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It was almost two months later that Adrien looked out of his office window to find Tim Drake and Richard Grayson stalking the building. He held back a groan thinking of what Mari would do if she spotted them and got up to go deal with the problem. He really hoped they weren’t here to accuse him of something else or he might not be able to hold her back. Knowing his luck she’d use the Kwami to help. Plagg was more than ready to unleash chaos on his behalf and Adrien knew very well the Kwami had a very skewed idea of when enough was enough.
He slipped out the back of the building and circled around behind the Waynes. They appeared to be arguing and didn’t even notice his approach. He wanted to roll his eyes. If this was their normal awareness he had no idea how they’d survived in Gotham of all places. Then again maybe they just let their guard down because they thought it was safe here.
“I already tried hacking in to get us on her appointment list Dick. Their security is that good and it makes me wonder what they’re hiding.” Adrien felt his eyes roll. It couldn’t be that they were worried about sabotage and thieves. No, there must be more nefarious reasons. As if Wayne Enterprises wasn’t locked up like a vault.
“They’re a cooperation Timmy. Of course they have cyber security. And since it’s someone that it’s likely what they do for a living the fact that you couldn’t get in just means they hired the best. And honestly do you really think she wouldn’t have just tossed us out once she saw us after what happened? We need to figure out how to get on her good side.”
“You could try apologizing.” Both men gave out a startled yelp as they turned to him. It was more satisfying than he’d like to admit.
“How can we apologize when we can’t get near her?” Tim sounded rather frantic and Adrien could see the sleep derivation practically dripping off him. It was the exact same thing he’d seen in Mari constantly until they’d taken down his father.
“It wouldn’t do you any good anyway.” They both just looked confused and he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “You didn’t insult her so she’s not the one she thinks needs an apology.”
“It was perfectly reasonable for us to suspect something was going on. Given your history and the fact that she just suddenly made herself public.” Dick was looking at Tim like he’d lost his mind.
“Given Gabriel’s history you mean. I doubt either one of you has any idea what my real history is like. What growing up in that house was like. Mari knows exactly who I am and what I went through and has never once considered ending our friendship. She’s the one that convinced her parents to adopt me, not to mention get me to agree to that instead of emancipation. She said I deserved to know what being part of a real family was like.” He smiled fondly at the memory of Marinette pushing him into a chair and yelling at him for a good two hours about how he deserved better and she was going to make sure he got it whether he liked it or not. Their skeptical looks brought him back to the present. “Since you’re so good at hacking, why don’t you get into the police records? That’ll at least tell you why I was never charged with anything.”
“Just because there was no evidence doesn’t mean there was no crime.” He couldn’t help the tired huff that left him. He was so sick of being treated like this. If Mari would have agreed to it he’d have just sold the company to her and washed his hands of it. Unfortunately she, and most of the employees, had decided he was needed there.
“Fine, believe what you want. I was just trying to help you. There’s no way you’ll get near Mari if she knows what you think of me.” Tim looked like he wanted to argue more but Dick let out a gasp.
“Is that Cass?” Adrien looked past them and sure enough Cass was walking up to the building. Hang on…
“How do you know Cass?” They both turned wide eyed stares on him and Dick’s voice was about half an octave higher when he spoke.
“How do you know her?” He rolled his eyes again and gestured towards the building where Mari came out and ran straight to the girl, jumping into her arms.
“She’s Mari’s girlfriend, of course I know her.” The boys just watched in shock as the two girls laughed and talked without letting go of one another. He knew his smile was a bit wistful as he watched them but he couldn’t help it. No matter how happy he was for Mari, he couldn’t help but think about the fact that he would likely never have that. She told him all the time that the right person would come along eventually but he knew better than most that there were no guarantees. When they leaned in to kiss he had to look away as his chest tightened. He could admit to himself that he was scared of losing Mari when she decided to settle down, even though he knew she’d tell him it wasn’t going to happen.
“Why is Cass kissing the designer you two have a hardon for?” The voice startled Adrien and he turned to see the one Mari had deemed ‘Spot’ at the gala. He couldn’t help but give him a once over wondering how someone so buff could be so quiet. The other two started yelling at him about his word choice and sneaking up on them. Adrien was trying to quiet them down when he saw the girls look their way.
“Shit. We’re all so dead.” He knew running wasn’t any good. She’d just track him down. As Mari stormed towards them he tried to think of something, anything to make this better and came up with absolutely nothing. Cass was following just behind, though she looked confused more than anything else.
“I didn’t think any of you would have the balls to come back here to harass Adrien again after the last time. Isn’t being black listed from working with us enough? Do I need to take more drastic measures?” The Waynes all straightened up under her glare but Cass just looked at them in confusion before pulling Adrien to stand with her and Mari.
“Be nice to Adrien.” The boys all looked shocked at her statement and Mari scowled at them before turning to Cass.
“How do you know the Waynes?” Cass just raised an amused eyebrow and Mari groaned after a moment. “I forgot you were adopted by Bruce Wayne. No wonder you spend most of your time in Asia.” Cass chuckled silently. It was a quirk he’d noticed that she rarely made noise that wasn’t necessary. It had made him worry about her home life but Mari said that he shouldn’t worry about it. Spot had no such filter and laughed loudly.
“Oh I like you. I’ll be nice to whoever you want if it means I could get the chance to hear you go off on B again.” Adrien winced as Mari looked even more furious. This guy couldn’t open his mouth without pissing her off. It was a shame too since he was the only one who hadn’t accused him of anything. Not to mention he was cute. Before Mari could go off on him Cass leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Whatever she said caused Mari to study him more closely before turning a frown on her girlfriend.
“Really?” Cass just hummed an acknowledgement. Mari seemed torn for a moment.
“Fine. But if you say one nasty thing to him you’ll regret ever being born. Are we clear Spot?” Cass actually let out a giggle at the name and her brother glared at her.
“You’re way too late for that threat short stack, but you have my word. Name’s Jason, if you’re interested.” Adrien expected his tone to set her off again but Mari’s look actually softened.
“Sorry, I tend to get snarky when people I love aren’t treated properly.” Jason looked surprised at the apology and Adrien got the feeling he wasn’t on the receiving end of them often.
“I get it. You protect family at all costs.” The way he said it made Adrien think he was speaking from personal experience. Given the way Mari was studying him she caught something in his tone as well.
“You’ll vouch for Jason but not us?” Dick was pouting at Cass. She gave him a flat look and surprised everyone by pulling Adrien into a side hug. He knew she didn’t like physical contact with most people and she certainly hadn’t ever initiated it with him. The fact that she was doing so now in a show of solidarity against her own family almost brought tears to his eyes. Mari had all the luck.
“Well duh. You two were there to back Bruce’s bad play but I was forced to go. I didn’t even know what you idiots were planning until Bruce started trying to convince short stack she was being held against her will.” Cass gave a derisive snort and Adrien coughed to cover a laugh. At this point the thought of anyone being able to contain Marinette when she was set against it was insane. He winced as he remembered the time he and Cass had tried to make her get a decent amount of sleep. That had been a disaster. Before Dick or Tim could get their wits about them enough to argue more, Mari’s phone beeped at her.
“Maman is expecting us for lunch. We’d better not keep her waiting.” She and Cass tugged him along with them, but Mari stopped after a moment to look back. “You too Jason.” He hesitated so Adrien spoke up.
“Trust me you do not want to turn down Sabine’s cooking. It’s what Mari used to get me to sign the adoption agreement. Ow!” He was expecting the pinch from Mari. He was not expecting the poke from Cass. “You wouldn’t force me to be alone with these lunatics would you?” He gave his best kitten eyes and Jason let out a huff before walking up to throw an arm around his shoulders.
“Sure cinnamon roll. I’ll keep the mean girls away.”
