Work Text:
" Come on , Damian," Dick whined, giving his youngest brother his best puppy eyes. "Why can't you introduce her to us?"
Damian sighed in irritation — this was the fifth time that day, that Grayson had been bugging him to meet Marinette officially.
" Because , Grayson," he said loudly, hoping that someone would come and save him from his misery. "I don't want to."
Dick narrowed his eyes at Damian. "Are you embarrassed of us?"
Groaning aloud now, Damian shook his head. " No , Grayson, not because I'm 'embarrassed' of you."
"Although," he muttered under his breath. "If I am embarrassed of someone, it's you."
Dick did not hear the comment and Damian thanked the universe for its small mercy.
"That was mean, Damian."
Said boy jumped half a foot into the air, not hearing Marinette walking up to him.
" Marinette ?" Damian asked, suddenly despising the universe again.
Of all the times she decided to visit him at WE.
"No, Dami," Marinette said sarcastically. "It's Chloe. Who else would it be?"
Dick was looking in between him and Marinette for Damian's reaction, but the only one happening was internal — specifically in Damian's body.
God, he was so screwed .
Especially when his older brother shot him a smirk that told him the entire family was going to know about his inability to talk like his normal self around Marinette.
"But anyway," Marinette drawled, turning to Dick. "I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng. We haven't met officially, so I just thought I'd introduce myself."
Dick looked like he was about to scream with victory.
Damian really hoped he didn't because otherwise, his eardrums would be non-existent.
Clearing his throat, Dick gave Marinette a sly smirk. "I'm Dick Grayson. I'm afraid the reason we haven't met is that someone here has refused to let the family meet you."
His following cough un-subtly implied the name, Damian .
Marinette turned to Damian, shooting him a withering glare — something he was fairly used to considering their days in the League.
Turning away from him, Marinette shot Dick one of her sweetest smiles (at that moment, Damian would have killed to be Dick) and said, "Well, now that we've met, let me tell you. I would be absolutely delighted to meet everyone else."
Damian tried to interfere because dear god this was not going to end well, "Perhaps a little wait-"
" No ." Marinette and Dick said in unison, both glaring at him.
Damian was stunned into silence.
"Anyway," Marinette walked to Damian and pecked him on the cheek. "I'll see you in the lunchroom, Dami."
Resisting the urge to blush profusely, Damian glared at Dick as soon as Marinette's back was turned.
"I can feel your eyes on me, Dami ," Dick smirked as he turned to his brother. "But I don't understand why you're glaring at me. I just did you a favour ."
Damian grit his teeth and continued to glare. "I'm hoping you will spontaneously combust."
Dick waved casually as he walked out. "If you're worried about your inability to talk around your girlfriend , don't worry! No one except for Tim, Jason and Bruce will find out!"
Damian sighed as he rubbed his temples.
The whole world was going to find out.
Marinette was sorely regretting her decision to meet the entirety of Damian's family, especially when he told her how many people were going to be in attendance.
What was she thinking ?
"And I believe Barbara and her father will also be joining us," Damian said, just casually stressing her out.
"Damian," Marinette turned to her boyfriend as he leaned against her bed, ticking off his fingers. "Can you shut up ? You are seriously not helping."
Damian shrugged, a handsome smirk sliding across his face. "I don't like saying 'I told you so,' but-"
Marinette snorted at his failed attempt to 'berate' her. "The hell you don't; it's literally your favourite phrase."
His distraction was welcomed, but it wore off in a few minutes, Marinette's panic returning once again.
Damian, ever the observant one, noticed and immediately, the smirk was wiped off his face.
"Habibti," he said, the nickname slightly calming Marinette down.
Damian had taken to calling her that ever since they started dating, and to be honest, Marinette kind of loved it.
"You are going to do amazingly, " Damian said. "My family will love you."
When Marinette didn't look convinced by that, Damian smirked and said, "Grayson already does — the others won't be far behind."
Marinette laughed at that, her panic slightly lesser than before.
Damian smiled at her as he held his hand out. "Shall we?"
"We shall."
So far, the evening had been quite fun, if Marinette could say herself.
Damian's family was by far the most down-to-Earth group of celebrities she had ever met, and Marinette had met a lot of them.
Jon was literally the brother she never had, sharing all the same tastes as her. Safe to say, they got on amazingly.
But one thing was bothering her.
Did they know how she and Damian met?
Because each time someone asked them how they met, they'd talk about the whole — excuse her language — Lila debacle.
Not about how they actually met.
And that's where Marinette's anxieties came in.
What if they didn't know? What if, when they found out, they would hate her? What if they would stop her from talking to Damian?
Suddenly, Marinette couldn't breathe anymore — when did the room become so small ?
Everything suddenly seemed too bright, the voices were too loud , what was happening to her?
Breath coming out in pants now, Marinette pasted a smile on her face as she asked Barb where the restroom was.
"Is everything alright?" Barb asked, no doubt noticing the panic in Marinette's eyes.
Not wanting to make things worse, Marinette nodded weakly, breath coming out at an alarming pace.
Tears burned Marinette's eyes as she slumped against the bathroom door, the sudden silence most definitely welcomed.
She had only been there for a few minutes when a soft but firm knock was heard on the door.
"Habibti?" A deep, familiar voice asked. "Is everything alright?"
Marinette felt her panic recede slightly, but she was still unable to answer him.
"Gordon told me you left in a hurry," Damian said and was about to knock again when the door opened slowly.
Marinette peeked out, and at the sight of her slightly bloodshot eyes, Damian reached out to her and pulled her into a warm, tight hug.
Feeling tears well up in her eyes again, Marinette was ashamed to say that she ugly-cried all over Damian's jacket.
How pathetic.
Damian didn't seem to agree, his hand running through her hair as he calmed her down.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, they got there.
"What happened?" he asked, looking at her with worry in his eyes. "If someone said anything I swear —"
"No, no," Marinette said, her voice hoarse from crying. "It's just—"
Her voice was small as she said, "Do they know that I was—"
"—in the League of the Assassins?" Jon asked appearing out of nowhere.
Both Damian and Marinette jumped.
Marinette was sure Damian even yelped.
"Kent." Damian said sharply. "Try to be a little louder next time."
Rolling his eyes, Jon turned to Marinette, giving her a kind smile. "Let's be honest here, Mari, you can't hide anything from the Waynes. It's practically impossible."
"So they know?" Marinette asked, still with Damian's arm wrapped around her.
Jon nodded in confirmation. "Yep. Known for quite a while actually."
Marinette felt the tension leave her body as she smiled in relief, feeling a bit stupid for crying about something like this. "Oh, thank kwami ."
Both Damian and Jon froze, eyes open wide.
It took a few seconds for Marinette to realize she slipped up.
Big-time.
"What did you say?" Damian asked, eyes wider than Marinette had ever seen them.
"I—" Marinette stuttered. "I can explain —"
"Holy shit ," Jon said, eyes practically bugging out of his head. " Marinette's Ladybug? "
Clark's ears perked up as he heard Jon's voice, particularly loudly.
What he heard made him nearly crush his glass into tiny pieces as he repeated what Jon said.
" Marinette's Ladybug ."
He really wasn't expecting Tim to give Jason fifty dollars, grumbling.
Jason smirked as he pocketed his money.
"I knew I would win that bet."