Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mar’i Grayson floated into her parent’s bedroom, a flyer Alfred had printed out last night from the computer clutched in her hand. She really hoped she could convince her dad to go. Her mom was back on Tamaran, likely until Christmas. But this month, there was another Earth celebration: Halloween. The pumpkin patch outside of Gotham was holding a carnival for the next two weeks. It boasted hay rides, a haunted house, corn maze, and tons of kids activities, like pumpkin carving, a kid’s maze, scary stories and legends told by a bonfire, and a petting zoo. She really wanted to check out the animals. Uncle Damian was usually good about letting her play with his animals, but she wanted to see more!

Dick had just gotten off work and driven back to the manor where Mar’i was staying while he was at work. He had just sat back in his desk seat when his very energetic daughter burst into the room, hovering a few inches above the ground.

“Daddy! Can we go? Please, please, please?” she asked.

Huh? “Go where, starshine?”

She shoved the paper in his face so close he didn’t have a hope of reading it. It was touching his nose. He took it gently and moved it back. A pumpkin patch? It was holding a Halloween themed faire for kids. “Sure! Let’s go see if the others would like to join us. How about tomorrow when I get off work?” It was a Friday, he would be able to get off early.

“Yay!” she crashed into him and gave him a huge hug before flying off to the living room to tell everyone. He didn’t expect much resistance if she was asking.

~~~~

Dick rushed home as quickly as he could the next day. By the time he got there, Mar’i was already in her Halloween costume, ready to go. She made a wonderful princess. She was already one, technically, so she wasn’t really dressing up, but she had chosen to be Ariel in her pink dress. He was going as her prince, Eric, in the white shirt and blue pants he wore for the movie. Jason was dressed as a lumberjack. He guessed it was the closest thing he had in any of his closets. A red flannel shirt, rolled up at the sleeves, cargo pants, and an axe. Dick gave it a quick glance. Yep. Real. That explained the outfit choice. An excuse to have extra weapons with him. Tim was wearing a slightly more casual version of his everyday work clothes, with a piece of paper tucked into a hat that that said ‘PRESS.’ His camera was around his neck. A reporter. Damian was standing there defiantly, his arms crossed. Mar’i was pouting at him.

“You have to dress up Uncle Dami! You promised you would come!”

“Tt. I am coming to this inane outing. Is that not sufficient?”

“But it’s Halloween!” she shoved her lip out further and attempted puppy dog eyes at him. Dick would have been a goner for that face ages ago. He wasn’t sure how Damian stood it. They all watched for the moment Damian caved. Mar’i turned up the waterworks after a few tense moments, tears prickling the corners of her eyes and her lip trembling. Dick figured she was the only one who could pull this off with for him. He, on the other hand, didn’t see why Damian and Bruce had trouble dressing up for Halloween. They did it every night to put fear into the heart of Gotham’s underbelly – why not for one more night?

“No, it’s not. It’s Friday the thirteenth,” he countered. He glanced down at Mar'i again. “Ugh, fine.”

“Great!” Jason said, plopping giant, fluffy pink bunny ears on Damian’s head before he had the chance to fight him off. While they tussled with the ears, Tim darted in and shoved a tail that clearly had glue on it to his shirt.

“Gotta dress the part Demon Brat. If you had done it yourself, you would have had a choice,” Jason chided.

Damian turned around, the pink fluffy tail swishing behind him, ears flapping a bit, as he turned to face Dick, a glare plastered on his face. “This is all your fault.”

They all piled in the car, Jason and Tim cackling at Damian still, though quieter now, as they didn’t want to get stabbed by whatever dagger he had on him. Bruce was going to patrol alone that night so that they could all go and stay a bit later than they would normally be able to otherwise.

“Why do I have to go again?”

“It’s either this or the Halloween party that I originally planned Dami,” Dick tried to reason with him. “Or take Mar’i out trick or treating with me.”

Damian spent most of the trip grumbling after that, but cooperatng. When they arrived at the pumpkin patch twenty minutes later, Dick paid for tickets to everything for them, and they glanced at the map at the entrance. He watched them all go into emergency memorization mode for a minute as they all took in the information… just in case. He couldn’t imagine anything happening in the middle of nowhere like this.

“C’mon Daddy! Let’s go see the animals!” Mar’i grabbed his hand, pulling hard to get him to go in the direction of the petting zoo. Damian tagged along wordlessly as Mar’i grabbed his other hand. He figured Damian would want to see the animals, but Damian was trying his best to look uninterested. It was failing.

“We’re going this way Timbo.” Jason grabbed Tim by the arm and started dragging him in the direction of the food tent. Tim flinched momentarily before brightening at Jason’s next words. “We can get you some coffee.”

~~~~

Mar’i led him straight to the goats. There were little containers with food to purchase for the goats. Damian had branched away silently the moment they were through the ticket booth for it. He wasn’t sure where he had gone. 

They weren’t the only ones there. A small girl, maybe Damian’s age, was feeding the goats already. She had dark black hair that looked like it had a blue tint to it pulled back into pigtails, and the biggest blue eyes he had ever seen. They radiated innocence at the moment. She was dressed in a costume as well. A red dress with white lace trim around it, and a red cape with a hood. She had a basket on her arm. Little Red Riding Hood.

“Bonjour- hi! Did you want to feed them as well?” the girl asked.

“Sure!” Mar’i reached out to grab some food from the girl, when she paused and asked, “Can I daddy?”

“Sure thing starshine.” He handed her some quarters as well for the two to share. Though he mostly stood back and took videos and pictures, he could see that the girl was good with kids.

“What’s your name?” Mar’i asked after a minute.

“Marinette. My friends sometimes call me Mari though.” She glanced over at Dick, who was observing. She was clearly getting an okay to ask for his daughter’s name. He gave a subtle nod. His daughter’s face had lit up when she heard the other girl’s nickname. “What’s yours?”

“My name’s Mar’i too!”

“That is so cool! I’ve never met another Mari before!” Marinette said back cheerfully, with as much energy as his daughter. He didn’t think anyone could rival her energy. It seemed maybe she had met her match.

“I’m Dick. Dick Grayson,” he chimed in when the two had settled down from their excitement at meeting another Mari.

The two chatted about the goats, and how funny it felt when they nibbled the food off their hands. Dick used a couple of quarters, subtly handing the food to both of them. He tried a couple of times. Their tongues really did feel weird as they scraped the palm of his hand. They were going to need a lot of hand sanitizer after this. It was amazing how quickly Mar’i had bonded with Marinette. Unusual even. Kids and animals were often decent judges of character. Maybe the innocence Dick saw in Marinette’s eyes wasn’t as temporary as he had thought. She just seemed to be a good person.

Mar’i went off to see the goat on the far side of the pen. “You’re very good with kids, Marinette,” he said, trying to strike up a conversation with the girl that had so easily enraptured his daughter.

“Oh I babysat all the time back home. I love kids. I want my own some day,” her gaze turned somewhat wistful.

“Where’s home?” He guessed either Canada, France, or somewhere else that spoke French.

“Paris. I miss it, but I really needed a change of scenery.”

There was definitely more to that, but he didn’t need to pry. He wasn’t conducting an interrogation.

“I moved around a lot as a kid before coming to Gotham. My parents and I were in the circus, and when they passed, I moved here. It’s as much a home as anything now.”

Marinette had opened her mouth to say something, when Mar’i returned. “Daddy! Daddy! Come and see!! They have ponies. And you can RIDE them!” She grabbed at his hand again.

“I’m going to go see some of the other animals. You guys have fun!” Marinette said.

Mar’i paused a moment, looking at Marinette, before rushing over and giving her a big hug. “Bye Mari! I hope we see each other again soon!” Then she went back to dragging Dick along to see the ponies, leaving Marinette behind, waving as they went.

They had almost made it to the pony rides, when a boom went off near them. They both whipped around to see a pumpkin flying through the air, exploding, spraying the area near them with pumpkin bits. That must be the pumpkin cannon they had seen on the flier. They got in line, Mar’i giggling each time the pumpkin exploded in the air. They each shot off a couple pumpkins (Dick having more fun than he would ever admit to as he laughed along with his daughter), before moving on to the next thing. A kid’s haybale maze. Parents could see over the tops easily, but the kids were able to wander around trying to find the exit.

Then it was pumpkin bowling. Dick never thought someone could have so much fun with mini pumpkins before. Then there was a corn silo filled with dried corn. They took turns burying each other in it.

The whole time was just what he needed. Some genuine time with his daughter. He probably should have nagged the others to do something together. Maybe they could do the hay ride together later.

They finally made their way over to the pony rides. Mar’i had barely gotten in line when Jason showed up. He groaned as he sat next to Dick.

“Ate too much pie. Mind if I sit with you guys a bit?”

Dick tried to stifle a laugh as Jason sat down clutching his stomach.

“At least tell me it was worth the stomachache.”

“Oh, it was. Best pie ever. Don’t tell Alfie I said that. You should go grab a piece. I can watch the kid.”

“You sure?” Dick asked.

Jason nodded. “Yeah. Timmers was still there when I left.”

“Take lots of pictures and video for me?”

“Course.”

He quickly told Mar’i that he was going to go grab them some snacks and be right back, before heading in the direction of the food tent.

As he entered, he almost ran smack into Tim.

“Hey!” Tim said, looking much more alert than when they arrived. “Try the lattes, they’re amazing.”

“I will. Where are you headed?”

“Corn maze. The map showed it as gigantic. I’m hoping I just get challenged enough in it.”

Dick laughed. It would take a lot for any of them to have a hard time in a maze like that. “Have fun.”

Tim gave a smirk and headed out.

Dick headed hungrily over to the snack table. There was one piece of pie left. One. He had promised Mar’i some. Looked like he wouldn’t get to try it after all. He grabbed the pie and some cookies for himself, before heading over to the drinks.

The pumpkin spice lattes were all gone. This really wasn’t his night. Luck was definitely not on his side. He wondered vaguely if Friday the thirteenth really was unlucky. Maybe they should have stayed home and gone another night. He grabbed two cups of apple cider that had green food dye added to it so that kids could call it witches brew instead for himself and Mar’i. It was good. Made up a bit for the lack of pie and coffee.

Dick got back in time to see Mar’i go around on the ponies one more time.

“Thanks for watching her,” he said to Jason when he got back.

“No prob.” He started fiddling with his phone, sending the photos and videos he had taken. Dick’s phone started going off with notifications of Jason’s photos. “I’m going to go check out the haunted house. See how lame it is.” He waved his hand in a 2 finger salute, and took off.

They found a bench to eat their snacks. All in all, it was a good day with his kid, even if his brothers had bailed. Mar’i was very happy. She loved her pie, and even shared a bite with him. He could definitely have more days like this.

“Can we do the story maze now?” she asked when she was done her snack.

The story maze wasn’t really a maze. From what the map said it was a path with parts of a story on it, with different activities to do, like stations. The story was about a brave pumpkin who didn’t look like the other pumpkins, but saved them all from a bad storm. Dick thought it was weird. But she wanted to go, so they did.

Mar’i had just finished the fifth station, a giant Connect4 board that had coins the size of her head, when they heard it. Screams.

He looked over at Mar’i, who instantly went into a fighting stance, scanning the area for danger. His heart broke a bit that she even knew how to do that. She shouldn’t have to.

It didn’t take long to discover the cause of the screams. Killer Croc burst through the trees at the sides of the path. He began smashing the displays apart as he made his way towards them.

“Run. Go get your uncles. Any of them,” he said quickly and quietly.

“But-”

“Go starshine. Now.” He gave her a small smile.

“O-Okay.” She ran through a thicker area of trees behind him. He knew she would use it as cover to fly up and see if she could spot her uncles.

There was whimpering off to his left. Some of the kids hadn’t run. They wouldn’t make it out in time. Killer Croc was barreling towards them. Dick gritted his teeth and put himself in front of them. Not what he wanted to do to defend himself, but necessary.

“You need to leave. Now. I’ll hold him off as best I can,” he urged a parent that had been clutching their small child, trying to look unimposing, as if that would help. They came to their senses and took off, but two somewhat older kids had just frozen in spot. Great.

Killer Croc spotted them at last. He barreled down the path towards them, a feral growl echoing through the trees.

Dick suddenly wished he had done like Jason, and chosen an outfit with a weapon. As it was, he had… nothing. Yep, nothing. He managed to use the charging crocodile man’s momentum to deflect the first hit, sending him careening into a pile of hay bales. It didn’t stop him much. He bit the hay bale in anger. He spit some hay out and growled at Dick again. This wasn’t going to be fun.

Croc lunged at him again, but Dick couldn’t dodge this time. He was right in front of the kids, and if he did, they would be his next target. So he braced himself, blocking the worst of the punch from hitting his left side of his ribcage. His arm screamed in pain, but he could tell it wasn’t broken. That was a plus at least.

Dick tried to use his speed against Croc, whirling around him and kicking him in the back of the knee. Croc was front-heavy with his giant mouth and upper body, and destabilizing his legs shouldn’t be too hard. He did stumble, giving Dick time to take up a better protective stance. He just needed to buy time until someone showed up with actual weapons. Without them, it was only a matter of time until he lost. Dick had no protective gear. No weapons. No real way to fight back. Killer Croc was far stronger than he was. He could outsmart him, sure, but that assumed he had something to work with. But this was a kids area. The most he had were the Connect4 discs.

He grabbed two of them, flinging one at the back of Killer Croc’s head, getting his attention back to him. He could see the last family with kids finally snap out of it and run. Good. Just the two kids that were alone to go. Croc turned around, and Dick threw the other disc at the crocodile man’s face. It hit him straight in his open mouth. He looked like he was choking for a second, before he bit down on the disc. It snapped in half, and he spit it out with a toothy grin. He didn’t know crocodiles could grin, but he had managed it. It was not something Dick enjoyed seeing.

Killer Croc was mad now. He grabbed Dick by the arm and threw him roughly into the hay bales. He landed against the middle of the giant stack with enough force to send them, and him, crashing to the ground. The top bales landed on top of a tractor and its trailer in a huge, echoing crash.

Dick groaned as the bottom of his legs were trapped underneath a hay bale. Damn they were heavy. Hay was falling around him like the leaves were falling off the trees on the path. It would be pretty if he wasn’t under attack and trapped.

Killer Croc stalked forward, a piece of rope unfurling from around his waist. He grabbed Dick’s arms and tied them behind his back before removing the hay bale from overtop of his legs and proceeding to hog tie Dick. If he wasn’t as flexible as he was, the position would hurt.

“May not the find jewel, but you smell like money Wayne, and if I can’t have a snack, I’ll make some cash.”

Dick struggled with his restraints as Killer Croc dragged him somewhere. Croc was right. A Wayne, even just him, would be good leverage. But why was he here at all? What possessed him to attack this far out of town? What was the jewel he was talking about?

He was just about to ask him some questions in the hope of tricking him, when his head knocked against a rock that Croc had just stepped over.

Everything went black.

~~~~

Dick woke to Tim standing over him with some smelling salts. His head ached. His side ached. What the hell was going on? He glanced around, but his head was spinning a bit.

“We need to go. Now,” Tim said in a rush. “Hurry.”

Tim yanked him to his feet and practically dragged Dick out. As they ran through the tree cover, Tim started to explain.

“The pumpkin patch has been attacked by Dr. Hugo Strange, Scarecrow, Killer Croc and Joker. Robin is the only one suited up. He’s got some strange girl with him in the clearing where they all are.” He pulled Dick through a clump of bushes. “Hugo is down. But Robin can’t take all three of them on his own, no matter how good he thinks he is.”

Tim was right. Damian was going to get himself killed. Either with arrogance on thinking he could do it alone, or to protect the girl with him.

They weaved through the rest of the trees until they hit the parking lot. The dashed to the car and pulled out their cases to suit up. Robin’s and Red Hood’s cases were already empty. Looked like Jason was somewhere out there too now. Hopefully they could hold out until Dick and Tim got there.

They got to the clearing that served as an entrance to the pumpkin patch just as a flash of light lit it up. Dick could just make out a portal closing. Shazam maybe? Why had he been here?

The Rogues were all out cold, lying on the ground in front of Robin and the girl, who seemed to be talking animatedly.

They walked up to Red Hood, who was lurking in a nearby tree cover. “What the hell happened? Why were they here? Who beat them?”

Red Hood shook his head at Nightwing and Red Robin and gave them a shrug. “No clue.”

Chapter Text

Tim and Jason snickered their way to the car. Damian’s bunny ears bounced as he walked. His cottontail swished back and forth with every step. It was hilarious. Damian didn’t seem to realize that the tail was there. Tim had superglued it on, so it wasn’t going to come off any time soon. They sat in the backseat with Mar’i so that if Damian figured it out, they would not be within hitting range.

By the time they arrived at the pumpkin patch, Tim was half asleep. He had definitely overdone it at work that week.

“We’re going this way Timbo,” Jason said as he grabbed Tim’s arm.

Tim automatically flinched at the rough touch from Jason, a leftover reaction from their not-so-great past. He knew it was behind them, but he couldn’t resist the automatic reactions when he was tired. “We can get you some coffee.” Tim heard ‘coffee’ and blindly followed Jason to a nearby tent.

Tim liked this plan. Coffee, plus getting away from Damian before he realized Tim had glued a bunny tail to his shirt. More than a few people had stared at Damian in his regular clothes with pink fuzzy ears and tail. He didn’t look forward to when he found out, but it was worth it right now. Tim took a few pictures of their retreating figures. Perfect blackmail for later.

Inside, a pie eating contest was going on. They watched, Tim cringing at the pie smeared over their faces, as the contestants gorged themselves on far too much pie. Jason looked excited.

“We should enter the next round,” he said with a grin. “Free pie.”

Tim didn’t feel like pointing out that money was not really an issue. Jason’s past made food a tense subject in a way that Tim knew he would never understand. Not knowing where your next meal came from took its toll.

“I think I’d rather do the corn maze…” he hinted as he tried to pry himself away from the entry table Jason was steering them towards.

“Oh c’mon Timbo, at least stick around to watch me beat all their asses.” A few parents glared at Jason. He actually looked a bit sheepish. “I mean, I’ll kick their tooshies.”

He gestured to the other people currently competing. “I can do better than all of them.” He signed up for the last round of the day.

The winner was raising their hands in success as pie dribbled down his chin. Yeah, he didn’t want to watch that. He would watch Jason because he had to, but that was definitely enough. They watched as the organizers set up the table again. There was pie all over.

“I think I’m going to go get that coffee now…” Tim said as he glanced back at the contestants lining up with Jason. “I’ll cheer you on from over there.” He gave Jason an awkward thumbs up when he sat down in his spot. Tim took a picture of Jason at his spot before retreating. He had a huge grin on his face.

He glanced around looking for the refreshments. Some kids were carving pumpkins a few tables over. He caught the sight of some familiar bunny ears at the farthest table, took a quick picture, and ducked to the other side of the table, so Damian wouldn’t be able to see his face if he turned around. Just outside, visible through the doorway, there was pumpkin bowling with mini pumpkins.

The refreshments table was thankfully far enough away that he could willingly ignore the pie eating contestants if he wanted, but close enough that he could watch Jason during his turn. It was full of pie (which now made Tim’s stomach churn at the thought), cookies, pumpkin spice lattes and apple cider. You could also get hot dogs and other kid approved snacks.

A girl dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, basket and all, was already at the table. She grabbed a stack of cookies and placed them in the basket. That was a lot of cookies for one person. Tim gave her an odd look. He paid for a coffee and a cookie. The girl joined him over by the coffee a few moments later. The attendant handed them each a coffee.

“Mmm…” the girl said after her first sip. “Thank you.” She had a slight accent.

Tim took a sip. It was good. Just what he needed right now. “It is good.”

There was an announcement that the next competition would start in one minute.

“This is just what I needed.” She took a few more sips and then a bite of her cookie. “Not as good as mine, but it’ll do.”

“Oh, do you bake?” he asked randomly. Why did he even talk to her? He never talked to strangers. And light conversation? Maybe the latte was magic and making him more social. Hah.

“Yes, but it’s more of a hobby now, I suppose. My parents own a bakery back home.” She took another sip of coffee. “But there’s nothing like this there. It’s odd, but good.”

“I can’t bake to save my life. But I live off coffee.”

She giggled. “Me too. So if you don’t bake, what do you do for fun? Photography?” She peered at the camera around his neck.

“Actually, yeah. I like to skateboard too, but I never seem to find the time these days.”

The contest began, and Jason dived headfirst into the pie. Tim started taking pictures.

“Know one of them?” she asked curiously.

“Yeah, my brother is up competing.” He pointed to Jason, who’s entire face was shoved into a pie plate. “Oh, damn, I’m so rude. Tim. Tim Drake,” he said as he put his camera down.

She didn’t seem to know who he was, so she likely hadn’t been in Gotham that long. She shook his hand. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“Du pain? Like bread?”

She sighed. “Unfortunately. Especially since my father and grandfather are bread makers. The puns…”

He tried really hard not to laugh at the forlorn look on her face. “I can imagine. I don’t exactly get off easy with ‘Drake.’ The duck and dragon jokes can be a bit much.”

“So which are you? A duck, or a dragon?” she teased with a smirk.

He smiled back. “Both.”

Jason jumped up, yelling “Yes!”

“We have a winner!” the announcer said to the room.

Tim snapped some more pictures of Jason, his arms up in victory. Him wiping his face off and getting his ribbon.

“I better go, maybe I’ll see you around, Bread.”

“I’m sure you will. Later, Duckie.” She waved bye before heading off to the carving area.

Tim went to congratulate Jason for winning. “Good job, man.”

“Thanks, Timmers! Ugh, I’m so full though.”

“Maybe you should get a drink. The lattes are pretty good.”

“Yeah yeah, mom, I will.” He fiddled with the ribbon, pinning it to his flannel shirt.

“I think I’m going to check the corn maze out, now that you’ve stuffed your face. Do you want to come?” Tim asked. It might be fun to have someone along. They could race to see who got to the end first.

“Nah. I’m going to go clean up properly and then check out the haunted house. You can join me if you want.”

“I think we’ve got enough horrors in our lives without seeking it out, thanks.”

Jason shrugged. “Okay then. See ya round, Timbo.”

Tim went and grabbed another latte before heading out. He saw the attendant take out some paper and pen as he fiddled with the lid of his cup. Just as he was leaving, he saw Dick entering.

“Hey!” Tim said. “Try the lattes, they’re amazing.”

“I will. Where are you headed?”

“Corn maze. The map showed it as gigantic. I’m hoping I just get challenged enough in it.”

Dick laughed. “Have fun.”

He headed out towards the maze. In the distance he saw Jason and Mar’i. Jason was holding his stomach as he watched Mar’i go around and around on the horses. He really shouldn’t have eaten so much. He was surprised Jason beat him out though. Seemed getting his coffee took longer than he thought. He took a couple of pictures of them as he walked by.

~~~~

Tim entered the maze. It was gigantic. He made scrapes in the ground at the side of the maze path with his boot to mark which ways he had gone. He knew roughly which way the exit was, but wasn’t positive, as it wasn’t marked clearly on the pumpkin patch map.

He must have been in there for at least half an hour before he figured that he would be about a third to halfway through the maze. He had severely underestimated the size of the corn field. It was not drawn to scale on that map.

He had just marked yet another scrape marking a left turn at a junction when he heard screams. People were attacking a huge group just down the path from him. They all had syringes that they were stabbing people with. The serum, once injected, made the people stop fighting back, and then grab a syringe themselves to attack someone else, helping the others to pin people down. Great. Mindless zombie horde. Wait- mind control serum. But that would mean Dr. Hugo Strange was around. Wasn’t he in jail?

One of Hugo’s zombie minions tried to attack Tim. He managed to knock the vial out of the woman’s hand and smash it on the ground. It was muddy though, and took an extra stomp. Then he turned to the woman. Her eyes were blank. He tackled her and zip tied her arms together, before turning to the horde attacking the ever-shrinking group before him.

He prioritized breaking the vials to avoid more being made. It was hard. He had to avoid hurting them as much as possible. It resulted in Tim taking a few hits that he would not have otherwise had. He was definitely going to feel it in the morning. One of them had a strong arm, and had punched him right in the back near his shoulder blade. That one hurt. He whipped around and hit him hard him on the side of the neck, knocking the man out cold. Oops. One more down.

The few that were not mind controlled managed to slip away during the fight, which was really the best Tim could hope for at this point. He punched one guy in the gut, before knocking him down with a sweep of his legs. He got him zip tied. That was the biggest minion out of the way. One woman was so tiny, he simply grabbed her wrists and pulled them behind her back, zip tying her to one of the others he had taken down earlier. The small child he simply picked up and zip tied to the woman. The little girl managed to get in a good kick to his groin while she struggled in his arms. Yep, that one hurt. He would rather take the big guy punching his back a few more times. He was just beginning to think he had it under control without anyone getting seriously hurt (he only had two more to zip tie, and they were both teens that clearly didn’t know how to fight), when several more of Hugo’s zombies came around the corner.

He could handle five. If he didn’t need to worry about hurting them, he could have handled twice that. But twice that as mind-controlled civilians?

Nope.

Tim ran. Unfortunately, he ran blindly. He didn’t know where the exit was. He didn’t know the maze like he did Gotham streets. He took a few random turns in the direction he thought the exit was.

He ran until he had to make a choice. Left or right. He chose right.

It was the wrong choice. A dead end.

They surrounded him. What was he going to do now? They all had vials of serum.

Then he remembered. He was in a CORN maze. He could just walk through the damn stalks. He wasn’t at a dead end at all.

He heard a giant crash in the distance. What the hell was that? He decided to head in the direction of the crash. It was more likely to be the correct way than the silence coming from the other directions. He turned and ran blindly towards the sound, hoping it would lead to the entrance.

He had run through several rows of stalks, sometimes intersecting with the maze, when he slammed straight into someone, knocking them both to the ground.

He lifted himself up, ready to apologize, when he saw.

Dr. Hugo Strange.

He had run straight into the mind controlling villain himself. Tim recovered from the shock first, and went to punch Hugo. He needed to restrain him and get the antidotes. Hugo whipped out a syringe, attempting to inject Tim with it. Tim grabbed the arm with the vial, pushing it away from himself. Hugo fought back, and Tim pushed a bit harder. Hugo’s arm collapsed under the weight Tim had been pushing down on him, and the syringe plunged into Hugo’s neck instead of Tim’s. Tim decided to go with it, injecting the serum.

Hugo went limp. Wait – it was mind control serum. Was Hugo waiting for instructions?

“Hugo…” he started. Hugo perked up, clearly waiting. Huh. So it worked. “Call back your mindless zombies to receive antidotes at the entrance to the park. They are not to harm anyone they come across.”

It must have worked, because suddenly the horde that had been chasing him turned and walked calmly to the exit. At least he knew which way to go now.

He punched Hugo once, more out of frustration than anything. He was sore and irritable. Unfortunately, it knocked him out cold. He was going to regret that punch…

Tim pulled out his phone and called the cops to come to the pumpkin patch. It would take them a bit longer as the patch was outside of town. Apparently, someone had already called units out to the patch already, but they would send a few additional units and ambulances to help with the antidotes.

Tim sighed and zip tied the man and began to drag him to the park entrance.

~~~~

It took what felt like forever. It was muddy as hell, and it made dragging him worse. By the time they finally reached the entrance, Hugo was covered in so much mud, he was barely recognizable. Knocking the man out had definitely been a bad idea.

Tim groaned as he put Hugo down against a tree at the maze entrance. He zip tied the man to the trunk. It wouldn’t hold him long if he were awake, but it was better than nothing. Because something was definitely wrong. There were no happy giggles of children. No pumpkin cannon going off regularly. It was silent.

He crept around a few more trees towards the kids’ area. In the clearing where the main entrance was, was the Joker, Killer Croc and Scarecrow on one side. What the hell? Why were they all working together? Why on earth would they be here? How had Joker gotten them all to work together? What the hell could they want at a damn pumpkin patch in the middle of nowhere?

Before he got an answer, he heard some rustling in the bushes near him. Joker henchmen. Tim hid behind the trunk. As one came by on patrol, Tim knocked him out from behind, disassembling the gun and throwing the bullets in a mud puddle.

The three villains were clearly arguing about something. From Tim’s new position, he could see that none of them were happy. But also visible now, was Damian, in his Robin gear, arguing with some girl on the other side of the field. She was dressed in red and black spotted spandex. Neither group seemed to be paying the other any attention. It was… weird. Damian and the girl were practically nose-to-nose yelling at each other. Joker was flinging his arms about emphatically as he ranted. He couldn’t make out anything that was being said. But what also became evident with his new position, was the body at the side of the clearing, no more than fifty feet away.

Dick. Out cold, hog tied, clearly dragged there based on the tracks in the ground.

He slinked through the trees to get to him, and dragged him back into the cover of the trees.

Tim was really happy now that he had chosen this outfit. Not only did he have zip ties and his collapsible bow staff on him, but also a knife, and basic medical supplies. The trench coat with excessively large pockets had been a good idea. He took out some smelling salts from the medical pouch.

Dick looked horribly disoriented as he came to, but they didn’t have time. Whatever the hell was happening in the clearing, it would be over soon, and Damian would have Joker, Scarecrow, Killer Croc, and however many more henchmen were in the trees to contend with.

“We need to go. Now,” Tim said. They really needed to get ready and help Damian. “Hurry.” He yanked Dick unceremoniously to his feet and dragged him through the kids’ zone and around to the car, explaining what little he knew as he went.

They reached the car to see that not only Damian, but Jason as well had suited up. They hadn’t seen him, but at least Damian wasn’t out there alone anymore.

They arrived back, ready to fight, just to see a bright orb of light from one of Shazam’s portals closing in a flash of lightning, with all the Rogues out cold. Robin was glaring at the portal. What the hell had they missed?

They spotted Red Hood in the tree cover a few meters away, and went over to him.

“What the hell happened? Why were they here? Who beat them?” Nightwing asked.

“No clue.”

Chapter Text

Jason wasn’t terribly excited about going to a pumpkin patch for the night. Bullying Damian into a costume was what Jason expected to be the highlight of his night. And it was fun. But getting there and seeing that there was a pie eating contest made his night.

Free pie! As much as he could eat, as quick as he could eat it. He dragged Tim with him to cheer him on and to get the guy some coffee. He looked more dead on his feet then Jason had coming out of the grave. The guy worked way too hard for Bruce.

“We should enter the next round,” he said with a grin. “Free pie.”

But Tim wasn’t interested. Actually, he looked a little green staring at the current round. They watched the previous contestants finish their round and clean up the mess. Jason knew he had this in the bag. He was the biggest in line and definitely the most active. He hadn’t had lunch. He was really hungry.

“Oh c’mon Timbo, at least stick around to watch me beat all their asses.” A few parents glared at Jason. Oops. Right. Kids around. “I mean, I’ll kick their tooshies.” The parents rolled their eyes at him and he heard them trying to tell their kids not to use the bad words. He would have laughed if it had happened to someone else. “I can do better than all of them.”

He signed up for the last round of the day alone. Tim was going to stick around to watch though, and that was good enough for him. Jason took his spot at the table.

“The pie eating contest will begin in five minutes!” an announcer said. Jason took a small sip of the water at his spot.

He grinned at the pies set in front of him. This was going to be so awesome.

“On your marks. Get set. Eat!”

His first bite was amazing. So, so good. He would have sat and savoured it if he had time. Instead he shoved in another bite. And another.

Pie… So… much… pie…

“Time!” the announcer called.

“We have a winner! With four pies, our winner! Jason Todd everybody!”

“Woo!” he shouted in glory, standing up and raising his hands in the air. His stomach protested the motion, but he continued on anyways.

He wiped off his face on the towel they offered, and went up to get his ribbon. He saw Tim cheering him on, taking his picture, and shot him a big grin.

“Good job, man,” Tim said after he broke through the crowd to get to him.

“Thanks, Timmers! Ugh, I’m so full though.” His stomach was still protesting standing.

“Maybe you should get a drink. The lattes are pretty good.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Yeah yeah, mom, I will.” He fiddled with the ribbon, pinning it to his flannel shirt.

“I think I’m going to check the corn maze out, now that you’ve stuffed your face. Do you want to come?”

“Nah. I’m going to go clean up properly and then check out the haunted house. You can join me if you want.” He could feel the pie on his chin and he knew he had some in his hair.

“I think we’ve got enough horrors in our lives without seeking it out, thanks.”

Jason shrugged. That was definitely true. Their lives were filled with more horrors than most experienced in a lifetime. It was why Jason wanted to go. It made a mockery of it all. It was going to be hilarious. “Okay then. See ya round, Timbo.”

He washed up and headed in the direction of the haunted house, but his stomach had started to really churn now. He needed to sit down. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea after all. Too much pie.

He saw Dick and Mar’i over by the pony rides, and decided it would be a good place to sit down for a bit. Mar’i was standing in line as he sat down next to Dick.

“Ate too much pie. Mind if I sit with you guys a bit?”

Dick let out a quickly stifled laugh. Jason clutched his stomach. “At least tell me it was worth the stomachache.”

“Oh, it was. Best pie ever.” He paused a moment, “Don’t tell Alfie I said that. You should go grab a piece. I can watch the kid.”

“You sure?” Dick asked.

Jason nodded. “Yeah. Timmers was still there when I left.”

“Take lots of pictures and video for me?”

“Course.”

Jason took out his phone and started videoing Mar’i as she got on her helmet, was helped onto a horse, and went around in circles. She waved to Jason as she went around.

“Hey Uncle Jay! Did you wanna come too this time?!” she asked excitedly when she had finished her turn.

“Hah, sorry kiddo, but the little ponies can't take adult weight.” She pouted. “But I will gladly watch you go around as many times as you want.” He gave her some money for additional rounds. Apparently the pony rides weren’t part of the entrance fee.

He took more pictures and videos than he would normally, knowing Dick would appreciate it. His stomach settled a bit sitting down, and Mar’i had fun while Dick got a break.

“Thanks for watching her,” Dick said to Jason as he sat back down. He had a piece of pie and two apple ciders in hand.  

“No prob.” He quickly sent Dick the stuff he took. “I’m going to go check out the haunted house. See how lame it is.” He waved his hand in a 2 finger salute, and took off.

There was a girl at the haunted house entrance, sitting on the banister. Her legs were swinging back and forth as she fiddled with the lace on her skirt. She was dressed as Little Red Riding Hood.

“Hey Red Hood,” he said, laughing at his own joke. “What’re you doin’ out here? Why don’t you go in?”

The girl looked up at him and gave a smirk. “I think I’m missing the helmet for that outfit.” The girl had some sass. “You could pull it off nicely though.”

He froze involuntarily for a moment before regaining his composure. It had been a while since someone had connected him with Red Hood, even as a joke. It had caught him off guard. Even if he had set himself up for it.

“Me? That asshole? No way. I’m way cooler than him,” he tried to cover his tracks.

“Red Hood and the rest of the vigilantes here are out there risking their lives to protect the city. How can you say something so callous?! They protect you. Me. Everyone. They’re heroes. Every one of them,” she reprimanded him. She had switched on a dime. Apparently insulting heroes was a big no for her, even in jest. Her face was turning red as her hood.

He raised his arms in surrender. “Sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. It was just a joke. Promise. I’ve met the dude. He really wouldn’t have minded.”

She deflated a bit.

“So… why are you sitting out here?” he tried again.

“Oh… I- I don’t like scary things, like horror movies and haunted houses and stuff,” she stammered. “I’m working up the courage to go in.”

“Do you want me to go with you?” he asked. She shook her head no. “You sure? I can protect you from the things that go bump in the night.”

“It’s okay, really. Thank you for the offer though!”

He looked at her incredulously. “So if you don’t want to go in and you’re scared, why the hell are you here?”

“My friend is going to get me a ticket. I didn’t buy one for the haunted house.”

“Why not?” The package deal was much cheaper. It wasn’t logical. Plus the lineups by the ticket booth were insane right now. Her friend would be missing for a while.

“Well I didn’t want to go…” she trailed off. He didn’t like it. Her friend was dragging her through it even though she was scared. “but I promised him I would go. So I will.”

“It can't be that important for you to go.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But I’m happy to go if it makes him happy. Family and friends are everything to me. I’ll do anything for them.” She added quietly, but he heard her anyways, “I’d die for them.” She continued a bit louder, “If me being scared for a bit makes their day, I’ll do it, gladly.”

He frowned at her. “What’s so scary about a bunch of Halloween decorations in the dark anyway?”

“Oh, it’s not the decorations themselves. My mind is very… creative. It will come up with some very interesting nightmares tonight.”

“You sure it’s worth it?”

“Mhmm!” she replied brightly. “I have sleep issues as it is. One more nightmare won't hurt. I usually knit when I can't sleep, so maybe I’ll finish that project I was working on tonight. Nothing coffee won't fix.”

“Heh, that sounds like one of my brothers – total coffee addict.” The girl gave him a bit of a funny look, but he brushed it off.

“So the knitting. Hobby?”

“Yeah! I even wanted to be the knitting fairy when I was a kid. My Grandma even calls me her little fairy.”

“Cute. Well, I’m going to head in now then. Have fun Pixie,” he played off her knitting fairy dream.

“Good luck,” she said with a smirk. Odd thing to say for a haunted house. Maybe it was because she was foreign. Though she hadn’t had any trouble with the rest of her English. “Oh, and it’s Marinette.”

“Oops. Jason Todd.”

“Nice to meet you Jason,” she grinned. This girl was way too nice for her own good. It may have worked in whatever country she was from, but in Gotham it would see her hurt, or worse. Maybe Red Hood should keep an eye on her.

But for now, he had a haunted house to be bored in. “You too Pixie. Later!”

It only took the first room for Jason to know that he was right. For some reason the first room was a montage to old scary movies. A vampire, werewolf and a ghost in terrible poses around the room. The next room was decorated only moderately better. A giant spider and some spider webs hanging from the ceiling.

By the time Jason hit the third room, he’d had enough. It was supposed to be a death scene, with blood splattered across the room. But the body position made no sense for the blood spatter. Frowning, he took the body and moved it across the room and positioned it hanging off the chair. Much better.

The next room had what was supposed to be a jump scare, but the timing was off on the ghoul dropping down, and it dropped when you were still entering the room.  With the lack of lighting, it was barely visible, and certainly not as in-your-face as they were going for. He grabbed an empty box that had been used as a prop, and got up to the ceiling, removing the screws with the tip of his axe. At least the damn thing came in handy for something. He moved the prop to in front of the door and tried it again. This time, the ghoul popped out right in the person’s face. It still wasn’t very realistic, but at least the surprise was better.

There were a few dark hallways and closets he really didn’t find a need to mess with, including one that had skeletons in it. There were moans and clanks that he supposed were ‘spooky’ sound effects. He couldn’t really get to the sound effects to fix those, so it would have to be good enough.

He reached the end, and was met by a second host. She gave him a piece of candy for his troubles. It wasn’t his favourite, so he handed it off to the first kid he saw. Besides, now that he was down a distraction, he realized that his stomach was feeling awful. He ran for the washroom, trying desperately not to puke.

~~~~

Yep, the pie eating contest definitely hadn’t been a good idea. There was no way he was going to admit that to anyone – ever – but he got his ribbon, and he felt proud, despite puking his guts out. He felt better now, regardless. He washed himself off and headed out of the bathroom.

It took him a moment to register the change in atmosphere. Screams. Screams coming from the haunted house beside the bathroom. While not totally abnormal to hear a scream there, they sound more scared than he would expect. And there were a lot. All of them sounded terrified. There were also a few farther away screams sounding off. How the hell had he not heard this inside the bathroom?

Something had gone horribly wrong. He decided to get changed before finding out what the trouble was. He could do more as Red Hood than he could as Jason. He ran to the car as fast as he could. Inside the car, Damian’s case was already open. Something was jammed inside with his clothes, but he didn’t have time to stop and snoop.

He had just gotten changed when Mar’i ran over to him.

“Killer Croc is attacking the kid’s maze! Daddy was fighting him to give everyone time to escape! Please, you need to help!” she cried out.

Damn. Killer Croc – and Dick had no weapons on him. He would be lucky if he found him in one piece at this point. He had thought the screams were coming from the haunted house though. Maybe Croc had made it to there by the time Mar’i found him.

He looked around, no one was within earshot of them. “Go to the manor kid. Tell Alfred what happened. Ask him to get B, okay? I promise, I’ll take care of this. I’ll go find your dad.”

“Thank you!” She gave him a big hug. He watched her duck back into the trees and fly away.

He heard a crash nearby. Was Dick fighting? Did they really make it to the haunted house since the kid had left them? He ran into the haunted house to find it full of fear gas. People were screaming and crying out, unable to see the reality before them. He was suddenly very glad that his suit had a gas mask built into it, or he would have been down for the count before he figured out what was going on. 

He checked to see if there were enemies inside. Scarecrow was nowhere to be seen. He must have moved on. He began pulling the people out, noting that Marinette wasn’t among them. She must have gone through already. One thing to be thankful for at least.

He hurried as much as he could. He still needed to find Killer Croc and Dickie bird. He hopped over the fence to get to the kid’s zone faster, rather than going through the main entrance and drawing attention. Killer Croc wasn’t there, but a trail was. He decided quickly to follow it.

It led to the clearing where the main entrance area was for the activities and where you buy the tickets. He didn’t see Dick right away, but he did see Joker’s men. He had the place surrounded. He quickly put a silencer on his gun, and began to dodge through the tree cover, either shooting or knocking out the men. He had taken out eight patrolmen when he ran across a funny sight. A few of the men had been taken out already. Four were just knocked out cold, lumps forming on their temples. Whoever had done it hadn’t been gentle. A fifth was tied to a tree not far away. Someone else was here, helping. He figured it had to be one of his brothers. The lumps were certainly more Damian’s style. There were some spots of blood, but he didn’t know who it belonged to. He hoped it wasn’t his brother's.

He continued past them into the weirdest scene ever. The Joker, Croc and Scarecrow on one side of the clearing. Damian, dressed as Robin, and some chick in a skintight costume on the other side. Both sides were bickering, ignoring each other. Dick was hog tied between the groups, out cold. What the fuck?

He could hear a few random words being yelled. He stopped what he was doing to just watch the shitshow unfold.

He could make out her scream “…traffic light!” at Damian. Damian yelled back “…walking target practice!” a few moments later.

The other side was faring no better, Joker was screaming at the other two, “Why haven’t you found it yet?!”

In the midst of the yelling and screaming, Jason saw Tim duck out of the bushes and grab Dick, dragging him out of the area. Well, one less thing to worry about.

He watched in complete confusion as Scarecrow went forward to Damian and the girl, and the girl threw something out (a rope dart maybe? He was at a bad angle to see.) to hit him in the face without even looking, screaming that, “It is RUDE to interrupt, thank you very much!!” Scarecrow dropped to the ground like the sack on his head.

Damian wasn’t any better. He threw a couple of batarangs at two of Joker’s henchmen that were trying to sneak up behind the girl. He hadn’t even aimed for non-lethal points. He had just chucked them out in anger. One hit a gunman’s wrist, slicing the artery and tendons, making him drop the gun. He pressed his hand up against the cut and ran away quickly. The other got stabbed in the shoulder. It must have hit the tendon or rotator cuff, because his arm went completely limp. He followed quickly behind his counterpart. They would definitely need medical attention.

He was about to go over and help out when he saw Killer Croc go stampeding up to them and moved to get a better shot coming from behind him and Joker.

He didn’t see what happened as it was so fast. He had ducked behind another tree to change the angle of his shot, and now the girl’s weapon, which this time Jason could see was a yoyo – a fucking YOYO – was wrapped around the crocodile man. As if that would work. He would break free instantly.

But… it held. His arms and legs pinned to his body, he fell forward right onto his face, unable to get up because he was so front heavy. Who the hell was this girl?

What the actual fuck was going on? The two didn’t even stop arguing the whole time. They both looked livid, but had these weird smirks on their faces. Were they having FUN arguing in the middle of a multiple Rogue fight?!

Joker was sneaking up behind Damian with his crowbar raised. Jason decided to say ‘fuck it’ and get involved now. One Robin death at the hands of Joker was enough. He shot the fucker in the side of the head with his rubber bullets before he could whack Damian or his… friend. He went down.

Jason went and shot Killer Croc, who was still lying motionless trapped in the weird yoyo, with a full series of tranquilizers – enough to knock out an elephant – so that the girl could have her yoyo back. She smiled at him and said thanks. She seemed to know who he was.

“I'm Ladybug,” she said in response to his confused silence. That name didn’t help any. He hadn’t heard of a hero named Ladybug before.

“Nice to meet you. Good, uhm, yoyo work back there.” It was awkward. He had no clue what was going on. So he went back to the tree cover and started zip tying the guys that were in the trees that he hadn’t had the chance to take care of earlier. He could see Damian do the same with the guys in the clearing.

He had just reached the farthest one when Black Adam appeared in the clearing.

Fuck. They didn’t have anyone here who could take him out. Why the fuck was he here? Billy wasn’t around. He had no reason to be in some damn pumpkin patch in the middle of nowhere. Like Joker and the other Rogues. What the hell was going on to draw them all here? It was ridiculous. He escaped back a bit more so that he wouldn’t be heard and went to use his comm to ask the Bat to drag someone in, or call in a favour to help, or something, when the tiny spotted chick took him out with some spotted object that she definitely hadn’t had a few moments ago. He saw Billy Batson, as Shazam, step out of one of his overly ostentatious portals and take away Black Adam.

Now he was more confused than ever.

Nightwing and Red Robin appeared beside him moments after the portal closed, asking what the hell had happened. But he… he had no answer for them. He had no clue himself.

Chapter Text

Damian felt like an idiot. The stupid pink bunny ears bounced as he walked. He could feel it. It was completely embarrassing. He knew if he took them off he would get tackled again and forced into something even more ridiculous. So he let it be, deciding that he would own it as he stepped into the pumpkin patch. He held his head high, showing them that it didn’t bother him, even if it really did. He would not let them win.

Mar’i wanted to go to the petting zoo. Damian figured there wouldn’t be much else to do except the haunted house (which he had little expectation for) and the corn maze that would likely be horribly muddy. He would do it last so that he would not be soaked in mud the whole time. Plan in mind, he allowed himself to be dragged along to see the animals.

Mar’i was excessively enthusiastic to see the goats. Damian decided to peel off and be alone, so he headed off in the opposite direction before he could be stopped. He looked at the sign, and decided that the birds were the best bet. It turned out to be chickens and turkeys. It made sense considering any other time of the year this place was a giant farm.

He paid for some seed out of one of those old gumball dispensers and sat on a bench feeding them. Why did he have to come at all if they were just going to split up the first second they got there? Why couldn’t he have just stayed home? Why couldn’t he have just gone on patrol with Father?

Though he enjoyed the birds, he had not brought along his sketchbook. He tried his best to memorize the scene so that he could draw it later. It didn’t take him long to run out of seed.

Deciding it was probably safe now, he moved on to the larger animals again. He found himself in front of the cows after wandering for a few minutes. He fed them a bit, and pet them over the rails of the wooden fence. Petting them made him remember that he should give Batcow an extra treat when he got home.

He wasn’t there long before a short girl around his age came up and started petting the other cow in the enclosure.

“Hi!” she said. “Oh I just love these big guys, don’t you?”

Someone else who loved cows? It wasn’t the most common animal to like. “You like cows?” he asked, the curiosity getting the better of him.

“Yes! I mean, look at their adorable noses!”

“So you love cows?” he clarified his question. He was having trouble believing it. Was she sucking up to him because of who he was?

“Oh, well I like all animals, but the cows are super cute. I really want to get a hamster as a pet. I haven’t had a chance yet though.”

“I actually have a wide variety of pets at home, including a cow.”

She finally turned to look at him, her face finally unhidden from the red hood over her head. Her porcelain skin was decorated with a smattering of freckles under her eyes. Huge, unforgettable blue eyes. They radiated her excitement and a sense of innocence he had never seen in Gotham. Like no matter what the world threw at her, that life was going to be okay. Her smile shone like the sun, and, unbidden, he felt his mouth form a small smile in return. She was wearing her hair in low pigtails that peeked out from the hood a bit. It suited her costume, Little Red Riding Hood. He wasn’t one for the emotional attachments that went along with physical attraction (he had been trained that they were a vulnerability to be exploited when possible after all), but he could not deny that the girl was gorgeous.

“You have your own COW?! Oh my gosh, you’re so lucky! I couldn’t have a pet before. But now that I’ve moved in with my uncle, he said I could get a pet! Maybe a cat. No- a dog! My favourites are hamsters though. I definitely am going to get a hamster. I’m going to name it – OH! What’s your cow’s name?!”

She was very energetic. Like that squirrel on the show Hoodwinked that Dick had made them watch with Mar’i last week when it drank too much coffee. She flitted around and talked really fast, despite English clearly not being her first language.

“Batcow…” He suddenly was not thrilled with ten-year-old Damian’s naming abilities. Seemed he took after his family for that. “It has a bat shape on it’s forehead…” He cringed.

“Oh that’s so cute! Like the local vigilantes too!”

She seemed eager to talk to someone. He wasn’t entirely sure what to say, so he started spouting off cow facts and pet care advice. She listened intently, absorbing everything. She asked a few questions on occasion, and Damian could tell she was serious. It ended up being the best non-familial conversation he had had in a long time. Despite her energy level, she was notably less irritating than Kent or the people he had met during his formal education, such as Mizoguchi.

“Oh I wish I had brought something to write all this advice down on! I’m usually so good about bringing my sketchbook with me too…”

“You draw?” he found himself asking.

“Actually, I design, but I love to draw things that inspire me and my designs as well. What about you?”

“I tend to draw realism, though I do enjoy manga.”

“My friends actually made their own comic book based off the local hero, Ladybug. It was really good. You should check it out. Oh… but it’s in French.”

“I am fluent in French, among other languages,” he responded in perfect French.

“I was thinking of grabbing a snack and a drink. Did you want to come with me? I could show you the comic while we eat.”

She was inviting him somewhere? She did seem a bit nervous.

“Oh, I’m Marinette by the way. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

She held out her hand. He looked at it hesitantly. This is where it would all fall apart. Where she would run for the hills because of his name, or would suddenly become a gold digger after his money. May as well get it over with…

He took her hand and shook it. “Damian Wayne.”

“Nice to meet you, Damian! Did you want to grab those snacks with me?”

“Uh… sure.”

She didn’t recognize his name. She couldn’t have; she hadn’t reacted at all. She must not have been in Gotham long. Either that or she really didn’t care, which Damian found highly unlikely. Either way, Damian found himself feeling relieved. As much as he appreciated his status and the perks that came along with it, both as an Al Ghul and as a Wayne, and as much as he lorded it over his adoptive siblings, he was appreciative of people like Kent who treated him like a person. Not that he would ever tell Kent that he appreciated him for treating him like everyone else.

They walked to the covered area where the refreshments were. He saw Todd and Drake over by the pie eating contest, waiting their turn. He turned away as quickly as he could. He glanced around the room for some cover.

The pumpkin carving. Perfect. He could carve the image of the turkey rather than draw it. That would work.

“I’m going to go carve while you get your food.” He pointed to an empty seat in the corner, out of sight of his brothers.

“Okay – are you sure you don’t want me to get you anything? A drink?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for asking,” he remembered to add politely.

She headed over to the refreshments table, and he headed over to grab a suitable pumpkin. He heard the announcer indicate the contest was about to begin. Marinette must have been distracted by the contest. He doubted if she would come back. That was fine. He was okay with spending the time here alone.

He settled in to carve, and had the outline and the major details carved in, when Todd was announced the winner.

She arrived a few moments later at the table, coffee in hand. She sat down and looked at his work. “Wow! You’re amazing!”

He would deny it to his grave that he blushed at the compliment.

She pulled out an apple cider from her basket and a cookie, and handed them to him. “Just in case you changed your mind,” she said with a smile.

He took it gratefully. He didn’t want to be rude. Plus, he had become thirsty while he had been carving.

She pulled up the comic and leaned over to show it to him. It seemed decent. “Would you send that to me?”

“Sure!” She got the link ready to send in a text, then paused. “I… don’t have your number.”

“Right.” He took the phone from her and entered it in, hitting send. His phone chimed a moment later.

Then he realized what he had done. He had just given his number to someone who was essentially a complete stranger. He hadn’t even run a background check. What was he thinking? He supposed he could always block her or change his number if she leaked it to the press or online.

She sat and watched him finish carving while she drank her latte and ate a few cookies.

“So where did you want to go next?” she asked as he finished up. He was reviewing his turkey carving. It looked adequate enough for the medium it was in.

He stated, “I was going to go to the haunted house next, followed by the corn maze.”

“Did… did you want some company?” she asked quietly. She had a bit of a blush on her face. Her voice seemed really unsure for the first time that day. She was definitely nervous. Why?

“I suppose company would make it more enjoyable. I am not expecting the haunted house to be very good.”

“I promise to make it as enjoyable as possible!”

He sincerely doubted that. They walked over to the haunted house, and Marinette attempted to pay for her admission with the ticket taker.

“Sorry, love, we only take tickets here. You’ll have to go get a ticket from the main booth.”

Seriously? He understood how they didn’t want the ticket takers to have to handle a lot of money, but the odd person couldn’t really be that big of a deal.

She pouted, her lip turning to a frown. “Sorry Damian, I guess I won't be joining you after all.”

It was somehow worse than Mar’i’s pout. He caved immediately. What was with girls named Mari being able to sway him into doing things he didn’t want to do? “Nonsense. I’ll just go get you a ticket. Stay there. It won't take long.”

He could hear her attempts at protesting, but he ignored them and walked away to get her ticket, leaving her at the haunted house. The last thing he heard before heading out of earshot was the attendant saying, “That was awful sweet of your boyfriend,” and Marinette frantically stating “Oh, No! He’s not my boyfriend…”

He was surprised how much that bothered him.

Damian regretted this decision immediately upon reaching the ticket booth. The lineup was huge. There was only one cashier, and they were horribly incompetent.

He couldn’t understand why he was bothering. Why was he wasting his time on her standing in this damn line? He should just ditch her and go by himself. He normally didn’t put this much energy into his relationships with anyone. The closest was probably Kent, but he didn’t know her well enough to label her as a friend. Potential friend? He was acting like he had known her for quite some time, yet it didn’t feel like the kind of friendship he had with Jon Kent. She was just a hyperactive girl who liked animals and drawing. She was just a normal girl with a normal life. There was no place for her in his crazy life. And yet… he stood in line for her, all so he could spend some more time with her, and not be alone for once, with someone who didn’t nag him, or tease him. Someone that wasn’t disappointed in him, or made him feel like he wasn’t good enough. She didn’t have any expectations for him, except to be himself. She hadn’t been bothered by his lack of small talk, or his attempts to carry a conversation that others would have deemed boring. She hadn’t shied away from him because she didn’t know his past. He wondered vaguely what she would think about him being trained as an assassin or running around on Gotham’s rooftops at night.

Time seemed to drag in the lineup. By the time he had paid for another full pass, just in case she didn’t have tickets for other things like the maze (‘why the hell didn’t she just get the full package in the first place?’ he grumbled to himself for the fourth time), a good ten minutes had gone by. He would be surprised if she was still there.

He rushed back anyways. He tried to convince himself that he was rushing only because he hated being kept waiting, and not because he wanted to be with her… but failed miserably, as his mind was stuck on seeing her again. And yet, she was there, and he found himself happy that she was. She sat on the railing outside the entrance where the attendant was to take their tickets.

“Here – I got you the full pass,” he said sheepishly as he handed over the ticket booklet. He attempted to be nonchalant about it, but he knew he was failing. He was pretty sure he ended up sounding angry instead.

“Thank you!” she said as she took the booklet. She raised herself up on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She was French, and it was common to kiss each other’s cheeks, he knew this. The back of his mind nagged that maybe it could have meant more. 

Marinette turned away and headed inside. Damian stood in semi-shock, unsure what to think or do. He could feel the heat on his face. He was definitely blushing. He gave himself a moment to attempt to control his emotions – a few deep breaths – and then headed inside after her. They handed over their tickets to the attendant, who said cheerfully, “You two lovebirds have fun! Enjoy your date!” The last part was done in a sing-song voice.

“It-i-i-it’s not a d-date,” Marinette said awkwardly, stuttering badly. She had turned scarlet.

Damian was pink himself. He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, trying to get away from the attendant faster. The first room was lame. Even Marinette wasn’t frightened. He was almost disappointed in being right. The second room was actually even more boring. Marinette had relaxed a bit, her expectations for being scared had not been met. He had seen her nerves ramp up, causing her to tense as they had entered. She might be able to go through after all.

Neither of them noticed that they hadn’t let go of the other’s hand.

The next room… was oddly realistic. The blood spatter was accurate. He didn’t think many civilians would get it right. He was impressed that they had done so well. He looked over at Marinette. She looked a little green. She gripped his hand a little tighter.

He decided that they should move quickly from the room, and he pulled her onward. He let her go into the next room first, to get away from the mess that was obviously making her nauseous. Unfortunately, that seemed to have been a mistake. A ghoul dropped down right in front of her, stopping right in her face. She screamed, jumping a foot in the air, before landing and punched the decoration in the face. It made the thing rock forward again after a moment, and she buried her face into his chest as it rocked towards her. Not quite the reaction he had expected. Her first instinct was to fight not flee. He definitely had not prepared for that. She had more guts than she seemed to know of. It had been a good punch too. Proper form and everything. Had she learned from somewhere? Women’s self-defense? Regardless, he had no complaints about her execution, which was rare. Most villains they faced couldn’t punch properly to save their lives. He wondered vaguely if she could do more… until he looked down. She was clutching his hand up to her chest, the other hand had a death grip on his shirt.

He went to ask if she was okay, but she whimpered, “Sorry.” So rather than push her off, he wrapped his other arm around her and whispered, “It’s okay.” He knew she would be scared, but he didn’t think it’d be this bad. He held her there until she calmed down. Thankfully there was nothing else bad in the room, and the ghoul had stopped moving.

“You ready for the next room?” he asked with a bit of a chuckle. She had been burying her head into his chest so long he thought she had gotten comfy there. She nodded into his chest. It felt like she was nuzzling. He found he didn’t mind the sensation. Actually, he didn’t mind having her in his arms at all. Comforting victims usually wasn’t his thing, but he knew what to do when he needed to. Usually he just patted them on the shoulder, unless it was a kid.

She finally let go of his shirt and gripped onto his bicep. It was gentle, but he wasn’t entirely sure she was conscious of doing it. It didn’t seem to be an attempt to grope him or garner his attention like other girls had done in the past, so he didn’t shrug her off or push her away. It was his fault she was in here and scared after all…

They walked down a dark hallway full of sound effects he supposed were spooky. He was a step in front of her in case something was there to pop out again, but nothing came. Just music and darkness. He figured it was buildup. They eventually came to a dead end with three door choices. He chose the first one. It was a closet full of skeletons hanging from the ceiling. This didn’t seem to bother her much. The next door was full of pretend rats, snacking on what was supposed to be a severed limb. He shielded her as much as he could from that one. He still heard a small whimper from her, and her grip tightened. He hadn’t been fast enough it seemed. Regardless, he once again felt a bit warm, and he was very glad it was so dark in there. It was nice being able to support someone without having to punch something. Like he had a purpose outside of fighting. Or that he could. Maybe. If she stayed in his life. He wasn’t sure he would be any good at it. He tended to let his father and brothers down.

The haunted house ended with a jump scare of an excessively loud car horn honking. They both involuntarily jumped a bit at the noise. It wasn’t scary though. Marinette looked like a scared little mouse by the time they made it out the last door to get their piece of candy from the attendant. He tried not to laugh, but failed as a small chuckle escaped him again. She pouted at him. He thought maybe she looked ready to cry.

“I’m sorry for my ungentlemanly behaviour. It was not funny.” Come to think of it, the whole haunted house was more realistic and well done than he thought it would be.

“It was a bit funny…” she conceded, the smile coming back onto her face. She was definitely glad to leave if the look on her face meant anything. She mumbled very quietly to herself, and he was sure she didn’t want him to hear, “I’m going to have nightmares for weeks.” If she hadn’t still been clinging to his arm like her life depended on it, he likely wouldn’t have heard her. He would have removed her from his arm, but he found he didn’t want to. It was all for her benefit, of course. It was. It had to be. He didn’t feel emotional attachment to others outside of Kent and family. He had been trained not to. Was he slipping? Had his siblings overly emotional states finally bled over to him?

Part of him knew he was trying to convince himself of something he always knew was false. He had always been impulsive and hot-headed. Very emotionally driven states. He had always just shoved the rest aside as inappropriate for the League of Assassins. The rest were vulnerabilities to be taken advantage of. But he had been out of the league so long that his guard must have slipped, and his walls must have broken down more than he thought.

It had started to get darker while they were in the haunted house. Damian figured there was maybe another hour of daylight left, but the sun was getting low. Enough time for the corn maze before they lost all the light. He started walking in that direction, Marinette following automatically.

“Hey Damian…?” Marinette asked hesitantly, “Is… could we…” She was looking at her shoes. The lack of eye contact was irritating him. He stopped walking and turned to face her, his arm slipping naturally from her grasp. He appreciated that she had responded to his motions to let go without him having to say something. She was still looking down. He used one finger to gently lifted her chin up to be able to see her eyes. Much better.

The light blush on her cheeks turned bright red. “Could we what?” he prompted her.

She stared into his eyes and stuttered again, “C-could we… could we…” He hummed to encourage her to finish her sentence.  “Could we go on the hayride?” She hesitated again. “Together?”

“Sure.” He had been feeling a tad guilty for making her go through the haunted house, and this would make it up to her.

“Really?!” she beamed at him, her eyes sparkling in excitement and a grin that he couldn’t help but smile back at. The girl was breaking down his walls faster than Jon- Kent- ever had. He nodded and grabbed her hand, dragging her in the opposite direction of the maze, towards the hayrides.

Chapter Text

They had just joined the line for the next ride when suddenly there were screams all around them.

He yanked Marinette behind the giant round hay bale that was the marker for the entrance to the rides. Peering around the corner, he saw Joker and his men entering the main area. Marinette peeked around as well, tucking herself under his arm to see. Realizing what she was doing, he pushed her back. “What are you doing?!” he hissed at her.

“I need to see what’s happening!” she whispered back.

“Let’s go. We need to get out of here.” He grabbed her hand again and tried to pull her away to the nearby tree cover, but she dropped her basket. She wrenched her hand out of his grip, which would have impressed him in any other situation, and dove back for the basket. “Are you insane?! Let’s GO!”

She grabbed her basket and started running after him again. They made it into the cover of the trees before the gunmen made it that far down the patch. Their attention had been focused on rounding up those closer to the exit. They made their way down the patch, and finally came across the bathroom nearest to the haunted house without being seen. He tried to shove her into the bathroom, so he could go change and hide her, but it was locked. “Fuck,” he whispered in frustration. “We need to hide you somewhere.”

“Me?! What about you?!” she whispered back incredulously.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No way. I’m going with you.”

He growled at the situation and her complete and utter stubbornness, before grabbing her hand and dragging her back into the tree cover. They were almost spotted once, but the patrolman was distracted by a couple of people exiting the last hayride screaming as they were dragged over to a set of hostages. It was then that he noticed that she was as light on her feet and silent as he was slinking through the trees. Anyone else would have grabbed their attention. Richard might be the only other one capable of moving as silently as he did.

Damian couldn’t understand why they were there. What the hell did Joker of all people want with a pumpkin patch? It made no sense.

A cry brought him out of his thoughts. A small child and their older sibling by the look of it, huddled together at the edge of a group of hostages, were crying. “We need to go help them!” Marinette whispered.

Seriously?! What was she going to do? Sure, she could throw a punch, but there was no way she could take out the two armed guards. He could, but there was too much risk without his gear to protect him and his identity. She would get them both killed or taken as primary hostages. He shoved his arm out to block her path. She attempted to push past him, but he grabbed her wrist and started to drag her away, her heels digging in the whole way. Eventually he gave up – the drag was creating a trail – and picked her up, hoisting her over his shoulder. She started flailing her legs, whispering over and over that “we need to go back!”

“We need to get you somewhere safe,” he countered. “If a hero, like Robin, was here now, would you stay put? Let them handle it?”

“No! They can’t take out all those men by themselves, and what about the hostages?! Even if a hero was here, they would need help!” He figured she would say no… but he had hoped. There were more screams from the pumpkin patch behind them. He didn’t have time for this.

Finally they made it back to the car. There was only one more close call, which thankfully Marinette had stopped squirming for. He pushed her inside the car and followed her inside after grabbing the case that contained his suit from the trunk.

Now what? If he left her alone in the car she would just leave. If she left, she was going back for those kids. She would die trying to save them. He just knew it. If she didn’t leave, by some miracle, he would expose himself and his family.

He didn’t have time for this! He needed to get out here!

He unlocked the case and stared at it. From her angle opposite of him, he knew she couldn’t see what was inside. And yet, he hesitated. He wanted to protect her. No matter how much he needed to keep his secret, he needed to be out there, fighting Joker and saving the innocent children and their families. He needed to save her. Would she like him after learning the truth? He tried to ignore the niggling in the back of his mind that noted that he hoped she did. That she would keep his secrets. That someone would just accept him for who he was, not what he was or who he was related to.

“Avert your eyes,” he ordered.

“Avert?” she asked. Right. English was not her first language. It was good, but not that good. “What is avert?”

His need to hurry unfortunately echoed through his voice, making him sound harsh as he switched to French, “Avert - to turn away or aside one's gaze in avoidance.”

“I know what avert means. I just didn’t know the word in English!” she spat back in French as well in sudden anger.

“Now avert your eyes.”

She turned away huffing.

He quickly changed, checking once that she was still turned around. She was whispering to herself. He couldn’t hear her properly or he didn’t understand the language, because he couldn’t make out what she was saying. Whatever it was, he figured it wasn’t good. Likely angry at him. He decided to try one last time. “Are you sure you won't just… stay here?”

“Never. There is nothing you could do to stop me from going back there and helping.”

He took off his shirt and bunny ears (he had forgotten he had those damn things on), and looked down at his shirt. There, fluffy and pink, matching the awful ears, was a cottontail. He had a fluffy tail on the whole time. No one had said anything to him.

“I had a tail on this whole time, and you never said anything?!” he yelled angrily. He realized quickly afterwards that he was angry at Todd and Drake and the rest of his family for letting him walk around like this, and not at her. No one had fucking said anything to him. They let him humiliate himself in front of everyone. In front of her. And in return, he had misplaced his anger onto the nearest target – her.

Her reply was somewhat angry in return. Apparently being accused of something didn’t sit well with her. Not that he could blame her. “Were you not supposed to? You were a bunny after all.”

“…I apologize. My anger was at my family, who should have told me. Not at you.”

“Okay.” She sighed. “Can we go already?” she asked after a few minutes.

He bitterly thought that he could just tie her up in the car and then she really wouldn’t go anywhere, but she would likely just draw attention to herself, and him in the process. He had really screwed up this time. Logic would have dictated leaving her behind at some point. Logic also told him she would be dead.

“One more minute,” he spat back in English again.

“Fine,” she returned in English as well.

He secured his cape on properly and then hesitated. This was it. His big secret for her to see… A complete stranger that he trusted for some unknown reason. But he knew he could. He was going to drag her into trouble. The trouble she just escaped from. He hoped she would listen to his instructions now. “Look… I’m going back in, and you can come. BUT – you will stick to the woods and escort hostages out. Understood?”

She made a huffing noise that he wasn’t sure was a yes or a no. Likely a no.

“You can turn around.” He cringed. He had left his mask off to be able to see her reaction properly.

“You- You’re Robin.”

“…Yes.”

“So not only are you the infamous Damian Wayne, but you’re also Robin?”

It wasn’t really a question, but he responded anyways. “Yes. You knew who I was?”

“Of course I did. Does it matter? You’re another person just like everyone else. I’m friends with models and heiresses back home. They’re regular people. Did you want me to treat you differently?”

He fiddled with his mask, and she took it from him after a moment. “No… I was glad you didn’t.”

“So, Robin,” she said as she put his mask on his face for him, “I guess that means your family are the rest of the bats?” Her fingers gently pressed the mask onto his skin. He didn’t mind the touch.

“Yes. They will not be happy that you know. You have to keep this a secret.”

“I think you’ll find that I’m good with secrets, bat boy,” she said with a smirk. She was taking this way better than he thought she would. Other than an initial surprise, she hadn’t reacted to being in the presence of a hero. Like she hadn’t when she found out he was Damian Wayne. “Now… let’s go rescue those hostages. Tikki, spots on!”

What?

The car was suddenly full of light. Blindingly bright pink light.

And there… there was a girl dressed in red spandex with black dots. A Ladybug. Just like the comic.

“Ladybug, hero of Paris, at your service,” she grinned at him. She gave a mock curtsey.

“You’re a hero?!” he exclaimed before he could stop himself. She was a hero. A magical hero. What the hell? Was no one in his life normal?

“Yes – now let’s go. We can talk later. Saving kids now.”

She exited the car quickly – far quicker than a human should be able to move – and darted across the parking lot and into the tree cover once again. He raced after her, still in shock. She was apparently handling the surprise identity reveals much better than he was.

They made it into the trees without being seen. A patrolman came out from behind the cover of one tree, and he lunged forward, knocking the gun down to the ground with his sword. He used the butt of his sword to hit the man in the nose, knocking him out and dropping to the ground. He turned in time to see a second patrolman drop to the ground. Marinette – Ladybug – must have taken him out.

“So explain to me how a hero is scared of a tacky haunted house, but can handle a hostage situation with the worst villain in all of Gotham just fine?” Robin asked incredulously.

“I have an overactive imagination, okay?” she retorted. “It gives me nightmares. It’s not what’s in the haunted house, it’s the combination of things I’ve seen with the stuff in it that is the problem!”

Okay, that he could understand. “But you were clinging to me like your life depended on it, and now, suddenly, you’re brave?”

“Yes?”

“How does the mask change things? It’s completely illogical!” They ducked behind a bush after hearing footsteps coming towards them.

“It’s not just when I have a mask!” He threw out a batarang with a line attached to it, tripping up an enemy as they came around the corner of the bush they were currently arguing behind.

“Right. You run towards actual danger as a civilian too, rather than run away from it!” The enemy tripped, falling flat on his face.

“I could have helped them!”

Ladybug threw out her yoyo – seriously? She was fighting with a yoyo? – and wrapped up his partner, twirling him towards her, and using the momentum to bring his face to her fist in a brutal punch.

“And gotten yourself killed in the process!”

The patrolman Ladybug had trapped stood there a moment as the poor guy wobbled in place before dropping. He wouldn’t be surprised if the he ended up with a bad concussion. Robin turned back to the enemies.

“I would have been fine. Do you seriously think I can't handle myself after this?!” She swung forward on her yoyo, landing on a third man’s chest, sending him flying into a tree trunk. There was a nasty snap. The guy was definitely not getting up from that one.

Okay, so maybe she could handle herself. He went over and checked on the guy she had just sent flying. Nothing big seemed broken at first glance, but he would have a nasty goose egg in the morning. He had his back turned to her. But suddenly there was the sound of gunfire from behind him.

She was there in an instant, swirling her yoyo, creating a shield. But he was certain she had been hit once at least before her shield was up. The shooter must have regretted firing, because they suddenly stopped. The bullets had been ricocheting off her shield… back at him. Damian wondered vaguely if she could aim it at all, because nothing vital was hit. In fact, they all seemed to go at the gunman’s feet, making him dance around his own bullets. He ran, dropping his gun, after the last bullet hit the ground, clipping his shoe.

“Do you have no training?” he demanded of her when the man had run.

“Of course I do!” she growled back angrily, though she didn’t meet his eyes. He wondered how valid that statement really was. She had training… but it probably wasn’t in fighting.

“Then what the hell possessed you to jump in front of gunfire?!”

“I blocked it from killing you. You could just be thankful!”

“I should be thankful you just about killed yourself instead?!” They were now yelling at each other. If there were any more patrols around, there was no doubt they would be found at this rate. He really didn’t care. They needed to take out the patrols anyways.

They continued walking towards where they knew Joker was when they had left the area, and ran into two more patrols along the way. He had taken out his anger on them, with Ladybug simply watching as he sliced two of them with his katana (avoiding mortal wounds), chucked a batarang at another, pinning his gun arm sleeve to a tree, and the fourth being taken out by a kick to the bottom of his jaw. Ladybug undid the batarang, saying “Run,” to the man. He took off quickly into the trees.

“What the hell was that? Why did you let him go?” he asked. It was the second one she had just let walk away.

“I don’t like hurting people, okay?” she snapped back. It was contradictory to her actions earlier where she was more than willing to slam someone into a tree and bounce bullets back at them. So what was different about those two?

“Then what the hell was that earlier? Why are you even a superhero if you don’t want to hurt people? It’s part of the job!”

“Earlier?” she frowned at him. “Earlier? Earlier you were about to DIE!”

“You’re always about to die fighting villains! What the hell kind of villain did you fight?”

“The kind where the magical damage caused was something I could reverse!”

“… what?”

“My villain did magical damage that I could reverse. It brought people back from the dead. I’m not used to fighting people, just monsters made from people who couldn’t control their emotions! Hell, I even fought my own partner!”

Their bickering had brought them to the edge of the clearing where the kids were that she wanted to rescue earlier.

“Maybe you should go back to fight them instead if you can't handle hurting people!”

“I already defeated them, thank you very much. They aren’t coming back.”

They snuck up to the edge of the bushes, and started waving the kids over to them. Once half of the group had snuck away with a few of the adults, whispering ‘thank you’s, they pointed them in the direction of the parking lot, explaining that they should stick to the trees, as they had already cleared a path.

She snuck out a bit farther, and led the kids she had originally fought to rescue back into the trees with her.

“Your damn bleeding heart is going to get you killed one day. Or both of us.” She gave him an odd look at that, so he continued, “I have an odd feeling you are going to be the death of me. I’m just not sure how.”

The anger faded from her face. What had he said?

They heard a crash in the distance. “We should probably focus and free the hostages,” Ladybug said as she snapped out of her thoughts – whatever they were – and her mind brought its attention back to the situation.

They continued to move south, towards the next group, silently for once. He had to admit that she was better than he had originally given her credit for. She kept up with him in the shadows, even if she wasn’t quite as quiet. She would hop from tree to tree, using her yoyo on occasion, as he slunk from tree trunk to bush – whatever was closer. She could use some real training, but she had talent. And powers. She would make a good Titan. He had been thinking of breaking off by himself to go solo like Nightwing had, but maybe taking on a partner or two, like Red Hood had with the Outlaws, wouldn’t be so bad? They seemed to work really well together. Kent would certainly get along with her.

Unfortunately, the only thought that came out of his mouth from that train of thought was, “You could use some real training.”

“Excuse me? Why are you being so rude to me?”

“Pointing out your flaws is not being rude. It is prudent. You need training. Your sloppiness is going to get us both killed one day.”

“If you don’t like me, why are you bothering to spend all that time with me today?” she screamed at him.

“I never-”

“Why did you bother buying me a ticket?”

“Because-” she didn’t let him finish. It was probably for the best. He had no clue what he was going to say.

“Why didn’t you just leave?!”

“Because I like spending time with you, okay?!”

She froze mid-step, causing him to walk right past her. Her voice was gentle as she replied softly, “I like you- I like spending time with you, too.”

He could feel the blush on his cheeks. Had he seriously said that? Damn it. Wait- she liked him? Had that kiss earlier actually meant something then?

He was a bit caught off guard. Now that she mentioned it, even by accident, it was clear. She liked him. And he…

He looked at his actions through the day in his head. His actions, when looked at objectively, all pointed to one thing. His weird behaviour. His treating her like he only did with Kent. He had thought maybe she would be a friend. But… he liked her?

He glanced over at her pink cheeks. They brought out the blue in her eyes. He had known from the moment he met her that she was objectively pretty. But he had to say now that it was definitely not objective.

Yeah.

He liked her.

Chapter Text

They had made it to the forest area clearing nearest to the Joker. Two groups of hostages were freed. There were three more groups, but there was no way they would make it there without being seen. They would need to face Joker.

He went to step out of the tree cover and go charging in to hopefully surprise the Joker, when Ladybug pulled him back by his cape.

“What the hell are you doing?!"

“We need a plan!”

“Simple. I go in, beat the crap out of Joker. Done.”

“Uhm, no. That’s a terrible plan.”

“Do you have any better ideas?!”

“Yeah! For starters, lose the cape! Look how easily it was used against you!”

Joker was currently ordering his henchmen to go find something. Jewelry by the sound of it. It was a good time to attack. His back was turned.

He took another step out into the clearing, and Ladybug stopped him again by tugging his cape. Maybe she had a point. “Stop it!” He whipped around to face her. “Stop yanking on my cape!”

“No! Get rid of the damn thing!”

“I use it. It’s a parachute! It creates cover!”

“Oh for heaven’s sake. I can make a tear away one that tucks into your suit like an actual parachute if you want it so badly. There's no reason for it to be out for everyone to grab all the time!”

He frowned. That was a really good idea. They could all use that.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scarecrow and Killer Croc coming up and joining the Joker. Killer Croc was dragging an unconscious, hogtied Richard Grayson. He dumped him at the edge of the clearing before joining Scarecrow and Joker.

“Where are they you bumbling fools?!” Joker yelled.

“I didn’t see any jewelry like he described,” Killer Croc complained.

“Have you even checked your hostages?” Scarecrow spat back angrily.

Clearly their partnership was not going well. Who the hell had teamed them all up? What jewelry?

She yanked on his cloak again. “Look what your impulsiveness would have led to! Two more ambushing you. You need a real plan before you run in head first.”

He retorted angrily, “I had a plan. Beat the shit out of him. It would have been fine until Croc showed up.”

“What is with me getting partners that blaze in without thinking?!” she lamented.

“What are we looking for again?” Croc asked.

“How are you this stupid?!” Joker started pulling on his hair. “Red with black spots – Ladybug earrings! They can’t be that hard to find!” He whacked Croc on the arm with his crowbar. “Why did I ever think you would be a good partner?”

Killer Croc growled. They continued arguing, but Robin had turned back around to Ladybug.

“Ladybug earrings? Seriously? They’re after you?”

Her mouth was open, her eyes blown wide in horror. Clearly she hadn’t known. “I- I- This whole thing is my fault?” her voice sounded forlorn. “How did they even know I was here? Maybe I should leave Gotham as soon as possible…”

Damian did not like this idea. They would just have to take care of the threat. “No way. You can’t leave.”

“I’m not leaving! I would never abandon people in danger, especially if it’s my fault!”

Shit. That had come out wrong. “That’s not what I meant. You can’t leave Gotham.”

“Of course I can! I just need to finish undoing the curse here first.”

Curse? Gotham was cursed? Well damn, that would explain a lot. Another reason she couldn’t leave. “Fine. But why bring the earrings here at all? Don’t you understand how dangerous Gotham is?”

“Of course I do! I'm here to help,” she growled back. “I need them to help break the curse. I’ll leave your precious Gotham after that.”

“You don’t need to leave,” he grumbled quietly, not quite making eye contact with her.

“What was that?” she asked.

“Don’t leave,” he said pitifully. He pouted a bit as he admitted, “I don’t want you to.”

“I… okay.” He couldn’t place the look in her eyes. Whatever it was, it was warm.

She shook her head, her bangs flying about, as she cleared her head. “We need a plan.”

She attempted to pull him back into the tree cover, but he stood his ground. “Stop yanking on my cape!”

She took a step out into the clearing, no longer half hidden behind a bush. “It’s a wonder we haven’t been spotted yet. Your cape is an eyesore.”

“And the spots are any better?” he sneered. “Look at you!” He waved his arm up and down, gesturing at her excessively tight costume. What was it, a second skin? There weren’t even seams.

“Like you’re any better? You’re a walking traffic light!”

“Hah, if I’m a traffic light then you’re a damn walking target practice! Look! You’ve even got spots in vital areas, like right over your heart. Perfect for aiming.”

Their yelling match paused as they heard Joker scream, “Why haven’t you found it yet?!”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Drake dragging Grayson away. One less hostage to worry about. And possible backup coming soon.

“Aren’t you supposed to be a nighttime hero? Why aren’t you dressed in black? For stealth?”

“I don’t need the black to be stealthy. I’m a trained assassin for fuck’s sake!”

She froze. “Seriously?”

“How else would I have snuck around like that?”

But Ladybug was clearly still processing. Her eyes glinted dangerously. She was mad. “An assassin?! You’ve killed people?”

“It was a long time ago. My mother’s side of the family didn’t give me much choice. I’ve done my best to move on from my past.”

Whatever hard edge was in her eyes dissipated. “I’m sorry you went through that Robin.”

“Tt. So what is this great plan of yours?” he deflected.

“We need to take out the big guy first-”

“Killer Croc,” he interrupted.

“Whatever – he’s the biggest threat to you.”

He scoffed. “Crocodile man is not a threat.” He felt insulted that she underestimated his ability so much. He would never admit she was right. Croc had caused him far too many issues in the past, but there was no way he would ever admit that. “You’re untrained. You should follow my lead. I am well-versed in tactics.”

She retorted, “You’re impulsive. You go in headfirst without a plan far too often.”

“At least I know what I’m doing. I’ve led a team before.”

“So have I! Successfully, I might add! And on the fly plans are my specialty! It’s what I do. Just let me do my job."

“Go get her you fool!” he heard Joker scream, followed by two thuds that Robin assumed was the crowbar impacting with their skulls. Sounded like they had been spotted. Or at least she had. Her costume was hard to miss. “And where is Hugo?! He should have been here by now!”

Scarecrow must have noticed them because he ran towards Robin and Ladybug. Before Robin could react to the attack behind him, Ladybug threw out her yoyo, it barely missing his cheek by a centimeter, and hit Scarecrow in the face without even looking, screaming that, “It is RUDE to interrupt, thank you very much!!” Scarecrow dropped to the ground with a thud, his vials of serum and a couple of canisters of fear gas clattering to the ground. He didn’t bother to turn around. Scarecrow was out cold. He could be dealt with later. Robin was too busy arguing to care. He realized that he was having fun. Sparring with her, verbally at least, was entertaining. Fun. When was the last time he had fun on a battlefield?

“Guess the plan is toast, huh?” she lamented.

“That would be an accurate assessment of the situation,” he spat back sarcastically with a smirk. They had never actually come up with one.

He spotted a few more henchmen lurking towards them from the direction they had come. Looked like the other patrols had made it through the woods. Robin threw a couple of batarangs at the two who were sneaking up behind Ladybug. He saw them go down and scream in pain, but didn’t bother to check on them, since he knew they were out of the fight.

“Why can't you just look out for yourself?!” Her situational awareness was atrocious if she didn’t hear them coming!

“You’re a great partner, I trust you to have my back.”

“I just want you safe – why are you making this so hard?”

“Well maybe I just want you safe too! I'm the one with powers after all!”

He watched her send out her yoyo again, but she didn’t return it this time. He heard Killer Croc growl in frustration, so she must have taken him out. She didn’t return her line, so he found he really didn’t care.

“Am I going to have to follow you around from now on just to make sure you don’t do something stupidly heroic?!”

“More like I’ll have to follow you, so you don’t do something impulsive and get yourself killed.”

“Sure – I could have a sidekick,” he joked. She would never go for it, but riling her up had become fun. She was feisty and wasn’t afraid of him, even when he batglared at her.

“SIDEKICK?! I think you mean PARTNER!” she screeched, before looking him over once. It made him self-conscious. He wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but it felt like she was seeing right through him. Her gaze was unfocused. “I could use a new black cat.” She smirked back at him. “Wanna be my kitty?”

What the hell did that mean?

Whatever it was, he found he didn’t mind. Be her cat? Sure. He could keep an eye on her. Make sure she didn’t get herself killed.

He heard a few shots from the bushes off to their left. He assumed Red Hood had finally joined them and taken out the remaining annoyances. He turned around to see Jason fill Killer Croc full of tranquilizers so that Ladybug could have her yoyo back. Joker was lying motionless about six feet away.

Ladybug went up to Hood and introduced herself. He wasn’t wearing the ridiculous helmet this time. He had a red domino and his face mask that altered his voice (badly). The situation clearly over, Damian went and tied up the three Rogues that they had taken out. He had just finished and returned to Ladybug, and was about to compliment her on taking down Killer Croc, when Black Adam appeared, floating overhead.

“LADYBUG! Hand over your miraculous, or my henchmen and I will decimate everyone in this field.” The villain continued his monologue. Something about revenge. Robin couldn’t have cared less and tuned him out, trying to come up with a plan.

“Boy are you late,” Ladybug giggled at him. She gestured over to the tied-up villains, and to the henchmen Red Hood had finished tying up to trees nearby.

The girl had sass, he had to give her that. And she could keep up with him both in wit and in the field. Robin laughed. Actually laughed – before schooling his features back into his usual scowl. “Didn’t you know it’s rude to interrupt?” he quipped, repeating her earlier statement. He had just been about to say something nice to her and Black Adam had ruined the moment.

He went and placed himself in front of Ladybug. He knew she had magic, not that she had used it outside of transforming so far, but she had to have something if they were after her magic earrings. She was their best chance of saving the remaining people here.

He heard her yell from behind him, “Lucky Charm!”

“Seriously? Lucky Charm? That’s your great power?”

“Shaz-” Black Adam was about to call his lightning when Ladybug did something that made him stop in his tracks.

She scoffed briefly before throwing a giant red and black spotted item that she definitely didn’t have before onto the ground behind Black Adam. Black Adam was watching the item with trepidation, rather than focusing on the enemies in front of him. A foolish mistake.

Before Black Adam could recover and call on his powers again, Robin kicked him backwards. Simultaneously, Ladybug shot out her yoyo to create a tripping hazard. Black Adam fell backward onto the item, which snapped outwards and up like a Venus fly trap. He was encased in a big metal-looking box.

Robin prepared for him to escape using his powers, but nothing happened. The only thing that could hold him was Nth metal. It must have been made from it. Where the hell had she gotten it?

When he was sure that Black Adam was not escaping, he turned to her. “What the hell did you do? How did you get that?”

“My powers call up what I need in order to win. Anything in creation, or anything I can come up with in my mind.”

Well damn, if that wasn’t useful as hell. “What did you mean by a black cat earlier?”

“Ladybugs always have a Black Cat to help keep their powers in check. My last one gave up his ring, so I really do need a new one. Would you-”

A flash of intensely bright lightening filled the sky, and a bright blue ball of energy appeared beside them. Damn Billy Batson. “Shazam. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

Batson was looking around, very clearly confused. “Well, I was following Black Adam’s energy trail… and it led me here. But now I can't seem to sense him at all. Any idea where he went?”

“He’s, uhm, stuck in there.” Ladybug pointed to her spotted Nth metal cage. It must be magic dampening incredibly well if he couldn’t even sense him inside. His father should really get hold of some of the metal and make a trap like the one Ladybug had used if it was really this effective.

“Cool! Thanks for doing my job for me…” Then Batson turned and actually looked at Ladybug. His eyes raked over her body in a way that made Robin extremely uncomfortable. He moved to step in front of her again, but Batson just plowed on.

“Hey! You’re hot!” Batson clicked his tongue twice, and made finger guns that pointed at her. “Billy Batson, otherwise known as the amazing Shazam! And you, lovely, are?”

Ladybug looked extremely uncomfortable. “Uhm, Ladybug, hero of Paris.” She held out her hand to shake.

Damian didn’t want Marinette getting another inch closer to the lecher. He glared angrily at Batson. Batson flinched, much to Damian’s pleasure, but he continued to shake Marinette’s hand anyways. He followed up with a kiss to the back of her hand. Damian was livid. How dare he touch her in such a familiar way! They had just met. It was inappropriate! Damian hadn’t even had the chance to do that yet…

Shazam leaned in towards Ladybug. He whispered something to her, a smile coming over her face.

Damian’s anger must have been showing more than he thought, because Batson actually backed off for a moment.

“How the fuck do I get this out of here?” Batson pondered out loud. “It’s way too big for me to carry.” He stood staring at the box, and blew a bubble with his bubble gum. Gross.

“If you opened a portal underneath it, you wouldn’t have to carry it at all.”

“You, beautiful, are so brilliant! That’s perfect.”

Ladybug – Marinette – blushed. Damnit! Was Batson’s lame attempts at flirting actually working on her?

“Did you- I mean – Do you need me to make you one?” She could make portals too? She pulled out her yoyo again.

“Nah… I got this, but you can port to the Rock of Eternity any time, gorgeous.” He winked at her before opening another portal that looked like a ball of lighting with the showy flash and disappearing through it with the cage containing Black Adam. “Later Robs!” he called as he disappeared.

Ladybug’s cheeks were as bright as her costume.

Damian’s body was tense. Was that what she wanted? The flirty, over the top, stereotypical lecherous fool? If it was, he may as well just throw her in the portal after Batson. He would never – could never – be like that.

A beeping sound coming from her made him snap out of his thoughts. Ladybug took a couple of steps forward and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek, her hands resting on his chest. “Thanks for your help. See you in a bit? I'm about to detransform.” He nodded dazedly and she took off.

A couple of minutes later, all of his brothers sauntered up to him. “Soooooo… who was that?” Nightwing asked in a horrid sing-song voice.

“She seemed nice,” Red Hood added. “How’d you manage to hook up with the French hero like that?”

“Wait – where did she go?” Red Robin asked.

Robin deflected, responding as unemotionally as he could, “She had to leave.” He wasn’t sure if she wanted to reveal herself to his family yet. He didn’t mind having a few secrets from them. He wondered vaguely how long they could keep it from them.

“We should go help hand out the antidotes,” Red Robin suggested. “A lot of people were hit.”

“They were?” Robin asked, mildly interested. He hadn’t seen anyone hit.

Nightwing explained, “Yeah. Scarecrow hit up the haunted house and Dr. Hugo Strange attacked the corn maze.”

Robin was confused. “I never saw Strange.”

“Yeah, I managed to hit him with his own serum before I joined you guys," Red Robin preened at his success.

They headed towards the entrance to assist the police in rounding up victims and the emergency medical technicians that were administering the antidotes. Red Hood cut out pretty quickly to round up victims instead. After Damian ran out of antidotes and had assisted an additional ten victims from the corn maze, he headed back to change and go find Marinette.

Chapter Text

Black Adam floated above Gotham. He could sense an active miraculous in the city somewhere. He just needed to find it. The closer he got to the city, the more he was sure. Tikki. It had to be. If nothing, it was another miraculous, and his using it would eventually draw Tikki out. He would be able to get his revenge on her and whoever her holder was now for Egypt. She had interfered before and helped Shazam to seal him away. It had taken centuries to get out, only to find that stupid boy now taking up the powers of Shazam. He couldn’t fight Shazam as he was now. He needed more power. Tikki would provide that. She could create an item that could transport him to the Rock of Eternity. There he could get Shazam’s powers, and finally, finally, get his revenge on him. He would not be fooled into dropping his transformation again.

Teth-Adam floated towards the south end of the city, but the feeling felt weaker. It must be north. He was not able to pinpoint a location in the northern end of the town, given the large number of apartments in the area. He would have to wait until it moved. In the meantime, he would go and gather other less scrupulous individuals to trap them and gain the jewels for himself.

He floated over to where the most recent criminal activity was. Amusement Mile. There he found a rather irritating clown. A few bribes of the stupid clown getting to have revenge on the Batman in exchange for finding his jewelry. He promised to get others to help him track the jewels down in return for a simple matter of money and revenge against the bat. They had no clue what they were actually promising. Had they any clue, they would never have agreed, and would keep the jewels for themselves.

A few days later they had reconvened, Joker having Dr. Hugo Strange, Scarecrow, and Killer Croc with him. All people Joker claimed could work with him that would thrive with the Halloween season’s scares. They were all itching for a fight.

~~~~

Marinette sat on a bus, headed toward the pumpkin patch that was just outside of Gotham. She had heard the advertisement on the news the other day. It was her first Halloween in America, and she decided that she would go all out and celebrate just as they did. She thought it sounded fun. She didn’t have anyone to go with, as Jagged was finishing up his current press tour, and would be gone until the beginning of November. Her parents and friends were still back in Paris. She had decided to move after Hawkmoth was defeated, and knew that the miraculous needed to disappear back into history. She still needed to attend school, so she had followed Jagged to America, and enrolled in a local university. She could have completed it online, but she still wanted to attend and have a chance to make some friends. She had only been there a few weeks, and would be joining in the next semester, after Christmas.

While she waited for the new term to begin, Marinette set out as often as she could to determine the source of the curse that Gotham had on its grounds. It was ancient, and evil, and the city had been built over it. She had heard rumours that a millennia ago, a warlock had been buried alive beneath the ground of what would eventually become Gotham city’s central island. The rumours also indicated that the warlock’s essence seeped into the soil, poisoning it and the city. She had also heard of demon worshippers and bat demons, occult activity, and that it was the basis of an actual hellmouth leading to the underworld. She could believe that something had happened at least – the city made her skin crawl at night, and there were times that she could sense something horribly wrong.

Regardless, today she was going to enjoy herself. She was getting out of the city, which lessened that feeling of intense dread.

She relaxed in her seat, picking at the blanket that covered her picnic basket and smoothing the ruffles of her Little Red Riding Hood outfit. Inside the basket was Tikki and Plagg, and Kaalki’s miraculous, just in case she needed it. It was rare that she ever went anywhere without them now. She had given them snacks for the trip, so that they would not be bored.

When she arrived at the pumpkin patch, she was shocked at how huge it was. She lifted the corner of her basket to allow them to peek out. “Wow Marinette!” Tikki squeaked quietly. “It’s even better than we imagined.”

“What are we going to do first, pigtails?” Plagg asked. “Can we get something cheesy?”

Marinette giggled and Tikki nudged Plagg a bit. “Always thinking with your stomach, you old stinky sock.”

“You know you love me, sugar cube.”

“Don’t call me sugar cube!” Tikki puffed up in anger.

“This place isn’t very glamourous,” Kaalki mused, interrupting the impending argument. “Do I at least get some sugar cubes for this outing?”

“Of course Kaalki, there are a few in the basket in a bag, and I’m sure we can find you something amazing soon.”

“What should we do first?” she asked them brightly. The people from the bus were all gathering in a line to get tickets.

“How about carve a pumpkin? You’ve never done that before,” Tikki suggested.

She glanced at the giant signpost map. “Oou they have a petting zoo too! We should go there next.”

“So long as I get some cheese, I don’t care Pigtails.”

“You have an entire wheel of camembert!” Tikki exclaimed exasperatedly.

“I’m sure we can find you something, Plagg,” Marinette reassured him. She hoped the wheel of cheese would last in case they didn’t have any.

“The hayride sounds nice,” Kaalki added. “It goes around the entire farm.”

She could grab some snacks for the kwami and sit at the end so they could peek out the basket. It was a great idea, which she told Kaalki. The chibi horse god grinned at the praise. Marinette, not for the first time, wondered why her life had become so bizarre. She babysat childlike gods. Nooroo had turned 3500 cycles. And cycles lasted several hundred years. She had never gotten a clear number on that. Regardless, Nooroo was at least 17,000 years old. Likely older. How had they maintained that childlike demeanor all this time? Her mind sadly supplied the answer. The kwami stayed locked in the miracle box for most of their time in the physical plane.

By the time she reached the ticket booth, she and the kwami had decided that they would also check out the corn maze. If she got lost, they could always hover above and help her find her way, or she could teleport home. She purchased tickets for pumpkin carving, hay ride, the maze, and the petting zoo. Because she wasn’t doing the majority of the stuff there, and she was trying to save some money, she purchased them individually. In the end she only saved about two dollars, so she should have just bought a full pass and given the other tickets away, but what was done was done.

She headed over to the carving area, past the snacks. The kwami still had enough to tide them over. She glanced at the table to see that there was, in fact, cheese for Plagg. It wasn’t his favourite, but by the time they came back, he would accept it.

She settled in to carve her pumpkin, deciding to make an outline of the kwami. When she had finished, they poked their heads out of the basket just enough to see what she had done.

“Marinette, it’s wonderful! Thank you,” Tikki squeaked at her.

“I’m glad you like it Tikki,” she said quietly back. Her hand touched the necklace that held her kwagatama. On her last birthday, the other kwami had given her their own charms to add to Tikki’s. It made the most unique necklace in existence. Unlike the other holders and guardians, she had let the kwami out of the box and bonded with them all.

She felt a bit bad that they couldn’t all join them at the pumpkin patch, but they were chaotic at the best of times, and troublemakers and floating disasters at their worst (and that was assuming they weren’t using their powers). She made sure to try to make it up to the others with them joining her on other outings as she explored the city.

~~~~

“They’ve moved,” Teth-Adam said quietly to himself. He flew above the city, tracking it to an area near the airport outside of the city limits. The magical signature was somewhere inside a large pumpkin patch.

He looked around the grungy warehouse near Amusement Mile that he and his minions had gathered before descending back down to the ground. Flying through the roof’s open skylight, he settled into the main office area. He summoned the leaders of his little pack of fools. They would serve as a distraction and to draw out the miraculous user. He did not anticipate them being able to take them out or gather the jewels for him, but they would serve the purpose of distracting the local vigilantes and the miraculous user.

He gave them orders to converge on the pumpkin patch. They would surround each major entrance or exit from the four sides of the patch. He was sure the signature was in there somewhere. They headed out. He wondered vaguely if the Joker and his selections were up to the task, but even if they lost, the miraculous would still be his.

~~~~

Marinette spent quite a bit of time wandering around the petting zoo next. She had just made it to the goats and had begun petting one behind the ear while holding the other hand out with some food she had purchased for it, when a small girl came up beside her.

She made room for the girl, who couldn’t have been more than five, to feed the goat as well, asking if she wanted to join her in feeding it.

The little girl had reached for Marinette’s offered hand full of food, when the girl asked, “Can I daddy?”

Right. Gothamites were notoriously paranoid about strangers – and rightfully so. She had never seen such a horrendous crime rate in Paris. She was positive the curse on the land had something to do with drawing in criminals, increasing bad luck, and causing everyone to feel as though life was just wrong. She had certainly felt the draw towards that hopelessness and paranoia. She was able to fight off the feelings, as she knew the source. The girl must not have been in Gotham long, or had been away, as her spirits were certainly much lighter than everyone else around.

She smiled at the young girl, happy that she had chosen to be safe. Her father had thankfully agreed, and the young girl reached for the previously offered seed. He handed the girl a few quarters to get some extra seed to share.

Her father was watching them warily for a while. She could see him taking pictures and videos of his daughter, but he constantly had an eye on her as well. They hadn’t been feeding them long when the girl asked for her name.

Marinette offered it, if nothing else to offer the dad some peace of mind about who was spending time with his daughter. “Marinette. My friends sometimes call me Mari though.” The little girl lit up with excitement. She glanced over at the man, who was observing her with sharper eyes than ever. She waited patiently until he gave a small nod. “What’s yours?”

“My name’s Mar’i too!”

“That is so cool! I’ve never met another Mari before!” Marinette said back as cheerfully as the girl had.

“We can be twinsies!”

“Twinsies?” Her English was good, but not that good.

“Sisters! Name sisters! Do you wanna be my sister?”

“I would love to be your name sister Mar’i,” she replied quickly.

“We even have the same hair colour!”

Actually, now that the girl brought it up, they did indeed. Her eyes even had a shade of blue similar to her father’s. Someone not paying attention may mistake them for family. Her attention switched to the man behind her.

“I’m Dick. Dick Grayson,” he introduced himself when Mar’i had gone back to feeding the goats. The girl’s father seemed to feel that she was acceptable company. She felt sure she had heard that name before, but she wasn’t sure where.

She shook his hand. She wondered when she would get used to American niceties. She attempted to suppress a giggle when he realized that she had goat slime all over her hands. As their hands separated, she saw the look of disgust come over him. He sighed and sat back down on the bench to watch them as Marinette returned to Mar’i.

“Their tongues feel funny,” Mar’i giggled at her.

“They do!” She put her hand out for the goat to nibble the last of her food. It did tickle a bit.

“Daddy come join us!” Dick came over and joined them after a look from Marinette. His hand was already filthy, he may as well join in. He used a couple more quarters to get some food pellets. Marinette lifted Mar’i up at one point so she could pet the other goat. She was very light, even considering Marinette’s own strength.

Doing so had made her see another goat on the other side of the enclosure. “Daddy can I go feed the other ones?”

“Sure starshine.” He stared at her as she ran to the other side, still in full view of them.

“She’s such a good kid. A bright light in Gotham.” Her nickname suited her. His on the other hand, did not. “Do you guys live around here?”

“Why do you ask?” Ah. There was that Gotham paranoia.

“Oh, sorry, it just seems like she is still working on her ‘stranger danger’ I think you call it.”

“Yeah… she was with her mother recently, and I lived in Bludhaven before this.”

“She’s very sweet. And very good with the animals,” she stated. “You’re doing a great job.”

He grinned at the praise.

“You’re very good with kids, Marinette,” Dick complimented her, his eyes never leaving his kid.

She went on to describe her babysitting in Paris a bit. She hadn’t really wanted to leave, but guarding the miraculous came first.

Dick had moved on to commiserate his moving around before landing in Gotham, when Mar’i came and grabbed him, dragging him on to the ponies.

“I’m going to go see some of the other animals. You guys have fun!” Marinette said.

Mar’i paused a moment, looking at Marinette, before rushing over and giving her a big hug. “Bye Mari! I hope we see each other again soon!” Then she went back to dragging Dick along to see the ponies, leaving Marinette behind, waving as they went. Marinette had a very good feeling that they would be seeing each other again. Quite a bit. She wasn’t sure how she knew. It felt something like her senses as Ladybug, that luck or creation was guiding her way. “We sure will kiddo,” she whispered to herself.

She grabbed some hand sanitizer from the station nearby before heading off in the direction of a few larger animals in their own pens.

She came across some horses first, and Kaalki peered out at them from the basket. She wasn’t entirely sure if Kaalki could understand them, but she saw the pocket-sized god giggle a few times in response. Either Kaalki found them funny in general, or they said something funny. Now was not really the time to ask, as a group of kids was coming up behind her. “Sorry to cut this short,” she pat the horse’s head, while actually talking to Kaalki. They nodded in understanding.

She came across the cows next. There was a boy, who she would guess was around her age, petting one of the two cows. They were fluffy, not like the ones she had seen in picture books as a kid. She hadn’t known cows could have fur. The boy never turned directly towards her, but she could tell he was watching her. She tried to be unassuming, keeping her focus on the cow as well. Gothamites were sure creeped out by strangers. It made her wonder how any of them ever made friends.

Well, she could try at least. She had been hoping to make a few friends before school started up.

“Hi!” she said. “Oh I just love these big guys, don’t you?”

She watched from the cover of her bangs and hood as the guy’s eyes narrowed at her question. Had she said something weird?

“You like cows?” he asked.

Was that weird? Did Americans not like cows? She grabbed a handful of pellets from a machine. She placed one on her hand, and the cow reached out with a gigantic tongue to lick it off. The tongue was bigger than her hand. Compared to the goats and their eating habits earlier, the cow’s licks were more like sandpaper. She looked at the fluffy cow. How could you not like it? It was like a gigantic dog. “Yes! I mean, look at their adorable noses!”

“So you love cows?” he repeated. He sounded skeptical. This was more like she expected from Gothamites. Suspicious. His eyes were still narrowed into a partial glare at her. Had she somehow made him upset? He was petting the cows too. She had thought it would be a safe topic.

“Oh, well I like all animals, but the cows are super cute. I really want to get a hamster as a pet. I haven’t had a chance yet though.” Jagged had said she could get one small pet for their apartment. He didn’t know she had nineteen little floating companions already.

“I actually have a wide variety of pets at home, including a cow.”

What the hell? Who has a cow at home? Especially in a big city like Gotham. She turned to actually look at the guy for the first time, and they made eye contact. Oh. He was cute. Bright green eyes – damn she had a thing for green eyes. Darker skin and black hair that was gelled up into soft spikes that was supposed to look effortless but likely took a good ten minutes. At least he didn’t look exactly like Adrien and Felix. She had begun to worry she had a type. She could see the muscle definition through his shirt. The fluffy ears somehow did not detract from his overall tough-guy appearance. He seemed to be confident enough to wear them and not care. Either that or he had completely forgotten them. Marinette had a hard time forgetting the cotton tail sitting on the back of his shirt, pulling her attention to the rest of his profile. She tried really hard not to stare. Really she did.

Instead, she tried to focus back on the conversation. She cringed internally as she heard herself ramble about her daydreams of owning pets in the future, before she realized that she was talking a mile a minute, completely off the topic of cows. She halted herself mid-sentence to ask about his cow.

“Batcow…” he responded when she asked about it’s name. “It has a bat shape on it’s forehead…” He cringed.

“Oh that’s so cute! Like the local vigilantes too!” She turned her full attention on him, to make sure he knew that she didn’t always ramble like an idiot.

He seemed to flounder around a bit for what to say, before he started giving her cow facts. “Do you know much about cows?” She shook her head. “All cattle require something other than grass in order to maintain their health. That is what these pellets are: balanced nutrients of carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins and minerals. Cows are very social and don’t like to be alone, only separating from their herds when they are sick. Cows can live for approximately 20 years. They will grow to a size of 2,000 pounds. Bos taurus are the largest of the Bovidae species.”

“Taurus? Like the astrological sign?”

“Tt. Yes.” He seemed irritated at her comment. “I am not sure why that is relevant.”

“Sorry, my English isn’t always the best. I just wanted to make sure I understood.”

“My apologies. Your English has been excellent so far.”

“Do you know anything about hamsters?” she asked since she had broken off his cow-fact rambling.

“If you really are going to get a hamster, you should consult a veterinarian about what to look for in healthy pet options and care instructions. Unfortunately, I do not have a hamster to guide you. I do have a cat named Alfred and a dog named Titus if you care to learn about caring for them should you ever get one.”

“Thanks!”

He continued on to talk about the benefits and drawbacks of different diets for dogs, from store bought, to homemade, to raw, and the particular temperaments of different breeds and what she may be looking for. She asked a few questions about shedding versus non-shedding dogs, as she did not want to have a breed that would get fur all over her fabric. He frequently referenced his dog, Titus, his father’s dog, Ace, and his brothers’ dogs Haley and Dog.

“I’m sorry, he named his dog ‘Dog?’” she interrupted.

“Unfortunately.” The boy frowned. “Our family is terrible at choosing names it seems.”

Marinette got that. She was pretty literal with her hero names too.

She went to take out her sketchbook to write down the advice before realising that she had left it at Jagged’s apartment to make more room for the kwami. Looking in the basket, she saw Tikki unlocking her phone and making the notes for her. She smiled in thanks and closed the basket lid again, making sure to comment about how she didn’t bring anything to write his advice down.

The mention of her sketchbook seemed to pique his interest. He stopped petting the cow gently to look at her properly again. “You draw?”

She went on to talk about art for a minute, and she brought up Nate and Marc’s comic book. “My friends actually made their own comic book based off the local hero, Ladybug. It was really good. You should check it out. Oh… but it’s in French.”

“I am fluent in French, among other languages,” he responded in perfect French. Why the hell hadn’t they been talking in French this whole time? It would have been much easier on her. She really did need to practice her English more, but still!

Her basket jostled itself in her arms. She peeked in quickly to see an irritated Plagg, who was out of cheese. The glutton had finished off the entire day’s worth of cheese in an hour. She rolled her eyes at the rotund cat.

She did promise. Maybe her new acquaintance would join her… she hoped it would come out without the stuttering. She had been doing so well with the conversation so far being focused on animals. Like with Adrien before, if she was distracted by or focused on something else when talking to a cute boy, she could manage to hold her conversations just fine.

“I was thinking of grabbing a snack and a drink. Did you want to come with me? I could show you the comic while we eat.”

Yes! Not one word mangled by her nerves. Focusing on having to speak in another language must help.

He looked hesitant for a moment. Then she realized. She had no clue who she was even talking to! And she… she had never introduced herself! She was momentarily mortified. “Oh, I’m Marinette by the way. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” She held out her hand.

For the first time since they had begun talking, he looked nervous. It was extremely subtle, but years of dealing with other’s emotions had her recognizing the subtle cues. The minute hesitation, the staring at her hand. The crease in the corners of his eyes, hinting at an attempt to hide a squint.

He took her hand and shook it. “Damian Wayne.”

Wow. Damian Wayne. That had to be some weird luck she had. Once again, she was becoming friends with the stupidly wealthy. The Waynes were a level of rich that Chloe, Adrien, Felix, Jagged and Kagami could never reach even if they combined their wealth. Thankfully, like her friends, Damian seemed to be a good person. Chloe and Felix, while they had gotten better over the years, were never what Marinette would call thoughtful towards others. Damian seemed to be thoughtful. He had spent all that time talking about animals with her, answering her questions about dogs. He did have that superior air about him that Kagami, Felix, and Chloe carried, but he too seemed to be a more than that superficial side.

“Nice to meet you, Damian! Did you want to grab those snacks with me?”

“Uh… sure.”

Chapter Text

Marinette and Damian walked over to the refreshments area, where she had been earlier to carve pumpkins. They had since started up a gigantic pie eating contest with multiple rounds of participants to draw a crowd to the area. It was doing a good job of selling their baked goods – the pies in particular. Everyone seemed to want to try it. Damian excused himself to go carve a pumpkin while she got her snacks. She watched him point over to the corner he intended on sitting in.

“Do you want me to grab you anything while I’m over there? Coffee? A snack?”

He refused any refreshments that she offered, but she would grab extras just in case he changed his mind. If nothing else, the kwami would eat them.

Marinette made her way over quickly to grab the cheese and crackers from the free section of the little kids table before people nearby could question her. Plagg wouldn’t be thrilled with the cheese types, cheddar and Monterey, but it was all they had. She grabbed more than would be socially acceptable, but it didn’t seem to be a popular food choice, so she doubted it would be missed. She found a couple of caramel apples for Kaalki and took some extra sugar packets from the coffee cart. Now to find something for herself and Tikki. She spotted cookies on the next table over and added ten of them to her order. She cringed at the price. She knew the price gouging would be bad, but she hadn’t expected highway robbery. Not as if she or Jagged couldn’t afford it, but her days of scrimping at home and as a child growing up in a bakery, she knew how much the pies and cookies should actually cost. She paid for the things she had grabbed, as well as a pumpkin spice latte and two apple ciders. She placed the ciders in her basket. She made her way over to the plates full of cookies while she waited for her coffee. She grabbed three of each, creating a stack and placing them with the other goodies in her basket.

By the time she came back, another black-haired young man was staring at her like she was the weirdest thing he had ever seen. He had probably seen her grab the cookies. Only two of them were even for her – not that she could tell him that!

The barista handed them both their coffees. She took a sip, thanking the girl. It was pretty good. She hadn’t realized how cold she was until she had taken a sip of something warm.

There was an announcement that the next pie eating contest was about to begin. She took a few more sips and took a bite of one of the cookies. “This is just what I needed. Not as good as mine, but it’ll do.” She was really saying it to Tikki, but had done it in an offhand way that made it seem like she was musing to herself.

“Oh, do you bake?” the man asked randomly.

She was surprised. A Gothamite willingly striking up a conversation? She turned to face him, taking a sip of her coffee while she explained how her parents owned a bakery back home. It was surprisingly easy to carry a conversation with him. They both had a love of coffee. He talked about his hobbies. When the contest began, the man started taking photos.

“Know one of them?” she asked, already guessing the answer unless his Halloween costume wasn’t just a costume, and he actually was a reporter.

“Yeah, my brother is up competing.” He pointed to yet another black-haired man.

What was with her meeting black-haired people today? This one had a splash of white hair at the front of his scalp. She wondered if it was dyed to go with his outfit. She didn’t have long to wonder, as the man shoved his face into a pie.

“Oh, damn, I’m so rude. Tim. Tim Drake,” he said as he put his camera down, putting one arm out to shake her hand.

Huh. Yet another Wayne. They must all be there. She stopped to think about it. At the petting zoo she had met Dick and Mar’i Grayson. The name rang a bell now. Waynes. Damian Wayne. Now Tim Drake-Wayne. The Waynes must be having a family outing together. The brother doing the pie eating contest would be one too. Jason Todd if she remembered correctly. Looked like her rich kid magnet was going overboard today.

She introduced herself. “Du pain? Like bread?”

Of course he would speak French. Just her damn luck. She sighed, commenting about the puns she would get with her name and her family’s occupation.

He stifled a laugh, poorly, and began to commiserate with her on the downfalls of having last names that were easy to make jokes with. At least he had animals to be compared to, and a dragon at that. Better than bread.

“So which are you? A duck, or a dragon?” she teased with a smirk.

He smiled back. “Both.”

She looked him over, her Guardian trained eyes taking him in seriously for a moment. He was no dragon. A fox. A snake. A rabbit even possibly. But not a dragon. She wondered if another box had a duck kwami. If it did, she would give it to him, even just as a joke. The closest she had was Orikko. Actually, Orikko might work too now that she thought about it. He was definitely a bird. Sorry bird boy. Damian was definitely a dragon or a cat, now that she thought of about it. And Dick was easily a monkey or turtle-

A yell of “Yes!” rang out through the room, ripping her out of her thoughts.

“We have a winner!” the announcement rang out.

Jason Todd was raising his arms in victory. Now that she saw him, he was huge. It was no wonder he won.

“I better go, maybe I’ll see you around, Bread.”

“I’m sure you will. Later, Duckie.”

If she and Damian remained friends after tonight, she was sure she would see them all again. She waved bye before heading off to meet back up with Damian. She wondered vaguely if he knew his brothers were there.

Damian’s pumpkin was almost finished. She had been gone longer than she thought. It was an immaculate carving of a turkey. The proportions were excellent, and he had shaved off pieces to give it texture. Far more effort than she had put into her vague carvings of the kwami (not that she could make them accurate for safety purposes, but still…).

“Wow! You’re amazing!”

His cheeks went a bit pink at the compliment. It made her smile that he had appreciated it. She took another sip of her almost empty coffee. “You sure you didn’t want me to get you one?” she asked again.

“I am more partial to tea than coffee, but thank you for the offer.”

She pulled out the snacks and apple cider that she had gotten for him. “Just in case you changed your mind,” she said hopefully.

“Thank you.” He took them from her, pausing to look at her. “I had become thirsty while you were gone. And the snack is much appreciated.”

She pulled up the Ladybug comic on her phone and sat down beside him. She leaned in to him, more than was probably socially acceptable, to show it to him. After the first issue was skimmed through, he requested that she send it to him.

She prepared the link to send to him when she realized she had no clue what his number was. “I… don’t have your number.”

He gently took the phone from her and sent the information to himself, his phone chiming with the factory default sound. She took her phone back, saving his contact as Damian W.

“So the Ladybug hero – how did they come up with it? The characters are very realistic.”

“She really was a local hero in Paris. Her and Chat Noir. They didn’t make her up. Most of the adventures in the comics are actually modified from actual battles they faced. The villains are usually too.”

“Paris had villains and heroes? Why does no one know about this?”

Marinette shrugged. “Government kept it quiet with media blocks for the most part, I guess. We certainly didn’t advertise it. It would have killed the tourist industry.”

He frowned at her. “What about civilian safety?”

“Oh, it was all reversed when the enemy was defeated. No physical harm in the end to anyone or anything.”

He was looking at her like she had gone insane. She had an odd feeling she should avoid bringing up her superhero past as much as possible. The world was mostly out of the loop, and Paris would consider it an urban legend or a hoax in a few decades.

He looked down at the link on his phone again and realized that he would be reading the comics with a new light. She decided to reassure him, “The villain has been gone for a while now. There’s really nothing to worry about.”

His tense muscles relaxed a bit, and he went back to his carving, stopping to drink and eat on occasion. He didn’t have much left to do – he was just being picky at this point.

“So where did you want to go next?” she asked as he finished up.

“I was going to go to the haunted house next, followed by the corn maze.”

They would need to separate then. She hadn’t bought tickets to the haunted house. Unless…

“Did… did you want some company?” she asked quietly, her voice wavering a bit. She felt her face turn red.

Why had she asked that?! She hated scary things! They messed with her memories of her hero days and made her have nightmares for weeks. If she ever had to fight another villain again, it would be too soon. The back of her mind niggled at her that she was in Gotham, and with her luck and the curse on the land, the chances of her escaping without fighting someone at some point was basically zero, but she hoped it would be a year at least. Let her at least get to know the area before she got into a fight! She could have one last normal semester before school started, couldn’t she? Surely the universe owed her that much?

“I suppose company would make it more enjoyable. I am not expecting the haunted house to be very good.” He didn’t sound overly enthusiastic, but she figured it was from the location, rather than from her company. If that was the case, he could have ditched her long ago.

“I promise to make it as enjoyable as possible!” she tried to reassure him. She didn’t think it worked. It didn’t even work for her. She was dreading it. She hoped for kwami’s sake that the thing wasn’t very realistic so that she could at least rationalize it in her head later when she had nightmares.

As they walked over to the haunted house, and Marinette saw Jason and Mar’i over at the pony rides. She waved briefly to Mar’i, who waved back as her uncle took her picture. It gave her a momentary distraction from her musings and building anxiety.

They got to the attraction and Marinette pulled out her wallet from the basket. “How much is a ticket?” she asked the woman.

“Sorry, love, we only take tickets here. You’ll have to go get a ticket from the main booth,” she replied.

Oh no. It had to figure. Her luck was all over the place today. Would he wait for her if she ran to get one? She doubted it. He didn’t seem like the overly patient type. She had been surprised that he had waited with the carving. If he hadn’t had that, would he have stuck around?

In a way though, it was a bit of a blessing in disguise. She didn’t want to go into the haunted house in the first place. It’s why she never bought a ticket. She didn’t like horror movies because they triggered her worst traumas from Hawkmoth. The haunted house would likely be the same. Maybe worse, because there were physical things, not just images on a screen.

But she looked at the boy at her side, and felt a bit sad that this would be where their meeting ended. At least she had his number. Maybe she could text him some time. She frowned. “Sorry Damian, I guess I won't be joining you after all.”

“Nonsense. I’ll just go get you a ticket. Stay there. It won't take long.”

“You really don’t need to. I can wait until you’re done and meet you at the exit.”

He waved off her concerns. “It is no problem.”

“I can go get it myself then!”

“Just wait here.”

“But the tickets are expensive. I can't have you spending the money on me.”

“Tt. Even more reason why I should pay. I’ll be back.” He walked away.

“Damian! You don’t need to. Really! At least take my money for it!” she called after him. “Come on, it’s my fault I don’t have a ticket, just let me pay!”

“That was awful sweet of your boyfriend,” the attendant told her.

Marinette responded quickly, “Oh, no! He’s not my boyfriend…” She didn’t want people to get the wrong idea, or have him think she was spreading rumours. “Though I wouldn’t mind if he was…” she added quietly.

The attendant smiled at her. “Are you sure dear? That Wayne kid is not exactly known for doing things for others, let alone being nice. Heck, he smiled at you sweetie.”

“No… we just met today,” she responded.

“You- and he- you just met today and he’s acting like that? He must be smitten,” the woman cooed at her.

“No, really! I just met him. There’s no way he is. I swear he’s annoyed at me half the time. Honestly I would settle for friendship at this point.”

The attendant was ignoring her though. “Ah young love is in the air, and I was here to see it beginning!”

“What?! No! You can’t tell anyone that! He would never speak to me again. Please!”

“No worries love, I won’t tell a soul about you and your icy prince charming.”

She’d had quite enough of the teasing, so she politely excused herself to wait outside, despite the chill in the air outside making her wish she had brought a sweater. She likely had a long wait. She had seen the ticket booth as they walked over, and it was packed. She settled herself onto the railing to wait.

The haunted house itself didn’t seem that bad. She had seen the first room from where you gave your tickets to the attendant, and it didn’t seem so bad. If they were all like that, she would be fine. She would still have nightmares, but maybe she could escape them being fueled by the additional horrors that her mind would create and build upon. It was the one time she cursed her mind’s creativity.

She hadn’t been there more than a minute before a man approached, clearly headed towards the haunted house she was perched in front of. He stopped in front of her. There stood Jason Todd, dressed as a lumberjack, complete with axe.

“Hey Red Hood,” he said, laughing at his own joke. “What’re you doin’ out here? Why don’t you go in?”

She gave a smirk. “I think I’m missing the helmet for that outfit. You could pull it off nicely though.”

He gave an involuntary jerk and froze in place, his eyes going a bit wide. Interesting reaction. Odd reaction. She would have to look into him when she got home.

“Me? That asshole? No way. I’m way cooler than him,” he said coolly.

She bristled. Seriously? Did he think that heroes and vigilantes just went out for fun? She began ranting to him about how heroes put their lives on the line every day to protect their cities. While she was supposed to be defending Red Hood, she found herself defending her own hero persona. She had sacrificed everything for the good of the city and the world. If she had lost, the entire universe would have been erased and rewritten, never quite the same again. How dare he treat heroes like that? Treat her like that? Even if Red Hood was a complete asshole, it was made up for a thousand times over with what he did every night to protect them all!

She relaxed a bit at his apology, but he still did not seem to see the problem. She would never have put down her team or herself like that!

“So… why are you sitting out here?” he asked, clearly trying to change the subject.

“Oh… I- I don’t like scary things, like horror movies and haunted houses and stuff,” she said. “I’m working up the courage to go in.”

More like she was terrified of what her mind would come up with tonight when she tried to sleep, or what panic attack it would trigger. Not that she could tell him that.

He sweetly offered to go with her, but she declined. Damian should be back any time now. She tried to explain why she was going, despite being scared, but he didn’t seem happy with her answer. When he prodded some more, she explained to him how her friendships were important to her. She would, and had, died for her friends and family, and would do it again if necessary. Going through a haunted house to make a new friend, and dealing with the trauma triggers it caused later, was nothing in comparison. But instead of explaining that, Marinette parsed it down to the bare minimum. Her mind would come up with nightmares based on the things she saw that were definitely worse than anything the decorators could have accomplished.

He looked skeptically at her. “You sure it’s worth it?”

“Mhmm!” she replied more brightly than she felt. She tried to reassure him, “I have sleep issues as it is. One more nightmare won't hurt. I usually knit when I can't sleep, so maybe I’ll finish that project I was working on tonight. Nothing coffee won't fix.”

“Heh, that sounds like one of my brothers – total coffee addict.” Tim certainly was a coffee nut like her. She smiled to herself. It seemed Tim hadn’t mentioned her at all. She had managed to meet all of the Wayne brothers without any of them realizing it. She held in a giggle at the thought of them all being in the same place as her. It would be quite a reunion. One that she felt more and more was likely to happen the more the night went on. Her luck was leading her to something, and the Wayne boys were key.

“So the knitting. Hobby?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Yeah! I even wanted to be the knitting fairy when I was a kid. My Grandma even calls me her little fairy.” She thought fondly of her grandmother, but then her thoughts went to the akuma that had apparently changed her into the knitting fairy for real, exposing her to everyone. Luka had seen. It was lucky he had used his second chance for it. Sass had allowed her to see all of the second chance replays that involved Hawkmoth at one point towards the end and she knew everyone’s identities. It had been another choice that fueled nightmares for her.

“Cute. Well, I’m going to head in now then. Have fun Pixie,” he played off her knitting fairy comment.

“Good luck,” she said with a smirk. Luck was her thing after all, and hers was crazy tonight. She could afford to send off a bit at the rate it was going.

“Oh, and it’s Marinette.”

“Oops. Jason Todd.”

Oh, she knew. It was nice to have confirmation that he had no clue. “Nice to meet you Jason,” she grinned. This would be fun indeed.

“You too Pixie. Later!” He gave a two-finger salute as he headed in.

She swung her feet as she sat on the railing, waiting for Damian to return. It had been ages. She knew the lines were bad, but were they really that bad? It had been at least ten minutes since he left. Talking to Jason had been a distraction, but she was starting to get bored. Actually, she was starting to wonder if he had just ditched her. She wouldn’t be surprised if he had. She grabbed her second cookie from Tikki and whispered to them.

“What should I do?” she asked.

“Give him a few more minutes. You know how long those lines were. He could still be stuck in them.”

“Are you sure he didn’t just stand me up?”

“We could go get some more cheese, pigtails. Cheese will never stand you up.” Tikki whacked Plagg with the other half of the cookie she was eating. “Come on Sugar cube, it’s true!”

“Don’t call me Sugar cube! You know I hate it! You… You Stinky Sock!”

“Ahh… I miss Adrien’s stinky socks. Almost as heavenly as my camembert.”

Marinette stifled a gag reflex. She didn’t need to know that about Adrien’s socks.

She heard footsteps coming. Damian had returned to her, tickets in hand.

“Here – I got you the full pass,” he said, his voice short as he handed over the pass. He didn’t meet her eyes. He was likely irritated from standing in line so long for her. She would have to find a way to make it up to him.

“Thank you!” she said, taking the booklet.

She instinctively went to give a traditional French bisou as a thank you to him, raised herself up on her toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. She doubted he would accept more than that. She was pushing as it was. Would he even know what a bisou was? She began to panic. What if he thought she was being too forward? Did she need to try to explain? What if he thought she was just another gold digger out for the Wayne fortune?

Damian was just… standing there. His face was blank. Did he like it? Hate it? Oh kwami, he probably hated it! She had invaded his personal space! She had kissed him without even asking. He was probably trying to find some way to nicely tell her off! She would be banned from all the galas and events Jagged had planned to take her to. She would never get her name out beyond the music industry into mainstream or high society. Her dreams of becoming a designer for high end couture were going down the drain already! She needed to get out of there. She turned and headed the only way she could – into the haunted house.

Damian appeared by her side a few moments later. She absently handed the woman her ticket.

“You two lovebirds have fun! Enjoy your date!” she said in her sing-song voice.

“It-i-i-it’s not a d-date,” Marinette said awkwardly, stuttering badly. She cringed internally. This was a DISASTER! Could she just crawl into a hole and die? Damian would think she put the woman up to it! He would hate her even more now! She should just run through the attraction as quickly as she could and head home to plan how she was going to make a name for herself in fashion without big name support. She should-

Damian grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, away from the woman. Her mind had stopped completely at the contact.

As she had seen from outside, the first room was not the least bit scary.

They didn’t linger before moving on to the next one. It was filled with spider webs. She was reminded of Anansi’s spider akuma form, but that had not been too terrifying, all things considered. Maybe she could do this after all!

He dragged her into the next room after it was clear she was done looking around.

The next room… made Marinette want to hurl. Blood was everywhere. She began having flashbacks of Chat Noir taking magical hits for her, blood spattering across the pavement and building walls. She got lost in the memories, and unconsciously gripped onto whatever was in her hand. Though her eyes were open, she did not truly see what was around her. All that registered were screams of pain and blood dripping dangerously from wounds. She felt herself be pulled to the next room. She came back to her senses, and noticed that Damian had been what she was gripping onto. He allowed her to go first. The faster she could leave the bloody room the better.

Her Ladybug instincts had kicked into overdrive with the flashbacks of Chat Noir. So when a prop dropped down immediately in front of her face, her first reaction was scream and punch the damn thing. She realised it was a prop as it swung back halfway across the room. Unfortunately, the prop ghoul resembled one of the more heinous akumas she had faced. It had killed people and turned them into zombie minions, who in turn infected others. It had been brutal, and bloody, and the stuff that regularly haunted her nightmares. It was worse than those survival games the victim had been playing when they were akumatized.

The ghoul prop rocked forward again, and she turned and buried her head in Damian’s chest in an attempt to block out the images that were threatening to drive her into a full-blown panic attack. She gripped onto his shirt, running through grounding techniques in her head. Five things she could see… it was dark. She could see his shirt and her hands. That wouldn’t work. Four things she could touch. The ground. Her cheek. His shirt. His hand. His chest. Any other time she would be marveling at how wonderful it felt. Three things she could hear… the creaking of the drop mechanism the ghoul had been on. Had she broken it? The concern about the machine broke her out of her panic. The distraction had worked this time. She quickly ran through the two other things she could hear – his heartbeat and the general soundtrack running in the background. Two things she could smell – wood from the converted barn and additional structures the attraction was built out of, and Damian. She could get used to that smell. One thing she could taste… peanut butter cookie aftertaste.

“Sorry,” she apologized for her actions. She shouldn’t have clung to him like that. She was about to move away, when he wrapped the arm that she wasn’t grasping onto around her shoulders.

“It’s okay,” he whispered.

He continued to hold her, rubbing her back on occasion, until she calmed down. She was surprised that he didn’t rush her. She thought he would be in a hurry to move on. The ghoul had stopped moving before he finally spoke again. She sighed contentedly after a minute, nuzzling her head into him subconsciously.

He laughed a bit. “You ready for the next room?”

She nodded into his chest, and let go of his shirt.

Damian led the way into the remaining rooms. The total darkness wasn’t so bad. Neither was the broom closet full of very fake looking skeletons. Ironically there had never been a skeleton akuma. However, when they tried another door in the dark hall, it was full of rats chewing on a severed arm. Pretend rats, sure, but her mind spun. Monsieur Rat. She whimpered quietly as the hungry rats descended down on Paris, starving. Eating everything in sight they could get their grubby hands on. People and animals included. Her grip tightened on Damian’s hand again as she whimpered, remembering the bakery being overrun. Suddenly the door slammed shut, making the whole room shake. The slam snapped her out of it, putting her immediately on the defensive again.

But there was nothing to fight. Instead, Damian dragged her towards the exit. A loud car horn honked, causing them both to involuntarily jump at the loud noise. But it was the final thing. She was out. She was so glad to be out. She was in for some horrifying nightmares that night.

She heard Damian laugh, and snapped her head up to look at him.

“I’m sorry for my ungentlemanly behaviour. It was not funny.”

“It was a bit funny…” she conceded. More like embarrassing. She smiled as she saw the small smile on his face and the wonderful sound of his laugh. She would gladly hear that sound any time. She mumbled very quietly to herself, “but I’m going to have nightmares for weeks.”

She tried to blink away the images, and focus on what was going on around her again. It had begun to get dark out. That mild chill in the air was getting colder.

Damian started walking out of the haunted house area, heading down towards the corn maze. She followed, still grasping onto him.

“Hey Damian…?” Marinette asked hesitantly, “Is… could we…” She avoided looking at him. She was so embarrassed about her behaviour a few minutes ago. There was no way he wanted to spend more time with her after that… but she wanted to try anyways.

He stopped and turned to face her. Using one finger, he gently lifted her chin up. She stared into his bright green eyes. She felt the blush on her cheeks heat up. She had to be the same colour as her Ladybug suit at this point.

“Could we what?”

“C-could we… could we…” His eyes were so green. What had she been saying?

“Hmm?” he prompted, his lips turning up into a bit of a smirk. Damn that smirk. It made her stomach fill with butterflies.

“Could we go on the hayride? …Together?”

“Sure.” 

“Really?!” He said yes? She grinned. He actually wanted to spend time with her!

He grabbed her hand again, and directed them towards the hayrides.

~~~~

Black Adam watched from the skies as his minions encroached on the four entry points they had determined. The Joker took the main entrance with his henchmen. Scarecrow headed towards the haunted house. Dr. Hugo Strange was wading through the corn maze. Killer Croc had descended upon the children’s area.

It was time for a show.

Chapter Text

The carriage that took people on rides was presently doing a loop. They would have a small wait. As they waited, Marinette became acutely aware that she was still holding his hand. Did he even realise he was doing it? Did he want to? Was it just because of her freak out earlier? Did he feel bad for her still and this and the hayride was some way to make it up to her? Was that all this was? Pity? He felt bad about taking her somewhere that scared her?

She hoped it was more than that, but knew it probably wasn’t. Damian had quite the reputation it seemed.

“Are you still joining me in the corn maze after this?” he asked, bringing her out of her thoughts.

“Yep!” she agreed immediately. “If you still want me to, that is.”

“I…” he hesitated, “I do.”

She opened her mouth to ask him something, when suddenly screams came from several directions. She was about to suggest that they split up, so that she could transform if needed, when he yanked her behind a gigantic hay bale.

Damian peered around it, looking to see what was happening. Marinette ducked under him arm, trying to peek out as well. She caught sight of a clown and several men with guns before Damian tried to push her back. The Joker if she remembered correctly. Gotham had its own set of bizarre villains with no fashion sense. They argued for a moment about her getting seen – as if he wouldn’t be as well, the hypocrite – before he decided to pull her away from the scene. She was caught off balance in the process, and dropped her basket. He attempted to drag her further away into the trees nearby. There was no way she would leave the kwami. Sure she had the cat and ladybug miraculous on her, but Kaalki’s glasses were still in the basket. Nothing, not even a cute boy, would make her leave those behind. She wrenched her hand away and out of his grip, and ran for the basket.

She vaguely heard him whispering at her that she was insane and that they needed to go, but she didn’t respond until she had grabbed the kwami and made it to the tree cover with him. They ran for a bit through the trees until they came upon a washroom. He yanked on the door, but it was locked.

“Fuck,” he whispered angrily. “We need to hide you somewhere.”

“Me?! What about you?!” She needed to get him to safety and then find a way to separate from him. Maybe she could pretend to leave or something. She couldn’t in good conscious leave him in a forest full of men with guns. The Waynes had been hostages in the past. If they found him, he would become one for sure – assuming they didn’t shoot him on sight.

“I’ll be fine.”

“No way. I’m going with you.” Someone had to protect him. He had shown absolutely no fear at all so far. Guaranteed he would go and do something stupid, like try to fight them off.

Marinette sighed quietly as the boy was determined to save her, pulling her back into the trees out of sight of the gunmen. A small smile set on her face, looking at how hard he was trying to protect her. It was nice to be on the innocent civilian side of things for change, rather than the protector. It was incredibly sweet, especially since he didn’t have powers and couldn’t just whisk her away instantly like Chat Noir had. He was trying so incredibly hard, slinking between trees, keeping an eye out. Still, she really did need to go and transform.

They hadn’t gone far when she saw off to her right, a set of hostages that had been caught in the first wave of the attack. A small girl and what was clearly her older brother, huddling together, crying.

“We need to go help them!” Marinette whispered.

She moved to go and help, but was blocked by Damian’s arm. What the hell? He would help her, but not small children? She attempted to push past him, but he grabbed her wrist with a strong grip that was just shy of painful, and started to drag her away. She dug her heels into the ground in protest. It created lines in the ground. Hopefully the Joker’s patrols were too stupid to look for tracks, because otherwise she was leading them straight for Damian and an untransformed hero.

Damian must have noticed too, because he growled in frustration before hoisting her unceremoniously over his shoulder. She was surprised he could do that considering how much fight she was putting up. She started flailing her legs, and whispered, “We need to go back! We have to help them. We need to go back!”

“We need to get you somewhere safe. If a hero, like Robin, was here now, would you stay put? Let them handle it?”

Sure. She would let them handle it. And provide a ton of backup while he was at it, because there was no way one vigilante, trained or not, could take this many guys on by himself. It would be a death sentence without magical powers and enhanced abilities. But Robin wasn’t here. It was a moot point.

“No! They can’t take out all those men by themselves, and what about the hostages?! Even if a hero was here, they would need help!”

More screams sounded from the pumpkin patch behind them. She didn’t have time for this.

They had almost made it back to the parking lot when a round of patrols went by. Marinette stopped kicking and remained still and silent until they passed.

When they made it back to the parking lot, he finally let her down. Him carrying her had really slowed them down, though not as much as she had expected. It was impressive, actually. He pushed her into a nearby car, and joined her a few moments later, now with a fancy suitcase in hand. She looked at it, confused. He sat down and unlocked the case. He stared at the contents for a long time, clearly lost in thought, before he looked up at her and ordered her to ‘avert’ her eyes.

“Avert? What is avert?”

He responded angrily in French, “Avert - to turn away or aside one's gaze in avoidance.”

She wasn’t stupid! “I know what avert means. I just didn’t know the word in English!” she spat back, now angry herself.

“Now avert your eyes.”

She turned away huffing. She looked into the basket at the kwami, who were all peering up at her questioningly.

“What do I do?” she whispered to them in the Guardian language that Su-Han had taught her.

Tikki shrugged. Plagg floated beside her, his eyes squinted into a glare. Kaalki was frowning.

“I need to go help. Even if the heroes do show up, they will need help. There’s just too many of them.” She looked out the tinted window. No one would be able to see in. It was an ideal place to transform, if only she could ditch Damian somehow.

The kwami were all nodding in agreement. They were willing to take the exposure risk to help.

“Are you sure you won't just… stay here?” he asked suddenly from behind her.

“Never. There is nothing you could do to stop me from going back there and helping,” she said somewhat angrily.

The kwami looked at her exasperatedly. She knew she should have said she would stay there while he went out to help, but it had just spilled out before she could stop it. Why couldn’t she have said yes?! Once again, her mouth had betrayed her. She put her hands on her face and groaned silently into them.

There was silence for a bit before he suddenly exclaimed, “I had a tail on this whole time, and you never said anything?!”

How the hell was she supposed to know he wasn’t supposed to have a tail? It was a Halloween costume for heaven’s sake! He had the ears, why wouldn’t he have the tail?! She growled back in anger, “Were you not supposed to? You were a bunny after all.” Besides, then she would have to admit that she had been staring at his ass. And that was not going to happen. Just like admitting that she had stared at his arms. Or his chest. Or felt his abs and chest under his shirt when she clung to him in the haunted house. Not happening. No way.

“…I apologize. My anger was at my family, who should have told me. Not at you.”

“Okay.” She sighed. Damian Wayne was a complex person full of contradictions. She wouldn’t mind deciphering them. At least he seemed to know when he had truly screwed up. She had an odd feeling he didn’t apologize often.

She played with Plagg’s ring while she waited for… whatever he was doing, and had Kaalki’s glasses in her other hand, ready to store them into her yoyo, or at least to ensure she didn’t lose them with the basket again.

It was silent for a bit, before he blurted out, “Look… I’m going back in, and you can come. BUT – you will stick to the woods and escort hostages out. Understood?”

She scoffed, a puff of air escaping her by accident. There was no way in hell she would be doing that. Tikki sighed at her. She mouthed ‘sorry’ to her. Her mouth was really getting her in trouble today.

“You can turn around.”

When she did, she was shocked at what she saw. “You- You’re Robin.” The comments he made earlier about if Robin were there made so much sense now. He had been talking about himself. No wonder he hadn’t said Batman. But if he was Robin…

Oh. His whole family were the bats. Hah. Her thoughts about Tim being a bird were more true than she would have ever been able to guess. She just had the wrong kind of bird. She hadn’t seen his father around – Batman was likely on patrol then? But the rest were there – somewhere. They would likely be coming to get their gear as well. Her luck really had been in overdrive all night. She had managed to meet almost every single vigilante in Gotham separately throughout the night. And here she thought she was just a rich kid magnet. Apparently she was a hero magnet as well.

“…Yes.”

“So not only are you the infamous Damian Wayne, but you’re also Robin?”

“Yes. You knew who I was?” He seemed surprised, and confusingly, relieved. Did he really think she didn’t know who he was all this time?

“Of course I did. Does it matter? You’re another person just like everyone else. I’m friends with models and heiresses back home. They’re regular people just like me. Did you want me to treat you differently?”

“No… I was glad you didn’t.” She took the mask he was fiddling with, and placed it gently on his face.

“So, Robin, I guess that means your family are the rest of the bats?” She was sure she knew the answer already, but it helped to check. It was the only thing that made sense.

“Yes. They will not be happy that you know. You have to keep this a secret.”

“I think you’ll find that I’m good with secrets, bat boy” she said with a smirk. She nodded once at Tikki. Him being a hero made everything so much easier. Her decision was made. “Now… let’s go rescue those hostages. Tikki, spots on!”

She gave a little curtsy and waited for the shock to wear off, a smug look on her face. “Ladybug, hero of Paris, at your service.”

“You’re a hero?!” he practically screeched at her. He probably wouldn’t like her calling it that. Masculinely. A masculine screech.

“Yes – now let’s go. We can talk later. Saving kids now.” She exited the car, not bothering to wait for him, stashing the ring and glasses as she ran.

Two patrolmen came out of the cover of the trees. Robin was closer to one, so she let him handle it. She sent a swift kick to the other one’s head, and he dropped to the ground. Knowing the bad guys were actually bad, rather than mind-controlled civilians was oddly freeing. She hated to hurt anyone, but knowing they were causing harm to others of their own free will, rather than as a pawn that would have no recollection of it, certainly lessened her inhibition of harming them. Still… if she could get future people to surrender or run, it would definitely be preferrable. She didn’t like hurting people in general. Robin seemed to have no qualms about it. She reminded herself once again that it was a different place with a different set of villains. Ones that would kill everyone, and if she wasn’t magically involved, there would be no coming back.

After they were down, Robin rounded on her about her reactions at the haunted house and why she was so different now when real danger was present. It was true that her reactions to the haunted house were overboard. She knew it. She also couldn’t help that the haunted house was so much closer to the akuma battles she faced than any regular human hostage situation or mugging could ever be. As they bickered and she attempted to get Damian to understand, they took out three more men. She had used a bit too much force on the last one – she was still getting used to fighting humans rather than magical monsters made from her loved ones – and Robin went over to check on him. Seemed he would be okay, so she tried to put it out of her mind… and remember to use less force in the future. She wondered vaguely if the Supers had that problem as well. She could probably ask them. Batman and Robin were known to have worked with them, both in and out of the Justice League – they likely knew who they were outside of the suit. It would be nice to talk to someone else about the extra abilities.

Robin had just finished checking on the man when another appeared from behind him, gun raised and already pointed at his back. She darted forward, beginning to swing her yoyo to create a shield. Two got through before the yoyo was spinning fast enough. The impact hurt, but could not penetrate her suit. That was really good to know. She probably should have asked Tikki first if gunfire could harm her. Her left shoulder and her lower left of her stomach ached. She knew they would bruise. It was still better than the shots aimed at Robin’s head as he had been standing up. She cringed a bit and aimed her shield so the ricochets did not hit the man and kill him accidentally. When one clipped his shoe a tad, the man freaked out and ran.

She smiled at Robin, happy to have saved him from dying. Damian dismantled the guns as he started to yell at her. “Do you have no training?”

Well, that killed her mood. “Of course I do!” she growled back angrily. Sure, her training was in the Guardian language, defeating other miraculous users, potion making, and the history of the miraculous… but it was training! She had taken the few defense classes she could in Paris without rousing suspicion too.

“Then what the hell possessed you to jump in front of gunfire?!”

The stupid fool didn’t realise how close he had been to dying. It was her get hurt or him die. Her anxiety ramped up. She didn’t want to lose someone else. Unfortunately, her anxiety came out as anger, as it often did when she was in stressful situations like akuma attacks. “I blocked it from killing you. You could just be thankful!” She went to help him, bending the barrels instead and removing the cartridges. Good enough.

“I should be thankful you just about killed yourself instead?!”

She mumbled quietly, “I was never really in danger. Magic suit and all.” But it fell flat. He likely didn’t hear her. He had been worried about her. It took the wind out of her sails to argue more.

The men were out cold and weaponless. They threw the useless weapons in the bushes and prodded on. The next group to attack likely found them because they were screaming at each other loudly. She let Robin take them on himself, able to provide backup if needed as he sliced his way through them. She did manage to convince one to run away, so it was better than nothing. The others would need medical attention, much like the one she had rammed into a tree.

Unfortunately, her letting him go led to another argument about harming (or not harming) the hired help. She didn’t feel like explaining her rationale and her lack of experience with everyday villains in the middle of what was essentially a battlefield!

“Then what the hell was that earlier? Why are you even a superhero if you don’t want to hurt people? It’s part of the job!”

“Earlier?” she frowned at him. “Earlier? Earlier you were about to DIE!” She could not watch another friend die. Hell, she would admit it, a crush. She could not watch another crush die. She wouldn’t be able to handle it. This one wouldn’t come back from the dead if he were hit by a bullet that she had no magical influence over.

“You’re always about to die fighting villains! What the hell kind of villain did you fight?”

“The kind where the magical damage caused was something I could reverse!”

“… what?”

Her mouth rambled on against her will, rambling about magical damage. Having to fight Chat Noir. But it was over now. She kept having to remind herself of that. He wasn’t coming back. Her friends and family were safe. They continued to bicker as they moved slowly through the trees, finally making it to the kids that she had wanted to save earlier. They waved them forward after Ladybug’s yoyo had taken out their guard with a swift knock to the back of the head.

After they had been sent on their way, Robin commented to her in a defeated voice, “Your damn bleeding heart is going to get you killed one day. Or both of us.” She gave him an odd look at that, so he continued, “I have an odd feeling you are going to be the death of me. I’m just not sure how.”

She attempted to fight off the blush forming on her face. He was going to work with her in the future! He wanted to be around her. And… didn’t Americans use the ‘you’re going to be the death of me’ to often refer to loving emotions, or at least affectionate ones? Did he…? Did he like her?

A crash brought her out of her musings. They focused and went silently about their business this time… at least until Robin said randomly, “You could use some real training.”

Guess he didn’t like her after all. That hurt. He just meant that she was incompetent earlier. There was no hidden meaning to his words. “Why are you being so rude to me?”

“Excuse me? Pointing out your flaws is not being rude. It is prudent. You need training. Your sloppiness is going to get us both killed one day.”

“If you don’t like me, why are you bothering to spend all that time with me today?” she screamed at him. He tried to answer, but she continued as if he never spoke. “Why did you bother buying me a ticket? Why didn’t you just leave?!”

“Because I like spending time with you, okay?!” he yelled to be heard over her questioning.

She froze. Did he actually like her after all? Was that why he had been so mad at her taking the bullet? Her lack of training? He was just worried he would lose her?

She replied softly, “I like you- I like spending time with you, too.” Oh hell, she had said she liked him! Why could her mouth never cooperate around cute boys?! She began wishing that the ground could swallow her whole. She was about to say something to try to explain or say that it wasn’t what she meant… until she saw his face. It was beet red. He was smiling.

Chapter Text

They had finally made it to where the Joker was waiting impatiently, and Robin immediately went to charge out after him. She grabbed his stupid cape at the last second and yanked him backwards. The damn thing was half yellow, and was a hazard! How could he wear such a stupid design? He should know better. They argued for a bit, and he tried to walk away, but she grabbed his cape again. Hah! Just her point! The thing was a hazard! He seemed adamant that it was fine until she offered to make him an alternative. Win! She couldn’t wait to burn the damn thing.

Off to the side she could hear the villain, Joker, and the other two that had come up to join him, arguing. The big crocodile man had dragged Dick in as a hostage and dumped him at the side of the clearing. Where was Mar’i? Was she safe? Oh kwami, she better not be hurt. Maybe she should go find her. Wait… his family were the Bats. Dick was Nightwing. That had to make his wife Starfire. Wasn’t Starfire an alien that could fly like Superman could? Could Mar’i fly too? She wondered if she could convince one of the kwami to let her alter her transformation with them so she could fly too. Why had she never thought of it before? Pollen would likely be up for it. Her mind started wandering to all the design possibilities.

Regardless, it looked like Nightwing would not be joining them after all.

She broke out of her argument and distraction thinking about Mar’i and Dick by Robin asking her, “Ladybug earrings? Seriously? They’re after you?”

What? All of this was her fault? No! How had anyone even known she was here?! It was impossible! The only one who knew was Adrien – and he would die before he told anyone her location! How? Who was after her? How did they even know about the miraculous? “I- I- This whole thing is my fault?” She wanted to cry. These people were scared and hurt because of her. “How did they even know I was here? Maybe I should leave Gotham as soon as possible…”

“No way. You can’t leave.”

She hadn’t meant it like that! “I’m not leaving! I would never abandon people in danger, especially if it’s my fault!”

 “That’s not what I meant. You can’t leave Gotham.”

“Of course I can!” She had to now that they knew the miraculous were here! “I just need to finish undoing the curse here first.”

He seemed shocked at her words, but his words sounded harsh as he said, “Fine. But why bring the earrings here at all? Don’t you understand how dangerous Gotham is?”

“Of course I do! I'm here to help,” she growled back. “I need them to help break the curse. I’ll leave your precious Gotham after that.”

He mumbled something she couldn’t quite hear, his eyes on the bushes behind her, rather than looking at her. “What was that?” she asked.

“Don’t leave,” he pouted. “I don’t want you to.”

Damn that pout was cute. She hoped he wouldn’t use it on her often. She was a sucker for sad faces. But it also meant that he wanted her to stick around. He wanted her? Maybe she had a chance with the gorgeous boy with green eyes after all? “I… okay.” She shook her head to try to clear it. This was not the time to think about cute green-eyed boys or their desire for her to be around. “We need a plan.” She tried to pull him away from the scene before the villains saw them, but he stood firm.

“Stop yanking on my cape!”

“It’s a wonder we haven’t been spotted yet. Your cape is an eyesore.” Bright yellow inside, flapping around the red and green and yellow of his main suit. It was so bright for a nighttime hero that relied on stealth. It was ridiculous. Utterly- nope. She refused to sound like Chloe, even in her head.

“And the spots are any better? Look at you!” He gestured at her.

Okay, fair, she was due for a redesign now that she was in a new city, but it was still better than his! “Like you’re any better? You’re a walking traffic light!”

“Hah, if I’m a traffic light then you’re a damn walking target practice! Look! You’ve even got spots in vital areas, like right over your heart. Perfect for aiming.”

Huh. She hadn’t thought about that before, but now that she looked down, he was right. There were spots on major vital areas. Maybe she should work on that redesign tonight…

“Aren’t you supposed to be a nighttime hero? Why aren’t you dressed in black? For stealth?”

“I don’t need the black to be stealthy. I’m a trained assassin for fuck’s sake!”

“Seriously?” And he still dressed like that?!

“How else would I have snuck around like that?”

Her brain was catching up to what he said, outside of it’s fashion implications. He was… “An assassin?! You’ve killed people?”

“It was a long time ago. My mother’s side of the family didn’t give me much choice. I’ve done my best to move on from my past,” he mumbled, his eyes on the ground.

He had been forced to kill? Her heart broke for him. To be forced to take another life? She couldn’t even imagine. Making sacrifices in battle was bad enough. She always felt like she was killing them herself, even if she wasn’t the one to pull the magical trigger, and she was always able to bring them back. She couldn’t imagine the weight that knowing they would not come back would have on his heart. “I’m sorry you went through that Robin.”

“Tt. So what is this great plan of yours?” he deflected. She decided to humour him, especially since he was finally cooperating with her original insistence on a plan. They argued for a while, without ever actually coming up with something before Marinette saw the guy with a burlap sack on his head (seriously what the hell was with Gotham fashion! The clown was bad, but this?!) came darting up towards them, a giant syringe in his hand. Nope. Not going to let that creep close enough to try out whatever was in the vial.

She threw out her yoyo to the side that sack dude was coming from with, and it impacted on his face.

“It is RUDE to interrupt, thank you very much!!” She had just been in the middle of arguing with Damian, and she was going to win until he had barged in! He was going to go with her plan! “Guess the plan is toast, huh?” she lamented.

“That would be an accurate assessment of the situation,” he replied sarcastically with a smirk.

She saw Robin throw out two throwing stars shaped like bats at targets behind her. Really?! Yes the aesthetic was nice, but that was not practical! It ruins the centripetal force – just like how the capes add drag! It slows them down and easy to grab them. She had heard rustling, but was really in no danger of either of them getting hurt, so she wasn’t going to intervene unless they posed a risk to Damian or one of the hostages.

Damian- Robin- had clearly felt otherwise. “Why can't you just look out for yourself?!”

“Why? You’re a great partner, I trust you to have my back.” He made her feel safe. Impenetrable suit aside.

“I just want you safe – why are you making this so hard?” She blushed hard at this. He cared. He really cared.

“Well maybe I just want you safe too! I'm the one with powers after all!” She swore his cheeks were pink too.

The giant crocodile on human legs had started coming towards them from behind Robin. She would have liked to knock him out like she had with the other guy, but she wasn’t sure how much force she would need for him, and didn’t want to accidentally kill him in the process. Containment it was. She sent out her yoyo again, wrapping the giant… thing…? Half man? Ugh she was too exasperated to figure out what he was exactly. The croc-man started running towards them in earnest. Seriously? Sneaking up hadn’t worked before, why would he think charging them would work now? Sighing, she wrapped him in her yoyo, and watched as he dropped to the ground, face first. That had to hurt. He growled in frustration, but was wrapped up so tightly that he had no chance to move. Threat over.

“Am I going to have to follow you around from now on just to make sure you don’t do something stupidly heroic?!” he yelled as he picked another fight with her.

Seriously? She had just taken down the crocodile man with no effort whatsoever, and he was the one that would have to shadow her? Hah! “More like I’ll have to follow you, so you don’t do something impulsive and get yourself killed.”

“Sure – I could have a sidekick,” he joked.

That! What?! No! “SIDEKICK?! I think you mean PARTNER!” she screeched.

She looked him over once again. Now that she was focusing, she had been right. He was a cat. Compatible with Longg as well, but Plagg was perfect for him. Oh yeah. He could be her new partner. “I could use a new black cat.” She smirked. “Wanna be my kitty?”

She heard a few shots from the bushes off to their left, and watched as the clown, who had been trying and failing to sneak up behind Robin went down. She was just going to use Robin’s grappling hook, but that made her life easier. Seemed Red Hood – Jason by the way he had been joking around earlier if she bet any money - had joined them. Her luck was really interesting tonight. Red Hood shot crocodile dude with tranquilizers, and she returned her yoyo.

“Red Hood, I presume? I'm Ladybug,” she introduced herself. He just looked confused. Definitely Jason. At least he wasn’t wearing the ridiculous helmet she had seen in pictures. Not that the double mask thing was doing him any favours.

“Nice to meet you. Good, uhm, yoyo work back there.” He grimaced and looked lost for words for a bit. After an extremely awkward moment, he excused himself to go round up the men in the woods they had taken out. Robin had begun to tie up the strange assortment of villains in the clearing.

She turned to look for Robin, when she felt more than heard a disturbance above her head. Some guy was floating in the air. He didn’t look particularly happy.

“LADYBUG! Hand over your miraculous, or my henchmen and I will decimate everyone in this field.” The floating guy continued his monologue. “The Ladybug imprisoned me for almost 5000 years in Egypt! I shall have my revenge on both you and that damn kid at once!”

Kid? What kid? Oh! He mentioned Egypt! This must have been who the Ladybug back then was forced to fight!

“Some measly little girl like you isn’t going to stop me – this time! I bet you still have a timer! You will surrender your earrings to me or die a painful death at the hands of my minions!”

He wasn’t wrong about the timer, not that it mattered. She wouldn’t get rid of it until she hit 25 at a more physical maturity. Apparently the kwami didn’t care about legal ages. She had beaten others with it, and she would beat him too, just like the previous Ladybug had. He didn’t even realise that he didn’t have backup. The fool.

“Boy are you late,” she giggled at him. She gestured to the villains lying on the ground.

Robin laughed before looking at the guy who had floated to the ground now with a scowl. “Didn’t you know it’s rude to interrupt?” he joked as he placed himself in front of her. The absurdly heroic fool. Her suit was far more durable than his flimsy Kevlar, and it was clear this guy had magic of some kind. He was just placing himself in more danger. They really needed to talk about that later. She didn’t need another Chat Noir that sacrificed himself at every turn.

She decided to waste no time. The guy was 5000 years old, and had fought a Ladybug before. She didn’t know how much he knew, but he certainly knew how to find her. She needed to deal with this quickly. “Lucky Charm!”

Out popped a thing that looked vaguely like a baseball diamond. She glanced around, a plan forming as Damian, her yoyo, the new villain and the item gave her the perfect idea. She just hoped Robin would cooperate and seize the chance without being told. She threw the item out behind him. The villain had his eyes on her charm rather than on Robin. Robin took advantage of the situation, just like she had hoped, kicking him backwards. She shot out her yoyo at the same time, creating a trip wire, which he caught his foot on. The guy went flying backward onto the item, which trapped him in a big metal-looking box. Huh. She hadn’t expected that. Convenient. Tikki really had fought him before if she gave her something that specific to use.

“What the hell did you do? How did you get that?”

She tried to explain the basics of her powers to him. She hadn’t gotten very far when he blurted out another question.

“What did you mean by a black cat earlier?”

“Ladybugs always have a Black Cat to help keep their powers in check. My last one gave up his ring, so I really do need a new one. Would you-”

A giant ball of light burst onto the scene in a flash of lightning. Out stepped a man in a red suit, with a giant glowing lightning bolt on it. He asked Robin about Black Adam. She pointed to the cage Tikki had created for her. “Cool! Thanks for doing my job for me…” He turned and looked at her. More specifically, he looked at Robin, and the sudden defensive stance he had taken in front of her, trying to shield her from the newcomer’s view. He looked the pair of them up and down, lingering on Robin’s hands outstretched towards her stomach, as if holding her back. Had he seen the new person as a threat? He was using good magic. She could sense it. “Hey! You’re hot!” He did some finger guns at her. “Billy Batson, otherwise known as the amazing Shazam! And you, lovely, are?”

Well that was… awkward. What the hell did she say to that? It was as bad as Chat Noir on his worst days. At least he had some tact. Sort of. She decided to ignore it and introduce herself. He pushed past Robin and shook her hand, then kissed it, much like Chat Noir used to. It was giving her uncomfortable flashbacks. Robin was glaring at them. He clearly didn’t like this Billy guy. Billy seemed to understand that too.

Billy leaned in and whispered to her, “Looks like you have a jealous birdie.” She glanced over at the glaring Robin. He looked ready to murder.

“Not my birdie,” she said sadly.

“Do you want him to be?” he asked.

She blushed. “I don’t think he likes me…”

“Maybe you need a new wingman?” He smirked at her.

“Please, I just keep putting my foot in my mouth… We spent half the night arguing,” she whispered back.

“Ah, he just needs a push.” Then he muttered, “A hard one.”

She really hoped he didn’t mean literally.

“You got it Bug,” he winked at her playfully. “I do owe ya one. Just play along. Oh, do you think you could have your little friends come and make sure his cage is secure still in a few days?”

“Not a problem.”

“How the fuck do I get this out of here? It’s way too big for me to carry.” Batson pondered out loud so Robin could hear.

“If you opened a portal underneath it, you wouldn’t have to carry it at all,” she suggested.

“You, beautiful, are so brilliant! That’s perfect.”

She pretended Damian told her that, and she blushed at the compliment. Not that she needed to. She blushed stupidly easily at any compliment. “Did you- I mean – Do you need me to make you one?” 

“Nah… I got this, but you can port to the Rock of Eternity any time, gorgeous.” He winked at her before opening another portal. “Later Robs!” he called as he disappeared.

Billy had implied that… oh geez. Her cheeks went scarlet. Damian was clearly seething. Was Billy’s plan about to backfire horribly?

Her earrings beeped at her, giving the third warning. Robin looked over at her questioningly, and did not object when she raised herself up on her toes, a hand on his chest for balance (okay for more than balance), and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for your help. See you in a bit? I'm about to detransform.” He nodded slowly, but he had a small smile on his face. Maybe Billy’s plan wasn’t so bad after all.

She ducked into a secluded area in the kiddie section and detransformed.

“Tikki? What the hell just happened?”

“That was Teth-Adam. He was in Egypt 5000 years ago. He wanted to get to the Rock of Eternity where Shazam was. It’s a long story Marinette, but he is immortal. He took the powers of the Egyptian miracle box kwami. The kwami of Stamina, Sustenance, Speed, Flight, Agility, Wisdom, Light and Strength. He is fast. Strong. Powerful. He has senses like the Black Cat and has enhanced cognitive abilities. He is also able to manipulate lightning into weapons and use some minor magic. He’s dangerous. I don’t know how he got out, but it’s important that you don’t cast your cure this time.”

Marinette sat down. That was… a lot. She wasn’t sure if anyone even needed healing, but it sounded as if they would have to suffer through it this time. She couldn’t risk him being let out.

She couldn’t really process this now. “What was the thing I trapped him in? If he’s that powerful, how did we catch him in a box?”

“The box is made of Nth metal. It dampens and absorbs magic, so he can't get out.”

It was true. The thing was solid, and Shazam hadn’t even been able to sense him in there. “But there's no breathing holes!” she said in a panic. What had she done?!

“He doesn’t need to eat, drink or breathe air, it’s okay! It wouldn’t be the first time,” Tikki said with a bitter tone, her eyes cold. “We needed something a bit more sturdy this time. He won’t escape now unless someone lets him out.”

“We should head back to the car. I left the basket with all the food in it. Sorry I don’t have anything right now Tikki.”

She walked back into the clearing, almost running into Red Hood, who was clearly searching for victims. “Do you need help P-Little lady?”

“Nope. But hey! We match!”

“Hah. So we do. Red Hoods.”

“I don’t know, I think I pull it off better than you,” she teased, pulling on their earlier conversation.

“That you do. Well, better go see if anyone else needs help. Take care,” he said warmly.

Chapter Text

Damian’s brothers had teased and bugged him whenever there were no civilians around. He was becoming increasingly annoyed with them. He was glad when he ran out of antidotes, as it gave him the excuse to get away, but every time he escorted a group to the ambulances, the teasing would resume. He gave them no information. He wasn’t sure what Marinette wanted to say.

Hell, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. She had blushed and smiled at Batson. But then, she had been holding his hand, smiling and blushing at him all day too. Did she just blush easily? She had said she liked him – even if by accident – but she didn’t correct herself afterwards. She had kissed his cheek a couple of times. Her actions had pointed towards liking him.

But then that stupid magic user had come along. Did he have competition? If so, he would have to let his intentions be known before Batson saw her again. Waynes and Al Ghuls were second to no one. If he had competition, he would crush him.

He just had to figure out how.

He thought back on their day. It made him flustered to think about it, and Damian Wayne did not get flustered. It just didn’t make sense to him. How had arguing led to a kiss on the cheek? She wasn’t afraid of the ‘ice prince’ or of Robin? Most people wouldn’t even talk back to him when it was justified. She treated him normally. Like his family did on occasion (but not always). And she was a hero?! One the Justice League should try to recruit, because she beat Black Adam as if he wasn’t more than a kid waving a pretend wand. And okay, maybe she did have some valid points when they were arguing. He watched her throughout the day, and marveled at how well she pulled off NORMAL. He’d had no clue she was like them. None of his siblings did ‘normal’ that well.

He made it back to the car and changed. Her basket was gone from the car, so she must have been there already, and seen all of their open cases. His brothers had left their clothes strewn around the small limo’s seating area. It was embarrassing that she had seen this mess. He cringed at the boxers hanging haphazardly from Dick’s case. Why was his family so embarrassing?

He grabbed his jacket, expecting it to get cold later, despite being more than warm enough now since he had shrugged on a sweater to hide the stupid cotton tail that refused to come off. He hadn’t gotten very far when he rounded the line of ambulances and saw her standing at the entrance to the woods, basket in hand. She had the top of one side open, and was talking to it.

As he approached, she stopped talking to the basket. “Hey Damian!” she called out to him. She pulled him a bit into the woods. “This is Tikki.”

He stared at the basket at the tiny bug… thing with gigantic blue eyes staring at him. “Hi Damian!” it squeaked.

Only years in the field stopped him from jumping and screeching ‘what the hell is that thing?!’ As it was, he kept his features down to mild surprise (he hoped) and replied as calmly as he could, “Hello, Tikki.”

“We need to get some cookies for Tikki to recharge. She gives me my powers. The basket only had half a cookie left, so I need to go buy a couple more.” He nodded, and the three of them made their way to the food area again. It had been abandoned in the chaos, but was beginning to refill with people. He purchased a few cookies for them, and they wandered outside in the direction of the hayrides. On the walk there, they explained what exactly Tikki was. He wasn’t sure what to think about little gods that resembled the chibi characters in the manga he read. Apparently Marinette and Tikki, kwami of creation and luck, needed her counterpart Plagg, kwami of destruction and chaos, to ensure that her magic didn’t start to grow out of control. Marinette had been wearing both to keep the balance on a general scale, but needed someone actively using the ring for the best results.

“What do you think?” she asked, biting her lip. “Do you want to be my new kitty?”

She was willing to entrust him with that much power after one day? Sure, she knew he was a hero, and that likely helped her decide. He had field experience and training that she didn’t. It would certainly be beneficial for her for him to join her team in general. But to be her black cat? The little ladybug had told him that they were a pair. That they needed to balance one another out. She wanted him to be the Yang to her Yin? True, there was a spark of what was truly important that they both shared, but he couldn’t help but think that they were polar opposites in many ways. Somehow it worked. But… “What happened to the old one?”

“Oh he retired. You can meet him some time if you want,” she explained, waving her hand nonchalantly. “Just think about it okay? There’s no rush.”

Their conversation was cut off by the buzz of his phone. A group text. Richard had sent Mar’i away from the fight to get Father. He had called her back to finish their family outing by going on the hayride together. Alfred was going to give her a ride. His father had showed up with extra vaccines.

          Richard: Come with us Dami!

“My family are also planning on going on the hayride. We can go now, or we can wait for them,” he told her, giving her the chance to choose. He had heavily emphasized going now.

“We can wait for them!” she said brightly. Damnit. He looked over at her. She looked a little too excited.

“You… you want to meet my family? All of them?” he asked disbelievingly. It was going to be such a bad idea. They would drive her away with their incessant teasing. “Are you sure?” he tried one last time.

She nodded again. Sighing, he texted his family that he would meet them there. They leaned against the gigantic hay bale they had taken cover behind before to wait. She shivered a bit.

          Damian: I was already planning on going. I shall meet you all there.

          Richard: Really?!

He sighed.

          Damian: I will be bringing a friend. Please behave yourselves.

          Todd: You have friends brat?

          Richard: Yes! Can't wait to meet them!

          Drake: This I gotta see

          Drake: I'm coming now. Need to meet gremlins friend

          Todd: Bet theyre a piece of work

          Father: Enough. Looking forward to meeting them Damian.

The people in line got on, leaving them behind to wait for the next one. Her shivering beside him began to get worse. “Sorry,” she apologized.

He gave her an odd look. What was she apologizing for?

“Ladybugs are susceptible to the cold. She will get cold quicker than others,” Tikki explained. Tikki didn’t look so thrilled with the cold either.

“Why the hell didn’t you bring a coat then?” he demanded.

She responded just as irritatedly, “We weren’t supposed to be here this long. I was a bit busy fighting, if you recall?”

Right. “Sorry.” He shed off his jacket and gave it to her. As he put it around her, he realized she was much colder than she had been letting on. Her shoulders underneath her tiny hood were freezing. She shrugged into it, but even with his warmth in it, she was still shivering. Tikki flew up into the coat pocket to get warmer as well, but it didn’t seem to be enough for either of them.

“I could-” he paused, “- help you keep warm.”

She glanced up at him, a questioning look in her eyes, but she nodded, “Okay. Thank you.”

He wrapped his arms around her, much like he had when she was scared with her face pressed into his chest, and turned his back to the wind in order to shelter her. His hands ran up and down her back to generate heat. When her shivering subsided, she looked up at him again. “Better?” he asked quietly.

She nodded, “Mhmm...”

“Good,” he said as he leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, much as she had done earlier.

As he started to pull away, he saw a glint in her eyes. Disappointment. Desire. Both? She gripped his sweater with her still chilly hands, pulling him down just a bit - asking permission, or maybe giving it? They were only a few inches apart…

He leaned down, their lips meeting. They tasted like the cookies she had shared with Tikki. And soft. So soft. They broke apart after a moment, a look of surprise on both their faces. She quickly began to blush. He raised one arm up to hold her cheek in his hand, staring into her gorgeous blue eyes. His thumb ran across her cheek once, and she leaned into the touch. He went in to kiss her again when he heard a shout. Damnit.

“Hey Dami!” he heard Grayson call in the distance.

The broke apart faster than either of them could blink, their hero reflexes kicking in.

“W-” he started to say to her quietly, before he was interrupted by Drake yelling, “Hey Gremlin!”

His family was getting closer.

He didn’t break eye contact with her. Time to bite the bullet. At least he was confident she would say yes.

“I-would-I mean-I-want-” she started to ramble.

“Would you go out with me?” he interrupted her.

“Yes!” she squeaked in excitement, sounding a bit like Tikki. He couldn’t help but smile. She was grinning like the sun. “Like a date?”

“Yes. You could meet my pets. And we could go to the zoo together, properly this time.”

She nodded enthusiastically.

 She turned with him to greet his approaching family.

Mar’i ran over, tackling Marinette with a hug. She twirled Mar’i around to displace some of the energy aimed at her so they didn’t fall. He was about to grab Mar’i from her and lecture her about stranger danger, because why was she tackling someone who was a stranger? Just because her family was there didn’t mean it was safe! “Mari!” his niece squealed.

“Hey Marinette, what are you doing here?” Richard asked. What? How did she know them?

“Hey Dick! I’m-”

“Bread girl?” Drake blurted out surprise at the same time that Todd said “Pixie?”

“Hi Jason! Hi Duckie!” she grinned at them all. “Looks like we did see each other again!”

All of his brothers and his niece all went to reply positively to her. What the hell? They all looked as confused as he was. Marinette, however, was definitely not confused.

“What are you doing here?” Drake repeated Richard’s earlier question.

“Did you want to join us on the hayride?” Richard asked.

“Pixie, how do you know them?” Todd asked at the same time.

“Marinette?” Damian finally asked.

Everyone turned to look at Damian now.

“Wait, you know the Gremlin too?” Drake asked. Damian glared at him. He hated that stupid name. He hated it more being used in front of his girlfriend. Girlfriend? Could he call her that?

“Don’t call him that!” she reprimanded on his behalf. He wasn’t sure how he felt about her fighting his battles for him at home.

“Marinette, what’s going on?” he tried again.

She giggled. “It’s a long story.” She pointed at the hayride. “Looks like they’re ready for us!”

Everyone clambered on behind her. She sat at the end, Damian taking up the spot beside her.

His father and Alfred had zeroed in on her now, given the fuss everyone else was making of it. They introduced themselves, and she shook their hands as if they were everyday people, not the billionaire, the bat and the butler. This girl was an enigma. One he looked forward to figuring out.

His brothers had begun comparing notes on when they met her. She watched them bicker with a smile on her face. It seemed that she had met them all today during the times they had been separated. It was weird luck. Maybe it was the little kwami’s fault.

She leaned into his side a bit as the carriage started moving along the path. Dick, Mar’i and Alfred were now pointing out sights to one another. Tim and Jason were arguing about… something. He didn’t care what. His father was pinching his nose, likely an attempt to stem off an incoming migraine from listening to all his siblings’ antics. Since no one was paying attention to them, he slipped his hand down discreetly to hold hers. She smiled at him and settled more to lean on him, sucking up his warmth. The wind had picked up again and he knew she would be getting cold again soon.

Eventually they all turned their attention inward, and he was surprised at how well she got along with all of his family. And she was a hero. He couldn’t help but think that she fit right in. Better than he did. She talked about baking with Alfred, and he learned about her parents and their bakery. He saw how amazing she was with Mar’i and how she had babysat before moving. How she could talk coffee and business with Drake and Father. Music and motorcycles with Todd. Fashion with Richard.

“So Demon Brat was the one you were waiting for outside the haunted house?” Todd asked towards the end of the ride.

“I was waiting for Damian,” she corrected.

“We were going to do the corn maze before we went home, did you want to come?” Dick asked her, cutting off the irritation radiating from both Damian and Marinette. How nice of them to clear it with him first.

“I’d love to!” she responded in that overly cheerful voice that would have been irritating on anyone other than her and Kent. They had been planning on going together. He resisted the urge to pout.

The carriage came to a stop, and Marinette turned to him with a smirk on her face. Her eyes darted quickly to the maze, and she squeezed his hand. She gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and jumped off the side of the carriage, yelling “Race you to the exit!”

Everyone stood there in shock, gaping at him. He had tensed at the action. Guess that talk – or rather that bombardment with questions and pestering him to no end – was coming sooner than he thought. His father broke out of the shock first. “Damian?” The accusation was in his eye. Had he been hiding his relationship? Was she using him? How the hell was he supposed to explain that a red and black spotted hero had treated him like a regular human being and equal that wasn’t to be feared, and he fell for her unconditional acceptance and caring? That he had been planning on leaving to make his own legacy, and that he might just have met the people he would be leaving everything here for?

Instead, he looked around at his family, touched his lips with his hand, the tingle of her kiss still there. He looked at them all and grinned, which made them look at him like he had lost his mind. If he had, he didn’t want it back. “I have a girlfriend to catch.”

He took off as fast as he could after her, his family screaming at him to come back and explain himself. He had reached the edge of the maze where he saw her waiting for him, and they headed in, the sounds of his family chasing him behind them. They laughed as they disappeared around the corner.

~~~~

Marinette smiled and thought back about her day as she and the kwami prepared to check on the trap Teth-Adam was stuck in. Tikki and Plagg would be coming with her untransformed. Apparently Shazam was a power with the ability to know just about anything, so the chances of her identity remaining secret for long was slim. It also knew about the kwami and would be able to sense them if he really tried and had worked with Tikki and her holders in the past, so identities were moot. The day she had met the Waynes had been a huge turning point for her. She had met so many wonderful people. Damian and his family just understood. They watched each others’ backs. They got the stress of being a hero and maintaining a normal life. Damian was even debating working with her and becoming her black cat. It might be nice to have a partner again. And damn he was cute. He had met Plagg, and the two got on like oil and water. She had hoped that Plagg being a cat would help, but it really didn’t. She had a feeling that Damian would use the ring if needed, but that Plagg living with him was something that would only happen if necessary. Even then he might need his own room just to not piss Damian off. His family still had no clue she was Ladybug, so that would have to wait until they knew. She couldn’t have Plagg of all kwami floating around the manor stealing cheese.

She teleported over using a fusion of Mullo and Kaalki to the Rock of Eternity three days after she had the crazy day in the pumpkin patch. She had no clue where that was, but Kaalki and Tikki seemed to.

"Hey Bug girl!" A boy a couple of years younger than her said as she stepped through the portal. Billy Batson, she had to guess, since he was the only one there. He was untransformed.

"Uhm, Shazam? Billy?" she called out cautiously.

"That's me!"

Huh.... Tikki had mentioned that the powers Billy was using would alter his age, but it wasn't as drastic as she thought. Damian, Plagg and Tikki had filled her in on the powers Shazam and Teth-Adam had, and how it would alter physical form if needed to house the powers. His body when using his powers were forever stuck at that age, while the boy that housed them grew. He was no longer a little twelve-year-old boy.

“Hey!” she said back as Kaalki dropped the transformation, leaving Multimouse behind, and took the sugar cube that she offered. It was weird seeing him a couple of years younger than her rather than a few years older.

The two chatted for a while about learning to use the powers of gods and the differences that having them housed in an object rather than a body made. Marinette was glad hers were in jewelry.

"So did it work?" he asked after a while.

"Did what work? The trap? You still need to take us to it."

"No, no. Not that! Bird boy! How did it go with Robin? Did you guys ever hook up?” he asked with a grin.

She grinned. "Yep! He asked me out later that night! We went on this perfect first date to the zoo and he was such a gentleman. We got to see the panda bears and oh my kwami they were so cute! And the penguins were putting on a show with one of the handlers – they were swimming around and diving for food – it was so cute! And I got to learn so many cool facts about them. And I got to meet all his pets. He has so many of them! I’m so jealous that he got to have them all. I wish I had pets growing up. Oh! And we got ice cream and he let me use his coat again when it got cold out and...”

She ranted longer than she should have about their date. “Ladybug!” Tikki burst into her view.

“Oh… sorry.” She blushed. “We have another date tonight too, and he’s going with me to go hamster shopping tomorrow!”

“That’s awesome, Ladybug.”

“He’s also thinking he might be my new black cat. I need a new kitty. I think he’ll do it too! Maybe not every day, but like when we need him.”

She finally looked around. “Where’s Teth-Adam? Did he escape already?!”

“Black Adam? There’s no way I would keep him here. It was just an easy meeting spot. I hid him away. We can go there now if you want.” He gave her the location coordinates. Kaalki nodded in understanding. “Oh, bring your birdie... or should I call him your kitty now?”

“Okay!” She ported to the manor quickly, catching Damian before he exited his room.

“Grab a mask! You’re coming with me!” she said as the portal closed. She gave Kaalki another sugar cube and as they glared at her. Kaalki did not appreciate being a taxi. He went down to the cave and grabbed one, coming back in time for Kaalki to be done eating. As he put it on, he gave her a suspicious look. They teleported to the location, which Marinette knew was somewhere in Egypt.

“Batson? To what do we owe the displeasure?” He turned to her. “Angel, why are we here?”

She blushed at the nickname. Billy definitely caught it though.

“Aww you even have pet names now!” he cooed.

Damian looked at him like he was insane. He was clearly very confused.

“He’s this way Bug,” Billy said as he pointed in the general direction.

She and the kwami left the two boys alone and checked it out. Or rather, Tikki checked it out.

When she came back, a very angry looking Damian was glaring at Billy.

“What the hell was with all the flirting then, if you don’t like her?!” Damian demanded.

"I just wanted to help you get the girl bro. You never would have stepped up on your own."

Damian glared at him.

Billy laughed again. In a sing-song voice he added, "You've been hoodwinked baby, oh yeah…" complete with waving jazz hands and a dramatic pose.

Marinette gave him a confused look. “Hoodwinked?”

"What? Haven't you ever seen Hoodwinked before?" Billy asked. “Evil bunnies. Caffeine crazy squirrels. Kung fu red riding hood. A badass grandma. You have to watch it!”

“So... you never liked him?” Damian asked quietly.

“Billy was helping me. Asked me to play along,” she explained.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her into him roughly. His arms wrapped around her, one gripping onto her waist while the other found the back of her neck. She raised herself up on her toes, leaning into him as their lips moved gently against one another. He pulled her in tighter, flush against him. Their lips connected again for the third time, and she relaxed into his arms. Her arms began to wrap around his neck, her body curving into one that was leaning down to reach her lips and causing her to lips to press into his much firmer, opening a bit to allow him to explore... when she heard a loud cough.

Her face was flushed, her breathing a bit harsh like his.

“Sorry Billy,” she said, embarrassed.

Billy laughed. “S’all good!”

“Let’s go Angel,” Damian insisted after a moment.

Billy waved as she transformed back. “Later Lovebirds!”

As she opened the portal, Billy began to singing the chorus of a song at the top of his lungs, “Be prepared, be prepared. This lesson must be shared. This lesson must be shared, be prepared. Be prepared, be prepared...”

Marinette turned Ladybug red at the implications of his song, while Damian shouted in frustration as the portal closed, “Stop your inane singing!”

“And unless you got a spare, you got one life so handle it with care. I got horns that open bottles, and I got horns that hold my keys…”

Chapter Text

There are a few Easter eggs to find in Hoodwinked!

First – ALL of the Spooktober 2021 Prompts done by https://maribat-calendar-events.tumblr.com/ (Me) on tumblr are in there somewhere, including the optional substitutions.

Second – there are several references to Hoodwinked! the movie. Did you catch them?

Third – Fun Fact Moment: The pumpkin patch is based off a real one where I currently live. (Edit as of 10/29/2022: Now includes pictures throughout the fic from it.)

Fourth – Sometimes I don’t plan out my fics. Sometimes I do an outline. And then sometimes… I do THIS monstrosity.

Hoodwinked is so complex because everything needs to happen at the exact same time over multiple chapters. The only way I could think to plan it and not screw something up royally was to plan it out. In detail. In a giant 17-page colour coded table.

Have fun!

Hope you enjoyed it!

<3 Izzy

Prompts:

1 – decorating 2 – scarecrow 3 – bats 4 – ghosts 5 – pumpkin spice 6 – party 7 – spooky 8 – tricks 9 – falling like leaves 10 – capes/masks 11 – witches brew 12 – nightmare 13 – Friday the 13^th 14 – candy 15 – pumpkin patch 16 – magic 17 – carving 18 – death 19 – haunted house 20 – costumes 21 – black cat 22 – treats 23 – scary stories 24 – vampires 25 – blood 26 – legends 27 – chill in the air 28 – accidental matching 29 – skeletons in the closet 30 – dressing the part 31 – fear Substitutions: zombie apocalypse, dark, werewolf, hay bale