Bouquet

It was cold. So cold. There were threads and needles everywhere and everything was pastel pink and fluffy.

She tried to speak but her lips burned like they were on fire. She looked for a mirror or any reflective surface to see her face. There was a hand mirror in the night table but she couldn't reach it: her hands were tied to the bed.

"My wife doesn't like porcelain dolls anymore, they're fragile and break easily, so I was thinking… what about a rag doll?"

She looked at the other side of the bed and saw a male silhouette sitting in the chair.

He held a mirror I'm front of her: her lips were stitched up, her hair was replaced by wool and her eye sockets were empty. She tried to move, to escape, but he had her tied up and immobilized.

Please, no!

"Hmm!" she cried letting tears running down her face.

"Oh, do not worry, you are her favorite doll, she will still love you, it matters not how wretched you are after this."

After what?

He took a huge black button and a needle.

"Now stay still and close your eyes."

A shriek of pure horror left her mouth and body, burning her lips in hellfire.

A strong pair of arms shook her and embraced her.

"Wake up! Marinette, is just a nightmare! You are safe!"

She opened her eyes and felt her face with her hands.

Luckily, Kagami knew what to do: she held a mirror in front of her friend's face, so she could verified her appearance: there were dark circles under her eyes and she was pale like the dead but besides that, she was the same.

She looked back to Kagami and started to cry. That moment, Alya came running through the door.

"Are you okay?" she asked stroking Marinette's hair.

"I'm sorry, guys, I had that horrible nightmare again."

Alya and Kagami looked at each other.

"The ragdoll again?"

She nodded. The girls bit their lips. It was just a nightmare, they were safe.

It had been eight years since they had escaped the Dollhouse, and they had moved on quite successfully: Kagami had gone to Japan to finish her highschool there and returned to University which she was finishing perfectly; Alya immediately went back to highschool and was currently doing an enviable journalist career in Paris Official Journal; Juleka had moved to New York with her parents and brother and was starting her own musical career; and finally, Marinette had finished her studies online and currently ran The Ladybug, a little online business where she sold her fashion designs, all of them done as part of therapy after what had happened to her and her friends.

But none of them had forgotten the Dollhouse and occasionally stuff like this happened. Their therapist doctor Fu Wang didn't like that they lived together because it was too much like being held in the Dollhouse, but their bond was strongest than any other they could ever forge with anyone else.

And when shit like this happened, they knew what to do.

"Go back to sleep. We are here, no one is gonna harm us ever again. I promise."

They girls lay on the bed, together and uncomfortable but in peace."

.-.

"I'm sorry for your lost, mister Couffaine."

Luka looked back at his parents like a little boy and regained the certainty that he was the only one who could do it and don't die in sorrow.

He could, because the only thing he felt was wrath —and that would give him the courage to look at the body and know deep in his heart that he'd avenge the suffering his family was put through —especially, his sister.

His little dead and mutilated sister.

-.-

"Good morning ladies"

Kagami and Marinette opened their eyes and sat on the bed watching Alya serving pan cakes and honey on the night table.

"Alya, this table isn't for food. You know that," protested Kagami.

The girl rolled her eyes.

"Don't be an ass, Kagami. We have to eat somewhere and it's late so…"

"What?!"

Kagami took everything very seriously but nothing as much as her classes.

"Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"You looked so peaceful!"

Marinette was about to laugh, but her phone rang.

She took it and saw the name, one she hadn't seen for years.

"Luka?"

Both Alya and Kagami glanced at her. Luka and Marinette broke up months after the Dollhouse because they both agreed that Marinette needed time to herself and Luka needed his own for his little Juleka. After that, Luka and his family moved to New York.

"It's always nice to hear your voice, Marinette."

She smiled sincerely.

"It's been so long! How are you?"

The man sighed at the other side of the line.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to tell you myself: I'm back in Paris and I'm in the Police Station, there must be a police car outside your apartment for you and your friends. You have to come."

Please not again

"What…? What happened?"

"Jules…"

His voice broke.

-.-

Marinette, Kagami and Alya walked inside the Police Station trying to be brave. No one knew what would they find inside there, but they all shared the same fear.

The cops took them to the last door and left. They breathed slowly before walking inside.

There was a handsome man inside the gray cold room, his turquoise hair and tattooed skin seemed quite out of place, but they were everything Marinette needed to cheer up a little bit.

"Luka!" Marinette ran to him and embraced him in an emotional hug, "it's been so so long!"

He didn't say anything, he just hugged her back tightly.

"How long have you been back?"

He smiled sadly and caressed her face.

"One day. How are you?"

Marinette smiled warmly. She was scared, but she was strong and it was obvious Luka was feeling terrible.

"I'm fine. How are you? What are you doing here?"

The man couldn't help a couple of tears.

"Jules disappeared two days ago in New York. She sent me a text saying she was in Paris and wanted us to meet her here today. We were so worried that we all came, even my dad, and… we went to our old house…"

He closed his eyes and Marinette felt him trembling in her arms like a cold kitten.

"She was dead… she was..."

He stopped there. She didn't need to know the rest, Marinette seemed already enough disturbed.

"Ladies, here please," called a man from the other side of the room, holding a bunch of papers, "I am Roger Raincomprix, chief of police and you have to come with me".

The girls glanced at each other. Luka frowned and held Marinette even tighter, protectively.

"What for?" asked Kagami holding Alya's arm.

"You have to see the evidence."

Evidence?

"Follow me," he commanded walking to a metal door.

"Wait!" demanded Luka, "I've already identified the body, they don't have to see… it"

The cop seemed annoyed.

"I'm afraid they do, sir. The agent in charge of the case asked me to question them about the evidence."

"I did not. I said I would do it myself".

The five of them turned to the sound of that voice and saw and young man dressed in black and severe clothes. His golden hair was quite messy but in the most attractive possible way, his manly features could melt any woman's heart and below his clothes you could glimpse his wide back and strong shoulders. Though it wasn't any of that what caught Marinette's attention, but his eyes: the fire, she had seen the light blazing in his emerald pupils before.

"I am special agent C. Noir and I'll take this case," he walked straight to Luka, "I'm sorry for your lost, monsieur Couffaine".

He looked at Marinette, who was still hiding in Luka's chest. For a second they just looked at each other's eyes, diving in their sights. Until he looked at Alya and Kagami and greet them with a gallant head gesture.

"I'd like to make you some questions, ladies".

They followed him to the only desk in the room and sat down in the chairs.

"You may leave, cheif. Mister Couffaine, you and your family can leave too."

Luka gazed at Marinette.

"I'll wait for you outside".

Agent Noir then took out of his black briefcase bags of evidence and an envelope.

"I'm going to show you strong pictures, please try to keep your emotions aside," he asked in a pleading and kind tone, like a tender request rather than an order.

They all nodded.

He took the pictures out of the envelope and displayed them on the table: it was Juleka's body, except she wasn't only dead: she was wearing her old lilac dress, her eyes were gone, her face was bloody and there were a bouquet of flowers in each of her sockets.

"Oh my God," murmured Alya closing her eyes.

"I need to know if this means anything to you."

He took the bags and placed them over the pictures. The bouquets were inside.

At the mere glimpse of the flowers, the three girls knew immediately what they meant but couldn't answer. They fell as if a ton of rocks had fallen over their bodies and they were trapped, they couldn't breath and they felt again the cold on their skin, the desperation and the horror. As if they were in the Dollhouse again.

"Please, ladies, I need you to answer," said the agent, sliding his green sight from one to the other, watching carefully their reactions.

"It's a code mesage, agent Noir," said Kagami taking her eyes out of the flowers to meet the man's pupils.

"How do you know that?"

"It represents each of us," continued Alya, "our nicknames in the Dollhouse were flowers".

Inside the first bag were a withered flowers: a violet, a sunflower, a dried tulip and a rose. In the other were only three, fresh and healthy, a tiger lily, a cherry blossom branch and a lotus.

"Yes?" he urged them to continue.

"Alix was Violet; Mylene, Sunflower; Juleka, Rose and Rose, Tulip. Kagami was Cherry Blossom; Alya, Tiger Lily and I was Lotus," answered Marinette.

Once aware of that, the message was clear: the dead flowers were the already murdered girls and the rest… they had their days counted.

"What about this one?"

He showed them the last bag: it had inside a buttercup.

"This was inside her mouth," he said softly, wondering if that would mean something.

"Emilie used to call her son Buttercup."

The agent did not say anything but Marinette thought his glance changed for a second.

"Have you tell anyone about the names?"

"No."

"Therapists, family, friends, police?"

"Only our therapist, doctor Wang Fu"

The guy made a mental reminder to go after that doctor later.

"Can you think about anyone who could be interested in doing this?"

They shook their heads.

"Ladies, this subject has very personal motivation to do this, they must be related in some way to what happened in the Dollhouse."

"We don't know if anyone knew about us. Gabriel and Emilie Agreste were the only people we ever saw," spoke Kagami. The guy was getting kind of agresive and they were the victims, not the suspects.

Agent Noir stared at Kagami for a second. The Japanese girl couldn't help blushing a little under his intense viridian look.

He took the bags and pictures back to his briefcase.

"These are enough questions. Now, clearly someone is targeting you and I can guarantee you that if you follow my instructions you will be safe. I'll find the person who has done this and I'll need you to cooperate, can you do it?"

They nodded. The man seemed trustworthy, capable and valiant but the last thing they wanted in their lives was to relive the nightmare in the Dollhouse.

"What do you need from us, agent Noir?"

"To keep yourselves safe, to take care of each other and listen to me."

The nodded and took each other's hands to go.

"One more thing," he handed them a card. "Whenever you feel in danger you can call me. I'll have two cops guarding you."

They left, intertwining their arms, feeling weak all of the sudden.

.-.

As the girls left, the agent left the room himself, smooth and silent like a cat. It was one of his finest weapons: his whole set of cat abilities, his moves were smooth and silent, his mind was sharp and cold and he could be charming and charismatic as he could turn fearsome and imposing.

At least that was what his mom used to say and to this very moment it had never failed. When he was a kid, he and his cousin —his brother— used to joke they had been bitten by a cat when they were babies and we're going to become the Remus and Romulus of the New Age. Or Batman or Catwoman in real life. Whichever was good.

He shook his head and smiled. It felt like it had happened centuries ago. But, in some way, that was the case: those memories belonged to another man, another boy, one who died seven years ago in the subway of London.

But due to these cat abilities, they didn't heard him leaving the room while he did hear them. Everyone had something to whisper about him, but those three couldn't ever let it go —Raincomprix, the chief, and his two assistants.

Roger, as always, had probably been stuck in the topic since he left him with the Dolls.

"The man has a type. I bet he took the case when he heard the victims were three pretty girls."

"Traumatized girls," pointed out the woman by his side. "Easy to take advantage when you look like him."

"Yeah, well, he's not that handsome."

"You're right, he's gorgeous. But you'd have to be a woman to know that."

"Or gay. Or bisexual. Or pansexual. Or po…" murmured the other assistant, a guy who looked even younger than Noir did.

"Shut the fuck up. See what I mean? That guy can't be thirty, I tell you!"

"Maybe he's that kind of person who simply doesn't age."

"Like a vampire or what? That man knows people, that's how he got here, that's how he gets all the cases he wants! He's always after pretty girls who had been traumatized!"

While he understood the chief's suspicions, the mere idea made him sick.

"And he gives his phone to all of them. I mean, he turns himself into Prince Charming for them."

Okay, coming from a woman it may had been his fault they believed that.

"You think he sleeps with all of them?"

The guy didn't only looked like a teenager, he also had the brain of one.

"Well, if you ask me, he gazed at the Dupain girl like a cake"

"Wonder how much time's gonna take her to cheat on Jagged Stone's son with our little Playboy"

That's it. Talking shit about an agent —about him— was one thing, but talking about a victim, and one like Marinette Dupain-Cheng, was a whole new level.

He walked in the conversation like he had just arrived.

"And who's that Playboy? I didn't know you knew Marinette, Roger."

The man and the other two glared at him, fighting the need to smirk.

"Ah, no one," answered Roger frowning and spitting sarcasm with each word. "A piece of shit. One of those who likes to take advantage of fragile girls."

Noir almost fell right into his provocation, but he knew that would be like pleading guilty.

"I see. But if you know Marinette, you know she's strong and loyal. Don't worry about that."

He did not wait to hear their answer.

As he got in his black car, he sighed angry. He hated how right they were.

While he had never and wouldn't ever sleep with any victim, he did had important friends and he wasn't actually thirty years old.

But it was all for a greater good even if his primary motivations were entirely selfish.

N/a:

Hi hi! I'm back because why the fuck not?

I'm still working in the storyline so if you have any suggestions…?

Would you like to know Agent C. Noir backstory soon or should we leave it to the end?

Thank you for reading and happy quarantine. Cheer up!

Answering reviews:

Omniwriter1234: yeah I know, poor baby Adrien. I accept ideas haha, I'm still working on where this is going. Those questions can be answered soon or by the end of the fanfic so :v! Thank you for your review!

Dr. Dreamer: I hope you still are! Thank you for your review!

Foodisthebest: keep on reading! thank you for your review!

Unfound name: haha what can I say? Thank you for your review!