I DID IT AGAIN! I WROTE TOO MUCH AND NOW I GOTTA ADD A 4TH CHAPTER! I'M SORRYYY
With everything sorted, Ladybug and Chat Noir made their way back towards Agreste Manor, where Gabriel, aka Hawk Moth, was waiting for them. Upon arriving, they were immediately welcomed inside. Gabriel wasted no time engaging in small pleasantries, and simply led them into his office, and towards the elevator that led down to the basement where Emilie Agreste currently resided. They all had to descend one at a time, as the platform wasn't big enough to support more than one person, and eventually, they all reached the bottom. There, they found themselves standing before a large and wide underground chamber.
In the center of the chamber stretched a long, metal bridge that crossed over what looked to be a shallow body of water that led to a large central platform. On that center platform, Ladybug saw a beautiful garden surrounding a very out-of-place, futuristic-looking pod that she assumed must be the machine keeping Adrien's mom alive. Before she could take in more of her surroundings, she was interrupted.
"Come." Gabriel instructed, his anxiety making him a little more irritable.
Ladybug and Chat gave each other a look of resolution before they both began to follow after him. Chat very obviously began to slow down as they got closer to the machine, but Ladybug noticed quickly and stopped to reach a hand out for him. He took it immediately and squeezed her hand tightly, showing his pent-up apprehension and fear, but allowing his partner to pull him the rest of the way. As much as he wanted to have a major breakdown right now over this whole situation, he would have to wait until later when they were alone. For now, he'd focus on doing his job by supporting his Lady.
As the trio finally reached the pod, Gabriel walked around the side and pressed one of the buttons on the machine. The glass, which had been darkened to keep its contents hidden, immediately became transparent and the heroes were finally able to get a good look at the woman lying inside. Chat sucked in a breath, but otherwise didn't outwardly react, while Ladybug placed a gentle hand on top of the glass.
"Is it safe to open it, so I can get a better look at her?" she asked.
"As long as nothing inside is disturbed." Gabriel replied grimly, pressing a couple more buttons that pulled the glass away.
Ladybug detransformed.
"Tikki, could you take a look at her? Is there anything we can do?"
Tikki nodded and floated over towards Emilie's body, placing a tiny paw on Mme Agreste's forehead, and closing her eyes. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen until, suddenly, Tikki's form began to glow a bright pink, and a wave of similarly colored magic enveloped Emilie's sleeping form. The trio watched the sight in awe as the magic danced across her body, yet, almost as soon as the light came, it quickly fizzled away and disappeared. Gabriel frowned, visibly distrubed.
"What does that mean? Did something go wrong? Did it not work?"
Tikki opened her eyes and floated back towards her charge.
"No, it worked. I've looked over her condition. You were right, M. Agreste: the cause of her condition was indeed a result of wielding a broken Miraculous. Normally, this would have resulted in the Holder's death, but because of this pod, her condition has been suspended for the time being. Because of this, it is possible to cure her."
Gabriel's eyes widened, and while the man was usually very famous for being able to keep his composure no matter the circumstance and remain as stoic as possible, the news brought visible tears to his eyes.
"Really?! How?! Please help her!" he pleaded.
Tikki frowned sadly and hummed. "However, this pod has only delayed the inevitable. If we don't hurry, it could fail soon and she will undergo a rapid degeneration. I could heal her myself, but as you know, a kwami's magic is very unstable if it is used without a medium. I don't know how that might affect Mme Agreste. Marinette, I could either teach you how to further tap into my power so that you are able to heal her, or you could try to brew a restorative potion."
"What would take less time to do?" Marinette asked.
"The potion. However, you would have the highest chance of success of waking her if you managed to learn my healing power. Its potency is absolute, and there is nothing more effective than my healing magic."
Marinette nodded, and slowly began to rub her chin in thought.
"How long would it take to learn that, then?"
Tikki sighed before shaking her head.
"It's hard to say. Every Ladybug learns at a different pace. You were significantly younger than most of my Ladybugs when you learned how to Create things, so it's possible that it might not take you very long to learn Healing magic, but the potion would still be the quickest option."
Marinette hummed, and Gabriel watched on in silence as she tried to decide what to do.
"Master Fu did teach me how to make healing and restorative potions, but that was just for kwamis, in case you or Plagg ever got sick again. Are potions meant for kwamis even safe for humans to take?"
Now it was Tikki's turn to hum in contemplation.
"I don't know. I can't remember it ever being tested before. Most of the time, when someone falls ill, the appropriate potion is always used. Kwami potions for kwamis and regular potions for humans," she answered.
"And we can't even ask Master Fu, since he lost his memory…" Marinette lamented, until an idea suddenly cropped up in her mind.
"Wait! Master Su-Han! He should still be in Paris somewhere! If we had his help, we could make sure that we made the right potion! I wouldn't want to put Mme Agreste in any unnecessary danger by taking a risk with a potion meant for kwamis if we don't have to."
Gabriel nodded in absolute agreement and Chat did as well.
"Do you have any way of contacting this Master Su-Han? How soon can he get here?" Gabriel asked.
Marinette grimaced before shaking her head.
"I don't. He said he would be watching me from afar to see if I have what it takes to continue being a Guardian, but I haven't seen him since the day Master Fu was akumatized…"
The trio frowned, each of them going silent as they began to think of ways they could find one specific person in the massive city of Paris with no leads and no way to contact them. They couldn't just go out and start screaming his name; that would bring too much attention. The heroes and Hawk Moth all looking for the same person? No, they had to think of something.
"Well, you said Master Su-Han told you he'd be watching over you, right? I don't think he's always watching over you, because that'd be creepy, so he might just be keeping an eye on you during akuma fights. We could have… Hawk Moth make a temporary return, and try to find Master Su-Han during the battle."
Gabriel was in the process of agreeing before Ladybug interrupted him.
"No. I don't want to subject someone to being akumatized for our own ends. It's not right. Tikki, Master Su-Han used to be the Guardian of your box, is there no way you or another kwami can find him?" Marinette asked.
Tikki frowned a little.
"Perhaps Barkk might be able to. Being a dog and already being familiar with the Celestial Guardian's scent, it may be possible for her to track him down."
Marinette nodded.
"Then we'll have to ask. Tikki, spots on."
Marinette was once again enveloped in Tikki's magic yet again as Ladybug replaced her civilian identity. Once she was transformed, she pulled out her yo-yo and ran her finger along its surface to open it. As it did, she reached inside and pulled out the Miraculous of the Dog, triggering Barkk's materialization.
"Ah! Good morning, Ms. Guardian." Barkk greeted, stretching out her paws and yawning.
"Good morning, Barkk. We need your help. Do you think you'd be able to find Master Su-Han with your sense of smell?" Ladybug asked.
Barkk puffed up and nodded enthusiastically.
"But of course! I am very familiar with Master Su-Han's scent. As long as he is still in the city, it shouldn't be a problem!" she boasted.
"Great! M. Agreste, Chat and I will leave to find Master Su-Han. Once we do, I will immediately get to work on creating the potion to heal your wife. We'll return as soon as it's done."
Gabriel nodded, visibly less tense than he was when they first arrived. Apparently, having a concrete plan in place was enough to ease some of his worries.
"Very well. I will await your success and… thank you."
Ladybug noticed Chat's eyes widen at his genuine gratitude, something he had never known his father to give, and had to suppress the urge to giggle at his reaction. Instead, she gave Gabriel a soft, genuine smile and nodded.
"It is truly my pleasure, M. Agreste. I would do anything for Adrien." She turned her smile towards Chat, giving him a wink, before nodding. "Come on, Chat. Come on, Barkk."
Ladybug took a hold on her partner's hand again and began to lead him back towards the elevator, Barkk following after the pair. Chat was making himself almost deadweight as he was pulled along, his surprise having only grown at Ladybug's words. A warmth settled in his chest and immediately spread throughout his body, pulling the boy further under the ocean of love that he felt for his partner.
Ladybug and Chat Noir made their way back up to the first floor and left the Agreste Manor. Once they were out on rooftops again, Barkk began to lead them towards Master Su-Han and the heroes followed in silence. He was actually not as difficult to find as they thought.
Upon finding him, Ladybug explained the situation to him as clearly as she could, and immediately asked about restorative potions that might save someone who'd used a broken Miraculous. While Master Su-Han explained that there existed no such potions, he did mention that there was a potion that one might use to treat magical injuries in general. Its full range of uses had not been fully tested as there had not been many opportunities to do such tests, but at the very least, the backlash from using a broken Miraculous should also count as a magical injury as well. While he was unsure of its effectiveness, theoretically, the potion could at least stabilize the patient long enough for Marinette to learn Healing magic.
Marinette asked for the recipe and Master Su-Han easily obliged, explaining some of the things that she should look out for while making it, before she nodded and leapt away to begin the process of creating it. Chat followed her home, at her prompting, and they both slipped into her room through her skylight. As they got inside, Ladybug jumped down off her loft and immediately detransformed, grabbing her stuff to immediately get to work.
Chat sat awkwardly on her bed for a few minutes as she went about gathering the ingredients, before she noticed that he was just sitting there.
"Come here, Chaton. I'm going to need your help."
With a smile, he obliged and jumped down. For the next several hours after that, Adrien (having detransformed as well) and Marinette worked together to brew their very first potion together. Predictably, they quickly fell into a groove with how familiar they were with each other, and found that they didn't even need words to understand what the other needed. The process of preparing their ingredients was scarily efficient.
That is, until about halfway through their work, Adrien noticed something that distracted him. Marinette's phone had been buzzing on desk for the past hour. That alone wouldn't have been enough to pull his attention away, but she seemed to be very intentionally ignoring it.
While he would have normally made the assumption that she was simply too engrossed in her work to take notice, he could see that that wasn't the case as her flinching at the sound made it very obvious that she did hear it.
Adrien frowned.
"Marinette, are you okay?" he asked softly.
Marinette did not so much as pause in her work, answering as she prepared another ingredient. "Yes, why do you ask?"
"Well… I think someone's trying to get a hold of you."
Marinette shook her head. "I'll check it in a bit, this is more important. Did you finish cutting up and putting in the ginseng?"
"Yes, Mari. My ingredients are already prepared and so are yours, we just need to wait for the right time to put them in. Are you sure you're okay? Every time it goes off—" Just as Adrien was about to point it out, the phone went off again and Marinette flinched.
"…You flinch like that."
Marinette frowned as well, and silently wished she had more to prepare just so she could focus on something other than this conversation. She eventually sighed, and grabbed a little timer on her desk, setting it to five minutes before she turned to Adrien.
"…Hand me my phone, please?"
Adrien nodded and reached for it, handing it over. Marinette typed in her passcode without looking at the screen, and held it out for Adrien once it was unlocked.
"You'll understand when you see it. I'll warn you though, it's pretty bad…"
Adrien's brow furrowed, but he took the phone and looked down at what she was showing him. His eyes widened as he read the messages being sent to her.
Some were from Lila, bragging about taking away all her friends, sending her pictures of a very obviously pissed off Alya, and a follow up of her grinning like the cat who got the cream. The majority of her messages though, were from Alya.
Alya was going off on Marinette for being such a 'terrible fucking person', saying she thought she knew her better than that. Thanks to Lila, Alya believed that Marinette was the kind of person that would steal, humiliate, threaten, and even physically harm someone that she didn't like. The messages had started off pretty tame, with Alya only expressing anger at her for her supposed actions, but then it had evolved into something much more serious.
The amount of times Alya had called her a 'hateful bitch' in the last twenty minutes alone made Adrien's grip on her phone tighten enough to turn his knuckles white. Yet, despite the fact that Marinette had never once responded to any of Alya's insults in any way, the girl had not stopped. Even as Adrien read through the old messages, new ones were still coming.
What the fuck is the matter with you? Haven't you done enough? Can you not even allow Lila one single fucking moment of happiness, now you have to bully her over the phone?
Stop sending her stuff already!
Okay what the fuck, that was real low, even for a hateful bitch like you.
We're going to report this, you know? Come Monday, Principal Damocles will know about these messages and maybe then you'll be expelled for good this time. Good riddance.
DUDE, YOU KNOW SHE HAS A CONDITION, STOP!
Are you not bored yet? Is this fun for you? Do you enjoy making people cry?
SHE'S HURTING HERSELF BECAUSE OF YOU, STOP IT!
As the new messages popped up, Marinette tried not to flinch every time the sound chimed, but ultimately failed. Adrien was now shaking with rage, and it was only then that he wished Hawk Moth was still active, if for no other reason than to do whatever he wanted to Lila, and not have to worry about consequences because of the Cure. Perhaps Chat should give him a call? As he plotted, Adrien called upon his transformation. Marinette's head shot up from where her gaze had fallen to the ground and her eyes widened.
"Adrien, what are you doing?"
"I'm going to stop this. You keep working the potion, Princess, I'll be right back."
"No, wait!"
However, before Marinette could even reach out to stop him, Chat stepped away from her and jumped up to her loft in a single bound, quickly disappearing through her skylight. Marinette was tempted to transform and follow after him to stop him, but with the potion currently brewing, she couldn't leave it unattended. She couldn't even call him back as he had taken her phone with him.
And even if she used her Bug-phone to call him, she knew he would most likely ignore it so as to not even give her the chance to call him back. That damned cat… always so protective. Even as she lamented not being able to stop him, she couldn't help the blush that warmed her cheeks at the gesture of his protection. Hopefully, he wouldn't take it too far…