Even by Different Names, the Soul Remains the Same
Me being very late to posting a fic I wrote for @the-alice-of-hearts during trade, through I don't remember which one. Anyway it's been on AO3 but I'm finally getting it here on Tumblr.
It was a bright summer day when the two first met. Jason Todd had traveled to France begrudgingly under Bruce’s order to keep an eye on some strange activity there. He had been wandering around the local park, not quite paying attention to where he was going when ran straight into someone.
“Ow!” He looked down to see a short French girl around his age on the ground.
The black-haired boy held out his hand to her. “Hey, sorry about that,” he apologized in French with an awkward laugh.
“It’s alright,” she said, her voice kind and light. “Though, please do be more careful from now on.”
The girl reached out her petite hand to take his. Just as their fingers brushed against each other, a strange glow appeared around their wrists. As if by instinct, the French girl wrenched her arm away from Jason and stood up quickly.
She stared at him with a peculiar expression across her face.
“I suppose we’re soulmates,” she stuttered and glanced down at the mark that now adorned her wrist. This led Jason to slide up his sleeve and look at his own matching soulmark. It was just what seemed to be a series of swirls and lines, but he knew that they were the only two in the world that would ever have a mark like that.
As a kid on the streets, Jason never bothered to even so much as think about soulmates. He didn’t have the luxury to dream about some unknown person when he had to scrounge around for something to even fill his stomach. When he died and was subsequently resurrected, he refused to even entertain the idea. After all, he thought he may not even have a soul anymore, what with the unpleasant effects of the Lazarus Pits, so how could he possibly have a soulmate then?
Yet, here she was right in front of him. It was a strange feeling; meeting someone you’ve been told all your life would make you happy. What do you even say to them, especially when you met by knocking them onto the ground?
“Uh, yeah, that sounds about right,” the black-haired boy responded dumbly.
They continued to stare at each other and their wrists in silence. Any outside viewer would likely be frustrated by the lack of proper interaction between the two, but they simply did not know what to say. Finally, the girl took a deep breath and sighed, breaking the silent spell over them.
“Hi, my name is Marinette,” she introduced. For a brief moment, it seemed she considered sticking out her hand to shake his but decided against it.
“I’m Jason,” he responded after another pregnant pause. He hadn’t felt this awkward since Bruce tried to have “the talk” with him.
After meeting Marinette, Jason’s stay in Paris got a lot less boring. While their first meeting had been a bit strange, the two quickly fell into more comfortable conversation the longer they spent time together. He enjoyed her company so much that he was actually upset that his time to return to Gotham was drawing near.
“Hey, Mari!” Jason called loudly as he walked into her parents’ bakery. The black-haired girl looked over towards the door from where she worked at the counter with a bright smile.
“Hi, Jason,” she said, “I’m almost done with my shift here and then we can head out.”
Suddenly, a petite woman came out from the kitchen door. “We’ve got it from here, dear. Feel free to head out now.”
Marinette gave the woman a hug and quickly pulled off her apron. “Thanks, Mama,” she turned towards Jason, “I’m gonna go wash up and then I’ll be right back.”
The girl ran through the door her mother exited. The older woman then turned her attention to the black-haired boy.
“So, you’re the boy my daughter has been spending so much time with lately,”
Jason stood up a little straighter and coughed. “Yes, ma’am,” he said as respectively as he could muster. After all, it’s not every day you meet your soulmate’s mother.
“My name is Jason Todd,” he introduced. He felt as though the woman could stare into the very pit of whatever may be left of his soul.
After what felt like an eternity, the older woman gave him a soft smile, “All I ask is that you have her home before dark,”
“Absolutely,” he said, breathing in a sigh of relief. She really had him worried for a moment.
“Oh, and Jason was it?” she said quickly before leaning closer to the boy’s ear. “You may be her soulmate, but If you so much as hurt one hair on my baby girl’s head, I will be forced to take extreme measures.”
The black-haired boy pulled away stunned. Mrs. Dupain-Cheng may be small in stature, but he felt like she would find a way to deliver on that threat, even with all his vigilante expertise.
“Alright, all done!” Marinette said as she burst through the door. “Ready to go, Jason?”
Righting himself, he shook his head quickly. “Yeah, let’s go.”
Marinette linked her arm with his before leading him out the front of the shop, wrists slightly aglow. “So, where do you want me to show you today, Mr. American Tourist?” she asked teasingly.
He hummed, putting his finger to his chin in thought. “Well, we haven’t been to the Louvre yet,”
The two headed off in the direction of the museum, making idle small talk. They had been going about their days like this since they met. They would get together and Marinette would introduce Jason to a new part of her hometown. Sometimes it would be a famous monument, but other times she would show Jason a little spot all of her own. Places that held a special meaning just to her.
Those were his favorite days. Days that he felt like he was getting closer to her. Marinette and Jason had yet to fully address the soulmate situation between the two but continued to meet, nonetheless. The older boy hoped desperately that they would have enough time before his departure to figure themselves out.
Jason felt like a different person when he was with Marinette. He didn’t have to be Jason, the back-alley kid taken in by Bruce Wayne, or Red Hood, the rough and tumble vigilante. He didn’t have to be Jason, back from the dead, or even Jason, the comedic relief between his many adopted siblings. With Marinette, he was just Jason, an American tourist who happened to bump into his soulmate while abroad.
“So, I know we haven’t really talked about it but—” The black-haired girl began before being cut off by a loud shriek.
The two turned their heads towards the sound to see a man with pink hair running around making people disappear with a beam from his strange visor.
“Oh no, an akuma!” Marinette cried worriedly.
“Huh?” Jason looked at her confused.
“No time to explain!” She shoved him out of the way as a beam blasting their way. The girl grabbed onto his clothes and ran away from the ensuing fight, pulling him along with her.
After finding a place to hide, Marinette finally let go of his arm. “You stay hidden here, I need to go check on my parents.”
Jason looked at her flabbergasted. “Why would you go back out there? At least let me come to watch you back!”
“No,” she replied firmly. “You don’t know anything about akumas. I’m used to this, especially Pixelator. You should stay here where you’re safe.”
Then, before he could even argue, the girl had gone off in another direction. All of Jason’s instincts told him to get out there and fight, but he knew he couldn’t. This wasn’t Gotham, and he couldn’t let anyone think Red Hood was operating somewhere else or it could spell trouble.
However, he could at least chase after Marinette. While he appreciated the concern, he knew he could handle a supervillain situation. Plus, he was worried about the girl, running worriedly toward her parents in the middle of this so-called “akuma” attack.
Right when he was about to sprint off in the same direction as his former companion, a blur of red swung by, quickly followed by a black blob.
“Oh, Pixelator,” called the latter figure. “I’m ready for my close-up.”
Jason looked at the now clear figure bewilderedly. In front of him stood a boy in tight leather along with cat ears and a tail. Geez, and he thought Dick’s costumes were bad.
The boy struck a pose tauntingly at the villain as another figure came up to stand next to him. This time it was a girl in a red and black spotted suit. She spun what appeared to be a yo-yo with a mildly irritated look on her face.
“Not the time, Chat,” she said frustratedly to her partner.
“But, M’lady,” he whined back before the two descended upon the akuma.
It was then that Jason realized that these were the heroes he was sent to Paris to observe. They seemed young yet fought with the precision of seasoned warriors. Just how long had these two been forced to fight?
The black-haired boy watched the fight with a strange sense of awe. While he also fights villains frequently, it’s not often that he gets to see magic in action. The cat boy leaped from building to building, narrowly avoiding the beams that made objects disappear into seemingly thin air. Meanwhile, the spotted girl tried to draw closer to the akuma, sending out her weapon frequently to try and restrain him.
The battle was mesmerizing. Briefly. Jason wondered if this is what his tussles with the Rogues looked like to the outside view. He got lost in what felt like rehearsed choreography between the three.
He was so lost in the combative dance that he didn’t even notice the beam coming right at him.
“Look out!” The spotted heroine yelled. When he didn’t move fast enough, she dove towards him, slamming his body to the ground. The beam went sailing over them, taking out a nearby dumpster.
The girl scrambled to get back on her feet. As Jason got up as well, he noticed her hand clamped tightly around her other wrist.
“Did you hurt your wrist?” he asked, drawing closer in concern.
“I’m fine!” The heroine backed away as if to keep him from touching her. “But you better get out here J—random tourist!”
With that, the girl sprinted away back towards the fight.
When the fight finally ended, Jason made his way back to Marinette’s. The two spoke a bit and made plans to tour the Louvre another day. However, if the boy was being honest, he didn’t remember a word of what was said. He was too distracted wondering how on earth Ladybug (whose name he got from Marinette) knew he was a tourist. He supposed that as one of the sole heroes of Paris she might know all the citizens’ faces, but that seemed like a stretch in a city as large as the City of Lights.
Jason wouldn’t admit it, but he was extremely excited when Marinette informed him that she would be visiting him in Gotham. After he had left Paris, the two stayed in contact via video call, but it just wasn’t the same. Plus, despite Wayne Manor being filled with rooms, his brothers always seemed to find a way to find and annoy him when he was on the phone with his soulmate.
As soon as his family had found out about his soulmate, his brothers haven’t stopped bothering him about her. Dick keeps trying to give him romance advice, Tim wants to background check her, and Damian, in all his preteen glory, refuses to believe there could be someone out the willing to deal with him. He also suggested that if they do exist that Bruce should throw them in jail immediately because they can’t be good news if they enjoy spending time with the likes of Jason.
So here he was, impatiently waiting in Gotham’s airport for Marinette’s plane to land. It had been a pain keeping his family from trying to pick her up with him, but he managed to convince them that their meeting would be more personal if it was just the two of them. (There were also a few threats throw in, but that’s neither here nor there.)
“Jason!” he heard a familiar voice yell. He got up from his seat and began moving towards the sound, where Marinette was running excitedly towards him, luggage in hand.
“Hey, Mari,” he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. “Glad you could make it,”
As she hugged him back, their soulmarks glowed once again. He swore he would never get used to the warmth that would fill his body during the strange phenomenon.
“Me too,” she replied letting go of the black-haired boy.
The two began to make their way towards the exit when there was a crash. At first, Jason was ready to ignore it but then a deranged laugh filled the air.
“Damn it,” Jason growled. He quickly pulled Marinette into a nearby storage room.
“Listen,” he said, using a serious tone the girl was unfamiliar with from him. “Joker is attacking, and I need you to promise me you will not move from this spot until the Bats deal with the situation.”
Marinette nodded her head. Jason knew her parents had made her research the Rogues Gallery extensively before she was allowed to even think about going to Gotham. She knew the Joker was no joke at all.
The black-haired boy looked down at his phone. He’d gotten several coded texts asking him to step in as Red Hood. He also had orders to only take care of the citizens and not go anywhere near Joker. He almost laughed to himself. Like hell was he going to suit up and not go for that stupid clown.
“I have to make sure someone pulled the Rogues alarm,” he bluffed “don’t move from this spot.”
Marinette gave him an angry look. “Why do you need to go back out there?! I’m sure someone else handled the alarm!”
“Some people would rather run and save their own hides than make sure others will get help.”
“This isn’t Paris, Jason! You could die and never come back.” She cried.
He laughed cruelly. “I’m more than aware of death, Marinette. I’ve lived in Gotham my entire life and I know how cruel this town is. I will be back, so please, just stay here until it’s over.”
Jason gave her what he hoped was a reassuring hug and walked out of the storage closet. He almost wanted to cry at the scared look in the girl’s eyes as he closed the door, but he wanted to make sure Joker wouldn’t get anywhere near where Marinette was hiding. To do that, he needed to be Red Hood.
With practiced stealth, Jason retrieved his suit from the car he had borrowed to pick up Marinette and suited up in the blink of an eye. Once ready, he loaded his guns with rubber bullets and kicked in the airport entrance.
“Hey, you, deranged clown!” He yelled, firing a few rounds at the Rogue’s lackeys. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“Well, if it isn’t one of the Bat’s many sidekicks,” the clown cackled.
Red Hood gave an angry grunt. “I’m not the old man’s sidekick, you crazy shit head.”
The Joker gave an unnerving fake pout. “Didn’t Batsy ever teach you some manners?”
He began unloading his gun on the lackeys, trying (but not really) not to hit any vital organs. Suddenly, he heard a girl’s scream.
Red Hood froze in the middle of his barrage. That was definitely Marinette’s voice. Without warning, he went running off in her direction, not even thinking about the Rogue behind him.
When he got to the storage closet, the door was kicked in surrounded by Joker’s henchmen. He should have known that the deranged man would send men to look for hostages to take, but in his rush, he had forgotten about the Joker’s favorite trick.
“Back off,” he said angrily. He fired his gun at the nearest henchmen, using his careful aim to ensure he wouldn’t hurt Marinette.
He continued to fire off round until all the men were on the ground. Red Hood approached the door carefully, afraid he might spook the girl even more.
“Hey, they’re gone for now,” he said gently as he approached the girl tucked in the corner. “You should get out of here before any more come by.”
He held his hand out for her to stand when a thought crossed his mind. If their touch resulted at all in skin-on-skin contact, then their marks would probably start glowing, subsequently blowing his cover.
Red Hood quickly pulled his hand back before she could take it. Marinette gave him a strange look but said nothing on the matter.
“Thank you,” she said, voice shaking a bit. “This could be odd, but have you seen a man named Jason Todd? He was here with me before he ran off to call in help. He never came back and I’m getting really worried—” the girl continued to ramble before he cut her off.
“I know who you’re talking about. Don’t worry about him, I sent him outside with the rest of the citizens and he told me to look out for you. That’s how I knew you were here,” he lied easily.
The girl breathed a quick sigh of relief before shuffling out of the closet and running quickly to the nearest exit.
That girl was going to be the death of him. Red Hood shook his head before heading off towards where he had left the Joker. The damned clown was going to get it for messing with his time with Marinette.
Red Hood sighed. It wasn’t often he got dragged to a Justice League meeting. As one of the more reckless vigilantes of Gotham, he was often left out of official business. However, all members were informed that there would be a special event tonight, so his siblings all pushed him into attending.
“Thank you, friends, for coming tonight.” Wonder Woman addressed the group. “I apologize for the late notice, but a matter of great importance has been brought to us.”
The Amazonian stood tall in front of them, as though threatening anyone who would dare not listen to her. “May I introduce to you, the current Guardian, Ladybug.”
As the familiar spotted heroine walked into the room, Red Hood’s mouth was slightly agape under his helmet. After he was sent to observe the Parisian heroes a year ago, he had been told that the Justice League would not yet be intervening in the matter as they were not equipped to deal with such magics.
It seems the situation had changed because before him stood the hero of Paris herself, the Miraculous Ladybug.
“Hello, everyone,” she said. “I am Ladybug, and I, along with my partner Chat Noir, have been defending Paris from the villain Hawkmoth for several years now. It has gotten to the point where we no longer feel able to handle the situation ourselves, and we greatly appreciate the help and training the Justice League will provide.”
Murmurs filled the room. Most of the younger members had no idea there was even a supervillain in Paris.
Wonder Woman said a few more words on the matter before everyone began to move around the room to socialize. After a moment of debating, Red Hood made the choice to approach Ladybug.
“Hello,” he said with an awkward chuckle. “I’m Red Hood, vigilante from Gotham,”
“Ladybug,” the heroine replied, “hero from Paris.”
As the two reached forward to shake hands, someone pushed Red Hood forward. In an effort to right himself, he hit his exposed wrist into his companion’s face.
“Oh shit, I’m so—” he began before getting cut off by a glow from his wrist. His eyes widened in shock and he quickly flitted his gave to Ladybug’s also glowing wrist, though it seemed dimmer through the fabric of her suit.
“Mari—” he was cut off again by Ladybug’s hand over his mouth.
“Don’t you dare say it,” she threatened.
He lifted her hand away from his face.
“All I’m gonna say is that this strangely makes a lot of sense.”