Okay, so I don't really know much about pregnancy (I should've done my research) but right now, Marinette's in her first trimester. Also, it's been too long! I'm sorry guys! So, enjoy! :-)
[Warning] Angst ahead. Proceed with caution.
Also, I got the information of night terrors online so I take like no credit!
She sighed as she stapled yet another missing persons flier onto yet another wall and proceeded across the street to go and put another one up.
Marinette had been missing for a few weeks now and not one person had caught sight of her before or after the events of those few nights ago. She cringed at the memory of the police tape and the corpses. Her parents. When she'd told her told her to run in that last phone call, she'd been hoping for her to at least tell her where she was going. But instead she'd chosen to disappear.
She wiped away a tear dropping down her cheek and sniffed before a hand on her shoulder and a soothing voice turned her around.
Nino smiled contrasting the red of his eyes; remnants of his tears. "I've finished on my side. How about we go grab a croissant from the Dupain-Chengs and meet up with the others?"
Alya nodded. Yeah. That was a good idea. As they began to walk, she looked up at him.
"Can we grab a few macaroons as well?" Marinette loved macaroons.
-&-
"What's a night terror?" Marinette pulled her cover closer to herself covering her sleep attire from the other 14 eyes on her.
"It's kind of like a nightmare and sleepwalking put together. However, unlike sleepwalking, it's an episode of screaming, intense fear and flailing."
Marinette huffed. Just why did she have to suffer so much? Was this some sort of cruel joke the gods were playing on her?
"You need a therapist."
She looked at Jason. "What?"
He crossed his arms over his chest. "We should've taken you to a therapist the moment we learnt about all of this."
Her head shook. "You're not sending me to a shrink."
"Mari--"
"No!" She wrapped the cover around herself. "You're not sending me to someone! I don't want you to! I don't want to! You can't!"
Dick sighed. "Fine, we won't but you have to talk to someone. You need to talk to us."
She shook her head. "No!"
"Mari--"
A red hand stopped him as Tikki flew forward. "Marinette." Marinette almost shook. Tikki had never looked so serious. "This is not up to negotiation. I've let you run free for too long. Whether you like it or not, you have...no, must..start listening to me! You have to listen to my warnings or you'll squeeze yourself dry. You can't keep running from your fears, you have to face them."
Marinette turned her head away from the kwami. Tikki sighed in annoyance (Yes people, Tikki is annoyed! Tikki!) and flew closer. "Listen to me Marinette! This partnership won't work if you don't." She paused waiting but when Marinette kept her gaze on the window, she carried on. "These night terrors. They're a mix of your fears and desires." Marinette's head whipped back to face the kwami.
"Desires?"
Tikki nodded. "I don't know what you saw but your mind is trying to tell you something. Tell me what you saw."
Marinette hesitated before she shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed and stared at Tikki attempting to erase the view of all the other eyes on her then spoke. "I woke up in the hospital. My clothes had changed and no one was there. I was all alone. The room was dark - everywhere was just so dark. And-And I couldn't stop hearing my heart beat. It just kept getting louder and louder-" she lifted her hands to her ears and shut her eyes "and louder the more I walked. The clock was frozen at two in the morning. The hallways were dark and were lit up by a few lights so I could see where I was going but I couldn't see what was in front of me. There was an elevator but it only had the second floor. A nurse passed by me in a rush and she said that she had to go and then I heard crying. A baby. No. Two babies. They were so beautiful!" she smiled "They had the same hair as me but had different eyes that almost glowed in the dark; one had my blue eyes and the other eyes had...his eyes. They stopped crying when I picked them up and fell asleep. Such beautiful boys!" she laughed but then stopped and frowned. "But my baby was gone. My stomach was flat. And-And I heard a gun cocking and I turned around and-" a tear dropped down her cheek "and I-I-I saw--I saw-"
Tikki placed a hand on her cheek. "It's okay Mari, I'm here."
Marinette sniffled. "Adrien. He was holding a-a gun to-to- Damian's head and-" she let out a sob "and I could hear my heart beating faster even though I was sure the heart monitor was still in my room and I could feel my blood rushing. He told me that he wouldn't shoot on one condition. That I woke up."
"Anything else?"
Marinette's eyes found her way to Damian before they shot back to Tikki. This didn't go unnoticed. "Y-Yes. I didn't know what he meant and-and he said that I was too late and then-. And then I hear a gunshot and it was just so loud! I didn't see where it hit before everything went dark and I woke up and saw you. You were really worried and said that I'd been crying and-and you couldn't wake me up. I told you that I'd had the weirdest dreams--dream and you held up your hand telling me to wait. But-"
"But?"
Marinette sneaked a peek at Tikki's hands. "You had fingers. Five red fingers."
Tikki's eyes narrowed.
"Fingers?"
Marinette nodded. "Yeah it was really weird and no offence, but quite creepy as well."
Tikki nodded. "I see."
Tikki's eyes found Damian before she moved them back to Marinette. "You said 'dreams'."
"What?"
"You said that you had the weirdest 'dreams'."
Marinette shook her head and a said - a bit too quickly - "No I didn't."
Tikki's eyes narrowed again. "Don't lie to me Mari. Tell me what your desire was."
Marinette shook her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about." Her eyes subconsciously found Damian before she whipped them back to a suspicious Tikki.
"Marinette. What was your desire!"
"I-I didn't have a desire. Or if I did then maybe it was seeing you have fingers. Maybe I've always wanted to see you with fingers. O-Or maybe I want to have twins or a kid with dark hair like mine and my blue eyes. Or maybe I just really like dark hallways!"
"That's bullshit and you know it." Her eyes turned to Dick and she remembered his presence in the room along with the other men and kwamis watching her.
What should she say? She couldn't possibly tell them that she wanted to--that she wanted--. No! It was wrong! He was her brother! Well..adoptive brother. Either way, he'd probably be really disgusted in her!
Tikki flew so close all Marinette could see was her eyes. "What was your desire Marinette!"
Her eyes flicked back to Damian and she held his gaze. "Um-uh-uhhh. Ugh!"
She pulled the cover over head head and lied down.
"I don't want to tell you right now."
Tikki sighed. "Marinette--"
"No!" She pulled the covers back over her head and stood up. "I'm done listening! I don't want to tell you right now!"
Plagg flew forward. "Minibug--"
"I didn't ask for this! Any of this!" She indicated to the whole room. "I didn't ask for a miraculous, I didn't as for all this responsibility, I didn't ask for a flipping baby! I didn't ask for my parents death, I didn't ask for Adrien or his menstrual mood swings or anything!"
She could feel her face getting hot and huffed but continued before anyone else could pick up where she left off. "I didn't ask for these stupid night terrors or the nightmares or the magic! Heck, I should just have an abortio--"
She was interrupted by a hand on her chin and green eyes piercing through her own bluebell ones. "Listen." For the first time, his voice shook her to the bone. No, past the bone and into the roots. Deep into the roots. "I don't know what happened. I don't know how you feel and I can't even pretend I know what you're going through with a whole other human being growing inside you but I do know that life is valuable." He gripped her chin tighter forcing her to wince. "It's more valuable than anything else in the entire universe and how ever many other universes there are out there. So don't you dare even consider that! Don't kill someone that hasn't even had a chance to experience life just because you're too irresponsible to let them!"
He let go of her chin but stayed in front of her.
"I care about you and I care about that baby. You don't get to choose whether it lives or dies. No one should have power over life and death."
"But--"
"Don't but me Marinette! No matter what you've been through, this child still deserved to live. It's innocent. Even if you don't want it, someone else might."
Was he offering she put it up for adoption? Wasn't that too cruel?
"Dami--"
Damian scoffed. "Why are you still trying to argue with me! You're just--you're--so damn weak!"
At this, her eyes narrowed and her mouth was pulled into a frown. She lifted her hands and pushed him. He stumbled back surprised but stepped forward. "I'm not going to hit you Marinette. You're pregnant."
She pushed him again but he didn't budge. She pushed him harder. It was as though she were trying to prove him wrong. That she wasn't weak. She was strong. As though she were trying to convince herself that she was strong. She was strong....right? No. She knew deep down that she was weak. Mentally weak. So weak.
She let out a yell and punched him in the face. He didn't move. "Fight back dammit!" She punched him again. "Why aren't you fighting back!" She kicked his leg.
Why weren't their brothers stopping her? Why were they just looking at her like--. Like--.
She glared at them. "Stop looking at me like that!" She lunged towards them knowing full well that she wouldn't even be able to land a punch on them let alone take a step towards them before she was knocked to the floor and stopped midway. "Stop looking at me like--like I'm some little girl that just lost her parents! Stop pitying me!"
They only stared longer. "Stop it!" She screamed. Why were they just standing there? Why had Damian let her punch him? Why were they letting her scream? Why were they looking at her like that? And why did she suddenly see Tim move and why did he just wrap his arms around her? And why was water dripping down her face? Was she crying? Why was she crying?
"You're so lost." Damian's anger had long since dissipated and now he looked at her as though he'd seen this before. "You don't even know why you're in pain." As though he'd experienced this all before. "Your mind can't even process what's going on. Everything's moving too quickly for you. Life is happening too fast."
As though he'd conquered this very same wall himself once before.
She heard her own voice whisper in between her sobs muffled by Tim's embrace. "I didn't want this. I was--I was only 15. I didn't ask for all of this power."
Damian nodded in understanding. "You were suddenly forced to grow up one day. You weren't allowed to be a kid again. Your mind was battling itself. Two sides. A kid and an adult fighting for dominance. Even now. You're still a kid but you had to grow up."
Her sobs grew louder and Tim's embrace grew deeper as he pulled her further in and rubbed her back allowing her to let it all out. But not too deep or he would harm the kid.
It was Dick that spoke next. "I get it now. Your dream. Two in the morning. The second floor. Two babies.....Two sides. Two different ages. Youth and Adulthood." His eyes found Marinette and his eyebrows furrowed. "You've been suffering for so long you haven't even had the chance to enjoy the rest of your childhood. You weren't allowed to grow up, you were forced to."
She sniffed and her breathing grew erratic but she could feel herself calming down. This was good. The crying was good. The hug was good. And now she finally understood her dream. Two sides battling for dominance. Huh. She never would've thought she'd ever have to fight a battle against herself. A mental one at that. But what did the desire mean?
And was that really all there was to her frightening dream?
Things are just getting deeper and deeper! So many things are happening and the meaning of her dream has finally been revealed! But is that all? It can't be this easy! Nothing so far has been this easy! So just what does this all mean? And will she have anymore of these so called 'night terrors'? Or will her fears come in a different form?