MariChat: Soul Link (SoulMates AU)

Regret and Resistance

"We shouldn't have let Spite go."

Letting the Akuma Spite leave had angered and irritated Adrien to no extent. He had detested the action. He hated it, with every fiber of his being. Two days had passed, and it was still eating away at him.

Spite had apparently been true to his word. The next day, everyone was back to normal, apparently remembering very little about what had happened while their Links had been corrupted. Nino and Alya went back to being friends, and Alix and Kim went back to giving each other various dares and bets, and Chloe... Well, she went back to being herself. Couldn't win them all. That was the one thing people seemed upset about. To everything else, it was both a huge relief, and a massive state of confusion.

But that didn't reassure Adrien of anything.

He had taken it hard.

What was stopping Spite from doing this again? What was stopping him from doing this to people he didn't know? What did they have to base Spite's trustworthiness on?

Nothing. They didn't have anything to trust Spite on. How long until he turned around and stabbed them in the back? Literally, in his case.

What the hell had Marinette been thinking?

He didn't want to risk their own Links being corrupted either... But if they didn't take out Spite, then they ran the risk of Spite attacking them later. Especially since Spite knew who Marinette was...

"You heard him, Adrien." Marinette said, sighing as she typed in a few letters on her phone. "If we took him out there, everyone's Links would have remained damaged."

"Since when did we start listening to Akumas?" Adrien muttered, before he spoke up again. "You know that the result would have been the same if we got rid of the Akuma, and that got rid of the possibility of us being attacked later." Adrien couldn't bring himself to understand why... "Why did you let him go?"

Letting her arms drop, and dropping her phone onto her lap lightly, she sighed again. "I... I don't know. I don't think we would have won against him back then."

"What the heck makes you think we've got a better chance next time?"

"Adrien..."

"Marinette, he knows your face! That means Hawkmoth could know who you are now! And that horrific situation aside, that means that Spite could attack you at any time! Just being here isn't safe anymore!" Adrien said, essentially yelling, as he threw his arms out, gesturing to the balcony of the bakery they were both at. Being here was dangerous now for Marinette. Spite could easily ambush her here, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. "And - And even all of that aside, Spite could be out there tearing someone's Soul Links to shreds right now, and Christ knows what else he could be doing with all of those freaking knives!"

"You think that I didn't think of that?!" Marinette snapped back, suddenly spurred into defense. The truth was, she knew she made the wrong call. She knew that it had been a mistake... But she had her reasons for doing so. "What did you want me to do? Throw both of us to the slaughterhouse? If he gets to either of us, then no one has a chance against him!"

"I'm sure that's a great reassurance to anyone else he stabs."

Every comment Adrien made, sarcastic or not, muttered or spoken to her face, felt like a stab wound to her heart. But at the same time, it brought rise to anger, which she fired like a weapon at the blond model. "What - What's your problem with me?!"

"My problem is you're a freaking idiot!" Adrien snapped right back, with such force Marinette could practically feel a shock-wave hitting her as he spoke. "What's stopping Spite from coming up here right now and - And - And God knows what! You didn't think about anything like that, did you!" Adrien realized how much he was yelling, and toned it down, but by his voice, it was clear he was still very angry. "Do you... Every single day I've woken up since you let him go, the first thing I do is text you... And every second that passes by, I think 'Spite's gotten to her. She's gone. I've... I've lost her.' ...And then you reply. And then I see you... And then you act so calm about everything... How?! How are you so..."