Borderline

panic & evidence

Marinette's apartment was the cleanest it had ever been. Since she had moved, her living space had been peculiarly placed on the back burner. In the past, her OCD had driven her to the point of insanity with a germ free home. After her mental makeover, courtesy of being a closet depressed person, and the wit of a rambunctious blonde man, compulsively cleaning her area wasn't too appealing. 

She'd rather make eggs and leave the mess out for later.

Marinette wasn't naive, and knew that Adrien wasn't the sole reason for being magically cured. Nothing in life ever worked like that. It had to have been a combination of a fresh start, and her work environment.

Since her time was freed up by not currently having any means of income, and not spending every second at the asylum, Marinette had taken up oil painting as a sole mean of expression. Once her entertainment was spent in organizing her living space, she resorted to making art. Her life was basically ripped to tatters, and this was all that would solve it- maybe more like adding a bandaid to a bullet wound. 

To say that Marinette felt like a total failure would be inaccurate. It was more like eliminating a potential career path.

There Marinette sat, amid a clean home, sitting at an easel painting a still life of flowers when her phone rang. Crossing the distance between her makeshift art studio and her kitchen island, she picked up the loud phone, answering simply.

"Peaches, it's me."

"Adrien? Why are you calling me? And how did you get this number?"

"Chloe tried to abuse me again."

The brokenness laced within his crumbling voice shook Marinette, her soul melting with helplessness. He truly sounded like a sad child who was in need of a longing hug. "Adrien, I can't help you, remember? I'm at home and not allowed to enter the hospital. Go find Alya. She'll-"

"She doesn't know how to calm me down! I need you! Please! I-I... Oh, Please."

"Adrien? What happened?"

All she could hear was heavily strained panting, and slight sobbing in the background. Everything was muffled, and worried her entire being. "Adrien?"

Faintly, she hear a female voice speak, "Adrikins! You know better than to hide from your Mommy! Come on out, Baby. I won't try to hurt you again, I promise!"

With a shattering whisper, Adrien said, "Please come save me. Please I-."

"There you are! Now, why are you curled up in a cute little ball, Baby? I was only checking to see if your underwear was clean. You ran away before I could give you a new pair. Hello, little Mister!" a woman, who was assumed to be Chloe, sickeningly dripped.

The phone clicked with the end of a call. Fury overtook Marinette, ridiculing and raging her every pore. Panic accompanied fury, making her shake with emotion. Grabbing a makeshift disguise, Marinette covered up her real identity, needing to sneak in and save her, kind of, innocent Adrien.

________

Once she parked, Marinette whipped on her darkly tinted sunglasses. She needed to infiltrate the asylum and rescue him. If she happened to gather incriminating evidence, hopefully she could clear her own namesake, and arrest Chloe all in one swoop. That would be the dream anyhow, anything else was just an added bonus. To be successful, she needed to keep on the down low, and fade into the background.

She entered through the unlocked back door, climbing the stairs necessary to finally reach Adrien's floor. It was no easy task, as her shoes began to squeak noticeably. Cursing her fashion choice, Marinette slipped off her distracting shoes, continuing her trek.

Eventually, she reached Adrien's door. Not much could be heard from it, as it was a soundproof system. Sadly, it was not shoddy work, either.

Almost like a lightbulb stricken flash, Marinette remembered the two way mirror that connected to a neighboring room. It was last utilized back when she was coerced into making out with Adrien, and remained a kept secret among colleagues. 

If anyone else inhabited said room, clearly Adrien wouldn't have sent such a desperate call. Deciding to trust her gut, she opened the door to the other side of the mirror- the scene displayed ripping what was left of her heart to shreds. It killed her to hold up her phone and videotape while allowing him to be treated in such a manor, but it had to be done. 

The stakes were just too high, and barely out of her grasp.

Squirming on the bed was a completely naked Adrien, as he fought the long, acrylic, manicured hands of Chloe Bourgeois. He was thrashing, kicking his fit legs about, dodging her grabby fingers. Wrists tied up against the headboard, she could see how he tightly clutched onto his leather journal throughout his strenuous torture. 

"Stop it!! Stop! You're hurting me again!" he cried out. Marinette stood ramrod straight, her hands clasped her mouth in horror. Tears pricked her blue eyes, not yet streaming down her face.

"I'm just trying to examine for rashes, Baby. Nothing to be so fussy over."

That was it. 

That was the kicker right there. 

Instead of punching Chloe to all the way to China, Marinette opted to press the red emergency button, outwardly signaling the psychological and medical staff that something was going down south. The button was primarily used when patients would become greatly agitated, violent or in need of medical assistance.

In this case, it was to halt the sexual abuse of the man she had been inconveniently in love with.

The rest was a blurry blob of two hours. 

Adrien was sent to the hospital, via a siren-less ambulance, to check out minor scratches and bruises from fighting against the hand of brutality. It was nothing he deserved, yet managed to experience anyway.

Marinette was numb in a hard plastic chair, which was located in Boss' office. Her disguise was disbanded, no longer needing to hide in the shadows.

"I assume that you're the one he called once he was in trouble?" Boss asked, requiring the full story of such a messy, unfortunate scandal. She could only suffice a single, stiff-necked nod. Boss stopped and thought for a second, pondering his next actions.

"It goes without saying that the kid has a lot of trust in you. He does have attachment issues, but nothing like I've witnessed when it comes to you.

"He's taking his case to trial, or rather, his family is. Since you're an important part of this puzzle, I can only assume that you'll be asked to testify. The outcome of his case will affect his quality of life. I'd expect nothing but the best from you, Marinette. Don't disappoint our boy, now," Boss stated, honing in his authority card. 

Again, she nodded her head in what appeared to be agreement, hardly meeting his eyes as she left his office.

The fact that Boss was trying to make nice with her pissed Marinette off. He was only trying to cover his mistakes, all at the cost of Adrien's care. It was ill inducing, sickening and messed up. She would stand up for him, and see to it that Adrien was looked after properly. Even if it diminished her chances of finding a normal job ever again.

_____________
June 20, 2017
Hello all! I hope your week is going dandy. It's been a hot minute since I updated this story, and for that I apologize. I hope you enjoyed!