Let's Take It From The Top, Chapter 3: The Audience Settles In
Slowly, Adrien Agreste opened his eyes. He heard a pleasant voice calling his name, but at first he couldn't place it, and he struggled to make sense of his surroundings.
Something smells... really nice! So it's definitely not my room; I have laundry piled up. Kind of... lavender-ish, but also like cinnamon. Like there are cookies nearby.
I could really go for some cookies right now.
I don't think that's why I'm here, though.
Slowly, shapes before his eyes began to resolve into meaningful things.
Pink. I see a lot of pink. Is this a girl's room?
I'm laying on something comfortable. A sofa or a bed, maybe. It smells nice, too.
That's a person, leaning over me. Of course it is. I see dark hair. Blue eyes. Pretty eyes! It is a girl! It's...
...
Uh-oh.
"Adrien? Can you hear me?" murmured Marinette, doing her best not to wake her parents up. This situation was insane enough without having to explain it to them, too.
"Ma - Ma - Marinette?" groaned Adrien. "What... happened?"
"Are you all right? You look TERRIBLE! What happened to you, Adrien? Do I need to get help? Call an ambulance?" He saw an entire ocean of concern in Marinette's eyes.
An ocean. Blue. Endless. Liquid. Just like those big blue eyes above me... nnngh! Focus, before she DOES call Emergency!
"I'm... not all right, but I think I'm good enough," he mumbled, trying to sit up and nearly succeeding. "Don't call anybody. Where am I?"
"You're in my bedroom," said Marinette. "Much to my complete surprise."
"I am? How did I get there?" asked Adrien.
"Wasn't easy! I brought you down the ladder from my balcony. Luckily, you're pretty light," she said.
"And how did I get on your balcony?" he asked, trying to shake the cobwebs out of his skull.
"That was EXACTLY the question I had for you, Adrien Agreste." The concern remained, but now that he was stabilizing, there was definitely anger jockeying for position on her face. "I heard a huge THWUMP, I went upstairs with a baseball bat, and I found you passed out on my deck."
"You went up there with a baseball bat?" marveled Adrien. "Alone? In your pajamas?"
"You've seen my dad down in the bakery, I think. Would you rather that I went and got him and said 'Daddy, there's a teenage boy trying to break into my room?'" Marinette half-grinned.
Adrien pictured the VERY large Mr. Dupain in his mind, and cringed. "No, no, we can keep this between us, thank you. And I was NOT trying to break into your room, honest! I'm... okay, I'm not sure what I was doing, but I'm sure of that."
"You're not sure what you were doing there?" boggled Marinette. "Let's start at the beginning. How did you even get UP there?"
Adrien was silent. She'd never believe a word of it. I don't know that _I_ believe what actually happened. What CAN I tell her?
"If you would like to get hit, by all means, please continue saying nothing," glared Marinette. "I'm waiting."
"I'm going to be completely honest with you, Marinette, even though it won't sound like I am," Adrien sighed. "I really DON'T know how I got up there. Something really, really strange is going in my life right now, and I can't talk about it. I promise that it's not drugs, I haven't been drinking, it's not anything against the law, nothing like that."
"That's good to know," she nodded. "Keep going."
"I... how can I say this?" he mumbled. "A little while ago, I wasn't myself... but I was, too. I mean, my mind was there, but I was kind of a passenger, too. And..."
"You are SCARING me, Adrien. And I still have that bat," said Marinette, with wariness mixed with concern. "Are you sick, or something? Is there something I can do? I don't get this at all."
"Okay... let me try again," he said. "Something happened to me, that I can't really explain because you wouldn't believe me anyway, and it scared the hell out of me. I can't really describe how it happened, or why. I just can't. And I just had to RUN. And I ran, and I ran, and I ran until I collapsed. And, somehow... when I woke up, I was here. I don't remember the last few minutes before my lights went out. I really don't, I swear."
She stared at him, still uncomprehending... but her expression softened somewhat. "I'm not sure why I believe you... but I might. Did someone do this to you? Like, did Chloe spike your drink and make Kim carry you up a ladder, or something?"
"I don't... no, nothing like that. This is something I did on my own," he admitted.
"Look at me, Adrien, eye-to-eye." she said. "You're completely serious?"
Adrien didn't think the devil himself could lie to that face. "I am," he said, as clearly as he could.
"Hmmph. Well, Mr. Mysterious... there's something you're still not telling me, and maybe I don't want to know," Marinette sniffed. "If you want, I can sneak you downstairs and get you out the back door, and call your dad or someone to come pick you up-"
"NO!" Adrien cried out, causing Marinette to reach out and muffle him with her hand, involuntarily.
"SHHH!" she snapped. "Or do you WANT my parents in here? I don't really want to explain why I'm sneaking boys into my room at night, either."
"Especially when it's one you wouldn't want there in the first place," Adrien agreed.
"Let's not... never mind! Let's think this out. Wow. You really DON'T want your dad involved, do you?" continued Marinette.
"He CAN'T be. Not now."
Her eyes went very wide. "Adrien... he's not doing anything to you, is he? Like, abusing you?"
Adrien shook his head rapidly, then regretted the sudden movement. "No, no, no!" he muttered, holding his head and feeling woozy again. "My dad's never laid a finger on me, and nobody in that house is abusing anyone, I promise. I may have a pretty strict diet for modeling, but they're feeding me, believe me. He cares about me, I know he does, and me for him. I'm the one breaking HIS heart right now."
Marinette looked at him, remaining quiet, wondering what in the world to do.
At the hospital, Gabriel Agreste was beside himself, worrying about his fallen aide-de-camp. A doctor came out to meet him, and he nearly leapt to the doctor's side.
"Mr. Agreste... Nathalie is stable. Frankly, we're a bit puzzled as to what happened to her, or why she was in the state she was in when she got here," said the doctor, frowning. "But she doesn't seem to have anything life-threatening going on that requires immediate action."
"I'm glad to hear it, but I don't understand," said Gabriel. "You can't tell what happened to her?"
"She was in a state of shock, obviously. Something had happened to her that jarred her mind and body and knocked her out. But she has no bruising, no tissue trauma, no cardiac abnormalities that we can detect. She wasn't electrically shocked, her blood work is normal, her vitals are fine. There are no signs of a stroke, or TIA, or anything else that might help explain a sudden collapse. No drugs in her system, or at least nothing found in her initial blood testing. She fell, but we think she was unconscious when she hit the floor."
The doctor scratched his head. "If anything, we're quite pleased that we CAN'T find anything very wrong... because we certainly thought we would. But she seems strangely healthy for someone who came in here, unresponsive. We'd like to run some more tests and keep her for observation, of course, but that's her decision to make."
"I see. Can I see her, Doctor?" asked Gabriel, with mixed feelings of relief and apprehension.
"Yes, this way," he nodded. The doctor led Gabriel to Nathalie's bedside, where she appeared to be resting comfortably.
"Can we be alone for a moment?" asked Gabriel, and the area was cleared.
"So... you weren't yourself, but you were, but you weren't in control of yourself, and you ended up on my deck and don't know how you got there," Marinette repeated. "You realize just how crazy that sounds, Adrien?"
"I do. And if I was making things up, I'd come up with a much more coherent story than that," he replied, sheepishly.
"I'll say," she grinned. "This is like something out of a cartoon show, or something. One more question?"
"Shoot," he said.
"So you were out of your head and you had to go somewhere, anywhere to get away. And you came here." Marinette looked closely at Adrien and asked, "Why here?"
"As weird as it will sound," he replied, slowly, "I think I can try to answer that. Maybe not for sure, because like I said, I was kind of out of my head... but subconsciously, I thought..."
"Mmm-hmm," Marinette prompted him, visibly curious.
"We don't know each other very well, Marinette, and I've only known you for a couple of days. I'm really sorry that I involved you in all of this, and I wouldn't blame you one bit if you never want to speak to me again after this." Adrien gave her a sad smile. "But from the moment I first met you, I just had a feeling that you were someone special. Someone unusual, but in a good way."
She gave him some side-eye. "Are you done digging that hole for yourself, or are you still going?" she chuckled.
"I don't mean unusual as in weird! Right now I've got enough weird of my own for our whole class," he laughed. "I mean, you're someone who's just... so positive. So open and caring. You'd drop anything you were doing to help a friend in need. Most people I've met aren't like that, Marinette." He smiled at her and continued, "I think deep down, I needed someone I could trust. I needed a friend. And for whatever reason, part of me felt like I could trust you with anything."
Marinette blinked, twice, three times as what he said sunk in. "Really...?" she mumbled. "You're being serious right now?"
"I'm at your mercy right now, Marinette," he said, softly. "This isn't some weird way of hitting on you, or anything like that. I'm being straight with you on everything I can."
She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. "Yeah, you are at my mercy, Adrien. I'm not sure you could stand up if you tried, and I don't want you to try right now. Lucky for you," she added, with the beginnings of a smile, "I really do help friends in need."
"And do I qualify as one?" Adrien asked, hesitantly.
"I haven't kicked you out yet, have I?" she giggled. "Now, I want you to lie back..."
"Hi," said Nathalie, gingerly. "You didn't have to come here..."
"Of course I did!" he insisted, immediately. "You are important to me, whether you know it or not. And, besides, whatever happened happened in my house!" He had a puzzled look on his face. "Do you KNOW what happened... or where my son is?"
"We had... I thought it was an intruder," she whispered. "Someone in a black leather suit, near your private safe. I'd almost swear he had cat ears on, as crazy as that sounds! I'm not sure what he was doing there, or what he wanted. He was sitting down on the floor, not grabbing valuables and running away! I confronted him and grabbed his shoulder... and it was like a grenade went off."
"A black leather suit? Cat ears? THAT safe?" Gabriel turned ashen. "I see."
"Is... there something you're not telling me, Sir?" she asked, wary that he seemed to have made a connection there. "I kind of think I have the right to know if I'm involved in anything dangerous. Especially after this..."
"No, it's nothing illegal or immoral. I..." He laughed, strangely. "I can say I've had opportunities, but someone... talked me down from such things."
"Huh?" asked Nathalie, suddenly wary.
"Never mind that; I'm babbling. What else do you remember?" Gabriel asked.
"Not a lot. Adrien's bodyguard found me. He said nothing was missing from the safe, except a ring. There was a brooch on the ground next to me." She pointed to her clutch, sitting on a nearby table. "It's in there - I think they thought it was mine."
Gabriel reached over, as directed, and produced the Moth Miraculous from his aide's purse. "Good. I would not want to lose this," he mumbled.
"Why was that in the safe, may I ask?" wondered Nathalie. "It's attractive, but you have other jewelry that's far more valuable."
"This one... let's just say that it has special sentiment to me, related to Emilie," he said, and Nathalie let it rest at that. "And Adrien?"
She hung her head. "I don't know. I didn't see him nearby when everything happened. The... intruder WAS about his size, but why would he rob his own house? I just don't know."
"It's all right, Nathalie, don't beat yourself up. He's vanished before; he's very good at it. Do you want me to stay here with you? I'll stay as long as you like," he offered.
"I'm fine. Or at least that's what they're telling me," she assured him. "Go home. Find Adrien. I wish I knew where he is, too."
"I will be back tomorrow, then. Get some rest... and let me know anything you need. You will be taken care of, I promise," smiled Gabriel.
He wandered out to his car, half in a daze. Adrien vanishing for hours at a time was, sadly, not all that unusual any more; he'd written that off as textbook teenage rebellion and a need for personal space, so he hadn't taken drastic measures to stop it.
But an intruder, who knew precisely what a Miraculous was and which one to take? This had disaster written all over it. He didn't know if his son had meddled in things best left alone, or if someone from the outside was responsible... but that, combined with Adrien's disappearance, had terrible implications either way. And the LAST thing he would ever allow would be to lose his son to this madness, as well.
It was Marinette's turn to roll over with sleepy eyes, gazing up at fuzzy shapes that were slowly becoming clear. It took a much shorter time for her eyes to focus, with the two shapes over her becoming Tom and Sabine, her father and mother.
"Marinette? Are you all right?" her mother said, gently. "And why are you sleeping on the couch?"
Busted, Marinette thought. Adrien, boy, you'd better be worth what I'm bringing down on myself right now.
"I am," she said. "I... have a friend who wasn't all right last night. It's hard to explain. He's sleeping in my bed, so I came down here."
"There's a boy... sleeping in your bed right now?" boggled Tom.
"Which is why I'm down HERE," she grinned, sleepily. "I like him, but not like THAT. Not even close."
"I... see," her mother replied, with a little relief peppered into her worry. "And who is he, and how did he get there?"
Marinette thought fast, and gave as abbreviated a version of the truth that she could manage. She explained who it was, that he'd had some kind of family difficulty that he didn't want to or couldn't talk about, and that he seemed clean and sober to her untrained eye. She made sure they knew that he hadn't pressured her in any way, but he really needed her help and he was barely standing up when he reached her and she couldn't turn him away, could she?
She relaxed a little when they seemed to be on board with her reasoning... mostly.
"Can we go up and have a talk with him, Marinette? You can come with us, and actually, I'd prefer that you did," Sabine asked.
"Sure thing," she responded. "This isn't exactly how I would've introduced you to him, but it is what it is."
The trio walked upstairs together, and Marinette pushed the door to her room open...
After verifying that his son's room was empty, Gabriel stumbled into his own bedroom, feeling empty and distraught. Time to figure out the truth of things, he thought to himself.
He turned on his computer and checked access records, and after a few minutes found confirmation that it'd been accessed while no one was home but Nathalie, Adrien and his bodyguard. That helps narrow down THAT, thought Gabriel. I'm not THAT good with computers but I have my moments, young man... though I really need to start changing my password more often.
Gabriel sunk back into his desk chair and thought hard. Had his son taken a Miraculous? Had he taken BOTH of them and... oh, dear God, he wouldn't have tried THAT, would he? He pieced together the events in his mind, as best as he could understand them. If he read the notes on that book, and he believed in the power it could grant... I'm pretty sure I know what he would've wished for. Because it's what I would've tried... except that I know better. And he wouldn't have known the potential consequences, or that he had the wrong one!
So NOW what do I do?
If someone else took the Miraculous and Adrien, I'll hear from them soon enough, he reasoned. But I think it's far more likely that Adrien and the Cat Miraculous are together... The thought made him shudder. My son, shaken up or worse from whatever happened when the Miraculouses combined, out there with one of the deadliest weapons in the world?
I don't want to do this. But I have no other choice.
Gabriel took the purple brooch from his pocket and affixed it to his chest. A tiny purple being fluttered forth, its eyes huge.
"MASTER! Something terrible has happened! Your son... Chat Noir..." sputtered Nooroo.
"That's all the confirmation I needed," cringed Gabriel. "I'd pieced together most of it on my own. Can you sense where the Cat Miraculous might be now?"
"I cannot," said Nooroo. "I don't have that kind of power. Only certain Kwamis do, and, well, I'd need to know where THEY are to go ask them to search."
"So it's you and me against the world, is it, Nooroo?" Gabriel half-smiled. "But if we're going to bring my son back, before something terrible happens to him or anyone else... I think we're going to need help. And I think you know precisely what I mean."
"I am here to help you, Master. When we argued previously, I merely wanted to make sure that your intentions were pure. Please forgive me," said Nooroo, shyly.
"Don't call me Master, Nooroo. Call me Gabriel." The businessman gathered his will. "Because I have a feeling we'll be working together very closely for a while, and I'll need your wisdom to guide me."
Nooroo smiled.
"Nooroo," he intoned... "SPREAD YOUR WINGS!"
A white flash filled the room.
Marinette opened the door and gawked in surprise... when she found the room empty.
"Adrien?" she called. "Are you here?"
The three looked around and found no sign of him in the room. "The bed's been slept in, obviously," Tom noted. "So at least he got some rest."
"There's nothing... missing, is there, Marinette?" asked her mother, anxiously.
"Oh, I'm SURE he would never... but yeah, let me check," Marinette replied. She did a quick scan of valuables and keepsakes and found everything in place. Quickly, she climbed up to the balcony and looked around; that, too, was empty. With some relief, she saw no signs of him having plummeted over the railing.
But the front door was locked, and he didn't have the key! How else could he have left, if not up and out? wondered Marinette.
She stepped back from the railing, very confused. "Did I do the right thing?" she asked, slightly rhetorically.
"Your friend really needed your help, right?" her mother asked, soothingly.
"He did. I'm still not sure what it was all about... but he really did," she answered.
"Then you did what was right. As long as your room doesn't turn into a hotel room regularly," Sabine smiled. "Or at least give us a cut of the rental fees."
"You're sure that you didn't have a really... vivid dream, or something, Marinette?" asked Tom. "I mean, I do believe what you're saying... but I can't understand how he could've gotten in OR out from here, without a ladder or a rope or something."
"Me neither," she breathed. "I don't get this at all. But I'm going to."
Once her parents left her room, Marinette reached under her pillow and pulled out a note, the tiniest corner of which she'd spotted sticking out from underneath it.
It read:
. Dear Marinette,
. Thank you for putting up with me last night. That may be the sweetest
. thing anyone has ever done for me, and it won't be forgotten. I may be
. a pain in your neck at the moment, but I will forever be your friend, and I
. promise that I will pay you back for your kindness and understanding.
. I hope that I'll see you again after all this craziness is over.
. A.
That's not ominous at all, she thought. Why would he not see me again?
Marinette re-read the note and, despite herself, she smiled warmly. You ARE a pain in my neck, Adrien Agreste. But I'm glad I could be there for you. I hope I can help you fix whatever's wrong.
She closed her eyes, basking in the morning sunlight shining through her open balcony hatch...
...which also made a silver butterfly sparkle in the air as it fluttered towards her.
Next time:
* Marinette undergoes some... changes.
* Adrien tries to remain unseen, and to figure out what to do next.
* Gabriel reaches out.
* Master Fu takes action.
* "What in the world is THIS?"