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Marinette was sitting on the roof of some building in the Bowery when she heard footsteps behind her. She wasn’t too worried about her safety since she was suited up as Lady Noire, but she really didn’t want a run-in with one of the rouges to turn into an encounter with a bat.
“What are you doing here Catwoman?”
That made her bristle and her tail whipped to the side in agitation. She placed her pencil down in her sketch pad carefully and closed the book. “The name’s Lady Noire.” She got into a crouch and spun to look at the man behind her then made an annoyed groan.
“What’s a Parisian hero doing in Gotham of all places?” Red Hood was standing there staring her down.
She rolled her eyes and turned back to look out at the city. “I live here.”
He walked closer and she kept her ears on him while feigning to be engrossed in her sketchbook.
“Is that so?” He was still moving closer but she would still have time to extend her staff if he turned out to be hostile towards her. She was aware that Red Hood was unpredictable, and wanted to be prepared for the worst.
“I moved to Gotham years ago.” She lied, it was safer to lie.
“I’ve never seen you around.” Closer, she needed to keep him talking, his footsteps were silent when he wanted them to be.
“I work hard to stay off the radar.” lying again, she had only been out for the past couple of nights and usually not even suited up. She just wanted to see the stars tonight so she needed to be up above the city.
“You know I have to take you in.”
Shit! He was right behind her now. She could feel his breath on her neck. She instinctively grabbed the hand that was coming for her and flipped him over her. She forgot she was sitting on the ledge.
“Fuck!” he was falling! Oh shit, he was falling! How far up were they? Could she catch him? She flung her book to the side and tipped to dive off the building. She looked around with her night vision trying to see through the fog. “Fuck, shit, this is bad.” she was muttering under her breath when she saw him. He had managed to pull out a grapple and was actively headed back to the building she had been on. “Oh thank Kawmi.”
Marinette extended her bo staff and sent herself back up to the top of the building. He made it there first and was staring at her from where she had been sitting.
“Didn’t expect you to have reflexes fast enough to catch me.”
“I pick up cat traits when I’m Lady Noire.”
He tilted his head and she could feel his calculating gaze. “Will you be here tomorrow?”
“What?”
“Tomorrow, will you come back?”
“Why would I meet with an anti-hero who wants to turn me into Batman?” She rolled her eyes and started to walk to the ledge again. It was time to split. Adrien was already going to get onto her case for going out, and now this was going to prove him right.
“Because I have this.”
She turned back to look and he had her sketchbook. This was bad, this was so bad. “Give it back.”
“I don’t think I will.” She could hear the smirk on his face.
“I’m not a villain, it has secrets in it, give it back.” She marched over to him and held out a hand for it.
He held it out of reach. “Come meet the team.”
She shook her head and started calculating how best to get it. “Give. It. Back.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow then.” She watched him take half a step back and then just fall. She wasn’t fast enough to be able to just grab him, but damn if she wasn’t going to chase him.
He led her on a fast run across the rooftops before he dropped down between two buildings, by the time she got caught up he was already on a motorcycle and she didn’t have enough time to get on her own. She tried to follow him on foot, but he knew these streets better than she did and she had to give up.
“Fuck.” she dropped her transformation the moment she made it through the window into her and Adrien’s apartment. “Kitty I fucked up.”
“What did you do?”
She followed the sound of his voice to the living room where he was working on grading papers. Tikki was sitting on the counter eating the cookies that Marinette had made the night before and Plagg had joined her to eat one of the danishes Adrien had left out for him.
“I really don’t want to tell you but I have to.” She sank into the chair next to his and put her head in her arms on the table.
That got his full attention. “Maribug, what did you do?”
“Red Hood might know who I am.”
“What.” He spoke calmly, but Marinette knew him well enough to know that complete calm was Adrien for freaking out.
“I was sitting on this really tall building in the bowery, it was high enough up that I could see the stars above Gotham.”
“I’m not seeing how this leads to a reveal.”
“I had my sketchbook with me, I thought maybe I could finish off the design I’m making for Jagged, Gotham is so dear to him, so I was working on it.”
“And you gave it to Red Hood?”
“No, I flipped him off the building when he almost touched me.”
“Is he okay?” Adrien looked a little panicked now and that was even worse.
“He’s fine, he grappled back up to the building before I could even catch him.”
“So how does the reveal happen?”
“It doesn’t, not yet at least. But he has my sketchbook. He stole it and then got away while I was chasing him.”
“...” Adrien stared at her while he took a deep breath to figure out what he was going to say. She waited for him but got more and more nervous while he thought. “You’re telling me, that a known anti-hero, who works with Batman, has your sketchbook where you sign every single page?”
She nodded sheepishly.
“Marinette, Maribug, Bugaboo. What the hell were you thinking?”
“That the Gotham stars are really pretty?”
“Will you see him again?”
She stared at her hands and avoided eye contact. “He asked me if I would be there tomorrow.”
Adrien sighed and looked at the Kawmi. “Well, I guess we’re going then.”
“No! He doesn’t know we’re both here, and he doesn’t need to.”
---
“This is stupid.” Adrien was watching her pace. “You can’t really be going to meet with him.”
“I have to! I need that book back! I can’t start over at this point!” She was watching her watch making sure that she still had enough time to get there. “And I’m taking the cat cycle with me this time.
“I made the adjustments you wanted.” Plagg floated lazily, he was loving the chaos of the whole thing.
Tikki was refusing to talk to her until the sketchbook was back in the apartment, and the silent treatment was a lot worse than if the goddess had just yelled at her.
“Ready Plagg?”
He grabbed another danish and scarfed it down. “I thought we were transforming in the alley!”
“Nope, safer to do it here, too much of a light show.” she held out her hands and traded with Adrien again, earrings for the ring. They kept both miraculouses active at all times, so trading them was always done this way. “Plagg claws out!”
---
Twenty minutes later Lady Noire was standing on the same building as last night. She started pacing again, unsure of how long it would take Hood to find her.
“So you’re a designer huh?”
She spun around to look at him. “I was really really hoping that you hadn’t looked at it.”
“Where would the fun be in that?” He tossed a folder at her.
“What is this?” She opened it and saw it was color copies of all of the designs she was currently working on.
“You can have the book back when you can answer my question.”
“What?”
“But until then, I didn’t want to stop you from being able to work. I figured that the ones that had stickers and a photo of the finished piece attached were done already. These are all the ones that didn’t have that.”
“What?”
“You really are like a broken record sometimes, Pixie Pop.” He walked to the edge of the building again. “I’ll give you a few days. Meet me here Friday, maybe you can answer the question.”
“Wait! What’s the question?”
“What’s Batman’s name?” And then he was jumping off the building again.
Marinette ran into a dive off of the building and landed softly on the ground then got onto her motorcycle. She was going to catch him tonight.
But this time he kept to the rooftops, and once again him knowing the city better than she did meant that he was able to slip away at some point. She finally called off her search when it had been more than twenty minutes without a sighting of him.
---
Jason was laying in his safe house looking at the sketchbook he had stolen from her. This was far too fun a game than it had any right to be. She was about to have all the clues she needed to figure this out though, so by Friday, she should hopefully be able to answer his question.
His phone rang twice before he answered it. “Master Jason, please do remember that the entire family’s presence is required today for the consultation with MDC. Their assistant was insistent that the initial meeting include everyone,
“Don’t worry Alfie, I’ll be there.”
“Very good, Sir. We will see you here soon then.”
After he hung up Jason went to shower and shave. He was going to look presentable today if it killed him. This tiny woman could throw him off a building, she was hot in all the ways that mattered to him and he was going to get her number out of this, no matter what it took.
--
Marinette was still fuming as she got ready for her day.
It was Tuesday and she had a meeting with the Waynes for a consultation on outfits for their annual winter gala.
She had done some research into them to get some preliminary ideas sketched out, but it was all a little difficult to do. There was information about them sure, but there was something that felt fake about the whole thing. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but based on their wealth and the fact that they were in Gotham she was pretty sure that they had mob ties. That would explain some of the unexplained injuries that they had suffered over the years, and why no one thought it was completely out of nowhere that Bruce was dating a known supervillain. Unfortunately, that meant that her current mock-up sketches weren't as personal as she wanted them to be.
Except for the youngest Wayne. There was a lot more recent gossip about him in the tabloids, and that made it easier to sift through and find the bits of truth. So his sketch pulled on his Arabic heritage for the lining and had a shadow mosaic of animals planned out for the outside of his suit jacket.
But now it was time to actually meet them. “Adrien, I just don’t know about this. What if I’m right and they are in the mob?”
He just laughed at her and parked the car. “Then you charge double and hope that you gain their favor.”
She glared at him as she grabbed her bag with the folder of designs and all the other necessary things she would need for the consultation. “I can’t believe I’m working with copies .”
“You’re gonna redraw them anyways, they were very basic pre sketches. Take a deep breath and try not to think about him. If they are in the mob then you don’t want to show any weakness in there.”
“You’re right.” She took a deep breath and got out of the car. “Let’s do this thing.”
They approached the manor and barely knocked on the door before an old man was opening it. There was something about him that felt familiar(?) in some way. “Welcome to Wayne Manor, if you will just step this way. Master Wayne is with his children in the formal sitting room, I hope that that is an okay space for you, Miss.”
Marinette looked at him and felt like there was a puzzle piece that she needed to connect. “Of course, M. uh.”
“Pennyworth. I am Alfred Pennyworth, Miss..” He smiled and the lines around his eyes showed the action more than his lips did, but that wasn’t surprising to either of them since he was an English butler.
“Thank you M. Pennyworth, that will work perfectly.”
They followed him towards the room where they could hear many voices arguing.
“Ah, I do apologize for them, it’s been a while since the children have all been here together.”
He opened the door and then cleared his throat making silence descend upon the room. “May I introduce MDC and Adrien Agreste.”
Everyone suddenly was standing very still and looking at them. Their awkwardness was not reassuring at all on the ‘probably a part of the mob’ idea. The youngest was putting a sword away, and the eldest looked like he had been upside down just moments prior, though at least Marinette knew he was the one who was born in a circus.
Bruce Wayne stood up and came over to shake her hand. “Welcome to our home MDC, I’m Bruce. These are my children, Dick, Jason, Cassandra, Tim, and Damian.” He motioned to each of them as he said their names.
She smiled and waved to them. ‘I’m Marinette, It’s nice to meet you all.” She pulled out the first folder in her case and handed it to M. Wayne. “I know you already signed the confidentiality agreement, but I do need a signature from each of your children and your butler as well. Anyone under 18 will need you to cosign as well.”
“Father, what is the meaning of this?” Damian asked looking at her like she was a threat.
She smiled and went with charm and disarm. “Well as you have probably figured out I use MDC as my label, it’s both a brand as well as a way to keep my identity secret. I work with a lot of big-name clients, such as yourselves, and I find it easier to avoid the press trying to ask about my clients when they don’t know who to ask.”
He seemed to think it over for a moment and then nodded. “And the form says that we agree not to divulge your identity.”
“That is correct.” She was glad that this seemed to be going well, it would be a lot easier if he was comfortable with her from the getgo.
“I will agree to the terms then. Father, I’d like to sign my contract now.”
Marinette went and took a seat by the coffee table and pulled out her supplies, first the preliminary sketches, then her new sketchbook, and then her pencils and tape measure. Adrien would take notes for her, but she wanted to be ready to start sketching if an idea came to her.
“I’d like to start by asking you all questions about your likes and dislikes. I like for my creations to really belong to their wearer, and that means personal touches.”
Bruce came over and sat next to her looking at her designs. “They aren’t anywhere near complete, but this is what I have created so far. There isn’t a lot of information about your family that isn’t spun to sell a story, so it has been difficult to really make something personal to each of you.”
The others joined and Adrien returned with the folder of contracts. They had the originals, and the Waynes would be keeping the carbon copies.
“I’d like to start with Damian if you all don’t mind.” She pulled his original sketch to the top of the pile. “I’m going to do measurements while you tell me what you like and what you don’t.”
Damian started to really look at the sketch and she smiled when he looked at her clearly impressed.
She started explaining as she took measurements, showing the numbers to Adrien to write down as she went. “The lining is inspired by your heritage, not much is true in the tabloids I am sure but they all seem to agree that you are from the Arabic peninsula. I also read a couple of articles talking about your work with the local animal shelters and highlighting the animals you have taken in. That’s why on the outside I want to do this shadow work with animals in the design. It takes more time as I have to dye the fabric by hand, but I have some examples of similar things I have done for Jagged Stone. I’d like it if you would give me some pictures of your animals and I can make them the animals for the suit.”
“This is an adequate design. I will ask Pennyworth to get you pictures of my animals. I have a request, could you add a bat to it?”
She finished taking his measurements and then grabbed her sketchbook. “Something like this?” She did a rough sketch of the back of a suit jacket with a couple of bats on the back. One larger and one smaller. She didn’t know why but it just felt correct for there to be two. She assumed it would be significant to him, or it was just a Tikki design thing.
“Yes, that’s perfect.”
“Alright, I will make sure that gets put into the final design.”
“I’d also like a hidden pocket in the jacket. Something I can hide a small… game in.” He asked.
“I can do that. Something about this big?” She held out her hands and gave an example.
“That will work.”
“I will add that in then.” She turned and looked at Tim. “You’re next.”
He walked over and took the design she handed to him. They did the same process, her talking while Adrien took notes. “Like I said there isn’t a lot of information about you all that is true and available to the public. But from what I understand you took over the company at a young age while your father was missing. I didn’t really get much of a sense of what you like though. You seem to dress in yellow and red quite a bit but since I am already using red for your brother I went with yellow for you. What are some of the things that really define you though?”
“I’m into technology. I work with the R&D department still producing newer and better bits of technology to help people. I also like old movies and games. I uh, I like detective stories and photography.
“When he was little he used to follow Batman and Robin over the city to get pictures of them,” Jason spoke up and everyone looked at him like he was divulging some major secret.
“What else do you photograph?”
“I like to get pictures of cityscapes.”
Marinette was struck with an idea and grabbed her sketchbook and two yellow colored pencils.
She started sketching and Adrien laughed at her. “I can start on the other measurements if that’s okay with you Maribug?”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s fine. I just need Tim.”
“I’m slower than she is so I’ll work on Dick since she’s going to want Cass next.” Adrien motioned to the oldest to stand and let him work.
“Okay, how about this? I have a lot of time before the gala, so I should be able to hand-dye all of your fabric. I am thinking something like this for you.” She turned the book and handed it to Tim, it now showed the Gotham skyline in a slightly darker yellow on top of a dusty yellow background. “It’s not perfect yet, but I’ll have a reference while I actually dye the fabric, but what about this.” Marinette smiled as he looked at it, she saw when he noticed the Robins she had added into the corner of the page. He gave a glance in her direction but didn’t say anything. “Did you also want a hidden pocket?”
“Uh, yeah. That would be good.”
She turned to Cassandra, she smiled. “I’ve seen you ASL in pictures before, are you more comfortable speaking that way?”
She nodded and smiled and Marinette smiled back then started signing while talking. “There isn’t a lot of information about you at all, so I kinda guessed based on the few pictures I’ve seen of you. You don’t really ever wear skirts, is it that you don’t like them at all or that you prefer pants?”
‘Just don’t like not being able to run’ Cass signed back to her coming over to look at the sketched Marinette held out to her.
“I thought that might be the case. I’ve drawn up two options for you. The first is just a tailored suit, I still need to know how you want me to personalize either option, the second is a skirt paired with leggings. The skirt itself is in two overlapping pieces, it gives the look of a full skirt, but if it comes to it both sides come untied and drop off giving you the ability to run.”
Cass beamed at the dress. Marinette had made the skirt look like bat wings, it just seemed correct while she was drawing. The skirt was also very much like a ballerina dress so that while Cass danced it would flow.
‘I love that! Would you add pockets?’
“Oh I put pockets in every dress and skirt I have ever made.” Marinette pointed out the hidden pockets.
“It’s perfect.” Cass smiled at her. “I’m also a dancer.”
“Then I will leave it like it is.” She put a star next to the dress and then shuffled through the remaining sketches. “Adrien, take Cass’s measurements and I’ll work with Dick.”
“What about me, sweetheart?” Jason smirked at her and she fought a blush down. Now was not the time to get flustered.
“Dick’s measurements are already done, I’ll come back to you once we’re done.” She responded still smiling and trying not to be overwhelmed.
She handed him the sketch she had worked on the longest. “You were a performer when you were younger. I looked for pictures of your outfits and found this blue and black one that I thought would really bring out your eyes. I incorporated birds into your design because you were a flyer. I hope that’s okay. I can change it still.” She showed him the jacket, it was a lot more ethereal than the others. “The fabric I’m looking at already has the swirls in it, and I plan to use silver thread for all the stitching so that you shimmer just slightly when you move. It’s a technique I used for Jagged Stone’s last tour. The gold thread showed off each of his movements, though for him I added extra stitches so that there was more flash, for yours I am thinking something more subtle.”
Dick was tearing up and looking at the elephant she had added to the back. “This is perfect. I love it.”
“Then I’ll keep it. Pocket?”
“Yes, please… two?”
“I can do that.” She added the notes to the design and moved around to look at Jason. “Now it’s your turn.”
Adrien returned to her and started taking notes while she talked about the design. “You’ve been seen in libraries and gun ranges, and as far as I can tell that’s everything that the press knows about you. So! I give you this.”
He looked at the sketch and saw that she had designed a library for him. And on the back, there was a seal that had crossed pistols. The design was done in blood-red over the black suit.
“That’s wicked! You did this just based on the limited press I’ve had?”
“Well, that and intuition.” She shrugged. “So you like it?”
“I love it! Pockets?”
“Plural?”
“Hidden and very secret?”
“I can do that.”
She turned to look at Bruce. “Your suit is going to be the most subtle out of all of them. I know that as the host you will need to look more professional, so I only slightly deviated from the plain black. I have you in a very dark gray, with the design in black, but in honor of your recent engagement, I did add a green question mark onto the lapel of your shirt. This is the design for the back of the suit.” She handed him the sketch. “Since the gala is honoring your vigilantes I wanted to incorporate them into the jacket.”
The design was light and hard to follow, but if you looked you could see that she had put three robins flying around three bats.
“When you’re under direct light the design will be more visible, but from a distance, it will look like the light is just reflecting off of the shadows in the design.”
“This is perfect, Marinette. I think you put a lot of thought into your designs. I look forward to seeing them done.”
With that part finished Marinette moved on to go over paperwork with Bruce and get things settled with deadlines and when the final fittings would happen. “I’ll need to do a fitting before I start the process of dying the patterns into the jackets, and then after I am done with them we will have a final fitting.”
---
Marinette and Adrien were walking to their car when Jason caught up with them at the door. “You really are something. How did you know that we call Damian Baby Bat?”
Marinette tilted her head and gave him a confused look. “I didn’t?”
“Well then, I guess you do now.”
“That’s enough, Master Jason. Let them go, they have had a busy day working with you all.”
“I just wanted to see if she could answer the question, Alfie.”
Marinette stopped still and looked at him. Then she shook her head, there was no way. “Well, we will be off now. Nice meeting you all!”
Once they were both in the car and pulling away from the manor Adrien spoke up. “What was that about?”
She shrugged, “I don’t know, but something about him seems familiar.”
“Gonna try to get your book back again tonight?” Adrien asked.
“Gonna see if I can track down Hood’s base at least.” She looked out the window. “Something is weird about their butler.”
“He called you the guardian.”
She whipped her head around. “What? When?”
“Just slipped it into the conversation. Asked me if I or the guardian needed anything while you were finishing up timetables with Bruce.”
“Tikki?”
Marinette opened her purse to look at the goddess. “I’m still not speaking to you Marinette.”
Marinette groaned and then looked to Plagg. “You know anything?”
“Nope!”
“Ugh! Come on!”
---
Marinette was suited up and running through the shadows. It was Friday and she hadn’t found Hood all week. She needed that book back. She was running a patrol of the area hoping to find some trail of Hood, even one of the other bats would be good. Just anyone who she might be able to eavesdrop on.
Then she saw them! Nightwing and Red Robin were standing on a building.
“Baby Bat, come in.” Nightwing was talking on the com in his ear and Red Robin was looking at a screen on his wrist.
”Wing, something is showing up on radar.”
“That would be me, Baby Bird.” Hood stepped out from around her and winked at her.
It took all of her self-control to not scream. He had been following her! He had known what she was doing.
Red Robin turned and glared at him. “Oh my god! Hood! Could you not do that!”
Nightwing “Hey Little Wing, you gonna help us out?”
“Nah, just out hunting for a cat. Thought she might have come this way.”
“Selina? I thought she was still out of the country?” Nightwing asked him.
“Tt- He’s clearly still talking about the black cat he found the other day. The one he keeps visiting.” Robin was standing just a few feet away from her and she was trying so hard not to breathe too loudly. “Not that I think he even really found a cat at this point.”
“Did too, she had the most beautiful blue eyes and only three more hours to answer a question.”
“What?” came from both Robins and they glared at each other.
“Oh Baby Bat, you’re the one who should give her the answer, if she’s been paying attention.”
“Hood, What Did You Do?” Red Robin was advancing on him but he was staring right at her.
He winked at her again and all three of his brothers turned to see her walk into the light. “Well, if I did it right, I just got the hottest date. If I played my cards wrong I’m gonna need to run for my life.”
Marinette dropped into a crouch and growled at him. “Start running Jay-bird.”
He cracked a smile. “You don’t get it back unless you say his name.”
“Cataclysme!” She concentrated then pounced. She was able to swipe his mask and made sure that that was the only thing that would be destroyed.
“That’s not his name.”
Jason stood before her, just like that she knew who everyone else was now. Once you had two of them you knew all of them. The same way with her team. He was so fucking smug and she was so mad and also wanted to kiss him all at the same time and Stupid hormones!
“Give. It. Back!” she yelled at him.
“Tell me his name.” His stupid smug smile!
She jumped at him and he caught her like she knew he would. She leaned to whisper in his ear. “Bruce Wayne.”
“And now you can have it back.” He was holding her up with one arm and reached around him to grab her book out of his back pocket. “There.”
“Uh, Little Wing? Wanna fill us in?”
Jason turned to face his family while still holding Marinette. “You all remember when I went to France?”
“To help team miraculous, yes we remember.” Red robin responded.
“Well, I didn’t reveal my identity because B would have blown a gasket.” Jason smiled.
“That doesn’t explain.”
“While I was in Paris I had an on again off again thing with one of the heroes. We did a lot of flirting and a lot of fighting.”
“You did all the flirting,” Marinette grumbled.
“Well, I knew her civilian identity, because she needed me to be able to find her if the time came for me to leave. She was just a temporary hero, or so I thought.”
“It was a good cover!”
“What does that have to do-”
“Multimouse was my summer love. MDC was Multimouse, and, as I discovered when I stole Lady Noire’s sketchbook, she’s also Ladybug.”
“I’m going to kill you.” Marinette glared at him again. “Plagg would help.”
“So can I kiss you now?” He smiled at her. “I hope that knowing who I am doesn’t ruin the magic.”
She twisted and surged up to kiss him. “I’m still going to kill you.” She disentangled herself from his arms. “Catch me if you can!”
Marinette was running faster than she had in months and playing her favorite game, Big Bad Hood and the Little Mouse. She was still going to be angry later, but being able to reconnect with the man who stole her heart five years ago and for him to still want her? That was so worth it.