Flashback Cutscene: Stop and Stare
Adrien and Ladybug sat on the roof of the mansion, Ladybug once again coming to check on his mother and Nathalie, or at least that was the excuse she was using for this extra time with her boyfriend. Neither of the women were having any long lasting effects from the Miraculous wish. They both seemed fine and Adrien was ecstatic that only four weeks after his mother had returned everything was getting more comfortable. Almost as if this was normality.
"Do you play many video games?" Ladybug asked, even though she already knew the answer. She just wanted to talk to him, all day, everyday about anything. Time spent with Adrien was still precious, still meaningful.
"I'm rather fond of a couple. Why?"
"Oh, I don't know… it's just a thought, but maybe we could play sometime? You know, instead of just sitting and moping around each other." Ladybug commented. Since they'd begun dating it had become more and more competitive during their tournaments, which only made it more and more fun. It was one of her favourite chill times with him.
She saw a smile take over Adrien's face. "That sounds like a plan."
He stretched forwards and into the small picnic basket she'd brought along with her. Rummaging around a little, he finally removed his hand complete with a glass bottle of lemonade. Holding it up in front of him, he gave it a quizzical glare.
"Pink?" he questioned, Ladybug smiling and shrugging.
"Why not? It's a nice colour."
Adrien laughed, shaking his head. "Marinette would love this. She loves lemonade, rosé and pink – so rosé lemonade would be her dream come true."
Ladybug reached forward and lifted her own, unscrewing the top and placing it to her lips.
"I'm sure she would," Ladybug said, reaching into a basket again and finding another one. "Perhaps you should save this one. You can tell Marinette you saw it and thought of her."
"Slightly twisted truth there, Ladybug," Adrien laughed, taking the bottle from her hand and placing it on the other side of him.
Ladybug knew full well she would be receiving that exact bottle when she met up with him, as Marinette, later that evening. There had been so many thoughtful gifts from Adrien over the month they had been dating. Little items where he'd seen something and thought of her. It was so sweet and romantic, and it only made her love him more.
"Not really," she replied, "you did see it and you did think of her. Just because I brought it here with me makes no difference."
"Of course," he laughed. "I went to Turkey at some point last year, and I made sure I brought her back Rosé Turkish Delight. I went everywhere trying to find her the best in the area. Gorilla thought I'd gone insane."
Ladybug smiled. She remembered that Turkish Delight very well. It was delicious, but she hadn't realised he'd gone out of his way to find it especially for her. He'd given some to Alya, Nino and Kagami too. Her heart fluttered at this new revelation. As she floated into her dreamland of herself and Adrien by the sea eating the sweet treat themselves, her bubble was popped by his next question. She turned her head to look at him.
"What about your boyfriend? Do you see things and think of him?" Adrien asked.
"All the time."
He looked over to her and she realised she'd stopped and was just staring at him. Did she do things because they reminded her of him? Yes. It wasn't like Adrien did though with little trinkets and gifts. She didn't buy things, instead she made them. Things like the macarons he was currently eating.
"Do I have something on my face?" he said, his smile dropping and a hand moving to brush against his cheeks.
She shook her head, waking herself up and bringing her back to the moment. "Sorry, I just didn't realise how green your eyes were."
Adrien blushed a slight pink and looked away. She shouldn't have said that. She wasn't his girlfriend at the moment, she was just his friend who visited him almost daily and spent time talking and having picnics.
She needed to focus and no matter how well defined his jaw looked, and the shadow of stubble appearing around his always smooth jawline, she couldn't just stare at him. It was weird.
Changing the subject, she took another sip of her lemonade before screwing the cap on and placing it away again. Her stomach churned at what she was about to ask him; what they were about to talk about? But she had to get this off her chest, and right now, as they were both chilled, it seemed an ideal opportunity.
"Can I ask you a question? I need advice and I know you're good at it."
"Sure," he turned his head back to her, the pink had faded and his tanned complexion had returned to normal.
"If someone asked you – no, sorry – if someone begged you to not tell a secret would you keep it?"
Adrien furrowed his eyebrows at her. "Well, yeah. If you promise to keep something a secret then you keep your promise."
"What about if it affected someone else's life?"
Adrien looked at her, his eyes flicking over her as if he was trying to work something out. He tilted it side to side before shrugging.
"I suppose it depends in what way. If the person's life was better without knowing, and it wasn't important that they did know, then I would probably keep it to myself, but if that person's life was being affected for the worse, then yeah. I would definitely tell. Is it a friend?"
She felt a prickling in the back of her eyes and a tingling in her nose. "My best friend," she whispered.
Adrien smiled at her and then reached out and took her hand in his. "And how is their life without knowing this secret?"
"Wonderful," she said through a thickness in her throat. "For once in their life everything is going the way they deserve it to be. They're happy, and loved, and free, and we're in such a great place – me and them."
"Then, I guess there's no need to tell. Not unless things change." Adrien shrugged as if it was the most normal conversation of his life. Not knowing the implications revolved around him.
"But what if I need to and it's too late."
He pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Then you tell them sorry. You grovel at their feet and then if that doesn't work, you tell them Adrien Agreste told you to do it."
Level 1 - The Statue
Chat Noir continued to look around the body, interested in any possible clue for what this was. A warning. Revenge. Personal.
He couldn't help but keep coming back to that last point. The mask of Monarch, the fact that it was poor Aurore who'd taken the hit. One of their first ever akuma victims. Something just felt wrong with this, more than just a nutter playing games.
Wandering around the statue he was amazed he hadn't collapsed in a similar fashion to Ladybug, relieving his insides of his daily food intake and suffering from the view in front of him. Thank God he hadn't gone to the bakery or eaten Kagami's meal.
Though he wouldn't say he knew Aurore well, their paths had crossed many times when he was a younger star. Television interviews, photoshoots, even the odd rumour in the magazines that he was dating her. But they were nothing more than passing acquaintances. Where his life had changed for the better thanks to his friendship group, hers had taken her down a darker route. Sex. Drugs. Bankruptcy. She was barely keeping her head above water. But why would someone kill her? A drug Lord? A disgruntled landlord? A pimp?
Life this young shouldn't be taken though, and not in such a horrendous way.
Looking over towards the fountain, he saw his 'partner' leaning over cupping water in her hands and throwing it against her face. Half his heart was begging to go over and check she was okay, the other resented the fact she was here at all.
"I'm quite sure whoever set this up has a vendetta against the two of you."
Chat Noir turned his attention back to Detective Raincomprix, taking the baton from his back and beginning to spin it around between his fingers, a nervous trait he'd picked up over the years — fumbling around with something to calm the nerves.
It couldn't be denied. The butterfly emblem carved into the young woman's body was as much of a calling card to Paris, as it was a big 'fuck you' to the heroes.
They'd fought a lot of different variants of akuma over the years but never had Chat Noir worried about what was happening, what he was fighting; there was no need to. But this time there were no Miraculous Ladybug's to heal the hurt, or to bring people back to life. This was something worse. Something more sinister and sickening than he'd ever seen before.
"What happens next?" Chat Noir asked, looking once more at where his partner was now talking to reporters; including Alya.
"We'll take the body back and check it over for any evidence we can use. It seems quite a clear scene though. Whoever did this had it planned out. They killed her elsewhere, then staged her body here. It's too well structured for it not to be. Come." Detective Raincomprix led Chat Noir back over to the scene, though this time leading him around the back of the statue. "There was one thing we missed earlier, and we weren't sure if it was part of the crime scene or if it was just something left by a visitor at the park."
She asked the forensic examiner for a pair of white plastic gloves, placing them on her hands before reaching out and grabbing the object. A black umbrella was placed in the detective's hands, one which looked oddly familiar.
"An umbrella?" Chat Noir asked, an eyebrow lifting into his hairline.
"Yup, an umbrella."
Unravelling the tie, a button was pressed expanding the umbrella out into its fully deployed form and all of a sudden Chat Noir understood the need to show him.
"What the fuck?"
Hanging down from the centre of the spines were many, many magical charms similar to those Ladybug used to give out to protect the akuma's victims. Looking past them he noticed one more thing; white paint coating around the inside in scruffy block letters. He looked at it again, as though a second time would help him process the information more — or even prove he was seeing things.
'Truth or Dare?' Were they being taunted?
"What is this?"
His partner's voice sounded beside him, startling him and causing him to almost drop the umbrella.
"Can I take a closer look?" Ladybug asked, and he wasn't sure whether she meant that to him or to Sabrina.
"Sure."
He held the umbrella out to her, as she edged slowly towards him, stretching out a hand with slight hesitation. He looked into her eyes, her worn, tired eyes and wondered if she'd suffered from insomnia as much as he did. Memoires and unspoken conversations running through her head in an unbroken loop.
Rolling his eyes, he thrust the umbrella into her hand and crossed his own over his chest, leaving her to view the umbrella herself.
"This is…" She looked from the umbrella to his face, her eyes questioning him as much as his own brain was. She looked pale, very pale and he was almost certain she was about to throw up again.
"Yeah," he responded. "Just give it to the police, Ladybug. There might be prints or something on it that they can use."
Taking it from her hand, Chat Noir began to walk away, studying the underside of the umbrella. The many magical charms swung to and fro with the movement, mocking him, mocking them. All this was definitely for them. But why didn't they use Aurore's parasol? Why would they leave it in a black umbrella? Not just that, but why did that umbrella look so familiar?
Something knocked at the back of his mind, telling him not to ignore the significance of the object. That this object had been selected purposefully for this crime scene, but he wasn't a detective and he just couldn't piece it together — not when he just wanted to get away from her and return home to his wife.
"Detective Raincomprix?" Chat Noir said, approaching Sabrina. "I feel there's more to this than just being an umbrella. Would it be possible to head to the police station at some point and check it out again?"
"Sure. Anything you need. Just make sure you keep us in the loop. I can see this having to be a cooperative case."
Chat Noir nodded before shaking the detective's hand and heading over to Ladybug. He may be angry with her still, however, he was a gentleman first and foremost and wouldn't leave without saying goodbye. The rest of Paris didn't need to know about their little 'spat'.
"I've given them the umbrella," Chat Noir announced as he reached the area. She was staring up at the statue and he was quite certain she was about to be sick again, the wobble in her legs and heavy breathing in her chest.
"What did she say?"
"That we need to work in cooperation with them, so I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow. Maybe we can meet in the evening and plan patrols again, or at least come up with how we're going to move forwards with this."
Silence became them.
Chat turned his attention to the statue too… the fact Aurore was laid over his back was most certainly something that would play in his nightmares for years to come — like he needed anything else.
"I'm still incredibly sorry, you know," she whispered. He felt her eyes on him, but he refused to cave and look back.
"Listen. LB, I'm back because we're a team. That's how we work, but at the moment that's all it is. We'll meet tomorrow and arrange separate patrol times, then possible options for moving forwards. Maybe you want to bring in some of the others?"
"I only need you as a partner, Chaton, no one else." Her voice barely held in the wind, a soft, stumbly voice which broke his heart. She didn't need him at all, she had made that clear over the years.
"I can't do this at the moment, Ladybug." He snatched the baton from his back preparing to head to the rooftops of Paris. With one quick look at her, he steadied himself to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Chat Noir extended his baton and thrust himself up high above Paris and began to run across the uneven rooftops. He needed time to burn off his excess energy before he headed back home – along with calming the stirring feeling within his gut. He always wanted to make sure his home life was separate from work and that was what he was going to do. He didn't need his wife to question something he couldn't explain.
Finally feeling calmer, he made his way back to the apartment and headed for the balcony doors. It was silent. All looked exactly how he'd left it.
As he landed on the small balcony and entered, a tornado of emotion spiralled inside him, ripping him apart from the inside out. Not only was he back to being a superhero, but now he was also contending with seeing Ladybug again and a ruthless killer. He knew full well that the empty look in Aurore's eyes would live with him forever. From years of being suited up he'd seen a lot of things, however death had never been one of them.
Adrien called off his transformation and exchanged a look with Plagg, a look which clearly indicated they'd talk later. He needed to process, and he had to act normal if his wife wasn't going to suspect anything. He'd hid this part of his life for years. A part of his life he never wanted her to get caught up with. He'd seen the movies and what happened to the heroes' spouses — he didn't want anything ever happening to her.
Sneaking over to peek into the bedroom, he prayed that his wife wasn't back yet, that he didn't have to come up with some elaborate excuse as to why he suddenly appeared after apparently being there for the past hour. Creeping down the hallway, he stuck his head around the bedroom door. Empty, good.
Feeling like he could breathe again, Adrien headed to the kitchen. He made his way to the oven and flicked it back on, preparing some of the salad items he had left in the fridge. Moving around he grabbed the place mats and the cutlery, laying them on the table before heading back to the fridge for the bottle of wine. He placed it in a cooler bucket and took it to the table.
Adrien looked around. Almost perfect. Heading to the 'crap' drawer in the kitchen, he pulled out the matches. He just needed to grab a candle from the lounge. It would be perfect for the meal.
As he moved around the kitchen, he began to consider his choices for tomorrow. Could he really just get up and leave without telling her anything? Should he tell her the truth? He trusted her more than anything, or anyone, but would her knowing he was Chat Noir help or hinder them? Plus would it be fair on his partner? He huffed — like it mattered anyway. Plus, their relationship was the least of his worries with a crazed killer out on the loose. All he could hope now was that this thing, whatever it was, was a one-off event. That it was one murder could be solved and then they could be on their merry old way — separate once again.
Ladybug had always said they were equals, and that was how he was going to treat it going forward. He was as important as her and he could do as he pleased. But that was a challenge for another day. Tonight was about him and his wife; just the thought of her could send his stomach into a spiral of lust. If it was up to him, his regular day to day life would cease to exist, instead he would keep his wife in bed in the most perfect and devoted way. Man, he loved her and as long as she was safe and well, his life was complete.
He would do anything to protect her.
Cautiously, Adrien slipped his hands into protective gloves and moved the casserole dish from the oven placing it on top of the work surface. A sudden noise at the door had his lips turning up into a grin.
"Welcome home, sweetheart."