Chapter 5: Breathing

Marinette, Nino, and Alya spent lunch at Marinette's house. Her parent's joined them for some time while they discussed the possibility of Ladybug going to see Adrien, and whether or not she would tell anyone for the matter about how he is. Of course she would, Marinette thought as she contemplated how she would be able to take some time on her own and visit the hospital without arising any suspicion in Alya or more specifically Nino. The only thing she could think of was to make an excuse for taking another bath… It would have to work for now.

Before they headed back to school, she managed to grab a small portion of cheese for Plagg and went to her room to notify him that they were going to see Adrien that evening after school. He jumped up at that.

"He's awake?" That's right she hadn't had time to tell him yet.

"Yes, he's been awake since yesterday afternoon," She said softly, the words still seemed unreal coming from her mouth.

"We have to go see him!" Plagg nearly went rushing out of her room to a location he did not know but Marinette caught him before he could get too far.

"Hang on!" She cried bringing him back to the bed, "We are going to go see him, just not right now. I still have school to go to, and my friends will be worried if I stay up here for too long. Eat your cheese and rest up, I'll come get you after school and we'll go see Adrien together."

Plagg looked bothered as she climbed down the ladder to her bed, but eventually relented to her offer and sat back on the little bed.

"I'll see you soon Plagg," She said as she approached her trapdoor and Plagg groaned in agreement.

Marinette's excuse for another bath worked. In an alleyway between the walk to her home and school, she transformed and swung to her room to pick up Plagg. They had a bit of spinning around as Marinette tried to find a blank bag with which she could carry Plagg in without being recognized and without him bouncing around from within it. After sometime she finally found a small plain cloth bag, filled with marbles of all things and buried at the bottom of one of her fabric boxes, which she could easily tie around her waist. After safely dumping the marbles in a little cloth basket full of fabric scraps, Plagg hopped in and they set off for the hospital.

It didn't take too long for her to get there as Ladybug, but she was reminded of another problem as she watched the hospital entrance from a hidden rooftop across the street.

The reporters.

Still crowded around the hospital door with a wall of police keeping them outside much like the first day, they must have been excited by the information of Adrien's awakening and were fighting about who would get what little information the nurses could give first. She caught sight of many civilians amongst them as well.

With a sigh, Ladybug tried to recall where the employee's entrance was and make her way over there without being seen. With luck she managed to find the door and gave a heavy knock on it, hoping that someone would hear her despite its out-of-the-way placement.

"What on Earth are you doing?" Plagg hissed unable to see what was going on.

"I can't exactly go waltzing in through the front door with all the reporters gathered around it. Not without gathering attention at least," She pursed her lips with a frown and felt the impatient need to knock again, this time harder.

"Attention wouldn't be bad, no one's going to stop you," Plagg chittered.

"They might for questions, and I don't want to give them any statements," Ladybug mumbled.

"What about your-"

The door opened and Marinette felt herself straighten up at a front desk assistant glaring down at her. Their frown instantly melted when they recognized her.

"Ladybug!" They gasped with a smile. They stood to the side and allowed for her to enter, "We were hoping you would show up soon, Adrien-or… Chat as you probably call him, has been so worried about you."

Ladybug let out a light chuckle as she followed the clerk inside, how typical of him to worry about her when he's the one in the hospital.

"And what timing too, Adrien's father just stepped out a few minutes ago to grab some things at home," Ladybug relaxed at this, she could talk to Adrien on her own, she wouldn't have to face his father, "He's been rather adamant that you not be allowed to see Adrien. But the staff is all under agreement that you should, especially considering how badly he wants to see you."

Ladybug felt her heart flutter at hearing that and said a small "Thank you". The clerk notified a passing nurse that Ladybug was here to see Adrien and the nurse happily agreed to take her to him. They made their way through a labyrinth of hallways, the stagnant whiteness of the hospital felt almost suffocating with the anticipation of seeing Adrien. They arrived in front of a small door and she caught Adrien's name written and clipped to the side of the door, the curtains for the window into the room only half closed and when she glance in she could catch the bottom half of his bed.

Ladybug took a deep breath to relax her climbing nerves while the nurse peeked their head into the door to check that Adrien was awake at the moment and informing him that she was here. For a brief moment Ladybug wondered if he would actually want to see her despite what the clerk said, maybe he was just playing a part but really blamed her too?

She barely caught sound of him eagerly asking to let her in. Adrien's voice was tired and raspy and Ladybug immediately felt guilty hearing it. She slowly shuffled into the room as the nurse held the door open and closed it behind her to give them some privacy, no one else was in the room.

Machines surrounded him along with the white everything of the room. The only color was the light blue blanket that covered the white gown he wore and his injuries with it. She didn't dare step forward as she looked over him though. An IV was stuck into his hand, the bag it was connected to only half full of clear liquid and loomed over him ominously. She brought herself to look him in the eyes, they were tired and half closed, but he managed to smile lazily in her direction.

"Ladybug," He said with a relived whisper, his voice still raspy.

"Kid!" Plagg surprised Ladybug by bursting out of the little cloth bag tied to her hip and went rushing to Adrien.

"Hey Plagg," Adrien let out a light laugh as Plagg bumped into his face.

Her heart warmed at the sight of the two reuniting and she felt brave enough to walk forward, dragging a chair so she could sit next to him.

"He's been rather worried about you. Nearly went flying to the hospital when he first heard that you were awake," She said with a light chuckle.

"Aww, Plagg, you actually care about me?" Adrien said in a teasing tone, pulling the kwami away from his face to look at him.

"Of course, who's going to buy me all the decadent cheese I want if it's not someone like you?" Plagg asked matter-of-factly, easily hiding his real worry for his human companion.

Adrien pinched his eyebrows for a moment before rolling his eyes and turning to her, "I hope he hasn't been too much of a hassle for you," He gave a sympathetic sigh.

"Of course not, he's mostly been resting for now," Adrien tilted his head in question, he must not have known that Plagg was hurt, "The …event, took quite a toll on him as well, I took him to a healer. He was unconscious for a day afterwards, but he's been getting better."

Adrien smiled at this and ran his fingers over his kwami's head, Plagg rubbed closer to them much like an actual cat would. It felt nice being able to give good news for once.

"That's good to hear," Adrien mumbled.

There was a moment between them where each wondered what to say, she couldn't ask something like "How are you?" that was stupid, she could see him right there. Though, if he was hurting, he might try to hide it. Adrien spoke up first.

"And the Miraculous? Or the jewelry piece? I don't really know which it is."

She shook her head "I've been wearing it for the most part…" She answered, waving the hand it was on in front of him, her costume covered the actual ring, "Do you want it back?"

"No, no," He said with a shake of his head, "I'm, not now. I'm in no condition to protect the Miraculous and Plagg. Not with everyone knowing my identity and where I am, I'd be a sitting duck for Papillon."

Ladybug fidgeted in her seat at his words. He was all too aware of the danger he was in right now too.

"I've been… worried about you, very worried," She whispered.

He moved his hand over hers, luckily not the one with and IV inserted in it, and laced their fingers together. He gave her a light squeeze.

"I'm alright, My Lady," He smiled, "I've been here the whole time, and I'm not going anywhere, not with this catheter at least."

"What?" Why did he say that?

"Don't worry, I can't feel it. Actually I can't feel much of my body, they gave me an epidural, like some kind of pregnant lady. But I can't feel my anything, I've been laying down all day, and sleeping mostly, lots of sleeping. Last night they brought me a heated blanket, it was so nice," He said with a tired and dreamy look in his eyes. He probably wanted to sleep now, but he stayed attentive.

"All that medicine has been going to your head," She chuckled in realization, "You're rambling."

"So? I like talking with you. You're better at talking than my dad is, though that's not much competition to begin with," Adrien looked off in thought.

"And you've been all alone with him?" Plagg asked.

"The occasional nurse too, but yeah mostly just him," Plagg tutted, Adrien turned to Ladybug "Can I make a little request of you?"

"Oh, uh sure," She nodded and leaned forward in curiosity.

"My father is at our house right now, getting somethings for the time I'll be in the hospital, but knowing what a putz he is," Ladybug's eyes bugged out of her head at hearing that while Plagg laughed out loud, she knew Adrien and his father had a very different dynamic than say, she and her parents, but it was so strange hearing him blatantly insult his father. That medicine was going to his head, "He's probably not going to grab my phone, I left it home during our fight, and… I'm worried about my friends. I want to talk to them, at least be able to tell them I'm okay myself. I know it'll probably require breaking and entering on your part, no one's going to let you in, but the windows for my room are always unlocked."

"Not like I haven't already broken into your home," She laughed lightly, he gave her a confused look, she felt shy, "Well… I had to sneak into your house the other day, to get cheese for Plagg," Said kwami gave an appreciative noise at that, "I got caught by the reporter watching your house, but I'm almost guaranteed they didn't know what I was doing there."

Adrien let out a laugh at that, it was soft, and a bit wheezy, like his body couldn't quite bring itself to laugh fully without causing harm to him.

"That'd be a story for the press, 'Were you getting something for Adrien from his house?' 'Of course I was getting him cheese. You know, that Agreste boy, he's horribly addicted to it, always smells like camembert, can eat an entire wheel in one go,'" He mocked an interview between a reporter and Ladybug, giving a pointed look to Plagg at the last statement, who simply rolled his eyes.

"I always wondered why you smelt like cheese, though I think is more worrisome is the entire mini-fridge you have hidden in your room, filled with cheese. Are you afraid someone's going to find your hoard?" She teased.

"That fridge is hidden so that he," Adrien pointed an accusatory finger at Plagg who was resting on his chest, half-heartedly listening to their conversation, "Doesn't find it and eat all the cheese on one go. Because he will do that."

She let out her own laugh. It felt nice, nice to see him, nice to talk to him, nice to be able to share these things outside of costume. Something suddenly felt very unfair. She got to know who he was outside of costume, she knew such a huge secret of his, and she suddenly wanted to share her own. If only to level the score, to let him know who he was trusting his miraculous to, and who he was trusting his life to. She had thought lightly of it before, but now that she was here, that she was with him, an actual want to go through with revealing herself surfaced deep within her thoughts. She gave his hand a squeeze.

Before she left, she would do it then. That way he would have time to think it over without her foreboding presence influencing his conclusion. She didn't think he would hate her, per say, but the fact that Marinette Dupain-Cheng was much less incredible or exciting than Ladybug was something to at least deter him. She didn't necessarily want to lose that glamour of mystery and power that Ladybug held with everyone. On the other hand, getting to talk with Adrien and Chat on this personal of a level was nice, and it felt only fair that he knows now.

"What was the point I was getting at earlier?" Adrien asked, breaking her out of her stupor, "Right, right, phones. Can you bring me my phone? It's sitting in my room, next to my bed, on its charger. My father probably won't bring it, and I really want to talk with my friends."

"Of course, I'm sure Nino will be thrilled to actually hear from you, he's been a bit of a mess," She sighed at the afterthought.

Adrien looked at her hard, and she felt herself jump at his suddenly perceptive gaze.

"You saw Nino?" He asked with worry.

"Yes, well actually. I know him…" She mumbled. It was better now than later, besides she didn't want to push her meeting with Adrien for too long lest she run into his father.

"So…" He contemplated the information in a way that was agonizingly slow to her, but she waited patiently to talk again, "You, uh, do you know me?"

She smiled and squeezed his hand, slipping it out of his as she slowly stood up.

"I do. I've known you for some time now."

He looked at a cross, unsure if he could take the step and cross the boundary that was her identity just yet. Plagg got up with her, realizing that she was leaving, and gave Adrien one last affectionate bump before flying back into the little cloth bag.

She took a deep breath and walked to the door, her nerves jittery at actually telling him who she was. She almost left before turning slightly towards him.

"You may ask me one question about who I am under the mask, just about any one will do," She whispered, just enough for him to hear.

He looked panicked for a moment, his eyes searching for what possible one question he could ask her.

"W-what, um," He stumbled over his words and took a deep breath to collect his thoughts, "What is your name? Just your first one."

She smiled, that was easy enough to answer.

"It's Marinette," She answered, just loud enough for him to hear.

His eyes widened in realization and she slowly opened the door to leave him to think, barely keeping watch of him out of the corner of her eye. Slowly a smile crawled across his face.

"I'm glad," he said, just as she stepped out the door.

She nodded in acknowledgement of his comment and gently closed the door behind her, watching the knob as it latched. She did it, she told him who she was. And he said he was glad of all things. Was that right? What a strange initial reaction to have, to be glad. Marinette wasn't that extraordinary. Maybe it was the medicine, he couldn't possibly be glad to learn that the incredible Ladybug superhero was his awkward classmate.

She sighed and turned to leave but nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw none other than Gabriel Agreste standing and waiting by the door. His back was rigid as he watched the window into Adrien's room. He turned to her silently and with purpose, he had been waiting for her to leave the room.

Ladybug looked him over, clasping her hands behind her back to hide their shaking, the man looked… exhausted. She had never seen him like this before, eyes dark and baggy, hair flat on his head and unstyled, his clothes were wrinkled, their dark colors contrasting greatly with the bright red duffle bag he held over his shoulder. His face remained stiff and unresponsive, she couldn't tell if he was shocked or not to see her hear, but she couldn't deny his discontent at her presence before him.

There was a long moment of silence between them in which Ladybug hoped beyond belief that she could somehow escape or just walk away from him and leave him to be. That was not the case, however, when he spoke up.

"Mademoiselle Ladybug," He said, his voice cool and low but dripping with displeasure.

"Monsieur Agreste," She replied in but a whisper, desperately trying to keep from looking him in the eyes.

"May I speak to you in private?"

No, no you may not, she thought but complied despite the screaming in her head.

They walked over to an odd, almost alley-like section of the hospital hallways, no one was around and Ladybug hated it.

"You came to see my son despite my explicit wish for you not to," He stated with as much coldness as he could muster in his exhausted state, she felt herself shiver in response.

"I… I did. I wanted to see him, and, and be sure that he was okay," She made sure only to bring up herself and not to mention the hospital staff to avoid putting as much blame on them as possible.

"Do you not read the news like any other person?"

"I-I do. But I needed to… he needed to-" She felt her voice catch, she wasn't sure what to say, she couldn't tell him about Plagg, and he probably wouldn't accept any excuse she gave, because the only excuse was that she wanted to.

"I would prefer it if you refrain from seeing my son. Much less from convincing him in joining you in your heroic escapades. You are both simply children, and the realization of such has been… startling, to me," His volume had been rising steadily with each word until it suddenly went very soft, he looked to the side his eyes blurred, "Why would you accept such a daunting task when you are but mere children?"

Her heart stopped at the waver in his voice, he almost sounded regretful, but it began racing again when he turned to her, expectantly waiting for an answer.

She wasn't sure what to say. She didn't even want to be a superhero at first, but now it was like second nature to her, and she couldn't possibly imagine giving it up. As for Adrien, she had no idea, he acted so different as Chat Noir that she couldn't tell if he was hiding his fear of doing such inconceivable acts.

"I, we," She had to make something up, "Being chosen gave us an opportunity to be something greater than we actually are, who wouldn't pass that opportunity up?"

Gabriel frowned deeply at that answer, he easily saw through her bullshit but she had nothing else to offer.

"Do you have my son's miraculous?" He asked simply.

She stopped and managed to look him in the eye. Why would that be something Gabriel asked about? No, that was a stupid question, Gabriel could easily blame Chat's persona as a reason his son got hurt and not that he was going out into danger himself.

"I do," She managed to mumble, hoping it would somehow quell his anger and coldness somehow.

Gabriel pinched his eyebrows, he looked like he wanted to say something else, but he simply pursed his lips and turned away from her. Could she leave?

"See to it that you not come near my son again," He hissed, barely loud enough for her to hear, as if daring her to defy his words.

She nodded dumbly, of course she could not really take his words to heart as she needed to fulfill Adrien's request, and see that he continued to get better. No threats from his father was going to prevent her need to see him.

Gabriel turned to head back to the room, his back facing her completely and his footsteps silent. As soon as he was far enough away she bolted to the side exit, barely dancing around the nurses making their way through the halls. She ran until she burst out the side doors and swung home to grab her things and go see Nino and Alya. Her hands shook the entire time and she wanted to scream, scream at that mysterious, terrible man Gabriel Agreste.

A/N: A shorter chapter, and the next one will be shorter too. But hooray we see our boy Adrien! The only time I've stayed in a hospital was the three days I was there for my amputation so I tried to base as much of Adrien's being in the hospital on that, but obviously those are two very different situations. Also I was on a lot of drugs so I can only remember so much.