Gotham (Maribat)

Chapter Five

There was a long, drilled out silence between the two adults. Nothing was said, nothing moved, neither seemed to even breath. 

"Maybe we should tell her," Tom spoke. However deep down he knew it wasn't just the Gothamite they held upstairs. It was that deal. 

They never should have held Marinette or her last name. They never should have even thought about obtaining her, or any other child for that matter. It was the universe's cruel sense of irony that her brother was adopted by the only man who could take her and screw them over. 

Perhaps this really was the universes way of scrutiny. They knew she used to call for him, even mourned his name while he was still breathing. 'jay used to tell me stories like this," she had once mused, 'except he always had the princess defeating the dragon.' The only difference was time. They could have told her that night they who he was with and where he lived. Just as they could have told her he was alive. It was that little pass-over of judgment that would tear them apart. 

"she'll hate us," Sabine stated again.  In truth, this was Talia's ultimate bitch slap. The league had agreed they would protect each other, but if a member left (under certain circumstances) the league was granted the right to serve justice where justice was needed. And Talia just pulled the rug out from under Marinette's' feet and she didn't even know it. Go figure the irony of the situation. They wouldn't even be the ones to lose everything, Marinette would. Marinette had been in a losing battle with the world since she was born. And just as she gathered the strength and durability to win, two of the people she was supposed to trust the most went and screwed it up. 

Tom and Sabine knew they weren't the greatest parents, when you grow up as assassins that'll happen, but they had tried And honestly, there wasn't much they could have done for her. She sent most of he life on the streets and knew how to survive on her own by age seven, then she moved from home to home for nearly 5 years, constantly running away and abandoning her homes. She had been 12 when they adopted her and the only thing that stopped her from running was the unfamiliarity with both the language and the country, and eventually, there was Ladybug. 

The couple decided they would put everything on the table tomorrow morning, it wasn't like they were going to send Marinette back to Dupont, and doing anything without their daughter would rash. Tom walked over to his wife, his hand sliding down her to her lower back, and lead her to their bedroom. A sleepless night resided over the Dupain-Cheng household that night. 

Out of all the things Bruce could have been told upon talking to Talia since meeting Damian, being told an assassin had gone against the deal wasn't one. However, the more he learned the more he wanted to just drop the file and say 'fuck it'. The girl he was told to look into, Marinette Alexandria Dupain-Cheng originally named Mare Alexandria Tod, had a longer file than all his kids combined. She had connections, not all of them were good but the ones that were had been astonishing. And However, it was obvious she needed help, and being in the only city in the world that she wasn't allowed to feel, wasn't a place she was should have been in

However, Batman couldn't do anything. Paris wasn't in anyone's jurisdiction. The only ones allowed in most of Europe were continent approved heroes and humans, metas were a big no go in Europe, even before Hawkmoth. The only heroes allowed to work were the Miraculous Team in Paris, the Quantic Kids in Italy, The Species in Moscow, The Madmen in Istanbul, and The Antics in London. And they all had drawbacks to trying to get friendly. The Miraculous Team just straight up didn't like metas or big named heroes in Paris for fear of being akumatized, The Quantic Kids didn't like surprises (as simple as that was), The Species tended to kill before they reasoned, The Madmen (as the name suggested) were filled with wild cards, and the Antics weren't too fond of out of country magic. 

Which meant Bruce Wayne was going to have to engage in this situation without the cowl or Lex Corp Europe finding out he was there. 

Somewhere in Europe, several teams sat together, all eyes pointed at one girl. "All right everyone, thanks for coming."