Akuma attacks during the night were rare but they tended to be more dangerous. Chat Noir wasn't sure what it was exactly, but there was something about the combination of the eerie darkness and ghostly pale moon that turned their usual crowd of villains into bloodthirsty monsters that were willing to kill in order to get their hands on the ever famous red ladybug earrings and black cat ring.

Tonight had been no exception. It had been tough taking down Hawk moth's latest victim, but as usual Ladybug had used her lucky charm to come up with a brilliant plan to capture their foe. Amongst all the chaos, Chat had lost sight of his partner, but within seconds the akuma was gone and all that remained was a very confused woman who had no idea what she was doing in the middle of Paris at midnight.

The job was done, and he waited on the roof of a nearby building, waiting patiently for his Lady to arrive. These little moments after the akuma attacks were always his favorites. The two of them would usually just sit and talk about the latest villain they had beaten, or just rest and enjoy the view of the city. He cherished those few minutes that he and Ladybug spent together before their transformation wore off.

From behind him, he heard the heavy thud of feet landing on the concrete roof, and he grinned. "It's about time you joined me, my lady. I was getting lonely without you. "

Nothing. The air filled with uncomfortable silence and Chat frowned. It wasn't like Ladybug to be so quiet, and it definitely wasn't like her to ignore his flirting.

"My Lady?" Chat turned around to face his partner and his trademark grin instantly vanished as soon as he saw the sight that greeted him.

Ladybug was slumped against the wall, breathing heavily, her hand clutching her chest upon where a large red spot was blooming rapidly. "I-I'm...fine..." She managed to choke out as she gritted her teeth in pain and slowly slid down the wall to a sitting position.

In an instant Chat was besides her, his hands gravitating towards the wound and gently pressing up against it to slow down the flow of blood. His green eyes flooded with worry and he was surprised to find himself blinking back tears. He hated seeing his Ladybug be in such great pain. "You're not fine, Ladybug." He told her in a soothing voice in an attempt to hide his fear and worry.

Ladybug rolled her eyes and tried to pry his hands off. "It's just a little scratch, kitty." She insisted, her voice cracking in the middle of the sentence. She placed her hands on the cold concrete ground and slowly pushed herself up. The pain was unbearable, it was as if her body was on fire. She gave Chat a weak smile and a thumbs up. "See, I'm fine."

Chat shook his head furiously. "Ladybug, you should rest, let me look at that wound for you." He tried to move closer to her was stopped by a small beeping sound.

Ladybug heard it too, it was her earrings. All the spots were gone and the transformation would wear off any minute. She grimaced slightly at the unexpected new development, but she knew she had no choice. No matter have much pain she was in, she had to get out of there before she turned back to Marinette. She couldn't let Chat see her. "I should get going now."

"Ladybug, no!" His voice was firm and the worry in his eyes was replaced was astonishment. His arm shot out forward and grabbed her shoulder. "I can't let you leave, not when you're like this!"

Ladybug shook his arm off and winced at the pain that small action caused her. The wound had stopped bleeding, and the fiery pain had been replaced with a dull numbing pain that was beginning to spread throughout all her body. "I need to go." She explained hastily as she tried not to panic. She could hear Tikki telling her that she couldn't hold on anymore, that she only had seconds before it wore off.

"Ladybug, wait!"

She didn't. Ladybug ignored him and dashed forward-well she tried to. The very first step she took spent unbelievable waves of pain shooting throughout all her body. It was as if she was being burned alive, she felt hot, boiling, all she could see was red. She couldn't help it, she screamed, the pain was unbearable. She could hear Chat yelling at her, but she gritted her teeth and took another step forward. A brand new wave of pain literally slammed into her and out came the sobs and cries that she had been desperately trying to hold in. She took another step forward, and that was when everything went haywire.

Her muscles went slack, her legs wouldn't listen to her brain. As soon as her foot came down, she collapsed into a heap. Her head banged against the concrete floor and soon even more pain flooded her body. She wanted to move her arms forward to cradle her head, but she found that she couldn't move. Her vision began to cloud, it was as if the sky was replaced with pitch black darkness. She felt herself being lifted up, and in her last few moments of consciousness she smiled slightly at the sudden soothing feeling that washed over her.

Chat cradled Ladybug's limp form and hugged her tightly as hot tears began to run down his cheeks. He heard his own ring begin to beep but he paid no attention to it and didn't move at all when he felt his transformation wear off.

Plagg was besides him, for once the cheese loving kwami wore a sorrowful face and his eyes were cast down. "She'll be alright," He assured Adrien quietly as he flew over to the blonde boy and sat on his shoulder. "She not dead, just unconscious."

Adrien flinched at his words. Just because she wasn't dead didn't mean that she was okay. He was her partner, together they were a team. They were supposed to look out for one another, and tonight he had failed her.

A sharp rapid beeping filled the air. Adrien and Plagg watched as Ladybug's red outfit was magically replaced with dirty, scuffed up street clothes and as her polka dotted mask vanished to reveal a pretty face marked with scratches and dried blood. Out of her earrings shot out a small red kwami that crashed into the floor and trembled violently.

Adrien's breath hitched as he looked upon his Lady's true face and realized that he recognized those familiar blue pigtails.

It was Marinette. How could he been so stupid? His mind began to spin as he thought back to all the signs that he had never paid attention to, to all the hints that had clearly pointed towards Marinette being his beloved Lady. He should have figured it out, he really should of. For months he had dreamed of finally discovering who his Lady really was, but now that he knew he only felt worse about what had happened. Marinette was his classmate, his friend for crying out loud, and he hadn't been able to protect her. To say he felt guilty was an understatement, the last time he had felt this horrible was the day his mom left.

He was so caught up in his shame and guilt that he almost didn't realize that Plagg was nudging him softly. "It's gonna rain soon, we should get out of here." The small, little cat kwami explained quietly as he nodded towards the dark, cloudy sky.

Adrien nodded and hesitantly stood up. "Plagg, transform me." He demanded even though he knew that his poor friend was probably exhausted as well from the long night they had been through. Plagg complied without any protests, and within seconds Chat Noir was back.

Chat walked over to the red kwami and bent down to examine her. She had stopped trembling and whether she was unconscious as well or just in a deep sleep, he couldn't tell, but irregardless of that he gently picked up the small creature and tucked her safely into one of his pockets.

He could feel the first few drops of cold rain hit his ears, and he knew he had to hurry. He rushed away to Marinette, and gently picked her and kept his arms wrapped tightly around her. He glanced across the roofs of the nearby buildings and sighed in relief as he made out the familiar outline of the bakery in the distant.

Chat glanced once more at the pale girl he held in his arms, and bent down to softly place a kiss on her forehead. He then took a deep breath and quickly made his way towards the bakery, jumping across the roofs, making sure to keep a tight grip on Marinette at all times.

"I'm sorry."

She couldn't hear him, he knew that, but it didn't stop him from saying it.