Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Tikki, do I look alright?" Adrien asked a little frantically, running a stressed hand through his hair.

"Relax, Adrien," his kwami replied soothingly, zipping around him to straighten his collar. "You look just fine."

He hesitated in front of the mirror, and Tikki floated up to give him an encouraging look. "Come on, Adrien, it's just lycée," she pointed out. "It's not going to kill you."

"You can't be sure about that," Adrien said with an exaggerated pout.

Tikki floated closer still and booped his nose with a small paw. "Yes, I can," she said with her signature sweet smile. "You're Mister Bug, remember? You've taken on and defeated akumas on your own for nearly four years. Surely you aren't going to let a little year at lycée get the better of you?"

Adrien laughed ruefully, ruffling his hair wryly. "Well, when you put it like that."

"I know it's going to be strange to join om your last year," Tikki said, her expression softening. "But you're miles ahead of the normal school curriculum, remember? And you're used to juggling many things at once."

"That's certainly true," he agreed, grimacing. What with his father's detailed control of his life, endless extracurriculars and PR, and being Mister Bug alone on top of all that… well, it wasn't easy. Adrien didn't know what he would have done without Tikki.

She was more than just a kwami to him - she was a friend. More than that, she was also an adviser, and a confidant. She was thousands of years old, after all, and occasionally all that wisdom came in handy. Like when she was helping Adrien see that bottling things up didn't help, for example. Or when she boosted his courage enough that he finally stood up to his father.

He grinned just at the thought. I'm going to lycée!

"I'm proud of you, Adrien," Tikki said warmly, as though she had read his mind. (Sometimes, Adrien really wondered if she could actually do that. Tikki always just said it was a sign that they had a great bond… but she also hadn't explicitly denied it, either!)

"I'm proud of me, too," he admitted, feeling a little warm glow even as he said the words. That was something he never would have said - or even felt, really - if it hadn't been for Tikki.

Honestly, she was amazing.

"No, you're amazing," his kwami corrected with a gentle smile - which, again, wasn't helping her claims that she couldn't read his mind.

Adrien was just about to bring this up (it was his favourite playful argument with Tikki) when he happened to glance over her shoulder and see the clock.

He yelped. If he was late for his first day, his father would definitely take it as an excuse to pull him back out of school. Adrien could already hear it - "You're just not responsible enough to face the world yet, son. It's better for you to stay home."

Little did he know that his son had been facing the real world for years already - ever since the Guardian of the Miraculous had appeared in his room and offered him the Ladybug's earrings.

He smiled slightly at the memory. It was one of his best.

But that wasn't the point right now. "Hide, Tikki," he said urgently, and his kwami zipped into the inside pocket of his shirt. She blinked adoringly up at him with big blue eyes, and stroked her head with one finger.

What would he do without her?

He touched the camouflaged Miraculous in his ears and smiled softly. Well, he was glad he would never have to find out.

//

Marinette lay flat on her back, staring dispassionately up at her ceiling as her alarm started beeping more and more frantically. So she was going to be late. What did she care? Was the school going to give her a little detention?

A mocking smile played on her lips. Please. She had had almost as many detentions as the number of times she had tried to run away from the orphanage.

People kept acting like she should somehow care about these things. Care about their punishments.

But Marinette had stopped caring about any of it after that day. Caring only brought you one thing: pain. Pain so deep that it took over your body until that was all you could feel, drenching you, swallowing you, drowning you.

Yes, she had learned her lesson. She didn't let any of it in anymore.

She simply couldn't afford to. Because if she ever got hurt like that again - if the rushing floods of grief and despair ever came for her again - she didn't think she'd be able to fight her way back up to the surface again.

Sheer tenacity and spirit kept her head above water, and it was a daily struggle just to keep it there.

So no, to put it plainly, she didn't care about being a little late for school.

Her alarm clock still hadn't quit its relentless beeping, though, and Marinette rolled over with a groan. Fine. Fine, she'd go.

Grumbling to herself, she switched the alarm off and straightened up. Reaching for the (self-made) leather jacket currently hung over the foot of her bed, she wrapped it around her shoulders like the armour it was.

She brushed her hair out of her eyes, then reached for her black beanie and tucked it over her head. A quick straighten of her jeans, and - there. She was ready.

Marinette walked out of the orphanage and across the road to school, not even flinching when a motorbike narrowly missed mowing her down. The driver cursed and swore at her, but she just ignored him, raising one hand to flip him off behind her.

She determinedly didn't look at the corner where the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie ought to have been. She kept her eyes forward even when they burned with tears.

School, she reminded herself grimly, and pushed forward.

Ms Bustier didn't even shake her head when she came in late. "Over there, Marinette," was all she said, nodding at where a blond boy was crouched over her seat.

Marinette arched one eyebrow as she walked closer. What could this kid be doing? He had to be new; no-one who had known her for longer than a day would be anywhere near her desk.

She cleared her throat when she reached him, and the blond boy leapt back as though he had been burned. "Er, I, um, ah," he stammered.

But Marinette had already seen the gum he had obviously been trying to stick to her seat. "So you think you're funny, huh?" she asked in a soft, dangerous tone. "You think that because you're new and -" she looked him up and down, wrinkling her nose at his obviously expensive clothes, "- and rich that you can do whatever you want?"

"No, no," the boy said, almost tripping over his words in his haste to get them out.

Marinette raised her voice to be clearly heard over his. "Well, rich boy, let me tell you a little something about what you can and can't do," she said, her voice dangerously close to a purr. "You can do whatever you want with whoever you want… except me. You can't do anything to, with or about me. Ever. Got it?"

He stared at her with wide green eyes, which, Marinette was happy to note, looked mildly terrified.

Good.

"Take it off now and never talk to me again," Marinette ordered, her voice cold and sharp.

"I swear that's not what I -" the boy began, but Marinette cut him off by reaching down and pulling on her earphones.

Blonde Boy might still have been talking, but she wasn't even looking at him anymore. Eventually, he gave up and moved away.

Marinette allowed herself a grim smile. Now the school day could begin.

//

Adrien was still in shock over his encounter with Beanie Girl. He had never met anyone like her - and, unfortunately, he didn't mean that in a good way.

The expression in her sky-blue eyes haunted him for the rest of the day - so icily furious, but just for a moment, it had changed completely. Changed into something much worse.

Grief.

Adrien knew that look - he had seen it in the mirror more times than he could count after his mother's disappearance. And this girl's blue eyes were oceans of sadness, so deep and bottomless from pain that he wondered how she even managed to stay afloat.

He knew he never would have been able to do it without Tikki's endlessly patient support and guidance.

But this girl didn't have that. Adrien's heart broke for her.

Oceans of sadness, he thought again, and it was true. He had always thought of blue eyes as pretty, a happy colour - but this girl had proven him wrong in one fell swoop. One look into her eyes, and he understood why the colour blue traditionally represented sadness.

He kept thinking about her all morning, so much so that his deskmate finally bumped his shoulder reassuringly. "Lighten up, dude," he said, and Adrien immediately loved the sound of his voice - warm and somehow lilting; musical. "That's Dupain-Cheng, she's like that with everyone. Don't take it personally."

His deskmate smiled encouragingly at him, but Adrien thought he heard him mutter, "Even if you are a friend of Chloé's."

His face fell immediately. "Why does everyone keep saying it like that?"

His deskmate raised his eyebrows. "Didn't the bubblegum thing prove it to you? Dude, this is lycée, not collége. And that kind of thing is crappy even for collége."

"I really was only trying to take the gum off," Adrien said immediately, still feeling bad about that. "It's just that, well… I've been homeschooled my entire life, and Chloé's the only friend I've ever been allowed to have. I never liked the way she treated people, but if there's no-one else, you take what you can get, right?"

His voice came out slightly strained, and his cheeks burned when he realised how much he had just accidentally spilled. Something about his deskmate was just so easy to talk to, like he was someone who spent hours listening and was great at it…

But still, that didn't make this any less of a mess. "Oh my God, I am so sorry," he gasped, clapping a hand over his mouth. "I can't believe I just said that, that was way too much oversharing. I really am just so sorr-"

"Hey, dude, it's okay," his deskmate cut in, holding up a placating hand, palm up. "It's your first day of school, ever, I'm not going to come at you for being nervous."

Adrien noticed that his smile was warm, and he felt his own lips tug up at the sight. "Besides," his deskmate continued, "only ever having Chloé for a friend? Dude, that just sucks. We're changing that right now."

He held out a hand for Adrien to shake, and as he took it, Adrien felt warmth bloom in his chest. "I'm Nino," the other boy said with a warm, slightly crooked grin.

"Adrien," he supplied, smiling back and shaking Nino's hand. His friend's hand.

His friend.

Adrien couldn't remember the last time he had felt this light.

But… something wasn't quite right yet, either. Something was still bothering him.

The rest of the school day passed in a blur of new people and new experiences, and Adrien found himself unexpectedly exhausted by the end of it. He was just about ready to stumble into the car and see if he couldn't sneak in a nap before Mister Bug's patrol when he noticed someone else waiting at the top of the steps.

When he saw her face, he understood what had been bugging (ha, ha) him all day long.

Dupain-Cheng. Ocean eyes.

Squinting up into the rainy sky, Adrien made up his mind and stepped forward. Pulling out his umbrella, he touched Dupain-Cheng gently on the arm.

"Hey," he said, opening his umbrella with a shy smile. "I just wanted to let you know that I was only trying to take the gum off your seat. I've never been to school before, and I've never had friends before, so it's all kind of new to me. I'm really sorry for making such a stupid mistake."

He lifted his umbrella, tilting it to her so she could take it if she wanted. An olive branch - or, to be specific, an olive umbrella.

(Actually, it was a dull kind of black, but that wasn't the point.)

Dupain-Cheng's eyes widened, her lips parting slightly, and for just a second, he thought it had worked. For just a second, her eyes flashed from sorrow ocean to summer sky, and he saw the smallest flicker of softer hope there.

She was touched. He could have sworn that she was touched by the gesture.

But then, so fast that he wondered if he had imagined the moment, fleeting as it had been, her eyes narrowed. Summer sky darkened into angry crystal blue, and with a cold twist of her mouth, she shoved his umbrella away.

"I don't care if you were taking it off or not," she bit out, her words cutting into him like a shock of ice. "I don't want you to speak to me ever again."

Then she turned away and stormed off, leaving Adrien alone at the top of the stairs, silhouetted against the grey sky.

//

He held out the umbrella, offering it to her with a gentle smile and green eyes that pleaded with her to understand him, forgive him, trust him.

But trust wasn't something Marinette did. Not anymore.

So she shoved the umbrella away and spat out the words she knew would haunt him for the rest of the day, if not longer. She watched the hope in his bright green eyes crumble into ash, and then she turned around and took the smoldering pieces with her.

Because that was what she was so good at, wasn't she? Marinette Dupain-Cheng destroyed every good thing she touched.

And Adrien Agreste was good, there could be no doubt about that. The way he had smiled her, given a peace offering and tried to befriend her despite the way she had treated him - he might be one of the best people she had ever met.

If things had been any different, this might have been the moment she fell for him.

But Marinette didn't deserve to be anywhere near someone as amazing as him.

She wrapped her leather jacket tighter around herself, gripping onto the material so hard that it hurt where it bit into her hands. You can't run back and change it, because if you could do that, you'd be able to run back and change that day, too..

And that, she knew all too well, was impossible.

She was so caught up in her dark thoughts that she was almost glad when someone tried to pickpocket her on the way back to the orphanage. It gave her the chance to show off her street smarts - don't try and fight directly, slip around into a side alley, wait until he had put down his knife, and then cut him off unexpectedly.

Marinette knew all the side alleys and slip-ways in this arrondissement - courtesy of her time stumbling through the streets after, well, that day. Point was, she caught up to her would-be pickpocket easily, and returned her phone to herself so fast that it was like the whole unfortunate incident had never taken place.

What she didn't realise immediately, though, was where exactly her side alley had let her out. It was only when she glanced up and saw the balcony above her that she realised where she was.

Bile rose up in her throat, and she stumbled back a step, feeling like her brief swell of confidence and self-satisfaction had been sucker-punched right out of her. This building… these walls…

The walls were supposed to be black - black with gold cursive lettering, lovingly painted on by Sabine standing on Tom's shoulders.

But they had been repainted, and they were grey now.

Above everything else, that was what got to Marinette. Because, yes, she passed by here every morning on her way to school, but she always forced herself to look.

She hadn't been paying enough attention this afternoon, though, and now she was confronted by the all-too-familiar facade of what used to be their family bakery. Except that the walls weren't black.

The walls weren't black, and Marinette was sinking to the floor in an unexpected flood of tears. Her chest felt tight, tighter than it had been in years since the accident, and she could hear herself gasping and whimpering in the silence of the side alley.

Tears streaked down her face, more than she had let herself cry in almost a year. She tried and tried to wipe her eyes, but each time she'd look up and see those grey walls. And the crying would begin again, stronger and more achingly painful each time.

She… she just missed them. She missed them so much. And if there was any way, any way at all that she could have -

But no. No. She couldn't think that way. She just couldn't.

Marinette had seen the black butterflies come before, but she had never let herself be affected by one. Her mother, she thought, would have been proud of her for that.

The thought was enough for her to push herself back up to her feet. Her knees wobbled dangerously underneath her, but they held her weight.

Marinette took a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. In, out, she imagined her mother's voice saying, as bittersweet as the memory of them watching a sunrise together.

It had been so, so rare for Marinette to get up early, but there had been one time Sabine had managed to convince her into joining a dawn meditation session. It had actually ended up being one of the most magical experiences of her life, and she had been planning on surprising her mother by joining her again one morning.

That, of course, had been before… before. She had never gotten to give her mother that surprise.

Tears were building again, and breathe as she might, Marinette knew that she wouldn't be able to stop them again this time. So she stepped back, wrenched her gaze away from the wall (grey grey grey grey grey, all wrong, all wrong) and forced herself to keep stepping, keep moving backwards.

Unfortunately, this meant that she wasn't exactly watching where she was going. The next thing she knew, her foot had hooked on a loose cobblestone, and her purse went flying.

Marinette yelped, pinwheeling her arms madly, and just barely managed to remain balanced on her feet. She reached over and snagged her purse from where it had fallen -

… and that was when she saw it.

Somehow, during the commotion of her fall, something had been pulled free from between the cobbled tiles.

Something came in the form in a little black box with strangely familiar red symbols etched on the top.

Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose, squinting as she tried to remember. Yes, she had seen these markings before, but where…?

Unable to stand the curiosity any longer, she flipped open the little box.

Inside was… a ring. But not just any ring - a black ring, complete with a neon green pawprint etched into the middle.

As Marinette watched in disbelief, the ring began to glow a bright, dazzling green. She had to raise her arms to shade her face, and when she could lower them again, there was a little black creature floating in the air in front of her.

"Well, hello," it said in a smooth, purring kind of voice. Marinette thought briefly that she had never heard anyone who sounded more like a smug, self-satisfied cat.

And in fact, the little floating creature was in fact a tiny cat, completely with ears, tail and glowing green eyes.

Marinette shook her head slowly, stepping back slowly as she processed what was going on. No. No. It couldn't be.

Because she knew what that creature was. She knew exactly what it was.

//

Adrien sat slumped in the back of the car, staring blankly at the seat in front of him. He could feel Tikki shifting restlessly in his shirt pocket, wriggling around until she managed to press her little forehead right above where his heart beat.

Adrien felt himself relax a little at the familiar, comforting gesture. Quickly pretending to straighten his shirt, he stroked his finger lightly over Tikki's body. Thank you.

In answer, she pressed herself a little tighter against him. The sweet, reassuring gesture gave Adrien the comfort he needed to hold himself in more or less one piece until they reached his home.

Once there, he walked up the stairs and past his father's office - the door closed, as always - and collapsed onto his bed as soon as he got to his room.

Tikki zipped out of his shirt, her eyes full of concern. "It's alright, Adrien," she said softly, floating down to rest on the pillow right next to his head.

"It's not," he replied, his words muffled through the pillow.

Tikki sighed quietly, but there was no reproach in the sound, only an earnest desire to help him. "Do you remember what I said about not having to be perfect all the time, Adrien?" she asked gently. "It's completely unrealistic. You don't have to -"

"But that's not true, is it?" he cut her off with a sudden bitterness that took even him by surprise. He took a deep breath, then blew it out shakily. "Every single day, I have to be Adrien Agreste, the perfect face of the Gabriel brand. I can't afford to make any mistakes, or the press will tear apart my father's image, and he'll never forgive me."

Tikki opened her mouth to say something, but Adrien held up a hand to stop her. "And even when I'm not being Adrien, I still have to be perfect. Do you know why? Because I'm Mister Bug, protector of Paris, and if I fail even once, real people might die. Hawk Moth could one if I'm not at the absolute highest peak of my ability at every moment."

He buried his head in his hands, and Tikki flew up, snuggling into his shoulder to offer as much comfort as she could. Adrien turned his head slightly and rested his cheek on hers, exhaling slowly.

"Sorry, Tikki," he apologised quietly. "I know you're doing everything you can to help."

And it was true. Tikki had once told him that normally, the Lucky Charms required a very complex plan to be of any use.

With him, though? He was the first holder she had made an exception for. Adrien's Lucky Charms were always simple, straightforward and efficient.

Like him. Like Mister Bug.

It still touched Adrien so deeply that she was willing to bend the rules like that. For him.

His father had never done anything of the sort. Actually, nobody in his life had ever done anything even slightly similar. It was just one of the many ways Tikki made his life better.

He sat up, and Tikki flew up with him, floating in front of him with a small smile.

He smiled back. "Besides, it's not your fault that I don't have a partner like I'm supposed to."

As always when he mentioned something about the partner he should have had, Tikki looked both guilty and anguished. Still, she nodded, hanging her little head. "It wasn't my fault," she agreed. "But I wish I could have helped more."

"It was an accident," Adrien said firmly, looking her directly in the eye. It was rare that he was the one who needed to support Tikki - but when he did, he always gave it his very best. It was, after all, only the same as what she always gave him.

Tikki nodded, but her blue eyes were still troubled. "I'm still not exactly sure what happened," she admitted, and Adrien's eyebrows raised in surprise. She hadn't told him this before.

"All I know is that the Guardian was going to see the girl who would have been your partner, but something was wrong. There was a terrible accident, and… and her parents died."

Adrien sucked in a sharp breath. "Wait, what?"

"I only found out much later, when Master Fu had been let out of the hospital," Tikki explained, her antennae drooping at the memory. "But it was one of the worst days I've had in a long time. Receiving a Miraculous is supposed to be such a special and joyous event, but instead…"

"This girl lost everything," Adrien whispered, his voice soft. For some reason, the Dupain-Cheng girl's ocean-blue eyes flashed into his mind.

That's what it looks like to lose everything, he thought, and his heart ached for the girl who would have been his partner.

Tikki looked distressed, bobbing up and down in mid-air with a dismayed expression once she realised that Adrien was upset. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Adrien," she said anxiously. "I don't know what I was thinking, I just wanted you to know that -"

"Thank you," he interrupted, stopping her with a firm shake of his head. "Thank you for telling me the truth."

Tikki relaxed visibly, but her eyes were still worried. "I didn't mean to make you feel worse," she said, looking so guilty that his heart tugged for an entirely different reason.

"You didn't," he said firmly. And then to distract her, he asked, "So that was when the Black Cat Miraculous was lost?"

"It was," Tikki confirmed with a nod. "I'm not sure how that happened, either, but by the time Master Fu updated us kwamis on the situation, it was long gone."

"So didn't you lose a partner, too?" Adrien asked, realising for the first time that the loss of the Black Cat Miraculous meant its kwami was trapped inside.

Tikki dipped her head, a wry kind of smile crossing her normally sweet face. She looked simultaneously like she wanted to giggle and roll her eyes, and it was, Adrien thought, rather adorable.

"Yeah, Stinkysock," she said, and Adrien couldn't prevent a sudden and very loud snort.

"Wait, what? Stinkysock? The Black Cat kwami is called Stinkysock?"

Tikki giggled too, covering her mouth with her little paws. "Oh, he'd love that," she said, her voice full of exasperated affection. "But, no, his name is Plagg. He's a bit of a jokester, and he thinks he's much more charming than he really is, but…"

"You miss him," Adrien finished for her, closing his eyes for a second. He could just picture it: Tikki, rolling her eyes and hiding a smile while a black kwami in the approximate shape of a cat pulled faces at her.

When he opened his eyes again, Tikki was nodding, her eyes wistful. "Don't ever tell him I said that, but yes, I do miss him."

"Your secret is safe with me," Adrien promised with a wink that made her giggle.

"You're just like him sometimes," she told him, and Adrien honestly wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult. Tikki was smiling, though, so he took it as a win.

"Maybe that's why you and I work so well together," he said, holding out his hand for a miniature fist-bump.

Tikki knocked one tiny fin against his hand. "Maybe it is. I'm so sorry for the burden it's put on you, though, Adrien," she said sincerely. Pulling back, she studied him intently, then gave him one of the warmest looks he had ever seen on her face. And on a kwami as sweet and loving as Tikki, that really meant something.

Right now, she looked both immeasurably fond and immensely proud. "But I am glad it's you. You know, Adrien… whatever happens, I'm proud to have you as my holder."

Adrien couldn't help but smile at that, scooping Tikki into his hands and hugging her little body close to him. "I'm the one who's proud to have you as my kwami."

Tikki squinted up at him, one eye adorably squeezed shut in an exaggerated attempt to look threatening. "I'm prouder of you," she said, zipping forward and booping him on the nose.

"Nope," he said, chuckling as he caught her up in his hands again. "I'm prouder to be working with you."

"I don't even think prouder is really a word," she said earnestly, nodding her little head with wide, earnest blue eyes. "But I'm still prouder of you."

Adrien rolled his eyes, but he was grinning, too, his laughter intermixing with his kwami's as the shadows were temporarily chased out of his life.

//

Elsewhere in Paris, concentrated shadows in the form of the black cat kwami were currently materialising in front of one very shocked Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"No," she breathed again, stumbling backwards and clutching at her chest. "N-no."

The little black cat floated forward, offering a smile that was probably supposed to be reassuring, but came out looking a lot more like a grimace. "Oh, rats, I hate when they're scared," he muttered under his breath. Then, a little louder, he said in a more comforting tone, "Hey, kid, it's okay, I'm not here to hurt you. Today's your lucky day, because I'm Plagg, and I'm going to be your kwami."

Marinette swallowed hard, squeezing her eyes shut as that word echoed through her brain, crashing past her carefully built-up walls and tearing into the banks of her memory like the stabs of a knife.

Kwami. Kwami. Kwami.

And just like that, she was back to the first time she had heard that word.

She had been younger, still in collège, and it had been a beautiful summer's day. Her parents had been busy downstairs, working on a large order, and she had just come home for lunch.

There had been an old man standing in her room, and he had smiled.

Marinette had wanted to scream, but something about the kind twinkle in his eyes had stopped her. "I promise I'm not here to hurt you, young lady," he had said in a gentle voice, holding up both hands to show he was unarmed. "But I am going to change your life."

That was when he asked her to sit down, then proceeded to tell her about the Miraculous jewels and the powers they granted.

Marinette would have thought he was crazy if it wasn't for the little green turtle floating above his shoulder. He had been very nice (even when she screamed and called him "a mouse! A turtle! A floating turtle-mouse!") and had demonstrated his phasing ability with a patient smile.

The real shocker had come shortly after that.

"A-and you want me to be a superhero?" Marinette had asked, looking at Master Fu incredulously. "Out of everyone in Paris?"

He had nodded, and she had laughed a little hysterically. "Me? But I'm not even… I'm the clumsiest person in the world, and I'm a walking disaster, and I have no self-confidence to speak of, and -"

He had cut her off by pulling out a little brown box and flipping it open. Inside was a pair of earrings, and as Marinette watched in disbelief and awe, they had glowed bright pink.

Another little floating creature, this time bright pink, had appeared once the glow died down. "Hello, Marinette," she had said with a bright smile. "I'm Tikki, and I'm going to be your kwami."

In the present day, Marinette swallowed hard as that word pounded through her head again. Kwami.

Kwami. Kwami. Kwami.

If only she could forget what had happened next. But for as long as she was alive, she knew she never would.

Because that was the moment a supervillain appeared on the news. That was the moment Master Fu told her she would have to transform and deal with it. That was the moment she panicked and fled out of the bakery.

To date, she still didn't know exactly what had happened. But Master Fu must have spoken to her parents, must have explained enough that they all piled into a taxi to chase after her.

They must have just gotten into the taxi when it happened. Another taxi, hurtling into their street out of nowhere and smashing into the Dupain-Chengs' taxi.

Much later, Marinette remembered stumbling back home, and freezing when she heard the sirens wailing from all corners around the bakery. She saw Master Fu being carried out on a stretcher, and she saw -

She swallowed hard, bile rising up in her throat. Anyway. The sequence of events, as would be forever burned into her mind:

She had trusted Master Fu and let him explain about the Miraculous despite how crazy it sounded.

Her parents had trusted Master Fu and let him explain about the Miraculous despite how crazy it sounded.

Her parents had died that day.

Simple. Concise. And the lesson from it was just as easy to understand - that trusting people only got you one thing. Loss.

Marinette decided, then, that she would never trust anyone with anything again. It wasn't worth it. Particularly not if there were kwamis and Miraculous involved.

It didn't matter if Plagg's ring had somehow gotten lost in the crash. That didn't change anything.

She wasn't going to trust him. She couldn't.

Plagg, floating in front of her, seemed to sense that something was very wrong. His voice was gruff but sincere as he asked, "Kid? What's wrong?"

"Get back inside your ring, Plagg," Marinette ordered, her voice shaking. "I don't care how you do it, just… get back in the ring. Now."

The kwami seemed genuinely shocked. "Kid, no, I can't do that. You need to help Tikki's chosen!"

"I don't need to help anyone except myself," Marinette said bitterly. "Life has proven that to me over and over again."

Plagg blinked up at her, then blinked again. A slight frown creased his face, and he tilted his head to one side. "What happened to you?" he asked, his voice unexpectedly kind. In a rough, awkward sort of way, yes, but still kind.

Marinette cleared her throat, jerking her gaze away. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, I can respect that," the kwami conceded with a shrug that seemed to say, fair enough. "But if you ever change your mind, then you can always -" He grimaced, as if even he couldn't believe what he was about to say "- you can always talk to me."

Marinette almost wanted to laugh. She almost wanted to cry.

Instead, she shook her head. "No, I can't," she said resolutely. "Because I'm leaving, and you're staying here."

Plagg's eyes widened, and before she could get even a step further, he zipped in front of her, paws stretched out to stop her. "Wait, wait! Kid - wait."

"No," she insisted, trying to duck past his floating form. "If you won't get back into the ring, I'm leaving."

Plagg kept pace with her, and his voice was unexpectedly urgent as he hissed, "Marinette, wait, no. You can't leave me here."

The use of her name surprised her enough that she stopped dead, blinking. "Wait. How did you know my -"

"I'm a kwami," Plagg said impatiently. "But, Marinette, I need you to listen to me. I get that something terrible happened - trust me, I'm the embodiment of destruction, I can understand that.

"But if there's one thing you can't do, it's leave that ring there. Because if the wrong person finds it, we could find ourselves dealing with something much worse than even Hawk Moth."

"Worse than Hawk Moth?" Marinette asked, shocked by both the thought and the fierce intensity in the little kwami's green gaze.

"Imagine a supervillain with the power to destroy anything he touches," Plagg replied grimly.

Marinette sucked in a sharp breath. "Oh."

"Yes, oh," Plagg agreed with a small roll of his eyes. "Now do you see why you can't leave the ring here? We're unbelievably lucky that nobody has found it before you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Wait. How do you know I won't become that supervillain who destroys everything I touch? Heaven knows I already have the tragic backstory."

Plagg snorted slightly at that. "Oh, I like you," he said appreciatively. "But to answer your question - I trust you."

"You trust me?" Marinette asked, the words tasting ashen and wrong in her mouth. "Why?"

"Because Master Fu did," Plagg replied simply. "And he's never been wrong before."

She shook her head slightly. "That's not true. He… he was wrong about me."

"I don't think so," Plagg said quietly. He floated up until he was at eye level with her, locking gazes with her.

His eyes were intensely green, and it was like she could see millions of years reflected back at her from their emerald depths. She knew without a shadow of doubt that this was a creature who had been here since the beginning of time.

And for a second, she was convinced that he was going to say something unbelievably profound. Something that would change her life, would pull her out of this well she had dug herself into and inspire her into becoming the superheroine he obviously wanted her to be.

Instead, Plagg yawned.

For fully thirty seconds.

When he was done, he blinked wide green eyes up at her and asked disarmingly, "Hey, do you have any cheese?"

Marinette could only gape at him. "Ch-cheese?"

"Sure," Plagg replied, yawning again. For a slightly shorter duration this time, thankfully. The back of a kwami's throat wasn't something she particularly wanted to see again.

When Marinette continued to gape, he rolled his eyes impatiently. "Oh, come on, surely you know what cheese is! I know you're not ready to be a superhero, and you know what, that's fine. I'm not the kind of kwami who'll pressure you into something you don't want to do."

She blinked. There was going to be no heroic speech?

"Nope," Plagg said, as though he was reading her mind. "Heroic speeches are much more Tikki's thing. But I'm not Tikki! So seriously -" He paused dramatically to widen his eyes at her, gesturing at his stomach. "Could you get me some cheese?"

"Sure, yeah," Marinette said faintly, still not quite believing that this was really happening. "I can get you cheese. Uh. Yeah."

Plagg grinned and zipped into the pocket of her leather jacket. "Well, great, then I think you and I are going to get along just fine."

//

Adrien couldn't stop thinking about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It was stupid, he knew that, but on some level he just couldn't let go of the hope that things could be different between them.

"She didn't used to be like that," Nino had told him once. "Back in collége, before she lost her parents - she was a totally different person."

When Adrien had asked what he meant, his new friend had just shrugged one shoulder. "You know, friendly. Kind. Always making gifts for everyone."

Always making gifts. That line stuck in Adrien's mind, and that very moment, he decided that he wanted to do something about it.

So the very next day, he made an effort to arrive at school and put a little bouquet on her desk. Lavender, violet and apple blossom - peace, the flowers meant. A gesture of goodwill.

When Marinette arrived, she narrowed her eyes and glared sharply around the classroom. When her gaze met Adrien's, he smiled innocently up at her.

Her eyes narrowed further, and she reached for the bouquet and threw it out of the window.

But that didn't discourage Adrien. If anything, it encouraged him.

Because his stubbornness had been activated, and this was a challenge now.

The next day, he left a little box of chocolates on her desk. The day after that, more flowers. Then a gourmet sandwich.

She'd hesitated, glared fiercely at him, but then reluctantly kept the sandwich. It struck Adrien that good food couldn't be something she received very often at the orphanage.

So he resolved to bring her a little something from his personal chef every day. And though Marinette never smiled, thanked him or even stopped glaring, she also didn't throw the food out of the window.

Adrien took that as a win.

Nino and the rest of his friends - because, yes, he had friends now, it was the actual best - thought he was absolutely crazy.

"I know you're social, dude, but this is next level," Nino told him as they sprawled out on Alya's couch together, battling it out in the newest version of Ultimate Mecha Strike.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Adrien agreed with a smirk as his avatar levelled up onscreen.

Nino groaned, throwing down his controller. "You and your puns, man! I swear you're rubbing off on me."

"He's rubbing off on everyone," Alix said darkly from her spot on the floor. "Who would have thought that our resident sunshine boy had such a dark heart of puns?"

"Me," Alya said, raising her hand. "What? His schoolbag literally has a cat pin with the words c'est chat on it, how could he not like puns?"

"... Fair point," Adrien conceded, tilting his controller in Alya's direction.

She threw him a saucy wink. "You know it, sunshine."

Adrien rolled his eyes at the nickname, but nevertheless relaxed comfortably back into her couch. Silly nicknames were all part of the friends process, and you know what? Adrien wouldn't change it for the world.

Seriously. He didn't think he had ever been happier than when he was hanging out with Alya, Nino, Alix, Kim, Nath and Marc.

So many friends, and none of them Chloé. It was… life-changing, to be honest.

Adrien was happy. He really, really was - even Tikki had remarked on it, the shine of pride bright in her blue eyes.

Adrien tensed suddenly, his hand flying to his chest pocket. Tikki. Tikki wasn't there!

"Oh, drat," he said loudly, pretending to groan in dismay. "I have to go to the bathroom - Alix, you win!"

"You're really going to give me the match just like that?" she asked, looking up at him with a smirk. When he put on his best pained expression, she let out a loud cackle. "And there's a testament to boys' inability to hold it in. Off you go, sunshine."

His cheeks slightly red from her teasing, Adrien went, his hand flying to his pocket again as soon as he was out of sight. "Tikki," he hissed, glancing sharply around him. "Where are you?"

He walked to the bathroom, keeping a look out to both sides and hissing "Tikki!" as often as he dared. By the time he reached the bathroom door, he was growing increasingly desperate - but that was when he heard it.

Voices.

Familiar voices.

"- she going to be able to help him?" Tikki was asking, and Adrien could tell by the tone of her voice that she was worried.

"I'll work on her," promised another voice that Adrien didn't know, but guessed belonged to another kwami.

Behind the door, Tikki breathed out a quiet sigh. "Thank you," she murmured, her voice slightly muffled now, as if she was hugging someone.

The other voice spoke again, sounding gentler now, almost tender. "Of course, Sugarcube," he said softly.

Sugarcube? It took Adrien a moment to realise that that had to be Tikki's nickname. And when he did, he couldn't stop the broad grin that spread across his face.

"Sugarcube?" he echoed, pushing the door open and stepping into the bathroom. "Really?".

"It's a nickname, sunshine," Tikki said, folding her arms with a little huff. Her eyes were sparkling, and though she was alone in the room now, Adrien could tell that she hadn't been a second ago.

Something about her looked… different. Lighter, somehow, like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

Spontaneously, Adrien scooped her up and hugged her against his chest. She sighed happily, snuggling into his hold.

"Why'd you go off on your own like that? You scared me," he said, making sure his voice sounded gentle and concerned instead of accusing. Because he wasn't accusing her - heaven knew that he of all people appreciated being allowed to move around freely. He was just curious.

"I'm sorry, I got an urgent call from another kwami," Tikki explained, lifting her head to smile apologetically up at him. "There was no time to explain, and, besides, I couldn't have told you anyway. It's official kwami business."

"No problem," he said, tickling under her chin with one finger. "I'm just glad you're okay. Besides, I trust you."

"Thank you, Adrien," she said, zipping up to press herself against his cheek. "That really means a lot to me."

"Well, you really mean a lot to me," he pointed out. "So I hope you get this official kwami business sorted out quickly."

"I hope so, too," Tikki agreed, and there was a layer to her smile that he didn't recognise. Hope, maybe? Excitement?

"And I hope you succeed with your official business, too," she added, bobbing down to nudge his shoulder.

He blinked at her, confused for a moment. Official business? What official business?

"Beating your friends at Ultimate Mecha Strike, of course," she said easily, and with a playful wink. "And, of course, your little Marinette project."

"Right," he agreed, shrugging his shoulder to dislodge her so he could roll his eyes affectionately at her. "Well, don't you worry. I have no intentions of giving up on either of those official businesses."

"Fantastic," Tikki said, and if there was a little something more in her smile, then Adrien didn't notice. His mind was already far away, planning how he could sneak out some escargot for Marinette… Marinette… Marinette…

//

Adrien Agreste was a pain in the ass. He always had been - he was just entirely too nice. Dangerously nice. Nice enough that, just for a moment, her guard had slipped.

She had almost taken his umbrella. She had wanted to.

Fortunately, good sense had prevailed then. But now the stupid boy seemed determined to shower her with… with gifts, little trinkets to show that he wasn't mad at her. That he would still appreciate her friendship. Whatever.

It drove Marinette crazy.

Especially when she had to start taking his food! Because, come on, what kind of insane orphan would pass up gourmet cooking? Particularly when it was as good as Adrien's chef's.

Plagg, of course, thought the whole situation was hilarious.

"I'm just saying," he said with a sly smile as he floated next to her on her way back from school, "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to take Sparkles up on his offer. Free Camembert forevermore!"

"You think with your stomach," Marinette deadpanned, rolling her eyes.

Plagg glanced pointedly down at the gourmet sandwich she was holding, but then, to her alarm, his smirk widened. "Well, at least I'm honourable enough that my stomach is the only thing I think with."

Marinette's eyes widened. "Plagg, I swear I will put you back in that ring -"

But she knew she didn't mean that threat. Not anymore.

She might have the first time she said, after which she promptly tucked the little brown box as far behind her bed as possible. Then, she had never meant to think of it again, let alone take it out.

But seeing her parents' bakery again must have had more of an effect on her than she had thought, and she woke up in the middle of the night, shaking and crying out quietly as tears poured down her cheeks.

She still didn't know exactly what had made her do it, but in her grief-wrenched state, she had wanted only one thing. Comfort.

So she had fallen to her knees at the foot of her bed, fingers scrabbling, scrabbling until she found the box. It shook in her grip, jolting from the force of her crying, but she managed to get it open.

Plagg appeared in a burst of light, and for once, he didn't say anything. He just pressed himself tightly against her shoulder and made a strange purring noise - which, honestly, shouldn't have been as comforting as it was - until she fell asleep.

He had been there the next morning when she woke up. Had he stayed with her for the whole night? She couldn't know. But something instinctual inside of her said, yes.

He had stayed with her. He had been there for her.

Naturally, Marinette had closed the ring back up in the box as fast as possible. Feelings like those weren't something she could do. They were far too much like the beginnings of trust, and trust -

Well, it was pretty clear where Marinette stood on trust.

But the next night, she had had a nightmare again. Immediately, her thoughts had jumped to Plagg.

She hadn't wanted to do it. She knew that she shouldn't do it, not if she wanted to keep her walls up and her distance from everyone who she might lose.

In the daytime, she was good at that. She was so good at it that no-one even dared come near. She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, rebel, orphan, dangerous.

But in the dead of night, with tear tracks shining silver on her cheeks, she was more vulnerable than she had ever been before. She was more like the Marinette she had been all those years before, in a time where she still lived in a pink room in a house that always smelled of baking bread and cinnamon sugar.

That Marinette had been a completely different person, and it was that part of her who went back to Plagg's box every night. Eventually, it was that part of her who stopped closing the little box and shoving it away.

She didn't wear the ring - she still wasn't willing to go that far. But she did keep it in the pocket of her leather jacket.

Which meant that Plagg was free to float by her side, and tease and antagonise her to his heart's content. Because that, apparently, was what he did best. Whatever their late-night comfort sessions were, she could rest assured, they were not the norm.

Nope. The norm was endless love letters to camembert, equally endless cat puns, and a limitless love for pushing all her buttons.

The black cat kwami had to be the only person in the world who her icy glares didn't work on. To be fair, he did hold the literal power of destruction in his paws, but still. A little more respect than sticking out his tongue and waving it to see if he could catch cheeseflies would be appreciated.

But no. Plagg knew that he wasn't going back into the ring - there was a silent understanding between them now. Something along the lines of you help me, I help you.

But Marinette always stopped herself before she could think much more about it than that, because then she might be getting close to the friendship territory. Or at least the partnership territory.

And both of those things put her dangerously near to the border of the trust territory.

So, no, she didn't think about it… though she'd be lying if she said she regretted it.

She didn't. That was another thing that should have worried her. She didn't regret any of this, despite the merciless teasing.

The teasing really was relentless, though, damn.

"I think with my stomach," Plagg said, smirking broadly from where he was floating next to her. "But you think with something else. Don't think I haven't seen the way you stare at Sparkles Agreste's biceps when his back is turned."

Marinette spluttered incoherently. "I do not!"

"You do," Plagg sing-songed, cackling to himself as he zipped around her head. "You do and you know it."

She put her hands on her hips and gave him her best, coldest glare. "I don't do anything of the sort, and you should shut up now."

"You liiiiike him," Plagg sang, completely unfazed. "You think he's cuuuuuute and niiiiiiiice and you liiiiiiike him."

Marinette made a sound that was halfway between a shriek and a growl. "I do not!"

"Then why are you bluuuuuushing?" Plagg teased, flipping upside down and throwing her a cheeky wink.

"I'm not -" Marinette started to defend herself, when she heard it.

A surprised, horrified yell. A familiar yell. Too familiar.

Adrien.

Teasing forgotten now, Plagg darted into her jacket to hide as Marinette skidded on her heels, spinning around and heading back the way she had come. What had just happened? Why had Adrien just screamed like that?

She rounded the corner, and suddenly the answer was very, very obvious. There, in the middle of the road, stood a giant blue gorilla. And by giant, she really did mean giant - almost twice as tall as their bakery, reaching easily up to the rooftops of even the taller buildings.

In its closed fist was Adrien, and his eyes were wide.

Plagg cursed softly under his breath. Marinette was frozen, staring up at what could only be an akuma in shock.

Adrien, was all her brain could think, numbly. And then she zeroed in on one detail: it looked like Adrien was also holding something in his hand.

Her heart seized. It looked like it was a brown paper bag.

Adrien always brought her snacks in a brown paper bag. And unless she was very much mistaken, today was Martiniquan day. Right, because he had somehow managed to rope all his friends - and this kid had been in school for all of six weeks, and everyone already adored him enough to do this favour for him - into taking one day every two weeks to make some traditional snack for Marinette.

His friend Alya must have had a chef or something for a mother, because her snacks were always the best by far.

Anyway, the point was: Adrien was holding that brown paper bag in his hands. He must have been running after her when this happened.

Marinette's knees swayed treacherously beneath her, and she stumbled back into the building behind her. She had left early today because Plagg had been wriggling in her shirt, and because of that, Adrien had come running after her.

Because of that, he hadn't been watching where he was going, and he had been caught by this monster of an akuma.

So in short: this was all her fault.

Marinette was stunned to feel the prickle of tears in her eyes. She swiped them away fiercely, but the thought behind them remained: if there was anyone who didn't deserve to be caught up in an akuma, it was Adrien Agreste.

And now he was, and it was her fault. If he got hurt, it was her fault.

It… it wasn't supposed to be like this. It was never supposed to be like this! Her shutting people out was supposed to keep them safe just as much as it was supposed to keep her safe, and now…

Now she had failed on both counts.

Marinette's knees swayed again, and she sank down raggedly against the wall, her vision swimming slightly. She had failed. She had failed -

"Breathe, Marinette," a familiar voice ordered. Plagg. Gasping, Marinette latched onto the sound - and breathed.

"Good," Plagg continued, his voice calm and more serious than she had heard from him in a long time. "Now just keep breathing. Just keep breathing, yeah? You're alright, kitten. You're alright."

His voice was gruff, and just slightly awkward, as if he wasn't quite used to giving this kind of comfort. But there was an earnest sincerity there too, a kind of promise that he would do his best to help despite it all. Just like he did when the nightmares came.

Marinette kept breathing, pressing her head back against the cool wall behind her, and slowly, it got easier again.

"There you go," Plagg said, his voice rough but full of a gruff kind of affection. "You're alright."

She shook her head, then nodded, but then shook her head again. "I… wh-why is this happening to me?"

She hated how close to tears she sounded, but above all, she hated how close to tears she felt. It was never, never supposed to be like this again, damn it all!

Plagg sighed, floating down to settle onto her bent knees. "I have a theory," he said softly. "But you're not going to like it."

"I don't like anything," Marinette replied immediately, on principle.

Plagg smiled wryly. "See, that's my theory," he said, spreading his little paws out wide. "You do like things. You like people, and animals, and the world around you. More than that, even - you love it. You always have."

Marinette started to say, "You're wrong, I don't care about any of that," but something in Plagg's eyes halted the words in her throat.

"You've put up walls because you needed them to survive. And that's good. That's okay. But the thing about walls, kid, is that they don't last. Bricks and cement? They grow old. They crumble. And when they do, your old personality shines through.

"And you can tell yourself that it's not true all you want. You can tell yourself that this is you. But deep down, you know that's not true. You're not okay with not caring about anything or anyone. You're not, because that's not who you are. You, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, are a carer. You always have been, and you always will be."

Plagg paused to take a deep breath, and Marinette gaped at him, unable to find the words to say anything. Fortunately for her, Plagg wasn't done yet.

"Pushing down that part of you might work for a while. But eventually, it will come back, because it's who you are. You care. You can't stop caring, no matter how much you tell yourself that you have. And Adrien Agreste? He's proof of that."

Plagg held her gaze, and Marinette knew that at long last, this was the heroic speech she had expected the first day she had met him.

"You care about him, Marinette," he said gently. "You have to admit that to yourself. And you also have to admit to yourself that it's okay - it's okay to care. I know that life has dealt you a rotten hand, and that your bad luck's been worthy of mine. I know that it can feel much easier to just give it all up.

"But you listen to me, kitten. It's not worth giving up. You're not worth giving up on. You're brave, and beautiful, and scarred, yes, but that makes you human. It makes you who you are. And it's time to stop lying to yourself about who that is."

Tears were streaming down Marinette's face again, but for the first time in years, they weren't the kind of tears that could drown her. They were the kind of tears that could… that could clean her.

Not wash away her pain - that was impossible. But they could clean away the black mark it had left on her soul.

Because Plagg was right. Marinette did care. She always had - and telling herself she didn't had been tearing her apart, slowly, from the inside out.

She had thought that not caring would be her life raft to stay afloat in the ocean of her despair. Instead, it had been the chain that was weighing her down, dragging her a little further into the clutching depths each day.

But thanks to Plagg, she could cut that chain now.

She took a deep breath. "What do I do now?"

Plagg's eyes glinted with a combination of fierce pride and triumph. "Now? Now we go and save Adrien Agreste."

Marinette arched her eyebrows. "And how exactly do you suggest we do that?"

"Well," Plagg replied, nudging the pocket where she kept his Miraculous ring. "There are three little words you have to say."

//

Adrien was in a tight spot - literally, figuratively and emotionally. Literally because, well, he was currently being clasped in a giant gorilla's death grip at approximately twice the height of the Agreste mansion's roof. Figuratively because of much the same situation.

But emotionally? Emotionally, he was in the tight spot to end all tight spots. Because he was Mister Bug, sole protector of Paris.

And he couldn't transform.

There was very, very little he could do, actually, short of give away his identity to Hawk Moth. And as Paris' only protector, that wasn't an option.

So what the heck was he supposed to do? Wait it out and hope that Gorizilla might drop him so he could sneak away and transform? Assuming he survived the fall, of course.

Adrien cursed under his breath. And he couldn't even talk to Tikki! Not without giving himself away, at any rate.

And like he'd said: not an option.

He strained against Gorizilla's iron grip, but it was no use. Without his super-strength, he might as well have been pushing against a brick wall.

As he was struggling, though, he saw a flash of black pigtails from the corner of his eye. Marinette.

"Get out of here!" he tried to shout, his voice coming out both shocked and horrified. Marinette? She couldn't be here. She couldn't get hurt, he wouldn't be able to save her like this, and that…

Well, that didn't bear thinking about.

Fortunately, Marinette seemed to hear him, and she fell back against the wall, paling. His luck must have been activated full-throttle, because the direction of her fall took her just out of the range of Gorizilla's earth-shaking steps.

He squeezed the brown paper bag in his hands, closing his eyes in relief. Thank goodness - that was one problem solved, at least.

It still didn't make his tight spot situation any better, though.

Adrien considered his surroundings, then considered again. What options did he have?

Not very many, it turned out. Not very many at all.

Tikki shifted anxiously in his shirt, and Adrien nodded once, tensely. She was right, of course. He had to do something.

But the only something he could think to do was spectacularly stupid. As in, near suicidally stupid.

Yeet, he thought, getting ready to kick as hard as he could. Stupid is the order of the day.

And then he bit down, hard, into Gorizilla's palm. At the same time, he kicked out with his legs, prising the akuma's thick fingers apart as hard as he could.

He had bargained on the shock momentarily slackening Gorizilla's grip. He had been right about that.

What he had not bargained on was that the sudden, painful shock would also send Gorizilla into defense mode. Instead of dropping Adrien a relatively harmless seven metres to the floor (because, yes, Adrien had waited until the lowest point of the akuma's arm swing to strike) he threw back his arm and sent Adrien flying across the Paris skyline.

Adrien's first thought was: wait, was the Gorilla a professional cricket player or something? Because, damn, that was a pretty spectacular bowling arm right there.

His next thought, as he saw the ground and buildings rushing closer at an alarming speed, was: uh-oh, I'm screwed.

And then - quite suddenly - he was not screwed anymore.

A blur of black shot through the sky, catching Adrien at the pinnacle of his arc. Strong, leather-clad arms wrapped firmly around his waist, and he found himself pulled tightly into someone's side.

There was a slick swish-whir kind of sound, like helicopter blades whirring to a halt, and then a muffled yelp. Everything seemed to sort itself out, though, because the next moment, Adrien was safely on the floor.

And standing in front of him was the woman who could only be his partner: a cat-themed superheroine.

At last.

Adrien allowed himself to gape unashamedly at her for a few seconds. She was, after all, a brand-new superhero - and she had just saved his life.

"Thank you," he gasped, finding his voice at last. "Ma'am - thank you."

She ducked her head a little awkwardly, her long black braid flicking behind her, kind of like a cat's tail. So cool, his mind supplied dreamily.

"Oh, um, it was the least I could do," she said, spinning her staff in what seemed to be anxious circles. (Oh, so that was what the whirring helicopter sound had been! She must have a staff to his yoyo. Interesting.)

Out loud, Adrien chuckled disbelievingly. "The least you could do? Ma'am, you just saved my life."

"It was only fair, since I put you there in the first place," she mumbled, and was it his imagination, or did her green cat's eyes dart guiltily to the brown paper bag he still held? Before he could be sure, she added, "And, uh, you don't have to call me ma'am. Please."

"What can I call you, then?" he asked with a small, encouraging raise of her eyebrows.

She thought about it for a minute, her braid-tail swishing behind her as she paced. "Hmmm," she hummed, tapping her claws against the green highlights on her suit. "Call me… er… um…. Lady Noire! Yeah, Lady Noire."

She smiled up at him, deservedly proud of her new name, and he smiled right back. "It was an honour to meet you, Lady Noire," he said sincerely, bending down to kiss her palm like the charming gentleman he was.

Was it her imagination, or did she blush ever so slightly?

In-ter-est-ing.

But before he could pursue the thought too much further, a furious roar cut through the air. Adrien winced, and Lady Noire jumped, her cat's ears swivelling in the direction of the sound.

"Oops," Adrien said, pretending to be embarrassed. He rubbed the back of his neck, shooting her a wry look. "I should probably go, uh, hide."

"Y-yeah," Lady Noire confirmed with a quick nod. "Stay safe, okay? I'm sure Mister Bug will be here soon."

Sooner than you know, Adrien thought dryly. But out loud, he said: "I hope so. And Lady Noire - good luck."

He couldn't say how he knew, but he just knew that her eyes, whatever their real colour, had just softened beneath the mask. "Thank you, Adrien," she said softly, shooting him a small, sincere smile.

Adrien smiled back, eyes crinkling from genuine happiness - something which hadn't happened in a long time. Then he turned away, ducking into the nearest side alley to transform.

"Tikki, spots on!" he hissed, and a minute or so later, Mister Bug joined the fight.

“Well, hey there, fancy spotting you here,” he purred, the pun slipping out before he could stop himself. “And who might you be?”

“Oh, um, hi, I’m Lady Noire,” she introduced herself, flushing slightly as she stopped twirling her staff. “I’m…”

She paused for a moment, a mess of emotions warring on her face, but then she continued, “I’m the new holder of the Black Cat Miraculous. I’m… your partner.”

“It’s nice to meet you, partner,” he said, offering her a little bow. A part of him wanted to kiss her hand, too, but given that he had just done that as Adrien, he didn’t think he could get away with it.

Besides, Lady Noire seemed more than awkward enough as it was - fiddling nervously with the end of her braid and tapping her claws against the black leather of her suit.

Speaking of her suit - now that he was transformed, too, Mister Bug stole a minute to take in the details of his new partner’s costume in a way he hadn’t been able to as Adrien. Like his, it was sleek and smooth, and fitted precisely to every line of her body. Where his suit was red, though, hers was a deep black, with bright green accents at her collar, elbows, knees and in a belt around her waist. He also decided that he was insanely jealous of her combat boots, which somehow managed to be both stylish and practical.

All in all, it was a great costume. And from what he had just seen as Adrien, she handled the superhero role pretty well.

He wasn’t sure how long she was going to stick around, or if he would ever be able to rely on her again. But for now, she was here, and that was enough.

“I ran into Adrien Agreste in the alley on my way here,” he told her, offering an encouraging smile. “He told me how you saved his life. It sounds like you did a great job!”

To his surprise, she blushed slightly, her cat ears twitching in an oddly endearing kind of way. “Th-thank you,” she stammered.

He smiled a little wider, hoping to encourage her. “Of course! Now what do you say we go finish that great job and get this akuma?”

She bit her lip. "I'm not sure if I can…"

"Hey," he cut her off, stepping forward and resting both hands on her shoulders. "I know this is your first time, but from what I've seen, you're already a natural at this. You're going to be amazing out there."

"Thank you," she said, ducking her head shyly - but he could see the hint of hope in her eyes. Hope, and a glint of determination.

Perfect.

He grinned, throwing her an easy smile. "Anytime, partner."

Then he launched himself into the air, delighted when she followed with a confident twirl of her staff. They found the akuma in record time - not that it was hard to track down a giant gorilla - and, as they crouched on the rooftops above it, Mister Bug called for his Lucky Charm.

Normally, there was no way he'd activate it this early in a fight - but with Lady Noire crouched beside him, some deep-seated instinct told him it was the right call.

Long years of working with Tikki had taught him to trust those instincts, and so he called on his superpower. Pink light flashed, and then a small, rectangular piece of paper fluttered down into his hands.

Mister Bug stared blankly at it. "A Métro ticket?"

Lady Noire blinked at it with big green eyes. "Uhhhh… aren't Lucky Charms usually supposed to give you what you need to win the fight?"

"Well, yeah," he agreed, glancing from the train ticket to the giant gorilla in utter confusion. "Unless Tikki is hoping that the earth will somehow swallow him up and trap him in the Métro station, I have no idea what to do with this." He'd admit it, this one had him stumped.

But Lady Noire gasped quietly. "That's it!" she hissed, her green eyes sparkling with excitement as she turned to him. "Trap him in the Métro, of course!"

"Yeah, but how are we -" he began, but Lady Noire cut him off.

"Cataclysm!" she called, leaping off the edge of the roof and hurling herself into Gorizilla's path. Before Adrien could shout out that she was crazy, she slammed her palm onto the street belle her.

Instantly, cracks spread out from where she had touched, and the paving creaked and groaned beneath Gorizilla's weight. With an almighty crash, it crumbled beneath him, sending the giant gorilla crashing through the roof of the Métro station.

Mister Bug's jaw dropped. "Well, that works," he said, gaping incredulously at the now-trapped Gorizilla. He followed Lady Noire down, still shaking his head in silent awe.

With the gorilla trapped like this, it was simple work to vault onto his chest, search his pockets, and locate the piece of Adrien's shirt that had been Gorizilla's akumatized object. Before the gorilla could react to him and make the connection, he tore it smoothly in half.

When the black butterfly fluttered out, he caught it with an experienced yoyo hand, cleansing it and healing Paris in one go.

"Don't worry so much about Adrien," he told the Gorilla as his magical ladybugs zipped around the city, clearing up the damage. "He can look after himself."

Then he vaulted up, up and away, out of the recently-repaired Métro station and up into the sunlight where his new partner was waiting.

His new partner. Try as he might, Adrien couldn't keep back a grin at that thought.

Feeling unusually pleased with himself, he backflipped into a showy superhero landing next to Lady Noire. Straightening, he dusted himself off and beamed at her.

“Oh my God, that was so easy,” he said, watching the butterfly flutter away with no small amount of awe. “Where have you been all my life?”

He meant it as a joke, but Lady Noire’s ears flattened, her braid-tail twitching worriedly behind her. “Yeah, I’m… I’m really sorry about that,” she said quietly, wrapping her arms around herself. “There were some, uh, complications with my Miraculous. I…"

She was biting her lip again, but something about the way her shoulders slumped sent alarm bells ringing in his head. It reminded him of the way Marinette stood sometimes, as though the weight of grief was slowly crushing her down.

Instantly, guilt shot through him - guilt, and fear. If she shut him out like Marinette did… if she disappeared and left him to fight on his own again…

Well, to quote the meme, he had only had Lady Noire for about twenty minutes, but if anything happened to her, he would kill everyone in the room and them himself.

Well. Maybe not quite, but it would be bad.

So he stepped forward, still holding the picture of Marinette in his mind, because somehow, strangely, it fit. He placed a hand on Lady Noire's shoulder again, closed his eyes, and imagined what he wanted to say to Marinette if he ever got the chance.

"I don't know what happened with the Miraculous, or why you're here now. But that doesn't matter to me, okay? I'd never judge someone because of their past. All that matters to me is that you're here now, and that we have the chance to work together."

He took a deep breath, swallowing past the lump in his throat. "I know that trusting me can't be easy," he said softly. "We barely know each other, and I don't think the world has been very kind to you."

She snorted slightly at that, her green eyes glittering just a little too bright, like she was holding back tears.

He squeezed her shoulder and pressed on. "I know I don't show it, but I, uh, know what that's like. I… I lost my maman when I was thirteen."

She sucked in a sharp breath, then leaned into his touch, offering him as much comfort with the gentle press of her body as he was offering her. He exhaled slowly, trying not to hug her tightly and reveal how starved he was for contact like this.

Instead, he just said slowly, "So, yeah, I know that trusting is hard. I don't show it, but, uh, I struggle with it too. It took me months to start opening up to my kwami, and she's the sweetest, most trustworthy little thing you'll ever meet."

He smiled wryly. "And people are even harder, aren't they? Especially because they're the ones you lose."

Lady Noire's whole body shook with the force of her nod. "Exactly," she whispered. "I - exactly."

"I'm glad you get it," he said softly, and he meant it with more sincerity than he could put a value to. "So, uh… about the trusting thing… I was thinking that maybe we could figure it out together?"

He hated how vulnerable he sounded, how it was, frankly, crystal clear how desperately he craved a partner. Someone to share this all with.

But instead of flinching away, she exhaled slowly, her green eyes finding his with the most peaceful expression he had yet seen in them. "I'd like that," she said softly.

He smiled at her, a little incredulous and a little awed, and he couldn't stop himself from laughing, just once. But Lady Noire laughed, too, the sweet sound lingering in the summer air.

Adrien felt his breath catch the longer he held her gaze. This… this was something special, he knew it for a fact.

So he bowed deeply, giving in to the desire to lean down and kiss her hand. "Well then, milady Noire," he said courteously, "this feels like the beginning of a truly miraculous partnership."

Lady Noire started to smile back, but then paused where she stood, squinting suspiciously up at him. “Was that… did you just pun at me?”

“Why, does that bug you?” he asked innocently.

She looked at him for a long, long moment, then snorted and rolled her eyes. “My kwami would love you,” she muttered, but he noticed that there was affection behind the biting sarcasm.

It warmed his heart, and more than anything else, it gave him hope that this - this tentative partnership between them? It might actually work out.

Especially if there was a promise of banter like this.

"I'm sure your kwami's not the only one who could love me," he said teasingly, shooting her a playful wink.

“Right. Flirtatious, punny protector of Paris. How could I forget?” she deadpanned.

“How indeed?" he asked dramatically, clutching his heart and acting like he had just been stabbed.

She rolled her eyes, but he thought that there was a hint of fondness behind the gesture. "Yeah, yeah. But I think that the more I work with you, the harder it'll be to forget."

Adrien felt as if the moment hung in a very delicate balance - a joke, but one with a much deeper meaning beneath it: the promise I'll be working with you again.

And so for the first time in a very, very long time, he let himself smile without a single ounce of pressure bearing down on his shoulders. "See you next time, partner."

Fin.