Mutual Enemies

  Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Damian Wayne hated each other. It was as simple as that. But it was more of the playful kind of hate they found themselves in. It was always trying to see who could one up the other, always trying to be the best at everything. Childhood rivalry, if you will.

Marinette had grown up in Gotham for most of her childhood. Her parents were old friends with Bruce and Alfred so a young Marinette Dupain-Cheng found herself spending most of her time around a certain Damian Wayne. At first he had been cold and distant to her but as time went on they had bound a mutual respect for each other and there, their childhood rivalry was born.

The pair had obtained many new skills when trying to one-up each other, baking, drawing, fighting, sports, sewing ect, you name it. Secretly they had enjoyed the time with the other, they may have been competing but they understood each other in a way not many could. They understood that neither of them had a perfect life. That they both had nightmares, even if it were for completely different reasons. Damian from his time with the League and Marinette when she was caught up in a robbery and had a gun pointed at her head. They understood that deep down, beneath the rivalry they had obtained they were friends, best friends even, but they would never admit that.

But all good things must come to an end, Tom and Sabine had got a great offer to open up their bakery from Gotham to Paris, and they agreed. They would be moving to Paris for the foreseeable future, within the next couple days. And today was the last opportunity Marinette would get to see Damian. She walked to Wayne Manor to be greeted by Alfred, he had told her that Damian was in the back playing with Titus.

"Hey Dami, how's it going?" She tried to sound as cheerful as possible but he could see right through her facade. "Mare, what's wrong?" She was absolutely shocked at how concerned he sounded, if anything it made it even more hard to tell him. Her smile dropped instantly and her eyes began to well up with tears. Damian immediately stopped playing with Titus and walked over to Marinette, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I-I'm moving away. My parents decided that we are going to live in Paris and it doesn't look like we're coming back. I leave in two days and this was the last opportunity I get to see you." The tears that were threatening to fall fell. His best friend, not that he was going to admit that was leaving him forever. And in a moment of desperation he did something he would not normally do. He pulled her body to his and wrapped her in his arms. She was shocked for a second before melting into him. She cried on his shoulder while he rubbed circles in her back. The two twelve year olds remained in that same position for many more minutes. But then Tom and Sabine had told Marinette they needed to go. They broke apart but kept each other at arm's length. "I know I have never said it but you are my best friend,no matter how much we pretend to hate each other. But for the record I will always be better at baking than you." She lightly laughed at the end of her sentence and Damian did too. "The feelings are mutual and for the record I will always be a better fighter than you." They both chuckled but then they remembered why they were here. "Well Dami, don't be a stranger. I'll miss you." She wrapped her arms around him one last time. "Wouldn't dream of it Angel and I'll miss you too.''

~~~~~~~~~~
Marinette sat in her room doing a commision as she thought back to the day she left Gotham. Gotham was her home, no matter how many years she spent in Paris. Gotham was real, what you saw is what you got there was no facade of perfectness or happiness unlike Paris. People were naive here; they thought all their problems could be solved by Ladybug. Marinette had been Paris' scarlet heroine for five years now making her seventeen. Everyone thought because she was there, they had no problems. But it was far the opposite especially for Marinette, the nightmares haunted her every night. Millions dead, blood, screaming, death. And they never remember any of it but for her it was scarred into her head. Chat Noir was an okay partner but he didn't come to all the battles and the ones he didn't always happened to be the most powerful akumas, Siren for example. Marinette had to endure the sight of the parisians dead bodies floating in the water, Siren had taken two hours to take them down. But in reality it had been months for Marinette since she used the sake miraculously. That was easily the worst akuma she has ever faced and the most devastating.

Marinette's social life was okay at best, she had friends but they weren't as close as her and Damian had been. Alya had believed she had a crush on Adrien and then proceeded to tell Nino, but this was far from the truth. She never liked Adrien as anything more than a friend and besides he didn't understand what it took to make it in the real world, he always thought his problems would be fixed by not doing anything, which is ridiculous in Marinette's opinion. Nino was a chill guy and she had nothing wrong with him, quite the opposite she really liked him, he had his opinions but always knew when the right time to share them was and she respected that. Alya on the other hand, shared anything and everything. She was loud and opinionated but most of all she came to a conclusion quickly without checking all the facts. But they were still her friends, even if she didn't necessarily fit in. She was a Gothamite through and through, she walked like one, she acted like one and she talked like one, but her french accent was more prominent now. But once a Gothamite always a Gothamite. You can take a girl out of Gotham, but you can't take Gotham out of the girl.

But Alya's fantasy of her liking Adrien was wrong; she loved someone else and didn't realise until it was too late. Damian was the only person who knew the real her, they understood each other on a deeper level. They may have had a childhood rivalry but that didn't tainter their friendship. Damian was a special kid and she could only wish she hadn't left him. She didn't want to admit it then but she would gladly admit it now, she loved Damian Wayne.

Marinette, Alya, Nino and Adrien were walking into the bakery after school where Adrien admitted to liking Marinette to Alya and Nino. They thought it was perfect and they could get him to confess. "Hey maman." Marinette said to her mother as the group entered the bakery. Sabine had an all knowing smirk on her face, it was suspicious but Marinette just brushed it off. "Hi sweetie, how about you and your friends head upstairs and I'll get you something to eat." Nino looked a little too excited for the food. "Thanks maman." She kissed her mother on the cheek and headed up to her room with her friends. Alya and Nino were laughing at something and Adrien just stood there quietly with a light shade of pink on her cheeks which she found odd.

They entered her room, but what shocked Marinette was that someone was already there. Her friends stopped talking when they saw the figure as well. He was comfortably sitting on her desk simply staring at Marinette. Marinette's breath got caught in her throat, she recognized those emerald eyes anywhere. Her eyes began to water at the sight of him. His face held a soft smile she didn't see too often as well as a look of understanding plastered on his face. "Marinette, who's he?" She didn't bother to answer Alya's question, she just took slow steps towards him. He stood up but kept his position in front of the desk, not breaking the eye contact they had made. Adrien, Alya and Nino just stood off to the side silently observing the sense in front of them.

She eventually made it to Damian. In the five years they had not seen each other he had grown much taller but so had she, he was only a few inches taller than herself, he had toned muscles that were visible to see through his black turtleneck sweater. There was no denying that he was handsome. She brought up her shaking hand to cup his cheek, his tan skin was as smooth as honey. He nestled into her touch which only made her heart scream and realise that it was in fact reality. Neither seemed to notice how close their faces had gotten. They just seemed to gravitate towards the other. His warm breath burned her skin, a sensation she had never felt before. His hands had made its way up to her neck while hers remained on his face. They stared into each other's eyes. Emerald met bluebell for the first time in years and in that moment they saw a flash of understanding between the two.

Their lips barely grazed each other before Marinette pushed her lips against his. An overwhelming feeling consumed her as so many emotions raced through her head. His lips were soft and melded into her perfectly. It wasn't a hot and steamy kiss, no, it was slow and gentle. After a minute or so they pulled apart seemingly forgetting the company they had. They rested their foreheads against each other. "I know I've already said this once but you're my best friend no matter how much we pretend to hate each other. And for the record I'm still better at baking than you." He let out a weak chuckle as a small grin spread across her face. "The feeling is mutual and for the record I'm still a better fighter than you." They both laughed at the sense of deja vu. "I missed you so much Dami." Her eyes held a feeling of desperation of some sort. "I missed you too Angel, every single day." Then he leaned in once again...

Bonus:

Then he leaned in once again...

"WHAT THE F-!"