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Viperion drooped against a chimney as he watched the rest of the heroes bound away after a successful battle. It hadn't felt successful to him, not while he relived the same terrible five minutes over and over. When the red dot that was Ladybug disappeared from sight, he sighed and looked toward the Seine. Home, his guitar, his own comfortable clothes—they should all help him feel better, shake off the images that made him feel queasy even after it was all over.
He glanced to the right, somewhere between home and where Ladybug had disappeared. His favorite person lived at the top of the best boulangerie in Paris, and even with the detours she took to keep her identity a mystery, she should be there soon.
It would have—should have—been easy to release Sass and walk right in. Smile at Tom and Sabine and ask if Marinette was free. But Viperion still needed his armor; he wasn't ready to set aside the one thing holding him together. Instead, he leaped up to her roof and tapped on the skylight, hoping not to startle Marinette.
"Viperion! Are you okay?" Marinette threw her window open, and he stumbled inside, shaking his head.
"Can I help you somehow? Was it the battle?"
He nodded. Yes. both of those things. It took a minute to find his voice, to put his need into words. Marinette was patient, stiller than usual, while she waited for him to speak. In a rare reversal of roles, her hand had found his shoulder. Her touch made everything good feel real, grounding him in what was instead of what had almost been. That was what he needed.
"Can you hold me?"
Marinette didn't need words. She pulled him against her, both of them collapsing into the softness of her bed, shifting and curling until his head was cradled in her lap. He felt himself shudder in release when her hand started trailing, sliding, through the strands of his hair over and over again.
He had succeeded. Marinette was safe and alive. All was well.
Neither of them moved when he finally let Sass go. Marinette kept holding him close and the darkness at bay with her touch.
As long as she was there after every battle, it was worth the pain.