Work Text:
The akuma of the week was a young woman whose brother had died.
Marinette didn’t know what the new Hawk Moth was thinking. He had done plenty of things, akumatized plenty of people she couldn’t believe he had—a baby, Caline Bustier while she was pregnant, multiple toddlers—but this? Kind of a new low for the Hawk Moth brand, she wouldn’t lie. Besides, as far as she was aware, the brother who had died was only dead because of an accident, unrelated to any akumas. Something that no one could have anticipated, and it happened far outside of Paris but that didn’t change thing. The poor victim had been mourning at her brother’s urn, curled up on the couch as far as Marinette was aware.
At least the akuma—named Heartbreaker—had a better outfit than normal. Apparently, this new Hawk Moth had stepped up their game. Heartbreaker was in a black and dark magenta outfit, a crop top with a heart over the chest and shorts with a stripe of color down the sides. The thing was mostly black, with dark magenta as the accents. She had thigh-high boots that almost matched her shorts, magenta shorts in between the two, and then butterfly wings in the same colors attached to her back. When they were fully fanned out, they looked sort of like Monarch butterfly wings…and Marinette wasn’t surprised. Just disappointed.
In Heartbreaker’s hands, she had a giant sword, sort of like a Spartan sword. It was mostly black with a magenta heart stamped into the edge of it and a heart-shaped hilt and pommel. There was a stone set into the pommel, a pink ruby or something similar. Her hair had turned dark magenta and was held back in a high ponytail, her eyes were magenta with black sclera, and she had black marks like eyeshadow running down her cheeks.
Unfortunately, that sword wasn’t the only weapon Heartbreaker had. She had some sort of terrain manipulation power as well. She’d already almost impaled several of the team already. Actually, Rooster Bold had tried to jump in and mimic Vesperia’s Venom, only to get a long slash across his leg. Caprikid had taken him back to the bakery to get a potion and patch him up. They were going to have to wait to get back in the fight, if they did at all, though. They would need time, their kwami needed the chance to recharge, and then—
Dodging to the side, Marinette rolled behind a chimney to block the next attack. Heartbreaker screamed in anger. She went for another attack, lashing out in pain. Glancing over her shoulder, Marinette winced.
Carapace, Chat Noir, and Viperion landed next to her. “Second Chance?” She asked. If they had enough time, if they went back just far enough—
Viperion shook his head.
Swallowing, Marinette turned back to the Lucky Charm in her hands. She didn’t even know how she was going to use this. A frying pan? Flipping it over in her hands, she grimaced. Okay, uh—her eyes darted around. When she looked, she just saw…nothing. I don’t know what to do with this! I can’t—
“Come out here and face me!” Heartbreaker screamed irritably. Swinging her sword around, she charged for Marinette again. Marinette darted to the side. She dropped her shoulder, rolling to the side to get further away from Heartbreaker as she tried to close the distance. Okay, alright. Not good. Giving more ground, Marinette dodged further back. She could handle this.
“Do damage control! Make sure all the other civilians are out of the area, and I’ll run distraction!” She shouted to Chat Noir.
“Maybe don’t shout your plans!” Heartbreaker roared, swinging for her again. Using her yo-yo as a shield, Marinette watched Chat Noir for just a second longer. Brows furrowing, he stared at her for a second, then nodded. She returned it, smiling for a second. Then, she was back to fighting Heartbreaker, dodging and ducking and weaving around one blow after the other. She kept having to give ground—she needed to distract Heartbreaker, make her and the new Hawk Moth think that this was their genuine plan for just long enough—
Something struck her in the back.
The air rushed from her lungs. Something drove through her back. A chill rushed through her veins, she sucked in a sharp breath—
It didn’t hurt. That was probably the strangest part about it. One moment, she was standing there, with one of Heartbreaker’s spikes pierced through her middle. She didn’t even have the time to process it. Between one heartbeat and the next, she was blinking her eyes open, lying on something that was not Parisian asphalt. She still had her Lucky Charm in hand, the handle of the frying pan settled in her fingers rather comfortably. Soft grass tickled the sides of her neck—
At least she didn’t have a grass allergy like Rose did. Poor girl didn’t even realize that bubble baths didn’t hurt until she was twelve, and that they weren’t meant to leave little bumps on the sides of her fingers like blisters. If Marinette had been like Rose, then she would have had little red scratches all over her neck and back.
Pushing herself up, she glanced around. She was in some sort of sunny meadow. With a deep breath, she looked around and hummed. As she stood—dressed in her normal outfit, no less—she gripped the frying pan a little tighter.
A hand settled on her shoulder.
“Marinette—” Holding the frying pan, Marinette twisted and slammed the flat of the frying pan into the person’s face. She paused, recognizing platinum blond hair and pale eyes and a familiar face and voice—
She did feel guilty.
For about…two seconds.
Then, she realized who she had just hit.
“Oh.” She started, staring down at Adrien’s dumbass father. “It’s you.”
Holding out the frying pan, she dropped it so the pan hit Gabriel in the face.
“Marinette.” That was a different voice. Jolting with a grimace, Marinette turned. There, standing in the meadow, was a familiar woman with long blond hair styled in a roll over one shoulder. Her eyes were a familiar green, her lips were pulled into a smile. “He didn’t mean to startle you. Even if he did deserve it.”
“Émilie, my love,” Gabriel started from the floor. As he dragged himself up, he handed the frying pan to Marinette, albeit hesitantly. “I’ll have to ask you not to hit me with that again.”
Spinning it by the handle, Marinette replied, “I promise I’ll only hit you if you deserve it.” He sighed. When she jokingly swung it at his stomach, he lurched back. His eyes went wide. Straightening back up with a smile, Marinette said, “Just kidding. Sorry.” She gave a shrug, turning back to Émilie. “Where am I?”
“Afterlife.” Shrugging, Émilie smiled at her. Cocking a hip to the side, she crossed her arms and looked down at Marinette. She was tall, too, just like Gabriel. It meant she towered over Marinette (thanks to her mother’s genes, Marinette wasn’t destined to get very tall, anyways). Still, Marinette held her ground. They stayed that way for a few seconds. Not very long.
Émilie smiled and touched her shoulder.
Marinette kept a hold of the frying pan. Yes, she loved Adrien. Yes, Adrien loved his mother and even loved Gabriel, despite the fact he knew Gabriel had been Hawk Moth. Yes, she and Adrien both knew about Gabriel’s use of the Butterfly Miraculous and Émilie’s use of the Peacock Miraculous. However, Émilie used the Peacock Miraculous to make Marinette’s boyfriend. As grateful as she was for that, as much as she loved Adrien, she was old enough to recognize that that also opened Adrien up for abuse. His inability to kiss Marinette, the way he was forced to go to London, how he and Kagami were both forced into a fake relationship—that wouldn’t have happened if Adrien wasn’t made with the damn Miraculous in the first place. Émilie had opened up her own son to be abused. She had abandoned him, willingly or not.
It was something Marinette would have to wrestle with more. She already was wrestling with it—mourning Émilie at Adrien’s side, but mostly mourning what could have been versus what actually was. For now, it wouldn’t matter. She was in the afterlife.
Hopefully, Adrien had taken her earrings already and was fighting Heartbreaker already.
(She was also angry about the new Hawk Moth. She’d allowed Gabriel to be remembered kindly because of her concerns for Adrien and what that loss might do to him. What would happen if the public decided not to be kind. Maybe she was paranoid. Maybe not. Maybe the new Hawk Moth could take the fall for Gabriel Agreste, and everyone could forget him instead.)
“I can see why Adrien likes you.” Émilie replied. Looking at her, Marinette waited. “You are quite strong. Plenty strong compared to what Gabriel expected.”
Marinette looked at her. “Thanks.” She said after a moment. Looking around, she asked, “How do I get out of here?”
She assumed that the Ladybugs would bring her back. They’d brought Chat Noir back several times. Which, also—
She turned back to Gabriel and brandished her polka-dotted frying pan.
“You! What is wrong with you?!” She snapped. “Do you know how lucky you are that Adrien isn’t the one who died this time?!”
“He’s died?” Gabriel and Émilie asked, with vastly different intonations. Gabriel’s was confused. As for Émilie’s, Marinette would probably describe it as a bit horrified.
Staring at him, Marinette exploded, “Yes!” She started gesturing with the frying pan, “Timebreaker?! He got erased from history! And are you forgetting the time that you got lasered in Shanghai? Because he got lasered, too! And don’t even get me started on Desperada, he kept going back in time I don’t even know how—augh!”
“Miss Dupain-Cheng—”
She swung the frying pan around to point it at him., “Don’t ‘Miss Dupain-Cheng’ me, mister! I will hit you with this again!”
Émilie laughed softly.
Marinette glanced at her, frowning. One hand held to her mouth, Émilie just looked at her again. “And this is why you always lost, love. You just couldn’t keep up.”
Awkwardly, Gabriel cleared his throat. “I…highly doubt that such a thing is—”
“True?” Émilie moved again, setting her hands on Marinette’s shoulders. “You can doubt all you want. It doesn’t change what has happened.” There was a lean in, and then Émilie was murmuring to Marinette specifically. The faint smell of rose perfume and midnight fell on them both, “Do me a favor, Ladybug? Make sure my son doesn’t get too lost in the clouds. His eyes have always been on the sky.”
Before Marinette could ask what that meant, she was lying on her back on solid concrete, with Viperion, Chat Noir, and Vesperia all hovering over her. They were silhouetted by the sun. She could still see the worried expressions, though. With a groan, she pushed herself up, “What…Heartbreaker?”
Chat Noir had a hand on her shoulder, touching the earrings in her ears. She turned to him, “Taken care of by Mister Bug. Or, well…Bug Noir.” She almost laughed. Instead, she just leaned into him, whispering the transformation phrase. Her head was spinning, but—
“Thank everything for magic ladybugs.” She mumbled, pressing a hand to her stomach. Judging by the pained reactions around her—and the fact that Viperion wasn’t looking at her—she had a feeling she knew what happened. “Is Heartbreaker okay?”
“She’ll be fine. Let’s get you home.” Chat Noir slipped a hand around her shoulders, his other arm snaking under her legs. Then, she was being lifted, held tight to his chest. She looped her arms around his neck. She was sure the Ladyblog would have something about this later. So would all the news stations, but…she couldn’t bring herself to care.
“I whacked the shit out of your dad with a frying pan.” She said.
Holding her, Chat let out a huff of a laugh as he jumped from one rooftop to the other. “He deserved it.” He mumbled. Still, as they went, he was careful enough not to jostle her. It was sweet. Really sweet, actually. She appreciated it.
They got to her parents’ bakery, going in through a back entrance that people couldn’t see.
As soon as they were inside, Adrien detransformed and then settled Marinette on the living room couch. He settled by her side, watched her drop her own Ladybug form and then took her hand. He pressed a kiss to the back of it. “You alright, Princess?” He asked, softly.
“I’m fine, thank you.”
The door opened, and she glanced over in time to see Kagami and Félix hurrying through the door. “Marinette.” Kagami greeted softly, darting over. Already, Félix was at the fridge, finding…something. She didn’t actually know what. Even if her parents returned, they’d come home plenty of times to find at least one superhero digging through their fridge, pantry, or (on one memorable occasion) the dumpster in the alleyway. (That one was, shockingly enough, not Alix or Kim like people would have assumed.) “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Kagami. Thank you.” Taking a breath, Marinette tried to move. She flinched, grabbing her stomach and holding Adrien’s hand tighter. Brows furrowing, he studied her face. She knew her grip had to hurt, she had to be moving his fingers out of their usual joints.
“You have lied.”
“Not lying. Just—” When Marinette went to drop her head back against the throw pillows, Adrien caught her head gently. He sent her a weak smile. Returning it, Marinette continued, “forgot how much some of this actually hurts.”
“Right.” Félix glanced over as he kept fiddling with things in the kitchen. He rifled through the cabinets. It actually…made her want to laugh. If they had done this a year before, then she wouldn’t have trusted Félix in her kitchen at all. After finding Félix of all people digging through the dumpster, though, she had a feeling she didn’t need to be too concerned. He was a bit awkward, sure. He was a part of the team like anyone else, though.
Walking over, Félix held out a plate.
“Pain au chocolat?” He tilted his head to the side. Reaching up, she took it willingly, smiling at him. “Seemed like the best choice.”
“Thank you,” Marinette replied. “How are Marc and Nathaniel?”
“Both are fine. You should rest.” Kagami replied, crossing her arms. Looking at her, Marinette hummed. She munched on the pain au chocolat. Then—
“Do you think that little spicy rock could be flint?”
“Marinette!”