A grumpy robin.

That's what the mark on her skin was.

The one thing that represented her soulmate was a grumpy bird.

She didn't even know a bird could look grumpy, but her mark somehow managed it.

She didn't care though because it was hers.

It was her mark.

Her soulmate.

Someone that was perfect for her.

She couldn't wait to meet and and get to know whoever it was.

He didn't want to ever meet his soulmate.

He never had wanted to.

The league made it clear that soulmates were a waste of time and a weakness.

It wasn't worth it.

Love was only useful against your enemies and there was no such thing as true love.

He spat at the bare thought of it.

But at night when no one was around he'd sometimes wonder.

Who was it that was unlucky enough to have him as a soulmate?

The cheeky looking ladybug on the side of his shoulder haunted him.

Her parents was so in love.

She loved watching them bake together.

They'd sing and laugh and dance around.

Sometimes they'd kiss and she'd wrinkle her nose when she really thought it was the sweetest thing she'd ever seen.

She could spend days studying the bread and the cake on their wrists.

She was sure that was exactly what soulmates were supposed to be like.

Her maman and papan explained that everyone was different and just because two people were soulmates didn't mean they'd fit perfectly.

It wasn't like that.

A relationship was hard work and both parts needed to be fully committed to make it go around.

She was going to make it work.

He doubted it would work out.

His mother had in hushed tones told him about her soulmate.

A strong, intelligent and skilled man that she'd with time had fallen in love with despite the league.

The words that came out of her mouth went against most everything he'd ever been taught.

A blessing, not a curse she said as she told him about his father.

They'd been in love, but he couldn't stand the life she lived and she couldn't bring herself to leave it.

Love hadn't been enough.

She never told him who her soulmate was, but he'd seen the mark on her side.

The mark of a bat.

She got taunted, bullied and downgraded.

Being the daughter of the mayor's doing made sure it didn't go reprimanded.

Sometimes she'd trip over her own feet and make a mess of everything.

She always was madly clumsy.

Unintelligible babble came flowing out of her mouth every time she got nervous.

Or embarrassed.

Or distressed.

And sometimes her mark meant so much more than normal because it was something a bully couldn't touch, her clumsiness couldn't break and her lack of finess in nerve shattering times couldn't pull her down.

The thought of her soulmate always made her smile through it all.

When he's ten he gets dropped off with his father and his horde of adopted children.

He'd been raised to believe that everything he did would earn him the approval of his father.

They'd lied.

All the rules he'd grown upp with, constants that always was and principles to follow weren't looked up on or even tolerated here.

It put him on edge.

The heathens his father refused to get rid of didn't make the situation better.

And even marks were different.

They didn't talk too much about them, but soulmates were apparently an accepted concept.

Grayson had said soulmarks represented someone that one would love and be loved by.

He didn't get the thing about love.

It was outside his realm of comprehensibility.

He didn't know what love was supposed to be.

That didn't stop him from tracing his mark when he needed something familiar.

Her soulmark was a gift she treasured and a motivation to keep going even when life got tough.

His soulmark was a phenomena he didn't understand and a lifeline he clung to when life changed.

Time passed.

She got older and grew both physically and mentally.

She made friends and learned to speak up against injustice.

Designing became her passion and her dream.

A pair of earrings gave her an alter ego.

Kwamis, miraculouses and akumas made their way into her everyday life.

She got a partner.

Met her grandfather for the first time.

She did work for Jagged Stone.

Helped her friends.

Became class president.

Won Gabriel Agreste's derby hat contest.

Helped out with the bakery.

Competed in a Ultimate Mecha Strike III.

The mark wasn't on the forefront of her mind anymore, but that didn't mean she completely forgot about it.

Time went by.

Father died.

Grayson made him Robin.

Somewhere in the time that follow he got used to the idea of having siblings.

Expectations and rules he'd had trouble with started to make sense.

He would never be exactly as everyone wanted him to be, but he started getting used to the idea of not being perfect.

Of not being what his mother, grandfather and the league had shaped him to be.

He could still be aggressive.

He didn't let his walls down or laugh.

But sometimes Grayson told him how proud he was.

That meant more than he let on.

Things had changed a lot when his father came back from his time travel mishap.

He was a better person though he'd never admit it.

Somewhere along the line his view on that mark changed too.

It wasn't as much of a bad thing anymore.

A few years later they met.

Both of them were sixteen by then and a few thing had changed.

Her life had gone downhill since a Lila Rossi came around.

He had found his place in the batclan.

Of course they didn't know they were soulmates.

No, that came later.

Their first meeting weren't one of those read in a storybook.

They didn't fall in love at first sight or feel anything special at all.

They didn't even say a word to each other.

It was simple really.

Her class was on a class trip to Gotham.

He was their guide at Wayne Enterprises.

When the tour was done they left without so much as knowing each other's names.

It wasn't until the day after they actually interacted.

Of course it all started with her running into him.

Literally running into that is.

In a coffee shop of all things.

"I'm so sorry." She put her hand over her mouth. "I didn't see you."

"No problem." Then he looked her over. "Aren't you part of that french class?"

She recognised him too and nodded. "You were our guide yesterday, right?"

"That I were." He looked around a bit. "Are you here alone?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yep. I was left behind at the hotel and when I tried to run after the bus I got lost."

She was quite surprised by the hint of anger she noticed before he reigned it in.

"Do you have any idea where they're headed at least?"

Wouldn't that have been helpful?

"No idea." She sighed and shook her head. "I've accepted that I'll just have to find the hotel and do something there for the day."

He closed his eyes in contemplation.

When he finally opened them he'd come to a decision.

"You could come with me if you want. I have some work to do att Wayne Tower, but I'm sure it would be a lot more interesting than spending the day at the hotel in all of your lonesome."

Her eyes went wide. "Really?"

He gave a curt nod and nothing could have prepared him for the big smile she gave him.

The bluebell eyes sparkled.

The barista behind the counter called out. "Marinette."

The girl in front of him moved towards the counter and he followed.

He gave a nod to her to go cup. "It suits you well."

She took a sip of her beverage. "Mm, thank you. I didn't catch your name."

He had just opened up his mouth, but he was interrupted by the barista. "Damian."

Marinette made a jerky motion with her head.

He grabbed his coffee as an answer.

She put out her hand in front of her. "Nice to meet you Damian."

He shook her hand. "Likewise Marinette."

Damian took her to Wayne Enterprises as promised and she was curious about what he had to do.

He'd refused to tell her on the way there.

They were in a smaller office that was hidden away on the 24th or something floor.

A laptop, several folders and some pens rested on the desk in front of her.

The chair she was sitting on had to be the most comfortable office chair in existence.

This day was looking quite interesting.

Then he finally told her what it was he was supposed to do.

Plan a Wayne Gala for next week.

It would be incredibly fun to do it, but one week was not nearly enough time for this.

She was baffled at the work load. "Why?"

It came as a surprise that he actually told her why he was doing this.

"I was partially responsable for an incident that happened last week and my father knows grounding me is useless. I sneak out anyway. So he dumped this on me instead."

"Well, then." She took a deep breath and rolled up her sleeves. "Then we'll make it work."

He stared at her quite incredulously. "We?"

"I'm not evil enough to let you do this by yourself." Then she paused for a second. "And it's on my bucket list to plan a large event. Can't say doing it in one week was part of it, but I'll take what I can get."

And then they began.

"Apparently no one is willing to cater on such short notice."

"Let me fix something."

"I don't think that would make any difference, but it's not like we have anything to lose."

"Trust me. I know how catering works. Why don't you handle the guest list?"

"Do we have a budget?"

"It's on the paper."

"That's a lot of zeroes."

"Do you have a last name?"

"I think everyone does."

"I meant to ask what yours is?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"How am I otherwise supposed to put you on the guest list?"

"For a Wayne gala?"

"What else?"

"..."

"..."

"Dupain-Cheng."

"How is it that your father can just hand the planning of something this important to you?"

"I don't think most people would dare say anything against it."

"He's high up in the company?"

"You could say that."

"What do you say about canapes?"

"Sounds posh enough."

"I think that's the third time you've written those names."

"It's the seventh actually."

"Why would you do that?"

"They're my siblings. They won't come if it's easy taking themselves off the list."

"Do you know any reporters that aren't the worst kind of tabloid material?"

"I'll email Lois Lane."

"Isn't she from Metropolis?"

"She is."

"Okay, then."

"I've booked a place to hold this infernal monstrosity."

"Does this place have any interns that would be interested in some extra work?"

"37th floor. Eight door to the right."

"I'll be back in a moment."

"Either I'm going crazy or that was the ninth time you wrote that name or variations of it on different places on the list."

"My father."

"Same reason as your siblings?"

"Oh, definitely."

"Wait a minute. Your father is Bruce Wayne?"

"What would you like for lunch?"

"Chinese?"

"I'll order."

"We have a problem."

"Only one?"

"We have another problem."

"What might that be?"

"No bakery is able to handle our order. Closest is in Central City and that's if we spread out to four different shops."

"I'll handle it."

"Do you have any idea how we're doing budget wise?"

"We haven't used more than a tenth of it, but we haven't counted with the catering yet."

"Right. Let's see. It should be something like that."

"Are you sure?"

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

They didn't finish up until after eight in the evening.

The lobby was even empty when they exited.

Damian took her to a drive through and they ate their burgers in the car before he drove her to her hotel.

They exchanged phone numbers and emails too so they'd be able to continue working remotely.

By then they knew they could actually get it done in time.

An entire day and they hadn't noticed that she'd been missing.

It didn't bother her as much anymore.

Especially now that she had a friend or partner in gala planning.

Maybe both.

The invitation she got in her email only made her smile as she went to bed.

The next day she was with her class until lunch.

Then they forgot her again.

That was fine.

Tragically she was prepared for that and had her laptop in her bag.

It didn't take her long to find her way to Wayne Tower.

Damian didn't ask her why she wasn't with her class.

The entire week went by somewhat like that.

She'd go with her class, but if they left her somewhere she'd head straight over to him.

Even when they weren't together they'd work on the event with the helpful aide of internet.

They had it all covered within five days.

The place was arranged with everything that would be needed.

The speedsters would bring the stuff for the dessert table from Central City and Alfred would keep it stocked at all times during the evening.

They'd made a classy playlist, gotten Los and Clark to cover the event and bought in champagne.

He'd been shocked by how she'd handled the catering problem.

Most people would have bribed a catering firm with way more money than necessary, but not Marinette.

No, instead Marinette decided to start up her own catering.

Now Wayne Enterprises had a catering department for any future Wayne galas.

She'd somehow managed to get the paperwork fixed and everything.

That was impressive since she didn't really work here and didn't have the power to do anything like that.

She also charmed the interns into agreeing to work the department for a slight increase in pay when any event takes place.

A menu was made and all the ingredients bought without him even noticing.

Not that money was an issue, but the amount they were saving with the help of her smart solutions were baffling.

That girl certainly was special.

He hadn't seen her for the last two days.

It had nothing to do with her class.

They hadn't suddenly grown up and seen the error in their ways.

It was because Marinette wanted time to make her own dress.

He'd known she was a designer, but designing for a big event wasn't something anyone would do.

He could respect her for doing it.

And he wasn't counting how long it would be until he'd see her tonight.

Certainly not.

But then circumstances got in the way.

In a strange coincidence Paris and Gotham needed their heroes at the same time.

So Kaalki took Ladybug to fight the newest akuma and sentimonster while Robin found himself in a bank with hostages, a bomb and gun wielding robbers.

Fun times.

Let it be said that neither the Parisian superheroes nor the Gotham vigilantes commented on the unusual hurry the ladybug and the robin were in.

He was late.

Marinette and he was going to meet up at the place of the gala two hours before everything started.

He was lucky he'd brought his tux there earlier.

He dove down an alley and climbed through the window into a room that was specifically reserved for them to hold the reins of everything.

Immediately he started getting changed.

She was late.

Damian was going to be waiting for her.

She was so lucky no one saw Ladybug swinging around Gotham.

The building was right in front of her and there was the window she had to go through.

It was already open so she could just swing in and detransform.

He still had his mask on and he was currently topless.

She came flying in through the window and then detransformed right in front of him.

Suffice to say they both stared.

None of them was stupid enough to not understand that they'd just revealed their respective alter ego to each other.

"I can explain."

His eyebrows rose. "You can?"

She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She gave up. "You're right. I can't."

They just looked at each other.

She absentmindedly noted that he had a rather fine six pack.

Then she had to stop herself from blushing.

He was taking in her dress.

It was a beautiful red two piece that showed off a bit of her stomach.

They both took a step forward.

The only problem with that was that it changed the angle they were looking at each other.

Their marks were now both in full view and there was no denying it.

Both of them were in the exact same place.

Left shoulder.

The fact that the marks showed a ladybug and a robin didn't exactly leave much room for doubts either.

They were soulmates.

It wasn't until half an hour later they came out.

He was dressed and her shoulders were bare.

The wonders of make up.

Nothing they did gave anything away.

Not a single soul would have thought they'd just found out they were soulmates.

Later after everything was said and done only the Waynes, Marinette and the people working the event were still there.

Damian was watching as Marinette shook hands with the evening's waiters and thanked them for their help.

"You did an incredible job with all of this."

He didn't jump.

He'd heard father and the rest coming.

"I can't take all the credit. I had help."

In his peripheral vision he could see Drake and Todd exchange weird glances.

Grayson and father was looking at him a bit oddly.

But Cassandra was smiling.

it was quite obvious she knew what was going on.

He decided to put them out of their misery.

He took them to her and introduced her.

"This is Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Introductions really wasn't his strong suit.

He liked how she exaggeratedly rolled her eyes.

He liked the smile she wore even more.

"It's nice to meet you," she said as she shook all of their hands.

"Are you an event planner?" Of course it was Todd.

But Grayson and father both seemed to believe it as an likely possibility.

"You know hiring someone to plan this for you wasn't allowed," father wasn't asking.

Marinette took it in stride though. "Good thing I'm not an event planner or hired then, but you should consider hiring someone to handle your finances. Your books makes it quite obvious you don't know how to barter for better prices."

The looks of absolute disbelief were glorious.

"Did I forget to mention that she's my soulmate?"

Their reactions still had nothing on the ones they wore when they found the both of them in the batcave one hour later.