"So what do we do now? She obviously isn't a civilian." Nightwing asked over the comms.
"It doesn't matter, even though she said she wasn't trained for the crime here. She needs to get off the streets. Add any info you gained to her file, we could build a profile, find a weakness, and exploit it." Batman was done letting a little girl run across the streets of Gotham like she owned the place.
"I doubt she'd give up just because we open an old wound. If anything it would galvanize her." Robin added that from the bat-cave, he still smelled of rotting fish and catnip- anyone at Gotham Academy would be able to put two and two together if he came across them.
"Why don't we just help her? You know give her some training on the roof of WE, no bat-cave just some pointers so she doesn't kill herself." Red Hood suggested.
"And validate her?" Orphan added, Cass wasn't one to interject during patrol but knew that the boys wouldn't consider that angle.
"Orphan is right, you'd essentially be telling Ladybird that you see her as a legitimate hero. She wouldn't stop after that." Cat Woman added.
"She's more qualified than most of us were when we started." Red Hood countered. "She's obviously the reason why crime has dropped, if we help her she could help lower it more."
"Or we could figure out what she does and mimic it, making her obsolete." Robin offered.
"You'd just validate her in a different way. I agree with Hood, she'd be a good ally." Signal added, why fight against something that's good for the city?
"No. Robin, work out a plan. We need to do this carefully, tail her and record her interactions- see how she convinces criminals to stay off the streets. Red, which way did she go?"
"W.E."
"I'm on my way."
"B, you're really gonna scare the girl?" Batman didn't respond. Red Robin rolled his eyes as he went back to his patrol route; she probably won't listen to him.
"Nice view, right?" Ladybird asked the shadows behind her, Batman emerged and approached the girl, she didn't look away from the vast expanse of Gotham hundreds of feet beneath them.
"I'd like to think so." Ladybird answered her own question when the man didn't.
"You need to stop."
"You shouldn't be one to talk." Batman glared at her.
"That's different, I'm an adult, you're a child."
"And your partners?"
"They were trained."
"Yes, but I think I'm doing well so far. Your crime rates have dropped dramatically."
"And what do you have to do with that?"
"Like I said, you need to help those you arrest. What is the point of their going to prison if it doesn't help them correct their ways. I simply listen, help them understand their options."
"You can't seriously think-" Ladybird interjects, just like she did Red Robin.
"I do, because I have the empathy necessary to see that it isn't just the corrupt officers or organized crime that plagues the city. It's the joke of a reform system that has failed." The dark knight hears chuckling over the comms, so she cut him off.
"And what are we supposed to do about that?"
"You are clearly wealthy, do what your counterparts usually do, throw money at the problem. Help fund volunteer programs and homeless shelters, create jobs. I don't know the extent of your wealth but anyone can volunteer, one person can make a difference."
"You're still untrained and unprepared."
"That is why I start small, earning the trust of the citizens before I work my way up."
"When did you hear about the plot against the Waynes?"
"A week ago, but I had it confirmed tonight. That family has lost enough for more than a lifetime."
"Some might call them spoiled." Batman probed her view on the wealthy might hint at her status in life.
"That might be true, but no one deserves to lose a loved one. Nice chat, Mr. Man. Bon nuit." The girl dramatically dived off the roof of the building before swinging towards the gardens.
"... Mr. Man?" Batman huffed, interesting.
"Oh no. NONONO! You do NOT get to adopt ANOTHER ONE, OFFICIALLY OR NOT! She's got a family already! No!- Selina! TELL HIM NO!" Nightwing exclaimed over the comms, likely in the bat-cave.
"What? No, she sounds purrrr-fect." Selina jokes.
"Cool it, Wing! Besides, she isn't going to be a hero much longer. Spoiler, you're on patrol until you come across her. You two seem similar enough, do what you have to."
"You got it, B, but are you sure she wouldn't be a good ally? Doesn't her magic fix everything?"
"That doesn't matter, just do it."
It had been a week since Ladybird spoke with the Batman and he was getting impatient, no one had seen her and to make matters worse Robin hadn't been going on patrol as he prepared for Midterms. Apparently, he had some rivalry with a girl in almost all his classes. She'd been pranking and one-upping him in school and vice versa since she transferred a few months ago.
"Damian, are you coming tonight?" Dick asked his youngest brother, he had a textbook open as he ate. Everyone had noticed Damian's sudden devotion to his studies, but only Bruce and Alfred really knew why. The girl had spoken to Alfred, making sure she wasn't causing too much trouble outside of school.
"No. Now, quiet, I'm studying."
"Yeah, we got that, Brat. But why?"
"I refuse to be bested by the self-righteous little- mind your own business imbeciles!" Damian grumbled.
"What the girl that pranked you? With the paint and the glitter and the cats?" Tim asked, he got a vicious glare as confirmation.
"WHeN dId ThAt HappEN?!" Duke asked, he had missed it. That's what he gets for leaving the manor.
"tt, shut it! I'm studying." Damian snapped, slamming his book shut and leaving to study in the silence of his room.
Click- Click... Click- Click- Click-
Damian gritted his teeth as his classmates anxiously clicked their pencils against their desk, he didn't look back to see who was doing it. There was no way he was going to risk receiving a zero for cheating because someone was being annoying. The sound came from the opposite side of the room, Damian was almost done looking over his answers. It was the AP European history midterm, their last test before Winter break. Other exams were spread throughout the last two weeks, there shouldn't have really been a midterm, the AP classes aren't required to but the administration insisted that students shouldn't get out of it because they were more advanced.
Once Damian was confident in all of his answers, the boy stood and proudly walked up to the front of the class. People looked up at the commotion with faces of disbelief- he had finished in half the allotted amount of time.
"My exam."
"Are you sure?" The look on Damian's face quieted the assigned moderator, "Alright, take your seat and stay quiet while everyone else finishes their test." The billionaire heir nodded and turned, walking back to his seat-
Click- Click... Click- Click- Click- Click...
On reflex, the young vigilante turned his head to the noise- it was Marinette. She was picking at her unchapped lips- Damian noted that they actually looked quite soft, smooth even, but the girl pulled at the skin nonetheless. Damian smirked, she seemed too distraught to be doing well. After all, he usually did better in European History.
Damian waited for the hour to be up, watching as students gradually turned in their exams looking nervous or impatient, only two students remained. A slacker that by some miracle made it into AP European History had fallen asleep on his test, Marinette sat in front of him still working through the test. He could have sworn she'd gone through it ten times, but assumed it was because she was skipping questions she didn't know the answers to.
Finally, the bell rang and Mr. Murphy, the class's assigned moderator, approached the two. Tapping on his shoulder, the slacker woke with a start and realized that he slept through the exam. As a last ditch effort, the boy told the teacher to collect everyone else's first as he filled in the scan-tron at random. Marinette looked over her answer sheet one more time before handing her test over with a kind, but tired smile and a polite 'thank you.'
Finally, the boy reluctantly turned his test over to the man and got up from his seat dejectedly. Everyone followed suit, and Damian approached Marinette.
"You."
"What did I do this time, Damian?" Marinette asked, as if she'd done this a thousand times before. Dupain-Cheng seemed more defensive than when they usually interacted, he shrugged it off.
"Your incessant tapping during the exam was-" Damian began, but was mildly surprised when he was cut off by the tiny french girl- doing so once was stupid, twice would have been a death wish but if she died he wouldn't get to win.
"None of your business. I can tap my pen whenever I want to." Damian assumed most would find her stubborn huff, and the cute way she blew at the bangs on her forehead, endearing. Damian was not like most people, her reaction agitated him.
"When I have to listen to it, it is my business." Damian stepped closer, they were still a solid distance apart but he was just close enough their height difference gave him the edge. She glowered up at him.
"I don't care, have a nice winter break." Damian watched the girl walk away, towards a waiting group of people- another new group. He called from where he stood:
"The only positive is not seeing you for the next two weeks." Marinette was quick to fire back.
"Not two full weeks though, or are you backing down?"
"I don't back down." Damian grumbled.
Jagged Stone, one of the world's top musicians and performers, and his wife Penny were huddled together on the couch hand in hand. They were in Paris for a concert before flying to the US for a charity gala. The rockstar was on a video call with his favorite designer/niece, begging like his life depended on it.
"NO! Are you crazy? I'm not doing it! You already have me making a dress for Penny, a suit for you and another sequined jacket because you tore the other one! I don't have time to make myself anything." Marinette was positive she could make everything the Stone's needed but there were simply not enough hours in the day to make anything else.
"Please, Nettie! The host is an old friend of mine, I told 'em all about you and your Rock and Roll designs! You gotta come, look don't make a new jacket- fix the one we have we'll pick it up a few days later!" Marinette seemed to mull it over, she looked annoyed.
"Fine, but why do you need another dress and suit? I sent the other ones over a few weeks ago."
"What suit? OH! Those, yeah those are for the auction! I may have also volunteered you for a private commission, but it's for a good cause!"
"JAGGED!" Penny and Marinette exclaimed, the older of the two bonking him on the head.
"What? It's for charity, and it's gonna go great! Everyone will love your designs!" Marinette groaned as she put her head in her hands. "Really sorry, Marinette." Jagged added quietly.
"Alright, alright, it'll be fine. But you owe me, I want the baby to have me as it's middle name! Boy or girl!" Penny giggled, putting a hand on her hardly visible baby bump, Jagged did too.
"I was thinking, Janice if it's a girl-"
"We are not naming my baby Janice!" The couple began to bicker, Jagged spouting names that got more and more ridiculous while Penny tried not to kill her husband.
"Okay okay, I have a lot of work to do! Seriously Jagged, three days is not enough time! And now I can't watch movies with Maman and Papa."
"On the bright side, we'll be around for Christmas this year!" Marinette giggled before waving goodbye and logging off the video call. She had a lot of work to do.
"Bye, thank you!" Marinette called as she walked out the door of the fabric shop just a few blocks away from her apartment.
"Good night, Marinette!" The shop owner called, the sun was setting and the city was getting dark. The bluenette hunkered down into her thick coat as she started walking home, the cold air made the small girl shiver- she could feel her nose turning red.
"Hey there, princess, what's a pretty thing like you doing all alone?" An older man called from across the street. Marinette didn't respond, keeping her head down as she walked faster. She shouldn't have let herself get distracted at Lucia's Fabric Shop. The small Parisian started walking faster when she heard the footsteps behind her. There were more men now.
Deciding not to chance it, Marinette sprinted- forgetting to ditch her bags, she was weighed down by the heavy rolls of fabric. She was only two blocks away when the man caught up with her.
A large, calloused hand shoved Marinette against the wall of an alley she was trying to run past. He was tall, huge. The Parisian gulped, he was far more muscular than anyone she'd fought with outside the mask. The man had a tattoo on his broad shoulder, and was trying to control his breathing as he spoke.
"Put the bags down."