Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

TW! Suicide . Please, if you think this is triggering, I will provide a summary at the end. PLEASE DO NOT READ if you are even mildly uncomfortable. I would never want to be the reason someone gets triggered by something. I will insert a trigger warning at the triggering scene so others can read it more freely.

Chapter one

No escape.

None.

After moving to Gotham, they had followed her.

Everywhere.

It was her fault, everything was.

That was a toxic way of thinking, and she knew that. But she didn't care.

She had always thought about it, but at first she pushed the thought away. That was selfish. Taking the easy way out.

Her parents couldn't bear to look at her.

She glanced down at her list

Reasons to Live:

-Friends

Crossed out.

-Ladybug

Crossed out.

-Parents

One last thing. One more thing to live for.

Even if they hadn't been the warmest ot her recently,

Maybe she was just being overdramatic. She had given the mircaulous back to Master Fu after Hawk Moth had been defeated, so Tikki wasn't with her anymore.

Her parents had decided to move her to gotham, in an attempt to "fix her behavior".

It was no use. Lila followed them.

"Marinette? Could you please come down here?" Her mom called.

She sighed and walked down the stairs.

"Yes?" Marinette asked, careful not to stumble upon the stairs.

"Given your current.. situation, your father and I have decided that it is best for you to explore for a bit."

She smiled falsely, as if this was good news.

Without so much as blinking, she turned around, but not before saying" I'll be moved out before the end of today."

She knew the real reason why they were, in essence, kicking her out, but she kept quiet as she walked back up the stairs.

Since the new house in Gotham was much different from the one in Paris, she could no longer view the city from her balcony.

That would be a problem.

She started writing a note, then paused. Why bother? No one on this earth cared anymore. They wouldn't benefit from a note.

She quickly wheeled her pink and black suitcase to the front door, ignoring the questions coming from her parents.

She was almost there. Wayne Tower. Marinette hadn't expected anyone to be there, as it was a Monday at noon, but it wouldn't matter anyway.

Finally. She was there. The wind was blowing through her midnight hair as she walked closer and closer to the edge.

She almost didn't notice the green-eyed boy looking at her curiously.

It was Robin.

He walked toward her.

"What are you doing?" He asked, eyeing her suspiciously.

He noticed her almost at the ledge.

The girl's eyes were hollow and empty, and she looked like she hadn't eaten in week. She was also shivering, and she wore a blank expression, whispering illegibly.

TW!!!

"Are you okay?" He asked, moving swiftly toward her.

"I will be." The girl responded, turning to look back at him.

Then she jumped, closing her eyes and smiling and she plummeted down.

Damian sprung into action, diving down and grabbing the girl and getting her to the ground safely. Whilst the girl was dizzy, he quickly changed out of his superhero gear.

He carried the girl bridal-style, looking at her with concerned eyes.

A tense silence filled the space between them when he put her down.

"Why?" She asked harshly.

"What was I supposed to do, let you die?" He asked, taken aback from the lack of emotion in her voice. She sounded like a robot.

"Where do you live?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"What I just said, where do you live?" He repeated the question, starting to feel a wave of frustration coming over him.

"Why?" She repeated the question and smirked.

Robin let out a frustrated sigh and glared at the girl.

"Come on. let's go!" He said, grabbing her wrist.

She flinched at the contact, something Damian took note of.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"With me, come on. "

The mystery girl's knees crumpled, and she would've hit her head on the hard concrete if not for Damian catching her.

Thanks." She huffed.

His eyes twinkled with amusement as he watched her struggle to force the words out.

"Don't hurt yourself."

It was almost laughable, how reluctant she was to speak to him.

He looked back at her to see her growing more and more pale by the second.

"Aren't you cold?" He asked.

She shivered.

"No."

Her lips were turning blue, and her skin was so pale it was almost gray.

"You're cold." He decided.

"No, I'm not."

Damian reached for his phone in his back pocket.

"Alfred? There's this girl I found, shes very cold at the moment, could you please pick us up? We're at.." Damian finished giving Alfred the details of their location and looked at the girl.

She was using the wall as a support stand.

"I told you, I'm fine. I don't need your help." She glared at him with surprising intensity.

"Why don't you just leave me alone and-"

She stumbled again, this time landing on the ground.

Damian helped her to her feet a second time, his concern growing. How one earth did she manage to make it to the top of the tower?

He glanced her, taking in her appearance.

"I'm not going to say thank you a second time if that's what you're wondering." The girl said rudely.

Damian scoffed, and looked away.

A light thud caused him to turn around.

The girl was on the ground, twitching and shaking violently.

HI guys! This chapter is a lot darker than what I usually write, but I decided to try something different and lots of you had been rqeusting it. hope you guys enjoy!

Summary

Okay so basically what happened was Marinette tried to attempt yk what, and Robin saved her. She ended up alling on the ground an passing out.
For contect of th

ly all so so much,

-M

Chapter Text

Damian picked up the mysterious girl and anxiously scanned the parking lot for Alfred, spotting his vehicle. He opened the door from the back door, and looked to Alfred.

"Oh dear." Alfred said, seeing the girl's current medical state.

"Let's go back to the manor." Damian said.

"Right you are Master."

Alfred started the car and resumed the route to the Wayne Manor.

"What happened?" The butler asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"I didn't do anything! She jumped off Wayne Tower!" He retorted, noting the suspicion in Alfred's voice.

Alfred made no comment and refocused his eyes on the steering wheel.

After a 10 minute drive, they had arrived at Wayne Manor.

Damian carried the girl in his arms and lead her to the guest bedroom.

"Holy sh-"

Alfred coughed loudly.

"Language, Master Jason."

Jason scoffed but continued," Demon Spawn finally got a girlfriend!" He cried ecstatically, prompting a sleep-deprived Tim to join the conversation.

"What? Where?" Tim's right eye twitched as he anxiously scanned the room.

"Tt. If you would actually listen Todd, you would know that she's not my girlfriend, I don't know even her name." Damian said irritably.

Jason raised an eyebrow in interest, and turned to look at Alfred who merely shrugged.

"You boys should be quiet so you don't wake her. I'm going to start on lunch, let me know if you need anything."

Marinette awoke in a large room. She had no clue where she was, or what was going on. Had she been kidnapped? If so, why had her captor left her by herself? She anxiously scanned the room, looking for an escape.

The doorknob turned.

"Hello."

The person from yesterday.

"What am I doing here?" She asked angrily.

The guy shifted and cleared his throat,"You passed out."

Shoot. She thought she had the fainting spells under control, but apparently not. Another presence emerged from behind him.

"Hi! Are you Damian's girlfriend?" He asked energetically.

It was abnormal the way he moved. His eye was twitching, clearly from lack of sleep, and he looked unnaturally awake.

She let out a scoff before responding.

"Of course not."

From behind him, three other presences emerged.

"Hi! I'm Dick. If you're not his girlfriend, then how do you know him?" He asked, rather nosily in her opinion.

She let out an aggravated sigh as she continued taking in her surroundings. All of the guys in front of her looked somewhat related. Perhaps they were brothers. Equally annoying, it seemed.

"Why don't we let her rest?" An elderly man appeared behind the sea of people crowded at the door.

Unwillingly, his brothers took their leave, with just Damian, Marinette, and Alfred remaining.

"Actually, I would like to go shopping." She blurted, surprising the two people.

"Master Damian will take you." Alfred answered, almost immediately.

"W-What? I never said anything of sorts!" He spluttered, clearly taken aback.

An intense silent argument took place, and a conclusion was reached.

"Fine. When are we going?" He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Now."

His eyes narrowed at her apparent eagerness.

"Let's go." He sighed and walked out of the room.

"I'll prepare the car."

Alfred walked out of the room.

This situation was weird, even by Marinette's standards. She didn't remember much, she just remembered the guy's face, and sounds after that. She was literally in a strangers house, and had randomly announced that she wanted to go shopping, so she did. Even though she was new to America, she was almost certain that was not how things worked here. But who was she to complain? The American clothing stores were amazing, and she could use some new fabric anyway.

Her eyes darkened as she remembered Lila and the rest of her class. They were in Gotham too, almost everyone was. After Hawk Moth had been defeated, the mayor had suggested that the youth of Paris relocate in Gotham for a few years, which had lead to her parents opening another bakery, and the rest of the class following her.

Marinette's blue bell eyes narrowed as she was brought back to reality. She reached the car, and saw an impatient Damian casually sitting in the backseat.

"Tt. Let's go." He said, barely even sparing her a glance.

From the rear view mirror, she noticed the driver spare him a disapproving glance.

He cleared his throat and rolled his eyes; it was clear he had no desire to be doing this.

"What store?" The elderly man asked.

"Garmany." She responded.

"Excellent taste, Miss..?"

"Marinette."

"A lovely name." He commented, careful to keep his eyes on the road.

"Thank you." She responded, just as polite.

Vaguely, she wondered if her parents were worried about her, then instantly shot that thought down. They had made it apparent their dislike for her, they wouldn't want to waste their time worrying about the disappointment child.

They reached the store.

"Have fun Master Damain! Miss Marinette! I hope you find the clothes that you are looking for." He said cheerily, driving away.

They awkwardly sized up one another.

"Let's go." She said, turning around to where he was standing and gripping his arm lightly.

He let out an aggravated sigh once more, and let himself be dragged into the square.

The mall was huge, and played irritating Kidz Bop music, completely butchering all of his favorite songs. He made a mental note to never come here again, his thought based solely on the awful music.

"Where to?" He asked her, careful to keep his tone light.

"Anywhere."

Her tone was wistful, as if this reminded her of better times.

Damian had a sudden realization that he didn't even know her name.

"What's your name?"

"I already answered that question." She said snobbily, now eyeing him haughtily.

They had an intense glaring match, neither one backing down for a few minutes.

CRASH!

Both of them looked around wildly for the source of the noise, and Damian heard a dreaded familiar voice.

The Scarecrow had returned, and this time, he had a deadly vial of green liquid gas in a large jar.

"Step right up, Gotham, get your fear toxin right of the press, only this time, with a surprise! A very real surprise!" He grinned wickedly and shook the vial.

Damian glanced around and saw chaos starting to bloom. People were screaming left and right, their greatest fears coming to life.

This was new. Normally, Scarecrow's fear toxin would make you see your worst nightmare, but it would only be you. Now, he looked around and saw the havoc this new invention had released.

A giant spider was running a rampage while a distraught woman was running wild, and similar larger than life objects were everywhere. He felt the girl, Marinette, he corrected himself, freeze behind him.

"We should go." He whispered in her ear.

She flinched once more at the contact, however faint, then nodded her agreement.

They silently crept away from the commotion, careful not to draw the attention of the multiple Scarecrows that had appeared due to his fear toxin. He internally sighed, a long afternoon would be ahead of him as Robin.

They continued silently making their way to safety, but were interrupted by a demented figure walking toward them.

It was Scare Crow.

He smiled evilly as he unlatched the deadly jar.

Marinette looked almost as uneasy as he felt. Damian had already been exposed to the vaccine and the toxin, and he had an idea of how terrible it was. He had felt, on both sides of the mask, Robin and Damian, the aftereffects of the terrible vial.

His mind returned to the present.

Scare Crow seemed in no particular rush, casually making his way toward them. Damian scanned their surroundings for exits, and was surprised to see Marinette doing the same. Maybe she wasn't as hopeless as he thought.

"There's nowhere to run." He looked quite disheveled, from his attire to his twisted smile.

He uncorked the jar of doom and wasted no time spilling it everywhere. Damian skillfully dodged the expected attack, attempting to take Marinette with him, but was unsuccessful.

At the sight of seeing his work being done, he bolted to the nearest exit.

He watched in horror as her worst fear began to materialize.

A girl with ombré hair formed out of thin air and started yelling at her.

"How could you?" The girl yelled, advancing on her.

Damian froze and watched the scene unfold.

One other person formed.

Even though Damian was not by any means the best a socializing and interacting with others, he could read people pretty well, and something about the brunette was off-putting. She wore and orange jacket with a spotted black and white blouse with black tights and ankle boots. Her hair was in the unflattering sausage-like contraptions, and her smile was more of a leer.

He saw the hatred flaming in her eyes as the brunette looked toward Marinette.

The ombré haired girl continued to shout for a few seconds before disappearing.

"I told you I would win in the end Marinette. It was only a matter of time before your friends left you. Now, to finish the job.."

To Damian's shock, the girl pulled an unusually sharp knife out of her coat pocket and started advancing towards Marinette' spurring him into action.

He skillfully disarmed her, as she was clearly an amateur, and she vanished.

He looked at Marinette to see her reaction, and saw that she was trembling.

"Are... you okay?" He cursed his lack of interacting skills. Grayson was much better at this sort of thing than he was.

He cringed as he saw her struggle to stand up.

He offered his hand and she reluctantly took it, using his shoulder and the wall as a stand support.

Halfway through standing up, her knees gave out and she fell to the ground, catching herself with her small hands.

Damian, who had not been expecting that, fell with her.

"Sorry." She whimpered, afraid to look him in the eye.

"It's fine." He muttered.

Instead of offering his hand, he grabbed her arm and pulled her to his feet.

Once again, she squirmed at the contact.

"Thanks."

He briefly wondered whether or not Alfred would be waiting for them in the parking lot. He had texted him, but he was unsure of the exact time he would arrive.

The now-standing bluenette leaned against the wall and pressed her fingers to her temples, massaging her head in circles.

Her hands started shaking again, and she started mumbling incoherently.

"Lila...Alya...She was right, there's not point...no...."

Damian didn't understand a word of what she was saying. It was like someone had completely flipped a switch in her brain.

"It's okay, they can't hurt you now." He said consolingly, not failing to notice her breath intakes becoming shorter and shorter.

"NO! Don't you understand? They followed me here. I couldn't escape them in Paris, and I won't be able to escape them now!" She let out a loud wail and tears started flowing down her face.

Despite his many questions, Damian deduced that they were not appropriate for now, and would be better asked at a later time, and the task at hand now was calming down this panicking girl.

When she spoke again, her tone was as hard as metal.

"You should have let me be. You should have let me die, then everyone would've been happy! No tears, no regrets, nothing!" Her voice raised passionately on the last words.

The green-eyed boy felt his temper start to rise, but immediately swalloed it. Now was not the time to get angry.

"I couldn't have just let you die." He said softly.

He felt her tense up underneath her, and followed her eyes to where a brunette woman was standing. It looked like the sausage-haired girl from earlier, but at further inspection, it was just a panicked woman running around.

Marinette's POV

She shouldn't have made her presence known to this guy, whoever he was. Even though her memory had a few holes, she was pretty sure of what happened as time progressed.

She looked over and saw Lila. Lila was everywhere, she couldn't escape her. Her vision blurred in and out, and every where she looked Lila was there, leering at her.

Marinette conveniently forgot how to breath, and attempted to calm herself down, only to find her efforts in vain.

As a last resort, she attemtped to stand up to get a better sense of her surroundings, only to find the stranger standing up with her. His hand was on her arm, which made her wince. No one ever touched her unless it was to hit her, so she supposed it was just an automatic reflex.

When Marinette had finally stood up, she made the mistake of trying to refocus her vision on what was in front of her.

Bad Move.

She slumped forward, not even bothering to try and muster up the energy to catch herself.

Chapter Text

Adrien was bored. Being a model in Gotham wasn't really all that it was cut out to be.It was boring being a model in Gotham. After finding out his father was Hawk Moth, the police took him to jail, but hushed everything up for Adrien's sake. Now, Audrey Bourgeois had taken over his father's company and was his legal guardian, which mean he could basically do whatever he wanted.

Even if Audrey was by no means the best parent, he still had more freedom than he had ever had with Gabriel. He enjoyed to it it's fully extent, thinking wistfully of the times when he would use Plagg as an escape for her civillian life.

He scrolled through his feed, until one particular headline piqued his interest.

"Ice Prince of Gotham seen with Unknown girl." He read aloud

"Huh."

The girl reminded him vaguely of Marinette.

That was about as interesting as it got for Adrien.

When the mayor had offered to send them to Gotham, he had gladly accepted, hoping for a change of scenery.

Everything was perfect.

Well, almost.

Marinette was the only problem. She refused to take the high road and let Lila expose herself.

He let Alya and the group attack her, dubbed 'teaching her a lesson', hoping it would teach her a lesson to not cause trouble. It did not. She never just swallowed her pride and apologized. After all, Lila's lies weren't hurting anyone. Hopefully after this latest attack, she would learn to just keep her mouth shut. This whole situation that they were in was her fault, if he was to be quite frank.

Marinette was as stubborn as Ladybug. Both of them refused to give in, when clearly the other was right.

When they had defeated Hawk Moth, she refused to reveal her identity, even after him revealing his.

The expression on her face after he revealed himself was... horrible. It was like she hated him. He had to be wrong, right?

They were Ladybug and Chat Noir, two halves of a whole, they were soulmates. When he had consulted with Plagg about the relationship between him and his Lady, to his dismay, he was informed that not all Ladybugs and Chat Noirs ended up together. Sometimes they ended up hating each other, and even killing them.

Plagg told him a story about one of his other Chat Noirs who had ended up not only hating their Ladybug, but killing her.

That wasn't him and Ladybug though, he was sure of it! If only he knew her identity...

Well, that could be figured out at a later time. Him and his Lady were destined, and they would be together, one way or another.

~

Damian had already called Alfred to pick him and the girl up from well, wherever they were. He was already extremely irritated because he not only had to wait in the cold, but at that exact moment, the paparazzi found him.

"What...Oh. Paparazzi." She whispered.

"Ignore them." He whispered.

"Why are they here?" She asked, her whisper barely audible.

"Because you are with me. Let's go."

Marinette leaned on Damian, not having the strength to walk by herself.

"Are you guys dating?" A cameraman called out.

Before Damian could turn around and scowl at him, Marinette answered for him.

"Definitely not." She snorted.

A few more questions were yelled, but they entered the care without a care for the rest of them.

~

Jason was shocked.

Tim and Dick had just showed him the picture of the same girl leaning on Damian.

Demon Spawn was wearing his regular scowl, and looked extremely irritated at the prospect of the paparazzi. He saw Damian walk into Alfred's car with the girl leaning on his shoulder. From what her could see, she looked pretty bad. Her eyes were dull and her skin was gray. The clip ended after Damian walked in the car.

"Did you see?" Tim asked.

"How does Damian even know that girl? Who even is she?" Jason asked increduluously.

"Yeah, he's not exactly the social type." Tim said, equally as stunned.

"Guys. Do any of you guys even know the girl's name?" Dick said, interrupting their coffee klatsch.

Both of them turned to look at Tim expectantly.

"If I don't have a name, I can't look them up." He said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Or we could, y'know, ask Demon Spawn." Jason suggested, apparently at a loss for other ideas.

Tim snorted," Are you crazy? He still has his katana hanging in his room. He'd kill all of us." He said, being the lone voice of reason as always.

"What about the girl? Shouldn't we ask her?" Dick asked.

The all looked at each other; they had a plan.

Bruce Wayne was a man who did not like surprises.

Everything was calculated down to the last second. There was never any room for error.

Ever.

He had just finished a meeting, one that had gone fairly well, when his phone started buzzing incessantly. He turned it on and glanced at the screen to see it was the family group chat. More precisely, the one without Damian.

Bruce sighed, wondering why family was so chaotic and silenced his notifications. He didn't have the mental capacity right now. It was too early.

What he saw next made him choke on his coffee.

Gotham's Ice Prince, Now Off the Market?

Earlier today, Damian Wayne was seen with another teenage girl. It was a rare sighting to see the Ice Prince of Gotham, let alone see him with another girl his age, leaning on him. The internet is going crazy about this one, especially twitter.

Identity of the girl is currently unknown, but if anyone has any news, call xxx-xxx-xxxx.

The article ended there, with several other links to other sights with pictures. Bruce clicked on a clip and saw the same girl from the photos leaning on Damian.

"Are you dating?" One of the paparazzi members called out.

The girl seemed amused by this comment.

"Definitely not." She snorted.

At that moment, Alfred's car pulled up and the two slid in.

The clip ended there.

Bruce was shocked. How long had he been gone? Things really had changed.

He inferred that the family group chat was going wild about this one, with Tim already trying to find everything he could about this girl. He was in for a long week.

Possibly month.

~

Master Fu was furious. After Hawk Moth had been defeated, Ladybug and Chat Noir had returned the Miraculous, dumping them on him. He was planing on making Marinette the next guardian, but couldn't since they were moving to Gotham.

The city of crime.

Well, no matter, there was still a mission for them. The ancient curse. That would take a while. Then Ladybug could take over as guardian, and he could finally get some rest. Now, to get the Miraculous to them. Well, that part wouldn't even be hard.

"Kaalki! Full Gallop!"

~

Marinette didn't even know what was going on. She barely remembered anything that had happened in the past few days, and wasn't sure if she wanted to. She told Alfred to drop her off at the apartment she had rented a while ago. Even though it was pretty much a warehouse for her designs, it was livable, even if it wasn't ideal.

She unlocked her phone, which somehow remained in her jacket, still unscathed. She sighed as the familiar hateful insults filled the screen.

She was extremely aware that her coping mechanisms were not healthy. But what could she do about it?

She closed her eyes, her mind revisiting the most painful memory ever.

After a long, grueling battle, Hawk Moth had been defeated. Chat Noir was understanably shaken, she assumed that he was an Agreste fan.

"Well M'lady, since there's no danger, we can finally reveal our identities!" He said gleefully.

"I don't know Chat. I still don't think it would be a good idea for us to reveal ourselves. Besides, I don't know if I'm ready to just yet. I still think about losing... them."

"What do you mean? We have to give our Miraculous back to Master Fu anyway, I want to know who my partner is!" He pouted.

"Chat, we lost three excellent heroes, I think I need some time to mourn before we do anything>

Before Ladybug could react, the phrase was spoken.

"Claws in."

In place of Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste.

"Your turn, M'lady!" He said smiling.

"No." She said, unable to meet his eyes.

Tears welled up in her bluebell eyes, and she unhooked her yo-yo, threw it then swung away.

That day, she had truly felt heartbreak. She still couldn't think about it without tears crowding in her eyes. It was better not to think about it. Besides, a nice long nap seemed to be in order for her.

Bruce didn't even know what to think anymore.

Of course he was concerned about his sons, but they seemed to be fine.

Everyone except Damian.

Damian had been dropped off at his door when he was twelve, with an assassins mindset and underdeveloped social skills. He had hoped that being around his brothers more would help him come out of his shell, and it did work, in a sense. Even if he did not seem to enjoy their company, he didn't kill them. That was an improvement.

At least he had a friend, Jon Kent. He was a good influence for Damian, and helped him develop social skills, because, according to his teachers, that was the one skill he did not posses.

Maybe this would be an experience for him to make friends.

~

After a delightful long nap, Marinette woke up, and decided she would eat something.

Not because she was hungry, but because she knew what Tikki would have said if she

was here.

Tikki... She still remembered her spotted best friend, her rock, and her light in the dark. SHe missed her more than she would admit.

She couldn't think about anyone without crying.

While it was unrealistic, she wanted to see them again. She wanted to see Luka down the street with his guitar, with Kagami next to him with her fencing sword in hand. She wanted to go shopping with Chloe for hours, and forget about everything.

This was the final battle. It was now or never.

Empress Wasp fell first. She didn't see Mayura coming, and by the time Ladybug had screamed at her to watch out it was to late. The sharp fan had stabbed clean through her chest and left her down.

Faster than light, Ladybug was next to her.

"Wasp, hang in there. "

"Ladybug. Go. Defeat Hawkmoth, that was the priority."

"NO! Wasp, don't talk like that, we'll get help, you're gonna be just fine, maybe the Lucky Charm will-"

"Bug. Go."

"I can't leave you, we need to get you to a hospital!"

"No. Hawk Moth is the goal. Don't let him get away." With her last few breaths of determination, she heaved a sigh and coughed up blood. Her eyes fluttered.

"No, no, no, Wasp, stay with me! Please, you can't leave me."

Tears filled the bluebell eyes and she looked at her friend.

"We're heroes, and sometimes things don't always end out the best for us. To think that way would be," She paused and smiled weakly ,"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous."

"Go."

Ladybug left the rooftop, but she still felt a piece of herself next to Wasp. Her sacrifice would not be in vain. She would be sure of that.

She scanned the rooftops on high alert.

Bad move.

Ryuuko and Viperion were even worse than Empress Wasp. It looked like they had gotten Hawk Moth's treatment personally. Hawk Moth would pay. In blood.

With his life.

She stealthily continued advancing on the rooftop, careful not to make a sound. Her foot kicked something on the rough concrete.

The ring.

More precisely, Chat Noir's.She didn't want to imagine what torture he was facing. She would kill Hawk Moth in cold blood.

And she wouldn't even blink.

She slipped the ring on her finger and continued on.

"Hello, Ladybug. I trust you've seen your friends?" He grinned evilly, looking quite disheveled.

To Ladybug's satisfaction, he looked extremely injured. He had bruises all over his face, visible even through the mask.

"Hawk Moth. It's time to end this." She shot him a look filled with pure hatred and venom. It was now or never.

Both of them stood there for a few minutes, reveling in the silence.Ladybug stood there, tense. An unexpected movement caught her eye.

Faster than light, he drew his sword and attacked. She was ready for it.

After a few minutes of fighting it was clear that Ladybug was the dominant one.

"It seems you might win. Too bad your friends won't be able to share the victory with you." He snarled.

If Ladybug was hanging off the cliff, she was definitely falling now.

"Don't." Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Your fault Ladybug, if you had just given up your Miraculous they might still be alive."

He leered at her, stopping the fighting. Imges swarmed in and out of Ladybug's mind.

Ryuuko.

Viperion.

Empress Wasp.

Suddenly, her eyes began to glow like gems, and she slowly started levitating. She rose into the air, and her Ladybug attire was replaced with a brilliant white dress that glimmered in the light. Her mask was replaced with a gold mask that had each Miraculous emblem ingrained on each part. Her eyes were still glowing, and everywhere around her seemed to glow.

A goddess.

Hawk Moth's eyes widened in terror, and tried to run. His attempts were in vain as Ladybug had eyes for only one person.

Him.

A brilliant bolt of lightning-charged energy was aimed at him.

It found it's match, and from that day on, Hawkmoth was no more.

Marinette woke up breathing heavy. She had nightmares about that day vivdly, and she couldn't quite forget it. When she had asked Tikki about it, the kwami had looked completely dumbfounded and asked her what she was talking about. As a result, she had not mentioned it to Master Fu when returning the miraculous,.

She figured it was her imagination until she looked down and saw a bruise.

From lightning.

Life really was weird.

Finally, she could catch a break.

At that moment, a blue portal opened up, revealing a very tired Master Fu smiling oddly at her.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Damian was already irritated.

First, the press had caught him with that Marinette girl, and they were probably having a field day with that.

"Hey Demon Spawn, I see you've got yourself a girlfriend." Jason grinned.

"Todd. I will slit your throat in your sleep, or so help me-"

Alfred coughed, causing Damian's threats to be halted momentarily.

"Well, you've finally grown up, you have girlfriend!"

His expression was murderous.

"Drake. Where's my katana?"

Tim looked nervous.

"Um, Damian, why don't you just calm down and-"

"No."

When Damian got mad, instead of yelling, his voice would go ice-cold. You could feel the chill in his voice, and it would scare you senseless.

"Never mind, I don't need you, I'll kill him with my bare hands."

Jason sprinted down the hall with Damian in hot pursuit, whispering threats becoming increasingly more violent.

As predicted, Damian eventually caught up with Jason and had reunited with his katana.

His katana was against Jason's throat.

Jason wore an impish grin, seeming unconcerned at the sword against his throat.

"Look, Dames-"

"Do not call me that."

He pressed the flat end of the blade closer to his throat, making it non-lethal but equally as threatening.

"Consider yourself warned."

He slammed Jason against the wall, then stormed off to his room.

"Damn." Tim whistled.

"Well I mean, what did you expect with antagonizing him? Nothing good ever comes from that you know." Dick reasoned.

Considering Jason had come out of their recent encounter relatively unscathed, Damian considered his non-violent methods effective for the time being. Even if Alfred or his father didn't approve.

There was a knock on the door.

"Go away before I slit your throat." He said, with the air of one saying a greeting.

Cass opened the door with a smile.

"Is that how you greet your favorite sister?" She said, grinning at him in a manner similar to Jason's.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"Jason?"

"Yes."

Cass stroked her chin thougthfully.

"So, are you gonna tell me about the clip I saw, or am I going to have to g o around and ask Babs?"

He scowled at her, his glare deepening.

Cass smiled fondly at her little brother.

"Dinner's ready in a few. B's coming back soon with everybody else, so be prepared for a hectic dinner."

"I appreciate you informing me of the circumstances." Came the formal response.

~

The whole point of going to Gotham was to escape this. To escape the pain. She couldn't continue doing this job knowing that they were gone.

Forever.

That there was nothing she could do about that.

But then, she wasn't really given much of a choice, was she?

"Here is the miracle box. I am entrusting it to you, Ladybug."

She tried protesting it, but it was clear that Master Fu had already made up his mind.

Marinette sighed. At least she would get to see Tikki again. Her, and the rest of the kwamis.

That was one bonus.

It was a lot of work, finding a way to disguise the Miracle Box, but she eventually found a way. It looked like a huge box for designing things.

"What about Chat Noir?" Ladybug asked, hopeful that she wouldn't have to see him.

"I will be delivering the Miraculous to him shortly."

Her stomach lurched.

"Why do we need the Miraculous in Gotham?" Marinette asked, hopeful to find a way out of this.

"Gotham has been cursed for a while now. It helps when the vigilantes are here, but they can only do so much. It comes from an imbalance. There is too much destruction, there needs to be more creation in order to balance things out. Because of that, the city is suffering." Master Fu explained.

"So, what do Chat Noir and I have to do? It doesn't seem like a big job, surely, you could give the Miraculous to someone else and-"
Master Fu silenced her with a hand.

"The villains in this city know about the Miraculous as well. I can't give the earrings to just anyone." He said sternly.

She knew it was pointless to argue. Her miserable fate had been sealed.

~

Damian polished his katana. If he was lucky and his father was distracted, maybe he could sneak it to the table.

Unfortunately for him, Alfred caught wind of his plan and took them just before he sat down.He would have to settle for the table knives instead. Not perfect, but they would have to suffice for now.

As everyone settled into the table, glances were cast his way. Damian decided to pretend like he didn't see it.

Lull them into a false sense of security, A small voice in his head whispered.

That voice sounded like-

No.

He was better than that now. He didn't listen to that voice anymore. He wasn't like them anymore.

Nevertheless, the staring persisted, so he simply brought out his phone and started scrolling through his feed. Normally he didn't have time for such silly things, but this was more for appearance than for anything else. As true as that was, he also came across an interesting article about meercats. He clicked the link and began to read.

A loud clatter jolted him from his undisturbed reading.

It was just Alfred, with food.

Let the chaos begin.

~

As the food was brought out by Alfred, everyone sniffed the air appreciatively. Everyone enjoyed Alfred's cooking.

"So.." Jason began, with a grin,"Are we gonna talk about Demon Spawn and his girlfriend?"
Damian decided not to react. He would stab Todd later. He shouldn't lose his temper in front of the whole family like this.

"She's not my girlfriend, if you'd actually listen to a word I say." He remarked, careful to keep the bite out of his tone.

"I call Bull." Jason said, minding his own language at the sight of Alfred standing by the table.

Damian did not react, and merely stared at him for a few moments then continued scrolling on his phone.

Bruce cleared his throat.

"Well, Damian, I think I speak for all of us when we say we are very shocked about how-"

Bruce's voice died down at Damian's expression.

He followed Daimian's eyes to Jason who was making kissing noises. Bruce saw Damian's hand twitch ever so slightly to the knives' side of the plate and decided to take action.

"Jason, stop it." He said authoritatively.

Jason obeyed with a smug smirk on his face.

"Changing the topic, Damian, we have decided that this year you will have to take on extracurricular in school."

"Why?" He spat.

"I already do fencing and violin outside of school, I have no interest in joining a club that is inside the school, why do I have to do another one?"

"We feel as if it would be best for you to learn how to socialize-"

"I do know how to socialize."

Everyone at the table snorted at that.

"I just choose not to. There is no need for me to waste time talking to other people and making friends, when I already have one friend. I have no wish for another." He continued.

"Be that as it may, it will still be beneficial to talk to others outside of family."

"What if I don't want to?" He said, eyeing his father defiantly.

"Well, you will. It has already been discussed." He said, closing any other conversation on the topic.

Everyone at the table watched as the tennis match seemed to come to a close.

Jason decided to speak.

"Well, I think that-"

"No cares what you think." Damain remarked snidely.

"Hey, don't be salty just because you have to act like a kid your age, asshole."

Instead of responding to this, Jason received a casual middle finger.

"Master Jason and Damian!" Alfred sounded scandalized.

"Apologies." Damian said.

Jason murmurmed something of the same sentiment and they continued their argument, except in silent glares, with the entire family watching.

Barbra spoke up," What club are you going to join, Damian?"

"None." He said, scowling, leaving the conversation engulfed by silence.

Bruce cleared his throat uncomfortably, and the table broke out in their separate conversations. He couldn't wait for this to be over.

~

Marinette looked at the Miracle Box. Could she open it? Should she?

While both questions were valid, the second one seemed to over power her thought process.

A tentative hand brushed again the box, and by impulse, she pressed the button.

A blinding light filled her apartment, and the kwamis re-emerged.

First came Stompp, then Fluff, Kaalki, Wayzz, Ziggy, Xuppu, Longg, Sass, Trixx, Nooroo, Pollen, Duusuu, Barkk, Roarr, and finally, Tikki. Tikki gave Marinete a watery smile and the two embraced joyfully.

"Tikki!" She cried, immediately leaping for her beloved kwami. She loved Tikki with every fiber of her being, and was quivering with joy at the mere sight of her.

"Marinette!" Tikki squealed, with the rest of the kwamis following her lead.

"It's so good to see you all again!" She exclaimed.

Most of the kwamis had taken to exploring the current apartment that she was in.

"Are we still in Paris? It seems so...gloomy here." Ziggy remarked, peering out at the sky.

Marinette chuckled,"No Ziggy, we aren't. We are in Gotham."

"Gotham?!" Plagg said, his ears twitching with excitement.

"Yea, have you guys been here before?" Marinette asked curiously.

"A while ago, one of our previous guardians was here for a bit. Something about solving a curse." Xuppu trailed off in thought.

"But first, got any food?"

~

Damian scowled as he flicked through his phone. There was never anything interesting to see anyway. His mind kept thinking about the girl from earlier, Marinette. He sighed and closed his phone. He probably wouldn't see her again anyway. It was time to prepare for the school day tomorrow anyway.

There was a creak from the floor boards, and Damian immediately tensed. It must be his idiot brothers hoping to surprise him. This was the only time he was thankful for his assassin instincts.

Quietly, not making a sound, he moved toward his non-lethal katana. (If that was even a thing.)Alfred had been adamant about upholding the 'no violence' rule, so as a result, his original katana was hidden somewhere in the Bat Cave.

The floor board creaked once more, and he raised his sword instinctively, only to hear Alfred the cat mewing confusedly.

He picked up Alfred the cat, and led him toward his bed in the corner of the room. He'd had a long day, and maybe it was time to relax a bit. He glanced at the clock. Patrol was in a few hours, he would have time.

~

Marinette looked at the brochure of the new school she would be attending.

Gotham Academy.

Just looking at the school itself made her extremely apprehensive.

It wasn't that she was worried about the situation turning into Dupont, (she was) , but more of being new in the City of Crime. She'd had her fair share of fighting crime in Paris, and that was the one thing she had promised to leave behind.

The irony.

So here she was, preparing a meal for her 19 kwamis, on a Sunday night. They ate gratefully, then went to bed.

It could've been weirder.

At least being a student in Gotham would help her observe other people for Gotham's "bad luck" curse. Gotham Academy ad a uniform, so that was one less thing to worry about, but she consciously kept checking to make sure it would stay there. She repeated her affirmations before going to bed.

Fly under the radar.

She wouldn't get hurt again. She would not. Sure, it was paranoid of her to assume that trying to make friends again would end up like what happened last time, but she didn't care. It was better safe than sorry. She repeated her affirmations once more, then drifted off to sleep.

~

After a long photo shoot, Adrien came back home and saw a familiar box on his dresser.

Could it be....?

He rushed to the dresser and opened the box, and his original assumption had been correct.

It was amazing. Master Fu had finally realized that him and his Lady were destined. Tat they were soulmates. It was truly wonderful.

"Plagg?" He asked, hoping that tis wasn't some sort of cruel joke.

"Where...? Oh."

Plagg's eyes roamed the room then settled on Adrien.

"It's you." Plagg said, and Adrien felt himself deflate inside.

Wasn't Plagg excited to see him? Why did he sound so... disgusted? He brushed it off as Plagg just being confused, after all, he was Chat Noir. No one else was. It would stay that way forever.

~

Alya smiled. She had a plan to make sure that Marinette would never bully Lila ever again. Everything was perfect, she just had to fill the others in on her plan. It was fool proof, and it wouldn't be able to be traced back to her. Perfect.

Chapter Text

Marinette turned over and looked at the clock.

3:56 AM.

There was no point in going back to sleep now, school started in a couple hours.

Careful to not wake up Tikki and the rest of the kwamis, she slipped out of the room to take a shower, purposefully taking as much times as possible.

Every since collège, she had gotten out of the habit of her usual tardiness, instead opting to get to school as early as possible. That was a habit she had intended to keep, especially in Gotham.

She had already made macaroons the night before, so she did not have to worry about breakfast the morning of. Since Gotham had a school uniform, there was no stress over an outfit, but since it was the first day, she decided to ditch her traditional pigtails for classic half up, half down, with a halo braid around the top.

Ever since Paris, she had let her hair grow out, not having the energy to cut it. Her mighnight locks now reached mid- back. She looked at the clock.

4:50 AM.

She had two hours left to kill, and decided to do that by walking to school rather than calling for a taxi.

She grabbed Tikki, Fluff, and Pollen, just in case.

As Master Fu had explained to her, since she was the guardian-in-training, she could wear multiple miraculi at once, and it would not affect her as much as it would have before. She still remembered what happened with Kwami Buster. She had decided on wearing at least three whenever she went out in case someone discovered the Miracle Box. The likelihood of that was slim, but she wasn't about to take any chances.

An additional discovery she had found out was that the Miraculous jewelry could change its form. Even though Pollen's traditional form was a hair comb, she had shifted it into a ring. She had done the same with Wayzz's bracelet.

She grabbed her phone to check the time.

6:40.

If she was planning on leaving, she would have to leave now.

She grabbed backpack she had made, and threw in all of her spare notebooks.

Blend in.

~

Although violent threats were somewhat of a joke in Damian's household, some days he truly felt like executing them.

First, Todd had woken him up early, then he had spilled some sort of juice all over his favorite Polo shirt uniform,

Alfred had assured him that he would be able to wash it out, just not in time for school.

Very cross indeed, he made his way to the car as Todd continued his taunting before Grayson grabbed him by the collar and shoved him inside, shooting Damian an apologetic glance. Damian merely rolled his eyes and got in the car, but not before he saw the twinkle of amusement in Alfred's eyes.

Traitor.

When he had finally arrived at school, he felt a familiar scowl creep onto his face as he scanned the campus for Jon.

"Damian!" A voice called.

Jon immediately rushed to his side.

"Kent." He acknowledged.

They caught up with each other on the way to their first period class. It turned out that Jon had spent the summer as he typically did, nothing too exciting. His unfounded enthusiasm carried all the way into the classroom.

~

Marinette walked to her first period classroom attempting to make herself as small as possible. She didn't want to talk to anyone, or be memorable.

Easily forgettable.

Alas, it seemed like the universe was out to make her a laughingstock. She bumped into someone and almost spilled her coffee all over him.

Bluebell eyes met the green, and for a quarter of a second, neither one spoke.

"Sorry." She whispered, then scrambled away.

Jon watched the entire exchange bemused.

"She's pretty."

"I'll break your leg." Damian hissed.

"Jeez, just a statement." Jon protested, throwing his hands up in the air.

They made their way inside of the classroom, toward a seat. Since it was the start of a new school term, the teachers would let them pick their new seats, under the promise that they would behave and pay attention, which was rarely fulfilled.

Damian eyed the girl and saw her sit next to Brady.

~

Marinette hated what a small town Gotham was. Nothing she could do except complain though. Since the people she knew were going to a different school, and her prime goal was to blend in, she simply sat down next to a tan boy with freckles.

Her teacher continued on about classroom procedures, and she attempted to shift away from her seatmate who was getting handsy.

"Hey beautiful, what's your name?" He asked.

Marinette hesitated, before deciding to avoid the question.

Easily forgettable.

"Je ne parle pas anglais." She said, hoping he would take a hint and stop edging close to her.

His face contorted in confusion, and the teacher took that moment to take roll.

~

The rest of the school day continued on, going by faster than normal. Damian found his subject below satisfactory as usual, but Jon was there. He supposed it was better him than anyone else.

"So...Damian?" Jon said, an evil grin creeping up on his face.

"No." He said firmly, not letting Jon get any further into whatever ridiculous idea he had come up with this time.

Jon pouted. "You didn't even let me finish!"

He continued,"Since it's the first day of school, Brady's hosting a party. It's gonna be really fun, almost everyone is going to be there." Jon explained.

Damian pondered the thought. His father always said he was bad at socializing, and his entire family seemed to agree. Even though he was not one for parties, maybe this even could prove to his family that he could socialize.

That he deserved Robin.

"Fine."

"Please Damian, it'll be really fun!" Jon said, attempting to make puppy eyes.

"Kent. I said yes."

"Huh?" Jon said, completely confused.

It was very unlike Damian to attend any sort of social event. Jon wondered what had changed his mind. Whatever it was, it didn't matter! He had finally managed to drag him to a party where he could socialize with other kids his age and do things that normal kids their age did.

~

Marinette was convinced that the universe had it out for her. First, she almost spilled her coffee on the mystery guy, then she had gotten stuck sitting next to some pervert, and now, she found out there was a party for returning Gotham students.

She might have been able to get away with not going if it was just a regular party, but since everyone was invited, it was a free for all. Her phone had been blowing up all day with messages from her old class, and she knew they were planning on visiting the bakery. Her parents were well aware of her new apartment, so they would most likely give away her location.

She didn't have the time, nor the energy to deal with them, and she needed to stay in her prime and another encounter with Alya, Kim, and Ivan would not do that. She had made up her mind: she was going to the party. She repeated her motto as she grabbed a fuchsia cocktail dress.

Easily forgettable.

~

Damian shifted his feet excitedly at the table. He couldn't wait to see the stunned expression on Todd and Drake's face when he announced his exciting news. He wouldn't initiate the conversation, but the second his father addressed him, he would announce the news to everyone.

"Damian, have you found a school club to join?" Bruce said, keeping his tone as light as possible.

"No. " He scowled, he had almost forgot about that.

"Speaking of which father, I would like to be exempt from patrol tonight."

This caught the table's attention. Jason eyed him suspiciously.

"I smell bull-" Jason changed tack and the speed of light from Alfred's glare.

Damian smirked to himself. Served him right.

"Why?" Bruce asked, curiosity laced within his tone.

Damian rolled his eyes, "Jon has managed to persuade me into going to the back-to-school party for Gotham students. I'll be back around eleven." He said, pretending not to notice the hushed whispers that broke out at his announcement. Even Bruce looked confused, but wisely decided not to comment.

"Will Jon be picking you up, or will Alfred need to take you to wherever this, ah, gathering is?"

Damian frowned at his father's choice of words. Sure, it was a bit unusual, but was it so unbelievable that he would be invited? He surveyed the rest of the table to see their reactions.

Grayson was patting Drake on the back, as it appeared he had choked on his coffee. Brown was staring in disbelief, and Gordon had a sparkle in her eyes that made his stomach twist; he was going to have to keep an eye out for her. Cass was the only natural one, but she did smile at him, and he allowed himself a small smile in return.

He excused himself from the table then went to his room to get dressed. He checked his phone and saw three new messages from Jon.

Kent: damian we r going to pick u up at like 9

Kent: thats fine right?

Kent: still cant believe you agreed, lets have fun!

Damian rolled his eyes at the messages (particularly the grammar errors and abbreviations) Leave it to Jon to be shamelessly optimistic about anyone. He quickly typed a response.

Damian: Okay, that sounds good.

Before shutting his phone off, he glanced at the time. 8:26. He went to go and change.

~

Marinette looked in the mirror. Even though she had made the dress a while ago, it still fit her beautifully.

"You look wonderful, Marinette." Tikki praised, flying over the bed rail to get a closer look. The other kwamis squeked their agreement. Marinette headed to the mirror to get a better look.

The dress was a navy blue cocktail dress with black floral patterning at the end. At the back of the dress, there was her signature which no one else could copy. She sighed in content, then glanced at the clock. 8:43. She grabbed her coat and phone, then hurried out the door.

~

Damian looked at the clock again. 8:50. Of course. Leave it to Kent to be late to everything. He had originally planned on leaving at bit early to arrive early, but Kent had claimed that "party protocol" was different. He rolled his eyes.

At that moment, his phone buzzed and a message from Kent.

Kent: wya?

Kent: we r outside

He shut his phone and went outside. Why had he agreed to this again?

~

Marinette surveyed the room from the corner. Gothamite students sure knew how to party. It was nothing too crazy as it was still the beginning of the year, but it looked extremely chaotic from a bystander's perspective. She sighed and mentally reviewed the list of people to avoid. She had recently added her seatmate, seeing as he tried to get handsy with her in class.

On the subject of Brady, he was currently with his friends laughing loudly, but concern rushed through his body when he whispered something and pointed at her. Marinette's stomach churned. She had just decided that she was planning on moving from her corner when Brady approached her.

Did he seriously not get the hint from last time? She tried not to roll her eyes and he kept coming closer, strutting like a chicken. Marinette wrinkled her nose.

"Hey beautiful." He said, moving closer towards her.

Marinette took a step back and decided on ignoring him. After all, if he even had an ounce of common sense then he would've been able to figure out that she spoke another language. Asshole. Oh well. She was going to be in for a very long night.

~

Damian listened intently as Jon explained the "party etiquette" as he called it. It seemed ridiculous and far fetched, and knowing Kent, it probably was.

An image flickered in and out of Damian's mind. The girl from earlier. His curiosity had peaked when he remembered that she probably could recall the events from earlier this summer. He put a hand to his temple as both him and Jon walked into the party, apprehensive, but slightly excited about the event to come.

~

Marinette was absolutely fed up. That Brady guy did not know when to give up. She didn't even know him for goodness sake! But, that didn't stop him from following her everywhere she went, and she even got his friends to help him in "the chase".

For a moment, he was distracted and Marinette noticed how the party went silent, except for a few whispers. She looked over to the source and saw none other than Damian. She inwardly cursed. He must've been popular.

Shit.

Since everyone was distracted, she sprinted to the restroom for some god-level advice.

"Tikki, what am I supposed to do?" She asked, the panic audible in her voice.

Tikki said thoughtfully," Well, Marinette, what's the name of the thing you humans call it? Oh yeah, grin and bear it."

From her pocket, Fluff snickered and Kaalki and Pollen shot her a disapproving glance.

"Thanks." Marinette grumbled, feeling rather salty after the not-so-helpful advice. She swung open the bathroom door to Brady again, clenched her fists.

"Hey beautiful. We're about to play truth or dare, do you wanna join us? You can sit next to me."

"Sure." She blurted out.

He attempted to swing his arm around her, but she nimbly dodged it and sat opposite of him and his friends. She didn't even know who she was sitting with until she sat down and looked to her right.

Damian.

~

As soon as Damian walked into the party, the room went silent. He supposed it was a given, seeing as he had almost never attended one of the social gatherings, especially not one at Brady's house.

He'd held a strong dislike for him ever since he witnessed his so-called "flirting" tactics.

As expected, they were late, so when they arrived, it was announced that they were going to play truth or dare. Kent had already prepped him for this, so he knew which option to pick. They all sat down in a circle, and Damian made sure to situate himself on the far opposite of Brady.

From the hallway, Damian noticed Brady attempting to put his arm around someone that was clearly uncomfortable. He was about to intervene when the girl dodged his arm, then came and sat down next to him. She looked him in the eyes, and instantly recognized her.

It was the girl. Marinette.