The hours passed uneventfully. He would float an idea to her, she would shoot it down. She would ask him about Felix, he would answer with some anecdote. These anecdotes would lead them together down a path of somber reminiscing, before Marinette would shake her head and scold him and tell him to focus, only to get distracted again next time.
And for a moment there, it was almost nice. Almost a comfort. Marinette had to keep reminding herself not to get too comfortable. To remember that this, and him,
was only a temporary measure. This would go away after she got the ring back.
But knowing that, she thought, was there any harm in letting herself enjoy the moment? Yeah, this would be over soon. But now? Now was nice. He was a nice guy, still, after all these years and despite all that had happened. He was a little shakier, a little paler, a little more nervous, yes, but he was still Adrien Agreste. There was something about him she recognized down in there.
Looking back on it, she couldn't believe she was ever fooled by that boisterous, smooth talking idiot that called himself Adrien. All that flirting and smiling was just Felix giving her what she wanted. Very pretty and fake. This, in front of her, was the real Adrien. Someone who listened and thought and felt, and felt bad sometimes. Had a weight about him that was unshakeable, which he had carried so long. He was not perfect, like she thought he was when she first developed feelings for him so long ago. But he tried to be the best he could.
"Remember Sandboy?" Adrien asked, "That kid with the pillow?"
"Oh my god, yeah." She replied, blushing. She recalled that night so clearly. "I can't believe my nightmare was just a messed up version of you. Ugh. Embarrassing. Very highschool of me that that was my biggest fear."
Adrien laughed hollowly, recalling that his nightmare had manifested itself as an ever shrinking cage. He still dreamt of it sometimes.
For his part, the more he spoke to her, the more he began to see through the cracks in the cold exterior she put up. There was still an icy stoicism to her, but she let that slip, and beyond it? Warmth and caring and interest. Marinette had always been an exceptionally kind, caring person, and he always admired her for that. She hadn't lost that, she couldn't, it was just her nature. She could try to keep it hidden, but he could still see the light in her eyes when she spoke of their old friends and even enemies.
"You remember that terrible movie they made of us?" She asked him, staring out the window. He scoffed.
"That movie is a cinematic masterpiece, I'll have you know." He corrected her, offended. He still owned a copy. "And also only a quasi legal use of our images and story."
"You know I met the director?"
"What was he like?"
"Kind of a creep."
They laughed, forgetting their problems for a brief time. It was nice, until it had to end.
"Alright, well, we don't have a plan." Marinette concluded.
"We were never good at this part." Adrien agreed.
Marinette stood and brushed a few crumbs from the meals they had worked through off of herself.
"I guess I'll just go. I don't think I can trick him, so maybe I can just ask for the ring back for a moment and he'll let his guard down. If not, I'll fight him."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
"And you're sure I can't come with? Maybe I can talk to him, you know?" Adrien suggested. There must be a part of Felix who remembered fondly the last decade they had spent together. "I really think I can be more helpful."
"Nope. Without a miraculous, you'll just be in the way. I don't want you getting hurt. I've been doing this for years, he doesn't stand a chance."
Adrien scratched his head and adjusted his glasses. He hoped it wouldn't come to violence. But Felix was a much better talker than he was a fighter. He lacked the experience that Marinette had. So if that was the only way to get the ring back, his money was on her.
Still, he wished she would let him help. She was always doing this back in the day.
"You gonna be okay?" Adrien asked her as she readied herself. She smiled at him.
"Are you kidding? What's that little snot gonna do to me that hasn't been done by someone else?"
Adrien chuckled nervously. "Just don't let him take the earrings."
"Never." Marinette assured him. A sudden flash of light filled the room for an instant, and by the time Adrien's eyes adjusted, she was someone else. She was Ladybug in the flesh. She looked good too.
"New costume?" Adrien asked, taking in the sight of her. She cut a commanding presence, just as she had in the past. She nodded.
"Designed it myself. It has pockets." She bragged, shoving her hands in to the pockets of her jacket.
"Why do you need pockets when you have your magic yoyo?" Adrien asked.
"You ever wear women's clothing?"
"No." Adrien lied.
"Then shh."
With that, she opened the hatch to the roof above her, climbing up through it. When she was halfway out in the cold air, Adrien called after her. She looked down at him, standing in the dismal room below. Even from this height, he looked sort of small.
"Come back safe." He insisted.
She waved a dismissive hand at him and swung out into the cold Paris air, leaving Adrien alone.
It didn't take long at all before Chat Noir caught up to her. Swinging around in the middle of the day made quite a stir, after all. He bounded after her a few times, calling out, but she ignored him. She wanted to let him chase her for a little while, just to annoy him.
She led him on a wild goose chase all the way through Paris to an empty park with plenty of room. That way, if it came to blows, she would be able to control the collateral damage. She landed with elegance, waiting for him to catch up. There was a sort of nervous excitement building within her. She almost wanted him to try and keep the ring just so she could knock him around a little before she took it back. It would serve him right.
He landed clumsily behind her, stumbling slightly and resting his hands on his knees. He took a few deep, ragged breaths and looked up at her, still facing away from him. He scowled.
"Guess I'm not in the shape I used to be." He admitted between gasps. Ladybug feigned shock and turned around.
"Oh! There you are! I was looking everywhere for you!" She lied, taking wicked delight in the grimace on his face.
"I was right behind you!" He nearly yelled, controlling his temper just in time to prevent his voice from raising. "I called out to you."
"Really? Sorry, Adrien, I must not have heard you." She apologized. Chat Noir furrowed his brow and forced an unconvincing fake smile. Ladybug took a few steps closer, each step more nauseating for her to take than the last, and he responded in turn by approaching her. Maybe it was just her imagination, but the tension was palpable.
And why shouldn't it be? After all, she knew why he was here. He wanted the earrings. She knew he had every intention of trying to take them. In that way, they had similar goals, and both of them were banking on the hope that the other hadn't figured it out yet.
"So about those drinks." Chat Noir purred, smoothly. The thought of a date with him made her contemplate death. She pretended it didn't. But the words he had said to her the night before. All those wicked words. He called her a rodent! Now he was flirting with her? It made her stomach churn.
"Actually, Adrien," She had to get down to business. That was what she had always done. It was probably what he expected. "I've been thinking."
"That's dangerous!" The man under the mask joked. She scowled at him and he pursed his lip apologetically.
"About what you said," She continued. "About how, you don't know my identity. And how that's never been fair to you."
Chat Noir leaned in. Now this was interesting. If this was going where he hoped it was going, then his job would be that much easier.
"You don't have to, if you think it's safer." Chat Noir knew he had to act like this, because that's what Adrien would do, but if he had the opportunity to find out who was under the mask, he was going to take it.
"No, no, it's just, it got me thinking," The woman began, swallowing. Here went everything. "What have these earrings really gotten me? I held on for so long, casting everything off to be Ladybug. Why? What was the point? What was I so afraid of?"
"In just a day, you showed me I don't have to be scared. That everything can be just like it was. I don't need to build up all these walls and I don't need to cut everyone off. And I certainly don't need to be Ladybug. I mean, Paris doesn't need Ladybug anymore, right? We won a long time ago, I guess I just wasn't ready to let go."
She crossed over to Chat Noir and took his hand, the one with the ring. He swallowed and stared at her. She was so close. All she had to do was slip it off his finger and it would all be over.
"I want you to take off the ring. And I'll take off the earrings. And we'll put them in the box, and I'll hide the box somewhere it can't be found, not even by me, and then, finally, there won't be any secrets."
Chat gritted his teeth. One eye twitched, unnoticed.
"But I just got the ring back." He protested. "I'd like to keep it for just a little while longer."
"But why?" Ladybug asked. She knew it would never have been that easy. "Paris doesn't need Chat Noir any more than it needs Ladybug."
Chat Noir pretended to consider this. Ladybug gave his hand a squeeze and pretended like it didn't make her feel uncomfortable.
"I don't know, I like having powers, and freedom, I suppose." He replied, almost flippantly. Not a good response but the best he had right now.
"They're not to be used for selfish reasons, Adrien." Ladybug reminded him, knowing that that line of reasoning was not effective on him. That this whole plan would not be effective on him. She realized she was wasting her time trying to get him to volunteer, when she had the ring in her grasp already. She had the opening she wanted, now she had to take it.
Slowly, subtly, she tried to slide the ring off his finger. At the very first sensation of movement on his finger, he leapt back, and she desperately tried to keep her grip on the ring as his hand slid out of hers. Away it went, moving a few meters back. Her opportunity was blown, and now there was only one way she was getting that ring.
"Easy there, Ladybug." The man backed away, holding a hand out in front of him. "Let's not be hasty here."
"I think we'd both be happier with out these things, wouldn't you?" She said, rapidly losing the ability to maintain her facade. She began walking toward him, and he matched each of her steps with a step back. "Please, Adrien, for me."
"You first, then." He insisted. She stopped. The wind blew through the trees. Through her hair. A chill wind made her tense up. She took a deep breath, letting the cold of late winter fill her lungs. What she was about to do, she hadn't done in a while. In his eyes, she could see the man across from her was coming to the same realization she was.
She had been in a thousand fights, and all of them had been different. This one was short, but it felt like each moment was an hour long, a thousand things happened between each beat of her heart.
She reached for her yoyo, and before she had even touched it, he had swung the staff at her. His reflexes were shockingly quick, but he didn't have her experience. She let the staff hit her square in the ribs under her arm. An old trick, and all it cost her was a bruise. She knew he wanted to put some distance between them. He wanted her to dodge away. So what was your plan now, pretty boy, that she was running closer along the length of the staff?
By the time the staff had retracted, she had run past him, wrapping her yoyo around his ring arm and sharply tugging to send him stumbling backward. She caught him by the arm and went for the ring, her hands wrapped around it, she would pull the damn finger off if she had to, but he closed his fist.
"Felix!" The woman screeched. He smiled. Rather than pull away, he pushed his fist up out of her grip, into her face, causing her to stagger away from him. She brought her hand up to her nose to check for blood, realized she was wearing red, and by the time she realized the futility of this act, he had already swept her feet out from under her. She went from vertical to horizontal before she hit the ground, and the impact knocked the wind out of her.
"I assume my cousin got a hold of you." Felix mused between ragged breaths, specks of saliva fighting desperately to escape the corners of his mouth. He rested a boot on her stomach and leaned over her. "I'll do it the old fashioned way then. Cataclysm."
Inky black energy the color of dread pulsed from his fingertips as he leaned in to kill the woman in front of him. When he was close enough, she spat in his face, causing him to recoil just slightly. She grabbed his boot and lifted it up toward her, causing his balance to shift. Now he was on his back. One good twist would give him a broken leg, but she couldn't execute it. His hand rose up toward her. One touch was all it would take. She rolled away from him.
His inexperience showed. As he rose to his feet, he placed his hand on the ground to steady himself. There was a faint crackle as the dirt underneath him cracked and dried out, and he cursed under his breath. Such fickle powers they were.
Before he could even think the word 'Cataclysm' again, a scream and a sudden lifting sensation let him know he had been hit square in the gut. He coughed. Ladybug smiled. It never felt good to hurt someone, but sometimes it came really close.
"You have no idea who you're dealing with, you brat." She spat, throwing punches that he just barely dodged. He snatched her fist out of the air, and smirked maliciously.
"Why don't you show me then?"
He let go of her and took a step back, purposely creating an opening for her. He was wearing that smug grin she hated so much. Just looking at him, standing with that ring he hadn't earned, in that suit he didn't deserve to wear, made her furious. She dove at him, but he stepped away and she went stumbling by.
"Control your temper, Ladybug." He mocked, as she threw another punch. "You wouldn't want to get sloppy."
With those words he extended his staff hard into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. He smiled that same wretched smile. The more she looked at it, the more it resembled her old nemesis.
"You see? I'm already better at this than my feeble cousin ever was. It would be a waste to give this ring back to him." The black cat taunted beneath his mask, effortlessly dodging all of her advances, knocking away futile efforts to restrain him with her yoyo, matching her blow for blow.
"You haven't earned that ring." Ladybug grumbled, rubbing her ribs where he had just elbowed her. She grappled him and threw him into the distance, which caused him to roll for a few feet before hitting a tree. He winced and brushed the dirt off of his suit, rising up to his feet.
"I'd say I'm earning it right now, by besting you. What could Adrien ever hope to accomplish with this thing? He's a broken man, Ladybug." He called as the woman sprinted toward him. She threw her yoyo, which he plucked from the air like a feather in the wind. Pull as she might, Ladybug could not retract it. He took a step toward her.
"You know, it's funny."
He took another step.
"The reason he's broken?"
And another.
"The shattered man he is now?"
Finally he had reached her. He wore that same sly look on his face.
"All your fault, naturally."
Ladybug screamed in a mix of righteous fury and desperate anguish.
"Does this woman ever go shopping? What does she eat?" Adrien muttered mostly to himself, loading groceries away in Marinette's cabinets."Dust?"
He had made himself useful by making what he called 'a supplies run', which was really just a trip to the grocery on the corner. He figured it was the least he could do, after all, they were staying in her house, eating her food.
Of course, he went in disguise. A hat pulled over his head, sunglasses, a heavy scarf, that was all it took to make sure he was not recognized by idle passerby. Not that anyone would ever suspect that the sad, dejected man was the same Adrien Agreste that used to model in magazines, but it never hurt to be cautious.
When he returned from the store, he began to put away what he had bought. It wasn't the kind of fare he was used to, he made a point of shopping at higher end places that offered more organic foods at higher prices. But beggars couldn't be choosers. So he took what he could get, a box of brand name cereal here, a gallon of milk there, produce, eggs, white bread (despite his preference for whole wheat), and other basics.
He was horrified upon opening Marinette's fridge and shelves and discovering that most of them were barren. A few cheap canned beers and some leftovers in the fridge, many an expired pastry from the bakery below lined the cabinets, a half consumed carton of ice cream from a bygone age and a frozen dinner were the only things in the freezer.
"Look at this." He sighed, holding up an expired demi baguette for his bodyguard to observe. The man barely turned away from the television. Adrien hit the bread against the counter, producing a loud thud. "Hard as a rock."
When the man made no acknowledgement, Adrien sighed and tossed what once was bread in the trash can, then crossed the kitchen out into the living room. "What are you watching?"
The man only responded by turning up the volume. A young reporter was standing in an otherwise empty looking park as the sun set in the distance. The sounds of a fight could be heard off screen. The reporter pointed to something, and the camera panned over to reveal Ladybug and Chat Noir.
"-Reported a fight going on, and police arrived quickly to find this unusual view. It seems that Paris's two favorite superheroes are in the midst of an all out brawl."
"Oh, they're really going at it." Adrien noted, slightly terrified. He watched as the heroes on the screen punched and kicked and tossed and clawed at each other. The collateral damage was at least being kept to a minimum. Like real heroes, they were keeping the fighting contained to the park.
"The cause is unknown at this point, and neither have responded to our questions. A dark day for Paris indeed."
Adrien watched, a sickly feeling creeping up within him. Felix was proving unexpectedly good at being Chat Noir, in basically every way. It was unsettling enough watching his cousin ham it up with the public, but much more concerning to watch him hold his own against Ladybug. He had thought she'd be done by now, but Felix was proving much more capable than either of them had expected. "He really is a better Chat Noir than I am. I could never do any of that."
His bodyguard clapped a heavy hand on the man's shoulder and shook his head.
"Thanks." Adrien muttered. His bodyguard had always had a soft spot for heroics. He was a big fan of Ladybug and Chat Noir back in the day, always watching their fights on his phone. Things had changed now, and a bit of the luster was gone, but he would still root for the good guys every time.
They continued to watch, completely enthralled by the fight, for several minutes. So much rode on this. If Ladybug could get that ring, they could finally put this all to rest. And if Felix got his mitts on the earrings? Adrien had no idea what he was after, but he knew it couldn't be anything good.
"It appears now that, wait." The reporter said, back turned to the camera, "Yes, it appears that Ladybug is retreating! She has swung off into the distance, I can't see her anymore."
Adrien swallowed hard as the camera panned over to Felix, still in his disguise at Chat Noir. He stood there, panting, bruised and beaten, watching Ladybug retreat into the distance, before turning his attention to the camera. Exhausted, he jogged over to the reporter.
"Chat Noir, what's going on? Why are you two fighting?" The reporter asked. Felix snatched the microphone from her and pushed her aside.
"Chat Noir is dead. I'm Cath Palug." He remarked as he pressed his face up to the camera. "I know you're listening out there, Cousin. I am warning you. You can save yourself a lot of pain and suffering if you stop helping her. If you were smart, you'd come over to the winning team. I'm doing this for us."
With that, he tossed the microphone back to the young woman and ran off in the direction that Ladybug went. The camera followed him for as long as it could, before returning to the reporter.
"The hell is a Cath Palug?" She asked to someone off camera. Realizing she was on film, she faced the camera. "I don't know what to say. Uh, this is an upsetting turn of events. It appears we uh, have an imposter Chat Noir running about Paris. This is Manon Chamack reporting."
The two men stared at their screen in abject horror. Adrien had nothing to say, or at least, couldn't think of anything appropriate. His mind was full of thoughts and visions of future crises spiraling out of control. He took a deep breath and held it, trying to keep his stomach from turning inside out.
He stood up, sat back down, and stood up again, this time trying to figure out why he was standing. "Water. G-Glass of water."
He went to the kitchen and pulled one of the beers out of the fridge and cracked it open, tossing one to his bodyguard, who raised it slightly in thanks. The man's face wore the same expression of mild annoyance as ever. Adrien took a swig of the alcohol, wretched, and spat it out in the sink.
"How c-can you be so calm at a time like this? That, that idiot just beat Ladybug!" He asked his friend, wiping the beer from his mouth. His bodyguard took a long sip from the can and sighed. Then he turned.
"You and her are gonna fix it." He said. Then he crossed his leg over his knee and went back to watching the coverage on television.
Adrien stared at him. He wished he could have that kind of confidence. Right now, he felt his prospects were pretty bleak.
"What should I do?" Adrien asked. His bodyguard didn't turn this time.
"Any minute now, your lady friend is gonna come through that hatch up there." He pointed with a finger from the hand holding the beer. "Be there."
Adrien blinked a few times. That was sound advice. His bodyguard wasn't much for words but clearly had a lot of thoughts. He nodded.
"You gonna be okay down here?" He asked the man, one foot already on the stairs up to Marinette's room. All he got in response was a 'heh'. He shrugged and rose up through the hatch.
Not long after he arrived, there was a thud from above that caused him to start. He looked up as the hatch over the bed was thrown open and Marinette collapsed into it. She hit the mattress with a thump and a groan.
"Jesus." Adrien muttered, climbing the small ladder up to the loft where she slept. She was covered in scrapes and bruises, though no serious wounds were immediately obvious. "Are you okay?"
Marinette's head turned and she leered angrily at him through one swollen eye.
"Y-You don't look great."
"It's fine. He just kicked my ass a little." Marinette coughed. "I've been through worse."
"Do you need a hospital?" He asked her. She shook her head.
"Just need to rest. Last thing I need is some doctor asking me how I got my shit kicked in."
"Okay, well." Adrien began, not fully satisfied. He really thought she'd be better served by a medical professional, but it was her call. "You just rest then. I'll uh, I'll be here."
Marinette looked up at him, smiling a disingenuous smile he created just to comfort her. He was nice like that. After a moment spent staring at his nice face, she shut her eyes. She was tired.
