#maribatoctrp21

Soon enough it become a drinking ground for all the rouges, and that caught the attention of the city’s new vigilante, who to most, was still just an urban legend.

Once, after Marinette had closed up for the night, the lights in her bar started to flicker, causing the shadows to jump around, there was no noise, other than her own breathing, but she knew someone else was in the bar with her. She silently unhooked the gun from under her bar and held it up.

“Who’s there,” She shouted, pointing her gun around, ready to shoot. “Show yourself!”

A shadowy figure moved from one of the corners and came into the still-flickering. Marinette coaked the gun back, as now it was ready to fire. “Who are you,” her voice was low, and sounded dangerous, even to herself. But in truth, she was terrified. Who wouldn’t be? There was a demonic creature in her store, and she was pretty sure this is how she’s going to die. Damn, she really didn’t want to die in a bar, even if it was her own. Kwamis, did she wish she brought one of them with her. Tikki or Wayzz would've been able to help. Hell, even Trixx or Plagg with her would’ve helped.

“Ma’am, please put the weapon down,” The demon’s voice was low and rough, just as one would expect from a creature like this. The demon walked further into the light, which had finally stopped flickering. Marinette resisted the urge to sigh of relief. The ‘demon’ wasn’t actually a demon. Just someone dressed as a bat. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to ask you some questions.”

“Not until you answer mine. Who. Are. You,” She said, the gun still pointed towards him. Just because he wasn’t a demon, didn’t mean she was just going to drop her guard. She’d seen the type of damage normal humans can do.

The person sighs and before she knew it, they had kicked the gun out of her hands and trapped both of them behind her back. Marinette was startled but refused to go down without a fight. She maneuvered her hands and arms until they were out of the person's grasp, and proceed to kick them in the gut.

The person was surprised, but also refused to back down. After minutes of fighting, the person ended up on their back on the floor, and Marinette on top of their chest, her knees on either side of them, as she held a knife to their neck.

“Now, answer the damn question, Spooky! Who are you,” She yelled again, her hold on the knife tightening. When they refused to answer her, she pushed the knife harder. “Either you answer the damn question, or I’ll take that mask off myself, Spooky,” She rose an eyebrow. “And if I were you, I’d just fess up now.”

The person grunted and nodded towards their hands. More specifically, the hands she had incapacitated. She slowly let one of them free, not allowing the other in case they tried anything funny.

Marinette watched as the person took off their cowl, revealing the face of a slightly disheveled Bruce Wayne, aka Gotham’s local Richie Rich.

She couldn’t help but laugh. Who would’ve thought rich people like to run around as furries. The thought was quickly followed up by the reminder that Adrien was the same, but instead of a bat, he was a cat. Marinette sobered up at the thought of her old friend.

“What’s so funny, eh?” Bruce Wayne grimaced at her. She gave him a smirk.

“Nothing. Just, who would’ve thought that Richie Rich liked to go around terrorizing innocent bar owners in the dead of night. I know I certainly didn’t.” Her smile grew at his eye roll. “I always thought the rich spent their nights doing different models.”

He gave her a sarcastic laugh. “Now if your done making fun of me, will you get off?” It was only then did she notice that she was still on top of his chest.

She narrowed her eye, contemplating what she should do next. When she had a plan, she lifted the knife from his throat, and let go of his other arm, but didn’t get off of him. “I’ll get off after you explain why you're here, and why you’re wearing that,” she waved her hand from where his cowl laid next to him, to the bodysuit he was wearing,” monstrosity.”

Bruce sighed. He knew there was no way out of this situation. God, he wished Alfred was still monitoring comms, but the man had rushed off somewhere else, giving Bruce a vague explanation, right before he entered the bar. So he spilled everything. From becoming a vigilante to the suspicious villain attraction to the bar.

When Marinette seemed content with what he was telling her, she got off of him and offered him a hand up. After they were both up, Marinette went behind her bar and poured them both a glass of Japanese Hibiki Whiskey.

“So do you want to tell me why there are so many Rouges coming into your bar every day?” He asked, taking a sip from his glass.

“I don’t discriminate. They can all come as long as they follow the rules.” She stopped there, but from the way Bruce was looking at her, she knew she would have to continue. “For them, I have three rules. Rule one, no fighting each other. That rule includes regular bar fights, attacking each for any reason, and murder.

“My second rule is, that if they don’t respect me, I won’t hesitate to put them in their place. I’ve already made an example of Joker and Penguin, so they know not to fuck with me.

“And the third rule is, if they in any way, disrupt my civilian customers, they get kicked out and banned.” She quickly took a sip from her glass. “So far most of them have been pretty good with following my rules. The only one who hasn’t is Joker. But he’s no longer allowed here.” She finished with a smug grin.

Bruce looked surprised but didn’t say anything, knowing full well she could take of herself, considering how gracefully she took him down.

After that, the two of them talk for a while before Marinette closed up shop and Bruce left to finish patrol.

__

For months after that, Bruce would come in after she closed, and they’d share a glass of whiskey and just talk. It was nice for both of them. Bruce, they didn’t really have anyone he could really talk to other than Alfred, but Bruce hated having to burden the dear man. And Marinette didn’t have anyone in Gotham, other than the kwamis. All her friends and family were scattered around the globe and the kwamis, while Marinette loved them dearly, weren’t the best at giving modern-day advice.

So having someone around their own age was healthy for both of them, and in some ways therapeutic. And all the is without mentioning the fact they both caught feelings.

__

It was a cold October night when Bruce had went into the bar, as usual, but found a sight that broke his heart.

Marinette was lumped up against a wall, on the floor, two empty bottles of beer next to her as she nursed the third one. She looked at him, but it was an odd look as if she wasn’t really processing he was there.

He picked up a beer from the counter and made his way to sit next to Marinette. As he popped it open and took a sip, Marinette turned her head towards him.

“Did I ever tell you about Paris?” When he shook his head no, she faced forward again and stared at nothing. “When I was twelve, we had a supervillain, Hawkmoth. He had this power, where if you felt any negative emotion, whether it be jealousy, anger, even mourning, he’d take advantage of it and turn you into a monster that would terrorize Paris.

“We had two heroes to fight Hawkmoth. Their names were Ladybug and Chat Noir. They were twelve, Bruce. And they were fated with protecting the world.” Bruce wanted to say something. Anything. Because of the way Marinette was talking, it wasn’t the way civilians would talk about their child heroes. It was the way a child hero would talk about themselves. But Bruce restrained himself. He could tell she needed to talk about this.

“For years,” she continued. “They fought for the people of Paris, but what they didn’t know was that the heroes were slowly losing themselves with every Akuma they had to fight. They slowly started to blame themselves for each time a civilian died during a battle. It didn’t matter that Ladybug’s power would the person back without anyone but them remembering it. Both of them became depressed.

“It was awful. So many horrible thoughts in their heads every moment of every day. It got worse when they lost their only mentor and Ladybug was named the new guardian. Ladybug started to get better, though. With the help of the deities that she was responsible to protect, she got better. Chat Noir,” her voice cracked at his name, and Bruce wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. “Chat Noir didn’t. Things got worse for him because he found out that Hawkmoth was his father the entire time.

“Kwamis, the look on his face when he told Ladybug was heart-wrenching. The day Hawkmoth was defeated, his identity was revealed to the public. Everyone in Paris knew that Hawkmoth was Gabriel Agreste and they were angry. While Gabriel,” She spat his name as if it was venom. “ was taken to a secure facility where no one could get to him, his son was left to the wolves. People would go to his home, scream horrible things at him.

“One night, Ladybug just had a feeling to go the Seine. She didn’t know why, but she knew she had to. When she got there, a single ring on the railing next to a letter with her name on it. After reading the letter, she jumped into the water, but it was too late. He was gone.” There were tear tracks going down her face.

Bruce didn’t know what to say. So he didn’t. He just pulled her closer into his side and hugged her, both their drinks long forgotten.

“Sometimes,” Marinette started up again, “I feel like I can see his ghost. Like he’s still watching me, taking care of me, even after he’s gone.”

__

Adrien watched from a stool by the bar as the dark knight of Gotham comforted Adrien’s best friend and he couldn’t help but let a tear go down his cheek as a small smile formed on his lips.

She would be okay. She would be okay without him. She would be okay because she has someone who will take care of her.

“Are you ready, kid?” Plagg said from behind him. Adrien looked at him. Plagg was in human form, with black messy hair, bright green eyes, and dark skin.

Adrien looked back over at Bruce Wanye and Marinette Dupian-Cheng before nodding at Plagg.

“Yeah, I think I am.”

_

Marinette had spent all of her adulthood wondering what kind of situation would bring her soulmate to say her words.

They were not mean, or weird. Well, alright, they were maybe a bit weird, now that she was an adult. But what really got her wondering was the fact that they made no sense.

“What the hell? When did B adopt another one?” was etched on her left upper arm.

Marinette was someone that would easily think of the worst case scenario, and make it even worse. So, of course, when she first understood her words, she thought her parents were going to throw her out of their house because she wasn’t good enough.

It took a while for her parents to convince her that they would never do something like that, but they did it.

So, then, Marinette thought that they would probably not have a choice in the matter. If they died, she would be sent away and adopted. She didn’t want her parents to die!

She never told her parents about her theory, too afraid to declenche some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, like in the movies.

Middle school had been The Worst. And that certainly didn’t help when Hawkmoth, in his infinite generosity, decided to add his own category in Marinette’s ‘how my parents could DIE’ list.

But then they defeated Hawkmoth, and graduated, and turned eighteen. And her parents were alive.

Marinette had never felt so lost in her life.

She was eighteen, even if something happened to her parents, she wouldn’t be adopted. So what? Did she misinterpreted her words? How could that even be misinterpreted?

Her words made no sense.

She spent a lot of her time thinking about it but, ultimately, she never even came close to the way her first meeting with her soulmate would go.

The day started normally, she was in Gotham for a couple of days, brought here by her commision for the Waynes. It was the final fitting, so it was more informal than their previous interaction. It helped that all of the kids had somehow become sorta-friends with her.

Even the little gremlin that was the youngest, though he didn’t admit it. She knew her brownies would win him over.

It all happened toward the end of the fitting. She was standing in the middle of the living room, back to the door, looking over her notes and waiting for Cassandra, who was changing from her dress in the other room.

She heard the door open behind her, but didn’t really pay attention until she heard a voice that wasn’t Cassandra’s.

“Hey, Jay, I need your help with—” She turned around, surprised because she had never seen the man all the time she had been here the last few months. The man, a tall and good looking redhead, paused when he saw her. Only to re-open her mouth and completely rock her entire world. “What the hell? When did B adopt another one?”

The Waynes all, except for Damian who only rolled his eyes, burst in various levels of laughter. Completely oblivious to the internal crisis that Marinette was undergoing. Because what. She had spent so much of her teenage angst agonizing over her parents “unavoidable” death, imagining the worst way she would be adopted (sometimes through kidnapping) only for that to happen?!

All that time, it was just because her soulmates would mistake her for one of Bruce Wayne’s kids. Why?!

“Don’t be stupid, she is—” Jason started, only to be interrupted by Marinette scream of frustation. Everyone in the room, even Cassadra who just entered, were looking at her like she was crazy now.

But, oh boy, how she didn’t care.

“Holy shit!” She screeched, pointing her finger rudely at him. “I spent all of my teenage years thinking my parents were going to die because of you!”

The man’s eyes widened with surprise, before his lips stretched in a big grin.

“I always wondered what I would say to bring out this reaction,” he told her, still grinning like a fool before taking a couple steps toward her. “But, yeah, that’s fair. Sorry ‘bout that. I’m Roy.”

And, really, Marinette wanted to stay mad at him a little longer. There had been so much angst in her teenage years, so much catastrophizing. But he was looking at her like she was the best thing happening to him ever, and his grin was so bright and pretty. She really couldn’t bring herself to.

“I’ll be right back.” She says, gently shifting Damian to lean against Bruce. She practically runs out of the room, grabbing her phone on the way to the kitchen. Leaning against the counter, she dials the familiar number.

“So you finally remembered your Maman?” Her mother’s voice is teasing, but she can hear the slight exasperation in it. She winces. 

“Bonjour, Maman.” Marinette says nervously. 

“Don’t ‘maman’ me, young lady. You haven’t called in over a month! Just vague texts about the bakery or your cafe. Those are not the kinds of messages you send your parents, those are the messages you send distant friends.” Her mother complains with a huff. Marinette was once again glad that Hawkmoth had been defeated. Otherwise, she was sure her mother’s annoyance would be high enough to be akumatized. 

“I’m sorry, Maman. I just- do you remember when I told you I’d met someone?” She tests the waters, realizing that although she’d talked about Bruce on occasion, she’d never told her maman how serious she was about him. 

“From last October? Or have you met someone new and it slipped your mind to tell me?” She asks, her tone teasing instead of bitter. 

“Yes, from October. I- We’re going to come visit for the anniversary of Hawkmoth’s defeat.” Marinette says, her nerves skyrocketing as there’s nothing but silence on the other end. “Maman?”

“Marinette?” Her papa’s confused voice comes through and she winces. 

“Hello, Papa. Is Maman mad at me?” She asks, the tension in her shoulders dissolving as he laughs. 

“Of course not, mon chou. She told me she was going to get some recipes, but she didn’t say what for. Care to fill me in?” He asks and she smiles. 

“Do you remember me talking about Bruce?” She asks. “We’re flying in for the anniversary of Hawkmoth’s defeat. I told him that it was something of a holiday in Paris and he suggested flying home.” She adds. 

“He sounds smart.” Her papa says, and she can hear the teasing smile in his tone. 

“He is, Papa. And he’s kind, and loving. I never imagined I’d find the love of my life in the crime capital of the world.” She laughs, her face heating up with a blush as arms wrap around her waist. She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow at Bruce, who just smiles down at her. 

“Well we can’t wait to meet him! And see you again, of course.” He says. 

“Oh, um, also, we’re bringing the boys.” She blurts, biting her lip nervously as she expects his silence to rival her Maman’s. 

“Sabine! Start the cookies! We have grandkids!” He shouts instead, and she has to jerk the phone away from her ear to keep from going deaf. Bruce snorts and she glares at him, waiting for the screaming and cheering to die down before bringing the phone back to her ear. 

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng! How could you not tell us sooner? What day are you flying in?” Her mother demands, clearly in planning mode now. She glances at Bruce, raising an eyebrow. 

‘Late Wednesday.’ He mouths and she nods. 

“We’ll be in Paris late on Wednesday.” She says. 

“Then I expect you to bring your entire family here for breakfast on Thursday. The bakery will be closed for the holiday anyway.” Her maman insists. 

“I-” She pauses. Her mother was an immovable force, there was no way she could change her mind. “Yes, maman.” 

“Good. We love you, sweetheart.” Her maman says, her voice filled with love. Marinette smiles. 

“Love you too, Maman. See you Thursday.”

“See you then.” Her maman says before hanging up. Marinette looks at her phone for a minute before groaning and turning, hiding herself in Bruce’s chest. He tightens his hold on her, but he shakes lightly with laughter. 

“What’s wrong, love?” He asks. 

“They’re going to go overboard.” She mumbles into his chest. 

“How so?”

“They’ve always wanted grandchildren, and one of the ways they show love is food. The boys aren’t even going to be able to walk by the time we leave.” She says with a sigh, leaning back and glancing up at his face. He smiles and leans down, giving her a soft kiss.

“I think the boys will love this. Are you okay with it? Or-” He pauses, looking unsure. “Did I push you into something you didn’t want to do?” She shakes her head rapidly. 

“No, no of course not.” She denies. “I <i>want<i> my parents to be part of this side of my life. I’m just...scared.” 

“Of?”

“Messing this up.” She says quietly. He lets out a breath before pulling her back into a crushing hug. 

“You are not going to mess this up. If anything, I’m going to be the one to mess this up.” Bruce says and she pulls back to frown at him. 

“How about, instead of you guys trying to argue over who’s gonna mess it up, you just admit you love each other too much to let it get messed up.” Dick says, strolling into the kitchen with his arms crossed and a knowing smile on his face. Marinette’s frown falls into an easy smile. 

“I’m fine with that.” She says, looking back at her boyfriend. Bruce’s face stretches into a loving smile and he nods. 

“Me too.” 

---

“Damian, sweetheart, Plagg has to stay in the hotel.” Marinette says for the hundredth time. 

“But why?” Damian asks...again. 

“Cause M said so.” Dick says, butting in. Damian frowns. 

“But he’s family.” Damian says, bringing in a new argument. 

“My parents don’t know Plagg, sweetheart. They- they don’t know about the kwamis.” She admits, heart clenching. Damian frowns, but nods. 

“Okay then.” He says, tilting his head as he looks at her. “Hug?” He asks, and her heart melts as he holds out his arms. Sure, he didn’t love hugs as much as she did, but he was always good at reading people. More so than any other three year old she’d ever met. She wraps him up in a hug, feeling her stress from talking about the kwamis falling away. 

“Jason is finally dressed in something other than pajamas. Everyone ready?” Bruce asks, walking into the room. Marinette glances up at him and nods. She starts to let go of Damian, but he tightens his hold. She readjusts her hold, standing up. 

“Am I carrying you to the bakery?” She asks with a laugh. Damian simply nods. 

“Why, on vacation, do we have to get up so early?” Jason complains, rubbing his eyes as he walks into the room. 

“Technically, you’re on vacation til next school year anyway Little Wing.” Dick points out, ruffling Jason’s hair. Jason scowls and shoves him away. 

“Boys.” Marinette says, both of them straightening almost immediately. 

“Sorry mom.”

“Sorry, M.” 

“Come on, we were meant to be there five minutes ago.” Bruce says, voice tense as he guides everyone out of the room. Marinette adjusts Damian on her hip and raises an eyebrow at the look on her boyfriend’s face. 

“Are you nervous?” She asks. Bruce frowns and she gasps. “You are nervous!” 

“This is a big deal.” Bruce counters, still frowning. 

“Bruce, mon coeur, they’re going to love you. If only because I love you and you love me. And that’s all that matters to them.” She reassures him, reaching over and squeezing his hand. 

“Gee, feeling the love.” Jason says, rolling his eyes. Marinette snorts. 

“Maman and Papa will love all of you boys, no matter what. I’m sure they’d trade me for you in a heartbeat.” She says. She pauses as they stop in front of the bakery, the place where she grew up. She glances around at her little family, the one she hadn’t expected but would now run through hell to save. 

“Let’s do this.”

Next

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Finally standing in front of their destination, the famous Tom and Sabine patisserie, Jon took a deep breath to calm his nerves and entered the bakery with an excited grin.

As soon as they entered Jon started looking around for his girlfriend, and the now former superheroine of Paris, Marinette dupain-cheng, aka ladybug.

After a moment of looking around and not being able to find her, he slipped his glasses down his face just enough to be able see over them, and looked through the walls of the place, to find her helping out her father in the kitchen at the back.

With an even even bigger grin then before, he made a beeline towards the kitchen with Damian following close behind, but got stopped right before he could actually enter through the door by someone shouting out his name.

Looking behind him, he saw his friend and another former superheroine of Paris, Alya Césaire, aka Rena Rouge.

"Jon! Damian!" she greeted him with a hug and Damian with a nod of her head before asking "what are you guys doing here?"

"It's good to see you too Césaire." Damian snarked back drily.

Alya simply rolled her eyes "you know what I mean, Paris doesn't officially allow visitation till next week."

"I'm rich." Damian stated matter of factly.

"Still doesn't explain what you guys are doing here" Alya said with a shake of her head.

"Jonathan couldn't wait till then and insisted upon being here before the end of the week." Damian answered with a shrug.

"I wanted to see Marinette as soon as I could," jon confessed with a blush.

At that Alya looked like someone had just poured icewater on her.

"Alya, you okay?" Jon questioned concerned for his friend.

She licked her lips before answering "let's talk upstairs" and grabbed their arms without waiting for an answer.

Once they got upstairs and Jon and Damian settled on the living room couches, Alya started pacing the space between the tv and the couch they were on.

That did not reassure the pair, but before they could comment Alya took a deep breath and delicately sat on the wooden coffee table infront of them.

"Ok, so you guys know Su-Han, right?" she started

"Yes," Jon answered with his eyebrows furrowed in concentration " he's the monk that tried to claim guardianship to the miracle box."

"Yes, and you probably also know that we'd been helping him improve and rebuild the order again for a few years now," she waited for there nods before explaining further "well, by the time we managed to defeat Mr. Hawkass the butterfly man, we'd finished enough construction of the order that we were comfortable with letting Su-han manage the rest, and you know how she was always going to give up her role as a guardian since she figured the kwamis would be safer in a now magically protected secluded temple in tibet rather than in a bakery in the middle of the city with little protection." she stopped to take a breath then before continuing in a quieter voice "so after the first week Marinette decided to give up the guardianship to Su-han, and, well, you know how when a Guardian passes on their role to someone else, they lose all their memories of being involved with them for the kwamis protection?"

"Yeah," Jon said carefully "but you guys found a loophole to ensure that she would just forget her time as a superhero and guardian, and not the people she'd met and all she'd learned along the way, right?"

"Right," Alya confirmed "but we didn't think about what exactly she'd remember, right now she's pretty much the same, but the memories she lost, her brains automatically filling in for her,"

"And that means......?" Jon questioned nervously.

At that Alya stood up to pace again "that means she still remembers you, but since you two started dating after you got to know each other as superheroes, you two bonding heavily relies on her actually remembering her time as a hero," she gulped before continuing "so, she still remembers you, but for her you two only dated long distance for a while in college, before breaking up and becoming just friends."

There was a moment of silence after that.

Alya didn't say anything simply nodding her head.

"Jon, are you-" Damian started to say, uncharacteristically gentle but stopped because what he was gonna ask, that he if was gonna be okay or not, was a stupid question, possibly the stupidest one he'd ever uttered, because of course jon wasn't gonna be okay, he'd just been told that the person that he considered the love of his life, didn't remember loving him anymore.

But Jon didn't even register Damian saying anything, so caught up in his whirlwind of an emotional state right now.

After a few moments of silence, Jon reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small box, one that he'd carrying with him for months now, opening it he stared at the beautiful ruby ring inside.

Behind him he heard a quiet gasp "you were going to propose" It wasn't a question.

He nodded numbly, still staring silently at the ring inside before answering "on Friday. Friday the 13th, the day we first met."

“I’m not-” He starts, but she shakes her head.

“I insist. You are out trying to protect citizens, are you not? The least I can do is offer you a coffee.” She says, turning and walking back inside. She doesn’t turn to see if he follows, but she does hear footsteps behind her. She figures he could walk silently, if he really wanted to. After all, even though he’d been around for eight or so years, few had ever seen Batman. She hums, moving around the kitchen and starting up her small coffee pot and grabbing a few of the leftover pastries from earlier. Placing the pastries on a plate, she pulls down two cups before turning to the vigilante in her kitchen.

“How do you take your coffee?” She asks, and she swears his lips twitch slightly.

“Just black.” He says, and she grins.

“Thank goodness. One of my friends in Paris refuses to drink coffee unless it’s half cream and sugar.” She says, trying to keep the conversation light. After all, what do you say to a random vigilante? It was different when Chat Noir, or Adrien, visited her back in collège. He didn’t start doing that until after she’d helped with Evillustrator, which helped it to not be awkward. Like it currently was with her and Batman. God, why did she even invite him in? She turns and almost sighs in relief when she sees the coffee is done. Quickly filling up both cups, she passes one to Batman and then pushes the plate of pastries towards him.

“I own the cafe downstairs.” She says as an explanation when she sees his lips purse. He nods and grabs a croissant, taking a hesitant bite out of it.

“Thank you.” He says, and she just smiles. She may not want to be a hero again, but maybe it would be okay to be friends with a hero again.

---

The bell over the door notifying her of another customer makes Marinette stick her head out from the back.

“Hello! Welcome to La Petite Tasse, I’ll be with you in just a minute.” She calls, not catching the response before she’s back in the kitchen, pulling a fresh batch of croissants out of the oven. She slides the tray onto the cooling rack before tugging off the oven mitts and rushing out to the front.

“I am so sorry about that, most of my workers are also students so they have class right now. What can I get you?” She rambles, freezing when she looks up into the most attractive blue eyes she’s ever seen. The man just smiles at her, and she swears her knees go weak.

“That’s fine. Could I have... a large black coffee and a croissant?” The man asks, glancing up at the menu before looking back at her. She nods and smiles, cursing the way her cheeks heat up. Sure, this was quite literally the most attractive man she’d ever seen in person, but she was not going to fall for a pretty face. Nope. Totally not. She turns and grabs a cup, filling it up before rushing to the back to grab one of the fresh croissants. After all, they were better warm.

“That’ll be three dollars and twenty seven cents.” She says, passing the man his order. He grins and passes her a twenty.

“Keep the change.” He says with a grin before he turns and walks out. She blinks, slightly confused, but takes the change and puts it into the tip jar. That was weird, she thinks, but she doesn’t think too much into it. It’s not like she’d ever see him again.

---

She had been wrong, and she was completely okay with it. The man came in almost every day for two weeks before she worked up the courage to introduce herself and ask his name. He’d seemed shocked, but had introduced himself as Bruce. And after two weeks, she was happy to say that Gotham had started to feel a little lighter, that she was a little happier in this dark city. The bell above the door chimes, but she keeps working on filling the macarons since Mack was manning the counter.

“Listen kid, open the register and I won’t shoot your fucking brains out.” A voice says. Oh hell no. She drops the piping back and picks up her rolling pin. Peeking out, she breathes a sigh of relief when she sees it’s only one guy, not an entire group. She tosses her rolling pin lightly before catching it, familiarizing herself with it as a projectile before she actually uses it. She watches as Mack’s hands shake, obviously panicked. Letting out a steadying breath, Marinette aims and manages to hit the man in the head with the rolling pin. He drops instantly, the gun clattering to the floor. She rushes out and grabs a couple zip ties from under the counter, walking over and cuffing the man’s hands behind his back before dragging him towards the handrail and attaching him to it. She glares at the man before she remembers Mack and gasps. She rushes over, frantically checking over the girl to make sure she’s okay.

“Mama M, I’m fine. I promise.” She says, though her voice shakes. Marinette breathes a sigh of relief before crushing the girl in a hug.

“I am so sorry, Mack, so, so sorry.” She apologizes, holding the girl close. She can feel the girl shake slightly, her shirt getting wet as the girl cries. Marinette just coos softly, whispering reassuring words to her. She barely hears the bell signaling a customer ring.

“What the hell happened?” A familiar voice asks. She glances over at Bruce and grimaces.

“Attempted robbery. Would you mind calling the police?” She asks, nodding towards the landline. He blinks, standing frozen as he stares at the tied up man in the corner. “Bruce!” She calls, his attention snapping to her. She nods towards the phone again and he nods, walking over to make the call.

---

After the police take their statements, Marinette sends Mack home with the tips from the day, despite the girl’s protests.

“Sweetheart, you were just held at gunpoint. I’m not gonna let you stay here. Go home, eat some junk food and watch something funny. I’ll see you on Monday.” Marinette says, giving the girl another quick hug before watching her leave. She turns to Bruce, who had been kind enough to stay, and winces. “You’re not gonna get in trouble with your boss, are you?” She asks. He just grins.

“I was actually off today, don’t worry about me.” He says, his smile falling as he looks her over. “Are you okay?” He asks. She lets out a shaky breath before nodding.

“Yeah, yeah. I was more worried about Mack, honestly. I was in the back, but I couldn’t just stay there. Not knowing she was in danger.” She says, her arms wrapped around herself as she tries to stay calm. It was the first time she’d had an actual gun aimed at someone she cares about.

“You were quite the hero today.” He says softly, and she snorts, shaking her head.

“No, Bruce, I wasn’t. I did what anyone else would’ve done.” She says, waving him off dismissively.

“Only you would actually believe that there are still people good enough to act like that.” He says softly. She blushes and clears her throat.

“Well, did you want your regular?” She asks, moving to go back behind the counter. He frowns.

“Mari, you aren’t seriously going to open the cafe back up today, are you?” He asks and she frowns.

“Why wouldn’t I?” She asks.

“Because your store was just attacked!” He exclaims, and she snorts.

“If my parent’s bakery in Paris closed every time there was an attack, they would’ve gone out of business.” She says flippantly. He frowns, and she worries she’s said something wrong, when his face suddenly twists back up into a smile.

“Spend the day with me.” He says and she blinks in surprise.

“What?”

“I had set out to ask you on a date when I came in today, but the whole attempted robbery stopped me. I know you want to just get back to work, but what if you spent the day with me instead?” He offers. She stares at him, wide eyed, before a wide smile forms on her face.

“I thought you’d never ask.” She says. It’d be fine to have the cafe closed for a day.

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Event tag list: @maribat-october-rarepairs