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Bats were well known for their dramatic timing.
Ladybug met each of their eyes. “I am getting help not because we can't handle Hawkmoth on our own, but because we don't have to. This life is hard to choose sometimes, and it takes more than some people can give, more than it can give back.” She gestures to the city. “We protect our city, but we need to live in it too. I don't want any of you to forget to live your life because you put on the mask. Having allies can help with that.”
“Like the Justice League?” Rena Rouge asked.
Ladybug smiled. “Yes. But I was planning on starting smaller. I could use some fresh eyes on my work finding Hawkmoth.”
“Not every hero is a detective.” Pegasus commented.
“No.” She agreed. “But one hero is the very best. And he happens to owe me for shipping me halfway around the world without keeping better track of my actions.”
But what led up to Marinette finally letting her team know her past in it's entirety?
“You know Batman?” Chat asked with awed comprehension.
She grinned wickedly. “I’m his daughter.”
This is how Marinette's friends and teammates met and learned about her before they finally got the full picture of her crazy life.
***
Alya was proud of her parents' new jobs. It was wonderful that both of them found their dream jobs in the same area of Paris, but it meant moving schools. She had heard horror stories of how sucky it was to be a new student in the middle of adolescence. Nora’s advice to put on her warrior face wasn’t exactly the most helpful either, but she did take her shopping for new clothes so Alya would forgive her odd instructions.
Her first day started normally. Alya picked up her schedule from the office and found her home room. She was ready to stick her tongue out at the bratty rich girl attempting to rule the classroom when she met the other new girl, who was apparently being picked on by the bratty girl.
Marinette seemed nice and Alya thought that the macaron they split was as good as her mom's cooking. The other girl seemed curious about her comic book and even made a comment on how the plot resembled some real life superhero conflicts from the news. She had a slight American accent and mentioned that she was staying with distant relatives in Paris as a way to learn more about the culture. Apparently Marinette was an aspiring fashion designer with a talent for making her own clothing.
Alya told her about her own dreams of becoming a reporter and how her parents had just moved them to Paris for their jobs. They got along great and Alya was happy that at least one thing about being a new student had proved false, a best friend was a good way to start the school year.
When the classroom shook with the force of an attack and a giant stone monster broke through the ceiling Alya was shocked into standing still before her new bestie dragged her out of the way to hide under one of the desks further back in the classroom.
It wasn't until much later, after Ivan was back and she was reviewing her footage of the new heroes as she set up her shiny new blog, that Alya even thought of how oddly competent Marinette's reaction to the situation had been. Considering how many cities in America had regular villain attacks Alya supposed that the likelihood of her new friend living in a hero occupied city wasn't too low.
She got a little distracted staring at Ladybug after that. It was a long time before Alya would learn exactly where the girl moved from. Gotham and Jump City certainly explained how the sometimes clumsy Marinette could organize herself so quickly in a crisis. She certainly had the art of leaving the scene of the attack down better than the majority of Parisians.
***
Inexperienced is not how Adrien would prefer to describe himself. That doesn't make it untrue. Adrien is unfamiliar with other people, social interactions, and generally just the real world. Most of his understanding of people and social situations came from TV, Movies and Anime.
He almost lost the chance at a new friend because Chloe was a jerk and put gum on someone's seat. Apparently that was something TV got right.
Thankfully Marinette seemed to understand when Adrien found the opportunity to explain the situation. So that was one successful friend made on top of his new desk partner Nino.
And it was lucky Marinette forgave him too. Marinette Grayson was really a great friend to have, she was friendly and creative. Adrien was glad that he got the chance to get to know her.
Adrien did not anticipate that the acquisition of random superpowers was something TV got right, but apparently that happened too. And he even got a partner, a really pretty and competent partner.
Ladybug was the first person to really point out to him how real this situation was, painfully real. The other heroine didn't hold back on her criticism after a fight was concluded, but she was also honest with her praise.
Granted Adrien did not have any experience with being a hero, or even a normal kid. Ladybug at least seemed to know what she was doing when it came to this whole mask business, and she was helping him learn. He thought this was much better than the learn as you go philosophy in anime, or the mysterious and unhelpful mentor trope.
Ladybug was awesome.
***
The Metagene was something unpredictable. Some abilities seemed situational, others genetic or personality related. Some abilities were flashy while a few were almost useless.
Luka Coffaine discovered his Meta ability at a rather young age and was thankful everyday that it was something subtle enough to keep hidden. Though Luka would never consider his ability useless.
Luka heard music everywhere. In emotions, environments, relationships and even souls. Most people just assumed he had a complex form of synesthesia, but Luka didn't just perceive, he knew. No matter how deep people hid something, Luka could still hear it, even as the faintest chime in a person's melody.
His sister's shy nature hid a storm of emotion. Her friend Rose was peaceful and bright with a hidden sadness. Luka learned that this was most likely due to her parents divorce.
The captain was loud and proud, filled with love for her children. Luka would sometimes hear notes of loss though, as if she remembered pieces of a forgotten past.
He learned to tell the differences between songs. What parts were a person's soul, what showed their emotions. How to glean a person's intentions or intent from their song. And what secrets people hid that they couldn't conceal from him.
Some people were open, few layers in their song to hide behind. Those were the people who were honest almost to a fault. They hid few things and usually the layers in their songs represented emotional background noise.
It was interesting to hear the faint chimes of an upcoming surprise someone had planned. The soft notes of plans that had not come to fruition. And there were people that hid sadness or grief behind happy smiles. People had so many different ways of processing emotions. Luka became an expert at interpreting these songs.
Luka learned that some peoples' songs clashed within themselves as they fought internally. Some people's songs skated across his mind like a disney villains theme. Those were the people to avoid.
As he entered his teenage years Luka had thought he had figured out the intricacies of his powers. Then the attacks started. In the early attacks Luka was fairly far away. The brief moments he was in range of the akuma victims he didn't have much opportunity to really examine their song. What he heard was odd, like another song suppressing the person's natural one.
The day he experienced an akuma attack up close and personal was the same day he met Marinette Grayson. The girl was a new student in Julika’s class, and her song was the most dynamic and beautiful he had heard. Most songs with layers were discordant in a way that made the song feel unfinished or distracted, either that or the song was sad with layers of melancholy.
It was upsetting that his first experience with such a beautiful melody was when his mother got akumatized. Hearing his mothers song shoved under the ugly cord of akumatization was certainly a distraction.
Overall though Luka felt that his interaction with Marinette hadn’t gone poorly. “You sound something like this.” He had told her honestly as he played a sad rift of her emotions on his guitar.
Marinette had looked at him oddly and smiled sadly. “Yes. I am concerned about a friend.”
“An admirable thing to consider.” Luka agreed and gave into the urge to play a little deeper into the girls' enthralling song.
The younger girl's eyebrows went up as he played and Luka saw understanding in her eyes as she moved to sit next to him. “You are quite talented.” She said, and he imagined she meant more than just his playing.
“Thank you.” He answered. Maybe Luka should be more concerned that she had already seemed to figure out his secret, but he trusted his instincts and they told him Marinette was a good friend to make. A good person to trust. “You seem to have quite a unique melody yourself.”
Luka felt that he should have been more surprised to hear Marinette's melody from the heroine Ladybug, but it really just made sense. And when the smiling boy with blond hair boarded the Liberty Luka wanted to break away from the band to play out the tune of who could only be Chat Noir. Luka looked at the way Marinette watched the smiling boy with concern despite not being able to hear the sadness weighing down his song. It was no wonder she was concerned about him earlier. Luka would bet his guitar that Marinette was perfectly aware of her partner's identity. The younger girl was much more complicated than she presented herself.
Marinette was a symphony of darkness and light, truths and lies.
***
The Tursurgi family was one filled with history and ability. They were great warriors and business minds, and they were well hidden assassins by birth. Tomoe Tursurgi was raised by the sword, and even the loss of her sight wasn't enough to take away her skill with a blade. It was enough for her to leave the League of Assassins behind to focus solely on her business dealings. The League however, was not stupid enough to discard an ally as strong as the Tursurgi family completely. Tomoe Tursurgi might have taken a step back from field work but she was not uninvolved. In fact, when her daughter was born Kagami was raised the same as each Tursurgi before her. The young heir would be raised as an ally to the League of assassins by her mother.
When the League fell before Kagami could be introduced to the organization formally her mother made sure to secure a prime education and a position as a rising fencing champion. There would be no excuse for Tomoes daughter to let her skills flag, not even the temporary demise of the League of Assassins. Though Tomoe’s own loyalty had been sworn to Ra’s and later Talia, Kagami was to have her loyalty sworn to one or both of the twin heirs.
Kagami was sure that without the fall of the League she would have been primed as an option of a bride for the demon's grandson by her mother. She took the minor freedom granted by the fall of the Demon to actually invest some in her life. Though her mother’s rules still prevented her from making friends, Kagami argued that access to a computer and the internet would allow her to learn more about society and how to blend into social interactions. By the time Kagami was 13 she had convinced her mom to let her enroll in a fencing academy, at the very least to give security in her skills. It would not do to have someone look too closely at the Tursurgi family.
The boy she fenced was good. Kagami almost thought she got a sense of disapproval from one of the other fencers in the group. Female from the brief look at the masked figures body type and gear. More unusual about the boy, Agreste apparently, was his style. He fenced formally and was a remarkably precise fencer, but some of his moves resembled other fighting styles. The way he was light on his feet at times and rooted others suggested newly learned skills. It reminded Kagami of her own training.
The hits they landed were simultaneous. Kagami knew that before the girl watching made the decisive call, though the girl covered her quick response with layers of confusion, Kagami knew that the girl had truly understood what had happened. That was without noting that the Agreste fencer's final move had been a modified League of Assassins attack Kagami herself knew intimately as her mothers favorite. The altered nature of the attack was probably the only reason Kagami hadn’t caught the attack in a parry.
Despite Adriens arguments that the girl, Marinette, was probably confused, Kagami knew better. The boy didn't have the same ability to analyze a fight after it was finished. He could not remember the precise actions, just that Kagami had been incredibly skilled. They had hit simultaneously, and that would not be good enough for her mother League tactics or not.
That bout though was nothing like watching her akumatized fight with Ladybug later that day on the Ladyblog. The heroine moved with a blade like a dancer. Watching the battle made Kagami fill with a dual sense of concern and hope. Because she had very little doubt that she was watching one of the demon's heirs fight for the greater good of paris. Kagami at least took solace in the fact that her mother would have much more difficulty figuring out the heroine's unique background than she had. She would certainly not be the one to clue her in.
Kagami felt she should have been more surprised weeks later on friendship day. After a confusing morning with Marinette Grayson, Kagami should have been ready for anything. Ladybug giving her a miraculous and instructing her to keep it secret from even her mother was not something she anticipated. But free or not Kagami had been raised to not ignore the wishes of the Twin heirs. Getting out of the battle without making her presence known grated on her pride as a warrior even as the assassin within thrilled at the precision in the subterfuge.
When she handed the miraculous back to Ladybug, Kagami bowed. There are words traditionally used in this situation. Kagami knows the words, memorised them, but they feel out of place between two people who broke out of the mold they were meant for. So Kagami changes them.
“It is an honor to meet you, and a greater honor to greet you in the daylight.” She begins. Ladybug stands straighter as she mirrors Kagami’s formality with the miraculous box in hand. “I swear my sword to you and yours in the protection of Paris. Your enemies are my enemies though it is my hope that your friends will be my friends in turn. The Tursurgi line will be pledged from now forward to a new generation of Al Ghul’s.”
Ladybug had smiled. “You are very perceptive Kagami, but have you found the heir under the mask yet?”
She grinned knowingly at the challenge. “Not yet Princess. Your skill precedes you.” She rose out of her bow. “I presume we have met?”
“I wanted to be sure of you.” Ladybug confirmed cryptically. “You are a good person Tursurgi Kagami. I am glad both of us escaped the path that would have been chosen for us.”
“As am I.” Kagami agreed. “The Prince as well?” She continues. “Either way he is certainly not the cat.”
The former assassin laughed brightly. “My brother is well. Your concern is appreciated my friend. I must leave now, but I look forward to fighting by your side again.”
“Of course Princess.” Kagami replies with a smaller bow.
“Now you're just teasing me.” The other girl complains before swinging away.
When Kagami is finally found by Marinette she feels more settled than she had since arriving in Paris. She isn't even disturbed by the happy and knowing looks Marinette gives over their orange juice.
Weeks later on Kagami’s birthday when she receives a beautiful dragon backpack from Marinette she wants to hit her past self. The specially designed pockets in the bag are a perfect fit for the stunning collapsible carbon katana she receives later that evening only labeled, From the Lady. Each pocket is able to contain a piece of the undetectable weapon after it is collapsed. The blade is undetectable as anything more than harder pieces reinforcing the formed backpack.
***
Kim liked dares, everyone knew that. But no one really knew why he didn’t make dares with Marinette.
The truth is Kim only made the mistake of daring Marinette Grayson one time. Considering it had resulted in him having to bike her around Paris wearing a sparkly hoodie for a week he didn’t make that mistake again. The saving grace was that the hoodie was red not pink like Alex would have made him wear.
Honestly though, how would Kim have known that challenging Marinette to a race from the school to Andre’s ice cream cart at the sien wasn’t an easy win. He may have bet on free Ice cream, and taken off before Marinette could respond. But Kim did not bet on Marinette freerunning in order to pass him before he got there. She won by several minutes, and though Kim got a conciliation ice cream from Andre, Marinette made that loss worth something.
Kim learned that it was better not to underestimate Marinette Grayson, and that she made a great workout partner when Alex was busy, or mad at him. Marinette was good people, she even taught Kim a lesson or two in freerunning on top of humility.
***
Chloe Bourgeois was a very typical rich kid with absent parents. That didn’t mean she lost out on all of their skills for lack of attention. Chloe was observant, manipulative and overall spoiled rotten. Despite her shortcomings she could read people like a trained politician.
It made the new girl in class very irritating. Marrinette Grayson was staying with the Dupain Cheng couple while she studied in Paris to further her career in fashion design. Beyond that nothing about her made sense.
Her clothes were good quality but not ostentatious. Chloe knew how to spot brand names even when hidden, and Marinette wore high end brands known for their quality and ethics when not in her own designs. Even her handmade clothes were out of some of the best quality material on the market. It would probably be unnoticable to the majority of people, even Adrien missed it, but Chloe was Audre Bourgeois' daughter.
That was without mentioning how despite being an aspiring designer Marinette made no moves to use her recent connection to Adrien, or Chloe, to further her career. Marinette was different than anyone Chloe had dealt with before, and impossible to push around. She was nice but firm, chaotic but organized, talented but humble. No matter what Chloe tried it didn't phase the other girl, sure she pretended, but Chloe knew when her actions were effective. It made her wonder what they were for though.
The only thing that seemed to even dent the girl's calm was when Chloe stole her little toy, and that made no sense. When Chloe became Queen Bee it made a lot more sense, but she wasnt stupid enough to reveal that.
Marinette didn't start making sense to Chloe until she saw the other girl interact with her father during the Dark Knight incident. It hadn’t phased Marinette that Jagged Stone was there, or that Andre was the mayor, she ordered them around anyways. Sure Marinette had interacted with Jagged Stone before, but Chloe had not seen much of that interaction beyond the fact that it barely phased her to be made a gopher.
From the blase way Marinette treated the rather imposing adults Chloe concluded that Marinette was used to interacting with high ranking figures of authority, and most likely celebrities. But it was the way Marinette treated Chloe like a human no matter how many times Chloe made her life harder that convinced her.
If Marinette wasn’t a rich kid herself Chloe would eat her lemon yellow Jimmy Chou heels.
Marinette acted like she understood exactly where Chloe was coming from, like she'd seen it before. The special blend of spoiled and neglect that was only found in the echelons of high society.
After class some days Marinette would stop her and ask her a question or make a comment. Sometimes simple, other times it would make Chloe think for hours.
“Did you see the new designs for this season?”
“I’m bringing in pastries tomorrow do you have a preference?”
“Your outfit looks nice today.”
“How was your weekend?” When the news reported that her mom was in Paris for some event.
Small interactions free from pressure or cruelty that implied Chloe’s connection to the rest of the class, to the world. But there were reprimands as well.
“You don’t have to push people away.” When she makes Sabrina cry for bringing her tea instead of coffee. (Chloe loved tea.)
“It won’t make you feel better.” After she tears into the class for something.
“Being like her doesn't have to be your goal.” Definitely made an impact.
Marinette in general made an impact. So much so that Chloe could actually feel a sense of pride in her personal growth. Ladybug might have been a hero, but Marinette was a friend before Chloe even knew she needed one.
When Ladybug asked for her help it felt like Chloe had actually started to deserve being a hero. She might not be what people consider ‘nice’, but she was putting in the effort to be a better person.
***
Background checks should turn up something. Max knows this. School records, birth certificates, travel records, bank statements, a person's life is filled with documentation someone can find if they are motivated enough.
When Max has Markov run background checks on his classmates and teachers as a way to better understand the world it seems like a good exercise. Sure maybe Lila’s sealed juvenile record wasn't the most innocent thing to break into, but it helped Max learn to stay away from her. There were the usual parking tickets for Miss Mendlehev, and Miss Bustier was an avid traveler during the summers to tourist traps all over Europe. But the weirdest thing was Marinette.
There was nothing. Before Marinette Grayson enrolled in Francois Dupont she didn’t exist outside of a very thin paper trail that Markov tears through quicker than actual paper. She has no credit card and her passport only says that she came from America, no record of which flight. But Marinette is nice and definitely not creepy nice like Lila.
So Max asks her.
Marinette looks impressed and asks if he wants to talk about it and play videogames after school. Max’s instincts tell him that Marinette wont hurt him, and Markov can call for help if she tries, so he goes.
At the bakery Marinette sets up the game council in her loft room. Her first question is odd. “Do you know who Tim Drake and Barbara Gordon are?”
Max shakes his head.
Markov answers. “Tim Drake, son of Jack and Janet Drake of Drake industries both deceased. Adopted son of Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprise and the youngest CEO as CoCEO of WE with his adopted father.”
“Barbara Gordon, daughter of Police Commissioner Jim Gordon and Barbara Eleine Gordon. Head of cyber security at Wayne Enterprises. Masters in Computer Programming and Cyber defence. Barbara Gordon's programming style is similar to some white hat ‘attacks’ perpetrated around the world in response to other violent cyber attacks, usually acting as a second wall of defence against the black hats. The perpetrator is officially unknown but has been referred to as Oracle.”
Max feels his eyes widen. “Oracle?” He breaths.
Marinette laughs brightly. “I’m impressed, being able to suss out Oracle is no small feat Markov.”
“The analysis is conjecture and would be inadmissible in a court of law.” Markov argues.
The girl shrugs. “Sure, but it proves excellent programming on Max’s part. You didn't have to get past firewalls considering the information was there to analyze.”
“Pardon me asking, but what does this have to do with the fact that Marinette Grayson appears to not exist?” Max prompts.
She just smiles. “Look up Marinette Wayne, Markov, but don’t dig too far or Oracle's firewalls will think you're hostile.”
“Marinette Wayne, daughter of Bruce Wayne, twin sister of Damian Wayne, Mother Unknown. Began living in Gotham at the age of ten with Damian. See articles attached.” Markov delivered.
“So what, you’re famous?” Max asked. “That still only explains the past few years.”
He regrets the comment when pain fills Marinette's eyes. “Bruce is my father. My mother is, a complicated person.”
Max nods silently.
Marinette continues. “When I came to Paris Tim and Barbara set up an identity for me that would keep the press off my trail and let me be normal. I would appreciate it if you would keep this information to yourselves for now. I’m kinda enjoying being Marinette instead of just another Wayne.”
“Of course Marinette.” Max agreed.
“You can count on us, Miss Grayson.” Markov said, causing both teens to laugh.
***
Nino was quiet. He liked listening to music and supporting his friends. And Nino dreamed about being a famous movie director. He saw the world as stories, but unlike his Girlfriend Alya he didn’t just see stories waiting to be written and told, he saw stories in people's eyes. He was all for the big picture stories, but his passion was in the little details that seemed to make some movies so much better than others. Nino wanted to be able to tell stories from little interactions.
He could see passion in Alya’s eyes when she got on the trail of a story. Wonder and pride in Marinette’s stance when she presented them with a new design. Pain and hope on Adrien's face when he excused himself from hanging out because he was supposed to have dinner with his father.
Nino understood that it was the little details that made people different, that gave them meaning. There were so many people in the world and while big concerns were important it was the minor personal quests and objectives that made an impact on individuals.
It was why Nino could see the way Marinette would scowl or smirk at her phone in the middle of class some days. He figured that she was talking to family or friends from America but didn't pry. And he watched Adrien mature quickly after his first month in school. Nino encouraged his new dude to reach out more and let loose a little outside of his house. He was proud and honored that Adrien chose to be that comfortable with him.
It frustrated Nino to see the sadness in Adrien when the model thought no one was looking, and the darkness Marinette hid behind smiles and cheerful actions.
But Nino also saw how the addition of Adrien and Marinette to their class changed all of them. Alya fit in more or less with the usual dynamic, but the other two new kids changed it. Quieter students spoke up more, shyness did not necessarily go away, but it lessened. Rowdy students mellowed out at more serious times. And Chloe changed in a way Nino never would have believed possible before. The bullying decreased and Chloe started to actually engage more in class. Somehow each of them were suddenly open to talk about their interests more freely and work past their difficulties with confidence in the support they would receive. Sound words of encouragement and a gentle smile from Adrien, and motivating speeches with a confidence booster and back up from Marinette. The best part from Nino’s perspective was that it wasn’t coordinated on either of their parts. It was just who they were.
He looked forward to when his two friends got on the same page. Because when that happens the world better look out.
***
Truth is not something that can be hidden forever. Sooner or later someone figures it out and puts the pieces together.
Marinette loves the team she built. She had been careful at first to keep her past separate from the girl she was in Paris. But Ladybug made that difficult, and as much training as she had Marinette didn't want to spend the rest of her life hiding behind someone she wasn’t anymore than she had to. So she let bits and pieces out, and just shrugged when each of her new friends put things together. None of them gathered the whole picture, it was honestly too big and unbelievable for that.
When Marinette was practically ordered to return to Gotham for Christmas months before the holiday she knew it was time. Her teams were both ready, or at least they would have to be, and with the Guardianship transferred to her Fu couldn't argue with some of Marinette's more aggressive and obscure tactics. Marinette wanted Paris to be able to move past Hawkmoth and Mayura. They couldn't do that if the miraculous team hid within their own group. And it would be nice to have a more consistent schedule for hero stuff before their school curriculums became more intense, at least Gotham villains were predictable.
She also knew from talking to Damian that their father was finally starting to feel guilty for sending her away, and proceeding not to talk to her. Maybe having his daughter move out and start her own team right under his nose would be enough to force him to acknowledge his emotions in a healthy manner. It hasn't worked for her brothers, but she could try. Dick claimed that Bruce was getting better at talking about things, she had her doubts.
Marinette was the Guardian now and that meant quite a bit. If she wanted her team to be prepared to meet the Batfamily she would have to move quickly. Thankfully Paris did not halt school for Thanksgiving or Marinette would have even less time.
First Ladybug revealed herself to her teammates as Marinette. Chat Noir was first, and Marinette thought Adrien was going into shock with the way he reacted.
“You, you’re Marinette?” He finally sputtered out. A few minutes later he recovered. “Actually that makes way too much sense.”
Kagami was technically next because her birthday was the day after Marinette told Adrien. In all honesty though, Marinette had her gift for Kagami planned out way ahead of time. She was pretty sure the other girl would have figured it out much sooner without the magic interfering. Made for a good proof of concept though.
The next weekend she told the rest of the team.
***
Ladybug stood with her team in the Paris sewers. A giant Shelter up from Carapace by her request. “I want all of you to know how proud I am of how far you have come as people and heroes. And I want you to know how much I trust you as friends.” She said before she dropped her transformation.
Her teammates looked at her in shock and awe before all but Carapace dropped their transformations in turn. Marinette noticed some were more surprised than others at a few of the reveals.
Carapace just waved his hand and said. “Nino here.” With a smirk as he held their defense.
It reminded Marinette that she really needed to get started on a base in Paris. She wanted to look at a few places close to the Paris Zeta tube if possible. Team Miraculous was separate from the JL, but accessibility would be nice. However, that was a problem for another time.
***
Alya was thrilled, and a little embarrassed. No wonder Ladybug had been so pointed about the Lila situation when she posted that ill conceived video. Alya was touched that Marinette had protected her future as she had despite her previous stubbornness.
Her best friend was a superhero, her best friend chose her to be a superhero. How awesome was that.
***
Adrien found that he wasn’t too surprised by the identities of those he hadn’t already been aware of. Marinette had been cultivating their team in and out of the mask since the attacks had begun in earnest. They just hadn’t noticed that their hangouts were more directed and teambuilding based.
***
Marinette let the new team dynamic settle for several weeks. She also informed the team that she would be heading home for the Christmas holidays and would need Max to periodically pick her up to cleanse akumas. It had the added bonus of making sure they felt prepared to go into fights without Ladybug.
In the absence of their leader most of the responsibilities became split amongst the team. Chat Noir maintained most of the lead but it was shared to Viperion and Ryuko for their respective skills and abilities. Marinette was pleased that this happened naturally rather than with the bickering between her siblings that generally followed Batman being out of commission. She was slightly smug that her own team had more civil dynamics than a team as lauded as the bat family.
Marinette was sure that at least Markov had begun to put two and two together with regards to her reveal as Ladybug and competence as a heroine along with his knowledge of her real identity. But the robot was true to his word and didn’t say anything even to the rest of the team. Though Max did give her various sly and curious looks as he and Markov started piecing more information together. It was quite amusing.
***
Chat Noir could tell that his partner was still holding some things back. Marinette got this distant look on her face sometimes watching them that reminded him of how she figured out her Lucky Charms. She was figuring out how to tell them and when. Adrien was fairly certain it had to do with the fact that Ladybug was most definitely a competent and established hero prior to receiving her miraculous.
Despite his observations Adrien waited her out. His Lady hadn’t let them down yet, if she had a plan he would follow it.
***
Chloe was excited when about a month before Marinette was due to head back to America she invited Chloe over to her house to discuss fashion. Not just any fashion, but hero fashion. Marinette wanted to redesign, at least in part, the look of the Miraculous team. The heiress had the urge to rub her palms together evilly at the thought of adding a little more style into their overall dynamic.
Marinette and Chloe spent hours throwing around ideas and mockup sketches for each member of the team. They made multiple designs for each person so the final decisions could be made with everyone's input on their own designs. But the one thing Marinette and Chloe agreed on without any argument was the inclusion of the guardian symbol. Considering that the symbol itself was becoming common knowledge with the reawakening of the miraculous and later Feast it seemed fitting. Marinette copyrighted it under MG’s brand with an ‘endorsement’ from the heroes of Paris as the Miraculous team’s new ‘official’ designer. MG in this case stood for Miraculous Garments, and also a nod to the identity Marinette was using in Paris. Considering the low popularity of the seal at the moment and the threat of a public lawsuit from the heroes of Paris on all of the infringement caused by toys and merchandise based on the heroes it was easy to push the copyright through.
By the time the heroes of Paris debuted with their updated looks each of them would be marked as a member of the team through the insignia somewhere in their outfit. People would catch on eventually, but it would prevent copycat confusion for a while. And give their team a more cohesive theme.
***
A few days before Marinette was due to leave, and the day they decided to have Ladybug stop showing up to fights on the regular, they were gathered together by Ladybug after a fight. They had of course done a few fights every so often without Ladybug, but usually it was with Multimouse hiding in the wings observing. It had done well to prepare the team and the city for Ladybug not showing up every fight. Their final misdirect was to have Ladybug ‘leave’ before Marinette.
After the fight Ladybug gathered them together with a proud smile that made each hero stand up straighter. “I am proud of how far all of you have come in the last month.”
Each holder could hear the truth in her words. They had trained hard and earned the respect of the city and their leader. “It's time for Team Miraculous to grow up.” She continued. “New outfits, new powers, new allies.” She announced with a grin. “Hawkmoth won't be prepared for the new year.”
Chat was the first to react with confusion. Up until this point Ladybug had been Very clear about keeping other heroes out of Paris. Having her change her stance was a little confusing, especially since she told him that the Justice League was in part aware of the situation. Chat hadn't asked for clarification about ‘in part’ after seeing the smirk on her face.
It was the same smirk that Ladybug was wearing now. It caused everyone but Viperion and Ryuko to take a step back. In Chat’s experience that look meant he was getting yeeted across the city for some reason.
“I’m calling in some connections now that we can hold our own with the big boys.” Ladybug stated.
Ryuko gasped and seemed to have a very uncharacteristic bout of nervous energy as she fiddled with her sword in an effort to stay still. Viperion looked like he was in the final stages of putting together a puzzle. His slitted eyes emphasising the intense expression.
“I want to make sure all of you will be okay with your identities being known outside of this circle. Once we make ourselves known it is very likely that our allies will learn who we are.” Ladybug spoke clearly to each of them without expecting a reply.
There were nods all around the group anyway. Each of them trusted Ladybug, trusted Marinette, with their lives and families. If she thought that reaching out and trusting other heroes was the right play then they believed it.
Ladybug met each of their eyes. “I am getting help not because we can't handle Hawkmoth on our own, but because we don't have to. This life is hard to choose sometimes, and it takes more than some people can give, more than it can give back.” She gestures to the city and they get the sense that she is speaking from experience. Years entered her voice despite the fact that they were all peers. “We protect our city, but we need to live in it too. I don't want any of you to forget to live your life because you put on the mask. Having allies can help with that.” Her words revealed something that they hadn’t considered yet. A future after Hawkmoth, where they stayed a team and lived adult lives in and out of the mask. She spoke of possibilities and responsibilities most teenagers couldn't begin to understand. But they had stopped being normal teenagers when Hawkmoth took over Paris, and way out or not they were heroes now.
“Like the Justice League?” Rena Rouge asked with excitement. She might be a hero now but Alya was still a reporter with a passion for heroic scenarios.
Ladybug smiled at her friend. “Yes. But I was planning on starting smaller. I could use some fresh eyes on my work finding Hawkmoth.”
“Not every hero is a detective.” Pegasus commented, picking up on the hint their leader left. Only a few heroes were known for their investigative prowess. And most were based out of the city Marinette called home before Paris. Pegasus seemed to be having a realization based on the way his brows twitched under his goggles.
“No.” She agreed. “But one hero is the very best. And he happens to owe me for shipping me halfway around the world without keeping better track of my actions.” Ladybug’s voice toed the line between salty and amused.
“You know Batman?” Chat asked with awed comprehension.
Ladybug grinned wickedly. “I’m his daughter.”
***
The team needed a moment to process that bombshell.
***
Max’s mind was spinning. He didn't need Markov to tell him to add two things together and get the logical result.
Marinette Grayson was actually Marinette Wayne. Ladybug was Marinette, Ladybug was the daughter of Batman. Therefore Batman was a multi millionaire playboy businessman who owned and was CEO of a worldwide corporation. Bruce Wayne was Batman.
***
Alya was out of her mind geeking out. If it had been cool to be a hero, and amazing that her best friend was a hero, then her best friend being the daughter of Batman was mind blowingly insanely awesome.
Batman, the Dark Knight, one of the founders of the Justice League, the greatest detective, and patriarch of Gotham’s sprawling Bat family. Alya had spent hours of her time examining the roster and skills of the Justice League and their associates. She was obsessed with the heroes who actually seemed to be units rather than just team ups, and the Bats were by far the largest example of this. The Bats even had a larger overall number of girls on the team over time than any other sub hero group. Wait a Minute…
***
Luka and Kagami were not surprised. For Luka it just made the layers in Marinette's song make more sense in the context of her life. Kagami had already figured that the stories her mother told about Talia Al Ghul choosing a worthy and strong mate weren’t an exaggeration. And who was a stronger human than the Batman in a world of Meta’s and aliens.
***
Adrien had to sit down. It honestly made so much sense. Ladybug was from a superhero, vigilante, family. He cringed a little at himself. No wonder his flirting had made her uncomfortable. She was probably used to a very different type of banter considering she was okay with his jokes once he stopped the in battle flirting.
***
It was an unusual concept for Chloe to grasp. She was absolutely positive Marinette's family was from some level of affluence. But that meant that the Batfamily was most likely composed at least in part of socialites. It went against every assumption Chloe had about the people living in the 1%, but yet it fit Marinette perfectly.
She was sure her worldview had been altered forever by Marinette and Ladybug. Not surprising that she wasn't done changing Chloe’s perspective yet. Whoever Marinettes family ended up being Chloe certainly wouldn't be expecting it. (Wait until after she finds out about Green Arrow).
***
It took team Miraculous a total of ten minutes to come out of their collective state of surprise. Of course the calm ended with a storm of chaos in the form of Alya Cesaire.
“MY BEST FRIEND WAS BATGIRL!!” The fox heroine practically screamed.
The entire group broke out into laughter. Thankfully the wind carried away sound from their position on the eiffel tower. It really wouldn't do to tip Hawkmoth or the citizens too early, or at all if they could help it.
Come the start of the New Year Hawkmoth wouldn’t know what hit him. And Paris would never be the same again.