Kintsugi

Chapter 21

I want to say thanks - your votes and comments give me motivation :) as bad as I am at updating seeing you guys interact with the story makes me want to continue, and not give up on it. Appreciate you all!!

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Tim-

It takes some getting used to, Damien being so open and honest. He is still bristly and sometimes downright unpleasant... but he is more human. 

Easier to empathize with now that he shows his softer sides. Is more vulnerable. Likable.

It makes me want to help him protect his only shred of decency and light he had ever experienced while growing up at the compound. 

And I will. All of us will. 

Marinette is the only reason he knew what it was to be vulnerable at all, for that we are all grateful - more so than she will ever know.

That is why I sit here now, working so hard to figure out why a girl with two healthy parents and a bright little brother lives with her aunt, who was diagnosed with ASPD* and had a track record of not treating kids..... great. Her track record was bad. Fired from two daycares, banned from the pediatric side of the hospital she worked at. She spent a week working with babies and was told she wasn't a good fit for that either. Not to mention the shortest stint as a primary school assistant I have ever seen - 4 hours. 

The question is though, why does she keep trying to work with children? What was in it for her? Why would Lila's parents send her to a place where Lila probably wouldn't be safe? What was making her manipulate her class and teachers?

I keep trying to find the answer, but up til now have been met with dead end after dead end. I need two different things, a fresh set of eyes and a cup of coffee. I make a phone call as I start the machine up, it's going to be a long night.

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Dick-

I yawn as I sit at the Bat Table. Tim had called a meeting not too long ago, and now we were just waiting on Tim himself to grace us with his presence. Luckily I didn't have the early shift tomorrow, and could sleep in a bit.

"Hello guys, sorry I had to get a second opinion on something." Tim shuffles in with a mug in his hand. Marinette blinks at him and makes eye contact with Damien at her side. It was pretty easy to guess what they were thinking - This better be good.

"So, Mari here told us that they wanted to get Lila tried for what she is doing to the class, it would probably be easy to get her for defamation and slander, especially with our lawyers. However, I don't think this is as cut and dry as it seems at first glance.

I sit up. When Tim says something like that, he is always right. Always.

"When Lila came to school her classmates changed their minds about things very quickly. Tell me, Marinette, was your class the type to believe without seeing before she showed up?" 

"No, in fact Alya became an Akuma-chaser because of that, and the rest of the class followed that blog almost religiously. Most of Paris did, honestly." She cocked her head to the side, knowing that there was an angle to this that Tim was getting at, but not exactly knowing what the angle was.

"Perfect, because around here when someone makes a quick change in personality, and starts making decisions you know they would never make - picking on and bullying a childhood friend for example - we start to screen them for mind control." Marinette nods. I guess he had already filled her in on this. I look around the room to see various states of surprise, it takes a lot to shock the Bats, and I know most (if not all) were kicking themselves for not thinking of that sooner. 

But leave Tim to find the hidden details and then make them obvious. Finding things was kind of his strong suit.

"Anyway, after doing the screening with various security cameras from before and after Lila came, and them for a few months when she wasn't in school, the class is for sure under mind control. However! I think Lila is another victim." I feel my eyes widen at that. I make eye contact with Marinette and I see that she is kicking herself for not checking out Lila's home life before now. 

"She lives with her aunt, and has been living with her aunt for a little under four years. Now Marinette, I know she only joined your class two years ago - but her initial plane tickets and visa are from four years ago. Right after the time you became ladybug." Tim paused and shuffled his files. 

"Now, some interesting things about the Aunt - she cannot keep a job working with kids, but she keeps on applying for them. She was banned from pediatrics, fired from two different daycares, she worked with babies during her stint with pediatrics and was almost immediately moved. She got fired from being a TA in a primary school after 4 hours. And here's the kicker - she is diagnosed with ASPD and has a total of four assault charges on her record. Two of which were minors, the other two being young adults - as in still teens. So, why would Lila's parents willingly send her off to this Aunt?" Tim paused for dramatic effect and smirked. Everyone could tell he was really enjoying himself right now.

"The parents frequently go to anti-mutant rallies. A mutant's abilities show up around puberty, for girls around the time they get their first period. Judging by Lila's physicals, she was a late bloomer - as in her abilities would've shown up later, maybe around 14. Meaning her anti-mutant family would have had a daughter living with very powerful mutant abilities. Of course they would find the first excuse to send her away, what better than the aunt who says she needs a free live-in maid?" Tim looks at me, with a puzzled look - a rarity for Tim.

"I just cannot figure out why a millionaire with a staff to take care of everything would need a free maid. Or why she would have the girl live there for two years before having her actually join school." 

Marinette is silent, and stares at the table.

"Lila knows my identity, and has been after me since she first got to the school. I thought the two were unconnected. But if her Aunt asked her to come to Paris after I started swinging around with the miraculous, and then as soon as she comes into my life she starts attacking me then maybe it's connected." She looks up with a glint in her eye. "What's the Aunts name?"

"Lillianna Kubdel"

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WORDS 1119

*ASPD - anti-social personality disorder (makes someone basically a sociopath)