Robin's Angel

Chapter Twenty-Two - Bet

The dinner had finally ended on a rather shocking note with the revealing of Marinette to be MDC. With the Waynes promising not to give her identity to the media, she also had to hand over her private email to the Wayne brothers so that they could also commission her.

After walking both Marinette and Chloe out the door, Bruce and Selina went back inside, letting the boys say their goodbyes to them. As soon as they left, Marinette immediately crossed her arms and turned towards Tim with a glare that made him shrink back, looking down at the ground with a grimace.

"First I find out that you're a Wayne, and then I figure out that you're a vigilante and have been hiding this from me even after I told you my identity. I want an explanation, now, Timothy Drake-Wayne or I will make sure you're never able to drink coffee again."

Tim's eyes widened, fear shooting through him at the thought of never being able to drink his life-source ever again.

Damian observed her in a kind of respect, making Drake fear her without pulling out a weapon or even raising her voice meant that Drake must think she was capable of following through with her threat.

"I'm sorry Mari, please don't take away my coffee! I couldn't tell you without revealing my family's identities too. I promise I didn't tell them your identity, they figured it out on their own. The only ones that don't know are Bruce and Selina." Tim pleaded.

"It's true cupcake, he didn't tell us anything." Dick supported Tim with Jason nodding next to him.

Marinette remained silent, determining if he was telling the truth, before her features softened.

"Alright fine, I forgive you, but you're going to get eight hours of sleep tonight, do you hear me?!"

"Eight hours?" Tim exclaimed, horrified at the notion of sleeping for that long.

"Eight hours." Marinette confirmed with a steely glare that had Tim submitting.

Jason and Dick were about ready to burst at the situation and absolutely keeled over in laughter at the sight of the tiny blueberry making Tim suffer through sleeping tonight. Damian had to hold back a smile at her ruthless care for the Replacement, as if she was his mother.

Marinette then turned to the rest of the brothers.

"Does Bruce know?"

"Not yet, pixie."

"Well, I suppose he'll find out at some point."

"Not necessarily," Dick paused, letting all eyes drift over to him before continuing. "I mean, he will find out eventually, but what if we had some fun until we find out who Hawkmoth is? Maybe a little wager on when he figures it out?" Grins formed all around the group.

"Aw hell yeah, my money is on one month."

"Tck, imbeciles, he will figure it out within a week."

"I don't think so Gremlin, I'm betting on two weeks."

"I bet three weeks!"

Marinette and Chloe watched them banter back and forth in amusement, neither of them ever having a sibling made the Bat Family's interactions even more enthralling. Except for the fact that Chloe was starting to get a headache.

"Alright, I've had enough. Shut up!" Chloe stepped forward, raising her voice in a way that had all of them freezing mid-sentence. Marinette had to hold back her laughter threatening to break through: this was something Chloe was always able to do, shut people up.

"All bets are final, there are no changing them and no one is allowed to give Bruce any hints or you will be disqualified. Agreed?" Once Chloe got nods from all around she turned on her heel, headed straight for the limo.

"Let's go Mari-Bear, I need my beauty sleep!" Marinette shook her head at her best friend's antics before saying a quick goodbye to the guys.

Damian left as soon as the limo made it out of the driveway, going straight into his art room and locking the door behind him so that the imbeciles wouldn't bother him. Damian had always been one to follow his instincts, and he wasn't about to question it now.

With his sketchbook in hand, Damian spent the next three hours trying to perfect his drawing, but becoming frustrated when it didn't quite feel complete. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to sketch Marinette, but he didn't really feel the need to question it, although he did feel the need to hide his sketchbook in case his brothers decided to snoop.

Marinette, on the other hand, fell asleep peacefully that night for the first time since Inferno attacked, dreaming of toxic green eyes.