Finding Myself Again

Chapter 1: The Waiting Game

Okay, as it says in the summary, this was originally posted on Ao3 and written by ME, so if someone reports me, I'll be insanely angry (it happened o a couple of people I know so I know it happens) Anyway, enjoy my Daminette fic!

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“I’m done here, Maman. I can’t be here anymore.” Marinette slumps at their kitchen table, wincing when she sets her left hand onto the counter top.

“But, Mari, what about your friends? What about MDC?” Marinette’s mother looks up at her, concerned. “You can’t leave everything behind because of a small fi-” Marinette cuts her off.

“Small fight? You see this, Maman?” She gestures to herself, to her black eye, split lip. To her multiple bruises and sprains. “My friends did this to me.” Her mother pales. “As for MDC? I have an email, a website and a bank account. I can do appointments online.”

“But where would you go?” Tom, her father, asks. “Everybody we know is in Paris.”

“Maybe,” Marinette slides a small package onto the table. “Maybe not. I talked to Grandmere and she immediately suggested I go to Alfred Pennyworth in the States. Who is in Gotham. I contacted him last week and he said I could stay with him and his ‘Master’, as long as I finish my education at Gotham Academy.”

Sabine flips through the packet and slowly skims through the information. “Mari. Gotham is one of the most crime-ridden cities in the entirety of North America.” She looks up at her daughter. “You can’t possibly be going there.” Even her father next to her looks ready to jump up and prevent her from going. But they can’t. Marinette’s eighteenth birthday was two and a half months ago.

“Yes, Maman. Thank goodness for all those extra self defense classes with Master Fu, right?” She chuckles weakly. Lie. Those were guardian training. Life as Ladybug provided enough self defense training as is, but her parents didn’t need to know that. The coverup was developed by Master Fu himself, for her reflexes and strength was starting to bleed through into her civilian life, and people would start asking questions.

Marinette stands up, leaving her parents to review the packet of information for themselves. Marinette pauses before the stairs, her hand on the railing, and calls over her shoulder. “Besides. It doesn’t matter whether you and Papa agree or not. My flight over is scheduled to leave for tomorrow morning.” With that, she climbs up the steps and into her room to finish packing.

Meanwhile in Gotham…

Tim sips his coffee, reviewing all the information he gathered in the past week.

1- Someone was staying at the Manor, for what seems like more than the usual couple of days. When he snuck into the room Alfred was preparing, it was basically redone. And the room picked led to him thinking that

2- This person is a girl. Alfred placed the visitor- hopefully not another adoptee- in Steph’s old room, when she went through her pink phase. Back then, it was a literal pink explosion, but Alfred changed the carpet, curtains, comforter into a dark Navy and the furniture into a light brown. The only thing kept the same was the light pink walls. But one thing certainly stood out to him.

3- In the far corner was a workstation with both a mannequin and the best of the best sewing supplies (it was always the top model for the Wayne’s, no matter what it is). Could this girl be MDC? Leave it up to Gotham’s (maybe even the world’s) greatest detective (with Tim following in a close second) to find the most wanted designer, that happens to be all the boy’s (except Damian- he always said he didn’t care for that crap) and girl’s favorite designer? But there’s two things that the second best detective in Gotham noticed:

4- Neither Alfred or Bruce told them about this new person. Why keep it a secret? Why torture Tim with more sleepless nights to try and solve this mystery? Just- why?

And 5- From the time Alfred started and finished the room, Tim can safely predict that this new female addition would be arriving within the next couple of days. Alfred always finishes preparing the room a day or two in advance.

So all of this information caused Tim to be awake at 2am on a Monday (though, he’d probably be awake anyway). But still, Tim smirks over his mug, staring at his computer for all of one reason- in the next couple of days, chaos is going to descend upon the Manor. And frankly, he would enjoy every second of it.