#ibts

The past several months drug lords had been shot, their gangs busted and taken over by a new player in Gotham. Just before they began, Red Hood had fought with Bruce and left angrily. Now, after three weeks of Oracle reporting sightings of Red Hood around the crime scenes, Batman had finally caught his errant son.

“I’m perfectly fine, B,” snarked Hood as Nightwing and Red Robin landed behind Batman. “Doin’ better than I ever was, actually.”

“Little Wing, where’d you go?” asked Nightwing sadly. “We were doing so well…it was one fight.”

Red Hood rounded on him. “It’s always one fight, ‘Wing! And it’s not me–I was out of the country when Sionis was taken over!”

“Please, calm down, Jaybird.”

“Let’s go back to the Cave and talk it out,” suggested Nightwing, slowly advancing. 

Hood turned around, seeing Black Bat and Robin had gathered behind him. His breathing quickened and he started to shake, claustrophobia setting in. 

A girl in black and red walked towards the cluster of Bats. The last thing he saw was her taking his family out, then only blackness.

~~~

Jason awoke to rhythmic beeping–a heart monitor. Through slitted eyes, he noticed he was in his medical safehouse. A familiar face swam into focus.

He smiled slightly. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. How do you feel?”

“Fine. It was just some…”

“I know. Okay, the scan says you’re clear; you can get up.”

“What time is it?”

“One-thirty. You’ve been out for two-point-two-five hours.”

“We’re in M-2?”

“Mhm. You want to talk about it?”

“It was just–too much. Too close.”

His companion slowly came forward and hugged him. “They’re out for a bit, except BB. She let me take you. The others are in the lockup bay. I figured we should explain, and this seemed like the safest option at the moment.”

He wrapped his arms around her, sighing contentedly as her familiar comforting scent surrounded him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

She untangled herself from his arms after a few more seconds. “So, how much are we telling them?”

“Everything. B will hate it.”

“That is not why we are doing this, mon cherie .”

“I know, but it’s a nice plus!”

~~~

Batman, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin were securely tied up. Their lockpicks and dislocated thumbs wouldn’t help them escape. Though their masks/cowls stayed on, their utility belts had been removed. Black Bat was wrapped in rope, but she could escape easily enough; the rope was more for show than anything, as she was currently the most sensible of the cauldron. 

The room was a fair size, all metal. No windows, doors, or any type of escape hatches were visible. 

The steel door flush with the wall slid open silently. Red Hood stepped in minus his helmet and mask. Following him was a petite Eurasian woman in a black bodysuit with red accents. A red mask covered her eyes, nose, and forehead. Her eyes were blue, her waist-length braid black. A red yoyo hung from her hip, but the Bats knew better than to underestimate such an unconventional weapon.

“I am Jason’s alibi for the past eight months, Monsieur Batman.” Her mildly French accent was polite yet cold. “When Roman Sionis was taken down, Jason was with me, in Paris. Here are dated pictures and his plane tickets as proof,” she laid the information on the steel table in the middle of the room after passing them in front of the captives’ faces. “For the others, I have similar proof except for one, but if this is the same criminal–and I’m sure you’ve come to the same conclusion as well–-then that automatically rules him out.”

“Who are you?” asked Nightwing.

“Oh, did I not introduce myself? Pardonnez-moi, messieurs et mademoiselle. Je suis Ladybird , Red Hood’s partner. Red Robin and Oracle will find no trace or mention of me. No one sees me, though I am just as active as Hood. I retired from heroing after I caught my villain. I missed the action, so I unretired to become a vigilante.”

Jason untied Black Bat. “Cass knows Ladybird is on my side and that I’m innocent. She let Birdy take you guys out.”

Cass nodded at Ladybird and slipped into the room’s shadows.

“If you promise to remain calm, civil, and unaccusing while we explain, I’ll let you go,” he told the Bats. 

They quickly agreed and were led to a comfortable living room. Jason started a fire in the fireplace while the Bats settled themselves on the couches, sizing up the room. Most of the decor could be used as a weapon of some sort.

Ladybird reappeared with a tray of coffee and pastries. She handed a pastry to Jason and put a mug on the knitted coaster on the table beside his leather armchair, then handed a mug to Red Robin. 

Jason caught her waist, pulling her onto his lap; she leaned into his embrace comfortably, clearly used to his casual handling.

“So, uh, are you two dating?” asked Nightwing.

Ladybird laughed. “No, we’re not. The reason you are here is because you need to understand some things about Jason.”

“Go on,” grunted Batman. 

She took a sip from her mug, a deep breath, and began.

~~~

Two years ago

Ladybug stormed into Gabriel Agreste’s office. “Why did Adrien tell me–” She stopped in surprise.

Hawkmoth was there. They stared at each other in shock, then she lunged for his brooch. For five years he’d sat in his lair sending out butterflies. For five years she’d fought akuma after akuma, amok after amok. He didn’t have a chance against her rage-fuelled combat skills.

She ripped off his brooch, tearing his transformation away, revealing Gabriel Agreste. On the warpath, she headed for Nathalie and seized her pin as well, finally recovering all the Miraculous.

Paris assured of its safety against magical emotional terrorists, Ladybug and Chat Noir retired. 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng took a long-needed and well-deserved vacation. It was far away from Paris…New Jersey was a quiet New England state in the quiet USA, right?

Wrong.

A red-helmeted finger dropped onto her hotel balcony. 

“Oh, kwami! He’s bleeding out!”

She dragged Red Hood inside her room to heal him, a handful of kwami hovering around her to lend their energy.

Plagg latched onto Hood’s dark energy. “Pigtails, he’s died before. You know about the Lazarus Pits? He’s been in one and it’s twisting him. He’ll go crazy as the al Ghuls if you don’t fix it. You’re lucky a supreme being like me is around to help you with that.”

Using TIkki’s creation magic to level out the destruction of Plagg’s magic, Marinette began to even out Hood’s energy to normal levels.

Doing too much at one time could cause irreversible side effects, however, so when Hood woke up, noticeably confused and defensive, she explained the situation and received his agreement to continue his treatment.

She assured him he was perfectly safe with her, she’d once been a hero and understood how to keep identities secret. Sensing the magical darkness in Gotham, she moved there six months later, continuing to see Jason long after he’d been completely healed.

Seven months ago

Jason flew to France to meet Marinette’s friends and parents, happy to be surprising his number-one supporter.  

Somehow, he had made it to a field of flowers, down on one knee in front of the love of his life.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you let me become the happiest man in the world and be your husband?”

Tears prickled in both their eyes as she rapidly nodded. “Yes!”

Six months ago

 “Do you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, take Jason Todd as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do!”

The gold ring sliding on her finger was cool, but warmed quickly from her body heat, like it had always been there.

They both wanted a quick, small wedding. Jason still wasn’t speaking to his family since their fight four months ago, and all her friends and family were there, so the couple were married in the city of lights and love.

Three months ago

Ladybird appeared beside Red Hood. He was closely following the new crime lord’s case, so of course she was too. No one saw them watching the Bats from the shadows, eyeing them as they worked.

One month ago

“Alright, this is stupid. Jason, mon coeur, I think it would be good for everyone if you reconnect with your family. I’m sure they miss you, and I know you miss them too, even if you’ll never say it.

“The Madness is gone, so even if you fight–which I’m sure you won’t–it won’t be nearly as bad as before. I’ll fight Bruce myself if I have to.”

“I’ll think about it, Pix.”

“That’s…the best I can ask for. Thank you, cherie .”

Now

“...and that’s what happened,” Ladybird finished.

The Bats were silent, finally broken by Batman.

“Thank you for this proof of Jason’s innocence, and for helping us meet again, Ladybird.”

She smiled. “You are welcome. I hope you’ll not waste this time?”

“No. When—Would you be willing to come to dinner one night?”

“Jay?”

He sighed, then looked at his father. “Sunday still family dinner day?”

“Alfred won’t let us skip it.”

“We’ll be there 4:30 then.”

Batman;s face softened–what could be read of it–and argument could be made that it was a smile. “I’ll tell Alfred you’re bringing a guest.”

“‘Kay.”

Ladybird stood up. “Jay won’t hug you, so you can hug me instead, Nightwing. I can tell you want to.”

With a squeal the vigilante bounded over to hug her. “Thank you! New little sister privileges!”

She laughed a little and patted his back. “I’m not averse to hugs, as long as I have warning beforehand. I don’t hold any responsibility for any KO’s you may incur.”

“Finally, someone who’ll let me hug them! Good job picking her, Little Wing.” Nightwing ruffled Jason’s hair.

“Daddy? Can you tell me a story?”

Jason smiled and brushed Sebastian’s hair back from his forehead. “Of course. Any special requests?”

“Something you did?” Sebastian’s eyes were wide.

Jason cleared his throat.

“A long, long time ago, I was in the city, on an errand for your uncle Damian. Goliath had gotten away, and your uncle was in bed with a broken leg, under Grandpa Alfie’s strict orders not to move. Goliath would only listen to me, so I was sent off to get him.

“It was a typical day in Gotham, grey and cloudy, and I wasn’t very happy that I had to leave my training to go find a rogue dragon bat.”

Sebastian scooched over and Jason lay beside him on the small bed, tracing the lines of his face as he spoke.

“I was busy hunting down my informants, hoping they’d have seen Goliath– you know how big he is; it’s hard to hide a dragon bat.

“The sky cleared up and became sunny. I think most of the Gothamites out and about almost collapsed from an overdose of Vitamin D,” he joked.

“I looked around to see what was up and saw this bright, sunny gash in the sky. It looked like the sun cutting through clouds, but it was definitely an unnatural occurrence. I grabbed my swords and headed to the gash. It seemed to be getting bigger, and wind was gusting through the rift.

“The wind picked up and carried me through the portal. There was this great whooshing noise and then I blacked out. It wasn’t very fun.

“I woke up and knew I’d been dropped in some other dimension because there was no way what I was seeing would happen in my world. The most gorgeous girl I’d ever seen was standing in front of me. She was dressed like a ladybug, and then she told me her name was Ladybug.

“She was a hero of that world, and something had happened during a fight that caused the gash. There was a whole team of animal-themed heroes behind her, busy fighting the strange-looking thing they told me was called an akuma.

“There was a snake, a fox and turtle, a black cat, and the Ladybug girl. They had some type of magic, and they were obviously used to these types of fights because it was over pretty fast– though that could have been the disorientation from crossing worlds,” grinned Jason.

As Jason told his tale, he watched Sebastian’s eyelashes flutter in his attempt to stay awake. Eventually, the boy lost the battle and drifted off to dreamland. Jason pressed a kiss to the top of Sebastian’s head and edged quietly out of his room.

~~~~~

“Maman, tell me a story,” begged Felicia, tugging at Marinette’s dress as she turned to leave after kissing her goodnight.

Marinette laughed. “Anything to extend your bedtime, huh? Alright, but only a short one.”

She perched on the edge of Felicia’s bed, smoothing out wrinkles in the comforter.

“Let’s see…oh, I have one.

“Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a group of heroes fighting villains called akumas. I was the ladybug hero, the leader of the team. It was a battle just like any other day, or so I thought. There was a big hole in the sky that strange creatures we thought were akumas kept dropping through, and finally, there was a man with a sword. The hole seemed to disappear after he came through.

“My team and I defeated that day’s akuma and then spread out to go looking for the creatures that came to our world.”

~~~

Marinette headed off in the direction of the strange-looking creature that had come through the portal. It looked like a furry gargoyle.

At first, she had thought it was an akuma or connected to the akuma, but it had completely ignored them and headed for the suburbs of Paris.

The closest green space was the Bois de Boulogne, so she started her search for the creature there. It was late evening, so there weren’t many people around; she thought it would be fairly obvious if a furry gargoyle was around and didn’t expect it to take long.

She could look around, swing by a couple smaller greenspaces on her way home, and then be in bed at a reasonable time. Hopefully, she could get a good 8 hours of sleep before her 8:00 a.m. class the next day.

The cracking of a branch behind her made her glance back at the treeline, hoping it was just a squirrel or something small. Now that she was possibly facing the furry gargoyle…she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do once she knew where it was.

But that was still a problem for future Marinette, because there was neither squirrel nor gargoyle behind her. It was a man.

A…cosplayer?

He was wearing old-fashioned clothes and leather armour, and had a sheathed sword on his belt. From a fashion designer’s perspective, it was incredibly accurate, and Marinette found herself wanting to ask him who had made it or where he’d gotten such an incredible quality get-up.

Realizing she was staring at the man, who had paused, she blushed and smiled awkwardly. “Sorry for staring, I was just admiring your outfit.”

“It’s fine, and …thanks? I’m just uh…looking for something my little brother lost. ” 

He spoke French almost perfectly, but his accent was unlike one she had ever heard before. He definitely wasn’t native to either Paris or France, yet he spoke Parisian French, not Quebecois.

She nodded and glanced up at the sky yet again.

“I’m Jason,” the guy offered.

“Mari,” she said, not wanting to give her full name to a stranger just yet. He seemed rather familiar, as if she should know him.

She continued her search for the creature, either a sighting or maybe a footprint, but nothing came up.

She did collect some litter to throw out, a couple francs, and a dropped Ladybug action figure.

Seeing Jason a good distance away, she waved and approached him. “Is this your little brother’s lost item? It’s the only thing I found that might be a child’s,” she nodded at the debris in her hands (the francs had made their way into her pocket. What? She was a university student in fashion, she needed money).

Jason looked down at the toy and took it from her, turning it around. “No, it’s not his,” he said finally. “By the way, who is this? I’ve never seen a toy like this before, and I saw someone who looked like this earlier.”

“Oh, Ladybug? She’s a part of the Miraculous Team.” At his blank look, she continued. “Paris’s heroes? They fight Hawkmoth’s akumas and amoks.”

“Japanese demons?” Jason’s head tilted slightly to the left, and she found herself thinking it was adorable on a man his size. Also, he knew the Japanese term for demons? Interesting.

“Um, yeah, that was the inspiration for their names. They're like…mind-controlled supervillains? The actual villain is Hawkmoth; no one knows who he is, but he has this Miraculous –magic jewel that grants its wearer a power– that he uses to akumatize anyone feeling strong negative emotions. The goal is to get Ladybug and Chat Noir, the two main heroes, Miraculouses. The akuma agrees to attempt to get the Miraculouses, and Hawkmoth gives them the power to get revenge or whatever they want.”

As she briefly explained the situation, Jason looked more and more worried.

“How long has this been going on?!”

“Um, since I was 13…so six or seven years, give or take?”

“That’s awful,” Jason said, eyes flashing green like Chat’s.

“Yeah, it’s been hard on everyone,” she agreed. “The Team has been doing their best, but since no one knows who Hawkmoth is…” she trailed off, shrugging. “They do the best they can.”

“Do you have a way to contact the Team, like to announce an akuma attack or something?”

“There is the Miraculous Team Official website and Twitter, and one of my friends, Alya, has a blog where she reports on attacks and livestreams them sometimes. I’ve told her it’s dangerous, but since Ladybug’s Cure always fixes the damage after the fight, she doesn’t mind getting knocked around a bit for the footage.”

“Oh, the damage is reversed? That’s a handy ability. Thanks for telling me about this; I just arrived here today, so I had no idea so much was going on,” Jason explained.

“No problem! I hope your stay here is peaceful!”

Jason handed her back the toy and headed back towards the busier end of Paris.

She clutched the toy, staring after his form disappearing into the twilight.

~~~

Marinette burst into the Miraculous Team’s quarters. 

“Max!”

“‘Sup?” Max whirled away from his worktable, where he was fixing up secure devices for the team to use as civilians.

“I may have a lead on Hawkmoth, I don’t know. Can you check some things for me, please?”

“Sure,” he spun around to his computer station. “Whatcha need?”

“Can you check all the flight logs from this afternoon? Find anyone who fits the profile of a muscular white or white-passing male in his early twenties, about 190 cm, black hair with white bangs, blue or green eyes?”

“Want me to find you a date  without  breaking several laws?” he joked, typing away.

She huffed a small sigh, blowing her loose hair out of her face. “Haha. You know I’m focusing on the Team and school right now. I met this guy while I was at the Bois de Boulogne, and he just…created an itch in my brain I need to scratch. There's something very off about him.” She began laying out her evidence, ticking off the items on her fingers.

“He spoke almost fluent French, but with an accent that I’d never heard. He knew that an akuma is a Japanese demon, which, maybe he just knows French and Japanese, but there’s other stuff as well. I told him the basics about the whole situation, and his eyes started glowing or flashing the same green as Chat’s. He wanted to know if there was a way to contact the Team, and the most damning evidence that something is wrong?” Mari threw her hands up. “He had  no idea  what the whole situation was about, which is why I was explaining it to him! He told me he had no idea about any of it because he just arrived today, but  how  did he arrive? International tourism has dropped so much because of this, and everyone in Europe tries to use Eurorail lines that don’t require a stop in Paris! There are brochures and PSAs and waivers to warn the few fools who do come here what to do and what all this is about!”

“That sounds seriously fishy, dude,” Nino agreed, having joined with Alya mid-rant.

Alya immediately pestered Mari into giving all the details of her interaction with Jason while they waited for Max to work his magic.

Mari did so, needing to work through the strange feelings he had given her. Strange, yes, but unwelcome or creepy? If she was honest, not so much. It almost felt like she was finally grasping a tough topic to comprehend, or achieving success on a difficult project. Pre-satisfaction, she decided to call it, as she had not yet gotten that success, but it was so close she could taste it.

That, more than his strange appearance in Paris, was what niggled at her brain. 

~~~

Hours later, Markov reported no man of Jason’s description entering Paris in any legal way. A moment later, Mari’s newly-secure phone alerted her that someone had replied to a post on TMO’s page.

‘Anonymous: I’m a private detective offering my services pro bono to help Team Miraculous apprehend Hawkmoth. Please reply to me privately if you’re interested in my offer.’

Mari huffed an incredulous laugh, betting it was Jason. He’d given her an intense vibe like Officer Roger or other law enforcement members gave her.

She discussed the anonymous offer with the team and they agreed that at this point, it couldn’t hurt to try tracking Hawkmoth with outside help.

A little while later, she replied to his message privately, sending a location and time for Anon and the Team to meet and discuss their offer.

~~~

The Team arrived at the location a few minutes early, to their surprise finding a man in jeans and a red jacket, a Ladybug mask peeking out from beneath the edge of the hood.

“Anon?” Ladybug asked.

“That’s me!” His gaze slid across the team, who were spaced out in a manner hard to be all attacked at once. “I have many years of detective training, and I’d like to help the Team and Paris if I can,” Anon said. “I’ve found a lot of bad guys, but the cases aren’t public so I’m afraid I can’t verify my identity that way.”

“At this point, you’re offering free help and that’s all we care about,” said Ladybug tiredly. “My partner, Chat Noir, and I would like to take a few moments to ask you some questions privately, if you’re up for that?”

“Sure,” Anon hopped up onto a roof vent and swung his legs, the heels of his boots hitting the metal echoing in the night air.

The Team cleared off, keeping a lookout in case this was a trap while their main defenders interrogated the detective.

Chat Noir wound around his extended baton, examining Anon’s body language and humming thoughtfully.

“Anon, my dear partner and I want to examine you quite thoroughly. You must admit, as a detective, this offer is rather fishy-smelling, even to a cat like me. So, Bug and I would like to try something with you, if you’ll give us a moment to prepare?”

Anon shrugged. “Take your time.”

The heroic pair snuck behind tall vents and detransformed, having already placed duplicate masks on their faces before they transformed and worn plain, generic black sweatsuits.

They reappeared behind Anon, who didn’t so much as flinch when they popped up at his elbow, kwami hidden in the depths of their hoods, tiny glowing eyes assessing Anon and his demeanour.

“Why are you only offering your help now?” asked Chat.

“I only arrived here today and found out about the situation.”

The heroes hummed, exchanging glances. Ladybug went next.

“That’s interesting…because Paris has been broadcast around the world and we’ve warned tourists away. Everyone knows not to come here unless it’s absolutely necessary. Even if you’ve been living under a rock, you would have noticed our posters and PSAs at airports, Eurorail stations, and around the area, if you arrived legally. As a self-titled detective, I find it rather interesting that you don’t even know the basics of the situation you claim to want to help with. So this is either a very badly-planned trap, or you’ve arrived illegally, possibly from another world…?”

It was a long shot, but Anon stiffened when she mentioned another world, and Tikki whispered that he was nervous now.

“You wouldn’t make a half-bad detective, yourself,” he said. “I guess another world isn’t any stranger than what you’re dealing with daily,” Anon sighed. “Yes, I’m from another world. In my world, we often face issues like you’re dealing with, and my father is the head of a team that deals with them. I’ve been training since I was young, and I have my own team. Those are my credentials.”

“Did you come through that bright void in the sky that occurred during the akuma attack this afternoon?” Ladybug asked.

Anon nodded. “I was looking for my little brother’s dragon bat, and then I saw the void in my world, so I went to check it out, because, Detective, and then I got sucked in here. I think Goliath is here somewhere.”

“Goliath is your brother’s dragon bat? Is it kinda red and furry and looks like a gargoyle?” Ladybug inquired with interest.

Anon nodded again. “That’s him. You’ve seen him?”

“Just when he came through the void-thing. I thought he was part of the akuma attack, but he just flew away and I had my hands full, so I have no idea where he could be now.”

Chat crept around Anon’s back, letting Plagg get a full impression of him.

Ladybug called Rena Rouge over and requested she also detransform so Trixx could act as a lie detector, transforming into Ladybug so their defences weren’t lowered dramatically.

Rena stalked around Anon. “Do you plan to double-cross us?”

“No.”

“Are you working for Hawkmoth?”

“No.”

“Have you lied to any of us about anything?”

“No.”

“Why do you want to help?”

“Because I inherited my dad’s gene for butting into other people’s business, especially when it involves villains.”

Chat chuckled, modifying a pole dance move as he watched Alya’s interrogation and Anon’s straightforward answers. “Your dad sounds like the opposite of my dad. He only butts into my business when he thinks I’m ruining his image.”

“Move, Catboy, I’m the bad cop here,” Rena gently pushed Chat out of the way.

“Are you easily corrupted by power?”

Anon chuckled lowly. “Quite the opposite. I was dunked in a pit of glowing green goo that tried to make me mad for blood and go completely insane. I’m quite accustomed to pushing out unwanted mental influences or evil powers drawing me to the dark side.”

Chat pushed Rena out of the way considerably less gently than she did him. “Glowing green goo? A Lazarus pit??”

Anon stared at him. “You know about those?!”

“My kwami does. He helped create them. But…you have them in your world? But no Miraculous?? How…”

Anon shrugged. “ I  don’t know. Any other questions to determine my sincerity and goodness? Maybe a blood oath binding me to never double-cross you sounds good?”

Rena and Chat exchanged considering looks.

“I was joking,” yelped Anon, raising his hands defensively.

Ladybug swung back over. “My kwami thinks we can trust you. If you let us down…just remember  you’re  in  our  world now, and our Miraculous can make you disappear without a trace, and there’s no one in this world to go looking for you..”

“Got it, ma’am.”

“Oh, one final question: you’re Jason, aren’t you?”

Anon looked at her piercingly, green eyes glowing under his hoodie. “Yes.”

“Mari told me about you; we’re pretty close. And a suspicious person she talked to came up in our conversation, naturally,” Ladybug hastily explained.

Jason smirked. “Naturally. It wasn’t the hot guy she ran into who was the best big brother looking for his kid brother’s toy?”

“Of coUrsE noT,” squeaked Ladybug. “We have different tastes in guys, anyways.”

“So Mari thinks I’m hot, but you don’t? Or you think I’m hot, and she gave me a 3/10?”

Rena and Ladybug gave each other a deer-in-the-headlights look.

Chat grinned, canines gleaming. “Oh, he’s good, Bug. I like him.” He held out his fist for Jason to fistbump.

Ladybug glared at Chat, then Jason. “I refuse to answer on behalf of my friend.”

Chat coughed into his hand. “Coward.”

Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around his baton, yanked so that he’d tumble from his acrobatic show-off, and turned back to Jason. “So, if you’re world-jumping, I guess you don't have a place to stay, huh?”

“Nope. I’m a former street kid; I’ll survive.”

“We have a place you can stay if you want.  Don’t  tell anyone about it.”

“Sure,” he agreed easily.

~~~~~

Ladybug showed him to the safehouse they’d had waiting, just in case any of the Team’s identities were compromised and they couldn’t return home or to the Team’s base.

A camera was installed in the one-room apartment, and the barest of necessities were left in the cupboards.

“One of us will be by in the morning to bring you to the base and get you started on your detecting. Here’s a burner with the Team’s numbers installed if you need something. Good night!”

“Thank you, Ladybug. Sleep well!” he waved her off, and she yoyo’ed home, considering the changes that would happen in the coming days.

~~~~~

Ladybug showed up bright and early to show Jason to the base before she headed off to uni for her 8 a.m. class.

Pegasus opened a portal from the Base, and the duo stepped directly through, eliminating any need for secrecy or division; there was no way that a portal would allow Jason to guess where their base was.

She let Chat and Pegasus take the lead, introducing Jason to the tech–which thankfully was similar to what had been developed in Jason’s world, so he picked up how to use it fairly quickly– and their suspicions of who could be Hawkmoth, et cetera.

~~~~~

After uni, which was thankfully only a half day that day, Marinette headed back to the Base, curious to see what progress, if any, Jason and the Team would have come up with.

At the last second, she remembered to transform and popped in through the window.

What she saw was not what she expected.

She’d been imagining them clustered around the computer setup, typing away or maybe stretching after hours of tracing leads.

Instead, she was greeted with the not un-welcome sight of Jason and Chat, shirtless and glistening in sweat from their spar.

The workout space on the far side of the Base had caught Jason’s eye as soon as he walked in, but he’d headed straight for the research part of the base.

Marinette supposed Adrien had taken advantage of Jason’s need for a break and coerced him into sparring with him. (She suspected Adrien had a bit of a boy crush on Jason, which she didn't blame him for. She might have a teeny bit of a crush, too.)

The two were having a break, guzzling water in that stereotypical jock way of squeezing water from the bottles into their mouths, the missed droplets joining the sweat drops as they trailed down their bare chests.

Marinette gulped, then remembered she was Ladybug. “Having fun, boys?” she purred, walking up to them with a calculating glint in her eye, watching Jason as he turned to face her.

“Yeah, Jason was showing me some of these moves he picked up from some trainers he had,” Adrien answered, bouncing over to her excitedly.

She pushed his sweaty locks away from her in disgust. “You reek; go shower, kitty.”

He pouted but sniffed himself and agreed a shower was probably for the best.

“So, you’re not just a pretty face or brains, you’ve got brawn, too.” She eyed Jason.

“The whole package,” he agreed with a sunny grin. “Would you like to spar with me?”

“Why not, I’m already in uniform,” she agreed. “Gimme a minute to warm up.”

Once she was sufficiently limbered up, she followed Jason onto the sparring mats and squared up.

She danced around him, trying to figure out his styles and cursing herself for not making Jason and Adrien fight in front of her first, so she had more time to study him.

He was a solid fighter, not giving her an opening even as he darted out to attack her…he was awfully light on his feet too.

Deciding first-hand experience was the best teacher, she finally dodged a swing and appeared up in his personal space, hooking an ankle around his leg and attempting to trip him up. Unfortunately for her, Jason was used to this type of attack and evaded her trap, spinning behind her and pinning her arms to her side.

She kicked out backwards for his knee and managed to clip the side, as he was slow to move out of the realm of an angry, kicking Mari.

His grip loosened, and she took advantage of his slightly bent knee to climb him and wrap her thighs around his neck, taking him down in a scissor hold.

Jason tapped out and Mari loosened her grip, letting him go.

“That was a great fight!” commented Jason, impressed. “Your resourcefulness must be a great asset in the field.”

“Thanks,” she flipped her hair behind her shoulder. “Want some lunch?”

“Please,” he followed her to the kitchen, smelling the aromas of the Dupain-Cheng bakery wafting from the bag she carried.

She laid out her offerings on the counter and motioned to the kwami hiding behind her hair to take what they wanted.

“YiKeS!”

Marinette snickered at Jason’s reaction to Daizzi. “This is a kwami. Relax, they won’t hurt you.”

“Huh,” he looked at the little pig kwami thoughtfully.

“You’ve passed the tests and Chat and my kwamis vouch for you, so we’re going to trust you, Jason,” she said, looking him right in the eyes. “Will you accept the Miraculous of the Goat, to use it only for good, and return it when needed?”

Jason glanced down at the hairclips, then back up at her. “You’ve known me for a day.”

“Well, you’re not trying to get a Miraculous, for one. We’re kinda desperate, for two.”

Jason shrugged, “Fair point,” and clipped the pins in his hair, sweeping his white-streaked bangs back. “How do I look? Is it too Harry Styles?”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Nah, you’re too bulky to be a good Harry.”

Jason gasped in mock offence, which she ignored in favour of teaching him how to use the Miraculous.

“Say, ‘Ziggy, let’s stot’ to transform, and ‘Ziggy, let’s idle’ to detransform. The power is Genesis, which lets anything you draw come to life– but it’s dematerialized when you detransform and the Miraculous Cure fixes everything, so don’t go drawing $100-euro bills or anything.”

“Got it.”

~~~~~

Ladybug and Chat Noir sparred with Bouc, training him in acting as a member of the Miraculous Team while he took a break or let programs run on Max’s computers.

He was plenty well-trained before he transformed, but with the added abilities the Miraculous lent him, he was a force to be reckoned with. Ladybug found herself almost wishing for an akuma attack to show off their new member to Hawkmoth and warn him they were coming for him.

Finally, after Rena and Carapace brought supper (takeout) into the base for them all (Chat, Ladybug, Jason, Pegasus, Rena and Carapace, and Viper and Tigresse who’d come later) the computer program alerted Jason and Max to a hit on their algorithms.

Jason instantly dropped his Chinese and scooted over to the computers. “There is a hit! It’s someone you’ve had on your list of suspects, Gabriel Agreste.”

Chat looked at Ladybug, stricken. She scooched closer and wrapped her arm around him, Carapace and Viper joining her in comforting their friend.

Jason and Max finally looked up and noticed the sombre mood and cuddle pile. “Is…everything okay?”

Chat’s head dropped onto Marinette’s shoulder as he mumbled loud enough for Jason to hear, “Gabriel Agreste is my father.”

Jason made a commiserating noise. “That sucks. My dad worked for one of my city’s bigger villains when I was a child. He wasn’t great. If you want to talk –or punch something– I’ll be around.”

“Thanks.”

~~~

Marinette skipped classes the next couple of days and spent her time formulating attack strategies with Jason and comforting Adrien, who was cycling through the 5 stages of grief.

Jason taught her how to plan the perfect heist, but they eventually decided they needed to unmask Hawkmoth in front of Paris and show everyone that he was finally gone.

Adrien agreed to partake in the plan, and the entire day was carefully gone over, with contingencies being brought up wherever they were (and weren’t) needed, thanks to Marinette’s paranoia and overthinking and Jason’s Bat- and League-training.

Each member of the Team was thoroughly briefed on their part until each simulation ran as smoothly as they hoped it would on the day of.

~~~

Jason woke up from his nap, rubbing his hands over his face and wondering why he’d woken up. There was no danger to him here, so no spidey senses were pinging. Why had he woken up, then?

A faint blue glow from across the open space caught his attention and he rolled into a crouch silently, focusing on the light.

It was surrounding someone’s form as they leaned over Marinette, who was slumbering in front of the computers, drooling on her pencil-sketched plans and contingencies.

The form turned to him and lifted their finger to their lips.

The blue light was seeming to dim, but as his eyes had adjusted to the light levels, he was able to make out the person was in a rabbit-themed outfit that appeared to be Miraculous-given.

Vaguely recalling Marinette telling him that as long as the rabbit holder didn’t appear to tell them the timeline was wrecked, he approached the stranger.

“Are you the rabbit user?” Jason whispered.

They nodded. “Bunnyx at your service.”

“Are you here because the plan doesn’t end well?”

Bunnyx shook their head and moved away from Marinette so she could sleep in peace. “The problem is that I can’t see what happens after the battle,” they frowned. “There’ve been some major disturbances and events happening lately. I wonder if that’s affected the timeline and my ability to see what happens.”

Bunnyx glanced over at Marinette. “I can’t say too much, but before everything went wonky, I saw you and her together.”

Jason looked from Marinette to Bunnyx. “Did you see anything about my world?”

Bunnyx pressed their lips together. Finally, they said, “You get Goliath back to your world. Don’t worry about him; he’ll come back to you when you need him.”

“I wasn’t too worried; he’s League-trained. Thanks. Can you see across worlds as well as timelines?” Jason asked curiously.

Bunnyx shook their head. “My burrow only focuses on this world’s timelines. Well, this universe’s, because multiple worlds form and are changed every time someone makes a decision. Your universe is different from ours, and I can only see through things like the portal that caused this cross-universal gap.”

“You really think there’s something between Marinette and me?” he couldn’t resist asking, sensing Bunnyx was about to leave.

They nodded firmly. “I ship it, and not just as a friend. You have some undeniable chemistry that, in my opinion, you should at least test. I know you’ve felt it as you two have gotten closer together.”

He nodded, glancing over at the sleeping Marinette again. “Yeah, but I didn’t want it to just be a two-week fling like I’m on vacation, or something that happened for a month and then we never saw each other again after the portal was fixed and our universes never came in contact again. She’s been through too much, and I don’t want to play with her emotions like that.”

Bunnyx nodded understandingly. “That’s part of the reason I approve of you two. You’re a good guy, Jason Todd. I wish you luck, whatever you choose.”

A glowing blue portal similar to Kaalki’s purple ones opened and Bunnyx stepped through.

Jason pulled up a chair opposite Marinette and rested his head on his arms, studying her face.

“Are you a chemist, Mr. Todd?”

Marinette’s baby blues stared right back at him and he jumped. 

“You were awake?!”

She stretched and yawned. “Hypersensitivity. Miraculous sensing. You two weren’t  that  quiet,” she shrugged.

“Sorry.”

“‘S fine….So, are you a chemist? Don’t think I didn’t notice you avoiding the question.”

He sighed. “Chemistry and I don’t mix well; we tend towards explosions and burns.”

Marinette scooted forward, laying her hand gently over his, her eyes full of compassion. “Different universe, different rules?”

“You really want me?”

“You really want  me ?” she returned. “You might have outward scars, but most of mine are inside. Let’s just admit we’re both messes.”

“You’re not-” he started to protest, but she placed her finger on his lips.

“Think we can try to make something out of this mess?”

Jason removed her finger and pressed a small kiss to the back of her hand, his eyes full of sincerity. “I’m willing to try.”

~~~

Team Miraculous gathered in a huddle after their final simulation. By now, they had all revealed their identities to Jason to help plan their plot, and Marinette now dug into her jeans pocket to pull out an old picture of the team, the first one printed in the papers of the final team members.

“Remember this feeling? Before we realized just how bad this would become?” she asked, rubbing her thumb over younger-Ladybug’s face. “How long have we wished for this day?”

Adrien patted her back. “Too long, ‘Bug. But we’re finally getting this off the sidelines and facing the real villain head-on. This will all be over by tonight.”

She handed the picture to Adrien and leaned into Jason. “Promise me you’ll stand by me forever. All of you.”

“I promise.” Adrien, Nino, Alya, Luka, Juleka, Max, and Jason promised solemnly.

“Long live the magic we made together,” said Marinette, wiping a tear away half-formed and hugging each of her team members.

~~~

“What was it you wanted to talk about, Adrien?” asked Gabriel, sitting in the chair across from his semi-estranged son in the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

The entire plan had hinged on Adrien successfully convincing Gabriel to come out from the safety and privacy of the Agreste mansion, which he had managed remarkably innocently.

Adrien was a model, acting was what he’d been trained to do by his father, and now he was using those skills against him in a way he never saw coming.

He’d asked to see Gabriel between classes to discuss the details of his trust fund Emilie left him for when he turned 21, which would be in a few months. It was important, and he didn’t have time between classes to head to the Agreste Mansion; besides which, he wasn’t comfortable there and wanted his friend Marinette nearby for support. 

Adrien pulled out all the stops and even used the guilt card with no remorse on his end, after finding out who his father really was.

(Marinette suspected some influence from Nathalie on Gabriel’s surprisingly easy capitulation to Adrien’s terms.)

Jason and Marintette sat at a table nearby for an illusion of privacy, while also being close enough to rush to Adrien’s physical defence if he needed, under the cover of being Adrien’s emotional defence.

“We’ll work on finding you a way back home as soon as we have this whole situation wrapped up,” Marinette promised quietly, keeping an eye on the next table. “I am so grateful for your help. We would still be struggling with the issue if you hadn’t come. I don’t know what that thing was that brought you here, but I am incredibly grateful for it.”

“I wonder if B would be able to find a way for us to contact each other; he’s invented many more items for such purposes. With so many cross-world heroes to gather for Multiversal crises, we need easy ways to collect everyone.”

“You’ve told me lots about your adventures and hobbies, but not your family. What are they like?” she asked curiously, looking for the symbol Adrien would give her when he activated the plan.

“Uh, we’re all quite different, but we’re also quite similar in other ways. My oldest brother absolutely lives up to his name to those who know him, but to those who don’t, he’s an angel. Trust me when I say he’s the worst of us all for getting away with stuff.”

Adrien held her gaze and bit into his croissant.

Marinette reached out, grabbing Jason’s hand to get his attention. “Go!”

He squeezed her hand and stood. “It will work, Mari. Trust us all.”

He headed out the back door and Viper, spying from the kitchen out of customers’ prying eyes, set Second Chance.

Adrien brushed the crumbs off his fingers and stood, offering his hand formally to a fuming Gabriel, who simply stared at it in angry disbelief.

He lunged and yanked the butterfly brooch off Gabriel’s tie, turning to run out the door, but tripped over an entering Bouc, the brooch flying into the air.

Ladybug, who had ducked out to transform, came back too late to catch the small piece of jewellery, watching in horror as Gabriel caught it and put it on, transforming into Hawkmoth, who started towards the newest hero threateningly.

A purple butterfly flew towards the shadow in the sky, landing on Goliath the Dragonbat’s collar and turning him into a fire-breathing dragon, snorting angrily and flapping his bat-like wings, stirring up strong gusts of air at the civilians and heroes on the ground.

Of  course  the dragonbat showed up and saw one of his friends being threatened, becoming angry enough to be akumatized, thought Ladybug. Was this the ‘needing him’ Alix had told Jason about?

Adrien wiggled away and ducked into the alleyway to become Chat Noir, joining Ladybug as they faced the fiasco.

Alya was nearby, livestreaming the whole thing while she was illusioned to be invisible by Nathaniel, who had been temporarily recruited as a Fox holder since Alya was needed in her civilian capacity.

“Goliath!” yelled Bouc, waving to get the dragon bat akuma’s attention. “Get Hawkmoth!” he pointed at the garishly outfitted villain.

Goliath snorted and breathed a wall of flame at Hawkmoth, who stared at the flames approaching him with abject horror, standing still in shock.

Carapace threw up a shield to protect the other heroes and civilians from Goliath’s flames, though the heat and smoky smell still hit them like a wall.

Bouc carefully inched towards the blackened figure of Hawkmoth, unpinned the unharmed Miraculous, and inched back towards Ladybug and Chat Noir.

With a courtly bow, he presented the Miraculous to Ladybug. 

Still in shock, she took it, clasping her hands around it and squeezing her eyes shut. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

“Lucky Charm!” 

A trophy dropped into her hands, confetti sprinkling from the sky and raining on the gathered crowds like tiny pieces of their hope returning.

A butterfly fluttered out of the collar and down to Ladybug, who tossed her yoyo out with a flick of her wrist and captured it, “Bye-bye, little butterfly. Miraculous Ladybug!”

She looked at the glint of the sun on the gold of the trophy as it flipped through the air. “For Paris.”

The flurry of ladybugs swept over the scene, returning everything to normal (minus the abnormal sight of a dragon bat sitting in the middle of the road). 

A choked groan from the reverted pile of ash that was Gabriel alerted the Team to his rejuvenation.

Chat Noir and Carapace yanked him to his feet and held his hands behind his back, taking advantage of his lack of coordination and presence of mind.

Officer Roger, called by Juleka, arrived with a whole squad of policemen and took Gabriel into custody, reading off a long list of his wrongs (and rights, as in, Miranda rights).

Viper went with them to make sure Gabriel didn’t get away with anything, while Pegasus escorted a squad car to the Agreste Mansion to collect Nathalie and grab the Peacock Miraculous for Ladybug. There was enough evidence to prove Gabriel’s guilt beyond a doubt, especially when coupled with Nathalie’s agreement to testify against him in court.

Goupil disillusioned Alya and she immediately took charge, turning her camera to Ladybug, Chat Noir, and Bouc.

“Ladybug! Any final words to say to Paris, now that Hawkmoth has been revealed to be Gabriel Agreste –which I’m sure we all suspected at least once, right?– and taken into custody?”

“I am so pleased to announce that Hawkmoth has been unmasked and will be judged as he deserves, which is definitely thanks to our newest team member, Bouc,” she gestured to Jason, who waved at Alya’s camera. “Team Miraculous will be retiring now. It’s been a long seven years, but you can rest now, Paris. We will be setting up counselling centres, which I urge you to take advantage of, or to find a trauma therapist either here or online. More will be announced on BugOut later, so please tune in. Ladybug over and out!”

The remaining team members gathered in their base, comforting each other and celebrating their win.

Jason busied himself drafting a post for the Team’s website, BugOut, with resource links, cell centre helplines, and a summary of the Team’s achievements and members over the years for Ladybug to look over before they posted it.

Marinette herself was busy comforting Adrien, as he was finally fully free to mourn his father and all the baggage he had from that.

~~~

Marinette looked up at Jason, who had a tray in his hands.

The aroma of chicken soup drifted down to her. Adrien lay beside her, his head on her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair. Juleka and Luka were an arm’s reach away, with Alya and Nino on their other side. Max had left their comfort pile to get the final posts and links up on BugOut.

Jason kicked a pillow over to her, and she eased Adrien’s head onto it, inching out from under him and scooching over so there was room for Jason beside her.

He placed the tray down and gently pushed her head down to rest on his shoulder. “You want some soup? I made it myself.”

“How’d you do that?” she asked, voice quiet from having cried for a good half hour earlier and also out of consideration for her resting teammates. “This place doesn’t have anything more than a kettle and some granola bars.”

“I endeared myself to your parents.”

She could hear the smirk in his voice and looked up at him suspiciously.

“They were all too happy to let me have free reign of their kitchen as long as I sang your praises, which I was more than happy to do. Anyways, we’re probably going to be married off tomorrow,” he finished cheerfully, spooning some soup and bringing the spoon up to her mouth.

“Wha-?!”

She sputtered around the soup and Jason tsked. “Don’t wake up your friends, Your Grace. Don’t worry, I’ll turn the offer down. We should wait until all of this is cleaned up first,” he continued solemnly. “I don’t want you overburdened.”

Marinette coughed. “I hope you’re joking; although, this is amazing soup– I wouldn’t be  mad  if I did marry you.”

She felt Jason preen as he scooped another spoonful of soup for her. “Alfie will be so pleased to hear I followed his recipe well enough you proposed to me.”

“That’s not what I sa-” Another spoonful of soup shut her up.

~~~

A week later, Bunnyx showed up again, thankfully in the middle of the day and not the night.

“The gap is going to open again sometime in the next two days. My foresight is still a little wonky around that thing. Something very big is going on somewhere.”

“With my luck, it’ll be another multiverse-ending event,” groaned Jason. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

The next thirty–six hours were spent on as many dates as they could fit in: attending the zoo, visiting the Louvre, strolling along the Seine, baking together in the Dupain-Cheng’s kitchen after-hours, getting ice cream from Andre, following a scavenger hunt Jason had set up in the library, having a picnic on the Arc de Triomphe…

The rest of the Team members were pretty understanding and didn’t begrudge the budding couple their time together, though Jason and Marinette both made sure they didn’t ignore their teammates.

Then came the notification.

The Team members were called on to testify against Gabriel and Nathalie.

~~~

Jason padded up behind Marinette, who was rubbing her fingers along the edge of her right earring stud as she gazed sightlessly out at the moonlit view.

“Whatcha thinkin’ bout?” he wrapped his arms around her waist after getting the OK, hooking his chin over her shoulder though she was shorter than him by a good six inches.

“Adrien is going to reveal his identity as Chat Noir tomorrow.”

Jason hummed his acknowledgement, swaying to some unheard music in his head as she spoke.

“If he gets backlash for it…in his state right now…I’m probably going to have to reveal myself as well. I won’t let him go through with this alone, not after everything else he’s had to go through by himself.”

“Adrien is stronger than you think, Your Grace. I’m sure he’ll need all of our support, but he’ll be okay in the end. He does have you and the rest of the Team now, and he knows that.”

She turned in his arms and he spun her around to face him, pulling her along to follow the beat of his invisible melody.

“You think so?”

He counted the freckles dotting her face, little stars on her perfect features. “I know so. Just like I know that you’ll be okay one day, too. All of you will.”

He felt her lips on his before he realized she was moving.

She pulled away after a few seconds, suddenly bashful.

“Gonna kiss me like you mean it?” he taunted, and then her lips were on his again.

~~~

The morning dawned clear and sunny, the air was fresh, and the streets were lined with thousands of people eager to know what the outcome of the trial of Paris v Agreste would be.

A gentle breeze blew loose strands of Ladybug’s braid into her eyes, and she nervously huffed them away.

Bouc squeezed her hand reassuringly.

Chat Noir, Bouc, Viper, Tigresse, Pegasus, Rena, and Carapace followed Ladybug into the courthouse, striding confidently down the aisle in their uniforms, ignoring the flashing lights from reporters’ cameras and people’s murmurs.

Marinette couldn’t help the little bit of joy she got when she saw Gabriel in chains and guarded by two officers on the defendant’s side.

The trial began.

~~~

“And what was Adrien Agreste’s reasoning for this?” the prosecutor asked Gabriel, who was on the stand.

“We haven’t been able to find a trace of Adrien Agreste,” spoke up the aide. “There has been no activity at his apartment for days and no one has seen or heard from him or his friends.”

Chat Noir stood and raised his hand. “Permission to speak, Your Honour?”

“Yes, Chat Noir.”

“Claws in.”

Ladybug immediately stood beside him, calling “Spots off.”

“Let’s rest.”

“Let’s idle.”

“Scales rest.”

The rest of the Team stood and called their transformations off, revealing themselves as regular civilians Adrien Agreste, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Max Kante, Nino Lahiffe, Alya Cesaire, Luka and Juleka Couffaine, and one unknown dude.

Gasps filled the room and the reporters’ flashing lights started up again, brighter than their transforming glow.

“I am Adrien Agreste, and my friends and I are the Miraculous Team.”

“No,” whispered Gabriel. “No.”

The crowds in the gallery erupted into chaos at the revelation from the hero’s mouth.

“Order!” The judge banged his gavel, but Marinette could tell even he was surprised at the soap opera-worthy plot twist and dramatic revelation.

The crowd eventually quieted and the trial continued, with both civilian and heroic identities being called upon as needed. The temporary holders were also called for corroborating testimonies, such as Rose Lavillant as Pigella and Chloe Bourgeois as Queen Bee.

The judge called for a break and Jason turned to her, holding her hands in his. “You’re doing great, Your Grace. The onlookers have been tame so far, let’s hope it continues to be so neutral or positive, yeah?”

She nodded, leaning forwards to rest her forehead on his shoulder.

“When you go back to your world, can I come with you?”

~~~

The crowds did not continue to be so neutral/positive towards the Team’s identity reveals.

The next day on their way to court, they passed throngs of people divided in their reactions.

Many, especially those who had known one of the Team’s members, were on their side, their rage only burning hotter against Gabriel for fighting children–his own son, even if he didn’t know that.

The Miraculous glamour had kept people from guessing their true ages very accurately, but now that they were revealed and people had done the math, they were not happy.

Others were against them, questioning who had let kids have the Miraculous to fight an adult, why the teenagers hadn’t found someone else or turned them in, or a thousand other things. Everyone had a piece to say and did their best to make it heard.

Marinette had been doing her best to be optimistic, hoping that people would support the Team when the truth came out, but with so many people (even though they were the minority) criticizing and questioning them and going back to fight footage and picking apart every decision and action she and the team made, she got quieter and more withdrawn and less Ladybug-like.

Now that Ladybug and Marinette Dupain-Cheng were one and the same person, the mask did little to help her, in her mind.

“It’s okay, Your Grace. I’m here, and you are Ladybug, even if they know that, don’t let them get to you.” Jason leaned over to whisper in her ear before the judge arrived.

She smiled and tried to slide the Ladybug persona back on.

It felt like she had been on top of the world, riding the high of the people’s praise as they now had someone they knew to thank for Ladybug and the Team’s services, and now she was worse than nothing, being questioned for every little thing she did. Being a leader wasn’t all glamour like the media portrayed, she thought glumly. 

~~~

Gabriel was sentenced to life in prison.

The Team walked out, accosted by hundreds of flashing lights and reporters yelling questions.

The storm of questions was replaced by dark, green-tinged clouds and a brightly glowing tear in the sky, the wind picking up and turning into storm-strength gales rapidly.

Jason looked at Marinette.

Marinette looked at Jason.

They stood under the gash, the shadow of Goliath appearing as he rapidly approached, called by a special dragon-bat whistle that worked similarly to a dog whistle.

Jason grasped the harness dangling from Goliath’s tack and put his arm around Marinette’s waist. 

“Before you go, promise me one thing,” she said, raising her voice to be heard above the sound of the wind.

“Anything,” he said instantly.

“If you can’t find a way for us to meet again, show your future kids these pictures and tell them about me. Don’t forget me, Jason,” she kissed him desperately, holding him as close as she could.

“I’ll never forget you, Marinette. I’ll find a way to get back, I promise.”

With one last slow kiss, Jason swung up onto the specially-made saddle and flew through the gash, which closed behind him and sealed up with a bright green flash.

It was only as she was sadly turning away, ignoring the confused reporters’ and bystanders’ questions, that she was struck with a horrible thought.

What if the gash opened into a different world?

~~~

“What happened next, Maman?” asked a sleepy Felicia, her eyes blinking very slowly.

Marinette smiled down at her daughter. “What do you think, mon coeur?”

“Jason came back and they got married and lived happily ever after?”

Her smile turned a little wry. “No, he did not.”

~~~

Marinette went on with her life, avoiding reporters, supporting Adrien and her other team members, finishing her uni courses, turning down book deals and modelling gigs and interview requests and overeager fanboys, helping Nooroo and Duusu heal, and gradually things went back to normal.

What was normal, though? She couldn’t remember.

She had been twelve when she became Ladybug, eight years ago. She’d never experienced a year of high school without the added pressures of heroing, she’d never skipped a class simply because she could or for a mundane reason like her boyfriend being in town, she’d never she’d never she’d never.

What she did do was sign up for all the therapy, support her friends in their healing journeys, spend time with her parents, who were all too relieved that her days of being a hero were over, and completed her year of university with the highest grades she’d gotten in years.

She also filled countless notebooks sketching memories of Jason, her and Jason, outfits that she thought Jason might like or wear, Jason’s face, Jason’s eyes, Jason’s hands…

~~~

“And then what did you do, Daddy?”

Jason smiled down at Sebastian and his sleepy question. 

“I went back home with Goliath. Apparently, time works differently in different universes and I was only gone for a week in my universe.

“I told my family some of my story, and I asked your Great Aunt Diana for some help. She’s had lots of experience with strange things like this.”

“And?”

“And she did have some help. Apparently, she’d been contacted by an old acquaintance –that means a person she knew of– recently. The Ghost Zone, the place where all the ghosts live, had recently got a new king, so some of the bureaucracy was acting up a bit for him and things weren’t proceeding like normal. But once the King got some help and set some rules in place, everything got fixed up nicely. And so I begged Aunt Di to get me a visit with the Ghost King, and he was very nice and explained that the Ghost Zone was very, very big; so big that my universe and Marinette’s both touched it. When our universes were close enough and the Ghost Zone was glitching, the gash opened and we were able to travel through it.

“But,” Jason lowered his voice dramatically, leaning in closer to Sebastian, “only some people could go through it. People who were exposed to something called the Lazarus Pit in my world. Your Uncle Dami grew up around it, and I got pretty close to it, and so did Goliath after living around it for years. You see, Seb, the Ghost Zone, the Lazarus Pits in my world, and the Lazarus Pit in Marinette’s world are all connected. So, I talked to the new Ghost King, a nice guy who knew how us young people worked, and he was so moved by my story that he agreed to take me through the Ghost Zone to Marinette’s universe.”

~~~

The fine hairs on the back of Marinette’s neck stood up, and she turned slowly around to see a small gash opening in her apartment.

First, a foot came through, then a leg, then a hand, then… “You’re not Jason,” she said in surprise, stopping short from hugging the stranger.

He chuckled nervously. “Surprise! I’m actually a…friend…of Jason’s. Helped him get here.”

The real Jason stepped through the gash, a big smile on his face.

Marinette launched herself at him and gave him a tight hug, almost knocking him over.

“Oof, careful, Your Grace.”

“You made it!”

“I did! Thanks, Danny.”

“Anytime, man. Call me if you lose your amulet.” ‘Danny’ waved and disappeared, closing the gash behind him.

“Who was that?”

“Danny Phantom, King of the Infinite Realms. Apparently, the Ghost Zone connects our universes.”

“King of WHAT?!”

~~~

Once they had happily reunited and caught up, Jason explained what he had found out about their situation.

“Danny is really nice, and he gave me these amulets that will let us travel through his Zone as his guests, basically, even though we’re just using it as a highway. Someone I know is going to make teleporters of some type for us so we can eventually make a quicker trip, but it’ll work for now. The only problem is that to traverse the Zone, we have to be ghosts or exposed to its energy for a long time.”

“I wonder if being around Plagg’s ring would have the same effect? Because he’s connected to this place somehow. Oh, and there were all the times I died in a fight on alternate timelines. I wonder if I was dead long enough to count?”

Jason stared at her.

“I do not know how to answer that question, Your Grace.”

~~~

Jason pulled the old, tattered picture out of his pocket. “Here is Mommy as Ladybug, in the red, or as you might have heard, Marinette. You call her Mommy, I call her Your Grace… She loves you very much, and she is so proud of you and how well you’re growing up, her little prince. She wants you to shine as bright as the sun, and get a good night’s sleep so you’ll be all rested and sunny for tomorrow.”

Soft, even breaths told Jason that Sebastian was asleep, and he quietly crept out of his room, soundlessly closing the door and meeting Marinette in the hallway as she exited Felicia’s room.

“Seb asleep?” she whispered.

“Yep. Felicia?”

“Dead to the world.” She gave him a quick kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

~~~

She couldn’t sleep that night and wrote two new songs. Maybe they’d debut at Christmas? Fairy was giving a concert for charity in partnership with the Thomas and Martha Wayne Foundation then…. which could work, get more sales and increase the appeal. 

At two a.m., she called Penny and Chloe to discuss the topic and listen to her demos.

After Penny ended the call, Marinette portalled Chloe to her home. 

“I met my soulmate again, Chlo! His name is Damian Wayne, and he’s…perfect, so far.”

“Um, do you have a picture of him, Maribug?”

“I got one of him for reference, in the suit I’m making him, so I know where to put the embroidery. Does this work?” Mari handed over her phone to her bestie/manager.

“His brother is Tim Drake?”

“Yeah, he ordered Damian a jacket last Christmas.”

“Mhm. Of course, your soulmate is a Wayne.”

Marinette flopped against the back of the sofa. “I knowww. I was hoping there were two people named Damian Wayne in Gotham, but then he told me his brother was Tim Drake as he was leaving and then he just left me with the fact that my soulmate is American Royalty!”

~~~

“Hey, Demon Spawn, we’re going to a concert on the 21st,” Jason informed Damian.

“Can't come; I’m busy.”

"But it’s Fairy performing! You know you like her music, and she’s singing two new songs for the first time, too,” Dick wheedled.

“Sorry. I have plans.”

Plans to be with Fairy .

~~~

Marinette had told Damian she was Fairy when she presented him with the suit and mask and asked him to be her date/bodyguard to the concert. 

He accepted, of course, and reported that the Waynes still had no idea Damian was dating anyone, or had a soulmate. Everything was going perfectly according to plan…

~~~

Time/Wondrous time/Gave me the blues and then purple-pink skies

December 21 came.

Damian left Wayne Manor at 3:30 so it wouldn’t be suspicious. He headed to a cafe, made sure he’d lost any tails, then headed to Mari’s house.

Chloe was there, dressed in a white MDC with gold detailing and embroidery, fitting for the season.

Damian changed into his suit, which was a crisp black, done in the style of Jagged and Luka’s rocker suits, but with the eccentricity toned down. His shirt was black and his tie was black, but gold embroidery sparkled and wound throughout the tie and suit edging.

It was a stepping stone to more creative suits that Mari had in mind for him.

(Chloe handed him a comm, which he put in his pocket.)

It was comfy, and hopefully, as something he wouldn’t normally wear, it would throw his family even further off his track of acting unusually.

Marinette descended the stairs, wearing an ethereal white cloud of tulle. Silver and gold embroidery graced the form-fitting bodice and layered lacy tulle sleeves hung to her elbows. The skirt could rip away to show the white jumpsuit pants underneath.

She wore a gold chain with a small diamond pendant and her Ladybug studs, disguised as gold-clasped garnet drop earrings.

Her mask was a matte white domino with intricate gold swirls extending from the forehead and cheek lines.

A bold red lipstick finished off Fairy’s look. Her waist-length curls swung freely.

Damian picked his jaw up off the floor and took her hand, pressing a kiss to the back. “You look breathtaking, ya nafasy."

At the concert venue, Mari ran through the sound check and vocal warm-ups while Chloe made sure her dressing room was off-limits. Damian and Chloe put their earpieces in after Marinette tuned them to her channel.

During the concert, Damian waited in the wings with Chloe. He noticed his family in the reserved seats with backstage passes to meet Fairy after the concert.

He warned Chloe and Marinette as they waited in the dressing room once it was over.

After five lucky people had met Fairy and gotten a (charmed) autograph, the entire Wayne family minus Bruce and Damian filed in. (Cass was back from Hong Kong for the holidays.)

“Hi, guys, I’m Fairy! How are you doing?”

“We’re great! The concert was amazing!! Dick Grayson, huge fan of your work.”

The family nodded in agreement.

“Aww, you guys are the best. I’m always blown away by how much you Wings love my work. So you liked it, good.”

"Tim Drake,” He shook her hand. “Your new songs are amazing! What inspired the second one?”

“I met my soulmate last October, and then I wrote that song the night we formally met.”

After a short conversation with each member of the Waynes, Fairy introduced them to Icarus, her soulmate and bodyguard (aka their little brother, Damian).

They never suspected a thing.

Once the next ten people passed through, Damian, Marinette, and Chloe drove back to Mari’s house to relax. After a cup of tea Wayzz had freshly brewed, Damian headed back to Wayne Manor.

He snuck into the Batcave, changed back into his civilian clothes from his suit, and waited for his siblings’ exuberance to spill down.

~~~~~~

February fifth, Damian collapsed on Marinette’s sofa in the back of Lucky Charms.

“Father suspects something; I know it.”

“How?” she looked up from pinning a suit together.

“He gave me the Spring Gala to plan. He knows I would never allow it to be a failure, but it takes weeks of planning to accomplish, which means I cannot sneak away for hours to see you.”

Marinette immediately switched to planner mode. “I can help, and I’m sure Chloe would be thrilled to be her bossy self in charge of things. She and Penny have lots of contacts and know the best places to get good deals. Entertainment….Fairy can sing, maybe? When is the Gala?”

“Whenever I choose. Sometime between April and June.”

“Perfect! My second album is coming out in July, so I could perform a couple new songs again, get the Wings hyped, and I bet you’d get great numbers of attendees if I announced I was revealing my music video at the Gala. Oh, speaking of, will you play my lead?”

“Anything for you, ya nafasy . Which song are you turning into a music video?”

“You know the one I played for you last week? Still haven’t named it– maybe you can help– but I’ve got all the scenes filmed in my head.”

“Oh, the one that sounds like this?” He hummed a few bars.

“Yeah, that one.”

“Can I have a copy of the lyrics?”

“Tikki?”

The ladybug kwami produced a sheet of paper with the lyrics Mari had finalized.

Damian read it over while Marinette completed her sewing.

“Mmm…Searching for You?” he suggested at last.

“I like it! What do you guys think?” She turned to the kwami.

“It fits very well, Marinette. We approve,” Tikki winked at her chosen. They’d had several long discussions about Damian.

“Thank you, ma lune. Did anything else interesting happen today?”

“Grayson crashed into Brown mid-grapple while they were on patrol. I’ll send you the video.”

“Ha! That’s like, the fourth time this year!” Marinette cackled as she watched the footage from the mask cams play out on her phone.

Damian had approved her security before he shared videos of the Bats with her, but she had high-security software on all her tech, thanks to Max helping her.

~~~~~

And it's cool/Baby with me/And isn't it just so pretty to think/All along there was some/Invisible string/Tying you to me?

May 16th was the Waynes' annual Spring Gala.

None of the Waynes & co. could find Damian.

“He’s probably checking that everything’s going smoothly at the hall,” said Bruce to Jason as they tied their bowties.

“He’s taken planning it quite seriously. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.”

Jason gasped in shock. “B! You almost sound sentimental or proud. Are…are you… showing emotion ?”

The assembled Batclan hooted in laughter as Bruce glared unheatedly at Jason.

At the Gala hall, there were still no signs of Damian. The Gala started at 7:30, and now it was 7:20, and still no sign of the host and organizer.

On the plus side, none of his danger signals had gone off. Where was he? He had to officially start it.

Of course, Bruce or one of the others could step in, but it would be strange that the one who had put it together didn’t show up.

Five minutes later, a white limousine pulled regally up to the red carpet stretching from the street to the door of the entrance hall.

The Waynes stood in a cluster by the foyer, waiting for their missing member.

The chauffeur hopped out and opened the door of the limo.

A tall, black-haired young man stepped out, then leaned back in to offer his hand to his date. 

She had dark hair piled into a chignon, emerald earrings and necklace, and dainty silver strappy heels. Her dress was a pale lavender silk ballgown, with deep embroidered pleats and a plunging V-neckline to the bedazzled waistband. A layer of fine white silk filled the decolletage and trailed into airy sleeves. Her lips were red and she wore a purple mask with pearls trimming the edges.

“It’s Fairy!” Dick patted Babs’s arm excitedly.

The couple turned and glided up the carpet, where they lightly bowed to Bruce. 

“Father.”

“Mr. Wayne.”

Damian wore Icarus’s suit, but in silver, this time, and his tie was lavender.

After a quick speech and answering a few questions from the media about the Gala, he declared the party to have begun.

Fairy leaned around his arm as they entered the Gala hall to smile and wave at his family.

“Damian is my date since my soulmate is busy.”

“How do you know Fairy,” hissed Jason at his youngest brother. “Is that an MDC suit?”

“She introduced me to Fairy.”

After the dinner and some speeches (which thankfully didn’t go on too long), Fairy stepped up to the stage.

“Hello, everyone, it’s nice to see you! I’m Fairy, your entertainment for the night. I apologize in advance if I’m not entertaining.” She paused for the chuckles. "You’re in for a special treat tonight. My newest single, from my upcoming album, has been made into a music video. And you all get to watch its premiere! Without further ado, Searching for You.”

On the large screen behind her popped up a black background with white lettering. “Searching for You" by Fairy (ft. Damian Wayne).”

It quickly blanked out and the MV began.

Fairy was dancing alone in different places around the world, as she sang the first verse and chorus.

The tempo picked up for the second verse and became a livelier melody as she met her soulmate, played by Damian. (They activated their soulbond but just let the audience assume it was CGI/special effects.)

The second verse and chorus were spent together in one spot as days and nights passed by. Damian’s harmonizing and the third verse sounded beautiful as it showed his conflicted feelings about the bond.

Then Fairy picked up the bridge and fourth verse, which they sang together as they wandered the world.

Half the time the Waynes spent watching the video, and half they spent staring incredulously at a nonchalant Damian, then back to Fairy.

Once it was over, Fairy returned to the stage in a performance outfit, ready to sing some of her other songs.

The Waynes huddled around their youngest member. “What did Fairy’s soulmate think of you doing that, and then being her date?”

“Icarus? There’s no need to worry. He and Fairy are quite secure in their relationship. I checked–he is 100% okay with it.”

The family turned back to their favourite performer, not wanting to miss her performance. They could always grill him more at home.

~~~~~~~~~~