maribatfics - Tumblr blog

maribatfics · 10 months

Text

The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

After drafting out plans or strategizing for the next akuma rehabilitation project, Ladybug often came to the Watchtower to seek advice from her so-called 'mentor'. The pair would sit in the lounge area, poring over a map of Paris, pages of the Grimoire, and hastily-written notes by the young heroine. Thus, this sight wasn't strange to any of the Leaguers anymore but they were still left to wonder why Batman chose to take Ladybug under his wing.

It was a mystery for everyone aside from the two.

Such a routine was what Ladybug was spending her afternoon on. She had a mug of freshly-made coffee for herself while Batman snacked (discreetly) on a few muffins she brought over. They were going over an emergency protocol for disaster-level type akumas, a much needed project to implement in the city.

"So we have the akuma alert, right." Ladybug tapped the pen on her chin. "But I'm not sure where to put akuma shelters. They seem useless if the akuma wants to target the populace especially."

In that moment, the Flash and Green Lantern strolled into the room, engrossed in their own conversation.

"Come on, you'd totally fuck Bruce Wayne, wouldn't you?" Green Lantern headed towards the refreshments bar. "What's not to like? You have a himbo, a booty call and a sugar daddy all in one."

"Hello, what about commitment?" The Flash went to get his own drink from the fridge.

The two statements made Ladybug freeze, with a record scratch sounding out in her head.

Meanwhile, Batman cleared his throat loudly.

"Whoops, forgot that you hate his guts, Spooks. Or love-hate, whatever," said Hal (and to this, Ladybug didn't even stop herself from gaping), "But that doesn't matter. What about you LB? What do you think of Brucie from Gotham?"

Ladybug felt her face heat up. "He's old enough to be my father!"

"Yeah, but like do you think Batman is actually attracted to him? Did he spill anything to you in one of your sessions, hmm?"

She blinked rapidly, not knowing how to respond. Looking over at Batman, she could see that he was silent—in a calm way, not with a hint of irritation.

"No," she voiced out slowly, "I don't know much about Bruce Wayne anyway."

Barry shook his soda can between two fingers. "Well you should know Ollie—Green Arrow—has this huge crush on him."

"Uuhh . . ."

Before she could formulate an answer that wouldn't fry her brain, the two heroes left, chatting once more about how Bruce Wayne was 'fuckable'—and which would they fuck, marry or kill between Superman, Bruce Wayne and Batman.

When they left, Ladybug refocused on Batman in front of her. "How—how do you deal with that?" She whispered.

A ghost smile appeared on Batman's face, telling her that the coast was clear. He pulled on his cape, revealing a recording device strapped to his suit. "I let them be. Their ignorance will be their downfall."

Ladybug's jaw dropped again. Such an expert Bruce was, a magnificent actor that she couldn't even dream of imitating. The Wayne family will feast on the day Batman reveals his identity to the League while the Watchtower will burn into flames. The members' reactions would be priceless, that she can guarantee. And seeing how Bruce looked proud, giddy, almost evil, she knew he was anticipating that very day.

"Oh my kwamis," she said softly. "How do I do that?"

"What do you mean?"

She let her shoulders sag a little bit, exposing her vulnerability. This time it wasn't Ladybug asking for advice, but rather Marinette. "My friends." She groaned. "They kept saying how they want to bring Multimouse back. I can't do that without revealing my identity!"

It was a major decision—she had allowed her team to reveal their identities to each other. Adrien had divulged his as well, to dispel seeds of doubt coming from him being Hawkmoth's son. Only Ladybug's identity was kept in the dark (though Chat knew) as she was Guardian of the Miraculi.

"Hmm what are they saying about Multimouse?"

"How she's great, talented, skilled—gah they practically gush about me without knowing it's me, it's insane."

"Is this in or out of the suit?" Batman took a bite of his muffin. "Do they not know Multimouse's civilian ID?"

"Both in and out of the suit! Nope, they don't know Multimouse's or Ladybug's. Only Chat knows." She frowned.

"You can definitely take advantage of the situation."

"What do you mean?"

"The fact that they're talking about you in front of you is a weapon in itself, dear."

Ladybug leaned back, deep in thought. He was right—if she was yet again thrown into a conflict of identities she should find a way to turn it around in her favor.

The sweet sweet reward would be Chat or Adrien's reaction.

A smirk crept up on her lips. "That actually gives me an idea. Thank you, Dad."

---

One busy school day later, most of the class decided to head to the Dupain-Cheng bakery to grab snacks and drinks. Ergo, in attendance were mostly those wielding a Miraculous—Marinette's circle of friends. They pushed together two circular tables: on one end was Marinette, cradling her own cup of coffee; on the other end was Adrien, sipping on a fruit soda with a curly straw; and on either side were their other classmates.

" Ugh." Chloe dropped her head on the table, whining, after seemingly having read something from her phone. "Multimouse again!"

Alya reached over to the sharing plate for a cookie. "What's up?"

"Another article about her!" Chloe quickly turned her phone to show the screen. "I just—I don't understand what's with Ladybug refusing to make her a hero again!"

Adrien and Marinette made brief eye contact. A telling glint in the boy's eye told her that he was already channeling the depths of chaos from his black kwami.

He stopped sipping. "Oh? And why do you think that, Chloe?"

"It's Multimouse!" Alya answered for the blonde girl. "Multimouse who wielded multiple Miraculi at once, saved Ladybug's identity's ass and defeated Kwamibuster! Who wouldn't be a more competent hero?"

Adrien released an overdramatic sigh that made Marinette want to roll her eyes. "I do share the same sentiments, but it doesn't look like that will make Miss Spots budge."

A muscle in Marinette's jaw twitched. I see the game you're playing, chaton. She dug into her pocket quietly and tapped on her phone.

"You don't think Ladybug's . . . jealous, do you?" said Alix.

To this, Nino frowned. "She doesn't seem like the type."

"Really now?" All heads whipped towards Adrien. They knew, of course, that he was Chat and would have the most information on the heroine but they didn't know Marinette knew all of it.

Adrien cleared his throat. "Well, this is just what I heard somewhere but that might not be far from the truth. See, apparently Ladybug trusts her instincts very well so she was pretty solid on her decision about Multimouse."

"What did make her lose Miraculous privileges in the first place?" Rose wondered out loud.

"She revealed her identity accidentally to Chat Noir," Chloe answered.

"But it's only Chat Noir."

"Exactly!"

Marinette put her mug down, propped her elbows on top of the table, and put her chin on top of her folded hands. "But I heard something else." All attention turned to her this time. "About how Multimouse apparently turned down the Miraculous on her own."

She noted how Adrien's eyes widened only a fraction, nearly breaking his character. Marinette never said anything whenever Multimouse came up—she was too anxious about spilling too much from her nervous rambling. But this time she spoke, and that alone she knew would instill fear in Adrien.

"But that's the thing!" Alya's voice raised a little. "Had Multimouse and Ladybug actually met after Kwamibuster? How does Ladybug know what Multimouse wants to do?"

"Perhaps they know each other in civilian form," Kagami suggested.

"But no one knows Ladybug's identity," Juleka mumbled.

Marinette hid a small smile. Sometimes the simplest answers are the least obvious ones.

" I think Ladybug probably has the better judgment in this case and knows more than we do." Marinette paused to drink from her cup. "I'd trust whatever she thinks is best for the Miraculi."

Hints of guilt flickered in Alya and Chloe's faces. A brief pout crossed Adrien's meanwhile.

"Anyway, I'll go grab a new plate of croissants." Marinette stood up, deeming her work finished whilst she turned off the recording function in her phone.

Adrien cleared his throat. "I'll help you."

As soon as they were in the kitchen of the bakery, out of earshot, Adrien wound his arm around her waist and put his lips close to her ear. "I don't know what game you're playing M'lady but I am fearing for my life right now."

"You'll have eight more to spare." She smirked, kissing his cheek. His jaw dropped in mock offense. "So are you going to back down?"

Adrien huffed softly, a new mischievous light igniting in his eyes. One that Plagg would be proud of. "No, of course not."

---

The next time Marinette caught her friends talking about one of her alter egos was during a chilly Thursday night. Only Chat, Bee, and Viperion had been assigned for patrol, but when she checked her yoyo, the entire team had their locations active and clustered together one of the rooftops.

Ladybug decided to investigate.

She leapt to the place, hiding amongst the shadows to spy on her friends. They were all sitting on the concrete, some lying down, some cross-legged, a pair leaning against each other. The heroine decided to remain in place but decided to use a recorder again.

"Come on, A, who is she?" Alix's voice pierced through the soft chatter. "We already know each other's identities, how's hers any different?"

"But it was by accident." Chat leaned back and stretched. "If I tell you guys she's for sure not going to be a hero again. Ladybug will flip."

"But . . . but that's unreasonable! Ladybug should know how cool she was!" Bee protested. "She wielded multiple Miraculi! Came up with that genius plan!"

"Actually, it's unverified if it was Multi who actually came up with the plan," said Rena.

"Chat, who came up with the plan?"

"Umm, Multi did."

"See!"

Ryuko, on the other hand, seemed to be on Ladybug's side. "But did Ladybug not allow her to be a user to protect identities? Since she revealed hers so carelessly?"

"It was only to me though," Chat piped up, stoking the flames.

"True, if it was only to Chat, it shouldn't matter now." Pigella shifted a bit to let Tigress adjust to a more comfortable position on her lap.

"And after that slip-up, she'd be more careful about identities, right?" Carapace added.

"What about Mendeleiev?" asked Viperion.

"She was a bit out of it after the akumatization so she never saw," Chat answered.

"This means Ladybug doesn't have a strong reason not to let Multimouse become a hero again," Bee concluded, and then paused. "Unless . . . it's actually a personal grudge against her?"

When Ladybug took a closer peek, she saw the air of secrecy around Chat, like he was obviously hiding an unknown fact. She rolled her eyes as the others began to throw their questions.

"She does!" Carapace's eyes widened beneath his mask. "It's all over your face!"

"Damn, what's the tea?" Tigress sat up.

"More importantly, who the hell is Multimouse?!" Bunnyx cried out.

"Calm down, calm down." Chat Noir waved a gloved hand to pacify the group. "I guess . . . now it doesn't matter if you know her identity or not."

Bated breaths awaited, silence ruled, and tension thickened as Chat let his pause drag out. A shimmering gleam in his kitty cat eyes emerged and Ladybug wanted to drag him down from his high throne.

"She's Marinette."

Several reactions were received by the night sky. " Marinette this whole time?!" "Holy shit!" "My bi awakening was Multimouse?!" "No wonder I found Multimouse attractive." "It makes a lot of sense actually when you think about it." "That accidental reveal is s-ooo Marinette-coded."

While Chat Noir basked in the shock, Ladybug made her grand entrance. Everyone froze when they saw her.

She let out a big sigh. "I knew this was going to happen."

"But why? " Bee looked up at her. "Why not let her wield the Mouse again? She's our friend, she fits right in!"

Ladybug pursed her lips, channeling a subtle but powerful aura of disappointment. She tried to think about how her father would 'act' in this particular scene. "Look, Marinette herself told me in person that she didn't want to be part of the hero life again. She already has a lot going on for her; shouldn't you all know that?"

A little guilt shone in the others' faces.

And once again, Chat Noir wouldn't back down in their secret war. "No, but Mari and I talked about it. She does want to try but she just thinks she can't live up to your standards anymore."

"You want to burden your girlfriend with more responsibilities, is that what you're saying?" Ladybug narrowed her eyes. Heads were turning back and forth as if it were an intense tennis match.

Chat gaped at her, perhaps not expecting the retaliation. She saw the corner of his lips twitch but he composed himself quickly. "I was thinking of helping her if she ever got to wield a Miraculous again." He sat up straighter. "You're turning this on me, but we both know you actually have a problem with Marinette."

No one dared interrupt them.

She arched an eyebrow. "And what problem is that?"

"That you're jealous of her."

Gasps escaped Bee and Rena's lips.

Ladybug scoffed. A real scoff. "Sorry? Why would I be?"

"Marinette's a genius," Chat listed off, "She actually came up with the plan to defeat Kwamibuster despite only wearing the Mouse for the first time, she wore multiple Miraculi even if—as you said—that would normally kill a person, she did manage to keep her identity secret and inconspicuous until she got the job done and . . ."

He paused again. ". . . and she has me."

The others looked like they were getting major whiplash from the onslaught of revelations. Kwamis, Adrien, what kind of dramas are you watching?! Ladybug didn't know if she should feel flattered from the compliments or offended from the more direct 'insult'.

Okay Mari, think. How do you recover from that? She was speechless herself but at the same time in the middle of forming her rebuttal. One that Chat couldn't possibly use to mess with her again.

Ladybug let her shoulders sag, her lower lip tremble, and her head lower a little. "Fine . . . you're right," she uttered in a soft voice. "I . . . you . . . you've been always telling me how much you like me but then you started dating her. Just when I was starting to realize my feelings for you."

And now to sell the performance.

She summoned fake tears that she made visible to the others, baring a kind of vulnerability that she'd never show her team in different circumstances. "But you told me, Chat, you told that day before you started seeing her . . . that you'll always love me because I was your first. I didn't want us to drift apart if she ever took on an alter ego. I know you knew how I felt but you never acted on it! You promised it'd be only just us. You said you'd leave her someday."

Chat was absolutely floored. Gobsmacked. Pale beyond measure.

Meanwhile, it was taking all of Ladybug's power not to laugh.

It was Rena who broke through the prolonged silence. "Oh my god . . . A, what the hell? Are you playing with my best friend?!"

"I—I don't—I'm not—"

"How can you be so dishonest with your feelings? You are hurting both Ladybug and Marinette!" Ryuko scolded.

"That's not—"

"Dude . . . I expected better from you." Bunnyx shook her head.

"Wait—"

"They both don't deserve you!" Bee glowered.

Chat blinked rapidly, running his hands through his hair. He's out of options, Ladybug smirked inwardly. He looked straight at her, fear swimming in his irises, screaming 'help me!'

That was when she let her act crumble. Ladybug began laughing and elevated into hysterics, clutching her middle. She laughed some more when she saw Chat cross his arms, muttering 'meanie' over and over again.

". . . Ladybug, are you okay?" Viperion looked over to her with concern.

She wiped a tear from her eye. "Yeah, sorry, give me a sec."

"You are cruel, M'lady," Chat pouted.

"And so are you, my chaton," she sighed, looking at them intently. "Look you guys, you should stop talking about people behind their back."

"Hmpf, mean. So mean."

Ladybug broke out into a wide grin. "Spots off."

With those two words, all hell broke loose once again.

---

"How did you deal with your little dilemma, sweetheart?"

A week after the reveal, Ladybug was once again amongst the stars in the Watchtower to finalize the akuma shelter project with her father. Instead of the lounge, they were staying in the main meeting room since the League was scheduled for reports immediately afterwards.

"Oh, I told them my identity." Ladybug looked up from the papers. "Both Multimouse and Ladybug."

Batman wasn't using his vigilante voice now but his soft dad-voice. "Isn't it risky to do that?"

"Nope, I thought that if keeping the secret causes these inconveniences right now there might be a time when it actually leads to a full-blown miscommunication issue." She shrugged. "Plus, when it was just Chat and I, we had to learn the guardian's identity at some point. Now it's their turn."

"Hmm, that is a good idea."

"But of course, I messed with them first." She grinned devilishly. "I'll share the recordings to the family group chat later."

"I wouldn't expect any less from you." Batman nodded before glancing at the time. "By the way, would you like to sit in the Justice League meeting?"

"Really? Am I allowed?"

"I think another opinion is useful to have around."

"Uhh, okay." Ladybug figured he must have some ulterior motive but regardless, she found a seat near the central table and waited for all the members to file into the room. Superman and Wonderwoman came in together chatting, while Green Lantern, Flash, and Aquaman strolled in next. The last ones to come in were Green Arrow and Black Canary.

"What's spots doing here?" Barry asked when Ladybug waved at him.

"I invited her here," Batman said. As soon as everyone settled down, he stood up, cleared his throat, and uttered, "I have an announcement to make."

Ladybug stared at him in disbelief. Oh no. She fished out her yoyo immediately.

"One of our missions has a certain person of interest," her father began. "And I would like to gauge your opinions first before we assign anyone to this mission. I'll have to ask everyone what they think about Bruce Wayne."

Murmurs spread around. One by one the Leaguers went, stating their pure unfiltered thoughts.

"Is it a security detail? Sign me up now!"

"He's a himbo. A big himbo."

"He's actually not that air-headed like tabloids write him to be. Pretty generous with his funding around Gotham."

"He looks yummy."

"We're actually pretty close, we go way back. He's a theater kid, let me tell you."

". . . No comment."

"A DILF if I ever saw one."

"What on earth did he do this time to get under a villain's radar?!"

"Hey, don't you hate the guy, Spooky?"

Batman cleared his throat. "I appreciate all your comments. Ladybug did you get all that?"

Ladybug nodded dumbfoundedly, feeling both fear and excitement surging in her veins. Dear kwamis, what's he going to do? No, don't tell me . . .

"Good." In one swoop, Batman pulled his cowl away and revealed his face to the Justice League for the very first time. And in that moment, Ladybug felt deja vu as faces paled in horror, blinked in confusion, went through a myriad of emotions consecutively, or entered a state of existential crisis.

And Bruce— Batman —had a smug little smirk on his face, holding a tiny pinch of pride as he took a page from his daughter's book.

Hey, if you like my works, you can support me on Ko-fi :3

#maribat

326 notes · View notes

maribatfics · 10 months

Link

Even Rich People Deal With Late Shipping Sometimes

by Sarcastic_Bambi

Something is off with Tim’s Coffee™ and he just doesn’t know what it is.

Words: 1524, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Tim Drake, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Relationships: Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug

Additional Tags: did you put something in my coffee?, Crack, kind of?, idk - Freeform, Fluff, obviously, it wouldn’t be a bambi fic if it didn’t have fluff, hmbINGO, Tim Drake is an Angel, caffeine idiots

Wed, 26 Jul 2023 04:28:00 +0200 https://archiveofourown.org/works/48867382

#Maribat #timari #timinette

3 notes · View notes

maribatfics · 11 months

Text

Most Magical Place on Earth

Marinette observed the people jostling around her and Emma in barely contained chaos. If this was the size of the crowd this early, then paying for early admission to the Magic Kingdom was definitely worth it. It might be a bit insane at the moment, but she couldn’t imagine now much worse the chaos was going to get in half an hour.

A joyous cheer rose up through the crowd when they finally opened the gates and started scanning cards. Marinette giggled at the loud whoop Emma let out, not really sure why everyone was cheering, but excited to join in the ruckus. She kept a tight grasp on Emma’s hand as they made their way through the gates and onto Mainstreet, which was rather unnecessary since Emma had a vice grip on her hand so she could drag them down the street toward Cinderella’s castle.

Marinette heaved a bemused sigh as she focused on keeping them from either tripping or bumping into anyone, but she almost fell when Emma suddenly stopped and yanked her hand toward herself to get Marinette’s attention. “Maman! Maman! Look! He has a Thomas O’Malley shirt, Maman. Maman, it matches ours!”

Marinette looked over in the direction Emma was pointing, toward the man leisurely strolling next to them, his hands resting casually in his pockets, clearly in no rush, unlike the people bustling around them. Her eyes caught on the shirt stretched across his chest. She had to force herself to focus on the cat design on the shirt rather than the way his arms and chest bulged under the fabric.

After an inappropriately long period of time, she lightly cleared her throat and turned back to Emma with a smile. “He does. Good observation, kitten,” she praised and tried to encourage her to move forward, but Emma had other ideas.

Instead, she pulled Marinette toward the man and slowed down to match his pace. “Hey Mister! I really like your shirt. It matches mine!” She held out her Marie shirt for him to see. “Do you like Aristocats too?”

He blinked in surprise but grinned down at her. “I do. It was the first Disney movie I ever saw. Did you know it’s based on a real family of cats in Paris that inherited a butt… uhh…” he shot a Marinette an apologetic grimace, “bunch of money?” he recovered quickly.

Emma gasped, her eyes wide in wonder, missing Marinette’s snort at his lapse. “It is? That’s so cool. What happened to them? Can we visit them when we go home, Maman?” She jumped up and down in front of Marinette as she begged.

Marinette raised an eyebrow at her, but her lips quirked up in amusement. “New York is our home now, kitten. Remember?”

Emma deflated instantly. “Oh, right.” She looked down with a dramatic pout for just a second before looking back up, eyes bright again. “But what about when we visit Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Alya and Uncle Nino and…”

Marinette chuckled and ran her finger along her jaw affectionately before bopping her nose. “Sorry, kitten. I don’t think we can. That was a long time ago, before even Maman was born. I don’t think we can visit them anymore.”

“Oh,” Emma pouted to the ground for a few seconds but soon turned back to the man with wide eyes. “Do you watch it a lot? It’s my favorite movie. Who’s your favorite character?”

“Oh, that’s hard,” he crossed his arms over his chest and stroked his chin as he pretended to think about it. Marinette had to force her attention forward rather than the way that move accentuated his biceps. “…but I think I like Thomas O’Malley.”

“Abraham DeLacey Giuseppe Casey,” Emma sang as loud as she could. “Thomas O’Malley, O’Malley the alley cat.”

He chuckled and smiled warmly at her, keeping his focus entirely on her and Marinette even as he shoved another man with black hair and blue eyes, who had been drawn over by Emma’s singing, ahead of them. “Good memory. Who’s your favorite?”

“Marie,” she answered instantly as she motioned to her shirt again. “I want to get a Marie stuffie while I’m here. Maman likes the mommy cat, see?” She pulled at Marinette’s shirt.

The man looked Marinette up and down once, eyes lingering on the cat on her shirt before realizing he was staring at her chest. “Sorry,” he chuckled and looked away quickly, a blush just dusting his cheeks. “She’s a good character too. Strong and supportive. A good mom,” he looked over at her kindly.

She smiled back at him and opened her mouth but before she could respond she was cut off by someone calling toward them. “Jaybird! Where’d you go?”

The man groaned and shook his head. “Sorry. My family. Big kids, the lot of them, except the kid, which is a problem actually.” He flashed them a brilliant smile. “Have fun, yeah?”

“Come on, Jay! We have to get to the Seven Dwarfs Mine ride before it gets too long!” one of them called.

He threw his head back with a groan. “More than I’m going to have.”

Marinette giggled and squeezed Emma’s hand to get her to meet her eyes and laugh too. “Good luck. Maybe we’ll see you around.”

He smiled back with a nod but before he could answer, another man grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him back toward the family with a small smile and nod to Marinette and Emma.

Marinette snorted out a laugh at the Aristocats fan’s expression but waved. She watched his back for just a moment before looking back at Emma with a grin. “Ready, kitten?”

“Yeah! Come on, Maman!” She had pulled Marinette just a few steps before she gasped loudly. “Maman! Maman! We need a picture in front of Cinderella’s castle!”

“Okay. Okay, slow down,” she laughed despite doing nothing to slow Emma down in the slightest. They wove through the crowd until they found the perfect spot. They just had to wait a few minutes for the people in front of them, who also agreed it was the perfect spot, to get their pictures as well. The wait passed by quickly, with no complaining from Emma, which was a good sign for the rest of the day because this was likely the shortest wait they would have for the rest of the day.

It wasn’t until the last people cleared the spot that she realized the error of her plan. She had nobody to take a picture of the two of them. She just started to look for someone when Emma solved the issue for them. “M. O’Malley! M. O’Malley! Can you take a picture of us?”

The man froze crossing in front of them like he’d been caught but relaxed when he saw who it was. “Hey! Long time no see.”

Marinette smiled shyly at him. “Would you mind taking a picture of us? With the castle in the background?” She motioned toward the castle with her phone as if there were any question which castle she was referring to.

He shrugged. “Sure.” He took her phone with a teasing grin. “Trust me with your phone? This relationship is progressing quickly.”

She snorted but grinned back as she got herself and Emma into position. “No offense, I think we should slow this down. Maybe take a break for a bit to reevaluate.”

He snickered but quickly schooled his face. “It’s not you it’s me,” he agreed with a sage nod.

“No, it’s definitely you,” Marinette chirped.

He barked out a laugh at the wicked grin she shot him and looked down with an exaggerated grimace. “Not the first time I’ve heard that.” He looked back up with a grin to let her know he was joking. “Okay, you two ready?”

Marinette and Emma met each other’s eyes and nodded to each other then to him. “Ready,” they said together.

“Okay. One, two, three. Smile!” He took several pictures. Some at different angles and different zooms. “There you go,” he said as he handed the phone back to her. “Let me know if you want more or those don’t work for you. I don’t have a great eye, but they looked pretty perfect to me.”

Marinette smiled shyly again, her cheeks darkening slightly, and had to look away as she pocketed the phone. “Thank you. Would you like a picture?”

He looks up at the castle as if considering it for the first time and turned back to meet her eyes. “Sure. I guess I probably should since I’m here,” he said with a shrug.

She looked at him expectantly for a few seconds, keeping eye contact as her eyebrows rose with each passing second until they were almost at her hairline. When he still hadn’t moved, she snorted inelegantly, her face split into a brilliant grin. “Did you want a picture? With your phone or…”

“Oh! Right.” He looked down longer than strictly necessary when he grabbed his phone to let his cheeks cool down. By the time he looked up again, his cheeks were back to normal, or at least he was desperately hoping they had. Whatever progress he made by taking a breath was lost when their fingers brushed as he handed her his phone, the contact sending tingles through his fingers and up his arm.

She smiled softly at him for a second before it turned into a smirk. “Now we’re exchanging phones. This doesn’t feel like it’s slowing down.”

He barked out another laugh at the comment, caught completely off-guard, throwing his head back as he laughed. She grinned up at him from his phone. “Perfect,” she said quietly. She started to hand back the phone but stopped and looked around instead. “Do you want your family with you for one?”

He grabbed the phone gently, careful not to brush their fingers this time, it wasn’t good for his concentration. “Nah. They’re already past the castle.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry,” she gasped.

His heart twinged at the guilty look in her eyes, which he obviously couldn’t allow to stand. “Oh, that has nothing to do with you,” he assured her. “I left them there. Now starts the hide and seek portion of the trip,” he grinned and waggled his eyebrows.

“Ooohhh, I love hide and seek,” Emma popped up, bouncing in excitement at the idea. “Can we play too?”

“No!” Marinette exclaimed loudly. She cleared her throat lightly and took a breath before pasting on a smile. “Sweetie, remember what I said about walking around here?”

“Stay close to you. Hold your hand if I can. And always stay in your line of sight,” Emma replied lifelessly, like it was a mantra she’d had to repeat often.

Marinette got down on her knees and softly brushed Emma’s hair over her shoulder before settling her hands on Emma’s shoulders. “That’s right. Great job remembering. There’s a lot of people here, kitten, and it’s easy to get lost for real.”

Emma pouted but nodded in understanding. “Maybe you can help me hide later if you see me,” the man offered with a sympathetic smile. “My family is really good at hide and seek and I might need some help.”

“Yeah!” Emma grinned. “That sounds great. I’m a great helper.”

He suddenly lurched toward them, just barely stopping himself from bowling them both over when someone bumped into him without bothering to apologize or even acknowledge the hit. “Wow,” he grumbled, but quickly turned on a smile for Emma. “Guess they’re in a rush,” he chuckled.

“Must be trying to get to one of the rides before the lines get too long,” Marinette agreed, her voice intentionally light. She pulled Emma a bit closer to herself as she watched the other man walk away.

“Yeah, I guess I don’t blame them. The lines can get pretty long,” Jason nodded with a sigh. “I should probably get going myself.”

Emma’s eyes widened in excitement. “Are you going to get in line now?”

“Yeah, I’m doing TRON first,” he motioned vaguely toward the Tomorrowland portion of the park. “Get it out of the way before the line gets too long. I’ve been told it is extremely popular.”

“I wanted to do TRON first,” Emma pouted, exasperation clear in her voice, “but I’m not tall enough.” She huffed and roughly shoved the hair out of her face then crossed her arms over her chest for good measure.

“But,” Marinette cut in brightly, “we can check out the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad before that line gets too long.”

“Ooohhh. Let me know how it is,” he asked, matching Marinette’s brightness. “That’s on my list. I’ll be counting on you to know if it’s worth it.”

Emma immediately brightened and nodded solemnly. “I will.”

Marinette smiled proudly at her as she took her hand. Her smile softened as she looked up to meet his eyes. “Enjoy your day and thank you again.”

“Anytime,” he said warmly with a slow nod. He watched them as they walked away but called out to them just before they got too far away. “See you around!”

Marinette turned around while still walking, now backwards. “That appears to be a dangerous thing to say,” she warned with a giggle then turned with a nod and a wave.

He grinned at her back. “Not so dangerous,” he said quietly to himself.

><><><><><><><

“Hey! It’s Thomas O’Malley!”

Jason froze and a grin spread instantly on his lips as he looked around for the bubbly little girl, finally spotting her running toward him. He raised his eyes to find her mom trailing a bit behind her and couldn’t help the pride in his chest when she relaxed at seeing him. “Hey, Marie,” he chuckled. “How was Thunder Mountain?”

“Amazing,” she gushed. “And we did the Jungle Cruise! It was so fun. The driver was so funny!”

Marinette smiled. “It really was worth it… Thunder Mountain, I mean. Actually, the Jungle Cruise was a lot of fun too, but in a different way.” She shrugged and looked away, with a far away look in her eyes. “But then again, I have a very soft spot for puns, so I enjoyed the captain a lot. If they’re not your thing, it might be a miss for you.”

He groaned dramatically but there was a sparkle in his eyes. “I don’t know if I’d be able to handle it. My brother is a pun master. We can’t get him to stop. It might give me flashbacks.” Jason shuddered for Emma then mussed her hair. “Thanks for the review, kiddo. I’m heading to Thunder Mountain now. I may have to stop by the Cruise too.”

“I’ll tell you how Tom Seer Island is!” Emma chirped. “That’s where we’re heading now.”

“Tom Sawyer Island,” Marinette corrected with a chuckle.

Emma nodded sheepishly. “I’ll tell you how Tom Sawyer Island is,” she corrected quietly.

His face shifted to a serious look, and he crouched down in front of her to meet her eyes. “I wasn’t sure if I should go there so I’m counting on your insight.”

Her face split into a brilliant grin and she nodded. “Will do.” They gave each other curt, determined nods.

Marinette chuckled and took Emma’s hand. “It was good to see you again. Enjoy the ride! We have to get back into line,” she rolled her eyes but smiled.

Jason met her eyes with a smile. “And you,” he nodded.

“See you around,” she called over her shoulder with a wink.

Jason stared at her back for a few seconds. Finally, he chuckled to himself and shook his head before heading to the Big Thunder Mountain.

><><><><><><><

Jason looked around intently. Stephanie and Duke had just walked by and if they were there, the rest of the family was probably close by, he just wasn’t sure if they were at the end of the line or in the middle of it. They couldn’t have been leading, that was definitely Dick and Damian; Damian purely because Dick would be keeping him there.

He cautiously stood up and walked out from behind the display barrels and was almost knocked down when something attacked him. He held in the squawk of surprise until he saw who it was, then let it out louder than was realistic and fell over dramatically with her on top of him and his drink safely held to the side. “Thomas O’Malley! Thomas Sawyer Island was amazing! You should definitely go!” Emma crowed.

Jason grinned as he sat up. “Well, now I have to go. I always did fancy myself a pirate. Seems like somewhere I’d fit in.”

Marinette rushed up to him and immediately offered her hand to help him up, which made Jason chuckle internally. There was no way he wouldn’t take her down if he actually let her take his full weight. He took the hand anyway but pushed himself up with his other arm, keeping his drink secured and straight. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” she asked as she dusted off his back stopping herself just in time to prevent getting the grass off his finely toned behind. She almost jumped back pulling her hands to herself.

Jason waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. That was the nicest tackle I’ve gotten in a while.” He froze for a second then sent her a disarming smile. “Brothers,” he explained, partially truthfully. “They’re all a lot bigger… well, except for Damian.” He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “So, Tom Sawyer was fun?” he asked Emma.

She grimaced slightly. “It was fun with a kid, but speaking of fitting in, it might be a bit…” she motioned toward his shoulders and his height. “There’s some more confined areas.”

“Ah,” he nodded. “Got it.” He squatted down in front of Emma. “Well, you were right about Thunder Mountain. It was a lot of fun, so I trust you when you say it was great. For my part, I recommend these,” he held up a pineapple whip. “They are amazing!”

Emma gasped and looked up at Marinette with wide, hopeful eyes. “Can we, Maman?”

Marinette rolled her eyes but nodded with a smile. “We can get some before we wait in line for the princesses.”

“Yay!” Emma yelled as she fist pumped.

Marinette chuckled. “Thank you. And thank you for the…” she motioned to the ground where he’d fallen. “That was incredibly thoughtful. Actually, everything has been.”

He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged, his gaze drifting to the ground. “No problem. It’s been fun for me. It’s what this place is supposed to be about, right?”

She nodded with a pleased smile. “And family. Speaking of which, how goes your game?”

He whipped his head around, eyes wide with panic. “Fuuuu… Oh! Almost forgot,” he corrected quickly. Once assured they were not around, his shoulders relaxed, and he gave her an easy smile. “So far so good. I saw a few of them just before you guys came over. Think I’m safe as long as I head that way,” he motioned the direction they were going. “Actually, that’s where the whips were. I can show you where to get them before I move on,” he offered.

Marinette smiled sweetly at the offer and nodded. “That sounds nice. Thank you.”

“Come on!” Emma urged. She grabbed both their hands and pulled them down the walkway, all of them laughing as they moved.

><><><><><><><

Marinette and Emma had just made it into Fairytale Hall when something collided with the wall next to them. Marinette pulled Emma behind her and eased into a defensive stance before she recognized the intruder, instantly relaxing her body. “M. O’Malley!” Emma cheered and gave him a hug while he was on the ground and therefore her height.

Marinette instantly checked through the stained-glass window for the source of his fleeing and spotted another black-haired, blue-eyed man searching the area. “Marie!” Jason cheered back. He quirked head to the side. “You changed.”

Emma twirled for him, letting the skirt of her Cinderella dress flare up. “I’m a princess!”

He snickered. “You certainly are. Duchess,” he nodded to Marinette with a charming smile.

She snorted but nodded back. “Thomas.” She looked back through the glass and accidentally met the gaze of the man. She instantly shifted her focus to the mice in the stained-glass and pointed to them for Emma. “Hey kitten, do you remember the names of the mice?” She lifted Emma up and pointed to the mice again. The man continued to watch them for just a few more seconds before continuing on. She let out a breath as Emma named off Cinderella’s mice. “Good job, kitten. You have such a good memory,” she praised as she set her down. “He’s moved on.”

Jason stood cautiously, making sure to keep out of direct line of the clear portions of the windows as he checked for any more family. Seeing no signs of them, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Marinette, but his breath caught again. Her face was lit up by the light through the stained-glass, like the sun was shining just for her, like she was a prism, drawing in all the world’s magic and refracting it back out in a shimmering, mesmerizing beauty.

“Thanks for that,” he managed to get out breathlessly until a thought occurred to him. “Mind if I hang out with you guys for a bit? That was Dick, the pun-lover. He’ll be at the head of the line. The others won’t be far behind. It would be a good idea to lay low for a while.”

Marinette snorted and shrugged. “Suit yourself but it’s likely at least another half an hour before we get to see the princesses.”

Jason slowly looked around and took in the line for the first time. “Wow, that’s dedication.”

“That’s just for Cinderella. There’s another line that’s just as long for Rapunzel,” she said quietly.

Jason turned his wide eyes to the line on the other side of the hall, tracing it from the front, which he couldn’t see back to the opposite side from them. “At least it’s not the same line.” He met her eyes with a grimace. “I may not wait with you for that one.”

Marinette snickered and bumped shoulders with him. “Can’t say I blame you.”

He smiled sappily down at her until Emma bumped into his thigh with her shoulder to get his attention. “But, that explains the costume change,” he said brightly.

“I’m wearing Cinderella’s dress and she’s going to be wearing Cinderella’s dress, because she’s Cinderella, so we’ll match!” She spun again for him causing him to chuckle.

“That makes sense,” he agreed and mussed up her hair again. “Couldn’t get your mom into one too?” he asked, his eyes sliding to Marinette with a teasing gaze.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “No.”

He snickered as they shuffled forward by a few feet. “So, we have a bit of time…”

“Maman and I have been playing hand clapping games while we wait,” Emma cut in, jumping up in front of him. “I can teach you some! They’re in French though because that’s what I learned them in.”

Jason nodded and mirrored her position. “And I can teach you an American one. My best friend’s daughter taught me one called Lemonade.” He looked up just before they started and caught Marinette watching them, a soft look in her eyes, and shot her a warm, charming smile.

><><><><><><><

Jason did not appreciate being as exposed as he was currently, but there was no way around it. The line for It’s a Small World stretched along one of the main walkways and there was no hiding. He contented himself by shrinking down as low as he could without looking odd enough to attract attention. The downside was it made it harder for Marie and Duchess, he really needed to learn their names the next time they ran into each other, which he was fairly confident would be any time now… or at least hoped it would be.

As if on cue, he heard a small cry rapidly coming at him. “M. O’Malley!” This time, he braced himself obviously, as if the forty-pound girl could move him since there was no room to fall over. He gave a loud ‘oof’ when she tackled his leg in a hug. He looked around quickly to make sure Duchess, he groaned internally again, he really needed to learn their names, knew where they were and relaxed when he saw her slowly making her way to them, a bemused smile on her lips.

“Marie!” he exclaimed patting her back while she still clung to his leg. “I know I say it's a small world, here, but this is ridiculous.”

Marinette stopped just short of him, on the other side of the chain for the line, with a groan, but Emma giggled hysterically. “That’s such a dad joke,” she eked out between giggles.

“Yes, definitely one Papa would have loved,” Marinette agreed quietly. She took a breath and smiled sweetly at him. “I swear we’re not following you.”

He smiled back at her for a few seconds until Emma tapped his arm. “You okay?” she asked, looking over his face very seriously. “You didn’t answer. It’s rude not to answer someone.”

He had to fight the smirk at her chastisement. “Sorry. Got lost for a second. Thanks for checking on me.” He turned back to Marinette. “You know, I think I’d be okay with it if you were. Honestly, at this point, it seems like fate or magic or something.”

Marinette hummed and eyed her purse. “Right, or something,” she mumbled.

“You need sunblock?” Emma offered. “Maman was spraying me when I saw you. If you’re having trouble focusing, it could be too much sun,” she noted sagely.

He snorted. “I’m pretty good. Thank you so much for watching out for me.”

Marinette quirked her head to the side studying his face. She reached out like she was going to feel his head but redirected her hand to smooth down Emma’s hair instead. “She might be right. I think you might be getting some sun. We have plenty of sunblock if you want some, but at least take this,” she insisted holding out a bottle of water to him. “We haven’t drunk from it at all yet, so it’s clean.”

“I don’t want to take your water,” he objected weakly.

She waved him off. “It’s nothing. Can’t have my ex passing out from dehydration. It’s not a good look. The local vigilantes would come looking for me. It would ruin our entire vacation.”

He froze as he reached out for the water but covered it with an awkward chuckle. “Local vigilantes? Are there vigilantes around here?"

Marinette shrugged and looked around. “Aren’t there in all the American east coast cities?”

He shook his head with a snort. “No, no there are not.” He opened his mouth to ask her about her assumption but was cut off by her sudden hiss “Get down!”

He ducked instantly, his eyes darting around. “That’s one of your brothers, isn’t it?” she asked quietly as she moved in front of him and started spraying Emma again. “The one from this morning?”

Jason moved just slightly to peek between the two of them and spotted Tim. “It is,” he confirmed and quickly ducked back out of sight, or at least as much as he could. He was far too exposed where he was and there was no wall to hide behind this time and he wouldn’t be able to dive through the people in line without disrupting them and attracting attention. He let out a light groan, just about ready to give it up, when he coughed instead.

The air was suddenly saturated with something making his eyes water and his lungs burn. He didn’t have to look far to find the source; Marinette. He half-snickered, half-coughed as she filled the air around them with aerosol sunblock, causing people to avoid their area, giving them a wide berth to avoid the burn.

He waited until Tim had moved on, coughing and waving his hand in front of his face as he passed them, before he stood up again. He looked back at Marinette impressed with her quick thinking. “That was brilliant!” he said in awe.

She grimaced and tucked the can away. “I don’t think the others agree with you,” she muttered, eyeing the people around them in line, who were also eyeing her disapprovingly.

He glowered at the people but softened his expression when he turned back to her. “Well then they would be wrong, because that was amazing.”

She smiled brightly at his praise. “I’m just glad we were able to help you hide.”

Emma gasped. “We helped you hide?”

“You did,” he confirmed. “You were terrific.” She beamed at his comment, looking up at her maman to make sure she heard and was proud too. Jason looked around to make sure there were no other family around then stared at the spot Tim had disappeared to. “Funny, I think that’s the third time I saw my, like ten, family members but I’m seeing you everywhere.”

Marinette blinked and looked down at her purse again. “Yeah… funny. Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be sorry!” he insisted. He waved his hands disarmingly and shot her a radiant smile. “It’s not a bad thing. I’ve looked forward to seeing you between rides.” He looked down at Emma. “And getting your recommendations.”

“Ooohhh,” Emma perked up instantly, “M. O’Malley! You HAVE to do the Little Mermaid ride! It was amazing! It was so much fun!” Marinette shook her head behind Emma and mouthed ‘No, it wasn’t’. “Wasn’t it great, Maman?”

“Yep,” Marinette chirped with a bright smile for Emma but as soon as she turned around, she shook her head for Jason again.

Jason snickered. “Well, that sounds like a ride a pirate should investigate.”

Emma gasped. “That’s perfect! Because she’s a mermaid and lives in the sea and pirates sail on the seas.” She quirked her head to the side. “But you look more like Price Eric, not a pirate.”

Jason scoffed but puffed his chest slightly at Marinette’s appraising look. “I’m no prince, I can assure you. I’m more of a street rat.”

Emma furrowed her brow and shook her head. “No, you definitely don’t look like Aladdin.”

Marinette snorted but tried to hide it with a cough and waved her hand in front of her face as though it was a delayed reaction to the sunblock. Jason gasped dramatically before narrowing his eyes playfully. “You know, for a very short period, I had red hair so…” he motioned toward his shirt, “maybe I should have said street cat.”

Emma giggled hysterically for a minute. When she calmed down, she eyed him critically. “I don’t know if that would be good for you.”

“Emma!” Marinette gasped. “That was rude. You need to apologize right now.”

Emma’s face immediately fell. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Jason knelt down in front of her with a soft smile. “It’s okay. You were right. Trust me, it wasn’t a good time for anyone.”

He looked up and met Marinette’s eyes, getting lost again until the sound of a throat clearing behind him interrupted. Marinette blinked and let out a breath. “Come on, kitten. M. O’Malley needs to get going. We’re holding up the line.”

Jason let them get a step away before he stopped them and let the family go ahead of him in line. “It’s Jason. Jason Todd.” She turned back slightly startled but quickly smiled tenderly at him. “I figured you should probably start calling me by my real name at this point.”

Her smile widened and she stepped closer again. “Marinette Agreste and this is Emma.”

“Nice to meet you,” Emma chirped. “Well, not meet you because we’ve been talking all day, but it feels like meeting.”

“It does, you’re right,” he agreed. He met Marinette’s eyes as he spoke. “Those are beautiful names. It’s nice to meet you both. You could… join me, if you wanted. I mean, if fate’s going to keep throwing us together, we might as well embrace it. No use fighting fate.”

Marinette smiled for a second before shaking her head. “No, we couldn’t impose like that. I’m sure there are rides you want to go on that we can’t.”

“No, not really,” he assured her. “I think Tron is the only one Emma couldn’t ride, and I’ve already done that one. And really, it’s more about the experience than anything else. Unless you don’t…”

“Can we please Maman?” Emma begged, her eyes wide with hope.

Marinette pulled her lower lip between her teeth and shyly brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’d like that. I mean, we might as well. If you’re sure. We just had Space Mountain, the Buzz Lightyear ride, and visit Mickey and Minnie at the Town Square left on our list, then we were thinking about getting dinner somewhere, but if there were rides you wanted to go to or things you didn’t want to go to, we can adjust. The only things we definitely need to do are get dinner and buy a Marie stuffie,” she babbled.

“No, that sounds brilliant,” Jason interrupted with a smile and held up the chain for them. “I’d love to do all of that with you,” he continued as they stepped ahead of him in line.

Marinette smiled playfully and opened her mouth to respond but Emma bounced up between them. “Lemonade! Let’s do lemonade!” she cheered. Jason and Marinette chuckled at her enthusiasm, meeting eyes for a moment before he winked and got into position to play.

><><><><><><><

“There you are, Jaybird!” Dick exclaimed. He ran up to him and threw his arm over his shoulders. “We missed you all day! You missed so much fun.”

Jason grudgingly let Dick pull him closer but made a show of grumbling and scowling at him. “Yeah, yeah. I’m here. Just in time for the pool at the hotel or whatever.”

Dick grinned at him and clapped him on the back. “I’m going to hold you to that. We missed you all day. I’m going to keep you extra close tomorrow.”

Bruce patted him on the shoulder as he passed him. “We missed you today.” He looked around quickly and leaned in closer. “But I get it and am a bit jealous.” He patted him again before catching up to Dick and Damian.

“Soooo,” Tim drawled coming up next to him. “The woman go home then?” Jason froze, his eyes widened fractionally but he quickly schooled his expression. He opened his mouth but before he could ask what Tim was talking about, Tim continued. “I figure she must have if you’re back hanging out with us. The little girl did look pretty tired the last time I saw her. Adorable, but tired… which I assume is why you were carrying her,” he added. “Or so she could see the parade better. That spot on your shoulders was a pretty good vantage point.” His voice was smooth but his eyes were teasing and knowing, like he had something up on Jason.

Jason quickly eyed the other family members to see who else was giving them a knowing grin. “Don’t worry,” Tim chuckled. He looked around quickly as well to ensure the others’ attention was still elsewhere. “Nobody else saw. I managed to redirect them whenever we got close. Some easier than others. Hanging out right along the walkway was not the most helpful.”

Jason turned toward him, eyes wide in shock. That was not something he expected. He studied Tim closely as if he could see what he was up to. After a few moments he nodded to himself and turned back toward the exit. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

Tim nodded curtly, his eyes still on the shop windows around them. “You going to see her again?”

Jason nodded. “That’s the plan. Emma, that’s the little girl, she wants to see ‘Harry Potter World’ tomorrow,” Jason smiled proudly as he thought of Emma telling him about the stories and quizzing him on different elements about the books and which house they would all be in. “Marinette really hates 3D rides and there are a bunch at Universal so I volunteered to go with them since I’d be there tomorrow anyway.”

A bemused smile spread on his lips. “She’s really upset she can’t go on the Velocicoaster. Emma, that is, not Marinette. Though she is too. That kid LOVES rollercoasters. She made us go on Space Mountain three times.”

“Made you, huh?” Tim teased.

“You haven’t seen her eyes when she’s begging… or Marinette’s when she’s happy. It’s like a spell.”

“Emma sounds like a little daredevil,” Tim nodded.

Jason grinned proudly. “She is. So is her mom. And brilliant too.”

“Wow, you’ve got it bad,” Tim scoffed and shot him a knowing glance and teasing smile. “So, you’re going to completely rearrange your schedule so you can go with them tomorrow.” It was a statement rather than a question.

“Yep.” Jason’s voice was proud, refusing to be embarrassed by the teasing. “You’d understand if you’d spent time with her.”

“Well, she was definitely beautiful,” Tim offered.

“Beautiful, funny, kind, smart, thoughtful,” Jason continued for him.

“Wow. What are you going to do when she goes home?” Tim asked carefully. He watched Jason from the corner of his eye. Jason was a romantic. Everyone knew that about him. He let his heart lead him, sometimes into dangerous territory.

“I’ll visit New York a lot more,” Jason answered without missing a beat. “It’s a short trip. Lots of work there.” Tim turned slowly to look at him, his eyes wide in shock. Dangerous and unverified territory apparently. “Relax,” Jason snorted. “I’m not going to move there next week… although I do have a safe house there…” he added slyly.

He watched Tim’s eyes, which had just started to return to normal size, widen again. They rapidly narrowed upon hearing Jason’s chuckle. “I’m just replacing our chill day, which let’s be honest was really a Steph and Dick shopping day, with something that will be objectively more fun.” He rolled his eyes at Tim’s skeptical look. “It’s been one day. I’m not going to rearrange my whole life after one day.”

“Really?” Tim asked suspiciously.

Jason huffed and rolled his eyes. It was like his family had no faith in him. “I’m not stupid. No.” He shrugged after a few steps. “I don’t think she would let me even if I wanted to. She wouldn’t shift her daughter’s world that much without being absolutely certain and I wouldn’t want her to either.”

“But she’s okay with you rearranging your entire vacation schedule?” He fixed him with a pointed look.

“She doesn’t know, otherwise, yeah, she would have a problem with it,” Jason growled. He was used to getting questioned by his family, but he wasn’t about to let them question a completely innocent and sweet woman who had done nothing to deserve it.

Tim studied him for a few moments before nodding and returning his attention ahead of them. “Good. Just… be careful, okay. For both of you.”

“All three,” Jason corrected.

“All three,” he amended easily. They walked in silence until they were past the Main Street Station and Tim broke the silence with a sigh. “I swear I’m not trying to be an ass. I just don’t want you jumping in too quickly.”

Jason pursed his lips with a huff. Well that just made it impossible to be mad, didn’t it? “I’ll be careful, but she’s magic, Timmy.” Tim’s eyebrows jumped to his hairline. “Not like that!” Jason groaned quickly. “I just meant…”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve done the whole love at first sight thing,” Tim waved him off, “I get it.”

Jason scoffed and pointedly refused to look at him, finding anything and everything else of interest. “Love,” he mocked. “Now who’s moving too fast.”

“Still you,” Tim teased. He patted Jason on the back before rushing up to walk with Duke.

Jason glowered at his back but then caught sight of a stuffed Marie in one of the stores and smiled softly. “Yeah,” he mused to himself. “Still me.”

#maribat #jasonette

154 notes · View notes

maribatfics · 1 year

Text

Guess we're dating now 7

It's been a bit. I think I need to change my way of writing and uploading fics.

Enjoy!

First previous next

Marinette groaned in relief as she dropped onto the chair in Tim's office and kicked her shoes off.

"I am never walking that much ever again. I think my blisters have blisters."

"The pains of having heels." Tim drily commented. Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. "Oh how mature."

"Shut it. You said we could hide from the paparazzi here. You didn't say we would have to walk a couple of blocks."

"Would you rather have another date interrupted or the sore feet?" Marinette frowned and flopped over. Ever since the gala where they had been visible in public, it seemed people were more and more interested in getting to know more about Marinette. Who she was, what she did, anything about her life before meeting Tim. She'd been grateful for Tim's suggestion on their second meeting of making all her socials private, because it certainly stopped a lot of gossip from starting.

The best benefit was in her nationality. While the media could dig up a few things, like her designing for Jagged Stone a couple of times, and that she lived in Paris, a lot of information was kept hidden away, just as she would have liked it. That meant though nearly any time she was out in public, there was a level of being followed. It increased dramatically when she was with Tim, due to him being recognisable. It had ruined many staged dates, as Tim put it, and he had put a bodyguard on standby for her.

The biggest annoyances were definitely when they were just out, Tim showing her his favourite sites of Gotham, and they would get swarmed. Today's outing was supposed to be a quick coffee run, but turned quickly into an impromptu interview with Marinette being asked all sorts of questions. The interview was over, with Tim turning nasty when they were asked about the insinuations of Marinette being a gold digger. Instead of waiting for a car to pull round, he had practically dragged Marinette along the pavement, resulting in her sore feet. But at least Tim was in a better mood.

"So, the lunch run is ruined. Is there anyone we could send to get food and we eat here?" She asked as she looked over her feet. Bright red lines on her toes and her heel indicated rubbing. She wasn't putting the shoes back on at all for today if she could. Maybe there was a pair she could borrow.

"I'll see it." Tim said, reaching for his office phone. He hesitated before picking it up. "I'm sorry that they insinuated you are nothing more than a gold digger."

"Tim, I went into this thinking such a thing may happen. You can't control the media."

"No but I'm supposed to protect you. Keep you safe, and have all this be a momentary blip in your otherwise normal life. You weren't supposed to have any lasting impact. I need to figure out the next step of the plan. Maybe instead of an ambivalent breakup, if you dump me, the rumors will forget this gold digger angle…but that runs the risk of them going. You couldn't stand me for the money, how terrible you might be…I'll need to conduct more research into this…" Tim ran a hand through his hair. Marinette stood up and walked to him.

"Tim. It's fine. We'll figure this out anyway. The media isn't going to keep following me around when we break up. I'll survive the scrutiny for now." She grabbed his hand as he threaded it through his hair again. "Stop that. You have another meeting in 30 minutes, we can't have you looking like a hot mess." She stood on tiptoe and started pushing his hair back into place, Tim holding his breath and bending forward to let her continue working.

"You say that, but that sort of bad publicity can be enough to ruin people's lives for years. I had hoped for quite an easy time. Surely the publication houses would think nothing more of you than someone sweet and nice but they paint this jaded image instead."

"And we can change their minds, you know the timeline for this better than me, 2 months for us to go from happily dating in the first few days to bickering and finding we don't work as a couple, makes the friendship awkward and we part ways." Tim's eyes widened as he looked back up at her, stopping her efforts to tidy his hair.

"Or. Orrrr we go a little longer. Get the gossip rags to stop saying nasty implications and then move forward with the plan to break up. After all, they'll keep the bad thing going and go hard if we don't address it at some point. It might add at most another month to this. Nothing too drastic." Marinette blinked.

"Tim. It's really not that big of a deal. We can do more things than that, we could ask Bruce if we can use the public relations department to send out some sort of message to refute the claims we don't support and go from there."

"That won't deal with it all as well as we need. The rumors probably won't fade until the couple is firmly established and seems to not be having any reason for publicity for months." Tim argued.

"Then we show them a version of events for why their claims are wrong." Marinette said. "We've done fancy high society events, where you bought my dress, gone to five star restaurants which I didn't even think existed in Gotham, again, you paid for, and even out in public, if there's something to pay for, you do. Let's mix things up a bit." Tim stared at her blankly.

"Uh, what?"

"Let me plan this. I'll focus on a sweethearts angle. That will make the paparazzi think that we are nothing more than a couple, then they'll back off and we can proceed as needed."

"If you are sure you can do that…" Tim said.

"I can." Marinette had been planning many romantic dates over the years, she knew exactly what she would do.

Marinette grinned as she pulled the tray out of the oven, the soft scent of freshly baked croissants filled the air as she put them down to cool and took off her oven mitt. She planned out a lovely little picnic and part of that plan featured lots of delicious foods, both her and Tim's favourites. She also had brewed some coffee to put into coffee flasks, prepared exactly how she had seen his order multiple times. There were even more small snacks of fruit and sweet and savory items. When she had called up her parents for some recipes, her father had gone overboard with various romantic themes of food, knowing that Marinette wasn't likely to need most of the recipes. It had been a battle to get him off the phone again. But in the end, it would be all worth it, she'd take Tim on a low key, small, sweet, out of the public eye date that hopefully would not have them hounded by the media. And even then, Marinette had multiple plans in place to ensure there was a decreased risk. Such as going to the park considered to be Poison Ivy's area. Marinette hoped such a move would deter most paparazzi. Rogue or ex rogue status should still have an impact. Not to mention she wanted them to be seen. Just from a distance and not questioned. She'd have to channel some Ladybug luck to find a perfect out of the way spot that was hard to access, yet easy to see.

Still, it was a reasonable walk away, and all she had to do was wait for Tim to show up at her apartment in the next few hours.

Well, a glance down at her definitely flour, egg, milk and various fruit juices covered her shirt and a look at her bench that was in the process of being cleaned, maybe she needed to add cleaning herself to that list. Once she was finished with the kitchen.

A knock broke through her thoughts and she went to the door to see Tim standing, waiting. She smiled and stepped back to let him in, shutting the door behind him.

"Something smells good." Tim commented.

"I've finished baking for the day, just have to pack it up."

"Think you can spare me one? The meeting ran late and I didn't have a chance to have lunch." Marinette beamed, mentally thinking up an appropriate gift for Tam.

"Oh no, you can't have any just yet." She stopped in the kitchen and proceeded to quickly put stuff in the dishwasher and put the mess away, wiping down the benchtop. "We'll have them outside."

"Outside? Where you routinely get followed by a bunch of reporters?"

"Yep. I've got a lovely outing planned. Let me just get "photographer" ready." She grinned and gestured to her outfit that was now covered in baking ingredients. Tim nodded and settled onto her sofa to wait. Marinette shouldn't take long after all. She was once again in her customary pink, with a skirt and a warm blouse to fight off the Gotham sea air chill and fixed her hair before they were ready to set off. She picked up the basket as Tim stood up after a moment's pause and rushed over,

"There's no need, I'll carry it."

"Tim, it's fine, it's my date I planned for us," his cheeks turned pink at her words, "I'll carry it." She beamed up at him, and maneuvered to take the basket and place herself between him and the basket. He twisted around her to place a hand on the basket. But his hold was not strong enough to take it from her.

"Exactly why I should carry it, you planned this out, so it's my job to make it a little easier for you."

"Ah, but if you carry it, people will assume you planned the date, and we can't have that."

"And instead they play the other angle. The one where apparently you are super bossy and refuse help from your boyfriend." Tim countered.

"Well, there's nothing else to do. We'll both carry it." Marinette beamed while Tim paused again before firmly holding the basket, hand right next to hers.

"We'll both carry it." He agreed quietly. Marinette felt frozen for a moment before shaking herself out of it and leading the way to the door and outside. She easily spied the group of cameras and phones ready to follow her and Tim lying in wait for them to appear. Tim held the door open, and she smiled up at him, a well practiced move that was nothing out of the ordinary as far as their staging was concerned. She could only hope that nothing would need to be said.

"Mister Drake! Miss Dupain!"

Spoke too soon.

"It's Miss Dupain-Cheng." Marinette corrected. Tim moved, letting go of the basket and moved to hold her side instead. The cameras went crazy while the reporters started to also shout out questions.

"Where are you two heading?"

"What is your comment on the rumors about your relationship being nothing more than a ruse?"

"What are the intentions of your relationship?"

Marinette merely sighed.

"We are heading out. On a date. As what people in relationships do. I don't know what intentions are being implied. We like each other well enough to decide as mature adults to see if we are compatible in dating because we like each other enough to take that as a decision. Mutually. That's it. That's the relationship status. Now, I don't want to run late to our plans, so if you don't mind, we will be going." Tim addressed the crowd before steering Marinette to walk down the pavement and the pair left the reporters behind to answer follow up questions.

Tim grabbed her free hand and ran, Marinette hurrying along behind, before she tugged him into a side alley. They came out onto a new street, and Tim fell back to let Marinette lead the escape. She led him to a pedestrian crossing, moving around members of the crowd to cross the street, before racing away again, to move through smaller streets, and hurrying down a dead end side street.

"Marinette, there's no way-"

"Trust me." She came to the end, and pulled a plank sideways, showing a small opening. Maybe Dick and Jason wouldn't get through, but both herself and Tim were on the smaller side and able to use it. Marinette dropped it back in place and continued to run.

Thankfully, Tim could hear the confused yelling on the other side of the fence. They hadn't seen how they got away. Marinette continued to lead a roundabout way out of the block to a busy street near the gardens. A logical choice for a picnic. Tim quickly grabbed the handle again, causing the pair to walk next to one another.

"How did you know that all was there?"

"I set it up. I knew this interest was still likely to have people follow us out. I didn't want that. So I went and prepared the fence last night."

"Clever." He commented. Marinette beamed at him. She then glanced around the park.

"I put a lot of thought into this sort of date, and scoped out my options. I think the perfect spot is a little further along."

"Then I suppose you'd better lead the way." Tim smiled.

It was a really hidden site. High bushes and trees surrounded them on all sides, and a barely perceived path marked the entry point. Yet, on a small hilltop, they could see a far section of the park from a picnic table, overlooking a pond in particular. Tim agreed it was perfect as a private little nook to enjoy the park. The pair pulled food out and Marinette held in her giggles as Tim's eyes widened at each item. Fruit salad, crackers with a cheese platter, croissants, eclairs and mini quiche filled the table even though they were sitting on the same side of the table, and still she pulled out some water and coffee flasks, setting them in front of them.

"Marinette. This may be too much food."

"You said you missed lunch. And I know you aren't always able to have breakfast. So there's plenty to eat." She beamed at him. "Try the quiche. Papa's experimenting with a new recipe that he let me use."

Tim dug in. Moaning in delight as the still warm egg based treat melted in his mouth. Marinette giggled and tried one herself. As expected of her father, it was good. She supposed for a starving man it was even better.

She had been right, Tim was starving. He ate a little of everything to try before truly digging in. Marinette ate with gusto as well, baking worked up an appetite she always found. The conversation flowed better when Tim was placitated and slowed his consumption of food.

"I think that was amazing. If you cook like that all the time, I don't understand why your last guy dumped you."

Marinette grimaced. "You aren't the only one. I can only make an educated guess."

"Meaning?"

"Adrien…had a difficult home life. Even as a teenager, his mum disappeared, and his father went crazy to say the least. Homeschooled, not allowed outside without supervision. His social media is monitored constantly. His father was not just protective, he was controlling. So controlling that I think it created issues. Adrien strives for a connection, and so his father still has control over him. Adrien kept our relationship secret, which I understood in the early days. But there was always this fear I think, that he'd have to choose between his father and me if his dad found out. It was the main reason we never went public with our status."

"Well first of all. That all sounds messed up. Second woah. It's insanely messed up. I get it though. Striving for some connection that you'll do anything for, even if it is harmful to yourself to do so." Tim said Marinette nodded.

"Yeah. It's all…insane. I didn't get it at first. Like it wasn't on my mind at first, because I was so happy to be his girlfriend. And more time passed, but it just seemed normal cause he made it seem normal. I never questioned it and for it all to just end with him breaking up seemingly out of nowhere on me. In a way that was cold. It hurt me."

"Yeah, well, that's always the risk right? Getting hurt because you put a lot out there for it. Maybe…maybe you overcommitted to him. Because he clearly couldn't give all of his love to you without compromising his relation to his father. And so you lose out when he has to make a choice. One that he knew going into a relationship was always going to happen. You may not have been aware, but still were willing to try. Which sucks."

"You clearly have more experience with what I'm dealing with."

"I've been in his shoes. Parents that had conditions for love. Or just… seem like they can't let themselves care. It sucks. You get left with a complex, but because they are your world from a young age…you don't even question it. All you know is that you just have to keep trying." Marinette winced and reached for his hand on the table.

"Sounds hard."

"It is a vicious cycle. Having people there for you unconditionally helps. Shows you are loved and cared for regardless of whatever it is your parents demand of you. And I have many of them in my life."

"I'm glad to hear you do." She smiled.

"I'm glad to count you among those people. You are so caring Marinette, it's insane how much you care for others. It was terrible that Adrien couldn't see that." Marinette's cheeks bloomed pink and her heart raced. Tim's eyes held her own and she couldn't breathe. Was he leaning in closer? Was she leaning in as well? This was…

A scream broke through and caused the pair to jump apart. Marinette glanced around and could see across the pond people were running, and now she was sure something big was happening she turned to Tim who looked concerned and glanced at her.

"We need to get out of here." He said. She nodded. Tim grabbed her hand and the pair ran out. Sometimes it seemed as if Gotham was just as prone to Rogue attacks as Paris was to Akuma.

A paper was slammed onto the desk, the person glaring at the title of "the latest couple fashions!" and the main blown up photo of Timothy Drake Wayne, posed with one Marinette Dupain-Cheng from a red carpet event. He didn't even know how Marinette knew mister Drake Wayne, but clearly this was a large leap in his own moves to shut the relationship down and have Adrien break up with the young girl. Such a network connection could be huge after all.

And clearly, the guy had to be a rebound, their getting together the same night as when Adrien broke things off suggested nothing serious, and a move to quickly get over the break up. In fact that meant there was still a chance to rekindle the relationship. However, a text would not do. There was no way that such a move would work. This sort of thing would need to be in person.

He tapped a button on his desk.

"Natalie, fetch Adrien and bring him here for a conversation immediately. Once done, please look and book the earliest available flights to take to Gotham, America." There was no response but that was fine. Gabriel put his hand behind him and thought as the plan further formed in his mind. Yes, this would be foolproof.

#maribat #timari

70 notes · View notes