Song Recommendation: Catch My Breath - Kelly Clarkson
{No POV}
Marianne heart broken cradled Marinette's bloodied body in her arms.
"Marinette stay with me. Please! I can't lose you!" Marianne cried.
"Mari..." Marinette barely managed to say as she struggled and took off heer earrings. "...Take my place... For now... please..."
"I can't i'd die too quickly Marinette..."
"Then...have... Have Alya... Take my place... for now... Ladybug needs to be... there..." Marinette struggled out just before the paramedics got her.
"I promise..." Marianne cried as she crumbled onto her hands and knees the earrings held tightly in her hands.
Officer Roger approached.
"Ma'am... I am terribly sorry to do this to you but we need to ask you a few questions about what happened..."
"What happened?" Marianne questioned back darkly making the man flinch as the woman took off her sunglasses and glared at him through crying eyes.
"My cousin just got run over by a truck because some cloaked person shoved her into the streets as that truck approached! What more is there to know?! Everyone saw it! Except for her! Now if you will excuse me, I have a promise to keep." Marianne said enraged drying her tears before pulling out her phone and walking away.
"Alya... It's me, We need to talk. Meet me at the hospital. I mean no harm, I know Marinette personally, it's actually about her. Bring Adrien and her other closest friends. I'll bring her parents with me." Marianne said.
After fifteen minutes she made it to the bakery and walked inside shocking the two older adults inside.
"Marianne... How can this be... Y-you died in a fire..."
"It's a long story that there is absolutely no time for at this very moment... But i didn't really die. I had to fake my death for the safety of our family and others. So did Jason. We have been living together in England for the past 10 years in London. We moved back recently under the names Maria and Jacob Garrison. Back to the current events, Marinette was in an accident when she was about to meet me at a cafe to talk. She's being taken to the hospital as we speak. I promise I will explain everything later, but we need to go to the hospital now." Said Marianne carefully.
Sabine and Tom nodded with reassuring yet concerned smiles before they all left the Bakery closing it along the way and rushed to the hospital in Tom and Sabine Dupain-Cheng's Car.
Once there they worked things out for Marianne and for the teens to be able to get a visitors pass and they went up to the waiting room of where Marinette was being treated.
"What exactly happened to Marinette?" Asked Sabine worriedly yet carefully.
Marianne sighed to calm herself as a tear streamed down her face.
"Marinette was waiting for the walk crossing light to change at the intersection across the street from the cafe after waving at me in greeting when a cloaked person shoved her into the road right as a truck was too close to stop before hitting her. So she ended up getting run over by the thankfully small truck." Marianne explained.
The parents were saddened by the news but tried to maintain hope.
"I am sooo sorry Maman... If I had just stayed away, Little Minou wouldn't have been run over. This is all my fault..." Marianne said quietly before curling into a fetal position and crying into her knees.
-Hawk Moth's Layer-
"What is this?! The most powerful negative emotion is coming from the hospital but there is no anger and no desire to change anything! The purest and deepest sadness! I haven't ever sensed anything like this before from any one person!" Hawk Moth said angrily confused before releasing his transformation and heading back up to his office.
Once his entrance was hidden the door was knocked on.
"Sir? Adrien wishes to speak to you. It seems to be an emergency." Natalie said walking in.
"An emergency?"
"Yes sir, he claims that the love of his life who has finally agreed to become his girlfriend has been in an accident. He wants to know if he could go to the hospital to be by her side."
"What do you think Natalie? Could it be true? Could he really have found the love of his life so soon?" Said Gabriel in shock.
Natalie sighed in relent but nodded. " I think it is very true sir. I just saw on the news a report about the accident. However it seems Miss Marinette is not a bad influence as Miss Lila said. Because Miss Marinette has actually appearantly helped Adrien quite a bit with School, and School Projects. It seems Marinette is this love of his life that Adrien spoke of and he was definitely telling the truth seeing as he and Miss Alya Cesaire who came to let him know in person were crying when it was spoken out loud. Adrien more so than Miss Alya." Spoke Natalie relenting.
Gabriel was shocked but after some thought came to a decision.
"Tell him I will go with him. I am rather curious myself to see this girl and to meet her and her parents. I'm starting to have doubts about Miss Lila's statements as to Miss Marinette's actions." Answered Gabriel pensively.
"Very Well, Sir." Natalie said before stepping out.
Gabriel then allowed Nooro to come out of hiding as he pulled up the news report on his computer.
"Dont be bemused its just the news!" Greeted Nadja Chamack in the video.
"This just in, terrible accident in Paris today as a Truck accidentally hits a young teenage girl that was shoved by a mysterious cloaked person onto the street. The teenage girl was discovered to be none other than the daughter of the best bakers in Paris, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. No news on the condition of the girl has been heard but we are all hopeful that this young lady recovers. As for the accident we have confirmed witness reports that the girl was in fact shoved forward into the path of the truck as well as this footage from street cameras granted to us by the Police in hopes that the culprit is found and brought to justice. No suspects have been found, but the police remain hopeful that there will be some progress on the case soon." Nadia reported a video clip playing by her head of the traffic cameras capturing the accident clearly.
"We now go live to our intern on the scene of the accident for more on this story! Over to you Kyle!"
Suddenly a younger adult man comes onto the screen loooking serious yet sad, his eyes slightly swollen.
"Thank you Nadia. Kyle Le Chien here on the scene with this kind young woman who saw the whole thing. What is your name Miss?" Said Kyle the reporter.
"My name is Clara Dupoint."
"Now you saw this whole thing correct."
"Yes, I work at the cafe across the street from where the girl had been standing before the accident. I had just gone out to serve coffee to this lovely polite lady who was waiting for the girl to be able to cross the street when I saw a cloaked mysterious person run up towards the girl and shove her as they turned the corner and then run off. The lady I was serving then screamed "Marinette" at the top of her lungs and ran off onto the street, but didn't make it in time. The truck had already run the girl over. The poor woman was devastated and shouted at the cop explaining that Marinette was her cousin and that she was like a little sister to her." Said Clara.
"Thank you for your time Miss."
"No problem I just hope that the girl is alright." Clara said with a sad but hopeful smile.
"So do we all." Kyle said with a reassuring smile at the girl before turning back to the camera.
"Aside from the girl we have finally gotten an official statement from the police. Here with us on the scene today to give said statement is none other than Officer Roger." Kyle reported the camera turning to show Officer Roger Raincomprix holding a paper in one hand.
"What happened here today is truly very worrying. We are determined to work hard to make sure that the person responsible for this terrible accident is captured and brought to justice as all evidence shows that it was in fact on purpose. Therefore we ask that if anyone has seen this person or has any information as to who they could be that they please let us know." Roger read.
"Well this settles it folks. What has happened here is truly sad and I leave you all for now with hope that this girl is well. Back to you Nadja." Kyle said concluding his report.
"Thank you Kyle. With a heavy heart full of hope this is Nadja Chamack hoping for the best." Said Nadja before the video ended.
Gabriel sighed as he straightened himself and looked at the picture of his wife.
"Could it be true Emilie? I will find out. If this is true, I will need to close ranks and find out what exactly to do about Miss Rossi and her deceit... Before I can bring you back and undo the mistake we made." Said Gabriel to the picture before turning to Nooro.
"Nooro..."
"Yes master?" Asked Nooro concerned.
"Do you think Miss Rossi has been playing me?"
Nooro sighed.
"I think so Master... It doesn't make sense that this Marinette girl has been helping your son and yet is claimed by Miss Rossi to be a bad influence." Said Nooro carefully.
Gabriel hummed in thought and sighed in anger.
"I think you are right Nooro... Which means now I must find a way to deal with Miss Lila Rossi's deceit." Gabriel said hinting at Nooro to hide with a slight raise of his jacket before leaving his office and meeting his son face to face.
Gabriel then saw it.
His son had been crying and still was crying. He was terrified of the possibilities of this girl dying and that alone sealed the fact of Adrien's feelings for Marinette in Gabriel's eyes.
"Let's go son. I am sure that your girlfriend will be alright..." Gabriel said placing a reassuring hand onto Adrien's shoulder only for it to be responded to with a glance and nothing more.
-At The Hospital-
In a deserted hallway Marianned shakily dialed a number on her phone and placed the phone to her ears.
"Master?" Said Marianne hoarsely.
"Marianne? What is wrong?" Fu answered.
"There was an accident a while back i'll explain everything here at the hospital is Jason still with you?" Marianne asked shakily trying to contain her crumbling composure.
"Yes he is... But why?" Fu replied.
"I need you both to come to the hospital. Marinette is in the ICU right now. I need my husband and we also need to speak about certain things in person." Spoke Marianne shakily.
"Yes, of course. We will be there in a little bit." Fu said understanding the woman's shaky voice now.
After that confirmation she hung up and took a look at the earrings in her hands as she waited for Alya to join her.
"You wanted to speak to me Miss?"
"Yes, Alya, I have heard about you from Marinette's parents and Marinette. Or well, to be truthful they are my parents too. My birth name is Marianne Dupain-Cheng but I go by Maria Garrison these days. I'm Marinette's older sister. I'm sorry about all the mystery, but I had to let you know and I had things to settle out including getting our parents here. I owe you an explanation." Marianne said sitting down and prompting Alya to do the same.
"I was around when Marinette was hurt and well, I think she decided it's time you knew everything... First thing I should tell you is that I am Dragoness." Began Marianne pausing before revealing sensitive information to check for anyone other than her and Alya being in the hallway.
Longg showed himself to Alya as proof.
"Hello Princess Alya. I am Longg and I am the Kwami that allows for Queen Marianne to turn into Dragoness pleasure to meet you." Greeted Longg with a bow.
Alya was shocked but smiled.
"Pleasure to meet you too Longg."
"But what does this have to do with Marinette's accident?" Questioned Alya curious.
"After Marinette was run over, I went to her side and she handed me her earrings and asked me to take her place. But I can't because... the truth is.. I am slowly dying. So is my husband Jason aka Tiger King. Taking her place means using a miraculous which takes too much energy from us as we are right now. We have only a year left at most thanks to that stunt we pulled yesterday with that Akuma. We can't fight anymore until the fight against Hawkmoth comes along." Marianne pausing to check once more the safety of their surroundings.
"Marinette, my little sister and your best friend, then asked that you take her place instead and asked that I gave you the earrings instead. Just for now. Until she can recover." Marianne explained.
"But what does she mean?" Alya questioned confused.
"Isn't it obvious? Marinette is Ladybug. But with this accident she won't be able to be Ladybug for a while. She's in surgery right now. Ladybug needs to be out there when an Akuma appears because only Ladybug can cleanse an akuma. Marinette cant be Ladybug right now so she's asked you to take her place for her while she recovers."
"But then who will take my place? I am Rena Rouge. Someone will need to take my place if I take Ladybug's." Alya said in shock.
Marianne checked to see if the area was still secure which it turned out to be before continuing.
"I know the perfect person. But you need to promise that you will be Ladybug while the real Ladybug recovers and when she does you will return the Ladybug Miraculous to it's rightful holder." Marianne said holding the earrings out to Alya.
"I promise. I can never replace the real Ladybug for good. She's my hero. No one can take her place. Certainly not me, but I will do this for her while she can't." Alya said sadly but with a sad smile.
So she took off the fox pendant and put on the ladybug earrings and they glowed turning black as Tikki flew out with a sad and worried smile on her face.
"Hello Alya, It's great to finally meet you in person. My name is Tikki and i'm Marinette's Kwami. I help her turn into Ladybug and while she recovers i'll help you transform into Ladybug." Tikki said sadly yet cheerful.
"It's great to meet you Tikki. So care to tell me how it works to transform?"
"To transform you just say "Tikki, spots on!" but remember Ladybug's lucky charm ability can only be used once and once you beat the akuma you must capture it and cleanse it or it will multiply." Explained Tikki.
"I will make sure to remember that. Thank you Tikki."
"I'm so sorry this happened Tikki, if I had just stayed in London this wouldn't have happened..." Marianne said with a sad sigh.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Marianne, if you hadn't come back to Paris Marinette, and all of the other heroes could be dead and Hawk Moth could have gotten the Miraculous and made his wish. Possibly destroying the world as we know it in the end... It wasn't your fault, and Marinette wouldn't want for you to be blaming yourself." Said Tikki reassuringly.
Marianne sighed sadly once more but relented. "Okay.. I won't be so hard on myself anymore. For Little Monkey." Marianne said relenting.
When they headed back to the group they headed to the waiting room to find Adrien there with Gabriel.
"Hello Miss Cesaire, Miss..." Began to greet Gabriel politely.
"Miss Garrison. Maria Garrison. I'm Marinette's older cousin on her father's side. It's a pleasure to meet you Monsieur..." Began to greet Marianne in return.
Adrien played along at Alya's subtle signal to him and her parents.
"Gabriel Agreste. Pleasure to make your aquaintance. If I may why is your last name-" Began to ask Gabriel offering his hand for her to shake.
Marianne shook his hand politely and elegantly, chuckling lightly and cutting him off.
"I am married. My husband is actually on his way here. We moved back to France recently. My husband is actually from London where we had been living up until recently. His last name is Garrison and when we married it became my own." Marianne explained sad but slightly amused.
"I see. Well he certainly seems to be a lucky man to have such a kind young woman as his wife. I hope your husband and yourself are able to enjoy the wonders of Paris some time once everything settles. I am terribly sorry about your cousin's accident she seems to be a rather exceptional young lady and her design really called my attention during a contest last year." Said Gabriel kindly.
Marianne smiled sadly.
"Thank you. We hope so too."
"It is also very nice to formally meet you Mrs. Cheng, Mr. Dupain. I am truly terribly sorry to hear of your daughter's unfortunate accident earlier today. I will be sure to do my best to ensure that the person accountable is found. I can only imagine how horrible this must be for you two. If anything happened to Adrien I know I would feel horribly upset and worried." Greeted Gabriel.
"Thank you kindly Mister are worried and upset about this and appreciate your offer to help it would be our pleasure to accept such kindness but we have faith that our daughter as forgiving as she is would rather let this go and would forgive the person responsible. She isn't one to hold grudges. So we're honestly hoping for the best and that when she awakes stable and okay that she will decide for herself what she wants to do about everything that's happened." Sabine explained kindly.
Gabriel was impressed.
This girl, Marinette had such a caring, loving and kind family. She also sounded like such a wonderful girl. There was no way this girl who had been described to him by her own mother could be anything but perfect for Adrien.
"I'm here! I'm here! Sorry for being so late to get here love... any news yet on little Mari?" Questioned a man as he ran up and hugged Marianne lovingly close.
"No news yet, all we know is that she's in surgery right now Minou..."
"I am sure she will make it through this darling, I am absolutely certain of it..." The man said reassuringly as he dried a few stray tears from Maria's face.
Maria then nodded and smiled hopefully.
'So much love and care... this family is so caring and wonderful. There is no doubt they love and care for Marinette and are definitely proud of her. She is definitely perfect for Adrien.'
"I'm so sorry that this happened to Marinette, Mrs. Cheng. I only wish I could have done something so she wouldnt be in there having surgery." Adrien said sadly hugging his knees to his chest, his head in his arms.
Sabine then smiled sadly at Adrien along with Tom as Alya Cesaire and Nino Lahiffe place supportive hands on Adrien trying to soothe him.
"Don't be so hard on yourself son, you couldnt have done anything even if you were there. Our niece Maria was there and even she couldn't do anything. No one could. It isn't your fault that she's in there plus my daughter is one tough little cookie. She will be just fine. I have no doubt." Tom answered reassuringly.
"Family and close friends of Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Called out a male voice to them.
The surgeon came to them the moment they stood.
"Right here! How is she?" Answered Tom Dupain.
"She will be just fine given time. But it won't be easy. She survived the surgery but she's in a coma. Her condition is perfectly stable. She will be in ICU for the next 2 weeks so that we can monitor more closely her recovery due to the comatose state she's0 in. Her physical injuries were luckily not as bad as we expected. She has a broken arm and leg and we had to surgically repair 4 ribs. But thankfully her lungs weren't punctured. She is a very lucky girl to have survived getting run over by a truck. But recovery won't be easy, as I have said. After 2 weeks we will move her to a normal post-op room if she shows improvement. But it is unclear when she will awake from the coma." The surgeon explained.
"Make that a VIP room. I will have no less than the best for a girl who has done as much as she has for my son." Gabriel spoke up.
"Who are you?" Questioned the surgeon.
"My name is Gabriel Agreste. I apologize for cutting in, but I won't let this kind girl stay in a normal room when she could be recovering comfortably in a VIP room." Gabriel said.
The Dupain-Chengs made to protest but Gabriel just told them it would be his honor to do this for Marinette.
"Very well i'll make note of it on her file. Now as for her medical records it shows here that her blood type is AB positive, is that correct?" Asked the surgeon.
"Yes." Sabine answered concerned.
"We noticed that her body showed deficiency in blood flow. So we have figured out that she might be in this comatose state because of blood loss earlier today. Is there anyone here who could donate some blood for her?" Asked the surgeon.
Marianne shared a look with Jason before turning back to the group.
'Don't do it, we might not make it to the final fight if you do and you haven't been feeling well.' Jason said in thought.
'She's my little monkey, my baby sister, I need to do this for her Minou.' Marianne answered prompting the man to sigh in relent.
"I'm AB positive. I'd be more than happy to donate some blood for my cousin." Marianne offered with a kind smile.
"Very well please follow me. As for Miss Marinette, you are all free to visit one or two at a time." The surgeon said.
"She'll be in unit 2 in ICU #6 on the 6th Floor." Said the nurse to the rest of them.
-10 Minutes Later-
"Thank you for donating, but are you certain you are alright Miss, you look rather pale?" The doctor asked as Marianne stood up with a slight smile.
"I'm fine, I'm just emotionally drained from today. As you can imagine." Said Marianne before walking out and quickly making it back to the abandoned hall where Alya, Adrien, Fu, and Jason were waiting for her.
Then she fell to her knees in pain holding her chest in pain, Jason rushing to her side and helping her stand up.
"Maria! You knew you shouldn't have..." Jason said with a smile.
"She's family you know there is no way I wouldn't have donated some blood for her to recover." Answered Marianne as she slowly calmed her breathing.
"How much longer would you say you have now?" Fu asked.
Marianne sighed.
"At most... 10 months..."
"A whole two months for donating some blood. It can't just be from donating blood. What else did you do Maria?" Asked Fu.
Marianne sighed sadly before looking up sadly at Jason.
"I didn't say anything because i just confirmed it this morning, but I'm pregnant."
"We were so careful how did this happen?"
"You remember that our Anniversary this year and how you distracted me over and over again even though I kept telling you I had to go to an appointment?" Marianne said a bit annoyed after some thought.
"Yes but..." Jason tried to respond sheepishly.
"Well that appointment was with my Gynocologist to replace my birth control implant. I forgot all about that until now because i ended up replacing the implant the next day and didnt think a pregnancy would happen in a span of 24 hours." Marianne said with a sigh.
"Well. I shall never doubt the importance of your appointments again, but the point is... What do you want to do?" Jason responded.
"It's not what I want to do, but it is what is best... I'm going to have an abortion." Marianne answered sadly.
"As you wish my Queen." Jason said just as sadly in response to her decision.
"Thank you Kitten." Marianne said appreciatively.
"The decision is yours to make." Fu said supportively.
"An abortion?! But why?" Adrien said in shock.
"We don't have long to live Adrien. If I carry this child for much longer I will die in as little as 8 months possibly less. I am buying time for myself and for everyone. Me and Jacob will die eventually regardless of anything that you could try. Because of choices we made. We barely had a year left to live before I got pregnant and the blood donation. I now have only 10 months. I have already made my choice. I will go have that abortion tomorrow morning first thing." Marianne said sadly but sternly.
"Alya back me up here!" Adrien exclaimed.
"Sorry Adrien. But the decision is hers. She's decided to abort. It's her body, her baby, and her life. She chooses." Alya said backing up Marianne.
"Master Fu..."
"I am sorry Adrien. But Miss Cesaire is right. It is Maria's body and therefore her choice." Fu said to the boy.
Marianne sighed and stepped closer to Adrien looking him in the eyes with a soft smile on her face and a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Look Adrien. I understand that you don't agree with my decision because it's a terrible thing to kill a child before it ever gets a chance to ever see the world. And I agree. It is a terrible thing. But what good is it for me to bring a child into this world only for it to end up alone or end up suffering?"
"That's no good" Adrien relented.
"Aside from that, even if my aunt and uncle or even you and Marinette took this child in after me and Jacob are gone. What good will that do for anyone? You two would have to quit school to care for the child and give up on your dreams if you were to take it in. As for my uncle and aunt, that would be unfair to them because they already have Marinette and they have a business to run. They don't have enough energy in any one day to take care of a baby, a teenager and a bakery business all at once. Making them do so would be unfair wouldn't it?"
"What about adoption?"
"Orphanage? Where this child could be taken in by horrible people or abused by foster parents? Is that fair to the child to put them in such a risky uncertain situation?" Marianne said sadly.
Adrien sighed.
"There is also something major you are over looking. You need the help of both Dragoness and Tiger King for the final battle against Hawk Moth and Mayura. If I die, who will help fight Hawk Moth and Mayura? Tiger King and I bound our lifetimes with magic when we made our choice 10 years ago. If i die so does Jacob. Do you think that's fair to Paris? To the world?" Marianne asked quietly.
Adrien finally relented.
"You're right... It's for the best... I guess.." Adrien said.
Marianne nodded with a soft smile before separating and answering the phone.
Just then Sabine burst in crying.
TBC...