#good parent tom dupain
Bargain
Time was passing by. Every second, every minute, every hour, every month, every year. Nothing was changing, things never seemed to get better, things only got worse. Failure whispered a part of her mind that seemed so aware yet never caring of the time that slipped by. This wasn’t her fault, but it still felt like it, because even though she herself wasn’t terrorizing the people, she could never truly end the reign of the man who was. Things were dark and bleak and she just lost herself. She lost herself to the ever increasing noise, the silence, the void that was ever consuming her whole. What was there to fight for anymore when nothing would ever change, but the need to defend her home was the only thing that pushed her.
Marinette knew she was dying, she had known it for a very long time. There was only so much strain a body can sustain from the heavy load of magic she wore on a daily basis before her body began to shut down on its own. Maybe if her partner was her true balanced soul then she could recover and continue on with her life, but he wasn’t. The imbalance of their partnership continued to grow larger causing the slow intensity to continue.
It was never like anyone truly cared though. No, only her family knew about her condition, or rather they knew that their only daughter was slowly dying of a mysterious never before seen disease that had no cure. Some days the pain was bearable enough that she could walk around the house with little trouble and attend school. On the worst of days, days that were becoming more and more frequent, she couldn’t even move her finger without crying out in pain. But in the end, it never mattered how she felt, because everyday there was a new threat and everyday she would use the mouse to duplicate herself and use the other miraculous to take down the akuma and/or amok. Often she wouldn’t be able to heal herself completely due to the amount of damage that was done, using up all of her healing ability to revive the people.
“Marinette,”
Tikki whispered into her ear softly. Her voice was pained and full of sorrow, her eyes watery as she watched her little bug fall victim to a fate that she did not deserve at the hands of selfish and despicable human beings.
“Yes Tikki?”
Marinette asked in a breathless whimper. Her eyes were shut so tightly, trying to will the pain that plagued her to just go away.
“I-I…I’m sorry that this is happening. I-no, we,”
She said motioning to the other kwamii around her,
“Will find a way to help you, I promise.”
Marinette gave a small chuckle at that, the hope and belief that she would be healed long since faded. The hope was replaced with an endless misery, depression, and pain that no pill or supplement could ever hope to relieve. Before she could respond though a soft knock was heard from her trapdoor, the sound causing all of the kwamii to hide back in the Miracle Box.
“Marinette dear, someone is here to see you.”
Sabine said gently as she slowly lifted the trap door.
“Do you think you are up for that, if not we can wait.”
Marinette did not want to talk to anyone, but there was a pulling in her chest telling her to do so.
“It’s okay mama. You can send them in.”
A young boy slightly older than her walked into the room and cautiously looked around. Slowly Marinette opened her eyes and watched as he slowly walked towards her, his feet never making a single sound.
“Hello, I’m Timothy Drake, but you can call me Tim.”
He said softly, his voice almost a reverent whisper. His eyes were a bright blue, they almost seemed to glow in the dimness of her room as only a single lamp was lit.
“Marinette.”
She muttered, speaking hurt so it was always best for her to be brief.
“It’s nice to meet you, Marinette. You’re probably wondering why I’m here.”
She didn’t reply, merely watching him. He continued,
“You see, I’m the CEO of Drake Industries, a medical corporation, and we heard about your case. I want to help you find out what’s wrong and help you.”
Marinette huffed a breath in tired annoyance. She was sick and tired of this never ending cycle of people “wanting to help her heal”. No one would ever be successful, it was her own fault she was like this, and if it wouldn’t have caused her excruciating torment then she would have turned on her other side and ignored the man.
Tim gave a small sad smile at her obvious annoyance.
“I bet you hear that phrase a lot, huh?”
A small nod.
“You don’t believe that you’ll survive this, do you?”
A miniscule shake. Tim nodded as if he understood, his ever bright gaze gleaming with an acute awareness that showed he was taking in every bit of information no matter how small it was.
“Well, what if we make a little bargain?”
A raised brow.
“If I can’t heal you, I will do whatever you want and I will pay for everything that your family may need.”
A pause.
“If I can indeed heal you, all I ask is that I get one dessert made by you.”
Marinette was honestly quite surprised. She had expected many things from having to pay money or being some kind of publicity token, she had not expected something so simple. But even if it was something like that, it’s not that she was actually going to live to be able to do it. So with a simple nod, the deal was made. Tim gave her a small smile and returned the nod, he didn’t even reach for her hand knowing that it would cause her pain to even be touched.
“Alright Marinette, I’ll be back tomorrow.”
And with that he stood up and just as quietly as he came, he left. The pain seemed to dull a little, as if his presence eased the pain, but the longer he was gone, the more intense the pain became once again.
Marinette couldn’t even sleep because the pain was so bad. It flared up with every agonizing breath she took.
“Marinette!”
Whispered a frantic almost gravelly voice. The scent of camembert cheese alerted her that the source was Plagg. Marinette hummed questioningly when she felt a small weight on her stomach. Slowly Marinette peeled her eyes open and saw Plagg with a melancholy look, and a silver ring.
“He won’t be able to do anymore damage to you now. I promise that I will find the right person. You’ll get better, we’ll make sure of it.”
A small smile spread across Marinette’s lips, a small weight lifted from her shoulders. A new Cat, a real partner, real balance. Who knows, maybe she would get better, even if it wasn’t actually through Tim.
Tim turned sharply as a dark blurr flew past him. He twisted and turned looking for the source of the obscure flash.
“Hey kid.”
A voice said from behind him which caused Tim to turn quickly and fall into a defensive stance. He just wanted to help this girl heal and find out about this disease so he could know the best way to heal it. Was that really too much to ask for? When he looked up he was shocked to see a small floating black cat with glowing emerald green eyes.
“How much do you really want to help that girl?”
Tim was shocked, but shook his head. He was probably hallucinating, it was his subconscious testing him, so he easily responded,
“I’m going to do whatever it takes to help her.”
The cat flashed him a small smile and dropped a black and green ring into his hand. Only when it landed in his palm did it change into a thin silver single banded ring with a barely noticeable vinyl pattern wrapped around it.
“I’m going to hold you up to that, because she needs you now more than she’s ever needed anyone ever before.”
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