One Way or Another

Lies, Goodbyes and A Brown Paper Bag

"Let's take a break," Emilie said, feeling overwhelmed.

It was late afternoon, and they had been working all day with no results.

"That's a good idea," Marinette replied. "And if it's alright with you guys, I need to go out and stop at a few places."

"Places? What places?" Adrien asked.

"I just have to stop by the bakery, and then Alya's. I'll be back by dinner."

He held onto her, not letting her go. "Why do you have to go there?"

Okay, time to lie. "Well, I haven't seen my parents in a while. And I promised Alya that I'd stop by soon."

"We can't go out. We need to keep working..."

"You stay here and work, I'll go by myself."

"It's not a good idea for you to be going out anywhere alone," Adrien said, shaking his head. "You should stay here where you're safe."

Marinette blinked at him. That was the exact same reason that Gabriel always used to give to keep Adrien locked up at home. But she wouldn't dare point it out to him.

"Adrien," she said gently. "I'll be fine." She looked at Gabriel. "Where's Lila right now?"

He checked his computer. "She's still at her apartment."

"See?" Marinette continued to Adrien. "She's been there all day. Chances are, she's going to stay there. And besides, if she were going to come after me, she'd go to our apartment. She wouldn't think to go to Alya's."

"But she might think about going to the bakery," Adrien pointed out.

"And if she does we'll see her coming! I'll have my phone the whole time. If Lila leaves her apartment, just call me."

He kept shaking his head. "It's too..."

"Adrien," she interrupted, putting her hand to his cheek. "I need to go out. It's important."

And he stared at her as he fought against himself. He really didn't want her to go out alone.

Luckily, Emilie had the solution. "I'll go with her," she said. "I need to stop at a store anyway."

After a smile thrown her way, Marinette looked at Adrien again. "Problem solved."

"Alright," he sighed. "But if Lila leaves her apartment, I want you two to come back immediately."

"Okay."

"And I want Mom to have a Miraculous," he added.

And Marinette froze. That was going to be an issue.

"Let's go upstairs and get one," Adrien continued, standing them up.

"They're not upstairs," she admitted weakly.

He stopped and looked at her, confused. "What do you mean? You brought the Miracle Box with us, didn't you?"

A head shake. "No."

Silence.

"You left it back at our apartment?" Adrien asked incredulously.

"No. Alya has it."

Another silence.

"Why does Alya have it?"

More lies. "I uh... thought it would be too much to look after the kwamis with my injury getting worse, so I dropped it off on Friday."

Gabriel lowered his brow. "Are you sure it's safe enough there?"

"Well, do you think it's safer here?" Marinette countered. "Where Lila could stop by and potentially find it?"