Chapter Text
If there was one thing Marinette had known from a young age, it was that the Kent side of the family was different. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it did mean there were plenty of things that happened that she couldn’t exactly explain. And some things she didn’t really want to even try to explain.
***
Flying
Now, she would never tell anyone (except for her parents, once, when she first saw it two years ago) but her Uncle Clark could fly. She tried not to think about it too much, but she was positive it had happened. She hadn’t seen it- not really- for a couple years, so she’d almost decided she’d imagined the whole thing. Then it happened again.
“C’mon kiddo, I think you’ve climbed high enough.” Conner calls worriedly. He was too heavy to join her on the higher branches, and she could tell it was stressing him out. But as much as she loved him (he was the big brother she never had!), she was having too much fun to come down.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill Conny.” Marinette says in a sing-song voice, grinning down at him. She reaches up and pulls herself up to the next branch, smiling triumphantly at her older cousin. Before he can ask her (again) to come down, the branch snaps. Marinette shrieks, fear shooting through her. It’s only for a second though, because as quickly as she falls, she’s caught by her Uncle. Her eyes widen as she glances down, immediately noticing that they were still in the air. Squeezing her eyes shut, she clings to him and tries to stop herself from shaking.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry-” Conner tries to say, but Marinette just cries, feeling like a huge baby.
“Conner-” Her Uncle starts, his tone firm. Marinette shakes her head.
“It’s not his fault, Uncle Clark. He told me not to and to come down but I didn’t listen and now you’re mad and-”
“Sweetheart, breathe. It’s okay. I-I’m not mad at anyone.” Clark says quietly. Marinette sniffles, clinging to her Uncle. He could fly, but that didn’t matter. He was still her overprotective Uncle, and right now she just needed to hug him and feel safe.
***
Speed
At eight years old, Marinette didn’t know a lot about genetics. In fact, she’d only heard the word once or twice on tv, and had never really thought to ask about it. All she knew was that genetics meant that people who are related have similar things. Like her and her Maman having the same hair color. Or Conner and Uncle Clark having the same eye color. She’d never really thought about it before, but she guessed other things could be genetics too. Like the fact that both her cousins and her Uncle were super fast. She’d noticed it before, (she was very observant) but the first time she really thought about it was the day after the 4th of July when she was eight.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with?” Her maman asks (again). “Ma and Pa both said there’s plenty to look at.” Marinette shakes her head. Her parents had been trying to convince her to go to the farmer’s market with them and her grandparents. But she didn’t wanna go. She wanted to stay at the farm and play with Conner and Jon.
“No thank you. I wanna stay with Conner and Jon.” She insists. Her maman glances at her Uncle, who simply shrugs.
“I can handle the kids for a couple hours.” He says. Marinette doubts her maman would be as worried if her Aunt Lois was around. But she’d had a work emergency that she had to work on in town, which meant her Uncle would be in charge of all three of them. By himself. For the first time.
“If you’re sure…” Her maman says, still looking worried. Her papa laughs.
“He can handle it, honey. Clark’s a big boy.” He says, grinning at her Uncle. They weren’t actually related, but Marinette knew that her papa had always thought of Clark as his little brother. Just like she had Jon and Conner as her brothers.
“Oh fine. Call if you need us back sooner.” Her maman finally says, and Marinette cheers, running off to find Conner.
---
Marinette was trying not to get frustrated. Every time she tried to tag Conner, he would dart away. His legs were just too long. He was too tall. Glancing around the field where she was playing tag with her Uncle and cousins, she spots Jon. Maybe it wasn’t fair, but she was gonna tag Jon. He was too little to run away too quickly. Just as she starts to run towards him, she spots it. Laying in the grass less than a foot away from her, was a snake. She screams, terror shooting through her as her limbs freeze, leaving her to the mercy of the snake just inches away from her. It only takes two blinks before Conner has her in his arms and away from the snake- Clark and Jon right on his heels.
“It’s okay kiddo.” Conner says softly, letting her cling to him as she cries.
“I- I’m sorry. There was a snake!” She cries, clutching onto her big brother. She didn’t care that they’d moved so quickly that they were now out of the field. All she cared about was that she was away from the snake.
“Mari sad?” Jon asks, the worry clear in the toddler’s voice. Marinette sniffles again before pulling away from Conner and glancing down at her little brother.
“I was just scared.” She admits, feeling like a big baby. Before she can spiral about how immature she was being, Jon reaches his arms up to her. Marinette grins and picks him up, relishing in the cuddles as he hugs her.
“It’s okay.” He says, hugging her tightly. Marinette lets out a sigh of relief. Everything was okay.
***
Strength
Another instance of the ‘Kent side of the family is weird’ happened when Marinette was ten. It was finally summer, and she couldn’t wait to see her cousins. Not only was she looking forward to hanging out with them and spending time with them, but she was also on a mission. Conner was sad. She knew that much from their phone calls. Apparently something had happened to one of his friends. No one would tell her what happened, but she could tell it had hurt Conner. A lot. She was determined to give him lots of hugs. And to convince Jon to join her in the treehouse. Uncle Clark and Pa had built it at the end of last summer, but Aunt Lois had said Jon was too little. He was four now, though, so he should be big enough to follow them up.
Jumping out of the car the moment it stops, Marinette runs straight to Conner, wrapping him in a big hug. He freezes for half a second before returning the hug.
“What’s up, squirt.” He says, and she hates how tired and sad he sounds. Conner was one of the strongest people she knew. He wasn’t just her older cousin, he was her big brother. And she wasn’t going to stop until she could help him not be so sad.
“Alix and Kim raced at the pool the other day and Kim beat her really bad. So then Alix challenged him to a diving contest but he doesn’t like heights so it wasn’t really fair. I also made a new dress but I’m saving it for the summer festival.” She rambles, catching him up on what he’d missed since their last phone call. Before he can answer, Marinette is lifted into the air in a hug. Gasping, she turns her head, eyes wide at the sight of her little brother.
“I missed you Mari!” Jon says cheerily, not out of breath at all, despite the fact that he was holding his (significantly) older cousin up off the ground. It didn’t really faze her though, once she saw who it was. It wasn’t the first time someone on the Kent side of the family showed off amazing strength. Must be genetics.