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miracle-sham · 3 years

Text

Crack Your Bones and Say Those Lies.

| {Jasonette July 2021, Saturday Challenge 3: And They Were Roommates} |

———

| After getting roped into the Vigilante life by Chat Noir, her friend and partner in crime, Maladroit tries her best to help fight crime to make the city a better place, if only Red Hood and his gang would stop causing problems. |

| Or alternatively, Marinette and Jason are roommates with secrets. Both have huge crushes on each other but more importantly, both are trying to juggle moonlighting as their secret identities. However, when watching the nightly news together, everything changes. |

| Word Count: 5,014. |

| Warnings/Tags: No Miraculous/Different Powers Au, Roommates, minor gang mentions/Red Hood is a gang lord, gun violence, Vigilantism, Identity Shenanigans/Mistakes, Miscommunication, some emotional hurt, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, and Domestic fluff. Also Oblivious, Protective, & Mutually Pining Marinette and Jason. |

———

| A/N: Hey! Sorry this is nearly a week late but where I live got hit with a nasty heatwave and I was barely able to write from sheer exhaustion from the heat. But on a happier note, I'm so glad I've finally been able to write and post a proper Vigilantes au (as in like Spidey style vigilantism with homemade gear and all!) Because that kinda Vigilante au especially combined with roommates is my favourite trope ever! Well maybe joint with Dragonrider AUs, but still! I've had multiple Vigilante Aus sitting in my notes and drafts so it's brilliant to finally release one into the wild! Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading this! |

| Also side note, Don’t Like? Don’t Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

———

It's Friday night, and Maladroit and Chat Noir are midway through their usual patrol of their slice of territory in the city.

“Race you to the billboard!” Chat Noir calls out, snickering in an almost cat-like-chitter as he launches himself forwards. Swinging over Maladroit's head with his grapple, he lands on the next roof ahead, in a perfect three-point landing.

Maladroit giggles, “Oh, you're so on!” She grabs her grapple and shoots. Swinging after him and onto the same roof. She instead, dive forward rolls for her landing and uses the momentum to propel her into a run.

Losing his lead due to the momentum loss of the three-point landing, Chat Noir vaults over a roof vent.

Forced to swerve to the side, Maladroit barely dodges a massive puddle of rainwater on her side of the roof.

Neck and Neck, the two raced across the rooftop. Closer and closer to the billboard they raced.

Nearly there! She thinks, c'mon! Reaching an arm out to slap the billboard—

Bzzt!

“Eep!” She yelps, startled by the buzzing crackle of her earring-comms. Unintentionally, she accidentally veers to the side and crashes straight into Chat Noir's side.

They collide with a loud thud, and two of them crumple into a pile.

“Graceful as ever, Mal.” A voice teases over her earring-comms. “Joking aside, didn't mean to spook you, sorry!”

Maladroit groans, “thanks,” and gingerly extracts herself from the vigilante limb pile.

“Gamer!” Chat Noir cheers, having heard him through his own disguised comms. “Got any crimes for us to fight tonight?”

There's a chuckle over the line, “Lucky you should ask, Chat, I do happen to have found some villainous plans for you to thwart.”

Chat Noir cracks his knuckles and stretches. “Oh? What are they?”

“Two which are time-sensitive.” Gamer adds.

Maladroit stifles a squawk, “Two! That are time-sensitive?” Her voice goes up a pitch on the last word, making it sound like a question.

“Uh-huh.” He confirms. “Chat Noir, there's a break-in at a jewellery store two blocks over from you. I'm sending you the directions now to your phone.”

Chat Noir does a two-fingered salute to the nearest security camera. “Got it, G! Detective Noir is on the case!”

“And Maladroit, we've got reports of sightings of Red Hood outside his usual area. By the Warehouses on fourth. There are no security cams around there so I've got nothing but rumours to go on. See if you can check it out and find out what he's up to.” Gamer informs her, sounding slightly irritated at the fact he's got little information to give her.

Maladroit nods, grumbling slightly. “When isn't he up to something.”

Slinging an arm around her shoulder, Chat Noir grins like the Cheshire Cat. “C'mon, Mal! It'll be a quick sweep and nothing will turn up like the last twenty times we've gotten this kinda tip-off!”

“You owe me ice cream from André's when we're in civvies tomorrow!” She huffs. “I made us macarons last time!”

“I haven't forgotten!” Chat Noir protests. “Anyway, see you tomorrow if we don't catch each other for the end of the patrol?”

Maladroit nods. “Yep! See ya later Minou!”

The two split. Chat Noir dashing after the directions, and Maladroit swinging towards the warehouses on fourth.

———

Breathe, Maladroit—reminds herself, perched on the rafters in one of the warehouses on fourth. Staring at the blood-red glowing mask of the red hooded villain, who happens to be oh so creatively named the 'Red Hood', leaning on the balcony railing on the opposite side of the warehouse to her rafter, and presumably glaring up at her.

“It's you again, Maladroit.” He growls, distorted by whatever voice modifier he's got wired into his mask.

She can't help but wince at the reminder of the word she had accidentally said the first time she had ever helped Chat Noir fight crime. Which irritatingly enough, stuck as her vigilante name. Especially since her second attempt at a name, Ladybug, didn't stick. She frowns beneath the black and red spotted bandana covering her mouth, and tightly grips her bladed yo-yo—with piano wire instead of string—of the same colour scheme.

“What are you planning, Red Hood?” She spits out, voice also modified by her bandana, a tad too grumpy and bitterly for the awkward-but-smiley "persona" she's supposed to act like (although it's not so much of a persona when that's just how she is almost all the time). But in her defence, she's had a rough day at uni, things have been awkward at home because of her crush on her roomie lately, and more importantly, Red Hood's lackeys have been a pain in the neck for the past week, so her reaction is more than warranted.

He has the audacity to laugh. “What makes you think I'm going to tell you, Pipsqueak?”

“Well,” Maladroit huffs, “I was hoping you were feeling considerate.”

Red Hood shifts his shoulders. “Aww, sorry Pipsqueak. I'm not feeling particularly considerate today.” In a split second, he slips both guns from his holsters, spins them, and shoots.

Maladroit squeaks, instinctively tugging on her power, and dives off the rafter to dodge the shot. “Rude!”

She's just able to shoot her grapple off and swing up to another metal beam.

“How the fuck do you keep dodging my shots?” He snarls, gesturing at her with his guns in short angry-looking motions.

In response, she throws her yo-yo at him, tugging on her power again. The yo-yo spins through the air, slashing through the Red Hood's jacket sleeve and slicing a deep groove into the gun, then rewinds on the wire back to her. “What makes you think I'm going to tell you, Bullet Boy!” She parrots back, cheekily.

“Hey!” Red Hood snaps, aiming another shot at her.

Tugging on her powers once more, Maladroit yelps as she swings to yet another metal rafter beam in order to avoid the shot. “Your aim sucks!”

“Fuck you!” He retorts, firing off four more shots aimed at her head.

There's a horrifying moment as she barely manages to tug on her powers in time. The bullets barely skimming past her hood, one even tearing the fabric slightly.

“Mal!” Comes Gamer's terrified voice over her earring-comms, “I need you to pull back immediately! Red Hood and his gang have been spotted nearby and Chat can't get to you in time to back you up if you do get into a fight!”

She raises a hand to her earrings and quietly laughs hysterically. “Little too late for that, G! I'm uh currently staring… face to gun to him”

“Oh, fuck!” Gamer responds, voice going up a pitch. “I'm contacting Chat now. Try and get out if you can but prioritise not getting yourself killed, please!”

Red Hood fires his guns again. “Eyes and ears on me, Pipsqueak.”

Squeaking yet again, Maladroit desperately tugs on her power once more and swings to another rafter. Her heart thunders in her chest as loudly as his gunfire. She spits out a frantic, “no promises!” to both of them.

“I've informed him, your backup is on the way.” Gamer tells her.

The main warehouse doors clatter open with a resounding slam! Followed by the stomping of multiple pairs of boots storming inside.

Maladroit waves at Red Hood, the quiet terrified hysterical laughter practically bubbling out of her mouth. “Haha, well I'm afraid that's my cue to Bug Out!”

“Oh, I don't think so, Pipsqueak.” Red Hood taunts, shooting six bullets at her, rapid-fire. “I ain't finished with our convo yet.”

Squeaking for the umpteenth time, and really just giving him even more reason to keep giving her that stupid pipsqueak nickname, she riskily shoots her grapple, aiming and swinging towards the warehouse's large balcony windows.

“Get the fuck back here!” He snarls, voice deepening with fury. Pausing to reload before firing off more shots at her with abandon.

Maladroit wriggles midair, tugging on her powers to try and dodge the shots. She curls into a dive forward roll as the grapple forces her to land onto the balcony. The same one that Red Hood has been stood on this entire time. Oh, help me! She thinks, eyes widening behind her makeshift red with black tinted lenses, goggles-slash-domino mask.

He aims his gun at her once more. “Move and you fucking die, pipsqueak.”

Putting her hands in the air, she swallows a gulp of air. Her body armour is padded beneath her red, and black spotted, hoodie but it isn't bulletproof. And she can feel the straining exhaustion of overusing her powers clawing at her.

They're at a standoff. Still as statues, the both of them. It's almost poetic how they parallel each other. He's got his gun aimed at her, whilst she's desperately clutching at her grappling hook gun in one of her raised hands. Both donned in red. Both committing crimes in the eyes of the law. Two sides of the same coin, one and the same.

Maladroit feels sick to her stomach, staring down the barrels of his guns. Ever so slowly, she tugs on her powers. The window a little bit behind her creaks quietly enough that Red Hood doesn't seem to notice beneath the clamour of his gang doing whatever it is they're doing below.

She counts her breath and tugs on her power. A minute passes with no movement, no words, nothing happening on the balcony. Out of the corner of her eye, she can just see that it's now open enough that she should be able to make it out unscathed. Or at least mostly unscathed.

Closing her eyes, not that he can see, her power snaps. Instinctively she doubles over and slaps a hand over her mouth. Barely in time as a stifled scream is yanked from her throat, leaving her panting for breath. Her knees crash onto the balcony flooring. A bullet whizzes past her neck.

“Shit. What the fuck was that?” Red Hood grumbles, sounding genuinely concerned. He storms across the balcony towards her.

Maladroit can't help but flinch, bodily throwing herself back as far away from him as she can. Mind racing in panic.

He stows one gun back into a holster then reaches a hand towards her. “Hey, hey, hey. Calm down.”

“Gotta go! Bug-bye!” She squeaks out, wrenching on her power with all her remaining strength, and bolting for the window.

“I think the fuck not! Fucking pretending to be hurt.” Red Hood barks, ripping the gun back out of its holster.

Narrowly dodging the spray of bullets shot at her, Maladroit dives through the window and fires off her grapple. Safely swinging far away from the warehouse.

———

Carefully Maladroit drops with the ease of far too many nights of practise, onto the fire escape outside her bedroom window. She crouches and lets the shadows of the night hide her form. Creeping closer, she checks the windowsill for any marks or signs of tampering but it all comes away untouched. Content with her quick security check, she fumbles for the disguised piece of string wedging the window ajar in a way that's barely visible unless you know where to look for it. Got it! She thinks to herself, grabbing ahold of it and prying it, and the window above it, up and open.

Slipping through the open window, she sits on the sill to rip her thankfully not-too-dirty studded steel-toed boots off. Picking them up in one hand, she wiggles the rest of the way into her room and immediately resets the security measures, yanking the curtain down for privacy.

Maladroit then shuffles over to her bed. Tikki—her gorgeous fluffy red and dark brown miniature dachshund—blinks sleepily up at her, from the dog bed next to it. The puppy yaps in greeting before snuffling and curling back up to sleep.

She coos at the cuteness before continuing on. With the other hand not carrying the boots, she pries the blanket covered duffel bag out from underneath. Wrestling to unzip it in one janky and awkward motion, grunting slightly at the exertion. The metal of the zip digs in but the discomfort is mostly mitigated by the padded gloves and wrist guards she's wearing. The easy to clean plastic bag designated for temporary storing of her boots is dragged out of the bag and said boots are tossed in without a second glance.

Huffing, she starts to take the rest of her cross between mostly homemade and refashioned sports kit vigilante gear off. First, tugging down the hood of her hoodie and unclipping the black scrum cap hidden under it. It's dumped unceremoniously into a secondary plastic bag in the open duffel bag. After that, Maladroit removes the black neck guard and pulls her makeshift goggles-slash-domino mask over her head. Those too, are dumped into the other plastic bag. Then she unties the bandana with the nose guard underneath, from around her mouth and nose. Unsurprisingly, they're also dumped in the bag.

Next, she undoes the velcros on her red and black padded gloves, black wrist guards, as well as black elbow, knee, and shin pads. Also dumped into the other bag. With the outer protective wear removed, Maladroit pulls her hoodie over her head. Continuing on, she peels the padded rugby body armour and shorts off, and then the thermal under-armour. All dumped into the third and final plastic bag. “I swear,” Maladroit mumbles to herself, “getting changed out my gear never gets easier. And to think back when I had my last P.E. lesson at school, I thought I'd never have to touch this kinda kit ever again. Rip me.”

Lastly, Marinette—no longer Maladroit seeing as she is no longer in her vigilante gear—throws on her running-to-the-bathroom spare bathrobe to cover herself. She hastily shoves the three plastic bags into the duffel bag and kicks it under her bed. Purposefully leaving it unzipped but quickly fixing the blanket covering the bag, so that she can more easily grab her kit to clean everything later, whilst keeping it sufficiently hidden.

With that mostly taken care of, she nabs the mouthguard case, some clean pyjamas, and dashes out of her room—clinging awkwardly to the bathrobe. She hops in the apartment's shared bathroom, the rest of the place is silent, meaning her roomie, Jason, must have gone out. Still, Marinette locks the door regardless. If there's one thing she's learnt in her foray into the nightly masked vigilantism, is that one can never be too careful.

“Shit! Nearly forgot to take this out.” She grumbles to herself, just as she was stepping into the shower. Prying the mouthguard out of her mouth as she shuffles over to the sink, she gives it a quick rinse under the tap. Followed by a thorough scrubbing with her toothbrush and glob of toothpaste. She pops it into the mouthguard case and leaves it on the side of the sink for now.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Marinette finally allows herself to indulge in a good half an hour-long hot shower to get the grime from a night of crime-fighting off of herself.

She's only just drying off her hair, having already changed into her pyjamas, when the blare of the TV echoes through the apartment. Tensing up, her anxiety runs wild. It's what they get for living in the cheaper but slightly dodgy apartments where the walls are thin and the doors are thinner. Grabbing the mouthguard case, she wraps it up in the bathrobe and peeks out the bathroom door and looks down the hall into the open plan kitchen lounge. Jason's back, he's sitting on the sofa watching the TV.

Shoulders untensing, she finished drying her hair and heads out into the hallway. In place of a greeting, she exclaims, “oh! Jason, you're back!”

Jason flinches slightly and looks over his shoulder back at her. “Yeah, a friend had an emergency so, y'know.”

Immediately, concern wrenches at Marinette's heart, “oh no, I'm sorry. Are they… okay?”

He waves a hand in a so-so gesture and clears his throat awkwardly. “Uh, yeah. They're fine now.”

“That's good!” She says, nodding, as she makes her way fully into the lounge and the TV catches her attention. “Oh is it nearly the eleven o'clock news already? I need to watch this! Alya texted me earlier saying I have to, and she sounded really excited!” Glancing down at the bundle in her arms and flushes red. “Actually, I'll be back in a second!”

“I'll yell as soon as it actually starts.” Jason offers, smiling warmly at her.

Marinette just misses the smile, rushing back to her room, and throwing a quick, “thanks,” over her shoulder back at him.

Also missing his smile turn fond and the good-natured roll of his eyes at her antics.

Barely half a minute passes before she's bounding back into the lounge, with a sleepy Tikki at her heels. She plops herself down on the sofa next to him and hopes the blush on her face could simply be mistaken for the flush of running about like a mad thing instead. Tikki whines until Marionette picks her up and lets her on the sofa with them, padding over to the furthest corner to curl up in.

Jason points to the pink floral steaming mug on the coffee table, right next to his Pride Prejudice and Zombies themed mug. “Whilst you were in the shower, I made us both hot chocolates with marshmallows, my granddad Alfie's recipe.”

“Oh!” Marinette responds in pleasant surprise. She turns to him and positively beams, eyes shining with happiness. “Thank you so much, Jason! You're always so thoughtful!”

He blushes and rubs the back of his neck bashfully. “Yeah, well, I thought it's only fair since you normally make 'em. And I visited Alfie recently, and I promised to get you his recipe to try, so I thought it'd be a nice surprise for once!” He pauses and points at the big bowl also on the coffee table, “also I cooked us some popcorn.”

“Aw! Thank you again! I really appreciate this!” She scoops up the hot chocolate with slight reverence and takes a sip. Immediately her face lights up even more in joy. “Oh, this is delicious!”

Jason chuckles, “isn't it the best! I'll pass that onto Alfie though, he'll be glad to know you like it so much. Speaking of which, he's gonna give making them a try next time I'm up since I wasn't there long enough this time. Would you fancy coming with me to see him, then?”

Her eyes widen and her heart stutters in her chest, feeling close to bursting from happiness. “I'd love to! Do you have a date when you're thinking of going up?”

He nods. “Yeah, maybe around—”

But he's interrupted by the starting audio of the eleven o'clock news.

They both immediately shut up and watch the screen intently as the news anchors appear on the show. The starting discussion is somewhat boring, talking about the local billionaire Wayne-or-something business and a related upcoming charity event of some sort.

Marinette doesn't pay attention to it, but she does catch Jason wrinkling his nose and scowling at the conversation.

Luckily, the topic shifts quickly enough. “And now, over to our newest reporter, Alya. We hear there's been some rumblings regarding the conflict between local vigilante Chat Noir, his sidekick Maladroit, and the gang controlled by the infamous Red Hood himself.”

“That's stupid,” Jason grumbles, “Maladroit is a fully-fledged vigilante in her own right and not just the catboy's sidekick. That's like saying Nightwing is Batman's sidekick!”

Marinette frowns, very touched by his words and trying her damnedest to appear nonchalant. “I don't know… from all the-uh news clips, Maladroit seems like Chat Noir's sidekick to me. She's always hovering nervously near him like a strong wind would spook her.”

“C'mon! She's been reported to have held her own against Red Hood on multiple occasions, alone!” He argues, sounding rather offended on her alter egos behalf.

Scoffing, she shakes her head. “Clearly that's because he's going easy on her! He's never directly shot her, according to the reports clearly, he's soft on her!” The lies taste bitter on her tongue.

Jason splutters and flushes bright red, turning away from her slightly. “W-well that's obviously a testament to her skill and not Red Hood's mercy! He's always reported as being a merciless killer, why'd he be soft on her!”

“I don't know!” She makes a dying-choking noise as she flushes even more red than earlier. Shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth to avoid having to respond any further.

Luckily, the news shows pans over to Alya standing in front of a screen showing a recorded feed of a warehouse. Not just any warehouse, but specifically the one on fourth that Maladroit had faced Red Hood in less than an hour ago.

Marinette feels her pulse quicken at the reminder of the close shave she'd had.

“Hey wait a second, those warehouses don't have security cameras at all? How'd they get this footage?” Jason complains, eyes narrowed at the TV.

It feels as though ice has been poured down her spine at his words. She freezes, body stiffening in shock. He's right… G said there's none because that's why he asked me to check things out. The only people who'd know this are Chat, Gamer, myself, and Red Hood and his gang. She swallows thickly and tries to subtly side-eye Jason. Oh no. I've been crushing on my roommate who works for Red Hood's gang? Oh god! The friend with the emergency was referring to Red Hood calling him into work!

She can't help but inhale a shallow panicked breath. He could've been one of the lackeys shooting at me and Chat this past week. Or, or I could've hurt him with my yo-yo. Or—

Jason turns to fully face, clearly registering the blatant panic on her face. “Hey, hey, hey, Marinette, you're okay, you're safe. What's wrong?”

“Are you working for Red Hood?” Marinette blurts out, accidentally, the words pouring out in an unintentional panicked rush. “Are you in his gang?”

He jerks back, fear, confusion, and hurt crosses his face. “Wh-what? What makes you think that?”

“His gang was just in that warehouse, and you were out on an emergency for a "friend". And how would you have known unless you were there tonight and working for his gang?” She chews her lip forcefully and winces as the taste of iron floods her mouth.

He reaches towards her, eyes widening concern.

She flinches back, suddenly reminded of how similar this is to that moment with Red Hood on the warehouse balcony.

Jason jerks back as if her flinching burnt him. Raising his hands, he leans away from her to give her some semblance of space. “Fuck. Look, I'm not going to hurt you! Have I ever hurt you whilst we've been roomies?”

Nervously, she shakes her head.

“I really care about you, Marinette. Hell, we've lived together for nearly a year now. I would never hurt you, okay! I promise.” Tears prick in his eyes, and he grimaces slightly, lowering his hands to rest on his lap. “Yeah, I uh, I'm working for him. But I do everything I can to keep work from following me home. I didn't tell you because I never wanted to scare you.”

Guilt gnaws at her. “I'm sorry! I shouldn't have judged. I—” She takes a shaky breath, “I really really care about you too. I'm just worried, what if Red Hood, or even Maladroit, or any of the other vigilantes hurt you? What if you get hurt in one of those gang wars?” Her words aren't lies but they're not the full truth either.

He sighs, “I can't promise I won't ever get hurt on the job. Maladroit and the other vigilantes do a lot of good but Maladroit especially is far too nice to hurt any of us. I've uh, seen her fight some of the others gang members, and been fought by her too. And out of everyone against the gang, she's the one who leaves us with barely more than a scratch at worst.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Most in the gang really respect her for that, y'know.”

Marinette's brain feels like the windows shutting down sound. “Oh. Oh.”

Sheepishly, he smiles half-heartedly at her. “Yeah.”

“So, is that why you were so adamant she's a fully-fledged vigilante in her right?” She asks, feeling bashful yet honoured whilst completely surprised.

Jason clears his throat and glances away. “Uh-huh.”

“Oh.” Her brain rewinds a moment. She splutters for a second, desperation racing through her. “Wait, she's fought you!?”

Full-on grimacing, he nervously laughs. “Left but a scratch!”

“Are you misquoting Monty Python right now? Oh good gods, that's the knight who says that after getting his limbs chopped off!” Marinette exclaims, looking every bit as horrified as her tone of voice conveys.

“Seriously, I've never gotten worse than a couple of minor cuts and bruises, I'm fine!” Jason reiterates.

She frowns and gingerly shuffles across the sofa closer to him. He keeps leaning back away, so she physically throws herself at him, pulling him into a tight hug. Incidentally burying her face in his shirt. “Okay, okay. Just, please let me know next time you get hurt. I've a friend who lived in a bad situation before, so I know how to help patch up minor injuries. Promise?”

Jason stiffens at the hug and slowly moves one hand to cup the back of her head whilst wrapping the other around her back. He shuts his eyes, cocking his head back and sighs. “Alright. I promise I'll tell you. And I'm sorry for keeping something this big from you. As I said, I was worried you'd be scared of me or that you'd get dragged into gang-related shit because of it.”

“You don't need to apologise.” Marinette mumbles in response, “I get it. I really do understand.” She bites at her sore bleeding lips again in guilt, her secret identity left unspoken on her tongue.

He shrugs, “so uh. I'm guessing you're still happy to stay roomies then, right?”

“Of course!” She responds without missing a beat hugging him even tighter.

Eventually, they release each other from the embrace to finish their now lukewarm hot chocolates and popcorn. The news continues playing, no longer forgotten in the background as the two try to act as if nothing has changed.

———

Jason collapses onto his bed with a heavy sigh. He pulls out his phone and rings a number on autopilot.

The dial tone plays as the line connects. “Hey, whaddup Jay?”

“Holy fucking shit balls, man.” Jason groans. “I fucked up.”

Roy hums, “like need help burying a body fucked up or what?”

Jason groans even louder, smushing his face into his bed covers. “My roomie is smart, right. I accidentally let a tiny detail slip when we were chatting whilst watching the eleven o'clock news as usual. And she now thinks that I'm in Red Hood's gang.”

There's a long pause, before Roy bursts into raucous laughter. “Holy shit, I'm dying! She's not wrong!”

“Yeah. I know. She ain't right either though.” He grumbles in response. “She was absolutely terrified when she realised. Nearly had a full-on panic attack and everything.”

“Oh fuck.” Roy helpfully says.

Jason grunts in agreement. “She was also real concerned that Red Hood or the vigilantes have hurt me.”

“Well, that's better?” Roy offers, sounding rather unsure of his own words.

“Yeah but she's taken thinking I'm some low-level member of my gang this badly, how the fuck d'ya think she's gonna take finding out I'm the big bad Red Hood himself?” Jason sighs. “I don't want to ask her out without her knowing this, 'cause it could endanger her.”

Roy hums again, “well, you've been roommates this long already and she's been completely safe from the Vigilante-Gang life so far.”

There's a gentle thump as Jason lifts his head and throws it into the sheets again out of sheer frustration. He relents, reluctantly. “That's true…”

“See. And since it sounds like she's not planning on moving out, clearly she doesn't mind living with you. Just ask her out to dinner already.” Roy adds, cheerfully.

Huffing, he rolls over on the bed. “I'm starting to feel like those weird girl slumber party ads with the creepy phone-a-boy games.”

Roy wheezes, followed by a thudding noise and the distant sound of his cackling.

“Wow. And to think I called you for help. I'm offended.” Jason goads with no bite, waiting a few seconds to hear Roy's response but it's just more laughter.

He rolls his eyes and ends the call, not like Roy will mind. Throwing an arm over his face, Jason barely refrains from grabbing his pillow to scream into. He doesn't, obviously. Because the walls are thin enough that Marinette might hear him and he's worried her enough this night as is.

Sighing like a lovesick protagonist in a period romance novel, Jason moves his arm to run his fingers through his own hair. A date. Just gotta ask her at some point, to dinner at a fancy-ish restaurant. It'll be fine, what's the worst that can happen?

Her terrified reaction on the sofa flashes through his mind, followed by the reminder of how small and scared Maladroit had seemed when she had fallen to her knees on the warehouse balcony. There was no way that she was faking the pain, like he'd initially thought. She had practically staggered in her mad dash to escape. And there's no way for me to find out whether she got to somewhere safe afterwards. God, she could be lying dead in some dank alleyway for all I know right now. Fuck, I hope she's okay...

He groans in distress and shifts in place. Already feeling like he really won't be getting any sleep at all tonight at this rate, thanks to his concern for those two.

———

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little fic! Comments, Likes, and Reblogs are much appreciated! |

| I decided to go close to canon for names this time, hence why Chat Noir remains unchanged but Max is Gamer (because A. that was his Akuma name, and B. he's like Player from Carmen Sandiego in this, couldn't help myself), and Marinette is Maladroit (from the first thing she calls herself in Origins). |

| Oh, also whilst it's not explicitly stated in the text; Marinette/Maladroit's has the power of luck/being lucky, Chat Noir has the power of being unlucky, and Red Hood has "Perfect Aim" aka he's a hitscan. Which is why Maladroit is able to dodge his bullets by making herself "lucky enough" to dodge in time. |

| Also feel free to send me any comments with any questions you have regarding this fic, I'll be more than happy to answer! |

| @jasonette-july-event |

#Maribat #MLB x DC #DC x MLB #Jasonette #Jasonette July #Jasonette July 2021 #JasonetteJuly2021 #JasMari #MariJay #Marinette x Jason #Jason x Marinette #Jasonette July Saturday Challenge #Jasonette July And They Were Roommates #Crack Your Bones and Say Those Lies #CYBaSTL #Sham's Posts #Sham's Writing #Sham's Fics

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themaribatpit · 3 years

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Jasonette July Day 4: Game On

Written by: The Maribat Pit @jasonette-july-event Prompt: Game On Rated: T (for sexual references, mostly references to things that happened in the comics. You have been warned.) “I can’t just go spilling my protégé’s secrets. I can barely send her out into the mean streets on her own.” she said with a coy show of innocence that she wasn’t even trying to make believable.

“I’m not asking for her identity, all that concerns me is why you decided to take her in.” Batman explained.

“She was in trouble, I was in the neighbourhood and I gave her a helping hand,” she explained. “That special claw of hers comes in handy, and besides we all know how you feel about magic users Bruce.” She wasn’t wrong about that. Batman could never trust Constantine further than he could throw him. He could only bring himself to turn to Zatanna when he really needed her help. Shazam was an exception, seeing as the limits of his magic were clear and simple enough to understand. That didn’t make him any less formidable, but it didn’t make him quite as unpredictable. He was, at the end of the day, a detective who was trained to think rationally and logically in order to get to the bottom of a situation. Magic was the ultimate wild card, and the sooner he figured out this girl’s abilities, the better. “You’ll be pleased to know she’s not a completely hopeless case, she’s been helpful but she doesn’t get quite the same thrill out of thievery.” Catwoman remarked, “but it’s been lovely having her around, and I’m not about to just hand her over to you”.

“Then what would you have me do?” he asked, “I’m concerned your rivals might be a little less forgiving.”

“Is that so? You don’t think she’s strong enough to save herself?” Catwoman smiled, it was nice to know that he cared, just a little. “Besides, she’s already had years of experience under her belt, maybe you’re just jealous you didn’t find her first.” She taunted playfully. Goodness knows he was in no position to talk when it came to taking people under his wing. “Tell you what, how about we have a friendly little wager?” Bruce saw her eyes light up at the thought, but he was undeniably curious about what she had in mind.

“What do you propose?” he asked.

“A fun little game, your boys against my little foundling. If any of them can take her down, then you can welcome her into your family with open arms” she explained.

“How do I know she won’t just kill them?” Batman asked, it wouldn’t be the first time Bruce had to try and steer someone away from any homicidal tendencies.

“She’s a lot of things, but let’s just say killing wasn’t really an option for her back in the day.” she explained, “She’ll fall in line with your ‘no killing’ rule quite nicely. Think about it, your sons versus my little girl.” Her claws skated across Batman’s shoulders as he pondered this.

“Anything else?” Batman asked, he had to know exactly what they were walking into.

“Your boys can bring a second to their little duels, but only one. No need to have the Titans ganging up on her.” she explained. She left out the part about her protégé having other tricks up her sleeve. With the power she had, they would be lucky to get a single scratch on her.

“So be it then.” Bruce said, it would be an opportunity to see how this girl measured up against the boys he had trained. At that moment Catwoman decided it was game on.

Marinette had just come home from her classes at Gotham University, and she was looking forward to a quiet night working on some designs that were due a few weeks. A text message from Catwoman brought her plans to a grinding halt:

“Mari dear, made a little wager with Batman. You beat his four sons in a fight, and you get to stay with me. If you lose however, he gets to take you under his wing (in every sense of the word). They’ll be on the lookout for Lady Noire in the next few days, but I never said anything about only using her to win.”

Marinette was really starting to regret being saved by Catwoman. That night, she was outnumbered by some muggers who thought she would be an easy target. She was trying to find an opening, to make a break for it, maybe find somewhere to hide and transform if she really must. Suddenly she heard a voice grab their attention, “I’ve always loved big strong men who aren’t afraid to show it with someone half their size.” she purred. While they were distracted, Marinette decided to call on Plagg for some help. She always loved how the Lady Noire suit made her movements feel lighter, plus the night vision and Cataclysm were useful too. Unfortunately for her, it meant that Catwoman saw her in action and decided to take an interest in her from that day forth. Sure, she was a cunning thief and there was little that Marinette could do to stop her. At the same time, Marinette was a young woman in a city that was the polar opposite of what she knew in Paris. She couldn’t deny that there was something comforting about having someone in this city looking out for her. Especially since her parents were in Paris, and Master Fu was no longer around to help her. She took the Miraculous with her to Gotham City, but none of the other wielders came with her. She was still their guardian after all, but she had to be more careful about using them. She wasn’t about to single handedly take on superpowered crime lords with their armies of henchmen. She had to be a lot more careful with her powers since other people could get hurt. Besides, they already had a small group of vigilantes keeping the city safe, they didn’t need her.

Marinette reread the text message over and over again. she was about to see what these vigilantes were made of, though it was just as accurate to say it was the other way around. She opened the box, carefully choosing which ones she could use in a fight. She usually used Lady Noire when she was with Catwoman, but by the sound of it she was counting on her to use all of her tricks to win.

Damian never fully understood his father’s attachment to Catwoman, but this was a challenge he could not refuse. They were told to keep an eye out for this “Lady Noire” character while they were out on patrol. Oracle had agreed to referee this ordeal, Damian was absolutely certain he was going to be the one to bring her in. They were allowed to bring a second, but Damian didn’t think it would be necessary. From what they were told she was a smaller Catwoman, though they were told to exercise caution because of her destructive abilities. The last person Damian had expected to find was a girl in a red and black body suit, who looked nothing like the girl with long hair and green eyes that Batman had described. Still, there was something odd about the girl and Damian moved in closer to investigate.

Catwoman had given Marinette a vague rundown of who her opponents were. There was Nightwing, the eldest of the four boys and a trained acrobat. The second eldest was the infamous Red Hood, Marinette had heard rumours about him and she had no way of knowing if the Kwamis could guard her against someone who uses firearms. The third was Red Robin, Catwoman advised using clever strategy if she was going to get the upper hand on this one. Finally, there was the current Robin, the son of Batman and Talia Al Ghul, the youngest of the boys who was trained by assassins before Batman took him in.

She took the Ladybug earrings with her, seeing as they were more versatile for the occasion. In addition to the earrings, she wore the Longg’s choker around her neck. Master Fu had often cautioned against using fusions, considering how draining they were on her body. Her new mentor advised her to use every tool she could in her arsenal, because they certainly would. On most nights she noticed a small, hooded figure passing through her neighbourhood from time to time. She decided to see which of these boys would be her first opponent.

While she was standing on that rooftop, she heard a few footsteps behind her. It was raining but through the mist and the rain she could see a small, shadowy figure watching her closely. It made sense, she was dressed in bright colours and standing on a rooftop in the pouring rain. She practically had a sign on her head that said “come and get me”, which in some way was part of her plan. The question was, whether or not her first opponent would take the bait. “I know you’re there little one, so are you going to stay there or come over and say hello?” she asked, Marinette tried to sound cheerful but she ended up sounding silly instead. She tried to hide the burning embarrassment she felt at how silly that sounded. The boy could probably sense it too, because she turned around and saw him narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously.

He leapt from his perch and landed behind her with a thud and splatter of rain water. He was no taller than Marinette and he wore a red and green outfit, with a black hooded cape and a green domino mask. The red and green outfit had a golden yellow “R” on his chest, and she also noticed a sword that was sheathed at his side. Marinette had to suspect this boy was the youngest out of the boys, Robin. The two of them stood in silence for a long moment, she figured that someone who was formerly trained by assassins would be a little more hostile. Then again, he was probably expecting someone else entirely. “Aren’t you a little young to be out patrolling by yourself, little one?” she asked, trying to make some kind of conversation with the boy. She wasn’t in any position to say anything about this, considering she had been protecting Paris since she was 13.

“What’s it to you?” He scoffed, “we’re looking for someone named Lady Noire, and you clearly wanted to attract someone’s attention by standing on a rooftop in that costume”.

“Robin, can you not be a brat for like, five minutes?” Red Robin groaned into his comm, but Damian didn’t listen.

“You can either state your business or stop wasting my time” he snapped, as Marinette chuckled.

“So, you’re planning on challenging Lady Noire. Tell me, what do you really know about her?” she asked him.

“Only that father and that woman have taken an interest in her, and I intend to prove to both of them that she is nothing special.” he growled, “so unless you know something about her, stay out of my way”.

“You seem certain, for someone who has never once faced her” she said with a smile.

“I was trained by the best, I will not lose to someone who is little more than a foundling.” he was reaching for his sword at that moment. Red Robin and Nightwing rolled their eyes at that comment as they listened in. They knew they had all bested their youngest brother at some point or other, despite being “foundlings”.

“It would have been easy too just to hide from you and your brothers, but I’m going to enjoy taking you down a peg.” She braced herself for her first fight of the challenge. She really could have, but sadly she had very little patience for people who thought they were better than everyone else.

“I won’t lose to you Lady Noire, or whoever you are”, he growled as he drew his sword and pointed it at her.

“Tikki, Longg, unify!” she called out, and a flash of red and gold light stunned Robin for a moment. The red and black bodysuit now had gold accents and a symbol on her chest. The symbol was a lighting bolt, a wave and a gust of wind all swirling together.

“What did you do?!” Red Robin yelled into his comm, “I swear if she kills us all just because you couldn’t control yourself…”

Robin looked up to see that she had a yo-yo in one hand and the other reached behind her to draw a sword.

“And by the way, it’s Dragon Bug to you”, she swung her yo-yo with one hand and Robin ducked to dodge it. After dodging it, he charged at Dragon Bug, katana in hand. She blocked his attack with her sword before kicking him back with her foot. Dragon Bug pulled back her yo-yo and charged at him with her sword, when he blocked her, he spun around and kicked her legs out from under her. As Dragon Bug fell to the floor, she raised her sword and yelled “Water Dragon!”. There was more than enough to create a barrier that pushed Robin back before he could strike again. Robin was knocked back against the wall, and she took out her yo-yo to make an escape to the streets below.

This Lady Noire, Dragon Bug, whoever she was, had insulted his honor. To him, that just simply would not stand. His father said that he wanted her alive, but he could barely get a scratch on her. He got up quickly and used his grappling hook to swing after her. She was waiting for him, with her hair blowing in the wind, and a smile that Damian wanted to wipe off her face. He charged at her once more, this time sliding on the floor at the last moment and hoping to take a swipe at her leg. Once again, she managed to turn and block his katana. The pair of them traded blow after blow after blow, but he could only land a few scratches on her. Marinette could use Lightning Dragon and shock the boy, to bring this to a swift end. However, with all the water that was around them, she might end up killing the boy instead. Before she could try anything else with that sword, he blocked it and sent it flying off to the side. Marinette watched as her sword flew out of her hands before clattering on the ground next to them.

Marinette had to admit that this kid was good and that the fusion was starting to drain her a little. She had to act fast as she dodged another incoming strike. She leapt backwards to dodge it but the boy took out a grappling hook, he gave it a few good spins before flinging it forward and catching her foot. He pulled the wire taut and sent her crashing to the ground, hard. “You may have your tricks, Dragon Bug, but I have skill, I have training, and now I have defeated you.” he called out as he tugged at the wire, pulling her towards him.

“That may be true, but there’s something you should know…” she groaned as she propped herself up on her elbows, he stopped for a moment as he waited for her to tell him exactly what that was. Marinette reached for her yo-yo, she needed to finish this and safe her strength, “…you’re not the only one who’s had training.” she told him. Dragon Bug quickly spun her yo-yo and swung it at Robin, this time wrapping the wire around him and pulling the string tight. He tried to free himself using his katana, while Dragon Bug unwrapped the wire around her foot. As she stood up she said, “another one of my ‘magic tricks’” as she ran to retrieve her own sword. She sheathed the sword and looked back to find a hog-tied Robin, desperately trying to cut the cord and free himself. She wanted to enjoy this moment for just a little longer, there was always something so satisfying in moments like these. She took a moment to send a quick message to Catwoman:

“Dragon Bug: 1, Robin: 0” before sending her a selfie, with Robin tied up in the background.

She glanced back at Robin who was now just scowling at her. “You fought valiantly little one, but sadly you are not my only opponent” she told him as she unwound the string around him. When she had her yo-yo back, she flung it towards a street lamp and swung forward, lifting her up off the ground. There was one thing Damian was certain of, there was no way his brothers were going to let him live this down. With a good tug of her yo-yo, freed Damian, spinning him around in the process.

Meanwhile, Jason and Roy were on a road trip back to Gotham, the two of them had just taken care of a Drug Lord in Starling City. Jason’s phone buzzed with some news from Dick, something about how they had all been embroiled in a bet to take down Selina’s new protégé. If any of them win, she has to join the Bat family, and if they all lose then she keeps working with Selina. He could not bring himself to care, it was 50/50 on whether or not this girl was tolerable or if she was going to annoy him like the rest. Roy glanced over at him before turning his attention back to the road, “you look like you’re desperately searching for a fuck to give” he commented.

“Just some dumb bet Bruce made,” Jason shut off his phone before reclining back in his chair.

“That’s not like Bruce, usually making dumb bets was something you guys did” Roy wracked his brain trying to imagine the stoic and serious Batman making a dumb bet.

“Something about Catwoman and her little sidekick.” he drawled, “If Dick, Me, Replacement or Demon Spawn take her down, she becomes Batman’s little sidekick. Like he doesn’t have enough of those running around”.

“Ah, I’m guessing you don’t want to fight her when we make it back to Gotham City?” Roy asked, “wouldn’t it be hilarious if you taught her how to win against your brothers?”

Jason gave a half-hearted chuckle, moments later his phone buzzed with more messages. He was really looking forward to this little power nap, but he checked to make sure no one desperately needed his help.

He sees the picture that she took with Damian tied up in the background. Babs, Steph and Cass had watched the whole thing, with popcorn. While Tim had made that photo the new wallpaper on the Belfry’s computer.

“Well, says here she literally wiped the floor with Demon Spawn, before swinging away on a yo-yo.” he said and they both laughed “now I’m just mad I won’t get to buy the girl a few drinks”.

“I mean either way, I’m sure you’ll get your chance if you’re both in Gotham City. I’m just sad that I’ll have to be your third wheel.” Roy said wistfully.

“Roy, I had to listen to you and Kory in the next room,” Jason recalled, “you have no room to complain about third wheeling.”

“Awh was little Jaybird jealous?” Roy joked.

“Hey you’re the one who assumed that we banged in the first place,” he said “all I said was I was with her, and you decided to interpret that however you wanted”.

“Well, it doesn’t matter anyway because she ran off to Miami to work through some things, and we’re just over here thinking about the good old days,” Roy said. The two of them continued to drive in silence and Jason leaned back, trying to get some sleep before facing whatever chaos was waiting to greet them in Gotham City.

Tim has researched all he could on this mysterious Lady Noire, yet there are several reported sightings of different vigilantes all with the same height and build. Lady Noire, Ladybug, Dragon bug. Tim compiled all known sightings onto his corkboard to get a clear picture of who this person is.

The fight between Dragon Bug and Damian provided him with crucial information on how he could counter Dragon Bug. Tim then donned his Red Robin costume and began patrol of Gotham City. Gliding across he spotted an usual sight, a costumed person standing on a rooftop. It had to be the one Batman told him about, the person he was to fight because of the bet.

Tim landed on a nearby rooftop to reconfirm the target. "Same height and build, but this costume is different." Tim sighed, he had noticed that each costume had its own power and abilities, and made detailed notes on each. Codename: Polka-dot had the power to summon an unknown household object. Codename: Catwoman II used an indestructible staff and the power of disintegration, Codename: Drake used a sword and came with the power of hydrokinesis.

However, he had no intel regarding this new costume. He decided to press his luck and use stealth to take her down. He leaped off the roof and began gliding towards her with a kick.

To his surprise, his target shrank at the last second, he glided through and smashed into a skylight, landing inside an abandoned building.

Multimouse followed suit and jumped in through the broken skylight. Landing right at the centre of the room, she simply stood there arms akimbo looking at him. Red Robin threw a smoke bomb, grappling to the rafters. Multimouse did not pursue, no sense of panic she simply walked to a wooden crate and sat on it.

Red Robin, took the opportunity to launch himself off and glided towards Multimouse with a kick. He was shocked to see her suddenly turn around as if she knew he was there the entire time, with perfect timing she grabbed and judo flipped Red Robin through the wooden crate. Wiping her hands in a dramatic manner, Multimouse walked to the centre of the room and crossed her arms. Red Robin crushed a smoke bomb with his hand, obscuring the area and diving towards an underground vent.

He began to wonder how she was able to counter him so effectively. "The power of foresight? 360 degrees x-ray vision? No it can't be." Red Robin thought to himself. While crawling in the vents to a position behind Multimouse, he berated himself for pressing his luck without any information on Multimouse. He peeked his head out of the vent, Multimouse had not moved, she continued to stare at Red Robin's previous location. Taking another chance, Red Robin jumped out of the underground vent ready for a takedown.

Again as if she was a clairvoyant she countered him perfectly, spinning on the spot and delivering a crushing kick to Red Robin’s midsection. Sending him flying across the room, he took out his staff and slowly got up, using the staff as if it was a cane. He stood on shaky legs, in disbelief.

He then begins to notice something unusual hanging on the hem of his cape. His eyes widen as he takes a closer look. A miniature clone of Multimouse was hanging on, his eyes snapped up to the rafters and then the vents. There were several miniature clones all over the building, all about the size of a small insect.

Red Robin's jaw dropped as he had this epiphany. Seeing her cue, Multimouse shrank down and spawned a horde of miniature clones. Millions of clones rush towards Red Robin, he begins swinging his staff, stomping on any clones on the ground, flailing his arms like a madman. The horde bellows a collective “Surrender,” Red Robins defiantly continues to fight.

Soon the swarm begins to cover Red Robin all the way up to his neck, his body unable to move. The Multimouse arms pulls off the cowl and begins pulling all of Red Robin’s hair. Red Robin, facing the agony of Multimouse waxing his head. “Ok, ok I give up.” he cried. As he finished his plea, the swarm dissipated and reforms to the singular human sized Multimouse. Red Robin is then left kneeling and staring at the strands of his own hair left on the floor.

Multimouse, seizing the opportunity to obtain a trophy of her efforts, takes a selfie with a poor, disheveled Red Robin in the background.

Marinette was really starting to feel the effects of using different Miraculous for two nights straight. Dragon Bug was draining enough, but she had to use Multimouse to take on Red Robin. That left Nightwing and The Red Hood, and she was starting to wonder what was the point of this game. She felt like she was just fighting to win, fighting so that the person who took care of her when she first arrived in Gotham could prove a point. If she won, then she would stay under Catwoman’s protection, and the Miraculous would be protected with her. Though she was lucky that the Miraculous themselves didn’t look valuable enough to pique her interest. If she lost to one of them, she would be under Batman’s protection instead. She would become a part of the group of vigilantes who operate in the city, and she didn’t know how she felt about that either. How would she feel about seemingly being the only magic user among them? How would he feel about her being a magic user? She hadn’t even met the guy, all she knew was that he took an interest in her dealings with Catwoman. Maybe she would encounter the Red Hood and he would make the choice for her by putting her out of her misery. She decided to settle this fight once and for all as Ladybug, maybe then someone would give her some answers.

She got a text message from Catwoman, telling her to meet her on a rooftop that had gargoyles glaring down at the streets below. Maybe she had information on where her next fight would be, she didn’t say. By the time she got there, she saw two people eating fast food next to the gargoyles. The first was a redhead in red armor, and the second was…

“Get your own brooding spot, this one’s taken!” He yelled. Marinette looked up to see the other guy had a red domino mask, and in addition to being dressed in Kevlar and leather, had a red bat symbol on his chest.

Marinette spun her yo-yo, getting ready for a fight. The redhead continued eating, while his dark-haired companion gave her a swift once over.

“So, you’re the girl who took down Robin and Red Robin?” he asked, as if struggling to believe it.

“And you are?” she asked, when he put on the red helmet that was in his hand, it suddenly became clear.

“So, looking for me?” he asked, “Or are you on your way to fight the original boy wonder?”

“Honestly, I’ll take my chances with you.” Marinette said as she launched her yo-yo at his companion and wrapped the cord around him.

“Wait, wait, wait why me?” the redhead cried, then she threw him and sent him crashing into the Red Hood. The pair of them slammed into a nearby wall before she released the redhead. She unwound the cord and was getting ready to strike again.

Underneath the sprawled out pile of bodies, Red Hood grunted “Arsenal, get your ass off of my face or else…” Arsenal got up before he could finish his threat and they both stood up.

“So who checked ‘Fights with Toys’ off their bingo card?” Arsenal joked.

“Is that the best you can do?” Red Hood taunted. He came at her with a knife in hand, when she leapt in the air and wrapped her yo-yo cord around his arm. She launched herself at him, landing an aerial kick on his helmet. Red Hood grabbed her by the foot and flipped her over, sending her crashing to the ground.

“If you came here to fight me that’s one thing, not many people get to say they took on someone with a yo-yo and lived, unless you’re Toyman.” he said, as he lifted her up off the ground. “If you think this is what it takes to face Nightwing, then you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

Ladybug took a few steps back after he helped her get to her feet, “so are you going to fight me instead?”

“Pixie, take it from me, it’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. As fun as it’s been watching you kick my brother’s asses, they are nothing compared to Nightwing.” he explained as he took off his helmet and set it down next to him.

“What do you know about Nightwing?” she asked, still understandably guarded about the situation.

“Oh what don’t I know, he’s basically Batman’s heir.” he told her “I’m just one of the spares, and that’s on a good day when I managed to not die.”

Dick had made it clear days ago that he wasn’t going to fight her, he already put his foot down at how silly this whole thing was. Jason, however, decided to have a little fun. “Honestly, you might as well just walk right into the batcave and challenge Batman yourself.” he told her, “I mean you won’t die, that’s kinda his whole deal, but you’ll be eating through a straw for the rest of your life.”

Jason, enjoying the anxiety bubble in the young woman, and he decided to crank it up to eleven.

“Nightwing is equal if not better than Batman in every way, he once took up the mantle of Batman when he was injured. Not only that, he broke Bane’s back. He lifted a 7ft tall 500lb big guy, snapped his spine over his knee as if it was nothing.” Jason moves his arms, mimicking the motion of breaking something over his knee. Ladybug began to sweat even more, struggling to imagine the powerhouse of a man to even accomplish such a feat.

Jason’s grin widens, “not only that, he fought a giant mutated bat the size of a man. He wrestled Man-Bat, putting him in a full nelson and smashing its face into solid concrete” Ladybug cringes at the thought of feeling the full force of having your face slammed into concrete. Jason gets ready for the coup de grace. “In fact, when he was 10 years old, he watched his parents get murdered by mobster Tony Zucco in front of his own eyes. After being taken under Batman’s wing, he went out for revenge. He chased after Tony for hours and cornered him in Crime Alley.

Tony died that night when Nightwent went after him, the official cause was a heart attack.”

Jason stops talking to look around him, as if he was paranoid and there were eyes all around him. He walks up to Ladybug and whispers to her ear “but between you and me, it wasn’t.”

He turns to Roy, “but if she’s gonna try and take him on after all that, then we might as well pull up some chairs and watch.” he said, giving Roy a knowing look.

“Oh yeah, I mean he’s no match for a cute girl and her yo-yo.” Roy joked.

“Come on, he’s probably waiting on top of the Iceberg Lounge, and he doesn’t like to be kept waiting” he declared, Ladybug followed as the three of them made their way to the Iceberg Lounge. She felt her legs shaking, but it’s fine, she would at least live to tell the tale...right?

Nightwing stood on the roof of the Iceberg Lounge, carefully watching the whereabouts of the people going in and out of the area. He heard footsteps and looked up to see three figures landing on the rooftop in front of him. He looked up to see Red Hood, Arsenal and a short girl who looked to be in her late teens, maybe early 20s. He looked between them, then back at the girl who was spinning a red yo-yo with black polka dots.

Nightwing waved to them, figuring she would be the short girl mentioned in the bet between Batman and Catwoman. As he noticed the three, the short girl visibly frightened as he walked towards them.

Nightwing sighed “what did you tell her?” he asked, he had better things to than get involved in Batman’s dumb little bet. The outcome would have been someone joining the Bat family by force, even he had put his foot down by that point.

“I mean, nothing that wasn’t true.” Red Hood told him, “she might as well know who she’s dealing with.”

“Right, and you probably told her you are just a soft teddy bear compared to me.” Nightwing remarked sarcastically, “was it to keep her from beating the stuffing out of you?”. At that point Ladybug was visibly confused, so Nightwing looked over at her “so how did you get dragged into this? Got sick of having to share a litter box?”

Ladybug eyes Nightwing cautiously, thinking his joking mannerisms are an elaborate ruse to lower her guard. “What, don’t tell my Catwoman’s got your tongue?” Nightwing jokes with a large grin. Ladybug begins to slowly walk back, confused at how expectations did not match reality.

Nightwing points his thumb at Ladybug and talks to Red Hood, “Alright what did you tell her about me?” Red Hood raises his arms innocently “Like I said, nothing that wasn’t true.”

Nightwing raises his eyebrow at Red Hood and crosses his arms. “Alright I told her how you took down Bane and Man-Bat by yourself” Red Hood admits. “And?” Nightwing begins tapping his foot. “I may have, insinuated that you may or may not have had something to do with Tony Zucco's heart attack”

Nightwing facepalms, “well so much for first impressions, let's start over shall we?”

Nightwing reaches his hand out to Ladybug, “Name’s Richard but everyone calls me Dick”

Marinette tentatively reaches out to shake his hand, “I know you aren’t enthusiastic about this bet, neither am I. I don’t want to knock your spots off, so how about I lie on the ground, you take a picture for Catwoman and you fly off into the sunset”

“Where would I go?” she asked,

“She could come with us.” Red Hood suggested, “nothing would annoy Batman more.”

“Right, and next she’ll start asking me if I actually hypnotize people with my ass.” Nightwing said as he raised an eyebrow at him. “Think Catwoman would let you take her?”

“We already asked, someone has to look after this pipsqueak while she’s doing what she does best, alone”, Red Hood explained.

Ladybug felt herself calming down a lot more at that moment. She came to this city not really knowing anyone, feeling like there was no one else looking out for her. Now, for the first time in a long time, she felt like she was going to be in good hands.

Bonus 1:

Roy: So, should we call ourselves “Red Arse Bug” or “Lady Red Arse”?

Jason: Do you want me to throw you off this roof?

Bonus 2:

Ladybug: So you all had to wear red, yellow and green?

Red Hood: Yup.

Ladybug: What was it like?

Red Hood: I did my time in the pixie boots, Pixie. Doesn’t mean I like to talk about it.

#jasonettejuly2021 #jasonette #maribat

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serenescribbles · 3 years

Text

Forever Safe in Your Arms

For Jasonette July Prompt: Protection

Inspired by this one sentence in What if We Make an Exception? by @newdog14

And that sentence is: “No, no, I met him a few years back,” Marinette said. “He helped me take down a few muggers and then, and this is why he’s my favorite, he helped me fix my English essay while walking me home.”

Translations of Words(according to Google Translate): - Stupide means Stupid - Professeure means Professor/Teacher - Devoir means Homework - Livre means Book - Université means College/University - Collège means Middle School - Lycée means High School

CW: Kidnapping, Graphic-ish Descriptions of Injuries, Swearing, Mentions of Suicide, Acceptance of Death, Dissociation, Attempted Sexual Assault

AO3 | Masterlist

一

“Stupide professeure, stupide devoir, stupide livre!” A young woman growled, as she stalked home to her apartment. She was wearing a black hoodie with the Gotham University crest on it.

Marinette had just gotten out of class and was walking home alone.

“Oh, if I ever get my hands on the stupide person who decided this was a good assignment, I will personally throttle their throat and torture them until they’re begging for death!”

Now, for a normal person, it would be very concerning to overhear someone plotting murder. But this is Gotham, some crazy shit has happened here, so no one thought to look twice at the angry bluenette planning torture out loud in the Gotham streets.

If you looked at the Joker or any other Rogue, she seemed tame in comparison.

So Marinette supposes that because of every Gothamites’ nonchalant reaction to everything, that’s why her back is currently being pushed against the wall, with a knife pointed at her, while no one pays her cries of help any attention.

She knows that she could easily take this man out but after being so angry about her English Literature assignment, Marinette can’t find the energy within her to do so.

The man isn’t even in a 10 feet radius of her and she can smell the scent of beer permeating through the air surrounding her.

Marinette can tell he’s drunk because his cheeks are tinged pink and his voice slurs when he tells her, “Haand over all yer valuables an’ yer won’ be ‘urt.”

Marinette tells the man that she doesn’t have anything valuable on her, hoping to steer him away in his drunkenness.

But the man persists, saying, “Yer lyin’! I know yer are! Sho I’ll need ta do a pat down check ta see if yer tellin’ da truth.” The man shoots her a lewd smirk as he creeps closer, giggling like a fool and rubbing his hands together.

Marinette closes her eyes to make it seem like she’s scared, but secretly prepares to knee him in the groin as soon as he gets close. She waits for the right moment but it never comes. Then she hears the man let out a faint oof!

Opening her eyes, Marinette sees that the man is being pinned down by a figure in a red helmet. Marinette’s stomach drops, she recognizes who that is. It’s the Red Hood. Marinette can clearly recall the news headline of him sending eight severed heads in a duffel bag to the GCPD.

Now she’s really in trouble.

If it was just the drunken man, Marinette would have no problem apprehending him. But the Red Hood was a big, bulky mass of a man who boldly contrasted against her tiny, lithe form. There was no way she would be able to escape from him, especially since he was armed and she wasn’t, as Marinette warily glanced at the guns strapped to his sides.

Just then, the man’s pained scream drew Marinette’s attention back to the two men. Looking at the sight in front of her, Marinette was reminded of just what exactly made the Red Hood so terrifying.

The man who was just about to assault her before was now laying frozen on the ground limply. His crumpled body stuck out at odd angles and it was painful for Marinette to look at. Both of his legs were broken and the man let out a tiny little whimper. The hands that had been planning to touch her were now broken.

But his face, oh God! He’d been punched multiple times and several of his teeth had been knocked out. Blood was oozing out of his nose which had been bent in a weird way. One of his eyes had a blackeye blooming around it and the expression in his eyes was full of horror.

Marinette could do nothing but watch as the Red Hood placed one foot over the man’s chest and stepped hard. She could hear a crack and Marinette winced. This man’s rib cage was probably broken now too. He let out little wheezing breaths, looking up at the Red Hood, eyes begging for mercy.

But the Red Hood let his pleas go ignored and pointing his gun at the man’s head, he snarled, “What’s so good about cornering girls in alleyways, huh? Bastards like you are the reasons why girls and women are scared to walk alone in Gotham! You want to beg me for mercy? You wish! Have you ever shown mercy to all the girls who you’ve raped when they’ve begged you to stop? No, you haven’t! So I’m just giving you a taste of your own medicine!”

Then he stepped on the man’s face before… BANG! The Red Hood fired his gun and in a flash, her would-be assaulter was dead on the ground. His blood was seeping everywhere, and Marinette had to step back to keep it from coming into contact with her shoe.

Her sudden movement caused the Red Hood to remember that he wasn’t the only one there. The menacing red helmet turned towards her and Marinette couldn’t help but feel scrutinized. Marinette stood stock still, unsure of what she should do, as even the simplest of movements could result in her laying dead right next to the man in the alleyway.

An involuntary shudder went through Marinette.

If she died, would anyone care?

It’s not like she had any friends, they’d all denounced her when Lila said that she had bullied her.

And Adrien, oh, poor sweet Adrien, after it was revealed that his own father was Hawkmoth and Nathalie had died due to the overuse of the Peacock miraculous, he’d desperately begged her to erase all of his memories of ever being Chat Noir, and instead replacing them with normal, civilian ones.

How could she deny him, after he said that if she didn’t erase his memories, he would kill himself?

Now, Adrien is an empty shell of what he once was, and he barely knows her. After all, many of their interactions depended on the fact that he was Chat Noir.

It was so painful for Marinette to wipe his memories. She had just learned who her partner was behind the mask and it turned out he was her crush! But she lost him too quickly to actually get to know all sides of him.

But her parents, Nonna, and Nonno! Maman and Papa had died when a fire broke out in a bakery.

While Nonna died a year ago. Her adventurous personality was what brought her down. When she went rock climbing on a mountain, she lost her footing and plummeted to her death. Her body was only recovered months after she had initially died.

And after hearing the news, Nonno died of heartbreak not soon after. Leaving Marinette alone in the world as an orphan.

Not being able to live in Paris after everything that had happened to her, Marinette made the decision to go to Gotham University for Université, although her tragic past continued to haunt her to this day.

Why had she wanted to move to this damned city? A city which was every man for themselves, where people continued to walk by even as someone cried for help?

Marinette was going to die. She was going to die after years of surviving everything life threw at her. And right when she was finally beginning her path to healing, would you look at that?

All throughout her life, Fate had loved to play jokes on her. Now on the one time when Marinette thought she could finally be happy, finally be free, Fate was proving her wrong, again.

‘Well,’ Marinette thought, her mouth twisting into a wry smile, ‘It looks like Fate has actually done a favor for her this time.’

Dying today isn’t so bad. Afterall, if she does end up dead, that means that she won’t have to complete that stupid English Literature assignment!

A bitter laugh escaped Marinette’s lips.

The Red Hood tensed, his hand immediately darting for his gun.

Oh well, Marinette supposed she would seem crazy to him. Letting out a hollow laugh after standing still and staring blankly just minutes before would do that.

In a cautious tone, he asked her, “Hey, miss, are you alright? And what was with that laugh just now?”

Taking a deep breath, Marinette said her last goodbyes in her mind.

Maman, Papa, Nonna, Nonno, Adrien, Master Fu, and Tikki, I’m sorry for failing all of you. Maybe if I was better, things wouldn’t have turned out this way. I hope you can find it within yourselves to forgive me.

Seeing as these words would be her last, Marinette decided to be entirely truthful with the Red Hood. “I will be. And I laughed because I realized that I won’t have to complete my English Literature assignment afterall.”

The Red Hood tilted his head. “And why is that?”

“Well, aren’t you planning on killing me? I can’t exactly do my assignment if I’m dead.”

“But why would I kill you?”

“I dunno,” Marinette shrugs her shoulders. “But isn’t killing sort of your thing?”

He sputters, “Well, yeah, it is, but that doesn't mean I kill innocent civilians! What’s wrong with you?”

“Everything.” She deadpans.

“Wha一” the Red Hood begins, before cutting himself off and shaking his head.

“Listen, I won’t be killing you. ‘Specially since you want to die. Here’s what we’re gonna do instead. I, am going to walk you home to wherever you live. As we walk, you, are going to explain to me what your English Lit. assignment is. And after I’m done helping you with it, you, are going to continue on with your life and preferably not allow yourself to be killed so easily. Because if I was anybody else, I definitely would’ve killed you after you offered yourself up to me as easily as that.”

Marinette wanted to protest but thankfully, her self-preservation instincts finally kicked in and she obediently complied. Though not after some huffing and pouting of course.

Seeing a crime lord walking with a tiny slip of a woman who looked sleep deprived did garner some stares and Marinette was painfully aware of the stares burning at the back of her neck. Even after being Ladybug for so many years and being forced to grow up far too quickly, Marinette still wasn’t accustomed to being in the spotlight.

But although she was anxious, Marinette suppressed her feelings because one quick glance at the Red Hood showed that he was generally unaffected by the extra attention on them.

At the beginning of their walk, Marinette was on edge and was careful of what she said, but as time passed, she gradually relaxed but was still cautious. While conversing, Marinette was surprised by how knowledgeable the Red Hood was about english literature. Not that she was complaining, because she needed to write an essay analyzing Jane Eyre.

She just couldn't understand how anybody could like the book! There were copious amounts of confusing language that Marinette simply could not understand. Though, it made sense given that English wasn’t her first language so of course there would be things she wouldn’t get. It was just, Marinette could read other books in English just fine! It was only the old books and plays that she struggled with.

By the time the two of them made it to her tiny apartment, Marinette’s essay was practically already written in her head. Talking with the Red Hood had really helped her understand some of the more confusing parts in the book. Eager to get started on her essay, Marinette thanked him for saving her and bid him a quick goodbye, before hurrying inside her apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tap! Tap!

Marinette looked up from where she was sitting at her desk in her apartment. She was currently working on her essay for her Business Entrepreneurship class. She’d put her hair up in a bun to keep it from interfering with her work and she had her reading glasses on.

Looking in the direction of the glass sliding doors that led to her balcony, she saw Hood on the other side, and when he saw that he had her attention, he gave her a little wave and motioned for her to come outside.

Sighing, Marinette set the pencil she’d been twirling around for the last few minutes down. Slipping her shoes on, Marinette slid the glass door and went outside.

After being inside her warm and cozy apartment, Marinette struggled to adjust to the coldness of the outside. Shivering a little, Marinette must’ve looked a sight to any onlookers. It was autumn, nearing winter, and here was Marinette, in a ratty old faded pink t-shirt and jean shorts.

Hood looked like he was trying to stifle his amusement at her discomfort.

“You think I’m amusing, Hood?”

“Not at all, Pixie-Pop! I just suddenly thought of a very funny joke in my head.”

“Oh, care to share with the class?”

“No, I don’t think I do.”

It had been a few weeks since Marinette’s fateful encounter with Hood. After helping her with her English Literature assignment, Marinette had received an A from her professor.

Marinette had thought that was the end of it until Hood showed up on her balcony one night while she was out there. Apparently, he wanted to know her results after he’d helped her and Hood had been ecstatic that she’d gotten an A.

After that, he continued to show up every so often under the guise of “making sure she didn’t kill herself”. Marinette didn’t believe his bullshit one bit, especially since she had no actual intention to commit suicide. She had just slipped up one time, one time dammit!

At first, Marinette was perplexed as to why Hood was so interested in her. It’s not like she was anything special, afterall, there were tons of sleep deprived, coffee-addicted college students out there in the world.

One night in her confusion, Marinette asked him what was so interesting about her. Marinette definitely hadn’t expected the answer he gave her and the outcome of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Red Hood,” Marinette began hesitantly. “Why do you keep on visiting me? I don’t think I’m that special.”

After some silence, the Red Hood finally answered her. “You really wanna know why?”

At Marinette’s vigorous shaking of her head, he continued, “Well, part of the reason is that you’re self-aware. You know who you are and aren’t. You’re also humble, you don’t make yourself out to be someone greater than who you actually are.”

He paused for a moment, as if he was carefully considering what he said next. “But the bigger reason why I stick around is because when you look at me, you’re able to look past all the masks and barriers I put up and see who I really am inside. And I still don’t know how you do that, especially since you’re younger than me.

Other than seeing through me, you never judge me for killing. You’ve heard the Bat, he believes I should go to Arkham just for killing people. Even if they were terrible people. But you, you don’t just label me as a bad person because I kill, you try to understand why I kill.

Do you一 do you know what Gotham’s underbelly calls me?”

Marinette gave the Red Hood a questioning glance. He swallows and starts speaking again.

“You may not, but I do. I’ve heard what they whisper in the dark when they think I’m not listening. Monster. Murderer. Demon. Psycho. And you know what, I believe what they say. Because I am a monster, a murderer, a demon, a psycho, and so much more. But you don’t believe that.

The first day we met, you saw me torture and kill a man. You even thought that I would kill you. Despite that, you were able to talk and exchange quips with me when I walked you home. You didn’t even mind when people stopped and stared at us.

And look at us now! You’re completely comfortable with me coming over to your apartment and talking with you every few nights!

I guess what I’m trying to say is, being with a person like you who understands who I am deep down inside and doesn’t try to judge me for my decisions is refreshing. You honestly don’t know how many times you’ve made my day by just being you.

You know,” the Red Hood says wistfully looking up at the moon while leaning against the railing of her balcony, “when I was younger, I would’ve killed, figuratively, not literally, to have a sister older or younger, or really just anyone like you in my life.”

Marinette had no words for how she felt at that moment. All her life, no one had really told her that they appreciated all that she did. Yeah, they had said thanks, but did they actually mean it, or did they say it simply out of obligation? Sure, Adrien did thank her sincerely, multiple times at that, but did it really count if the person who appreciated her efforts didn’t even remember saying it?

And here was someone who didn’t even know all of the details of her life who was doing more for her than those who actually knew her ever did.

Marinette guessed her silence must’ve made the Red Hood nervous as he spoke again. “Hey, I’m sorry for just dumping all of that on you. You were probably expecting a short answer but here I go on a lengthy speech that you didn’t ask for. I probably made you so uncomfortable, I’m so so一” the Red Hood meant to go on but Marinette held up a finger for him to stop.

Now, the helmet’s attention was fully focused on her.

Very slowly, Marinette chose her next words deliberately, “I,” she swallowed, “would’ve liked to have someone like you in my life too. I know my life probably wasn’t as hard as yours but I still would’ve appreciated someone being there for me when I needed it. And there’s no need to apologize, you didn’t make me uncomfortable. To be honest, I needed to hear your words. I seriously can’t think of the last time someone appreciated me that much. So thank you, for your kind words.”

The Red Hood goes silent, and Marinette can understand. Afterall, what can you say to something like that?

So Marinette simply says nothing and quietly walks up to where he’s standing, leans against the railing, and reaches out her hand to grasp his. The Red Hood stiffens a little before relaxing his posture.

They stay like that for a few minutes, hand in hand, until Marinette finally decides to break the silence. Her voice wavering, Marinette asks uncertainly, “Did you一 did you really mean it when you said you would’ve liked a sister like me?”

Without pause, the Red Hood confidently says, “Yes. I did.”

The way he said it without thinking, like he was absolutely sure of himself almost made Marinette cry.

Blinking back tears, Marinette’s voice wobbles. “You know, I was an only child growing up. My parents were always busy with their business so I longed for a sibling to talk to and play whenever I got bored. But then a few years back, my parents died. And just last year, my grandparents passed away too. So I’m an orphan all alone in the world.”

Click.

The sudden sound surprises Marinette a little. Looking back up at the Red Hood with watery eyes, Marinette is astonished to see that he took his helmet off for the first time. Setting his helmet down gently on a table nearby, Marinette can clearly see his face for the first time. But he has a domino mask on, of course.

Looking at her directly, he swallows and says, “Well, if you’d like, I could be your big brother. I mean, I don’t really have anyone either and since we both like each other, I thought, ‘Hey! Why not?’”

Marinette was stunned, what could she say to an offer like that?

“I一” But Marinette’s throat refused to work at that moment.

Lowering his voice, he turns his head away and mumbles, “Sorry, that was a stupid idea…”

Seeing how dejected the Red Hood looks, Marinette pulls him in for a hug whispering, “I would love that!”

He hugs her back and they stay there for a moment, just like that. Each of them finding comfort in their sibling’s arms.

Pulling back from her brother, Marinette says, “Well, I can’t keep calling you ‘the Red Hood’ in my mind and out loud, so, you got any nicknames you want me to call you?”

“I guess you could call me Hood,” Jason muses, but then his face morphs into an uncomfortable expression.

“I suppose you’ll want to know my secret identity then,” as he motions to remove his domino mask.

Sensing his discomfort, Marinette grabs his hand to stop him from what he was doing and firmly states, “No. Being siblings now means that you should feel comfortable around me and I, vice versa. You shouldn’t feel obligated to reveal your identity to me. I don’t mind if you choose to share it with me at a later date or even never reveal it to me at all. But you need to remember that you should never do something unless you’re absolutely comfortable with doing it.”

Marinette wasn’t lying, truthfully, it really didn’t matter to her who the Red Hood, no, Hood was under the mask.

Even though Chat Noir was a good partner, she’d never felt comfortable with him always insisting for them to reveal their identities, and she didn’t want Hood to feel that way either.

Did the mask hide an aspect of him from her? Yes. But did it change the fact that he was still her brother? No. Absolutely not!

There was an awkward silence after because of how embarrassed Hood was after hearing her words.

Trying to regain his “wounded manly pride”, as Marinette put it, Hood suggested, “Well, if you’re going to call me ‘Hood’, then I guess I’ll call you Pixie-Pop because of how tiny you are!”

“Hey! That’s mean!” Marinette exclaims, crossing her arms and turning away from him.

“Sorry…” replied Hood, though not sounding like he meant it at all.

Marinette harrumphed, but cracking one eye open to look at Hood, they held eye contact with each other for a moment before promptly bursting out into laughter.

That was the last sound Marinette remembered hearing, her and Hood’s mingled laughter, insterpersing with each other through the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette was torn from her thoughts by a finger poking her cheek.

“Nettieee,” Hood whined playfully, “What are you thinking about?”

“Oh! Nothing, nothing!” Marinette waved Hood’s finger away with a casual dismissal wave with her hand.

Placing her hands on her hips, she shook her finger at him, “Now, if you aren’t here for something serious then I’m going back inside. I have an essay to write!”

Hood stared at her blankly for a sliver of a second before laughing a deep and hearty laugh.

Marinette was confused, ‘Did she say something funny?’ She tilted her head.

After a few seconds, Hood was able to calm down a little and he managed between breaths, “Sorry… you were just… too funny. You… were trying… to look serious… but because of… how tiny you are… it totally ruined it!”

And then Hood burst into laughter again.

Marinette pouted. Poking Hood in the ribs, his laughs turned into complaints.

“Ouch! Stop that! I’m sorry, okay, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have made fun of you!”

Finally satisfied with his apology, Marinette relented.

“Okay,” Hood panted. “As crazy as this may seem, I actually do have a reason for visiting you today.

You see, I’m going to be out of town for the next two weeks, so here’s a secure phone number you can contact me with.”

Hood handed her a note with a phone number scribbled on it: XXX - XXX - XX84

Marinette quickly adds the phone number to her contacts before ripping the piece of paper up and disposing of it in her trash can.

While she was doing that, Hood spoke again, “Here.”

He handed her a tiny little pin with his symbol on it.

“What is this,” Marinette inquired, not sure why Hood gave her this.

Hood grunted. “Bring that with you wherever you go. If you ever get cornered by some creep, just show that to them. They know what it means.”

Marinette teasingly said, “And what does it mean?”

“Uhh, it has my symbol on it, so others know that you’re one of my people and to not touch you.” Hood quietly mumbled while scratching his cheek and looking away.

“Oh, I wasn’t aware that I was one of your people.”

Hood turned to face her. “Of course you are! You’re my sister, so you’re under my protection! But since I’ll be away for a while, and I won’t be able to protect you myself, this is how I will!

No one would dare harm a single hair on your head if it meant provoking me.”

“While I appreciate the sentiment,” Marinette pouted, “Do you really have so little faith in my fighting capabilities? That I won’t be able to fend off any would-be attackers on my own?”

“N-no! Not at all! I was just一 I was just making sure you had all the protection you could get! I have no doubt in your skills, I simply wanted to give you an extra layer of security, for both your sake and mine.” Hood floundered, flapping his hands everywhere in the air.

“Calm down, Hood! I was just joking. I really do appreciate you thinking about me. You’re the best brother a girl could have!”

Hood turned scarlet and the tips of his ears were tinged pink because of her words.

“That said, since you’re the greatest brother in the whole wide world, could you take a look at my essay?” Marinette asked slyly, making sure to widen her eyes to make herself look really innocent and cute, while shining her puppy dog eyes at Hood.

“Of course! Anything for my little sister!” Hood exclaimed.

And the two siblings headed inside Marinette’s apartment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette awoke with a start. She was blindfolded, and her hands were tied behind her back with a rope that dug into her skin really deep. Marinette was sure that if she got out of this position, there would be rope burn marks around her skin for weeks.

Where was she?

It had been a week since Hood had left, and she’d talked with him a few times.

The last thing Marinette remembered was ending a call with Hood before being surprised and ambushed by someone. Her attacker had held a rag up to her lips and nose and whatever drugs were in it had knocked her out.

Now that she thought about it, Marinette did feel a little drowsy. Her head hurt immensely, black spots danced before her eyes and it was making her nauseous.

Curious, who would kidnap her? More importantly, who had the guts to provoke the Red Hood by kidnapping someone under his protection?

These last few days, Marinette had been cornered into alleyways by criminals, but they’d always ceased and desisted whenever she flashed the Red Hood symbol at them. None of them wanted to be the target of the Red Hood’s ire by hurting one of his people.

But apparently, whoever had kidnapped her didn’t care at all. Meaning A, they were stronger than Hood so they didn’t fear him. Or B, they purposefully kidnapped her to make a statement, which Marinette sincerely hoped not.

Doing a quick surveillance of her surroundings, to try and surmise where she was, Marinette tried to see if she could smell anything. Marinette felt like she could smell smoke, like something was burning in the distance. There was also the overpowering smell of fish. That almost sent Marinette retching but it gave her a clue.

Was she down by the docks?

Trying to sniff the air again, Marinette found that she wasn’t able to. She was still high on whatever drugs she had inhaled and it made her nose extremely stuffy.

Changing tactics, Marinette strained her ears for any sound. But it was futile, all Marinette could hear was the furious ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump of her heart racing and the occasional drip of water leaking from the roof of whatever this place was into what Marinette assumed was an increasingly large puddle.

Marinette’s best guess was that her kidnapper(s) had knocked her out and then taken her to a discreet warehouse near the docks and they were waiting for her to wake up.

Suddenly, Marinette heard a thud-thud-thud from outside the room? she was in. Someone was approaching! Any drowsiness Marinette had before was quickly fading.

As Marinette heard the door handle rattle with a rat-tat-tat, she quickly feigned unconsciousness right as the door burst open.

Immediately, she heard two unfamiliar but undeniably male voices.

“She still not awake yet?”

“Yes sir, sorry sir! The drugs must’ve been too powerful.”

“Excuses, excuses! If she doesn’t wake up any time soon, I ‘ave half the mind to wake her myself.”

The way the first man said “wake” made Marinette barely suppress a shudder. She definitely didn’t like the suggestive tone his voice took on while saying that word.

“But sir! The boss said we weren’t to harm her!”

“Well, what ‘e doesn’t know won’t hurt ‘im, will it?” The first man growled menacingly to the second.

“Of course, sir!”

Although Marinette didn’t like what she was hearing, she was able to learn a new piece of information. The two men who were currently in the room with her were probably just some hired goons. There was someone else in the shadows, pulling their strings, but who?

In all her time living in Gotham, Marinette couldn’t think of a single instance where she’d accidentally offended a bigshot in Gotham’s underworld.

Had she pissed off a few Gothamites with her too bright, too cheerful, and sunny disposition? More times than she could count! But would that actually warrant anybody hiring goons to kidnap her? Absolutely not!

Just then, Marinette heard a third voice interject in the two men’s conversation.

Sounding as if he was talking to the first man, the third voice said in a silky tone, “You weren’t about to go against my orders, were you? Because if I recall correctly, I specifically said that the target was not to be harmed. It will do me no good if she is.”

The first man audibly gulped while the second one stammered, “O-of course not, b-boss! ‘E was just一 he was just talking. He wasn’t planning on doin’ nothin’! I s-swear!”

“Y-yeah! What ‘e said!”

The third man chuckled, it was a deep, sinister laugh. “No need to get so worked up about it, you two. I was just joking. Surely you know the difference between a joke and actually meaning something, right?”

There was a dramatic whoosh! of air, as if the two men couldn’t shake their heads fast enough.

“Now, how exactly have you two imbeciles not realized that the target is awake and has been listening to our conversation? The. Whole. Time?”

Marinette broke out into a sweat. The first two men hadn’t noticed so how had he? From the way they addressed the third man, he must be the one who hired them!

She heard footsteps draw near her as one of the goons ripped the blindfold off of her.

Now Marinette had a full view of the room she was contained in.

Her previous guess was right, she was in a warehouse. Though this fact didn’t make Marinette’s stomach feel any less queasy.

Raising her head to look at the other occupants of the room, Marinette saw the two goons first. The two of them were dressed nearly identical, all black clothing and brown leather boots, though one of them had a nose piercing. They were pretty unremarkable as Marinette turned her attention away from them and focused on the person who had ordered her kidnapping in the first place.

Staring straight at him, he stared coldly right back at her.

He was masked, with a plain black domino mask, so all Marinette could see was the lower half of his face. He dressed immaculately in black clothing and had a hooded cloak on.

The two of them engaged in a deadly staring contest before his lips curled up into a sneer and he broke off eye contact by saying, “So this is the girl the Red Hood has been visiting recently?”

Breaking out into a loud voice, he uttered, “Are you sure you two got the right girl? She seems a bit young for the Red Hood. I would’ve thought he’d choose someone older, but I suppose he likes this type of thing.”

Marinette grit her teeth and she mustered up the strongest glare she could, just for him.

What was the point of saying things like this?

This man knew she was the one he wanted so why question her? He was mocking her, baiting her into taking action against him. Unfortunately for him, Marinette wouldn’t be provoked so easily.

Holding her head up high, Marinette thought to herself, ‘He would have to try harder than that if he wanted to get a reaction out of her.’

The man continued to speak. “You there! Give me your phone! We’ll need photographic evidence if we want the Red Hood to believe she’s actually here.”

Boldly, Marinette spoke up for the first time, “You can take whatever plans you have and shove them up your asses. The Red Hood’s not in Gotham.”

“Oh,” the man stares at her, intrigued. “And how would you know that? Did he tell you that when he last visited you?”

Marinette didn’t answer him and simply glared.

“Tut, tut! Why, has no one ever taught you any manners? Because I’m sure you’re supposed to answer back when Someone. Asks. You. A. Question.” The man suddenly leaned towards her and harshly grabbed her chin, tilting it up towards his face.

Ptui! Seeing her chance, Marinette spit in the man’s face. Distantly in the background, Marinette could see the second man start to tremble a great deal.

While the first man muttered, “Oh, she’s really done it now.”

Looking back up at the man in front of her, his once teasing aura had changed into a cold, deadly rage. He took out a handkerchief to wipe the spit on his face away before tossing it in the second man’s hands for him to dispose of.

His lips thinned into a small straight line as he said in a soft tone, “Think that’s funny, do you? I was joking earlier but really, you don’t know any manners at all! So someone ought to teach you.” The man’s voice took on a nasty edge at the end and Marinette was beginning to regret spitting at him.

Pah!

Marinette’s cheek stung greatly, the man had just slapped her. A raging fire burned underneath her skin and it was excruciating. Her cheek began to swell with redness but Marinette was numb to the pain, numb to everything.

She dully registered the man grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking it with all his might.

“Not so brave now, eh?” The man paused for a moment to see how unattached Marinette’s eyes were to the world.

“Damn it! Can’t you take a little pain? I need you to be conscious for later! Why’s the Red Hood so interested in a weakling like you?”

The three men then tried all ways to make her come to. Soon, Marinette’s body was littered with bruises.

One of the men, Marinette didn’t know who, tried slapping her again. He continued to do that, hitting both of her cheeks over and over again in rapid succession. The man only stopped when he saw that no matter how many times he slapped her, or how much force he used, it would not break Marinette out of the trance she was in.

Then, the men tried pinching her face, arms, and legs. Yet again, their efforts bore no results. Frustrated, they finally lost their patience with her and started kicking and punching her.

“Stupid trash!” One of the men cursed.

“Why aren’t you waking up?”

“Useless!”

But the third man, their boss, interjected, “That’s enough! Do not waste your energy on the girl. She’s already injured enough. If you injure her further, that will just make the Red Hood furious and more homicidal. Her injuries right now are enough to make the Red Hood anxious and reckless but not enough to send him into a rage.”

And with that, he turned on his cloak and swept out the door.

After a few moments, the two men also left the room, slamming the door shut. Now, Marinette was all alone, her crumpled form sprawled across the concrete floor.

This whole time, Marinette could only barely register the harm being doled out to her person.

Marinette can’t really tell where she is right now, but something at the back of her mind whispers that it’s her happy place, a place where she can escape from everything and everyone. The voice is right, it’s like Marinette is detached from her body. Strangely, she can see what’s happening to it while experiencing it at the same time.

As the men shout at Marinette to snap out of it, her inner voice complains.

Why? Why would she ever want to wake up? She’s happy here, all warm and floaty, nothing can touch her now.

Including Lila, Chloe, and Sabrina.

Faintly, Marinette recalls experiencing the same airy and light feeling back when she was in collège and then in lycée.

Yes, Marinette remembers the confrontations in the girls’ bathroom. Sometimes it was all three of them, and other times it was just the one or pairs of them. No matter what, it always went the same.

Marinette would go to the bathroom, and then they would follow to corner her. The first few times, it was simple, locking her inside the stall and blocking the door so she couldn’t get out. But as time went on, the attacks escalated, especially after Alya moved away.

It started with a little slap here and there, or causing her to trip every so often, but before Marinette could realize, she began to get beat downs regularly. Both verbal and physical ones at that.

As much as Marinette wanted to tell someone about the pain she was suffering, who could she tell? Not only that, who would actually listen to her?

If she told a teacher or the principal, all Lila had to do was cry some crocodile tears or Chloe could just throw money at them to make them believe Marinette was lying.

And it’s not like she could tell her friends or parents either. Lila and Chloe had made it their personal duty to alienate Marinette from anyone and everyone. While the latter weren’t there anymore because her parents were dead.

Without anyone to turn to, Marinette accepted her fate. If she couldn’t prevent the beat downs, then she would just have to learn how to endure the pain.

So, whenever Marinette got cornered in the bathroom, she knew what to do. Marinette withdrew herself from the world, forgot where she was, who she was, and let herself get lost in the floaty feeling of freedom.

After Marinette discovered this method of escape, she found it helped to decrease the durations of the beat downs. Afterall, what was the point of repeatedly kicking, punching, and scratching her if she didn’t respond?

That’s why, after years of experiencing beat downs by the trio, Marinette knew to detach herself from her mind as soon as the man swung the palm of his hand towards her cheek.

And now, all Marinette had to do was wait it out. She could do that. Marinette had been waiting all her life for someone to appreciate her, for someone to take the load off of her instead of the other way around, for someone who understood all the pain and trauma she carried. So what’s adding one more thing to the list to wait for?

So Marinette persisted and she waited… and waited… and waited. And finally, they got tired of hurting her and left.

Willing herself to return to her body, Marinette’s eyes became lively again. But she was hit full force with the pain of the injuries given to her.

“Ughnnn,” Marinette moaned in pain. But she was quick to muffle her mouth lest one of the men hear her.

Marinette felt like her leg was on fire. The men stepping on her body must’ve broken it. As Marinette lay head to the floor, her vision was spotty, and she found herself unable to keep her eyes open for long periods of time.

Her head was ringing with an annoying and persistent white buzzing sound.

Marinette tried to lift her head up off the ground but she was hit with a sudden bout of dizziness. The entire world was spinning off its axis and it took some time for Marinette to get everything back into control again.

Very drained, Marinette couldn’t do anything except lay uselessly on the concrete floor, fading in and out of consciousness.

Just then, Marinette heard some shouts from outside the door and the sound of multiple guns shooting from different areas all at once.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BAM! BAM! BOOM!

As quick as the fighting had started, it soon ended in a flash.

At this point, Marinette was barely awake, although she was panicking. Whoever had attacked was heading her way. She could hear the pounding footsteps, thud-thud-thud, as they came to a stop outside the door.

Marinette heard them pause before, CRASH! They had kicked the door open. Marinette was blacking out and paid no attention to what they were saying as they ran towards her and knelt down by her side.

But she could make out the words, “Pixie! … hurt… stay awake… hold on!”

With one final thought, Marinette mustered up the last of her strength to weakly choke out, “H-hood?” And then she passed out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette blearily opened her eyes and was surprised to see that her location had changed. She thrashed against the blankets she was wrapped in due to the confusion.

A calming voice held a hand to her forehead while patting her back and whispering, “Shh, shh! You’re okay! You’re safe now! Don’t worry!”

Marinette slowly lay down in the bed she was in before realizing where she was. Eyes staring straight up at the ceiling fixated on the familiar drawing up there, Marinette realized with a start, ‘She was in her room! But how?’

Marinette darted her eyes from left to right, catching the blue-green eyes of a stranger staring intently at her. This was the person who had calmed her down when she’d woken up earlier. Looking at him curiously, Marinette wondered who he was.

Although she knew she should be scared that there was an unfamiliar male in her room, Marinette couldn’t find it within herself to care. Plus, Marinette’s inner instincts told her that this man was trustworthy so Marinette went with it.

Marinette felt very tired and extremely sore.

The stranger had bandaged her wounds while she was sleeping, proving he was a good person.

However, Marinette could also feel that her clothes had been changed, had he done that for her too? Marinette sincerely hoped not.

Because it was one thing to dress someone’s wounds while they were sleeping but it was a whole different story if he had undressed her when she couldn’t give him her consent.

Be that as that might, Marinette was simply too exhausted to care. The man’s face seemed to resemble someone she knew and judging by his aura, he bore no evil intentions towards her.

So Marinette let herself succumb back to the darkness, to the warmth of the blankets wrapped around her as her mind joyously hissed, ‘Yes! Sleep…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette jolted awake, she immediately sat up straight and noticed that she was still in her room.

When she had woken up earlier, Marinette had thought that waking up in her room was just something she had imagined. Something her brain had conjured up because of the safety of her room in the midst of all the danger she was in.

Marinette examined her room and once again, the stranger was there. Only now, he was asleep, his head down on his shoulders, leaning down on her bed.

Well, well, well, how the tables turn.

Looking closely at the stranger, Marinette noticed the dusty freckles littered across his skin. He had a very sharp jawline and something about his face unsettled her. The man also had black hair with a thin, wispy, white hair stroke that was currently ruffled due to his sleeping position.

He shifted in his sleep and Marinette quickly turned her head away, so as to not be caught staring. But the man did not wake up.

Marinette noticed that hanging on the back of the chair he was sitting on, there was a very familiar leather jacket. Marinette gasped unintentionally.

That’s the leather jacket she’d personally made for Hood after his old one started fraying!

Then, Marinette spotted something in the periphery of her eye. Sitting on the carpet on the ground next to the chair, was Hood’s red helmet!

What was it doing here? Unless…

Like a fog was suddenly lifted from her brain, Marinette connected all the dots. Hearing Hood call her name right before she passed out, waking up to a stranger with a familiar face, and seeing Hood’s gear in her room! There was no doubt about it! This strange man currently snoring away at her bedside was Hood, her brother!

Although Marinette was glad to know that it wasn’t a random stranger who had saved her and instead her brother, a part of Marinette twinged with guilt. Hood probably didn’t intend for her to find out his identity. He’d most likely taken his mask off because he was beginning to feel tired and because she wouldn’t be watching!

Oh, Marinette felt particularly horrible right now. She knew Hood was hesitant about sharing his true identity and Marinette had always told him he could share it on his own terms. But now Marinette had gone and taken his choice away!

And now, Hood was going to wake up and realize she’d seen his face. Then, he would get really angry at her and declare they weren’t brother and sister anymore! He’d demand for her to give up his phone number and the pin that signaled she was under his protection! After that, he would avoid her and there would be no more late night balcony visits!

And Marinette would be so depressed, just going through college and staying in her apartment all the time. But then, one night, Marinette would be out on her balcony before Hood suddenly came and demanded that she sign an NDA so she wouldn’t give up his identity and then he would disappear! Marinette would probably never see him again!

Suddenly, there was a hand with a gentle but firm grip on her arm. Hood softly said, “Stop worrying. I’m sure whatever it is that’s causing you such distress isn’t as important as you’re making it out to be.”

Marinette jerked back out of surprise. In all her catastrophizing, Marinette hadn’t noticed that the object of all her worry had woken up.

“But it is!” Marinette whined. “Your mask is off and now I know what you look like even though you didn’t want me to and now you’re going to be so angry and we won’t be brother and sister anymore and then you’ll leave me until one day you’ll show up to demand that I leave so I’ll need to pack up everything without even finishing college and一”

“Mmph!” Marinette was cut off when Hood clamped her mouth shut.

“There, have you finally calmed down now?” Hood asked good naturedly.

Because Marinette couldn’t speak with his hand muffling her mouth, she settled for a huff and crossed her arms.

“Right, sorry, I had to make sure you would listen to me.” Said Hood while he released his hand from her mouth. “Now, why would I ever do that to you?

I took off my mask because I’m ready to show you who I really am. You’ll always be my little sister, no matter what. So you don’t need to worry about me being angry with you. The reason I didn’t want to tell you my real identity was because I was scared you wouldn’t accept me.”

Marinette opened her mouth to protest but Hood spoke again. “I know you would but I was still afraid.

Coming back to Gotham only to learn that you’d been kidnapped was one of the scariest things I’ve ever gone through. Breaking into that warehouse and finding your broken and bruised body sprawled all over the floor made me realize just how much you mean to me.

So, I won’t hide who I am anymore because you’re just that important to me.”

Marinette didn’t know what to say so she just asked Hood this, “How did you find me anyway? I thought you were still busy with whatever it was you were doing.”

“I uhh, I finished early because I was excited to come back to you.” Hood mumbled, his face turning scarlet.

“As for your other question, I just want you to know that before I tell you this, I just had your best interests at heart.”

Unsure of what to say, Marinette simply nodded.

“Well, you know the pin I gave you right? I might’ve put a tracker in it that would notify me if you were ever in trouble.” Hood trailed off nervously.

“I’m really sorry! What I did totally violated your trust and you’ll probably never want to speak with me again. But I don’t regret giving you the tracker.” Hood stated firmly.

“If I hadn’t known your location and gotten to you when I did, I’m 100% sure that you would’ve died. So, as much as you may hate me for this, I’m glad that it was able to save your life.”

Now it was Marinette’s turn to comfort Hood. “Hey一 hey. Snap out of it. You just told me to do the same not even a minute ago. It’s okay, I don’t hate you.

Your actions were a bit overboard and they may have crossed a line, but I still love you. Would I have preferred you told me before giving the tracker to me? Yes, but that doesn’t mean you still aren’t my goofy, literature nerd brother. I understand why you did what you did.

And, you’re right, if you hadn’t got there in time, I would be dead. So thank you, no matter how unorthodox your methods were, you still saved my life.

Now, stop worrying about it. I want to get to know who my big brother is under the mask!”

“Right, so, whaddya want to know?”

“Oh, I don’t know, what about your name? It’s not like the only thing I know you by is “Hood”, right?” Marinette drawled in a sarcastic tone.

Hood chuckled. “I hear ya!”

Holding out his hand for Marinette to shake, Hood introduced himself. “Hello, I’m Jason Todd. It’s nice to meet you.”

Marinette shook Hood’s Jason’s hand. Looking back up at him, Marinette thought Jason looked like he was expecting for her to say something.

“Err, nice to meet you too? Um, my name’s Marinette Dupain-Cheng?”

Jason continued to wait for something, but what? This was making Marinette more confused by the second.

“Uhh, are you expecting me to say something else?” Marinette asked, unsure.

“You mean to say that you don’t recognize my name, or at least my face?”

Marinette winced. “No, should I?”

“It’s fine. It’s just that, you know Bruce Wayne right? He owns Wayne Enterprises and he’s famous for being a playboy.” Marinette nodded.

“And he has two sons, Dick Grayson, his eldest, and more recently, Tim Drake. But what most people don’t know, or care to remember, is that he had a son before Tim Drake, but he died.”

It suddenly dawned on her. “You一 you’re the second son! But how? If you say you died, then how are you alive?”

“Well,” Jason scratched the back of his neck. That movement was just so Adrien, that it made Marinette’s heart pang in sadness. “I don’t really know how either. It was just, one day, I woke up in my grave and the next thing I knew, I was standing before a pool of acidic green water一”

“The Lazarus Pits,” Marinette said breathlessly.

“Wha一 How do you know about them?” Jason asked, but his question went ignored.

She’d heard about them from Plagg and Tikki before. They were the result of a wish made by a man named Ra’s Al Ghul when he combined the Ladybug and Cat miraculi. Marinette had heard all about the after effects of using the Pits and was saddened to know that her brother had been subjected to that.

Throwing herself at Jason, Marinette hugged him tightly. Mumbling on his shoulder, “You don’t need to continue on. I know all about the Pits,” she spat out that word, “so it’s fine.”

Caught off guard, Jason awkwardly patted Marinette’s back.

He groaned, “This is another thing about Paris, isn’t it? You know, after hearing all the freaky shit you went through while living there, I’m actually scared to approach another Parisian other than you.”

Marinette snorted. “Well excuse me, Monsieur-I-Died-But-Came-Back-Again! You’re terrifying too, especially when you’re in your Red Hood get up!”

Jason sputtered, “That一 that’s not the same!”

Pulling back from Jason, Marinette raised a single eyebrow, “Is it?”

He started stuttering out words that Marinette couldn’t make out until she held a finger to his lips. Clasping both his cheeks in her hands, Marinette pulled Jason’s face closer to hers.

“Alright, alright! We’re both equally frightening. And because we’re both on the same level, you don’t need to feel like you need to protect me all the time. You’ve done a lot for me, so let me help you too. I am just as capable of protecting you as you are me!”

Jason cooed at her, “Aww! You do care! I love you too, Pixie-Pop!”

Seeing Marinette’s glare, he added, “How ‘bout this? We both protect each other. That way, we can both be safe.”

Marinette’s glare softened as she pulled Jason in for another hug. Although the height difference left Marinette to be crushed into Jason’s chest, Marinette felt that it was comforting. Nuzzling into Jason’s broad and warm chest, he ran his gentle fingers through her hair.

It was delightful, Jason took special care to not hurt her and whenever his fingers ran into a knot or tangle, he would very carefully untangle it. Marinette loved the sensation of his fingers combing through her hair, of the feeling it provided when his fingernails lightly scratched against her scalp. The way he massaged her hair was so pleasurable that Marinette purred.

“What are you, a cat?” Jason chuckled.

Annoyed, Marinette batted her hand at Jason’s chin and he said, “Well, at least you’re my cat.”

Satisfied with his response, Marinette settled back into Jason’s warmth, happy with the knowledge that she would always be safe in her brother’s arms.

一

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