Adrien sat holding a rose in his hand from the bunch he had bought for Marinette earlier that afternoon. If she were here, they would have already had their stems trimmed, she would have put sugar in the water and the flowers would have been arranged in her favourite vase on the table. The apartment would have the lingering smell of whatever amazing dinner she would have cooked and they would now be snuggled up on the lounge with her special hot chocolate and watching, but not really watching, a movie on TV. Instead the roses were still wilting on the sink, because she's not here to tend to them. The apartment was full of people, yet it felt so empty without her in it. The others were eating Chinese takeout while making calls, but Adrien couldn't eat a bite. All it did was remind him of that night in his office when he finally confessed his feelings. One of the petals fell away from his hand, gently falling to the ground as the snow started picking up outside. He gripped the rose tighter, screwing his eyes shut.
Alya was on the phone to Tom and Sabine, keeping them in the loop and reassuring them. Adrien had sent the Gorilla to the bakery in case Lila tried anything else. He had no doubt in his mind that Lila was involved and someone acting this unhinged was unpredictable. Chloé was discussing the situation with Sabrina on her phone, but in three hours, the police had come up with nothing. Adrien had decided to leave Felix out of what was happening for the moment. He didn't want to risk his cousin finding out about the superhero status of his friends after they had decided to bring Chloé in on what was going on. Chloé assured Adrien that Felix was completely worn out and would sleep soundly until morning. Nobody wanted to know why or how she knew that. Besides, not having Felix there meant the Kwamis were free to move around the apartment.
Nino was sitting next to Adrien and placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Bro, I'm sure she's okay. We'll find her. Lila might be sneaky, but she's not that smart." Adrien just nodded, his hair was messy and hanging down his face. He wasn't so sure about the 'not so smart' part. Lila had fooled a great many people over the years.
"She's my whole world Nino. I don't think I could face tomorrow without her." He loosened his grip and the rose fell to the ground as he buried his face into his hands. Both Alya and Chloé turned towards the two boys. Finishing up their calls, they joined them on the lounge, hugging Adrien as he started to break down. "She's all I have. This can't be happening, this can't..." His voice broke between sobs. Alya and Nino hugged him on each side. Chloé knelt in front of him and brushed his hair from his eyes.
"Adrikins, look at me. We are going to find her, and Lila is going to pay for this. Sabrina has cops looking all over the city. We will find her." She shook his shoulders gently and he slowly raised his eyes to her determined look.
"You're not alone Sunshine. We are here for you too." He turned his head to Alya and nodded before looking over for Plagg.
Plagg had been uncharacteristically quiet. Wayzz, Trixx and Pollen sat quietly around him. Without warning Plagg was suddenly up in the air shooting around the room wildly. "Plagg what is it?" Asked Wayzz.
"It's Tikki. I can feel her. She's here." By this everyone was now on their feet watching the black cat continue darting around the room. He then flew out through the window into the dark night. Adrien held his hands to the glass trying to see where Plagg went. Did this mean Marinette was here too? He held his breath and waited.
Moments later, Plagg flew back into the room, his arms around an exhausted Tikki. "Quick." Trixx called out. "Lay her on a pillow. Pollen get a cookie." Pollen sped to the kitchen as Plagg helped Tikki onto the pillow.
"Tikki, where's Marinette?" Adrien asked fearfully. Tikki was as struggling to keep her eyes open as Pollen gave her the cookie.
"Give her a moment Chat Noir." Wayzz said calmly. "When she has recovered, I'm sure she will tell us everything."
Marinette brought her knees up to her chest as she shivered. She tried to scratch an itch on the side of her face by rubbing her cheek against her shoulder. As she did so she could feel her earring there. That was a relief. Lila obviously didn't know anything about them. All Marinette could hope for now was that Tikki had somehow found her way to Adrien. Her eyes were still closed when she could feel something soft and warm placed over her. Marientte opened her eyes to be met by a wide eyed girl around her own age.
"You must be Claire." Marinette asked quietly.
"Yes." She responded anxiously. "I am so sorry this has happened to you. I had no idea that Lila planned to kidnap anyone. You've got to believe me." Marinette swallowed, trying to moistion her dry mouth.
"I believe you Claire." She said softly. "Could you get me a drink at all?" Claire got up and opened a fridge, getting out some cold water. Marinette shifted back against the wall and wiggled her way to a sitting position. Her shoulders were aching from being tied back. Claire crouched down and helped Marientte take small sips, holding her hair back from her mouth. Somewhere along the way, Marientte had lost her hair ties.
"Lila only told me we were taking that photo because she wanted to get back at her ex fiancé." Marientte shook her head.
"Lila never even dated Adrien, let alone was engaged to him. We have known her since Collagé and she is the queen of lies as I'm sure you are discovering." Claire lowered her eyes.
"I guess that promise of a job was a lie too." She said sadly.
"Is that what she promised you? A job?" Claire nodded.
"When the Gabriel company went down, I was only just finishing my apprenticeship. I couldn't get a job and no one would give me a reference. I guess I wasn't that good of a seamstress, but I loved working at Gabriel and Mr Adrien was one of the few people who was actually nice to me. But my mother has been really sick for a long time and the medical bills are piling up. Lila was so convincing and I didn't really know you except for the rumours the designers told when you and Mr Adrien started dating." Marinette let out a sigh.
"You know Lila started the rumours right?" She could see from the look in Claire's face that she obviously didn't know.
"I feel like such an idiot." Claire said as despair was taking her over. "Oh God I'm going to go to jail and no one will be around to take care of my mum." Marinette watched as the girl started crying into her hands. She felt bad for her because she was clearly a sitting duck for someone like Lila to manipulate and take advantage of.
"Hey Claire, it's alright. You're not going to go to jail." The girl stopped her sobbing, sniffing as she looked up at the designer.
"But I'm an accessory to a kidnapping. You...you could…"
"Listen." Marinette interrupted. "Adrien send help. I know he will, but in the meantime though I need you to help me. Do you know what Lila is planning to do with me?" Claire shook her head.
"To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure she knows. She says she has a plan, but to me she seems to be making it up as she goes along. She's been drinking too, a lot, and stroking that gun." Marinette bit her bottom lip. No wonder Lila was acting strange. Well, stranger than usual. "Now that she's got you here, I don't think she knows what to do with you. She really seems to have it in for you and she's so blinded by jealousy and rage anything is possible even…" She stopped and caught her breath, covering her mouth with her hand. Marinette looked at her wide eyed in realisation that things could easily turn deadly.
"Okay, we won't worry about that for now." Marinette had to try to keep her focus. She was Ladybug, even without her Kwami. Think Marinette, think. "Do you have a phone on you?" Marinette asked calmly. Claire nodded.
"Yeah but, there's no signal. We're a long way out of town here."
"That's alright, we don't need a signal." Marinette took in a deep breath. Her head still hurt and it was making it hard to think with the fatigue on top of it. "I need you to start recording conversations. Lila is a master of fabrication. Even if she is caught red handed, she will try and talk her way out of it and people somehow believe her. I need you to get what she says on tape so to speak to be used as evidence. Do you think you can do that?"
Marientte could see that Claire looked really scared. She didn't blame her, Lila was highly unstable and armed, but Claire looked back at Marinette with a determination in her eyes.
"I can do that." She said. "Anything else?" Marientte smiled softly.
"Once you have helped me stop Lila, would you like to come and work for me?" Claire's eyes lit up in disbelief.
"But...but I...but you…" she spluttered.
"I know that you were taken in by Lila's bull, and believe me, you're not the first, but if we keep our wits about us, maybe you will be the last." Claire nodded as she stood up.
"Alright. I'll help you anyway I can. I better get back before Lila returns. I wasn't supposed to talk to you." She took out her phone before looking back to Marinette. "Are you sure Adrien will send someone? I...I don't know how much time we might have." Marinette closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall with a smile on her face.
"I trust him." She said. She just hoped it wouldn't be too much longer.
"Adrien." Wayzz called. "Tikki is ready to talk now." Adrien rushed back over to where the kwamis were. Tikki was looking much better, sitting up as she finished her cookie.
"Tikki, where is Marinette? Is she alright?" Tikki nodded.
"Lila confronted Marinette not long after she left you at the bakery. She tried to get away, but Lila hit her over the head and her and another girl put her in a car. Marinette passed out from the hit and didn't know what was happening." Adrien wrapped his arms around himself and started pacing the room.
"Was the other girl Claire?" Asked Chloé with a raised eyebrow.
"I think that was her name. She seemed really scared and didn't really know what was going on." Chloé scoffed.
"Why doesn't that surprise me. She was a lousy seamstress and it seems an even more lousy kidnapper." She flicked her hair as she spoke.
"Chloé really, I don't think now is the right time for that." Alya scolded with hands on her hips and flicking her head towards where Adrien was pacing. Chloé just screwed her nose up at her. Alya shook her head, rolling her eyes before looking back at Tikki.
"Do you know where Marinette is?" The reporter asked. Tikki looked over to Plagg who was laying a supportive paw on her arm.
"I think I could find it. They are in an abandoned factory outside of the city. It had a kitchen attached to it." Adrien spun back around.
"A kitchen? Was there a large dome shaped light hanging over the factory assembly?" Tikki nodded.
"I think so. It was dark when I left but yes, I do believe there was." Adrien ran his hands through his hair.
"You know the place dude?" Nino asked.
"Yeah I do. We did a photoshoot there once for an urban edge line. Lila was at the shoot, she would have remembered." He then crouched down next to where Tikki was.
"Tikki, how was Marinette? Did she say anything?" Tikki looked down at the ground.
"She was still unconscious when I left. I'm sorry Adrien, but I couldn't wait in case I was discovered by Lila. She was ranting a lot and waving a small gun around and..."
"A gun!" Alya exclaimed. Adrien shot his eyes up, meeting Alya's. "You mean she's been threatening my girl with a gun?" Tikki looked back at Adrien who had staggered back onto the lounge. His expression started to shift from one of shock to anger.
Adrien closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing, but he could feel the anger start to rise in him. His Lady was in danger and he had to save her. It was like his father all over again, threatening to replace his mother with Marinette. He started rubbing his right hand with his left, a burning sensation making its way up his arm. No, he can't do it. He had to be stronger than that, but dear God if Lila did anything to Marinette…
"Adrien." Tikki called, floating over to him with Plagg beside her. Adrien didn't even realise he had started to hyperventilate. Tikki gently touched his face. "Adrien look at me." Adrien opened his eyes, his pupils were dilated. Tikki could see the fear, not only for Marinette, but because of what he wanted to do.
"Tikki, I don't think I can. I don't think it would be safe for me to…"
"Adrien Just breathe." The red Kwami said gently. "Remember who you are. You are Chat Noir. Your cataclysm is your greatest defence, but if you use it for the wrong purpose, no matter how deserved it might seem to be, then you abuse the right of a miraculous holder and that would make you no better than your father." Adrien gasped, tears welling in his eyes.
"I never want to be my father." He said. Tikki nodded.
"You're not Adrien." She said gently. "You are kind and gentle and you love Marinette with your whole heart. I know you would defend her with your dying breath but right now you have to listen to your head." Adrien looked over to Plagg for reassurance.
"I know how you feel kid, believe. There is no one else I would rather cataclysm in the face, but you have to listen to Tikki here. Without the Guardian, we are all looking to you." Tikki gently placed her hand on his Miraculous on top of his balled up fist.
"There are many things in this life worth dying for Chat Noir, but very few things are ever worth killing for." Adrien could feel the anger start to lift from him and he relaxed his hand. Letting his anger get the better of him wasn't the way to save Marinette. He had to be smarter than that. Gently scooping up Tikki he nuzzled her with his nose.
"Thank you Tikki." He said, the red Kwami nodded and smiled. "I have the advantage here. I know where they are so Lila won't see me coming." Chloé put her hands on her hips.
"You?" She accused. "What do you mean you? It's we you dumb arse, not just you!" Alya and Nino all nodded their heads in agreement, but Adrien slowly shook his.
"I can't ask you guys to get directly involved in this. This isn't an akuma. Marinette is my responsibility, and I've failed to protect her."
"Dude, you didn't fail her." Nino reassured. "We are a team, and we are going in as a team." Adrien looked up with a sad smile.
"I don't know if I trust myself to control my Cataclysm if things get out of hand. Ladybug is always the one with the plan, if anything happened to any of you..." Alya put a hand on top of Adrien's.
"You don't need to worry about us, because you will have my flute." She smiled as Chloé placed her hand on top."
"And my venom." Nino placed his hand on the others.
"And my shelter." The kwamis came into the center of the circle, all determined to get their guardian back. Adrien wiped his eyes with his free hand and placed it on top of the others.
"You guys are the best." He said.
"I could have told you that." Chloé quipped and they all giggled.
"Come on kid, let's go get Ladybug back." Plagg added, placing a paw on Tikki's arm. The red Kwami looked up at Adrien with her big blue eyes.
"We trust you Chat Noir." She said to him. Adrien bit his bottom lip before nodding to Tikki.
"Okay then." Adrien said with a deep breath. "Here's the plan. Step one, Chloé I need you to call Sabrina and her dad so the police will be on standby. Step two…"
Marinette lifted her eyes up towards the window. She must have dozed off for a while. The moon was now high in the night sky. The clouds had parted slightly and the snow had stopped falling, but it was still very cold. She didn't know what time it was, but she guessed it must have been after midnight by this. She could hear Lila and Claire in the other room. Claire had gotten Lila talking about the photo. Lila bragged how easy it was to twist Felix around her little finger, and what a sap Adrien was. A few glasses of wine in and she even started talking about how she had convinced everyone in Collagé that Marinette had cheated and stolen from her, detailing her scheme that got Marinette expelled until Adrien caught her out and twisted her arm to reverse it. Marinette realised that Lila seemed to like talking about herself and how clever she thought she was. The more they could record the better it will be.
Lila threw open the door and sashayed her way into the kitchen where Marinette was. The bluenette squinted in the light as Lila crouched down beside her. The Italian used her gun to lift Marinette's chin up forcing her blue eyes to fix on her empty green ones. "Did I ever tell you that my uncle is in jail in Italy. That's why my mother and I moved to France." Marinette turned her head away from Lila's alcoholic breath. "He's in the mafia you know, got nabbed after an assassination gone bad. A perfect double tap to the head, but he dropped the gun during the escape. Shame really, he had so much potential. But it's a valuable lesson, don't you think?" Marinette wasn't sure if this was just another lie to try and scare her, but she figured it was best not to provoke her.
"Killing me won't give you Adrien." She said quietly. Lila regarded the weapon in her hand.
"No, but it will leave him alone in the world, like me." Marinette turned her eyes back to Lila. There was a sadness, a true sadness behind those eyes. Marinette looked over at Claire who raised her phone slightly out of her pocket with a nod.
"Just tell me why Lila? Why did you tell people you and Adrien were engaged? Why did you tell everyone at Gabriel that I was after Adrien for fame and money. You knew none of it was true." Lila looked away from Marinette and grit her teeth.
"Because I was jealous of you." She admitted. "I wanted Adrien, badly. I spread the rumours in the hope that his father would try and get rid of you, but that backfired and in the end Adrien only ever had eyes for you. I took up with Felix because he looked so much like Adrien, but he didn't have Adrien's heart. I was never good enough for anyone. Not Adrien, not Felix, no one." Marinette could see tears forming in Lila's eyes and despite the circumstances, she felt sorry for her.
"Lila, you are an amazing model. You had the world at your feet. When Gabriel collapsed you could have had your choice of fashion houses. So Hollywood didn't work out, but you don't just give up and blame other people. You pick yourself up and move on." Lila shook her head.
"That's easy for you to say when he chose you? You with your perfect family, you with all the friends, you with all the famous contacts like Jagged Stone and Clara Nightingale. Who are you to be so lucky?" The anger started to rise back in her voice as she pointed the gun back at Marinette. Lila's head then lifted up and she listened, her eyes flicking to Claire. "Someone's coming." She reached down and undid the ties around Marinette's feet before grabbing her by the collar and dragging her towards the factory floor. Claire took three steps back before running the other way.
Chat and Queen Bee made their way through the kitchen. There was no sound except for their own footprints. Chloé looked over and shrugged her shoulders. Chat scanned the floor. There was a piece of rope on the ground. They had been her alright. Then something caught his eye. He knelt down picking the trinket from the floor. It was the lucky charm bracelet Adrien had given her. He smiled to himself. She never went anywhere without it. Looking at the door that led to the assembly floor, he knew she had dropped it there for him to find.
He showed Queen Bee who nodded in acknowledgement. She took out her top and messaged Rena Rouge and Carapace. A message came in reply.
Rena: On our way in. Found Claire. She has some interesting evidence for the police.
"Hello." Chat's voice broke through the void. The lights switched on, momentarily blinding the room.
"So Adrien didn't have the balls to face me himself." Lila called out at the hero who stood at the doorway.
"No, he's here with the police outside. You can't get away Lila, just let Marinette go." Lila started to have a look of panic creep over her face.
"Where's your spotted girlfriend?" Lila called from behind the machinery. Chat took a few tentative steps into the room.
"She had better things to do than take out the trash." Chat taunted. Marinette tried to spy a look at him when she felt the bonds on her hands loosen. Looking down she saw Tikki's blue eyes shiny back up at her. Tikki quickly dived into Marinette's shirt as Lila grabbed her back up, holding the gun to her head.
"Don't move you dumb Cat." Chat stopped and held his hands up in front of him.
"Keep calm Lila, no one has to get hurt here." Lila's eyes burned, pointing the gun back at Chat.
"Don't tell me to calm down." She screeched waving the gun around. Distracted, she didn't see Chloé spinning top launch at her, knocking the gun from her hand.
"Run Marinette." Chat yelled as Rena and Chloé got into a scuffle with Lila. The Italian picked up a lead pipe, crippling Chloé before focusing back on Rena. Landing a hit, Lila dived for the gun, focusing it back on Marinette.
"Look out." Chat called. Marinette swung around and Rena dived on Lila as the gun discharge. Chat grabbed Marinette to his chest, turning away as Carapace yelled 'shelter'. It all happened in an instant. Chat collapsed on Marinette inside Carapace's dome. There was blood on Marinette's hand. "Chat." She yelled, shaking his shoulders. "Chat talk to me."
"I'm okay." He said, shifting his weight off her before looking at his arm. "It's only a graze." Marinette wanted to look at it, but Queen Bee and Rena were still in a scuffle with Lila.
"Quick, Carapace get the gun." Chat ordered, pointing to the weapon on the ground. Carapace dropped the shelter, retrieving the weapon as Chloé and Lila fell onto a conveyor belt on the assembly line.
"Help!" Lila screamed. "Help I'm stuck." Chloé struggled to stand up and saw that Lila's hair had become entangled in the conveyor and was heading straight for a cutting machine.
"Shut it down." Chloé yelled at Rena.
"I can't." She called back. "The panel is broken." The heroes stood frozen as Lila continued to scream, tugging in a vain attempt to free her hair.
Chat balled up his right hand into a fist. He could just let nature take its course. It's not like Lila didn't deserve it. The panel was broken, they couldn't stop it, it's just the way things happen. He wrapped his left hand around the fist. But that wasn't true. He could stop it, he could save her. She didn't deserve it. She had tried to kill Marinette, she had tried to take Marinette away from him.
"Cataclysm." He called as he landed his charged hand onto the conveyor. They watched as the machinery turned to dust around Lila before she fell to the ground. Moments later, police officers led by Sabrina and her father piled into the factory, placing Lila into handcuffs.
"Don't worry Chat Noir. This one will be extradited within days." Officer Raincomprix said. "Young Claire out there recorded some rather interesting conversations with Lila. She won't be out any time soon." Chat shook the officers hand before looking back at Lila. She had a look of confusion on her face.
"You...you saved me." She said, bewildered. "Why did you do that? I tried to kill you, why would you save me?"
"I almost didn't." Chat replied honestly. "But someone once told me that there were many things in this world worth dying for, but very few worth killing for." Lila looked down at the ground as the police walked her outside. Chat turned his attention back to Marinette, finally able to wrap her up in a tight embrace, the two of them sinking to the floor.
"I thought I'd lost you." He cried into her hair. She held him tighter before pulling back just enough to crash her lips into his. Carapace and Rena Rouge helped up Chloé, who was also sporting a rather nast cut to her leg from the tussle with Lila.
When Marinette and Chat parted for air, she looked over and saw the battered state of her friends and the deep gash in Chat's arm where the bullet had grazed him. "Tikki, I think we need to do some damage repair." She said, her red Kwami popping up from her shirt.
Marinette stood up and transformed. Now Ladybug she called for her lucky charm, a bell landing in her hand. She looked at it curiously before looking back at Chat. It was only then she noticed that Chat looked different, and not just because his hair was longer. There was new detailing on Chat's outfit and the bell that was missing had been replaced by a zipper with a paw print. "Kitty, you don't have your bell anymore?" She said as she touched the spot where his bell used to be. Chat smiled down at her, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"That's because I'm not lost anymore m'lady. I have a home now." He pressed his forehead against hers. "You're my home." His renewed attempts at kissing her however were interrupted by a loud clearing of a throat.
"Excuse me, but can we move this along. It's like two in the morning and some of us need our beauty sleep." Queen Bee flicked her hair eliciting a groan from Rena.
"Speak for yourself Bee." She snickered leaning into Carapace who was also giggling and earning a glare in return.
"What are you going to do about it Foxy? And as for you turtle boy..." Chloé began retorting before being cut off by Ladybug and Chat laughing.
"Miraculous Ladybug." The spotted heroine called as the ladybugs repaired the damage and healed the wounds. She then dropped her transformation knowing Tikki was in need of rest.
"Come on m'lady, let's go home." Chat said, picking her up in a bridal carry.
"You know I can walk myself outside." She laughed as the others waved to them and left. "I might be tired, but I'm not a cripple." Chat just shook his head as they made their way outside.
"I might have to hang onto you like this all the time from now on. I don't think I'm ever letting you out of my sight again." He winked at her and she gave him a little smirk.
"Anything else?" She asked as she hooked her arms around his neck. He looked up as though he was thinking.
"Just a gold band on your finger so everyone knows your mine." He said, giving her a soft kiss.
"Tell you what. You meet me at Saint Laurent Church at 3pm on Saturday and I'll see what I can do." Chat smiled softly as he looked at her with adoring eyes.
"I can't wait to marry you." He said. She ran her fingers down his face.
"I can't wait to marry you my Kitty." She replied as they leapt into the night.