Archive of Our Own ^beta

Ladybug bites back a yawn. 

It’s a well-known fact that Chat Noir is often late, but never early. While annoying, it almost always ends up being worth it. 

But it does try her patience. 

“You’re doing this on purpose,” she accuses when he appears, silently slipping up onto the wall so smoothly she can’t help but be impressed. 

He grins at her, barely visible. Ladybug tries not to think about his dimples. His face is cast in shadows from his hood and mask and, like everyone, she pretends not to notice the fine fabric. Chat is unique in that he clearly comes from a wealthier background. 

Or at least he was until Bee. Ladybug still has no idea where they found her . 

“My lady,” he practically purrs, “I’d never leave a beautiful woman waiting on purpose.” 

“So what was it this time?” 

Chat stretches his arms above his head. His left hand passes her body and slips a purse into her palm. She quickly pulls it into the folds of her cloak. 

His joints pop. “I was saving a cat from a turret. Don’t know how the sweet thing got up there.” 

“What were you doing up at the castle?” 

Chat’s smirk is sharp. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” 

“Seeing that Fu placed me in charge…” 

His face falls and he presses two fingers to his forehead. “May he be at peace.” 

She copies the motion and prayer. It’s been over two months, but the ache of Fu’s loss remains. She hadn’t been prepared to be in charge of an entire rebellion, but Chat’s been by her every step, never faltering. Sometimes, she thinks Fu should have passed the role to Chat, but the one night she mentioned it, something dark crossed over his features, and she never brought it up again. 

“I was scouting,” Chat finally says. “I know we’re developing our notoriety, but it’s never too early to see palace security.” 

“And how is it?” 

His smile is back— and so are those dimples. “Climbed a turret for a kitten. Could be better.” 

His tone, playful and gentle and meant just for her , makes Ladybug’s insides warm. “You’re our best,” she says. “What about the others? How would, say…Ryuko do?” 

Chat snorts. “Ryuko wouldn’t be doing what I did.” He clicks his tongue. “Viperion probably could, but I don’t think Ryuko would be able to get in the way I did without setting off too many bells and whistles. We could get her in, it would just be…an alternative entrance.” He eyes Ladybug carefully. “Are we risking another meet-up, soon?” 

She shrugs and tries to act casual, even though she feels like she’s going to be sick. The last one had been tense. They hadn’t dared light a fire. “Probably.” 

Ladybug misses the group; all gathered around a blazing campfire in their secluded clearing, talking and laughing. And planning and training, of course, but team building was just as important as the rest of it. They need to be able to work together seamlessly, and it’s been weeks since they met up like that. 

That’s on Ladybug. 

Chat puts a hand on her shoulder and she sighs. “Soon,” she says. “I’ll send out a message tonight, we’ll find a time. Next week? We can…figure out our next step.” 

She’s been procrastinating since Fu’s murder, and no one has called her on it yet, but she wouldn’t be surprised if someone takes this meeting to do so. Bee probably will; despite Chat’s insistence that Bee is loyal, she and Ladybug never see eye to eye. 

The last thing Ladybug needs is fragmentation. 

It’s not that she thought overthrowing an evil monarch who was encouraging dark magic to seep through the kingdom’s borders so he could use it to start a war would be easy , but she certainly didn’t think the pressure would be on her . 

Chat’s grip tightens on her shoulder. “Buggy,” he says softly, “I wasn’t trying to get you to talk about plans.” 

“Well, what else is there to talk about?” she snaps. Chat doesn’t pull away, which is both a relief and makes her feel terrible. His grip isn’t holding her in place— his nails aren’t biting her through layers of glove and fabric. He’s squeezing her shoulder gently, rubbing circles with his thumb. 

She wants to sink into his touch, but… 

“Are you okay?” he asks. 

Ladybug swipes at her tears. They had time to mourn. Now it’s time to work. “Doesn’t matter.” 

“Of course it does.” Chat brushes her bangs from her eyes, fingertips ghosting along her mask. Another barrier. Another wall. “You can’t win a fight if you’re too tired to throw a punch.” 

She tries to laugh, she really does. “Hopefully it won’t come down to fistfights.” Though it’s appealing to think about breaking the king’s nose. 

Chat’s smile doesn’t meet his eyes. “You know what I mean, Ladybug.” 

A lump grows in her throat. “I’m sorry for being distant.” 

“Can I blame you?” She wants to say yes and he must see that in her eyes because he adds, “I wouldn’t blame you. I won’t, and I don’t. You had a lot dropped on you very suddenly. I’ve been there.” 

And there’s one more reminder that she knows nothing about Chat Noir. Not behind the mask. It doesn’t bother her when it comes to other teammates. She doesn’t need to know details about their private lives. But Chat—

They’ve never told the others, but there’s no need. Ladybug has seen the looks and heard the giggles. But that was before Fu was killed. Before Ladybug found his body. Before they realized they were dangerously close to following in his footsteps. 

Her mouth tastes like dust. 

“Remind me that there’s a point to this,” she says, “that we haven’t done all this for nothing.” 

“There’s a point to this and we haven’t done all this for nothing,” Chat recites dutifully. Ladybug punches his arm lightly and is rewarded with another grin. “You asked!” His smile falters. “It isn’t for nothing. Even if we fail, we tried.” 

“Do you think we’ll fail?” 

The moon is half-hidden by clouds, hiding the subtler facial expressions she’s learned to read since they met. It’s been a few years—they were Fu’s first recruits, and Ladybug never found out who he had approached first. It had never mattered, and still doesn’t because, with Chat, she feels equal in a way she doesn’t with most. 

“I think,” Chat says when the moment has stretched long and thin, “the king is cocky. Fu’s death has emboldened him in a dangerous way. Though, if we’re being frank,” he gives her a look, “his Majesty would have been better off capturing Fu and attempting to get information.” 

Ladybug shakes her head. “Never would have happened.” The moon creeps closer to position and she sweeps her cape aside and pulls supplies from her belt, kneeling on the stone wall. 

“You don’t know the king’s methods,” Chat says softly. 

She glances up at him. She may not have specific details, but they all have an idea of the cruel techniques he uses—magic or otherwise. “We have the same information, minou,” she says. She runs through their conversation as her stomach twists. Dread settles in her bones. They have secrets but… 

“The things you’re saying, you say them as if you’ve—”

“Been in the castle?” he interrupts. Ladybug swallows. “You know we don’t give out personal information, my lady.” His tone is wry and sharp. And wouldn’t it make sense? For one of Fu’s rebels to live within the same walls as the man they were attempting to overthrow? 

It’s not a betrayal, because it’s always been this way. But she still feels sick. 

Chat crouches next to her, pulling a piece of chalk from a pouch and drawing a perfect circle on the stone. He’s always been better at this. “I wasn’t on the turrets to check security, love,” he murmurs. “There’s no need to test security when I already have experience living there.” 

“In the castle,” she breathes. Chat opens his mouth, but she lifts a hand. She doesn’t want to know anything more about him. The him under the mask. Not yet. 

Despite her thoughts just minutes ago, not yet. 

“I’m sorry,” he says as she quickly sets up the ritual, familiar as breathing. Something to do with her hands as her mind whirls. “That was too much information.” 

“We would’ve told each other eventually,” Ladybug says. Her fingers hover over a cup. “Right?” She looks sideways at Chat. They’ve never discussed it— she always assumed in some hypothetical future, she and Chat would finally take off their masks and… 

Do what? Live happily ever after? If he’s in the castle, what does that mean? Does that mean he’s a servant? Is he some level of noble? How does that compare to a bakers’ daughter? Would he even want her if he knew? 

She doesn’t realize her hands are shaking until Chat takes them in his own. “Sorry,” she apologizes. She thinks maybe she should pull away, but can’t. If Chat is in the castle, that brings everything so much closer. 

“I’m on your side, I promise,” he says, pressing their foreheads together. 

Ladybug blinks. A tear falls from her lashes and she hadn’t even realized her eyes were watering. “Is that what you’re worried about?” she asks.

Chat’s green eyes bore into her. They’re almost glowing, the way they do after a particularly tricky spell, when magic is still coursing through his veins. “If that’s not what you’re worried about, we might be on different pages.” 

“Try different books” Ladybug gives him a weak smile before leaning forward and kissing him quick. “You surprised me. I’m working out logistics in my head.”

“You seemed shaken—”

“I am.” She snaps her fingers, and a spark catches the wick of the red candle at the top of the circle. The fire blazes. “You surprised me, I didn’t realize you were so close.” 

Chat laughs breathlessly. “You have…no idea.”

He’s silent as she goes through the ritual’s motions. The water in the tin cup at the center of the circle darkens. Ladybug holds her breath until the candle flickers out. As soon as it’s gone, a flame crackles to life in Chat’s palm and he holds it over the cup. Ladybug pulls a brush and a small leather book that’s yellowing and needs new binding from her belt. She flips to the last entry and stares down at the purple marks on the page. With a deep breath, she dips the brush into the water and paints a careful circle to the right of the last. 

Her breath hitches and Chat swears. 

“We’re running out of time.” 

“We knew that.” He clears everything from the circle, scrubbing away the chalk and drawing another. His writing is quick and precise as he adds runes to the edges, some dancing along the edge of a darkness Ladybug wouldn’t dare approach. Her skin crawls. 

Instead of placing the cup back in the center, the indicator for many of their spells, Chat pulls a compass from his cloak and centers it, shifting the other components to align with North. 

The compass is beautiful, even in the darkness Ladybug can see the intricate metalwork. The brass shines as the flames dance in the light breeze. 

Either Chat Noir swiped it, or he is nowhere near a servant. 

“Could you?” Chat asks, holding out the flame. Ladybug could create her own, but instead, lets him slide the fire to her palm. It warms her skin through her gloves. It’s like holding a piece of Chat, in a way. 

Chat’s tongue pokes out between his lips as he places his fingers on specific runes. He closes his eyes, lowers his head, and begins to chat. 

Ladybug feels her magic sparkle as Chat’s crackles softly in the night. It bubbles beneath her skin, reaching out to Chat as he calls on something darker than they usually dare. She can’t interrupt him while he works, but she also desperately wants to know he’s doing. 

She glances down at the notebook. The purple has gotten darker with each ritual as dark magic consumes the kingdom.

Chat’s head snaps up and his eyes glow green. The compass’s needle spins wildly before stopping. Now, it points South-East. 

Chat slumps. “The main leak,” he says, exhausted. “I don’t know how far, but we could send out Pegasus and Bee to try to strengthen the barriers—”

“Are you alright?” Ladybug asks. She holds his flame up to his face. He looks pale and clammy. She takes his hands and passes back his fire. “Where did you learn that?” 

He glances up at her through shaggy blonde hair. “I’m on your side.” 

“I know. I trust you.” She squeezes his hands. “I never doubted you.” 

“What were you thinking earlier?” he asks softly. “You got this look on your face that I couldn’t read it and…” 

Ladybug squeezes her eyes shut. “Something silly and…pointless.” She shakes her head. “ Very silly and pointless. And not a priority.” 

He frowns. 

“Can we focus on you?” she asks. “Thank you, but your magic—” 

“I’ll be okay,” he promises. “It’s not like I spend my days doing parlor tricks or fighting dragons. I’ll be fine for the next ritual.” 

Ladybug nudges him. “You know I don’t care about the ritual.” 

“Yes you do.” 

“Not as much as I care about you.” 

Chat meets her eyes. They’re normal, white sclera and green irises. Not glowing, just a normal green. Just Chat. Her Chat. 

Ladybug leans in and kisses him, soft and slow. He tastes like his magic, sharp and minty. When she pulls away, Chat chases her and kisses her again. Deeper . Ladybug’s magic sings as he breaks the kiss and presses their foreheads together. 

“I love you,” he murmurs. “I really do.” 

Her heart skips. “I love you too. That’s why earlier—” 

Chat lifts his head and she looks down at their entangled hands. Chat’s flame still floats above their fingers, warm but never burning. 

“ Please be safe, Chat.” Ladybug stares into his eyes, hoping he understands her terror. “Whatever you do in the palace…whatever magic you learn… I trust you, but please be careful. I can’t lose you.” 

Chat nods. “I’ll be careful.” And he seals the promise with a kiss.