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Tim spent a decent amount of time looking for new coffee places, he would use one for a while until someone in his family found out what one he was going to and paid off the owners to not let him get obscene amounts of coffee daily. Once a limit was in place he would go find the next place, so it was surprising to him that he had never even heard of the Black Cat Cafe before. Walking into the establishment it didn’t seem like it was new, in fact, the storefront felt like it had existed in Gotham forever and wasn’t out of place at all. Once he was inside though something felt weird. He had never felt so, so safe in Gotham. It was like there was someone watching out for this cafe and it was a weird feeling. Tim waited in line to be served and was surprised again when the man in front of him ordered.
He was an older gentleman and whispered as he ordered. “I don’t have a way to pay, but I heard that you might-”
The girl at the counter smiled brightly. “Did you want a lunch or just a coffee?”
“I-i’d like a lunch please.”
She wrote down something and then gestured to the tables. “Feel free to sit anywhere you’d like, your food will be out in just a few moments.”
The man smiled back and Tim was shocked, Gothamites didn’t smile much, let alone at someone they had just met.
Then her attention was on him and he felt like he was under a microscope. “Hello, welcome to the Black Cat Cafe, if you don’t mind I’m gonna hand this off to the back and then I can make your order.”
She came back out and gave him the same blinding smile. “Sorry about that. Wanted to make sure that Adrien got that one. Now, you wanted a death by caffeine in large. Did you want to add on a fresh croissant?”
He nodded and made a mental note that she hadn’t actually taken his order yet. “Yes actually, that sounds perfect. I have to ask though-”
“We help people, and anyone who needs a hot meal or a place to warm up is welcome here. It’s why we keep our prices on a pay what you can system. So, will that be cash or credit?”
He fumbled for his wallet and took out a few large bills. “Uh, this should cover it.”
She didn’t even look at the amount, just placed it into the register and smiled. “Did you want to take a seat or is this a to-go order?”
“Oh, uh I’ll take a seat.” He gestured to his bag. “I thought I might catch up on some work.”
She nodded. “The wifi password is LuckyCharm capital L and C, no special characters. I’ll bring you your order once it’s up.”
Tim sat down and opened up his laptop but didn’t get any work done. Something weird was happening in here and he wasn’t sure if he was impressed with the girl or weary of her, but she seemed to know too much. He saw her bring the older man a bowl of soup and some sort of sandwich with a hot cup of coffee. She danced through the cafe like she existed just to help people.
“Here you go!” She brought his coffee and croissant over. “I added an extra shot of espresso, it’s how I drink it and it seemed like you could use a pick me up. Late night last night?”
“Yeah, I was working with my brother and we stayed out too late.” Tim had to hold his tongue because she felt like someone he could tell anything.
“I completely understand. My partner and I do the same all the time. My name is Marinette, let me know if you need anything else.” She then left him to his coffee.
The coffee was amazing, a hint sweet with chocolate undertones, and he could feel that it was actually waking him up. He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Kon. ‘i think I just found the love of my life.’
The response one took a few moments and he snickered when he read it. ‘I swear to god if you send me a picture of a cup of coffee I will track you down right now and pour it over your head.’
‘You don’t understand. This is perfect coffee.’
‘I’m blocking you.’
‘No you aren’t.’
‘We’re sorry the number you are trying to reach has blocked yours for crimes against humanity.’
‘Very funny. Ttyl, I’m gonna talk to the coffee girl to see what is in this.’
‘Couldn’t you fall for the coffee girl!?!?’
‘We’ll see.’
“Excuse me, miss?” Tim beckoned to Marinette from where she was walking by.
She turned and gave him her complete attention. “Is everything alright?”
“It’s perfect, I wanted to say that this is the best coffee I’ve had in years.” He gave her a small smile.
“Oh my god, what did you give him?” A blonde boy had come out of the back and was now walking over to them. “Sorry sir, are you okay? Do you feel lightheaded? Please don’t stand!” He turned to Marinette and gave her a look. “Mari! What did I tell you about giving that to customers?”
She laughed at the poor guy’s expression. “That my intuition is better than yours and he liked it?” She tweaked his nose and then gave a soft smile, then said something so quietly that Tim was pretty sure only Kon would have been able to hear.
Whatever it was, the guy relaxed and turned to him. “Sorry about that sir. It’s just that she’s pulled this trick on people before.”
“Never on a customer!” she interjected. Marinette turned on her heel and stuck her nose up. “I’m calling Chloé on you.”
The guy sputtered. “Mari don’t do that!”
“I’m going to help out other customers, you should be cleaning.” She laughed and started to walk away but turned back to him. “Sorry about him, we’ll leave you in peace now. Let me know if there is anything I can get you.”
---
Marinette was finishing closing up while Adrien counted out the till. “Uh, bug? Did you see how much that guy paid earlier?”
She shrugged and shook her head no. “You know I don’t check the bills. What guy are you talking about?”
Adrien rolled his eyes at her. “The one you tried to poison. He gave you three fifty dollar bills, and they’re real.”
“That’s really nice. I had told him it’s a pay what you can system so I hope he didn’t over pay just because of that.” She mused.
“Bugaboo, if he was carrying around fifties in Gotham he can spare to lose the money. I think he took the ‘pay what you can’ literally.”
Marinette jumped up on the counter and pouted at him. “Hurry up with clean up, we’re not working the store tomorrow so that you and I can run tonight.”
“And?” he prompted.
“And?”
Adrien sighed exasperatedly at her. “And because you have a meeting with clients tomorrow? You’re meeting with them to do a consultation for Gotham’s big winter gala. Which, need I remind you, MDC is also supposed to be at.”
“Oh shoot, yeah I remember that. Well, I still want to run tonight. So let’s goooooo.” She started to shove him up the stairs to their little apartment above the cafe.
Adrien laughed. “Fine, but I want to play cat and mouse tonight.”
She laughed and danced over to where Mullo and Tikki were hanging out together. “Okay, but no cheating! Last time we played you almost ran us right into Batman.”
Adrien shrugged. “I still think it would be cool to meet him.”
“And I still think he’s going to assume we’re villains and try to arrest us.” She rolled her eyes.
“We haven’t done anything! He can’t arrest us.” He pouted at her.
Marinette laughed and pulled her necklace out from her shirt. “Let’s go kitty. Mullo! Get Squeaky!”
“Plagg, Claws Out!”
Multmouse and Chat Noir were standing there looking at each other. They both had made some changes to their suits when they started living in Gotham permanently. Adrien’s were small, he had just added neon green accents to his suit so that Mari could pinpoint him more easily in the Gotham smog. Marinette’s suits were both changed a lot more drastically. Her Mulitimouse suit was now a much darker grey, with black accents, and her pinks were muted. They still stood out, but softer and darker, no longer neon.
“Standard rules?” Chat asked her.
“I get a five-minute head start and then the chase begins, no intentionally running me into a bat, the game lasts for two hours, or until you catch me whichever comes first. Loser has to make the breakfast run in the morning.”
She held out her hand and he shook it. “Good luck Minnie.”
“You too tom-cat.”
With that she was off, he would be looking at his watch and she would need the whole five minutes to get a good head start.
She heard the chime in her ear that her time was up and put some extra power in her next jump to clear two buildings.
“Keep running bugaboo, I’m coming to get you.” Adrien’s voice came through her com unit and she laughed while making the next jump. Everything about running was exhilarating and she was so glad that they had mostly figured out the bat’s patrols so they could do so with freedom.
They had been on their game of chase for about an hour when she noticed it. There was a shadow following her. Whoever it was was good, but when she was Multimouse her peripheral vision got wider and he may have been in a normal person’s blind spot, but he was just barely visible to her. “Kitty, the game might be up.” She whispered into her com. “I have a tail.”
“That’s not me,” Adrien confirmed her worry. “I saw whoever it was for a moment before they disappeared. Whoever they are, they’re good.”
“Be ready for an extraction,” she whispered back.
She had stopped on a roof that was taller than all the ones around it so she could see all around her. For just a moment she saw a flicker, but as she turned towards it she saw it was just a piece of cloth.
Then a voice came from behind her. “What are you running from?”
Multimouse spun around and swiped her leg to try and catch him off balance. She got into a crouch so she had options and stared at him warily. She watched as he righted himself from the flip he had done to avoid her leg.
“Whoa! No need for that. I just wanted to see if you were okay.” He held out his hands. “I’m Nightwing, I’m not gonna take you in.”
“Oh good, not taking you in.” That was all the warning before she heard Chat Noir’s claws puncture the building she was standing on as he started to climb.
“Oh shit! Gotta go!” She pulled out her jump rope and flung it to connect to the next building over.”
“I don’t think so, Mousette!” Chat jumped and grabbed her rolling them and pinning her to the ground. “Caught yo- Hey!”
Nightwing had grabbed the back of Chat’s suit and dragged him off of her. “What the hell? Why are you chasing her?”
Chat struggled a little but accepted that he was caught. They didn’t want to hurt any of the bats after all. “It was a game!”
“One that you helped him win by the way.” Marinette had gotten up and was wiping the dirt from her arms. “Thanks for that, now I have to wake up early tomorrow.”
“Wait, what?” Nightwing looked between the two of them before something seemed to click in his head. “Are you guys together?”
“Yep!” Chat answered.
“And you were playing a game?” He kept looking at her the whole time.
“The game is called Cat and Mouse and it’s a modified version of tag. And I just lost .” She groaned and walked the two steps towards them. “If you would be so kind as to release my partner.”
Nightwing looked over her shoulder and that was all the warning she had before someone was reaching for her. She twisted and grabbed their hand, turning them around and swiping their knees out from under them. With their arms held behind their back at an angle, they were now kneeling in front of her.
“Shit, Red! Okay, trade. I let go of your partner, you let go of mine.” Nightwing spoke from behind her.
“M’lady, that’s Red Robin,” Chat spoke up and Marinette flushed red and let him go.
“Sorry!” She took a step back from him to give him room to get up. “I am so sorry!”
“Wing, you wanna let go of her partner?” Red Robin stood back up rubbing at his wrists. “You’re fast.”
“I don’t like being grabbed,” she said as Chat came up from behind her and grabbed her around the waist and she glared at his arms.
“No one can touch the princess but me.” She rolled her eyes knowing that he was glaring at Red Robin while they both accessed the danger.
Two on two would be nothing, but she knew that Chat was looking around for any other bats while protecting her back.
“Well, as nice as this meeting has been.” Marinette started and Chat tapped on her left side twice telling her that there were two people incoming from the North. “I think we need to get going.” When he tapped her right side once she knew this was about to be a proper chase. She pivoted her foot and smiled at the two in front of her. “Bug out!”
She flung her jump rope and grabbed Chat around the waist to get them both out of there as fast as possible.
“The two from the north looked like Batman and Robin, I didn’t get a good look at who was coming from the south so my guess is Batgirl, though I thought she was still out of the country.” He gave her the quick notes she would need.
“I saw a glint of something to the east as we jumped, looked silver so I’m guessing Red Hood was there.” She thought it over. “I don’t think that was a chance meeting. I think it was an ambush.”
“For us, or for me? Because Nightwing seemed to think you weren’t a threat until you grabbed Red Robin.”
“If it was only for you, why would Red Robin have tried to grab me?”
“Good point Bug. Are we keeping to the sky or dropping below?”
“Ground level and then drop transformations. I just want to get further away before we start on foot.”
“Sounds good to me.”
They went a few more blocks before they saw purple coming at them and Marinette took an immediate dive to the left. Adrien went right and they split up. “Multitude.” She split into three parts and ran in three directions. It was always weird being one of many, but it would work to get them off her trail.
Once she was sure she wasn’t being followed she regrouped and dropped her transformation. She was still in the outfit she had worn to the cafe that day. Pink shirt and white skirt. Her thin jacket was not optimal for the walk home, but at least she had lost the bats. She pulled out her phone and sent Adrien a text then waited on his call.
The phone rang and she answered quickly. “Where are you?”
“Would you believe that I made it home by myself?” He asked cheekily.
She laughed as she heard Alya in the background. “No, but I’d believe that Alya is standing next to you.”
“Guilty as charged. Raposa came in with a quick save there at the end.”
“Well someone come get me. I don’t really want to walk home by my- ahh!!” She jumped at looked into the mask of Red Robin. She stood there staring for a moment and he just looked back at her.
“Sorry to scare you, but did you need someone to walk you home?”
“I-i yeah! That would be gice, I mean nice! That would be nice.”
“Mari?” Adrien yelled into the phone and she brought it back to her ear.
“Nevermind coming to get me. Red Robin just offered to walk me home. I’ll see you soon.” She hung up the phone before Adrien could say anything and turned back to Red Robin. “Thank you for the offer. I don’t live far from here.” She started walking towards home. “I own a little cafe and live above it. If you want I could make you a coffee before you leave. Growing up in Paris I remember that Ladybug and Chat Noir were always exhausted from patrolling every night. My maman made a special coffee blend for Ladybug and it always perked her right up.”
Marinette knew she was rambling but she couldn’t help herself. He was being quiet, probably listening in on the coms for the chase that the bats had already lost, or waiting to be told to bring her in. She was pretty sure she had lost him before dropping down to the street, but she couldn’t be completely certain.
“So… why are you out all by yourself?” He asked and she knew that she was still a suspicious character if she didn’t have a reason, so she reached into her bag and grabbed the sketchbook she kept in there.
She turned to the designs she had been working on this week, inspired by the Gotham architecture and the botanical gardens. “I was working on my designs but it got late faster than I expected. My partner called me while I was walking home because he was worried about me, so I was going to have him and our friend come meet me, but then you showed up.”
They weren’t far from the cafe and reached it quickly. “Well, this is it! Did you want that cup of coffee? It’s really strong, so I understand if you don’t.”
He smiled at her. “I’d love to try it.”
“Oh well then, come on in.” She opened the door to the cafe and went straight behind the counter. “Wait here for just a moment, I want to let them know I’m home safe.“
Marinette darted up the stairs and stared at them. “Stay up here, don’t come down. Red Robin is getting coffee and then leaving. I will be right back.” She tossed her purse at Adrien and then sprinted back down the stairs. She felt Tikki hide in her jacket and took a deep breath before opening the door and returning to the counter.
“I’m just gonna make a small one, if it turns out you like it feel free to come by before patrol and I can send some with you.” She went over and started the process of making the coffee.
“So, you said that you knew Ladybug?” He prompted.
“Well, everyone in Paris knew her. She and Chat Noir protected everyone. It’s too bad that they retired.”
“Oh?” He asked. “Weird that heroes would retire.”
She nodded and continued with the cover story. “Well after they defeated Hawkmoth it was too dangerous to keep their powers active. Some of the other heroes have stuck around. Raposa and Carapace both still patrol nightly, and Honeybee and Houndini are seen pretty often too.”
He nodded along and accepted his coffee from her in the travel cup then looked at his watch. “Well, I have to get back to it. Thank you for the coffee. Stay safe!”
After he was out the door and she had it locked she sat down on the floor. “Tikki, that was almost a disaster.”Check for bugs?”
“Already ahead of you, Pigtails,” Plagg announced from where he was floating by the counter. “Nothing was placed, he genuinely wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Huh, I guess that’s a good thing then.” She stood up and walked towards the stairs. “We need to get some rest, big day tomorrow!”
“It’s gonna be great Marinette!” Tikki flew ahead and phased through the doors as Marinette got to them. “You’re going to do amazingly!”
“Thanks, Tikki.” She smiled at the Kawmi and then headed to bed, it had been a long night.
---
“O, did you get that?” Tim called it in after leaving the cafe. He was so excited about the coffee and hadn’t been able to bring himself to turn her down. Besides, Kon was right, she was really cute, and she gave them some valuable information about Paris that they didn’t have before.
“Heard every word. I’m doing a search on Paris, but I think I’m gonna have to get you to run to the Watchtower, for some reason, there’s a block on information about the city..”
He paused on a nearby building and watched as the lights in the cafe were turned off. Then he saw her at the window near the fire escape. “That’s weird. Think Wonder Woman did it?”
“It’s the most likely explanation.” Babs sounded annoyed and Tim understood, none of them liked information being kept from them.
“I’ll head back to the cave and Zeta up.”
“Sure, just go up to the Watchtower, not like we’re actively chasing anyone or something!” Dick complained through the line.
“Have any of you had eyes on them in the last ten minutes?” Tim waited a moment for anyone to answer. “That’s what I thought. I think the Paris heroes are connected, so I’m going to look into it and see if there’s anything I can find out.”
“No Red Robin, get back to your patrol area. That’s where we lost them and I want to see if we can get any clues. Maybe someone saw something.” Bruce gave him the order and Tim was annoyed. That meant he wouldn’t be able to go to the Watchtower for a while. It wasn’t often that he had a night where he could just split, and Steph was coming up on finals so he couldn’t ask her to watch his patrol area for him while he went to the tower.
“Copy that.” He responded through gritted teeth.
“Oooo is Baby Bird gonna lose it?” Jason crooned into the line.
“Shut it, Hood!” Tim ran up the building he was attached to and started the search for clues. It was pointless now, they all knew it. Tonight was the closest they had come to catching the duo, and they had blown it. But, if Bruce wanted him to look for the lack of clues then who was he to disappoint.
---
Marinette quickly got used to her favorite customer. He would come in every morning and order the same thing. Sometimes he would take the order to go, but most days he would sit at the same table and work at his laptop. He also always paid an obscene amount of money for his coffee.
“Tim!” She smiled as he walked in.
He was becoming the highlight of her day really. Adrien laughed and teased her that they were made for each other, no one else could drink her concoction without throwing up and he had once gone cup for cup with her. Adrien had to cut them both off when they started bouncing ideas off each other, but not actually making any sense.
“Coffee goddess!” He smiled back at her and she laughed.
“Are you ever going to stop calling me that?” She took his money and then started making his drink.
He smirked. “Only if you stop giving me coffee.” He looked around like he always did walking in. “Speaking of.”
“Nope, no one that might know you have come in.” She shrugged at him. “Maybe they just can’t find this place.” She heard Adrien laugh from the kitchen at the inside joke. She had adjusted the wards after Tim had complained about his family trying to buy off coffee places to not allow him to drink as much caffeine as he wanted.
“I have been careful, you’re probably right.” He relaxed and she was glad.
“The usual?” She handed over his coffee and went to grab a croissant.
“Yeah, that’s perfect.” He grabbed his order and then went to sit at his same table.
After a while, she came to sit at the table with him. After getting sleep deprivation high with each other there was a pretty strong friendship between the two of them. Even though she still had no idea what he did for a living. He had refused to tell her as a joke and now it was a running competition to see who figured out the other’s job first once he found out that she only ran the cafe in the mornings and then went to her other job.
---
Tim looked up from his computer and saw that Marinette was sketching again. He still wasn’t sure what it was that she drew, but he knew it was for her main job. She was secretive about it, but it at least gave him a clue that it was something artsy. They had formed this fast friendship over coffee over the last month and he loved seeing her. He came in every day before he had to be at work and usually sat down to work on anything he didn’t need to be in the office for. On days he didn’t have a meeting and could stay after lunch Marinette usually joined him to work on her own things. It was the calmest he had ever been around someone so fast.
He looked at the email that just came through and smiled. “Yes!”
Marinette looked up at him, his exclamation having broken her hyper-focus. “Good news?”
“I got the meeting with a person I’ve been trying to reach for months.” He smiled.
“Who with?” She asked.
“Mmm, can’t tell you, might give away my identity.” He waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.
“Well, we can’t have that! It would be like Red Robin coming in here and taking off his mask,” she teased back.
The joke hit a little close to home and he awkwardly laughed trying to play it cool. “Why Red Robin?”
“Oh! I thought I had told you. He stops by for coffee some nights before he patrols. I think you guys would like each other.” She snickered.
“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”
She had to bite back a laugh and he was sad that she did. “You both call me a coffee goddess.”
Tim gave a mock offended gasp. “I can’t believe you’re cheating on me with Red Robin.
She giggled aloud then and it was a sound he wanted to hear more of. “Well, in my defense I didn’t know that this was an exclusive relationship. I’ll have to break it to him that I can only have one coffee love in my life.”
They laughed together and then went back to doing their own things. It was so relaxing to sit with her, her calm demeanor reminded him of hanging out with Cassie and Kon. He kinda wished that he could introduce them, but he wasn’t sure about doing that yet. Cassie could be a lot and Kon would tease him about Coffee Girl as he had taken to calling her.
“I gotta get going, It was nice hanging out with you.” He collected his things and she checked a notification on her phone.
Marinette looked up from her phone. “Oh hey, I won’t be here tomorrow morning. I have an early meeting with a new client.”
“Oh that’s okay, I'll see you the day after then.” He shrugged, “I have a late night tonight and then an early meeting tomorrow as well, so I probably will just pop in and out tomorrow anyways.”
“Sounds good, I will see you in a few days then.”
---
Tim sat down and waited for his siblings to show up. They had a consultation with MDC today and he was already off to a bad mood.
He had finally actually had time to go to the Watchtower and so he stayed until it was really late trying to get information about Paris, but he hadn’t learned much more than Marinette already told Red Robin, Ladybug and Chat Noir were mostly retired, but they still showed up to charity events, they didn’t patrol anymore, and nothing at all was known about a mouse hero. Though he did have pretty concrete proof that Chat Noir was the same cat hero as the guy they met last month. The girl had to have a miraculous too then.
He got all of this before Diana showed up and told him to leave it alone and that if they tried to interfere in Paris she would destroy the batmobile and then go after the R-cycles. So he headed home but only got about an hour and a half of sleep before having to be awake for the day.
He had gone to the cafe to get an order of Death by caffeine but the kid working the counter said he wasn’t on the list and he couldn’t serve it to him. He accepted a different brew, but it wasn’t nearly as strong as the drink that Marinette had made for him. It did an okay job at making him functional enough to make it to work at least. But he was not looking forward to dealing with his family while this sleep-deprived.
“Tim!” He startled as Dick yelled in his ear.
“What the fuck?” He glared at his brother and then made sure he hadn’t spilled any of his coffee. “Why are you yelling?”
“Because MDC just walked into the building and you were dozing off,” Jason answered from where he had taken up the couch in Tim’s office.
Tim took a long drink of his coffee and then sat up straight. Then the knock came at the door. Damian was the closest so he went over to open it.
A girl walked in holding a thermos and talking to a blonde guy. “Hello, I’m-”
Tim gasped and stood up. “Coffee goddess.”
She gave him a look like he was crazy. “What? Tim?”
Adrien started laughing. “Oh my god, she tried to poison another billionaire.”
She turned and slapped him. “I did not! I just gave him-” She gave Tim her full attention. “If I had known this meeting was with you I would have brought you a cup. Brett told me that someone tried to order it this morning, I’ll have to get you on the list.”
Bruce cleared his throat and Tim’s face went white. He had probably just lost his coffee fix. Marinette’s face flushed red in the embarrassed way that Tim always thought was cute.
“Oh! So sorry about that, hello I am MDC, it’s nice to meet you all. I met Tim at my Cafe.”
“Bruce Wayne.” he shook her hand and Marinette smiled. She was introduced to everyone in the room ending with Damian.
“Why do you go by MDC? Are you hiding something from your clients?” Damian questioned her and Tim watched Dick run a hand through his hair. Leave it to the demon brat to make a bad first impression.
“On the contrary, I’m hiding something for my clients. The only people who work with MDC are high-profile people such as yourselves. The press is familiar with my work, and they have seen me at red carpet events, but I wear a mask for the same reason that heroes do. If no one knows who the girl behind the mask is then the tabloids can’t hound me for exclusive interviews about my clients.” She looked around the room at everyone in it. “The confidentiality agreement goes both ways. I don’t talk to the press about my clients, and you don’t reveal my identity to the world.”
Tim was impressed, not many people could deal with Damian that smoothly. She just took him in stride and he was pretty sure that he really was falling for this girl. Coffee, helping heroes, not being phased by Damian. She was adding up to be amazing, and he had only known her for a short month. If only she was also a hero and he could share the secret with her. That might make dating her something achievable.
She went over the time schedule with Bruce so he could leave early for a meeting and then grabbed something from Adrien and started getting everyone’s measurements. Cass left right after her measurements were done too, she wanted to hang out with Stephanie and tended to avoid being at WE as much as possible.
“Hey, this is for you.” Adrien handed him a coffee cup. “It’s some of her brew, she said you looked like you could use a pick me up before she made you stand still.” He snickered. “She’s probably right, I’ve seen her fall asleep standing up before and you look about that tired right now.”
Tim muttered his thanks as he took the first sip. “Mmm, it’s different today.”
“Hazelnut creamer,” Marinette said as she walked over to them. “Cools off the brew and adds just a hint of happiness. Now chug it, because no coffee near the fabric samples.” She smirked and winked at him and he saw that Dick was inching towards them probably to take the coffee away.
He smiled back and tipped his head back, chugging the rest of the drink in one go. “Thanks for that. You’re right, I probably would have fallen asleep.”
She smiled at him and started taking his measurements. He saw his older brothers in the background making bets and was pretty sure that Adrien had also realized what they were doing. He could only hope that they weren’t being too embarrassing about this. He’s only called her a coffee goddess, and accepted coffee from her without testing it, and was smiling, and she was really cute, and she was short and sweet and kinda exactly his type. Ugh, this was going to be annoying.
Then something worse happened. She was crouched down and made a gesture at Adrien and then Damian flipped. He suddenly had a sword pointed at Marinette.
“What the hell demon spawn?!” Jason yelled as Tim went to grab for Marinette to place himself between her and the sword.
But neither of them were as fast as Adrien who was suddenly holding the sword by the blade. “Put. It. Away.” He growled at Damian and no one in the room moved. Adrien started bleeding but still didn’t waver. Tim could see the steel in his eyes and marveled at his strength. Tim had been on that end of Damian’s sword and hadn’t been nearly as calm. “I mean it. Put it away or I’ll break it.”
“Bold words for a spy,” Damian growled back and that’s when Marinette sighed and got up.
Tim looked at her and realized what she had done. In the time that it took Adrien to grab the sword, she had tied Damian’s ankle to the chair. He wasn’t even sure if the brat knew he was handicapped yet.
“Kitty, let go.” She kept her eyes on Damian while talking to Adrien. “I’d appreciate it if you’d put the blade down. We can win this battle, but I’d rather we didn’t fight.”
“Princess, I’m not letting go until it’s not pointed at you.” Adrien was still glaring at Damian and Tim saw the sword slice further down and Adrien still didn’t flinch.
She sighed again and pulled on something making Damian trip. The momentary distraction gave Adrien the edge he needed to take the sword. After he had a hold of it Tim looked up and saw the gun Jason had leveled at Adrien now.
“Now you put it down.” Jason was as calm as Adrien had been but Tim knew that he was this close to reacting to the threat in the room that was Adrien.
“Avec plaisir.” He twirled the sword around and then stabbed it into the ground next to Damian’s head. “Now, clearly there is a discussion that needs to happen. But I’d appreciate it if we did that without weapons being pointed at my Lady.”
Dick stepped forward and got between the two and Damian. “Let’s all take a step back. What just happened?”
Marinette spoke for her and Adrien. “I just found out that Damian Wayne is the current Robin.”
“MDC is an assassin.” Damian’s words were cutting and made the four of them shift their focus back to Marinette who was now laughing.
“Oh my god.” She tried to speak, but couldn’t stop laughing.
“Bugaboo, you wanna fill us all in on the joke?” Adrien asked her.
“He made me because I signed to you in my mom’s code.” She was wiping her tears away. “And I made him because he has the same sword as Robin.” She gasped and looked around the room. “Oh, shit! Oh, fuck!” She looked at all of the siblings and then spun around to look at Tim. She looked back at Adrien for half a second and then grabbed Tim’s shoulders and vaulted over him, shoving him into Dick who then fell over Damian.
Adrien moved to get between Marinette and Jason and then they were both standing with their backs to the window and away from the door.
“So, you’re the bats.” Adrien smiled. “Well, that’s a fun bit of knowledge.”
“Don’t act like you didn’t already know!” Damian spat at them.
“You’re the one who gave your identities away, little bird,” Marinette responded. “My mother taught me that code when I was a little girl, I taught it to my most trusted allies so we could communicate, and now Adrien and I use it as a second language when we’re around people who shouldn’t know it.”
Adrien smirked. “And through revealing yourself you’ve revealed the others.” He turned to look at each of them. “Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin. We assume that Bruce is Batman, that would make Cass Batgirl.”
Marinette sighed. “Give us a moment while you try to figure out who we are.” She turned away from them and grabbed Adrien’s hurt hand and gave it a squeeze that Tim was sure had to hurt. She had her back to them but Adrien was still watching them. Tim was still staring at her and saw that Adrien’s hand was actively healing in hers.
“You’re ladybug.” He whispered and Adrien moved his gaze to sharply look at him. “And you’re Chat Noir.”
Adrien smiled all teeth and Tim saw that they now looked like they had been filed down, “And you’re messing with gods right now kid.”
“Plagg, Tikki fixed the wound and no one is pointing a weapon at me now. Release your hold.” Marinette got in front of Adrien and made him make eye contact with her. “Do it or I won’t make cheese danishes again for a month.”
Adrien pouted for a second before his face fell into a grimace. “Oh my god, that hurt!” He stared at his hand. “Thank you, Tikki.” He looked at them again. “Okay, so I do think that we need to talk, but now we can do it without the pocket god being in control.”
“Rude!” A little floating black cat came to fly in front of Jason and he went cross-eyed trying to follow him. “Ooo you are fun. You and the sword brat are both interesting.”
“Plagg, get back here!” Adrien hissed at the cat and Plagg just laughed.
“Oi, pigtails, did Tikki notice it too?” Plagg flew back to Marinette and rested on top of her head.
She nodded. “That’s what I was signing to Adrien. Lazarus pit. Jason has it the worst.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Dick asked, still holding Damian back by the arms. “How do you know about the Lazarus pits?”
Marinette sighed and dropped down to sit on the floor. “Plagg made them, well he and Tikki did.”
“And Tikki is?” Tim asked, already knowing the most likely answer.
A little red bug thing flew out of Marinette’s bag. “I’m ladybug’s Kawmi.”
Marinette motioned to Adrien and he sat next to her. Tikki took her place in his hair and turned to glare at Plagg.
“You’re right, I am Ladybug, and Adrien is Chat Noir. Full disclosure, I am also Multimouse. Mullo isn’t with me, but she is the mouse kawmi.”
“And a kawmi is?” Jason asked.
“Pocket-sized god is the best way to describe them.” Adrien shrugged. “Or pocked-sized nescience.”
Jason finally flicked the safety back on his gun and put it away. “So you were the ones we’ve been chasing all over the city?”
Marinette laughed. “Yeah, that’s us. I thought you had already made me actually.” She looked at Tim as she spoke, “you caught me so fast after dropping my transformation that first ambush I was pretty sure that you had figured it out. I should have known that miraculous magic was a bit stronger than that.”
“I thought you were retired?” Tim asked her, trying to understand why she was here.
“We wanted to get out of Paris, it’s easier to say that Ladybug and Chat Noir are retiring than to explain why we are suddenly in Gotham where our alter egos just moved to,” Marinette explained.
Tim nodded as Dick spoke. “So you’re not a threat to Gotham.”
“No, we just like to get out and run, it’s been so long since we’ve been able to just run around the city,” Adrien answered the implied question.
A chime went off on Tim’s desk. “Okay, well if we are all pleased with how things have gone, I need you all out. I have a web meeting in a moment.”
“I still need to take your measurements.” Marinette walked over to him. “That is if you all still want to work with MDC.”
Jason laughed. “I do at least, especially if Bruce gets weird about it.”
Dick nodded. “You aren’t a threat, so yeah we would like that.” He nudged Damian. “Even Dames will be pleased with what you are making.”
“I will not!” Dick elbowed him sharper this time. “Fine! Whatever!” He stomped over to his sword and drew it from the carpet. “Grayson, I will be in the car.”
He stalked from the room and Dick gave an apologetic smile. “I better follow before he leaves without me. It was nice meeting you! Once B gives the go-ahead I’d love to spar with you Ladybug, I think it would be fun.”
Dick followed Damian out of the office. Jason took a step and Adrien followed him. “Uh, could I talk to you about the Lazarus pits?”
Jason gave Adrien an appraising look and then nodded. “You seem to know more about them.”
“And their effects. I’d like to help if you’ll let me.”
Adrien and Jason left his office together already talking and Tim turned back to his computer. He started up his webcam and smoothed out his shirt. He was doing a meeting with their London branch today. They were discussing adding a branch in Paris.
---
The meeting went well and afterward, he yawned and slumped his head on his desk groaning. The coffee had been nice, but it was wearing off and he needed another stimulate soon or he would be asleep.
“Why are you expanding to Paris?”
Tim jolted up and looked at the couch to see Marinette sitting there with a sketchbook looking at him.
“How long have you been there?” He asked, concerned about his powers of observation if he didn’t notice that she had come back in the room. He must have been more tired than he thought.
“I moved over here as soon as Jason and Adrien left. I wanted to be comfortable while I waited for you.”
“Waited for me?” He stared at her and she laughed.
“To get your measurements?” She prompted. “Your younger brother interrupted me earlier, and I really do need to get those done if I am going to finish all your suits before the event.”
Tim flushed red. “Oh yes, of course, you said that.”
“Here.” She walked over and sat down her thermos. It’s more full than you think, so don’t pour too fast. But you look like hell warmed over.”
“You really are a coffee goddess.”
She gave him a small smile. “I hope we’re still friends even after I figured out your identity.”
He closed his eyes as he took a deep sip of coffee then muttered to himself. “Wish we could be more than friends.”
“What?” She tilted her head. “You mean that?”
“I uh, yeah?” He nodded. “I’ve kinda been developing a crush on you since the first time we met.”
She broke out into a huge smile and reached out to grab his hand that wasn’t holding the coffee. “I’d love to be more than friends. I’ve kinda been into you too.”
He smirked and pulled her closer. “You know the best part of this?”
“Coffee any time you want?” She laughed.
“No, though that is on the same level of how much Bruce will hate this. No, the best part is I can do this.” He moved in closer and tilted his head slightly. “Marinette, can I kiss you?”
“Yes.” She sighed out as their lips met.
The morning may have started out
bad
, but his afternoon was turning out to be great.