Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Inmate #8024 of Gotham Asylum Institution. State your name.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

How had she come to this, you might wonder? Well, it was all thanks to one person. Well-

Okay, in all actuality, it was all thanks to nearly everyone in her entire life. Marinette could count on her hands how many people in the world she could trust, and only two of them had been in the country when this had all started.

They had come for her in the comfort of her own home.

Her parents had let them in.

Marinette knew that she had grown distant with her parents. Ever since she had become Ladybug she hadn’t been able to spend as much time with them, but she hadn’t realized it would cause such a strain on their relationship. By the time she realized, it was only because of Lila that she had actually noticed.

The girl had spread her lies all throughout Marinette’s life. Her own parents believed the silver-tongued sausage-link. With Chloe and Sabrina joining her side, it was easy for her to spread her lies to the Mayor and Commissioner of Paris.

This though? Marinette would have to admit- she was impressed. She told the girl as much when she paid witness to her arrest.

She had assumed before, but she had recently become certain. Lila was working with Hawkmoth.

She had noticed the strange actions of the girl when she was akumatized, and even when she wasn’t but was simply present during an attack. Lila would have a personal goal, similarly to all the other akumas, but she would never truly focus on it. She was always attacking Ladybug and Chat Noir- mainly Ladybug.

The odd part about this? Akumas rarely went after the Miraculous Team. Hawkmoth might send them after the heroes, but the akumas were usually so distracted with their own goals in mind that they only ever attacked once they saw Ladybug and her team becoming an obstacle. It showed truly just how much the akumas were victims- they didn’t want to defend Hawkmoth. They were given powers to act upon their upset, and Hawkmoth amplified their emotions to the point where they couldn’t act against them.

Lila though? She went to war with Ladybug. She rarely ever cared about Chat Noir even- her goal was to aim for Ladybug and it was an aim to kill .

So yeah, Marinette had suspected that Lila was up to something. She would usually only attack Ladybug, and half the time she never even mentioned wanting the Miraculous. After some time, Marinette wondered if Lila was becoming an akuma on purpose- especially when she would see the girl akumatized when Mairnette was certain she had not been emotionally upset before.

The day before her arrest though, Marinette knew she had been right.

She saw her- Lila grabbed an akuma, put it on her purse, and began to make a deal with Hawkmoth.

The other issue? From the sound of their deal; it had been going on for nearly a year now.

Marinette hadn’t confronted her though, so there should have been no reason Lila knew she found her out. But then again, this plan seemed to have been going on for a while. Everyone around her had been acting strange for the past week or two, and now she understood why.

She had been sitting in her room, preparing her bag for when she headed out to go visit Luka. The two of them were going to hang out for a while before he continued their lessons on the Bass. She wasn’t sure why she had put the Miracle Box in her backpack, but she would leave it up to her Guardian Intuition.

Even still though, she had been shocked and thrown off guard when she came down the ladder of her room to find police all waiting to jump her.

She was cuffed and dragged from her home(though she never put up any fuss), with Lila standing between Marinette's own parents, “comforting” them as they sobbed.

They just couldn’t believe their precious little girl had grown up to be a collaborator to the terrorist who had plagued their city.

Lila had noticed how often Marinette disappeared during akuma attacks, believing the girl was just a coward that ran and hid for her life all the time(thank you Quantum Masking). However, Lila knew that she was going to continue to be a thorn in her side, so she wanted to get rid of her. It also didn’t help her growing ire when Hawkmoth seemed to have favor for Marinette(though not like he did Lila)- the man was hellbent on akumatizing her. Using Marinette's constant disappearances, Lila found the perfect solution to get her out of Paris.

Hawkmoth hadn’t seemed too keen on her plan, but it also helped further protect his real identity. With Gabriel being closely tied with Lila as a mentor, and helping back her when she claimed Marinette as a civilian aid for Hawkmoth, it further pushed away any ideas that the man was connected to his supervillain mask.

Sure, he may have lost one of his most powerful akuma victims, but he knew it would help him in the long run. Marinette had been Multimouse in the past- one of Ladybugs most trusted and valued temporary heroes. She had lent Multimouse every Miraculous, including her own and Chat Noir’s. The girl had been of complete health as she wielded all of the Miraculous, and she had defeated the akuma all on her own. Not to mention the sheer power of her emotions, having been bottled up for all these years- if he had akumatized her, then Ladybug never would have stood a chance.

But, it was all in vain anyhow. The girl was hard as a steel tower, and she was adamant to never let her emotions get the better of her.

Hawkmoth never would have won in that battle of willpower.

So, giving up on this target, he allowed Lila to use Marinette as a scapegoat. Marinette was arrested, and to better convict her, he made sure to send an akuma to the courtroom while she was being tried.

The akuma wasn’t meant to infect anyone- he simply had it fly over and sit on the judges desk for a moment, facing Marinette before it flew away. The courtroom went into an uproar, and Marinette was sentenced in a heartbeat.

They couldn’t keep her in Paris- oh no , the girl would simply become a constant akuma now that they knew she was working with Hawkmoth. Her court appointed lawyer claimed she must be clinically ill, joining an emotional terrorist at such a young age. Hawkmoth must have coerced her into joining him, and Marinette was simply too mentally unstable to fight back against his gaslighting.

Marinette would be put into psychiatric care- but not in Paris.

Gotham City.

There in Arkham Asylum, she would be amongst others of her kind; those who had created city-wide offense and acts of terrorism, but were too unwell to truly understand their impact. It was better for everyone this way. Sure, Adrien looked disheartened and pitiful as he watched the news of his friend, but he would understand the sacrifice when Gabriel finished bringing back the boy's mother.

Besides, out of their entire class, Adrien was the only one who even seemed to care about the girls state. The others had all backed Lila up in her “investigation”, and Adrien hadn’t ever stepped up to refute it. Perhaps the reason his son looked so uncomfortable about all this was because he too believed Lila about Marinette?

And yet, as Marinette was loaded out of the security van and led towards the plane that was to take her to America, Gabriel noticed how odd it was.

He stood beside Lila, acting like a confidant as she put on a brave front against her abuser. He watched as Roger Raincomprix allowed Marinette to say some final words to Lila before she left. He had been bewildered by her calm facade, and the way she looked upon Lila as if she was nothing worth her time. The girl seemed almost unaffected by her present predicament, and Gabriel would never for the life of him understand why.

“I gotta admit, Liar-la, but I’m impressed,” Marinette stated, bored for one moment before she suddenly smirked. “Don’t get too cocky though. You may never realize your mistake here, but karma will come to haunt you soon enough.”

They hadn’t understood.

They knew this wasn’t just her trying to have the last word- her small speech had been short, but it sent goosebumps down both of their spines, making them shiver as a new feeling of cold dread hovered over them.

For some reason, the feeling only grew more intense when Marinette's plane left the borders of their city.

Gabriel tried to ignore it- it wasn’t like she could do anything now that she was gone. She had no allies anymore. Besides, it wasn’t like anything would truly change, right? He would just continue to send out akumas, Adrien would continue his modeling, and Lila would continue to annoy him as she manipulated everyone else around her.

Oh…

Oh how wrong he was…

Why was she calm, you might ask?

Why, when she was leaving behind her city to the hands of a magical emotional terrorist? Why, when she had the miracle box being moved to a secure storage in Gotham, while there were still three other Miraculous being used in Paris? Why, when she was the only one able to reverse the damage of her city, and she was being forced into a mental institution in a different continent with an entire ocean in between?

Because.

She was free.

She was finally free.

And yeah, when the plane finally left the country, Marinette burst into hysterical laughter, with tears streaming down her face all the same. Sure it helped prove their point that she might be insane, but could you really blame her?

For the first time in years - she was able to feel .

So, she laughed. She cried. She screamed.

She felt.

Marinette let her emotions leave her on the plane, eager to finally be free from the burden that Fu had forced onto her before she was even finished with puberty. She reveled in the knowledge that even if Chat Noir and Paris fell, that Hawkmoth couldn’t actually win without Marinette being there.

He would realize his mistake- he might not realize that Marinette was Ladybug, but he would realize that he had blessed and aided Lila in a terrible decision.

And yeah- Marinette was feeling a bit petty towards the city she was born and raised in, but who even cared?

Hawkmoth wasn’t her problem anymore.

Chapter Text

As they arrived in Gotham, it came to Marinette's attention that maybe the city wasn’t all that informed about who they were taking into their hands.

She came to this conclusion when the American officers waiting for her at the airport spotted them. There were about four of them, with one of them being an older man in a dark mahogany suit with red hair, glasses, and a mustache. He looked older than the rest, and there was a tired look to his face that showed that he had practically seen it all.

A teenage girl under five feet tall, with her hair in pink-ribbon pigtails and cuffs on her wrists?

Apparently, that was a new one- not just for him but for the officers around him as well.

Roger walked her up to the man, a hand holding firm and rough on her shoulder as he silently directed her- gosh that was probably going to bruise later. She hated the feeling already as is- did he really have to make it worse by having such a harsh grip? They stopped in front of the red haired man and Roger finally spoke for the first time since they left Paris. “Commissioner Gordon, I presume? This here is the girl.”

Marinette smiled awkwardly up at the man. She knew she was supposed to be a convict now or whatever, but she was truly innocent, and it wasn’t like she needed to be rude.

Gordon stared at her for a moment before glancing at Roger with a clear question in his eyes. When Roger failed to see it, he put it into words. “You’re kidding?”

Marinette tried to bite back a laugh at this, not at all feeling embarrassed by it when she saw she wasn’t the only one- another officer behind him seemed to muffle his laughter behind a rather overexaggerated cough. This officer had mid length black hair, was tall enough that he might need to actually tilt his head down to see her, and had blue eyes that shined so kindly that Marinette wondered how on earth he was an officer in Gotham of all places.

Behind her, Roger seemed almost offended by the question. “I am not !” His english was fine, but his accent was very heavy and it made his words sound rather humorous. “This little brat has been aiding a terrorist in our city for years, ever since she was 13. We can’t trust having her in Paris still until Hawkmoth is good and gone, so we sent her here instead. You’re locking her up in Arkham, correct?”

Gordon deadpanned, looking rather put out. Behind him, all of the other officers seemed to think this all had to still be a joke. They might not find it so soon enough, but Marinette was glad to see that for now there were at least some adults in the world who didn’t take things at face value.

“The mayor and I agreed to those terms before we learned she was a child. ‘13’, really? A little young to be aiding a terrorist. Unless the guy’s her dad, I find it odd she would even have contact with such a person.”

Thank you!

Marinette gestured towards him and grinned, “You know, you are the first person who’s said something smart near me in the last week.” Her statement got her a short smack on the back of the head, but it made the blue eyed officer burst into laughter once more.

“Can it,” Roger grumbled, handing over the keys to the cuffs binding her wrists. Gordon took them with a heavy sigh, showing all too well how tired he was with having to deal with the nonsense that came with his job. “She looks cute, but she’s a master manipulator, got it? She manipulated everyone around her and got them all akumatized- she can ruin your life in an instant, and all because you let your guard down because she smiled.”

Okay- rude . But then again, the same could be said truthfully about Lila, so Marinette had to admit that the man had a point; just that his point was about the wrong person.

Now seeming to hear his argument, the officers let their amusement die out and tried to bring back their serious facade. It wasn’t all there- they still had their doubts made clear- but it was still ready for any tricks she might pull out.

Well, she was glad to see they were cautious, but even more glad to see they still weren’t taking this at face-value. Hopefully they would judge her off of their own interactions with her.

Marinette didn’t give Roger Raincomprix a goodbye- the man was a gullible sheep, and he deserved none of her kindness. Instead, she reminded him that her bag and personal belongings were supposed to be brought with her.

Roger rolled his eyes and pulled out a large box, opening it for Marinette to check for certain that it had her things. Her Guardian Intuition had made her place most of her prized possessions in her bag, including the Miracle Box, her diary, her phone, and a few of her sketchbooks. Her clothes from the day were also put away in there, and her earrings were pierced into the lapel of her folded jacket.

Amongst the objects, Tikki laid still as a statue, playing as a doll. Marinette hadn’t renounced her, so she hadn’t disappeared when the teen was forced to remove her earrings.

This could work in their favor…

The officers led her to the awaiting armored vehicle. The blue eyed officer- Grayson, his jacket read- helped her into the back of the truck and sat opposite of her along with Gordon, while the other two officers sat in the front of the vehicle. They didn’t speak to her, and the box filled with her possessions sat securely under Grayson’s seat. Seeing no point in sitting quiet and still as stone, Marinette pulled her legs up on her seat and peered out the window at the city as they passed through.

Paris was renowned for its beauty, but it was honestly overdone. Sure the architecture was nice, but when you lived there for more than even a single year, you got bored and saw it all for the plain designs it held. Gotham though? Unlike Paris, Gotham took its name seriously with its architecture.

Paris had famous monuments and old statues and buildings of gothic culture spread about, but it was often a gross mashup to look at from an artistic standpoint when everything old stood beside buildings of the modern era.

Gotham, however, took Gothic architecture and reinvented it.

Cathedrals and monuments of old still stood tall and mighty, but even newer buildings that you could see were made in more recent decades still held the theme of the city. Gargoyles still perched on the high corners and rooftops of buildings, and the designs all continued to look regal and proud, rather than basic and plain geometric. It was beautiful, seeing a city revered for its crime being so well taken care of and cherished by its inhabitants. The people of this city must love it here, after all, to still continue life here. Gotham wasn’t a cheap place to live, even with its drastic crime rate and number of Rogues, but it still held a high number of civilians in its borders.

“Merveilleuse…” Marinette almost reached for her purse to grab her sketchbook, but she halted and hid a pout as she recalled that she was probably not permitted to carry such things anymore. Hmm, maybe she might be allowed to earn the privilege of a sketchbook and drawing materials? Arkham was a mental facility before it was a prison, so Marinette would think they wouldn’t discourage her creativity through art. Besides, even in prisons they allowed inmates to earn things.

Her daze had been watched as it seemed. When she turned back around in her seat, both men looked rather amused by her awe. She flushed a bit in embarrassment from having been caught during her little daydream, instead thinking better of how to use the time. “How old is your city?”

“Nearly 400 years old. It was founded by Captain Jon Logerquist in 1635, before the Brit’s took it over,” Gordon said. He gestured out the window. “Arkham is just a bit under 100 years old, but it follows the same style of architecture.”

Marinette had never really been to a prison before(not on a visit and obviously not as a convict), so she wasn’t exactly certain what they looked like. She especially didn’t know what a mental institution was supposed to look like. But when they arrived at Arkham, Marinette would like to believe her reaction was justified- from an artistic view, at least.

“Merde, this place is beautiful!” She gaped up at the building as she looked out of the open backdoors of the truck. Grayson snorted lightly at her comment and helped her hop out(she was cautious to take his hand, no matter how kind his smile was), but Marinette barely paid the others any attention as she looked up at the beautiful building.

It was imperial, regal, gothic, and absolutely terrifying. It was a facility for the criminally insane, so it should look just as terrifying on sight as the people it harbored inside of it. However, even with the knowledge of what the building represented, it was still more beautiful than anything Paris ever had to offer. It wasn’t as old as the city, but it fit the look well. Marinette had heard before that the place had plenty of breakouts, but the fact that it still remained in its natural beauty despite the plentiful amount of repairs it had gone through brought Marinette a mysterious pleasure.

She could sense high levels of Creation within its walls.

“People don’t usually comment about this place looking beautiful, but I suppose there's a first for everything,” one of the other officers remarked. She had soft tan skin and dark kinky hair pulled into a tight bun. ‘Davis’ her uniform read.

Grayson led her into the building with a hand on her shoulder. It was different from how Roger had held her, this time more gentle and only meant to guide her rather than punish her.

She hid her reaction, but no matter how comforting it was, it still gave her a deep and terrified chill.

She hated to be touched…

Getting her through the check-in process was quick and easy- the looks of bewilderment she received from the other workers were just an added drop of humor to her day.

She was given a new uniform; the inmates here all wore decently normal clothes. Thankfully, there were no orange jumpsuits(the only orange outfits she could pull off were the suit’s she wore when using Trixx or Barkk). Instead, Marinette was dressed in white. A soft button up blouse, a sweater vest, a flared skirt, soft leggings, dress socks, and white slip-ons. She got seven bundles of the clothes, and Marinette was very pleased with the quality of them.

You wouldn’t think they’d treat criminals so well and yet here she was.

“Laundry room is open on Saturday and Sunday. You will be responsible for remembering to wash your clothes on your own,” One of the female guards explained. Marinette was standing in a room and stripping down for them to do a body check of her before she changed. “Shower rooms are available whenever, but you need permission before using them. There is a private bathroom area connected to all of the rooms and it’s blocked by a curtain, but you will be checked on if you take more than five minutes. Hygiene necessities will be provided for the sinks.”

“What about privileges?” Marinette asked, eager to know if she could soon get a sketchbook.

“What kind?”

“Like, for items? I like to draw and sketch, but would I be allowed to have those kinds of materials?” She had once heard that prisoners could use anything as a weapon- one particular story she recalled was about a convict making a weapon out of simple office supplies.

“There is a crafting room you could use, but the items must stay there. You will be watched and all items must be asked for and taken stock of, so inmates can’t sneak away with them. You can earn the right to keep some objects, but certain things won’t be allowed if they have clear issues. You get a few standard books right off the bat. Notebooks and pencils are allowed to be kept, but only one of each at a time and you’ll have to wait until after your first week. We need to get a good gauge on you first.”

Ah, in other words they needed to see how dangerous she was before they let her have any special privileges.

Honestly, this was a pretty fair rule.

Finishing changing, she was happy when they let her keep the ribbons for her pigtails- though she was confused why they took so long inspecting them. “What could be hidden in a ribbon?”

“Metal wires, needles, things like that,” officer Davis explained. “We’ve seen it before, and we can’t fall for it again.”

Huh. Fair enough.

Leaving the room, Gordon led her to her new cell while giving her a strange form of a tour. As far as it went, the place was rather open for the inmates. It was a reminder to her that she was in a mental institution, not a prison. Before they got there, she was brought to a small room where they took her picture, holding a nameplate. It was basically a mugshot.

“Inmate #8024 of Gotham Asylum Institution,” said the man behind the camera, jotting something down on a clipboard. He sounded tired. “State your name.”

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Her picture was taken in a bright flash. She might have been startled by it had she been normal, but she was used to a bright flash of light surrounding her most of the time for every time that she transformed. After her photo, they started her “tour”.

Places like the lunchroom, the library, the gym, the showers, the craft room, and courtyard, were all open at all free times. There was scheduled mealtimes, but that was simply when they offered the main meals to inmates. All inmates needed to be in their cells at 9 o’clock, and they could leave the room ten hours later when it was morning. She had scheduled therapy sessions; a group therapy for an hour on Monday and Friday, and she had her scheduled one-on-one therapy for two hours on Wednesday.

Marinette wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of therapy sessions, whether on her own or in a group, but the thought left a weird tingling feeling in her gut. Marinette couldn’t tell if she was anxious or eager.

She knew she needed therapy(the Kwami’s said as much all the time), but the idea that she would be opening up and leaving herself bare for someone's study left her feeling rather terrified. She had gone so long protecting her mind and emotions from others, Marinette wondered if she was capable of opening up fully.

“Here we are.”

Marinette snapped out of her daze, coming to a halt before she nearly ran into the Commissioner. He unlocked a metal door with a large window area that had a thick sheet of glass protecting it as a window. Gordon unlocked the door and pulled it open, revealing a rather large room. It was bare mostly, with a vintage black iron bed that reminded her of a movie with simple white bedding, a sink beside a cubicle that was blocked by a white curtain(most likely the bathroom), a simple black iron desk with a black iron chair, and three books sitting in a neat pile at the head of the bed by a small box of items.

It was simple, boring, plain, and yet still somehow managed to be more than Marinette had ever expected.

It was so clean.

Stepping into the room when guided to, Gordon hesitated before closing the door behind her and locking it. “Place your hands through the slot.” The slot?

“Hmm?” Looking down she found what looked to be a mail slot, large enough to fit someone's hands through, though Marinette would guess she could fit her entire arms through and still have room from the size of it.

Putting her wrists through for him to uncuff her, Marinette asked, “You don’t have a lot of minors here, do you?”

“You’re the only minor we have here. We don’t typically bring children to Arkham, what with all the Rogues.”

Marinette didn’t know what that last part meant, but it still made sense. Marinette supposed Mayor Bourgeois had to have guessed as much and thus didn’t tell her age for this very reason. She doubted that those of the police force here would have been so accepting of her move had they known how old she would be.

“Your first meal will be brought to you here. You can go to the dining hall come tomorrow morning. Just try to keep your head down, okay, kid? You don’t want to get on anyone’s bad side in this place,” Gordon said seriously. “I don’t get your case all that much- I’ll look into it more anyhow so I know what we’re dealing with- but I don’t think any kid should ever be in a place like this.”

Marinette nodded. “I agree, mostly because this place is for the criminally insane, but I still think this place is beautiful. I didn’t particularly enjoy Paris in the last few years, so do forgive me if I seem to be enjoying myself.”

“What’s there to enjoy?”

Marinette smiled sadly, a longing look in her gaze. “ Emotions. ”

It took her hours, but finally, Tikki found her.

Marinette was laid back on her bed as she read one of the books she was given. They gave what she assumed were standard and recognized novels here in the states; How to Kill a Mockingbird , Raisin in the Sun , and Of Human Bondage .

Of Human Bondage was what she had found her interest in first, as the title was rather… concerning…. But it soon proved to be more of a metaphor than a literal term.

She was midway through the second chapter(the book was written in English which was only her fifth language so she needed to keep doubling back) when her main Kwami finally found her cell. “Marinette!” The Kwami gasped softly, hugging the Ladybug earrings to her chest as she floated in front of the window.

The little bug slipped through the slot on the door with ease, flying over quickly to her wielder. “Oh thank goodness you’re alright! No one harmed you while we were separated, did they?”

Marinette cleared her throat, glancing at Tikki and then to the camera up in the corner of her cell. By clearing her throat instead of answering, the Kwami knew the silent language meant that someone was listening or watching, and Marinette couldn’t respond back.

Standing up, Marinette stretched and moved to use the restroom. The moment she closed the curtain though, she softly began to speak in the language of the Guardians.

No one besides herself and those a part of The Order could understand her, so she trusted that no one would understand if they managed to overhear her.

“I am sorry Tikki,” she said sadly. “I know we must collect the other three Kwamis, but I really can’t do much in this situation. I thought perhaps it would be in our benefit if I stayed away from Paris for a while but-”

Tikki flew forward, wiping away a tear that fell without Marinette having even realized it. “Oh, you must not feel down on yourself for this, Marinette! Firstly, you are not at fault for the misguided decisions of those you fought so hard to protect. Secondly, I understand your plan. If you aren’t in Paris, Hawkmoth will realize you aren’t showing up for akuma attacks. He will eventually stop his attacks, and they will connect that it is because you are here. Luckily, the Quantum Masking is strong, but it is even stronger now that you are the Guardian; the magic protecting you now protects you entirely unless you directly tell others or heavily hint to it, so you will not need to worry about your identity being discovered.”

That's right- the magic protecting her was one of the main reasons she had decided to just go along with all that had been happening to her. With the promise that she wouldn’t be suspected for the truth, Marinette didn’t fear leaving behind her role as Ladybug. And with the knowledge that she would no doubt be released when she was found innocent and acknowledged as the reason Ladybug decided to stop showing up, she would be able to return to Paris, take Hawkmoth off guard, and restore everything to how it was supposed to be.

Taking her earrings, Marinette placed them in her ears and began to use a spell she had planned for months. She had perfected it some time ago, but had decided to leave it until it was truly needed.

Now, it was.

The spell masked her Miraculous and the Kwami connected to them, making them practically invisible. No one would see the earrings in her ears or Tikki seated on her shoulder unless they already knew they were there after she casted the spell. So, she could wear her Miraculous without anyone else being any the wiser. No one who previously knew her for wearing the earrings everywhere would be able to see them until she or Tikki actually told them. It was like the Quantum Masking, and it was her guarantee that she and the Miraculous would be safe.

Even better; Tikki could fly about without worry.

Soon exiting the bathroom, Marinette curled into her new bed(which was shockingly comfortable) with Tikki curling up in her neck. With the cameras not being able to pick up on Kwamis, the two fell asleep with the true feeling of safety- for the first time in years.

Chapter Text

Waking up on her first actual day in Arkham Asylum wasn’t as different to her usual morning. She woke up naturally, not at all feeling lethargic or jet-lagged after the rest she had received overnight. Marinette sat up with a yawn, simply knowing by the amount of rest her body had that it was probably sometime between six and seven a.m..

Tikki, having been nuzzled into her neck, rolled off of her wielders neck and onto her lap. For once, it was the Kwami of the pair that was sleeping in. To be fair Tikki and her had needed to both use a lot of their magic to conceal her and the earrings, and the Kwami had done her the favor of taking the brunt of the effect, that way Marinette didn’t raise anyone’s concerns if she passed out in a hall.

Opening the small box she had found on her bed the other night, she found basic hygiene materials and got to work in getting ready for the day. She didn’t take too long, continuing to read her book as she idly petted her Kwami and waited for them to unlock her door.

Don’t get her wrong- Marinette only really wanted out for the food and to look around the place. She had no intention of making “friends”.

Marinette would admit she may have been more cheerful about her stay here then she should have been, but it was only for the architecture of the building and the fact that she was being kept safely away from her native city. That was not to say she was happy about being in an asylum for criminals- Marinette was most definitely upset about that part.

However, the Commissioner told her to keep her head down, and Marinette planned to do just that.

She wouldn’t draw attention to herself, and surely she would be fine, right? She was small and easy to miss, and she was certain most of the other  inmates wouldn’t care for her. Marinette knew she was no doubt bound to attract unwanted attention at some point or other, but she had faith in the guards- clearly none of the workers were comfortable with a child being amongst the patients of the institution.

A large ring sounded from outside of her cell, only lasting a good second before her cell unlocked and slowly swung open.

Tikki stirred on waking up, yawning softly as she floated towards the pillow. “Marinette, would it be alright if I rested her for a bit? I can maybe join you by lunch…” The answer was clearly going to be a ‘yes’, so it was fine when Tikki fell asleep again before receiving an answer.

Smiling at the display, Marinette steeled her nerves before stepping outside of her cell and joining the line…

Oh sweet Miraculous.

The moment she stepped out, almost all of the attention was drawn straight towards her.

Her cell was on an upper level, and just about everyone on both sides looked at her in mixed responses of surprise, muttering to one another as some of them gestured towards her. Down below, other inmates seemed to have noticed the commotion and began to notice her as well.

Perfect.

This was totally going to help her keep a low profile.

She planned to just keep her eyes fixed on the tips of her shoes, cheeks most likely red in embarrassment from how much she could feel them burn on her face. Just as she fixed her gaze on the exact stitching pattern on the cover of her slip-ons, a voice spoke up from beside her, shouting out at one of the guards. “Can someone tell me why I’m standing beside a 12 year-old?!”

Looking up, she found a man with pasty white skin, blending in so carefully with his uniform that Marinette almost thought he was wearing gloves and a mask. His shirt had short sleeves, and his hair was a bright green that reminded her of Plagg. His lips were coated in red, and despite his age and scowl he failed to have any frown lines.

Made sense- what with him being known for his smile.

Joker.

The moment he shouted this out for everyone to hear while lifting an arm up to point down at her, uproar sounded all around her.

Inmates began shouting all around, guards rushing about to gain control of the large room and its occupants. Marinette startled at all the noise, instinctively backing up into her room again. She didn’t hesitate to close the door behind her, realizing for once just how badly her plan might backfire on her.

She was in Arkham.

Arkham.

Be this any other mental institution, she might be able to find her way in surviving. But no- she was in Arkham.

She was surrounded by some of the most terrifying and evil criminals in the world, and almost all of them were clinically insane. She was actually in danger here, and her only protection against genocidal psychopaths and meta’s with anger issues were the guards who were all very human, and very normal.

Oh Kwamis…

Marinette sank down to the floor, her back pressed to the door as she clutched the sides of her head as a panic attack emerged.

She might not need to fear becoming an Akuma, but she still didn’t want to feel this way. Marinette had gotten practice hiding her emotions and bottling them down- a little too much practice. By this point, even knowing she was outside of Paris and far out of Hawkmoth's reach, she still couldn’t find it in her to let her emotions loose.

She had gone so long without feeling most bad emotions, that Marinette wasn’t sure what would happen when- if she did let them out.

Rocking herself the slightest bit, Marinette finally managed to center herself. When she did, she calmed herself and made her way back to her bed. While the noise had diminished outside, it was still too chaotic for her to test walking amongst. Laying back down, she pulled Tikki closer against her chest, not feeling up for reading quite yet. She wouldn’t fall asleep, but she would wait until things were calm before making her leave again.

As she waited, she thought back to the strange feeling of warmth and calm that she had felt beside the man known for the terror he brought. She had felt the power of Creation in this building, but the levels coming off of him had been higher then she could have possibly expected.

Okay, things took a while before becoming chill again.

She wasn’t sure, but from the sound of it and the glow through the window of her door, Marinette was rather sure someone had used a flamethrower out there.

Marinette only knew things had calmed down when the sounds coming from outside were of minimal amounts of shouting and sounded to be from guards rather than inmates. It took a bit over an hour, but she would take it.

Letting Tikki continue to rest on the pillow(it was amazing that she managed to sleep through all the ruckus), Marinette slowly and gently opened her cell door again. Peeking out, she saw that only two guards were on the upper level ramps, with maybe one or two inmates on the ground floor.

Walking out, Marinette clasped her hands together behind her back as she made her way downstairs to the dining hall. It was just a straight hall down, but Marinette took her time to really look at the place.

While the large room containing all of the cells and rooms were straight out of a prison movie, the rest of the interior resembled… something along the lines of a hospital and a retirement home. She had only been to one of the later for a singular visit with her Nonna, but the woman had been put their by her son when he found her life being too eccentric for her age, and it took her no longer then a week to manage an escape of the facility and make her way to Germany before anyone noticed her absence.

Her white uniform fit alongside the interior of the clinic-styled interior, though the guards were dressed in American styled police uniforms. The dark blues and black were fine, but they stood out rather uncomfortably along the walls and patients. Even as guards, Marinette was sure she would have felt uncomfortable in their shoes if she had to dress like that in this setting.

Arriving at the cafeteria, Marinette was beyond relieved when she went unnoticed upon entrance.

There weren’t very many people in the room, but there were enough for her to be wary of. They had all either gotten over their acts of shock earlier, or they were simply too engrossed in their meals and conversations to pay her any mind. Marinette hoped it was the first one, as it would promise her an easier time even after their attention wasn’t occupied.

Looking around a bit anxiously, she saw one of the walls had a nice cafeteria set-up to it, with a few cooks behind the glass counters and walls.

Walking over, she recognized that some of the cooks were actually other patients. She had heard before that in prisons people were allowed to get little jobs, and cooking seemed like a nice thing for them to allow. Perhaps she could earn a job like such if she was here for a while?

Approaching the counters, Marinette glanced around, not spotting any plates or trays she could grab. However, one of the chefs(not seeming to be an inmate) walked over and smiled vibrantly to her. He was just about as short as herself, and he had a thickness to him that Marinette would suspect was mostly muscle from his time in this kitchen. He reminded her a bit of her dad, though much shorter- he had the physique of her grandfather while clearly having an Italian descent like her grandmother.

Though unlike her father, Marinette could tell that the warm and kind smile this man offered her was genuine.

Marinette returned the smile, happy to find a kindness within the walls of the Asylum- kindness that wasn’t also laced with pity. “Good day, Monsieur.”

“Good morning my friend! You are the new patient, yes?” He held out his hand to her, having to duck it a bit beneath the glass wall for her to reach. “I am Signor Altieri, I am the head chef. I am not only in charge of the kitchen, but also of occupational advising. So, if you ever wish to gain employment or schooling while you’re here, you need only to find me~”

Marinette shook his hand nervously, feeling a roughness in his hands and yet not gaining the squeeze she expected but instead a gentle caress.

“Che piacere incontrarla. My name is Marinette, I am from Paris. I know I will need to wait some time, but I am eager to know if I might work in a kitchen soon enough? I was raised in a bakery, so you can trust I will know my way around.”

Her words sparked a joy in his gaze that reminded her so much of a time when she could rely on others. “Magnifico mio caro! We will be eager to gain a Parisian in our kitchen~ You speak Italian as well?”

“I am a quarter Italian from my grandmother; she taught me back when I was in école primaire.”

“Excellent! As you guessed, we won’t be able to place you in a job until you’ve been here a full month, but I shall have a place for you here ready and waiting!”

Signor Altieri soon joined the ranks of her top ten favorite humans(she only had about 8 other people on that list but whatever).

After eating her breakfast(which was really good), Marinette had returned to her cell. She would have liked to familiarize herself with the place, but she would rather do such with Tikki on her shoulder. So, she spent her time reading until Tikki arose around noon.

She had never thought about it before- but people had a lot of time to waste in prison. Marinette had stayed overnight at a normal hospital before, and it had similarly been rather boring. However, Marinette knew it was different this time.

She wasn’t just staying in Arkham for a few nights- she was meant to be here for life. Or at least until Hawkmoth was defeated.

Heh.

Not like that was going to happen.

“Marinette?”

She looked down from her book to find her little Kwami rubbing her eyes and yawning. “Feeling better?”

Tikki nodded, quickly shaking herself awake and looking as energized as usual. She smiled cheerfully and plopped herself onto her shoulder. “Yep! It’s better me than you- I doubt you would have felt better in any less than three days- you mortals are so fragile. When it comes to things like this, if I’m able to take the pain away from you, I would prefer it,” she looked upon her wielder sadly. “Unfortunately, there aren’t many of the spells that react with pain that I can take the damage with, since I can only do it if it directly affects me or my Miraculous jewels… But I want to help whenever I can!”

Marinette smiled fondly, giving the Kwami a small peck on the head as she stood and walked to the door. “Thank you, Tikki~”

Exiting the room, Marinette saw a few other patients hanging around in small groups. She passed by them silently, going unnoticed as she made her way to the dining hall once more.

While her Quantum Masking may not seem to be in effect since she wasn’t transformed or being found out, the magic made it easy for her to seemingly go unnoticed when she kept quiet and pushed it forward. She only wished she had remembered to do this earlier that morning…

She wasn’t very hungry for another meal(the first had been the most filling she had had in quite some time), so she grabbed two cookies to let Tikki have as they walked around the building. She put the cookies into a pocket of her skirt, knowing that while Tikki would go unnoticed, a floating cookie slowly being eaten on her shoulder would not.

Marinette walked on, only taking short note of the feeling that she was being watched. Not by the cameras- but by someone looking at her specifically.

In Paris, she had gotten used to being watched 24/7. Whether by reporters, fans, her parents, Lila- even by Chat.

Ugh- Chat Noir.

That mangy alley cat was probably getting himself killed- wait, no. What was she talking about?

Chat Noir rarely showed up to akuma attacks anymore, and when the city eventually realized that Ladybug was gone, she’d bet anything that the greasy blonde wouldn’t even bother to transform. He was a coward, and a narcissist to boot. Chat would rather the world burn then have to actually do his job, all because Ladybug wouldn’t pay him affection.

Seems harsh? Well, Marinette would feel bad about it if the mangey cat hadn’t told her such straight to her face!

When he wasn’t busy ignoring akumas and ogling Ladybug, he was invading Marinette's personal space and lounging on her balcony, demanding sweets and attention.

It was disgusting what he had become, but Marinette realized that the change in him had been so quick that it wasn’t even there. He had always been like this towards her.

Anyways, as you can understand, Marinette was used to being watched- especially by the eyes of a predator or someone planning to do her no good. However, whoever was watching her now held a different gaze. She had a knack for sensing danger or things meant to harm her, what with her trademarked Cercus Sense.

It was like Spider-Man’s Spidey Sense, but this one was real and she was very happy with it. She had called it her Cercus Sense since the Cercus appendages on insects(such as Lady Beetles) help them sense danger in the change of winds or movements and vibrations. Hers had saved her numerous times from akumas and becoming akumatized, so she was grateful for the power.

Her Cercus Sense wasn’t buzzing, so the watchful eyes meant no harm. Which meant Marinette didn’t have to care.

If only she actually searched to find the pair of acid green eyes that watched her from afar.

Che piacere incontrarla. = It’s nice to meet you.
Magnifico mio caro! = Magnificent my dear!
école primaire. = Primary school.

Chapter Text

Group Therapy!

Marinette had never even had normal therapy, so this was going to be an interesting experience.

On her third morning, Davis came to her cell to post her timetable up for her. Her solo therapy times would be on Wednesday at 10 am, for two hours until lunch. Group therapy would only be one hour starting at 9:30, and she would be in a group of no more then ten other patients and a psychologist.

There would be guards posted around the room, and Davis anxiously told her to try to not say anything to those in her group. “We have to group people according to the level they have for their crimes, and since yours is aiding of terrorism, it’s on the highest mark. You’ll be in a group with some of the Top Rogues, I’m afraid.”

Top what?

Marinette hadn’t even thought to ask on what she meant, simply nodding along. Marinette really needed to stop doing that.

She opted to wear a pair of her leggings rather than the skirt, just to be safe. While she highly doubted they would put her next to sex offenders, she knew she was still a teenage girl amongst adults mostly twice her age and nearly all male. It was one thing when she had a day to herself, but another thing when she was going to be seated in a close circle with others who were found to be criminally insane.

That morning, she kept her head down as she stepped out of her cell- grateful when no one gave her more than a glance. She didn’t pay attention to the man at her right, though she felt the presence of his soul and saw Joker turn his head towards her a bit when she stood nearby. She ignored the glance however, and was glad when she seemed to be ignored in return. She wouldn’t have any problems so long as she didn’t make any for herself.

Hopefully.

She walked amongst a large group to the dining hall, nervous the whole way until receiving a smile and a wave from Signor Altieri. Once she had her plate, Marinette took one glance around the room and immediately opted to sit in a far corner. It was like her first day in elementary school, not knowing anyone and not seeing many others who were seated on their own.

The only familiar face in the room was that of her neighbor, and she was not going to risk that- obviously.  

Marinette wasn’t familiar with the villains of America. She had only ever heard of three of them, including Lex Luthor and the Cheetah. She knew of Luthor simply because the man was rich and known across the world for his company, while she knew of the Cheetah due to keeping a few tabs on Wonder Woman- she had yet to meet the woman, but Tikki was excited for the introduction. Other than those two; Marinette knew of Joker. She knew of Batman, of course, which meant she had at least heard of the man's nemesis.

There wasn’t much that Marinette knew about him, but she knew he was a villain. She knew he could kill. She knew he was someone she should avoid.

But in all actuality; that was it.

But it was enough for her to know to be careful- extremely careful.

Tikki munched away at a slice of french toast on the plate, able to eat without worry since no one was close enough to notice food being eaten on the plate by an invisible force. “Are you excited for therapy, Marinette?”

Who in their right mind would be excited for therapy? Though, she was surrounded by people known to not be in their right mind. Not to mention that Marinette had to acknowledge that she probably did in fact need therapy, but that would be normal therapy- not seeing a shrink while stuck inside of a psych ward.

At 9:10, Marinette arrived at the room she had been directed to. Peaking in, she found… what was decidedly not what she had expected.

She had seen movies with group therapy times, and it was usually a large room that could often be rather sparse. There might be a table of snacks and drinks, but the main focus would be the large circle of chairs. This room was nothing like she had expected. If it reminded her of anything, it would be a daycare.

There were bright and fun colors all around, with rugs, large bean bag chairs to sink into, a few couches and loveseats, and piles of pillows and blankets stacked in two piles on a coffee table. There were a few tables and large windows to give natural light, and the only thing she could make sense of was the large array of snacks and drinks that awaited to be rummaged amongst.

At one of the tables, a lady with blonde hair had her back turned to her as she rifled through some papers. She had a lab coat on along with a red pantsuit and black kitten heels. Clearly, this was the therapist.

Clearing her throat a bit, Marinette knocked on the door as she stood in the doorway, making the rather pale(nearly white) faced woman turn towards her. “Uhm, hello…”

The woman smiled brightly, setting down her clipboard and walking over. “Hiya, sweetpea! You’re Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I presume? Dr. Harleen Quinzel; nice to meetcha!” She didn’t wait for a response before shaking her hand excitedly.

“You as well,” Marinette said back, smiling alongside her Kwami at the woman's exuberance. The handshake was a shock, but it was so quick that Marinette hadn’t even had the time to feel uncomfortable. “You’re the psychologist, correct? Will you also be the one I will be seeing on Wednesday?”

“That’s right! I’m the only female psychologist, so any gals here get paired with me immediately. And hey; no need to stress, okay? I get you’re young and this is all probably terrifying, but part of my job is to help make you feel more comfortable here,” she said, grinning wider when she saw the incredulous look that no doubt passed Marinette's face. “Okay, yeah- I know you’re in a mental institution for the criminally insane, but trust me when I say that we don’t really want a kid here more than anybody else does. In all actuality, Gordon is trying to crack down on the Parisian Council to have them actually give us your full file, because so far we really only have the basic details on why you’re here. Gonna be honest- I’ve read what little we have on you, and it makes zero sense.”

Oh…

Oh.

So- no one here at Arkham actually knew the full story as to why she was here?

Well, from how openly Roger had spoken when he passed her off she’d suppose they knew the basic information they had to have, but now Marinette could see that perhaps they hadn’t been told the rest? Well, the rest being whatever made-up, factitious plot Lila and Chloe had said she had gone and done. Marinette didn’t know why they wouldn’t happily give Gotham the full story behind her arrest, but then again, perhaps it had something to do with how outlandish and fake it all sounded in court and how unbelievable the entire trial against her had been.

Not even once had she been called to the stand to even speak up for herself- well she had , but only for a few seconds before Hawkmoth decided to convict her further with an akuma to pay witness. After the butterfly flew off, she wasn’t even given the time of day before she was proclaimed guilty and ridden off.

“How much would you believe me if I said I was set up by a corrupt government and a pathological liar, and am actually completely innocent?” Marinette asked, trying not to show attention to the way Tikki burst into giggles and fell off of her shoulder.

“I’d buy it in a heartbeat,” Dr. Quinzel said, grinning wryly. “I mean my answer might change a bit depending on how our sessions go, but so long as your file says you haven’t actually killed anyone, you’re the most innocent of the lot you’ll be around for the day.”

With that, she led Marinette around the room and set her up with a beanbag to sit in near a soft red loveseat that Harleen sat in next. The two spoke for another few minutes, discussing how the group therapy would be set up all the time.

“We go through the normal check-ins for how everyone's days have been, we’ll also give you an introduction time for your first day, and then we go in to discuss progress everyone's made thus far. We find that group therapy- while often destructive- is often more effective then solo-sessions. Have you been to therapy before?”

“I’ve been told I need it, but my parents said I was overreacting when I asked, so no. I guess I just stopped caring after a while.”

She minutely noted the small frown Harleen took at the comment, but it was soon masked with a small smirk as she glanced at the opening door. A pair walked in, contrasting heavily from one another. While one was a shorter and large-waisted man with a long pointed nose, the other was like a reincarnation of the Hulk, with some kind of mask over his face and machine on his back.

The shorter man looked-for all words- tired. The following Hulk was talking cheerfully, his arms moving in slightly exaggerated movements that reminded Marinette of whenever she went on a tangent.

“-saying is that we could try to be a bit more open-minded is all. I mean we don’t have much room to judge, right?”

The shorter man paused in his steps and looked back to his friend with a raised brow. “Are you alright with sexual harassment?”

“No.”

“Then why bother pretending to be okay with someone who commits it?” The man shrugged as he strode over to a recliner. “They don’t wanna get themselves stabbed in the face when they get here- then they just shouldn’t do it! They all know what they’re doing- lets not pretend like rape is suddenly allowed a pass for a mental issue. Harley, would you pretend to be nice to a sexual predator?” He looked at the doctor pointedly.

Harleen snorted and shook her head. “No chance. I’d happily turn my back or even hand over a weapon to whoever's closest.” Uhm- what?

“Exactly,” he muttered, as his friend took a seat on the couch(it was meant for three people but he took up the whole thing). The short man then finally noticed Marinette beside Harleen and he nearly choked. “Fuckin-! Shit! I thought it was a joke- Joker said she was next to him so it was supposed to be a joke?! Why the hell is a kid here?!”

Before Marinette could respond, Harleen answered quickly for her. “Because she comes from a country that’s being run by more lunatics than we could hope to find in all of Gotham- at least, that’s my guess for now. Anyways, introductions will be made when everyones here, okay?” She turned towards the teen in question and shot her a comforting smile.

It was appreciated.

It took a few more minutes, but as the other members of the group arrived, Marinette started to get the idea that… she was not in a normal group(as normal as she could get in a place like this). At most, there was really only one man in the group that seemed normal enough, but the wicked smirk he gave was almost as nerve-wracking as Jokers.

Speaking of which- guess who else was in her therapy group?

Yep.

The clown himself sat on a beanbag not dissimilar from her own, sitting near the group but on the opposite side from Harleen and Marinette. 

Eventually, everyone must have finished coming inside, as Harleen stood up and walked to close the door. “Alrighty, everybody! Before we start, I’m sure you’ve all noticed we got a new member of the band! We’ll get to introductions soon, but first I want to hear how everyone’s been doin’ thus far!” Looking over the group, both women found most of the members of the group looking off to the sides, pulling the “don’t make eye contact” move. “Joker, why don’t you start us all off!”

“God fuckin- Why do you always call on me?!”

“Karma, bitch. Start us off.”

Joker sighed, leaning down more in the beanbag and crossing his arms. He tapped his foot, thinking on his answer. “Uhh, let's see… Well, I didn’t kill anyone, if that’s a plus point? At least, not since the last meeting, but that’s neither here nor there… Hmm, well, little miss thing over there is my new neighbor, so I suppose that's new. Other then that, I’ve got nothin’ to say.”

Harleen narrowed her gaze, a brow raised skeptically. “Not even about the patient you got sent to the medical wing the other day because he beat you at basketball?” Marinette’s eyes widened, slowly glancing over the group to view their reactions. No one seemed taken off guard or concerned by the statement. This was a normal occurrence for them.

“He didn’t beat me!” Joker shouted, suddenly manic as he threw out his hands. “He riled me up after I called the game quits! He was asking for it!”

“Uh-huh. Bane?”

The large man from earlier was drinking a cup of soda, speaking in a kind and jovial tone. Despite being the largest and most imperial person in the room, he sounded almost childish and soft. “I decided to join the book club! Hopefully it will be a more calming form of control for me.”

One of the men, wearing a rough looking sack on his face, snorted at the man's words and replied, “If meditation isn’t calming enough, who the hell knows what is.”

“Meditation wasn’t calming,” Bane says, now a little annoyed by the comment. “It was anxiety inducing. You’re forcing yourself to clear your head, and it only makes more thoughts come to mind which only makes you fail!” He was shouting by the end of it, showing a small portion of his true rage as he recalled his aggravating experience. Again, no one looked surprised. This was also a normal experience.

Everyone in the group had a turn to speak, and Marinette learned to place names to faces.

Joker, Bane, Penguin, Two-Face, Scarecrow, Riddler, Clayface, Killer Croc.

Everyone in her therapy group was set in a group called the Rogues, and they were all the most powerful and dangerous.

Marinette supposed she should be more scared- she was! No doubt about it, Marinette was terrified. However, she also had the feeling that she shouldn’t feel so amazed.

Kwamis, she really was traumatized, wasn’t she?

In her defense though, her magic could see the Creation in all of their souls, and even in Dr. Quinzel, so Marinette felt she should have a pass on being so comfortable…

Finally, it was time for her introduction. All of the men leaned forward in their own ways, looking imploringly towards her. Glancing towards Harleen, she saw the woman smile kindly to her and nod. So, clearing her throat, Marinette willed her voice not to shake or tremble- she shouldn’t show fear in a place like this, no matter her situation.

“Uhm, hi. My name’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng… I just got here two days ago, as you all probably remember. Uhm… This is kinda my first time being in a place like this, and honestly it seems really nice compared to the jail they wanted to throw me in back in Paris. Obviously they couldn’t though, but still-”

“How old are you?” Two-Face asked. No doubt, it was the question all of them had been wondering, especially seeming so when the others nodded. “Are you legally old enough to be here even?” Honestly, she doubted it. Nothing in her situation could truly be legal, but she had the idea that the Americans couldn’t do anything about it.

Despite her being in Arkham, she was still a French citizen, and she was legally property of Paris now that she was convicted as an aid to their feared terrorist. They probably worked out an agreement to have her here, but she doubted they would leave any important decisions to the American government. If they did, they risked her being let go, especially since there was no actual evidence against her.

So whether or not she was here legally, Marinette doubted anything could be done about it.

“I’m 16. I don’t know if I legally can be here, but I’m a Parisian citizen- though I’m unsure if that would change things for me.” Some of them looked shocked, but Joker, Two-Face, Killer Croc, and Scarecrow, all looked impressed if nothing else. She supposed they thought her just as insane as them- which would make sense, since she was here of all places.

“What'd you do?” Scarecrow asked.

“Other than being fabulous?” She tried to joke, not very eager to talk about her situation.

Thankfully, her joke was well received, earning a nice chorus of laughter. Two-Face joked back that that was simply a given if she was in their group.

“Seriously though; why are you here?”

Marinette hesitated, debating her answer for a second.

On one hand, she could tell the truth. On the other hand, she could tell them for what purpose the police arrested her and the story they had presented in court.

…

Marinette hated liars.

“Paris is currently being controlled and destroyed by a guy in a magic purple jumpsuit, who turns normal civilians into mind-controlled super-powered villains, called akumas, by focusing on their negative emotions and possessing them with purple butterflies. I found out my classmate is a pathological liar, and she’s thus been out to get me; I recently learned she’s a sociopath who’s working with the terrorist by helping people become akumas and acting as his spy, and thus she decided to put me in her place and have me arrested for her own crimes. She framed me as Hawkmoth’s accomplice, and now she’s getting off scot free because she’s friends with the daughters of the Mayor and Commissioner, who are also in on the scam, and they rigged the entire court case.”

There.

Other than also being the superhero who fixed everything, Marinette was pretty sure she gave a good summary of her life in the last month or two.

Around the room, everyone was silent as they stared at her, trying to come to terms and understand what they just heard. She knew they all believed in magic- how could they not- but there weren’t any magic users in Gotham, so it was new ground for them to understand. Not to mention; it all sounded ridiculous no doubt.

“Dear god you aren’t fucking with us here, are you?” Riddler asked, expression in shock and eyes wide in curiosity. “Hold up- how corrupt is the Parisian government for them to get away with framing you like that?”

“Hawkmoth works with my classmate, remember? He sent an akuma- one of the butterflies- to sit near me in court. He wanted to further convict me, thus shielding my classmate so that she had a stronger story. With me gone, she has no pushback from starting akuma’s.” Beside her, Harleen slowly looked at Marinette's file on the clipboard, eyes narrowed and filled with a mixture of confusion and rising horror.

Marinette hoped she would believe her, but she knew that it was unlikely- what with her being in an asylum.

Across the entire group, Marinette tried not to look at his face in anything more than a passing-over glance. Joker had been staring intently at her since the moment he entered, having only given it a break when the others' attention was on him for his answer. Now, he was back to staring at her, and Marinette hoped more than anything that this wasn’t a sign of something bad.

“Hold on, can you explain it again?” Clayface asked, looking extremely confused. “So… Some guy is mind controlling people and giving them superpowers? Like… how? ”

Oh boy… “I’m not sure if I can summarize the full story, so do you all want the full thing, or maybe just the footnotes?” Surprisingly enough, they chose the full story.

“Seriously though, I’m talking 15, maybe 16 at the oldest. She looks 12 though, so there's that, but she’s too mature to be that young.”

The rest of the team looked completely bewildered.

“Hold up,” Stephanie said, looking over to Dick as he casually snacked away on dry cereal. “Is that even legal? Can we even throw teenagers in Arkham? Even if they were found to be clinically insane, wouldn’t they go to a proper institution or even juvie?”

Dick nodded. “Uh-huh. However, the U.S. has no say in it; she’s classified as property of Paris. We’re basically just housing her here. We don’t have any say in her actual sentence, other than the treatment she receives while in our care. We can control what happens to her, except for anything to do with her sentence or the facility she’s placed under.”

Tim typed in the girl's name, trying to find the file they had been restricted from. However, it turns out that Paris wanted her case under lock and key- as in the actual files were only on paper, and literally in a safe being kept under watch by the eyes of the Mayor and Commissioner of Paris. None of the data on her arrest or court case was able to be viewed digitally.

That meant they couldn’t actually look at anything other than what Paris was willing to tell them; which was to say little-to-nothing.

So basically, they had a teenage girl stuck in a mental institution, surrounded by the most dangerous and insane criminals in the world- and they couldn’t do anything about it.

Wonderful.

“Keep an eye on her,” Bruce said. “Contact Diana, and set up a meeting with the heroes from Paris; she said there was a magical situation happening there and that she would be the one to make contact if needed. We’re going to figure this out.”

Chapter Text

Her first week in prison?

Honestly… Marinette was really enjoying it.

Don’t get her wrong, she would never let herself let her guard down and forget that she was surrounded by a large pack of criminally insane convicts, but that didn’t change the fact that her experience thus far had reminded her of the one time she had been in a summer camp. She followed a schedule of activities, had zero responsibilities other than letting her mind heal mentally, had almost no stressors to her life other than keeping a vigilant eye open on any other patients that came too close, and was able to just relax for once in her life.

Things were pretty damn good.

Again, Marinette should be concerned about this. She hadn’t been this relaxed and at peace in a long time, even before Hawkmoth came into her life.

This should be really concerning.

But, Marinette was learning to not question some of the peace offerings life gave her and to not look a gift horse in the mouth, so she was trying her hardest to ignore the “why” and look forward to the “because” that was soon to follow; such as better mental health, because according to Harleen; Marinettes’ sucked.

Solo therapy!

That… that could have gone better…

Having Miss Quinzel as her therapist during her solo sessions was a big help, and Marinette was grateful for a friendly face for such an anxiety-inducing time, but that didn’t change the fact that she was in actual therapy. Group therapy felt different; it seemed more like a relaxing time where everyone could unwind and just talk. Now, Marinette felt like she was a bug pinned down by the limbs, left to be inspected under a microscope for Harleen to take apart and analyze.

Marinette told the doctor as much when they started their session, and Harleen had laughed and said that she had heard that response quite often. “Either you hate therapy, or you love it; there’s never really an inbetween”

Things went relatively well, or so she thought. Marinette tried not to censor herself, being as honest as she could manage, but it seemed her voice had tricked her mind- or maybe it was the reverse?

“How does it make you feel, that your parents willingly helped to set up your arrest?” Harleen had asked, after Marinette had told her what happened that fateful day.

Marinette hummed, looking down in deep thought, tapping her foot anxiously as she tried to recall what she felt in that moment. “I guess I wasn’t really surprised? We’ve become distant, so I wouldn’t put it past them to not listen to me- they stopped doing it a while ago. Everyone else bought it, so why wouldn’t they, right?”

“But how did that make you feel? ”

For some reason, it was like the word came through muffled, static in her ears. After the past few years, Marinette couldn’t really think of the word when she took herself into context. It seemed… wrong.

Apparently, Harleen seemed to expect it, looking for the signs since the start of their session. “You lived in a city with a terrorist that took advantage of your emotions, and you seem to be one of the few who haven’t been taken advantage of. It’s not just this Hawkmoth though; you seem to have been repressing yourself because of others around you as well- mainly your family and classmates. I noticed how you seemed to snap before; in group therapy, you seemed more shy and reserved, but still rather cheerful. But, when asked about your situation, you were annoyed with what happened, and you snapped. I think you’re dealing with emotional suppression, and I want to help you get past that. While I know it might have seemed helpful back in Paris, you aren’t there anymore- and emotional suppression is not healthy and will only hurt you more.”

Therapy had supposedly gone good, but Marinette wouldn’t call it such, because learning she really was suffering from mental issues wasn’t exactly a win in her book.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

Marinette startled, opening her eyes. Oh right, she was back in her room now.

Sitting up, she found Commissioner Gordon standing at her door, a soft knock as he smiled kindly to her. “Mind if we take a walk together?” She nodded in return, getting up from her bed. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Tikki waving her over to the restroom area.

“Uhh, yeah, in just one moment please? I need to use the restroom.”

Standing behind the curtain, Tikki told her she could feel a magical disturbance happening back in Paris, causing Chat Noir to activate his Miraculous. Well, there was only one thing it could be.

An Akuma.

“Here you go; I heard this was something you might enjoy.”

Marinette gasped, a bright and excited smile coming up as she eagerly accepted the white sketchbook and mechanical pencil. “Thank you so much!”

She had gotten so many ideas in the last week, and she needed to get them all down. Being surrounded by others with souls of Creation was something Tikki had talked Marinette into longing for, but it wasn’t all that helpful when she didn’t have a sketchbook to get down these new and creative ideas- the other day, Marinette thought up an entire men’s wear line, only for her to forget the majority of it a few hours later!

Ughh!

Gordon walked her to a separate yard from the main area, where Marinette could see other patients hanging around. She briefly spotted Two face and Bane, waving politely towards them. It felt nice to receive a wave in return, no matter how small of a gesture it was.

God, she was really starved for kindness from others, wasn’t she?

Walking beside him, Marinette looked up as Gordon finally started to talk. “The Parisian government is refusing to hand over anything on your case… We contracted the federal government over there, but apparently, this is out of their hands and is left up to the city…” He looked down to her, hands shoved in the pockets of his trench coat. “Think you can tell me why?”

Marinette had a pretty good idea. But… Harleen believing her was still something Marinette felt wary to accept; after all, the woman was her therapist.

Jim Gordon was the Commissioner- he honestly had no reason to buy her story over her home city's government. “I’m sure you’ve heard people plead their innocence and not-guilty before,” she said, hinting at what her answer would be.

To her surprise though, the man chuckled. “Actually, you’d be surprised how often they don’t. In Gotham, if you plead not-guilty, it’s pretty quick to prove whether or not it’s true. We have damned good detectives, and Batman’s team pitches in whenever they can- which is to say a lot. People don’t bother pleading innocent unless it’s true, otherwise it won’t take long before they’re proven wrong.”

Huh. In that case, she might as well try her hand, right?

“Mayor Bourgeois and Commissioner Raincomprix are the fathers to Chloe Bourgeois and Sabrina Raincomprix. Chloe has bullied Sabrina into basically being her slave for years, and the two of them are friends with a pathological liar by the name of Lila Rossi,” Marinette said, quickly explaining her thoughts on the situation. She told of Chloe's bullying over the years, even over her own father. She told of Lila’s manipulation, and how she turned all of the school and even her own parents against her. She told him all she could, only leaving out her part as Ladybug, the Kwami’s, and her knowledge on Lila working with Hawkmoth.

Why would she have left out that last part, you might ask?

Well, because even if Marinette supposedly saw Lila talking with Hawkmoth a little too personally, and sounding to make a deal with him, it wasn’t really evidence of conspiring alongside the terrorist. Most of the evidence she had gathered or come to conclude over had been found out due to being Ladybug, and she couldn’t very well out herself like that.

“-the President and the federal government don’t want to get involved with any of it probably because it’s related with Hawkmoth so closely. Ever since the situation went down, they wanted to keep everything concealed inside of the city and not really let anyone else know about what was going on. My files are either sealed most likely because there isn’t any actual evidence against me or good reason for my arrest, or because the federal government doesn’t want other countries knowing too much about what's going on with Hawkmoth.”

Gordon looked shocked by this part especially, “They can’t honestly keep this all so deep under wraps?”

“They have; you and your officers never even heard of Hawkmoth before I came, remember? Besides, my Nonna told me that they have people sign NDA’s before leaving and entering the city, even if they were locals. They didn’t want any leaks.” Speaking of, Marinette wondered if her grandmother even heard of her arrest? She would bet the woman would be feel proud at first, though it would soon become anger when she would learn her parents took part in it.

Jim sighed, scrubbing his hands over his face as he thought over all she had told him. The two took a seat on a cement bench, facing towards the larger yard. Marinette knew the look on his face to be one of deep thought, so she took the time to open her new sketchbook, smiling wider at the beautiful sight of blank drawing pages. You know that feeling you get, from a new car, or a new pair of shoes, or even warm and clean folded laundry? Opening a blank new sketchbook felt like all that combined, with the promise of new ideas to come.

She immediately got to sketching.

She started off with a few dresses and pantsuits, working through the formal wear she had thought of. Many of the people here had strange or curious looks to them, and they had inspired her mind quite a lot. She mainly got down a few doodles to remember, fearing she would forget them soon enough if she didn’t hurry. Ten minutes passed, and a few pages had already been filled. She had drawings and sketches, as well as notes on color options and fabric ideas. She made sure to place a name of the patient on the sketch when she had finished one inspired by someone.

At one point, after getting out the majority of her formal wear ideas, Marinette went into more casual wear. She began to notice that while designing casual wear form the Gotham Rogues and inmates, she leaned towards more grunge styles. Some of the clothes leaned towards a more chic approach, while some nearly went full gothic, but Marinette found herself liking the new styles.

Back in Paris, most of what inspired her gave her ideas for more artsy and professional looks, from vibrant to classy. It was fun to work with a more grunge style, looking at the architecture and the mood it gave her to decide how much chic or goth she wanted to add on.

It took her a while before she remembered that she had company, eventually snapping out of her designer craze and looking up to find the older man smiling fondly down to her. Marinette flushed, embarrassed at how lost in thought she had become, worrying that perhaps he had called her name and she had ignored it.

Gordon gestured towards her sketchbook with a small chuckle. “I can see you were really looking forward to that. You seem to become inspired by things in this city that most others aren’t.” She wondered if he meant the building and people, or just the later.

“Sorry,” she said shyly. “I didn’t mean to get so lost in thought; I’ve just had these designs floating around in my head for the last few days, and I would hate myself forever if I didn’t get them down.”

He waved it off, patting her on the back once in good nature. Marinette had the distinct feeling this man was a father. “No need to apologize, kiddo-” Yeah, definitely a dad. “-It’s good that you’re doing well here. Honestly, I was half sure you would be terrified out of your mind in this place- almost weird that things are going so well.” Dang it- she wasn’t the only one who noticed.

“Yeah, but it’s still a good thing, you know? Honestly, this place is a lot better for me than Paris was. Dr. Quinzel says I was being emotionally suppressed over there, from both Hawkmoth and the people around me. Who would think that the criminally insane would be better company, ya know?” They both knew it was a joke, but they also both knew it had a little too much truth to it.

After a moment longer of talking(and a few more pages of designs started), Gordon began to walk her back inside. They entered into the main lounge area, where a few others were seated about or talking.

Marinette looked and saw the TV hoisted up on the wall, playing the weather news in Gotham. She remembered that she was allowed to change the channel, and it but… “Commissioner?”

“Hmm?”

“Would it be alright if I might perhaps see the Paris News?”

A few minutes later, Marinette was seated on one of the couches in front of the TV, remote in one hand and a cup of soda in the other. It had been easy enough for the Commissioner to just change the IP address and VPN, as several other patients had wished to see channels or news stations from other countries they had originated from as well. France was a new one, but once it was done, it was easy for Marinette to find the Parisian news station.

It started off with the image of Nadja Chammack, giving a quick rundown on the akuma of the day.

When it went to the video footage, Marinette breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Gigantitan. He may be humongous, but he was still an easily defeatable and low-leveled akuma. He was in a pretty open area at the moment, and wasn’t near any large monuments, so hopefully the damage wouldn’t be too large.

However… Marinette didn’t know what Chat Noir would do with the akuma once Baby August was returned to normal.

With Tikki now perched on her shoulder, Marinette sat back against the couch, lifting her cup to her mouth as she watched her mangy partner try to hold off the gigantic akuma- clearly waiting for her arrival.

“And so it begins…”

Chapter Text

Marinette watched her delinquent partner try to keep Gigantitan in a single area. He was doing relatively okay, but that really didn’t say much; even as an Akuma, August was still just a baby that was easily distractible and easily detained.

They were in an open courtyard area on the edge of the 13 th arrondissement, rather close to the 14 th . There wasn’t much structural damage other then what seemed like a few broken street lamps, but it looked like Chat had failed to even try evacuating civilians from the area; people were still laundering about in the background of the live recording, watching in awe as one of their cities heroes held off the humongous baby.

For recognizable akumas and sentimonsters that showed up so often, such as Gigantitan, Mr. Pigeon, or the Lollipop sentimonster, Parisians thought they could determine whether or not the situation was actually a risk to their safety. Let Marinette just say; this was not something she appreciated.

Civilians being around during Akuma attacks was only helpful in maybe a few situations, where having witnesses to the akumatization or fight was necessary. However, for the most part, they were really just in the way and putting their lives in risk. Of course, not many other people actually cared about this fact, saying that it was fine as Ladybug could just cast the Miraculous Cure and heal everyone, even if they had died.

This was not okay.

Even if she reversed the damage, and even if everyone in the city(including Hawkmoth) knew that the battle would be over in no more than ten minutes- people could still die, and even if they wouldn’t remember it, Marinette would. She would remember that she had been a second too late to save a little girl's life; her hand was an inch too short to grab a falling passerby; she hadn’t noticed the akuma accidentally shot a fatal blow towards a passing father on his way home from work. These people would wake up half a second after it happened, having no clue what even went on while they were gone, but Marinette would remember it for the following hour as she defeated Hawkmoth’s latest victim.

She would go home and fall asleep that night, waking from a nightmare just an hour or so later, her mind being shocked awake by the bloody or blown apart faces of the civilians she had failed to save.

It was one of the top reasons Marinette was actually sure her mental health might grow here in Arkham; while she was certain she wouldn’t go through her time here without seeing injuries(she was surrounded by the criminally insane), Marinette was far away from the sights of innocent children dying, and watching random people get crushed by falling buildings and stomping giants. She wouldn’t be haunted at night by the bloody images of lifeless carcasses- at least not new images.

She still would suffer nightmares from previous occurrences.

The live recording was shrunk into the corner of the screen as it went back to Nadja, reading a report again on what had happened. August had apparently been upset with his babysitter and had been akumatized about half an hour ago. Ladybug had for some mysterious reason not shown up to the scene as of yet, and Chat Noir could be seen trying to call and communicate with her.

Oh dear. What a shame.

I wonder where Ladybug is?

The screen went back to the fight fullscreen, showing Chat Noir typing frantically on his baton, a nervous expression clear as day. Behind him, Gigantitan was becoming less and less distracted with the candy billboard that Chat had led him to. Marinette snorted, sipping her drink as she suspected that Chat was about to get thrown by the angry super-baby when it threw a tantrum here in a moment.

“What the actual hell is this shit?”

Marinette stilled, feeling a powerful form of Creation standing closely to her. She hadn’t really noticed it before, simply mistaking it for how closely Tikki was by sitting on her shoulder still, but the new voice made her properly acknowledge the man now beside her.

Looking back, Marinette saw Joker standing behind the couch, leaning against it with his arms crossed, not even a full foot away from her as he watched the TV. His brows were creased and his gaze narrowed, bemusement clear as day as he tried to understand what the hell he was watching.

Of course, being a sane person with a well adjusted mindset, Marinette responded carefully, not wanting to get on the nerves of the internationally recognized psychopath-

“What, you’ve never seen a 200 foot baby before?”

Okay, yeah, she seriously needed to get a filter for this place before she got herself killed in her sleep.

It didn’t help that Tikki’s response was to cackle at her slip of the tongue, seemingly not at all worried for her chosen wielder’s life. Thanks so much!

However, much to her relief, the Joker didn’t seem thrown off or upset by her question. Instead, he chuckled and walked around the couch. “You’d think I would have by this point, and now I get to say I have. Again; what is this shit? It looks like it’s playing on the news.” He sat down on the couch, on the opposite arm from her but still on the same sofa. He gave her plenty of space, but was close enough to show he was starting a conversation.

Honestly… Marinette could work with that.

The man didn’t seem to come off as hostile towards her yet, not thus far since her arrival at the Asylum, so Marinette… she would give him the benefit of the doubt. That’s what she wished to be shown by others while she was here, so she would show the same courtesy.

Gesturing towards the screen she replied, “This is the news. Paris news, at least. As I said before in therapy, the magical terrorist named Hawkmoth will akumatize anyone; even a three year old baby who just wants attention from his babysitter. Gigantitan is actually one of the top three most common akumas.” While August was the main repeat offender, other young children had been turned into Gigantitan before.

“...A baby?”

“Uh-huh.”

“... Why?! ” he sounded incredulous, completely confused as to what good the baby would do. “Why turn a baby into a supervillain?! Would it even understand or listen to him?”

Marinette burst into laughter, recalling just how well any of the different Gigantitan’s had listened to Hawkmoth. “Ha- No way! They get super distracted and go to anything shiny, or whatever resembles a toy or candy to them. They rarely even go after the heroes themselves, unless of course they seem to be stopping them from grabbing whatever they want. Such as now~”

As she said it, Gigantitan had picked up Chat Noir from behind, startling the blonde hero from trying to make another phone call to “His Lady”. The akuma shook Chat Noir up and down, screeching angrily before throwing him harshly- oh yeah, that looked like a long throw. Marinette would bet Chat had already reached the Sacré-Cœur from how hard he was tossed.

Joker whistled at the throw, brows raising in understanding. “Ah, I get it now; so this Hawkmoth guy is an idiot with power, but isn’t smart enough to give it to people who would actually help his agenda.” Pretty much.

“I mean, he’s made some pretty smart moves before, and some of his akuma’s have been powerful to the point of world-ending even- but it kind of gets canceled out when most of the akuma’s are Gigantitan and Mr. Pigeon.”

“Mister what? ”

“Yeah, there’s no good way to explain that one.” Though she was sure he would become an akuma at some point during her stay here, so maybe Joker would see him then.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, watching her mangy partner return to the fight and try to hold off the giant baby, clearly starting to realize he was on his own. Marinette didn’t feel too bad however; by the time Paris and Hawkmoth realized she was completely gone, hopefully the madman would give it a rest until she publicly returned(his attempts would be futile without her actual presence for him to steal her Miraculous). Besides, even if she wasn’t there to cast the Miraculous cure, the akuma victims would be turned back to normal the moment they were released from their transformation.

She had worried about the akuma’s multiplying though, similar to when they had after her first ever battle. However, TIkki had reassured her, informing that Plagg knew she was out of commission and would tell Chat Noir to cataclysm the akumas instead. It wasn’t good(the poor butterflies), but it was enough.

She was so absorbed watching the fight, looking to see how everyone was reacting to her absence, that she didn’t notice the man near her staring so intensely. It wasn’t until Tikki had patted her cheek and told her he was staring that she finally spared him another glance.

“What is it about you, hmm?” He said, the moment he realized he caught her attention.

“What do you mean?” She asked, a little nervous that he had found out something about her she was trying to hide- he couldn’t see Tikki or her Miraculous though. No one could. She hoped he wouldn’t believe her a liar; not without Lila there to spread her tall tales.

Joker sat up, slipping his shoes off as he crossed his legs on the couch. Huh; he was a villain, but he held to the “no shoes on the sofa” rule. That was… oddly adorable.

“You feel strange. Not in a bad way, but strange nonetheless. I feel… drawn to you,” he admitted. He looked deep in thought and yet uncomfortable with how he was telling her this. “I don’t really know how I feel about it, but it's like the entire mood around you is just- just so, so…”

“Calming?” She asked, suddenly understanding why he had always been looking at her.

The man nodded, hiding down any emotions but unable to prevent the hopeful twinkle in his eye that begged for an explanation.

It made sense; she had been feeling heavy amounts of creation here ever since she arrived in Gotham, and it only got heavier when she reached the Asylum. Almost all of the patients here(and a few workers as well) had Creation souls, which fit well since it was a place for the mentally challenged and insane- but Joker had one of the largest creation souls she had ever seen before(other than herself and Tikki).

Ever since she had arrived, she had felt herself becoming calmer and more at peace with her surroundings and the new people in her day-to-day life. With people around her with strong souls of Creation, Marinette had felt comforted and safe. It sounded strange of course, seeing as when it came to heroes and villains, it was usually the heroes with Destruction souls, and villains with Creation souls.

Looking at Joker now, Marinette saw a soul in which she could speak to without fear; while he certainly couldn’t be easily trusted, Marinette could see him as much as a confidante as she did Miss Quinzel. “First thing I want to say is that while I am not evil or working with Hawkmoth like Paris claims, I do have some magic capabilities. Some of these capabilities help me better pass judgment and understand people, things, and situations,” she explained. “That new, strange feeling of comfort you have? That’s because I’m probably the first person you met with a strong enough wavelength in Creation.”

“Enough what in what?” He asked, clearly thrown by her new magic-glossary.

Slipping off her shoes as well, Marinette crossed her legs in a similar manner, turning her attention away from the TV screen(still showing Chat Noir struggling now that he was alone) and towards her new companion. Tikki floated down to sit on her knee, willing to cut in and help Marinette find the ways to explain if she needed help.

Marinette cleared her throat, gesturing with her hands as she began. “Everyone in the universe, be it people, aliens, metas, or whatever; all fall on a spectrum. The spectrum is the wavelengths of our souls. On one side, you have Creation, while on the other you have Destruction. To begin with, understand that neither of these sides represent the idea of good and evil, only how someone interprets ideals. Okay?” It took a second but the man was catching up, nodding as she went.

“Creation souls are, well, creative. Destructive souls can be as well, but they can sometimes lean more towards analytical. Creation souls, why they are more creative, is because they are more susceptible to change. They can deviate from their normal behavior, change their minds on things that others might find difficult to switch sides on, and they can switch the way their lives are going no matter what. They are the most capable of opening up to new ideas and change; Destruction souls are the opposite. People with Destructive souls usually stay the same. They are capable of change, as everyone is, but they will not be drawn towards them more. Their ideals are more set-in-stone and they will usually never change their ideas or ways.”

Joker frowned, deep in thought once more. Marinette gave him a moment to think over all this, waiting until he nodded again.

“For the average person, people are mostly in the exact middle of the spectrum. When it comes to heroes and villains though… it isn’t what people would normally think,” she said, smiling softly. “For the most part, villains, criminals, and lawbreakers are on the Creation side, while heroes, officers, military, and political members are on the Destruction side.” She saw the surprise, but she also saw the understanding seep in as well. “Heroes and Villains with creation souls have a high chance of changing sides and switching their moral standards; it doesn’t mean they will, but it shows they are capable of being on the opposite side of good and evil. For villains, I would argue this is best, as it shows they can become better and be good. With heroes though…”

“It shows they could turn evil,” Joker finished, seeing her point as to why this would be bad. “And Destruction would mean you’re stuck where you are then?”

“Mhm,” she nodded. “With heroes, it’s good because you know you can trust them most the higher their levels of Destruction- depending on how good of a person they are. But for villains? Those are some of the most dangerous people in the world; more often than not, these would be criminal sociopaths. Luckily, I only feel a few Destruction souls from other patients here, but it’s an extremely low level and close enough to the middle really.”

Other than herself, heroes with Creation souls were dangerous- they were like Chat Noir.

They could go all in, becoming heroes and trying to save the world. They could be your partner-till-the-end, but then turn into a sexual harassing nightmare no more than a week after their best behavior. They could change overnight, and you might never even know because the higher the wavelengths and IQ, the more crafty and manipulative a person could be- no matter which side of the spectrum.

Villains with Destruction though- this was the worst and most dangerous kind of person to come across.

These kinds of people were drawn to evil, and they were incapable of change. The higher the wavelength, the more crafty and wicked their actions could become. They could be Psychopaths, or Sociopaths, or simply normal even- in the end, they were the worst most vile type of souls, and Marinette couldn’t stand the sight of them.

She had met two before.

The few encounters she had made with Hawkmoth had been sickening and enlightening- she knew she would need to defeat the man, and that she could never expect him to give up. She knew from the very first encounter that he would be incapable of talking with. Hawkmoth would need to be defeated in battle.

But nearly twice as horrible as Hawkmoth, Lila Rossi had been Marinette’s complete opposite when it came to their wavelengths.

It was troubling, really; had the girl been trustworthy and good, Marinette might have even retired Chat Noir and given the ring to her instead- but clearly she couldn’t expect trust to be a thing Lila even knew how to spell , more or less receive from her.

No matter how awful Hawkmoth and his actions are, Lila would remain Marinette’s number one Nemesis.

“Gonna go out on a limb here and say Batman is high on Destruction?” Joker asked, a wry grin in place.

Marinette shrugged in response. “I don’t know, but I would think so. I can only tell when I meet someone in person; but for someone who takes you as their nemesis, I would believe he is high on that side of the spectrum. For you to truly be the bane of someone's existence as the two of you seem to be for each other, you need to be not only on opposite sides of the spectrum for Creation and Destruction, but you need to be on opposite sides of good and evil as well. Otherwise, if you don’t have both, it is rivalry and dislike at best, and disgust and annoyance at worst.” Currently, she viewed Chat Noir as disgust and annoyance.

Filthy little alley cat…

“So this is why I feel more drawn to you?” Joker asked. “Because we’re on a similar spectrum?”

Marinette nodded. “Yep! More so even because we’re both higher than normal, even amongst other high cases like the other rogues and inmates here in Arkham. Everyone here is a little to a lot higher than average. But on a scale of one to a hundred, the others are at about a thirty to forty range, while you would be in the seventies.”

“And you?”

As a True Wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous and Supreme Guardian, she was actually on both sides of the spectrum. Jumping back and forth at every given second, Marinette was born in the nineties range, and had thus far reached past a hundred quite some time ago. “I teeter back and forth, but mostly land in Creation. As for my range, let’s just say I’m even higher than you. Our similarities draw us closer and make us feel calmer around each other, since we’re closely like minded to one another.” A weird thing for her, the superheroine Ladybug, to say to the supervillain Joker.

The man in question must have found it just as ironic and funny, though he was unaware of just how much irony there was secretly on her part. “Oh? What, you’re admitting that you might be insane?”

At this, a large boom was heard from the TV. They both looked and found that Chat Noir had just used cataclysm on the escaping akuma butterfly, returning Baby August back to his original form in a black and purple bubbly cloud of miasma magic.

Gesturing towards the screen, Marinette grinned wryly at the man beside her. “When living in a city like that? Going insane is just the first part of life.”

Chapter Text

Three weeks.

It has been three weeks since the last spotting of Ladybug.

So far, two akumas have happened, and while the structural damage was light and no one had yet been injured, it was still a rather large problem.

Diana sat beside Bruce, both of them already in uniform as they both watched the footage of the most recent akuma attacks. Yesterday, Paris had been attacked by a Lollipop themed sentimonster, which had only knocked over a couple of trees and a popcorn cart at the park. A few days before, a three year old was turned into the akuma Gigantitan. Before that, a bit over two weeks before then, a stronger akuma named LitYear was trying to blow up the school district's main office with rocket-fireworks.

Ladybug was there to take care of LitYear. After leaving the fight, however, she wasn’t seen or heard from again.

When Gigantitan appeared, Chat Noir had arrived at the scene and waited about twenty minutes on a rooftop, waiting for his partner to arrive. When she didn’t, he had finally stepped in to try and contain the giant baby.

This wasn’t normal, and it certainly wasn’t good; Ladybug had been late to an akuma maybe twice before, but she showed up- and never so late that it was suspected that she wouldn’t arrive. If anything, it seemed the roles were almost reversed.

From the looks of previous akuma attacks throughout the last year or two, it seemed that Chat Noir was the one to never show up.

Chat Noir was rarely seen participating in akuma attacks. If things looked easy, he would just sit back and watch, usually adding in a flirtatious(and frankly misogynistic) line towards the girl in red. When things seemed tough or actually threatening though, he would offer his assistance, watching the battle more closely- but he still rarely stepped in. He might for a moment, but not any more.

If Ladybug seemed to be in any direct danger, Chat Noir would jump in to block a hit or take a blow, but never much else- frankly, at times it didn’t even seem helpful and more like an excuse for Ladybug to pull him out(if the hit didn’t make him a hypnotized slave that is).  Now though, Ladybug had been a no-show and Chat Noir had been forced to handle the last akuma and sentimonster on his own(karma).

She hadn’t even appeared to throw out the Miraculous Cure.

If this persisted, then all it took was one more heartbroken girl and Hawkmoth could flood Paris again in a second, killing millions with no revival in the wait.

Where was Ladybug?

Just then, the doors to the main meeting hall opened up. Wonder Woman and Batman looked up to the two arrivals, finding Superman alongside Chat Noir.

Clark led Chat Noir over to the table, gesturing for him to take a seat. He smiled politely, but it was the kind of smile that both he and Bruce had mastered- the smile that said that they were heroes that were there to help, but still watch your back because I could ruin you as a civilian in a single post on Twitter. “Thank you for meeting with us,” Clark said, sitting beside Bruce, right across from the teen.

Chat Noir flopped down in his seat, leaned back and smiling almost in a lazy manner. “No problem! Thanks for the invite~” His accent was pretty heavy, but his English still sounded quick enough to be experienced from usage. His mannerisms on the other hand were way too unprofessional.

They had seen attitudes like this before, but never from other heroes. Even amongst the Justice League, where they were all close friends and colleagues, there was still a level of decorum and respect that they all showed one another. Being unfamiliar with them all, they would have thought the blonde would be more careful and restrained- apparently not.

When he crossed his legs and propped his feet up, it only took one look at Batman for the other two to know he was already becoming annoyed.

Clearing her throat, Diana locked her hands together and leaned forward. “So; first of all we would like to thank you and the Mayor of Paris for finally responding to make contact with us. The Mayor said that he would have called us much sooner had he not been told not to.”

Chat Noir nodded. “Oh yeah; that was LB. She said she didn’t want to involve the Justice League because it would put you all at risk, but it doesn’t really make sense, you know? I mean, the two of us are just as likely to be akumatized as everyone else, so it wouldn’t be as much of a risk inviting any of you to Paris.” Ah- okay no, that made sense actually.

While akumatized civilians were given superpowers and made powerful enough to help distort concepts of reality- if a Justice League member would be akumatized… The world might just actually end.

Nearly everyone apart of JL might become exposed(Hawkmoth could order their identities to either expose them or blackmail them), and whoever became akumatized would be completely under the control of a madman. If someone like Clark became an akuma, his powers would be multiplied to a near infinite length(with the chance of some new powers that would make things impossibly even more difficult), and he would be at the complete mercy of a man who was insane enough to mind control a baby.

They could understand why Ladybug would have wanted them to stay away; that would be a situation the Justice League might not have been able to handle, and it would have been even more of an unnecessary burden since they could not actually end any battle unless it was Ladybug fixing everything in the end.

Diana understood that this was why they hadn’t been called for help, but it still didn’t answer why none of them had even heard of the situation. “And can you tell us why the situation hasn’t at least met international news? I only knew of it because my mother had me look into it- she felt the Ladybug Miraculous was active again.”

“Now that was all on the Mayor. He had people sign NDA’s and shit whenever they came in and out of the city; it was probably to make sure news didn’t reach you guys. LB wasn’t the happiest with that one, but I told her to leave it be.” That… didn’t seem right. Not only was it unethical, but it still didn’t make too much sense? Why not just tell the Justice League to stay away from the situation?

If they had been made aware on purpose, rather than having found out on their own, Diana knows the rest of the League would have understood the risk factor of them being akumatized. Chat Noir was right that Miraculous users were just as much at risk of akumatization as anyone else, but that didn’t make sense as to why the Mayor kept people from alerting the world of the risk of coming to the city. Paris was the very image for a “tourist trap”, so why not warn the world what they were walking into if they came to the city?

“And where is Ladybug.” Batman stated. Not asked- he stated it.

Yeah; he was that annoyed with Chat Noir.

The blonde picked up on the harsh sound, his cat ears flattening back a bit at the tone. He slowly lowered his legs to the ground, seeming to shrink the slightest bit now that he understood that he was fixed under the gaze of the Infamous Bat Glare ™ .

“U-uhm, yeah… about that,” Chat Noir chuckled awkwardly, fiddling with his baton as he pulled it out. “I’ve tried calling or tracking her, but, uhm-”

“You can’t find her?” Clark asked incredulously. “You said in a press release the other day that she was temporarily indisposed!”

Chat shrugged in response, nervous now about the situation. In reality, he should have been nervous the entire time. “Look; M’Lady didn’t want JL involved with any of this, but I had to call you guys. Ever since the- the arrest… LB hasn’t been communicating back, and I don’t know what to do. If damage keeps up, then Paris is as good as gone. Hawkmoth will only become power happy and destroy things even more once he sees LB isn’t there to restore it all!” True, but even still-

“I’m sorry, Chat Noir,” Diana said, a sad frown displayed on her face. “But… I would have to agree with Ladybug’s point here- it would be safest for everyone if the Justice League continued to keep their distance from Paris.” Clearly, this wasn’t the answer the teenager was expecting, nor wanted.

Nearly falling out of his seat, Chat Noir stood up hastily, panic written across his face. “W-WHAT?! Bu-but why?! Look, it was fine for the last two akuma’s, but I can’t exactly hold off higher levels on my own! New akuma’s take more strategy from LB, and I’m not exactly the best in that area!”

“I understand,” Diana said calmly, trying to placate the panicking boy. “Batman has offered his team's assistance, but only by long distance. During akuma attacks, members of his team will observe the battles and help aid you in the fights until Ladybug returns. Perhaps it might be wise to call in reinforcements, though? Some of the temporary heroes?”

“I don’t know who they are,” he explained, catching them off guard this time. “I mean sure, I know who some of them are, but only after Miracle Queen got them all exposed. Ladybug didn’t trust most of them anymore, or so she said. Besides, they never even owned the Miraculous to begin with- Ladybug has all of them!”

That… That was very bad.

Before, they had suspected that he was only acting alone because he was too incompetent to know to ask for backup without Ladybug telling him to- but now they understood that the truth of the matter was that the boy probably would have gotten others to help him do the dirty work- if he could.  

Sighing deeply, Clark held out a hand towards Diana. “Wonder Woman- both you and Batman would be the safest options to go to Paris in the state of emergency. If things get too out of control, then it would be best if the two of you went there briefly to intervene.” The two nodded and Clark clapped his hands together, a tired smile in place as he turned back towards their guest. “Wonderful! Now then, on to the next thing we wished to discuss with you.”

Chat Noir sat down again, relaxing only slightly now that he knew he would receive some form of help. His curiosity peaked when Clark continued though. “Oh? Was there something else?”

“It’s in regards to the arrest of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Almost like flipping a switch- Chat Noir had been nervous, calmed, and suddenly a hundred times more nervous than before.

“O-oh?”

Bruce pulled out a file. It was small, but then again they didn’t really have much information on the girl’s arrest. Bruce had looked deeper into her, trying to find out what he could- and so far nothing made sense.

“Marinette Dupain Cheng; 16 years old, born in Paris on July 9, 20XX, to Sabine Cheng and Thomas Dupain. Raised in a bakery her whole life, she has attended François Dupont Academy ever since she was a small child. Class President, School Valedictorian, and high marks and compliments from everyone on the faculty. She works in her parents bakery, as well as a personal designer for a list of high-society clients, and has both donated to and even helped create a large number of charities that pool money to different causes. The girl only seems to have a handful of friends, and is revered for her kindness and generosity. So then,” Batman looked up, raising a brow beneath the mask from the look of it. “Mind explaining why she was arrested as the aid to a terrorist?”

Chat Noir had his face down, nervous as all hell as he avoided eye contact.

“...L-look, I had nothing to do with the arrest, okay? Didn’t even know about it until the day before it happened! The Mayor said he had multiple sources spotting Marinette with an akuma- not being akumatized, but rather just talking with Hawkmoth. They said she was bargaining with him, and claiming she would help him akumatize more people. Makes sense, you know? I mean almost everyone in her class has been akumatized other then herself- they’re literally called The Akuma Class because of how often it happens. Marinette has also been around multiple akuma situations when there should have been no reason to be, and it’s fishy. Besides, even if I didn’t know about it- Ladybug did. ”

That came as a surprise. “Ladybug approved of the arrest?” Diana asked incredulously.

Nodding, he continued. “The Mayor wasn’t just going to have Marinette arrested for aiding Hawkmoth without her knowing! He said Ladybug had apparently started the investigation, suspecting Marinette the whole time. She never told me, but I guess it makes sense now the more I look at it. She had me even take surveillance once when Marinette was around an akuma- said she wanted me to keep her safe, but it seemed off. Apparently, Ladybug found the evidence, but couldn’t present some of it due to risking her identity, so the Mayor went forward with the arrest.”

“And you weren’t aware of any of this?” Clark asked, confused at the lack of communication between the two partners. I mean sure, Chat Noir was clearly incompetent, but it didn’t make sense that Ladybug wouldn’t have warned him of the potential threat amongst the civilians. “When did she tell you this?”

Chat stilled, glancing away anxiously once more. “I-i can’t explain that without the risk of my identity… Look, just trust this, okay? Ladybug knows what she’s doing, and it’s so far been proven accurate- why else would an akuma have flown to Marinette’s trial, not even akumatizing anyone there? It sat right next to her, like it would protect her or whatever. Thankfully, they had it scarred off, and they went forward with the full arrest.”

Okay, yeah- the akuma paying witness was a little hard to dispute. But still-

Where was Ladybug?

If the superheroine was behind the investigation and the one to have them arrest Marinette to begin with, then why was she not publicly seen since the last akuma before the event? Chat Noir had been present when they arrested the girl, seen standing on the rooftop to help aid them if she tried to escape.

But where was his partner?

This… something was really off about this.

“Can you at least let us see the investigation files?”

Again, the blonde proved to be completely and utterly useless for them, shaking his head no. “I can’t give you what I don’t have. I’d either need permission to see it from M’Lady- who I can’t seem to contact- or from the Mayor and Commissioner both. The two of them are adamant that no one sees it, as they’re worried about it getting leaked and they don’t want people panicking over it. Sure, the public knows that Marinette was an accomplice to Hawkmoth, but if they knew just how far she’s gone, they’ll start to be paranoid around everyone. If that happens, we’d just have another Scarlet Moth incident.”

“Chat Noir.” Batman stood up, walked over with a deeply upset look on his face.

As he passed them, Clark weakly held out a hand to stop him, deciding better than to go through with it though and letting his arm fall loosely as he shot a warning look to the teen that was being approached. Diana on the other hand was getting a little annoyed herself, thus deciding to instead watch with a small smirk as her friend prepared to unleash his upset on the vexing blonde.

With his ears pinned back and eyes wide in rising terror, Chat Noir gave a loud and audible gulp as Batman stood tall and imperiously in front of him. The young boy looked just about ready to pass out cold.

Bruce didn’t care. “I currently have a teenage girl sitting in a psychiatric prison amongst the most psychotic killers and criminals the world has ever seen. She is vulnerable, and could be killed at any moment if not for Commissioner Gordon ensuring that she has three different guards watching her from afar at every given second- a protocol that Gotham decided to put in place; not Paris. Your city seems to forget that even if she is an aid to your terrorist, she is still a child, and she needs to be protected and treated fairly. At the moment, my city's police force and the people she is under the care of have close to zero clue as to what her situation is, and we can’t ensure she is safe and being treated justly without the information on her trial, and what she was charged with.” Leaning down, Batman spoke with a tone of danger and a clear voice that told Chat Noir- “Get. Me. The. File.”

The tension was so thick that Clark would have needed his x-ray vision just to see through it.

Chat Noir nodded slowly, shaking in his seat. “Y-yes sir…”

Chapter Text

“So, Marinette. How are you doing today?”

There was a small pause before Marinette snorted, and both women soon burst into laughter.

Originally, therapy on her own had been quite the nerve-wracking idea. It was easier in group therapy where everyone took turns and they were all equally just as messed up as others would expect. It was easy to talk in that kind of environment.

In comparison, solo therapy seemed less like a form of help and more like psychological torture. Marinette felt like she was exposed, under the gaze of someone who took her every breath and movement into account for where she stood on a mental scale. It left her feeling exhausted, keeping her guard up and trying so damn hard to not do anything that would make her come off as her new criminal records stated her to be.

After about two weeks though, during her second session, Marinette found herself trusting Harleen more and more. She mainly felt this way from the easy-going personality she had around the others- it was like she had known them as more than just their psychologist.

Mainly with Joker- Marinette was certain that Harleen was probably the only therapist that could call Joker an “Asshat” to his face and not get killed a moment later.

But, no matter how much Marinette had come to like Dr. Quinzel, and no matter the trust she saw between the doctor and the other inmates, she still couldn’t bring herself to open up all the way.

And of course- Harleen had already figured this out.

The first twenty minutes of their session went by, the two women just catching up with one another to put any tension aside. Harleen told Marinette about her wife, Pamela. The woman was a gardener and a . Their apartment was filled with plants, covering every inch of counters and the walls. They had two pets, named Bud and Lou. Harleen showed her a picture and-

“How did you get Hyenas? ” Marinette asked.

The woman shrugged, putting the framed picture aside. “Honestly, not in the most legal way. I have the proper legal documents now, but I didn’t for a while there. It was during my ‘Off Years’, ya know?” Marinette nodded, not truly understanding.

It turns out- she really didn’t know.

“Wait a minute…” Harleen frowned a bit, her nose scrunching a bit in thought. “Did I… I told you about my past work, right?”

Marinette frowned. “You mean, as a psychologist here, or during university?” Harleen had told her she got her doctorates at Gotham State University, majoring in Psychiatry and having a minor in Psychology. After graduating, she immediately began to work at Arkham, as both a Psychologist and Psychiatrist.

“In between when I worked here the first time, and now?”

“Did you quit?” At Marinette's question, she saw the Doctor smile softly, almost secretively. Shaking her head a little, Harleen stood up and walked over to her desk, grabbing another framed photo and then grabbing a folded up picture from inside of one of her drawers.

Walking back over, Harleen handed Marinette both of the photos. “Not quite…”

Taking the pictures, Marinette looked at them both.

What… “What is this?”

The framed photograph was of Harleen and another woman. The woman had beautifully green skin, and her vibrant red hair. She was taller than Harleen, wearing a black jacket and green pants that looked a lot like leaves. Harleen still looked as white as a ghost, but her hair was done up in pigtails that had pink and blue hair dye at the ends, and a red and black mismatching outfit with stars and diamonds.

The second photo, which had been folded up, was of her and Joker.

Joker looked a bit younger, wearing a purple suit and tie, a green dress shirt, and a yellow flower. Beside him stood Harleen, but Marinette almost didn’t recognize her- if she didn’t see the woman's face in a picture right beside this one, she might not have realized it was even her. She wore a full jester bodysuit that followed her mismatched black and red color scheme, and she held a giant matching mallet to go with it.

Was this…?

“That photo right there is from when I became Joker’s partner in crime, Harley Quinn,” Harleen said, a small smirk in place as she rolled her eyes fondly. “That other picture is of me and my wife, Pamela Isley- aka, Poison Ivy. We gave up crime years ago, together, but we’re still pretty well recognized. We even help Batman and his flock from time to time.”

Marinette couldn’t help her wide eyed stare, trying to properly understand the image before her. “So… you were a criminal?”

“Yep! Harley Quinn was probably one of the most feared names in Gotham for a while, though mainly because people knew Joker wouldn’t be far behind. I went off on my own for a while when we broke up- yes, we dated, and it was a big mistake because the guy was absolute shit and tricked me- and Pam helped me make a name for myself in the criminal world. But, after only a couple of years, we both decided we wanted to go the straight and narrow.” Frowning a bit once again, Harleen took back the photos and set them down on the table beside the one she had of Bud and Lou. “Sorry, hun, I could have sworn I told you about it around the time we met.”

Nope- never came up.

Marinette definitely would have remembered that.

Smiling again, Harleen clasped her hands together, a soft and understanding look in her gaze. “My point though, in telling you this, is that I want you to get that I do know where you’re coming from. I don’t believe you were a villain really like Paris says, but I do know that you came from a very toxic environment that took a big stab at your mental health. We’ve already discussed before that you were dealing with emotional suppression, but I’m starting to think it runs deeper than that.”

Flipping back a few pages in her notes, Harleen glanced over the page quickly. “Mari, you said you were class president, right? You told me you often made events, catering them and making banners? You also always made gifts and desserts for birthdays, and even made outfits as well?”

“Uhm, y-yes?” Marinette didn’t see the issue thus far. No one seemed to be in the wrong in that situation- she was doing something nice for others.

“Were you ever paid for your work?”

Oh.

Marinette smiled a bit nervously, hoping to clear up the small issue, blaming herself for the miscommunication. “O-oh no! It wasn’t like that, really! I mean, yes, I was never paid- but I didn’t want to be paid! I liked giving others surprises, and it was my job to set up the catering anyways for the events I set up. I lived in a bakery and worked as a fashion designer, so doing those things was like second nature for me, and I was able to do them without issue. I never asked for payment, and I never expected it.”

“Hmm,” Harleen noted something down, glancing up with a slightly pointed look. “And what about for commissions? What about when your classmates directly asked you for things? Banners, posters, clothes, jewelry, and food? How often were you paid for those?”

Uhhhhh…

Looking back on it, Marinette tried to recall the last time she was paid for her work. Her classmates… never really did pay her… Actually-

“I can’t really think about any times I was paid,” she hesitated before adding on. “I-i don’t think even my parents paid me for working in the bakery.” At this note, there was a slightly worried yet angered look on Harleen’s face.

Taking a deep breath, the older woman asked, “Where would you say your income came from then?”

Definitely from her clientele. “I worked as a designer for a few different people before. I was under a contract for some of them, but I wasn’t allowed to give out their names due to the contracts and NDA’s. They said it wasn’t because they didn’t trust me to not go gossiping, but actually because I was underage and was working as a personal designer, so they needed to have me under a contract that didn’t make it look like child labor laws were being broken. I was a personal designer for someone rather famous, and often hired for a handful of other rich or famous people. I’m old enough now to name them without getting them in trouble, but it’s probably best if I didn’t. My income came entirely from my work with all of them.”

Thankfully, this seemed to relieve the Doctor. Knowing that there were some people out there looking out for Marinette and not just simply taking advantage of her. “Okay… Marinette, I have one more question for you, just to be sure of my thoughts here; how often did you ask your parents for things?” Seeing the confused look she reiterated. “Like a new phone, or maybe help with homework, possibly a pet or a car? Anything- big or small.”

“Umm…”

There was a terse silence.

“I… I can’t remember.”

This was either the right or wrong answer. She couldn’t tell, because Harleen both grimaced and yet also nodded a bit as she seemed to mark something quickly on the page before sighing.

“Marinette, I hate to say this- but you’re a people pleaser.”

…Okay?

“Okay?” Marinette said, confusion laced in her voice. “I mean, I know that’s not exactly good , but it’s not really all that bad, right?” Judging by the almost scandalized look on Harleen’s face, Marinette could see that she was wrong in that thought. “Is, is that really bad?”

“Mari… People pleasers are often taken for granted. You might see people get called that from time to time, but it’s usually never true. People don’t ever truly notice when someone’s a people pleaser, because those people are so good at hiding it that they don’t often realize it for themselves. People will often think a people pleaser is just the yes-man, that one kid who agrees with everyone and tries to prevent conflict, and might even be self-conscious and depressed. The only part that’s true is the yes-man part. Real people pleasers will go out of their way to do things for others, at the cost of neglecting themselves. They try to bottle up their emotions that they think others won’t approve of and put their health on the backburner. They give, but don’t understand that they should take or receive. They want approval from those that are close to them, even if it means harming themselves in the process to get to that point. When they finally snap or even let a bit of their emotions slip through, it can either be because something traumatizing happened, or they’re finally healing.”

Oh Kwamis…

“They neglect themselves to a fault. No one notices them because they try so hard to fit in and act normal that everyone is fooled- even themselves. Because they bottle up their emotions and set their health to the side, they don’t realize that what they’re doing is harming them. They take responsibility way too seriously, and they find themselves bound to the task of making sure others are happy and healthy. The emotional suppression, being taken advantage of and even manipulated by those around you, as well as the responsibilities put on your shoulders- it’s become very clear that you were pushed into the role of a people pleaser.”

Marinette stared straight ahead, tears built in her eyes. She opened her mouth a little, wanting so badly to say something in return. However, when she tried, all that came out was a silently choked whimper.

Seeing her distress, Harleen set her notepad aside and stood up, stepping around the table and sitting down beside her, quickly gathering Marinette into a hug. She gently shushed and cooed, comforting her as she nearly broke down. “Oh, it’s okay sweetheart…”

It wasn’t though.

The more Marinette looked at it, the more everything Harleen had said made sense to her.

She had described Marinette to a T, and it was terrifying. Marinette is sure the woman doesn’t know just how on point her argument was- being Ladybug, the superheroine of Paris, only amplified her words.

“Honey, I know it’s scary, learning something new like this, but it’s okay now, alright? You’re gonna be okay, and you know why?” She pulled away a bit, turning Marinette's head to look at her. Marinette sniffled, wiping away a few of her tears as they spilled out. When she shook her head, Harleen smiled brightly. “Because you knew. You realized you were in a bad place and that you needed help, and sweetpea, I am so proud of you for that.”

She was… proud of her?

Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette spotted Tikki. The small Kwami was seated on a table near a far wall, smiling just as brightly as Harleen, with unshed tears just like Marinette. She nodded happily, urging Marinette to listen.

“Even through the arrest, and even after everything your parents and everyone you knew did this to you- you still looked forward to this place because you knew you were leaving a toxic environment and were going to get the help you needed.” Harleen brushed some of Marinette's stray hair aside, a warm and comforting smile in place. “I am so proud of you, Marinette.”

And just like that, the tears coming out were suddenly existing for an entirely new reason.

Marinette gasped softly, a small smile in place as she nodded and fell forward, eager to be hugged once more.

It was the first human hug she had received in a long time. It was the first physical presence of a human she had accepted in a long time.

Being a teenage superhero had damaged her mental health, but no matter how much super healing she got, it had still given her physical damage. Somewhere over the years, and Marinette’s not sure even when- but physical touch had started its boundaries.

In her mind, Marinette had learned to equate touch with pain. If others came too close, they were trying to harm her- be it physical, emotional, or anything else.

Being in an asylum was already showing to help her mentality, but Marinette would have never suspected just how much they would help her- to think it would go to the point of this… It was like they were trying to deprogram that algorithm she had given herself of all physical contact just being a way to harm her in the end.

The hug felt nice, pleasant even, and for once- Marinette didn’t feel the blinding need to punch or kick back the person touching her.

Why was it that she had to come to Arkham of all places to find people she could trust?

Marinette had been sitting in her cell for maybe about two hours, going between drawing in her sketchbook and finishing the books she had been given. It was about 8 o’clock, so they would all be put in their rooms in an hour or so.

She didn’t notice at first, but Joker was leaned against the door to her room, watching as she worked for a few minutes.

“So you draw clothes?”

Marinette paused, pencil raising from the page as she looked up to meet his gaze. She truly should have noticed he was there, but due to his room being next door to hers, she constantly felt his presence and hadn’t realized he was standing there.

Smiling kindly, Marinette waved him over, much to his clear surprise. He hesitated briefly, glancing to the side for a moment before entering her cell. Marinette scooted over, patting beside her for him to sit. Tikki remained laid out on Marinette's head, watching the two humans with a cheerful smile- neither of the two females were at all concerned with their safety risk.

The man took a seat beside her, glancing over to the door again before looking down to the sketchpad she had in hand. Marinette flipped back two pages, showing a design she had made shortly after her therapy session that day, handing it over to him. She smiled at the wide eyed expression he held.

“Dr. Quinzel showed me an old picture of the two of you, from when she was your partner in crime? I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to redesign your suit. I like to do this for some of the akuma’s and heroes back in Paris- kind of design outfits and formal wear from their themes, you know? I saw your suit and wanted to do the same, though I think it was an older suit, so I’m not sure you still wear it-”

“I changed up my suit about a year or so after Harley and I split,” Joker said, eyes tracing the design. A smirk started to form as he looked at her sketch. “I’m impressed, Puppet. This is pretty damn well made. But why the orange?”

“You wear green and purple already, so I thought you might look nice with a completed secondary-color scheme,” she explained. “Why ‘Puppet’?”

“It’s a play on your name. You know, like a marionette that holds a puppet? So; now I’m calling you Puppet. Problem?”

Marinette thought on the nickname, not finding reason to dislike it. It wasn’t degrading much, especially since he called her by it for her age rather than for her short height or gender. Smiling, she replied, “That’s fine. I have a specific problem though with the nicknames Princess, M’Lady, Little lady, or anything related to a Bug. Call me by one of those, and I reserve the right to hurt you~”

Joker glanced up from the page, a brow raised but a look of understanding in his eyes. “Guessing it was an ex-boyfriend?”

He wishes. “More like a creepy obsessed pervert who doesn’t understand what the word ‘No’ means. My favorite part about coming here is that it got me away from that. ”

“Hmm.”

The two sat in a comfortable silence, not really paying mind to the fact that one of them was a teenager while the other was an internationally recognized psychopath. She didn’t pay it much more than a glance, but she noted that a guard was standing closely outside of her door.

They were probably worried about her safety- she understood that they had reason to not trust Joker, so she wouldn’t say anything. Of course, she knew she was safe- but it was understandable that everyone else was nervous.

After a while, just about ten minutes before 9, she asked, “Why did you do that? To Dr. Quinzel?”

She didn’t say it accusingly, but she didn’t let herself come off as innocently curious. Her tone showed she wanted an answer but that she wasn’t out on the attack.

Joker sighed, looking up in thought. He frowned a bit, eyes darting around a bit on her ceiling as he clearly tried to come up with a good enough answer to satisfy her. When he couldn’t come up with an easy excuse, he shook his head lightly and returned his gaze to the sketchbook- he was now on some of the first few pages she had drawn upon receiving it. “It wasn’t my best moment, but it certainly wasn’t my worst.”

Marinette frowned, now entering a new level of concern. “You manipulated her, coerced her into jumping into a vat of acid, used her as a sidekick for years while stringing her along, and left her for dead more times then you’ve probably even fought against the Bat himself.”

“And yet it’s still not close to the worst I’ve done. Funny how that works, huh?”

Huh.

Marinette didn’t know if she wanted to learn about his worst moments now- at least not yet. If this wasn’t even close to the worst, then she’d rather wait before finding out. Sure it could be considered poor communication to put off learning the truth about him until later on, but Marinette’s Cercus Sense wasn’t going off around him(at least not in a dangerous way) so she wanted to form a more positive relationship with her neighbor before understanding just how horrible his actions were.

Sue her- she didn’t exactly know how to form healthy relationships with people.

“Can you at least tell me why you did it?” She asked him.

He sighed again, not taking as long to find an answer. “I’m clinically diagnosed as a Psychopath… and I was worse off long before. At first I was more leaning towards a Sociopath, but Harley had actually managed to change that. I guess starting to recognize emotions gave me a new thrill and I took it further than I should have.”

“Would you do it again?”

“Fuck no!” He barked out in laughter, cackling at the mere idea. “It was hell having to date someone- no fucking way I’m going back.”

“I meant the decision,” she rephrased, smirking a bit. She agreed thus far on the dating part though(romantic relationships were nothing but trouble in her life thus far). “Would you do something so horrible again?”

He didn’t answer her.

Joker may not have given her a response, but she could see the deep level of thought in his gaze and knew he would at least begin to consider it.

She really hoped he would. While she was here, Marinette wanted to see that people were actually getting better and healing. This was a place for rehabilitation, no matter how much of a prison it was at the same time.

A knock came from her door, the guard looking carefully between her and Joker. “Five minutes till lock-up.” He stepped away, walking off but still most likely keeping a close eye.

Marinette looked towards him as he stood up, watching as Joker stretched his arms tightly enough to hear a small pop. He turned away after leaving a small pat on her head. She found herself not minding the pat. “Good night then, Puppet.”

“Night-night. Sleep well,” she called out just as he left her cell. Shortly after, a different guard came over and locked her door.

After a minute or so, deeming it safe, Marinette decided to talk to her Kwami. There was something she had planned and she wanted to start putting into motion.

“Tikki? I think I want to try using the healing spells.”

The red Kwami floated away to infront of her, looking a little between worried and cautious. “ Here? Are you sure, Marinette? I thought you had wanted to use that spell back in Paris after you defeat Hawkmoth?”

Marinette had, but she wasn’t so sure anymore.

There were multiple healing spells she could use, being both the Ladybug Miraculous Wielder as well as the Grand Guardian. The one she and Tikki were speaking of was the Abstract Healing Spell.

The Abstract Healing Spell dealt with the healing of the unseen. It healed the spirit, the soul, and the mind. Marinette knew that come the time Hawkmoth was dealt with entirely, there would be plenty of others in the city dealing with a strain on their mental state. So, she and Tikki had discussed using the spell to help Paris heal afterwards. It wouldn’t erase the pain, but it would help them heal and take away the feeling of the pain.

For damaged spirits and souls, the issue was usually dealing with Miasma(a leak of dark or corrupted magic), or chaos energy from a Miraculous or another powerful form of magic. Chaos energy most commonly was found in people who abused magic and used it wrongfully, but also when dealing with a wish- whether that wish was from the Miraculous or something like it, the chaos magic that it would leave behind was damaging and often destroyed you from the inside out.

Miasma was often seen in Paris when Hawkmoth akumatized someone, as it was him using the magic wrongfully that made the magic take a dark effect. However, the Miasma always left when she got rid of the akuma and healed everything.

Marinette had wanted to use the healing spell on Paris, but that was when she thought that her surrounding world was all falling under the blame of Hawkmoth. Now, Marinette had come to understand that the people she took notice of were simply the way they were from the very start. It wasn’t Miasma she needed to heal there… it was the people that needed to get better themselves.

It hurt to say, because she knew there were some who truly did need it, but for the most part- Paris didn’t deserve the healing spell.

But Gotham did.

Gotham was riddled in Miasma- hell, it was soaked. But more than anyplace else, it deserved to be healed.

“Gotham needs it more,” she told Tikki. “I’ll start small for now, okay? I can’t even use the city-wide spell until I have the rest of the Miraculous anyways, so I’ll just stick to those here in Arkham. I also wish to use the luck magic, for the vigilantes. Please?” She technically didn’t need permission, but Marinette would never do it without Tikki’s okay. It was her magic that Marinette was tied to and using, so it only seemed fit that she give permission first.

Eyeing the teen for a moment, Tikki dropped her critical eye to sigh and nod. “If you are certain… Very well. But remember, Marinette: these spells will be taking their magical energy from you. It may be me that the magic starts from, but it is you that will be casting and using the spell- you must be careful how you use this magic. If you use it in small doses, all will be fine. But the more often you use it, the larger the amounts, and the more energy you push forth, and it will all drain from you more and more. You must be careful to watch your output of magic, understood?”

Marinette nodded. Tikki sighed again, floating down to rest on Marinette's knee.

She knew her Kwami was only worried for her well being, but Marinette wanted her to trust her too. She knew Tikki did, but Kwamis looked upon mortals as if they were all only babies with little-to-no experience. Which- fair. Kwamis were alive for millions to billions of years; the average human life span was nothing in comparison.

“Are you sure about the luck magic though?”

Marinette nodded. “I mean, only if I actually meet them, which I kind of doubt will even happen. The higher their luck, the more inmates they will bring into Arkham. The more often that happens, the more people who will be cured, right?” Her logic was honestly rather thin, but it was enough to win over her little friend. “Don’t worry- like I said, I highly doubt I’ll ever even see them.”

Yeah…

She really shouldn’t have jinxed herself there.

Chapter Text

It was Wednesday when she had said it- but it was the next Monday when the jinx hit her full force.

Marinette was in the cafeteria, speaking with Senor Alteri and Dr. Quinzel. It was shortly after the breakfast period, and Harleen had come to them both with a cheerful smile and good news.

“So I talked it over with Gordon, and we decided to speed up Marinette's work-pay schedule. So, instead of waiting two months, you can start working in the kitchens come next week!” Harleen said excitedly, using fun little jazz hands as she delivered the news.

“Eccellente!” Senor Alteri said, smiling brightly towards Marinette. She herself squealed and immediately hugged the doctor.

Harleen had noticed how she had reacted to her hugs before, and thus declared that she wanted Marinette to hug her whenever she wanted or felt emotional at all- whether happy or sad. Marinette had felt shy at the idea at first, but it was starting to win her over and she understood that she had become rather touch-starved in the last few years.

So long as Harleen said it was okay, Marinette would take full advantage of this.

“Thank you so much, Dr. Quinzel!”

“Oh my gosh- kiddo, call me Harley or Harleen, okay? You’re too young to be so freakin’ polite.”

Pulling away, Marinette turned to the Italian man beside her. “Senor? How soon could you put me to work?”

“Are you kidding? As soon as they allow it, senorita! I shall have you baking in the knick of time, darling!”

“Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

The three turned to find a guard standing nearby, an anxious look on his face. He pointed somewhere behind him and said, “You’ve got visitors. They need to talk to you.”

Visitors?

“Wait- we can get visitors?” She asked curiously, not having realized such a privilege would be allowed. Even then though, who would have come to visit her? In Gotham? Everyone she knew outside of Arkham were all in a different country, and most of them hated her and thought her to be a terrorist.

Who on earth would come to visit her?

Batman.

Batman came to visit her, and Marinette was certainly sending silent curses towards her Kwami for not providing her with luck after all these years.

Well, Batman himself was not in the room, but his teammates were sent by him. She couldn’t recall which ones they were, merely recognizing the style of their clothes and the logos they wore, but she could easily figure out by the presence of two of them that they were going to go with a good-cop-bad-cop routine.

Stopping in the room just as the door closed behind her, Marinette took in the two vigilantes in the room. One wore a cheerful and bright smile coupled with a suit of black and blue, while the other wore a red, black, and gold outfit and looked as tired as she did after pulling a full week of all nighters- the giant coffee mug in his hands only proved this idea further.

Pointing back and forth between them, Marinette couldn’t snap her mouth closed quick enough to stop herself from saying, “Is this an interrogation or a plea for help because your team’s outfits are terrible?”

…

…Tikki fell off her shoulder with wild laughter, and the two men looked stuck between confusion and shock- Marinette was silently praying to finally receive a filter.

“Sorry!” Marinette waved her hands about frantically, taking a seat in the chair across from them. “Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! I have little to no filter on my mouth and I deal in fashion so I didn’t mean to offend you I was only trying to point out a fact- not that your outfits being terrible is a fact! I only meant it like constructive criticism- yeah! No insults here, nope; none whatsoever! I mean one of your teammates does wear a red bucket for a helmet, last time I heard, so it’s nothing too personal, but, I-I… I’m going to shut up now…” She decided it was best to do such.

Hanging her head, Marinette groaned and hoped that her absolutely-an-insult comment wouldn’t make them treat her too harshly during their interrogation. You know what? Marinette had been planning to administer the luck magic, so it might help her case more by doing that now. The magic would calm them while it was being placed(theoretically at least).

“...Well then,” said the one in black and blue. He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. “That uh, that’s the first time one of these were started by criticism on our outfits-”

“Speak for yourself,” said the insomniac vigilante. He laughed a bit. “You sure? I enjoyed the comment on Hood’s helmet, definitely- but what about you? When you went around as Discowing? I’m half tempted to give her a photo of you like that just to see her reaction.” The name ‘Discowing’ was terrible enough that she was certain she might feel murderous at the sight.

“ Anyways; It’s nice to meet you, Miss Dupain-Cheng- or can we call you Marinette?”

“Marinette, please.” She hated being called by her last names- especially because of what happened with her parents. She could deal with it, but she would prefer her first name to be used.

“My name is Nightwing, and this is one of my teammates, Red Robin.”

“Pleasure to meet you.”

“Hello,” she responded unsurely. They both seemed nice, so she threw the good-cop-bad-cop idea out the window. “Uhm, what is this about, exactly?”

Nightwing clasped his hands together leaning against the desk between them. He smiled brightly, his face practically shining in delight. How was this man a teammate to Batman?

“We just wanted to meet you and talk about your case is all! You probably heard, but the Parisian government has been rather stingy on parting any information on your case to the U.S., so we thought we could come and speak to you ourselves.”

Marinette frowned. She had heard on the news that Paris was finally making contact with the Justice League- she felt that they would at least give her case information to them. “I thought the Justice League had been invited to aid the situation in Paris? Wouldn’t they have given you all my file since they view me as an accomplice?”

The two froze. “How did you know about that?”

“Commissioner Gordon added the Parisian news to the television in the main lounge. I wanted to know what was happening still, seeing as it is my home city. Though, I haven’t seen any of you or the Justice League in the few fights?”

The two men exchanged a quick glance. Nightwing cleared his throat and continued, his smile now slightly more nervous. “Uhm, w-well, we tried, at least. The Parisian government allowed for the heroes to contact us, but they’re not even giving them the case files either, so-”

“I’m sorry- them? ” Surely he wasn’t insinuating what she thought he was.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir?”

…

Oh hell no.

Marinette felt a smile grow tightly on her face, and Tikki herself floated nearby, equally just as silently pissed off. “Oh? I had assumed Ladybug was indisposed for the meantime- that is what Chat Noir had said, right? If she’s in contact with all of you, then why isn’t she healing my city?” She knew very well that Ladybug was indisposed, but not how anyone else could possibly imagine.

“She’s not able to come out to battle currently,” Red Robin said. “We’ve been mainly discussing with Chat Noir, and he’s looking to get us your files at this very moment.”

Wait a minute… “Chat Noir? Has he spoken at all on my arrest?”

Her question surprised them, but she couldn’t read anything unusual about their looks. She swears to all the Kwamis if that little idiot didn’t tell them she was-

“Not particularly, no.” Tikki burned red beside her in anger.

That friggin’ alley cat had decided to just- not mention that he knew for a fact that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a trusted ally.

He knew she was Multimouse- he had seen with his own eyes that she had held nearly all of the Miraculous in her hands, including his and Ladybugs. If she were truly an accomplice of Hawkmoth, then why the hell wouldn’t she have just brought them to Hawkmoth while they were in her hands!

“Of course he didn’t,” Marinette muttered, rolling her eyes. She didn’t in particular care for this conversation anymore- it was clear already whose side they were on.

Even if they made it seem like they wanted the truth and wanted to be nice to her, they were still the Justice League. They were working to stop Hawkmoth, and they would of course take Chat Noir’s word to heart. She wouldn’t put it past the damned cat to say he was in contact with Ladybug still and had her permission to give her authority. He wasn’t going to help Marinette- he was throwing her under the bus.

If the Justice League sided with Chat Noir, then they weren’t actually going to be helpful to her.

Sitting back, Marinette sighed. “I’ll give you the basics then, but don’t get pouty when it’s not the same story Paris is driving out: I’m innocent, was used as a scapegoat by Lila Rossi, and Chat Noir is a sociopathic predator. Are we done?”

The men both jerked back in shock, almost as if she had slapped them out of nowhere. They looked to the other, and she could see on their faces that it was from deep confusion. She remembered how Gordon had told her that in Gotham, if someone pleaded not-guilty, it wouldn’t take long for that to be thoroughly checked. She hoped more than anything that they would treat her similarly and listen to her plea, and look into the situation with their own base understanding rather than what Chat Noir and Paris had presented.

“That-” Red Robin cleared his throat. “Yeah, no, that’s not what we’re looking for here… We may not have much, but just the other day, Chat Noir gave us some of the files used for your case… You do realize the evidence against you is rather hard to refute, correct?”

Oh sweet Miraculous-

“Look; you’re young, and you made some mistakes- it’s okay.” Nightwing said softly, a kind and gentle smile in place as he tried to placate her. As if she was actually criminally insane and needed to be treated like this. “Your getting help here, and Hawkmoth isn’t going to use you anymore, alright? I don’t know what he did to make you help him but now yo-”

Oh hell no.

Marinette was not dealing with this.

She was not going to sit here and silently suffer as they- they tried to- coerce her to confess! She was innocent gosh-darn it!

“Yeah, this is already over,” Marinette said, standing up from her seat. She ignored when they tried to call her back, instead going to the door and knocking on it. “Hello?! We’re done in here!”

“Marinette, we aren’t finished.” Nightwing said, a hand placed on his partner's shoulder. Red Robin had his hands braced on the table, leaned forward as a show that he was trying to stand up to stop her. “I know this might be difficult, but one of the first steps to you getting the help you need is admitting to what you’ve done-”

“We are entirely finished!” She shouted out, hoping someone would let her out. She had been told before entering that she had the right to leave since she was a patient, and had the legal right to deny meeting with others- she didn’t know if they would let her turn away the Bat Team though. She had a weird feeling that the team of vigilantes got to have a lot of exemptions to those kind of rules.

“Hello?! Can I please leave now?!”

“Marinette, please just have a seat.” Whipping her head around, she found the two men slowly advancing, holding out their hands to gently lead her back to the table. In that moment, Marinette felt her resolve snap.

It snapped so badly that it was loud enough for her to hear it ringing in her ears. It felt like a burning pain in her chest and heart, like she was already crying a storm despite tears only now just beginning to form. She felt like a heavy yoke was placed around her neck on her shoulders, like she was being weighed down and she needed to scream to get it off.

She was being dragged under the crashing waves of her emotions, and it felt the pain in her chest was like the burning pain of water rushing up her nose. She wanted air, she wanted relief, and she couldn’t get it until she broke out of those emotions by swimming up through it.

Before Marinette could even mentally decide on what to do, a hand grasped her shoulder.

“NO!” She shouted, backing up so that her back was against the wall by the door. The hand fell away when she swung an arm out to push it off. “D-don’t touch me!” She hated it- she hated the touch-

“Marinette?” Tikki asked worriedly.

There was a banging on the window, only lasting a second- but it was enough to echo in her head.

She was trying- Kwamis was Marinette trying… She tried to break out of the waters, but her emotions were running rampant, only pulling her deeper under the waves of pressure. That- that touch had only felt like a shove back under, and Marinette needed it off.

They were still there- the two men- they were standing not too far away in front of her. Why were they here? Why come to her for questions when they didn’t want to listen and thought they already had their answers? Was… was this just a game? Were they just like those she had come to know in Paris? They were on their side after all- Why were they still advancing towards her?

Marinette felt herself drop to the ground, grasping her head in pain as these thoughts screamed inside of her.

She didn’t want to hear any of it- she didn’t want to be touched!

Another bang sounded in the room, and a new light poured in from the hall- the door must have swung open. Her eyes were closed and her head was down at the time, but she heard the two get shoved back. A woman told them to back off(she told them to fuck off actually but same difference).

A new feeling came, grasping her by her shoulders.

Marinette almost screamed again, not wanting the feeling of burning up under someone's hand- but her body didn’t burn at the pressure.

Instead of the hands pushing her down deeper under the waters, they smoothed out the ferocity of the waves above her. It was gentle- a pressure to help ground her rather than throw her off her guard. Marinette didn’t have many people in her life that she was okay with touching her, and none of them should even be in this country, so she figured quickly who it was.

“-ight, sweetheart? Can you do that for me? Just breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth.” Harleen said. She spoke loud, but Marinette appreciated it since it drowned out the loud pounding that echoed in her mind from other sensations. “Focus on my voice, sweetie. Nothing else- just me. Everything’s gonna be okay, alright?” She quickly pulled the teen into a hug, knowing that her own physical contact was much more welcome than that of the Vigilantes who Marinette had been unfamiliar with.

Falling deeper into the embrace, Marinette couldn’t help her whimper as she nuzzled into her psychologist. She absently noted the pressure of her Kwami, cuddling herself into the dip in Marinette's neck in her own show of comfort.

The Kwamis didn’t have any body heat of their own, so it hadn’t felt like someone else touching her before… The notion was still appreciated though, and it did provide its own form of care.

After a few minutes, her vision became less blurry, and the pounding in her ears had died down enough to pass as merely a small buzzing that she could find herself ignoring. Sniffling softly, she spoke in no louder than a whisper(her throat feeling too raw and strained to be louder). “Thank you, D-Doctor Quinzel…”

A soft chuckle, though Marinette felt it more than she heard it. “Of course, kiddo. Hey, do me a favor though? Just call me Harley, okay? I think we’re past the over-politeness.”

Marinette smiled, nodding her head slightly in response.

Chapter Text

“Hello?! Can I please leave now?!”

“Marinette, please just have a seat.” 

“NO! D-Don’t touch me!”

Bruce paused the video, glaring disapprovingly at his two sons. “Well? What did you learn from this?”

Dick had his head down, smartly choosing to hold his tongue. Once Harley had burst into the room and told Nightwing and Red Robin to fuck off, quickly moving to comfort Marinette, he had snapped out of his act and recalled just what they were doing.

No matter what she was charged with, no matter if she was truly as innocent as she claimed- Marinette Dupain-Cheng was still a child. A child he had pushed into a panic attack and possibly a sensory overload from the way she was reacting.

Being a father himself to a little girl, Dick could feel nothing but disappointment in himself for how he had handled the situation.

Tim was not far off, but he of course hadn’t felt the guilt at the exact same length as his eldest brother. Seeing the other didn’t plan to answer, Tim sighed and responded, “Not much, really. As you can see, we didn’t get to talk to her for lon-”

“I meant about the way you both conducted the interrogation,” Bruce interrupted, waving off the other part. “I already got what I needed to hear about her answers. What I need you both to understand is that this kind of situation can’t happen again, got it?” They both nodded. Bruce sighed, turning back to the bat computer as he looked at the paused image.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was curled into a ball, pressed against the wall and terrified for every sense of the word. Bruce had watched the video for the first time and nearly felt his heart break, having seen every single one of his own children break down into the position before.

“I know you both were trying to control the situation, and I’m not mad; you didn’t realize things were escalating until it was too late. However, it’s important to remember that no matter what- not only is Miss Dupain-Cheng a child, but she is coming from a city that is practically an active war zone where everyone she knew was a supervillain that tried to hurt others. Aid of terrorism or not- she needs to be handled carefully and with care. Either I, Spoiler, or Black Bat, will be present for any future interrogations with her, understood?”

They both nodded again, relaxing a bit but still clearly sorry for the situation.

The others in the cave had remained silent until then, either coming to terms with the situation similarly to Tim and Dick, or still analyzing what they could from what little Marinette had said. Damian focused on something that his father said though; seeing the conversation was moving on, he took the moment to ask.

“You don’t think she’s guilty, do you?”

Bruce remained quiet for a moment, thinking on his answer. “I’m not sure. However, nothing about this situation seems right, no matter where you stand and look at it. Even knowing Chat Noir could only give us the bare minimum of the files, Marinette’s entire trial seems tampered with, and I’m starting to question Ladybug’s supposed involvement in this situation as well.”

He rewound the video, pressing play for them all to recall Marinette’s main claim. “I’ll give you the basics then, but don’t get pouty when it’s not the same story Paris is driving out: I’m innocent, was used as a scapegoat by Lila Rossi, and Chat Noir is a sociopathic predator. Are we done?”

The pure annoyance she showed had seemed nothing short of her claiming her innocence- but looking back to it now, it was nothing if not real.

“Barbara, find everything you can on Lila Rossi; her name showed up on the list of witnesses speaking against Marinette at her trial. Tim, look at any if not all footage of Chat Noir that is available- especially pertaining to Marinette; find out the reason she would make that claim.” He was getting tired of this whole game.

Unfortunately, they wouldn’t be reaching the end of it for a while longer…

“Here you go!” Marinette handed a small plate over from under the glass window, a bright smile in place as she passed out servings of croissants. “Enjoy~”

She had started working in the kitchen that morning, and already Marinette was thriving. While she hadn’t enjoyed baking with her parents in the last few years, baking in general was still a major stress reliever for her.

When the two members of the Bat team had come to speak with her the other week, Marinette had made the mistake in hoping they would take her side. Now, while she knew having hope was never a mistake, she chided herself later for having almost expected it from them.

That same expectation had been the same kind of mindset used by Lila.

Marinette had to give them credit- they had tried to look into her situation, but they had only been provided so much information. It was only fair that they would at first put their initial faith in the government and a fellow ‘hero’. They didn’t know Lila, or the Mayor, or Chat Noir, or anything about Marinette’s situation- and yet she had expected them to be on her side. Sure, those against her were spinning lies and trying to hold their own status quo, but people unfamiliar to the situation were more likely to believe the side with the most followers(especially with those followers including a superhero and the government).

She had every right to be upset with how they treated her during the interrogation, and she also had every right to be hurt that there were now more people against her- but she had no right to expect them to be on her side.

If she did, then she really would be no better than Lila.

However, this was only a pass for the Bat team and the Justice League- and it wouldn’t last forever. Marinette now expected for them to do their own research into her situation, so she would give them a pass for now until it came to a point where they had no excuse for remaining oblivious- it was Batman she was talking about here. However, the heroes and those outside of her previous life were the only ones with the excuse. Those from her class and her family- they had no excuse.

They knew Marinette, and yet they doubted her every word and action at the pretty words and eye-flutters from a new girl who never even spoke a believable lie that Marinette would have ever even questioned the possibility of. It was one thing to get a second opinion and evidence against her, but it was another thing to listen to a stranger and ignore Marinette entirely.

She wouldn’t hold it against the Justice League for doubting her, but she would hold it against Paris.

Anyways- enough of that! She had come to work in the kitchen at Arkham to find another way to relax and heal, not think over all of her pain. Whether that was healing herself or others though didn’t matter much to her.

That morning, Tikki had awoken her excitedly, reminding her that she was going to be allowed access to the kitchens to help. Marinette had quickly gotten ready and had found herself bouncing on the balls of her feet, nearly forty minutes before her door would even be unlocked. Apparently, her excitement had been radiating from her in such strong waves that Joker had shouted out from next door, “Puppet- chill! We still have half an hour, and I want to sleep!”

Surrounded by others with high levels of Creation, Marinette had found her own leaking out whenever she used her magic. She hadn’t used much of it, only once when she gave luck magic to the vigilantes, and twice during group therapy when she had radiated small amounts of healing magic. With Joker’s high level of Creation, the man seemed to be able to tell now when she used her magic nearby, as he said it gave him a positive and calming aura- though he disliked the feeling when he was busy plotting something and trying to remain evil or whatever.

(She didn’t buy it- she knew he enjoyed the calm.)

The moment after they were all free to move about, Marinette only gave her neighbor a quick hello before she was rushing off towards the kitchens.

Signor Altieri had been bringing out ingredients from the pantry when she burst through the door. “Buongiorno, Signor!”

The man startled only slightly, smiling brightly back. “Buongiorno, piccolo! Are you excited for your first day at work? I plan to have you help baking, so you should find yourself back in your element~” Yes! She was certain her excitement was leaking through her again along with the Creation.

A few minutes later, three other inmates entered the kitchen area, all a part of the kitchen staff. They all said their personal greetings with Signor Altieri before heading to their stations. Marinette didn’t personally recognize two of them, but the one who joined her near her new station was very familiar.

“Monsieur Scarecrow!” Marinette said cheerfully, excited for another familiar face in the kitchen.

Scarecrow chuckled wryly before giving a large yawn. “Just call me Crane, kid. Dang, I almost forgot you would be working in here with me. Your parents were bakers, right?”

“In the heart of Paris’ commercial district, yes, so we did a lot of baking,” she said, nodding to his question. She grew a curious look then. “I wasn’t aware you enjoyed the activity?” She wasn’t usually one to assume by looks, but Crane really didn’t seem like the type to enjoy baking… Maybe Bane; the man seemed to like trying his hand at more domestic activities(he said it was to help his temper, but he could never find a control for long).

Crane shrugged. “Baking is just another form of science and chemistry, and it helps me get my hands dirty without getting in too much trouble when I’m here.”

He wasn’t as skilled as the Parisian, but he was still very good when put to work, and Marinette hadn’t found a good person to bake with in a while(her parents were a clear no-go, and her close friends could all set a pot of water on fire).

The two had started on large helping of croissants, having enough made for everyone by the end of breakfast. When everyone else had mostly finished eating, she and Crane had placed the piping hot croissants near the counter, and nearly the whole cafeteria had lined up to take their servings. Everyone got to have two croissants, with the promise of more baked goods with lunch and dinner.

“What are we thinking for the day,” Crane asked in deep thought. “Got any go-to desserts you’ve been wanting to bake for a while?”

“You mean other than everything,” she joked. “Hmm… Maybe we can make madeleines for lunch, and… Oh! Have you ever made macarons before? Authentic macarons?”

“Never made any to begin with, so don’t gasp in horror when I say I don’t know what a non-authentic macaron would be.” She still gasped in overdramatized horror. “I’d be more than willing to learn though; I’ve heard macarons are the most difficult and challenging to make, and I’m always up to a challenge, kiddo.”

The main pull from the day however had to be that Marinette started using The Abstract Healing Spell.

She could only do it in small amounts for now, though that was fine since she was under surveillance in the kitchen and wouldn’t have been able to place it in large amounts without it being noticeable. She worked the magic through her hands when she was kneading the dough, and brushing a layer of butter on them for the batch Crane made. Her magic like this, in small bursts, was naturally undetectable to anyone not trained to see it specifically; both by other magic wielders and physically by normal people. So, only she would see the light pink sparkles covering the freshly baked bread.

Marinette opted to spend the majority of her day in the kitchens, happy to find Crane often did much the same. However, they were kicked out come the moment they finished passing out lunches. Signor Alteri had sternly told them how he knew they hadn’t eaten despite all the food they made, and he ordered them to have a large helping of food and to rest for at least an hour or two before returning.

Grabbing their plates, Crane gestured over towards the far side of the room. “You wanna join us, kid?” Seeing her surprise, the man chuckled and said, “You’re a nice breath of fresh air for us, and I’m not gonna lie that you aren’t our favorite- Jokers especially.”

Marinette grinned and walked over beside him. “I thought that wasn’t a good thing?”

“Meh; we have good favorites and bad favorites. You fall more under the first group though, so it’s fine.”

Turns out, it was fine. The moment she sat down amongst the Rogues, she got kind and cheerful smiles, thanks for the madeleines, and conversations to include her. She sat between Clayface and Crane, right across from Joker.

Her neighbor gave her what had to be his most genuine and kind smile, and Marinette felt honored with how often she was on the receiving end of it. 

Sitting and talking for a while, Tikki eventually whispered to her that she would go and check on the Miracle Box, and see how the others were doing. Marinette tapped a small thank you in international morse, watching her Kwami fly off before returning back to the conversation.

To be honest, Marinette was grateful for Tikki leaving. Not just because she was going to check on the others, but because Marinette wanted to try something…

The Rogues were known to be the most terrifying and feared criminals in Gotham, if not the whole world itself, and Marinette knew now it had largely to do with the Miasma that seemed to cling to this group more than others. Honestly, it was so thick around them that a lesser Miraculous Wielder probably would have choked from the heavy air of it- but Marinette felt comfort.

She was both a soul of Destruction and Creation, though mainly the later. With this, people of both souls were drawn to her, though mainly of Creation. The Rogues all fell under that line of soul, but the Miasma levels clinging to them all made it so they were also a bit on the other side of the spectrum. Instead of counteracting their draw to her though, it just made them feel more at ease around her.

Her presence alone was slowly easing them away from darkness, but that wasn’t to say a little magic healing couldn’t help. Well.. extra magic healing.

And that was why she was glad Tikki left for a bit. With Tikki gone just as Marinette was surrounded by the group, Marinette could send forth a bit more streams of the Abstract Healing Spell, without her Kwami chastising her for using too much energy.

She loved Tikki, but sometimes the Kwami could be a little too overprotective. Marinette was sure she would be fine.

“So, tell me, because I’m curious,” Penguin lent forward, wearing a cheeky grin. “Just how much do you think being here will corrupt you?”

Corrupt her? Marinette smiled a bit, “You mean morally? I mean… in all honesty, I don’t think I view you guys and your criminal background the way I should, but if you’re asking how long it’ll take for me to join your ranks and commit crime; it’ll take a heck of a long time for me to get there.”

At her answer, Joker snorted lightly and gestured towards her as he took a large bite of a madeleine, fitting the whole thing in his mouth before he replied. “This is the kid that screamed for help yesterday because a spider made its way into her cell. The reason she screamed for help though, was because she was too worried about moving it at the risk of hurting the thing. I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s possible to corrupt her.”

Marinette pouted in response. That situation shouldn’t be taken into account! Insects, animals, and the likes, were different then people. They couldn’t commit actions of evil- not with the intention of evil, that is. For them, it was all about survival. Marinette couldn’t hold anything against creatures of such mindsets, but humans were beings of carnal minds- it was easy to lose hope in humanity with all she’s seen.

So yeah, even if that one situation (which Joker seemed to find absolutely hilarious like the jerk he is) made her have a high moral standard for other living creatures, Marinette did believe her moral standards for other humans was capable of shrinking- it already had been in the last few years.

Marinette knew this had started before coming to America, but she wondered if maybe her care for her city was fading quicker due to the company she kept here? She didn’t want to think so…

Did she?

There was another interview.

Great.

Marinette grumbled as she walked down the steps, grumbling as Joker walked beside her. “It hasn’t even been a full week! Don’t these guys have anything better to do with their time? I was already humiliated enough in front of them…”

Her neighbor shrugged. “Well, most of us big-times are all in here already, so most of the crimes going on out on the streets are small and don’t need a full team usually. Batsy’s probably just trying to give his flock a chore chart or something until one of us breaks out.” Okay, how often did the Rogues break out and start something? “What happened last time?”

Oh yeah; she had purposefully gone out of her way to not tell him about that. Marinette smiled a bit awkwardly and waved him off. “O-oh, it was nothing. I just- I kinda broke down crying, you know? I guess ever since I left Paris my emotions began to run high, and I got pretty emotional when they started accu- erm, asking me about the akuma situation.”

Joker stopped her by blocking her path with an arm as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She looked up to find him looking down to her with a pointed and suspicious look in his eyes. “They accused you?”

Danggit- she had been too late to hide her original wording.

“It’s not like it’s their fault,” she said, growing a little nervous. “They only know what they’ve been told, after all. Even Batman couldn’t get ahold of my files from the sound of it. Of course they would be suspicious of me-”

“ Batman should know better than to jump to conclusions- he doesn’t jump to conclusions.” Joker said, crossing his arms and looking off with a deep scowl. “That fu- freaking little…” Did… Did he just try to stop himself from cursing around her? “Look, Batman has no excuse here, alright? If he knows he doesn’t have all the information, he won’t stop at anything to get it. He shouldn’t have said anything to upset you- the guy is usually able to show a sliver of kindness towards kids.”

“Oh- oh no!” Marinette waved her hands in a panic, seeing a strong flare of anger and spite in Joker's soul. “B-Batman wasn’t there for my interrogation! The two there were Nightwing and Red Robin-”

“That’s somehow worse! ” Now Joker just looked appalled. “Nightwing is the most sociable of the flock, so he should have been on top of making sure you weren’t upset! Not to mention Red Robin is more of a stickler to getting all the facts and information then the Bat himself! Dear God- and they made you cry?! ”

“What?!”

The two turned, to find Two Face, Riddler, Bane, and Crane, all walking over.

At Joker's proclamation, the four men all wore looks of equal fury. Crane spoke up first. “Who the hell made Shortcake cry?! Are they dead yet?!”

While Joker had coined her with the nickname Puppet, her entire Therapy Group decided the nickname she should go by was Shortcake- both for her love of the desert, the fact she was a baker, and for her height. The last one was a bit rude in her opinion but they had all waved it off and she let it slide.

“Batman's flock,” Joker replied. “And they want to talk to her again later today.”

“LIke hell!” Two Face grumbled. “She gets the right to turn them down, right?”

Marinette shook her head. “No, I actually can’t. While I would normally have that in France as well, I don’t get that right as an aid of terrorism. Since it’s involving magic, I would also fall under the Justice Leagues By-Laws, and those state that I at least need to be present for a certain amount of time for questioning. I can leave, and I could technically just keep my mouth shut, but I can’t legally refuse to go to their interrogation if it has something to do with my crime.” Harleen had explained all this to her shortly after her first interrogation, letting her know of any loopholes or rights she had concerning her time there.

There weren't a lot of them since she was marked as assisting terrorism, and even less since it was a magical situation that put her under the extremely restrictive rules set by the Justice League- but it was something at least.

Her interview wasn’t until later; the officer who had alerted her had said that one of the female vigilantes would be present to help make things more comfortable for her, and that it would be about an hour or less before dinner, so she would have to miss out on helping bake for that. 

Marinette wasn’t sure if she was ready for another interview, but she knew that come before dinner, she wouldn’t have much choice.

Buongiorno: Good Morning

Piccolo: Little One

Chapter Text

“Now, you want to take a deep breath, but take it slow rather than quick, or else it will build up too fast,” Marinette spoke softly, but still loud enough to be heard. “Don’t hold it in either, let the air come in and out as it pleases. And remember; you don’t need to empty your mind like they usually say, you just need to block out intrusive thoughts.”

Marinette had learned early on that Bane had some… temperamental issues.

He enjoyed doing domestic activities, not only because he said that normal things seemed fun when he was “not-normal”, but also because he was trying to find the perfect outlet for his raw and unfiltered anger. Marinette had found herself respecting the man greatly for his drive of healing- especially when she saw he had been trying to go for it for years now.

“Nothing ever works for long,” he had grumbled earlier that week during group therapy. “Just when I think I found something that calms me down, it becomes too complicated or something comes and ruins it.”

“What went wrong with meditation again?” She had asked curiously, remembering how he had mentioned it the first time they met.

It turns out, the man hadn’t been instructed properly on how to meditate well. He had been taught how to do a more religious practice of meditation, and Marinette found that not only was such a practice difficult for beginners, but it wasn’t very fruitful for those doing it for a reason other than religious alignment.

So, she had offered to show him how to do it properly; and here they were.

In the common room, Marinette had at first started off with only Bane, but Joker, Riddler, Two Face(who demanded she just call him Harvey), had soon joined as well. After about forty minutes, their meditation circle had gone from a handful of people to a group of nearly thirty.

Marinette had been seated at first to show in example how to breath and relax. Now, she walked around quietly, softly directing everyone on how to release their emotions. You could say she was an expert at it. While some would call it unhealthy to bottle up their emotions(and Marinette would agree), it was fine to do such with the purpose of releasing it soon. Marinette had no doubt treated her mental state with nearly no consideration at times, but she would once in a while make space in her schedule to sit and relax(though usually Kagami or Luka needed to be the ones enforcing it).

Now, she was teaching her fellow inmates how to take any building anger or spite, and let it leave them behind with peace of mind.

“I don’t want you to imagine the scenario that brought it, but I want you to think of the feeling itself of the last time you grew so filled with rage, that you might have done something wrong. Now I want you to imagine that feeling; feel the burn of it in your throat and spine… Now… I want you to picture in your mind a new scenery around you.” She came up just behind Bane, seeing him hunch his shoulders when she told him to imagine a moment of anger. She placed her hands on his shoulders and gently but firmly helped him push them back down. “Picture the last place that made you feel calm, or happy. Nothing in your scenery should make you upset in the least- just happiness. Focus on that cooling area surrounding you, and gently urge that burning feeling to slowly die down… Remember to take your time; anger isn’t easy to get rid of.”

She felt his muscles loosen after a bit, and she let go when she saw him let out a relaxed and gentle breath, Banes' head lowering a bit as he lost himself in his mind.

Walking around again, she was just stepping up to her neighbor when Tikki tapped her cheek from her perch on her shoulder, pointing towards a small group in the room, watching the meditation circle. Other than two guards, the group included three of the vigilantes- Nightwing, and two she hadn’t yet had the displeasure of meeting.

Sighing, Marinette gave a strained smile as she gently called out. “Unfortunately, I have to leave for a bit. You’re all welcome to continue- you’ve all done great thus far~” Joker blinked his eyes open a few times, looking at her curiously. She pointed over to the vigilantes and the man scowled when he saw them.

“Freaking… Don’t let your guard down, Puppet. The girl, Black Bat, can read you like an open book, and the traffic light, Robin, likes to stab people for so much as breathing near him. If you have a single tear, I’ll kill ‘em all.” Well, she better keep her emotions in check again; it would make all the magic she used thus far obsolete if Joker killed them.

She still nodded though, smiling softly and thanking him as she made her way over.

Upon approaching, despite the casual smiles from the guards, the vigilantes looked almost horrified. “Is something the matter?” She asked, keeping her voice low even though the meditation circle was all the way across the room.

Nightwing blinked a few times, his mouth gaping and opening and closing like a fish as he tried and failed to find his voice. Robin spoke up, the white eyes of his mask narrowed with suspicion. “You seem… close, with the Rogues.”

Huh; she supposed it made sense that they weren’t aware of the nature of their relationship- this would be fun. Marinette smirked and shrugged in response. “Nice observation. Now, you wanted a do-over from last week, I suppose?” The guards led them to an interrogation room, one similar in looks to the last one.

Sitting at the table, the vigilantes sat across from her, with Black Bat in the middle of her partners.

Clearing his throat, Nightwing began. “First of all, I would like to apologize for last week. My partner, Red Robin, and I both had handled it wrongly and hadn’t put you in as high concern and care as we should have. I’m sorry we had upset you.”

…Huh…

When was the last time another human being had honestly and truly apologized to her?

Feeling a bit flustered suddenly, not having really expected any form of an apology, she replied, “U-umm, it- it’s fine? I mean, I understood where you were coming from, no matter how much it upset me-! If anything, I should be the one apologizing!” That’s right, she had almost forgotten about that.

She ignored the looks of shock the three wore, finishing before she could be interrupted. “I shouldn’t have overreacted like that, and I apologize. I had spent the last three years suppressing any and all of my emotions, and moving to Gotham has given me the chance to actually feel and express those things. I’ve been so eagerly expressing my emotions, I guess I just forgot myself and let them overtake me- it’s no excuse, and I’m so sorry for having snapped like that. I’m sor-”

“ Don’t. ”

Marinette's mouth snapped closed, and she blinked rapidly in surprise. “W-what?”

While Nightwing continued to look horrified, similar to before, Black Bat(whom she could actually see the eyes of) looked almost… sad. However, it was Robin who had spoken up.

Holding a hand up to stop her, the young man was pinching the bridge of his nose. “Dear lord, give me strength… Miss Dupain-Cheng-”

“Marinette,” she softly interrupted, trying not to cringe at her involuntary remark.

“- Marinette… The mistakes of our partners are of no fault of your own, and you ca- you shouldn’t ever feel the need to apologize for having felt emotions. You felt cornered and attacked, and they should have backed off- not touch you or escalate the situation.” Nightwing flinched a bit, but Marinette knew he must truly feel bad- why else would an adult apologize unless it was truly so sincere?

Above the young man, Tikki floated over and pointed down to Robin, smiling brightly. “I like this one; he doesn’t speak nonsense.”

“But it’s fine, really!” She said, waving it all off and causing her Kwami to facepalm. “It’s fine, I forgive you, and you didn’t do anything wrong. There’s no need to worry, okay?” She looked imploringly towards the oldest member, eventually receiving a tentative nod. “Now then; I’m guessing that’s not all you wanted to come here to talk about?” Otherwise it would have honestly been a bit of a waste of their time to have all three come to see her like this.

Well, for them it was- for her, Marinette could simply use the opportunity to continue pushing her luck magic; it helped that there were two new people here for the day. She could try pushing more out to the three of them then she had before, to better amplify.

So… she started the spell, and passed them luck magic again… This is probably where it all started, to be honest…

This is where Marinette made her first mistake.

“We wanted to ask about a situation you mentioned during the last time,” Robin said. “You mentioned a Lila Rossi, correct? She’s listed as one of the witnesses who testified against you, along with a few others who claimed to be classmates of yours. Could you start by telling us your relationship with them?”

Oh dear Kwamis, she had a lot to say on this.

Sitting up, Marinette smiled brightly, Tikki coming back to now perch herself on her chosens head. With her Kwami being above her, Marinette didn’t notice the curious and searching look on her Kwamis face. Instead, she noticed a small headache forming and internally groaned as she mentally noted to ask for ibuprofen later.

“Lila Rossi transferred to my school a few months after Hawkmoth first showed up. She lies with every breath, and she’s had it out for me since the beginning when I called her out on it. Her lies aren’t even believable, and yet she had everyone eating out of the palm of her hand. I was tossed to the side by people I thought were my friends, and my parents showed me just how little they truly cared for me. She’s friends with Chloe and Sabrina, who just so happen to be the daughter of the Mayor, and daughter of the Commissioner, and those two have actively hated me and bullied me since primary school. I don’t know why they went to these lengths to ruin my life, but it isn’t the first time, and I really wasn’t as surprised as I should have been.” She finally breathed. Marinette had needed to cut herself off somewhere in her statement before she accidently told them Lila was working with Hawkmoth. That information wouldn’t do them any good if she wasn’t in Paris- Hawkmoth might just go into hiding and Lila could just deny it all anyways since she had no proof other than what she had as Ladybug.

The three across from her remained silent.

Black Bat was staring at her intensely, most likely trying to get a read on her like Joker had warned. Nightwing seemed cautious and still clearly doubtful, smile a bit tense and body rather fidgety.

Robin had been listening most, that much she could tell. While Black Bat seemed to be analyzing her, Marinette felt it was more her trying to see if Marinette was lying. Robin had actually listened and was thinking on her words. Marinette didn’t realize before just how much she appreciated that.

Whenever she spoke to people back in Paris, they would be either like Nightwing(unbelieving towards and really just humoring her), or like Black Bat(only looking to see where she would mess up and can be called out for lying). Up until moving into Arkham Asylum, Marinette hadn’t found too many people in her life who actually just listened to her.

Like she said before, she could count on her hands how many people in her life she could trust… Well, in the past few weeks, that started to become less and less true.

Robin was giving her the benefit of the doubt simply by listening to what she was saying.

That was something Marinette had been praying for back in Paris, and her prayers were finally being answered tenfold.

However, as she acknowledged this, a quick pierce of pain shot through her head from the headache. Quickly shooting a hand up, she put pressure to her left temple, wincing harshly. Tikki sat up on her head, slowly floating off to look her in the eyes, but Marinette had closed them.

“Are you alright?” Robin asked, concern lacing his voice.

She nodded, waving it off. “Y-yeah, I’m… fine. Just a sudden headache…”

Marinette reopened her eyes, finding Tikki looking at her with deep worry, glancing over her entire form. “Marinette…” It was like she was looking for something but didn’t know what yet.

Leaving the Kwami to it(whatever it was), she returned her focus to the Vigilantes across from her.

Robin still looked concerned, while Nightwing seemed not too far off. Black Bat still remained in her calculating state. In all honesty, she reminded Marinette a lot of Luka. Her friend had always been able to figure others out in a few glances; he was practically an empath(sometimes she wondered if he actually was though).

“Uhm, anyways,” Nightwing started, seeming to try and shake the worry from his being and yet not really able to do such. “Something we were wondering about was what happened at your trial. An akuma came into the courtroom, and yet instead of akumatizing someone, it just sat beside you… I’m not trying to call you out, but how would you explain that?”

That was fair, but then again- “Isn’t that one of the biggest signs that I was set up though?” She asked them. She raised her hands again, needing to prop her elbows on the table as she rubbed both of her temples now. The headache had faded slightly after a moment, but now it was slowly building up as a migraine… only more powerful. “If I was really working with Hawkmoth, why wouldn’t he have akumatized me there? Why push me further into conviction by merely showing up instead of rescuing someone who is supposedly his ally? If I worked for him, he could have gotten me out of there with an akuma, and yet he didn’t.”

She didn’t see their reactions to her words, instead needing to clench her eyes closed tightly as she tried to handle the new pain in her head. She felt Tikki come close to gently grasp the side of her face, worry in her tone. “Marinette? Marinette, what’s wrong?! You need to tell me what’s wrong!”

‘What’s wrong’? Was something the matter?

Marinette could barely think, not only feeling the sharp pinpoint pain in her head but hearing it in the high frequency that rang in her ears now.

“-akes sense that he wouldn’t then.” Oh right, they were still talking.

Robin’s voice had sounded a little softer, indicating he was most likely talking to his teammates rather than to her. She didn’t really catch what was being said though through the high ringing in her head.

It felt like it was vibrating her skull, making her head feel numb, but not in the way she normally preferred or could ignore. This was a bad numb- the kind of numb feeling that made you feel empty and depressed, and like you just wanted to cry.

She almost did cry, if not for being reminded again that she had company, as a smooth and gentle female voice spoke up. “Miss Marinette? Can you open your eyes for me?”

The voice was beside her now, and she only barely managed to squint her eyes open and turn her head.

Black Bat was kneeled beside her, a look of concern now on her face, much more worried then even her partners had been. The woman slowly reached her hands up. “Marinette… I’m going to need to catch you here in a second, alright?”

W-what…?

“Marinette!” Tikki floated just above Black Bat, but Marinette didn’t have the strength to properly meet her Kwamis gaze, only seeing her in her peripheral vision. “You need to stop the spell!”

She didn’t have the time though to properly understand the Kwami’s words, nor the Vigilante’s. She barely had time to even acknowledge the pain in her skull.

Instead, Marinette felt the ear-piercing tone in her head hit a crescendo, making her head feel ready to snap in half. It practically did, snapping her mind and causing her to fall unconscious.

She felt it, as her body fell limp and began to fall from her seat. A pair of strong arms caught her in no more than a second, and Marinette felt her skin burn underneath her shirt and vest at the touch.

The last thing she heard was the sound of her Kwami screaming her name, terror and fear overtaking her ears as the ringing vanished in an instant.

…

“Marinette… Wake up…”

Her eyes fluttered beneath her lids before slowly blinking her mind awake.

This wasn’t her cell.

The room had cream colored walls and a popcorn ceiling. This wasn’t her bed, because instead of the soft comforter, she was covered by a slightly thick sheet. The room didn’t smell like her either, nothing like the natural vanilla and sugar cookie smell she had carried around with her since childhood.

It smelled like the definition of sterile- a bit of bleach, mostly empty cabinets, and glass containers filled with medicine.

So yeah, Marinette knew in roughly three seconds that she was in the medical wing, and she hadn’t even needed to look around.

A small clearing of the throat called for her attention, and Marinette slowly found the strength to sit up. The room was empty of life besides herself, and the Kwami who sat on her lap with arms crossed, and a furrow in her invisible brows.

Tikki didn’t have visible wings in her Kwami form, but Marinette could hear the soft buzzing her Kwami made when she was upset.

“Marinette…” She gulped lightly at the stern voice, knowing Tikki was trying very hard to not sound angry. “We need to have a chat. Starting with a subject you clearly don’t care for: Limitations.”

Hoh boy…

Chapter Text

After a thorough lecture, in which she had been chewed out for nearly half an hour, Tikki had finally calmed down and nestled herself into her holder's neck. Marinette promised to never scare her again, and to go easy on the magic she provided.

Apparently, since she was pulling the magic from herself, and not just from the Miraculous, the spells drained her quickly if she used them at high dosages without practice. Something that Tikki said she had warned Marinette about, but the teenager was almost certain she had either forgotten or had ignored.

It was early in the morning the next day, but Marinette hadn’t even felt that she had slept during her unconsciousness.

Due to the high amounts of luck magic she had been pushing out, Marinette hadn’t been able to limit her powers properly, and her body had begun to shut down on her in any way it could to make her stop.

She ended up passing out during her interrogation.

“Black Bat noticed you were falling unconscious,” Tikki told her. “I don’t know how she knew, but she did.”

The woman probably saw the signs. She might have recognized her head pain and fatigue- Joker mentioned Black Bat was good at reading people.

She recalled her telling her she would need to catch her, and Marinette was glad she had told her beforehand. It hadn’t helped much for the burning sensation, as warning her hadn’t been enough to convince her body to allow the touch, but it was enough for her mind to know that the woman had been trying to be respectful to her.

She looked at Black Bat differently now- she thought she had simply been assessing her for her lies to come up in the interrogation. The Vigilante had, but she had also been looking at her signs of failing health, and had been there to catch her, knowing she was feeling unwell.

Marinette was grateful; she was sure she would have been worse off had she hit her head on the marble floor below.

After a while, at about half past seven, a doctor walked into the room with a guard beside him. The man smiled kindly to her. “Miss Dupain-Cheng,” he greeted kindly. “I’m Dr. Cione. I, along with Dr. Reese, work the medical wing. Would it be alright for me to do a check-up?” She nodded, though he noticed her small hesitation. “Dr. Quinzel has informed us that you don’t like being touched much, so I promise only to do so if it’s needed, with warning ahead, and only with your permission. Would that be alright?”

Oh thank Kwami- “Y-yes, thank you.”

He did the normal check-up, the same as she was used to from a normal visit to a physician.

He checked her heartbeat in different areas, asking her to take deep breaths, and he asked her how she felt. When he checked her blood pressure, only keeping his hand over the strip he placed on her forearm, he asked how her stay had been thus far.

“I hear you’ve been making friends with abnormal company,” he said lightly.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “People aren’t always so bad when you give them the benefit of the doubt, and everyone’s actually been really nice to me.”

“Well I’m very glad to hear that,” he said, and it sounded like he meant it. Made sense though- she was the only minor there, and she was constantly surrounded by the most criminally insane people in the world. No matter her supposed crimes, she was sure none of the workers here wanted to see her in harm's way. “Well then, everything seems to be normal again. Your heart rate is stable again as well, and your blood looks to be flowing better now-” Wait, what? “-We just want to keep you in overnight again, just to be sure everything stays steady. You took quite the nap there, little one.”

Marinette frowned, a little worried now. “Uhm, s-sorry; what happened with my blood? And- and heart?”

Dr. Cione sighed softly, pausing a moment before responding. “...Your blood pressure dropped at rapid speed, and your heart rate was going extremely slow. We haven’t figured out what caused it, as you didn’t test positive for anything that would normally cause these symptoms. Your body also seemed to try and get better on its own rather quickly, so we held off from giving you any med’s or antibodies until we saw they might be needed again. You’ve only been given fluids thus far, to help keep your energy up as your body tries to heal itself back to proper health.”

According to Tikki, that was due to her straining herself to administer the luck magic in too high of a dosage.

Whoops.

She won’t be doing that again.

Her Kwami had told her that her body had gone to extreme lengths to shut her down, to stop her from draining herself thin, but to think that her own body had tried to slowly kill her just to make her stop…

That was both reassuring and terrifying.

Dr. Cione finished up her exam quickly after that- though Marinette had a feeling she had just been distracted and not paid much attention to the rest of his check-up. The time flew by quickly, and she was soon enough waving him and the guard goodbye, being left with her Kwami and her thoughts.

The girl and her Kwami remained more or less silent, not needing conversation as they simply enjoyed the other's company. When Marinette got thirsty, she hadn’t even needed to speak for Tikki to just know.

The little Ladybug flew over to the sink and got her chosen a paper cup of water, looking both hilarious and adorable as she carried it back- it was nearly thrice her weight.

As she drank the water, Tikki brought her the remote to the television hanging on the wall opposite from her in the room. “Marinette, there's another akuma attack happening.”

Ah- Hawkmoth was probably catching on to the fact that Ladybug had vanished. Between now and Gigantitan, there had been four other akumas; all repeat offenders and low-leveled.

She was sure the man had been busy around the time of her arrest, helping Lila with her plan, so he hadn’t akumatized people as often. Normally, there was an akuma every day, or at least every other. Hawkmoth had slowed down, but Marinette knew it was probably because he noticed Ladybug wasn’t showing up. This… hopefully this would lead to a good thing.

Sitting back, she watched Chat Noir flounder about, getting knocked off of the rooftops from a brigade of pigeons. He was sneezing up a storm, and it took everything in her to not laugh at the sight.

Ah what the heck- not like anyone could judge her here. Watching the blonde fall to the ground while sneezing hard enough to lift him back up- now that was comedy.

Soon enough, Marinette found herself nearly wheezing, cackling as her idiot partner lunged at Mr. Pigeon, only to trip into a pile of feathers and bird droppings. She was laughing so hard she was certain she had popped something.

Apparently, someone else thought so as well. “Damn, Puppet. I don’t even think I’ve made people laugh that hard.”

Looking up, trying to calm herself down from her high, Marinette found Joker leaned against the door to her medical room. He smiled casually, but she saw the hidden anxiety in his eyes as they darted around at the machines around her.

She saw him look long and cautiously at the IV in her arm and immediately understood what was happening.

Grinning wider, Marinette teased her neighbor. “Aww, you missed me~”

“Zip it.” He grumbled as he spoke, but she saw the tension in his shoulders relax as he walked over beside her. Who would think that the Joker would actually care?

(Literally no one other than herself.)

“You’re just in time, too,” she told him, scooting over and patting beside her on the hospital bed. He looked hesitant at first, but he soon enough complied and joined her side. “Remember that akuma I mentioned before; Mr. Pigeon?”

The next twenty minutes or so were taken over by their laughter. Every minute though, she tried to ignore the guards and workers looking into the room with worry and concern. Jeez, they were only laughing! You would think they would realize she was fine where she was- it wasn’t like her laughing meant Joker was doing something wrong.

Yeah… As Joker would later on admit; apparently, someone laughing while around him usually did mean something was wrong. Very wrong.

But whatever-

She was fine!

They ignored the workers that continued to watch and check in on them every handful of seconds. Marinette let herself become engrossed in their conversations, happy to take her mind off of the Paris situation.

No matter how hilarious she found it to watch Chat Noir fumble around and not have a clue what to do on his own, Marinette couldn’t help the small sliver of guilt that closed in on her whenever Nadja or other reporters mentioned Ladybug having vanished.

No matter all the bad that people had done to her, she knew that in the end, there were more good people in Paris that hadn’t let her down. So many people relied on Ladybug and looked up to her, and she hated to leave them behind like this. But, as Tikki had explained after one of her therapy sessions; no matter the love people showed to the icon hero ladybug, people were letting her down as Marinette.

That wasn’t okay, and her Kwamis had all wanted to get her away from it.

So, no matter the guilt she felt for abandoning her duties as a hero, if the immortal beings that gave her power told her that she needed to heal herself before she could heal the city- then gosh darn it, she has to listen, doesn’t she?

“Puppet.” She looked up, having found comfort in leaning against Joker. He was one of the few people she could touch without feeling like acid was burning and peeling at her skin. Currently, Joker kept his gaze on the TV, but his expression was a bit severe, and she could tell he was no longer paying attention to the fight. “What happened during the talk with the Bats and Birds?”

She contemplated her answer, not sure what to tell him. In all honesty, she hadn’t known what was going on- it’s not like she had known that her spell would try to kill her for having used too much of it.

However, she knew he would see right through her if she told him she hadn’t gotten a clue, so she would need to give a working answer.

Like she said before; she hated liars.

And thus far, Joker was someone she had found herself strangely trusting- not even just for the Creation soul that described him.

“I told you I have magic before, remember? Well… I used some of it during both of the talks.”

The man looked down to her with a mixture of curiosity and appraisal. “Ooh, did you kill one of them?”

“Wha- what?! No!” She burst into a fit of giggles again, shoving off him lightly. She ignored the pout he wore, knowing it was most likely real and not actually pretend. “More like the opposite; I gave them a blessing of luck magic, that's all. I used too much of it though in a single session, and it overexerted me. I didn’t realize it would try to drain me to make me stop, so it was too late when I passed out. Good thing I did though.”

“‘Luck magic’?” Joker’s face scrunched a bit. He looked both confused and mildly disturbed. “Okay, while I don’t like having to think about the fact that you can bless someone with good luck- it seems like tipping the scales a little too much to have that kind of power- why the heck would you give good luck to a bunch of idiots who happily and wrongfully threw you in jail?”

Oof- well, she might as well come clean about the second part, right?

Glancing towards her Kwami, Tikki gave a nod of approval. It was still Marinette's choice in the end, and Tikki would have conceded and been fine with whatever she wanted to do about this, but it made her feel better to ask and check for the Kwamis permission first.

“There’s… actually another spell I’ve been using here,” Marinette told him. She smiled a bit more sheepishly, not sure how he would take the news. While you would think most people would be happy to know that she was healing and cleansing their souls, she knew some people might not appreciate that she hadn’t asked for permission first.

She told him about the Abstract Healing Spell, explaining the in’s and out’s. She watched his face carefully, waiting for him to let his expression slip with any emotions. However, the man’s face was an icon and symbol in itself- he knew how to control what he showed on the outside.

By the time she finished her explanation, Joker was deep in thought, but only for a few moments.

Thankfully, his next expression was a laid back grin. “Puppet; you really are one in a billion, you know that? Not many people would show this level of care towards those of us in here.”

She brightened at his words, both relieved and overjoyed that he didn’t seem to mind what she had done. “So- you aren’t upset? I mean, I am kind of curing you all from what you find your livelihoods and fun in.” Not many villains cared for redemption, and not many would like the idea of it being forced or tricked upon them- especially without their knowledge.

Instead, the man beside her shrugged and finally went back to paying the TV his attention again. Chat Noir had finally managed to knock out Mr. Pigeon, though he was still having a hard time with destroying the bird whistle with how much he was sneezing.

“You’re a light to us all, in here. This place is supposed to help us rehabilitate, but not many will actually let themselves get better. There's probably only a small percentage of people in here that would actually choose and let themselves heal from their pasts, and I’m certainly not one of them. However, I’m getting older, and I know that things would have to stop eventually. Might as well take this chance, right?” He smiled again, though it was rather soft for the psychopath. “You’re the light that we all needed to try and be better.”

Chapter Text

Everything connected with Paris was currently driving Bruce up the wall.

Whether he was looking at the trial of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng, or searching for the whereabouts of Ladybug- Bruce just couldn’t catch a break with this country.

While he wouldn’t blame her for it, Bruce had to say that the interrogations with Marinette had only made his research more complicated.

“I’ll give you the basics then, but don’t get pouty when it’s not the same story Paris is driving out: I’m innocent, was used as a scapegoat by Lila Rossi, and Chat Noir is a sociopathic predator.”

While it was easy to assume they were the rambling excuses of a guilty conscience, her words had rang a few small bells in Bruce's mind.

From the moment he had first heard of her situation, Bruce had thought the entire thing had been fishy. A little girl was being sent to the most renowned mental facility in the world to be surrounded by the most criminally insane individuals- because she was an accomplice to a man who dressed like a purple butterfly.

Okay, yeah, he understood it more upon learning more information, and it almost made sense when it was first explained to him. Teenagers were at an age of the most emotionally vulnerable and unstable time, so it made sense that Hawkmoth would find more use in akumatizing them. It even made more sense to find a teenager to take advantage of, and use them as an accessory for terrorism.

However, despite the idea being seemingly plausible, the way Paris sold it seemed… off.

Bruce didn’t even mean it for the little-to-none information they were given; it made even less sense when Chat Noir finally brought them a(severely small) file on Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s investigation and trial.

The list of witnesses who gave testimony against the girl were all made up of classmates and school administration, along with the girl's parents. The trial was just a day after her arrest- something that Bruce was certain had to have been illegal in any other situation. However, Chat Noir said that the Mayor had prepared her trial in advance, wishing to have her convicted and out of Paris before Hawkmoth could akumatize and ‘save’ her.

That was another issue; one Marinette brought up in her last interrogation.

Hawkmoth had sent an akuma to Marinette’s trial, and had let the akuma leave without akumatizing a single person. If Marinette was truly his partner, this would essentially be tossing her to the wolves. If so, you would suppose she would gladly give up Hawkmoth’s information, but she didn’t.

This proved well enough to Bruce that she was innocent, but there were still too many variables that stood against the girl. While there wasn’t much in the provided files about the evidence used against her in court, the points made all acknowledged points of suspicion against her.

Unfortunately for Marinette, Bruce Wayne never believed in coincidences.

So, no matter how much his gut told him that the girl was innocent(the adoption instincts had been too strong to handle often), he knew he had to look at her trial objectively and find out the truth behind everything.

The main problem? He couldn’t find out almost anything concerning Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He could do a background check, look at her academic records, check all of her closer relations, and even cross reference her movements from just about every moment of her life- but every aspect of the girl's life after Hawkmoth's first appearance became an enigma.

As if to make things even more unnerving though- while her existence bemused and left all the Justice League in a state of confusion, she was the only one that seemed to make any sense.

When he looked into Lila Rossi, all Bruce could find was a girl who lied from the moment she spoke her first ever word.

Honestly, when Bruce had seen all the interviews on the girl from the Ladyblog, as well as their schools main website, Bruce hadn’t known if he was more confused or disgusted with the lack of common sense people had back in Paris. Honestly, it was atrocious. He had shown a few of the interviews to Clark and Lois, more out of personal opinion than for the investigation.

Needless to say, his friend and his wife had both been nothing short of horrified by what he showed them.

How on earth this girl was allowed to speak in a court trial was beyond him, but Bruce saw that her testimony seemed to be backed by Ladybug herself. So; clearly she must have told the truth here, right?

Even a pathological liar had their good days… he supposed.

Ignoring Miss Rossi though, Bruce came to a slightly bigger and even more confusing case: Chat Noir.

When it came to the superhero duo, it was clear who the leader was. However, the fact that the cat had rarely shown up to fights when Ladybug was around just further convicted and drove that point home. However, several videos and news clippings showed Ladybug taking her partner in stride and acknowledging him more than others(and more than the boy deserved).

"Partners", she always insisted.

Much good that title did to convince Bruce from a comparison of their work.

Look, he understood that their powers differed and that Ladybug had more responsibility, but that was no excuse for the bratty attitude Chat Noir seemed to give her. Paris labeled him as the sidekick; not Ladybug. Maybe if the boy actually showed up more and helped her, rather than sitting back with an actual bag of popcorn(Bruce found several images of this scene), then he would be respected more as her equal.

This was also not counting the over abundance of flirting the boy did- if it could actually be called that.

Half the time that Chat Noir showed up to battles, he often sat out either because he didn’t want to take part, or because Ladybug turned him down for a date.

The boy didn’t like being told “no”, and Ladybug had to put up with it all the time. Bruce found a handful of akuma attacks in which the boy even got in the way simply out of arrogance and spite. Whenever he was involving himself in the fight, he was constantly flirting with Ladybug to the point where she had to tell him off.

Bruce found a video of her throwing her partner into a trash can from across the park- he was incredibly satisfied by the video.

When they met Chat Noir, the boy clearly showed off his skills as an actor; he played the part of the helpful and concerned hero partner who just wanted his friend back. In reality, he was a rude, narcissistic, obsessive sidekick that didn’t understand boundaries in work relationships.

“WHAT THE HELL?!”

Sigh.

No doubt whatever the newest issue was would be related to the Paris situation; Bruce had a feeling about it, and his gut feelings were rarely wrong.

Following the shout next door, he found Zatanna hovering over some of his children. Constantine had strapped them down and the two magic users were looking them over.

Tim, Dick, Cass, and Damian- all four of them were strapped down to their seats by cuffs on the wrists.

Bruce frowned at the cuffs, noting that they must have come out from a hidden compartment in the arms of the chairs.

“I thought we threw these chairs out?” He asked Clark, stepping up to stand beside him. “And why are my children being looked at like their both lab experiments and yet the second coming of Christ?”

“That's practically what they are!” Zatanna replied, turning Dicks face in different directions as she scanned him for something no one else could see.

Clark turned to look at him. “Also, Constantine found the extra chairs in a storage room and said they were too fun to be forgotten.” Of course he did.

Damian growled in warning when the man tried to grab his face. Jon had to swoop in and smack away Constantine’s hand, warning the man that Damian would bite, and he would get to use the excuse of people knowing better than to touch him.

“Well relax the feral bird down, will you?” Constantine said, making another grab for his chin, not seeming to even care as he had to snap his hand back from being bitten. “Currently, Robin here has more of the magic on him then the rest of you combined, so I need a closer look at him.”

Wait, what?

“What magic?” Bruce found himself asking, trying his hardest to not let his concern and panic showcase itself through his voice.

The sorcerer must have caught his worry though(or maybe he was still just being a nuisance) and smirked towards Bruce. “Relax, Daddy Bat, it doesn’t seem harmful. Well- maybe. There’s Miraculous magic all over your kids, almost like a coating.”

Oh thank goodness.

Bruce was only one of the many who sighed in both relief and annoyance. “Is that all? Constantine, we’ve been dealing with Chat Noir nearly every day, not to mention many members of my team have needed to go in and out of Paris.” They had known ahead of time that being close to a Miraculous hero or akumas would leave a coating of magic on them; it would fade away after a few days.

However, Zatanna shook her head, continuing to look over Bruce's kids. “He said like a coating. On first glance that’s what you would think it is, but these few have been cursed.”

…

WHAT?

“Cursed?!” Dick shouted, terror betraying his expression. Tim looked close to snapping as well, but Cass and Damian hid any shock or emotion they could have felt from the exclamation.

“Or blessed,” Zatanna said casually, not seeming to care about the miniature panic attack she just gave them all. “We can’t tell yet. All we know is that someone with Miraculous magic put a spell on you lot and tried to disguise it. They must have known you would be around Chat Noir or something, because the mask makes it look like a coating when the power suggests they could have hidden it in general. However, Constantine wanted to be an ass earlier and act like it was concerning-”

“You’re welcome!” The man interrupted. “If I hadn’t joked about it, who knows if we would have seen that I was right. All we can tell thus far is that there’s a spell on you all, but we can’t tell what it is. It could be good, bad, lethal, or a blessing of sorts. Who knows? Honestly, I don’t think we’ll actually be able to tell what it is or what it’s doing; what we’re looking for right now is who put it on you.”

While it was (extremely)worrisome that they couldn’t tell what the spell was or did, he supposed that finding the spell caster was the next best thing. If they found out who cast the spell, it would give them good enough of an idea of what the spell was for.

Bruce doubted it was from Chat Noir; the boy barely had control of his own magic, more or less magic to be placed on someone else. Besides, Bruce knew he terrified the boy so he doubted Chat Noir would do something like this without express permission.

Could it have come from an akuma? No, their powers wouldn’t have left this kind of effect and wouldn’t be strong enough to mask themselves as a coating of Miraculous magic.

Hawkmoth, maybe? Apparently not, as Zatanna said they would have needed to cast the spell in person and within close range, and Hawkmoth hadn’t come out of hiding anytime soon.

The temporary heroes were all accounted for and without their Miraculous, so they barely had a coating of Miraculous magic on themselves; they especially didn’t know how to cast such spells, more or less mask them.

The only options were Ladybug or the Guardian, but neither had been met or found. Chat Noir didn’t know who either of them were, and the Justice League could have passed them in the street without even realizing it.

No, it couldn’t have been them.

So who was it? Someone relating with the Miraculous situation, and someone who came in direct contact with Nightwing, Black Bat, Red Robin, and Robin. Someone who had reason to believe they came in contact with Chat Noir, to mask the spell as a coating simply from close contact. Someone who had reason to put a spell on them. Someone like-!

Like…

Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

“A- choo! ”

Marinette sniffled softly, accepting the tissue when Joker handed it to her.

“I thought you were getting better, Puppet?” Joker asked, a look of concern as he tried to have her lay back again on the medical bed.

She waved him off. She’s sure she’s feeling healthier.

Someone must have just thought ill of her is all. Most likely Lila or Chloe.

Chapter Text

It took a week or so after the incident, but Marinette was recognized to have recovered fully with no issues.

Of course, the doctors and staff had all been worried and confused on just what exactly her condition had been and how on earth she recovered from it, but she didn’t let her mind dwell on it too much since she knew very well what the issue had been herself.

She was released after the second night, but was brought to the medical wing for a check-up every day for the next week. They kept looking for any signs of change in her body, any development to suggest towards an answer. When she continued to play clueless though, they could only admit defeat and leave it at her body having acted up strangely.

You win some and you lose some- in this case, Marinette won the innocence game and the doctors all lost their minds trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with her health.

Oh well~

While Tikki was annoyed about it, at least Joker agreed with her about it being funny.

Marinette sighed, stretching her arms high up above her head. She was seated beneath a tree in the smaller courtyard, sitting on top of her sweater vest on the grass to avoid any ants or dirt from getting on her skirt.

She had started drawing a while ago, but suddenly her mind couldn’t seem to focus on any ideas. So, she had been sitting there for the last thirty minutes or so, her mind drifting along with her lack of interest.

Clearly, Tikki wouldn’t allow her to use so much magic again, so she would need to be more careful when using her magic on others. Her Kwami had deemed the quantity of Abstract Healing Spell she had used thus far to be alright, but the luck magic was just as draining, so using it at higher amounts was a big no-no.

You’d think Marinette would know better, what with having grown up in a bakery; raising the temperature didn’t make a cake bake faster.

“Something the matter?”

“ EEAP! ”

Marinette wasn’t sure what part she was more embarrassed by; the fact she had so easily been snuck up on despite being a seasoned hero, or the sound that had escaped her when she had been startled.

Glancing up shyly at the voice, she was even more startled by the presence that greeted her.

Robin was leaned up against the side of the tree, looking casual and comfortable enough to look as though he had been standing there for a while. He raised a brow at her expression, a small uplift of his lips that showed a hint of cheekiness.

“Did you just squeak? Like a mouse?”

And this was the moment Marinette decided she was fine with dying young. So long world; go find a new Ladybug because this was the situation that would due Marinette in. Literally- just strike her down now.

Groaning to herself, Marinette pulled her sketchbook closer, pulling her knees up halfway to use as an easel. Hopefully if she ignored the question he would catch on and be courteous enough to forget about it. 

Unfortunately, he was either ignorant, or found her too amusing to leave be.

Instead, the young man chose to sit down, leaving her to notice the space between them was less than she had initially suspected. “Come on, it’s not embarrassing. If anything, I’m sure people would find it adorable. You are rather small and mouse-like for your age.” Wha-?! Excuse him, but not only is she certain that he was practically her age, but he had no right to call her a mouse when he didn’t even know she had used that Miraculous publicly before!

He was lucky she was too nice, otherwise she wouldn’t have started pushing her luck magic towards him again. (Yes, Tikki, she’s moderating it from now on.)

Unable to help herself after calming down, Marinette swat playfully at his shoulder, a pout adorning her face. “Before you go spouting short-jokes at me, know that I’ve already received a lifetime supply of them. It was a normal sound, for a normal response, by a normal sized person for my age- thank you very much.”

She knew the slap to the arm was a little too friendly of a gesture, especially since she had only met the young man once before(and in an interrogation she had passed out in no less), but he merely scoffed lightly at her actions instead of taking offense so she supposed she was still in an okay area.

It was strange really; from all accounts she had received, Robin was supposed to be the most violent and prone-to-anger of the Vigilante team, and yet… he had almost been the most considerate towards her? Well, Black Bat was also rather high on her list, what with the caution the woman had taken to respecting and caring for her during the interview. Still though- Robin had been considerably nice to her, and Marinette wasn’t sure if she should be suspicious or grateful.

It was nice to think she had at least one hero on her side.

…Wait-

Marinette suddenly startled, nearly cutting off or raising the levels of luck magic in her shock, as she remembered who was beside her and just where they were sitting. “Wait- why are you here?! ” She hoped he knew she meant that in the least offensive way possible.

Instead of showing any indication to have heard her, Robin leaned towards her, nodding his head to the sketchbook she had released to her fallen lap. “What were you drawing before? Your fingers have graphite so you were working before, but you’ve been staring off into space since before I arrived.”

Ah, right; detective.

Either way though. “Don’t deflect from the question,” she mumbled, wiping the graphite off of her fingers onto the grass. She was already going to have to clean the grass stains from her vest, no need to get graphite on any of her other clothes.

Seriously, no matter how cute and comfortable they were, was having the inmates wear white really such a good idea in the end?

Robin waved off her upset though. “I’m not deflecting, I’m actually curious is all since I’m an artist as well. I dabble in painting; all forms, but I mainly enjoy acrylic for its vibrancy.”

Oh. Well, even if he wasn’t answering her question, she could understand his question more from the perspective of being curious in the arts. Sighing a bit, still rather put upon that he ignored her inquiry, she handed him her sketchbook.

“I don’t exactly have the means at the moment to create them, but I normally work in fashion design. I used to make all of my own clothes, and nearly all of my designs would eventually be brought into reality. However, it’s understandable that they can’t really give inmates needles and thread here, so I’m just getting all of my ideas out while I’m here.” She smiled at one of her recently favored design that he flipped to. “I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration since coming here, so I’m actually rather happy about it.”

Robin didn’t just flip through the pages with a glance or two. He seemed to actually take the time and study the line work and read over some of the notes she had scribbled down on the sides about different patterns and color schemes.

On each page with a Joker design(which was to say that he had a lot), she had constantly debated with herself on the differing shades to use for his suits and uniforms. For outfits she planned to make directly with the rogue, she played with the idea of using a softer lavender with a more citrus orange, to give a more fun aesthetic with his hair.

While he had a color scheme of secondary colors, Joker didn’t really seem to care too much on what kind of those colors he wore. She just hoped he had never worn something too outlandish, otherwise she would have to temporarily disown him as her friend.

However, Marinette had also made a lot of Joker inspired women’s wear. 

One could say what they like. She knows people would be wary if not disturbed by the idea of wearing clothes themed after such a villain, but Marinette had a way of going around such things.

Once, she had made a small line of outfits themed after akumas and Hawkmoth himself, and it had actually sold rather quickly(though mostly because people would pay anything for an MDC original). She put forth not only enough creative integrity to make the outfit something entirely different from its theme, but also a high quality in craftsmanship that made people overlook any dislike towards the theme.

The first time she wore a Hawkmoth inspired cami dress with a bishop sleeve shirt, her class had thrown a fit about it- but they were the only ones. Nearly every other person she passed by that day had asked on where she got it, and her online store had nearly blown up with requests until Kagami and Luka told her she  would need to start being selective on her customers.

“These are incredible.”

W- wait, what did he just say?

Marinette looked up from the book and met the white covering over Robin's eyes. He had a rather fond smile on his face.

“Of course, I’m rather biased against the ones themed against the Rogues, they’re still amazing. I might even need to purchase a few of your suits when you get out.”

…Wow.

Okay, someone(Joker) had clearly lied to her about this man.

Wasn’t he supposed to be some kind of a jerk or something? What the hell had everyone been cautioning her about?

He seemed… normal, and rather nice.

Of course, it could also just be chalked up to him being a fellow artist and knowing to appreciate the worth of another person's craft, but he still had been kind towards her before that.

Outside of those here in Arkham, she only had around six people she could trust, and even then she only really had about two friends her age. Of course she couldn’t yet count on him to be on her side in the long run(he worked with Batman), she felt like she had someone new that she could speak to casually to just let herself relax from the weird situation that had become of her life.

“Thank you,” she said softly, smiling in return.

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a moment or two- she’s not actually certain how much time had passed after that- before someone nearly barked at them in their shouting.

“ROBIN!”

The two jolted out of their calm and peaceful bubble- this time the shock really had made her cut off her spell(after accidentally spiking the magic). It was then that Marinette realized she had begun to lean against the boy as they had conversed, and she prayed to God and the Miraculous that he hadn’t noticed either.

Looking around, she found the one who had shouted to be a rather pissed-off looking Jim Gordon, storming over to them.

She instinctively prepared herself to be in trouble, but stopped herself midway into her panicking when she realized it was actually the vigilante beside her who was about to be chastised.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Gordon spoke harshly, glaring at the young man beside her who seemed rather smug. “The interrogation isn’t allowed for another twenty minutes, and one of the guards just told me he saw you over here nearly half an hour ago!” Oh shoot, it had been a while.

Damn it! He had distracted her so well in that time that she had completely forgotten about her question as to why he had even been there!

“Wait,” she looked to Robin curiously. “What interrogation?”

Robin sighed, closing her book with a care that she felt herself grow fond over. He handed it back and helped her come to a stand. “Batman wanted to talk to you as soon as possible. Some things came up in our investigation on Paris and he wants to talk to you personally.”

That… She did not like the sound of that at all.

This would be her third interrogation, and now Batman had come to take the reins.

Whoopie…

She was led to the same room she had been in last time, standing between Robin and Gordon.

The Commissioner smirked wryly towards her and fondly teased her. “Try not to get sick this time. Even if you pass out, Bats might just continue to interrogate you until you wake up from the stress.” It felt like it was and wasn’t a joke.

He left her to Robin, who looked rather wary of the door. “Is something wrong?” she asked him. “If you’re worried I really will pass out again, I can promise to try and not get sick again.” No way she would be using that much luck magic again…

“It’s not that,” he said. He hesitated before turning to her and telling his worries. “Chat Noir is going to be present for the interrogation.”

Oh.

Well…

Marinette frowned a bit as she thought on how this made her feel. “Villain or not, I promise to try and refrain from punching him. Keyword being ‘try’.”

She was pissed off with the teen for a hundred good reasons or so, but there was one particular thing she needed to hear the reasoning behind. She didn’t know if it would truly help her, since Chat could just deny it and she could just be written off as insane and truly needing to be placed here for reasons other than her supposed crimes, but she needed to know what the hell was going through her partner's head at the time.

At her response, the Boy Wonder chuckled softly and turned to her from the door. “Just… I can tell you might feel uncomfortable, what with how you described him in the first interrogation, so I just want you to know that I’ll be right outside the room with Commissioner Gordon. If something really bad happens, we’ll come in and put a stop to the whole thing, alright?”

But, wouldn’t Batman be in there too? If something bad happened… Did Robin mean to say that he would even step in to stop things even if it was his own boss that he needed to stop?

That was…

Dear Kwamis, that just earned him way too many points in her book.

Shit! Marinette had realized it just a bit ago, but now that she thinks about it, Robin is actually someone she could find herself liking.

Like- like liking.

All he needs is green eyes beneath the mask and BOOM! Entirely her type.

For Kwamis sake, she had been doing so well on putting romance on the backburner- how dare he come in and be all charming like!

The jerk…

When she entered the interrogation room, Batman and Chat Noir stood behind their seats as they had been waiting for her. She smiled kindly towards the older man, and even though she saw Chat smiling out of the corner of her eye she ignored him entirely.

“I apologize if I made you wait at all,” she said. “I’m afraid I wasn’t told of today's meeting until about twenty minutes ago or so.” She took her seat, recognizing soon enough the tactic Batman was going with when he and Chat remained standing for a moment after, before following her example.

He was trying to intimidate her with his reputed personality. Little did he know that when Joker realized she would face more interrogations in the future, he had prepared her for dealing with every member of the Bat team.

Surprisingly enough(though also not), Joker had given her more than enough information on dealing with the Big Bat himself.

When they were seated, she noticed the vast difference between both men infront of her.

While Batman was stoic and hard-faced, Chat Noir was clearly trying his hardest and failing miserably to hide his nerves and anxiety. The younger male fidgeted, and she could see it in the small twinge of his muscles that he was probably shaking his leg silently beneath the table. It was like a strange version of Good-Cop-Bad-Cop, only it was threatening to make Marinette snort at the vast differences between them.

The room remained silent for a while longer, and Marinette took that time to go over her luck magic.

On one hand, she could cast it like usual and grant some extra luck not only to the Batman but also to the person protecting her city. On the other hand… she really didn’t want to give Chat Noir any luck magic.

So what if he was used as a teething toy from a ginormous monster baby?

Karma.

However, giving luck magic to the main Bat himself would guarantee more criminals being placed behind bars here in Arkham, which meant more people here to be healed through the Abstract Healing Spell.

But, in her last therapy session, Dr. Quinzel had told Marinette to try being more selfish in her life, and she really wanted to keep watching Chat Noir humiliate himself on live TV.

Aren’t you supposed to keep things that bring you joy?

“Miss Dupain-Cheng.”

Snapping out of her thoughts, she smiled brightly towards Batman despite the way his eyes narrowed with his mask. Beside him, Chat Noir only seemed to grow more nervous, and…

Guilty?

Glancing between the two, her smile felt a bit strained as she understood that… something was wrong here. “Y-yes, sir?” For some reason, the man only seemed to get more upset or suspicious towards her.

What was going on? And why did she have a feeling Chat had a greater reason to look guilty then usual?

“The other day, members of my team were shown to have traces of magic on them; Miraculous Magic. ” Batman practically growled those last two words. “Currently we can only deduce the source to have been someone to have come in close contact with Nightwing, Red Robin, Black Bat, and Robin. Someone connected with a Miraculous, and someone who has reason to use a spell on any of us. We already know it wasn’t Chat Noir, and yet these members of my team haven’t come in contact with anyone else from Paris entirely. Anyone else… besides you. ”

…

Marinette glanced towards Chat Noir, and it clicked.

The blonde caught her eye for only a moment, but it was enough. He looked down again with guilt written all over his features, but Batman’s attention was too focused on her to notice.

He… Chat was just sitting there, and he didn’t say anything.

She had been prepared to call him out for his silence before, but now that- that this was happening? And yet he still remained silent?!

Marinette didn’t look back towards the older man after that moment. She let her gaze fix on Chat Noir and silently demanded his attention. She hadn’t even meant to use her authority as Guardian, but she did.

Chat Noir looked a little taken aback as his head slowly fought to turn and face her again. She held his gaze, brows furrowed as she dared him to deny her justice.

But he remained silent. His eyes told her he was sorry, but his silence told her something else.

Just like another blonde whom she had thought she could once rely on and trust, Chat Noir was trying to convey that she wasn’t important enough. She wasn’t worth enough.

Feeling her body shake, Marinette had to fight to keep from lunging forward. Instead, she spoke in a tone that made both Chat Noir and even Batman flinch back.

“Tell. The. Truth.”

Chapter Text

“Tell. The. Truth.”

She saw both men flinch back violently, but her eyes remained fixed on Chat Noir.

Marinette had used her Guardian powers of authority to force Chat to look at her, but it was her Ladybug powers that made her voice hit a level of dominance and superior vigor.

Chat Noir gulped loudly, eyes shifting all around him but always returning to her out of fear. He was clearly conscious of the fact that he couldn’t seem to turn his head away from her direction, and he couldn’t for the life of him understand why.

“W-wha- What are y-you talking ab-bout, Mari?” The boy dared to ask.

Asshole.

Sitting up straighter, Marinette let her head lift a bit higher as she appraised the boy she had once called her partner.

He had been all awkward smiles upon her entry; it made sense though. As Marinette, she had met Chat Noir on a good large amount of times. Whether it was from being a bystander he needed to help get out of the way, a victim being chased or hunted down by the akuma of the week, or even the time she had moonlighted as the mouse.

Chat had reason to be a bit more friendly and kind towards her, so it only made sense that he would try to come off like that from the start- it didn’t make sense however, that he hadn’t backed her in the least bit when she was arrested.

He knew she was Multimouse, and while Marinette wasn’t all too unhappy with her current situation- she was even less happy to see that the partner she had been told years ago to trust was willing to throw her so far under the bus that she got run over a dozen times by an entire country.

Yeah; as if she was just going to be the bigger person here and let it go. She was in a literal asylum right now, and that could have been prevented had Chat just spoken up.

That was not okay.

“You know me, Chat Noir,” she spoke. Even though he was taller than her, even sitting down, Marinette continued to have her head held so that she could look down her nose at him. It was a tactic she had learned from Chloe; while she wasn’t proud of its origin, she had understood the power behind certain expressions and body movements. “Did you really think you could get away with remaining silent for so long?”

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, if you have something to say, then say it.” Batman told her, having quickly composed himself after the moment of shock she had sent across the room.

Chat glance towards the veteran hero beside him, anxiety rolling off of him in waves of Destruction. It was like a magical sweat was oozing out of him, and Marinette would have laughed at how hilarious it was in her eyes had she not have been too pissed off.

Upon hearing Batman tell her to speak up, Chat tried to backtrack the conversation quickly. “N-no no! Just, look-! Marinette, do you have magic or something?”

“Chat Noir!”

Apparently, Chat wasn’t following the script Batman had laid out for him earlier.

And he was also going to keep rolling with that snowball- “We know you used magic on Batman’s team, so just tell us what you did and how to reverse it, please?”

Honestly, the boy should be grateful she used her authority to keep him from looking away from her, otherwise he would have seen the look Batman was giving him- a look that clearly said there would be one hell of a talk later for going off the tracks they had set out before him.

Huh, so someone must have figured out about her magic- it clearly wasn’t Chat though; he wore a Miraculous, but that didn’t mean he could suddenly handle magic on his own.

The only special ability he gained in this context was the ability to sense a person's soul, but not in a way that would actually prove useful. A Miraculous wielder would be able to react and recognize someone for their Destruction or Creation soul, but if the wavelength was too strong, it would either overpower them and make them uncomfortable(if they were of the same type), or they would suppress and subjugate them and- again- make them sick(if they were the other type).

Well- “sick” was a rather loose term, but you get the point.

Unless the Miraculous wielder was actually trained in magic, they would only reap the negative comeuppance of the powers affecting their bodies. However, if one was trained, they could pass all that by and simply work to achieve the rewards and benefits.

So, all that Chat could do would be to sense if someone had high levels of Creation or Destruction.

He had been shifting and acting uncomfortable around Batman, which made sense with the soul she had seen in the man.

She had been right before in what she said to Joker; Batman had as high of a wavelength as him, but on the opposite side of the scale. He had an even higher level of Destruction in his soul as Lila did- though she was thankful to see it in a hero rather than a psychotic liar.

For Marinette, she would bet he was being thrown for a loop in some way; as the Guardian she was equally on the highest levels of both spectrum, but as Ladybug, she would always lean slightly more towards Creation. So on one hand, being near her was no doubt giving him a massive migraine- on the other hand, it was jumbling his soul because it couldn’t figure out just what exactly she was.

But you know what? That was his problem.

Marinette didn’t have to hold herself responsible for the pain he faced.

In fact…

She felt a grin slowly take over her expression, and she knew it made her look just as they suspected her to be: wicked.

“I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Guardian of the Miracle Box,” She spoke out, using the language of the Guardians. No one but the Kwamis would understand her, and she didn’t care how this would later on be interpreted. “Grant Tikki, the Ladybug Kwami of Creation, the power to manipulate the power of the Miraculous of Destruction.”

While the ring was worn, this command wouldn’t let Tikki do much- but if the ring wasn’t worn? Essentially, Marinette would have just granted Tikki the ability to use part of Plagg’s power; enough to destroy half a city.

However, since Plagg and his ring were being worn, the only thing Tikki could do was destroy small objects- as well as use the power on the person wearing said ring.

So yeah, Marinette and Tikki both knew all too well what she was granting permission for, and neither felt bad about it at the moment considering what they were starting to realize here today.

Watching her Kwami, Marinette saw a righteous gleam enter Tikki’s eyes as she floated towards the hand Chat Noir had his Miraculous on. While the boy looked towards the fellow teen in confusion(none of them had understood her words), he had no idea that the small cherub-like being was going to pay him back for the pain he was causing her wielder.

In an instant, the moment Tikki had touched the ring, Chat Noir had sucked in a sharp breath and seemed incapable of taking any more proper ones.

Marinette watched on, finding her mind to be fixated as she watched the blonde fall from his seat.

Batman shot up with a start, kneeling beside the young boy with confusion and shock. “Chat Noir? Chat Noir?!” It was no use though; it wasn’t like they could do anything to help him. Chat could only help himself here…

The boy laid on his side, his body curled in like a crescent as it convulsed in pain. He was gasping for air and choking on his own vomit that dribbled from his mouth. His eyes were bugged out and he only began to finch harder when Batman tried to touch and assist him. Like stated previously, there was nothing to be done; this was caused by Tikki herself, and the pain wouldn’t relent until Chat was ready to turn around and be of actual assistance.

The hand with his ring laid outstretched on the ground as Chat maintained eye contact with Marinette from around the table. Whoops; guess she hadn’t released him from that order to face her- oh well.

Batman continued to try and help him, despite the fact that he simply must have caught on that there was nothing he could do. He tried turning Chat’s head, but it wouldn’t turn enough for the boy to look away from her. He needed to look her in the eyes here.

No matter how much he didn’t want to, he had to look into the eyes of the person he had wronged.

In Marinette’s humble opinion; Chat Noir looked nothing short of pathetic.

Her smile was gone, but deep down, a small burst of satisfaction took over her soul.

Looking down at him, it was like a weight was lifted in her spirit. Like some kind of scale was being righted and evened out. A balance restored in her humanity.

It felt nice.

She found herself… intrigued, by the feelings swirling around inside of her chest. It was like a throbbing feeling, but not in a bad sense. It reminded her of the butterflies she got when she obtained a new crush, but she knew very well that this was a different emotion.

Marinette would later wonder what it was that snapped her out of this mindset- it was either the realization of her new fascination, or the way Robin had grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her to look at him.

“MARINETTE!”

Snapping out of her daze, Marinette blinked rapidly.

Robin’s face was close to her own. His hands gripping her shoulders tightly, but neither hurting her nor making her skin crawl and burn by the uninvited contact.

She hadn’t even realized she had faced away from Chat Noir, and she knew that something must have gone wrong.

Backtracking her mind, Marinette recalled having granted her main Kwami permission to mess with Chat’s Miraculous, and then…

Then…

Nothing.

Marinette frowned a bit in confusion, trying to recall if… she had done anything after that. But as she thought back to the last minute or so(she can’t recall how much time has passed), she couldn’t remember doing or saying anything after that moment.

It was like… she had just sat there, and watched.

Watched as Chat writhed in pain on the ground, unable to grasp onto any relief from the torment Tikki had afflicted onto his body and mind.

Had she… really done that?

Coming to terms with her actions(or lack thereof), she looked Robin in the eyes of his mask. She looked for the disgust, or perhaps disappointment and anger.

Frankly, Marinette almost wanted to see it.

But the young man only looked to her with concern; an emotion she had only become acquainted with during her time here in Arkham. Robin didn’t hold pity- just concern.

She was grateful to receive it, but it made her insides gnaw away in guilt.

Shakily looking towards her partner, she found Chat Noir gasping pitifully, now more capable of breathing. Tikki was no longer touching and affecting his Miraculous, as the Kwami had given up on her little ‘game’ to come check on her wielder out of worry.

“Marinette?! Are you alright?” Tikki looked as though the last few minutes hadn’t even occurred- as if she no longer acknowledged the blonde idiot on the ground behind her.

Chat looked grateful for whatever relief he had caught, and Marinette assumed she must have let go of her demand just now when he managed to close his eyes for a short time and let himself fall unconscious in Batman’s hold.

Speaking of; you know that look she had expected? The look of anger and distrust?

While Robin seemed intent to not wear it, Batman had picked it up and mastered it.

Glaring up at her from the ground, Batman spoke in a low and terrifying voice. ”Robin. Have her taken to Isolation. I don’t want her out of there until we have her under control. NOW.”

He barked his orders, and the door immediately swung open. Officer Davis walked in, hesitating before helping Robin pull Marinette to a stand. “Come on, sweetheart…” Marinette let herself lean onto the woman as she was aided and led out of the room, uncaring for once about the discomfort and sting at the physical contact.

No matter how much she hated it, for now, it was something she could endure.

Outside, Gordon stood by the door and watched sadly over his shoulder as he led them down the halls.

They came to an elevator and stepped in. As soon as the doors closed and entrapped them inside, Officer Davis asked what Marinette knew they all must have thought.

“What did you do to him?”

What was she supposed to answer?

In all reality, Marinette hadn’t done a thing to Chat Noir. She had granted Tikki permission to act, and that was that. You could say she indirectly caused his pain, but that doesn’t add up really, does it?

A parent could give their teenager a car; does that mean it is the adult’s fault if an accident occurs?

So, without revealing herself, Marinette replied in the most honest way she could. “I let the universe decide how to pay him back. Karma’s a bitch; what with the magic he harnesses, he should have honestly seen it coming.”

No more was said.

The elevator brought them down a few levels, and then opened up to a large hall. It didn't have any other exits beside the elevator(and most likely a staircase somewhere), and the ten or so doors in the hall were all made of a thick metal, with only small slots to look through. All the slots were closed.

They led her to one of the doors, and Gordon opened it up.

A padded interior, all around. Nothing inside- not even a light on the ceiling.

Isolation.

“I’m sorry about this, kid,” Gordon said sorrowfully, watching as she calmly separated herself from Robin and Officer Davis. She walked into the room without looking back, accepting her fate. “We’ll bring you dinner and news soon…”

She didn’t respond, and she didn’t look back.

Waiting another moment, she heard the large and heavy door close, and immediately fell to her knees.

“Marinette!” Tikki flew in front of her, horror etched on her face. If not for the natural glow of the Kwami’s, Marinette wouldn’t have been able to see her at all. “Oh my stars! Are you okay? How dare they put you in a place like this- there isn’t even any light!”

No; she was wrong.

Marinette really did need to be in a place like this.

“Tikki…” Marinette felt the hot tears stream down her face as panic and horror gripped at her chest. “I think something’s wrong with me…”

The Kwami looked shocked by her words and expression. “W-what?” Tikki flew closer and gently wiped away her tears, anger at the situation soon turning back to worry. “What do you mean? What’s wrong, Marinette?”

What was there to say?

She had allowed Chat to be tortured for his misdeeds, and had done nothing about it. She had watched him writhe in agony and hadn’t even flinched.

Marinette had seen Chat Noir in pain, and it had made her happy.

Chapter Text

After the events from the interrogation the other day, it was safe to assume that there was unrest amongst the heroes of the Justice League.

Once Marinette had gone out of the room, Chat Noir had immediately started to get better, as if his health had come back to him like the flick of a switch. It only made it more clear how much of an affect Marinette had been towards him.

Upon leaving Arkham, Chat Noir had insisted on his perfect health and had anxiously eaten a power-up(strangely smelling and looking like cheese) to give himself wings, swiftly flying back to Paris. He refused the offer of examination at the Watchtower, but that didn’t mean the Justice league was just going to overlook the day’s events.

Not to mention, Chat would be getting another invitation back to the Watchtower some time soon. No matter what had been done to him earlier that day, Batman was still annoyed that the boy had gone off script when they went to speak with the girl; he’s rather certain it wouldn’t have turned so sour if he had just listened and hadn’t spoken out of line.

However, despite Marinette's act, not all of the Justice League was confident about where the girl stood on the scale of evil.

“Even after all that,” Batman said, rather incredulous. “How could you find her innocent?!”

Diana looked on, completely unfazed despite the small amount of supporters on her side of the argument. And by small, she meant about five people shared her beliefs at the moment.

Robin was by far her strongest partner in the belief of Marinette's innocence, and Superboy soon followed this belief after only a few statements. Black Bat hadn’t found the girl a threat or malicious for even a moment, Starfire was giving her husband the silent treatment for not agreeing with her when she said the girl was too sweet(and reminded her of their daughter too much to dislike), and Constantine… Well…

In all honesty, Diana’s rather positive that Constantine only believed in Marinette because he knew it would annoy more of them by being on her side.

Whatever- their side of the argument had a small amount of supporters, so they’d take what they could get.

“Robin, you were there! How could you not even be suspicious of what had happened?” Superman asked. “Marinette spoke in a language none of us can recognise, but suddenly she shows no reaction as Chat Noir immediately begins dying right in front of her, demanding him to speak.”

Robin only narrowed his eyes more in response, with Superboy speaking up beside him in his usually cheerful attitude. “Actually, she told him to ‘tell the truth’. I’m surprised no one else is curious on why she said that and he essentially refused, and then he started dying. Chat Noir’s been hiding shit this whole time, we all know it, and now we see that he’s hiding something about Marinette that she clearly wants us to know.”

“Exactly!” Diana shouted, gesturing to those on her side of the argument. “Marinette might be the one under investigation, but Chat Noir’s the only one who’s been raising any suspicion to me! Ladybug is missing, and in my opinion, Marinette seems to be our only lead on what happened to her! Between the Akuma’s Lityear and Gigantitan, Ladybug went missing; the only thing noteworthy to have happened between those events was Marinettes arrest! If Ladybug was a part of the arrest, then why did she vanish after it happened?”

Look, Diana wasn’t sure what to believe about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. On one hand, she felt that the last interrogation hadn’t gone the way any of them had wanted- Marinette included. Once Robin had snapped the girl out of her daze, she had looked nothing short of horrified and shocked by what had occurred.

She hadn’t seemed to have consciously recognized what was happening around her. It was clear as day that she had caused the problem, but it seemed to Diana that she wasn’t truly… in control.

Diana wasn’t saying the girl wasn’t suspicious or evil; she’s just saying that the girl had only hurt Chat Noir by accident out of her emotions.

Again- Chat Noir was hiding shit from them; Diana wished the others would find that the biggest takeaway here rather than what they wanted to do now.

“I’m not putting Magic Dampeners on a minor,” Constantine said, a lazy grin in place. “While the magic coming from her is unpredictably strange and curious, I don’t enjoy stripping magic users of their magic. No matter how much of a jackass I am, there are a few certain lines I don’t cross. I know firsthand how much it sucks to have your magic taken from you, and I’m not putting that on a kid who most likely was used and manipulated by a middle aged white dude with a magical purple suit.”

“Fine then,” Batman said, turning to Zatanna. “Zatanna, would you be able to administer the Dampeners?”

The woman shrugged, looking a little unsure but still resolved. “I should manage, so long as I don’t hold them for too long. Just hold onto them for me until I need to put ‘em on her and I should be fine.” Even if she herself wouldn’t be wearing them, those of the Justice League that stood for placing them all agreed that they should play it safe; they wanted Marinette Dupain-Cheng wearing the most powerful Magic Dampeners they had.

Just holding them, Zatanna would feel her magic being blocked slowly. If she wore them, though? It would take no more than a matter of minutes for her magic to be frozen inside of her; she wouldn’t be able to do anything until they were unlocked and removed.

If this was the effect of someone like Zatanna, a powerful magician who was born with magic that had carried through her family line, it would work on the likes of Marinette.

At least… that’s what they thought.

“She was clearly acting in self-defense.”

Grumbling in return, Batman looked to be getting annoyed with his son at the moment. “Robin; enough. This was not self-defense, this was an attack- an attack against one of the last protectors and heroes that can actually fight against Hawkmoth without risking the destruction of the world. If Chat Noir goes down while Ladybug is absent, then the Justice League would need to step in full-time, rather than just in the background to give directions when needed. That’s a risk we can’t take, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng almost made that risk come to life.”

While Miraculous wielders were not immune to akumas, they had more resistance to protect them. The Justice League had no such thing.

Not Diana, who was born from the leftover Ladybug Magic in her mothers body, or Constantine who normally could use his own magic to block all others. None of them would be able to fight it if Hawkmoth pushed his power enough to force an akumatization.

If one of them was compromised- they were all compromised.

That would be devastating enough- and that’s not even touching the idea of the damage the world would suffer from one of them becoming akumatized and controlled.

And mentioning such-

Turning to face his son, Batman peered carefully at him, as if scanning him for something.

A moment of silence passed, everyone seeing that the Bat was looking for something on the boy's face. Finally, he gave an order. “Scan him for Miraculous Magic… Robin was with Marinette Dupain-Cheng for a while before the interrogation.”

Robin looked at him incredulously. “Seriously?! I stand up for an innocent person, and you think I’m being manipulated by magic?!”

“I never said that.”

“We all can hear you imply it, father!”

They could.

Robin grumbled, not fighting it as he was scanned by the two magicians. Once they both finished though, they became oddly silent.

Waiting a moment, Robin glanced between them both, not sure what to expect. Both looked equally bewildered and confused, neither expressing if what they found was good or bad.

“This…” Zatanna looked to Constantine. “What is this? It’s the same as before but more potent. It’s not a high concentration, so she didn’t use more on him like the time before, but… It’s still too strong to be of a normal level?”

“It isn’t hidden anymore,” he replied, shaking his head. “Like last time, we can’t actually tell what it is. However, I can tell you what it isn't, and it isn’t a curse. So yay, you aren’t dying or whatever. If the girl wanted to curse you, she wouldn’t be so… slow about it, and obvious at the same time. If this was a curse, she wouldn’t give you such a low dosage and yet let us see it at the same time. If it was a curse, we would be able to see a Miasma leak being created from you.”

“Miasma?” Diana questioned. She had heard of it before, knowing it was related to the Miraculous.

“Think dark magic, or something. Miasma is what you get when someone uses Miraculous magic with dark or evil purposes, or just against the will of the Kwamis. That purple and black stuff that appears from an akuma turning back to normal; that’s Miasma. Since the girly didn’t try to cover up whatever spell she casted on you, we should be able to see the Miasma left behind from a curse; the fact there's none on you says she did the opposite.”

“See? She didn’t manipulate me-”

“Mmm, actually, ” Constantine hummed in thought. “There’s no telling if that’s true. Technically speaking, she could have. If she’s working with Hawkmoth, who wields two of the Miraculous most commonly used to manipulate people and their emotions, it could be that she did use that magic. However, since she would have clearly manipulated you to be in her favor, rather than to attack people like Hawkmoth does, it wouldn’t leave behind a trace of Miasma like an akuma. So-”

He was cut off by a swift glare from Diana.

Jon threw out his arms incredulously. “Dude, I thought you were on our side?”

Oh, yeah- Constantine had forgotten about that part.

Whoops.

“Well then, now that we’ve cleared that up,” Green Lantern said, rolling his eyes. “Clearly the majority vote says we put the Dampeners on her, so let's get that done as soon as possible- agreed?”

He heard confirmations all around, minus those still in opposition. However, among their ranks, Robin remained frozen in place.

Now that he thought about it… Marinette was thought to be an accomplice of Hawkmoth; a magical emotional terrorist. If she had Miraculous magic, as they had confirmed, then it would be right to assume she got it from the man himself.

He would have no other Miraculous magic to give her other than that of his own, so… wouldn’t Marinette’s magic be centered around emotions as well?

If she had used a spell on him and the others, then no matter what it was…

Had she been tampering with his emotions?

Marinette didn’t know how long she had stayed in that room.

It could have been hours- it could have been days. They had brought her food a handful of times, but she hadn’t gone towards it even once.

She couldn’t even fathom what she had done…

Tikki had tried to calm her down and help her rationalize what had happened to her during the interrogation, telling her wielder that she hadn’t done anything wrong, but Marinette had begged her to stop. She hadn’t wanted to hear it.

She had tortured Chat Noir.

No matter the wrong he had done- Marinette had done that.

And the worst part of all?

She still didn’t feel sorry about it.

Even if Fluff took her back in time, Marinette doesn’t think she could stop herself from doing it again.

What was happening to her?

A large creaking sound echoed through the room; that was the sound of the large door being unlocked and opened. Light poured into the padded room, but Marinette kept her back from the source.

But… she had already been given her last meal recently; was it already time for the next?

“Miss Dupain-Cheng?” It was a new voice; rough but kind.

Pulling herself up, Marinette looked to the door to find a man in a dark suit, with a badge on his chest and a prosthetic hook in place for his left hand. The dark skinned man had the look of someone who had been through it all, and yet he still had a gentle look to him; Marinette had come to notice that was the look of most of the staff here in Arkham.

Walking over, the man knelt down beside her and held out his flesh hand for her to shake. “My name is Aaron Cash, I’m the warden over Arkham Asylum. Sorry we haven’t had the pleasure to meet yet, I was on leave to take a vacation with my family; when you live in Gotham your whole life, you’ll find it tempting to stay in a place like Hawaii for a long time.”

Marinette wished it wasn’t so hard to keep the smile off her face, but it was and she couldn’t help the small upturn of her lips as she shook his hand. “Hello there, sir.”

Warden Cash pulled her up to a stand. “Miss Dupain-Cheng… Can I call you Marinette?” She nodded. “Marinette, I was told about what happened during your last visit. I would like to apologize for the issues you’ve faced thus far; we’ll be moving you back to your normal room today.”

Issues? Wasn’t she the one who had caused the problems though?

“B-but sir, I was the one who had attacked Chat Noir…” Marinette looked down to the ground, slipping her hand out of his as she humbled herself. However, the man waved off her comment with his hook in the air.

“Kid, you’re the first patient to have taken so long to attack a worker or visitor. I doubt you’ll find any inmate here who hasn’t attacked someone else in the last two months or less. Besides, from what Batman told me, Chat Noir has no lasting damage from your magic, so I’d say it was rather low level in the end.”

…Why did she have a feeling that the hook on his arm came with a related story?

Marinette was led out of the room and up the elevator.

Aaron Cash was a nice but stern warden, from what she could tell. A no-nonsense man who would still give people a chance. He had a nicely leveled Destruction soul, and his spirit was calming as well as strong. She’s certain he must be very good for the Asylum.

Instead of being taken to her room, Marinette was led back to the medical wing.

“What are we doing here?” She asked.

Warden Cash sighed, looking a little unsure. “Well… The Justice League doesn’t want you around the other patients, but Commissioner Gordon and I reminded them that you’re legally in my care as a patient here, and that they couldn’t exactly override that since the Parisian government isn’t giving them anymore leeway then they’re giving us. However, we do need to take precautions whenever patients attack or fight, and the Justice League has authority to control those when needed… They’ve made a decision on yours.”

They entered the medical wing to find Superman(Holy Kwami!), Black Bat, and another woman in a strange outfit.

She wore a top hat, a tuxedo jacket, fishnets, boots, and a white shirt with a bow tie at the collar. Her dark hair was pulled over her shoulder at the time, and she spun a wand in her hand.

The woman had a Destruction soul much like Superman’s, but her’s was much different from any Marinette had seen before. She had magic laced within the blood of her veins and around her soul and spirit.

Before the woman could notice their entry, Marinette knew in a glance that she needed to block her own spirit and soul from being read. “Tikki,” she whispered quickly, her Kwami having already picked up on what to do.

At the name leaving her mouth, Superman's attention was caught, and the three turned to face her and Warden Cash.

Once her eyes locked with the woman whom she had never seen before, Marinette expected the shock she soon saw as the woman froze, wand dropping from her hand.

Looking carefully at the woman's soul, Marinette was able to find a name to her face.

Zatanna Zatara gaped at her, awe and wonder clear as day. “Holy shit.”

Chapter Text

“Holy shit.”

Zatanna was gaping at the girl, and Superman hoped to Rao that it wasn’t for something bad or worrisome. “Z? Everything good?”

The magician didn’t respond at first, continuing to just stare at the teenager that had been brought before them. Now that Clark was actually looking at her for the first time though, he had to admit, she was… smaller than he had expected.

Jeez, she was just a bit younger than Jon; how could a child end up like this?

“You…” Zatanna stepped forward, only to immediately hesitate and lean back a bit as she looked the girl over again and again. “What are you?”

…

Worrisome- definitely something worrisome.

Marinette’s face quickly went from resigned to annoyed in the blink of an eye. Crossing her arms, the girl glowered up at the woman that looked at her like some kind of strange exhibit. “I beg your pardon?”

Yeah, that reaction seemed a bit fair.

Seeming to realize how she sounded, Zatanna waved her hands as she hurriedly tried to take back her words. “Wait, shit- no! That’s not what I meant! I meant what kind of magic user are you! I didn’t think first, s-sorry…”

Clark glanced between the two females, wondering why things had changed so quickly and so often in the past minute.

One moment the two are looking at the other like they were two predators on a standoff, and now… well, Zatanna looked like she was trying to humble herself while Marinette looked just about ready to bite someone's head off.

Glancing beside him, he found Black Bat looking as neutral as ever, but he knew that wasn’t truly the case. Wonder Woman had chosen her to go with them, since the woman was on the side of ‘Marinette is innocent’. In all honesty, the fact that Black Bat seemed to find Marinette innocent was rather compelling enough of an argument for the Justice League, what with her skills in reading people.

However, most of Batman’s team, including the man himself, were adamant on her guilt.

Normally, Bruce wouldn’t find someone guilty until it was proven without a shadow of a doubt, and needless to say there were a lot of shadows covering and blacking out the interesting case of Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

However, the moment they realized she had used magic to possibly hex or manipulate his children, Bruce had chosen his side and was going to stick to it.

In response to the question, Marinette sighed and gave a small shrug. “I don’t know… the normal kind, I guess? I just have magic and use it when I need to. I don’t even do it on purpose; it just comes out based on the situation I’m in.”

As she replied, they watched the teen walk over and take a seat on the medical bed across the room.

She seemed entirely unenthused, as if this entire thing was just a boring meeting or a class she would rather sleep through then listen to. Honestly, it was like she didn’t even care that they knew about her magic and what she had done with it.

“You mean you tried to kill Chat Noir by accident then?” Superman asked incredulously.

“I didn’t try to kill him. He wasn’t going to die- I would never do that while he’s wearing his Miraculous.” What? Why would it matter to him if he was wearing his Mir-

Wait.

“So you would do it, just if he wasn’t wearing the ring?”

Marinette stared at the three heroes before her, thinking on her response. To be honest…

“...Yeah… Yeah, I probably would.”

What was happening to her here?

Before coming to Arkham, Marinette would have never even joked about it, more or less considered it. And yet here she was, admitting her loathing and want to murder her ex-partner, and Marinette hated the fact that she couldn’t even feel sorry for her thoughts.

Because you know what? Despite his betrayal, despite having left her for dead in this place, and despite having thrown her under the bus and having sided with Lila and Chloe- Marinette had an entirely different reason for feeling this way.

Chat Noir had been abusing his Miraculous.

Abusing Plagg.

She didn’t have actual proof, but Tikki had helped her realize this back in the Isolation.

The reason she had felt so murderous and unrepentant for her actions hadn’t been due to her own personal emotions and desires. No matter how upset she was with herself, her Guardian instincts would kick in and impact her decisions and emotions.

Tikki said she should be proud, as these instincts to protect the Kwamis was just more proof that she was a True Guardian, able to harness even more power then they had originally thought when she first became the owner of the Miracle Box.

But Marinette couldn’t find it in her to be happy about anything.

She had unconsciously realized what Chat Noir's betrayal meant, along with the Justice League not knowing the truth(the partial truth that is). This meant that Plagg was both being ignored, as well as he hadn’t been able to speak with the Justice League.

Plagg knew she was in Arkham Asylum- Kwamis knew all the goings on while inside the Miraculous. As the True Guardian, even if Plagg didn’t like her personally(he did though so it didn’t change much), he would still follow his Miraculous calling him to defend her.

He would have gone to the Justice League and told them she was innocent, most likely using Multimouse as his reasoning, or saying she was a subordinate to Ladybug rather than Hawkmoth. No matter what, he would have done whatever it took to help her.

The fact he hadn’t, and she was still here, showed that Chat Noir had not only betrayed her but his Kwami as well.

Plagg would run away in the middle of the night if he had to, so Chat must have found out that he can restrict his Kwamis movements. No matter how cheeky and mischievous Plagg was, he was still under the power of whoever wore his Miraculous.

So, Chat Noir was abusing his Miraculous, and thus his Kwami.

That was why Marinette had so happily and willingly tortured him.

At the time, she had thought her actions and feelings had stemmed by the betrayal she felt over herself, but it was for that of her own and Plagg’s.

Her Guardian Instincts had recognized the abuse of power and had twisted Marinette's anger to new and never-before-reached levels. She had let Tikki manipulate the magic of the ring and hadn’t let her mind connect the dots at the time of just what she was allowing.

In Isolation, Tikki tried to explain that what Marinette had done was right and justified. The boy had committed a great evil by controlling Plagg against his will. Eventually though, Marinette couldn’t bear to hear anymore and had begged her Kwami to just let her wallow in the silence, needing more time to come to terms with her new reality.

Looking back at it now, she understood the implications more.

She had been so focused on seeing Hawkmoth as the evil who abused the Miraculous, but she forgot something important: even a lesser evil is still evil.

Chat had abused the power of his Miraculous by going against the will of his Kwami, and there was no forgiveness for such a thing.

So no matter how much it hurt her, Marinette wouldn’t be able to get rid of this deep loathing inside of her. If it weren’t for the fact that killing a transformed Miraculous Wielder would damage a Miraculous, Marinette might have just let Tikki kill him there and then, damn the consequences she would have faced for it.

She would show just as little remorse for Hawkmoth, now that she was the Guardian.

Having heard her reply, Black Bat only hummed in response, walking over to stand beside her. “Lay back. Zatanna will need your body to be relaxed and calm for the Dampeners to start and connect.”

Following the order, Marinette laid back, not really all that concerned.

The moment she had seen the three of them in the medical room, with one of them being a magician, she had understood what the Justice League had decided to do.

Afterall, they couldn’t move her out of Arkham, but they would still need to make sure she didn’t use her magic to hurt or affect anyone else. It only made sense to use Magic Dampeners on her.

Again though; Marinette wasn’t concerned.

The Miraculous were the most powerful forms of magic in the mortal realm; you couldn’t truly block or dampen their power unless it was by another Miraculous and its powers. If someone had the lasting effects or magic properties of a Miraculous, or they had leftover magic from it, then the dampeners would be able to work.

For instance; after someone is deakumatized, before Marinette casted her Miraculous Cure, they still had residue of miasma and leftover magic from the Butterfly Miraculous. The average person couldn’t do anything with this of course, but a magic wielder would be able to harness this power later on, possibly even reakumatizing themselves until the magic wore off in a short time.

The Justice League must have thought she was using residue miasma she was perhaps given while acting as Hawkmoth's assistant.

Idiots.

For someone like her or Chat Noir however, who both currently wore a Miraculous, magic dampeners wouldn’t have any effect. They would turn on, but they wouldn’t even do anything because they wouldn’t be able to compute the amount of magic that was present.

So yeah, this was all rather pointless.

The Miraculous wouldn’t be affected in the least.

Unfortunately though, it seemed she wasn’t the only one to notice the pointlessness of this situation.

The moment the Dampeners were cuffed to her wrists, Zatanna almost immediately removed them. “Yeah, this isn’t going to work.”

This was insane- she didn’t even know what she was looking at here.

Who was this girl?

Zatanna didn’t know what to make of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She had never dealt with Miraculous magic herself, but she’s pretty sure this level of magical energy and this high of a spiritual level shouldn’t be there.

She couldn’t tell if the girl's soul was on the side of Creation or Destruction- but damn was it high.

How was this even possible?

She couldn’t tell just how high a level it was, but it was certainly above average, even when compared to that of normal heroes and villains. This couldn’t be normal.

The teenager was an anomaly, and usually Zatanna would want to study this closer and learn more about such a strange and amazing magical encounter. However, as a hero, she knew she had more important matters to deal with here.

Such as the fact that the Dampeners were as good as useless.

Turning towards Superman and Black Bat, she held up the pair of Dampener cuffs. “Her soul is too high-leveled, and her magic capabilities are off the charts. I can’t properly read her spirit and soul, but I know that these aren’t going to do a thing. We’re going to have to go back and find a more powerful restraint.”

Black Bat huffed in annoyance, clearly upset. Even after hearing what Marinette had answered about her actions, she still believed in her instincts- the girl was innocent. “You go, I’ll stay here with her.”

The two older heroes stepped outside and Superman picked Zatanna up, flying her to the zeta tube back at the cave. Upon arriving back, they found Wonder Woman and Batman, arguing rather loudly.

Upon seeing them, Wonder Woman took notice first to the Dampeners in Zatanna’s hands. “Change your mind?” She clearly hoped it to be true.

Clark sighed and shook his head. “No, Diana, we didn’t. It turns out they aren’t strong enough, so Zatanna wants to get stronger Dampeners.”

“Hmm?” Zatanna moved about, looking around the room. They still had the magic equipment out, and she searched through them all haphazardly. “What? Oh no, I’m not grabbing Dampeners. Those were the strongest ones we had.”

Wait, what?

The three looked to each other in confusion.

Just how powerful was Marinette? “Then what are we going to do about her magic? And what are you looking for?”

Zatanna finally found what she was looking for. Turning back to them, she held up a tightly closed lockbox. When she opened it up, inside were a pair of large golden bangles, about an inch large and yet they weren’t too thick. On each bracelet, a row of small diamonds seemed to run down the center.

Holding them up, Zatanna smiled triumphantly. “ These are how we’ll keep her under control. The magic Hawkmoth left with her is too high leveled, but we can lessen it over time by using these. It will take a bit, but she’ll lose any leftover magic and shouldn’t be able to use any of it as well.”

Diana walked over and picked up the bracelets. Almost immediately, she felt like fainting.

It was like her life force was being sapped out of her, and Diana felt her breath growing heavy and she stumbled. “W-wha-?”

“DIANA!”

Clark and Bruce rushed to the woman's side, helping hold her steady as Zatanna snatched the bracelets back, panic seizing over her face. “ Do not touch these things!”

Diana felt her body relax and return to normal, and she scowled as she thought of the pain her body had prepared to take on in just a moment there. “You- you want t-to put those… on a ch-child?!”

Bruce frowned as well, looking hesitant now. “Zatanna, while I agree we need Miss Dupain-Cheng under control, those don’t exactly seem safe. ”

However, their worries seemed to be for naught. Zatanna waved them all off. “Oh relax! These are Magic Drainers. The reason Diana reacted like that is because these bracelets drain out all magic inside of the person wearing them. For someone like Diana, who is made from magic, of course they would be dangerous. However, for someone like Marinette, who was given magic, it won’t harm her in any way. It’s safe, I swear. Even for me, who was born with magic, it won’t cause any physical harm.”

So, they had decided to use them.

By using Magic Drainers, rather than Dampeners, they would finally have Marinette Dupain-Cheng controlled.

This would be a mistake the Justice League would deeply regret.

Chapter Text

When Zatanna had returned with the golden Magic Dampeners, Marinette didn't really give them much thought. Tikki had assured her that Magic Dampeners wouldn’t be able to do a thing, no matter how powerful they were made to be.

Nothing could dampen the power of a Miraculous.

However, after having worn the bangles for a few minutes… Marinette wasn’t so sure if that was really the case.

She didn’t feel like her magic had lessened or anything, and Tikki said the Miraculous were still unaffected, so Marinette’s sure that their magic was fine. But, something still felt… wrong.

The issue though was that she wasn’t sure what that ‘wrong’ was or how it was actually making her feel.

The feeling was like- like… It was like she had cleaned up a perfect mess, but put everything in the opposite placement. Like she had organized a shelf of objects, but put the most used in the back and the ones in the front were the things she didn’t even care to remember.

It was hard to put into words, but it was the feeling she felt she would get if she casted her Lucky Charm, and the object was instead meant to show her what she wasn’t supposed to do.

Wearing the Dampeners felt along the lines of that. It was like the bangles were doing exactly what they were meant to do, and not at the same time. It felt like it was taking an effect, but according to Tikki, there was nothing happening to the Miraculous magic.

It just made her feel wrong, and nothing else. Just a constant feeling of being uncomfortable.

When Warden Cash led her to her room, they hadn’t made it all the way. 

Once they reached the common area, she found all of her therapy group hanging out in the lounge, all of them seeming rather antsy. The first to spot her had been Riddler, and he jumped up to a stand, a wide and ecstatic smile in place. “Shortcake!”

That got not only the attention of The Rogues, but also every other inmate in the room. In a matter of seconds, she was surrounded by nearly the entire room's occupants.

Warden Cash said his farewell, seeming to mainly be eyeing Joker and Killer Croc as he left her side. Speaking of her roommate; he was the first person to reach her, and he was quick to pick her up into a hug. “Puppet!”

“Joker!”

She let herself be lifted up and twirled around, laughing happily at the windswept feeling she got.

Despite her feelings for physical contact, Joker had easily joined the ranks of people whom she had become comfortable sharing physical contact with. In fact, she had found herself becoming used to it for all of the Rogues.

Since her touch aversion had mainly centered around her trauma from being Ladybug, equating nearly all touch with pain or harm against her, Marinette had found anyone touching her to be a threat.

There was only a short list of people she had been comfortable with touching her, and it had taken time for her body to allow it still. Kagami, Luka, Nonna Gina, Jagged, Penny, and Clara, had been the only ones she had allowed to come close to her. However, after each of their subsequent akumatizations(and she had hated herself for this part), Marinette couldn’t help but let her body recoil. She found them as threats, knowing their emotions had been compromised, and it hurt her more than them that she had felt that way.

She had hated herself, because even after her body forgot the hits they threw at her, her mind wouldn’t let her body forget the memory of the hits being thrown.

It had worn her down, and Marinette hadn’t expected that particular issue to get better while she was in Arkham- even if it was an institute that was meant to rehabilitate and help people. After all, with the criminally insane literally surrounding her on all sides, how would she have expected that she would feel safe enough to let others come close?

She got questions raised from concern, everyone asking if she was alright. Other than The Rogues, she hadn’t actually expected anyone to notice her singular day of absence, but they all had. Perhaps it was because they noticed her normal baked goods had been missing from her meals.

(As she would later learn, it was both from that and from the fact that her friends had all thrown quite the riot when they realized Batman had ordered her to be sent to Isolation).

With her Magic Dampeners hidden beneath her uniform’s shirt, Marinette let herself fall back into her normal routine.

She and everyone else would remain oblivious to what would soon enough await her.

If only they knew- maybe the inevitable would have been prevented.

Jon flew into the familiar mansion, offering Alfred a kind but neutral greeting(he isn’t sure quite yet where the man's loyalty lay in the recent situation with the Justice League and Paris). He passed by a few of the other Wayne kids, and even Bruce himself, but he made a very clear point to turn his head away and ignore them with a firm “Humph!”

Flying through the halls, he knew the way to his destination by heart.

Arriving at the double doors, Jon found Alfred the Cat sitting patiently in wait, staring up at the door as if his owner would simply know he was out there.

Picking up the cat, Jon knocked on the doors. “Damian? Can I come in?”

No answer, which was essentially a yes. If the answer was no, Damian wouldn’t have kept quiet or ignored him. Besides, Jon was one of the few(the two) who were allowed to come into the teen’s art room, so he truly didn’t need to ask permission all the time- he just knew his best friend appreciated him asking.

Entering the room, he found the boy in question sitting in his usual place, staring at the canvas in deep thought, paintbrush moving in slow and deliberate strokes. He had a small fine-tip brush in hand, and the tension in his arms and shoulders showed he was focused on a small area with great detail.

When he joined his friend's side, Jon easily put together what was going on.

“ So… what’s the problem?”

Damian paused, hesitating. Jon’s only seen him hesitate maybe a handful of times, and all had been connected to large self-doubt and connecting trauma from his monstrous childhood.

The first time he had seen Damian hesitate was when he had decided to tell Jon about the full extent of his childhood. And unlike his expectations, Jon had needed to be held down by his entire family to keep from flying all the way to Nanda Parbat and showing Talia Al Ghul just the extent Kryptonians would go to when they were enraged.

Jon pulled up a stool, turning Damian around to face him. “Dude, come on. I’m not gonna leave you alone until you tell me, and if you don’t tell me soon after I realize there’s an issue- you of all people know just how obnoxious I’ll get.” This earned him a small upturn, which was rather good for a smile considering the conflict in his friend’s eyes.

“...I don’t understand what I have been feeling for the last two weeks. It feels uncomfortable and strange, and it’s beginning to affect me physically- I get jittery and anxious, my body begins to sweat unconsciously merely by feelings of self-consciousness, and I keep thinking about- about…”

Jon smirked and finished his friend's sentence, “Marinette?”

However, Damian’s body tensed at the name, a look of unease on his face that didn’t match with how Jon knew he must actually be feeling. “Yes… She did use her abilities on me, and if her powers are at all correlated to Hawkmoth, as it is assumed, then her powers deal heavily in the range of emotions.” He didn’t say anything else, but it was easy to assume what his implication was.

Jon had known Damian for years, and he knew how much his friend doubted himself in secret. It was easy to find Damian believing someone was using or manipulating him, especially since he had been so used to it in his childhood.

So, Damian’s conclusion wasn’t surprising. In fact, it only made sense- even more so with this particular situation. Jon would be surprised if anyone didn’t come to this conclusion in his place.

But, similarly to how the vast majority of the Justice League believed Marinette Dupain-Cheng to be guilty- an opinion being popular didn’t make it a fact.

No, Jon didn’t believe Marinette was guilty, and he also didn’t think she had been manipulating Damian. You could call it naive optimism, but you would be wrong. Jon may not be a detective, but he was a journalist- when you think hard enough you’d realize how much those two occupations had in common.

“Damian,” he started, putting his hands on the boy's shoulders to help ground his mind. “You’re not being manipulated by magic.”

“We don’t know that-”

“ I know that. I know you, dude- we’ve been best friends for years. I know what you’re like, and this isn’t emotional manipulation in the least; not even by magic.”

Deciding to take the bait, Damian bit. Looking up, his face was rather unsure, not really certain if he should believe his friend or the numerous points that had been given to him. “How so? How can you be 100% sure?”

“Well, if this was magic manipulating your emotions, it would be a little weird that it’s so subtle, right? What would it even be doing- you and your sister both presented me and Diana the facts about why you found her innocent, and they make sense- too much sense for you to be mind-controlled by her magic. You didn’t add in your emotional views to your points, which you would have if she was manipulating you in such a way. You aren’t acting strange, you aren’t going back to Arkham and following her every command, right? Dude, if you were getting manipulated by magic that all of JL has agreed is the most powerful in the universe- would you even be able to think about questioning it?”

That last point seemed to mainly drive it home, but Jon had to be honest and admit he just now thought on that part as he was speaking. “Dude, you have a crush; nothing more to it. And that’s okay. We’re going to help prove Marinette is innocent, we’ll get her out of Arkham, and you can see if you’re willing to take things further. But for now, don’t worry about it too much, okay?

Finally, it seemed his words got through. Damian took a moment to himself before finally letting out a deep breath, his shoulders practically slumping in relief. He smiled softly and said, “Thank you, Jonathan…”

Jon sighed with relief, glad that didn’t take much time. “No prob, Bob.”

“What made you so certain that I had a crush on her though?”

“You mean other than the fact that what you described as your symptoms is just a full definition for what everyone else just calls ‘butterflies in their stomach’?” Jon glanced over Damian’s shoulder, looking at the upper body portrait of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, smiling softly as she leaned back against a tree. The amount of detail and fresh paint done on her eyes showed that to have been the most recent focus of the painting. “...Call it a hunch.”

If Marinette recalls, she’s been at Arkham for about two months now.

Needless to say, a lot has happened thus far.

Commissioner Gordon came by about two days after she was released from Isolation, and Marinette soon enough learned she was comfortable with physical contact from him as well. The man had quickly pulled her into a tight hug after she had hesitantly nodded her approval, both of them relieved she hadn’t felt the urge to gag or scratch her skin off when he held her.

“I’m so sorry, hon.”

Turns out- he had laid one in on Batman.

Yeah.

He had yelled- at Batman.

Marinette was certain her jaw must have hit the floor when he told her(rather proudly) about how pissed off he had been after she had been taken from the room. From what it sounded like, he would have kicked the guy out of Arkham right there and then if he had the proper authority to do it.

While Warden Cash was on vacation, Commissioner Gordon had been in charge of overseeing Arkham. However, since he wasn’t the one truly in charge, he hadn’t been able to turn down requests of interrogations by the Justice League.

Aaron Cash, however, could.

He needed reason to, of course, but as Warden over Arkham Asylum, he had full clearance to tell the Justice League and Batman himself to go jump off a cliff if he didn’t want them there.

So, Gordon and Cash told her that from this point forward, unless she gave the okay and was comfortable with it(they stressed that the last part was extremely important), then the Justice League would have no choice but to leave her alone.

Which… she honestly didn’t know how to feel about that.

On the one hand(that was larger and most likely more beneficially healthy for her), she was glad to not have to be forced through such interrogations anymore- every last one of them had ended awful. On the other hand(which Tikki told her to ignore or she’d find a way to cut it off), she knew that the heroes wouldn’t get very far in finding out the truth unless she helped them.

But hey- what was she even supposed to help them with?

She couldn’t reveal her innocence without either revealing her identity as Ladybug, or Multimouse. She couldn’t do either.

She couldn’t reveal that she was Multimouse because she had no evidence to give them. Chat Noir was her only witness(other than Ladybug, but clearly that wasn’t going to go anywhere), and he had proven himself to be a failure in nearly every aspect of simply existing in her life. She couldn’t reveal that she was Ladybug because, well… obviously she didn’t need to explain that part.

The only thing she could do for the Justice League would be helping them catch Hawkmoth, but she hadn’t been able to do that on her own even when she was still in Paris. How could she help now that she was here in Gotham City?

Anyways, a month has passed since the last interrogation, though that wasn’t to say the Justice League hadn’t tried to set up a few more.

Marinette had happily turned down four requests to meet, all too happy to watch the heroes and vigilantes leave from the window. At one point, Joker had been standing beside her as Batman himself was sent away, and she had failed to hold in her laughter as Joker flipped off the man when he caught their gaze.

However, despite this one nice gesture of goodwill which she had received from the universe… something else had happened in the past month, and Marinette couldn’t figure out what to make of it.

A few days after leaving Isolation, Marinette had found herself feeling… tired? Lethargic? No, more like she was awake but…

She felt rather enervated. It was like she was perfectly awake and healthy, and yet her energy was just rather lacking.

It wasn’t anything she felt concerned for, really- it was just her mood. She knew nothing was wrong with her since Warden Cash and Dr. Qui- erm, Harley told her that they wanted her to get a checkup every few days. Ever since her little fainting episode, the staff at Arkham had all insisted on looking after her health more carefully than before.

So, she knew she was fine, really!

But that didn’t mean her suddenly listless energy made any sense to her.

Maybe she had simply gotten used to this new life entirely, and she was just starting to let herself fall into a system and pattern. It couldn’t be anything else, really- even Tikki said that she was all fine, inside and out.

So… what was wrong with her right now?

Marinette laid in her bed, unmoving. She stared up at the ceiling of her cell, eyes wide from having startled awake.

Tikki layed on her stomach, slowly stirring from her own rest. Normally, the Kwami was used to Marinette waking her up- a much different pattern then the past. Where Marinette was once always sleeping in and being late to class, now she had become accustomed to waking up on a schedule due to being sent to bed on a timely watch without the worry of late-night patrols.

The small ladybug sat up, yawning softly. She looked around before smiling softly upon seeing her Wielders eyes open. “Good morning, Marinette~ Ready to start the day?”

No answer came, not right away at least.

Marinette remained frozen in place. Her shock and confusion had soon enough seeped into a focus of terror, and she felt her mouth open to speak.

Her voice didn’t sound right away, feeling caught in her throat like a bubble. The skin of her face burned as she felt like sobbing, crying her soul out of her body. Marinette felt like screaming, wailing even- instead, her voice came out sounding nothing short of a pathetic whine. “ ...Tikki… ”

“Hmm?” The Kwami floated up a bit, smile quickly vanishing as she saw the look on the teens face. “M-marinette? Marinette, what’s wrong?!”

Like every morning, the large ring of the alarm sounded from outside of her cell door, before the door unlocked and slowly swung open. Tikki looked to the door anxiously, quickly returning her attention to Marinette.

“Marinette?! Marinette! Please answer me, what is wrong?!” The Kwami began to cry herself, knowing something wasn’t right.

Never- not even after the most horrifying and grueling akuma battles, had Tikki seen her chosen look so lost and scared. She looked petrified in place, as if her entire life had been cursed and she was watching it leave her.

“Puppet?” A voice called from the door, and Tikki looked to the speaker hopefully. She knew she could not be seen or heard, but she still found herself flying over to the man as he came to the door.

“Please help her!” Tikki shouted in vain.

Joker didn’t step in fully, looking to the bed in concern- at the girl who remained lying in place. “Kiddo? Everything okay?”

A large tear finally spilled from the corners of her eyes, and Marinette found enough strength to finally push out another gasp of air. It hurt to speak- “...Ha-ahhlp…” She broke off on a choked sob, her shoulders shaking as much as they could.

In the blink of an eye, Joker was kneeled beside her bed, a guard finally arriving at the door of her cell. “What’s going on? Joker, is she good?”

“Puppet…?” Joker looked on with more worry than he had ever felt in his entire life.

How could such a precious gift of a child look so helpless and scared?

Marinette only cried harder- no, she sobbed. She sobbed in place, not even moving her arms to wipe her face.

She couldn’t.

“Puh-please… I- I can’t…” Having cried enough to speak a bit more, Marinette swallowed down a gulp of air and finally pushed forth a full sentence, hoping to convey how scared she was.

“I can’t move.”

Chapter Text

Dr. Reese looked at her clipboard incredulously, unable to understand what she was looking at. Showing it to Dr. Cione, the two of them continued to look on in bemusement.

Harley entered the medical room, pulling her hair into a high ponytail. “What’s happened? How’s Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

The two looked to one another hesitantly before stepping apart, revealing Marinette on her medical bed- the same she seemed to be frequently finding herself on for some time.

Harley stepped up to the bed, earning a shy and awkward smile from the teenager there. She tried to return the smile, but she knew it fell flat as she looked over and took in the situation. “...You said she was all better?”

“Yes,” Dr. Reese said, sounding just as confused as probably all of them felt. “About twenty minutes ago, she was suddenly right as rain. No lasting symptoms or signs of her earlier disablement.” The question at hand though was how?

Earlier, just a handful of hours ago, Marinette had been carried in a rush to the med-bay by Officer Davis and Officer O’Neil, with a good handful of Rogues following right behind them.

She had been paralyzed from the top of her neck down to the soles of her feet, unable to move any more than minor twitching of the jaw. She had been unable to feel anything, no matter how they prodded or pinched her, not even realizing the moment they drew blood and put an IV in her arm.

For the first two hours, no one could do anything but offer silent comfort as the girl sobbed, unable to feel her body. They had no idea how it had happened, but it had.

Marinette had been in a full body paralysis.

So why wasn’t she now?

Don’t get them wrong- you wouldn’t find a single person in the entire facility that wasn’t happy with Marinette’s recovery, but that wasn’t to say they weren’t all baffled by it at the same time.

This was the second time Marinette had been brought to the medical room for some serious and drastic issue, only for it to disappear as mysteriously and suddenly as it had appeared. Neither times had been faked or forced, and Marinette had done nothing but suffered from the issues her body had caught.

What was happening to this girl?

“Marinette?” Harley asked her gently, holding her shoulders and rubbing them comfortingly. “Do you have any ideas why this could be happening to you?”

However, the teen only shook her head, looking just as scared as earlier as she thought on how she had felt from her earlier predicament. “H-harley, I swear, if I had any ideas, I’d tell you. I don’t want to feel like that ever again…”

“I believe you, sweetheart. We’re gonna keep you in here for another day though, just to keep checking on you and try to find out what… whatever happened… You’re gonna be okay.” She didn’t promise out loud, but Harley swore to herself that she would do anything to help this girl. Whether that was protecting her from the Justice League and the corrupt government of Paris, or even her own illnesses.

When she got called earlier, on her day off, Harley almost hadn’t answered the phone until she saw it was from Warden Cash.

The man had shown her more respect than almost anyone else in Arkham when she had come back to work there; he had been so proud of her for her recovery, and had welcomed her back with open arms. Rarely would he call her into work on her days off.

“Marinette was just submitted to the medical rooms; she woke up paralyzed all over.”

That was all he had needed to say before Ivy was breaking nearly every driving law to get her wife to Arkham.

Harley had spent a good hour and a half after arriving, comforting Marinette to the best of her ability when the girl sobbed and begged for some kind of relief.

Eventually, she had needed to leave when she had been called to help calm the other patients- Joker had gone ballistic after what had happened, and the guards had panicked when it seemed like the start of a riot.

When word spread quickly that Marinette had been hurt in some way, all- all of the inmates had gone crazy.

It made sense though- Marinette Dupain-Cheng had quickly gone from being known as Inmate #8024, to the Sunshine of Arkham. She was loved by the staff and all of the patients, bringing light to what was once looked at as nothing but a hell-hole on earth.

So, it seemed only fair that the inmates had all acted out when they heard Marinette had needed to be taken to the medical room again.

Joker paced back and forth from across the hall.

Earlier, after he had shouted for the guards to help him with her, he had only been able to watch helplessly as Marinette had been carried into the medical room. He and the other Rogues had followed close, but they had only been able to spot her through the gaps of the opening and closing door every once in a while when a doctor rushed in and out.

Hours later, and Joker hadn’t left from that spot.

Honestly- if you had told him or just about anyone that this is how he would act towards a little girl just two months previous, and… well, the whole of Gotham would have voted you to be placed into Arkham and let everyone go free and declared sane in comparison.

Really, it was the most laughable aspect of his life now with how concerned he was.

For years, he had been the feared Clown King of Crime. He didn’t have anyone he cared for- not the girlfriend he had gaslit or the friends he once in a while worked alongside in a crime-spree.

Joker was a psychopath and a sociopath; a two-in-one special. He was both too much and none at all. A bad joke that was too funny to survive.

He didn’t care for people.

At most, the only person he had felt the most emotion towards was Batman himself, and even then those emotions were never something to look well upon.

A deep hatred and loathing that had become an obsession and desire to destroy. Joker only truly felt something in his heart when it came to the Dark Knight, and it was nothing good.

So imagine the absolute whiplashing shock he had gotten when he woke up one morning and realized how much he had changed. He had started to care, to worry- to feel.

With Harley, it had been fake. He had used the woman, and eventually got so caught in his own lie that he had tried to disillusion even himself.

It hadn’t worked.

He knew he had never truly loved her, and he was honestly relieved when she had realized it and left him behind for something better. Rarely did he feel guilt, but the scam he had run on her had lasted too long and he had known he should have let her go long before.

The only time he had felt any guiltier had been when he held a crowbar and looked down at a child, not seeing the Robin as a young boy, but merely as a new tool to aid his obsession to breaking the Bat.

God- the nightmares he had endured all this time, recalling how lost he had gotten in his frenzy.

Even he had been disgusted with himself.

Never did he think he could reach the point of return; yet here he was.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng had stood beside him, naive and innocent- both in her attitude and in her sentence. She had been the last thing he had ever expected to stand beside- and yet she gave him a chance.

She saw the hope for change in all of them- him especially.

Many had tried(Harley mostly), but Joker hadn’t ever felt like that before. He had never truly felt like others believed he could truly change, and yet in comes this little tiny mouse of a puppet, and his world just… flipped.

Suddenly, becoming better and healing didn’t sound like some ridiculous pipe-dream he pretended to listen to to avoid a prison and stay in the asylum. 

Marinette made healing a possibility for him- for all of them. And no, he didn’t think it was just because of the Healing Spell she told him about.

He isn’t sure if she realized it herself, but she had wrapped him around her finger easily enough to make the whole of Gotham look pathetic. As strange and terrifying as it felt at first though, Joker had to admit that now… it felt nice.

It felt like a warm flutter and a gentle burning in his chest(he hadn’t realized he had anything in there). It was a comforting feeling, like a heated blanket being worn when it was cold, but not overly cold. A nice reassurance that wasn’t needed- only wanted.

He had never had that feeling before, and he had wanted to hold that feeling close to his recently-discovered heart. He didn’t wish to capture and contain it, or obsess over it- just hold onto it and know that it was near.

For once, he enjoyed something, and it was all-around healthy for him.

So hearing that the person he cared for was hurt… that striked a new kind of feeling within him.

It was akin to anger, but something else. It quelled the burning from earlier, but it made it flare up dangerously. It made Joker feel like he needed to hold the girl close and never let her come in harm's way ever again. It felt…

“Overprotectiveness,” Harley had told him, smiling fondly rather than teasingly to him. He had admitted to her these emotions during their solo-session following Marinette’s first interview with the Bat-Brats. “Nice to see you really can care, Mister J~ That feeling you have there? Common feeling to have when someone you care for is in danger or in need of help. Though from how you describe it really, it’s almost parental like.”

He shut that conversation down fast.

He was not going to catch Batman’s adoption tendencies, thank you very much.

And yet, by this point in time, he had to admit that he truly had come to care for his little Puppet in such a way.

It was humiliating to admit though, so he wasn’t going to be saying a thing.

But, as he paced back and forth across the hall from Marinette’s now-private medical room(they had moved her there after an hour of her being paralyzed), Joker knew he looked nothing short of a frantic parent. Harley told him so as she left the room, reassuring that Marinette had gotten her senses back.

“She’s going to be okay, but she has to stay in here until tomorrow so we can keep an eye on her health. We’re not sure yet what happened to her.”

“What?!” Joker exclaimed. “How could you not know? How hard is it to find out why someone is paralyzed?”

“Extremely hard, especially when all traces of paralysis vanish without a trace. We just need to monitor and look for any side effects that appear later on. For now though, you can go see her. Remember to be cal-”

“PUPPET!” Joker sped past her into the room, rushing past the exiting and startled staff. Entering the room, he found her sitting up in the medical bed, a thin but soft sheet laying over her lap.

Marinette smiled brightly in return at the sight of him. “Joker~” The moment he got close, the two had collected each other in a hug. “I’m sor-”

“Zip it.”

She shut her mouth in an instant, recalling once how the man told her he disliked her constantly apologizing.

Sighing, Joker let go of her and sat down on the rolling chair beside the bed. He ran his hands down his face as he groaned. “Puppet… None of this is your fault, okay? I panicked at first, thinking you overexerted yourself by using up your magic again, but clearly this isn’t that.” He glanced up for confirmation, receiving it in a small nod. “So don’t apologize, or I swear to God I’m going to put a hole in the wall every time you do.”

“Don’t do that; it’ll be expensive for them to patch so many up.”

That night, Tikki was fretting more than everyone else.

Needless to say- she had concerns.

“I don’t know why this happened!”

Very valid concerns.

Tikki was the Kwami of Creation, and that came with the small side concepts such as fortune, prosperity, happiness, life, and healing.

Those last two in particular though played big roles in the Kwamis current confusion and terror- because normally, she would be able to look at a person and just know what was wrong. With her wielders though, she never even had to look- she would just know.

So the fact she couldn’t figure out what was happening with Marinette- her wielder and the Guardian- was starting to freak her out.

It’s not the magic you’ve been using, it’s perfectly fine. The Dampeners aren’t affecting it at all even, so it can’t be that.” The Kwami sounded just about ready to cry. She was shaken to her core earlier, having been unable to help her chosen in any way.

Despite her powers, Tikki couldn’t heal her. Her powers didn’t just come onto someone and heal them 100%. For physical healing(versus Abstract Healing), the spell caster had to know just what it was they were healing, otherwise they could end up just turning the person back into the original human form, or possibly digressing their age to a newborn.

Like she said- Tikki could normally just look at a person and know what was wrong, so this had never been a problem before.

Now it was.

How could Tikki heal her when even she didn’t know what was wrong.

The fact that the Kwami of Creation didn’t know what was going on was a big sign for trouble.

“Are you certain you don’t feel anything wrong? Any numbness? Any pain?”

Marinette shook her head.

“Maybe a bit numb, but not really? It’s more like… I don’t know, sluggish? I feel kind of tired is all. I’m pretty sure though it’s just because it’s getting late,” she would have continued but she cut herself off with a yawn. “I’m sure we’ll figure things out, Tikki. Who knows; this could all just coincidentally be nothing. Maybe my body is just… doing stuff.”

Tikki frowns deeply at the idea. “While that was a common thing in the past, bodies stopped doing that kind of thing a few millennials ago. I made sure of it. If you suddenly experience an instant death though from no cause: I’m bringing you back to life just to strangle you for worrying me all the time.”

“Deal.”

Hopefully things wouldn’t come to that point.

Chapter Text

“Okay, I get it with the others, but why do I need to be watched by you?” Spoiler asked, arms crossed nonchalantly behind her head. “As far as it goes, I’ve purposefully stayed neutral on this whole thing. Wasn’t I one of the ones chosen to act as a babysitter?”

“There's no such thing as ‘neutral’. You either believe or doubt,” Robin said in return. “I don’t believe she’ll find you threatening, but I’m sure she’d feel more comfortable with someone there whom she knows has faith in her.”

At this, the Batmobile jerked to a sudden halt in the parking lot, making Robin certain he would have hit his head hard had he not been buckled. He scowled towards his sister in annoyance, only to freeze at the look on her face.

Spoiler had pulled down her mask to show the large and cheeky grin on her face. “Oh, so faith is what we’re calling it? Okay~ So tell me; how much are you paying me to keep your crush under-wraps?”

Robin froze only for a second, but it was long enough to show she was both correct, and not going to let it go. Sighing, Damian thought of an appropriate payment.

“...One piece of Level 3 Blackmail on any five members of the team.”

“Two Level 3 Blackmail, and one Level 4 on Bat.”

Damn it- he only had two of those. The others were either Level 5 or far below it. “Fine.”

The two stepped into the Asylum, letting themselves get pulled through the normal check-in procedures. Once through, Warden Aaron Cash was there to meet them. He glanced at Robin and nodded slightly to himself before eyeing Spoiler. “Have you visited her yet? I’m assuming it’s Miss Dupain-Cheng you’re here to see.”

Spoiler gave an overdramatic bow. “I have not yet been honored with the pleasure~ May we please speak with the fair maiden of innocence?” She got a jab to her side for it and she snickered at her partner. “What? I’m just trying out English like you do.” Another jab to the side.

Warden Cash smirked a bit, quickly lifting his fist and clearing his throat as he tried to hide the upturn of his mouth. “Ahem- Since you haven’t caused any offenses yet, I’ll allow you to have a visit. However, the moment Miss Dupain-Cheng wants you out; you’re out. Got it? The Justice League isn’t allowed to pull rank over her visitation rights, now that I’m back.”

“Yes sir~”

Spoiler was way too chipper for the morning.

Aaron was sure Marinette would like her.

“Well, you’re going to have to talk to her out in the courtyard. She’s had a few health issues recently, so the doctor wants her to stay out for a while- fresh air and all, now that Gotham seems to have it.”

Surprisingly enough, they’ve had blue skies and sunny days for a while. One of the guards mentioned a while back how they started around the time Marinette came to Gotham, and… well, it was true.

Another reason why they started to call her the Sunshine of Arkham.

They made their way outside, and Robin quickly recognized the area as the same small courtyard he had found Marinette at the last time he had seen her. It had been well over a month since then(he had taken much too long to gather his shit together), but he found her sitting against the tree in a duplicate image to how he had found her back then, only a small white blanket was covering her lap.

Marinette was busy at work in her sketchbook, just the same as last time, not paying any mind to the world around her. However(and thankfully for her blood pressure), she noticed them approaching by the time they came halfway to her spot.

She looked towards Spoiler with a clear air of hesitation, but her eyes brightened at the sight of him- something Robin found himself becoming much too happy about.

“Robin!” She smiled brightly, only raising her arm a short bit though her hand waved excitedly towards him. “It’s nice to meet with you again.”

He gave a nod, trying to keep his back towards his sister as he shared a smile towards the bluenette However, his attempt was in vain as Spoiler made a point to look at his face, giving her own shit-eating grin as she saw the upturn of his mouth.

“Oh-hoh, this is gonna be good~” She ignored his scowl as she turned to Marinette and quickly squatted down, waving cheerfully at the girl. “Hiyya! I’m Spoiler- it’s nice to meet you, Marinette!”

Marinette kept her air of caution, but he could tell by the way her shoulders loosened that she didn’t feel too threatened by the blonde's presence. Stephanie had a certain flamboyant and excitable nature to her that- while it could quickly become annoying to some- was able to put people at ease and lower their walls.

Shaking her hand, Marinette smiled in return. “I-it’s nice to meet you too, ma’am.”

“Oh wow- okay, while that’s super adorable of you, please never call me that again. Makes me feel respected, but also really old.”

Robin held himself back from making a jab or joke at her expense.

Cash left them with her, though not before getting the all clear from Marinette. “Just holler if you need anything, Sunshine.” With that, the Warden left the small courtyard.

Robin moved to sit beside Marinette, as Spoiler had done on her other side. However, as he got down, he noticed something… concerning.

“Why is there a wheelchair here?”

At his question, both women froze for a moment. Spoiler swiftly looked around the tree, rather startled by the sight of the chair that had been practically hidden from sight. On the other hand, Marinette looked nothing short of embarrassed.

Head faced down and cheeks tinted pink, Marinette blinked rapidly. “Umm, w-well uhh… The- the doctors won’t uhm… They said I’m not allowed to go anywhere without it y-yet.”

…What?

Even though she could clearly see their confusion, they didn’t blame her when she merely looked back down to her sketchbook, looking rather uncomfortable at the idea of answering their yet-to-be-asked question.

As much as Damian didn’t want to put her into any more of an uncomfortable position, he knew that something- something was definitely wrong.

“Marinette…” Robin shifted in place, facing her entirely. He hoped she could see his worry even with the mask blocking his eyes. “Please tell us what’s going on. I know we have no right to ask for your trust, but truly, we want to be sure you’re alright.” He offered his hand, hope quickly fulfilled as the girl gently placed her own in it.

His other hand was just out of her line of sight, flipping off his older sister as she waggled her eyebrows at him and his gesture- a gesture that could very easily be out of good-will and not due to his feelings for Marinette!

She hesitated again, but he could see the resolve in her eyes that said she wanted to be honest. He waited for her as she prepared, still seeming rather nervous. “...I’ve had a few health concerns, i-in the last t-two weeks. I uhm, I passed out the other day when I was doing my laundry, and I was out for a while. I-I’m fine now, really! But, well… Everyone keeps telling me to take it easy now, since it’s been happening a lot recently.”

Health concerns? Two weeks?

Falling unconscious didn’t sound too bad, but they knew well enough that it was actually a high concern. If she had been falling unconscious often in a short period of time, that could be from something dangerous even.

“Do you have some kind of illness?” Spoiler asked.

However, Marinette shook her head. “Nuh-uh. That’s why they’ve been having me under watch in the medical room a lot; they don’t know why it’s happening.”

Okay- definitely concerning.

If they couldn’t figure out what it was, then how were they to know if her symptoms would worsen. Passing out often was already a high concern as is, but if they couldn’t identify the issue? A lot of bad illnesses that held ‘falling unconscious’ as a symptom had even worse effects later on if they weren’t treated properly.

“It’s not so bad though,” she explained. The three of them tried to relax back again. “After all, passing out is way better than when I woke up paralyzed.”

And just like that, any form of relaxation left the vigilantes’ bodies in an instant.

“WHAT.”

Damian isn’t certain of the word left his mouth or Spoilers- all he knew was that it was said and felt by them both.

Marinette didn’t particularly enjoy her new treatment- despite her name making others think of a puppet, she didn’t exactly enjoy being held carefully like a china doll that could crack at the slightest touch.

However, she did have to admit that it was nice every now and then to slump back into the wheelchair when she was exhausted.

Which was… Okay- more often nowadays than not.

Joker was pushing her wheelchair to their group therapy, and the two were still badly trying to mask their laughter from when he had come to fetch her.

Neither had expected Spoiler and Robin to come visit her today, so they hadn’t pre-planned the jumpscare he gave them both when he came to bring her inside.

Both Vigilantes had startled when Joker approached them so casually, both standing up and trying to come off even more intimidating than usual. However, Joker had sidestepped them, ignored their existence entirely, and helped pull up her chair. “Come on, Puppet. Time for our therapy session to hell.”

She hadn’t realized it, but apparently, she had been speaking to Spoiler and Robin for well over an hour. She was proud to have gone through an interrogation for so long without any issues- though she’s not sure if it could truly be called an interrogation when they never actually spoke about anything of importance other than her health.

Spoiler and Robin had only been interested in learning about her, and not really in a way that she expected for a couple of detectives.

The two had gaped as they watched her hold out her arms to Joker, allowing him to help lift her up into her chair(she knew he would make a fuss if she tried to stand up on her own without permission from a doctor first).

“Umm- I’m sorry,” Spoiler pointed between the two inmates in bemusement. “What uhh- what is this?”

Joker grinned wider, finally acknowledging their existence. “Hey- just because the Justice League made the mistake of choosing the wrong side, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to. Honestly, how could we not find this little Puppet adorable, hmm?” He ruffled her hair, making her involuntarily squawk in indignation.

He knew very well just how much time she spent on her hair!

“Come on, let’s get inside before you catch a cold again. Say goodbye to your interrogators, Puppet.”

Rolling her eyes, unable to keep from smiling in her friend's presence, Marinette looked back and waved her farewell to the vigilantes. “It was nice seeing you again, Robin. And it was really nice to meet you, Spoiler. Thank you for taking the time to come and chat~”

Spoiler nodded, smiling briefly towards Marinette before returning her suspicious look towards Joker, which- okay, fair. In the past few weeks, Joker has admitted to her some of the things he had done to Batman’s team, and it was safe to say they had every right to not want to tolerate his presence.

When Robin snapped out of his glare, he smiled gently towards her and took her hand. Even with his glove on, she felt a comforting warmth from his touch, and she was reminded how his touch hadn’t burned back then when she last met him. Marinette didn’t always know when she was able to fully trust someone, not always believing her own mind and simply letting herself rely on the sixth sense her body had inherited from her most used Miraculous.

She was surprised though by how quickly her body and mind had come to trust Robin- it was just as quick(if not even moreso) then it had with Joker.

As if to point out even more obviously to her mind just as to why she felt so comfortable around him, Marinette was snapped out of her thoughts as Robin pulled her hand up, and dipped his head.

Just as soon as she felt the brush of his lips to her knuckles, Joker had snatched her gently by the wrist and pulled it away from the young man.

Marinette blinked a few times, trying to let herself calculate and properly grasp what was happening all around her. Joker was glaring at Robin hard enough for the gesture to be felt all around, while the young man himself only seemed to return the glare for the interruption. Spoiler on the other hand seemed to be dying as she clutched her gut and wheezed out a harsh laugh.

Wait… Oh fudge-

DID HE JUST KISS HER HAND?!

Marinette suddenly felt a burning heat pool inside of her chest, all the way up her neck and into her cheeks. She was sure her face was as red as her Ladybug suit, and it probably stood out greatly against her white uniform.

“Beat it, Boy Wonder.” Joker practically growled, his hands sounding to clench tightly on the handles of her chair.

Robin huffed before smiling back towards her- which did not make her heart skip a beat, thank you very much! She had already noticed long before just how sharp his jawline was, and it most certainly had no affect on her whatsoever!

Yeah; if she continued to repeat this to herself, maybe she could believe it soon.

“Until next time, Marinette.”

Oh sweet Kwamis, had his voice always sounded like that?!

Anyways(ignoring the embarrassing revelations she underwent internally), they had finally arrived back to their group therapy.

Harley was of course inside already, and Two Face and Crane were already seated and snacking away.

Harley looked up from her clipboard, smiling brightly at the sight of them(though Marinette knew it was mostly just at her). “Marinette~” (Called it…)

Before Marinette could respond with a cheerful hello, a sharp sting popped up inside of her throat which caused her to cut off with a harsh cough. Joker quietly cursed under his breath(he had been making a point to not do it as much around her) and rushed to grab her a water.

As Joker went, Harley came over and led her chair over to the circle. “You okay there, sweetheart?”

Marinette only nodded, not wanting to speak just yet. The sting had been the kind that left a foul taste in the back of her throat, and even though she was grateful as Joker handed her a water bottle, she knew it was the gross and tangy taste that wouldn’t fade quickly even with a drink to wash it out.

Swallowing down a load of water(the taste had dulled but still remained), Marinette smiled a bit now that she could reply with less discomfort. “I-i’m fine. Just a small cough, really. I’m not broken yet, right?” Her joke got a small smile from the woman, but for once Joker seemed unamused.

She supposed it made sense- it was nice of him to worry.

As the others slowly over time entered, Marinette sat back in her seat and breathed carefully.

In the last two weeks, Tikki had been guiding her to breathe deeply more often and to put herself more at ease so she could better control her body. AS a Guardian, she would have better control of her health and be able to stabilize herself when needed- but only if she concentrated and let her body ease off every now and again.

It worked for a short while, but she soon enough caught herself having a short coughing fit once more.

Again, the tangy and… slightly metallic(?) taste returned to her throat. She hated it when acid rose like that.

But…

What was filling into her mouth?

She didn’t feel like throwing up at all, and it wasn’t a normal collection of saliva or anything.

It was that same taste that had hurt her throat. Again though, it had a strangely metallic taste to it, and she couldn’t pinpoint just what it reminded her of.

Marinette felt the next caught bubble up into her chest, and she tried to swallow the strange and foul liquid before it poured out. However, as she coughed harshly again, Marinette had to lift her hands and catch the liquid as it fell out.

Gross.

“Puppet-?!”

She looked up, about to ask Joker if he could grab her a napkin or something. However, as she looked up, she saw a look of dawning horror come over his face. “Joker…?”

Why was her head feeling so light again? She wasn’t going to pass out again, was she?

Slowly, with a shaky hand, Joker pointed at her hands.

Fearing perhaps she actually had vomited, Marinette followed the angle of his finger and looked to her hands.

It wasn’t vomit.

It was a pool of her own blood.

Chapter Text

Tikki buzzed louder than Marinette had ever heard her do before- though she’s sure she should have expected this sort of reaction.

To be fair- her health had decided to do a full drop to the bottom of the pit in her currently failing body, so it was understandable that her little friend was upset.

Tikki scowled, little paw patting at her chin in deep thought. “No… No, this is wrong- this is very, very wrong!” She flew back over to her chosen, who laid back in the medical bed again- like she had been doing way too much.

Seriously, Marinette wouldn’t be surprised if they just decided to move her in there permanently.

Flying up to her chosen’s face, Tikki looked at her incredulously, as if Marinette knew the answer to all this madness and was just not telling her anything. “Why are you sick?! What the heck is wrong with your body?!”

Geez- harsh, much?

Seeming to realize her tone was a little harsh, the Kwami settled down and sighed. A little paw was raised to her forehead and her antennas wilted. “I- I’m sorry, Marinette, but none of this makes any sense… As the Kwami of Creation, I should be able to tell what’s wrong with you, not only as you are my wielder, but also as the Guardian. And yet- I can’t see anything.”

Marinette frowned in reply, understanding very well what she meant.

As the wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous, Marinette should be able to see and note the injuries or illnesses of other Miraculous wielders. It was a new power she had discovered a few months ago, but she had learned it well in the short time. So, Marinette should be able to tell what was wrong with herself.

However, just as Tikki said- there was nothing wrong with her.

At first, the two immediately suspected it must be due to the Magic Dampeners, but this couldn’t be.

The dampeners couldn’t possibly lower the magic from her Miraculous- nothing could. The Miraculous were the most powerful form of Magic in all of existence. The only way the dampeners could affect them is if they were hand-crafted by God himself.

But even then, Tikki couldn’t feel any disturbances from the Miraculous, and its magic was still at an impossibly high and infinite level. So, Marinette wasn’t ill from the dampeners or the Miraculous.

So what was it?

Suddenly, Tikki’s antenna’s shot up and she hid herself behind Marinette’s pillow.

Understanding the silent message, Marinette looked up just in time for Joker to come through the open door of the infirmary. “Hey, J~”

Joker came over with a smile, though it wasn’t as wide or cheerful as the usual ones he showed her. “Hey, Puppet… How ya doin’?”

“Honestly? I’m starting to hate my body a lot,” she replied, pushing her body to sit up a bit better and sit up. She hoped Tikki had enough time to maneuver out of the way when she sat back against the pillow. “I’m not feeling any paralysis, and I don’t feel woozy or like I’m gonna pass out right now, so I think that’s a good sign.”

Her neighbor nodded, looking slightly relieved but not entirely. “Good, good… Ugh,” he sighed and took a seat on the rolling chair nearby, scooting it closer. Leaning on his arms, Joker crossed them and set his elbows onto the spare room of her mattress. “It’s been getting pretty annoying again around here. I think everyone got used to you being around so quickly that we’ve all gotten dependent.”

Honestly, they probably have.

Marinette had been feeding Arkham Asylum the Abstract Healing Spell for a short while, but it was long enough to take a large effect on everyone. Apparently, another reason everyone called her the Sunshine of Arkham was because there hadn’t been a single breakout since her arrival, and the staff thought she must be an Angel.

From what she’s been told, breakouts happened around here a lot. You’d think that the Asylum would be so used to it that the workers would have enough preventatives- but it turned out that no matter what they did, the villains would still find a way to break out again.

To be fair though, she herself hadn’t been able to trap or capture her one singular villain in all the time she had been fighting him.

Though she felt she should get a pass since the man never did any of his own dirty work and stayed cooped up in his evil lair or whatever…

Wait…

Suddenly, a lightbulb blinked on in her head, and Marinette realized something that she probably should have nearly two months ago.

She had befriended the Rogues- and even more than that; the Joker.

Other then her Kwamis, her best friend at the moment was literally Public Enemy #1 and the most well-recognized criminal in the whole world.

The thing Marinette realized just now? Her newest best friend was basically a cheat-sheet- the answer key she needed all this time to getting inside of the mind of the man who had been the first to ruin her life.

“Joker?”

“Hmm?”

Marinette smiled wide and bright, not even bothering to hide the begging look in her eyes. “Could you help me with somethin’?”

The man paused at the cheeky tone of her voice, slowly turning his head from the recently powered on TV and eyeing the girl carefully. “...I don’t like that tone-”

“Please?”

He sighed in response, knowing he had gained a weakness towards her smile(ironic, ain’t it?). “Fine, what is it?”

Marinette reached out and grabbed her sketchbook from the small table beside her medical bed. Flipping to a blank page, she quickly sketched out an image of Hawkmoth and Mayura.

“Remember how I told you about the time I was Multimouse?”

Joker nodded, sitting up and crossing his legs in his seat. “Uh-huh, and I tried to call you Minnie Mouse for it, but you went off on me about copyright laws.”

“Exactly. Well, because of that, I’ve been trusted by Ladybug enough that seh’s let me help her in trying to track down Hawkmoth and Mayura. We had a small list of suspects, but none of them fit the bill.” She jotted down a few names near both sketches. “No matter what we do, Hawkmoth always seems to be five steps ahead of us, even when we thought it was the reverse. The first time we fought in person and almost had him cornered, Mayura popped up out of nowhere, as if she was watching and waiting. So, I was hoping maybe you c-”

Joker snatched the sketchbook from her and looked over the list. Not even a second later, he snapped his finger and held open his hand.

Marinette handed him her pencil and watched as he crossed off a name beside Hawkmoth.

“Okay, so whoever this ‘Abinatrick Grenoux’ guy is can’t be Hawkass. With a name like that, if he was a villain, he would be very verbal about his shitty name. Realistically, most villains who get to the big leagues have the most boring and average names you can possibly imagine.” He circled three names from both lists. “Tell me which two from both lists have the closest connection, and why they’re on the list.”

Marinette looked at the list and frowned, immediately seeing the most obvious but confusing answers.

“Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur. The latter is the former’s personal assistant and basically his aide to life. She even does most of the parenting in his stead for his son, Adrien. Gabriel fit the profile from what we expected for Hawkmoth; same build, similar voices, same egotistical attitude, and he has enough money and time on his hand to get away with akumatizing people whenever he wants without the worry of a job getting in the way of his time. We first suspected him after I found the Miraculous Grimoire- a book on the Miraculous- and learned he had it in his possession for years. The Grimoire was highly suspected to have been with the person who had the lost Miraculi, which are those in the hands of Hawkmoth and Mayura.”

“Hmm,” Joker hummed in thought at this. “Not bad… And I guess you suspected that Natasha lady, or whatever, after Mayura showed up, because she fits similar descriptions and works alongside Hawkmoth?”

She nodded.

“So what drew you away from this theory?”

Marinette sighed. She really shouldn’t be so disappointed about it whenever she thinks about it, but she couldn’t help it. They had been really close with this one…

“Just as we suspected Gabriel and went to his manor, he was akumatized into the Collector after realizing the book was missing. Hawkmoth can’t akumatize himself.”

Joker frowned now, thinking about it for a while.

A few moments of silence passed, and Marinette tried to keep the worry from entering her mind.

What if he couldn’t help her? She and the Kwamis had been trying to figure this out for years now. Even if Joker was a fellow villain, that wasn’t to say all of their minds worked alike.

“Motive?”

“Huh?”

Joker was scratching his chin, eyes glued to the sketches on her book. “What do you think his motive could be? Hawkmoths.”

“Motive? Uhm…” She looked up in deep thought. “Well, it’s definitely to use the wish. The Miraculous put together would be able to grant the wielder any wish in existence. It comes with a price, of course, but it could still do anything.”

“Okay… But what do you suppose this guy wants the wish for?”

What does he want the wish for? Well obviously… for… power?

Marinette frowned.

Actually… What did he want the wish for?

“If the guy wanted money, he could just akumatize people and have them rob every bank in the world,” Joker pointed out. “If he wanted power, well- he’s already got enough of it, right? Why bother with the wish even? So, he must want to use the wish for something he can only get from a wish. It can’t be something material, and it can’t be an easy fix. The fact he’s come this far shows it has to be something so magical and great, it would have to show up in his profile as a motive.”

Looking at the names on the list, Marinette tried to think about any motives these people could have.

Mayura’s motive didn’t seem to really matter; the lady made it clear she just wanted to help Hawkmoth. So, she would focus on the list of men.

Marciele and Piere were closer to low class and would have used the Miraculous to gain money in some way through akumas. Laurent had a background with some criminal history, and Marinette had a feeling he would have committed more nefarious acts with his motives. Nothing stood out much about Hugo or Antoine…

Gabriel.

It always came back to him.

Sighing once again, Marinette tapped her nail against the name. “I know his son- unfortunately… I know Gabriel lost his wife a few years ago, but she isn’t dead- just missing. No one knows any details on what happened to her, and… honestly, the man hasn’t really seemed to be grieving. He makes his son’s life horrible, no doubt about it, but he only seems to act like he misses his wife. Frankly, he talks as if she’s dead rather than missing. If she is dead or just lost, I could imagine he wants to use the Miraculous for that reason. But…”

“But he was akumatized?”

Exactly.

Marinette sighed, looking at her list once more and trying not to groan.

What was she missing here?

Could none of these men be Hawkmoth?

“You know… He could always have just… taken it off?”

.

.

.

.

.

“What…?”

Marinette slowly turned her head to look at the man.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Tikki having slipped out from behind her pillow. The Kwami sat down on top of a large shelf, looking just as stricken as her wielder.

Joker shrugged casually, as if he wasn’t pointing out something that Marinette and the Kwamis just… hadn’t even considered. “Well, clearly he didn’t have Mayura akumatize him. From what you’ve told me well enough about the Miraculous, I’ll bet the man wouldn’t dare to let anyone else touch it. However… If the akumas can fly across an entire city to look for the most powerful bad emotions, then, well…” Joker looked her in the eyes. Marinette gaped, seeing nothing but a bored but curious gaze- he looked as though he didn’t even care about how much genius was spilling from his mouth. “If it were me, and I just lost something that could potentially ruin all of my plans and get me caught, I would have akumatized myself. The guy probably panicked and thought the heroes could figure him out if they learned the book was his, so he just played it off and akumatized himself for the very thing they suspected him for.”

That… That fit.

Like- that fit so well that Marinette was nearly about to blow a gasket.

Why did that fit so much?!

“But… If he took it off…How…?”

Joker shrugged again, drawing a circle around Gabriel and Nathalie’s names. “Create the akuma, lock it in the room with himself, remove the Miraculous, and there you go. I mean, clearly the man should be able to detransform after sending out an akuma, right? It would be pretty lame otherwise. You’ve told me before how Ladybug can detransform after using Lucky Charm, and can use the Miraculous Cure the next time she transforms. It could be like that.”

Oh. My. Kwami.

“Gabriel is Hawkmoth…” Marinette whispered out loud, feeling her body start to get warm and go into shock again.

She had started to recognize the feeling of her body failing her, and she really shouldn’t be used to it now. However, she was- and now was one of those moments in which her body decided it didn’t like having to use any energy.

Marinette groaned, feeling a pinching feeling running up her body from the inside. Normally, when you pull at your limbs and stretch, you get the faint idea of actually feeling the muscles under your skin.

Well, Marinette got that feeling- instead the feeling was making her feel her nerves rather than her muscles.

It felt like little waves of electricity, thrumming along her nerves and feeling like a constant shock of static against every bone.

When she tried to move, the shocks started to hurt. So long as she remained still, it was a dull pain.

It hurt, but it was bearable.

That didn’t mean she liked it though.

Blinking slowly, Marinette wished she could wipe away the itch on her cheeks from the tears that came down from her eyes. She wished it didn’t hurt to move her jaw as well, that way she could cry out for her Kwami to press the red button that was just a few inches out of reach and call for a nurse. She wished to know what was happening to her, and how she could stop it from happening.

Why did this keep happening?

Chapter Text

When he first heard of the arrest warrant on Marinette, Adrien had been a little too shocked to properly react.

I mean… It was Marinette.

Sweet, adorable, mousey Marinette.

Who the hell would arrest her?!

As Chat Noir, Mayor Bourgeois had informed him the morning of the arrest of the plentiful evidence they had gathered, proving Marinette Dupain-Cheng was an accomplice of Hawkmoth. Apparently, Ladybug had been gathering evidence on her own secretly and showed this evidence to Lila(her best friend) and Chloe(her most trusted sidekick whom she only didn’t a Miraculous to again for her safety).

Yeah- that told Adrien all he needed to know about this whole situation.

The Mayor and Commissioner both believed their daughters, as well as Ladybugs best friend- so who were they to question the evidence?

Now; Chat Noir had never been shown this evidence, and he’s almost certain most of it had been fabricated or just straight up lied about- but apparently it was all enough to form an arrest.

So, Chat Noir stood on top of a rooftop nearby and watched helplessly as his ‘Everyday Ladybug’ was arrested for a crime he was mostly certain she had no part in. The look of confusion on her face as she was dragged from her home only confirmed in his mind that Lila, Chloe, and Sabrina, had just pulled all their evidence out of their asses to get the only tolerable person in their class arrested.

Wonderful.

Now who was Adrien going to complain to all the time?

Marinette- adorable and kind- had been arrested and convicted for aid of terrorism.

Honestly, was it just Adrien, or was Paris getting dumber? (A/N: Both.)

Upon going to school, shortly after the arrest- no, you know what? He didn’t even get to go to school yet. Because apparently, Lila was so traumatized about having to act as a witness in court against her terrorist of a classmate, that she thought it would benefit their class most if they all took the week off.

Apparently, Madame Bustier thought this was an excellent idea, for them all to “grieve the loss of a wayward young soul who had fallen to the ways of evil”(her words exactly).

Of course, while Madame Bustier was grieving the loss of her hardworking class president, and the student who once did the majority of her work, the class itself literally threw a party.

Adrien gaped, standing on the bridge to the Couffaine Houseboat. Hanging lights, streamers, confetti- all of his friends celebrated the arrest of “Mari-Bitch”, as the banner so called her. 

The thing that shocked him the most though had to be the fact his father even allowed him to come there. With Lila vouching that the party was to celebrate the loss of such a great evil, his father had been… strangely acceptant about all of this.

Adrien still couldn’t understand why his father had helped and backed Lila’s claims against Marinette- clearly his father must have seen that it all had been bullshit, right?

So why?

At the party, Adrien had stood off to the side, not able to really bring himself to do more than smile politely. He was glad that everyone was happy, but he was upset that one of his close friends was- well… in jail. For a crime she hadn’t committed.

Even worse though; Plagg had been getting on him about it the whole time, and he wouldn’t stop.

“What the actual fuck is wrong with you?!”

Plagg had been giving him attitude ever since day one, but it had soon enough stopped being snark and eventually came to being clear resentment. Now, though? Now, his Kwami looked nothing short of hateful.

Seriously; Plagg never met Marinette, and he never even spoke her actual name. So why was he getting on Adriens back all the time about this now that she had been arrested?

“It’ll be fine, Plagg.” Adrien tried to reason with him. “Marinette has a strong personality- she’s lasted this long, even against Lila and Chloe. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Besides, it’s not like there's anything I can do about it.”

Plagg looked at him incredulously. Seriously- what the heck was wrong with this boy?

“Kid… Pigtails is in literal jail! An asylum with some of the most psychotic and sociopathic criminals in this century! Forget her personality- they could kill her in there!”

“They have guards, Plagg. Besides, I’m sure they won’t just put her right next to them or whatever; criminal or not, she’s still just a little girl.” Adrien ignored his screaming Kwami and finished preparing to return to school. He was going in a little late that day, since he had a late photoshoot the other night, but it was fine.

Everything would be fine, right?

Sure, Marinette was gone, but she would be fine. Besides, once Ladybug stopped being oddly radio-silent, he’s sure she would just say this was all a misunderstanding and would have them release his Princess.

Plagg had said for him to tell the Mayor and Commissioner about Marinette being Multimouse, but who was he even kidding? No one really knew about Multimouse since it had been in such a remote area, there had been no video footage of the incident(His Lady apparently destroyed it all to protect Marinette), and Chat had no proof of any of it.

“You’re Chat Noir! Why the hell would they doubt you?!” Plagg had shouted when Adrien pointed out these very convincing points.

Adrien had ignored the question though, not bothering to dignify it with a response. Clearly his Kwami just didn’t get it.

When he got to class, things were getting rather exciting.

Everyone was so happy and cheerful that Marinette was gone, Adrien started feeling less guilty that he hadn’t done anything to prevent her arrest. If she knew how much everyone was thriving in her absence, he’s sure she’d be happy and proud of herself. Marinette always had loved helping others, and she was doing just that.

Madame Bustier asked for Lila to take on the position of Class President, since Lila was so well liked and had plenty of experience in such works- from helping manage a whole concert for Jagged Stone to having to schedule and set up charities and fundraisers for hundreds of different causes. Frankly, everyone was confused why they hadn’t just given Marinette's position to Lila long ago.

Of course, Adrien was a little concerned about all the promises Lila gave to people since he knew she didn’t truly have all the connections to back them, but he’s sure it’ll all work out in the end.

Everyone was really forgiving, and he’s sure they’ll all be the bigger people and forgive Lila when they realize she had told a few white lies.

It wasn’t like she really did any harm, right? (Plagg was screaming non-stop for some reason.)

Whatever; Adrien’s sure everything will be fine.

Newsflash: Everything was shit.

Three weeks later, it’s been a month. A month since Marinette’s arrest, and a month without Ladybug.

Things had gotten… Pretty bad…

Lila had been giving excuses to everyone left and right for why she couldn’t fulfill any of her duties or promises, and while Adrien’s not certain where she actually goes whenever she’s supposedly out on a trip out of country, he knows she hasn’t been able to easily excuse herself for such trips now that Madame Bustier was being reliant on her.

At a photoshoot, Lila had done nothing but complain to him about all the work their teacher had given her. “This is ridiculous, Adrien! And even worse, she won’t stop comparing me to that Mari-Bitch! Apparently, she used to put even more of her work on her, but she’s given me less because I’m still getting used to the job! What the hell?! What else did she have that slut even doing- grading tests or something?! She’s having me plan out classwork for her now!”

If Adrien recalled, he can remember one night when he visited his Princess as Chat Noir and found her grading their classes homework. While he's not certain on tests, Marinette did do a lot. But, that was to be expected of their class president and all, so he’s not sure if Lila really had much grounds to complain here- especially if Madame Bustier wasn’t even giving her the full workload yet.

Their classmates were also starting to get rather… anxious, of sorts.

When Rose’s birthday showed up last week, it was like everyone forgot Marinette was gone. They all had waited expectantly for her to bring in a cake and more desserts, and Rose had wailed for nearly an hour when she realized the cake wasn’t arriving, along with a birthday gift made specially by their favorite amateur designer.

Marinette had always brought desserts, a specialized cake, and a handmade outfit or accessory, for every person's birthday. It was one of her personal little traditions, and it made them miss her terribly.

Lila had belatedly ordered donuts, saying she had ordered them before school and the delivery man was simply late, but it was rather clear that while the sentiment was appreciated- Lila just couldn’t live up to the high bar Marinette had set.

It hadn’t taken long before everyone joined him in realizing how much they missed Marinette. No matter how much they had ignored her or maybe shoved her around once in a while(all just teasing he’s sure), her absence had left them all wanting. Adrien had told Marinette that Lila would lose if they left her alone, and by how angry the Italian was becoming with how much Marinette was missed, it seemed Adrien had been correct.

But anyways- all the issues coming from his Princess’ absence weren’t even the main issue in his life right now. All those small problems could be ignored(no matter how much Plagg hounded him for them).

Adrien had a more pressing issue at hand, and that was the disappearance of His Lady.

His Lady had vanished, and he couldn’t figure out what the hell had happened. She had seemed fine and perfect as usual during the last akuma she was present for, but when Gigantitan showed up, she had been AWOL.

Look, Adrien understood- Lower tier akumas were annoying and rarely caused any damage, so he himself rarely bothered to show up for them. But Ladybug hadn’t even transformed. He had tried contacting and tracking her, but her Miraculous showed to be inactive on his baton, and it showed to have last been active on the day of the last akuma, Lityear.

Paris was going insane, constantly asking if Ladybug was dead or if Hawkmoth had maybe gotten to her through Marinette. The Mayor was practically in tears when Ladybug hadn’t shown up to the court trial against Marinette, and it only got worse after the first akuma attack she had missed. Even worse though- the Justice League had been hounding him about Ladybug worse than Plagg had about Marinette.

Seriously, what was with these guys?! Why couldn’t everyone see that there was nothing he could do?!

He was already having a hard time with dealing with akuma attacks on his own, and he had to be even more careful now that His Lady wasn’t there to reverse any injuries, damage, or death. And to top that off, he now had a bunch of senior heroes remarking on every flaw or slip he made while protecting the city.

It wasn’t like they were being of any real help here!

Jeez- was this the real reason Ladybug never wanted to contact the Justice League? If so, he could understand it better now.

Anyways, while they were all hellbent on trying to find out more about Marinette and Hawkmoth, Adrien got busy with more important matters: Finding His Lady.

Once Ladybug was back, she could help clear up all the mess- the physical mess of Paris, and the whole mess with Marinette. Not to mention, they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder, so he’s sure His Lady has been missing him terribly.

Now, one thing was for certain to him; Ladybug going missing was entirely connected to Marinette being arrested.

He knows the Justice League probably haven’t been able to really connect these dots, just like everyone else- the Quantum Masking would have made sure of it. While the magic would hide all evidence from anyone who didn’t wear a Miraculous though, it was slightly less effective on an active wielder- especially one who held one of the most powerful Miraculous in the world.

So yeah, Adrien knew that Marinette’s arrest had an impact on Ladybugs disappearance, but the question was how?

Ladybug knew Marinette wasn’t evil- and so did he. Marinette wasn’t working with Hawkmoth, so it's not like Marinette did anything wrong here…

Right?

Hmm…

Ladybug had entrusted Marinette with the Mouse Miraculous before- heck, even more than that. She had given Marinette every Miraculous, both her own and his included! Why give all of that responsibility to someone whom you didn’t trust with your very own life even?

If Ladybug trusted Marinette that much, then… could it be that the two were still in contact after Kwamibuster was defeated?

Whenever he had suggested bringing Marinette back out into the field, Ladybug had shot the idea down quicker than he could even finish asking. But strangely enough, she had been fine with once in a while using other wielders whom Hawkmoth had seen the identities of. He had noticed this before and had written it off as nothing, and had for a moment even entertained the idea that maybe His Lady just hadn’t liked Marinette very much.

But actually… What if that hadn’t been the case?

He knows Marinette knew more about the Miraculous then she let on normally- he overheard her muttering often enough about the Miraculous, and even once in a while muttering about Hawkmoth and Tikki(whom he had eventually learned was Ladybug’s Kwami).

What if she was an informant?

Marinette was a civilian aide that Ladybug had set up, and they hadn’t told him about it to avoid any chance of her being caught?

Marinette was extremely intelligent, and she was always around whenever an akuma attack took place. He knew she was on their side, so clearly she must be Ladybugs informant rather than Hawkmoths!

Now; what did this mean when it came to Ladybugs' disappearance?

Well, it became more obvious by that point.

If Marinette was an aide to His Lady, it only made sense that Ladybug was upset when she had been arrested. But even worse… What if she was scared and had gone into hiding?

Marinette knew about Tikki, meaning she must have even met the Kwami- and if she met Ladybugs Kwami…

Then that meant she had met Ladybug- the real Ladybug.

The one behind the mask.

What if His Lady had worried Marinette would spill her secret, or would tell others about Ladybug or the Miraculous now that she had been imprisoned? What if she had felt Ladybug and him had abandoned her, and she was now siding with the Rogues in Arkham?!

That… That would be bad.

No wonder Ladybug had made herself scarce.

He had no doubt Marinette was unaware of his identity, so Ladybug wouldn’t have bothered warning him about it since Marinette couldn’t spill any of his secrets. But if she told anyone about Ladybugs’, then there could be serious trouble.

Marinette wasn’t the one in danger anymore- she was the danger.

So, as the genius he was, Adrien came up with a plan.

He had to keep her quiet.

Chapter Text

So, long story short- Marinette had been moved into the infirmary indefinitely.

Yeah, she had called it last time….

Harley stood nearby, messing with a large pot of Echinacea’s her wife had prepared for Marinette. “Honestly, it’s like your body is trying to prank everyone by this point. One minute you’re right as rain, and the next- you’re paralyzed from head-to-toe. Are you sure you’re doing better now, sweetheart?”

Marinette nodded at the question and skeptical look of concern. She was no longer paralyzed entirely(for the fourth time), but her body was still rather rough at the moment. She felt heavy, and while she could technically move around, it hurt if she tried to put in too much effort.

Her legs felt wobbly when she tried to stand or put her whole weight on them, and her arms couldn’t hold anything heavier than a glass of water(and even that had a time limit before she began shaking).

The second time she had found herself paralyzed, she had been walking down a hall when her legs suddenly gave out on her. Fortunately, Two Face had been with her and had caught her before her head had hit the railing on the wall. Unfortunately, she had been paralyzed from the waist down for exactly 32 hours after that, and was confined to a medical bed for twice as long after.

The third time had been the worst, as Marinette had been in a full body paralysis for two days straight. Unlike the first time, she hadn’t been able to speak no matter how much strength she put into the action.

This paralysis had been painful- in a way you would think could only be achieved if you had electricity shocking you by every drop of liquid within your body. Sometimes the pain receded, and sometimes it was entirely gone and had given her the time to just sleep away the feeling- but then it wasn’t. At several points, she had spent minutes just painfully screaming for it all to stop.

Tikki had been able to help her, but there was only so much the Kwami could do. As Marinette writhed in pain, the Kwami would push her own healing magic onto her, only for most of it to be turned obsolete by the Magic Dampeners on Marinette’s wrists.

Damn- now those were finally becoming an issue for her. So long as she wore the Magic Dampeners, Tikki wasn’t able to help heal her in small or quick bursts without it immediately being pushed back.

So, when Tikki healed her as much as she could, only truly being able to help calm Marinette’s body and keep it from feeling too much for her to bear. She would need to hand out large bursts of healing magic, and it would be at random moments throughout the paralysis. Eventually, by the time Marinette’s paralysis had worn off entirely, Tikki had been left as exhausted as her Wielder.

Yeah; the third time was the worst.

The fourth time, two nights ago, Warden Cash had come to an agreement with Harley and the other doctors that they should move Marinette into the clinic for the foreseeable future.

Which… was fair.

Very fair.

“Everyone misses you, ya know?”

Marinette smiled at the comment, knowing that for once in her life she was somewhere where such a sentence could be true.

She wondered who might miss her back in Paris?

Luka and Kagami were two of her closest and only friends, and she had missed them so much that it was the main thing that made her regret not planning out an escape. Jagged, Penny, and Clara, were always so sweet and caring for her. They noticed when she seemed overworked and always made sure to limit how much they asked of her because they knew she would overdo herself.

Nonna Gina…

Last time Marinette checked, her grandmother was traveling somewhere in South America, and she likely wouldn’t have returned to Paris for several months, so she most likely didn’t even realize Marinette was in jail to begin with.

Marinette missed all of them dearly, and she wished more than anything else that she was granted phone or visitation rights(the normal kind that didn’t include superheroes and vigilantes). If she was, she’s sure they would have never let her off the phone and that nearly all of them would have flown out(with their multiple jets) to come and see her.

However, this wasn’t possible.

In fear that she may try to make some kind of contact back to Hawkmoth, she had been prohibited by the Justice League and the Parisian government from coming in contact with anyone from outside of Arkham who was not one of the heroes.

Which… Okay, that really didn’t do much though, right?

Like- if she really was a villain, couldn’t she just send a message to Hawkmoth through a Rogue, or something?

They did break out from here a lot.

“The door’s always open when they want to visit,” Marinette replied to her therapist. “They’ve come by a lot, and it makes this place feel more like a home to me than the bakery back in Paris… It’s nice.” She looked out the window as she said the last part, watching the buildings in the near distance.

Harley remained silent a moment, frowning at her words. However, she soon wiped off the cautious look and replaced it with her own bright smile again.

“Well! I just remembered; I wanted to talk to you about those outfits you wanted to make when you get out.” Harley sat back down on her seat beside the bed. “Now, I know you said Joker’s order has to be done first, but I really think you can hold off for a while. Now; my order on the other hand, is go-”

The door swung open, cutting the two of them off.

Into the room, Commissioner Gordon entered with a familiar guard.

Gordon grumbled the whole time, walking over to them as the guard prepared Marinette’s wheelchair. “Bad news- Paris just pulled rank for an interrogation.”

This surprised both of the women.

Normally, all of the interviews had been placed by the Justice League, whose authority over her could be overlooked now that Warden Cash was back in town. But since Marinette was a citizen and prisoner under French authority, the Parisian government still had full control over her situation.

If they said she had to participate in an interrogation, she didn’t have a choice.

But- why?

They hadn’t cared much for her situation ever since her arrest, simply seeming to keep all of her records on lockdown(most likely because it was all junk). So why were they pulling rank here to make sure she would be interrogated?

Did they think she might have evidence or knew where Hawkmoth was? Or maybe they finally realized her innocence and were trying to confirm with her?

Who was she going to talk to?

“You’ve gotta be shitting me here- seriously?!” Harley stood up again, annoyed on Marinette's behalf since the girl herself seemed more curious than anything. “They can’t fuckin’ do this to her! She’s a kid, for cryin’ out loud!”

“Trust us, we know,” replied Officer Davis. “However, it is what it is. Cash is contacting JL about the situation now, and believe me- he is pissed. ” The Warden didn’t like it when others tried to tell him what was what with his inmates. He was the one in charge now, and he wasn’t going to make the same mistake as his predecessors by letting the patients of Arkham be mistreated and turned even worse.

Just as she was about to ask who was coming to meet and talk with her, Davis and Harley helped Marinette into her wheelchair. At this, Marinette found her mind distracted from her thoughts as she realized that she didn’t feel any discomfort or pain from Officer Davis touching her.

She didn’t know the woman as well as she did Harley and Gordon, but she had still known her for the full duration of her stay here in Arkham, and it was nice to see her body and mind felt more welcomed with more and more people.

Unfortunately, she was so distracted by these thoughts that Marinette didn’t even realize she had forgotten to ask about her interrogator.

Davis pushed her wheelchair down to the interrogation rooms, but she instead brought Marinette to one at the end of all the halls. It was a bit farther from the other rooms, and Marinette felt… strange, about being brought here.

“Why are we coming here?”

The woman shrugged. “No clue; usually this room is left for people like Croc or Bane, to help keep ‘em in. The walls are more tough to break through, ya know? Only the Super’s can get in with ease. Apparently, Paris put in some weird request for you to be met in one of the rooms that was farther away and without too many people. They don’t want information getting out we think, and there’s no screen for others to watch through.”

That… something about that felt wrong.

Why would Paris insist on her being interrogated here?

If it was to keep any information from leaking, then she had her doubts it was the Justice League coming to meet her. But who else could it be?

Brought into the room, Officer Davis wished her farewell and left, closing the door behind her.

Looking around the room carefully, Marinette called for her Kwami. “Something’s not right… Why do I feel like something bad is going to happen?” As the Guardian, she had a sense for it- especially concerning the Miraculous.

This was a feeling of danger, and she couldn’t figure out why. What danger could come to her here, and through Parisian authority no less?

Meanwhile…

“Who the hell is Multimouse?”

Constantine had only really gone on the Marinette-is-innocent side of the Justice League’s constant argument for the giggles. So few people were on this side that he knew he could piss off more of them by defending her- they all knew that was his reason.

But, he wasn’t one to do things half-way. Oh no; he either shit-faced it(usually), or he put in enough effort to actually claim his point.

And, well, this whole Miraculous situation was starting to become an actual problem, and he recognized that if he didn’t do something to help smooth it all over he might actually need to go to Paris and do something about it.

Again- he usually shit-faced this kinda stuff, so he was just saving everyone some extra time by actually looking into Marinette.

Most of the stuff he got on her was just the same old information that Batsy got them all, and the little-to-none information they were handed by the City of Love.

He hadn’t actually bothered to listen to or look at any of it before, but now that he had, he had to admit that the entire situation was sketchy as hell. AS a magic user himself though, he couldn’t help but look at Marinette’s profile and… truthfully?

Now, he truly did think she was innocent.

This girl didn’t really have the background for a villain, and he’s wondering why no one mentioned that before.

Like- what part about her information(as little as it was) told them that this girl even had the making for a supervillain? She had the most sugary-sweet upbringing, and as much as her parents had become assholes, they started off as the ideal loving parents. She was friends with everyone up until a certain point it seems, but that point came nearly a full year after Hawkmoth was around.

Nothing about her past gave off the typical red-flags, and it didn’t even give off subtle yellow flags either.

So what the hell?

And then there was the magic part- where the hell did this girl get it from?

While he was unsure before, he had eventually gotten enough leftover traces of the magic she left on the younger heroes. While she had originally masked it all as a coating, the samples he had gotten from Robin showed him that something about her magic was not only that of a Miraculous, but pure.

As in- pure enough that it couldn’t have been from Hawkmoth.

Honestly, Constantine was a little disappointed that he hadn’t realized it before, even though he was the one who had explained it to the rest of the League. But then again, he hadn’t really cared yet at that point.

Hawkmoth was misusing a Miraculous- that much was clear to anyone by the fact the guy constantly terrorized Paris and made himself out to be a villain. However, a deeper understanding could be found by looking at the Miasma that surged around the akumas and their victims.

Marinette didn’t have any Miasma- even if she hadn’t the smallest amount, like the amount anyone who had been akumatized would have on them from the past, it still would be recognized and smelt from the magic she had used on Batman’s flock. There wasn’t any though; which meant her magic couldn’t be from the Peacock or Butterfly Miraculous.

If she was working for Hawkmoth and had at all used either Miraculous while with them, then she would have had miasma nearly all over her. But she didn’t have any, which meant that despite her Magic intertwining with Miraculous power, it wasn’t from the villains.

Meaning: it was from the heroes.

By the time he realized this, it was like a literal lightbulb went off in his head.

Seriously, he could just feel the warmth from the light turning on inside his brain.

“You know me, Chat Noir. Did you really think you could get away with remaining silent for so long?”

She had demanded Chat Noir to tell the truth and had made it all too clear that he hadn’t told them something about her that he really should have. She was involved with Miraculous Magic and it had to have come from the heroes. Chat Noir was aware of it, and she had been thoroughly(and dare he say rightfully) pissed off with him about keeping silent.

She wanted him to have told them, but it was something she hadn’t told them herself. It was either she couldn’t talk about it, or she didn’t bother- most likely the latter, and she didn’t because she realized she wouldn’t be backed up about it.

Connecting so many puzzle pieces he hadn’t even noticed existed before, Constantine searched through any and all footage from just about every out-of-range or hidden akuma attack.

This information must be subtle- subtle enough that no one else but the heroes themselves knew about it.

Where was it, where was it…

“Fuckin’ got you!” Constantine jumped up from his seat, a wide and ecstatic smile spreading across his face.

Calling nearly any and all higher JL members(mostly just those who actually seemed concerned about the case still), Constantine gathered them all in the main meeting room.

While plugging his beaten-up laptop into the large screen, he ignored the grumbling from everyone else in the room. “You all better be grateful to Earendel and back for the shit I had to search for. For those of you that are hell-bent on Marinette Dupain-Cheng being innocent?” He turned around, seeing the five members of the small group now looking interested. He grinned and gave a dramatic bow to them. “ You’re welcome. ”

With the screen connecting, the title of his presentation appeared. Nightwing frowned and read it aloud. “‘Multimouse’? Who the hell is Multimouse?”

Constantine grinned, and pressed play in lou of an answer.

On the screen, the last few minutes of an akuma battle played out for them all to see. A woman with purple hair, holding some kind of machine that looked too reminiscent of a vacuum, stood on the rooftop of the TVi Studio. She was shooting a whipping laser beam around, trying to catch something that clearly wasn’t showing up on camera.

Suddenly, a burst of magic destroyed the back of the machine out of nowhere, causing the woman to detransform into Olga Mendeleiev, and releasing an akuma.

A Ladybug Lucky Charm was called out of nowhere, and they watched a red and black construction hat drop down to capture the akuma, trapping it as Ladybug zipped in and Chat Noir finally showed up.

Ladybug knelt down by the construction hat and… there was something small there, and she began to thank it.

After Ladybug casted the Miraculous Cure, an army of tiny beings gathered together, forming together Multimouse. “We came, we saw, we kicked her hat,” she took off her Miraculous, revealing her identity. “Now I gotta give you this back, right?”

Everyone froze, looking at the screen in horror.

There, handing back the borrowed Miraculous, was the very girl nearly all of them had suspected.

“Marinette?!” Jon shouted, grin growing by the second.

Constantine nodded, allowing the scene to continue playing. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng was given the Mouse Miraculous to help defeat Kwamibuster, who apparently captured the Kwami’s of Ladybug and Chat Noir, making them incapable of transforming. She got them out, using the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous to do it.”

“So what you’re saying is,” Diana said, grinning as well. “Not only did Ladybug trust her as an ally, but-”

“She trusted her enough that Marinette had both Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous on her person at the same time.” Robin concluded. His smile was also in place, and it was practically feral as he reveled in their victory. “If she worked for Hawkmoth at all, then they had practically already won. She could have just given them up to him right there and then!”

If this wasn’t definite enough proof, Constantine didn’t know what was.

I mean, sure it was a little weird that the camera glitches out and turns off shortly after Chat Noir takes away Olga Mendeleiev- but who cared, right?

“Even better though; Chat Noir sees her identity. This was what Marinette was upset with him over. This is what she couldn’t tell us, knowing we wouldn’t believe her- no one but the heroes know about Multimouse, and Chat Noir hadn’t backed her up.”

This… This was bad.

Before any more conclusions could be drawn up, an alert came on Batman’s caller. He looked at it and read the message. “Warden Aaron Cash, from Arkham Asylum. He’s pretty mad…” He frowned at the message and looked around the room. “Paris just forced a hero interrogation with Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

What?

“Who?” Diana asked. All of them were there, and Paris hadn’t contacted any of them for something like this.

“...”

“Batman…?”

Bruce's face hardened under the mask as he looked at the reply.

“Chat Noir.”

Chapter Text

Joker didn’t know what it was, but a feeling had come over him this morning that just felt wrong.

He rarely got the feeling- the last time had been years ago, on the day he had grabbed a crowbar and taken a life he really shouldn’t have. Just like that day, Joker had the weirdly cold and suffocating dread wash over his body as a reminder of who he was and what he was capable of.

However, different from the few times before, Joker didn’t take it the same way as he used to.

He was different now- he was changing.

Marinette had elicited that change, and damn it all if he couldn’t love the kid for giving him that chance and ability to turn his life around for real.

Yeah- he said the “L” word.

He wasn’t some emotionally constipated teenager, or Batman.

So, unlike in the past, Joker wouldn’t take this feeling of dread as a challenge to prove himself. He was better then that now, and he would take what life threw at him head on, without fighting it back to kill or torture.

At least… that’s what he originally planned to do.

But then some giant ass bug flew through the wall of his cell, speaking actual words to him.

“JOKER!”

“Fuckin’ hell-?!” He cut off as he face-planted onto the ground.

He had originally been laying back on his bed, reading through a book Puppet and Penguin had recommended to him. It wasn’t bad, but not his usual cup of joe- shocking as it was, he didn’t care much for horror and thriller novels.

The doors weren’t locked at the time, but he had closed his to get a bit more quiet as he read. However, the door seemed to be no issue for the weird magic bug that soon enough phased right through it.

A giant red fairy-bug that had a faint pink glow to it, with a frilly looking tail, large antennas, black spots, and wide aquamarine eyes. She flew up in front of his face, uncaring that she was giving him a damn heart attack.

As she shouted in his face, he promptly rolled off of his bed in shock and nearly broke his nose in the process.

“Joker, you need to hurry! Please- you have to help!”

He slowly brought himself to sit up, arm resting on the bed as he looked at the… thing, and tried to digest the situation. “Wha-? What the actual fuck?” Okay, to be fair; aliens and magic were becoming a little too normal in his life, so he wasn’t as shocked or as panicked as he should have been. “What and who are you?”

The bug-thing groaned, glancing quickly and anxiously between him and the door. “Look- my name is Tikki, and I’m a Kwami- Like the ones Marinette has told you about before, remember?”

And like that, almost too much seemed to click in his head.

Puppet had told him about the time she had been trusted with a Miraculous, then becoming Multimouse. She told him her powers, and about the Kwami, Mullo. She had trusted him with this information.

But that was a mouse Kwami.