Chapter Text
The independent trip in the elevator was a new level of peace. Ignoring the sudden lightheadedness of travelling up a building similar height to the Montparnasse, somewhat built to surpass the tallness of any other, the ride was her only sense of relaxation. Stepping into the extensive glass elevator after work was like relief for her shoulders. Frankly dealing with the Agrestes was a piece of work, particularly since at least one of them was a known supervillain. Who knew about the other?
Blood rushed to her head as the first familiar face she saw was Lila. Unnervingly, she made eye contact with the woman, not a particularly great greeting to the morning already. Her skull pounded as she stepped with an unfriendly reminder of the night previous where she’d forced herself into agony yet again. The mouse miraculous thumped against her neck, hanging low on her chest under the blouse she’d worn. Her preemptive attempt to call Alya last night had only ended up with her writhing body falling asleep on the floor. Tikki’s wakeup call of painkillers to stop the intensity in her brain was thoughtful, but not even medicine would cure the hallucinations in her mind. Her only solace was not putting on the heels she so casually wore because her ankles wouldn’t make it out the door.
Lila’s faux-sweet façade she so proudly displayed to other attendees didn’t even attempt to show up, giving way for an awfully scathing glare. Even if they’d been relatively normal around each other for the sake of professionalism, it was an effort to pretend they were anything close to friends. The woman’s frequent attempts to make out with Marinette’s repulsive ex was the one frequent disappointment and quite often occurred in the same room as her, coincidentally. The woman was in the middle of sorting through half sewn designs both pinned on a mannequin and laid out on her magnificent desk. A desk that Marinette was sure was never even used, except for certainly explicit activities.
Head held high, she reluctantly approached the scowling woman. Lila’s hands were full of discarded fabrics, all nearly torn to shreds with snapped threads and ripped cotton.
Marinette’s heart dropped to her stomach as she took a closer look. Maybe it was a mistake to trust that her designs wouldn’t have been tampered with at the office because in all due time, someone would be out for blood. Necklines had been pulled at, pins strewn across the floor. It was sickening to see not even her hard work, but the decadent fabric being destroyed for the plot of sabotaging her.
‘Marinette, these clothes are atrocious, do better,’ Lila’s sickly sweet voice was laced with poison, gleeful as she threw away another bundle of fabric. It was as if Lila purposely wanted her to drown herself in a vat of acid. Marinette’s hands fell to the bin, reaching to catch her hard work while playing off the embarrassing scene of her dumpster diving act at Gabriel. Lila’s piercing green eyes glared as she picked up the remnants of her clothes. Marinette ignored the woman’s disgusting smirk and left to replace the mess the woman had made.
‘Good bye, Marinette,’ Lila whispered menacingly, waving her hand daintily. Marinette didn’t have time for the woman to be messing around with her outfits, particularly as the dress rehearsal for the show was coming closer than she’d hoped. Scowling at the woman, she tore her eyes away from the wreckage that was her weeks long hard work and began to make her way to another spare desk.
Maybe she’d never fully considered how truly nosy her Gabriel coworkers were. As the most recently hired, she held the full attention of the group. It didn’t help that she was so frequently in situations surrounding Lila and Adrien, the faces of the prestigious brand.
A man whispered to the seamstress beside him, making a sickening face as Marinette scurried past. The snickers behind her were already uneasy enough for her to throw up on the carpet, but she had to stay professional. As she’d learned years ago, lousy adults only made for even lousier akumas. She didn’t care if they gossiped because frankly, she had nothing to lose.
A hand grappled for her arm, pulling her roughly into the darkness of a room. Her voice hitched in her throat, but she had full faith that even if she was in danger, no one in the office would even consider helping her. They were all too hooked on drama like there was a live soap opera in the office. She couldn’t blame them, so was she.
‘They’re fucking maniacs, watch out,’ a voice huffed in her ear. Her eyes lit up as she scrambled to the corner, eyes darting from side to side to catch wind of the person who’d just grabbed her.
‘Get away from me you…stranger,’ she hissed. ‘I will scream as loud as I can if you touch me.’
‘Don’t be a pussy, Bug.’
Her eyes almost rolled into the back of her head, but an unusual rush of relief washed over her body. At least she would know who would finally kill her, let alone being murdered by a stranger in the supply closet of a prestigious fashion building. It was almost worth it because then the cataclysm, or the machete, would be unexpected.
‘Are you crazy,’ she seethed into the darkness, searching for his obnoxiously green eyes. She wouldn’t call anyone ridiculous if they told her his eyes glowed, because they did.
‘Maybe I am, what does it matter,’ Adrien’s silhouette finally came into view except something wasn’t right.
‘Where’s your shirt…’ She continued to back away, her hands grasping the walls for the doorknob. ‘I can’t believe you’ve pulled me in here, and you’re not even fully dressed!’
‘Don’t flatter yourself, I would've pulled anyone in here.’
Crossing her arms, she pointed to the tiny crack of light peeking in from under the door. ‘Do it then! I don’t want to be stuck alone with you like this.’
Adrien reeled backwards. ‘I’m hiding. You’re a distraction to people, they’ll wonder where I am if you wonder where I am.’
‘I wasn’t looking for you.’
‘And what would you have done? I could hear your little run-in with Lila from here.’
‘She ripped up my designs,’ she continued, her voice tense. Just because she was trapped with him again didn’t mean she had to initiate any more conversation than necessary. Her problems weren’t any of his business so why did he care so much?
‘You make me sick, Agreste. Not an ounce of professionalism in your blood.’
‘We used to be a thing, Bug. Don’t act as if I repulse you.’
She shrugged. ‘It’s not an act. You’re also not the only man on earth who’s jacked, Agreste.’
‘You were attracted to these abs,’ he gloated loudly, not even caring a little that his aim was to be hidden.
‘Was I?’
‘Don’t play dumb.’
‘You said it yourself,’ she hissed. ‘You think I’m ugly.’
‘No, Marinette, you’re hot. Anyone can see it. It’s just that you’re fucking annoying.’
‘It’s good to know you’re finally aware,’ she grinned smugly. He didn’t respond, instead just bathing in the silence. In the instance that he ever remembered them together, did he ever recall any of it? The silence was so loud that she swore that he could hear the heartbeats thumping against her chest.
Taking a slow breath, she initiated conversation again. ‘I don’t understand why you’re hiding anywa…fuck.’ The piercing clang of metal echoed as she stumbled, her foot caught by whatever had just fallen. Flying forward, her hands reached the opposite walls and she was suddenly aware of how close she was to the man. For a second, the world halts as her face flushes. The intensity between their small lick of space grew as her arms shook, barely keeping her afloat. Her breathing hitched as the miraculous dangled from her chest, thumping gently against her shirt. The darkness was finally useful for once because there was no doubt he’d tear her to shreds to gain it back.
‘Bug, what did you just do…’ his breath was hot in her face. Hoping her arms would hold her up, she attempted to push backwards and not be so parallel with his body. Her earrings were even closer than arm's reach giving him just the perfect opportunity to swipe for them.
She blinked, desperately trying to regain movement in her foot so she could get as far away from him as possible. ‘I might have…tripped?’
‘Of course you fucking did.’ His scowl rang in her ear. A pang of guilt hit her chest — it was sudden and she didn’t appreciate it because she didn’t care about him. He could do what he wanted, remember? He was a murderer.
The door swung open and the room was engulfed in light as Marinette was finally aware of how close she’d been to Adrien. It was almost a blessing that they’d been awoken from the darkness because he’d leant against the wall only inches away from her body. Blood rushed to her face, she finally had a chance to find a way out, but Adrien’s eyes lay elsewhere. Her heart dropped, feeling herself suddenly caught in between the rapid sudden death round that was of Adrien and Lila. Her face gaped open as the woman let out a terrifying shriek, her finger jabbed directly at his chest. A large rock gleamed from her finger and caught Marinette’s eye as it flashed in the small shred of light from the office.
‘Adrien, out of all the girls!’ She yelled before kicking at a cleaning bucket, his shirt balled in her fist as she shoved it at him.
‘That’s where it was,’ Marinette’s poor attempt at lightening the mood was deflected as she earned herself a scowl from not only the woman but Adrien as well.
Lila jumped at her like a panther, pushing her from her immovable stance and into the wall of cleaning products as they toppled over with a loud clang. With barely a second to spare, Marinette covered her head with her arms, stifling a sob as full aerosol cans dropped from the walls. Scrapes and bruises burned at her arms as they smashed into her.
‘I can’t wait to tell Gabriel what I’ve come across,’ Lila purred, batting her eyelashes. ‘Marinette Dupain-Cheng, fucking my fiancé.’
The words hit her like a trainwreck, tears forming at her eyes as she looked up at the woman, standing tall with a nefarious grin on her face. Out of all the people, Marinette was trapped in between the two she resented most. All Adrien gave was a snarl, pushing himself out from the shadows and away from them both. He muttered icily under his breath before earning himself a sly grin from his… girlfriend, ex-girlfriend…fiancée?
‘Oh please, save the tears,’ she kicked at Marinette’s feet. ‘You’re gonna lose your job one way or another.’
Wiping her face and the eye makeup that was ultimately ruined, Marinette stood up and jabbed a finger at her chest. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. Leave me out of your issues, Lila.’
‘There is no issue here, what do you mean?’ She shrugged casually, her faux smile plastered on her face like makeup. Simply enough, she had things to hide.
The woman reached in for a kiss from the man, but was left gaping as Adrien used the opportunity to snatch his shirt and turn away towards the door.
‘Don’t try and pull any shit, Lila.’ he tore from her body. It was as if the pitch black plasma that crackled at his palms was appearing in front of her face. The reaction was abrupt and… had he just stood up for her?
Lila squeezed his shoulder softly then clasped her hands, twirling the silver ring on her hand. ‘You’ll come back to me soon, my love.’
His frown faltered for a second, eyes temporarily glassy, but then he was tearing from the room and into the bright light of the office. From behind the ordeal, Marinette too emerged from the darkness, eyes trailing her as she barely made it out by the skin of her teeth out of sight away from Lila, Adrien and their nosy coworkers.
The phantomizing pains followed her as she trailed away like a mouse. Lila had any opportunity to get her fired for the mere rumour that Marinette had been making out with her partner in a closet. It was frankly clear that Lila knew they weren’t making out. It was also clear that she wanted her out of the job, and as fast as possible. If there wasn’t such a big reward, Marinette would’ve quit right away. What she didn’t know was if Lila knew she was Ladybug. If Lila didn’t know, then Adrien didn’t tell her. But why wouldn’t he tell her? The sinking feeling settled in her throat.
-
‘Good morning, Marinette.’
It was like a breath of fresh air to hear a voice that didn’t belong to the Agreste-Rossi love affair.
‘Kagami?’