Lost and Found

Warm Welcomes

Despite what Damian had told her, Marinette was still nervous. She couldn't turn her brain off as she and her twin navigated the halls of the manor. It had barely sunk in that she would be living here for a possibly extended period of time. She really didn't know how to feel about it really. She was devastated about her parents. But she was ecstatic about her brother (or brothers, as it turned out) and her father.

When the duo arrived at breakfast, Marinette found that the table was already half full. Dick was there, up early as usual. Her Father was also present. There was also another man there. He was older, and he had kind eyes. He must be Alfred.

When he caught sight of the approaching duo, he smiled.

"Master Damian, Miss Marinette, it is good to see you this morning," he said to the both of them. Marinette noticed his accent, british. It sounded nice with his voice. It was comforting. "And it is a pleasure to meet you Miss Marinette, even if the circumstances may be unfavorable," he said specifically to her. He had such a kind smile that a mention of what happened didn't dull her mood as much as she would've expected. She smiled back.

"It's nice to meet you too, Alfred," she replied in kind.

Immediately proceeding that interaction, Damian and Marinette sat down at the table together, and they began their breakfast.

"Already much more likable than myself and Grayson combined," Damian commented to Marinette in Arabic. It brought a smile to her face.

"Of course, anything shy of destruction of property and attempted assault would," she replied in a mocking tone. He gave her one of his many variations of an annoyed look, and returned to his food.

"Todd was even worse, you know, he tried to steal the tires off of the Batmobile," Damian added. Marinette decided to take the conversation in a different direction.

"Who named it that anyway?" she asked. A smirk grew on his face.

"Ask Grayson," he replied in English. Dick looked over, immediately suspicious. Alfred did as well. Father just looked tired. Marinette was puzzled.

"What would he know about it?" Marinette asked. Pure confusion in her voice.

"About what?" Dick asked. Concern laced his voice.

"Only about why everything in the Batcave is named the way it is," Damian replied, still smirking.

Dick's face went beet red, in what Marinette thought could only be embarrassment and/or rage. "I was NINE!"

Marinette snorted, then she devolved into a giggling mess. Soon the next family member to come to breakfast entered the room, and they were treated to the sight of Marinette laughing uncontrollably, Damian making fun of Dick from across the table, Bruce looking tired, and Alfred watching them all in amusement. That person just so happened to be Jason.

"Are we making fun of Boy Wonder? Cause if we are, I'm down to join in."

That made Marinette laugh even harder. Damian grinned.

"Really, Grayson, was it really so hard for you to come up with any names that weren't just Bat-object?" Damian continued rather than replying to Jason.

"It's not like you stopped naming things like that after you grew up either," Jason added, and Marinette was now truly invested, "we have Bat-Fear-Toxin-Antidote now, that wasn't named until mid last year." Marinette's laughter had decreased, but that didn't mean she found this conversation any less funny.

"I don't know, the names just stuck," Dick said, still looking severely embarrassed. Jason looked to be about to say something else when Alfred cut him off.

"I think that's enough for now," he said, and that effectively ended Dick's torment.

It was quiet for a few moments, then the silence was broken.

"So, why don't you tell us a bit more about magic?" Jason asked Marinette. She was a bit caught off guard, but she was happy to tell them all more.

"Well, what do you want to know?" Marinette countered. She needed a bit more direction than that. It was a pretty broad question.

"Well... How does if feel to be protected by a magical super suit in battle?" he asked.

"It's almost like playing a video game or something. The Miraculous makes you practically invulnerable, and it increases your stamina, strength, and your reflexes. So until the fight actually gets going, it's almost like you aren't actually the one doing the fighting," Marinette hoped that was a good enough explanation, but before she could say much more, Alfred joined the conversation.

"You were a Miraculous Holder?" he asked. She could almost sense residual magic on him, now that it was brought to her attention by the conversation.

"Yes, I wielded the Ladybug Miraculous," she said, "you wielded one too, didn't you?"

"Yes, during my time in the war I held the Peacock Miraculous. I often miss Dusuu."

"I miss Tikki too," Marinette replied. She and Alfred shared a smile.

"I didn't know you were involved with the Miraculous," Father cut in. He didn't sound angry, but it wasn't very easy to interpret his emotions.

"I was for several years, but it was never brought up here, and you don't like magic." Alfred replied.

Conversation returned to the table after a few moments, and it even continued once Tim arrived as well. Then after breakfast, the Bat-siblings all went out into the city. The goal was to show Marinette around Gotham, but there was an underlying intent that laid with each of her brothers. And that was to convince Marinette that she should stay in Gotham with them for as long as possible.

She realized this around the time that Dick started telling her about an ice cream place in town that they all go to together as vigilantes if they've had a particularly rough night.

"We should take you there sometime," he said.

"Didn't you say you only go there in the mask?" she asked.

"Well, then we'll just have to get you a mask," Jason had replied.

"Have you been thinking about what you want to be called?" Tim asked.

"Or do you want to pick up the mantle of Batgirl? There hasn't been a Batgirl in quite some time," Damian added. They all assumed that she would want to be a vigilante with them. That begged the question, though.

Did Marinette want to become a Gotham Vigilante with them?

She barely even had to think about it.

"I haven't really thought about that yet," she said. She knew she wanted to, but she was still hesitant. "Shouldn't we ask Father first, though?"

"Oh, we don't have to, he absolutely wants you to join the team, he just doesn't know how to ask," Jason replied.

"And besides, it's better to ask forgiveness than permission," Tim said. Marinette supposed that she agreed with that sentiment.

Later that night she and Damian sat close to the Batcomputer with Barbara (who Marinette got along incredibly well with) whilst the rest of the family patrolled in favor of designing Marinette a costume, and brainstorming a name. While also deciding whether she should be Batgirl, or if she should form her own identity.

The twins had a great night together.