Gotham's Own Ladybug

Three

Red Robin, Nightwing and Robin, all fluent in French, were visibly startled by what Marinette had asked. Meanwhile, Red Hood glanced over at their puzzled expressions and Cat Woman simply said, "What?"

However the female didn't get an answer, as Marinette began to sprint straight past the frozen mugger and out of the alley. Her heartbeat quickened in fear, as she blindly ran to any place that was void of the figure clad in black. Robin spotted Marinette running out, and started to grapple in the direction she went.

His brothers all landed on the ground, Nightwing going over to Selina whilst Red Robin and Red Hood restrained the criminal nearby.

"Since when did you go by the name 'Black Cat'?" Richard questioned Selina, before she replied, "I don't, I have no idea why she called me that."

"I need your help to look for Marinette!" they heard Damian exclaim on their earpieces, catching their attention because of his unusually frantic tone. Sure enough, the trio noticed her absence, making Red Robin scale a fire escape close by to get onto the rooftops.

"I'll take care of this guy," Red Hood stated, holding the scared mugger with his hands behind his back. Nightwing nodded, turning back to Cat Woman.

She pulled her goggles down, preparing to search for Marinette, which Richard took note of. "Why are you after her?" he quizzed. "Did you do something to scare her?"

"None of your business. Neither is it Batman's."

Then, she thew a caltrop at a wall, using it to leap onto a pipe and climb upwards, away from the male. Using the trackers on his brothers, he made his way over to where they were on the roofs.

When he found them, he saw Red Robin standing next to a pacing Robin, who had his head in his hands. At the same time, he kept calling Marinette on his phone, hoping for an answer. On the seventh call, Nightwing placed a hand on his left shoulder, only for him to hit it away and start recording a voicemail.

"Marinette? I just noticed what time it is and when you called. Are you sure you should be out at this hour? Just..." Damian ran a hand down his face, taking a deep breath. "Just call to let me know you're safe when you get this, okay Angel?"

The Bats all mentally commended his ability to keep his voice level with all of the stressed movements he was making during the call, and watched as he ended the voicemail with gritted teeth. Cautiously, Tim approached the tense boy, but stopped when he gave him his signature glare, though it was slightly less intimidating than usual.

"We get your worried about her Brat, bu-"

"Of course I'm worried about her! She's probably the first tolerable person I've met in my life-"

"Okay, that is offensive," Jason piped up on his earpiece.

"-and she doesn't understand how the hell Gotham works!"

Nightwing stepped in, effectively cutting off the starting argument by saying, "Robin, I'm pretty sure she's going to be safe." The males both looked at him, with Red Hood landing silently nearby to join the conversation.

"Cat Woman was obviously trying to find her for some reason, and since she saved your friend from that mugger I'm guessing Selina isn't going to do anything to harm her."

Though it wasn't completely assuring, they all saw the tightness of Damian's body lessen, until a buzzing noise cut through the silence again. Robin immediately breathed an audible sigh of relief at the sight of the caller on his phone, and put the electronic up to his ear, answering.

"Dami?" Marinette asked as soon as Robin accepted the call. "I've made it home okay."

"Angel," he breathed. "You can't go outside in Gotham that late, especially since you're so young."

She quietly sniffled. "Sorry. I shouldn't have scared you like that."

"Are you okay? Did anything happen?"

"Umm..." Her voice wavered slightly. "No, nothing...nothing happened. I'm fine."

Behind his helmet, Red Hood raised an eyebrow, while Tim listened to how it seemed as if her voice was somewhat strained.

Damian looked like he wanted to push her on the issue, but decided against it. He simply said, "That's good. I'll see you in school tomorrow?"

On the other end, Marinette mentally sighed in relief, before she agreed, "Yeah, you will. Bonne nuit, Damian."

"Et vous, Marinette."

He hung up, placing the device back into his utility belt and pulled out his grappling hook. Before Damian could shoot the line, he glanced back at his brothers, only to see different facial expressions on all of them, not including Jason who most certainly had a cheeky grin on his face beneath the helmet he wore.

"...Why are you all looking at me like that?" Robin bluntly asked, giving Red Hood specifically a glare because of his quiet snickering.

"'Angel', Baby Bird?"

That was when Damian realised he probably should have taken the call away from his teasing brothers.