Chapter Text
“I think someone is trying to kill me.”
“When is someone not?” Chat Noir chuckled. He leaned his back against a support beam of the Eiffel Tower as the two heroes watched dutifully over their home and city.
“I’m serious, Chat,” Ladybug said from his place with legs dangling over the edge, nearly three hundred meters above the ground.
“Everything is a joke to you, isn’t it?” Ladybug continued with a snap. “This is why I don’t tell you anything.” He pulled one spotted leg up to his chest in a way of awkwardness and gained some comfort in being a smaller target. His shoulders hunched around himself, red and black fabric rippled over tense muscles that had only become knotted more and more in the recent past. Art school was hard enough, but with being a hero on top of that came huge amounts of stress. Then add the near constant threatening presence in Marin’s life, it was starting to become obvious how little he slept.
“Bug.” Chat Noir scooted across their small platform to sit next to his partner. “I’ll be serious now. Promise. Tell me what’s going on?” His leather tail had fallen flat beside him. It and his flickering ears were always a give away to what the cat was feeling, which now lay against his blond head.
Ladybug looked across at him, sad and tired eyes scanning Chat’s features. He let out a tiny sigh.
“There have been...people who attack me as I walk home after our patrols some nights.” Once he started it all seemed to come out easier than he’d imaged. “Or after akuma attacks. Sometimes they just watch me, that’s the worst part because I get all on edge, I’d rather if they tried to shoot me again because then I’d have something to really worry about instead of letting my imagination get the better of me and--!”
Chat’s arms were wrapped tightly around Ladybug with his blond head buried into the red suit. He was shaking slightly.
“Chat?” Ladybug asked softly, untangling his own arms to hug the big cat back.
“Chat, I’m okay. I can look after myself, you know that.”
“How long, Bug?” came the strangled voice that Ladybug could only guess was filled with worry and guilt.
“Only a couple...” he started to reply but thought better of the white lie. Chat always deserved the truth from his partner. “Four months. It started back in November.”
Chat Noir’s arms tightened around Ladybug. “Don’t you dare not tell me anything ever again, you got that?”
Before Marin could reply Chat Noir’s head flew up and their eyes locked. Chat had tears pooling along the mask’s rims under his eyes. “Someone tried to shoot you?!”
“Kitty, calm down. I’m okay and I’ve stayed safe.” Ladybug sighed again. “You’re so emotional, Kitty Cat.” He let a hand glide through Chat Noir’s hair in soft strokes. The blond glared lightly at Ladybug but didn’t stop him, only melting into his touch.
This was a secret the two shared, the side effects of long term Miraculous wielding. The traits they gained had snuck up on them and they’d only had each other to confide in at the time. Only had the other as an outlet.
Ladybug rubbed at Chat’s scalp with his finger tips and after a few long moments the cat was lost in a series of purrs, his worries soon forgotten for at least the moment. Marin knew he wouldn’t get away with it for long, the instant he stopped petting the cat he would have to explain everything. However this was the easiest way to calm his friend when he got worked up and upset, and Marin hated seeing Chat Noir in so much pain even if he never said as such.
“I don’t know much else,” Ladybug said after a long time of petting and scratches. The cat lay his head on Ladybug’s lap as the last of the purrs vibrated under the kind of hug that Marin offered. “It’s every couple of days. Fights or someone following me. They don’t want my Miraculous so I don’t really know what they want from me. But don’t worry, okay? I’ve got my friend to patch me up and she’s awesome and keeping me safe. I’d almost say she’s as good as us, Kitty.” He gave his blond friend a huge smile.
“I will worry, Bug,” Chat Noir said as he sat up, their shoulders touched as they looked across as each other. “Almost isn’t good enough.”
“Well she is what I have and I can live with that.”
“What if you don’t live with that? They seem really dangerous! They might shoot you again or something worse. Let me help.”
Marin stilled beneath his mask. “Not happening, Kitty. Sorry.”
“Why not? I can walk you close to your home, make sure that you have back up. Be there for you!”
“Because they’re not just following me as Ladybug.”
Chat Noir’s eyes were suddenly wide and filled with absolute horror. Without their armoured suits they were still abnormally strong, however that did nothing against a knife or gun.
“That’s more of a reason to let me help you!”
“No, it’s really not, Chat.”
“Really? Because I have to wonder what would happen if Paris couldn’t be cured! What if you got hurt or killed and...and... Ladybug I couldn’t do this without you. You’re my best friend and I can’t just sit by and let you put yourself in danger like that!”
“That’s not going to happen,” Marin said, but his words were quiet and he could feel the doubt rising up. His shoulders dropped slightly.
“That’s not going to happen because you’re going to let me help you,” the cat said and slipped a hand to Ladybug’s shoulder.
The blunette boy swallowed back some fear. He wasn’t going to deny he was scared, there was no point when he wore his heart on his sleeve so obviously for everyone to see. But in the very least he could be brave.
“You can walk me close to home,” he said softly. “I’m not telling you who I am. No, I’m not putting you in danger too,” he quickly added when Chat Noir started speaking.
The blond nodded sullenly.
“And you have to trust me that I can look after myself. I have A, she’s amazing. You two are everything to me. Trust her please?” Chat gave another sad nod.
“You have to call me if anything happens, in or out-- I should give you my number.”
“Chat, that’s not what I meant at all,” Ladybug said while he watched Chat Noir called to his kwami and request access to the pocket that held his phone. He was ignoring Ladybug to look through the phone for his own number.
“It’s my private line, there’s no voice mail. No one can look it up anyway, even if you have the number. Perfectly safe. Then you can call me whenever you or someone around you needs backup. I wont question who’s there, I’ll just protect them. No identities, okay?”
There was a long pause silence, Ladybug weighing up the risks to the idea. He nodded slowly a few times and retrieved his own phone to save the number.
“Thank you, Kitty.”