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“You’re not trying to sneak out on me, are you?”
Marinette startled and turned around. He was leaning against the wall, hiding in the shadows. She never would have been able to see him if he hadn’t spoken. In any case, she could only tell he was there since a portion of his arm was visible in the area with fewer shadows. She knew his voice, but she also recognized the shirt he had been wearing. If she strained her eyes, she could see a bit of his pants connected to the bit of his shoe that was visible through the shadowy darkness leading to the darkened halls of the closed museum.
She held the end of her dress up along with her shoes and her bag was tight against her chest to keep it from making a sound as she tiptoed out. She sighed and dropped the dress back down and relaxed since her attempt at being sneaky had failed.
“This can’t keep on like this. I deserve to have a life,” she said.
He moved quickly and turned her so she was pinned against the wall. His hand found her leg at the split in the dress. His breath came at her neck when he spoke again.
“Do you want an exciting life, my dear?” his lips brushed against the sensitive skin. “I can give you all the excitement you crave.”
She sucked in a breath at his words. Reaching between them with his free hand, he tugged her bag away. It fell open to reveal the replica that she had been attempting to replace. Her angry reaction was cut off by cameras flashing. She could only imagine what the pictures would show when they graced the gossip rags tomorrow. He turned and gave them a shit eating grin at being caught. His thumb traced along her lower lip and she sucked in a breath as he leaned close to her. He paused his advance when she pushed her hand against his chest.
“No show today,” he laughed at the cameras as he slung his arm around her and pulled her along with him. The pictures the next day showed him leaning down close to her ear, but none of them heard him say, “I know you love it when I do that, even if you pretend you don’t.”
She made a noise, only loud enough for him to hear as they headed back into the ballroom for the fundraiser. He pulled her bag away from her and looked inside. There was no way that he didn’t see the replica inside. It was nearly the only thing in her bag; she was running out of options for her ability to replace it with the real one. She had seen it and held it in her hand her first time at the museum just to watch the Egyptologist walk away with it. After all her work to design the fashion show tonight for the ancient Egyptian exhibition opening this weekend, she would have no good opportunity to replace it with the replica that weighed heavy in her bag.
She smiled as they reentered. With Damian at her side, she seemed to constantly be noticed wherever she went. Even with tonight focusing heavily on her design work for the modern take on ancient Egyptian fashion, he garnered far more attention with everything he did as he was taking over his father’s business and interests as well as for just being a member of the Wayne Family. It made for an awkward bodyguard situation for him to get so much attention. He and his family insisted that she was in danger after her encounter her previous visit to the museum.
She felt like the danger would have presented itself in the months they had spent working on the fundraiser before the opening of the exhibit, but they disagreed. They had enlisted her parents and Audrey Bourgeois, her boss, so she had no choice but to accept their solution. Their solution had been a fake boyfriend to serve as protection. It had been weeks and Marinette had seen no signs of danger. The only thing that had happened was that she was prevented from recovering the lost miraculous because he was always around. Now, he knew about the replica and it would be even trickier for her to replace it.
—
“Would it have killed you to distract them for just a minute so I could sneak away?” Marinette asked irritably, after they arrived at home.
“I am here to protect you, not help you with petty crimes,” he chided.
“You are here to irritate me. There is no other reason to explain this farce,” she huffed back at him.
He once again pushed her into the corner, this time he wasn’t gentle when he forced her chin up to look at him.
“There are real threats against you. You can ignore it all you want, but I can’t.”
“I feel so much better knowing that you were hired to care about what happens to me,” she spit out.
She wrenched herself away from him and turned but he pressed himself against her, pinning her sideways against the wall. He allowed her to struggle but she couldn’t push him away. He was toying with her. Any movement she made was only because he allowed it.
“If it makes you feel better,” he whispered, causing the hair by her ear to shuffle at his breath, “believe that I only care because I am paid.”
He pushed off the wall and she stayed pressed against it as if his weight was still holding her there. She heard in mutter, “for now” as he stormed off. It was several moments before she could move. She heard the sounds of him moving about and starting the shower. She eventually moved and started gathering her things so she could shower and wash off all the makeup and the cares of the day. He didn’t say anything as he exited the shower and went to his own room. She was still feeling dazed after the emotions of the night as she waited for the water to warm. She needed to find a way to end this, everything was feeling so confusing with him always around.
—
Marinette sat in her apartment with her sketchbook and drew angry slashes that turned into outfits that she knew would only suit the man sitting on the opposite side of the room, ignoring her mood in favor of his book. Somehow that infuriated her more than if they were screaming at each other. She knew that she irritated him and he would rather be doing anything else but playing pretend with her, but they were both stuck in this situation. Even though she assured them that it was overkill, they had given her no choice. They had enlisted her parents onto their side by skewing the facts.
She did realize that the initial incident had turned out dangerous, but that had been a minimal injury after her fumble. It had been resolved, if it was even considered danger; it was only this man and his family who seemed to believe that a danger persisted. Unfortunately the family was powerful and she was currently under their thumb. The press was eating up their public appearances as if they were movie stars. It seemed they were always there to document every moment they were together. She suspected they would do the same for every moment they were apart, but she didn’t get the opportunity as they were together, always.
He didn’t react at all as she slammed her sketchbook closed and stormed off to her own room. Not even her own room. They had moved her into a “secure” building in a shared apartment as soon as they arranged her protection detail. She was careful now. She turned on her music just slightly louder than she typically would and flopped herself onto the bed, making it creak under her sudden weight.
From now, every move must be more than silent; she must also be unpredictable.
It wasn’t quite dark, but it would be soon. She covered herself in black. She looked chic, but easily incognito. Either way, she wouldn’t stand out. The bricks of the building were a faded maroon, the black would be visible against it. Her window was on the street side and didn’t have the fire escape. The fire escape was too much of a risk anyway. Old creaky metal hanging on the side of the building with moving parts for the ladders would definitely make noise. They were high up, but she wasn’t sure how far down it could make a noise without Damian being suspicious. He would probably bust into her room thinking someone was coming to kill her, just to find her room empty.
She lifted the window carefully so it wouldn’t make a sound. It did make a sound with the movement but it was a soft sound, not louder than her music. Climbing out quickly when the window was barely wide enough for her to slip through, she clung to the bricks and pulled the window back down before an emergency vehicle could go by with a siren through the open window and give away her escape. She listened carefully and heard no change before she moved on.
Step by step she shifted herself sideways to get to the alley side of the building. They were high up but she worked herself over to a window by the stairwell and jumped to a balcony on the next building over and went through an open window to walk down the stairs and out of the unmonitored exit. It all was turning out to be much quicker and easier than she anticipated. It was definitely more discreet than their building with security at every exit and key cards at the elevators.
Before she knew it, she was arriving at the museum. She didn’t recognize anyone there so no one would recognize her. The crowds were greater over the weekend but had dropped to a trickle as everyone rushed home Monday night. The museum would close in under an hour but it shouldn’t take her more than a few minutes to find what she needed. The group ahead of her was chatting and taking their time so she slowed down to examine the first room closely.
“Ew, it’s those evil beetle things,” she heard echoing down the hall.
“I know. Let’s just go on. The better stuff is ahead and those creep me out,” another responded.
Marinette heard their footsteps rush forward so she moved more quickly. She didn’t see the final set up of the exhibit, but she was pretty sure the ankh miraculous would be with the smaller objects. No one was behind her and she waited until the steps of the other group faded away before she entered the room. A light was out in the entry of the gallery which made her sneaking that much easier. This was the best time because she was certain that they would fix that for the exhibition; they had spent nearly a year negotiating for the pieces and setting up the displays.
She looked around quickly to see where the item had ended up. She looked around before approaching but she was definitely still alone. As she moved in that direction she slipped her hand into her bag to find the replica. Her hand closed around it, but then she turned at a shout behind her.
“Marinette!” Damian called out.
His frame was rigid and his jaw was set tight. His eyes were sharp and unblinking as they trailed over the space. His steps were quick as they approached. She nearly expected him to drag her away like a naughty child, but she decided she must complete her task before going with him. He already knew or strongly suspected why she was here so she decided to just make the switch in front of him and hope for the best with his reaction. Perhaps she could find a way to explain to him how important this was without giving him any details of the miraculous under her care.
Except when she picked it up, everything went sideways.
The floor beneath them crumbled and they fell into the dark.
—
When she came to, her head felt heavy and fuzzy. Her mouth was very dry. She shifted but she couldn’t move her hands. She pulled again and they wouldn’t pull free, but something else shifted and pulled back the other way. She was sitting up with her back pressed against a hard surface. Her hands were bound with rope, she could feel the rough cord; but it took her a second longer to realize that the force pulling back against her was another person who she had been tied to. Both of them were seated against a pillar in a dark open area with shelves around. Footsteps that echoed along with a few voices let them know that they were not alone.
“What happened?” she asked.
“You have been out for a while. They used something to knock us out before tying us,” Damian responded from the other side of the pillar. “I can’t loosen the knots at all like this.”
“I don’t even know what to try. I’ve read about getting out of restraints, but everything I know is if you are awake while being tied and not to another person.”
“It’s more complicated, but we can twist against each other to loosen the knot; it would be better if we had something to slip in to loosen it, but I didn’t find anything.”
A voice approaching cut their planning off, “Ah, I see you have awakened.”
Marinette recognized the man from her first time at the museum, but rather than appearing to be a serious professor of Egyptology, he looked as if he were cosplaying as an Egyptian pharaoh.
He walked over to her and said, “Khepri.”
His whole demeanor seemed antagonistic, and she remembered when he had said that before at their first meeting.
> >
She was drawn to the ankh at the museum the first time she saw it, but it wasn’t until after she touched it that she realized it was a lost miraculous. It wasn’t even in her grimoire, so its existence and loss must predate the writing of the book. Considering the era the relic was dated to with the Egyptian artifacts, she guessed it was around the time that the ladybug miraculous was active in Egypt. She had reached out to Alix to learn more, but otherwise she was keeping quiet about it. They made a replica of the pictures they could find online and Marinette’s memory. Hopefully it would be close enough to replace it without being noticed, but the Egyptologist was already suspicious of her after she touched it.
The incident with the miraculous was the whole reason she was in the mess with a bodyguard in the first place. Damian had been there as a representative of the Wayne Foundation when the Egyptologist, Dr McElroy, had shouted and rushed over to her for touching the piece. She was too shocked to react quickly enough. She hadn’t planned to pick up the ankh but when he ran at her it was in her hand. She held it out in front of her like a shield, the jeweled scarab flashed in the light or possibly glowed as she wielded it. It happened too fast for her to get a good view because Dr McElroy tripped in his haste to stop her and fell into her, pulling them both to the ground.
She was pulled to her feet and there were concerned people all around both of them. She picked up the ankh and lifted it to hand it back to him when he snatched it out of her hand. She hissed in pain as it was pulled from her apparently injured hand. A woman from the museum was fussing over him and Marinette felt bad when she saw a goose egg forming on his head. He must have hit it on something when they went down. The woman helped him with his hat that had fallen off. Even with the visible injury, he seemed more upset over her touching it than hurt.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t think about what I was doing. I thought it looked kinda like a ladybug, and I’m from Paris so I have a friend who would really like that because of the hero who used to be there,” she explained quickly.
“Khepri,” gritted Dr. McElroy.
The woman patted his hand and stepped forward, “It’s quite alright. In the future, be careful about touching the artifacts, they may be more delicate than they appear.”
Marinette nodded her head and was pushed along by Damian, he had been her contact at Wayne Enterprises facilitating her being a part of the fundraisers. She felt like she had made a fool of herself every time she had seen him and now he had seen her tumble to the ground with a large man landing on top of her because she couldn’t help touching the artifact. At least he wasn’t laughing; he actually seemed concerned, whether that was for her injuries or her lack of sense in grabbing the miraculous, she didn’t know.
Dr. McElroy still held the ankh as if someone was going to take it from him. He glared hard at Marinette as if trying to see what caused her to pick it up. She knew that she was just nervous about what she had learned about it. He looked hard at the ankh again and then marched down the hall towards some offices. She heard him say “Khepri” again as he disappeared.
> >
He held the ankh miraculous in his hand, right in front of her as well as her replica. She thought it was a pretty good replica for not having access to the actual artifact, but it was clear that it wasn’t exact. An expert would definitely know the difference, as well as people like her who had experience with the magic emitting from the miraculous. Hopefully, he would be ignorant of the true power of what he possessed. She had done as much research as she could with her ever present bodyguard, but she found no clear record of the ankh miraculous. It appeared it had been lost since before any of the written records she had seen, lying dormant with the memory of the ancient Egyptian ladybug, Khepri, named for the goddess of the sun, creation, and the renewal of life.
“Tutlings!” he shouted suddenly. “Tutlings, come forth.”
Scurrying towards him from the direction he had come were several others in Egyptian style clothing, including some of the designs she had created for the fundraiser. One of them carried a kalasiris that was red with black spots. She was focused on that and didn’t realize that the others had gotten to her until they started undoing the bindings. Damian was fighting to get away until another ran up with a large vase and crashed it over his head, making it easier to subdue him.
She was struggling on her own, but she had lost her moment to prepare with her distraction. Two had her prone on the ground while the one with the clothing approached and pushed the dress over her head. Her arms were re-bound behind her back, and they did not bother to put her arms through, just allowing the sheath dress to fall to her ankles while they added the matching mask and even took a pair of scissors and chopped her hair into a bob to match the look. They took no care to ensure that the mask was even on her eyes so her vision was partially obscured by the cloth of the mask.
She could see that they had done similar to Damian. He had a cut on his head from the smashed pot, but he was still fighting against his restraints. His Egyptian garb was much simpler, just a green sheathe that fell down just past his knees. It didn’t appear to be made for his height, but the green did look very nice on him. Dr McElroy had approached him as his tutlings were bringing in two stone sarcophagi.
Marinette did not have a good feeling about what was going to happen now, but she was unable to do anything as she and Damian were both settled into their own sarcophagus.
“I have given your family the opportunity to pay tribute to me as their god and pharaoh. If they show me the respect I am deserved and provide me with offerings befitting my station, you will be spared.”
Dr McElroy addressed Damian as he was shoved down into the stone sarcophagus struggling. The Egyptologist paid him no mind as he turned to Marinette.
“You,” he hissed at her, letting show his ire, “are clearly working in concert with Khepri. She eluded me for years while trying to steal this from my treasures. You will suffer as she should have. You are nothing to the Waynes so they will not give offerings for you.”
“I hold no love for the god Khepri. It just reminded me of the hero in Paris,” Marinette pleaded, watching the tutlings move the cover for the sarcophagus towards her.
“You attempt to deceive me but I found your fake copy of it. You intended to play me for a fool and run off with my treasure,” he dropped the replica on her and she gasped as it hit. “You will suffer with your fake treasure as a fake Khepri. Aten will not hear your cries.”
With his last threat, one of the tutlings moved forward and shoved a cloth in her mouth and tied it around her head. Marinette heard Damian trying to convince him that his family would pay for her freedom as well but it was quickly muffled as the heavy stone cover was put on the sarcophagus, leaving her in the dark. There was movement, swaying back and forth, she thought they might be taking her somewhere. She hoped they weren’t burying it. She was quickly losing hope that she could be saved. It was just as she decided that this was the worst possible thing that could have happened that she first felt a trickle of cold water. The sarcophagus was not air tight, so she did not have to worry about the oxygen depleting, but even at a slow trickle the space would fill up with water and she would drown.
—
The water had started at her feet and was filling unevenly. That meant she would last longer, whether or not that was intentional for her to have more time to panic, she didn’t know. But she was panicking. She couldn’t do anything to calm herself at this point. With a gag in her mouth it had been too difficult to try any breathing exercises, but she was shivering too hard from the cold water to manage her breathing. The cloth between her teeth was the only thing to keep them from chattering together. As the water level had risen, she had hoped that the rope would be easier to manage once it was wet, but if anything, it seemed to be more difficult to remove and her wet skin was damaged more easily.
She felt a shift and for a moment she was hopeful that it meant help had arrived. Damian had found some way to get free and would save her. But instead of that, the sarcophagus had moved upwards and cracked open to where she saw a flash of light before plunging back down with water pouring in much more quickly. She screamed into her gag and flailed around as much as the space would allow. Instead of up to an hour for the water to fill up, she suspected she had a couple minutes left.
She pulled her feet up and pushed against the lid again. It did nothing, but she waited until her head was nearly covered. She released her legs and pushed from the other side. She barely got her face above the water to take a deep breath in the rapidly filling open space. Her panic was finally being managed as she lost the ability to take more breaths after her final one. Her lungs were burning as she kicked against the top and pulled at her hands. Nothing changed except she released some of the air she was holding. Everything she had tried had been useless.
Releasing the air as slowly as possible but she was pushing out the last bit when she felt the lid shift. She kicked off from the bottom, nearly immediately bumping into another person. Arms moved around her and helped her move to the surface. After she surfaced, she gasped as much as she could, pulling in huge breaths of air around the gag. When she opened her eyes and looked around, Damian was holding her above the water even though it wasn’t very deep. She could have stood in the water with her head out but he continued to hold her, pushing her hair away from her face. He pulled the gag tighter in her mouth before it released.
All those who had been holding them were now restrained as Batman and associates moved about to clear the area. Damian slipped something into her hand. He made sure no one was watching as he did it and spoke quietly.
“I’m so sorry that the piece you liked so much was lost during the fight,” he winked. “No one has seen it since.”
Just like that, he gave her what she needed without her ever having to tell him why. Somehow he had been right about her needing protection, but he had also managed to protect what was more important to her. She smiled up at him, but then just rested her head against his shoulder. She probably could have gotten down and managed on her own, but it felt good to be in his arms.