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It was cold.
It was cold and it felt like she was drifting into an endless void, like a comet through space, not caring if it would collide. It wasn't an uncomfortable cold but she felt like her body had forgotten all about the concept of heat and was quite content with the way it was.
But then the warmth returned, It wasn't sudden or immediate but rather slow and distant, like a sun you could see but not feel until you took a step closer. It was comfort, it was soothing. She felt a surge of unease as the cold slowly receded away, being so acclimatized to its hum.
Cryo. Her mind supplied, but it didn't register. Rather it was a forethought in the depths of her mind, repeating a word that she knew of but didn't understand the relevance.
She didn't know for how long she drifted into space but when the cold had dissipated and the heat had fully returned, she yearned for the familiarity of the cold, for the seamless sleep it had offered, the carelessness, the absence of the responsibility that had loomed over her head before the cold came in.
Her mind was sluggish, half stuck in a dream of black spots and green eyes, unsure of their significance or legitimacy. She only recalled more as the heat began to stabilize to a steady pace, and the soft beating sound in her ears began. It was a steady rhythm, a beat followed by another like green eyes chasing the black dots, one beat right after the other, two beats of the same heart.
Her heart. That's what she was hearing. It had always been there she realized, just like the green eyes and black dots.
Air rushed in, it filled her lungs as she took a deep breath. She began to hear sounds as well, mechanical churning and pops, hydraulics working hard to accomplish whatever goal they were designed to.
It wasn't long before the air had started to choke her. She gripped the handle around where her hands had been and reflexively opened her eyes wide. The air hurt, rather the fresh air hurt. Her blurry vision could see a large moving window before her and a hissing sound came crashing out, like a can of soda being opened.
Without any strength in her legs she tumbled forwards but raised her arms in time to avoid hitting her head on the cold hard floor. Her coughing resumed but was reduced significantly now that she was breathing clearer air.
Once she could think everything came crashing back. She was in a Vault, Vault 284. She was in a hurry. Sad. Scared. Comforted as green eyes looked over, warm hands holding her up as her knees shook. There was a loud explosion. Everything and nothing made sense.
Reality set in, her memories fully restored. She couldn't even distract herself with the idea that Adrien Agreste had saved her because reality kicked in violently.
The war alarm had started blaring through Paris, Tikki had disappeared, her miraculous earrings were nowhere to be found, there was panic in the streets, her parents were crying and begged Vault Tech (Paris Division) to take her to safety, Adrien heard their pleas and ran back to the fences and practically ripped her out of the security guard's vice grip as the atomic monstrosity was seen falling from the cloudless sky, the vault doors closed and...
The loud explosion shook the elevator of Vault 284 as it made its way down. She vaguely remembered Adrien getting yelled at by his father for his ruthless behaviour but Adrien held his ground. She would have been proud of him if she wasn't on the floor trying to breathe and filter through what she had just seen...
She remember the Vault Tech personnel handing out everyone's vault 284 jumpsuits, an unflattering blue and yellow combination. The personnel were confused as to what to do with her at the time but eventually they found some room. Next thing she knew Adrien had to go and she was put into the pod.
She was brought back from her memories as she continued to cough violently, her body trying to push out whatever lingering effects the pod thing had done to her.
She had never felt anything so horrible in her life. The sight of her parents at the wire gates... that was the last time she'd see them she realized for a second time.
But she refused to plummet into despair again. Her parent were surely dead and crying wouldn't bring them back, nothing would. Even though all she wanted to do was cry she knew she had to control herself, she knew that something wasn't right; her gut was practically upside down. During all her years as Ladybug she knew she had to trust her instincts, no matter how wonky her mind was - her instincts were never wrong. She took a deep breath and tried standing up.
She saw the nearby rail beside her and with a shaky arm, rusty from sleep, grabbed it with all the strength she could muster and slowly brought herself up. She felt sick as her body began to straighten but she remained strong, pushing down the unease in her stomach. Her sight was clearer then, the frequent panicked blinking had made a significant difference for her sight.
The vault was empty, it looked untouched. There was a faint sound of water dropping from the ceiling landing in a relatively large puddle growing around where the pods were. She felt cold under her right hand, the water had reached her palm but she was too confused to feel it at the time. The water was cold too, so very cold. Just as cold as the rail that she held onto once she was off the floor.
"Hel-.. hello?" she called out, cringing at how her voice sounded, coarse and rough like sandpaper on rock. "Hello? Is anyone there?" she called out again, more confident in her abilities to use her voice. There was no reply, not even a murmur of acknowledgement.
Once her sight had been relatively reliable she began to look around.
Once her gaze was solidly set on the pod across from hers she wished she never had set eyes on it.
After Adrien had to go to his pod and she was left alone she broke down into pieces, crying for her parents and for the life she had been ripped from. But there was an older woman, whose pod was just in front of hers, called Madame Lemay. She had taken the time to comfort her until she was convinced the teenager was strong enough to step into her pod without breaking down again.
Marinette had expected to see Madame Lemay inside the pod but even with her wavering blurry sight she knew what she saw before her: a frozen and very much deceased woman who looked like Madame Lemay. Her mouth was open wide and her eyes squeezed shut and she had frostbite covering her skin, inches thick, everywhere. There was a warning light above her pod which was labelled "power failure".
It was in that moment that she remembered the cold and how safe she had felt in it. Now that she knew just how dangerous the cold had been she felt something crumble in her core. Her eyes drifted to the side where there were more and more red lights above every pod, save for her own. Her eyes opened wide and her heart jumpstarted, beating warm thick blood through her veins as a realization formed in her mind.
She had a single thought then. Adrien.
With an unexpected surge of energy, Marinette forced herself to let go of the rail and, with the determination and strength she often used as Ladybug, she began to walk.
She wavered from step to step but once she remembered just how to move her limbs, her legs began to move on their own.
I've got you Marinette. He had said when the elevator started going down and the world outside went to the dumps.
She remembered his words as she tripped going up the small three steps before her. She yelped when her elbow made direct contact with the hard concrete floor but pushed herself up again, his smile and bright green eyes imprinted in her brain as she pushed on.
The doors opened before her, letting out gushing bouts of air as the hydraulics kicked in. There was a long hallway going down the vault, with hanging blinking ceiling lights that swung from side to side due to the various air drifts caused by the Vault's ventilation system.
She heard Adrien's words yet again.
Don't worry Marinette, I'll be just at the end of the hall, in 2A. I won't be far.
"Hello!" She called, feeling increasingly uneasy as only her echo answered. She passed another quarter with more pods and her heart fell as she saw more and more red lights above each. "No..." She whimpered as she forced herself to go faster, able to lightly jog without feeling like she would vomit with every third step.
She reached the quarter with the rest of the pods, called 2A, and covered her small cries with her hand as more red lights greeted her. All save for one. She ran to the pod without the red light and almost slipped and landed face first into the glass as her frantic emotions couldn't be contained.
"Adrien!" She called, banging on the glass with one fist. Horror started to set in as she noticed his own green light start to flash.
In a fit of panic she grabbed the pod release and with two hands pulled down, breaking off the little coat of ice on the lever.
Adrien's pod made similar sounds to the door's hydraulics as the ice on the glass pane started to thaw. Marinette didn't dare celebrate until he was safely outside of the cold; she was ready to start cursing at her bad luck if this would be the end for him.
The glass pane opened with a hiss and Adrien began to frown as fresh air was introduced into his lungs. He began to fall forward slightly but Marinette was strong enough to catch him before he too would end up on the floor. She wasn't strong enough to stay upwards though and landed on her butt right on the concrete floor. She couldn't control her frantic hands as they searched for a pulse but when they couldn't find anything she pressed her ear against his chest and cried with a relieved smile as she heard the undeniable beating of his heart. She was undeniably glad that the Vault jumpsuits were thin enough to allow something as silent as a heartbeat to be heard through the blue fabric and yellow accents. He was cold to the touch, his skin slowly warming to hers. She knew that his heart rate picking up was of no relation to the fact that she was touching him but it warmed her heart a little knowing that it started to beat faster.
It wasn't long before his coughing fit began and Marinette couldn't contain her smile as he began to weeze, he was alive!
"You're alive!" She beamed, rubbing his back as he heaved. His blond hair was lightly wet (somehow still on point even after cryogenic sleep) and his hands a little clammy from sweat but he was alive.
She held him as she looked around. Her eyes watered when she was only greeted by more red lights until they stopped on an open pod with no red or green flashing. She made a mental note to check who was in that one, for whoever was in it was alive, maybe.
It didn't take Adrien long before his breathing returned to a normal beat and his beautiful green eyes shot open.
"... Mari-nette...?" He asked, his voice was just as groggy as hers was.
She smiled and nodded enthusiastically, her mouth opened ready for words but she didn't trust her voice enough. He frowned as he took a few moments to collect himself but Marinette couldn't wait that long as her arms shot around him and she held him close.
"Dieu merci! You're alive!" She sobbed lightly, her face nestled in his neck. She felt a hesitant hand touch her hair before his own arms wrapped around her smaller body.
"It'll take more than ice to get me, I'm sure." He teased, his voice slowly returning to what it used to be.
She wanted to chuckle, she really did, but she couldn't shake Madame Lemay out of her mind.
"Adrien..." She spoke with a small voice, releasing him so she could look into his still lightly foggy eyes. "Adrien you're the only other person I found." She saw the slow realization hit him as it hit her moments before, his eyes scanning the nearby pod with a look of shock and dread in his gaze. "Everyone else is... Gone."
He frowned at her choice of words. "What do you..."
And that's when he saw it, the pod opposing his own. The red light, the frostbite, the human popsicle.
"No..."
He immediately looked to the pod at his right, the one that had been opened, and desperately tried to get up. He didn't need to ask Marinette for assistance as she looped her arm around him and they rose together.
Adrien didn't know whether he was supposed to be relieved or devastated that his father's pod was empty when everyone else's was still... in use.
Adrien pressed his hand on the glass door looking into the empty pod expecting to see something that he missed, a clue or a sign. It was only when he felt Marinette's warm hand on his shoulder that he snapped out of it, he turned his head to face her. "Your father was in that pod wasn't he?"
Adrien could only nod.
They stood like that for a moment before Marinette realized exactly who she was holding. A massive blush spread across her cheeks and she hoped that Adrien wouldn't turn just then and make things even more complicated.
Instead of indulging her horrible luck, Adrien decided to take a step forwards. The action surprised her but she followed him slowly by the hip. He found himself grateful for the support she offered and took another ambitious step forward. He stumbled a little bit but Marinette held him.
Eventually after a few attempts he found that he could walk without the assistance of Marinette's arms, he sent her an uneasy smile once he was able to walk for himself. A blush appeared on her cheeks but there was no indication that she knew it was there.
Their gazes looked away as they wordlessly agreed to look around, see what they could figure out.
Adrien went off to investigate the other pods as Marinette spotted a monitor.
The monitor was old, countless dust clumps clinging to the screen as she wiped it away.
She managed to see bright green writing and cringed at the contrast between the green and the black screen.
It was one of those really old computers that were made even before touchscreen was invented, but at least the keyboard was familiar. She felt something rough against her fingers as her hand hovered over the keys reaching for the mouse. She frowned and looked down at the mouse and let out a estranged scream that she muffled behind her hand, well with the hand that didn't touch that.
Hanging by the pinched stuck fabric was an arm, or rather, a very boney arm. The arm was barely attached to the rest of a skeleton which wore the Vault Tech security uniform. The skeleton was covered in dust and was barely staying in one piece.
"Marinette! Are you alright?" Adrien called. He was instantly alarmed by Marinette's yell and came running, a security baton in his hands.
"Y-yeah! I'm alright!" She answered, a bit shaken. Once her heart rate lowered a little her first reasonable thought was about how accurate the biology class' skeleton was, minus the fact that this one was, you know, real. She squirmed as she dislodged the skeletal arm from the monitor's equipment and shivered when she heard the hollow flop that followed the bones hitting the floor.
Once her adrenaline diminished, which honestly wasn't too long seeing as she used to be Ladybug, she returned her attention to the monitor from the Stone Age.
As she filtered through pages of protocol her thoughts wouldn't stop going toward Tikki. She remembered waking up that morning without her earrings or her kwami. Marinette was panicked as she had no way of knowing why she was gone or if Chat Noir had the same problem. She remembered thinking that if only she knew who Chat was she wouldn't have that problem but that thought was nothing more than a bitter recollection now. A bitter recollection coupled with sadness and the weight of total emptiness as there was nothing on her earlobes where her other half should have been.
Her trip down memory lane was cut short as she finally reached the entry screen where the time and year were clearly shown.
"What? That can't be it." She murmured to herself. She felt Adrien lean in closer.
"What is it?" He asked, as he swung the little security stick around with relative ease.
"The year... It must be a mistake." She pointed at the number on the screen. "It says we're in 2216?"
Adrien frowned as he too didn't know what to make of the information provided. "Maybe it's a reboot error?"
"Yea but those bring you back to the year 2000 not forward by 200 years." She couldn't remove her eyes from the screen, the number shinning innocently. In that moment Marinette felt cold, her eyes shifting to the skeleton barely hanging on to the monitor's table as more writing flashed across the screen.
2098 - Power Failure, closing pods quarter 2C, priority women and children,
2130 - Power Failure, closing pods quarter 2B, priority children, pod 9C kept active
2145 - Power Failure, closing pods quarter 2A, priority pod 12A,13A, 9C
2176 - Power Failure, closing pods all quarters, priority pods 12A, 13A, 9C
2210 - pod 13A opened
2216 - pod 9C opened, pod 12A opened
Status of Pod occupants -- inactive/deceased
"Wait, pod 13A." Adrien turned to the pod behind them as Marinette kept starring at the numbers and dates. His gaze went straight to his own pod and saw the small identifying numbers of 12A. His father had been in the 13th pod which, according to the ledger, was opened six years before. He managed to keep his hope contained but there was an alarming sound coming from the ducts above them. Adrien had seen enough movies to know that it wasn't caused by machinery, it was not a comforting sound as it was irregular and ominous.
"Marinette," he started, touching her shoulder with a calmness she didn't know he had. "Marinette we need to go." he urged.
Marinette heard his cautious tone and tore her eyes away from the screen and then she too heard the noise, the rattling scratches in the pipes above them, too loud to be ignored. "Ok, alright." she agreed, kneeling down to grab a discarded wrench from the floor, avoiding the skeleton's bones and trying not to breathe the air around it too much.
Adrien tensed as the sound became louder and soon overlapped the dripping sounds of water, he held onto his small baton with an iron grip ready to face whatever was making that noise. For all his time fighting akumas he learnt relatively quickly that he needed to trust his gut, and his gut was screaming.
"I think it's in the pipes." He murmured. He saw Marinette nod from the corner of his eyes and followed as she took a few steps forwards, towards the door.
The does opened with ease and that was when their eyes bulged wide open.
Before them were gigantic freaking roaches.
There were three of them, shells the colour of copper. They were rubbing their legs in the way that grasshoppers clean their legs and their long whiskers twitched as they noticed the two teenagers standing there.
They were bloody huge! The size of cats!
They began clicking as the first lunged forwards, it's beady eyes focused on Marinette.
Acting on reflex, Adrien and Marinette took cautious steps back and just as the roaches got into range they swung their weapons forwards, each hitting their targets with seemingly little effort.
The last roach started to make a run for Adrien but just as the blond turned towards it a wrench came from Marinette's hands and landed right on its head. There was a crunch sound that came from the insect as its head popped right off, however the body was still moving towards him.
Adrien didn't hesitate to slam his boot down on the crawling body, his boot splattering the dark brown ooze all over the floor and steps.
There was a moment of silence where both teens listened intently, to make sure there were no more rattling.
Marinette retrieved her wrench and flicked it to remove some of the gunk, she grimaced as it made a wet sound when it hit the floor. It was just like she was shaking an umbrella if it had rained clumpy viscous milk instead of water.
As she retrieved her weapon Adrien looked down at his security baton in his hand and frowned, an idea popping into his mind.
He brought the baton up to his nose and smelt it lightly. His reaction was instant as he began to cough and yanked his baton away, repulsed. He felt the fibres in his nose... burn? He must have whimpered since Marinette's worried gaze was glued to him in a heartbeat.
"Adrien!" She called, her hand landing on his shoulder as she turned him to face her.
He grumbled as he blinked the stinging away from his eyes, regretting his decision and cursing his curiosity.
At least you didn't lick it you dolt. He thought to himself.
"I'm alright." He insisted, trying to put on his best smile to reassure her. "Just don't smell it... It burns."
She blinked as she looked from him to the roaches that were dead on the floor, she nudged one with her foot with a grimace.
"Just to be safe let's make sure we don't touch them." She warned him as she looked back up into his eyes.
"Just to be safe." She repeated.
Adrien nodded.
He was relieved she didn't ask why he decided to smell the roach blood, because if he was honest with himself he didn't know either.
From there they followed a relatively easy plan: find someone in the Vault or find a way out.
The Vault was relatively empty, empty in the sense that no one was left living, save for those damned roaches that kept creeping up from time to time. Adrien and Marinette were quiet during their expedition within the vault, kept their wandering eyes away from each other, almost afraid to speak, almost too afraid to think about something other than their immediate survival.
Marinette was trying to figure out a way to thank Adrien for what he did, running past so many Vault Tech security officers to grab her and being her to safety, risking his life for hers as the mushroom cloud loomed overhead. She couldn't repay him, she knew that but she could thank him at least.
For Adrien he struggled to find the words needed to address the possibility of her parents' probable passing. He had seen the cloud, they all felt the shaking of the elevator... But he was an optimist and if there was a chance that she thought her parents might be alive he wouldn't rip that away with his premature condolences.
"Thank you."
Adrien frowned as he heard her voice pierce through the silence of the Vault. He blinked as he turned to face her. He saw her tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks lightly pink from all the running around they had done (or so he told himself.)
"For what?" He asked, slowly fully turning towards her.
"For coming for me... You didn't have to." She glanced his way and just as quickly glanced away, looking and slowly walking straight ahead.
He smiled lightly. "Of course I did." He answered back, his voice so warm she could curl up next to him and forget her problems. He took two long strides before he matched her walking speed. "And I'd do it again without a second thought." He added without pause.
She was looking forwards, resisting the urge to turn and look at him, while also resisting the urge to worry about a certain cat everytime that she looked deep into Adrien's eyes. She, of course, couldn't not look at Adrien, so when she did her heart jumped a few beats. Adrien looked at her as if she were the purest being in his entire world, like he could see how good her heart was. His gaze was full of kindness and strength that she had never seen before, a pure will to defy whomever loomed over him to do what he thought was right. It was a particular look, a look she remembered seeing on his face as the elevator brought them down but she saw it so often on Chat...
She had a faint blush on her cheeks at the thought but the predominant feeling was gratitude.
"I-I can't thank you enough...but," Her voice broke as she was dreadfully reminded of the fate of her parents. "They didn't deserve to-..."
Adrien's sudden hand on her shoulder made her look up, her big blue eyes blinking more often since the beginnings of tears started to form.
"I'm sorry I couldn't... I'm sorry."
He couldn't decide what kind of saying he wanted to convey, he had heard so many after his mother disappeared that they all seemed bland and unfeeling to him. He knew that Marinette deserved better than a hollow offer of his sympathies that could be quoted and slapped on any "get well" greeting card. She surprised him by turning towards him a determined expression on her features.
"Adrien," She spoke softly, almost like she was afraid she'd spook him (all while he was afraid to spook her.) "You did all you could which is more than I can ask for." She wiped her tears away with a sniffle. "My parents are hopefully in a better place now." She gave him a small smile, the kind of smile he flashed when he was lying, and he knew that smile well.
I didn't belong on Marinette Dupain-Cheng's lips.
He couldn't bring himself to speak as he simply starred at her broken silent expression. If he were Chat he would have blurted out a pun or a ridiculous flirt to lighten her spirits but he wasn't Chat, he was /Adrien/. Dread invaded his heart as he was once more reminded of his failure to reach Ladybug... He could only fail and disappoint it seemed.
He couldn't help his Lady then.
And he couldn't help his Princess now.
Marinette's voice broke the silence that was birthed between them. "I may be an orphan but you might not be." She approached him slowly and reached up to push his hair away from his face, her fingertips touching his forehead with a gentleness he always knew she possessed. "So let's go find an exit to this tomb and find out what happened to your father." She added, with a smaller less heartbreaking smile.
He found himself nod as he felt her touch leave his cheek. He hadn't known it was there but once it was gone he yearned for its return.
It wasn't long before they reached the Vault entrance. Marinette fought the urge to crumble and cry at the sight of the large circular vault doors, with the bright yellow blaring numbers of 284 painted across them. The lettering was in the same bright yellow colour as their jumpsuits and her inner fashion designer wanted to retch.
"Over here." Adrien called as he tugged off a rather bulky looking wrist thing from another skeletal Vault Tech employee. He shook the dust off of it and handed it to her as he shifted his attention to the console in front of him.
"What is this thing?" Marinette asked as Adrien spotted another bulky wrist tool. He made his way and tugged that one off as well.
The tool had "Pip-Boy" engraved at the top, but she knew what Pip-boys were, everyone knew what they looked like. Before the nuclear strike, Vault Tech spent years spreading out propaganda about the safety of their vaults and their advertisement was often shifted towards the usefulness of the Pip-boy. It was said to be the vaulter dweller's best friend to navigating the outside world.
She knew they were supposed to go on the user's wrist but it was fashioned for adult sizes and it hung limply on her skinny wrist, the largest part of her arm still wasn't enough. All she needed to do was bring her arm down and it would slip off. Frowning, she looked around for a moment until she found a long thin black belt hanging from a breaking fence. It seemed whoever was there had tried to keep it together, what for she didn't know but she needed that belt.
She walked over to it and just before grabbing it she saw them.
More roaches.
She was lucky though, they didn't seem to notice her.
Slowly she took out her wrench and twirled it around expertly. Her gaze shifted to Adrien and was relieved that he seemed to hear her silent warning, she didn't know how he managed but he did and she wouldn't question it.
He made his way slowly to her, his Pip-boy strapped to his thigh with some ripped fabric that he tore from another vault jumpsuit. She wondered why she needed a belt in the first place, a ripped jumpsuit would have done the same thing, but her designer mind wanted to slap her silly.
The belt is more practical. She kept insisting. And now that you know the roaches are there you can't ignore them.
Once Adrien was standing right beside her she tugged the belt. The belt came easily but unfortunately it seemed it was actually holding bits and pieces of the fence together. As soon as the support from the belt disappeared the fence crumbled and the roaches perked up, smelling something that pleased them.
Before the roaches could truly get ready for confrontation a baton and a wrench came down on them.
"It's weird. The more we fight these the more at ease I am to seeing them." Adrien observed as he nudged a carcass with the end of his boot.
Marinette turned to look at him, a knowing look in her eye.
She was a superhero so naturally she wasn't worried when it came to fighting these gigantic insects but she couldn't stop the swell of warmth from inside. Adrien was a civilian, he had no prior fighting experience other than his fencing, and he was holding his own next to one of Paris's own.
He really was amazing.
He turned to her, almost as if he heard her compliment, and smiled warmly.
"It nice to see that you're holding up too." Little did she know that Adrien had a similar thought occur to him too.
There was a brief moment of silence where she simply looked at him, appreciating the view and the personality of this boy she was unknowingly thrown into fire with. She was so glad she was with him, of all people.
He cleared his throat as he tugged the belt on the floor and gave it to her.
"Oh right, thank you." She smiled as she fashioned herself a sling that hung from her shoulder, much like the small purse that used to hold Tikki.
The Pip-Boy hung comfortably against her hip as she made her way to the command console, the thing that would somehow open the Vault and unlock the elevator.
Marinette pressed a few buttons, jolted a few levers and asked Adrien to whack the side of the machine, they both whooped when the machine came back to life.
She shot an uneasy glance to Adrien as the Vault doors began to slide open, revealing the elevator that they were both dreading returning into. They were both anxious and dreading the return to the surface, having had enough time to imagine the destruction and the aftermath of the nuclear bomb. They both studied Hiroshima in history, they knew it wasn't going to be pretty.
Marinette took a deep breath and walked forward, noticing the same expression of unease in her partner's own features.
Once the two were standing in the middle of the plateform, Marinette felt something warm around her hand and fingers. Her attention snapped to where he held her hand, a furious blush appearing on her freckled cheeks.
She barely missed his words as the grimes of mechanical gears turning invaded most of the airwaves but his words reached her and she felt touched.
"I'm glad I was able to save you Marinette."
She was mesmerized by his green eyes, looking into her own with such sincerity she felt her heart break with the sheer force of his emotions.
She had to say something. Something before the lift would end and she'd run out of time.
She couldn't think of anything other than, "And I you."
The smile that proceeded on his lips made her knees weak. She knew he had noticed the red light above his own pod when he came out of Cryo, she knew he knew it.
And yet he was alright with that, he was still thankful.
A little voice at the back of her mind made her realize that she'd always save him, for as long as he'd be able to save her. No matter how bad the world got, they still had each other. They'd be okay.
She could depend on him like she had depended on Chat, she knew she could.
They'd be ok.
The vault opened full, the blast shields separating and dumping fallen dust on top of them as they looked up to see a strangely beige sky.
They held onto each other's hand more strongly as they prepared to face the outside world, ready no matter what, their hands acting as anchors to help their minds cope once they saw the world for the first time since they went underground.
They thought they knew what it would look like.
They were wrong.
Marinette was the first to open her eyes. She cracked an eye open and was faced with a blinding light, much stronger than the sun she remembered from before going underground.
Once she blinked a few times and finally registered what she was seeing exactly she exhaled and lost all of her breath.
The vault opening was overlooking the distinct Paris horizon but it was not as it was before. She could see the Eiffel Tower from where she stood even though she shouldn't have been able to.
It was crooked and all of the skyscrapers that were supposed to be between her and it had crumbled.
The trees were mostly dead and brown, the air tasted bitter and heavy, the plants around them had all whittled away...
She heard Adrien's gasp at her side and could only join him in his bewilderment.
"It's gone..." She whispered in a shaking voice. Taking a few moments to let the world sink in she tried to speak again. "They're all gone." She whimpered, squeezing Adrien's fingers as to confirm that she wasn't just hallucinating. He squeezed back and it only confirmed that he saw what she was seeing too. His touch was an anchor, an anchor she absolutely needed else she'd crumble.
The Paris they knew was gone.
What was left was a waste in its place, but it would need Ladybug and Chat Noir just as much. Only the superheroes didn't know it yet.
No matter how decayed France had become, no matter how little of it remained, Marinette and Adrien would strive and prosper. Because they were Ladybug and Chat Noir. And Ladybug and Chat Noir always saved Paris, one way or another.