Chapter Text
“Can you put your mouth here?” Chat Blanc tapped his lips with a clawed finger. “I bet it will make me feel all better.”
“Let me go, Chat,” Ladybug growled, struggling against the ropes securing her wrists above her head. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Aww, come on, Bug! You’re not being any fun,” he smirked, grabbing her shoulder and pushing it away so she spun slowly in her suspended position. “We could have lots of fun, you know. It doesn’t have to be like this.” He walked behind her as she came to a stop. “Well, it could still be like this,” he said, grabbing her hips tightly, “but you know, without all the angsty ‘let me save you’ crap.”
He pressed himself against her back. “No one would have to know, my Lady. It would be our little secret,” he whispered in her ear before sliding his tongue along the shell.
“I am not your Lady,” she hissed, jerking away as much as the ropes would allow.
Chat Blanc huffed and started her spinning again. “Of course you’re not. You never have been, have you? Don’t know why I thought that would change.”
Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to be sick as she rotated. Her wrists were beginning to ache. “I’m not your Lady,” she repeated. “I didn’t say I wasn’t his.”
He stretched out a hand and caught her side, bringing her to a halt. He closed the distance between them, wrapping his arms around her middle tightly. She glared back at him, trying not to feel sick looking into his eyes. They had turned a bright magenta in his akumatized state but somewhere in them she caught a quick glimpse of a lost look that was all Chat Noir.
“Are you trying to play with my heart, Ladybug? I bet you think you can convince me that you just love Chat Noir so much, don’t you? I’m not an idiot.”
“Well, you are, but that’s nothing new,” she quipped, bringing her legs up to wrap around his waist to keep him close.
He glanced down at their new position. “Really giving this an Oscar-worthy performance, aren’t you?”
“Give me back my kitty,” she demanded.
“I’m right here.”
“I want Chat Noir.”
“He’s gone.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Sorry, Bugaboo, but I don’t care what you believe.” He pressed forward and kissed her roughly, framing her face with his hands. Ladybug stiffened against him for a moment before melting into the kiss. He sighed against her lips, his hands sliding down to pull her closer.
Ladybug pulled back and looked at him, eyes wide. “I…I…”
“Yeah?” he asked, a little breathless.
“I’m sorry,” she said, slamming her forehead into his face. “Tikki, spots off! I need some help with these ropes.” The kwami phased through the ropes and Marinette fell to the ground as Chat Blanc started to straighten up, one clawed hand covering his bloodied nose.
“Spots on!” Marinette cried again, kicking him further back as her transformation took her. She tackled Chat Blanc to the ground, straddling his waist and holding his hands to the ground. “Where’s the akuma?! Tell me!”
Chat Blanc laughed, blood spattering his lips. “There is no akuma.”
“There has to be.” She pressed her weight against him as he bucked.
“Ooo, that feels nice, my Lady, keep moving just like that,” he sneered. “I can’t wait to get you out of this tight suit and have some real fun.”
Ladybug growled in frustration and let go of one of his hands to make a swift jab to his jaw. He cried out in surprise and she hit him again, knocking him unconscious.
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“I’m going to take good care of you,” Ladybug said softly, wiping the blood away from Chat Blanc’s slack face. “I’m going to figure out how to bring you back.”
He shifted slightly and she stiffened but he went motionless again. Ladybug quickly checked that his wrists were still secured behind his back against the thick beam and returned to cleaning him up. His nose didn’t look broken from what she could tell through the mask, but she had certainly done a number on it.
She sat back on her haunches, feeling tears sting her eyes. She had called on Lucky Charm and nothing had happened. Lucky Charm had never failed her before and now here she sat in a dusty warehouse with her partner possessed and unconscious and she had no idea what to do. The only thing out of place on his suit was the color and his eyes were all wrong. She had even checked his pockets and came up empty.
Chat Blanc groaned and his eyes fluttered open. “I figured you were the kind of girl to like it rough.”
“Shut up,” she warned.
He struggled against his wrist restraints for a moment and then gave her a rakish grin. “Now that you’ve got me all trussed up, what’re you going to do to me, Bug?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“You don’t want me calling you my Lady. You don’t want me calling you Bug. Why don’t you just tell me your real name and I’ll call you that?” he smirked. “I missed your little transformation when you bashed in my face. Come on, give me a hint.”
Ladybug clenched her jaw and looked away from him.
“If you tell me, I can come visit you in your room and make you feel all kinds of nice. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Chat Blanc chuckled to himself. “He used to visit a girl all the time. They’d talk and cuddle and he was the perfect gentleman, the sap.” His face turned dark. “I wouldn’t be a gentleman.”
“I actually gathered as much,” Ladybug said dryly, proud of how even her voice sounded as she felt her insides crumbling.
“But you like that about me, don’t you? He was too sweet, too caring, too much of a pushover,” Chat Blanc grimaced. “You and I could be something good, Ladybug, or something very, very bad.” He curled his tongue behind his teeth and winked at her. “I could do things to you that would wreck you for anyone else.”
“Chat, tell me how to help you.”
“You could start by bringing that spotted ass a little closer.”
She growled and he looked pleasantly surprised when she moved nearer. She grabbed his chin roughly, forcing him to look at her. “I know there’s an akuma. There has to be. Where is it?” she ground out.
“Maybe it’s in my pants. You should probably look there first. Make sure to do a real thorough job feeling around.”
“Chat.”
“What if it’s in my ring? What are you going to do then?”
Ladybug frowned. “It’s in your ring? I didn’t think that was even possible…”
“You can see for yourself.” Chat Blanc struggled with his restraints. “I’d show you but I seem to be a little tied up at the moment.”
She furrowed her brows and slowly moved around to the side of him. “It doesn’t look any different to me. You’re sure it’s in the ring?”
“Look closer,” he urged. “Cataclysm!”
Ladybug had a split second warning as she saw the familiar curl of his claws and immediately knew what was happening. She pushed herself back as the power touched the beam behind Chat Blanc, the metal whining as it began to rot away. She rolled to her feet and got into a defensive stance as he stood, wiping the remains of his bonds off his wrists.
“You’re persistent, I’ll give you that,” he mused. “I wanted this to be something more, something better, but you’re just going to make me go the usual route, aren’t you?” He let out a large sigh and held out a hand. “Give me your Miraculous.”
“Screw you,” she spat.
“Now, now, Bug. You know I’d let you,” he smirked, sauntering towards her. “I bet you’d like it too. I think you might have a crush on me. You’ve visited me outside the mask enough to make it obvious.”
Ladybug stepped back and slung her yo-yo in the air in one last attempt. “Lucky Charm!”
Chat Blanc laughed as a small spotted sewing kit dropped into Ladybug’s hands. “Well, that’s just cute,” he grinned. “It actually worked this time, huh, Bug? You going to sew me a sweet little sweater or something?”
She looked around desperately as he advanced on her, eyes widening at the red and black highlights that appeared along the seams of his suit. She fumbled with the sewing kit, palming the seam ripper and letting the rest of the kit fall to the ground.
Chat Blanc was suddenly on her, pushing her back against the wall. He wedged his thigh between her legs and forced her hands up above her head. “I love you like this,” he purred, licking a broad path along her jaw line. “Desperate, helpless,” he pushed his thigh flush against her, “aching.”
“You’re right,” she whispered, tightening her grip on the seam ripper.
His eyebrows rose behind his mask as he pulled back to look at her.
Ladybug pushed every ounce of desire she could muster into her eyes. “I’m tired of fighting this, of fighting you. I…I want you, Chat. I need you.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Please,” she mewled, grinding against him. Chat Blanc let out a surprised huff of air and pressed in further. “Please let me touch you,” she begged. Her earrings let out a warning beep.
“Not yet,” he snarled. He kissed her fiercely, teeth knocking against hers in his haste. Ladybug’s tongue shot out and tangled with his as she continued to move against him, whimpering softly. “My Lady,” he groaned, dropping his hold on her hands. One of his hands went to hold her face and the other gripped her hip and she moved against him.
“I’m sorry, Kitty, I’m so sorry this happened.” One hand tangled in his hair while the other holding the seam ripper slipped behind his shoulder. She did a little hop and wrapped her legs around him, his hands immediately moving to support her. Her earrings gave a second warning.
“I’m not,” he panted, pulling her flush against him. “It’s finally given me you.” He began to move against her in a steady rhythm, letting the wall do most of the work keeping her up.
Ladybug looked into his alien magenta eyes and saw Chat Noir. She saw his hopefulness, his admiration, his love. He was in there and she was going to free him. She dug the seam ripper into his shoulder, tearing an opening in the white suit. He cried out and tried to pull away but she tightened her legs, continuing to open the seam at his shoulder. Ladybug was surprised not to find Chat Noir’s black suit below, but she kept up the tearing. Her earrings beeped again as a dark butterfly finally lifted up from the torn fabric.
Ladybug disentangled herself from her partner and pushed him away roughly. His eyes were wide as she lashed out her yoyo, catching the akuma as it tried to escape. He fell to his knees as the cleansing magic washed over him.
Adrien hung his head, blonde hair obscuring his face as Ladybug turned around after releasing the cleansed akuma. “Chat?” she asked tentatively.
He looked up, green eyes a little lost. “I’m sorry, my Lady,” Adrien whispered and then he turned to the side and began to vomit.
“Oh, Adrien,” Marinette was crouching down beside him as her transformation finally fell away, an exhausted Tikki dropping down to join an equally exhausted Plagg. Marinette ran her hand along Adrien’s back as he continued to be sick, loud, retching noises echoing around the empty warehouse.
Adrien’s arms began to shake and Marinette pulled him back before he could collapse in his own sick. He looked up at her, eyes widening. “Marinette…”
“Hi, Chaton.”
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“I don’t understand,” Marinette said. “How was the akuma in the suit? It doesn’t seem like that should be possible.” She handed Adrien a damp rag and he took it gratefully. They had finally made it out of the warehouse and were currently regrouping at Marinette’s apartment.
He shook his head. “I’m not sure. I woke up like that. I don’t even remember…what’s today?”
“Friday.”
He swore, his hands beginning to shake.
“What’s wrong?”
“The last thing I remember is getting home from a shoot…on Wednesday.”
“This isn’t good, Kitty. So you don’t have any recollection of Hawk Moth? Did he talk to you at all?”
Adrien frowned. “No…no, I don’t think so. I remember waking up and wanting to find Ladybug.” He looked at her, cheeks turning pink. “Sorry about that.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” she replied, turning away as her own cheeks warmed.
“The way I acted—“
“It wasn’t you.”
“Well…it kind of was.”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe it was my Miraculous, but I didn’t forget like akuma victims usually do. I remember everything that happened.”
Marinette winced. “Sorry.”
“You don’t have anything to apologize for!” he exclaimed, standing suddenly. “I almost…I wanted to…” He dropped down on his knees in front of her. “Mari, I know you probably can’t forgive me for the things I said and did, but please know that I never wanted to hurt you.” He swallowed thickly. “I hate knowing that darkness is inside me.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself, Kid,” Plagg said, floating to the couch. “You weren’t in control.”
“But I was,” Adrien argued. “And all I wanted was Ladybug, and I didn’t care what I had to do to make her mine.” He shook his head. “Maybe my inhibitions were gone, but the fact is I was fully prepared to do whatever I wanted to you.” He gave Marinette a quick glance before looking down again. “I’m so sorry.”
“Stop apologizing!”
He blinked up at her in surprise. “What?”
“I’m not angry with you, Adrien. We can’t let this tear us apart, now more than ever we have to stand united against Hawk Moth.” She leaned forward, running her palm down his cheek. “Do you still feel the same, knowing who I am now?”
Adrien tilted into her touch. “I’ll always feel the same about you, my Lady,” he said quietly.
“Then kiss me and tell me it’s all going to be okay.”
He studied her for a moment before gently pressing his lips against hers.