6. Erosion

"Dude, you okay? You look like a truck ran you over."

"Trouble sleeping." was Adrien's scant reply to Nino as he walked around the desk to find his seat.

He knew he looked terrible. Pale skin, hunched back, dark rings under his eyes… and his excuse wasn't a complete lie, either.

Every time he had tried to close his eyes last night, his dreams devolved into nightmares.

At times it was Marinette suffering horrible accidents any time she was near him. At other times, it was him drowning in the Seine River, iron shackles around his limbs tying him down. Sometimes, he was in the dark, his body doubled over in pain; Hawk Moth's laugh rang in his ears as he realize his Miraculous was gone and Marinette lay before him in a pool of blood, her Miraculous also gone.

He would wake up from those screaming.

"Yo, sorry to hear that."

Adrien shrugged as an answer and dropped his bag on the desk, biting back a hiss as he used his right hand to do so. He had wrapped a bandage over the wound, but it still burned as if it was new.

"What happened to your hand?" Nino asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"Fell down the stairs." Adrien lied, pulling the sleeve of the green hoodie he was wearing as down over his hand as he could to cover the bandaging.

"Not your lucky night, huh?" Nino chuckled, patting him on the back comfortingly.

"You have no idea." Was Adrien's grouchy reply as he slumped on his chair. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing another wave of nausea down.

His stomach ached. He hadn't even been able to keep his breakfast down that morning and now he felt both the hunger pangs and the urge to vomit in tandem. He wished he could have just called in sick and skipped school, but Nathalie would've suspected and called a doctor and that wouldn't do. He could probably blame his ill health on the stress from worrying over Marinette, but how would he explain the angry, lightning-shaped scar on his arm?

No, he had to truck on and pretend everything was normal.

Or as normal as he could act after destroying a famous Parisian landmark and escaping certain death last night.

He huffed to himself. He idly registered soft sniffling coming from behind him, but he didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

The Ladyblog had been receiving messages of support all night, to the point he had to mute his phone if he wanted to have any sort of rest. Sometimes however, in the moments when he woke from a bad dream and was too scared to close his eyes again, he grabbed his phone and pulled up the messages.

There were messages of condolences for Ladybug's family, or users sharing their personal stories on how Ladybug had helped them, selfies they had taken with her, and even drawings and poems that had been done as tributes to Ladybug.

Many others, were messages of support for him, for Chat Noir.

Those had made him shed tears. He had been convinced there was no longer a drop left in his body to cry, but he had been proven wrong once again as he read many of the messages over and over again, tears sliding down his cheeks. There were messages of support and admiration for him, of his strength and dedication, of his loyalty to Paris and to Ladybug.

People shared pictures and videos of his fight with Demoman, and he watched those several times. At certain points, when his body betrayed him and he started to drift off again while watching, his semi-conscious mind tricked him into thinking Ladybug was there, fighting with him. Every glimpse of red, being from Tikki in his suit or something else, took the shape of her in his sleep-deprived mind.

Adrien sighed to himself and buried his face in his arms.

This was going to be a long day.

The day dragged on. It was cloudy, and a veil of sadness hung in the air; spirits seemed to be at an all time low, and barely anyone talked, probably in response to the news of Ladybug's passing last night. Even Chloé, who was usually so uninterested in anyone's misfortune but her own, looked despondent, the self-assured shine in her eyes gone as she took notes on her tablet without a word.

Alya was especially silent, but Adrien didn't blame her. Not only was her best friend stuck in a coma for an indefinite amount of time, but her heroine, Ladybug, was gone as well. He occasionally caught her looking at her phone from under the desk, which was usually followed by another round of quiet sniffling as she rubbed at her eyes.

Adrien himself wasn't doing too well.

As the day went on, he started feeling progressively worse, to the point he had so far asked to go to the bathroom a total of 5 times so he could go vomit. There had been nothing in his stomach to vacate, so all he managed to cough up was bile, time after time. He was left a shaking, sweating mess every time he was done.

Back in the classroom, he shrunk into himself often. He got cold shivers, and couldn't focus on his work. He took notes as well as he could, but his hand was unsteady, and his vision would occasionally blur when he looked at the blackboard for too long.

Between classes and on breaks, he politely rejected Nino's invitations to go hang out with him and Alya and instead stayed in the classroom, laying his head on his arms and passing out until the next bell rang. It was on one of such moments that he felt a tap on his shoulder and he was roused from his troubled sleep.

"Adrien?"

He raised his head and blinked blearily, swallowing with difficulty. It was Alya, looking at him apologetically as she held a medium piece of white cardboard on her hand. Nino was behind her, looking at him with concern.

"I'm sorry to wake you up, but do you have a minute?" She said softly.

"Yeah, sure." He said hoarsely, righting himself on his seat as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes.

Alya placed the piece of rectangular cardboard in front of him and he stared long and hard at it, blinking until his vision cleared.

Details popped into view. "Get Well Soon!" was written at the top of the card in big letters and bright colors. In the middle, there was a hand-drawn picture of Marinette from the chest up, smiling. Only her bright blue eyes had been colored in, the rest black and white. She was surrounded by a circular frame of flowers and stars, with the occasional heart here and there.

Around the frame, there were several signatures and encouraging messages written down in different pen colors. Some messages were really long and encouraging, like Rose's or Alya's, others were shorter and straighter to the point, like Ivan's (though Adrien inwardly chuckled since his message seemed to be written like a song). He noticed that Chloé and Sabrina´s signatures were absent, but he wasn't at all surprised.

It was a get-well card for Marinette. Adrien smiled.

"It's only yours left." Alya said, passing him a pen. It had green ink. How fitting. "What do you think? Nath did the drawing. Cool, huh?"

"It's beautiful," Adrien said softly, looking over all the small details and colors, "It was a great idea, Alya."

Alya shrugged. "Least I can do since we can't bring flowers or anything of the sort."

"Oh, right," he said absently as he took the pen and pressed the tip to the cardboard. His hand lingered on the card, hesitant, the tip floating just an inch from the surface. He found himself wondering what he could write. So many things he wanted to say, but had to refrain if he wanted to keep both his and Marinette's alter egos a secret.

After a moment of thought, he went for something vague. Something only him, and probably Marinette, would understand.

You wanted to know my thoughts and dreams

But all in them is you

Wishing that you can wake up soon,

To say mine belongs to you.

-Adrien

Adrien finished the short message and handed the pen and the card back to Alya. Alya stared at the message, and raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Didn't take you for the poetic type," Alya commented.

Adrien shrugged. "Comes and goes."

"Right, well thanks!" Alya said, putting the pen away and taking the card.

"Are you visiting her today?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah, I'm taking Nino to see her since he was not here when it all happened," She said, nodding her head back at Nino. "Wanna come along? We're taking the card."

"Yes please, I would like that." Adrien said, the corners of his mouth pulling into a smile.

"You sure you're feeling up to it, though?" She cocked her head at him, her eyes soft, "You don't look so good. Are you sure you don't wanna go home? We can go another day."

"I'm fine, it was just a rough night. How are you, though?" Adrien asked, "I saw your video on the Ladyblog."

Alya looked down, and Nino instantly put a comforting hand around her shoulders.

"I'll be okay…" she murmured. "Not much to do about it, but help out our remaining hero however we can, huh?" She smiled a half-hearted smile.

"Ladybug would've loved the idea, babe." Nino said, rubbing her shoulder. "And I'm sure Chat Noir is totes thankful for it, too."

"Thanks, Nino." she said, laying her head on his shoulder. "I hope it helps him."

Adrien smiled at her sadly, "I'm sure it will."

"Are you sure you don't wanna head home? You look super tired, bro."

"Nino, for the last time, I'm fine." Adrien said after he came back from yet another visit to the bathroom. They were at the hospital now and the new smells had sent his stomach reeling again. What was wrong with his body today? "I'm well enough for this."

"If you say so, dude." Nino shrugged as they took the elevator to Marinette's room Adrien swiftly punched the floor number, and tapped his foot impatiently as the elevator trembled into motion. He was antsy and couldn't wait to get there.

They had received good news! He could hardly believe it.

They had even used the word miraculous to describe it. Adrien had to suppress an incredulous laugh at the irony of the word choice.

Alya had called Sabine while on their way there to let her know they were coming over to visit. After a moment of talking, Alya's face had lighted up and she smiled at Adrien, eyes wide.

Apparently, sometime during the night, Marinette had moved.

It wasn't much, really, just a twist of her arm, but she had reacted to something when the original prognosis declared she wouldn't be able to move in a while. It sent Adrien's heart thumping hard against his chest at the prospect. And to make things even better, they had decided to make an exception and increase the visiting time as well as up the number of people allowed inside the room at a time.

The doctor had apparently noticed that Marinette reacted exceptionally well every time she heard a familiar voice, and the doctor had decided to allow more visitors at a time to be able to compare Marinette's healing speed in periods where she was isolated to periods where she had company.

It took everything out of Adrien not to sprint to her room once the elevator doors had opened up.

When they got there, Sabine greeted them, a tired but bright smile on her face. Tom had gone back to look after the Bakery, having switched with Sabine some hours prior as they took turns to look after Marinette.

Sabine looked so much better than yesterday, and Adrien could see renewed hope in her eyes. It made his heart swell in turn. She thanked them for visiting and commended Alya for the card, even adding a message of her own. Noticing Adrien's constant looks in Marinette's direction though, she invited them to get closer.

Alya and Nino moved to put the card on Marinette's bedside table, greeting her with enthusiastic chatter as they settled beside her. Adrien approached the bed as well, but immediately noticed something off. Marinette's lips were slightly parted, but the tube in her mouth was gone. She only had a thin plastic tube in her nose in its place. His heart jumped in worry.

"Hey, her ventilator-!"

"Don't worry, she doesn't need it."

Adrien turned to Sabine, and was surprised to find her smiling. "What?"

"They cannot explain but… her lung is almost fully healed. She doesn't need the ventilator anymore." Sabine explained with a smile, "They only keep the one in her nose to keep her head properly oxygenated."

Almost fully healed? What? How?

"Yo, why is she tied to the bed?" Nino said, pointing at some white straps of fabric wrapped loosely around Marinette's wrists. "That's weird."

"Because she was the one that pulled out the ventilator." Sabine said, and Adrien couldn't comprehend how she was so calm about it. "At some point during the night, she moved her arm and pulled it out."

"She moved?" Nino asked incredulously, "Isn't that… like, not supposed to happen when you are in a coma?"

"Contrary to popular belief, not all coma patients are immobile." The doctor had entered the room just in time to hear Nino's question, and he regarded them calmly. "Some may open their eyes, mumble, or even walk, though they are not conscious about it and have no recollection of it when they wake. Madame Cheng, it's nice to see you."

The doctor turned and shook Sabine's hand before addressing the teens again.

"As Madame Cheng has said, we cannot explain the rapid recovery of her lung. It's truly unprecedented. Usually a collapsed lung requires several weeks of bedrest depending on the extent of the damage, but Mlle. Marinette's healed overnight and her body reacted by pulling on the ventilator, so we removed it after determining that she didn't need it anymore. She hasn't moved since but we've decided to restrain her arms for her own safety. We cannot afford her removing anything else on her person. I know it may be upsetting to see but I hope you understand."

"That means she is getting better though, right?" Adrien asked, hope lacing his words. He needed this. By god, he needed to hear this.

The doctor's mustache twitched in thought as he chose his words carefully. "Mlle. Marinette's chances of recovery have improved slightly. Like I said, the speedy healing of her lung is unprecedented, but everything else is as it was yesterday. Her injuries are still extremely delicate. The chances of her waking are also the same. It's anyone's guess when she will wake, and it depends on how well she recovers. We are hoping she will continue to show good progress."

"I see," Adrien muttered, looking away, "Thank you."

"She is extremely lucky to have family and friends like you," the doctor said, in an attempt to sound more supportive, "I have no doubt in my mind that Mlle. Marinette will pull through. I'll be around if you have anymore questions. Have a good day." He nodded his head and left the room.

Suddenly, something clicked in Adrien's head.

Wait…

'Extremely lucky...?'

He could feel it coming on.

Yes. He could feel the gears moving in his sleep-deprived mind.

An epiphany.

The epiphany.

A grin pulled on his lips. Not even the nausea that was threatening to overtake him again could knock it off his face.

"Um, dude, you okay? You are creeping me out."

Adrien blinked out of his revelation. Nino, Alya, and Sabine were staring at him curiously.

"What are you so happy about?" Alya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing," he lied as he leaned on Marinette's bed and gently tapped his chest twice. "Just happy about her getting better."

His lips pulled into a more subdued smile as he reached out with his right hand and laid it gently on Marinette's, feeling as Tikki travelled down his right sleeve and hugged Marinette's hand under his fingers.

Yep. Nothing at all.

"It's you!" He laughed. He actually laughed. He didn't know he could still do that.

"Sorry?" Tikki asked. She was floating idly as Adrien paced the room in front of her, a smile still plastered on his face.

"It's you, Tikki!" Adrien repeated, grinning. "It's because of you!"

"I don't follow."

"Yeah, welcome to my world 24/7." Plagg griped as he munched on a piece of camembert on the desk.

"Tikki, your power is luck!" Adrien said.

"I'm well aware." Tikki said patiently, "But I still don't understand."

"Just embrace it," Plagg said derisively, "Just nod your head and smile. It makes it easier."

"Oh, hush, what do you know," Adrien smirked, flicking the Kwami on the head.

"Ow, hey!"

"Okay, so your power is luck, right?" Adrien turned to Tikki again, "Before she met you, Marinette was really unlucky, correct?"

"That's what she told me, yes." Tikki cocked her head.

"But after she met you, she wasn't so clumsy anymore. It got better!"

"Adrien, what are you trying to tell me?"

"Her lung healing overnight was not a coincidence, Tikki!" Adrien said with a smile, "It was you! We were there last night. She healed right after you were with her. Your power allows Ladybug to heal things, so even if you aren't able to do much unless you are fused with Marinette, you still exude luck! You heal."

Tikki's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh!"

"Exactly!" Adrien said happily before he snatched Tikki out of the air and spun her around, "You may not be able to heal her completely, but you speed the process when you are around her! You are a blessing, Tikki!"

She giggled. "Well, it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't wanted to visit her." She said, "You are a blessing too, Adrien. Marinette is lucky to have you."

Adrien's eyes softened. "Thank you, Tikki." He nuzzled her head, then he grinned "Hey, can we switch Kwamis? I kind of want to adopt you."

Tikki laughed. "I don't think it's possible, but if you marry Marinette it could be arranged."

"Why are you enabling him, Tikki?" Plagg whined, "Seriously, I can't deal with you two together. I'm gonna throw up."

"You're just jealous 'cause I like Tikki more than you." Adrien stuck his tongue out.

"Like I care about those things."

"You so very care about those things."

"Do not."

"You keep whining. You could be busy eating that camembert, but here you are telling me how disgusting I am because I prefer Tikki over you. You are jealous."

"Why would I be jealous over you being an overly-saccharine dork with her?"

"Oh, big words. Someone is really, really jealous."

"I'm going to bite your face in your sleep."

Adrien burst out laughing but after a moment his breath suddenly hitched and he fell into a coughing fit.

"Adrien?" Tikki asked in concern.

His coughing rose in intensity, turning into aggressive hacking and Adrien's knees gave out from under him. He crumpled to the floor, covering his mouth with both hands. His body shook with the force of his coughing, his face quickly flushing red in exertion. His throat was burning, his chest tightening as he struggled to get air in his lungs.

"Woah kid, what gives?" Plagg floated up, approaching Adrien.

Adrien wheezed, holding a shaky hand up to hold the Kwami back as his coughing began to subside.

"A'igth…" Adrien choked out between pants. "I'm… I'm a-alright..."

"No, you are not." Plagg accused, "You've been sick all day. You haven't even eaten anything!"

"I did not sleep very well," Adrien reminded him as he rose shakily to his feet, "My body is just resenting it."

"Please," Tikki said pleadingly. "You have to get that looked at."

Adrien scoffed.

"And risk getting cooped up here because my father thinks I'm fragile? Not a chance." Adrien shook his head, "It took me too long to get this freedom. I'll be fine. It's just stress. I'm all Paris has left and I made a promise to Marinette. I won't compromise it for a little cough."

Adrien could feel something rising in his chest, raising the hairs on the nape of his neck. He couldn't quite place what it was, bubbling in his veins, warming his blood, making him… angry...

"Working yourself till you pass out ain't gonna do her or Paris any favors!" Plagg retorted.

...so very, very angry…

"Plagg is right, Adrien. It's better if you-"

"I'M FINE!"

Both Kwami shrunk back from the outburst, looking at him with eyes wide. Adrien glared at them, breathing heavily.

He had been harsh, but for some reason, he didn't feel like apologizing. He felt justified. What did they know about how his life had been before they appeared? Being controlled? Caged? They had absolutely no idea. They couldn't understand.

He felt irritation bubble in his chest but he tried to rein it in.

"I'm fine…" Adrien repeated in a low voice, his eyes hooded. "And I'd appreciate it if you didn't bring it up again."

"Adrien…" Tikki started but trailed off.

"What's gotten into you?" Plagg hissed, "This is not like you"

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"You're being a stubborn idiot. More so than usual, anyway."

Adrien laughed dryly. "Pot calling the kettle black?" He huffed and looked out the window. The sun was setting. He would be able to visit Marinette again soon.

"We're going out." Adrien said flatly. "Visiting hours are nearly over."

"We're not going anywhere until you calm down and tell us what's wrong with you." Plagg said crossing his arms.

"You don't have a say in this." Adrien said coldly, then turned to him, brandishing his ring. "Plagg, transform me!"

And as Chat Noir materialized before her, Tikki was suddenly not entirely sure she recognized the eyes of the person that stood in Adrien's place.