To say this was my favorite chapter to write would have been an understatement :D
Chapter 9
(::)
Ladybug's eyes widened as she listened to Chat's reasoning. "Y-you mean, Adrien was also created by the Peacock Miraculous?" she whispered. "But-how do you kn-"
A flash of green light made her heart stop for a moment. She gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as her yo-yo continued to spin in her hand.
"No. Chat, don't!-"
She heard the gasps of Alya and Nino behind her.
"No. Way." Alya breathed.
"Dude," was all Nino could manage.
"Uhhhh..." came the unmistakable groan from Plagg. "I don't feel so good..."
"My Lady," his voice pleaded with her, punctuated by a weak cough. "Look at me. Please."
Ladybug's heart pounded in her chest. No, no, no, no, no, this wasn't how it was supposed to end! Not right before they found Monarch! They had kept each other safe by keeping secrets this whole time, now it was more important than ever!
Her eyes slide open slightly, her head still turned away from him. Ahead of her, her eyes met Alya's, who gave her a sure, though almost imperceptible nod.
Despite the nightmares she still suffered on a regular basis about Chat Blanc, Ladybug trusted Chat and Alya together more than she trusted herself to know the right decision. Summoning all of her courage, and stifling a small gasp as her heart involuntarily leapt into her throat, she looked.
Tunnel vision took hold as she took in the sight before her, all sense of the school, her friends, Monarch, everything crumbling around her leaving only her and-
"A-Adrien!?"
He started to speak, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. Without thinking, she grabbed him and, swinging her yo-yo overhead, leaped out onto the rooftops, putting space between them and the others at the school. All she could feel is that this was WRONG, Adrien wasn't supposed to be here, Adrien was supposed to be safe, he wasn't supposed to be fighting his own father, he wasn't supposed to be injured, he wasn't supposed to be CHAT NOIR when his father was MONARCH!
"-ybug?! Ladybug!" she stopped up short, heaving a shuddery breath as she realized he was desperately calling her name. How far had she gotten before realizing she was even running!? Panting, she set him down on one of the sloping roofs and knelt beside him, taking in his appearance for the first time.
Adrie-Chat! grabbed her shoulder, trying to bring her back down to Earth. "Ladybug?"
She gasped, her mind jerking back to reality. She had a sudden, almost irrepressible urge to smash her lips onto his but barely managed to hold herself back. (He doesn't know who you are, you idiot!)
And then he was holding out his Miraculous to her.
Her brow furrowed. "What-what are you doing!?"
"You know my identity now," Adrien's voice cracked, his eyes sorrowful. "Apparently, I'm a sentimonster. Monarch is my FATHER. Everyone back there, including Felix, knows my identity. I had to tell him, just to get back to Paris so I could warn you. I'm giving you back my Miraculous. Kagami would be a better choice than me as a partner in this last mission. I'm-I won't be able to fight beside you this time." He squeezed his eyes shut, lowering his head. "I've failed you at the very end, My Lady. I'm so sorry."
"You're-you're in so much danger," she breathed out, locking eyes with him. "Your father is Monarch!"
He gave a breathy laugh. "Apparently."
She noticed the tension in his jaw, his grimace as he hunched over, holding his side gingerly, and the short, panting breaths he was taking that didn't sound quite natural. Her eyes widened. "You're hurt!"
"I-I made a stupid mistake."
"I need to get you somewhere safe," she decided, feeling a little of the shock dissipating as she settled back into her superhero persona. Panicking over Adrien's safety wouldn't help either of them, nor would obsessively spiraling into trying to reconcile him with CHAT in her mind, which she definitely didn't have time for.
Adrien coughed again, groaning in pain and leaned into her, evidently not having the strength to argue.
"Come with me," she picked him up again, cradling him more gently this time so as to not put pressure on his ribs, allowing his head to fall against her shoulder.
They flew across Paris, finally coming to a stop atop a small balcony, one he recognized instantly. His eyes widened as Ladybug set him down on the lounge chair, making sure his leg was upright, and stepped back, crouching in front of him. Her eyes were still wide as saucers as she took him in.
"This-this is Marinette's place!" he exclaimed, starting to get up, wincing and thinking the better of it before lying back against the chair.
"Yeah," Ladybug looked away. Was there a blush on her cheeks, or was he imagining things? "She's your girlfriend, isn't she? You can't go home to your father right now. It's not safe for you. Surely Marinette will make sure you're all right."
Adrien looked away guiltily, not sure what to say. Plagg floated up beside him groggily, and he blinked, then pulled some cheese out of his pocket to feed him, which Plagg accepted with a sigh of relief.
"Is-" Ladybug looked nervous, like she wasn't sure she'd done the right thing. "Is that okay? I can take you somewhere else if you'd rather-"
"I haven't told Marinette I'm back in Paris," Adrien blurted out. He hung his head. "I just-last time we said goodbye, it broke her heart."
It had. She would know.
"And mine too."
She felt tears threaten to spill over as she listened.
"With everything I've learned about m-my father, how much c-control he has, I don't know if I'll b-be able to stay in Paris, or if she'll be in danger because of me..."
He was rambling now, every fear and train of thought he'd had in the past few days about he and Marinette's future tumbling out in front of Ladybug of all people, the girl he used to be in love with before he suddenly, unexpectedly fell HARD for Marinette.
"In my head I keep t-thinking maybe I'll find a way to fix all of this and deal with m-my Father and then everyone will be safe. T-then we could be together again if-if s-she wants me, b-but I don't know how." He sobbed openly, wiping shining drops from his eyes with the sleeve of his hoodie for what seemed like the umpteenth time that weekend. "I j-just want to be with her. And n-not have to say goodbye ever again."
He felt a sense of warmth and realized Ladybug had wrapped her arms around him. Then a ghost of her breath, as she leaned up and kissed one of his cheeks, and then the other.
"Ladybug-?" He sniffed, confused. "W-what are you doing?"
"Adrien..." A small smile graced her lips, shining through her tears, which mirrored his own. "My love." His eyes widened as she hovered mere centimeters from his face. The deeply-held emotion she held there mesmerized him. "It's ME."
She detransformed in a sparkle of light.
A gasp escaped him.
And in Ladybug's place, with the same midnight hair, bluebell eyes, and berry pink lips, was the love of his life, his Marinette.
There was a moment of stunned silence between the two of them. Then they broke into wondrous smiles, a happy gasp between the two of them intermixed with tears. Their foreheads pressed together, then their lips, arms around each other clinging as though to life itself, with no one to stop them this time.
Marinette cradled his head between her hands, her fingers running through his hair. "You don't ever need to be afraid to tell me anything, not ever!" She promised him solemnly. "I'd happily bear the pain of a thousand goodbyes if it meant one day I could be with you forever. Don't you remember I promised, I'd never leave you?"
Adrien sniffled and laughed a little, uselessly wiping at the tears that just kept coming. "Y-you came after me, 'ven after I didn't g-give you a c-chance to say g-goodbye."
"That wasn't your fault," she answered firmly. "This whole time, you've been there for me as Chat Noir and Adrien, when your father tried to stop you at every turn. You've blamed yourself for not being good enough, you've tried to give back your Miraculous THREE times, but, Minou, all along you were fighting your own battles alone."
Adrien's head dropped as he sighed in regret. "I-I just wanted to be by your side."
"My sweet kitty, you've protected me and saved me so many times. Won't you let me do the same for you now?"
"B-but what if my-my father tries to hurt you?" he exclaimed, his already rapid breathing speeding up even more. The look in his eyes was more wild and scared than she'd ever seen him. "I c-can't let him hurt you!"
"And I could never lose my Chat Noir," she replied with a soft smile, which quickly faded. "But if you come with me in person before we've found the object that controls your amok, you might never be free from him again." She grabbed his hand tightly with her own as she transformed back into Ladybug. "I'm gonna make you a promise as Ladybug, too. I promise I won't stop fighting until we live in a world where our identities no longer have to be a secret. Where we can be safe AND together, and don't have to choose one over the other."
Adrien had never, not once had any difficulty believing in Ladybug, or Marinette for that matter. But the events and revelations of the day had shaken him more than anything in his life, and he found himself, for the first time, unsure if she could do it.
He couldn't tell her that, though. "I know you will, M'Lady." He tried to smile, but the muscles of his face wouldn't cooperate.
She took a deep breath, straightening as she prepared for action. "We need to start making our plan. One that will keep our identities safe-and give you the answers you're looking for."
"Wait-" he murmured, a glimmer of hope just meeting his eyes. "You mean we're actually going together?"
Plagg sat up for the first time since they'd begun the exchange. "Um, I don't think that's such a good-"
Not hearing him, Marinette gave Adrien a soft smirk. "I just brought you here to talk, I wasn't going to leave you stranded on my balcony! And besides, I said I was leaving you with Marinette and that's exactly what I'm doing."
Adrien smiled.
Then his eyes rolled off to the side and his body slid sideways, dropping from the lounge chair and limply into her arms as she reflexively shot forward to catch him.
"Adrien? Adrien! Wake up!" She gasped, realizing for the first time that his skin was cold and a purplish-blue. He didn't regain consciousness as she continued calling his name.
"AADRRIIEENNN!" Plagg started yelling, pawing at his holder's face in alarm. "Oh no. I was afraid this would happen. This isn't good at all!"
Tikki flew to Marinette's shoulder, eyeing Adrien up and down with concern. "You need to take him to a hospital, Marinette!" she cried.
"Hospital! Yes," Marinette gasped, trying to quell the panic taking over her body and making her muscles feel like sludge. She had to hold it together for him! "No, Adrien! Stay with me, please! Tikki, transforme!"
I know we need to see Alya's reaction and, even more so, Nino's! Don't worry, lots of cute, angsty bromance stuff is headed our way. I'm always shocked by how little attention Nino and Adrien's friendship gets. I can hardly find any fics about it.
