"I shouldn't have come to Gotham."
"If you had not, we wouldn't have seen each other."
"We're in a hostage situation, Damian."
"Yes, I am aware."
"We're trapped in a small metal box with explosives attached to it."
"I know."
"And this box is suspended on the ceiling."
"I can tell by the swaying."
Marinette stared at him. It was purely coincidental that they found each other in the same predicament. She was kidnapped because of her status as MDC, while Damian was taken because he was a Wayne. They both had their hands cuffed at their backs, seemingly helpless until the vigilantes came to save them.
Did she mention that he was looking at her fondly?
"It has a romantic touch to it." Damian shrugged.
She snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, sure. Let's go with that. Why did you let yourself get kidnapped anyway?"
"I have to appear as a defenseless rich boy to protect my identity," he explained coolly. "It is better than to rouse any suspicion if I showed my abilities. Besides, this is not the first time this has happened."
She glanced at the digital numbers ticking down to zero. They had about five minutes before the bomb was set to explode. "So . . . you were just going to stay here and wait for your family to save you?"
"That is my plan, yes." He smiled. "The company is not bad this time."
Damian leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I've missed you, ma chérie."
The bomb ticked down to three minutes. She pecked his lips in return. "I've missed you too, ya hayati. Shall we get out of here now?"
"In a few minutes."
" Damian, " she said in a half-scolding tone.
He didn't say anything, only coming down to kiss her again. Marinette gasped against his lips, silently cursing the handcuffs restraining them. She tilted her head to get a better angle, nibbling on his bottom lip.
"You did not tell me you're coming to Gotham." Damian said breathlessly.
"I wanted it to be a surprise," she replied softly.
Tick. Tick. two minutes.
Damian raised an eyebrow. "I could have prepared for your arrival."
She huffed. "I'm here mainly for the fashion show anyway."
A minute and a half.
Like synchronous clockwork, they picked their way out of their handcuffs, rubbing their reddened wrists. Damian kicked down the door of the box and held her hand tightly before they leapt onto the railings together. Just in time, the bomb went off just as they ducked into a safe place.
Marinette craned her neck upon hearing footsteps down the hallway.
"That must be Father and my brothers," said Damian. "They're getting sloppy."
Marinette checked the time on her watch and groaned. "I'm late for the technical run!" She kissed Damian's cheek, squeezing his hand. "I'll go ahead, habibi. Take care."
Not long after Marinette ran to the exit, Red Robin found Damian crouching in the hallway. The vigilante studied him warily. "You got out by yourself?"
The youngest Wayne scoffed. "Do not be ridiculous. I escaped with my wife."
"Your . . . you're still going on about your imaginary wife?"
-----
The product aisles were seemingly endless in the grocery store, reeling in buyers with colorful packaging and tricky deals. A blonde girl wrinkled her nose distastefully as she followed her two friends, one of which was pushing their cart and humming.
"Why do we need to buy food, Maribug?" Chloe whined. "Isn't the hotel buffet enough?"
"Snacks for extra sustenance," Marinette responded, dumping a box of instant coffee and some cookies in their cart. It soon followed with a set of energy drinks as they moved to the next aisle.
"Right. Sustenance." Chloe rolled her eyes.
"Why, Chlo? I thought you agreed on shopping?" The cheeky look on the bluenette's face made Chloe want to stomp her foot.
"Clothes shopping, not grocery shopping!"
"Okay, let's get ourselves some face masks for a spa treatment later," Marinette lightheartedly consoled. She turned to Adrien, who was eyeing a jar of cheese balls on one corner. "What about you, Adrien? Pick whatever you want."
"But my diet." The boy pouted.
"Fuck your diet. While we're in Gotham, your diet is nonexistent."
After a visible internal debate, Adrien nodded and began gathering snacks in his arms: Doritos in every possible flavor, packs of M&Ms, loads of chocolate Pocky, and grape sodas. Marinette grinned wildly, pride radiating as she watched Adrien spoil himself.
They were traversing down the aisle when Marinette stopped, lips parting as she looked at someone who was also pushing a cart in front of them. "Damian! Ya hayati ," she gasped.
Chloe and Adrien immediately exchanged a look, both equally confused. The two men following behind Damian also glanced at each other.
" Mon amour." The stranger perked up, going up to Marinette. They exchanged a la bise, holding each other while smiling.
"And what are you doing grocery shopping?" Marinette smirked teasingly.
"Pennyworth is currently unavailable and Father sent us on these errands . . ."
The two went off to a far area in the aisle, catching up like old friends while picking out snacks. They had completely left behind their carts and companions, who were currently short-circuiting at the odd encounter.
Chloe looked at Adrien and whispered, " What the fuck? "
Adrien stared back with wide eyes. "I haven't seen him in my life. Ever."
"Since when did Marinette know someone in Gotham?!"
"I don't know! She's never mentioned it to me."
"Wait a minute." Chloe narrowed her eyes at the boy Marinette was talking to. "Damian . . . that's Damian Wayne!"
" The Damian Wayne?"
" The Damian Wayne!"
"Maybe he was her client before?" Adrien scratched his head.
"Adrien, all of Mari's clients go through you," Chloe pointed out. "I'm sure you'd remember if he ever commissioned her."
"Oh right."
Meanwhile, Jason and Tim gaped at the couple, failing to comprehend how soft Damian acted around the girl. They could butt in and ask about their relationship but they had a feeling Damian wouldn't spare them if they dared interrupt their own bubble.
The two boys looked to their side to see the girl's friends sporting the same puzzled looks. They held eye contact for a few awkward seconds before the blondes whispered to each other in French.
Jason tugged on Tim's shirt. "Take a video."
"What?"
"We need proof or else Dickiebird and the others won't believe us."
Tim begrudgingly held up his phone in a sneaky angle to capture a video. Finally, after forever, Damian and Marinette parted with cheek and head kisses, heading towards opposite ends of the aisle.
"Who the hell was that?" Jason was first to ask.
"My wife," Damian responded nonchalantly, taking a bag of potato crisps.
"She's real?!"
"Of course she is. Why would she not be real?"
Jason and Tim looked at each other yet again, minds running at lightning speed as they tried to figure out the 'who's, 'when's, 'why's and 'how's. Damian would always be too casual about mentioning his so-called 'wife' and they didn't take him seriously, thinking that it was a sort of joke or delusion.
The same bemusement plagued Adrien and Chloe as Marinette examined the label of a juice bottle. "Marinette," Chloe began. "How do you know Damian Wayne?"
"Oh Damian?" Marinette barely looked up from the bottle. "He's my husband."
"I'm sorry, your what?"
"Yeah, I know I still use Dupain-Cheng, but that's just for convenience since we technically don't have a marriage certificate. Also, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Al-Ghul Wayne is a terrible mouthful."
-----
A knock rapped on the door during one rainy night. Bruce hesitated opening it at first, realizing that all his children were present in the manor. Stephanie and Cass had dropped by and had decided to stay until the storm weakened. Dick was back from Bludhaven. Even Jason was home for the obligatory family dinner.
Which led to Bruce wondering who could be knocking on the door.
He opened the door himself in Alfred's stead, since the butler was busy cleaning in the kitchen. On the doorstep was a young girl, shivering and wet from the rain. Bruce did a double take. Another one of mine?
"Good evening, Monsieur Wayne." The girl sniffed as her teeth chattered. "May I stay here for the night? It's a long story, but I'll explain later."
Bruce gave a polite smile. "Sorry, who are you?"
"I'm really sorry!" Her eyes widened. "I would've texted ahead of time but my phone died and I had no way of reaching Damian."
What did she have to do with him? "Damian?"
"Yes . . .? My husband?"
Before his brain could fully comprehend, the others' heads popped in, lured in by the sound of a guest. Jason and Tim let out a chorused gasp while Damian immediately rushed to get his coat to wrap around Marinette.
" Mon coeur, what were you doing out in the rain?" Damian protectively tucked her inside the large coat.
Marinette sneezed. "I got stranded in the area and the manor was the nearest place I knew and my phone died . . ."
He led her to the living room and the rest of the siblings followed in quiet curiosity. Meanwhile, Bruce was still standing dumbfoundedly by the door.
"I have a daughter-in-law?" He whispered to himself.
-----
Marinette plopped down on the bed, holding up her hand to see the permanent mark on the back of it. So I'm married, huh.
Did she mind? Not as much as she expected. She had already given up on all chances of romance since she became swamped with guardian work and designing. Nonetheless, she still wished she had a choice on who she'd be bound to for life. 'Damian' was a complete stranger, one affiliated with a group of people she didn't know existed until the previous day.
The door flew open just in time, and Damian was ushered inside by Talia. "It's time for you to consummate your marriage," the woman told them.
Damian scowled, while Marinette deadpanned, "We're barely eighteen."
Talia only shut the door and locked it. Their room was windowless, devoid of any other potential exit routes aside from the door itself. Marinette sat up and watched as Damian restlessly paced around the room in frustration.
Her hand touched her earrings. Strangely, the League had returned her kwamis and belongings after the ceremony.
"Damian . . . Right?" Marinette began tentatively. "What do we do now?"
Damian's lips pulled into a thin line. "We need to escape." He crossed his arms. "I can take out about half of their numbers, but they might summon more people and we will not be able to handle them anymore."
He looked at her. "Unless you can contribute?"
Marinette bit back a smile as she held up her ring. "I take it you're familiar with the Miraculous?"
"The Black Cat," he breathed out. "We can take out this base in one blow."
Marinette hopped off the bed, making her way to the array of decorative weapons on the side of the room. Why Talia even allowed that collection to be within their reach, she didn't know. "But we need a plan. I can only use Cataclysm once before I need to recharge."
"We can target a weak point by the grand hall and I can take care of the ones who won't get trapped in the debris."
Marinette nodded, picking out a rope dart (which had a similar feel to her yoyo) and a separate kunai. "I can support from the back."
They talked about their plans in detail, even deciding to steal off some food from the kitchens and priceless artifacts during their escape. Marinette was surprised about how well they clicked together—Damian was blunt, but straightforward and competent.
She figured that maybe it wasn't too bad being married to him after all.
"Wait a second." Tim ran a hand through his hair. "So you blew up a base of the League of Assassins after you got married?"
The whole family was now sitting in the lounge room, gathered around Damian and Marinette, who had just changed into borrowed clothes from Cass and was now cradling hot tea. Alfred had also served snacks and drinks as everyone listened. Unsurprisingly, the news was already known to the butler.
"Cataclysmed," Marinette corrected. "Only the grand hall collapsed so it's all cool. Damian and I fought our way out until we reached the mountains."
"So that time when you went away to see Talia . . ." Dick looked at his younger brother.
Damian nodded. "I got married."
"Why didn't you tell us?!" Stephanie exclaimed.
"What are you talking about?" Damian pulled Marinette closer to him. "I have always talked about my wife with utmost appreciation and pride."
"What happened after that?" Tim leaned forwards.
"I got a teleportation Miraculous and dropped Damian off back in Gotham," said Marinette. "But we exchanged contacts so we can figure out how to go about our marriage."
Bruce cleared his throat. "Son, why haven't you invited her to a family dinner before?"
"She was not comfortable with meeting the family yet." Damian protectively placed his arm from around her waist to her shoulders.
Marinette ducked her head. "Sorry for that, Monsieur Wayne. We were trying to keep our marriage down-low."
As the family tried to badger them with more questions, Damian stood up with Marinette. "If you will excuse us, we need to get some rest. Marinette had been out in the rain for too long."
The couple retreated to the upstairs bedrooms, leaving the Waynes staring after them, still in disbelief.
"Holy shit," said Dick. "They're sharing a room ?"
-----
I need people to know that many of these are not my stories, and have the original creator listed in the very beginning.