Fractured (ON HOLD)

Chapter 5 The dog

Third pov

Tea is great.

So is coffee.

Sadly, Marinette can't have any, because her metabolism makes them usless in high stress situations.

Which is hilarious because she doesn't have anything to be stressed about. Nothing. No sir, she is completely calm. The epitome of a chill person.

(Whoever calls her stressed has no idea what they're talking about.)

(WHY IS SHE EVEN STRESSED IN THE FIRST PLACE?!?!?!)

She has a deep grudge for whoever decided that being the Guardian meant you would have senses going haywire at the smallest provocation unless you have some serious control of your emotional state.

(Something she rarely seems to have.)

Fuck it.

She's going outside.

Maybe the clown will pop up and put her out of her misery.

Time skip (3 or so days)

Sometimes, she wonders where she'd be if she'd made different choices all those years ago.

Would she still be trying to get an intern position with Gabriel Agreste?

Would she still be fawning over Adrien?

Would Alya still be her friend?

Would her parents still be proud of her?

"This was previously owned by another shop." The man showing her around tells her. "They came from outside Gotham. Had to close down. Couldn't handle it."

The potential store isn't very big.

There's the front of the store, a bit smaller but cozy and good looking (the former owners had style). Then there's the back, a bigger room with space for clothes and supplies and to meet clients.

"I'll have to look over my accounts and then I'll call." They shake hands and separate outside, both going different ways.

It's not dark, it's just Gotham's normal gloomy weather. And to her it's something she definitely doesn't mind.

Sure, it's colder than she'd like, but at least it doesn't remind her of Paris.

She freezes right before passing an alley.

Her ears strain, she thought she- there!

It's probably not a good idea to enter an alley in Gotham of all places. But... it's not a human making those noises.

And she can't find it in her to turn away.

So she cautiously walk inside the alley. It's filled with trash (like most of them), some broken furniture and a dumpster.

The whine has her head turning, eyes calculating her surroundings.

"Where are you?" She mutters.

Something bumps into her leg. It's soft and when she looks down she sees the dog.

It would probably have been bigger if it hadn't been malnourished and the patches of fur missing made him look even less dangerous.

But what truly caught her eyes was just how defeated he looked.

"Hey there..."

He didn't even back up when she crouched beside him.

"Hey big guy."