Chapter 14: Collision Course

"I can't believe it," Adrien breathed. "I mean, I thought it was crazy finding out the three of them worked together, but four? You, too? Unbelievable!"

"Insane, right?" Chloe laughed. "I was in perpetual shock my whole first year working here."

"I think I'm following in your footsteps," Adrien admitted.

He couldn't get the stupid smile to leave his face. All this time he'd been away, Chloe hadn't been scraping by without him like he'd once feared—she'd flourished. She sat tall before him, strong and sure. The years had been kind to her, matching Chloe's routine claims from when they'd talked.

Between work and trying to keep himself busy, staying in touch with Chloe was near impossible. They had managed, holding infrequent video chats and phone calls. When they both found the time in their schedules, the calls would last for hours. They'd talk about anything and everything in that span of time. Everything except, as it seemed, Chloe's place of work.

Adrien looked around the room. It had emptied out, the others leaving to allow them to catch up. He lowered his voice anyway.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" Adrien asked, eyes searching. "I know you told me you were working for a fashion company, but you always dodged giving me a name. Why didn't you want me to know?" There was a slight edge of hurt in his voice.

Chloe's shoulders collapsed. "You were... I was worried you weren't ready," she explained. "You were trying to figure out how to get better at your own pace, and you never got around to contacting any of your old friends besides me, so I just thought..." Chloe trailed off, shaking her head. "I thought you weren't ready to take that step. I knew you'd want to visit DCD if I mentioned it, so I didn't out of fear that you'd be forcing yourself to dig up old memories before you could handle it." Chloe squeezed his hands. If anyone could understand the struggle of overcoming the past, it would be her. "I didn't want to jeopardize you getting better," Chloe finished sincerely.

Lurking in her eyes, however, there still remained some doubt as to if he was even prepared to handle facing the people of his past today.

"Well, I think you made the right call. The timing feels pretty damn right to me," Adrien declared, erasing all doubt.

He felt truth ring in his words. It did feel right to be here. Every decision Adrien had made since committing to finding happiness had somehow brought him to this place and these people. Be it a coincidence or fate, Adrien didn't care—he had found where he belonged.

Knuckles rapping on the door interrupted, quickly followed by Nathanaël's head popping into the room.

"Last call if either of you wanted a chocolate filled doughnut." Nathanaël stood in the doorway, arm outstretched to offer the remaining two doughnuts in the pastry box. "Alya took half the box already, so you better get them before they're gone."

"Should you really be offering models doughnuts?" Chloe asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I'm fairly sure Alya would find a way to call withholding doughnuts employee abuse," Nathanaël countered.

Chloe shrugged in agreement. "I'll pass."

"I'm gonna pass, too," Adrien seconded.

"Your loss," Nathanaël said, taking a doughnut for himself. After taking a chocolatey bite, he seemed to remember his original reason for knocking. "Oh, right, and Alya told me to get you," he nodded to Chloe, "to fill out the new paperwork with me. And you," he nodded to Adrien, "need to see Marinette for measurements and alterations. Chloe's modeled enough for us in the past that we already have her measurements and a specialized mannequin, so she's all set in that department."

"Okay, sure," Adrien said. Both he and Chloe stood to leave. "When should I see her?"

"Yesterday!" The shout squeezed its way past Nathanaël from the outside hall. Approaching clicks of shoes on tile and a verbal avalanche announced Alya as she breezed by. "We're insanely behind, and now I've got to rework to sell this whole 'couple' angle. The photoshoot is around the corner, and we need to generate even more publicity before the fashion show. I need to contact the interviewers, and I've got to pull strings and get another invite... Ugh! I'm going to be making phone calls and sending emails non-stop!"

"Easy there," Nathanaël called as Alya tore down the hallway. He held up the last untouched doughnut as a peace offering. "Would another one make you feel better?"

"This isn't a Snickers commercial, Nathanaël!" Alya cried out as she passed the man with flaming hair. Despite her words, a moment later, Alya had backtracked and snatched the pastry from his grasp. "But yes."

Adrien muffled his chuckle. "Was that more to save her sanity or ours?"

Nathanaël took another bite and pointed at the blonde. "Yes," he simply answered. With an impish grin, Nathanaël slipped out the door, Chloe falling in step behind him. "Marinette should be down a floor. Good luck, man!"

As the elevator descended, Adrien could feel his heart rise into his throat. He hoped that Nathanaël was right, that when it came to Marinette, luck would finally be on his side.

"Alya just leaves sweets lying around all the time! It's wonderful!" Tikki rejoiced as she worked her way through the chocolate filling. This treat was a particular favorite of hers. "I don't even think she's suspicious! She just thinks everyone likes them so much that they'll swipe something if she leaves it unattended for too long!"

"Uh-huh. Yeah. Definitely." Plagg was paying zero attention. Not that Tikki would know, being a bit preoccupied at the moment. His whiskers twitched in anticipation as Chloe and Adrien split ways. Instead of following his partner like he naturally would, the kwami decided to make a slight detour.

"I think I'm going to explore the vents a little more," Plagg said, drifting in the direction Chloe was traveling.

Tikki nodded. "Go ahead, I'll meet you downstairs and catch you up if you miss anything." Licking her hands clean, the spotted kwami flitted off, no questions asked.

Wasting no time, Plagg wove cleanly through the ventilation system, making sure to always keep Chloe in sight. He watched carefully, not wanting any opportunity to slip by. She was his ticket to getting Adrien back, he was sure of it. All Plagg needed was a chance to talk to Chloe when she was alone, and they'd be able to work as a team to get Adrien feeling better and wearing his ring again.

He could wait. He could be patient. Plagg would do whatever it took to get back his Chat Noir.

The gentle brush of a tape measure around Adrien's neck felt like the constriction of a python under all his nerves. Adrien kept himself from swallowing, but Marinette could sense his anxiousness nonetheless.

"You're all fidgety," Marinette commented. It was the polite way of pointing out how he would tense under her touch and his eyes would dart to and from her face indecisively. "Relax a bit. I don't bite," she promised. "Though if you don't keep still, you might become a pincushion once I start pinning."

Adrien laughed. "Sorry," he apologized, making an effort to ease his breathing and twitchy muscles. "I guess I'm just a bit... Out of sorts lately."

Marinette hummed in acknowledgement. Circling Adrien, she moved to measure the breadth of his shoulders. "I'm told it can be quite unsettling at first," she said. "Being around me, that is. The people I don't recognize right off the bat seem to feel it the most."

"People have told you that to your face?" Adrien asked in disbelief. His disbelief stemmed more from the fact that she'd immediately pinpointed what was wrong. Nothing got past this woman.

"More or less," Marinette said, remaining steady in her work. "I understand where they're coming from though—the feeling is fairly mutual. I'm different from how they remember me, and I rarely remember all that I should about them. The strangeness can be unnerving at first." She then smiled. Adrien couldn't see her face, but he could hear it in her voice. "But I've come to really like getting to know a person a second time. It's crazy to know a person was once a friend and that they want to become one all over again. You know the end result, but the getting there is still kind of a mystery." Finished, Marinette walked around to face Adrien. She sent him a wink. "Unraveling that mystery is my favorite part."

Adrien, lacking for words, watched as she strode over to take a dress shirt, suit jacket, and matching pants off a nearby rack. He felt slightly relieved as she handed him the pieces to wear. Standing under her gaze in only underwear made Adrien more convinced than ever that the woman could see straight through him. Slipping into the garments at least gave him the allusion that he was less transparent. When he had them on, Adrien didn't make any adjustments, allowing Marinette to manipulate the clothing to her liking.

"So, I'm curious," Marinette mused as she opened a container of pins. "What's so different to you? How did we act around each other before?"

Adrien considered for a moment. "I guess it's your confidence. You're a lot more outgoing and sure of yourself," he said, watching her hands gracefully work. "You were pretty shy before. That's how you were around me anyway. With me, you kind of kept quiet, but whenever I saw you with someone else, you'd be talking up a storm. When we did talk though, you were always super nice. So, we were friends. Maybe not the closest, but definitely good friends." Adrien left it at that, feeling awkward. It felt so odd telling her about herself.

"Huh." Marinette paused to look up. "Well, if it's alright with you, I'd rather keep talking to you. I happen to quite like it," she said mirthfully, flashing him a playful grin.

"See! There! That's what I'm talking about," Adrien cried out. "I don't think I ever heard you crack a joke before!"

The Marinette he once knew was never this openly free with him. In this new Marinette, however, Adrien got to see a clever, daring, vivacious side of the girl that he'd never experienced. It was a surprise, for sure, but undoubtedly a welcomed one. Adrien realized, after a moment, that these were some of the same characteristics he had loved in Ladybug. Before Adrien could entertain that thought and fall down a slippery slope, Marinette pulled him out of his head.

"Let me know when you get sick of hearing them," she said, words slightly muffled by the pins carefully positioned between her upturned lips. "Nathanaël should be able to fashion you a pair of earplugs."

Adrien chuckled. "Nah, thanks for offering. I happen to quite like it," he threw her own words back her way. Hearing her then laugh under her breath brought a smile to his face.

There was a lapse in conversation, and they let a companionable silence settle. Adrien, finally relaxed, took the time to look around the room. It was spacious, but filled to the brim with Marinette's accomplishments. The number of clothing racks was staggering; the thought that it had all been accomplished by the single woman before him in a handful of years was even more impressive.

"You were always so motivated," Adrien said, breaking the lull. "Seeing DCD and all its success in such a short period of time... I feel only someone like you could pull this off. Any other person might let an accident like yours hold them back, but not you." Adrien snorted. "If anything, it probably only made you more driven."

"Like I'd let a near death experience or amnesia hold me back," the designer scoffed. Marinette's fingers pulled, placed, and pinned without her supervision, their natural instinct at work. Finishing a particularly troublesome spot, she then paused, thumbing over the fabric. "Losing a chunk of my life just made me want to live the rest of it to the fullest. Work harder, love more, worry less—that kind of thing."

In a sudden gust of motion, Marinette was again in front of Adrien, her face shining with a triumphant grin. "So, what do you say we kick some ass and turn the fashion world upside down?"

A fierce fire burned in Marinette's eyes, and Adrien felt himself frozen in her gaze. A similar fire had once burned in his, though it had long since been extinguished. But in that look, Adrien felt as though her passion was contagious, that if he stood under that gaze long enough, he would reignite.

Again, he felt like all his decisions had been leading him to this moment. Adrien was drawn to her. In what way, he wasn't quite sure yet. For all he knew, they could be destined on a collision course. How right it all felt made Adrien not question a thing.

If them colliding was what it took to feel the fire in Marinette's eyes, then it would be well worth it.

A/N: A short setup chapter. Thought a checkup on Tikki and Plagg was overdue, too. Our crew is geared up and ready to get down to work. Another character gets introduced next chapter... Guess who?

Update: I made changes to a section of this chapter. It was rushed, and I wasn't happy with it. Apologies.