A/N: I think this one is a bit sexual, like, I DIDNT MEAN TO MAKE IT THIS WAY, BUT I DIDNT SEE ANOTHER WAY AND I LIKED THIS WAY. dun kill me
Chapter seven
Nathalie was a disciplined woman, one who held herself with a strict posture and a conduct of authority that has told many who faced her not to mess with her.
In few words, she did not have many friends because of her behaviour.
Nathalie gripped the chair, her knuckles turning white with the strain. She willed herself to be emotionless, and stop the tears that were threatening to spill.
Times like this, she wished she could have been another person.
A person who was carefree, a happy girl. Someone who would have many friends, and spend many of her days with friends, playing pranks and having laughs, instead of staying cooped up in her books.
Not for the first time, Nathalie wished she was someone else entirely.
Someone... who did not grow up too fast, or mature much too quickly before her years.
But if she had never been herself, she would never have met him. And would never have the position as Gabriel Agreste's secretary.
Nathalie steeled herself. Her grip on the chair had loosened, and her eyes were just damp. She sniffed, a grabbed a tissue.
It was true, that she wished she had a different life, one filled with a joyous childhood, but she would never give Gabriel up for anything.
Not when she has devoted the better part of her life to his service.
Nathalie pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. Finally, when Gabriel has accomplished his goal, she would not abandon him.
After all, she was his most loyal servant, and she would be contented to see him have his happiness, even though she knew she would never find her own easily.
***
No one was happy. No one could be. Ladybug and Chat Noir were no where to be seen. Even though Paris has reverted back to its bustling self, no one was relaxed.
Everyone was wary. Everyone was careful.
It was as if, the front of Paris, was a façade. One that told others that they were a happy, normal city.
But if you could peel off the layers, and observe carefully, there was paranoia in the citizens eyes that wasn't there before.
A hesitancy, and a careful smile. Something could show, if you see
carefully, that the city was broken, without Ladybug.
And that was why she needed to act fast.
The thing was, where was she, when Paris needed her most?
***
Pollen was cute and all, but she wasn't contributing to anything. It wasn't that Alya hated the kwamii, it was just that she kept making outrageous demands.
"Ooh, I think, that we should all dress up as bees! Then we can be the bee squad!" The kwamii's eyes glinted with excitement.
"No!" Alya and Nino said at the same time Chloé went, "Yes!"
The trio glared angrily at each other.
Alya rubbed her Temples. It was after school, and they were in the near-by park, planning together. They didn't have to worry about anyone chancing upon them with Pollen, as the citizens were all scared to be in the direct open where Hawkmoth could Attack.
Now, the citizens traveled in groups, and never left home without companions.
Which is why Nino and Alya downright rejected Chloé's idea of doing it in the mall.
Alya scowled as the kwamii giggled. "Pollen, our objective is to infiltrate without getting caught or seen. Wearing bee costumes defeat the point!"
Pollen rolled her eyes. "Of course I knew that, it was just funny ."
Nino wore a similar grumpy face. "Please contribute to something appropriate then."
"Hey!" Chloé gave an indignant shout. "It wasn't Pollen's fault! I-"
"Okay, shooshhh," Alya interrupted. The last thing she needed was them bickering about outfits. "Lets focus on the position we are taking. Queen Bee, you will be making your proclamation... where?"
"At the Eiffel Tower. "
"Good, and before that, Nino will be connecting my phone to the media, so it will be airing. Which means Nino will be at...?"
"The TV station. But Chloé will smuggle me in, and I don't think Long distance connection is good."
Alya patted his arm reassuringly. "Well, unless you can smuggle a whole camera here, this is the best we have. "
"Hold on!" Chloé interjected. She had a calculating thoughtful look, almost as if she was speculating. Alya had never seen Chloé Bourgeois have that look before. "I think we could smuggle a camera in. I can pretend that we need it for a project and I'll need the both of you to back me up. "
Alya and Nino exchanged glances. Go to Chloé's house? Hard no. It wasn't that they didn't want to, they just wasn't ready to accept her.
Nino clasped his hands together. "How about Sabrina? She would do better being your companion, and it wouldn't seem so out of the norm."
Chloé gave a sigh, and clutched her white purse. "Perhaps. But I had to ignore her today, you know, just so we could do this planning. "
"Well, make up to her this way, then," Alya gave a small smile, and could almost feel the mood lightening.
Chloé gave a small smile as well, but quickly reasserted her attention. "Okay, and where will you be, Alya?"
Alya felt her tiny smile grow into a huge grin. "I'll be the one relaying the information to Hawkmoth. Once he comes out, you have to follow him. We will have a set of walkie talkies just for this purpose. However, do you know what you are going to say?"
"Pollen had a few suggestions that will make any miraculous holder want to confront about," she gave her kwamii a glance and found out that she was sleeping on the warm spot of the bench.
Alya nodded her head vigorously. "Okay, use that. Once you are inside, find an open air vent we could use to crawl our way in."
The others nodded in agreement. "You do have that bungee cord from your house, right, Chloé?"
"Yes, which reminds me. Where are your miraculouses? I've forgotten to ask about them earlier. "
Alya gave Nino a look. They weren't ready to reveal that Marinette was Ladybug the whole time, to Chloé. It was almost ironic in a sense.
"Hello? Are you peabrains even listening?"
Alya snapped out of her musings. "Y-yeah, we had to return it back to Ladybug, as her civilian form, but-"
"Wait," Chloé nearly shrieked. "You know who Ladybug is?"
Alya winced at her high pitched voice, but nodded her head, quickly saying, "But I think it is better if you don't know yet. Knowing too much could put you in danger. "
"I don't believe this," Chloé fumed indignantly. "You both know who Ladybug is and you don't tell me? For goodness sakes, we are planning her rescue! You can forget about having me in the team if you don't tell me who is Ladybug."
And with that, she picked up Pollen and marched off.
Alya gave a sigh, and turned to Nino. "What do you suggest we do?"
Nino returned a forlorn look of his own. "We have to tell her, I suppose. But we have to act quick. We don't know how Long Marinette can last."
Alya pinched the bridge of her nose and nodded. The fate of her friend was at stake, and so was Adrien's, wherever he was.
They had to act fast.
***
Marinette stared, her eyes wide with shock.
Adrien Agreste was here. Adrien Agreste was here!
"Um, is everything alright, Marinette?" Adrien asked her cautiously, as he saw her starting to hyperventilate.
Marinette's eyes widen even more. Be cool, be cool, Adrien is here. With me. Alone. In a...cage?
Marinette scanned her surroundings. They were in a cage. One that could only hold one person, but here they were, the two of them.
"Um, Marinette? Everything alright?"
Marinette turned to see Adrien, the love of her life, looking at her with concern.
Adrien is worried about me! She thought giddily.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. Um, are we in a cage?"
"Yeah, I'm not sure how we got here, or who placed us here or even what time it is. It looks like it's morning but, it can't be, right?"
Marinette looked at the source of light. It was a clear transparent dome, with stencils of iron, in a shape of a certain, simple mandala. Through it shone the white of the morning light.
Marinette shifted uncomfortably. Her legs were numb, and pressed up against Adrien's. The cage was horizontally large, large enough for a person to lie straight down without any trouble, and wide enough for that person's arm to stretch out and touch the ends of the cage.
But with two people, it was a little cramp. And... close. Very close.
From here, Marinette could see that Adrien was just as uncomfortable as she was, and her mind started racing.
"Adrien, do you think it'll be okay if I tried to stand? You could shift your legs and we'll be more comfortable that way. "
Adrien looked at her, sunlight glinting off his blonde trusses, his luminous green feline eyes looking straight at her. Marinette swallowed.
"Yeah, sure, my legs are a bit cramp as well. "
Marinette tried moving her hands from behind her back to her side to push herself up, but realised that her wrists were tied. They weren't tied tightly, but they did hinder her movements.
"Adrien," she asked again, feeling his name on her tongue. How many times have she been calling his name? It felt odd and strange like it belonged there. "Are your wrists bound? "
Adrien tried moving his arms to his side as well, and Marinette took pleasure in seeing his biceps strain.
"Yeah, they're bound. Would it be hard for you to get up?"
Marinette plastered a smile. Why, Chat and her had to be bound together by the wrist during their battle against Frightingale. It made her use her flexibility in the most oddest ways.
She grabbed the pole behind her back, and pulled herself up. She knocked knees with Adrien, and a slow flush crept up her neck.
After clinging to the pole and pulling herself up shakily, she breathed and exhaled shakily. From her view, Adrien was...
Much too close. Too close, to her...
Marinette looked up to the ceiling of the cage, but accidentally knocked the back of her head with a pole.
She let go of her hold on the pole behind her, and let out a little shriek, before falling down on Adrien.
Her head hit the pole, and she felt it's cool surface burn the side of her face. The flush in her neck crept up, giving her a full blown blush, and her body was slumped on Adrien's chest.
"I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to-" Marinette's head was a whirl. She was next to Adrien, her chest on his, and her face in the nape of his neck. She could feel the tickle of his blonde hair against her cheek.
The first thought that came to her mind was, Adrien is nice to cuddle with. The next thought was, Bad Marinette! You shouldn't be thinking about that! Ooh, but... Adrien smells nice...
Marinette felt a rumble in her chest, and heard a chuckle. Her eyes widened, and realised she had said the last part out loud. About him smelling nice.
The blush had turned her face into a full blown red, and her face felt uncomfortably hot.
Marinette tried shifting her body away from Adrien, but ended up being closer to Adrien than she was before. Now, she was literally sitting on his lap.
"I-I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I know this is wrong, I'll try to get out, j-just hold on a moment..." Marinette started to get into a sitting position, and managed to stand up.
Somehow, she was towering over Adrien, and his face was turned up to face Marinette. His nose was dangerously close to hers, and she daren't look down into his eyes, lest she lose focus, in those beautiful luminous feline green eyes-
"Um, Marinette, I'm going to move my legs around yours so that you can sit down," Marinette heard, snapping her out of her reverie of Adrien's eyes.
"Yeah, okay," she gave a shaky breath, and wished she hadn't done so. What if her breath smelled? That would be awful.
Finally, after an agonising moment of waiting, Adrien had finally shifted his legs to the side, allowing Marinette space so sit, by his side facing him.
Marinette gently lowered herself down, and sat next to Adrien, still tingling with happiness of the closeness to Adrien.
They sat in silence for a while, an awkward tension between them both, before Marinette opened her mouth, saying, "I thought, I mean, Adrien, what are you doing here?"
It came out harsher than she intended, and she saw a flash of something she didn't know appear on his face.
"Well, I was on my way to your house, and I Guess something happened to me that got me concussed and here," he waved vaguely around him. Marinette narrowed her eyes. It wasn't like Adrien to lie, but she knew that it was instinctive to cover up for his alter ego.
Carefully, she said, "Oh, Adrien, I didn't know that you were risking yourself to come to my house, I'm sorry I got us into this mess."
Adrien shrugged. "I Guess it wasn't your fault, but I'm pawsitive that you meant well." Then he widened his eyes. "I said that, didn't I?"
Marinette nodded, barely hiding her grin. But then, a thought flashed across her mind, but she dismissed it quickly.
"So you are, Chat Noir," she smirked, as Adrien cringed and shook his head, saying quickly, "Don't tell anyone, please? Oh Gosh, I didn't think that you would be the first to be the one to reveal my identity. "
Marinette shrugged. It made sense, but now, she really wanted to reveal herself with a dazzling smile. Hope had burst into her heart, and it made her feel so, so happy.
Chat Noir was Adrien, and Adrien was Chat Noir. The love of her life was her partner all the time.
But just as she wanted to tell him that she was Ladybug, that she was the one that he has loved for so Long, she stilled.
They were in Hawkmoth's lair, and they could not let him know that he had both superheroes in is grasp. Better she let both Hawkmoth and Adrien be in the dark than risk Adrien and her life in danger.
She swallowed, and grew silent, as she made her choice. She was on the verge of crying out with madness, her self control breaking and almost making her want to reveal her identity and confess her love to him.
But she steeled herself, and looked at Adrien, who was gazing forlornly at the light. She was so tantalising close to him, whatever awkwardness she had before was magnified a thousand times more.
He was there, but she couldn't tell him.
It broke her heart.
"Oh, but I still need to know how you got here, after all, no one should be outside during the lockdown unless they were trying to sneak out and get to a friend's house," he flashed her a pearly white smile that melted her heart and made her hurt and tear her chest in two even more.
"O-oh! I-I was going to the market!" Marinette mentally face-palmed herself with what she said. Going to the market? During a lockdown? What kind of idiot is she?
Adrien's mouth quirked into a small smile. "The market?"
"Yes! T-the market! I went there because..." Marinette bit her lip, racking her brains for a possible answer. "Because I left my pouch there! Silly me."
Adrien gave a shrug. And Marinette nearly exhaled with relief. He didn't notice the lie, then.
Marinette was racked with anxiety and sorrow, nearly tearing herself in two.
She knew that, she should be on her guard, in Hawkmoth's lair, but she couldn't help but feel torn in two, literally, leaving a gaping hole in her chest. She felt... a tragic sense of loss, even though Adrien was next to her.
Maybe she could confess to him, after the whole thing blows over.
Maybe. Just maybe.
***
hm, ok I know this sounds weird but I always felt like Nathalie was a very special character, and I feel like that she's sort of me? she's lonely... and she's very strong but broken inside. when I was writing that, I felt like she was really like me, so thats where I gained the inspiration to do a more in-depth character about her.
and yes, marionette's situation is something I've dreamed of writing, I mean, thats why I fell in love with writing, being able to put the feelings on page. okay writer rambling I'll stop.
also, I know I made some typos in chapter 6, so i'll make the corrections. ALSO, ASTOUNDING NEWS!!!! THERE'S LIKE A TRAILER FOR SEASON 3 *cues screaming*
YAY have fun and thanks to my friend who told me ily <3