When Walls Crumble

Chapter 25: La Tragedie

After hearing a very scattered and tearful summary of the night, Alya called in reinforcements. Adrian and Nino arrived as soon as they could.

Alya was at a loss, simply trying to be there for her friend, not knowing what to say. Nino did his best to help, but strangely enough, his ideas for distraction were frowned upon.

Adrian stood in the corner, unsure of how to alleviate the situation. Plagg was sitting concealed in his collar, offering advise.

"Remember what she said was heavenly and could fix anything?" the kwami prompted. "Freshly baked cookies dipped in milk?"

Adrian smirked. "Plagg, you conniving little..."

"And maybe you should send Nino to get them. He needs something to do. I mean, look at him."

The kwami was right. Nino's little dance routine that he hoped would make Marinette smile was doing nothing.

Adrian called Nino over and gave him some money to go get some cookies. Glad of something to do, Nino bolted out the door.

"Ok, good," the kwami said. "Also, maybe you should talk to her. You seemed to do well earlier, you know."

Adrian shrugged and took the seat next to her. Well, here goes nothing, he thought.

"Marinette? Do you want to talk?"

Marinette sniffled and shook her head. Then she changed her mind and nodded.

"I got a call from the hospital. There's a pulse. It's very faint, but his heart is still beating. They aren't sure they can operate without losing him, so there's probably no..." she broke off sobbing. "When they first called and said he was still alive, my hopes went up and it feels like I'm losing him again! It was hard enough the first time. And now I'm thinking of everything he can't do anymore and how our child will grow up without a father and..."

"Wait," Alya interrupted. "Since when are you pregnant???"

Marinette looked down miserably. "It's been a month. We agreed to keep it a surprise as long as possible. We just...two hours ago, we..." she lost herself in her tears again. "We just finished writing a song for the baby. He made me agree to sing with him for his next album. And now he...we can't...one of the bullets severed a crucial nerve to his right arm. He can't play anymore, even if he does survive." She buried her face in her hands. "This is all my fault. If I wasn't so stupid...if I didn't take the wrong turn, this never would have happened." She sobbed again and Adrian pulled her into an awkward half-hug.

He gently smoothed her hair. "It isn't your fault. I know Luka and he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if you were hurt and he thought he could have done anything. He loves you. And he would..." he hesitated.  "Well, he would do anything for you."

Marinette nodded. "I know, and I love him for saving my life, but I wish it didn't have to come at the cost of his."

Adrian kept talking, as soothingly as possible, hoping to raise her spirits, but no answer came. He carefully shifted to see her face and realized she had cried herself to sleep.

Alya slipped into the chair next to Adrian.

"How did you do it?" she asked. "None of us had any luck. Everything we said seemed to get her more worked up."

Adrian shrugged. "I almost made it worse. I was trying to reassure her that he loved her and I almost said he would die for her."

Alya cringed. "That would have been poorly conceived indeed, Agreste. You're right, of course. But the timing...yeesh. It's a good thing you didn't. And here I was hoping to call her with good news tonight. So I get engaged and am just about to call my best friend to tell her when a superhero drops her off at my door with the news that her husband is dying! What a day!"

"Wait, you're engaged?" he asked.

Alya smiled a little and held up her left hand. Sure enough, a diamond sparkled on her ring finger. "Yup. Nino got Andre to put it in the ice cream. Nothing like the stunt Luka pulled off, but I preferred it. Just the two of us at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. But that hardly seems important after what happened with Marinette, Luka, and Cat Noir."

"I heard Cat Noir was around. But did you hear anything about Ladybug?" he asked cautiously, watching her reaction.

Alya sighed, "No, but I only wish she could have made it. She would have been able to save him."

Alarmed, Adrian took a look at Marinette to be sure she was still sleeping. Then he turned back to Alya. "Do not mention that in front of Marinette no matter what!" he hissed.

She looked at him confusedly. "Uh, why?"

Oh shit, he thought. "Well, uh, you don't want her to shift the blame to someone who wasn't even involved, right? That won't be healthy for either of them." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Plagg shaking his head in warning.

"Yeah," he continued, trying desperately to climb out of the hole before it got too deep. "Better try to avoid the talk of the blame altogether." He looked back at his kwami who nodded.

He was saved from stumbling further by Nino's arrival with the cookies.

The four friends basically stayed up all night at Alya's house, waiting for some update. Towards the morning, Marinette had basically resigned herself to the fact that Luka was gone. She cried over everything. She cried over the cookies because they tasted like the most recent batch she shared with Luka She cried over a song on the radio because the singer was a friend of Luka's. Every time she caught a glimpse of her ring she cried. All the symptoms of pregnancy made her cry. Nino made the mistake of trying to cheer her up with his and Alya's good news, but as everyone else in the room realized, it reminded her of her own husband and made her cry.

At about 6:30 AM, she received the call.

Luka was gone.

Forever.