Chapter Text
Ladybug was almost certain the Akuma was contained within Father Time’s watch, but when Chat Noir tackled her just as her fingers brushed the surface, she knew she’d been right.
Rue Lagrange was paused like a movie; pedestrians, cars, and even pigeons frozen by the light beaming from Father Time’s gnarled staff. Overhead, the occupants of an immeuble hung out of windows, their expressions set in unchanging shock and awe. Alya was among them, her phone in her hands, camera angled at the street below. No doubt she would be congratulating herself on the perfect shot of the battle when she awoke.
Ladybug squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact as the world tipped, only for her head to knock against something soft. When she looked up, Chat Noir was there, his green eyes dancing with mirth.
“Careful, my lady,” he said, wrapping both arms around her waist. “Losing you like that would be a cat-astrophe.”
He flashed a grin, and Ladybug hid a smile as she rolled out from under him, bracing on one hand and knee to push herself up. Chat Noir caught her by the other wrist mid-leap, spinning her around and pulling her against him.
“Wait,” he said, pressing one hand flat against her back, and she tried hard to ignore the warm flutter in her belly at his touch. “I had this other line about you falling for me. Let’s do that again so I can use it.”
He was in a good mood today—at least, for now. Ladybug liked him best like this, and liked showing him.
“Stop it, chaton,” she said, matching his playful tone as she flicked his bell. And because the way he raised her hand to his lips was harmless, she allowed it. “You’re going to get in trouble.”
“Worth it,” Chat Noir murmured, dragging heat to her cheeks as he brushed a kiss against her knuckles.
“Enough games!” said Father Time. He used his staff to push himself to his feet, his long white hair and beard billowing as though submerged underwater. The Butterfly mask was imprinted over his wrinkled face, lining his furious expression in violet light. “Take her Miraculous, or I will!”
“You see?” Ladybug said. A blur of blue dropped out of the air, landing by Chat Noir’s side. Ladybug spared the Peacock Holder a look, then added, “And now look what you dragged in, minou.”
Argos scowled, gripping his fan and saying nothing.
Chat met Ladybug’s eyes, a private joke contained within, asking to be read. She felt she could have done so if she looked long enough, but looking was distracting, and distracted was the one thing she couldn’t afford to be during their fights.
“Lucky Charm,” she said cheerfully, catching the red-and-black spotted cushion in her hand as it fell.
Chat Noir sighed, raising his hand unenthusiastically. “Cataclysm,” he said, all his gusto deflating as inky blackness swirled into being over his palm.
She took a step back, eyeing his hand. Though he had never directed a Cataclysm at her, the crackle of his power turned the air electric. Her down pillow was a mere toy in comparison.
“You know what, buginette?” Chat said casually, and though the way he shifted slightly away was subtle, it served to lower her nerves just a fraction. “This is getting old. Instead of fighting, you should give me your your Miraculous, and I can finally take you out on a—”
Ladybug gripped Chat Noir’s opposite forearm, yanking him forward and using the momentum to tug him into a flip. He landed hard on the pavement, wincing as he twisted his arm to avoid infecting the street with his power. She would have felt bad if he didn’t immediately look up with his bottom lip protruding in a pout.
“I like someone else,” Ladybug reminded him, then sprang back as Father Time sent a jet of white light scorching toward her, its energy prickling with cold heat over the material of her suit as she found purchase atop a street light.
“Don’t make that face,” Argos told Chat Noir, unruffled. “I told you it wouldn’t work.”
“It was a good line,” Chat Noir defended, looking adorably disgruntled.
“It was stupid,” Argos replied. “Like you.” Then he offered his partner a hand to help him up, expression otherwise unsympathetic.
Father Time stepped toward Ladybug, extending his gnarled wooden staff and shouting something about time slipping away. She only half-heard him as she dodged another blast, watching the two boys turn on their heels and make a break for the metro station. Chat Noir held his hand carefully to his chest as he ran, cradling his wrist like it was broken. But Ladybug knew better.
She could have chased after him; she knew he was detransforming and recharging, not giving the curse of the Black Cat Miraculous the chance to take effect. True, Chat Noir was working for Papillon, but even he didn’t deserve to be subjected to perpetual bad luck.
“Hey!” Ladybug called as the boys crossed the street, approaching the mouth of the underground. Argos ignored her, continuing on, but Chat Noir’s ears twitched, indicating that he’d heard.
“I thought it was very chat-mant,” Ladybug said, giving him a teasing smile he couldn’t see. “One day you’ll find a girl who thinks so, too.”
Chat’s tail flicked once, and then he continued running, taking the sizzling shadows of his Cataclysm with him.
“So many opportunities, lost to fleeting moments,” said Father Time, drawing Ladybug’s attention back to him. He gripped his staff in both hands, eyeing her with watery blue eyes. “I could stop it, you know. You could stay in any moment of your choosing. You could make him stay, if you give me your Miraculous.”
With a twinge of annoyance, Ladybug threw her yo-yo at Father Time, winding the string around his wrist and pulling hard. He swung his staff out, casting the yo-yo in brilliant white light, and the loop went stiff around Ladybug’s finger. She pulled free at the same time Father Time did, the yo-yo and elongated string staying suspended in midair between them.
Chat Noir, Ladybug thought, mentally chiding him for distracting her with his silly charm and green, green eyes. She gritted her teeth as Father Time started forward, his staff gathering light as he aimed it her way.
She leapt away, flipping once over his head and landing as close behind the old man as she could manage. Father Time’s blast hit a group of already-frozen teenagers, who startled awake and looked around in confusion.
“Go!” Ladybug called to them, knowing Chat Noir and Argos were due back any moment. The teenagers scattered, all of them charging back toward the school building around the corner. Ladybug lunged and, grabbing Father Time’s staff, wrenched it from his hands and flung it as far down the street as her strength would allow.
The force brought him toppling forward on unsteady legs, but she caught him easily, seizing his bony arm and sliding the watch from his wrist. She threw it to the ground where it cracked but did not shatter. As she raised her leg to stomp on it, a silver baton collided with the sole of her foot, knocking her back onto the broken cobblestones and taking the wind out of her lungs.
She rolled back, landing in a crouch and clutching her Lucky Charm to her chest. Chat Noir and Argos stood tall on either side of Father Time, regarding Ladybug with identical, calculating looks. Chat’s Cataclysm was gone, his ring dormant on his gloved hand, whereas now, Ladybug’s timer sounded the countdown in her ear.
“She hasn’t figured out her Lucky Charm yet,” Chat Noir said, turning to Argos as though Ladybug wasn’t there. “Grab her, and I’ll take it.”
Ladybug bristled at his sudden change of demeanor, though she was not surprised. Chat Noir usually came back moodier after his second transformation. “Sourpuss,” she said, standing and looking around for something besides a pillow to fight him with. “Maybe a little catnap will improve your attitude.”
“If anyone can fix that,” Argos said, smirking, “it’s you.”
Leaping into the air, he slashed at her with his fan, his coattails whipping around him like wings. Chat Noir ran toward her from the other side, calling once more for his Cataclysm as he extended a clawed hand for the Lucky Charm. Ladybug tossed the cushion skyward, arching back and kicking it up with overestimated force. The cushion burst at the seams, a storm of feathers raining down as Ladybug pivoted to face the boys.
Argos and Chat Noir stiffened, their noses wrinkling and their mouths opening wide in perfect tandem. The collective sneeze they suffered sent feathers spiraling like flurries of snow, allowing Ladybug just enough time to leap forward and crush the watch beneath her foot.
With a crunch of glass and metal, the Akuma was freed, lifting into the sky on inky wings. She caught it before it could escape, cupping it in her hands and feeling its wings beat like lashes against her palm. Papillon’s magic left the man’s body in a haze of black and purple smoke, leaving a confused shopkeeper in its wake. Ladybug turned her back to the boys, rushing to the man’s side as he peered around in bemusement.
“It’s all right,” she said soothingly. “You’re okay. It was just an Akuma.”
“Oh, my,” said the man, peering at her with watery eyes. He blinked when he caught sight of Argos and Chat Noir, and all three of their expressions filled with trepidation. “Oh, dear! You must defeat it quickly, Ladybug!”
“I will,” Ladybug said, smiling, and tossed the torn pillowcase into the air to cast the cure.
She turned to look at the boys as the pink light faded, reaching blindly for her newly restored yo-yo. Argos watched her, a strangely satisfied look on his face, but Chat Noir’s expression was dark as he turned away, holding his Cataclysm like an activated grenade. Ladybug’s gut twisted, and she took a step forward, calling out for his attention.
“You know I have to do it,” she said. She purified the Akuma, letting the butterfly drift past him, both of them watching its progression into the sun. Then, like every time, she added, “You could join me if you want.”
Chat Noir rolled his eyes, the sight stinging more than it should have. “No, I couldn’t,” he said flatly, and with a click of his baton, vaulted over the rooftops without a parting glance.
Ladybug watched him go, guilty and not sure why. He was the one working for Papillon when he was supposed to be her partner. She had sensed it even before Master Fu had told her, had known it from the very first day when they’d crashed together and smiled at each other with the world overturned around them.
Chat Noir had never felt like her enemy. She knew intrinsically that he wasn’t, even if they battled nearly every day. If only she could talk to him for longer than the length of an Akuma attack, maybe he could tell her why.
Argos looked around as her timer sounded again, his violet eyes steady, his mouth turned down.
“Until next time?” he asked softly.
Ladybug turned, throwing her yo-yo around a distant spire and leaping away.