Notes: So the actual/original theme is "riff", HOWEVER. I was misreading it from the beginning as RIFT. God only knows why, but that was the theme I was planning for (rift), soooo…hey, guys, the plot's picking up! :D

Marinette's 29 Valentine's Days

Day Seventeen, Loop Sixteen: Rift

When her alarm started going off, Marinette groaned, pulled her blanket over her head, and curled onto her side. She squeezed her eyes shut, as if by simply ignoring her blaring alarm she could ignore the fact that it was still Friday, 14 February, Valentine's Day, and her life completely, totally, and utterly sucked.

Everything hurt. Her head was pounding, and her body felt like it had been thrown through a couple brick walls – and, being one of Paris's top superheroes, she actually had been thrown through a brick wall before and could safely make that comparison. She was ninety percent sure no brick walls had been involved the day before, though. Or…maybe there had been. Had…

Her alarm was still going off, but it was like a dull, distant background noise as her sluggish mind tried to catch up.

She had been with Luka.

She had been fighting with Luka.

And they had run into Hannah and Geoff at a different café.

While she had been fighting with Luka.

And Geoff had thought…

…but that was crazy? But Luka…

…why was she remembering Luka throwing her into a brick wall?

She whimpered as her alarm continued to scream, curling in tighter on herself and burying her head beneath her pillow. That was crazy. That couldn't be right. Luka would never hurt her. He would sooner die – had died (or at the least been disintegrated or dissolved or whatever it was akumas did without actually killing people), in fact, trying to protect either Ladybug or their teammates from akumas in the past, and he didn't even claim to love them like he did her! He would never –

"Sweetie? Are you up yet? Your alarm's been going off for a while now," her mom's voice came from somewhere below her. She hadn't even heard her come in. She whimpered again, hissing when her mom's hand came to rest on her arm. Her alarm finally silenced, and she relaxed a little. "Marinette? Are you ok?"

"Uh-uh," she mumbled, attempting to shake her head – but it hurt too much to move. Sabine pried her blanket away from her face and pressed the back of her hand against her forehead, frowning.

"You don't feel warm," she murmured. Marinette blinked glassy eyes at her, and Sabine's frown deepened. "You don't look well, Marinette. I know you were looking forward to today, but I think maybe you should stay home and rest."

"Can't," she moaned. She tried to sit up, but her arm throbbed and she fell back against her bed. She groaned and pulled her blanket tighter around her.

"Ok, sweetheart, I know you had plans with Luka, but he'll just have to understand," Sabine sighed, rubbing a hand along her back. "I can't let you go to school like this."

"Sorry," she mumbled. "Tell him I'm sorry?"

"You'll have to tell him that yourself, sweetie," Sabine said with a small laugh. Marinette blinked at her.

"…he's not downstairs?" she asked, Sabine frowned.

"Should he be?" she asked. Marinette glanced back at her phone and shook her head.

"No…I…" she started, but a chill raced through her and her words cut off in another moan. Sabine leaned forward and kissed her cheek, patting her shoulder before she climbed down from the bed.

"Rest, Marinette," she said. "I'll call the school and let them know you're sick."

When she was gone, Marinette reached for her phone and checked her notifications. There was a happy Valentine's text from Alya (the same one that had greeted her every morning for…God, how long had it been now?), but nothing from Luka.

Where was he?

MDC: Hey.

MDC: Maman isn't letting me go to school.

MDC: …I think I'm sick.

He didn't respond. She watched her screen for a few minutes – until it blanked out – and no reply came. She groaned and dropped her phone, closing her eyes against the light filtering into her room.

It was possible he was sick, too. He'd been sick for a while now. And that…that was important. She knew that was important, but her aching head wouldn't let her remember why. A gentle rattling made her open her eyes. Tikki was sitting on her pillow, the bottle of ibuprofen in her paws and a bottle of water on the shelf behind her.

"I know you don't feel good, Marinette," Tikki said slowly, "but…we have to get going."

"Maman's calling the school," Marinette said. "I can't go, Tikki."

"Marinette, you have to!" Tikki cried. "You have to go back to Hannah's and catch the akuma! It's your –"

"Tikki, if you say it's my responsibility one more time –" Marinette bit out, but her phone buzzed and cut her off. She grabbed it, ignoring Tikki's disapproving look, and pulled up Luka's text chain.

Her messages were still unanswered, but she had a notification from…Dingo?

DK: MARI! where r u?

DK: Lu won't talk to me. what happened?!

DK: He look d

She groaned and sat up, taking the bottle from Tikki and downing the medication before she reached for her phone. It buzzed while she was typing, a reply from Luka flashing across the top of the screen giving her pause.

LC: good

Her eyebrows furrowed. Her thumbs hovered over her screen, uncertain. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Her phone buzzed again.

DK: Oh ok he just said u were sick. tough luck.

DK: We can bring ur work later? r u contagious?

DK: Do we still get macarons monday? can we get them 2day if we bring work?

She rolled her eyes and tossed her phone aside, her responding text still half-written. Tikki hovered before her, and she sighed.

"Fine," she said. "You're right, ok? Just…give me a minute."

"You'll feel better once you transform, Marinette," Tikki said. "My magic will protect you. The only reason you don't feel good is because you weren't transformed when the akuma attacked."

"I know, Tikki!" Marinette snapped. She rubbed at her face, ignoring the hurt look Tikki sent her. "I…I know. I'm sorry. I…"

"I know, Marinette," Tikki sighed, nuzzling against her cheek. Marinette dropped her hands and tipped her head back, glaring blearily at her ceiling. She ignored the buzzing phone beside her.

"Tikki, spots on."

She slipped out through her skylight, her phone forgotten on the bed behind her.

Luka's picture disappeared from the screen as the door closed, a missed call notification taking its place.

– V –

Ladybug was beginning to think finding Hannah first thing in the morning was a moot point. Despite Tikki's insistence that tackling Hannah right at the start of the day was the best course of action, it was clear to Marinette that there really was no rhyme or reason to the akuma's strategy. If anything, she seemed to be…winging it.

Which…for someone like Ladybug, like Marinette, who always had a plan and thrived on being prepared and following through on said plans (and, because of the nature of her…ok, more clumsy attributes, always had a backup plan or ten at the ready), was quite frankly incredibly frustrating. Ladybug didn't wing it. That was more Chat Noir's territory.

And while donning her suit and running along the rooftops had made Ladybug feel a bit better (or at least a bit less like death), by noon she was starting to think she could have just slept another hour or two and found Hannah after school. At least she knew where Hannah and Geoff worked now, so she supposed there was that.

She had arrived at Rue de Bretagne too late to find the akuma, but just as she had touched down on the flower shop's roof Geoff and Hannah had walked out of Hannah's building. Ladybug had followed them from above as they made their way to an office building about two blocks from Sant-Saëns. While they had disappeared inside, she had made her way to the roof to look for access from above. That had proved less than fruitful, so instead of alerting the akuma (if she was even watching) to her activities by walking up to the front desk and trying to convince security she just needed a casual perusal of the building (which, admittedly, they would probably give her if she just said akuma) she had camped out atop the building across from the offices and…waited.

Which had only darkened her mood, made her feel completely useless, and further convinced her she could have slept her time hangover off, damn it, Tikki. Especially the longer she sat there.

She smirked a little at that thought. Time hangover. That was a good one. She wondered if Viperion…

…Viperion.

There was something, just on the edge of her mind, screaming to be heard. A crucial part of the puzzle that she'd been missing. A part she was starting to think she had figured out before Luka had tossed her into that wall.

No, she thought, shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear it. Luka had…the akuma had attacked. Luka saw it first. Luka was trying to protect her.

He'd thrown them both into a wall.

Because he hadn't had his Miraculous in months, but Luka Couffaine was still a hero. He…

She groaned and doubled over, knotting her fingers in her hair and pulling. She was getting distracted again. Missing the point.

The point was Luka was Viperion. And Viperion…why was he important? It was just there…

She heard a laughing shout – "Geoff, wait!" – and looked back at the office building in time to see Geoff and Hannah running from the entrance. They were both laughing, and they were holding hands. Ladybug leaned a bit farther over the ledge of the roof, her eyes narrowing as she watched them run towards a bistro further down the street. Things looked…promising. Maybe she would get lucky this time, she thought as she reached for her yoyo. She was about to throw it, launching herself towards the bistro, when something soft bounced off her head. She dropped her yoyo in surprise and peered over the ledge at the street below.

Luka was standing on the sidewalk, a paper takeaway bag in one arm and the other raised with a roll in his hand. A quick glance to her feet revealed another roll, presumably what had hit her. She looked back at Luka. He jerked his head towards the alley beside the building she was on and started walking.

He'd been glaring at her the entire time.

What the hell?

He still looked pissed when she dropped into the alley.

"Luka!" she said, trying to sound cheerful despite her own irritation and confusion. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Shouldn't you?" he asked, leaning against the opposite wall and leveling her with a dark look. She smiled a bit wider, laughing a little unnaturally.

"What? Pffft, Luka, come on," she said, placing her hands on her hips. "Superhero. Saving Paris usually comes before school. If I was still in school, that is."

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she deflated a little.

"…ok, that was…I'm sorry," she sighed, hanging her head. He deserved better than paltry attempts at disguising her identity. "You were a teammate. You deserve better than that."

"Yeah, well," he said, some of his bluster dissipating. She bit her lip and looked him over. He seemed…tired. Again. His eyes were dark, or at least the skin under them was.

"…you threw bread at me," she said. He snorted, chuckling a little as he nodded.

"I was trying to get your attention," he said, shrugging a little. "Throwing the roll was easier than throwing the soup."

"…soup?" she asked. He glanced back at her before returning his gaze to the street beyond the alley.

"My girlfriend's sick," he said. "I was bringing her some soup for lunch."

Her lips quirked in a smile. Even if he was still mad at her, he'd called her his girlfriend. Not just a friend.

"You have a girlfriend now? That's new," she teased. He rolled his eyes, but at least he was smiling now.

"It's…been a long time coming, but I guess it's new, yeah," he said. "She's pretty amazing. You'd probably like her."

"What's her name?" she couldn't help asking. He was silent for a long moment,, watching her with a look that pulled at that something in her mind. The missing piece of the puzzle she'd been trying to figure out for days now. She reached up and tugged on a pigtail. Her face felt warm. "I-if you don't mind my asking."

"Marinette," he said. "I'm pretty sure you know her, actually."

"The baker's girl? Yeah, we've met a few times," she said. She glanced at the bag in his arms, a sudden spike of panic hitting her. He was taking the soup to his girlfriend. Marinette. Who was definitely not at home sick because she was standing in front of him with a superhero mask on. "Um…actually, I could take that to her, if you…if you have to get back to school?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to saving Paris comes before school?" he quipped. She hesitated, and he shook his head. She couldn't exactly tell him the reason she didn't want him bringing Marinette soup was because she was Marinette and if he went to the bakery he'd discover Marinette wasn't home (and therefore not actually sick). "It's…no, it's fine. I need to talk to her anyway. I was kind of a jerk this morning, and she's been ignoring me all day. I don't like fighting with her."

"…I'm sure she doesn't like fighting with you, either," she said after a moment, her voice soft. She hoped she didn't sound too guilty. She didn't like fighting with him, but she hadn't actually realized they were fighting anymore. They had been fighting yesterday, true, but that was yesterday – the last Valentine's Day. They hadn't been fighting on 13 February, so why would he think they were…but they would definitely be fighting once he got to the bakery and found Marinette gone. That…she almost hoped she'd wake up tomorrow on Valentine's Day, just so he wouldn't remember their fight, or her being sick, or…she reached for her yoyo and started swinging it, preparing to leave. Her head was starting to hurt again. "Well…I should be getting back to –"

"Wait!" he called, pushing away from the wall and stepping towards her. She stopped swinging her yoyo and turned back towards him. "I actually did have something to talk to you about. Besides my love life."

He smirked a little at that, and she looked away with a blush.

"I'm listening," she said, catching her yoyo. He shifted the bag, looking up at the sky.

"Something's been…off," he finally said, bobbing his head a little. As if he were fishing for the right words to use. "Weird."

"Weird?" she parroted, and he nodded.

"Like…for a while now," he said. He looked back at her, his eyebrows lifting. "Have you noticed it, Ladybug? The day's just been…weird. Akuma-weird. And long. It's been so fucking long. And…I'm assuming the reason you're transformed in the middle of the day is because you're after an akuma. Not just…y'know. Some random midday patrol."

She nodded, and he sighed as he leaned back against the alley wall, tipping his head back against the bricks. His face scrunched, as if he was mad at Ladybug, too, and not just Marinette.

"Alone?" he asked, closing his eyes and keeping his face pointed towards the sky. She nodded slowly, and when she realized he wouldn't see that she coughed.

"Y-yeah," she confirmed. She winced at how…uncertain she sounded. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Yes."

"…and Chat?" he pressed. She tried not to roll her eyes, even if he wouldn't see it. She didn't see what that mattered.

"Out of town," she answered. She pursed her lips, considering. "It's only for a few days, and we tried to keep it quiet because we didn't want Hawkmoth to get any ideas. Not that he'd notice if he was around, anyway. I didn't even notice at first."

He hummed, almost as if he were…agreeing with her.

"It's not my first solo akuma Luka," she said, trying not to sound offended. He opened his eyes, but he still didn't look at her. "I appreciate your concern, I do, but I'll be fine. You're right. Things have been off, and there is an akuma, but I'm aware of the situation and I'm handling it."

He made a little noncommittal huff of aggravation. Her eyes narrowed What the hell was wrong with him today?

"I get why you can't call us in anymore, Ladybug," he finally said. His voice sounded pinched. "I'm not…I'm not trying to argue with that call."

She looked away, waiting for him to make his point.

"Sometimes I do wish you'd consider forming a new team," he confessed, frowning. "Hawkmoth may not always be the most competent villain, but he's still a supervillain. Saving Paris on a daily basis…it's a lot for anyone on their own. It's why you formed the team in the first place, isn't it? So you'd have people you could fall back on?"

She didn't answer. She didn't even look at him. He sighed and shifted the bag again, raising an arm to rub at his eyes.

"I just…if you need help. If you need a teammate. Ask somebody, ok? You can't carry the world on your shoulders, Ladybug," he sighed. Her hand fisted over her yoyo as he looked back at her. "You need a crew."

He looked like he wanted to say more. To press the point, to tell her…tell her what? That she could lean on him? That she could count on him? She knew that. Sometimes she thought she knew that too well. But he didn't say anything else, instead watching her for some kind of reaction. She squeezed her yoyo tighter.

"I…I'm fine," she insisted, and he groaned. "I've got this, Luka."

"You do not, Ladybug!" he snapped.

"And how would you know?!" she snapped back, her irritation flaring again. "You said it yourself: I can't call you in anymore! How did you even know –?!"

"Jesus fucking Christ, I am too tired to play this game," he groaned, dropping his head back against the wall with a hard thunk. His fingers dug into the sides of the bag hard enough that one poked through the side.

"What game?" she tutted, fighting the urge to stomp her foot. "What –?"

"Forget it," he huffed. She jumped as he shoved the bag into her arms with an aggravated sigh. "Do whatever. I don't…forget…just…"

She froze as his lips were suddenly against her forehead, the gesture jarringly gentle compared to the aggression of his words. His hands rested on her shoulders, braced as if he was afraid to actually touch her. It was a hesitation he had never shown towards Marinette and was strange to feel now, even knowing she was in the suit and he had no reason to kiss Ladybug, to touch Ladybug like that.

"Just be safe," he sighed, turning away before she could question him. He was almost at the sidewalk before her brain caught up with her.

"Luka, wait!" she called.

He had barely turned when the akuma appeared behind him, her eyes a vibrant, glowing white and her face set in a furious scowl. Without thinking, Ladybug dropped the bag and threw her yoyo at Luka, yanking him towards her before she zipped them up to the roof.

"You were right, ok?" she gasped as they stumbled away from the ledge. He bent forward, his hands on his knees as he groaned. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! You were right."

"Damn it! I don't want to be right, Marinette, I want –" he started, but the akuma shrieked below them, making him turn back towards the alley before he could say anything else. Her eyes widened, and she grabbed at his arm as he stepped away from her and back towards the ledge.

"What did you – watch out!" she cried, pulling him towards her as a wall of light rose from the alley. He pulled her close, ducking over her and cursing as the light engulfed them.