Chapter Text
Dick Grayson had done a lot of stuff in his life and had a lot of shit happen to him. However, having to deal with the child bride of his surrogate son was not something he had expected to deal with. Which was probably his greatest mistake. The number one rule for Gotham was to expect the unexpected. God was working in Bludhaven making him soft? Not that Blud was much better than Gotham. It had A LOT of issues that he was working on but it still wasn’t Gotham.
Okay so for better or for worse Marinette was here and there was no changing that. He was so proud that Damian wanted to help her! The girl was as much a victim as his little Dami had been. But it seemed like she was less of a rage fueled gremlin. He did love his boy of course but Dick called a spade a spade.
There was no changing how things were and so the only way to move was forward. Which meant getting Marinette some clothes. She couldn’t run around Gotham in a League uniform. So it was decided that Bruce would stay home to make arrangements for Marinette to attend Gotham Academy while the rest of them took her to the mall. He was regretting the fact that Cass and Stephanie were away from Gotham. What did any of them know about helping a teenage girl pick out a wardrobe? He guessed Babs could help but he didn’t want to run to her for every little thing. Besides he was sure Bruce would be calling her in to help him with getting information on Marinette Dupain-Cheng, social security and all that. They would need to look up what happened to her before she was taken by her mother, see where her dad was and all that. He would probably want to know his daughter was alive and well. And hopefully they would be able to reunite father and daughter. But that was something to deal with in the future.
“A lot of things go on in Gotham but it would probably be best to not walk around in League attire.” he said as nicely as possible.
“But I have nothing else to wear.” Marinette pointed out.
“Right…..uh…..” he was a bit at a loss.
“Here.” Jason appeared out of nowhere with a big purple hoodie and pair of jeans. That hoodie looked pretty familiar
“Did you get that from?” he started to ask.
“Steph’s room? Yes. I’m sure she won’t mind.” Jason shrugged. Normally none of them would dare go into her room even when she was home, it was a disaster area at best, but desperate times called for desperate matters. And knowing Steph she would actually be jealous she was missing all the drama as it unfolded.
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Marinette took the borrowed clothes without comment. She had gained one piece of information that Stephanie Brown, who was acting as the current Batgirl, was not currently in residence. Not that this was a concern. The only one who might give her a pause for thought would be Cassandra Cain, AKA Black Bat. She was the daughter of David Cain and Lady Shiva, born and raised to be the ultimate assassin. Her training was much different from Damian’s but David Cain failed by not having complete control. Lady Talia had Damian perform his first kill much younger than eight but the key difference was the environment was completely controlled. Even if Damian had been weak like Cassandra, Lady Talia would have been right there to step in. Marinette had not been told to kill anyone, Lady Talia respected that The Order did not believe in taking lives. But there had been missions where she had to capture those who had betrayed The League, and Marinette was not naive to believe that those people lived to atone for their mistakes. In fact she had a list of names to visit while in Gotham. But these were people who owed Lady Talia favors so Marinette doubted any of them would die. Well, unless they refused but that wasn’t her problem
She knew she made everyone in the manor uncomfortable. Good, she wanted Damian to face what he had done. He had tried to forget where he had come from and who led him on this path he was on. Damian thought he could run around at night and play the hero. And while she wanted him to suffer she didn’t believe she wanted him dead. Lady Talia said the choice was up to her. Which in itself could be a test. She had been so matter of fact when reporting Damian’s death to her all those years ago. Though at that point she had believed it was only a matter of time before his body would be returned and could be put into the Lazarus pit. Her anger on that day Lady Talia told her of Damian’s betrayal felt like fire blazing in front of her.
Lady Talia was not an affectionate woman by any means but in her own way she had cared about her son. Unlike her own Lady Mother who did whatever she was told by the Guardian. She wanted power and for years had used it to make her own daughter fear and respect her. But those days were over. Marinette was not the little four year old just taken from her Papa. She realized that the fear she had once felt was all in her mind. She was the one with real power and had shown her Lady Mother that on the plane ride over. How good it had felt to put that woman in her place. Marinette knew her Lady Mother would return to the compound and act as she always had. But that was not her concern right now.
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Jason had been up all night. Guilt had kept him up. Talia had told him vengeance came with a price. He had thought that price came after you got it. Maybe it would come in the disappointment of Alfred or the disappointment of Dick. Sure Dick had seemed to hate him but he was the original Robin and as a boy Jason had wanted his approval more than anything. It wasn’t until much too late that he found out the origin of the name Robin and what it meant. He had honestly thought it was something Bruce came up with. By now he knew how much it tore Dick up inside that he had been off world when he died.
The thing with Alfred needed no explanation. Alfred had been so much to him when he was younger. It had been Alfred who comforted after a fight with Batman over some stupid small mistake he had made on patrol. Alfred who checked his homework each night. Alfred who not only allowed him in the kitchen but taught him a thing or two.
But no….the price was the loss of a bright eyed little girl who laughed at his stupid jokes and listened to him when he needed it. She was the one who had held Damian in place when he told honest stories about Gotham and Batman. His thirst for vengeance had made him forget about what he had left behind and he wanted to go back into the grave. But there was no time for that. He had messed up but maybe he could help fix his mistakes. He had no idea what Talia had done to Marinette but knew it was nothing good. He would not forget his bug ever again. She probably hated him, but that was okay. She couldn’t hate him anymore than he hated himself right?
It was natural to think about the road not traveled. Jason didn’t think about it for himself anymore but he often thought about it for the others in his life. Now he was wondering about the life Marinette might have had if she had been left with her father. He liked to picture her going to school working in the family bakery. He remembered the few stories she had told him. Did she even remember anything about baking? Jason felt a tentative plan forming.
“Shall we get going?”
Jason looked up and stared at Marinette. She looked so….normal. He felt the tentative plan becoming more solid. He was going to need Alfred’s help on this one for sure.