ADRIEN

I've been checking the army's open-trucks for the past hours. I think I'm leading myself to the path of paranoia.

I have more than double-checked everything with the truck and what's in them. From the state of the engines, to the durability of their tires. To the number of sacks of sand and canned food for the journey later.

General Hugo gave me a lecture on the safety of our comrades and with all my remaining respect for him, I listened and did not utter any snide comments.

It was either because I was too tired to even argue with him again or my mind was thinking of other things. I guess it would be the latter.

I throw the list on the front seat of one of the trucks, then lean my head on its side mirror. I close my eyes and heave a long sigh.

"It's nice to see you take a break for once."

I turn my head and open my eyes at the direction where the voice came from. Marinette, in her combat uniform, stands smirking at me with her arms folded.

"You haven't slept, Adrien." She continues.

"As a matter of fact, I don't sleep before deployment." I say, grabbing the list again I walk past her and wipe another truck's side mirror with the sleeve of my uniform. "If you've asked the others you would have known that by now."

"I didn't ask that, but what they told me was that you don't talk to anyone when it comes to times like this."

"Yeah, I don't." I drop my hand and look at her with a smile, "But I'll make an exception for you."

She scoffs and faces away from me. I know she's doing that to hide her flushing cheeks.

"And what are you doing here at five in the morning? Shouldn't you be starting your morning jog?" I ask. "Or do you just miss me?" I cheekily add. She laughs and inserts her hands inside her pockets. She walks toward me.

"Are you really like this without sleep?" She stops to stand in front of me.

"No. Only when you're around." I answer quietly.

She shrugs, "I'll take that as a compliment." She pauses for a while and looks at my list. "I'm just...I can't sleep too." She starts in a soft voice.

"You're nervous?"

"Actually, anxious." She replies, breathless.

"Hey," I utter softly. I drop my list and place my hands on each of her arms. I rub them softly as she brings her hands out of her pockets and wraps her arms around me. "One of the rebel bases that we are heading to later knows that we are part of the mutiny." I assure her, "We are not going to hurt them and they are not going to hurt us."

"But that's not going to matter, Adrien." She whispers leaving me confused.

"Of course, it will matter. We are going there and we are expected to fight them. What...what do you mean by what you just said?" I stammer trying to clarify things with her.

She gently pushes me away and I let go of my hold on her. I sigh heavily and just watch her walk away from me.

"Here we go again with your antics, Mari..." I say. She wraps her arms around herself and she looks troubled. "I try to calm you down but you won't even listen to me." I throw a hand out as I talk to her.

As she does not answer, I take a deep breath. "Okay, I know you're scared and all but you have me to protect you."

"I think it will be the other way around." She turns to face me again.

"Either way, we are going to look after each other. I promise you that. Now, could I just hold you in my arms?" I open my arms wide enough for her. Raising an eyebrow, I keep inviting her until she immediately wraps her arms around me tightly. Actually, tighter than what I expected. She buries her head in my chest.

"Woah," I exclaim, "you okay there?" She does not respond but her shoulders start to shake. I'm starting to feel worried for her. "Mari, are you crying?" I softly ask her. She faces me with tears running down her cheeks. I cup them then wipe away her tears.

"I don't want to lose you..." She cries. "I try to put off this cold and strong front, but I just can't continue it anymore. I can't bear the fact that I'm going to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me, Mari." I coo, wiping away more of her tears.

"How would you know?" She asks, her voice barely above a whisper. "You don't know what's going to happen later."

"Mari..."

"So please, let me hold you and let me cry for you." She pleads.

"If you keep on doing that I might think you're falling in love with me." I utter jokingly with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"And what if I am?" She whispers leaving my heart pounding.

"W-What?" I stutter, completely taken aback.

"Lieutenant Agreste?"

I turn to see General Hugo behind me. His eyebrows furrow further once he spots Marinette with her arms around me. "Nurse Marinette?"

"U-Uncle!" She exclaims, letting go of me.

"Good day, sir. I've checked all the trucks already, sir." I start, trying to revert his attention to me. "They are ready for deployment-"

"The both of you seem too cozy for my liking." He interrupts with a stern voice. Marinette immediately takes a step back and I huff in frustration.

"Agreste?" General Hugo says pointing at me, "A word, please." He turns to walk in the opposite direction. I follow him but stop for a moment as I feel Marinette's fingers linger on mine. Just as she lets go, I continue to follow the general.

General Hugo opens the door for me to his office and lets me in first.

"What would you want me to do, sir?" I ask upon he sits on his chair.

"I'm here to tell you where you could hide once you arrive at the rebels' base. Remember that it would just be one out of their many bases. But I'm sure that our soldiers, who do not know anything of the mutiny, will ambush the base." He throws out a pen from his pocket and grabs a piece of paper from his stock. "And we can't blame them," he starts to draw a figure on the piece of paper. "But you have to keep the others safe," he says looking at me. He pushes the finished piece to me. I take a look at it and notice that it's a map.

"Are these tunnels?" I ask, feeling incredulous.

"Underground tunnels that were made in a hurry. Thus they are only for crawling." He clucks, "They will lead you to the middle of the forest, far away from the base. It will hurt a lot though judging from a distance of around 20 miles."

"But beggars can't be choosers."

"Exactly." He says, agreeing with my statement. "And you will have to lead the others alongside Lieutenant Lahiffe. You two are the only veteran mutiny members who will be deployed."

"The others are new recruits? The ones Nurse Marinette recommended?"

"Yes," He answers. "You should not worry over them though. They are all hardworking."

"I shall inform Lieutenant Lahiffe of this map. Thank you, sir." I fold the map and place it in one of my pockets. I show him a hand salute and I put my hand down once he acknowledges it with a nod. I start to walk to the door until he stops me with a question.

"Why was my niece crying, lieutenant?"

"S-Sir?" I stutter turning back to look at him. "How long were you standing there, sir?"

"Why? Were there some things that were not meant for me to hear?" He taunts in a teasing manner.

"I-I'm not meaning that at all, sir." I sputter. "I just...I would never make her cry, sir."

"You better because she seems attached to you as you are to her." He finishes with a scoff. "I know I'm not going to get a good answer from you. You're dismissed."

"Sir, yes sir." I utter before, literally, wiping away the cold sweat that have started to gather on my forehead. I walk away in a fast manner from his office.

"Oh my God. What a way to lose your chill back there, Adrien." I mumble in disappointment, running to Nino's bunker.

----------------

The trucks have been loaded with the necessary equipment for the 'ambush'. The chosen soldiers and combat medics are now in their assigned trucks and have started to plan their shifts as the others would rest during the journey.

With a torch lamp, I check all the trucks for one last time before I load into one. It has gotten dark easily and only a crescent moon decorates the sky; no stars for tonight. I see Nino hunched over placing something on the jacket of his combat uniform. "Need help, bro?" I ask, walking to him.

"Please," He sighs. "It has always been a struggle for me to place the rank insignia."

He gives me the object and I secure it on his jacket through a hook and looping a piece of cloth around it. "There."

"Thanks." He utters, then proceeds to fold the cuffs on his jacket. "I can't wait for this to be over."

"Tell me about it." I agree, following him by folding my own cuffs. "This is going to be easy though."

"I don't think so." He mumbles. "We have more than 100 soldiers and there are only two of us. How could we safely hide our members of the mutiny?" He starts to pace back and forth in worry. "This is going to be a challenge, Adrien." He adds.

"A challenge that we will overcome," I assure him. "Have a little faith on our members, will 'ya?" I throw his combat helmet at him and he catches it with ease. "Put on the helmet now. We're leaving in a few minutes."

"How many hours will it take for us to get there?" He asks as he climbs into his assigned truck.

"Roughly around five hours." I reply before saluting with two fingers. "Just speak to me through your walkie-talkie."  I remind him.

"Roger that." He speaks into the microphone and I hear his words clearly. He inserts an earpiece that is connected to the device.

"Talk to me if you see something suspicious. It's just the two of us who will be holding these devices."

I walk to the truck beside his and watch Marinette figure out how to strap her own combat helmet on. "Someone's struggling. Want me to help?" I ask before climbing the truck to sit beside her. She does not say anything as I fix the strap on her helmet before fastening the two ends together.

"You flirt." I hear Nino's accusing voice through my earpiece. He must have been watching me in his truck the whole time. I just smirk as a reply.

"Who else will be riding in the truck with us?" She quietly asks.

"No one." I answer nonchalantly. "It will be just us and some of the equipment." I gesture to the bags of sand stacked around us. "Perks of being in-charge of the assignments."

"I'm aware." She says before letting out a short laugh. "You're crazy."

"I know." I shrug my shoulders. I've been wanting to ask her about what she said this morning. Is she really falling in love with me?

I clear my throat, "Mari-" I am then interrupted by loud cheers from the soldiers in their trucks. One by one the trucks leave the gates of the garrison and we are on our way to our target base. Marinette does a quiet cheer herself and I join in, wrapping a hand around hers.

"I have something to give you." I whisper. I drop the interest of asking her and decide to bring it up when we get back from the rebel base. I open the flap of my left tilted chest pocket. I take out a pocket cross made out of metal and show it to her. "I always have this with me and I pray to Him everyday." I slip it in her left chest pocket. "Now I'll let Him take care of you from now on."

"He takes care of everyone, Adrien."

"I want Him to double His care for you." She smiles in gratitude and leans in to place her lips on my cheek.

"Thank you..." She whispers in my ear. "Do you want me to take the first shift?"

"I think you should sleep first, Marinette."

"No, I think I should take the first shift and you should sleep." She insists.

"Then none of us will take any of the shifts." I say, ending the conversation. She nods once and looks out despite not seeing much due to how dark it is. Only through the headlights of the trucks would we get a glimpse of what's around us.

And we were silent like that for, in fact, more than an hour already. But we had a comfortable aura around us, nothing palpable at all. Just sitting beside each other was a conversation already.

There were some bumps in the road. At first we found it annoying to re-adjust ourselves on our seat after every bump, but somehow along the way we have grown accustomed to the bumps. The truck then started to move in a low speed; its acceleration has decreased.

"Did you see that?" I suddenly hear Nino's hushed voice in my earpiece. I press the button on my walkie-talkie and also speak in a hushed tone.

"See what?"

"Adrien," Marinette turns her head to look at me. "Who are you talking to?"

"Nino." I answer her in a rush. I press the button for me speak on the walkie-talkie again, "Nino, do you copy? What did you see?"

"Adrien...the front truck just stopped."

Marinette does not know what he just said but she started to look like she was panicking. She places her head outside the window to get a clearer view of what's happening in front. "Adrien...we need to be wary. Are the trucks at the front full of equipment?" She asks bringing herself fully back inside the truck, leaving me confused. The truck then comes to a full stop.

"Yes, there are four trucks full of equipment. Us being in the fourth one."

"Adrien," Nino starts again. "The driver got down to check the truck's engine."

Something must have clicked in Marinette's mind since she faces me, frantically. "Adrien," Marinette sternly says. She takes a deep breath and clasps my arm tightly. "Tell Nino to run away. They all need to run now!"

"What?" I utter, completely confused with her sudden change of demeanor.

"There's a bomb in the first truck! They need to run away now!" She exclaims, tears start to brim her eyes.

"Nino!" I shout into the walkie-talkie, "Run away from your truck now!" I finish with my voice shaking.

"W-What? Oh, holy shi-" Our connection gets cut as a loud explosion is heard nearby. Flying flaming metal could be mistaken as falling stars in the night sky. In the distance you could see a big mass of flames; it almost could be mistaken as a huge bonfire. And in an instant, we could see the soldiers from Nino's truck run towards our area for safety. I notice Marinette looking at the distance and her eyes widen before grabbing the walkie-talkie from me.

"Nino, dive down!" She shouts into the walkie-talkie, "There's another one!" And right after she speaks, we see Nino shouting at them the command and another truck explodes. All of them dive to the ground and smoke starts to fill the air, making everything blurry. Even the headlights of the other trucks were not helping at all.

"M-Mari..." I cough.

"Adrien, get down!" She pulls me down on the sacks of sand and covers me as another explosion is heard throughout the area. I cover my ears as the explosions get louder; meaning that it's coming near us.

"Adrien, we need to get out of this truck now!" She scrambles to her feet and pulls me with her. I follow after her and jump out of the truck

"M-Mari...how come you know?" I manage to ask as we jump out of the truck. Just like the soldiers around us, we start to run. But to my surprise, I see some of them being dragged by their fellow soldiers. Like as if they were drugged.

"Adrien, we don't have much time!"

Having enough of her antics, I grab her arm with force and stop her from moving.

"You knew that this was going to happen, didn't you?" I ask, the feeling of betrayal starting to cloud my thoughts. My heart drops as she stays silent. That is clearly an answer itself. She fights her way off my grip but I hold on to her tighter.

"Did you know that this was a trap?!" I shout, finally hearing the ticking of a bomb at the truck which we rode on our way here. My heart clenches and I am in shock with what's happening. I want to hear her damned answer myself. "Have you been using me this whole time?" I muster up to ask her, brokenheartedly.

"Forgive me, Adrien." She cries before forcing her lips on mine. I am taken by surprise thus making me lose my breath fast. Just as I gasp for air when she pulls away, she covers my nose and mouth with a cloth. I accidentally inhale through the cloth and a sweet smell enters my nose leaving me in a weak...and...sleepy...state.

"Trichloromethane..." I murmur, slowly losing my consciousness. I notice a tear slip through her eyes as she holds on to my body getting weaker by the second. "Chloroform..." I finally say before falling into a deep, deep...sleep.

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