Hold On Tight (A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction)

Part 13: No Longer

Chat Noir paced back and forth on top of the Eiffel Tower, his worry building by the second. She'd been away for too long. Too damn long. An entire week had gone by since Chat had discovered the expansive basement his father had been hiding, and he still had been able to solidify a plan. Marinette was in serious trouble and he was tired of waiting for some genius idea to just pop into his head. There wasn't going to be backup, Ladybug had the miracle box and she was still MIA, Chat would be worried, but his mind was never able to focus on anything other than Mari.

Anger hit him in a large burst. Where the hell was she? They were partners! Ladybug had never, never not been there when anyone had been I trouble. She was there every time someone had been akumatized, so why wasn't she there when Mari's life was hanging in the balance?

Chat shook his head. He couldn't give in to his anger now, the chance of akumaziation was too high. He needed a clear head if he was going to save Marinette. Today. Now.

He had almost called the Paris City Police, but they'd just try and storm into his house and ruin any of his chances against Hawkmoth. Chat Noir was in this alone. In and out, that's what he'd decided. He would get in, get Mari, and get out. Hawkmoth was expecting him, so he couldn't linger, there would be other chances to take him down. Today was about getting Marinette, make sure she was safe.

And then, if they for out, he'd tell her. He'd tell her everything.

Chat Noir stopped pacing, running his hands through his hair. He couldn't delay it any longer, he had to go get her. Jumping from the railing, Chat waisted no time leaping across the roofs, landing in his room. He was more nervous than he wanted to admit, but Plagg whispered encouragement to him from inside his ring.

"No more stalling," he told himself, "Mari needs me."

Pressing the button under the lip of his bath, Chat watched as the violet stairs were again revealed to him. He hadn't seen his father once since he'd discovered the basement a week ago, hadn't had a chance to ask him about it. Though, he likely wouldn't have asked anyway, as much as he wanted to believe his father would never help Hawkmoth, he was at least wise enough to keep the discovery to himself.

Flicking the bell at his collar lightly, Chat Noir descended the steps two at a time. When he rounded the corned at the end of the steps, he glanced around and when he satisfied that the cost was clear, he sprinted for that elevator in the center of the room.

But something stopped him, halfway across the room. A strange tugging in his gut, as if something was calling to him, dragging his attention away from the elevator. Chat turned, his eyes locking onto the capsule in the center of the room. Again, he felt that tugging in his gut. Slowly, not quite sure what the sensation was, Chat approached the capsule, and watched as the dark exterior became clear as he brushed his fingers across it.

Chat stumbled back in horror.

No. No, no, no, no. He put his hands to his head and shook it furiously. He was hallucinating, it couldn't be, not here, not now. But when Chat looked again and he knew what he saw was real. What he thought was a capsule, was actually a casket. His mother lay inside, her skin so pale it was white.

Chat couldn't breathe. The air was stuck in his throat as he stared at her, at Emilie Agreste.

Nothing made sense. Nothing. Why? Why was his mother here when she was buried beneath her statue in the yard? The grave he'd visited over and over, the grave he'd visited to tell his mother about Marinette. It'd been a lie. All of it.

His father had lied. He'd told him where she was buried, Gabriel had told him that she was dead. Yet here she was, hidden in the basement and ... alive. In a deep coma, but alive. Her shallow breaths fogged up the glass of her casket. She looked like a fairytale princess, but she wasn't waking. Chat's heart splintered.