Fallen Angel

Chapter 3- I... I have a daughter?

Bruce POV-
I was shocked at what Alix and Kim told me when Jason sped off with Chloe and Nino. I didn't know why to think, what to feel, much less what to say.

Marinette Larae Dupain-Cheng was my biological daughter. My flesh and blood. A daughter that I had no idea existed or was much less mine.

She and Jason were adoptive siblings. Apparently Sabine Cheng, Marinette's mother, had adopted him from the streets when he was 6, and I noticed that Tom Dupain had not signed the adoption papers for him, but only Sabine did. So Jason was adopted before I had adopted him, and I hadn't known about it. Then again, I didn't know anything about his past. I was a bit hurt that he hadn't told me about it, but I suspected he had his reasons. None of my other boys knew about his past, either, and Dick had a hurt and murderous expression on his face as the teenagers in front of us explained about Marinette and Jason's pasts- Jason's past as much as they know about him as a Cheng-, and he had Jason's gun in his hand. Tim looked shocked and angry, and Damian was zoned out with a katana in his hand as he silently listened to the story.

Sabine, who had been a friend of mine, was murdered by Tom, her husband, and they said that he was abusive in every way and that he was abusing my daughter. Mari told them that Tom would abuse Jason as well, and that he would always fight to protect her from the man, even though he would get beaten and hurt worse than Mari and Sabine for it. Tom was abusing Mari because she wasn't his daughter, but mine instead. He had murdered my friend in front of her-our kids, and he kept hurting the two of them and blaming Mari for it, even though none of it was her fault. He would even hurt Jason when Sabine took him in because he would fight back and stand up against the baker and protect his little sister from him, Sabine as well, though he would almost always fail, but he kept going, no matter what happened to him.

I was horrified, but proud of Jason with all my heart. He truly was a natural born hero, whether he wanted to admit it or not. But I was horrified for Marinette and Jason. I couldn't believe that they had been through all of that, and that Mari was still forced to go through it, with lout anyone to protect her. Her friends couldn't do much, not like Jason was able to do for her.

I felt like a monster for not knowing about Marinette. Oh my god, I felt horrible. This was all my fault. How the hell would I ever be able to make it up to Mari, or Jason for that matter? I wondered why he never told me about her, but I would ask him later.

"This... this is all my fault," I whispered, my face pale. Sabine hadn't been with Tom when I was friends with her. We had gone to a bar after going to a party, and both got drunk, to drunk to be sensible. If I had known that I had gotten her pregnant, then maybe she would still be alive. Marinette would have never had to get hurt by Tom, Jason either. If I had known, then I could have prevented all of this. My friend would still be alive, and Mari would still have a mother. Jason would still have a mother. They wouldn't have been torn apart, and they would have been protected if I had known about them.

What have I done?

"I-I didn't know... she... she was my friend... Sabine's dead... why didn't she tell me about Marinette, or Jason? I could have done something, kept them safe...I-I have a daughter? Are you- are you sure?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around this, still in shock. Alix nodded. "We've been trying for years to get LB to tell you, but she kept refusing." She said with a sigh as I stood up and started pacing, running my hand through my hair. "We found out in 3rd grade when our class did an ancestry project. Ever since we have been trying everything to get her to tell you, trying to get her out of Paris and away from Tom, but she's too stubborn. Every time we bring it up, she says the same damn thing, every. Single. Time." She said, just as Kim pulled out his phone and played something.

"It doesn't matter what I want, Alix. I'm not going to tell Bruce that he's my biological father, and that's final." A girl's quiet voice said with a tone full of warning and dark authority that made me shiver. Even my boys looked shocked and uneasy at the tone of their little sister. I tried not to imagine what facial expression she had. I would be proud if it could make someone shiver at, even a fraction of the batglare.