Chapter Text
Chat Noir grinned as he ran around the city on patrol. He loved the freedom that being Chat Noir brought him.
It was the best feeling in the world.
Especially on bad days.
He heard some screams. They sounded familiar.
He turned to go investigate.
As he got closer, Chat Noir realized that he did recognize the person.
Marinette! His classmate, who would never harm anyone despite what others would believe. Just because she was standing up for herself when people pretended they knew her.
Chat Noir shook his head and focused.
He arrived on the scene and gaped.
Marinette was cornered by three grown men.
They were hurting her. They weren't trying to rob her... they were trying to kill her!
Chat Noir jumped down and quickly knocked one out.
The other two were trickier but he was fast and had a weapon that could extend on a whim.
He got them knocked out, but not before the last one stabbed Marinette.
Chat Noir called for help as he rushed to her side. "Marinette! Oh, no..." He stared at the blood.
Marinette gave him a weak smile. "Hey, Chat."
"What happened?" Chat Noir asked as he pressed on the wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding.
"I... you know how I told you about the rumors?"
Chat Noir nodded. He didn't trust himself not to go on a rant about them. He was still furious with himself for not realizing that Lila was that vicious, that she would have no problem spreading worse lies.
When Marinette broke down in his arms, as Chat Noir, that was when his heart broke, and he realized that he had feelings for Marinette, only, the pressure he felt when with Marinette wasn't the same as when he was with Ladybug. He vowed to make sure that he protected Marinette as much as he could, as Adrien, or Chat Noir.
Until now, he had been successful.
"They were trying to kill you over rumors, Mari?" he asked gently.
Marinette nodded, making a face. "They were. I think one of the more vicious rumors of me being a bully morphed into me assaulting their little sister or something? I don't even know who they were talking about… I’ve never seen them before..."
"Oh, Marinette, I'm so sorry." Chat Noir leaned down and kissed her forehead. "You don't deserve this. You're too good for everyone, including me. I still can't believe no one sees it."
"Adrien sees it, and so does Nino... Alya does but she also thinks I'm catastrophizing again because I'm good at that so she doesn’t think it’s that bad... I think Chloe sees it because she's jealous of how much people like me for being kind."
Chat Noir nodded. "Are you sure you should be talking right now?"
"I'm pretty sure I'm dying regardless... it really hurts and I don't want to think about it... can you lay with me? Like we do when we want to forget the world?"
"Um, okay, let me see if I can find a way to keep pressure on this wound... you're really bleeding and maybe you are dying but I want to do everything I can for you." Chat Noir thought he was handling his panic rather well. He was used to having to keep a cool head in bad situations, but that was not while he had someone dying before his eyes.
He did his best and laid down with her, tears in his eyes as he stared at the sky.
There was silence for a bit.
Marinette moved her hands shakily to her head, and then took his hand, dropping something in it.
Chat Noir looked. His eyes widened. "...Ladybug? Milady?"
"That's me," she said quietly. "Find a partner you can trust. Take care of the kwamis, they're in the sewing kit in my room."
Now that he was listening for it, he could hear Ladybug in her voice.
"But... you can't die."
"I... I don't know if I'll live... and if I do, you'll still need a replacement and an explanation that doesn't implicate me until I can recover... Shadowmoth can't know. He can't akumatize you, Chat. He can't know you know my identity."
"You don't have to worry about me, Milady. I won't say a word. I know how to handle grief, no matter how hard it is." He hoped he did anyway.
"I hope you do, Chat. Listen to the kwamis. They can be silly, but they do know a lot about things, they'll probably have some ideas on what to do next."
"Right." Knowing that his two crushes were the same person, Chat Noir kissed her cheek. "Your secret is safe with me." He carefully put the earrings in a safe spot and took her hand. "But please live, Mari. I don't know what I'd do without you, not just as Ladybug, but as yourself... swinging in to help you with your projects is a highlight of my day."
He almost told her his identity, but that would be for his peace of mind. Not hers. He had no idea if it would help her or not at the moment.
"I'm glad, Chat."
As the police and an ambulance finally arrived, one of those who attacked Marinette woke up.
Chat Noir heard him tell the police officers everything, how Marinette needed to pay. He clenched his fists. "Did you even ask your sister if Marinette was the one who hurt her?" He demanded of the man.
There was no answer, just a sneer.
The three overprotective brothers were taken away.
Chat Noir watched worriedly as the paramedics worked on Marinette.
She passed out at some point before they put her on the gurney.
As they loaded her into the ambulance, one of them cursed and said something about flatlining.
Chat Noir froze and stared at the gurney as the doors slammed shut and the ambulance took off with a wailing siren.
Sabrina's dad took his statement.
"I... can I tell her parents?" he asked once he was done.
When he got a nod, Chat Noir took off, wanting to get there quickly.
He landed in front of the bakery and took a deep breath.
When Sabine greeted him, he found tears falling.
"Marinette's on the way to the hospital. She was stabbed... she's dying... I tried to stop them but I was too late and..." He fell to his knees, sobbing.
There was a crash in the kitchen. Tom must have heard.
"Tom, we have to go now, we'll lock up. I know you visit her from time to time, feel free to use her room to leave once you've cleaned up the blood. Thank you for telling us." Sabine was managing to keep control of her emotions admirably though there were tears in her eyes.
Tom was furious as he followed her out the door.
Chat Noir looked up as the door locked behind them. Then he bolted up the stairs to Marinette's room.
"Plagg, claws in," he said shakily as he took out the earrings and sat them on the desk. He sank into the chair and started crying.
"Kid... I'm sorry," Plagg said gently. "But I think her parents are going to get akumatized, you need to be ready."
"Right..." Adrien stood up and went to the dollhouse where Tikki had already told the kwamis the news. He was a bit surprised when they swarmed him, demanding answers.
"I... I don't know right now, I'll visit her later and I'll take you in groups but I think I need to figure out what to do with the earrings... Tikki, is there any reason for me to not combine you and Plagg right now?"
"No, there isn't. I wouldn't advise it being permanent."
"I just don't think I have the time to figure out who I trust right now."
"Of course."
The akuma alert went out.
Adrien leaned on the desk and breathed. He put on the earrings. "Plagg, Tikki, unify."
He glanced at the mirror. He now looked like a pleasing mix of his usual and Misterbug. He glanced back at the kwamis, then sighed.
"Alright, so, the yo-yo is connected to the Miracle box?" He opened the yo-yo. Nothing. He glanced at the Miracle Box, it looked different Same shape, but black and green. He opened his baton. Conveniently, that worked.
"I know you can't tell me who your holders are, so I'll probably get it wrong since I don't know all of them, but I will only give you to people I do trust, I promise you that."
He took off.
Sure enough, Marinette's parents had been akumatized and were trying to get at the three that hurt their daughter.
He took a deep breath. He couldn't rush in like usual. He had to be careful. He was on his own. Even for being a straightforward guy, he couldn't rely on how he did things.
He spotted Nino. Okay, good, one ally he could use. He still couldn't believe that Nino was Carapace, but in this case, he was grateful.
He landed by Nino, and got his attention.
Nino was about to greet him when he noticed the spots. "Uh..."
"Call me Misterchat." He opened up his baton and reached in. There it was. He handed Nino the Miraculous.
"What about Ladybug?"
"She had an emergency out of the country."
"Right. Wayzz, shell on. Marinette's parents went nuts."
"I don't blame them. Marinette's in the hospital, one of those three stabbed her before I could stop them," Misterchat said grimly.
"...Marinette is... oh now." Carapace took a deep breath. "Right. No wonder they've gone nuts. They want revenge."
"Right. I'm still trying to figure out what it is they're even doing..."
"I think they're making them experience all the pain they've dealt."
"I wonder if we could use that..." Misterchat mused.
"What? How?"
"Get someone who's caused harmed in their way... look, every time they touch someone, they're frozen in place until the pain is dealt, and only then can they move on."
"Right... Lila and Chloe!" Nino pointed to where the two were hiding behind the same bit of wall, along with some of his other classmates. "We were going to have a class picnic but we were still waiting on Marinette and a few of our other classmates."
"Ah, perfect." Misterchat looked at them, considering. Then he shook his head. "Lucky charm." He stared at the rope and looked up, quickly spotting what he needed.
"Okay, straightforward. Lure them right for Lila and Chloe, you collect anyone else over there and get ready to protect them with shelter.. I'm going to use this rope to tie them together. there's a good chance they might fall in the direction the others is, which is why I need you to protect them."
"Alright! Sounds like a plan."
They jumped into the fight, getting the attention of Karma and Vengeance immediately.
Misterchat ignored the accusations sent his way.
He ended up right next to Lila and Chloe. He ducked away and smirked. Perfect.
Carapace started getting everyone in a group.
Misterchat dashed around the duo, tying them together.
Chloe staggered back, eyes wide when her punishment was done. She was crying.
Carapace grabbed her and dragged her over to the group.
Lila seemed unaffected, but it was still going. Longer than anyone else.
Misterchat hoped she was suffering.
Karma tried to move, but being tied to Vengeance he could not.
Misterchat took the opportunity to try to figure out where the akuma was.
He finally spotted a bit of cloth tied to their arms, that reminded him of something Marinette might have made.
Naturally, that was when Lila stumbled free, not crying, but clearly shaken.
Karma yanked Venegance with him in his attempt to get free.
They toppled over.
"Shelter!" Carapace protected his group.
Misterbug was quick to tear the cloth and catch the akuma.
He watched the ladybugs swarm the sky and wished he could do something like that for Marinette.
He turned to Sabine and Tom, sobbing in the streets together.
He knelt down. "Hey, Marinette wouldn't want you to be akumatized for her... I'm sure it would mean a lot more to her if you were with her in the hospital. That way you know what's happening, and can make any decisions she needs, okay?"
"You're right, of course," Tom whispered, standing and helping his wife up. "I just got so mad after I got the call from the police about why they hurt her..."
"Me too," Sabine admitted.
Misterchat nodded. "I don't blame you. I wanted to deal more than bruises myself."
"We're almost to the hospital, we'll go now... she needs us."
Misterchat nodded, watching them go.
Alya almost pounced on him. "What happened to Marinette? And who exactly are you supposed to be?"
"Misterchat. Marinette was attacked by three men over a rumor she hurt their younger sister. It was bad."
"And why isn't Ladybug here?" Alya seemed less suspicious and more like she was testing him.
"Well, just before I heard Marinette screaming, Ladybug frantically informed me of a family emergency out of the country, and I had barely started sorting out her usual responsibilities when the akuma alert went off."
Alya narrowed her eyes.
Beeping distracted Chat Noir. "Oop, gotta go. We can catch up some other time, I need to find a replacement for Ladybug."
He met up with Nino.
"Dude, you're going to detransform."
"I don't care. I need someone who understands."
"Why me?"
The transformation faded away.
Adrien automatically gave the kwamis their snack, tears coming to his eyes.
He rubbed his eyes, trying not to let those tears fall. "Marinette was dying in my arms, Nino, I can't deal with that alone, only the kwamis know otherwise. I need someone who knows that I was the one that tried to stop the bleeding, that took those idiots out, that told her parents and I..."
"Dude..." Nino hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry, that's so rough. I'll keep your secret. No one will know that it's you. Promise. Are you going to visit Marinette?"
"As Chat Noir and myself. I just need to figure out who's going to be Ladybug."
"Not Scarabella?"
"I don't know who Scarabella is and Ladybug told me to pick someone I trust. I have to be careful."
"Right. Well, I wish you luck. If you need anything, especially with your father..."
Adrien groaned. "Right... my father... Well... at least the kwamis can stay where they are. I just need to check on them daily, I think. Still working that out. Ladybug didn't have time to chat because apparently her flight out was in just two hours and she still needed to pack."
"Oof, well I hope her emergency works out okay, until then, call on me whenever you need me. I got your back."
Adrien smiled. "Of course. I will. I better get going. Have fun explaining where you went." He transformed into Chat Noir and returned the Turtle Miraculous to his baton before disappearing.
Nino cursed. He did not have an explanation although... he had been separated from them early on, maybe he could say he heard what they were saying about Marinette and it took him a while to pull himself together... that should be believable.
.
Chat Noir finished going over everything he needed to know about taking care of the kwamis and other guardian duties.
Turned out that Marinette, being injured and temporarily out of commission, turned control of the box over to him, which meant that he was actually the temporary guardian.
Which was a terrifying thought. At least the failsafe didn't make Marinette lose her memories at all.
The door burst open.
Alya stopped. "She did tell you!"
"She didn't have a choice." Chat Noir sighed. "So, she told you?"
"Of course she told me. She needed someone to help her out when she got overwhelmed!"
"I suppose you have the Fox miraculous again?" He had noticed that Trixx was missing though he hadn't brought it up with the kwamis.
"I-uh-"
"Thought so." Chat Noir nodded. He wasn't as hurt by this knowledge as he might have been before Marinette got hurt, but it still hurt. Marinette was making so many choices that were the right ones from her point of view but only seemed like a lack of trust from his.
Suddenly having her responsibility put it all in perspective.
But at the same time, knowing that Alya thought that Marinette was exaggerating about the lies Lila was telling, that Alya must have been downplaying the harm it was doing... Chat Noir didn't trust Alya.
"Um, so I'm Scarabella."
"Makes sense."
"Can I have the earrings?"
Chat Noir had not taken them off yet.
"No. She said to give them to someone I trust and I don't trust you."
"Who do you trust with them?"
"I don't know. It's not even been two hours. Let me breathe."
"Fine. You better not screw this up."
"As if I would do anything to make Ladybug or Marinette mad at me. You don't know me."
Alya scoffed. "What is your problem? Why don't you trust me?"
"My problem?" Chat Noir laughed darkly. "Those rumors you've been dismissing? That Marinette has been telling me about for weeks? That's why she got hurt. You chose to believe she was exaggerating, that it wasn't that bad, rather than really listening to her. And even if they weren't that bad, they were hurting Marinette, and you chose to dismiss instead of comfort. No, I'm not going to trust you when you can treat your own friend like that."
Alya gaped at him. "But she always assumes things will go worse than it does and-"
"So? That doesn't mean she's always exaggerating." Chat Noir shook his head. "If you can check on the kwamis during the day, that would be great, it'll be easiest for me to check on them at night and I don't want to leave them alone all day."
"I can do that."
"Good."
Chat Noir left.
He found a place to detransform.
"Is there anything I can do? Should I be Misterbug and have someone else be Chat Noir? I don't want to put this responsibility on Nino..."
Plagg sighed. "Your connection to the box is through Chat Noir, so you can't be Misterbug."
Adrien groaned. "Great, who do I trust with you, Tikki?"
Tikki was quiet for a bit. "You don't really know many people, do you?"
"No, I don't. There's my classmates, Kagami, Luka, Marc, and Zoe, and not really any others, and I certainly would not trust any adults." He considered it. "Luka or Kagami... I could see either of them handling it..." He relaxed. He definitely could trust one of them. He just needed to decide which one.
"You have a little time, Shadowmoth rarely does more than one akuma in a day. You should go visit Marinette as Chat Noir, see if she's okay. Then you need an excuse to visit as yourself."
"Good plan, thank you both." Adrien transformed and set off for the hospital, thinking over the dilemma of who would be Ladybug for the duration. He couldn't spend the whole time as Misterchat. Doing both jobs was terrifying.
He arrived at the hospital. He found the waiting room Marinette's parents were in.
"She's in surgery, they think she'll survive."
Chat Noir let out a breath. "Really? It was really bad."
"It was, there have been a few flatlines, but they were able to bring her back each time. It will be a long recovery, but... if she doesn't die by morning, her chances go up drastically."
Chat Noir nodded, sinking into a chair. "I don't think I can go home right now," he admitted. "I can't stop thinking about all the blood, and the gurney and..."
"Stay as long as you need. You have always been a good friend to her."
Chat Noir smiled. "Thank you."
.
Adrien came to the hospital the next day after school, still debating on if Luka or Kagami was the better choice for Ladybug. He was just grateful an akuma didn't force him to go with whichever was most available.
Her mother was sitting with her, and her dad had gone home.
Adrien sat down and took Marinette's hand. He felt tears rolling down his face as he remembered what losing his mom felt like. He didn't want to lose Marinette either.
She was likely to live, but she hadn't woken yet, and the longer she stayed unconscious, the lower her chances were of ever waking up.
Adrien waited until Sabine left to give him some privacy.
"Marinette.. please... don't go where I can't follow. Out of all the people in my life, I can't lose you. You mean the world to me, as Ladybug and yourself, and I can't lose you both at the same time. Please, don't go where I can't follow." He leaned over her body and cried. "I think I'm falling in love with you."
Marinette stirred. "Adrien?"
"Oh my gosh. Mari!" He pressed the nurse button.
"Wha... everything's fuzzy..."
"Just rest, okay, a nurse will be in here soon. Marinette's waking up," he added to the query about why he had pressed the button.
The nurse said they'd be there shortly and hung up.
"Oh... hurts."
"I know."
"Adrien? Why're you here?"
"Because you're one of my best friends, I... I don't want to lose you, Mari."
"Oh."
"Quick question before the nurse arrives. Who would you choose to be Ladybug, Kagami or Luka?"
"...Luka."
"Alright."
A nurse arrived, followed by Sabine. Sabine looked hopeful.
Adrien smiled at them. "I do need to go now." He leaned over and kissed Marinette's cheek. "I'll see you soon, Mari." He stood and left.
If Marinette were more aware, she would have blushed at the kiss.
Of course, if she were more aware, she would have freaked out about Adrien asking her that question about who would be Ladybug.
.
Chat Noir landed in front of Luka.
"Chat Noir? Is there an akuma?"
"No, I actually have a favor to ask." Chat Noir held out the earrings. "Ladybug asked me to choose a partner in someone I trust while she deals with an emergency. I decided I trust you more than anybody right now. I mean, I do trust others, but they're not the right choice or they're busy or there's other reasons, you know?"
Luka smiled. "I think I do." He put the earrings in and greeted Tikki. "Thank you for trusting me."
"You're welcome. Any questions?"
"How do you want to do patrols? How long do you think this will have to be a thing?"
"I don't know." Chat Noir admitted. "Ladybug didn't give me any idea how long this emergency would take to resolve."
"Right. I'll be ready to give the earrings back when she is ready. At least now I get to try a new look. Been meaning to decide on if I want to pierce my ears or not."
Chat Noir laughed. "Well that is one way to figure out if they look good."
Luka smiled. "Good to see you laughing. I heard you were the one with Marinette..."
Chat Noir slumped. "I was," he admitted, looking away. "I heard her screaming. I was too late. Could have lost her. One of the brightest people in my life, one of the few people that make me laugh so easily, and I almost lost her. I couldn't stop the bleeding and then she wanted me to lay with her, and I gave in because shoving something in the wound and tying it there wouldn't do much worse than me."
Luka put a hand on his shoulder. "If you need to talk about it, I'm always willing to listen, okay?"
Chat Noir smiled. "Thank you. That means a lot. There's a reason I trust you."
"I know. I just wanted to be sure."
Chat Noir nodded.
.
Weeks later, as Marinette slowly recovered, Adrien was still having that recurring nightmare, waking up sobbing "Don't go where I can't follow, Mari."