Chapter Text
Marinette woke up with the sounds of beeping coming from all around the room. Her head was throbbing in pain. If that wasn't bad enough, her back and stomach were continually kicking her with sharp pain, shooting right through her body. If she opened her eyes, she would probably throw up where she lay. It was best to lie still and allow the world inside her head to stop spinning at top speed. She could feel something strapped to her mouth.
The last thing she remembered was steel poles falling, and her body moved on its own, and she rushed towards Cat Noir. They were going to pierce him in the heart if they fell on him. Many thoughts rushed her crowding mind. Did I save Cat? Where are we? Why does my body hurt so much? Does the beeping have to do where I am?
In an attempt to brush the hair out of her face, it was pet hate to have her hair down while she slept, she tried to move her hand, but it was connected to someone. Marinette attempted to pick her head up and put it to the side, but she was already in that position and forced her eyes open to see her pale hand connected to a larger tan hand. It felt warm and familiar that she didn't want to let go. It was easing the pain that her body was going through. The feeling of that hand made it more comfortable to be in an unfamiliar place.
"Hello," Her voice came out all hoarse and ragged, she hadn't talked in days, so her throat scratched her as she said that one word. She tried to swallow, but her throat was too dry to ease the pain. After she spoke, she felt the hand move slightly. Her whole body went cold, and she started shaking. Her mind was all hazy from why she was in an unknown room.
"Oh, my princess is awake," she heard the flirty voice of her partner. She did save Cat when she leapt to him. A massive release of relief washed over her.
"Kitty?" She called to the stranger hoping that he was beside her. Her voice still so haggard from its dryness. Her voice distorted from the mask on her mouth. It was far too quiet, so she decided to ask again. "Kitty?" she heard a male groan a gentle yes. She didn't know that Adrien Agreste was staring at the partition, smiling brightly since she woke up. He was awake when she asked for the first time; he was just shocked that she was calling for him.
"Yes, M'Lady?" In all that time, she was awake. He had plenty of time to think of multiple scenarios of his princess waking up.
He wished it was because of a true love's first kiss. Images of him and Ladybug kissing flashed into his mind. That's right? Cat Noir and Ladybug have kissed on two occasions, both times he couldn't remember. The first with Dark Cupid where Ladybug, no, Marinette had kissed him. It dawned on him that that particular kiss was his first kiss and Marinette's as well. His head was full of bliss knowing that Marinette had her first kiss with him and she was the one to initiate the kiss. Her hands were on his face as she pulled him down for their first kiss. He wished he could remember the kiss, but if he remembered, then they wouldn't have kissed each other.
The second time was with Oblivio where he and Ladybug had kissed for a reasonable period of time. He never knew the reason why they were kissing; it wasn't like the first time where she did it to save him. They both were unsure why they kissed, but he didn't care. His second kiss was with Marinette, and it looked like they were both into it. If he knew who his Lady was and the little bugs were going to fix everything even wiping their memories, then it would be perfectly okay to ask for a kiss for his Lady and princess. Sadly, the third kiss was not him waking his sleeping beauty up.
"Where are we?" Marinette released their hands and then reconnected interlocking their fingers. Her shaky breath hitched as she felt safe, grasping onto his hand. She asked as she tried to study the room, but as she was lying on her side and she could only see the bland curtain. Adrien sensed her stress and squeezed her hand gently. Her eyes were dropping from the sheer pressure coming from her head.
"We are in Finland, after being seriously injured," Marinette noticed the partition that was blocking her from seeing civilian Cat as much as she was tempted to push it back, they had to keep their identities a secret. So both of them were injured from their last fight. Wait, Finland? Do her parents know she was there?
"What about our parents? Do they know we are here? How could they? If our identities hid us," she rambled on for a bit before Adrien cut her off. He could hear her monologuing to herself. Adrien had time to process all the thoughts and was part of the conversation to move them to Finland. He already had the chance to speak to his father. His princess was still trying to get her mind around it. He had to admit that he would be taken back by what he had just said. The next part was going to be handled very carefully. How could he tell her that he already knew who she was? The next step was going to be very hard.
"Princess…" only Cat would call that to her civilian self never to Ladybug. He couldn't know that Marinette and Ladybug were the same person. Could he? "They know we are not in Paris and that's all they know. My dad and your parents spoke to us yesterday while you slept," the more he spoke, the more she was confused. Her parents knew she was injured but not where she was. Wait, he knew that they were her parents?
"You know who my parents are?" She was scared of the response. Marinette had fears where the Cat rejected her once he knew who she was. It kept her up sometimes wishing they placed the Ladybug miraculous with someone else and not clumsy her.
He swallowed hard, careful of his next words. "Marinette, of course, I know who they are." It was the first time calling his Lady by her first name. Calling her name was the quickest way to let her know that he knew who she was. "They also know that you're Ladybug. The whole of Paris does. They happened to record us when we dropped our transformations after we were injured," she gasped and tried to pull her hand away but gripped onto her tighter. Her machine quickly sped the number of beats mimicking her heart. Adrien didn't want to scare her by talking more. It was all he could do was hold her hand and promise to let go.
"I'm sorry I'm not who you thought I was," she apologised profusely, she still tried to get away from him, but Adrien still held her hand. He never knew that Ladybug had such a fear of people knowing the real her. It could be why she was so adamant that no one knew who they were, it was not just the fact that they could put their loved ones in danger, she was scared to show him the real her.
"Well, move the curtain and see my reaction is," Marinette was hesitant, but she used her free hand to grip the curtain. Adrien watched as her hands curled around the curtain pausing for a moment. His smile widened as he waited anxiously for his classmate to lay her eyes on him. His smile fell when her hand dropped onto the bed. "How about you close your eyes and I'll move the curtain and on the count of three, you find out my reaction, deal?" Marinette continued to hold his hand, still holding like a vice grip. All he wanted to do was fling the partition over and get this over with, but he knew he had to take baby steps with something he was nervous about sharing himself. What if she was disappointed that Adrien and Cat were the same. Marinette and Adrien did get off to a rocky start before. And even now, Marinette couldn't even look at him in the eyes or form a proper conversation with him.
"Deal." Marinette closed her eyes and listened as the curtain was slowly being pushed to the side. Adrien shifted his body with the help of the nurse to lie on his side and looked at where Marinette's face would be. Adrien gripped the curtain and slowly moved it away. He watched her like he had been doing it for five days now. Her mask was still taped to her face. Her skin still pale and sickly, but she was always so beautiful.
"1...2...3," he watched as she slowly opened her eyes. He smiled softly when he stared into her bluebell eyes. It was the first time in what felt like ages that he stared into his ladies eyes. He watched as her eyes widened at the mere sight of him. His smile was not faltering as he watched her. He could see it in her eyes that she was processing her thoughts. He was calm now as he had several days to gather his thoughts. It slipped his mind that Marinette that she hasn't had the time to process, so he just watched as she knew that her partner sat in front of her.
In front of her was Adrien Agreste, the one who she had been crushing in this whole time. He was her Kitty. Every time she met Cat as Ladybug, she was meeting up with Adrien Agreste. She blushed as she noticed that they were still holding hands. Her pounded in her chest, causing the machine to speed up. Adrien, catching the new rhythm, lifted his head and watched as her heart skipped a few beats. A red blush scattered across her cheeks as she caught him chuckling to himself. The mere sight of him made her heart flutter; his own heart caught up to match her drumming heartbeat.
"Adrien?" She whispered, slightly distorted with the mask just audible for him to hear. He smiled as he moved forward towards the edge of the bed to be just that little bit closer to her.
"Yes, M'Lady?" He said in his Chat Noir tone. She blushed as it was hard hearing it from Adrien. How can she have been so naive not to know that her partner was the male she had been crushing on for a long time now? "Mari, are you disappointed that I was your partner," she smiled sweetly as he pulled his hand closer to his mouth, he leaned forward and gently pressed his lips to her knuckles. It was the first time he was so gentle with her. Marinette smiled and chuckled as his soft lips brushed his bare hand and not a gloved hand.
"I'm surprised that you're my Kitty, but I'm no way disappointed about that," she smiled sweetly as she met her partner. Adrien squeezed her hand as she stared dumbfounded at him. It was hard to believe that the flirt she came to know as Cat Noir was the down to earth model, Adrien Agreste.
Freido rushed in when he heard her talking. He pushed the beds apart to check her vitals. Their hands glided away from one another. All she asked was a glass of water. As the pole in her back hadn't been removed, he couldn't roll her over to her back. He got her to sit up slightly and bent the straw for Marinette to take a drink. Adrien watched as she took her first drink. The relief washed over her face as the water trickled down her throat. Freido brushed her hair out of her face and gave her a forehead a quick wipe from the sweat. He unbuttoned her pyjamas to the breast bone to clean the sweat from the body. Adrien turned around, giving her some privacy, his entire face turning scarlet coloured. Friedo was undressing his Lady freely, wiping her body from the sweat.
The male closed the curtains as he slowly began to undress Marinette to change her clothes. He was careful not to hurt the wires that were on her. Looked down her body to see that she didn't have her bralette on but a couple of bandages covering her body. Freido carefully cleaned her body and placed new pyjamas on her body. Friedo sat on her bed, holding one of her hands as he explained the situation.
He informed Marinette of the extent of her injuries. Adrien overheard as Friedo told her of the damages to herself.
"Baby Girl, you were impaled completely. The pole from your front has been removed, but the pole in your back is going to be slightly more tricky than we anticipated. We need to ensure that you are going to be safe before we remove the one in the back. You have had some damage to some of your nerves, so we have to be careful when we pull the next part out. Oh, don't cry Marinette, we have the best care here. We will look after you," he tucked her in the bed, ensuring her blankets were all sitting right, and her pillows had been fluffed, pushed the bed back to where it was. Then walked out the door, leaving Marinette and her thoughts.
Adrien coughs, letting her know that he was still in the room with her. Friedo never once explained Marintettes injuries to anyone before. She had nerve damage because of him. What if she was paralysed in some way. The air around the pair felt heavy, with the news of her injuries added some pressure to the room. Her hand automatically reached for his again and gently squeezed his hand.
"Mari, I know you probably don't want to talk about this, but I have many questions," The raven-haired girl nodded slowly and grabbed the curtain and pushed it over. It was comforting to see Adrien lying there looking as beautiful as ever. She didn't want to talk to her family about her double life, but she was happy to talk to her partner about her life. "Were you happy to be my partner?" She was shocked that that was his first question.
"No, I was blessed to have you as my partner. I looked forward to patrols and attacks so I could see one of my best friends," Adrien smiled a toothy grin and lay on his bed comfortable as they spoke about the hardships of leading their double life and the best and worse Akuma they had to fight.
For once, Marinette was open to talking about her double life all the while they continued to hold hands. They never broke apart from one another as they spoke. They spoke everything: the stupid excuses they made to get out of class; the easiest opponent they fought; the hardest opponent; their friends who helped out. Marinette finally revealed who Carapace was, who Rena was and all of their comrades. Adrien let out a small chuckle as most of their class was superheroes and he didn't realise it.
They spoke long into the night that they didn't even stop when Freido had come in to give them some food. Adrien could eat without any assistance, but Marinette needed to have her food injected through the plethora of cables attached to her. Friedo had moved the meds together until there was no space between the beds. Adrien mentioned the fight and the last moments before they passed out.
"I have never actually said it, Marinette, but thank you. I don't think I would be alive if you hadn't pushed me out the way so thank you very much," Marinette smiled and snuggled her head into her shoulder as she fell back asleep. Adrien smiled and shuffled to the edge of their bed. He released her hands as he placed that arm over her waist. Marinette smiled widely as she felt his arm lazily hanging over her abdomen. He was waiting for the moment when he had to inform her that she was no longer the superhero; he deliberately left that critical piece of information out. Although she was no longer Ladybug, she was still an everyday Ladybug which was even better than nothing. Her hand landed on his chest.
-X-
Gabriel sat in the front room facing his son Chinese teacher opposite him. A cup of tea in his hands. Gabriel rushed downstairs to see the old male standing hunched over, clutching his cane. He knew he wasn't lying as he saw the old male take the earrings and the ring of the superhero duo. Gabriel's heart raced as the miraculous guardian a few days after he gave up Nooroo, was in his house.
"Thank you for returning Nooroo to me, Hawkmoth. Nooroo let me know why you did all the actions you did. He begged me to help you. I am aware of your wife's situation. It's why I am here. Since Marinette reverted the monks of Tibet, they have the answer to bring her out of the coma, "Gabriel's eyes widened at the male's words.
"Please don't get my hopes up, sir. I am still grieving over my son and my wife, who I have to let go," Master Fu jumped off the couch and hobbled over to the younger male. He placed his hands on his clasped hands.
"Mr Agreste, Miraculous' brake all the times. We had hooped earrings before, the cousin of Tikki. And the holder loved fighting, her miraculous would break all the time, the number of times we had to help her was unbelievable," the Chinese man cackled. "Please, let me help Emilie. It is my fault that the Peacock miraculous broke, so please let me rectify the situation."
Gabriel looked up at the small male who smiled sweetly at him. He flinched his hands back from the small older male. Gabriel couldn't get his hopes up high from the words of the Chinese man. He looked away and to the lovely family photo of him and Emilie and their son. When Adrien came home, he would love to see that photo of the family together. His son would smile hugely at seeing his mother standing there.
"Please let me see my son smile. Please let me see my beautiful wife. Do everything in your power to bring my wife home to us," Master Fu smiled and followed the older male to the place where he kept Emilie safe. Master Fu watched as the males' gaits slowed as they walked towards the glass coffin. The older male peeked over, the older male to see the beautiful women perfectly preserved.
"Wow, she is beautiful, just like your son. He is so beautiful," Master Fu waved his hand in front of the coffin to try and find out the severity of the problem. Gabriel explained the backstory of how she ended like this—speaking to the older male brought so much hope than he ever expected.
When the older male left, he went back down to sit with his wife before the older male took her away to Tibet. He first had to make arrangements for the coffin to be flown to Tibet which would be quite confusing, but he will make it work. When he cried this time, he was so elated. The male he was trying to manipulate, came bearing no ill will and just wanted to bring him hope.
-X-
Friedo sat up Marinette now with the pole removed from her back. They had spent a few nights with Marinette on her side. Her body was kicking itself from the inside, head spinning like she felt the world revolve but she still wanted to give her parents a call, allowing them to see that she was still breathing. That she hadn't died on the table. Adrien lay beside her fast asleep, his arm hovering over her torso. She loved watching him sleep, it was calming as he breathed softly. She glanced at Adrien one final time, knowing that he was by her side giving her the strength. Friedo sat with the camera in front of them and pressed the call button.
On the screen appeared her mum and anxiously smiling at her. Her mum had tears in her eyes as she leaned forward and smiled at her daughter. It was the first time they saw their daughter in about a week. Tears pooled in their eyes as they could see the bluebell eyes that she was born with. When the hospital called saying that Marinette had woken up and wanted to talk to them, they jumped out of their seats dancing in their living room knowing their daughter was well. When they saw the hospital on their phone, the minds automatically went to the worst possible scenario but were relieved they were wrong.
"Hi mum, hi dad," Marinette smiled weakly at her parents. It was the best she could give to let her parents know that she was okay. They didn't need to see how some of her nerves were damaged and were unable to do much. She needed a wheelchair to go to even the shortest distances, such as the bathroom or even to walk to the other side of the room to look out the window. She needed assistance to sit up in her bed and get comfortable. A nose tube now replaced the mask; her skin was still pale and sickly. Some of her organs were damaged, so she hadn't been getting enough nutrients.
"Marinette, how are you, baby?" the young girl continued to smile though, the pain was continually running up her body. She didn't want the parents to worry about her at all. If Sabine could, she would climb through the phone and hold her daughter on the other side. She knew perfectly well that her daughter was hiding her pain so they wouldn't worry. It was written all over her face. Despite not knowing that she was Ladybug, Marinette was terrible at lying.
"I'm hanging in there. The doctors have been taken good care of us," Sabine looked confused at us. Noting her mother's confusion, she tilted the camera to show Adrien as he was fast asleep by her side. His arms still protectively over her waist. Sabine squealed softly trying not to wake up the young male. Sabine watched as her daughter's eyes wander to someone behind the camera. "I've got to go. I love you," Marinette hung up the phone and handed it back to Freido.
Adrien woke up with Marinette shifting near him; he looked up to see Freido and the other surgeons getting ready to move Marinette out. He had more experience than her when it came to being prepped for surgery. Four doctors were looming over the bed, eyeing every part of them. Soft whispers between one another, pointing in their direction. Masks covering half of their faces, a cap covering a quarter of their face leaving only the eyes to be seen. Their smiling eyes, the last thing you see when they pump a toxic liquid into the body, knocking you out, trusting that you would wake up afterwards.
Knowing the fear far too well, Adrien pulled himself onto his weak arms, leaning over the bed and bravely placed his hand on her cheek and placed a chaste kiss on the side of her mouth, careful not to move the breathing tube. He didn't know what came over him, but he hoped that the small piece of affection calmed her down. If anything happened, he would be content to say that Adrien and Marinette had kissed in some way, and if she wakes up, it will strike up a conversation to what it meant. The kiss was Marinette's fear of surgery. Her thoughts plagued the kiss rather than the operation. Little did Adrien know that if the surgery didn't kill her then, Marinette replaying that moment in her mind would eventually fry her brain.
Marinette had never been to the theatre when she was awake. She smiled nervously at the gentle kiss and allowed herself to be wheeled out the room. Marinette closed her eyes tightly as she was wheeled from Adreins side. She was wheeled down the corridor into the lift. The smell of disinfectant becoming more and more pungent. She closed her eyes and thought of Adrien's rough hand, caressing her cheek while his soft and supple lips touched the corner of her mouth. The light touch was still lingering on the spot where he had kissed her. Her mind somersaulted over the many ideas on why he had kissed her. She was broken out of her trance when she felt someone place a firm hand on the back of her head. Her eyes snapped open to see a mask coming closing to her. She tried to squirm, but the hand that held her head was too strong, and quickly she had the mask over her mouth—piercing blue eyes leaning over her until she was entirely unconscious.