- Chapter a little more serious than usual. I hope you will still enjoy it.

- It is a crucial chapter, which serves as an introduction to the "Marinette vs Lila" special.

This chapter is the first of a series of three key chapters. The second being the special "Marinette vs Lila" . The chapter after the special will be entitled "*Happy Birthday*" and will serve as an epilogue to the "series". This is a special feature only of the AU "Daddy Tim".

Chapter: Daddy's girl (Tim)

Tim should have known that Marinette would end up developing his " workaholic " side... And his insomnia side as well.

He found himself having to return to San Francisco because his team needed him for a mission. Unfortunately, the mission in question had been extended for too long. A three-day mission had turned into a one-week mission.

It was now three o'clock in the morning.

Tim had returned to Wayne Manor, where he had left Marinette since it was out of question to leave her alone in their house for a week. (Even though she was more than capable of taking care of herself... Marinette was not a fighter, and Tim was convinced that the day he would leave her alone, someone or something would hurt her - no, he wasn't paranoid, just cautious-).

So, Tim came by to take a look at Marinette's room. He did it out of habit. He couldn't go to bed without first making sure that she was safe and sound in the house (he would also do it before going on patrol... And sometimes he would also check to see if she was at school... - NO, HE WAS NOT PARANOIC!-).

That's where he found her, sitting in front of three computers, frantically typing on all the keyboards like a possessed soul.

"Marinette?"

"Hello father, you're back already? You made it quick."

She was talking while continuing to type on the keyboards. She hadn't even looked up to see him.

"Peanuts, it's three am. You should be asleep... What are you doing?"

"Sleeping? Sleeping, you say?! SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!"

This time she looked up at him.

She had huge dark circles. Her eyes were slightly red.

"Marinette... When was the last time you slept?"

"Is it still Tuesday?"

"Marinette... It's Saturday."

"Oh?"

There was silence. Tim was staring at Marinette, and she was staring at him too. He hadn't slept for the last four days... He was extremely tired.

"Peanuts... turn it off, let's go to sleep..."

"NO! I haven't finished the reports for WE! I haven't finished my presentation for tomorrow. I have to finish writing the contract for the publicity I will do with the Agreste branch!"

"Marinette, tomorrow is Sunday. Monday you only have class in the afternoon. And it's not up to you to do the reports for WE, I've already told you that several times..."

"Bruce left for Germany earlier this week. Damian is busy with his new team, and you're also busy... Someone has to take care of WE!"

Tim sighed.

He took the computers away from her. Marinette immediately started protesting, but he ignored her screams and complaints. He dropped himself on the bed and grabbed Marinette to hold her close to him. She struggled for a good ten minutes.

Then she finally stopped moving.

Tim let go of her when he heard her breathing get easier.

Eventually, he fell asleep too.

[both only woke up on Sunday afternoon].

A few days later.

Tim had returned from patrol a little later than usual. He came home as discreetly as possible, so he wouldn't wake up Marinette, and especially the fox Alya. (This vixen was a drama queen and would squeak as soon as she saw someone, to get attention).

However, to his surprise, Marinette was awake, eating a huge jar of ice cream in the living room. She was watching a romantic movie on television.

Tim immediately realized that something was wrong. Marinette hated romantic movies, which she found "stupid" and a real "incitement to sexism and an incitement to patriarchy".

"Marinette? Why are you awake at this hour?"

Marinette was startled, surprised to see him. She quickly recovered.

"Good evening, Father. I'm sorry, I didn't see the time... I made coffee; do you want some?"

"Gladly, yes."

He left to change quickly. Meanwhile, Marinette made him a huge cup of coffee. When he returned, he drank a few sips of his drink. Marinette continued to eat her ice cream.

"So? What happened today that made you in such a bad mood?"

Marinette sighed. She looked at her ice cream pot for a long time, searching for her words.

"Do you remember Mar'i? Richard's daughter?"

"Yes, I do."

"She has fun telling other people things about me..."

"What do you mean?"

"Damian had already told me about it. He was angry with her because apparently Mar'i would take all the credit for my work. The investigations that I helped Damian solve, she told Bruce that she was the one who helped him. She tells other young heroes that I am bad to her, when I never did anything to her, she' s the one who stole my stuff... Damian wanted to defend me, but nobody wants to believe him."

She put a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth.

"I went to the manor today, I needed to speak with Alfred to see if he would be willing to have my gifts sent to the manor, just for safety, as my birthday is coming up soon. And there was a meeting of the new Teen Titans. When I greeted them, they were cold with me. I acted as if nothing had happened. Then before I left, I heard a conversation... "

Marinette took a break. She seemed unsure whether or not to continue the conversation. After taking another bite of her ice cream, she continued.

"According to them, I'm just a pampered, spoiled, good-for-nothing, fickle and haughty daddy's daughter. That I wasn't even part of the community of heroes, that I wasn't even a part of being on the field... That it was pathetic, and that it was not surprising that Batman hated me."

There was silence in the room. Tim said nothing. That was not surprising to him. In fact, he had already heard rumors about Marinette. Of course, no one ever spoke in front of him, it was often Kon or other of his friends from Young Justice who brought him the "news".

He wished Marinette hadn't known about those stupid rumors. Tim would have liked to have been able to deal with them before she knew about them. He should have known that Mar'i was behind these rumors... This kid really needed to find an occupation (other than bothering Marinette).

It was an extremely low level of manners. What had she gained by behaving like that? Tim knew that Bruce didn't trust Mar'i as much anymore. Damian hated her... and Tim... he didn't hate her. But he didn't love her either.

"You know father, she's right about a few things. I'm my daddy's daughter, I'm temperamental... But I don't care about any of that. I don't understand what makes her think Bruce hates me... I know it's not true. He's just... not very good with people..."

"Hmm."

"I don't understand her motivation. She's just as "spoiled" as I am. She says I'm a good-for-nothing when she spends her life hanging out with her friends and treats the vigilante job like it's a vacation club."

Marinette finally looked him in the eye.

"Mar'i is just taking advantage of Bruce and her parents' reputation. She hasn't accomplished anything. So, I just wondered why she hated me so much."

Tim was silent for a moment. He, too, would like to understand why Mar'i was acting this way. He was sure that Dick had never taught her to behave like that.

"Father... I've had enough. This has gone too far..."

"Hmm."

Tim watched Marinette now pour herself a cup of tea. He didn't know Dick's daughter's motives. But he knew Marinette very well.

"I guess you already have a plan in mind, don't you, Peanuts?"

Marinette looked at him with a malicious smile.

Tim smiled back at her. Marinette was no longer a baby; she had grown up. She avoids conflict as much as possible. For his little Peanuts to decide to take action, she was really angry.

He almost felt sorry for Mar'i.

Almost.

Two months later, Wayne Manor.

"Bruce, I have a work assignment in history. I have to introduce an influential family that changed history. I thought I could talk about the Wayne family. Could you tell me a little bit more about the family' s history?"

"Of course."

Damian listened to the conversation without saying anything. He did his best not to change his facial expression. Drake was well aware of the history of the Wayne family. They had even discussed it a few times before.

The teenager had already realized that Drake had been spending a lot of time with his father recently. He didn't blame her; instead, he was quite surprised that she was trying to connect with his father, after the more than questionable behavior he had had with her.

Perhaps it was in the nature of the Drake to forgive easily?

In any case, he could affirm without exaggeration, that his father appreciated his niece's presence. It was a perfectly justified sentiment. Drake was excellent companion. It felt good to have someone who took her heritage so seriously, and who did her best not to dishonor the family name.

It was interesting for him to have someone of his level to talk to.

Damian had heard Drake (the father) say that Drake (the daughter) had won a contest organized by her school' s management department. She had apparently received the congratulations of the judges. He had taken a look at her project. He'd been impressed by the quality of the project.

This convinced him that Drake deserved to be named Wayne.

Damian wasn't surprised to learn that his father wanted to formally introduce Drake as his granddaughter at a gala event. He was curious to see Drake's reaction when she found out. Ideally, the announcement would be made on Drake's birthday, a few months from now.

After that day, Drake would officially become the heir of Wayne Corporation.

Damian had long since chosen not to inherit the family business. He had no desire to follow the path that his grandfather and mother had laid out for him. So, Batman's son was more than happy to see someone else take this responsibility for him.

And if that person was Drake... he could accept it without too much effort.

-XxxX-

Dick had somehow slipped into a parallel world without realizing it.

When he returned to the Manor, the first thing he noticed was that little Marinette was in Bruce's lap. She had a stuffed toy in her arms (a stuffed toy with diamond eyes, a bow with a ruby hanging over it and a small cape with a small sapphire hanging over it) Damian was present, and didn't seem at all disturbed by the scene unfolding before his eyes. It was quite amazing; he was so possessive towards Bruce.

What had happened during his few months of absence?

He couldn't come to the Manor as regularly as he would like because of his work. Also, Kori was a model, so she couldn't leave her job as easily as she wanted to.

He didn't expect to see a smiling Bruce with Marinette in his arms at all.

Dick smiles.

He was happy that his family could get along so well. The two of them had finally managed to break the ice.

Mar'i, beside him, was so happy to get back to the Manor that she threw herself at Bruce. Unfortunately, she pushed Marinette aside as she passed by.

"Grandpa!"

Luckily, Bruce had excellent reflexes, and he managed to catch Marinette before she fell to the floor and helped her sit in the chair beside him.

"Hello Mar'i."

Mar'i smiled and sat on Bruce's lap, exactly where Marinette had been a few seconds earlier.

Dick frowned.

He was going to have to talk to Mar'i a little bit later, this was not the way to behave, especially with a younger family member.

He looked over to his side. Tim had just come back from his job at WE. He had also seen the scene. Dick expected the worst, Tim used to be a dragon when it concerned his daughter's protection (and he was far from blaming him, he used to do the same with his little princess).

To his surprise, however, Tim pretended he didn't see anything and approached Marinette. Marinette calmly got out of her chair and walked towards Tim.

She bowed slightly, one foot slightly back, the other in front, while lifting the end of her little dress.

"Hello, Father. I hope you had a good day."

"Hello, Marinette. Are you all right?"

Marinette straightened up, very straight, then joining her little hands, she answered by tilting her head slightly.

"I'm doing the best I can, father."

Tim smiled, then affectionately passed his hand over his daughter's head.

"I'm glad."

Dick was extremely perplexed by the exchange. He felt as if he was seeing a dialogue between Damian and Bruce. He had always found their exchanges a little... cold... very impersonal.

Dick was surprised. Tim was very close to his daughter (he had heard from Steph that Tim always brought several gifts for Marinette when he returned from a long mission). It was strange that Tim had taught his daughter the high society values, when he had always hated them himself.

Tim wanted to go home; he had only actually come by to pick up his daughter. Alfred, however, managed to convince him to stay for dinner.

When it was time to sit down at the table, Marinette sat in the chair next to Bruce on the left, while Damian sat across from Marinette on Bruce's right. The chair on the left had always been Mar'i's, but Marinette had obviously taken over that seat during their absence.

"Marinette... Why are you in my seat?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"This is my usual spot..."

"Oh? I apologize. I didn't know the seats were pre-assigned."

Marinette was going to get up to give Mar'i her seat, but Bruce's voice echoed.

"Mar'i, Marinette is already there. You can sit in another seat, honey."

"…"

Mar'i came and settled down next to him. She seemed a little troubled. Not surprisingly, she was usually the one who always had the last word. It was the first time Dick had ever seen Bruce called out Mar'i.

Dick said nothing.

It simply meant that Bruce had finally recognized Marinette as his granddaughter, just like Mar'i.

It was not a bad thing.

Mar'i was a big girl now, so if Bruce gave his attention to Marinette, who was much younger, that was good news. At least now Tim would going to join the family more often if he didn't feel rejected.

During the meal, Dick couldn't help but notice that Marinette had some... " richy " mannerisms. She stood up straight, her back never touching the back of the chair. She ate small bites.

It was... elegant.

And most importantly, her table manners were the same as Bruce and Damian's. A perfect mirror.

-XxxX-

Tim was impressed.

Marinette had managed to take Mar'i's place.

Tim understood very well what Marinette had done.

First, she had shown Bruce that she had changed, that she was no longer a " savage " little girl.

Then, she showed Bruce her skills. And if there was one thing Bruce valued, it was talent.

Finally, she had shown that they were both from "the same social circle". By being mature, talented, and educated, she had managed to create a solid place for herself alongside Bruce.

Especially since Bruce was looking for a way to get closer to her after the latest scandal he had created.

And Marinette understood this perfectly.

Tim knew perfectly well that Marinette only knew the "etiquette" of high society to help him in business. In fact, if she could sit in front of a computer all day and watch videos on YouTube, she would.

So, when Bruce took him aside and announced that he was going to organize a gala for Marinette's birthday...

Tim smiled.

That's my little Peanuts.

BONUS:

Friday morning, 11:30 am .

Marinette was lying slumped on her desk with her eyes closed.

How could Superman have a child with a human woman? He's got, like... super strength, right? How did Lois manage to endure "his bullets"?

"MISS DRAKE!"

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

Marinette fell out of her chair, surprised.

The students in her class started laughing.

"How many times do I have to tell you; your table is no place to take a nap! [...]"

Her teacher began his monologue about the importance of having a full attention during class.

For the girl, it was just "blah, blah, blah".

Marinette was not a "good" student.

She hardly ever listened in class, spent half the hour sleeping and never took any notes. Yet, to the exasperation of her teachers (and some of her classmates), she was the top student in her class. They had already tried to trap her more than once. For example, by asking her very difficult questions, by giving her more difficult tests than the others (which by the way is illegal...), by giving her deadlines that were almost impossible to hold. Despite all this, Marinette had always managed to get away with it.

The bluenette didn't pay any more attention to her appearance when she came to class. She just made two braids on each side of her head and wore round glasses. Her hair was frequently messed up ( usually after a sleepless night which happened five days out of seven). She didn't wear jewelry, didn't perfume herself to the point of destroying the ozone layer... In short, she didn't play the game of the "rich kid" at all. (She saw no point in it. Marinette had nothing to prove to anyone).

And then seriously, if hairstyles or even makeup made people smarter, it should be known... It would be fun when you think about it... if you became Einstein just by putting on a bit of mascara... It's a good invention idea... the "smart mascara".

The teachers had already tried to talk to her father about it. They were complaining about her "lack of investment" in class, her constant absences, or her frequent lateness. And once again, to their despair, her father had never done anything about it. She had never been punished, never been reprimanded. Instead, her father had always defended her.

The reasons why her father had never said anything could be explained in several points. The first point was that her father was not a good student at that age either. He found school boring and only went to a prestigious school to please his parents. His disinterest in school only increased after he became Batman's partner.

But was he an idiot? Not at all. Her father was perhaps the smartest person on earth.

"You're supposed to be an elite class [Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah]."

Marinette blinked several times.

Can salmon be considered light orange? Or is its dark beige? And then... Why name a color after a fish?

The second point is that Marinette really had a very busy schedule. She was a child model, which meant that she had photoshoots (but her teachers didn't know that). She had a lot of fittings to do for different brands of children's clothing, who wanted her to be their muse (and Marinette was always surprised to find that no one recognized her in class... The only one who knew about it was Felix).

Marinette had started shooting commercials. She also had to participate in charities for Martha's Foundation. And all this in addition to her studies and homework.

"The secret of your success in this program is discipline! And that means listening carefully in class [Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah]."

Has Damian ever stopped frowning in his life? I should ask Uncle Richard... He must know about it...

The third and final point was simply that in addition to her busy schedule, Marinette was also taking care of some of the management of WE. She was only 7 years old, but she was in charge of the Wayne Foundation, which included Martha's Foundation and the Thomas Foundation. She was in charge of the Wayne food branch (and god what a pain in the ass that branch was...), those were the branches she was in charge of full time. But she also had a view on all the other branches of WE, even if she only looked after them on an ad hoc basis.

Apart from her father, Lucius, Damian and Bruce, nobody knew about it.

The only problem was that she was increasingly called upon to take care of the other subsidiaries of the company, also on a full-time basis. This was not because she loved the job, the only reason was that she wanted to take some of the burden off her father's shoulders.

"[ Blah, blah, blah] Bad Example! [Blah, blah, blah, blah]"

Why do we say that the sun "rises" or "sets" if it never moves?! Why not, just say: the sun "appears" then "disappears"? Why do we have to work when the sun hasn't yet risen? 6am is not a human hour...

Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne was a good person. Marinette will never have enough words to express how grateful she was to him for adopting her. Unfortunately, her father had no sense of preservation. He worked for WE at day, was vigilant in the evenings and at the same time looked after a group of heroes. The little girl, over time, had come to understand that her father did not work as a CEO because he liked it. Rather, the activity seemed to bore him to the point of exhaustion. If her father did it, it was only because no one else could do it.

Richard was running away from WE like the plague. Besides, he was already working as a policeman. (Which was a shame, with his charisma, he could have made the family business flourish).

Jason was not interested in the business community, and he did not have the educational qualifications required for the position. (Although, according to Marinette, he had the ability to do so).

Cassandra was a fighter, not a businesswoman. Like Jason, she was not academically qualified. (Yet, with her intelligence and charisma, she would be an absolute winner!).

Damian was far too young at the time, and now he's no longer interested in his father's legacy. Today Damian's goal was rather to create his own legend, far from his father's shadow (And heaven knows that he needed to build his own identity after all those terrible experiences he had lived).

Then her father was the " perfect " candidate. Alas, Marinette could affirm it: Her father liked to be a vigilant, rather than a CEO.

Bruce could come back to work full time as he used to. However, his activity as Batman took up all his time.

And Marinette would never blame him for that.

Far from it, she had a deep respect for Bruce. He had no choice but to embrace the darkness. Gotham was a city that needed Batman as much as Batman needed Gotham. What Marinette saw was that Bruce was far too kind and philanthropic for his own good.

"[Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah] You've got to pull yourself together [Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah]."

Can Green Lanterns wash their uniforms? Because if it's always the same one that they have been using since the beginning... They must stink, right? It must be so awful... By the way... now that I think about it... Does Bruce clean his uniforms, or does he have a different one for each day of the week?!

Marinette wanted her father to be happy.

That's why she chose to join this special program, which provided an accelerated educational program.

It was also why she wrote as many reports and contracts as possible for her father (and solved as many problems as possible over the phone using her father's voice).

That's why she was doing her best, to optimize and maximize the profitability of her image, so that the company would have a maximal amount of publicity.

That's why she sacrificed her free time and hours of sleep... And even her mealtimes...

She just wanted to relieve her father's burden.

Even if only a little.

All this effort was so that she could succeed him as soon as possible. And then he could devote himself entirely to vigilantism if he wanted to. Bruce could continue to be Batman without having to worry about the money coming in. The others could continue to live their lives.

It didn't matter if she had to spend the rest of her life in an office.

It didn't matter if she had to sacrifice her freedom.

In life, choices had to be made.

She had already made hers.

"Miss Drake, I'm talking to you!"

"Yes, sir."

She still had to survive those extremely boring economics classes.

A/N: You haven't done hearing about Mar'i... Believe me. You found her annoying in this chapter? Don't worry, you'll learn to hate her (if it' hasn' t been done already xD).