Of Runways and Darkness

Chapter 9

Nathalie wasn't sure how to handle the situation. Standing in front of her was her ward and his, what she assumed, girlfriend, whose head was ducked, clearly red, and her outline shaking from the attempt to keep herself from crying. Clearly she felt guilty. The older woman sighed. She closed her eyes for a moment and pushed her glasses back up on her face, returning to her poise as the perfect secretary. Sometimes she had a thousand questions for herself. One being why she had agreed to this job in the first place.

"I understand the situation. Thank-you for trying to protect Adrien," she eventually replied. The young girl's head popped up and as she had surmised, her face looked painful as she had attempted to hold back some tears. "I'll help you hide this from your father Adrien but you are going to have to stay in your room for a while. Until, at least, Ladybug and Chat Noir can fix this." The blonde nodded. His hand gently reached out to grab her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze; she was amazed at the look of softness that came from his eyes and immediately, her mind shot back to when Gabriel had that same look for his mother; a much happier time to say the least. Before the accident....

She shook her head to rid the thought. Adrien didn't need to see her cry.

Nathalie cleared her throat, "Head up to your room soon. I'll see if your father is in. He was supposed to have a meeting at the company headquarters earlier but I saw his car and driver here." She turned on her heels to head upstairs. Before she disappeared though, her eyes shot back quickly to see the young woman, if she remembered right from the Derby competition and from subsequent interactions, Marinette was now smiling as Adrien peppered her face with gentle kisses, their only form of communication right now.

Apparently, it was rather effective for the two of them.

A soft smile crossed her lips and she allowed them the privacy they deserved.

****

Adrien didn't appear at school the following day or even the day after.

Marinette landed in her seat with a heavy sigh, slinging her back bag down to the ground. Gently of course. Tikki didn't deserved to be jostled violently because she was upset. Last night, she'd stayed up rather late, waiting, and hoping, that Miss Translate would return and Adrien would be returned to normal and Chat Noir would be back at her side to defend Paris. Alya and Nino eyed her concerned. The dark skinned girl rubbed her friend's back.

"We'll fix it," she assured her. "As soon as we get a lock on where Miss Translate is, we'll be sure to get it fixed."

"I know," Marinette weakly smiled at her. "I know but it doesn't mean I can't worry about it."

"Totally dude. Not getting a texted cat pun is kind of weird." Alya raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend and he shrugged. "Dude likes sending them. His coping mech or whatever." He pulled out his phone, showing them the screen, only confirming that Miss Translate's power was dangerous; it even had affected the written word. Marinette paled.

"You two didn't see anything on patrol?"

"Not hide nor hair," Alya confirmed. She sat back in her seat, placing her hand on her chin.

"Which is odd. Usually if an akuma has failed in the past but came back, it's been within a day of themselves. Two days have past. Nothing."

"Has it really been two days?"

"There's not much to go on." She lowered her voice, eyes shooting back at Ivan, "The only ones that Ladybug ever really failed to cleanse were Stoneheart...." Pause. "... and Nightmare."

Marinette swallowed and reached up to rub one of her earrings. The experience with Nightmare had left her hesitant and scared; literally living a nightmare of her own, occasionally waking in the middle of the night, crying and screaming until her parents arrived, hugging and soothing her until she calmed enough to attempt to sleep again. None of them knew. She didn't let it show. After all, Ladybug was the leader. She had to be strong and to show the two new heroes that what they were doing was scary... well, she trusted her friends' intuitions and intelligence and knew that they knew. She just didn't want to appear weak. She dropped her hand.

"Then we're going to up our patrol schedule," she finally stated. "Every night. All three of us until she's caught and purified." Nino nodded but Alya hesitated.

"What about your contest dresses Mari? And you still have your dinner dress to make!" She shrugged.

"I'll be alright. I've handled all-nighters before."
Alya crossed her arms. Nino blinked and then narrowed his eyes at her. Neither of them took their "are you serious" glares off of her face; it made her squirm in her seat.

"Dude, we get it. We're worried about Adrien too but...."

"But you are not going to work yourself to death for his sake," Alya concluded. "You will get your rest. You will be a functioning human being. I will take Tikki and tie you to your bed if you don't!"
Marinette started to argue but was cut off, "Look dude. Alya and I have a tiny bit less on our plates right now. We can run patrols for a little longer. Trust us, okay?" She hesitated. Looking between their faces, she saw the same raw concern for Adrien that she had; looking closer even revealed slight bags under both of their eyes and she blinked at the realization. She eventually sighed.

"Alright but you two have to promise to not push it yourselves and call me as soon as you find anything- no matter the time of day." The two of them smiled at her. Alya grabbed her in a tight hug while Nino shot two thumbs up.

"You know we will," she cheered. "After all, Paris wouldn't be saved without the help of Ladybug."

"Well, this time, it looks like Emerald Shield and Lady Fox are going to get the honor of that," she winked, turning in her seat to stare up front as Ms. Bustier began on the next story from their book.