Chapter Six
To the guest who reviewed chapter 5: I'd prefer it if you logged into your account(if you have one) when you left your review so we could discuss this, but whatever. I never said I would actually include the demigod side of things. It's a little late for that, as Apollo and Dionysus are literally human, and as will be introduced in this chapter Persephone and Hades. I just thought that Percy and Annabeth really paralleled Marinette and Adrien. It will start deteriorating from Miraculous more, so hang on. If you want to read more really good Miraculous crossovers, I highly recommend Playing the Hero, Being the Fool by cygner. It's with HP but still. Trigger warning for rest of story: abuse! Please stop reading now if this upsets/negatively affects you.
Dark Cupid
Annabeth rushes downstairs. If what Malcolm told her is true…she opens the doors to the dining room with bated breath, and there he is. Her father. Sitting at the table and eating pancakes. Tears prick the corner of her eyes and she hugs him tightly.
"Dad!" she says. He pulls back and pats her affectionally.
"Hey, Annie. Miss me while I was on my business trip?" he asks. Annabeth nods.
"When's your next one?" she asks. He sighs almost regretfully.
"Tomorrow. I wish I had more time with you, but-" Helen bursts into the room, sashaying down the length of the table.
"Annabeth, darling, you should let your father eat! He hasn't been home in so long, and-" Fredrick cuts her off softly.
"He enjoys seeing his daughter anytime of day. And his beautiful wife, of course," he says firmly. Helen's eyes turn cold but warm up quickly.
"Of course he does. But his beautiful wife needs to speak with his daughter, so if he would excuse them?" she says, false smile pasted on. He nods and gives her one last hug. Helen clamps her arm tightly and steers her into her own room, one separate from her father's. She shoves Annabeth away from her and she stumbles, falling. Helen stands over her. When Annabeth looks up, Helen strikes her, as is becoming more and more common over the smallest things: a mistake modeling, failure in fencing, the list is endless. Tears come to Annabeth's eyes, tears of frustration and anger.
"Why? I was only saying hello to him, he has so many business trips for Helen's!" she says to Helen, keeping her voice even. Helen's face contorts into a sneer.
"Why do you think that is, ignorant girl? He asks me for those trips, he can't stand being with you! Otherwise I would send Malcolm, perhaps, or some other lackey." The words ring through Annabeth's mind and she tries to shake them off.
"That's not true. He probably can't stand you, step-monster." As soon as the words leave Annabeth's mouth she regrets them, already bracing for the hit. Helen's face fills with cold rage but drains quickly, leaving her expressionless.
"Step-monster? I am no monster, Annie. But if you call me a monster, then I have no choice but to become one, isn't that right?" she says slowly and sweetly to Annabeth. Annabeth retreats into her mind. Maybe if she pretends this isn't happening, it isn't happening. But what, exactly, is happening? Helen's locked the door and she's going to her closet…she comes out with one of her nicer belts, one with a big gold buckle. Click. Everything slides into place and Annabeth scrambles up, shrinking against the wall.
"Helen, no, please! This will scar, it'll scar, people will see it! Please Helen!" she cries, throwing her pride out the window. Not for the first time, she wonders if going to public school is worth it. Helen smiles coldly.
"I think you'd be great in perfume ads, Annie dear. Shirt off." Annabeth shakes her head.
"I'm sorry, Helen, please!"
"If not on your back, it's going on your head, and I can guarantee that will hurt more. I have so many cover stories up my sleeve, and Malcolm will cover for me. It's in his contract. Your choice, Annie dear." Annabeth has never hated or feared any one person more than Helen in that moment as her trembling fingers grasp the hem of her standard black shirt and raises it over her head quickly, discarding it to the side and leaving her shivering in her bra. Helen raises the belt and brings it down with a crack. One.
Percy scribbles quickly, thinking about his poem as Mr. Blowfis reaches the end of his lecture on fairytales.
"In most fairytales, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess! Can anyone tell us why?" A commotion erupts behind him, and he twists to see Persephone jumping to her feet. He smiles a little bit. The girl with the blond pixie cut and large blue eyes is such a romantic, always swooning at mentions of love. Her best friend, Hades, is the complete opposite: dark and gloomy. It's obvious that he has a soft spot for Persephone, and Percy can't wait for them to get together.
"Because only love can conquer hate!" she says in her soft voice, swooning. Mr. Blowfis cracks a small smile and nods.
"Correct." Lee Fletcher, a scrawny boy with glasses raises his hand.
"Technically speaking, this behavior is only shown in 87% of all fairytales-" Mr. Blowfis cuts him off.
"Thank you, Lee." His sharp eye scans the room and rests on Percy. Annabeth, uncharacteristically stiff in her seat and not paying attention to class at all jerks out of her stupor as Percy is put on the spot. "Percy, I hope what you're writing is pertaining to this lesson. Can you tell me what I just said?" Percy slides the paper under his hand and answers him pretty much word for word.
"That's why in most fairytales the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess. Because only love conquers hate," he says, almost bored. Mr. Blowfis blinks once.
"Very good, Percy. Now, everyone, don't forget to finish Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault tonight. Happy Valentine's Day, students!" Percy starts gathering his things, but stays seated, writing down some last thoughts. He notices Apollo hovering at the edge of the desk and looks up, smiling.
"Hey, go ahead. I'll catch up with you." Apollo nods and joins Thalia in the hallway, chatting about the newest Jagged Stone album. Percy finishes the note, reads it over, and sighs. He balls it up and stands, but stops short as he sees Luke leaning over Annabeth's desk. Annabeth doesn't look well, but instead of slouching she's ramrod straight. She looks like one nudge could shatter her.
"Hey, Annie. Sign here, please," Luke tells her. She gathers her things with shaky hands, shaking her head.
"You know I hate signing autographs, Luke." He persists, slinging an arm around her shoulder. She stiffens, eyes widening, and shrinks into herself even as Luke pulls her close. Percy throws his things down and accidentally drops the paper into Annabeth's open bag without noticing.
"Get off her. Can't you see she doesn't want to sign your stupid poster or have your hands all over her?" Annabeth looks up at him gratefully and starts getting her things again. Luke removes his hands but clenches them, prepared for a confrontation.
"Yeah? You think you're so cool, Triton-Jackson, standing up for girls to the big, bad wolf. But I would bet all my euros that you wouldn't do this for Persephone, Silena, or even Thalia. You have a little crush on Annabeth?" Percy scowls.
"No, we're friends, but the point is that you don't touch anyone without their permission. Don't put a finger on her ever again, and that goes for everyone else in this class. Got it, Castellan?" Luke sucks in a breath, but Ethan starts tugging him away.
"I'll touch who I want, when I want, how I want!" he yells as Ethan pulls him into the hallway. Percy turns to Annabeth. She squeaks and drops a few books. Percy leans down and picks them up for her, then gets his own and slings his backpack over his shoulder.
"You okay, Annabeth? You seem a little…off today," he says. She nods, hair covering her face. Percy has the irrational urge to brush it away but resists.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little sore, I was beat up in fencing class," she tells him, not meeting his eyes. She shifts her bag onto her back and winces. Percy notices and his eyebrows raise slightly.
"Ouch, that's rough. Lemme take your books for you, then," he offers.
"Oh, no, that's fine," she says. But still, she doesn't make a grab for them so Percy holds them tighter and winks at her.
"My pleasure, really. C'mon, we're gonna be late to physics. And I know how you somehow love that class," he says, teasing her. Her eyes brighten.
"It's interesting!" she says, beginning to walk out.
Setting her things down and arranging the ones Percy carried for her, she spots a piece of paper sticking out. Grabbing it, she reads the words scribbled on it in a familiar hand.
Your hair is as bright as day
Your fierce gray eyes
I wonder who you are beneath that strong disguise
Every day we see each other and I hope that you'll be mine
Together our love could be so true, please, will you be my Valentine? Annabeth feels her mouth drop open. Quickly, she raises her hand.
"May I go to the restroom, Mr. Dionysus?" she asks . Dionysus nods grumpily and she takes off, stuffing the paper in her pocket. Quickly checking to make sure that she's alone, she locks herself into a stall and leans against the door. "Plagg!" she hisses. The kwami pops out and crosses his arms.
"What?" he says, annoyed.
"Read this!" she whisper-yells, brandishing the paper at him. He scans it and makes a face.
"Eew. That's nasty," he says, turning away. Annabeth grabs him by his ear and holds him up in front of her face.
"I swear to God, Plagg, if you don't float right here and help me figure this out. I didn't ask for you, but you're what I have, a sarcastic cheese-loving cat thing. Stay!" She releases him and he rubs his ear, looking suitably abashed.
"Sorry! If you want sweet and fuzzy you need Sugarcube," he grumbles. Annabeth raises an eyebrow.
"Sugarcube?" Plagg pales.
"So that note was written by Percy, I saw him doing it, and it's obviously to you, blonde hair and grey eyes. He wants to know you better! Aw isn't that nice!" he says quickly. Annabeth scans it again, forgetting about this 'Sugarcube'. He's right, she realizes. It is her he's describing. Which leads to another problem.
"Even if it was…Plagg, I just don't know. Helen might just be right, she's not that evil and she obviously hates me. And Dad would probably pay more attention to me and figure out what she was doing if he really loved me. Percy would get bored of me, eventually." Plagg slaps her- it feels like a nudge, he's fairly weak for a god of destruction.
"Listen to me, kid. I've known a lot of Chat Noir's and Lady Noir's. You're the first Lady Jinx, but you're still like them. Something is trying to keep you down. And not one of them- not a damn one- rose above. They all failed, relying on Ladybug to save the day. I tried to help them, kid, I did, but it never worked. I began to close off, until I met you. You make me want to open up, and I will not, will never, let you sink. You are going to ignore that stupid witch's words and go after him because you are worthy of love and you are damn well going to get some." His tiny chest heaves, and he has a fierce expression in his eyes and Annabeth wants to cry but she's shed enough tears today so she doesn't, instead nodding. "Go get him, kid."
Lee grins as he hides a box behind his back.
"Y'know, Clarisse, for a jock and a bully, you have good taste," he teases. Clarisse tries to peek over his shoulder to see if he got the thing she ordered, but he dodges, laughing as she scowls.
"Y'know, Lee, for a nerd and a wimp, you're kind of a smart-ass. Gimme," she retorts, stretching out her hands. She's dressed in fairly nice clothes for her, a skirt and a nice blouse, which is a different change from her usual camouflage cargo pants and black shirt. Lee snickers and gives her the box. She opens it to reveal an expensive wristwatch. She grins widely. "Alright, I take it back. You're not as annoying as I thought. This is perfect, I better hit a home run! Love is a lot like baseball, it all comes down to strategy, y'know? And I can't afford to strike out." Lee rolls his eyes.
"I'm never gonna understand your weird obsession with that American sport." Thalia races up to them, followed more slowly by Annabeth.
"Hey, Clarisse! Watcha got there?" she says, slinging her arm around Clarisse's broad shoulders.
"Nothing. Piss off," Clarisse grumbles, shoving the box into her pocket and shaking off Thalia. She laughs, undeterred.
"Who's the lucky guy? Or girl, for that matter," she adds. Clarisse scowls.
"Guy. And like hell I'd tell you. Lee, route," she demands, turning to him. Lee does a few calculations on his phone.
"Based on my calculations, if you run for 10 miles per hour along here-" Lee grabs a map and highlights her route "-you'd intersect with him on the bridge, one of the most romantic spots in the city. Go!" Clarisse takes off running. Lee grins, looking after her. Thalia smirks at Annabeth and then turns to him, on the hunt. She stalks towards him and as he notices his face whitens. "Oh, no. Nope-edy nope nope. You ain't getting nothing outta me," he says bravely, backing up. Thalia opens her leather jacket and pulls out a switchblade. Lee yelps as he sees it. "Alright! You're insane, you know that? It's Luke, she's going for Luke. Don't knife me, for the love of God!" Thalia, laughs, putting it away.
"I wouldn't actually hurt you. But thanks!" Lee groans and Thalia turns, linking arms and merrily skipping away, at least until Annabeth pulls her to a slower pace.
"Thalia, wait. I gotta mail something." Thalia halts and Annabeth walks over to a mailbox, limping almost imperceptibly. She pulls a hand-made card out of her jacket and shoves it in. Thalia grins and runs over to hug her.
"Girl! Was that to a certain Percy Triton-Jackson?" she asks. Annabeth smiles slightly.
"Perhaps," she says. Thalia shoves her shoulder, not noticing her wince.
"Did you sign it?" Annabeth's face pales.
"Crap."
Clarisse skids to a stop on the bridge and drops onto a nearby bench, regaining her breath. Checking her make-up in her phone, she deems it acceptable and leans back, looking relaxed but all tensed up in reality.
"So, that's when I said, 'Oh, she's your girlfriend? She didn't tell me that when she practically jumped me last week.' He's in therapy now. Ugh, is that your mom? Fine, bye or whatever." Luke hangs up on whom Clarisse assumes is Ethan. This is it. She's going for the gold, and Clarisse never fails to get it. She steps into Luke's path boldly but feels her throat closing up.
"I-I," she stammers. Luke smiles meanly.
"You-you," he mimics. Clarisse drops to a knee and pulls out the box. Crap. That's a puddle. Ignoring the wet spreading up her skirt, she clears her throat nervously.
"Will you be my Valentine?" she asks, doing all the things that website said to do: fluttering her lashes, biting her lip, leaning forward just a bit. A bike passes by, drenching her in water and an empty chip bag flies straight into her perfectly curled hair. Luke starts laughing, pulling out his phone.
"Oh, wow. This is perfect. Stay still." He snaps a picture and Clarisse almost starts crying as he hits the send button, sending it to the entire class. But she doesn't because boys don't cry and Dad always says she should've been a boy. He stoops to her level. "Hey, don't cry. I might've gone out with you, if you weren't so…ugly, loud, brutish-not to mention more than a little fat. And the girl I've my sights set on? Your exact opposite." He pats her shoulder and stands up, walking away. As he is close to the exit of the bridge, he pauses, turning. "Don't lose hope, though! A blind guy or someone who's really desperate might go with you! Ah, love. It really can be harsh sometimes, don't you think?" He strolls off, leaving Clarisse to pick herself up and seat herself on a bench. She never fails, never cries, don'tcrycan'tcrywon'tcrydon'tcrydon'tdon'tdon't-her head snaps up and her mind clears as a woman's beguiling voice enters and echoes.
"Dark Cupid. He doesn't deserve your love- in fact, he doesn't deserve anyone's love. No one deserves love. With my help, you can eradicate all love. I just ask for a couple trinkets in return." Clarisse nods, smirking.
"Yes, Kronas." Dark bubbles flow over her as she accepts the akuma into the watch, which she straps over her wrist. Dark Cupid's black boots reach up to her thighs and pink covers up to her neck and down to her elbows, right before black gloves start. A bow and arrow materialize into her hands and a sheath of more pink tipped arrows covers her back. Her hair flows free and black pink-tipped wings carry her off the ground. She laughs in delight as she soars above Paris. Taking aim, she releases an arrow, burying it in a civilian's back. He pushes away the man he was leaning towards and shouts some intelligible phrase, storming off and brushing off the man as he attempts to talk to him. Dark Cupid's eyes light up and she keeps shooting. Her arms will never tire, and she will never stop, because this is for Paris, killing all love. Love is a cancer and she's the cure.
Percy lounges in his room, sampling macrons and writing love poems to his lady.
"Ugh! Tikki, none of these sound right!" he groans, smashing his face into his pillow. Tikki sighs sympathetically, floating next to him.
"Oh, Percy. She'll love anything from you." She's about to say more when a thump sounds on the roof. A gloved hand opens the hatch to his roof and Percy perks up, hoping its Lady Jinx, although why she would be visiting Luckybug's civilian identity is beyond him. A face peers in and Percy scrambles back, suppressing curses, because this is definitely not Lady Jinx-actually, it looks more like an akuma.
"Did someone say 'love'?" she growls. Percy nods.
"Yeah! My friend! On the phone! He lives-uh- on the west end of Paris! Yep, over there! Why?" he asks, trying and probably failing to look innocent. The akuma shakes her head.
"Oh, Percy. Love's pretty painful, I'm just trying to get rid of it. Actually, I'll help you out with that too!" She pulls out a wicked looking arrow and he yelps.
"I already hate love! No love for me! Grr!" He attempts to trick her and it works, because she sends him a thumbs up instead of a freaking arrow and moves off. He slumps in relief, but not for long. He has a job to do.
"Tikki, spots on!" Luckybug swings out the window, heading after the akuma and hopefully towards Lady Jinx.
Thalia hands a candy apple, shaped like a heart, to Annabeth. They meander towards Annabeth's house, Annabeth dragging her feet and purposely taking wrong turns. She really doesn't want to go back, knowing that all that will be waiting for her is an impersonal assistant and her step-monster. And her dad, not that she'll see him. Annabeth sighs sadly and looks down. Thalia notices and bumps her shoulder, thankfully more gently.
"What's wrong, girl? You sad about Valentine's Day? Don't worry, Percy would be a fool not to accept your love." Thalia licks her treat for emphasis and winks. Annabeth giggles, and hey, maybe things are getting better! They're looking up. She might even be able to do a sleepover at Thalia's, if Jason and Piper are okay with it. She smiles wider, the sun comes out, and a menacing looking flying girl aims an arrow at Thalia-wait, what?
"Is that a heart? Hearts must be destroyed!" she shouts, not waiting for an answer. She shoots Thalia and her candy apple. Thalia's lips go a darker shade of purple-really, it's black. She shoves the sticky apple into Annabeth's shirt.
"You're not a BFF! You're more like a SRK, a spoiled rich kid! Percy's gonna laugh at your pathetic attempt at poetry!" Thalia stomps off, throwing her candy down. Annabeth stares after her, slightly hurt but more confused.
"What the hell just happened?" she asks Plagg, ducking into an alleyway. Plagg shrugs.
"Either that akuma makes people become compulsive liars or it switches people's feelings," he shrugs. Peeking out, Annabeth catches a better glimpse of the girl, Dark Cupid she claims, who's shouting about destroying love.
"Switching the feelings, I think, except he's utterly destroying them. Well, I know someone who's good at destroying things. Plagg, claws out!" Her transformation flows over her and Lady Jinx races out of the alley. She spots a familiar red suited hero chasing the akuma and starts rescuing the citizens instead, shoving them in their houses. Peering at the sky, she notices Ladybug swinging over the rooftops in an effort to get away and pulls one of her staffs, helicoptering up and shoving the end in a rooftop gutter just in time for Luckybug to land on it. She leans against the building casually, smirking up at him. God, he's tall. He winks at her.
"M'lady. I have something to tell you," he says, looping her waist with his yoyo. She rolls her eyes.
"It's gonna have to wait, Lucky. We have an akuma-" He lays a finger on her lips and she stills in shock. He tugs the yoyo string and she's pulled closer. His impossibly blue eyes stare into hers and he speaks softly.
"Jinx, I promised myself I'd tell you as soon as I saw you. I-" She catches movement over his shoulder, jerking her out of her shock. She spins them effortlessly, turning her back to the incoming arrow. "What are you doing?" he says, mid-spin, eyes wide.
"It's my job to protect you, bugaboy," she breathes in the moments before it hits. It collides with her back and she gasps at the pain, arching into Luckybug. She didn't expect it to hurt this much-
It all happens so quickly. The spin, the whisper, the pain on her face. He stares at her, shocked, as her usually red lips turn black and an ugly expression comes over her face.
"You are BLIND! You keep talking about how I'm your lady and oh, you love me so much, don't you, buggie? If you loved me, you wouldn't let HER hurt me! You make me SICK! I take every hit for you and you can't protect me from any! I'm gonna make you hurt just as much as me!" she screams. Luckybug jerks back.
"I don't-what?" Like the coward he is, he flees, rolling into le Grande Paris Hotel. Luke and Ethan are crouching behind a table. Luke opens his mouth to speak but Luckybug holds up a hand, fixing him with a cold glare. "Shut the hell up. I need to think."
"I didn't even-" Luke clamps a hand over his own mouth. Luckybug rolls his eyes. Jinx being hurt by someone? Some woman, from the sound of it. Wait- they know their enemy's a female, ever since Ironheart. And Jinx has taken quite a few hits since-yep, that's it. Luckybug pushes away the niggling feeling that no that's not it you IDIOT(sincerely, the fandom) and spins his yoyo, ready for a confrontation. He jerks his chin over his shoulder quickly. "Luke, Ethan. You need to leave, now." Ethan doesn't wait for a second and starts sprinting, blowing past Luke. He dodges Dark Cupid and Lady Jinx into the street.
"Oh, Luckybug! Your lady wants to see you!" Jinx trills.
"Go!" Luckybug shouts. He jumps over the table, grabs a frozen Luke, and throws his yoyo towards the doors. It bursts them open and as soon as he feels the tell-tale tension in the string a few seconds later he yanks, sending them flying. Luke's screaming and Luckybug joins in, venting all his frustration. He drops Luke off in an alleyway and takes off again, throwing, tugging, and releasing in an endless cycle until- he nearly hits the silver staff-baton? He's pretty sure it's a baton- extended across the street. He drops himself down to the street, recalling the yoyo. Jinx drops down as well, sauntering towards him.
"I don't want to fight," he pleads. Jinx's face contorts into a snarl.
"Obviously. You just pull out your pretty little toy and do sparkly pink-"
"Red."
"PINK ladybug crap and whoop-de-doo! We've won the day! The city is fixed! Luckybug, our hero! Luckybug, Luckybug, LUCKYBUG! No one cares about how I take every hit and put my life on the line! You just want me back because you can't handle not having me to cower behind," she says coldly. Tears of frustration prick the corners of her eyes and she wipes them away angrily. He steps closer, prompting her to take a wary step back.
"Why are you so full of hate?" he asks, voice low. Her body shudders and the spell Dark Cupid has on her seems to fall away.
"What else can I feel if I've never been shown anything but?" she says, voice all trembly. She hardens. "Ugh, ignore that. It's because hate conquers all, and I don't know about you, but I'd like to be on the winning side." Her staff shoots out at him and he doges, parrying it away with his yoyo.
"Hate to break it to you, but love conquers all, not hate." His mind flashes back to this morning's class, with Persephone's giggling declaration. What was it? 'True love's kiss' or something. Well, he doesn't know if he's Jinx's true love, but hey. A kiss is a kiss. "You're right, Jinx. I can't handle not having you with me. We're partners, m'lady. And I hope you remember that even if you may hate me for this later." Jinx raises an eyebrow.
"Um, what?" Luckybug grins.
"Come here, kitty, kitty!" He runs towards her, yoyo flashing, and her eyes widen as she gets what he's trying to do.
"OH, HELL NO!" She starts sprinting in the opposite direction. "I didn't even want this when I tolerated you!" she yells over her shoulder. She almost crashes into a lamppost and pauses, briefly. He smirks. Gotcha. He throws his yoyo and it wraps around her legs, securing her to the post. She starts thrashing when she realizes what he's done, dropping her staff in the process. He jogs up to her. "No, no , no!" she says, shaking her head. He shrugs.
"Sorry m'lady, but a guy's gotta do what a guy's gotta do." He braces himself against the pole and leans in, but she dodges and he pulls back right before he hits himself in the face. "Jinx." She smirks at him and he sighs. "You asked for it." Cupping her face in his hands, he goes for it again and right before their lips make contact his senses start tingling. He throws himself backwards as a pink-tipped arrow flies through the space where his face was seconds before. The yoyo string loosens and Jinx wiggles out, snatching her staff and extending it into his stomach. He's shoved backwards and Jinx flips over to Dark Cupid.
"How you gonna fight both of us now, bug-face?" Dark Cupid sneers. Luckybug scrambles behind a tree.
"I wonder what the effects of Cataclysm on a human would be. Maybe I should find out. For science," Jinx says, and even though he can't see her face he imagines her grin. "Cataclysm!" Welp, time to call in the big guns.
"Lucky charm!" he calls. A candy apple falls into his hands and he manages to catch it by the stick. "A candy apple?" Of all the useless things...
"What am I supposed to do with this?" Jinx shouts. He can hear her feet pounding on the pavement behind him so he runs out the opposite way. He scans the plaza. The fountain, Jinx's ring, and the watch on Dark Cupid's wrist all light up in the signature red-and black pattern he's gotten used to.
"Ladies! I have a gift for you!" he calls. Dark Cupid scowls and starts firing arrows. She obviously wasn't thinking ahead, since Jinx is behind him so whenever he dodges, she has to dodge as well. Frustrated, Jinx runs up to Luckybug and he grabs her shoulders, awkwardly leap frogging off and using the momentum to launch himself to the top of the fountain. Taking aim, he launches the candy apple at Dark Cupid's head. She grabs it before it reaches, but that's alright-that's what she was supposed to do. She shgakes the apple off but as she goes to notch another arrow and fire it at him, she finds her hand sticking to the string.
"Luckybug!" she howls.
"The one and only. And now, for the kitty," he says under his breath. Jumping down from the fountain, he pretends to trip and fall. Jinx immediately pounces, straddling him.
"Take his Miraculous!" Dark Cupid calls, washing her hands in the fountain as quickly as she can.
"With pleasure," Jinx replies. Her attention focuses on Luckybug and she smiles coldly. "Guess I'll find out who you are, Luckybug. Wonder if Paris will think you're so special once they know who you really are." Luckybug shakes his head.
"I don't think so." He grabs her wrist, the one connecting to the hand that has the Cataclysm dark bubbles around it, and pulls it away from them. Using his other hand, he cups the back of her head. "Usually I ask, m'lady, but hey, if you like this one we can retry it once you're back to normal." Their lips collide and Luckybug closes his eyes, getting lost in how warm and soft and- nope. Akuma. Focus on the akuma. He releases her quickly and open his eyes cautiously. She just look confused and a little bit horrified.
"Oh, God. Why am I straddling you?" She scoots off of him and he bounces onto his feet.
"Tell you later. Aim for the watch!" He scoops her up bridal-style and launches her in the air. She lands on Dark Cupid, knocking her onto the ground. Jinx slams her hand into Dark Cupid's watch and the akuma flutters out. Luckybug slings his yoyo and nabs it. "No more evil-doing for you. Bye, bye , little butterfly!" he calls, watching the purified butterfly flit away. "Miraculous Ladybug!" The swarm of ladybugs surrounds Paris, fixing the damage and hopefully the broken hearts. Jinx strolls over to Luckybug.
"You were going to explain?" Luckybug hears both of their Miraculous beep.
"Yeah. Notre Dame, nine sharp. Bug out!" He swings away. Jinx sighs.
"Alright then. Catch you later!" She vaults away, leaving Clarisse kneeling on the ground, very confused.
A girl in a cat suit vaults to the top of Notre Dame, perching on a ledge. A red-clad figure swings in next to her, holding a small box.
"Hey, Jinx," he greets. She smiles at him.
"Hey. So, you gonna tell me what happened and why I found myself straddling you?" she asks. He rubs the back of his neck self consciously.
"So, basically you just shouted at me for a while and then I realized that to break the spell we had to kiss so then you were about to take my Miraculous and I kinda just did it and I'm super sorry please don't hate me!" Jinx blinks, processing the information.
"Oh. Well, um-I don't mind you kissing me? As long as it was to break the spell and you didn't get handsy or anything." She fixes him with a stare and he flushes.
"I would never!" Unless you let me... She laughs, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah, I know, Lucky-boy. I'm just joking." They sit in silence for a bit before he decides to address the thing weighing on his mind.
"So, uh, you said that you were made at me because I never stopped this lady from hurting you and I assume that's Kronas but also are you annoyed that I get all the glory? You know that you're not a side-kick right?" he asks her. She turns her big, grey eyes to him.
"Honestly, Lucky, I was a little annoyed back around Ironheart. But my idiot, cheese-loving kwami actually said some thing helpful. He said that you were offense, yes, but I'm defense, and you need both to win a game. It's my honor to protect you, and if that means taking the hits so be it." He grins, relieved.
"Alright. And you are my partner, I need you. I couldn't stop Dark Cupid until I had you back. And the thing is Jinx, I lo-" his voice catches in his throat and he shoves it down.
"Yes?" Jinx's staring at him again and he flushes again, glad that his mask covers at least some of it up.
"I love chocolate so I brought us some!" he says, a bit to cheerily but that's okay because Jinx is practically climbing on top of him as she reaches for the box.
"Ooh! Gimme!" she demands. He laughs.
"Here you go, m'lady. If I had known you loved chocolate so much, I would have brought you some sooner!" She mumbles something around the mouthful she has and he snorts. "Happy Valentine's Day, Jinx." He presses a quick kiss to her cheek and takes off. Jinx swore to herself that she'd never be cliche in love, but as she watches his form swinging away, she presses a hand to her cheek, right where he kissed her.
A/N: Holy chicken nuggets that took me way too long to finish. Sorry for the wait! School is picking up but I'm gonna try my hardest to finish this. I have people to yell at me if I don't. Thank them. Thanks for reading!
