Alya was waiting for Marinette at the small cafe down the way from her college. Marinette stumbled through the doors, her hair a mess. She straightened herself up, rubbed the silver band around her neck with her fingers, and smiled. "Hey, girl!" Alya called out and waved her over.
Marinette sat down in the seat across from Alya and set her bag at her feet. "Hey. Sorry about yesterday." She rolled her eyes and brushed her hair from her face. "I was a little out of it with how my last two weeks have gone and everything."
"Yeah, I know how that is. What happened? I haven't talked to you in ages." Alya smiled as a waiter sat waters down for them and handed them each a menu.
"Well, I had my design stolen because with this whole Adrien thing… I haven't had a moment to really focus and… I kind of forgot to sign my project. Plus, I clumsily tripped and dumped my lunch on myself… then I had an awful date with an art student…" Marinette sighed and took a sip of her water.
"So. His name's Adrien." Alya raised an eyebrow. "Well, it is unusual for you to not sign your pieces, Marinette. But I think under these circumstances… it would make perfect sense. But I want to hear more about this Adrien."
Marinette blushed and fiddled with his ring. Adrien stood behind Alya with a smirk on his face and a challenging glint in his eye. She gave him an irritated expression and he laughed.
"Well… he's 24 and… was in the 1918 bombing of Paris. Um… he has golden hair that is to his shoulders. Maybe a little higher. He also has gorgeous green eyes. I mean the most beautiful I have ever seen with flecks of gold." Marinette felt her cheeks grow warm and Alya ordered food for her. "He's sweet, charming, silly, and… smart."
Adrien crossed his arms and gave her a curious expression. She had gotten that all from just the short time they had together.
"And when he kisses me he tastes of mint and-" Marinette got lost in her thoughts and Alya held up her hand and interrupted the dreamy girl.
"You kissed him? Like literally kissed a ghost." Alya's eyes went wide and she didn't believe her. "How?"
Marinette sighed and tried to think of what he had done. How had he done it? He had never explained it to her. Adrien phased over to her. He stood behind her and grazed the shell of her ear with his lips and whispered, "I push my energy into my heart. Then I let it spread out to whatever part I want. If I surround my body in it then you get all of me. And I do mean… all of me." Marinette gasped and her cheeks grew hot.
"Um- well, he uses his energy and becomes solid for a short time." Marinette swallowed hard and pressed her thighs together.
Adrien phased back out and appeared behind Alya. He felt good about what he had done. He had gotten to her again and he took a secret thrill in it.
"And a spirit tastes like mint?" Alya raised an eyebrow as their lunch was set in front of them.
"Well… when he's solid he does." Marinette giggled and remembered the feel of menthal. How it tingled her tongue and made her mouth feel cold. Adrien chuckled and smirked from behind Alya. "Oh Alya… he's amazing. When I was on that awful date… all I could think about was him. He went missing for two weeks and within those two weeks… everything went crashing down. Now, that he's back…. I can't get him out of my mind and I don't understand why. I feel like he's important and I can't wrap my head around it."
"I don't know Marinette. This sounds like something you'll have to figure out with him." Alya took a bite of her food.
Stories of classes and bad dates filled the rest of their lunch time and before Marinette knew it… she was heading back to class after telling Alya good-bye.
Marinette sat in her design class and worried her stylus between her lips. All she could think about was his kiss and how it felt. How it felt to have his body pressed against hers, even if it was for only a brief moment. She fiddled with the ring around her neck. She had chosen to bring it with her for goodluck. Today was the day that she would try and claim her design back as her own.
Adrien had tried to give her advice last night on how to go about doing it, but she still had her doubts. How could she have spaced out on signing her own work? She always signed her stuff. Marinette kicked herself for letting herself get distracted by an old spirit that had decided to leave for two weeks. Two weeks of hell, not only for her but for him too.
She shook her head and focused back on the lecture about materials and what patterns to pair with what. Marinette went back to taking notes, but when a cold hand reached over and pinched the top of her stylus… she jumped. Marinette peered beside her to see a man with blonde hair and green eyes, but his eyes were in shadows instead of pale pink shades. She instantly became worried about him. He didn't look the same. More sickly than he had previously shown her.
"I'm fine." Adrien whispered to her with a warm smile. He coughed slightly and she worried her bottom lip.
You don't look fine. Marinette thought and watched him with curious bluebell eyes. She searched his and her instructor suddenly asked her a question, noticing that she was distracted.
"Warm shades." Adrien answered for her before he wrapped his arms around himself and coughed again.
"Um- warm shades?" Marinette slowly turned to her instructor with a smile. She didn't know why he would know that, but she chose to shake it off.
"Correct Mademoiselle Dupain Cheng." Her instructor commended her and she blew out a breath in relief.
Thank you. She smiled at him and began to finish her notes on her tablet, while Adrien sat beside her shivering with a warm smile. She suddenly felt a chill on her shoulder and something trembling. She looked next to her and saw Adrien with his eyes clenched tight, leaning on her for comfort. Marinette hoped that the class would be over soon. She wanted to know what was wrong with him, but right when her instructor signalled that their time was up… he phased away.
Marinette gathered her things and put them into her bag, before she walked up to her instructor. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Sure. What did you want to discuss?" Her instructor was busy packing up his own stuff into his bag.
"That design that you really liked? The one that Charlotte turned in? It was actually mine. I- I can prove it. Um." Marinette took a sketchbook from her bag. She always drew her concepts in one. She nervously flipped through the pages, her thoughts stuck on a sickly Adrien. "See, I had planned it out weeks ago. You can see by the date and signature on the concept sketch. I've had a very stressful two weeks and I forgot to sign it like I usually do."
Her instructor nodded with a warm smile. He touched her shoulder and spoke. "I know that, Marinette. I can always tell what designs are yours. You do great work."
"But- but you didn't let me talk or explain myself when it happened." Marinette was confused about the whole situation.
"Well, I knew it was yours. Charlotte is good at what she does, but she has nothing on you. You, Mademoiselle Dupain Cheng, are going places." He winked at her and she sighed with a warm smile.
"So, my grade won't be docked?" Marinette looked up at him.
"Of course not. I already put it in. Full points. Good job. I look forward to your final project. Now, I have to go. I have a meeting with Charlotte during my office hours. I'll see you next week. Enjoy your weekend." He smiled and walked past her.
Marinette couldn't believe that she had gotten so lucky. She shook her head and walked out of the classroom and headed towards her apartment. She had some more questions for Adrien that she needed to ask.
The walk home didn't take her long and before she knew it, she was in front of her apartment door and heading inside. She walked in to a quiet home and she secretly had hoped to be greeted by him, but he wasn't there. She sighed and shut the door behind herself. Marinette shrugged off her coat and hung it up on a hook that she had created from an old 1920's door plate and a door pull that she had found fitting for it. She had picked it up at a thrift shop a while ago. It had been cheaper than buying one at the local shops that were manufactured in ceramic and lacquered in a shiny pastel paint. She blew out air in a slow drawn out breath and made her way to her kitchen. She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and turned the oven on to preheat. She felt like baking. She hadn't done it in a while and today seemed like a better day than any to relax and enjoy it. She wanted to forget how sick Adrien looked. It broke her heart and she didn't know why exactly. If it was because she had feelings for him and cared for his well being… or if it was something deeper.
"So… wanna hear the rest of my story?" Adrien's voice rang out around her and she turned to see him standing with more life in his face than before. The circles were gone and he was back to being his usual perky self.
"What?" Marinette dropped the mixing spoon into the mixing bowl, confusion and shock marked her face. She shook her head and laughed at herself. "Yes, yes. Please do. Sorry, I'm still getting used to you just showing up."
"Sorry for scaring you." Adrien smiled at her and pushed energy into his hand. He pulled her closer to him and touched her cheek with his fingertips. "Alright, I'll tell you. And while I tell you the rest of my story… you can keep baking."
She burst out laughing. "You seem so excited even though you can't eat it."
"I relish in seeing you in the kitchen baking, Mademoiselle Dupain Cheng." Adrien winked at her and she smiled at him with a blush.
"Do you now?" Marinette burst out in a fit of giggles as she added sugar to her butter in the bowl.
"Mm-hm. So much so… that I may find myself distracted by your charm." Adrien leaned on the counter and watched her stir the ingredients.
"Will you just tell the story?" Marinette burst out in a fit of giggles and dumped the flour mixture in after she mixed in the egg. The flour poofed up and covered her and the spot where Adrien stood. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Adrien choked and laughed harder at the situation. "I- I am so sorry…"
"It's just the floor, Marinette. You can't ruin something that's not solid." Adrien laughed, but on the inside it hurt him. Hurt him that he wasn't whole anymore. He was a soul stuck to walk the earth, searching… for something… but he couldn't quite place what it was.
"I'm still sorry." She walked over and grabbed a broom from a nearby closet and began to sweep the flour from the floor. "Anyway, tell me more of your story." She smiled up at him and stood up with the dustpan in her hand. Marinette walked over to throw the flour and dirt into the trash can as she hummed a tune.
"Back in 1914, I was enlisted into the army. I was put on the front lines and it was during the Battle of Verdun that I met a beautiful woman with bluebell eyes and dark midnight hair in the year 1916." Adrien got lost in the memory and Marinette's gentle hums became rapid artillery fire.
Adrien panted as the loud sounds of spraying bullets hit the ground around him, causing the mud to pick up around him in rays of wet thick dirt
The soldier that had originally been firing the St. Étienne Mle 1907 had been hit by German troops and was now laying lifeless beside him. Adrien cursed under his breath and took over. He loaded another 25 round metallic feed strip into the machine gun after yanking the empty one from it. He pulled the charging handle out to release it. Then pulled the handle back towards himself and snapped it back into place. He let it charge, before he pulled the rate reducing mechanism out to engage it. His heart rate picked up as he rotated the dial away from himself to change the rate of fire. He pulled back the charging handle and snapped it back in place repeating over and over again, while he held down the trigger. The gun fired at a rapid rate, blowing through the 25 rounds within moments, as he swept it along the enemy line. Adrien kept replacing the metallic feed strips until he ran out. He locked the charging handle back down and laid low in the trench. He got on to his stomach as a bomb flew and skidded along the ground. He covered his head as he heard it explode along the dirt and a shower of wet Earth rained over him and the gun. He grimaced and crawled over to his box of ammo with determination. Pulling the metal box towards himself, he opened it and began popping shells into the empty feed strips, while laying low on the ground. Once they were full, he sat back up and fed a metal strip through the gun and set it up to fire again.
The body casing heated up, causing the site to move considerably less due to the fact that it grew hot at a different rate than the barrel. This made it hard to focus on where it was firing and right now was a pain in the ass for him. Adrien groaned, "DAMNIT, the damn barrel is overheating!". He tried to overcompensate for it and not let it get in the way, until the gun jammed from all of the mud. He hadn't had a chance to clean it and it had been days since he was able to.
Adrien hurried and picked up his Chauchat. He set it up on the edge of the trench and pulled the charging handle back and aimed at the enemy line. He pushed the trigger, firing and knocking down one man at a time. Adrien pulled out the empty mag and snapped in a new one. He continued to fire the machine gun until it overheated and jammed as well. He cursed and picked it up to hit the barrel against a rock nearby, but it didn't help. He sat back against the wet mud wall and a rat ran by him. He hated this and all he wanted to do was go home. To get out of this hell. When Adrien took in his surroundings, he found that he only had a few men left around him. Most of them were left lifeless on the ground. Some missing limbs, while others were left whole and riddled with machine gun entree and exit wounds. His hands shook and his pupils dilated as he took in the bodies moving from rats feasting on them. His chest rapidly moved up and down and all he wanted to do was reach for his pistol on his hip and end it all. Just make it all stop. His raised his hands to his helmet and gripped onto it. His legs shook and his stomach turned over in disgust. Fear filled his lungs and he gasped as more wet thick mud spilled on top of him.
A grenade landed beside him and his eyes went wide and he quickly scrambled away from it, but the sheer sound of it exploding knocked him into shock and before he knew it a bullet entered his chest.
"Medic!" Adrien faded in and out, as another soldier placed pressure on the wound.
Before he knew it, he was being carried to a medical tent six miles back from the front lines. It was a long white tent with two rows of beds on either side. The ringing wouldn't stop in his ears and his vision was blurred. The pain in his chest was becoming nearly unbearable by the moment. The only figure he could focus on was a girl in white with beautiful blue eyes and midnight toned hair.
"So. Does a gussied up, keen, man like yourself have a nickname?" The nurse with midnight hair and sapphire eyes smiled at him as she looked him over in the makeshift field tent.
Adrien grimaced and gasped in pain, but he was able to chuckle a little at her flirtatious remark. "Yeah, they call me Chat Noir. But- you- can call me- Adrien." He winked at her and tried to speak through the pain.
The nurse chuckled. "Alright, big shot. You just sit tight. We'll have you all patched up and on a transport soon."
Adrien reached out and caught her wrist. He gasped at the pain and throbbing in his head and where the bullet had entered in his chest. "Wait. Didn't give me- the pleasure- of knowing- your name, ma- cherie."
The nurse turned around and placed her hand over his. "It's Marinette and I'll be your lucky chauffeuse this evening." She gave him a warm smile and hung up his I.V on the brass stand.
They moved him onto a table, where a doctor ran over with a medical kit and a nurse removed his uniform. He faded out of consciousness as the doctor located and removed the bullet from his chest. The ringing kept him hostage and the only thing in his vision was a nurse with bluebell eyes behind a white mask. Her eyes were kind and he tried to focus on her instead of the pain that was racking through his body by the moment. They sanitized his wound and bandaged it.
"Transport him to the nearest hospital in France." The doctor cleaned up the best he could. "Tell them he has a bullet injury to the chest and shell shock. I don't know whether it's physical or psychological until he opens his mouth again. Which I'm sure you'll have no problem getting him to talk." The doctor chuckled at how flirty the two had become. It was one of the very few parts of his job that made it interesting. Hearing all of the men flirt with the nurses, but it still wasn't enough to bring him out of hell.
The female nurse nodded and other staff helped her load him into the back of the ambulance. It was times like these that she loved her job. She loved driving and transporting casualties because it got her away from enemy fire. She put the car into gear and drove off to the hospital. Adrien groaned in the back and she looked behind her at him. "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?" She tried to keep him conscious and hoped that asking him a little about himself would keep his mind going. She didn't want to ask him about what had happened just yet. She wanted to keep him distracted until they could get to the hospital.
"My father- a doctor- at one of- the hospitals- at-" Adrien weakly spoke and coughed as he shivered. The cough radiated the pain in his chest and he softly groaned.
"France." Marinette smiled and focused back on driving. "My family owns a bakery in Paris." She missed working in the bakery with her family, but when the need for nurses arised… she chose to become a bigger part of the war effort.
"Why are you a nurse?" Adrien gasped and tried to focus on her voice, at least what little words he could catch from it.
"I wanted to be a part of the war effort. Plus, how else would I have met such a keen man like you." Marinette giggled and he smiled for once. It was nice to hear her voice among the ringing around him. Even though it was garbled, it was still beautiful. "Are you sure you're not some big shot outside the war?"
Adrien chuckled and moaned at the pain. He coughed for a moment. "Well, some might argue that. My father- pretty well known."
"What's his name? Can you remember that for me?" Marinette pulled up to the hospital that had been made from an abandoned school.
"Gabriel. Agreste." Adrien weakly spoke and the name resonated within Marinette's mind.
She knew that name and it shocked her that she had his son in her ambulance. "Wait. You're the son of the best doctor in all of France?"
"Yes." Adrien coughed and she parked the ambulance out front, while a team of nurses and staff ran over to open the back door and pull him out.
Marinette was at a loss for words as the hospital staff started to carry him away. "WAIT, WAIT!" Adrien grabbed her wrist and the medical staff stopped. He peered up into her bluebell eyes. "Stay. Stay with me. I don't trust these people."
She peered up at the building with a frown and looked back down at him with a smile. "Your father is stationed at this hospital. You'll be fine."
Adrien shook his head and winced as he got dizzy from the movement. "I won't be. I only trust you."
"Don't move, Chaton." Marinette sighed and tried to think. She wasn't supposed to stay with the soldiers once they were transported, but something about him drew her in. She tried to think of a solution, but she came up empty.
"We have to get him to treatment. Make up your mind." The staff looked at Marinette.
"I- I'm sorry. My duty is on the front lines." Marinette let his hand slip from her wrist and he slowly lost hope, as her warmth left him.
"I spent days in the hospital in the care of other nurses and my father. Days thinking about Marinette." Adrien sighed and watched Marinette put the cake pans into her oven.
"Did you ever see her again?" Marinette set her oven mitts down onto the counter.
"Well… I wasn't easy to deal with." Adrien remembered the nurses finding him temperamental and stubborn. The only nurse he wanted was Marinette and so he refused half the treatment. His father was quickly becoming frustrated and Adrien's wound had begun to fester due to him not letting them change the bandages.
Gabriel finally caved and communicated with the front lines. "I understand you have a nurse there by the name of Marinette?" He pinched his nose and let his glasses fall down his face. "Yes, good good. If I send you a replacement… can you please send her my way? We need her expertise in my hospital. I hear she's quite a spectacular nurse. Yes, good. Alright, I'll send them right over when she arrives." He hung up the radio and sighed.
It didn't take too long for Marinette to arrive back at the hospital and another nurse took the ambulance from her. Marinette could tell the woman was excited to start work on the front lines, while Marinette was relieved to be away from it. She walked in and they passed her a clean uniform. She eagerly cleaned up and changed into it.
"You're to be the exclusive nurse of our patient Adrien Agreste. He's a bit temperamental and stubborn, but Dr. Agreste seems to think that you can handle his son." The other nurse rolled her eyes and Marinette's heart caught fire at the name. She had been pulled from the line of fire to take care of the very soldier she had not been able to keep her mind from. "You must be good at what you do if he pulled you from the front lines."
Marinette smiled and bit her bottom lip behind her white mask. "You could say that." Her heart pounded louder in her ears as the other nurse lead her down the row of white beds.
Men laid in each one with varying degrees of wounds from shell shock to missing limbs. She searched each bed for a man with blonde hair and green eyes. She didn't need the nurse to tell her who he was. She caught sight of him in an instant and tried to contain herself.
"Here's your patient and here's his chart. It should tell you his diagnoses and treatments." The nurse passed her the chart and Marinette looked it over.
"Got it." She nodded, but his warm smile distracted her from what she was supposed to do.
"My father called you, did he?" Adrien smirked for her and his voice came out gravely.
"Yes. Well, someone did." Marinette smiled and set his chart at the foot of his bed. "Would you like some water?"
"Yes, please." Adrien gave her a charming smile.
She helped sit him up and brought the water to his lips. "So, want to tell me more about yourself?"
Adrien chuckled at her and she went to work undoing his bandage that was over his wound. Marinette was used to seeing infected wounds and his was no different. She cried for him internally. "Why didn't you let someone change this? You know you're in deeper water now?" She scolded him and he grimaced as she cleaned it out.
"Well, I- I was kept inside my house since I was a child. My father was too afraid to have me wandering around in a dark world such as this one. My mother- would sneak me out a lot until I was old enough to walk. Then I was kept inside. I'm sure after this… that'll only get worse." Adrien winced as she put a new dressing onto the bullet wound. "And to answer your other question… I don't trust doctors or nurses easily. Medicine hasn't really been too amazing the last few years. Don't you agree?" He waited for her response, but instead her lips parted to argue.
She gave up with a sigh. "Alright, big shot. You win this time. Now, get some rest. I'll see you in a bit to take you outside for some fresh air. It's a beautiful day." She went to walk away to rinse out what she had used to clean his wound when his hand shot out to grab her white uniform.
Marinette turned around with a warm smile. "Can you sit beside me, please?" Adrien looked up at her with pleading, shadowed, eyes.
She couldn't find the heart to walk away from him. Not when he looked so helpless and broken. "Alright. I'll sit with you, Chat Noir. But you need to promise me you'll sleep. Says here… it's been a few days since you've slept." She had picked up his chart and looked it over again. The words physical shell shock and bullet wound stood out to her.
"Night terrors, sounds, gunfire, explosions… can't sleep, Ladybug." Adrien smirked at her and she giggled at the nickname.
"Ladybug?" Marinette raised an eyebrow at him and blushed. She hadn't expected him to give her a nickname. She was usually given a million different female names from soldiers that were dying, but being named after a little red bug seemed silly.
"Ladybugs are good luck and you're my good luck charm." Adrien sighed and slowly closed his eyes.
"Alright, hot shot. Get some rest. I won't leave your side." Marinette ran her fingers through his hair and began to hum a soft melody. One that he recognized. One his mother would hum before he would fall asleep as a boy. He slowly drifted off to sleep, hearing her soft song instead of artillery fire.
"What happened to her?" Marinette pulled the pans out to cool for ten minutes. "Did you get out?"
"Well, I got out and eventually had asked her to go steady with me. It took me a bit to gather the courage to ask her to marry me. We were sitting in my father's yard and I pulled daisies from the ground and began to weave her a daisy chain. I placed it on her head and-" He got lost in her bluebell eyes and was surrounded by lush grass.
"I'm gonna marry you one day." Adrien smiled and picked at the wet, rich, grass. Marinette watched him with surprised eyes.
"Marry me?" Marinette squeaked at his words in shock.
"I'm gonna marry you and you're going to say yes." Adrien smirked at her and took in how the sunlight caught her eyes and made them sparkle.
"And what if I said no?" Marinette knew she wouldn't, but she couldn't help but pick on him.
"Then I guess I'll just have to keep asking you, bugaboo." Adrien smirked at her and she giggled, as he began to tickle her sides.
She fell over and he leaned over her, moving her hair out of her face. "You're more beautiful than the sky and the moon combined. I'd love to marry a girl like you, Marinette. Will you please do me the honor of being my wife?"
Marinette worried her bottom lip and nodded. "Yes, yes I'd love to marry you."
Adrien exclaimed with excitement and she giggled as he trailed kisses along her cheeks and kissed her soft lips with his own.
"We got married that June. She was beautiful, but in a month or so she came down with influenza. It was running rampant and the fever took her before I had a chance to get her medical help. I failed her. I soon died a few months later from the same illness in a hospital bed under the care of another nurse and my father." Adrien sniffed and she watched his face change into one of a broken man.
Marinette began to piece things together. The nurses name, the fact that her parents were bakers too, the fact that this man seemed so familiar. "If- if I was reincarnated? I know that exists and the more I think about your nurse… the more I realize that I might have-well- been her? Was I her?" Her eyes went wide and she looked at him with tears in the corners of them. "Was I your Ladybug?"
Adrien worried his bottom lip and nodded in silence. She covered her mouth and gasped. "So- wait… if I was reincarnated… why weren't you?" The question lingered in the air and suddenly Adrien felt like he had been slammed in the chest by something bigger than a bullet.
He gasped and fell to the ground on his back and Marinette watched his clothing change to a white deep v-neck tee and tight fitted blue jeans. Blood ran from his head and his expression was painful.
"ADRIEN!" Marinette fell to her knees beside him and watched him phase away. "ADRIEN?" Tears fell from her eyes and she was at a loss for what to do. She had had dreams of how spirits had passed away, but never while she was awake. "WHAT DO I DO?" She held her knees to her chest and cried. She needed to find out what had happened. She had a name… She just needed to search it. She ran to her computer to look him up and speed dialed Alya to come over. If anyone was good at digging up information it was her best friend.
When she searched Adrien Agreste a slew of articles popped up, but only one stood out to her.
'Son of Wealthy Fashion Designer, Gabriel Agreste, Left in a Coma After Being Struck by a Truck'
"Hey, girl! What's up?" Alya's voice rang out in her ear and Marinette nearly dropped the phone.
"I think- I think Adrien isn't just from 1918." Marinette could barely get the words out, as she scrolled down the article to see a photo of the spirit that had been following her around. Except for one difference… he was wearing a plain white deep v-neck tee and fitted jeans. "Alya, I think Adrien may have been reincarnated and is in a coma at a nearby hospital."
"WHAT?" Alya yelled out and went to say something else. She had so many questions, but Marinette interrupted her.
"I need you to come over. NOW." Marinette hung up her phone and it fell from her hand. She was in shock and didn't know if she was going to snap out of it. She couldn't keep her gaze off of his piercing emerald eyes, the flecks of gold sparking in the flash, and his perfectly smooth glowing skin. His golden hair was gelled to the side and her heart skipped in her chest. "Oh God." She brought her hands to her mouth and brought her knees to her chest, before she clutched his ring in her hands.