One Way or Another

A Winner, An Enchanted Sleep and Fate

Overwhelmed, Adrien turned and hugged Marinette again.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered to him. And she let him cry against her as there was another silence.

After a minute of nothing, Gabriel finally wiped his face and stood up. "We need to find a place to put them for now."

"Should we... put them downstairs?" Nathalie asked quietly.

"No," Adrien replied, spinning around to them. "Not downstairs."

Gabriel agreed. "Not downstairs."

A pause before a quiet voice spoke. "We don't have to move them anywhere," Marinette said.

Confused, Adrien turned back to her. "What do you mean, Princess? You know that we can't keep them right here in the foyer. How about we move them up to my old room?" he continued, looking at Gabriel. "That way they can be together. Annabelle's bed isn't big enough for both of them to stay there."

"Okay," he replied, kneeling down to pick Emilie up. But he stopped when Marinette spoke again.

"Leave her there. Nathalie, put Annabelle down. We don't have to move them anywhere."

Everyone looked at her.

"Princess," Adrien said gently. "I think you're still a little confused from your fever. Let me take you upstairs to Annabelle's room so you can lie down and rest for a while. We'll take care of this and then get back to work."

"No, I'm not confused..."

"It's okay, I'll take you," he interrupted, scooping her up bridal-style.

Her arguments fell on deaf ears. "No Adrien, I don't need to rest..."

"You'll feel much better soon, Princess," he continued, taking her upstairs. "Now don't worry about my mom and Annabelle. We'll make sure they're comfortable in my room."

"No, it's not that..."

"You rest for a little bit. Then I'll come back and check on you. Don't worry about anything, my beautiful Princess. We'll keep working and figure it out in time."

"But Adrien..."

"Here we go," he said, entering Annabelle's room. He walked over and lay her down on the bed. "You rest. I have to go help Nathalie and my father."

"Adrien," Marinette said desperately. "I need to..."

"Shhh," he insisted, putting his finger to her lips. "I told you, don't worry. Just let your mind rest." Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead. "I love you. I'll be back soon." And he nodded at Tikki and left before she could say another word.

Adrien caught up with Nathalie and Gabriel in his old bedroom. They had already brought Annabelle and Emilie there and placed them down on the bed.

"Should we put them under the covers?" Adrien asked, interrupting their hushed conversation.

"No, they should be fine here until you can get them in a cryogenic pod," Gabriel answered. "We don't want to risk them overheating."

"But what if they get too cold?"

"Too cold is better than too hot. Being too hot will make their tissue break down faster."

Adrien stopped breathing. "Wait, heat makes tissue break down faster?"

He nodded.

"So, Marinette's fever is probably making her injury worse?"

With the realization, Gabriel reluctantly nodded again.