#10. Video games

It wasn't really a surprise that Ladybug turned out to be good at video games. After all she was Marinette from future, or a Marinette at least. Marinette's father was much older than them and still enjoyed a match or three, even if Marinette could already beat him at UMSIII.

She couldn't beat Ladybug. Even at 1am and with a home field advantage. That girl had more tricks up her tight sleeves than Marinette could have guessed. She played fair, but mercilessly used every advantage she had. She didn't let Marinette win, yet she let her earn her win. Because with an opponent like Ladybug Marinette was learning with a speed of light. She loved every second of it. She always loved a challenge.

She almost forgot why they were awake an hour past midnight and frantically smashing the buttons in an attempt to destroy the other player.

Marinette glimpsed at Ladybug. The heroine stuck out her tongue and narrowed her eyes, as her mecha danced over the arena kicking and punching. Marinette got the impression there was more to the violent fighting style, than pure competitiveness.

'Can we talk about it?' she asked, when they finished another round.

'There's nothing to talk about,' Ladybug shrugged. 'I had a nightmare, is all.'

'A nightmare about Adrien,' Marinette never gave up easily. 'What's so scary about Adrien? He's the kindest, sweetest and most gentle person I know.'

'No, he's not.'

Marinette frowned. 'Maybe you're from another dimension then.'

Ladybug finally turned to her. 'Marinette, you are the kindest, sweetest and most gentle person I know. Adrien is…' she rubbed the bridge of her nose. 'He's friends with Chloé.'

'So? He isn't Chloé.'

'No, but he also puts up with her nasty behavior.'

'That's not true. The party-'

'The party she threw after she got everyone in school but her punished for a prank she had pulled? After which he commented with a bright smile that "she will never change"?'

'Yes, but-'

'How many times did he take your, or anyone else's side against Chloé?'

'I can't expect that. She's his childhood friend!'

'You're his friend too!' Ladybug barked out.

'What are you getting at here exactly?' Marinette huffed. 'You said earlier you don't trust Adrien. I'd never think like that about him.'

'And yet you haven't offered him a miraculous, have you?' the other girl countered. 'You're scared to share your feelings with him too.'

'That's not fair.'

'I'm… I'm sorry,' Ladybug shook her head.

'Why are you telling me this now?'

'You asked.'

'No. I mean, when you came through the mirror you saw Adrien's posters, you saw his pictures and you didn't say anything,' Marinette pointed out.

'I didn't remember much,' Ladybug replied sourly. 'And it was different with just the posters. That was before I saw him in person.'

'Do you… know something I don't know?' Marinette dreaded the thought, but there were times she doubted Adrien's good intentions.

'It's not a thing I know,' the heroine set her jaw. 'It's a thing I feel.'

'You mean like a gut feeling?'

'Yeah. Intuition, a hunch, whatever.'

'And it's telling you what exactly?'

'It's not telling me anything,' Ladybug rolled her eyes. 'It's difficult to explain.'

'Try me.'

The older girl sent her a searching look. 'Fine. Today when I saw you with him,' she said slowly, 'my heart clenched and I felt cold sweat under my suit. Like panic,' she muttered. 'Very much like panic.'

'Like… embarrassment panic?' Marinette supplied. Panic and embarrassment were things she often felt around Adrien. It wasn't really a reason to worry or bad-mouth the boy.

Ladybug shook her head. 'Definitely Hawkmoth related panic. I have no idea why. That nightmare - I don't remember it exactly. But it felt like Adrien had a connection to Hawkmoth.'

'No,' Marinette gasped. 'That's impossible.'

'You've already had your suspicions a while back, haven't you? Think about it though. Do you ever see him when there's an akuma battle?' Ladybug pointed out. 'No. He conveniently disappears.'

'No. That can't be right,' the younger girl tried to remember if this really was the case. 'I saved him from several villains. Gorizilla, Riposte, Simon Says, to name a few. And he was turned to a statue and a zombie,' she counted. 'Chameleon must have gotten him too.'

'So when you think of it,' Ladybug sent her a sad smile, 'he ends up very close to akuma really, really often. If I was Hawkmoth I'd be clever enough to make sure I have a solid alibi.'

Marinette scowled. 'If that's your argument, half of my school falls into that category.'

'Just saying,' the heroine raised her hands. 'Look, you don't have to believe me. Maybe I'm wrong and this was just a nightmare. Or I'm from another universe where things are different.'

'But?'

'But Adrien is not perfect. No one is. And the sooner you understand that, the safer you'll be.'

'I don't get it,' Marinette scrunched her nose.

'What I'm trying to say is - you have to trust what your gut feeling is telling you, okay? You don't have to trust me, or Tikki, or Adrien. You're the captain here. Your life is at stake.'

The younger girl nodded in silence.

'So you stick to your gut feeling, and I'm gonna stick to mine,' Ladybug concluded. 'And I'll keep an eye on the sunshine child just in case.'

Author's Note: Maybe it is obvious, maybe not yet, but one of my goals in this story is for Marinette to hear some truths about her life, no matter how difficult some of those truths might be. And it is Ladybug who delivers them.

So please don't take this chapter as "Adrien trashing" - that is not my purpose here. But there are some things about Adrien's behavior that Marinette should acknowledge. It's in his character and that's perfectly okay - characters should have flaws they can overcome. One of Adrien's flaws is avoiding confrontation. I'm not saying it's always bad. But sometimes it is - for Marinette.

Anyway, please tell me what you think. Every review, follow and fav is welcome!
I was struggling with the next part of this story - actually this is the last chapter I have written. If you think I should continue, let me know.

Next chapter should be "Guardian" and with some luck I'll try to write it tomorrow.