GOTHAM: BEYOND EVIL || Damienette

36 - Clarity and Closure

You know how your heart races when you feel like you're going to make a huge mistake?

Yeah, that's how I feel right now.

Minutes had passed since Damian had left and minutes had passed since the butterflies in my stomach turned into something unnerving. Like snakes slithering inside me and biting me. Every time they bit, I shivered.

I stood right outside Jason's door, clutching the knob like my life depended on it. Gone was the feeling of fake courage. My breath was uneven. I was scared of abandonment. If Jason left me there intentionally... if he really did that, I wouldn't ever recover from that.

Being the embodiment of luck wasn't good enough for the world, since the door knob which I was holding suddenly jerked forward. The door flew open, and I almost stumbled into the person who pulled it open.

"Marinette?"

"Hey, J-jason."

"Why are you here?"

"A-ah, I just thought we needed to talk."

Jason stared at me in confusion, wondering what the hell we'd talk about, before he understood why. He pushed the door completely open, gesturing for me to come in. I smiled at him before walking in.

The nervousness never left my body, even when I took a seat on his bed. I kept fidgeting with my fingers, trying to figure out how exactly to word my sentence. How could I ask him why he abandoned me?

"You want to know what happened 13 years ago."

Jason stated, with no question or doubt. I nodded, not trusting my voice for anything. He looked at me in worry, as if I was about to faint any moment. He then sighs, facing the inevitable.

His eyes turned sad.

"Firstly, I'm sorry." he started, as I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. I was about to ask him why, but he cut me off before I even started. He smiled at me sadly, as if to comfort me.

"Don't ask any questions. Save them till the end." he said, clutching his shirt in his hands, just like how he used to when he was nervous. I would have teased him for that in any other situation.

"Remember the night I came home stabbed?" he asked, while I nodded.

"That night, after you fell asleep, I went out. I went to break into some medical shop and steal some painkillers and bandages. I couldn't stand the pain, Mari."

The room fell silent.

"On my way back, I saw a pretty cool car. The car was so cool, and it would have gotten me a good amount, so obviously, I stole the hubcaps. Or tried to, at least." he said, tensing more by the second.

"I was kind of rusty back then, seeing as I hadn't stolen this kinda shit in a few years since... since you came along. And I dropped something, because the stitches hurt. Before I could finish, the owner came back." he continued.

"Jason, what does this have to do with anything?" I ask, confused.

"Marinette, don't you get it? That was Bruce Wayne's car."

I gaped in shock. I don't know if it was because Jason tried to steal Bruce's hubcaps 13 years ago or because I couldn't piece this together myself. Is that how he got caught? Was it all a simple misunderstanding?

"After that, he asked me if I would like to come live with him, or get sent to an orphanage. When I tried to run away, he told me that it was of no use, since he would find me again. I went with him, since it was better that way." Jason said, relaxing after the story was over.

But my questions were far from over.

"So you had a chance to run away, and you didn't? You had a chance to take me with you, but you didn't?" I asked, spitting out the last part with venom. Surprised at my tone, Jason sat there, regret in his eyes. Although, the man was quite shocked.

"Why didn't you come back?"

"That's the thing Mari, I did."

"Huh?"

The blue-eyed boy just smiled at my confusion.

"When I came back to collect my things and find you the next morning, you weren't there." he said, looking down in sadness. "Jason, I went out to look for you." I said, trying to explain my own side of the story.

"Marinette, I was there the whole day. You just left. You were gone." said Jason, trying to understand.

"Jason, I never left. I got caught by the police. Then I was shipped off to Paris without my consent!" I said, my voice slowly raising. The ravenette stayed quiet. I scoffed in anger. How could he not understand?

"Mari, you're not the only one who feels that way! I tried to look for you, you know... But all I knew was Marinette Walker, not whatever name it got changed into." He shouted. "You could have looked for me! You had the resources!" I screamed back.

"Not enough! Not after Joker screwed with the Gotham Police Department." he said, the room in silence. I frowned. "What?" I asked. Jason sighed, plopping down on the bed once again.

"Few weeks after I got adopted, I convinced Bruce to take me to GCPD. He did take me to find you, but the whole database was wiped after Joker bombed orphanages around the city to grab Batman's attention.

I thought you were dead, Mari. They said there was an unidentified body, and I looked at it. She- the dead girl, she had blue hair, Marinette. What was the use of searching for you when you were already dead?"

"It wasn't my fault, nor was it yours."

He was right. There was no use in this blame-game when none of us were to blame.

Bruce was, and Joker was.

I stayed silent, thinking. "Thank you, Jase." I say after a few minutes of silence. "For what?" he asked, confused. "For telling me that you didn't leave me behind on purpose." I said, smiling. He simply smiled back.

"So..." I started.

"So?"

"We have work to do, don't we, Jason?"

"What work?"

"Let's change my name back to Marinette Walker."

He gaped in surprise, but broke out of it, smiling. "Right now?" he asked, while I nodded eagerly. Jason just stood up, gesturing to the door. "Lead the way." he said, as I stood up. Just as he opened the door, Dick fell in.

"Dick? Were you eavesdropping?" asks Jason, gritting his teeth and smiling.

Dick smiled nervously, scratching his neck. Jason glared at the man, and honestly, I was too. That was something I didn't want anyone to hear; not even Dick or Alya or Damian.

"Jason! Good timing. We have guests." said Dick, smiling innocently, ignoring what Jason asked him. "Guests? Who? Jon said he isn't coming today..." said Jason, muttering the last part.

"Oliver Queen is here."

.......

[Q.] Who do you think is to blame for what happened to Jason and Marinette?