Chapter 4: The Miscreant Bug

Alya was not so subtle about her hint for Marinette and Nino to bathe before they spent another night together. Marinette couldn't blame her, it had been almost three days since she had a proper shower what with her distress, and a bath would do good to clear her mind.

Or at least try and clear her mind.

She couldn't help but think over dinner with her parents while she prepared her bubble bath.

They had been concerned for her over the past couple of days and not being able to see her while she was out made it worse. She assured them that she was okay, that Nino and Alya needed to be with her as much as she needed to be with them. Her parents voiced their happiness that Alya and Nino were staying with her, and the three of them supporting each other, "It's good to see friends looking out for each other when one is away or hurt."

Marinette felt a great amount of shame that she couldn't tell her parents the whole truth. That she couldn't tell them about her nightmares and the relationship of her and Nino's small friendship was waning greatly. She couldn't admit that she was the only one that needed Nino and Alya, and that they'd do much better without her stealing their attention and energy over her silly and childish panics. But Marinette couldn't bear to make her parents worry more than they already had been over the past few days.

Besides, Alya and Nino could understand just a tiny bit more than her parents could, because Adrien was their friend too.

But nobody could completely understand.

The tub was just about ready for her. The warm, lavender scented water felt wonderful when she submerged herself, and she let the kwamis join her so that they too may partake in the enjoyment of the bubbles. It was obvious though after sometime of silence that the kwamis wanted to talk with her. She looked up to the celling of her bathroom, letting out a sigh before asking what they wanted to talk about as they rested atop her knees.

"I understand from Tikki that you have been having nightmares, is that right?" Plagg asked.

"It was just one nightmare," Marinette said with a shrug, keeping herself from looking at Plagg and Tikki.

"But it could easily happen again tonight, and the nights following," Tikki tsked at her, "Marinette, I'm worried about you. You need to talk to someone about this, about what you saw."

"And who exactly am I supposed to go to for something like this? A psychiatrist? Oh yes let's just inform some stranger all of my secrets, let them know all about how I'm Ladybug, but I've got to keep it secret you know? Hush, hush, don't let anyone know or Papillon will get you. He'll kill anyone I get into contact with for this dear little secret! For this dear little power!" She snapped at them, throwing her arms into the air.

"Marinette!" Tikki hissed out in offence. Much like her mother scolding her, and Marinette did feel scolded, she bowed her head into the water and immediately apologized, spinning Chat's ring around her finger when she brought her arms down into the water.

"Why not talk to the healer? He knows who and what we are, he would be most able to understand what you're going through," Plagg said with a tone of obviousness, and slight scolding of his own.

Marinette felt foolish. She didn't think to talk to the old man, she hadn't thought about the old man at all, he was too much on an anomaly to her. But Plagg was right, she had transformed in front of him, he would be the most likely to understand her. She sighed and looked back up to the ceiling again, breaking her hands apart to run her fingers through her wet hair.

"You're right," She said with exasperation, "You're right, you're right, you're right. I'll try to go talk to the old man tomorrow, get some of my issues out in the open."

"I know it's hard for you," Tikki floated up from her resting place to Marinette's face, she dripped a bit of water onto Marinette's nose but she listened to what Tikki had to say with rapt attention, "You've gotten so used to not being able to tell anyone about being Ladybug, not even telling Chat anything for not having time to. But you don't have to do keep it all inside Marinette, you don't have to be alone. We're here's for you, please, please don't forget that. We may not have a full comprehension of all human emotions, but we do care for our human companion's very much."

Marinette managed a weak smile. Tikki knew a lot of the right words to say, and one of the main reasons she hadn't really talked to her was because she didn't have the chance to, what with Tikki's initial exhaustion and Marinette constantly being around other people all the time.

"Thank you Tikki," Marinette mumbled, bringing a soapy hand out of the water to brush over Tikki's head and antennae.

"Is there something you want to talk with us about?" Plagg asked with a relaxed and somewhat bored expression from atop her knee.

Marinette paused, she had so many things to talk about, which one could she possibly start with?

"I'm worried about my relationship with Nino and Alya," She finally said.

"The musician? What could possibly be wrong with him?" Plagg frowned at the thought.

"What with Adrien's recent… injury, Nino's been just as much a mess as me. He's been so depressed and angry, angry at me. He knows that Adrien and I weren't really that close of friends, especially not like they were, and it's been driving him nuts that he doesn't know why I've been as down about this as he has," She let out a heavy breath while grabbing her loofa, "He's become so suspicious of me, and I'm afraid that's he's going to discover who I am, and because he's angry at me, probably blames Ladybug for what happened too, he's going to spread my secret."

"He wouldn't do that," Plagg said with much conviction, she was actually surprised by it, didn't Plagg say he didn't pay much attention to the other people around Adrien? "The kid is a bit of an oddball, and he'll rush into things without thinking them over if he believes what's he's doing is right, but that just means he cares. And if he cares about Adrien as I've seen, then you have no worry about him if he does discover your identity."

Marinette frowned, Plagg was confident in what he said but, "I still don't want to risk him finding out," He nodded in understanding.

"And what is your worry for Alya?" Tikki asked.

"Alya's been my and Nino's rock ever since what had happened," Marinette began, slowly scrubbing herself while she talked, "And I'm worried that I've been taking too much from her. I've seen. It's rather tiring for her to look over the both of us, and I know she's worried about both of us. I feel so selfish, I don't want to do this to her, and yet, I don't want her to leave. I need her so, so badly. But I'm afraid that if I take too much or lean on her for too long, she'll become tired with me and leave."

"Alya cares about you, Marinette. Too much for her to ever leave you," Tikki whispered in response to her.

"Yes but what if-"

"No," Tikki interrupted Marinette's worry, "Alya is you friend, and she wouldn't leave you when you need her most. She knows you, and she knows that what happened has affected you greatly, she's not going to chastise you for that. She may be tired now, but both of you, no, all of you, all four of you, will get better, you'll get better together."

Marinette felt a mix of doubt and strange bursts of happiness at both Plagg and Tikki's words. She was terrified about what could happen to her relationships with Alya and Nino, but the kwami's reassurance of what she technically knew, but had forgotten in the time being, reignited her confidence.

"And besides it wouldn't hurt to give her something as a thank you for being there for you," Tikki not-so-subtly hinted at. Marinette let out a light laugh, she would have to do that.

The walk to Nino's home was brisk and cool, with the sun having dropped by the horizon and filled the sky with a wonderful orange color. Plagg elected to continue to stay at Marinette's home for the freedom to move about without the worry of being seen and to still sleep somewhere comfortable. Marinette gave him some cheese before she left with a fresh bag of clothes and Tikki in her purse, her parents giving her a kiss goodbye and a wish for her to stay safe.

Alya was already at Nino's when she arrived, his parents greeting Marinette warmly and asking how she was doing. She told them that she was doing better before going to Nino and Alya who were curled up together in his room. Alya looked up from her phone and smiled at Marinette, unable to get up from her position on the floor as Nino was lazily draped across her back. They both gave her a casual greeting while she put her bag in the corner and sat next to them, leaning on Nino's bed like the night before.

"Are you all nice and clean now?" Alya asked with a light smile, Marinette noticed that her hair was tied up, something she typically did after showers.

"Yeah, I am. I'm glad we took time to do that, I feel much better after my bath," Marinette responded, it was nice not only for the warm water, but for the comforting conversation that went with it.

"That's good to hear," Alya said turning back to her phone, "So, we were just talking about Ladybug before you showed up."

Marinette felt her throat catch at the mention of Ladybug but she kept her face neutral as Nino nonchalantly glanced at her from where he lay. His eyes held a curiosity to them and Marinette almost thought he could read her thoughts.

"Is that so?" She asked, trying to keep her voice level.

"Yeah, some video footage was caught by a reporter of her leaving Adrien's house with a white plastic bag apparently," Alya said scrolling through the news feed.

Marinette caught site of a picture of her jumping across the rooftops as Ladybug. Her little ponytail hair style had remained during her transformation, some form of relief went through her as she hoped that her loose hair would keep her from looking more like Ladybug as Nino continued to stare at her.

"Do they know what she was doing there?" Marinette asked in false curiosity, she knew they didn't know what she was doing. The explanation of stealing cheese was too absurd for any of the reporters to come up with.

"Probably getting something for Adrien," Alya said, her voice low and she let out a little tsk, "Ladybug must be so concerned for him."

Marinette felt her heartrate climb.

"But it's her fault," She blurted out before she could stop herself.

Alya and Nino looked at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?" Alya asked, obviously bothered by the comment.

Marinette felt herself become shy. She didn't want to explain herself for risking that they might find out, but some sick part of her wanted Nino and Alya to agree with her, it wanted them to blame her like she blamed herself. The words came tumbling out before she could think over it more.

"It's Ladybug's fault that Adrien got hurt, that his identity is revealed and that he's in the hospital. She's his partner, she's supposed to watch out for him, and she didn't do that. She just sat there and watched him get- get hurt, you both saw it, she didn't make her move until after t-the knife when in," Marinette felt her volume raising and voice warbling with each word.

"She was in shock Marinette, she didn't realize what was happening at the moment, none of us did," Alya defended, getting more exasperated at Marinette's anger.

"Superheroes aren't supposed to be in shock. They have to pay attention to everything that's going on around them," Marinette exclaimed. Why weren't they agreeing with her?

"Ladybug and Chat Noir are human too, we know that all too well now, they experience thoughts and feeling just like all of us, of course they can be in shock," Alya argued.

"Bu-"

"Blaming Ladybug isn't going to help Adrien! It isn't going to help anything," Nino snapped, propping himself up on his arms to look Marinette in the eyes.

She was at a loss for words. Why were they defending, well, her? Her mouth gaped as she looked to the ground. It was obvious that it was her fault, didn't they see that? Didn't anyone see that?

"Marinette," Alya said softly, Marinette closed her mouth and looked up to Alya, Nino having slumped back down to where he was draped across her back, he stared at the ground, a frown firmly planted on his face, "Do you really blame Ladybug for what happened to Adrien?"

Marinette knit her eye brows together, yes, but that was the wrong answer, "I… I don't know."

"You shouldn't blame her, Marinette. She's always been there for Adrien, and you heard how she screamed… how terrifyingly she screamed when she saw him get hurt. She didn't want it to happen just as much as the rest of us didn't," Alya was distressed by her conviction, Marinette couldn't understand it.

But it did happen, and I just let it happen, Marinette thought, but she was too tired to argue with Alya, she couldn't see what Marinette saw was wrong, "I guess you're right," She muttered in defeat, drawing her knees up to herself and resting her hands in her lap.

She didn't know where she was. It was too dark to make out anything, and she felt like her skin and entire being was wrapped in a thin film that made everything feel fuzzy. She could hear something, she wasn't sure what it was, quiet and wavering, but it was coming closer to her. She strained herself to identify what the sound was, closer and closer until…

Birds' wings, it sounded like birds wings. Flapping, flapping and coming closer to her.

She wasn't sure why, but this scared her. It didn't make sense though, she wasn't afraid of birds, she had taken on a whole battalion of pigeons once. A dim flash of purple went flying by her vision as the sound of the birds' wings went by. She tried to follow where they lead, finding nothing but a small white light in the distance. Chasing after the light she watched as it grew bigger but dimmer, until she could barely see the scene before her.

Someone was on the ground, she didn't know who as she couldn't see their face, while another person stood over them with their back facing her. Marinette was too nervous to try and say anything to them, the way the other stood, tall and full of purpose, made her uncomfortable despite the haze of the film she was wrapped in.

The fluttering came back, stronger and louder, she turned to where it was coming from and saw a group of something flying towards her. They were dark and crowded together, so it was hard to make them out.

…Moths, or butterflies.

A whole hoard of them was heading for her. Fear climbed in her chest, butterflies were bad, they were bad because Papillon sent them out to do his bidding, Papillon sent them out to hurt people. She turned back to the two figures, still standing and on the ground, they needed to get away, all of them. Before she could say anything though, the standing figure began turning to her. Her curiosity kept her where she stood despite her fear as the fluttering came closer and closer.

The standing figure was almost completely facing her, almost bringing their face to the dim light, but right as she could begin to see them, the butterflies caught up to her. They rushed past her in a black and purple cloud of fury, past where she stood and grouped together in front of the person's face. Right in front of her she saw Papillon's face, huge and frightening as the swarm of butterflies.

She needed to get out of there! She needed to-

Her eyes flashed open in a panic, she gasped harshly as her body jerked from where it lay. The image was gone. It was just dream, it wasn't real. But her shaking hands and clenched muscles of her body thought it was real.

"Fuck," She hissed under her breath as she blinked and blinked to make sure she couldn't see anything.

She couldn't see in the dark of Nino's room, but she could feel the cold sweat covering her barely trembling body. Tikki was right, she did have another nightmare, and while she didn't wake up in hysterics, she still had a very real fear rushing through her body and her shallow breaths.

"Marinette?" It was Tikki.

"Yes?" She asked, keeping her voice low and hoping that Alya and Nino weren't awake. They didn't shift in the bed and their breathing was even, so she guessed she was safe for now.

"Are you okay?" Tikki asked, she was closer, probably floating to Marinette's voice.

"Am I ever?" She wondered with a sick apprehension. She felt something bump into her chest, Tikki.

"You had a nightmare didn't you?" Marinette brought her hands out from beneath the covers to pick up Tikki and bring her to a spot where she wouldn't be seen should the lights suddenly flash on.

"I-I did," Marinette mumbled with shame.

"Tell me about it," Tikki requested, her voice soft and patient.

"I… I saw Papillon's face," Marinette began, the image once again flashing across her eyes, but this time she felt only half the amount of fear as before, "I saw him standing over someone, I-I think it was Chat. He was on the ground, and Papillon was standing over him, I couldn't see either of their faces, but then Papillon began turning, and right as I would have seen his face, his real face, the butterflies came by and formed a bigger and much more ghastly version of his face. Just like when I had seen him the first time. And… I was so stricken with fear that I woke up."

Tikki cooed in concern.

"But, it's okay… I know it's not real. I'm here and Papillon isn't, Adrien is-" Marinette took a deep breath, she was going to say Adrien was at the hospital and Papillon wasn't, but she didn't know that, she had no clue where Papillon was in proximity to Adrien.

"Hey," Tikki whispered, breaking her out of her stupor, "I know you think Adrien is in danger, but trust me, he isn't."

Marinette wanted to ask her how she knew that, how could she possibly know that? But she elected not to argue and took deep breaths from where she lay to steady her racing heartbeat.

"I know it can be hard with the nightmares, but please, try to get some more sleep, you really need it. They're just nightmares they're not real," Tikki reassured her and papped Marinette's head awkwardly when she found it.

"Okay, okay, Yeah I'll do that," Marinette sighed from where she lay and closed her eyes to rest her mind once again.

That morning at breakfast, everyone was talking quietly amongst each other.

"I glad that you didn't wake up from a nightmare like last night Marinette," Alya hummed with a smile.

"Oh, um…" Marinette frowned and looked away from her, "Well, I. I did have another nightmare actually.

"What? Marinette are you okay," Alya asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. It wasn't that bad, you guys didn't wake up, but I was rather scared by it none the less," Marinette said with a small, shameful laugh.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "No, I'm, I'm just glad it wasn't as bad as yesterdays," Marinette said with a sigh.

"You know, I think you're affecting me Marinette," Nino said between bites with a thoughtful look, "I had an odd dream last night, not necessarily a nightmare, but certainly off-putting."

Both Alya and Marinette turned to him with their curiosity peaked.

"I had a dream that Ladybug was talking to someone," Nino began, "Someone I didn't really recognize, well I couldn't really see either of them, but she was talking with someone about Adrien I think, I don't remember much of what she said. She was talking about Papillon, and how she was worried for Adrien, but her friend was rather insistent that Adrien was okay."

Marinette's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. That sounded like her conversation with Tikki last night. Did Nino hear them? Did he know? She looked over him, trying to find if he was sending her signals that he had figured out her secret, but he showed nothing, he really believed that the conversation he unknowingly overheard was a dream.

It did little to quell her nerves. Nino was too close to knowing everything.

The day had been long, but it was relatively quiet. The students worked on an assignment given by the teacher, Marinette found herself actually able to focus at least somewhat for the day. There was about an hour of school left, but no one spoke as they focused on their work. Marinette was working idly when Alya's phone lit up.

Alya peeked up at the device and offhandedly checked the news update. Most of the updates had been rather unimportant: information that Adrien was still in the hospital, speculation about where Ladybug is and what she and he will be doing as superheroes now, what was to come next for them. Marinette and Nino saw the news updates as a nuisance and tried to ignore Alya's phone every time it lit up. Alya checked them with half attention for the most part, but insisted to Marinette and Nino that it was important that they stay updated, especially for when Adrien would eventually wake up.

Marinette was starting to doubt that he would ever wake up.

Alya quickly skimmed over the article with only half an eye until she gasped. Everyone perked up and looked her direction, curious as to what would make her react in such a way.

"He's awake!" She cheered and the entire class held their breaths, the teacher didn't bother stopping her for interrupting the class, instead leaning forward with the students in anticipation to hear more from Alya. She excitedly continued, "Around noon Adrien Agreste/Chat Noir has woken up and remains conscious. Nurses report his vitals remain stable and he is tired but responding well."

The class chattered excitedly about the newest update. Marinette felt a huge wave of relief wash over her, he was awake. He was guaranteed alive. Her relief stopped at a thought, he's still a target for Papillon. Chloé brought her out of her thoughts when she stood up.

"I need to see him! I need to go see Adrien," Chloé cried out. She was about to go running off but their teacher stopped her before she could get out the door.

"Please, we're still in class. I know you're worried about him but you can go to see Adrien after school," They insisted, rather exasperated by Chloé's actions.

She frowned and turned harshly to Alya, "What time are the visiting hours?"

Alya peeked at her phone, scrolling a bit through the article, "Like most hospitals, general visiting hours are from 10 am to 9 pm," Chloé looked genuinely distressed at being given a viable reason as to not see Adrien at this very moment.

Her eyes were wide with conflict, something told Marinette that Chloé would actually have some consequences if she left now, "Fine," She huffed and stomped back to her seat.

"Allowed visits from non-family members remain to be seen," Alya mumbled to Marinette and Nino from the article. The teacher attempted to get their students to calm down over their excitement and focus back on their work.

Marinette knew that would be impossible now.

Now that he was awake, would she have to see him? He would probably want to know how Plagg was, and to know if Ladybug was okay, he never thought for himself. The thing was, she didn't want to see him, not now. On the other hand though, she did want to see him; she really, really, wanted to see him. She wanted to hug him and kiss him and protect him from anyone that so much gave a suspicious glance in his direction.

But Alya's words from the article stuck with her, "Allowed visits from non-family members remains to be seen". The chances of Chloé getting into the hospital to visit Adrien were fair. She was his friend, no matter how much Marinette wanted to deny it, and had leverage that she knew how to use with her father being the mayor. But Ladybug? If Adrien's father had anything to say about it she guessed Ladybug wouldn't be allowed anywhere near the building. She didn't actually know though, all she knew was that she wanted to avoid confrontation with all of them.

She glanced at Nino, his hands were trembling as he had the same internal conflict as Chloé, Could he go and visit Adrien? Like Chloé, he had no way to really prove that he was Adrien's friend, just his word, but unlike Chloé he had no real leverage for the police or anyone in the hospital to let him in. Marinette sighed, the friends of the famous were always left behind.

The next morning Marinette walked to school arm in arm with Alya and Nino. She thought over their conversations last night.

They talked about Adrien of course. They all wondered how he felt at the moment, tired and loopy on pain medication with no one but his father and nurses to keep him company. Nino affirmed that Adrien's father was not very good at keeping company, he couldn't help but hope that Adrien's father would bring him his phone so that they could at least contact him. Marinette and Alya agreed.

They speculated over whether or not Chloé got to see him. Marinette silently hoped to the stars that she did, and that she would share how he was doing. That way she wouldn't have to go and see him right now, she could give herself some time to wait. Alya half suspected that if Chloé had gotten to see him, she would somehow take it upon herself not to share her knowledge on his wellbeing with the rest of the students. It was a very real suspicion, but Marinette thought it was too terrible, especially after what she saw in Chloé's eyes. Something in her had been deeply disturbed, something that might have changed Chloé and her fundamentals.

That night Marinette had another nightmare, again she saw Papillon, and his strange crowded butterfly face. He stood on a pillar, and of all things she saw Adrien, Alya, and Nino's bodies draped around the base of the pillar, black ooze pooling around them on the ground. She again awoke with a start in the middle of the night, but it was not nearly as bad as the first night. Her body had still shook awake in a cold sweat at the realization that the black ooze was in fact their blood. There was little reason for her to worry about Alya and Nino getting hurt, they were right there, she could touch them. She could hold them, in fact her arms were looped with theirs at the moment. But after that dream, she feared she might lose them too.

For some strange reason while she was still awake from her nightmare, Marinette found herself asking softly for Nino as she curled closer into Alya, to see if he had once again woken up by her start.

She immediately regretted it when he mumbled Ladybug's name in question.

She kept quiet and willed herself back to sleep. At breakfast Nino said nothing about a dream, and Marinette hoped to the stars that he had forgotten about it in his sleepy haze.

Together the three of them approached the school and the couple of reporters still lingering by the door. They rushed past the reporters in a drunken stumble of trying to match each other's paces and managed to get to class in one piece. One by one, their classmates filed in and they watched idly as the morning pulled along, it wasn't until Chloé came storming in a rage into the classroom with Sabrina walking behind her in a wide birth that everyone perked up. She sat in her seat with a "humph" and said nothing.

"Well?" the students asked, all eagerly looking at Chloé and waiting for what she had to say.

"They wouldn't fucking let me into the hospital!" She said with a growl and a blush of shame as she turned her head to the side, away from everyone's eyes.

"What?"

"They said there was no way of proving that I was Adrien's friend, and even though I'm the mayor's bloody daughter I wasn't allowed to see him. His fucking father said no one's allowed to see him and frankly I think that's a load of horse shit! " She was practically screaming now.

Everyone looked between themselves, a murmur of agreement fluttered between them before they all began thinking over what to do so that they could see Adrien or at least get someone on the inside who can confirm that he's okay aside from what the reporters were told from the nurses.

"But of course, little Miss Ladybug can go gallivanting in there whenever the fuck she wants!" Marinette felt her blood drop at Chloé's words, "She's the only exception the hospital will give for seeing Adrien even though this whole thing is her fault!"

Good.

Someone agreed with her. Someone knew that it was Marinette's fault the whole time-she tugged on her loose hair- at least, they knew it was Ladybug's fault.

There was murmur of disagreement over whether what happened was actually Ladybug's fault. The general consensus was "No" for some reason, but no one spoke up for fear of having to face Chloé's seething wrath. Marinette caught Nino glaring at Chloé, his hands clasped together and barely moving while his foot tapped just loud enough for her to hear. He must have wanted to say the same thing he said to her when she blamed herself. Blaming Ladybug wasn't going to help anything, and while he was right, it was just so easy for Marinette to blame herself. Yet by some strange force, the only one to agree with her was her own societal enemy. Maybe that was more confirmation that she shouldn't blame herself.

Their teacher came in just before the bell and everyone quieted down. Marinette knew there was one thing left to do though, and she was the only one who could do it.

She had to go see Adrien herself.

A/N: Hooray! We get to see Adrien next chapter. The first half of scenes in this chapter weren't planned in the original outline, but as I was writing I liked them enough and thought that they added good points to the overall state of Marinette so far. Also I just finished rewatching all the episodes and I completely forgot how Volpina ended, so we're going to pretend that for the sake of this fic that Volpina was just an ordinary akuma and the book thing didn't happen.

Imma be in Yellowstone for spring break by the time my next update is due so next chapter my be a bit late and post the Sunday following.