Chapter Text
Sunlight was streaming over her closed eyelids, making it very hard to ignore the aching pain that racked her body. She took in a shakey breath which immediately resulted in a coughing fit. She coughed harshly, one hand flying up to cover her mouth, while the other lied limp at her side.
Marinette cracked her eyes open, blinking blearily as the hand covering her mouth slid up to shield her eyes from the blinding sunlight. She was lying on something soft, and a glance to her left revealed she was lying on some kind of yellow flower patch. Groaning, she propped herself up on one elbow, she looked around, but due to the shadows surrounding her, was unable to see much. Straining her eyes, she could just make out some kind of doorway.
A quiet groan to her right made her start, whipping her head around to face the sound. not even a foot away, a boy laid sprawled out, shifting into wakefulness. His halo of blonde curls framed his face and shone lightly in the sunlight, a shade she easily recognized.
"Adrien!"
She scrambled over to him on her hands and knees, ignoring her aching body in her concern for her crush, and reached for him. As she sank her fingers into his soft gold strands, he groaned again, his head shifting to face her. His eyes slowly slid open, unfocused and tired.
Marinette settled on her legs next to him, her hand migrating from Adrien's hair to his shoulder.
"You okay?" she asked, concerned.
He blinked slowly at her, as if unable to comprehend what he was seeing, then slowly rolled on to his side. Leaning slightly away from him, the bluenette glanced around at their surroundings.
With her eyes more accustomed to the dark, she was able to make out the walls of this strange cave they were in. The rough stone walls seemed almost black in the low light, and high above them, a opening to the outside, allowing sunlight to stream in. Too high to climb out without risking serious injury.
"Marinette?" Adrien spoke, sounding confused and a bit fearful. "Where are we? How did we get here?"
She started at the realization that she couldn't remember. Scanning her memories, she could only remember arriving late at school that morning and then, nothing. Meeting Adrien's green eyes, she suddenly was overcome with a sense of helplessness.
"I don't know."
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"I don't know."
There was something strangely finalizing about Marinette's words to Adrien, and as he rubbed his sore shoulder blade, he made a decision. They both had no recollection of how they got... wherever they were, and they both needed to get out. And since they both seemed hurt, but he was the superhero in this equation, he would have to figure out how to get home. Looking around, he realized that there was no way they could climb out, unless he was transformed, and-
He jolted upright, startling Marinette.
Plagg! He couldn't believe he had forgotten his little cat-kwami. he patted his shirt, searching for some sign that Plagg was there. His hand brushed over a lump in his pocket, too warm and bulky to be his phone, and breathed a sigh of relief. Plagg was still with him, he could still turn into Chat Noir if he needed to.
Fumbling a bit more, he withdrew his phone from his pocket to use as an excuse for his frantic pat-down, and smiled sheepishly at Marinette. "Thought maybe we could call someone to come help us, but..." he frowned as he studied his shattered screen. Any attempt to turn it on proved futile after a few minutes.
Sighing he slipped in into his pocket, meeting the bluenette's eyes. "I guess we can't. Is yours any good?" His question was met with hesitation, before Marinette glanced around at the ground. It took a second for Adrien to understand that she was probably looking for the purse that was always with her.
Wanting to help, he scanned the flower-covered ground for any sign of the pink fabric, but Marinette spotted it before he did. She scrambled over to where it laid, a few feet away from them, and peeked inside.
An almost inaudible sigh of relief escaped her, and if he hadn't had his enhanced hearing (one of the side effects of his cat miraculous), he would have missed it."Find it?" he asked, walking over to her, hopeful to have someway out of... where ever they were. She jumped, looking back at him before looking back to her purse and withdrawing a half of a flip phone.
She sighed, shoulders slumping.
"yep."
Adrien felt himself deflate a bit, but refused to let it deter him from making a plan of some kind. They still had options, and hopefully one that didn't involve him revealing his identity to her. Looking back up at the opening high above them, he hoped his lady was alright, and that she could handle any akuma that popped up on her own.
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Marinette glanced back at Adrien, before opening her purse again. While Tikki was there, her kwami seemed to be unconscious, lying limp at the bottom of her purse. Worry expanded in her chest, but she forced herself not to panic. Maybe she had fought a difficult akuma before this, and her kwami had expended too much energy. She still had cookies left, as well as a few other odds and ends.
Returning her attention to the rest of her purse, she took inventory of what she had. A few cookies, a small emergency sewing kit, a pair of nail clippers, the other half of her broken replacement phone, and a few band aids for any bouts of clumsiness that might happen throughout the day.
Closing her purse and standing, she strolled over to Adrien, who was staring at the opening high above them with a strangely wistful expression. Curious, Marinette cast her gaze up too, but the bright light made it impossible to see anything. Blinking to rid herself of the spots dancing in her vision, starting at the sudden chuckle at her side.
Adrien was staring at her with gentle amusement, a teasing smile on his lips. "The sun a bit blinding Mari? Why'd you do that?" Her nervousness that seemed to have abandoned her until that moment returned at full force. Her face exploded into color as she quickly looked away. "you just- I mean, you looked like.... like you saw s-something up th-there, and I-I thought..." she stammered, trailing off.
While it was true they had gotten closer after the akumatization of her uncle Cheng, she could hardly be expected to keep it together after he looked at her like /that/. She heard Adrien chuckle again, before saying, "Well, no way out if we try to go up. that cliff seems impossible to climb without rope or something."
Glancing up, Marinette was force to agree. The stone walls surrounding them, sloping up and over in a shape that reminded her if a jar. She shuddered at the thought, something in her mind clicking. That…sounded familiar.
/a bug in a jar/
She flinched, her hands flying to her temples as her headache suddenly worsened. Hot pain flashed before her eyes as they closed, and she gripped her head, doubling over. Her head was throbbing with pain, waves of discomfort travelling down her neck and through her whole body. With a cry, she fell to her knees, only vaguely aware of Adrien above her, placing tentative hands on her back, and desperately calling her name, asking what was wrong and what he could do to help.
She whimpered and collapse against him as another wave of pain wracked through her. Of course Marinette had experienced pain before, both as Ladybug and as herself, but this was different. This pain consumed her, it was all she could feel, and at that moment, all she could know. It seemed like an eternity before the pain slowly ebbed away, leaving her to become aware of the tears clinging to her cheeks, the arms holding her close, and how her head rested against a warm chest.
She nuzzled the soft fabric of Adrien's cotton shirt, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She enjoyed the sensation of Adrien's warm hands stroking her hair and down her back in his attempt to comfort her. His warm scent filled her senses, cheese with something warm and familiar. She sighed in contentment. Marinette felt strangely safe in his arms, and when she pulled away, she immediately missed the warmth he provided.
He seemed reluctant to let her go, but settled for clasping her hands between them. "You okay? What happened?" He fussed as she tugged a hand away to brush her tears from her face. She swallowed hard and coughed, trying to clear her throat enough to reassure him. Her body was still sore, but she could ignore it.
"Yeah, I'm okay now." she said, licking her lips. She avoided answering his last question, mostly because she didn't have an answer. What had happened?
She rubbed the heels of her hands against her eyes and blinked. She needed something else to focus on, a distraction. Trying to understand her sudden agony a moment ago was only making her headache worse.
The light had dimmed, and she could only assume the sun was setting. They needed to move, at least to find somewhere safe to sleep. Her eyes were drawn to the nearly-forgotten doorway. Adrien followed her gaze, immediately looking curious when he caught sight of the door.
"We need to try to find someway out of here." She stood on shakey legs, wobbling a bit. She felt sort of detached, like her feet weren't really listening to what her head was telling them. Adrien stood and gripped her elbow in an attempt to steady her. His concern was clear as day, making his brows knit and his lips purse in a worried pout.
/Adorable/
She shook the thought off, determined to focus on the tasks at hand even as her cheeks grew pink. This was not the time or place to start stuttering and flailing. She could fangirl about this to Alya later, right now, she needed to focus on getting them out of here.
She took a few tentative steps forward until she was confident she could walk on her own, the tugged Adrien in the direction of the doorway. "Someone could live here, or maybe it's a way out." She shrugged as passed through the threshold. She gingerly replaced her purse in it's customary position, all too aware of the little kwami inside and looked around.
It was too dark to see anything other than a few shadow-y shapes that were probably the walls of a hallway or a room. Toeing slowly forward, as to not trip on anything, she clutched the strap of her purse with one hand, concentrating on the sounds of Adrien's breathing and steps beside her. It was eerily quiet to her, every sound they made echoing off the walls and in her ears.
She jumped when she felt a palm slide against her own, before calming and squeezing Adrien's hand in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture.
It was a few minutes longer before either of them saw light, both of them breathing a relieved sigh as they realized they must be getting close to the end of the room. They inadvertently sped up, hands clasped, blinking as it grew brighter.
The excitement that surged through her upon seeing the beam of what she hoped was sunlight, quickly turned to confusion as they realized that the light was coming from seemingly nowhere. Marinette strained her eyes and beyond the little patch of grass with a single golden flower, was more darkness. They both paused, disappointed.
That was, until that single golden flower twitched up from its previously drooping position, revealing glittering black eyes and a wide, toothy smile.