Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ladybug dropped her transformation in a shimmer of pink as her feet noiselessly hit the pavement of the alley. She was exhausted after flying through her patrol route in record time tonight. No longer disguised as Paris' most beloved super heroine, Marinette pulled out her cell phone, allowing the cool night air of the 18th arrondissement to fill her burning lungs. She perused the waiting messages before holding the phone to her ear, a small smile spreading across her face when he picked up on the second ring.

“How was patrol?” Luka asked.

“Boring. Lonely. How was practice?”

“You went alone? You should have told me, Mare… I would have joined you.” Marinette rolled her eyes as she pictured Luka's brow furrowing in concern at the thought of her swinging over the streets of Paris alone.

“You’re sweet, but it’s really no big deal. Mostly quiet these days.” she sighed. Not that she missed the days of Hawkmoth. She had to remind herself of that truth. She just missed the teamwork. The thrill of fighting for something. The adrenaline rush as she ran into danger. There’s something wrong with me.

Luka’s voice interrupted her pathologizing, “I thought Chat was on patrol tonight.” The accusation behind the passing comment didn't escape her.

“Me too. Apparently, he has more important things to do these days. He stood me up again-” she trailed off when she noticed a black SUV parked up ahead in the alley, blocking the entry to the street. A couple of men in suits stepped out of the vehicle. Marinette slowed her walk slightly, unsure of the scene that she was approaching.

“Mare? You still there?”

“Yeah-yeah I’m here but… let me call you back in a minute.”

“Is everything ok? Are you safe?”

Just as she considered calling up her transformation, a man in an expensive suit stepped out of the SUV.

“Adrien?” Marinette sounded surprised right before the call disconnected.

~~~

Adrien Agreste slammed the car door shut behind him. He turned to face the man that Yao Jie and Tian Chang had pushed down onto his knees next to the SUV. The man was sweating and babbling in an unfamiliar dialect of Chinese. Adrien could only make out a few words but the man’s fear needed no explanation. And it was warranted. He would not live through the night.
Yao drew his handgun from his waistband. He clearly would not be wasting any more time tonight on interrogations. Not after such a substantial amount of the Paris shipment had been diverted. With millions in product going out the back door, Adrien had noticed the discrepancy in the finances immediately. Any signs of corruption were always handled expediently within the organization. Once Adrien had brought the issue to light, a Red Pole was called in to conduct a swift and merciless investigation. And Yao Jie had proven to be a textbook example of the Red Pole level military leaders that Adrien had become accustomed to. If circumstances had been vastly different, the part of Adrien that was CEO of Agreste Fashion might have appreciated Yao’s efficiency. But Adrien wasn’t here on behalf of his fashion brand tonight. In fact it was hardly necessary for him to be here to oversee operations at all. Just a gruesome formality that couldn’t be avoided.

That’s when he heard her.

Adrien’s head jerked towards the back of the dark alley at the sound of his name. His eyes widened in horror as Marinette Dupain-Cheng emerged from the dark.

“Adrien?” she repeated, glancing from Adrien down to the man kneeling in front of him. He saw her eyes flicker to Yao and Tian, then back to his own face in confusion. “What’s going on…?”

Adrien Agreste’s mind ground to a halt at the sudden influx of information. For some reason Marinette Dupain-Cheng had just emerged from an abandoned dark alley. The use of his name made it clear that she knew and recognized him. He was acutely aware of the handgun his associate was raising as she approached. A multilingual string of profanity raced through his mind.

Then the thought that came across in a familiar growl of frustration: Do something.

His feet were moving before he had fully formed a plan. Putting a hand up to call off the gunman, he ran towards her, arms wide open.

“Sweetheart!” he flinched at Marinette’s look of uncertainty. This is going to be uncomfortable.

Less uncomfortable than a bullet wound. Chat’s voice echoed again in his mind.

As he neared her, she froze. For a moment, he feared that she would back away from him. Please don’t freak out.

Reaching for her, he pulled her close enough to whisper into her ear, “Marinette, whatever happens next, I need you to please.. PLEASE play along. I need you to trust me. For both of our sakes.”
As he pulled back from her, he saw her attempt to smooth the look of confusion from her face. She understood. Thank God.

“I wasn’t expecting you so soon!” he spoke a little too loudly, clearly for the audience. He cringed inwardly and tried to calm his nerves.

Act better.

Before Marinette had a chance to respond, he reached a hand up to the side of her face, holding her still as he pressed his mouth to hers.

To her credit, she didn’t freak out, but she was too shocked to return the kiss in any sort of believable way. “Keep smiling.” he said, dropping into sotto voce as he pulled away from her lips.
Taking her hand, he turned around, gently leading her towards the SUV. As he approached the vehicle he spoke to the men, switching back to Mandarin. He held the door open as he handed Marinette into the back seat and shut the door behind her.

~~~

Marinette was dreaming. Some sort of horrible, confusing dream. A nightmare. In which she meets Adrien Agreste in a dark alley and he kisses her right after begging her to go along with it and speaking Chinese.

But in this dream, Marinette can’t wake up.

She found herself staring at Adrien as he continued speaking Chinese to the man kneeling on the ground. Marinette’s Mandarin was not very good and the few words she recognized weren’t helpful enough to grasp the content of the conversation.

The body language, however, spoke volumes. She had never seen Adrien look so dark. His anger seemed palpable. He paced a few steps before abruptly turning to kick the man. Marinette gasped, automatically fumbling for the handle of the door. Why won’t it open?

The man on the ground fell forward onto his hands and knees before Adrien Agreste, grunting in pain as Adrien landed a few more powerful kicks to his ribs and side.

Marinette began to pull more frantically, but the door clearly only opened from the outside.
Before she had time to think any more about intervening, Adrien spoke again to the two men standing with him, then opened the door Marinette had been pushing on. She fell forward into him, but he gathered her into his arms and pushed her back inside the vehicle climbing in behind her. She struggled to push away from his grip. “Adrien!” she hissed, “What the hell-?” but he cut her off in a voice that was so quiet and stern that it frightened her.

“Marinette, close your eyes.”

He wrapped one arm around her, the other pulling her face into his neck to shield her view. She was vaguely aware of how good he smelled. Like cedar, sandalwood, and mint.

Then she heard the gunshot. Muffled. Some sort of silencer. So close. So very close.

She startled but Adrien held her tightly. There was a muffled scream and it took Marinette a few seconds to register that Adrien’s hand was clamped over her mouth.

Her muffled scream.

“Shh shh shh. It’s ok. It’s ok. You’re ok.” he was frantically shushing her. She could feel his breath by her ear as he whispered hollow reassurances. Her heart was racing and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Panicked, she tried to call “Spots on!” but Adrien wouldn’t release her and it came out as more muffled screaming.

The next few minutes felt like hours as Marinette’s breathing and heart rate returned to normal. Adrien seemed to sense that she was regaining control and began to relax his grip as well.

He spoke calmly under his breath to her and Marinette marveled that he was so unrattled by witnessing a murder.

No, an execution.

“Marinette, I’m so sorry that you were here for that. They’re coming back so I need you to listen very carefully in order for us to both live through this. Are you listening?”
He kept a hand over her mouth but she nodded her assent, trying not to let the fear show in her eyes.

“Tonight, you happened upon a crime in progress. To these men, you would have been considered a loose end. A witness. They would have killed you without hesitation. The only way I could think of to save you was to lie. I promise to get you out of this situation as soon as I can, but in the meantime I need you to act the part as if both of our lives depend on it, because if they find us out, they will kill us both. Can I trust you?”

Meeting his gaze as resolutely as she could manage, she nodded again. He eyed her warily as he slowly removed his hand from her lips.
Pushing herself up and off of Adrien, she cleared her throat before addressing him, “What was the lie?”
Adrien glanced out the window at the sound of footsteps approaching.

“Adrien, what did you tell them?” she demanded.

“I told them that you’re my wife.”

The front doors of the vehicle opened as the two men, presumably having disposed of the body, got into the SUV.

Chapter Text

~~~

Adrien was actually grateful that Yao Jie and Tian Chang had returned just in time to spare him Marinette’s reaction to his horrible, ill-conceived plan. He tried not to think about how far Marinette’s opinion of him was currently plummeting.
Yao’s eyes met Adrien’s in the rearview mirror as he pulled the SUV back onto the street.
“You’re a secretive man, White Fan. You’ve never mentioned your lovely wife.”
He glanced at Marinette, probably assuming that Adrien’s Chinese wife understood Mandarin as well. Adrien could feel her trembling slightly, drawing his attention to the fact that he still had his arm around her.

“I’ve never mentioned a lot of things.” Muscle memory was responding to his adrenaline, every fiber of his being taught in preparation for a battle, but he forced a casual shrug. He considered making an introduction, but due to the volatility of the situation, opted to stay quiet.
Yao didn’t seem bothered by the breach of etiquette. Turning towards Tian he stated, “We’ll need an additional ticket for the train.”
“I just messaged Ren.” Adrien interjected, sliding his cell phone back into his pocket.

Adrien continued to avert Marinette’s gaze. He couldn’t look her in the eyes. He wasn’t ready to see whatever emotion was there when she looked at him. Horror. Anger. Disgust. Disapproval. How long would she be willing to cooperate with him?

As if his brain was punishing him for his sins, he was suddenly bombarded with a memory of Tom and Sabine. Marinette’s kind and loving parents. He glanced at the clock glowing on the dashboard. 23:50. Soon it would be midnight.
Did she still live at home? When would her parents notice that she was missing? Tonight? Tomorrow?

This is all my fault.

Adrien’s slow descent into a pit of self-loathing was interrupted by the vibration of Marinette’s phone against his pant leg. His eyes went wide as Marinette fumbled to silence the buzzing. She slid the phone from her jacket pocket. Adrien caught a glimpse of the bright phone screen flashing a picture of Luka Couffaine. Marinette silenced the call but opened her messaging app and began to type.

Adrien mentally swore. He hadn’t considered the logistics of Marinette’s cell phone. If-no, when it was clear that she was missing, the GPS tracking could lead police right to them, compromising everything Adrien had worked so hard for over the last 2 years. Of course, he should have considered that Marinette would immediately try to alert her friends to the danger that she was in.

Oh well. In for a penny, in for a pound. Adrien took a breath to center himself before snatching the phone out of her hands and sliding it into his pants pocket. Marinette opened her mouth to protest, but as she reached for the stolen phone Adrien caught her wrist, holding her still. His eyes met hers as he leaned in close to her. “Please. Trust me.” he whispered against her cheek in a tone that he hoped came off more soothing than panicked.

Adrien glanced up at the rearview mirror, in time to see Yao’s eyes dart away. Aware that they were being scrutinized, Adrien brushed a strand of Marinette’s raven hair behind her ear, meeting her fearful expression with the most adoring gaze that he could affect. Hopefully, that was convincing.

~~~

“Please. Trust me.” Adrien’s eyes were pleading. And something about that look was so… familiar.
Waves of heat washed over Marinette. First, scorching outrage. How dare he take her phone away? Did he have any idea how worried everyone would be the later it got without her returning home? The next wave came crashing over her when Adrien’s close proximity took her off guard. When she felt his breath on her cheek, a warmth stirred in her abdomen and she almost forgot her original anger. Finally, a searing wave of embarrassment when he pulled away and she realized she was genuinely flustered by Adrien Agreste. She mentally chided herself for continuing to indulge this childhood crush on a man whom she really didn’t know at all anymore, if tonight was any indication. A man who was apparently mixed up in some pretty dark stuff...

She had remembered him as a sheltered boy with a sunny disposition. His attempts to maintain the appearance of perfection at all times were shattered pretty thoroughly once the identity of Hawkmoth became public the summer after high school graduation. Since then, she had only seen him a couple of times in passing. They hadn’t really spoken. What was there to say?

Hi, Adrien. I’m Ladybug. So sorry about your dad...

The guilt was crushing. She never would have dreamed that a victory for Ladybug would be a devastating blow to Adrien Agreste.

The SUV came to a stop in front of the train station. The two men sitting up front stepped out of the vehicle and walked over to where a middle-aged woman was standing with an envelope and a small rolling carry-on suitcase.

As soon as they had shut the doors Adrien turned on Marinette. “What did you send him?”

She was surprised by the edge in his voice. “What are you talking about…?”

“Luka Couffaine. What did you send him?”

“I didn’t send him anything! You took my phone before I could. See for yourself!”

She watched as Adrien flipped through her messages briefly before rolling down his window and tossing her phone into the busy street.

Marinette was frozen in place.

Adrien held up his hands apologetically. “I’m sorry Marinette but I can’t let you bring the phone. I promise, I will buy you a new one. As soon as possible. Whatever phone you want.”

Before Marinette could process that, her door was opened and Adrien was ushering her out of the SUV and towards the train station. She began to dig in her heels as panic set in.

The train station.

“Where are you taking me, Adrien?” she demanded. Adrien reappeared at her back with a backpack slung over one shoulder and rolling a carryon. She noticed the other two men were walking ahead of them, sporting backpacks and rolling luggage as well.

He spoke in a hushed tone for her benefit only. “Ok so… we need to take a short train ride. I will have you back as soon as possible-”

“No. No Adrien. Enough!” She refused to walk any further. This had gone far enough. She wanted answers.

~~~

Adrien stopped short when he noticed Marinette was no longer beside him. Realizing quickly that she was about to blow his cover, he turned to stand in front of her, blocking her frustration from the Red Pole’s view. He put both hands on her upper arms, unsure if he was trying to comfort or restrain her.

“Do you see these men behind me?” Adrien kept his voice low. Without waiting for an answer, he continued. “If you try to run now, they will kill you. And then they will kill me for trying to protect you back in that alley. Even if I could hold them both off long enough for you to get away, how long do you think it would take them or their associates to figure out who you are? You think they wouldn’t be at the bakery tomorrow to visit Tom and Sabine?” As soon as he said the words, he regretted how manipulative it felt. He knew Marinette would be more responsive to putting others in harm's way than she would be concerned for herself. Why had she been out wandering around the seedy parts of town after dark anyway?

Marinette squirmed in an effort to pull away but he tightened his grip.
“Adrien stop!” she attempted to sound fierce but he could hear the way her voice subtly wavered.

She was frightened. Good. She should be.

Remembering himself, Adrien released his hold. He could hear Yao Jie calling to him from the entrance to the station. There would be no more begging or cajoling. He couldn’t afford for her to make a scene here. Channeling the darkest and most intimidating part of himself, some steely mixture of Gabriel Agreste and Chat Noir, he allowed his stare to bore into her. His command came out harsher than he anticipated, almost a growl, as he took her by the hand.

“Do not fight me on this again. We are getting on this train together. And we are getting off of this train together. This is the only way.”

Marinette nodded meekly (an act he didn’t buy at all, but for the time she seemed to at least understand the situation). He smoothed his complexion and walked hand in hand with her to the gate.

~~~

Of course Marinette had considered transforming into Ladybug.

She had almost done it.

More than once.

But the situation was complicated. She certainly didn’t have all of the information. There were plenty of liabilities. Transforming in a crowded train depot would certainly reveal her civilian identity. She could envision the security footage from the train station being played over and over again as Nadia Chamack narrated on the evening news cycle the next day…
Marinette was 21 years old now. She had protected her identity meticulously through everything for the last 7 years. Was this really the time to throw that all away? Not to mention the danger of revealing the identity of Ladybug to this dangerous group that Adrien seemed to be so ensnared by. There was doubtless more to that part of the story.

Speaking of Adrien, although she was furious with him, she felt some responsibility to protect him as a civilian and a former friend. She tried to push away the whispers of guilt she felt about Adrien’s father, but she knew that factored heavily into her sense of obligation. Even if Ladybug could get Adrien away from these criminals, she had no idea what they might have over him. What could possibly have forced Adrien into this and what would happen if she tried to intervene in superhero form?

No, like it or not, she would have to get more information, but she resolved to get a message to Chat Noir as soon as she could find an opportunity. She was clearly going to need back up.

Having provided tickets and boarded the train, Marinette-prodded along by Adrien-followed one of the train’s crew members down the narrow hallway of the sleeper car. He stopped in front of a pair of sliding wood doors with big windows and gestured for Marinette to enter. Glancing further down the hallway, she noted the driver and passenger of the SUV entering their own rooms just a few doors down.
As Adrien followed her into the room and set down the bags, she took in her surroundings. Marinette had ridden on the metro plenty of times, but she had never seen a train this luxurious. The room was all gleaming dark wood and gold fixtures. There was a queen sized bed off to one side, a living area with a couch and a small table with two chairs. To her right was a private bathroom and through the open door she could see an actual (albeit slim) bathtub inside. A sleeper room with a bathtub? Leave it to an Agreste to go all out…
When she turned back towards Adrien, he was tipping the crew member who had just finished sliding their suitcases into the wardrobe.
“So where’s your room?” she asked.
The crew member began to chuckle at what he apparently perceived was a joke. Taking a cue from the attendant, Adrien smirked in amusement as well.

“Right here with you of course, Mrs. Agreste.” he answered, wrapping an arm around her. Marinette felt the heat rise to her face as the crew member exited with another laugh.

Adrien, feeling his annoyance at this whole situation grow, removed his arm from her as soon as the door closed. “I didn’t know you were so funny.” he said darkly as he stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

“Me neither.” Marinette mumbled. She slid the heavy wood door to the hallway back open and poked her head out, glancing in both directions. No sign of “the bad guys”, and the attendant that had just left was at the end of the hallway brewing coffee. She slipped through the crack in the door and walked as quickly and soundlessly as humanly possible. She would have to deal with this as a civilian.

“Excuse me sir-” she began hastily.

“Yes, Mrs. Agreste?”

In any other scenario, being addressed that way would have garnered more of a reaction from Marinette Dupain-Cheng. “I need to alert you to the presence of some dangerous people aboard this train-”

Her frantic demeanor was obviously concerning to the man. She launched into an explanation about the murder she and Mr. Agreste had witnessed earlier that evening.

She jumped when she felt a firm hand land on her shoulder and turned to see Adrien with a very out of place smile on his face as if he was on a railway vacation.
“Adrien, I was just explaining the dangerous situation with those men-”

Adrien’s face darkened in a way that made him unrecognizable to Marinette. She barely registered the way that he grabbed her by the arm, pushing her back towards their room.

“I really wish you hadn’t done that, Mari.” His voice sent shivers down her spine. Not in a good way. He pushed her back into the room warning her just before slamming the door shut, “Do. Not. Open. This. Door.”

She heard him knock on the door down the hall and speak rapidly in Chinese again before several pairs of feet ran past her room.

Marinette paced. Minutes ticked by. She thought about transforming but was afraid to even risk it in the event that Adrien or the other men would return without warning.
After the longest 10 minutes of Marinette’s life, Adrien slid the door open and stepped inside.

~~~

When Adrien returned to the room, he found an incredibly anxious looking Marinette Dupain-Cheng sitting on the edge of the couch. She sprang to her feet. “What happened? Are you ok?”

He wasn’t. He was furious. And sick to his stomach. He ignored her as he slid off his suit coat and unbuttoned his dress shirt. Tossing them both in a crumpled pile in the bottom of the closet (uncharacteristic for the son of a fashion designer) he stepped into the bathroom compelled by a need to wash his hands. He stood there for a moment scrubbing his hands under the running water. As if he could wash his actions away. Yao Jie may be calloused to the duties that come with being a Red Pole enforcer, but each crime that Adrien was forced to be accomplice to was a weight dragging him down deeper.

He was aware that she was staring at him through the open door but he didn’t care what she thought of him. Not anymore. There was nothing he could do to save her opinion of him at this point anyway.

Why shouldn’t she know how despicable I am? We’re past appearances now aren’t we?

“Adrien…” her voice sounded almost gentle. Like she just wanted to help.

Look how much good her help has already done.

She placed a hand on his shoulder as he switched the faucet off. “Help me understand…” she pleaded with him softly.

Part of him wanted to comfort her. Or shield her from all of this. Or scream at her. Anger won out over vulnerability. He would never be vulnerable again. He had learned that much from Hawkmoth. Emotions make you weak. Shrugging off her touch, he reached for the hand towel before pushing past her.

Help me understand. He took a deep breath before meeting her eyes.

“Welcome to the 14K Triad’s cartel, Mari. The Paris connection is one of my late father’s last remaining legacies.”

Not for long if I can help it. A black growl in the back of his mind reassured him.

Marinette collapsed back onto the couch as if her knees had given out. “The 14K Triad…?” she seemed to be reeling with this information. Surely, she was familiar with one of the most powerful gangs in Europe.

“And you’ve already learned one of our most important rules,” he sighed, “When you talk, people die.”

Marinette’s hand flew to her mouth to cover the gasp that made Adrien’s stomach twist.
“The train attendant…” she trailed off as her eyes filled with water.

Adrien turned away from her and began to pull out a wine glass to distract himself from the disgust building in the pit of his stomach. He dared not look up at her as he poured the glass of chardonnay and reigned in his own feelings more tightly.

“Yes.” he answered coldly. “Next time it could be you. Or someone you love.”

The silence that followed was agonizing for Adrien. He wanted to explain himself. He wanted to pour out the anguish he was feeling. The shame of learning the extent of his father’s association with the organized crime group. The burden of responsibility that he felt to bring it down. The unspeakable acts that he had been willing to commit in order to gain initiation into the 14K. The horrible crimes that he had been accomplice to over the last two years just to obtain the access that he had. All that he had been willing to sacrifice to see this mission through.
Including everything he was putting Mari through now.

The most galling part of it all was that he would do it all again. Even hurting her. Even destroying her opinion of him. What image did he really have to preserve now?

Son of Hawkmoth.

All of the shame and regret and self-loathing he lived with every day, the harm that he had caused, the people that he had hurt, it was all collateral damage. A small price to pay to bring down a sprawling criminal organization that had been built and protected and allowed to fester in part by the Agrestes. By his family.

The end justifies the means.

All of his sacrifice would be worth it when he had razed everything his father had built to the ground.

After having spent almost 5 years of his life fighting Hawkmoth while living under the oppression of Gabriel Agreste, the weight of his ring had eventually become just another inescapable burden. The day Hawkmoth was finally defeated, Adrien thought he would be free. Only to be confronted with a cruel twist of fate: That his debt to society was not ending, in fact it had just begun.

If his sole purpose in life was to undo the harm that Gabriel Agreste had caused, he would work tirelessly until his dying day. He would spend the rest of his life righting the sins of his father. No matter the cost. Some days he felt like he was still under Gabriel’s thumb. All of his actions and choices, even now, were just a reaction to what either his father or Hawkmoth had done in the past.

Marinette’s accusing voice broke through his inner monologue. “So you’re one of them? You’re a… criminal… a smuggler… a …murder-” her voice broke at the end.

“I’m a lot of things, Mari.”

“You’re less than I thought.” she countered icily.

She jolted as Adrien slammed the closet door shut, pulling a fresh shirt over his shoulders. He tried not to show how much her estimation of him had hurt.

One less fan for the perfect Adrien Agreste. Superhero. Supermodel. Murderer.

“I need to check on the cargo and drop off points. I’ll be right down the hall.” The threat was implied. “You should get some rest.”

Chapter Text

~~~

As soon as Adrien Agreste’s footsteps faded down the hallway, Marinette whispered, “Spots on.” The feeling of the red and black suit wrapping around her brought instant comfort and courage. She pulled out her communicator dialing Chat Noir first. He wasn’t available (she figured he wouldn’t be) but she frantically typed out a message.

Need back up. Sending current coordinates but I’m on the move. Find me.

Next she sent a call to Viperion, then Rena Rouge. Of course no one was suited up. There was no answer. Since Hawkmoth’s defeat almost 3 years ago there really had been no emergencies. Mostly petty crimes that a miraculous holder could dispatch of without issue. And even if there had been something more significant, Ladybug usually had a cell phone to get in contact with her superhero friends. She was just beginning to type a message for Vi when she heard footsteps approaching the door.
“Spots off.” she mumbled dropping her transformation just as Adrien slid the door open.
He didn’t acknowledge her as he kicked off his shoes and started the shower.

Great. So now we aren’t even speaking to each other. That’s fine. I’ve nothing to say to you either.

As he shut the bathroom door, Marinette debated on her next course of action. She didn’t want to take on 3 armed Triad gang members on a moving train without help. There was risk of revealing her civilian identity. Too many variables. There was no way to know when another miraculous holder would check their messages. In light of Adrien’s apparent voluntary involvement with the 14K Triad, she no longer sympathized with his plight. Nor did she feel any responsibility on her part to continue playing along with his deception.

Snatching up her purse, she made a run for it.

~~~

Adrien was standing in front of the mirror brushing his teeth and waiting for the water to warm up when he heard the outer door close. He swore around a mouth full of toothpaste. Throwing his toothbrush down on the counter he flew out of the bathroom hastily pulling on his sleep pants as he tumbled out into the hallway.

Hopefully a half-dressed supermodel running through the train won’t attract too much attention…

For a moment he hesitated between a shirtless Adrien Agreste or a suited up Chat Noir. But the debate on which would draw more attention would have to be revisited another time.
As Adrien skidded barefoot into the hallway he saw the door at the end of the sleeper car closing.

Since becoming Chat Noir at the age of 14, Adrien had grown to appreciate the prowess and cat-like reflexes that his civilian form had absorbed from his alter ego over the years. Within moments, he had slipped through the automatic door and jumped the stair handrail to the lower level, landing lightly on the balls of his feet just in time to catch Marinette in his arms as she tripped down the last two stairs.

~~~

Marinette heard the door above her swish open again as she raced down the last flight of stairs to the lower level of the train car. In retrospect, turning to look behind her while still running down the steps was an obviously poor choice given her history. She turned back just in time to see herself miss the tread of the step below her completely, crashing right into the very sculpted chest of Adrien Agreste. She screamed more from the shock of being quite literally caught by him than by the fall itself which was, if not expected, at least a probability of which she had been fully aware.
With his arms wrapped around her she could feel both of their racing heartbeats as they tried to catch their breath.
She immediately struggled to get free, but Adrien was prepared for that.

What he wasn’t prepared for was the fighting expertise of Ladybug.

She attempted to hook him behind the knee with her own leg to put him on the ground. Adrien’s green eyes flashed surprise for a moment before his instinct seemed to kick in. Maybe the 14K Triad had been training him? With a grunt that seemed fueled more by annoyance than effort, he used the momentum to spin her back to the wall, giving her less room to maneuver. Marinette almost laughed aloud at the absurdity of the situation. To be in the arms of a bare chested Adrien Agreste and solely focused on sizing up her opponent. The irony.
It was clear that Adrien was much stronger than he appeared. She wouldn’t be able to simply overpower him outside of her suit. No matter. Marinette had always been quick thinking and resourceful. She decided to try a new strategy. Maybe she could bring him to his senses. Marinette stopped struggling and went boneless sliding down the wall to the floor. She wasn’t going to make this easy for him. Adrien frowned in confusion and disapproval.

“What’s your plan, Adrien?” she challenged. He ignored her as he put all of his effort into hefting her to her feet.

“Are you going to babysit me every second? Because that’s proving to be impossible and I will never stop trying to get away from you.” She willed him to meet her eyes as he pulled her to a standing position again in front of him.

“Are you going to kill me, just like you did the train attendant?” she taunted.
He began half dragging/half wrestling her towards the staircase.

“You know that you won’t get away with this. As soon as I get away from you I’m going to the police with everything.” She clutched onto the balustrade with all her strength as he tried to pull her up the stairs.

“So what are we doing?”

At this point, she was wagering everything on the belief that some part of Adrien Agreste was genuinely trying not to kill Marinette. His familiarity with murder in general was leading her to believe that he would have attempted to kill her by now if he was planning to. His face was certainly indicating a desire to be rid of her.

~~~

Adrien grit his teeth as he continued to manhandle Marinette up the slender staircase.

This has been the longest night of my life.

He was done trying to reason with her. He had asked for her cooperation. He had explained what he was able to regarding their situation. He had begged for her trust. He had threatened her.

She was impossible.

And he was sweaty and exhausted and in no mood to humor her. He paused to catch his breath and to think. He could carry her over his shoulder to the room. It wouldn’t be difficult, but there’s nothing saying she wouldn’t scream the entire way, drawing plenty of attention. Even if he could eliminate all witnesses, he did not want to bring that kind of heat on a simple cartel run. The one that would hopefully be his last.

So close. Of course this would happen when I’m so close to the end.

He decided to change tactics again. More honey. Less vinegar.

“Marinette. I will give you… whatever you want. Whatever you want. Please just come back to our room. Do you want a career in fashion? I know everyone. Do you want a new house? A new bakery for your parents? Anything you ask for. It’s yours. But I need you to stay a while longer.”

She looked as if she’d been slapped. “Wow. A bribe? From Adrien Agreste. That must work for you a lot, huh?”

He stood abruptly, “Oh come on, Marinette! What are you going to do? Jump from a moving train?”

Her steely gaze was unwavering. She was literally going to jump from a moving train.

“Look, just stay until we reach the end of the line. My own private jet is waiting there at the airport to take you anywhere that you want to go. Without me.” he threw in for good measure. “Once we alight at our destination, you don’t have to ever see me again. You can go to the police. Whatever you need to do. But if you try to leave prematurely, I can’t guarantee your safety or the safety of your parents, Luka, Alya…”

“Are you threatening me?” her voice rose.

“I’m increasing your awareness of the existing threat.”

Marinette eyed him skeptically, but moved to stand. She didn’t speak but slowly walked back in the direction they had come from. Adrien was suddenly aware of how tensed every muscle in his body had been during that brief negotiation. As he slid the wooden door to their room closed and latched the lock, he let out the breath that he had apparently been holding.

~~~

Marinette was seething as she stepped into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Or to get away from Adrien.

Who does he think he is? Does he think he is above the law? Like his father…

The thought surfaced before she could stop it. She scrubbed cold water over her face to dispel it. Adrien is nothing like Hawkmoth.

Isn’t he?

Hawkmoth took away people’s free will. Made them do his bidding.

Adrien killed someone tonight.

Marinette felt the echoes of a panic attack lapping at her subconscious. She put down her toothbrush and focused on her breathing, trying to push all thoughts of Adrien’s actions away from her mind.

Straining to make her voice sound normal she called from the bathroom, “When will we be there?”

“What?”

As if he didn’t hear me.

“When will we be at the airport?”

His reply was muffled from where he was sitting on the couch checking his phone.

“Adrien?” she stepped into the doorway to face him.

“Thursday.”

“Today’s Thursday,” She corrected him. “You mean Friday? What time?”

He just stared at her unflinchingly.

That’s when the panic attack fully set in. “You mean-Ne-Next Thursday?!?! A week?!?! Where are we going?!? China?” she was gasping for air and she knew she sounded hysterical.

A look akin to guilt touched his features momentarily before he went back to staring at his phone.

“China? I can’t spend a week on a train going to China with you and some thugs! People will be looking for me! My parents! Luka! I’m going to miss work! I’m-I’m a missing person!” Adrien stood to catch her just as her legs seemed to crumble beneath her.

“Don’t touch me!” she shouted, batting his hands away. “This is all your fault!”
He guided her to sit on the edge of the bed before taking a seat a few feet away.

~~~

Eventually, Marinette’s breathing started to slow to normal levels, but Adrien didn’t dare try to speak to her again. He was so tired. All he wanted to do was sleep. But he wasn’t about to pass out before Marinette and repeat the escape attempt from earlier. At some point, Marinette must have determined that there was nothing to be done about her situation at this time because she curled up on the bed with her back to Adrien. When he thought she was finally asleep, he laid down next to her as delicately as possible. After warring with himself briefly, he reluctantly turned towards her sleeping form. Cursing himself and his situation, he firmly wrapped an arm around her waist. Marinette bristled at his touch.

“Get off of me. You can’t sleep here.”

“I’m sorry, Marinette,” he breathed, “I just don’t trust you.”

She didn’t speak again but the muffled sound of her crying heaped punishment upon his conscience as he drifted off to sleep.

Falling asleep to the sound of Marinette crying did nothing for Adrien’s dreamscape. His subconscious was bombarded with images. He was being dragged before the Dragon Leader of the 14K Triad, ready to complete the mission that he had been practicing for over the last two years. He saw Marinette. Helpless and pleading.

The Dragon Leader himself, requiring Adrien to kill Marinette with his bare hands. He transformed into Chat Noir. He tried to fight his way out. He tried to save her.

Adrien awoke sweating, his heart pounding in his ears. Marinette was still asleep in his arms. He stared at the ceiling, focusing on the gentle rocking movement of the train as he willed his heart rate and breathing to slow.
The ghost of a smile passed over him as he remembered the night he and Ladybug had faced the akuma, Sandman. He remembered how the streets were filled with waking nightmares. Back when Adrien’s worst nightmare was living as a prisoner in his own life. When he remembered that young and naive version of himself, his smile twisted sardonically. Adrien’s childhood nightmare had proven to be a premonition: living in a prison crafted specifically for him.
His mind mulled over the same questions that kept him up most nights.

Had Master Fu known that he was giving the black cat miraculous to Hawkmoth’s own son?

If he had, it was hard to interpret that act as anything other than cruelty. Directed at Hawkmoth, but wounding Adrien in the process. A twisting of the knife. A punishment. For both of them. He noticed that his fists were clenched tightly and forced himself to open his hands. Let it go. The question of why will always remain unanswered. Not even Master Fu can provide the reason anymore.

If he hadn’t known, how could Adrien possibly be that unlucky?

His life had been some sort of twisted joke. Expelling all of his energy and effort into trying to earn Gabriel Agreste’s love, or at least approval, while simultaneously using all of his miraculous power to try to end him.

Adrien braced himself with a sharp intake of breath as he felt the images from the last battle seep into his consciousness. A horror movie he often involuntarily revisited.

He had become so accustomed to his own PTSD symptoms over the last few years that he no longer attempted to shut the intrusive memories out. He knew by now that was an exercise in futility.

Instead, he allowed himself to be exposed to the pain a little more each time, focusing on his own breathing.

The purple light of Hawkmoth’s detransformation. The anticipation of their triumph. He could feel the mixture of relief and excitement radiating off of Ladybug.

We did it.

Together.

The smile that she beamed at him. Her partner. Proud of their team. Proud of him.

Finally feeling that he had been good enough for someone. Good enough for her.

He pictured an ocean wave curling down and crashing over him as his all time high veered down abruptly into his all time low.

The vision of his father laying where Hawkmoth had fallen. The confusion and shock, betrayal, embarrassment at his failure to recognize his own father in his nemesis, followed by the visceral sensation of his heart being torn in two.

How?

The images sped up now. The court dates. The paparazzi. The palpable shame. Distancing himself from everyone. Especially her.

He could never be good enough for her now.

Adrien took a shuddering breath and focused on a slow and controlled exhale. He forced himself to attend to his senses. Grounding. The sound of the train speeding along the tracks toward Moscow. The oddly soothing soft snore coming from Marinette’s huddled figure buried under the blankets. He tried to place the vaguely familiar scent of her shampoo.

Berries…

He felt a surge of heat wash over his body when he realized he had buried his face in Marinette’s hair. He bolted up into a sitting position, raking his fingers through his own hair.

What’s the matter with you?

Adrien abandoned any hopes he had of sleeping.

Chapter Text

~~~~
When Marinette emerged from the bathroom showered and dressed in a clean T-shirt, hoodie, and sweatpants that she had stolen from his suitcase, Adrien was sitting at the small table which was now heavily laden with breakfast options.

“I wasn’t sure what you liked so I ordered one of everything.” he murmured, apologetically. He wisely chose not to comment on her stolen outfit.

Marinette poured herself a cup of coffee and picked up a croissant before flopping onto the couch. She noticed that there were new editions of ELLE and Vogue on the coffee table that definitely had not been there last night. Flipping through the closest fashion magazine, she assured herself that eating his breakfast or reading his magazines was in no way an acceptance of his actions. She fully intended to ignore him for the rest of her life.

“Luka text me. Looking for you.”

At this Marinette’s eyes darted up to Adrien’s face for the first time since waking. She swallowed the bite of croissant that she had been chewing, waiting for him to elaborate. Adrien was absentmindedly sipping his coffee and scrolling on his phone. He didn’t look up when he asked, “How did he know that you were with me, Marinette?”

She searched her memory. The last time she had been able to speak to Luka she had just finished patrol. She called to talk to him on her walk home. She saw Adrien and… she ended the call. Although she had attempted to message him before Adrien had snatched her phone, and then again through Ladybug’s communicator, she was sure she had not been able to get in touch with him.

“I don’t know.” she said sincerely. “I haven’t spoken to him.”

He continued to sip his coffee.

“Well? What did you tell him?” she pressed.

“I told him that you were in my bed.” he smirked from the inside of his cup.

Marinette felt all of the color drain from her face.

“Adrien Agreste! I swear-” Marinette stood in a holy fury that had Adrien choking on his drink.

“I didn’t! Mari! It’s a joke! I was joking!” he sputtered.

She settled back down on the couch but her scowl made it clear that she didn’t see any humor in his joke.

“I told him I ran into you last night and that you dropped your phone and it shattered. He found that part all very believable.” He glanced up at her with a smug grin before continuing, “I said that we got to talking and I asked you to help me with a fashion week that Agreste is bringing to Beijing. That it was horribly short notice but that it was a great career opportunity and that I so appreciated that you were willing to drop everything to help, blah, blah, blah-and that I’d have you call him soon.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything.

“I’ll pick up a burner phone for you when we switch trains in Moscow tonight. Then you can reach out to a few people so they don’t worry.” he offered.

A few moments of silence passed before Adrien attempted conversation again.

“So.. you and Luka? That’s.. That makes sense. I can see it.”

“He’s a good friend.” Marinette corrected.

“Oh, right. I get it… Chemistry.”

“What can I say? Chat Noir has ruined me for dating.” Marinette smirked as she continued to flip through the magazine, reveling in Adrien’s shocked expression.

“Chat Noir? The superhero?”

“Sure. What’s not to like?” she continued to peruse the magazine in her lap. “Brave, wild, devoted… and that physique? I’m just saying… Who can compete with that?”

“Of course, there’s a lot of challenges with dating a celebrity…” Adrien mused aloud, “A lot of competition. Have you ever even spoken to Chat Noir? He seems like a busy guy. A little self-absorbed maybe.”

“Chat and I go way back, actually. I consider him a friend.”

Adrien’s eyebrow quirked up. Friend? Bold of you to assume…

“Wasn’t ‘friend’ the exact same problem that you had with Luka Couffaine though?”

“Well, when it comes to Chat Noir, there’s definitely chemistry.”

Adrien stifled a laugh. “Really?”

“Oh yeah. It’s undeniable.”

“Somehow I think he might deny it…”

“Ouch!” Marinette hurled the magazine at his head, but he ducked out of the way.

“No! Nothing against you. I just meant I thought he was always into Ladybug.”

“Ladybug’s overrated.” she sighed, settling back down into the cushions.

“Ok, so you’re jealous…” Adrien rolled his eyes.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. “And you’re into Ladybug?”

“Who isn’t? She’s incredible.” he shrugged.

Marinette felt her face warm at the indirect praise, but considering the source...
Reigning in her interest, she turned back to the remaining magazine.

“Somehow, I don’t think you’re her type.” she muttered.

Adrien slammed his coffee cup down and stood abruptly.
“Right because… I’m Hawkmoth’s son so…”

Marinette’s eyes were round as saucers as the implications of her comment occurred to her. “No. No! I didn’t mean it like that. That wasn’t even-”

“I need to step out. Do not even think about leaving this room.” He gave her a dark look to emphasize his warning. “I would hate for the Triad to force me to kill you slowly and painfully.”

“I’m not so sure that you would hate that-” she mumbled as she glanced down at the magazine in her lap again.

“DON’T TEMPT ME, MARI!” he slammed the door on his way out.

Marinette rolled her eyes as she flipped the page. There, looking up at her from a double-page spread was Adrien Agreste himself, in a swimsuit, lounging on a sailboat in the Mediterranean. A beautiful woman was leaning against him laughing. Marinette snorted as she mentally compared the glossy photo of Adrien’s perfect smile to the facial expression he was wearing at their breakfast table moments ago.

“False advertisement,” she sighed as she turned the page, “You are not nearly that pleasant to travel with.”

~~~

Adrien slammed the door to the room shut and tore his fingers through his hair as he strode down the narrow hallway.

That woman is infuriating.

I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have yelled at her.

She’s right, anyway. If Ladybug knew… I’m sure she wouldn’t want anything to do with me.

And speaking of Ladybug... He missed patrol last night for obvious reasons. He wondered if she’d even noticed that he didn’t show.

“Claws out.”

Chat Noir slipped down the stairs he and Marinette had fought on in the wee hours of the morning and right out the doorway, catching the welded ladder on the outside. Reaching the rooftop, he swung over the side of the car, landing on his feet. The air whooshed past him, whipping his hair wildly. His communicator beeped with a waiting message and a missed call.
Both Ladybug.

Need back up. Sending current coordinates but I’m on the move. Find me.

Chat Noir frowned. Checking the coordinates he realized he had been in the area just last night. He called her back but there was no answer. That doesn’t seem good.
He sent a reply.

I’m not far. Update location?

His brain was wracked with guilt. What if something happened to Ladybug while he was basically bullying Marinette into not blowing his cover with the Triad? He couldn’t very well leave Marinette alone to go help Ladybug and get back. That could take hours.

A red light on his communicator indicated that Ladybug had just transformed. Within moments, the updated coordinates came through. His eyes widened in disbelief. She was incredibly close. He scanned the horizon looking for any sign of her.

On the move?

Before he had any more time to worry about Ladybug, a very familiar head of raven black hair emerged from between the two train cars behind him. A smile broke over Chat’s face as she clambered up onto the rooftop of the train car, slightly less gracefully than he had moments ago.

His heart warmed at the obvious relief that seemed to wash over her entire body at the sight of him.

“I knew you’d find me! How did you get here so fast?” she threw her arms around his neck and he couldn’t seem to string a sentence together. His mind was fuzzy from being in such close proximity to her. And that familiar scent of her hair...

What was she doing here?

He dodged her question. “I’m sorry about missing patrol last night...”

She batted the excuse out of the air and got straight to business. “Forget it. There’s something more urgent. I need your help.” She didn’t wait for his response before launching into her story.

“This train is currently carrying several members of the 14K Triad along a cartel route. Adrien Agreste is a prominent member of this group is among them.”

“Adrien Agreste? The model?” Ladybug most likely misattributed his shocked expression to the information rather than her knowledge of it.

“Adrien Agreste, the son of Hawkmoth.” she corrected, eyes narrowing.

Chat felt the stab of ice through his heart.

“Apparently, Gabriel Agreste had business dealings with the 14K before his arrest.” she continued.

Chat Noir stiffened. “I see. And how did you come by this information? It seems kind of far-fetched…”

Ladybug seemed to falter at being questioned about her sources. He felt the prick of his own claws against his palms as his hands tightened into fists. Not used to being challenged? But now Chat was genuinely curious. Only Marinette could have divulged this information and he was wondering how she could have gotten word to anyone since last night without access to her phone. Ladybug seemed to hesitate a moment before spilling through the next part.

“I got word from a civilian in Paris who was abducted by Adrien and two other 14K associates last night and forced to board the train.”

“You’re saying Adrien Agreste, the supermodel, is part of an infamous gang, took someone hostage, and that hostage reached out to you for help?”

Ladybug nodded carefully.

“This all sounds a little dramatic. Where is this hostage now?”

“I’ve already safely evacuated her, but we need to round up the gang members, including Agreste, and bring them to local law enforcement so that they can be extradited back to Paris.”

Bullshit.

Adrien had left Marinette only moments ago and she certainly hadn’t been pushed from a moving train in the interim.

Chat retreated a few steps from her. “With all due respect, Milady, we can’t just remove passengers from a moving train outside of our jurisdiction and take them to jail without any kind of evidence. It sounds like the closest thing you have to proof of any of this is some hysterical woman’s elaborate story.”

“She wasn’t hysterical.” There was an edge in Ladybug’s voice.

“She certainly doesn’t sound credible at any rate.”

“Well, I trust her. And as the Guardian, I lead the team. I’m not sure why you’ve chosen now to question my intel and methods, Kitty.”

“Have you talked to Adrien?”

“What?”

“Have you even tried to get to the bottom of this wild accusation? He doesn’t strike me as an unreasonable guy. Maybe your source is mistaken about him.”

“Trust me, I’m well acquainted with Adrien Agreste. I know exactly what he’s capable of.”

“And what is that, Milady?” Chat Noir could feel his blood boiling at the disdain in her voice. Ladybug had no idea how well she was acquainted with Adrien Agreste.

She shouldn’t know.

A feeling of deja vu washed over him.

Chat and I go way back, actually…

Chat Noir’s mind was racing to catch up to something.

Just then a call came through the communicators. Chat Noir and Ladybug both flipped open their devices.

“It’s Viperion. I called him when I couldn’t get in touch with you last night.”

Chat rolled his eyes as Luka’s voice came through the speaker. “Hey LB, are you ok?”

Ladybug shot a glare at Chat Noir who was at that moment giving a very unflattering impression of Viperion. “Hey Vi, everything’s fine. Chat was able to catch up to me.”

Luka’s relief was audible even through the communicator. “Good deal. I was surprised to get your message. What’s going on?”

Ladybug paced along the rooftop as she spoke to the snake miraculous holder, “Actually, it was just a stroke of luck that I was in the right place at the right time.” she frowned up at the gray clouds gathering above them.

Chat Noir watched uneasily as she continued to pace. Every muscle in his back and shoulders tensed.

“Chat and I were just discussing how to handle the situation. I’m afraid that Adrien Agreste has been implicated in some criminal activity, including the abduction of a young woman. You may know her,” she paused meaningfully, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Without thinking, Chat Noir began taking deliberate steps towards Ladybug.

The other side of the line went deathly quiet for half a minute before Viperion spoke again in his usual calm and cheerful demeanor. “You said Chat Noir is there with you now though?”

“Yes, he’s here. He just showed up a few minutes ago.”

There was another brief pause before Viperion’s reply. “LB, I’m gonna’ meet you there after all. Stay online while I track your coordinates-”

Jumping forward in a desperate maneuver, Chat snatched up Ladybug’s communicator, flipping it closed in one swift motion.

“Chat?!? What the hell?!?”

“Milady, I think this is a situation best handled by the two of us.” He knew there wasn’t much time. Viperion was one of the only people who would know that Chat Noir is Adrien Agreste. He knew Marinette was with Adrien under dubious circumstances at best. He would undoubtedly trail them all the way here looking for her if they didn’t drop their transformations soon.

The last thing Adrien Agreste needed was more miraculous holders on this train. He felt the panic rising up in his gut.

“This is not the time to get jealous, Kitty.” Ladybug reached for her communicator but Chat pulled away from her.

“Why would I be jealous?!? Because you call that Snake for help over every single thing?”

Another wave of deja vu.

Luka Couffaine. What did you send him? Something niggled at the back of Chat Noir's mind.

“What are you talking about? I called you first! Not like I expected you to show up since you started blowing off patrol duty months ago.”

“Milady, we’re partners. Trust me with this. Let’s detransform, recharge, come up with a plan.”

She stomped her foot impatiently. “Honestly, what has gotten into you?!? You of all people should know how important this is! Adrien Agreste could be trying to continue his father’s legacy!”

Chat reached out to her, striving for calm. “Bugaboo… There are no akuma. The miraculous are safe. Gabriel Agreste has been in prison for years. Everything is fine. Now please… calm down.”

“Calm down?!? How can I be calm when I tell Chat Noir there is a new Hawkmoth and he doesn't want to get involved?!?" her voice rang over the rooftop of the speeding train and was whisked away in the wind.

~~~

Ladybug’s smile faded as she watched Chat Noir’s face darken like the heavens. Distant thunder rumbled, setting the mood perfectly as the wind swept strands of blond hair into his face.

“A new… Hawkmoth?” Something dangerous blazed in his eyes.

With lightning fast reflexes, Chat pulled his baton from his back and lunged forward. Ladybug instinctively parried the thrust with her hand, her eyes wide in disbelief.

“What is wrong with you?!?” she shouted.

Without hesitating, Chat swung back towards her in an attempt to sweep her legs out from under her. Ladybug was able to jump before his weapon connected, but the force of his attack caused her to stumble backwards on her landing. The train rounded a bend, compelling Chat and Ladybug to shift their footing in order to adjust to the changing terrain.
Seizing the advantage, Chat pressed his attack as she desperately struggled to regain her footing. The whisper of rain against the metal roof began to intensify and Ladybug failed to take into account the slick surface.
Chat Noir followed her down, pinning her on her back. She fought to free her arms to no avail.

“Call off your suit!” he demanded.

“How about I call off yours instead?!?!” the Guardian of the Miraculous snapped back.

Suddenly, they were plunged into darkness. Ladybug blinked frantically trying to adapt to the change. She could make out some light towards the front of the Startrain.

A tunnel.

In the darkness she could just make out the green glow of Chat Noir’s eyes locked on her.

~~~

Chat Noir’s night vision compensated instantly, but he could tell that Ladybug was disoriented. In a split second, he made an irrevocable decision.

"I'm sorry, Milady." Reaching down, he snatched an earring from her ear.

He felt her freeze beneath him as a flash of pink light briefly illuminated the tunnel. Chat Noir’s eyes adjusted again, confirming his dreaded suspicions. He felt as if the floor had given way beneath him and he was free falling into an abyss.

Marinette’s anguished cry snapped him back into the present before he had any more time to process her identity. She thrashed beneath him once more, trying desperately to escape, but they both knew it was useless.

The point of no return.

As the light at the end of the tunnel approached them, Marinette, no longer Ladybug, but still wielding her authority as Guardian, screamed “Claws In!”, bathing them both in a blaze of green just before the train burst into the blinding daylight.

~~~

Chapter Text

~~~

Marinette squinted.

Sunlight spilled over windswept golden hair and broad shoulders as Adrien Agreste peered down at her with an unreadable expression.

Marinette’s eyes widened in shock. Time seemed to stand still as they stared back at each other. 7 years worth of history, secrecy, friendship, partnership… fully exposed and laid bare in the light of day.

Marinette’s brain activity resumed after a few moments. “YOU?!?! YOU SON OF A-”

“Hawkmoth?” Adrien interrupted with a smirk, “So you keep reminding me...” he slowly got to his feet, releasing her. “Come on, we need to get back inside.” He turned towards the edge of the train car, searching for the ladder.

She scrambled to her feet, grabbing him by the arm and yanking him back towards her. “GIVE ME MY MIRACULOUS ADRIEN.”

“HA!” He shrugged her off. “You’re joking, right?” he sneered.

He turned away again, but not before he caught her movement out of the corner of his eye. He whipped around just in time, catching her by the foot before she connected a flying side kick to his stomach. She landed on her backside glaring up at him hatefully.

“ENOUGH!” he shouted, keeping hold of her ankle to command her attention. “You know you’re Marinette right now?!? Trying to fight me on the roof of a moving train?!? You’re a lot more fragile than you were a few minutes ago!”

“Give my earring back now and I won’t be!” Her indigo eyes were fierce.

Adrien crouched down low to meet her eye level. “Oh Bugaboo,” he glowered, “You’re going to have to ask a whole lot nicer than that.”

~~~~

By the time Adrien had ushered Marinette back to their private room, she was fuming. Her mind was reeling as she tried to process this unexpected revelation. He seemed to also be taken aback by the identity reveal, but perhaps less so. She glanced over to where he was laid out on the bed staring at the ceiling. The silence between them lingered as the afternoon of the worst day ever dragged on.
Marinette stared out the window unseeing. Her mind was combing back over her career as Ladybug. Looking for any hints of Adrien Agreste in her partner. Or vice versa.
Her thoughts were a jumbled mess of questions. She had given years of her life to the Miraculous. As Ladybug. As Guardian. She deserved some answers.

“How long?” her voice was barely a whisper cutting through the stillness, but the accusatory tone was hard to miss.

Adrien pulled himself up to a sitting position, leaning against the headboard. He didn’t meet her eyes. He hadn’t since they left the rooftop. It was as if he was also lost in his own thoughts. “What?”

“How long have you been working for Hawkmoth?”

He shook his head emphatically. “I-what are you asking me, Mari? I haven’t.”

She held her hands up in protest. “Stop lying! I’m so sick of all the lies. I can’t-” her voice was strained with emotion. “I know what you’re doing now. With the Triad-”

“You don’t know anything-” he cut in, his tone dismissive.

“WHAT I WANT TO KNOW-” she took a deep breath to reign in her outburst before continuing, “What I want to know is... If you were working for him the whole time.”

At this, Adrien’s head snapped to attention. He stared at her, his mouth agape. Marinette inhaled sharply, struggling to keep her face from crumpling. The tension of the silence engulfed them as the room continued to darken with the setting sun.

“You think I was…what? You think I was helping him?” Adrien swore under his breath, scrubbing his hands over his face.

“I don’t know what to think of you anymore. I don’t know what to think of any of it. The silly akumas… the ridiculous costumes… making me think we were doing something so important. Meanwhile, your family was operating some complex crime syndicate while all of Paris was watching Ladybug and Chat Noir fight Mr. Pigeon!” Marinette’s resolve caved and she burst into tears.
Adrien rose from the bed and crossed the room to stand before her. She took a step away from him only to find her back to the wall. He kept coming until his face was only centimeters from hers.

Marinette could feel his breath on her cheek. “Milady…” his voice was pleading.

“Don’t!” she pushed him away with a look of warning. “Never again!” He took a step back, looking wounded. Marinette dashed the tears from her eyes with the heels of her hands. “You must have thought I was so stupid!” she laughed bitterly, “But you? Wow… I knew you could act, but you deserve an Oscar award! Best supporting actor. Chat Noir. A regular double agent.”

~~~

The last glimmer of sun sunk below the horizon, leaving the room dim. Neither of them moved to turn on a light. Everything felt so fragile, as if a movement would shatter whatever was left of them.

Adrien was in agony as he watched Marinette unravel. He wanted to comfort her somehow, but he was acutely aware of being the cause of her pain.
He replayed the events leading up to this point.

How did everything fall apart so quickly?

24 hours ago, Adrien had been sitting in his office sipping an espresso.
Then he got the call that the Red Pole (enforcer) had finished his investigation and that Adrien would be required to not only witness the swift administration of justice, but to accompany a 426 (Yao Jie) and a 49 (Tian Chang) on a run to Beijing. As a White Paper Fan (a 415) in the 14K, Adrien was typically able to operate in the administrative sphere of the organization. Two years into the 14K, he had worked ruthlessly to gain a reputation locally. Not only was drug-running beneath his paygrade, but the time away from his day job always caused work to pile up, waiting to be dealt with upon his return.
If he was being honest, he hated getting his hands dirty with the street operations-his conscience fought against his efforts to present himself as a hardened criminal. He couldn’t stomach some of the gang violence required on the grassroots level.
Being forced to pull Marinette into his dangerous vigilante side project felt sick and twisted. He didn’t want to jeopardize his mission, so he had allowed her to believe that things were exactly as they appeared. That he was just carrying on his father’s legacy. Marinette’s opinion of him was just more kindling on the dumpster fire that was now his life. He could bear that. But of course… he wasn’t that lucky.

His life was proving to be some cruel joke.

Of course Marinette was her. Ladybug. The one person in his whole miserable life whose opinion mattered to him. So, as might be expected, he had unknowingly cataclysmed it beyond repair by fully convincing her that he had been working for Hawkmoth since the beginning. By taking her Miraculous. Betrayal on the deepest level.
So she believed it without reservation. After everything that they had been through together.
Any attempts to salvage this situation rang hollow even in his own mind.

“Adrien?” she pulled him from his thoughts, “Well? Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

There’s nothing I can say.

“I never thought that you were stupid.” he whispered. The only accusation he refuted.

When he forced himself to meet her eyes, he knew that the look of disappointment on her face would haunt him for the rest of his life.

From the hallway, an announcement came over the speaker that they would be arriving in Moscow in 20 minutes.

Marinette stepped into the bathroom without a word, locking the door behind her.

~~~

Chapter Text

~~~

Space.

He knew she needed space.

They could both use space.

But there’s not a lot of space when you are sharing a room on a train.

By the time the train began to slow it was dark outside. Adrien had repacked his suitcase and was patiently waiting for Marinette to emerge from the bathroom. He went over the mental checklist in his mind, in addition to the burner phone that he had promised to get her at this point in the trip, he was reminded again that Marinette had probably been missing some personal items. At breakfast this morning he could tell that she had helped herself to his shampoo and soap, but she would probably appreciate using her preferred toiletries. She had also helped herself to his clothing. She would need a few changes of clothes for the rest of the trip.
With a worried expression he contemplated whether she would have helped herself to his toothbrush…
Although she was so angry with him she was probably cleaning the toilet with it by now. He made another mental note to pick up a new toothbrush.

What was she doing in there? The hallway speakers announced their arrival in Moscow. Adrien gently tapped on the door.

“Marinette?”

No answer.

He reached into his pocket to touch the one earring he had stolen from her this morning. It was still there. Feeling foreign in his possession. He had a fleeting fear that something very unlucky might happen and he would lose the earring and therefore lose Ladybug forever. She would never forgive him then.

Not like he thought she would forgive him anyway.

~~~

Marinette was sitting on the edge of the slender tub in the bathroom. She looked up when Adrien knocked on the door but didn’t answer. The knocking resumed. Gently, but persistently.

“Marinette, we have to go.”

She took a deep breath. “No, you have to go. We don’t have to do anything.”
She could hear him sighing.

He’s always breathing at me.

“You know that’s not how this works, Mari.”

Silence.

“I thought we could pick up a few things for you on the way to the hotel… a phone… a toothbrush… “

Silence.

Marinette heard a sharper knocking on the outer door to their room. Adrien slid the door open and exchanged some words in Chinese with whoever was standing outside before pulling it shut.
He was back at the bathroom door again.

“Marinette, I’m sure this has been awful for you. I’m sorry for that. I’m trying to be gentle. But, as you know, I’m going to need your cooperation.”

“I’m not helping you.” she answered.

More breathing on his side.

“You can say that, but we both know it’s not true. And we both know why.”

Silence.

He jiggled the doorknob in frustration. “Come on, Mari! Are you going to make me say it?”

She yanked the door open and looked up into his startled expression.
“Yeah Adrien, I want to hear you say it. Go on, commit to the role! Why don’t you spell it out for both of us?” she tapped her foot impatiently. “Well?”

He glanced up at the ceiling as if trying to collect his thoughts before meeting her eyes again. He forced a fake smile.
“Mari, I will be so happy to return your missing jewelry to you after we have successfully completed this trip together.”

“Wow, you make blackmail sound so helpful. When you put it that way, it really doesn’t remind me of something that your father would say at all.” she jeered. She shoved past him and into the hallway. She could hear him gathering up a few items from the bathroom before joining her in the hallway.
She froze when she saw the two men from last night exiting their rooms, luggage in hand.
Adrien’s hand went to her waist as he leaned in close.
“Speaking of committing to roles, I’m sure that I don’t have to remind you that we are married and you’re accompanying me on a business trip right now,” he whispered.
She nodded as she felt the heat creeping up to her face.

Grr! Stop blushing. She chided herself.

She couldn’t ignore the way that he kept his arm around her as they exited the station.
Or the way it was making her feel.
Even though she knew it meant nothing.

~~~

By the time Adrien and Marinette checked into the hotel that night, they were both physically and mentally exhausted.
There was something so surreal about shopping for clothes and face wash with Ladybug.
Who had apparently always been Marinette.
He imagined she was having a similar experience.

Finally, arriving at their suite, Adrien pushed open the door and dropped the bags before collapsing onto the enormous bed. Marinette shuffled in behind him.
Adrien had insisted on a $3,000 piece of Louis Vuitton rolling luggage for her when he saw how Marinette’s eyes lit up at it. He frowned when he looked up and saw her carrying it in her arms like a baby.

“I’m already regretting that purchase,” he yawned. “You’ll never use it.”

“I will use it every day.” she swore.

“Mari, it’s a suitcase, not a child. Put it on the ground.”

“Never.”

Adrien allowed his eyes to close. He heard her setting the suitcase on the dresser, then closing the bathroom door. “This bathroom is huge-oh! There’s a heat lamp!” The sound of the shower being started was so soothing that he felt himself drifting off…

Adrien’s phone buzzed. He groaned as he pulled it from his pocket. Sending a reply to Tian, he was reminded that he needed to set up Marinette’s phone. He forced himself to stand up, stretching his back. Digging through the bags, he pulled out the phone box.
By the time Marinette emerged from the steamy bathroom in fresh clothes, Adrien was proudly handing her a ready-to-use cell phone.
She took it from him before freezing.

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know anybody’s number.”

He laughed. “Well… I have a few. Who are you looking for?”

“Well, I need to check in with mom, but I’ll just call the bakery. So maybe just Luka and Alya?”

Adrien scrolled through his contacts. “How about Luka and… Nino?”

“Close enough.” she giggled.

Adrien paused, clearing his throat nervously. “Um.. we should probably.. You know.. Talk about what you’re going to tell them.”
Marinette huffed in annoyance.
He took this as a sign to continue. “We can tell your mom and Alya the same story I told Luka the other day. But…”

“Viperion?”

“Yeah…”

“He must be so worried.”

Adrien put his hands on Marinette’s upper arms, turning her to fully face him. He gave her a stern look.
“Mari, this is very important. He cannot come here. I don’t want him involved. It won’t end well for any of us if he shows up.”

She nodded, but her hand went to her bare earlobe. “If you would give me the other half of my miraculous, I could reassure him that I’m ok.”

He shook his head. “No suits. The other holders could track us here if we’re active.”
She sighed.

He sat by her as she sent a text to Nino to relay a message to Alya. She called the bakery, knowing it would be closed but she left a very convincing message about breaking her phone and that she was out of town for work but would be back in a few days.
Finally, she pulled up Luka’s number. Glancing back at Adrien watching her she turned away.

“Do you mind?”
Adrien rolled his eyes. “Trust me I have no interest in your flirty messages to Luka Couffaine. Unfortunately for both of us, your phone usage has to be supervised. Show me the message.”
She shoved the phone at him and after a nod of approval hit send.
A moment later the phone chimed. Marinette scanned the screen then turned to Adrien.

“He says to tell you…ooh… hmm… well I’m not going to use his exact wording because it’s pretty offensive… but the gist of it is that he’s not an idiot and that he won’t believe I’m safe until he can speak to me…”

The phone chimed again.

“Oh and now he’s threatening you…”

“Ugh. Give me the phone!” Adrien growled as held his open hand out.
Just as Marinette went to hand it to him a new noise issued from the device.
She looked up at Adrien in surprise.

“He’s calling.”

Adrien caught her by the wrist. “Don’t answer,” he commanded, “I’m thinking.”

“He’s not going to stop.”

“Ok. Fine. Put it on speaker. I’ll hold the phone. Do not tell him anything. I mean it Mari. If you try anything so help me-”

“There it is! That sounds much more like Hawkmoth.” she interrupted as she answered the call and hit the speaker button.

“Hello?”

“Mare, are you safe?”

“Yeah-yes. I’m fine.”

“Where are you?”

She glanced nervously up at Adrien. He shook his head.

“I, uh… I can’t tell you that.”

“He’s there with you?”

She didn’t answer.

“Put him on the phone.”

Adrien turned the speaker off and held the phone to his ear.

“Yeah?”

“What the hell, Adrien? I’m coming to get her. Tell me where you’re at.”

“There’s no need for that. Marinette is safe. You know I’ll protect her at all costs. As always.” Adrien hoped that this vague reference to their superhero identities would put Luka at ease. There was silence at the other end of the line as Luka processed Adrien’s words.

That’s right. I know too.

“Besides,” Adrien continued, “Marinette isn’t being restrained in any way. She’s being treated with the utmost respect and she can leave whenever she pleases.”

“But she won’t.” Luka read between the lines.

“It wouldn’t be in her best interest,” he confirmed. “She’s helping me with a project, and I think we agreed that she would stay until that’s completed.”

“When I find out how you’re manipulating her, I’m going to do that and worse to you Chat-”

“I’ll return her safe and sound in a few days. Then you’re welcome to try and make good on that promise. I could use a new scratching post.” he taunted.
Marinette tried to snatch the phone from him as he hung up.

“You didn’t have to provoke him!”

“As if he wasn’t asking for it!” Adrien shut the phone off and slipped it into his back pocket.

Marinette was defensive. “But you can understand why he would be upset? Why he would be angry with you?”

“Oh, I understand perfectly. He’s super protective of his girlfriend.”

“He’s protective of his FRIENDS, Cha-Adrien! Like most people would be.”

“Pfft! Yeah one day you’re gonna have to have the “just friends” talk with him because he clearly isn’t getting it.” Adrien began to gather up his wallet and phone from the dresser.

“I think I can navigate my own social interactions-thanks. Or are you going to blackmail me about those aspects of my life too?”

Adrien whirled on her. “Well, while we’re on the subject of me guiding your Luka decisions, why don’t we just make a trade? I’ll give you your miraculous in exchange for his.”

“You want Vi off the team now?!?”

“I want him away from you!”

Marinette pulled at her hair in frustration. “You are so unreasonable! And jealous! And-and petty! Why would you even ask that? I would never agree to something so ridiculous!”

“Oh, but I bet Luka would. All he cares about is impressing you.” Adrien pulled the burner phone back out of his pocket. “Let’s call and ask him. I bet he’d bring his miraculous right over if you asked him to!”

“You wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway!” she stepped up to him, “You suck at it!”

“Or maybe that was just an act to help Hawkmoth, right? Since according to you, Chat Noir works for the other team!”

“YOU LITERALLY STOLE MY MIRACULOUS!!!” she blared.

Adrien could feel the thick tension between them as they stared each other down. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered the familiar smell of her berry shampoo that now reminded him of both Marinette and Ladybug.

It was driving him crazy. He was acting like he was out of his mind.

Maybe I am.

He had the strangest urge to close the space between them.
To hold her in his arms…
But that was exactly what he didn’t need.
Space was good.
He needed more space.
From her fruity shampoos and her freckles and the absurd jealousy that rose up in him around her for no reason.
He turned to leave.
“I have to go help with the Moscow shipment. Don’t wait up.” he slammed the door behind him.

~~~

As Adrien’s footsteps faded down the hall, Marinette turned to his belongings. She began carefully rifling through every article of clothing. Every pocket and zipper compartment.

It has to be here somewhere.

But part of her knew that it wouldn’t be. Adrien wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave her earring here. He didn’t even leave her the phone.

He has to be carrying it.

She flopped down on the bed in frustration.

~~~

Adrien was pleased that the shipment drop off went smoothly and he was back at the hotel by 1am. Tian and Yao were more work associates than friends, so although conversation wasn’t awkward, he had no desire to prolong his time in their company.
Also, his brain was exhausted from the effort of utilizing his multilingual skills. In retrospect, Adrien could recognize that his father’s insistence on speaking fluent Mandarin was probably grooming Adrien for this exact purpose. His stomach turned when he considered that his father may be well apprised of Adrien’s participation in the 14K now. There were doubtless 14K members and allies in the same prison as Gabriel Agreste.
Not that Adrien would know.
He had never darkened the doors of that facility.
Adrien tried to dispel the thoughts from his head as he slipped into the suite. The room was dimly lit by the TV set flashing images from some late night talk show.
Adrien switched on the desk lamp at the dimmest setting and powered off the TV. He smiled when he saw Marinette passed out laying sideways across the bed. Her mouth was slightly open and she was softly snoring.
He brushed his teeth and washed his face before taking some lounge pants from his suitcase. He noticed that the stacks of folded clothes appeared to be more disheveled than he had left them. She had been through his stuff.

So predictable.

He reached into his pocket again, withdrawing the stolen half of the Ladybug miraculous. He placed it and the burner phone into the hotel safe, but hesitated before he shut the door. He would never feel comfortable leaving his ring in a hotel safe.

Safer with Chat Noir.

He pulled the piece of jewelry back out and shoved it into the pocket of the sleep pants.

~~~

Marinette began to stir when she felt Adrien slide into the bed. She rubbed her eyes.

“What time is it?” she mumbled.

“Late.”

She crawled up to the head of the bed to make room for him, slipping under the covers.
He felt her eyes on him.

“What?”

“You don’t wear a shirt to bed?”

“Or pants either normally.”

She bit her lip but didn't say anything. Adrien checked his phone, setting an alarm for the morning, already dreading the next stretch of the journey.

“What did you have to drop off?” She asked as she snuggled down into the pillows.

“Don’t ask me about work, Mari.”

“Ok…”

He shifted uncomfortably, his conscience gnawing at him.
“I’m..sorry about… earlier. What I said. I shouldn’t have-I didn’t mean it.”
He glanced over at her. She nodded, but otherwise didn’t respond.
“Viperion is… he’s talented. He’s an asset.”

“Yeah.”

“Good night, Mari.” Adrien turned away from her.
He was almost asleep when she spoke again. For a second he thought he had dreamt it.

“Did you know?” her voice was barely a whisper.

Adrien let out a defeated sigh. “Which part?”

“Did you know about Hawk-your father?”

He turned over to face her. She was staring back at him. Her hair was dry now and draped over the pillow, which he found very distracting. “No…Milad-Mari. No… Of course not.”

“Did you know that I was…” she trailed off.

“I started to suspect. On the train. But… no. I didn’t know. Just… an unlucky coincidence.” he paused a moment, “Did you know about me?”

“Not at all. I knew Luka did, but he never said.”

“Don’t talk about Luka right now..” he yawned.

“I thought you were over your jealousy.”

“No, I’ll probably always be jealous when it comes to Ladybug.”

Another few moments of silence.

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. As Adrien. After everything happened. I… I didn’t know how to feel.”

“I don’t need your sympathy. I get enough of that from everyone else.”

“Still. I wish I had known. What Chat Noir was going through.”

“I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

A few more moments of silence.

“Maybe if you had opened up to me then… things would have turned out differently. Maybe you wouldn’t have ended up here. If you had more support from your partner.”

“To be honest, LB. I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want anyone to know. I tried everything I could to forget about it myself. But I guess you can’t run from who you are.”

“Yeah, but people make choices, Chat. You can make different choices.”

“It’s not that simple-”

“No one can make you do anything you don’t want to do.”

“Um… Have you met my father? You remember him right?”

“Ok, but not even he can control you anymore. You don’t have to do this. You can come back. I believe in you. And I know how good your heart is.” She reached out in the dark, setting her hand on his chest, as if she could touch his heart and convince him that what she was saying was true.

He caught her hand up in both of his and held it. “You sound pretty confident in your assessment of Chat Noir…” He could just barely see her blushing in the low light.

“Well, like I said… Chat Noir and I go way back.”

“I remember.” Adrien brought her knuckles up to his lips. “You also said there was quote: definitely chemistry.”

Marinette’s face turned deep red at this reminder. Or at his tender gesture. Or both.

“I don’t remember my exact wording…” she trailed off, embarrassed, as Adrien continued to kiss the inside of her wrist, moving up her arm. She didn't protest the affection and his heart raced with the possibilities.

“Your exact wording was ‘It’s undeniable’...” he murmured against the inside of her elbow.

She playfully tried to pull her arm free from his ministrations, unsuccessfully. “And you very much denied it.” she scolded softly.

His voice was low and serious as he leaned in closer. “I’m admitting it now…” he lifted his hand to her cheek.

A loud and frantic pounding on the door startled them out of their reverie.

Chapter Text

~~~

The harsh beating at the door continued, threatening to break it down.

Adrien’s hand instantly slid from tenderly caressing Marinette’s cheek to placing a finger over her lips to signal silence.

Adrien rolled out of bed, landing soundlessly on bare feet. Slinking over to one of his bags, he produced a handgun from a zipper compartment. Marinette covered a gasp of surprise. She hadn’t even considered that Adrien was traveling armed. When she had rummaged through his things earlier she never saw the weapon. She would have remembered that.

Frozen, she watched as Adrien crept up behind the door. He called out a question in… Russian?

How many languages does this guy know?

The muffled answer from behind the door must have satisfied Adrien, because he tucked the firearm into the waistband of his pants and cracked the door enough for the visitor to slide into the room. Marinette didn’t recognize the man that Adrien spoke with but the conversation was clipped and ended abruptly.
Adrien turned to where Marinette was sitting up in the bed, her knees curled up to her chest.

“Grab your things. We’re leaving. NOW.”

Marinette jumped out of bed shoving clothes and toiletries into her Louis Vuitton bag. Adrien opened the safe in the wall and pulled out the burner phone.

“Here,” Marinette held her hand out for the small device.

Adrien shook his head. “No, we can’t take it…” he looked towards the bathroom, “But we can’t leave it here.” He tossed the new phone into the toilet bowl, kicking the trip handle to flush the phone away. Marinette gaped at him.

“I will never understand rich people.” Marinette muttered.

Adrien scowled at her as he yanked a t-shirt over his head. “Just grab your new bag. I can get the rest.” Another tap at the door seemed to fill Adrien with a sense of urgency. He took hold of Marinette’s arm and pulled her into the hallway. He growled when he looked back at her and saw her still carrying the rolling bag in her arms.

“Roll it, Mari!” he ordered.

“No! It’s in mint condition.”

“Do you want to leave it behind?” he threatened.

“I don't think it'll flush." She teased.

Marinette recognized their two traveling companions turning the corner at the end of the hallway to board the elevators. Adrien began to pull Marinette more quickly down the hall. By the time they reached the elevators, his grip on her was so tense that she could feel his fingertips digging into her arm. He hit the call button to bring the elevator up to their floor.

"Adrien?"
He didn't seem to hear her as he hit the button a few more times in rapid succession. His impatience frightened her.

We’re in a huge hurry. Running from someone?

Marinette heard the sound of voices as a door opened at the other end of the hallway. Adrien’s head snapped to the intruders and he cursed as the elevator opened with a chime. The voices in the hall grew louder and angrier. A loud pop took Marinette a minute to place.

A gunshot.

Adrien pushed Marinette and the bags into the elevator, reaching his arm in to hit the button that closed the doors. As the elevator doors began to shut, Marinette panicked.

“I can help!”

Ladybug could help.

“Wait downstairs!” His eyes were intense on hers. He opened his mouth as if there was more that he wanted to say, but he thought better of it as the doors pulled together.
The last thing that she saw was Adrien pulling the gun from his waistband.

~~~

As soon as the doors to the elevator closed in front of Marinette's frightened face, he regretted his hesitation.

I should have given her the damn earring. I was about to give it to her.
At least she would have been safer.
But she might have left me.

Adrien was vaguely aware that his desire for Marinette had reached a new level of selfishness and insecurity.

He had to set that thought aside; presently more shots fired from around the corner demanded his immediate attention.

~~~

The elevator descended slowly with typical jazz music which was overlaid by the occasional popping of the gunfight upstairs.
It was maddening.
Marinette felt dizzy, like her knees would give out underneath her. She realized that she was still clutching her suitcase trying not to dissolve into hysterics.
Somewhere in the hotel, someone pulled a fire alarm. Maybe to encourage people to evacuate?
Marinette stumbled out of the elevator into the lobby as people were holding their ears to block out the piercing alarm bells. Everyone was moving towards the exits, except Marinette, who was waiting in the lobby with her things, desperately hoping that any second Adrien would come down the stairs. Minutes went by and eventually no one was coming out of the stairwell anymore. But Adrien still had not emerged. The emergency system being tripped prevented any elevator use.
As the alarm sounds subsided, Marinette glanced around at the empty lobby before taking a deep breath and pushing through the door to the stairwell. She was engulfed in darkness. Only small emergency lights illuminated the stairs themselves. Everything above her path was shrouded in darkness. She listened for any signs of movement, any hints that someone was waiting in the dark. She felt for the railing of the stairs, gripping it tightly, she paddled up each flight as fast and as quietly as she could. She remembered that she had left Adrien on the fourth floor.

How many floors have I passed? Is this 3 or 4?

Just then, a hand reached out in the dark and took hers, pulling her in close.
She started before a voice full of warmth whispered,
"Hey… I recognize this hand."
Marinette started to shake as she tried not to cry from the relief flooding her.
His hands felt for her in the dark, sliding up to her shaking shoulders.
"I know these shoulders…"
He wandered further up.
"I know this neck… and this chin…" cupping her face and tilting it up towards him.
Tears were spilling down Marinette's face now as she clung to his shirt.
She wanted to say so much.

I was so scared. I thought I'd lost you. And I can't ever lose you.

But she couldn't speak.

He paused when he felt her tears. He began to brush them away with his thumb, tenderly.
"I know these cheeks…"
She felt the tip of his nose graze against her cheekbone, before he planted a gentle kiss there. His fingertips trailed down to trace the edge of her lower lip.
His voice was sultry now, "And this mouth… I would know this mouth anywhere…" his breath was warm against her lips in the dark.
A soft whimper escaped her. The paralyzing fear, the wash of relief, the burning of desire; a flood of emotion that she couldn't contain.
He responded to her desperation instantly, lightly brushing his lips against hers.
"Milady… " he whispered.
Pausing.
Gauging her reaction in the dark.
She clung tighter to him and he leaned in again gently caressing her lips with his own. Over and over. Marinette couldn't get enough of this. She was desperate to be closer to him, pressing against him as she deepened the kiss.

He seemed to lose his balance, falling back slightly, and she heard the sharp hiss of breath through his teeth. Marinette drew back from him.

"You're hurt!"

"No! No! No! I've literally never felt better in my entire life!" He reached out to her, trying frantically to pull her back into his arms.

"How did you get hurt?" She was still in disbelief.

"Just a scratch! I'm fine! Listen. Mari. It's fine." He was still trying to bring her back into his embrace when a chilling thought occurred to her.

"Chat… have you been shot?"

Stillness.

"A little."

Marinette swore. She began to run her hands over him, feeling his body for injuries in the dark.

"Where?"

"I could tell you, but I don't want to hinder your investigation…"

"Kitty, I swear-"

"Ok!" He took her hand and put her palm against his hip. "Here."
More cursing as her hands felt the telltale damp warmth of blood.

"We need to get you to the hospital."

"No. No hospitals."

"Are you seriously trying to pull some sort of macho tough guy crap right now? You need a hospital, Adrien."

"If I show up in an emergency department with a gunshot wound, the police will get involved. No hospitals."

"I need to at least get you into some light where I can see it. The elevators are down. Can you walk ok?" He put an arm over her shoulder and limped forward. Marinette could hear from his breathing that he was trying to mask the pain from her.

"You can't go down 4 flights of stairs like this… give me my miraculous and I'll carry you down."

Silence.

"Adrien!"

"I can make it."

She shrugged out from under his arm. "Are you serious?!? You still don't trust me?!? I just kissed you!" She huffed.

"First of all, I kissed you. And now I'm wondering if you let me just so that I would agree to give back your miraculous when you asked for it two seconds later!"

Outraged, Marinette swung at him in the dark, failing to connect with any part of his face other than grazing the tip of his nose.

"Ouch! What the-did you just try to slap me?!?" His anger was obvious.

"How can you say that? You think I would manipulate your feelings like that?!? You think that kiss meant nothing to me? It was just a trick?"

"Was it?!?"

"You are infuriating! Fine. Bleed to death on the stairs I guess!"

"It's not that bad…"

"I don't care." She lied. She sunk down onto the step. She did care. She cared so much that she wouldn't leave him here, even if she resented the hell out of him.

At last, his voice cut across the dark silence.

"After everything we've been through… the years I spent pining for Ladybug in the beginning… then the years after Hawkmoth, thinking I was so far beneath you that you would never be within my reach… that maybe you never were…"

"Chat…"

"Now, knowing the feeling of having you in my arms… the taste of your mouth… If you thought that I would give up whatever leverage I have to keep you here with me… then you gave me too much credit. It would never happen! You gave me hope, Mari. And I could hate you for it. It was easier to be hopeless than to be this desperate for you!" She could hear his voice strain with feeling.

She wanted to scream at him. To scold him. To tell him that you don't treat people you care about that way. You don't trap the people that you… love.
But she also remembered that Adrien Agreste was once a child who had lost his mother.
His father had been so afraid to lose him too, that Adrien had been forced to grow up in a gilded cage.
Gabriel Agreste had been so desperate to keep from losing the woman that he loved that he became…
She shuddered.
Her mind vacillated between images of Hawkmoth and Chat Blanc.
Both desperate not to lose the people that they cared about.

She stood up and reached out into the dark for him. She found his face and held him, leaning her forehead against his.
"You don't need to feel desperate. I'm right here with you. I'm not leaving, Chat. You can trust me."

He wrapped both arms around her tightly, holding her close. "I'll try."

"You can hold on to my miraculous for now if that's what you need. But if you would let me borrow yours briefly, I can help you."

He stood with his arms around her without responding for so long that Marinette was worried he had fallen asleep. Then he stepped back and she felt him place something cold and metal into her palm.
Her hand closed around the black cat miraculous.

"Hey…. I know this ring."

She felt Adrien's hands slip down to her waist. "Mmhm… And I know these hips…" he purred. "...and this as-ouch!"
Marinette removed her heel from his foot.
"You just had to do it, didn't you, Chat? You took a beautiful moment between us and you had to ruin it. This is why we can't have nice things!"

She slipped the ring on her finger.

"Claws out!"

Chapter Text

~~~

The dark stairwell was lit by a burst of bright green light, revealing Lady Noir. She whipped her long black braid around as she got re-accustomed to the black cat miraculous. Immediately, her communicator started dinging with notifications.

She flipped it open and her eyes widened.
“Wow… there are a lot of messages from Viperion on here.”

“Oh. Yeah. You can just delete those.”

She turned towards him, ready to launch into a lecture about teamwork and sacrifice when her night vision goggles revealed the pain in his face that she had previously been unable to see. Adrien was absolutely wincing and holding his side.

“Ok, we need to move you. There’s no comfortable way to do this. Can you climb onto my back?”

“Why don’t you just carry me bridal style?” he said through grit teeth.

“You’ve seen me go down stairs! And now I’m a lot less lucky than usual. I need you on my back so you don’t throw off my whole center of gravity.”
Adrien didn’t argue further which had her extremely worried.
She tried to make conversation to distract him.
“I know you don't like to talk about the 14K, but are you going to tell me what happened?”
Adrien grunted as she shifted beneath him.
“Apparently, this drug-run borders on the Sun Yee On Triad’s territory. There was… a minor disagreement about boundary lines during last night’s drop.”
“So they were rival gang members?”
“They were.”
Adrien’s tone implied that there was nothing further to be said on that particular topic.
She felt herself shift forward off balance when she missed half of the step below her.
“Bug!” He gasped, reaching out to catch the railing and halting their forward momentum. “Pay attention… Please.” he growled.
“Sorry!”
LadyNoir contemplated a moment before asking “Why didn’t you just suit up? I mean when you heard the gunshots.”
She could hear Adrien’s labored breathing over her shoulder. “It wasn’t… miraculous business. It was Adrien business… It didn’t seem right to drag Chat Noir into it.”
After a moment of silence she spoke again. “I agree. We should get him out of it.”
Adrien sighed as if he was explaining something obvious.
“You don’t just walk away from the gang, Mari. That’s deadly.”

~~~

By the time Lady Noir had gingerly carried Adrien Agreste down 4 flights of stairs and into the empty hotel lobby, the sun was just coming up outside.

She set him down gently in a chair and dropped her transformation. Sweat was beading on his brow and she could see the blood stain on the side of his pants.

When he looked up at her, his face was pale and tight-lipped.
“Are you going to give it back?” he asked. It wasn’t that he was impatient. He seemed genuinely unsure that she would return his miraculous ring.
She knelt down in front of him and placed it in his hand.
“Yes. Because I don’t need leverage. I need your trust.”
She locked eyes with him meaningfully. He swallowed.
“Thank you.”
She nodded.
“Now can you take a look at this for me?”
Adrien carefully stood, peeling the side of his sweatpants down low, exposing the bullet wound.
Marinette cursed herself for the way her heart raced at seeing so much of Adrien Agreste’s body.

“Marinette? You ok?”

Focus. There’s blood.

She nodded.

“I need you to make sure it passed through.”

Marinette was feeling lightheaded. Adrien was frowning at her.

“Ladybug.”

“Wh-what?”

“The bullet. I need you to make sure it’s out.”

“Ok, I.. uh… I see a sort of entry here… and,” she prodded with her fingers causing Adrien to flinch, “there’s the exit wound. Didn’t even really fully enter. Just grazed you deep from here to here. It doesn’t look like it hit bone at all. Just…meat.,” she smiled. “You were actually… incredibly lucky.”

They exchanged looks of disbelief.

Marinette was able to rummage under the front desk and find a first aid kit. She cleaned and bandaged the wound as gently as possible.
“You should probably still get some antibiotics though.”
He nodded. "Thanks, Doc. I'll get right on that."
Marinette pulled the waistband of his pants back up with great care to avoid disturbing the bandage.
As she smoothed the front of the pant pocket down she felt a stone through the fabric of his pocket.
Right below the bullet wound.
Her hand froze.

Incredibly lucky. Miraculous even.

Reflexively, Adrien’s hand snatched her wrist, confirming her suspicion. She glanced up and was met with a black look. A warning.
Marinette looked back down at Adrien’s pocket, knowing that her stolen miraculous earring was inside.
Knowing that Adrien was too weak to stop her.

~~~

Adrien froze. He could see the wave of realization wash over Marinette in that moment.
“Adrien…” she began cautiously. She sounded like someone trying to lure a wounded animal into a cage.

Which was an incredibly fitting description.

He had her wrist in a vice grip, but he knew that the pain in his side would keep him from evading her if she made a sudden grab for the earring.

“You can’t force this. You have to trust me.” she gently coaxed.

For a fleeting moment, he wished that he could.
He wished that he could be ok with whatever decisions that she made.
Like a healthy, whole person would be.
But he knew that he was a very broken person.
And he had already lost too much.

“Claws out.” he growled.

~~~

Before Marinette could react, the pocket holding the miraculous disappeared. Replaced by the slick black armored suit of Chat Noir.
She yanked her wrist free from his grasp with an angry cry. She was physically exhausted and emotionally drained from Adrien’s trust issues.

“You are so.. Incredibly… selfish! You would transform inside a hotel lobby… in daylight, risking security cameras… or passersby… just to keep me from being able to leave?!?”

“Yes! I’ve told you as much, Mari. I would do anything that I had to do.”

“Right after I returned your ring without hesitation?”

“Right after you dropped a transformation in this exact location. But it’s selfish when I do it?”

“For selfish reasons? Yes!”

She could hear his communicator beeping with notifications again now that he was back online.

Viperion must have slept in his suit just to catch an alert if they transformed.

Chat Noir cursed, slamming his communicator on the ground, the violent motion was too much and he doubled over holding his side. “Perfect! And now that snake has pinged our location!”

“Wow. That temper tantrum really came back to bite you.” she mused.

Chat’s eyes shot daggers at Marinette. “It doesn’t matter. We’re boarding the train in an hour. By the time he gets here, we’ll be long gone.”

~~~

As Marinette finished gathering up their belongings from the empty lobby, Adrien emerged from the bathroom no longer wearing a catsuit or blood stained clothing. After this morning's evacuation of the hotel, people were now beginning to return.
Adrien called a car for them, but he was limited in his ability to help with the loading process due to his injury. Marinette offered to sew up the laceration but he visibly cringed at that idea.
On the ride to the station Adrien was tapping on his phone while Marinette gazed out the window.
“So… we’re meeting them there?”
“Yao and Tian? Yeah, they’re already there.”
“Why did they just leave you when those men showed up?” she pressed.
“You know I don’t like to talk about work…” he sighed.
“Well it was pretty messed up.” she huffed.
Adrien set his phone down on the seat, raking his fingers through his messy blond hair.
“It’s just protocol," he shrugged, "I ended up being the one to engage this time but if roles had been reversed, they would have done the same. Everyone has a role to play and we take that seriously. The gunmen had to be held off so that the shipments could arrive on schedule. The monetary value outweighs the occasional casualties.”
Marinette was taken aback by his callus explanation.
“I just don’t understand why you’re doing this.” She reached out and took his hand.
“You don’t have to understand why. You just need to trust that I have my own reasons.”
As if wanting to make up for all that he couldn't explain to her, he held the back of her hand up to his lips, kissing her skin softly.

~~~

Chapter Text

~~~

Yao was a large man of partially Chinese descent, broad shouldered, with a thick torso.

He slurped his black coffee loudly and preferred his eggs over easy.

Tian, also of Chinese descent, was shorter and more slight of build.

He was not a coffee drinker, and he preferred hard-boiled eggs.

Both would leave Adrien to die without hesitation in the event of unexpected gang-related violence.

This concluded everything that Marinette had learned, experientially, of Adrien’s traveling companions.

She slumped over her flat and stale croissant, missing the fresh pastries from her parents’ bakery and silently vowing to never take their perfect, buttery, flaky croissants for granted again.

After boarding the train yesterday morning, following a harrowing night at the hotel in Moscow, Adrien and Marinette had fallen into bed exhausted.
Too exhausted to argue.
That’s how sleep deprived they had been.

But Adrien had dragged her out of bed this morning, complaining that they had both done nothing but sleep all day yesterday and he was feeling cooped up in their room.

“I’m taking my wife to breakfast.” he smirked at her in the reflection of the bathroom mirror while she groggily brushed her teeth.
She was annoyed that he was so alert and cheerful despite being clipped by a bullet yesterday.
Despite being involved in a very dangerous gang.
Despite having stolen one of her miraculous earrings.

Now crammed in a booth in the dining car, Marinette had sat quietly listening to Adrien and his henchmen rattle on in Mandarin-which he knows I don’t speak!-for approximately… 17 minutes.
She knew that because she had been staring at the clock on the far wall and trying not to focus on Yao’s coffee slurping, for most of that time.

She surmised that Adrien had been recounting his shooting match in the hotel hallway yesterday based on his hand gestures. Her suspicions were confirmed when he stood to show them the bullet wound across his hip and side.
This seemed to prompt Tian to explain a scar on his arm and trade war stories.

Marinette’s eyes were getting heavy when she felt Adrien wrap his arm around her. She straightened up in her seat and he addressed her in French, thankfully.

“Do you want something different? You haven’t touched that.”

“No, coffee’s fine. Thank you. I’m just not feeling too hungry this morning.”

Yao made a comment in Chinese again and the other two men laughed. Adrien leaned in close to translate.

“Yao is accusing me of keeping you up last night.” he winked at her.

Marinette knew her face was turning beet red when the men laughed again.

“May I please go back to the room now?” she muttered under her breath.

“Of course, Mrs. Agreste.” he lingered on the title. Adrien slid out from the booth, allowing her to get up.
She nodded politely at the men sitting across from her before standing to leave.

As Marinette turned to go, Adrien caught her arm and pulled her in close. To the other diners, it would have appeared as if they were exchanging sweet nothings:

“If you’re planning to rifle through my stuff again-don’t bother. You’ll never find it.” he whispered against her ear.

“You thought that last time,” she booped his nose with a very deceptive level of faux affection, “but you were wrong then too.”

She met his eyes defiant and smug, watching triumphantly as he attempted to smooth the annoyance in his facial features and regain composure.
Marinette didn’t have time to react when he gave her a sly leer.
He took her face in his hands and kissed her fully on the mouth as if it were the most natural thing.
“See you soon, Sweetheart.” he murmured before releasing her to take his seat again.

Marinette was furious by the time she got back to their room. She grabbed Adrien’s suitcase dumping all of the contents onto the bed. Checking pockets and zippers, she tossed clothes and shoes everywhere, cursing under her breath and mumbling about Adrien and his “stupid kiss kiss face!”

Frustrated in more ways than one from her fruitless search effort and the memory of Adrien’s kiss, she collapsed on the bed.

Marinette reviewed her situation.

As of this morning, she had been traveling with Adrien and the 14K for 4 days.

If she and Adrien didn’t kill each other first, it would still be another 3 days of traveling after this one before they reached Beijing.

He had previously agreed that she could take his own private jet home from there without him.

In fact, he had even said that she would never have to see him again.

A cold chill trickled down Marinette’s spine as the realization dawned on her.

Adrien had promised those things to Marinette.

Marinette, a classmate from high school that he doesn’t really talk to anymore.

Before he knew that she was Ladybug.

And Adrien loves Ladybug.

Chat Noir loves Ladybug.

She remembered his words in the darkness of the stairwell yesterday.

If you thought that I would give up whatever leverage I have to keep you here with me… then you gave me too much credit. It would never happen!

She tried to swallow her panic. The terms of their agreement had changed when their identities were revealed.

What if Adrien didn’t keep the promises that he had made to Marinette?

~~~

“Scales, rest.”

A teal blue light flickered down his body as Luka Couffaine stripped off his clothes and stepped into the steaming hotel shower.

He knew they had been here.

This is the exact coordinates of the last couple of activations of the black cat miraculous.

The ring would still be in Adrien’s possession.
Luka had no doubt that Marinette would still be in Adrien’s possession too.
Now that he knew who she was.

How had he discovered her?

Since their battle against Wishmaker almost 7 years ago, Viperion had known the secret identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

He recalled the moment Ladybug came to reclaim his miraculous after that battle.
The battle that had changed everything.

She hesitated.
Realizing her mistake.
Realizing too late that the wielder of Second Chance was unaffected by its power.

That’s what made Viperion so formidable as an opponent.

Luka valued the truth above everything. Or so he had told himself.

But when that self-conscious 14 year old version of Marinette-Ladybug-had looked to him for reassurance he gave it without hesitation.

He looked straight into her gorgeous blue eyes.

And lied.

And he would have made the same choice over and over.

Because he loved her even before he knew her secret.

As the years went on, Viperion had gained experience and expertise that was invaluable to the team.

Luka Couffaine wasn’t arrogant though. Never that.

Chat Noir was arrogant. That made him reckless. Volatile. Sometimes, a liability.

Viperion was careful. Sensible. Astute.

He had proven his worth and she had given him the snake miraculous for safekeeping years ago.

“It’s always been yours. You hold onto it.” She had gently pushed it back to him when he tried to return it.

With years of access to the miraculous, their powers had increased.
He could sense it, even though it wasn’t a topic that they had discussed.
Privately, Luka was of the opinion that miraculous holders were not meant to be active for years on end.

Not like anyone had asked for his opinion.

Being a holder changes you.
And the longer you’re exposed to the miraculous, the more intense the change.

But Marinette had given him this ouroboros wristband. And even though he sensed it seeping into his psyche early on, he would wear it anyway.

Fortunately, the gifts of the snake miraculous were helpful. Useful. He didn’t mind.
With the snake miraculous, Luka had become more intuitive. Scary intuitive.

Without fully understanding it, Ladybug had come to accept the inevitable:

There could be no secrets from him.

Everything was laid bare.

He craved that honesty, but hated that he caused people to feel so exposed.

Truthfully, even if that hadn’t been the case, even if it had been slowly poisoning him, he would have worn it anyway.

Because she had asked him to.

And he could protect her with it.

That’s why he understood Chat Noir.

Barring Ladybug, no one had been wearing a miraculous longer than Adrien Agreste.
Viperion had watched as Chat Noir’s powers had increased as well.
And he had watched as Adrien had grown more unlucky and more destructive.

Wherever he went there was a trail of chaos.

Everything he touched seemed to get worse.

He won’t touch Marinette. Not if I can help it.

Luka struggled with the reality that others didn’t intuit the same darkness around Adrien as he did. He sensed that most people pitied Adrien Agreste.
Especially after Hawkmoth was exposed to be his father.
Luka was not without sympathy.
Maybe even a particular sympathy, knowing his alter ego.

But there was a difference between being denied something and being able to deny yourself something.

Adrien had been denied many things in life. Thus, the sympathy.

But Adrien did not deny himself of anything.

Wherever he had control, he took what he wanted.

Luka grit his teeth at memories of the countless debates that he and Marinette had about Chat Noir.

Where Marinette saw passion, Luka saw volatility.

Where she saw bravery, he saw recklessness.

Where she saw excitement, he saw danger.

Marinette always saw the good in people.
And maybe there was some good.

But Luka was also very cognizant of the trade off that Chat Noir was willingly participating in.

More powerful. More destructive. More powerful. More destructive.

And Luka had watched with resentment as Marinette’s power was forced to intensify in response.
To restore balance.
He didn’t see the harm in Marinette becoming more creative. It helped her career aspirations and brought her joy.
He didn’t see the harm in her luck increasing either.

The harm was in the balance.

Ladybug had to counteract Chat Noir.

The miraculous functioned beyond anyone’s control.

The more that Adrien pushed, the more that Marinette had to pull.

The darker he got, the more he required her light. It became a dependency.

Luka had seen it in battle. And he had been there to help alleviate the burden.

But he wasn’t there now.

He needed to be there.

He knew that in his gut.

And Luka's gut never lied to him.

Chapter Text

~~~

Adrien slid the door of the bedroom open to a disaster zone.
Marinette was sitting on the edge of the bed amidst a pile of his designer clothes, shoes, and other personal effects.

“Aw c’mon, Mari! Are you kidding me?!?!”

Marinette looked up at him passively. “We need to talk.”

He crossed his arms, waiting.

“Starting now, we’re going to have some boundaries.” she announced.

Adrien scooped a shirt off the floor and slipped it onto a hanger. “Great! Start with ‘Keep your hands off my shit’!”

“You realize how absurd it is for you to make that request, right?”

He scowled at her. “What else?”

“Give me back my miraculous.”

“No. What else have you got? That one’s getting old.” he sighed.

Marinette was glaring at him.

“Does that make you mad?" he sneered, "Do you think I care if you’re mad at me?”

“I’m starting to think that you don’t care about anything.”

"Really? Anything?" He took a step towards her. “I think you know exactly what I care about,” his tone no longer mocking.

She straightened, making every effort to appear composed. “Which reminds me of another boundary. Stop kissing me, Adrien.”

“Why?” He stepped closer. Kissing her at breakfast had been a mistake. He realized that now. He had been so distracted throughout the rest of the meeting that he had already forgotten most of the details surrounding the Beijing stop. All he could think about was getting back to her...

“Because it’s maddening!” she slammed her fist down on the bed.

“Am I driving you mad?” He stood at the edge of the bed, smiling down at her.

“Don’t get all Chat Noir on me right now!” she huffed, pointing an accusing finger at him.

He pulled one knee up onto the bed, “Oh, you don’t want Chat Noir on you right now?”

Marinette inched further back onto the bed. “No, that’s not how I said it-”

“So you… do… want Chat Noir on you?...Right now?” Adrien questioned innocently as he put a hand down on the bed next to her, crawling closer.

“What-? Adrien-don’t act like you don’t know what I’m telling you.” Marinette’s hand went to his shoulder. She seemed torn between pushing him away or pulling him closer, opting to simply rest her hand on him. He couldn’t believe that just the touch of her hand could send shivers through him.

“You were telling me that you don’t want me to kiss you anymore?” he leaned in, speaking softly, his mouth close to her ear. He could smell that cursed berry shampoo at this range and his brain was shutting down.

“...Exactly…” she whispered.

“Are you sure…?” his nose brushed her cheek.

“Mmhmm…” the hand that was resting on his shoulder was now gripping the collar of his shirt.

“That’s going to be very difficult… because it’s all I think about…” he buried his other hand in her dark hair, savoring the way it glided smoothly through his fingers. She tilted her head back, exposing more of her neck to him.

“Adrien…” she breathed. His head spun at the sound of his name on her lips. Not in the usual way that she said it when she was annoyed. The breathless, pleading way that she said it now. He could feel her melting and he was so addicted to that new high.

“Kissing Ladybug is all I’ve ever thought about…” he murmured against her throat.

When Marinette’s hands slid up the back of his neck and entwined in his hair, Adrien let out a groan. He felt himself sinking… following her down the rest of the way to the pillows.

~~~

Marinette’s head was fuzzy. Being around Adrien like this was the fulfillment of all of her teenage dreams and somehow more intoxicating than she could have ever imagined back then.

Combined with the knowledge that he was Chat Noir… it was like the undertow of a wave pulling her in. Pulling her down.

Still there was a gnawing fear in the back of her mind. Blurry, but persistent.
Chat Noir.
Passionate.
Impulsive.
Unpredictable.
The 14K.
Hawkmoth.
Chat Blanc.

She tried to push the fear out of her mind. She tried to focus on the feeling of his mouth on her neck, his fingers in her hair, his familiar scent… like cedar… sandalwood.. mint…
Her Chaton.

~~~

“Scales, rest.”

Luka felt like he was going to be sick.
He had been on edge ever since his conversation with Marinette and Adrien two nights ago.
He had been almost anxious (rare for him) flying to a hotel in Moscow where he had pinpointed their location.
But now he was feeling waves of panic. Urgency.

Something’s not right.

He called up his transformation to see if there had been any activity from Ladybug or Chat Noir. Still nothing.
Viperion had been sleeping in his suit and periodically transforming throughout the day for two days now. He was becoming so sensitive to his surroundings that he was beginning to feel mentally and emotionally raw. Being around people was exhausting. As if he could feel their feelings as well as his own. An empathy that he couldn’t turn off.
Once again, he tried to channel the miraculous’ influence.

Focus on Ladybug. Marinette.

He tried Adrien’s cell again. For the hundredth time. Knowing that he wouldn’t answer.

~~~

Adrien was completely absorbed in demonstrating his devotion to Ladybug in every way that she deserved. With the same reckless, sacrificial, unthinking, attentive deference that Chat Noir always gave to her. He wanted to give her all of that. Over and over. In all the ways he had let himself imagine. Forever.
He came up for air long enough to gaze into her eyes questioningly.

“Milady…”

He barely registered it when the phone began vibrating in his back pocket.
He didn’t even glance at the screen as he silenced it, tossing it on the bedside table.

But she did. And something shifted.
A tear slid down her cheek.

No.

He swept the tear from her face and tried to look into her eyes.

She wouldn’t meet his eyes.

“Mari…” he brushed a strand of her long dark hair behind her ear.

Nothing.

He pressed his mouth to hers again. She didn’t pull away from him but the passion was gone. Another tear slid down her cheek.

“No.. no.. Mari. No.” He said sternly. “Stay with me.”

But it was too late. Her face started to crumple as more tears escaped the corners of her eyes.

Adrien sat up and raked his fingers through his hair. In a burst of anger he snatched up his phone, checking the missed call. He let out a stream of profanity as he hurled the phone across the room.

“I’m gonna kill him.” he seethed.

“Adrien…” Marinette called from the pillows. She began crying softly.

His voice was husky with emotion when he finally spoke again, “From the moment I met you… I’ve been trying to give you everything… All I have to give… All of me. I would deny you nothing. Whatever you needed from me. Whatever you asked of me. I would take a bullet. I would jump from the Eiffel Tower. I would trade my life for yours without question. And I have.”

“Chat-” she reached for him but he shrugged away.

“You knew all you ever had to do was ask… But you don’t want it… You don’t want me.”

He didn’t have to look at her to know that she was crying. Rising from the bed, he left without another word.

~~~

Chapter Text

~~~

Adrien had been gone for what Marinette had guessed was an hour, and she was beginning to get very restless. After putting away the belongings that she had dragged out of his suitcase in her rummaging, she remembered something.
She knelt down on the floor and picked up Adrien’s discarded cell phone. The front glass was shattered in one corner and the back cover had been blown off. But it still looked operational.
She held the screen at an angle to the light and stared hard at it. There were some smudges on the screen but she couldn’t decipher any certain pattern.

What passcode would Adrien use?

She paced around the room for a while before it hit her. Why not protect your secrets with your most secret secret? She lifted her finger to the broken glass and traced the initials.

C N

~~~

Luka Couffaine was strumming his guitar in his hotel room. At the same hotel that Adrien and Marinette had been at 48 hours ago. With no idea where to go next. But backtracking could cost valuable time. So he was waiting. Meditating. Strumming.

He set down his guitar and picked up his cell phone a moment before the screen lit up.

Adrien: BEIJING. THURSDAY. DO NOT REPLY.

~~~

Marinette hastily deleted the sent message when she heard footsteps approaching. As the door slid open she frantically dropped the phone onto the floor where it had been laying and jumped away from it.

Don’t be suspicious.

Adrien came in giving her a quizzical look but said nothing. He turned on the shower and shut the bathroom door. By the time he came out, Marinette had ordered dinner and set the table.

“Roast beef… or… Trout?” she winced at her pathetic attempt to make a repair between them.
Adrien didn’t speak but took the trout meal from her hand.
Probably because he knew that she hated fish.
And Chat Noir always takes one for the team.
Even after everything.

They ate in silence.
Brushed their teeth in silence.
And climbed into bed.
Adrien turned his back to her, never once speaking.
Marinette laid awake, desperately wishing for this nightmare trip to be over.

~~~

By day 5 of the journey, Marinette was no longer enamored by train rides.
Adrien still wasn’t speaking to her.
And she still hadn’t found her earring.

Finally, sometime in the late afternoon, sitting across from him at the table and watching him stare at his phone, Marinette couldn’t take the silence anymore.

“Adrien. Please…. Talk to me.”

He exhaled slowly and set his shattered phone down. He was quiet for a few moments.

“I would never have taken both of your earrings.” He glanced up at her.
“I didn’t want you to be afraid that I would combine our miraculous like Hawkmoth had tried to do. I just didn’t want you to transform.”

She nodded her understanding.

“But once I finally had you, I became so afraid to lose you. Like I’ve lost everyone.” he shook his head as if fighting the thought.
“I can’t lose you. I don’t know what I’d do if-”

Chat Blanc.

“-I know.”

Marinette swallowed her fear.

There are no more akumas.

“And then I realized… that there isn’t anything that could persuade me to return it to you.”

Marinette’s stomach dropped. “Adrien, you can’t do this!”

“BUT-" He put up his hands to stop her.
"But...I know we need to learn to trust each other. Before we knew who was under the mask, we trusted each other completely. I know a lot has changed, but I want to return to that.”

He paused, taking a deep breath as if to steady himself. “So, I’m willing to give you back the rest of your miraculous now-”

Finally.

Flooded with relief, she reached for his hand. “Thank you. For trusting me.”

“And in return-” he continued.

“Adrien-”

“In return… If I trust you, if I give you what you want, then you’ll give me what I want.”

She held her breath.
Of course. She should have recognized the bait by now. That was too easy.

“Swear that you won’t go.”

“Adrien-”

“Swear to me, Marinette.”

She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Until when?"

“You'll let me decide.”

Marinette grit her teeth trying to maintain her calm. “You're changing the terms of our deal and you're asking me to trust you?”

“Give a little. Get a little. You can have your miraculous right now-”

“-For a price.” she finished bitterly.

“You could look at it as an act of good faith. I risk trusting you with the Ladybug miraculous again. You give me time to sort through us-our situation, the history, the identities, the feelings. Preferably, not on a business trip-"

"I would expect to have full use of my miraculous."

"It would be up to you how you use it. But you accept the consequences."

"Meaning?"

"I mean if you call him here, it’s on you."

"Far be it from you to take responsibility for your own behavior, right?"

"So you agree to the terms?"

"No."

"Ok Mari, this is me trying to build trust. If you reject it, I've already told you that there's not any real incentive for me to give it back to you at all. I don't want you to leave."

Now it was Marinette's turn to be silent.
His issues would destroy them both.
Whenever he sensed her withdrawing, he grasped more tightly...
She knew there was a part of her connected to him.
That loved him.
That really did want to help him.
She had no idea how to do that.
She only knew that leaving him now would cause irreparable harm.
She could feel the trap snapping shut on her…

"Ok."

Adrien's head shot up sharply. His eyes locked on her. Afraid to believe her.

She nodded.

He stood up and went to his suitcase. Withdrawing the handgun that Marinette had seen at the Russian hotel, he poured the contents of the chamber into his hand, returning with her earring.

Marinette stood to take it from his open hand but he closed his fingers around the jewelry looking at her expectantly.

She gently put a hand to his cheek, returning his gaze. She took a deep breath.

"I swear to stay with you, Adrien. Until you tell me to go."

Marinette felt the weight of the oath, heavy on her heart.
It was a trust fall that she knew could end in regret.
But… if he could trust her… maybe he could heal… maybe there was hope.

He opened his palm and Marinette took the earring, replacing it in her ear. She felt whole again, realizing how much she had felt the absence of Ladybug in her life.

"Thank you." Her voice came out in a whisper.

"Thank you for staying with me." His arms wrapped around her waist pulling her in close.

She laid her head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and soaking in the warmth of being in his arms.
Feeling safe.
Chat Noir has always made her feel safe.
But since finding out that Chat Noir was Adrien Agreste, Marinette hadn't felt safe with him.
Until now.
It was as if she had been swimming against a current with all of her strength. But once she let go, allowed herself to be carried by the drift, the waters stilled.
She surrendered herself to the pull that she was always pushing against.
She felt her heart opening up to him, and she was shocked to see, when she looked up into his eyes, that his heart was open and ready to receive her.

~~~

It was a Hail Mary.
Adrien knew that he wouldn't be able to keep Ladybug against her will. He had been stalling with the miraculous because he knew she wouldn't want to leave without it and leaving him in a foreign country without a phone would be a lot more difficult as Marinette.

But he knew all too well what it was like to be kept caged up. She would grow to resent him of course the more he tried to force her to stay.

That's when the idea came to him.

It was a risk to give up the leverage he had. No matter how temporary it had been.

But if she agreed to stay? Gave her word?
Then what was once shameful blackmail could now be a promise between partners.

Lovers?

If she would agree.
He cringed inwardly at the remembrance of the vague threat he had made about not returning her miraculous at all.
He had only employed such a tactic to encourage her decision.
But he saw the manipulation for what it was.
He wasn't proud of it.

The end justifies the means.

And the end was Marinette here in his arms.
Staying with him because she promised that she would.

It meant everything to him.

He felt all of the tension he had been holding onto fall away.

He felt like he could finally breathe.

Taking her face in his hands, he began planting soft gentle kisses on her forehead… her temples… her cheekbones… her nose…
His heart soared when she lifted her chin… presenting her mouth to him. The gesture was unmistakable.

Surrender.

A fire ignited inside of him. He crushed his lips to hers as his hands found their own way into her raven hair.

And she returned his passion. Parting her lips to deepen the kiss. Drawing him in deeper. He traced the inside of her lip with his tongue and she made a noise that threatened to undo him.

Without leaving her mouth, he stepped into her, pushing her back towards the bed, and she moved with him, allowing him to take the lead… to lay her down… trusting him with herself.

He followed her down to the bed, hovering over her. She slid her hands under the hem of his T-shirt and he sighed in pleasure at the feeling of her skin against his.

More.

He tugged the shirt off over his head and she giggled at something.
Either his enthusiasm or his messy hair.
Smiling down at her briefly, he set himself to the task of leaving a trail of passionate kisses down her neck.
Again, she tilted her head back, welcoming his touch.

~~~

Marinette's fingertips dreamily traced the muscles of Adrien's bare back as she let his passion completely engulf her.
She loved the way he would periodically return to her lips, kissing her sweetly, before continuing his exploration of her body.
He was reminding her that what he felt wasn't just lust.
It went so much deeper.
He didn't have to say it.
She'd always known.

His hands began to slide under the edge of her shirt coming to rest on her ribs. Teasing. Tempting.

"Chat…"

He returned to her mouth in an instant.
He was at her beck and call.

"Milady…"

"You're teasing me…"

"No.." his lips caressing her ear, "you can have anything you want. Just say the word.."

He slid one hand up higher, until his thumb grazed the edge of her bra. She arched her back pressing closer to him. Her hands pulled him down.

He was driving her crazy.

"If you aren't going to ask for what you want, how can I give it to you, Bugaboo?"

He returned to her mouth this time with more heat, his tongue boldly pressing her for more.
Persuading her of her own desperation.
She broke away to try to clear her head.

"What's the matter, Milady? Cat got your tongue..?"

"Chat… I can't even think when you're…"

"So don't think-" he murmured against her jaw.

He playfully slid his thumb underneath the lining of her bra and a whimper escaped her lips. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind she felt a twinge of embarrassment at her own need for him.

Adrien was trailing his lips down her neck. Lower and lower.
"How about I guess what you want… and you tell me if I'm hot or cold…?" His tone was playfully seductive.

He reached down to the edge of her shirt and gently lifted it over her head, tossing it on the floor.

She shivered. Unsure of whether it was anticipation or trepidation.

Adrien didn't bother to hide the adoration written on his face.
He met her eyes with a questioning look.

Is this ok?

He waited, frozen, eyes locked on hers until she nodded.

Surrender.

His other hand reached around her back to unfasten the clasp and Marinette bit her lower lip.

He watched her face, enthralled. He swore. "You have no idea what that look does to me…"

"Adrien… wait. We should probably… slow down… everything with us… it’s… it’s a lot…"

"...you want to slow down?" his eyes searched her face.

She hesitated… then nodded.

"...ok." he sat back on his heels and combed his fingers through his messy hair, glancing around the room until he found her shirt. Plucking it off the floor, he handed it to her, averting his eyes.

He cleared his throat. “Do you need me to-?” he gestured at her.

“Oh! No, I can get it.” she blushed, suddenly feeling shy refastening the clasp of her bra in front of supermodel Adrien Agreste.

Will this always feel so strange?

Fully dressed once more, Marinette was feeling incredibly guilty.

“I’m sorry.” she spoke quietly.

Adrien came over to sit on the bed beside her. “Shh.. don’t be sorry.”
He wrapped an arm around her, kissing her forehead.
“I can wait until you’re ready. You’re worth it.” he smiled and she returned the smile reflexively.

“Besides,” he added, his smile fading, “There’s no rush. We have all the time we need… don’t we?”

He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, gently skimming the jewelry adorning her earlobe before withdrawing.

Although he tried to portray nonchalance, Marinette could feel the burning intensity of his gaze.

A reminder.

You promised.

She nodded, trying to give him a reassuring smile.

Chapter Text

~~~

The morning sunlight was streaming through the curtains.
6 days after boarding a train with two members of the 14K and one frightened Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Adrien had finally begun to feel less on edge.
Marinette was still asleep on the bed next to him.
He brushed a strand of hair back from her forehead but she didn’t stir.
His stomach let out a loud growl reminding him to order breakfast for himself and Mari.

Adrien showered, reassessed the bullet wound on his hip while he waited for the food to be delivered to their room. Scanning through his messages he reminded himself of the importance of tomorrow.

He had to be focused.

Losing focus could be deadly.

So far everything had fallen into place perfectly. His initial annoyance at being forced to make this trip had melted away when he realized the opportunity.

A top priority drug-run all the way to Beijing.

To the headquarters of the 14K.

To the Dragon Leader.

In the two years that Adrien had been infiltrating the 14K, he had never had interactions with the Dragon Leader.

Not that he had expected to.

His identity was well protected.

So was Adrien’s.

But now… this would be his opportunity.

If he could get an audience with the leader.

Even just get in the room with him…

He glanced over at Marinette.
Or… what he assumed was Marinette under that pile of pillows and crumpled up comforter.
He smiled tenderly.

Ladybug.

In his bed.

His.

She’d want to try to help him if she knew what he was doing.
He didn’t want that.
These weren’t some disgruntled akuma villains.
He touched the wound on his side.
There would be no “Miraculous Ladybug” to undo gunshot wounds.
He could never forgive himself if she got hurt.
And despite their years of battle experience together, he wasn’t sure he could focus with her there anymore. It had already been incredibly difficult when he was dividing his attention between villains and protecting her.
Now everything was heightened.

~~~

Marinette began to stir when she smelled coffee brewing.
Adrien Agreste was standing by their breakfast table in a towel.
Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth to try to speak but all that came out was “Errr…”

Adrien looked up from his phone, flashing a brilliant smile at her.

“See something you like?” he taunted, noticing her gaze.

“Um…” She diverted her attention to the window, blushing. As usual.

He laughed before coming over to kiss her forehead. “Good morning.” he purred.

This was all too strange.
Adrien Agreste.
Smiling.
Actually in a good mood.
Acting like they’re together?

A knock at the door indicated the arrival of breakfast.

After Marinette had showered and dressed, she exited the bathroom with the hope that this new cheerful and talkative version of Adrien would have left to go deal with work matters.
Not that she minded his company.
Or looking at him.
But she didn’t trust this new sunny disposition.
She knew Chat Noir’s moodiness well enough by now.

She needed to transform.
As much as Adrien hated Luka, he could always help her see more clearly.
She needed to talk to him. She needed privacy.

No such luck.

~~~

The smell of berries wafted over Adrien.
His new favorite smell.
Marinette appeared at the bathroom door.
She shifted uneasily.
“I think I’m going to take a walk. Get some air.”
“I’ll come with you,” he stood, slipping his phone into his pants.
“Oh-no! That’s ok. You don’t have to. I think I just want to go on my own. I won’t be long.”
He eyed her suspiciously. “...Why?”
“I just need some time to think.”

Thinking. Thinking is not a good sign. Things are finally right. Don’t start thinking.

Adrien approached her, trying to force a smile.
“Ok, I’ll see you soon.” Tipping her chin up, he kissed her gently.

As she turned to go he caught her arm and pulled her back towards him, pressing his mouth to hers, deepening the kiss until he had poured the intensity of both his passion and fear into the connection.
He pulled away from her, breathless, heart pounding.
She met his eyes but didn’t hold his gaze, before she turned, wordlessly, and slipped out the door.

Please come back.

~~~

Marinette’s head was still spinning from Adrien’s kiss as she bounded down the stairs.

“Spots on!”

She reveled in the flash of pink light that filled her body with a strength and power that she had missed.
She leaned out of the train, catching the ladder to the rooftop.
She remembered the last time that she had been up here.

The tunnel.

Chat Noir.

Adrien.

She could just run.

It seemed like so much longer than a week ago.
Tomorrow they would be in Beijing.
Luka may already be there.
And things were more complicated than ever.

She didn’t have a lot of time.
Flipping open her communicator, she knew he would see her.
He had a sixth sense about her.
Within moments, he had transformed and was calling her.

“Vi!”

“Ladybug! I’ve been so worried-did you get away?”

“No-I-it’s complicated.”

“I’m sure we can uncomplicate it." he replied, "Tell me what’s going on.”

“Chat stole my miraculous.”

“Was he trying to combine them?”

“No.. No, I don’t think so. He just wanted to prevent me from contacting the other holders.”

“Like me.” Viperion supplied. It was more of a statement than a question.

“I finally got it back from him last night.”

“Does he know you have it?”

“Yes. He gave it back to me.”

Viperion paused.

Ladybug realized too late that he had honed in on the crux of the problem already.

“What changed his mind?”

“Well… that’s the complicated part.”

“LB… “

She didn’t answer.

He sighed. “So you can’t leave.” Another statement.“Listen, I don’t know what he’s telling you but whatever it is, he’s manipulating you. This is what he does to you.”

“I don’t think he means to. He just doesn’t know how to be with people.”

“Oh. So you’re going to teach him how to… be… with someone?”

“Vi-”

“It sounds like you’re defending him.”

“Well it feels like I am trying to deactivate a ticking time bomb and evacuate everyone safely. Did you get my message?”

“Yes. I’m already-Scales-”

“Vi?”

He had already ended the communication.

Ladybug watched as the teal blue light vanished on her communicator, and a menacing green light appeared.

~~~

10 minutes after Marinette had left to “think”, Adrien was pacing in the bedroom nervously fidgeting with his miraculous ring.

Don’t overreact. You always overreact. And it always makes things worse.

Now that she has her miraculous, there’s nothing keeping her here. She’s probably already gone.

I was stupid to give it back to her.

Just trust her. I have to be willing to trust her.

And I do trust her.

Trust. But verify.

“Claws out.” he muttered.

Flipping out his communicator, Chat Noir instantly recognized a red light that his life had revolved around since he was 14. He wasn’t surprised that she had suited up after being away from her miraculous for so long.

He also wasn’t surprised when a teal blue light flicked off the moment he came online.

~~~

“Scales, rest!”

Luka cursed as the teal blue light faded. He had been so focused on Marinette that he hadn’t been attuned to Adrien.
He didn’t sense his transformation until the last second.
He was concerned for Marinette’s safety and feeling helpless.

He slipped the ouroboros off of his wrist and set it on the table. He could feel the effects after days of exposure.

He could feel Marinette’s feelings for Adrien.

And he didn’t want to.

Desire mixed with fear.

It sickened him and he wanted to block it from his mind.

Of course, Adrien had her convinced that he needed her.

That she couldn’t leave him.

He had figured as much.

Staring at the snake miraculous, he thought about Marinette and Adrien wearing their miraculous 24/7 for years as it slowly poisoned them both.

He had to put an end to it somehow.

~~~

When Marinette returned to the room a few moments later, she was caught off guard to find Chat Noir sitting on the couch.
Staring at her through glowing green cat eyes.
She froze for a moment.
Part of her thought she should act as if nothing had happened.
She couldn’t be sure that he knew.

But the fact that he was suited up seemed to indicate otherwise.

She ran her tongue over her lips.
Thinking.
Deciding.

“Spots on.” she murmured.

The flash of pink light reflected back at her in his eyes.

Chat didn’t move. He sat draped across the couch looking as if they walked around in their alter egos on the daily.

Ladybug spoke first.

“We agreed that I have full use of my miraculous…” she began tentatively.

Chat nodded. His quiet demeanor alarmed her.

“Just as I have full use of mine.” he added.

“Meaning…?”

“Did you ask him to come here?”

Her silence gave her away. She wouldn’t lie to him.

“Then he knows what’s waiting for him.”

“Chat, don’t you dare-” she stepped towards him.

He was up on his feet in a flash.

She reached for her yo-yo, but he caught her wrist.

“Let go of me.” she snapped.

His other hand went to her face and he rested his forehead against hers.

“Why are you doing this to us?” he whispered.

“I’m not trying to do anything-”

Chat cut her off with a barrage of possessive kisses as he slid his hand up into her hair.

The experience of being with him, infused with the powers of the miraculous, seemed to heighten every sensation.

She was losing herself in him as he grasped a handful of her hair, tugging firmly to expose her neck.

His mouth landed on her pulse, sending electric currents rippling through her body.

“Mine.” he growled against her skin, “Only mine.”

“Chat…” she allowed herself to melt into him for a moment, his mouth at her throat.

Then her eyes flew open in recognition.

She shoved him away.

“HOW DARE YOU-!!!” She tried to slap him but he blocked her swing.

“You need to be honest with him, Bugaboo. He needs to know.”

“You marked me?!?!”

“I’m not sorry! Let him see! You’re with me. You’ve already agreed to that.”

“No-Chat! I agreed to stay.”

He looked as if he’d been slapped.

“Spots off.” she turned to leave.

As her hand reached the door she heard him.

“Mari, wait-”

Right before she felt the sharp pain.

~~~

He hadn’t meant to.
He would never have hurt her.
He only meant to grab her shoulder.
To stop her from walking out the door.

It wasn’t until he saw the blood that he realized he had scratched her.
She let out a cry of surprise.
Her hand went to the claw marks, by the collar of her shirt.

Pulling her fingers away she stared at the fresh blood.
Then her eyes flashed up to him with a look of horror.

Chapter Text

~~~

“Claws In!” Adrien gasped, reaching for her again.

“Don't touch me!” she screamed. She stormed into the bathroom and slammed and locked the door.

Adrien stood outside the bathroom door in agony.

“Mari-I swear I didn’t mean to!” No answer.

“Mari… Please let me help you… what can I do?” he leaned his back against the bathroom door, wanting to be closer to her.

“Jump out of a moving train!” she cried.

He sank down to the floor, his head in his hands.

Minutes passed. Marinette wouldn’t come out of the bathroom and she wouldn’t talk to him.
He could hear her shuffling around once in a while so he knew she hadn’t passed out from blood loss.

Adrien sighed.

“You know… I never got to tell you about everything that happened. With my father.”

Silence.

“It was so hard. Hiding that from you, Milady.
It felt like my world exploded when Hawkmoth’s transformation fell.
I tried so hard not to react.
Not to let you see.
I was so shocked, but also.. just, so ashamed.”

She didn’t respond. He didn’t expect her to. Taking a deep breath, he pushed forward.

“Chat Noir was such an escape from my life, but Adrien Agreste? He had no escape.”
Adrien’s smile of remembrance was twisted in pain.
“The paparazzi used to just sleep outside my apartment waiting for me. I was used to being in the public eye but.. Not like that.

“By the time that summer had ended, Ladybug probably wasn’t thinking about Hawkmoth anymore.
But I was being questioned by the police, giving statement after statement, attending Hawkmoth’s trial.
Because Adrien had to.
The perfect son.”

Adrien's voice was bitter. “And I was so… angry. And you weren’t there. Not that I thought you would be. But damn… I needed you so badly. And I couldn’t tell you.”

He heard some shuffling around from behind the door. He hoped she would hear him.

“Then it got worse because no one had known about my father’s involvement with the Triad. When that stuff started leaking out in the investigation, the government froze all of the company’s assets. All of my family’s business dealings were being investigated. Agreste money had been financing organized crime between Paris and China for decades.

“One day, the DST brought me in for questioning about the 14K triad. I told them the truth: that I didn’t know anything about it.
Then they showed me a video. Security footage of me in different places. At the bank. Leaving the house. Going into the office. My dad had been using me to launder money, make deliveries, oversee triad business. Dealing with affluent Chinese gang members, thinking my father just needed help with translating. By then I’m 18, a legal adult. And they are threatening me with a hefty prison sentence.
Of course, I had no explanation. It’s hard to dispute video evidence.
And with miraculous business, I had a lot of gaps in time that were unaccounted for. Especially with night time patrols.
There was so much evidence stacked against me.
I was furious with my father all over again.
For pulling me into his illegal family business without my knowledge.
He had such little regard for me.
I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that he would use me like that.”

“That’s when the DST gave me a way out. Cooperating with an ongoing investigation between the DST in France and the MSS in China in an attempt to bring down the 14K from the inside. I was already so caught up in it, and I had the Agreste name and legacy. I was their best candidate for undercover work. They offered me a deal. In exchange for my full cooperation, I would have access to the frozen assets and accounts. The Agreste Fashion company would be cleared of corporate fraud charges.

“Most importantly, if I could successfully infiltrate the gang and assist with the identification and apprehension of the key players, my name would be cleared.
So I spent the next two years doing whatever it took to work my way up in the hierarchy of the triad.
I had to.
Because there was a catch to the deal.
If I don’t deliver, I’ll be considered a part of the 14K just as before.
The judicial immunity would cover the original charges and the new ones that I’ve accumulated since.
But if I fail, all of my crimes fall back on me like any other 14K member.
It was a huge risk to win my life back. But for me it wasn’t just about that. I wanted to undo the harm that Hawkmoth... my father... had caused.
All that he put us through, Milady. For so many years.
And that wasn’t even scratching the service of the harm that he’s caused protecting and financing the 14K.

“So now,” he let out a defeated sigh, “we are on our way to meet with the Dragon Leader of the 14K in Beijing, where there will be a large-scale sting operation set up.
And everything depends on me not screwing this up.”

Marinette had cracked the bathroom door. Adrien looked up into her eyes. She was crying.

“Oh Adrien.”

She knelt down and wrapped her arms around him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I needed to trust you. I needed you to trust Adrien. But most of all I wanted to keep you as far out of it as possible, Milady.”

“You know I’m not going to let you do this alone.”

Adrien pushed out of her embrace, taking her face in his hands.
“Look at me, Mari. When it’s time for you to go, I’ll tell you. And you have to go.”

“No…”

He held a finger up to her lips. “You promised me. You swore to stay until I tell you to go. When I know you have a clear out, I’ll make sure you take it.”
He spoke through gritted teeth, “I’m sure Viperion would be happy to help you get out safely if I can’t.”

She hugged his neck.

“He can’t use my jet though. He’ll have to fly coach.”

Marinette burst into the kind of tearful laugh that feels like such a relief after crying.

“How’s your shoulder?”

“It’s ok. I don’t think it will need stitches…”

“Let me see…” He pulled back the towel on her shoulder. “Ah.. Bug… I’m so sorry. I feel awful. Do you want to rope burn me with your yo-yo or something? Would that make you feel better?”

“Tempting…”

“Do you still want me to jump from the train?” He moved to stand, but she grabbed his arm, pulling him back down.

“No…” she laid her head on his shoulder. “I guess not. I’m still furious about this love bite you put on me though.”

“I know. Too far.” he stroked her cheek. “I’m trying to feel sorry. I just want you to talk to Luka about us.”

“He knows. Luka always knows.”

“He’d better.”

~~~

The following morning, the train arrived at the station in Beijing. Marinette relied on Adrien for translating and procuring transportation to the hotel.

“I’m so glad to not be on a train anymore.” she groaned as she set her Louis Vuitton bag on the bed.

“I see that your suitcase has made itself comfortable in our new accommodations.”

“His name is Louie. And he and I are sleeping here. You’ll have to take the floor I guess.”

Adrien set the bags he was carrying down and pulled her into his arms playfully. “I’m afraid not, Mrs. Agreste.” He crashed onto the bed, pulling her with him.
“You’re my wife and you’ll sleep where I sleep.”

Marinette struggled to free herself as Adrien began alternating between kissing her face and tickling her ribs.
“No! Watch out for Louie! You’re going to knock him on the floor!” she gasped between peals of laughter.

“Louie’s gotta’ go. I’m the only one in your bed. Ever.” Adrien was still smiling at her but his green eyes became more serious with desire. His tickling stilled as he rested his hands on her waist.
Marinette pressed closer to him, covering his mouth with hers. Reassuring him.

Yours. .

Adrien’s phone buzzed. He groaned. “We’re invited to dinner tonight with the Vanguard.”
“The Vanguard?”
“Like the second in command. It’s rare. Definitely an honor.”
“Do you want me to go? I could trail you. For backup if needed.”
“No, I don’t want you to go. But I don’t see another option. We can’t refuse this invitation,” he frowned, “You’ll have to come with me. Not as Ladybug. As my wife.”

~~~

The streets of Beijing were already bustling with people as Luka stepped out of his hotel and onto the pavement.

He knew Marinette would be arriving today, but depending on where they were, crossing the city could take hours. He decided that making his way in as far as the 2nd ring road, near the heart of the city, would give him the best vantage point… of course the closer he got to Tiananmen Square, the more congested everything would be with tourists and traffic.
More people seemed to cloud the intuition of the snake miraculous.
That would slow him down.

He hoped for another update on her location.
If only she could be a little bit more precise than “Beijing.”
He sighed.
One of the largest cities in the world.

Even so, he knew that he would find her.

They always found their way back to each other.

~~~

Marinette had convinced Adrien to take her out before tonight’s dinner with the 14K members.
Her purpose in this was multifaceted.
She couldn’t speak or read Chinese well enough to navigate it on her own and even if she could, there was no way he would let her wander the streets of Beijing alone.
Also, she needed a dress for tonight’s dinner and Adrien was happy to lend his credit card and his excellent sense of fashion to the cause.
Maybe it was wrong to be concerned about her outfit at a time like this, but she wanted to make sure she looked the part of Adrien Agreste’s wife.
Anything that she could do to help this plan go more smoothly.
For his sake.
Everything had to go right.
Finally-and this part was risky-she needed to find a place to meet Luka and talk to him about what Adrien had explained about the sting operation. She was even more grateful that Luka had come now that she knew how dangerous Adrien’s mission was.
If things went south, they would at least have 3 miraculous holders available.

Two hours later Ladybug was holed up in a fitting room while Adrien Agreste took her dress to the register to purchase.
She knew where he was taking her next.
She sent the message.

Dong Hua Men Market.

~~~

Luka felt her coming before he glanced around the corner.
He reached out and caught her hand.

“Are you alone?” he asked breathlessly. She glanced over her shoulder, warily.

“No but he’s inside.” She gestured at a store down the street.

He wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m so glad that you’re ok.”

“Thank you for coming.”

“You knew I would.”

He brushed a strand of hair from her face affectionately.
Pausing, when he noticed the mark on her neck.

“Mare..”

She wouldn't meet his eyes.

Grabbing her face, he turned her head to examine the love bite.

“Chat Noir.”

She nodded.

“Did you ask him to..?”

“No-Luka-of course not. I told him to stop-”

“But he didn’t… So that’s a present for me.” he seethed.

His fists clenched as the anger threatened to consume him. He tried to push out the intrusive images of Chat Noir holding Marinette down and marking her with his mouth just to taunt him.

Which is exactly what he wanted to put in your head. He’s not above weaponizing Marinette. Expect it.

Focus on breathing.

Once he was calm again he cleared his throat. “Did he hurt you?”

Marinette shook her head emphatically.

“Promise me, Mare. Don’t protect him.”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s not the same thing.”

“He would never try to hurt me.”

“I know you believe that…”

“Luka, there’s something else… Something I have to do. I can’t go yet.”

He took her hand in his. Pleading. “Mare… don’t do this. Not again. We’re going home-If I don’t see him first.” he added darkly.
He turned to lead her down the alley, but as she glanced back over her shoulder he saw it.

He stopped in his tracks.

“Mare… “ his voice was choked as he pulled on the neckline of her dress, revealing a trail of angry red parallel jagged slashes across her porcelain shoulder.

Claw marks

In disbelief, he traced the lacerations delicately with his fingertips.
She looked up at him, eyes glistening with tears.

“Luka, I know how it looks but it was an accident… He didn’t mean to.”

Luka shook his head. He let out a stream of profanity as tears pricked his eyes.
In response to her own pain.

And his own blinding fury.

“You just told me that he didn’t hurt you…” his voice rumbled like the distant thunder of an approaching storm, “that he would never hurt you…”

“He wouldn’t.. It wasn’t intentional!”

“Which part?!? Which part was unintentional?!? Calling up his transformation? Or were you going to say that he forgot about his claws? He slices with the precision of a surgeon, Mare!”

“Luka…” she was starting to cry. But he blocked out the pain she radiated.

All he wanted to feel was his rage.

“Are you going to tell me that Chat Noir didn’t see you there? He has the best vision of any of us! He can see in the fucking dark! And his eyes are always on you. So I know he didn’t mistake his target! Not even on
Ladybug. On Marinette. On… delicate… Marinette.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “You have to see what’s happening here.”

More power. More destruction.

A forbidding voice answered from the entrance of the alley,

“He’s right about one thing. My eyes are always on you.”

Chapter Text

~~~

“Adrien!” Marinette exclaimed.

Luka reflexively stepped out in front of her.

Adrien held his hand out to Marinette. “It’s time to go, Mari.”

“Your cat’s got rabies, Mare. You think it’s time to put him down?” Luka sneered.

“Luka…” she entreated from over his shoulder.

“Stay out of this, Couffaine. Mari made her choice. I’m sure she wouldn’t want something cataclysmic to happen to you.”

Luka perceived Marinette’s movement behind him. He stepped into her path again.
“Don’t even think about it.” he commanded without looking back at her. “He’s threatening me to get to you. We’re leaving. You aren’t thinking straight. And I’m not sure he even can anymore.”

“What’s your plan, Luka?” Adrien stepped closer with an exasperated sigh, “Are you going to carry her back to Paris?” He glanced over Luka’s shoulder at her. “Mari will honor the commitment that she made to me. And when I release her from that commitment, I’ll return her to you… If she wants to go.”

“I don’t care what kind of commitments you pried from her under duress. She’s not some pawn for you to use, Adrien. No more games. You're done playing with her.”

A cocky grin spread over Adrien’s face. “Oh, I think she rather likes me playing with her… maybe you should ask her about it.”

He could feel it. Adrien’s lust. His pleasure. His arrogance. Radiating across the space between them. He knows that she’ll go with him. His claws are so deep into her.

A burst of blue-green light as Luka suited up. He jerked the ouroboros into position, activating a checkpoint in time.

No unnecessary risks.

Chat Noir’s transformation followed immediately. Leaving him looking somehow more impossibly smug.

“Are we ready to move to more aggressive negotiations?” Chat taunted.

"Marinette’s a non-negotiable." Viperion growled.

"Agreed!" Chat snarled.
Pulling his baton in front of him and spinning it menacingly, he charged Viperion.
Viperion stood his ground preparing to parry the pending attacks.

Mentally, Viperion reviewed the strategies he had been developing for this exact moment since Marinette disappeared last week.

Stay calm.
Focus.
Reset.
He’ll keep coming until he ends you.
Duck.
Reset.
He gets sloppy when he’s angry.
Parry.
Dodge.
Reset.
Jump.
Stay out of reach.
Roll left.
Reset.

Above all: Watch for the southpaw.

You don’t have to destroy him.

He’ll do that himself.

~~~

Marinette watched in horror as two of the most important people in her world attempted to kill each other.
Viperion’s unique ability allowed him to expertly outmaneuver Chat Noir at every turn, but as Chat became more frustrated, his attacks became high-powered and lethal.

“Cataclysm!”
Chat Noir’s face was savage as he reached up, snatching the power of destruction out of thin air and holding it in the palm of his hand, preparing to bring it down on Viperion’s chest.

Without warning, Viperion knelt before Chat Noir as if surrendering, his hand on the miraculous on his wrist.
Marinette was running before she knew that her legs were moving. Her own scream echoed off the walls of the alley, back to her own ears.

“Claws in!”

~~~

Adrien Agreste stumbled backward, staring at his empty palm in a daze before looking back at where Viperion knelt in front of him, smiling peacefully. Not at all like someone who almost got wiped from existence a moment ago.

“You actually thought she would let you do it?" Viperion asked incredulously, "I knew she would drop you.”

“Hey next time you want to play chicken, why don’t you leave your bracelet at home?!?!” Adrien snapped.

Viperion stood turning to Marinette just as she reached them.
"Have you seen enough, Mare? Can we go?"

Humiliated, Adrien whirled on her, “Never do that again!” he bellowed.

“Back off Adrien…” Viperion put a hand up, stepping in between them.

"You were going to kill him!" She spat accusingly.

Adrien didn't deny it. He stood glaring at her, chest heaving.
Marinette’s gaze didn’t waver. Slowly, Adrien seemed to come back to reality.
“We have somewhere to be.” he growled.
She nodded with understanding.

“Give me a minute.” she glanced at Viperion who was currently dropping his transformation.
Adrien turned to go, leaving Marinette standing with Luka.

“I know you're angry, but Adrien needs my help. If I’m not there-”

“Truthfully, I really don’t care what happens to him, Marinette. Everything he’s done, he’s brought on himself.”

“You can’t really think that…”

“He just tried to kill me!” Luka fumed. “And he hurt you. I’m not even sure you see that because he’s got you so twisted. You legitimately have Stockholm Syndrome, Mare! We are not going back for Adrien. We are leaving.”

“I’m sorry Luka.”

“You’re really going with him? After what just happened?”

He saw the look in her eyes. He could feel her determination. He swore, pulling at his hair in frustration before turning back to her.

He shook his head. “I’m not leaving without you.” he vowed.

“Then I need just a little more time. It’s important.”

Luka gently put his hands on her shoulders, looking into those bluebell eyes that he had loved from the first moment. “I can’t make this decision for you. I want to. I want to force this. And I could. But I’m not going to do that. Because, you’ve been through enough. I’ll be close by when you’re ready to go. Or when Chat gets out of line. Whichever happens first.”

“Thank you. That’s what I needed.” she nodded, hugging him quickly before turning back to where Adrien was impatiently waiting. Luka stood planted to the spot, watching her go. When she reached Adrien, he pulled her into his arms, meeting her with a deep kiss. Luka could have sworn Adrien smiled at him before leading her away.

Asshole.

~~~

“You didn’t have to kiss me like that.” Marinette huffed.

“Oh, I most certainly did have to kiss you like that. That guy does not take a hint.”

“He’s worried about me. I get it.”

“It’s my job to worry about you. It always has been, Milady.”

They walked on through the market in silence for a moment. Marinette marveled as they passed a booth selling flash fried scorpions to eager tourists. She grimaced at the live scorpions wriggling on the stick, awaiting the griddle.

Adrien broke the silence. "This is the whole reason I took your miraculous in the first place. To avoid this very thing. Luka showing up here at the worst time. You may have noticed that things are kind of high-stakes for me right now."

"I understand that you're so inconvenienced by the people you hurt,” Marinette's words dripped with sarcasm, “but you do recognize it was never ok for any reason to take my earring. Right?"

"You understand, knowing the full situation, why it was so imperative that he not intervene. Right?" Adrien retorted.

“Viperion is here on miraculous business. Because I asked him to come and I’m the guardian.”

“No… Viperion is here because he worships the ground that you walk on. When you say ‘Jump’ he says, ‘How high?’ and you know I’m not going to do that for you.”

“I know you are not going to respect my authority because it makes you feel emasculated. Yes.”

"While we’re on that subject-I meant what I said back there. That was the second time. Don't you ever call off my miraculous again."

"Maybe you don’t understand this, because you're not the Guardian, but I’m responsible for the miraculous and their holders at all times."

He stepped in front of her. "YOU'RE NOT MY GUARDIAN. YOU DIDN'T CHOOSE ME. YOU DIDN'T GIVE ME MY MIRACULOUS. WE'RE PARTNERS. I DON'T WORK FOR YOU."

“If I’m not your guardian, then why does the black cat obey me?” Marinette asked quietly.

The rest of the walk back to the hotel was silent.

~~~

Chapter Text

~~~

When Marinette came out of the bathroom wearing the red dress he had picked out for her earlier that day, Adrien couldn't breathe.
Her makeup was a little darker than normal, and her hair was curled and falling loosely over her shoulders.
Of course he had picked out the red as a nod to Ladybug.
He already knew it was her color.
But he didn’t realize how breathtaking she would be in the clinging fabric. The slit on the side giving him a peak of her thigh had almost convinced him to blow off the dinner altogether and keep her here in their hotel room.
She twirled to show him the ensemble and he nodded an enthusiastic approval.
She giggled before coming over to him to straighten his tie.

“Is this the part where I say ‘You clean up nice!’?”

“I think we can skip that part. The supermodel status conveys.” he struck a modeling pose to elicit a burst of laughter from her before pulling her into his arms and kissing her cheek.
She was radiant.
Happy.
He could barely take his eyes off of her the whole car ride.

But he also had to focus on the task at hand.
He read street signs. He needed to take note of the locations that the 14K were using for rendezvous points, as well as the names and faces of more recognizable members; some of whom he would certainly see tonight.
As Adrien helped Marinette out of the car, he glanced at their surroundings.
3rd ring road.
North side.
He could tell that they weren’t far from Olympic Park.

The 14K must move freely through Beijing to be out before dark and this far downtown.
He grimaced when he thought of all the akuma that Hawkmoth had released in the lowest arrondissements of Paris.

The heart of the city.

Powerful enough not to hide.

Adrien pulled Marinette close. “Don’t leave my sight. We need to stay together.”

“You and me against the world.” she murmured, taking his arm.

Adrien looked up at the men appearing at the entrance of the building in front of them.
He spoke under his breath to Marinette.

“Ok so… first they’ll send some 49s-”

“49s?”

“Soldiers-to escort us in. They’ll need to check for weapons because-a 438-a Vanguard is here so security will be tight. I’ll point him out to you once we get inside.”

“Where are your train buddies?” She glanced around.

“Yao and Tian didn’t get an invite.” Adrien answered, “They only wanted to see me.”

“Do you have any idea why?”

“No. Yao’s a 426. Red Poles outrank me. So if it was about the drug-run, I would have thought that they would want to see him.”

“Do you have a number?”

“I’m a 415. A White Paper Fan. 415s handle the finances of the organization. So it could be that they want updates on the Paris branch financials. Most of that money continues to be laundered through my father’s company. I protect their interests in France.”

Marinette’s eyes widened but she remained tight-lipped as several men joined them on the walkway and followed them into the building.
Once inside, the 49s patted them both down for weapons before escorting them into a great room filled with people.
14K triad members.
Adrien and Marinette were led to a long table covered in a white tablecloth.
They took their seats as other members filtered into the room mingling with each other, laughing, and talking. It looked like your average dinner party.

Like one his father would have hosted.

He rested an arm on the back of Marinette’s chair leaning in closely. “There’s the Vanguard. He nodded to a man standing off in a corner. There were people gathered around him but the presence of 426s flanking him for extra security was the subtle clue to his station.
“I recognize his face,” Adrien took a sip from his water glass, ”Zhen Bao. I thought he was a 438 but I couldn’t prove it until now.”
He filed away the useful information.
Just then a hush seemed to fall over the room as diners took their seats.

A group of 426s filed in. More than Adrien had ever seen in one place. An extravagant security detail of highly trained military officers.
His jaw dropped.
“489. The Dragon Leader.”
He swore under his breath trying to keep his composure.

“You brought us to a dinner with the Dragon Leader?!?” Marinette gasped.

Adrien shushed her. “I didn’t know he was going to be here!” he hissed.
He craned his neck to try to catch a glimpse of the leader’s face.
The whole room seemed to feel it when he entered. Adrien’s eyes widened in recognition.
He had met this man once before.
Years ago, working at his father’s office.

The Dragon Leader knew his father.

“Do you know him?” Marinette read the look on Adrien’s face.
He nodded. “Kang Min.”
Adrien was thrilled to have positive IDs on the two highest members of the 14K and an address for a safe house the triad was using to conduct business.
If everything went well tomorrow, he would finally be free.
Marinette’s vice grip on Adrien’s knee from under the table brought him back to the present with a jolt.

He’s coming this way.

Adrien stood from his seat. He bowed out of respect,
“Min xiānshēng,” he addressed the middle-aged Chinese man standing before them.

Kang Min looked like a force to be reckoned with.
His face was hardened in a way that sent shivers down Adrien’s spine.
He was even scarier than Adrien remembered as a teenager.

Kang returned Adrien’s bow with a nod. “Greetings Mr. Agreste. I'm thankful that you were able to join us tonight."
"It's our pleasure to have been invited, Sir. I was not expecting the honor of your presence." Adrien cringed inwardly at hearing himself using stiff formalities that reminded him of his father.

"And who is this…?"

Adrien did not care for the way the dragon leader leered at Marinette. He put a protective arm around her shoulders, pulling her up from her seat.

"My wife, Marinette."

Kang Min took Marinette’s hand, kissing it in a way that clearly made Marinette uncomfortable.
"So nice to make your acquaintance, Marinette. What a beautiful and exotic name. Like a rare treat."
Adrien clenched his fists. Kang hadn't released her hand.

“She doesn’t speak Mandarin.” Adrien switched to French.

"I see," the Dragon Leader switched seamlessly to French. "No matter, I'm familiar with the French tongue... How are you enjoying Beijing, Marinette?"

"It's been lovely, thank you.'

"Have you been to see the Forbidden City yet?"

"No… I haven't had the pleasure." Glancing with uncertainty at Adrien.

"We'll go after dinner. It would be my pleasure to show you everything."

"Thank you, Min xiānshēng.” she bowed.

Kang Min waved his hand and a place setting and plates of food were brought to him. He took his seat right across from Adrien and Marinette.
Adrien gave Marinette a very concerned serious look.
She squeezed his hand under the table.

We'll figure it out.

“Some wine for the Agrestes!” Kang ordered.
Once everyone had full glasses of wine, Kang stood to propose a toast. “To a true son in the triad, Adrien Agreste. Your father has been a loyal friend to me, and to the 14K. And you have proven yourself worthy by rooting out traitors in the Paris branch, continuing to shelter the triad under the Agreste umbrella, single handedly taking on the members of Sun Yee On in Moscow, and tonight… you bring us the beautiful Marinette. To Adrien Agreste.”

Adrien was blushing at this toast, unused to recognition and also very uncomfortable with how successfully duplicitous he had been over the last two years.

Dinner went on very well.

Too well.

Adrien almost forgot that he was incredibly unlucky.

~~~

An hour later, Adrien and Marinette followed Kang Min into the Forbidden City, accompanied by the Vanguard and a small troop of 426s.

Adrien grabbed her hand, squeezing tightly.

Reassuring her.

Or himself.

Kang Min walked through the Forbidden City as if he had been one of the Emperors who had lived there. He took time pointing out different architectural aspects of the city.

When the group reached the gardens, Kang turned to address Marinette.

“These gardens are some of my favorite in the world. Almost as beautiful as my company. Walk with me?”

Adrien’s eyes flashed from the Dragon Leader to Marinette but as he moved to follow them he was blocked by bodyguards.

Don’t do anything brash.

Marinette looked back sharply at Adrien. Who nodded encouragingly, giving her a half smile.

It’s ok. I’m right here. This is fine.

~~~

Adrien was not fine.

He was trying to look fine.

But that always made him look like he was in pain.

His smile looked painful.

As Marinette took Kang Min’s arm and he escorted her away from Adrien, she began to feel very uneasy.

Don’t blow this.

She didn’t know if she was setting that intention for herself or putting it out into the universe for Adrien.

Kang was taking powerful strides down the garden walkway, pointing out delicate blooms and unique features. Marinette tried to focus on the smell of the wisteria blowing through the garden.
They came to a stop at a railing overlooking a beautiful koi pond.

Marinette lifted her head again to check on Adrien.
He was still standing at the entrance to the garden-directly in front of them-guards at his shoulders.
Close enough to see, but just out of earshot.

Kang stepped closer to her and Marinette felt alarm bells going off in her head.

The Dragon Leader reached up and brushed some of Marinette’s curls back from her shoulder. His fingertips lingered on her skin.
He touched the mark that Adrien had left on her neck, tracing down to the start of the scratch marks on her back.

Marinette flinched at his touch.

She looked up to see that Adrien was watching intently.

He looked afraid.

She vaguely wondered if he was afraid for her or afraid for what he might do as a result.

“Your husband is rough with you.” Kang murmured, “Does he beat you?”

Marinette was too shocked to speak but shook her head emphatically.

“Loyalty is an honorable quality. When it is not misplaced,” he touched her cheek affectionately.

He flicked his hand towards Adrien and two of his guards grabbed each of Adrien’s arms.

Marinette’s eyes grew wide with panic.
She wasn’t reassured at all to see the same wide-eyed panic reflected back at her in Adrien’s eyes.

But he didn’t struggle.

The Dragon Leader leaned in close to Marinette’s ear. “Shall I kill him for you?”

Marinette shook her head vigorously. “No! No.”

Kang smiled at her.

“Even the most powerful men have weaknesses. Adrien’s weakness is written all over his face when he looks at you.”

Marinette saw Adrien’s expression.

She knew that look.

His eyes were focused intently on her.

He was fidgeting with the ring on his right hand.

She held up her hand in the slightest gesture to stop him.

Don’t. Not yet. Don’t throw everything away.

“Your husband is a powerful man, Marinette.” Kang continued oblivious to just how powerful Adrien could be with two words, “Watch how I can make him squirm…”

Kang brushed his lips against Marinette’s back, then shoulder.

Marinette gripped the railing in front of her so tightly, fighting the urge to react.

Adrien's face was wild.

Emotion flickering in his eyes.

He jerked towards her but the guards around him held his arms fast.

She could feel Kang’s mouth on the nape of her neck.

Her eyes remained locked on Adrien.

His whole body was quivering.

He wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

He would lose everything.

“Why are you doing this?” her voice came out like a whisper.

“Adrien is young and inexperienced, but successful. Men like this become arrogant. He needs to know that no one is outside of my reach. No one is untouchable. Not to me.” Kang wrapped an arm around her waist.
“As my… friend, you fall under my protection. If your husband lifts a hand to you again, he will be dealt with.”

She nodded.

Marinette focused on Adrien’s eyes.

She touched her hand to her earring.

I can take care of myself if it comes to that.

She tried to reassure him.

But by the look on his face, Adrien wasn’t thinking anymore.

He was almost feral.

He opened his mouth and Marinette knew the words that she would hear next:

“Oh! Shit! I’m terribly sorry, man!”

Someone collided with them, speaking English and knocking her out of Kang’s unwanted embrace.
The intruder was steadying her with his hands on her shoulders.
He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up.

“You all right, Miss?”

She knew that voice.

She looked up to see Viperion’s mask looking back at her from under his hood. His eyes were concerned, searching her face.

She smiled. “I’m fine. Thank you. Thank you for checking on me.”

Luka looked back again at the Dragon Leader.

“So sorry again, buddy! Trying to live stream and forgot to watch where I was going!” he guffawed.

“I’m tired,” Marinette tried to smile, “It’s been such a long day.”
She began walking back towards the entrance and the Dragon Leader, somewhat ruffled, followed her.

~~~
15 minutes ago
Luka felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck when he entered the courtyard of the Forbidden City with a group of American tourists. He had been following Adrien and Marinette here from a distance, and was growing increasingly concerned as he watched them walk over the bridge into the Forbidden City, surrounded by guards.

What are you mixed up in, Adrien?

Now that he was inside, he felt an energy signature that he was quite familiar with.

A hungry desperation.

Insatiable.

Chat Noir’s feelings towards Ladybug which he reverberated into the air surrounding him periodically in battle.

Luka could feel traces of it now. He was close.
Relying on his miraculous.
Listening.
It reverberated off of the courtyard walls like sound waves.
If he followed the whispers of energy he knew he would find them both.

5 minutes ago
As he neared the gardens, the feelings intensified.
Thinking quickly, Luka stepped behind some bushes, dropping his jeans and pulling off his hoodie as he called up his suit.
Then just as quickly yanking the clothes back on over Viperion’s suit.
There.
Incognito.

“Second Chance.” he muttered to himself as he set his miraculous to this moment.

Then he felt Adrien’s agony.

Even taking into account Chat Noir’s flair for dramatics, he knew Ladybug was in trouble.

Please don’t be too late.

When Luka rounded the hedge, he froze.
His eyes frantically scanning the scene and trying to develop a narrative.

Read the room, Luka,

He could see Adrien being restrained by some men.
But by the look on his face that wouldn’t last much longer.
He would burst into Chat Noir any second.

Which means..

Following Adrien’s line of sight, Luka saw Marinette.
The man that they had walked in with was touching her.
Viperion’s fists clenched.
He was having a visceral reaction.

Breathe.
Focus.
We’re book-ended by second chance now.
Everything before this moment is already set in stone.
You can’t undo it.
But everything in front of you flows like water.
Just change the flow and you can help Marinette.

She wasn’t reacting.
Why?
Why weren’t they transforming or even fighting at all?
Viperion took a deep breath.

Ok enough looking for clues.

Now it’s trial and error.

Time to run a few plays.

~~~
On his first attempt, purely a gut reaction, Vi marched up to the creep and cold-cocked him.
It felt good but Marinette and Adrien both looked horrified and the men with them started shooting.
A bullet tore into Viperion’s leg.
He could do better.

Reset.

On the second attempt, Viperion let the clock run almost all the way out to make sure he even needed to get involved.
But Adrien could only hold out another minute before Chat Noir burst into the garden like a ferocious animal.
This way was ludicrously effective, but ended in a bloodbath and seemed to really upset Marinette as well.
Ok, so one minute to claws out if he’s not distracted.

Reset.

By the sixth attempt, Viperion had picked up on the importance of the interaction.
It was top priority not to ruin relations with this scumbag.
For some reason.
He seemed to be of some importance.

So… don’t kill him.

Shit.

Reset.

By the ninth attempt, Viperion took a play off to observe again.
He could gather from various body language and facial expressions that Adrien was being tested.

Or tortured.

Either way it was Adrien’s fate in the balance.

Of course it was.

Why else would Marinette allow that bastard to put his mouth all over her?

She could tear this guy apart but she wouldn’t.

Not if it would bring harm to Adrien.

Viperion was furious.

Reset.

Tenth attempt.
Viperion was feeling apathetic.
He approached Adrien.

“I don’t know how, but I know this is all your fault!”

He punched Adrien.
Briefly satisfying.

Still ended with Chat Noir.

And gunfire.
Reset.

Eleventh attempt.
He charges through, grabbing Marinette by the arm and pulling her with him.
Abandoning Adrien to his most likely well-deserved fate.
Marinette won’t leave without him.
She tries to go back.
Viperion gets shot in the arm protecting her.

Reset.

Fourteenth attempt.
Viperion was getting tired.
And he was sick from watching the replay of Marinette being sexually harassed by what he gathered was some sort of crime lord.
That’s when an unconventional idea came to him.
He pulled out his cell phone and put on an American accent.

Clumsy tourist. So simple.

Success.
~~~

Chapter Text

~~~

Marinette and Adrien didn’t speak as they were led back to the Dragon Leader’s personal vehicle. Adrien’s head was spinning. He wanted to reach out and take Mari’s hand, but he didn’t dare.
Whatever kind of power trip Kang Min was on, he was obviously well aware that he could use Marinette to get to Adrien.
It had been such an obvious liability to bring her here. How did he not see it coming?
Adrien had tried so hard not to lose his composure, but watching that man with Mari-even the memory was dumping adrenaline into his system.

Before getting into the car, Kang Min stopped, turning to Adrien and Marinette.
“I’m sorry that the gardens were so crowded tonight, Marinette. I would have preferred a little more privacy. It’s a shame that you’re feeling so tired. I would have loved to show you around the city some more.”

Normally, Adrien would have felt angry, possessive, jealous.

This was different.

A powerlessness he hadn’t felt since…

His father.

The very staggering realization that somebody in authority could remove the things or people that you care about.

He fought within himself over his instinct to feign indifference.

Don’t let him think he’s won.

Don’t let him see that he got to you.

But all of Adrien’s bravado was a thinly veiled attempt. He felt like Kang Min could see right through him.

Turning to Adrien, Kang added, “But, since we have an open evening, I’ve decided to transfer the Beijing shipment tonight. There’s no need to wait for tomorrow night. Tell your men to meet us at the train yard at 10pm.”

Adrien’s expression went blank.

Kang met his gaze.
Sizing him up.
Challenging him.
Moving the shipment up a night without warning would disrupt the entire sting operation. There was no way that Adrien could get word to the MSS and get the manpower needed in time to rearrange everything in a couple of hours. He felt his heart pounding in his chest.

Everything is falling apart.

Marinette glanced at him, reading the problem written on his face.
Adrien couldn’t think through his panic.
Kang Min was watching him. Gauging his reaction.

He knows. He has to know. Why else would he change the drop-off at the last minute?

That’s when Marinette spoke.

“I’m actually feeling a little better. I had wanted to see more of the Beijing nightlife tonight, if the offer still stands? Maybe you could even accompany me tomorrow to the Temple of Heaven? I’ve always wanted to see it. You gave such an… interesting tour today. I would love your perspective and I’m not in a hurry for our trip to Beijing to be over. There’s still so much I haven’t seen.” She spoke so sweetly that it took Adrien off guard.

What is she doing?

At this proposal, Kang’s mood seemed to shift.
“How could I refuse such a request?” he smiled at Marinette before turning back to Adrien.
“Very well. The drop off will remain on schedule. I’m sure Adrien won’t mind leaving you in my care. Just for safe-keeping until our business is completed tomorrow.”

Adrien stilled at this.
He understood the implication.
He would have Marinette back once everything has gone smoothly.

He must suspect me. How could he know?

Marinette was doing her best to check her facial expression, but Adrien could see the fear in her eyes as well.
There would be no arguing with the Dragon Leader.
To argue with the 489 would not help his case.
It might be the end of him.

“Come along, Marinette.” Kang held a hand out beckoning to Mari.
Adrien clenched his fist in an effort to keep his hands from trembling.
Marinette wrapped her arms around Adrien.
She could hear him taking gasping breaths, hidden in her hair.
Trying not to lose control.
“Shh… It’s ok. Adrien it’s ok.” She pulled away enough to touch her earring, “I’ll be fine.”
She kissed his cheek.
“I’ll buy you some time.” She whispered, “Get Luka. He’ll help.”
Then she turned, giving him one last glimpse of that devastating red dress, before taking Kang Min’s hand as he helped her into the vehicle.

Worst night ever.

~~~

When Adrien opened the door to his hotel room, a very pissed off Viperion stood leaning against the doorframe, wearing his hooded sweatshirt again. He held up his ouroboros wristband at Adrien’s eye level.
“Second Chance.” he muttered, activating his power.

“I’m not trying to fight you.” he walked away, leaving the door open for Viperion to come in.

“Where’s Mare?” Viperion glanced around the hotel room, dropping his transformation.

“That’s why you’re here.”

“Adrien-”

“The Dragon Leader has Marinette.”

“What, that creepy mob boss? What do you mean he has her?!?” Luka snatched Adrien by his shirt. “You let him take her?!? After what happened today?”

Adrien pushed him away. “No I didn’t LET him take her,” he sighed, “there was nothing I could do about it at the time.”

Luka gave an expression of mock surprise. “WHAA-REALLY? DID YOU TRY A CATACLYSM?”

“I can’t do it that way this time. She offered to go with him-”

“For you, obviously,” Luka sank to the couch, “Everything’s always for you. Tell me why?”

“It’s a complicated situation-”

“No it’s not. Go get her. Don’t come back without her.”

As Luka sat on the couch, fuming, Adrien paced back and forth in front of him, filling him in on everything.
The charges that he was facing for his involvement with the 14K triad.
The deal he made to work undercover as an informant with the DST and the MSS.
The consequences if it fails.
The bust set up for tomorrow.
His fear that Kang Min had grown suspicious.
Marinette being held as a surety.

Luka listened quietly, taking it all in with a surprisingly passive expression.

“I won’t be able to get away from the drop off tomorrow,” Adrien concluded, “He’s not going to let me near her, unless things go smoothly. And they won’t.
Once he knows for sure that I’ve betrayed the gang-
But that’s where you come in. You could get in.
As soon as the feds arrive. To make sure she can get out.”

Luka sat back on the couch, covering his face with his hands.

He swore.

A few times.

Then he stood up, moving towards the door. “Yeah you really fucked up, Adrien.”

“I know-”

“No you don’t,” he wheeled around to face him, “Marinette has always been on your side. Over and over, I’ve watched you take advantage of her compassion for you.
But I don’t have that same compassion.”

“I know you’re not going to leave her with him, Luka…”

“Leave her with him?
Like I left her with you?
She’s Ladybug! She can make her own choices. And she has. She went to him. For you. Who knows what extremes she’s willing to go to just to save your ass?!?
What extremes she may be going to right now for you?!?”

“Luka-don’t even say that-”

“It’s urgent now, because it’s what you want, Adrien. It’s always what you want.
But what about when I was urgent, because I couldn’t find Marinette, and you wouldn’t even let her speak to me?”

Adrien's eyes dropped. It was true. Asking for Luka’s help now was unfair.

“What can I do?”, Adrien shrugged helplessly, “If I’m not there tomorrow, the whole mission is blown! All the undercover work. Kang Min will know I was a spy! I can’t be in two places at once. I can’t make sure that Marinette gets out safely and bust the 14K triad.”

“You’re right. You can’t help Ladybug and win the ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card.” Luka sneered. “You’re going to have to choose.”

Adrien stared at him. “You know what I’ll always choose if it really comes down to that.”

“I do. But I still think it’s fitting that you have to lose something.”

"You really won't help me?" Adrien asked in disbelief.

Luka put a hand on the door.
“Everyone else has had to live with the consequences of your decisions, Adrien.
Are you surprised that you have to?”

As Luka turned to go, Adrien tried one last time.

“Luka. Wait.” He let out a sigh of defeat, “What do you want?”

~~~

Chapter Text

~~~

“What do I want?" Luka repeated, "You mean what would make it worth it to me to put my life on the line to do you a favor?”

Adrien nodded, reluctantly.

“I think I can think of a few things.”

“Fine. Name your price.”

“I don’t need your money, Agreste. My daddy’s got a private jet too.” Luka jeered.

“Then what?”

“First of all, you’re going to start treating me with the respect that I deserve-which hasn’t been happening. Stop trying to kill me, fight me, taunt me-all of it.”

“Ok, I can do that.” Adrien agreed.

“There’s more.”

Adrien sighed.

“I want you to beg.”

“What?"

"You heard me. I can be petty too. Beg. For my forgiveness. And my help.”

"No.”

Luka turned towards the door.

“Fine! Ok!” Adrien sighed, “Please help me-”

“On your knees.” Luka specified.

“Fuck you.” Adrien spat.

“Suit yourself.”

A muscle in Adrien’s jaw flexed.

“No, literally,” Luka smirked, “Suit up.”

“What?”

“Not as Adrien. As Chat Noir.”

“You really want me to suit up right now-”

“I really do. I want Chat Noir to grovel.”

“Luka…” he sighed.

“Have a nice life, Adrien.” Luka sang as he took a step towards the door.

“You can’t be serious!”

“Enjoy prison!” Luka called back over his shoulder.

Adrien hit his knees in a flash of green light that brought Luka a wicked amount of pleasure. As cruel as it was, he allowed himself to savor the moment.

"What do you want me to say, Luka?” Chat Noir yielded. “I fucked up! I know. I hurt Mari. I've been selfish… I shouldn't have tried to kill you-I've been really stressed. Now I really need help getting out of this situation and as much as I hate it, Viperion is the only one that can help me with this right now."

"And you don't deserve it." Luka stared at him.

"And I don't deserve your help."

"And you don't deserve Marinette." he added.

"Fine. I know. I don't deserve Marinette."

Luka didn’t move. Considering Chat’s confession.

Chat’s eyes never left Luka’s as he grimaced up at him before slowly, painfully, lowering his palms to the ground. “Please.”

After a moment, Luka took a deep breath.
"I want you to remember this moment, Chat.
I hope you never forget where all of the selfishness, and the lies, and using people left you.
At my mercy.
And I’ll have mercy on you this once, for Mare's sake.
Never again."

As Luka opened the door to leave, he paused in the doorway.
“Oh-and tomorrow, when Mare and I are clear of all this shit you dragged us into-we’re out. Whatever influence you have over her-that’s done. I can take it from here.”

He slammed the door behind him, leaving Chat Noir on his hands and knees.

~~~

Marinette would never have imagined that being in a gang would be so fun.

Granted, she didn’t have the experience that Adrien had.

But she was genuinely smiling as she looked around the crowded karaoke bar. The lights were flashing blues and reds while the large projector screen played music videos on the wall.
Kang Min turned to her, passing her a bottle of beer. “Will you grace us with another stunning performance, Mrs. Agreste?” he smiled.
Marinette took a sip from her bottle as she poked at some sort of dried fish on the tray of food in front of them.

A whole fish seems like a strange snack…

She laughed, “I don’t know-I think the Vanguard is doing a great job!”
Kang glanced over at his second-in-command officer who was belting out a chorus in Chinese to the pleasure of the audience.
He held up his bottle to Marinette’s clinking them together.
“To the triad!” He smiled.
Marinette nodded.

Sometime after midnight, Kang Min was showing Marinette to her room in his extravagant mansion. No doubt financed by the gang’s activity.
He stopped outside the door.

“Thank you for the pleasure of your company, Marinette. I look forward to tomorrow.”

“The Temple of Heaven?” Marinette asked.

“Of course,” he put a firm hand on her shoulder, leaning down to look into her eyes intently, “And a successful transfer of the Beijing shipment. No… hiccups.”

“Right.” Marinette attempted to nod convincingly.

“I certainly hope for your sake Marinette, that your loyalty to your husband is not misplaced. Or tomorrow evening will be a lot less… enjoyable for you.”

Marinette swallowed.

The Dragon Leader leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “Goodnight, Marinette.”
Then he turned, leaving her standing alone in the hallway.

Stepping inside her room, Marinette slipped her heels off, sighing in relief.
Not just about being out of the painful shoes.
About buying Adrien the time he needed to finish the job.
She only hoped he would be successful.

If anything went wrong… she shuddered to think what Kang Min would do to both of them.

~~~

Viperion waited until the Dragon Leader disappeared around the corner before going to Marinette’s room.
He tapped lightly.
A moment later she opened the door, looking shocked to see him.
Grabbing his arm and pulling him into the room, she quickly shut the door.

“What are you doing here?!?”

“Do you really need me to answer that?” he said, pulling her into a hug.

“Is Adrien ok?”

“Are you?” he countered.

“I’m fine. I was worried that he wouldn’t ask for your help.”

“Practically begged.” Viperion smiled smugly.

“So he explained everything to you?” she asked as she walked to the bathroom ensuite.

Viperion followed. “Yeah, he explained enough. And as you can guess I wasn’t thrilled to learn the details. He’s put you in a very bad situation, Mare. He wasn’t thinking at all. The 14K is widespread. Even in Paris. These aren’t people you wanna’ piss off. Any trouble here could easily follow us home.”

Marinette pulled an unopened toothbrush from a drawer in the vanity and began brushing her teeth.

“Are you listening to me?” he leaned against the bathroom doorway, for the first time fully appreciating the sexy red gown that she was wearing.

“You look.. Wow…” he stared.

Marinette spit her toothpaste and smiled at him with white suds around the edges of her mouth.
As she approached him, Viperion didn’t move. She stopped in front of him, looking up into his eyes, questioning.

“You, uh..” he cleared his throat, “you’ve got…” he lifted his hand to her face, brushing the white smear of toothpaste off of her lip with his thumb. “There.” he smiled. His hand froze, still tilting her face up to him.

“Vi…?” Marinette asked, looking into his eyes.

“Yeah..” he breathed.

Suddenly, remembering himself, his hand dropped down to his side as if burned, and he moved from the doorway. Marinette stepped past him, glancing around the room with a perturbed look.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“No pajamas.” she frowned.

“Scales, rest.” Luka muttered. He glanced down at his black Jagged Stone band t-shirt. It was snug on him but it would do fine, he determined. He shrugged out of it, offering it to her.

“Thank you. Would you..?”
She motioned to the zipper on the back of her dress.

Luka’s brain short-circuited.

“Oh sure, sure.”

As he pulled the zipper down her back, he realized that he was holding his breath.

Her skin is so perfect…

Then he saw the fading claw marks on her shoulder as the sleeve of the dress slid.
His fingers brushed over the cuts. They hadn’t been able to finish their conversation about this since he first saw her in the alley at the market.
Right before Adrien intervened.

She seemed to guess at his thoughts.

“I see all that he could be…”

“So do I.” Luka interrupted darkly.

Turning away to give her privacy, he tried not to think about her wearing just his t-shirt to bed.

The t-shirt he is never washing again.

“I know that you don’t like him. It means a lot to me that you would help him anyway.” spoke from behind him. He heard her climbing into the bed and he turned around.

Yes. Mare laying in bed wearing just his t-shirt looked exactly as good as he was trying not to imagine…

“I’m not helping him. I’m helping you get out. Out of whatever this whole mess is with him.”

“And we will. As soon as it’s time.”

“11am.” he answered, “When they meet at the train yard tomorrow.”

“I want us to be there to help, just in case he needs us.” She looked at him.

“That’s not the deal.”

“What deal?” she questioned.

“I agreed to help on my terms. And my terms are that you and I are leaving. If things go bad, we are not going to be caught in the crossfire.” Luka replied firmly.

“But Adrien-”

Luka held his hands up as if to stop her. “I hope Adrien’s stuff all works out for him. But we aren’t staying around to find out.”

“Luka, I can’t leave him.”

He sighed. “I promised myself I wouldn’t lie to you, Mare. So I’m telling you now that’s exactly what we are doing. He’s already agreed to that.”

“He has?” she seemed caught off guard by this information.

“Yes. It’s best for everyone.” he sat down on the end of her bed.

“Except Adrien.” she mumbled.

“Adrien will be able to focus without having to worry about your safety. That’s what’s best for him.”

“But Ladybug could help. You could help.” she tried to persuade.

“This is how I’m helping. He sent me to make sure you get home safe. That’s what I’m willing to do.”

“You mean that’s all you were willing to do.” she said bitterly.

Luka didn’t answer as he edged up the bed to sit back against the headboard next to her. He put an arm around her, pulling her to his chest. Her hand resting against his skin was so comforting, he felt like he could lay like that forever, just holding her.

“I know how much he means to you… both of him.” Luka’s brow furrowed in thought.

“You don’t-” she started, choking up.

“No-I’m telling you. I do. I can feel it, Mare. I can feel everything. Whether I want to or not. It’s the miraculous. I know you don’t see that but you know by now that you can trust my intuition. I’ve known for a while now.”

“What are you saying?” she pushed up off of his chest to look into his eyes.

“I think… I am becoming more and more sure… that the miraculous are seeping into the holders. The longer we’re exposed, the more crossover that there is.”

Marinette’s eyes searched his face. Trying to understand.

“For me, it’s like my intuition intensifies. Not just about what’s going on around me, but about the people around me. Like an empathy that I can’t turn off.”
Luka put a hand to her face. “When I touch you.. It’s like it bleeds into me. I feel your denial. You were probably starting to suspect, but you didn’t want to believe it…”
He rested his forehead against hers. “Your grief. Maybe you know what it means… and you’re worried about him.”

Marinette pushed away from him with wide eyes. Standing, she backed away from the bed where he was sitting.

“It’s still blurry now, but it gets clearer every day, Mare. I know that you know what I’m talking about. The miraculous are poisoning us.”

She shook her head, but her eyes betrayed her.

He stood up, “You’re going to try to tell me that I’m imagining it? Like I imagined what you felt in the doorway a few minutes ago?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about-”

He stepped towards her. “Desire, Mare! I thought I felt it in the air and then I touched you and I knew-” he broke off, “I knew you were thinking of me… I felt your guilt about it too.” he looked away, remembering.

“Those are your feelings, Luka. Not mine!”

He closed the space between them in a few steps, peering down into her eyes. Lifting his hand, he hesitated a moment, debating with himself, before he finally put his hand to her cheek, as he had done earlier. Again, he rested his forehead to hers, his eyes closed.

A surge of warmth. Luka felt himself soaking it up from every point of contact. He was aware of her breath on his face. Her racing heartbeat.

“These feelings…” he whispered, “are not only mine.”

“Luka…”

He tilted her mouth up towards him, “Tell me that I’m lying.” he challenged. A new sensation bled over.

Fear.

“What are you afraid of…?” he murmured against the corner of her mouth.

Marinette’s eyes shot open as she pushed away from him.

“I believe you.” she said.

Chapter Text

~~~

“Second Chance!” Marinette exclaimed.

“What?”

“Say the-do your power!”

“You do realize I’m not Viperion right now?” he pursed his lips.

“You need to undo it!”

“What are you talking about, Mare?”

Luka Couffaine.
Rockstar guitarist from Kitty Section Luka Couffaine.
Superhero Viperion Luka Couffaine.
Childhood friend Luka Couffaine.

Is standing in my bedroom.
Without a shirt on.
And he just tried to kiss me.
And he’s in my head somehow.

Luka was staring at her, arms crossed, brow furrowed, waiting for her to speak.

“You tried to kiss me.” She reported.

He didn’t respond, he just watched her. Trying to read her no doubt.

“Adrien-” she started.

“Is that what you’re afraid of?” he scowled, “You’re afraid of what Adrien might do?”

“No!” Marinette put a palm to her forehead, “… and yes!”

Luka raked his hands through his hair letting out an exasperated sigh. “I would never let him hurt you again! It kills me that he ever had the chance-”

“I’m not afraid for myself! I’m afraid for him. What he’s doing is very important and I don’t want to make anything harder for him right now. He needs me. You understand, right? If you can really feel my feelings… his feelings… you know how much he needs me right now. I can’t do this to him.”

“So you’re saying… the timing isn’t right… for Adrien?” he said flatly.

She nodded. Her eyes glimmering with the threat of tears.

He stalked towards her.
“For once, can you forget about what Adrien needs? Everything has been about him!
What do you need?
What do you want, Mare?”

He took her face in his hands forcing her to meet his fiercely passionate gaze.

Marinette felt her pulse racing at the proximity. Her tongue ran over lips involuntarily. Trying to gather her thoughts. To form cohesive sentences. To give him any kind of answer. He deserved an answer.

He seemed to grow impatient at her hesitation.

“You know what the worst part of it is? I do know what you want. I can feel how badly you want this,” he whispered on her lips, “Even if you won’t admit it-”

He crushed his mouth to hers with the desperation of years of caution being thrown to the wind.
Marinette found herself being swept up into his kiss. Into Luka.
Into late nights listening to him strum guitar. Into walks through crowded Parisian streets hand in hand. Into countless battles knowing who was really behind his mask. Knowing and truly being known by her closest friend. Stripped of all pretenses. Nothing hidden.

“Don’t…” Marinette cried, pulling away..

Luka’s hands dropped immediately. He stood before her breathing raggedly.

“Oh…” he frowned as if an idea was just occurring to him, “the fear…it’s not just Adrien. It’s me… You’re afraid of me.”

“Luka…”

“No-I think I can guess why. There’s always been this honesty between us.
I could unmask you in every sense of the word before, but you were never fearful of me.
But now, when I touch you, you’re left completely defenseless. Vulnerable.” He shook his head, “Adrien can’t make you feel that exposed.”

Marinette had no words. She wanted to be able to comfort him. Or to tell him that wasn’t true. She wanted to be able to give him the love that he deserved. Instead all she could do was stand there with her arms wrapped around herself protectively. So afraid to let him in. Because letting him in at all was letting him into every part of herself. An intimacy that frightened and fascinated her simultaneously.

“It’s fine. I get it.” Luka took a deep breath. “I wish…” he started to unlatch the window, pushing it up. “I wish that things were different… I never meant to make you uncomfortable.”

He called up his transformation and Marinette envied the sliver of privacy that his mask provided him, “I’ll uh.. I’ll be close by tomorrow if you need me. I’ll come get you when it’s time to go.”

Then Viperion slipped out into the night.

~~~

Viperion was cursing himself the whole way back to his hotel.

If there was any reason on earth for a man to have the ability to undo the last 5 minutes…

That was it. And he wasn’t suited up for it.
He should have run a few practice rounds of shooting his shot as Viperion.
What was he thinking?

Of course the timing was a poor choice. If he hadn’t been so caught off guard by her own feelings…
A piece of the puzzle that he never would have had without the miraculous’ influence-He wouldn’t have gone for it.

But he did know now.
She felt something for him.
Not just a friendly something.
That kiss was a truth expressed between them.

He felt a heat build up in his body at the memory of her desire for him.

She wasn’t about to tell him. He never would have known.

But this was good, right?
No need for secrets.
Maybe she wasn’t ready to confess her feelings.
His ability allowed him to remove that barrier.
Luka was well aware that he was not impartial in the decision of who Marinette should be with.
But if someone could look at it objectively, if she could look at it objectively, wouldn’t she see that he was better for her than Chat Noir?

~~~

As Marinette drifted into consciousness the following morning, the first thing she became aware of was the familiar scent of Luka’s cologne. She loved that smell. She loved being close to Luka. The comfort and the warmth that he always brought.
Her eyes flew open.
Luka.
Luka had kissed her.
She had kissed him back.
She was wearing his t-shirt.
Then she had rejected him.

She groaned.

More was coming back to her. What Luka had said...

The miraculous are poisoning us.

The way he had known her mind…

He was right-She had been afraid of him.

Which, of course he now knows.
He knows all the things she’s been feeling for him.
The things she didn’t want him to know.

When Marinette got up, she realized that breakfast had been laid out for her as well as a bag of toiletries and some new clothes. Apparently the 489 was a very considerate host.
By the time she was ready for her day, there was a knock at the door.
She was led to the car waiting at the front door, where she saw the Dragon Leader himself.
“Marinette,” he smiled, “Good morning. You slept well, I trust?”

Marinette did her best to extinguish the anxiety that she felt about today. She was worried for Adrien. She hadn’t even had time to see past that to how Adrien’s failure today might impact her. Kang Min was being very pleasant, but he would not be treating Marinette so kindly if he knew that Adrien had set him up…

She glanced out the window. Vi was out there somewhere. He would be following her today. She felt a little safer knowing that she had back up, but she hated that Adrien didn’t.

The experience of being escorted into the Temple of Heaven on the arm of the Dragon Leader and flanked by Red Pole officers was a surreal one for Marinette.

The weather was slightly overcast, but Marinette was still taken aback by the beautiful views and the stunning architecture. She actually found herself enjoying Kang Min’s trivia facts about the Emperor who built the temple and the significance it held for Chinese culture. Her mother would have enjoyed this.

~~~

Luka sulked from a distance. The last thing he wanted to be doing was watching Marinette from afar while he stayed constantly tuned into her feelings for any type of danger.
He had his own feelings to sort through.
And Marinette’s were just as jumbled whenever she would let them break the surface of her subconscious.
Mostly she was pushing them down.

Maybe because she knew he was listening?

Adrien would probably be pissed right now if he knew that Luka wasn’t suited up. And that he was sitting propped against the Whispering Wall instead of up on his feet following more closely.
For that matter, Adrien would be pissed that Luka had made a pass at Marinette.
He sighed.
Again.

If Adrien lives through today, he’s most likely facing the threat of another cataclysm.

Of course the woman he was in love with had to be involved with a homicidal supervillain.

The Whispering Wall was meant to carry voices, but Luka could feel the reverberations of feelings. Right now he was just tuning into Marinette’s (hers were hard to turn off) and the mob boss guy.

Fortunately, despite first appearances, that creep didn’t actually seem to feel very sexually aroused by Marinette-not more than the normal amount at least. Luka would have felt that. In fact, he seemed to have an appreciation of Marinette as a person.

What Luka did feel emulating from him, echoing off of the walls’ acoustics was a thirst for power.
There was never enough.
It was why he disliked Adrien.
Adrien Agreste seemed to intimidate him.
He wanted to keep him in check.
Luka was alarmed that this powerlust was greater than anything he had sensed from Hawkmoth in the past.
Not that Luka’s skills were this honed back then.
It didn’t bode well for Adrien. Not if he wanted this man in prison.

When it was about time to fetch Marinette, Luka got into the rental car he had picked up, continuing to follow from a distance. He planned to scoop Marinette up from the hotel when the Dragon Leader went to the meeting with Adrien.

“Scales, slither.” Viperion’s suit enveloped him as he drove.
That’s when he felt the shift in mood. Marinette had just become incredibly nervous from inside the vehicle.
Luka turned his music down, as if it would help him sense the mood better.
Seems like there’s been a change in plans…

~~~

Adrien bent over the toilet, retching.
He couldn't remember ever being this tense.

Two years of sacrificing everything, working his way into the triad, the regrets about everything that he had to do to get here… coming down to today.
He had gone over all of the details with his DST handler countless times.
He knew he was prepared.
He could run through the whole operation in his sleep.
Unloading the shipments. Inspecting the contraband.
How to alert the MSS to the key players involved.
They practiced the placement of the wire on Adrien that would record the evidence needed for the prosecution. He could act. He was confident of that.

The key was knowing the right time to give the signal.
The agents needed to have a clear path in to the Dragon Leader.
And Adrien had to let them know who that was.

It wasn't anxiety about work that was getting to him though.
It was the anxiety that had been increasing ever since Marinette had stepped into Kang's car the night before.
Leaving Adrien on the sidewalk in the midst of a panic attack.

And he was trusting Viperion to make sure nothing went wrong.
Losing Marinette would be losing everything.
He had to smirk at the irony that he actually was grateful it was Luka on the job.
No one else, save for Adrien himself could be so capable and so invested at the same time.

Not that he liked the guy.

By the time 11am rolled around, Adrien was functioning like a zombie.
He hadn't slept.
He hadn't eaten.
He was sick with worry.

When he reached the train yard, he saw Yao and Tian.
He approached them to get an update on the inventory and began double checking everything.
Going through the motions.
Everything has to look routine.

He made a conscious effort not to glance around.
He knew the federal agents would be in position.
This was not the time to be curious.

Adrien didn't have to look up when Kang Min's vehicle arrived at the drop-off point.
As Kang approached him, he did his best to portray the calm demeanor that he certainly wasn't feeling.
He walked the 489 through the shipment details as products were loaded onto the correct train cars.

That's when Adrien's world started to crumble.

"I brought you a surprise, Mr. Agreste," Kang began to walk Adrien back to the vehicle.
The window lowered and Adrien was horrified to see Mari sitting in the backseat smiling.

He leaned in, kissing her passionately.
Her smile glowed back at him, but she had to see the fear in his eyes.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." He tried to smile through waves of panic.

"I decided you might like to see your wife at the last minute. We were feeling spontaneous." Kang Min said as if he and Marinette were old friends.

If Marinette is here then Viperion would be close by.
Adrien desperately hoped that he wouldn't screw this up.
This was already not part of the plan.

He wanted to wait until Viperion had cleared Marinette from the area, but he didn't have time now.

Kang put a hand on Adrien's shoulder.

"Let's examine the cargo, shall we?" He spoke in Chinese.

The two men walked back to the loading area and Adrien pulled some items out of one of the crates for Kang’s inspection.
Gauging their distance from the vehicle that held Adrien’s whole life inside of it, Adrien put a hand on the back of his neck.

The signal identifying the Dragon Leader.

It was now or never.

Just then, for some inexplicable reason, Kang motioned to the vehicle.
He was beckoning Marinette to join them.

The next part seemed to happen in slow motion for Adrien.

Mari stepped out of the vehicle as federal agents swarmed the area.

14k gang members drew weapons and a volley of gunshots followed.

Adrien reached for her, taking one step forward. In front of Kang Min.

A gunshot.

A searing pain went through him.

Adrien crumpled to the ground.

~~~

From a nearby rooftop, Viperion let out a stream of profanity as he reached for his wristband.

Again.

Reset.

Chapter Text

Viperion slammed his fist on the steering wheel. The traffic in Beijing was unreasonable. He swore under his breath as the dark SUV that was carrying Marinette got further and further obscured from his vision as more cars poured into the chaotic intersection. He knew that they had to be going to the site of the shipment drop-off.

Marinette being transferred to the train yard was a huge deviation from the plan.
It exposed her to much more risk, and because they were traveling in separate vehicles, Viperion couldn’t intercept her until she got there.

Adrien was not going to be pleased. Clearly this Dragon Leader knew he was up to something. Marinette was the insurance policy.

Viperion drove like a maniac trying to catch up. By the time he had thrown the car into park and raced to where the gang members were unloading, he knew Marinette had already been there for several minutes.

His plan was to keep everything liquid until he could safely let it set into stone and reset for the next 5 minute gap.
This way he would control the bust in 5 minute increments.
Only allowing the time to pass when he was satisfied with the outcome.
He had rarely utilized this technique as akuma battles didn’t tend to have so many variables as this particular project.
It would take a good deal of concentration.

Not that Viperion wasn’t used to being the one determining which outcomes were acceptable and which would require another attempt.

He knew the weight of that responsibility.

Whatever damage that’s done will be the damage he deems the least detrimental.
A part of him wanted Adrien to succeed, but his primary goal (as was Adrien’s) was Marinette’s safe removal when the time came.

If those two goals conflicted…

Well, Adrien and Luka had an unspoken understanding when it came to Marinette.
She would always come first.
There would be no hard feelings between them about that.

Viperion chose a vantage point from the roof of a building that would allow him to have a view of the entire scene below. As he pulled himself up onto the rooftop, he activated the power with a pull at his wrist. “Second Chance.”

That’s when he heard the gunshots.
He turned just in time to see Adrien fall to the ground.
Marinette was screaming.

So much for his plan to keep things moving slow.

~~~

Viperion didn’t react as he reset the clock.
He focused on channeling the snake miraculous’ power.
It wouldn’t do any good to panic.

Breathe.
Focus.

All he could hear was Marinette screaming in agony.

You have to focus.

Looking at the context.
Determining what happened.

The first problem was that a late arrival put Adrien’s injury too close to what Viperion had come to call the “book end”. The beginning or ending of the second chance window. In this case, the beginning. He estimated that the guns went off within 20 seconds of him activating his power.
Events that occur close to the beginning or the end of the window can sometimes be difficult to alter.
There just wasn’t a lot of time around them to make changes.

The second problem was that Viperion had missed the events leading up to Adrien being shot. That was the unfavorable outcome he was trying to alter.
From the half a minute he could see before Adrien fell, it looked like he stepped towards Marinette when she got out of the car. Into the path of a bullet that was most likely meant for the Dragon Leader.

Ok, reset.
Step one. Find the source of the gunshot. Maybe he could adjust the trajectory.
Least invasive.

Due to all of the chaos in the same 5 minute window, it took Viperion 7 replays to trace the bullet’s source: an agent on the far side of the field.

Reset.

Then it became a race. Jumping from the roof to land on the awning below then dropping down to the ground turned out to be the fastest way down. Skipping the awning in an attempt to save time ended with Viperion breaking his leg, and swearing loudly for a ridiculous amount of time.

Reset.

He dropped down to the awning, then the ground then pumped his legs as fast he could to get across the field to the shooter. This was also a risky maneuver because more bullets were being fired in the area.
Viperion got grazed by bullets on several attempts.
Once he received a serious gunshot wound to his abdomen.

Reset.

A few more attempts made it clear that Viperion couldn’t reach the shooter in the 30 seconds he had.

Reset.

He spent a few plays trying to throw something, but he wasn’t able to throw anything the remaining distance that seemed to make a difference.

Reset.

Next tactic.

Get to Adrien before the shot.

If he couldn’t change the trajectory of the bullet, maybe he could change Adrien’s trajectory.
Viperion had similar problems with this tactic. A third party bursting into the middle of a raid proved confusing for both sides. Viperion was shot several times by each side, narrowly missing some fatal wounds.

Each time he failed to get to Adrien in time, or even warn him.
Once he got close enough to yell but this only distracted Adrien.
The end result was the same.

Reset.

New tactic.

Marinette.

If he got to her first and prevented her from exiting the vehicle, Adrien might not step forward.
Each time he ran back the clock he would race to Marinette as fast he could. It was unclear from his vantage point why she had gotten out of the car.
He couldn’t find a way to change that outcome.
And he couldn’t get there in time.

Reset.

Viperion tried to throw something across the field to deflect the bullet. This only took a few tries to be ruled out as statistically almost impossible. After some more swearing, he decided to abandon this tactic.

Reset.

In desperation, Viperion made a play to swipe a gun off of the nearest person and drop the shooter.
But his aim wasn’t that precise and he didn’t have time to get close enough to improve it much.

Reset.

Viperion was soaked through with sweat.

He was exhausted.

He had made over 200 attempts.

Roughly 16 and a half hours.

He was out of ideas.

Chat Noir's luck was so bad he couldn't not get shot. At times, when he had been feeling completely discouraged, he had wondered to himself why he was trying so hard. But Adrien wasn't his enemy. He was a fellow miraculous holder. A team mate. And he was important to Marinette.
So he was giving his best effort.

Because Adrien was important to Marinette.

In the last week, Viperion had been in his suit more than ever before. He knew his intuition was on a whole new level.
Maybe his second chance had also accelerated.

It was time to push his limit.

Reset.

This time, Viperion tried to meditate.
The sound of Marinette’s screaming continued to grate on him even though he had been listening to it for over 16 hours.

He tried to listen for intuition.
Lean into the snake miraculous.
Swim through the currents of emotion around him.
He wasn’t sure what he was doing but he was open.
So open to anything that would work.
He pulled on the ouroboros for the 206th time.

Reset.

Silence.

He opened his eyes. Everything was still.

Frozen in time.

Viperion tried to stay completely locked in mentally to however he was doing this. He dropped down to the awning again, then down to the ground, moving towards Adrien.

He could see Adrien about to take a step.

He could see the bullet where it hung in the air.

He could make it.

Suddenly, everything snapped to life again.
The bullet raced past him.
Adrien dropped.

Viperion collapsed from the exertion of whatever he had just done.
But this time, when he reached for his wristband, nothing happened.

He pulled again. Trying to activate his power.

Nothing.

Time was still racing forward.

And then what was water had finally become stone.
Unchangeable.
Viperion was locked out of the window.

Adrien lay in a pool of his own blood as agents swarmed in.

~~~

Viperion pulled himself up off of the ground.

Marinette had stopped screaming.
She seemed to be in shock. Her face was pale. She was frozen. Her mouth moved but there was no sound coming out.

“Second Chance.”

Viperion activated the ouroboros.
Now into a new 5 minute increment outside of Adrien’s injury.
It was of little use to them.

When Marinette heard him, her eyes rose slowly from Adrien’s body to look up at Viperion.

“You didn’t have a checkpoint…” she accused flatly as if she was somewhere far away.

“Mare, we’ve gotta go.”

He could tell that she wasn’t able to process what he was telling her.
He grabbed her by the arm, evading a few federal agents with second chance as he ushered her towards the rental car to take them to the airport.

He opened the passenger side door, helping Marinette into the car and buckling her seatbelt. She didn’t speak. Any time they came into contact he felt… nothing.

She was numb.

Shock.

He slid into the driver’s seat. Marinette was coming out of her initial shock. Her feelings were still dull and unfocused but he could tell that it wouldn’t be long until it became more painful.
She reached for the car door handle but Viperion held her hand tightly.

“Don’t,” he mumbled, “You’ve already tried. It doesn’t work.”

After the initial attempts to exit the vehicle, thwarted by second chance, he knew that she would settle soon. But that’s when the emotions would start coming in waves. He was dreading that part.

He was already so incredibly spent.

"Luka-we have to go back!" she struggled, "He could be dying!" She was trying to pull her hand out of his grasp. He was prepared for the resistance.

"You really want that to matter more to me than it does." He muttered, pulling onto the road.
When he was confident that they were past the “jumping from a moving vehicle phase” he released her hand.
Her emotional pain was radiating and he didn’t want to feel it so acutely.

"Please Luka! Help me!" she bawled. It was breaking his heart.

"I am helping you, Mare.” he replied, exhausted, “Despite your best efforts to harm you.
You aren't asking me to help you.
You're asking me to go back to help Adrien.
And I'm not going to do that.
You think he wouldn't leave me for dead despite all of your begging and pleading?
He'd probably finish the job himself!"

"So you're doing what he would do?" she sobbed.

Viperion didn’t speak for a moment. The only sound was Marinette’s weeping.

“This is what Adrien wanted. This is what he asked me to do.” he tried to be gentle but firm.

Was he trying to reassure Marinette or himself?

“Scales, rest!” Marinette hissed through her tears.

Luka was caught off guard by the flash of teal light as his suit dissolved back into his t-shirt and jeans.
It was unsettling to not have control of something that had become so instinctual over the years.
As Guardian, Marinette had never called off his suit.
Her reasoning became clear momentarily.

“I want you to know how I feel.”

Her voice was strained with emotion as she reached out, grabbing his bare upper arm with both hands.
Luka flinched at the contact, struggling to keep his hands on the wheel.
He wanted to pull away from her but she held him tightly as she seemed to channel all of her pain and suffering towards him.

Fury.
Fear.
Guilt.
Devastation.
Grief.
Pain.
Helplessness.

Hate.

Hate for him.

Luka recoiled from her but she wouldn’t release him, though his face twisted in anguish.

He couldn’t speak as his breathing came in ragged gasps.

Still he could feel her fingers digging into his skin.

Tormenting him with the pain.

He gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white.

She didn’t let go of him until tears were quietly streaming down his face.

Then she turned away from him to gaze out the window, and didn’t speak again.

Chapter Text

~~~

Adrien Agreste squinted in the bright white light. He put an arm up to his face to shield his eyes. That’s when he noticed the IV’s in the back of his hand.
He looked around the room trying to organize his thoughts.

I’m in the hospital.

Slowly, pieces of yesterday were coming back to him.

The train yard.

The gunshots.

He gasped. Which caused him pain. Which answered his next 2 questions.

Yes, I’ve been shot. Again.
Under the ribcage. Right side.

He felt gingerly for the wound dressing.

His next thought stopped his heart.

Mari.

He tried to sit up, but the pain in his side caught. He needed to find out if she was safe.

What day is it? Where’s my phone?

Just then, the door to his room opened, revealing the Dragon Leader himself, Kang Min, followed by 426s on security detail.

Adrien’s head was spinning.

The 489 is alive. And not in prison. The sting operation failed. This is how I die.

“Mr. Agreste, you’re awake! How are you feeling?”
Adrien eyed him warily. This was a warmer welcome than he expected to receive from the triad leader that he had betrayed.
“...Not… great.” his voice came out cracked and dry. Best to act natural.
“I’m pleased to see you alive at all, and conscious.” Kang added.

Adrien decided to press his luck, “Where’s Mari?”

“Your wife fled to Paris after the incident I’m afraid. The 49s tell me that she’s safe. She had an escort. You’re aware of this man?”

Adrien nodded.

Luka took her home.

“I’m sure she will be eager for news of your condition. I’ll send word.” Adrien felt less grateful and more concerned that Kang had access to Marinette in Paris. “She’ll be relieved to know that the 14K has gone to great lengths to provide the best surgeons and medical care available in China for you.” Kang beamed.
He must have seen the confusion cross Adrien’s face, prompting him to add, “Of course it’s the least we can do.”

Am I dreaming? Am I dead? In a coma?

“I knew that you were a promising young talent, Adrien. You’ve shown your aptitude over and over within the Triad. But I underestimated your loyalty greatly. It was the beautiful Marinette who first demonstrated her faith in you. I wondered if she had misjudged you out of girlish sentiment. But to step in the path of a bullet to protect the Dragon Leader? I owe you my life, Adrien. The 14K triad is indebted to you as well.”

Adrien stared at the man, mouth agape.

Kang Min failed to recognize that Adrien had no idea what he meant.

“The loss of Zhen Bao will be felt keenly. But I have full confidence in your role as the new 438.” He remarked.

Adrien felt lightheaded, whether from shock or blood loss he was uncertain. “You want me-you want me to be the new Vanguard?” he choked out.

“Who could be more worthy to be my right hand man than the man who places my life before his very own?” he smiled, “Rest up. There’s much work to be done. I’ll make sure to provide adequate personnel to accompany you back to Paris as soon as you’re travel worthy.”
As Kang and his officers filtered out of the room, he called back over his shoulder, “Oh, and your father recieved word of your promotion. He wished to convey his congratulations. He was very proud.”

As the door closed, Adrien felt as if he was going to puke.

~~~
3 weeks later

Marinette was pouring a cup of steaming hot coffee in her kitchen when she saw the news segment flash across the screen.

The DST is reporting the arrest of several key players in the infamous 14K Triad gang. A successful raid was recently conducted in cooperation with the MSS as part of a long term investigation.
Among some of the notable arrests is Zhen Bao, believed to be the second highest ranking member of the triad.
The leader of the 14K triad, Kang Min is still at large after members of his security team were able to evacuate him during the federal raid.
The 14K Triad has had an increasing influence on the criminal activity in Paris over the last few years.
Gabriel Agreste, known formally under the alias of Hawkmoth, has fallen under scrutiny for his affiliations with the 14K Triad in the past. Public relations for the Agreste Fashion Company deny any involvement with the gang and report that they are cooperating with all parts of the investigation.

Marinette set the coffee pot back on the burner. Then an image appeared on the screen that made her pulse race. Adrien stepping down an airstair. He was smiling his devastatingly handsome smile and waving politely as the paparazzi swarmed below.

In other news, supermodel and CEO of Agreste Fashion, Adrien Agreste will be returning to Paris today after an accident in Beijing left him hospitalized last month…

~~~

Viperion lay on his back watching as she dangled the coin a meter above his face. Without warning she released the piece and it plummeted towards him, hitting him squarely in the eye.

“Shit! What the hell, Jules?!?!”

Purple Tigress quirked a brow at him. “You’re not going to have a warning in a real emergency. You have to be ready at all times.”

“I’ve only done it once before. I’m not even sure how it happened. You can’t just expect me to freeze time when you say ‘go’.” he growled at his twin sister as he checked the time on his phone. He couldn’t be late for patrol with Ladybug tonight.

“I don’t think that it’s a matter of being ready,” She circled him as he rubbed at his eye, “I think the stakes just aren’t high enough.”
Without warning, Purple Tigress lunged towards him, swiping the phone out of his hand and hurling it across the room towards the wall.

“Fu-Second Chance!” he fumbled for his wristband. The phone hung in the air as he scrambled to grasp it before he lost the grip he had on time.

With an extraordinary amount of control, he released his grip on reality. Everything around him resumed as normal.

He turned back to Purple Tigress, holding up his phone.

“Did you do it?” she giggled.

An answering grin spread across Viperion’s face.

“Again.”

~~~

Ladybug paced along the rooftop as she waited for Viperion.
She turned when she heard him alight behind her.
“I’ll take the arrondissements on the right bank of the Seine. You take the left bank. Call if you run into trouble.” She turned away from him, spinning her yo-yo in preparation for her departure.

Viperion caught her elbow, “Mare!”

She pulled away from him with a look of annoyance, “What?”

“You haven’t spoken to me since we left Beijing. When are you going to talk to me?”

“I have nothing to say to you.” She turned to go.

“Second Chance.” He primed the ouroboros.

“Don’t you dare-” she started.

A few minutes later Viperion was depositing Ladybug onto the rooftop, her wrists and ankles neatly fettered in her own yo-yo string.

He was now out of breath.

“Only took me 5 tries. You're getting slower.” he teased.

Ladybug was furious.

“You may not want to talk, but I have a lot to say, and you’re going to hear it. You owe me that.” he stated.

“I don’t owe you anything!” she yelled, trying in vain to disengage her wrists from the binding, “After what you did-”

“What I did? I haven’t done anything to you, LB! Tell me what I’ve done to you!”

“You mean when you kissed me?!? Or when you ‘forgot’ to use a second chance to save Adrien’s life?!? Or when you wouldn’t go back for him when he lay on the ground dying?!? Or how you took me away from him when he needed me?!?” she was already screaming at him as tears gathered in his eyes.

The rush of her anger was not unfamiliar to him. But he was surprised by her words.

He crouched next to her so that he could be at eye level.

“I didn’t ‘forget’ to use a second chance…”

“You didn’t even try. And I think we both know why.” she spat.

Fire flashed in Viperion’s eyes. “Is that what you think of me?!? That somehow I’m so jealous and insecure that I would want Adrien to die?” he stood, “I think you have me confused with someone else.” His words hit their mark, causing Ladybug to struggle against the ropes in a rage.

He turned away from her.

Reset.

“Left bank. Got it.” He watched her turn without another word and disappear along the roofline.

~~~

Chapter Text

Check out the sequel!

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. Part 2 of the Series!