Chapter Text
A single moment of carelessness was all it took for Marinette’s life to be ruined.
During battle, she couldn’t afford to be careless. But after an attack, after she had purified the akuma, restored the city, and shared a fistbump with Chat Noir, after she had slipped into the shadows to return unnoticed to her normal life, it was natural to relax, just a little.
And perhaps her attacker knew that. Perhaps that was why they had followed in the shadows, striking like a snake when Marinette had the slightest lapse in vigilance.
Marinette had only just slipped into the alley, and hadn’t even started to detransform when she felt someone leap onto her from behind. She stiffened and immediately twisted, trying to break free of her assailant. But even though her Miraculous granted strength and flexibility beyond normal human capabilities, there was little she could do when the other person had latched themself to her from behind. And judging from the way they were clawing at her, this wasn't merely an overenthusiastic fan.
She was too shocked to even scream with pain as her assailant tore off one of her earrings. She could only gasp and desperately increase her struggling as panic spiked through her. No, no, she couldn't let them have her Miraculous, she couldn't let anyone find out who she was, she couldn't let them win…
But all her panic could do nothing in the end, as the assailant twisted around her, pinning her wrists together and shoving them painfully against the wall with one hand, and reaching around to Marinette’s other ear. Marinette kicked uselessly towards the assailant, who twisted and spun out of reach, scraping Marinette’s hands against the brick. Marinette tried to pull away, but all her struggling and panic was for nothing.
This time, she did cry out as the other earring was ripped from her. The thief released her almost immediately, and Marinette fell forward. As she scrambled to right herself, she could see the thief straighten up. Though their face and much of their body was concealed under a thick coat, there was no mistaking that her assailant was holding a posture of triumph, earrings clutched in thinly gloved hands.
Marinette lunged at them – her identity might have been shot, but like hell was she letting this thief make off with her Miraculous and with Tikki. The thief, however, was quicker, and fled. Marinette, ignoring her pain, chased after them, the only thought in her mind about getting Tikki and her earrings back. Tikki and Chat Noir and everyone was depending on her. She couldn’t fail them now, not again, she couldn’t…
The thief darted through the crowds and buildings, pulling further and further ahead. The people and places blurred past Marinette as she pushed through the crowd. Eventually they slipped out of sight entirely. Marinette continued to give chase for a few blocks, following the paths that she thought the thief might have taken, before she finally slowed and came to a stop, breathing heavily.
“No…” she choked out.
The world spun around her as her throat seemed to close up, dizziness setting in as she gasped for breath, as her heart pounded rapidly in her ears, drowning out the sounds of the city streets around her. She’d failed. She’d failed everyone and lost her Miraculous and there was nothing she could do about it.
No. This couldn’t be it, this couldn’t be the end. There had to be another way, there always was. She couldn’t give into despair and get akumatized on top of this. She had to do something, anything…
Master Fu. She could go to him, he’d know what to do.
She pushed herself onwards again, not even caring for the strange looks she received as she ran back through the streets, not stopping until she reached the little parlor. She pushed through the door, startling Fu from his meditation. His eyes widened as he took in her state, and Wayzz gasped.
“I’m sorry!” Marinette said, “I’m sorry, I tried to stop them, they took the Miraculous, they took Tikki, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
Fu put his hands on Marinette’s shoulders to steady her.
“Breathe,” he told her. “Center yourself.”
“I lost them, I lost my Miraculous, I messed up…”
“First,” Fu said firmly, but gently, “we need to clean and bandage your wounds.”
Oh. She was bleeding, wasn’t she?
She allowed herself to be sat down as he went about getting cloth and disinfectant. Wayzz looked her over with concern, while she tried to calm herself as best she could. It was…well, it wasn’t alright now, but it was better. They could make a plan. They could do something. They weren’t disappointed in her.
She winced at the stinging pain as Fu treated her injuries. She must’ve looked quite a sight when she’d barged in, no wonder they had reacted the way they did. She had barely even noticed it when she had been panicking, but as she settled, she became uncomfortably aware of the extent of her injuries.
Either she was going to have to sneak past her parents for the next couple of days, or she had to think up some convincing explanation. Her usual clumsiness wasn’t going to cut it.
And of course, she had a bigger problem to worry about. As he bandaged her, she told Fu, as calmly as she could manage at the moment, what had happened. He sat back and frowned with a tense worry in his face.
“Wayzz sensed that something went wrong, but I couldn’t have predicted how devastating it really was. This…” he closed his eyes briefly, “this is troubling. The consequences for Paris could be dire.”
Marinette shrank in on herself.
“I know,” she said. “It’s all my fault, I should have been more careful.”
Fu shook his head. “I’m certain that you did whatever you could. Nevertheless, the Ladybug Miraculous is the only one that can purify akumas. If it has fallen into Papillon’s hands…”
“I don’t think the thief was akumatized or Papillon himself,” Marinette said. “They were wearing normal clothes, and moved like a normal person.”
“I didn’t detect the involvement of any of the Butterfly’s power,” Wayzz said.
“That’s a relief – a small one, and we can’t be sure that the Miraculous won’t end up in Papillon’s hands, but a relief nonetheless,” he said. “But on the other hand, we don’t know our enemy – we can’t predict their actions. The best case scenario is that they intend to demand a ransom.”
“I can pay a ransom,” Marinette said. “As long as it means Paris is safe, I don’t care about the cost.” She couldn’t continue being Ladybug in that case (or maybe any case), but as long as she could get the earrings back to Master Fu discretely, then someone else could be chosen and Paris would be defended again.
“The worst case scenario, of course, is the earrings being passed to Papillon. Or this thief using them to cause harm by themself.”
“Isn’t there anything we can do?” Marinette asked.
“If it were that easy to track down a missing Miraculous, we would’ve found Papillon by now, wouldn’t we?” Fu said with a small, rueful smile. “No, I’m afraid not, Marinette. Unless Tikki escapes on her own, all we can do is wait for the thief to make their move.”
“I can’t just sit back and do nothing while Tikki is in the hands of some thief,” Marinette protested. “Everyone could be in danger!”
“I know,” he said. “And I understand how you feel. But our options are limited, and you are injured. Even if there was something we could do, you need to rest and recover first.”
Marinette’s heart sank even lower than it had already been brought. More than anything, she hated feeling helpless, she hated knowing that if only she’d been more careful about where she’d detransformed, if only she’d fought better, if only…
But “if only” did nothing for any of them, and she reluctantly agreed that she was in no state at the moment to be much help at all.
Master Fu gave her instructions for continuing treatment of her injuries, instructing her how often to change the bandages, and to check for signs of infection, insisting she return to him if things didn’t improve or if anything unusual happened. She agreed, and told him and Wayzz both that at the first sign that the thief had made their move, she’d come running back. They both agreed and said they’d figure out what to do from there.
Marinette returned home. Her parents reacted as she expected, concerned over the bandages. She stumbled through an excuse of being mugged – it wasn’t far from the truth, after all, and told them that a friend had patched her up.
The bakery was closed up early, Marinette was herded into the living room, and given warm tea immediately. She didn’t have the heart to tell them that she’d already been given tea at Fu’s, so she drank it.
“Did you go to the police?” Sabine asked. Marinette shook her head.
“No need for the police, I’ll track down this guy myself!” Tom said in a low, almost growly voice. “I’ll show him that no one hurts my daughter and gets away with it!”
“Tom,” Sabine scolded, “this sort of thing should be handled by the police. You shouldn’t encourage vigilantism.”
“Why not? We have Ladybug and Chat Noir out there, don’t we?”
Marinette swallowed the lump in her throat. Not anymore, they didn’t.
“That’s different,” Sabine said. “They’re superheroes.”
“I’ll put on a costume too, if that’s what it takes,” Tom insisted.
“It doesn’t matter, anyway,” Marinette interrupted. “They were wearing a coat; I never saw what they looked like. Reporting it wouldn’t do any good.” She stood up and set her teacup on the table. “I’m worn out from everything, I think I’ll go up to bed if that’s alright.”
Sabine’s face softened.
“Of course,” she said. “You should rest. If you want, we can call off school tomorrow…”
“That’s not necessary,” Marinette said quickly, because she knew she’d drive herself crazy waiting for something to happen if she didn’t have school to distract her. “I’ll be okay after some sleep.” A lie, but what else could she say? She didn’t want her parents to worry, and she couldn’t tell them the full weight of what had happened, either.
She made the lonely trek up to her room, feeling Tikki’s absence more strongly than ever. She hoped she was okay, wherever she was. Maybe, just maybe, she had gotten away. Or maybe she was still safely tucked away in the earrings, the thief unable to figure out how to activate them. Marinette hoped at the very least, whoever had taken Tikki wouldn’t be cruel to her.
She didn’t have much hope, though.
Marinette would get her back. She had to.
But until something happened, she could only wait restlessly as she worried over what lay in store for her, and for Paris. Would Papillon give up, if the Ladybug Miraculous was nowhere to be found? Somehow, she doubted it. Would Chat Noir find another way, a way to fight without her? She didn’t know. What would the city think when their hero had let them all down and disappeared without a trace?
With a million questions and worries weighing on her mind, Marinette slipped into an uneasy sleep, and waited for the morning to come.