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"Bug, I need your help."
Marinette jumped in surprise at the sudden voice behind her, and then yelped in pain as she hit her head on the bottom of her locker. Biting her lip at the throbbing – she was going to have a hell of a headache – she hastily pulled her head out and turned to see a familiar black cat kwami floating right behind her. Eyes widening, Marinette looked around to see if any of her classmates were still around.
"Don't worry. I waited until you were alone," Plagg said impatiently. "I need your help!"
"So you said," Marinette said, rubbing at the bump on her poor head. Her purse was still hanging inside her locker. It popped open and Tikki burst out.
"Plagg, what are you doing? Why aren't you with Chat?" Tikki demanded.
"Don't tell me Chat lost his miraculous again," Marinette said, frowning.
"What? No! Chat's father hit him last night."
Marinette opened her mouth. Then she closed it. The world seemed to tilt as she stared at Plagg and waited for the kwami to laugh and say it had been a joke. But he didn't.
"Oh, Plagg," Tikki said softly, flying up beside him. "Not again. I'm sorry."
Plagg turned towards Tikki. "It was awful. The kid didn't even see it coming."
"Is he okay?" Tikki asked.
"For now, but I'm worried. I didn't know who else to come to."
"Wait," Marinette said, and both kwamis looked at her. "Not again? What does that mean? No. Never mind. You said - Chat's hurt? Where is he?"
"He doesn't know I'm here," Plagg explained. "Kid spent the whole night convincing himself that his father didn't mean it. By the time he got up this morning, I think he'd pretty much convinced himself that it hadn't happened. The bruise on his cheek this morning says otherwise."
"What," Marinette asked, sinking down onto the bench, "exactly happened?"
"They were arguing. Chat didn't want to do something that his father wanted him to do. His father grabbed him by the arm, tight enough to leave a bruise," Plagg added. "Then he slapped Chat across the face."
Marinette thought she might be sick. She put a hand to her lips and swallowed hard. "Oh my god. Is he okay?"
"There's a small bruise on his face and a hand print on his arm. What do you think?" Plagg snapped.
"I - right. Of course he's not okay." Marinette thought of her kitty. In their three years of partnership, she'd come to realize that, for all of his macho attitude, Chat Noir could actually be pretty fragile at times. In spite of her firm rule about their identities, it hadn't taken her long to deduce that Chat's relationship with his father was pretty bad. It was all in idle, little comments that Chat would make - or didn't make, as the case sometimes was.
But she'd never thought it would come to this.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked, looking up at Plagg.
"I want you to talk to him. Convince him to leave home," Plagg said.
"Where would he go?" Tikki asked.
"Anywhere he's not being abused," Plagg growled, throwing Tikki a nasty look.
"Plagg, I didn't mean it like that," Tikki said gently. "It's just - we have to to think about these things. Times have changed. Children aren’t allowed to live on their own."
Plagg huffed. “I don’t care.”
"I'll talk to Chat tonight," Marinette said, ignoring the both of them. She would see what he said. If he wanted to leave - if she could talk him into it - well, they would cross that bridge when they came to it.
Plagg's shoulders slumped, and he nodded. "Thanks, Bug. You're probably the only one that he'll listen to."
"I don’t know about that," Marinette said softly. Chat could be pretty stubborn. "You should go back to Chat. He's probably wondering where you are."
Plagg nodded and turned, spinning around to face the windows. He shot at the nearest one and phased through the glass, gone within seconds. Marinette watched him go, and kept staring at the window long after Plagg was out of sight. His words kept repeating in her mind.
Chat's father hit him last night.
"Marinette," Tikki said softly.
Marinette's eyes got hot. Blinking back the tears didn't help. They slid down her cheeks anyway.
That night, Ladybug got to their meeting spot first. That was rare; usually Chat was always early, and she was the one making him wait. He teased her about it sometimes, but, since she usually brought him cookies, he didn't mind too much. Tonight she couldn't help wondering if the reason he was late was because his father was hitting him again, and waited with bated breath for Chat to show up. She sat on the edge of the roof for a bit, then got up and paced, her eyes scanning the Parisian skyline until they ached.
He was twenty-six minutes late. She counted every minute. Ladybug saw him coming from the east, making his way across the rooftops. He landed on the far edge and waved his hand in greeting, or maybe in apology. She didn't wait to find out.
Chat oofed and staggered back when she pounced on him, barely stopping them both from falling over the edge. "Uh, not that I'm complaining, but what's this about?" he asked in astonishment, pivoting them away from the edge.
"Are you okay?" Ladybug asked into his ear, hugging him as tightly as she could.
"I'm fine. Were you worried? I'm sorry. A job ran late and I couldn't get away." He sounded genuinely regretful.
Ladybug pulled back to look at him with narrowed eyes. His face didn't look any different to her critical eye, but she knew all too well how easy it was to hide bruises with the right kind of make-up. The miraculous cure might fix all the damage done during akuma attacks, but sometimes she and Chat got a little rough with each other when they were sparring. She'd rolled out of bed more than once after a long night only to find her face, hands and arms spotted with bruises. A bit of cover-up could go a long way, and Chat had mentioned a long time ago that he was familiar with make-up.
"My Lady?" Chat said slowly, giving her an odd look. "Are you okay?"
"Plagg visited me today," Ladybug said.
Chat went still. "Oh."
"He told me what happened. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Chat said tightly. "He shouldn't have - it's not a big deal."
"It's a very big deal! Your father hit you. In no world is that okay."
"He didn't hit me. He tapped my face to make sure I was paying attention," said Chat.
"And did this tapping leave a bruise?" Ladybug asked.
"I bruise easily," Chat said, which wasn't a 'no' and they both knew it.
Ladybug folded her arms. "I don't like it, Chat."
He sighed. "It's not that big of a deal, LB. I promise. He just… caught me off guard. Plagg shouldn't have told you."
"I'm glad he did. You're my partner," Ladybug said.
The look he gave her was at once fond and resigned. "You don't even know who I am. What could you do even if I wanted your help?"
For the second time that day, Ladybug found herself speechless.
Chat nodded. "That's what I thought. Please, just forget about it. He was stressed, I was stressed, it was a whole big, unnecessary thing."
"What if it happens again?" she whispered.
"It won't," Chat said, with such confidence that her heart ached. He really believed it.
She wasn't so sure.
"If you don't mind, Ladybug, I'm going to skip patrol tonight," Chat added. "I'm suddenly feeling under the weather." He gave her a great big fake smile and turned, leaping off the roof before she could stop him.
"That could've gone better," Ladybug muttered to herself, watching him go. Yet what else could she have said? Chat was right; she didn't know who he was beneath the mask, and he didn't know who she was. It wasn't like she could take him home.
Well, she could. She would, if Chat needed it, and damn all of Master Fu's rules to hell if he didn't like it. But Chat didn't seem like he wanted her help.
She did a half-hearted patrol alone and then went home, slithering quietly back into her bedroom. Marinette lay back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. Tikki, sensing she didn't want to talk, went to Marinette's desk where some cookies were waiting and began to eat. The soft sound of her kwami's chewing was so familiar to Marinette now. So normal. So was the sound of her parents as they finished up and made their way to bed. She tried to imagine her father, or her mother, hitting her and couldn't. Neither of her parents had ever raised their hands to anyone that she knew of.
"Tikki?" Marinette whispered.
"Yes, Marinette?"
"Could I..." Marinette's throat hurt. She put a hand over her eyes. "You know who Chat is, right?"
"Yes," Tikki said slowly.
"Could I threaten his father?"
"Marinette," Tikki said, disapproving now.
"What?" Marinette said, suddenly angry. "He hit my kitty!"
Tikki flew up onto the bed. "You know you can't know who Chat is."
"I don't care who he is. I've never cared less. Blindfold me if you have to," Marinette said.
"No," Tikki said, not unkindly. "That's not the answer."
Marinette pursed her lips and rolled over, letting her tears out into the pillow. She wasn't so sure about that, and what else could she do? If Tikki wouldn't help her, maybe Plagg would.
She didn't sleep well that night, waking repeatedly from nightmares in which Chat showed up with bruises all over. She got up early, dressed and went downstairs to where her father was working in the bakery. He hugged her good morning, kissing the top of her head. She wanted to cry again when she looked up into his big, kind face. It just wasn't fair.
"Are you okay?" Tom asked her, his brow furrowing. "You look upset."
"I will be," Marinette said. "Papa, have we got any Camembert around?"
Tom looked puzzled, but nodded. "There might be some in the fridge. I was experimenting with some new danishes over the weekend."
"May I have some?"
"Take as much as you need," he said, already turning back to the wedding cake he was working on.
Marinette opened the fridge and rummaged around until she found the stinky cheese. She took half of what remained, wrapping it up in a piece of cloth, and tucked it into her bag. Then she kissed her father goodbye and hurried out the door, making her way to school. It was early yet, and there weren't many kids around. She found a quiet, secluded spot in the far corner of the yard, turned her back to the school, opened up the cloth, and waited.
Plagg showed up five minutes before the bell.
"I want you to transform me," Marinette said before he could touch the cheese.
He froze, wary. "Why?"
"So I can threaten Chat's father," she said, pinching her purse shut. It didn't work, of course. Tikki phased right through.
"No!" she said.
"Yes," Plagg said, smiling. "I like that. I like you. You can keep my kitten, Bug."
Marinette nodded grimly.
"No!" Tikki said again. "This is a very bad idea. It breaks so many rules. Master Fu will be furious. Think of the danger!"
"Tikki, Chat is already in danger," Marinette said. "You can't ask me to ignore that."
Tikki looked up at her. "Marinette."
"I'm doing this," Marinette said, set, and Tikki sighed.
"How do you plan to get the miraculous away from Chat?" she asked. "He won't just give it to you."
"Leave that to me," said Plagg, and scooped up the whole hunk of cheese and gobbled it down just like that.
Marinette's class, as it happened, was having swimming lessons. Jewelry was expressly forbidden in the pool, and that included both rings and earrings. She begged off, citing cramps, and found herself in the locker room alone. Plagg pointed her to Chat's locker, and even phased inside to open it for her. Both kwamis watched Marinette's face as she looked inside.
"Oh," Marinette said hollowly. "Oh, Adrien." Her voice broke. A lot of things suddenly made sense, and all of them hurt.
"No more tears," Plagg said, eyeing her, and she shook her head and blinked hard.
She wasn't sad.
She was pissed.
"Be careful?" Tikki asked.
"I'll come back to you," Marinette promised, removing her earrings. She left them on top of Adrien's bag, with Tikki acting as a guard. Plagg handed her the ring, and Marinette slid it onto her ring finger. It shrunk to fit.
"Say claws out," Plagg instructed.
Marinette lifted her hand. "Plagg, claws out!"
Green light lit up the room. It felt different, cooler, than Tikki's magic did. Chat Noire clambered up on top of the lockers and escaped out the same window that Plagg had yesterday. She wasn't athletic enough to chance her luck with Chat's baton, so instead took to the rooftops and made her way to the Agreste mansion the old-fashioned way. Last time she'd been here, it was to protect Adrien. Funny how she was coming back with the same intention.
As Plagg had promised, Adrien had left his bedroom window open. Chat Noire crawled inside and went to the door, pausing to listen before she stepped out. It was amazing how much better her hearing was like this. She felt like she could hear everything. No wonder Chat had the advantage when it came to akumas that were difficult to see, or preferred to fight in the dark.
Once she was sure no one was around, Chat Noire made her way down the corridor. She could hear Gabriel's voice speaking faintly. In spite of a couple wrong turns, she was standing outside his office within minutes. There were no other voices in the room, which made her think that he was either on the phone (unlikely, she thought she would've heard even that) or talking to himself. She reached for the doorknob.
"Who -" Gabriel began, then stopped. Then, "Who the hell are you?"
She stepped inside fully.
"Ladybug?" he said, jaw dropping.
"I'm here to deliver a message," Chat Noire said, her fists clenched.
He watched her silently, lips parted in shock.
"Adrien is my friend. I admire him very much. And I know what you did to him."
Gabriel physically recoiled.
"I know," Chat Noire hissed, anger burning brightly in her chest. "If you touch him again, I'll be back. They won't find your body, Gabriel Agreste. You know what Cataclysm is capable of."
"Is that a threat?" Gabriel asked, recovering rapidly. "Are you threatening me, Ladybug?" He stood.
"It's not a threat. It's a promise," Chat Noire said. She lifted her hand, holding it palm up, like she was going to invoke Cataclysm. Gabriel tensed.
"I could report you for this," he said.
"And I could report you," she said. "Why don't you call the police, Gabriel, and see whose story they're more interested in?"
His eyes darted to the phone on his desk, but he didn't move.
Chat Noire nodded. "Catacylsm!" she called out. The power came immediately, swirling around her fingers.
Gabriel stiffened further, his right hand reaching up to touch his tie. "You said -" he began.
"Just a warning," Chat Noire said. She slammed her hand down on the ugly bust that sat to her right, just inside the door. They both watched as it disintegrated into fine black dust, and then even that evaporated into nothing.
"You would kill someone. I didn't think you were capable of that," Gabriel said thoughtfully.
She just looked at him, meeting his gaze. To protect her partner, she would do anything.
"Don't make me come back, Gabriel Agreste," Chat Noire said softly. "I'll be watching."
Then, before he could respond, she slipped back through the door. She didn't bother trying to find her way back to Adrien's room; she broke the window at the end of the corridor with her fist and jumped out. She leaped easily over the fence and landed beyond. Feeling eyes on her, she turned. Gabriel stood at the broken window, staring down at her. Chat Noire gave him the coldest look she could muster before she turned away, disappearing into the shadows of the buildings across the street.
Before she'd gone far, her transformation dissolved.
"That was pretty good, Bug," Plagg said. "You would've made a half-decent kitten."
"Thanks," Marinette said, shaking her hand out. It didn't hurt even after punching solid glass - bulletproof glass, even, from the feel of it - but her knuckles were stiff. "Think it'll work?"
Plagg considered. "Maybe. He's never touched Adrien before. And he seemed surprised when it happened."
"Did he apologize?" Marinette asked suddenly. She hadn't thought to ask before.
"No."
"I should've just Cataclysmed his face," she muttered.
"I wouldn't have disagreed, but you know how Tikki and the kid are," said Plagg, landing on her shoulder. "Can I have more cheese?"
"I'm fresh out, sorry." Marinette began the walk back to school. She stuck to alleys as much as possible; she wouldn't have put it past Gabriel to have people out looking for her. He wouldn't know who she was, of course, but it was better if no one saw her coming from the direction of the Agreste mansion.
It took about twenty minutes for her to get back to school. Marinette couldn't say she was surprised when she saw Adrien standing out front, leaning against the gate. He straightened up as she approached. Tikki smiled at Marinette from Adrien's shoulder. The Ladybug earrings, Marinette saw, were pinning to the collar of his shirt: two small, round grey studs, nearly hidden by the way his collar fell, unnoticeable unless you were looking for them.
"Hi Marinette," Adrien said, looking at her with wonder. It was obvious he wanted to ask, but wasn't sure how. And with Plagg hidden beneath Marinette's blazer, he wouldn't have any direct clues.
"Hi Chaton. Sorry I borrowed your ring," Marinette said. She was too tired to beat around the bush. She took off his ring and held it out.
Adrien's awed expression deepened. "It is you - but - why?"
"You asked me what I could do," Marinette said quietly.
His eyes widened with understanding, and he said, "This wasn't quite what I meant."
"I know," she said, unapologetic, and dropped the ring into his upturned hand.
Adrien looked at his ring. "Tikki said you went to threaten my dad. Did you really?"
"You know that ugly bust he has in his office?" Marinette said.
"Yes."
"I Cataclysmed it."
Much to her surprise, Adrien laughed. "Oh, My Lady. You didn't."
"She did!" Plagg said, crawling up onto Marinette's shoulder. "I was very proud."
"You would be," Tikki said, with a fond shake of her head.
"I can't believe you did that," Adrien said at the same time.
"You're my partner," Marinette said, sort of helplessly, because she had no other words to explain it.
His smile warmed. "You shouldn't have. I told you it was fine."
"It wasn't fine," Marinette said. "If he hits you again, he knows what will happen."
Adrien shook his head and unpinned her earrings, handing them over. "You're a dangerous woman, Princess."
"Only when it comes to you," Marinette muttered, slipping her earrings back into her ears. Adrien blushed, and she blushed too once she realized that he'd heard what she'd said.
He rubbed at the back of his neck awkwardly. "Would you, uh. Wanna go get lunch?"
Marinette looked at him very seriously. "Only if you promise to tell me if something like that happens again."
"I promise," he said softly, much quicker than she would've thought. "And... thanks. For sticking up for me against him. No one's done that for... for a really long time."
"You're my kitty," she said. "No one, akuma or human, gets away with hurting you."
He smiled again, big and full, and took her hand. As they turned to walk towards the nearest café, Plagg arched his back and nuzzled against Marinette's cheek. He purred softly, in thanks she thought, and Marinette rubbed him back in return.