Chapter 2: The Batfam

Jason stretched his arms and walked in on a very tired Tim Drake slouched on the couch watching the news with a cup in his hand. "Don't you ever get tired of that stuff?" Tim turned around and with a lazy grin replied, "Coffee? Nah!" Jason sighed, "What! Every hero needs coffee!" A thud was heard from the staircase causing Jason and Tim's heads to swerve back. A grumbling figure made his way into the living room and flopped onto the sofa.

"What's ruffled Dick's feathers?"

"He's probably just upset that Barbara hasn't called him since she left for Germany."

Dick huffed and sent a death stare their way.

The next to enter was Damian. "What cave did you crawl out of demon spawn!" Damian sent a glare towards Jason as he watched the man stand up and make his way over then ruffle his already disheveled hair. He then grumbled under his breath, sighed then stood behind the couch and watched the reporter on the news standing in front of what seemed to be a car crash. "What's going on?" he asked. Jason replied, "A woman crashed her car late last night." The reporter moved to show a young woman with long, dark hair and dark eyes being carried into an ambulance. Her car was smashed and her belongings were scattered along the floor, including a pink purse with white spots and a black 'M' imprinted on it in cursive writing. The reporter ended with, "Have we found a lost Wayne?" before the topic changed to the weather.

Damian scoffed, "A hidden Wayne my ass! They can't go calling every person they see with dark hair and eyes a Wayne!" Tim laughed at his younger brother's remark and replied, "But it is pretty strange to see a person like that here. Wonder where she came from."

Before Dick could add to their conversation, Alfred came in announcing breakfast was ready.

-&-

The table was quiet as they ate until Jason piped up, "Sooo. The lost Wayne..." The table erupted as they argued over who this mysterious girl was and just what she was doing in Gotham of all places with "we almost never get anyone from abroad" being bounced around, until Bruce slammed his fork down. Everyone went silent. He began, "Whoever this girl is is no concern of ours. So we will drop this!"

"But-" Damian started.

"We WILL drop this!" he repeated sending a hard look towards his son shutting him up. Despite Bruce's annoyance at the thought, he was also extremely curious as to who this girl was and what business she would have in Gotham. Was she working with the Joker? Planning some big scheme. Was she working with the Justice League? Or was she just another normal citizen who just happened to be passing through? He decided to go visit her later on in the day.

Meanwhile, Alfred was listening in from the kitchen and his normally calm demeanor morphed into one of total utter fear. He ran to the bat cave.

-&-

Her eyes slowly opened and she squinted as she was met with a blinding light. She groaned and touched her throbbing head then shot up as she took in her surroundings. She was in what looked to be a hospital room. She winced as she tried to slide off the bed and looked down as she noticed her right leg encased in a cast. Then it hit her. She was in Gotham city looking for a great evil that had corrupted the cat ring. Shit. Where was Tikki?! She fumbled around looking for the pink purse then noticed it sitting on the opposite side of the room. She jumped off the bed only to fall onto the floor. She cried in pain and was then hoisted up by a pair of incredulously strong arms. Her neck whipped up to meet dark eyes that seemed to swallow her soul up, she shivered. She was placed back onto the bed and sent a glare to the man sitting by her bed in an attempt to intimidate him.

It failed.

Suddenly, his deep voiced ricocheted off the walls as he said, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng." her eyes widened. How did he know her name? As if sensing her unease, he lifted up her drivers license then continued, "My name is Bruce Wayne and I have a few questions to ask you." Marinette gulped as she eyed the man made of muscle in front of her. She could practically see the power radiating off him and knew immediately that if she made one wrong move, he could end her. Her gaze then shifted to the pink purse laying gently on the table across from the bed. In her condition, she wouldn't make it across room and out the door before he grabbed hold of her. So she did the only thing she knew would keep her alive, she stayed put. Luckily, she'd taken English classes in case she debuted and got to hit the road. "What do you want to know?" she asked as she bore her eyes into his. "First if all, what are you doing in Gotham?" He'd already done his research on her. She was a graduate from Dupont High School in France, Paris more specifically, and her parents Tom and Sabine were currently residing in and owners of a bakery. She was also a favourite designer of a rock star named Jagged Stone and had made her way into the fashion industry and worked for a man named Gabriel Agreste.

Marinette's mind raced. She knew she shouldn't trust him. But at the same time, she knew that she would need to build a sort of alliance with him as he was the richest man in Gotham and so held a substantial amount of power. Also, he was Batman. Yes. She already knew. Before she left, Master Fu had also told her that she would need help and had referred her to an old friend of his, Alfred Pennyworth his name was. He'd told her that Alfred worked for one of the superheroes in Gotham and with the research she acquired, she was able to piece together the information. But of course, she wasn't going to let him know that she knew. She finally came to a suitable answer and said, "Monsieur Wayne, I have come here for-" she was cut off by ringing. Bruce grumbled under his breath and looked at his phone to see the word 'Alfred' flashing on the screen. "I'll be right back." he said then left the room.

Marinette used this chance to bolt across the room and grab her purse then resume her previous position. She peeked at the door looking to see if anyone was there then quickly opened it. Inside she saw a sleeping Tikki (and Kaalki) who quickly opened her eyes at the sound of Marinette's sigh of relief. She flew out and smiled. Marinette hugged her and pressed a kiss on her head then said, "I'll find some cookies for you soon." Tikki nodded then flew back into the purse at the sound of someone coming. Marinette looked up to see Bruce sitting back down in the chair beside the bed.

"It seems you're staying with me." Marinette frowned. Master Fu hadn't mentioned this.

-&-

The room was abuzz with chatter as the four brothers and Alfred awaited their Father's return with the so called 'lost Wayne'. Tim was the first to bounce out of his seat when they heard the front door close. They waited in anticipation as they stared at the door to the Foyer. Damian's eyes widened. There stood (in crutches) the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. Her hair was the perfect shade of midnight blue and her eyes seemed to draw him in. Her freckles were almost barely noticeable as they formed a bridge on her nose and her rosy lips looked almost too delic- WOAH! Just where was his mind leading him! He frowned in an attempt to hide his growing infatuation with the woman.

They all stood staring at her and her at them until Dick made his way across the room and held out his hand with a smile and said, "My name is Richard Grayson but everyone calls me Dick." she shook his hand and with a smile answered, "Nice to meet you. I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Next came Jason and then Tim and when Damian's turn came, he gave her hand a small shake. His eyes slightly narrowed as he took in how rough her hands were. Did she do manual labor on a daily basis?

As Damian watched Alfred take her to her room, Dick quipped, "Falling in love are we baby bird?" Damian grumbled as he shot his brother a death stare that could paralyze Hawkmoth himself and stomped up to his bedroom slamming the door shut behind him.

-&-

He knew the time would come but he didn't know it would be so soon. Fu had warned him years ago about it, but he didn't take his words for granted. At the time, all he could focus on was Fu's stupidity and his cowardice as they ran away from the last temple the Order of the Guardians had ever made and watched it crumble. But now, his lack of trust towards Fu's words had come and bit him in the back.

Alfred paced around in the cave as he took into account what Fu had told him not long ago. "I am sending a hero to dispel the evil that we encountered years ago. Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I wish to ask if you would welcome her into your residence and keep her safe during her battle." before he ended the call, he added, "Also, she may look a bit unique due to her dark hair and eyes. Please keep Bruce's mind away from the thought of adopting her."

Alfred stopped. One thing at a time. He then opened his phone and clicked on Bruce's contact. The phone started dialing.

-&-

Marinette sighed as she entered her room. She smiled at the decor. It seemed to be made especially for her as it looked as though pink had exploded in the room. She sat on her bed and balanced her leg on a pillow. Tikki came flying out of her purse.

"Tikki since I get accelerated healing due to the powers of the miraculous, when do you suppose my cast will be off?"

"In about a week or so."

"A week! Anything can happen in a week! Hawkmoth and Mayura could take over Paris in my absence! The 'great evil' could swallow us all! Chat noir could-"

"Marinette breath!"

Heavy tears began dropping onto the bed sheet as Marinette's throat clogged up. She gasped for air. Her head grew dizzy and her eyesight, fuzzy. Sweat formed on her head as she waved her arms frantically gasping for air and the last thing she saw was a dark figure in red, green, black and yellow with an 'R' on their costume perched on a building opposite her building. Then everything went dark for the second time.

-&-

Damian had his suspicions about the woman the moment he felt her hands. They were too rough for a normal woman. And so the moment he slammed his door shut, he changed into his costume and was out through the window. He perched on a building opposite Marinette's room and saw as she entered and dropped onto the bed. Don't get him wrong. If he saw her start to remove any item of clothing, he would definitely avert his gaze and would definitely not imagine her stark naked. However, what he saw next shook him to the bone. Damian Wayne's bones never shook. A small red flying blob flew in front of her, seemingly coming from her purse, and hovered in the air as Marinette seemed to be talking to it. He rubbed his eyes thinking that this was all just a trick of the night, and when he opened them, he saw her shake. Even from this distance, he could still make out tears dropping from her eyes and her arms frantically waving about. He could still make out her breathing increasing rapidly and despite his feigned hatred towards her, he was still willing to help.

He knew he couldn't storm into the manor and head to her room as Robin or many questions and unnecessary teasing would come from his brothers as to why he was watching her from her window anyway and so he made his way back through his window, changed and was out the room in a matter of seconds.

"Where're you going demon spawn?" Jason asked. Ignored.

"Isn't it time for you to be in bed right now baby bird?" Dick asked. Also ignored.

"Damian-" Tim began, only to be interrupted by his younger brother pushing past him. "Hey!" He chased after him.

When he reached her bedroom, Damian looked across the hall in annoyance as his three brothers chased after him. "What do you think you're doing outside Marinette's room." Came a voice from behind him. He turned to meet Bruce and Alfred then twisted the doorknob and pushed open the door to meet an unconscious Marinette laying on the bed.

"What the hell.." Jason said as he saw her splayed across her bed.