Chapter Text
After leaving Gotham Towers, Red Hood turned on his comms.
“I’m back,” He said simply.
“Where were you?” Came Batman’s gruff, stern voice over the comms.
“Just visiting a Clown and a Pixie,” Red Hood casually replied, landing next to his motorcycle.
“What happened?” Batman asked.
“Do I need to send EMTs to the hotel?” Red Robin asked.
“Nothing much, just had a little talk and a sibling squabble, but everyone’s fine. The only blood spilled was from the Clown stepping on some glass. She’ll be fine. Pixie is taking care of her.”
Red Hood started his motorcycle.
“What do you mean by a sibling’s squabble?” Batman asked.
“Nothing, just a little disagreement. We worked it out,” Red Hood replied.
Red Hood could practically hear Batman grit his teeth at the lack of details, which made him slightly smirk under his broken helmet.
“Report back to the Batcave. We’re having a family meeting,” Batman said.
“So, should I go back and get the Clown and Pixie?” Red Hood asked.
“No, they are not included,” Batman answered.
“Oh, wow, B, the Clown, I get, but no Pixie? She’s a good kid, much more sane than the Demon Child when he showed up, or does sharing DNA with you no longer constitute being family?” Red Hood sassed.
He could actually hear Batman grinding his teeth together over the comms.
“Jay, chill,” Red Robin whispered into the comms.
“The family meeting is about them, and they have expressed their desire to keep their distance,” Batman said through gritted teeth.
“Fine, I’m on my way,” Red Hood replied and peeled out of the alleyway where he hid his motorcycle.
When he pulled into the Batcave, he saw Tim sitting at the Batcomputer.
“Dude, what happened?” Tim asked when he turned to greet Jason and saw his broken helmet and the slight bruising around his eye.
“Like I said, a sibling squabble. Though, unlike you, Pixie can actually throw a punch,” Jason replied, taking off his broken helmet.
Tim gave him the bird.
“Family meeting is happening upstairs in the living room. We’re still waiting on Dick to arrive and B to get back with Babs.”
“Thanks for the info,” Jason replied and hung his helmet on his motorcycle, then headed upstairs to the manor.
He was greeted by Alfred at the top of the stairs.
“Welcome back, Master Jason. Would you like an ice pack?” Alfred greeted.
“Nah, it’s not that bad, thanks though,” Jason waved him off.
“Of course,” Alfred said with a small bow and headed into the kitchen.
Jason went into the living room. When he opened the door to the living room, he saw Damian sitting in one of the armchairs, staring into the fire, Selina, Cass, and Steph sitting on a couch, and Duke leaning against the armrest of the couch. They all turned to look at him.
“Sup,” Jason casually said, making his way to an armchair in the corner that had a footrest in front of it.
“What happened with Harley and Marinette?” Selina asked.
“Like I said over the comms, nothing much. Had a little sibling squabble and talked a bit. Harley had stepped on some of the broken glass from the window I crashed through,” Jason explained.
“Eye?” Cass asked, pointing to her right eye, which would be Jason’s bruised left eye when mirrored.
“Happened during the squabble. Pixie can actually throw a punch,” Jason replied.
“And what exactly caused the squabble that resulted in you getting punched?” Damian asked with a scowl.
“She took offense to me pointing a gun at her mother,” Jason answered.
“You didn’t shoot her, did you?” Stephanie asked.
“Harley? No. Pixie? Yes,” Jason replied.
“You shot Marinette!?” Selina exclaimed, jumping up from her seat.
The others straightened up in their spots as well.
“She was in her magical girl transformation and seemed to shrug off my rubber bullets just fine,” Jason replied.
“I’m surprised Harley didn’t kill you for shooting her daughter,” Duke said.
“Considering Pixie gave me this after I shot her. I think we were even,” Jason pointed to his bruised eye.
“Still, I doubt Harley is all too pleased about it,” Selina said, sitting back down.
“She’ll get over it,” Jason retorted.
“Who will get over what?” Barbara asked from the living room doorway. Bruce and Tim were standing right behind her.
“Quinn getting over Todd shooting Marinette,” Damian answered.
“You shot Marinette!?” Bruce angrily exclaimed.
“Oh my god, she’s fine!” Jason said, throwing up his hands in frustration, “She was in her magical girl transformation, and I was using rubber bullets. They did nothing to her, not even a scratch.”
Bruce glared at Jason for a moment before the doorbell rang.
“That must be Dick,” Tim said.
“I’ll get it,” Bruce said, turning and heading to the front door.
He opened the door and was surprised to find not only Dick, but also Koir with a sleeping Mar’i in her arms.
“I thought you would be coming alone,” Bruce said to Dick.
“Yeah, I did too, but Kori insisted on coming along, and we couldn’t find a sitter on short notice,” Dick replied, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
“Is it a problem for us coming along?” Kori frowned.
“Not at all, you’re always welcome here, and I would never pass up the chance to see my granddaughter,” Bruce replied and stepped out of the doorway. “Please come in, everyone is already gathered in the living room.”
They stepped inside, and Kori said, “I’ll put Mar’i in bed, then join you.”
“Okay,” Dick replied.
“Your room is prepared as always. If you need anything, just let Alfred know,” Bruce said.
Kori smiled and nodded. She floated up to the second floor to put her daughter to bed. Dick and Bruce headed into the living room.
“Hey, everyone,” Dick said with a smile as he entered.
The others gave a greeting back.
“Did I hear Kori with you?” Barbara asked.
“Yeah, she insisted on coming along,” Dick replied.
“Does that mean Mar’i with you?” Steph asked hopefully.
“Yes, but she’s sleeping right now, so you’ll have to wait till morning,” Dick answered.
“Aw,” Steph pouted, along with Barbara and Cass.
Dick smiled slightly.
“We’ll start when Kori finishes putting Mar’i to bed,” Bruce said, walking over to the fireplace that everyone else surrounded. A couple of minutes later, Kori entered the room along with Alfred.
With everyone gathered, Bruce began, “I’m sure there are a lot of questions concerning Marinette being my daughter, and Harley Quinn. So, to start, I’ll explain what I can from the beginning.”
Bruce paused for a moment to give anyone a chance to speak, and when no one did, he continued, “Yes, it’s true that roughly 16 years ago, I had sex with Harley Quinn, or Harley Moreau as she goes by now.”
“So, you won’t kill Joker for killing me, but you’d screw his ex that helped kidnap me?” Jason interrupted.
Bruce sighed tiredly. He knew that comment was coming. The only question had been when Jason would ask it.
“I don’t have an answer I think you would accept, Jason. It happened a little before Tim became Robin, and I was still grieving your death. Harley had left a note on the Batmobile one night while I was busy stopping an arms deal. The note led me to an apartment in downtown Gotham. Obviously, I was expecting a trap, but instead I found Harley on a bed in lingerie. She told me she and Joker had broken up again and wanted to get back at Joker. It was obvious what she wanted, but I told her no. So, she tried another approach. She said, ‘You’re moral code stops you from killing Joker, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take someone from him like he took from you. You can take me.’ That pushed me over the edge, and I doubt any of you want to hear the details of that night. Anyway, I never told anyone about that night, not even Alfred, because of how ashamed I was at letting her seduce me. Harley then vanished a few weeks later without a trace. I had two theories at the time of what had happened to her. Either she had told Joker that we slept together, and he killed her, or she had broken up with him for good and left Gotham to start her life over. It’s now become apparent which of those two theories is correct. However, I was not aware that Harley had become pregnant with Marinette as a result of that night, and wasn’t told about Marinette being mine and Harley’s daughter until Selina told me earlier tonight.”
“The only person Harley told about Marinette was Ivy. I only found out about Harley and Marinette after looking at some old photos of Harley the other day and noticing their resemblance. I then dug into Marinette’s background and found a picture of Harley on a government document. I called Ivy after that since the only times she had taken any sort of vacation had been to go to Paris, so I figured that she knew about Harley and Marinette. She did and told me about Bruce being Marinette’s father,” Selina supplied.
“Wait, so does that mean that Ivy knew the whole time and didn’t say anything?” Tim asked.
Selina nodded.
“What right does she have to withhold that information from us?” Damian asked.
“That’s rich coming from you. Are you forgetting that Talia didn’t tell Bruce about you for a decade?” Jason replied.
“My mother is my mother. Poison Ivy is someone who is supposed to be rehabilitated and shouldn’t be keeping secrets from us,” Damian countered.
“Ivy was keeping it a secret because Harley asked her to. She may be rehabilitated, but her loyalty lies with Harley and Marinette before anyone else,” Selina replied.
“Will her loyalties be an issue?” Bruce asked.
“As long as you don’t hurt Harley or Marinette, I wouldn’t worry about Ivy,” Selina replied, then looked to Jason. “You should avoid Ivy for at least a month.”
“Pixie was fine! She was in her magical girl transformation,” Jason exclaimed.
“You think Ivy is going to let you live long enough to clarify that?” Selina countered.
“No,” Jason muttered.
“So, what are we going to do?” Dick asked, “I understand, Harley doesn’t want us around Marinette as a precaution against Joker finding out. Does Marinette feel the same way?”
“Marinette agrees with her mother about me keeping away from her,” Bruce admitted solemnly.
“Are you sure? That wasn’t in the video,” Tim asked.
“She told me at the Gardens,” Selina answered.
“Is that why you two were late to leave the Gardens?” Duke asked.
“More or less,” Selina replied.
“But that was before B went to Gotham Towers to talk to her, right? Marinette wanted to talk to him at the penthouse. Harley was the one who gave their talk a five-minute time limit. So, are we sure Marinette still wants B, or us, to keep away?” Steph asked.
“I’m sure she does want to get to know us, but with the fear of Joker hanging over her and her mother, she won’t risk it,” Selina answered. “She loves and respects her mother, so as long as Harley is against the idea, then Marinette will be against it too.”
“So, what you’re saying is that if we want to be able to hang around Pixie, we need to kill Joker?” Jason asked, sitting up in his chair.
“We’re not killing Joker,” Bruce said sternly.
“So, you’re fine with just abandoning your daughter?” Jason asked.
“I’m not abandoning Marinette,” Bruce replied, “Despite what Harley says, I’m still her father and she is my daughter, and I want to get to know her, but I won’t abandon my principles and kill Joker.”
“Wait, what do you mean, despite what Harley says, you're still Pixie’s father and she’s your daughter? I thought this whole thing happened because you are her father,” Jason asked.
Damian clicked his tongue.
“Didn’t you watch the video Gordon put in the group chat?”
“I watched the first five seconds of it,” Jason replied.
“If you actually watched the video, you would have known that Quinn called Father only Marinette’s sperm donor and not her father since he didn’t raise her over the past 15 years,” Damian replied.
“That had to sting,” Jason said with a bark of laughter.
“Regardless, we’re not killing Joker,” Bruce scowled.
“What if we catch Joker? He can’t hurt Marinette if he is in Arkham,” Duke suggested.
“That’s not enough for Harley. She doesn’t think that Arkham is secure enough, considering how many times he’s broken out,” Selina replied.
“Oh, right,” Duke deflated.
“Plus, we don’t know where he is at the moment, and I doubt we can find him before Marinette leaves Saturday night,” Barbara added.
“Could we extend their stay? Offer them to stay a few extra days?” Kori asked.
“We would need new permission slips from their parents for that, and it will likely raise too many eyebrows,” Tim replied. “And again, just capturing Joker isn’t enough for Harley.”
“Quinn is still wanted. We can arrest her, and since Marinette has no other legal guardians and Father is her biological father, it should be easy to gain custody of her,” Damian suggested.
“Do you want Ivy to kill Bruce?” Selina asked.
“That’s if Marinette does kill him first,” Jason added. “When I was leaving her penthouse, she threatened to bash my skull in with a crowbar if I threatened her mother again. I assume arresting Harley would fall under the same banner.”
“Not to mention she would hate us for it,” Cass commented.
“I think what we need to do is convince Harley that we can protect Marinette,” Dick said.
“Good luck with that,” Jason snorted, “I don’t have white hair because I’m old.”
“Jason is right,” Bruce said, surprising everyone. “Harley was involved in that incident as well. So, her trust in my protective capabilities is severely damaged and won’t be easy to repair. That said, I do also agree with Dick that it is likely the only way besides killing Joker to be able to see Marinette.”
“So, how do we do that? Today didn’t exactly help our case since Harley saved everyone at the museum before Duke showed up,” Steph asked.
“She only beat me because she was literally waiting right outside the museum,” Duke countered.
“Regardless of where she was before Riddler attacked the museum, Harley proved to herself that she could protect Marinette better than us. So, it’s going to be even harder to gain her trust,” Tim said.
“Then how do we gain it?” Duke asked.
“You said that Harley stepped on some glass, right? How bad was it?” Steph asked Jason.
“Not enough to stop her from following Marinette around Gotham,” Jason answered.
“What if Father goes public about Marinette being his daughter? Quinn doesn’t want us around her because she is afraid Joker will find out, but if he already knows, then there is no longer a reason for us to stay away. Plus, we can be prepared for when he does try anything,” Damian suggested.
There was a momentary pause of consideration before Jason exploded.
“YOU CAN’T SERIOUSLY BE CONSIDERING THIS!?”
“Jas–” Bruce said, but got cut off by Jason.
“NO! You are not going to ruin Pixie’s life, then turn around and use her as bait for Joker,” Jason firmly stated.
“How is Father publicly claiming Marinette ruining her life?” Damian asked.
“Because Bruce Wayne is one of the wealthiest and most well-known people in the world. If people find out that Marinette is his daughter, they’re going to wonder who the baby mama is, and that baby mama is Harley Quinn. She may not have been active for the past 16 years, but she was Joker’s first real companion and still rather infamous. The whole world will know that she is the daughter of Joker’s crazy ex and want nothing to do with her. So, she likely won’t be able to find a job anywhere that isn’t illegal unless B gives her one, which no one will take seriously since Daddy gave it to her. Her mother will go to prison for who knows how long. Though, to be honest, I don’t really care all that much if Harley gets arrested or not, but I know Pixie would. And that’s if they and Ivy don’t kill us first,” Jason explained. “Actually, you know what? With all that said, we should stay away from her. Let her live a somewhat normal life.”
“She is literally a magical hero and guardian of magical jewelry. How is that a normal life?” Tim asked.
“I said, somewhat,” Jason reminded.
“I can keep Harley’s identity as Marinette’s mother a secret. The public doesn’t know who Damian’s mother is,” Bruce countered.
“And you think Joker isn’t going to expose Harley as Marinette’s mother, just to get back at Harley, much less to bug you?” Jason asked.
Bruce’s lips formed a thin line, but he didn’t reply. There was no need to. The answer was obvious.
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Bruce asked.
“Maybe we actually respect her wishes and keep away from her, or we have a family meeting that involves Pixie and Harely?” Jason suggested. “I understand they were excluded from this meeting because they want to keep their distance, but you all are talking about irrevocably changing their lives without them being here. It’s not right.”
“How do we get them to come to a family meeting? There is no way Harley will agree to it. Aside from wanting to keep Marinette away from us, she’ll think we’re setting up a trap for her,” Bruce replied.
“I don’t know,” Jason shrugged. “I would usually kidnap Pixie and force Harley to show up, but that seems counterproductive to what you want. Plus, there is no guarantee that we could even kidnap Pixie.”
“You think she’s that skilled a fighter?” Dick asked.
“She’s magic,” Jason answered.
“We capture Quinn instead. Marinette seems more amenable to a family meeting and is likely to forgive us for capturing her mother if it is for that purpose,” Damian said.
“I don’t know. If you’re wrong about Marinette forgiving us, we’ll have to deal with an angry Marinette and likely an angry Ivy,” Steph replied.
While the Bat Family continued to discuss what to do about Marinette and Harley, Alfred pulled his cellphone out of his inner coat pocket and dialed a number.
“Hello?” A hesitant voice answered the call.
“Good evening, Miss Marinette. I apologize for such a late call. I am Alfred Pennyworth, butler to the Waynes,” Alfred replied, making everyone else in the room freeze and turn to look at Alfred.
“Oh, hello, can I help you?” Marinette asked with uncertainty in her voice.
“I would like to talk to your mother if possible,” Alfred answered.
“Um, okay,” Marinette said.
Marinette’s side of the line went silent, except for a bit of shuffling, for a few seconds.
“What do you want?” Harley said aggressively into the phone’s receiver.
“I want to inquire what it would take to allow Master Bruce and the rest of the family to be able to connect with Marinette,” Alfred said.
“A dead Joker,” Harley answered.
“I know you are well aware of my master’s principles on killing,” Alfred replied.
“Doesn’t change anything,” Harley replied.
“Would a digital connection be possible?” Alfred asked.
“What do you mean?” Harley asked.
“Well, the family has a couple of secure group chats that are encrypted by both Master Bruce and Miss Barbara. Would you be open to the idea of allowing Marinette to be given a secure phone that can access those group chats and enable her to connect with the family that way?” Alfred answered.
Harley didn’t reply immediately, and Alfred patiently waited for a response as she was likely discussing it with her daughter.
“What do you think?” Harley asked her daughter while covering the receiver with her hand.
“Well, it would allow us to get to know each other without the risk of Joker finding out, and I would like to get to know them. I know it won’t be the same as meeting in person and hanging out, but it's similar to staying connected with distant relatives we don’t get to see often, kind of like Aunt Sabine and her family in China,” Marinette replied.
“And you’re okay with that? That’s enough for you?” Harley asked.
“Yes, I already have a great family with you, the Kwamis, Aunt Ivy, Aunt Sabine, Uncle Tom, Uncle Jagged, and Aunt Penny. So, if it works out with my bio dad and his family, then great, and if not, oh well,” Marinette said with a shrug at the end.
“Alright,” Harley said and removed her hand from the phone’s receiver.
“Okay, Alfred, we can agree to that,” Harley said. “But that doesn’t mean Bruce has any sort of parental rights over Marinette. I still make all the decisions when it comes to raising her.”
“Very good,” Alfred said, “We should be able to deliver a phone to Marinette in the morning. I hope you and Miss Marinette have a good night.”
Alfred ended the call and put his phone back in his coat pocket.
“I assume that arrangement works for everyone?” He asked the room.
“What did you do!?” Bruice panically asked.
“I simply arranged for you to be able to connect with your daughter in a way that satisfied Miss Harley’s security requirements, while not resorting to kidnapping,” Alfred said, ending with an unamused look.
Most of the Bat Family guiltily looked away. The only ones that didn’t were Selina and Cass, who didn’t approve of the kidnapping plan, and Kori, who was there more for emotional support for her emotionally challenged in-laws than anything else.
“We were only discussing it,” Damian muttered, crossing his arms.
“The number of times you have discussed something and not do that something can be counted on one hand and still have fingers to spare. So, forgive me for taking matters into my hands before you all ruined your chance of having a healthy relationship with Miss Marinette,” Alfred replied dryly.
Damian frowned but didn’t say anything.
“Thank you, Alfred,” Bruce said after a brief hesitation.
“Welcome, Master Bruce. Now it is getting quite late, and some of you have to get up early, so I would recommend that everyone get some sleep, especially after such an emotionally taxing day. All your rooms are already prepared.” Alfred replied.
“But we still need to discuss what to do about Paris and the miraculouses,” Tim said.
“You can always research it after you get some rest, and I believe Miss Harley said that is a conversation that can wait until they have returned to Paris. So, I doubt you will be able to make any real progress then anyway,” Alfred retorted and clapped his hands, “Now off to bed, all of you.”
“You can send us to bed, Alfred. We’re not kids, well aside from Demon Child,” Jason said.
Alfred raised an eyebrow in challenge.
Jason lasted all of two seconds before he broke.
“Right, heading to bed.”
Jason got up from his chair, looking down at the floor, and exited the living room through the door Alfred wasn’t standing in front of.
Alfred scanned the room for any other challengers, but none met his gaze. He watched with a pleased smile as everyone else shuffled their way out of the living room and to bed.
“Still got it,” Alfred said to himself after everyone else had gone to their rooms.
Across Gotham at the docks, Joker and Punchline oversaw a couple of henchmen loading crates into the back of a semitruck.
“Hurry up, we don’t have all night here, and it’s cold out!” Joker barked from his seat on a large wooden crate. “I hate being cold.”
“I can help warm you up,” Punchline said sultrily as she took a break from carving random doodles into the wooden crate with a knife.
“Maybe later,” Joker waved her off.
There was another gust of wind that made him shiver slightly. The gust of wind also blew a newspaper across the ground in front of Joker. He ignored the piece of trash until it flipped over, revealing the other side of the paper. He swiftly snatched the knife from Punchline’s hand and threw it at the newspaper, pinning it to the ground and startling Punchline and the henchmen.
Joker walked over to the pinned paper. He pulled the knife out and picked it up. The newspaper had an article about a foreign high school class arriving in Gotham, having won one of the Wayne’s scholastic contests. In the article, there was an enlarged picture of Marinette that had been cropped from a class photo that one of the students had posted on social media.
Joker took a close look at the picture.
“Do you know that girl?” Punchline asked curiously.
He continued to look at the picture for another couple of seconds before suddenly throwing the newspaper over his shoulder.
“Nope, just thought she looked somewhat familiar for a second, but it was just my imagination. We all know how twisted that can be,” Joker said nonchalantly and made his way back over to he wooden crate.
He sat down on the crate and pulled Punchline close. He offered her the knife.
“Feeling warmer now?” She smirked, taking the knife.
“Just a bit,” Joker smiled back.