She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 109: Food and the Woman's Shelter

The only indication that they were at a sub shop was the small cardboard sign in the window that said 'We're open. Subs Sandwiches and Soups inside'. They were on a street filled with all different kinds of restaurants, but not the fancy kinds. It was more filled with fast food chains like McDonald's and Wendy's. The building they stopped in front of was the odd one out. It looked like a house in the middle of all these large food companies, yet there was a line out the front door. Its clear why this place stayed in business next to all of the other well-known businesses its surrounded by.

"I guess you aren't the only one who likes this place." Marinette said as she and Jason got in line.

"This place is known for having the best Philly cheese steaks outside of Philly itself." Jason smiled down at her. "Gotham is known for it's crime and heroes but if you managed to look past all of that you would find this to be the next popular thing. People come here despite knowing about all of the crime just to eat here."

"You know, I don't think I've ever had a genuine Philly cheese steak. The only American food I've ever really had was burgers." She looked around the crowd and into the front door. "There are a lot of people here. I'm excited to try it now."

"Just don't tell Tim we went here. He'll be mad I went here without him." Jason chuckled.
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"Alfred needs to learn how to make this." Marinette said after quickly finishing her sandwich.

"Oh, he's tried. It was good and all but not the same." Jason shook his head. "Alfred knows that it's a loosing battle trying to imitate this. He gave up a long time ago."

"That's a shame." Marinette giggled. "What are we going to do know? We still have a few hours before everyone comes home."

"Well I've been dragging you around all day. Is there something you want to do?"

"Well I did want to go see that woman's shelter Ivy and Harley are running. Isn't Selina helping them out again today?"

"She is." Jason nods. "We can head over there if you want."

"Cool. Let me give them a heads up that we are on our way." The bluenette pulled out her phone and began to type.
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"Woah. Look at this place." Marinette hopped off of Jason's bike to get a better look at the building.

It was the same old red brick that most other Gotham buildings had but every inch of the walls was covered in beautiful and vibrant ivy. The only places that it didn't cover were the windows and a banner that hung above the door that said 'Gotham Woman's Shelter' in bold and colorful writing. The plants screamed that Ivy was here and the banner screamed that it was made by the ever-colorful Harley.

"Marinette!" Harley's voice came from the front steps of the building and Marinette looked over to see her happy face. "How are ya doin', cutie? It's good to see ya!" She ran up to hug the girl.

"Hey, Harley." She hugged her back. "I'm doing good. Jay and I came to visit."

"I heard." Harley took a step back to look at them both. "Red and I are thrilled to have ya." She walked towards the steps and motioned them to follow. "Come on. I'll show ya around."

Marinette walked through the front door to see a very large room filled with tables and chairs. Women and children happily ate and chat with each other while some others lined up at a buffet styled table on the far left of the room to get their food. Two large women stood behind the table to serve everyone.

"This is the cafeteria." Harley said happily. "The staff here is completely ran by ex-convicts. It's hard for them to get jobs ya know so Red and I hire them. They are some good Gals." Harley lead them up the stairs at the very back of the room. "Up here is where everyone sleeps."

The second story was just as large as the first. Bunk beds lined the floor with only about three feet between each.

"The third floor is where the free day care is and also where our office is. Selina and Red are up there now."

"This place is really nice, Harley." Marinette smiled at the room around her.

"It is." She agreed. "But it takes a lot of work to keep this place running. It's a full-time job." She spoke as she led them up to her office. "This place is completely ran by donations. If it wasn't for Mr. Wayne, we wouldn't be able to pay the ladies who work here."

"Yeah, Bruce is a good man." Marinette nodded before following Harley into the office.

"There's my little kitten." Selina smiled at her as she entered and then caught sight of Jason. "Hello, Jason."

"Hey, Selina. I decided to bring Sunshine here around for a visit." He lazily slung his arm around the bluenette.

"I always welcome Marigold's company." Ivy stood up from the desk she was sitting at to walk over to the three who just entered. "How are you feeling today?" She asked the bluenette.

"I'm great." She grinned. "This is a great place you got here by the way."

"Thank you, Marigold. I'm happy to help the women who come here. They are good people."

"Red!" Harley squeaked excitedly from where she was looking at her phone next to Marinette. "I just got an email from the landlord of that apartment we were looking at on 12th Street. She accepted our application. We got it, babe!"

"Really?" She smiled brightly at the blonde. "This is great!"

"You two got that apartment you were looking at?" Selina smiled. "I'm happy for you."

"Now we will have room for Lucy to visit!" Harley jumped up and down excitedly.

"Who's Lucy?" Marinette asked.

"Oh, well uhh... She's my niece for all intents and purposes." Harley smiled awkwardly. "But really, she's my daughter."

"I didn't know you had a daughter, Harley." Marinette smiled up at her. "What's she like?"

"Oh, she's just like Harls." Ivy cut in. "She's cute and funny and a little bit weird. She's also very smart."

"Yeah. Thankfully she takes after me and not her father." Harley huffed.

"Her father?" Marinette looked confused for a second before slowly nodding. "Oh... I see."

"Hey, at least there was something good that came out of that relationship." Harley smiled brightly at the bluenette. "And now that we are moving into a bigger apartment, I get to see her more often."

"I hope I get to meet her one day. She sounds great."

"I'll let you know when she's in town. I'm sure she would love to meet you." Harley encouraged.

"We'll make a girls day out of it." Selina said. "Sorry, Jason."

"You couldn't handle all of the fun I would bring anyways." Jason laughed.
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"I had a great day with you today." Marinette said once she and Jason were inside the manor. "I feel like I found parts of the city that I really like. I guess Gotham isn't all that bad."

"I think that it's you that's really brightening up the place, Pixie-pop. I think you really are Gotham's sunshine."

"If you say so." She rolled her eyes at him. "I just think that you and your family have some weird bias about me because I've softened Damian up."

"You know, I wouldn't doubt that." Jason joked.