MARTIN MYSTERY FIC
Sometime Around Midnight
~SunshineGirl09~

And it starts sometime around midnight. Faded bar lights flash in Martin Mystery's chocolate eyes, dancing in beat with the music. He never agreed to her plan in the first place. The glass of rum-and-coke squeezed in his fist tempts him into more madness and frustration. Although he rarely loses his cool, he barely manages to keep a straight face to hide his internal meltdown.

The unknown band in the corner plays some melancholic song that eases Martin into a worse sense of anxious dread. It almost sweeps him completely into his own thoughts, the mission at risk with every note of the piano and beat of the muffled drum. He's losing himself.

He never agreed.

Eventually, he gathers the strength to pull his gaze away from the untouched drink to Diana's white dress, swishing with every turn and dip in her dance. Very slowly, his eyes travel up her body, perfectly flattered by the dress, and then up to her face which is adorned in makeup and framed by curled hair.

With a shattered breath, he takes in her beauty. He'll never admit it, but she stuns him sometimes. She only continues to grow in perfection, becoming an enthralling goddess by age twenty. And if she manages to do this to him, he doesn't want to imagine what the other men in the room are experiencing.

Over the years, a painful attraction had grown, and just now the weight of it crashes down on him, as he watches her eloquently dance in hopes to seduce the target of the investigation.

But he never agreed with her plan. In fact, he vehemently disagreed with it, while she only managed a muffled laugh and a 'it's the only way'.

The thought of anyone touching her almost brings him back into the spiraling frenzy of his anxious mind but a flicker of eye contact interrupts him. Diana clearly looks in his direction, flipping her auburn curls over her bare shoulders and letting out a tickling laugh, but her eyes speak differently. Martin catches the unmistakable fear.

She's uncomfortable. It's now clear, with the target hovering around her like a ghost.

Over the next few minutes, Diana keeps glancing over to Martin, her expression becoming increasingly stern, especially since she's supposed to be in the act of "seduction". Martin finally realizes that this has been going on for longer than he thought, and he was too caught up in his apprehensive mind to notice, ironically.

"Dammit," Martin mutters, quickly locating Java, who poses as a bartender, steadily pouring another man's drink.

Martin approaches Diana, noting how ridiculous this entire thing is, considering Diana's never dated anyone before and isn't fully equipped to handle the art of seduction, although it clearly worked on the target. However, Martin also feels guilty because he didn't protest this plan enough.

The objective was to take the target out without causing a disturbance at the upscale bar, restricting Martin from completely wiping this man off the face of the earth if he tried anything unchaste.

Diana ends up meeting Martin in the middle of his approach, the man's arm circled around her waist tightly. Martin resists the growling urge to remove it, almost enticed to insult Diana in an attempt to force him off.

He can't do anything, though.

"Hey, Martin." Diana greets with a warm smile, perhaps comforted by Martin's proximity. "Have you met Adrian?"

Martin nearly recalls the entire file The Center provided on him, listing his offenses and warrants in alphabetical order.

"No, I don't believe I have." Martin coolly remarks, catching the faint scent of Diana's perfume and resisting the urge to rip her out of Adrian's arms.

Martin shuts down all thoughts of Adrian touching Diana's bare skin in an attempt to calm himself. However, the change in his emotions is strong and perceptible, unrelieved by the sharp scent of alcohol seemingly infused with the air.

Then, almost immediately, Diana is pulled sharply out of sight. Martin curses, reasoning that his unbalanced emotions caused rising suspicion in Adrien.

Martin wildly turns around in turmoil until he locates Adrien exiting the bar, tugging Diana along with him. She makes nervous eye contact with Martin once more before she's yanked out the door.

Definitely not a part of the plan.

Martin drastically slips passed everyone in his way across the dance floor, madly sprinting for the door.

"Martin? What wrong?" Java appears as Martin dashes towards the exit.

Java receives no response and can only note the paleness of Martin's fearful face as he leaps out of sight.

"DIANA!"

Martin stumbles out in panic, with the light of the moon dimly illuminating his surroundings.

Under the streetlight ahead of him, Martin catches Adrien pulling a now hostile Diana down the street, and he darts in their direction.

'U-Watch Activated-Turbo Bungee Selected!'

Sprinting towards the streetlight, he lets the bungee latch onto the pole, launching him forwards and dropping him in front of Adrien and Diana, blocking their querulous path.

"Martin..." The relief in Diana's voice does something to Martin's insides that he can't explain, but he has no time for evaluating his emotions.

"Let her go." He informs Adrien. "We have a warrant for your arrest from The Center."

Adrien, with his shaggy black hair and sleek glasses, cackles in amusement.

"You're very intimidating," he sarcastically replies. "But I usually get what I want, and I've decided I want her."

Martin's attempt to keep his cool fails, and he lets out an unorthodox growl. Then, he realizes a small crowd of people gathers.

"Don't be jealous now," Adrien continues. "My girl here finds that unattractive."

He loses it. So much for discreetly carrying out the mission. Martin pulls his fist back, yearning to feel the crunch of Adrien's bones underneath his knuckles. For some reason, Martin has no desire to use any gadget from his watch, just the pure strength of his muscles and fists.

He delivers the punch straight into Adrien's jaw, knocking him backwards and allowing Diana to slip out. She falls onto the concrete while Martin leaps at the suitor until they both roll on the ground, throwing wild punches.

"Martin!" Diana calls, desperately wanting the fray to be over already. She tosses one of her heels to Martin, who catches it and uses it to bash Adrien's head, knocking him unconscious.

"So much for not letting everyone else know." Diana mumbles, peeking over at Martin.

"Alright, then," Martin seethes. "Maybe next time I won't save you."

Giggling at his immature response, Diana stands and rolls her eyes.

"You did look pretty jealous," she informs him with a sly smile on her rosy lips.

Martin continues to deny it without rest for the next minute.

Diana slowly inches closer to him, her proximity eventually silencing his rant of denial. They're so close she can witness the slight blush on his cheeks, and the small hairs standing on it, all illuminated by the street lamp above them. While one hand holds her shoe, she uses the other to cup his warm cheek.

"Well, I thought it was kind of cute." She told him, pressing her lips to his cheeks.

Author's Note: I did a rewrite of an old songfic because I absolutely loved it but needed it to be updated to my full potential, with some changes made to details. I ended up keeping the original because it had quite a few favorites, but it was written by my weak fifteen year old ass. Here's my updated nineteen year old ass.