Always Find You

Chapter 26 - "It Would Be Worth It"

  Adrien looks into his father's eyes, gasping at the pain in his chest. A moment passes as Gabriel remains in shock and a tear rolls down his cheek, his hand still grasping the hilt of the knife. He snaps back to reality and pulls the blade out quickly. Adrien collapses to the ground.

"Oh my god," Marinette says, "Chat!!" She rushes over to him, not caring about the man still standing in front of them.

She cradles his head in her lap, putting pressure on his chest to try to stop the bleeding. A gasp escapes her lips as she recognizes him. She takes in the sight of the now-pale face she'd admired for so long, "Adrien, oh my god. Please, stay with me."

Adrien shushes her through his dried bloody lips, "I always imagined you saying that in a different tone of voice," He chuckles a little, then coughs, more blood coming from the corner of his mouth, "I'm gonna be okay. Y-you're here now."

Marinette sniffles, "We need to get you help." She turns to Hawk Moth, who is still holding the knife, "Go call an ambulance! Now!"

The man takes his transformation down, "I can't leave him. He's... that's my son!"

"If you don't get help now, he won't be anything to anyone!" She shouts.

Gabriel scrambles to get to a landline in another room and dial the emergency number.

"Okay, this is what we're gonna do," Marinette says to the boy in her arms, "I'm going to use your shirt to put pressure on this wound. And then when help comes, you're gonna be okay. You ready?"

He nods in reply, bracing himself. She starts carefully taking off his white over shirt one arm at a time. When she tries to lift his torso up, he cries out in pain. Marinette apologizes profusely, but manages to get the shirt folded the right way under him.

"Marinette?" Adrien asks as she busies herself with the shirt. He continues, "If I don't make it-"

"Stop right there. This is beginning to sound like a movie or something where you die, and you're not going to die."

He gasps as she pulls the shirt taut around his rib cage, "We both know that's probably not true."

Mari looks around frantically, "Your kwami. Where's your kwami?"

Adrien's eyes shift around, landing on the empty spot on his finger where his ring usually is, "Plagg." He coughs more blood.

"Do you think your suit would keep you stable?"

"It's gone. My Miraculous."

"Wait, what? You just had it. We need your kwami to-"

Adrien grabs her wrist, making her lose her train of thought, "He's the kwami of destruction, Marinette, even if we find him, I don't know if he'll be able to do anything about this." He weakly gestures to the ever-growing bloodstain on his shirt.

"But I can't do this without you, Chat. Adrien. Please."

He looks up at her, his green eyes watery, "I-I couldn't even save you from what you went through."

"That wasn't your fault. Let me try to help, let me..." Marinette looks down at the turtle bracelet around her wrist, "Wayzz. Wayzz can help you."

"Is that the Miraculous you're using now?"

"He's kept me safe this whole time. He could do the same for you."

Adrien groans from trying to talk, "We don't know how injured you are under that suit. You could die if you take it off right now."

She pulls her hood off her head for the first time, "But I might not," Marinette puts her hand on his cheek, "And even then, it would be worth it."

"We're not trading lives, Mari, that's not how we do this!" He cries out in pain, his lungs making it almost impossible to breathe.

"Wayzz, shell in." Marinette makes up her mind. She'd happily trade her life for his. Adrien has so much more to do before he dies, she won't make any difference outside of her suit.
Her transformation disappears, leaving her in a set of scrubs she changed into before leaving the hospital.

"Wayzz," She says to the kwami by her side, "You can save him, right?"

"I can keep him stable until help gets here, but Marinette, your health is quickly deteriorating without the suit too. I can't be in two places at once." He looks up at her regretfully.

"I know. That's not your fault. Just do your job and protect him. Listen to me, no matter how much he protests, transform him when I say the word."

"That's not how it's supposed to work, I-" Wayzz is interrupted by Marinette taking the bracelet off her wrist and slipping it onto her partner's. Pain overtakes her body once more without the protection of the suit.

"Please, my lady. Don't do this." He whimpers.

A tear finally falls down Marinette's cheek. She holds his head in both of her shaky hands, "I can't let you die."

"But it's not worth it if you die instead."

"Shh, it's okay." She gently puts her lips on his, trying to ignore how bloody and slightly swollen they are. They put everything into the kiss, almost as a way of saying both the things they'd always wanted to and "goodbye" at the same time. Marinette pulls away so their noses are touching, "Wayzz, shell on."

The hooded suit and shield appear around Adrien's body, and he finally takes a deep breath in, most of the pain disappearing.

He quickly sits up from Marinette's lap to find her face just as pale as his was, "I can't believe..." He trails off, "Just stay awake, okay? An ambulance should be here any minute."

She moves her head dizzily, retreating to her forearms, "Adrien, I-" Marinette falls to her back, unable to support herself anymore.
For once, she allows herself to start crying, the feeling of dying becoming all too familiar, "I want you to know this isn't your fault. Just don't forget me."

Adrien holds her as close as he can, sobs escaping his lips, "I won't, I promise."