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wintermelonbear · 3 months

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Maybe Meant to Be

Pairings: Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Adrien Agreste

Summary: Adrien finds out about his soulmates entire secret life, and realizes maybe he doesn't know as much about her as he thought

“GET IN THE CAR!” Adrien’s arm was yanked towards a sleek black SUV by the spotted heroine. He quickly jerks his head to the side to see his parents and Madame and Monsieur Dupain-Cheng being ushered into the car by a boy not much older than him clad in grey and red.

Before he’s even buckled in the car starts off with a loud screech against the pavement. He can hear his father’s shoulder as it hits the side of the car. “With all due respect Ladybug and Robin, what business does our family have with the Teen Titans?”

“Where is our daughter?!” Sabine is basically in tears at this point and whips out her phone to check for any messages from Marinette. Swiftly, Adrien whips out his phone as well to see if there are any missed calls from his soulmate while he was stuck in his most recent photoshoot.

A slight look of panic crosses Ladybug’s face until she gives them some reassurance, “Marinette is safe, there’s no need to panic, I promise!” Strange promise to make given their behavior a mere minute ago insisting the Agrestes and Dupain-Chengs drop everything and flee.

The dark-haired teen boy chimes into the conversation with the click of his tongue and gives a quick glance to the rear-view mirror “Tt, we cannot discuss anything in detail here it could jeopardize the safety of Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng and your own safety.” He tears his gaze from the mirror and puts it back onto the long stretch of road as Ladybug’s elbow digs into his side. Ladybug lets out a hiss, and most likely with the intent of keeping it a secret from the inhabitants of the car she bites out “Robin! Why would you say that, they are going to freak out and worry. What’s wrong with you, you heartless bastard.”

“Oh? I am heartless now? You certainly did not feel that way last night when–” a hand clamps over his mouth before he can complete his thought. “That’s enough. You know what you did and why this is happening.” Touching a comm in her ear Ladybug switches straight into a commanding tone “Titan B1 and B2 reporting to OG can you get us permission for the west warp gate at coordinates….” She turns to the center console of the car and flicks a switch unveiling a panel of controls that rivaled every sci-fi fantasy movie Adrien had ever seen. “Alright everyone buckled in? Get ready to hold on the ride can be a bit bumpy. Also, you may want to close your eyes because it gets quite bright.” True to her words, once they entered the tunnel in front of them instead of being met by darkness it was like they had walked into the sun itself. By the time Adrien opened his eyes again he was in front of a large building that melded into the surrounding storm.

With a grunt, Robin pulled the car into park and swiftly unbuckled himself. After going around the car to open the door for Ladybug and then Marinette’s parents he finally decided to speak up again “Welcome to the Fortress of Solitude, please follow us.” “It’s not as scary or depressing as it sounds, I swear.” Ladybug cheerfully chirped. “This next part you’ll have to close your eyes, here I have blindfolds for everyone. Oh, and put on these cloaks, it's cold.”

Adrien understands that Ladybug is known to be a friendly hero, but the overfamiliar way she was touching all of them felt oddly reminiscent of a certain girl in his life. So much so he struggles to not lean into her touch as she drapes the last cloak around him.

From this point on for the next 15 minutes all the civilians could sense were the beeps of machinery and mild arguing between the teen heroes as they worked through security clearance. After one last heavy door slamming behind them Ladybug begins to remove their blindfolds. “Take your time opening your eyes, they’ll need to adjust to the lighting in here.” Peeking through his lashes Adrien could see Ladybug nervously glancing at Robin as he gives her a stern look with his arms crossed.

“I think it’s time you tell them.” This voice is unfamiliar enough that Adrien fully opens his eyes to see the statement came from an older hero, Nightwing. Looking around the room he sees that it is set up like a living room with a large couch in the center, a dining table to the side, and a kitchenette with counter seating in the far back.

“We just got here we should let them get comfortable first!”

“You’ll just keep pushing it and we don’t know how much time we have until Blue Beetle gets here with his family and we have to do this all over again.” Robin gives Ladybug a pointed look.

Jabbing Robin’s chest Ladybug chastizes him. “Well, we never would have been in this situation if you weren’t an untrusting jerkwad to begin with!” Robin begins to straighten up his posture to look down on Ladybug and he opens his mouth to retort-

“WOAH! OKAY THERE! Let’s calm down.” Approaching them with his hands in front of his chest Nightwing positions himself between them. Wrapping an arm around the black-haired teen he “Robin, let’s give Marinette some time with her family.”

With her eyes wide open Ladybug growls out “You’re really living up to your name right now.”

With one last glance back Robin bites out “And keep your morals away from me. I don’t care about being nice and friendly like you do. Tt.” With that last remark he quickly turns his head and leaves the room with Dick.

Fuming, Marinette nearly forgets her identity being outed until she is met with the shell-shocked faces of her parents, her soulmate, and her soulmate’s parents. With a nervous chuckle, Marinette whispers, “well…haha funny story…I can explain?” A light envelops Ladybug and as the illusion cast by the Miraculous’ glamor falls, and a sheepish Marinette is all that is left standing. Seeing Adrien’s disbelief written across his face with his mouth agape she lifts a glove-covered hand to his face to close it and brings her hand back to chest level to peel off the black kevlar glove donning the hand and reveals a mark Adrien has known front, back, and sideways since he first got it at the age of eight. “Well, I’m not sure who is going to collapse first because my dad looks like he has just seen a ghost and you’re questioning everything right now so how about we sit down.” Marinette guides them to a plush couch in the middle of the room. “Let me get you guys some refreshments. Give you time to think about this, I’m sure you all have a lot of questions.”

By the time Marinette returns with a tray of tea and some prepackaged sweets Adrien is the only one left upright. Gabriel had his head in his hands with Emilie leaning over to rub his back, and Tom was folded into the arms of Sabine as she comforted him.

“How long?” Adrien’s sudden inquiry nearly has Marinette dropping a glass onto the sterile floors of the fortress.

“Oh okay straight into it. We’re 17 now so about…one, two,....five years?”

Adrien’s eyes immediately flooded with hurt.

Immediately, Marinette knelt in front of him and took his hands in her so that their soul marks made contact. “Hey, listen to me for a second okay, and this goes for everyone on this couch right now. It’s not like I left you guys in the dark because I don’t trust you or because I don’t love you.” Looking around she makes eye contact with everyone so she knows they’re tuned into her words, “There’s so many reasons why, honestly, I never wanted you guys to find out about my secret identity. It’s not safe for you guys to know and I don’t want you to feel any worry when I have to be out there fighting.”

“How did this even happen? When could this have started? How did you get powers?” With his hands holding a fistful of his own hair each, Gabriel can’t help but let out rapid-fire questions.

“I CAN ANSWER THAT!” Tikki flies out from where she was hiding in Marinette’s zip-up jacket.

“AAHHH!!! BUG-MOUSE THING?? WHAT IS THAT?”

“That is so rude. I am not a that. I am a god, a Kwami to be more exact! Why do you humans always react like that.”

“Guys this is Tikki, the kwami of the Ladybug miraculous, she represents creation itself and through my earrings, she grants me powers. I have been in her care for the last five years. She is my best friend and closest ally.”

“I love Marinette! I would never let something bad happen to her.” Tikki exclaims as she flies up to hug Marinette’s cheek.

“When I was 12 I met a man, the one you would know as Fu, at the time was guarding the Miraculous, a set of jewelry that much like my earrings can grant people power beyond what's normally possible for humans. He said the stars had told him I was to be the next guardian. It was written in my soul.” Marinette takes a deep breath before continuing her tale. “Honestly it took some convincing until he pulled out a slab that detailed what my life would be like as a hero. From then on he began to train me to take over as grand guardian and when I turned 16 he officially handed the role down. That's why you guys haven't seen him in a little over a year. Every time, for the last year at least, that I was “at Grandpa Fu’s” I was actually going on missions or training with the Teen Titans.” Breathing out, Marinette continues, “The reason why you’re here is because someone broke into the Hall of Justice last night, we’re not entirely sure who yet, or what information they obtained. The only thing we do know is that the Teen Titan’s folder was breached and because,” She begins to grit her teeth “Batman and his spawn –you know him as Robin– are nosy little pricks the folders included information about our members’ families and close associate. So we grabbed you guys in case they were able to obtain that level of information and wanted to use your safety as leverage.” Puffing out her cheeks she mumbles, “I know they could probably figure out my family without the listing, and I know he didn’t do it maliciously…but I am still mad at Robin. Even though he’s my best friend…”

At this point, a calmer Robin has re-entered the room nursing a mug and a volume of manga titled “I Chose You.” Adrien recognizes that story, while the content made him mildly queasy it was extremely well written with a moving story. The only thing that he didn't sit well with was the main theme of the story itself. The story follows a young woman Mako, her soulmate Ryo, and a young man Akito. The story is comprised of a love triangle between the three main characters until Mako defies fate and chooses Akito as her partner, hence the title. While it has won many accolades it continues to be a controversial title to many romance readers as very few people in real life choose to go against fate and be with someone who isn't their soulmate. Adrien himself can't imagine a life without Marinette by his side.

Without acknowledging the civilians Robin plops himself right next to Marinette and continues reading his book. Adrien makes a few attempts at conversation only to be met with silence and Marinette's reassurance that it's not his fault.

After a bit more chatting Nightwing jogs in, “Hey guys sorry to bother you, but Jaime is going to need this room next.”

------------------------------------------

As they walk down the barren hallways hovering over Ladybug’'s shoulder Adrien whispers into her ear, “So, who is he exactly? I know he’s Robin, but…”

“Who am I? I'm simply the better option.” Robin looks back at Adrien with a gaze sharp enough to cut steel. The better option for what? Marinette? Adrien is literally her soulmate. It's written in the stars for them to be together.

“Oh hush.” Marinette chides Robin before turning back to them. “We got into a fight the other night so I may have been harsh with him, but despite his asshole exterior and mainly asshole interior, he’s actually quite the decent guy once he starts to care about you. Very much giving the grinch who stole Christmas.”

“DAMIANNNNN!” A voice booms from a distance as Robin and Ladybug facepalm. A flash of blue and red tackles Robin as Robin brings his fist onto the head of what looks like Superboy.

“Identities you dunce! This is her civilian family.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose Marinette sighs.

------------------------------------------

A few hours later the Agrestes and the Dupain-Chengs are sitting across from the Reyes family who just learned about Jaime’s superabilities and double life. The Agrestes act as translators for the Dupain-Chengs who have much weaker English skills. They talk about the shock they’re under and concerns for their children’s safety.

Nightwing tries to reassure them. “Your children are in safe hands I would never let them get hurt if it is in my control. Being a part of the Teen Titans gives powerful young adults the chance to use their powers for the greater good and train for when they’ll be needed in larger-scale attacks. I know you are concerned, but your children are extremely capable heroes.”

“Got it.” With those words Damian projects the CCTV footage he's been analyzing onto the wall and continues typing away on his computer. On the wall is a clip of a group of ten individuals clad in all black running down a white pristine hall and then the footage cuts to those same individuals in a control room.

The teen heroes in the room clamor around the projection. “So then what are we waiting for, why aren't we leaving now?!” The Blue Beetle is clearly worked up, most likely because of the endangerment of his family.

“Well normally we would need to figure out who these people are who breached, but considering Robin’s personality I’m sure he already has an answer,” Marinette answers with an air of confidence, an attitude Adrien has not seen her carry since Lila entered their school.

Adrien tunes out some of the conversation from here as he realizes the exact reason why Marinette

seemed somewhat unbothered when he told her that the reason their friends don’t invite her to hang out anymore is because she can’t get along with Lila. She had friends here, not just friends, an entire life he didn’t know about.

“...the Scarlet Toad Society.” By the time Adrien tunes back into the conversation Marinette is staring intensely at an enhanced image of a wrist from the CCTV footage. “Every member of their society wears that bracelet. They’re mainly active in South-East Asia. It is weird that they made the trip to North America to infiltrate the Hall of Justice. Which means–”

“They have a target in mind. The Teen Titan folder would not be the easiest one to grab. They were looking for it.” Robin cuts her off. “But they have yet to visit Jaime’s family nor yours or the Agrestes. None of the traps in the Titan Tower have gone off either. Does anyone have contacts in South-East Asia we should be worried about?” Ravager and Superboy shake their heads.

“Wouldn’t you already know?” Jaime coldly asks Robin.

Robin opens up his mouth to retort, but before he can Marinette steps in between them and covers his mouth with the back of her hand. “He knows that this isn’t entirely your fault, but his family is potentially in danger let him have this.” Silently fuming Damian scowls before turning back to the monitor in front of him. Clearing her throat Marinette continues, “I can’t think of any contacts I have there, but I can ask The Order to keep an eye on the happenings there, you may want to do the same with any shadows you can contact. For now, I think the best thing we can do is wait. I would offer to go in undercover, but I think we’ll be needing more information first.”

Marinette turns Damian’s chair around so that he is facing everyone and wraps her arms around his neck from behind to calm him. With this action, Adrien feels his heart drop down to his stomach. “Jaime, Ravager, Superboy how about you show our guests to their sleeping quarters? Dames and I–” Damian cuts her off with a glare, “Hey, Superboy over there already outed your first name, as long as they don’t find out the rest I don’t see why we can’t call you Dames. Anyway, we will work on getting some dinner settled, you can come back here in an hour or so after getting settled. Sound good?”

“Aye Aye Captain!” Shouted Ravager and Superboy in a mock salute, and with that Damian and Marinette headed back in the direction of the kitchen while the civilians and remaining heroes shuffled into yet another hallway.

From the distance Adrien can hear Marinette shout, “Take good care of my family Superboy!”

“I’ve got Mari’s family, you can go with Jaime Rav!” Shouts Superboy. After the short tour of their assigned space, he asks them if they have any questions.

“This uh, it may sound silly, but could I ask… what’s Mari’s relationship with Robin? They seem pretty close. I think I might’ve even heard her call him her best friend.” Adrien feels ridiculous for even asking, but the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach just won’t go away.

Jon dramatically gasps, “She said that?? He’s supposed to be my best friend! They’re more like– more like– Ah! I got it! A bickering elderly couple!”

“A-Are they–” Adrien stutters out in disbelief. Marinette would tell him if she was in a relationship right? They’re soulmates, they’re supposed to tell each other everything! But…but…Adrien realizes they haven’t been telling each other everything. Marinette has been hiding being a superhero for over 5 years. Maybe he doesn’t know her as well as he thought he did.

“O-Oh! Oh gosh, I am so sorry I forgot you’re her soulmate. It’s not that they are an elderly bickering couple, they just act like it! But also maybe they…well I’m not sure if it’s my place to tell you I wouldn’t be a very good best friend if I did.” Jon looks extremely conflicted, but tries to figure out what to say so that Marinette won’t kill him on site the next time they meet. “Well you know I think if anything she would tell you! Marinette is a good person! Oh would you look at the time, we should head back, dinner could be any moment now!”

At dinner that night all Adrien could taste was the bitter realization that maybe he didn’t know Marinette as well as he thought he did.

#marinette x damian #damian x marinette #maribat #mgi civil war 2024 #damian domaniance 2.0 #daminette #damianette #mlb x dc #adrinette #soulmate au

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soulmate-game · 10 months

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I guess I have to make up for AO3’s crash by dipping into my google docs and uploading every chapter of The Heroes’ Game on here for you guys. Once I run out of reruns of The Heroes’ Game, I’ll just have to start cranking out new chapters/fics/one shots.

Sigh. Look what I do for my your boredom.

—*—*—*—*—*

Chapter 1

Soulmates. That gooey, gushy, over-sentimentalized, overly relied-upon concept that was unfortunately (or fortunately, for romantics) very real. But unlike stories or movies, it was not uniform. There was not one universal soulmark or set type of soul bond. There were romantic soulmates, platonic soulmates, even familial soulmates (a subdivision of the above platonic, more specific yet stronger due to the distinction). But not only were the types of soul bonds broken into three separate categories, but the variety of types of soulmarks that a pair (or triad, in some rare cases) could end up with was still being discovered. Already, there were almost a hundred different catalogued forms that a soul bond could come in. All of them studied and confirmed by both science and magic as being valid. Even the timing that a soul bond chose to reveal itself could vary individual to individual.

Which led to the current dilemma.

A certain half-Asian girl with her blue-black hair up in pigtails was forced to watch as a blond boy and Japanese girl gaped at one another. As everyone present watched, bright spiraling designs that seemed to be made of light itself etched themselves on one arm of both teens, starting from where their hands gripped one another. The blond had tripped down the stairs, only for his hand to be caught by the smaller Asian girl and bright light to erupt from their palms.

The half-Asian, half-French girl at the bottom of the stairs could only observe in mute dismay as a swirling foil of pulsing maroon light sank itself into the right arm of Adrian Agreste, bright neon green markings adding detail to the stylized weapon. A matching symbol, orientation flipped and colors inverted, etched itself in glowing light on the right arm of Kagami Tsurugi.

They were soulmates.

The only person in Marinette’s class other than herself without a visible soul mark or completed bond (until now), the only person Marinette had believed herself capable of being with, had a soul mate. And by the way they stared into each other’s eyes even as Adrien continued to dangle perilously over the concrete steps, it wasn’t platonic.

Marinette felt cold, as if someone had stuffed a funnel down her throat just to dump ice directly into her stomach.

When Chat Noir immediately stopped hitting on Ladybug only to apologize in private and reveal he had met his soulmate, Marinette connected the dots. The magic of the Miraculous helped protect the identities of the wielders, but could not hold up against significant hard proof. That, and Marinette was getting more and more immune to the lesser Miraculous magic as she trained to become the next Guardian.

On the rooftops, Chat was still her partner. Despite showing up less often during Akuma attacks or nightly patrols due to having dates, he was still reliable whenever he showed up. But as Adrien Agreste, he and Marinette had never been further apart.

—*—*—*—*—*

“Still sulking?” The all-too-familiar voice of Chloe Bourgeois cut through Marinette’s intrusive thoughts, the usually haughty tone surprisingly gentle. After quite a bit of time, introspection, and character development, Chloe had become a good friend of Marinette’s. Still incredibly hard to tolerate at times, but dependable.

The black haired girl just groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “He was my first real crush, Chloe,” the girl complained, clearly still hurt. “I loved him. Or I thought I did, anyway. You can’t expect me to heal from it all that quickly.”

“Of course not,” The blond heiress agreed easily, shrugging even as she put a forkful of food in her mouth. Maybe trying to have girl talk with Marinette on the fourth floor of a five-star hotel wasn’t the best idea, her short friend being incredibly uncomfortable in the atmosphere despite her personally made clothing being more than acceptable for the environment. “But it’s been two months, Mari. It’s time to straighten your spine, and get out there looking again! You don’t need Adrien, just like you don’t need Alya or sausage-hair or any of the idiots that flock with them in our class,” the girl reasoned. “Adri-kins is sweet, but he has the entirely wrong approach to Lila, you know. Convincing you to stay quiet was the worst advice he could have given. Staying quiet would never have allowed me to change or see that what I was doing was wrong,” Chloe pointed out. “Why would it work for her?”

“Adrien is just being careful,” Marinette defended weakly, pushing her salad around her plate disinterestedly. Knowing he was Chat just made her sympathize with his motives even more. He didn’t know Ladybug was in his class to back him up instantly, after all. But still, Marinette knew Chloe was right. Adrien might have good intentions, but his execution of them left a lot to be desired. “He doesn’t want another Akuma.”

“We get Akumas every week, he should just suck it up. We get even more Akumas from her lies than we would if everyone knew what she was doing,” the blond girl continued easily, not giving in to her friend’s weak excuses. “Besides, telling you to be quiet just puts you at the most risk of Akumatization. He should know that. It’s a miracle it hasn’t happened to you yet,” Chloe’s perfect babydoll-pink lips thinned as she stabbed a piece of chicken on her plate. “Lucky for all of us, not that he knows that.”

Marinette just sighed in agreement. “Can we just, you know, stop talking about this?” The meeker of the two asked gently, finally managing a mouthful of greens. “This is supposed to be our girl time. Ever since you transferred schools, we’ve had less and less time to just hang out.”

Chloe frowned, but gave in with a nod. “Sure, sure. Oh! Daddy told me about how you won that Wayne Enterprises competition for your class!” Chloé suddenly perked up, leaning over the table in newfound enthusiasm, her suddenly exclamation making the rich crowd around them side-eye the two teenage girls. Marinette flailed her arms in an attempt to get her friend to calm down and be quiet, an attempt that she should have known would be futile. All Chloe did was lean slightly back towards her own chair. “Well?! Are you excited to be going to Gotham?”

“Of course I am,” Marinette finally stopped trying to calm down her excitable friend. “Being able to travel to America, study the fashion of Gotham City, be inspired by the foreign landscape—“ Marinette sighed dreamily, not unlike the way she used to sigh over Adrien. Her hands even cradled her cheeks as she lost herself momentarily to her daydreams. Her hands dropped as the illusion was ruined by the memory that— “The whole class is going though, so it’s going to be an uphill battle to avoid Liar Rossi spoiling the whole trip.”

“Nope, you said you didn’t want to talk about her. This conversation will be sausage-hair free until dinner is over, at the least,” Chloe chided lightly. “I heard Bruce Wayne himself is inviting your class to a charity gala at the end of the trip, and that you will be presenting a speech as an honored guest and owner of the winning submission!” Chloé gasped suddenly, dropping her fork onto her plate with a cacophonous clatter. “Oh. Em. Gee. You’re designing your own dress, aren’t you? Who am I kidding, of course you are!” Chloé squealed in delight. “MDC, strutting her skills overseas, it’s glorious!”

“Shh, Chloe!” Marinette went right back to flailing her arms uselessly. “There’s a reason I haven’t publicly come out as MDC yet! Someone will hear you!” The short blue-eyed girl was looking around the room frantically. The waiters wouldn’t dare kick out the mayor’s daughter, but other patrons were already leaving early or requesting a different floor in order to escape the infamous Chloe Bourgeois Chaos. On the bright side, none of them seemed to be paying any attention to what the young rich girl had actually said.

“Oooh,” Chloe leaned over the table again with a wide, mischievous grin. “What if you finally meet your soulmate?” Her smile widened impossibly. “Of course you’d have an American soulmate. Someone blunt, maybe, to combat your constant worrying. He’d have to always tell you upfront exactly how he feels or else you’d constantly be worried about misinterpreting them,” the girl mused, completely ignoring Marinette’s groaning and moaning about how embarrassing she was being. “And everyone knows that nobody does Blunt quite as well as Americans. Ooh, I wonder what your mark is gonna be!”

“Hopefully something invisible,” Marinette finally spoke up, her remark a mere grumble as her nose scrunched up. “It would kind of ruin the whole secret identity thing if it was noticeable, right? Do soul bonds even care about secret identities? Oh no,” Marinette blanched, spiraling in true Marinette Dupain-Cheng fashion. “What if it’s on my face? The magic can’t hide something that identifiable! Everyone will know who I am, and then Hawk Moth will attack my family and isolate me and attack me out of costume or akumatize me, and then he’ll make his wish, and then world war three will actually happen, and—“ The ramble was thankfully stopped by perfectly manicured hands slapping over Marinette’s mouth, one blond eyebrow raised at her as Chloe kept the word vomit from continuing stubbornly.

“No. Stop catastrophizing, the worst-case scenario doesn’t always happen, girl. La—“ Chloe glances around the suddenly half-empty room and lowered her voice. “You know who is such a deep part of you that there’s no way your soul bond will ignore that. I seriously doubt it will cause your identity to come out.”

Marinette’s shoulders slumped in relief. She waited until Chloe removed her hands and sat back down before saying softly; “I just wish you could come with me. Then it would be bearable.”

Chloé gave one of her oh-so-rare soft smiles to the smaller girl, nodding. “I know. I wish I could go too, but I can’t miss a whole month of school. But you’ll have Alix with you, which is better than nothing. And besides, everyone in Paris knows I’m Queen Bee,” Chloe flipped her hair haughtily, making Marinette grin. “I wouldn’t want to intimidate Gotham’s heroes.”

“In other words,” Marinette started slyly, a teasing grin overtaking her lips as she avoided Chloe’s gaze playfully. “You don’t want to risk attracting the attention of Gotham’s rogues because you couldn’t handle them, right?”

Chloe spluttered in denial, tossing her napkin at Marinette in false anger. “How dare you! The Queen Bee can handle any villain!” Chloe became serious again. “Be careful while you’re over there, yeah? Me, Ryuuko, and Viperion can keep Paris safe while you’re gone but you will only have Alix.”

And Chat, Marinette thought to herself, but Chloe doesn’t need to know that.

“It’s better if Ladybug doesn’t appear in Gotham at all,” Marinette agreed, “So I’ll be as careful as possible. The less evidence anyone has to connect me and Ladybug, the better.”

Chloe nodded. “Of course. Now, did you see Clara’s last music video?” The blond heiress/superhero was turned into a common teenager again as she squealed in delight. “It. Was. Fabulous. And the dress you made her for it? I want one.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Of course this would happen. Marinette stood in the lobby of the hotel where her and her class were staying while in Gotham, with no classmates or teachers in sight and the bus she was supposed to board already gone. At least I’m fluent in English, or else I’d be screwed, she thought to herself. Resigned to the fact that she wouldn’t be able to catch up to the bus, Marinette instead went over to the hotel information desk and asked for directions to the Gotham Museum of History, where her class had left to visit.

At least she had money for a cab.

A cab that apparently decided to kick her out two blocks from her destination in favor of picking up a couple that were positively dripping in expensive jewelry. Marinette dusted herself off, adjusting her purse on her shoulder with a frown. She couldn’t blame him for looking after his own finances, but he didn’t have to chase after tips that blatantly. The girl didn’t even bother arguing with the man, simply handing over the cash she owed him before turning in what she thought was the right direction, if she was reading the map on her phone correctly. It was already dark out, not surprising considering how their plane had arrived in the afternoon and they only got a few hours to rest before visiting the museum as their first activity of the trip.

Quickly memorizing what she thought was the right route, Marinette tucked her phone back into her purse and smiled at Tikki, who hid inside it. “Alright,” Marinette whispered to her Kwami. “I hope I haven’t missed too much!”

Quickly closing her bag, the girl started off towards her destination.

And promptly got lost.

“I thought I saw it this way…” she groaned to herself when she realized she didn’t recognize anything around her, and it had only gotten darker in the past half hour she had been walking. At least being Ladybug keeps me in shape.

Marinette straightened her shoulders, resigning herself to retracing her steps for the twentieth time. She turned on her heel, walking forward as her bright blue eyes scanned her surroundings for anything that might lead her to the museum.

Until she realized the street was oddly empty, and a soft crunch of glass sounded from behind her. Marinette had prepared for this, at least. I’m being followed. Careful to remain calm and keep on walking as if nothing was wrong, Marinette strained her ears and eyes. She managed to catch a glimpse of her tail in a window— tall, broad shouldered, biceps like hams. The girl frowned. She could easily outmaneuver someone twice her size, but it would draw a lot of attention.

Firmly in Ladybug Mode, Marinette slowed down just enough to let the guy come a bit closer, before she veered sharply into an alley. Risky? Yeah, but it would be much less likely to make a spectacle of herself when she handed the guy his ass.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the guy to attempt to grab her. As soon as she felt his hand reaching for her though, Marinette easily clamped onto his wrist and used her momentum to hurl the assailant over her shoulder. The large body hit the gravel roughly on his back, letting out a moan that was half pain and half anger. Marinette backed up just enough to stay out of the man’s immediate range, her eyes continuing to dart around.

He hadn’t been alone.

His boots are good quality, so are his cargo pants. No gun, but several knives on his belt. Professional, not out to kill. Capture? As soon as Marinette saw two other guys dressed identically to the man now pulling himself back up to a standing position come out to surround her in the alley, she put it all together. Each newcomer had a tranq gun trained on her. Traffickers.

Ever the improviser, Marinette quickly rolled out of the way of the first few darts shot at her and grabbed a misshapen hunk of wood from the ground to block the next two projectiles like a warped shield. Lunging to her feet, she whipped the chunk of wood at one man with deadly precision, the plank hitting him square across the forehead hard and fast enough to knock him out.

One down. The guy she had initially thrown over her shoulder took advantage of her distraction to wrap his large arms around her, trapping her own against her torso. Not one to be trapped for long, Marinette jumped up and flipped herself upside down so that her legs wrapped around the guy’s neck, and twisted so that her body weight unbalanced him. Combined with his sudden lack of oxygen and field of view, the guy stumbled just enough for Marinette to get one arm free and slam her elbow into his most sensitive area. The guy released her with a howl, and Marinette twisted into a three-point landing. She paused only long enough to slam the side of her arm into a pressure point on howling man’s neck that knocked him out before springing up to face the—

Marinette paused. The last attacker was already tied up, a much different muscular form holding the cursing man a few inches above the ground.

Batman.

“You know, you shouldn’t walk around Gotham at night,” a casual voice sounded from behind her, making Marinette swing around to face Nightwing. The blue vigilante was leaned against the wall, with the first guy Marinette had knocked out already tied up at his feet. “But that was pretty good fighting. You made a few unnecessary moves, but overall not half bad.”

A third figure dropped down from a nearby roof, making Marinette whip her head to the side for a third time. Ugh, I’ll get whiplash at this rate. How are they able to move so noiselessly? The last figure was Robin, who made short work of tying up the last guy before standing and staring straight at Marinette. He crossed his arms, and the French girl suddenly had the feeling she was about to be scolded.

“What were you thinking, leading them into an alley? Are you an idiot?” Were the first words Robin said, instantly making Marinette puff her cheeks out in indignation. How dare he?!

“Robin,” Batman interrupted whatever retort Marinette had been about to make. “Ducking into the alley made it less likely that anyone else would be caught in the fight. It was not necessarily bad a move. That being said,” the most experienced hero in the alley turned to the girl in pigtails. Marinette gulped. It was really intimidating, having Batman’s state focused solely on her. She forced herself to stand as straight as possible. “It was still incredibly reckless. You had no idea how many people were following you, or what their skill level was. I highly suggest you act with much more caution next time. Or better yet, don’t travel Gotham alone even during the day.”

“I’ll be careful,” Marinette agreed, the three heroes instantly picking up on her French accent. “This wasn’t exactly my choice. First, my class left the hotel without me even though I’m the one who applied for the contest that even allowed us to come here in the first place. Then, my cab driver kicks me out a few blocks from where I asked him to take me, and then I got lost. Merde!” Marinette threw her hands up. “It’s not my fault I have bad luck. And you,” she turned and pointed to Robin, about to give him her two cents about his critique of her. That is, until when fingertip actually made contact with his chest and both teens visibly jumped.

It was like static the moment they made contact, but nothing visual happened. Marinette was about to shrug it off as nothing when—

Her vision split in half, like a TV screen when someone was playing a two-player game. Suddenly she could see her normal perspective, with Batman to her left, Nightwing to her right, and her finger straight ahead pushing into Robin’s chest, but she could also see a second perspective.

A perspective where she stared straight at herself.

She watched as her own blue eyes widened in disbelief. She watched as she stumbled back a few shocked steps, and as Robin did the same in front of her.

“Mon dieu,” Marinette cursed breathily, unable to move her eyes from Robin or acknowledge the frantic questions being posed to both of them from Batman and Nightwing. The teens just stared at one another. “Of course my soulmate would be a vigilante.”

“Shit,” Marinette had no idea which of the three heroes said that, but they all seemed to share the sentiment. Shit, indeed.

Nightwing shifted and said; “At least all the traffickers are knocked out.”

—*—*—*—*—*

#maribat #mlb x dc #ml x dc #dc x mlb #dc x miraculous #damimari #marinette x damian #platonic jasonette #damian x marinette #daminette #romantic daminette #soulmate au #ao3 stuff #ao3 fanfic #ao3 author #ao3 writer

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mae-dwrites · 5 months

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A Bundle of Heliotropes - Chapter 1 - Marking

| Masterlist | Start: Here <3 | Next |

| Ao3 | Wattpad |

After two people have turned 16 they get a soulmark, a near-exact, or complementary, mark or as some referred to it as a tattoo. This can be anywhere on the person, sometimes they're simple, small, or inconspicuous on occasion. Other times they take up a great deal of space, elaborate pieces of work, their meaning so clear much clearer more often than not.

When Marinette Dupain-Cheng was younger she couldn't wait for her mark. She hadn't cared what it would look like because no matter what it would be beautiful, because this was her way to her one in the Universe.

When she fell in love with Adrien she was sure it was him but slowly felt as though she was wrong as she failed to confess or even have a normal conversation with the blond. Why would the Universe give her someone she couldn't even talk to?

This led to her officially letting him go and giving Luka a wholehearted try, that was until he got his soulmark. Akumas, being Ladybug, and Guardian duties had already been putting a strain on their relationship so Luka getting his mark was just the icing on the cake, and Marinette thought it would be better for them to break up and remain friends.

Marinette spent months of hopeful vs. hopeless, and as her birthday drew near a feeling of dread came upon her. The day came when she woke up with her collar area burning with her mark.

It was beautiful, just below the center of her collarbone a circle resting with elm branches coming from it going across to end at her shoulders. In the circle was a giant ladybug, along with robins sitting on the branches of her tree.

Looking in the mirror left her almost breathless, she brought her hand up to the mark almost scared to touch it. For fear if she touched it would fade the canvas of her skin forgetting what had been.

The only problem was it was far too telling. A ladybug? As if that wouldn't reveal her. She couldn't show this, not without someone realizing what the ladybug truly represented.

She could show Alya, she had told her identity at the beginning of the school year. She trusted her not to blab about it, especially when a few months ago Alya was going through the Ladyblog rewatching her videos and trying to see if any of them could be of help. Then she stumbled upon her interview with Lila to realize that she couldn't possibly be best friends with Ladybug when that was in fact her. She apologized to Marinette when she realized her mistake and how it took her this long even after Marinette had already told her and proved she was Ladybug.

“Marinette!” Tikki’s voice broke through her trance. The Kwami had been admiring her mark, while it wasn't the biggest or the flashiest. It was certainly something to admire. Big and flashy had never been Marinette’s forte, perhaps her soulmate and her had that in common?

“Sorry Tikki. I just,” Marinette glanced into the mirror again looking at the branches and its’ birds. “I can't believe it.” The teen said the last bit breathlessly.

“Guardian, as beautiful as your mark is,” Wayzz floated up. “You’re going to need to hide it. Someone could put it together, even with the quantum masking.”

“Wayzz is right,” Marinette turned to face Tikki as she spoke. “We can't count on the Miraculous magic to hide your identity when a mark so clearly refers to your heroine persona. While our magic is ancient that doesn’t mean it’s entirely dependable either.”

“You're right,” Marinette sighed. “I can show Alya at least. I'm sure she's gonna freak.”

Marinette wore a shirt that covered above her collarbone, unable to wear her usual white tees. She wore a light pink top so that if the shirt got wet the mark wouldn't be seen through the fabric. Marinette had already been making it a habit not to wear her usual whites anyway, with how many times Lila had caused “accidents” that ruined them. It wasn’t like she was dumb enough to keep wearing something that would be affected the worse.

Marinette already knew that Lila would try to say she must not have a soul mate if she wasn't willing to show her friends. Honestly, Marinette could care less about that, as Lila probably wouldn't share hers either when she got hers later this year. Not to mention there were others in the class and friends that had been getting their marks recently and not all of them wanted to share. Also, Marinette might be the younger between her and them, if her getting the mark on her birthday was anything to go by. Which it was.

Marinette made her way downstairs while tying her hair back, over the last few months while she still was late for things she had gotten better at waking up early. It made her friends excited, that's for sure. Marinette was proud, she may not get all the hours of sleep needed for a person her age but at least she started her day earlier.

She grabbed an apple and made her way down the stairs. She didn't want to risk Lila trying to claim she had done something when she was least likely to have. So she made her way as quickly as she possibly could, despite her having more time to get to school; it helped to get there as soon as she could around a certain time. As the more people around to see her the less likely Lila could make her claims.

Marinette passed through the bakery giving her maman and papa hugs and kisses before snatching up croissants into a bag to share with some of her friends. Mainly Alya, Nino, and Adrien of course every morning hung out with her. Many of her other friends would sometimes join them, sometimes they were in a rush or just forgot to grab something to eat.

Everyone mostly “played nice” as Adrien tried to keep it. While Adrien seemed to play peacekeeper along with Alya they both had very different reasons. Adrien being so Lila wouldn't say anything to his Father and risk his freedom, and while they understood that it still hurt when Adrien sometimes took more of Lila’s side in the conversation, even if it was for the sake of “keeping the peace.” Over the months Chloé, Kagami, and Marinette had been able to convince Gabriel to be more free with his son, even Natalie had surprisingly shown support. But Adrien still turned the arguments in Lila’s favor a good chunk of the time.

Alya on the other hand had been slowly sliding more to Marinette, so as to not cause Lila into a fuss. Alya hated it, that much was clear, but it seemed as though Lila didn't notice as long as the Créole teen was spitting articles of her amazing life. Alya had made a separate blog to “support her friend” but what Lila hadn't noticed was that the writer’s name wasn't Alya but a pen name. But it had come to light for Lila that Alya still cared about Marinette and wasn't entirely leaving her. Alya gave excuses, true and false, but we're good enough for the Italian. But Lila taking notice had only been a recent thing.

“Marinette!” Alya shouted as Marinette made her way into the courtyard. Some people turned to see the dark-haired teen make her way to her friend, some of those students happened to be Max and Rose. Score, Marinette couldn’t help but think as it meant if Lila tried to say something they would most likely doubt her, especially if she was with Alya.

“Hey Alya,” Marinette smiled before hugging her best friend. As she pulled away she wasn’t even halfway out before Alya was practically buzzing.

“So?” Alya stretched the word out while bouncing in place. “Did you get your mark? Or is it not there? And if there isn’t one then that’s okay girl! Remember your soulmate could be younger than you and hasn’t turned sixteen yet. And even if you don’t get a mark I won’t think any less of you, it just means that you're free to choose your own destiny and-” and before Alya could continue rambling, something that she had picked up from the Asian girl, that Marinette cut her off.

“Alya! I got my mark,” Marinette laughed before finally letting go of the other girl’s hands. Alya’s face slowly went from blank to pure glee. She grabbed Marinette’s shoulders and shook her, “You. Me. Bathroom. Now!”

Alya dragged her to the bathroom, while others would be upset at the other’s demanding antics Marinette just laughed. Alya pushed the bathroom door open and surveyed the room, “Which stall is empty?”

Some girls gave her weird looks, but those who were friends or knew the girls personally giggled or simply smiled. One of them pointed to the one at the end. Alya declared “perfect” and brought Marinette in with her. Some of the girls said happy birthdays to Marinette while giggling as Alya dragged her into the stall. As Alya shut the stall door it could be heard some girls going “Oh” as they realized why the two went into the stall.

“Show me now girl!” Alya cried, the stall at the end wasn’t as small as the others but it certainly wasn’t one as big as the one closer to the door. Alya had mentioned that her mark might hint at her heroing, as a theory. It wasn’t uncommon for soul marks to represent someone’s work or passions, so it was safe to assume that Marinette’s could reference Ladybug.

Marinette pulled her arms out of her shirt before taking it off, her tank top left a perfect view of the mark. Aside from the straps, it’s not like it really mattered. Alya let out what had to be the loudest squeal Marinette had heard come out of her, and she had let Alya try many Miraculi on just for the fun of it. That sleepover had been the loudest squeals and laughter that came out of Alya to date. Till today that is.

“Are those tree branches? And robins?”

“Yes, and yes,” Marinette said before bringing her shirt back on. “Elms if I’m not wrong. But I studied plants for that one nature-forest-themed fashion competition.”

Alya finally opened the stall back up when Marinette had her shirt situated, and with Wayzz and Tikki away. Alya just seemed to be radiating from excitement. If Alya was the type to jump up and down when excited that would be exactly what she would be doing now. Though Marinette had a feeling it had to do with how nervous Alya was for Nino’s birthday.

Nino’s Birthday was just four days away, Alya’s was last month. She didn't get a mark so she held out hope that Nino would be her soulmate, while being soulmates didn't necessarily mean it was romantic you couldn't blame the girl. As for all they knew, Nino or Alya may have a romantic bond with someone else. With how close they were and how much they loved each other it made sense to be scared of such possibilities.

Marinette was honestly scared hers wouldn't be romantic, not that there was anything wrong with a platonic bond. But for Marinette, it just meant finding someone to have her big house with three kids and a hamster would be much harder.

Marinette subconsciously touched where her mark lay, What if they don't like that I'm the one they're soul bound to?

“Marinette!”

The said girl looked up to see Adrien, Nino, and Kim waiting for her. A smile came on her face as she saw them. Kim waved at her overdramatically before raising a sign that read “Happy Birthday To The Bread Child.”

Alya and Marinette laughed at the sign, it had been a joke between mainly Kim and Marinette that she was “The Bread Child”. When they were in early collège their class had done a project about names and their heritages. From then on Kim liked to joke about her father’s last name.

Her other friends had slowly made their ways into the joke calling her bread-related nicknames. Adrien and Nino were the worst, as they were puns. It honestly made Marinette think their favorite hero was Chat Noir rather than Ladybug.

“Happy Birthday!” Nino and Kim shouted at their long-time friend.

“Happy Birthday Marinette,” Adrien smiled at her. The girl's insides swirled around a little at his smile, it was charming, one of his real ones even. Despite letting go of her crush on him he still made her flustered from time to time.

“Thanks you guys,” she felt a bit embarrassed but she couldn't care. Her friends always made her feel like that on important occasions, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

“I'm assuming by Alya’s face and that she was practically skipping her way over here that you got your mark?” Kim raised his eyebrows at his short friend. Though most people at Françoise Dupont were shorter than Kim.

“Yes,” her cheeks flushed as she admitted it.

“That's amazing dudette,” Nino said in his usual fashion.

“Can you show us?” Kim looked between the two girls.

Marinette swallowed before opening her mouth to speak, “I don't want to lie to you but I want to keep it myself. I would love to show it but for now, I would like to keep it to myself.”

Marinette looked everywhere but her friends while she said this. They were gonna think she was selfish, or that she hates them when she doesn't! But because they think she hates them they’ll start hating her, and they’ll all leave her. She’ll have no friends because they’ll tell everyone and then she won't ever make friends for the rest of lycèe. Since no one likes her she’ll never get to be a famous and successful designer, and when she finally finds her soulmate they’ll think she’s horrible and hate her because she has no friends and that she's a failure. And then she’ll be alone for the rest of her life. She’ll never get her big house for her hamster and three kids, and-

“Marinette!” Her friend's voices snapped her out of her panicked state.

“S-sorry!” Marinette cried.

“Marinette, it's okay,” Nino said.

“We understand and we won't push you to show us,” Kim pulled Marinette in for a side hug. “We would never hate you for being private.”

“Exactly!” Adrien said with a reassuring smile. “It's your decision. Also soulmarks are very personal things, it only makes sense if someone decided not to share theirs.”

“It’s in your full right to decide who you want to share your mark with,” Alix said from behind Marinette. Marinette would have jumped if Kim hadn't been hugging her right then. “Honestly I don't think I will share mine with anyone when I turn sixteen next year.” Alix admitted before continuing in a joking tone, “Unless it’s something sick like a dragon or snakes. Then I would show that sucker off for all it’s worth!”

Everyone laughed at Alix’s statement before heading to their classroom.

When Damian Wayne first didn't get his mark he thought maybe he didn't have one, and he was fine with that. Even pleased one could say. As it would be one less person to care about, to protect, or to be used as a weakness.

His family reassured him that his soulmate probably just hadn't turned sixteen yet. Truly that didn't, as the League had certain beliefs around the topic. All Damian saw was that it was the Universe giving him that one person that anyone could use against him.

Lo and behold they would be right; just a few months later would he wake to his shoulder blades burning as a mark finally made itself upon his body.

Damian looked at his back with the mirror in his bathroom. It was…magnificent. It was the only word that could come to mind that held everything he felt about it, the young Wayne couldn't help but look at it.

A circle between his shoulder blades with tree branches that went across his shoulder blades and stopped just as it went to wrap around, clearly cherry blossoms were the branches that came out, ladybugs in flight or resting in the branches. While it made no sense it was still a beautiful sight. In the circle was a robin, its back to the viewer and its head turned up so you could see its face, as best you could with how the view of the mark portrayed it.

Damian swallowed, his body showcasing the form of nervousness without his consent. He couldn't help it though, looking at made his chest tight and his fingers flinching, desperately wanting to touch the mark. His arm made its way up and his hand came down-

He clenched his jaw as he turned his hand into a fist and brought it away. He huffed leaving the bathroom, and his face became a scowl. As he got dressed two parts of him berated him. He took a moment to calm himself, it’s just a mark. But it wasn't like a regular tattoo, it couldn't come off.

It was one of the reasons you, internationally, couldn't get a tattoo until you were eighteen, because you were one: a minor. And second, you didn't get your mark until you were around the age of sixteen to nineteen. At least that was the average range of the current day, there were some larger age differences here and there, but it wasn't as common now. Guess the Universe seemed to catch on to how humans had been viewing age differences in recent times.

Damian didn’t understand why the Universe had decided that soulmates would be part of the staple of its rules. An absolute that had become the conclusion long ago that no matter what you were bound to meet your soulmate, in one life or another. At least that was according to magic users and what the League had from hunting down certain magic users.

So under no circumstances could his family find out about this mark. He may have come a long way from who he was when he was ten years old but even still he did not wish to entrust them with everything. While they were family, his most trusted, and partners, he couldn't stand them over insignificant things. This mark did follow under the file: “Keep Out Of Knowledge For Long As Possible.” or as he formally called it “My Business.”

It was his business, and as it was his business it meant his brothers would poke and pry their way into said business. Damian stifled a groan as he made his way down the hall. Damian could only hope his brothers would stick to their recent “level 1: giving space” tactic, but that would only last for so long. He might as well enjoy the peace that came with it.

“Damian we're going skating after school!” Grayson exclaimed upon the young Wayne entering the dining room.

As much peace that would come with the level 1 space.

Being Tagged is always an option.

#another fic!! woo #a bundle of heliotropes #maribat #maribat fic #maribat fanfic #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat damian wayne #maribat daminette #daminette #soulmate au #daminette soulmates

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silverwhiteraven · 1 year

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Game of the Heart: Chapter 1 - Heart of the Problem

MariBat: Vote Your Own Fic - A CYOA writing game.

“Thank you so much! Have a good night!” Marinette said enthusiastically as she left the Joann Fabric location. She was glad to have discovered such an expansive store during her trip. None of her regular chain stores from France were here, and she knew she would have been lost without them if it wasn't for the United States having its own well known, nation-wide location. What would she have done without her stock of fabrics, paints, and handicrafts? Been bored to death, most likely.

Something had been putting her in a good mood the last few days, and she had to express it somehow. She thought that leaving the Hawk Moth-ridden Paris for ‘Crime Capital’ Gotham would have done nothing to her except make her feel worse, if anything. But better? Like the smog-covered sky wasn’t there and the lowering sun was a blessing instead of a warning of the coming night? She really didn’t know what was going on, but she was glad she decided to come on the trip.

The trip itself was an interesting one. After so many years of Hawkmoth with little progress on the Superheros’ side, the City Council had decided, after consulting with Ladybug and Chat Noir, to start a city-wide project to rally and petition for outside help. Petitions were open to all ages to sign, and votes could be submitted by anyone of 16, with parental permission, and over. After months of this, and countless more attacks, it was decided to send an envoy to America to request help from the most well known Superhero organization in the world.

The Justice League.

Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman were the top picks, but when were they not? Ladybug and Chat Noir were highly against the two Supers. Akumatized heroes were never easy to fight, and though all three JL founders were known for their scary levels of anger when provoked, those first two were simply the greater risks. And Batman? Well, no one really knew if he actually had powers or not, so he remained on the table.

They would have gone to the European branch of the JL, which was stationed in Paris itself, had it not been evacuated when the full scope of Hawmoth’s powers were revealed to be too risky. No members remained, only a few low-level secretaries constantly crunching numbers and reporting to the Head Office. They knew of the petitions and decision making, so at least the JL would be prepared for when it was time to expect a visit from Paris.

And that visit had come.

Marinette was 17 with a year left of Lycée, not quite a full-fledged adult, so why was she allowed on this envoy mission for Paris? Well, it was rather easy, really. First, she already had a reputation alongside her class for several things: countless recorded volunteer efforts for the City of Paris; well-acquainted with the Akuma problem, often caught in proximity or a target themselves; casual connection to the Paris Heroes, thus trusted with being their representatives. And most of all, she was one of very few in Paris to have never been Akumatized. (But two million people live in Paris, you say, how can that be true? Well, let’s just say that a certain Scarlet version of Hawkmoth had become very persistent, creating hundreds of thousands of red butterflies with every appearance. It ads up fairly quickly.) That feat itself may have actually been a disadvantage since she couldn't explain what Akumatization felt like. But she remembered them all with excellent accuracy, more than anyone else- almost as though she had been there each time. And she was, though the City and the JL didn’t need to know that.

All in all, she was an asset, and her presence was permitted.

It has been a few days now since they arrived in Gotham, New Jersey. Metropolis was only a few hours away, some members of the envoy looking north with ungranted wishes to go request Superman’s help instead. But the two confirmed superpowered leaders of the JL were off planet, only available to converse over interstellar communications. Batman had yet to approve of a consultation yet, either. The trip was bound to last quite a while. At the very least, they were glad that Wayne Enterprises was an official representative itself of the Justice League, having its own department to handle the tasks. Meetings with the Paris envoy were being held for hours on end in the daily now, little progress being made considering just how much information was needed to go over, years of compiled events and data.

Marinette was tired of attending all day, with little to do but listen and confirm when information was inaccurate or needed clarification. She didn’t like the stares she got, either, the whispers of how too many young people are putting their noses into adult business. She understood they still had their own internal bias related to some of their board members and major stock holders, but did they really have to project that onto her? She was doing great, all things considered! She bet their company’s heirs were doing great, too, and they were just being salty for prideful reasons.

She was glad Hawkmoth wasn't in this city with them. The place would be a minefield for the innocent and a flowerfield for the magical emotion terrorist. Marinette sighed. She looked up at the color-tinted sky, wondering what tomorrow would bring? Progress, hopefully.

Shaking her head, Marinette decided to think about something else, returning herself to the unnatural but welcomed good mood.

What could have caused it, she wondered. It wasn't something material, or anything related to the Paris Problem. Hawkmoth had even been active daily so far, and she was making tiring trips back and forth with Kaalki for every attack. Couldn't have been shool, either: she was still expected to finish all her assignments and tests from across an entire ocean. It had to be something different, something new that she could only sense and react to with her emotions.

Maybe… Could it be? There’s no way, why would they be here, of all places? Marinette shook her head more vigorously again, trying to clear away the idea, not caring for the way her hair whipped and stung her face. It couldn't be my Soulmate, no way. It’s been years, and I've practically confirmed they weren’t anyone in Paris. That leaves the whole rest of the world, and there's no way I've traveled around enough to come across them already. But… Her steps slow, and she barely pays attention as her surroundings pass her by. I’ve never felt this way. It had to be something, so why not my…?

She slapped her hands on her cheeks, the bags on her arms hitting her sides. “No, stop thinking about it. You have a job to do, me!” She chastised. “Head back in the game, now,” she commanded herself, face scrunched in determination. Besides, I don't think it works that way, anyway, she sighed to herself. Not that anyone else has figured it out, either. Soulmates, another mystery of the Universe…

#Game of the Heart - Vote Fic #maribat #daminette #mlb x dc #vote fic #choose your own adventure #soulmate au

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sarcasticbambi · 9 months

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Found Souls Chapter I

Next>

Marinette would like to say she never believed in soulmates. She does. But that would be lying, and if there’s one thing she hates the most in the world, it’s liars, so she’s stuck with telling the truth.

She believes in them. She would also like to enjoy the feeling of excitement over the reveal of her soulmate’s wing design on the inside of her own. The feeling of looking for your soulmate and wondering if it’s like in the movies - where you knock into them and you just know it’s them by glancing into their eyes, wondering if the world stops at that moment and it’s just the two of them.

Unfortunately, she was cursed with never experiencing those moments or knowing any of those feelings. Not that Hawkmoth (or Shadow Moth or whatever he’s going by these days) would ever allow for those to last long anyways, he’d probably find a way to ruin it. Not that it’d be the first time.

No, Marinette, was born wingless and thus, soulmateless. And it’s not for being a late bloomer as she’s been her whole life.

She simply and purely doesn’t have them. Anatomically, she doesn’t even have the structure that would allow her to develop her wings at a later time, were she truly just a late bloomer.

Her whole life, from the moment she was born until she turned 18 - when she gave up on trying - she’s been going through tests and exams like fire eating away at the wood.

She was such a special and peculiar case that the doctors were fascinated and couldn't get enough of trying to understand where such a defect came from.

Her parents, poor things, were just worried about how this could affect her day-to-day life. Not having wings in a world where the majority of things function and are accessible through them was hard. Everything in their building - bakery and residency space - was modified so she could have easier access to whatever was necessary.

At some point, she gave up on it. She’s destined to not have a soulmate, and that’s ok. She’ll just have to work harder and look for one without the whole “made for each other” thing. It’s not like she’s going to die without a soulmate.

Now, at 21 years old, she would like to meet Little Her and hug her. Tell her everything would be alright. Although she may not have a soulmate, she got as close as she could without having the universe on her back telling her if she was right or not. Tell her that she was happy with him and loved him with all of her existence, and would forever cherish what she had with him because they found their true love and were happy as they were, soulmateless and all (at least in her case)

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Damian really should avoid having Marinette and Stephanie in the same room. Actually, make it a 100m radius, because the two of them in such close proximity spells disaster, what with her influencing his precious angel and all.

That's what he says every time, but looking out the window now - where he has a view of the garden in the middle floors of Wayne Enterprises building - and he sees the two of them, arms locked with each other’s and a big smile on Marinette’s face, whatever mischief they’re up to this time spelled clearly in her bluebell eyes, he can’t help but smile to himself.

(And postpone the threat for the next time his sister-in-law tries to taint his angel with her troublemaking plots)

Seeing them lying on the grass under the big tree (?) in the middle of the garden, he turns around and returns to his office.

Now, with his beloved out of sight and a bunch of papers in front of him on his desk, he allows his mind to be overtaken by thoughts of her and how much she changed his life since meeting each other on that dreadful and gloomy day.

Flashback time

It was just another morning like any other. He woke up and his clock read 05:30 AM, like always. Getting off bed was as easy as usual, and he got ready for his regular routine.

Wake up. Training. Sparring. Shower. Eat. And then be driven to school and dropped off at the gates at exactly 07:30 AM.

The whispers while he walks down the hallway were the only disturbance to his routine, and he would like to let it be very clear that he is not appreciating that fact.

While it was normal to have whispers and glances his way because of the Wayne last name, they were different this morning. Most were not even directed at his person at all.

Damian would just like to let it be known that he would like to have a talk with whatever or whoever it was that was causing such an uproar, because if there’s one thing Damian hates, it’s a disturbance to his routine.

If it was back at the League, he’d probably have already cut someone’s head off. But that wouldn’t happen because everyone there knew to respect a routine and their respective roles.

Entering his classroom, Damian tried figuring out the reason for the whispers and his eyes followed those of his classmates to the back of the room, specifically his seat.

At first, he thought it was because the person - a petite girl with midnight blue hair who looked like even the slightest of the winds would blow her over - actually had the audacity and courage of sitting in his place. But then he thought that maybe she just didn’t know who sat there so he’d just put her in place. The nickname “Ice Prince” wasn’t just for show after all.

But then, as he walked closer, he noticed something missing in her figure. Something that was bound to catch everyone’s attention and cause the disturbance that has been affecting the whole school, including his routine.

She didn’t have wings. Which was such a big detail that he was surprised he hadn’t noticed earlier.

Shaking off his shock and the inquiries caused by such an anomaly, he walked over to his seat and stood there glaring at her. She had her head down the entire time, but raised it up when she felt his presence.

Now looking at him, were beautiful azure orbs glazed over with unshed tears - no doubt caused by the attention on her person probably since the moment she stepped foot on school grounds.

Looking down at her as he does to everyone, he expects her to just scramble as everyone does whenever they look at his face.

However, she either is fearless or just plain stupid, because no matter how much he glares at her and scowls, she just won’t budge.

“May I help you?” she says with such a low volume that he’d probably have missed it if it weren’t for his many years of training to be alert.

Tsk’ing, he scowls even harder.

Will I really have to voice it for this idiot to understand?

By now, the whispers have just got louder.

“You are seated in my place.”

Realisation slowly comes to her face and she methodically picks up her things and starts moving.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware it was already taken. Could you point me to an empty seat so that I won’t make the same mistake?” Even the small and gentle smile on her face wasn't enough to hide the tired tone that coated her voice.

Probably exhausted from having to deal with the same thing as he does everyday. Although hers seemed to be for a different reason than his.

“The one in front of mine is currently available”

With a small, barely noticeable bow of her head, she moves around him to sit where he pointed her towards.

“Oh my God! Did you see that?” “Yes I did! Kind of impossible to miss!”

“I thought he’d kill her for certain! I mean, last time someone sat in his place the person almost bawled their eyes out!”

“I know! Do you think he likes her?” “Who? Damian Wayne??? No way! He isn’t known as the Ice Prince for no reason! He simply isn’t capable of love!”

“Maybe he just pitied her? You know, she-”

“I’m certain if you people used half of the brain you use for bavardage in actual studies, your parents wouldn’t be so disgraced by your grades that they have to pay for you scandalmongers to stay enrolled.”

The silence that fell the classroom surprised even the teacher who’d just entered the room. Usually he’d have to order them to sit and shut up, but the silence was such a blessing that he didn’t even bother commenting on it, knowing it would just make it worse. He settled with just starting the class instead.

“Good morning students, I hope you had a good weekend. There's some things we need to address before starting class today. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, we have a new student with us. Mind coming up front to introduce yourself, please?”

The ravenette calmly got up and walked to the front of the room, turning to face the class and, with a slight accent, she introduced herself.

“Hi! My name is Marinette DuPain Cheng. I just recently moved here from Paris. I hope we can get along well!” The glowing smile she graced the class with seemed to hit some people straight to the heart, if their awestruck expression was anything to go by.

That explains the slight accent I guess.

“As you’ve noticed, Marinette here has a condition that has prevented her from developing her wings. I hope you guys will be mature enough to understand that there are obviously some actions that she won’t be able to accomplish and thus will require your assistance. The school is already doing all possible accommodations for this situation, but there are some things we’re bound to be unable to assist, so, as the great students you are, you’ll have to step in.”

No one missed the heavy sarcasm dripping from the teacher’s voice when he said, “The great students”. Everyone and their mothers knew that Gotham Academy’s students were nothing but spoiled brats, so, with the exception of a few students here and there, expecting them to actually help someone else with no sort of reward was plain idiotic.

Next>

#maribat #daminette #damian x marinette #damian wayne #marinette dupain cheng #soulmates #wings au #wingless marinette

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jinx-jade · 1 year

Text

On a Scale of 0-100, You’re an Angel four times over

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

#marinette dupain chang #soulmate au #danger scale soulmates #daminette #maribat #jinx-jade master lists

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liquid-luck-00 · 1 year

Text

Connections 15

Chapter 15

this is based on @thepeacetea daminette soulmate au

MasterList *** First *** Previous

~~~~~~~~~~

Under the cover of darkness, close to midnight, did Mari leave to meet Wonder Woman.

When Marinette arrived at the Justice League headquarters in France she was met with not one, not two, but three Amazonians.

"Queen Hippolyta, it’s wonderful to see you once again." She greeted.

"As well as you, little bug." Came the Queen‘s response.

Marinette de-transformed and then they started the conversation.

They discussed how they would proceed with the miraculous threat and how to retrieve all the miraculous without causing irreparable harm. Because the thought is that whoever this Hawkmoth is, he was no chosen of a Kwamii. Meaning there will be consequences, and even though his actions are not ones they condone or support. That doesn’t mean they are cruel enough to let this person be harmed by their own stupidity.

Yes the miraculous give blessings to their holders, but only if they are the right holder, with the right jewel. As each time a miraculous is used, the holder quite literally channels the kwamii's power. The more compatible, to the kwamii, a.k.a. a true chosen, the person is able to use the powers of the miraculous safer and easier. The opposite is also true, and incompatible person will be hurt to the point of damaging themselves physically, mentally, emotionally, and even damage their souls.

Which is why they also had to find this guardian to see about taking back the miraculous of the cat.

Which brings us to the reason why there’s three Amazonian‘s currently in front of her in Europe.

Wonder Woman, because yes she is Marinette's teacher of sorts within the Justice League.

Queen Hippolyta, for being a past ladybug, and also because it would be wise to seek out the Guardian.

And finally Artemis who was tasked with finding the guardian to discuss how this threat will be eliminated.

After a bit a back-and-forth Diana decided that she would have to head back, and so did Hippolyta. Artemis had decided to start the search halfway through the conversation and had left.

Now that she was alone, she knew there was another person she needed to meet with. So, she re-transformed and checked her yo-yo.

Luckily there he was transformed and roaming the city. With a quick text of directions, she was off. It took less than 10 minutes to arrive, seeing as he was already there.

Before she said a word, with a practiced motion, she drew one of her escrima sticks. And proceeded to draw a spell glyph in the air. Resulting in a protective box inside the bell story.

"Thank you for coming Chat Noir."

"Is there something you need to discuss?"

"Yeah… there is." She took a breath to steady herself.

"Are you planning on sharing our identities?" He wiggled his eyebrows, she assumes.

"No, I wasn't." She saw him deflate. "Did you receive your miraculous from the guardian?" She started to question.

"Yeah… " He seemed to think but almost like he wasn’t sure, figures, seeing that he was rubbing the back of his neck.

"You don’t actually know." It wasn’t a question but a statement.

"Sorry." He shook his head.

"No, it’s fine. Artemis can find him, and Hippolyta will know what to do." She hung her head and whispered to herself ever so slightly.

"Was that all you wanted?" He stepped towards her, but she stepped back.

She shook her head in response. "Did your kwamii... did Plagg tell you..."

"How the black cat and ladybug are soulmates meaning you and I are Soulmates. Oh what do you think our soul mark is. I haven't noticed anything different have you?" He spoke without taking a breath, waiting for her answer.

"Sorry, but you aren't my cat." She shook her head.

"What?!"

"You and I aren't soulmates." She stepped forward, taking his hands in hers. The certainty in her voice caused him to freeze.

"Does this mean I'm not a hero." His voice and ears dropped; his head bowed sadly.

"No." Her voice was steady, no hesitation in her voice or posture. "You are a hero. Your actions so far prove that."

"But I'm not your cat."

"No, but you are a chosen."

"How could you know that for sure?"

He looked at her sadly as if he didn’t believe a single thing. A small small part of her understood that whatever he was feeling was because of something in his personal life made it so.

That the love and attention he got was conditional. It broke Mari's heart but also, she understood. She remembers before Papa, Uncle B, her brothers, before Damian, the love she received in Paris was conditional. She also knew Damian would understand because of the League's similar conditions.

She had to shake her head before she could spiral. "I know you are. Because your soul resonates to the miraculous. It just isn't that of the black cat. But..."

"LB. you should give this to your soulmate." He didn't let her argue, he dropped the transformation. "You are Ladybug and I am not your cat."

He took off the ring, grabbed her hand and placed the ring into her palm. "I’m sorry for wasting everyone’s time."

There in front of her stood a blond-haired boy, his eyes closed, with a sad, defeated look on his face, and a say in his shoulders.

"You didn’t."

She grabbed the blonde haired boy’s wrist.

Marinette was going to drop her transformation, but call it intuition or maybe this was cosmic interference, so she didn’t. "Please, keep the ring until my cat can take your role. But you have helped so much, please continue being a hero."

"You're just saying that. You don’t know me." He mumbled barely audible. If it weren’t for her enhanced sense and close proximity, she would have missed it.

"Hey kid." Mari heard a new voice drawl. "Adrien."

The boy looked up and noticed the black kwamii floating in front between the two of them. "Plagg?"

"You might not have been my kitten, but you are a hero. And I’ve seen my fair share of them." Plagg responded as a matter of fact.

"Adrien." She repeated the name, drawing his attention. "Plagg is right. Heroes are more than just being chosen by a miraculous, artifact, or powers. It's what they choose to do with that power. You have a heart of a hero, so please don’t lose faith so easily."

She took the ring that was placed in her hand, grabbed his wrist, and pushed the ring of the black cat in his palm. "Fight with me for the time being."

---

"I..." She didn't let him answer. She turned and swung away from the tower.

"Are you putting the ring back on or what kid?" Plagg's voice snapped him from his racing mind.

"Yeah." He re-transformed and went home. The next morning he was resolved to go to school. Natalie and Gorilla caught him at the gate, but let him go in.

He made his way to the homeroom. When he stepped in everyone went quiet before he was tackled by Chloe.

"Adrikins!" She clung to his neck as he tried to regain his balance. "There's an open seat here in front of me!"

she led him to a front desk. "Thanks, Clo."

Was all he could say before the blonde next to him shouted. "What are you doing in my seat!?"

"The only thing needed for the triumph of evil, is for good people to do nothing." A bespeckled girl sitting behind him sat resolved.

"Get..." Chloe started but was cut off.

"Here-Here," A girl with blue hair, dyed at the ends responded, causing the entire classroom to watch her. But she didn't look up from her tablet.

"You're supposed to be on my side, Mer!" She stomped.

"And outburst like this is why everyone thinks you're a brat, Goldie."

"I have high standards." Chloe argued back.

"And you can still have them in the empty row up front." the girl pointed forward without looking up.

"I hate when you use that logic." Chloe grumbled but moved seats.

Adrien couldn't believe it. Someone could actually reign in Chloe.

"Hi, name's Nino." The boy sharing his bench introduced himself, snapping him out of his trance.

"Adrien." He greeted.

"I have to ask are you really friends with Chloe?" Nino asked.

"She's my only friend." He shrugged.

"Well now you have two." Nino pointed to himself.

"I'd like that." Adrien smiled.

"So, you don't know Marinette?" Nino brought up.

"Who?"

Nino pointed at the bluenette in the back who was still absorbed in the tablet. "she's apparently also Chloe's childhood friend."

"Really?" Adrien didn't recognize her.

"Apparently she just came back to Paris." Nino informed. "She seems nice enough, she's just blunt. We all don't know her well though."

"I heard she moved because of bullying?" A brown-haired girl behind him piped in.

"Really gurl." The bespeckled girl popped in. "You’re in the know Lila, spill."

The two girls behind him started talking, but his attention was on the girl sitting in the back of the class.

The whole day he tried to talk to her, but someone kept him. Be it Nino, unknowingly, Chloe demanding his attention, or her disappearing.

Then he saw her.

They were the last two in the school. It was almost like his luck started to turn. She was standing by the entrance, just before stepping out in the rain. She was on the phone. It took him a moment to realize she wasn't speaking French, but english.

So, he quickly hid behind a trash can while in earshot.

"I know I should've..." He doesn't think she noticed him.

'...' The other person must've said something, as she pursed her lips.

"That would've crushed them!"

'...'

"I know... but."

'...'

'Sigh.' "Why don't we talk later." She breathed. "The walls have ears after all." She looked directly at him.

She knew he was there; did she know the whole time.

"No need, I'm already here." A boy with black hair came running in the rain.

"You're soaked!" She hit him with her umbrella.

"Sorry." the looked down and opened his own umbrella. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop." He held out the umbrella to the boy.

He hesitated before taking it.

Thunder clapped.

Adrien ran out to the waiting car.

He might not have talked to her, he might not have made the best impression, but he hopes that it's a start. He smiled down at his hands. Barely catching a glimpse of the golden ink that was sinking back into his skin.

~~~~~~~~~~

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disorganizedkitten · 4 months

Text

I should go back to more old fics because I was ON SOMETHING in my Maribat era. Like? Three way crossover where half the plot was just me making bad translations bc I was mad that learning languages was hard. Cute. The au where daminette happened ONLY because an akuma or gabe managed to rewrite reality and then they FIXED IT and I had to start a follow up fic where they're both suffering from incredible amounts of deja vu and have to figure out what's real? iconic. The au where after hawkmoth the Miracle team split up to go help other superheroes and literally no one noticed until they were all in one room making fun of each other? So much fun. The circus au? Absolute banger of a fic idea, why didn't I finish it?

Literally anything wine aunts? I was integral in the wine aunts scene there for a bit, they were my babies.

Multiple assassin Marinette soulmate aus. Someone drew ART for one of them and then I never wrote it 😭

The au where Marinette was a Talon who escaped to france and became the black cat, with Kagami as her ladybug partner? Beautiful, why did I stop?

The OTHER Talon Marinette au where she was just. living in an abandoned room in wayne manor

The ghost au that I didn't start but I wrote some pretty things for

Maribat was a really fun era and I should spend more time in the maribat discords again, I think. Or at least go back and FINISH SOME OF THESE they're all so good

#marinette dupain-cheng #miraculous ladybug #Mlb x dc #Maribat #Jaymeow speaks #Abandoned fics

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heqvenlymoons · 2 months

Text

I Gave You Immortality, I Can Take It Back Anytime

Daminette One Shot | Soulmate AU | AO3

Marinette Dupain-Cheng has always known she was immortal. Maybe not always.

But there had been multiple instances in her life that proved she was.

Like when she was four, she and Nino had been playing catch when the ball he threw at her bounced and rolled onto the road. Seeing no cars in sight, Marinette had rushed onto the street to grab the ball when a car seemed to have spawned out of nowhere and sped towards her.

She had frozen in fear, not able to move when the car miraculously broke down just as it was about to hit her. Her parents hadn’t let her out of their sight for a while after that incident.

That night, she remembered seeing a boy about the same age as her with green eyes, tanned skin and a permanent scowl on his face as he crossed his arms and looked at her with an air full of superiority as he snapped, “Be more careful.”

She had thought the dream was weird and never saw the boy again until when she was six. She somehow contracted pneumonia and was sent to the ER for a life-threatening emergency.

She slept at the hospital that night, afraid and alone, her parents weren’t allowed in the room as the sickness was contagious.

She saw the green-eyed boy again, this time looking older than he was when she last saw him. His scowl was the same, looking down at her with disapproval as if she had sought out the sickness on her own and gotten sick on purpose.

“Don’t look at me like it’s my fault,” She snapped, unhappy with his disapproving expression.

He looked surprised but the expression was gone as quickly as it appeared, the scowling expression slipping back like it never left in the first place as he spat, “It is your fault! If you never went near that sick person in the first place, you would not have contracted the disease.”

Marinette stomped her foot, unwilling to let the boy talk to him like that. “It’s not my fault I’m sick! Everything hurts! I’m scared and alone, I don’t need to add you yelling at me to the mix.”

By the end of her rant, she was struggling to contain her tears, the frustration of everything she had been holding back while she had been awake came tumbling out.

The boy’s face softened slightly and he shifted, looking uncomfortable at the girl looking so close to tears. He gave a hesitant gentle pat to her head as he said, “Get better soon.”

The following morning when she woke up, her pneumonia had been cured.

Since that night, the mysterious boy appeared more often on days when she got hurt or injured, and with her clumsy nature, she saw the boy every few days.

“I just realized I don’t know your name,” Marinette asked one day as they hung out in the dreamscape.

They were both doing their own thing, with the boy focused on his sketchbook and Marinette working on some colouring book.

He grunted, not happy with the interruption. “That is not important.”

She closed her colouring book and got up to snatch the sketchbook from his hands.

“Hey!” he glared at her, hoping to intimidate her but she was stubborn, not giving in.

“It’s important to me. I want to know who my friend is,” she said, referring to his earlier statement.

“We are not friends,” he grumbled, looking away.

She stuck out her tongue. “Too bad. You’re stuck with me, you always appear when I sleep.”

The boy stubbornly avoided her gaze, focusing on some shelves behind her instead.

“Just tell me your name. Please?” She whined, putting on her best puppy doll eyes, his scowling expression faltering as he all but melted at the adorable expression she was making.

He huffed, trying to act like he was unaffected by the look but Marinette knew better. She had come to figure out his weakness as her puppy doll eyes and she used it to her full advantage.

“Damian. Damian Al Ghul,” he said, glaring at her.

Her smile was bright, his glaring eyes softening immediately and she was happy she had finally got him to tell her his name! He was going to be her best friend, it would be the last thing she did even if he continued to be stubborn.

At 13 years old, she was given the ladybug earrings and became Ladybug, the heroine of Paris.

That came with a price. She was injured more often, her meetings with Damian in the dreamscape every few days turned to every day.

He had somehow known her identity as Ladybug as soon as she saw her the night after the first Akuma and he had thrown a fit about it.

At 16, the akumas had escalated. Before, when the Akumas avoided killing and only stuck to injuries now weren’t afraid of taking more ruthless measures.

Multiple times when Marinette thought she was about to die, something miraculous happens to change it like the universe was being warped to make sure she doesn’t die and in a way, avenges her while it was at it.

About to get lava sprayed and incinerated from an Akuma? The lava gun runs out of lava fuel, allowing her and Chat Noir to catch him off guard to break the akumatized object.

A car getting thrown at her by an Akuma and about to crush her? It missed, somehow ricocheting off a building and hitting the Akuma square in the face.

That one battle where Hawkmoth himself shows up and has her cornered, about to grab her earrings? He gets attacked by his own Akuma.

An Akuma that absorbs the powers of miraculous holders and cataclysms her? Oh would you look at that, the Akuma gets sidetracked at the last second— courtesy of Chat Noir— and the wall behind her disintegrates to dust instead of her.

She could go on. It was absurd and a bit (utterly) ridiculous if she was being honest but at least her life never really seems to be in any real danger.

She had thought maybe it had something to do with her donning the ladybug miraculous and it was giving her insane luck, she even consulted her kwami about it.

Tikki had debunked that theory, looking confused as she did. “I’m not sure what’s happening to you, Marinette, but the ladybug miraculous isn’t the reason. The ladybug miraculous can give you a little luck at times but there must be balance, which means you would also have bad luck days. All those circumstances weren’t the outcome of lady luck and not to mention, you never seem to have any bad luck days. Even when you do, the event always somehow gets altered at the last second.”

Marinette had brought up her theories to Damian but he always looked uninterested and avoided the subject so she stopped bringing them up in the dreamscape.

She had a hunch on why this was happening but she denied it and pushed the possibility out of her mind. Damian never said anything about it, so she wouldn’t either. She was good at denying things, it was how she never figured out Chat Noir’s identity.

Now at the age of 17, Marinette was still contemplating if she was somehow immortal when Scarecrow broke in while her class was given a tour of Wayne Enterprises.

“So this is the famed Akuma Class, you people are the perfect test subjects for my new and evolved fear toxin! I wonder what fears you all have… Oh well, I’m about to find out.” Scarecrow announced, looking around in excitement like a kid in a toyshop for the first time. He pointed to Lila. “You! You look the most scared… Wonder what you’re afraid of, hmm?”

He looked to his henchmen. “Bring her here!”

Marinette rubbed her temples. She might not be Lila’s biggest fan— an understatement— but her hero complex won’t let her stand by and do nothing.

Even when it was completely Lila’s fault that Scarecrow had taken an interest in them— you can’t go around saying how you knew the Waynes and not expect any kidnapping attempts for ransom.

No matter, Marinette can take Scarecrow’s attention off Lila and make him focus on her instead. Marinette knew death avoided her like the plague at this point and if she wasn’t immortal, then maybe she was just insanely lucky.

“Let her go,” She said in a tired voice, not putting much energy into shouting but her voice rang clear in the quiet room as everyone looked fearful.

Scarecrow looked delighted by the prospect of someone volunteering. “Oh, a volunteer I see?”

He waved his henchmen off and they dropped Lila, causing her to tumble to the ground with a gasp, the henchmen moving to grab Marinette instead.

Marinette let herself get manhandled towards Scarecrow as he grabbed his syringe, the pointy tip of the needle gleaming in the light.

The fashionista in her wanted to protest at the sack-like mask he was wearing and she bit her lip to keep from saying anything to anger him. It’s not like she’s seen worse, Hawkmoth has a worse fashion sense if she was being honest.

Of course, her mouth didn’t stay shut for long and spat the words out without her permission, the need to critique his fashion overpowering her self-preservation.

“Nice mask,” She quipped, she couldn’t keep the sarcasm off her tone even when her very life was on the line. “Are you participating in the next potato sack race or are you trying to start a new fashion trend with that?”

Scarecrow’s eyes flashed with anger at her remark and he moved forward, pushing his henchmen out of the way, about to stab the syringe into her bloodstream when she acted on her instincts as Ladybug and sent a roundhouse kick to his face, catching the mad scientist off-guard as he lost his grip on the syringe and fell backwards.

The syringe seemed to have flown in the air in slow motion, the tip of the needle stabbing into the arm of the fallen villain and injecting the fear toxin into his bloodstream, making him get a taste of his own medicine.

Marinette allowed her lips to twitch upwards at the sight, her guardian angel had struck once again. Her slight smile faded away at the thought, not wanting to come to terms with the facts.

She turned to see that Batman, Red Robin, Red Hood and Nightwing had arrived, looking dumbfounded at the scene.

Red Robin stepped forward, looking cautiously at the screaming Scarecrow before addressing her. “Miss? How did this happen?”

Marinette hummed, looking nonchalant. “You can say he got a taste of his own medicine… literally.”

The Batboys burst out laughing at her pun while Batman looked unimpressed.

“What you’re saying is, Scarecrow was hit by his own syringe?” Batman asked, looking suspicious.

She shrugged, looking towards her class to see they were being ushered out by Ms. Bustier.

“I did a roundhouse kick to his face,” She admitted, making eye contact with Ms. Bustier who waited for her at the exit. “It caught him off guard and the syringe was knocked out of his hand before the pointy tip landed on his arm.”

The suspicion in his eyes didn’t clear as he responded, “You must have been extremely lucky. This happened too conveniently, don’t you think?”

Batman was prodding for something but she couldn’t find it in herself to care about the interrogation or to quell his suspicions. “Mr. Batman, I was just in a traumatic situation and now have PTSD. If you don’t mind, I would like to join my class and spend the rest of the day at the hotel to get my mind off of the traumatic experience,”

She could see Red Hood trying not to laugh at her reply as his shoulders shook and she turned away without waiting for how the Dark Knight would respond.

She walked away to join the rest of her class as she heard Batman tell Red Robin to get the cure for Scarecrow.

──────────

As she went to sleep that night, she pushed the day’s events from her mind, and the fading laugh of Scarecrow dissolved into the quiet stillness of the dreamscape.

Damian was already in the dreamscape like usual and was glaring at her with his arms crossed and looking annoyed.

Marinette sent him her brightest smile, hoping to soften his annoyed look at her recklessness.

It worked, his eyes softening, although he didn’t uncross his arms as he pinned her with the look he had on every time she did something that injured or almost killed her.

“I know you did that on purpose. What theory did you think you were trying to prove?” Damian asked, unhappy with her lack of self-preservation.

Her eyes were wide, looking the epitome of innocence. “Did what?”

He scowled, the soft look in his green eyes gone as it glittered with annoyance. “Tt. Don’t you take that tone with me. You know exactly what you did, don’t make me say it. It is getting increasingly harder for me to save you every time.”

To his horror, tears were glistening in her eyes and he tried to backtrack but the damage was done.

“You died, didn’t you? Before we met? You were so young,” Marinette whispered, the tears falling as he didn’t respond. His silence was enough to confirm she had been right all this time.

She looked away, unable to look at him as she came to terms with the facts she had been deadset on denying since young.

Damian reached out a hand and looking hesitant, he moved forward to hug her from behind, his arms going around her waist and causing her to freeze at how he was initiating physical contact.

“Angel, I was never sure how to break the news to you… but it seems like you’ve always accepted the fact, albeit subconsciously. I did not mean to keep that fact away from you.” he said quietly, resting his chin on her shoulder, closing his eyes and savouring the moment.

He was right, even if she was actively denying the fact that he was dead, her subconscious had long already accepted.

Since Damian had died before they met, their soul bond activated upon his death, the universe gifting them with the dreamscape and making it so that they would never be apart, even in death.

There was a catch— she could only meet Damian in the dreamscape if she was injured or came close to death and he warped the universe to ensure she would avoid death.

It was why she had always been clumsy, her heart knew he would be waiting for her in the dreamscape and wouldn’t be able to see her unless she was hurt in some way even if her mind hadn’t accepted it.

Marinette voiced her thoughts out loud and he tugged her to face him, his green eyes meeting her blue ones with an intensity that made her breath hitch.

“I don’t wish to see you hurt, Angel. I do everything I can to make sure you don’t die by saving your life at every turn. You need to stop with your recklessness,” he said, trying to look stern, although he didn’t look very convinced he was going to get through to her.

She was stubborn and he knew it.

He reached out to wipe her tears away with his thumb, his eyes never leaving hers.

“Thank you, Damian, for everything,” she whispered, the weight of her unspoken emotions palpable in the air between them.

With a trembling smile, she tried to lighten up the mood even as her heart felt heavy. “You know I won’t. How else will I see you every night to make sure you aren’t feeling lonely without my company? Besides, I know you will always watch over me.”

Marinette knew her response held some truth to it, she didn’t like the thought of Damian feeling lonely in the dreamscape. She wouldn’t stop being clumsy, if only so she could see him every night in the dreamscape.

He softened at her words, though he still didn’t look happy. “I gave you immortality, I can take it back anytime.”

She went quiet at that, looking thoughtful. “Why don’t you?”

His brows furrowed, a rare show of his confusion. “What?”

She elaborated. “Why don’t you? Take away my immortality that is.”

His brows deepened, not understanding why she was asking him such a thing. “You deserve to be happy.”

Marinette shook her head, stepping closer to him. “What if my happiness is with you? Why do you save me every time when you could’ve let me die to be with you?”

Damian’s eyes held sadness but no signs of regret at his repeated decision to save her. “You deserve to live the life I could not. You have dreams to fulfill and many things to discover in life. It is not your time yet.”

At her shocked silence, he continued. “You don’t know how hard it is to let you go every time. I am afraid that one of these days I will no longer be able to find it in me to let you go and bind your life to mine in the afterlife forever.”

The tears she had managed to keep away started to come back at his heartfelt confession.

“Please, I beg of you, don’t try to die anymore. Live your life, the life that I did not have the chance to live. If not for yourself, then do it for me,” he looked desperate, his stoic mask cracking, allowing her to see every emotion he was feeling.

Her lips quivered, the tears flowing from her eyes and dropping to the white smokey ground, the droplets absorbing into the void like it was never there. “Will I ever see you again?”

Damian allowed himself to smile if only for her sake, the muscles feeling strange at the unfamiliar expression. He could see her eyes dropping to his soft smile and how her eyes were tracing his features, committing it to memory.

“When the time is right. I will always be here when you need me, mon ange. This is not goodbye,” he said, placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

Marinette closed her eyes, allowing herself to bask in his presence before it was time for her to wake up.

She would live her life and fulfill her dreams.

For him.

#maribat #mlb x dc #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #damian al ghul #soulmate au #oneshot #angst with a hopeful ending #bittersweet ending #my take on the soulmate au #focuses on the concept of immortality #has supernatural elements #whether they are romantic or platonic soulmates is up to the reader's interpretation

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person25 · 8 months

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so… daminette

i honestly have no idea where this crossover came from but here we are

so, i think i’ll start with the stuff i actually like, kind of anyway

it’s not hard to imagine them in the same universe with them both being superheroes and all, not the most out there crossover that makes no sense.

also it definitely falls under the grumpy x sunshine which i do like, there’s a lot of soulmate au’s for this ship and if yk me yk those are my weakness (if done right).

this pairing has the least amount of explicit content in it than almost any other i’ve seen (thank goodness for younger me) so if i wanna read a long fic and i’m not in the mood for any of that i just look for these specific fics

sometimes it’s fun to see marinettes class get put in their place other times it’s weird and out of place, really depends on the author and how long the story is and where they wanted it to go.

now onto the things i don’t really enjoy

i swear everyone who writes a maribat fic is a miraculous fan first and the only dc content they’ve consumed is other maribat fanfic cause there’s no way

most of the time damian’s personality is that of his 10 year old self like ik that man’s personality changed over the last 8 years, usually in daminette fics they’re around 18

also, why are all of the family members at WE like sure maybe she’ll see tim or bruce but why is dick there? i’ve even seen jason? like no, i’m sorry that would not happen.

honestly most of my problems have to do with it not being realistic for batman but also, marinette would not be in the same class as any of her friends in high school, she probably won’t even go to the same school as them

i’m just gonna say damian would not fall in love that fast, it doesn’t matter who it is it ain’t happening, also just an overall focus on mari and barely any on damian

things i haven’t talked about but would if asked:

literally any other maribat ship, like this girl is shipped with everyone in dc

bio dad au, honestly never read any, i wanted that romance and if bruce is her dad we ain’t getting any, unless it’s with someone else? idk didn’t really look into these

honestly if you have any questions about maribat i could probably answer 😭

i’m don’t actively read it anymore but occasionally i get curious and i had to rant about it bc maribat is one of those ships that’s only on fanfic websites and none of my friends understand (i don’t blame them)

#damian wayne #marinette dupain cheng #miraculous ladybug #batman #robin #dc comics #ao3 fanfic #maribat #daminette #i could probably talk abt more tbh #wattpad #also there’s definitely a few fic i like that i could recommend if you want any

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 7 days

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Then We Will Bury Them Together

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/3FVkl1e by riverarcher Daminette Soulmate AU Marinette used to always be excited about her soul mark. Until she learned what the words said. Damian always loved his soul mark. Until it disappeared. *TRIGGER WARNINGS* This is a really depressing read. Honestly, I was kinda just writing a synopsis and then it turned into this. I may have let personal experiences guide me. Please do not read this if you think it may harm you. TW: suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, NO ONE ACTUALLY DIES Words: 4607, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Damian Wayne, Chloé Bourgeois, Lila Rossi, Caline Bustier, Caline Bustier's Class, Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Sad Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Depressed Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Sad Damian Wayne, Caring Damian Wayne, Protective Damian Wayne, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, please read the tags, be safe, Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, This is really sad, Read at Your Own Risk, Of crying, but seriously, be careful, And BE MINDFUL OF YOUR MENTAL HEALTH BEFORE READING, One Shot, No Beta read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/3FVkl1e

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the caped crusader #the dark knight #dcu #ao3 #ao3feed

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mae-dwrites · 5 months

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A Bundle of Heliotropes - Chapter 3 - Lull

| Ao3 | Wattpad |

When Marinette woke up her room was quiet. It was quiet?

Marinette sat up in alarm and scrabbled to get out of bed, “Tikki?”

No response. Her panic started to grow, “Tikki.”

“Guardian, do not panic,” Sass floated to her, making the girl slip and hit her head on the ladder. Sass winced while Marinette rubbed her head, hanging upside down on the ladder. Sass floated down to her face, “The ressst of the Kwami are down stairss with your parents.”

Marinette blinked as she took in the words she noticeably relaxed before pulling herself up to get on the ground. She rubbed the back of her head with a small frown, she felt almost as embarrassed as she was irritated with the injury.

Marinette looked to the snake kwami with mild confusion, “Why are they down there?”

“I don’t know everything, I do know Tikki sssaid that she would talk to them in the morning if they would like,” Sass explained, “eventually otherss joined her asss they got bored up here. None of usss wished to wake you, but there wasn’t much to do that would keep usss quiet. Ssso we joined Tikki, and I stayed ssso that you would be lessss likely to panic.”

Marinette nodded, “Thank you Sass, I appreciate it a lot.”

“Of courssse Guardian,” Sass bowed his head.

“You can join everyone else if you’d like,” Marinette said smiling at the snake. Sass nodded before phasing through her floor to downstairs. Now that Marinette was more awake when she strained her ears to listen she could barely hear the sound of voices from downstairs.

Marinette yawned despite herself and stretched. She pulled on a sweater before having another stretch and rubbed her face. Marinette came down to see the island covered in foods prepared, all things the Kwami enjoyed or favored. Usually the Kwami would be rambunctious when they didn’t have to be careful, but all the Kwami were relaxing, eating, or talking to her parents.

Marinette blinked as she took in the scene before her.

Tikki, Sass, and Longg sat on the coffee table munching on their respective snacks while Trixx and Pollen sat on Sabine’s head; they were listening just as intently to the conversation as some of the other Kwami. Mullo sat in the mother’s hand. Stompp, Daizzi, Barkk, Ziggy, and Orikko all rested contently at various levels of her father.

Lastly Xuppu, Kalkki, and Roarr sat on the island, Xuppu playing around the food but careful to not make a mess. Kalkki made an annoyed but amused neigh as she munched on a sugar cube.

Marinette looked around the room searching for Fluff, she found the time bunny on the shelf observing the scene. A small smile on their face as they munched on carrots, her piercing eyes flicked to Marinette.

Marinette was used to the Kwami after all the months of the group residing in her home, especially with spending most of her time with them. Fluff was chaotic in nature, but time also held order in her delicate chaos.

“Good Morning Fluff,” Marinette smiled and nodded.

“Is it morning? May it be noon? Or tea time? Why is it not dawn,” Fluff sprouted out what would seem incoherent. It was best not to overthink her maze of words.

Marinette’s smile softened, “Sun high, clear sky.”

Fluff beamed at the response and floated over to the Guardian, she nuzzled and rubbed the top of her head on Marinette’s forehead. Marinette giggled the bunny’s fur and whiskers tickled her with affection.

“Good morning sweetie.” Tom and Sabine said in unison.

Marinette looked over to see her parents now facing her. Her father radiated pride and his eyes were glassy, it made Marinette swallow. Her father always wore his heart on his sleeve but very rarely did she see him cry. Seeing her father look at her like this made her heart tight and want to fall on the floor and let it all wash over her, but of course, she didn’t do that.

She looked over to her mother, a woman who always kept cool but was a gamut of raging and unfiltered emotions. A woman who felt everything so wholly under the surface. A small understanding smile was set and Sabine’s eyes crinkled as she took in her daughter.

A strong and confident young woman, her heart ached looking at her now. Her heart had hurt before looking at her, but that was when she was worrying, scared of what would happen to her baby. Now she knew it was far worse than she’d allowed herself to even entertain.

“Good morning,” Marinette smiled back feeling nervous as she looked at Tikki. Her Kwami hadn’t said anything about speaking to her parents. While she believes there was a reason, Marinette feels like she should’ve been there.

Many Kwami sprouted shouts of Guardian and Marinette excitedly, some even coming to her and flying around her talking in rapid succession. The bakers laughed at the magic beings.

Sabine motioned for Marinette to join them. Marinette couldn’t help that her insides swirled as they usually did, although this time was certainly different in multiple aspects.

“Marinette,” Sabine started making said girl straighten up, “we have been speaking to Tikki to better understand what we can and where she can speak of.” Sabine nodded to the Kwami as she floated happily to Marinette.

“While we don’t like it we understand the need to keep secrets surrounding all of this, and that you even telling us is breaking the rules. We,” Sabine stopped for a moment to clear her throat; she took one of her daughter’s hands, “appreciate you for telling us. Even if it’s rather unconventional.”

Sabine chuckled while Tom brought his daughter into a comforting side hug.

“But we do think we need to figure out our own system or set of rules,” Tom spoke up.

Marinette looked at her father taking in their words carefully, she nodded.

“I understand and I agree,” she said thoughtfully, her brows down as her mind went miles a minute thinking over possible ways they could go about this. Marinette soon grabbed out a piece of paper to help sort her thoughts out.

The family and minigods spent the morning discussing her leaving classes, the bakery, her friends, and more. She had permission to say her parents needed for an emergency, or to just straight up leave the class no questions asked.

As they spoke the more they relaxed, joked and simply enjoyed their time together. Marinette was far more relaxed than she had in years.

“It’s not like they can just chase me,” Marinette joked to her parents as a knock sounded on their door. Marinette gasped and leaped across the room as Kwamis hid, “Nino’s birthday.”

Marinette looked back and didn’t see a single Kwami, her parents gave small reassuring smiles. A rapid knock sounded followed by an impatient voice. Marinette finally opened the door revealing Alya and Nino, their eyes were red and puff but they held the biggest smiles on their faces.

The dread that had been previously there faded away, Marinette looked between the two, “Did-”

She was cut off by Alya yanking hers and Nino’s intertwined hands in her face, “Yes.”

Green turtles with black lotus flowers resting on top of the shells sat between their thumb and pointer fingers. Marinette noticed Alya’s turtle was darker in shade but aside from that they were just mirrors of the others.

Marinette pulled them into a tight hug telling them how happy she was for them.

---

“Here dear, eat something,” Ma Kent said sliding a slice of pie to Damian.

“Thank you Ma Kent,” Damian nodded taking the fork from the older woman.

“Of course, dear,” Ma said with a sweet smile. She turned to cut a slice for herself, “I remember when I got my mark.”

Damian took a breath; of course, Jon had mentioned it to his family. Well, his father must have talked to Clark of course, and Tim to Kon. Damian hadn’t gone out of his way to find out if Tim had told Kon, but Damian did not doubt his reasoning for it was sound.

Ma continued to recount fondly how her sister had teased her and her friends had thrown a party, and when she had met her dear Jonathan.

Damian could not hold malice toward the woman, she only knew so much, but she knew enough. He was sure Ma was just trying to ease any “nerves” or “fears” he had about meeting his soulmate.

And he was not “nervous” or “scared.” That is simply prosperous. He had concerns about meeting them.

What if they were a civilian?

A beat.

What if they weren’t a civilian?

Damian paused for half a second, but that was enough.

“Damian?” Jon who had been doing chores around the farm was now next to him.

Damian blinked. What was worse, he hadn’t actually thought about it. He hadn’t wanted to think about any of it. He never let himself entertain anything related to soulmates, his soulmate. He should have, he should have been planning.

“Dear,” Ma Kent spoke softly in a question.

Damian stared at his half-eaten pie, his brows barely drawn together.

The young vigilante cleared his throat, “I am fine. Just had a thought.”

Ma Kent smiled and gently rested a hand on the boy’s, “It won’t be easy will it?”

Damian looked up to her, sometimes he forgot how similar the woman was to Alfred at times. All observing and knowing.

Ma gave a light squeeze, “I’m sure they’ll be just fine.” Her eyes flickered between Damian and Jon, “Clark was worried too when he got his, no matter what we said.” She fondly shook her head recounting the days of her son.

“Whoever it is, they’ll fit right in,” she stated as a matter of fact.

Damian ever so barely pursed his lips as he looked away for a moment, when he looked back at the woman and nodded with gratitude, “Thank you Ma Kent.”

Robin’s cape flittered behind him in the slight breeze, the smog-filled sky hiding the moon from the beautiful chaos of the city. His family was spread across the city, Robin was awaiting instructions from Oracle for the area he had already run through twice that night. A few muggings around, so simple for him to handle.

For as much as he would like to rest after being up for so long he wasn’t ready to go yet, but he would be called home for the night soon.

The sound of heels made him turn around, not even five meters away from him stood Talia al Ghul.

“Darling you need to be more aware of your surroundings,” Talia chastised with an unsatisfied smile. She looked to her son’s hand where it lay on his katana. Talia straightened in realization, she held a small frown and her eyes softened, “Oh Dami. I promise I’m not here to fight.”

The mask did not hide how Robin looked her over before slowly removing his hand from his weapon. He straightened and raised his chin as he looked at his mother.

“What is it you want,” Robin stayed put, not wanting to let his guard down.

“My blessing,” Talia took a small step forward. “Not that you need it of course, and Nyssa would not approve,” she waved her hand as though to dismiss her sister from the conversation, her disdain bleeding into the words.

Damian looked his mother over again, trying to find the deceit or hidden agenda. There was none to be found.

“Blessing for what exactly Mother,” Damian asked, adding the title hesitantly. He knew what she meant, but he wanted to hear her say it.

Talia smiled amused, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.” She knew he hadn’t, but she knew what he wanted. What she had wanted so long ago. “Blessing to let them live.”

She could see him relax, her smile became fond as she looked at her son-

An “oof” came out of Talia, a sound she never made, as her son’s arms hugged her. She reached her arms up holding her precious son close. When he pulled away she held his face, a near pout on her face as she looked up at him,

“When did you get so tall dear?”

Not that his mother could see it, he looked away.

“Robin, there looks to be a kidnapping in process a block away from your current location,” Oracle stated through his comm.

“On it,” Damian stated. He turned to leave but looked back at his mother, “Thank you.”

Talia only nodded before leaving him, her heels not making a sound as he leaped from rooftop to rooftop.

---

Ladybug’s leg hung off the Eiffel Tower between the bars, laying on her back she watched what stars she could make out with the monument lit for the night. Her hand absentmindedly rubbed her collarbone, her breathing was long and slow.

She was used to her suit changing little bits as she grew up, almost every few months something new changed. She remembers when Chat and her would freak out about it, making jokes about growing into the suits.

Ladybug rolled her eyes fondly.

Alya would rant for hours about the suit changes and chase her during Akumas just to get photos to show every little change she noticed.

She now sported a short cape garment over her shoulders down to her elbows; black on the outside and red on the inside keeping the famous ladybug colors prominent. When it separated it mimicked the way a ladybug’s wings spread when they would take flight. Tikki had been ecstatic over that; loving how much more her lovely insects were represented than just colors; while Alya had deep-dived into ladybugs and other beetles.

Her suit had inverted from her abdomen to her thighs, it helped to work with her hiding from Akumas in dark places. Her suit had become thicker and adjusted to give her proper traction on her soles and heels.

A quiet thump sounded near her, she stayed where she was at ease knowing who was there. Alya usually went home after patrol so she could be there in case her sisters bargained into her room, they did so often; the littles when they had a nightmare or Nora to ambush Alya. All out of trust and love.

A mischievous smile came into her view blocking the sky. His wild hair whipped in every which direction it could. His mask had slowly grown to look more like a second skin on his cheekbones, temples, and lower forehead.

Ladybug believed it was him growing to keep his identity a secret more over time.

“Why hello m’lady, a fine evening is it not?” Chat grinned, his cat ears twitched making his dangling earrings swing.

Ladybug smiled contently, “It is.”

Chat Noir brought himself down with his legs crossed, Ladybug lifted her head and he scooted forward so her head was on his lap. Chat brushed her bangs back gently, careful not to nick her with his sharp nails. Ladybug let her eyes close, the slight breeze brushed over her face.

“Is something wrong,” Chat asked. Her eyes snapped open, Chat frowned, she blinked a few times before replying with a light nervous laugh, “No, no, of course not.”

He obviously didn’t believe her but decided to let her have this, “While I’d hope not, especially since I found this present on patrol.” Chat said back to his puckish attitude.

“A present,” she restated surprised, she shouldn’t be really.

While he didn’t know when her birthday was he did know it was close to the beginning of May, and that seemed to be enough. The first year he had scrambled to get her a present, it had been a very simple one a keychain with a paw pad. Small and cute, easy to hide, also was so basic he wouldn’t figure out her identity if he saw someone with one.

The previous year he had bought her a paw print plush (he had a theme so far) and a bouquet of yellow roses when he had been much more bent on the just friends train. But he had also bought her four bolts of velvet after she had talked about how much she wanted to use it and experiment with it. Marinette hadn’t touched it for months too scared to make the wrong thing or ruin the expensive material; she hadn’t made anything with it till this last Christmas, and that was only with two of them.

She was almost dreading what he’d gotten her thing year with the drastic change between the two years.

Chat Noir nodded eagerly, he took out a moderately sized bag. Ladybug relaxed a bit as she sat up, seeing that he hadn’t gotten so big this time around.

“You want to take a guess,” He asked as she sat up.

“Not really,” she said offhandly.

“You sure,” he pressed, leaning forward.

Ladybug giggled, “Yes I’m sure chaton.”

His ears flattened as he handed the bag over to her, “Fine.”

Ladybug smiled at the feline hero as she took the bag from him.

She took tissues out tossing them playfully at her partner; he glared at her which only made her smile wider. Ladybug looked in the bag to pull out a yellow bouquet of roses, she looked at him exasperated.

“Didn’t I tell you to stop giving me flowers?”

“And yellow roses mean friendship,” he said pleading, “I double-checked this time, you’re not making me second guess this time.”

Ladybug gave him a “seriously” look before lightly whacking him with the bouquet. He hissed at her making her whack him again.

“Rude,” he squinted at her.

“You’re rude,” she stuck her tongue out at him. She grabbed out a small baggy with two little paw charms on hair ties. She smiled at the simple gift, “I love them.”

She reached back in while Chat beamed. She pulled out two envelopes, one white and one purple. She raised an eyebrow at her partner.

“It doesn’t matter which one you open,” he waved, his voice revealing his nervousness.

Ladybug set the purple one down before opening the white one. She noticed Chat tap his fingers on his knee as he watched her.

She took out the pink page that was written in his neat handwriting.

You didn’t happen to get your mark?

There was a box for yes and no.

Ladybug frowned, she knew her kitty’s birthday was coming later in the year. She swallowed as she looked up at him.

“Chat,” She started. He looked at her, his cat eyes piercing her heart. Full of fear and hope, she knew she was about to break his heart. She swallowed again and opened her mouth but no words came out.

She nodded with tightly sealed lips. She blinked tears away rapidly in a poor attempt to not cry. She watched as he made an inaudible, “Oh.”

He covered his mouth as the tears ran down his face.

She quickly put everything back in the bag and setting it aside she pulled Chat into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” She murmured into his hair and rubbing circles on his back.

“I just wanted one of my best friends,” he hiccuped out. “Just a friend was all.”

“I know,” Ladybug gave a squeeze. “I’m sure whoever it is will be your friend first.”

And if they stayed there longer than normal, it wasn’t like Paris would know.

•

Taglist:

@stainedglassm

@angie500

#a bundle of heliotropes #soulmate au #maribat alya #maribat damian wayne #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat soulmate au #maribat chat noir #maribat sabine cheng #maribat tom dupain #maribat talia al ghul #maribat #maribat fic #maribat fanfic #daminette soulmates #daminette #maribat daminette

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silverwhiteraven · 1 year

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MariBat: Vote Your Own Fic - A CYOA writing game. - Set-Up, Part 3.

Oh, the options!! Wait, what was that? Don't see the classic "First-Meet" and "Childhood Friends/Aquintance" Tropes?? Worry not! Those will be returned to you, alive and well, when the fic itself begins!!! So keep an eye out, or ask to be tagged when it begins~!

Click Here for the results of the Previous Poll!

One Last Set-Up Poll will be held after this one, just to narrow down the Settings. Hope you're all looking forward to manipulating a fic to your very own wishes~! <3

#maribat #mlb x dc #vote fic #choose your own adventure #daminette #damian x marinette

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sarcasticbambi · 9 months

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Found Souls Chapter II

Looking back on those years, Damian thinks just how much things have changed.

Not only did he learn that his early education and life experiences were not normal, they were also extremely traumatising to his person on levels he’s still trying to understand. Thankfully, his family has been very helpful in helping him understand and overcome such issues.

One of the things he remembers struggling with the most, was trust.

It took, in Dick’s words, “too long” for him to be able to tell them when he needed something that was not required for his “cover” as a student at Gotham Academy.

Like his art - he’d sneak out to buy supplies whenever they ran out, usually using patrol as a cover for it.

That was until he was caught by Jason one time when he had to go closer to Crime Alley because his regular store was closed after a Rogue attack.

Jason descended the alley he was trying to change, and asked him what he was doing sneaking around. After a “heartfelt” conversation, Jason explained to him that he did not need to sneak out during patrol to get art supplies or any other personal requests. That he just had to ask Alfred or any of the other siblings and they’d certainly be happy to help.

They then had a robbery which they were the closest to, so after confirming with Oracle that they’d take care of it, Jason promised to take him to the supply store after patrol, and they’d buy everything he needed and some more for reserves.

Jason also asked to see his art, but that took another year or two to happen.

He’d apparently also gotten Alfred in a frenzy over not having an “appropriate space to engage in his hobbies”, and thus came to be “Damian’s Art Room”, which was only accessible to him and whoever he’d let in, the number of which has increased throughout the years.

The other thing he seemed to have a big issue with was, to no one’s surprise, loyalty.

Considering that his early developing stages were spent in the League, and that not really everyone was happy with him being the Demon’s grandchild, he was a target every other time.

Teachers, trainers, and even assistants had attempted on his life, so he learned very early on not to trust anyone, and that their “loyalty” was not always towards who it should be. In the League, you either had someone you trusted and several connections, or you had enemies - even if they masked themselves as your comrade (not friend, never friend.).

These topics were less of an issue after he moved to Gotham, but were still very much troubling in his life, especially when it came to his wings and soulmate design.

The first and only person to know his soulmate design during his first 3 years in Gotham, was Alfred - and it was only because of an injury and he refused to get treatment because he didn’t want anyone to see it - that way, no one could use it as a weakness, or to threaten him with, like they did in the league.

It was only after being told of Alfred’s extensive medical training and that it’d only be the two of them in the room until treatment was over, that he relented to having it taken care of in the Batcave, since the other option was being taken to an actual hospital.

This was almost at the end of his first year living in Gotham, and it wasn’t until he turned 13 that he trusted his father and Dick with his soulmate design.

It took a long time to get there, but when they did reach that level of trust, he found that he quite enjoyed it. There was no judgement for preferring to hide it, nor was there mocking for the fact his design was so pink and filled with cherry blossom flowers and little ladybugs on them.

Actually, it had the opposite reaction. They were saying that whoever his soulmate was would be a lovely person and probably cared a lot for nature and would be a good match for his love for animals. And wasn’t that a great feeling? To have his family and the people that he’d come to trust be as happy and excited for him to meet his soulmate as he was?

It had been the only thing on his mind the entire time he was in the League, after all. He’d been mocked and punished several times over having such a feminine design even though he was the Demon Head’s Heir, as if it was something he could control. Sometimes, he was even threatened to have his wings cut off because whoever was behind that design, couldn’t possibly be a good match for him as the future ruler of the League of Assassin so, they were thinking of making it impossible for him to ever find them. His only saving grace was that his soulmate mark was nowhere close to resembling that of those living around him. Now, looking at the person he cares for the most - more than himself even - he remembers just how he went from valuing his soulmate design above all else because it meant freedom, to actually being free and letting himself loose to find his own love story.

And it was the best choice he could ever make.

#maribat #daminette #damian wayne #wingless marinette #damian x marinette #marinette dupain cheng #soulmates #wings au

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