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Caprikid wiped the sweat off his forehead, careful not to brush away his bangs too much. He would die before letting anyone see his left eye.
The akuma they were fighting was a particularly tough one. It looked like they could change people's emotions based on the color of the beams they shot out of their hands. They could even use them as actual lasers depending on the intent and how strong their own emotions were.
He just hoped Ladybug getting hit didn't affect their team too much. Earlier in the battle, she had been struck by a red beam, becoming much more antagonistic towards her partners after that hit. She still seemed focused on defeating the akuma though, so it couldn't have been too bad.
The battle waged on for a little longer before Ladybug finally called in her lucky charm. He didn't get a clear view of what it was as it fell from the sky into her hands. Ladybug glanced around a few times, eyes eventually landing on Caprikid. He gulped and stood a little straighter.
"I need Genesis. Just make sure you're prepared."
Caprikid nodded, a little offput by how cold she sounded. The akuma's effect was really showing itself. She shouted commands to everyone, and they soon broke apart as the akuma started aiming their beams at them again. Caprikid jumped from roof to roof, trying to get to the place where Ladybug had ordered him to go. In the distance, he heard a call of "Sublimation!"
He stopped in his tracks when he heard Rooster Bold's loud shout of pain. The hero turned around, gasping when he saw the other being thrown back by a beam that had hit him in the stomach. Rooster Bold hit a wall, groaning as he fell to the floor. He held a hand to his stomach, part of the cloth there disintegrated and blood seeping through.
The damage must've been really bad if it broke through a suit made of magic.
Caprikid couldn't stop himself from jumping down and rushing over. He knelt down besides the heroes, quickly asking if he was okay. It was a dumb question, really. The blood was still gushing out of the wound and he didn't know what to do.
"Caprikid!" Ladybug's voice yelled through the communicator in his ear, "What happened?!" Her tone sounded more angry that they weren't where they were supposed to be than any of her usual concern.
"Bold is injured," Caprikid explained, voice rushed as he simply stared at the hero, mind still racing to figure out his next action.
Ladybug groaned, "Ugh, just get him to some private place and get back." Caprikid winced at the harsh words. He scooped Rooster Bold up onto his arms as gently as he could, leaping up into the air and running across rooftops until he found somewhere safe, an abandoned alley. There were several Caprikid passed by on the way here, but he wanted to make sure that it was far enough away that the akuma didn't find him.
He laid down Rooster Bold on the ground, "Are you okay?"
Rooster Bold gave a shaky gasp, "Timer."
Caprikid doesn't have the chance to even comprehend the word before the transformation dropped, hero outfit fading away and his kwami popping out from his ring, breathing heavily from the battle. The rooster kwami went to rest on his knee, but Caprikid didn't pay him any mind.
All his thoughts were on his boyfriend, who laid bleeding out in front of him, chest heaving with pained whimpers. It seemed to be faster now that he didn't have magic slowing the wound.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, Marc was going to die if he didn't do something! He at least needed bandages!
"Genesis," Caprikid murmured without thinking. His desired object fell into his hand and he crawled forward to start wrapping them around the injury. Panic set in further as blood seeped through the first couple of layers before he had layered enough of it to stop.
He barely acknowledged the almost silent sound of someone landing behind him. "Where did you get those?" Ladybug asked, tone cold, harsh, unforgiving. For some reason, it reminded him of Mrs. Mendeleiev.
"Genesis," Caprikid muttered, still focused on trying to keep Marc awake, barely paying attention to her.
"What?! Caprikid, we needed you to make something for our plan to work!"
"Can't you find something else?" He asked, propping Marc up against the wall.
"Where do you think we're going to find something like that in this area of the city?" Ladybug huffed, pointedly ignoring the fact she still hadn't told him what he was supposed to make.
"He was going to die!" Caprikid snapped, standing up and facing her, "I-I'm not going to just leave him to bleed out!"
Ladybug stared in shocked anger at Caprikid's yelling. She took a deep breath before taking a step towards him, "If you're not going to listen to me, you will no longer be a part of this team."
Caprikid trembled a little, heart beating erratically, unused to the unwelcoming aura Ladybug emitted. "Huh?"
Her hand reached out towards his horns, grabbing one and yanking his head down as the goat hero yelped in protest. He struggled to escape as she forced him into a headlock. Ladybug is silent the entire time as she grabbed the miraculous, yanking it off his head, along with a couple of strands of hair.
She dropped him to the ground, Marc's eyes widening in shock as he detransformed into Nathaniel. Ladybug swung away, but Nathaniel just turned back towards Marc, panicked, not even thinking about just having his miraculous revoked.
He isn't Caprikid anymore. Anything he made while transformed is gone.
The bandages around Marc's wound are gone.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
"Nath," Marc managed to whisper after a couple of seconds.
Nathaniel quickly shushed him, taking off his own jacket, "Save your breath." He wrapped the clothing around Marc's wound the best he could with the limited supplies. When he finished, Nathaniel just hugged Marc loosely, burying his face in the other's shoulder.
"Sorry," He murmured, unconsciously rocking the writer back and forth in his arms before realizing and forcing himself to stop. He was too used to it because he did it every time he was the big spoon when they cuddled. Now it might just make the wound bleed more. "You could've still had the bandages if I didn't get mad."
"Don't worry," Marc said, voice slowly growing weaker, "The damage will be fixed, right?"
Nathaniel's grip tightened a little as he felt Marc's body slump over, "Marc. Marc, please, stay awake. Don't- Please-"
There's no response.
Nathaniel still held onto Marc's body, sniffling and crying. The kwami resting on the writer's knee seemed too drained from the battle to try comforting him. They stayed like that until the cure washed over the city and Marc's eyes flew open, the writer sitting up with a gasp.
He turned towards Nathaniel, but the artist tackled him in a hug before he can say a word, kwami flying away as to not be crushed.
"I-I thought you were gone!" Nathaniel sobbed, holding him tight, hands grasping at the cloth on Marc's back, "I couldn't- Couldn't do anything-" His sentences dissolved into apologies and crying. Marc hugged him back, growing quiet, just basking in the warmth of his boyfriend.
They both looked up at the sound of a quiet landing. Ladybug was standing there. She quickly rushed over, "I am so sorry. I don't know why I was acting like that."
"The akuma was messing with your personality," Marc murmured quietly, rubbing Nath's back to comfort him, "We understand."
She kneeled down besides the two, gently holding out the goat miraculous, "I don't think anything I could say would ever be able to make up for everything I did. But I hope I can show it through my actions." Nath glanced at her for a moment before taking it back with a murmured sentence of gratitude.
He didn't keep it for long though, handing the hairclips back along with Marc's thumb ring. Ladybug waved goodbye to the boys as she jumped away again, on a much lighter note than before.
"So... You're a hero."
"You are too."
They stared at each other for a moment before laughing. The artist stood up, extending a hand, "Wanna talk more about this at my house?" Marc nodded, accepting the offer and getting up, walking out of the alley with him.
Nathaniel took Marc's hand into his own, interlocking their fingers and squeezing.
Just to reassure himself his boyfriend was still there, alive.