Hide And Seek

Chapter 16

Going somewhere?”

Marie grinned, spinning on her heels to quickly glance at Dick. He was already dressed, so she quickly jumped forward to tug him towards the door. “Yep, you too. I need a disguise, I’ll explain later.”

He chuckled along with her as he started the car. She never had gotten around to getting her license, something about having four guys willing to drive you around and the ability to literally teleport anywhere would do that to you. She had been planning on walking, but driving was faster.

“Last night, or this morning- you were acting like you made progress?”

Marie winced a bit at the reminder of her little scene last night. It had been nice to wake up with the others, nice to see their care. And even though it had been hard to accept their help last night, it has been for her own good. That did not change the fact that she had to leave quickly. She had gotten a good four hours of sleep, so there was that at least. “Yeah actually. I found out that Lila was a missing person.”

Dick quirked a brow at that, pulling to a stop at an intersection momentarily. “Isn’t that the reporter?”

“No, that's Alya. Lila’s the one who lied about everything.”

His expression soured a bit. “Oh yeah, the one who exposed your old friends as spineless sheep.”

Marie couldn’t help the awkward giggle from spilling from her lips. “I’m guessing Damian told you the story then? Jason usually calls them blind shit-sacks.”

“That sounds like Jason,” Dick admitted, pulling into the parking lot. “How about it then? I have a distinct feeling that Damian doesn’t quite know everything.”

“No he doesn’t,” She admitted, pulling him into the clearance section of the store. There was silence for a moment as she studied the discounted clothing. “Lila’s lies were fairly harmless at first, mostly name-dropping. But it was how easily she did it that upset me. I knew she was lying, partially because she said she was Ladybug’s best friend, and partially because her lies are shit.”

She pulled out some dark blue halter top and a sheer long sweater and made her way to checkout. As he followed her, he couldn’t help but notice her aloof attitude towards the situation. There was still some righteous anger there, some hurt, some betrayal- but it was used by the ease that she carried herself with. But he knew how easy it could be to fake ease, especially if one had experience.

“I hate lying. Being Ladybug meant that I constantly had to lie, it really triggers my anxiety so that sucked, but it was life. Hearing Lila lying like it was no big deal just, hurt me? Made me jealous? I don’t know, I just hated that I was forced to lie for good, no matter how much it hurt. While she lied for fun, without remorse or real reason.”

She paused her story to checkout, easy smile in place despite the ghosts clinging to her eyes. To any onlooker, she seemed casual, relaxed, and friendly. But he noticed how her gaze flickered to the woman’s hands every so often, how her stance was more balanced than the cashiers, how her smile pulled at her eyes too strongly. He saw the hauntedness that clung to her, the same one he saw on Jason, or Tim, or Damian. The one he saw on everyone who had seen too much, especially those in the hero business. Especially those who had started too young.

It reminded him of himself when he had fought Slade.

“I couldn’t exactly explain any of that, my reason for hatred, or how I knew she was lying,” Marie explained as she pulled him towards another store in the mall. This one advertised wigs and hair extensions, and she headed towards the more natural-looking wigs. “So I played it off like I was hyper-jealous of her hanging off Adrien’s arm. It hurt, how easily people accepted that because I literally set him up on dates before. But it was fine, and I brushed it off.”