Chapter Text
Prologue
Marinette watched as she saw her partner in the distance. It was near the end of patrol and as usual they met up to share anything of interest. Chat Noir had spotted her easily and hurried to her side. He leaned forward, bending to eye level with her. He had that smirk on his face that told her that he was about to begin flirting with her. She placed her hands on her hips and smiled at him. "Have a good patrol I assume."
"Only because I got to see your pretty face, my lady," he stated, that smirk was ever present.
She pointed to her mask. "My face is half covered by a mask," she reminded him.
He shrugged. "Even so, I know you're very beautiful, and knowing I get to see you, brings me great pleasure."
She began to laugh. "So I take it that patrol was boring."
He stood up right, and looked down at her. A little bit of his smile was gone, but she could still sense his playful mood. "Yeah, it was pretty boring."
"Yeah, nothing to report on my end either," she stated. She stretched and took in the fresh spring air. It was very warm out and was almost summer break. It was Marinette's favorite time of year to do patrol's. "Lovely night, don't you think?"
She stole a glance at him and found him looking out over the city, a calm expression was on his face in between him stealing glances at her. "Hey, Ladybug."
Calling her by her full hero name caught her by surprise. He never used it really. He always referred to her as 'his lady'. She tilted her head as she looked at him. What was going on? Did something happen, or did he see something.
"What is it, Chat?"
He turned to face her, and she realized how nervous he seemed. "I...I've been wanting to say something to you for a while now."
Her heart raced and her eyes went wide. She had been dreading this day for so long. The day he'd confess or ask her out. She had been avoiding it for so long. She didn't want to hurt him, but the fact of the matter was, she didn't love him. She loved her classmate, Adrien. "Chat, my powers running out," she lied, covering her earring with her fingers.
He wasn't convinced. In fact, he seemed to know that she was lying. He took a step towards her. "Lady...that's not true." He was frowning and she admitted that he looked pretty hurt. "Why are you lying?"
She looked down in shame, though her heart still raced in her chest. "Because I know what you’re going to say."
"How could you?" he asked, though his voice was louder now.
Marinette let go of her earring and her hand fell back down to her side. She had no idea what she was supposed to say, or how to answer him. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to calm herself. If she was just herself, she'd be having a panic attack by now.
"How is it you know?" he was very loud now, almost yelling. "I haven't told anyone!"
"Everyone knows," she explained.
"Those are rumours," he yelled. "Yeah, they're true, but I never verbalized it to anyone but Plagg. How it is you know I'm in love with you?"
She dreaded hearing those words. More than she realized she would. They stung and she felt a heavy weight hit her. She knew, but hearing it from him was something else entirely.
"Your sacrifices," she answered. "Always taking blow's for me. The flirting. What you've told people about us." He said no words, and he stood there in silence for what felt like forever. He looked at her with such sad eyes. She knew she had hurt him, but she knew this was unavoidable. "You're my friend, my partner. I trust you above all else. I can’t do this without you."
"But...I love you," he told her. His face was stone serious, and held no emotion in it, though his voice did. It was shaky and full of emotion. Hurt, regret, sadness, maybe a little anger. "What's wrong with me?"
She felt hurt and regret of her own. "There is nothing wrong with you," she stated. "I just don't feel that way about you."
His hands were on either side of her shoulders now and she could see all the emotion he felt on his face now. And it was soul crushing. "Why though?"
She knew he needed answers, and she knew they needed to end this conversation. She had to tell him exactly why she was rejecting him. "I'm in love with someone else. Much longer than I've even known you."
She felt his grip tighten on either side of her shoulders and she tried to be strong, but she felt her entire body shake. Perhaps he didn't notice, because he was shaking too. She needed to be free of this situation. She couldn't help it if she was in love with someone else. She couldn't just will herself to fall in love with someone else. It didn't work that way. "Chat, I'm sorry. We're friends, and that's all."
He slowly nodded, but his gaze fell and he looked down at his feet. His arms fell down to his sidse. She tried to give him a friendly smile. "You know, I even consider you a best friend. You know things about me no one else does."
It didn't seem to help. Her heart sank. He took a step back from her and looked away. "Stop lying," he said. It was like poison to her. It hurt and that hurt moved through to every fibre of her being.
"I'm not lying," she protested. "I do care about you, I'm just not in love with you."
She couldn't have predicted that he would suddenly turn and run. He leapt away, jumping from roof top to roof top, leaving Marinette alone, still shaking. That was even worse than her worst nightmare. She could hear her earring begin to beep. She had three dots left. She didn't care. She could have run out of dots and untransformed and be stuck on this roof and she still wouldn't care. Tears fell down her cheeks. "Chat...I'm so sorry."
8 8 8
How could he have been so stupid? How could he actually believe for a second that the woman of his dreams could love him? The woman who haunted all of his dreams, thoughts and hopes. He jumped into an alley and when he did he untransformed. Plagg appeared beside him and jumped to his side.
"You could have handled that better," Plagg told him. "It’s not like she said she hated you. She said you were important to her."
Adrien covered his face with his hands, and a new wave of emotions were falling over him. Plagg took a seat on his shoulder and shook his head. "Listen, Adrien..."
The kwami stopped when he saw a black butterfly approaching them. Plagg flew off of Adrien's shoulder and turned to the teenager. "No! Adrien! Snap out of it!"
It was too late, the butterfly attached itself to Adrien. A pink outline of a butterfly surrounded his face. With quick thinking, Plagg moved to Adrien's right hand and snatched the ring off of his finger. Plagg had to get the miraculous away from Adrien. He couldn't stop this from happening. The kwami took off into the darkness.
While in a trance, Adrien's head was filled with Hawkmoth's thoughts.
'She rejected you? That's awful! You've been nothing but a great partner to her, and for what? For her to fall in love with somebody else?'
The words crushed Adrien, and only made him angrier. Adrien's eyes narrowed. "I'm better than them! I know I am!"
'It’s a disgrace! Give up your identity as Chat Noir! Become Chat Blanc, and get me the miraculous stones! In return, I'll help you crush ladybug and those she loves!’
A sickening grin fell over Adrien's lips. "It’s a deal."
8 8 8
Marinette had returned home, and fell onto her bed. She untransformed at that very moment, and Tikki looked at Marinette sadly. Marinette seemed to stare at the wall behind Tikki. Tikki floated down to the bed and landed on the comforter next to Marinette. "I messed up, Tikki."
"You didn't mess up," Tikki replied. "You were just honest."
"He's so angry with me," Marinette stated. She curled up into a ball and hugged her legs to her body. "I feel awful."
Tikki was about to open her mouth to say something of comfort, but her eyes looked up to the open window to Marinette's balcony. She let out a gasp that drew Marinette's attention. The teenager sat up and looked at the window, expecting to see someone. She saw no one. Then something dropped in and fell to Marinette's bed. She jumped in surprise, but then she realized that it was a little creature that looked like a black kitten. In its paw's was a silver ring.
"Plagg!" Tikki cried. Tikki was at the creature’s side and turned him to his side. He was shaking.
"What is that?" Marinette asked.
The creature looked hurt, though Marinette could see no wounds. Tikki looked at Marinette with worried eyes. "This is Plagg, this is Chat Noir's kwami."
Marinette's eyes went wide and her gaze shot up to the open window, fully expecting to see a strange teenage boy's face looking in at her. There was nothing. She looked back at Tikki who looked to be on the verge of tears. "Why do you have the Miraculous?" Tikki asked Plagg.
Marinette noticed right away the ring that Plagg was clutching into like his life depended on it. Marinette gasped. "What happened to him?"
Marinette was imagining his body, bloody and mangled. She had the worst images going through her head. "Tikki," he stated, his voice made it clear that he was in a lot of pain. "Hawkmoth...Chat Noir…possessed."
It took a moment for the words to fall over Marinette and a moment longer for her to understand. An Akuma had possessed him. Her rejection had made him so angry that he let himself be possessed. Plagg must have stolen the ring in an attempt to keep the miraculous safe. The kwami's must have known how to track each other all along. Marinette looked to Tikki for the information she needed.
"Did he see you, Plagg?" Tikki asked.
He winced but shook his head. "No, he wasn't transformed yet...and he wasn't listening to me at all."
"What do I do?" Marinette asked. "How do I stop him?"
"You...can't!" Plagg exclaimed.
Tikki looked at Marinette with sad eyes. "Ladybug and Chat Noir are very much so living ying yang's. With Chat Noir....literally gone for now, Ladybug is unbalanced. If you tried to approach him...he'd kill you. Ladybug needs Chat Noir, just as much as he needs her."
"Well, had this happened before?" Marinette asked.
Tikki nodded. "Yes...many times."
Plagg forced himself up to sit up and looked at Marinette. "Most recently," he winced again, but he continued. "He went on a killing spree." He cried out in pain and so Tikki continued for Plagg.
"The last Chat Noir became a serial killer, one the human's named Jack-the-ripper," Tikki said flatly. "He didn't stop until Ladybug was dead. Plagg and I barely got out of there." Marinette's eyes went wide and she gasped.
"What happened?"
Tikki looked down with a sad expression on her face. "Every Chat Noir has fallen for Ladybug at some point or another. The strength of their feelings varied. Sometimes it was mutual, sometimes it wasn't. This time, it was. Ladybug really cared for Chat Noir, but Ladybug, was a prostitute and Chat Noir was a very wealthy doctor. He...went crazy and rejected her when he found out who and what she was. He came back and hunted down her friends, and then killed her. Afterwards, he threw himself into the river."
"What can we do then!?" Marinette cried. "He's angry and possessed by an Akuma! And he's likely coming after me and the stones!"
"There is nothing we can do," Tikki replied, a defeated look fell across her face.
"That's not true," Plagg whimpered. "I'm still connected to him. I'm feeling every emotion and feeling he has. Tikki can feel yours too." Plagg tried to sit up again and grasp the ring protectively. "The last Chat Noir was different. His love for Ladybug was superficial, not real. I could feel that. This one, this Chat Noir is pure. He still loves you, I can feel that. You can help him, but only as you."
"What do you mean?" Tikki asked Plagg.
"What can I do what Ladybug can't?" Marinette asked.
Plagg looked at Marinette. "He's too angry at Ladybug for her to even get close to him, but," Plagg pointed to a photo on Marinette's wall of Adrien Agreste, that Marinette had drawn little hearts on. "You love him. You know him, you can get close to him as yourself."
Marinette stared at the professional photo of Adrien on the wall. She felt confusion as Plagg told her that getting close to Adrien would somehow save Chat Noir. "How is that going to...?” Marinette trailed off as her eyes went wide and then she cried out. "It's him!?"
Tikki seemed a little surprised. "Plagg, we agreed we wouldn't snoop and find out who the other's hero was!"
Though still in pain, Plagg chuckled. "Curiosity and cat's, you know the drill."
"So you're telling me, the guy I've been madly in love with...is actually...the insanely flirty Chat Noir...whose been trying to win my heart for the last two years...who not even an hour ago I rejected."
Plagg nodded and Marinette fell silent, feeling even worse about how she had treated her partner on that roof. "Marinette," Plagg stated, trying to get her attention. "You can save him, as yourself. Adrien is a helpless romantic. I can feel that while he is possessed, he is also very conflicted. You can use both these facts to maybe...just maybe break whatever is possessed, that will give you time to transform and purify the Akuma. In order to pull that off you will need to reveal yourself to him and anyone else who might be around. Can you do that?"
Tikki looked at Marinette. "You're only going to have one chance at this, Marinette. It sounds very dangerous. Will you try?"
Marinette hung her shoulders and frowned. She had no choice. It was either she tried and somehow managed to save him. Or tried and died a horrible death. And then there was her ignoring this completely. Marinette didn't want to think about what would happen to Paris if she just ignored this. All the innocent people. She couldn't forgive herself.
She continued to frown, but she nodded at Plagg and Tikki. "I'll do it. Not for myself, but I'll do it for him, and the sake of Paris."