Chapter Text
Ladybug swung from rooftop to rooftop, feeling the wind whip past her face in a cold chill. As fast as she was pushing herself to reach her destination, it wasn’t fast enough. Like a sixth sense, Ladybug could tell that her pursuer was quickly gaining ground on her.
As she threw her yo-yo towards the spire up ahead and leapt from the platform beneath her, she felt a wall of heat slam into her back and drag them both down into an alley. Hitting the cold pavement beneath her, Ladybug managed to curl into a somersault to narrowly escape being pinned by her pursuant. Rolling farther towards the dead-end of the alley, Ladybug jumped back onto her feet and spun around, never one to keep her back to her adversaries for long.
Standing opposite her in a snow-white copy of a familiar black leather suit, bell collar and all, was Chat Blanc.
“Chat Noir, what happened? How were you akumatized? Whatever Hawk Moth is promising you, you must fight this. Fight him!” Ladybug pleaded with him, her voice firm but compassionate.
“My name is Chat Blanc now, you know that purrincess,” Chat purred to her as he lurked slowly down the alley, now covered in the shadow afforded them by the overarching buildings. Each step was slow and measured, as if Chat Blanc were carefully gauging her reaction with each meter lost between them.
Backing up to match his progress, Ladybug felt the brick wall come up against her back right before she noticed her akumatized partner’s eye give a telling twitch. With mere seconds to spare, Ladybug propelled herself up to crouch on the flag poll jutting out above them just before Chat Blanc’s claws scraped against the wall where her head had just been. Diving for the exit to the alleyway, Ladybug touched ground and spun around. With the only clear exit to the narrow lane at her back, Ladybug had quickly turned the tables on the troublesome kitty who moments ago was hunting her down.
Chat Blanc met Ladybug’s gaze with a slight smirk, dusting off the crumbling bricks that he gauged out of the wall. Ladybug gulped, feeling the hair on the back of her neck rise under that look. His claws had left deep gashes where she had stood a few seconds earlier. Or perhaps they were next to where she stood? Ladybug shook her head slightly, trying to dislodge the sentiment in her heart causing her to hope that her chaton would never hurt her. She couldn’t afford to hold those hopes. She couldn’t afford for those beliefs to be wrong.
Spinning her yo-yo to shield herself from any more surprise attacks, Ladybug refocused on the white cat prowling towards her without the slightest look of concern in his eyes. Despite being the one cornered, Chat’s demeanor was as relaxed as it had been before, if not more so.
“Stop where you are Chat. Get any closer and you’ll regret it.” Ladybug fought the urge to take a step back. Giving him any ground at all would be a sign of weakness, and with the warble in her spiraling yo-yo revealing the slight tremor in her hands, Ladybug would be damned if she displayed any further holes in her resolve. Gathering the courage to face off against her partner, she began pacing forward.
Eyes glinting with a feral delight and a low growl stirring in his chest, Chat Blanc drank in the sight of his lady moving toward him. His steps slowed down to match hers. The two miraculous holders continued their slow progress towards one another as if they were fighting a magnetic pull, Ladybug cautiously moving towards the shadows while Chat Blanc was prowling ever-closer to the light at the end of the alley.
With a flick of the wrist, Ladybug’s yo-yo darted into the shadow to wrap around Chat Blanc’s baton wrist. Before she could reel in her catch, the sly cat rotated his wrist and extended his baton to dig into the sides of the narrow lane. With a mischievous grin curling up his face, Chat latched onto the taught yo-yo string with his free hand and yanked Ladybug into the shadows with him.
Ladybug’s chest swung into the firmly lodged metal bar, forcing out a harsh gasp as Chat grasped one of her wrists in each hand. With nothing but the baton between them, Ladybug was overwhelmed with the familiar warmth and muscular frame that was now pressed tightly against hers. She struggled to break from his grasp, eyes darting around, desperately looking for an exit and avoiding a certain ice-blue gaze.
“Why do you always run from me Marinette?” Came a sultry voice mere inches away from her face, causing her to freeze mid-struggle. Marinette, fully shrouded in her miraculous suit, shivered at the sound of her name. Slowly, she brought her eyes up to bore into those of the akuma across from her. But instead of seeing cold, blue eyes, Marinette pictured the vibrant green eyes of her black leather-clad partner. Her tense muscles slackened as her strength faded at the reminder that this akuma victim was really her partner in protecting Paris. Someone she would sooner die for than bring harm to.
Chat Blanc took advantage of her momentary lapse, ducking under the bar and rushing into Ladybug to push her up against the side of the building. He now had both her hands pinned above her head in one of his. With the opposite arm trapping her against the bar, she was effectively caged in and surrounded, yo-yo clattering to the floor beside them. With a sharp kick of his boot, Chat Blanc sent Ladybug’s only hope skittering down the alleyway and clanking beneath a large dumpster bin - completely out of sight.
Glowing with pleasure, Chat leaned forward until his face was a breath away from Marinette’s, filling her entire view. “Oh how I’ve missed holding you this close my princess. Don’t you miss me as well?” He nuzzled her cheek gently, soft white locks brushing her skin, in contrast with the tight grip he held over her wrists. His open hand trailed down from the wall to trace her side before settling on her hip in a vice-like squeeze.
“I don’t remember this,” Marinette screamed out, simultaneously frustrated with her chaton for putting her in this position and at herself for aching to feel him even closer. “I don’t have any memory of being this close to you. You’re my partner Chat Noir. My best friend. Please fight off the akuma, I know you are strong enough. You’re one of the strongest people I know.”
“Marinette, Marinette,” Chat Blanc tutted at her. “I already reminded you once. Consider this your final warning.” Chat extended his claws, digging the tips into Ladybug’s side - not enough to tear through her magical suit but enough to elicit a sharp yelp from Marinette. “I’m asking nicely. Please let go of Chat Noir. He’s already dead. But once I have your miraculous, we can fix everything. I can use the wish to restore Paris, our friends and family, the whole world!”
At the hysterical ramblings of her akumatized chaton, Ladybug noticed the ice-white ash creeping across the buildings all around them and slowly spreading towards her feet. Her eyes grew wide and she screamed as she once again resumed her struggling, fear of the amplified cataclysm’s fatal touch spurring her into action.
“I know I messed up my lady. I made a cat-astrophic mistake. But once it’s fixed everything can go back to the way it should be. You and I can finally be together again.” Chat Blanc murmured his desires as he reached forward. He caressed Marinette’s cheek briefly, before sliding one hand up to her earrings.
“No,” cried Marinette, tears beginning to stream down her face. “Stop! I fixed this! I saved you from ever experiencing this pain. You shouldn’t even remember whatever happened in that timeline after I erased my name.”
Chat looked down at Marinette, a mixture of fondness and sadness etched into his soft smile. “You didn’t save me. You tried to destroy me.” For no reason she could pinpoint, Ladybug felt her heart shatter. “Besides,” the mischievous grin that Noir and Blanc shared spread across his beautiful face, “a love as inevitable as ours can’t be ruined. Not even by the strongest of lucky charms.”
As his fingers clamped down on the first earring, Chat Blanc leaned down towards Marinette, eyes fluttering shut and lips parting. Marinette closed her eyes as well, caught between vehemently tugging away from Chat Blanc and fighting the overwhelming pull to kiss her chaton.
“Chat Noir” Marinette sobbed out. “Chat Noir! Please stop, Chat Noir!”
“Marinette!” Marinette’s eyes popped open as she lurched forward, suddenly met with no resistance to her writhing motions. Whirling back and forth, Marinette took in the familiar sight of her pink-covered bedroom before focusing on her tiny red friend floating in front of her. “You’re okay now Marinette,” Tikki’s sweet chiming voice reassured her holder. Tikki flew up to press herself against Marinette’s cheek, patting her lovingly on the head and using her super hearing to listen patiently as her chosen’s heartbeat eventually settled to a normal pace.
“I’m so sorry Tikki,” Marinette murmured to her kwami. “It’s bad enough that I’ve been losing sleep the past few weeks. You shouldn’t have to suffer alongside me.”
Tikki was shaking her head before her holder had even finished speaking. “Don’t apologize Marinette. You can’t control what comes to you in your sleep. Although I do wish you would talk to me about these dreams.” Tikki frowned despondently.
“I already told you Tikki, it’s just a nightmare and its different every time. The only thing to do is endure it until it goes away.” Marinette gave her kwami a grateful kiss before getting up to go clean her sweat-drenched face in the bathroom.
Tikki watched her leave the room with a forlorn expression. She had served alongside many Ladybugs over the course of her ancient lifespan, but this Ladybug was definitely the toughest and most stubborn miraculous holder yet. “Oh Marinette,” Tikki sighed, “I thought we promised not to keep any more secrets from one another.” Tikki swore that first thing tomorrow she would speak to Plagg about what Chat Noir could possibly have done to make her Ladybug plead with him in her sleep.