Unravel- Miraculous Ladybug AU [discontinued]

20~ Never Coming Back

This chapter started as more angst, and then... well, you'll see.

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When Marinette left her room to check on Manon, carrying the child's favorite dolls that she had made, she nearly had a heart attack. The dolls fell to the floor, and Marinette sprinted out the open door. She hastily dialed Adrien's number, praying that she'd simply made her way to where the blonde's house was a few streets over.

Before Adrien could even confirm that Manon wasn't with him, a sickening smell filled her nose.

Nadja.

"Adrien," she whispered, her speed increasing steadily as she followed the blood-tinted scent down alleyway after alleyway, "They're after Manon."

The line went dead.

Marinette suddenly realized that she'd forgotten her mask in her panic-induced haste. At that moment, she didn't care.

She slowed to a stop in front of an old subway station, all too aware of the human that was down there. Marinette went past the police tape that covered the entrance and rushed inside, hoping with all her heart that she made it in time.

Immediately upon entering, she found herself facing the back of an older man.

He looked familiar, from where Marinette couldn't recall. Then it hit her.

It was Roger Raincomprix, the father of Sabrina.

Great.

Marinette had two choices, either quietly back out of his sight and make her way out of the subway, leaving Manon to die and returning to her life of regret and isolation, or she could reveal her identity to a man who trusted her, either killing him and leaving with Manon or dying in the process.

She briefly remembered a time in grade school when he had come to school for career day, and it was the coolest thing ever. Marinette had been terrified, of course. The girl had been out sick for most of the week, and when she returned to find that it was career day and a CCG officer was there she almost considered getting cafeteria food to make herself sick just so she could go back home. When he began showing people a small quinque Marinette had started crying, sure that she was going to be taken and killed. Instead, the man had simply put the weapon away and let someone else's parent present as he tried to calm her down.

And yet, here she was several years later, in a situation where the only escape was someone's death. She couldn't begin to imagine how Sabrina would react to her father being killed. Marinette would never be able to look at her classmate in the eye again.

Roger clicked a concealed button on the silver briefcase he carried, and the kagune of Manon's mother emerged.

Marinette's eyes drifted to where Manon was. The child was crying, clutching something in her arms, completely oblivious to any danger she was in.

Roger raised the quinque, and in that split second Marinette made her choice, her eyes shifting into a shade of red as her ukaku kagune unfurled behind her. Her wing deflected the attack, and she stood firmly in her place as shock filled the CCG investigator's gaze.

"Marinette?" he questioned, confusion evident in his stance, "But- how?"

Marinette ignored the look of betrayal in his eyes, speaking only to Manon in that small moment before Roger came to his senses and attacked.

"Manon, run."

The little girl complied, darting away from both the CCG officer and Marinette, with the severed arm of her mother clutches tightly in her arms. The child jumped down onto the tracks — where electricity hadn't been running for who knows how long — and curled up.

Roger then came back to his senses, swinging his quinque once again at Marinette, who easily dodged out of the way.

"So, you were Ladybug all along?"

Marinette didn't answer, simply darting from side to side, dodging the CCG Investigator's attacks with ease.

"Just tell me one thing," he continued, and Marinette internally panicked.

She knew this couldn't go on forever, that soon she'd grow tired and her movements would become sluggish.

"Was any of it real?"

This startled the girl, and her kagune released a poorly aimed shower of spikes, the only damage being the fresh cracks in the subway's wall where they'd been embedded.

"Was what real?" she asked, her voice harsh and low as she tried to keep up her guard.

"Everything, your friendship with Alya, the time you helped my daughter to step out of her shell, your obvious crush on Adrien-"

"Wait, what?" Marinette stammered, despite the situation, she stumbled back, her heels hitting the edge of the platform as she began to fall back into the abandoned tracks, "Ow..."

Roger raised his quinque, and Marinette braced herself for the pain that would follow, but then he did something Marinette had never seen a ghoul investigator do before. He laughed, causing Marinette's cheeks to only grow redder at the awkward situation. Roger dropped his quinque to the side.

"Marinette, listen," he suddenly spoke, walking to where the ghoul was now hastily scrambling back up and out of the subway tracks, "In all honesty, I was given this mission against my own wishes."

"But, how?"

"Do you really think anyone would be able to kill a kid, ghoul or not, without feeling the overwhelming guilt?" he asked.

"Well, no, but..."

"Marinette," Roger continued, "yes, I'm a CCG Investigator, but I'm also a father. I'm not going to turn you in."

"But-"

"Unless I run into you in the middle of Ladybug massacring dozens of innocent individuals, I'm not going to turn you in or hurt you."

Without her realizing it, her kagune dissipated, her eyes returning to their normal blue as she let out a simple, "Huh?"

"Marinette!"

The ghoul stiffened at that voice, and a flash of blonde shot in front of her, taking a flashy pose and the newcomer blocked Marinette from Roger's view.

"Adrien?"

"I will not let you hurt Marinette! She did nothing wrong!"

Marinette almost laughed at how bizarre this whole situation was, with Adrien posing in front of her as if he was a wall.

Roger simply shook his head, "So you knew, Adrien?"

The ghoul investigator picked up his quinque, heading back to the stairs, "Be sure to hide that girl well, as of now she is officially proclaimed to be dead."

Adrien and Marinette watched Roger's retreating form, and Adrien was the first to speak.

"What just happened?"

"I'm not too sure myself."

Marinette ran to where Manon had disappeared, hopping down to the child, where she was still clutching her mother's lifeless arm.

Marinette's heart hurt at the sight of the child, and she gently picked the girl up in her arms, bringing her back to Adrien.

The child spoke a total of one time as they made their way back to the café.

"Maman's never coming back, is she?"