Adrien looked at Marinette as she ate some dessert and vowed to keep her safe. Marinette agreed to be his girlfriend and he was glad. yes, he thought. Now, in a few months, I will marry her and then we can be a complete family he thought. He blushed.

       Marinette smiled at him. She finished dessert and saw him looking at her.

        "Adrien, Listen I will stay tonight, but I must find somewhere else soon." She said.

         "What? Why?" Adrien asked while holding her hand. "I can't put the girls in any more danger. I know the person who tried to kill me was a hired Assassin." Marinette explained. 

            "Hired Assassin, who dared to hire them to take you out?" Adrien asked with a scowl. He looked angry. Marinette knew he wanted to keep her safe, but that wasn't possible. She was sure because she used to be a part of the same group. It was a long story, one she was not proud of at all.

         "Look, Adrien, I am part Portuguese," She explained.

      "What does that have to do with it?" He asked. The baby girls stop playing and start to pout.

         Marinette sighed. She never meant to drag Adrien into all this. She thought she had been careful when she came to help with the girls. Only, somehow the organization had managed to track her down. She found that out when they called her unlisted number before they sent someone over who took a shot at her.

          Adrien picked up Alana and held her. Marinette picked up Bailey and held her.  She saw Adrien glaring at her. He looked concerned. She could tell because he refused to let her drop the topic.  Ugh. "Adrien, it is part of my past I'd rather not discuss," She said.

            "Marinette, whatever it is I will help. You know I will do anything for you." Adrien said.

       "I know, but you can't. Not this time, what if they came back and one of the bullets hit Bailey or Alana?  I couldn't live with that if something happened to one of them," Marinette spoke.

      "Marinette, what kind of trouble is it?"  "I am on the run," Marinette said. "On the run from who?" He asked. He held  Alana with one hand and put the other on Marinette's hand.   

    "Adrien, I have said too much already. Trust me the less you know, the better off you, Alana, and Bailey are here," Marinette said. "I must leave soon because if I don't they will come back and kill us all," Marinette told him.

  "Could not you stay with another friend?" He asked. "Who?  Why would I risk putting anyone else in danger?" Marinette stated. "I can't and will not do that to anyone else. I'd rather die," Marinette said.

     Adrien gasped. He did not like what she was saying. He could not lose her. Not when he had barely gotten to spend time with her.  

        Marinette placed Bailey back in the playpen. Bailey puffed out her lip and cried. Alana saw her sister crying and cried too. Adrien fed Alana, then handed her to Marinette while he fed Bailey.

        He came back and saw Marinette packing. So, she was going to leave.  Why could not he convince her to stay? He knew she felt it too. He was sure she felt the same.

          He sighed.  He had finished changing Bailey's diaper, then Alana's. He put the girls in the crib.

                 "Marinette, stop!" Adrien called out. "Adrien, I have too," Marinette said. 

             "Will I ever see you again?"  "I am sorry, but no. I should stay away as far as I can to keep you all safe, but especially to keep Bailey and Alana safe," Marinette told him. "What?  Marinette, I can't let you walk away. We are good together. Who will help me take care of the girls?" He protested. 

              "Adrien, I am going, and don't follow me," Marinette said. "But..." Adrien argued. "I am an ex-con, an ex-part of the greatest Portuguese gang squad of Assassins. I am all wrong for you. I tried to quit and they marked me for life. I will always be on the run. It is not your fault," Marinette argued back.

                Adrien looked at her and shook his head. He pulled her close and kissed her. He felt her try to pull away.  He put his arms around her and kissed her harder. Marinette tried to protest, but she knew she wanted him. Only, she could not have him which hurt more than anything.  She kissed him like it was the last one she would ever give him. She knew it was because she had to do what she never wanted to. She had to break her heart and his to keep everyone safe.

                While he kissed her, Marinette pulled out a small object and squeezed it. As he fell over unconscious, Marinette wept. "Sorry, Adrien, but you can't stop me, I am a bad girl," She said. She stood up, grabbed a pillow, and placed it under his head. She thought he would come too soon, so I must hurry. 

                  Marinette ran out of there and past the children. She ran to the door, slammed it behind her, and ran like her life depended on it. She hated this life. What choice did she have? The assassins had recruited her as a child, but somehow when she was sixteen she met a boy. She fell in love and watched in horror as another assassin killed him. She could not let that happen to another one she loved, not again. She ran. 

                     She felt tears fall as she ran. She had the tazer in her pocket. She also had a knife, a dagger, a sword, and two pistols. She knew how to keep them hidden. Adrien had not suspected a thing. She tried to break ties with the gang and had for a few years. Now, they had found her,  no one was safe as long as she was around. She ran through a back alley, climbed a fence, then,  landed with a thud outside the police station. 

                        She got up feeling pain in her arm. She ran and ran. She felt this life would never end with the thugs always after her and her as the loser. She was the loser of love in everything. She loved Adrien, but she had to leave to ensure that the assassins left them alone.

                       She left a mark in blood on the sidewalk that read, "I am the one you want. Leave them alone!" -MDC

                    Marinette found a small building and entered it. She never heard the warning sound.

      What happens next?

      Find out in Chapter 6

   Until then,

bye-bye,

little owlets!

Summer out!