#Lila spy early AU

[gale-gentlepenguin]

What if Lila was Gabriel's spy and Adrien's modeling partner from beginning?

So I think the best assumption on this would be if Gabriel hired Lila right after Volpina.

Because Gabriel didn’t know Lila existed until season 1. And with how isolated Gabriel was for the years Emilie was sick then dead.

-So for the sake of making it fit better. Let’s put the point right after collector.

____________________________________________

-After the events of Collector. Gabriel realized that he needed someone on the inside to keep an eye on Adrien.

-So he decided to make a secret deal

-He had Nathalie reach out to Lila. A secret deal to be made.

-He would make her lies real, in exchange for her being his eyes and ears on Adrien.

-Lila happily agreed. Her grudge against ladybug melting a bit.

-Lila arrived a week or so later. Back in school.

-When asked about her disappearance, Lila told them she was negotiating a modeling contract.

-Marinette was ready to call BS, but Lila did return earlier and she still felt bleh about the whole Volpina incident. And it turned out she did have proof.

-Lila was an official Gabriel brand model.

-Adrien just found out about it now. It was quite a surprise.

-Of course Lila is a bit more cautious with her lies, and her focus is more of getting info on Adrien.

-Most of season 2 has her in the background, but there was one shift.

-Lila kept tabs on Adrien but with her being a model, she didn’t need bigger lies to be called out.

-Marinette didn’t like Lila being closer to Adrien, but she already remembered the last time she confronted her, and with no apparent lies, she couldn’t call her out.

-Lila was indifferent to Marinette, so there was no beef.

-Lila was the one that finds the bee miraculous instead of Chloe!

-During style queen, Lila was supposedly one of the models and after Adrien was taken, Gabriel ordered her to follow or he would cancel the deal.

-Shockingly as she ran to get info she found the Bee miraculous.

-And that was a massive change of events.

[jknerd]

SPY X FAMILY OC: Erza-Wilmer Family

My first OC creations for Spy x Family AU~! Now, we know Forger family have their own secrets, but what about the neighbor~? Get ready to meet Erza-Wilmer family~!

Full Name: Esther Erza (eventually Wilmer)

Age: 28

Gender: Female

Nationality: Ethiopian Jew

Family: Zoya Haile (mother), Ezekiel Erza (first husband; deceased), Noah Erza (son), Lila Erza (daughter)

Academic background: Abraham High School (graduated), Esiophia Community College (dropped out)

Occupation: Diner waitress (former), cafeteria lady (former), seamstress

Nickname: Mrs. Erza, Miss Haile, Mama Esther, Mrs. Wilmer

Esther Erza (eventually, Esther Wilmer) is of Esiophian Judin (Ethiopian Jew) descent and is a neighbor of Forger Family in the same floor. Widowed, she raise her twin son and daughter; Noah and Lila, by herself. Married to her late husband Ezekiel in early age of 20s, she had to give up with educations and future to have a family. But when their children were 2, her husband was killed in the terror attack during his days of business trips caused by White Supremacist Terrorists, she took more than two jobs to raise her children. During those days, she encountered Archibald Wilmer the Head Lieutenant of SSS who was sent to her village for his community service. Thanks to his generosity and support, she and her children were able to move to Berlint and settled right next door to Forger's family. 

Since her first day living in Berlint, she was recognized as Esiophian Judin due to her accent, her appearance and her name. As Ostania is still not entirely remorseful to the Jews and other ethnicities for the atrocities from war, she endure mild insults and judgmental eyes of White Ostanians. However, she remained kind and patient, willing to sacrifice herself to give everything her children needs. Esther become close friend with Yor, and would often hang out. Despite not graduated the university or college, she has a gifted talented in cooking and sewing. Thus, temporarily worked as cafeteria lady in Eden College, then later as personal seamstress for Becky Blackbell who admires her dresses. Although touched by Archibald's kindness at first, she eventually grew to love the man and married him. This allowed her children to attend Eden College.

Full Name: Noah Erza (eventually Wilmer)

Age: 6

Gender: Male

Nationality: Ethiopian Jew

Family: Ezekiel Erza (father; deceased), Esther Erza (mother), Lila (twin sister), Archibald Wilmer (eventual stepfather)

Academic background: Eden College (enrolled)

Occupation: Student of Eden College

Nickname: Agent Aquarius (by Anya and Lila), Erza boy (by Damian, Emile and Ewen)

Full Name: Lila Erza (eventually Wilmer)

Age: 6

Gender: Female

Nationality: Ethiopian Jew

Family: Ezekiel Erza (father; deceased), Esther Erza (mother), Noah (twin brother), Archibald Wilmer (eventual stepfather)

Academic background: Eden College (enrolled)

Occupation: Student of Eden College

Nickname: Agent Night Fairy (by Anya and Noah), Erza girl (by Damian, Emile and Ewen)

Noah and Lila Erza (soon becomes Noah and Lila Wilmer) are children of Esther, living as Forger's neighbors, the twins are Anya's close friends. When their mother was in early 20s, she gave birth to them. However, when they were toddlers, their father was killed by the White Supremacist Terrorists with the bomb explosion. As their mother work 2 or 3 jobs, the twins had each other and weren't able to spend a lot time with their mother. When they were 5, they encounter SSS Head Lieutenant Archibald Wilmer who was offered to stay in their house by Esther. Soon, they quickly view him as their father figure through times he helped them. They are always overjoyed to see him every time he visit even after they moved to Berlint. When they become friends with Anya, they have grown curious about Eden College and wish to attend the same school with her. Fortunately, when their mother remarried to Archibald, they were able to attend Eden as they become close with Becky who loves their mother's dresses.

Noah is a rather intelligent boy who has passion for botany and herbs, wishes to grow enormous garden filled with them. Even though during the beginning days in school as students occasionally picked on him for being an Esiophian Judin, his enthusiasm and friendly aura is contagious. Soon, he becomes one of the few who is aware of Damian's crush on Anya.

Lila is a bright spunky girl who loves Spy Wars, like Anya, and enjoys all the hobbies that aren't "girl-oriented". Because of this as one of factors, she was often ridiculed by the kids in Eden. But she was beautiful as her mother, she gained a lot of friends. Among Damian's "goons", she gets along with Ewen the most as both share good intelligence and the passion for studying atmospheric science and constellations.

Full Name: Archibald Wilmer

Age: 32

Gender: Male

Nationality: Ostania

Family: Didier Wilmer (father), Eloise Wilmer (mother), Esther Erza (eventual wife), Noah (stepson), Lila (stepdaughter)

Academic background: Eden College (graduated), Berlint University (graduated)

Occupation: Reich Officer (former), SSS Head Lieutenant

Nickname: Archi, Officer Wilmer, Mr. Wilmer

Archibald Wilmer is the head Lieutenant of State Security Service in Ostania, comrade of Yuri Briar and eventual second husband of Esther, making him a stepfather to Noah and Lila. Born from influential military family as his father Didier Wilmer was of rank General and his mother Eloise was head nurse. It was expected for him to become a military officer. In tender age of 18, he entered the Reich Military where Ostania and Westalis were in war as his country was under the reign of dictator. Trained as killing machine, he killed both soldiers and innocents when ordered. But remorseful, he used his connections with other loyal comrades to help war prisoners (including Westalis soldiers) to escape. Children and their family who were in "Angele Facility" were no exception. As the war ended, he was recruited by SSS and since then he was helping immigrants to settle in Ostania while he continues to repent his sins. Suffering from PTSD and depression, he often thought of ending his own life...until he met Esther Erza during his community service in her village. Taken back by her beauty and kindness, he bonded with her children Noah and Lila. When the family was to move to Berlint, he helped them settle down and often escorted her to city hall or somewhere she needed to go for her employment. 

While he admit in secrecy he loves her, the dark shadow of his past fears would suffocate him. However, when Esther defended him from jealous SSS officer with her belief he is a good man, he become determined to protect her and her children. Aware of his love for her, Erza twins, Becky and Anya concocted matchmaking plans to set them together. Eventually, Archibald and Esther got married. Surprisingly, Archibald is first person to be AWARE of Loid's identity as WISE agent Twilight (because he saw the SAME WISE LOGO BADGE on Loid and certain places where it was discreetly signaled to the said spy). However, Archibald pretended he didn't know as he decided to see whether Loid would either choose family or his job when the Operation Strix is over. On the other hand, WISE view Archibald as one of the potential danger due to his excelled fighting skills of strength that can crush gun with bare hands. The running gags are every time Yuri is in crazed state of obsession over his own sister Yor or on the verge to "execute" Loid, Archibald would punch him or knocked him unconscious to prevent any disastrous shenanigans before apologizing to both.

[fridayturtle]

Miraculous Ladybug Rewrite/au

So uh about to post art for it so I figure I should post about it for the main long-term plot differences and premise difference. The main difference is instead of Master Fu only losing two miraculous, he loses all of them EXCEPT the ladybug, cat, and turtle. The main goal isn’t just to defeat hawkmoth, but to find and get all of the miraculous back to Master Fu as asked.

Overall premise differences:

Marinette's characterization is a bit different here, she's generally much more reclusive and only talks to Alya, and even then they're not the closest. She's only really close with family. She's more intensely bullied by Chloe.

Both of them were tested and chosen by their kwamis, not really master Fu, who's going to be a bit more of a mess in this au (he never got proper training afterall)

Both Chat Noir and Ladybug have contact with Master Fu fairly early on and equally

The miraculous cure has a time limit. It can only fix things for a few hours after the damage is done. (Chat Blanc's timeline chaos, for example, could never be fixed in any shape or form by the miracle cure.)

There's a secret society and research hidden from the public on the miraculous

As a result they do have to fight other miraculous holders every now and then, mainly in S1 (like the bee, the snake, and pig miraculous)

Not all of this is villainy, it's sometimes people trying to be heroes. Ladybug and Chat Noir try to teach others that not everyone should, or can be a hero though.

The Agreste family and Graham de Vanily family are all villains here working together

Emilie (Still kinda dead here) and Amelie have heavy involvement in the secret groups researching miraculous

Same miraculous for Nathalie and Gabriel, Amelie gets the mouse

A LOT of Amelie manipulating Gabriel

unfortunately going with sentimonster adrien in this au (which is the reason he's excluded from his family's villainy)

This is already a lot, the other big details are eventual fox holder Felix and eventual butterfly holder Emelie. Gonna put it under read more since it's already a long post, but here's the rest of main differences that happen.

Warning this gets long rip

This is pretty much a S2 Rundown:

Amelie using the mouse miraculous to spy on ladybug and chat noir (it's easy when you're small and everywhere to use it to spy)

Lila in S2 has the real fox miraculous, and in the fight against ladybug, she loses for Hawkmoth to come in and get it at the end (his first physical public appearance)

He then gives Felix the fox miraculous

Felix pretty much becomes a phantom thief with it called the Phantom Fox as a result lol. He steals jewelry across Paris (a chance to get the missing miraculous, and also enjoy a fun hobby of his)

Honestly he's just out here to waste so much of Ladybug and Chat Noir's time because it's fun for him (really big stunts of stealing stuff and just being a public bother, but Master Fu has emphasis that someone with a miraculous has to stop him lol)

Adrien's family is all together a lot but exclude him constantly despite a lot of episodes being him trying to impress them

Felix almost gets caught and revealed. Gabriel realizes how if he's caught there could be an investigation, and even worse, he could be mistaken for Adrien even if the miraculous is only taken for a minute.

I hate to make it edgy (this goes in with a later plot point though) but as a result Gabriel harms Felix pretty badly. Still personally debating what kind of injury or the specifics, but to the point where he has some facial injury to not be mistaken as Adrien, and for Felix to not be as casual when using the fox miraculous. After that, he stops making public appearances too (Adrien is told he went back to London for study-related reasons) and is slightly mute at times. Gabriel lies to Emilie that it was Ladybug and Chat Noir's doing to Emilie, causing her to start having actual resentment to them.

I know canon is going otherwise lately but Gabriel is fairly unaware about miraculous research and the potential of it. His goal is just to sacrifice Adrien for Emilie to come back to life, nothing bigger

He starts actually using Mayura and Amelie offensively in what would be S3. Happens pretty similarly to canon honestly with how Mayura is used, except for the main climax:

Gabriel does win one day

During this Gabriel, Marinette and Adrien all get to know each others identities (no one else)

They lost outside of the mansion but he takes Adrien back for his weird sacrifice thing and so that he can see Emilie the second she awakens

Even though wearing multiple miraculous is supposed to be hard in canon Hawkmoth wears all four lol, so in this au he's only able to wear two at once without hurting himself. So once in the mansion he's not wearing the butterfly and peacock

This clown gives them to Nathalie to hold onto

Gabriel dies instead of Adrien (woo!)

Because Adrien's right there he's able to take back the ladybug and cat miraculous

For clarification no Emilie doesn't notice she's out here dealing with way too much after being resurrected and having her husband die for her (and almost kill their sentimonster son )

Society is aware of their failure, the Agreste family is looked into, and they weren't able to miraculous cure the casualties or destruction away this time

It's not exactly. hard to steal from a sick woman. so Felix steals the butterfly and peacock miraculous

So it's generally a really big loss for Adrien and Marinette. They know each other's identities which is nice sure sure, but due to the major loss, disappointment in them from society, and the hurt Adrien feels a lot of the time spent is in somber comfort of each other instead. They're not sure what's going to happen next, so they keep their identities secret from society. They just have each other now.

Everything after is, well. even more different from canon because I went feral. Basically S4:

Ya'll know how I mentioned Marinette is a lot more reclusive? She's still bright as ladybug, but this effects that too. She really refused any interviews or explanations on herself or miraculous in the past, and now that really screws them over. A lot of distrust from society because they have no statements from her to know what's going on.

Amelie is so glad Gabriel died lmao, fake mourning for Emilie's sake though

Emilie created Adrien to just be her child, but not a full person. The fact he's in school, has a free will, and a life outside of her? Kind of kills her. She doesn't know how to interact with him really.

She falls into a similarly reclusive state to Gabriel when it comes to him with a bit more awkward-try-hard parent moments. She was ready to *own* a child not be an actual parent lol

Amelie gives Emelie the butterfly miraculous, and keeps the peacock for herself.

Because of the evidence of harm on Felix, during the investigation of the family they realize he has the fox but the family is able to plea that he was forced against his will and traumatized from it. (Amelie might be faking this, but doesn't know how true it is)

This is all just set up in episode 1 and the feelings happening throughout the season. Actual Stuff that happens though?

Emilie and Amelie make a plan to "adjust" the world they're in. Neither of them like how things have ended up for their sons, Emilie has been dead for a while and is bad at adjusting herself to the changes around her, so they may as well.

They just need for Emilie to play the hero and Amelie to play the villain to do that.

Nathalie isn't arrested, but is suspected so this is a pretty good pass for Amelie to use the peacock as long as she's hidden while using it. She makes sentimonsters that terrorize Paris.

Emilie meanwhile uses the power of the butterfly to become the supposedly-hero "The Monarch", who gives civilians the power to become heroes based on their passions or drive to defeat sentimonsters.

The Monarch just straight up contacts and makes a ton of interviews on the news. Explaining the miraculous, saying she's a member from the society researching miraculous who Felix gave the miraculous to (and why secret identities are important but she'll reveal that much), and bringing all that jazz that to light.

In contrast to LB and CN, she keeps saying how anyone can, and should be a hero.

Sooooo much passive aggressive shade on LB and CN during these lmao

A lot of her discussion about them is how they're just kids, "not trained or prepared", how she's the one not sure how they got the miraculous which is suspicious of them, with a lot of fake sympathy towards them too. (Mainly being it's not their fault, with her stating they were bound to fail eventually given how they are)

She does actually reach out to the folk she makes heroes to train and discuss things with them. A lot of it is honestly lowkey manipulating and trying to be a parental/role figure towards them while using them though

She especially reaches out to people who've tried to be heroes before and have some issues.

Like Chloe, reasoning LB and CN were wrong, how she's wrongly judged by society, how she deserves better and another chance, trying to be the kind figure Audrey isn't, etc.

The heroes don't always come after LB and CN. It's just The Monarch tells them to exclude them at best because they can't be trusted, and sometimes they *happen* to try and capture them because hey, maybe that'll impress The Monarch. And she doesn't really stop them from doing that lol

Felix is now using the fox miraculous pretty much 24/7. The police revealed the Phantom Fox was him and some info about what happened to him anyway (Not that Marinette trust that)

It's true the group of heroes The Monarch makes start off good but it starts to become an extreme "justice" group that'll get more intense over time, punishing whoever they see fit.

This ended up being so. So overly long so I'm gonna end it here since I have art and some more writing to show for the rest of it, but yeah. Just a big list of stuff about my au/rewrite, sorry it's kind of a mess but I'm having way too much fun with it.

[anorakofavalon]

Complications in Calcutta Chapter 1

REPOSTED, but this time with the entire first chapter included :)

Brutasha shippers! I’ve recently gotten back into writing fanfiction in order to practice some more writing, and though I usually stick to more fantasy-esque shows, I had a wonderful idea for a Brutasha ship and decided to write it out.

Also on AO3 and FFN.

Summary:

Because of unforeseen events, Fury is forced to send Agent Romanoff to collect Dr. Banner in Calcutta early or risk him being captured by Ross' men. When things inevitably go wrong, Bruce and Natasha are forced to go on the road in order to evade capture. All things considered, though, Natasha doesn't mind too much. The Doc is pleasant company - when he's around, that is. 

A/N: This fic was inspired by the song "Move!" by Saint Motel. Go check out the music video on YouTube. It's a 360 degree virtualizer and it's awesome. Anyways, I listened to the song and had a stray thought about post cards and, well, this was born.

This is a little bit AU, as it takes place before Loki swiped the Tesseract from SHIELD and Clint was brain-washed, maybe by a month or two. Which basically means that Natasha and Banner's meeting got started slightly earlier.

I hope you enjoy my writing, and where I plan to take both Banner and Romanoff.

This man, this dutiful man, has got this sense of devotion.

Chapter 1: A Spider Spies a Scientist

"Agent Romanoff."

The glass door inched closed behind her as she walked into his office with a cup of coffee in her hand. The Director was standing by a window, staring out into the blue of the skies with his hands characteristically clasped behind his back.

Clint used to joke that the glass was the only thing that kept him from reaching down below and controlling things on Earth himself. Sometimes she was sure it was the truth.

Natasha didn't watch him too long. She had been on the helicarrier so often these days that she had gotten sick of looking out of windows, but Nick must have seen something in the vastness that she couldn't.

She quirked a smile when he turned to her. "Fury."

"Long time no see."

She sipped on her coffee as she took a seat."It's been precisely a day and a half. Not that I'm complaining, but you don't usually call in on weekends."

He raised an eyebrow. "It's a Tuesday, Agent Romanoff."

"After dealing with Stark for the past couple of days? Let's just say I'm glad he's wrapped up business here. Feels like a Friday."

"Well then, the good news is it'll be an exciting weekend for you."

Natasha was quite certain that whatever he had in mind would most definitely not be exciting. "What've you got in mind? A party?"

"Something like that. There's been a… complication in Calcutta, Agent. It involves Dr. Banner."

That piqued her interest. Last she had heard, Banner had left Bella Coola and was making his way to Asia. "I'm assuming it's not a complication of the green variety."

"Not quite. Or at least not quite yet. General Ross and his friends seem to have localized our man. It looks like they intend to take him in or take him out. Whichever it is, I'd much rather they didn't."

Natasha grimaced."Ross would be operating out of his jurisdiction by sending men after Banner."

"He's operating on a different jurisdiction entirely. You've read Banner's file Romanoff, I'm sure you can put two and two together. Hate is an international sort of affair."

"You seem strangely attached to the Big Guy, Director." She smirked, glancing up from her raised cup. "Got a crush?"

She wasn't surprised she didn't get a rise out of him – she rarely did – but she was ready to bet that he was amused deep, deep inside.

"Let's just say I have a vested interest in Dr. Banner." He took a seat and pulled something up on a tablet. "I need you to track down and protect our esteemed green scientist. If possible, bring him to us. I was going to wait a little bit, but With Rogers de-icing a few days ago and Stark building up relationships here at SHIELD, we might need him sooner rather than later."

She read through the briefing briefly, pinpointing everything vital. Something caught her eye.

"He's helping people?"

"According to the rumor mill. Foreign man shows up in a city like that and starts offering medicine and care for free? He was bound to get noticed."

She presented her theory carefully. "He must be fairly in control of himself if he's confident enough to go into a city like Calcutta."

"I believe he learned a thing or two during his stay in Canada, Romanoff."

She pushed on. It was a futile question, in so far as neither she nor Fury could get a firm answer to that without talking to the man himself, but she was fishing for something else – she wanted Fury's opinions on the Doc. "So why Calcutta? Why not try to start a life somewhere else?"

Fury looked at her evenly. She was sure he knew what she was searching for, but he decided there was no harm in the truth – though he wouldn't give her all of it. "Bruce Banner is a man who was turned into something he never wanted to be, and hurt people he never wanted to hurt. Maybe he's trying to do what good he can. But if Ross gets his hand on him, that'll be good for no one."

Natasha contemplated it for a moment, and decided she was willing to take on the mission. "How many men has Ross sent out?"

Fury's lip twitched upward. "A significant number."

"So do I get to pick my team this time or is that a privilege reserved for Phil?"

"Agent Romanoff – you are the team."

Fury hadn't lied when he said it would be just her. Well, at least technically. She was the only agent, but she didn't at all come alone or unarmed. She had about twenty foot soldiers, all wielding Hulk-grade weaponry, and all very nervous. Agent Hill said they were Hulk-grade, but that was more of a theoretical. Natasha only hoped that today wouldn't be the day they found out if SHIELD's labs were up to par.

She read Banner's file over for a fourth-or-maybe-fourteenth time as their carrier began a landing sequence. In the picture on the file he bore a soft smile, a haphazardly arranged mop of black hair, and glasses that were ready to parachute off of his nose at any moment. Natasha had a hard time reconciling Dr. Banner with the monstrosity that had destroyed Harlem, but as she flicked down to the video she felt flutters of fear again.

People had a misconception that she never felt anything akin to fear as a spy or an assassin. It was a silly notion. Fear kept her alive. On a chemical level, the adrenaline rush is her biggest combat advantage against someone foolish enough not to be afraid. Fear was often wisdom in her line of work, and caution went a long way. But acting on that fear was what made her strong. The Hulk was different, in a sense. No amount of adrenaline would keep her alive against something like that.

"Agent, we have landed. What do we do?" said one of the soldiers.

She dismantled her fears briskly, for now. They wouldn't be useful yet.

"We're about a mile south of our base. I'm going to need to head out now in order to lure him there. Keep the carrier on stealth, and I want someone on the pilot's seat at all times until the mission is over. We could have a take-off at any moment in case containment fails."

Base was perhaps more comfortable of a word than their little shack probably deserved to have applied to it. But it was on the edge of the city, it was cheap, and it would do. More importantly, every inch was covered in cameras, microphones, and more than enough weapons for her to pull from. What she would lack in concealment with her outfit would be made up for on-location.

She looked the group over for a moment and continued. "I want a perimeter on the building after he steps in. Until then, keep to the trees and keep hidden. Don't close in until I say and do not shoot until I give an express order. We don't want to make mountains out of molehills boys."

A loose chuckle.

She looked out a window. The sun was beginning to dwindle, slowly. "Start making the trek to your positions at sundown. Look alive gentlemen."

Natasha stepped out of the carrier and made her way to the city. She'd need to get eyes on the target first and foremost. She was already dressed for the occasion, wearing a two piece outfit with a shawl over her shoulders. Natasha opted for earthy and neutral colors. If the Hulk were to come out to play, she wanted to blend in as much as possible with the colors of the shack. Regardless, it was form-fitting and seduction would be possible if need be – not that she expected such a need at all. Maybe it was intuition, but she highly doubted Banner would be persuaded by something like that.

She stepped into the crowd from the off-road she had taken, passing the shack, and began to make her way to the city proper. It was crowded and saturated by the scents of a variety of local foods, and the sounds of bikes ringing and people chattering.

She took a moment and turned a corner into a fabrics shop, where they had bolts of all types of silk and wool and cotton on display in a variety of colors and designs. She pulled out her phone and checked where their scouting agents had last seen Banner. Three blocks away in a green house, the text said. She almost grinned at the coincidence, but the mention of the color brought up her apprehension about the mission.

Sun was setting at last, and she received a message from the one she had put in charge on the carrier. The men were en route to their positions. Natasha pursed her lips and looked up through the fabrics. She stepped away from the shop and spotted a little girl. Beckoning her in the local tongue, Natasha crouched down to her eye level and spoke in the voice she had always used with Cooper and Lila Barton. She pulled out some money and gave her a little quest.

The earnest excitement in the girl's eyes gave Natasha all the assurance she needed that the girl would come through. Telling her where to find the shack, Natasha thanked her, and sent her off to the green house with Dr. Banner. She began her walk to the base.

She was in position when she heard the little girl's rushed steps through the shack and a brief little grunt as she popped out through a window.

Dr. Banner sighed and chuckled at once. "Should have got paid up-front Banner" he said to himself.

He was wearing a tweed jacket, slacks, and a flesh-pink dress shirt. Same color as her shawl. His hair was a mop of black, like in the picture, except longer, and lightly sprinkled with gray hairs. His shoulders were tense, likely because he was already aware he was in a trap, but he didn't seem overly concerned.

It was a strange sort of confidence. Like he was afraid of the world and afraid for it all at once.

She stepped out of her spot and put on her own brand of confidence, despite the fear creeping up through her spine. It was different seeing him in person. He could snap at any moment and she would die a very short and brutal death. With that thought she spoke up.

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress you picked a..." she let her eyes roam the shack, as if it was her first time there,"hell of a place to settle."

He turned around quickly enough. He was surprised she was a woman, and yet not. He put down his bag, tense, and took a step back. She wondered, briefly, if he was going to simply run away. He didn't.

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." Dr. Banner said, putting a little bit of distance between them. That wouldn't do. She needed to guide him closer to the table, where she at least had a weapon. Being seated would calm him.

She toyed with putting on a facade in her personality, but ultimately went with the truth. He was wary enough as it stood. The only person she was lying to now was herself, but being afraid was something she had learned to deal with long ago.

"So what is it? Yoga?" Her eyebrow quirked as she gazed at him steadily, openly. It was the first thought to cross her mind, but it also served the purpose of establishing repertoire, hopefully.

He didn't take it, though he was somewhat amused. Clearly his nerves outweighed his humor at the moment- he looked skittish. He wrung his hands together tightly, contemplating the shack as he nodded to himself. It was almost like he was comforting himself with his hands. He finished assessing his surroundings and began to move towards the window, further from her part of the room than before.

"You brought me to the edge of the city, smart." He commented as he inspected the darkness outside. "I, uh, I assume you have the place surrounded?"

Ten points to Dr. Banner. "Just you and me" she said. She moved to put her shawl on the chair near the table and stepped towards him, shoulders now bare. If it didn't work to appeal to his sensual side, then it created the illusion that she was at ease in his presence. He watched her, but asked a question before she could speak again.

"And your actress buddy?" He pointed to the room where the girl had made her little escape. "Is she a spy too? They start that young?"

His hands were clasped together once more as he yet again created a little bit of distance. It was getting to be a little frustrating but she answered evenly with a ghost of a shrug. Perhaps the truth would serve in her favor again. It was somewhat refreshing – the truth was a tool she didn't often have the occasion to use.

"I did."

"And who are you?"

"Natasha Romanoff."

He looked at her and stopped moving. He stood firmly in place, spine slightly straighter. Moment of truth. He made some more motions with his hands – why did he keep doing that? It was distracting. He looked down at the floor briefly before looking back up and speaking at last.

"Are you here to kill me Ms. Romanoff? Because," he shook his head, "that's not gonna work out...for everyone." A little smile, ironic and grim. Vaguely threatening.

She didn't deliberate too long on answering, but her heart was beating just a step too quick. "No, no, of course not." She stepped closer. It was like approaching a cornered animal. "I'm here on behalf of SHIELD."

He looked away from her and contemplated that. She wasn't sure if he was already familiar with the agency, but he didn't particularly seem to care. She imagined he wouldn't. A guy like him has probably heard from a lot of organizations with fancy acronyms.

"SHIELD," he sounded out, testing it. He looked to her briefly. She tilted her head, an invitation for him to ask what he wished to ask.

"How'd they find me?"

"We never lost you, doctor. We've… kept our distance." She smiled slightly, not that he'd see it. He was looking firmly at the ground. "Even helped keep other interested parties off your scent."

"Why?"

"Nick Fury seems to trust you." She kept her eyes open and as warm as she could. Non-threatening. "But now we need you to come in."

He didn't blink as he raised his head to answer her. "What if I said no?"

Now things were getting a little tense. She couldn't get a read on him, which threw her off balance more than she already was. Natasha couldn't figure out whether he was giving her a hypothesis, or presenting a firm answer.

She opted for more confidence. "I'll persuade you." She let her words hang in the air.

He didn't take the bait. His tongue swept briefly out of his mouth to wet his lips and he spoke quietly. "And what if the Other Guy says no?"

Her heart was a step and a half ahead of its normal pace. He scrutinized her now. It was a test, or maybe he just wanted to see how she would react to that.

She didn't drop her slight smile, and she began moving as she spoke, guiding him closer to her table. "You've been more than a year without an incident I don't think you want to break that streak." Confidence was the key.

She glanced back at him as she moved, briefly, and watched him push a wooden cradle back and forth as he responded.

"Well I don't every time get what I want." It was delivered in a soft voice, resigned, and she felt sympathy for the Doc. Couldn't he have children? That would have been on the file, right? Or maybe him and Elizabeth Ross had plans for a child before the accident?

She gave him a private moment as she pulled up a file on her phone. She also took the moment to give a status update to her soldiers. All was well for now.

Regardless, if the need arose, the moment she pulled any weapon from its spot in the room, they would know to deploy.

She glanced up at him from her spot. He hadn't moved from his position by the cradle, but his shoulders were somewhat less tense. He trusted her – to an extent.

"Doctor." She made sure her voice was all business now. He already knew she was an agent, so there was no need to pretend too much. Especially now that he was comfortable. "We're facing a potential global catastrophe."

He chuckled. "Oh those I actively try to avoid."

She appreciated the humor, but he had to know she was serious. She moved to the table.

"This," she showed him the phone from where he stood, but he'd have to come closer to see what it was, "is the tesseract." She took a seat and slid the phone across the table, inviting him to take a seat as well.

He got closer and pulled out a pair of reading glasses from his coat pocket. He approached the table and took the phone for a closer look, but he didn't sit down. That was unsettling. She had no idea how to get him to trust her.

"It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet." She informed him.

It was strange looking at him from where he stood. The science was clearly attractive to him, his eyes seemed curious from what she could tell as the blue of the screen illuminated his face.

He looked up, but when he didn't find her, lowered his gaze to where she was seated. It was a bemusing moment, and betrayed the fact that he was caught up in thought already.

"What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?"

She was impressed that he remembered the name of her superior. She had only mentioned it in passing, but he took in the small detail. His joke wasn't horrible either, but it dripped with self-depreciation and sarcasm in a heady mix that she would have found amusing if she wasn't so damn afraid.

She leaned forward to take back her phone. "He wants you to study it at one of our labs. We've had people analyze it, the best of the best but..." She put as much earnestness as she could in her voice.

"There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was..." she leaned back in her chair, seemingly relaxed and open, but she felt the mounting tension and her hand was carefully poised on her lap. Just under the table. Close to her gun. "That's where I'd be."

His face was amused. She had a bad feeling. "So Fury isn't after the monster?"

Fury very well might have been."Not that he's told me."

"And he tells you everything?" Ten more points to Dr. Banner. She wasn't overly fond of where this was heading.

"Talk to Fury, he needs you on this."

"Needs me in a cage?" Uh oh.

She made a mistake and tried for a little lie. She made to reach out to him across the table in a gesture of openness with one hand. The other edged closer to her weapon. "No one's going to put you in a cage -"

"Stop lying to me!" He slammed his hands on the table and her heart dropped faster than she ever could have imagined. When it picked up pace again less than a second later, it was sprinting in her chest. The gun was out and in her hand, cocked and ready to fire, her body in a defensive stance, and all of it happened before she even came close to registering exactly who she was pointing it at.

In a moment her entire perspective shifted, the entire conversation. She never had even a semblance of control here.

She pointed the weapon steadily, catching her breath. Any control she did have would have gone out the window when he turned green anyways. She suddenly rued the pistol in her hand. It would have been useless. But- maybe not. Banner wasn't green. As a matter of fact he didn't look even half as distressed as she felt.

He pulled back from the table with a little smirk. Her heart pounded so hard it almost hurt. "I'm sorry," he said, "that was mean."

He raised his hands in a conciliatory fashion. "I just wanted to see what you'd do."

She started at him disbelievingly over the barrel of her gun. Tears had gathered in her eyes, despite herself. She thought of all the people she would miss if she had died. The Bartons, first and foremost. Fury, Coulson, Hill. All of that could have been taken from her in a moment and she would have had no control over it. That was what scared her the most.

Banner continued softly. "Why don't we do this the easy way where you don't use -" he pointed to her weapon "that – and the other guy doesn't make a mess?"

"Okay? Natasha?" He had used her first name. His voice was comforting. It was a confirmation of sorts that he had seen right through the veil of confidence she had projected, not just to him but to herself.

She lowered her gun slowly and raised her hand to her earpiece.

"Stand down, we're good here" She instructed shakily..

She heard the weapons click as they began to step back. She, too, stepped away from Banner and re-considered her opinions. She knew he wasn't a fool, but he was quicker than she thought. He had outmaneuvered her entirely, and forced her on the defensive. That was rare.

The idea contrasted sharply with the sight of him now, wringing his hands together, staring at her wryly. "Just you and me, huh?"

A shaky breath from her end. She put the gun on the table and blinked away any lingering doubt. "Thirty points to Dr. Banner" she tried to joke.

He played along now. "You've been counting too? I counted forty, but my math may be wrong."

She chuckled, breathing still a little unstable, but better. "So, I take it you're coming along? I think you owe me after that scare."

He looked guilty. "I suppose I do. Sorry, again. It really was rude of me but I-" his hands wandered around. "I have trouble trusting."

She nodded and began to move to collect her shawl, but was forced quickly to freeze in place when she heard gunfire. Lots of it. Bruce heard it too. He looked up at her wildly. The question was obvious.

"Those weren't my men." She answered quickly. She tried to reach her lieutenant. The line was dead. Somebody cut off comms. More gunfire. She quickly came to a conclusion, and it wouldn't be good for anyone.

"Dr. Banner I need you to please stay calm and get close to the ground."

A bullet shot through one of the walls of the wooden shack, and the discharges got louder. She heard yelling loud and clear now, as well as grenades.

"Remember what I said about other interested parties?" She asked, crouching near him, pistol in hand.

He nodded, eyes wild.

She put her hand on his shoulder and looked deep into his eyes. She didn't have any facades now. "I think they've crashed ours. I need you to stay calm, okay? I swear I'm going to get you out of this and into safety."

Her heart was calmer now, in the face of gunfire. Guns she could deal with. Guns were familiar. She could control the situation.

Various more shots burst through the wooden shack, hitting the wall opposite them. The bullets were big. They passed right through those walls as well.

Natasha began to form a plan. Pistol raised, she chanced to rise from beneath the table. She began firing.

A/N: I hope you liked it! I have the rest of the story planned out; it's not going to be long, maybe around seven chapters, but I likely won't be able to get to typing up the next chapter because I have finals coming up soon. And Endgame, of course.

It was my first time writing anything set in the modern world, and definitely my first time writing Natasha, Fury, and Banner.

Please feel free to review!

[musicfeedsmysoul12]

More Mentor AU- and slightly better

Written cause why not and I’ve refined it for fun.

Background

-Hannah is the blonde Qunatic girl. (I know a lot of people call her a different name but I like the name Hannah)

-there were more to the team and as such, all Qunatic kids were on the team. It’s just that two didn’t have Miraculous but they were debating about it as the Zodiac Miraculous didn’t have an age limit.

-The suicide mission was so bad. Hannah has to do some next level shit including letting her Kwami possess her to get out of there. She could only save the Bee Miraculous as well. She couldn’t save the others. She had to leave their bodies behind and it is her greatest regret.

-Hannah and Emile were partners and legit soulmates. It’s why they worked so well together. If both of them liked girls they’d be down but Hannah is aro ace. Gabriel had to make room for Hannah in his life.

-Gabriel is a bit... not nicer but he’s... fond of Hannah. They used to get along well and were good friends and shit. Helped they both cared deeply for Emile. In fact- Gabriel would have been down with poly if Hannah ever was interested cause he trusted her that much and knew her and Emile’s relationship was that important to them. He basically dated both of them after all.

-Thing is though he’s not happy that Hannah is the only survivor and he’s rather rude and cruel. He regrets it deeply but she vanished and he doesn’t have her new contact info.

-Hannah nearly killed herself but Trixx stopped her. And he doesn’t let her out of his sight. Hannah was forced into therapy by Fu and Trixx and got a bit better. She still hasn’t reached out to Gabriel or anything when the Akuma’s start.

-Hannah, Tom, Bridgette, Emile, Felix and the others all went to the same school and were friendly. Hannah as well is avoiding Tom out of guilt as Bridgette was his cousin.

Marinette

-Having a legit mentor early on is actually very helpful to Marinette who is so thankful she has an adult she can trust. Like, it does take Marinette asking Tikki for advice for her to trust Hannah (Or, The Mentor as Hannah calls herself cause fuck superhero names) but when she does, Marinette is so happy.

-Thanks to Hannah being around and helping Marinette with fighting skills, tactics and stuff, Marinette is way faster with the fighting, and can get people out quicker. 

-Marinette is still the most intelligent and most creative of the team and Lucky Charm and the various ways to use it is all from her.

-Marinette is still the leader of the group, as the Mentor does not fight unless she’s directly needed. As well, she is still the only one to fix and purify. 

-Marinette is a bit more confident around Adrien here cause she has fantastic support in the Mentor who is willing to give advice for their daily lives... as long as they don’t mind her teasing them.

-Marinette is also more on top of things because the Mentor is the person to like make them bring their homework on patrol and will take breaks from teaching to cram their homework down their throats.

-Marinette deals with Lila a bit differently. As in, she does to the Mentor who suggests just giving Alya another interview and stressing the danger of lying about being her friend. It works, and when Lila comes back in Chameleon, Marinette is much more able to prove her wrong.

Adrien

-Adrien is less happy about an adult around but as the Mentor is more ‘I will train you and do this for you’ and less ‘listen to me’ he’s chill. 

-He does like the staff fighting skills and learning how to spar with the Mentor.

-Adrien actually gets a bit of a backbone as Adrien as the Mentor also teaches them to say no when they’re uncomfortable with things. This happens when Chat Noir is being hounded by a fan and the Mentor steps in. She explains how to handle those situations and that no means no, and that yes- that was assault when someone is trying to force a kiss. Or hanging off you.

-Adrien also gets a talking to a few times about his behaviour as Chat. The Mentor isn’t happy he got Theo Akumatized and forces him and Ladybug to sit down and listen to a speech about how ‘you can’t get jealous and lie’. Ladybug isn’t happy Chat tried to lie to her how it happened.

-The Mentor threatens to take away the ring in Syren when she finds Adrien arguing with Plagg. She tells him to his face that he only has a handful of chances and he’s blowing them because he’s being an awful partner and friend. She forces him to sit through multiple speeches about consent, how not be a pushy nice guy and so on.

Hannah

-Hannah is still an alcoholic and she struggles hard with it. Like she’s mostly stopped drinking daily but she’s still a heavy drinker when she knows she can be. It’s not healthy and Trixx is worried.

-Her becoming the mentor for the heroes helped a lot with her mental health though. And her drinking is actually getting better. 

-The PTSD from being possessed is hard cause at not like an Akuma or anything- it was so messed up it literally left scars in her soul. Add in the other shit? Hannah is lucky. But she’s getting better.

-Hannah is open about the magic not working on her cause a) she’s the Fox. Illusions are her thing. B) cause she’s older then them and a defensive mechanism is that she can see through the magic so she can help them. (Hawkmoth can’t cause he wants to do them harm. She wants to help.) because of this, she’s open to them knowing who she is but they don’t accept.

-Hannah is the person to do interviews with the media and explain things. She smooths things over and uses all of her spy skills. She also deals with rabid fans better.

Meeting and Reveal

-Hannah eventually works up the nerve to go and speak to Gabriel and Adrien and oh fuck she knows that face.

-She hides it though (spy) and begins to create a friendship with Adrien and rebuilds her relationship with Gabriel.

-She tells edited stories about her spy days and Emile and even mentions a relative of one of their companions in Paris. Which- now they have to meet them.

-“Tom Dupain!” Is her answer and Adrien knows his kid which... “Wow, I forgot he had a kid.” “Don’t you know them?” “Kinda? I went to school with him and Bridgette and Félix and all them but Tom and I were only buddies for sports.”

-So Gabriel invites them over cause he wants to keep the few things he has of his wife with him and Hannah is one of them. (He also hides Nooroo because he does not want any chance of discovery. Meanwhile, Plagg and Trixx are cackling)

-Fuck Hannah knows this face to. Still, she tells more tales and is kinda the starting point for Marinette and Adrien to become better friends as she makes them hang out together and with her because she wants Marinette to be able to talk dammit.

-Hannah ends up discovering Nooroo in the second season and she ends up transforming in her rage. She is NOT happy.

Random

-Hannah finds the love-square hilarious and is eager for them to know.

-Ladybug meets Fu first and she tells them. Chat isn’t happy but Hannah is like “Yeah, I know how that is. I was the last to know- and that was only cause I didn’t resonate as strongly as the others did.” [yes Resonation is a thing here]

-Which leads to the talk and Chat also is kinda pulled to the side and given another talk about boundaries cause Hannah was more of a hands-off person earlier but this is her godson and she wants him to be a gentleman.

-Marinette asks Hannah in her mentor form for help with choosing the Bee and Hannah is like: no clue. Who do you think would be respectful, is a leader and willing to fight for what they believe in?

-Kagami gets the Bee.

[mellieartcorner]

The Princess and The Prince Thief- Chapter Seven: A Miraculous Fanfiction

Summary: Princess Marinette of the Kingdom of Creaturae was very happy. Her reasons?-The notorious thief Chat Noir was locked up, her 21st birthday was soon, and she was going to become Queen. That is, until it was decided that she had to marry the mysterious Prince Adrien of the Kingdom of Mortem in order to become Queen. To make matters worse, Chat Noir escaped from jail and is visiting her almost every night. Having to run a kingdom is bad enough, but falling in love with a thief and a prince is the hardest part of all.

Genre: Fiction-Fantasy/Romance AU

Rated: T for Teen- Ages 15+

Patreon Supporters get Chapters a whole day early! For only $5 a month, you can too! Patreon.com/mellie711

Fanfiction.net

Ao3

Words:3,234

Chapter Seven

The Fox and The Turtle -

Nino waited patiently outside of the amphitheater as delegates were pouring out, their loud chatter indistinguishable. Princess Marinette had already left with her family. Adrien hurried after her. Nino knew it was only a matter of time before they found one another and talked this over. That wasn’t the best way that Council meeting could have happened, but what’s done is done. Nino’s job now, was to find out how deep King Gabriel’s claws were in the other kingdoms.

A chilly breeze fluttered past, causing Nino to place his green hood over his head for protection. His house crest highlighted his wool jacket, the hunter green and golden embroidery handmade in the Kingdom of Testudo. Bulla, his cousin and Queen Regent, exited the arena, her brown hair high in a ponytail. Her diamond crown was two sizes too small for her big head, her nose pointy, and her back slightly humped. Her dress was a light blue color, with the turtle resting on her back. Not the prettiest woman in the world, even for a Queen.

“Bulla,” Nino stated, coming up to her in haste as she continued walking forward. Her two rather large and identical looking bodyguards raised face as he approached.

“What do you want, cousin?” Bulla responded with a cold demeanor, her eyes facing forward as she came closer to her horse drawn stagecoach. She finally turned to him, crossing her arms over her chest. Some other delegates gazed over, curious at their interaction.

“We need to talk. Are you staying at the palace?” Nino shot a sideways stare at the bystanders, making them disapant.

Bulla sighed, nodding, “If you must know, yes. There is apparently open rooms there since someone’s charge wanted to sleep in an old staff house. We will leave in the morning for Testudo.”

“It isn’t a-oh forget it,” Nino commented, “Meet me at the ‘old staff house’ at sundown tonight, please.”

A smirk graced the corner of the woman’s lips, as she grabbed the handle to lift herself inside the turnout. She sat down, while her guards took positions as driver and shooter. Closing the small door, Bulla leaned out of the window and winked.

   “Make me your famous bubble cookies, and I’ll be there.”

The driver made a clicking noise, making the horses trot off towards the palace. Nino grumbled under his breath at his cousin, knowing those cookies are going to take him a while to make. But he needed her information, since she was one of the first Nino and Adrien knew of that King Gabriel threatened. Turning around, the young Knight came face to face with Princess Lila, her face dark and hard. At this point, it was just them now outside of the area. She rose up to meet him, her eyes flashing uncertainty.

“I know what you are doing,” she whispered softly, almost too quietly, “It won’t work. Hawkmoth has it in for all of us.” Her unusual nervousness reflected in her mannerisms.

“Hawkmoth?” Nino questioned in equality hushed tones.

Lila rolled back onto her feet, her face now unreadable and her demetour normal.

“Watch out for the butterflies,” the young Princess stated nonchalantly, twirling her hair as she turned around to walk away. Processing this information, Nino stared off into the distance. Lila was not know for her reliable information, but this was also the first time she actually addressed him without being cruel about it.

Her words reverberated through him. ‘Watch out for the butterflies’ uh? What butterflies? And Hawkmoth? A code word? Bulla should know the answers to this, which means a lot of bubble cookies to make. Nino hurried past delegates,advisors, and the people of Creaturae to the palace, racing the sun there.

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“That could have gone a whole lot better,” Alya turned to her older sister, Lady Nora, as they casually walked back towards Creaturae palace through the town. Nora, being taller, broad in the shoulders, and skinny, caused many men walking by to turn their heads in confusion and admiration. But she ignored them all, looking down at her young sister with pride and appreciation.

“Prince Adrien even asked you where Marinette went to, right?” Nora asked, smirking and crossing her arms over her chest as they traversed. The rest of the Cesire family left on horse, but Alya and Nora wanted to spend some time together.

“I wouldn’t even talk to him,” Alya commented, returning the smile, “He will find her himself. It is better that way anyway.”

“Why do you think the crowd went in an uproar like that?”

Alya stopped in front of a food vendor, paying for a jar of homemade jam. The vendor was smiling graciously and accepted the coins, while Alya replied back to her sister, “Something wasn’t right with that. I think you-know-who was doing something.” Code words passed between them, not truly knowing who was a spy and who wasn’t.

Nora simply nodded back, understanding.

The two ladies of the House of Cesaire kept their steady pace through the crowds, enjoying the nice autumn weather and the busy streets. Alya held tightly her blackberry jam, thoughts racing. The world was tense, with the marriage easing some minds, but rumors as they walked were mostly on Chat Noir’s appearance and the fact that King Gabriel and Prince Adrien are staying in Creaturae till the wedding. Nora and Alya, in reality, took this route to hear the people. With their subtracted status, they weren’t truly seen as royalty here, just rich upper class, making others around them less afraid of speaking the truth.

As the sun was giving to the horizon, sunset was nearing in about an hour or so. Alya and Nora made it back to the palace, passing the Guest House Lord Nino and Prince Adrien were staying in. The smell of warm cookies drifted from a open window, causing Alya to stop short. She looked up to see smoke pouring from the chimney. Her sister kept walking for a moment before looking back.

“Lil sis?”

Alya waved, “Go on, big sis. I’ll catch up with you later. I need to ask Lord Lahifee a question.”

Nora raised an eyebrow and smirked, “Well tell turtle-boy I said hello.” With that, the older woman turned and walked towards the entrance of the palace. Alya faced the stone building, raised her hand, and knocked on the door. A loud bang and a clash of glass echoed on the other side, when suddenly Lord Nino opened the door with a huff.

“Lady Alya!” Nino exclaimed, wiping flour from his face and hands. He bowed briefly, out of breath. A speck of flour still remained on his nose, his glasses dirty, and a green apron hung around his chest. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Clearly,” Alya replied, a smile gracing her lips as she reached up with her finger and scraped off the last of the flour from Nino’s nose. The soft touch sparked a warmth between them, but Alya brushed it off quickly. Nino blushed slightly and opened the door further for Alya to step inside.

“I haven’t seen Princess Marinette since the Council meeting,” Nino began, racing back to the kitchen to clean up his mess. He spoke louder as he cleaned, “But you are more than welcome to stay until my cousin arrives.”

“I’m not here for Marinette,” Alya responded, taking in the warm fire and gazing down at a beautiful violin stationed beside a leather chair. She smiled widely and said in just as loud of tones, “I wanted to see you.”

Another loud crash from the kitchen caused Alya to jump and head steadfast towards the situation. She saw Nino with a broom, cleaning up glass fragments and a deep red flush on his face. He was adorable, and obviously a part-time chef.

Alya giggled, “Need some help?”

Nino didn’t meet her gaze but nodded, reaching for a pan to scoop up the glass. “Can you check on the cookies in the oven? If they are blue, then they are done.”

‘Blue..cookies?’ Alya mentally questioned but shuffled to the brick oven anyway. She placed her jam jar on the counter so as not to have it smashed to pieces like glass seems to become in this kitchen. Grabbing a dish towel, she opened the small metal door that closed off the brick oven and peeped inside. A rack of a dozen or so….blue cookies sat alof from the wood burning fire. “They’re done,” Alya responded, reaching for the peel to pull them out. Nino came up beside her, having thrown away the broken glass, and grabbed the peel from her gently. Their hands touched, either the warmth of the oven or their own electricity overcoming them.

“I’ll...finished them up. Thanks, Lady Alya.”

“Alya, just, Alya. Even when I was a princess, I hated titles.”

Nino flashed a big smile, nodding, “Just Alya then.” He reached in the oven and pulled out the cookie tray, placing it on the nearby countertop. The cookies jiggled a bit in the middle like soft dough, but were, in fact, very rich deep blue and smelled amazing.

“What’s the occasion?” Alya asked, as she watched Nino clean himself up a bit and take off his apron.

“My cousin is coming, and she demanded I make her my famous bubble cookies. She used to eat them all the time with our grandmother, and I am the only one in the family who can replicate the recipe correctly.” Nino laughed, cleaning up some dishes in the sink. His tone shifted a bit as he said, “I hope she can help me with a bit of a problem that has come up.”

Alya nodded, her intuition on point, “King Gabriel.”

Nino widened his eyes and gazed over at his guest, then snorted, “You are very clever, Alya. Yes, Bulla knows a lot more than she lets on about King Gabriel’s intentions. After the meeting today, I want to know who all can turn at any moment once Marinette and Adrien get married.”

Alya crossed her arms and leaned onto the adjacent wall, pondering,”I didn’t like how today went either. While walking back here through town, my sister and I heard many towns people worried about Chat Noir as well. I didn’t care for how King Gabriel seemed to brush off that subject.”

Nino stopped his cleaning, facing Alya completely with a worried look, “You still think Chat Noir is working with King Gabriel?”

“I do. After meeting Prince Adrien at the library and learning about the Ring of Plagg, I realized that if King Gabriel had that as well as the Earrings of Tikki, he would be unstoppable.” Alya turned her head to look at the hardening cookies, careful of her words, “A thief and a rotten King, as queer but as complete as those cookies.”

A heavy sigh escaped Nino’s lips, “Alya I-”

KnockKnoCKKNOCK

Three deafening attempts at a knock silenced Nino, causing his heart to leap madly.

He grabbed Alya in haste, “Hide, quickly!” Her objections were cut short as Nino opened a small coat closet and shoved Alya inside, the fur coats cocooning her. Another set of bangs reverberated, before Nino grabbed the door handle and pulled.

“Bulla! You’re e-early!” He exclaimed, his cousin charging herself inside without a proper introduction. Her guards waited outside of the door on either side, their stiffness uncomfortable. Nino shut the door with his back, sweat forming on his brow. Bulla turned to look at him, annoyance dripping.

“Well?...Where are the cookies?”

“Right! The Cookies!” Nino responded, brushing pass the closet with Alya inside and leading his cousin into the kitchen. “They just came out not a moment ago, nice and fresh.” Bulla pushed him aside and grabbed a still steaming cookie, taking a big bite and rolling her eyes back in pleasure.

“So good,” she commented, finishing off the piece in her hand and grabbing another, shoving that in her mouth as well. Crumbs fell from her lips, and Nino shifted his face to disgust. He was related to his woman, though that was hard to believe right now. Focusing on the task at hand, he grabbed her hand before she reached for her fourth cookie, looking hard into her eyes.

“No more cookies until you talk to me about King Gabriel. Tell me his plan, who all he has controlled, and what is next.”

Bulla swallowed hard, her eyes dashing around the room. She rushed to close the window that was in the kitchen, closed the oven door, and even the door that shut the kitchen off from the rest of the house. She sat down at the small breakfast table, gestureing Nino to sit across from her. He slowly took a seat, his cousin’s fear rippling and worrying him.

“Hawkmoth has got almost every kingdom under his control,” Bulla began, leaning forward.

“Wait-Hawkmoth? You mean King Gabriel?”

Bulla waved off Nino’s ignorance.“Yes, King Gabriel. Those of us who agreed to become part of his new kingdom call him Hawkmoth. That’s what he wants, you know? To form one singular kingdom under his reign.” Nino grew rigid, letting his cousin finish, “Since the untimely death of Queen Emile, Hawkmoth has felt it is only fitting that all of the Seven Kingdoms join together under one. We, the royals of the Seven Kingdoms, could have all done something to help her, he believed, but we didn’t. He has been planning a takeover ever since. He has the Kingdoms of Vulpus, half of Draconus, Apis, and supposedly Testudo under his control.”

Nino let in a deep breath, his theories confirmed. Adrien was not going to like this.

“But Queen Emile died of an accident. Why does he think the magick of the royal families could have helped her?” Nino challenged.

Bulla leaned back into her chair, her face like stone. “Not just any magick. Creaturae magick. The magick of life itself. But in order for Creaturae to gain permission to do something, the council had to vote. They all voted ‘no’, on the account that no one should be brought back from the dead, even royalty.”  

Nino brought his fingers to his chin, deeply lost in thought. He sighed again, standing up and grabbing a few cookies. He handed them over to Bulla, asking one final question as she munched. “What’s the next move?”

She swallowed two cookies before saying, “Let the marriage happen, only to kill Prince Adrien and Princess Marinette to take over Creaturae. Chat Noir will be framed too, for the murder.”

A raucous thud alerted both Nino and Bulla from outside the kitchen, as well as a soft moan. Nino realized it was Alya, so he coughed uncontrollably and drew Bulla’s attention back to him. “Must have been the wind,” he casually stated, opening the door and letting Bulla walk out to see no one there. “Thank you again, for stopping by. I hope you liked the cookies,” Nino obnoxiously pushed Bulla closer to the door. “Adrien will be back soon, so thank you again.”

Bulla began to try to speak, but Nino opened the door and pushed her out. “I hope to see you at the wedding, cousin!” He exclaimed, before slamming the door and locking her out. Letting out a deep exhale, Nino let his back and head fall onto the wooden door. Alya busted out of the fur nightmare, untangling herself. She looked up at him, her eyes scared. “Was all of that true, what she said?”

Nino nodded, taking his eyes away from the beautiful woman’s fearful form, “Yes. Bulla doesn’t lie. This information was confirmed earlier today by Princess Lila, as well.”

“Princess Lila! You can not trust her! She is a manipulative bitch!” Alya shouted, drawing a fist and pounding it onto the back of a nearby chair. Nino shook his head, coming closer to Alya and placing a hand over her tight fist.

“I do not think she lied this time, since Bulla said the same things. We have to figure out how to protect Adrien and Princess Marinette.” He squeezed his hand around her own, feeling her calm down. “I know Marinette is just as special to you as Adrien is to me. I swore on my family and my position to never let anything happen to him,” Nino let a small smile tug at the corner of his lips. “The fox and the turtle are great protectors after all.” He reached out his other hand for Alya to shake it in agreement. Alya stared deeply into Nino’s brown gems that held such confidence, her heart skipping a beat. She pushed his hand away and grabbed him in a massive hug, gripping tight. Nino tried to retract for a moment, his red hue returning, but he returned the hug full force enjoying the comfort and the familiarity that came with being in this embrace.

Suddenly, a cacophony outside shook the two emerging lovers from their union.

“What in the Gods name was that?!,” a bewildered Nino demanded, as they both rocketed outside.

They were greeted with Adrien punching Bulla right across the face, knocking her down with a enormous thud. Bulla’s guards were nowhere to be found, and Marinette was standing aloft with horrified eyes and clinging a book to her chest.

“What the hell, man?!” Nino screamed, running to his cousin only to be stopped short by Alya. She pointed to Bulla’s face, which was outlined with a hazy purple tattoo that looked oddly like a butterfly. Her eyes were darkened, almost black and her hair was standing on end. Bulla rose back up easy, taking a fighting stance towards Adrien.

“She is possessed by something! I saw it enter her body!” Adrien cried out, dodging to avoid another swing. Nino dashed in front of Adrien, drawing out his magick. A massive rich green turtle shield exploded from Nino’s hands, bracing Bulla’s oncoming storm of punches and scratches.

“Go to the Princess!” Nino demanded, letting Adrien race to Marinette from under cover. Bulla kept pounding and pounding on the shield, her face lit brightly by the tattoo. Erupting through the comotion came a sweet solemn melody, startling both Nino and Bulla. They both turned to see Alya, who had apparently raced back inside to grab Nino’s violin. Her hands began to glow a illuminating orange color as she played the strings, the music filling the air. Bulla groaned deeply, dragging her feet towards Alya.

“Wait! Stop!” Nino shouted, trying to grab Bulla. But the woman dismissed him and fell to her knees, staring star-struck at Alya’s playing. Tears began to fall down the Queen’s face as the harmony over took her.

Alya slowly ceased her playing, carefully watching Bulla still stare at her with clouded judgement. Marinette and Adrien approached Bulla from the back; Adrien standing next to Nino as Marinette continued forward. The young Princess lowered herself beside Bulla, staring at the deranged woman with pity.

“I wonder…” whispered Marinette softly, lifting her hand up to Bulla’s face. A warm crimson hue decorated Marinette’s fingers and touched Bulla like a hurt babe, caressing her cheek with reverence. The warm touch paraded through Bulla, healing her almost instantly. Through her mouth, came out a lavender butterfly. It fluttered away into the night, it’s wing beats hard and distressed..

“Goodbye little butterfly,” Marinette’s voice was barely above a whisper, as Bulla’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she fell into Marinette’s lap, unconscious.