Inspiration taken from ozmav on Ao3

She couldn't believe this was happening.

They hadn't even been in Gotham for 24 hours and they had already left her behind.

It was disappointing, but not surprising.

This trip had been planned for months.

One week to see the sights and tour the city.

She had high hopes for a good time and a break from the stress in Paris.

Yesterday her entire class and Miss Bustier had arrived in Gotham and checked in to their hotel.

She'd sat alone on the flight and had her own room.

That was okay.

It was for the better.

No one in the class liked her anyway.

They hadn't since Lila sunk her claw into them.

It didn't bother her anymore.

She'd gotten over it and moved on.

But back to the matter at hand.

The day had started off great.

Tikki had woken her up nice and early to go down and get breakfast.

She'd been the first one there and the food had been amazing.

They'd started off their trip by taking a bus tour to get an overview of the city.

That's when things went wrong.

The bus had stopped at the 365 park so they could go out and take a look.

The flowers had been beautiful and it was well taken care off.

Trees stretched out above them in a roof like way.

It didn't really fit in with the rest of the city.

The tourguide had said something about Ivy, but she hadn't heard exactly what he said.

The point was that she'd turned her back for a second and everyone was gone.

The bus was gone.

No one was around.

She'd been forgotten.

"What am I going to do, Tikki?"

Her kwami had taken residence in her inner jacket pocket since they got here.

It was colder in Gotham than in Paris and her purse wasn't that warm.

She was eternally grateful that she at least had someone with her.

Tikki had popped her head out. "Maybe there's someone around that could give you directions, Marinette."

"Directions to where?" She had no idea where the rest of the class were going.

The kwami did a little shrug. "The hotel?"

It was better than nothing.

She walked out of the park and came to a road.

Buildings towered around her and she couldn't believe she'd just been in a park.

It seemed like she was on a main road if the size of it and the traffic was anything to go by.

There were skyscrapers in front of her and she could see at least ten different roads leading further in.

What did she have to lose?

She crossed and made her way down one of the bigger and hopefully safer roads.

Safe to say that she'd heard about Gotham's reputation.

Apparently she'd entered a shopping district in the better parts of the city.

That didn't necessarily mean that she was safe.

People moved with purpose and she'd seen quite a few with a knife or some other weapon hidden in their sleeves.

It was clear most of them were prepared to be attacked, but they didn't let it stop them.

She decided then and there that gothamites had more common sense than parisians.

CRASH

It took a few seconds to gather her bearings.

She'd walked into something.

Should have paid attention in front of her and not just around her.

Then the ground moved under her.

It was with dread she looked down.

She hadn't walked into something.

It was someone.

Someone that she was currently laying on.

She probably broke some kind of world record with the speed she threw herself away from the poor soul she'd plowed down.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention. Then I kind of walked into you and we fell and I landed on top of you and I'm so sorry-" She noticed that she was rambling. Her hand reached out to the person on the ground. "Here, let me help you."

The boy she'd apparently run over hesitated, but ended up taking her hand.

His hair was black and he was just a bit taller than her.

He couldn't be much older than herself.

He had yet to say anything and she was getting really worried.

Was he hurt?

He dusted himself off before answering. "It's fine. Accidents happen."

Then he looked up

Time froze as they looked each other in the eyes.

His were the deepest shade of emerald she'd ever seen.

She got lost in them.

He didn't break the eye contact either.

At least until a car alarm sounded from somewhere across the street and broke them from their trance.

They both blinked a few times to get back to reality.

Then she held out her hand. "I'm Marinette."

He shook it. "Damian."

Something in her calmed.

She smiled, "Nice to meet you, Damian. I'm sorry for running you down."

He didn't smile, but she saw his eyes soften.

"It's really no problem. " His eyebrows rose a little bit. "I couldn't help, but notice your accent. Are you from France?"

She found herself nodding. "I'm here on a class trip."

If she didn't have such an eye for details she probably wouldn't have caught how his eyebrows furrowed for less than a second.

"I didn't see anyone else with you."

Marinette grimaced. "I got left behind and I'm also kind of lost. It would be really helpful if you could give me some directions to my hotel."

"You don't know where the rest of your class are?"

Her head shook.

Damian got a contemplative look on his face. "What hotel are you staying at?"

It took her a moment to remember the name.

"Maple Meadow."

He gave a curt nod. "That's close by. If you want I could show you around before taking you back there."

She immediately tried to assure him that wasn't needed. "You don't have to do that. You're probably busy. Just directions would be fine."

"Nonsense. I'm free the entire day." He opened his arms a bit to gesture around him. "We could tour this part of the city by foot for awhile."

It was a tempting offer.

The hotel weren't going anywhere and the rest of her class would be gone until dinner.

She could get to see the place from a different perspective.

Walking around would be fun.

She gave a small smile. "Are you sure it's no trouble?"

"No trouble at all." He held out his arm for her to take.

It was hard to know if he was old fashioned or cheesy, but she didn't really care.

It was kind of charming.

She took the offered arm and smiled.

"Let's go then."