Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or Mash, or it's characters.
Chapter 30,
"I really like this silver material." Cat Noir said when Marinette showed him the jacket.
"I almost went with the gold, but I liked the silver better." Marinette said.
"Ok. And you said you got all of this stuff from that Klinger guy?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette nodded.
"Yeah. See, this pale pink fabric on the top of the chest pockets, and the trip of the pockets down here for your hands, and the pink outline on the back, are all from this light jacket Klinger had. The purple fabric on the bottom of the chest pockets, and up on the collar, are from this summer scarf he had." Marinette pointed out the fabrics as she explained it.
"So on the back, we have the rose." Cat Noir said, flipping it over.
"The rose was plucked from this white jacket he had." Marinette said.
"You have the rose, and it almost looks like it's swimming." Cat Noir said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Well, you have the rose. And it's not just sewn on the back of this army jacket; you laid the rose on top of this red and... what is that, orange-silver? But red and silver-ish material is under the rose and you have this pink boarder around that... so it's like a pool." He said and Marinette chuckled.
"Alright, whatever you say. I wasn't really sure how this would turn out, but I kinda like how colorful it is." Marinette said. Cat Noir smiled and returned the jacket to her.
"Have you tried it on yet?" Cat Noir asked and Marinette bit her lip.
"Not really. I've been hesitant about it, because if I hate it, then I would feel guilty for wasting Klinger's clothes like that." Marinette said, bashfully.
"Well, for what it's worth, I like it." Hawkeye said, sipping from his martini glass.
"You do?" Marinette asked, suspiciously and Hawkeye nodded.
"Yeah, you know, once the shock wore off; I think it's nice. Who knows, maybe when your world gets back to normal, you can create your own Klinger collection." Hawkeye said.
"I've loved the Army since my days as an innocent little army brat, moving from base to base. And though this modern Take seems a little blasphemous to me, I think it's nice to see other young women taking an interest in military attire." Margaret said, and Marinette smiled warmly at them. She leaned forward and slipped on the jacket, fastening three of the middle buttons before folding the ends of her sleeves, to really showcase that silver.
"Beautiful! Absolutely gorgeous!" Hawkeye said boisterously. He set down his drink, rushed over to Marinette and pretended his hands were a camera.
"Alright darling, look this way. Ah, wonderful; would you like me to send the prints to your house? Oh, forget it, these will be all over the papers before you can say 'back off, I'm a superhero'." Hawkeye said as he pretended he was taking her picture and she laughed at him.
"Ah, yes. Back off I'm a superhero, but first, how about a few super model poses." Marinette said in a deep voice, making everyone laugh.
"Yes, baby, yes. Work it, work it. Give me a scowl. Now a smirk. How about a look of disappointment? Ah, wonderful, you look just like Margaret." Hawkeye said and Margaret rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh, Pierce, can't you ever be serious?" She asked. Hawkeye and Marinette chuckled as they stopped playing.
"Ah, come on, Margaret; I'm serious when I need to be. It's almost as rare as you being silly and making jokes." Hawkeye said.
"I can be funny if I want to be- I can be very funny." Marinette said.
"I know you can be, Ms. Chuckles; let's not forget that I just happen to think that you are hilarious. My point is that you would rather be seen like some heartless, regular-Army statue, instead of the surprisingly warm and loving person I know you to be." Hawkeye said and Margaret huffed.
"You think you know everything about me, well why don't we point that magnifying glass on yourself, Mr. Serious? You have always been afraid of commitment, you're afraid to show people that you are vulnerable, so you make jokes to hide behind. Jokes that are only occasionally funny, because you rarely put in the effort to put some actual thought into them. You love to say the first thing on your mind, be it joke, insult, anecdote, or off comment, but so rarely do you speak the raw truth. You are an amazing doctor and you have a deep appreciation for the life it holds. But other then that, you can be such a coward." Margaret said.
"You can't have it both ways, Margaret." Hawkeye said and she paused.
"Excuse me?" She asked with clear annoyance.
"I said 'you can't have it both ways'. No, I can't be a lion AND a clown, that's just ridiculous. What's my first act; hypnotizing the lion tamer?" Hawkeye said and Margaret sighed deeply.
"You know, I don't know why I-"
"Clown?" Marinette blinked and she straightened her back.
"That's right, I have something to tell you." Marinette said to Cat Noir and her voice silenced their argument.
"What is it?" Cat Noir asked.
"When I was in the office, I saw something really strange in the room beside me." Marinette started, Hawkeye and Margaret walked closer to her.
"You mean, the post-op?" Margaret asked and Marinette nodded.
"Yeah. I saw this evil looking clown and he was screaming at the nurses; saying 'you'll float too' over and over." She continued.
This sounded familiar to Cat Noir and he furrowed his eyebrow as he contemplated her words. When realization stuck him, he gave a weak groan, and he reached over and held Marinette's hand sweetly.
"Milady, I think you are so incredibly smart, but when all of this is said and done, please, please, please, watch some horror movies." Cat Noir begged and Marinette was shocked by this response.
"What?" She asked and Cat Noir chuckled.
"That's got to be Pennywise, the killer clown from the movie IT. Sounds like it's the one from the remake, but it's been so long since I saw the original. I only saw it once because I hated the ending that much. I don't remember if the original talked about floating or not." Cat Noir said and Marinette blinked slowly.
"Pennywise, interesting. And earlier I saw Michael, Jason, and that Freddy guy." She said.
"You're right, Cat Noir... they're all horror movie icons. That, plus we are in a M.A.S.H unit... and earlier, when the clown was throwing a fit, he had this green diamond above his head, like he was a video game character." Marinette said and then her eyes widened.
"I know whose akumatized." Marinette said and Cat Noir leaned slightly on his good shoulder.
"Who?" He asked.
"Do you remember when we fought Christmaster?" Marinette asked and his eyes widened.
"You think Chris is akumatized again?" He asked and Marinette nodded.
"Earlier, Alya was on the phone with Nino; he's Chris' older brother. She was talking to him because he didn't like how upset Chris was this morning. She said Chris was upset because he couldn't watch Mash, or watch scary movies, or play first person shooter games. Then all of a sudden she heard the words 'you're drafted' and the line went dead." Marinette stated.
"Well, that does kinda lineup with everything that came to life. But if that's true, then where is Chris now?" Cat Noir said.
"When he was Christmaster, he was floating above the city. He wasn't a part of the action directly, instead he had a bunch of toys to do the fighting for him. I think he's at his home, locked away and playing this whole thing like a video game. He can either be a soldier and play as a regular first person shooter; or as a horror movie icon, trying to kill soldier and civilian alike, or he can play as a doctor and try to save some of the soldiers from dying." Marinette said and Cat Noir whistled.
"Then what about the whole 'you're drafted' bit?" Cat Noir asked.
"As much as it pains me, he's probably turned some of the Parisians into mindless video game characters. Before we leave the mash, we should probably stop by post-if to see if I'm right or not." Marinette said and Cat Noir sighed.
"How old is this Chris child?" Margaret asked and Marinette turned towards her.
"He's in the 'I'm a big kid' phase." She said.
"Really? That puts him at about 5 years old." Hawkeye said and Marinette nodded.
"Yep." She said and Hawkeye ran a hand through his hair.
"I can't believe we have a war on our hands, just because a kid is wanting to grow up too fast." Hawkeye said and Margaret put a hand on his shoulder. Then, in the silence, they heard feet shuffling up to the swamp, and Klinger entered without knocking.
"Great news, I- hey the jacket looks great kid." Klinger said, patting Marinette on her shoulder.
"What's you're news Klinger?" Margaret asked.
"Oh, right. You wanted me to find the eye in the storm, Marinette, and baby I found it. I wrote out the directions for you, and I got a Jeep all ready for you to go, when you are." Klinger said, handing the directions to Cat Noir; who slipped them in his pocket.
"I think I'd like to check up on the patients first." Marinette said and Klinger smiled.
"Sure, you probably want to check up on that driver that cane with you." Klinger said. Marinette's eyes widened as she remembered Adrien's bodyguard; in the same token, Cat Noir hung his head at how foolish he was in forgetting his bodyguard was injured.
"We'll be there in a minute." Hawkeye said and Klinger turned to leave when Marinette remembered something.
"Hang on, Klinger." She said, making him stop. She smiled at him, and then turned to Cat Noir.
"May I borrow your baton again?" She asked and he didn't hesitate to hand it over.
"What are you doing?" Margaret asked and Marinette extended the baton, before she used it as a walking stick and cautiously stood up.
"Klinger was so excited about the fact that we are heroes. I sorta told him that I would show him my Ladybug costume." Marinette explained, before opening her purse for Tikki to come out, and the little kwami did.
"Klinger, I want to thank you for that delicious piece of Nammoura you shared with me earlier." Tikki said and Klinger chuckled.
"Oh, anything for you, sweetie." Klinger said and they gently shook hands.
"I also want to thank you two medical professionals for patching up Marinette and Cat Noir. I will be forever grateful." She said.
"You're welcome." Margaret said.
"All in a day's work." Hawkeye said and the kwami went back over to Marinette.
"Tikki, spots on." Marinette said and her costume formed over her body; though she couldn't do her normal routine with her damaged leg.
"Wow, I've seen everything." Klinger said as Marinette sat back in the wheelchair and returned the baton to Cat Noir.
"How about you, kitty?" Ladybug said, still a little nervous about him knowing her secret.
"Spots on, or slots off, you're still milady." Cat Noir said and Ladybug tucked some hair behind her ear.
"Ok..." she said with a bashful smile on her face.
"Think you're ready to walk around?" She asked. Cat Noir was a little hesitant, but considering the fact that Marinette walked right after she was shot, then apparently, right after her surgery, he could walk too: he sat up, stood up and smiled at the girl.
"Ready when you are." Cat Noir said and Ladybug giggled. The five briskly strolled into post-op, and they looked around the various soldiers.
"Klinger." A voice called him and he sighed.
"Duty calls. If I don't see you later, safe travels, alright." Klinger said before going into the office.
"See anyone you recognize?" Hawkeye whispered to Ladybug as he slowly pushed her into the room. Ignoring the clown from earlier, she noticed Adrien's bodyguard, second bed in. It was odd, he still looked tough and mean, even when he was sedated.
"Well, we came in with him." Ladybug muttered and she looked around some more. On the right, five beds in, she did recognize someone.
"Her, that's my teacher, Ms. Bustier." Ladybug said quietly and Hawkeye reached over and looked at her medical chart.
"Bomb exploded next to her, and she got a bunch of shrapnel in her leg. She's lucky though, she gets to keep it." Hawkeye said. Then Car Noir's sensitive ears heard a soft tender voice singing and he turned towards the end of the hospital.
"Milady, that's Chloe and Luka." Cat Noir said and the group went over to them.
"I'm Dr. Pierce. Wanna tell me what happened?" Hawkeye asked. Chloe had bandages over her eyes, and Luka's hands were wrapped up tight. Luke stopped singing to answer the doctor, but he still kept a firm hold of Chloe's hand.
"Grenade landed right in front of us. I jumped to save Chloe, but she still got hit in the face." Luka said. Chloe sniffled and turned her head towards Luka.
"I might be blind, but you still sacrificed your hands to save my life. There's a chance this blindness is temporary for me, but you... you may never play music again." Chloe choked out. Luka smiled at her, leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her hand.
"She was a little scared when she woke up, so I started singing to calm her down." Luka said and Chloe smiled softly and sniffed.
"You should have seen him when that nurse tried to separate us. I wish I could have seen it, but Luka refuses to back down." Chloe said and Pierce smiled at them.
"It's alright, kids; no one is gonna separate you." Hawkeye said.
"What did you two do before you were drafted?" Margaret asked.
"Oh I was-um... I was...?" Chloe said, but it was blear she couldn't remember.
"I sorta recall playing guitar, somewhere... then... I was drafted." Luka said.
"Alright, just relax, soldiers. I'll have nurse Kellye bring you some water and take your temperatures." Margaret said, walking over to the nurse in the corner.
Hawkeye then escorted the two heroes out of the building. But before they left Cat Noir saw Chloe giving Luka's hand a gentle squeeze; causing Luka to wince yet smile before he resumed his singing.
Outside, there was a Jeep, just like Klinger promised.
"Well, I guess you were right, milady." Cat Noirsaid and Ladybug nodded.
"Yeah. And since Klinger found out where we need to go; I guess we should make our way there and fight Chris." Ladybug said.
"Hold it, hold it. Do you two really think that you're ready to fight in combat, just like that?" Hawkeye said, snapping for emphasis.
"I don't think we have much choice in the matter. How are we suppose to win if we don't fight?" Cat Noir said.
"Well, he's a little kid, surely you could talk to him, or put him in timeout, or stick him in a car seat and drive around until he falls asleep." Hawkeye said.
"Don't be ridiculous." They turned to see Margaret walking out of the hospital and over to them.
"It's a hero's job to fight for the greater good, regardless of who their enemy might be." Margaret said and Hawkeye scoffed at her.
"All I'm saying is that-"
"AND it is a doctor's job to take care of their patients; same as nurses." Margaret said and Hawkeye froze at her words. After a brief moment of silence, he smiled widely and gave her forehead a quick kiss.
"You are a genius." Hawkeye said and she smiled.
"I know." Margaret said and Ladybug bit her lip nervously.
"You want to come with us?" Ladybug asked and Hawkeye shrugged.
"I don't think we have much choice; how else are we suppose to make sure you kids stay ok? Besides, ignoring the fact you two are too young to drive, how do you expect to get past all of the military check points; let alone attempt to follow Klinger's directions." Hawkeye said.
"Can you defend yourselves?" Cat Noir asked.
"I have my mother's gun. Dad gave it to her on their wedding night." Margaret said.
"Oh, do you have to carry a gun?" Hawkeye asked.
"I don't understand why you don't carry a gun, Pierce- the enemy will not hesitate to shoot, even if we are in the medical field. I wish I could just order you to carry a gun." Margaret said and Hawkeye took a deep breath.
"Look Margaret; I'll heal their wounds, treat their wounds, bind their wounds, but I will not inflict their wounds. You can't order people according to your own specifications. You gotta take them as they are. I'll carry your books, I'll carry a torch, I'll carry a tune, I'll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash and carry, carry me back to old Virginia, I'll even 'Hari Kari' if you teach me how, but I will not carry a gun!" Hawkeye said firmly.
"Fine." Margaret said, rolling her eyes.
"Let's get going." Ladybug said, not wanting to waste another moment. The four of them climbed onto the Jeep, including the wheelchair being placed at Ladybug's feet, and Margaret took off towards the belly of the beast.