𝐉𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄 𝐉𝐔𝐋𝐘 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐, jasonette

v. 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞

(part two to target)

"God Plagg, this is really, really bad."

After receiving the message from Red Hood aka Jason Todd, demanding her to come and meet him in exactly nineteen minutes, Marinette locked herself in the bathrooms of the venue of the annual, highly-awaited Wayne Gala. Honestly, if it was any other situation, Marinette would be seriously offended at Red Hood's audacity — if he knew who she was, Marinette would have assumed he would have treated her with a little more respect.

Some may call it prideful, but really, Marinette thought she deserved at least that much, especially for putting up with idiots like Hawkmoth, Lila Rossi and Chat Noir for most of her teenage life.

The bathroom Marinette was sitting in was ridiculously lavish — just how much money did Bruce Wayne spend on it? — with stalls the size of a regular-sized bathroom in an apartment in New York.

Focus Marinette.

Switching her phone on, Marinette swallowed a panicked breath when she realised she only had fifteen minutes left.

"Plagg," she hissed, the kwami zipping around the stall with gusto. "Can we focus for a minute?"

Stopping after a few moments, the kwami floated to a stop in front of her face, green eyes looking at her disconcertingly. "You already know my thoughts on this Pigtails. I say we wake up Fluff, tell her to throw this Todd into another timeline and boom, problem solved."

Marinette resisted the urge to screech at him as she rolled her eyes. "We've already discussed this billions of times before. No, Plagg, we do not throw anyone into the timeline."

"But the kwamis are in danger," Plagg whined, trying to convince her. "I'm sure the dead guardians wouldn't mind."

Inhaling deeply and calling onto the patience Marinette hoped she had, she said, "What about the timeline we throw him in? We could potentially destroy it."

Plagg groaned, flopping onto his back in the air. "Sometimes," he muttered, "I hate how reasonable you are."

Marinette smoothed her dress down, just as she had done all those hours ago in her penthouse, and risked a quick look at the time.

She still had seven minutes. Good.

In the end, Marinette had decided that there was nothing she could do to stop her from meeting Jason Todd. In this situation, as much as she hated to admit it, he held all the power, knowing two of her most important secrets, putting her and her only important responsibility in danger.

That's why Marinette had decided to treat this as the cold Ladybug she had been when the court trial determining Gabriel Agreste's fate was going on (or whatever she was able to be present for); cool, poised and calculated. Admittedly, the trial was still going on, but Marinette ignored that fact for the sake of her mental health.

Digging into her little black purse, Marinette pulled out her lipstick, a slightly dark shade of red, complimenting her pale skin perfectly. Making sure to apply it with the utmost precision, Marinette smirked at herself in the mirror, feeling a little more confident about herself.

Touching up the rest of her makeup, Marinette tucked Plagg into her bag as she made her way to the dreaded meeting place. Her heart beat faster as she 'wandered' closer to the back of the building. Her makeup had boosted her confidence, sure, but that doesn't mean her fear had disappeared completely.

It just meant that she was now equipped to deal with Jason Todd in a way where she wouldn't look stupid.

All too soon, Marinette arrived at the back door. She paused at the door, taking a deep breath and pushing it open slowly.