Work Text:
“Finally, I'll find out who you are, Ladybug! Your little secret will be out of the bag!”
Of course even while brainwashed, he was making bad cat jokes. Well, maybe there was hope she could get through to him. It wouldn’t be pleasant though, like ewwww . Cat was Cat, her partner! Their relationship was strictly professional.
Then again, apparently, she was seriously considering kissing him to break the spell. So what did she know? Lunging forwards, she grabbed him by the face pouring as much passion as she could into that kiss. Her love for him was strictly platonic, he was simply her best friend and that was that. Hopefully, it would be enough.
Apparently it was, given the darkness in his eyes was clearing. And now to free Kim from his spell.
-----
Of course the kiss had been the talk of the town. Blogs were probably igniting in a frenzy speculating about ‘Ladybug’s secret love for her partner’. Yeah no. He was just a friend.
Alya probably wasn’t going to let this one go, already she’d been yelling about how her ship had been confirmed. Well, it wasn’t sailing. It wasn’t even leaving port.
Cat was Cat, her partner. He was way too silly and dorky honestly, which was fine in a casual setting but during an akuma attack? Sometimes, she did worry if his mind was always on task. She’d seen him moonwalking to attract Mister Pigeon after all!
“LB?”
She swore she was hearing things. That sounded like Cat! ...clearly her mind was way too focused on that damn kiss. Couldn’t she just put it out of her head?
“Put what out of your head LB?”
Okay, what? Maybe she’d finally gone crazy. Seriously, where was that darn cat?
“Awwww, am I too a-mew-sing to ignore? I’m a furmidable opponent, to be sure! I’m irresistible after all.”
“...where are you?” she asked, apparently to the abyss.
“At home, licking my wounds. That last akuma attack… oww, I think I pulled something. Clearly all of this running and jumping is getting to me.”
“...this doesn’t seem weird to you?” Marinette asked him, her voice easily slipping into the tone she used as a superhero. Admittedly, a bit of nervousness slipped through, though it was easily disguised.
“What does?”
She sighed. “Us, talking like this…”
“Talking like…” Cat trailed off, a part of Marinette swearing she’d heard that voice somewhere else before. Maybe it was nothing. “Oohhhhhhhh, okay, uh, oh wow.”
Realization had apparently dawned.
“You’re taking this better than I expected, cause…” Marinette stammered. “Cause I gotta admit, I’m a few seconds away from freaking out over here!”
“I… uh… yeah, listen, I’m compartmentalizing here. Like… like, maybe this is a part of our bond? Our Miraculous, y’know? Maybe it’s a Ladybug and Cat thing in general? Surely we’re not the first to speak like this?”
“I… suppose it’s possible? I’ll have to ask Tikki,” Marinette explained and quickly realized Cat was waiting on her for an answer. “...oh, right. Silly me! Tikki’s my kwami!”
“Lucky you, I wish mine was so helpful, all he does is ask for cheese! Stinky cheese at that! Cambertert! Looks like my life for the foreseeable future is going to stink. Literally.”
She couldn’t stop the giggle from escaping past her lips. “...sorry, it’s just… well, I know how that feels. Tikki loves cookies, I have to sneak them past my parents and hope they don’t ask too many questions.”
“Awwwww, has little LB been caught with her hand in the cookie jar?”
If he were here, chances are she would have gently shoved him away. “S-Shut up…”
They’d easily fallen back into the old routine, despite the general weirdness of the situation which was a comforting thought. The more things changed, apparently the more some things stayed the same.
“I… suppose I can see this being useful, no matter what spawned it,” Cat paused for thought. “L-Like think about it right, we don’t even have to communicate our plans in front of the akuma! Risk being overheard and all that.”
Okay, so maybe he was onto something! Like, she was already starting to see uses for this.
“Y-Yeah, I suppose…” Marinette stammered, slightly nervous again as a thought occurred to her.
“What? Are you blown away by my awesome smarts? Cat got your tongue?”
“N-No, it’s not that, I just got to thinking. That’s all,” she went on, rubbing her chin in thought as she walked through the city streets. “It’s just… if we share a mind… What else do we share? Like… how far does this connection go?”
Cat paused for thought, as if this hadn’t actually occurred to him before now. She heard what sounded like her partner sucking in a breath over the connection. Probably a wince followed it.
“Y-Yeah, I see your point. Y-Yeah, you might want to go ask Tikki,” Cat said, rather nervous now before gathering his courage. A sigh. “I’ll go see what I can get out of Plagg. ...can I ask for a bit of good luck? Considering who you are and all, LB.”
“Considering the current situation?” Marinette mused. “I think we’re both going to need some good luck between the two of us!”
“Y-Yeah, point taken…”
As soon as she got home, Marinette dashed up to her room ignoring the concerned calls of her parents and let Tikki out of her bag.
“Marinette?” Tikki asked, floating above her head and easily sensing her chosen’s tension. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s… it’s…” Marinette began to babble. “Well me and Cat are suddenly able to talk in our heads. Like telepathy y’know? I was thinking it was weird, because it really is freakin’ weird right? Like, this isn’t normal and aaaagh, I just want to know what’s going on before my brain explodes!”
“Okay, uh…” Tikki sucked in a breath, which was worrying. “I… assume this has never happened before?”
Marinette’s only response was a deadpan look.
“Didn’t hurt to ask,” Tikki admitted. “When did this start up? Recently, I assume?”
“Just today, it’s like… is this related to our Miraculous?” Marinette asked. “Have other Cat and Ladybug pairs before us done this?”
“No, and… well, don’t worry Marinette, this isn’t something to be scared of, so relax.”
“Okay, I’m relaxing…” Marinette breathed in, sitting down in her chaise. “I’ll just have Cat in my head at all times, yeah that’s a pretty calming thought isn’t it?”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to block him out, with time as your bond grows,” Tikki nodded reassuringly. “As I said, this isn’t related to your Miraculous. No, what you have is something much older and far rarer. It’s called a Soul Bond, Marinette.”
Her breath just barely escaped her, and Marinette had to take a moment to steady herself. “A… soul bond? Like in a bad romance novel?”
“...basically?” Tikki admitted with a tiny Kwami-sized shrug.
Good thing she was sitting down, because yep here came the faint.
-----
Maybe this wasn’t so bad. As Cat said, there were some benefits to all this right? She didn’t have to explain her plans in front of an Akuma to Cat.
...still, all the same, this was really freakin’ weird. Even by her standards. Truth be told, Marinette had never exactly been a… fan of the whole soul mate idea. Like, so much for agency right? There went her freedom to choose, because if her understanding was right she had to fall in love with Cat. No arguing with fate.
Despite how much she wanted to, and oh she wanted to.
Mind, it could be worse she supposed. Like, it could have been, ugh, Chloe. Okay yeah there was a thought to give her nightmares. She wasn’t quite ready to unpack to any therapist in the world why her mind went to Chloe about this.
Cat was Cat. Her goofy, kinda dorky but more importantly loyal partner. There were worse people to grow old with right?
...assuming she even did, as the life of a superhero was dangerous. Day in and day out they risked death. And… well, Tikki had been kind enough to warn her about the downside to all this.
“If you die, so does Cat. If Cat dies, so do you. You will feel each other’s pain, I’m sorry Marinette but there’s no way to sugarcoat things.”
As she’d suspected, of course. That had been her main fear when Marinette had realized they had a bond like this. Hopefully Cat knew, his Kwami must have explained things to him.
“I… assume you know?”
Ah, speak of the devil.
“...your kwami explained things too huh?” Cat sighed, rather sadly. “If you die, I die, that sort of thing? What a crock of shit. It feels just… well, Plagg was surprisingly romantic about it, if not rather morbid. He said: “Think of it this way, no matter what happens you’ll be with your Lady Love forever right? Even to the grave.” That… you know if it weren’t for the little side-effect of us both dying I’d kinda agree.”
She wanted to reach out through the bond and hug him. This was ridiculous, utterly ridiculous to borrow a phrase. Great, now she was quoting Chloe. Things were serious then.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Marinette reaffirmed, sending warm comforting emotion through the bond. The love for her partner that had always been there, now reinforced even more. It was strong like steel. “Things haven’t changed, not really I guess. We’ll just have to be a bit more careful from now on.”
“Yeah, we got this right?” Cat said, sending a wave of appreciation back through the bond. “It’s like it’s always been for us right? You and me, against the world Bug. That’s how it should be. We’re still doing that, just with a little extra.”
“Indeed!”
“Still, it’s time for me to stop kitten around, given both of our lives are now at stake,” Cat decided, a seriousness to his voice. Love and concern for his partner rushed through the bond. “Now more than ever.”
“...well, on the bright side, I don’t think Hawk Moth will ever see this coming!” Marinette laughed a little, a little light in her heart now. Yeah… yeah, they had this. She imagined reaching through the bond, and tightly grasping her partner’s hand. Did she love him like that yet? She wasn’t sure.
“Y-Yeah! Hey Bug?” Cat asked of her, sending another warm wave of affection towards her. Okay, she could admit kinda getting used to this. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out. I’ll be by your side, every step of the way.”
“Like I could ever pry you away from me!” Marinette teased, taking a recognized tone she’d always used around him. Again, the familiar seemed to call out to them.
“Well, I am a cat!” her partner was probably grinning, given by the tone in his comment. “We do tend to latch onto people.”
“Just don’t start trying to climb me!”
-----
Sliding next to Alya, Marinette welcomed the other girl’s friendship. She’d been like a rock to her, her and Cat. They kept her anchored to Earth, reminding her of what she was fighting for.
“...Hey Alya, what do you think about Soul Bonds?” she posed the question, perhaps out of the blue. But she had to get her best friend’s stance on this. Just for posterity of course. “Like… I was reading this romance novel last night, and yeeeah it was pretty bad but the concept stood out to me.”
“I dunno, on the one hand, you’re bonded forever which is kinda a romantic notion but on the other hand…” Alya sucked in a breath. “No privacy for one, you’re always in each other’s heads. Someone, probably Shakespeare probably thought dying together is romantic but wow it’s kinda morbid if you ask me.”
“Little bit of both,” Marinette said, making a motion with her hand to emphasize this. “Yeah.”
“Alright, I’ll bite. Why are you asking anyway?” Alya leaned in and grinned, before looking across the room with Marinette following her gaze. At the other side of the room, engaged in conversation with Nino was Adrien. “...are you hoping a certain blonde will turn out to be your soul mate?”
“Well, a certain blonde is already my soul mate. Just not the one Al is thinking of!”
“N-No, it’s just as I said. I read it in a romance novel and the concept I guess stood out to me.”
“If you say so, but I smell a story here, girl,” Alya conceded, letting it go if only for now.
Of course, being someone’s soul mate came with many downsides besides an inquisitive best friend. They felt each other’s pain, bruises forming where none had been before.
Just a few days before had been Darkblade, and it had been hard to fight the akuma. Every few moments she’d felt her partner knocked around and she had been forced to power through the pain. Paris needed her.
Of course, Alya being who she was had noticed.
“By the way girl, you sure you’re alright?” she asked, concerned. “For the past few days, you’ve looked like you got into a fight.”
“Just some guys tried to rob me on my way home from the fabric store.”
“Oh my god, please tell me you’re alright…” Alya breathed. “...why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to worry, that’s all,” Marinette reassured, before giving a cat-like smile. Something she’d learned from her partner. “Besides, if you think I look bad you should see the other guys. I totally kicked their asses!”
“Okay, but next time you go out, carry some mace okay? My orders, and don’t think you can argue about this with me little missy.”
A brief image of her spraying Darkblade or better yet Hawk Moth with a can of the stuff flashed into Marinette’s mind.
It was a good image.
“Good idea, Paris has gotten pretty dangerous lately…” Marinette agreed before feeling a bit of warmth from her bondmate who’d obviously sensed her distress. “But thank god for Cat Noir, eh?”
-----
“Watch out!” Ladybug shouted through the bond, watching The Mime apparently swing a sword. Cat dodged, as per her instruction and a lamppost fell over now cut in half. She fought back the panic, that could have been her partner!
“Wow, he looks ready to cut and run!” her partner said to her, though the bond before speaking aloud with a wiseass crack as ever. “I’ve heard of cutting-edge technology but this guy’s brought it up to a whole new level!”
Now the Mime looked like he was ready to fire something, and as if on instinct, Cat pulled his partner out of the way as behind them a car went up in a huge fireball.
Ladybug’s ears were ringing, the explosion far closer than she would have liked.
“Good thing Mimes don’t speak, otherwise he’d have probably graced us with a crack like ‘Flameous last words.’ or something!”
“Sorry, the only one allowed to make puns around her is me!” Cat said, before wrapping a hand around her waist as his staff shot them forwards. As they fell towards the Mime, they slipped into twin diving kicks aimed squarely at the Akuma’s face. “Anyways, saying he should give up as this is our final offire is a way better joke anyways!”
The Mime staggered back from the force of the kicks, before miming getting into a getaway car and driving off.
“...do you think he’s even got a license?” Ladybug had to wonder, noting how he couldn’t quite seem to get away fast enough.
“I dunno, but I want a car like that!” Cat remarked as they bounded across rooftops. The villain seemed to be following a bus, a very specific bus now that Ladybug thought about it.
“Hey, isn’t that the bus for…” Cat realized.
“The troupe, yeah!” Ladybug said, before throwing her yo-yo and letting it wrap around a light post. With a sharp tug, it came crashing down in front of the villain’s path. “That’s Mr. Haprèle’s troupe now that I think about it. Well, I guess now we know who the villain is!”
“Wonder what ticked him off…?” Cat had to ponder. “Like, wow he seems angry. I guess it’s true, it’s always the quiet ones you gotta watch out for!”
This… just this. This was what she welcomed. The banter, the silly jokes between them as they fought to save Paris from weird supervillains never quite knowing what to expect. As dangerous as the situation was, it was kinda comforting at the same time as well. As again, despite how things had changed between them some other things were set in stone. Like Hawk Moth and his menagerie of colorful akumatized villains.
“Well, we’d better not let The Mime catch up to that troupe otherwise he’ll probably do unspeakable things to them then!”
“She puns!” her partner’s eyes sparkled with delight, and she felt happiness surge through the bond. It was bright and felt as warm as the sun. Maybe she should make him laugh more often, Ladybug thought to herself.
And… oh, the Mime was prying open the top of the bus like it was a can of tuna!
She had to get him away from here. No, they had to get him away from here, Ladybug had corrected herself. Sending her plan through the bond, the two then sprung into action.
“You want our Miraculous?” Ladybug called out to the villain, challenging him. “Well then, come get us!”
The Mime acted out drawing back an arrow, and Cat’s staff spun in front of him as he stood to deflect it. Blowing a raspberry at the villain, he led him on a merry chase towards the Eiffel Tower.
Again, it seemed that their battle would take them there. Wow, that happened a lot with them.
The Mime was pedaling hard, and just then Cat realized something and relayed it through the bond.
“...yes, you’re right!” Ladybug responded, realizing the same thing as he. “He can only mime one thing at a time! Good eye, Cat!”
Now what to do with the information?
She eyed the Eiffel Tower as an idea came to her. ...well, destroying national monuments for a good cause right?
Calling for her Lucky Charm, she smiled as her job had just been made exponentially easier.
“Make him angrier, Cat!” She relayed. “Blow his fuse!”
“Don’t you think he’s pissed off enough?”
“Trust me, I have a plan!” Ladybug replied to him. “You’re good at being annoying, right? Do what you do best!”
“You got it Mil… hey!”
Cat danced around in front of the Mime dodging his arrows while Ladybug set up her projector. The red and black device was now displaying exactly what she wanted the villain to see.
A very large version of a certain poster and just as she’d hoped he lashed out in rage. With one single sword slice, down came the Eiffel. And he was forced to mime a massive shield to avoid being crushed.
Cat’s staff expanded, reaching out to grab the villain’s hat as he let out a: “Yoink!”
And soon, another familiar routine came.
“No more evildoing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!”
And a wave of red light washed over Paris, like a tidal wave of love itself. Another villain defeated. “Pound it!”
-----
Indeed, Paris seemed to notice how smooth their partnership seemed to operate as their nearly flawl… ahem, spotless record improved apparently one hundred fold.
“Okay, you’ve noticed haven’t you?” Alya babbled. “Like, our dynamic duo… there’s something different about them. Something’s changed. I just wish I could nail down exactly what!”
“If you say so,” Marinette said, currently focusing on her homework trying to ignore the prodding in the back of her skull like something was deeply wrong. She just couldn’t work out exactly what it was. “...Hey Alya, you feel that? Like something’s about to go wrong? It’s… I dunno, it’s just I’ve got this feeling. I just wish I could pin down what’s wrong…”
“Maybe you’re just anxious about the test on Thursday…” Alya said though she did sport a concerned look that she just couldn’t shake.
“I need some air,” Marinette said before getting up to leave. “Excuse me.”
As she stepped out onto her friend’s balcony, she still couldn’t shake this feeling that something was undeniably wrong even if she couldn’t work out exactly why that was. She needed to figure this out and soon. Otherwise… But then, an answer came to her even if she much rather it hadn’t.
“L… LB?”
Her partner’s voice came, worryingly shaky. It sounded like he was about to have a panic attack.
“Kitty?” Ladybug said, her instincts immediately set alert. As much as she tried to deny it, this was why she’d been so on edge lately. In the back of her mind, she’d known something had gone wrong with her partner. Damn it, if only she’d realized sooner!
“Oh thank God, you’re there…” Cat Noir’s voice came, still anxiety-ridden. “It’s… it’s my father.”
Warning bells began ringing out in her head, like a five-alarm fire. All hands on deck, red alert!
They’d spoken about his father, and almost always it had never been kindly. Marinette had discovered the reason why her partner seemed to act so larger than life was because of his home life. Because of his… annoyingly absent father, leaving him so desperate for affection.
Sometimes she wanted to swaddle him, like a baby and hold him so close and never let him go after learning this.
“I… I… saw something.”
“It’s okay kitty, just take it slow.”
Waves of raw emotion hit her like a tsunami. Fear, anxiety, amongst other things. It was nearly overwhelming. Finally, her partner took a calming breath before speaking again though his voice was ragged and hushed. He sounded like he was desperately trying not to break down.
“My father opened up a hidden safe, I memorized the combination as you do right? I went and looked at what was inside. There’s some strange book Milady, but that’s not all… Tikki… she saw the Peacock Miraculous in there Milady!”
“Are… are you sure?” Marinette asked, a million solutions coming to mind for why her partner’s father would have such a thing. And none of them were good at all…
“Would your Kwami be mistaken about such a thing?”
“No… no you’re right…” Marinette said back to him, her voice still rather shaky. “Where are you, right now? Did your father see you?”
“No, I slammed the safe shut and ran for it. I’m hiding in my room, Milady, still trying to work out what the hell’s going on!”
“Don’t worry, I’m coming to get you,” Marinette said, slipping on a familiar ring.
They’d traded Miraculous for the week, just to get in touch with each other’s powers. Just in case they ever needed to transform into the other for whatever reason. It had sounded like a good idea at the time, and it sounded like an even better one even now,
They hadn’t looked at each other, as they traded their Miraculous from behind the safety of a chimney. For all that secrecy was worth now anyways...
“Tell me where you live, exactly. Please, Kitty.” Marinette pleaded.
“But our identities…”
“Screw that, if I’m right about your father and I desperately hope I’m wrong they may not matter anymore anyways!”
And then an address she’d never have thought to hear from her partner came over the bond.
“Adrien?”
“Y-Yeah, it’s me! So, uh… Surprise?” Adrien laughed, in spite of the situation. “I just wish you could have found out under better circumstances, that’s all.”
“Plagg…” Marinette said, the words nearly growled out in a protective rage. “Claws Out!”
A black skintight bodysuit formed all around her, and energy feeling uncomfortably a bit like death and decay washed over her. No time to think about it right now, her partner was in serious danger!
Alya came out just then, and caught a glimpse of Hēi Māo -formerly her best friend- leaping off into the night. Really, only two words summed things up best.
“HOLY SHIT!”
-----
Hēi Māo raced across the city, her vision a sea of green as like a cat she bounded over rooftops. Under better circumstances, she would have loved to have found out that this was how her partner saw things.
Adrien. Adrien was her partner. All too easily, she could imagine his hair a little messier and a black mask slipping over his face.
Now that she thought about it, as much as she didn’t want to, she saw that familiar sadness in his eyes. Like a puppy begging for a hug, desperate for any form of affection at all. She’d seen it only one other place before.
Shingles crumbled beneath her as the black cat-themed heroine leaped off a rooftop before flipping in mid-air and landing on another. Down it she slid, and jumped to another roof in perfectly practiced parkour.
Her suit easily disguised itself in the night sky, blending into the black. Over an impossibly tall wall she leaped, the stone surrounding the household like a fortress. Adrien had been like Rapunzel trapped in her tower, her friends often joked. Well, it seemed that Gabriel was like Mother Gothiel.
In more ways than one.
The superheroine knew this was probably suicide, but she had to get her best friend out of there right this fucking minute. In and out, Hēi Māo had decided she’d be. Like a ninja in the night.
A part of her wanted to kill Gabriel, it would be way too easy. But a part of her knew there would be questions asked, and this assumed he hadn’t transformed into Hawk Moth already. Fighting him now wasn’t a good idea at all.
She was going in with no plan, she knew that.
She’d have to think things up on the fly as always.
“Milady?” Adrien asked, watching her silently creep in through his window. “...you came?”
“Of course I did, Adrien,” she gave him a reassuring smile, trying to fight the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her. “I said I was coming didn’t I? I’d never be able to leave my partner in distress. I’m never kitten around with these things…”
A quick snappy joke to ease the mood, and from the nervous giggle that her partner gave it had clearly served its purpose.
“It’s in the study, right down the hall,” her kwami helpfully informed. She was nervously floating overhead, her pinkish-red form darting up into the rafters just in case anyone were to come in at that moment. “I… I didn’t want to believe it at first, but… Oh Duusu… I just hope nobody’s considered putting it on, the brooch… Duusu, she’s damaged, I could sense it. Nothing that the Great Guardian can’t fix of course, but if anyone were to put it on now, they’d be inflicted with a terrible curse!”
“A… a curse?” Adrien nearly shrieked, just barely managing to turn his voice into a whisper.
“They’d get sick, of course… Weaker,” Tikki explained. “Weaker with each passing day…”
A faint flash of recognition rushed into Adrien’s eyes, and in her head, Hēi Māo heard his voice. “Just like… just like mom…”
Oh God.
“Stay here, okay?” a soothing, calming wave was directed towards her Soul Mate. “I’ll be back with the Brooch, we’ll figure something out later but as soon as I get back we’re getting you out of here.”
“But what about…?”
She knew what he was about to say, even if he didn’t want to finish the sentence.
“Your dad will never see me,” Hēi Māo calmly informed him. “And if he does, I think I’m going to be able to talk my way out of this.”
Already, a plan had begun to form in her mind.
“Do what you must, Milady.”
She felt his appreciation wash over her, feeling empowered by how much he believed in her. Silently, she crept towards the hidden safe and wasted no time in slashing into it with supernaturally powerful claws.
“What are you doing?” Gabriel’s voice came, and it took all of her strength not to hiss at him in fury. “How did you find… who are you?”
“Just a concerned citizen of Paris,” Hēi Māo deadpanned, her bright green eyes shining in supernatural fashion out of the darkness. “As for how I found you… well, a little kitty told me. Cats make such wonderful spies, after all, I guess I’m like Bast in that regard. I know every one of them on every street in Paris.”
An obvious lie, she was bullshitting her way out of this but by the obvious fear in Gabriel’s eyes, it had worked.
“Don’t worry, Hawk Moth. I won’t say a word about your little secret, not unless you force me to,” Hēi Māo said and in her hands was the Peacock, flickering between its disguised state and its true form as it crackled with magic. “You lay down your arms, and the police suddenly won’t find themselves questioning why you had a Miraculous stored away in your home.”
“You dare to threaten me?” Gabriel stormed in a fury.
“No, I’m making you a promise,” Hēi Māo said, before her eyes softened a little. “Please, be a father towards your son. He needs that right now more than he needs you as a supervillain.”
She said no more on the matter, before taking her leave.
She and Adrien met under the moonlight, and all masks were cast aside.
“M-Marinette…?” Adrien realized, because who else could it have been? “It’s been you… this whole time hasn’t it?”
Love. That’s what she felt, not just love for him as her partner and as her best friend. But love.
“Yeah,” Marinette said, gently cupping his face and kissing him as her tail wrapped around his waist. “Like you said, you and me against the world. That’s not going to change anytime soon, kitty.”
“I’d… I’d like that.”
Fin