Adrien waited until he heard the door close downstairs, then carefully lowered the door in the floor. Plagg flew out of his special pocket in Adrien's shirt, and looked at his chosen thoughtfully.
"What is she going to think when she comes back to find I've mysteriously disappeared?"
The kwami shrugged. "I don't know. Worry about it later."
He glanced regretfully at the trapdoor. "I was actually having a really good time."
"Eh, quit whining. Don't you have somewhere to be?"
Adrien scowled. "Plagg, claws out!"
There was a flash of green light, and Chat Noir stood in the center of Marinette's room, twitching his tail. He looked regretfully at the trap door. "I'll just have to worry about it later," he muttered to himself. Then he was out through the skylight, and leaping his way toward the large column of smoke rising into the air.
There was a flash of red to his right, and he shifted his course to join Ladybug. She'd landed on a rooftop just ahead of him. He landed quietly by her side, and took in the scene before them.
They were still in Marinette's neighborhood, only a few streets over. Many of these buildings were older, and most, like the Dupain-Cheng bakery, had been renovated, or even restored. Not so with the burning building before them. It had been built of pale brick, but the color was now dull and streaked with grime. It had settled over a poor foundation, and seemed to be bent with age. Now, the lower left corner the building was just…gone, and what was left, was burning. Flames licked at much of the exposed interior, climbing ever higher through the structure. It looked like it had been an apartment complex, though thankfully, most of what they could see looked empty, abandoned.
Adrien saw all of this in an instant, and knowing that the police and fire department would see to the fire itself, turned his attention to looking for the akuma. But, he saw…nothing. No monster, no flamboyantly dressed villain.
"What the hell," he muttered. Akumas were usually not difficult to find. They called attention to themselves, creating chaos in a bid for retribution. He shifted his weight beneath him, preparing to leap from the roof to begin searching.
Beside him, Ladybug stiffened, and her hand flew to his thigh to stay him. "Look!" She pointed to the highest exposed floor of the building, where only the lowest part of the floor was visible. Above the gap in the wall, flames dances in the shattered windows. That floor was clearly buckling, and an ominous groan rumbled from the structure.
"Chat, it's going to come down!" She turned to him, her face pale and blue eyes wide. "There's someone in there!"
Before he could even process her words, she'd leapt from their perch and swung to the collapsing building, broken out a window, and disappeared from view.
With a curse, he followed her. Inside, he found himself in a clean but shabby living room, with a kitchen off to one side and a hall leading off the other. An open door stood across from him, allowing tendrils of curling smoke to make their way into the room.
"Hello? Is there anyone here? Ladybug?" He ran to check the rooms up the hall, but they were empty. The apartment was deserted. In the kitchen, the paint had started to bubble with the heat behind it. "Damnit, Ladybug, where are you?" He muttered. Heart pounding, he ran out to the main hallway, coughing in the smoke that now billowed around him, and was blasted with a wall of heat on his left. Panicking now, he ran up the hall to the next apartment, crouching low and keeping as far to the right as he could.
"Ladybug! Ladybug, where are you?"
The door to the next apartment stood open as well, though this one had obviously been kicked in. The wall and floor gave way to nothing under the window across the room. He darted in, almost uncaring of the heat around him. "LADYBUG!"
"Chat! I'm here!"
Relief swept through him at the sound of her voice. She leapt through the flaming doorway into the main living area with a small child clinging to her neck in one arm, and an older woman slung over her other shoulder. She had sweat rolling down over her mask, and making tracks through the soot on her cheeks. He thought that she had never looked more beautiful.
She looked at him with a smile in her eyes, but it died as the building shuddered again. A large crack snaked its way across the floor between them, and they both froze. "Chat…"
There was a crash and a shower of sparks behind her. She flinched away, and the building groaned again.
"Milady, you have to keep going."
She nodded her head once, and took a single tentative step forward. The floor cracked again, and with a shudder, it began to cave.
For Adrien, time slowed to a crawl.
Ladybug leaped forward, desperate to gain ground before it fell from beneath her. She was hampered by the woman and the child, but knew that the child, at least, had a death grip on her. She released the girl to grab the yo-yo from her hip and fling it desperately to Chat as she felt herself begin to fall. He caught it, and used it to yank all three of them into his arms. They fell back through the doorway into the hall in a heap.
Chat Noir was the first on his feet. He took the unconscious woman from his Lady's shoulder, and pulled her up after him. "Come on, we have to move!"
She nodded, and followed him back the way they'd come at a dead run. There was a window at the end of the long hall, and without breaking his stride, he extended his staff through the window to break it out. When they reached it, he used his gloved fist to knock out the rest of the glass, and extended his staff to the ground. His partner knew what to do, and still clutching the girl, she slid to the ground fireman's style, to hold the staff while Chat did the same. The moment his feet touched the ground, he collapsed the staff and they continued running, this time toward the ambulances parked a safe distance away. As they ran, they heard it start to come down behind them. There was an enormous rumbling, and as it came down, another explosion went off. All four of them were thrown to the ground.
Marinette sat on a rooftop not far from the hive of activity, watching as Chat Noir finished speaking with the police about what had happened. She'd not lingered, once she'd been divested of her small burden and ascertained that the child was not seriously injured. She didn't even stop to check on the woman. She'd begun to tremble in earnest, and recognizing that she was in shock, wanted to remove herself before she fell apart.
Chat had called after her, but she ignored him. She felt guilty about that. Marinette knew he was worried about her and probably angry with her as well. But, he let her go, knowing she wouldn't go far. He watched until he saw where she settled, then turned to take care of things with the authorities—as Marinette knew that he would.
She needn't have worried about falling apart. Though she continued to tremble, she felt numb. She wondered, distantly, whether there had been anyone else in that building. They'd saved two people, but they can't have been the only two there. It was a large building. Marinette knew that later, she would be upset. Now, she was numb.
Her body was not numb, sad to say. Her suit had protected her, but it could only do so much. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she could feel every scrape, bruise, and burn. She was fairly certain that she'd cracked a few ribs when the floor caved, her lungs burned from the smoke, and Marinette knew that she was going to be sore all over the next day. Already it hurt just to breathe. She let her head drop back against the façade behind her, and closed her eyes.
That's how Adrien found her, not 10 minutes later. He landed lightly beside her, and was surprised that she didn't respond to his presence. Worry flared, temporarily stifling his anger. He sank down next to her, grateful to see her chest rise and fall as she breathed. But it was not an easy breath, and he realized that she'd been exposed to a lot more smoke than he had.
He reached his hand out, and ran the backs of his first two fingers down her cheek. "Bugaboo." She moaned, turning her face into his hand. "Milady, are you alright?" He dropped his hand to her shoulder and shook her gently. "Talk to me."
Her eyes flew open, and she sat forward, coughing and hissing with the movement. His worry grew. She glanced to him and away again, probably trying to decide whether she could get away with downplaying her injuries. His lips twitched.
"I'm trying really hard to be mad at you right now. You're crazy, you know that, right?"
She gave a humorless laugh, which turned into a cough. "Yeah, I know." Her voice was rough, scratchy. "What happened? Do they know yet what caused the initial explosion?"
"No. Well, except that it wasn't an akuma."
"Hmm."
Adrien wished it had been an akuma, no matter how awful they are. If it had been, then they could have gone after it, and Ladybug's cleansing would have restored all to what it was before the akuma attacked. Now, he and Ladybug would have to heal the old fashioned way.
"Ladybug." He waited until her eyes returned to his. "How bad is it?"
"Bad enough." She grimaced. She'd been hurt before, but never outside of an akuma attack. It was going to be hard to hide this from her parents, or explain it away. Alya was going to be even more difficult. She sighed, and then hissed again when her tortured ribs protested.
"Damnit, woman, what the hell were you thinking?" His sharp words obviously surprised her, but her pain and his powerlessness to help made him angry.
"I was thinking that there was someone who needed help."
"Why didn't you let me go in first? Or at least wait so that we could go together? I can't protect you, if you won't let me!"
"Don't yell at me, Chat. We've been through this before. We're a team. We protect each other."
"Yes, we're a team. You're the brains, I'm the brawn. I'm supposed to the doing the dirty work. You—" His voice broke, and he paused, looking away. "This isn't supposed to happen to you."
Her face softened. "I'll be alright, Kitty." She turned his face back to hers, sliding her fingers along his jaw to stroke his check with her thumb. When his eyes met hers again, she was startled by the stricken look there. "I'll be alright."
His green eyes held hers for several beats, and he nodded. "Well, what are we going to do?"
She looked surprised. "Do?"
"Yeah, about you." He stood, and held his hand out for her to grasp. She braced herself, then allowed him to pull her to her feet. She whimpered, clinging to him for both balance and support. He steadied her with a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Just give me a sec, I'll be fine."
"You need my help, and you know it."
Marinette frowned. She knew that he was right, and hated it. As if to underscore his point, her earrings started to beep, letting her know that she'd be de-transforming soon.
"See? Let me help you, Milady. I'm a bit knocked around, but for the most part, I'm ok. You, you're not even going to make it home, let alone keep all of this from…everyone."
"No! You have to go. I'll figure something out. You can't know—"
"Bullshit!" Shaking his head, he pulled her closer to him, and extended his baton.
"What are you doing?"
"Helping you."
"But—"
"No buts. If your kwami were able to say, what would she want you to do, right now?" She closed her mouth and stared at him mulishly. "That's what I thought. Your well-being is more important than our secrets. I'm sorry, Milady."
"Where are you taking me?"
Adrien glanced at the woman in his arms as he landed briefly on a rooftop, even though he couldn't see her face. "My house." He felt her stiffen against him, and shook his head again. "Mon dieu, you are stubborn."
Marinette had her arms wrapped tightly around his neck; he had one arm wrapped tightly around her waist. The pressure was hurting her ribs, but she didn't care.
She was terrified.
Not of falling. Chat had carried her like this plenty of times. No, she was afraid of what would happen, once they were revealed to one another. So, even though she had another minute or two before she lost the mask, she had her face buried against his neck and she hadn't budged once since they began moving.
"We're here."
She felt the air change, noted it was warmer, and knew that they were inside. He walked a short distance with quick strides, then set her gently on her feet. He put his hands on her shoulders and tugged. "I know you're about to lose the mask, and I'm not going to be far behind you. This is the bathroom. I'm going to close you in here, so you can de-transform and shower." Ear earrings gave a final beep. "Hurry, let go!"
She released him, and he turned immediately to leave, closing the door behind him. No sooner had the latch clicked, than she felt her kwami leave her. Poor Tikki fell immediately to the floor, and Marinette fell to her knees beside her.
"Oh, Tikki, I am so sorry!" The little kwami was streaked with soot, and was so weak she could barely move. "I never should have stayed so long like that! I just didn't think, since we hadn't used the charm…" She gathered her tiny friend in shaking hands, placing a gentle kiss on her head. "I am so, so sorry!"
"Hush, Marinette. I will be ok. I just need a snack, and some sleep. I will recover before you do."
Marinette opened the cabinet next to her, and pulled out a hand towel to use as a little cushion for Tikki. She carefully laid her on the makeshift bed, and then climbed shakily to her feet. She'd just started to take in the large bathroom around her when she was startled by a knock.
"Milady?" Chat spoke through the door. "I—I brought cookies for your kwami. That's what she likes, right?"
"Uh, yes, actually. I'm surprised you remembered."
"I thought it might be handy to know, one of these days." He sounded sheepish. "Anyway, I also brought a phone, so that you can call, er, whoever you need to, to let them know that you're ok."
At this, Marinette staggered a bit, struck both by his thoughtfulness and her own idiocy. She'd completely forgotten that she'd need to call her parents, and what in the world must Adrien be thinking? She scoffed, shaking her head. Of all the days for this to happen, it had to be when Adrien was at her house.
"Ladybug? If you'll crack open the door, I'll pass these through to you."
She did as he asked, taking the things and closing the door again.
"Take as long as you need to. I'm going to go get cleaned up, in another bathroom. I won't hear anything you say on the phone so you'll be able to speak freely."
There was a pause, but she knew he hadn't left because she could hear him muttering on the other side of the door.
"Buginette, you're going to have to face me eventually, but…" He trailed off with a sigh. "I didn't want it to be this way. When I finally saw you, I wanted it to be—I don't know. Something else. But not this." He sighed again, and she heard movement against the door. He must have leaned against it.
"Th-Thank you, Chat. I, um, just…thank you."
"You're welcome, milady."
This time, she heard him move away from the door. She turned back to the large bathroom behind her, and took in the black tile and gleaming chrome fixtures. There was a large sunken bathtub on the right, and huge glass-walled shower on the far side. Clearly, Chat wasn't hurting for money. It all looked vaguely familiar, but she was too overwrought to give it any thought.
"First things, first," she murmured. She set the small plate of cookies on the counter next to Tikki, and roused the weary kwami. "It's snack time, Tikki." Her little friend smiled wanly, and sat up to eat her snack.
Satisfied that Tikki was eating, she sat on the closed toilet with the phone and started to dial, then lowered it again after punching in only a few numbers. "Tikki, what the hell am I going to tell them?"
Tikki regarded her quietly for a moment, chewing. Once she'd swallowed, she said simply, "Alya," and took another generous bite.
Marinette raised her brows, considering. Alya would certainly help her, but it would mean that she'd have to tell her friend far more than she ever intended to. Tikki, knowing the nosy blogger almost as well as she herself did, knew this and suggested it anyway. "Desperate times," she mumbled to the phone. She closed her eyes, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do.
She canceled the previous numbers, and started over. The phone rang twice before Alya picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Alya, it's me."
"GIRL!" Marinette pulled the phone away from her ear, wincing at the shriek. "Where the hell are you?"
"I'm safe. Listen, I need you to do me a favor."
Alya was quiet on the other end, calculating.
"I'm going to tell my parents that I am at your house tonight. I need you to corroborate the story."
"You disappear from your parents' house, call me from a number that I don't recognize, give me zero information, and then ask me to lie to your parents for you. Is that right?"
She sighed. "Yeah, that about sums it up."
Another pause, and then, "You sure you're safe? You're ok?"
"Yeah, I'm certain of it."
"You owe me for this, girl. You know you are going to have to spill it for me tomorrow."
Marinette smiled. "Oh, I know."
Adrien stood under the shower, letting the hot water sluice over his body, washing away the soot and the sweat of the afternoon. He wished that he could wash away the events of the afternoon just as easily. Ladybug had scared him before, but never like this. His heart had stuttered when she disappeared into that building, and again when the floor crumbled beneath her. She never gave a hint that she was injured; she kept pace with him like she always did. And it wasn't unusual for her to want an opportunity to process after a particularly hard fight. It wasn't until he found her sitting so still and so pale on the roof, that he had any idea. And then, for her to let her weakness show? For her to give in so easily, when he insisted on helping? That was not like her. At all.
He scrubbed his hands over his face, then reached for the soap. He couldn't remember the last time that a shower had felt so good. Once clean, he stepped out of the shower and wrapped himself in a hotel style terry cloth robe. He'd forgotten to take clothes with him, so he dropped his dirty clothes in the hamper—thankfully, none of the soot was on his civilian clothes, or he'd have a hard time explaining things to Nathalie—and padded back to his room in the robe.
The door to his own bathroom was still closed, the water still running. He tried not to think about the woman standing naked on the other side of that door, and focused instead on getting dressed and gathering everything he could think of, that she might need. He pulled on a pair of soft drawstring pants that rode low on his hips, and an old t-shirt. He called downstairs to let them know he was home, and to request a very generous dinner tray be sent up to his room. He knew she probably wouldn't want anything to eat, after the day's events, but he knew she'd need to.
That done, he went to his expansive walk-in closet and pulled down the old PS3 box from the back corner of the top shelf, and set it on his bed. He had a stash of first aid supplies in there that he'd smuggled into his room not long after getting his Miraculous, just in case he'd ever need it. And as it turned out, he had. Not often, but it had definitely come in handy over the last few years. But, never more handy than it would be that night.
