Archive of Our Own

"…and then he decided that Penny needed a, and I quote, 'rockin' dress' because - no telling anyone this, because it's a surprise for her - he's planning on calling her up on the stage with him when he gets his award, so I just picked up some final things for that so I can finish it before Wednesday. And it'll be absolutely gorgeous, but I just wish he could have mentioned it a little earlier," she complained, keeping up her quick pace as she headed back for her apartment.

On the other side of the line, Adrien was silent for a few seconds. "Did you sleep, LB?"

"…Yes."

"…Since our last phone call?" He sounded very skeptical, which… Well, he wasn't wrong, but still, rude. Her lack of answer was apparently enough for him. "Marinette… You made a promise."

"I promised I would sleep!" she argued defensively. "I never specified when. And I will, once I have this commission done."

Adrien sighed, exasperated. "I swear… I'm honestly tempted to get on a plane and come over so I can force you to sleep at least six hours," he sighed, like he hadn't had a LAN party with Nino and a few of his other friends last weekend, during which they hadn't slept at all. At least she had a good reason. "This is one reason why I didn't want you moving this far away."

Before she could remind him of said party (and also that she could kick his ass even when sleep deprived, because that was one of her specialties, thank you very much) she heard the footsteps behind her. Two sets, trying to move quietly and almost succeeding. "And I'm about to deal with another one," she informed him, trying her best to sound casual and hoping they didn't understand French. "Don't worry. I'll message you when I'm back home."

"Marinette, what - ?"

She hung up before he could finish his sentence, putting her phone back in her purse and closing it so she wouldn't accidentally drop anything. The handles of the bag with supplies for Penny's dress, she twisted around her wrist once so she could use it as a weapon if necessary.

Bother. She did not have time for this.

Turning to face the people following her, she quickly took in the two men - both taller than her, predictably, and on the broader side. Faces not covered, which wasn't entirely uncommon in Gotham, but also wasn't necessarily a good thing. Marinette widened her stance a little, ready to move when she had to. "I'd suggest you just walk away," she switched to English to advise them, analyzing every slight movement.

"And I'd suggest you come quietly with us so we don't have to hurt you," the guy on the left replied, threat obvious in his voice. He was slightly smaller than the other guy, and a mustache instead of a full beard like his associate.

"Look, I have places to be and things to do. And I really don't need this."

"I don't see how you have much of a choice, girlie." They moved closer, spreading out to approach her from different sides. At first glance, they weren't carrying any weapons, but Marinette guessed that was probably because they figured they wouldn't need them against her. Mustache was holding a syringe, though, which she regarded warily.

Not just a mugging, then.

When Beard made a move to grab at her, she moved. Making use of his own momentum, she pushed him towards Mustache and hit him in the back with her bag for good measure.

As they untangled themselves, she ducked underneath Beard's blind swing backwards and kicked at the back of his knee, making him stumble. Mustache, now moving around him, made a grab for her that she leaned back to dodge. She sidestepped around Beard, using him as a temporary obstacle between herself and Mustache, and fended off a swing of his arm by using her bag to smack it away from her.

Unfortunately, Beard was just a little quicker to get back up than she'd estimated, and she actually had to dodge into a roll before he could hit her. Since they both had a lot more power behind their swings than she did, getting hit might stun her for long enough to give them the upper hand.

So she'd just have to fight smart.

Picking up an abandoned plastic bag from the street, she tossed it right as Beard came at her, making him slip and fall again. A quick move put her out of his way and closer to a wall, right next to the rainwater downpipe running down the building.

Praying it would hold her weight, she climbed up almost two meters before Mustache got too close, getting ready to pull her back down. She twisted and jumped down, using her added momentum to imbalance him and make him fall back, directing her left foot to land on his throat as they hit the ground.

While he was busy trying to catch his breath, she rolled away from him in case she'd miscalculated, using the move to give some extra power to her swing as she once more aimed her bag at Beard, catching him around the head and discombobulating him enough that she could jump up into a butterfly kick that caught him at the temple and would hopefully knock him out completely.

To her relief, she stuck the landing despite the inclusion of the unfamiliar weight of her bag, spinning back so she caught sight of Mustache again. He was just getting up, a vicious snarl on his face, but he hadn't caught his breath yet and it made him stumble.

It was enough of an opening to ram her bag into his temple before he was standing upright once again, knocking his head into the wall hard enough that he fell straight back down.

Marinette took a couple of steps away, far enough they wouldn't be able to catch her off-guard in case they weren't unconscious, and looked them over warily. Neither of them moved, though she was relieved they were both still breathing. There was always a risk of hitting someone just a little too hard.

"Well, I see you didn't need my help," an unfamiliar voice spoke up behind her.

Whirling around, muscles tensing as she prepared for another fight, she was surprised to find one of Gotham's vigilantes standing there instead. He'd remained some distance away and was holding his empty hands up by his sides, clearly doing his best not to scare her or make her feel threatened.

Considering his size - oh, hell, he was tall, absolutely towering over her, and she imagined it'd be a challenge to create a jacket that'd properly fit those shoulders without being too constricting - she appreciated the effort, even more so when she recognized him. While Red Hood worked with Batman and the other vigilantes now, it hadn't been too long ago that he'd been one of the city's criminals himself, and quite a few people were still wary of him.

She wasn't one of them.

"Oh… I'm sorry," she apologized, relaxing from her previous stand and moving just enough that she could keep an eye on Mustache and Beard from her peripheral vision.

He cocked his head just slightly, the mask preventing her from seeing his expression. "What for?"

"Ah… Doing your job? I guess?" She shrugged a little. The apology had come out before she'd really thought it through, and she really wasn't even sure what she'd been apologizing for in the first place.

Maybe Adrien had a point. A tiny one.

She was surprised when Red Hood actually chuckled, the voice changer she assumed was in the helmet making it sound oddly mechanical. "Definitely no need to be," he assured her. "That was probably one of the hottest things I've seen since… ever. I'm pretty sure I don't look nearly as good doing my job as you did."

"I somehow doubt that," she muttered, looking him up and down appreciatively - oh wow, that was a lot of muscles - before her brain caught up with her mouth. When it did, her eyes widened and she slapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh merde, I'm so sorry, that was… very forward. I kind of lose my brain to mouth filter if I've been awake for a while. Feel free to ignore I said that."

While Red Hood had startled a little at her comment, he was now… had he puffed up? "One of the most gorgeous women I've ever met just heavily implied that I'm good-looking," he said, and she was pretty sure he was smiling underneath that helmet. "I'm definitely gonna remember that."

"I mean, I'd assume you would hear it more often if the helmet wasn't so… distracting." She wrinkled her nose a bit. It helped to protect his face, sure, and at least he wasn't swinging around Gotham in a cape, but it was an eyesore. Which definitely protected his identity better than the non-magical domino masks most of his teammates wore, which… Honestly, it was mostly because she was polite and respectful of their privacy that she had done her best to notice as little about them as possible.

Except now she was tired, and Red Hood was unfairly attractive and right there and she was pretty sure there'd be no mistaking those shoulders, or those thighs, or those pecs, or those biceps, or those abs, or, well, any of it if she ever met him without a mask.

"Oh wow, tell me what you really think." It was hard to tell the tone of his voice, but she was pretty sure he was joking.

"I think I…" This instance, she caught herself just in time to keep from saying anything else that'd leave her feeling mortified. Like how she wanted to climb him like a tree. "I should go home. And finish my commission. And sleep. Before I embarrass myself even more."

"Would you like an escort?" He gestured at Mustache and Beard, who looked like they were still unconscious. "Police should be here in a few minutes to pick up these assholes and I can make sure you get home safely."

Before she could reply, she could feel her phone vibrating in her purse. "I'm sorry, I need to pick this up." A quick glance at the screen showed six missed calls, and she sighed as she pressed 'accept' and switched back to French. "I'm perfectly fine, Chaton. Please tell Kagami to hold off on arranging for the quickest flight here."

"…How did you know?"

"I know you. All of you. And I'd usually count on Luka to be the voice of reason, except he's a worrier."

"He was actually the one calling the travel agency," Adrien admitted.

"Well, there's no need," she told him, keeping her voice even and calming. It was the same tone she'd used as Ladybug to calm down people as they came to terms with having been akumatized. "Just two guys, and I knocked them unconscious so quick they didn't even have a chance to hurt me. Like I said, I'm fine."

"Sure are," she heard Red Hood mutter from where he was tying up Mustache and Beard, and she felt her face turn red, twisting away so he wouldn't be able to see it. Well, at least she now knew he understood French.

Fortunately, Adrien was speaking at the same time, so he didn't catch it. "What'd they want?"

"Just a basic mugging," she lied cheerfully, feeling no regret whatsoever. "And they probably thought I'd be an easy target, so they didn't even have weapons."

Red Hood, who had just removed a gun and two daggers from the guys in addition to the syringe that had already been knocked to the pavement, looked back at her, and she could only imagine the look on his face behind the mask. Well, she hadn't seen them when she was fighting them, so she decided it counted.

She put a finger in front of her lips, and he thankfully kept quiet.

"Are you back at your place now?"

"Not yet, but I got offered an escort home, so I'll be safe." It was probably the only way he'd stop worrying. "Please go back to enjoying your vacation."

"By the police?" he pushed, not ready to let it go yet.

"By one of the vigilantes."

"Which one? And where was he when those guys went after you?"

"On his way," she told Adrien sternly. And he had been - most likely, even if those guys had somehow managed to get a hit in, he'd have interrupted before anything too bad could've happened. "Chaton, I know you're worried, but be reasonable. And have some faith in me, alright?"

Fortunately, he backed off. "I know, Princess. And it's not that I don't have faith in you, it's just…"

"You're worried. And you're used to being right next to me to protect me. I know," she said gently. There were moments she hated it as well, and she at least had the assurance that he had Kagami and Luka by his side. "But we both agreed we needed this. We need to learn who we are as individuals, and we need to learn to stand on our own two feet, and we can't do that when we're still in the same place, seeing each other every day, because it's too easy to fall back in the patterns we're trying to change."

"I know," he agreed, softer now. "And I know it's a good thing. But I can't help but worry anyway, especially since no one else is close enough to help quickly if you need it. Did you really have to pick Gotham, of all places?"

Marinette giggled at the whine in his voice as he repeated the same question he'd been asking her since she'd first told him she'd be moving there. "I mean, I could look for an apartment in Blüdhaven if you'd prefer?"

"Ugh. You would, wouldn't you?"

They were both laughing now, because yeah, she absolutely would, before she calmed herself enough to speak. "Alright, no more worrying for today. The police just got here, and they're probably gonna need a statement before I head home. You go have fun with Kagami and Luka and Kagami's family, maybe visit that cat place you looked up. Actually enjoy your vacation, and Japan in general. Go spoil yourself - you deserve it."

"Fine. But you get that vigilante to walk you home, and you message me when you get there, alright? And get some sleep."

"I will," Marinette promised, just like she had before. "Give Luka and Kagami and her mom my love."

"Will do. Love you, M'Lady."

"Love you too, Chaton." She smiled affectionately as she hung up the phone, hoping he'd be able to let it go and enjoy himself. Luka and Kagami would probably help with that.

When she looked back up, she saw Red Hood looking at her. "Boyfriend?" he asked, likely out of curiosity.

Marinette chuckled a little, remembering the mess that their early teen years had been. "Platonic soulmate, best friend, non-biological twin brother, partner…" Honestly, there was no way to accurately describe the depth of the connection she and Adrien had. Which was one of the most important reasons they were on different continents at the moment. "Anyway, I wanted to thank you. For coming over, and for offering to walk me home. I'm… I mean, I'll probably be perfectly alright on my own - as demonstrated - and I don't want to take you away from your… work. I'd hate to think someone else got hurt because you were busy walking me home when it's not necessary."

The helmet was honestly frustrating her. It meant she had no idea what he was thinking as he stood there, looking at her as she tried not to fidget.

Jason was mostly thinking how incredibly frustrating it was that he'd met her as Red Hood. Because of course it was just his luck that his first encounter with the most fascinating woman he'd ever seen was happening while he was in a mask and supposed to remain anonymous.

She was absolutely gorgeous, and a highly capable fighter, and pretty damn selfless and caring.

And she was, at the very least, somewhat attracted to him, considering her earlier comment. All of which should have been a good start, except that he was not supposed to be Jason Todd in that moment.

Noticing the way she looked increasingly uncertain, he snapped out of his internal tirade against the unfairness of this kind of temptation and tried to think of what to say. Because while she'd definitely proven herself to be capable of looking after herself, he wasn't entirely comfortable with just letting her walk away by herself. And sure, it was partially because he was undeniably attracted to her, but also partially because he'd never forgive himself if anything did happen to her along the way that he could've protected her from.

"What if we split the difference?" he offered. "I follow to make sure you get home safely, but I'll do it from the roofs so I'll be able to see if something's going on somewhere else."

When she smiled brightly at him, he found himself grateful for his helmet, since it hid his unexpected blush. Hell, if his brothers ever learned of this, he'd never hear the end of it, and he mentally noted that he should keep it on for the debrief later that night, just in case.

And if he asked her a few more questions, and if he mentally noted down where she lived, no one needed to know.

Maybe, in a few weeks, he could see about seeking her out just once. Meet her as Jason Todd instead and see if this connection was still there, if she might be interested in him without the adrenalin and the mask and the sleep-deprivation. See if his first impression of her, of this amazing, exquisite woman that ticked all the boxes he knew he had and promptly added a few others just because she could, would hold true.

See if they had a chance.