Look What You Made Me Do

This Isn't Wonderland So It's Okay To Be Curious

(A/N: A fun Sunday for the Batfam and their guests!

Sorry for the long delay between chapters! I recently moved from California to Colorado, which included a three day car drive with two cats. I did have a little trouble figuring out what I wanted to do with this chapter. Last free day before the Paris group starts to attend Gotham Academy)

At this point in her life Marinette was used to keeping strange hours. Learning how to balance being Ladybug who could have to go after an akuma at late hours and school had not been easy, but eventually she adapted. She had to admit that having a team made things a lot easier. She and Chat had made a good team but they could only communicate as Ladybug and Chat Noir. It was different having Chloe, Luka, and Kagami to back her up. They could split up the work and communicate as civilians.

Despite the late night she had, Marinette was still up the next morning. She was thrilled with Jason's successful debut as Midnight! Who could sleep the day away after something like that?! So the next morning Marinette jumped out of bed, ready to face the day. It was nice to not have to be anywhere. A nice lazy Sunday before she and Chloe had to start attending Gotham Academy.

"Chloe are you ready yet?" she asked as she finished pulling her hair into a high ponytail.

"Yup. Let's go check out the gym in this place." Chloe said as she stepped out of their bathroom.

It had been awhile since she had been able to work out and Marinette was starting to feel it. She started off each day doing some yoga to help loosen up her tired muscles and would go running on the weekends. Sometimes Chloe would come over and they would spar, the best days were when her mom would take a little break from the bakery and join them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dick liked early morning in the manor, it was one of the few times that could be considered peaceful sometimes when they were all together. Which wasn't too often. But even with the chaos of having the family together it was nice. Jason didn't usually stick around for such extended periods of time.

"Morning Alfred." he smiled as he came into the kitchen. He soon noticed that it was just the butler there. "Am I the first one up?"

"No, Master Bruce and Master Tim got called into the office. Miss Marinette and Chloe came down half an hour ago and inquired about the location of the gym."

Dick couldn't help but perk up at this. "That's great! Kor'i and Mar'i are doing flying lessons so I have some time to kill!" he exclaimed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damian came into the kitchen and sat at the table. He had just finished with his morning run with Titus. When he only saw Pennyworth in the kitchen he was slightly puzzled. "Is no one else awake yet?" he asked. This was unusual, it wasn't that late in the morning.

"Oh everyone is in the gym." the butler answered. "It started with Miss Marinette and Chloe going in and others followed. Honestly it's just nice to see that room put to use."

Damian nodded, he understood what Pennyworth was talking about. They didn't use the Manor gym that much. Not that it wasn't nice but the one in the Cave was better, plus it was just where they all tended to gather. They all liked to interact and help one another, be it case work or their workout routine. More often than not competitions occurred.

When he got to the gym he was surprised to see Martinet and Todd were sparring. He was surprised to see that Martinette was doing quite well. Todd was clearly getting frustrated which made him get sloppy. It was a tactic he had used himself in the past when sparring. He remembered her mentioning that her mother had taught both her and Chloe martial arts. As he watched the match progress he couldn't help but be impressed. Her form wasn't perfect but it was tight.

He was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard Todd yelp as he was thrown to the ground with Marinette standing over him.

"How in the hell did you do that?" Todd asked as he let Marinette help him to his feet.

"She just waited you out." he couldn't help but point out. "When you get frustrated in a fight,you are like a bull in a china shop Todd."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason felt his temper flare but did his best to hold it in. Damian had always been able to get under his skin without even trying. Normally he'd snap back at him or maybe they'd just start fighting. But things were a little different with Pixie Pop right there. She was an only child and for some reason thought siblings should try to get along. So tackling the Demon Brat to wrestle would not go over well.

"Well why don't you take a turn and show me proper form?" he challenged . He felt satisfied in the way Damian froze up.

"That sounds like fun." Marinette smiled. Jason knew that Damian was now trapped, he was too much of a little gentleman to refuse her.

Jason went in for the kill. "Damian, didn't you offer to spar with Martinet?" He could see the exact moment that he had Damian.

"That is true." Damian reluctantly agreed.

He had to admit that seeing the two start to spar was rather interesting. They started out with feeling one another out. As much as it annoyed him it had been clear that Marinette had probably been holding back with him. He knew Damian was holding back of course because no amount of training from Mama Dupain-Cheng could hold a candle to being trained to be an assassin from the age of probably three or four. But Marinette was holding her own considering the circumstances.

It looked like Marinette was having fun with it. She was good at evasion and even teased Damian. But was even more surprising was that Damian seemed to be getting a little more flustered with every giggle or playful quip. That must be from her time as Ladybug. She would actually make a pretty good vigilante. As soon as the thought came to him he banished it from his mind. He did not want Pixie Pop or Goldilocks fighting crime in Gotham.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Damian sat at the dinner table. He had been thinking about his sparring session with Marinette all day. The only females he had ever sparred with were members of his family. (Damian doesn't use the term female to be rude. In his mind it's a blanket term that covers a wide variety of ages.) He had been hesitant for Marinette to take up his offer and wasn't sure what Todd's game was over bringing it up.

Even though Marinette was paying attention to every move he made she was still very casual about their fight. It was strange how someone who was very recently a complete stranger fit into the ranks. Even Chloe got along well enough. She was very similar to Todd, which was a frightening thought.

"Dessert is served!"

Damian was shaken out of his thoughts and looked up in surprise. He hadn't realized how much time had passed. When a plate was sat in front of him he stared. In front of him was a Middle Eastern dessert called kadayif. It was made of finely shredded phyllo dough that was baked with nuts and syrup made with honey and lemons. It was a dish he had not had in years.

"I remember you talking about how you don't really like sweet things but missed some flavors from your childhood." Marinette explained softly.

Damian realized she must have felt the need to speak because he had been silent. "It looks quite amazing. This is not an easy dish to make." Damian knew he could have asked Pennyworth to make it and he would have. But a small part of him felt a little guilty over the idea, like after all these years asking for things from the past meant he didn't appreciate his present. Of course with Pennyworth being himself he had figured out many things. Like how when it was cold out or he did not feel his best that he preferred chai tea.

When he took his first bite his eyes widened. It tasted like home. He had few good memories of his time as a child, but the taste of the kadayif made him think of warm desert nights and looking up at the stars. Of the lullaby Mother used to hum to him while he sat in her lap. He knew he should be disturbed at how easily Marinette could look into his soul when he was always so guarded.

((So I reached 1k bookmarks on A03 so to celebrate I started a deleted scenes type story. So you guys can go and let me know what details didn't get put into the story but you would have liked to read about. You can make comments as a guest so you don't have to make an account.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/34620163/chapters/86184460 ))