Ghosts Of Adrien's Past

Chapter 14: staying with the enemy

In an all-too-familiar scene, the building was locked down. Every guest and employee shoved outside and every exit and entrance fully barricaded.

Adrien had spent the last few hours running, hiding, fleeing. Him and Marinette had been split up on purpose. Silencer knew that he needed to separate them in order to win. He had new powers too, much to adrien's dismay. He could not only take voices, but create a replica of that person so lifelike that you couldn't trust anyone. He just needed their voice first.
Adrien was in a janitors closet somewhere below ground of the hotel, waiting. He couldn't risk transforming- no telling what effect it would have on Marinette.
He needed her to find him. Like she always did. He couldn't find it in himself to venture out there- because of course- silencer was only looking for him. He had no doubt that Marinette was given free passage outside where it was safe. He needed a plan. Fast.

Marinette watched silencer as he paced back and forth, clearly concerned. He'd tied her to a chair in the hotels main dining room, cleared the rest of the room out. She flexed her wrists against the rope that kept them bound.
"Who is it? Who is the new hawkmoth?"
He didn't speak to her. She narrowed her eyes and stared at her feet. Like an impatient child.
"This is just fantastic. I don't even cause the akuma and I'm already caught in the middle"

She mumbled, shifting her spine.
Luka stopped pacing and faced her, looking at her oddly. He stared at how he had bound her to the chair, the red marks around her wrists, the tightness in her jaw.
Stop staring. Go find Adrien
He ignored that little voice in his head and got down to one knee in front of her. She gazed at him strangely. As if she was in a dream, but could sense the reality changing around her.
"I'm not doing this to hurt you, Marinette"
She didn't answer him.
"Why do you choose him? Over me?"
She sniffed slightly and turned her head. He sighed and placed a hand on her cheek softly.
"I'm going to need you to scream"
Her eyes slightly widened, but she wouldn't look at him.
"Adrien likes to play hide and seek. So you have to drag him out for me"
"Or what?"
She whispered, and whipped her head to him. She could tell he was smiling beneath his mask.
"Or I'll find him, no matter what he does to get away from me, I will find him. And I'll drag him here, and you can watch me cut off his fingers so I can get his ring"

It horrified her how calm he seemed, his voice was steady and didn't even waver. She couldn't move. Couldn't even get air to enter her lungs.
"Or, you can call him, and he can come running with that little bell around his neck like always. Be a good girl, okay? After all, I'm doing this all for us"
She blinked back the sting in her eyes until the hurt turned into anger. Until fear turned into determination. Until Marinette became ladybug.
"You're insane, luka. Utterly crazy. I'll sew my own lips shut before I give up Adrien to you. Or to whoever is pulling your strings now"
He huffed a small laugh, and shrugged.
"You've always been stubborn. Why did I think you would change for me? Even when I'm better than him, even when he acts like an imbecile right in front of you, even when he looks you in the eye and insults you to your face, I'm second best?"
She shook her head.
"You're not second best, luka. You never were"
"It's silencer"
He pressed his fingers to her lips, and stole her voice. She sat still in her chair and began to think of ways to get out of this. There had to be a way. There always was. Always.

Her voice floated into his hand, and in the opposite a small figure formed. Like an action doll.
"The new hawkmoth has been generous with my powers, very much so"
He tossed the small figure to the ground and a life size ladybug grew to be standing. Marinette couldn't believe it. It was a spitting image. Ladybug looked to silencer for instructions. He waved his hand.
"Go find Adrien. Bring him to me"
She nodded and ran off. Leaving a furious and silent Marinette to glare daggers at a snug silencer.
"Oh, don't look at me like that. You can't say you didn't see this coming"
Actually, she didn't.

Adrien half dragged himself up the stairs as quietly as he could. He knew Marinette wasn't about to appear in front of him with a plan any time soon, so he had to go solo. But he couldn't transform, and he honestly couldn't remember the last time he did anything like this solo. At least he had plagg to keep him company.
"So, who do you think the new hawkmoth is, Adrien?"
"I don't know. But whoever it is will have to turn in their mask because I can't stay in Paris like the old days. I have responsibilities at home"
"Oh yeah, right. At a home that DOESN'T INCLUDE ME!"
"Oh my god, were you born with a microphone in your mouth? Shut it before we get found"
Plagg turned away from Adrien and crossed his arms.
"Fine. I'll keep quiet then. It's not like you abandoned me or anything. Not like you owe me or whatever"
Adrien stopped and faced plagg slowly.
"I owe you? Excuse me?"
"You traded me in for a blind hope that I'd be payment for marinettes forgiveness!"
"I 'traded you in' because I knew you wouldn't be able to stand being that far away from Tikki! You think I left you behind because I didn't want you? I left you because I knew Tikki would never forgive you for leaving her behind!"

Plagg was about to fire back, but someone cleared their throat at the top of the stairs. Adrien almost fell down the stairs backwards when he saw ladybug.
"Marinette?"
She smiled.
"Awfully loud down here. It didn't even take me ten minutes to find you two"
"What- what happened? Wheres luka?"
"I know where he is. Come on, we haven't got much time"
She grabbed his hand and began to lead him up the stairs. Plagg silently floated to adrien's ear and whispered to him quietly.
"When I say run, run faster than you think you've ever run before"
"Wha-"
"Quiet. Just trust me. Run so fast your feet hurt"
Adrien nodded, and got ready to rip his arm away from Marinette and run the other way.
The the run down the stairs was awfully long.