In which Butterfly gives a speech

Marinette slipped forward through the crowd, her cerulean gaze flicking from Hawkmoth's thin back, which was slowly climbing the stairs on the podium, to the sniper rifles skimming the thick crowd. She watched as Gabriel Agreste turned to face the cheering Parisians, a simple open smile on his thin lips. It looked smug to her. Triumphant. It made her blood boil.

Her body was tense and a sickening thought crossed her mind: would she feel any pain if a sniper head-shot her? She could only pray it was quick.

Here one minute, the next - gone.

It was strange. Just like with Bourgeois, Adrien's gun was steady in her hand and it was as if she was an outside spectator watching over her shoulder. Marinette watched as she brushed past several smiling faces, her finger touching the trigger. The cops guarding the podium skimmed over her - once, twice. For now, at least in this moment, she was just another face in the crowd.

Tight blue eyes narrowing, her vision tunneled to Agreste's face. He was nodding at the throng below his stage, his thin hand up in a simple wave. With a white jacket, brilliant crimson pants, and a thick-striped red and white cravat, he was painted as a target.

All the more easy then.

Suddenly, Gabriel reached back to rub the back of his neck with a hand and the gesture made her freeze on spot. Even stiff, distant, and slick-backed, she instantly saw Adrien in him.

His father…

She was going to kill his father.

Her concentration broke and a keen of cold sweat dripped down her forehead. She didn't want to, but her gaze flicked off of the Mayor to study the crowd, suddenly wishing a tall blond was there beside her. There was a strange tick of something wrong twisting inside her.

She shouldn't be here.

This was wrong.

She should back away.

No! She fought the feeling and forced herself to slip past another person in the crowd. The wrongness simmered on the edges of her fear, like the breathless smoke of a starting fire. Marinette had risked everything for this moment. She couldn't let it pass her by.

One bullet. That was all she needed.

And yet, as Marinette inched closer to the stage and a cop to the left squinted at her face, as she ducked behind a larger man and waited for the uniformed officer to look away, she couldn't stifle the feeling. He was beginning his speech now - his words blurring in her mind nonsensically. His voice was softer, deeper than Adrien's, but held that same friendly inflection. The lilt at the end of each sentence. On Adrien lips, it sounded playful.

On Hawkmoth's - it sounded deceitful.

Twisting out from behind the larger man, she had progressed only half a meter more before a hard metal something poked into the middle of her spine. A clammy hand grabbed her right forearm and kept her from lifting her pistol. Marinette gasped and turned her head.

An old man, his grey head tipped as if greeting her like a friend, held her tight, his lips pulling into a delightful grin. Yanking her closer, the barrel of his handgun pressed in hard and she winced in the pain. Her horror had frozen her. Her heart hammering sickly in her chest. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't think.

They'd caught her.

The sounds of a cheering crowd washed out of her mind. She closed her eyes, bitterness crossing with regret. The seconds were ticking, but they felt drawn out like minutes.

Was this really how it felt when you faced death?

Everything was slow, waiting.

Paused in this one moment of last breaths.

Goodbye…

A tight scream erupted from behind her and she heard the gun clatter to the ground. Jumping in surprise, she felt the man's tight fingers break away. Swinging the gun around on unsteady feet, her blue eyes widened in astonishment as a familiar black leather-cladded back stood in front of her. Blond hair tossing in the breeze with shiny pointed cat ears. Clawed fingers balled up and smashed into the side of the assassin's face. He flew backwards into the crowd, his body colliding with three people. The cat was quick - even more so than last night. Like a disappearing shadow, he suddenly appeared in front of the fallen assassin, his boot slamming on the man's nose.

Marinette almost dropped her gun as tears of violent relief blurred her vision and raced down her face. The sharp shoulder blades, the flicking black belt, the lean muscles on his arms and legs. He turned his head, his mask glowing his green eyes. If he was still hurt, she couldn't tell, his expression a mixture of sharp concentration and concern.

"Are you hurt?" Adrien's tenor voice sang into her. Stepping forward as more screams erupted around them, his hand slid up to the back of her neck, claws curling into her messy hair. His handsome face leaning close, she could see her reflection in his eyes. Her forehead pressed into his. Noses almost touching.

"Y-you came…"

"Did they get you, Marinette? Are you shot?"

She shook her head, a sob escaping her lips.

He gave a hard sigh of relief.

"We have to go. Now."

With the calm swiftness she was so acquainted with, he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd away from the stage. The square was in a panic, the sound of gunfire bursting all around her. Marinette began to notice men and women in black uniforms storming the crowd, fighting through the uproar. Adrien leaped over a bleeding corpse and she matched him, perfectly in sync.

"What's happening? Who are all these people?" she yelled.

"I'll explain later!"

"There she is!" A woman's shriek rang out from behind their backs and Marinette's stomach gave a sickening twist.

She barely registered as Adrien immediately pulled her behind his back.

"No!" She cried as he let go of her hand and spread his arms to shelter her. Marinette gave a short scream as several guns from civilians and cops alike pointed right at him.

Before anyone could react, four of the assassins fell forward, small holes drilling into their bodies. As blood instantly squirted out of the last five, Marinette and Adrien turned their heads in unison to where the slugs had come from.

"Rena!" Adrien gasped out.

The ombre-haired woman knelt low on top of an older modeled jeep that was parked haphazardly twelve meters away. Thick strips of dark orange, like a fox print, draped her tight suit from her shoulders to meet at her waist. Heavy ammo clips buckled at her hip, they trailed behind her like a tail - much like Adrien's belt. A long ear twitched on her head - a sound amplifier made to look like fox ears - and Alya shifted her weight to spray a round from the huge gun in her hands, taking down a good number of cops near the stage. With a blood-thirsty glint behind her orange mask, she gave a short nod in their direction, her huntress gaze hungrily drinking in the destruction.

"Let's go!" Adrien grabbed her hand again.

"Stop right there!" A tight voice called to Marinette's right. A young man, his eyes excited, was pulling a trigger. Before she or Adrien could react, a shimmering iridescent green raced between them and the new assailant. The bullet thundered, but bounced on the almost invisible green shield, instantly reflecting the slug right back into the assassin's chest. As the man went down, a tall crouching figure blurred into view, becoming visible only for a heartbeat before slipping off into the sea of people like a green vapor.

Adrien was frozen for a moment. "Carapace…"

"Come on!" Marinette yanked on him this time, pulling them out of the panicking crowd. There were black vans parked all over Place du Carrousel and they raced together behind one of them. Adrien immediately leaned heavily against the side of the vehicle, gasping for breath. Slugs slammed into the truck after them.

More shouts and screams. This was mass chaos.

Letting go of her hand, Adrien coughed loudly, his face unusually pale behind his mask. His suit was different - slicker and shinier. Thicker on his chest, but more forgiving at his thin waistline. Watching his green eyes close tightly, she felt herself shaking - her mind trying to catch up with what just happened in the last minute and a half.

"Why did you…" the words couldn't come out, but the tears did. She wiped them from her eyes with trembling fingers.

Rolling his head towards her still panting, he said, "The government, Marinette. Nino tipped them off. Apparently, he got that assassin's phone and got all the information from it. I didn't really have time to get the particulars from Queen Bee, but that's not important. He immediately called her and the code breakers are digging into Hawkmoth's files as we speak. The akuma, the assassinations, the races - everything. Even a list of new Master names being added to the pile. Secret bank accounts, scandals. Everything that's been hushed up or paid off. Bee has a hacker here that's even tracked into the mobile frequency they are using right now. France is shutting down this game. And it's all because of you."

A white-hot rage irrationally burned inside her belly and coursed through her veins. She shot him a glare and he blinked in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"You idiot!" she hollered, pushing against his chest. His clawed fingers reached up to grab her arms. "Why did you come? You can barely stand! Why?" She wanted to punch him. To kick him. To kiss him so hard that she had to bite hard on the inside of her cheek to stop herself. "You are so stupid! So reckless!"

His green eyes tightened in anger. He pushed off the truck and matched her glare with one of his own. " Me, reckless? What about you? You left me, Marinette! What was I supposed to do? Let you die? Let you run off and get yourself killed? I just saved you out there and you're angry at me?"

"I have every reason to be angry! You stood in front of those guns!"

His face leaned close to hers and she raised her chin to aggressively meet his anger. "I could say the same to you! You have no idea what you're doing! Whatever happened to 'taking care of this together'?!"

"I knew exactly what I was-"

"No, you didn't! You were walking right into Hawkmoth's trap!"

"I realized he was waiting for me. I saw the snipers! I saw the cops!"

Adrien lifted his hands as if to grab her shoulders, but ran both through his blond hair instead. The locks tossed wildly around his new cat ears. "Then why the hell would you go? It's suicide!"

"One bullet, Adrien! That's what Fu said! It would take just one bullet to stop this entire-"

"Sacrificing yourself is what Fu would have wanted? To see you throw your life away like this? Would he be proud to see you die!?"

" He was willing to-"

"We are talking about you, Marinette! Not him! This is your life! Fu is dead! But you are still alive!"

"I know he's dead! He died for the cause and-"

"So that makes dying for it your destiny as well? Just because he got killed suddenly you are doomed to the same fate?"

"This was never about fate. This was about doing what is necessary!"

"What was all this about being your hero, then? Was that fate all bullshit, too? It seems like it since it was so easy to just leave me behind!"

The rebutting words escaped her at the look of anguish on his handsome face. She watched as his gaze danced from her eyes to her lips heatedly. That tightly coiled feeling rushed inside with her anger and adrenaline, washing her with temptation and fire.

"You left me, Marinette," he hissed - and guilt as sharp as a knife carved in her stomach. His shoulders trembled. "You disappeared, took y-your picture from me. You left me in that apartment only to wake up and realize you were gone. That I'd never see you ever again. You were going to die. I ca-can't handle that, Marinette. Not again."

"I said goodbye to you." She felt her cheeks bloom with a bright blush and her gaze dashed to his lips. "What was I supposed to do? You were in danger of bleeding out all night and could barely move on your own!"

"I'm fine!"

"Oh, yeah, sure! You are at top peak condition right now, aren't you!?" She hollered and pushed hard on his chest. His back hit against the large vehicle behind him and he groaned.

"I left you in the apartment so you'd live, Adrien!"

"How could I live with myself if you died on me?!"

Marinette choked and the anger fled from his face. A faint blush popped underneath the mask, but he kept her eyes in his. She felt most of her fight fall short as her heart began to race unnaturally hard - pulsing through her body like wildfire. They both were panting, staring at each other, studying every inch and expression.

"So," she willed the words out, "what are you saying, then? Would I just be another guilty weight on your conscience like those you lost in your squad? Would I be a sad regret to reflect on every now and then? Or would you be losing something more than that?"

He was quiet, looking almost like a cornered cat. His eyes darted over her entire body nervously.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about," he finally answered hesitantly.

Marinette groaned and wanted to shake him in frustration. "I guess I'll have to ask it straight out for you to get it! Do I mean more to you?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. His hot gaze once again danced over her lips.

"Well, what is it?" she demanded.

He audibly swallowed and straightened from the vehicle. Taking a step closer, she saw a boldness envelope behind his eyes. An anticipated nervousness squirmed inside her.

Suddenly, his cat ear flicked to the left.

"Chat Noir, I thought I saw you scamper over here."

A muted yellow and black striped uniform was tight across her shoulders and chest. The newcomer walked like royalty - with her back straight, her chin high, and her blonde ponytail tossed. A black mask covered her beautiful, heart-shaped face just like Adrien's, except hers showcased her eyes in a yellow hue instead of green. Crossing her arms as she approached, Marinette noticed her ebony gloves had wicked spikes on the knuckle of each finger. Her sharp gaze flicked between the two of them and Marinette realized she probably heard the entire fight.

"This is Ladybug?" the woman asked shortly.

"Yeah," Adrien grunted, "Marinette, this is Queen Bee. She's the Superior of Special Divisions. Bee, this is the woman I was telling you about on the way up here."

"Reckless thing you did out there," Bee blinked sternly at her before her pale lips curled into a tight smile. "You're impressive though. I've read the reports. It's nice to meet you at last, Ladybug."

"At last?" Marinette asked - practically shell-shocked at the praise.

"From what I've read, Hawkmoth is a nasty piece of work - no offense, Chat," she added. He just shrugged darkly and looked at the ground. "If I experienced what you've endured these past three years… The horror of it…" To Marinette's complete and utter surprise, the stranger suddenly closed the gap between them and wrapped her arms around her shoulders in a tight embrace.

Bee's body was trembling.

"You killed my father," she whispered in Marinette's left ear - and a shiver of tight fear flicked down her spine. "Andre Bourgeois… he was my father and you killed him, Ladybug."

Blue eyes wide, arms pinned to her side, Marinette felt the woman squeeze her tighter.

"You killed him before he could do anything worse. I read what he did - all those lives. He… he was a monster. I wish I'd known. I would have pulled that trigger myself. Thank you for saving those people from him. Thank you for stopping him."

The relief was almost as overwhelming as her gratitude. She let Marinette go, but kept her gloved hands gently on the raven-haired shoulders. Queen Bee was even prettier up close, her golden eyes glimmering with sadness, but lined with gratitude.

"I have a request," she continued under her breath, "I read that you saved one of his akuma in the races. Once this is all over, I'd like to meet this person. I want to help in anyway I can. I am so sorry for everything he's done. For all the lives he's destroyed. I can only hope those that had to endure this horror will forgive me."

"Chloe…" Adrien's voice piped in hesitantly.

"According to the records, my father's first akuma was my mother," her eyes raised to find Adrien's over Marinette's shoulder. Her spine was still ramrod straight, but her voice was beginning to break. "He h-had told me mom was on a long business trip, and then, several months later, he announced she'd died on a private plane crash… closed casket funeral. I never questioned it." She let out a bitter laugh that sounded like a sob. "Little did I know he had her chained to the floorboards in the hotel attic with a collar on her neck. She lasted for only five months b-before she… he got another one… and another…" Her gloved hand raised to cradle the side of Marinette's cheek. Bee's gaze was brilliant and shining.

"All I can say is I'm sorry - and thank you."

Marinette nodded slowly, unable to say anything.

Queen Bee's hand dropped and the tender moment was done. Her expression instantly turning to steel, she shifted to Adrien. "Speaking of killing disappointing fathers, I need you, Chat Noir. We lost visual on Hawkmoth several minutes ago. The squads assigned to take him out are occupied with the unexpected number of civilian assassins. He was last seen fleeing down the street towards Eglise Saint Roch - that large Catholic Church to the northwest. Several electric frequencies coming from the church have made us suspect that it might be a new headquarters. My onsite hacker is still attempting to fully connect into the transmitter there, but even without hacking, this was your speciality back in the day, Adrien. I want you to track him and find his arse. I'll send backup as soon as I can scrounge more men from the fighting."

"I'll do it!" Marinette announced, lifting her chin and straightening her back similar to Bee's stance. The forgotten gun in her right hand instantly felt heavy in her fingers.

Bee glanced at her pointedly before frowning and plugging a finger in her ear. One of the long antennas on her head flicked.

"Pollen, report." It was several heartbeats later that Bee's jaw twitched and her eyes blew wide open. "Track that signal!"

"What signal?" Adrien asked, but Marinette's heart clenched and her hands flew to her mouth. She knew exactly what that was.

Bee caught Marinette's eyes before addressing Adrien again. "My hacker picked up a downloading signal coming from the church. It's connecting to sporadic locations throughout the city."

"The akuma!" Marinette gasped.

"I'll have Pollen map the signal's location to your baton."

Adrien frowned. "The akuma? Why would he be connecting to them? Now we know where to find them."

"It's the detonator!" Marinette cried, turning to him. "He can make them all self-destruct! It's his way of starting over! Destroying the evidence!" She turned to Bee so quickly, her fringe fell into her eyes wildly. "I have to go! I have to save them!"

"It's too dangerous for a civilian," Bee said sharply. "I respect all that you've done, Ladybug, but Chat Noir was an ace squad leader back in the day. He's trained for this."

"Adrien is in no shape to go!"

"No, I'll go," he stepped forward. "Stay here, Marinette."

"I'm not staying!"

"Yes, you are!"

"I'm going!"

"No way in hell!"

"You can't make me stay!" Marinette shouted childishly and stomped up to him. Within milliseconds, they were back in each other's faces.

"Oh, yes I can!"

"Jesus, should I just go myself?" Bee rolled her eyes incredulously.

"Chloe, I beg you. Keep her here and don't let her out of your sight!"

"You can't do that, Adrien! You can't!"

"Bee, please!"

"I'm going! Don't tell me what to do!"

"Shut up, Marinette!" Adrien roared at her and the next thing she knew his lips crushed themselves against hers. Her mind blanked, allowing him to take hold of her. He lifted his clawed hands, his right burying itself into her loose pigtails and the other wrapping around the small of her back, pulling her roughly against his body. Her breath caught tightly in her chest and her eyes went wide. His face shifted to the left and he boldly licked her closed mouth with his tongue. She was frozen, completely still with surprise.

And then she closed her eyes. She unthinkingly dropped the gun on the ground and her arms sprang up to wrap themselves around his tan neck. She returned his kiss with all the passion, anger, and love she felt for him. His kiss was exhilarating, incredibly frustrating, and terribly satisfying. She'd longed for him to kiss her. For him to feel the same way she did. He pressed her even further and she came willingly, standing on her toes to lean into him. Everything was so simple and yet so screwed up. The world was falling apart around them - and still, she twisted her tongue around his, indulging in the very essence of her hero…

Adrien Agreste…

She moved her arms off his neck and pushed lightly on his shoulders to break the kiss. His green eyes were scorching like molten lava and they flicked with a blistering intensity back to her lips. She could feel and see the deep longing in him.

"You can't…" she couldn't seem to catch her breath properly, "you can't leave me behind…"

"Marinette… I have to go…" his voice was husky, his eyes still on her parted lips.

"Please, Adrien…"

His arms slid from her body. Her skin prickled with a chilling fear. Bee stepped up behind her to put a solid hand on her shoulder.

"Be careful, Chat. Even with that new suit to boost you, you've still lost a lot of blood. I'll send back up as soon as I can."

With a nod at the blonde woman, his fiery gaze flicked back to Marinette, burning and freezing her at the same time. He turned to leave-

"Wait!" she called and her hand flew to her back pocket. Pulling out her picture, she held it out for him. His eyes blown wide, his lips opening, his claws rose and he hesitantly took it from her, his fingertips brushing the back of her hand gently.

Her chin lifted. "I'm coming after you. You know that, right?"

"I would expect nothing less, my lady." He shot her a radiant grin, his blond locks tossing, before giving her a two fingered salute and tucking her picture back into his front pocket. Zipping it up safely, he reached back and withdrew his metal baton.

Her eyes narrowed, following him as he clicked something on his weapon and was suddenly propelled into the sky - out of sight.

He thought he was leaving her behind?

He must be out of his mind.

Next up: In which Black Cat races and Ladybug gets a new toy