How had this happened. How had they gotten to this point? Chat noir. carapace. Queen bee. And rena rouge were all staring down at a battered de-transformed ladybug. Marinette dupain-cheng was laying on a futon in master fu's house. Her face was dirty and scratched up. Her arms and legs were covered in bruises, and her earrings lay off to the side in a box. tiki . her kwamii was floating around her head crying and cursing herself as the other hero's waited with bated breath not attempting to sooth the kwamii. master fu was sitting a few feet away meditating as alya went over the thoughts as to what had just happened in her head.
Two hours earlier. iron heart a new akuma victim was just about to lose the battle when. In a last attempt effort in a face off against queen bee who was trying to sting him. One of ladybugs earrings had fallen off into the hands of chat noir. And just before he could tell her. an enormous pipe fell from its place atop the pile of scrap. It was heading straight for queen bee. And as ladybug hadn't noticed her missing earing she rushed forward and pushed chloe out of the way. Ladybug turned to use her yoyo. However it was to late. Not even chat noir who with tears in his eyes had lunged forward to reach her. Could get there before the pipe collided with ladybug head on. As soon as the pipe hit her everyone including iron heart had stopped in a state of disbelief. All. Except queen bee. Who in a fit of rage over her idol being struck instead of her rushed iron heart with tears streaming down her face stung the villain. Chat noir was one of the first to recover as he rushed forward " cataclysm!" He shouted as he touched the pipe. It immediately fell away into a pile of ruble. And as though time had began to start again rena rouge. Carapace and queen bee rushed up to cat noir who was now digging through the destroyed pipe pieces. Shouting at the top of his lungs. " no! No! No! It can't be like this! My lady! My lady! Where are you!?! Answer me!" He shouted through choked out sobs after a moment he spotted a hand sticking out through the destruction. Along with the help of rena rouge. Carapace and queen bee they quickly unearthed the rest of her. She was halfway transformed but her face was visible and the hero's collectively gasped. Their friend. Marinette dupain-cheng was ladybug. And she wasn't moving. Cat noir was the first to reach out to her and as soon as he grabbed her hand he quickly pulled her into a princess carry. Rena was the next of the hero's to recover from the shock. " we-we have to get her to a hospital!" She said as she stood up. And walked over to chat noir. Surprisingly he didn't agree. " no." He said flatly as he turned towards the town still carrying her. Carapace was next to recover. " dude. What do you mean no? If we don't get her to a hospital now she might not-" here he was cut off by chat " i said no!" He yelled as he gripped ladybug. His ladybug. To his chest. He had to think of something. He thought. The beeping of his ring all but forgotten " du-dupain-cheng.. W-why would you…. Why not…. Why you…. Why not me…." Queen bee whispered as carapace went over to her and helped her up. " come on chloe…. We can't help her if we're worried about you." He said as he walked her over to the others. By the time chloe got to them chat knew what to do. " we're bringing her to master fu." He said dryly as he hopped onto a nearby building using his staff. The rest of the hero's nodded and followed him. They had all been working together for about two and a half years. And they were all in their junior year of highschool. And after working together for a year they were allowed to keep their miraculous and when that happened they had all met master fu. They hardly knew why chat noir was going there. But there they were hands clasped together. Waiting to see if she would wake up
" i-is she…." Chloe finally said. Unable to finish her sentence " no queen bee. Marinette is a strong girl. She will survive. After all. The suit protected her from most of the damage." Master fu said in a softened tone. Chat placed his hand on marinette's face. " i… i don't know how i missed it all this time. From the beginning it was her. Of course it's her. How could it be anyone else? She is the kindest. Most honest girl in all of paris… and now. She's hurt. Because of hawkmoth…. I'll never forgive him for this." Chat declared in a low tone. Master fu had told the hero's that marinette had to stay there. Until she woke up. Besides her parents couldn't find out like this. They'd try and stop her.
And so. As days past more and more missing flyers went up. They were everywhere. Eve jagged stone made an announcement before every performance to help find marinette. The worst part about it for the group of hero's was school. Alya had reluctantly agreed to put a digital missing poster on the ladyblog and chloe. Who everyone knew was queen bee was pestered relentlessly about whether or not chat noir and ladybug were looking for marinette. The others were forced to look at the schools front door every day. The principal had ordered that posters should be hung everywhere. And anyone wishing to help put up posters should go to the dupain-cheng bakery. Directly after school. Every day the hero's made excuses as to why they couldn't go. Normally this would seem like a bunch of teens who didn't care about their missing classmate. But rose. Who could never say anything mean about anyone had started the rumor that they were secretly investigating marinette's disappearance. Since nino and alya knew each other's secret. And everyone knew chloe's. It was decided on that first day that they would reveal themselves to each other. And so they did.
The group trudged sadly towards master fu's house in their civilian form hoping that marinette had finally woken up. Their patience had paid off. Because as soon as they walked in the door they saw her sitting up drinking a cup of tea. Adrien was the first to run over to her and give her a hug. He had assumed master fu had told her who he was. " my lady! I'm so glad you're awake bugaboo! " he said happily " ch-chat!?!" Marinette said in disbelief. " yes bugaboo?" He asked looking at her with excitement shining in his eyes. She was sure to turn into a puddle at any moment as she felt her entire face heating up. She was sure her face was as red as her suit. " A-Adrien A-Agreste i-is…." She said trying to process what was happening. She had only just woken up an hour ago. This information was truly to much. And so. She fainted. Alya who knew her friend all to well wasn't especially concerned about her fainting. And so she spotted her time to tease the sly cat. " jeez agreste. We're here for one minute and you've already made her fall for you. " she said smiling. "Dude you can't just do that to a girl. Especially one who's been in love with you since middle school." Nino said teasingly. Even chloe joined in. " we didn't even get a chance to talk to her before you swooped in. This is ridiculous utterly ridiculous! When she wakes up we're putting a bag over adrien's face!" Chloe said turning her nose up. The others snickered as adrien blushed.
After a few minutes Marinette came to. Alya was standing above her while the other two made adrien stay put in a chair against the wall. And after a few minutes they explained to her what had happened. And that she had been unconscious for a week. Marinette nodded seriously. " master fu told me i had been out for awhile. But how are we going to explain my disappearance? And. What about the akuma? " she asked concerned. " the akuma left the civilian but we were to focused on you to catch it. But the weird part is. Hawkmoth hasn't attacked at all… i wonder why." Alya said as the others thought. Little did they know how the incident had affected their long time enemy.
Gabriel Agreste stood in his office pacing the floor. He was riddled with guilt about the incident. " oh nuru. I thought i was ready to do whatever i had to do to get those miraculous. I thought i was ready to kill ladybug and chat noir if i had to. But… ladybug is that girl… i saw it when they pulled her out of the rubble. There's no way she survived… " he said crossing his arms as he frowned. " but… why did it have to be her. That dupain-cheng girl. She had promise. She had a future. She had her entire life ahead of her and i took it away with my akuma… on top of all that. She's very dear to my son. She was there to go to the theatre with him to see… well you know. And she even made that scarf for him on his birthday. And had Natalie told me where she got it i would never have allowed her to lie. However i know he wore it to school. Which begs the question. Why didn't she tell him she made it?" He asked. " well master… maybe she saw how happy he was when he thought it was from you. And didn't have the heart to tell him… if you really feel bad. Why not go to her bakery and buy something in person? I know adrien loves the pastry's there." Nuru suggested. Gabriel rolled his eyes. " oh yes… that's the perfect way to make amends… i most likely killed their daughter, and so i'll buy a few croissants." Gabriel Said sarcastically. " but master. The suit protects her from harm. And even though she was missing an earring she was still half transformed. She could still be alive." Nuru said Seriously. Gabriel sighed. " perhaps. Well i suppose we could go to the bakery and get something."
Back at master fu's house the team had come up with a plan. " marinette's parents are going to want to take her to the hospital… they will see that the injuries are a week old." Master fu cut in. " that's fine. The story is. We were all looking around town for clues about where marinette was. Adrien heard a huge crash come from an alley. And he went in to investigate. He saw marinette there unconscious. And that's that." Chloe said
" don't forget mari. You have to tell the police you have amnesia. Or else they might take things a little further." Nino pointed out. Everyone nodded and soon the plan went into action. Chat noir and ladybug ( although she was still injured.) Ran across the paris rooftops before dropping into an alley about a block from the bakery. After de-transforming marinette let adrien pick her up in a princess carry before going limp as if she was unconscious. The others had tore her clothes a bit and smudged dirt on her to make it seem realistic. a few moments later Adrien agreste ran out of the alley holding a seemingly unconscious and battered dupain-chen and ran towards the bakery. Rose. Who had seen them quickly called everyone in a group call. "Adrien found marinette!!! She's unconscious and he's running with her towards the bakery!" She exclaimed. Everyone else exclaimed at the news. Elated that marinette had been found.
As adrien got to the bakery. Rose and ivan who had been close enough to get there just after him stopped a few feet away. Alya. Who had secretly been waiting on the side of the building suddenly ran up and opened the door for adrien as he carried her inside. Though with a shocked expression as to who was there. " father…" adrien said as he nearly lost his hold on marinette. Tom and Sabine who had been standing behind the counter gasped. as tears filled their eyes they ran over to the boy who was carrying their daughter. " adrien?" Gabriel asked as he turned to see his son. His eyes grew wide as he saw ms dupain-cheng unconscious in his sons hand. Though relieved as he realized she was obviously breathing. Though his relief was short lived as his eyes scanned the girl. Most of her exposed skin had been bruised and there were cuts on her face that hadn't quite healed. Her hair was loose though he could still see a deeper wound on the side of her head. It wasn't large. But might leave a scar. He thought. Though he was soon brought back to reality by his son's voice. " we have to get her to a hospital!" Adrien said. Concerned. Although he thought she was fine he wanted to be sure. " of course. Ma'am i would like to offer the use of my limo to help get your daughter to the hospital. " Gabriel said. This surprised his son greatly as adrien watched his father call the limo. By this time the whole class had gathered to form a crowd and everyone watched. Worried as marinette was carried by adrien into into the limo. On the ride to the hospital not only were tom and Sabine glancing at their daughter every few moments. Gabriel agreste was openly staring. Not that anyone noticed. He wasn't just staring at marinette. Though oftener than he would have liked he glanced at her bruises. He was staring at his son's face. And the way he held ms dupain-cheng. He was staring at how every time she breathed his son held his breath and his eyes darted to hers. Which continued to stay closed. And he stared at how more than once his son adjusted how he was carrying her. As if to make her more comfortable. Gabriel was beginning to suspect that his son was in love with the girl. And he watched attentively as adrien who ignored the nurses outstretched hands placed ms dupain-cheng on the stretcher himself and followed the stretcher as far as they would allow him to. Nor did he miss how his son practically jumped out of his seat in the waiting area as the doctor approached them.
" well mr and mrs dupain-cheng. Your daughter is very lucky. She has no broken bones or internal bleeding. Nor does she have any brain damage. There was a cut on her head that had to be stitched. But all her injuries are external. She's suffering from minor malnourishment and dehydration. But other than that she's fine. She is awake now. However she shouldn't move around much for a few weeks. She'll be given a wheelchair for school and she should be helped upstairs. That's all. Oh and we usually don't allow this but when we told her that her parents and a boy were waiting for her. She requested to see all of you." The doctor said smiling as he glanced at adrien. Gabriel, tom and Sabine now openly stared at adrien who blushed. " um. Thanks doctor." Adrien said smiling. " adrien. Why did ms dupain-cheng ask that you be let into her room?" His father asked directly. Adrien knew he had to say something. " uh. Well… me and marinette are a couple. We started dating a week before she went missing…." Adrien said blushing. Gabriel's eyes widened as he immediately looked at tom and Sabine who both looked shocked. " did you know about this?" Gabriel asked them. Sabine shook her head in disbelief. " no mr Agreste. We didn't. I'm surprised since mari usually tells us everything." She said as they walked towards marinette's room.
After everyone was done asking her how she felt tom than asked the question that would no doubt be repeated a million times. " what happened?" He said with worried eyes. And putting on her best performance marinette sighed as she looked around the room and said. " i don't remember. One minute i'm walking in the park. Than the akuma attacks. And while i'm running with everyone else i guess i was knocked out or something because next thing i know i wake up here." She says as her eyes looked around the room. " the doctors wouldn't tell me what was going on. Why am i in the hospital?" She asked feigning innocence. Sabine smiled sadly. " honey. Your father and i have been worried sick. You've been missing for a week." She said softly. Marinette's eyes grew wide as she acted surprised. Though Gabriel knew this was an act. While she was unconscious chat noir had probably seen his son walking an assumed it would be better for a civilian to find her. He had probably placed her in the alley and as His son was walking by chat noir had most likely knocked cans over or made some kind of sound. " well it's lucky your boyfriend found you then. " tom said winking as he nudged adrien. Marinette coughed. Which made toms hand flinch towards the nurses button. " oh i-I'm fine. You just took me by surprise. That's all. Thank you adrien for finding me." She said smiling. Gabriel cleared his throat. " yes. Adrien told us that you were dating. But i forget. How long have you two been an item. Minus the week you were missing of course." He said Seriously. Marinette thought for a minute and supposing that adrien wouldn't have said they were dating for that long she looked at Gabriel and said. " uh. About a week." She said glancing at adrien as he smiled. Gabriel nodded. As he processed that. So his son hadn't been lying about that
