Chapter Twenty-Three:

"I just can't believe it!" Alec exclaimed, pushing his papers across the desk.

"Neither can the rest of the country," Nadja agreed. "If Adrien doesn't come back, the Miraculous Games would have been for nothing."

Alec shook his head, his expression turning sad. "Well, you heard it here first, viewers. Adrien Agreste is still missing after three days of searching. President Agreste is extremely upset, at least, that is what we have heard, yes?"

Nadja nodded. "That's correct, Alec. President Agreste has had the police forces on high alert for the past few days, and though they've scoured the entire district, they still haven't found him. The one thing that we are all hoping and praying for is that he won't be too far from home."

"Do we know why he disappeared in the first place?"

She shook her head. "It hasn't been revealed to the public yet, though I can assure you that many of us are worried about his well-being."

Alec bowed his head. "Indeed. We at the Miraculous Games studio definitely are. Well, now that we've got the sad news out of the way," he plastered a giant smile across his face, "we are now down to only five charms left!" He gestured behind him at the big screen and clips from the previous few days began to play.

"Wolf was kicked out of the games only two days ago by the unbreakable team of Ladybug and Fox! In the process, Ladybug lost both of her ponytails. Crazy hair cut, am I right?"

On the screen, the clip of Mylene cutting off Marinette's right ponytail began to play.

"I would hate if that happened to me," Mrs. Chamach replied honestly.

"I know right? But, then again," Alec run a hand over his bald head, "It's not like I can understand."

The two hosts laughed, and even if it may have been forced, it was a blessing that the mood had been lifted.

"Well, what can we look forward to in the games, Nadja?" Alec asked once the two host's laughter had calmed down.

"Now that we're down to only a few Charms left, we should expect a lot of bloodshed. As with every year, the arena slowly gets smaller and smaller until the Charms are forced to fight with one another. No matter what, we should expect to have a real show."

Alec smiled. "Sounds like a party! Let's flip to it now."

* * *

Marinette knit her eyebrows and rolled over in her sleep. Nathanael, who had an arm around her, watched her snuggle into his chest. He could feel her trembling. He knew he was shaking as well, it was so cold outside, but there wasn't anything they could do.

The pair had taken over Mylene's cave in the pile of rocks, thankful for the supplies that she left behind, but it didn't change the fact that both of them were shivering. The rain had passed after a day and a half of downpour, which was a blessing since water no longer trickled into the cave. Even with the rain gone, however, the night air was chilly. Their clothes had dried slowly over the past few days, but as the clothes had become dry, the two of them had gotten sick. Their noses were stuffed, they shivered almost constantly, and, in Marinette's case, her forehead was burning up. Fox could feel the heat of it through his musty shirt and jacket.

Though they were sick, Nathanael wasn't going to give up hope. They had made it this far, why not make it to the end? If they stuck together, they could win. He knew it; he knew it so deeply in his heart, there was no denying it. They could win if they fought all the way to the end.

The battle they needed to win now, though, was beating the sickness they both had caught.

Shivering, Marinette bunched Nathanael's jacket in her fists. Fox lifted a hand and brushed her bangs away from her face. It was so odd to see her with short hair, but he had slowly gotten used to it the more they spent time together. It almost fit her better. If anything, it would be a token that she could keep after the games. He wondered if she would grow it back out or keep it the way it was.

Moving his fingers from her hair to feeling her forehead, he bit his lip with worry. She was still running a fever. There had to be some way that he could help her body break it...

Before he could move, Marinette moaned. Her heavy eyelids lifted and she dully stared at Nathanael. He gave her a small smile and brushed her cheek.

"Hey there, Ladybug. Nice to see that you're awake."

She scrunched up her nose and sniffled. Almost instantly afterward, she broke into a coughing fit. Nathanael placed a hand on her back, letting her catch her breath before he helped her up into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

He shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm already sick so it doesn't matter."

Marinette gave him an apologetic smile before slumping back against the rock wall. "Has Chat turned up yet?"

"No, not yet."

She bit her lip and played with the ends of her chopped hair. "He should have been here by now... This will be the third night he's missed. Do you think he's okay?"

Nathanael shrugged coldly. Why did she care so much about that stupid cat? Sure, he was helpful and all, but it wasn't like he could win the games for them. Besides, even if Marinette had kissed the ugly kitty, that didn't mean he couldn't make them win the games.

"I bet he's fine. Probably just taking a stupid cat nap."

Marinette shot him a glare. "I doubt it's that." She rubbed the back of her neck as she said, "I hope he hasn't gotten himself into trouble... Do you think he's been captured?"

He shrugged again. "Not like it would matter."

"What is wrong with you?" she snapped. "He's helped us this whole time and you're treating him like one of our enemies."

"Well, it's not like we know who he is. For all we know, he could be. Maybe he's like Raven, ready to stab us in the back as soon as we turn around."

Marinette gaped at him in shock, then her expression hardened. "Chat would never do that."

Fox scoffed and folded his arms. "It's not like we can prove anything until it happens."

Ladybug scowled. "I think you don't like him because of our relationship, is that it?"

Nathanael's ears went pink. He frowned at the floor, his eyebrows furrowed.

"No."

"Yes," Marinette argued. "You don't like him because I'm close to him, am I right?"

He was silent, and that was enough of an answer to satisfy her question. Marinette sassily blew her bangs out of her eyes. "It really isn't that big of a deal. He's just a friend."

"Then why did you kiss him?"

Marinette froze. Had he just played that card? Yeah, he did, and Nathanael wasn't going to take it back.

"How... how did you know that?" Ladybug asked quietly.

"Because I saw it. I was there, but it wasn't like you were going to notice me. You were too busy running your fingers through his perfectly cut hair." He turned his angry glare on her. "I thought we were in this together."

"We are," Marinette hastily responded. "Of course we are, Fox. Why wouldn't we?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe when you start choosing other people over me. I thought you cared about me. I thought we were in this together. Are we going to end up like Mylene and Ivan, huh?"

Marinette was speechless. She turned her gaze to the floor and pulled her legs into her chest. Her body was shaking like a leaf, and though Nathanael felt horrible about not helping her, the resentment that had been building up inside of him was stronger.

"I... I don't mean to hurt you," Marinette said, her voice shaking. "I just want to keep us alive in these games. We could die at any time, no matter how unlikely it is, and it's scaring me. I don't want to people I care about and love to get hurt."

Nathanael sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Marinette, you need to know this before it bites you in the butt one day." He looked her dead in the eye. "I need you to choose. I can't keep waiting on the fence. I thought we were a team, a team with a plan to stay together, but if you want to choose Chat over me, that's fine. Just know, if I die in these games, it's going to be your fault."

Ladybug's eyes started to water. "Fox, please-"

"I'm sorry, Ladybug. Until then, I will stick by your side. It's time we stop relying on that cat to solve our problems. You're strong-willed and you can do anything you can put your mind to, so I don't see why you continuously put yourself down for Chat."

"I don't put myself down for him," Marinette murmured, then was sent into a coughing fit. She coughed into her elbow, and when she came back around, she said, "I care about both of you. You're both my friends, my comrades and... I don't think I could choose between the two of you."

"You're going to have to," Nathanael muttered, "or this whole thing is going to spin out of control."

Marinette didn't respond for a long time after that. Instead of talking, she dropped her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. Fox's heart jumped when he realized how warm she was. She was getting worse by the minute, and yet he felt horrible fighting with her, he couldn't keep his feelings bottled up anymore. He cared about her just as much as, and maybe more, than the stupid stray she had randomly picked up to join their team.

Just then, there was a THUMP outside the cave entrance. Fox jumped, but Ladybug didn't seem to react. She still had her head on his shoulder as if fast asleep. Squinting, Nathanael tried to make out what it was. Though it was dark, he could see the silhouette of someone dressed in all black holding a staff of some sort. Nathanael's heart skipped a beat when he realized who it was. The cat ears had given it away.

"Finally stopped by, huh?" he called.

Chat turned, and when his eyes landed on Fox, his expression hardened.

"For your information, it was harder to get here than you would think."

Nathanael raised his hands. "Gee, sorry for assuming, but before the past few nights, it seemed like it was easy for you to come and go."

"Things changed," Chat snapped. "Where is Marinette?"

Nathanael jabbed a thumb to his shoulder. "I'm surprised you didn't see her, snoopy."

Furrowing his eyebrows, Chat walked into the cave and headed straight toward her. He crouched in front of her and pressed the back of his gloved hand to her forehead. His eyes widened.

"She's burning up."

"No duh, Sherlock. She has a fever; had one for the past few nights."

Chat's hand traced down her forehead, across her cheek, then stopped at the ridged edge of her new haircut. He analyzed the hair as if he were gazing at a dead puppy.

"We need to get her out of here."

Fox blinked. "What?"

"We need to leave," Chat repeated.

"Um, I don't think that's a good idea. She doesn't have the strength and could get hurt. Besides, where else would we go? We could be attacked by any of the charms that are still left."

Chat rolled his eyes. "I'm talking about leaving the arena, Fox, not the cave."

The force of those words hit Nathanael like a truck. "What? That's impossible! And, even if we could, the Capitol wouldn't let us."

"Things have changed," Chat replied vaguely, "more than you could ever know. While you guys have been in here fighting for your life, the President's son ran away. We need to end these games right away, even if the Game Master doesn't agree with it."

Using both arms, Chat wrapped his arms around Marinette and scooped her up. She moaned but didn't respond to his presence.

"How long has she been like this?" Chat asked.

Fox shrugged. "She laid her head down on my shoulder just minutes before you arrived, why?"

"Because she's passed out. She must have slipped into unconsciousness right as I got here."

Nathanael tensed. Had he caused that? Had he pushed her too far, when in turn made her pass out? His worry started to climb, reaching unbelievable levels.

"Will she be okay?" he asked, his voice tight.

Chat shrugged, then shifted her in his arms. Even though he was trying to give off an air of confidence, Nathanael could see the worry etched into his expression. Chat gazed down at Marinette's passed out body.

"It depends. If we don't get her out of the games, she could die."

On instinct, Fox's fists clenched. "I'm not going to let that happen."

"And neither am I," Chat replied. "If we're going to get out of here alive, we need to work together. Fair?"

As much as he hated the idea, Nathanael knew Chat had a point. They would never be able to get Ladybug out of the arena if they didn't work as a team. He didn't want to work with the stupid cat, but if it was for Marinette...

"Alright. Let's get out of here. I'm ready to go home." 

---

Wow, I can't believe that I was able to write this much in such little time. Huh. I guess amazing things can happen when you actually sit down and WRITE, haha. 

I hope you guys enjoyed this part! I know not a lot happened in this one, but trust me! The next chapter is going to be A-MAZE-ING. 

Today is gonna be a quick sign off today because I don't exactly have much to say, so let's skip to my favorite comment, shall we? 

My favorite comment: 

By: RyleighCox

Wow.................................................

That's

Just

Great! 😑

- Context: When Adrien says there was "more like three of them..." in Chapter 15. I had to choose this one because it made me giggle. 

If I had to choose my second favorite it would be Mlady7's comment:

OMG YOU UPDATED! YAYAYAY! THIS IS THE BEST SERIES I HAVE READ EVER! SQUEEE! THANKS FOR UPDATING IT! TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED IF YOU WILL BE OFF AGAIN! WE ALL GET IT! JUST THANKS AGAIN!

Anyway, I better get back to my 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' binging. (It's the first time I've ever seen it and I'm seriously loving it.)

Be sure drop a vote before you leave if you liked the chapter and leave a comment to see if you're the lucky person who gets chosen as my favorite comment in the next chapter!

And, as always, have a Miraculous day!