Marinette was extremely nervous. She had come to America to change her life, to forget her past, to start afresh.

The young woman had first tried her luck in New York.

Alas, everything did not go as she had hoped. Marinette had great difficulty finding work, she had almost no work experience outside of her parents' bakery. She managed to babysit for her neighbors and help the children with their homework, but it was far from the stylist's career she dreamed of.

She soon ran out of money. Life in New York was expensive, and she was on her own, as her parents had turned their backs on her.

She tried her luck in several different cities. Without success. It was as if the world was against her.

That's how Marinette landed in Gotham.

It was far from being the city of her dreams. It was one of the most dangerous cities in the world. However, the advantage was that in some parts of the city the rent was really cheap... It was in this city with a very bad reputation that Marinette finally managed to find a job. An old lady took pity on her and agreed to take her in her small grocery store. She was now working as a polyvalent employee.

Far from the successful career she had always dreamed of. But now the bluenette was much more aware of the reality of the job market. It takes a lot of luck to break into the world of fashion without any contact. And that luck... she no longer had it. Master Fu had taken back her Miraculous, after... the accident.

One evening, as the store was about to close, Marinette thought she was hallucinating when she saw Batman enter the grocery store. At least, the one she assumed to be Batman. The bluenette took a deep breath and approached Gotham's most famous vigilante. She had to keep it professional! As she got closer, she realized that Batman had a baby in his arms.

A baby!

She didn't notice it right away (too shocked by Batman's entrance into the store), but the baby was crying.

"Good evening sir, can I help you?"

She gave him her best smile. Even though deep down inside Marinette was completely panicking, she was not supposed to show it. God only knew what this man could do to her if she ever upset him, and she had no more Miraculous to protect her...

"Hmm. Diapers."

Marinette blinked several times. Then her gaze returned to the baby in the arms of the vigilant. The bluenette wanted to tell him that he was holding the poor baby very badly, but she restrained herself.

It was none of her business.

"I think I have what you need. Just a moment."

He was still an infant, maybe 3 or 4 months old at the most. She quickly got the proper diapers. She could hear the baby's crying increasing by the second.

This baby was hungry, and the way Batman was holding him, the poor baby must have been in a very uncomfortable position too.

When she returned to the vigilant. He was trying to calm the baby down. Even though he was waving his arms gently and speaking in a language that Marinette didn't know to try to calm him down, it wasn't working. The baby's crying was now almost hysterical.

Okay, then. It's time to stop this carnage.

Marinette approached Batman.

"Do you mind?"

She didn't give him time to answer and took the baby in her arms.

"Well then, little one, are you feeling sad? Here, slowly, it's all right, Auntie will fix everything."

She grabbed a packet of diapers, opened it. She got everything she needed from the shelves. Then she turned to Batman.

"Can I borrow your cape? It's not a good idea to put the baby in direct contact with the countertop."

The man handed her the cape without a word. She could feel his piercing gaze on her, but the young woman chose to royally ignore the vigilant to focus on the baby.

With an expert hand, she changed him in record time. Then, she huddled him against her, while gently caressing his back.

"That's it... It's over."

The baby's crying calmed down. He was still sobbing, but it was not as loud as when he arrived.

Marinette looked again at the vigilant man in front of her, who was still staring at her silently.

"Did you feed him?"

"No, I didn't."

"Hmm. Well, give me some time to make him a bottle, he's clearly hungry."

"….."

Luckily, in the back of the store there was a space for the staff. It wasn't ideal for preparing a baby's meal, but it was clearly better than nothing. She took a bottle from the shelf, put it in a pot of boiling water to disinfect it, and then began to make the necessary dosages to prepare the powdered milk.

The baby began to shake in her arms.

"Shhh... Slowly, it's almost ready, just a little more patience little one."

Once the bottle was at the right temperature, Marinette sat down on a chair, put the baby on her lap and put the bottle in his mouth.

This baby had incredibly green eyes, very expressive. He had dark skin and black hair. He was absolutely adorable.

Her intuition was right. The baby devoured his bottle, almost desperately. She gently whistled a lullaby.

The baby drank most of the bottle. Marinette then burped him. She kept the baby close to her a little longer. He was now completely calm and looked at her with curiosity. With his little hand he tried to grab a lock of her hair.

Marinette got up from her chair and approached Batman, who had been watching her all this time, in silence.

It was absolutely creepy.

She handed him the baby.

"I think he's going to be quiet now."

Batman took the baby back. Marinette couldn't help but reprimand him.

"You're holding him wrong. You have to support his head more."

She placed the man's hands properly.

"There you go. That's it."

"Thank you. Miss?"

"Oh, I'm Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, thank you. You're very good with babies..."

"Experience... I've done a lot of babysitting..."

"Hmm."

Batman then paid for all the products Marinette had used and left.

Marinette closed the store and quickly went home.

It was only when she found herself alone in her tiny flat, that she fell to the floor, shaking.

I met Batman... I took care of Batman's baby... I reprimanded Batman... I'm completely crazy! OH MY GOD I TALKED TO BATMAN!

After this event... Marinette thought that she would never see the vigilante again in her life, and that it was just a coincidence. A kind of unique encounter.

Really, what was the probability of seeing Batman again?

If she was an ordinary person. That's probably what would have happened. But instead?

Marinette found herself meeting not Batman... but the rest of his crew!

The first was Robin.

He walked into the convenience store and asked if she had fresh coffee.

The bluenette had been seriously tempted to tell him that this was a grocery store and not a Starbucks but refrained from making any comment. Instead, she smiled politely and said she could make some.

"Thank you, Miss Dupain-Cheng."

The Eurasian woman blinked several times and then walked as calmly as possible to the back of the store. Marinette did her best not to leave screaming in fear.

She had never said her name to this guy before! How could he know her?! Oh my goodness, had Batman told his subordinates about her?

She made coffee, not with the coffee from the grocery store, but with the coffee she brought from home. The coffee from the grocery store was very bad.

The young woman made a whole pot of coffee and handed it to the young vigilant in front of her.

"Do you... need anything else?"

Robin took a packet of cookies and paid. He left her a huge $100 bill to "compensate" for the pot of coffee.

Marinette didn't have time to protest, the vigilante left.

She was genuinely shocked.

Who gives a $100 bill to a stranger?! Oh, my God... I gave Robin my coffee mug!

Then... Nightwing appeared.

Marinette felt her heart miss a beat when she saw Nightwing walk through the doors of the grocery store. Was... Was Batman watching her? Was that the message he was trying to send? Perhaps she had been a little too familiar with the man?

When he saw her, he smiled and walked towards her.

Marinette felt a cold sweat running down her whole body.

He had come to kill her?!

"Good evening Miss, do you by any chance have any ice cream?"

Once again, Marinette blinked several times. She smiled at him as best she could, while trying to hide her terror.

"Of course, they are at the back, on your left."

"Thank you!"

The bluenette watched the man leave to the back of the grocery store.

He wants to eat ice cream... In the middle of November?

Marinette had the unpleasant impression that Nightwing had just come to watch her.

He came back with three jars of ice cream, four packs of chips and a bottle of soda.

The vigilant paid for the products and left.

Then... It was Red Hood's turn.

He was very fast. He bought just two packs of beer and left without saying anything.

On the other hand, he left her two 100-dollar bills.

What's wrong with those guys leaving me money?!

Marinette didn't know if she should be reassured or totally petrified.

She was also visited by Spoiler, and later by Orphan.

Even Batman returned to the grocery store. And just like Robin and Red Hood, he left huge bills at the cash register. Marinette was silent. She was far too scared to ask them why they were doing this.

However, if Marinette got used to seeing guys in disguises coming into the store over time, her working conditions got worse every day.

The old woman who had hired her, understood that Marinette was an immigrant, and that she needed the job. So she began to exploit Marinette. First, she started by cutting staff. There were originally three workers, now she was the only one who was still there. There were people hired from time to time, but always for a short period of time.

Marinette found herself doing all the openings and closings. She had to do all the most thankless tasks. She had to manage to put the products on the shelves by herself.

She was working overtime that wasn't paid.

It was exploitation.

And there was nothing the young woman could do.

She had no family to rely on, no friends. It was the only job she had managed to find after months of searching. It was very poorly paid, but at least she had a source of income and an address. This was what she needed to renew her visa.

So, Marinette had to put up with everything in silence.

She got up very early every day and went to bed very late, because the grocery store closed at 11pm (the owner had decided to extend the opening hours, and of course it was up to Marinette to take care of everything, obviously the old woman was not going to take the risk of walking alone in Gotham in the middle of the night).

The bluenette was scared to death every night. She would hurry home, too afraid to run into thieves, or anyone else with a bad intention.

Her life had improved a little since she was receiving tips from the vigilantes. It helped her buy food. The salary she received barely helped her pay for her tiny apartment. (Without Marinette knowing why, the owner of her apartment had decided to increase her rent. Obviously, he too had realized that no matter how much he charged, she had no choice but to pay).

Now she could afford to eat twice a day instead of just one meal (when she could) before.

The bluenette also took the liberty of buying a convertible sofa, after saving up for a few weeks... (she slept on the floor, not being able to afford to spend any money).

She felt very uneasy about using that money. Basically, it wasn't money she deserved. She didn't even know why these people were leaving her so much money.

Then, one night, as she was about to close the grocery store. She heard that someone had come in. The bluenette immediately went to the front of the store to let the person know that the store was closed.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

It was not one person who had come in, but three men. All three of them wearing hoods.

Oh no...

A robbery. Of course, one day there would be a robbery.

It was a miracle that she didn't have any trouble.

One of the men, the heaviest man, pointed a gun at her. The second man on his right threw a bag in her face.

"Put all the money in the cash box."

Marinette had no choice but to obey. She put the money in the bag and put it on the counter. Just when she thought they were about to leave, the third man grabbed her and dragged her to the back of the store.

The bluenette knew exactly what to expect.

And there was no way she was going to let it happen nicely.

Marinette gave a well-placed kick. The man collapsed screaming insults. The Eurasian came out of the back of the store and tried to leave the grocery store through the second door in the back. However, she was caught by the man who threw the bag in her face.

She began to struggle.

Then she heard shots. The man she had hit earlier joined the man who was holding her.

The man immediately pulled her against him and pointed his gun at her head.

"You scream and I'll shoot you, got it?"

He advanced slowly, using her as a shield.

The second man followed with his gun in his hand.

Marinette could then briefly see a red helmet.

It was Red Hood! She was saved! She had to get the attention of the vigilant.

It was probably completely suicidal, but it was better than being used as a pleasure object by these men. Marinette bit the arm of the man who was holding her with all her might.

The man let out a scream. He let go of her, but immediately gave her a violent blow to the face with the sleeve of his gun.

The second man pointed his gun at her. Before he could pull the trigger, two shots rang out and both men fell to the ground. Marinette didn't wait, she quickly got up and rushed towards Red Hood.

At that very moment she didn't care whether these guys were dead or just wounded, she just wanted to get to safety.

God, she was in complete panic.

So, without really thinking, she huddled up against the vigilante. The young woman was shaking, and finally let out a few sobs.

One hand landed on her head and another gently patted her back.

"It's all right, it's all over now."

Following this incident, the police were called. Marinette had to spend a long time making a statement. Finally, she learned that the men were injured, but none of them had died. She was surprised to feel... disappointed.

Red Hood was kind enough to take her home. She was grateful to him. She wasn't sure she had the courage to go home alone after this event.

A misfortune that never happens alone... The next day... The old woman chooses to confront her in front of the customers (yes, the store had to reopen despite what had happened, Marinette had to clean up all the mess).

"Do you have any idea how much money I'll have to spend to fix everything?!Who is going to reimburse all the expenses, HUH?! YOU MAYBE? I gave you a job, and this is how you thank me?!"

"I-I'm sorry... I had to defend myself and..."

"Defend yourself? DEFEND YOURSELF?! You should have shut up and let it happen!"

"W-What?!"

"At least there wouldn't have been any damage to my grocery store! Now you're going to work for me for free, until you pay back the debt you owe me, got it?"

Marinette felt like she was hallucinating. Not only was this audacious woman exploiting her, but now she wanted to make her a slave? These men wanted to... And this old witch wanted... to…

There were three customers in the store, three brothers who regularly came to do small errands in the grocery store. Marinette liked them very much, they were very nice. Their eyes fixed on her.

Marinette had never felt so humiliated in her life.

"No."

"WHAT DID YOU SAID?!"

"I SAID NO!"

Marinette pushed the old woman, who fell to the ground. She ran away from the grocery store as fast as she could, without looking back.

Once alone in her small apartment, she began to cry.

She was fed up.

Still crying, she quickly packed her suitcase. She didn't have much money, but what she had left was enough to buy a bus ticket.

Marinette went down the stairs. She wiped her tears with her hands.

As she was about to leave the building, she bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry about that."

She didn't even look at the person and ran out quickly. She had had her fill of humiliation for the day.

"Hey! Miss Dupain-Cheng!"

Marinette stopped, then turned around. She recognized the man who called her as one of the brothers who always came to the grocery store, the same one who was present when the old woman was arguing with her.

She remembered his name as Dick Grayson. At least that was how he introduced himself.

How had he found her? She was sure she had never given her address to anyone. The only person who went home was Red Hood. And Red Hood was taller than this guy.

"Can I help you, Mr. Grayson?"

"Sort of... can we talk for a moment?"

Marinette hesitated.

She realized that Grayson's two other brothers, were moving in their direction.

The bluenette did know about the café. And... it was located on a very busy street.

"I can't afford to go there. It's too expensive."

"Since I'm the one who has a proposition to make you, I offer you the coffee."

"I don't do this kind of thing."

Grayson's eyes opened slightly. He had probably just realized what his proposal might imply.

"It's absolutely not... It was not..."

"Seriously Dick? Don't you have an even more ambiguous sentence to come out with?"

The one who just spoke was named Jason. He started arguing with Grayson. Marinette felt uncomfortable and didn't know how to react to the situation.

"Here. Take this."

The young woman then looked at the third brother, a certain Tim. He was handing her a handkerchief.

Ah... Right...

She had been crying. The bluenette wasn't very presentable. Grayson and Jason's fight had distracted her, she had stopped crying. Nevertheless, she accepted the handkerchief.

"What Dick meant was simply that right now we are looking for someone who could work for our family."

"What? "

"We have a little brother, just a few months old. But none of us have the experience to take care of him. Our butler isn't very young anymore, he can't keep him and take care of the other tasks at the same time."

"A little brother... a few months old."

A butler?

These guys had a butler? What kind of person had a butler?! They were rich? Why would kids from a rich family come to a place like this?!

Marinette frowned. This story was suspicious, there was something fishy going on.

"Why are you talking to me? There are plenty of people much more qualified than me to take care of your... little brother."

"Qualified doesn't mean trustworthy, Miss Dupain-Cheng."

Marinette blinked several times.

There was only a very small group of people who called her "Miss Dupain-Cheng".

A small group of Vigilant.

The young woman stared at the young man in front of her. He must have been just a year or two younger than her. Then she looked up at the other two, who had stopped arguing. Grayson was tall, rather athletic and handsome. Jason was taller than his brother, with broader shoulders.

Is it... Is it possible that?

Marinette decided to trust her instincts.

Something inside me tells me I'm going to regret that decision.

"Hmm... We should sit down... over some coffee..."

The boy, Tim, smiles at her. Grayson and Jason seemed relieved by her answer.

Marinette wasn't really sure it was a good idea... But well...

Come what may.