Chapter Ten: Run!

Chat Noir pulled Ladybug to the ground, covering her petite frame with his larger one. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Natalie slumped over on the floor. He tried to push down the sick feeling from seeing Natalie's blood on the floor. She had been shot just before she had told them who was trying to take Hawkmoth's place.

They waited for more gunshots to come, but there was only silence. Chat Noir slowly let go of Ladybug and grabbed his gun from its holster. He cautiously peeked around the corner. He couldn't immediately see anyone, but another gunshot rang in the air. The bullet hit him directly in his left shoulder. Chat Noir quickly hid back behind the counters.

He pressed a hand to the gunshot. Blood was flowing freely, but it wasn't horrible. It still stung badly though. Ladybug still sat next to him, holding her gun. The two of them were sitting ducks. He turned to face Ladybug, hoping she had a plan. Her face wore a vacant expression on it, lost in thought on a plan.

Chat Noir held up his gun, ready to follow her lead. It wasn't too terribly far from the door, but he knew that both of them would end up with quite a few bullet wounds which would either be very bad or very suspicious. He felt a hand touch his shoulder. Chat Noir turned to face Ladybug. She held up her retractable rope (or as Chat Noir called it, her "Ladybug Yoyo") and pointed to a wooden divider across the room. He nodded his head telling her that he understood.

Ladybug threw the rope across the room. It tightened around one of the decorative slits on the top. She yanked it towards them, and it came crashing down near them. Chat Noir leaned out and grabbed it without getting shot. The two of them put the divider upright and went behind it. Chat Noir lifted one side while Ladybug lifted the other. They walked towards the door while holding it up. The divider acted like a shield since the wood was very thick.

When they got close to the door, both of them eased it back onto the floor. Ladybug opened the door and rushed out. Chat Noir followed. They ran down the hallways until they came to a staircase different from the one they had used to enter the building. The two of them ran down the stairs until they hit the floor level and saw an emergency exit.

Chat Noir shoved the door open, and they stumbled outside. Chat Noir turned to face Ladybug. "Go that way! I'll go this way!" he nodded his head in two different directions.

Ladybug hesitated. "What about your arm?"

Only when she mentioned it did the pain come rushing back. "I'll be fine. Trust me. Now, hurry before whoever was shooting at us decides to scout the area." Without another word, Chat Noir ran in the opposite direction of Ladybug, hoping she followed his lead.~

Marinette sat on her bed, still trying to control her breathing. It had been a stressful night, and they still didn't have all of the information they needed. She swore a slight oath to herself that she would avenge Natalie's death by finding who shot her and sending them to jail where they belonged. Marinette was worried about Chat Noir. I hope he got home safely, she thought.

Adrien still wasn't home yet which slightly bothered her, but she convinced herself that it was because of the eventful night she had had. Marinette sat on the couch in their apartment, waiting for him while reading a book. As she was about to give up and go to bed, Marinette heard the door to their apartment being unlocked.

Marinette turned to face the door as Adrien entered the room wearing a shirt with blood stains on the left shoulder. Her mouth dropped in horror as he nonchalantly entered the room. When he realized that Marinette was there, his face paled instantly. "Honey," he said, his voice higher than usual, "What are you doing up so late?"

Marinette stood up and rushed over to him. She yanked him towards her so that she could get a closer look at the wound. Adrien seemed to be panicking as he rushed out his words, "It's not as bad as it looks, I swear. Just a little nick."

"Who did this to you?" she asked, her voice coming out lower than usual.

Adrien blinked at her, all the previous panic he had been feeling vanished from his face. "What?"

"Who did this to you?" she repeated, tears starting to fall down her face.

Adrien's hands flew up to wipe the tears away. He rested his forehead against hers as he said, "It's fine, Marinette. I'm alright really. I just walked past the wrong place at the wrong time. Okay?"

She shook her head 'no' as the tears continued to come. Adrien pulled her into a hug and started to rub her back in a soothing motion. He was whispering reassurances in her ear, but she barely heard them. Marinette couldn't help but think about the worst scenarios.~

Adrien felt awful for making Marinette cry. He couldn't tell her the truth, but he wished that she knew he was safe. She stopped crying after a few minutes but still clung to him fiercely. She managed to pull herself together and drag him to their bathroom.

He sat down on the rim of their bathtub as Marinette grabbed things from the cabinets. She made him take his shirt off. As she unwrapped his makeshift bandage, Adrien tried to not wince from the pain. He made it seem a lot better than it was.

When she pulled it off, she gasped at the sight of all the blood. Adrien reached for her hand to hold it. He leaned his forehead against hers as she took a few steadying breaths. Marinette continued with her cleaning of his wound, and Adrien did his best to hide his pain. He didn't want her to worry more than she already was.

As she finished wrapping up his shoulder, Adrien finally let himself relax a little. He watched Marinette finish her work and put everything away. When she was finished, she walked back out into the living room. Adrien stood slowly and followed her. She was standing near one of the windows staring out of it. Her back was turned to him as he slowly approached her.

Adrien put a hand on her shoulder gently and tried to get her to turn towards him. Marinette didn't budge so he tried to face her instead. She lowered her head so that he couldn't see her gaze. Adrien knew that she was mad at him and didn't want to talk, but he just wanted to reassure her again. He gently lifted her chin which caused her entire head to rise with it.

He saw Marinette's face covered in streams of tears, and his heart sank. Adrien pulled her back into a tight hug, hoping she knew just how much he loved her. She started to cry harder, and the two of them sank to the floor together in a tight embrace. Both parties fell asleep and stayed there for the rest of the night.~

To say that she was furious would be an understatement, but it was the only word that could fit her current mood. How could they have failed? It bugged her to the point of insanity. At least, Natalie was dead. She was slightly sad that she couldn't have killed that woman herself, but hey, the job was done right.

A smile came across her face at the tortured screams of those who had failed her. That's what they get for not following instructions. So enough, Ladybug and Chat Noir would be in her grasp. Once they were out of the way, it would be only a matter of time before she could lay her hands on that idiot, Dupan-Cheng. And then Adrien would be hers FOREVER.