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| GOTHAM CITY
| JANUARY 19, 15:48 EDT
| 2078
Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Grayson and Dick Grayson were seated comfortably in the study of the Wayne manor. A roaring fire kept the winter chill at bay, though Marinette’s thickly knit cardigans certainly did their part too. The couple held hands absentmindedly as they read their books in comfortable silence, Dick gently stroking her aged, speckled skin.
“Mari? Dick?” A soft knock on the mahogany door broke the heavy, happy quiet.
“I’ll get it,” Dick mumbled, stiffly easing himself up to hobble towards the door.
He opened it to Conner Kent, who didn’t look a day over sixteen. Dick squinted up at his face.
“You youngsters and your insistence on making us old folks do all the hard work for you. Despicable,” he grinned as he ushered his old friend in.
“You know I’m only a few years younger, I just don’t look it,” Conner chuckled, hands up in mock surrender.
Dick creaked himself back into the old armchair beside his wife’s. “Well in that case, you’re just spicable.”
Marinette huffed a laugh and shut her book. “Shall I put on a pot of tea?”
“No no, you don’t have to go through the trouble,” Conner tried to placate her, but she was already up and moving to the kitchen.
“Let me rephrase that,” she paused and turned to face him with a teasing smile, “how many cups of tea am I bringing back?”
Dick exchanged a look with his old friend. No words passed between them, but Conner relented.
“Four please, Bugs. M’gann will be over as soon as she’s done visiting Artemis.”
She bobbed her head, satisfied that she had won, and disappeared to start the kettle.
“Just as spirited as ever?” Conner asked as they settled into a superhero-themed card game.
“‘Course, wouldn’t be Marinette if she wasn’t,” Dick replied, placing down a seven of diamonds with Supergirl on its face.
His friend didn’t reply for a moment, contemplating his hand of cards. He methodically selected the jack of diamonds, a two-dimensional Flash grinning up at them. “Glad to see you two are still going strong. How many years are you going on now?”
“55 this July,” Dick replied happily and adjusted his eyeglasses. He tossed a card with the current Batman as the jack of spades onto the pile. Damian’s serious expression glared daggers at the back of the next card that Conner placed. Blue Beetle, the four of spades, was none the wiser.
“That’s right, you’re only a couple years behind us,” Conner’s eyes drifted to the ring on his own finger. A ten of spades displaying a blonde, purple Batwoman joined the stack.
Dick cursed under his breath and drew a few cards from the main deck. “You sure you’re not using your x-ray eyes to cheat me in my own home?” he raised an accusatory brow.
Conner laughed. “Nothing up my sleeves,” he showed off his ever-perfect muscles in his ever-present black t-shirt with red Superman symbol emblazoned on the front.
His friend grumbled discontentedly about stupid friends having stupid immortal youth until the study door swung open again for Marinette to bustle in with a tray of tea and cookies. M’gann was right beside her, carrying a cheese board.
“Look who I found!” Marinette poured the tea for their guests, then her husband’s and her own.
“How are you holding up, Dick?” the Martian asked kindly.
“Mother of goat, there’s two of them,” he gestured widely to his young-looking friends. “It’s been great to see you, but I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone until you get some wrinkles. See you next year!”
Marinette tucked a strand of silver hair behind her ear and let out a loud laugh. “What the sour old man means to say is he’s doing quite well for his old age,” she teased and gazed down at him fondly.
He looked back up at her, face softening as he dropped the faux attitude. How could he even jokingly be mad when her eyes sparkled like that?
She kissed him on the top of his white hair and he held out a hand to steady hers as she eased herself back into the chair beside his. They never stopped holding hands, even as they sipped their tea and caught up with their friends.
They were still holding onto each other, Marinette’s arm looped through Dick’s, as they waved off their friends many hours later.
After all, he’d promised to never let her go.
* * *
| THE WATCHTOWER
| MARCH 6, 16:04 EDT
| 2054
It was a beautiful spring day somewhere on Earth, but an even more beautiful day dawned in the atrium of the Watchtower, the Justice League’s satellite base of operations. Over the years, it had been expanded and reinforced into a formidable base for Earth’s heroes and a waystation for otherworldly travelers.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Grayson had put her design skills-- and Pamela Ivy’s botanic expertise-- to good use in creating a livable, functional space. Room after room was populated with plants and enormous, thick-walled windows that looked down on the planet below them. Comfortable seating took up what space wasn’t devoted to sleeping quarters or the gardens.
But nobody was using any of those spaces today.
Today was a day of celebration, a good excuse to use the spacious dining hall to dance the night away.
Today was the day of Dick and Marinette’s retirement party.
“Hey LB, or wait, can I still call you that? What’s the plan now?” Bart Allen sped up to the guests of honor and slung an arm around Marinette’s shoulder.
She steadied her nearly dislodged drink and smiled in reply, “Well, we’ve been meaning to return to the manor now that Damian is officially taking on the mantle.”
“Booooo-ring,” he rolled his eyes. “I’m happy for you guys.”
Dick watched as he ran off to go bother Jaime at the punch bowl. “He knows he’s only a few years younger than us, right?”
“Ah, but we basically got to watch them grow up,” Marinette leaned into him, content to watch their friends.
“So long as he doesn’t call me old ,” her husband grumbled.
She looked up at him and arched a brow. “Old does not mean inadequate, mon amour.”
He hummed to show he totally believed her. She pulled him onto the dance floor to retaliate. He hated dancing. Well, he used to love it. But now it made him so sore it wasn’t worth it.
So, naturally, that’s where they stayed the whole night. Artemis and Lian danced with them, the older friends trying to keep up with the younger woman.
Marinette and Dick took to the stage in a lull between songs. They held hands, Dick smoothing his thumb over her wedding ring. She smiled at him gratefully before beginning to speak.
“Thank you all so much for attending. It means the world to see so many of our cherished friends and allies here today,” she nodded to the crowd with a smile, noting the high volume of aliens and Atlanteans who’d come from so very far away, simply because they had touched their lives. “Dick and I couldn’t be more grateful to retire together, peacefully, in our line of work.” The crowd was painfully silent, remembering the losses they’d endured in years past.
Dick stepped forward and said, “I know the next heroes of Paris and Bludhaven will make us proud to have come before them. Thank you all, for being the best coworkers a circus performer could ask for,” he lifted his glass and everyone laughed.
But the only laugh he cared about was from the woman next to him. How did he ever get to be so lucky?
* * *
| PARIS
| JULY 29, 14:00 EDT
| 2023
Everything was perfect.
There wasn’t a cloud in sight over the arboretum. The temperature was comfortable for guests in dress, suits, and supersuits. The flowers were all in bloom and bees hummed pleasantly between them.
And Marinette Dupain-Cheng looked resplendent in white.
She had made her wedding gown herself, of course, and it showed. The lace flowers, the nods to her French and Chinese heritage, the shaping of the bodice-- it all screamed Marinette. Her smile was brilliant as her father walked her down the aisle, and the flowers around her seemed to lean in for the chance to soak up just a little bit of that light.
Dick nearly cried at the sight of her. She was glowing, sparkling, shining. She was everything that was good in this world, and he had never been more sure that he was exactly where he should be.
The vows paled in comparison to the bond they shared. There were no words, no expression that could capture the breathless sense of rightness he felt being by her side, but they damn well tried. Looking into her eyes beneath the white wooden arch, he saw the fullness of his emotion echoed in her. She smiled when she said the words, the ones that would bind them in a way he would never want to be unbound again.
And when he kissed her, it felt like the first time. Passionate and magnetic, as if there would be no time for another kiss in their lives. They drank each other in, hardly hearing the cheering and whoops from their families and friends.
Everything after that was a blur.
The bridal party’s introduction was the appropriate level of hilarity with the added bonus of using powers to quite literally blow the roof off the venue. Bruce promised to pay for it.
Dick said hello to so many people in the span of four hours. Everyone he’d known at some point or another in their lives had come to say their congratulations. Queen Perdita and Chloe Bourgeois, Violet Harper and Arthur Curry, Forager and Jagged Stone. Not to mention their team. The ones who'd been through it all together.
“I still can’t believe you didn’t let us slow you down on working that dress up,” Artemis was chastising Marinette. His wife. (His wife !)
“Oh please, it was only a few all-nighters,” she waved a hand dismissively.
Tikki chose that moment to zip up to them and tattle, “It was six in a row, with barely any napping in between. And you still finished it two weeks early!”
Dick raised an eyebrow. “Are we going to have to have an intervention?”
“Again,” M’gann chimed in, barely suppressing her laughter.
“No! I mean, no, that’s not necessary. With any luck, I’ll only be getting married once!” Marinette awkwardly shrugged with a wince.
“It’s got nothing to do with me. Plagg, don’t eat that!” Tikki said before flying off again.
They caught up with Marinette’s friends from Paris, and thanked all the caterers personally, got several drinks at the bar, and danced until their feet felt like they were going to fall off.
And later that night, after all the guests had retired to their hotels and he could kiss his wife without being applauded or whistled at, he asked her, “You think you’ll get married again?”
“Only if it’s to you,” she grinned.
He smiled lovingly at her, soaking in every moment they had together. “We’d have to get divorced first, my dear.”
“Well then, I suppose you’d better be on your best behavior, monsieur,” she gently tapped him on the nose.
“Any suggestions?”
“Oh, just a few,” she laughed.
* * *
| GOTHAM CITY
| DECEMBER 22, 17:13 EDT
| 2013
Snow blanketed the rolling hills of Wayne manor. Thankfully, the roads were clear for the car that pulled up the long driveway. Though a few snowflakes drifting down from the overcast sky promised that wouldn’t be the case for long.
“Here we are, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng,” Alfred parked the car and opened her door for her. Marinette looked cozy in leggings and a hand-knit sweater. It had all the heroes of Gotham patterned onto it with a big bat symbol in the center. If the entire Wayne family would be getting matching ones, who was to say?
“Thank you Alfred,” she smiled warmly, assisting him with carrying her bags into the mansion.
“Marinette!” Dick called out the moment she stepped in the door. She dropped her suitcase to hug him back as he wrapped her up in an embrace.
She was giggling when he let go. “I saw you two days ago, you silly boy.”
“Two days too long,” he replied cheekily, taking the suitcase for her. “Come on, I’ll show you to your room.”
After they’d unpacked her belongings for her stay at Wayne manor (and maybe kissed a couple of times, just for good measure), they headed downstairs to join the rest of the family. Jason was already there, reading a book while Alfred prepared dinner.
Barbara greeted them too, excitedly catching up with Marinette. Dick was glad the girls got along, but sometimes they got along too well. He was scared of what they could do if they put their minds to it.
Luckily, Bruce chose that moment to come home and say hello to everyone. While he and Marinette had known each others’ identities for quite some time now, this was the first holiday season they would be spending together. And also the first time Bruce and Marinette would be in the same room as themselves.
“How has Adrien been doing?” Bruce asked, sitting down in the living room next to the love seat (ha) Dick and Marinette were curled up on. Ah, small talk it is.
“Oh, as well as can be expected,” her smile was more of a grimace. Maybe that was a little too touchy right off the bat. Pun intended. “This time of year always reminds him of his family. But I expect my parents are baking him a feast right about now!”
Bruce chuckled at that. “The bakery is doing well?”
“It’s doing amazing!” She bounced excitedly on the sofa beside him. “We just rolled out some superhero-themed desserts and business has never been better. Especially after a visit from UN ambassador Prince,” she winked.
Dick pivoted the subject towards Jason’s grades in school before they could move onto something as boring as the weather, god forbid.
Jason acted indifferent, but they could all tell he was really excited about his literature class. The kid clearly had a knack for it.
Alfred ushered them into the dining room to eat shortly after that. It was lovely as always, but Dick couldn’t help but think the girl beside him was even lovelier. And that’s saying a lot, Alfred had made his favorite for dessert.
The next few days passed by in a blur of snowball fights, hot chocolate, and an ever-growing bundle of nerves for Dick. The small box he had in his pocket felt heavier with each passing day. He couldn’t forget about it if he wanted to.
Christmas morning was delightful. Alfred let them all have chocolate and candy for breakfast (Marinette still insisted on croissants for some semblance of healthy eating), followed by extravagant gift exchanges. Marinette’s handmade sweaters for each of them were so thoughtful, and Dick knew he would either cherish his forever, or....
“Hey Mari, can you help me with something in my room?” he asked nervously, shifting from foot to foot.
She was helping Jason set up his new 3DS. She was curled up in an armchair like a cat, all soft sweater and fluffy socks, and when she peered up at him with those big blue eyes and fiddled with her messy bun, it crossed his mind that this was the most beautiful she’d ever looked.
Jason scoffed and walked away. “At least lock the door,” he threw over his shoulder.
She turned scarlet and giggled, following Dick upstairs. He did pull the door closed, but left it unlocked. Just in case she wanted to run. He... as nervous as he was, he didn’t think that’s what she would say, but he didn’t want her to feel cornered.
“So, we’ve been dating for a while,” he began, oh-so-tactfully.
“Yes,” she breathed a laugh.
“And we’ve talking about how I’ve been thinking about moving out of B’s house,” he fidgeted with the box in his pocket.
“Yes?” The mirth in her eyes melted away.
“Well,” he cleared his throat, “I was wondering if you would like to come with me?”
She covered her mouth with her hands as he opened up the box to reveal a key. His spare apartment key, to be exact. The lease started a few days prior, but he wanted to spend the holidays with his family before moving out. And he found himself explaining all of this in a very fast-paced, rambling sort of way because she hadn’t said anything why hadn’t she said anything yet but that was okay, because he would use the extra space for a home office and keep his vigilante supplies there if she didn’t want to move in with him just yet, or ever really, but he had originally thought it would be a nice design studio for her projects and--
She kissed him.
“Yes.”
* * *
| WATCHTOWER
| DECEMBER 31, 23:39 EDT
| 2010
“Please forgive me!” Ladybug squeaked apologetically as she pinned a struggling Wonder Woman down on the ground. Robin ran over and slapped a programmed chip on the back of her neck. The Amazon warrior collapsed limply, the chip working to counteract the mind-control cocktail the Light had injected her with.
“Phew, that’s almost all of them,” he breathed. Then he noticed the proximity of Ladybug’s face to his own. She seemed to do the same and scrambled back with a yelp.
His face was so warm, it felt like it matched her suit. Was that cute? He decided it definitely was not .
“Robin, LB, where are you?” Aqualad’s voice cut the tension between them. Absolutely perfect timing.
“Not taking a cat nap, are you?” Chat Noir’s cocky quip made Ladybug sigh and shake her head affectionately. “Silly kitty....”
Robin bit down the urge to feel jealous. He should not feel jealous of a catboy. That was a new low. But as friendly as the bug and cat duo were, it seemed like that’s all they were. Friends. In the ride or die kind of way, but definitely not in the romantic sense. He hoped. Oh boy, he really hoped.
“We need you in the main hall,” Aqualad sounded serious. Business as usual.
Robin and Ladybug glanced at each other before rushing off to join the others. Was it just his imagination, or did she have a slight blush too?
Aqualad and Chat Noir were fending off the Hawks in the meeting room of the Watchtower. The Earth serenely spun in the window behind them, but they had no time to admire it. Ladybug tossed her yoyo to wrap around Hawkman’s wrist, catching him just before he was about to punch Aqualad in the back.
She yanked towards them, Hawkman’s wings buffeting winds around the heroes. Chat Noir wrapped his arms tightly around the wings while he was distracted by Ladybug, allowing Robin to flip up and put a chip in his neck too.
Ladybug retracted her yoyo but Hawkgirl was too quick. She barreled into LB, knocking her down and raised her mace.
“No!” Chat cried out, but Robin was already in motion. He threw a powerful kick to Hawkgirl’s arm so the mace clanged down onto the ground, then dodged as she whipped around to sock him.
Ladybug took advantage of the older hero turning her back on her, and put a chip on her neck before she could attack Robin. She collapsed in a heap on the floor.
“Are you okay?” Ladybug asked, her blue, blue eyes meeting his.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you kidding? She didn’t even touch me. Are you okay?” He stepped closer.
“I-I’m fine.” He definitely wasn’t imagining that blush on her now. She shyly smiled back at him.
They turned to greet the rest of the team. The League was all back to normal now. The Light had failed.
The computer screen lit up with a message wishing them a Happy New Year. Robin watched as Kid Flash scooped up Artemis and kissed her. It was about damn time.
Miss M and Superboy followed suit. He wondered anxiously if Chat Noir would do the same to Ladybug, but she was gaping at their friends. Her lips formed a perfect little “o.”
“Not a tradition in France?” Robin asked her softly.
“We just do, um, bisous,” she fiddled with her hair, a habit he noticed she did when nervous. If he paid attention, he’d indeed have seen Chat Noir exchanging cheek kisses with Zatanna, Rocket, and Kaldur. But he only had eyes for the girl in front of him.
“Oh....” he trailed off awkwardly.
“It’s like this,” she suddenly stepped forward and kissed his cheek, first his left, then his right. Did he imagine her lingering more than necessary?
She stayed close to him once she came down from her tippy toes. It was absolutely adorable that she had to do that in the first place. She blinked up at him expectantly.
“I sh-showed you my tradition, now you can show me y-yours,” she stammered out. She was blushing madly beneath her freckles. He was so close he could count them. It was so mesmerizing he almost missed what she had said. Almost.
“Oh!” Would he ever say something smart around this girl?
As he placed a hand on the back of her neck to guide her in for a kiss, he decided he didn’t really care.
* * *
| PARIS
| SEPTEMBER 3, 09:26 CET
| 2010
“I expect you to be on your best behavior for this mission. We’ve received reports of a new player who preys on strong negative emotions. You are here to help, but if you become a liability, we will pull you from Paris.” Batman took the time to glare at each and every member of the Team. “Do I make myself clear?”
“Crystal,” Wally grinned.
“Get in, collect the intel, and get out. There are some local heroes you will observe as well, but do not get in their way.” His cloak fanned out as he swept off to the zeta tube by way of dismissal.
“Good pep talk, B,” Dick crossed his arms.
Kaldur laid out a map of Paris on the table in front of them. “These are all the areas of destruction we’ve received reports of,” he pointed to dozens of red x-marks, “but supposedly anyone in the city can become a target.”
“Good thing I packed my positive attitude!” M’gann flew around them cheerfully.
Wally sighed dreamily. “Yeah, thank goodness we’ve got you.”
Dick caught Artemis’s exaggerated eye roll and resisted the urge to laugh. Wally probably wouldn’t take it too kindly.
“Are we going or what?” Conner was already waiting for them by the tube. They’d failed to convince him to wear something less noticeable than his signature Superman shirt, but they’d be taking this mission in civvies anyway. Gotta stay as under the radar as possible.
The bright flash of light cleared and Dick ducked just in time to miss a flock of pigeons aimed at his head with disturbing accuracy.
A sudden pressure around his waist followed by a feeling of weightlessness made him yell. He watched the ground get farther away, and his team along with it.
Whipping his head around, he found himself being carried by a girl about his height, clad in a cherry-red spandex suit with black polka-dots.
“What the fu--”
“Here,” they landed on the roof of a building just as quickly as he’d been scooped up. “Are you alright?” She asked him in French, peering at him with stunning blue eyes.
After figuring out how to close his jaw again, he said rather intelligently, “I uh, my um, my friends are still....”
Her head snapped back to the broken telephone booth concealing the zeta tube entrance. The rest of the team was nowhere to be seen.
“Looks like they ran off, hopefully to the closest akuma shelter,” the girl nodded approvingly.
“The wha--”
“You didn’t answer my question, are you alright?” He was struck dumb again. She had dark hair that framed her eyes beautifully, and that look of concern on her face drew her lips into such a sweet-looking pout. Okay, so maybe he was just telligent.
“Yes,” he managed eventually.
“Good,” she smiled tiredly. “This will be over soon. Bug out!” She drew a cord from her belt and tossed-- was that a yoyo?-- it to the nearest building, zooming off in the direction of another cloud of pigeons.
Dick was left standing there, blinking in disbelief, for a minute. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and tapped the comm device in his ear. “I’m fine, Aqualad. Where did you guys go?”
He watched from his vantage point as swarms of pigeons wrecked havoc all over the city. The Eiffel Tower came crashing down after being bombarded by birds. People ran around the streets, trying to keep the birds from scratching and pecking their faces. The red-clad girl swung around the city with someone dressed in all black, chasing a man who seemed to be able to control the pigeons.
He was just debating how best to get down from the top of the building without using his grappling gun when a swarm of ladybugs glowing with pink energy picked him up and deposited him on the ground outside the zeta tube. They then picked the Eiffel Tower back up as if it weighed nothing and went about repairing the other damage. He took a moment to gather his bearings and spotted his friends coming out of a nearby building.
They exchanged notes and came up with a plan to watch for future incidents. The rest of the team had talked with other citizens in the shelter, who had said this wasn’t the first time they’d had to deal with this particular “akuma,” and that he was supposedly easy for the local heroes to deal with.
Even though Batman had told them not to interfere, they’d seen how much damage was caused by even a minor villain. They would monitor the situation, but if it looked like the heroes needed an assist they’d be there.
From the sounds of it, that girl and her partner (please don’t be romantic, please don’t be romantic) had been dealing with the situation on their own for months, no mentors or training to be seen. They were in way over their heads here.
They needed help. There was no way he’d let this go.
There was no way he’d let her go.