To [Not] Be A Bat

One of Us

Bruce had finished returning from work, eager to welcome back Marinette from her first fashion show abroad.

It's been two years since the incident, six since she fully recovered, and two months since she picked up the mantle as Ladybird.

Despite her year and a half absence, she was quickly accepted once she got back onto the field, the people of Gotham taking a liking to the new vigilante.

However, that didn't mean that Marinette sat home doing nothing as she waited for her wound to heal during her bedrest. While having the time to focus on herself, Marinette took up her old passion of fashion, quickly working on her old brand name: La Mariquita

Bruce found it odd when he stepped into the manor, finding no one in sight, all besides Alfred, that is.

"Master Bruce. Welcome back."

"Alfred. Where is everyone?"

"If you're looking for the young Miss, perhaps you'd like to check the library. At least that is where she was the last time I checked. And before you ask, the rest of them are with her as well."

"The boys are already here?" Bruce asked, glad to know that all of his children were under the same roof. (Dick and Jason moved out of the manor last year but still visited when they were free.) Yes, his three eldest were now adults, but they were still his children nonetheless.

They were still his concern until he died of old age.

"Yes they are. Master Dick and Master Jason have been here since noon while Master Tim has been here since two. However, there is someone else here that I suggest you take the time to meet."

Now that was new.

Who else was in the mansion that made Alfred urge him to meet?

Taking Alfred's advice, Bruce walked to the library, wondering what was going on when bickering reached his ears.

"Mari, you were only in Switzerland for like what? A week?" Bruce heard Dick ask. "You told us you had to go for your fashion debut, why did you return with a child?"

A child?

Peaking into the small opening that the library doors created, Bruce felt like he had seen the child Dick was referring to before.

There, next to Marinette, stood a boy with an olive complexion and jet black hair, Bruce swearing that his green eyes reminded him of someone... they seemed so... familiar...

"It's genetic." Jason murmured. "Or worse - learned."

"I couldn't just leave him there!" Marinette defended, pulling the boy closer to her, Bruce watching as the small child struggled against her grip.

Was that Arabic he spoke along with English?

"What do you mean leave him there?"

"Look, I can't tell you why, but-"

"Ibn al Xu'ffasch." Tim cut off, causing Marinette to stare at him with wide eyes. Bruce managed to stop himself from dragging his hand down his face. Tim was supposed to have kept quiet about his involvement in the case. "It's the Ibn al Xu'ffasch Case you and Dad have been working on, hasn't it?"

"How did-" Not liking where the arguing was heading, Bruce decided it was time to make his presence known.

"I asked him to help." Bruce said as he walked in, watching as everyone turned to look at him, except for the small boy next to Marinette. He simply huffed as he looked at... whatever it was he was looking at.

"It was our case, we've-"

"We needed all the help we could to-"

"If you had simply waited, I would have told you that I managed to crack the code right before my show started." She argued. "And when I figured out what the case was talking about, I couldn't just sit still knowing what was happening behind my back with each second that passed."

"The plan was to just investigate the hideout for more information, not to-"

"I couldn't just leave him there after finding out that they used him to test an artificial womb." Marinette firmly stated again, letting go of the child that struggled against her hold. "I couldn't let the League of Assassins continue to use him like that. To keep experimenting on him." Marinette looked down at the boy. "Damian's just a child."

"Damian?" "A child?" The family and the boy said in unison, both parties looking at each other.

Marinette stood behind the boy and gave the family a soft smile.

"Remember how the case files kept mentioning Ibn al Xu'ffasch?" Marinette asked her father, getting a nod. "This is Ibn al Xu'ffasch, or rather Damian Wayne." Marinette watched as the color in everyone's face drained. "Although he currently uses his mother's surname - Al Ghul."

"Al Ghul." Bruce repeated, not liking the way the name rolled off his tongue. Because if he's an Al Ghul... "Damian, is your mother-"

"Talia Al Ghul? Yes." Damian answered, finally stepping from Marinette's side.

Well fuck. "So you're the man mother is so fond of." Damian spoke, looking over at Bruce again. "She always speaks of you with fondness, something she rarely does."

"Holy shit. You and Talia..." Dick trailed, looking at Bruce, then Damian and finally back at Bruce. "Oh. All of that makes sense now." He muttered.

The overprotection of whenever any of them went to parties and clubs by themselves... it was because it happened to him.

And if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.

"Marinette, what prompted you to even-"

"Because he was in danger." Marinette firmly said, placing her hands on Damian's shoulders, much to Damian's discomfort. "Talia only sees him as a pawn, a tool."

Marinette looked over at her new little brother, watching as he looked back at her with annoyance. That didn't matter. She looked back at their father. "He doesn't deserve to be with a group that simply needs him for a mission and then toss him aside.

He needs a family.

Just like you gave us one.

So, let him stay where he deserves to be: with us.

After all, he is a Wayne. He's one of us."

Little did Marinette know that he was going to turn their world upside down.

To be continued in To [Not] Be A Wayne