Stuck in a Cabin (with you)
Written by: JuliaFC
Betas: Khanofallorcs, Agrestebug, Etoile-Lead-Sama and genxha. Thank you all so much!
Cover Art credit: Rosehealer02 on Deviantart
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
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Answer to reviews:
Here's Chapter 6, hope you'll like it!
MiraculousLover2: They will have a few problems, I'm telling you, it will be tough. Hope you'll like this chapter!
DisneyFander: happy you liked it :)
browneyedgirl41: wow… well, carry on reading and you will know! ^^
Rescue Wolf: Oh I absolutely LOVE the Gorilla and the relationship he has with Adrien! If you read my "Visiting Hours" you will understand what I mean! And who knows. He would keep his mouth shut if he knew anyway ^^
dragonlily2002: LOL yes, the look on the Gorilla's face must have been hilarious. Even the one on Adrien's face ^^. Hope you like this chapter :)
xSapphirexRosesxFanx: Worry not. That's coming :)
Rose Tiger: here it is :) hope it will meet expectations!
harmonystar: LOL sí, ¡él es el único que podría competir consigo mismo! Pobre dulce Adrien ^^. ¡Muchas gracias por tu comentario y discúlpame si mi español no es genial! Continúa siguiendo :)
Agiani: Here's next chapter. Hope you'll like it :)
sailorlyoko4life: Hehe you won't be disappointed XD
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Chapter 6 — A Very Unexpected Help
"Hello, Alya? Sorry to disturb you, dear. Can I talk to Marinette, please?" Alya's eyes grew wide when she answered the phone. Lila had just gone to the toilet and this was the first time she could look at her messages or pick up her calls.
"I'm sorry, Madame Cheng, I haven't seen her at all. I've been working on the history project all afternoon with Lila!"
Sabine gasped. "Oh, that's very weird, dear. Marinette said that she was joining you and the girls at lake Daumesnil, to skate. She left hours ago."
Alya's heart started pounding as a knot twisted her insides. "I haven't spoken to Marinette today." She put the phone in loudspeaker and went to check her messages. "Last time I spoke to her was last night, to say sorry that I hadn't been paired with her for the project."
"This is really weird," said Sabine. Her voice seemed to crack. "I have been trying to get in touch with Marinette for hours and her phone's always been off. The storm is getting worse and…" Alya heard Sabine sniffling. "I can't help being worried."
The brunette walked to the window and looked outside. The snow had picked up really badly and the view was one of the most spectacularly beautiful she had ever seen. But also spectacularly scary, thinking that her best friend was somewhere out there, with no phone, and had been out for hours. What was going on, Marinette? Where was she?
"Don't worry Madame Cheng. I will call the girls and see if Marinette is with one of them. Maybe she thought I was going to be there with them. I'll call you back."
Sabine sighed, "Thank you, Alya," she said before hanging up.
Alya was dialling Mylène's number when Lila came out of the toilet.
"Is everything okay?" inquired the Italian brunette. Alya nodded and signed to be quiet with her free hand.
"Mylène? Hi, it's Alya. have you by any chance had any news of Marinette?" The second she mentioned Marinette's name, Alya noticed that Lila's lips curled into a smirk that didn't bode any good, but the young reporter chose to park the thought and carry on with her conversation, especially when she heard the answer.
"No. I've been working at the history project with Ivan, all afternoon. Is she okay?"
The knot twisting Alya's inside grew more painful. "Thank you. Don't worry it's okay. Maybe she's at Juleka's."
"I don't think so," said Mylène, "Jules and Rose were going to work on the project too this afternoon. Alix and Max were also doing the same. And Luka is busy with his dad, so she can't be with him either."
"She told her mom that she was going with me and the girls to the lake," said Alya, her voice now cracking with worry, her hand reaching her nape and starting to scratch it anxiously. "It's so unusual of her to lie, especially to her mother."
"Now you're worrying me," said Mylène. "I have definitely not heard anything from her all day since we left school."
Alya sighed. "Okay, don't worry, leave it to me. I'll call Nino to see if he knows anything and maybe check on Adrien, although it's unlikely she would be with him."
"Nah, that would be a miracle," said Mylène from the other side of the phone.
"Indeed." Alya hung up the phone and sighed, closing her eyes and resting her forehead on the wooden frame of her window.
"What's happening, Alya? Can it not wait? We need to finish the project!" came Lila's voice from behind her.
Alya didn't know why, but Lila's tone of voice as she said that made her insides twist again. "No, it can't wait, sorry. Maybe it's better if you go home, Lila, I will be busy for a while on the phone." She was starting to dial Nino's number when Lila spoke again,
"You can't do this to me, Alya. Look at the weather outside, I can't go home right now." She looked at her worriedly. "I heard you talking about Marinette. What happened?"
Alya spoke to Lila without really looking at her, as she was messing with her phone, trying to call Marinette. Straight to Voicemail. Shoot. "Her mother just called me. She can't get in touch with Marinette. She went out earlier saying that she would meet me and the girls, but I've been stuck here with you, and Mylène just confirmed to me that all the others have been working at their projects too. I just tried to call Marinette's phone and it went straight to Voicemail."
"So what?" said Lila dismissively. "Maybe her battery died and she's stuck in a shop or somewhere because of the snow storm. Nothing to worry about, right? Marinette is resourceful." She pulled her chair in and seemed to get engrossed again in her history book. "Besides, we really need to finish the project, I don't know when I will be able to come here again with this weather."
Lila's words made sense. True, Marinette was a resourceful person, and the chances that something may have happened to her were very slim. But Alya couldn't avoid getting that gut feeling in the pit of her stomach that something wasn't right. That Marinette wouldn't have lied to her mother. No, that wasn't like Marinette at all.
"You will have to excuse me, Lila. If you want, you can carry on with the project. I won't feel okay until I haven't spoken to Marinette."
Lila shrugged and kept reading her history book. Alya went out of the room and dialled Nino's number.
"Hi, babe, 'sup?" came Nino's voice almost immediately.
"Sorry to bother you, honey, but I'm really worried for Marinette. Have you heard from her at all?" Her voice was cracking and her hands started feeling very cold and sweaty.
"No. I've been trying to get in touch with my mec all afternoon. He had a photoshoot at the lake, but it should be finished hours ago and now his phone goes straight to voicemail. We were supposed to work on the history project together after his photoshoot ended."
Alya's eyes grew wide. "Did you say he was at the lake?"
"Yes, lake Daumesnil," said Nino.
"That's funny," mumbled Alya, "it's exactly where Marinette told her mom she was going to go. Do you think…"
"Do you think she went there to see him?" said Nino. At Alya's 'gotcha', though, the young DJ continued, "But his photoshoot should have finished hours ago. And you know how Marinette is, she would never have approached him."
"Yes, the most she would have done would be to look at him from a distance. If his photoshoot ended and he went home because of the snow—"
"Okay, I'm going to ring Adrien at home. I usually wouldn't, but I have a reason; we were meant to meet to work at our project. At least I can ask him if he's seen Marinette."
"Good idea, Nino. I'll wait to hear back from you, then."
Alya hung up the phone and stared for a little time at the picture of her boyfriend on the small screen. It was such a coincidence that Marinette had told her mother she would go to the exact place where Adrien was having his photoshoot. She thought that her friend had gone past that kind of trick a long time ago; her relationship with the blond boy had become much better lately. In all fairness, however, Alya knew perfectly well that if there was one thing that would persuade Marinette to lie to her parents, being able to assist with a photoshoot with one Adrien Agreste was definitely it.
She started feeling a little better about the situation, but the pit in her stomach didn't want to disappear. She was still worried that something was wrong. Marinette hadn't even sent her a single text message. And how come the photoshoot had finished and she hadn't gone home yet? No, it was still very suspicious. Very, very suspicious.
She walked back to her room. "I'm going to make some sandwiches for myself," she said to Lila. "Fancy some?"
Lila smiled, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. "That would be very kind of you, thank you."
"Stay here then, I'll be back." That said, she marched to the kitchen and started busying herself making the sandwiches, but half-way through it, Lila's face popped at the door.
"My mum just rang me and told me she's waiting downstairs for me. Better if I go," she said. "Any news of Marinette?" Her tone sounded hopeful, but the look of her eyes seemed that of a sly fox checking on her next prey. Alya felt a shiver run down her spine, but she couldn't make out why. Lila had always been a nice girl and had always tried to make friends with Marinette. Maybe her gut feeling was wrong; maybe she was really concerned.
"Not yet. Although, Nino told me that Adrien was having a photoshoot at the lake—" Alya couldn't finish what she was saying, because her phone rang suddenly and it was Nino. "Sorry, I have to take this."
She didn't even wait for Lila to nod, she just answered the call.
"Hey Babe," said Nino. His voice sounded concerned.
"Are you okay, honey? Did you talk to Adrien?" She waved bye to Lila, hoping that the Italian girl would just wave back and go, but Lila instead stood there. Maybe she wanted to know if Marinette was okay, thought Alya, reasoning on how nice that was of Lila, since Marinette had always made it clear that she didn't like her.
"No Babe. That's why I've called you back straight away. Even Adrien is missing apparently. The secretary actually asked me if I had news of him. Apparently, his bodyguard has been stuck in traffic for a long time and hasn't reached the location of the photoshoot yet, and Adrien's phone must have died because they have also tried to contact him with no luck."
"What? Adrien is missing too?" Alya caught with the corner of her eye the stunned reaction of Lila at the news, and her brain couldn't avoid starting to wonder why her reaction now appeared so different than the composed and theatrical reaction she had when Alya told her that Marinette was missing. Alya really liked Lila. She really did. But there was something wrong there and she just couldn't make out exactly what. She eyed Lila with a suspicious frown. "Right," she continued after Nino finished talking. "I'm getting even more worried now."
"What are you planning to do?" asked Nino.
Alya left her sandwiches where she had been making them a moment before and gave a quick wash to her hands, wiped them and then marched resolutely to the door, proceeding to put her coat on. "I'll try to go to the lake. Meet me there?"
"Babe, sorry to break the news, but there's a huge snowstorm and the mayor has called for a code red. The public transport has stopped to a halt. There's no way we can get to the lake."
Alya stopped in her tracks half-way through putting on the second sleeve of her coat. "Shoot." Then she looked at Lila who was still standing there by the door. "Has your mother got any extra room in her car, Lila?"
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"Who was it, Nathalie?" asked Gabriel when his assistant hung up on the phone.
Nathalie sighed and took a big breath before answering, "It was Adrien's friend, that DJ boy. He was asking to talk to Adrien. They were meant to work at a history project after his photoshoot. He hasn't been able to get in touch with him all afternoon, apparently."
Gabriel's face twisted into a grimace. "Any news from Gérard?"
"No. Last time he texted me, he was still quite far and had just been told by a gendarme to turn around and go home. Of course, he didn't, but he was going at a snail's speed." She looked at her watch. "That was about three quarters of an hour ago, so I doubt he's reached the location yet."
As she said that, she saw a message appearing on her phone. "Oh, I stand corrected. He has reached the location." She gasped as she carried on reading, which caused Gabriel to raise an eyebrow and pay more attention. "He's saying that three big trees have collapsed on the cabin." Gabriel stiffened.
"Has he gotten Adrien out?" he inquired.
"No," she said. "He couldn't move the trees and apparently he was making the situation worse. So he went to look for help. Seems that there's no signal at the location of the cabin, but Adrien told him that his phone is dead anyway.."
"Useless, as always," muttered Gabriel under his breath.
As he said that, a new ping resounded on Nathalie's phone and the woman gasped again. "Gérard is also telling us that Adrien isn't alone in the cabin. Apparently he has helped a friend of his, who was in trouble. That Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's sick and," she gulped, "needs underwear."
This caused Gabriel to turn his head towards his assistant. "She needs what?" he snapped.
Another ping. Nathalie scanned the message quickly before answering. Gabriel could nearly feel her throat clenching as she read the words. She was silent for quite a while, until Gabriel lost his cool. "What does he say, Nathalie?"
"Uh, sir, you don't want to read this," said his assistant. Gabriel stood up and marched towards her, snatching the phone from her hand. He read the message and he blanched.
"He was… naked?" Millions of thoughts ran through Gabriel's mind. He had always had a feeling that there was more to his son's relationship with that Marinette Dupain-Cheng that Adrien was allowing to seep through. But never, ever, not even in a million years would Gabriel think his son could be so careless. He was barely the age of consent! What did he have in that head of his? Did he want to destroy his career? Did he want to harm the reputation of his brand? As his mind kept running through always more catastrophic scenarios, a further ping resounded in the silence of the room. Gabriel's eyes snapped to the words on the screen.
Gérard: [Sorry, I hit the send button by accident. Adrien wasn't completely naked, he was wearing underwear. Apparently she fell in the lake and he had to save her, and warm her up. That's why he stripped.]
A big, massive sigh of relief later, Gabriel handed back the phone to Nathalie and returned to his seat. A further ping resounded in the silence.
"Gérard is saying that her clothes were wet. Adrien probably let her change into one of the outfits in the cabin."
"I see." Gabriel resumed looking absent-mindedly at his tablet.
"Gérard says that the cabin's ceiling is collapsing and isn't stable. He's not sure how long it will resist before falling on their head. He's worried."
Gabriel's look could have frozen a volcano. "Give me that phone," he commanded. Nathalie handed it over immediately. Gabriel walked to Emilie's portrait and beckoned Nathalie to get closer, as both of them took the lift to get into the lair. In the meantime, Gabriel dialled the Gorilla's number.
The phone picked up and a loud grunt could be heard from the other side of the phone as Gabriel walked on the bridge and passed in front of Emilie's coffin. He put a hand on the glass of the coffin reassuringly. "Gérard? Is what Nathalie told me right, you left Adrien in a cabin with a damaged roof?" A further grunt came from the other side. "What kind of imbecile are you? You can't even look after a fifteen year old? What kind of bodyguard leaves his charge in blatant danger? Believe me, if anything happens to my son you will pay for it. You will repent the day you accepted to look after him. Have I made myself clear?"
As Gabriel said that, he had reached the upstairs lair. He hung the phone in the Gorilla's face and sneered at Nooroo who had just come out of his jacket. Before he could say anything, a message pinged through on Nathalie's phone, and Gabriel smirked.
Gérard: [Nathalie? Nathalie, what was that all about? I couldn't lift the trees. I could have endangered Adrien even more if I had tried again. Please tell the boss that I haven't been careless!]
"Can you feel his strong emotion, Nooroo? Dark wings rise!" As soon as the power of the Butterfly wrapped him, Gabriel called one of his insects and charged it with dark energy. "Go, my little akuma. Evilise this worried bodyguard's heart!"
"Are you sure it's the right thing to do, sir? Maybe he has a point. Maybe the cabin could collapse if Gérard puts too much pressure on it," warned Nathalie, looking at the little purple insect fly out of the window and disappear in the distance.
"I'm sure, Nathalie. The trees could make the ceiling collapse even without our intervention. Anything could happen if we wait too long, and if another tree hits, or the pressure of the ones on the roof becomes too strong, the situation could degenerate very easily." He exchanged with Nathalie a look of pure concern. Then, the purple mask appeared on his face and his worried expression changed to a new smirk as he felt Gérard's loud grunt resounding in his head. The man seemed to be trying to resist the akuma's power. Gabriel couldn't allow that to happen. He closed his eyes for a second and tried to find the best words to put his case forward. He couldn't afford to miss this opportunity.
"Gorizilla, we meet again. I'm Hawkmoth. Your charge is stuck in a cabin and you're afraid he could be harmed. I can give you the power to get him out of trouble. In exchange, you will get for me the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Do we have an agreement?" His smirk widened as he felt the connection being made and the surge of purple energy wrap around the imposing figure of his son's bodyguard.
Please, Adrien, be safe, he thought when the akuma started moving back towards the lake.
Author's Note:
Hi! *Waves*
So… first of all, I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Unfortunately this week has been quite tough on me: after watching Gangs of Secrets I was hit with a few bombs (not literally guys, only figuratively. Don't worry, I'm alive and healthy!). The bombs were related to a few articles on Tumblr that I answered to, which made a massive light bulb pop in my head and I have basically disconnected a little from the idea of Adrien I had in my head and that I was following while writing this story (and the others). So this has resulted in me not being able to write the next chapter this week. I need time to digest that overload of information. If you want to read what the "bomb" was, I refer you to my tumblr post about Weredad, about "Adrien the liar" and about what I foresee could be Kagami's future role in the series based on the last picture of Lies. Also, subscribing to my tumblr is a good way to keep track of my activity because if I have a problem and can't update, I should be able to warn you on tumblr! For those from FFN who may wonder what I'm talking about because FFN takes off even the mention of the name tumblr, it's my account o (hope it shows like this, otherwise it's the social that starts with t and doesn't have a bird as an icon!) look there for giuliafc.
So I don't have today a little preview for the next chapter. I have the plot though and I can tell you that
— Lila has a little problem
— Gorizilla finds the cabin
— Plagg is still hungry, so Adrien needs to find a creative way to help ;)
I hope to update as soon as possible. I may be able to update next Saturday if I get inspired, but I may focus on "Caught in the Loop" and "When Magic Fails" this week instead, just to change focus a little bit, and return here the following week. I will come back here very soon! Please subscribe to know when the next chapter will be out.
If you read this and you're not part of our wonderful Discord server already, but you enjoy reading, writing and talking about Miraculous, please join our Discord server, Miraculous Fanworks (for people on FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks). See you there soon. Not sure when I will update this story but it won't be too long! Promise!
PS: if you receive an "update" message from FFN it's because I hadn't realised that my beta hadn't edited the chapter yet, so he quickly did it for me and I just posted the corrected version. Sorry about that!