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“Who’s taking which route tonight?” Barbara asked, knowing it better to ask at dinner rather than afterwards when everyone was already suited up.
“I call ground patrol.” Tim said. He knew he’d probably be able to get a bit of his current assignment knocked out if he did ground patrol that night. Although he already had a good job as Co-CEO at WE he was starting to get bored of it. He no longer enjoyed working there and had gotten back into the hobby of photography, so he decided to go to University and study it. He’d been decent at staying on top of his assignments up until about a week ago, he had started to procrastinate. Paying a bit too much attention to one of the newer designers at WE’s work. It was beautiful and he couldn’t stop thinking of ways he could bump into them and ask for a commission. The issue with that was that he had no idea what their name was.
“Alright, Tim’s got ground patrol, we’ll decide who’s going which route after you’re all suited up.”
It was only a few minutes until everyone was finished with their food and heading down to the batcave. They decided that Stephanie, Duke and Jason would have the night off and finished deciding who was going which route. Tim had already headed out to start ground patrol. Tonight in particular was quite beautiful, most of the stars were out and it was a full moon. The city was as quiet as it could be, not many people outside causing noise. It was peaceful. Tim took a quick right and ended up right next to a series of alleyways. He looked in each to make sure nothing was happening before he saw a woman running out of one. He sprinted towards the alley she ran out of to see a smaller woman landing a strong right hook to the guy in front of her’s side. The man clenched his fist and pulled his arm to punch her, hard. But before he could land the punch she was gone, she jumped onto the garbage can before quickly jumping down and using the momentum to kick another guy in the face. The power from the kick and the momentum put together knocked him out.
Tim sprinted into the alleyway and helped the girl out, quickly getting all of the guys knocked out. He felt a tap on his shoulder and instinctively elbowed the offender before swiping their feet out from under them and using the momentum to flip them over his shoulder…it wasn’t until they were on the ground when Tim realized it was the girl. She had already had a few injuries from the fight as did he, they were all small but he definitely didn’t help. She probably had a broken nose by now. The reality of it finally caught up to him and his hands flew to his face.
“I am so sorry, are you okay?” Tim said, holding his hand out to help the girl off the ground. She took it and he really took in her features. She had dark hair, it almost looked blue in the light from the way the moon highlighted her. She had beautiful bluebell eyes and a beautiful figure. She looked quite comfortable too, beautiful but comfortable in a baby pink hoodie and a pair of black sweatpants. She took his hand and got up from the ground, holding her nose a bit before moving it back into place with a grunt.
“It’s all good, and yeah I’m fine, thanks for helping me out. You?” She asked, she had a bit of an accent. French, maybe.
“I’m fine, where’d you learn to use your momentum like that?”
“France. We had a terrorist a few years back.”
“And no one from the Justice League did anything about it.”
“Well it was more of a uh magical terrorist so, the guy kinda made sure word never got out to the Justice League. He ended up moving to terrorize New York one time and everyone just thought it was some guy from Arkham Asylum who managed to get out and terrorize New York.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah..well uh, I better get going. Nice to meet you, thanks again for helping out.”
“No problem, I should go too.”
—
Throughout the next few weeks Marinette found herself being saved by Red Robin constantly. Whenever there was something remotely dangerous around her she was scooped up by him and brought somewhere safer. It was starting to get kind of annoying. This time it was Condiment King she was being saved from. As usual, Red Robin scooped her up before anyone else and brought her to safety. He checked her over for any injuries as if she could be injured by condiments.
“Why do you always save me first? I don’t know you, are you stalking me or something?”
“Oh, uh- idk I guess I never thought about it like that. But no I’m not stalking you. You just somehow manage to get yourself into danger right where I patrol. And with rogues...I’m a vigilante, it's kind of my job to be there.”
Marinette narrowed her eyes at him “Hmmm, alright..I believe you.”
Red Robin turned around and went back to help get everyone else out of there and defeat condiment king...that smell wouldn’t come out of his suit for weeks.
That night when Red Robin was on patrol he spotted Marinette leaning on a railing..so, as a person would, he dropped down from the roof and landed on the railing in a crouching position. Marinette jumped back before scolding him for scaring her like that.
“So..why have you taken an interest in me, M.Red Robin?”
“I don’t know, I saw you and one of the Waynes take down those thugs while I was on patrol. I’ve seen the Waynes fight like that before but..you intrigue me.”
Marinette hummed for a moment before responding. “Why didn’t you help us?”
Tim hesitated for a moment, stunned by the straightforwardness in her question. It’s like she’d had interactions with heroes like this before. She knew what questions to ask, and how to ask them.
“I was a little shocked, I didn’t know how to help. Plus, you had it handled.”
“Mhmmmm and what if I hadn’t had it handled?”
“I uh...that’s what I’m here for, right?” He didn’t really know how to respond to the question. He took to looking at the balcony completely. There was a lantern on either side of the door and a little hanging plant a few inches below the lanterns. From what Tim could see inside there was a simple couch with a glass coffee table and TV. Standard living room. There was also a series of shelves with at least one flower/plant-themed thing on each shelf. There were quite a few ladybug themed items on the shelves too. He could see a bit of the kitchen and realized she’d probably just finished making something due to the freshly used looking utensils. The two stayed in a comfortable silence together for a minute before Marinette asked him if he wanted to come in.
“Sure.”
As they were walking into her apartment Marinette spoke up. “I was actually hoping I’d catch you on patrol, I made too much food and I don’t have enough space in my fridge for it to be leftovers. I also don’t have anyone else to share it with.”
“It smells good, what’d you make?” Tim said, pulling out one of the chairs at the bar in her kitchen. He finished examining her apartment. There were two mini hallways from the main area. Both with two doors.
“Chow Mein, it’s vegetarian.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Marinette pulled out two plates from one of the cabinets and put half of the meal on each plate. It was the perfect amount for two people. They ate and talked about rumors in Gotham and just in the world in general. When they finished Red Robin lingered a bit before someone’s voice came over comms.
“RR where are you?” Oracle’s voice rang in his ear.
“Oh shit I forgot I was on patrol.” Tim said sheepishly.
“What do you mean?”
“Heh heh I kind of have been hanging out with a civilian friend for the majority of this time.”
“Oooooooooooooooh, replacement’s got a girlfriend.” Red Hood’s voice came through the speaker.
Red Robin rolled his eyes and turned to Marinette. “I gotta go, it was nice though. Thanks for the dinner.” He started walking backwards towards the balcony waving to Marinette with a smile. With a final wave goodbye he was on his way back to the manor.
—
On her way to work Marinette received a call. From her work.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?”
“Speaking.”
“Mr. Drake would like to see you in his office today.”
“Okay.”
And then the line cut. What could this possibly be about? M.Drake never called her into his office. Marinette entered the building and went straight up to M.Drake’s office after quickly greeting the people at reception. Up the elevator, to the right, straight to M.Drake’s office. She knocked and immediately heard a ‘Come in’. She opened the door to see an oddly familiar face. He didn’t even look at her when she came in, barely a nod of the head in acknowledgement that she was there.
“Ms. Dupain-Cheng your designs have been brought to my attention.”
Marinette opened her mouth to respond before M.Drake beat her to it.
“They’re quite impressive. I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for quite some time but it’s been a bit difficult.”
“I- uh- thank you M. Drake.”
Apparently her voice was familiar to him because his head immediately shot up from whatever files he was busy going through and looked at her. She realized that he was the man who helped her in the alleyway. That’s why he was so familiar. He stared at her in shock for a moment before formally introducing himself.
“I’m so sorry for not introducing myself in that alleyway, I’m Tim.”
“Marinette, I didn’t introduce myself either.”
“True..how did you even get in that situation?”
“I heard a scream and ran towards it, they cornered a kid. She looked like she was 16 or something. Taller than me I guess but she was still a kid. Doesn’t really matter if she’s a kid though, either way those guys deserved to be knocked out. My question is how you managed to break my nose with one hit.”
“Well..it’s Gotham and Bruce is kind of big on us all knowing how to defend ourselves and just fight in general just in case. It’s come in handy.”
“Huh..”
The two continued on their conversation before getting back on track with the designs and talk about the upcoming seasons. They were both excited for it.
—
Marinette was walking to the Gotham Museum to hang out with Adrien. They’d been planning to go on a best friend museum trip but had never gotten the time to until that day. They hadn’t even gotten to the disco-wing suit before there was a rogue attack. A joker attack. And they were looking for her. Apparently she was close enough with Red Robin that people had noticed. Joker had noticed. She decided to come out willingly but before she could get close enough to at least punch Joker she felt a sharp pain in her side. She looked behind her to see Riddler with a bloody knife in his hand. A bloody knife with her blood on it. She looked at the wound to at least assess it before she was shot in the leg and fell to the ground. Trying to stay awake as long as possible she soon passed out from the blood loss. The hospital was called and she was quickly brought to the ER.
When Tim found out where Marinette was he didn’t even bother to get changed into his civilian clothes before dashing into the hospital to find her. The nurses asked him to calm down as she was currently in surgery for her wounds. He paced back and forth for hours before he got news that they were done. He went to her room and couldn’t help but feel like this was somehow his fault. He thought about it a little more for a moment before realizing it mostly was his fault. It was his fault that the rogues all thought that she had something to do with the bats. He’d been too attentive to her. He hadn’t even realized.
—
Two weeks later and Marinette still wasn’t awake. Her vitals were perfectly normal, great even but she was still in a comatose state. Red Robin paced back and forth in her room before pulling a chair and sat next to her. Asking her to wake up. If not for her friends and family then for fashion. But it wasn’t until his next visit that she was awake. However, she was hidden underneath a pile of pillows.
Tim walked slowly over to her, almost as if she’d attack him.
“Are you okay?”
“Fight me, bitch.”
“How about no.”
“FIGHT ME”
“No..by the way how do I still not know your name.”
“It’s Marinette, NOW FIGHT ME.”
“No. Marinette, I am not going to fight you.”
“Yes you are. I said so. Fight me.”
“I think you should get some sleep.”
“i tHiNK yoU sHouLd gEt sOme SLeEp. I think you should get me some coffee.”
“I don’t think that’s allowed..”
“GO.”
“Okay okay..fine,” he walked out of the room with his hands up. Tim decided the best way to go about this was to assume she was a coffee addict like he was..mainly because he acted extremely similarly when he didn’t have coffee. So he went to his favorite coffee shop and asked for his usual along with a chocolate chip cookie. He walked back to the hospital and went up to Marinette’s room.
Somehow she’d already changed from being underneath a bunch of pillows to having a whole blanket fort in her hospital room. Tim knocked on the blanket door and moved it aside.
“I brought you your coffee. And a cookie.”
Marinette gasped, “thank youuuuuuu.” She took a sip of the coffee and her eyes widened.
“This coffee. It tastes good and I already feel awake. How the hell did you find this?”
“I’m a sleep deprived detective with a full-time job, not counting the detective. I live off of coffee.”
“Valid, can you please bring this to me like...everyday. But if a blonde model guy is here, just pretend it’s yours or it’s decaf.”
“Got it.”
The next few weeks consisted of Tim getting Marinette coffee and her telling him to fight her almost everyday. He would usually just sit in the hospital room in his suit and do his work there. She’d manage to get inspiration and creativity even in a bland boring hospital room. Tim didn’t understand how but he guessed that when a person is desperate for motivation they somehow find it in themselves in the form of determination to create. Some of her sketches were absolutely gorgeous, stunning, queen of the world worthy. Which made even less sense.
However, the most recent day Tim visited her the system changed.
“Will you fight me this time?” Marinette said underneath a pretty small pile of napkins. It was a lot of napkins but it didn’t do much for the dramatic effect.
“Maybe I’ll fight you when you’re better and out of the hospital. I don’t really feel like fighting a person who’s still healing from some pretty damn serious wounds.”
Marinette gripped her hands into fists and threw them into the air as a symbol of her victory. “YESSSSSSS YOU CAVED.”
“I did, but only when you’re better.”
“Okay okay, get better soon. I know. But you’ll still fight me.” She said with a smug smirk.
The next day Tim brought her coffee, set it down and left. But it was with a number written on it. “___-___-____ is my detective work number, text me when you’re out of the hospital and completely healed :)” Marinette reached for where her phone was and quickly typed in the number into her contacts under “RR - Coffee Deliverer”. She texted the number quickly.
‘Hey, this is Marinette (:’
She received a thumbs up emoji in return. She glared at the emoji, emojis were weird and Marinette had some opinions..as in she thought they were extremely unnecessary. Smiley faces and emoticons were simple. They were easy. But who needs an emoji with fog around it? What does that even mean?
—
Just days after Red Robin had given her his Red Robin phone number she was finally released from the hospital. She texted him again.
Bean: THey released me. u have to fight me now.
RR - Coffee Deliverer: Are u healed tho?
Bean: First of all, what does bean mean? Second of all, yes they even took out my stitches. I'm fine.
RR - Coffee Deliverer: If u say so...also it’s bean cuz you’re addicted to coffee, coffee bean.
Bean: WhY isn’t my name cfoefe baen then?
RR - Coffee Deliverer: u okay?
Bean: No
RR - Coffee Deliverer changed Bean’s name to Coffee Bean.
RR- Coffee Deliverer: k, btw go to wayne manor for the fight thing they ahve a weird gym room idek but we can use that.
Coffee Bean: kk
Marinette ran to her bedroom before going downstairs to drive to Wayne Manor. Those glitter bombs she got all those years ago would be coming in handy today. As soon as she collected enough she sprinted down the stairs of the apartment building to her car and drove to Wayne Manor. She knocked on the door to see an old guy.
“Hello Ms. Dupain-Cheng.”
“Oh uh Marinette is fine. Monsieur..”
“Alfred Pennyworth Ms. Marinette. Mr. Red Robin is this way.”
“Thank you M. Pennyworth.”
She followed M. Pennyworth to the gym where she would be fighting Red Robin. When they got there she realized Red Robin wasn’t wearing his usual suit. He was wearing sweatpants and an undershirt with sunglasses.
“No suit today?”
“It’s hard to fight civilians when you’re dressed to fight a rogue.”
“That’s true, I can see that.”
“So, pick your weapon.”
“No yoyos?”
“Yoyos? Why would you fight with a yoyo?”
“Whatever I brought my own.”
Marinette reached into her bag and grabbed her yoyo. It was almost exactly like the one she had when she was Ladybug other than the fact that it was completely black. Once she managed to get Red Robin pinned down on the ground as a point for herself she called a water break. Red Robin flipped himself up off the ground and went over to his own bench.
Marinette grabbed her water bottle out of her bag before proceeding to grab two glitter bombs. She held onto one in her left hand with her water bottle before throwing the other at Red Robin. He turned towards her slowly before looking at himself.
“Did you just throw a glitter bomb at me?”
“Yes, yes I did.”
“I’m never gonna get this out of my hair, you know.”
“Oh I know. Trust me I know.”
“You’re pure evil.”
Marinette grinned. “That’s the point.”
Red Robin walked over to her and brought her left hand to his lips before slipping the other glitter bomb out of her hand. It was obvious but he was fast enough that she couldn’t grip onto the glitter bomb so he couldn’t get it. He dropped the bomb ontop of her without thinking and got more glitter to the face.
“You didn’t think that through did you?” Marinette asked, looking up at him.
“No, no I did not.”
“Hehheh loser.”
The two continued their fight with Marinette as the winner. “I told you I was fully healed.”
“Mhm, and I told you I’d pull my punches.”
“Whatever.”
They continued their banter and socialized for a while longer before Marinette decided it was time for her to go home.
—
Marinette walked into work ready for a meeting with M. Drake again. She’d covered up the excessively large amount of glitter in her hair with a hat and low bun. There was still some glitter on top of her head but not enough anywhere else to be too noticeable. She knocked on the door and she heard an exhausted ‘come in’ from the other side of the door. She walked in and looked at an exhausted Tim. Glitter scattered over his hair and his face. Marinette failed to hold in a laugh as he stared at his desk in shame.
“Don’t- I know, you know now. But still. Those glitter bombs were not cool.”
“Not my fault you don’t know how to cover up glitter bombs.”
“I know, Bean.”