Work Text:
“What do you say, my lady? Shall we?”
Chat Noir gave his Ladybug a trademark grin, baton twirling in hand as she returned his look.
“Let’s do this, Chaton.”
Their movements were fluid, synchronized as they clasped hands and started running, rapidly escalating into a break-neck speed. Just before they reached the akuma, they let go, each holding onto one end of Ladybug’s nearly unbreakable string and flanking the dazed akuma on both sides. As they passed, they simultaneously dropped to the ground in a slide, angling their bodies so that they would each cross over to the other side, then pulled with all their combined strength. The akuma tripped on the cord, landing in a tangle of wire and legs. Before it could get up or even move, Chat Noir was twisting the cable around its wrists and reaching for the infected object. Dropping it to the ground, he smashed it underfoot and called for his Cataclysm.
The destructive power bubbled black in his palm, and he swatted at the fleeing purple butterfly, catching it in his grasp and turning it to dust. As soon as the power took effect, he sank to his knees, spent by the physical toll of coming into contact with what was essentially pure evil. Ladybug was at his side in an instant, already used to the way destroying akumas zapped him of energy.
Handing the hero a snack and a bottle of water, she waited until he caught his breath and stood to his feet, ring beeping in warning.
“Are you all right, Chaton?”
He was still slightly out of breath, but gave her a reassuring smile and nodded his head.
“Yea,” he said, the word coming out in a pant. “I’m good. Thank you, Ladybug. I couldn’t ask for a better partner.” Chat gave her a fond look, raising a hand to her shoulder.
Ladybug’s heart skipped at the contact.
“P- partner? Chat, I’m really more of a sidekick- you know that. I don’t even have powers or anything.” The man’s smile grew in front of her eyes until she could see the white of his teeth.
“That just makes you that much more special. I have the help of a magical ring. You have a self-made costume and mask and what’s essentially a weaponized yo-yo. ” Then he reached for a sore shoulder, rotating his arm in its cuff. “That and some seriously badass martial arts skills.”
The scarlet lady let out a laugh. “Whatever you say, Kitty.”
“Then I’ll say it. You’re amazing. No arguments.”
Ladybug looked down as a blush rose to her cheeks, swallowing to keep from stammering out an awkward thank you.
“No one’s really around here yet. Will you be ok to get home?”
She nodded, still not raising her head.
“All right, then. See you around, bugaboo.” The girl looked up, and Chat winked at her before launching off into the sky.
The way he said “bugaboo” made her heart race, and she looked quickly about herself to find a place to hide and de-suit. Nearby there was an alley, and, making sure it was empty, she pulled off her mask, tucking it into the waistband of her all-black pants. Her red spotted shirt she quickly removed and turned inside out, reversible as it was, until it was all black as well. Then she pulled her hair out of its pigtails to complete the detransformation. When she was done, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was left in her place.
Home wasn’t too far away, so she decided to walk, but she still found herself plagued by wistful thoughts about her mysterious partner.
They had only been working together for 6 months or so, though he had been working alone for much longer. It wasn’t necessarily a smart decision on her part to become a vigilante, but it wasn’t one she would have changed, either. She watched for months- even years as Chat Noir fought the akumas all on his own. And there were times where she really wondered if he would make it.
It bothered her he never had outside help- there was no one willing to risk their own safety to support the only thing standing between Paris and Hawkmoth. One day, she had enough, and decided Alya’s words were exactly right:
All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing.
So she let it start with her.
She could no longer do nothing.
She was trained in martial arts since she was a child, and quite advanced.
She was already a skilled seamstress, so she sewed her own (makeshift) costume, something simple that she could easily change from sidekick disguise to everyday person.
And then one day, she just showed up. Chat was battling a particularly difficult akuma who had him on the literal ropes (it was an akumatized boxer who was forced to throw a match), and she stepped in from behind, taking the akuma down in a matter of minutes.
Chat gaped in awe, then scolded her with boundless fury for placing herself in danger.
He told her in no uncertain terms to never do that again.
Of course she didn’t listen.
She showed up at the next akuma battle, and the next one, and the next….
Until Chat finally accepted that she was there to stay, and that she could handle herself. But he felt uncomfortable leaving her without a weapon (that wasn’t a part of her body), so one day he brought a special military-grade tool with him and gave it to her.
It looked like a yo-yo, but it was a special, nearly indestructible, highly flexible and easily manipulated wire. The casing was red with black polka dots. He smiled and told her “because you’re my lucky Ladybug.”
She tried to refuse it, arguing that it must have cost a fortune, but he wouldn’t take it back.
It took her some time, but eventually she adapted to be able to use it expertly, and now she never went anywhere without it.
But somewhere along the line, Chat grew on her. She always knew he was gorgeous, with a model face and the body of a god, but his kindness, his caring and compassion, his endless, beautiful personality, made her fall in love with him.
The only problem was, he didn’t feel the same.
Not that he ever said that. She never confessed, but she made it clear that she was quite taken with him, and he simply ignored her attention as though letting her down gently. Sometimes he made it clear with his words.
“I hope someday I find someone as amazing as you, Ladybug.”
“You’re such a good friend, Ladybug.”
“You’re like a sister to me, Ladybug.”
Internally, she mused it wasn’t normal for your sister to want to kiss you until you couldn’t breath.
It hurt, but she felt like there was no way she could fault him for not returning her feelings. So she kept them inside, waiting for the day when he would notice her as more than just his friendly partner sidekick.
And then one day, she ended up caught in an attack before she could transform.
There was an explosion of some sort, and she didn’t get a good look at the akuma before she was flying through the air, landing on her forearm and severely bruising the bone.
She screamed in pain, but no one was around and awake or uninjured enough to help her.
Suddenly Chat was there, and she caught his eyes with her own, wishing she could call out to him as her partner, but knowing that he would have no idea who she was.
And she couldn’t put him at extra risk, so she stayed silent.
He continued to fight the akuma, but he was beginning to lose the battle, and eventually he was blown back by a blast, landing close to where Marinette lay in pain.
She could hear him muttering to himself.
“I hope Ladybug is all right wherever she is.”
At the sound of her name, she gasped, and Chat’s head whipped in her direction, attention caught by the sound.
“Don’t worry, uh, citizen, I’m sure Ladybug will be here any minute and we’ll have this all wrapped up soon. But let’s get you out of the range of fire- it’s dangerous in this spot.”
He stood, groaning slightly, but mostly uninjured as his suit absorbed the majority of the impact. Then he reached out, grabbing her forearm to help her up, but let go almost immediately as if shocked when she let out a cry at the contact.
Eyes wide and delicately handling her hurting limb, Chat Noir inspected the injury, which was already swollen and purple, but didn’t appear bent at an odd angle as though broken.
Then his arms were under her knees and behind her back, cradling her close, and he was lifting her up.
“Come on, princess, we’ve got to get you to safety.”
Marinette couldn’t help herself- she responded as she would if she were in the suit.
“Oh, princess now is it? I’ve been upgraded from random citizen?”
Chat smirked, still grasping her tightly but carefully.
“Would you prefer I call you citizen again?” he asked, a smile in his voice as he looked about for the best avenue of escape. Seeing an opening into an alley, he sprinted in that direction.
Marinette grabbed onto his neck the best she could with her injured arm, hoping Chat didn’t drop her too far from the fray so that it would take her a long time to make it back.
Then she had an idea.
“Can you just take me home? It’s not far from here. You can leave me on the roof- it’s sort like a balcony to my room.”
“As you wish, princess. Where am I going?”
Marinette hesitated for a split second, realizing she was about to give her home address to her secret partner, albeit without his understanding. She swallowed. It would be fine.
“12 Rue Gotlib. The bakery on the corner.”
With barely a nod, he changed directions minutely to head in the right direction.
It was only a couple more minutes before they were landing on her roof. He looked around for a second, taking in the plants, the lights, the lounge chair.
“This is quite the setup you have here, princess.”
The noirette nodded bashfully, suddenly shy around the man she secretly loved.
“Well, this cat’s gotta scat. See you around, princess, and take care of that arm!” And with that, he leapt back in the direction of the fight.
“That kitty’s going to need my help,” she said to herself as she watched him vault into the distance. Marinette barely hesitated a moment before disappearing into her room, wrapping her forearm as quickly as she could to support the injury, and putting on her suit in its everyday form.
Then she re-emerged, expertly scaling the fire escape in the alley and dropping to the ground, sprinting in the same direction her partner disappeared.
When she returned to the scene, Chat was in bad shape, showing evidence of suffering from a few blows too hard for even his suit to completely protect him. Overcome by the need to protect her partner, Ladybug didn’t hesitate to jump between him and another incoming blow, skillfully ducking and deflecting it with her uninjured arm.
They exchanged hits and swings, she and the akuma, as Chat recovered from his mild daze. Before she was even aware of it, he was back in the fight.
Wreckage was all around them from the various explosions the akuma had set off. Beams and poles and dust and chunks of concrete everywhere, but thankfully, no citizens. Everyone had fled after the first blast.
There was a plan forming in Ladybug’s mind, and she looked to her partner, about to ask him to toss her up, but when she turned, his eyes widened, and he shouted, “ LADYBUG LOOK OUT!”
She whipped her head around just in time to see a heavy-looking metal beam swinging in her direction, and with no time to do anything else, she reflexively lifted her injured arm for protection, bruise facing out, ducking at the same time.
It was only a glancing blow, but the contact caused her to scream nonetheless, and she fell to her knees in anguish. Off to the side, she heard Chat yell her name, and then he was barrelling into the akuma, hit after devastating hit, pummeling the erstwhile supervillain until it was collapsing on the ground. Then he snatched the akumatized object from the victim with more force than necessary, snapping it over his knee, and, after calling for his Cataclysm, destroyed the akuma with a single touch.
Then he was kneeling at her side, clearly exhausted, but still looking over her in a panic, hoping she was ok.
“ My lady ,” he breathed. “Goddammit, sometimes I forget you’re still so fragile under that costume.”
Ladybug let out a breathy laugh, accompanied by a pained wince.
“You sure do know how to sweet talk a girl, Chat Noir.”
The black-clad hero let out a relieved sigh, grabbing either side of her face with his two hands.
His ring let out a beep.
“Are you ok? Is anything broken? Should I take you to a hospital?”
Ladybug rolled her eyes.
“Try to be a little less dramatic, Chaton.”
Chat narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
“If he managed to hit you in the head, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation, my lady, because you would be dead. I think I’m entitled to overreact a little.”
The girl before him gave him as apologetic a look as she could muster, somewhat contrite for causing him so much worry.
“I’m ok, kitty. It doesn’t feel broken. I’m sure it will heal on its own.”
Her partner hesitated, looking almost ready to take her to the hospital, her assurances be damned, but his ring gave another beep.
“Come on, Chat. You have a secret identity to protect, and so do I.” She watched as his expression shifted to acquiescence. “Just leave me in that cafe over there, and take off. I’ll just change out of these clothes and act like any regular injured civilian. It’ll be fine.”
He hesitated a moment longer.
“I promise .”
Then he gave a sigh of defeat.
“Ok, bugaboo. Let’s get you up.” And he carefully grabbed the hand of her good arm, pulling her to a standing position and allowing her to lean on him in her exhaustion as they walked the few meters to the cafe nearby. “I guess this is where I leave you.” He gave a humorless chuckle, his ring beeping loudly again.
“You’d better go. You don’t have much time.”
“Just… take care of yourself, my lady. I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”
Ladybug smiled at him fondly.
“See you next time, Chaton.”
Not without a few glances back, Chat made his way to the street, then with one final look, vaulted upward and out of sight. Her heart turned over in her chest, and Ladybug let out a long sigh, walking toward the bathroom to change her clothes before anyone returned.
When Marinette arrived home, her parents were understandably upset to see her hurt in the attack, but they were also thankful it was only a bone bruise and not a break or worse. After a trip to the ER and a very strong prescription for the pain, she found herself standing atop her balcony, staring out into the Parisian night.
Lights all over the city made it sparkle, and the Eiffel Tower stood like a beacon in the distance. It was impossible to see the stars with all the light pollution, but Marinette had a difficult time believing that they could be much more beautiful.
She was just starting to feel a little drowsy and loopy- a side effect of her pain medication- when there was a recognizable thump behind her. Turning around slowly, the girl was surprised to see her partner standing on her balcony.
Mouth gaping, Marinette watched him as he stood awkwardly, shifting back and forth on his feet as though unsure what to do next.
“Chat Noir, what’re you doing here?” Was is just her, or were her words a little slurred?
“Princess, I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were all right. I hope it’s not presumptuous of me to come here. I really should have asked first.”
In the back of her mind, it occurred to Marinette that Chat Noir shouldn’t be there. It wasn’t safe to show preference to civilians, lest they end up targeted by akumas, but she knew she was no ordinary civilian (even if Chat did not). Besides, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Chat that he wasn’t welcome when she felt the exact opposite. She wished she could see him all the time. She wished they didn’t have to hide behind masks. She wished they could tell each other who they were and get to know each other in a way that anonymity just doesn’t allow.
But that wasn’t going to happen, at least, not any time soon.
So instead of chasing him off her balcony, she said, “If I’m a princess, does that make you my knight?”
A wide grin split his face.
“At your service, princess.” And he bowed at the waist as he said it. “In shining black leather.”
It could have been the fact that she wasn’t wearing the mask, or it could have been the slightly looser inhibitions the drugs gave her (most likely, it was a combination of both), but whatever the catalyst was, Marinette found herself looking Chat Noir over very appreciatively.
Even in the dark she could see his face flame.
She stalked closer to him, like a lioness hunting its prey, and he took a couple of cautious steps backward, gulping audibly.
“And how would you like your thank you for saving me, sir knight?” She licked her lips, his eyes darting down to them. “Would a kiss from your princess do?”
Now his back was against the railing, and she was standing so close, their bodies were almost in contact, but she maintained that minimal distance, not wanting to cross any invisible barriers without his permission.
Slowly raising a hand so as to give him time to resist, she placed it softly on the front plane of his chest, sliding it up to the shoulder and then his neck as she raised up on her toes. When their lips were a breath apart, she stopped, not failing to notice that he had leaned forward slightly when she could not rise any higher.
She held her position despite the burning in her calves, and then there was the soft pressure of an arm encircling her waist, relieving some of the strain.
“ Would you deign to give a kiss to your lowly knight? ” She felt the lightest of brushes of his lips as he whispered, almost a tickle.
“ I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want it .” That was all the confirmation he needed.
In the next second, his lips were pressing firmly against hers, drawing out the breath from her lungs as though it was giving him life. Her uninjured arm came to encircle his neck, the other one wrapped heavily in bandages and cradled carefully by the hand not around her waist.
Then he let go of her elbow, and his hand traveled up her shoulder and behind her neck, pulling desperately at her as though it were possible to get any closer.
There was no air or light between then, just heat and reckless abandon, and when Chat finally released her lips, they were both panting, eyes closed and foreheads leaning against each other.
“That was some thank you, princess.” His voice sounded so wrecked it make Marinette’s knees weak.
“What can I say? I’ve been wanting to thank you for a really long time.”
Chat let out a breathless chuckle.
“You can thank me anytime you want, princess.”
Marinette’s eyes flew up to his, startled by his words.
“Do- do you mean it?” she asked, suddenly very unsure of herself.
“I don’t know what it is about you. I don’t even know your name, but I feel like I’ve known you forever. Is that ok? Can- can I come back and see you again?”
There was such anxiety in his eyes, as though he was expecting rejection, and while it niggled at her brain a little bit that he was responding so readily to herself in civilian form while never giving her alter ego the time of day, she couldn’t let the opportunity pass.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Please do.”
Chat nodded, eyes once again drawn to her mouth, and leaned in to press a soft kiss to her lips. Then he pulled back, gaze lidded as he searched her face.
“Anything for you, princess.”
Marinette kissed him again, firmly but briefly.
“I’ll be waiting,” she said as she stepped back, giving him a small smile. His own was much wider.
“Then I’ll be seeing you soon, princess.”
And as Marinette watched, he extended his baton, vaulting off into the night.