Flashback Cutscene: Reckless

9 years and 5 months ago...

"What do you mean you're staying?"

"I'm not giving up the miracle box, or my memories. I can't do that to Adrien! And I need to speak to Chat Noir. It's not right!"

Viperion reached out and grabbed Ladybug's arm, pulling her towards him with such force she thought he was going to rip her arm off.

"Viperion, you need to let me go."

She saw his face flicker through emotions, the final one cold and blank. One she'd never seen on him before and one which had her pause for a moment.

"Viperion?" she questioned moving forward. He remained staring, his face hard and irrational. "Luka!"

As if his name was the key to unlock the spell, he dropped her arm and took a step backwards. "Geez, Ladybug, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She studied his face, the look of remorse front and centre. "Will you be okay? If I leave, I mean? I need to be home when Adrien arrives."

"Don't you think all this is a little reckless, Ladybug."

"Reckless? Why? You heard what he said."

"You knew it was his father all along, if he finds out who you are, how do you think he's going to feel?"

"He knows I was there, Viperion, he knows I knew his father was Monarch. Just because he thinks I was there as myself will make no difference. He knows the secret I've been keeping from him, if he wants to still be with me, he's going in with eyes wide open."

The two stood staring at each other and once again Ladybug couldn't read Viperion's face. He was blank, a skill learned and then mastered by the Guardians at the Temple.

"You're putting everyone at risk. I hope you understand that, Ladybug. If anything happens, you have to take some responsibility for this."

Ladybug shook her head. "That's where you're wrong, Luka," he winced as she said his civilian name; once again being brought out of the coma-like trance he'd found himself in. "Me and Adrien, we love each other, and he needs someone right now. Screw the guardians and their rules. I don't care anymore."

"He doesn't need, or want Ladybug."

"No, he doesn't. He needs and wants Marinette, and she's going to be there, by his side, until her dying days."

Viperion looked away, and she was glad she could stand up for herself against a guardian, for that was who Luka was now, a celestial guardian... he was no longer one of them. The divide between them grew from his new found hierarchy.

She began to walk out the alleyway, the sound of pounding feet echoing from behind her. "Marinette, please, be reasonable. I know you want to be there for Adrien, we all do. But you're putting the Miraculous at risk. They wanted me to bring the box back, what am I meant to say now?"

"You told them? Why?"

"Because you were finally making the right decision, an active holder shouldn't be the Guardian. It's too risky, and they know what has happened in your past regarding Adrien."

She saw red. How dare he! "You have no idea what went on! You haven't always been with us, you haven't seen and done what we have!"

"It's not my choice. It's what the guardians want."

"Well, it's quite simple really then, you tell them Ladybug isn't going down without a fight, and if they want the Miracle box they're going to need to pry it from my cold, dead hands."

Without waiting for Viperion to respond she launched herself into the air, set on getting home before Adrien knocked on the door. She was going to be there for him the way he wanted her to, and when the time came for revelations she wouldn't leave — she would fight for him. This love between the two of them was about to get a second chance and like hell would she be giving it up.

*****

Level 17: Watching the Masks Fall

Present Day...

Adrien sat on their balcony, whisky glass in hand as he swirled the golden liquid round and round in circles. The uneven clinks of ice hitting the sides gave him the reality check that life was unpredictable, that it wasn't going to go the way he wanted or expected.

Tonight was going to break him.

A swirl of the glass once again added a couple more unpredictable clinks into the late night atmosphere. He loved his home. He loved his life. He loved Paris. But most of all, he loved his wife.

Sighing, he lifted the glass to his lips allowing a measure of molten liquid to caress his throat and make him wince. He closed his eyes, praying the harsh feeling would soon cool down, before opening them again and looking around the balcony.

This part of their home was his wife's pride and joy – the heart as she would state. She spent hours and hours out here when they'd first moved in mere months ago, the apartment an early wedding present from themselves to themselves. They'd decided they weren't going to try for children so soon after marriage — still wanting to enjoy time with each other — so instead she concentrated on her small garden. The flowers were pruned and grown to perfection; and what little light was left in the edging darkness of night, pushed through the gaps in the plants causing eerie shadows on the ground.

A hand reached unconsciously for his eyebrows, rubbing his fingers over them, eyes firmly placed on his glass and the remaining liquid; he couldn't stop the thoughts running to his wife. To the woman he'd committed his life to. The woman he was lying to — day in and day out.

Without much thought, Adrien grabbed his phone and pulled up the Ladyblog, scrolling all the way back to when he was nothing more than a super novice with an ego the size of a small island. He hadn't ever meant to come across that way, but looking back at it now, he understood. A small meek smile encroaching his lips as he considered all the fun times they'd gotten up to. How, until he'd started dating his future wife, these moments were his everything. He finally reached the picture from when they battled Oblivio. Their kiss on the top of the Montparnasse Tower — so delicate, so sweet. He shut down his phone and turned it over beside him.

The sudden touch to his shoulders had him almost jump out of his skin — that was until her sweet fragrance sent his senses shooting upwards, every nerve in his body reacting the way it had for years whenever she was near.

Without warning, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, her nose nuzzling in.

"Come to bed," she requested, "please."

There was something in her voice, something which made him want to question what was wrong, what was causing this sudden change. His light, the most upbeat woman in the world sounded hurt and betrayed. Had she discovered what he was really doing? That every other night he was running around as a glorified vigilante. That he was meeting up with another woman. One who he once loved.

Despicable was the only word for him. Completely despicable. Though their relationship is and has been practically non-existent for the past 9 years, and purely platonic before that, that didn't mean he felt any less guilty for his betrayal.

His wife loved him. They didn't go a day without showing and sharing their love. Over three and a half thousand days of declaring and cementing a love so strong, he really thought it was impenetrable.

But there was always that other life.

A life he'd hid tremendously over the years.

A life she wasn't part of; magic, identities, soul mates.

Placing the glass on the table, Adrien stood to his full height and turned to his wife. She looked worn down and he couldn't help but pin that to his unpredictable behaviour over the past couple of weeks. He'd been irritable, absent and short tempered. She'd become emotional, insecure and withdrawn.

They hadn't made love since all this began — something which had always come so natural to the both of them. Now it was too late.

"I'm sorry," he whispered softly, his eyes caressing hers for any indication he was forgiven. "I'm so sorry."

She shook her head, stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his waist, her head resting over the erratic beating of his heart. Her most favourite place to be.

"No, I'm sorry. There's something I need to tell you. But..." She looked away over the Parisian skyline, the dazzling lights starting to light the night sky on the Eve of Bastille Day.

"You can tell me anything. You know that right?"

She nodded, taking a deep breath and preparing again. "Can we just enjoy each other, please, just for the rest of the night? I need you, Adrien."

There were times in the past where they declared their 'want' for each other, but it was very rare that the 'want' became a 'need'.

The first time it happened was the night after he'd found out the truth. That she'd been keeping a secret from him, that she knew who the original Monarch was. She'd held it close to her chest for 5 months before it was revealed by Lila that his father was the reason for their pain, and that Ladybug had known since the final battle – along with the woman standing in front of him.

It had hurt him more than he ever cared to admit, only breaking down in the arms of his then ex-girlfriend and allowing her to comfort him. There was no one else he wanted to try and reason with him. His best friend had lied to him, and although she might have thought he was overreacting, he had his reasons.

His Adrien side had applauded both girls for trying to continue as normal with him, his Chat Noir side however oozed with pain. It wasn't just Ladybug who'd hidden the truth, but Marinette too. It took a long time to forgive Marinette but everything was worth it, their love becoming stronger and more meaningful as they became more open and transparent with each other... well, almost.

When he'd turned up at the bakery that evening, damp from the late afternoon storms, it had taken Marinette about 4 seconds to have him in the shower and warm up from the shock.

She'd treated him no differently. She had allowed him to talk, responding where needed and just being there. She'd taken everything he'd thrown at her with respect and dignity, allowing him to unleash the hurt before accepting him in her arms when the time came to it.

His life had suddenly rotated into another dimension. Lila hadn't just announced it to the heroes, but also the world. Adrien Agreste went from hero to zero in a heartbeat, yet to Marinette, he was still worth something. He was worth loving.

That was their first night of need; their reconciliation and Adrien's realisation he couldn't live without her by his side. They'd taken each other there and then, in the bathroom in her parent's home. Neither caring about her parents in the room next door, just two 18 year olds expressing their love in a new and exciting way. Hands and lips exploring everywhere as their hearts exploded in longing.

When they'd broken up mere days before this reveal, Adrien knew he'd have done anything and everything to get her back. Their love was something special; a love worth fighting for. He never realised how much stronger he was with her love. With her.

Marinette had always been there, his own little cheerleader on the sidelines whether he was Adrien at a fencing match or Chat Noir in an akuma fight without Ladybug. Marinette was there; a constant rainbow of colour in his otherwise monochrome life.

She'd taught him real love. She'd been patient with him as he healed from the loss of his mother and then his father. She loved him, really loved him, unconditionally and adorably. She'd become his best friend and confidante. She'd become his first and only — and then one perfect day she had agreed to become his wife.

Without another word, he placed his hands in their usual position, supporting her head and her lower back as he pulled her in close and took her lips with his own.

In a natural reaction, he closed his eyes and attempted to add every tiny detail to memory. The softness of her lips. Her taste. Her touch. Her smell. Her little whimpers as he moved his hands and lifted her onto the deckchair, laying her flat before allowing his hands to wander freely once more; her own hands beginning their exploration.

"I love you, Marinette, so damn much." He stroked the edge of her ear with his nose, whispering sweet nothings as he went.

Soft, lingering kisses followed the trail as he pushed his body into hers, a perfect mould from a decade of practice. He felt her breath stutter, only pushing him on to explore more. To feel more. Adrien moved them to lay side-by-side on the chair, lips continuing to kiss as hands continued to caress. The commitment he'd made to this woman had been the greatest commitment of his life.

Her hands cupped his strong jaw, holding him still, and pulling him back. She looked into his eyes, her own growing black from the most recent alluring attack.

"Take me." Her voice was strong, almost demanding as he crashed his lips against hers again. He took in the soft creases of her lips, as he welcomed her taste, once more, into his mouth.

All of a sudden Adrien pulled away reluctantly, he had to stop before this continued any further. After all these years with Marinette he needed to tell her the truth, to let her know the lies he'd been feeding her time and time again.

"Wait," he sighed. "Before we go any further, there's something I need to do. I need to te-"

"Adrien, I — I need to tell you something." There was a look in her eyes which made his blood run cold.

"W-what..." he couldn't get the words out.

Yes, he knew he had something he needed to tell her, but right now the fear lay with the words about to come out of her mouth.

"Can we go inside to talk?"

He nodded his head, lifting his body from hers and supporting her onto her feet. She stumbled slightly as they walked into the lounge, Adrien holding on tightly in case she fell. He could tell from her body language something was bothering her; something had tensed her up and caused her hands to move around each other in a crazy, manic way.

She led him to the sofa and sat down, holding his hand in her own trembling ones.

"There's a couple of things I need to tell you. I was going to wait until morning but that wouldn't be fair."

The sorrow and grief smashed together in her eyes. Her pupils were widening in the way he'd only seen her when she was afraid.

Afraid?

Why was she afraid? It's not like in the next 24 hours she was going face to face with someone who wanted to kill her... them.

"My love, what's wrong? You know I'm here for you, right? That can tell me anything."

"I don't want you to leave me." Her voice was barely a whisper as she spoke the words which clarified the meaning of the conversation.

She didn't want him to leave, which meant he probably should, that what she'd done was unacceptable. His own hands began shaking, dropping hers in the process and moving back to the protection of his own lap.

"Was it Luka?" Adrien asked quietly, Marinette reeling back in shock.

"Was what Luka?"

"You've been seeing him, haven't you? Since we got home from the honeymoon. That's why you've been so distant from me. Why you've been making excuses to leave? Why you haven't wanted to make love with me? I thought I was imagining things, but there's someone else isn't there. I knew I wouldn't be enough." His hand went to play with the rings on his left finger, all three of them.

"No, Adrien, you don't understand."

He stood up and began to pace the room, the heel of his palms rubbing against his eyes in a desperate need to forget these feelings.

"I should have known. That's why you've been going out for lunch with him, and hanging around him more. At the wedding ... you ... you disappeared for a while. Was it with him? Please Marinette, tell me. Were you with him?" Stopping, he watched as she shook her head and stood too. Hurt and betrayal now clearly evident in her eyes.

"I can't believe you'd think that. That you'd believe I was malicious enough to not only cheat on you, but on our wedding day. The single, greatest day of my life. I love you, Adrien! I would never cheat on you and it hurts me to think that you think I would. Why would you even consider that?"

Because I'm not worthy.

Because I've been lying to you ever since the day we met.

Because tomorrow I might die, and if Luka is here for you it'd make me feel a lot better.

Because blaming you is easier than admitting the truth.

That last thought stopped him. Adrien realised what he was doing, and it filled him with shame. How dare he shift his own guilt onto her, accusing her of such horrible things. She deserved better than that. She deserved better than him.

I understand now, Ladybug. I'm sorry and I forgive you.

Head down, Adrien pulled her into his arms. "I'm sorry," he buried his head into her neck, nuzzling in and holding her close, almost missing the soft words as they escaped her lips.

"I'm pregnant."