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Marinette Dupain Cheng first met Dick Grayson when she was seven years old. She had gone with her Nonna to see Haley’s Circus performing in Paris. The whole experience was exhilarating. There were lion tamers and silly little clowns too! But what intrigued the small bluenette the most was the family of acrobats flying on the trapeze. Marinette could not take er eyes off the three of them; the boy looked like he was her age too! Imagine being able to do all that at the age of seven!
When the circus had finished performing, Gina had been socializing with the guests and had left the bluenette in her seat. After a while, Marinette had grown bored and decided to go find her Nonna. She really hated being so small, because she couldn’t see past anyone legs.
“Nonna?” she called out. Marinette walked through the forest of legs, hoping to find her grandmother. “Where are you?” Tears started forming in her bluebell eyes. Pretty soon, she was running around aimlessly, tears rolling down her cheeks, and small sniffles escaping her. She eventually ran right into someone.
“So-Sorry,” she held out her hand to help him up.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked her. He had black hair and blue eyes as bright as her own. From what he was wearing, Marinette realized that he must be one of the performers. His french was broken but Marinette managed to understand him.
“I-I cant find my Nonna,” she hiccuped.
“Maybe my Mami and Papi can help! They know everyone here!” He grabbed her hand and led her backstage. “Mami!!” he called out. A woman with the same bright eyes and even brighter outfit came out of her dressing room.
“Something wrong, Dick?”
“I made a friend! but she can’t find her Nonna.” Mary Grayson looked at the small girl holding her son’s hand. She knelt down so they were at eye level.
“What’s your name, dear?”
“Marinette.”
“Nice to meet you,” Mary smiled at her, “Now sit tight and I’ll go see if I can find your Nonna.” Marinette nodded before Mary walked out of backstage.
“I’m your friend?” She asked the small acrobat, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
“Well, yeah? Unless you don’t want to be.”
“No you helped me so I don’t mind being your friend.”
“Yay!! Travelling all the time makes it hard to have friends.”
“My nonna travels a lot but I’m her friend too, so I can be your even if you’re not here.”
“You’re awesome, Marinette! Say, now that I think about it, Marinette sounds like Marionette. are you vetriliqui- ventriloquip- no that’s not it,” Dick furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
“A puppet person?” she helpfully suggested.
“Yeah! a puppet person!” He laughed.
“No…”
“Hm…so what do you like to do?” Dick asked.
That question was the spark that ignited a lifelong friendship. They had spent night playing all sorts of games with each other. They even managed to draw on John’s (Dick’s dad) face while he was asleep. Mary Grayson returned with a frantic Gina only to see Marinette and Dick laughing as they drew in a sketchpad together.
“Mi Bella!” Gina exclaimed. Marinette sprang up and rushed to hug her nonna. “I was so worried!”
“I was too, but then Dick found me and then him and his Mami helped me and while we waited we started playing together!”
“Yeah! Now we’re best friends!” Dick exclaimed, “Right, Mari?”
“No,” Marinette wanted to laugh at Dick’s crestfallen expression, “We’re the bestest friends ever!!”
“Mari you scared me!” the small acrobat pouted. The bluenette let out a small giggle in response. Gina approached Dick.
“Thank you very much for looking after my Marinette,” she ruffled his hair. “You’re a very kind young man.”
“O-oh. it was no problem.” Mary stifled her own laughter as her son turned as red as the costume he was wearing. Marinette hugged Dick one last time before her Nonna declared it time to go home. The two of them parted ways never to see each other again…
…or so they thought.
------
Nighwing was soaring through the night skies, jumping across rooftops as he patrolled through the city.
“Nightwing, there’s a robbery happening two miles from where you’re situated,” Batman’s voice.
“On it, B,” He jumped off the roof and right into the alleyway where the roberry was; only to find that there was nobody there. “Hmm….” Nightwing walked further into the alley only to find the robbers tied up and gagged. Now that’s new. he thought. After calling it in, Nightwing went to remove the gag on the robbers.
“W-we’re sorry, man,” the first one cried out. “Just please don’t hurt us.” Nightwing looked at the two men only to see them relatively unharmed.
“Who did this to you?” Nighwing asked. “And what exactly did they do to you?”
“She’s evil,” the second one spoke up, “she doesn’t have a name but she was dressed as a beetle.”
“A red one or a blue one?”
“No not those guys, she literally wore a red and black beetle onesie.”
“Idiot, that’s a ladybug,” the first robber snapped at his partner. “But she left this note and said to give it to Nightwing so..” How did she know it would be me that found these guys?
Nightwing grabbed the note out of the man’s tied hands and opened it.
Catch me if you can, Dick Grayson
“A challenge?” he laughed, glancing around him, “Challenge accepted then.”
“Everything alright, Nightwing?” Batman asked over the comms. Perhaps it would be better if Bats didn’t know about this, otherwise he might suck the fun out of it like always.
“Yeah, we’re good over here.” Though a little bit curious. The police soon arrived and arrested the robbers. With another problem solved, Nightwing continued on with his night. However, the note he had received never left his mind.
—–
Red Robin was a lot of things. The 2nd greatest detective, a technological prodigy, and a teenage CEO. But most of all, Red Robin was tired. After having to stop Poison Ivy from destroying a factory built on a forest (they came to an agreement that it would be handled by legal means thank you very much) he had drawn the short straw and had to patrol the eastern end of Gotham. The eastern end of Gotham is known for having literally nothing to do as it’s very well protected.
This led to Red Robin’s current situation. He was trying not to doze off as he patrolled the area. To make matters worse, he was starting to hallucinate due to the lack of sleep; he felt someone following him but his instincts told him that nobody was there.
“Great, now I’m losing it,” he muttered under his breath.
“I’ve been saying that for a while, Replacement,” Red Hood said over the comms.
“At least I didn’t almost lose my arm like you did last night,” he rolled his eyes, “hey since you’re on the computer, is there anyone near my location?” Tim could hear his brother grumbling in annoyance about stupid Harley Quinn and her stupid mallet while typing away at the computer.
“There’s no one near you. You just need to sleep like a normal person.”
“Why sleep when there something called,” Tim paused as he saw what was sitting on the edge of the rooftop right in front of him, “coffee?”
Sitting right in front of Red Robin was a cup of coffee. He picked up the cup and realized that it was his exact Starbucks order; an iced coffee with caramel and whipped cream on top.
“You good, Tim?” Jason asked, cutting Tim from his stupor.
“Uh, yeah. I’m good.” He looked at the coffee suspiciously and hungrily. It’s been three days since he’s been able to drink Starbucks.
But it could be poisoned, his mind supplied.
But it’s Starbucks his heart protested, it’s never failed you before.
“Well I’m close enough to the manor that I can make it if it is poisoned,” he mumbled before drinking the coffee. To his relief, there was no poison, it was just a gift given to him by a guardian angel.
“What’s this I heard about poison?” Jason questioned.
Three rooftops away, Marinette bit back her laughter as she took in Red Robin’s shell-shocked expression.
Ever since, Red Robin would find an iced coffee with caramel and whipped cream waiting for him whenever he went on patrol after a long day.
—-
It was many months later when Dick encountered the mysterious Ladybug. Him and Robin had just managed to capture The Riddler and were doing a sweep of the hideout. Not even a second after splitting up from the smaller hero, a gunshot rang out.
“You good, Robin?” Nightwing called out.
“Tt. I’m fine.” Nightwing continued through the hideout, being much more alert than he had been upon entering. He made his way to the same room where he and Robin had initially found the Riddler only to be met with a hysterical man pointing a gun at him, shaking with fear.
“Don’t take another step, pretty boy!” he shrieked. Nightwing put his hands up in surrender.
“I’m not here to hurt you. You just need to put the gun down and I can help you.”
“I don’t need any help! I just need to g-get rid of you!” The gun was shaking even more in the man’s grip as he removed the safety.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Nightwing cautiously took a step towards the man.
“I SAID NOT TO MOVE!!” The man pulled the trigger, only for the gun to jam. Nightwing looked at the man with a confused expression. “What?”
“Talk about unlucky,” Nightwing smirked.
“Or maybe you’re just lucky, Nightwing,” The gothamite hero turned towards the source of the voice. She was sitting on a support beam above him. Like the robber had described, she was wearing a red and black skintight suit. Her hair was tied in two pigtails and she stared at him with bright bluebell eyes. After hopping off the beam, Ladybug turned towards the man.
“Penguin won’t lay a hand on you or your family. You’re free to go,” she smiled at him. The man stared at her in shock. “Now go to them.” She took the gun from him and the man practically ran from the room.
“You already found his family?” Nightwing asked.
“Penguin never even got them to the base, Dick Grayson.” A smirk spread acorss the acrobat’s face.
“Ah, I figure that you were the one I needed to catch, Ladybug. So tell me, what gave me away?”
“It’s pretty obvious to the people who have seen you in the past,” Ladybug explained, “Your smile never changed.”
“My smile…You’re the first to catch me from my smile alone so maybe its not that obvious to everyone.” Ladybug walked over to the acrobat. “Well, you seem to know who I am but I’m lost on who you are. Want to tell me?”
“Now where is the fun in that?” Ladybug smirked. “Here, I’ll make a deal with you. If you can catch me again, I’ll reveal myself to you.” Nightwing chuckled.
“You have yourself a deal, Ladybug.”
—-
Robin swung through the city with practiced ease. He had just helped a old lady home after stopping her would-be muggers. Now he was just scowling as he listened to his brothers bicker over the communicators.
“I’m telling you! I didn’t buy this coffee, it just appeared here!” Red Robin protested, “it’s been appearing every night for the last few weeks now.”
“Bullshit! You left for a couple of minutes and came back with it,” Red Hood retorted. “Plus who the hell would know your Starbucks order?”
“The baristas, maybe.”
“You’ve gotta be shitting me.”
“Language!” Nightwing scolded but ultimately was ignored. Robin sighed in annoyance before turning off his communicator. Finally, some peace and quiet.
The peace and quiet was unfortunately cut off by a sound he could not stand.
A kitten in distress.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” he landed in front of where a bright orange kitten was currently stuck in a tree. After helping the kitten down from the tree and giving them some food, Robin continued on his patrol.
Only to find anotherkitten. And after he rescued that kitten, he ran into another one. And another, and another, until he had saved at least 20 of them by now.
“I swear to God, if this is you, Catwoman, I’ll end you,” he grumbled as he rescued a black kitten with bright green eyes. The kitten pawed at Robin’s mask before grabbing at it’s collar.
“Oh, you have a home little one. I bet your family is worried,” Robin opened the collar only to find there was no address printed on it; rather a note.
Nice work, Little Bird! Feel free to keep this adorable kitten! I hope this kitten chase kept you busy on this boring night! And Thank you for the many photos of you with cats! ~A fellow cat lover
P.S: I’m not Catwoman; way too young to be her.
Damian scowled at the realization that he had been played.
—–
Nightwing and the Red Hood followed the sound of the frustrated complaints as they went through the factory. It had been two weeks since the acrobat met the spotted heroine and he had yet to find any trace of her. At this rate, he might have to ask some of the rogues of they’ve heard of her.
Speaking of rogues, Nightwing and the Red Hood were currently in the midst of busting a Joker Gas operation. They had managed to stop the gas from getting out. However, they needed to nip this problem in the bud.
“We’ve been dealing with grunts all night,” Hood called out to his brother, “where the hell is the joker?” Nightwing flipped another grunt over his shoulder like he weighed nothing.
“Honestly, I’m not sure; haven’t even heard his maniacal cackling since we got here.” Jason shot rubber bullets at the incoming grunts and let out a small curse as he realized he was out of ammo. “We need to wrap this up, Wing.”
“Couldn’t agree more,” the two heroes soon found themselves back to back against the remaining grunts, who were now surrounding them. Just as they were about to charge them, something skidded onto the floor right in front of the Red Hood.
“The hell is this?” Nightwing’s eyes went wide upon seeing the black and red box that landed in front of his brother.
“Careful Hood, it might be an explosive,” that had the grunts flinching and shielding themselves. Deciding to not care, Jason opened the box.
“It’s ammo? The exact ammo for my gun,” he looked around for whoever threw the box but found no one. “What kind of creepy shit is this?”
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, just load it up and let’s keep going,” Nightwing suggested.
As they finished off the last of the grunts, Nightwing’s mind kept going back to the box; was it you, Ladybug?
—-
“SHUT UP THIS IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!” Jason hollered at Tim, who had said nothing but donned a shit-eating grin.
“But who could have known the exact bullets for your gun?” he mocked Jason’s words from the other night.
The four brothers were a top Wayne Enterprises, relaxing after a long night of patrol. The only reason Batman was not joining them was that Agent A placed him on bed arrest after a particularly nasty fight against Catwoman.
“It would seem that we have either a traitor or a stalker to deal with,” Damian spoke up. Tim choked on his magical coffee.
“Are you accusing one of us?”
“All I’m saying is that it would not be a surprise. Not many people know that I like cats and all of a sudden, I’m led on a wild cat chase through the who city due to sheer boredom.”
“Wait what?” The three of them said in unison.
“Is that why your location was all over the place?” Nightwing asked.
“Okay but for all seriousness, none of us would betray one another,” Red Hood spoke up. The three of them gave him a skeptical look. “What?”
“Didn’t you try to kill each of us at one point?” Red Robin countered.
“That has nothing to do with this!”
“I’m not sure, Jason does seem kind of suspicious,” a new voice spoke up. The four heroes immediately pointed their weapons at the newcomer.
“Who are you?” Robin scowled.
“The name’s Ladybug, though one of you already knew that.” Jason Tim and Damian exchanged looks before realizing by process of elimination the member of the batfamily that knew what was going on.
“Wanna explain this one Nightwing?” Red Robin crossed his arms.
“No, don’t say a word,” Ladybug retorted. “It’ll ruin the reason I’m here.”
“So then why are you here?” Robin questioned.
“Short answer: I’m bored and you are rather entertaining. Long answer comes if you all can catch me.”
“Catch you?”
“Yep! how do you all feel about a citywide game of tag? We only stop if we run into an enemy or if you catch me,” Ladybug grinned.
“We’re not six-year-olds,” Robin rolled his eyes.
“Did you even play tag at six years old, Damian?” Robin froze at the use of his given name.
“How do you know his identity?” Red Hood was reaching for his gun.
“I know all of your identities and no Nightwing did not tell me. But if you want to know how I know…” Ladybug stepped back towards the edge of the roof, “You’ll have to catch me!” she fell backward off the roof much to the boy’s surprise.
“Shit!” Hood cursed as he grabbed his hook in order to pursue the girl.
“Let’s go!” Nightwing told his remaining brothers before swan diving off the roof.
“Leave it to Grayson to find friends like this,” Robin muttered before following his two brothers.
“Let’s hope I catch her first; I need to thank her for the coffee,” Red Robin took off in the opposite direction his brothers went in.