AN: Originally this was going to be a One-Shot for "An Adrienette Anthology": A cute date that gets interrupted by work. However, I realized at the end that one-shots probably shouldn't end on a cliffhanger so… instead I wrote a three-shot that ends on a slightly smaller cliffhanger!
If you are new to my stories, you can read this first chapter by itself without getting lost ("Impératrice Pourpre" is Sabrina, who received the Butterfly Miraculous after the defeat of Hawk Moth, and the Heroes mostly know each other's identities). However, the remainder of the story ties in much more directly to the last full story I wrote, titled "Running out of Time."
Finally, although this is a "Valentine's Day Story™," this doesn't actually take place on Valentine's Day. It's actually around October or so, about a month after "Running out of Time."
"Dude, are you sure about this?"
Adrien glanced over at Nino as they were walking up to the restaurant. He was frowning, concern in his eyes. Ahead of them, Adrien could see Marinette and Alya standing just outside the doors, waiting. Marinette as always took his breath away in a blouse and skirt she had designed herself. Alya also wore a beautiful dress that Marinette had designed for her for the occasion – burnt orange with white patterning that perfectly matched the Miraculous necklace around her neck. Marinette saw them first and nudged Alya, and both girls waved in greeting.
"You mean about the double date?" Adrien asked, giving him a grin, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "Of course – as long as Marinette and I are still invited. It is your two-year anniversary after all."
"Of course you're still invited!" Nino assured him. "Besides, we're still going to do something, just the two of us, for our actual anniversary tomorrow. But I mean, are you sure about this particular restaurant? Taking DJ gigs on weekends pays well enough, but I looked at the menu online, and I can't exactly afford a glass of water here…"
"Relax," Adrien told him, clapping his shoulder. "I wouldn't have suggested this place if I wasn't going to treat. My father may have been a terrible parent, but his business sense was pretty good – when he wasn't Akumatizing half of Paris, at least – so I can at least afford to treat my best friends to a date at a fancy restaurant! My parents used to come here for special occasions, so I know it's good."
"You sure? I mean–"
"Considering all the time and friendship you and Alya and Marinette have given me over the last two years – even with my father making all our lives miserable in two ways – giving us both a nice night out with our ladies is the least I can do, brother!" Adrien joked.
"Well, when you put it like that…" Nino paused and put a finger on his chin. "You owe us way more than a fancy meal, dude!" he teased. "Especially after your dad turned me into an adult-hating nutcase who called himself 'The Bubbler' just because I thought you should have a birthday party!"
"Well, we did give you a Miraculous, so…"
"That was your girl," he retorted. "That doesn't count."
"Hey, boys," Alya called, pulling Nino in for a hug. "You're looking nice, babe. Combed hair and everything?"
"Only the best for you, babe," Nino replied, kissing her.
Adrien held an arm out, and Marinette wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Thanks for doing this," Marinette whispered. She smirked up at him. "A girl could get used to giving her best friend a date at the best restaurant in Paris! You know, if you're not careful, I might start to think you actually like me!"
He tipped her chin back and kissed her deeply. "As if there could be any doubt of that, Bugaboo!"
The waiter walked over to their table just as Alya and Nino were finishing the last bites of their dessert. "Can I get anything else for you, Monsieur?"
Adrien glanced over at the others before turning back to him, smiling, and answering, "No, thank you. Just the check."
"Of course, Monsieur. Just a moment."
The waiter returned a moment later with their check, and Adrien pulled out his wallet to pay. However, as he was taking the money out, his eye was drawn by a beam of blinding white light that stretched across the restaurant's front windows. The beam struck a car parked on the other side of the street, which exploded in a pillar of fire before being thrown over onto its side and rolling into the storefront next to it.
Adrien reacted on instinct. As the sonic boom from the explosion struck and shattered the restaurant's floor-length glass windows, he pushed their table over onto its side, sending dishes and silverware clattering to the floor. He grabbed Marinette and pushed her behind the makeshift shield, as Nino did the same to Alya. Adrien grabbed a wad of €200 bills out of his wallet and pressed them into the waiter's hand, a moment before the man ran for the relative safety of the kitchen. Then Adrien ducked behind the table with the others.
"That looked familiar somehow," Marinette observed, a calculating look in her eyes already. "Remind you of any Akumas?"
"You mean the ones where we were hilariously outmatched?" Adrien asked, grimacing. "I always hated those – right up to the moment you came up with some brilliant plan to somehow trap them in a vat of Ranch dressing!"
"Whoever they are, they have no idea what they messed with," Alya glowered.
"If you're ready, it looks like the room's clear," Nino told them, hazarding a look around their table. "No sign yet of whatever made that explosion."
"Right," Marinette said. "Wouldn't do to ruin this blouse the first time I wear it!" With that, all four heroes transformed together, each removing earpieces from their weapons and placing them in their ears.
Cat Noir led the way around the table into the deserted dining area, his eyes scanning the street outside for any signs of the energy blast's source. He held his staff tightly at the ready position. He watched a small group of police officers creeping past the blown-out windows of the restaurant, led by Lieutenant Raincomprix. The officers suddenly dropped to the ground as an energy beam shot through the area where they had been standing moments before.
Cat Noir turned to the others. "We'd better help them," he said. "Carapace, come with me."
Ladybug nodded. "We'll get to the roof and figure out what's going on."
Cat Noir grabbed her arm. "Be careful, Milady," he whispered.
She pulled him down and kissed him. "Always, my Kitty."
Rena Rouge cleared her throat and gave them a look. "As cute as you two are… don't you boys have something you should be doing right now? Like making sure Sabrina doesn't become an orphan?"
"Uh, right." Cat Noir released Ladybug sheepishly and raced through the restaurant at a sprint, Carapace hot on his heels. The two heroes leapt through the holes where the windows had blown in, just as the police started stirring and pushing themselves to their feet. Cat Noir looked down the street to where the energy blasts had originated, and found a pair of men holding strange-looking weapons and shooting them in every direction. As he watched, one of the men shot a tree, which lit up like a match, bathing the scene in firelight and throwing confusing shadows in every direction against the sun's dying rays.
"Stay behind us!" Carapace called, holding his shield in front of himself with one hand and offering the other to Lieutenant Raincomprix. The officer accepted the assistance gratefully. "What's the situation, sir?"
"You tell me, Carapace," the officer replied, eyes wide. "Is this one of yours? An Akuma?"
Only if you grounded your daughter! Cat Noir thought, biting his tongue to keep from laughing. "This isn't the kind of thing Impératrice Pourpre would do," he contented himself with saying instead. "Those guns look familiar for some reason, but I can't quite place them." He spun his staff to deflect an energy beam from one of the attackers. "We need to find cover!"
Carapace nodded and gestured for half the police to follow him across the street. Seeing where he was going, Cat Noir led Lieutenant Raincomprix and the other officers into an alleyway opposite the one in which Carapace took shelter. His heightened hearing picked up a light thud on the roof above them. He didn't need to look to know it was Ladybug and Rena Rouge, using the roofs to flank the attackers.
"Do you have a plan, Milady?" Cat Noir asked into his earpiece.
"Not yet, Kitty," she replied. There was a grunt and a thud as she landed on the roof of the next building. "Still working on it."
"Glad you guys are already there," another voice said. Cat Noir recognized it as King Monkey. "Multiplice and I are still stuck by the Eiffel Tower. We were on the other side of the city when we felt the explosion."
"Just get here when you can," Cat Noir instructed. He looked at Lieutenant Raincomprix as he continued, "Carapace, we need to keep them focused on the ground while the girls come up with a plan."
"We're set over here. What's the signal?"
Cat Noir glanced behind him. Lieutenant Raincomprix, who already had his men lined up and ready to go, nodded. "Ready… Now!"
Cat Noir sprang out from the cover of the alley, twirling his staff as he did so. The police officers fanned out behind him, handguns out, and began shooting past him at the attackers. On the other side of the road, Carapace and his group copied the move. And, Cat Noir was surprised to see, Ryoku and Taureau Dechaine appeared on the far side, beyond the attackers, leading their own groups of police officers. The attackers turned to face opposite directions, concentrating on the separate groups.
"Whatever you're going to do, you'd better do it fast, girl!" Rena Rouge said over their communicators. "One lucky shot and the Mirage is gone…"
"Find cover!" Cat Noir shouted at the officers behind him, as he and Carapace raced in front of the police, rapidly closing the distance with the shooters. They were still ten meters away when the attacker on the other side shot Taureau Dechaine. The Mirage shimmered and vanished, just as Ladybug leapt from the roof of the building next to the attackers. The attacker who'd been shooting at the Mirage-heroes turned just at that moment and caught a glimpse of Ladybug in midair. He aimed his energy gun at her and shot, as she pulled her Lucky Charm from behind her back. The Lucky Charm-mirror caught the energy beam and reflected it toward the other attacker.
As he saw Ladybug jump, Cat Noir slipped behind Carapace, who held up his shield, crouched, and braced his legs to block an energy blast from the attacker in front of them. As he did so, Cat Noir took a flying leap onto Carapace's back. Carapace pushed up, and Cat Noir springboarded off of his back into the air. He extended his staff to the ground and used it to vault himself over the attacker directly in front of him, aiming feet-first for the one behind.
The reflected energy beam shot past Cat Noir's legs and struck the other attacker's gun. The gun began to melt, and the attacker dropped it an instant before it fizzled and imploded. At the same time, Cat Noir kicked the other attacker in the head. The man dropped the gun and fell to the ground in a daze. Cat Noir kicked the gun away from him. Ladybug landed at his side and threw her Lucky Charm in the air, and Miraculous Ladybug repaired the damage.
As Carapace and Rena Rouge arrived, Ladybug and Cat Noir held their fists out for a fist bump.
"You know," Cat Noir observed, smirking, "I could think of worse date night ideas…"
Honestly, if by this point you're surprised that my "Valentine's Day story" about Adrien treating Marinette, Nino, and Alya to a double date at a fancy restaurant ended with them fighting dudes with energy weapons, I refer you back to "Milady" and "Tit for Tat," both of which started from a similar premise!