Marinette groggily woke to something resting on her legs and a soft blanket under her chin. She cracked open her eyes. Tikki flew up to her in an instant.
"How do you feel, Marinette?" the little Kwami chirped. Her general excitement far too loud for this early in the—she chanced a glance to the windows—afternoon.
A groan. She attempted to roll onto her side and hide her face in the couch. Soft hands on her legs stopped her. The thought of kicking crossed her mind.
"Rise and shine, sleepy bug."
Another groan. Marinette pulled the blanket over her face. She mumbled through the soft fabric. "Plagg, I'm gonna kill you."
"Hey!" came an indignant wine. "Wasn't me, pigtails! I'm insulted."
Her eyes narrowed at the expanse of fabric over her face. Then, "Mullo…"
"I just wanted to help!" the little mouse Kwami squeaked. He phased through the blanket to nuzzle her cheek. "You can't do it alone! I won't let you!"
Her comforting barricade against the real world vanished, replaced by a concerned Adrien Agreste peering down at her.
"What are you planning, bugaboo?"
Marinette crossed her arms.
"She and Plagg want to destroy the Lazarus Pits!" Tikki squeaked. In part from her general high-pitched voice, in part from phasing through Marinette's hand as it swatted at her angrily.
"Tikki!"
"What? He asked!"
"Uh… can I ask something else then?" He paused. "What are the Lazarus Pits?"
For a moment, Marinette only studied the boy leaning over her. Calculating. She would do anything to avoid bringing him back into this life. And yet… she knew just how deep secrets cut him. She sighed. "Plagg and Tikki made them centuries ago as part of a collaboration between the Order of the Miraculous and the League of Assassins."
"Wait, that's real?" he asked.
Now it was Marinette's turn for confusion. "You know about the League?"
He ran a hand through golden tresses, permanently mussed now that he left the modeling game for good. "I guess? Kagami told me a story about how she beat a child assassin in single combat at the age of five. Something about that being enough for the League's protection providing she regularly duels the trainees they send her. I thought she was joking. It's hard to tell with her…"
Mullo gave Marinette's cheek a meaningful nudge. She simply pretended it didn't happen. "Right. I guess I need to talk to Kagami about that soon. But… yes. It's real. The Order and the League have a… complicated relationship if what Fu told me is still correct. And it's one that needs to be ended."
Adrien nodded solemnly. "When do we leave?"
Blood turned to ice in her veins. She rocketed upright, grabbing Adrien's shoulders. "We aren't doing anything."
"I'm not letting you take on an army of literal assassins on your own, Mari. And if this thing is bad enough to get you concerned, it needs to go." He narrowed his eyes, not flinching in the face of Marinette's anger.
"You chose to retire," she hissed. "Leave this to the heroes."
Her venom only turned his stubborn determination to cold anger. "Heroes?" He laughed without humor. "Mari, you pushed everyone away the moment Shadowmoth went after your parents. There are no other heroes."
Thin fingers gripped, pushed with hidden power, until the former Black Cat fell from the couch. It wasn't enough to shut him up. He just looked up at her from the ground with that same irritating loyalty that she couldn't help but miss.
"What do you want? Really. You can't tell me you're happy. Kwami, it doesn't even sound like you want to destroy the pits." He rested his elbows on his knees. "Right now all I can think is that you want to die."
She sucked in a breath. Trembling fingers grasped at the fabric of the couch in a desperate bid to stay still.
"I've been there, bug." He lowered his head with a sigh. "I saw that path so I left when you pushed me. I think it's time you consider it too."
A ragged breath. A whisper. A weakness. "I can't."
"You can. Mari… please."
"You don't get it!" Her feet slammed into the floor, making use of Adrien's position on the carpet to tower over him, one of the very few times she managed to do so. "I'm not just a discount Black Cat. Kwami, I'm not even a discount Ladybug any more. I'm the Guardian, Adrien. You can run off and abandon this little charade you played, pretend it was all some big game, move on. I can't. I would never abandon my responsibility like that." Her breath came in ragged gasps now, fists clenched at her sides.
Immediately, hurt watered Adrien's eyes. Plagg flew between the two teens, his panicked focus on Adrien. "Kid, she didn't mean-"
"No." Adrien stood, reversing their positions. He cast a cold look down at the top of her head. "She meant every word."
She didn't object. The Kwamii hovered around them with bated breath.
"I will forever live with the scars of this war, Mari. Same as you. Except mine don't become invisible when I take off my mask. Everyone in Paris knows the name Agreste."
She winced.
"My father is dead. I have no responsibility to Paris anymore. Neither do you." He placed his hands on her shoulders, shifting down until they were eye to eye. "But I would never run away from my responsibility either. And my responsibility is to keep my partner safe. Always."
Marinette recoiled, desperate to put distance between herself and his earnest green eyes. He was right, after all. She was the one who took more and more responsibility from his shoulders until he had nothing. She was the one who inadvertently stole Plagg's attention, the only comfort Adrien had while under Gabriel's thumb. She all but told him to leave the same day she stashed her parents safely in Shanghai. And when he did… she didn't follow. She let her partner face a world that hated him. Alone.
He stood with a weary sigh. "I'm coming with you. Kagami too. But once this is done, the world won't need the Miraculous anymore. I suggest you think about what you want to do next."
Day patrol in Gotham was light. Sure, a few idiots tried daytime muggins, but the supervillains usually waited until evening before enacting their schemes. Duke briefly wondered what the chance of all of them being insomniacs was. Mental health and sleep habits did tend to go hand in hand.
All that to say, Duke was bored. He lightly hopped onto the next rooftop, scanning the world below. Nothing really stood out. The gardens were look extra green though. Ivy did a good job running out anyone stupid enough to vandalize it.
He froze.
The gardens were only ever this green when Ivy was gearing up for something and needed the assistance of her plants.
Duke vaulted over the roof without hesitation. Speedwalking to the gates, he pushed inside. Scanning the immediate area, he found nothing. Gothamites weren't typically up this early. Visiting a public park before noon was a Metropolis move.
He cautiously meandered deeper into the gardens. As if guiding him forward, the plants around him shifted and stretched toward the center of the plot. He stepped past the curtain of willows with bated breath.
There, in the heart of Ivy's garden, sat Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She had her hair pulled back in a low bun today, a simple spotted bandana tied over it. Though that was the only part of her dressed for the occasion. Mud and dirt caked the knees of a well-loved pair of pj pants.
"Hey," he said. Loud enough to announce his presence without getting in her space, but soft enough as to not draw Ivy's ire.
She looked up, at first in alarm, then recognition. "Hi. The Signal… right?" She wiped at her forehead, leaving a streak of mud in its wake.
"Yeah. And you?" He chanced a step closer. Tim would never forgive him if he let her disappear into thin air again.
"Marinette. It's nice to meet one of Gotham's heroes."
"Not the one you were hoping for, though?"
She shrugged. "Batman and his menagerie are vigilantes, non?"
He couldn't help but grin. "Fair. I do have to warn you though. This is Ivy's garden. She gets a bit upset when people touch her plants without permission."
Marinette leaned back, revealing the small pile of twisted stems and roots gathered by her knees, clearly freshly yanked from the ground. Shit. Ivy was going to kill them both.
"I've been here for a few hours. If she had a problem, I imagine she would have said something.
Duke cast a suspicious look around. She had a point. Ivy didn't wait around when her plants were threatened. And the faint unnatural movement of moss and vine implied she was very much aware of the situation.
"Weird, for her. Mind if I hang out for a bit, just in case?"
She wavered. He regretted asking. If last night were any indication, she liked her privacy. Then a weak smile appeared. "I do not know. Ivy seems unbothered by my presence. But a hero…" She trailed off in mock concern.
"Don't tell the others," he leaned in conspiratorially, "but I'm her favorite."
"In that case…" She patted the grassy spot beside her.
He took his designated spot, watching her curiously. "Whatcha doing anyway?"
"Weeding," she answered. Reaching down beside what he could now see was a plant choked by sinewy fuzzy stems. She yanked the weed straight from the earth, taking a bit of healthy plant with it. He raised an eyebrow as she went for another with a bit more vindictiveness than really necessary.
"Having fun?"
She laughed dryly. "You have no idea."
Maybe he didn't. But right now, he could see the appeal of going to town on some objectively bad plants with no remorse. He knelt down on his knees, calloused hands pushing past soft, moist dirt into the earth just beside Marinette's. Together, they pulled. A large weed system ripped from the ground, spraying a thin layer of dirt over them both.
They continued on like that in silence. Duke did leave briefly, Marinette kept glancing at the stream nearby and he was sweating buckets, so he scrounged them up some water bottles from a convenience store. He tossed one her way when he returned. Her smile of thanks and immediate brightening was all he needed. This, this was why he liked day patrol.
"So…" She drained the last of her water. "Why is the mighty Signal weeding?" Her tone was light, but he saw the opportunity in it. If she shared enough, she might reciprocate.
He shrugged with purposeful nonchalance. "Family."
Marinette blew out a breath. "Family," she agreed.
They took out another weed with merciless efficiency.
"I was an only child like a year ago." He dug his hands back down into the earth. "Now I'm The Signal and have the whole Bat Clan at my back."
Marinette hummed beside him. When he chanced a glance her way, he could see familiar exasperation there.
"They can be… a lot. And my favorite one is off on a mission right now. I don't even have her to keep me sane."
Her hands joined him in the earth. Face shuttered.
"What about you?" he asked as he tore his gaze away to give her privacy in working through her emotions.
They decimated a few more weeds in silence. Duke was starting to give up on ever getting an answer when she spoke.
"Similar to you." They both kept their attention on the plants. "I found a family by accident. Twice. I pushed the first one away and now I've been on my own for so long… I don't know how…" she trailed off, searching for the words. Duke wished he could help, but he wasn't Damian or Dick or Tim. In Gotham, French was the language of the rich. She gave up with a lame shrug. "I don't know how to go back."
He frowned in thought. If only Dick were awake. He'd know what call to make. Marinette was likely to find out their identities if she stayed with them anyway. If he told her just a bit more, was it work the risk of his identity?
"It's hard," he admitted. "I just started finding friends I considered family when… most of them died. When Batman offered me a spot on the team, it felt like a slap to the face. It was everything I dreamed but I wasn't the only one with those dreams. And the others were dead. They never got the chance I did."
Marinette's hands stilled in the earth.
"It was a hard choice. But even beyond wanting to do good, to be a hero, I thought about why I even wanted to say no." He closed his eyes, letting his fingers work alone to find the distant tendril of a stubborn weed's roots. "Fear. Fear of losing everyone all over again. Fear of betraying the people I already lost. Fear of losing the few I hadn't. And worse… fear of trying something new."
He sighed, gently untangling the weed from the flower it seemed determined to overtake. His eyes opened. "I decided I didn't want to be ruled by fear. I don't think you do either."
"What if…" she trailed off, sitting back on her thighs. "What if they didn't die. What if you pushed them away on purpose?"
He thought back to his Robins. Not Batman's Robins, but his own. The ones he had to leave behind in order to become The Signal. The ones he pushed away so they would never connect the dots. The ones who answered his call despite it. "Are they staying away?"
Marinette tilted her head. "No… I- I don't think so."
"Then you've got a chance."
She seemed to think on that for a long moment. "What if I just hurt them more? Old and new?"
Duke could only shrug, resting on his heels as he looked the girl in the eyes. "I'd get hurt for any of my team any day. Double it for my favorite. I know she feels the same."
He could see the moment Marinette's thoughts shifted. But she didn't say a word. They both returned to work, content with the comfortable silence between them. But two o'clock arrived faster than he thought and soon a voice crackled to life in his ear. "Morning Signal. Everything looking good this morning?" Babs asked.
Something told him Marinette wouldn't appreciate him reporting back on her presence. He debated texting, but discarded the idea. Too obvious.
Ivy ended up saving him, whether intentionally or not, he couldn't tell. She gently alighted beside him, letting the gardens curl and twist to obscure her from Marinette's view. "Go on, little light. It's my turn."
Part of him hesitated to leave a civilian alone with Poison Ivy. The more rational side pointed out that if Ivy wanted Marinette gone, he never would have found her to begin with. Not to mention the hushed rumors on the street of Ivy's kindness toward young women in need.
"Oracle is watching," he warned.
Ivy just waved a dismissive hand. "Send my regards."
With a long look, Duke nodded his assent. He placed a gentle hand on Marinette's shoulder to interrupt her work. "Duty calls." He offered a warm smile. "See you around?"
"I-… yes. I think you might…" She didn't seem sure, but it was better than her practically running away last night. He was content with that, for now.
She caught him by surprise when she stepped into his hand and wrapped her arms around him in a fast hug. "Thank you, Signal. For the advice." She stepped away before he could even think about hugging back.
"Signal?" Babs pressed in his ear. "Report in before I think you've been eaten by a plant. Please and thank you."
"Anytime." And with a lazy salute, he was gone. Once safely on a nearby rooftop, he pressed his finger to the comm on the side of his helmet. "No man-eating plants detected. Woman-eating, to be determined."
Babs soft snort brought a smile to his lips. It dimmed soon after as he turned to the more serious matter.
"When Tim wakes up, tell him to meet me in the cave. Marinette is in Gotham, but I don't know for how long."
Marinette's pace slowed significantly throughout her conversation with The Signal. Her fingers once violently tearing into the offending plants now gently untangled them from the root systems they were choking. After he left, she allowed herself a single moment to reflect on her work. Among other things.
Adrien wanted to come back. She had been the one to push him away. She had been the one to keep pushing every time she tried to help. She was the one who tried to goad him into being angry with her this morning so he would leave without hurting. Maybe… all she needed to do was ask. Not for him to come back as Chat Noir. Not even to the miraculous. But back to her.
Someone settled in the grass beside her. "Hello there, my darling weed wacker."
Marinette blinked. One, the woman beside her looked like the soccer mom version of Princess Fragrance. Two, what the hell was a weed wacker?
Her confusion must have shown as the woman heaved a weary sigh. "Yes, I am green. A small experiment gone wrong. I assumed a friend of nature like yourself wouldn't stare."
"Oh!" Marinette shook her head, quickly moving to reassure the woman otherwise. "Non, non, non! I just… English is not my first language. I was wondering what a… weed wacker means?"
Now the woman's face morphed into amusement. "Don't you worry your pretty little head over it, mm?" She teasingly patted Marinette's spotted bandana.
For once, Marinette had no idea what was happening. Considering she had the consul of a dozen tiny gods whenever she had questions, it was an odd occurrence.
The green woman seemed to take pity on her. "It is not often my babies cry out in joy when someone enters my garden. Though, they admit, you surprised them."
She thought back to Duke's earlier warning. Now it made sense. This was Poison Ivy. The thought of being concerned for her safety briefly brushed her consciousness. She immediately pushed it aside in favor of curiosity. "Your plants were happy because I walked in? Why? I'm just me."
"And The Signal is just The Signal. Just as he radiates light and life, so do you."
Internally, Marinette cursed Tikki's power. Wearing the miraculous of creation for so long, true holder or not, left a significant residue. Not enough for most untrained in magic to notice. But apparently, not subtle enough to escape the attention of plants. Maybe that's why her balcony had started turning into a verifiable jungle in the later days of the war.
"Though, I must admit, I expected you to help them the way The Signal does. By the energy you project. Weeding is an unconventional choice, given your gifts."
"I don't have powers!" she said in a rush. "Besides, what are weeds but uncontrolled growth? If I did somehow have the power to make plants grow, using it indiscriminately would be bad. It's just… balance. Some plants have to be killed to make room for others to grow. Preferably the useless parasitic ones in favor of the environmentally beneficial."
"One could argue weeds have their own vital place in the environmental system," Ivy challenged, the small smile on her lips speaking to her enjoyment of the conversation. Not likely to up and murder her then. Good.
"On a large scale, yes, I guess. They're like… the binding agent when you're trying to bake. But that's only when the scale is so large that it can't be maintained any other way. I don't think your garden falls into that category."
She hummed in response. "A fair point. And that is what you consider a weed to be? A parasitic useless plant?"
Marinette wasn't exactly sure what the other woman was trying to get at. A debate on weed killing wasn't what she had in mind this morning. "Sure."
"Then why do I see dandelions lying in your wreckage?"
She was walking into a trap. And she knew it. But sue her, she was curious. She sprung it. "Because they are weeds?"
"But you said weeds were useless. Dandelions are edible, a favorite among foragers. They also serve the plants around them, pulling calcium from deep in the soil and bringing up where other plants can reach, attracting pollinators."
Marinette tilted her head. Ivy mimicked her with a teasing smile.
"Yes, my little weed wacker?"
She huffed. "You're trying to teach me a lesson but you won't even tell me what I'm supposed to learn."
"I'm a rogue, dear. Giving sage wisdom is beneath me."
Marinette didn't buy it. There was a lesson in there somewhere. She was determined to find it. Master Fu significantly wore down her patience for vague riddles that only yielded useful information weeks or even months later.
"Now, go on. The Signal gave you a lot to think about." Marinette didn't even bother to hide her surprise at this point. Gotham villains… rogues? were certainly something else. "But, I selfishly hope you choose whatever it is that brought you here. Gotham needs balance."
"I'll keep it in mind," she replied. And she would. Already the decision weighed on her. A decision and a garden full of discarded weeds left behind her, cleared so that life may begin anew.
