#ml crossover

After the intense reunion and the following conversation, unforunately Jason's sister and her freinds had to say good bye and make their way back to their hotel. Jason and his siblings would've preferred to keep all six of them in the house with them but, they knew that technically the six were tourists and even though Thana was as Alley as the rest of them she was only person.

It was like losing a limb, watching his baby sister walk away from him, but he knew she was possibly one of the most protected people in this god forsaken city. Between the Birds, they really needed to come up with a new name for themselves, and her various Aunts and Uncles scattered around the city, she would be fine. Hopefully.

Jason got Damian tucked into bed, with Tim and Steph staying in that night since they had had to interact with the Parisians, before they went down into their new cave. He was lost in thought, not really thinking much about where he was going or where he was, so the noise of what could only be extra people in their cave made him stop.

Standing in the middle of the cave was six figures, dressed in what looked like street clothes, although had to be reinforced in some way. They ranged in colour, going from yellow to brown to teal to red to blue-green to purple, but looked like they fit together.

Jason was immediately on edge, not knowing who they were or how they got into the cave. He had to protect his siblings and his son, so he pulled out a gun which had been hidden in a secret compartment in the wall closest to him.

"Who are you and how did you gain access to this place?" Jason deepened his voice as he spoke, trying to make it seem like Red Hood was a different person.

"Oh Robin," the figure in purple, who seemed to be one of the shortest members of the group, seemed to not be taking this seriously, "you didn't think you could keep us out. Did you?"

That, that made him pause. The only people who knew he was Robin was his family. The only one who actually got away with referring to him as Robin was his baby sister. "Pix?" Jason was hoping and praying that it wasn't actually his baby sister. He was praying to every single deity in the multiverse, he didn't want this life for her.

"Hey Jay," she offered a cheeky grin, the same grin that got them into but also out of trouble so many times. "This is my team, I'll see if you can figure out who's who."

Jason looked over the gathered heros, seeing bits and pieces that reminded him of someone he'd met just earlier that day. "Desgracia? That's the name you chose?"

"Figured if it was the name she picked I might as well make it my own." Jason's baby sister seemed embarrassed, rubbing the back of her neck with claw-tipped fingers. Claw-tipped fingers?!

"Excuse you, why do you have claws?" Jason snatched her hand away from her neck, carefully so there was no possible way that she could nick herself even through the suit. "Don't you remember how sharp they can be even on accident? Aunt Lina would be so upset if you gave yourself scars to match mine."

The heroes in yellow, teal and blue-green snickered at that, as if they shared the sentiment. Looking at them closer, Jason could only assume the rest of the heroes were his sister's friends. "Okay, before the rest of my team gets down here, why don't you tell me everyone's names?"

The hero dressed in red, but oddly with pops of yellow, stepped up next to Desgracia. Showing a united front to the foreign, to him, hero. He smiled, a bright cheery smile the likes of which were popularized by Dick as Robin, as if to disarm him. "You can call me Monsieur Punaise."

Jason nodded, offering a hand to the other hero. "Red Hood." He offered his sister a smirk. "You just seem to surround yourself with red heroes."

Duke chose that moment to appear behind Jason with a smile. "Or yellow. Yellow is clearly her favourite colour. Seeing as how I am clearly her favourite brother."

"Hi Glowstick." Desgracia reached a hand out to cup Duke's cheek, a smile on her face. "Don't you know that it's not nice to sneak up on old people like that? You couldn't given him a heart attack."

Jason gasped, a hand dramatically pressed to his chest. "Are you insinuating that I am old?"

The yellow hero, fox themed with brown hair, stepped up to Desgracia's left side. "I am Renarde véloce, as our fearless leaders have failed to mention."

The teal hero, reptilian themed possibly, stepped up behind Desgraca, a step behind her and Monsieur Punaise. "Our people know me as Althaeban." The blue-green hero, possibly bovine in inspiration, stepped up beside Althaeban, behind Desgracia and Renarde véloce. "This is Con bò."

The brown hero, also possibly reptilian themed, stepped up to the right of Monsieur Punaise. "Sup. I'm Salihafa." She leaned against Monsieur Punaise's side, showing that even though they were heroes, this group were friends first.

Several pairs of feet sounded on the stairs, voices drifting down to them. The rest of the birds had finally figured out who was going on patrol that night it seemed.

"Here comes the calvary." Duke gave a laugh before going over to the locker room to get ready to go on patrol.

Tim, Steph, Cass and Wally came down the stairs, clearly being the members of the family going out that night.

"Is there anything going on to- hello people who are not my brother." Steph stopped at the bottom of the stairs. Her eyes flicked across the group, noting the closeness between two of her more prickly siblings and one of the unknowns.

"As far as I know," Desgracia looked at Steoh, a Cheshire Cat grin on her face, "the only thing going on in the known criminal underworld is poker night at Aunt Harley's and spa night at Uncle Ozzy's."

Tim nodded, that had been what he'd heard as well. "And how do you know this?"

"We were invited, to both events, but we chose to be here instead." Renarde véloce tossed her hair over her shoulder before glancing down at her claws. "Because Orchid decided this was the better place to be."

-*-*-*

Thana threw Chloé a dirty look, knowing why she'd chosen that name. She looked back at her brothers before looking at the other members of their team behind them. "Hi, I'm Desgracia."

"Okay, you have us at a severe disadvantage." Wally shuffled awkwardly next to Cass, as if he didn't know why he wasn't really all that upset about them knowing their identities. "You know who we all are but we don't know who you are."

"That's because our identites are hidden behind strong ancient magic which can only be bypassed by a few situations." Monsieur Punaise looked at the gathered heroes. "Granted, this isn't just our secret to tell."

"We have agents active in Paris in our absense and we can't put them in jeopardy." Con bò crossed his arms over his chest, his tail whipping quickly behind him. "If you can figure out our identities, then we can confirm them. But our fight doesn't end with just the six of us."

Thana leaned back against her boys, feeling Kim drop his left arm to better support her. Nino took a step closer to Kim, pressing his left hand to her side and tapping a slow rhythm. Chloé stepped closer to them, causing Adrien and Alix to close ranks around them. The six Parisian heroes were basically one unit at this point, offering reassurance and comfort to each other.

Jason and Duke glanced at the rest of the birds, and a Flash, before turning back to look at the Parisians. Twin grins were on their faces, mischievous grins that reminded Thana so much of her time on the streets that she just knew they were up to no good. "I don't know. It might be too difficult for them to figure you guys out."

"They are kind of bad at discovering people's identities." Jason agreed with his brother. They needed to give them a challenge, otherwise they wouldn't take it seriously.

"Oh, you're on." Tim snapped, turning to the group across from them.

Thana stood up straight, refusing the make it easy of the other group. The impromptu cuddle broke up just as quickly as it started. She knew without having to look that the other four had broken off from her and Adrien to mill about the cave.

She flashed her brothers a grin before getting a good look at the group across from them. She watched as the other group seemed so used to working together that they just seemed to meld together into extensions of one person. She hoped her team would get there one day.

Cass seemed to be observing the lot of them, seeing more than they did. Thana watched as she signed rapidly, only picking up one sign. She held her hands in loosely closed fists with her pointer fingers extended. She started the sign with her right hand pressed to the side of her face before bringing it down onto her other hand.

Adrien moved just enough in the corner of Thana's eye to draw her attention. Adrien had taken a half step in front of her before Wally could get too close.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just, crazy. I feel like I know her." Wally held up his hands in submission.

Thana shrugged, catching Cass do the same signs again and again. It didn't seem like anyone was listening to her. So, Thana walked closer to her and smiled. She wracked her brain trying to remember any of the ASL she learned. She hesitantly finger spelled out hello, before looking at Cass with an open expression.

Cass smiled warmly at her, before repeating the same signs again. She seemed to be looking at Thana expectantly before realization dawned on her face. She started over, with the one sign Thana had caught earlier before looking at Thana. At Thana's frown, Cass seemed to take a moment to think it over before point at herself, making the sign again and then pointing at Jason.

"Does that sign mean, sister?" Thana kept her voice quiet, to keep it from traveling. Cass shot her a grin before making the sign again then pointing between Thana and Jason. Thana smiled at Cass before looking around at the rest of her team. "Who do you think the rest of my team is?"

Cass seemd to study the other members of Thana's team for a moment, taking in all of their mannerisms. No matter how much they worked on it, some of their personal mannerisms came through in their hero personas.

Thana looked at each member of her team, seeing the way that Chloé stood with her hip cocked and Kim was rocking on his heels and Nino was drumming his fingers on his thighs. Adrien wasn't exempt from the bleedover, he kept running his fingers through his hair and Alix could not help but to use her throwing disks like fidget spinners.

Cass turned to look back at Thana, a gentle smile on her face. Cass started by mimicking Adrien's mannerisms before finger-spelling his name. Thana nodded, a smile on her face. Cass then mimicked Chloé before finger-spelling her name. Thana's smile grew as she nodded.

It went on like that, Cass mimicking a member of the team and then spelling their name. Thana's smile only grew, having found a way to communicate with one of her brother's sisters.

"I'm surprised," Thana leaned towards Cass, bumping Cass' shoulder with her own, "you've barely known us an afternoon and you correctly identified the members of my team."

Cass shrugged, leaning into Thana's space. As if it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Our parents barely even notice when we disappear to go to the fights." Thana nodded towards Chloé, "her parents are famous where we live. His too." Thana nodded towards Adrien.

Cass looked like she couldn't believe that, as if the idea of a parent not knowing that their child was out on the streets helping and taking down criminals was something she could not comprehend.

Thana had a realization, the knowledge overcoming her. "He's Batman? He let my sperm donor free and he let Steph's dad free. Does he even do anything in this city or is it left up to the GCPD?"

Cass watched as most of Thana's team seemed to gravitate towards her, it seemed almost coreographed with how easliy and quickly it happened. The other two members of the team were a step behind the first three, but all six of them were soon so close the lines between them blurred.

Jason took that moment to realize what had happened. He seemed to appear out of thin air in front of them. "What's going on?"

"Someone needs to take care of the damn furry before I do it." Thana growled, a deep noise that rumbled through her chest.

"We have to be strategic about it. He has friends in high places, namely the other members of the Justice League."

"The Justice League?" Adrien tilted his head as if he should know that name.

"With Wonder Woman and Aquaman?" Nino offered, a glint in his eye.

"They're allied with us." Kim seemed to surprise Jason. "Hippolyta was a Ladybug, her daughter is allied with us by default. Atlantis only stands because the Miraculous saved the people from the sinking."

Taglist:

Marinette looked down at the dolls. Chaton for his part seemed okay when not exposed to anything related to the Saja Boys. He had calmed more since learning the band was gone and had mostly returned to normal behavior. Currently, he was distracted with coloring and seemed pretty happy as long as they kept Soda Pop from playing.

Littlebug though…

Adrien was keeping Littlebug contained in his lap. And doing very well to not let her leave his lap despite her multiple attempts. They figured it was probably for the best after they caught her trying to get out of the house yet again. Apparently she was angry with the band and wasn’t happy about whatever happened to take them out before she had a chance to get to them. She was still pouting. 

Littlebug threw a wad of paper at some suspiciously themed paper dolls taped to toy bowling pins. The pins fell over with no resistance. And one in particular slid across the floor and knocked into the trunk to the Miracle Box…which after a second the side door fell open and landed on the doll, specifically smashing the face of the paper doll.

The pigtailed girl winced. Yeah, someone was still grumpy.

“And Littlebug and Chaton knew because…?”

“Because they’re magic-infused golems that feed on the same feelings demons are targeting.” Plagg answered before pausing. “Sorta? But different? Your kids are like plants that bask in the sun that is people’s positive emotions, and the demons are just eating their suns. Plants are bound to notice that.”

He paused, watching Littlebug make yet another attempt at escape only for Adrien to grab her, leaving her pouting from where Adrien was still keeping her in his lap.

“They normally don’t fight this much over it though.“

Tikki sighed and began to explain. “Gwi-ma amplifies the negative emotions of his victims and devours their souls, trapping them in that negativity. The demons he creates doing so then themselves do similarly in an attempt to fill the void he created in them. It’s little wonder that Littlebug and Chaton are so sensitive about it. They were given souls through your magic and can feel the emotions of others. But the demons steal souls and create perpetual misery in their victims. It’s against everything they are. They’re opposites.”

“Yeah.” Plagg agreed. “Gwi-ma manipulates people through negative emotions, and your kids manipulate people through positive emotions.”

Tikki glared at him. “They do not manipulate people!”

Plagg gave her a dry look. “Don’t they?”

Adrien looked down at Littlebug—which was immediately a mistake as she began looking up at him with her own rendition of the kitten eyes. Her eyes were big and dewey. Her little lip wobbled. He could practically hear the begging.

He immediately shut his eyes and looked away, much to Littlebug’s frustration.

“So should we be worried?” He asked. He didn’t doubt the Dolls could take care of themselves, but if these were demons…well, how were they even supposed to handle that?

“The barrier is back in place.” Tikki assured him. “And even stronger now since the Saja Boys’…” She hesitated, “…disappearance?”

Chaton immediately poked his head up at the mention of the band. He looked around in worry as if the demons had reappeared.

Marinette frowned, absentmindedly petting Chaton and helping to soothe him as she kept her attention on Tikki. 

“But what happened?” She asked. 

“There are hunters and groups that deal with the demons in various pockets around the world. There are different ways of dealing with them, but this one in particular is handled by a specific trio acting as an idol group—“

“Huntrix!” Daizzi cheered suddenly, making everyone jump in surprise as she appeared.

“You know them?” Adrien asked.

Daizzi grinned and flew to the computer, pulling up all sorts of articles and information about the band.

“They’re the latest of a long line of Hunters trained to fight demons!” Daizzi gushed, gesturing to the screen. “The barrier is created by music! And their powers are strengthened through the positive energy that their songs invoke in others!”

Littlebug listened intently, gathering as much information as she could. 

She was still outraged over what the Meanie Boys were doing, as well as her lost chance at getting proper sorries. If they were gone and it was because of this other sing-y group, then maybe she should get sorries from THEM instead?

It was perhaps for the best that everyone remained unaware of her plans currently, busy focusing on Daizzi and her strange knowledge of demon hunters.

Marinette tilted her head, curiously. “You sure know a lot about them.”

Daizzi puffed up, almost proud. “Of course! I keep track of the groups throughout the years whenever I can! It’s only my duty as their original sponsor!”

The humans gaped at her in shock.

She spun around joyfully. “I would recognize them anywhere! The songs and styles may change over time, but the core and power is still thrumming along! I’m so proud!”

The group stared at Daizzi, taking in the information.

Marinette blinked as the realization struck her.

“You mean they’re using your power to fight Gwi-Ma?”

“It makes sense,” Plagg reasoned with a shrug. “Gwi-Ma fights with negativity and shame. What better way to fend him off than Jubilation?”

Tikki giggled. “And what gets people more amped up than music?”

Adrien was practically vibrating. “They are literally fighting demons with the Power of Music AND Heart!”

Marinette couldn’t help a smile of her own. “If only we could fend off Hawk Moth as easy.”

Plagg shrugged. “You probably could. Technically. Though I’m not sure the world could handle Idolbug.”

“I’d be your biggest fan.” Adrien said with a grin.

Littlebug took advantage of the distraction to sneak out of Adrien’s hold. She now knew who dealt with the Meanie Boys before she could! Now she just needed to research and decide whether to deal with them and how best to do it.

“They’ve grown so well! My precious little babies!” Daizzi cooed at the screen.

Littlebug paused at that. 

Babies?

Daizzi continued to gush undeterred. 

But the dolls were stuck with this new information.

Littlebug frowned. 

She was still upset about the Hunter-ix taking away the Meanie Boys before she could get appropriate sorries for the meanie-ness.

…but the Hunter-ix were babies of the Friends Inside. She didn’t want to upset the Friends. And it would be mean to get mad at the babies for doing what they’re supposed to just because she wanted to do it herself. And she only wanted to do it because it seemed like there was no one else who would.

Indecision…

Her brother, however, had a…different view.

Chaton gasped and tugged Littlebug’s arm. His eyes lit with little stars as he vibrated in excitement.

Cousins!

Littlebug tilted her head as if considering.

Cousins?

Chaton nodded.

Children of the Friends Inside, so family, so cousins!

Littlebug found she liked the idea of that.

Maybe give the cousins a chance? What music did they play to make the barrier thing? It couldn’t be worse than the Meanie Boys…

“So Huntrix stopped the Saja Boys and took the demons out? That’s great then, right?” Marinette asked. “Nothing else to worry about?”

“Nothing except my dad’s frustration over losing the deal with the Saja Boys.” Adrien replied. “Though it’s a good thing given they are demons and all, good luck trying to explain that to him.”

Marinette winced.

Plagg made a face.

Daizzi gasped. “Oh oh! Maybe you can get him to sign on my girls instead? They’re not demons and maybe it could expand the Honmoon!”

Marinette looked to Tikki. “Could that have an effect on akumas?”

Tikki considered it before giving a smile. “It might!”

Adrien slid into the seat in front of the computer. “I’m curious about their music. They’re the top idols so I don’t think my dad would refuse outright, but it’ll really depend on…” He clicked the link to their latest official video.

Golden began to play and the group of humans and kwamis gathered to the screen and listened intently.

“This is really good!”

“They’re amazing!”

Adrien grinned up at Marinette. “What do you think, Mari?”

“I think…” But she trailed off as her gaze fell to Adrien’s hands.

Adrien’s very empty hands.

“Wait! The dolls!” Marinette gasped, realizing the implications. “Littlebug?! Chaton?!”

They turned to find both dolls now on the floor behind them, both holding light sticks and dancing to the video.

Adrien stared.

“How?”

“I’ve given up asking how or why they do anything.” Marinette sighed. “I’m just glad they’re not plotting anything against the nice demon-slaying K-pop stars.”

Thana could not believe her eyes, she hadn’t seen her beloved Uncle Jerome in so many years. She had missed him in all of the years she’d been abroad, she knew he wasn’t always a very good person but she loved him.

Jerome had looked out for her in the daylight, when her other aunts and uncles were busy plotting or doing their day-to-day lives. He had made sure she never intentionally crossed paths with the man who once was his brother.

Jon and Edward looked on with smiles, glancing at Thana’s friends. “This is Jerome Valeska. One of us, Thana’s aunts and uncles.”

Kim nodded, throwing a glance at Thana. “Mèo con has always told us all about all of you. She pulled up pictures on the internet of all of you.”

Edward laughed, looking at Jon, “That is so like her.”

Adrien and Alix looked around the room, not actually knowing many of the people inside. They hadn’t been a part of Thana’s group for that long, so they did not know all of the lore.

---

When the group met back up with the rest of the class, almost nobody had even noticed they’d been gone. The group of friends slipped into the class effortlessly, Jon and Ed melting into the background so as not to strike fear in the hearts of the Gothamites. The only member of the class who even noticed they hadn’t been there the whole time was Alya, but that was mostly because she had taken a picture at the beginning of them running around the park, and the six of them hadn’t been in it.

Thana smiled at the girl, not offering anything in response to her accusatory glance. She turned away from the other girl, not giving her another glance. She walked over to Kim, wrapping her arms around his midsection, and resting her cheek on his back. Kim patted her hands, settling one on top of hers, before going back to his semi animated conversation with Max. Nino and Chloè were spinning Adrien and Alix on the merry-go-round, going faster and faster with each rotation.

Sabrina looked on in jealousy, remembering the days before Marinette arrived at their school when she was Chloè’s best friend. She turned back to Lila when the other girl sighed dramatically. “What’s wrong Lila?”

“I just wish you guys could meet my boyfriend.” Lila waited for them to all turn to look at her, a sly smile spreading across her face. “He's really torn up about not being able to be here with us today.”

“Boyfriend?” Mylene asked, twinning her hand with Ivan’s out of habit more than anything. “Who’s your boyfriend?”

Lila covered her confident smirk with her hand, eyes glinting at Marinette over the top of the class’ heads, before glancing at her audience. “You might have heard of him actually.” She watched them all lean in to hear what she had to say, “his name is Tim, actually, Tim Wayne.”

Thana looked over when she heard the name Wayne, knowing that her brother had once called the Wayne patriarch his father. She narrowed her eyes at the other girl, and went to walk over towards the larger group of the class when her friend cut her off.

“Isn’t he gay? Or at least with a guy?” Chloe wasn’t even looking at Lila, instead scrolling through something on her phone. “Yeah, he’s been out as bisexual for a while and is publicly in a relationship with a guy.” She turned her phone to show the class the photo Tim had posted to his social media of him with a guy.

Lila scowled at the other girl, not liking that she was contradicting her. “Of course he has that posted to his public social media. His father isn’t all that okay with our relationship, given my family.”

“Are you insinuating that Bruce Wayne, the man who publicly adopted a Romani boy, an African-American boy and a Eurasian girl, is a racist?" Alix asked the Italian girl, looking her up and down with an incredulous look on her face. 

“No,” Lila immediately backpedaled, a sheepish expression on her face, “I just meant, given that my family isn’t rich like his.”

“I’m sorry,” Adrien butt in, “are you insinuating that the same man with a Romani son, two sons out of the poorest neighborhood in the city, a Eurasian daughter and several charities being supported solely by him to help people in the worst situations is classist?”

“No! No, of course not.” Lila frantically waved her hand in front of her face.

---

The class was sitting uneasily in the lobby of the hotel waiting for Mlle. Bustier to join them so they could go on their next tour. Lila was desperately scrolling through social media, looking for someone, anyone, that she could pretend to be dating.

Nino kept an eye on the Italian girl, not trusting her to not start lying about someone else his friend cared about. He knew what that look on Lila’s face meant, it meant she was looking for her next target. Kim, beside him, had kept them all up to date on the different faces Lila made. Adrien and Alix, slumped on either side of Chloè on the closest couch, were barely awake. Chloè, however, was wide awake texting on her phone, keeping the team left in Paris abreast of the situation in Gotham. They were waiting for Thana to come back from the bathroom and join them when Mlle. Bustier finally came downstairs.

Mlle. Bustier glanced across the room, seeing who she thought was the entire class, and smiled. “Okay everyone! Let’s get on the bus and go!”

Kim frowned, noticing that Thana hadn’t come back from the bathroom. But, before he could point it out, Mlle. Bustier ushered the class out to the bus. “Mlle. Bu-”

“Not now Kim, we need to get going or we’ll be late for our tour.” Mlle. Bustier brushed off Kim’s comment, and every subsequent comment he tried to make as she rushed the class onto the bus.

No more than a minute later Thana came out of the bathroom to find the hotel lobby empty. With a sigh, Thana decided to make her way to their destination. They were touring one of the Drake Industries properties which the current CEO, Tim Drake-Wayne, had repurposed into a more community focused building. The first floor was essentially a food court, the second floor was a dedicated teen hang-out area, and the other three floors were full of free housing options.

---

The bus pulled up in front of an older five storey brick building, and the class disembarked. Most of the students were looking around the neighborhood, but two students were glaring daggers at a girl leaning against the wall.

Thana just smiled at Lila and Alya, waving impishly at the two girls. “Did you miss me? Or did you just think I wouldn’t make it here on time?”

Mlle. Bustier got off the bus and looked around before stopping. “Oh, Marinette, how did you get here?”

“I walked, since some people left me at the hotel.” Thana dismissively looked at her fingers, making sure her manicure hadn’t gotten ruined on her trek across the city. “It’s whatever, not the first time I've had to get from that side of the city to this side.”

Kim, Nino and Chloè fell in around Thana, Adrien and Alix close behind them, not giving Alya or Lila an opportunity to get to their girl.

The class was greeted in the lobby by their tour guide, a bubbly blonde girl with bright blue eyes. “Hello,” the blonde girl chirped, “I’m Stephanie, you can call me Steph, and I’ll be your tour guide today.”

Thana took in the other girl, remembering that the tabloids had said that Bruce Wayne had a blonde almost daughter, or was it daughter-in-law, mixed in with all of his kids. She thought the other girl, Stephanie, might be the blonde girl but didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Stephanie seemed nice, she seemed to know what she was talking about as she led the class around the building.

Kim, Nino and Chloè stuck close to Thana’s side, knowing how hard it was for their friend to be in Gotham. They knew how hard it was for her to be in the same city as her brother but not be able to stay with him. Nino made sure his headphones were fully charged, Chloè made sure to bring her biggest pair of sunglasses with them today, and Kim had pulled on his biggest and softest hoodie before they left the hotel that morning. They would always take care of their girl, no matter what country they were in.

---

Lunch time in the renovated Drake Industries property was paid for by Wayne Enterprises. Even though it wasn’t a WE property, Mr. Wayne still paid for their lunch as their host.

Thana and her friends were the last ones to get their food, though on purpose, and were attempting to find a table to sit at when Stephanie came up behind them.

“Don’t want to sit with your classmates?” Stephanie didn’t seem like she meant it maliciously, almost like she genuinely wanted to know.

“Oh,” Adrien began, ever the peace keeper, “no. No we don’t. We don’t all get along.”

Stephanie seemed to take that in, before nodding. “Well, do you want to eat lunch with me?” She gestured to the only empty, or mostly empty, table in the whole room. There was one guy sitting at the table, a thin wiry guy with dark hair, who looked up when they approached.

“Hey Steph.” The guy waved before looking back down at his phone.

“Tim, CEO of Drake Industries.” Stephanie smiled at Thana and her friends as she introduced the guy. “Tim, the only cool members of the Parisian tour group.”

“Tim, Tim Drake? Like, co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises Tim Drake?” Alix asked, just a hint of wonder in her voice. “That’s cool, thank you for letting us tour the building today.”

“You’re welcome.” Tim looked at Stephanie, a question clear in his eyes.

Thana smiled at the two, seeing how close they were in their ability to communicate with just a look. They reminded her of how she used to be with Jason, and even how she used to be with Duke. “Are you two close?” The question just slipped out, she wasn’t even really thinking about it. “You remind me of people I used to know and a person I used to be.”

“Timmy’s my ex-boyfriend, but he’s also basically my brother at this point.” Steph smiled, laughter in her eyes. “You remind me of someone I know.”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Tim asked, mischief in his eyes.

“Definitely.” Stephanie turned to Thana’s friends, “are you free after this?”

“After this? Wayne cancelled the rest of the tours scheduled for today, so our teacher is probably just going to take us to a local park again.” Nino rolled his eyes, before looking back to the duo. “Why? What’s up?”

“Do you want to come to a house warming party with us? Our brother just bought a new house and is throwing a party tonight with all of our friends and family. It’d be cool if you could come.” Stephanie fiddled with the hem of her shirt as she rushed through her question.

Chloè looked to either side of her, at her friends, before nodding. “Sure. We can come. We can sneak off without our teacher knowing. And besides, Fragolina can get us anywhere in this god forsaken city.”

Thana let out a low chuckle, barely audible if you didn’t know she made the noise, and Tim and Stephanie snapped their heads to her so fast Kim was almost concerned for them.

“Did you happen to know anyone named Todd?” Tim was hedging a bet that this was the sister Jason always talked so fondly of. And if this was her? He needed to know now so he could properly enjoy watching the way Jason’s face was going to pale and then go so red.

“What’s it to you?” Thana was defensive, and rightfully so. The last person she didn’t count as a friend to ask about her brother had boldly said that he didn’t count since they didn’t have the same parents. “Why should I tell you anything?”

Tim and Steph shared a look before nodding. “You’re Thana, Jay’s baby sister. Daughter of Mad Hatter.” Steph smiled at Thana, a soft smile that was accompanied by a knowing look. “I’m Stephanie Brown, also Jay’s sister. Daughter of Cluemaster.”

Nino and Kim had started to move in front of Thana, forming a human shield, while Chloè grabbed Thana’s hands. Thana reached across the table to grasp Steph’s hand, an intense look in her eye. “If you’re Jay’s, then you’re also Duke’s, right? How is the Glowstick?”

“Duke’s fine. How do you know him?” Tim asked with suspicion in his voice.

“Met him on the streets, scrawny little fuck stalked me over half of this city before I took him to Ozzy.” Thana smiled at the memory of her little brother. “He stuck to my side like a burr until the fuzz got me.”

Kim slung an arm around the girl who was his sister, pulling her into his side to offer whatever comfort he could.

-*-*-*

Tim had given Babs access to his phone’s microphone forever ago. So when Steph invited a group of Parisian’s over to the house for a house warming party, Babs already knew about it. And since Babs knew about it, the whole family knew about it. Cass and Duke were blowing up the group chat, speculating about why they were having the house warming now and not after they’ve officially moved in. Babs, Tim and Steph were telling them the bare minimum, just enough to keep them from digging deeper.

Steph was bouncing excitedly in the lobby after the tour ended, Tim standing just a step behind her, while the Parisian students were milling about waiting for their bus.

“You’re going to explode.” Tim was probably replying to something someone said in the groupchat.

“Am not.” Steph flipped off Tim before watching a bus pull up outside of the building. “Looks like the kiddies’ ride is here.”

Thana, Chloè, Kim, Nino, Adrien and Alix drift away from their classmates as they walk out the door. They seem to be able to blend in with their surroundings, which is something Tim and Steph are kind of proud of. When the last of their classmates get on the bus, the group seems to relax as though they no longer have to worry about keeping their guard up.

Tim clapped, mostly to get their attention partially because he needed to do something, before walking towards the door. “Let's go kiddies.”

“You’re literally younger than half of us.” Alix chirped with a grin. Her red plaid flannel over a white tee paired with ripped baggy jeans matched well with the rest of the group.

Chloè was the most dressed up of the bunch. She had a white and blue plaid tank top under a raspberry red oversized ruffled shirt that hung off her shoulders with light-washed high-rise jeans. Adrien wore a cropped sweater the same shade of raspberry red as Chloè’s ruffled shirt with dark-washed low-rise jeans. Kim wore a crimson hooded sweatshirt with a pair of loose-fitting jeans, while Nino was in a crimson sweater with baggy grey jeans. Thana, however, was in a black cropped tank top with a crimson bat across the chest under a ratty looking crimson jacket over dark grey cargo pants.

They looked good, Tim could admit that, they looked cohesive. Maybe they should look into wearing more coordinating clothing.

They walked from the Drake Industries building towards the house in Old Gotham. Making light conversation as they went. There was a lot they didn’t know about Jason’s, and as it turns out Duke’s, sister. They didn’t know that she’d been shipped to Paris, or that her adoptive family ran a bakery even if she spent most of her time with the various members of her friend group.

The house was bumping when they got close. The music loud enough to be heard down the block, with cars filling the driveway and overflowing into the street parking. Tim turned around and walked backwards towards the house in front of the Parisians.

“Welcome to Casa Todd.” Tim smiled, wide.

“Todd-Hood.” Thana muttered just loud enough for the others to hear.

“Casa Todd-Hood,” Tim amended, “where the wayward birds have taken roost.”

Steph led them through the front door into what could only be called a foyer. There was what looked to be an office to their right when they walked through, into the great room. There was a spacious kitchen to their right, only separated from the great room by a giant island. Most of the attendees of the house warming party were in the great room.

They looked like they were at home. Steph wished this was their home. They would fit in so well with the rest of the birds.

---

Duke found her first, to no one’s surprise after they found out about it later. He couldn’t believe his eyes, at first, when he finally saw her for the first time after so many years.

“Chick?” Duke’s heart was pounding out of his chest, hoping and praying that it was who he thought it was.

“Only one person in this whole god damned city gets to call me that and you are defini- Glowstick?” Thana had started before she even saw him. She always got defensive before anything else. “Oh my god, Glowstick!”

Duke had less than half of a second before Thana was attached to him. It reminded him of how it used to be, except it was wrong. The last time he had her in his arms, they were much closer to the same height. She was even taller than him, back then.

“Thana, oh my god, Thana. I missed you so much. How’ve you been? Where’d you go?”

“I missed you too, so so so much Glowy. I missed you every single day I was gone. Always trying to figure out how I could get away from them. I was in Paris. Paris, France. With my Ma’s cousin and her husband.” Thana pressed her face into his chest, likely to hide the fact that she was crying. “I was so afraid for you, Glowy. I didn’t know if they would let you stick around after I got nabbed.” Thana pulled back just enough to hold Duke’s face in her hands. “Let me look at you. It’s been so long, I need to make sure nobody messed up your face. If they do, I’ll have to beat them up.”

Duke chuckled, a wet chuckle that betrayed the tears clinging to his eyelashes. “Nobody messed up my face. Uncle Ozzy let me stay in the Iceberg Lounge, even in my yellow. Uncle Jon and Uncle Ed kept me safe when they could. I was alright. I was worried for you too, you know.” Duke turned his face into her hand, her very small hand, seeking the comfort he knew she would offer. “Nothing was the same without you here.”

---

Cass watched her brother fall apart, watched as a small girl who could only be Thana put him back together. She decided right then, watching as Duke all but melted into her embrace, that the other girl needed to stick around. Anybody who could make her little brother stop worrying about everything and just be a kid, was alright in her books.

Cass flagged down one of her siblings, who just happened to be Tim accompanied by Damian, to relay just that.

Tim smiled and nodded. “I know what you mean. She’s Jay’s little sister.”

Damian turned to look at the girl they were discussing. She seemed to hold herself like a warrior, or an assassin from the League. She was acceptable, so acceptable in fact that Damian slipped away from Tim and Cass to observe her closer.

Damian knew that Duke could feel his eyes on him, but he didn’t really care. He wanted to get to know his aunt, and if he had to do a little bit of recon first, that wasn’t going too far.

---

“Who’s the little kid circling us? Friend of your’s?” Thana watched her little brother, saw the moment he realized exactly who was circling them.

“You might as well come meet her. She doesn’t bite.” Duke sounded defeated as he beckoned Damian closer. “Thana, this is your nephew, Damian. Damian, this is your aunt Thana.”

Thana smiled at Damian, making the younger boy feel at ease. Damian realized then, why his Baba and his Uncle Duke cared so much about her. She was nice, and she really cared about the people she considered hers. Damian decided that she could stay, that he would find a way to make her stay.

Damian nodded to himself before darting off to go find his Baba. They needed to discuss his aunt and what steps his Baba was taking to keep her with them.

---

Jason was, honestly, not doing so hot. He can’t believe he let his siblings talk him into throwing a house warming party. The only good thing about this is Selina and all of the aunts and uncles had come out to support him and his siblings. He even heard that Alfred was planning on stopping by at some point.

Damian appeared out of nowhere, and attached himself to Jason’s leg. “Can we keep her?”

“Keep who, Kutlat Saghira?” Jason ruffled his son’s hair. “As far as I know we’ve already kept all of the ladies you’ve met aside from your mom.”

“Ammti.” Damian pushed his head into Jason’s hand, seeking more of the attention Jason just dispenses. “She’s here.”

“Ammti? Who do you- Thana?” Jason almost blue-screened from the knowledge. “You saw my sister?”

“Ammti’s with ‘ibn ami. On the other side of the living room.” Damian let go of his leg to grab his hand. “You have to see Ammti. Right now.”

Jason let Damian pull him through the crowd of people, mostly aunts and uncles with a few friends sprinkled in, as he was still not fully there. He didn’t even notice when the noise cut out around them, he just looked up into his baby sister’s eyes and froze dead in his tracks.

“Jay-Jay?” Thana’s voice was thin and quiet, so thin and quiet. She didn’t sound like his baby sister, she sounded older and more world-weary.

“Pixie?” Jason doesn’t even register when he starts moving. He doesn’t even register what’s happened until he’s got his baby sister, his son and his brother in his arms. “Oh my god Pixie.”

“Hi Jay-Jay.” Thana was quiet, way too quiet. His baby sister was not quiet. His baby sister was loud and full of life.

“What did they do to you?” Jason pulled back from his sister, looking over her face seeing all of the ways she’s changed but also seeing all of the ways she’s stayed the same. He knew she was doing the same to him, knew her eyes were lingering on the scars from Selina.

“Tried to make me something I’m not.” Thana gave a short chuckle, smiling up at him for real. “Tried to make me some pastel pink Parisian girl.”

Jason and Duke barked out a laugh, harsh and startling to the Parisians around Thana. “Didn’t they get the memo? You’re as Alley as the rest of us.”

---

Jason, his son, his siblings, Thana and her friends found themselves sequestered away in the master bedroom less than ten minutes after the dramatic reunion. Jason got a good look at his sister and her friends, seeing pieces of her but also himself in the group of teens.

“Jay-Jay, this is Kim, Nino, Chloè, Adrien and Alix.” Thana smiled, a small secret smile, before looking at the assorted members of his family. “Where’s your brother-in-law? And his kids?”

“Who are you talking about?” Dick was too quick to reply, giving away that he knew exactly who she meant.

“Alix said she ran into Blue over there with a red-haired man and four kids not that long ago.” Thana smiled down at Damian, not quite knowing who he was yet.

“Only three of those kids are Dick and Wally’s-” Jason started.

“Wait, Wally?” Nino cut in, excitement clear in his voice. “Like Wally West? One of the guys behind the Flash?”

“Sorry about him, he’s just really into superheroes.” Kim smiled.

“Ammti.” Damian pouted from his place half hidden behind Jason’s legs. “You’ve been gone a long time. I am Damian. Baba is my father and you are his sister so you are Ammti.”

Thana smiled and then crouched down to be eye-level with his son. “It’s very nice to meet you Damian, my name is Thana. You remind me of someone I met once. A long, long time ago.”

Jason paused before deciding to just rip off the bandaid. “Biologically, Kutlat Saghira is Bruce’s.”

“I would never tell someone they remind me of the overgrown furry. No, there was this one very pretty lady. I met her one night earlyish into you being Robin. He has her eyes.” Thana glanced up at Jason, her eyes flicking behind him to someone else before returning to Damian. “She was nice, when I met her again in Paris.”

“You saw Talia in Paris?” Dick all but shouted, causing Thana’s friends to surge forward and form a human wall between her and Dick.

Damian squeezed through the human wall, seeking out his aunt. “Did you really?”

“She was nice. Reminded me of Aunt Selina.” Thana cupped Damian’s cheeks, seeing the clear resemblance in his face to the pretty woman she’d met on the rooftops of Gotham and then again on a rooftop in Paris. “She sought me out. In Paris. Came looking for me before we got on our plane. Told me to keep an eye out for her son and his kid.”

Jason froze, he didn’t know that Talia thought that about him. He figured she would’ve asked someone to keep an eye on Damian, but him? He didn’t realize that Talia felt like that about him, didn’t realize that maybe he had more than one mom in the game.

“Granted she came to me when I was Desgracia and not myself, so take that with a grain of salt.” Thana shrugged before looking back at Jason. “We’ve got a lot to talk about Jay-Jay. A lot has happened since I last saw you.”

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