Chapter Text
Marinette grins as the car pulls up in front of the manor. They were finally home. She snorts as Tim practically barrels out of the car, launching himself onto the grass.
"Land!" Tim yells, his cheek against the grass.
"Get your dramatic ass up and grab your suitcase." Jason yells, climbing out of the car. Tim groans, but gets up. Marinette gets out of the car and stretches, relieved to finally be out of the car. They hadn’t stopped as many times on the way home, it was super clear that her dad was (finally) having regrets on the whole road trip thing. Not that she blamed him though. As much as she loved Jay and Damian, she didn't know if she could do another car ride like that with them. Like, ever. She glances over at Selina and grins. Walking over to her, she leans up against her and lets out a soft sigh.
“Hey kitten.” Selina says, kissing the top of her head. Marinette just grins at her, not bothering to say anything. “Happy to be home?” Selina asks, and Marinette nods, almost surprised at how true that is. Looking around at her brothers, and thinking about the possibility of not seeing them all the time, her thoughts go back to when her Maman and Papa were in town two weeks ago.
“I think I made a decision.” She says quietly, grinning at the slightly confused look on Selina’s face. “I wanna go to Gotham Academy.” She says. She giggles as Selina squeals.
“Harley is going to flip!” She cheers, immediately catching everyone else’s attention. She rolls her eyes. “In a good way, she’s reformed. You know this.”
“Yeah, guys, have some faith in her.” Marinette adds with a small frown. She understood that they were a little weary, but honestly, Harley was a better person than some of the superheroes she’d known.
“Care to share why Miss Quinn is going to be so excited?” Damian asks, crossing his arms. Marinette hums, looking at her bonus mom with a quirked eyebrow as a silent question. Do we say something now? Or do we keep them hanging? Selina just smirks, her face clearly saying ‘let me handle this one’.
“She’s about to get some fantastic news about one of her favorite girls.” Selina says, and Dick squeals, making Marinette jump in surprise.
“You’re pregnant!” He cheers, grinning widely at Selina. Marinette chokes, Damian gasps, Jason starts rambling about how he told them to use protection, and Tim just looks lost.
“You’re pregnant?” Her dad asks, eyes wide.
“No, I’m not pregnant! Where did that even come from, Richard?” Selina asks, crossing her arms and glaring at Dick.
“You said that Harley’s gonna get good news about one of her favorite girls! You’re one of her favorite girls, and she already knows you’re engaged. That’s the only other thing I could think of.” Dick says with a pout.
“I’m not her only favorite girl.” Selina points out, and suddenly Marinette is being held tightly in someone’s arms.
“Pixie Pop is staying!” Jason cheers, holding her tightly. Marinette just grins, surprised he put two and two together that quickly. She moves, or tries to move. She struggles for another minute, trying to get Jason to let her down. Finally, as it gets harder to breathe, she huffs.
“Jay, can’t- breathe-” She gasps out, unable to even hug her brother back since he’s practically pinned her arms to her sides. He drops her, instead moving to have an arm thrown over her shoulders.
“Are you really staying?” Damian asks, his face unreadable. Marinette nods, and Damian honest to god smiles. It’s small, and it doesn’t last long, but it was still there. “I am glad to hear that.” He says.
“Have you talked to Tom and Sabine?” Her dad asks suddenly, and Marinette shakes her head.
“Not about staying here, not since you first brought it up. I didn’t even realize I already knew what I’d pick until I looked around at everyone and realized I’m home. I can’t just leave everyone. And it’s not like I have to say bye to Maman and Papa, they’ll still be there.” Marinette explains, and her dad nods.
“Well, I’m very glad you’ve decided to stay. I’ll get started on the transfer paperwork after you’ve spoken to your parents.” He says, walking over and kissing the top of her head. Marinette just grins. Look out Gotham, Marinette Wayne was here to stay.
---
Selina is walking through the halls of the manor when the screaming starts. Her heart drops when she realizes it’s coming from Marinette’s room. Running straight there, she rushes through the already open door to see Dick holding Marinette close, patting her hair and whispering to her. Taking a quick breath once she’s reassured herself that everyone’s fine, Selina walks over and sits next to them on the bed. Marinette must feel the weight shift, because she looks up and makes eye contact with her before launching herself at her, clutching onto her for dear life.
“Hey kitten, it’s okay, I’m here. I’m here, honey.” She says softly, holding onto the girl tightly. She raises an eyebrow at Dick, silently asking him to explain. He glances at the girl in her arms before he sighs.
“She gets bad nightmares, sometimes. Think it’s worse when she finally forces herself to sleep after being awake for days.” He says, the last part slightly louder as if he’s trying to lecture the shaking girl. Selina narrows her eyes at him and is about to scold him, when Marinette speaks up.
“Maybe I wouldn’t be awake for days if Hawkmoth could learn to be an evil prick on my schedule instead of his.” She says flatly. Selina’s eyes widen, and she sees Dick’s do as well.
“Uh, since when did you talk like that?” Dick asks. Marinette huffs.
“Since I spend most of my time with Jay. But don’t yell at him. Unless you’re gonna yell at me, then yell at him instead please.” She mutters, making Selina snort.
“You, my darling, are a mess.” Selina declares, kissing the top of her daughter’s head. Because legal titles be damned, this girl was her daughter.
“Yeah, yeah. I’d say I learned from the best, but I honestly think it’s a genetic trait.” She snarks back, and this time Dick is the one unable to catch his breath because of laughter.
“Oh kid, I’d pay money for B to have heard that.” He finally says, wiping the tears from his eyes.
“He dresses as a giant bat, Dick, I think he knows he’s a mess.” Marinette whispers, pulling out of Selina’s arms and opting instead to lay her head on Selina’s arm.
“And on that note, do you need anything kiddo?” Dick asks. Marinette shakes her head.
“No, I’m fine. Sorry.” She says, and Dick frowns.
“Don’t apologize for having nightmares. You’re fifteen and you’ve died, almost died, and seen an apocalypse. You’re allowed to have bad dreams.” He says and Selina tenses. She hadn’t known any of that. She supposed the death thing gave her a little context as to why Bruce was so unwilling to let the girl go on patrol. She shakes her head quickly to clear it. She could talk to Bruce about this later, right now she was going to do whatever Marinette needed her to do.
“I-” Marinette starts, then stops, sighing deeply and looking way too old. Selina grits her teeth, anger shooting through her. How dare that old man put all of this pressure on her shoulders. Yes, her daughter was a damn good hero, but she shouldn’t have to be. She was a child, not a soldier. Her eyes shouldn’t look so haunted. She shouldn’t have to have nightmares like this. Shouldn’t have PTSD from past battles. She’s so busy thinking of ways to find the old man and piss him off, that the sudden arms around her startle her. She blinks, glancing down at Marinette who was attached to her again.
“What’s up buttercup?” She asks, forcing a smile on her face.
“I’m okay, I promise.” Marinette says, as if she’d been able to hear the scathing thoughts running through Selina’s mind. She just sighs and squeezes the girl quickly.
“I know honey.” She says. And she was okay, and she would stay okay. Because Selina was going to make Bruce hurry the hell up with the damn butterfly problem.
---
“It’s Gabriel Agreste.” Tim says suddenly, and Marinette looks from the bowl of rice she had been trying to pass him, to Tim, and then back to the rice.
“Er, no. It’s rice?” She says, frowning. Tim purses his lips, and suddenly she realizes that he hadn’t meant to share that particular thought. She quickly runs scenarios through her head before her blood runs cold. She sets the bowl down, her hands shaking too much to hold onto anything.
“Hey Mars, look at me, breathe.” Tim instructs, Marinette glances around at the other faces at the table, not registering any of their own emotions, too busy drowning in hers.
“He can’t. It can’t.” She says, shaking her head violently.
“I know it looks bad Mars, but it’s true. I have proof and-”
“I said it in the beginning.” The entire room freezes and she can feel the tension her words create. Everyone is looking at her, looking for an explanation. “He had a book on the Miraculous. I told Chat Noir that I thought it was Gabriel, and he denied it. He was so angry, that was our first big argument. And then, the next day, Gabriel was akumatized. So Chat was convinced it couldn’t be him anymore and something felt wrong, off, but I went with it. I dropped it and- this is my fault.” She bites back the tears that threaten to escape. It was her fault, wasn’t it? Her fault that so many other people had been akumatized. Her fault that the box had to be transferred to her. If she had just listened to her instincts, this could have been avoided. It could have-
“-athe. That’s it, breathe Pix. There you go. It is not your fault.” Jason says firmly.
“But it is. I-”
“Not your fault, Marinette. As much as it pains me to say it, it is not even the fault of that fool Chat Noir. He simply allowed his familial bonds to get in the way of the evidence that was right in front of you.” Damian says. “The only one at fault is Gabriel Agreste. He is the one who has been terrorizing Paris, not you. You have done your best to stop it.”
“Yeah, and now that we know who’s behind all of this, we can end it. For good.” Jason adds.
“Hold on, Tim, how sure are you? What evidence did you find?” Her dad asks. Tim opens his mouth to respond, but Alfred cuts him off.
“I would like to remind you all that I don’t appreciate business at the table. Interferes with digestion, you know. “ He says, and the conversation swiftly changes to something else. Marinette isn’t even sure what it is, because her thoughts are too busy thinking about this new reality she has suddenly found herself in. The one where her superhero partner’s father is an evil villain. A man that she had once idolized (until she knew how poorly he treated his only son) was the same man that had terrorized Paris for more than a year. Restricting citizens from feeling completely, from having negative emotions. He’d turned their home into a warzone, a battleground for him to try and achieve his goals. Marinette grits her teeth, determination sinking into her bones. She would not let him win. He would not succeed.
---
Holding the butterfly miraculous in her hand, Marinette can’t help but think of the poem Jason had read to her a few weeks ago. ‘This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.’ And so it had. Over a year of torture from the man, and it was all over. There was no epic battle, no public showdown. It was, in all actuality, rather anticlimactic. But honestly, she was fine with that. Fine to follow her dad’s instructions on how to reach the secret lair, fine for the small fight Gabriel put up. The man was no warrior, and she’d been training with the bats for months. Within minutes of arriving at the Agreste mansion, Marinette had the butterfly miraculous and her dad had Gabriel Agreste restrained.
“You can’t do this! I have to make that wish!” Gabriel snarls, fighting against the restraints that her dad, Batman, had put him in.
“I think you’ll find, M. Agreste, that M. Batman can do anything. He is here on official Justice League business, after all. Perhaps next time, you’ll think twice before becoming a terrorist.” Marinette bites, her words sharp and her smile deadly. This man had put her through hell. He had killed her, and countless other Parisians. Even once he had guessed that she and Chat were kids, he’d still thrown awful fights their way. Still tried everything to be able to get the Miraculous. Marinette shoots the police officers a wide smile as they walk in, completely prepared to give them a presentation of every piece of evidence (without actually passing over the Miraculous, she couldn’t risk that but luckily they understood). As she stands there and talks to the officers, she feels a tiredness seep into her bones and threaten to drown her.
She was exhausted. Chat had left Paris when he found out who Hawkmoth was, too afraid that he would be akumatized before he could help her take down his father. She knew it was probably for the best, but it was still odd not fighting the last battle with Adrien at her side. He’d been there since the beginning, they’d been a team from the start. But at the same time, she understood. She wouldn’t be able to fight her family if they were the villain. She would be more likely to turn on everyone else, to join their side. So she was thankful that Adrien had left before he could be tempted to join his father. Even if she missed him like crazy. As the never ending stream of people die down, she follows her dad out of the Agreste mansion and to the rendezvous point that Dick had decided upon. Later, Ladybug would have to give a statement. She’d have to testify against Gabriel in court, and give Paris an update on their hero situation. She leans up against her dad tiredly, the exhaustion from the last year catching up to her all at once. She could do her duties later, but for now, Marinette Wayne was going home.