Ladybug In Gotham (crossover fic)

Chapter 42 Teasing bats

Third pov

There's days when Marinette feels like sinking to the bottom of everything might not be so bad.

Because she's tired and weary.

Because she can see just how deep the bone tired feeling sinks its claws in her every time she looks in the mirror.

It's no kid staring back.

No bright eyes or pigtails.

There's just hard, jaded eyes that always need to look beyond the words of others.

She feels thirty years older than she is and like the weight of the world is on her shoulders.

"Marinette?"

Tikki is half asleep when she enters the bathroom.

"Hi Tikki."

The tiny godess sat on her shoulder. "You should get some sleep."

The teen shook her head. "Too awake. I wanna go running."

"But you can't with the Batman out there. They'll find you." Tikki said.

Marinette shrugged. "I know." She grinned mischievously. "But for now I'm staying on the property so i don't think i need to worry."

Within ten minutes Marinette had exited the manor through her window and was wandering around outside. The ground is damp and she pulls the jacket harder around her.

And for some time she stayed out there.

Time skip

The next day Alfred drove them to school with the promise that Marinette could bring Chloe and Adrien to the manor afterwards.

The teens and kids that have lived in Gotham all their lives look at her with a respect she's never seen before.

She just smiles happily as they enter the school.

Apparently they have a pop quiz today.

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The quiz was more difficult than Damian had thought the teachers would make it.

But that might be because they've had enough of the french students disrupting their classes. There'd been a lot of it from what he'd heard.

The whole quiz had been on both things that they'd learned the last month and Gotham's history.

From what he could see Marinette had little problems, only getting caught on a few history questions.

The other ones though, they weren't having it easy.

When the last class for the day ended they looked dejected.

Damian didn't really care.

Marinette took his hand as she hurried over to Bourgeois and Agreste. "Hey guys, Alfred said you can come over to the manor."

"Cool. But, uh, how are we getting there?" Agreste asked.

"Alfred will pick us up. Come on." And with that Marinette was suddenly ten steps ahead of them.

Agreste kept walking beside Damian while Bourgeois caught up to Marinette. "How did it go on the pop quiz?"

Damien shrugged. "Went well. Though I can't say your other classmates had it easy."

The blond chuckled. "Let them squirm some. If they've acted anything like the ones in my group then they owe the teacher an apology anyways."

Agreste shakes his head. "Better that they get a reality check with competent teachers around."