Chapter Text
The stew is steaming hot. Marinette can tell because for the first time since the power went down a couple of weeks ago, there’s a lot less arguing in the mess hall.
People smile at her as she passes, marking her as a chef from her apron and uniform. Those that recognize her wave and Marinette does her best to give them all wide smiles in return.
As Marinette makes her way back to the kitchen, a doll flies across the room, landing at her feet. She stoops down to pick it up. It’s handmade and poorly done, probably made by thrown-together scraps. The doll is threadbare, with rips and tears, and there’s a few dirt smudges on the face. But it’s clearly well loved.
“Excuse me,” a small voice says. A little girl no older than five with matted strawberry blond hair and dirty cheeks, looks up at Marinette.
Marinette offers the girl a smile, kneeling down and holding out her find. “Is this your doll?”
The girl nods, looking at the floor.
“She’s very beautiful,” Marinette says, smiling gently at the girl. “Does she have a name?”
The girl looks up with wide eyes and smiles. She’s missing her three front teeth. “Katy.”
“Katy,” Marinette says, stroking the dolls’ hair. “What a lovely name. You take good care of her, okay?”
The girl nods and Marinette hands back the doll and sends the girl back toward her mother.
Marinette weaves her way through the rows and rows of filled tables and finally makes it into the kitchen.
The heat hits her immediately, accompanied by the smell of spice and broth. She wordlessly joins the fray of other chefs, setting to work chopping carrots and potatoes for the stew.
“They say Lady Wifi made it back over the border last night and that she’s got a lot of refugees with her,”says Nathaniel, one of the other chefs, right as she’s putting carrot slices in with one of the stew pots.
“She’s back already?” Marinette asks, relief flooding her chest. The carrot slices plop into the stew as she accidentally drops them all at once. “Well, at least that explains the extra food.”
“Yeah, it was a real surprise,” Nathaniel says, peeling a potato and chucking the peel into a bowl that will be taken to the gardeners later for fertilizer. “She wasn’t supposed to be back for another couple of days. But that’s Alya for you.”
Marinette groans. “I just hope she didn’t overdo it again like last time. It took her weeks to heal.”
“That’s because she can’t keep still to save her life,” Nathaniel points out.
Sadly, it’s true. For as long as Marinette had known Alya, she could never sit still for too long—especially when something was unjust. It hadn’t surprised Marinette when Alya revealed herself to be Lady Wifi, East Paris’ most well-known and respected hero.
When Lady Wifi first showed up three years ago, the people of East Paris had celebrated in the streets. And when she’d helped rescue trapped survivors in West Paris and brought them over to safety, she was hailed as a hero, a much-needed thing then, and still now.
At first, Marinette had wanted to her sidekick. But Alya had eventually talked her out of it. She didn’t have a power, Alya had reminded her. Alya did. After much begging that for the most part went unacknowledged, Marinette had eventually dropped the issue. Instead of fighting the criminals of West Paris, Marinette stayed behind the front lines to help the survivors of the Fall. She helped cook dinner for refugees in safe houses multiple times a week, and during the day she made clothing and blankets for them using fabric and scraps scavengers had been able to find that week.
It wasn’t as exciting as being a sidekick, but it was honest work.
The doors to the kitchen fly open. “It’s Lady Wifi! She’s back!” a man Marinette’s never seen before calls.
The volume in the kitchen triples, excitement buzzing in the air.
Marinette stops what she’s doing and looks to Nathaniel.
“What are you still doing here? Go,” Nathaniel says, smiling slightly.
Without waiting for another invitation, Marinette sprints out of the kitchen and back through the mess hall, almost tripping over a few discarded blankets. People crowd to the front of the mess hall trying to get out the doors to catch a glimpse of her friend. It’s certainly louder than before, that’s for sure. She can’t blame them. Most of the people here have probably never seen Lady Wifi in person.
With her small stature, Marinette manages to squeeze through the crowd and out the doors of the mess hall.
Even run down, the hospital they set up camp at still smells sterile. Marinette knows the place well, having lived here for a couple of years. More excited crowds flood the halls, trying to make there way to the hospital’s entrance. But Marinette knows all the short cuts. She finds the nearest flight of stairs, which is mostly empty due to a lack of knowledge for the hospital’s layout, and races down the three flights it takes to get to the ground floor.
From there, it’s easy to find the hospital’s entrance.
Paramedics swarm the dozen or so West Paris refugees. Like usual, they’re thin from hunger and covered in grime. A couple are missing limbs and there are several that are bloody. It breaks Marinette’s heart every time she sees it.
They’re safe now, she assures herself. Alya got them out.
The hospital doors open and in steps a girl clad in a black uniform with electric purple stripes webbing across her chest. Her left arm is covered in from-fitting metal, half a gauntlet, half a glove. She has white knee-high boots made of a sturdy leather that was super hard to find. Marinette should know. She made the uniform herself. Minus the metal armor piece. That had been Nathaniel’s handy work. Metal was hard to come by these days, so he used his power to draw her the gauntlet.
Next to Lady Wifi stood her boyfriend Nino, or Bubbler. Marinette made his costume, too, though he’d asked for something a bit more laid back than Alya had. Instead of a form-fitting suit, he has a red hoodie trimmed with blue and yellow stripes with a white eye-like circle in the middle of his chest. His pants are black and baggy, comfortable and easy to move around in. He, too, has boots. They’re made from the same material as Alya’s, but black with red, yellow, and blue stripes at the top. He had black goggles on in imitation of a mask.
Alya wears no mask. She doesn’t need one. All of Paris, West and East, knows who she is and she doesn’t care.
“Alya, Nino, you’re back!” Marinette cries, running up to her friends. She wraps her arms around Alya and Alya does the same, holding her tight.
Marinette pulls back and hugs Nino, too.
“How was everything?” Marinette asks, stepping back to give them some space.
Nino and Alya exchange looks.
“We shouldn’t talk here, Marinette,” Alya says in a low voice. She jerks her head and Marinette takes the hint to follow her.
Nino and Alya walk side by side, hands clasped together. Marinette, as always, walks behind, the third wheel in all of this. It used to annoy her more, but she understands now that they need each other to keep themselves standing. They fight criminals and almost die trying. They need their love for each other to keep it together. Marinette can’t understand that and she knows it. So she’s content to stay behind.
Alya leads the three of them to an empty hospital room and closes the door behind them.
Marinette takes a seat on one of the chairs, hands folded in her lap. “So?”
Alya sighs, collapsing onto the bed, rubbing her forehead. This is the side of Lady Wifi that almost no one sees but Marinette and Nino. For the people, she has to be strong. But for them, she’s just Alya.
Nino stands beside he girlfriend, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It was rough, ‘Nette. Really rough. We almost got ambushed on the way back.”
Marinette sucks in a breath. “But wasn’t Alix with you? Shouldn’t she have been able to see it coming?”
“Timebreaker got knocked out,” Alya says. “It was my fault. I teleported the two of us to the meet-up spot, but I wasn’t careful enough. She got hit by falling rubble. She was just taken away by the nurses when you found us.”
“Alya, it wasn’t your fault,” Nino says. “You didn’t do it on purpose. How could you have known about the rubble?
Alya stays quiet, and shakes her head. She pushes herself up off the hospital bed, standing up. “I’m the number one hero. I should have been able to protect her.”
Not wanting an argument to break out, Marinette says, “You said something about an ambush. Was it just the usual?”
“We thought it was, at first,” Alya says, glancing at Nino.
“But there was this new guy,” Nino finishes. “Usually Hawkmoth just sends out Simon Says or Mime, or someone else like that. But this guy was a lot younger. He was decked out in all black and he kind of just…stood behind everyone else and watched? At first we were doing fine—kicking some ass, you know? But then this guy shows up and we start, I don’t know how to put this, slipping up? One minute we were fine, the next, we were missing easy punches and taking hits we’d usually dodge fine.”
“It was humiliating,” Alya says, cheeks flushing. “Mime managed to punch me in the face. In the face, Marinette! I could have teleported, or something. But I didn’t.”
“Hey, hey,” Marinette says, putting her hands, palms out. “Just breathe and calm down. You did great and you got a few more refugees across the border. That’s something to celebrate, right?”
Alya brushes a brown lock of hair out of her face and tucks it behind her ear. She smiles at Marinette. “Yeah, I guess. Thanks, M. I—” she cuts herself off, wrapping an arm around Nino and pulling him close. “We needed that.”
“We should probably go check on Alix,” Nino says, flashing a grateful smile at Marinette.
Alya nods, eyes dulling. All business, she says, “Right. Hey, Marinette? Think you can talk to Gamer about that guy we saw? Maybe he knows something about him.”
“Will do,” Marinette says. “If he finds out anything, I’ll let you know.”
“You’re the best, Marinette,” Alya smiles. She waves behind her, turning on her heel and walking out the door with Nino hot on her trail.
“Hey, Alya?” Marinette calls after her friend, running to the door to catch them before they make their way to the end of the hall.
Alya turns around, raising an eyebrow. “Yes?”
Marinette toes the ground, feeling sheepish. “Do you think that you could take me with you on your next mission? I know first aid. I could be a paramedic! Or I could come for emotional support—”
“You know how I feel about that, M,” Alya says, frowning. “You don’t have a power. It’s too dangerous.”
“We wouldn’t want you getting hurt,” Nino agrees.
“R-Right,” Marinettes says, forcing a smile even though she feels herself crumble a little inside. “I was just wondering. It’s fine, I get it. You go check on Alix.”
Alya stays still for a beat and then turns around without another goodbye.
The second they’re out of sight, Marinette’s shoulders sag and she squeezes her eyes shut.
It’s not that she hated Alya and Nino. She loved them like siblings. But sometimes they were too protective. She could handle herself fine, thank you very much.
But, even though Alya had said no, Marinette felt the urge to disobey her. Recently, she’d been wanting to go help on the front lines a lot more than usual. And she’d been asking a lot more, too. She knew Alya was getting a bit tired of hearing her ask, but Marinette couldn’t help it.
Because, for whatever reason, Marinette felt like going to West Paris was what she was supposed to do. There was something out there that called to her. She just didn’t know what.
xXx
Adrien’s favorite part about the suit was definitely the bell. It just added a certain charm to the costume, a whimsy that the all-black and leather outfit lacked by itself. It helped that his father absolutely hated the damn thing. The second he found out, the bell instantly became his favorite thing in the world.
“You didn’t tell me you got permission to go on the front lines. Why?”
“Good morning, Kagami,” Adrien says as his friend starts to walk in time with him.
“Don’t dodge the question,” Kagami says, glaring up at Adrien, brown eyes glinting. Don’t test me, they seem to say.
“What’s there to say?” Adrien asks, speeding up his pace. “I asked father and he finally let me join up with a squadron as long as I promised to stay back and not fight.”
“Everyone’s saying you had a run-in with Lady Wifi,” Kagami says, her lips twisting into a sneer.
“Yeah,” Adrien snorts. “And I barely got to do anything. Mime and Simon Says took care of everything. All I did was give Wifi and Bubbler bad luck.”
Adriend shoves his hands into his pockets, weaving through the Louvre’s crowded plaza. They part for him as usual, recognizing him as ‘the boss’ son’. Being the son of a dangerous criminal overlord does have a few perks.
“Bullshit,” Kagami says shoving through the crowd and making it back to his side. “I heard you’re the only reason they won. Both Bubbler and Timebreaker were with her.”
“Timebreaker was knocked out,” Adrien counters.
“Adrien,” Kagami says through gritted teeth. “You’ve never wanted to fight Easterners before. But for the last month or so, it’s all you can talk about. I want to know why.”
“I want to live up to father’s name,” Adrien says, walking up to the Louvre pyramid. Again, the crowd parts and walks right in, traveling down the stairs.
What used to be a beautiful museum is now the biggest hot spot for crime in all of West Paris. Constant parties are held under the pyramid, criminals from all over West Paris congregating to get drunk and ruin some historic art pieces. To them, the Louvre represents criminal authority, the West beating out the usurpers in the East. But to Adrien, the Louvre is his home.
“It’s not like you to lie, Adrien,” Kagami says, elbowing him in the side.
“Maybe it should be. I’m the heir to a criminal empire. I have to learn to lie at some point,” Adrien shrugs, sidestepping an obviously-drunk couple probably on their way to go make out against the nearest wall.
“You didn’t let me finish,” Kagami says.” It’s not like you to lie, Adrien. So I’m going to trust that you’re lying for a good reason.”
Adrien’s quiet for a moment, listening to the loud, pounding music coming from the ever-present party. “Is there ever a good reason to lie?”
Kagami doesn’t answer.
The two of them wind their way through the Louvre to the section of the Palace reserved for Hawkmoth and specific criminal elites, including Kagami and her family. And, of course, Adrien.
The guards recognize them instantly and let them through
“Let me guess,” Kagami says. “You have to go report in to father-dearest about your latest mission?”
“I do,” Adrien says. “He shouldn’t yell at me too much considering I did what I was supposed to. What about you? Visiting your mother?”
“Yes. While you were gone, I was sent back to arrondissement eight to check up on our main house to make sure our guards weren’t being negligent. That, and she wanted to be sure that no Easterners had stolen anything,” Kagami says, rolling her eyes.
“But arrondissement eight is farther than the heroes have managed to go,” Adrien points out. “It’s too deep into our territory that they wouldn’t risk it. And besides, they usually only target arrondissements fourteen and fifteen looking for civilians.”
“She knows that,” Kagami says plainly. “I think she only sent me there to annoy me. She knows I want to fight on the front lines.” Kagami cross her arms and shakes her head. “Anyway, I haven’t had a chance to ask you about your alias yet. I know you’ve got a costume that you still refuse to show me, but do you have a name yet?”
Adrien looks at his hand and clenches his fist. “Yeah, actually. I was thinking of calling myself Chat Noir.”
“Chat Noir,” Kagami says, testing the name. “I like it. It suits you.”
Adrien couldn’t tell if she meant it or not, but he decided to believe it anyway.
The two stop at a split in the hallway. “Well,” Adrien says. “This is where I leave you.”
“Good luck with your father.”
“And you with your mother.”
Adrien and Kagami part ways, Adrien taking the left and Kagami the right.
He walks down the hall and eventually finds the right door. He stops in front of it, hesitating to knock.
He hadn’t been entirely truthful with Kagami. Yes, father expected him to report in after his mission. But he also has other motives for going to see his father. He needs permission to form a team to invade East Paris. He's going to pose it to his father as a mission of necessity to take out Lady Wifi once and for all to lower morale in East Paris. Then, West Paris would invade.
While that part was technically true, Adrien has other motivations for wanting to go to East Paris. He can’t say why exactly, but he feels like there was something important there. It feels like he's being pulled, like he's missing something. And he wants to find out what it was.
Adrien takes a deep breath and knocks on the door.