Lord help me, I wrote more! I have two other fics I am supposed to be working on! T_T This just won't leave me alone, the Plotbunnies have me cornered. I was rereading the ending of the first part and I knew I was tired, but maaaan that was terrible writing. I am glad so many people like it, but I had a lot more I wanted to do with the scene where they 'meet' for the first time. So this one will start out with the new version, kinda like a flashback. So if it seems like I am repeating myself a little, thats why. ^_^;

Also, this will definitely be a multi-part fic, but not a crazy long one I think. At least five chapters but not much more than that. And I am a die-hard romantic, so I am going to try to make it a happy ending but this AU will make that hard to pull off. But enough of my rambling, Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or any of the characters related to it. I am just borrowing them to play with.

(Once again I credit eliasraine and imagine-miraculousladybug for the Ghost AU behind this!)

A Chat's Shadow part 2

Adrien still isn't sure why she caught his eye, but he drifted closer curiously. Her tongue poked out of the side of her mouth cutely as she scribbled franticly, still not watching where she was going. He tried to peek over her shoulder and only caught a glimpse of an impressive design for a derby hat before he saw the truck heading right towards her.

"WATCH OUT!" He screamed instinctively, trying to push her out of the way but his hands passed right through her. But to his shock and surprise, she jumped, almost like she had actually heard him! She looked over her shoulder frantically, and her eyes went wide with terror when she saw the truck. He jumped at her, passing right through her again as she tried to jump back, but it was too late. The corner of the truck caught her side, sending her crashing to the ground with a jarring thud.

He cursed under his breath, rushing over to her prone form as the truck screeched to a halt and the driver tumbled out, his face white with horror. Adrien bit his lip as he tried to see if she was alright and cursed again when his hands passed right through her. Crouching down next to her, he bent his head, trying to see if she was at least breathing.

A soft groan reached his ears caused him to go limp with relief and he sat down on the ground next to her with a sigh as the truck driver frantically dialed a number on his phone. She had reacted to his warning, he was sure of it. What that meant, he had no clue. But he was not going to leave her side any time soon.

It had been three days since he had met her, Marinette. He had learned her name when she had been checked into the hospital. Her parents had been yelling it when they rushed into the lobby. It made him happy to see that her parent's cared about her, but it also made him sad when he remembered the sorry state his own parents were in.

Speaking of her parents, here they came. He followed them through the doors, snickering at the looks the massive baker was getting as he smiled gently at the receptionist. The first day they had never left her side, sleeping in her room and everything. Adrien had hovered outside, not wanting to intrude even if they couldn't see him. Then she had woken up the next morning, and smiled at them and he had felt something squeeze in his chest. She had a beautiful smile, open, honest and loving.

Tom and Sabine, he had found out their names by following them home to make sure they made it there safely that day. The bakery that Tom managed was well known and very popular. People had been in for the rest of the night, giving them help and fruit and flowers. He had left after only an hour because he couldn't stand to be away from her for that long.

Once he got back to the hospital and slipped inside, he had found her talking to her nurse. He had never been so glad that hospital's were in the gray area that he could go into. She had been laughing, her blue eyes bright with her smile. His nonexistent heart seemed to pound in his chest and he had to slip out of the room, struggling to breath even if he didn't actually need to.

He leaned against the wall, watching her parents go into her room, a smile curving his lips for the first time in years. A whispered conversation caught his ear and he looked up to see three doctors talking down the hall. One of them glanced over his shoulder towards Marinette's room and Adrien straitened, curious. He drifted closer, trying not to get too close and scare them off.

"How is this possible? She got hit by a massive truck! There were several witnesses!" One of the younger male doctors exclaimed in shock, and the other two hushed him quickly.

"I do not know, alright? But she is perfectly fine, no signs of head injury, a couple of stitches in one eyebrow, a few slightly fractured ribs and a twisted ankle. She has to be the luckiest girl I have ever met. She can be released tomorrow. I have already told her parents." The lady Doctor stated and Adrien sighed with relief.

He drifted back to her room and peeked through the door. The nurse was gone now, along with her parents and Marinette was laying back on her bed, staring out the window with a far off look in her eyes. He drifted to the chair next to her and gingerly sat down, watching her. He was oddly nervous. He cleared his throat and she jerked upright, scanning the room uneasily.

"Um, Hi?" He croaked and promptly smacked his forehead. I am such an idiot! She swallowed hard, those bright eyes still searching the room.

"I asked the Doctor, she said I did not hit my head, so why am I hearing that voice again?" She muttered, her voice shaking. He sagged in the chair, torn between relief that she actually could hear him and disappointment that she thought he was a figment of her imagination.

"Sorry, I'll leave you alone for now. Maybe we can talk later." He whispered and she jumped again, pulling her pillow over her head and muttering to herself.

"I am not insane, right, Tikki? It is perfectly normal to hear voices. Nothing strange at all." He sighed and floated back out of the room. Well, now he was sure of it. She could hear him. The question was why? He floated up to the roof and sat down on the edge, looking up at the large moon above him. Why her, and why now?

Luckily enough, his got his answer the next morning. Marinette was limping her way out the door with Sabine when something exploded in the back of the hospital.

"IMAGINING my symptoms AM I?! Why don't you see how I FEEL?!" A voice shrieked and to his surprise, he heard Marinette groan in exasperation. A crowd of people rushed past and Marinette ducked to one side, getting separated from her mother instantly. Sabine called her franticly, trying to fight through the crowd before pausing with an oddly resigned look on her face. Adrien had drifted close enough in his confusion to hear her whisper "Be careful." under her breath. Even more confused, he watched as she reluctantly turned and headed for the exit, gently urging people to calm down and get outside.

He hesitated for a moment before rushing off after Marinette. It thankfully wasn't too hard to follow her trail but just as he passed through the wall into the room where she was hiding he heard her yell.

"Tikki, Spots on!" A flash of light nearly blinded him and he squinted through the glare. What he saw made his throat close up in shock. Ladybug, the superhero he had heard about for the last month, was standing in the empty room. Gaping at her, he nearly forgot to follow when she raced out of the room, not a trace of her earlier limp in her confident stride.

She skidded around the corner ahead of him and he hurried to catch up, still trying to wrap his brain around what he had seen.

"Ladybug!, so you have finally arrived! Give me your Miraculous!" He rushed through the wall and found himself in the middle of a battlefield. Ladybug stood on one side, crouched behind a piece of rubble. On the other side was an older woman dressed as a doctor with a white mask over her face. She held a doctor bag and was shooting syringes out of it at Ladybug, laughing as she dodged from one pile of rubble to another.

Ladybug finally got close enough to jump at her, and didn't see the woman swing her bag at her from the side.

"Look out!" Ladybug twisted in surprise at his voice and the bag hit her square in the face. He winced at the sound, floating forward to where she had landed.

"Sorry, I was trying to worn you." He murmured and she flinched again.

"I really don't need this right now! In my head or not, Shut Up!" He jerked back at her frustrated tone and watched as she lurched to her feet, leaping back into battle. He hovered to the side, flinching when she got hit again, and trying not to call out to her. But she was not doing well, the woman was oddly nimble for her apparent age. Ladybug barely dodged another rain of needles, skidding to a stop right next to a wall and looked up to see that she was cornered.

He lurched forward, wanting to do something, when movement below him caught his eye. Despite his worry, he looked down. An older oriental man was standing in the middle of the destruction, looking up. Looking straight at him. He froze, stunned, as the old man smiled at him.

"Do you want to help her?" He asked softly, his quiet voice somehow echoing in his ears despite the noise of the battle. He didn't even think before he answered, too worried about Marinette to hesitate.

"Yes!" The man smiled, and Adrien had a moment of Holy crap, he can hear me too! Then the man cocked his head to one side, turned slightly and threw something at him. He flinched, throwing up one arm in an pathetic attempt to block it, and time seemed to slow down. It was a silver ring, with a large face and band, clearly a male ring. It twisted through the air and he slowly lowered his arm, puzzled, before it went inside him. He felt it hit him.

And then, PAIN. His vision went dark as he sank like a rock to the ground, and oh Lord, It HURTS! He struggled to hold back the screams that tried to tear out of his throat, so confused about why he was actually feeling pain. For a long time he just drowned in agony.

Slowly the pain began to fade and he gasped in air, the motion purely instinctual. His breath caught as he realized he could feel his chest move with the breath. He opened his eyes, and nearly chocked in shock, the sensation of his throat closing strange and new.

He could see his hands! They didn't look like normal human hands, with skin and everything, but they were visible! He vaguely noticed that he could feel the rough cement under him, the wind ruffling his hair, and the air on his skin.

Slowly, he stood up, marveling at the sensation of movement. He stared at his arms, noticing that he wasn't quite solid, as if he was ash and smoke contained in a human shaped jar. Clenching his fists, he gasped as he felt the odd claws on his fingers dig into his skin a little. He looked around for the old man and saw him nimbly jumping over some rubble into the hospital, a pleased smirk curving his lips.

"Have fun, Chat Noir." He stated as he vanished into the shadows. Adrien gaped after him for a moment before a crash behind him reminded him of why he was now like this. Spinning on his heel, a part of him geeking out over the fact that he could even do that, he leapt into battle.

Ok, I am sorry I had to leave it there, but this chapter was already longer than I thought it would be and I wanted to update as soon as I could. There is still more coming, I promise, but I am finding it hard to keep up three fics at the same time. It might be more than a week before the next update, but I will do my best to get it to you as soon as possible! Let me know what you think! :)