Our Love Will Go On

...And Ladybug makes a deal

This chapter features the beautiful and hilarious art courtesy of DNA-D2, the artist I've been paired with for the Miraculous Big Bang. Please support her by visiting her personal page, dna-d2 dot tumblr dot com. She's really talented!

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Chapter 7 — ...and Ladybug makes a deal

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Félix's eyes grew huge. "I beg your pardon?"

"Give us your amok and we'll trust you. The Black Cat Miraculous is too important to be bargained against anything else." She noticed the intensity of his glare towards her and shrugged.

"You want to control me. You're no better than Monarch or Lila, then."

Ladybug scowled. She clasped her hands into fists and straightened her back, standing as tall as she could in front of him. She walked closer, her glare fixed on the boy's face. She was a sight to behold, as angry as she was, so much so that Félix paled and walked backwards until his back reached the chimney behind him.

"How dare you say that. Take it back!"

"No," Félix hissed. He glared back at her, sustaining the anger in her gaze. "I saw what you did to Strike Back. I've seen on the papers what you did to a lot of other sentimonsters. How can I trust you to not use my amok against me? By doing what you ask me I'd be giving away my free will to you."

Ladybug's fists were shaking. "You're asking us to give you one of the two most powerful Miraculous in the world. One that destroyed Atlantis and the dinosaurs and that could, potentially, trigger the end of the world. I don't think that what I asked in exchange is unfair."

She closed her eyes shut and let her fists shake for a little longer, before straightening her back again, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him a sidelong look, a little sly smile popping on her lips.

"Unless...you're just faking it and all you want to do is to trick us. How can we trust you, Félix? You say that you're on our side now, but it's not the whole truth. As you kindly pointed out earlier, you're really on your side, which currently happens to coincide with ours. But it can diverge at any point." She sighed. "If you give me your amok, I promise I won't use it unless you put the Black Cat Miraculous in danger. And when all is over and you give me back Chat Noir's ring, I will give it back to you. You have my word."

"And the Peacock too?" Félix's gaze was hard, determined and fixed on Ladybug's.

The heroine sighed some more. "I can't promise you that." She deflated and slouched over herself a little. "However, if you'll make it up to me while we're working together and I will feel that I can entrust you with it, I may consider the option. How does that sound?"

Félix looked at her for a very long time. Ladybug looked back, determined to not be the first one to lower her gaze. Eventually, a proper smile stretched Félix's lips.

"You've got yourself a deal, Ladybug." His smile stretched further when she sucked her breath in.

"As in...you're caving in?"

He nodded and looked down. "Huh-huh."

Ladybug stretched her open hand at him, a serious frown furrowing her brows. Félix's lips tugged in a slight smirk as he glanced at the palm of her gloved hand and reached inside his shirt for a fancy fountain pen. He looked at it with a frown and, reluctantly, placed it in Ladybug's hand.

"That's your father's pen, right? The one he never gave to anyone?"

Félix nodded. "Yeah. Guess why?"