Chapter Text
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.-Dylan Thomas
There was a moment after the first thunder when Marinette -Ladybug, to be precise- realized she would totally come back home with a cold. Nothing new, she was getting used to them. Nonetheless, she was feeling weaker than usual, and after helping a group of small children cross the street to get back to their worried mothers she decided to head home for the day. No one would be out with that kind of weather anyways.
As the dark clouds fogged the sky of Paris, she recollected how much of a trouble it was for her to convince her parents to not go anywhere for summer holidays that year. Her mother, strangely enough, accepted immediately, while her father was more skeptical about this decision, and only Alya coming to her help managed to make him change his mind. She still had to retrieve the butterfly miraculous before it fell into the wrong hands.
The heroine grew more tired by the minute, and she stopped a few blocks away from the bakery to take a deep breath and gain some energy for her last sprint.
It was during these mere seconds that four people landed on the same rooftop she was on. As if it was some kind of choreography they had practiced over and over, they surrounded her leaving her no way to escape. She tried to jump, but a vacant knife cut her cheek.
«Who are you? What do you want?» shouted Ladybug, getting ready to fight. Her yoyo started rotating next to her. How she wished Chat Noir was there to help her now.
«You know already» an all too familiar voice answered, venom dripping with every letter. One of the masked dudes loaded a handgun and pointed it at her. Ladybug backed slightly, but fell right into the arms of the fourth member, who managed to tackle her to the ground, before taking off her earrings and pressing on her mouth a wet cloth. Seconds later, as Marinette fainted, the four criminals left with the helpless girl.
Mere meters away, an incredulous Alix looked at the scene with horror, barely managing to keep her voice down as sobs started threatening to come out. Luka tugged her away and managed to get her back to her senses, as the two made their way back in the Burrow.
Hours. Sabine had been waiting for hours for her daughter to come home. As she was finishing her drawing, her daughter would yell “spots off” as usual, unaware of how the walls that divided the kitchen from her room weren’t thick enough to cover the sound of her brutal landing on the floor, before coming into the kitchen to drink half a liter of water. She never worried too much, she had done way worse at her age in an even more dangerous situation. Or so she thought, up until that day. Thunderstorms were usual in mid July, sometimes becoming so powerful that the Seine looked more like a sea than a river and that winds were blowing away every leaf from the most sturdy of trees, but not enough to explain her little girl not coming home. The panic arose on her face, and before thinking anything about it, she phoned the police.
Tom frowned when hearing his wife taking a call, but he swiftly changed his mood as soon as he heard what she was saying.
«Hello officer, yes please, I need your help. My daughter, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she’s missing, her phone’s not working… I think she left almost five hours ago but it’s now ten and she’s nowhere to be seen. Please…» her voice sounded awfully weak, breaking sometimes, like she was on the verge of tears. She hung up, distraught. It was at that point that two teenagers started ringing the doorbell like crazy. As she went to open, she recognised Alix and Luka, completely soaked in rainwater, glaring furiously at the entrance.
«Madame Cheng, we need to talk, now!»
«Tom, could you please take care of the last batch? I’ll talk with them for a second.» Her husband obliged, still clearly in shock.
«So, what did you want to talk to me about?» she asked, then turned away to face the fridge. «Do you or your kwamis want anything to eat?»
Luka mumbled: «So you do know». Sabine could only half-smile for an answer.
Alix lowered her gaze. «You need to contact Marinette’s father».
Sabine froze on her steps, letting go abruptly the towel she was holding. «How do you know?» she asked under her breath, as she bent to grab the object.
«My future self told me.»
«And then why haven’t you contacted him yourself?»
«I have no idea who he could be. My older self just told me that it was imperative you knew this. He’s necessary for the universe to work correctly.» “And for Marinette to stay alive,” she added in her mind.
The room was silent for a couple of minutes. Fluff and Sass were watching worriedly for their fellow friend and their guardian. Before any of the present people were able to grasp it, Sabine made a tray of homemade cookies and some tea appear.
«Please, for your safety kids, feel free to stay here as long as this godforsaken storm has passed. I don’t want any of you to go missing too.» She hurried towards the library next to the entrance, grabbed a massive yellow volume and started flipping through the pages.
When she reached the letter P on the telephone book, her fingers started violently pressing the numbers on the page for Alfred, the most reliable person in that household.
The phone rang two times, but the old butler didn’t fail to answer. «Good afternoon, this is Alfred Pennyworth talking, you’ve reached Wayne’s household, how can I be of your assistance?»
«Sorry if you haven’t heard from me in years, Alfie. It’s… Cheng Xia Bing. I have a colossal problem here in Paris but it’s way too long to explain now- can I speak with B- your boss?»
«He’s almost finished with his meeting now, I’ll hear from him then I’ll give you your response.»
Alfred hung up, Sabine waited, nervously pacing around the kitchen, as the two teens in front of her were too nervous to even manage to eat anything.
Not even ten minutes later, the phone rang.
«He wants to see you. A plane is waiting for you at the Charles De Gaulle airport.»
She fleed out the door, not even bothering looking at the two teens, who were left dumbfoundedly sitting on the couch, trying to understand who in the world could be the man Sabine had been calling.