Chapter 108

Marinette's P.O.V:

"Could you hear me giggling in the shower?" I asked Damian as I exited the bathroom.

"I heard you a few times." He looked at me with a sad face from where he was sitting on my bed.

"Dami..." I sighed before sitting on the bed next to him. "Quit beating yourself up over this."

"You know..." He looked over at me. "We all knew something strange was going on, yet we carried on as usual. I should have been more careful."

"No, Damian. WE should have been more careful. We are a team, Damian. We will always be a team. It's not like Selina or myself was dead weight you had to carry around. Hindsight is always 20/20. I'm sure we could have all done something to change the outcome. What we need to do now is evolve and learn from this. Joker will never have another opportunity like that and now it's up to us to make sure something like this never happens again. So please... cheer up." I grab ahold of his hand. "In the end we actually won tonight."

Damian looks at my bright smile for a moment before grinning as well. "Your outlook on life is incredible. It makes me wish I could be inside your head all the time."

"You just need to learn to look for the silver lining. I used to always fixate myself on the what if's in life. I would end up hindering myself. 'What if I fail?' 'What if they think I'm weird?' 'What if it doesn't turn out the way that I'd hoped?' If you had met me a few years ago, that is what you would have been hearing inside my head. It takes some work but you can change your own perspective on life."

"You are wise beyond your years, Angel." He grinned at me before adjusting himself to lay his head down in my lap.

"I like to think that I'm so wise because I spend my time hanging around very ancient tiny gods." I say sarcastically as I begin to run my fingers through Damian's still damp hair.

"Really?" Damian chuckles. "Because I'm beginning to think that I'm losing brain cells just being around Plagg."

"I heard that!" Plagg speaks up from the other side of the room.---------"So, what exactly will we be doing today?" I asked Jason shortly after saying goodbye to everyone after breakfast.

"I'm thinking we will ride around town for a bit and then get lunch at my favorite sub shop just south of uptown. You in?" He grinned at me.

"Absolutely. When do we leave?"

"Right now." He said as he grabbed his new jacket from off of the couch.---------"Why are we pulling over?" I asked when Jason finally slowed down after a half an hour of driving.

"I wanted to show you where I grew up before Bruce took me in." He smiled at me after he shut his bike off.

"We aren't that far from crime alley, right?" I hopped off the bike to look around. We were clearly in the middle of what looked like a bunch of rundown apartments.

"It's about five blocks west of here." He nodded while following my line of sight. "This isn't the prettiest place but it is still home to me. The manor is my home too but this place will always be my first home, you know?"

"You can't forget where you come from, right?" I grinned up at him.

"Absolutely, Sunshine." He offered his arm for me to take. "Let me show you around."

"You got it, Jay." I happily took his arm.

As we walked, Jason would point out buildings and give out information about them. He talked about the neighbors he grew up with and how they would all stick together throughout difficult times. He even showed the old apartment building he grew up in.

"Gotham may not be the best city but it's people are strong. In many ways I'm glad I grew up in a place like this. It made me who I am today." He stopped in front of the last building on the street and looked up at it.

"What is this place?" I asked, looking up at the rundown building as well.

"An old friend of mine lives here." Jason smiled down at me before knocking on the front door.

"You have friends?" I asked sarcastically.

"Ha ha. Very funny." He grinned at me.

The door suddenly opened to show an elderly woman inside. "Jason!" She smiled widely at him. "I'm so happy to see you." She looked down at me standing next to him. "Who is this lovely little lady?"

"Hey Mrs. Dunley. This is Marinette." He smiled softly at the woman. "She's my new little sister." He wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"Bruce adopted another one?" She asked in surprise.

"No. She's just dating one of my brothers." He said with a grin.

"Oh, I heard something about the youngest Wayne boy getting a girlfriend." She stepped aside. "Come on in. You are letting all of the cold air in."

Jason and I stepped inside and Mrs. Dunley quickly shut the door behind them. I looked around and noticed that this placed screamed that an elderly woman lived here. Every table had old plaid runners on them. Even the old boxy TV had one running across the top. I also noticed a cat tree and a few cats laying on the old floral pattern sofa. This place made me feel at home though. It might have been the fact that the place smelled of baked goods like pies and cakes.

"Come, have a seat." The woman waddled her way over to the old rocking chair by the window.

"So, how have things been since the last time I've been here?" Jason asked as guided us over to the sofa.

"I finally took Sassy to the vet." The woman pointed to a pretty looking orange cat on the arm of the sofa next to Jason. "She's pregnant. I don't know what alley cat got ahold of her because all my males are neutered." She shook her head.

"At least the kittens will keep you busy." Jason smiled widely at her. "You did say you were getting bored around here."

"I did say that, didn't I?" The woman chuckled. "By the way, I just made some banana bread. Would you care for some?"

"That sound's nice." Jason nodded.

"How about you, sweetheart?" Mrs. Dunley looked at me.

"Sure, I would love some." I beamed.

"What a lovely girl." The woman said mostly to herself as she walked to the kitchen. A moment later, she came back with two paper plates with a thick slice of banana bread on each. "Here you go." She handed them off. "Eat up."

"Thank you." Jason and I said in unison.

"Marinette, was it?" The woman asked and I nodded. "Why is a lovely girl such as yourself in Gotham of all places?"

"I won the Thomas and Martha Wayne Scholarship. My whole class is here in Gotham." I said after taking a bite of the bread. "This is really good by the way."

"It's an old family recipe." She smiled at me. "So, you are going to GU after the summer?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be studying Fashion and Design."

"Smart, creative and beautiful? That Wayne boy is quite lucky."

"Oh, uhh... I guess." I blushed.

"Speaking of the Wayne boy." Mrs. Dunley turned her attention back to Jason. "You said he was an animal lover, right?"

Jason nodded at her with a mouth full of food.

"Maybe you can ask if he's interested in any kittens. It will be a few months but they are on their way." She glanced over at Sassy.

"I think that's more of a question for Bruce rather than Damian." Jason set his now empty plate on his lap. "I know Damian would say yes."

"I suppose you're right."---------"Come back any time!" Mrs. Dunley waved the two of us goodbye.

"She was really nice." I said after the woman walked back inside.

"She was the one who took care of all of us street kids. She gave us pie every Friday." I smiled at the memory. "I help her out every now and again as repayment."

"Wow. That's very sweet, Jason." I looked up at him with admiration.

"Sweet is my middle name." He said sarcastically. "Come on. Let's head to that sub shop I mentioned. That banana bread is wearing off."