Author's note: Hey guys! SnivyLord here, this chapter is gonna to take place literally right after the therapy session. Just a warning, this chapter will contain heavy content, and this includes graphic scenes of assault (not sexual assault because I don't do that kind of writing), violence, blood, maybe crude language. So if you aren't into that stuff, then read the fluff stuffed chapters instead. This is a pivotal point in the relationship between Marinette and Adrien. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy because this probably gonna be as long as the previous chapter. However, don't worry, I have 3 chapters planned, and each of them are going to centered around one of the three kids. The first one to be released after this is Emma's chapter. Look forward to it guys!
"Are you sure you're gonna be ok walking home by yourself?" Adrien asks me as I proceed to reassure him for the thousandth time that I was gonna be ok.
"Yeah, Adrien, I'll be fine don't worry, my house isn't that really far from here so I can walk home," I reassured him as I slipped my purse over my shoulder and felt the chilly wind blow past us. It was pretty late into the evening and I should probably be home by now. Adrien looks at me with a worried look before sighing and smiling at me.
"Alright, see you Marinette."
"See you too Adrien.." I whispered as I turned around and headed in the opposite direction that he was going in. The street felt so calm and peaceful that I could hear my own footsteps making contact with the sidewalk. The echoes of every step, it sent slight chills up my spine. Soon, it was dark enough for only the streetlights to illuminate the way. The sky was a blurry shade of orange and violet as the sun was disappearing. I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning, but I noticed that one of the streetlights were flickering. Strange... I kept walking, ignoring the flickering of the light. As I kept walking, I didn't get far until I faintly heard another set of footsteps behind me. Stopping in my tracks, I whipped around to find a figure, standing alone in the flickering light. He seemed burly, but he was just standing there menacingly.
"Ummm... hello?" I called out to the man, who took one step forward into the light. I could barely make out the giant scar that streaked vertically across his face. For some reason, I found myself rooted to the spot, unable to move.
"Marinette Dupain Cheng, quite a pleasure, meeting you here..." The man said lowly, he looked familiar, he had slick brownish black hair and a burly figure. He raised his face slightly so the light would illuminate his face and I knew who he was immediately.
"Oh my god... I know you! You're one of the Mourir Brothers!" I exclaimed as the man smirked and laughed coldly.
"So you know of us, I'm honored, however, we both know I'm not here for formalities," The man smirked as I gasped as the light made the dagger he was hiding glisten in the lamplight.
"Wait... where's your brother?" I asked, suddenly realizing that there's only one of them. I turned around and found the taller, lankier brother creeping up right behind me. Acting on instinct, I moved so there was equal distance between me and the two brothers. My head whipped from side to side, watching both brothers as I narrowed my eyes at them, "So, did Gabriel send you to kill me? Is that what this is? I know the work you guys do, there was that report from a few months ago on that murdered girl in Villeurbanne. That was you two wasn't it? How despicable."
"Well you're not really in a position to make such comments are you? Gabriel wanted to give you a message: Stay away from Adrien Agreste," The taller said.
"He said as long as I don't say that my kids are Adrien's, I could be around him just like old times. That's what he said didn't he? Or is he going back on his word like the snake he is?" I asked as I recalled Gabriel telling me exactly that.
"True, however, you did violate one of the terms of the contract by telling Adrien that you're being blackmailed by Gabriel, it's a shame that you must face the consequences, so why not have a little fun while we're here," The burlier one explained as I noticed both of them took a few steps closer, and there's nowhere to run.
"Well forgive me boys, but I don't want to spoil your fun, I'm not planning on dying here," I grit my teeth as I reached into my purse and pulled out a small metal cylinder. My thumb immediately found the button on the side and pressed it. The metal cylinder than immediately expanded into a long, slender metal staff that was about as tall as me. I didn't come here unprepared for these sorts of situations, "I took self defense classes, preparing myself for situations just like this, so I'm warning you, stay away from me."
"So this bitch thinks she can fight back, I'd love to see her try," The taller one laughs as he lunges forward with a curved knife. Glancing towards him first, I dashed towards him head-on, and right when he made a stab at me, I made a small sidestep so it barely missed me and thrust my staff into his stomach, making him groan in pain. I then swiped the staff up, crashing into his chin. Then, while he was disoriented, I swept my leg under him, making him lose his footing and trip. I then felt the other man rush up behind me and I immediately leaped away, doing a backflip backward.
"Hmph, so the woman can fight, well done, I'd really like to see what you can do... that is... if you survive long enough," The burlier laughed cockily as he swung his knife down, forcing me to intercept with my staff and it was soon a battle on strength. However, he was right, will I survive long enough?
Meanwhile...
"That's weird, Mom's not picking up," Louis eyed his phone suspiciously as he just hung up on the 4th call he made to his mom. Emma looked over with worry and brushed her side against Louis' arm in a casual attempt to cuddle with him.
"Really? You think she might have been busy? She said she was going to her therapy thing today right?" Emma asked but Louis narrowed his eyes at Marinette's name not the contact screen and shook his head.
"No... that should have ended ages ago, she said she was coming straight home after the session, it's not that long of a walk," Louis murmured as sort of a reply, but it was more thinking fodder for himself. He then felt Hugo brush up on his other side and lay his chin on the crook of Louis' elbow.
"Maybe a surprise thing came up?" Hugo tried to say but Louis disproved that possibility as well.
"No, then she would have called us and told us that she was doing something else, and she's not answering her calls, and she usually does answer when one of us is calling..." Louis started but he couldn't exactly finish his thought. He felt like he was onto something, but what?
"True... then that means... something must have happened!" Emma exclaimed as she thought about the things that could happen to Maman.
"Yeah... something's definitely wrong, but what can we do?" Louis agreed, but the question remains: what can they do? Louis kept staring at his contact list until his eyes landed on a certain name: Adrien. Hugo noticed this as well and looked up at his brother.
"You think we should call him?" Hugo asked as Louis grit his teeth and sighed.
"I don't think we have a choice, because we can't just go out in the middle of the evening to try to track down Mom, he's probably our best bet," Louis replied as the two nodded in agreement and Louis gave a quick nod before pressing the call button. After the second ring, Louis heard a voice.
"Louis? Is that you? Why are you calling at such a late hour?"
"Oh! Mr. Agreste! Yeah, sorry that I'm calling you at such a late time but where are you right now?"
"Ummm.. I'm on my way home, I'm in a limo right now, why do you ask?"
"Uhhh.. how do I explain this, I think my mom might be in trouble...?" Louis explained into the phone with a questioning tone as it was only a hunch that he had. He then heard Adrien's immediate worried response.
"Really? Louis, how do you know?"
"I've been calling her, but she won't pick up and she always picks up when one of us is calling. She said she was coming straight home after the therapy thing she had today. But it's been a while and she's not home yet, she didn't call to tell me that she had something else to do, so I'm thinking that something happened."
"I see..."
"Mr. Agreste, you happen to be near my mom right? Can you see if she's on the sidewalks anywhere? She said she was walking home," Louis looked outside the now pitch black window, making out the shining of the streetlights and headlights of cars.
"Alright Louis, thank you for telling me, I'll let you know ok? Don't worry, I'll find her, I knew I shouldn't have let her go home alone," Adrien murmured from the other side of the line while Louis cocked his eyebrow in amusement.
"Wait.. you were there with her?"
"Yeah, turns out, we both go to the same therapy place."
Louis, still arching his eyebrow in amusement, snorted, "Shocker..."
"Hey Mister Agreste!" Emma exclaimed as Adrien smiled at the sound of her voice and chuckled.
"Hey Emma, how are you? Well I hope?" Adrien asked as Emma recalled her day so far.
"Yeah, it's been fine, Hugo is fine too if you wanted to know," Emma chirped as she reached across Louis' arm to pinch her brother's cheek, who immediately moved to avoid her fingers.
"It's nice to know that you three are all right, don't worry, I'll find her," Adrien said, determination clear in his voice. As Adrien hung up, he leaned forward so he could speak to Gorilla, "hey Gorilla, do you mind if we drive around the therapy place I was at? The streets around there? I think Marinette might be in trouble."
Gorilla's eyes flickered to the mirror to look at Adrien before turning his eyes back to the road. He knew how much Adrien cared, and he had explicit orders from Gabriel to not help Adrien should he find out that there are assassins after Marinette. The pay was one of the only reasons that Gorilla even put up with Gabriel. He knew it was absolutely excessive, sending assassins after one woman, it seemed insane. And that was his reasoning before he replied, "Understood Master Adrien."
"Thank you," Adrien smiled at Gorilla, who turned the car around and headed back in the direction of the Dr. Fu's place. Gorilla and Adrien made sure to keep watch on the sidewalks, but they were incredibly dark, only lit up but the streetlights, "come on Princess... where could you be?"
Meanwhile...
Marinette expertly used her staff to parry all of her assailants' attacks, twirling around the staff expertly between her hands. At the end of her twirling combo, she spun around and back kicked the dagger out the man's hands with a small yelp coming from him. She immediately did a backflip to create some space between her and the two brothers. She made a mental note to not let one of them get behind her.
"So the woman can fight... that just makes our job a lot more annoying," The burlier one said as Marinette narrowed her eyes at the barely visible figures.
"It also makes it a lot more interesting, let's see you try this!" The taller one cackled as he pulled out a blade and dashed towards her in a very unorthodox way. Marinette, almost frozen to the spot, finally reacts and deflected his slash with her staff, creating a loud clanging sound and splashing something on her face. Marinette wiped it off and looked at it. The substance was dark purple, with a swirly look to it.
"Is this poison?" Marinette thought to herself before she felt a foot connect with her stomach, sending her backward to the ground. She looked up and saw the taller stalking towards her, creepily.
"A shame it didn't get to make contact with your skin..." The brother cackled as Marinette stared at him in horror.
"It is poison, isn't it?" Marinette confirmed as she quickly stood and spun around so the momentum of her staff would quickly smack him in the face, and it did, catching him off guard. Marinette quickly dashed forward and jumped to roundhouse kick him in the same spot. The brother held his his cheek in pain as the burlier brother dashed past him and stampeded at Marinette, who almost cowered in fear. She was trained for these sorts of situations but when it came to the real thing, she couldn't help but feel completely out of her element. Marinette then growled to snap herself out of her stupor and whacked the taller brother on the back and punched him to the floor. The burlier one immediately lunges forward and slashed Marinette's cheek, who held it in pain, feeling the blood pour from the wound. It was a stinging, burning sensation, there was poison in the blade wasn't there?
"Just a tiny drop of that in your system and you'll be dead in a matter of minutes..." The brother laughed as Marinette felt her vision blurring from the pain. There was no time for hesitation, not even for an instant. Marinette dashed forward and used her staff as a vaulting pole to send a sidekick into the brother's stomach. Launched back and clutching his stomach in pain, the brother looked at Marinette in pain and amusement.
"It's a miracle you're still able to move..."
"Well, I suppose I must thank you for not using guns like a normal assassin..." Marinette panted as a joke as the man laughed heartily, why was she even making jokes at a time like this?
"You truly are an amusing target, it's too bad you're going to die, pleasure doing business with you M'am," The burlier laughed as Marinette dashed forward again, her legs now feeling like jelly, and slowly getting sore. She pole vaulted again, but this time, it was over the man, and while she was flipping over him, she thrust his staff straight into his back, earning a yelp of pain. She landed safely in a kneeling position, but even that was enough to topple her from her lack of strength.
"I can barely move..." Marinette murmured to herself as she felt the two brothers recovering from her attacks.
"You used the last of your energy to attack me? The smarter thing to do, would probably be to run. I guess that's what you get for being a fighter, and look, you can barely stay conscious..." The burlier brother sneered at Marinette, who was trying to keep her eyes open. Her body felt cold, like acid was flowing into her veins and numbing everything.
"Let's finish the job shall we?" She heard the taller one say as she stared wearily up at the brother in question who had his dagger out, the blade glistening in the lamplight.
Was this it?
Dying alone on the street by two assailants?
If I had one thing left to say... it would be...
I regret everything...
I don't feel light nor darkness nor pain or even the sweet release of death...
No one can save me...
No one wants to...
Louis... Hugo... Emma... forgive me...
I regret everything... absolutely everything...
"MARINETTE!!!!!!!!"
In the car where Adrien is... (That's oddly specific)
Adrien kept his eyes out, searching for the tiniest sign of movement on the sidewalks near Dr. Fu's place. However, just then, he had an idea.
"Gorilla, find the street that would lead back to Marinette's house from Master Fu's place," Adrien ordered as Gorilla nodded and entered the address into the built-in GPS on the car. The screen then showed the route back to Marinette's house from their location. Adrien narrowed his eyes at it while flickering between the screen and the road ahead, rolling down the windows for any sounds as well. Gorilla then drove down the route and drove semi-slowly so they wouldn't miss anything. Soon though, they could hear yelling, and signs of a struggle. Adrien peered out the window and squinted his eyes at three figures who seem to be fighting in the shadows of the light that was cast by the streetlights. He could barely make out that one of them had a staff of some sort and the others had knives and daggers. He noticed the one with the staff dashing forward and attacking one of the other figures, hearing a feminine yell from the staff-user. One of them went down and the other one dashed forward and from what he could hear, landed a hit on her, garnering a scream. Gorilla knew exactly who it was, it was just a matter of time before Adrien knew.
"That scream... Marinette... Marinette!" Adrien exclaimed as he immediately blew open the limo door and sprinted to the fight scene. He could hear their voices.
"Just a tiny drop of that in your system and you'll be dead in minutes..." Adrien then heard quick footsteps and another groan as the staff-user finally came into the light of the streetlight and what he saw made him furious. Marinette landed after flipping over the guy but slumped over from what he assumed was the poison. She had blood streaks over her face and god knows what other injuries.
"It's a miracle you're still able to move..."
"Well, I suppose I must thank you for not using guns like a normal assassin... ugh..."
"Let's finish the job shall we?" Adrien heard the taller say. Why the hell was this street so wide? Adrien puffed more air into lungs as he sprinted towards Marinette, who he saw couldn't even move anymore. These weren't your run of the mill assailants... Adrien narrowed his eyes at the taller one as he called out for her.
"MARINETTE!!!!" Adrien yelled as he cocked his fist back and socked the man right in the face, sending him to the floor. Marinette looked tiredly up at Adrien who kneeled down to her face and felt his face drain of color. The light was void in her eyes, she was barely conscious and there was blood smears all over the left side of her cheek where her cut was, "Marinette... it'll be ok, I promise." Adrien said softly as a tear made its escape from her eye as she became unresponsive.
Adrien grit his teeth as he straightened up again and his entire being was filled with a fiery hatred, "You made yourselves a death sentence, touching her. Now... you have to answer to me..." Gorilla continued to watch from inside the car, he had to do something, Adrien would also risk getting poisoned like Marinette and that absolutely cannot happen. Gorilla quickly got out of the car and rushed to Marinette's side, pulling out a vial with pills inside it.
"Quickly Lady Marinette, please use any remaining strength you have left to take this medicine, it should neutralize the poison enough to slow down the destruction of your blood cells until we get you an actual antidote," Gorilla said roughly as he hastily poured out two pills and inserted it into Marinette's mouth, who weakly swallowed it a few moments later. Gorilla then stood up and stood back to back with Adrien, "be careful Adrien, these guys have poison weapons, be nimble, be fast, or else you won't be able to help Lady Marinette."
Adrien glanced down towards the unmoving form of his princess, he won't be able to help her if he gets hit, but he also noticed the metal staff she was using. Curious, he picked up and found it was incredibly light but sturdy. He held the staff at the end, as if it was a fencing saber and he looked at the taller brother with keen focus.
"I won't fail this time... I'm gonna keep my promise, no matter what," Adrien murmured to himself as he charged and swung the staff at the brother's hand, knocking the knife out of his hand and into the dark somewhere. He heard a loud grunt from behind him and glanced to find the other brother beaten by several humongous punches from Gorilla, who dusted off his hands. Adrien looked back again to land several blows to the enemy in front of him, like his saber, the staff was almost too fast to look at. The brother screamed as Adrien made no move to hesitate as he jabbed the man in multiple places, leaving the brother clutching in pain. Adrien narrowed his eyes at the man before making one final thrust in the middle of the brother's chest, making him groan and trudge past the two, roughly picking up his brother and taking one last forlorn glance at Adrien before disappearing into the dark, their footsteps already fading.
"It seems we drove them off this time Sir Adrien," Gorilla murmured as he turned to find Adrien not even listening but picking Marinette up off the ground, bridal style.
"She's not looking too good, we need to get her back to the mansion," Adrien leaned in closer to her face so he could get a better look. She was pale and sweating a lot, it looked like she had a fever building. Before Adrien could move, he heard a voice call out to him.
"Adrien is that you?"
"Dr. Fu? What are you doing here?" Adrien asked as he saw the man come into view with his signature red floral shirt.
"Take this blend of medicinal herbs I concocted. Brew it in a tea and it should act as an antidote to counteract against the effects of the poison," Dr. Fu held out a small bag and placed in Adrien's outstretched hand.
"Wow... I don't know how to thank you Dr. Fu..."
"Of course you do, take care of her for me," Dr. Fu gave one last smile before disappearing into the dark. Adrien nodded as he made his way to the car and placed Marinette next to him in the backseat, leaning into him.
"Hold on Marinette... you're going to be alright," Adrien kept a hand to her hand to track her temperature. She was still running a fever but it wasn't getting worse nor was it getting better. Eventually they actually hit back to the mansion and with Marinette in his arms, Adrien and Gorilla rushes to the door and practically burst it open. Nathalie came down the grand staircase to see the commotion and stopped mid-step on the stairs when she saw Marinette.
"Adrien... W-what happened?" Nathalie asked, voice full of concern. The concern was real of course, but her surprise wasn't. She knew exactly why she was in that state.
"She was attacked by a pair of assailants, she then tried to fight back against them and got poisoned. I don't what she was thinking, rushing into such a suicidal situation," Adrien replied as his ears tuned in to the labored breathing of the princess in his arms, noticing the smallest changes.
"How utterly terrible, get her into the guest room, does she need anything?" Nathalie asked as Adrien nodded and pushed past her, with her following with Gorilla down the long white hallway.
"Perhaps a warm towel, some Tylenol when she needs to recover her strength, but we have the medicine to get rid of the poison." Adrien replied as Nathalie opened the door to the guest room and Adrien quickly set her down on the bed, "so boil a pot of tea using these herbs Nathalie." Adrien held out the bag as Nathalie nodded and bowed herself out of the room with Gorilla. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she was confronted by Gorilla.
"Gabriel forced you to call the Mourir Brothers on Lady Marinette didn't he?"
"Yes... I tried to refuse but he said he would eliminate both of us if I refused," Nathalie murmured as she headed into the kitchen to boil a pot of tea, setting the kettle on the electric stove.
"Any minute or even seconds later and she could have died, I'm sure you're aware of that," Gorilla growled roughly as Nathalie stared at the steam that was starting to form.
"I know... I know, but she would have been killed along with me anyway. I suppose I was counting on her being able to escape or defeat them... We know she takes self defenses classes. We've both been forced to keep tabs on her for Gabriel," Nathalie replied after a moment, noticing Gorilla's shift in stance when she mentioned his involvement.
"You know how important she is to Adrien, and you were willing to have her killed," Gorilla sighed disappointedly as Nathalie snapped as the steam from the kettle reached a boiling hiss.
"What else was I supposed to do!? If I refused, he would have sent them himself after Marinette and me! He doesn't care about us, make no mistake, he will kill us if we stand in his way!" Nathalie snapped as Gorilla took a harsh, sharp intake of breath. She then closed her eyes in frustration before feeling herself calm down again, "he's a "the ends justify the means" kinda man, there's no morality crisis for him." Nathalie sighed as she poured the water in a tea strainer with the tea leaves and pressed the knob down so the filter transferred the essence of the tea into the water, "let's get this tea to Lady Marinette."
"Thank you so much Nathalie," Adrien sighed in relief as Nathalie entered moments later with the pot of tea and some big tea cups.
"It's not a problem Adrien, your father shouldn't be back in a couple of days so I think you'll be fine. I'll leave you alone with her now," Nathalie gave a small smile before bowing out. Adrien gracefully poured the pot of tea into the cup. Marinette then weakly propped herself up against the headboard so she could sit up and Adrien handed the tea to her. Marinette smiled weakly as with a groan, she slowly drank it with a warmth surging through her body. Marinette eyed Adrien, who had his hands interlaced together, clenched in a tight fist.
"Adrien?" Marinette called out weakly as she reached for the pot of tea, only for Adrien to snatch it before she could and pour it for her with only a glance as he continued to look straight in front of him, "Adrien?"
"What were you thinking?" Adrien asked with a deadly whisper as Marinette stared down at her cup of tea and continued drinking so she didn't have to answer. She really didn't have one, she didn't really know what to tell Adrien at this point, "WHAT were you thinking?" Adrien asked again with an emphasis on his tone now. Marinette felt herself jump from the shock as she sighed and continued to drink.
"What I was thinking?" Marinette repeated slowly as she looked straight ahead, "I don't exactly know, I just remember that I noticed I was being stalked, I stopped, looked behind me, and there he was. The other one came up from behind me, I couldn't run into the street, so there was really only one thing I could do: fight. You used my extendable metal staff right? I had self-defense training, just for these sorts of situations. It wasn't enough... they wielded deadly poison, I was careless, thinking I could take the Mourir brothers on by myself." Marinette sighed as she drank the rest of her tea and found Adrien staring at her intently with a sad, grief-ridden look.
"You know? If Louis hadn't called me and said that he had a sneaking suspicion that something happened to you, you would have died... and I wouldn't have even known about it," Adrien scoffed out the last part in an exasperated tone. Marinette noticed the tears threatening to spill from his eyes and she reached over to brush her thumb against the edge of his eye to sweep the tears away.
"I-I'm sorry Adrien, it was my fault, I couldn't save myself, I didn't think I could run, but I fought for my life, and I would have left you and my kids behind if you came just a moment later, oh Adrien, I-I-I am so sorry," Marinette sobbed as she put her hand to her mouth and tried to contain her sobs. Adrien looked at her sadly for a moment before smiling softly.
"C'mere, you need a hug, I'm sorry for yelling, I don't know what I would do if I lost you, that's why I was mad," Adrien whispered softly as Marinette looked up at him with teary eyes and leaned forward so she could hug him. Adrien rested his chin on top of her head and kissed her hair, "you really have a knack for getting yourself into trouble don't you?" Adrien asked jokingly as Marinette let out a laugh and relaxed into his chest. Adrien sighed before realizing: he forgot to update Louis on what happened. Adrien fished his phone from his pocket and immediately dialed Louis' number. Marinette eyed his phone and gasped as she sat up.
"Oh my goodness, Louis must be worried sick!" Marinette said as Adrien heard Louis' voice after one ring.
"MISTER AGRESTE! WHERE IS MY MOM!? IT'S BEEN OVER AN HOUR! Hugo has been repeating trivia facts to himself to calm himself and it's getting really annoying. HUGO! I really don't want to hear how the Mongolians failed to invade Japan because of a weather phenomenon in the form of a really strong wind drove them away and the Japanese called it a kamikaze!" Adrien heard Louis tell Hugo who was mumbling history to himself in a very psychotic tone. Marinette brought a curled finger to her lip as she thought about it.
"Huh, he does do that a lot when he's nervous," Marinette thought aloud as she heard another yell come from Adrien's phone.
"MAMAN! IS THAT YOU?! PLEASE TELL ME YOU'RE OKAY!" Emma yelled as Adrien held the phone further away to save his ears. Putting it on speaker, Marinette responded.
"Yes, I'm okay sweetie, I'm really sorry for worrying you three-" Marinette was about to explain until more voices cut in.
"MOM! It is so good to hear your voice! Did something happen?!" Louis asked worriedly as Hugo added on the onslaught of questions.
"How did Mr. Agreste find you so quickly?" Hugo asked as Marinette pondered which question to answer first as Adrien smirked at her.
"Well Louis, to answer your question, let's just say your suspicion was correct, on my way home, I was attacked by two men," Marinette started as she heard three collective gasps from the phone.
"Oh my god! Mom! Are you ok?!" Louis asked worriedly as Marinette could hear the other two screaming their concern into the phone, their questions becoming a cacophony.
"Yes, I'm alright, I'm just a little weak, that's all," Marinette sighed as she heard a sigh of relief as Adrien rubbed her back comfortingly.
"Were you badly hurt? Maman, please tell me you weren't going to... you know... die?" Emma asked quietly as Marinette felt herself hesitate for a moment. She couldn't tell them she almost died from lethal poisoning, she would have scared her kids to death!
"No no! Emma, don't you think that, I was badly hurt of course sweetie, but I wasn't on the verge of death," Marinette reassured her daughter as she felt a pair of eyes burn into the side of her head.
"Maman wouldn't die Emma, she's taken self defense classes, she wouldn't have been taken down so easily!" Hugo reassured Emma as she nodded and sighed.
"Although, I do have to warn you guys first, I'm too weak to make it home tonight, so I'm going to stay the night at Adrien's house. So make sure you lock your doors, the windows, and even check under your bed," Marinette reminded the three as she felt murmurs of agreement from the other side.
"Alright Mom, are you sure you're going to be ok over there? Considering?" Louis asked as he bit the nail of his thumb.
"Yes, I'll be fine, I have Adrien here with me, I'm serious about under the bed, you never know," Marinette looked at Adrien reassuringly, who smiled warmly back at her.
"Alright alright Mom... stay safe... love you," Louis laughed lightly as his tone switched to a light whisper.
"Love you Maman!" Emma called out.
"Don't overstay your welcome ok? I wanna see you as soon as possible!" Hugo chimed on as Louis shook his head and laughed again.
"Love you guys..." Marinette wiped a tear from her eye as she heard Louis say something else.
"Good night my moon..." She heard him quietly say as she immediately knew what he was saying: it was a good night wishes thing that she and Louis shared when he was little and they would wish each other good night, right before they went to sleep.
"Good night my sun," Marinette happily whispered as Louis continued.
"Good bye crocodile..."
"See you later alligator..."
"See you soon on the road Mom..."
"See you soon on the road Louis..."
"Love you..."
"Love you too Louis," Marinette felt herself choke out a sob as she slowly pressed the hang up button and set the phone down.
"Do you say that to Louis every night?" Adrien asked with a smirk, he was extremely curious.
"Well... when he was little, we said our good night wishes every night, but when Hugo and Emma came around, we wouldn't say the full thing... but he did this time. I thought I would never hear it again," Marinette laughed and cried as she wiped the tears away as Adrien smiled at her crying.
"I happen to think it's incredibly adorable," Adrien smirked as he leaned close so she could see the amusement on his face. Marinette blushed lightly as she huffed from embarrassment.
"H-h-hey! Mothers and their sons have those things that they do that no one else understands, those quirks and inside jokes! You just love teasing me don't you?" Marinette rolled her eyes at him when she realized what he was doing. Adrien smiled wider as he tapped her nose with his finger.
"That's right," Adrien said as a matter of factly as Marinette pouted. Adrien chuckled before turning and heading to the door.
"Alright Marinette, drink the rest of the tea and call me if you need anything else ok?" Adrien said softly as Marinette smiled at Adrien and looked outside the window into the night.
"Hey Adrien..."
"Yeah Marinette?" Adrien asked as he took his hand off the doorknob.
"I'm scared... things have never gotten this bad before... and I need someone to be here with me. Adrien could you sleep with me tonight? I hope it's not too much to ask," Marinette asked hopefully as Adrien stared at her for a moment with an unreadable expression making her regret her question before smiling wide.
"Sure, I'll get changed, I think I might have a t-shirt in here," Adrien chuckled as he headed to the drawer and took his shirt off, revealing his lean muscular body. Even after all these years, he still kept in shape as a model, it was amazing, she could still make out his extremely toned six-pack and sculpted chest with a sharp collarbone. Even his biceps and muscular back look as scrumptious as ever as Marinette miserably tried her hardest not to ogle. He did this on fucking purpose; that stupid, sexy asshole! Even Adrien noticed as he turned back to her with an smirk, "see something you like?"
"Adrien! You know how you're not supposed to change in front of a lady! What's wrong with you!?" Marinette asked embarrassedly as she felt her face become hotter by the second.
"Awww come on, I know you enjoyed it," Adrien said in a very deep, husky tone that almost made Marinette swoon.
"W-w-what?! Ok maybe a little, but change in the bathroom!" Marinette yelled as Adrien laughed and gathered the rest of his clothes into the bathroom. Marinette sighed as she tried to get her heart to go back down. A few minutes later, Adrien came out with a plain black t-shirt with a neon-green stripe going across and black sweatpants. Marinette sighed as she scooted over so he could slip in under the covers with her. It was now dark in the room as Adrien turned off the lights earlier but she could still make out his figure in the darkness. As she settled into the covers, she felt the warmth emanating from his body. It felt warm, it felt safe, it felt right. Suddenly, Marinette heard a soft voice call out in the darkness.
"You know... the last time we slept like this was 15 years ago, it reminds of how much I missed this," Adrien said softly as Marinette let out a small smile, remembering.
"Yeah... it seems so long ago, so much has changed since then... it seems like a lifetime ago," Marinette sighed as she snuggled under the covers and felt Adrien settle in next to her. Marinette moved her head so she could get a good look at Adrien's face, it seemed content yet conflicted somehow, "Adrien, are you going to be ok? You know... with losing Kagami and everything?"
Adrien pressed his lips into a thin line before propping himself up on his elbow and smiling at her, "Yeah, I think it's because I was afraid of having someone I love leave me again. The fear of loneliness, it's what triggers my depression every time... I don't ever want to feel that again..."
Marinette sighed as she lifted her hand up so she could rest it on his cheek, caressing it, "I see... Adrien, don't worry this time ok? I'm not going to leave you ok? I promise... It's been the biggest regret of my life and I'm sorry... for everything..." Marinette felt herself bury her herself into the pillows. She heard Adrien chuckled before feeling a pair of lips press against her forehead.
"Stop apologizing Princess... it's not like you, I know you won't leave... I believe you..." Adrien said softly as Marinette felt his arm gently wrap around her torso and bring her closer to him, close enough so that their noses were touching and their bodies were pressed up against each other. She felt herself snuggle into his chest and smile. She finally felt safe, protected, supported, and most of all, calm.
"Thank you..." Marinette whispered as she slipped into a peaceful sleep, Adrien kissed her hair before he fell asleep thinking about two things: the black mail against Marinette and how to save her. He also felt himself almost say something, but he decided against it. It was just his heart speaking... now isn't the time... but it's inevitable
