The next day, Marinette stopped in the office for all of five minutes before leaving on her mission. She grabbed her purse, the company card she'd kept in her locked office, and the taser that Tim had given her that morning and she was off.

She stopped at three fabric stores she'd found directions for, a knitting store, and another craft store before deeming herself to have enough things for the next week or so. She could at least make all the things she designed the day before, and the few she'd thought of late in the night.

Nearly falling over from the weight of the bags in her hands, she didn't even register that Damian was already in her office like he said he would be.

"You really need all that, already?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow at the amount of fabrics she had.

Marinette didn't jump, turning slowly to look at him from where she was, placing the fabric bags on the couch. He'd apparently made himself comfortable at her desk. "I've got quite a few designs for you, Tim and Dick already."

"May I see them?" he asked, sitting up straight and watching her organize things.

"You can't see your own designs, but you can see the others," Mari said, getting the feeling that if she didn't let him see something he would bother her about it until she did. She stopped what she was doing and grabbed her tablet off the table, going to the folders for Tim and Dick and pulling them up, handing it back to him.

In the time since yesterday, she'd managed to add two work-casual outfits, a casual at home outfit, and a formal wear outfit for all three of them. Insomnia really was a bitch.

"You've had the time to design all of this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked through them. He desperately wanted to find some fault in the designs, thinking of his brother's personalities, but he could find none. They would certainly enjoy wearing any of this.

Marinette nodded, going over to where she'd left her things this morning and picking up a box. "I also had time to make these for you, as a thank you for helping me put together my sewing counter yesterday," she said, holding the box out to him.

"Table," he corrected automatically, nearly wincing as he realized that it wasn't exactly polite to correct someone's English when it wasn't their first language. Especially someone who'd learned multiple languages. He knew that the more languages you learned, the easier it was to get words mixed up in translation.

She didn't retract the box though, or bother saying anything about it, so he took that to mean she wasn't upset. He took the box, opening it slowly. "Macarons?" he asked, not that excited about them.

Mari hummed, already back to taking out the fabric and organizing them by the projects they were needed for. She looked around and found small plastic bins, deciding those would hold each project that she was working on. "They're not that sweet, don't worry," she said, smiling to herself a bit. "They're lemon."

"How did you know I wouldn't like sweets?" he questioned, taking one out and biting into it cautiously. She was right though, it was surprisingly refreshing and he could find himself eating these more often.

"You don't strike me as the type," was all she said, finishing putting away her project materials.

"Cassandra tells me you're going to be video calling with her and Stephanie tomorrow," Damian started, having already planned on asking this but more or less using it as a diversion from the sweets in his hands. If he didn't he felt like he might accidentally eat the whole box. "You speak ASL, not FSL?"

Mari hummed. "Well, it seemed more prudent to learn it for the country I'm going to be living in for the next few years at least. I only learnt it over last semester of lycee , and I had already applied here at that point, so it made the most sense." (A/N: shoutout to 1Peri3 for pointing out that this wasn't clear in the initial mention!)

He merely nodded, going back to her desk and sitting down. He would've sat at the couch, but it didn't seem like she would be using it anytime soon and he worked better at a desk.

There was a knock at the door then, and Mari turned to it with a smile. A tall man, as all the Wayne's seemed to be, was standing there in a red motorcycle jacket and jeans. He didn't look like he worked for the company at all.

" Bonjour , you must be Jason. I'm Marinette, your new designer," she said, walking over with a smile and holding out her hand to shake his.

"That's me," he said, taking her tiny hand in his much larger one. He did make note of the calluses on her palms and the slight scarring he could feel on her knuckles. He instantly knew that she'd been in a scrap or two in her time. "Dick wasn't kidding, you really are a pipsqueak."

Mari had to physically fight off the urge to huff at that. "And like I told him, it's not my height we are concerned about today," she said, leading him over to where the light was best and grabbing her measuring tape.

Jason smiled, already telling that he would like this tiny girl. She didn't seem like she would put up with any nonsense, and he could tell that she had a backbone she was keeping hidden in front of her employers.

"So, are you just going to be making clothes for when we have to work or other stuff too?" he asked, holding his arms out when she gestured for him to.

"All kinds of clothes; casual wear, formal wear, at home things, pajamas. Although, if you want something specific you can always ask. I believe the only things I'm not tasked with are undergarments and socks," Mari answered, taking down his measurements as efficiently as she could.

"Really? Even pajamas?" Jason asked, shocked at that. "The last designer we had only really made office clothes and formal wear."

She shrugged. "That's what Tim asked me to make for everyone. I have a list of the amounts of pieces to make for each of you before I can take specific requests, though."

The meeting went quickly after that. Jason seemed to focus on asking about her fighting abilities, and she had played it off as something she picked up in Paris when the akuma's were a problem. That had opened up a whole can of worms just as she finished taking the measurements.

"What's an akuma?" Jason asked, looking completely confused so there was little chance he was lying to her about not knowing.

"You really don't know?" she asked, taking a seat on her couch and taking her tablet back from where it was next to Damian. "For six years, Paris was held hostage by an emotional terrorist and you really don't know?"

"You're joking, right?" Jason asked, sitting on the table in front of her so he could read her expression.

"Not in the slightest. Gabriel Agreste, formerly known as Hawkmoth, terrorized the city since I was only in college. He used the miraculous, a jewel that gives the wearer certain powers, to possess anyone with a negative emotion and turn them into his champion," she said, frowning at the fact that neither of them knew. She supposed that the mayor must have covered it up though, otherwise the tourism would've stopped completely.

"Why isn't Paris destroyed then?" Damian asked from his spot behind his desk, barely containing his questions. He wanted to interrogate her about this, but knew that his father would be upset if he did. He would also probably be upset with himself, considering this seemed to be an emotional topic for the girl.

"Our hero, Ladybug, had something called the miraculous cure. When cast after an akuma battle, anything damaged got returned to normal, including people. Gabriel wanted her miraculous and Chat Noir's in order to get a wish, to wish his wife back to life," she said, looking at the floor. She could feel her worries settling in her mind again about the entire thing. The memories of her parents' deaths, her deaths, her friends' deaths replaying in her mind. "This all became public knowledge during the trials."

"Was Chat Noir another hero?" Jason asked, trying to wrap his mind around this all. There was no way the JL didn't know about this, right?

"He was, but Gabriel was his father, and when he found that out he turned to his side. He's in jail as well," she said, feeling herself tear up a little at the thought of Adrien. He'd been her friend for so long, and it was still hard to separate that from all the hurt he'd caused her. "He was my classmate."

"How is it possible no one knows about this?" Jason wondered, trying to figure it out.

Marinette shrugged, giving a smile that she knew was obviously fake. "Yes, well, it's over now. No point in dwelling on it for too long. Ladybug defeated them both, and they're both far away from getting a miraculous back," she said, looking down at the tablet in her hands. She focused more on trying to think of a design for Jason, but was coming up blank. The entire conversation had muted her mind, making it impossible to think of anything besides the past.

"Right, of course," Jason said, smiling at her. "I'm sorry, that must be very difficult to discuss."

Mari simply smiled at him before turning back to her tablet. She waved when he left, putting her tablet down for the time being. She knew she wouldn't be able to think of any designs for a bit now and just wanted to start one of the projects.

Picking a box at random, she let the creative process take over and forgot about the world around her.

The next day went just about the same as the one before; wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast and head to work. Slug around until she finds the coffee pot, greet Damian who's once again hiding from Tim, and start her projects.

She'd gotten a few designs made up for Jason, but would need to go to the store again at some point to pick up the materials. Besides, she still had to call Cassandra and Stephanie today so she felt it was better left waiting until at least Thursday.

The call with the girls went as well as she'd hoped it would. It was easy to pick up that the girls were comfortable in most things, but tended to favor wearing business casual clothing even on their off days.

Cassandra was clearly more comfortable in darker tones and muted colors, while Stephanie gave her the inkling that pastels wouldn't be something she hated. She didn't have any at the moment, but the way she spoke about her current wardrobe made Mari think that the girls were not fans of their former stylist.

"So, how're you liking Gotham so far? Feeling homesick yet?" Stephanie asked, smiling at her through the camera.

"I'm liking it a lot, actually," Mari said, feeling like she was actually truthful in that. No half-truths or diversions. She truly was just happy. "I miss my parents of course, but there wasn't much left for me in Paris. This feels like a new adventure."

Cassandra signed to her, smiling. I'm glad you came to Gotham then, she said.

"Me too," Mari said, happy that they were happy. It still felt a little odd, feeling whatever she wanted to whenever she wanted to. But happiness wasn't something she ever had to hide in Paris, it was just one of the harder to come by emotions.

"Well, we'll let you get back to work now, but feel free to text us whenever! We could go to the movies or hang out," Stephanie said, waving to her before hanging up.

Would they actually want to do that? Mari thought, wondering when the last time she hung out with someone was. Well, there was Damian coming over to build my furniture.

Speaking of which, he was currently sitting at her desk again, not that she minded. She never really bothered with a desk for more than checking her schedule. For the most part she was sitting at the sewing machine, cutting things at the cutting station, or doing anything that didn't involve a computer.

Currently she was working on one of the button ups for Tim, working on the embroidery. Piecing it together hadn't taken much time at all, but the embroidery always took the longest unless you used a machine.

It was quiet for a while until she finished the piece, holding it out in front of her and spinning it around to make sure she hadn't missed anything. "Done!" she cheered, walking over to the rack of hangers and pulling down the garment bag for Tim. She was hanging anything she made for each of them in a singular bag to keep track of it all. Well, that and she'd discovered Damian liked to try to peek at his stuff.

"Another one?" Speak of the devil. She turned and spotted him looking up at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, why?" she asked, not finding anything wrong with being efficient.

"That's the fourth piece you've finished this week already," he pointed out, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Yes well, hopefully you'll all have very full closets in a couple of months. And we can cycle them out every year, donate them to a homeless shelter," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "Actually, that was something I wanted to talk to Tim about."

"You rang?" said Wayne, or rather Drake, said from her door.

She turned around with a smile. "You all seem to have impeccable timing," she said, walking over to her drawing board. "But yes, I have an idea I wanted to run by you."

"Well I figured I'd come see where the demon spawn has been hiding from me this week, considering it's been far too peaceful in the offices," Tim said, walking in and making himself comfortable on the couch. "What's this idea?"

"Demon spawn?" Mari asked, getting momentarily side tracked. "Nevermind. I was thinking that each year we could donate your closets to homeless shelters. Obviously Stephanie and Cassandra's would go to a woman's shelter, and yours could go to a men's shelter. If there was anything you all wanted to keep of course you could but I could always make you a new one of whatever it was."

Tim seemed to brighten at the idea. "And then you would never run out of things to do as well," he said, smiling. "Because going by those bags over there, you've already been doing way too much."

"Well, I may already have all of your fall and winter clothes designed. I haven't bothered starting spring and summer, considering I haven't really seen what Gotham's summer trends will be yet, but that will probably be finished in October at the latest," she said, feeling a bit sheepish.

"Todd will enjoy that idea," Damian said from behind her desk, still not focused back on whatever it was he was doing it seemed.

"Todd?" Marinette asked.

"Jason," Damian amended for her, knowing it would confuse her to call his brother by his last name as it always had before. He enjoyed the look she made when she was trying to figure something out though. It looked like her mind was going through twelve different scenarios at the same time.

"Ah, yes," she said, smiling. "Not only would it help me keep busy, it would be a great way to help others."

Mari had tried to convince herself she was done being a hero, that she didn't need that life anymore. Who was she kidding? She still wanted to help other people in as many ways as she could. And while she wasn't ready to call on the miraculous transformation just yet, there were so many other ways she could help the city she was going to call a home.

Tim smiled at her, seeing why his brother chose to hide down here rather than in their office. "I'll run it by the others, but I'm sure they will all be for the idea," he said, truly happy with the way her thoughts were going. It seemed as though she was a truly genuine person, just wanting to make a difference in the world.

" Merci , Mr. Drake," Marinette said, truly happy at the prospect.

"Tim."

"Right, Tim," she corrected herself, still elated.

"And Friday we will get to see the first rounds of clothing you made us?" he continued, looking curiously at the rack by the far wall that would be holding some of his own clothing.

Mari nodded. "Yes, although I couldn't figure out a good time you would all be around to look at them. I figured you would want each other's opinions as well."

"You could come for dinner," Damian said almost instantly.

He didn't know why he suggested it. Well he did if he was being honest. He was worried she wasn't doing anything but working, and that she hadn't done anything besides go home and go to work everyday. He may or may not have checked in on her as Robin a few times, and it was always the same. She was almost always sitting at her sewing table. He also figured she might be missing the company of other people, and he hadn't figured out a way to invite himself over again until Saturday.

"What?" Mari asked, her brain short circuiting a bit. He wanted her to come over for dinner? Wouldn't that make them friends? Well, I guess we kind of are already friends? But I don't really know the rest of his family at all.

"It would be a good way to get them all together at the same time. You can also take the measurements for Miss Cain and Miss Brown, as they will be arriving home shortly before dinner," he said, using his tone to imply he thought it was inherently obvious.

Tim seemed to be nodding along, so Mari relaxed a little. "You could also meet our dad, considering he hardly ever leaves his office and hasn't been by here yet," he pointed out.

"Wouldn't that be a little...um…" Mari started, trying to think of the word and unknowingly looking to Damian for help. She'd gotten so used to him correcting her English for her these past couple of days.

"It wouldn't be imposing, Miss Dupain-Cheng," he said, seemingly reading her mind.

She shrugged then, looking between the two of them. "If you really think it's the best idea," she said, smiling a bit shyly.

Let's just hope I don't get myself in trouble somehow, she thought to herself, feeling as though that was exactly what was about to happen.