Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Stop laughing at me." Tim said to Barb. "If you aren't going to help just leave me be."

"I want to help you Timmy, but I don't believe in ghosts." Barb says with a smile.

"It's not a ghost. I am being followed."

"Are you on that again," Dick asked.

"Not again. Still." Tim said. "I'm not making this up. I see movement behind me on every patrol."

"You need to lay off the coffee and get some sleep." Dick responded.

"What about the feedback on the comms?" Tim asked.

"We have ordered new ones. They aren't supposed to have any interference or feedback." Dick said.

"New equipment will not fix this. Someone is out there, planning something." Tim said.

---

She pulled back into the shadows before Red Robin could see her. She had never meant to taunt him with her presence but she was having fun with it now. Her steps were silent in her transformation and her hooded cloak fell almost to the ground covering her suit with black that faded to a dark red ombre.

Tonight her plan was taking form. Every time he turned his head to find her she disappeared into the shadows. Every time he kept after her she left a batarang she had collected with arrows taped on for him to follow.

She stalled on a roof to give herself a little more time. She let him spot her cape whip around to give him movement to track. She watched him pick up and read it. He looked around for her and then reached up to turn off his comms.

---

He followed her and collected the batarangs. She may think he was playing her game but he was collecting evidence. He looked around for the next one and didn't see anything until there was a flash of movement. He followed and the next had a note 'they are laughing at you'

He looked around again before turning off his comms. At least now he had proof that it wasn't a ghost or all in his head. He followed to the next rooftop. He was being cautious but he wasn't worried. She was very petite and by the path she chose she was not very athletic, probably just a bat groupie who picked him as her focus.

He crossed 3 more rooftops without seeing another. He hadn't seen anymore flashes of movement. He looked around at all the nearby rooftops and decided he had lost her. One more look around and he headed back towards his route. The two buildings he jumped to next were a bit further to get to. Since he had never seen her choose a jump that far he expected she has vanished as she had the other nights.

On the third roof he saw that he had been wrong. There was another batarang. It has no arrow so he flipped it over to see the message 'look out!' but it was too late. A cord suddenly zipped around him, pinning his arms to his sides. A second cord followed immediately after tying his legs.

---

She watched him as he bent down for the last batarang and then she sprang the trap. After the cords secured his arms and legs she jumped over to where he was. She walked behind where he was struggling to loosen the cords and placed her hands on each arm as she lifted her foot to push the back of his knees until he was sliding down to the rooftop.

She made sure he sat down gently before she turned and reached in her bag. His hands were struggling to get loose but she ignored it and put a mug in his hand. He barely saw the little bird on the bottom before she poured hot coffee in from a thermos. She poured herself one from the same thermos and sat facing him.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He asked.

"You can call me Rouge Gorge. I don't want anything. You have been chasing me so I allowed you to catch me." She replied.

"I don't exactly feel like I've caught you."

"You caught my eye. Is that what you wanted?"

"I just wanted to know what you were doing in Gotham."

"I live here."

"Then what are you doing running around on rooftops?"

"Same as you, I suppose." She thought for a moment. "Although it is exhilarating even without your game of chase."

"I'm here to get you to stop. Batman controls who can run around the roofs." She didn't respond. She reached up to his face and ran her finger along the top of his mask before tracing down to his jaw. He held his breath and pulled at the bonds to prevent her from removing his mask.

"I wish I could see your eyes." She said wistfully. "I bet they bring all of this together perfectly." She moved her hand in front of him and indicated all of him. His mask didn't hide his blush fully.

"You aren't taking it off me?"

"It's not my place to do so. That's your identity." She paused and touched her ear. "They are looking for you."

"Don't suppose you are planning to untie me."

"No. I'm not." She reached to his chest straps and pulled off his logo.

"Hey, what are you doing?" She grinned at him.

"Souvenir." She replied before leaning close to him and kissing his cheek, making sure to leave a bright red mark. "That mug is for you. I think you will like the coffee too."

She reached to his belt and flipped the switch on his comms so he could hear and put the control to talk in his hand before she jumped away. He couldn't see her after but she watched until his friends came before she headed home with a flutter of her cape.

Chapter Text

Rouge Gorge turned at the sound of footfalls behind her. Nightwing. Apparently they hadn't forgotten her little stunt. It had been almost 2 months. She kept to the shadows on the rooftops but he had still seen her tonight.

They watched each other without speaking, moving in opposite directions, watching for what the other would do. He spoke.

"It is time for you to cease your evening wanderings."

"Where is the fun in that?"

"I'm serious. This is a dangerous game you are playing."

"That's what makes it fun." She turned and leaped to another rooftop after he took a step towards her. He followed. She looked back at him and before continuing to the next rooftop said, "But it isn't you I want to play with."

It wasn't until she moved across the next rooftop and jumped once more that she realized it had been a trap. She heard Nightwing land behind her as Red Hood and Bat Girl materialized from the shadows. Maybe they had seen her in the past couple months. She turned to make her escape through the gap only to hear a cape flapping as Batman landed in her escape route.

"Slow night?" She asked.

"You have been told to cease running on the rooftops." Batman said gruffly.

"If you were trying to sweet talk me you should have sent Red Robin." She turned at a laugh from Bat Girl. "Did he not want to see me again?"

She was losing ground as they all continued to move towards her. Nightwing spoke, "After you left him tied up on a roof?" He signalled and they all acted at once. She landed a few blows but she was no match for them after their carefully laid plan.

"I did not leave him. Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean I wasn't watching." She struggled against the hold but Red Hood and Nightwing each had an arm and a leg restrained and Bat Girl approached.

Bat Girl reached up for her mask but it didn't come off. "Oh, that's really stuck on there. What do you use?"

"Rude!" Said Rouge Gorge. They shifted their hold and Nightwing attempted to remove the mask. Batman crossed his arms, impatiently waiting for the reveal.

"It really is stuck. Is that part of your face?" Red Hood moved to try as well but that was all she needed to make her escape. She ducked out of the hold and swept her foot out. She pushed Bat Girl into Red Hood and grabbed Nightwing's stick away. She swung it and dropped it before running to the edge of the roof.

"It's magic," she said before dropping off the side. She caught herself with her yoyo but stayed low, between the buildings. She bounced along, looking for anyone following her. When she saw no one, Marinette dropped her transformation and tucked her cape into itself to form a simple bag. She was only a couple blocks from her apartment so she made it home quickly, without incident.

---

Marinette decided she needed to be much more careful after that. She had been making herself useful stopping everyday crimes, not anything major like the Rogues, but doing it without being noticed.

She had never planned to be out and about at all. She had been buzzing with energy one night, a few months back, and ran across the rooftops rather than risking the streets late at night. It had been 2 years since her last transformation and she hadn't realized how much she missed it. She couldn't help it when she saw someone being mugged. She dropped down into the alley to stop it.

It was her second time out that she had met Red Robin. She had been following a band of thieves she heard planning to hit a market as it closed. She didn't want to take on so many, especially since she was out of practice. But while she was sneaking back up the wall a brick slipped and she lost her grip, tumbling down behind them.

Red Robin must have been patrolling nearby and heard their shouts. She received a couple kicks before she could get up and then one of them dragged her up by her hair to face who she assumed to be the leader. Their only concern was how the logistics of killing her might interfere with their planned job that evening.

She made an attempt to break free that was slightly successful. She broke the hold on her hair and hit the one in front of her but the numbers were not on her side. Another hit her in the gut with a gun as her legs were kicked out from under her. Her back slammed into the pavement and her head throbbed, as she opened her eyes back up to see, a man in a red and black suit knock 3 on them back with his stick and hit the other 2.

One of them went to lift her in front of him to get the man to back off but he hit the knees of the one he was fighting and knocked the one who had her in the back. He grabbed her and then used a cord to swing away. She could hear him talking into his comms to let his friends know about the group.

"They are planning to go to the market when it closes," she said.

She heard him relay the information and she could hear the chatter coming back as they had a discussion. He spoke again to them, this time it sounded like they were close enough to see them.

"I did not just grab a girl to be my girlfriend."

"No, the intel came from her but I don't suspect that she was involved."

"I am not desperate for hugs. I'm shutting you off now."

He pushed a button on his communication gear and turned to her. She just realized that she had been watching him. Closely. She still had her arms wrapped around his neck. She quickly pulled away and then stumbled as she realized she was very dizzy. He reached out to steady her as she planted her feet and reached up to her aching head.

He held her by the elbows and carefully examined her face. He reached up and tilted her chin so he could look at her eyes to see if she needed medical attention.

"Don't think you can kiss me without even telling me your name."

He sputtered and turned red, "I'm Red Robin," he said, "and I wasn't planning on kissing you."

He was still talking, explaining the signs he was looking for to make sure she was okay, but she was only focused on getting away. She pushed away and went to the edge of the roof. But before she swung away she simply said, "That's a shame."

Chapter Text

When he came in to the coffee shop she worked at she was embarrassingly on the floor scrubbing and singing along to the music in French. No one had been in for a bit so she was surprised by his sudden appearance. She pulled the remote from her pocket and changed the music before she stood to go wash, leaving the caution sign set up. When he saw her busy he went and set his laptop up at a table before heading to the counter.

She knew him as soon as he spoke and she saw his face. She had been right about his eyes. They were not merely nice; they were dreamy. She hoped she wasn't just staring at him for long enough to make it awkward. She laughed it off as having difficulty switching tasks and completed the order. She hadn't asked for a name because he was the only one there but she wished she knew it. 

She was so nervous with him being the only one in the shop. Her luck would have her tripping over nothing and dumping coffee on him. She wiped the floor leaving a glaringly clean spot where she had scrubbed but she knew the owner preferred jobs like that not be done with customers present. Since it stayed slow she continued cleaning projects behind the counter where she could take peeks at her mystery man. Could he suspect that they had met before?

---

Rouge Gorge still went out a couple times a week. She was very careful to listen to the Bat team making sure to avoid them. As the weeks went on she could hear that they still wanted rid of her if she refused their rules but it was less pronounced. The law breakers she found were treated as gently as she could and the potential crime victims were happy to be spared. 

She had seen Red Robin spot her and try to follow once but after the treatment she got from his team she wouldn't trust being caught. She knew most of them were out this night but on the far side of town dealing with a fight between 2 drug suppliers. Red Robin said he could come but they told him it was too far away and to stay put for other calls.

Based on their chatter, the fight was just cleaned up and most of them were headed home for the night when Rouge Gorge saw a bright orange glow. She didn't have to get close enough to smell the smoke to know what she was seeing. She only had an approximation on the location before she spoke on their channel, confirming their suspicions that she was listening in. She told them she could see a big fire and about where it appeared to be.

"Rouge Gorge?" Red Robin asked in response.

"It looks bad." was her only response.

She could hear Oracle contacting the fire department to get help on the way. Red Robin arrived before her and provided the exact location. He suspected it was burning too much too quickly to be accidental. The sirens could be heard as she arrived but she didn't think anyone inside would have the time to make it that long.

She heard a faint voice near the top window in the side she was on. She jumped over and hoped it would hold. It was a small window balcony. She kicked the window in and called out. She could see 3 silhouettes on the other side of a line of spreading fire. She spun her yoyo to create enough wind to blow it away. She knew that wouldn't last long. She could smell the accelerant. She crossed the line and shoved the older children to move them before the time ran out as she grabbed the smallest one and ran through.

They made it to the small balcony and the fire was spreading to them quickly. Without taking the time to explain she attached her yoyo and dropped down with the smaller 2. She didn't want to take both but there wasn't enough time. She got them to the ground and swung back up for the older one. The girl screamed as the balcony crumbled under her. Rouge Gorge grabbed the side of the window and swung the cord to wrap around the girl. She caught her hand before using her yoyo to lower her down to the ground as she braced herself against the window.

Nightwing reached up for the girl and Batman was walking over to them. Oracle suspected that there should be 2 adults in the house based on the records she found. The oldest was already asking about her parents when her feet touched the ground. The fire truck and ambulances had arrived and the children were being hearded over to get treatment.

Rouge Gorge snapped her yoyo back just in time as the window was no longer safe. She attached it higher on the roof and pushed off. She veered off course wildly because the window crumbled under her foot as she pushed off. She pulled herself up to the roof and hissed when she put pressure on her foot, it had twisted when the window crumbled as she pushed off.

There were 2 discussions on the comm channel. One was trying to convince her that they would leave her alone if she came down and the other was the progress of the fire fighters in the house. She couldn't risk believing them so she attached her yoyo across the street. It was too far and a bad angle. She tried to change the trajectory some, but she still hit the bricks too hard against her hip.

She groaned as she pulled herself to the roof. Batman himself had tried to convince her to come back and at least allow the paramedics to check her out. She ignored it all. The only reason she hadn't shut off their voices was waiting for confirmation of what she already knew. It came a moment later. The bodies of both parents were removed from the house. One had a broken leg and the other had been shot in the stomach. The injuries were only caused to ensure they would not escape the fire.

Red Robin landed on the roof and walked up to her. He could clearly see the tears running down her face. He reached from behind her and wrapped his arms around her to give a hug. He was talking softly and told her what he was doing and that everything would be okay but he couldn't tell that she was no longer taking in new information. She violently struggled against him.

"No, let me go. I have to save them!"

He loosened his hold and turned her to face him. "You did. You saved the children. They would have died without you."

She pushed against his chest and looked around wide eyed. The fire was still visible but the water was quickly putting out the large flames and smoke now filled the sky. She broke free from him and stumbled as she remembered her injuries but she didn't stop. She ran away and didn't look back.

Chapter Text

Marinette showed up early to work to bake. It happened sporadically but the owner always appreciated it. He knew it was when she had trouble sleeping but he didn't know the trouble came because of nightmares. Usually the nightmares came when she had a blanket wrapped around her too tightly. She would watch the flames cover the patisserie as strong arms held her on the ground to keep her from running into the building. Her screams of terror would always be what woke her.

The coffee shop didn't open until 6 but it was some time before that when the blue eyed man returned. She already had key lime truffles made and chilling and strawberry shortcake cupcakes ready to be frosted. She pushed the button to start the coffee before she headed to unlock the door and let him in.

The timing of his arrival worried Marinette. He ordered a coffee and set up as if he planned to work for a while but it was so early and she was alone. What if he knew who she was in the evenings like she had figured him out. She was thinking so hard she barely realized she had finished frosting the cupcakes. She put the fresh strawberry topping on them before she pulled out the one she deemed too imperfect to sell.

It was now only a few minutes until the shop would officially open but since she was ready and didn't expect much of a rush for close to an hour she sat with her cupcake and coffee and started reading the news. Her alter ego was not mentioned in relation to the fire, for which she was glad, but she was happy to see that the children were all physically fine and would have each other. She nearly forgot the man was there until he spoke.

"That looks like the most amazing,delicious and terribly unhealthy breakfast on the planet."

"I don't know how you could say such a thing. It has real fruit and I made it from scratch. That makes it healthy."

"Well, I can't argue with that logic." He smiled at her and stood up. "Pretty sure I will need a healthy breakfast to make it through the day."

Marinette walked to the opposite side of the counter from him to sell him a cupcake. When he put the remainder of his $10 bill into her tip jar she flushed a bit. "Thank you. That's very generous." It made her slightly uneasy. She was happy to have the extra money but often those who tipped a lot would end up expecting her to want to see them after work. She hoped he wouldn't be pushy like them. "Not sure you will feel as generous with the guy taking your motorcycle."

"What!" He turned and rushed out the door to stop the guy before he could get away with it. He must have trusted her some because he left all his things at the table and his wallet on the counter before he ran out. Marinette delivered his cupcake to the table just before the morning rush started. When she saw him re-enter a few minutes later he looked slightly more tousled than he had before. Marinette was focused on the line of people that now reached to the door but she made a mental note to return his wallet that she hadn't wanted to just leave on the table.

She knew to move quickly once the line cleared out. She started with the coffee bar filling it and wiping it down before turning and clearing the tables of abandoned mugs and a fair amount of wrappers from her morning baking spree. That made her happy, the manager didn't track what she baked and allowed her to keep all the profits, he just happy to get the additional business.

She put the dishes in the back and when she went back out he was on the phone. She worked her way around the shop wiping down the empty tables and checking on the others still there. As she passed his table she set his wallet where he could see it and moved on without comment. From his conversation it sounded like he was being called to the office and he was frustrated because he was working so well on his project without interruptions.

She was behind the counter washing the dishes when he had his things ready to leave. He stopped at the counter causing her to look over to see what he needed. He held up the wallet before tucking it away.

"Thanks for keeping track of this for me. I would have forgotten all about it. It would not have made for a pleasant day."

"Anytime. Have a good one." She replied. Then, with a smile and a small wave, he was gone.

---

Oracle considered carefully before responding, "I think we should leave her be. She doesn't seem like a threat. Why make her one?"

"Those children are only alive because of her. I didn't see the fire and the rest of you were too far away." Red Robin said.

"I really miss when it was all in your head," said Hood. "It really opened up the options for mocking you."

"It was never all in my head. All of you just don't have the same skill level as me."

"What kind of skill does it take to get tied up by a girl that tiny?"Hood asked.

Batgirl laughed, "I have to be honest if someone showed up like that and named themself after me, I'd probably want to keep them around too."

"She is named after Red Robin?" Dick asked.

"I looked it up. It's French. The American robin was named after the European robin by the colonists because it looked similar. In French it is rouge gorge for red robin." Batgirl said.

"I did catch Tim playing with his hair in the mirror to see how he would look with a different style. Guess she isn't the only one who wants to be noticed." Dick said.

"That was for--I mean not for her. That wasn't for her. For me. It was just for me. To try something new."

"So a civilian then. Are there any new hires at WE?"Oracle asked. "Nevermind I'm in. I love the daily picture at the entrance security feature. Makes compiling a list of possibilities so much easier."

"None of this has anything to do with the new vigilante." Robin said. "Are we still voting?"

"If you all have written your votes down you can turn them in here," Batman said as he lifted a small trash can and put it on the desk. Groans and attempted arguments filled the room but he ignored it all as he continued speaking. "Gotham is not free range vigilantism. I am in charge. I make the rules. She will seek my approval and follow the guidelines or she will cease her operation."

Chapter Text

Gotham residents acted like reverse cockroaches. Cockroaches would scatter when the lights turned on but the streets of Gotham would have scurrying residences rushing home as darkness fell. They do this to avoid the crime that happens in the dark but for many opportunistic criminals this rushed time was the perfect time for pick pocketing and purse snatching. All the Gothamites assumed that those rushing and bumping past were also in a hurry to get home.

Marinette was being careful to not bump those rushing past her so she wouldn't spill her bag of groceries. She was only about a block from her apartment. She loved how close she was to the things she needed. Her work was a block from her place in the other direction and there was a fabric and craft store a block over from the grocery store she had just left.

She leaned down to hand her change to a man with a dog sitting outside the store. A woman with a small child exited after her. The woman was shifting her grocery bag and purse so she could hold the child's hand tightly as they headed off but she cried out when her purse was pulled away. She dropped her grocery bag and the child fell over. The people around barely glanced as the woman called for him to stop. The child was crying and holding a bleeding knee, blueberries had scattered over the sidewalk and a can of green bean rolled to the street.

Marinette turned and stepped back out of the man's way but she quickly turned back with the first thing she reached from the top of her grocery bag as she set it on the ground. The carton of eggs slapped his face from forehead to his chin. The second swing hit his upraised arm he used to block and slung egg goo all down his coat and shoes. He still held the purse but Marinette had wrapped the strap around her other hand and was pulling as she started to swing the carton again. 

He batted her hand away roughly causing her to drop the carton. He pulled on the purse back as he shoved her hard to make his escape. Her hands released the strap as she fell, her body tensed in preparation for landing on the pavement. Instead of unforgiving pavement she felt muscled arms under her that caught her up and lifted her easily back to her feet. Once she was steady on her feet she looked over to see Red Robin. One she saw him she failed to even turn and check who had caught her.

"You caught him," she said, a bit in awe seeing him while she was a civilian. Nightwing dropped his hands from her shoulders and stepped up to the man Red Robin was restraining.

"How did you manage to get the credit for that?" Nightwing asked, turning to a rather dazed Red Robin. He took over restraining the man since he was worried Red Robin would dislocate the man's shoulder because of his distraction.

Marinette had bent down with the child and mother to see the scraped knee. The shop owner came out with a bandage and Marinette turned to scold the man for hurting the child "You should be ashamed of yourself. Apologize." The man nervously looked at the two vigilantes who seemed to also be waiting to see what would happen. She pulled the purse out of the man's hands and handed it back to the lady. She turned back and picked her grocery bag huffing in frustration. "Just look at what you did to my eggs. Now I won't have enough to use for baking."

Marinette stalked away.

She almost immediately realized she was being chased. She set her stance to defend herself before turning to confront them. It was the teenager who worked in the shop with a new carton of eggs to replace the ones that broke. She handed it to Marinette then ran back to the safety of the shop.

---

It had become routine for most of the Batfam to be up in the kitchen after patrol to have a snack before heading to bed. Dick and Tim were the last ones to arrive so everyone was already chatting when Dick entered and announced,

"I am the greatest detective and we can put the search for Tim's lady love to rest."

"You don't know what you are talking about." Tim said.

"There is no way you could know before me. I made a chart." Babs said.

He pulled out a tablet that he had downloaded the information from his suit onto. He pulled up several pictures of Marinette in front of the shop. He pulled up a side by side window so he could continue his search. He was able to find security footage from 2 angles of her interactions with the man. They were not very great quality cameras or in color so the others could not see how Red Robin behaved or the flush that colored his cheeks. But they really loved seeing her hit the man with a carton of eggs.

"That isn't really detective work if you just find a random woman to say he is crushing on " Jason said.

"Yeah. It isn't a very strong case. Who is she? Do you know her name or how they met before this attraction you say exists." Babs continued.

"I think you were just jealous that she seemed more grateful to me for catching the bad guy than to you for swooping in and catching her." Tim said.

"That isn't true. You were acting very strange and you were almost as red as your suit." Dick responded.

"Tell me more about how you wanted her to respond to you swooping in and catching her." Babs said.

"No it wasn't like that." Dick said.

"No please explain just how grateful she should have been. I'll wait while you imagine her batting her eyelashes or feeling out of breath." Dick groaned at her description and they left the room so he could explain and grovel.

Tim smirked to himself and then looked down at the tablet. He hoped he would be able to keep his family from finding out about his new favorite coffee shop and the blue eyed worker he was excited to see each day.

Chapter Text

Marinette didn't really remember learning how to bake. She had a few vague memories of her childhood. She remembered her parents and the feelings she had for them. Occasionally she would see flashes. Her hands working a ball of dough and seeing her father's larger hands working next to her. She remembered how it felt to hug her mom. Her arms wrapped around her back while Marinette's arms were around her neck. Her mom's hair tickled her nose and she could see her back. She could see her feet climbing up to the trapdoor that led to her room but she couldn't remember what her room looked like.

Tikki had told her that she had known the risks to her memory ahead of time but that they had no way of knowing how much would be lost. She didn't remember Gabriel Agreste as an enemy. She didn't remember seeing his transformation drop when she took back his magical jewel. She only knew that Chat Noir had frozen in battle at the reveal of the man and her transformation had dropped not long after. Suddenly losing the upper hand in the battle, Marinette could not risk herself being captured as the guardian even if she might forfeit the jewels she possessed. She had no memory of naming Multimouse the new guardian of the miraculous. She came to and saw a menacing looking man and a red fairy that yelled for her to run and so she had. There was a man in black who helped her escape and he did too.

Marinette wasn't sure whether she wanted to remember. She once again woke in terror and she remembered the fire. But not the fire she saw recently. A fire she had to escape. She woke in her bed and could feel the heat. The smoke was thick in the air and she could barely breathe. She could see the flames in her room, blocking her exit so she climbed to her balcony. A crowd was gathered below watching and anxiously waiting for the fire department.

Marinette looked around in a panic. The building was covered on all sides. There was a smell behind the fire. Gasoline. It was making the fire spread too fast. She climbed up the roof a bit to reach the window. As she reached the bottom of the window she slipped. She tried to hang on but her arms were scratched without finding a hold. Arms caught her but not fully. Her momentum knocked them both down. She landed hard on her leg making it painful to stand.

The blond man stood and helped her up and started leading her away from the fire. She looked around for her parents but they were not outside. She looked back at the building waiting for them to run out. The flames flickered across the building but they weren't coming. She moved to go back and help them but the man told her to stop. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

She fought to get away from him but he wrapped his arms around her. She pushed away but he wouldn't let her go. She needed to help them. They both once again fell over in the struggle. He used his weight to prevent her from getting away. She watched as she pushed against his chest. His arms were around her and she could see his hair and shirt and her in pajamas. She felt a sense of deja vu but the memory was no longer there.

When she gave up her struggles he loosened his grip and helped her back up. The fire was almost out. Billows of smoke and steam were coming from what was left of the charred structure. When it came time for her parents to come out of the building, he wouldn't let her look. She cried and screamed but she was just held by a girl with glasses that she almost remembered. She didn't remember them. Nino was the only one who seemed vaguely familiar. Adrien and Alya were just shadows in her mind. Names she picked up in their conversation.

---

It was the third day of her favorite regular not being in. After 2 weeks of him being there close to the time she opened every morning she was starting to miss him and not just for his generous tips. She had started to think she was mistaken for thinking he was Red Robin. Maybe she was just seeing what she had wanted to see. Dark hair, similar voice and a nice mouth. Although they both seemed to love coffee. She had heard Red Robin teased in the radio for his coffee habits and the man who came in usually needed a bunch of refills. But she wasn't convinced it was the same man from outside the grocery store.

She was using her tablet with her coffee waiting until the place got busy when the bell rang and she saw his dark hair. She smiled at him and said good morning but was surprised when she actually looked at the man walking in and realized it wasn't him. He held the door open for a woman with him who was using a wheelchair. Marinette made her way to the counter and busied herself with making their coffee orders and brought them out with their pastries.

Marinette was doodling possible designs when the man approached the counter. His girlfriend had headed towards the back, to the bathroom, Marinette assumed. He ordered a cupcake and coffee to go and specified it was for his brother. But she wondered if he had waited for the woman to be out of sight because he started asking personal questions.

"Have you worked here long?"

"It's been awhile."

"I didn't realize this place was here. The coffee is good." She smiled but stayed silent. "Do you like it?"

"I like most coffee but it is really good here."

"I meant the job."

"It suits what I need very well."

"You look familiar. I feel like I've seen you somewhere before."

"I don't think so. I've never been anywhere."

He cocked his eyebrows questioningly at her response but she didn't react. The conversation felt like it was going somewhere she wasn't comfortable with and she had no intention of encouraging it. They both turned as the woman responded to them as she wheeled back to the front.

"I figured it out. She was on the video clip of the everyday hero." She said.

"Oh, that's right. You hit the guy with an egg carton. That was hilarious." He said.

"What video clip?" She asked. The woman pulled out her own tablet and showed Marinette the link she had found. "I-uh that's not, I mean. Nonono."

Marinette turned and headed towards the back. The couple waited for a moment but eventually left her to work it out on her own.

Chapter Text

Tim looked up as Dick walked up. The coffee and boxed cupcake could be considered a gift but Tim recognized the logo. It Dick's way of letting him know that they found his secret place.

"Did you know that even if you turn off the tracking on your phone, laptop, and other electronics that you can still be found by the gps on your motorcycle?"

"So you tracked me to find out where I've been working away from the office?"

I did. I had a point to prove. Cute worker. But also stops to help those in need."

"Is there a point to this?"

"Not really. My original plan was to tease you about it mercilessly."

"Oh, I can hardly wait."

"You are going to have to. Before anything else I need you to remove that video of her from the internet and anywhere else."

"What? Why?"

"She was really closed off when I asked her anything. She started acting really uncomfortable."

"Sounds a lot like she isn't interested in you."

"I agree. She definitely wasn't but when Barb showed her the video she got really upset, possibly distressed. We think she is in hiding."

It took Tim a while and he was distracted by urgent business a few times but by the end of the work day he had removed every trace of the video he could. He sent a message to Barb to double check and make sure she was unable to find it. It was then that he even had the thought that Barb probably could have done the same thing as him. He wondered what was keeping her so busy that she couldn't help remove the video. It wasn't like Dick to just give up the opportunity to tease him mercilessly when for something as simple as a crush.

---

When Marinette got home from work she looked all over for the video. She wasn't very good working with computers. She could use them functionally but beyond the basics of setting up a website that she used to sell her designs. The trickiest thing she had done was set it up online without connecting it to her former identity. Actually she never really stopped being Marinette, it was the only identity she had in any system and how she still thought of herself. But she hadn't told anyone that name in years, not since leaving France.

She was getting really agitated. She searched everything she could think of to locate the video the couple showed her but she found nothing. Hopefully that meant it would be hard for other people too but she didn't have the resources of someone like Gabriel Agreste and she didn't know what kind of technology existed that he could use to find her. She didn't even know if he would be making an attempt to find her but considering the everything he put Paris through as Hawkmoth and the fire she didn't want to take any chances.

Racing across the rooftops was the best way she knew to relieve stress. She didn't even bother with listening in on the bat channel. She did check to see that they were watching out for an expected move by the drug runners again, something that seemed far too complicated for her to get involved with so she just moved to a different area. She liked to do the little things that would make a huge difference to one person rather than take on all of the major crime in Gotham. Tonight she was mostly just running and swinging to feel the air on her face. It would help her clear her head and relax.

It had been more than a month since she had helped the children out of the fire. She wasn't sure what the bats current policy was on her rooftop activities. She had seen Batgirl and Hood on separate occasions since the fire but she wasn't sure if she had been seen or if their claims of not bothering her had only been for that night.

She chose not to worry about it tonight because she just wanted to feel free. She hadn't seen anything going on tonight and she would rather just run. She stood for quite awhile on a tall building just staring at the lights in the city and beyond that to the bay where the lights reflected back. She stood and watched until she started to feel cold through her suit and her worries no longer plagued her before she looped around to head home.

With a surprising lack of crime during her patrol the city felt very peaceful. She was swinging along towards her apartment when a bright blue flash and crackling electricity encased the building directly in front of her. There was an explosion to the right about a block away and another in the other direction somewhat further away. The loud pops were followed by the sound of energy draining and the lights clicking off in succession.

Rouge Gorge has dropped suddenly out of her swinging in surprise at the sudden flash and sound. Her eyes felt like they were swimming in the dark chasing bright spots of light and her ears were buzzing at the sudden sounds. She needed a moment to recover before heading home but she didn't get the option. Hands wrapped around her arms from behind and there was a clicking sound that she thought was probably a gun.

As her eyes regained her vision more she could see a man in front of her. He had an armored suit that was crackling with blue lightning. The rest of the blocks nearby had darkened and the man in front of her provided the only light. He signalled and 3 men with them set off fireworks, she assumed this was to hide their activity and provide cover for the sudden light and black out. She pulled at her arms to test the hold while she still might have a chance of escaping. The hold was firm but that mattered less as she could see that she was surrounded and near their get away vehicles.

For the number of them working it was a quiet operation. At least it was until a man was dragged out of the big house. He was struggling and yelling. The man before Rouge Gorge approached him and with a flash of blue from his gauntlets the body collapsed. The woman who had been focusing on trying to get away to reach her children let out a piercing scream. Her mouth was quickly muffled by a hand and the man in charge threatened her in a low voice that couldn't be heard from a distance. She still struggled and one of the men holding her struck her.

"The children!" said Rouge Gorge desperately. She struggled herself to get to them. She pulled at her arms and flung her head back making contact with the person's face. As soon as the grip loosened she rushed over to the children and had them face away from their parents. She wrapped them in her cape and hid her movements. She wasn't sure what time she would be allowed before she too was bound as the parents were currently being restrained or killed for being in the way.

She flipped the switch on her radio. She kept her voice low and comforting for the children and to not alert the guards with guns who were luckily giving her space for the moment. She asked the children if they saw the flash of light or heard the transformers blow but they had been asleep. As she spoke she tore off a bit of her cape and wrapped it around Red Robin's logo and a scrap of paper she wrote the license plate number on. She put it under her foot with the logo down hoping that it would be found by the bats after the group left. She hoped they could hear over the radio the names of the children Sofia and Alberto and they could use the information and the black out to find them.

Chapter Text

It had been a quiet night for the bat family. Eerily quiet. The drug ring they had been watching had an expected big move tonight but it ended up being a bunch of low level street dealers. It felt really suspicious for the information to be so wrong on a quiet night. Even after needing to chase down a few of the runners who were a little more adept at evasion they were done early for the night and all was quiet.

Oracle came over the line to tell them that there was a blackout over a section of the city but it didn't look like it was spreading. They all saw the flash of light. It was followed by a few pops of fire works and sparkles shot into the sky and burst into bright colored patterns. Batman responded back that the blackout was probably caused by errant fireworks and it didn't seem suspicious.

The interference on the comm line happened a few minutes after they were headed back. They were making plans for an epic video game tournament when the line filled with static and then muffled voices. It sounded like a voice giving instruction and possible radio crossover. They were just deciding whether to switch channels or shut them off when her voice came through. It was distant and soft but clear.

"There was a bright flash of light and a boom. Did you hear it?"

"We were asleep but it was loud. Then the men came."

"That's a scary way to wake up. Can you tell me your names?"

"I'm Sofia but that's Alberto. I'm older."

"Not by long and you were scared. You cried."

"Those are nice names. Do you have any other names you know? Maybe that you share with your parents."

"I call her Fia and she calls me Berto."

There was a lot of shuffling and sounds of a struggle. Before her voice came back through sounding angry.

"Be gentle! They are children." A slap rang out, followed by a grunt of pain before a gruff male voice told her to shut up and get in. Other voices were in the background but with a rumpling sound against the receiver and a click all the sounds were cut off.

---

Rouge Gorge watched as the children were placed in the back seat of the truck while she was shoved into the back. Her cheek stung from the slap but her arms were bound behind her. The truck was covered and she suspected it was fortified against bullets. It had long benches on either side to fit armed men who were quick to bind her legs, a cloth was wrapped over her face. It wouldn't do much now since she had seen the little of their faces that was exposed but most had their faces covered and glasses to protect against the bright electricity. But it would obscure their destination so even if she managed to escape she would have a harder time getting clear from recapture. She had heard that some people could map a destination by counting and remembering turns but she had already been in an unfamiliar part of Gotham and she had never attempted to map a location by feel.

They roughly shoved her into a chair once they got her inside. Seeing the man before her when the blindfold came off ruined her hopes of a police rescue. He was clearly a police officer, although his gear looked more specialized than a standard cops. She didn't know much about how the police operated here but she thought she had seen a few articles months back about how well the GPD had cleaned up corruption.

"Excellent timing. We have been looking for volunteers to test our new product." he said.

She sat silently and waited to see what he would say next. He smirked at her and looked through her things that had been removed from her person. Then he slowly walked around the chair she sat in.

"I've not seen a spotted bat before. Is Batman allowing beetles to join his quest?"

"I'm not affiliated with Batman."

"If you are going to lie, you have to do it about something I don't already know. The GPD looks the other way from the vigilantes as long as Batman approves them."

"He definitely made it clear I was not welcome. I've done pretty well staying off the radar since then."

"Try this." He held out what looked like cotton candy in front of her face.

"No. What is it?" She pulled her head back, trying to get away.

"The maker calls it heliotrope. A few of the staff who have tested are calling it party puff. It will make you feel giddy or euphoric."

"I don't do drugs."

"Fair enough. I'll test it on the children instead." He turned to walk away but she called it back and agreed to take anything if he would keep it away from the children.

She wasn't sure how long it had been since then. She could only measure in doses of the drug. She thought it might have been half an hour between the first 2. They did show her the children safely asleep in sleeping bags with their mother nearby, heavily guarded. They kept her on her feet after that, they said for market research but probably just to watch her stumble around. She could barely feel the floor through the floating feeling. Somehow everything felt brighter and faded all at once. She might have lost count but she thought they had given her 5 puffs of their test drug.

She was doing her best to remain clear headed but they were switching back and forth between winding her up and asking questions while she was feeling the strongest effects. She was fairly certain that she hadn't mentioned Red Robin specifically or her current employment but before they gave her the last dose she remembered talking about the fire. She wasn't sure if it was only the recent one or if she had brought up the one from her past. She was certain she had told them about being captured by the bats and escaping. When the crash and beginning of the fight happened she was singing in French. She wasn't sure if she was dancing too or if the room was spinning.

Chapter Text

Nightwing landed first and looked around but it was Batgirl that saw the piece of torn cloth. She unwrapped it and read out the license plate for Oracle to locate. Batman and Red Robin checked out the buildings. When they confirmed that it looked like electrical weapons they had Oracle send the batmobile with medical supplies and arc flash gear to inhibit conductive properties. Oracle contacted the police about the power outage and their suspicions of the Electrocutioner being responsible as she also guided the team to follow the vehicle.

Oracle had the location of the vehicle very easily so they moved with caution when they arrived, only Red Robin and Batman had electricity repelling suits. There were 2 lookouts so they knew it was the right place. Hood managed to have perfect timing in managing to knock out one immediately after they gave the all clear. The other turned at the noise and Red Robin took him down. The knob was turned slowly and the door pushed gently but it creaked even when moving slow. They paused and waited but moved forward when they realized that they couldn't be heard over the voices. They heard Rouge Gorge first. She was talking freely with one of the henchmen.

"They captured me but I got away. Batman definitely knows I'm not with him."

"What were you doing out then if not reporting to him."

"I just needed to be out so I could think. I was worried that Hawkmoth could find me from the video."

"What video? Wait, Hawkmoth I've never heard of a Hawkmoth."

"He burned it all but I don't remember why."

"You don't remember?"

"A man held me back. I think he was a friend I can't remember. He wouldn't let me save them."

"You need more."

"No. Please no."

There were shuffling sounds and then another man spoke. "There you are. Spin like a ballerina."

"It's too fast." She complained. The shuffling stopped abruptly and the original man kept asking questions.

"Why do you think this Hawkmoth will find you."

"Do you think he is coming here? Is he trying to find you." Instead of a response she started singing in French.

"La mer
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie"

This worked as a perfect distraction for the bat family to make their move. They had silently been trying to decide but when she started singing Nightwing cued them to move.

Rouge Gorge stumbled as the man behind her supporting most of her weight turned to fight. She wobbled several steps before managing to support her weight and get to the wall. Holding steady on the wall confirmed for her that it was not the room that was spinning but that it was all in her head. She stumbled into Batgirl but managed to pull herself up. She pointed to the 2 rooms to tell what she knew.

"The children and their mother are being guarded. There were 3 others in there."

"With guns?"

"Big ones. The man is in that room. I don't know anything about it though."

Batgirl nodded and then turned to the room with the children. The men were already on their way out to join the fight. Nightwing went over to join Batgirl in freeing the children and Red Robin went for the other room. Rouge Gorge screamed as the blue electricity hit him as the door opened. The electricity covered him but didn't seem to injure him.

After she screamed all the rest of the henchmen came running. The man in the SWAT police uniform came out of the room with the man and hit Red Robin so he and the Electrocutioner could make their escape out the front door. From the side hallway came another man in a strange suit that Rouge Gorge hadn't seen before. She heard someone call out that there was a fire but she was already being dragged out by the man in Swat gear.

Upon seeing the man starting the fire the Bat family began evacuating instead of fighting off the henchmen. The man turned out to be Falcone and he was unconscious and tied to a chair. While there was still a shot at the backdoor Batman and Hood carried him out. Nightwing got the window open and climbed out. Batgirl handed him the children and then helped the mother climb out before she followed. Red Robin recovered himself from the hit and began chasing the two men out the front as they tried to escape.

"Just let them go." Nightwing called out to Red Robin.

"What about Rouge Gorge?" he said back.

"Let it go. She was helping them." Batman said.

"I think she was helping us," Batgirl said. "She told me what she knew about the kids. But she was acting weird."

"Better if we get her than them." Nightwing said as he flung a bola cord that caught her by the ankles. "With their doubt and her knowledge of us it's a risk not worth taking."

---

Rouge Gorge found herself being pulled along. Her legs weren't even cooperating enough to keep up let alone fighting to get away. The house was now covered in flames and the man who started the fire had almost caught up with them. She was too afraid to fight against them too much and risk them killing her. 

She looked back and saw the bat team regrouping. She had hoped that they could be working together on this. But they appeared to be satisfied now that the children were safe. That had been her hope when she turned on her radio so they could hear what was happening but she had expected it would help her too. This was all above her level of expertise. Her feet were barely hitting the ground as she was being pulled. She suspected that if she survived her shoulder would end up being very sore from how her arm was being pulled.

When a bola cord flew and tied her legs together she fell over finally stopping her from being pulled along. The sudden change caused her to be dropped to the ground. The man went to lift her but he pulled back when a batarang flew at him. The other man turned and threw out more blue lightning but it missed Nightwing. While he was distracted Rouge Gorge was lifted again.

Another cord was launched at her from something like a grappling gun. This time instead of releasing to tie her it wrapped around her middle but stayed connected so she could be pulled back. Rather than using her in a game of tug of war the swat man gave up and ran on to join the other two. He wasn't even in the vehicle before it peeled out and drove away.

"Should we follow?" Hood asked, "We could catch up to them."

"Not tonight," Batman said.

Chapter Text

Rouge Gorge pulled the cords off her midsection and her feet. The bat crew was talking and planning and didn't seem to notice her or how much she was struggling. Once free she stood and tried to steady herself as she made an attempt to sneak away. Sirens could be heard approaching, coming to put out the fire and medical teams to help the hostages.

She knew it would be a bad idea for her to be meeting the police. She was an unsanctioned vigilante and didn't want to have her past be able to find her. Her creeping away was going unnoticed but with her natural clumsiness enhanced by unknown drugs she was one uneven patch of ground away from alerting them to her plans. Which she managed as soon as she thought of how terrible it would be for her.

They all turned to look when she fell. Unfortunately it was Batman himself who was closest to her. He picked her up and moved her to the back seat of the Batmobile. Her hands were bound over the protests of Red Robin and Batgirl. They sat with her in the back as Hood and Batman climbed in the front. Nightwing stayed to see that everything was taken care of with the police.

The ride was short and quiet. The car was parked underground but it did not look like the place had been visited recently. Everything was dark and it was chilly as if it hadn't recently been heated. She assumed it was a safe house and that it was to keep her from knowing the location of their base.

"Does she really need to be bound?" Red Robin asked as he helped her out of the car.

The fast ride and turns along with being suddenly pulled to her feet caused her to feel the effects of the drug again. She stumbled taking several steps trying to right herself before Red Robin grasped her by the shoulders.

"This is really not how I expected our night to go." Her voice was slurring the words a bit.

Red Robin looked at her closer and noticed her eyes were dilated even now that they were no longer in the dark. She looked over as Nightwing entered before looking back at him.

"What's going on with your eyes? Did you take something?" He asked.

"Do you like them?" She batted her eyelashes a few times and reached up to his mask. "Are they as pretty as your eyes? It's such a shame you keep them covered."

"You said she didn't take your mask off. When has she seen your eyes?" Batgirl asked.

"She hasn't. She is making it up. I think she is high."

"They kept giving me more," Rouge Gorge said.

"More what?" said Hood.

"What's it called? Like candy but at a carnival. Barbe?" She used the French word not recalling the English word. "What's the hair on the chin called?"

Her words were still slightly slurred. Batman walked over and guided her into a chair before speaking on the comms to Oracle to find out more about the three men who escaped. Nightwing stayed close by Rouge Gorge to find out what she could tell them and hopefully to find out whether she was working with the men.

"That's French for beard. I don't know what that means. Beard candy or candy beard?" Red Robin said, thinking aloud.

"There is a place I keep wanting to try because it had the best ad campaign." Everyone looked back at her when she started singing the jingle. "Red Robin...yum."

Batman returned while everyone took the opportunity to laugh at the very red Red Robin. Batman gave them all an update on the 3 men who as far as they knew before tonight were working with Falcone but suddenly they decided to take over the drug trade. He turned back to Rouge Gorge, his voice was stern.

"Are you still trying to convince us that you are not involved despite bringing us to two locations that your accomplices were involved with?"

"The fire?" Nightwing asked.

"Yeah. It was started by Firefly. Oracle is looking for a link. She suspects the parents were involved with making the drug." Batman said.

"I think I may have figured out what she meant about the drug." Red Robin said. He turned his phone and they all had a look. "It took a few combinations but cotton candy is called what literally translates as papa's beard in French."

"That's what their drug is?" Batgirl asked Rouge Gorge. She showed her the phone.

"I told him I wouldn't take it, but he said he would make the children take it instead." Rouge Gorge explained.

"Some choice," scoffed Red Robin.

"He was dressed like a police officer and they kept making me take more. Then, they were spinning me and asking questions."

"He asked about Hawkmoth. Is that who you work for?" Nightwing asked.

"No, he can't know I'm here. He can't find me." She tried to stand up but Red Robin put her back in the chair before turning back to Nightwing.

"Are you seriously using the same interrogation method as drug dealers?" He asked Nightwing.

"We need answers now." Batman said. "She could just have told us who she was but she is hiding something."

"Aww, you are such a cinnamon roll." Rouge Gorge said looking at Red Robin. "I could just take a bite of those cinnamon buns."

Everyone was laughing at Red Robin again. Batgirl watched her closely before she switched back to the earlier revelation.

"Actually I agree with Red Robin. I even think she is telling the truth about everything, especially since she keeps including things she didn't want to say."

"What makes you say that?" Hood asked, pointing at her. "She has eluded us for months. You think she is doing that all on her own?"

Rather than answering him directly, she turned back to the bound hero. "What color are Red Robin's eyes?"

"Blue. Light blue like they were reflecting silver," she said.

"Definitely not a guess. That is too accurate. So are you still saying she didn't take your mask off?" Batgirl asked.

"I swear, she didn't. There is no way she could know unless she knows who I am," he turned back to Rouge Gorge. "Do you know who I am?"

She nodded her head. He continued.

"But you didn't take my mask off," he said more in confusion than an actual question.

She shook her head.

"I've not seen you wearing a mask when I wasn't so it does come off."

She nodded. Neither of them noticed how everyone else hung back and watched them just talking. They held a collective breath hoping that Red Robin would get her to reveal something useful to them.

"If it's magic, then how do you get it to work?"

"I just have to say spots off."

Chapter Text

The bright light filled the room.

Red Robin covered his eyes in shock at the sudden light.

"I wasn't supposed to do that," Marinette said.

The pink flash happened too fast for them to notice the red blur that zipped into her dress pocket. She looked down and her hands were no longer bound. She pushed off to move to the exit but found the combination of standing quickly while still under the influence of the drug she was given caused her to nearly fall over.

Red Robin moved over to catch her before she fell over, astonished that the quiet barista he had a crush on was the same as the bold, masked woman who shamelessly flirted with him. He turned back to the others who were also getting over the sudden brightness and figuring out what had happened.

"Well, are you happy now that she has been revealed?" Red Robin said angrily.

"No. I need far more information about why she is here," Batman said coolly.

"Are we dancing or is there room still spinning?" Marinette interrupted their angry staring contest.

Red Robin tried to stabilize her but she pulled away and pointed at Nightwing as if she was seeing him for the first time. She took several steps before she decided on words. No one felt like she posed much of a risk at this point so they just watched.

"When you got a cupcake for your brother, did you mean him?" she whispered in a loud voice while pointing back at Red Robin.

"What are you talking about?" Batgirl asked.

"What makes you say that?" Nightwing asked her.

She didn't answer. She pitched forward and collapsed. Nightwing barely reached out in time to catch her. There was a flurry of movement as everyone tried to help her at once. None of the team there had more than basic medical training so they gave her an IV for hydration and electrolytes. Her blood pressure was a little elevated and her pulse was fast but nothing was overly concerning and she was somewhat responsive.

Red Robin pushed to move her back to base where Alfred and Damian both had more medical training and to protect her identity by not taking her to a hospital.

---

When she came to, she couldn't immediately remember what happened. She tried to lift herself but everything hurt. She groaned and then heard movement in response. That didn't make sense because no one should be in her apartment and that didn't sound like Tikki. She opened her eyes and looked around.

The first thing she noticed was that she definitely wasn't in her apartment. Her arm had an IV but the location was not a hospital. It reminded her of a bunker. It might have once been a cave but it had clearly been hollowed out and things were added. She looked beside her in a chair by the bed and she saw Red Robin.

Her mind was still struggling to remember what had happened. She tried again to sit up and realized that it wasn't the aching that had prevented movement. Her arms were strapped down. But that wasn't even the most concerning part. Her arm was bare. She wasn't transformed.

Red Robin was speaking softly to her, trying to calm her but she couldn't remember what happened to have her end up here. She couldn't reach her ears and she couldn't call it for Tikki. Had Red Robin and the bat team learned about the miraculous?

"Hey, breathe deep for me. You are going to have a panic attack."

She focused on Red Robin when he started speaking. In another circumstance she would be happy to have him near but this had moved beyond casual flirting. She was a prisoner and they had a tube with an IV feeding into her veins. Her head was fuzzy and aching. She didn't know what they had given her to make her feel this way.

"Why?" was the first thing she was able to get out.

"What do you remember?" he asked softly.

"Are you poisoning me?" she asked.

Instead of answering immediately, he reached over and slid the IV out of her arm. He carefully bandaged the spot before he spoke.

"The IV is saline and electrolytes. You passed out. Do you remember?"

A door opened and Nightwing and Batgirl entered. Marinette started pulling against the bindings again. She just realized this must be their lair. That made them sound dastardly. She didn't think they were evil before but she was surrounded and restrained. But her head was beginning to clear a bit and she was starting to remember bits. It came out as two separate thoughts.

"Did you get struck by lightning," she asked Red Robin but she gasped suddenly and sat up quickly as far as she was able. "The children!"

She looked around the space as if she was expecting to see them somewhere. Batgirl assured her that the children made it out and were expected to be in a safehouse with their family somewhere. Nightwing was less concerned about reassurance and was ready to get answers now that she was awake.

"You have successfully convinced some of them that you were not involved. But the rest of us need answers."

"I don't know what you mean."

"I mean your clever ploy to lead us into a trap. Were we to be captured or killed?"

"I wasn't involved in anything. I was upset last night and I missed noticing what was going on until it was too late."

"So you set us up to go down with you."

"Yeah. See how well that worked. We are all trapped here together. Wait, my bad. You all had a perfect rescue except for the part where I'm now your prisoner," her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"What did you expect?" he replied.

"The benefit of the doubt. I've done nothing to harm any of you."

"You did slightly tie up Red Robin and then there was that whole business of hitting everyone on that rooftop." Batgirl said.

Marinette just looked at her before speaking. She had thought Batgirl was on her side a little but perhaps she wasn't convinced.

"Well you guys famously beat or main rather than killing. What is it to be?" she looked around as she paused. "Or are you just that good at hiding the bodies. Are you going to feed me to actual bats?"

"We don't know what to do with you yet." Batman said as he entered the room. "But bats don't eat people."

"We were unable to find any record of you. We searched pay records from the coffee shop but you weren't in their records." Red Robin said.

"Typically I'd say you could just ask me out but I'm kinda pissed right now."

"That's probably valid," Batgirl said.

"You think? So are you planning to kill me or let me go?"

"First we need to know who is giving you identity information." Batman said.

"So you will kill me if I don't tell my name?"

"Pretty sure he meant how you knew their identities." Batgirl said in a stage whisper while pointing one hand at Nightwing and the other at Red Robin.

"It's not like they are hidden with magic. Probably everyone who had seen any of you with and without a mask would know."

"No. That is definitely something you alone seem to manage." Nightwing said.

"But we want to know about you too. Why are you hiding your identity. That seems suspect." Batman said.

"I woke up with an unknown IV and strapped to a bed in your doom bunker and you think my motives are suspect?"

She looked directly at him until he harrumphed and walked off.

Chapter Text

They had argued back and forth for hours after bringing Marinette back to the base. Everything was circumstantial. They all had heard her talking with the supposed captors freely. No one could prove either way whether she had been there willingly. Batgirl had gotten information from her and Red Robin had been close enough to hear but the others were not close enough so they could only go by what they had seen. She was giving them information and when the time came they were leaving with her.

She had basically broken their drug ring case wide open and claimed it was all an accident. They knew there was a new product and new players but no one had any information on it until last night. Oracle displayed it on the screen and they confirmed the 3 men involved. They had been working with Falcone but apparently they decided to take over the drug trade with their new product. All had been actively seeking Batman when Black Mask had put a large bounty on him. How they began working together was unknown.

Jack Buchinsky--Electrocutioner-
-Costume can generate electric shocks
-alias Jack Gruber

Lieutenant Howard Branden
-former SWAT GCPD
-corrupt cop

Garfield Lynns--Firefly
-pyro terrorist
-costume with flight capabilities

Nightwing had actually become almost convinced. He still had questions and doubts but believed what the others had seen and didn't think she seemed like she was plotting. He made the case that she had been seen and connected to the men and therefore would not be safe on her own. Hood was convinced by this argument and Batgirl and Oracle stopped arguing the point. The discussion ended and they all went about their day.

Red Robin went off to sleep. She was fed and someone sat with her throughout the day. Batgirl had the last shift before patrol. She brought her dinner and fresh clothes. Batgirl was adjusting the equipment so she could put on a movie. Red Robin was careful not to be seen entering the Batcave. He had to wait until daylight was fading and it worked it perfectly with Batgirl being the least likely to stop him.

"You aren't trying to sneak up on me are you?" Batgirl said without turning around. "You think your plan is a shock to me?"

"I think you know I am right. You will either help me or not try to stop me." Red Robin replied.

"What if I try to stop you?"

"I think you won't. You remember when it was you in a similar position. You know this is wrong."

"She can't know how to get back here."

He held up a blind fold that he had with his spare helmet. She nodded and walked away. Red Robin approached Marinette. Since she was no longer needing medical treatment she had been moved to a chair but her hands were still cuffed to it so she couldn't get to the manor from the inside or outside. He picked up the keys and unshackled her hands.

"Come," he said.

She followed after him rubbing her wrists a bit. They were not locked painfully but they still felt funny being released after so long. When they got to his motorcycle he explained that she would need to be blindfolded to protect the location. She nodded and he wrapped the cloth around her face before helping her put the helmet on.

Once she was securely behind him in the motorcycle with her arms around him from behind he rode off. He wove in and out of the cars and traveled up and down the streets with no particular location in mind, but just to confuse her sense of direction. He pulled into a parking garage and rode all the way to the top. It was within a mile of the coffee shop that she worked at and not far from the grocery store so he suspected she lived close.

He helped her off and undid the blindfold every though she probably could have managed on her own. She wasn't sure how she felt about him now. He hadn't positively responded to any of her flirting even if it made him blush but he had defended her and probably upset his team by helping her escape. Part of her really wanted to ride away with him on his motorcycle. She didn't know if she liked the idea of running away with him or if she really liked the feeling of leaning against him. He pulled her out of her thoughts by asking a question.

"Will you be okay from here? Will the magic you use work?"

"I just have to say the magic words," she responded. "Are they going to be mad at you?"

"Yes. But it is the right thing to do. They will get over it eventually."

---

"So you just let him walk out of here with her?" Batman asked.

"What else should I have done? He is right about this." Batgirl replied.

"We still need information from her and she is probably in danger. These men are not known for being nice." Nightwing added.

"You cannot protect people from evil by becoming evil. We should be better than that," Batgirl said before walking off.

"I found something on her," Oracle said. "My search was taking too long but then I remembered the French connection."

She loaded information on the screen. It was reports from Paris a few years back. The hero was called Ladybug and with her partner Chat Noir fought Hawkmoth for control of magical artifacts. As she searched she added more information for them to read. Knowing a location helped her search Paris records for an aged down picture of Rouge Gorge/Ladybug as a civilian.

It was another hour before they could put together the entire story. The public didn't seem to put together her identity but the bat family had already seen her unmasked. There was a defeat of the villain and the heroes had given a very odd press conference about it. They had recovered the artifacts but Chat Noir had done most of the speaking which was a change from how their past interactions had been.

As a civilian, Marinette had been treated by a series of doctors for amnesia from a supposed fall. Her memory was affected for several years of time. She no longer remembered her close friends and little was known about how to treat it. The story was told on a popular blog as a follow up a little over a month after the 'fall' because the girl was at the hospital again. This time after a fire.

She ran from the hospital during the night. It was later discovered that the arsonist was paid to set the bakery on fire and she was not supposed to escape. With her parents dead and her memories gone, no one knew where to look for her. She hadn't been seen since. Oracle checked the name in a number of databases and travel records. It hadn't been used for anything since then.

"That isn't the name she used at her job." Nightwing said. "Her name tag said Val."

"I already tried for records from the coffee shop. She doesn't exist in their records. Her employer probably pays her in cash." Oracle explained.

"So she is just in hiding here and accidentally cracked our drug ring case?" Hood asked.

"She was worried when she was shown the video of herself. All the information gathered strongly suggests she was hiding from this Hawkmoth, who was probably responsible for the fire." Oracle said.

Chapter Text

Marinette called for her transformation while Red Robin watched in awe. They were blocked from view from most angles by the elevator leading to the ground floor. Red Robin looked down at his phone when it buzzed and ignored the call. It beeped again a second later but he chose to wait on hearing their thoughts on what he had done.

"Looks like the escape has been discovered," he told her.

She looked over at the thin line of colors on the horizon. "I guess it's too late for us to ride off into the sunset together."

She walked right up to him and spent a moment just looking at him before reaching up with her hand to push his hair away from his face. She ran her hand back across his jaw and down to rest against his heart. He took in a deep breath as her eyes moved down to his mouth. She knew her eyes lingered too long before she stepped away from him.

"I may have never learned your name but I will remember you," she said softly.

She turned to walk away but turned back to speak again.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused. I hope they aren't too hard on you."

He reached an arm out before she stepped out of his range.

"What do you mean? Are you leaving?"

She turned back to him and grasped his crossed straps and placed a soft kiss on the same spot she had when she caught him on the rooftop. She didn't speak again; she just turned to walk away. His hand reached out to stop her again.

"You are leaving Gotham? Where will you go?"

She brushed his hand away gently. Her face turned just enough that he could see where tears had run down her cheeks. His arm blocked her and pulled her close when she continued to walk away without saying anything.

"I don't want you to go."

Her fingers brushed the tears away as she continued to move away from him. His hand loosely held her arm as she was pulling away but he made no attempt to stop her until his hand grasped hers.

"Please," was all he said.

"I believe the lady has already given an answer."

They both turned at the sound of the new voice. His staff made a sound as he retracted it and attached it to his belt. He walked over to the pair. Red Robin started to move himself in front of Rouge Gorge but she stepped out and stared at the man, not quite able to place him yet.

---

They were already suited up and ready to head out searching for Red Robin who had apparently disabled the gps in his motorcycle, phone, and suit. Batgirl had been quiet after being scolded for essentially letting them walk out without a fight. She seemed to be struggling before coming to a decision. She told them before they left that she had expected him to make this move and placed a gps tracker in his spare helmet that he had put on the girl.

Oracle located where it was transmitting from. It was bouncing up and down streets all through the city before it circled the block and then stopped. She gave directions to what she discovered was a parking garage and they all headed out to tell Red Robin what they had learned. Batgirl attempted to make a call but it was sent to voice mail. Her text went unread.

She thought their formation when they landed on the roof probably gave the wrong impression. Black Bat, Hood, and Batman landed on separate sides blocking the 3 figures in with the only escape being the driveway that headed into the parking structure. That was blocked off as Nightwing pulled the Batmobile up to the roof. He and Batgirl stepped out to join the others.

"Who's the new cat?" Hood asked.

"My partner?" said Rouge Gorge.

"My Lady. Do you remember me?" Chat Not asked.

She shook her head but spoke anyway.

"The fire. You wouldn't let me save them. You stopped me."

She reached out to him carefully as if he would disappear if her hand made contact. He took her outstretched hand and put it against his face as if to show he was real. Everyone else was frozen in place waiting to see what would happen between the 2 magical heroes.

"There is no way you would know that. I wasn't revealed in the fight." Chat Not said.

"But I see you," she replied simply.

"She apparently can magically see through all masks and recognize the civilian behind the mask," Red Robin confirmed.

The Parisians looked around remembering that there were others there. The Bat family were still surrounding them on the roof but it was unclear whether they were planning on capturing them or were just trying to make amends. Batgirl remembered what Red Robin said about how she was treated by Batman during her time as Spoiler and Robin. She shifted closer but in a way to create an opening.

"We know what happened before," Batgirl said. "Pretty sure we are all finally in agreement that you are not a threat."

"I still have questions about the men who took you." Batman said with a lack of concern for anything but the mission.

"I hope you find your answers but I can't stay."

She sent her yoyo out and swung away from the rooftop. She was going without a destination in mind. She couldn't go directly home to get her stuff because she suspected she would be followed. She saw a shadow and realized she was right. She dropped to an alley with exits in 3 directions. She was surprised that it was Red Robin following her rather than Chat Noir or one of the harder to convince bats.

She didn't turn around when he landed. She could hear him shift on his feet but he didn't speak so she did.

"I don't know what else you could want."

"Is it so odd that I wouldn't want you to leave?"

"I don't know what other information you guys think I have. I wasn't trying to gather information. I was just trying not to be killed."

"I don't care what Batman wants. I don't care what any of them want."

He reached for her and turned her to face him. She allowed him to turn her, but his finger pressed against her lips to stop her next question.

"I care about what I want and about what you want," he whispered now that they were close.

His finger moved from her lips and he hooked it under her chin and he gently tilted her face up. She sucked in a breath trying to think of any other meaning for his action. Her eyes started to close as she took a half step towards him. Her tongue slid across her lips to wet them and her hand reached out to touch his bicep.

She felt his hand against her hip with a gentle pressure as he was slowly moving closer to her. They both froze as they heard the sound of boots landing behind him.

"Well this looks cozy."

Chapter Text

After a bit of discussion they allowed Chat Noir to direct them to where he was staying. Who knew Airbnb had secret lairs up for rent? Probably a good business model for temporary criminal enterprises. He assured them that he was not staying but that he had just come to see Rouge Gorge, who he had been quietly searching for since she disappeared. As they arrived Chat Not led then down a hallway to a room where they could have a discussion.

The hallway was a bit narrow as it got closer to the large room where the vigilantes and heroes could gather. Rouge Gorge slowed herself slightly as the hall narrowed to let the others get into closer to a single file. No one spoke because they didn't know enough about Chat Noir and he was the one who said he had information to give.

She stepped back against the wall but instead of letting Red Robin pass her she grabbed his straps and pulled him to face her. His hands caught himself on the wall. Her hand covered his mouth as he tried to say something and she made a quiet hushing noise. He looked down the hall as the footsteps of all the others moved further away.

She pulled her hands back away from him and waited to see what he would do. He was looking at her eyes and they did not stray to her mouth. His hand cupped her cheek and pressed his forehead against hers. It was all very sweet. But she didn't want sweet right now. She pushed him away but held onto his straps while she spoke.

"Are you afraid that they will find out?"

She turned him around to press his back against the wall as she moved closer to him. Now he glanced down at her lips but he still looked around to make sure no one could see them. The nervousness never left his eyes. She released him and started to walk away before turning back and adding.

"Maybe you just wanted a way to get information before realizing I don't have any. Don't worry about it. It won't even matter soon."

She didn't wait for the reply he was attempting. She walked on towards the room ahead. Everyone else was still getting settled and didn't notice their delay in joining them, except Hood. He smirked at Red Robin and puckered up his lips so Red Robin looked away, blushing. That is when he noticed the glare Rouge Gorge was sending his way. His smirk faded and he looked away as he shifted in his seat.

Once everyone settled they allowed Chat Noir a chance to speak and he had a lot to say. They had set up a communication with Oracle so she could hear everything too and not have to get the information second hand. He explained everything that had happened from his point of view since the battle with Hawkmoth where Ladybug lost her memories.

The team of Gotham vigilantes was shocked to learn that the heroes had worked together for almost 4 years without knowing who their partner was. Even after losing their mentor they stayed true to his number one role of maintaining the secrecy of their civilian identity from everyone including each other. It was vastly different from the Bat family working together as a team and understanding the struggles they went through as vigilantes and civilians.

Hearing Chat Noir explained the final battle from his perspective was shocking for Rouge Gorge. She had known that Chat Noir froze during the battle because Tikki told her what she could. She always assumed that it was shock at the reveal and then hers shortly after. She gasped along with everyone else when he revealed that their foe had been his father the whole time.

"At that moment I considered freezing at his reveal my biggest failure. My only thought was simply for us to escape. The battle before had been brutal but we pushed on to get our shot at recovering the miraculous. We chased him on. She was able to take back his jewel but she had been revealed and was vulnerable."

He took a breath. They could all tell that it was very emotional for him to relive. His voice broke when he talked about seeing his father revealed and standing over his small and injured friend. He knew that she needed to run but she wasted her moment of escape to protect the magic jewels. He was the only one who knew that Marinette being Ladybug also meant that Ladybug was the same as Multimouse. Even then he was shocked that she had been affected by the magical amnesia. He only explained the effects of the amnesia without telling them about her still being guardian.

This is that part she remembered. She was there with the man who she later learned was Gabriel Agreste and had been terrorizing Paris as Hawkmoth. Tikki had told her to run and she had. She had no memory of Chat Noir but he used his baton to spring over to her and scooped her up. Gabriel had roared in frustration but they were the only ones around to hear it. Chat had guided Marinette into transforming back into Ladybug to call for the cure for the final time and realized then that her memories may never return.

He had taken her back to her parents as herself. He told them limited information. He told them he wasn't sure what she would remember but that she had been Ladybug and had just taken the miraculous back from Hawkmoth. They had taken her to a doctor and he headed home to do more research. He wouldn't bother any of them with the details of his plan. He told his 2 most trusted friends and they were working to catch him legally since they hadn't managed in the battle.

"The plan was in place and I'm certain it would have worked. It was all to go down the next day but that night I woke to a fight between my father and his assistant. She yelled at him that he had gone too far. As I headed down the stairs I heard her say enough to know that he had arranged a fire as retribution. Nathalie was devastated that he would do that. She threw her own miraculous in his face. I ran to grab it and ran to the bakery. It was on fire when I got there. I could smell the gasoline and I saw her climbing from the balcony."

Marinette remembered this part of the story too. The man who held her and refused to let her run into the fire was not wearing a mask but sure could still recognise him. Her parents had been injured to prevent them from escaping. Marinette had been at the hospital when it was discovered that her Nonna had also been in the building but had never awoken and no one knew to look for her.

She was supposed to live with her grandfather since she wasn't quite 17 and still needed a legal guardian. The friends she didn't remember explained that she had helped her father reconcile with his father but in her mind she had never met him. She left the hospital during the night and disappeared. Chat was the only one who could have guessed that it was using the miraculous that she recovered from the burned building. She hadn't thought about any of this since her recent reveal but now that it was presented she realized just how devastating it could be for her identity to have been revealed.

"I have been looking for any sign of you since then," he says as he finished the story.

"How did you find me?" she asked.

"I saw a video of you fighting off a mugger. I also found a few mentions of your new persona. The name was different but still French."

"I guess no good deed ever does go unpunished. I looked all over for that video."

The Bat family looked around uncomfortably as she walked out of the room. She walked the other way from the long hallway to find what else was there. She knew Chat Noir had followed her out but she felt safe with him even without remembering her time as his partner. She ended up in a kitchen and started looking around for something to do. He stood in the doorway watching her without speaking as she mechanically went about pulling out ingredients until she found enough to make something.

She didn't look his way until she had brownie batter in a pan and into the oven. He smiled but her smile in return was hesitant. She saw that he had been writing before but it was now folded in his hand. She looked back and started the timer but she was still nervous. Rather than heading down the hall back towards the others she continued on. She said she just wanted to look around but Chat Noir had a knowing look as she walked that way. He made her pause with a hand on her arm to hand her the paper.

The outside simply said, "open when alone"

Chapter Text

Tim growled when he got back to his apartment. Everything was frustrating with the way the team was working now. Maybe it was just him. Their drug case had gone cold. They knew who the major players were but had no idea how to find them. Meanwhile the drugs were all over and had become very popular to use for many in Gotham. The nights felt longer and the team was more likely to struggle getting along.

He had moved out not long after Rouge Gorge had unexpectedly left Chat Noir's temporary bunker. They had been talking quietly about all they had learned waiting for the Parisian heroes to return. Chat Noir came back with brownies that he said had been made by his former partner. Batman was upset when Chat Noir had told them she had left. He expected to be able to ask more questions now that they were all on the same page. Chat Noir said she wasn't a prisoner and he didn't stop her.

He sighed thinking about her again. As the months went by without her being seen, it was expected that she had left Gotham. It was, after all, what they had demanded of her. She was to reveal herself or stop. Tim blamed himself for her reveal. He hadn't been trying to get information out of her when she was drugged but he was shocked that she seemed to know him. He had been back to the coffee shop but there was a new worker in her place.

As much as he was frustrated with Batman for his refusal to believe she might be there to help her harbored more anger towards Hood for interrupting their moment. He missed his chance with her and made her think that he was only after information. After he had been the one to break her during interrogation. The exposure of her identity had probably only reminded her exactly what risks there were if she were revealed.

And it was all his fault.

---

Meg, as her name tag said now, had been working at a breakfast cafe for 4 months. She had moved to a new apartment although it was the same owner with the same cash only, no name deal for her. At the cafe she was still cash only and known only by her new name. Her old boss had a cousin with a diner and had gotten her to use the same under the table payment for her so she could remain hidden in plain sight.

Chat Noir, or Adrien as he was when they met up, had explained to her that he believed she was safe now. His father had gone to jail for his crimes including hiring someone to kill her family and her attempted murder. Nathalie had a much lighter sentence since she had not been involved with the fire and was considered to be acting under some duress when she aided Hawkmoth. The shock for all of Paris had been the reveal of the motives.

Emelie Agreste had been found clinging to life in a hidden part of his home. No case was able to be made for what had happened to the woman but Adrien, now with a large fortune had shockingly been able to find a specialist that had been able to revive her after a number of months. He explained to Marinette that it had been possible only because they had been able to recover the ancient temple. The monks had worked together with the miraculi that remained lost in time to help her regain her strength.

He asked if she would come back to Paris. She hadn't wanted to leave Gotham. She was technically raised in Paris but she knew Gotham. She didn't want to go back. Her memories of Paris, aside from her short time with her parents, were all from when she was 12 and under. They were vague and patchy. She knew her friends that she had gained in the missing years wanted to see her but she didn't want to go back to where her parents had died. Adrien understood and left contact information for himself and asked if he could tell others that she was doing well if he didn't mention her former location.

At the time she sent him off, she allowed him to think she was still planning on abandoning Gotham. She had already talked with her manager about not being about to return to work. She explained that people from her past had found her and she needed to move on. He had the idea of changing locations in the city being unexpected and knew of a position that would work for her. She could easily get lost living a small life in a big city. So she spoke to her landlord who had a property that hadn't even been listed yet as it was still being updated. They picked out a unit that could be completed quickly and Marinette moved in 2 days later. The sounds of the workers didn't bother her because she was off to work early every morning and usually would see the workers arrive as she headed out for the day.

The only drawback was she could no longer risk transforming as long as she stayed in the city. She was thought to have left Gotham completely by the bat team as they had told her repeatedly. She may have changed their minds in the end but she couldn't be certain. Every time she thought they could work together they had only acted in their own interests. She didn't like to think of them because that caused her to remember Red Robin. She preferred to think that their interrupted moment was real, but his hesitation and her being reminded of all she had lost caused her to question good motives.

She put her mind back in her work when she realized her mind had wandered. That was always a risk during the lull between breakfast eaters and people stopping in for lunch before they closed. She turned to answer the phone and took down an order. The person was requesting a delivery. Delivery wasn't always an option but when the business slowed they were allowed to do it if they chose since someone would be sent home when there was no work.

Meg said she would take it since it was her day to leave early and it was the same direction as her home. She finished everything needed and gathered her things along with the food for delivery when it was ready.

It was a bit of a slow walk so the food wouldn't spill but it was very close so she was knocking on the door after only a few minutes.

She smiled at the man who answered the door and started repeating the order but he stopped her and said it was fine. He hollered in the house while handing her cash for the food. He was telling her to keep the change when another man walked up to get the bag from her. She tried to keep the smile on her face and not freeze while she handed it to him. She was too afraid to respond to him except for agreeing with an mnh hmm. He wasn't wearing the swat gear now but even in his jeans and dark t-shirt she remembered him. She didn't want to give him any reason to recognize her or even remember her from this interaction.

The door closed and she rushed away. She still hasn't caught her breath by the time she got to her new place.

Chapter Text

Marinette had gone over the plan in her head repeatedly. She considered doing nothing but she just couldn't manage to convince herself that was the right thing. Wrappers from the heliotrope drug could frequently be seen on the ground all around where she lived and worked. She suspected that this was the case over most of Gotham. She worried that the children of Gotham would take an interest in the novel new drug.

The fire that burned up the house where she was held by the drug dealers had destroyed her cape and the radio she used to listen into their comms channel. They frequently changed the channel they used but she and Tikki had always managed to find it easily.

She knew her best bet was to use Trixx to transform but she needed to do so without being seen. She chose to do the illusion on the rooftop where she had first captured Red Robin. That with a note should give them the information they need and hopefully let them know the information is legitimate.

---

Batman and Batgirl were the first to arrive at the site of the fake bat signal. As soon as they approached it to find out what was happening the light faded away as the magic dropped. Left was only a mug with the bat symbol. Inside was a wrapper from the heliotrope drug and a card with an address written on it.

They started a discussion about what it could mean on the comms. The general consensus was that it was left by Rouge Gorge even though they had believed she had left town. As for the address they couldn't be sure. Oracle told them it was a house. They thought that didn't seem like a meeting place that the hiding hero would choose but also it seemed like an unlikely residence for her.

Red Robin and Hood were nearest the address so they landed on buildings nearby to scope it out. Not much could be seen. The lights were on inside but the windows were carefully covered so not even shadows could be seen. Hood was moving closer so he could plant a listening device but before he made it to the roof Red Robin called him back. The person who had been walking nearby had turned back to the house and went around back. From his vantage point Red Robin could see the gun hidden in his very civilian looking clothes. He was a sentry.

Based on the new intel and the placement of the packaging for the drug, they assumed those inside were affiliated with the drug dealers. They tried to get Rouge Gorge to respond on the comms but she never did. They did wonder why she left a note instead of getting on their channel as she had in the past. They also wondered about the new magic they had seen tonight. The illusion wasn't something they had seen before from her.

---

Marinette was getting cold on the rooftop. She had created the illusion and let her transformation drop not long before it timed out. They had barely gotten there in the 5 minutes. Then after they hung around discussing what to do. Black Bat even landed on the rooftop where she was hiding. She thought she might have heard her but Nightwing landed right after so the sound was obscured.

They were talking about her. They didn't know what to make of the information. She didn't want to put too much about what the information was or how it was obtained to maintain her own cover. She remained silent while listening to their discussion. Their top 2 theories about it were that it was related to the drug ring or that she was wanting to meet with them. Apparently there was a brief suggestion that she was involved with them but from what she could hear Black Bat and Nightwing were not the only ones to deny the possibility that she was involved.

---

Jason was tired and just wanted to go to bed after spending the night staking out what they suspected was a depot for the drug ring. It has been 3 weeks and many long nights but they had connected 3 other locations for sure and had several other possibilities. Tim and Dick were enjoying this part. The hunt and the detective work. Jason thought it felt too much like doing nothing. Little clues that may or may not add up to something rather than punching someone until they had answers.

He joined Roy at a table that thankfully already had a coffee waiting for him. He would need it to get through the day. He had to meet with some contacts in a few hours and he expected he would not wake for it if he tried to sleep now. Roy laughed at him as he drained the hot black coffee before he even sat down.

"One of those days?" the waitress asked with the hint of laugh in her voice.

He looked up at her to respond and froze. She either didn't notice his gaze or was accustomed to being watched. She filled his coffee back up as his brain filled in the blanks to place her and her slight accent and he made a call to help confirm what he was seeing. He responded while waiting for the phone to be picked up on the other end.

"Didn't sleep much and I have a long day ahead. I might need a bigger mug," he responded with a smile.

Roy looked at him questioningly when he heard what Jason said on the call.

"You awake?... Good. I'm sending you an address… No, now. I'm buying you waffles… Just get here. There will be coffee and as many waffles as you can eat… Yes. Whatever toppings you want."

"I need to confirm something with Steph."

"You aren't just trying to get her to wingman you with the cute waitress?"

"I'm pretty sure that is Tim's girl. I just need to confirm."

"I did not know Tim had a girl."

"Well, he doesn't really. It's complicated. I'll fill you in later."

Even though she was clearly very busy, 'Meg' seemed to have the ability to always be right where she was needed. She always showed up right when plates were ready to be delivered to her tables. Every time Jason emptied his coffee mug she was right there filling it as soon as he set it back down. She made her way around and clearly has a lot of regulars that she remembered and asked about whatever they had talked about before while still managing to get food to the tables. He determined she had been working here for awhile.

Steph walked in as their food was being delivered. The waitress popped back over to grab the waffle that was just coming out covered with fruit and whipped cream. She returned with the plate and set it in front of Steph as she filled the mug with coffee. Steph looked up to say thank you as Marinette looked back at them. Both ladies froze for a moment as they placed the other face. Marinette's eyes went wide as she realized who she was.

She looked back at each man for a moment to see if she missed something. She hadn't. She was pretty sure they weren't any of the masked vigilantes but Hood would definitely not be recognizable without his helmet. She told them to enjoy their food before rushing away, wishing for escape.

"I'm calling Tim," Steph said.

"Is that the best idea?" Jason asked.

"Do you want to be the one to tell him we found her but then she disappeared again?"

Chapter Text

She knew he was there before he stepped where she could see him. Her co-workers had stopped her on the way out to invite her to a party for the weekend so he stayed out of sight until she was alone before walking up to her.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again," he said.

He stopped short of pulling her into a hug but he placed his hands on her upper arms. She reached up and put her hand against his chest, not sure yet whether she should push him away or pull him close. She didn't think she was ready to look in his eyes yet. She might lose all her resolve.

"It seemed the best thing for everyone," she responded.

"You didn't leave Gotham."

He moved his hand to her chin and tilted it up so she would look at him. When their eyes met she sucked in her breath as he continued speaking.

"Maybe you had hope we would see each other again."

"That doesn't make it a good decision."

Her hands slid from his chest up to have her fingers meet at the back of his neck.

"I approve of it. I can't change how everything happened. But I want to help you."

"I don't even know your name."

"It's Tim. Well Timothy Drake but I go by Tim."

"I want to trust you Tim."

He closed his eyes as her hands slid into his hair. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. His forehead pushed against hers as she tangled her fingers into his hair. His eyes opened and looked into hers. They just stood there so close without moving until something shifted. He moved down as she moved up to meet him.

She sighed as their lips met, lightly brushing. Unfortunately that wasn't the only sound. Tim groaned as he pulled away from her.

"For the love of bats, go away."

Batman's boots landed lightly as his cape flapped. He put his hands on his hips to accompany his stern look.

"I still need information on a drug ring that seems to always come from one source." Batman said.

"It's daylight; don't you evaporate or something?" Tim asked.

Batman looked around Tim to make eye contact with Marinette. Tim turned back to Marinette. He could feel her shrinking back. He tucked his arm around her shoulders. He could only hope the gesture would make her feel safe rather than trapped. But he did like to know she was right there and couldn't run off again.

"Where did you get your information?" Batman asked.

"Take a hint. We are busy," Marinette told him.

She pulled back from Tim enough to present her back to Batman. Tim started to step back to give her space but she grasped his collar and pulled him back to her. Without even glancing back at Batman, Tim pulled Marinette back against him. She kept her hands on his collar as he cupped her face in both his hands.

The pressure of his lips was gentle and slow. Marinette stuck her hands back into his hair desperate for more but he held her face right where he wanted and kissed her thoroughly. She was tingling all over and whimpered when his lips stopped but he didn't pull back. He moved over her face and kissed her cheek then her temple and forehead before circling down the other side. Then he kissed her chin and her nose before another gentle kiss on her lips. Their lips hovered millimeters apart as she could feel his uneven breath.

His grip loosened without him pulling away. He wasn't sure when Batman had left and he didn't care. She moved closer and sunk her teeth into his bottom lip and pulled at it gently. She could hear his breath hitch before they resumed. They didn't hold back this time. Their kisses were heated as they tangled their tongues. His hands ran through her hair and he groaned when she locked her leg behind his hip.

He pulled back just enough to lift her to his waist where she wrapped her legs and he secured her with his hands under her butt pressing her back against the wall. She had her arms around his neck to keep him close. She liked the sound he made when she shifted in his arms. She pulled away embarrassed when her stomach growled loudly.

He laughed it off and suggested they go get lunch. Marinette wasn't sure about going places with him. But she was having trouble thinking as he moved away from her mouth and trailed his mouth down her neck. She grasped as he kissed her and her hands desperately sought more of him. They travelled down his chest and stomach. She wanted under his shirt but she couldn't focus on anything but his lips and teeth on the spot where her neck and shoulder met.

She unhooked her legs and slid down him so she could reach to grab his butt. He hummed in appreciation. He pulled her against him wrapping both arms around her and held her tight, kissing her head.

"We should get you food. The weather isn't too cold. We could get take out and sit in the park."

He reached out to smooth her hair down when she nodded. She reached up to check on it before looking at him wondering if her hair looked as messy as his. He pulled out his phone in selfie mode so she could see. Before she fixed it he got closer to her and snapped a picture of them before leaning down to place a kiss on her shocked mouth. He held it out so she could use it to fix her hair and then turned it to check how he had done on fixing his own. She gave him a look when he took another picture of them, cleaned up this time.

"My album is protected and I won't share them. But also I will delete if you want me to."

She looked over at him. He looked sincere. She reached out her hand for his.

"Keep them." She said as they walked off to get lunch.

---

Dick was at the Bat computer trying to compile information about the drug ring. They should be able to figure out where the main production was being done on the drug. They initially had it narrowed but the most recent test sample was inconsistent with that. He looked up when Batman entered the cave from the outside entrance.

"Is something happening? Why are you out in the suit during the day?" Dick asked.

"I needed to interrogate an informant about how they obtained their information."

"Since when do we have an informant? You interrogated them? That sounds drastic."

"Tim compromised the situation and I'll have to find a new way to get the information."

" No, Tim went to…" Dick stopped talking while he processed. "You didn't go bother that girl again. How did you even know about her?"

"I heard Steph and Barb talking about it. Apparently you were in on hiding evidence from me as well."

"No one was hiding evidence. You can't possibly believe she is involved with anything."

"We have been working this case for months and the only time we get any useful information is from her. That makes it suspicious."

"What about all the people she helped as Rouge Gorge? Tim went through all the reports and found as many as he could."

"What motive could she possibly have for fighting crime?"

"Seriously? She seems like a genuinely nice person who just wants to help where she can."

"Her refusal to share information or additional details is unacceptable."

"She has given every bit of information she had every time she had it and even then we didn't even trust her."

"No. There has to be a reason only she can find the information."

"You are wrong about this. You should drop it. We were all wrong before and you are making it worse. You aren't going to get her to help by being an asshole. If you don't stop, you will drive her away for good. And Tim will follow her."

Chapter Text

She shouldn't be surprised when she heard boots land behind her not long after she left the grocery store. She groaned internally as she heard the familiar sound of his cape fluttering. The timing couldn't be better for such an inconvenience because her destination was her co-worker's party rather than home so he still wouldn't know the direction she lived in.

"Greetings, Disapproving Night Beast. I was just not thinking of you."

"We have things to discuss."

"I have nothing to say."

He took a step towards her. Her grocery bag made a crinkling sound as she gripped it tighter but she refused to be cowed. She left her feet planted and didn't break eye contact.

"You are getting information from somewhere. Tell me," he commanded.

From the look he gave her, he was not expecting her to laugh. It was very clear he expected her to yield to his demands for information. Possibly it would have been effective if she hadn't already given them all the information she had.

"This isn't a movie plot and I'm not a super spy. I've already told you everything I know."

"I will find a way to get you to tell me everything. So you aren't working for them anymore, but they would be interested to know more about you."

His step towards her along with his words felt much more menacing and she took a half step back to keep herself upright. Marinette hoped her eyes didn't betray her terror at his implication. She would certainly give him any information she had at that veiled threat but she knew nothing. He just seemed to refuse to accept that. Perhaps he disapproved of her being with Red Robin. Based on conversations she had heard Batman and his team had a varied past with the law and the media but currently they were celebrated by both. Perhaps this dark side of him was what had turned opinion in the past.

"When you have done that, what then? Will you feel any better when you finally realize that I never knew anything?"

She turned away and continued walking, not even turning when he promised to be back after she had a chance to think about it. She was shaking. She wasn't sure if it was anger or fear. She felt like crying. She wished she didn't think of Tim and how comforting it would be to have him wrap his arms around her but she knew he would be out patrolling just like Batman was.

She actually really hoped the party would distract her from thinking about it for a bit. If she thought too hard she would have all her things packed and be gone by morning.

---

Tim got home from patrol and he was actually in a pretty good mood. Finally everyone was getting along and working together. Patrol hadn't gone that well in a long time. They were able to find a few possible leads that sounded promising and even Batman seemed hopeful. Actually he had seemed to be in a better mood all night tonight. He allowed more personal chatter on the comms and even made a joke himself. Maybe Alfred gave him the good tea before patrol.

Tim hoped Marinette would be awake to chat. He had seen her three other times since they met again the previous weekend. Twice for coffee and once for a movie in an almost deserted theater so they could talk without disturbing others and she wouldn't feel trapped. He couldn't convince her to go on a real date or go back to one of their apartments. She thought all of them knowing where she worked was more than enough information.

He smiled to see that he had a message from her. He kicked his shoes off and sprawled across his couch before unlocking his phone, grinning the whole time. He bit his lip as he passed the notification and then bolted upright when he read it. His stomach knotted and his smile disappeared when he read her simple message.

I can't see you anymore. It was great while it lasted. <3 M

The time stamp was from 42 minutes ago. He called her phone. He knew she wouldn't pick up but he had to try. They had just talked this afternoon and everything was great. He knew she had been hanging out with coworkers tonight. He wondered if they had said something about him. He didn't tell her exactly who he was. He gave his name but he knew she didn't know exactly what that meant. But with her ability to see through masks knowing him would tell her the entire bat family. He tried calling one more time but texted when she refused the call.

Please talk to me.

---

Marinette wasn't entirely comfortable at the party. She had never really been to one like this. Last time she hung out with her co-workers they all sat around watching videos and drinking beer or wine. Arnold, the cook, followed her when she went for a refill. He had kissed her and she let him. But then at work things were really weird for a few days. First 2 days he avoided looking at her the rest of that week he talked loudly about his new girlfriend.

This party though was loud and crowded. She tried to not make her drinks strong but she found herself drinking nervously a lot. There were too many people she didn't know and a lot of them seemed to be using heliotrope. It reminded her of her experience and of Batman telling her he would tell them how to find her. She sent a message to Tim knowing it would leave him in the dark but perhaps would get Batman to leave her alone.

She was filling her drink when he called back. She watched the screen until it stopped buzzing. She used the nearest bottle and took a shot before ending the next incoming call. She knew there were people watching her probably curious why she was staring at her phone while it rang. She took another shot before she picked the phone back up and read the message. She looked over as one from the group watching her spoke.

"He isn't worth it. You should have some of this. It will help you feel better."

She shook her head at the offer of the heliotrope. She definitely didn't want that again. She held up the drink she had filled just before her phone rang.

"I still have to work in the morning. This will probably make that hard enough."

She walked over to join their group anyway. She didn't know anyone except her co-workers and they were all spread out. The girl who spoke to her made introductions to the rest of the group and Marinette introduced herself as Meg. The conversation was pretty basic. They talked about work and activities they liked but the girl, Ashley gestured back to them phone that Marinette had looked back at again.

"Is your boyfriend giving you trouble?"

"I don't think he's my boyfriend anymore."

There was a commotion from the other room followed by cheering. Ashley dragged her along as they headed over to see what was happening. Marinette wished she hadn't once she got there. One of the people at the party knew a supplier for heliotrope and they had called them over to bring some for the party goers. The first one who there were 3 who came in to travel around seeing who wanted to buy.

That would have been fine but one of Ashley's friends pushed her forward and announced she had never had any and was afraid to try it. There was lots of encouragement from the others to give it a shot. Even one of the other waitresses told her she would be fine for her shift tomorrow. Ashley suggested it might make her feel better after breaking up with her boyfriend. Her friend though had a different plan.

"Maybe you have an extra or two she could try. I bet she would really feel better then."

Marinette suspected he either wanted her to feel loopy or wanted to benefit from the free doses that she didn't want. She tried to decline but the dealer called over his boss. It all happened at once. She looked down at her phone to see a second message from Tim. Then she looked up and made eye contact with the man she knew was swat or former swat as her cup clattered to the floor with a splatter of liquid and half melted ice cubes.

Chapter Text

Tim didn't sleep that night.

He checked repeatedly but she never responded to his request to see her when she got off work. It took all his will power to not repeatedly message for an explanation. It took even more will power to drive to the manor rather than to the cafe where he knew she would be by this time of the morning.

He didn't tell anyone he was coming but they should be starting wake up by now and he hoped they could distract him. Also maybe they could help him find a way to check up on her without bothering her. The suddenness of her decision worried him. It had only been a week since he found her again but they had been so happy.

He sat at the table across from Barb. Alfred came in not long after with a tray. He set mugs in front of the 2 and started to pour coffee. When he reached for Tim's mug, Tim waved him away.

"I don't need any, thanks though." Tim said.

He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn't notice their shared look of concern. Alfred stood still with the pot, seeming lost for what to do. Barb set her cup back down without even taking a drink.

"What's wrong? You don't refuse coffee when you are conscious," Barb said.

"She said she doesn't want to see me anymore. I don't know why and she didn't respond to my text."

"Did you guys fight?" she asked.

"No. Last time we talked we were planning to have lunch after she finished work. Then she texted while I was on patrol that she couldn't see me anymore. I tried to call and then texted but I didn't keep trying because I don't want to be pushy."

"That's probably good. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"I need someone to go check on her. Just to make sure she is okay and not in danger. But she knows ev--"

He stopped his sentence as he looked up. She did know most everyone. Or would probably know them if she saw them without a mask. But he was staring at Alfred. He hadn't been in the cave while she was conscious. He had never been to see her at work either. Alfred held up his hand as if to stop Tim before he spoke.

"Please Alfred. Just check to make sure nothing happened to her," he begged. "It can't be me. If I harass her I lose any chance of getting her back."

"She has been mixed up with some dangerous people," Barb added. "I can't go. I saw her at the coffee shop. She would probably remember me."

---

Marinette desperately wanted to escape the party. The man didn't make himself seem overly interested in her but she kept feeling his eyes on her. He was too casual about the way he avoided talking directly to her or questioning any of the information given about her work or very recent break up. He seemed to realize that the other guy was trying to use her to get freebies but he handed them out anyway, one to everyone in their little huddle.

He didn't stay very long. He wandered around the party but before he left he stopped and spoke only to Marinette. He handed her one more little packet with the puff in it. She still held the other one in her hand even though everyone around her had already consumed theirs. His hand was on her back as he leaned down and whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

"To remember me by." He turned away with a smirking grin before he called to the others and they all left together.

The crowd was so excited for her. They thought she should date him instead of whatever loser broke her heart. She couldn't really explain what had actually happened with Tim or her concerns about what the man was actually interested in about her.

She was tired and tipsy which made her French accent more prominent. When they mentioned it in from of the man, she told them she lived in Rouen as a child. But she didn't feel comfortable with all the attention on her while he was there. He could easily have heard where she worked and she had been singing in French when they first met.

How much could her mask really keep him from putting things together? She had to wait long enough after they left so it wouldn't seem suspicious. She laughed along with everyone else and mimed drinking her drink for awhile before making her excuses to leave. She didn't head directly home. She took a few extra turns and made sure she wasn't being followed before she went to her apartment.

She couldn't sleep.

She sent no response to Tim. It didn't keep her from a series of unsent drafts that she wrote carefully before backspacing until it was blank again. Her eyes were burning from all the crying. She couldn't bring herself to tell him about her most recent interaction with Batman. Finally she couldn't cry anymore. Since she couldn't sleep she went into work early and started baking like she used to do in the coffee shop. The manager made no comment about her red rimmed eyes or the selection of muffins and cookies. She just made a sign to sell them and started bagging them.

---

Barb brought coffee up to Bruce but she expected his happiness for that to be short-lived. He turned over and mrphfft-ed into his pillow before he pushed himself up to focus on her.

"Coffee? Did I do something for you or are you trying to bribe me to?" He asked, rubbing at his eyes.

"Mostly I'm trying to decide if I need to throw it at you."

He watched her as he took it from her carefully. Clearly he had upset her enough that she decided to wake him, probably to yell and her cheeks were pretty pink from her anger.

"I can see that you are angry but I really don't know why. Did something happen?"

"You turned off your tracking and comms last night. Why?"

"There wasn't any danger at that time. Why does it even matter?"

"Fine. It doesn't. No one cares if you go make out with Cat Woman. Some of them would prefer to just not know."

"I'm really not comfortable with this conversation."

"I don't give a shit about you and her. Convince me to didn't make that sweet girl break up with Tim."

"Sweet girl? She called me a Night Beast. Wait she broke up with him."

"Yeah. He is downstairs refusing coffee. And thanks for the confirmation. Why did you do it?"

"I didn't tell her to break up with Tim. We didn't talk about him at all. I just asked about the drug ring."

"Clearly that isn't all. Did she have more information?"

"No, she still denies ever being involved with them. Even when I suggested I could tell then what I knew about her she didn't change her story. I'll have to--"

Whatever other active he planned, she never heard. Without even planning she had reached out and slapped him. She was out of the room before he could even react.

---

Alfred didn't have to look hard to find the girl he was looking for. Even if she hadn't been on the lock screen on Tim's phone. She looked as rough as he did right now. She was smiling and working but her eyes were tired and red. He sat with his cup of tea and watched the frenzied clean up that he assumed followed a busy morning rush. She came around after a bit checked on the few remaining in the dining area. Before making sure all the cleaned tables were placed correctly.

"Do you have any time to talk?" he asked.

Chapter Text

Tim managed to rest when he got home for a bit. He had set his phone to not have any disruptions unless it was from Marinette. He changed that to a sound he would be able to hear through anything. He didn't rest very long. He ended up immersing himself in a work project. Only by forcing his focus into the complicated project was her able to get his mind off her for a bit.

He could ignore his phone and email for eternity but he was pulled out of his work by banging on the door. By the level of noise they were generating they were either angry or had been trying for longer than he had noticed.

---

Marinette smiled at the sweet older man who only wanted tea and cookies. He stopped her to talk because he said she looked sad and tired. She assured him that she just had a rough night but she would be fine. Marinette filled his tea and sat with him when they closed the doors. They couldn't do most of the rest of the closing tasks until the cafe was empty. They chatted for a few minutes and she also had a cup of tea until he said he should leave.

"I should take some of these cookies to my friend Tim. He lost a new friendship yesterday but he isn't sure why."

Marinette froze at his words before plastering a fake smile on her face. She handed him his receipt and the cookies.

"Well I hope it helps him. You have a pleasant day."

She wasn't sure if it was her Tim he was referring to. It wasn't an uncommon name but the timing and him carefully watching her response made her fairly certain it was. He took her hand and spoke again without hiding his meaning.

"He needed to know nothing had happened to you but he didn't want to be pushy. This is a number to reach me if you need anything. I would be as discreet as you required."

Marinette squeezed his hand back and then took the card from him. She didn't expect she would ever use it because she had no way of knowing who else he knew. But she didn't want Tim to worry about her unnecessarily after having sent the man as a sort of emissary to make sure she was safe without ignoring completely her boundary.

---

When Alfred got back to the manor it was in an uproar. Bruce was standing helplessly by while Barb and Dick argued. There was an overnight bag next to Barb and she had her coat and purse as if she had been about to leave before the fight started. Jason was sitting on the back of the couch with his feet on the seats eating popcorn.

"You appear to be leaving, Barb. Do you require a ride somewhere?" Alfred asked.

"Yes," she replied.

"No," said Dick, "please don't leave. Or at least wait until I can get a bag and go with you."

"I don't want you with me if you are defending what he did," she said.

"I was just telling you he wasn't actually going to do it. You know he wouldn't actually do something like that."

"An empty threat is still a threat. She clearly didn't know he had no intention of following through because she wasn't supposed to. Intimidation doesn't work if the one you are intimidating doesn't buy it."

"I think you are missing the part where he is doing all of this to shut down a dangerous drug ring."

"Which she had helped with as much as she could. The only way she has ever been treated is like the enemy when she should have become an ally."

"I think--" Bruce tried to rejoin their heated argument.

"No one cares what you think," Barb said much more venomously than they had ever heard from her. "I need time away. Do not contact me. I will let you know when and if I'm ready to see either of you."

She went out the door with her bag. Alfred looked back and forth between trying to fill in the blanks before following her out. Jason disappeared before they could recover from what just happened and turn to find out whose side he was on. He called Steph on his way to Roy's. He did not want to be around for the fall out.

---

It was the time Marinette had originally planned to be out with Tim. She couldn't stand being in her apartment anymore. She had already completed all her online orders and had a decent supply of her regular items to sell. She usually stuck to accessories with headbands and bracelets being the most popular but also a steady amount of special orders, usually for wedding parties. She decided to head off to mail the last few orders.

She packed her sketchbook and some snacks along with a little blanket and thermos of hot cocoa. She hadn't done too much exploring around the area in the last few months but she was very interested in a park she had passed by that looked really nice. She set herself up and started sketching.

She had a few ideas for new accessories to try but mostly she was drawing clothes. She didn't sew much any more since she wasn't selling clothing designs. Mostly she just made her own clothes to be cute, comfortable and functional. But all the things she was drawing today were for Tim. Even one day later, she missed him. Possibly because of the finality of their interactions. She had given him no additional information and he hadn't tried to contact her again. After meeting his friend she was fairly certain that she would have make a move if she wanted to see him again. She did, more than anything, but she couldn't explain why she had ended things in the first place.

She gave up drawing and decided that she would make the sweater. If nothing else it would remind her of him. She stopped on her way home to buy the right yarn for it and started making it after dinner.

Chapter Text

Whatever Tim was expecting when he opened his door a very angry Barb was not something her thought to predict. She couldn't even form the words to tell him how angry she was but she didn't give him an option to refuse to let her in or to let her sleep in his spare room. She pushed past him with her bag and put it in the room and then started cleaning his mess from his all nighter and day of avoidance.

She had actually gotten the place to look pretty decent, even if it was done while she was angrily muttering under her breath. Tim was trying to work up the courage to ask her what was going on when there was another knock on the door a little while later. Steph came in with take out for all of them and a bag of groceries. She appeared to be planning to stay awhile too but she didn't have an overnight bag so maybe she wasn't moving in.

"Okay, what is going on?" Tim asked.

"How much have you told him?" Steph asked Barb.

"She hasn't said anything and I am right here. You can talk to me rather than in front of me. I was dumped, not destroyed." Tim said.

The two ladies shared a look before Barb started talking.

"The thing is, it may have started with her."

"I'm assuming you are fighting with Dick and that is why you are here. Are you suggesting that you and Dick fought about Marinette?" Tim asked.

---

Patrol that night was brief. Batman and Nightwing went out to keep an eye on things. Oracle didn't show so Alfred sat at the computer to guide them. Robin went with Batgirl but she was mostly just there to talk in their ears about how badly they screwed up. Robin was irritated since he would rather focus on his duty but Batman and Nightwing just wanted to be away from the censure.

The next night wasn't any better. Batgirl had gotten a lot quieter though but she left after only a few minutes. She did confirm what they suspected, that Barb and Tim had blocked everyone's numbers from showing notifications so they could have space. Jason refused to participate either way. He stayed away and said he would continue to stay away until they resolved the matter without him. Cass hadn't actually been seen by anyone except Alfred. Her Black Bat costume had been used both nights but she didn't get involved with them at all.

The next day Barb returned to the manor. Dick rushed to her when he saw her but she held up her hand to stop him.

"Do not speak to me. I'm still mad at you."

Dick made a series of noises that was simultaneously his enthusiasm for having her back but his trying to reign it in so he didn't push her away again. He reached out his hand in an offer to help with her bag. He managed to not talk to her but he couldn't get rid of his grin at her returning to the manor.

Bruce saw them all head out but he went the other way to get in his car.

---

Marinette turned around in the cafe. She was really looking forward to her time off after her shift. Mostly because she stayed up far too late the last couple nights making the sweater for Tim. She didn't think it would ever get to him but she still thought of him as she chose the softest yard she could find. It was more expensive but it has turned out perfectly. It was in Red Robin's colors and said 'spilled coffee awearness' which she thought Tim would find amusing.

She decided she would survive because they would only be open another hour and it wasn't usually very busy. But the whole atmosphere of the dinner changed in an instant. She couldn't see the man from where she was but she headed over with the coffee pot to greet the man everyone seemed in awe of. The saucer clattered loudly when she did recognize him. She supposed all of the bat team was wrong about them not being recognized without their masks. The collective reaction to him disproved that idea, but that she would bring that up to him right now.

It was clear to both of them that they recognized each other. He opened his mouth to explain but she was faster. She sloshed coffee into his mug and dropped a menu stating someone would be right back to help him before rushing away. She stopped the other waitress who was wiping tables before she left to see if she wanted to switch.

"You want to leave early?" Laura asked.

"I know it's your turn but I'm really tired and anxious to start my days off. I'll come in early for you Sunday. I know you hate opening Sundays."

"Done. I really do hate early shifts. Plus you are probably losing out on a big tip."

They walked to the back together to make a note on the schedule before Laura headed back to the tables and Marinette grabbed her bag and fled.

Her heart was still pumping quickly when she got home. She couldn't just sit and relax as she usually would after work. She cleaned her entire apartment in a frenzy. While she was cleaning out the fridge she started throwing things in a pot. She was half done before she realized she was making her mom's soup. It was the first thing her mother taught her to cook. Her mother told her it was the first thing her mother had taught her as well. It was making the soup that calmed her more than anything.

She finished wiping things down in the kitchen and mopped the floor really quickly so the pot was the only thing left to clean today. She stirred it and turned the burner off so she could get a shower while the flavors continued melding together. She put on her comfiest loungewear and wrapped herself in a blanket as she ate. The music was playing softly and she laid her head back with her eyes closed while she listened.

She wasn't sure if she had relaxed just for a moment or if she had drifted off when a loud crash came from outside her apartment followed by a shout and sounds of a struggle. Her hair was still wet so it couldn't have been too long but it was starting to get dark outside.

She rushed to the door to see what the commotion was, looking out her peephole. Someone was being attacked in the hallway. She grabbed her umbrella by the door and rushed out to help or to scare off the attacker.

Chapter Text

Tim sighed after Barb packed up and left. Steph didn't sleep there but she was around pretty much the entire time that Barb was awake. He liked them and they didn't make a mess but he was happy to have his place to himself again. He just wanted to spend some time being miserable alone and he couldn't do that while they were there.

It was his first chance to really react to learning about the threat Batman made to Marinette. They all knew he wouldn't actually do it. He just wanted information. But the rest of them seemed to accept that she had no information because she had already given them all that she knew. The only thing she didn't know was that Batman's words had been an empty threat.

When he thought about it he was angry. He couldn't even process how angry he was at Bruce. It wasn't even that she had broken up with him right after the threats. It was the idea that he did it at all. They all knew she had been through a lot in the past. So much of that was because her civilian identity being discovered and those she loved harmed.

He looked back at their last interactions on his phone. It hadn't changed. He had texted her and never received a response and the only change was the amount of time that has passed since then. He hadn't expected it to. But he still really wanted to respond. Maybe if he told her how he felt about what happened things could be okay. But he had to think she knew he wouldn't be okay with it. Otherwise she could have had a clear reasoning for ending things when they disagreed but she had chosen to not tell him. He believed she had done that knowingly to keep him from fighting with Batman.

---

Bruce could tell that she had recognized him. It was in her eyes before she could mask it. He had wondered if her ability would work on him. She had left the table without giving him the opportunity to say anything. It was a few minutes later before he realized she had run from him. He had been lost in his head, trying to decide how to approach this since he had been recognized. Her leaving was probably for the best. He had mostly wanted to see how she was doing. He didn't know what to say to her yet but clearly he needed to do something. His family was tearing apart because of his rash decision.

His initial plan had been to find out where she lives and approach her again as Batman but he had missed her leaving. She seemed like she might need a few days anyway. Perhaps he could send someone else to help ease her into a meeting and assure her that he wasn't out to cause her harm. Tim wouldn't respond to anyone and Barb was still too angry at Dick that he didn't dare approach her until it was resolved.

He left money for his meal and sought out Alfred back at the manor. Based on his cool demeanor the last couple of days he had plenty of feelings about how Bruce had screwed up and hopefully a solution.

---

Bruce slumped at the table where Alfred was sitting with his tea reading the paper.

"Alfred, everything is messed up and I don't know how to fix it."

"If only you could have been as dedicated to preventing the problem as you were to causing it."

"Are you against me too?"

"Never against you. But even you sometimes need to be told when you are wrong."

"But you do think I'm wrong?"

"I think you want to be right more than examine whether or not you were wrong."

"No one seems to understand the danger that could come from trusting someone who may be trying to infiltrate our operation."

"You will not be able to fix anything if you never try to see a new view. Tim compiled a significant bit about her after she disappeared. You should look it over and reassess."

Bruce just grunted. But Alfred continued.

"You can still remain vigilant without dismissing her and her contributions."

"I will consider it. I'll be in the cave if anyone suddenly wants to start talking to me again."

---

She opened the door while yelling loudly with the umbrella raised. But once she was out her door, the scene changed. Another man had been hidden against the wall out of sight. When she cleared the door, he placed himself between her and her apartment. The two that were struggling stopped immediately and blocked her from either side.

The man behind her covered her mouth and stepped back into the apartment pulling her back inside. She made an attempt to swing the umbrella but they used that to get a hold of her arms. One of them bound her hands. She pushed back against the one covering her mouth and lifted herself against him while kicking her feet out. The man behind her stumbled but regained his footing. He shoved her against the wall while the another showed her a gun.

The hand was removed from her mouth as a gag replaced it. The one with a gun held her against the wall while the other 2 looked around her apartment. She could feel the gun pressing into her while she watched one move into her bedroom. She could hear the clothes being pushed back and forth scraping against the bar in the closet. The movement in the bedroom changed to opening and closing drawers and muffled thumps as he shuffled through all the storage before moving into the bathroom. The other started closer and looked through all the things in her living room and kitchen. He picked up her phone off the coffee table and pocketed it. Her laptop and cord were put in her bag and he placed it by the door. He seemed pretty impressed with her gaming system but left it alone. He took a little more time looking through the front closet but didn't find anything worth taking.

She recognized all of them as people who had been in the cafe over the last few days. Clearly she had been being watched and she hadn't even noticed. She thought they must have followed her home from work because no one except her landlord knew where she lived, not even Batman for all his threats. She had never even told Tim or any of her co-workers. She wasn't certain who they worked for but she had a guess. She couldn't connect that with what they could be looking for but they seemed to have a plan in mind. Pilfering through all her things didn't take more than five minutes because she didn't have much and it was all put away neatly from her cleaning earlier.

The concern in covering her while moving her out the door seemed to be more to hide the bindings than her comfort. She was cold and her slippers were not very good protection. A light shawl was wrapped around her covering her bound hands and a scarf over the gag on her mouth. The man who took her laptop and phone went down first and opened the door where a car was waiting. She was guided down the steps with the gun wielding one while the last one grabbed her keys and locked the door behind them.

Chapter Text

Tim almost dropped his phone in his hurry to answer. He didn't expect his phone to make a sound again until he changed the settings back but the picture of Marinette flashed on the screen with her name at the incoming call. He was feeling a bit breathless after the excitement of trying to keep hold of his phone and also because she was calling him. He tried to keep his voice even when he answered anyway.

"Hello?" He waited for a response but she didn't respond. He assumed she had to bully herself into calling a bit so he kept his voice calm so she wouldn't hang up.

"Hello… are you there?" He waited again before softly saying, "Please talk to me Marinette."

That was his first clue that something was wrong. There was no response on the line but he could hear someone talking near the phone.

"Well isn't that something, Marinette? Clearly you are hiding something if you aren't even giving out the right name."

The sudden silence signaled that the call had ended. A feeling of cold horror tightened painfully in his stomach. He suspected things were going very bad for her and that he had just managed to make them far worse.

---

Barb was surprised to see Bruce in the cave when she entered. It was just as well though. They would need everyone for this. He didn't even notice her until she spoke. He looked like he had been there quite a while based on his posture and discarded plate and mug. She felt a bit bad that he felt the need to hide in his own house. She decided to just skip right over the awkward and get straight to the mission.

"Everyone is coming now to suit up," she said. "Looks like it might be a long night. Alfred is bringing tea and coffee."

He faltered for a moment. He was surprised she was talking to him. Especially after he had spent the last few hours reading all the information Tim had compiled about Rouge Gorge aside from their interactions with her. She hadn never gotten much news coverage because her saves were rather small in comparison to the Rogues or the organized crime that the bats usually dealt with.

Tim had talked to the criminals and the victims of hundreds of crimes where the response was always that she was dedicated and focused. She was friendly, efficient and never used unnecessary force. Some of the reports went back even further than when she had caught Red Robin on the rooftop and definitely before they knew anything about the new drug. He pulled away from the computer, not quite getting the folder closed before she saw it. She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly but he pretended not to notice.

"What do we know?" he asked, avoiding the awkwardness for now.

"It appears to be a coordinated attack on the drug ring. Reports indicate even more locations are being attacked than we have information on."

She pulled up a map to display as others started arriving. Bruce stepped away to suit up. Robin was already there and Black Bat. Dick and Steph came down but she said that Hood would join them out there along with Arsenal. No one had heard from Tim since Barb had left his place.

"Who is leading the attack? Who even had that kind of resources?" Dick asked.

"It seems to be mostly coming from Falcone, probably for revenge. They are being joined by other gangs to fight for the right for territory and distribution," Barb said.

"Splitting the distribution among several gangs could limit the spread of the drug. Especially if we can interrupt the process," Steph said.

"It's too early to know for sure, but I think Penguin is using the chaos to make a move. It looks like he is banding gangs together for greater force. Whether he is doing this with Falcone or as a counter move is unknown." Barb said.

"Let's see what we can find out tonight." Batman said, moving toward the exit.

---

She was surprised to be pushed down onto a cushioned surface before the cloth was removed from her eyes. The drive had been short and silent before they moved her in. She looked around the room from the old couch she was sitting on. She wasn't surprised at all to see the drug dealer from the party in front of her. Lt. Howard Branden, if she was remembering the information from the meeting she ran from before her disappearance a few months ago.

There was no sign of the other 2 he had been working with before but the group was exactly who Batman promised to turn her over to if she didn't give him more information. She knew that Batman sometimes worked with the police and Branden was, or maybe had been, a police officer with the SWAT team. She didn’t pretend to know how any of that could work but it did seem like a possible connection.

She was surprised to see the guy she had met at the party who had tried to use her for free drugs. He looked like he was currently on drugs but was seemingly willing enough to be there that he wasn't bound in any way. The leader was already looking through her phone and she could see another trying to get into her laptop. She basically had no information on her phone. It was as low tech as she could manage to find. She could see some device attached that would probably get past her 4 digit PIN. She knew it wasn't very secure but it was a burner phone with 3 saved numbers and no names. She tended to reset it frequently.

"Work, T and A. Sounds like you know what you want out of life. But look at that history. No calls in days."

Marinette shifted herself but didn't try to talk through the gag. She just watched him and hoped she could find a way out of this as he continued.

"You friend, Dustin, here told me all he knew about you but it doesn't seem like anyone knows very much. He couldn’t even get much from his friend who works with you. Apparently no one knows much about you.”

He removed the gag. But she said nothing.

"Who are you?"

"Meg," she said, offering only information he already had.

He stepped closer.

"Why is that the only information anyone knows about you, Meg?"

"I'm a private person."

"Hmm. So who is this ex in your phone. You don’t even have a name in there. I thought he had broken up with you but based on your messages you dumped him."

She looked away rather than answering.

"He wanted you to call back. Shall we try it?"

She tried to jump up and stop him when he pushed the call button but one of the henchmen blocked her. She could hear the ringing tone and then heard Tim answer. Her mouth was covered again so she couldn't call out to him but she could hear him still trying to get a response. His third try to get her to talk he gave the only clue the man before her needed.

"Well isn't that something? He called you Marinette. Clearly you are hiding something if you aren't even giving out the right name."

He hung up the phone and set it down while watching her. The man preventing her from talking removed his hand and pushed her so she fell back onto the couch.

"What does it matter to you?" she asked.

"He is like really into you," Dustin said. "He found me after that party and asked me to help him find out more about you."

"That's it. I'm interested to know all about you. Do you ever get dressed up and go out?"

"You had men kidnap me for a date?"

Marinette was fairly certain he meant something else by his question but she was certainly not going to just follow where he wanted to lead her. Batman may have told him who she was but he had nothing if she didn't confirm it and he couldn't prove anything. Even breaking into her electronics couldn't get him that information. Without finding the magical box they would have no evidence. All her non-magical equipment burned in the fire.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by movement from the henchmen. He went up to talk to the man. They spoke in low voices for a few minutes and she had a bad feeling about whatever was being discussed. After a few minutes all the others left the room. They took her phone and laptop and one of them guided a stumbling Dustin away with them. When he caught her gaze he walked closer to her. She fought to keep her breaths even but he sat directly in front of her refusing to look away.

Chapter Text

Tim was surprised that only Oracle was in the cave when he arrived. Everyone was already out for the evening patrol even though it was early. He hadn't bothered to call ahead because he expected they would all be there getting ready to head out.

"Tim, you made it. I hope you are ready to be out there. All hell is breaking loose. We won’t have time to work out all the personal problems first." Oracle said.

"You guys already know?" Tim asked.

"As far as we can tell it's mostly Falcone trying to destroy the drug ring or maybe take over in retribution but Penguin is possibly using the chaos to make a play for control."

"What about Marinette?"

"It looks promising. I think Batman is finally seeing reason. He didn’t say so, but he was down here looking over your files on her. We didn't talk about it but I think she will be left alone now."

"No. Someone has her. They called from her phone. He wanted information from her."

"Do you think he is part of the drug ring?"

"That's the most likely guess. He was asking about who she really was. What if he knows about Rouge Gorge? I don't know what else he could want from her."

Oracle talked on the comms to let everyone know what Tim had said while he suited up and would be joining them.

---

The bats had split off into 2 person teams and gone to all the locations they had previously scouted, but the entire operation was a disaster. Batman and Robin, Black Bat and Red Robin, and Nightwing and Bat Girl were at the 3 distribution depots set up in houses.

But they had been changed and the people being dragged out by Falcone or Penguin's henchmen were families with children. The police were trying to contain the fallout while those attacking were either running from the failure or demanding information out of confused and scared families.

Oracle had information on 7 such locations that the teams had not already had as part of the initial operation and rushed to them in order to protect the families from angry gangs who were now being denied the opportunity to get a big payout. At this point it was bad but quickly getting under control. The families were safe and ready to head back inside to put children back to bed. There were no injuries reported.

It was Hood and Arsenal at what had formerly been the production factory who were first to report a much bigger secondary problem. The location looked every bit the abandoned warehouse that it was supposed to be. Not a trace of any of the drug or production equipment remained. Falcone was on his phone angry to have missed his chance of revenge. But Penguin was not satisfied to go home empty handed. He left the building where Falcone and a large contingent of his goons were there with him to secure the prize. Falcone did not hear the order but Hood and Arsenal were immediately able to warn the others of Penguin’s order to his crew to turn on Falcone and attack.

---

Marinette did not like the triumphant look on the man’s face when he got the updated information delivered. Everyone else left the room and now he sat in front of her, just watching. Dustin had stumbled out of the room, clearly under the influence of some substance, probably the Heliotrope that he liked so much. He seemed happy enough to be there. He was getting what he wanted and all he had to do was play matchmaker a bit. But Marinette suspected that he would soon be far less happy. He knew too much, even if he did not know why. The men with him were laughing at him not with him. Even with his decision to sell information about her, she didn’t think he deserved to die for it.

“May I call you Marinette?” he asked.

“No.”

“You are so defiant, Marinette. Why?”

“Is this your attempt to get me to like you? It really isn’t working.”

“But you came all this way to see me. You could have done better at dressing for the occasion. I like red. Do you have anything in red?”

“I hate red.”

“Hmm. How do you feel about bats?”

“Rodents with wings.” she said. She did not like where the line of questioning was going.

“That is the truth. Apparently Gotham is overrun with bats tonight. Seems they managed to start a gang war.”

She was trying to maintain a stoic facade but she was struggling. It was getting hard to breath. She couldn’t even shift because of the bindings and he was watching very closely to see how she would react. She assumed he had a different meaning, but she didn’t know if it was that Batman had turned her over to him or that they would be too distracted to do anything to help her. Maybe he meant that he helped start a gang war in return for Batman telling him all about her. She knew that Tim would not willingly allow her to be harmed even after she broke up with him. But she assumed that this man did not know that Tim was Red Robin or the questions would be a lot different.

Chapter Text

Tim was grateful that the mission was wrapping up. It had clearly been a set up, but not for them. It would probably make the drug ring even more difficult to track down since they had gone to such lengths to move the whole production, but that would be a problem for another day. Every one of the families, even the ones at locations they had not been aware of, had moved into their houses within the last week as part of a program to provide affordable housing for in need single parent families. He felt bad for all of them considering they were all pawns as part of a much larger scheme but he was far too worried about Marinette to be overly concerned about them now that they were all safe.

Without having captured even one person associated with the drug ring and having exhausted all their known locations, Tim feared they may not be able to find her quickly. He did not know what they could have possibly wanted with her unless they were sure she was Rouge Gorge and thought she had information about them. Although he chilled at the thought that they may have figured out exactly how much information about the drug ring had come from her. She had managed to be in the wrong place at the right time enough to give them all of the major leads they had followed throughout the case.

Oracle was attempting to trace her phone but having no luck. It was no more than he expected. Her phone was basically a burner phone. He had never seen for sure but he suspected she kept no information on it and that she took measures to make sure it had no way to be tracked. For all he knew she could be being held at her apartment. He had no idea where she lived, just that it was within walking distance of her work. That was only a guess based on knowing she had no car and had always walked to meet up with him.

He was dejected as he prepared to head back to the base. He didn’t know what would happen when they all arrived back there. Nothing had been resolved from the recent upheaval. They all were just ignoring their interpersonal issues in order to take care of the immediate issue with the coordinated attack on the drug ring. But the radio chatter even while they were all busy was not nearly as easy going as it tended to be when they were all getting along. He might be channeling Jason because he just wanted to punch someone until he had answers. Maybe he shouldn’t head back while feeling that way in case he decided to punch Batman. Even if he was working on learning more about her work as Rouge Gorge, Tim felt she would not be in this position if it were not for the threats.

---

He was still in the room but he remained silent. He was somewhere behind where she was sitting. There was no other movement in the house. Marinette suspected everyone else had left to deal with whatever excitement had everyone moving around this evening. He hadn’t even asked her many questions at all. She suspected he was just trying to make her nervous so she would just spill everything but without knowing what he knew telling him anything could be very bad for her. She couldn’t do anything that would risk the miraculous box even if it was herself she was risking. It was a few minutes before movement from another person proved her wrong about everyone else being out of the house. A hushed conversation took place behind her before she was once again approached by the man in charge.

When he came over to where she was, he was holding her laptop. She wasn’t sure what kind of information an expert might be able to get from it. She used it mostly for her online sales or for listening to music and watching shows. She kept no pictures or any information about who she was in France or at all really. She was fastidious about leaving no trace of herself online anywhere it could be found. She had not even used her name in any legal or official capacity since she had run from the hospital there. Everything she did was over the internet using passwords and fake log ins. She was especially careful with her recent communication with Adrien. She preferred using email with a hidden location so he wouldn't know she was still in Gotham; she wasn’t sure how effective that would be from her phone. She also tried to clear her history frequently but she could see he had it on the website where her orders came in so she had clearly missed something.

“Even the most careful person leaves a trace somewhere, but this is the only history my best guy could find on your laptop.”

“I don’t know what you are looking for but those beaded headbands are really cute.”

“I had thought you could get me information to stop annoying interference in my business, but clearly you are hiding far more than a secret night life.”

“Maybe I’m just a very boring person. I don't have information. I work, I play Mecha Strike and I sleep.”

“No, it is more than that. You are completely hidden. Your work. Your apartment. Your life is all completely anonymous. Who are you hiding from?”

"I told you, I'm a private person."

"We shall see when I get you to tell me about yourself. I wonder if your apparent concern for children is greater than your desire to hide things from me."

"I don't even know what that means."

He leaned in close to her. He held her still bound hands so they pressed against her. She couldn't even shift to move away from him as he leaned over spoke low right next to her ear.

"I know you are the masked girl and you were very worried about the children that night. You were more concerned for them than for yourself. My men are on their way to see them now unless you have anything you want to tell me."

---

“This isn’t over,” Jason said into the comms once he and Arsenal had gotten away from the warehouse and they could safely speak.

“Wrap it up for the night. We will regroup later.” Batman said.

“I have a lot to compile before I even know where to start with finding more locations for the drug ring. But I’m starting with any more information on where the missing girl is. I’m searching cameras near where we think she lives for any suspicious behavior or known associates of the ring.” Oracle explained.

“No, you don’t understand,” Arsenal spoke this time, “Penguin had the bulk of the force out working for him tonight.Penguin just ordered his men to attack. Falcone was taken and all his men at the warehouse are dead.”

“We should deal with this immediately if we want to keep it from getting out of hand. Penguin likely intends to kill Falcone but would want to do it publicly.” Jason added.

“Agreed. Regroup at Wayne Tower to form a plan. Oracle, see if you can find any movement we can start with.” Batman said.

Chapter Text

“There is nothing to tell.” Marinette said.

Based on his knowing smile she guessed that her eyes were not hiding her horror at his mention of the children.

“We’ll see,” he said and then walked off.

She was trying to stay strong but she was very scared. She had no magical protection and he was trained and had a gun on him. Even if they were the only ones there she would have a low chance of escape. But she knew there was at least one other there and she had no idea where they had taken her in the city. She knew that they would probably have major advantages if she did manage to find a way to get past him but her odds were not great staying here either. She waited until his footsteps faded and then she shifted to look around. No one was in sight so she tried to lift herself as silently as possible to see if she could manage to get out. The place actually looked surprisingly empty for what she assumed was their base of operation. The couch and a small table were the only furniture in the room. She could see the empty kitchen when she turned and one cupboard was open to show that it was also empty. There was nothing else. And no one else.

She got herself to her feet slowly and slid them across the floor rather than risking the noise of full steps. No one came running. She snuck to the opening. She could see a back exit in the kitchen. That was not the door she had been brought in originally so hopefully she could manage to sneak out without being seen. She peeked down the hall and no one was there. No sounds could be heard, voices or movement. She quickly moved across the hall to the kitchen. Luckily no one was in the hidden dining nook. It all was as empty as it appeared.

She paused considering looking around for a knife or something that could twist the plastic cuffs on her wrists. They were much more sturdy than the kind she had seen before. She would probably need a knife rather than slipping something in to twist it around until it snapped. She could get them to move a bit, but not enough to weaken and break them. She skipped the kitchen, choosing instead to leave and find a way out of the restraints later. The risk was too high that someone would hear her or that there wasn’t even something there for her to use. The place was already so bare that the likelihood of finding anything to cut them was minimal.

She held her breath as she cracked the door open. She barely opened it wide enough to squeeze herself through before she was pulling it closed. She held the handle until the door was all the way shut and released it slowly to keep it from clicking. She took a shaky breath already missing the warmth from the house as she moved herself along the wall looking around to make sure she hadn’t been discovered. Tilting her head slightly she slowly moved to the corner of the house to check for look outs. She saw the shadow move a second too late. She kept herself from falling as she tripped and pivoted to run away. She couldn’t stop the noise she made but she tried to hold back her scream as much as possible while focusing on escape.

---

Oracle was keeping them updated on police reports of gang violence even as they were still all making their way to the tower. There was no way to tell who was winning or where to start with trying to intervene. Oracle started reading off the locations that the police were not able to get to immediately because of the current call volume. The bats only stayed at the tower for enough time to split into two groups and head off to the locations with the highest expectancy of endangered civilians.

It was not a plan to fix everything that had gone wrong that night but keeping the streets safe from the violence was the best they could do. Batman, Robin, Red Robin and Batgirl arrived at a large, dark parking area that connected a late night convenience store, a taco stand and a karaoke bar as well as a few shops that were closed this time of night. The bat family suspected that the parking lot probably did a lot of business because of the ease of finding customers and the lack of police presence.

Batman directed Robin and Red Robin to help the remaining civilians find clear paths to get away while he and Batgirl worked to break up the fight. They did not worry about who was fighting for what. They dropped gas pellets to disperse the group and those who tried to resist and continue they fought with but it was a much more manageable number. Still it took far longer than they liked. They communicated with the other group to see how they were doing at the construction site.

Red Hood, Arsenal, Black Bat and Nightwing were at the site of a derelict mall that was set to be demolished to make way for new apartments. The two groups there were locked in a fierce fight for control of the area. NIghtwing suggested the use of gas pellets to get them to go but the area was too open for it to be very effective. They focused on getting out the few civilians who were trapped by the fighting. It was mostly high school aged kids who were using the fenced off parking lot as a party spot. The Bats thought they may have to pull back and let it play out when one group suddenly pulled out and ran off. Arsenal and Red Hood thought that it was Penguin’s goons but they weren’t absolutely sure.

The two groups were going to meet up to head back to base for the night when Oracle gave them a new location and suggested that they get there quickly.

Chapter Text

Marinette had expected them to be angry and possibly even vengeful at her escape attempt but they were practically laughing at her attempt. She was beginning to think that it was all a set up just so they could see what she would do. No one had been in sight when she snuck out the door but within seconds of her being spotted she had been knocked to the ground and then shoved into a waiting SUV. She could see that her knee was bleeding through the fabric. She could also feel an ache in her shoulder and side that slid on the ground when he landed on her.

They all pulled into the vehicle with her before they drove away. She could easily see where they were now. It wasn’t an area she was very familiar with but she thought she might know about where it was. She froze in her thoughts. They didn’t cover her head. They didn’t expect her to be able to tell anyone what she saw. Even if she told them everything right now she would be a risk to their operation. She didn’t know what she knew that Batman couldn’t tell them himself. He said he wanted less interference but he also knew she was Rouge Gorge. He didn’t need her confirmation. She had told him nothing and confirmed nothing but still he believed it. He either already knew for certain or he would have believed it no matter what.

The rain had started falling down by the time they arrived. She recognised the place when they pulled her out onto the street. She was roughly guided down onto the now wet pavement, her hands and knees stung as they made contact forcefully. She tried to shift and look around but the man in charge stepped out and loomed over her. He planted his boot on top of the plastic cuffs binding her hands pinning it to the pavement as he pulled out his phone.

Her attention was divided between what he was doing and the commotion going on at the house. He had told her that he thought she would be worried about the children so she suspected they were in the house. It wasn't very long before smoke started to rise around the base of the house. It made her fidget nervously; she hated fire. But redirected her attention and turned back to the man as he played a video on the phone.

She could remember when the video was taken. It was before the diner opened one morning and her coworkers had finally convinced her to sing for them. They had caught her singing to herself several times and always wanted to hear more. She hadn’t realized that she was being recorded but her voice singing Jagged Stone lyrics in French was becoming the soundtrack for another fire she could only watch. She pulled at the restraints but he just looked down at her and laughed. He looked back at the house and so did she.

“I only suspected a connection when I saw you at the party. But the singing in French is definitely the same. Do you remember when you sang for us or were you having too much fun to remember after?”

“I was singing for my friends at work. I didn’t know I was being recorded.”

“I don’t mean then. I mean the first night we met. We met right over there. Don’t you remember?”

He was playing another video of her. This time from when she was on the heliotrope. She tried to look confused but she wasn’t sure if she was succeeding. She was cold and tired. She wondered if he would let her up from the cold wet ground if she admitted to her secret identity or if he would just kill her. From the side of the house she could see the man starting the fire. The same man who has set for to the house last time they had her. He looked menacing with his wings sticking out and his hose spraying the base of the house with fire. A signal from the man trapping her on the ground and he stopped but Marinette thought he seemed reluctant to let the fire continue naturally rather than burn it all quickly.

A sudden rush of noise at the door shifted the focus of everyone to those trying to escape. Marinette had a feeling that they were escaping the flames but that their safety was far from assured. She recognized the woman who had been dragged out the last time. She was flanked by two armed men who Marinette thought must be her bodyguards. The children were each carried out by a bodyguard and one more came out carrying a scared looking cat that screeched as it pushed off with it's claws. The man dropped the animal when it was no longer in danger and it ran off.

Marinette watched as they stopped to check that they were okay missing their opportunity to see the danger they were still in. The man with the electric gauntlets didn't give them the opportunity to notice. He shot off his weapon in quick succession hitting all the guards and the mother. The children, having just been put down safely and preparing to chase after their cat, started screaming as all their caregivers fell to the ground. Impervious to the fears the children were herded over to where Marinette was with the man in charge. He did not watch the children as they were brought over. Even when their shouts filled the air, he watched for a reaction from Marinette.

---

They made the connection that the location was Falcone’s house while they were on the way. They had no idea what to expect but Penguin would possibly be taking out his vengeance on Falcone’s family as well as the man himself. It would be the best way to set himself up as the man in charge if he publicly took out the biggest competition. It was likely what he had been planning all along but their failure to take over the drug ring threw everything into chaos. They needed to put a stop to it as soon as possible. Once one group gained control they would be much more difficult to thwart.

Unfortunately chaos was what they found when they arrived. The house was fully engulfed in flames but that wasn’t even the most concerning thing. Both groups were spread down the block and shooting at each other. Firefly had taken the sidewalk on one side and was shooting out flames with little regard for property damage or whether or not he hit his target. The Electrocutioner was coming from the other side, throwing electricity from his gauntlets forcing Penguin's men towards the flames or closer to where Lt Branden stood blocking the way with a contingent of men with tactical shields.

The lights from the fire truck were drawing closer but there was no way the truck could make it through to stop the fire without great risk. Rather than jumping into the fire fight, the bats moved around the edge to detain those who were making their escape. At some point they may be running off in such numbers that they could not all be taken down but none of them would be remaining here after the fight would finish. It was the best way to make a start on ending the gang war even if they could not manage it all tonight.

Black Bat and Red Robin were tasked with slipping around to the other side. Hopefully they could secure a safe exit route for any civilians who would need to escape. The way the fire was spreading made that seem likely. It could also be a great access point for the emergency personnel when the weapons fire ceased. Arsenal and Batgirl had rushed over to a safe house they used nearby and were able to find some tranquilizer guns that should help. The fire made their gas pellets a very dangerous option for incapacitating people.

Black Bat motioned to Red Robin trying to get his attention without giving away their position. It was dark with flames creating shadows and bright flashes from the electricity gauntlets and the gun fire but he was able to make out the shape after a moment. A huddled body curled over with arms stretched out along the pavement at Lt Branden’s feet. Marinette.

Chapter Text

It was a painstaking process. Her movements had to be very small, almost imperceptible. It was more painful than she had anticipated and it made it difficult to keep going but at this point she didn't know what other options she had. She wasn't sure what had happened to the children but all around was absolute mayhem. The rain was falling even harder and Marinette’s clothes were sticking to her and hanging down where she was crouched on the pavement. She had pushed the bindings close enough to the back of the boot pressed onto it that one more push would free it. She suspected he would notice then and the direction would cause her arms to be looped around one of his legs. She just needed a distraction to pull his attention away from the volley of gunfire all around.

She focused her full attention to every movement the man made. If she moved too quickly he would be more likely to notice her movements so she crept ever so slowly to get her legs positioned under her without lifting herself. Timing was crucial. If she lost feeling in her legs or feet, she would not be able to run when the time came. Her terror was creeping up her throat. The flames were a bright spot in her peripheral vision and she could feel the smoke in her lungs with every ragged breath. She could block out the gunfire but her lungs were being infected by the smoke and panic was setting in.

For all her planning, she almost missed her shot. It was such an unexpected shift even when that was what she was waiting for. One from his crew was running away in terror and that would not be allowed. The man’s stance shifted when he lifted his gun to aim. Marinette’s arms moved before her brain consciously caught up with what she was doing. She almost fell over when the pressure came off the cuff. She caught herself and jumped up quickly pulling with all the force she could manage directly at the back of the man’s knee. She fell over backwards when he stumbled down. Her wrists screamed in agony and then she felt the pressure land back on them.

The gunshot had gone off so close to her unprotected ears that it caused a ringing. The flash made everything bright and dark all at once. But then she also felt the weight on her shift. She was still trapped but it had worked. She had succeeded in knocking him over but he was quickly regaining himself. She unlooped her trapped arms from his leg and ran without caring what repercussions there might be. Hopefully he would be more concerned about the battle still raging than whether or not she could make an escape. She veered off course when she almost tripped over the body of the last one who had run away from him. She ran between two houses and then around behind the house to lose anyone who might chase. Her only goal was away from them and away from the fire.

---

Too many things happened at once for them to properly understand what had happened. They saw Lt Branden turn and shoot but then he fell over almost on top of Marinette. She must have done something because there was no way that he had fallen because of the kickback from his weapon. She jumped up and ran without looking back. Red Robin turned to follow her but Black Bat stopped him before he could chase after her. Staying was the right thing for the team and the mission. They needed to keep the path clear and too much movement would give away their position. He still hesitated as the fallen man jumped up to chase after her. Red Robin could only pass the information along and hope that someone would be able to help her.

---

She ran between two houses and traipsed through the yard to change direction. She was being chased by the man and he was gaining quickly, but if she could veer off and lose him by changing direction before he saw which way she ran, she might have a chance. There was a fence one direction so she chose the other. It was darker that way which could work in her favor as far as visibility went, but it was slick with the rain forming large puddles and she was not dressed for running.

She paused to catch her breath behind a shed. She could still hear him moving nearby. He was moving more slowly trying to track her movements or hear which way she had gone. She held her breath and wished she could stop shaking. She didn’t know whether it was from fear and adrenaline or the cold and wet but it was the same result. She almost shocked herself into making audible noise when she tasted blood. She hadn’t even realised she was nervously biting her lip but she had broken the skin. She waited several minutes after she heard him move away before she crept around trying to find a path to sneak out.

Hopefully he had moved off in the wrong direction or given up. She didn’t think he would want to pull his men back just to search for her. They would give up whatever advantage they were fighting for. She still heard nothing and no one jumped out when she snuck around to the other side. She debated what to do. She could check the shed for a tool to remove the cuffs but that could make a noise to give her away. Then she would be blocked into a small space where she was sure to be recaptured. She quickly surveyed what she could see of the nearby yards to make a choice.

It was a risky option. The fences that met would allow her to get two yards away onto a street further from where everyone was. The yard even looked like the easiest path. The struggle would be getting up and over the fence. It wasn’t just climbing over. She would have to balance on the fence several feet to make it. She was pretty banged up from her earlier escape attempt. But it was still her best option if she could manage.

Once she made the decision she went for it right away. There was no reason to delay. Any delay could bring danger back. She wished she had different shoes. They were not staying on her feet very well but taking them off would make it worse. She gritted her teeth and climbed on top of the fence. She scooted along the top of the fence and reached up for the top of the wooden fence to brace herself. That one would have been the best one to climb over for staying hidden but she didn’t know what she would find on the other side and it would have her heading back in the wrong direction.

She was trying to climb down carefully but her foot slipped from the last foothold. She cursed as she fell onto her butt before she could stop herself. She did what she could to turn it into a roll and keep moving. The sound of her fall and her voice would have been all that was needed to find her if anyone was still looking. By the sound of rushing feet, someone had. She could only hope that her location had not been pinpointed but she moved as if it had. She was up and running halfway across the yard when she heard a fence clink and followed immediately by the thump of boots. He was over the first fence. She made it to the edge of the house and turned right without even looking. Getting distance between them was more urgent than picking the right direction.

She could hear him as he cleared the house and stopped to find which direction she went. She was still running, not even bothering to hide anymore. Her lungs were burning and everything ached. He was still gaining on her. There wasn’t even a contest. She considered turning to run between the next set of houses but there was no way to tell what she would find. She was so close to the end of the block. That felt like it would be a great milestone for her to reach, but in reality it would make no difference. She was quickly losing all hope.

He was going to recapture her.

Chapter Text

Batman moved quickly to catch up with Marinette before Lt Branden caught up with her. He came from the side and she clearly had not seen him before he reached her. She was focusing on putting distance between herself and her pursuer. Before he tried to escape with her he threw a batarang at the man and then turned to aim with his grappling gun. She tried to pivot away from him before she realized he was there to help, but there was no time for him to explain. He picked her up and they glided up the cord to a nearby roof.

She was still kicking and struggling when they landed. Getting a good look at him had not helped. She was panicking and he was afraid that she would knock them off the roof or cause herself to fall. He used his remote to activate the batmobile to come to him there before calling to the others on the comms. He wanted Red Robin to pull out if he could but they informed him that everyone was already working on getting out. The fire department had been able to get in and had started working to put out the fire. Many of the goons had escaped but they had a bunch of Penguin’s crew and eight from the drug ring. Hopefully they would be able to get some answers about where the operation had moved.

When the vehicle arrived Batman grabbed Marinette and quickly moved down there and deposited her in the back seat without bothering to get her cuffs off yet. He got back on the comms to get everyone to meet at the safehouse nearby. Red Robin confirmed he was on the way to his location and would be there in under a minute. Batman drove to the end of the block and met him there. Before Red Robin was even fully in the car, Batman pulled off and headed to the safehouse to meet the rest of the team.

---

Marinette wasn’t even sure what happened. She was running and everything went black. She didn’t remember losing consciousness but she couldn’t see anything. She was still moving. Or being moved. She didn’t think she was moving herself. It was hard to tell, she couldn’t really feel her legs anymore. Everything she could feel was exhaustion and pain. When things stopped swinging and she felt something solid under her she looked over to see Batman. It was just him and not his team. She pushed away but he fought against her. He was trying to talk to her but she blocked him out, focusing only on getting away from him.

He picked her up and there was a sudden dropping feeling before she found herself once again his prisoner in the back of the batmobile. He drove off quickly and then had an aggressive start and stop where Marinette had to catch herself on the back of the front seats to keep from being tossed around. She pushed herself back and collapsed against the seat squeezing her eyes shut in a desperate attempt to keep the tears from slipping out. She didn’t quite manage and she could feel as a hot tear slipped past and slid down her already damp cheek. She bit her lip to keep the sob in but her body shuddered with the effort.

She felt a warm hand touch her chin and a thumb gently wiped her tear away. Her eyes opened and met Red Robin’s sad eyes. She broke as he climbed past the seat to get to her. She leaned against him as he sat beside her but he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. When he saw the cuffs on her wrists and he pulled a tool out and clipped them off. She flexed her hands a few times and then turned each wrist over to help regain feeling. He pulled each one up to his lips and softly kissed the bruised and abraded skin before he reached behind him and pulled out a blanket to wrap around her.

They pulled into an underground parking area and it was dark where they stepped out. Batman said nothing and went inside. Red Robin didn’t even put her down when he got out. He lifted her with the blanket still wrapped around her and stepped out keeping her lifted. He set her down once they were inside. Batgirl helped him get her out of all clothes and into leggings and a tank top she kept there.

Her wrists were cleaned and wrapped. The scrapes along her shoulder and arms were cleaned and her knee was cleaned and bandaged. Tim pulled off his Red Robin suit to get to his fleece sweatshirt underneath. He removed it and pulled it down over Marinette's head. Then he guided her to a couch which he sat on before pulling her down to it. He tucked her into himself with her seated between his legs and his arms wrapped around her after cocooning her into the blanket against his chest.

She hadn't spoken at all. She hadn't needed to. He had taken care of everything she needed. She was safe and almost warm. She relaxed into him and fell asleep before they could ask her anything.

Chapter Text

Marinette jolted awake.

It was dark and something was holding her down. The adrenaline hit when she remembered she had been running. She struggled to move. The restraints were soft. Blankets. She was covered with blankets. She fought through the adrenaline to remember that she had been saved. By Batman even. But she hadn’t realized that at the time.

She shifted and tried to move the blankets. She didn’t think she was still on the couch. It was a bed and something was holding the blankets down. She turned her head and felt the warm breath.

It was Tim.

His eyes opened and he smiled.

It took everything she had not to just kiss him right now. That would not be okay considering she had broken up with him without any explanation. He moved and rested his hand on her cheek. They just lay there for a moment without speaking. Marinette was just enjoying the feeling of being safe. She didn’t want to interrupt the moment when they both had to remember they had separate lives to go to. But even thinking of it spoiled it for her. It must have shown on her face because she could feel his hesitation. His hand pulled away from her face and shifted. He was getting up but he leaned down to kiss her head before he left.

He didn’t go far. He picked up his phone. He seemed to have just sent a text because he came back over to her. She wanted to crawl back to him when he sat at the edge of the bed. She refrained and instead sat up and pulled the blanket around her.

“I really need to get home,” she said.

“You can’t go home. It isn’t safe.”

“It's because it isn’t safe that I have to go. This isn’t just about me.”

They were interrupted by a knock and an older man came in with a tray. Marinette could see the hallway and as she suspected when she woke, this was not the same place they had taken her last night.

“Where are we?” she asked once the man had gone.

“Oh, my family’s house. It is far more comfortable than the safe house and you were sleeping very heavily.”

“What does your family know about me?”

He studied her for a moment as if he was expecting her to say more but then he seemed to realize something.

“They know everything. You have met them all before and recognized them even without their masks.”

“You are a family? Batman is what, like you dad? He is a Batdad with bird kids?”

Tim could see she was starting to get worked up. She couldn’t help it. The thought of seeing Batman again terrified her. Now she was in his house.

“Marinette, we just want to know what happened so we can keep you safe.”

“I need to go. I need to leave. Why won’t you let me leave?”

“We can go. You don’t have to stay here. But I don’t want you to go alone. Can we bring NIghtwing? He is usually up by now and I want back up just in case.”

She made a face but then nodded and headed for the door. He grabbed his phone and moved to go with her while he was calling Dick. She walked down the hall to the staircase but then stopped so suddenly he walked right into the back of her. Her eyes were wide as she took in her surroundings.

“What is this place?” she asked in shock.

“I should have taken the time to explain. It’s more of a manor; it's an old family.”

Marinette couldn’t get out of the house fast enough. Tim went ahead and took her on his motorcycle and just stopped to send Dick the address once they were off the property. He still didn’t want to get to the apartment alone so he meandered through a few streets and waited to arrive until Dick was there.

Dick had brought a very tired looking Steph with him but she wanted to make sure Marinette was okay. She felt like Marinette might still feel like running after everything. They entered the apartment before her just to check and make sure nothing was disturbed. As far as Marinette could tell, it was exactly as it had been left when she had been removed. It was vacant. They couldn’t guarantee that it wasn’t being watched but for now it looked clear.

“Just in case the place is being watched we should get out of here quickly. Try to prioritize the things you will need to have secure or will need in the next few days,” Dick said.

“It will take more time than that to find a new place to live. I’m not going back to that manor.”

“For now you can stay in my apartment.”

Marinette looked over at Tim. Both Dick and Steph suddenly decided to check the perimeter and left. She made him spend a few minutes trying to convince her but she wanted to be convinced. She just needed him to make it clear how much he wanted it. He was trying not to say it. But he still wanted to be with her. As Red Robin, he would have come for her no matter what. But Tim wanted to have her safe and with him.

---

The four of them collected as much of Marinette’s things as they could quickly focusing on necessities first. But they planned to come back again soon to clear out the rest. She took care in hiding the magical box so the others would have no idea that it was even there. They knew she had use of magic but not the mechanism. It's safety was her to priority.

“The spare room is through there. You are welcome to stay as long as you like. Once we know more, I can let you stay here alone. But for now it is best that you aren’t alone until we know more about the fall out.”

“You know I can’t stay long. I will have to find a new place to be lost.”

“You don’t have to run. We can keep you safe.”

“Come with me. We could make it work. I don’t want to go without you.”

“Don’t tempt me.”

“I want to tempt you.”

He paused for a moment and took her hands in his.

“You have spent too long running that you don’t know when it is time to stop. Stay here. Make a home. I will be your home.”

“What if all this isn’t over? It might not be safe”

“Then, I will be here and we will handle it together.”

Her breath caught in her throat and tears stung her eyes. They moved together at the same time. She hesitated before their lips met but he never pulled away. He waited for her to be ready. She pressed up against him and his arms surrounded her. Their lips met in a rush.

Home was what she needed all along.