off the streets after dark."

Marinette rolled her eyes. "I'm already outside and I already delivered the leftovers so I don't know what to tell you."

"Tell me that this will be the last time you go out onto the streets of Gotham at night."

"Sure." Sarcasm dripped from Marinette's tone, assuring Damian that there was no way she was going to follow his directions.

Damian sighed, giving up on bickering with her. There were much more important crimes to fight than arguing over a potential curfew violation. He needed to find a different way to keep her safe. "Let me walk you home, at the very least."

"Fine," said Marinette. "But you have to carry the Tupperware. My hands are getting cold."

Damian walked Marinette back to her house, an apartment over a bakery. She waved goodbye as Damian departed, returning to Dick to hunt down their suspects.

Damian couldn't stop thinking about Marinette. That night, he had seen a side of Marinette that he had never seen before. In school, Marinette was quiet and blended into the background. Out of school, she was confident enough to walk the streets of Gotham at night and talk back to a superhero. This new information led Damian to two conclusions. The first: Damian was now certain that the mystery of Marinette was bigger than he once thought. The second: Marinette Dupain-Cheng did not possess the self preservation instincts needed to survive the streets of Gotham. She might believe otherwise, but Damian knew that her luck would only go so far. She needed someone to look out for her. She needed someone to protect her. Luckily for Marinette, Damian had the necessary skills for the job.

(And when, three weeks later, Marinette caught Robin shadowing her from the rooftops above and offered him a leftover pastry, Damian didn't refuse. And when Marinette invited Robin to walk alongside her when she made her deliveries, Damian accepted. And when Damian saw a side of Marinette that she hid away from everyone else in the world, he slowly but surely fell in love.)