Chapter Text
A figure stepped into the man’s office, closing the door silently.
“What do you want?” The man at the desk asked without looking up.
“I think I know who Ladybug is.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. And I can prove it. All I need is that little pendant.”
“Hmmm, tempting offer. How about this, you prove that your theory is correct. Then, and only then, will I give you the Peacock Miraculous.”
The person thought for a moment before nodding. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Hawk Moth.” With that, she turned around and left the office with a smirk.
“Late! I’m going to be late!” A raven-haired girl ran across a crosswalk, making sure not to get hit by an oncoming car. Not much had changed for Marinette Dupain-Cheng in the past three years. At age seventeen, she was still the clumsy, sweet, yet often tardy girl her friends had come to know and love.
Thanks to her relationship with Luka, which had ended with a mutual agreement when she was fifteen, Marinette no longer felt the intense infatuation with a certain blond model she once had. She was now able to be “just a good friend” to him without the overbearing weight of keeping a not-so-secret crush on him.
Currently, the Parisian superhero was running late for a modeling session with said good friend. She had become closer with Adrien over the past of couple years and now worked closely with him on her fashion projects.
“Help…”
Just as Marinette turned the corner, she heard a small whimper and spun around to see Rose lying on the ground with tears in her eyes and her hands on her right ankle.
“Rose? Are you okay?” Marinette rushed over to her friend, dropping her supplies and crouching next to the smaller girl. “What happened?”
“I was running and I tripped,” Rose said tearfully, moving her hand behind her back.
“Here, let me help you.” Marinette reached for Rose’s ankle and caught a glimpse of something shiny out of the corner of her eye. “What the-”
Rose lunged forward and Marinette quickly shot up but not before feeling her side pierced with a sharp object. She froze when she saw Rose pull a bloody knife back and smirk.
“Sorry, gotta run. Hawk Moth doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Rose jumped up and laughed, leaving a shocked and bleeding Marinette.
“Marinette?” A small voice arose from the designer’s purse and Marinette looked down slightly to see the bag becoming red with her blood. Her kwami stared with wide eyes as Marinette met her gaze.
“I-I’m bleeding?” Marinette touched the spot on her side and pulled her hand back into view, seeing red liquid on the tips of her fingers.
“Miss! Miss!” She glanced back up to see a man dressed in a suit coming towards her. “Miss, are you okay?” He caught sight of the red spot on her shirt and let out a gasp. “You’re bleeding!”
“Am I?” Marinette took a step forward and stumbled, causing the businessman to firmly grab her arm, keeping her steady.
“Easy there. Take it easy.” He gently guided her to the ground and removed his overcoat, placing it around her shoulders. “We need to get you to the hospital. I’m afraid you’re losing blood too quickly.”
“Blood?” Marinette repeated the word, looking at him confused. “I’m bleeding?”
“Shoot, you’re in shock.” The man cursed under his breath and tried to remember protocol for treating shock. “Lay down! Keep your feet up!” He eased her head to the pavement and lifted her legs, placing his briefcase underneath. “I’ll call an ambulance.”
Marinette did not know how long she had been on the ground but when the stranger came back and told her an ambulance was on its way, all she could do was nod and try to make sense of the situation. Did Rose stab her? Was she injured? Why didn’t she feel any pain? Didn’t she say something about Hawk Moth? Was it an akuma? How did she-
Marinette was snapped out of her own thoughts by the beeping and vibrating of her phone in her pocket. An akuma alert… Chat Noir! Chat Noir needed her.
Her eyes shot open and she brushed the man’s overcoat off of her. She struggled to sit up as he tried to push her back down, telling her not to move and that help was on the way.
“You don’t understand! I have to go!” Marinette valiantly got to her feet, feeling a slight pain in her side as she did so.
“Miss, you’re bleeding! Wherever you’re going couldn’t be so important as to risk your own life.”
The girl did not respond and, with one last shove, she was free from the man’s grasp, standing on her own and stumbling slightly as she headed towards the sound of cars being destroyed.
“Miss! Wait!” The man called after her but Marinette did not stop. Instead, she ducked into an alleyway and opened her purse, Tikki flying out as soon as she did so.
“Marinette, you should have listened to that man. You can’t transform in this state. I won’t be able to hold the transformation for very long with your body in this condition.” The kwami pleaded with Marinette, flying close to the girl’s face so she could focus on her.
“I have to… Chat Noir-”
“Will be fine. But you won’t be if you transform. I can only stop the bleeding for so long.”
“But you can stop the bleeding?”
“Well, yes, but-”
“Then I’m going to go take down this Akuma.”
“You can't, you're too badly hurt-”
“I don't have time to be injured.” Marinette made eye contact with Tikki and sighed. “If I can purify this akuma quickly then I’ll be able to cast the miraculous cure and, if needed, still make it to the hospital before my transformation runs out. I’ll be fine. I promise. ”
Tikki did not like it. She knew that Marinette would do anything to ensure Paris and Chat Noir’s safety and that one day it might end up killing her. But she also knew that once Marinette had an idea in her head, there was nothing the kwami could do to stop her.
So, with eyes filled with worry, Tikki silently nodded and looked at the ground as Marinette called on her transformation.
Chat Noir blocked another attack from the strange half-human half-octopus Akuma that was rampaging through the streets of Paris. He grinned when he saw his lady swinging through the air and landing a few feet away from him. The smile disappeared slightly when she seemed to lose her balance and tumbled onto the rooftop, landing in a less-than-graceful way.
“Ladybug?” Chat Noir dodged the tentacle that was heading for him and scurried over to where his partner was breathing heavily while trying to find her feet. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Ladybug took a couple of breaths before looking up at Chat and shaking her head. “I’m fine.”
Chat Noir watched as she stood, his eyebrow raising when she winced. He opened his mouth to respond but an explosion in the distance grabbed his attention.
“Where’s the Akuma?” Ladybug asked, eyes darting from left to right, trying to catch a glimpse of what they were dealing with.
“Uhh, I lost track of it but I’m pretty sure the explosion had something to do with it.”
Another boom was heard and the superheroes exchanged looks before nodding, following the sound of the explosion.
“I am Cecaelia!” The Akuma shouted and threw a car at the heroes, causing them to duck.
“Calm down, Cecilia! What’s got your tentacles in a bunch?” Chat Noir jumped down in front of the octopus, Ladybug not far behind.
“Not Cecilia, you mangy cat! Cecaelia!”
“Cecaelia, the mythical creature that is half-human, half-octopus. Very original.” Ladybug rolled her eyes and appeared next to Chat Noir. “What did Hawk Moth promise you this time? Freedom? Your own aquarium?”
“It is simple, my dear child. Revenge. Revenge for those who wronged me!” An octopus tentacle shot towards Ladybug and she dodged it, if barely. Chat Noir gave her a strange look when she hissed in pain.
“Bug? You sure you’re good?”
Ladybug glared at him. “I said I’m fine, Chat Noir. Focus! We need to find out where the akumatized object is!”
“I’m guessing it’s in the glowing bracelet on her arm.” Chat Noir pointed to the shiny area on Cecaelia’s wrist. “Unless she’s just very into fashion.”
“Good eye.” The heroine jumped onto a car and watched closely as the Akuma kept her wrist close to her chest. “She does seem to be favoring that wrist. We just need an opening…”
Cecaelia growled at them and threw another car towards Chat Noir, watching him dodge it with ease.
“Is that all you’ve got? I’d think for an almighty mythical creature you’d be a lot tougher to defeat!” The cat-boy taunted, placing his baton across his shoulders. Though he knew he would not be able to take on the Akuma alone, he could distract her long enough to give Ladybug time to figure out a plan to take her down together.
So, for the next couple minutes, Chat Noir distracted the octopus-woman as Ladybug studied her movements. The evasion plan worked extremely well until Cecaelia threw a bus at Chat Noir. He quickly used his baton to catapult himself out of the way and thought he was in the clear before a yelp of pain was heard. Chat’s head whipped around to see Ladybug hunched over, earrings beeping.
What had happened? Did a piece of debris from the bus hit her? Why were her earrings beeping? She hadn’t even used her Lucky Charm yet.
He had thought she was far enough away to avoid getting hit by the flying objects. “My lady, are you o-”
“Chat! Look out!”
Before Chat Noir knew what was happening, someone had tackled him to the ground and a tentacle flew merely inches away from his head. His eyes moved from the tentacle to the face of the person who had saved him from the near-death he had almost experienced. It was none other than his partner, who just seconds before was hunched over in pain. It didn’t seem like that pain had gone away either, as Ladybug hissed again and grabbed at her left side. She slumped against him and he twisted around, supporting her head as he laid her on the ground.
“Ladybug, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”
Ladybug groaned weakly but said nothing. A stain redder than her suit bloomed across her stomach, from a wound Chat knew hadn’t been put there by the Akuma nor the bus.
Chat’s eyes narrowed as he moved his hand near her stomach, fingers skimming inches from the wound. “Oh, Ladybug,” he murmured, “who had the audacity to do this to you?”
She curled into herself and whimpered as her earrings began to beep once more, causing Chat Noir’s eyes to widen. He glanced up and saw Cecaelia smirking, picking up other objects to throw.
Nope. Nope, nope, nope. He couldn’t fight her without Ladybug. Especially when said partner was lying on the ground, obviously hurt.
What should he do? He’d never been in this situation before… What would Ladybug do if she was in this situation?
He heard a groan and glanced down to see pink sparkles enveloping Ladybug. Crap. She was de-transforming . Without thinking twice, Chat Noir grabbed her, careful not to cause more damage to the apparent wound, and used his baton to propel them both onto the nearest rooftop.
“Hang on, My Lady, hang on,” he whispered and tucked her head into his chest to hide her face from any bystanders who might be watching.
“Don’t let them escape, Cecaelia! Ladybug’s transformation will have worn off by now!” Hawk Moth’s voice carried through the mental link to the Akuma.
“Get back here!” Cecaelia screamed and tried to follow the two. Chat Noir quickly ran across the different rooftops, trying to avoid jostling Ladybug too much. Ladybug, who was now very much a civilian, had slumped against him, breathing ragged and eyes squeezed shut from the pain.
Chat Noir jumped down and quickly hid in an alleyway as the Akuma passed by them, not realizing he had stopped running. He tried to avoid looking at the fragile girl in his arms, instead thinking where they could go to get away from the Akuma and people looking for them.
His eyes lit up as he remembered an abandoned building, which he often used as a safe house, located not too far away.
“Hold on tight, Ladybug. We’re almost there.” Chat Noir felt the girl nuzzle her head further into his chest as he took off running again.
Arriving at the abandoned building, Chat Noir found his supplies there untouched. Blankets and pillows littered the floor and water bottles were stacked neatly against a wall, tell-tale signs no one had visited the place since he had last come a couple of weeks ago.
He felt Ladybug shift in his arms as he crawled through a window, after ensuring no one had followed them. Chat Noir took large steps over to the pile of blankets and pillows, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. He then gently laid his lady on the quilts, trying not to look at her face.
The hero heard her moan slightly as her body conformed to the shape of the mound before softly speaking his name. “Chat…”
“I won’t look, I promise, but please tell me you’re alright. Please tell me it’s not as bad as I think it is. Please tell me you didn’t try to fight an akuma while severely injured.”
“It’s… It’s not super terrible…”
Chat Noir sighed and ran his hands down his face, feeling sticky residue being left behind as his fingers moved across his cheeks. “What the-” His eyes snapped open and he looked at his gloved hands to see red staining them.
Ladybug’s blood.
He dared to move his eyes to the face of his partner, deciding her health was more important than protecting their identities. “Marinette?!”
The girl in question turned her head so fast Chat Noir was afraid she would break her neck.
“It’s you… You’re Ladybug?!” His eyes traveled down her body and landed on the dark red patch on her shirt. Shock crossed his face, his mouth dropping open slightly. “You said it wasn’t bad!”
“To be fair, I said it wasn’t terrible. There’s a difference.” Marinette tried to lighten the mood but her pale façade and slow movements only caused him more concern.
“Even if there is a difference, which I assure you there isn’t, Marinette, it most definitely is terrible! How long have you been bleeding? What were you thinking, joining the fight like this?” He began to turn away to pace once more.
“I couldn’t let you get hurt!” She shot forward to grab his hand and instantly regretted moving, falling back onto the pillow with a loud cry. Chat’s eyes widened as he watched the blood continue to spread onto the surrounding blankets.
“Marinette…” He fell to his knees beside her, his own transformation dropping. “You need help. Medical help.”
The girl only let out a strangled sob, her hands grasping at the shirt around her wound. Adrien noticed her breathing becoming more shallow and her body began to shake.
A panic attack.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay, you’re okay. Look at me.” He carefully placed his hands on her arms, careful not to startle her. “Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll figure this out. Breathe with me, can you do that? In through your nose, out through your mouth. One, two, three…”
Marinette clenched her teeth and tried to take a deep breath as Adrien began to count to ten. After a couple of breaths, she was no longer shaking, though tears were still streaming down her face.
“You’re okay, now, you’re okay,” Adrien repeated, his hands moving down to where hers were still clutching her shirt. He softly disengaged her hand from the fabric and intertwined their fingers.
She shook her head and took a deep breath, peering up at him. “A-Adrien? No, it can’t-It wasn't meant to go like this,” Marinette whispered, tightly holding Adrien's hand.
“I know, I know,” He looked down at her, their eyes meeting in a tear-filled gaze. “But I don't regret a moment of it, I wouldn't change a thing, except, you know, you bleeding on the floor.”
She let out a bitter laugh and coughed, eyes scrunching at the pain felt.
“Right! You’re bleeding on the floor!” Adrien quickly took off his overshirt.
“What are you doing?” Marinette questioned, watching as he folded the shirt sloppily.
“We have to keep pressure on the wound so I can get you to the hospital.” He went to press the shirt against her side when she turned away from him. “Hey! You need to stay still!”
“I won’t let you get your shirt all bloody! Use a blanket or something!”
“Right now I’m more concerned about you dying than my shirt getting stained!”
“If you show up after the Akuma with a bloody shirt what will your father think?” She tried to squirm away, the injury making it nearly impossible.
Adrien sighed in frustration. “Marinette, just hold still! I want to do this.” When he saw she was trying to move again, he grabbed her legs and sat on them, quickly pressing his shirt to her wound.
“Hey! Stop-” Her sentence was drowned out by the scream that tore from her throat as he applied more pressure to the injury. Adrien winced at the sound but didn’t release his hold. If there was one thing he knew about lacerations it was that if they were deep, they needed medical attention right away and, by the looks of the blood seeping through his shirt, hers was in dire need of emergency care.
Which was why he needed to go back out there and defeat the Akuma. He knew she wouldn’t rest if the Akuma was still out there and he was having to face Cecaelia alone. Plus, there was no way he could move her now. Not with the bleeding the way it was. His safest bet was to finish the Akuma quickly and take her to the hospital right after.
“Do you think you could hold this?” Marinette heard him say and thought he was talking to her before the pressure on her stomach was gone and replaced by two smaller weights. She opened her eyes just enough to see a black and pink kwami exchanging worried glances as they were seated on the shirt.
“Here.” The raven-haired girl turned her head slightly to see Adrien coming over with a blanket ripped in half. The kwamis flew away as he knelt down and maneuvered Marinette, tying the blanket around her midriff with a taut knot over the area of the wound. “That should hold until I get back.”
“You’re… you’re going back out there?” Her voice sounded weaker than she imagined it would and he chuckled slightly.
“Someone has to defeat the Akuma, My Lady, and I don’t think you can in your current condition.”
“Please be safe. I don’t want to lose you.”
“Ah, ah. Just focus on staying awake for me, okay?” Adrien took her right hand and kissed the back of it.
Marinette blinked back tears and nodded. “I'll see you on the other side?”
“It'll be like the blink of an eye.”
“Goodbye.” Their hands fell apart as he stood up and brushed himself off. “Stay put and try not to move. I’ll be back in no time, I purromise. She may have twice the limbs I do, but they don’t move as fast.”
She rolled her eyes at him as he laughed and called on his transformation. “Stay safe, Princess,” he called to her as he launched himself out the window with his baton.
Princess? Marinette giggled slightly at the name and closed her eyes.
“Marinette…” She cracked one eye open to see Tikki hovering over her. “Adrien said not to fall asleep.”
“I know, Tikki. I won’t.” Marinette reassured her kwami before closing her eyes again as Adrien’s words resonated in her head.
“She may have twice the limbs I do, but they don’t move as fast.”
Huh. He’s right, but why?
Marinette thought back to earlier when she was watching Cecaelia’s movements.
She attacked with only one tentacle at a time and didn’t strike repeatedly as one would think. It’s almost as if there was a time delay.
Strike. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, strike. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, a car hurtled towards them. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, another strike…
Time delay… Not as fast… One, two, three-
“That’s it!” Marinette sat up, startling Tikki and straining the tied blanket around her.
“What?” The kwami asked, confused as to why her chosen one suddenly had a burst of energy.
“The Akuma has a delay in her attacks! She doesn’t strike right away and gives Chat Noir a seven-second opening! He needs to know. This could be a game-changer!” She threw the blanket off her legs and moved to stand, ignoring the sting in her side.
“Marinette, no! You can’t get up! You need to stay here!”
“If I don’t tell him, he’ll never know. I’ll go there, tell him, and come right back, okay?” Marinette stood up and felt a wave of dizziness and nausea roll over her, the adrenaline wearing off. She held her head and grasped the wall to steady herself.
“This is a really bad idea. I’m sure Chat Noir can take care of the Akuma himself. You need to stop,” Tikki demanded. “You need to-”
“If I stop now, I’m not going to be restarting.” The heroine removed her hand from her head and looked at Tikki, eyes burning with determination. “And the city can’t afford that.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed!”
“The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”
“Marinette-”
Marinette let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head. “No, Tikki. I’m doing this. It’s to save Chat… To save Paris. Tikki, spots on!”
A flash of pink light emitted from the abandoned building and Marinette felt her strength coming back as she stood up straighter and took a step. She hissed as a burning sensation was felt near the site of the injury, yet the pain wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it was without the suit. If she worked quickly, Paris would be safe from Cecaelia and she would be healed by her magical cure.
Right?
Ladybug swung quickly over Paris, following the trail of smoke and destroyed buildings as she hoped it would lead her to Chat Noir and Cecaelia.
Where are you, Cecaelia?
“WHERE IS LADYBUG?!”
Gotcha.
Ladybug ducked behind the chimney on a building not too far away from where Chat Noir was facing off the Akuma.
“Oh, you know, she only comes out for the impressive villains. You? You’re more mediocre at best. Just not worth Ladybug’s time so she decided to go somewhere else.” Chat Noir taunted Cecaelia as he dodged her attacks.
“You’re wrong! She was injured!”
“Nah, she just really didn’t want to fight you. She even told me that Mr. Pigeon was more skilled than you. I’m honestly surprised you still decided to come out and fight me. Must be embarrassing to be defeated by only one superhero.”
Cecaelia roared and threw a car at Chat Noir, the hero barely avoiding getting hit.
“Come on, Chat. Less talking, more fighting.” Ladybug whispered as she pulled out her yo-yo and bit her lip, debating whether or not to call him. Just then she heard a yelp, this time coming from her partner. Her eyes snapped back to the fight to see Chat Noir pinned by a car and Cecaelia’s tentacle too close to his hand for comfort.
“Chat! No!” Without thinking, Ladybug leaped from behind the chimney, and Chat Noir’s eyes quickly widened, cursing under his breath when he saw her.
He cursed again when Cecaelia’s frown turned into a smirk. “So nice of you to join us, Ladybug. To think, I just had to threaten your partner. I wonder what would happen if I did more than threaten. ”
“Keep your hands off my kitty,” Ladybug growled and threw her yo-yo in the air, calling “Lucky Charm!” as she did so. She smiled at the sky and reached out her hand as the magical object fell towards her.
“LADYBUG, WATCH OUT!”
Chat Noir’s shout caught Ladybug’s ears a second too late and before she knew it she was thrown into the nearest building, blacking out on impact.
“No!” Chat Noir propelled the car off of himself with his baton and ran as fast as he could to catch the unconscious heroine.
Cecaelia laughed as he barely caught Ladybug. “Still think I’m a pathetic villain?”
Chat Noir’s tail flicked agitatedly as he glared at the Akuma. He spared a glance at the girl in his arms and saw that the wound on her side had opened and was now accompanied by a deep gash on her forehead. There was no doubt bruises littered her body underneath her suit.
Without warning, her earrings gave a final warning beep and her transformation once again began disappearing. Chat Noir had no choice. With one last glare pointed at Cecaelia, he took off towards the same abandoned building he had before.
Marinette’s transformation gave out and Chat Noir didn’t dare look at the extent of her injuries while he was in mid-run. All he knew was that she was out cold, a bad sign for someone who is severely bleeding and probably has a serious concussion. He prayed that his feet would go faster as the Akuma chased after them.
Chat Noir took a quick detour, effectively losing Cecaelia and the reporters following him.
“Plagg, claws in!” Adrien de-transformed as soon as his feet hit the floor of the building. Plagg flew out of the ring and was met with a sobbing Tikki. The kwamis watched as Adrien laid Marinette back on the blankets, taking in the magnitude of her injuries.
It was bad. Really bad.
“Marinette, can you hear me? Please wake up. I can’t lose you…” Adrien grabbed her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake, earning no response from the girl. “Come on, come on!” He turned to Tikki. “You’re the Kwami of Creation, right? Heal her!”
Tikki flew over to him and shook her head. “I… can’t. I tried on the way here. Her body keeps absorbing my magic but it’s not healing her wounds.”
“Crap! What do we do? What do we do?!”
“Adrien! Calm down!” For the first time since the incident had happened, Plagg spoke up. “First we stop the bleeding. Keep the pressure on the wound. When she’s more stable, we will take her to the hospital.”
Adrien did as he was told, removing his white - now red - shirt and grabbed a blanket, pressing hard onto the injury while Tikki attended to the cut on Marinette’s forehead.
The three were silent as they worked to keep her alive. After an eternity, which turned out to be about three minutes, Adrien glanced at the Kwamis, his face pale with dread. “Do... do you think she’ll make it?”
Tikki and Plagg exchanged looks before Tikki nodded. “She will, she has to.”