Black Alley

Quick, Act Natural

Marinette was having a little trouble breathing. She stayed silent as her brother (maybe not by blood, but still her brother) was in front of her, flipping the paper on a small notepad.

"Hello. My name is Richard Grayson, but you can call me Dick," he said. How do Americans get Dick from Richard, she thought. She nodded.

"Is everyone okay?" she asked meekly. "I didn't get to do a headcount."

"Everybody is fine, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng. Your classmate, Lila Rossi, had to be taken to the hotel due to a panic attack but everybody is fine otherwise. But we do need to ask you a few questions," he said, looking at her, making her eyes glance away.

"Ask away," Marinette said. Just stick to the plan, Marinette, she thought. The class agreed that they couldn't tell them the truth. Paris had an info block about the heroes of Paris. They didn't need any other heroes with powers getting akumatized. So they all agreed. Ladybug was a bodyguard that Mayor Bourgeois hired. She wanted to keep her identity secret in case somebody ever wants to get revenge on her.

"So your classmates and the students in the classroom are telling me that you jumped in front of one of your classmates, Chloe Bourgeois?"

Marinette nodded her head.

"Why did you save her?"

"I don't know. Natural reaction, I guess. Look, Chloe isn't always the easiest to get along with, but I don't want anything bad to happen to her," she said. "Do you know why she was targeted?"

"Maybe because she's the Mayor of Paris's daughter. Having her killed or placing bombs could lead to some international problems," she answered.

"And this 'Ladybug', your class's bodyguard, saved you from the Joker and his friends, correct?" Dick asked.

Marinette nodded her head. "Yeah, when I left the classroom, I managed to message her when the goon wasn't looking," she said.

"Interesting. Out of all your classmates, you are the first to admit you have her contact information. Is it possible that you could give us this information?" he asked.

"Why do you need it?" Marinette questioned, left eyebrow raised.

"It's not everyday the Joker gets taken down by a girl in spots with a yoyo. She could be useful in helping us capture him permanently," he said.

"Look, I would love to help you but... you see... it's just that-"

"All of you guys are lying and you can't find a good reason to not give us her information?" he said, a small smirk playing on his lips.

"We're telling the truth. Ladybug is a bodyguard!" of Paris.

"Then why isn't she watching you right now?" She didn't know how to reply. "I'll stop asking about it, but look Marinette, Gordon won't ask more than the routine questions." Okay, but what about you?

"Are we done here?"

"Yes, you're fine. That'll finish the interview then. Do you want me to contact anyone? Your family?" he looked down at the tablet beside him. "Your mother and step-father's contact information on your fi-" he froze.

Marinette tensed. She knew what was on her file. Her birth certificate. Her birth certificate that her mother's name and Bruce's name. If her memory served her right, Dick was there and old enough to remember Sabine when they dated. He would've been 10? 12? Somewhere around that age. "You're Sabine Cheng's daughter?"

"We're done with the interview right? Yeah, okay, bye," Marinette said, running out of that office as fast as she could. Fuck, fuck, fuck, she thought. Dieu, why did it have to be him?

Marinette slowed down when she heard her friends' voices in one of the room. When she walked in, she quickly glanced around the room. Problem was Mlle. Bustier was beckoning her and Bruce Wayne was right next to her.

"Yes, Mlle. Bustier? Is there something wrong?" she asked as she joined the pair.

"Nothing is wrong, Marinette. I just wanted to introduce you to Mr. Wayne. Mr. Wayne, this is Marinette. She's our class representative, and the reason that nobody got hurt today."

Marinette frowned at that. Both Alya and Adrien had helped Ladybug to take down the Joker and his goons.

"Ah, Marinette. My son, Damian, was telling me about you," Mr. Wayne smiled kindly at her. Marinette couldn't help but notice a fading scar under his ear. "He said that you found something strange about The Riddler's outfit?"

"Uh, yes," Marinette cursed internally. She was not ready to have this conversation. She looked back at her teacher. "You know, Mlle. Bustier, I should really go back to the rest of the class─"

"Nonsense, Marinette," Mlle. Bustier said. "Mr. Wayne offered to give us a tour of the Wayne Laboratories Building for tomorrow. Isn't that wonderful? He'd even be leading it, he says! And he said he'd upgrade our hotel's security after today's events!"

"That's, uh, grea-" the door opened to reveal Dick again and he was heading straight towards them.

"Marinette, we still need to finish our interview," he said, glancing wearily, Bruce.

"I think we were finished," Marinette said.

"Dick. Is something wrong?" Bruce asked.

Marinette looked at Dick, her eyes pleading him not to say anything to their father. "No, I just need to finish talking to Mlle. Dupain-Cheng," he said. Marinette almost let out a sigh of relief.

"We covered all the questions. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go and water my cat," she ran away as fast as she probably could. Barry Allen had nothing on her.

She turned the corner fast, running into her friends. "Marinette, are you okay?" Adrien asked. Alya and Nino looked at her. "Girl, what happened?" Alya asked.

"He knows," Marinette said, holding onto Adrien's forearms as she stared into his eyes.

"Who?"

"Dick Grayson."

"You told him? I thought-"

"No! He looked at my file and saw. And I didn't hide the fact that I knew. So now he knows that I know that he knows what we know," Marinette rambled.

"Why do I get the feeling that we don't know anything?" Nino asked. "Because I don't want you to know," Marinette said. "So you told Adrien instead of-"

"I'll talk to you guys later. I'll be hiding on the bus," Marinette as she saw Dick pushing through the small crowd in the building.

Marinette felt like stress crying. This could not be happening. At least not this early into the trip. Maybe she should've been the black cat holder.