Chapter Text
Ladybug pulled off her helmet and sobbed, sitting down on the ground.
After double checking the oxygen, Adrien removed his helmet and sat with her.
They held each other, crying, for several minutes. Adrien's arms we're around Ladybug, and he never wanted to let her go. He couldn't lose her too.
She wiped away her tears. "Has anyone ever told you that your eyes are green?"
"Well, I have looked in a mirror before," he joked, "so yea I was aware of that fact."
"They're mesmerizing." She stared at him. "I've never seen eyes so green."
"Your eyes are super blue." He pointed out.
"You know, you're a lot hotter than I imagined."
"Thank you?"
"You're welcome."
"You're beautiful, which I expected."
She blushed. "This is going to sound crazy, but it's like we're the last two people in the universe-"
"That doesn't sound crazy at all. I know how you feel."
"Would you kiss me?"
Adrien obliged, leaning forwards so his lips met here, for just a second.
"No, more like this." Ladybug put her hands on either side of his face and leaned in.
She certainly used more tongue that Adrien had been expecting.
"Not bad." She smiled. "Not, bad at all."
Adrien took a few deep breaths. "That was incredible, Ladybug."
"Marinette."
"Huh?"
"Call me Marinette." She repeated.
"Call me Adrien."
"Adrien." The word was smooth across her tongue, dripping like honey.
Maybe Adrien was desperate. "Can we kiss again?"
"Later." She promised. "I think we have work to do."
"Right. Yes. The ship." Adrien remembered.
"And I need to think about everything that's just happened."
"Why?"
"I shouldn't have kissed you. I'm sorry."
"Ladybug, don't be-"
"I dont know what I was thinking. It was extremely unprofessional, it won't happen again."
"What if I want it to happen again?"
Ladybug didn't answer him. "What do we have to do? Did we fix all of the messes that the imposter caused yet?"
"Not yet." Adrien stood up. "We still have work to do."
"We can talk about this later."
...
Ryuko had said that she had destroyed four defense systems. Lights, oxygen, and communication were all visibly damaged and easily fixed.
Adrien had no idea what the fourth system could be.
It wasn't navigation, or engine, or even the temperature regulation.
He and Ladybug scoured the ship, searching for answers, for a sign, for something.
Nothing else seemed to be broken, but Adrien couldn't be sure. He had to be missing something.
He had already let his guard down too many times.
The next time would probably be his last.
Adrien went around the shop, looking for any signs of destruction or malfunction. He checked the Windows for cracks, the computers for viruses, the chairs for missing legs. Everything was working fine.
Too fine.
When Adrien got to the point that he was disassembling the toilets to check on the plumbing, Ladybug had had enough.
"Adrien, its okay."
"What?"
"Its okay."
"How could you say that?"
"The ship isn't going to fall apart. You're wearing yourself thin. You need to take a break." She pulled the wrench our of his hand. "What was the last time you slept?"
"I slept last night-"
"You fell asleep on my shoulder for less than 15 minutes. That doesn't count."
"Oh." Adrien yawned, but only because he was thinking about it, not because he was tired, "its been a few days since I've gotten an actual night of sleep. Not that we really have days, or nights in space."
"You need to relax."
"I can't."
"You have to." Marinette grabbed his hand. "You're safe. Its just the two of us. We've gotten rid of all of the imposters."
Have we? Adrien's mind screamed, but he didn't voice his thoughts aloud. He trusted Ladybug. She was human. She had to be.
She told him her name. That was real.
"Fine." He sighed. "I should probably sleep."
She nudged his shoulder. "If it'll make you feel better, I can take the first watch shift."
"No." He shook his head. "You're right. I've just been paranoid. We are safe now. There's no need to watch."
"Is it okay if we sleep together?"
Adrien's heart skipped a beat. Sure, she had kissed him, but he didn't expect to- "What?"
"Not like that." She laughed. "I just don't want to be alone."
That was a feeling Adrien knew well.
Even if he went to his 'room' to sleep, it would be too quiet, too haunting without Carapace, Pegasus and Viperion.
It didn't feel right that he had survived, while they all had not.
He and Ladybug gathered all of the pillows and blankets and laid side by side in the cafeteria.
Adrien's eyelids felt heavier and heavier, as he succumbed to sleep, completely trusting Marinette besides him.
In the moments before he fell asleep, he had the slightest feeling that he was wrong, that no one could be trusted , but he ignored it.
His eyes closed, and the mechanical noises around him faded to static.
Adrien awoke to Ladybug sitting on top of him.
"Whoa," he chuckled, "I can't breathe."
"I can't trust you. I can't trust anyone." She looked completely terrified. Adrien didn't understand.
"Of course you can trust me. We've made it this far."
"You're playing mind games." She closed her eyes. "Nothing you say is real."
"Marinette, I love you."
"That's not real." She repeated. "You aren't real."
"Of course I'm real."
"You aren't Adrien anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I really wish I didn't have to do this."
"Marinette, what's going on? I just woke up." Adrien tried to sit up, but she wouldn't budge.
"If you're in there Adrien, I'm sorry." Marinette gave him a quick kiss on the lips, before injecting a needle into his thigh.
Venom.
So that was what she had taken from Queen Bee's pocket before they threw her into space. Adrien had thought that the paralyzing drug died with her. Apparently he was wrong.
Adrien had never felt it before but it was cold. It ran through his bloodstream, making everything cold and numb.
He couldn't even keep his eyes open.
But he heard everything.
He felt Ladybug drag his body across the ship. He felt her lock his helmet around his head.
He felt the impact of the trash can, landing hard in the metal bin. It was definitely going to leave some bruises.
He could still hear Ladybug sobbing.
He heard her pull the lever, felt the deep chill of space, and then nothing.
Adrien had mere minutes before he ran out of oxygen, but he couldn't even control his breathing. It was all reflex.
Somehow, Adrien managed to pry his eyes open, and he got one last look at the spaceship before everything went dark.
From the outside, it looked cool. It looked like a place of technological advance and science.
It didn't look like the place for multiple murders or a bout of mass hysteria.
It looked peaceful.
At least all the imposters were gone.
Adrien managed to save one person, at least. He didn't completely fail at his job.
Ladybug would be fine.
As Adrien made eye contact with Ladybug through one of the ship's Windows, he finally understood what Ryuko meant.
The fourth system she destroyed wasn't something he could measure or even come close to fixing. It wasn't the plumbing, or the refrigeration, or the Windows.
The fourth system that had been destroyed was the most important, but a system that Adrien had never checked for malfunctions. It was an implied system.
When Ryuko killed Viperion, she also destroyed four systems, which nearly cost everyone aboard their lives.
She rewired the lights, messed up the oxygen, disconnected the coms, and broke something that was supposed to unite all of them.
Trust.
Without trust, they couldn't be a team.
Without trust, only one could survive.
That had been the imposter's plan all along.
And it worked perfectly.
If only Adrien had betrayed Ladybug first.
Then, he would've had a chance to survive.
Just like his father.