#mgicivilwar2022

----

“Now, I need you to be as quiet as possible. Who here is comfortable with lying to the police?”

Seeing a few head shakes, Adrien was glad to see that most of the hostages were just fine with it.

“B-but Adrien, it’s not good to lie to the police. What if wo-“

“Then turn around!” He whispered shouted, not wanting to blow their cover, especially not because of Lila. She had already done enough as it was, just not at the expense of Marinette's life.

That wasn’t the response she was expecting, so she went  ahead and asked why, receiving a look as if she was one of the stupidest people in the room, from both the Parisians and the Gothamites.

You’d have thought that it was rehearsed- and maybe it had just been said one too many times- with how Adrien, Alix, Chloe, Kim, and Max all said “Plausible deniability,” without batting an eye. Too unsettled by everything going on, Lila didn’t bother arguing, and with a jerky head turned the other way, along with the others who didn’t want to have to lie.

----

Seeing the Joker had just ended the live stream, Marinette took a glance over where the rest of the hostages were, glad to see that they were already turned around, as there was always at least one person that was against lying, no matter what the reason was.

With a swift kick back, Marinette was dropped onto the floor. Rolling up, she wasted no time and kicked him with enough force to knock him out. It should not have been possible, considering her size, but one doesn’t go gallivanting through Paris and not gain some sort of strength. The only thing that did was give even more structure for what happened.

It was completely by chance that the Joker ended up falling out of the window. It wasn’t like she chose to stand right in front of it, and hadn’t even noticed it was there until after the fact.

Quickly analyzing the situation, Marinette went around getting things set up. Kicking up the chair and breaking a chair that had been pulled over in all of the right places, she took a step back and admired her work. Wasn’t her best work, as there was a limited amount of things to work with, but it definitely wasn’t her worst, as it still looked convincing.

“Max, Markov, could you guys delete everything from the camera from the broadcast cutting off, to up until now?”

“Already on it, Marinette! Markov said with a smile on his face. Annnnnd… done! It is 100% affirmative that in no way it can be recovered. By anyone but ourselves. I went ahead and adjusted some wires to go along.”

Taking a deep breath, Marinette focused back on everyone, “Joker tripped out of the window, right?”

Receiving a few different confirmations, it took her everything she had to hold on to the straight face Marinette had on when she heard Adrien say, “Tripped over his big ass clown shoes he wishes he could pull off.” But even then, it brought a few smiles among the rest of the crowd.

“Alright everyone!” Marinette said, clapping her hands together, “Now all we have to do is sit tight and wait for the Bat to “rescue” us.”

----

On the opposite building, Batman could be seen standing with Red Hood, looking more shocked than anyone had ever seen before. In contrast, Red Hood had an air of giddiness about him, and would bet that under that helmet there would be a smile.

“Hey, B? Can I keep-“

“No.”

“But come on, B! It doesn’t even have to be all of them! Plus, the girl absolutely fits into your M.O. Collectively, they could make the perfect mini team. Maybe even better than the Teen Titans or Young Justice. Just think about it for a bit.”

“No.”

“Fine then,” Red Hood huffed, before thinking, ``I'll find a way to get them adopted.``

----

Bonus

Hearing a few light noises on the hotel window, Marinette cautiously went towards it, pressing her back up against the wall beside the window so as to not be seen once it eventually opened. She wasn’t sure how safe these windows were for the people on the inside. While she had been assured that the glass was strong, the same may not be able to be said for the locks.

After waiting what felt like hours, a dark figure walked through, taking great care to make little noise. Lifting up a dumbbell that Kim had accidentally left inside of her and Alix’s shared room, she clocked the person in the head with it. Turning the light on in time to see the infamous Red Hood slumping towards the floor.

Backing up, Marinette caught sight of Alix’s large eyes on her.

“You are so dead,” she whispered, matching the almost silence of the room. Quiet enough to hear a pin drop. In response Marinette could do nothing but nod her head, whispering, “I know. I know.”

@mgi-events

Taglist Form

—--------------------------------

“I’m sorry about them,” Marinette said as they settled at a small table, not too far away from the watchful eyes of her self-proclaimed brothers.

“Don’t be. I am used to my own brothers being worse than them.”

She shook her head. “No. You just experience Luka and Adrien Light. You would think Luka’s the sensible one but no. He’s the reckless chaotic one when he thinks no one can see. I am sorry about them.”

“Please don’t be.”

She smiled, pulling a napkin out of the dispenser resting on the table and the pencil resting behind her ear, writing something down before tearing the piece off the napkin.

“Here. If you ever wanted to grab a coffee or dinner or just get together or talk, feel free to give me a call or send a text. I have a feeling these two will be planning our wedding whether we go out or not.”

Dick laughed, plucking the pencil from behind her ear, and scribbling his name and number on the same napkin she’d just tore a piece from, tearing that section out and tucking the pencil back behind her ear.

“Here’s mine. And I think it’s best my brothers don’t meet those two or else we’ll be married by the end of the week.”

She laughed, with a small grin. “May I be bold to mess with them a little bit?”

“Absolutely.”

She pulled her phone out, and pressed a kiss to his cheek, taking a selfie as she did so, capturing the bright blush on his cheeks.

“Thank you. It was amazing meeting you, Dick.”

“You too, Marinette.”

He watched as she left, before his phone gave a soft vibration. Looking down at it, he found himself looking at an unfamiliar number and an attachment. He opened it up to the picture Marinette took, with a sparkling heart emoji.

He smiled, quickly saving her in his contacts and shooting a quick text.

Dinner?

He glanced up towards her table watching her try to keep the ring pop away from Adrien and Luka who kept trying to “examine it,” losing the battle when she checked his text.

I’d love to

Saturday at 7? I’ll pick you up?

Sounds perfect

I’ll see you then

Can’t wait

Me either

He grinned, humming to himself as he walked back to his car, already excited for the weekend and ready to put up with his brothers and the video he knew they would have somehow obtained.

He took a deep breath before entering the manor to face the hoard of siblings he knew were waiting to ambush him as soon as he opened the door. His phone vibrated right as he opened the front door with a short text from Marinette.

I’ll bring dessert

To Love Again

When Marinette was 18 she needed to reset her whole life. Her parents were gone, an unfortunate car accident. Her partner, her former lover, her soulmate designated by the miraculous, her star in the night sky, Adrien was gone. His choice to leave was necessary; she entirely understood his choice. They brought out both the best and the worst of each other, a painful consequence of their disposition towards the miracle of creation and destruction. He needed to heal on his own, on his own two feet alongside his newly revived mother.

Seeing the city of love pass by her day by day on her own created a hollow space in her heart, and she needed out. Even she was not entirely sure why she chose Gotham, USA of all places. Jagged Stone had warned her of the dangers that lurked around every street corner. It would prove to be a place where her heart could finally heal, love, and be loved.

She was not expecting to find any romantic love in Gotham when all of her endeavors failed in the city of love itself, but the more she spoke to Robin the lighter her worries felt and harder she fell. Watching him fall in love with an unnamed civilian was a torturous pleasure.

Damian would meet Ladybug at her first official meeting with Justice League America (JLA) after her transfer from Justice League Europe (JLE) just a handful of weeks from when he met Marinette. Months down the road, at times he would wonder if he had met her first, if he could have loved her back.

Marinette had met Robin as Ladybug a few weeks into her Gotham centered life, and boy had she fallen fast. To her he was everything she was not and more. Robin was calm, confident, and collected; a natural born leader. To her Robin was much like herself as Ladybug, but unlike her Marinette side she figured out of the mask he was much more put together than herself.

They slowly got closer as she joined his team on more and more missions. Their conversations slowly shifted from battle techniques to memories of their favorite moves, and eventually towards their personal lives. They obscured as much as they could, redacting names, locations, and specific details for the sake of privacy. As he spoke about this girl from his university who held his heart in the palm of her hand, she could not help but envy the girl who put the look of utter admiration on his face.

Robin once asked her about Chat Noir; why he was no longer in her life. At that time the always strong Ladybug couldn’t help but to breakdown into tears as Robin held her in his arms, platonically Ladybug would ruefully note.

Between sobs Ladybug noted, “It’s too difficult to talk about without revealing his civilian identity, but it was a lot of things. There were definitely more impactful events that brought us to a full stop, but we could not be together. No matter what it felt like us being together would be the end of the world itself.”

Robin’s brows furrow together beneath the domino mask. He didn’t quite understand how she could come to that conclusion. “Isn’t love supposed to be good? Isn’t it supposed to save?”

Ladybug let out a soft sigh as her breathing evened out, “Sometimes Robin, sometimes love just isn’t enough. You loved Raven right? But your love wasn’t enough for her.”

Robin winced, his face morphing into a slight grimace at the thought of Raven galavanting about with Beast Boy on parole. “That was different, and besides…my love wasn’t enough for her, but maybe it will be for someone else.” His lips couldn’t help but softly quirk up at the thought of his budding relationship with Marinette. “Though I can’t imagine your love not being enough for someone, Ladybug. You are a hero who loves with your whole chest, you are Ladybug the savior of the city of love itself. I’m a boy who lurks in the shadows of his parents.” “You are so much more than that Robin!” Her eyes flooded with tears quickly met the white mech of his domino mask. She held back a sob and sniffled. “But you’re right we’re both great and we are both capable of great love. We just need people who will recognize that.” Ladybug wishes she could be that person for Robin, but she knows he already has another in his heart. He is just another person she cannot have.

…

Unbeknownst to many Damian Wayne was capable of love. He had loved Rachel Roth, and unbeknownst to Damian he would love Marinette even more.

It all began the day she walked through that lecture hall door; Marinette Dupain-Cheng from Paris, France. The blue-eyed blue-haired captor of Damian Al-Ghul Wayne’s heart. From the start she was beautiful to him, Damian may be stubborn, but not blind. Looks are not enough for love, but he would soon learn there was much more to her.

The day he met Marinette was like a whirlwind. He was fresh off a break-up with the girl he thought he would marry, a woman who was now in another man’s arms. Walking out of the lecture hall, having already forgotten about the mildly cute French student he had to witness Rachel walking around with Garfield Logan draped around her. Disgusting.

“I know that look. Heartbreak huh?” The bluenette from earlier inquired from next to Damian.

“Are you mocking me?” He was startled and agitated. Where had the girl even come from?

“Nope, just commiserating.” Damian quirked his brow unamused by her response. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a fellow heartbroken student” she said with a slight crooked smile on her face.

He simply offered his name in passing to get with only the slightest glance ever going Marinette’s way. “Damian.” “No last name?” Marinette scrunched her brows together because of his curtness.

“You don’t know? Stop fucking around.” His voice was filled with an agitation that Marinette could not understand the source of.

“I have no idea who hurt you to respond in that way, but why would I know your last name from your first? Merde, you Americans can be so self centered.”

Damian was taken aback, it appeared that she genuinely did not know about Damian Wayne of Gotham, the son of Bruce Wayne the millionaire philanthropist himself. He was intrigued enough to retort back. “Well then, Dupain-Cheng, you’ll have to earn the right to know.”

“You might have to give me a reason to.” Marinette was no longer sure if she shared the same curiosities. With one last glance she turned the corner to head to her next class.

…

Damian was surprised that she had, in fact, earned the right to know his last name. She proved herself to be a trustworthy and reliable companion overtime. Despite Marinette’s apprehension from their initial interaction she had decided that her Ladybug instincts rarely steer her wrong, and if she was initially drawn to him perhaps there was a greater reason. So she gave him another chance and totally not because she was the new loner from France.

She was a bit surprised at the realization that he was the son of Bruce Wayne, how was she supposed to know that he was that Damian Wayne! Her face paled a bit at the realization that she had offended, and still frequently teases the son of a man who has the power to ruin her livelihood anywhere in the world. Upon seeing her reaction, as if reading her mind, Damian’s furrowed brows quickly relaxed as he let out a sigh and a quick eye roll crossed his face. “No you don’t have to treat me any differently than you have. My father isn’t going to ruin your life if his son could not handle some teasing from a girl who doesn’t even reach my shoulders.”

Marinette’s pale face quickly reddened as she smacked his side. “Hey I thought we agreed not to talk about our height difference. I already know I look like a garden gnome next to you.” “I believe Todd would say you look more like a Pixie.”

…

Their conversations started off quite mundane from topics like the weather and coffee to conversations about their coursework, and eventually to matters of the heart. Damian found it surprisingly easy to open up with her, perhaps because of how open she was with her own life minus her life as a hero but he doesn’t know that yet, constantly rambling about even the smallest details. He found that he actually didn’t even mind her constant chatter. Despite how different it was from the time he had spent in comfortable silence with Rachel, he found Marinette’s rambling to be pleasant in it’s own way.

He was taken aback when his initial background check for her had shown her connection to the villain Hawkmoth of Paris. He wasn’t sure how to bring it up to her, but he knew it was something he would have to do if he was ever going to make her a larger part of his life. He definitely never quite got a villainess vibe from her, but one could never be too sure and he would never endanger his family by bringing in someone with possibly terrible intentions into their manor.

Eventually Damian had lucked out, Marinette had brought it up on her own while they were having lunch at Pamela Isley’s garden. “Do you still love her, Rachel?” Damian was a bit caught off guard, and tried his best to not choke on the flatbread in his mouth. He pushed the bread around a bit, gaze shifting around, and finally landing on Marinette whose gaze was on a fashion design assignment on her tablet. If he was uncertain of his feelings before seeing the way the sunlight illuminated her skin and brought out her freckles really did push him over the edge. “Actually..I don’t think I do anymore. At least, not in the same way. Do you still love him? Your ex.”

“Yeah, I think I still might. I met someone recently, but it will never be the same. Not in the way that I don’t think I could love again, or that no love will ever be greater, but I am not sure if I will ever stop loving him.” Damian wouldn’t care to admit it at this point in time, but his heart sank a little at her admission that she still loved him. Another part of his heart was elated at the possibility of him being her recent acquaintance.

He couldn’t get too caught up in his emotions; this was his chance to push further and appease his curiosities. “If you loved him, then why aren’t you with him? Did he leave you? You never did tell me even though you already know about how Rachel left me because she realized her love for Logan.”

“Sometimes love is not enough. Nowhere near enough actually. He didn’t quite end it, but neither did I. It was a natural consequence of a lot of things. Do you know about the Akuma attacks in Paris from the last few years? The ones that were just resolved a year or two ago?” “Of course I do, it was international news. Supernatural crime in France isn’t as common as in America. I think you’ve also mentioned it before in your tales about your former classmates.” It may have been a small lie, but Damian had seen some smaller news outlets cover it and had seen the reports on her classmates and connected the dots on his own. Marinette could be forgetful so he wasn’t too worried about her figuring out his bluff.

“Oh have I? Well anyways that makes it easier. My boyfri- no sorry my ex’s name is Adrien Agreste, the son of Hawkmoth. Of course I didn’t know this, nor did he, but the outcome of his actions that fractured us. We just…” she trailed off for a bit, “weren’t quite the same afterwards. I wanted to be there for him, but he needed time. Seeing me reminded him of all the destruction his father caused.” She wished that she could tell Damian about her double life as Ladybug and how everytime Adrien saw her he couldn’t help but think about his dad and what they had to do for the sake of the world, and how every time she looked at a ring or even smelled the scent of camembert she wanted to burst into tears.

Damian’s eyes narrowed. “Why did seeing you remind him of his father’s actions?” Damian didn’t want to question her goodness, but this statement was a bit fishy. What was she hiding? Was she an associate of Hawkmoth that went undetected? He doubted those possibilities, but it was best to leave no stones unturned. Seeing Marinette’s slight flinch he tacked on a quick “if you don’t mind sharing that with me” out of politeness. Of course he would strongly prefer it if she would confirm or deny any involvement with Hawkmoth, but he would understand if it was still too difficult to talk about.

It had taken over 5 months for Marinette to get Damian to open up more about Rachel. Anything she had learned about them prior to that was merely from her observational skills, something Damian noted was also above average, but he attributed that from her years of working with the upper class in her commission work. One had to understand how to read others in order to survive in high society, especially in Gotham.

“It's not that I directly remind him.” Marinette quickly swallowed this bitter lie. “It’s more like I remind him of that time period. He tends to avoid a lot of people from our lycee.” This was more so out of shame, but Damian didn’t need to know that. Damian nodded along. It was an acceptable answer. He should stop now, he knows this, but he can’t help himself, “do you think you would still be with him if he didn’t choose to leave you?” “Perhaps…maybe in another world where villains are just that and not people we love, where our heroes are just that, heroes.” and not kids being forced into a war Marinette mentally added. With that Damian reached across the table they were sitting at and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Thank you Marinette. I know that was hard to share.” It was a small comfort she has offered him before, and he was determined to return the favor. At that Marinette released a gentle sob that quickly turned into a river of tears as Damian rubs her knuckles and shoulders. It was a cry she could not afford after the initial fall out; feeling too guilty over her direct involvement over Gabriel’s arrest despite Adrien insisting, mostly convincingly, that it was no one’s fault other than his father and Nathalie.

That day Damian fell a bit more in love with this strong, yet vulnerable girl.

However, the closer Damian and Marinette got, the more Damian realized he was in love, and the more Marinette was convinced that she could never love him. Their circumstances and him as a whole were too similar to Adrien. She would not let herself get hurt once more.

…

The day their identities were revealed to one another was a day of emotional turmoil and utter chaos. It had been mid-battle against the crime syndicate of America. While Damian had gone toe-to-toe with some of the villains, this was an entirely new set of adversaries for Marinette. Unaccustomed to Ultraman’s lasers, she had gotten too comfortable fighting long-distance with him and was too slow to dodge the incoming lasers. While the other members of the JLA, and associated teams like the Teen Titans covered for her, Robin quickly swept in and evacuated her into a nearby standby jet that was acting as a makeshift medical wing.

As he laid Ladybug onto a medical cot, she quickly gripped his arm. “I need you to do me a favor” she let out a groan and grimaced “please.” Robin quickly grabbed both her arms and scolded her “Stay still I know you’re not used to injuries like this, but any sudden movements could mean the end of your life here. I need you to calm down.”

“I’ll be fine if you do this one thing for me.” “Now is not the time to ask for a favor, Ladybug. There is a battle out there and I need to treat you so I can go back and you can rest without dying here.” “I will be fine if you just check in my locker. The combo is 04 10 00 ,there is a bag in there and in that bag is a tablet. If you bring me the tablet I have a spell I can use to heal myself, and another spell I can use to boost everyone’s powers.”

Without another grumble Damian quickly set off to the side of the jet, making haste to ensure Ladybug would not bleed to death in the time it took to grab her bag. As he pulled out the tablet his face paled. He would know those handmade stickers, and minor dents and scratches from his favorite clumsy girl anywhere. “M-Marinette..no no…no she can’t be.” His mind was racing. She can’t be here, it's dangerous. She couldn’t have been fighting alongside him all this time. Marinette was supposed to be safe in her apartment away from the chaos and destruction, not in the heart of it all. Yet here she was, possibly bleeding to death in his family’s jet. He didn’t have time to be distracted by his thoughts. Quickly, he ran back to her. He knew he was making a big mistake, but he couldn’t let her not know, and risk facing her anger in the aftermath. He needed to let her know that he knew about her identity. Growing up in the league of shadows Damian had developed a few…unique skills. Amongst them, voice mimicry. In order to obscure his identity, he had developed a set of tones and speaking patterns for when he suited up unique from his own as Damian. He let all of that drop in hopes that this one word would let her know all that she needed to. “Marinette.” Her eyes shot wide open as her head snapped to him. “No..you can’t be. Damian? Is that really you?” When he nodded in response she couldn’t help but groan out, “Oh god not another love square!”

“A what?”

“I’ll explain later we have a fight to win, but the fact that I was in two of them? Outrageous?”

…

Marinette would not lie; knowing Damian was Robin made her love life somehow much more complicated. Sure now she knew that the guy she was enamored with held her in the same regard, but this situation was too familiar for her liking. Now she sat across from him on a jet heading back home having to make decisions.

“He was my other half Damian, but because of that we brought out the best and the worst of each other, Damian, and I’m scared. You are so much like him. What if we hurt each other? Can either of us handle becoming any more fractured?” Damian was a bit shaken at seeing this side of Marinette. To him she has always been the more emotionally open one of the two, always so brave with her emotions, wearing them on her sleeve like a badge of honor. Now here she is in near tears, running away from those emotions.

“Marinette. To be hurt by you would be an honor. While it's cliche you had once told me as I mourned my relationship with Raven that it was better to have loved and lost than to have never loved before. We have already begun to love so we might as well see it through. It could hurt, I know that, but I think we are worth any possible hurt.”

…

Marinette would find that love didn’t have to hurt, and that finding your other half could mean finding someone who balanced your flaws rather than amplifying them. It turns out that Damian was exactly who she was looking for. Adrien would always be a part of her past, and hopefully part of her future once he heals from their traumatic past, but they could not be together like she is with Damian. Damian is someone who could help her stand on her two feet instead of teetering around unbalanced. Around him she could cry unabashedly, but also be a positive force in his life. Instead of feeling like one half of a pair; she felt like a complete person.