Marinette, half awake, curls up more tightly into her bed. It's warm, cozy, and she doesn't want to get up. She hears someone in her kitchen and wonders if it's her papa. It's been a long time since she last talked to him, since she came to Gotham to protect the miraculous… Gotham. She lives in Gotham. Her parents don't know where she is, and there's someone in her apartment. She jumps out of bed and spins to face the person in her home.
The man startles, a hand going down to the gun at his waist as he turns to face her. They just stare at each other for a moment before Hood relaxes and turns back to what he was doing on the counter. "Glad to see you're up."
"What are you doing in my apartment?" she asks, still on edge.
He snorts, his face much more expressive with just a domino mask instead of the full head helmet she's used to seeing. "We're not in your apartment, Lady."
She looks around, realizing that he's right. Instead of the peeling walls and drooping ceiling she's used to, she's standing in an apartment that is only a little larger than hers, but one that's quite a bit nicer. She tries to figure out why it feels familiar when she remembers. This is the safe house she landed in her first night in Gotham.
"Okay… why am I in your apartment then."
"Ya know, I have several questions on that myself. Like why a portal opened that took me to your apartment where I found you unresponsive, and how another one opened that brought us here. Don't suppose you could shed some light on that for me, Chance?"
She hesitates and he continues. "I know it has something to do with magic, and I assume your suit is also related, since it disappeared in a magical flash of light."
Her hand flies to her mask, or rather where her mask should be, to find nothing there. She looks down to find that she's in her Chat Noir pajamas, and not in her Lady Chance suit. She panics slightly at the fact that Hood has seen her face.
Hood turns around and looks at her. Seeing her panicked face, he frowns. "Look, your identity is safe. I don't recognize you, and even if I did, then I still wouldn't do anything with it. If I haven't reveled the identity of the Bats, there's no reason to reveal yours, especially since you're helping me."
She looks at him, searching for any sign that he's lying. Eventually she seems to come to a conclusion. She walks toward him and sticks out her hand. "Hi, my name's Marinette."
He stares at her hand in surprise, before reaching out his own and shaking it. "The Red Hood."
She grins at him before her face falls to something a little apprehensive. "Just… don't go digging into my past, please."
He huffs, before nodding. "You're in Gotham. No one comes here unless they're running, who am I to judge."
"I'm not running from anything." she denies.
He shrugs. "Maybe, but everyone who comes to Gotham is running. Either you're chasing something or you're running from it. Maybe you're not running from any thing, but running from your past is still running."
He slides the omelet he's been cooking out of the pan and onto a plate on the counter. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a key and tosses it to her. "Keep it, I don't need this place, and your apartment just made me sad. Consider it a raise."
With that, he turns, grabs his helmet, and walks past her to the window, jumping out of it and leaving Marinette with a key to the apartment and fresh made omelet.