A prompt done for an anon and for this-was-a-terrible-idea on tumblr.
Missed Connection
"He is so fast!" Adrien hissed as he dodged yet another pink laser beam. The beam glanced off the brick wall behind him, almost touching his tail (which he whipped out of the way). Ladybug was forced to dodge it too with a quick back handspring. "Why is he so fast!"
"I'm going to assume that is rhetorical," Marinette panted. This fight had been savage in that they hadn't been able to let down their defenses for even an instant. The second they tried to switch to offense, those blasted pink laser beams shot out from Connexion Manquée's smart phone, sending the two heroes leaping away in fear. It had only taken about five seconds when they first arrived on the scene to understand everything about this akuma.
(1) Judging by all the shouting about online presences and missed opportunities and fake women and nice guys, he had been walked out on during some kind of Tinder date. "Gee, I wonder why," Chat Noir drawled at Ladybug, who was currently rolling her eyes.
(2) Judging by the way he both protected it and screamed about it, the pesky butterfly was undoubtedly lurking in the phone in the akuma's hands.
(3) Judging by the flashy glittery rays of light shooting from its screen, the phone was also being used as the primary weapon.
(4) Judging by what happened when the dynamic duo dodged the Connexion's first direct attack at them, they realized that under no circumstances could they risk being hit.
When Chat dodged right and Ladybug dodged left, they both turned to watch where the light struck in order to better understand what they were up against here. As they did, they saw a group of innocent bystanders that had gathered under the awning of a local pub, eyes wide in alarm as the light rocketed toward them. Marinette gasped and Adrien cried out in warning, but it was already too late. The light struck the group and dazzled them all out of sight for a second before fading. When it did, both Marinette's and Adrien's hearts stopped. The girl in the forefront whirled around to grab the girl behind her and yank her into a sudden, passionate, very physical kiss–followed with enthusiasm by the other four people.
"Oh no," Marinette whimpered. There'd been only one akuma with a power like this before.
It had been bad.
"Ohhh yes," Connexion hummed, and sent a flurry of lasers at Lady and Chat while cackling madly.
Thus began the chase.
They were now three hours in and no closer to turning the tables on Hawkmoth's latest soldier. As long as Connexion had that phone with that–that light–Ladybug and Chat Noir were too afraid to go within even thirty feet of him, lest history repeat itself in the most mortifying, agonizing way.
Adrien followed Ladybug up the side of the brick building they were now cornered against, trying his best not to stare at her as she loped side to side on the string with that elegant swinging stride of hers. Was she thinking of the last time too? Oh, who was he kidding, of course she was. How could they think of anything else with this guy chasing after them, trying to hit them with his creepy love magic? Adrien had to wonder if Hawkmoth had sought Connexion out for the express reason of torturing them. After all, that power had proved so effective against them last time, hadn't it?
On the roof, Marinette snatched Chat Noir by the arm and hauled him down through a skylight for a momentary reprieve. They'd been doing all their scheming this way today. Stolen moments behind trash cans and inside chimneys and underneath trucks–until Connexion inevitably found them and sent them scattering again like frightened mice.
It was so unlike them to fear an akuma this way. The frustration with the way this battle was going was written plainly on Ladybug's face, and Adrien could sympathize. If he could reach Hawkmoth right now he would punch him in his damn ugly face.
"Running away is an unsustainable strategy," Marinette said as she landed on the floor below the skylight and released Chat Noir. It appeared they'd entered a small art gallery, perhaps a museum of photography. Although despite being well lit by the sunny skylights, it was empty for the time being. The middle of an akuma attack was probably a poor time to go art-gazing, now that she thought about it. "We need to do something! We need to get that phone away from him."
Before he hits us, Adrien heard in the subtext of her strained voice. Her entire body was like one tensed coil. Ready to spring.
"I know," he said. The yawning architecture of the gallery amplified his hollow voice, and echoed it back from every crevice and alcove. "I'm out of ideas though, Ladybug. We've tried just about everything short of running at him head on."
"We can't do that," she said immediately. "We can't…"
"I know," he sighed again. "I know." The photograph next to him had been blown up to cover a portion of the wall taller than himself, and pictured a black and white canyon with a person silhouetted at the edge. "We can't get hit."
If possible, she tensed even more. She hated how hurt he sounded. As if he was assuming she believed this was all his fault or something, which was absurd. "Last time…" His ears perked toward her but he didn't turn. Last time. They had never talked about it. Not even once. "Last time we were out of the count for two whole hours, Chat." Fidgeting in place and wringing her hands, Marinette was sure her face would burn off from the embarassment of bringing this up. "It could have been a lot longer if the Ladyblog girl hadn't come up to the roof and dumped water on us like that. We can't let that happen again."
Only now did Adrien turn away from the monochrome canyon to look at her.
"Do you remember it?" he asked softly. He hadn't meant to ask, but the question had been searing him from the inside out for three straight months, ever since it happened. Now that she had opened the gate he couldn't help but walk through it.
Stoicism was a weird look on him, and Marinette didn't know what to make of it. She wrung her hands even more. "Sort of," she admitted. The hazy memories flared up on cue. One hand tracing her ribs and the other on her neck. The pressure of the wall at her back making her feel like molten metal between a hammer and an anvil. Hot breath and acid eyes. Warm and heavy and wet and– "B-bits and pieces of it."
The blush on her face had been a constant all throughout the afternoon, but now it was deepening into a crimson that touched even her ears and her neck. "Uh.. me too," he said, a little breathlessly. Bits and pieces that had haunted his every waking moment and invaded his every dream since that day. The rake of her fingers on his back. The taste of her tongue. The way she rocked her hips into his.
"Ladybug…" he began. Uncertainty filled every syllable.
"No, please don't apologize," she whispered. "That's why I never– Please, just don't apologize. I know you're about to. But it wasn't your fault so it's not your place to say sorry. It was just unfortunate that it had to happen that way, you know?"
Adrien blinked as her interesting choice of words settled. "Yeah," he laughed. "I know. I, for one, can think of a few much more preferable ways for it to have happened."
Marinette blinked back. Did he just…?
The skylight shattered above them.
"There you are." Framed against the sapphire sky, Connexion beamed down on them from above.
"Break's over, bug!" Adrien grabbed Ladybug by the wrist and sprinted toward the nearest door, not at all missing the way he had nearly broken her with that last statement of his. If he hadn't grabbed her she might very well have stood frozen there until the Connexion pulled her miraculous merrily from her ears. But as soon as they left the vaulted showroom, she came to life and led the way through a series of connecting hallways until they came out into an even bigger showroom filled with even more alcoves and photographs.
Marinette glanced wildly around the room, noting that the museum goers had largely fallen victim the Connexion's spell. With the akuma himself right behind them, she zipped around the corner into the nearest alcove–a small cubicle with one photograph per wall–and looked to Chat Noir with a panicked expression.
"I have an idea," she blurted. "Or, I've been brewing it for awhile, I just didn't think we should, I mean it's kind of a last resort–"
The akuma's voice bounced off the ceiling and around the labyrinth of walls. "Look at that, such a beautiful sight. A room full of happy connections. And you two soon will join them. Come out, little cat. Come out, little bug, and play…"
Hoping to calm her, Adrien gripped Ladybug's shoulders. "Look, I trust you, Ladybug. What's the plan?"
The manic way she bit her lip, then, and the tentative reach of her hands toward his collar, made his heart begin to pick up pace in his chest. "Close your eyes and detransform."
"Wha..?"
He had barely registered that incredible request when she squeezed her own eyes shut and a flash of red light appeared at her feet. It was in startled panic that he closed his eyes. She's detransforming right in front of me!
"Sorry," she whispered, and before he was even finished detransforming she was kissing him.
The aching urge to open his eyes was instantly eclipsed by the feeling of her lips on his. So this was her plan, then. And what a plan it was. All the dreamy half-memories in the world couldn't compare to the real thing. Somewhere in the showroom he knew Connexion was searching for them, and could hear the akuma's lame insults as he tried to goad them out of hiding. But it was so blissfully unimportant compared to Ladybug's shaky breath as she paused to gauge his reaction to this plan of hers. She was standing on her tiptoes, he realized, so he bent his head toward her, one hand brushing tentatively at her cheek. The urge to open his eyes came back full throttle.
But he kept them closed and kissed her again. "Good plan," he whispered. He wished he'd thought of it three hours ago. He wished she'd thought of it last time.
"Let's make this convincing?"
God yes. Let's. Adrien locked one arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his chest, and she reconnected with him instantly. The first had been a peck. A tentative test to make sure he was okay with it. This time Ladybug kissed him. On some level he knew this was just a ploy to keep the Connexion from hitting them with his love ray, but from the way she responded to him with her whole body, he could almost believe that she loved him as madly as he loved her. Before he knew it they were bumping into the wall. A framed photograph teetered on its nail and fell, the glass shattering at their feet. Alarm coursed through him. Shit! They were trying not to draw attention to themselves!
Panicking as she felt him pulling away, Marinette seized his tie (she could tell by the way his clothes felt that he was wearing a suit under his transformation, and it was a shockingly huge turn-on) and pulled him back into the kiss. Connexion was no doubt on his way over now, and they had to make him believe they'd been hit already or they were done for. Luckily Chat seemed to understand her sudden urgency, and melted back into the kiss with a fervence she'd never experienced before. Or… maybe she had. Just once. The hazy memory of their akuma-influenced kiss tugged at her subconscious once more. The way her back pressed against the wall now triggered a sudden surge of clarity as she thought about it, and it was a very dangerous line of thought. They had kissed for two hours that day. That was a lot of time to get creative. (Not that she had watched the questionable LiveLeak video… Okay, not that she had watched it more than once.)
Speaking of which, Chat had now moved on to her neck.
Marinette sucked in a breath and her hands clenched in the fabric of his dress shirt.
Taking that as a green light, Adrien set out to explore every inch of her neck with his lips and tongue. The memories of the last time they kissed may have been blurred by the akuma's influence, but he distinctly remembered her moaning and he desperately wanted to hear that again.
"What have we here?"
The akuma's sudden voice to their right sent a jolt through Ladybug's body, but to his credit, Adrien went on kissing her without faltering. For the greater good, you know?
"Ah, just another pair of lovebirds," Connexion muttered to himself. "Wherever did that pesky duo run off to?" He continued muttering as he walked away, leaving the civilian Lady and Chat there without a second thought.
As Connexion's voice faded, Adrien laid one last kiss on the crest of Ladybug's shoulder beside the strap of her soft sundress. But instead of letting him pull away, she tugged him back to her lips.
"Not yet," she whispered, and kissed him again. They'd have to keep going until they were absolutely sure Connexion was gone. For the greater good, you know?
By the time Ladybug's hands slid off his chest, almost ten minutes had passed. Ten minutes of absolute heaven. He gave his tongue one last trace of her lips before reluctantly pulling away, careful to keep his eyes tightly shut. No matter how much they burned. No matter how his heart begged him to look at her face. "You think he's gone?" he whispered.
"I'll check. Cover your face so I don't see you."
When Marinette opened her eyes, Chat had one hand strategically placed over the upper half of his face. As her eyes adjusted to the light she couldn't help but examine him–the juxtaposition of his windblown golden hair with a crisp, top of the line suit. Was that–huh. It was. Gabriel brand.
Wait. Exactly how wealthy was Chat Noir?!
"Is he still there?" Chat whispered, and Marinette jumped, as if she'd been caught staring.
She peeked around the corner, eyeing the scattered couples as they kissed amongst the art. "No. He's gone."
"Thank god," he laughed. "Now that he's off our tail, we can finally get the jump on him."
"Y-yeah." So casual. So cool and collected, like always. How was he so calm all the time, even in the face of this? It was infuriating!
"So. Um. Bon jue?" he laughed, and this time Marinette caught a bit of nervousness under that cool outer shell. "We can never talk about this again, if you want."
She heard the subtext loud and clear. Just like before.
"Actually…" she said slowly. The lapel of his jacket was so soft. His frown twitched into something more neutral as she toyed with the material between her thumb and forefinger. "We should probably talk about it this time."
"Oh. R-really?" Her presence in front of him was like a growing fire, and it was all he could do to keep his hand over his eyes.
"Well don't look so surprised," she said, feeling more flustered than she'd ever been in her life. How dare he make her feel this way. She wanted to kiss that smug look right off his face. "Let's–let's just transform and get back to to the fight. We can talk about this after. Tikki, where did you run off to?"
Two kwamis zipped out from under the broken frame on the floor at their feet, Tikki with her hands pressed to her cheeks and Plagg with an expression of extreme disgust painted on his face.
"You guys done sucking face?" Plagg deadpanned.
"Oh hush," Tikki giggled. "It was a brilliant plan."
"I'm inclined to agree," Adrien smiled before recalling Plagg to the ring. Once Ladybug had done the same, Adrien was finally free to open his eyes. Ladybug had her eyes glued to the floor like it was the Mona Lisa, and even though he was pretty sure now that she was into him and pretty sure she enjoyed that kiss session just as much as he did, he still had to be certain. "Hey. You okay, lovebug?"
'Lovebug' was by no means a new nickname, but perhaps in context it was too much. Scarlet blossomed on her cheeks below her mask and her eyes whipped up toward him, her whole face darkening into a deadly glare. Startled by her reaction, Adrien took a full step back. In their four years together he'd never been subjected to such a glare before. Had he crossed a line? Should he apologize? Her eyebrows continued to furrow and her pout deepened and she began to stomp toward him, raising a fist as she went. An insane thought crossed his mind, as she grabbed the bell on his collar, that she was going to punch him. But instead she yanked him down and kissed him full on the mouth.
It was over before he could do much more than blink in astonishment.
Too soon she was releasing him. Her face burned and her eyebrows were still furrowed as she turned away and left the safety of the alcove.
Adrien was left gather the remains of his wits and follow.
.
.
"So," Chat purred as the cheering crowd closed in following the defeat of the akuma. Ladybug side-eyed him and prepared to jab him in the ribs with her elbow if need be. "I believe my lady wanted to talk to me about something, but I seem to have forgotten what it was. I wonder if she would remind me."
"Not now," Ladybug hissed before slapping on a broad smile to greet the fans and the curator of the Ladyblog. "Hello! Please, one question at a time."
"Care to comment on your brief absence from the battle?" Alya shoved her microphone between Lady and Chat, and carefully noted how they glanced at each other before looking back at her. "I had a bucket of water with me, just in case, but I couldn't seem to find you anywhere."
Ladybug flushed and slapped the microphone away, which inadvertently banged into Chat's chest. "That wasn't necessary!" she rushed, before taking a deep breath and sighing out the tension in her shoulders. Gently she took the microphone back. "We weren't caught in the crossfire this time, Alya. Good superheroes never make the same mistake twice."
Alya nodded sagely. Damn, that was a solid response. Ladybug was a pro at dodging inquiries after the state of their relationship. So she turned to Chat, the resident Loose Lips. "Anything to add, Chat Noir? What exactly were you doing if you weren't struck by the akuma's magic?"
"Um…" Luckily for him, his ring beeped. The whole crowd groaned but Chat sighed in relief. "That's my cue, folks. This cat's gotta run. Until tomorrow, my lady?" He bowed deeply to the partner beside him and bestowed the usual kiss on her hand.
And Alya, shrewd as she was, could not help noticing that Ladybug only remembered to laugh him off at the very last second.
.
.
Tomorrow was a scary prospect for Marinette, who watched Chat leap away from the scene of the ended battle with rising anxiety, scarcely hearing as her own miraculous began to beep as well. Tomorrow on patrol she would see him again. She would have to follow up on her promise to talk. She would have to tell him things. Tell him how she hadn't been able to put that hazy kiss out of her mind for the last three months. How it had forced her to consider her feelings on the whole, and helped her to come to terms with the fact that she was painfully and ridiciulously in love with him– Okay maybe she could save some for later. They didn't have to go all in at once. But still, tomorrow she would have to take at least one step forward. They would move forever out of this weird romantic purgatory into something far more terrifying. Something real.
The more she thought on it, the more 'tomorrow' loomed.
But what Marinette never expected was that 'tomorrow' would be coming today.
As soon as she fell on her bed, detransforming as she went, she was assaulted with a barrage of text messages. Her pocket was practically vibrating her whole body the way it was going off. Pulling it out, she saw they were all from Alya.
(girl call me)
(call me)
(call me)
( e)
(call me freakin CALL ME RIGHT NOW)
(MARINEETTE)
(MARI I AM HIGH KEY FREaKN oUT CALL ME BTCH)
Aaand so on and so forth. A single quick scroll through the messages was enough to send Marinette's heart through the roof of her mouth and out her nose. What could Alya possibly be so worked up over? She wracked her brain while Tikki pondered over the texts a little more thoroughly, trying to recall if Alya was acting weird during the brief post akuma interview. The only thing she could possibly think of would be that she'd somehow figured out that Marinette was Ladybug. What else could have triggered this?
"Calm down, Marinette," Tikki soothed once she too reached the end of the long chain of texts. "It could be anything. Let's not jump to conclusions."
"Right," Marinette breathed. "Right. I should just… I should call her. No, I should go meet her. If this is about Ladybug, well, I would prefer to explain myself in person."
.
.
The moment Marinette arrived at the park, Alya tackled her so hard they both went falling onto the grass. Stuck in a tangled pile of legs and grass stains and squealing, Marinette struggled to gain her bearings. She hadn't pictured the reveal with Alya going anything like this. What was going on?
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm just so excited," Alya screeched, directly in her ear. "Ugh, and you probably don't even remember!"
At this point Marinette tackled her flat on the grass in order to regain some sort of hold on the situation. "Alya what are you talking about?"
"This," Alyagiggled, and reached in her pocket to pull out her phone. Marinette could only watch in disassociated wonder as she pulled up her photos and and went for the most recently saved one, then shoved it in Marinette's face.
It was too close to her nose to even look at.
Marinette slid off Alya and sat cross-legged in the grass, desperately trying to compute what she was seeing. It was picture of two people kissing. Two people really going at it, like oh my god, this is so nsfw, why does Alya even have this saved – oh dear, that is my sundress. The one I am wearing Right Now.
"That.. is me?" she squeaked aloud.
Alya saw me. She saw us. This is me and–
"And who else?" Alya goaded maniacally.
Chat, she thought immediately, and her brain set about screaming again. Look away from the photo! Don't look at his face, you absolute idiot!
But it was too late. Her eyes were already seeing it by the time her brain realized what she was looking at. She saw the same suit she'd admired earlier today. The same disheveled hair; hair that was normally combed back into a perfect flawless masterpiece, because this wasn't Chat Noir at all. This was–
"Adrien," she gasped.
Alya beamed. "Bingo."
"But– but how–"
"I was looking for Lady and Chat," Alya shrugged. "I saw them go into this art gallery so I went in looking for them and then had to hide from the akuma. Lo and behold, the corner I tried to hide in was occupied. By this." She pointed at the picture with smug elation.
So many conflicting emotions fought for control of Marinette that for the time being she felt almost dead inside. It was like emotional nirvana. After all this time, she had finally been shocked so badly that she couldn't feel anything anymore. Was this was death by electrocution felt like?
"Hey, are you okay?" Alya probed. "I thought you'd be squealing with delight but you look kinda nauseous. Should I not have shown you this?"
"No no," Marinette eked out. "It's okay. You didn't… show anyone though, did you? …Alya? …Please god Alya, tell me you didn't send it to Nino."
Sweating profusely, Alya thought back on the afternoon's events. When she'd found Adrien and Marinette making out in that art corner she had been so full of unbridled glee that she simply couldn't contain it. She'd sent the pic to Nino literally one second after snapping it, disregarding the fact that she was currently trying to hide from a rampaging akuma. For the greater good, you know?
"Alya," Marinette pleaded. "Alya, no."
"I'm sorry," she groaned.
But despite her genuine guilt over Mari's discomfort, she was secretly a little bit pleased that this would inevitably get back to Adrien. Someone had to tell that dense boy how in love he was.
Alya yes.
.
.
Six miles away, Adrien looked at the picture Nino had just forwarded him with ever-widening eyes.
"Marinette?!"
