"They're taking you home?" Adrien repeated slowly, more to himself, trying to make sense of it. Marinette nodded while trying to avoid eye contact with the blonde boy. "Where is your home?" His question was innocent, but his words felt like a swift punch in the stomach. Marinette dropped her head and looked to the ground before answering.
"Akuma raised me." She mumbled just loud enough for her words to be audible. Adrien seemed taken aback by her response, but Marinette continued despite his astonishment. "They stole me away from wherever it is that I came from, erased my memories and gave me my powers." Adrien looked confused, as though he had more questions than answers, but he kept his mouth shut, not wanting to pry on what was obviously a touchy subject for her.
Marinette kept her head down and focused on the bends in the road. She could feel the gravel path underneath them and the way the tires sank as they went over potholes. The vehicle's weight shifted back and forth over the uneven terrain. She had no idea where they were, Akuma had bunkers and underground facilities all over the world, they could be in Asia for all she knew. Over the past three years Marinette had seized many of Akuma's bunkers but there were still bases and fortifications that GUARD had no record of.
Akuma had powerful allies. Crime syndicates, corrupt politicians, and arms dealers all ran deep with Akuma. They helped fund the murderous organizations' rise to power. Marinette had captured and imprisoned quite a few of Akuma's major partners as well as some minor supporters but despite her greatest efforts, she had only made a small dent in the steel armor that protected the head of the murderous syndicate.
Marinette knew of a leader, his name was unknown and she only ever heard whispers about his existence. But she knew if she could cut off the head of the beast, it would die and Akuma would fall. The loss of their kingpin would leave them vulnerable and give GUARD the perfect opportunity to strike all the bunkers they knew of.
GUARD knew about dozens of Akuma facilities but refused to lead an attack. They had little to no information on what weapons of army's may be inside the compound bunker and the resources and manpower they needed in order to subdue the facility would take months to acquire. So Marinette's missions usually consisted of collecting information on Akuma or assisting in other government projects. Working as a protective escort for valuable people and information or doing what spies do. She would go undercover, sometimes for months, trying to gain knowledge on gangs, crime rings, and Akuma until she completed her mission or was discovered as a fake, which didn't happen all that often.
Marinette soon gave up on trying to figure out their location and focused her attention on the binders around her wrists. The bulky metal was tightly wrapped around her forearms and had glowing blue lights lining the edges. She tugged at the steel, trying to loosen its grip but her attempts had little to no effect. Marinette continued to pull and tug at the metal shackles hoping it would come loose just enough to slide her hand free from the metal shackles.
She attempted to use her telekinesis to break them but suddenly the blue lights started glowing red, sending a burning sensation through her nerves. The fiery pain shot through her arms until it met her heart. Marinette cried out in pain sending Adrien into a panic. She toppled over in agony as she tried to scream, crying out in pain, but it was as if all the air had been sucked out of the room. It felt as if her lungs had been filled with sand and her heart set on fire.
She could hear the two-armed men in the drivers and passenger seat snickering at her pain. Marinette gasped for air as Adrien tried to comfort her, he had scrambled to her side and was asking her what was wrong, but she was too focused on finding air to answer. She was coughing so violently that the sour, citric taste of stomach acid began filling her mouth. With every raspy hack Marinette let out caused a sharp, fiery anguish to ripe through her vein until it tore through her arteries and into her heart. Eventually the vinegar-like flavor of stomach acid was replaced with the metallic taste of blood.
Finally, the red lights glowed blue once again and the pain began to subside. Marinette caught her breath as the fire in her chest died down to a pile of smoldering ashes. She spit out the foul mix of blood and acid that filled her mouth and focused on the rise and fall of her chest with every desperate breath she took. The guards continued to laugh at her agony, which obviously upset Adrien.
"What is your problem!?" He barked at the soldiers.
"Adrien cut it out!" Marinette scowled through her gasps for air. She knew arguing with them would only lead to a beating, a beating she couldn't protect him from.
The armored man in the passenger seat turned to face them even though they could not see his face through his dark helmet. "You should listen to your girlfriend." He said with a spiteful tone. Adrien glanced down at Marinette who was shaking her head for him to stop. He obeyed and retreated to the corner in defeat.
"She's not my girlfriend." He corrected the guard, trying to salvage some dominance. The armored men let out a half laugh.
"Oh yeah, she's with that skinny kid, remember?" The one behind the wheel said, his voice rough and foul.
"That's right. The one she left to die." Marinette clenched her jaw.
"That's enough." She said trying to inject as much anger into her words as possible.
"What?" The driver said, his voice made it sound like he smoked a pack of cigarettes just before this conversation. "You don't like us talking about your boyfriend?" Marinette bit her lip to keep her from saying anything stupid. She let silence hang in the air for a moment before the other guard decided to taunt her more.
"It's a real shame." He muttered. "You two were cute together." Marinette closed her eyes as if not being able to see them would block out the sound of their voices. "It's too bad you left him to die."
"I didn't leave him to die!" The words escaped Marinette's lips before she had a chance to stop them. The guards scoffed.
"Yeah, you did." He corrected. "You left them all. You abandoned them and now they're dead because of you."
And in that moment, Marinette snapped.
She lunged at the glass window separating them from the guards and pounded against it until cracks started to form. Little by little the glass grew weaker but that didn't stop Marinette's rage. She slammed against it again and again. With every fracture of the glass, it appeared like small spider webs were forming in the crystal. Marinette could feel warm tears fall from her cheeks, but she didn't care anymore. She banged against it repeatedly, using the metal around her wrist to her advantage. Fury burned down her throat as she swallowed a fragile sob.
If she had the chance, she would torture them, slowly, painfully, like they had done to her for years, and she would enjoy every moment of it, and for some reason that didn't terrify her.
Marinette could feel her old self clawing her way out of the cage she had locked inside of her. She had fought so hard to drown this part of her, the part of her that was shrouded in darkness, the part that took others lives without mercy, but she couldn't control it anymore. She was ready to kill. With every pound of the window, you could hear the glass break a bit more and with it a piece of Marinette's humanity.
She had lost all sense of what was going on around her. All she saw were the images of those she had deserted. Marinette remembered their sulfur-stained faces as the world crumbled around them. Her closest friends and the boy she had loved were dead because of her. Their bodies smothered in smoke and ash. They were right. It was her fault. Marinette wanted nothing more than to shatter that glass and with it the memory of those she had lost.
Suddenly, she saw the shadow of the guard cast over her. She stopped pounding on the glass for a moment. Marinette glared at him through the cracked window hoping he would gather up the courage to unlock the door and battle with her himself. It didn't matter if she had her powers or if her hands were bound, she would make him beg for mercy and she would grant him none. He didn't deserve her compassion or pity.
"Sit. Down." He commanded. Marinette said nothing, standing firm in her persistence. He was taller than she expected, Marinette had to crick her neck to make eye contact, even though she could not see his face. All she was able to make out though the dark helmet was her own distorted reflection that shined across the mask. Silence hung in the air as the man waited for Marinette to back down, but she stood her ground. They may have been able to control her as a kid, but she wasn't a child anymore. "I said "Sit"." He repeated. Again, Marinette said nothing. "Sit!"
"I'm not some mutt you can give orders to!" She shouted back at him through the cracked window, her throat burned with each syllable, but she didn't care anymore.
The door swung open towards Marinette, causing her to stubble away from it. The metal frame scraped against the floor making an awful sound that sent an itch down her spine. Following the screeching noise of metal on metal was the echoing of the man's footsteps as he grew closer to Marinette. The door locked behind them and the armored guard stood in front of her. Again, Marinette stood her ground with her head high. "Sit." He repeated.
"No."
But before Marinette could say anything else, she saw his hand cock back and felt a hard slap against her right cheek, causing her to stumble for balance. The pain was numbing at first but then grew into a thousand needles prickling her skin until it erupted into a sharp stinging in her jaw. The man grabbed her by her throat and lifted a bit of the ground, enough that only her toes rested on the floor. He applied just enough pressure to prove his point. Marinette pulled at his wrist but with her hands still cuffed together, her efforts had little effect and his grip only grew tighter as she struggled. "Sit." He growled as his thumb and pointer finger dug into her throat.
With Marinette's cheek still stinging, and breathing becoming more and more difficult, she spat on his helmet. She knew it was a bold move, he had the power to end her life in a second if he so wished, but Marinette had been their puppet for far too long. With a blind fury burning behind her eyes, she held her ground.
Using his free hand, the soldier wiped the saliva from his helmet and pushed her down by her throat. She fell to her ground, the skin on her neck was slightly red where he had pressed his fingertips but she wasn't in any residual pain. Marinette quickly scrambled to get up, but the van was shaking and jerking around the road making it difficult to balance. When she finally stood up, she saw the man holding something. A small box type thing with buttons and switches. A remote of some kind. He held it up as some type of threat. Marinette scoffed.
"Go ahead, there is nothing more you can do to me." The soldier laughed. He pressed a few buttons and Marinette tensed up, awaiting the pain that would soon engulf her, but none came. Instead, she heard Adrien scream from the corner of the small van.
He was toppled over on the floor. His limbs tense. The metal shackles around his wrists were glowing a crimson red. Marinette couldn't hear a thing over his inhumane shrieking. She began to panic. Marinette ran over to his side and tried to hold him still. Adrien was shaking, his entire body convulsing. Blood spilling from his nose and mouth.
"Stop!" Marinette cried but the sound of her screams was drowned out by Adrien's howling. He sounded like a rabid animal fighting to stay sane. "Please!" Marinette begged. "Leave him alone!" She cried out for them to stop over and over. Whatever they were doing to Adrien was killing him. Tears formed in Marinette's eyes, but she choked down her sobs and continued begging.
"Please! I'll do whatever you want, just stop hurting him!" Marinette stared pleadingly at the guard, hoping there was a man behind the armor and not another monster Akuma created. Marinette watched as Adrien's eyes rolled back in his head which forced a sob to rise from her throat. Tears fell from her cheeks as she tried to appeal to what humanity the armored soldier might have left. Surely the sounds of Adrien screams sickened him too. Right?
Adrien began to choke on the blood filling his mouth, streams of red spilling from the corners of his lips as his body seized. "He's dying! Stop!" Marinette begged. Despite the crimson liquid flooding Adrien's throat, you could still hear the head-splitting screams emanating from his vocal cords.
"Please." Marinette whispered. "I'm begging you. Please." Finally, she saw him lift a hand and he pointed over to a different corner of the van. At first the gesture confused her, but when she saw him turn a dial on the remote, Adrien's screams grew deafening and she understood when he meant. She scrambled over to where he had silently told her, almost tripping over her own two feet in the process.
She looked at the man pleadingly, and after a second, he pressed a button or two and Adrien's convulsions ended. The unnatural screams grew quiet. He stopped shaking and finally laid still, whimpering like a wounded animal. She got onto her hands and knees crawling over to the blond boy, eyeing the remote in the man's hand to make sure he wouldn't try anything. Thankfully, he rested it in his utility belt, and just kept staring at them, an unseen sneer lingering on his lips.
With Marinette's help, she got him propped up on his elbows and started coughing up the blood that was left in his lungs. The sticky red solution covered the floor and Marinette began to worry about internal bleeding.
"What did you do to him?" She asked but the soldier ignored her and went back to sit in the passenger side, the same horrid sound of metal screeching followed by the door locked behind him.
Finally, Adrien emptied his lungs of the vile liquid and caught his breath.
"Are you alright?" Marinette asked as she used the sleeve of her fringe jacket to wipe the blood from his face.
"I'm okay." He said weakly, his throat still raw from the coughing fit. "You should try breaking the glass again you were almost through." Marinette shook her head as she dabbed at the blood surrounding his nostrils.
"No, they almost killed you. I'm not risking that again." Adrien pushed her hands away, coughed a few more times and wiped the blood with his already red stained sleeve.
"I don't care." He protested. "We could get out of here if you break it. Adrien was just as stubborn as her, if not more, but Marinette was not in the mood to argue.
"You are my mission; I cannot let you die." She stated.
Mission? That's what Marinette told herself, but the truth was she genuinely liked him, trusted him even. Having a fondness towards him was not going to make this any easier. She preferred being indifferent towards people because it was simpler, that way it doesn't hurt as much when an assignment goes south and people get hurt. Marinette had cared about people once before; she would even go as far as saying she loved them and look where that got her. An already broken girl left to carry the burden of being the only survivor. After their deaths Marinette swore to herself, she would never let her feelings get in the way of a mission again. Caring would only get people killed.
But he was just so easy to trust. So pure and untainted. How could you dislike something so perfect? It's difficult to find someone who has seen the world in all its vile glory and still has a kind heart. Adrien was a different type of innocent. He wasn't naïve or stupid like others she had meet, he knew very well what an ugly thing society was and yet he still had faith in people. Where he got such faith was beyond her, but Marinette's life had been filled with darkness. It was nice to welcome in a little light, but she still told herself to be cautious. Trust is a deadly game and one Marinette preferred not to play. She reminded herself of her oath to keep her feelings aside until they were safe, so she did just that. Marinette focused on their survival and nothing else.
Adrien's words broke Marinette from her thoughts. "But you said they were using tranquilizers. They don't want me dead, remember?" She sighed while trying to lock her emotions away.
"I was wrong, they were using sedatives, I'm not sure if they need you alive or not." She explained. "But never mind that. We will find a way out of this, I promised you that we would make it out of here alive and we will." Adrien nodded and gave her a weak smile, his lips still slightly tinted from the blood. Marinette smiled back before refocusing her attention on his injuries. "Where does it hurt?" She asked kindly.
"My head mainly but it hurts to breathe a little." He explained. Marinette could tell by the repetitive rise and fall of his chest that Adrien's breathing was steady but shallow and quick which only caused her to worry more about his health.
"Is your vision blurry? Are you dizzy? Nauseous?" She asked while pressing her fingers against his neck to read his pulse. His heart was beating fast but that was to be expected from the amount of trauma his body was put through.
"No, I'm fine." Adrien answered.
"Okay that's good. I don't think you have internal bleeding or a head injury but I am worried about your breathing. Could you sit up straight please." Adrien did as he was told, and Marinette pressed her ear to his chest. "Breath in." She instructed. He obeyed her command. "And out." Once again, he did as he was told. "I don't hear anything wrong, but a medic will check you out once we get out of here and back to GUARD." Marinette suddenly felt embarrassed. "And by "check you out" I mean to see if you are fine and healthy. And by "fine" I was referring to medically, I'm not calling you attractive. I don't mean you aren't attractive; you are. I just. Um. Just nevermind. Just forget it." Her cheek flooded red which only added to her humiliation.
Adrien giggled and smirked at her awkwardness.
"Shut up." Marinette barked.
"I didn't say anything." Adrien uttered, holding his hands that were still bound up in surrender, chuckling under his breath.
"Good." She had to admit it was nice to see him smile. A small giggle escaped her lips before she shook her head and turned to go sit against the wall again. She stepped over the splattered blood they had both violently hacked up and dropped to the floor, her inability to sleep had disappeared. She and Adrien both fell into a dreamless and uncomfortable sleep.
A few hours rest was all they got. Marinette and Adrien waited a few more hours in silence with nothing but their own thoughts to fill the boredom, exhaustion still prying at their minds now that all the adrenaline of the day had worn off. Finally, they felt the tires slow to a halt.
"Welcome home." The guard with the horrid voice said.
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Word count: 3442 (Not counting this)
LEAVE THE BOY ALONE
HE HAS DONE NOTHING TO YOU.
FANDOM CHAARRGGGGEEEE
Yeah okay I'm done lol.
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