Finding Myself Again

Chapter 3: All Knowing Eyes

Beeping.

Marinette flips onto her stomach with a loud groan and covers her head with a pillow. And yet, it continues to get louder. Louder. Louder.

“Marinette!” Her father yells from downstairs. “Turn that thing off and come eat!” She groans again and sits up, shivering when the chilly air grazes her skin. She looks around the room, trying to both blink sleep from her gaze and pinpoint the source of that horrendous noise. She finally spots her phone laying on her desk connected to its charger.

‘One of the kwami’s must’ve put it on,’ she thinks absentmindedly as she stumbles down from her loft bed. She groggily throws on a pair of dark grey yoga pants trimmed with a green band, a red crop top with a yellow Robin symbol, and tugs on a pair of sturdy black black combat boots. Before leaving her room, she makes sure the Miracle Box is tucked into the secret compartment in her main suitcase, drags all three next to her door and descends the stairs to the living room.

The warm aroma of breakfast overtakes Marinette’s senses, making her wake up a bit and practically glides toward the smell. Before she can enter the kitchen and get a cup of much needed coffee, her mother intercepts her and pulls her to the table. When they get to the table, he mother pulls a seat out, sits down and gestures to the seat across from her.

“Sit down, Mari. There’s much to be discussed before your father is done making breakfast.” Marinette pulls out the chair, and gingerly sits down. After she’s sitting, her mother continues to speak. “Your father and I are quite upset that you didn’t tell us that you were going to stay with Alfred until last night.” Marinette opens her mouth to explain, but Sabine continues. “Yes, you're eighteen, and therefore an adult. But are you sure going to America- a completely different continent- would help? You said that you're going to attend Gotham Academy, but don’t you think it’s too late to transfer?”

“Yes and no, Maman. Alfred said not to worry about papers and such because Bruce will handle it.” She looks down at the table. “I just can’t stay in Paris anymore. The Akuma attacks are becoming more sparse, yes, but they’re also becoming more lethal. Chat Noir hasn’t been showing up to battles and god only knows that reason-” I do. “-and I have practically nothing here now. Sure, I have you and Papa and Jagged, along with Kagami, Luka and Chloe but… no on-” her voice cracks. “No one else.” Tears threaten to spill over but she forces them away and looks up. “That’s why I need to go. I need to be able to feel without having to look out for an akuma.”

The older woman gazed into her daughter’s eyes, and noticed something unsettling. On the surface, Marinette looks like this bubbly teen, ready for adult life, but her eyes… her eyes say otherwise. Her eyes say that she was already an adult. An adult that went to war and survived, only to see everyone else die. A woman who has seen everything, and then some. Definitely not the eyes of a teenage girl on the brink of adulthood. They’re the eyes of a warrior who has nothing else to lose but her own life.

Meanwhile in Gotham...

The first thing Damian noticed when he went downstairs for breakfast was that Alfred was gone. Alfred was gone, and there was a note on the table.

Master Damian-

I’m out running some errands for part for the day, so I won’t be at the Manor to look after things. I’m trusting you to protect the kitchen with your life, making sure no one, including Master Jason especially with the stunt he pulled with the microwave- Damian snorts. Oh, the blackmail has been ruined, but this is so much better. Or worse for Jason. -Breakfast is on the table. Don’t worry about lunch, I should be back in time to prepare it. If not, go out and eat. Do not, under any circumstances, let someone make something to eat. I prefer a not-scorched kitchen to make meals in.

~Alfred

He places the note back onto the table, grinning, and takes a donut from the pile in the middle. “Is the world coming to an end or is Demon Spawn actually happy about something?” Damian looks up from his breakfast, and sees Jason gaping in the doorway.

“Alas, no, the world has yet to end, but your life has.” Damian says, grinning. Tim walks into the room with Dick following closely behind. “I thought we were already passed threatening, Damian,” the still half asleep acrobat yawns. “And where’s Alfred?”

“Alfred’s out running errands for the morning. He said I’m in charge of the Manor until he gets back and that Jason is completely banned from the kitchen.” All activity stops.

“Goddammit! Demon Spawn, you didn’t tell him right? Did anyone tell Alfred?!” Jason exclaims frantically, knocking over the freshly poured cup of coffee sitting in front of him and ignores Tim’s distressed noises over the spilt drink (I could’ve drank that! Why, oh why, must this coffee be contaminated?)

“No. I didn’t even see him this morning. I think he left around 8:30. I came down about a half hour before you lot.”

Dick snorts into his bowl of cereal. “I swear to god that man has some sort of superpower. That or he doesn’t sleep. How else would he know everything?” The table goes silent, all of them thinking about the stuff they thought they got away with.

“Shit.”