Flashback Cutscene: Running Away

9 years and 8 months ago...

"Do you ever dream of running away? Like packing everything up and just leaving Paris? Without telling a soul where you've run off to?"

Ladybug was sitting on top of his piano as he played effortlessly from the stool. He wasn't playing anything she knew, it seemed like something he might have composed himself. She watched as his fingers glided skilfully over the keys, the pressure meeting each being met with the most tuneful of sound. She peered over at the musical score, the title scribbled on the top in Adrien's cursive handwriting. Ladybug's theme. He continued to play and she couldn't help but close her eyes. He'd written this for her. It was composed about her, her stomach becoming a butterfly net struggling to hold the little delicate animals in, as they attempted to break free.

"All the time," he laughed. "It was always a dream of mine to live on a desert island."

"Really?" She smiled at his innocent expression, one so young and carefree. If only it was that simple. "I couldn't imagine you living anyway without indoor plumbing, or without a hairdryer?"

Adrien burst out laughing, taking his hands momentarily off the piano keys to write something down on his manuscript. "If you must know, I always thought I would marry..." He stopped and looked at her before shaking his head and placing his fingers back on the keys. "You know what? It doesn't matter."

An uncomfortable feeling engulfed her as she looked over at his frowning eyebrows. The soft gentle sounds of the piano had changed, the song he was playing growing increasingly louder and darker.

"No," she said softly. "Tell me."

He closed his eyes and took his fingers from the keys. Adrien grabbed hold of the cover and lowered it down onto the piano; threading his fingers together and placing them under his chin, he looked up to study her face.

"Promise you won't laugh?" he asked.

"I promise," Ladybug said, pushing from the piano and seating herself next to him on the piano bench.

"This is just a childish dream, so don't take it too literally. But I used to dream that I would marry and run away with... you." He looked under his eyebrows at her and her heart almost smashed out of her chest and disassembled the piano. This was unbelievable. Adrien Agreste had always loved her! So much so, he wanted to move to an abandoned desert island with her.

"Me?"

Adrien nodded before stretching up and rubbing the back of his neck. "Obviously that's changed now and I dream of running away with Marinette, getting married and having three kids."

"A hamster?"

Adrien chuckled. "Probably. I've always wanted one."

"Me too." She smiled in response, quickly moving and placing an elbow on the piano cover. She tilted her head to face him and allowed a soft, inquisitive smile to grace her lips. "Tell me more."

"You don't want to hear this," he laughed, his cheeks tinting with the most wonderful blush.

"You're wrong there. I'd love to know. Please!"

He rolled his eyes and stood from the piano, placing his hands on it and looking over at her. "Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Ladybug listened intently as Adrien talked animatedly about his future — their future — and she couldn't help but want it too. The beachside house in the heart of a warm island. Living each day under the blistering sunshine as they laughed and loved, creating both memories and children as they lived off the land. It sounded like heaven, she just wished it could be possible.

She tried hard to hold her smile, to encourage him with his fantasy by asking questions, feeling the love oozing off him and agreeing with his idea of perfection.

Ladybug wanted that to be their future so much, but it would never happen. It could never happen. At some point she'd have to tell him about her commitment to the Miraculous, and to Paris; and along with that she'd have to burden him with the truth about his father. She pushed down the anxieties climbing up in her throat as she considered possible options for the future. Or lack of future. It hurt so badly, all this happiness, this idea of communion and partnership — it was all fake. Everything was fake.

"I'm sure Marinette would love that," Ladybug whispered, Adrien smiling at her with the light of a thousand suns, obviously ignoring the emotion gathering in her eyes.

"Yeah, I can only hope she will."

As Adrien continued talking, even pulling out a scrapbook of ideas, Ladybug lost herself in thought. Who knew, maybe it could happen? Maybe there would be a way to be together? But right at this moment, the future they had was bleak.

*****

Level 7: Overshadowed

Present Day...

"We can't keep doing this," Ladybug said, wrapping her arms around herself. The action became her only form of defence.

"Doing what? Talking? Because I'm quite happy to pack up and leave right now."

"Kitty, please. Whatever's bothering you we can talk about it. Just let me know, let me try and fix this."

He laughed into the cool night air, the sound cutting into her with the pain of a thousand paper cuts. She's never seen him this crazed, not since the one head to head with him dressed in white.

Ladybug closed her eyes and tried to ease the pain inside her. She knew she should have spoken to him more, that she should have tried to find him over the years, but Plagg didn't want her to. Apparently he wasn't ready to talk about it, and then he was settled and happy and the kwami didn't want any more upset in his holder's life — that was until now.

Her frequent visits from Plagg had abruptly stopped a year ago, the one look into her partner's life disappearing along with the kwami.

"Oh come on, you know as much as I do, there is no way to fix this. We're here to do what we need to do and nothing more. Geez, why is it that after 9 years of zero contact you think we can just go back to what we used to be? We're not kids anymore LB, we have lives which don't revolve around each other."

Her lower lip began to tremble, his words once more stabbing her deep in the chest and scratching at her heart. It wasn't her choice to not talk, it was his. Be damned if he didn't care, but he needed to know how much his actions hurt her. How much she hated the fact he didn't even let her explain.

"What if mine does? What if I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, not even for a day? You meant everything to me, then you just up and left. We are partners, Chat Noir. I thought we were a team!"

Chat Noir's scoff hit like a sickening blow to her stomach. She wondered if being physically beaten would hurt as much as this. She remembered what Luka had told her, that she needed to be prepared to be hurt, and she thought she was. Only once again, she was wrong. Instead, each word equaled another day of hate, and he had a lot of days to get through. Ladybug balled her hands into tight fists, allowing her nails to cut into her palms, even through the suit.

"Well, you mean nothing to me anymore. I spent my time without you having a real life, with real love. I never even thought about you. Not when I was with her, kissing her, making love to her. Not even on my wedding day – "

"W-w-wedding? You're married?" She interrupted him, only seeming to fan the flames currently setting alight to his eyes.

"What? Surprised someone loves me enough to commit to me?"

"No, that's not —"

"What is it then? Just because I have this Miraculous doesn't mean you're entitled to keep me for yourself. You always used to say you weren't jealous but looking at you now, that's all I can see."

Ladybug felt every word wash over her like poison. Had she been doing that? Had she made him feel restricted? Like he was stuck beside her? And as for the jealousy, she wasn't jealous, not at all. She loved her life, she just wanted him to be in it too. To have her best friend by her side through some of the biggest and most exciting changes. To know so much had happened in their normal day to day lives without the other being part of it left a full ache in her chest.

"I'm happy for you, Chat Noir."

"What, no 'Kitty' anymore?"

She shook her head, her legs all about ready to give way and send her sailing down to the ground with the force of an anchor. Where was her fun loving kitty? The pussycat had turned into a fierce predator, his words as razor sharp as his claws.

"I didn't want this to happen. I never meant for any of this to happen." Emotion coated her words, causing them to tremble. She didn't want to tremble, she wanted to be strong. She wanted to try and get him to see it her way.

"What was your intent then, Ladybug? Come on! Amuse me! We spoke about not keeping things from each other anymore, I supported you when you fucked everything up, yet the BIGGEST secret that I should have known about, after all our heartfelt conversations, you failed to fill me in on. We're meant to be fucking equal, but because Fu trusted you more than he trusted me, you always held this chip on your shoulder — lying to me and holding information back. Maybe you should have kept the ring when I returned it the first time and found someone else more worthy of your trust – we both know you preferred your green haired wannabe. I'm fed up with being your lemming."

He'd stepped forward as he spoke, her body recoiling as though she'd been slapped forcefully across her face. Finally regaining some of her composure, she took her own stride forward and looked up at him. How dare he speak to her like that? Fair enough he was hurt, but that was just damn right rude!

An inferno lit inside her. She wasn't 14 anymore, she was a grown woman with a life and a mortgage, and be damned if she was going to allow someone to speak to her like that!

"That's not what happened! That's not —! I didn't want Catwalker! I wanted you!" she screamed through the tears. She hated herself for crying, for showing such weakness, but she was angry... so, so angry! With the situation and with him!

He began to laugh, quietly first before it increased and he began to laugh in her face. He looked menacing and terrifying, and almost out of control. Tears began to race down his cheeks as he crumbled before her. He collapsed to his knees. Never did she think she'd push him to the point of insanity.

"Why? Did you fall in love with him? Was he so distracting you couldn't focus? Were you disappointed to find out he was actually me?"

"It has nothing to do with him and I don't even know why are you even bringing this up? This doesn't have anything to do with you, or Catwalker... you don't understand."

"And what? Am I too stupid to understand? Is that why you won't tell me?"

A sudden rush of strength took over her and she stood tall. There was no way she was going to let him treat her this way.

"You're being an arrogant arsehole! None of this is about you! I had to lie! I had no choice! You have no idea what went on and when I try to explain myself you either run away or twist it around without giving me a chance! I'm fed up with this! And right at this moment, I'm fed up with you too!"

The sudden sound of emergency services turned both heroes' attention to the road. Police cars, ambulances and fire brigades headed towards the south and towards... no! It had to be a coincidence. She pulled out her yo-yo and found the map of Paris, zooming in on live notifications of police reports.

Shit!

"What's going on?" Chat Noir's voice was quiet behind her, yet she could feel every single inch of her partner stepping nearer. The argument they were just in the midst of was forgotten. She wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but she couldn't help but think maybe the screaming match was something they needed to have, regardless of how immature it may have seemed.

"I don't know," she spoke softly, curious as to what she was seeing in front of her. There was no sarcasm in her voice, nor was there any anger lingering in her words, genuine curiosity had her sight trailing the flashing lights of the emergency services. A quick glance down at the map on her screen, confirmed what she already knew... they were heading towards where Nino was.

With fumbling hands, Ladybug attempted to close the yo-yo and prepare to swing out, almost dropping it on the first attempt.

"Damn!" she exclaimed only to look up and notice her partner was already heading in the direction of the vehicles. Baton quickly extended and retracted as he pounced from rooftop to rooftop.

Finally grabbing a hold of the magical weapon, Ladybug launched herself into the air and quickly made her way level with her partner, both moving in tandem over to the buildings, almost in the perfect coordination they had always possessed.

Following the remaining emergency service vehicles, they ended up outside an old, decrepit building. One which looked as though it was steaming. Smoke escaped from the windows and blew out onto the street, but something wasn't right. All the crews were standing around outside. What if Nino was in there? Why weren't they doing anything?

Landing on the ground, Ladybug took the opportunity to search the scene for Sabrina. Something this major would have brought the girl out of the office — it must have. She looked around for the detective as she moved, along with looking for the familiar sight of the red hat her friend always wore. Even on important occasions like this, Nino would make sure his lucky hat was firmly in place.

Whilst she was scouring the scene, she had completely missed her partner pushing past the firemen and kicking down the door — without any hesitation. The sudden scene behind her pulled her attention to the doorway and the sighting of Chat Noir's tail disappearing amongst the smoke.

Everyone around her began to speak at the same time, radios being called, conversations being had and a couple of firefighters pushing the crowd of people backwards, afraid the building was going to blow from its sudden collision with new oxygen.

Abandoning her search for Sabrina, Ladybug headed straight into the building after her partner, stepping cautiously over the threshold. The first thing she noticed was the smell. It was nauseating and sickly sweet, putrid and steaky; something like leather being tanned over a flame. The smell was so thick and rich she could almost taste it.

Her hand pulled her yo-yo from her hip and placed the ventilator into her mouth, using the oxygen to breathe something more pleasant.

The next thing she noticed was the smoke blocking her vision. She was tempted to send for her Lucky Charm just to see if a mask would appear and help her match the enhanced night vision of her partner.

Continuing through the building, remains of wet splodges were dotted on the floors and around the walls. Small dots which looked as though they'd come from a child's bubble machine. She moved forward to examine them closer. Each point of impact had scorched the walls, the smoke coming from the circles and lifting to the ceiling.

She pushed forward looking for anything abnormal or out of place.

Then she found it...

From a door on the opposite side of the room her partner stumbled backwards, falling onto the floor — his face pale and a high pitched scream leaving his mouth.

A few more steps forward and Ladybug came to stand in the entrance of a new room. It was smaller than the others — compact and cramped. The walls were covered in pictures of the heroes. All the heroes. A central display of herself and Chat Noir was pride of place opposite the doorway. A focal point which couldn't be denied.

But that wasn't all...

She walked forward surveying the room, and almost lost the feeling in her legs — her knees weakening and sending her straight down onto the floor. The photograph of her and Chat Noir had been altered. Both featuring a butterfly on them, Ladybug's etched onto her heart and Chat Noir's on his face.

Unaware of where she landed, she stretched her hand down hoping to use the floor to support her standing, her eyes still firmly placed on the vandalised photograph — only to feel something move beneath her palm.

Slowly, she turned to look down, the sound of a breathless gasp finally breaking through her lapse and down to a disfigured Nino laying beside her. His eyes and mouth were barely visible through the extreme blistering taking over his face; his whole body begged silently for help.

But that wasn't all... his outfit was every inch his Akuma costume. Not the one from his first akumatisation though, instead it was her newly designed one. The one she'd sent to Nathaniel only earlier that day.