Flashback Cutscene: Injured

9 years and 8 months ago...

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Adrien turned his head to look at the window before groaning and attempting to beckon the heroine in. As he lifted an arm, a sharp pain coursed through his ribcage, taking his breath away and causing him to wince. He hurt like hell, every single rib in his chest felt like it had been smashed to pieces. He closed his eyes, taking slow, painful deep breaths in and out. When could he take the next painkillers?

"How are you?" her words were soft as was the sudden feeling of a hand caressing through his hair. He knew if he was suited up, this too familiar action would be causing him to let out a quiet rumble in his chest.

"In pain! So much pain!"

"What did the hospital say?"

He settled into the feeling of her hands fanning through his hair finding his most favourite spot and moving her hand gently backwards and forwards, if she wasn't careful this meeting would be short lived as he'd be fast asleep.

"To take it easy for the next couple of days. I can only move from my bed to my bathroom and back again. No strenuous activities until I've been scanned again."

Adrien had been in a rather ugly car crash earlier that morning, a hit on his side followed by a trip to the emergency room. Marinette had been frantic trying to see him, however with his high profile she couldn't get anywhere near his hospital room — even with his clearance.

Then, the frustration continued when he got home. His mother went over the top protective of him. Émilie had stopped anyone from coming to visit him for the next couple of days whilst he got over the shock and the freshness of the injuries.

Marinette had been beside herself with worry, sobbing down the phone to him and begging for him to speak to her. He wasn't surprised by Marinette's reaction, he would have been worse in her position. So, Adrien had spoken to his mother, but she was adamant he needed rest... even from his girlfriend. Apparently a couple of days apart 'wouldn't hurt them', yet the pain he was feeling right now for not having her by his side was excruciating.

"Ladybug, I need you to do me a favour. Can you go and check on Marinette for me? My mother won't let her in and I know she's worried about me. She says she's okay, but I can tell by her voice that she's not. I just need someone to see her and then tell me she's okay."

Ladybug held up a hand to stop him from rambling anymore. As always, Adrien was worried about her rather than himself.

"Adrien, it's fine. I've spoken to her already, she was the one who sent me here actually. She's worried about you being confined in your room and she wants you to know she's thinking about you. I've seen her, she's just anxious, that's all."

Adrien exhaled before falling backwards into his pillows with a groan, he never even realised he'd placed himself in a sitting position.

She rushed beside him, her hands taking either side of the pillow and puffing it up a little more, moving on to using her superstrength to move him into a more comfortable position.

"Easy there, tiger, you don't want to cause more damage to those broken ribs." She laughed, his own lips pulling into a grin thanks to her nickname for him.

"Sorry, it's just... I don't want her to feel like it's me shutting her out."

"She understands, honestly. Your mother and Nathalie were kind about it, nothing like your father had been in the past. They're just being protective of you, and she understands that."

"I'm glad to hear it." He closed his eyes and settled back down into the pillow. Just knowing Marinette hadn't taken the cut of contact personally made everything all the more tolerable.

"Do you need me to get you anything?"

He opened his eyes to look at the heroine in front of him and considered his options.

"What time is it?" he asked, attempting to reach for his phone. As he moved, his rib cage screamed at him to stop, making him groan as he collapsed backwards once more.

"Hey, hey, hey, settle down. It's 6pm, why?"

He nodded as he allowed her to lower him back onto the bed. "I need to take my painkillers. My alarm is about to go off to remind me."

A moment later, he felt the bed move, an indication that she was standing up and moving away. "I'll grab you a glass of water."

His eyes trailed her as she grabbed his empty glass and took it into his ensuite, Plagg taking the opportunity to appear and check on his chosen.

"Are you okay?" his kwami asked, Plagg's eyes showing the rare emotion of care.

"It hurts like a bitch."

"Well, you did get hit by a rather huge steel drum."

Adrien shuffled again as he attempted to look at his small friend.

"Do you believe what Ladybug said? That Marinette is okay with all of this? She looked so sad when we facetimed earlier. I don't want her to think it was my choice to shut her out."

Plagg chuckled, and Adrien couldn't understand how or why he found this so amusing.

"You trust Ladybug, right? She wouldn't lie to you — not without good reason, of course."

Adrien sighed and felt his shoulder drop. "You're right, I know her. She wouldn't lie about something just for the sake of it."

The sound of the faucet being switched off caused Plagg to disappear back into his hiding place and left Adrien alone once more.

"I found these by your sink. Are they your next medication?" Ladybug walked back in with tablets in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Yes, they are. That's great, thank you."

Adrien took both objects from Ladybug's hands and looked them over. Taking a sip of the water, he placed the glass down on his bedside table and turned his concentration to the tablets instead. He popped two out of their casing and popped them in his mouth, picking up the water once more and using the liquid to help the tablets slide down his throat.

"Better?" She smiled at him. He knew she wasn't delusional enough to believe the effect would be that instant, but still the thought warmed him inside.

"Much," he chuckled, causing her to join in the laugh too.

The painkillers were strong and he knew in the next half hour his secret identity would be on the line.

"Have you ever heard from Chat Noir?" he asked, knowing full well she hadn't.

A sad sigh left her lips. "No. I hope he's okay. Usually if he misses an akuma, at least I get a message from him, but he seems to have gone radio silent." She grabbed her yo-yo again and he watched her check for answers, knowing the action was futile.

"I'm sure he's fine and that there's a good reason for it."

"I hope so!" She fidgeted around on the bed, Adrien knowing that action was her needing to get stuff off her chest. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "I think you were purposefully targeted, Adrien!"

"You think Lila would stoop so low as to try and kill me?"

"I'm not sure. It just all seems a little... convenient."

Adrien froze. He was alone in the car at the time but that's only because...

"Marinette was meant to be with me."

"What?"

"Marinette! I was running late to pick her up, but if Lila knew what time we'd agreed for our date, she would have thought Marinette was in the car too. And she would have been sitting right where the other car hit!"

They sat in silence. He could see her mind playing the scenario out as she looked around the room. He was right and she knew it. Suddenly, the room began to spin and the tablet kicked in full throttle.

"Listen, Ladybug, I'm so grateful for you coming to see me, but I think I'm going to try and sleep now. Would you be able to take a message to Marinette please? One just to let her know that I'm okay, and that I will call her in the morning when I can function better."

"Of course," she smiled, leaning over and pressing her lips to his head.

He closed his eyes and absorbed the unusual attention from his partner. She was showing affection to him, not that she hadn't kissed him before, or hugged him, but this time it felt different — it felt like it meant something more than just a reassuring sign of affection between two friends.

"Sweet dreams, Adrien."

"Goodnight Ladybug, and please make sure you go and see Marinette. She means everything to me... I'm going to marry her one day, you know."

He rolled over to face his wall, missing Ladybug's shocked face, snuggling in under his blanket with pleasant dreams of Marinette filling his unconscious void. He loved that girl so much and he knew his life wasn't worth living without her.

"Sure." Was the last word he heard before he slipped into the dark abyss of his medication fuelled dreams.

*****

Level 5: The Calm Before the Storm

Present Day...

"It's so nice of you to finally make time for me," Kagami's face was expressionless as always and Adrien couldn't help but wonder if she was being serious, or if this was her attempt at making a joke. He wouldn't lie, part of him was afraid she was about to rip his balls off and feed them to him for being such a neglectful friend.

"It hasn't been done purposefully, I swear. I've been meaning to call you, just things have been happening and I haven't had the chance."

"I'll believe you! Especially as I've been so gracious as to feed you almost daily since you arrived home from your honeymoon."

"That's only because you're bored when your boyfriend isn't around and for some reason you've taken up cooking," Adrien jest, moving forward to wrap his arms around the smaller woman and embracing her in a hug.

"Blame Marinette, she taught me. Apparently, this life skill would be good for me," Kagami responded, wrapping her arms around Adrien and settling her head into his chest. "Did you know I hate meeting up with you when Félix is away? You two look far too similar."

"No, we don't," Adrien smirked, stepping away from her. "I'm way better looking."

Rolling her eyes, Kagami slipped her left arm through his right, and allowed him to lead her out of the office and towards the elevator. Adrien pressed the button to call the lift before looking down at his friend's hand... and the enormous rock positioned on one finger. One special finger, that was!

"Hold up, what is this?" Grabbing her hand, Adrien unravelled their arms and held Kagami's finger up in front of his face, twisting and turning it as he was almost blinded by the effect. "Has Félix finally grown up?"

In an action which was unusual for his friend, Kagami giggled and pulled her hand away to hold it in front of her face. She looked at the ring as the diamond reflected in the light; a big, colourful diamond.

"He did good, didn't he?"

"Well, yeah! I'm just wondering which bank he robbed to afford it!"

Kagami laughed again and Adrien couldn't help but smile along with her, wrapping her arm back over his once more.

"You know full well he's doing good at the moment. Now that Ivan has the apartment building under control here, Félix has headed off to Tibet to look for the next. I'll be travelling out to meet him in a couple of weeks if all goes well."

"That's amazing! I'm really proud of him."

"So am I!" It wasn't very often that Kagami Tsurugi, soon-to-be Fathom, sounded dreamy; however, the look on her face was everything he ever wanted for his friend, she was so happy and in love.

"Come on then. With your fiancé having to pay my wife's substantial consulting fees, I suppose I'm the one treating you tonight." Kagami playfully smacked his arm at that. They still enjoyed competing against each other, even about their spouses.

Finally reaching the restaurant, Adrien graciously pulled back the chair for Kagami before taking his own opposite, slipping out of his suit jacket and swinging it around the back.

He picked up the menu in front of him and began to scour the items, his mind fluctuating to and from the conversation he'd had last night. He'd found it hard to keep his mind on track the entire day; his attention was non-existent. Each and every detail of the conversation attacked him and made him question everything – and surprisingly it had nothing to do with his partner.

Adrien had sat there, hand in the supportive one of his wife, as he listened to his father's half assed explanation. He didn't care and he didn't want to hear, yet his mother thought it would be good for all of them to work on their relationship. The only thing he wanted to work on was an exit strategy. He'd gone through counselling, he didn't need to have a family bonding session to realise where his feelings lay.

"Are we going to talk about it, or are you going to just keep up this front for the rest of the evening?"

Adrien looked at the stern expression of his friend, curious as to how she'd worked him out so easily again.

"Damn, you're sounding more like my cousin every time we meet up." Adrien attempted to joke, but as expected it fell flat.

"Cut it out, Adrien."

He sighed and placed the menu down. "She called you, didn't she?"

"Of course, she did," Kagami hissed. "She's worried about you. Apparently after you returned home last night you disappeared. I'm sorry, but your husband disappearing a couple of weeks after you finally get married is a sure sign of problems."

Adrien remained silent, his head down and lips pursed. She was right, he knew she was right, but he also knew she couldn't know the truth, that when he went out it was for the protection of the city, of his friends, of her. He had been filled with so much pent up energy he just had to get out. He thought she was asleep – he obviously thought wrong.

Adrien peered under his eyelashes, hoping the puppy dog eyes would get her to back off. "Have you spoken to Félix?"

"You know full well I have, but have I mentioned the release of your father?" She shook her head. "That's not my place."

"I don't want to bring everything up again, I don't want Félix to have to go through it again. He's happy now, he doesn't need this."

"Don't play that game, Adrien. Your life, at the moment, is just as good as Félix's... if not better. He would be here if you needed him. You know that!"

"I don't need him though, Kagami, I don't need someone holding my hand all the time. I can handle this myself!"

Before Kagami could say anything else, Adrien's phone began to buzz against the table. Picking it up, he noticed the name and quickly opened the message.

"Everything okay?" Kagami questioned.

"Yeah, it's Marinette. Apparently Nino has a job interview this evening so game night is cancelled." Closing his phone, he placed it face down again, his mind running with curiosity of what he should do. On one hand he could just go home, or... he looked down at his ring.

He knew exactly what he was going to do.

After walking Kagami home, Adrien decided to follow the long path back – so long it would include both a walk on the streets, down alleyways and over the rooftops of Paris.

Transforming, Adrien took to the skies as Chat Noir and set off looking around the city he loved so much. The city which was being hit with evil all over again. Running in the direction of his usual hang out, Chat Noir slowed as he reached a billboard.

A Masked Game

An advert for Max's newest endeavour was stretched tall and wide on a billboard, one which, back in the day, held a rather attractive picture of his face. The board was electronic, changing every few moments to show clips from the game. It was still in early beta testing, only releasing a little at a time to the registered players once scenes had been completed. Adrien had taken it upon himself to complete the first one today.

The Bubbler.

Luka had finished the music the previous day with Adrien, and he knew Nathaniel had been pushing boundaries by working with Marinette to create a new modernised costume for Nino's akuma.

He watched on the screen as clips of the gameplay appeared, along with himself and Ladybug. The game consisted of the player working alongside the heroes, finding clues to figure out who the new Hawkmoth was – though this time, it was serious. The people in the game couldn't be brought back with a Lucky Charm or any Miraculous magic. If they were dead; they were dead.

Bubbles took over the screen as you saw Nino laying down on the ground. Not Nino! After a rather heated conversation between Marinette and Max, his friend had used models who were complete opposites to play the murdered victims. Even if she was 5 foot 2 inches, with red hair wearing a new and improved version of his Bubbler outfit, Adrien couldn't deny it made him uncomfortable knowing it was his best friend murdered in a game. Yet Nino just laughed it off, happy for the spotlight on one of his alter egos.

The scene changed again, this time showing an old abandoned building.

The crime scene.

"When Max asked me if I was okay with this, I wasn't sure what to say." A voice sounded behind him. His eyes remained on the billboard, watching as the next crime scene photographs appeared, the game name reappearing through the blood running down the sign.

"So you said yes? Let me guess, you didn't even ask the akuma victims what they thought. You just did what you thought was best? Did you ever stop to think that sometimes you're wrong, that you don't know what's best!"

Turning around, Chat Noir came face to face with Ladybug, her nervous disposition a sight for his eyes as he realised that she was now nervous to face him, just as she rightly should be...

He was done with playing games.