Chapter Text
It was a dark and dreary night, one Marinette would come to regret. She, as the brave and heroic Ladybug, was fighting alongside Chat Noir against an akumatized civilian on inside of an abandoned, cluttered building filled with old, rotting items left behind and discarded by the many people in Paris. Marinette unfortunately only had minutes before she was going to transform again, having used her lucky charm to save some civilians from the akuma.
If Marinette had to guess, he was a metal smith. The akuma gave Magnetico the ability to bend and control metal and considering the vast amount of things made of metal, this was a challenge. Chat was fighting hand to hand against the villain, deciding to put away his metal staph and avoid losing his weapon.
Ladybug threw her yoyo towards Magnetico, hoping to trap him or at least distract him long enough for Chat to take his smithing hammer (where the akuma was hiding). Magnetico, however, blocked the yoyo with a sheet of scrapped metal, and kicked Chat Noir in the stomach, sending him flying. The yoyo bounced off, getting caught in one of the many heaps of junk left behind.
“Well isn’t this just great!” She muttered, struggling to retrieve her yoyo. Meanwhile, Cat Noir groaned falling unconscious.
“Take his miraculous while Ladybug’s distracted!” Magnetico heard a booming voice in his head.
“Gladly.” He grinned before beginning to smith a blade from the scraps of metal lying around. Marinette, seeing this, desperately tugged on her yoyo trying to free it from the rubble. There was no time.
It all happened so fast… The blade swinging towards Chat; Ladybug’s frantic running; the sword tearing through skin; the blood dripping painfully.
Chat Noir, having finally awoken, was confused. He a small pain on his arms, where his beloved Ladybug was digging her fingers in. “Ladybug?” He asked uncertain. “Can’t get your paws off me hmm?” He tried flirting, he knew Ladybug would retort with something witty but she didn’t. Instead she slowly looked up at him, and he saw pain in her eyes.
Ladybug just barely made it, she took the hit for Chat. She was leaning on top of him, holding him tightly. She was glad he was safe, she couldn’t bear to lose him. “Sorry Chat.” She said smiling.
“Good work Magnetico, now take their miraculous!” Magnetico smiled, withdrawing his forged blade from Ladybug earning a whispered yell, and prepared it for a second attack. Chat finally understood what had happened: his Lady protected him.
Ladybug forced herself to stand up, Chat followed her example. “Let me handle this.” He said.
“Distract him, I have to get my yoyo.” She said looking at her yoyo, still stuck in the rubble.
“No, you should sit down, you’re injured…” Ladybug simply smiled, before running towards the rubble. She wasn’t going to be useless. She started untangling the mess of the pile, hoping to release her weapon. She felt herself lose energy quickly, becoming weaker and weaker with each passing moment.
Chat Noir, deciding not to let his Lady down, attacked Magnetico who began to swing his metal blade around. Chat was furious, and no metal blade could contain his rage. “Cataclysm!” He yelled, launching himself towards Magnetico. Luckily, he scratched the hammer destroying it and releasing the akuma just as Ladybug rescued her yoyo.
“No more evil doing for you little akuma.” She started her usual chant, launching her yoyo at the akuma and trapping it. “Time to de-evilize.” She always found that funny, de-evilize was a hilarious word for her but today it wasn’t funny. “Bye bye little butterfly.” She whispered weakly as she released the beautiful white butterfly. “Miraculous Ladybug.” She threw her yoyo to the sky, letting it fix all of the damages done by Magnetico, but unfortunately not hers. She extended her fist towards Chat, maybe she could pass it off as a minor injury but she knew he wouldn’t believe her.
“Ladybug…” He started. Padybug sighed and dropped her fist, her body screaming in pain. She started to swerve a bit, losing her footing but she caught herself and leaned on the wall. Her miraculous beeped… She no longer had the energy to be Ladybug, and barely enough to be Marinette.
“Looks like I have to go Kitty.” She smiled softly. “I’ll see you around…” She started to weakly throw her yoyo, but was interrupted by Chat.
“I’m taking you to the hospital.” Ladybug’s eyes widened. “I know, your secret. I’m sorry but your life is worth more.” And with that he picked her up, not letting her argue. She tried to get off but she was too weak to resist. “You can trust me.”
“Where am I?” The no longer akumatized smith asked, finally waking up from his daze. Chat glared at him, akumatized or not he injured his sweetheart. Chat knew he couldn’t put the blame on the poor guy, but who else could he blame for this? He took his Ladybug away from there, and into an isolated place making sure no one but him would see her transform.
“Chat… Please…” His Lady implored, she hated being so weak and accepting Chat’s help would only make her feel worse. She didn’t want to bother him, but she knew Chat had a point.
“It’s ok Bugaboo, you can trust me.” He smiled softly. “There’s no one but me here. You can transform back, and I’ll take you to the hospital. Cat’s honor.” It was a good plan, and Ladybug knew that. She sighed and gave in.
“O…kay Chat.” She whispered, her eyes losing focus. “Just… Just don’t… Be too… Dis…a…ppointed.” She slurred. Her earrings beeped furiously, and she began to transform back into the awkward teenage girl she was whenever she wasn’t Ladybug. She took a deep, painful breath, closing her heavy eyes slowly.
“Stay awake princess.” He said, beginning to take her to the hospital worried as Marinette lost consciousness. Once close, he too transformed back… Making sure there would be no connections between him and Ladybug.
It was only after he rushed her inside the hospital, only after he saw the paramedics take her to the emergency room, and only after he could no longer do anything for her that he realized who Ladybug really was. “Marinette…” He whispered unable to believe his lady was one of his good friends. He hated this… He was so close to losing not one, but two of the people he cares about.