Ladybug was ready to lasso the akuma's foot, but the loud beep of a Miraculous broke her concentration. Her yo-yo missed its target and clanged on its way back to her hand. She frowned, annoyed.

"My lady…"

"Do what you have to do!" she said to her partner, spinning her weapon. "Go recharge! I have things under control!"

"I can stay a few more minutes," Chat Noir said.

"I can handle this. Just hurry. Go!" Her yo-yo lashed out once more. It missed again.

As she battled with Papillon's latest victim she caught sight of Chat Noir running into her school. She did her best to draw the akuma's attention away from the site, and prayed his kwami could eat quickly.

But the victim noticed anyway. A wide grin crept onto her face as she realized what must have been happening. She cackled.

Ladybug tried to knock her off balance again, but she didn't do it in time.

The next destructive beam of golden light collided directly with Collège Françoise Dupont.

The building crumbled.

Adrien wasn't sure what had happened.

He only knew that he was detransformed, and there was blood trickling down his face, and Ladybug was cradling him in her arms and carrying him out of the rubble and dust into the sunlight.

"What-" he croaked, but broke into a coughing fit as he got a lungful of dirt.

"The building collapsed," Ladybug said, and as his eyes focused he noticed a tear track on her somewhat grimy face. "It got hit with a blast from the akuma victim. I couldn't stop it."

The students and teachers of Collège Françoise Dupont came into view. Most looked unhurt, but shocked. Alya was standing and fidgeting anxiously, her phone pressed to her ear. Uncharacteristically, she barely even reacted to Ladybug's presence, though she gave a small smile when she saw Adrien.

Nino stepped forward when Ladybug and Adrien approached, looking relieved. "Adrien, man. You scared us."

"Is that everyone?" Kim asked.

"No," Alya and Ladybug said at the same time.

"Marinette's not here," Alya said, ending her call and frowning at her phone screen. "And she's not answering her phone."

"She probably hadn't gotten to school yet," Nino said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You know how she's late all the time. She's probably fine."

"I'm sure she is," Ladybug said, setting Adrien down on the ground as gently as she could. "Someone needs to get medical attention for um, this one. Immediately. He hit his head pretty hard from what I can tell." She looked back at the building, her brows furrowed. "Did any of you see Chat Noir before the collapse?"

"No," Rose said. "Why?"

Ladybug bit her lip. "Because he was in there." She kept her voice and face as steady as possible, her gaze fixed stoically on the ruined school building. But Adrien could hear the tremble she tried to hide.

He felt terrible for worrying her, but part of him was stunned that he could. His stomach twisted as he watched her stare hard at the wreckage.

Say something, you idiot, he thought. He swallowed hard. "You've both survived worse things, Ladybug. I'm sure he got away fine."

She looked at him with a weak smile. "I hope so."

There was a flash of light and a peal of maniacal laughter in the distance, and a hush fell over the students. The smile melted off Ladybug's face. She readied her yo-yo, muttering something.

"Take care!" she called to the students over her shoulder as she left to pursue the akuma.

After a few moments everyone was buzzing with conversation again. The teachers spoke in murmurs to each other. Nino was on the phone with the paramedics while Alya was dialing and redialing Marinette, looking more and more distressed.

Adrien waited until no one was paying attention, then snuck away, only staggering slightly from the pain of his head.

He was too late to help her, and his head was throbbing so badly that he wasn't sure how much help he would have been anyway, but it seemed that she had been doing fine on her own.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" she cried as the Lucky Charm spun out of sight and erupted into light. Chat Noir approached her from behind as as she watched the damage Papillon had caused disappear. Her shoulders slumped in relief, and she rubbed the back of her neck.
He put a hand on her shoulder. "Bien joué," he said with a grin, extending his fist for a bump.

Ladybug jumped and whirled around, surprise and exhaustion evident on her face. Chat cringed. Maybe she hadn't been doing as fine on her own as he had thought.

"Sorry, I -" He stopped, frowning. Were tears collecting in her eyes?

She pulled him into a crushing hug, her cheek pressed into his shoulder. Chat stiffened, then relaxed. He gingerly dared to hug her back.

She pulled away. "You got out of the school? I looked for you. I couldn't find you anywhere. I was worried."

He managed a crooked smile, hoping he hadn't turned as red under the mask as he felt. "Uh. Yeah, I did. Guess my luck's taking a turn for the better."

Ladybug nodded. She looked like she was about to say something, but her earring beeped. Her fingers jumped to her ear.

"Till next time, then, my lady," Chat said, gesturing.

"I'm glad you're safe, Chat Noir," she said. She smiled at him and ran.

Chat Noir watched her leave, a swarm of butterflies winging around in his stomach.

"I am. Thanks to you."

"I know she doesn't love me. I know. But she was worried about me, and she hugged me. She cares!"

"You've got it so bad," Plagg said, lounging on a wheel of Camembert. He yawned loudly.

"She cares, Plagg," Adrien said, laying on his back on the floor of his room, staring at the ceiling with a goofy grin, not caring that he's been repeating himself. The words just sounded so good when they were spoken aloud. "She cares."

Notes:

It so figures that I've been trying to finish a ladrien fic and the sequel to finally seeing you for the past month, and then I sit down and write this in two hours. It's not long but. Sigh.

Thanks for reading!

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