#it's batman day you have to forgive my absence and accept this as an apology

[vigilvntes]

dick, giving the family a pep talk: everything you lose is a step you take

the family, nodding in agreement:

jason:

jason: hang on. wait a sec. did you just... quote taylor swift?

dick: ......what? no. no.

jason: no. no, you definitely did. that's taylor swift.

dick: it's not–... i didn't–

barbara: how do you know enough taylor swift to be able to quote her in your speeches?

dick, panicking: *points at jason* well how does he know enough taylor swift to be able to notice that i'm quoting taylor swift?

jason, on his way out: my lawyers will be in contact

tim, quietly: he doesn't even have a lawyer

[alexiessan]

Never alone - Chapter Thirteen - Soulmate AU

AO3

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Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all your reaction! I love it when you guys tell me what you liked in the latest chapter. I love interacting with you too :) 

It was nearing the end of the school year — and the beginning of exams, French and Sciences for the Economics classes — and Marinette couldn’t help for the year to end.

Robin was coming to Paris in June.

The thought always brought a smile to her lips. Finally, she would get to spend more time with her boyfriend. Maybe she would get to know his identity and they would get to act like a couple and go on dates…

Marinette sighed at the thought. Their first year anniversary was coming and they have never gone on a date. They wouldn’t be able to do anything on that day either, it’s not like she could go to Gotham and she didn’t want to make Robin come all the way to Paris either.

She envied Alya and Nino, who were always together and going on dates.

The fashion designer would never say it aloud, especially not to her best friend, but she missed her friends. This year, they were going on more dates than ever and Marinette found herself alone more than not. Adrien was busy and his father didn’t allow him to go out ofter, and while she was still in contact with her former classmates, they weren’t as close as they were before.

So she found herself getting closer to some of her new classmates. She was spending more time with Claude, Allan, and Allegra than with Alya and Nino.

Alya and she were still best friends, of course, but it wasn’t the same anymore.

Those kinds of things happened. Ever since the reporter started dating the DJ, Alya spent a little less time with Marinette. And she didn’t mind, at first. She understood that she wanted to spend time with her boyfriend and she accepted it.

But now, she hardly saw the journalist out of school.

She was happy that she still got her weekly meeting with Kim and Nino. Ever since they rekindled their friendship back in middle school, they decided to pick Friday night as their night to watch movies, play games, or whatever.

This meant that at this point in time, she saw more Nino and Kim that she saw Alya.

Maybe she should talk to the bespectacled girl about it. She probably wouldn’t take it to heart and would try to spend more time with her friend if Marinette brought it up to her.

But she didn’t want to be that kind of friend. The one complaining about being left behind.

And, as she said, she got to form new friendships so it’s not like she was entirely alone. Alya became really good friends with Aurore too. Instead of seeing her as a rival in journalism, she bonded with her thanks to their shared interest.

She should probably call her after she got home, so they could have a nice chat about anything and everything.

Right now, the Eurasian girl was going to a dance course with Claude, Allan, and Allegra. Claude has been ranting for weeks about this course and had managed to convince her and the other to join him.

She was actually looking forward to it and even left her house extra early so he didn’t miss it.

She was about to cross the road, already seeing Claud and Allan waiting for her and Allegra and something caught her attention.

Lila Rossi was standing a few feet from her, a man talking to her and invading her personal space.

The Italian was clearly uncomfortable. She was trying to take a step back, but the man always followed her.

Looking around, she saw that almost no one paid them attention, and the ones who did look as uncomfortable as Lila and clearly, weren’t planning to intervene.

It made Marinette sick. She knew what it was like to be harassed by unknown men in the street and she wouldn’t wish that to anyone.

She may not like Lila at all, but there was still a girl code. If Lila bled through her pants, she would discreetly tell her, give her her cardigan to hide it, and give her a pad or a tampon.

If she got harassed, she would pretend to be her friend and get her away from a creepy man.

Seriously, the man was in his late thirties, early forties, what the hell was he doing seducing an underage girl?

Without any other thought, the black-haired girl made her way to the green-eyed girl.

“Hey, Lila! I’m sorry for making you wait! We can go!”

She took her arm in hers like she did with Alya and smiled at the taller girl.

“You ready to go?”

She could see the look of relief in the brunette’s eyes and didn’t wait for the guy to react before taking Lila away and crossing the road after making sure it was safe.

She let Lila go once they were out of the guy’s sight.

“Thank you.”

Lila looked directly into her eyes, confident as ever.

“You didn’t have to do this, especially after everything I’ve done to you.”

The blue-eyed girl shrugged.

“I don’t care anymore about all that, you know? I hate street harassment, and no girl deserves that. You were uncomfortable and I wasn’t just going to let that guy harass you like that. Girl code, you know?”

Lila smiled at that.

“Yeah. Girl code. Thank you, Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette waved a hand. “Don’t mention it. Do you want me to accompany you somewhere.”

The Italian girl scoffed.

“No need, Dupain-Cheng. I’m good now.”

Without another word, Lila left, her hair almost hitting Marinette in the face.

The baker’s daughter watched her leave until she was out of her sight and left too, joining Claude and Allan.

“Hey, Mari! We’re still waiting for Allegra! We were thinking that we should go to our coffee shop after the course, what do you think?”

She smiled.

“Great! I’ve been thinking about their opera cake all week!”

The end of the year came pretty quickly after that. The exams came and went and she got to go to a party with her class at the end of the exams. Alya and Nino were there and she finally got to spend some time with her friend. The reporter had noticed during this night when Marinette told her a few months’ worths of stories that she had neglected her best friend a little in favor of her boyfriend and apologized for a good five minutes.

The French-Chinese girl forgave her on the spot, happy to get a bit of time with her best friend. She told her that it was ok for Alya to go on dates with her boyfriend and that she would never throw a fit over it, but she wanted at least an hour or two per week only for the both of them.

Alya had laughed and agreed, telling her that it should have stayed that way.

After that, Alya had confided in Marinette that if she went out more with Nino was because she was scared. She had a feeling that one of them would find their soulmate soon and that it would be the end for them. She wanted to get the most out of their relationship since she knew it wouldn’t last.

She could not not forgive her after that. She didn’t know how Alya and Nino lived with the fact that they loved each other and yet, knew that they probably wouldn’t stay together for their whole life.

Marinette hoped that their soulmates were platonic ones. Nino and Alya loved each other so much, it seemed cruel if their soulmates were not platonic ones.

She had kissed Alya’s cheek then, no words coming to reassure her about her relationship and told her that if she was scared about that, that she didn’t have to agree with her demand.

Alya had laughed.

“I want to spend time with you as much as I want to spend time with Nino, Mari. And you know, if I want to keep you as a friend, I have to put as much effort into our friendship as you do. It’s not a one-way friendship. So, no, I will make time for you at least once a week. You’re my best friend, and I failed in that role this year. Just like I did back with Lila. Never again.”

Marinette smiled. She had never thought that Alya failed in her role, but it was a bit lonely without her best friend so she didn’t say anything.

“Anyway,” said Alya, “I was thinking about reuniting our old class for a picnic or something, what do you say?”

“That would be great. I’ll send a message to our old group chat and see what date would work out for everyone. It would be great if Adrien could come, I feel like it’s been forever since we hung out.”

“Yeah, I know. His father has been even more strict than before.”

It was true. Gabriel Agreste made sure that Adrien had no time at all to spend time with his friends. He scheduled more photoshoots, more Chinese lessons… Adrien didn’t have time anymore for his friends.

“We should really call child protection service.” Marinette whispered.

“Nino tried that, you know.”

The bluenette raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah. But it didn’t go anywhere. I mean, it’s Gabriel Agreste. They didn’t even send anyone to investigate.”

“I’ve talked to Adrien about getting away, about emancipation, but he flat out refused.”

“Yeah, the guy loves his father despite everything. We want to help him, but we can’t force him to do anything either.”

Marinette thought about it. Was there really nothing they could do to help Adrien? Especially since he didn’t want to be helped?

“When are they coming again?”

Ladybug and Chat Noir were on a roof after patrol, discussing their collaboration with the Bat Family.

“In a week, now.”

“Wow, I can’t believe we’re going to work with Batman! That’s so cool!”

Ladybug laughed.

“Well, we’re not going to work with Batman but with Robin and Nightwing.”

She had discussed it over the phone with the whole team. Robin was an obvious choice, with their soulbond and because apparently, in his civilian life, he made sure to get into an exchange program for his last year of High School and would be coming to Paris anyway.

Batman couldn’t possibly come, his absence would give a chance to the criminals of Gotham to cause chaos and as an adult with a job, he couldn’t possibly leave that behind.

Nightwing had a job too, but there was a branch of the firm he worked at in Paris and he managed to get transferred there for at least a year.

She didn’t know why the others couldn’t but she wasn’t going to ask, it was too personal and she didn’t know their identities yet, so she swallowed her questions.

Nightwing was a great detective, almost as good as Batman, and she didn’t doubt that he would be of great help. Plus, he was a funny guy from what she gathered from her video calls with Robin.

“They will be meeting us at the top of the Eiffel Tower next Wednesday at 11 pm.”

“Roger that!”

The picnic with their former classmates was wild. Everyone was so happy to see each other again, it has been so long since they have all been together like that.

For once, Gabriel agreed to let Adrien go to this outing with his friends. The Gorilla — Simon, if Marinette recalled — was there to look after them and it made them want to roll their eyes. They were sixteen-years-old on a picnic, not wild teenagers at a party with alcohol.

Even Luka, Juleka’s brother was here. He was a very good friend to Marinette and even more after he confessed. He took it very well when she had to reject him and there were no hard feelings between them.

She was happy to hear about their year. Rose loved her literature classes, which wasn’t a surprise for the fashion designer. She could very well see Rose writing children’s books in the future. It would be a good fit for her.

And she told her just that.

“You know,” she began, eyes shining with something Marinette couldn’t describe, “I’ve never thought about it before. But I think you’re right. I love Fairy Tales and I could see myself creating some.”

The blonde bit her lower lip, looking at the bluenette.

“If… If I wrote a story, would you read it and give me your opinion?”

“Of course! I would love to read anything you write, Rose!”

The pink-clothed girl beamed.

“Thank you Marinette! I’m so happy you and Alya organized this picnic! I’ve really missed you guys.”

She hugged Marinette before joining Mylène, Ivan, Juleka, and Luka, probably talking about Kitty Section.

She had seen Kitty Section during rehearsals and when she designed costumes for them but she didn’t have the opportunity to just hang out with them.

She watched around, seeing that Lila was talking with Nino.

“I can’t believe you invited Lila, girl. You would have done everything to exclude her before.”

The designer winced.

“Yeah, well, you know. Bridge. Water. It’s all in the past now. It’s not like she’s doing everything she can to ruin my life anymore.”

The reporter grinned.

“Look at you, being all mature and grown-up!”

“Hey, I am mature!”

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