Chapter Text
When Marinette Dupain-Cheng was nine years of age, she went missing for nearly a year. No one knew what happened to the girl, she vanished with no hint as to what happened to her. Nothing was missing from her room. No signs of a struggle or a break-in. Her bed had been slept in. Her parents were untouched and undisturbed in their room. A nine year old girl, for all intents and purposes, disappeared.
Eleven months and two weeks later, she reappeared in her room. Her parents almost didn’t recognize her- a year older, skin much darker, and scars littered her arms. And that was just what they could see first glance. She never spoke of what happened while she was gone, only saying she was taken by bad people and they finally let her go. She never said why. She never said how. A protection detail was placed on her. Le Chein Kim, child progeny of the Le Chein clan, infamous for their martial arts and skill in protective careers, moved next door to the bakery and went to school with the shy little girl from next door.
Her parents were worried about the little boy their daughter drew pictures of. She never told them his name, nothing about him ever escaped her lips except that he was her brother. Her parents didn’t understand, they had no other children. So of course they told the detective that was still looking for the kidnappers about what Marinette said and brought him a picture of the child.
The detective simply nodded and promised to look into it, adding the hand-drawn photo to the very, very small file he had. And if another child progeny for defense, Alix Kubdel, found herself suddenly uprooted and attending one College Francois-DuPont, well… no one had to know.
~
At ten years of age, Marinette Dupain-Cheng knew more about secrets than most full grown adults. Her time as Mara, as much as she wished to forget it, taught her many things. Not all good- killing, torture techniques, the art of seduction… she was ten, those are things even people in nursing homes didn’t learn. But she did find good things. The boy she trained with, he was five years her junior but still skilled. By the time of her departure they had become good friends. She learned how to be an elder sibling, how to sew, medical work, self defense, and so, so many other useful things from The Hidden Protectors. Or at least… that’s what they introduced themselves to her as. The protectors of the Guardian of the Miraculous… whatever that was. For some reason the leader made her think of a Butterfly… and he in turn called her his little mouse. As her time to return home drew nearer, she struggled with the idea of leaving… and could tell that her new grandfather did not wish to see her leave either. He promised the day she left that they would meet again- sooner than she would think and longer than either of them would like.
Her death was faked, very well, might she add. When she left, the group was held behind for a moment and told in no uncertain terms that she was not to return to their base. When they returned, they were covered in blood, mostly their own, and thought themselves victorious while a grandfather smiled secretly in pride and his daughter and grandson pretended that their hearts were not shattered by the news that Mara was dead and he approved.
Mara died that day, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng came home, knowing and not looking forward to the job she was being returned for. Kwami did she hate Master Fu.
~
The first day of school, ten year old Marinette Dupain-Cheng found an ornate box left on her desk. Her whole body visibly recoiled from the box. She slipped it into her bag just in case she needed it, but she wouldn’t put it on until it was absolutely necessary. She might be more heroic than most that went through her training, but that didn’t mean she was willing to trust the Guardian GrandMaster Fu after everything he had done. Both to her and to his temple. She hadn’t cut her hair in over two years and was glad of the comforting weight of her braid. Her parents had tried to convince her to cut it when she returned home- they wanted the same little girl they had lost what felt like so long ago, but… She wasn’t Marinette Dupain-Cheng anymore, not really. She didn’t think she could ever go back to the person she thought she was. It just wasn’t in her anymore. She was nice to Kim, he had no choice but to try to protect her. She was nice to Alix for the same reason. She was nice to people who were genuinely nice to her, like Juleka, Nino, and Nathaniel. She was not nice to Sabrina and Chloe, especially not at first. They were a constant thorn in her side, expecting her to be the same pushover as she was before she left. But she wasn’t. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was dead, and the girl inhabiting her body now was unable to bring her back. No, Mara Al-Ghul was the owner of the body now, and Marinette was never coming back. No matter how badly she wanted to fit into her old place in the world, she had seen, done, learned, and suffered too much.
After the first day of school, Chloe suddenly left Mariette alone, a mutual respect being born when they looked into each other's eyes and saw something familiar. Neither of them spoke, but they both knew. Home is not always where the heart is.
~
Chat Noir was a good hero, especially in the beginning. But Marinette could see things most could not. She could see how being the black cat wore on the poor boy. She could see how badly he wanted to end the fight, even through all the flirting and poor life choices. Perhaps that was why she didn’t take his ring even when he made her uncomfortable or pushed too far. Or perhaps it was just a small bit of Marinette Dupain-Cheng left, begging her to give the boy chance after chance because he needed and wanted the chance to prove himself. She shouldn’t have cared, she really shouldn’t, but his sound was so sad… She took to the rooftops, fully intending to go visit with Luka and Juleka and ask them for advice. They were better at handling the music people emitted, after all.
Chat would stay. She could handle it for a time. Luckily for her, it didn’t take long for Luka and Juleka Viperion and Shadow to help teach Chat Noir how to properly interact with people, read them, and know when to back off and let someone make their own decision about something. And how to properly react to people. It only took a couple weeks before the black cat was apologising to Ladybug and begging her to not be angry with him. She offered a small smile and hugged the poor boy, sealing their fate as friends rather than enemies. But never more than that.
~
At the age of twelve, Mara reconnects with her Italian spitfire of a grandmother. The woman made sure her granddaughter got more training in fighting, not expecting her to already have some experience, and so Gina worked to improve every move her granddaughter made and worked to increase her natural affinities with battle. Soon even a pack of gum could be a weapon to the heroine.
Gina expressed much pride in how far her granddaughter had come, and quickly spirited her away from prying eyes and listening ears to talk to her in private. “Your parents wouldn’t let me come back to see you sooner, they claimed that the fewer people who had contact with you the better, claiming it would be easier to protect you. They lied to me, didn’t they?”
Marinette didn’t bother to object. Fu had made sure to tell her all about how it took a full week and a half for her parents to notice her absence. She would have thought it a lie to help break her, but… she could tell by the look on Ra’s face when Fu said it that it was the truth. Her parents didn’t even know she was missing until well past the time limit on when a kidnapping is expected to be able to be solved. “Yes. They lied. I was returned to school almost immediately after my return. The detective was able to keep me from going to school for a couple weeks, but he made it clear that I was free to have any of my family come visit me before or after my return to school. My parents told me that I was not to contact any of our family members. I believe it was because they were afraid that you would shine light on their own failure to realize I was missing for over a week and then proceeded to be unable to find me for a year until I reappeared in my room.”
Gina clenched her fists, but refused to let herself grow too angry. She knew of the terrorist that haunted Paris and she had no desire to be another disaster her nipotina had to fight. She did not know how her son had become as incompetent as to be unable to recognize his own daughter in a spandex suit and mask, but he was proving her wrong day after day with how utterly moronic he could be. “Who did you train with? Your style of fighting is very familiar, but I wish to confirm my suspicions before I say anything.”
Marinette, Mara now, eyed her grandmother before finally confessing what happened. “The Guardian of the Miraculous decided that I would be the perfect successor. He had a secret society, The Hidden Protectors, they introduced themselves to me as, kidnapped me so that I could be properly trained to combat any threat and protect the miraculous when it came my time to be Grandmaster Guardian. Ra’s became a grandfather figure to me and Talia served as my mother. Damian was my brother. They cared for me more than any other person I have ever met, excluding you. I wish to return to them, it hurts to be away, but I can go nowhere until I have found the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous.”
Gina nodded. “So you joined the league. I have trained with them and, while I am not a member, I can help you continue to learn until you can reunite with them. At the longest you have to wait until you graduate college, then you may go anywhere you wish. But you must stay strong, my little fairy. Now, tell me your new name. It would not do for me to call you by the wrong name for any longer.”
Marinette offered her first genuine smile in years. “Mara. Mara Al-Ghul.”