Welcome to Maribat Calendar Events June event. Our polls told us that you want more inclusive content, and we plan to deliver!
June is dedicated to PRIDEMONTH. This can be any DCU x MLB pairing within the LGBT+ community. This can be any relationship style (platonic, romantic, agedup NSFW, polyamourous, monogamous… you get the idea), gender or sexual orientation.
Do one prompt! Do them all! Any participation is great! They just serve as ways to encourage that creativity. No Pressure.
Make sure you tag us so others can more easily see your work:
Welcome to Maribat Calendar Events June event. Our polls told us that you want more inclusive content, and we plan to deliver!
June is dedicated to PRIDEMONTH. This can be any DCU x MLB pairing within the LGBT+ community. This can be any relationship style (platonic, romantic, agedup NSFW, polyamourous, monogamous… you get the idea), gender or sexual orientation.
Do one prompt! Do them all! Any participation is great! They just serve as ways to encourage that creativity. No Pressure.
Make sure you tag us so others can more easily see your work:
They didn’t speak to each other. It was awkward without Adrien there anymore. She looked up, and averted her eyes down again. She tried again. Nope, that didn’t help. If anything, he looked even more nerve-wracking. When this is translated from Marinette-language to normal people language, it meant he felt even more handsome every time she looked back up.
They couldn’t say anything. Well, Marinette couldn’t say anything. What do you say to someone who you’re in lo– someone you like when your pseudo-brother set you up to potentially have a date? No amount of nudging could make it less awkward.
Jon braved the silence. “So…uhm… your shoes are nice. I really like your shoelaces.”
“Thanks, I got them from the president.” She fought the urge to slap a hand across her mouth. He meant the way the string was laced, not the actual shoelaces, and he wasn’t on Tumblr (to her limited knowledge). This was not the time to expose how much of a degenerate she was.
Silence rose again because how do you follow up on whatever curveball that was?“
He either was an angel, a saint, or desperate to move the conversation into something he could continue. "How are you doing today?”
“I’m ok.” She shrugged, fiddling with the skin around her thumb, a bad habit she picked up since she started embroidering. The amount of times she pricked her fingers with the needle and caused the skin to start breaking left her picking at the old skin to make the fingers smooth again. She could feel Jon staring at her fingers, so she stuck her hand into her jacket pockets and shot him an embarrassed smile.
“Nice weather, isn’t it?”
Jon glanced up at the overcast clouds, smiling, and Marinette wanted to smack herself. Nice weather? She couldn’t have come up with something better with that though, so she shouldered through. Today was getting better and better.
“For flying, it’s perfect.” Jon said, rocking back and forth on his heels. “Not sunny in the way that the sun would blind you, but clear that you can pass through the clouds without water getting in your way.”
Jon froze at his own words and diverted his gaze back to his shoes like she did earlier. By pure chance of luck, the blue-eyed girl didn’t notice.
“Flying, huh?” Marinette remembered the days when patrol had the sun glaring in her eyes, or when the rain came pouring down. It sucked swinging to and fro from buildings and rooftops. “I see your point. You fly?”
Jon’s eyes bulged out. “Flying? Well, I mean I’m not a flyer really, but I heard from my mom’s helicopter guy that it’s really hard flying up there when it’s really sunny and sometimes I hitch a ride with them and everything—”
“Helicopter guy? You have a helicopter guy?” She couldn’t help the laughter bubbling up from her throat despite the attempts to suppress them.
His cheeks turned into peaches. “No! I don’t have a helicopter guy. Nor do I have a helicopter, for that matter. It’s my mom’s helicopter guy! I swear I’m not like Damian with Alfred.”
“Wayne has a helicopter guy?” She shook her head. “Of course he does.”
“It’s not what you think.” He chuckled. “Alfred’s his butler, but everyone knows he’s basically the Wayne grandfather. Truth be told, he’s kind of like a great-uncle to me because the Waynes and my family are so close anyways.”
Marinette couldn’t help but grin. “So, to sum it up, you don’t have a helicopter guy, you have at least two helicopter guys, and at least three helicopters because there is no way Bruce Wayne only has one helicopter.”
Jon’s cheeks darkened, but he shot her a grin, leaned in, and opened his mouth in what would have been a witty retort, no doubt about it, but all she could focus on was the dips of his lips and the dimples on his cheeks. She could smell woodsmoke from his jacket — the flannel one she made him. Warmth filled her gut, swishing and bubbling like a roaring volcano.
Adrien chose that glorious moment to jump in.
“Hey guys!” He skidded to a stop between them, holding up a greasy paper bag. “I got the food!”
Marinette wanted to throttle him. The blonde boy remained oblivious.
Jon, who noticed her murderous gaze, shot her a twinkling smile and a heart stopping wink, and it was her turn to freeze, blushing tomato-red, glancing down at the floor again.
“Ah,” she stared at Jon’s red converse with black shoe laces instead of the traditional white. “Nice shoelaces.”
Jon’s smile lit up the sky, and she swore the clouds parted right as he sent her a beaming grin. “Thanks, I got them from the president.”
Adrien didn’t know it, too busy with his achievement of buying food from a Taco Bell for the first time (the real reason why they were meeting at a Taco Bell instead of anywhere else), but he just accomplished his goal for the day. Only twelve more steps in the plan to achieve Jonette as endgame. And no, he was not going to give in to Damian and call them MariJon, he wouldn’t!
here’s day 7, it’s ten days late :)))) and it’s short as well :(((( thanks @maribat-calendar-events for the prompts!
tag list: (OPEN, COMMENT UNDER MASTERLIST TO BE ADDED)
“Does Auntie Lois finally live here?” Marinette asks, walking out of the bathroom, her tiny face scrunched up. Clark blinks back at her before shaking his head slowly.
“Uh, well, no? She still has her apartment.” He says, not telling her that the two were definitely moving towards that place. That Lois now spent more time at his apartment than her own. Marinette’s shoulders immediately slump and she frowns.
“But then why does she have a tooth brush here?” She asks. Clark’s eyes widen. He knew his niece was smart, but he didn’t realize she was so…observant. It had been a few months since he last got to see her in person, and he’d forgotten that despite only being four and a half, she was very mature for her age. And, apparently, observant.
“Well uh, sometimes, Aunt Lois stays…here.” He says, unsure how to explain it to her. Marinette frowns.
“If she stays here sometimes, then why isn’t she here now?” She asks. Clark smiles softly.
“Because you’re here this week, sweetie. And-” He starts to say, but she cuts him off, eyes wide.
“Does Auntie Lois not love me anymore?” She asks, her lower lip trembling. Clark’s eyes widen and he shakes his head rapidly.
“No, Sunshine, no that’s not- that’s not at all- she um.” Clark stumbles over his words, panicking as he sees the tears well up in his niece’s eyes.
“So she still loves me?” She asks with a small sniffle. Clark nods.
“Oh yes, honey. Of course. She still loves you very, very much.” He says. “In fact, why don’t we call her and she can tell you herself?” He suggests. Marinette nods slowly, the hesitance still clear on her face. Clark immediately finds his phone and dials Lois’ number, crossing his fingers that his girlfriend would pick up.
“Hello?” She says and he sighs, putting her on speaker phone.
“Hey Lois.” He says.
“Clark? Is everything okay? You sound…off.” She says, immediately catching on that something was wrong. It was one of the things he loved about her.
“Everything’s fine, don’t worry. Marinette uh, she found your toothbrush. And she’s wondering why you aren’t here if you stay here sometimes. She’s worried you don’t love her anymore.” He says, and Marinette sniffles slightly.
“Oh, honey. Of course I love you, Marinette. You’re my only niece afterall.” She says, and Marinette huffs.
“If you love me, why did you leave?” She asks.
“I didn’t wanna interrupt your family time with your Uncle, sweetheart.” Lois says gently. Marinette frowns.
“But you’re my family too. And if you live here sometimes, you should be here too.” She says, as if that was the most obvious logic in the world.
“It’s up to your Uncle.” Lois says, and Clark’s eyes widen. Marinette immediately turns to him, her eyes wide and pleading. Clark tries to ignore the way his heart tries to pound out of his chest. Sure, he was already planning on asking Lois to marry him, but this felt like a big step. Watching over his niece together? Like an actual family? That was- it was huge.
“We’d love to have you here.” Clark says, unable to stop the smile from bursting onto his face as Marinette does a little happy dance.
“I’ll be there in an hour.” Lois says, and Clark feels like he’s floating.
—
Marinette stifles her giggles, trying not to be found in her hiding spot. Uncle Clark was a hider too, cause no one else ever won if he was seeker. But Auntie Lois wasn’t bad at it either. Finally, Marinette hears her Uncle sigh.
“How do you do that?” He asks with a laugh, and Marinette knows she’s won.
“You’re just not as good at hiding as Marinette is.” Auntie Lois says matter-of-factly. Marinette grins and shimmies out of her hiding spot, running up to her aunt with her arms raised. She immediately picks her up and hugs her close.
“You are an amazing hider, little miss.” She says, and Marinette giggles.
“I gotta be!” She says, before turning and giving her Uncle a look. “If I wasn’t, the game would end way too soon.” Uncle Clark lets out a huffy laugh before holding his arms out to her. Reaching back for her Uncle, Marinette grabs onto him and hugs him back.
“Sorry about that, kiddo.” He says, but she just grins.
“It’s fine! I just gotta hide even better.” She says, and her Uncle laughs.
“Sure thing, Mari.” He says. Marinette looks between her Aunt and her Uncle before frowning. “What’s wrong?” He asks.
“Are you married?” She asks. Her Uncle’s eyes widen immediately and his face turns bright red. Like a cherry. Turning back to her Aunt, she’s surprised to see that she’s also pink. But more like a flower than a fruit.
“Well, um-” Her Uncle starts, but Marinette cuts him off.
“Auntie Lois is the best aunt ever. And she lives here sometimes and you love her a lot, so you’re married, right?” She asks. It just made sense. Maman and Papa were married. And they lived together. And they were the bestest parents ever. And they loved each other.
“Mari, honey, it’s a little more than just that.” Her Uncle says, and she frowns.
“What do you mean?” Marinette asks.
“Well first I’d have to ask her.” He says. Marinette shrugs.
“Then ask her now.” She says. Her Uncle’s eyes widen.
“What? Mari- honey, you have to use a ring. And um, it’s usually in a special place and something is planned for it.” He says. She scrunches her nose up.
“But you have a ring.” Marinette points out, ignoring the low gasp from her Auntie Lois. “And there’s lots of special places. So why didn’t you do it yet?”
“I was waiting for the right time.” Uncle Clark says, his face a weird color. It was like all the red and tan (from summer on the farm) had melted away. He looked like paper.
“Well why can’t this be the right time?” Marinette asks. It didn’t make sense. He had the ring and he loved Auntie Lois. So why didn’t he just ask her? Marinette frowns at her Uncle as he puts her down on the ground.
“Wanna go grab that ring?” He asks, whispering in her ear. Marinette gasps and nods, running and finding the ring quickly. She walks a little slower going back to the living room, cause she could hear her Uncle talking. When she gets back to the living room, her Uncle was on one knee and her Aunt was crying. But she also looked happy.
“So?” Her Uncle says, and Auntie Lois nods really fast.
“Yes. Yes, I’ll marry you!” She says. Marinette cheers as her Uncle jumps up and picks her Aunt up, spinning her around. Both grown ups laugh happily before they kiss. Marinette wrinkles her nose a bit at the kiss, but rushes over to them the second they stop.
“I got the ring!” She says, holding it out for her Uncle. He grins at her and picks her up, giving her a quick hug.
“You sure did, kiddo.” He says, hugging her and her Aunt close to him. Marinette smiles, proud of herself for getting her Aunt and Uncle married. Maman and Papa would be so proud!
When Conner Kent first joined the Young Justice team, he was confused. He knew that he should feel grateful to the boys who had saved him from living the rest of his life as an experiment. And he was. But he was also hesitant. And he felt off. He knew that he didn’t fit in with the others. The others all had mentors, heroes who had chosen them and trained them to make them into the heroes that they were now. But Conner? He was an experiment. Surely, a mistake in the eyes of Superman. He knew that Superman didn’t like him. He’d spent almost an entire year trying to impress Superman. To get him to talk to him, treat him like a mentor should. But nothing worked. Because he didn’t fit in. He was a mistake.
“What are your plans for the summer?” Robin asks him, walking into one of the common areas. Conner shrugs. M’gann was going to spend time with her Uncle, and he knew that the other teen heroes had some vacation plans. Well, maybe except for Robin who had said his plans consisted of more patrol time in Gotham. But Conner suspected that that was what Robin enjoyed, so…
“I don’t really have any.” Conner finally says, his voice a little gruff. Robin frowns.
“Are you sure? I’m pretty sure Superman spends a couple weeks in Smallville with his family during the summer-” He starts to say, but Conner cuts him off.
“And? I think we both know that Superman doesn’t think of me as family. Which is fine. I don’t care.” He says, crossing his arms as a shield against his friend. Not that he really needed it, but it made him feel better. Robin’s frown deepens.
“Conner, I’m pretty sure-” He tries to say, but Conner just shakes his head.
“It’s not a big deal. I’m fine.” Conner lies. It was easier than trying to talk about how much it hurt that the man he looked up to wanted nothing to do with him. Before Robin can try to argue with him again, Superman walks in. Well, Clark, apparently, because the man was not in his Superman suit.
“Uh, what’re you doing here in that?” Robin asks, sounding just as confused as Conner felt. Clark raises an eyebrow.
“I’m here to pick Conner up for vacation? We’re taking the Zeta tubes to Smallville-” The man pauses, tilting his head as he looks at Conner. “Are you packed?” He asks. Conner blinks.
“What?”
“For the trip? I can grab your bags if you-”
“What are you talking about?” Conner interrupts him. Clark frowns.
“Uh, Smallville?” He says, then his face twists up and he groans, smacking himself in the face. “I didn’t talk to you about it, did I?” He asks. Conner shakes his head.
“You did talk to B, though.” Robin chirps up. Conner glares at him and Robin shrugs. “Hey man, I tried to tell you and you wouldn’t listen.”
“I’m so sorry Conner, I definitely thought I told you. If you don’t want to come, you don’t have to, it’s no pressure. I told my parents, but I waited to tell my brother and his family. Mostly because I know Marinette would be a menace if they all get there first and you’re not there for her to meet.” Clark says, his voice fond as he speaks about his family. A jolt goes through Conner. Family. Clark was asking him to come spend time with his family. Could they be Conner’s family too?
“I- I’ll come.” Conner says quietly, silently hoping he hasn’t made a mistake.
—
Jon Kent knew that he was different from other kids in his first grade class. But it didn’t bother him. Not really. Because he was different from his big sister Mari, too, but she didn’t love him any less. She was still the coolest girl he knew (he’d say coolest person, but they’d both agreed that Conner was the absolute coolest). But even though he was different, he still fit in. He liked dinosaurs and thought superheroes were awesome, just like most of his class. There were a couple of kids that were mean, but they were mean to everyone. So he didn’t really care. Not really. Well, okay, it kinda hurt. But he was fine. Reaching for the phone, he decides that it wouldn’t hurt to call his sister. Sitting at the kitchen table, legs swinging back and forth, he listens to the phone ring.
“Hello?” She says, her voice groggy. Jon frowns.
“Were you asleep?” He asks. Marinette huffs out a laugh.
“In my defense, Uncle Clark has always told me that naps are fine if I’m not sleeping well at night.” She says. Jon giggles.
“You’re silly.” He says, and she laughs too.
“So, what’s up kid? You just started first grade, right? How’s that going?” She asks, and Jon frowns.
“I- it’s okay. Mostly.” He says.
“Mostly?” She says, and he can hear the concern in her voice. The protective big sister mode activating. He sighs.
“I don’t fit in Mari. I’m not- I’m different from the other kids.” He says quietly, his lower lip trembling slightly. He wasn’t sad, not really. But he also knew he didn’t have to be okay with Mari. And he knew she would fix it.
“I’m gonna tell you a secret, Jon. One that is really hard to believe, but it’s true. Fitting in? Is overrated. It’s not gonna make you happy or a better person. All it’s gonna do is take the parts of you that are different, the parts that are amazing, and shove them away. Bend them and break them until they fit in a neat, nice mold of what other people think you should look like. Or do. And that’s awful. Because those pieces of you? The things that make you different? Are the things that make you, you. They’re what separate you from every other person on the planet and make you my super awesome little brother. And I know it’s hard, trust me. But there’s something even better than fitting in. Belonging. And you belong, just as you are, in our family. As me and Conner’s adorable, goofy, little brother. As the baby of the family who likes the crusts cut off his turkey sandwiches but not his peanut butter sandwiches; who prefers pterodactyls to t-rex’.” Marinette rambles on, and slowly Jon feels his heart warm. Who cares if Max and Liam don’t like him? He has his super awesome family. And he doesn’t just fit in there, he belongs.
Note, this takes place immediately after ch. 12 of “A Guide to Love and Coffee in the City of Crime which can be found here. You don’t need to read that to understand this chapter. Just know that identities are still secret, but the League now knows about the ‘Paris Situation’.
—
Marinette walks into the diner, grinning when she spots her cousins, Aunt and Uncle already waiting for her.
“Hey guys!” She says cheerily, not missing the way her Uncle scans over her as if assessing for injuries. Once he seems satisfied that she wasn’t currently hurt, he smiles back at her.
“Hey Sunshine.” He says, his smile unwavering as she slides into the booth. Glancing between each of her family members, she sighs before slumping slightly.
“Who told you?” She asks. Uncle Clark raises an eyebrow.
“Pardon?” He says. She sighs again, straightening.
“Who told you about the Paris situation? Was it Tim? Or maybe Nadja? Oh. I guess maybe Jimmy found out somehow-” She starts to ramble before Conner cuts her off.
“Mars, what are you talking about?” He asks, his confusion clear. Marinette frowns.
“The situation in Paris?” She says, and immediately the boys all stiffen. “So you do know.”
“What gave us away?” Her Uncle asks. She shrugs, then grins.
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it was the dozens of missed calls from the boys once I could get to my phone again. Or the texts. Or the call from you.” She lists off, putting down a finger for each one. “Or maybe it’s how you looked at me like you expected me to be injured when I walked in.” Her Uncle sighs.
“Are you- mad at us?” He asks. She snorts, then shakes her head.
“Why would I be mad that you found out about Paris? Like, yes, I originally didn’t want you to know because you can be super overprotective, but now? It’s not like you can just suddenly get to Paris. Plus this way, Maman, Papa and I don’t have to hide it anymore. And we can talk about all of the funny akuma stories, though there’s not really many of those anymore.” Marinette rambles. Her family just stares at her for a moment. Completely silent. And then Aunt Lois starts laughing.
“Honestly, I don’t know what I thought your reaction would be, but I should’ve guessed you’d want to look at the bright side. Or the funny side. You are just like your Uncle.” She says fondly, shaking her head. Marinette grins.
“Why, thank you.” She says. Aunt Lois snorts again, before letting out a long sigh.
“Okay kid. We have several years worth of stories to listen to about the whole ‘Hawkmoth’ and ‘akuma’ situation, and we have a ton of breakfast food to eat. Where do you wanna start?”
—-
Clark was doing his best to keep an easy smile on his face while Marinette told stories, smiling and laughing as she relayed her stories to the boys and Lois. Her stories of being a civilian caught in the middle of a magical war that the Justice League had done nothing to stop. And although he was smiling, Clark was screaming internally. He’d never thought to x-ray his niece before for no reason. After all, why would he? Every time she’d fallen down or off of something, he’d x-rayed her, but she hadn’t been clumsy like that since before she was twelve. And now here she was, sixteen years old, with bones that looked like they’d been shattered and re-healed dozens upon dozens of times. Because according to the Parisian heroes, all physical damage was fixed by their powers. So her bones were no longer broken. Her spine no longer snapped, her skull no longer crushed, her neck- physically she was fine. But how was she mentally? How much of the horrors did his poor niece remember? He’d seen a video of a particularly bad akuma. Syren, they’d called her. Paris had been flooded beyond recognition, with only around four hundred survivors left on the rooftops. Did she remember it? Was she one of the lucky ones? Or did she drown, slowly losing the ability to breathe before taking in that last gasp- the water that would fill her lungs and ease her out of her suffering as she numbed to everything. It made him sick to think about, and that wasn’t even adding in his older brother to the equation. He couldn’t think about him, or his sister in law. The sheer number of terrors they’d seen and lived through- and he’d been against Marinette moving to Gotham? Well, he still was, but at least he understood where she was coming from a little better now.
“Right? Oh, and then there was my first date.” She’s saying, and Clark tunes back in, quirking an eyebrow.
“Your first date?” He asks. Marinette nods, grinning sheepishly.
“It may or may not have been with an akumatized individual.” She says. Clark blinks at her.
“I- am at a loss for words.” He finally says. She snorts, shrugging.
“Yeah, that’s fair. We were already friends before that whole situation, and we’re still friends now so it’s not like it mattered that much.” Marinette says flippantly.
“So you dated a villain?” Conner asks, obviously trying to figure out what she was saying. Marinette’s expression darkens slightly, and she shakes her head.
“No. Akumatized people are almost never villains. They don’t, for the most part, choose to be akumatized. They’re victims, normal people whose bad day is taken advantage of.” She says, and her shoulders slump as she folds in on herself. “There are some akumas that I won’t talk about. I just- I can’t. They were…scary. And heart breaking. Just know, Hawkmoth started out targeting negative emotions that were surface level. Like being embarrassed from having a crush outed, or being sent to the principal’s office despite doing nothing wrong. But he’s evolved. Now, our akumas are much darker. A grieving mother, an abused child, someone who is ready for everything to just end.” Marinette pauses, swiping furiously at her tears before letting out a soft breath. “None of them are villains. The only villain is Hawkmoth.”
“Oh, Mars.” Conner says softly, immediately moving towards her to wrap her in a hug. Marinette immediately buries her face in his chest, crying softly as Conner holds her close. Clark’s heart breaks at the sight, and in that moment he makes a promise. Hawkmoth was going down. And soon.
Conner froze the second he walked into the living room of Lois and Clark’s. He’d been expecting his mentor or his mentor’s wife. What he hadn’t expected, was the small child he’d met over the summer who claimed she was his little sister (but that was a story for another time). He starts to back up. Maybe she hadn’t noticed him? Maybe he could sneak ou-
“Conner!” She chirps, her previous scowl immediately replaced by a wide grin. He nods at her.
“Hi Marinette. Where’s Clark? Or Lois?” He asks. She sighs, slumping back on the couch.
“Auntie Lois is on a call in her office and Uncle Clark got called away for work.” She pouts. Conner blinks.
“Oh. And they just left you in here?” He asks. She huffs.
“Duh. I’m five, I can watch a movie alone.” She says. He glances at the tv (it was off) before looking back at her.
“Right.” He says, glancing over her again. She was much angrier than she’d been when he’d seen her last. “Are you okay?” He asks.
“No. Well, yes, but no. Maman and Papa won’t let me get a dog.” She says. Conner raises an eyebrow. He hadn’t thought the kid was a brat before, but-
“Why do you need a dog?” He asks. He understood, to a point. He had Wolf, and would feel pretty lost without him. But to act like this? Over a dog? It was-
“Mme. Camille says it’ll help with the nightmares.” She says, her voice hollow and quiet. Conner jerks back slightly, as if he’d been slapped. Marinette had curled in on herself, obviously trying to make herself smaller. The nightmares? Marinette sighs, tugging her knees closer. “I have really bad nightmares. All the time. Maman and Papa took me to Mme. Camille to try to help. It doesn’t work. And since we can’t have a dog, they’re gonna make me take medicine.” Conner drops onto the armchair closest to the couch.
“I- I’m sorry, kiddo.” He says. She shrugs.
“Not your fault. ‘m just tired. But I’m too scared to sleep.” She says, and Conner can hear the exhaustion in her voice. Exhaustion that shouldn’t be present in such a young kid.
“Is there- can I do anything?” He asks. She shakes her head.
“No.”
“Do you wanna talk about the dreams?” He asks. She hesitates, eyebrows scrunching together.
“Sometimes, Paris is on fire. And sometimes the whole world is underwater. Because- because the stars are scared. And they’re really loud when they’re scared. And then I can’t stop thinking about the scary stuff that they’re worried about.” She explains, her voice barely audible. Conner just stares at her. That was- not what he was expecting. Weren’t kids supposed to have nightmares about clowns? And monsters under their bed? Not fires and floods. Before he can think too hard, Marinette begins to sniffle. Crap. Eyes wide, he moves so that he’s sitting next to her.
“Want a hug?” He asks softly. She doesn’t hesitate before throwing herself forward, wrapping her tiny arms around him. Conner, despite having super strength, is still caught off guard how strong the little girl is. “It’s okay, kiddo, I got you.” He says softly, gently petting her hair. He wasn’t exactly sure how to help her, but he could at least hug her. Maybe remind her she wasn’t alone.
“I’m sorry.” She sniffles after a few minutes.
“You don’t have to apologize, Marinette.” Conner says softly. “It’s okay.” AFter a minute, a thought comes to him. “Do you have a phone?” He asks. She pulls away from the hug, her eyebrows raised.
“I’m only five.” She says. Conner winces slightly. Right.
“Do you have a house phone?” He asks. She nods. “Can you use it?” Another nod. “Okay. How about I write down my phone number for you so that next time you have a nightmare, you can call me.” He suggests. She frowns.
“But Maman says the times are different and we can’t call all the time.” She says. Conner nods.
“Your maman is very smart, Marinette, but I’m saying it’s okay to call me if you have a nightmare or you’re scared. I’ll talk to your maman about it, too.” He says. Her eyes fill with unshed tears, and for a moment, he’s afraid he messed up.
“You’ll really help me?” She asks. He nods, pulling her back into a hug.
“I’ll always help you, kid.”
—
Letting out a long sigh, Clark puts the key into the door. Lois had apparently left for an emergency at the Daily Planet, but had assured him that Conner was a perfectly fine babysitter and that he could finish his League meeting before coming home. Doesn’t mean he wasn’t tired…or worried. Gently pushing the door open, he immediately raises an eyebrow at the sight. Conner and Marinette were sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, but that wasn’t the part that shocked him. The crown on his niece’s head and the tea set on the table also weren’t shocking. What was shocking was the feather boa around Conner’s neck. That and the floppy hat on the boy’s head.
“Lord Conner, you must remember to keep your pinky up.” Marinette chastises the boy as he picks up the tea cup. Conner nods, the twinkle of amusement in his eyes a contrast to the serious expression on his face.
“But of course, Princess Mari.” He says, before sticking his pinky out. Clark quickly snaps a picture with his phone before clearing his throat. Conner’s eyes widen slightly, before he grins lopsidedly.
“Having fun, kids?” Clark asks. Marinette nods rapidly.
“Conner’s the best!” She exclaims with a toothy grin. Conner’s grin becomes impossibly wider at the little girl’s statement.
“It’s my first tea party.” He says, shrugging. Clark ignores the slight twinge of anger in his chest. Not at Conner, of course. At the shit hand the boy had been dealt. The childhood that had been withheld from him. Even Clark had had a tea party when he was younger. Ma, Gina and Tom were all tea party fanatics. It hadn’t really occurred to him that it was an experience Conner might enjoy, too.
“Well I’m glad you guys have had fun. What do ya say we order a pizza for dinner?” He asks. Marinette cheers, and Conner nods. Clark grins at the two of them. Their family was odd, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything.
One thing that Clark Kent hated about being Superman, was the fact that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t save everyone. It was something that had weighed heavily on him during the entirety of his hero career. It was something that he was sure would continue to weigh heavily on him for the rest of his life. When you have powers, when you can do more than the average person, the pain of failure hurts even more. Because you should be better than that. He should be better than that. Days like these easily let him fall away into his thoughts; the negativity a never ending spiral that threatened to suffocate him if he stayed in their depths for too long. Especially with no one waiting back at his empty apartment. No one there to remind him that he’s only one man. That it’s okay to lose a fight, to fail a little. That it didn’t make him any less of a hero. Slumping down onto his couch, Clark lets his face fall into his hands, squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to keep the tears away. The shrill ringing of his phone brings him back, but he still just blinks at it. It didn’t matter. He could talk to them later. Whoever it was. Before he can disappear within his own head again, the phone rings again, this time a FaceTime request. Glancing at the caller, he can’t help the way his lip twitches up at the sight. Quickly wiping his eyes, he hits answer.
“Bonjour, Oncle Clark!” Marinette says, grinning widely. Clark grins back at his niece. She had recently turned four and, according to his brother, now thought she was very mature.
“Bonjour, Mari. How’d you get your dad’s phone, kid?” He asks with a grin. Marinette giggles.
“Papa and Maman are working. They thought I was sleeping, but you needed me.” She says. Clark blinks, raising an eyebrow.
“What?” He asks. She shrugs, huffing a bit.
“I don’t know! But you needed me.” She says again. Then, in a smaller voice, she says: “you were very sad.” Clark inhales sharply. Okay, so his niece somehow had a strong enough bond with him that she knew he was upset from an ocean away. Sure. He was going to file that away in the ‘weird things about my family’ list he had going on. A mental list, but a list nonetheless. Not that it mattered how she knew he was sad. It just meant she was different.
“Well, you were right. But I’m feeling better already.” He says gently. She grins, the tension melting away from her tiny shoulders.
“Oh, good! I watched the stars yesterday.” She says, getting a far away look on her face. He was pretty sure she remembered the short trip to the Watchtower that she’d taken when she was two. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to set up anything with Bruce and Dick again so the little budding friendship between the two had fizzled out. He did have hopes that one day, the two could meet again. Marinette could use a big brother in her life to watch out for her. The world was a big, scary place after all.
“Were they bright last night?” Clark asks. Sometimes, the lights in Paris were too bright for his niece to clearly watch the stars; which was something she complained about often. Marinette frowns.
“Non. They were…worried.” She says, tilting her head to the side as she thinks. Clark raises an eyebrow. Stars? Worried?
“How do- why do you think they were worried?” He asks. Her lower lip trembles slightly, and Clark’s afraid she’s going to start crying. Instead, she lets out a heavy breath, looking far too tired for four.
“I don’t know. But they’re worried about the man and the woman.” She says. Clark sits up a little straighter. Some people would just pass right over what she was saying. After all, she’s four. And she couldn’t have been awake for long, judging by the bed head and Disney princess pajamas she was still wearing. But- but Clark had proof that she could feel things she shouldn’t be able to. She knew he was sad, knew that talking to her would help. From an ocean away, his niece knew that. So if she said the stars were worried about a man and woman- well, Clark was inclined to believe her.
“Do you think you’re in danger?” He asks, trying hard to keep his tone light. No need to scare her, but if she thought there was danger…Clark was Superman. And although deep down he knew that he couldn’t save everyone, no matter how hard he tried, he’d be damned if his family was on the list of people he couldn’t save. He’d rather walk into hell itself than let anything happen to his family. The tired look on his niece’s face instantly morphs into confusion.
“No? I’m home!” She says. Clark does his best to smile, despite the tension he could feel restricting his body.
“I meant the stars, Mari. Do- do they think you’re in danger?” He asks. She hums, tilting her head towards something unseen. A window, maybe?
“I- I don’t think so. They’re worried, but they’re also waiting. It’s up to them.” She says firmly. Clark quirks an eyebrow.
“Up to who?” He asks. She shrugs.
“The man and woman.” Clark makes a mental promise to continue checking in on the situation. If he didn’t? If he missed something? And his family got hurt because of it? He would never forgive himself.
—-
Years later, after hearing about a man in Paris with the power of a god at his fingertips, Clark Kent couldn’t stop himself from being sick. At the thought of his family being hurt. At the long forgotten memory that was dredged up from the pit of his mind. A phone call with a little girl who said the stars were worried- a forgotten promise to check on the situation. A situation which had clearly surpassed anything that he could have imagined. And as Clark washes the bile out of his mouth, all he can think is: was it preventable? Could he have stopped this?
“So what do you do if a supervillain has zeroed in all of their attention on you, despite the fact that you have never done anything to said supervillain, but said supervillain is for some reason determined to make your life awful for no discernible reason?” Marinette asks her brothers, laying upside down on Conner’s bed. Jon laughs, and Conner- who had been taking a drink of Cola- spat everywhere as he choked on it.
“What?” He asks, eyes wide. Marinette sighs.
“If a supervillain puts all of their attention on you, for no reason, what do you do?” She asks again.
“That’s it? No context?” Conner asks. Marinette shakes her head.
“Nope.” She says. Conner sighs.
“Well, first of all, that’s not exactly something that I’d suggest.” He says. Marinette snorts.
“No shit, Sherlock.” She says. Conner narrows his eyes at her.
“Language.” He says. She huffs.
“I’m sixteen.”
“Jon’s ten.”
“It’s not like I haven’t heard Jason say worse.” Jon points out and Marinette snorts, nodding towards the kid.
“See. I’m practically a saint compared to your other friends, Kon.” She says.
“You’re not my friend, you’re my little sister. There’s a difference.” Conner huffs. Marinette rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. Where are we at with an answer for my dilemma?” She asks. Conner raises an eyebrow.
“Is this just hypothetical, or do you have something to tell us?” He asks. Marinette hesitates slightly, before laughing it off.
“Hypothetical, of course.” She says, hoping her cousins don’t catch her lie. Well, slight lie. She knows whyHawkmoth hates her (he wants her Miraculous). She just doesn’t know why he chose the last couple of years to be a tyrant.
“In this hypothetical situation, do you have superpowers or are you a civilian?” Conner asks.
“Civilian, definitely. Heroes know they have a target on their back.” Jon interjects, his entire posture saying ‘duh’. Marinette grins.
“Kids got a point.” She says, even though her personal situation was different. She didn’t ask to be a hero, or for the target to be placed on her back. It just fell into her lap one day and now she was stuck with it. No choice but to fight. But no point in dwelling on that now.
“Okay, well, in this situation, I’d suggest you go into witness protection.” Conner says, completely seriously. Jon nods solemnly, but Marinette just snorts.
“Really? Witness protection?” She asks. Kon nods.
“If a supervillain puts all of their energy on a civilian, the best thing to do is just stay the hell away from the villain.” He says.
“Language.” Uncle Clark says, opening the door and giving Conner a look. Marinette snorts at the look on her older brother’s face. “What’s this about a supervillain going after a civilian?” He asks. Jon shrugs.
“Mari brought up a hypothetical situation but I think she thinks our idea is dumb.” He says. Clark raises an eyebrow at her and she sighs.
“Your sons’ solution to a supervillain going after one civilian for no reason is for said civilian to go into witness protection.” She says. Uncle Clark shrugs.
“Honestly, sounds reasonable to me.” He says. Marinette groans.
“You’re all useless. Not a single good idea amongst the lot of you.” She groans. “Auntie Lois!” She calls, jumping up and heading out the door. Surely her aunt had a better idea than the boys. After all, her aunt was definitely the brains of the family.
Clark Kent didn’t often take days off. He enjoyed both of his jobs (being a journalist was something he liked almost as much as being a hero), and didn’t really see a need to stay at home alone. And then, his niece was born. And suddenly, days off were important. Because days off meant time he got to spend with his adorable niece. Someone who was growing and learning more and more every time he saw her. Like now. His older brother and Sabine had a convention in DC, which meant Marinette was staying with him in Metropolis for a week. Which meant, he was supposed to be off duty for the week.
“Bruce, I don’t exactly have an Alfred. What was I supposed to do with her? You’re the one who sent the emergency call even though you knew I had her this week.” He asks, trying not to let his tone suggest how frustrated he was. No need to upset Marinette (who was currently going back and forth between looking out the windows of the Watchtower and looking at him). Bruce’s jaw clenches slightly, his lips pursed.
“Bringing a child here was-” Bruce starts, but Marinette cuts him off with a squeal.
“Étoiles! Oncle Clark, étoiles!” She says, grinning from ear to ear, pointing out the window. Clark nods, smiling back at her.
“Yes they are. Can you say, star?” He asks, adjusting his hold to point back out the window.
“Oui! Star!” She says, before clapping. Bruce’s face falls slack as he sighs.
“I’ll have Robin stay here with her. But we need you.” He says. Clark nods. Robin was eleven, that’s old enough to babysit, right?
—-
Dick did not sign up for this when he put on the cape and became Robin. He wanted to avenge his parents and fight alongside Bruce. He didn’t want to babysit a toddler! He was totally whelmed.
“Brille, brille petite étoile dans la nuit qui se dévoile. Tout là-haut au firmament, tu scintilles comme un diamant. Brille, brille petite étoile, veille sur ceux qui dorment en bas.” The little girl, Marinette, sings again. She’d been singing it pretty much nonstop. And while it was cute the first couple of times, there were only so many times he could listen to ‘twinkle twinkle’ before he lost his mind.
“So, your Uncle said you’ve been working on English, too. That’s cool.” Dick says, because what else do you say to a random toddler that just so happens to be Superman’s niece?
“Cool!” She says, grinning. Dick grins back, unable to keep it in. Okay, maybe this wasn’t so bad.
“Wanna see a cool trick?” He asks. She nods. Dick jumps to his feet and does a couple of cartwheels before moving into a back handspring. Landing it, he looks over to the kid. He grins immediately when he sees the awed expression on her face as she claps excitedly.
“Again! Encore!” She giggles. Dick does, adding in a couple more flourishes with it just to make the kid giggle more. “Robin teach?” She asks, eyebrows scrunched in concentration. Dick frowns, thinking of something he could teach her. She was really little-
“Okay, but we have to be very, very careful, okay?” He asks. She nods, grinning.
“Okay!” Somersaults were easy enough for toddlers, right? He couldn’t remember what he’d learned by the time he was her age. He just knew he started learning tricks young. But how hard could it be to teach a two year old somersaults?
—-
Walking back into the Watchtower, Clark immediately zeroes in his hearing for his niece. Ignoring Bruce’s calls (probably reminding him to fill out his reports), he follows the sound of Marinette giggling. Walking into one of the gyms, he’s slightly shocked to see Dick helping her do a cartwheel on one of the mats. It was rough, but the second she was on her feet again, she cheered.
“Again, oiseau! Again!” She exclaims, clapping her hands. Dick laughs.
“Why don’t we try the somersault again instead?” He suggests. Marinette pouts.
“Non. Cartwheel please!” She says, moving into a position to attempt it again. Clark can see the moment she spots him. Her eyes widen and she runs to him, arms outstretched. Clark grins and picks her up, tossing her in the air gently. She giggles before landing back in his arms, hugging him tightly. Clark relaxes, letting out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding as he hugs her close. It’s not that he doubted Dick’s ability to babysit, but he had realized after leaving that the boy was an only child and had likely never spent time with such a young child before.
“Did you have fun with Robin?” He asks her, and she nods, grinning.
“Oui. Robin is my friend.” She says matter-of-factly. Clark glances at Dick, grinning at the shocked look on the boy’s face.
“Looks like you have a new friend, Robin.” He says. The boy grins, snapping out of his shock.
“I guess so. If you ever wanna learn more tricks, kid, you know where I am.” He says, and Marinette grins.
“Cool!” She says. Dick laughs and nods.
“Oh yeah kid, the coolest.” He says. Clark grins.
“Thank you for watching her, Robin.” He says. Dick grins.
“Any time. She’s a pretty cool kid.” He says. Clark laughs.
“That she is. Ready to go home, Sunshine?” He asks. Marinette shakes her head.
“No.” She says, turning around so that she can reach towards Dick. He reaches back towards her and she immediately latches onto him, giving him a tight hug. “Love you!” She says, hugging him close. Clark sneakily brings up his phone, snapping a quick picture of the two. He’d make sure to send it to Bruce later.
“Love you too kiddo.” Dick says, his voice quiet. Marinette leans back and reaches for Clark again. Once she’s settled in his arms, she waves at Dick.
“Bye bye!” She says. Clark grins.
“Bye Robin.” He says lightly, heading towards the Zeta tubes. Maybe he could arrange for Dick to babysit again. They both seemed to enjoy it. And if Marinette kept up with gymnastics, Dick would really be able to help her. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt for either of them to spend time with actual kids. Maybe they’d even grow up to be friends.
Marinette was angry. She’d been a hero for almost an entire year. Almost an entire year of putting her life on the line nearly every day with absolutely no training. Sure, she’d asked her Maman if she could sign up for gymnastics and self defense classes right after Hawkmoth showed up, but she still didn’t feel like it was enough. She was no closer to figuring out the villain situation than she was a year ago. Instead, she was just angry. Because for almost an entire year, she’d tried to contact the Justice League. And for almost an entire year, they had ignored her. Now, even though she was currently on a plane to her favorite place in the world (she’d recently met the Guardian of the Miraculous, who insisted he had a plan to make sure there were no attacks while she was gone for a week), she couldn’t shake off the residual anger. It was frustrating. She was hardly ever angry, especially this angry. This anger had lasted for days, and it was starting to grate on her nerves. She hoped that spending some time at the farm would help. She was certain she’d go crazy if it didn’t.
—
Conner was worried. Marinette was much quieter than she usually was. And he could see the tension in her shoulders. It had been there ever since they arrived, which wasn’t like her. Usually he could see the tension and worry literally melt off his little sister. But now…
“What’s wrong with M?” Jon asks, the missing front teeth giving him a slight lisp. Conner shrugs.
“I’m not sure yet. What did you notice?” He asks. Jon sighs.
“She doesn’t wanna go to the treehouse. And she keeps grinding her teeth. It sounds like it hurts.” His little brother says, the concern clear on his face. Conner nods.
“I’m gonna try to talk to her. I’ll send you in if it doesn’t go well.” He says. Jon’s jaw drops.
“Wait, why me?” He asks. Conner shrugs, grinning.
“Marinette could never be mad at you.” He says. Jon huffs, but grins. Conner ruffles his little brother’s hair before beginning his search for his little sister. It doesn’t take long to find her hiding in the barn, her knees pulled up to her chest with her face buried in her knees.
“Who is it?” She grumbles, not bothering to look up.
“Conner, but wouldn’t you have felt bad if it was Jon?” He asks, gently nudging her foot with his. She huffs.
“As if Jon could walk that quietly.” She says, making Conner snort. She had a point. Shaking his head, he sits next to her, leaving enough space between them so that they weren’t touching.
“Wanna tell me what’s been bothering you?” He asks, jumping straight to the point. She huffs, making herself even smaller.
“Nothing.” She mumbles.
“Bullshit. You’ve been tense as hell since you guys got here yesterday.” He says. Marinette snaps her gaze up to him, and he recognizes some of the emotions on her face and in her eyes. Hurt, anger, frustration, tiredness. “Look, you don’t have to tell me what’s wrong. But bottling it up like this and letting yourself get so tense- it’s not healthy.”
“Then what am I supposed to do? Really? Because at this point, I’ll take any suggestions.” She says, shaking her head. Conner glances around the barn, almost immediately spotting the punching bag in the corner. Clark had put it up a couple years ago when Conner was still struggling really badly with his anger.
“Hit something.” He says, standing up and holding a hand out. Marinette flinches back.
“I’m not going to hit you, Conner.” She says. Conner snorts.
“I don’t mean me, Mari. I mean the punching bag.” He says, nodding towards it. She perks up slightly, taking his hand and letting him help her up. “A couple years ago, Clark put it up for me. Back when I was really angry all the time. I don’t know if it’ll help you, but it always helped me. Got the tension and anger out without me snapping at someone.” He says, leading her towards it. He pulls out the tape and gauze.
“What’s that for?” She asks as he takes her hands and begins wrapping them.
“It’s to make sure you don’t hurt yourself. Trust me, I’ve seen plenty of people bust their knuckles on punching bags before.” He says, thinking back to the time he’d walked in on Dick, his knuckles covered in blood shortly after Jason had died- well. He understood it, but it also wasn’t the healthy way to go at a punching bag. And he certainly wasn’t going to let his little sister get hurt like that. He’d be mad at himself, and he didn’t even want to think about how mad everyone else would be at him, too.
“Is there a certain way to do this?” She asks, shifting her weight to stand in a position that was almost perfect. Conner grins before launching into an explanation. Hopefully, this would help.
—
After an hour of punching the heck out of the punching bag, Marinette finally felt like she could breathe. The anger that had seeped into every fiber of her being had dissolved almost completely, instead leaving her with a (bitter) resolve. She would stop trying to contact the Justice League. It was obvious they weren’t going to be any help to her, so she didn’t need to continue wasting her time. Not when there were other things that she could put her energy towards.
“Tag! You’re it!” Jon giggles, before running away from her. Marinette grins, focusing back on the game of tag she was playing with her whole family. Her cousins and Uncle were definitely going slow, but that was probably because her parents were also playing. But that worked for her- meant she actually had a chance.
“You better run, Jon, or I’m gonna get you!” She teases, sprinting after him as he giggles wildly. Things were better. Things were good.
As a parent, you love your child with your entire heart. You would do anything, absolutely anything to see your child safe and happy. Anything to hear them laugh, or to see them smile. To know that they are okay. And on the day the children went away, Clark Kent was in agony. The moment the members of the Young Justice team blinked out of existence, a wave of panic rushed through Clark. Yes, he was still learning how to communicate with Conner and their relationship wasn’t the best, but he cared about the kid.
“What the hell just happened?” Bruce asks, and Clark can barely hear the panic in his friend’s voice, but he knows it’s there. Because Conner may have blinked out of existence, but so had Bruce’s sons- Clark freezes. And then he listens. Frantically, he tries to hear his baby. Jon. Nothing. Sucking in a sharp breath, he turns his attention to his niece’s voice. And his brother’s. But instead of hearing his niece-
”Marinette? Marinette! Sabine, I can’t- where did she go? Where’s our baby?”
He just hears his brother’s frantic cries.
“It’s not just here.” Clark says, his voice breaking. Bruce’s head snaps over, immediately looking his way.
“What do you mean?” He asks. Clark swallows.
“Jon, Marinette- they’re gone too.” He says. And if being unable to hear their voices was agony, then saying they were gone aloud was torture.
—-
“Why the hell would you do that?” Conner asks, trying hard to control his anger. Nightwing frowns.
“Conner, I really am sorry, but I didn’t want you to have to make that decision. And I know you’re worried, but right now, our best bet is to work to try and fix this. The quicker we figure out what’s going on, the quicker we can make sure no kid is left alone.” He says, obviously trying to be the logical one. But Conner didn’t care about logic, not when his little sister was out there scared and alone.
“Wing has a point.” The new Robin says, shrugging unapologetically. “Now that we know it isn’t just the League members, we have to work quickly.”
“Fine. What’s your plan?” Conner asks, letting the bats take control. They were always the strategists, not him. And even if he wanted to make a plan, he wasn’t in the right headspace to do so.
—-
The second the call drops, Marinette begins crying. She frantically tries to call him back, but nothing. She was all alone. Glancing over the list of numbers, she decides to try one more. Her Aunt Lois and Uncle Clark’s home phone.
“Kent-Lane residence, this is Bailey.” An unfamiliar voice says. Marinette sniffles.
“Where’s Auntie Lois?” She asks.
“Lois is at work right now, can I ask who this is?” The voice, Bailey, asks.
“Marinette Dupain-Cheng. My parents disappeared and Uncle Clark said to call him if I’m ever in trouble but he’s not answering his phone.” She says, trying to keep her voice from shaking too much. She wanted to make sure the lady could understand her. “And then I called Conner, but the call failed and I’m scared.”
“Oh, honey, it’s okay. I’m sure your Uncle is just busy. Let me try to call him really quick, okay?” Bailey asks.
“No! Please don’t hang up. I don’t wanna be alone again.” Marinette pleads.
“Honey, if you’re all alone I really need to call someone.” Bailey tries again. Marinette shakes her head.
“No, please! Maman and Papa were in the room and then they just disappeared. They didn’t walk away, they just- they poofed!” She cries, hiccuping.
“Okay, okay. I’ll stay on the phone, don’t worry. Let’s just hope Lois and Clark don’t get mad at me for the phone bill.” Bailey mumbles the last part, but Marinette still hears.
“Auntie Lois and Uncle Clark never get mad. They’re really, really nice. They were even nice the time I dropped a vase and it shattered.” Marinette says, finally feeling as though she could breathe again.
“Really? That is nice! Do you have a lot of Aunts and Uncles?” Bailey asks. Marinette shakes her head, then remembers that the other girl can’t see her.
“No, just those two. But I have Jon and Conner and Ma and Pa and my Nona and my Maman and Papa too.” She says, listing off her family members.
“Wow! That’s a lot of people.” Bailey says. Marinette giggles.
“Yeah, and we’re all really, really loud, but I like it.” She says.
“I’ve seen some of the pictures you’ve colored on the fridge. Do you like to color a lot?” Bailey asks.
“Oh yes. I love art! And I love knitting. Ma taught me last summer. Sometimes, when I’m working on it, I pretend that I’m the knitting fairy! And that I’m the best knitter ever. But, I can’t really be the best knitter. Because that’s Ma, of course.” Marinette rambles on, carrying the house phone over so that she can curl up on the couch. She had decided that she wouldn’t go to school today. Not until she had her Maman and Papa back. Besides, Bailey was nice. She could talk to her instead of school. That would be okay.
—-
Clark knew the moment the spell was broken. Not only was he standing across from Conner, but he could also hear Jon’s light babbling and Marinette’s excited chatter as she’s reunited with her parents. He makes eye contact with Conner, and doesn’t hesitate to rush forward and pull the boy into a hug.
“I was so worried.” He says, holding onto him. Conner freezes slightly, before returning the hug.
“Marinette-” He started to say, but Clark cut him off.
“She’s fine. So is Jon.” He reassures him. Klarion would be out of commission for a while. Which hopefully meant they wouldn’t have to deal with anything like this. Ever again.
“I’m sorry I didn’t go to them.” Conner says quietly. Clark pulls away and looks at him, the shame and guilt clear on his face.
“Kon, you did what you had to do. Sometimes doing the right thing is hard, and sometimes it feels like the wrong thing at the time. But you helped to reconnect the worlds. And I-” Clark hesitates slightly, but then pushes forward. “I’m proud of you, son.” He says. Conner’s eyes widen before he’s grabbing onto him once again. And, for a moment, everything is right.
Marinette swung her legs back and forth, nibbling on her breakfast as she watched her parents dance around the kitchen. Her maman was smiling widely, and her papa looked just as happy. She didn’t know why. It was way too early in the morning to be so happy. Plus it was a school day.
“What do you think, yellow or green for Jon’s blanket?” Her papa asks, glancing over at her. Ever since he’d learned how to crochet, her papa had been making blankets for the kids. Conner had requested red, while Marinette had requested pink. Since Jon was still just a baby, he couldn’t pick a color yet. Just as she opens her mouth to respond, her parents blink out of existence. Her eyes widen immediately.
“Maman? Papa?” She calls timidly, panic shooting through her. “Maman! Papa!” She yells, jumping off her chair and rushing around the apartment. Frantically, she rushes around the apartment, desperate to try and find them. She was terrified of being alone. She didn’t want to be alone. Her bottom lip trembles as she tries to think of what to do. Who was she supposed to call? Her eyes widen. Uncle Clark! That’s it! Running to the house phone, she picks up the list of phone numbers and finds the one she needs. She dials and waits….and waits….and waits. Uncle Clark had always said that he would come if she needed him. That all she had to do was call him and he’d be there. No matter what.
“Uncle Clark! I need you!” She yells, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping he’ll appear. That maybe he would find a way to just show up in Paris. After a couple minutes, she opens her eyes and her heart sinks. He wasn’t there. She was still alone.
—
When all of the adults disappeared, Conner wasn’t too worried. Clark could take care of himself. So could Batman. Nightwing didn’t even seem worried. But the new Robin…
“Are you even listening to me?” He asks with a scowl. Nightwing pinches his nose.
“Ja-Robin, Batman will be fine. And we’ll be fine. I’m sure we can figure this out easily.” He says. Robin huffs.
“It’s not us I’m worried about, Dickhead. It’s the other kids.” Robin says, and Conner’s heart drops.
“What?” Conner asks. Robin turns to him.
“The other kids. What if the Leaguers weren’t the only grown ups who disappeared?” He asks, and suddenly the younger boy’s panic makes sense. Jon had a babysitter when Clark was on League business. Some teenaged intern from the Daily Planet, so he knew his little brother was okay. There was someone with him. But Marinette-
“I need to make a call.” He says, pulling out his phone. If Tom and Sabine were gone, what number- there. He stops on their house phone number and hits the call button, ignoring the questions from the two Robins in front of him. They didn’t matter right now. Not while his little sister was possibly scared and alone.
“H-hello?” She answers on the third ring, sniffling softly.
“Mari? It’s Conner.” He says softly. Nightwing’s mouth drops into a small ‘oh’. He knew of Marinette. Apparently he’d even babysat her once when she was really young. But the new Robin had only been around for four months. Not exactly enough time to bond about family stuff.
“Kon! I’m so scared.” She says, and his heart breaks. “Maman and Papa disappeared! I was eating breakfast and we were talking and now- they’re- they’re just gone.” Marinette cries.
“Are you alone?” He asks, dreading the answer.
“Yes. Kon, I don’t like being all alone.” She says, her voice barely audible. Conner winces, glancing at Nightwing.
“It’s gonna get fixed kiddo, okay? You just stay in the apartment until me or Clark or your parents come and get you, can you do that for me?” He asks gently. Preferably, he’d be going to his little sister. But the Zeta tubes in Paris were down for maintenance, and he’d only recently been able to fly. And it wasn’t even really flying yet. Just kind of hovering off the ground. His only other option to get to Paris was the bioship, but it was almost guaranteed that the team would need it to figure out the whole ‘missing adults’ situation.
“Please don’t hang up on me.” Marinette pleads, her voice frantic.
“Don’t worry, kiddo, I’m not going anywhere.” He says softly. “I’m gonna put the phone down for just a second, okay?”
“Okay.” She says, her voice barely audible. Conner mutes himself and looks at Nightwing.
“Is there any way I can have her on comms? She’s scared, and I can’t just leave her alone.” He asks his friend. Nightwing frowns.
“I understand where you’re coming from, Conner, but it would be a distraction. I’m sorry. I don’t think it’s a good idea.” He says. Conner grits his teeth.
“She’s only seven and she’s all alone.” Conner says, one last attempt to help his little sister.
“Why don’t you just Zeta to her?” Robin asks, and Nightwing winces.
“She lives in Paris.” Conner says flatly. Robin’s face falls into an ‘o’.
“C’mon, Wing, she’s just a kid. We can’t leave her scared and alone.” Robin says.
“I don’t like it any more than you do, Robin, but right now our priority is getting the adults back. I’m sorry Conner.” Nightwing says, before messing around with the computer. Conner goes to unmute his phone, but freezes when he sees the black screen.
“What did you do?” He asks Nightwing, glaring at his oldest friend.
“Now you don’t have to come up with an excuse, and you can blame it on poor connection when you call back later.” He says, and even though his words aren’t the kindest, Conner can hear the apology in his voice. Because he’d just made Conner leave his little sister scared and alone.
This was it. This was where she would die. She had faced countless monsters, demons straight out of her nightmares, the end of the world, her greatest nemesis, herself. How could this be the end? It couldn’t be, it couldn’t.
But it was. She could feel death calling to her. Agony crawled up her throat, heart twisted and cold. Betrayed by the person she called her brother in a parking lot behind a Taco Bell.
“Mari, I swear to kwami, if you do not get out of the car, I will break down the door myself and carry you in there over my shoulder.”
She glared at the grey fuzzy fabric on the vintage car’s roof. “This car is worth more than your salary tripled. I’d like to see you try, traitor.”
He groaned, and she heard a loud slap. “C'mon, Mari. I’m supposed to be the dramatic one, not you.”
“Yeah, well you should have thought about that before you dragged me to a Taco Bell to have a date with Jon.” Marinette hissed, curling up against the dog plush toy she kept in the car as a pillow.
She refused to make a statement on who she got it from. (“I don’t see why I need a reason to get a stuffed toy.”) Nor did she go into detail as to why she made it a little flannel jacket (“They were leftovers!”), and she rebelled against the very idea of talking about it in English (“We are French, we speak French!”).
While Adrien was her brother by all accounts except blood, he was also a romantic, and a massive dork. He saw Marinette, in all her flustered glory, pining over the sweet Metropolis boy with the clunky glasses and the cute dimples. The one who lent her his flannel jacket when she got cold on her first day at the University of Metropolis. Adrien saw the way her eyes lit up whenever the black-haired boy walked into the room, the way her cheeks flushed when she waved at him.
Adrien also saw the way the blue-eyed boy’s gaze always roamed the room, landing on her without a fail. The way his dimples deepened, and his laughter became fuller as he stared into Adrien’s little sister’s crystal blue eyes.
He thought things would run their course. It was only a matter of days. One of them had to step up to the plate and ask the other out. But days turned into weeks, weeks into months, months into a semester. They were no closer to getting together than they were at the start.
So, Adrien decided they could use a helping hand. Another week of subtle nudging went by, and all that came out of it was a pitiful “not-a-date” amusement park outing that set them back a further two steps because the two became even more awkward around each other, if that was even possible. This may have also led to the incorporation of Kujo, the flannel-wearing dog plushie, into the Dupain-Cheng sibling’s daily car rides.
Adrien snapped. He had had it with the two idiots oblivious to the other’s feelings. They were going to get together by the end of this week, whether it was by fate or by his own hand. It had nothing to do with the fifty dollars he bet with Damian about Jonette (Marinette and Jon’s ship name, patent pending). Nothing. How dare you even insinuate he would bet on his little sister’s love life. For shame.
He was about to yell out for Plagg to come out, hoping to scare Marinette, when the gods decided to favor him for once.
“Mars?” His sister jumped up, smashing her head against the backseat.
“Jon?” She bounded out the door, leaving Adrien gobsmacked. He had been trying to get her out of the car for the past ten minutes— “What are you doing here?”
Jon rubbed his neck and glanced at Adrien. “Adrien said you wanted to talk with me? I don’t know why we’re in a Taco Bell, of course. I mean, not that Taco Bells aren’t good, but they’re not where I expected we were gonna meet— not that I didn’t want to meet you because I did want to meet up with you—”
Oh god. Someone, anyone, please take Adrien out of his misery. There were two of them.
Adrien did what he did best. He meddled in his little sister’s love life, yet again.
“I’m starving,” he groaned, slinging an arm over Marinette’s shoulder and pulling her forward so she was closer to Jon. “I’m gonna head inside, order something for all of us, then come back out. Jon, do you want anything?”
“Uh, you choose, I trust you.” Jon fidgeted with his glasses, noticing the increase in proximity with Marinette. Adrien gave a feral grin, patting his little sister on the shoulder. Oh, Jon better put trust in him after today.
“Great, have fun, you two!” Before any of them could protest, Adrien bolted out of there faster than they could say ‘Superman’.
And then there were two.
mwahahaha that’s the end of day 6, folks! sorry to leave you like that, but i hope you enjoyed it. as always, like, comment, and reblog! big shoutout to the lovely people at @maribat-calendar-events for creating supermari may 2022, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you all are creating for this month. ciao <3
Marinette sighs as she slumps down onto a bean bag chair. A cool breeze rushes through the tree house, fresh and light. The only thing she didn’t like about their yearly trip to Kansas was the heat. Most of the time, it was bearable. Today, it was not.
“Why is it so hot?” Jon complains with a pout. At only eight years old, his cheeks still held some baby fat. Which meant he looked adorable, even though he was trying for ‘grumpy’.
“I blame America.” Marinette grumbles, dodging Conner as he tries to smack her.
“Why do you always blame the US?” He asks with a snort. Marinette shrugs.
“Why do you blame everything on the Illuminati?” She asks, Conner scoffs.
“Hey, that’s not my fault. Tim says it all the time, so it kinda just…rubbed off on me.” He says. Jon sighs.
“I’m bored.” He says, and Marinette smiles. Although she loved him dearly, Jon was horribly impatient. And, since he was only eight, usually insisted on not being bored. Suddenly remembering that her parents had went with Ma and Pa to the farmer’s market, Marinette grins.
“We could make cupcakes.” She suggests. Jon’s face lights up instantly, but Conner frowns.
“Are you sure we should do that? The adults are all gone.” He says. Marinette snorts.
“First of all, you’re our adult when everyone else is gone since you’re the oldest. Second, I help out at the bakery all the time. As long as you guys listen to me, nothing will go wrong.” She says. Conner keeps frowning, the hesitance still clear on his face. But Jon jumps up.
“We should make chocolate!” He declares before jumping down the ladder. Marinette ignores the fact that he definitely didn’t fall to the ground (he flew), instead turning to Conner.
“If anything bad happens, I’ll take the blame.” She assures him. He sighs, but nods. It was only cupcakes, what could really go wrong?
—-
For someone who carried around the physical embodiment of luck in her pocket, Marinette definitely did not have good luck. Case in point, the cupcake batter currently on the ceiling. How was it on the ceiling? Who could say. It may have been when Jon flipped the stand mixer to twelve. Or it may have been when Conner decided to add in melted chocolate while the mixer was going. It could have been any instance in between, too. But the problem wasn’t the batter on the ceiling or the small fire in the oven (she’d put out the first fire easily, the second one wouldn’t be much harder), no. The problem was that her parents had just called her. And they were on their way home. With Ma and Pa. And Lois and Clark.
“I told you baking was a bad idea.” Conner groans, dropping his head into his hands. Jon’s bottom lip trembles.
“Are we gonna get in trouble?” He asks. Marinette purses her lips and shakes her head.
“Not on my watch. I’ll put out the fire and then frost the salvageable cupcakes. And then I’ll wash the dishes. Boys, your job is to clean the ceiling. We’ll reconvene on the floors. But we have to work quickly, so move, move, move!” Marinette orders, immediately setting off to put out the fire in the oven. This would be the first time she was using the odd traits of the Kent side of the family to her advantage. Not that the boys would say anything about it. She’d purposefully given herself the jobs that she could do without looking near the boys in the hope that they’d take initiative and fly or use their speed or something. She was not about to get grounded in Kansas. Swiftly putting out the fire in the oven, Marinette grabs the tray of cupcakes and the bowl of frosting and moves into the dining room, fingers crosssed that the boys would take the chance to get the batter off the ceiling. Vaguely, she hears the sound of dishes being tossed around and something moving super fast. Perfect.
“Hey, do you use soap and water or pine-sol on the floors?” Conner asks, sticking his head into the dining room. Marinette blinks at him, slightly surprised.
“Uh, I think Ma has a Swiffer in the supply closet.” She says. Conner nods and ducks back into the kitchen. She easily fills a piping bag and starts topping the cupcakes. Just as she’s finishing the last one, Jon rushes in.
“They’re back.” He says. She doesn’t even question it (his hearing had always been better than hers) and grabs the tray of cupcakes, rushing back into the kitchen. She sighs in relief at the sight of it.
“Nice job.” She says, grinning at her brothers. Jon grins back, but Conner just gives her a look.
“Let’s never make cupcakes again, agreed?” He asks.
“Did somebody say cupcakes? Why wouldn’t y'all wanna make cupcakes?” Ma asks, walking in with a knowing smile. Marinette just grins sheepishly.
“The, uh, oven makes it too hot in the house.” She says, which wasn’t exactly a lie. Looking between the boys, Marinette suppresses a laugh. Okay, so maybe baking cupcakes wasn’t her best idea. She’d just add it to the list of things that shouldn’t be done with the Kents. (A list that, to this point, mostly included competitive physical activities in public. Just because she was okay with her odd family didn’t mean everyone would be. And she’d rather not fight a bunch of random strangers outside of akuma attacks).
Hello people of tumblr. MGI is hosting a new event right now!! That’s right we come to you with a new bracket event. Stories have been submitted and now it’s time to vote for your favorites!!! You can find all the stories here:https://archiveofourown.org/collections/MGI_Bracket_Fic_War_2
This was a bad idea. This was such a bad idea. Why did Tikki let her do this? In fact, why did she let Tikki encourage her to do this? This was going to be a disaster. A total catastrophe. A glorified mess. She should have never even thought about doing it.
So, why on earth was she standing in the middle of the Kents’ kitchen in Smallville, Kansas, rolling out pastry dough on the tiled countertop?
“If I knew this is what you looked like, I would have insisted that Jon bring you over sooner.” Martha Kent gave her a beaming smile, mixing the cut up apples in a well-loved ceramic bowl. “It’s not everyday my grandson makes such kind and pretty friends.”
Marinette blushed, focusing her eyes on the sweet shortcut pastry in front of her. “You’re too kind, madame.”
“Psh, I tell it how I see it. And please, call me Martha.” She paused to pat Marinette’s head. Marinette’s chest felt warm, and she grinned. Her Papa used to always pat her head in the kitchen when they baked together. As she got older, she was in the kitchen less and less, but he never stopped crushing her in his bear hugs.
“Then, thank you, Miss Martha.” It felt wrong calling the woman by her first name alone. Her Maman and Papa brought her up with manners, and it was unfathomable to abandon them, especially with Jon’s grandmother.
Martha nodded her and gave her a knowing smile, which she returned with a sheepish grin.
“Well, Marinette,” The elder woman rolled up her sleeves. “These pies aren’t going to bake themselves. I still need to give you a taste of my world-famous apple pies!”
Marinette almost laughed out loud. Jon had promised his grandmother that he would help her make some of her mouth-watering apple pies for the local county fair over the weekend, but his dad had an emergency at work, so the whole Kent family were staying back in Metropolis. There wasn’t anytime to find another person to help Ma Kent, and the job called for at least two or three people. He didn’t know what to do, and he never wanted to disappoint his grandmother, even if she said it was fine.
In the middle of the night, either early Saturday morning or late Friday evening, he called Marinette. She was the only friend he knew that was available and wouldn’t blow up the kitchen five seconds into picking up a bowl. A bowl.
A roaring siren blast into her ears, and she cracked open her bleary eyes. That wasn’t her alarm clock. This was her ringer for calls in the middle of the night. It was the only thing that could wake her up. It also was the same alarm they used in Paris when there was a Code Black akuma. Without looking at the caller, she swiped at the screen.
“Whoever you are, you better be either calling me to inform me of someone’s death, or you are calling to call yours in at an earlier, more convenient time.”
“Hey Mari,” Oh Kwami. What the hell was Jon doing calling her at…
She glanced at her digital alarm clock beside her. “Jon, what the hell are you doing calling me at four am in the morning?”
“Is that the time there? I’m so sorry for calling you so early in the morning.”
If this was Adrien speaking, she would have already hung up, or at least threaten his demise. But since this was Jon, she was cool.
“What do you want?” She winced at her tone. Apparently, she should add blunt to the list.
Either Jon was a saint, oblivious, or he thought the matter was of utmost importance. “I need to call in a favour. It’s really important to me.”
Marinette wanted to stab herself, but she didn’t hesitate with her next words.
“I’ll do it.”
Biting her lip, she slammed her fist into her thigh to prevent her from screaming at herself. Desperate, much? Yes, but she would rather be called pathetic, thank you very much.
She could feel Jon smiling through the phone. His voice said it all. “Really? Are you sure? I haven’t even told you the favour yet!”
“Trust me, I can do it. It’s a Saturday.” She waved off, trying to play it cool. “It’s not like you’re asking me to steal someone’s phone to delete an embarrassing video or text.”
She paused, thinking about it. Then, she shrugged. “Even if you did ask me to do that, I’ve been there, done that. It would be a piece of cake.”
“What?” She cringed. He was not supposed to know that.
“It doesn’t matter. So, what was the favour again?”
“Mari,” Her heart stuttered at his tone. It sounded like he was whispering directly into her ear, even if it was probably because he didn’t want people around him knowing she had committed a felony in the past, and was willing to do it again. God, the power this boy held in his hands over her. “Did you just say you stole a phone—”
“—moving on—”
“—Mari—” “—nette? Marinette?” The bluebell-eyed girl snapped to attention, and Martha chuckled.
"What’s got you in a tizzy?“ She nudged the younger girl with her hip. "Thinking about my grandson?”
Her cheeks warmed, but she shook her head, averting her eyes to the dough she was stretching over a pie dish. “It wasn’t anything like what you’re thinking, I promise!”
“A shame, then.” Martha pinched her cheek with flour-dusted fingers, making her glance up. “You’d be perfect for him. He needs a woman with a level-head on her shoulders, much like his father.”
Marinette lit up like a Christmas tree. It wasn’t everyday you got compared to Lois Lane, one of the most successful working women in the world. Not only was she a Pulitzer Prize winner amongst her many awards, she was an independent figure who stood in the field of journalism and made a name for herself, unafraid to risk her life to get the truth and justice.
“Thank you, madame.” Marinette stretched out the pie dish lined with dough. The elder women waved her off, accepting the dish.
“No need for thanks. And, as I’ve said, call me Martha.” Beaming at the blushing young lady, she started to scoop some pie filling into the dish.
Marinette started to roll the other dough out, being careful not to break the butter up too much. The heat in the kitchen caught up to her, but it was a heat whose familiarity grew with years of living with bakers for parents. She was in her element, and it made her calm. It was going good. As long as she kept her cool, she could potentially make it out of this without embarrassing
“Grandma!” A boy called out from outside the house. “Dad dropped me off, so I’m here to help!”
The back door burst open, and a beaming Jon Kent came ambling into the kitchen. He grinned, dipping his index finger into the bowl where they had mixed the apple mixture in and put it in his mouth. “Mhm, that’s some good apple.”
Marinette’s did all she could to keep herself level. She needed to be calm, to be ice cold. No emotions at all. If she didn’t, then Martha and Jon would both know. Her face would be too red. So, she took a deep breath, forcing her body to relax. It was like she placed a stopper on her emotions, just like in Paris. Shuddering, she shook all thoughts off of Paris. She came to Metropolis for a reason.
Martha let out a hearty laugh. “Too late for that offer, but thank you so much, sweetheart!”
“Always happy to help, Grandma.” Jon grinned, and he turned to Marinette for the first time since he entered the room. “Thanks so much for doing this, Mars.”
Shit. Emotions down, emotions down. Marinette smiled. What are you doing, idiot? Stop smiling! If she doesn’t smile, it would be weirder. He just thanked her. What was she supposed to do, not smile and be a bitch? Point taken.
“Anytime, Jon.” Martha glanced at the two of them and shook her head side to side, handing Marinette a bowl of cream and a whisk.
“Oh, youth. What a beautiful time for love.” She winked at Marinette, and the young girl flushed, all control over her body gone as her face lit up redder than Rudolph’s nose.
“GRANDMA!”
Marinette took pride in not being the only flushed teenager in the room. Maybe it wasn’t as one-sided as she thought.
Nah, she thought, busying herself with the cream. Get your mind out of the gutter.
oh mari. oh poor poor mari. the power you hold over this boy… thank you so much again @maribat-calendar-events for the lovely prompts!
TAG LIST (open, please comment on MASTERLIST to be added)
Marinette can hear Tikki talking, but she can’t listen. All she can do is stare at the wall. The adrenaline from the fight is long gone, leaving her feeling hollow. How was she supposed to be a hero? How was she supposed to fight a supervillain? She was only twelve! This wasn’t- this was so far from what she expected to do this school year. She thought she’d make new friends, maybe join a club or two. Not become a hero!
“Marinette, if you just talk to me-” Tikki starts, but Marinette cuts them off.
“I don’t want to talk to you! I didn’t ask to be a hero. I don’t- I’m not-” Marinette takes in a shaky breath, quickly wiping her tears. “I need a minute.” She mumbles, grabbing her phone and climbing onto her balcony. The second the skylight is closed, she dials a number that she knew by heart. One of her lifelines.
“Hello?” Conner answers immediately. Marinette bursts into tears, the realization hitting her that she couldn’t tell him everything. She couldn’t tell anyone. “Oh Mari- do you wanna talk about it or do you need to be distracted?” He asks. Marinette takes a gasping breath, swiping at her eyes.
“I don’t- I can’t- Please just talk about anything.” She finally says.
“Well, you know how Jon just started first grade? Apparently, he climbed on top of one of the play structures and then jumped off of it. He was fine, but it really scared the teachers. They had to make him promise not to do it anymore.” Conner says, laughing slightly. “Oh, and you remember my friend Megan? She tried to use your cupcake recipe a couple days ago. It was going okay until she got distracted, and then somehow, the cupcakes exploded.” He says. Marinette lets out a soft laugh, her tears slower.
“How did she explode them?” She asks, focusing on Conner and his stories instead of the panic thrumming through her. Conner laughs.
“Honestly? I’m not sure. I think it had something to do with the baking soda.” He says. Marinette laughs, shaking her head.
“I didn’t even know that was possible.” She says, the pressure on her chest easing slightly.
“I don’t think she did either. It’s still better than when my friend Wally tried to make cookies. They turned out like hockey pucks.” Conner says with a snort. Marinette grins as her negative emotions continue to peel away, leaving her feeling lighter than she had since before the whole ‘Ivan turning into a giant stone monster’ thing started.
“Thanks, Kon.” She says quietly, feeling bad that she can’t elaborate.
“No problem, kiddo. I’m always gonna be here for you. Did you wanna talk about it now?” He asks, and even though his tone is light, she can still hear the slight worry in it.
“Not really.” She mumbles.
“That’s okay. Are you at least a little better now?” He asks. She nods, then remembers he can’t see her.
“Yeah. I’m sorry Kon, it’s just- it’s been a rough week.” Marinette says.
“Hey, it’s fine. Don’t apologize.” Conner says. “Shouldn’t you be asleep right now?” He asks, obviously remembering their different time zones. Marinette winces.
“Well…” She trails off and Conner sighs.
“Nightmares back?” He asks. Marinette frowns. Nightmares can’t come back if you don’t sleep. She learned that from watching that one scary movie with Conner.
“No, I’m just…stressed.” She says.
“Understandable, but I’m gonna let you go so you can try and get some sleep, okay?” Conner says softly.
“Yeah. Bye Kon.” She says.
“Bye kiddo.” He says. She hangs up and sighs lightly. Taking a long breath, she climbs back down into her room and immediately makes eye contact with Tikki.
“Okay. I’m ready to listen.” Marinette says.
—-
One and a half years later
Marinette climbs the ladder to her room and immediately rushes to the bathroom to throw up. She cries, taking gasping breaths as she tries (and fails) to calm herself down. She’d caused the end of the world. Her and her supposed love for Chat Noir had ended everything. Everyone was dead. Everyone. It may be fixed now, but she would never forget what it looked like. How off the whole world had felt. The haunting sound of Chat Noir singing, all alone in a city under water.
“Marinette, you should call someone. If you don’t calm down, you’re going to attract an akuma.” Tikki says worriedly, floating next to her face. Marinette nods, hands shaking as she stumbles to her feet and out to her room. Grabbing her phone, she dials blindly, trying harder to focus on shoving down her panic and fear than who she’s calling.
“Hello?” Conner’s groggy voice answers on the other end. Marinette tries to speak, but can’t get out anything but a whimper. “Marinette, are you safe?” He asks urgently, sounding more alert.
“Yes.” She breathes out.
“Did you know that I have a new friend named Tim? He’s Dick’s little brother. You remember Dick, right? Well, Tim’s kinda like him. They both have super bad tempers. But Dick is much quicker to laugh and smile, but Tim’s more somber in general. He’s around your age, ya know? He’s really into computers, kind of like your friend Max. He’s pretty cool. It took Dick a while to really hang out with him. I think he felt bad because of everything that happened with Ja- well. How did your last attempt to talk to Adrien go?” Conner rambles, but Marinette sucks in a breath at the mention of Adrien. That stupid gift somehow gave her away and ended the world and-
“Okay, well, Lois has been gone for the last two weeks doing a story out in California, so Clark was left in charge. Which, you know, doesn’t always end the best. He’s fine at cooking and laundry and stuff, but he’s not great at telling Jon no. Which means despite cooking an actual dinner last night, Jon had cake and ice cream for dinner. Which also means that he was bouncing off the walls for hours. He even tried to do a cartwheel over the couch, but he just kinda ended up falling. He’s not really the most graceful. Anyway, Clark had to chase him around and he ended up accidentally breaking the ceiling fan- don’t ask- so he’s frantically searching for someone to fix it before Lois gets back tomorrow.” Conner keeps rambling. Marinette lets out a shaky breath.
“Auntie Lois would be able to fix it.” She says slowly, latching onto his story. Conner laughs.
“Of course she could, she’s kind of the coolest. Just- don’t tell her I said that.” He says. Marinette smiles a bit. As Conner continues to talk, Marinette is slowly able to breathe easier. Everything that had happened was still resting heavily on her mind, but with her older brother to back her up and talk to her, it didn’t seem as scary as before.
Marinette was super excited! She gets to spend a whole five days with her Uncle in Metropolis! Her parents were in a baking competition up in New York, so Uncle Clark had said she could stay with him.
“Are you excited?” Her Uncle asks, grinning at her as they walk towards the Daily Planet building. She nods rapidly, barely able to keep herself from jumping up and down.
“Is Auntie Lois gonna be there?” She asks. Her Uncle’s face turns pink.
“I uh, I don’t know if- why do you insist on calling her Auntie?” He asks, stumbling over his words. Marinette shrugs, smiling.
“She told me to. Plus she’s awesome.” She says. He opens and closes his mouth several times before just laughing and shaking his head.
“Okay then. C’mere kiddo.” He says, leaning down and picking her up. Marinette giggles when he tosses her up in the air before setting her on his shoulders. He walks into the Daily Planet and Marinette grins, glancing all around the room. It was one of her favorite places in the whole world. She loved all of the people and noises. And the smell of ink and warm paper.
“Hey! There’s my favorite kid!” Jimmy calls, walking over to her and her Uncle. Marinette gasps, clambering down and reaching for Jimmy. He laughs and takes her, giving her a hug. “You’re getting so tall! How old are you now? Twenty?” He asks. Marinette giggles.
“I’m four!” She says, holding up four fingers. Jimmy gasps.
“Wow! How long are you here for?” He asks, glancing back at her Uncle.
“She’s here til Sunday. I was gonna take the rest of the week off, but she insisted on coming in to see everybody.” Uncle Clark laughs. Jimmy grins.
“Well I’d hope so! I know a certain someone would’ve been upset if she knew her favorite lady was in town and didn’t stop to say hi.” Jimmy says. Marinette’s eyes widen.
“Is Auntie Lois here?” She asks. Jimmy nods and she jumps out of his arms. Immediately, she starts to run, ignoring her Uncle calling for her and running behind her. She knew right where Auntie Lois’ office was, and she was determined to get there before her Uncle could stop her. Turning the corner, she grins and runs even faster, latching herself onto her Aunt’s legs.
“Oomph.” Auntie Lois grunts, stumbling slightly. Marinette grins up at her, giggling when the woman picks her up and hugs her close. “If it isn’t my favorite niece! Did you come here all by yourself?” She asks.
“I remembered where your office was!” Marinette says, grinning cheekily. Auntie Lois laughs, shaking her head.
“You’re very smart. Where’s your Uncle?” She asks.
“Right here.” Uncle Clark says, his cheeks pink. Marinette turns around in her Aunt’s hold, reaching for her Uncle. He sighs, but smiles and reaches for her. Easily taking her, he helps her back onto his shoulders. “Jimmy spilled the beans that you were here. Neither of us could keep up with the kid after that.” He says with a grin. Auntie Lois snorts.
“Of course not. I am her favorite, after all.” She says. Uncle Clark gasps.
“Is that true, Mari?” He asks. She nods her head.
“Auntie Lois is my favorite aunt and you’re my favorite Uncle.” She says. Uncle Clark laughs.
“Of course, how silly of me.” He says. Marinette just grins. This was going to be the best day ever.
—-
Clark settles back onto his couch, letting out a sigh. It’d been a long (but fun) day. Marinette had insisted she didn’t have a bed time, even though he knew she did. He did let her stay up just a little bit, but she’d finally gotten to bed an hour ago. It’d been relatively quiet on the hero side of things something he hoped would last, but had plans for if it didn’t. Just as he starts to doze off, a shrill scream echoes throughout his apartment.
“Marinette.” He says, eyes wide as he immediately rushes to her room. He’s there and holding her in seconds, cradling his sobbing niece to his chest. He hums softly, rocking her back and forth. He continues to sing quietly to her until her sobs fall into soft sniffles.
“I’m sorry.” She says, her voice breaking slightly. Clark frowns.
“You don’t have to apologize, Sunshine. Are you- are you okay?” He asks. She shrugs, clinging to him tighter.
“I’m fine.” She says. He purses his lips.
“Are you sure?” He asks. Her lower lip trembles.
“I had a nightmare again.” She says, her voice barely audible. Clark’s heart breaks as he holds her tighter.
“How often do you have nightmares, Mari?” He asks. She shrugs.
“All the time.” She says simply. Clark mentally makes a note to tell Tom and Sabine. Or to at least ask them if they knew about it. “I know they can’t hurt me, but it’s still really scary.” She mutters. Clark winces, feeling suddenly helpless. He was one of the strongest beings on Earth. He could fight almost any villain easily. But he couldn’t keep the nightmares away. He didn’t have a way to help his niece, and it made him feel awful.
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.” He says softly, hugging her gently. Marinette sniffles.
“Can you please stay? Just til I fall asleep again?” She asks in a small voice. Clark nods, playing with her hair. He couldn’t fix the nightmare problem, but maybe he could help keep them from coming back. Tonight at least.
Clark Kent didn’t go to Paris often. After all, despite being Superman, he was still living off of a journalist’s salary. This was a special occasion though. His older brother had insisted the he, Ma, and Pa all come visit (Gina had insisted on paying for their tickets). Clark had only been to Paris for the occasional mission with Diana. His parents, on the other hand, had never been to Paris. Despite Gina’s insistence that they visit while she was in town (a feat that was nearly impossible, since the woman rarely stayed in the same place for long).
“Isn’t this exciting? Paris, in the spring! It’s beautiful!” Ma gushes, despite the fact that they hadn’t even stepped out of the airport yet. Clark grins at his mother. He’d always admired his mother’s optimism. It wasn’t ever unfounded, and she wasn’t relentlessly positive like some people he knew. But she did always tend to spot the brightest things first.
“Now, here’s the address Tom sent. Apparently, they’ve closed the bakery for the week, so we’ll have to go in the side door.” Pa says, reading over the letter again. Clark frowns, having not read the letter himself.
“Are they okay?” He asks, a spark of worry flowing through him. His big brother had dreamt of opening a bakery for as long as Clark could remember. He’d even went against his father, and the two hadn’t had a relationship since. If the bakery was really closed for an entire week…
“If something was wrong, Gina would have called.” Ma reassures him as they head for the cabs. Clark purses his lips, but nods. Surely everything was okay, right?
—-
Standing on the other side of his brother’s apartment door, Clark listens carefully. Three heart beats. Everyone was okay. He lets out a small sigh, letting his shoulders slump slightly as he relaxes. Ma knocks on the door, immediately pulling Tom into a hug as he opens the door.
“Welcome! Welcome! Come in, please. We have a surprise for you.” Tom says, gesturing for them to follow. Clark makes eye contact with him, and grins at the pure happiness covering his brother’s face.
“We really need to start talk-” Clark starts, but stops when he spots the source of the third heartbeat, his eyes widening. It wasn’t Gina, like he’d originally assumed. It was a baby. A tiny thing wrapped in a pale pink blanket, a tuft of dark hair on the top of her head. Clark looks at his brother, jaw dropping slightly. Tom just grins.
“I see you’ve found the surprise. Meet Marinette.” He says, gently taking her from Sabine. The baby yawns, opening her eyes to reveal a bright blue color.
“Oh! The first grandbaby!” Ma calls, immediately holding out her arms. Sabine smiles and passes her over.
“We were going to tell you sooner, but someone was a little difficult.” Sabine says. Her tone is light, but Clark could see the slight pain in her eyes. Could hear the way her heart stuttered. He glances at his niece, at how small she was. A million thoughts of how things could’ve gone worse run through his head. He could’ve never met her- Marinette. And he never would have known differently. The thought sends a pain through his chest as he watches his mom hold the baby closer, snuggling her.
“Clark?” Tom says. Clark glances up immediately, hearing the worry in his brother’s voice. “Are you okay?” He asks. Clark blinks, surprised to feel tears.
“I- yes, sorry. She’s just- she’s so little.” He says softly. Tom smiles.
“I said the same thing.” He says, holding his arms out for her. Ma reluctantly hands her back to Tom, but suddenly, he’s holding her out towards Clark. Clark freezes, immediately tense. He didn’t spend much time around kids. Or babies. The most time he’d spend around a kid was Batman’s new sidekick- Robin. And even then it was only for a couple of minutes at a time. And despite being tiny, Robin was still much bigger than his niece.
“I don’t wanna hurt her.” Clark says, his voice low as he tries to hide how scared he was. Tom smiles encouragingly.
“You can do this.” He says, gently laying Marinette in Clark’s arms, which had been positioned by his mom. The second she’s in his arms, Clark melts. And he knows. He would fight any villain or monster a million times, just to make the world safe for his niece. Clark smiles down at her, just as her eyes open. And maybe it’s gas, but he swears she smiles back.
“Hi Sunshine, I’m your Uncle Clark.” He says, unable to stop his smile from widening as she yawns, blinking her blue eyes at him.
“Clark?” Tom says, and he glances at his older brother, trying not to be concerned at his serious tone.
“Yes?” He asks.
“Sabine and I were actually hoping,” He starts, glancing at Sabine and smiling before turning back. “Would you be her godfather?” He asks. Clark’s eyes widen.
“Me? Really?” He asks. Tom nods.
“I can’t think of anyone I would trust more than my little brother.” He says. Clark glances at his mom who holds her arms out so that he can pass Marinette to her. Once she’s safely settled in his mom’s arms, Clark walks swiftly to his big brother and wraps him in a hug (trying hard not to squeeze too tightly).
“Thank you.” Clark says quietly. He listens carefully to the heart beats in the room, all strong. All family. All safe.
There came a time in life when people are assigned partners or a group to work with. Rarely does it matter if you get along with the person or not, but what matters is the end result, no matter how it was reached within legal and ethical parameters.
If Marinette Dupain-Cheng could strangle the person who put her with Damian Wayne, then she would. Damian Wayne was, on all accounts, an entitled, arrogant bastard who had the brains and brawn to back it up, much to her chagrin. He was intelligent beyond his years, an Adonis with symmetrical features (that may or may not have influenced her new designs and sketches), and somehow had the maturity of an old wise sage and a thirteen-year-old brat all at the same time. He berated her on the little mistakes she made and poked at the contributions she made to the project in question.
It wasn’t like she was a saint either. After the initial bumpy meeting, she would blow her fuse earlier than she did with her friends, and snark made its debut into her attitude. Funny enough, it only came out when she dealt with him.
They were too opposite of each other to get along, yet too similar to each other to let bygones be bygones. Both of them were bull-headed, independent, creative diverse people who work against people two or three years older than them. But where she was bubbly, he was prickly. Where he called it realism, she called it pessimism. Her idealism was his half-witted optimism. Stubborn to a fault, they both were unwilling to see the other’s side. She hated him, and he hated her.
Jon was her — their, if they were being technical — only saving light in this whole fiasco. He stepped in before the arguments got too big, slinging an arm over Damian’s shoulder, or asking Marinette about her latest fashion project. His smile was their saving grace, and she wondered, on more than one occasion, how he managed to put up with the asshole that was Damian Wayne.
Which brought her to her impromptu lunch with Jon in the campus cafeteria. It was not a date, thank you very much. Or at least, that’s what she was telling herself and the little Adrien devil sitting on her shoulder. Jon was there to accompany Damian, and Damian was there to attempt to finish their project together.
At that moment, Damian was out buying his vegan lunch while Marinette and Jon had already found a table and were chowing down on their homemade lunches. She had almost rolled her eyes when he made a snide comment about her squished pastries, biting back a remark about how spoiled he was, buying subpar lunch at a cafeteria that jacked the prices way too high.
“Jon,” she whined, slamming her head on the table. “Why, why are you friends with the démon himself?”
Jon gave her a smile, gulping down a bite of his sandwich. “Our dads are friends, and we’ve been friends since I was twelve. We get along.”
“But why? You are like me, so how can you put up with him, but I can’t?” She wanted to point at him with her chopsticks, but she could already imagine the earful she’d get from her Maman. She shuddered at the thought. Maman always knew, always.
“Why? We’re two different people, so I guess opposites attract.” He took another bite of his sandwich, eyeing the crowd.
She stared him down. “Let me put it this way. We,” she gestured to the two of them, “we are like terms. X, if you will. Now, he is Y, which is the perpendicular to X, and by all means, should not get along. How is it that you intersect with him while Damian is like a parallel line to me?”
“Because…” He trailed off, trying to process what she said and refute it at the same time, gave up and shrugged. “I don’t know. Something about getting put in near-death situations where you can only rely on the other person just does it. You learn to get along.”
Marinette blinked at his unflinching smile. Dazzling, yes, and she never would have thought he talked about being in near-death situations if she hadn’t heard it herself. They stared each other down. She wanted to know what he meant. He started sweating under her gaze, sandwich laid forgotten in his hands.
He looked away first. Ha.
“I think I can hear Damian calling me. I’m just going to—” He muttered and cut through the crowd like a blade in water. Not even ten seconds later, he emerged from the crowd again, dragging along a grumbling Damian behind him.
Her face twisted, pastries forgotten on the side. “How the hell did you hear Damian calling out to you?”
“Please, I could hear the both of you from a mile away.” The green-eyed boy scoffed. “Maybe you should get your hearing tested.”
She narrowed her eyes. “If you were listening, you would have noticed I was talking about hearing you, not—”
“Ok then.” Jon interrupted, seeing the signs of a brewing argument. “How about we just chill for a bit, maybe not kill each other until the rest of the day?”
They glared at each other from the corner of their eyes and gave a solemn nod. Jon was trying to make an effort to get his friends to like each other, and they both agreed to compromise for Jon. It didn’t make it any less irritating to sit with each other though.
Jon grinned. “Great! Now, I think we were in the middle of discussing our favourite heroes the last time we sat together.”
Damian and Marinette groaned. If there was one other thing they agreed on, it was their mutual dislike of whatever topics Jon brought up. Specifically if it had to do with heroes.
—————–
Marinette stretched her hands up, rolling her neck. “I think that’s it. The hell project is finished.”
“Yes it is.” Damian cricked his neck with his hand, groaning.
Jon looked at them with puppy eyes. “Come on, it couldn’t have been that bad.”
“Jon, I don’t know where the hell you’ve been for the past two hours, but this was absolute hell.” She glared at the innocent boy, who answered with a blank stare.
“Save it, DC.” Damian huffed, not looking up at her. Jon’s face lit up at the nickname. In his eyes, it was a step forward to friendship between the stubborn geniuses. “Kent isn’t going to suddenly become more aware just because you’ve pointed it out. You have to wait for him to come to the conclusion himself.”
Jon looked like he sucked a lemon. “Hey, rude much!”
“Everything I’ve said was true, and you know it.” Damian rolled his eyes. If she got along with the boy, she would have laughed. As it was, she settled for a minute smile. “And if we’re talking about rude, then I would appreciate it if you would not insist on using my phone to talk to Dupain-Cheng between classes.”
“What?” Jon’s face lit up Peach pink, and she felt hers do the same. “I mean, you’re the one with her phone number for the project—”
“—and it’s not as if you hadn’t memorised her phone number already.” Damian gave her a terse nod. She stared at him. What was he doing?
Before the two stunned people could move, he stood up. “Now, if you will excuse me. I have better things to do with my time than to watch this paltry game of chicken.”
They watched as he strode off, and the room was quiet. They couldn’t make eye contact with each other, and their eyes were glued to the table.
Come on, Mari, she thought, new country, new university, new you.
She took a deep breath, glanced up then back down again. Nope. Couldn’t do it that time. Maybe once more.
This time, she met shy blue eyes and a blinding smile.
“So…” He trailed off, phone in his hand.
Her heart fluttered, and she channeled as much Lady Noire energy as she could. “Can I have your number?”
He nodded and gave her that wonderful heartthrob smile she loved so much. She almost melted on the spot. Oh Kwami, she was doomed from the beginning.
hello and welcome back to hlmhlmn! they’ve exchanged phone numbers now, marriage is next— kidding. but anyways. thank you again @maribat-calendar-events for the lovely prompts and i hope you stick around <3
Marinette was going to kill him. She was going to murder Adrien “Radiant Carefree Dreamy” Agreste. Say goodbye, world, to the blond sunshine. He was not long for this world, and it was inevitable for it to be shortened because of his actions. She could handle the drama. She could handle the daddy and mommy issues. She could even handle the goddamn leather cat suit.
But this? This was where she drew the line.
“What,” she growled, pinning her brother down with her glare and the mop she found in the kitchen, “did you do to the jacket?”
Adrien was cornered. He had nowhere to go. All possible exits were blocked by Marinette, Plagg was preoccupied with two whole wheels of Camembert, and Marinette had that look in her eye. The one promising pain and torture and his anime collection finding itself on eBay before he could even say “spaghetti”. What’s worse was that Marinette knew she had him on the ropes.
He gulped. “I can explain?”
“Start talking.” She leveled the handle to his neck, and his eyes grew frantic. “If you talk fast enough, I might cancel the auction for your PreCure action figure in time.”
“You don’t mean…” He gasped, covering his mouth with his hands. “Not Cure Twinkle, Go! Princess Precure limited edition! Anyone but her! Take Cure Flora, or Scarlet, but not Twinkle!”
She was a walking disaster. They should hang a sign on her saying she was a hazard and caution should be taken within a ten feet radius. Why would they trust her around anything not glued to the ground?
She should start from the beginning.
——
“Adrien,” she whined. “It’s not like that.”
Adrien shrugged, sliding his shades up to give her a pointed look. “Right. It’s just a study meeting.”
“Yes, we’ve discussed this before. You saying it in that tone won’t change the meaning of it.” Marinette rolled her eyes at her brother.
“Yeah, but you’re going to a study meeting. That’s just the two of you. When you’re not even in the same course.” She could feel the teasing grin growing on his face at her rising blush.
“He just offered to help!”
“With what?” She didn’t look him in the eye, grabbing her tote bag instead.
“Studying isn’t just about the content. Sometimes it helps to have someone to revise the concepts with.” She said and busied herself with the contents of her bag, making sure she had all her study materials. He didn’t bother hiding his grin from her.
“When he knows nothing about it?” She didn’t respond, but she shot him the finger when she walked out the door. “Have fun with lover boy!”
“Fuck you!”
“Love you too, bugaboo!” He honked his ridiculous horn and zoomed off.
She loved Adrien, she really did. But sometimes (which was at least twice a day), she wanted to strangle him.
Passing by the glass window of a coffee shop, she paused and checked herself in the mirror. Mask, check. Clean ponytail? Check. A super cute outfit that she put on to make herself feel good, not to impress a certain flannel-wearing boy? Yes. Flannel jacket to return, already washed and cleaned? Che—
She patted the bag. It didn’t have the big lump it did when she first brought it into the car. There was supposed to be a big lump there. Where was the lump?
Her face turned pale. She must have left it in the car.
Maybe Adrien hadn’t gone too far yet? She pulled out her phone to call him, racing back to where he had dropped her off in his bright yellow sports car. He had bought it with his father’s money to piss him off when they were seventeen. It was the car they thought would annoy Gabriel the most. Loud in both sound and color, tacky, and above all, expensive enough to make a dent into Adrien’s modeling salary.
Bam! She crashed into a wall as soon as she pressed Adrien’s contact on her phone. Everything went in slow motion. The ground tilted closer. The wind whooshed in her ear. Metal clattered to the ground as her tumbler rolled on the cement. Gravity shifted, and she could feel the hulking stand she hit losing its base on the ground.
Goddamit, if she learned one thing from being a clumsy thirteen-year-old girl turned superheroine of luck, it was that any luck she had was luck she made out of a situation. She planted her dominant foot forward, pushing on the balls of her feet as she grabbed the thing she collided with. As she grabbed it, she shifted all her weight backward and heaved the object up.
She panted, closing her eyes in exhaustion. The busy street continued without fail, the chatter and traffic punctured by the metal clang of her water bottle rolling on the ground. There goes her coffee.
“Oh, wow.” Her body froze. “You’re strong.”
Opening her eyes, she felt her lungs constrict, and her jaw slackened. Breathing? What? Did she need to breath? Yes, she did, the blood was rushing to her head. She could hear her blood. She shouldn’t be able to. How did she breath again? Oh gosh. Was it in first or out? How much was too much? Nose or mouth? Maybe mouth. Probably mouth. The air goes in the throat right?
Scratch that, mouth was not good. The air tasted funky, she should close her jaw. Wait, nope, the muscles in her lower face weren’t working. Would it be weird if she raised her hand to push her jaw up? That would be weird.
Breathing? Yes. Systems were clear now, kind of.
“—rinette!” She blinked and focused on the blue-eyed vision standing in front of her.
Right. Breathing. Systems may be failing again.
“Are you ok, Marinette?” She nodded, not trusting her voice. He sighed in relief. “That’s good.”
“I’m so sorry for bumping into you like that, I swear I’m never—” She cringed and spoke again. “I’m not like that most of the time.”
“I understand that.” She was hallucinating. It was a trick of the light. His cheeks were not pink. It was just cold.
“Really?”
He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’m a bit clumsy.”
“Oh,” she said, then brightened. “We’re a pair then!”
“Yeah, yeah, we are.” His smile brought the sunshine out. Damn, it was bright. If this was how she died, she’d be dying happy, if not a little mortified at her own actions. “So, we’re heading to the library right?”
“Yeah,” she sighed, a dopey grin stretching across her face. “Yeah.”
this is the second or third time i’ve written this out, hopefully this saves! what did you think? marinette is obviously totally irrevocably in love and simping over Jon but Jon is Jon hahaha. thanks very much @maribat-calendar-events for the prompts!!!
If there was one thing Marinette had known from a young age, it was that the Kent side of the family was different. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did mean there were plenty of things that happened that she couldn’t exactly explain. And some things she didn’t really want to even try to explain.
—
Flying
Now, she would never tell anyone (except for her parents, once, when she first saw it two years ago) but her Uncle Clark could fly. She tried not to think about it too much, but she was positive it had happened. She hadn’t seen it- not really- for a couple years, so she’d almost decided she’d imagined the whole thing. Then it happened again.
“C’mon kiddo, I think you’ve climbed high enough.” Conner calls worriedly. He was too heavy to join her on the higher branches, and she could tell it was stressing him out. But as much as she loved him (he was the big brother she never had!), she was having too much fun to come down.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill Conny.” Marinette says in a sing-song voice, grinning down at him. She reaches up and pulls herself up to the next branch, smiling triumphantly at her older cousin. Before he can ask her (again) to come down, the branch snaps. Marinette shrieks, fear shooting through her. It’s only for a second though, because as quickly as she falls, she’s caught by her Uncle. Her eyes widen as she glances down, immediately noticing that they were still in the air. Squeezing her eyes shut, she clings to him and tries to stop herself from shaking.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-” Conner tries to say, but Marinette just cries, feeling like a huge baby.
“Conner-” Her Uncle starts, his tone firm. Marinette shakes her head.
“It’s not his fault, Uncle Clark. He told me not to and to come down but I didn’t listen and now you’re mad and-”
“Sweetheart, breathe. It’s okay. I-I’m not mad at anyone.” Clark says quietly. Marinette sniffles, clinging to her Uncle. He could fly, but that didn’t matter. He was still her overprotective Uncle, and right now she just needed to hug him and feel safe.
—
Speed
At eight years old, Marinette didn’t know a lot about genetics. In fact, she’d only heard the word once or twice on tv, and had never really thought to ask about it. All she knew was that genetics meant that people who are related have similar things. Like her and her Maman having the same hair color. Or Conner and Uncle Clark having the same eye color. She’d never really thought about it before, but she guessed other things could be genetics too. Like the fact that both her cousins and her Uncle were super fast. She’d noticed it before, (she was very observant) but the first time she really thought about it was the day after the 4th of July when she was eight.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with?” Her maman asks (again). “Ma and Pa both said there’s plenty to look at.” Marinette shakes her head. Her parents had been trying to convince her to go to the farmer’s market with them and her grandparents. But she didn’t wanna go. She wanted to stay at the farm and play with Conner and Jon.
“No thank you. I wanna stay with Conner and Jon.” She insists. Her maman glances at her Uncle, who simply shrugs.
“I can handle the kids for a couple hours.” He says. Marinette doubts her maman would be as worried if her Aunt Lois was around. But she’d had a work emergency that she had to work on in town, which meant her Uncle would be in charge of all three of them. By himself. For the first time.
“If you’re sure…” Her maman says, still looking worried. Her papa laughs.
“He can handle it, honey. Clark’s a big boy.” He says, grinning at her Uncle. They weren’t actually related, but Marinette knew that her papa had always thought of Clark as his little brother. Just like she had Jon and Conner as her brothers.
“Oh fine. Call if you need us back sooner.” Her maman finally says, and Marinette cheers, running off to find Conner.
—
Marinette was trying not to get frustrated. Every time she tried to tag Conner, he would dart away. His legs were just too long. He was too tall. Glancing around the field where she was playing tag with her Uncle and cousins, she spots Jon. Maybe it wasn’t fair, but she was gonna tag Jon. He was too little to run away too quickly. Just as she starts to run towards him, she spots it. Laying in the grass less than a foot away from her, was a snake. She screams, terror shooting through her as her limbs freeze, leaving her to the mercy of the snake just inches away from her. It only takes two blinks before Conner has her in his arms and away from the snake- Clark and Jon right on his heels.
“It’s okay kiddo.” Conner says softly, letting her cling to him as she cries.
“I- I’m sorry. There was a snake!” She cries, clutching onto her big brother. She didn’t care that they’d moved so quickly that they were now out of the field. All she cared about was that she was away from the snake.
“Mari sad?” Jon asks, the worry clear in the toddler’s voice. Marinette sniffles again before pulling away from Conner and glancing down at her little brother.
“I was just scared.” She admits, feeling like a big baby. Before she can spiral about how immature she was being, Jon reaches his arms up to her. Marinette grins and picks him up, relishing in the cuddles as he hugs her.
“It’s okay.” He says, hugging her tightly. Marinette lets out a sigh of relief. Everything was okay.
—
Strength
Another instance of the ‘Kent side of the family is weird’ happened when Marinette was ten. It was finally summer, and she couldn’t wait to see her cousins. Not only was she looking forward to hanging out with them and spending time with them, but she was also on a mission. Conner was sad. She knew that much from their phone calls. Apparently something had happened to one of his friends. No one would tell her what happened, but she could tell it had hurt Conner. A lot. She was determined to give him lots of hugs. And to convince Jon to join her in the treehouse. Uncle Clark and Pa had built it at the end of last summer, but Aunt Lois had said Jon was too little. He was four now, though, so he should be big enough to follow them up.
Jumping out of the car the moment it stops, Marinette runs straight to Conner, wrapping him in a big hug. He freezes for half a second before returning the hug.
“What’s up, squirt.” He says, and she hates how tired and sad he sounds. Conner was one of the strongest people she knew. He wasn’t just her older cousin, he was her big brother. And she wasn’t going to stop until she could help him not be so sad.
“Alix and Kim raced at the pool the other day and Kim beat her really bad. So then Alix challenged him to a diving contest but he doesn’t like heights so it wasn’t really fair. I also made a new dress but I’m saving it for the summer festival.” She rambles, catching him up on what he’d missed since their last phone call. Before he can answer, Marinette is lifted into the air in a hug. Gasping, she turns her head, eyes wide at the sight of her little brother.
“I missed you Mari!” Jon says cheerily, not out of breath at all, despite the fact that he was holding his (significantly) older cousin up off the ground. It didn’t really faze her though, once she saw who it was. It wasn’t the first time someone on the Kent side of the family showed off amazing strength. Must be genetics.
Curse her and her confidence in her luck. She should know better by now. When did anything go her way?
It was her first day of university. She set her alarms for the day, she had packed everything she needed. She woke up early and had the time to put a tiny bit of mascara and lip balm on, not seeing the point of lip gloss when she was wearing a mask anyway. She even triple-checked the weather for thunderstorms so she could bring an umbrella. Lord knows Adrien would hold it over her if she didn’t bring one. Nothing. Clear sunny skies, no wind, and a cool temperature of nineteen degrees celsius.
