She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 36: First Blood and Showtime

Bruce had Marinette pinned down for about the dozenth time tonight and she was starting to get a little frustrated. Any time she seemed to have any little wiggle room, Bruce's hold on her would tighten. She had to find some way to get him off of her.

Looking around, she noticed that she had one leg free. 'This is my chance.' She thought. She brought her knee up to connect with his ribs and Bruce quickly used his free leg to pin hers down after a few blows. Now all of her limbs were pinned by his own. Marinette was just about to give up when she thought of something else. She braced herself as she headbutted Bruce right in the face.

This must have dazed him for a moment because she managed to yank her right arm free and used it to pry his hand off of her wrist that was pinned to the floor. She quickly pushed forward into him to get on top and crawled her way to his arm.

Everyone watched in amazement at how quickly she put him in a perfect arm bar. Bruce tapped out quickly and she immediately let go. Getting up off the floor, Marinette held out her hand for Bruce to help him up.

"I can't believe it. I finally did it!" The bluenette said excitedly before finally looking at Bruce's face. Blood was starting to pour out of his nose. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

"Are you kidding, Angel? Drawing first blood means you win for the night." Damian smiled at his girlfriend.

"I know, but..."

"I'm fine, Marinette. This is what training is all about. You aren't the first one in this room to make me bleed." He wiped his nose with the back of his hand and smiled at the small girl. "I'm very impressed. You found your way out of the situation."

"He's right, Sunshine." Jason rested his arm on her shoulder. "I've never seen someone move so fast. Besides maybe The Flash."

"Really?" Marinette ducked under his arm and grabbed a towel off of one of the wights to hand to Bruce.

"Yeah, Mari. You did good." Tim smiled at her. "Don't feel so bad when something like this happens."

"So, you guys give each other bloody noses often?" She joked.

"Among other minor injuries, yes." Dick playfully answered.

"Your family is wild." She grins at all of them.

"What do you mean, little sis?" Jason picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. "You are a part of this family too. You might even be more wild than the rest of us."

Marinette squeaks at her suddenly being picked up. "Jay, put me down." She can't help but to laugh.

Jason sighs. "Fine. You're no fun, Pixie-pop." He set her down.

"Sorry I don't want to be carried around." She said sarcastically.

"What do you mean? Being carried around sounds like fun." Jason smiled at her. "You want to carry me around instead?"

"Uh, no." Marinette looked at him like he was crazy.

"Come on. Not even a piggyback ride to my room?" He tried to give her the puppy dog eyes.

"Nope. That's not going to work on me." She reached up and patted him on the head. "But good try, big bro."

Jason gasped. "I got her to say it!" He looked at his family excitedly. "That makes it true. I'm Sunshine's favorite now."

"I wouldn't go that far." Dick smiled at his brother. "I have photographic proof that Mari likes Damian better."

"You know that's not what I meant." Jason rolled his eyes.

"Okay, enough playing around." Bruce cut through all the talking. "It's time for everyone to shower up and go to bed. We have work and school in the morning."

They all head for the exit. "Jason's not really your favorite of the three of us, is he?" Dick asked as he pointed between himself, Tim and Jason.

"No." She shook her head. "I could never choose a favorite. All three of you are like the big brothers I never had."

"Yeah, but I'm the coolest." Jason shouted over his shoulder.

"You keep telling yourself that." Tim shouted back.
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"I'm kind of nervous for today." Marinette says as both Damian and Marinette leave for Gotham Academy in the morning.

"This plan will work, Angel. She can't lie her way out of this one." He opens the car door for her.

"I know but it's the rest of the class that I'm worried about. What if they hate me?" She slides into the car and he shuts the door behind her.

Damian gets into the driver's seat and starts the engine. "Don't they already hate you?"

"Yes, but we will be shattering this idea of the future they have with Lila and her lies. They might resent me for it."

"Then that's their own problem. You will be doing them all a favor in the long run." He holds her hand while he drives. "They don't deserve you anyways."

"Maybe." She sighs. "I'll just be happy when this whole Lila thing is behind us. I still can't believe that everyone is helping me. They even took the first part of the day off of work to do all this."

"I don't think you quite understand how much my family absolutely adores you, Angel. You have encaptivated each and every one of our hearts." He kisses the back of her hand. "I think we would all do almost anything for you."

Marinette's face turns red. "Dami, you can't say things like that to me."

"'Dami', huh?" He smiles brightly at her.

"Yeah." She smiles back. "It's time for you to get your own nickname, besides 'demon spawn'. It's better than 'Damiboo' isn't it?"

"I'd let you call me 'Damiboo' if you really wanted, Angel."

"No. I don't want to think of Lila every time I say your nickname. Besides, I like 'Dami' better."

"Glad you think that." He softly chuckled at her.

"I'm sure if you give me time I could come up with an even better nickname." Marinette tapped her chin in thought.

"You take all the time you need, Angel." Damian pulled into the schools parking lot and into a student reserved parking space. "But you might have to think about that later. We're here."

"It's now or never I guess." The bluenette smiled at her boyfriend when he opened the door for her.

The two walked hand in hand towards the school's front steps. Marinette noticed that everyone at the school, students and teachers alike, were staring at them. "Why is everyone looking at us?"

"I have a bit of a reputation." Damian shrugs. "They call me the 'Ice Prince of Gotham'."

"A prince, huh?" She nods at the name. "I'm guessing none of these people are expecting you to be holding a girls hand?"

"No. I almost broke the last girls hand who tried anything like that."

"You did not." Damian just shrugged. "Damian! That poor girl."

"I'm sorry, Angel, but she was asking for it. You don't just go up to some random person and hold their hand."

"She probably just had a crush on you. I would understand why." Marinette giggled.

"Well she didn't have a crush on me for long." Damian stopped walking when they got to the bottom of the schools' steps.

"Don't you start thinking you can scare me off as easily as her." The bluenette looked up at her boyfriend. "You're stuck with me now."

"Good." He reached down to peck her on the lips.

Audible gasps could be heard all around them and Marinette looked around at a bunch of people staring at them with shocked faces. "Oh my God." She hid her face in Damian's chest. "Everyone is looking at us."

"That's okay." He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "I see your classes bus pulling up."

"Really?" Marinette turned around to look in the direction he was looking to see the same thing. "It's showtime, Dami." She looked up at him with nervous excitement.