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“Gogogo! Get inside!” Chat Noir demanded, accompanied with his hands pushing Ladybug’s back, as if that’d make her jump through an open window faster. The teen followed after his companion inside the empty factory building near Seine that was under renovation, a perfect hiding place during a late night. They needed the shelter to recuperate; for the first time ever Lucky Charm had failed, and now they were both running out of time. The villain, Le Réfléjuge, had sent some kind of shadow goons to search high and low for the Lucky Duo, while the main man himself kept terrorizing the city.
“It’s empty, we’ll be safe here for a while,” Chat assured his partner. Ladybug nodded numbly, hugging herself, gaze on the floor. The sight of her looking so vulnerable and afraid, the exact opposite of her usual persona, tugged at his heart and he wished so much to be able to gather her close to offer comfort. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah, yeah,” Ladybug replied, not looking at him. “I just wasn’t expecting… that.”
Expecting to fail.
The Miraculouses beeped in warning, only on their second last dots, and Ladybug’s head snapped up in alarm. The day was getting worse by the minute. She couldn’t leave, or she’d be found by the akuma’s henchmen. She couldn’t stay, or her identity would be exposed to Chat. She knew the boy had no qualms about showing his civilian self to her, but he did respect her wishes. Ladybug was nonetheless out of options - it’d be too risky to separate, what if they got found? She wouldn’t be able to handle them on her own, much less without Tikki’s help. It was safer to stick together.
“It’s alright, my lady,” Chat whispered, probably noticing the terror on her features. He closed his eyes and continued, “I won’t look.”
Ladybug’s heart went out for her partner who remained a loyal friend even in a situation like this. His thoughtfulness warmed her, even if it was moot. They would be hiding here for some time, as neither had food for their tired kwamis and the only option was to let them rest. Ladybug reproached herself for her carelessness and everything else that was going wrong; she’d blindly trusted in her power and she had failed them. Now her secret was about to be unveiled to the very person she hadn’t wanted to know - that she was just a clumsy Marinette Dupain-Cheng, nothing like the shining hero she was with the mask on.
As if on cue, the last beep sounded and her protective suit vanished in a pink flash of light. Chat Noir’s followed quickly after, and what came to view forced a gasp out of Marinette’s mouth.
“Adrien?”
This was not happening.
“Oh, my lady knows me, I’m honored,” the silly boy purred with a smile, still keeping his eyes closed. A tiny black creature, Marinette assumed it was his kwami, floated on his shoulder and flopped on its back with a dramatic sigh. “I don’t need to introduce myself then. That glutton on my shoulder is Plagg.”
The kwami made a noncommittal grunt in greeting, but Marinette couldn’t get a word out of her mouth. This can’t be true.
“My lady?”
“I-I… How?” she stammered, more to herself than her crush, who was apparently her best friend.
“Hmm?”
Marinette couldn’t comprehend the situation. Tikki kept quiet, likewise perched on her charge’s shoulder, examining their interaction. The girl drew a deep breath and said then, “Adrien, open your eyes.”
“What? Are you sure?” Hesitation was all over his face, he wanted to, oh how he wanted to, but his lady had been extremely strict just about this one thing in the past. The sudden change of heart was gnawing at his curiosity.
“Just- just open them.”
Adrien did open them, very carefully, giving her the extra chance to back out. No protests came, so he followed through. What he saw made his eyes widen even more.
“Marinette? You’re Ladybug?”
Her face was rapidly turning pink and she could only give him a curt nod.
The boy was at a loss.
His radiant lady was Marinette? The light of his days was the girl who sat behind him in class every day? The love of his life was in fact Marinette, shy, clumsy and tiny Marinette, who was so intimidated by him that she couldn’t form a proper sentence when he was around?
“Oh,” he said, like an idiot.
The girl fidgeted in front of him, daring a glance at his eyes. “A-are you… Are you disappointed?”
“I- I… don’t know,” Adrien answered.
While it was the honest truth, it was clearly the wrong thing to say, as the girl’s face changed color from pink to red and her eyes glistened. Shit.
It was like something broke inside her. The words were a knife through her heart, and she felt it split in two.
Not only was her partner let down, but this was Adrien saying he didn’t know if she was good enough.
Marinette turned quickly away when she felt her eyes overflow. Her tiny body began shaking, forcing a silent sob out of her.
She had known. She knew this would happen. She knew he’d be disappointed. She had been right to keep her secret, and now she had given in to a moment’s naivety, and everything was ruined.
“Marinette…” Adrien started, trying to take a hold of her shoulder. She couldn’t help her flinch, taking one step forward to get away. Then two, then three, and before she knew it she had broken to a run, out of the room, desperate to find a desolate nook to hide in and fall apart in her shame.
“Marinette!” sounded after her, but it was followed by a deeper voice, “Let her be.”
Running blindly to the end of the hallway, she pushed a door open and slammed it shut in her wake. The room was pitch dark and the girl slid down onto the cold floor. Her sobs came out in earnest now, wracking her shaking body with their force, a low-pitched vail dropping from her lips. The tears would not stop.
“Oh, Marinette…” Tikki murmured and flew close to rub her cheek in sympathy and an attempt at comfort.
“Wh-why did I do it, Tikki?” the girl’s words were muffled by her palms and broken by her sniffling. “Why? I kne-knew how he’d react! Ho-how could I ever hope to compare?”
“Marinette! You are Ladybug. You’re one and the same. You’re just as brilliant without a mask!” the kwami protested, zooming in front of the girl’s face. “You are every bit as amazing.”
“No- not enough for him,” she cried. “I’ve lost them both now. I’ve lost my kitty.”
“That’s not true, Marinette-!”
“Yo- you should sleep, Tikki. The akuma is still on the loose.”
“Mari-”
“Sleep!” the girl shouted, wiping her tears on the back of her hand. The kwami was startled by her behavior, and Marinette regretted it instantly. She didn’t want to lose Tikki, too. That’d be too much. “Sorry,” she whispered.
Tikki pressed her small form against Marinette’s face, accepting the apology, and landed in the crook of the girl’s warm neck to catch some sleep. Talking wouldn’t do any good before she calmed down.
Marinette’s sobs subsided and her body shook with silent hiccups, the tears still running down. The night had fallen, and it didn’t take long for both of them to fall asleep, exhausted as they were, physically and emotionally, Tikki inside Marinette’s collar and the girl herself leaning against the door, legs at an odd angle.
An hour or two passed, and there was a gentle knock on the door, which shook Marinette awake, jostling Tikki out of her slumber as well. Her stiff limbs and neck forced a low moan out of her mouth.
“Ladybug, we need to go.”
The monotone of Chat’s voice felt like a bucketful of cold water in Marinette’s face. Was this how they’d be from now on? Was the Lucky Duo of Paris truly brought down just by the fact that Ladybug was Marinette and not someone better?
The thought made her want to curl into a ball and just stay in the room, akuma be damned. But Tikki was waiting by her side; her duty as Ladybug came first over her personal feelings.
After the swift transformation and some necessary stretching, Ladybug opened the door, knowing she must look like hell after the night she had. Chat’s eyes widened when he saw her face and instantly turned to a frown, even the kitty ears drooped a little. Yes, she apparently did look like hell then, with her bloodshot eyes and puffy face.
“Ladybug-” Chat began, but she cut him off.
“Let’s just get this over with,” she dismissed him and walked past into the hallway. She wouldn’t be able to fight properly if they talked now, and she needed to focus all her attention on the akuma. They hadn’t struggled this much since Rogercop, who had held the mayor hostage and thus had them on the run for a whole day.
Once outside the building, they tracked the villain down following a path of broken glass - the guy had a vendetta against reflective surfaces. No window on the street had been spared.
The dark of the night gave them cover, especially Chat. He ran along with Ladybug, but kept quiet and stayed out of sight. Ladybug could feel the awkward tension between them, but tried to shake it off. She’d be no use even with the mask on if she couldn’t concentrate on the task at hand. Besides, it’s not like they had always been partners. She had dealt with bad guys on her own, so the doubt whether Chat would have her back or not in the upcoming fight should’ve been a trivial matter.
Yet another shop’s windows were trashed a few blocks ahead, and the shop’s alarm went off, like a dozen others had before it. The police were of course on the scene, but they were no match for superhuman abilities.
“Hold your fire!” was heard as Ladybug arrived finally, to avoid shooting the city’s favorite superhero. The relieved looks cast her way by the officers squeezed at her heart, as she had failed them earlier and then hid like a coward for several hours. But it set her determination - she’d finish this now.
“Everybody, evacuate!” she instructed and ran to the middle of a crossing, where Le Réfléjuge was standing on top of lamp post, shooting beams of black energy from his akuma-infected hand mirror.
“Back for another round, are we?” he cackled as he locked eyes with Ladybug. “Or you could just hand over your Miraculous!”
Ladybug didn’t waste time on chit-chat and just threw her yo-yo at the hand mirror, but Le Réfléjuge jumped away to another post.
“Where’s your kitty friend? Or is he just a scaredy cat like you?” the villain taunted. Ladybug clenched her teeth and attempted to ignore his words and the effect they could have over her. She considered what to do, not wanting to risk Lucky Charm failing again. She slung the yo-yo at the lamp post this time, giving it a hefty tug. It bended under her power and Le Réfléjuge lost his balance, falling down on his back to the asphalt. Ladybug intended to fight him hand-to-hand, but as if they’d actually formed a plan, Chat Noir jumped from the shadows and called for his power, slamming the Cataclysm-induced hand on the lamp post. Its base crumbled apart and it fell down on top of the villain, trapping his arms and torso under the heavy pole.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, how gracefully do they fall,” the boy sing-songed, snatching the hand mirror and throwing it in Ladybug’s direction. She had been momentarily stunned by his appearance and easy demeanor, but she caught the mirror after juggling and almost dropping it. She hurled it against a concrete wall and the persistent insect flew out from the smashed pieces.
The purification and her Miraculous spell returned everything on its place - the affected civilians back to normal and all damaged property was restored. As her long night was finally done, Ladybug turned to the direction of Notre Dame to get home. Most of all, to get away from him.
“Wait! Ladybug, wait,” Chat Noir called and ran over. “Please, we need to talk.”
She didn’t turn around, but her tense shoulders surely told him how much she wanted to talk with him right now. “What is there to talk about?” she asked in a cold voice. “The secret is out. This is it.”
“What do you mean ‘this is it’?”
The cluelessness of his voice made her angry all of a sudden. She swiftly turned around and poked a finger at his chest. “You decided it. Obviously we can’t be partners anymore! I am nothing like you wanted me to be. Argh, I’m such an idiot! I knew you wouldn’t like me, the real me, even before I knew you were… you!”
“Marinette, listen-”
“Shh! Disappointing my best friend and myself is enough for one night, I don’t want the whole city to know as well!” she exclaimed, the anger at herself coursing in her.
“Listen to me!” Chat yelled as he grabbed her by the upper arms. In an instant Ladybug reverted back to Marinette, eyes wide and scared. The boy let go of her immediately, murmuring an apology. “True, I didn’t expect it to be you,” her face turned away from him, but he stubbornly continued, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you. It’s just… Apparently I don’t know you at all. I claim to love Ladybug, but it never even crossed my mind her other side would be you.”
Ladybug fought back the tears that tried to spill and her face felt like she had stuck her head inside a furnace. Chat Noir’s Miraculous beeped in alarm, but the boy ignored it and raised the hand to hold her cheek.
“I don’t want this to be it. I want to know you, all of you. You’re the most important person in my life. I don’t want to lose you… Marinette.”
She lost the war against her tear ducts; salt water trailed down her cheeks as she met Chat’s olive green eyes and looked at his gentle smile. She didn’t want to lose him either. He was the most important person in her life too. She didn’t want this to be over.
The girl, devoid of all Ladybug’s confidence despite her costume, dared to step into Chat’s space and lay her head on his chest, muffling the sobs, hands shaking against her thighs. His arms enveloped her in a warm embrace instantly and she felt him lean his chin on top of her head.
“I’m sorry, my lady,” he murmured into her hair. Ladybug shooked her head slightly against his torso.
“I’m sorry, kitty,” she cried. “I was so scared…”
“Well, you did cost me one of my nine lives,” he joked and Ladybug pinched his side, “but it was worth it.”
Both of their Miraculouses beeped, urging them to hide in a nearby alley to release their transformations. The shock of Chat Noir becoming Adrien in a blink of an eye hit Marinette again, but she didn’t manage to dwell on it as he drew her back in his embrace, palms lightly gripping the back of her jacket.
“Hello Adrien, Plagg,” Marinette’s kwami greeted them, hovering over the girl’s head. “I’m Tikki.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Adrien smiled, one hand smoothing the girl’s hair now. “And sorry.”
“We’re not meant to meddle in your lives, but next time I won’t be so forgiving,” the red fairy creature warned with a wink.
“Oooh, Tikki’s so scary!” Plagg taunted from Adrien’s shoulder then pulled at his ear lobe. “Kid. Cheese.”
Marinette raised her head from it’s comfortable position against the warm chest to stare at the black cat kwami in confusion. “Cheese?”
“He has a thing for it, especially Camembert. Might be sexual, but I don’t really want to know,” the boy laughed and leaned back to look at her. The girl stuck out her tongue and grimaced in disgust. It earned her another chuckle from him. “My thoughts exactly.”