Oh look I made it worse. (Warning; tis long)
……..
Ladybug hadn’t been seen in over a
week when Adrien got the text from Alya. He was in the middle of a photoshoot,
and he could feel it vibrating mercilessly in his pocket. The photographer was
very clearly annoyed when he asked for a quick break, but the disgruntled old
man allowed it, calling for his assistant to bring him a water bottle.
Adrien tugged his phone from his
father’s new line of dress pants and tapped in his password, assuming that it
was Nino asking him about that upcoming weekend when they were planning to see
the new Star Wars movie.
He was startled to see Alya’s name
scrolled across his phone, but when his eyes moved to her message he felt his
heart drop. Who knew six words could have so much impact on one person?
You need to hurry. It’s Marinette.
Adrien shoved the phone back into
his pocket and darted for the snack table, rummaging underneath and grabbing
his backpack.
“Hey! Adrien, we still have another
hour scheduled!” his photographer yelled, storming over to him with water bottle
in hand.
Adrien shrugged the backpack on and
glared at the man. “I need to leave,” he snapped softly.
The photographer shouted after him as
he ran from the park, flinging the front door of his limo open and sliding into
the seat. His driver looked at him, startled at the sudden appearance.
“I need you to get me to the
Memorial Hospital,” Adrien demanded, snapping his seatbelt on. “Please.”
There was a desperation in his
voice that his driver had never heard before, so the chauffeur stepped on the
gas without hesitation, taking corners at a faster speed than was legal as
Adrien clutched to the dashboard, scanning the road for oncoming traffic.
He could feel Plagg pressing up
against his shirt pocket and the boy took a second to lift his hand and rest it
over the Kwami, taking a shaky breath.
If everything he thought was true,
he wouldn’t have his lady around much longer.
Adrien swallowed back the lump in
his throat and tumbled from the car before it stopped moving, tripping over his
feet as he raced for the entrance of the hospital. He burst through the
automatic doors and ignored the receptionist, sprinting through the halls to
where he knew Marinette’s room was.
He found Mr. and Mrs. Dupain-Cheng
standing in the hallway clutching at one another, tears on both of their faces
as they spoke softly to the doctor in front of them. He stumbled to a halt, his
chest heaving, and swallowed.
“Is she…?”
His voice cracked and the adults
turned to him. Marinette’s mother gave him a sad smile and nodded towards the
room. “Alya is in there right now. Go on in.”
Adrien nodded and twisted his way
into the room, freezing as soon as he was able to see the girl in question.
Alya was curled up in the hospital
bed alongside Marinette, one arm wrapped tightly around the girl’s shoulders
and the other scrolling through her phone. Tears were rolling down her cheeks
but both girls were laughing softly at something Alya had pulled up on her
device.
Marinette spotted Adrien first and
her smile dimmed just a little. He could see how tired she was, how utterly
exhausted she was, and part of him still couldn’t quite believe that this was
Ladybug. That someone so strong, so brave, so….healthy could come from this girl on the bed who could barely lift
her hand in a wave.
No, actually, he could believe it. Because according to
Alya, Marinette was a fighter. According to Alya, Marinette should have died
almost two years ago. But she had held on. And it showed.
“Hey,” the pigtailed girl managed
to whisper, her smile growing again. “What are you doing here?”
Adrien gulped back his tears and
gave her a shaky grin. “What, can’t come visit my favorite patient?” he tried
to tease, the break in his words betraying him.
Alya winced and slid out of bed,
leaning over to kiss Marinette on the cheek. “Love you, girl,” she murmured,
resting her forehead on Marinette’s before moving over to Adrien.
She settled a gentle hand on his
shoulder blade and pushed him towards her, waving at them. “Go on,” she said
gently. “I’ll stand guard for a sec, give you guys a minute without adults.”
Adrien smiled at her gratefully and
made his way over to Marinette, settling his body carefully on the edge of her
bed and reaching out to clasp her hand in his. “How you feeling?” he asked,
rubbing a thumb over her knuckles.
Marinette snorted, and Adrien
waited patiently as the snort turned into a coughing fit. “I could…could be a
lot better,” she choked out, pressing a hand to her chest.
He smiled weakly. “I bet.”
They lapsed into silence and Adrien
could do nothing but stare at her, watch as she sank back into her pillows, her
usually shining hair limp against the cotton and her eyes dull with pain. “Hey
so um…”
She looked back up at him and he
saw her eyes sparkle just the tiniest bit. “Yeah?”
Adrien swallowed hard and glanced
away. “I wanted to know…if there was…I mean….something…”
He trailed off again, mentally
cursing every word that came from his mouth and shutting his eyes. “If there
was something you wanted to tell me,” he finally directed at her.
Her fingers tightened a little on
his hand and he lifted his eyes to her, tilting his head gently. She seemed at
war with herself and her mouth opened several times without saying anything. “I…I
wish…”
Marinette shut her mouth again, her
free hand tracing over her nightgown pocket, and Adrien was startled to see
tears spring to life in her eyes. She let out a choked sob and from the corner
of his eyes Adrien could see Alya spin around to look at them anxiously.
“What?” he asked her softly, his
voice cracking in his throat. “Marinette, whatever it is…”
“I want Chat Noir,” she got out,
tears spilling over her cheeks and slipping down her nose. She hiccupped softly
and turned her head away.
Adrien swallowed and brought her
hand to his lips, letting himself drop gently to the ground in a kneeling
position, his heart pounding in his chest. “I’m here, My Lady.”
With his free hand, he opened the
top of his shirt pocket and allowed Plagg to zip out, ignoring the gasp that
spilled from both Marinette’s and Alya’s lips. The Kwami gave the gentlest of
bows to Marinette before beginning the transformation, and when Adrien rose
again he stood as Chat Noir, still pressing his lips to Marinette’s knuckles.
“You…you…?”
He smiled cheekily, a feat in and
of itself, and leaned over to brush a kiss across her forehead. “Me,” he
agreed, his eyes twinkling. “I believe you have your own little secret from me?”
Marinette’s lips broke into a smile
and she lifted her hand to Chat’s cheek, moving it away from her nightgown. “Tikki,”
she breathed.
The Kwami in question popped her
head from Marinette’s nightgown and Chat winked at her before turning his eyes
back to Marinette. “How long have you known?” she asked quietly.
“Weeks,” he answered, leaning his
head into her touch and lifting his own hand to wrap around hers. “But you
never wanted me to know, so I didn’t tell you.”
Marinette’s lower lip quivered and
Chat found himself unable to breathe, both from sorrow and from utter adoration
of the woman in front of him. He moved her fingers, pressing a kiss to her open
palm before moving it back down to rest at her side.
“You stupid cat,” Marinette choked
out.
Chat chuckled and reached out to stroke
her hair behind her ears, leaning down and brushing his lips just against her cheek.
“Being stupid is my specialty, My Lady.”
She twisted her head just enough so
that his kiss was now pressed to her mouth instead, and he barely even jumped,
merely slid his hand behind her to cup the back of her neck.
“Take care of Tikki for me?” she
managed to breathe out, her lips quivering against his.
Chat brushed away a tear with his
thumb and gave a shaky smile, pulling back. “Of course, Marinette.”
He moved his hand back to hers and
pressed one last, long kiss to her knuckles before dropping her hand and glancing
at Tikki, who was pressed tightly against Marinette’s cheek. The girl turned
and whispered something softly to the Kwami, and Tikki nodded before giving the
girl a gentle kiss and floating over to Chat, collapsing heavily on his leather
clad shoulder.
Alya still stood in the doorway,
phone dangling limply from her fingers and tears sliding down her face. When
she caught Chat watching her, she bit her lower lip and slid her phone into her
jeans, giving him a shaky smile. “We’re so discussing this at school next week,”
she choked out.
Chat chuckled and tilted an
imaginary hat at the reporter. “Thank you, Alya.”
She nodded and ran back into the
room, and Chat released his transformation just inside of the room, letting
Plagg slide back into his shirt before glancing at Tikki, who was crying
silently on his shoulder.
“Hey,” Adrien whispered, reaching
his hands up to cup her to his chest, struggling not to join the Kwami in her
tears. Tikki snuggled against the fabric of his father’s new designer shirt,
but Adrien couldn’t bring himself to care in the slightest.
“What do you say I take you home,
Little Lady?”
ruinedchildhood
