Chapter Ten: All Aboard
Plagg and Adrien took some time to comfort Tikki, once she was able to calm down, she and Plagg fell asleep on Adriens bundled shirt. Though Tikki still refused to let go of the earrings, holding them with one arm while holding Plaggs hand with the other, she seemed much more at ease now. Adrien was sure that finding a familiar face did a lot of good for her. Now, if he could only do the same. He had decided to get some rest. His emotions were walking a razors edge ever since this started. He could tell how unhinged he was becoming, but he had to try and keep it together. After all, Marinette was all alone. If he couldn't handle this, how could he expect to face her when they finally met once again?
However, knowing you need sleep and actually being able to get it, are two very different things. His mind was troubled and every time he closed his eyes, he saw Marinette's parents lying dead on the floor. It was selfish, but he wished Tikki had kept that memory to herself. After several hours of tossing and turning, he was gently tapped by the familiar feeling of his partner's tiny hands.
"I'm up," sighed Adrien.
"Maria's gone," Plagg announced, Tikki hovering just inches behind him, rubbing her eyes as they were a bit swollen from crying most of the night.
"She left last night?" Tikki asked hazily.
"Did anyone see her leave?" Adrien asked as he got to his feet and ran his hand through his hair. A restless sleep didn't help any.
Plagg shook his head, "but I checked and nothing is missing. Maybe she went out for some air."
"Well we don't have time to sit around and wait for her. We need to get going. If we stay in one place for too long that crazy sister of hers might find us."
Grabbing his duffle bag, Adrien began packing the water and snacks up with everything else.
"We're going to leave without her? I thought we needed more information," Plagg said as he hovered over to Adrien.
"She's somehow been able to find us wherever we are, I'm sure she'll catch up to us along the way. If not, we can make our own way to Marinette."
"Are you sure about this?" Tikki asked in concern. "After all that's happened…we should take all the help we can get…"
"Haven't you noticed that she never mentions her sister by name? I know she says there are things she can't tell us because of some spell, but we're just supposed to take her word for it?" Adrien began irately, unable to hide the frustration in his voice.
"I've already told her that I don't trust her. Who would? She's able to find me wherever I am, but she can't find Marinette?! How am I supposed to believe that? Besides—"
"Adrien!" Plagg interrupted, hovering himself in front of his partners face to get his attention. "I know this is hard for you and it's just going to get a lot harder. This is why we can't just dismiss someone that is willing to help us."
Adrien looked as though he wanted to argue for a moment, but instead, he took in a deep breath and nodded his head, "You're right. Sorry…"
Tikki hovered over to Adriens side as well and with a small smile, she extended her hands to offer the earrings to Adrien.
"Marinette needs us all to stick together. She trusts you as both Adrien and Chat Noir and so do I."
His nose and eyes began to burn lightly, but Adrien gulped down the tears that threatened to form. After almost two nights with no sleep, his emotions were hanging by a thread. His friends were right. He had to keep it together for Marinette. He took the earrings in his hand.
"I promise…I won't let her down."
Just as Tikki grabbed a small tissue to help wipe Adriens eyes, Maria entered the room, holding a small bag filled with bottles of water.
"Is everything okay? I was just—what is that?"
Maria turned her head and pointed at once to the pair of yellow eyes that peered down at them all from a boarded up window near the rafters.
Adrien flinched and everyone quickly turned to face Maria. He had been awake all night long and didn't hear a thing. Who even knew that they were here?
"What is it?"
"Plagg! Tikki!" Maria ordered urgently.
Without hesitation, Plagg and Tikki flew quickly toward the window and the leering pair of eyes dashed away. Before Adrien could say anything, Maria had grabbed his hand and pulled him with her outside, thinking they could cut the stranger off while the Kwami's chased after it in the air. They had made it outside just in time to see a black cat pounce on Adriens face. It would have knocked him over in surprise if it weren't for Maria holding his hand to keep him up.
"Adrien!" Plagg and Tikki shouted together as they rushed over to him. The Cat seemed to vanish completely, but it left something at Adrien's feet. As the young model rubbed his nose, he looked down at the cat's gift. An envelope was left in the dirt, with only Ladybugs symbol as a marker.
Maria knelt down and ripped open the envelope, pulling out two Polaroid's.
Her eyes widened a bit and as the others closed in, Adrien gasped and yanked the pictures from her hands. It was Marinette. At least, he was almost certain.
The picture was of a young girl wearing a black baseball cap, her hair was cut to her chin and she was wearing an oversized red sweater. The picture was only able to catch her from the side, but the one thing that truly stood out was her eyes. There was no mistaking those bright blue hues.
"Wh-where is this?! Who took these?!" Adrien demanded, his voice shaking a bit. It was the first sighting of Marinette since they separated in that alleyway, but clearly someone knew where she was and someone was following her. So why couldn't he find her?
"Adrien…calm down," Maria started evenly, "there is something in this second photo." She informed, holding out the other photograph for all to see. It seemed like a copy of the first, but a bit more focused on a man that was standing next to Marinette, holding a large bag. His back was to the camera and Marinette seemed to be holding onto the sleeve of his jacket. He couldn't see the man's face at all. Just above their heads, was a schedule of arrivals and departures. They appeared to be at a train station and what caught the eye was the sign that indicated a departure from Paris to St. Petersburg.
"Didn't you say that there was some seal in Russia? Something that only Ladybug could use?" Adrien asked again as he searched his memory of their first meeting.
Maria's face turned a little pale as she stared down at the picture. Something that Adrien couldn't help but notice.
"…Yes, but…we shouldn't just go running off so quickly. After all—"
"—Your sister might be working with someone and that man is taking Marinette somewhere." Adrien stated seriously.
"Marinette is okay…" Tikki sighed in relief. A small smile formed across the Kwamis face and she took a few deep breaths. It lifted a large weight off of her tiny shoulders. Ever since finding the earrings, Tikki had feared the worst.
"She is not okay," Adrien began, "she's being taken out of Paris. It can't be a coincidence that Maria already mentioned Russia. If Marinette has already left for St. Petersburg, we are too far behind."
"What if she isn't though?" Maria asked. "This could be my sisters way of getting us out of Paris on a wild goose chase."
"Can we take that chance and simply stay here?" Tikki asked in concern. "I…have been searching for Marinette since she vanished…and I've come up with nothing. Perhaps someone is helping that terrible woman and is taking her away…"
"Then…" Maria began, "…we should hurry and get to the train station…" she agreed reluctantly. A fact that Adrien couldn't ignore.
Glancing at Maria for a moment or two, he strode back into the abandoned home and shoved the pictures into his duffle bag along with a few bottles of water. The three that followed him inside were afraid to say anything. Adrien had been short with everyone since this all began and it didn't help that he was running on maybe a couple hours of sleep.
"Adrien…" Maria started cautiously, "…this is good news. At least we know where she may be going…right?"
How is this good news?! Thought Adrien. Someone took those photos. Someone knew exactly where he was to send them to him. Someone was watching all this and toying with them, yet he knew nothing at all. This feeling of helplessness was maddening.
It took a little while, but eventually they made it to the train station, Adrien and Maria trying to stay out of sight, crouched down by a luggage trolley. Even if they had the money for tickets, they would need to present passports and Adrien couldn't afford to reveal himself.
"Now…if you can transform and sneak onto the train, I'll meet you in the luggage car. Maybe you can find a change of clothes there as well." Maria stated quietly as she stood up.
"Wait, I still don't understand how you plan to sneak onto the train yourself," Adrien insisted as he reached up and grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"Don't worry about me, young man, I am not a famous model that went missing. No one is looking for me. Just get yourself onto the train."
Adrien was skeptical, but he released Maria's wrist and watched quietly as the woman walked off into the crowd with a calm demeanor, carrying the duffle bag over her shoulder. He still couldn't trust that woman. Something about her was just off and he was just waiting for the moment when she decided to turn on them.
After Maria was out of sight, Plagg and Tikki peeked over the luggage towards the train that was waiting to leave.
"Taking a plane would have been faster…" Plagg muttered.
"Yes, but it would be a lot harder to sneak onto a plane." Tikki said simply. "Marinette is smart. It's why she chose the Train."
"Well depending on when she actually left, we will be 4 days behind her. Do you honestly think Adrien will remain sane stuck on a train for 4 days?" Plagg asked with a sigh.
"I can hear you both" Adrien interrupted with a small clearing of his throat. "Don't worry. I can handle myself. This is our first actual lead on Marinette…and while that mad woman is looking for Ladybug in Paris, we'll be a step ahead of her."
Tikkis eyes brightened and she nodded her head in agreement.
"Yes! Let's go and get Marinette."
"Plagg, transform me," Adrien whispered, hoping to be as quiet as possible. Once he had completed the transformation into Chat Noir, Tikki sat herself on Adriens shoulder as he began to sneak off into the crowded train station. It was a little difficult not to be seen with so many people and he was admittedly distracted by trying to find Maria near the train they should be getting on. Even as Chat Noir, he couldn't seem to spot her. Had she already gotten onto the train? That was rather fast. Though it was good timing. The trains whistle went off and the announcer announced over the PA system that it would be departing in 5min.
With Tikkis help to keep him focused, Chat was able to successfully duck a few officers and get onto the back of a baggage car. He crawled under the train though he felt bad by doing so, Adrien used his cataclysm in order to rust out a hole in the bottom of the baggage car, avoiding several travel bags as they fell out before he slipped in and did his best to rearrange the luggage so it wouldn't fall through the hole as the train left the station. It was also helpful in stacking them up to hide himself a bit.
In using his cataclysm, the transformation began to wear off and Adrien returned to normal and Plagg sighed heavily.
"Do you think one of these bags has some cheese," asked Plagg tiredly.
"You are not stealing anything." Tikki replied adamantly.
"You should go ahead and check the bags, but we may be able to get some cheese in the dining car." Maria said as she stepped into the baggage car, still holding the duffle bag over her shoulders.
"Adrien, you should also go through some of the bags to see if there are any clothes that might fit you. You're going to need a disguise."
Tikki looked a little troubled over the idea of going through peoples things, but Adrien only nodded. They didn't exactly have any money and very few options on where to get food and clothes.
As he began to search through the bags, he glanced at Maria who stood watch at the door while the train began to move.
"You seem pretty comfortable with all this," he commented while rummaging through some clothes.
"…I have a little experience in running and hiding, though I had a lot more help last time," admitted Maria.
"So what are we gonna do, stay in the baggage car for four days?"
"No. …I found a young mother and her son who boarded the train. …Once their tickets were scanned, I stole their tickets and got them off the train. We will be taking their room."
Tikki looked a bit shocked over the admission of theft, but Plagg simply nodded his head in approval. He seemed to think it was a clever option. Tikki turned to Adrien in hopes that he would also disapprove of this and although he did appear conflicted he didn't argue with Maria.
"Okay. Sounds good," Adrien replied finally as he pulled a change of clothes close enough to his size out of a bag.
"You guys!" Tikki tried to protest.
"Someone is after Marinette and murdering her friends and family. We have to do anything we can to get to her safely. A little theft will have to be overlooked." Adrien said simply as he made his way to Maria and stuffed the clothes into the duffle bag.
Tikki still wanted to argue, but she didn't have a lot of room to debate. It was true enough that their options were limited and the situation quite dire.
"Come on. We'll ask someone where our room is and maybe you can get some rest." Maria insisted before opening the door, revealing a train worker that had been knocked out onto the floor just inches from the door.
"He wasn't supposed to let anyone into the luggage car. …so I had to make sure he wouldn't tell anyone we were in here," Maria admitted with a stoic expression before anyone could become alarmed.
Adrien was quiet as he followed Maria out of the luggage car. He wasn't about to start fighting with her and cause a scene right now, but he was growing ever more suspicious of her. For now though, she was useful to have around and didn't seem to have a problem doing a few shady things to get what she needed. For the time being, even if he didn't trust her, he would use her, but keep an eye on her. As long as he made it to Marinette to ensure that she was safe, he would do what he had to.
A/N: Sorry this story has been on Hiatus for so long. My health has been in decline and looking at computer screens has been a huge strain on my head. It's gotten a little better now though. Anyhow, here's a new chapter and I'm working on the next one right away. Thanks for reading!