Chapter Text
"Damien, what are you doing here? We thought you were traveling," Selina asked her stepson.
Bruce looked at his youngest and then at the designer he had paid for the outfits, starting to connect the dots. His detective mind went into overdrive to figure out the situation; after all, his son looked way too casual for this to be a business meeting. When he looked around, he noticed Titus and Alfred the cat.
"I was troubled three years ago. I have found nothing to worry about, Selina," Damien said. His tone wasn't aggressive, but it also wasn't calm, and his eyes lingered on Marinette as if something was going to pound though it was probably just his nerves.
"Damien, I didn't know you knew our latest fashion designer. Mind explaining?" Bruce asked his youngest.
"Wait, Damien, so you do know these people? The name on the order wasn't Wayne, so I wasn't quite sure," Marinette said, looking at her boyfriend with a questioning expression.
"Marinette, what was the name on the order if it wasn't Wayne?" Damien asked, clearly suspicious.
"The name on the order was Kyle," Marinette replied with a questioning look, not understanding why he had asked.
"She's correct, Damien. I use Selina's last name so no one gets suspicious. I've been using her last name for most orders or one of the others. It's just easier than putting Wayne and smarter," Bruce told his youngest, his mind still working in overdrive trying to figure out what was going on.
"So, Damien, how did you end up in Paris? And how do you know this lovely lady?" Selina said, practically purring with anticipation.
Marinette looked between them. She knew the man who was buying her clothes; now that she saw him, he looked so much like her fiancé, and she could see it was Bruce Wayne, whom she knew was Damien's father. Of course, he hadn't told her his last name at first when they were dating—only after they moved in together—but she had no clue her fiancé's father was the person buying her clothes. She knew the people were from Gotham, but she thought it was just for the event.
Marinette didn't know what to do as she watched Damien stare at the two people coming to get the clothes, so she intervened. Should she let Damien handle it? She still had to give them the order they had placed. She had literally just finished it late last night.
Grammar Check Complete-
"Damien, I didn't exactly tell you much about the order because you were away when I got it; you wrote your tournament with Kagami," Marinette said.
"I'm sorry, what do you mean by tournament? Damien never told us anything about a tournament," Selina said, confused, as she had never heard anything about him being in a tournament. She had even listened to a few of the phone calls from family members over the years, including some of her own. He never mentioned anything about a tournament or living in Paris.
Selina nudged Bruce and suddenly pointed at Marinette's hand, which held a gorgeous engagement ring.
"Sweetheart, that's such a beautiful ring on your finger. Your partner must be very lucky to have you. May I ask when the date is?" Selina asked, her eyes gleaming with mischief as she grinned.
"Who's this Kagami, Damien? You've never told me about her," Bruce asked, clearly not understanding who this extra person was in all this.
"Kagami is one of my best friends; she works with Damien. Wait, I'm confused. I know you're Damien's father; why don't you know any of this?" Marinette asked, puzzled.
"Well, Miss, it seems Damien doesn't talk to us very often, but we're still a bit confused. Why is he here, and how exactly do you know him? And again, that's a very pretty ring," Selina said, eyeing it like a proper jewelry connoisseur.
"Back off, Selina," Damien said sharply.
"Oh, I think I hit a nerve," Selina purred with delight.
Damien got up from the couch and walked in front of Marinette, having a staring contest with Selina, clearly not pleased with how she was acting or how direct she was being with Marinette.
"What's wrong, Damien? You don't like me asking when the lady's getting married? It's almost like you're her boyfriend or something," Selina said, grinning.
"Damien, explain the situation now," Bruce said, using the authoritative tone that Damien knew all too well from Batman.
"No, I'm not. I don't need to explain myself anymore. I've found myself, and I'm happy; that doesn't need explaining, Father," Damien replied, clearly not following what Bruce wanted.
"Damien, I will support your happiness however you see fit, but I would like to be informed about it after all. I've heard you've been traveling around the world finding yourself for years now. You haven't been home, and now I find you here in an apartment that looks nothing like what you would usually keep. You're standing in front of the designer who created our recent outfits; I'd like an explanation," Bruce said, clearly getting frustrated with how defensive his youngest was being.
Suddenly, Alfred walked through the door. It was clear some of his family was outside waiting for the outfits and wondering why it was taking so long.
"Young Master Damien, good heavens, why are you here?" Alfred asked, looking at Bruce and Selina, confused but also noticing the young woman behind Damien.
"Hello, Miss. I'm Alfred Pennyworth; I believe you're the designer. I'm here to put the outfits in the car," Alfred said politely, slightly bowing to the woman as he introduced himself.
"Oh, it's nice to meet you. The outfits are over here," Marinette said, still confused but showing Alfred to the outfits that were hanging up.
Damien felt his chest tightening with panic. His whole plan was falling apart. He never expected his family to be in Paris, much less that they would choose his exact fiancée to design their outfits. If they were in Paris, he could avoid them by staying home more often or just taking a different route. But no, instead he found out his fiancée was doing the clothing, which meant this was inevitable.
But he still couldn't help the tight feeling in his chest as he felt the more his family watched him and Marinette. It was as if his whole life after leaving was being revealed to them. He liked having her all to himself, and the life they had was simple—nothing like his old life. He had friends, a job, and a great love life. He felt like everything was going great for him until this moment.
Damien knew he didn't have much time; he already had plans for today. Kagami was going to come over and practice with him, as she would be here in less than an hour. However, he also didn't want his family to know too much about his life beyond what they already did; now he was very protective of this new lifestyle he had.
"OK, that's it. Everyone who has an outfit to buy, pay for it. Take it and leave, and don't come back," Damien said.
"Damien, we need to talk about this. You've been away from the family for years, and then we find you in Paris. Don't you think we should discuss it?" Bruce asked, trying to connect with his youngest, worried about how his son was pulling away from him.
"No, we can talk about it later. Right now, my fiancée needs to conduct her business, and you are her customer. I am not a part of her business. I do not promote it beyond the fact that I am engaged to her, which means I am not involved in whatever business interaction this will be, and none of you will ask about her relationship with me or what it's like. Do I make myself clear?" Damien said, looking at his three family members while Marinette went to grab the rack of clothes.
"Of course, Master Damien. We don't want to pressure you or the young Miss; it would be wrong of us. And you are right—this is her home and her business. We are here to do business, nothing more, nothing less," Alfred said, clearly understanding what Damien meant, even if he wanted answers himself.
"Alfred, don't call me master anymore or young master; none of it. I'm not Damien Wayne here, at least not the way I used to be. I still go by that name, but I'm not that person anymore," Damien told him.
At his words, all three of them looked shocked. After all, when Damien left, he was a proud teenage boy with a huge ego who had been raised around maids and butlers from a young age. Though they knew Damien loved Alfred, they never expected him to change this much after his journey.
"If it makes you uncomfortable, of course I'll stop calling you that, Damien. But once you go back to Gotham, I will call you that again; after all, I call everyone that at the manor," Alfred said, and Damien understood where he was coming from. Even Jason couldn't get the old butler to stop calling him Master Jason, so Damien nodded in acceptance.
"That's acceptable. I guess I don't plan to go to Gotham anytime soon, though," Damien said with a soft, reluctant sigh.
Marinette came back with a rack of different outfits that had been ordered, showing them to Selina and Bruce. Alfred packed each one individually into the car after Bruce, of course, approved each item.
"I have to say, miss, this is very detailed work. Not many people can accomplish this much in such a short amount of time, and we are very thankful for your efforts. You must be very proud of your business," Bruce said as he shook Marinette's hand after handing over the check.
"Yes, I must say these are quite exquisite, dear. You are extremely talented," Alfred told her with a gentle smile. He clearly approved of whatever Damien was doing; after all, Alfred was the biggest supporter of his grandchildren, finding joy in their being a good fit for the family. He could see that Marinette was a good fit. She was kind and talented. She seemed to have a warm vibe, the opposite of what his young master used to be.
After a few pleasant goodbyes and additional comments from Selina, which Damien rolled his eyes at, Selina, Alfred, and Bruce left. Marinette gave Damien an assessing look before saying something that completely floored him, as he never expected his sweet and gentle fiancé, who is usually only mischievous, to say something so different.
"So, Master Damien, I didn't know someone else called you 'Master' outside the closed doors of our apartment," Marinette whispered into his ear before walking off to the kitchen to get herself something to drink.
Damien's breath hitched at her words. His fiancée was barely ever like this; of course, he loved her sweet nature, but he also loved her mischief. However, he never expected that type of reaction from his fiancée. He had to take a minute to compose himself before he finally gathered enough courage to say something.
"Marinette, that's completely inappropriate!" Damien practically shouted in shock his face turning crimson.
Marinette just giggled and opened the fridge to grab a water, clearly finding his reaction amusing as he walked into the kitchen after her. She was clearly enjoying how he was reacting to it.
"This isn't funny! You can't just say that! What if someone hurt you? What if someone else had been in the apartment? What has gotten into you?" Damien said, clearly sputtering.
Marinette placed a hand on his chest, looking up at him as her blue eyes met his green ones.
"Oh please! I'm your fiancée. I just didn't think anyone else called you 'Master' except for me," she said with a wink.
"You know, one day you're gonna be the death of me," Damien said, and Marinette just laughed again before they heard another knock at the door.
"That's probably Kagami. You should go get changed and head to the extra bedroom; after all, I heard she's been really tense lately and has been itching to practice since you guys got back from the tournament," Marinette said, removing her hand from his chest but clearly winking at him again, still teasing him.
Damien went to the bedroom quickly to change into his usual training clothes, which he wore around Kagami since they were always very professional. Even when training, it was different from what he usually wore for jogging or running.
Marinette, on the other hand, was still laughing at Damien's reaction. Kagami looked surprised at her friend laughing while opening the door but thought nothing of it as she walked in and headed straight for the training room after saying hello to Marinette.
Damien walked into the training room and saw Kagami stretching, so he started doing his own stretches.
"Hey, what was Marinette laughing about? I mean, she's usually a really chill person, but that's a bit off from her usual." Kagami asked, and all she could see was Damien's ears turning red.
"Nothing, don't talk about it. She was just laughing at something stupid; you know how she is. She finds everything funny," Damien sputtered out, clearly embarrassed.
"Oh, someone's embarrassed! You might want to channel that embarrassment today; I could use a good win," Kagami said confidently, finding his embarrassment somewhat laughable.
"Like hell I would let you win. When have I ever gone easy on you? I don't care if you're a woman; you're my opponent," Damien replied, his eyes sharpening as he assessed her. He knew her current capabilities, but she was always evolving with her training. He was right; he never went easy on Kagami. She would never let him, anyway.
"Oh no, the prideful Damien Wayne is embarrassed! However, shall he live?" Kagami taunted.
"Shut up and let's get sparring. I don't have time for your nonsense," Damien said, clearly wanting this to be over with.
Damien grabbed his sword, and she grabbed hers as they started fighting. It was just training, but to them, it felt like an actual fight. They always took training extremely seriously, as if it were a real match, because to them, everything was a real match when it came to their jobs, and they loved tournaments.