Hi everyone!

So I clearly have this habit of thinking up story ideas when taking clothes off the line? This came to me as I was doing that and when I finally got some free time, I sat down to write. I hope you like it!

An Act of Protection

Part One

Ladybug really hated Chat Noir's habit of taking hits for her.

She knew he meant well, and she know that, logically, it made sense for him to protect her. She was the one with the magic power to restore everything back to normal, after all. But that didn't mean she had to like it.

She had spoken to her Chaton repeatedly about him risking himself for her, but he continued to do so. It wasn't until she snapped and shouted at him until she was hoarse that he changed his ways. Instead of charging in with reckless abandon to take a hit in her stead, he tried to get both of them out of harm's way.

Ladybug couldn't fault Chat for trying to protect her. She always wanted to do the same to him too. Ladybug and Chat Noir always protected each other. They were partners, best friends; it was natural that they should want to defend each other and that was what they did.

However, friendship aside, they were Paris' defence against Hawkmoth and his akumas'. They couldn't afford to be taken out of the fight by a bad hit. So they guarded their lives zealously. With that in mind, they tried not to take unnecessary risks but the keyword there was tried. Ladybug was still prone to jumping into the odd T-Rex's mouth and Chat Noir still liked to balance precariously high on his baton (old habits die hard).

Along with their lives, another thing they guarded zealously were their secret identities. Well, at least to the public. Chat was all for an identity reveal between the two of them, but Ladybug steadfastly declined his offer every time he brought it up; it was safer if they didn't know who they were.

So when they defeated another akuma (a disgruntled secretary who spent most of the afternoon pelting the two superheroes with all sorts of office supplies), and did their customary fist bump, Ladybug was ready to bug out of there with pride of a job well done and her secret identity intact.

Of course, she wasn't really counting on the reporters that swarmed her and Chat Noir.

They surrounded the two superheros in the main entry of the office building she and Chat had defeated the akuma in. Cameras were shoved in their faces, questions were shouted and beeps from their miraculouses told them that they were quickly running out of time.

"My Lady," Chat's tone was urgent, "we need to leave."

She looked at his ring; he was already down to two paw prints.

Ladybug nodded and made to make her way to the door of the building. Unfortunately, the reporters didn't let her pass.

"Please, let us through," she said as she tried to get past them.

The reporters didn't budge. If anything they moved closer to her and Chat. As she tried to find an escape route, panic started to well up inside of her. If they didn't get out of there fast, their identities could be exposed. She scanned the crowd, hoping someone would see the desperation in her eyes. That someone would let them pass.

"Hey! Let them go through!" A familiar voice called over the din of the journalists.

Ladybug's eyes snapped to the person who spoke and she felt a wave of gratitude towards her best friend. "Alya," she breathed out, thankful that someone understood their need to get away.

The blogger nodded in response and tried to make room. Alya, who was desperate to find out the identities of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but who didn't want it to happen like this. She pushed at the person beside her in an attempt to create a path for the two superheroes, but the reporter beside her stubbornly didn't move.

Why was this happening? The people of Paris knew that her and her partner didn't want their identities known to the world. That wasn't old news. She and Chat had always made it clear that they would never give away who they really were, but never before had reporters made it so difficult for the two superheroes to get away.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Their miraculouses chimed again. Chat had moments before he turned into his civilian self and she didn't have much longer than him. In desperation, Ladybug looked around the office reception they were in, hoping they could find somewhere to hide.

She spotted a cleaning cupboard and gestured to it, "Chat, go!"

He saw where she meant and took off towards it. Ladybug was hot on his heels, glaring over her shoulder at the reporters who dared to try and follow them. A reveal between the two of them was not ideal, but if it was a choice between revealing herself to her Chaton or a room of reporters, she'd pick her cat every time.

Chat reached the door and flung it open. Thank goodness it wasn't locked. He spun in the doorway and held an arm out to her. To pull her to him, the cupboard and safety. She could see the panic in his eyes – they'd never cut it that close before – but he was still determined to help her. To reach out and help her cross that last little distance.

Even as he reached for her and she for him, Chat's miraculous gave out and his transformation began to dissolve in green light.

Ladybug and Chat Noir always protected each other.

Part of her was scared, part of her was panicked, part of her was angry this was even happening, but most of her was screaming protectprotectprotect as she looked at her partner. Her beautiful, stupid, self-sacrificing Chaton. He had taken so many hits for her, so she could do this for him.

Ladybug reached out and pushed Chat Noir into the cupboard. His eyes widened with shocked at the contact and he stumbled backwards with a grunt. The last of his transformation came undone as she slammed the door of the cupboard closed.

She hadn't seen his identity and neither had the reporters. Chat Noir was safe and Ladybug –

Ladybug was standing outside of the cupboard as her transformation disappeared in a flash of pink light.

Tikki appeared out of her earrings, but before anyone could focus on the kwami, Marinette herded her back into the purse that always hung at her hip. Tikki sent her an apologetic look as she went and Marinette replied with an unsure but brave smile. It wasn't Tikki's fault. It was just bad timing that their Ladybug Luck couldn't manage to beat.

The noise of the reports increased tenfold as they realised what had happened. People were murmuring, some were shouting, and cameras were flashing. Marinette ignored them all, she had her back to them and was focusing instead on the door that separated her and her partner.

"LADYBUG, NO!" Chat's desperate, muffled shout came from the other side of the door. A thump quickly followed it, which told her that Chat had hit the door in frustration.

Marinette sighed, shut her eyes and leant her forehead against the door. She reached out with her right hand to touch the wood, unaware that her partner was doing the same thing on the opposite side.

"It's okay, Chaton," she murmured. "Better me than you."

"Buginette, no!" She'd never heard Chat's voice sound so lost and broken before. "It should have been me. I should have protected you –"

"We protect each other," she corrected him, "and this time, I've got your back."

Marinette took a deep breath and slowly turned to face the crowd; another wave of flashing camera lights bombarded her as the reporters tried to take as many photos of her civilian self as possible.

Regardless of all the people in the room, Marinette only had eyes for one person.

Alya was standing there, her photo held aloft and no doubt livestreaming to the Ladyblog. Her expression was gobsmacked as she tried to process the fact that her favourite superhero had just turned into her best friend.

The reporters seemed to notice the moment that passed between the two and a silence fell over the room.

It was broken by Alya, "… Marinette?"

The name sent the journalist into a frenzy.

"Marinette who?!"

"She's just a teenager!"

"What was that creature you put in your bag?!"

"Does it have anything to do with your powers?!"

"How old are you?"

"Do you go to school?"

"Where do you go to school?"

"Isn't that the girl who designed an album cover for Jagged Stone?!"

"Yeah! And she won one of Gabriel Agreste's design competitions!"

"How do you balance being a superhero and your daily life?"

"How do you feel now that your identity has been revealed?"

"Do you know the identity of Chat Noir?"

Marinette felt terrified. The anonymity of her civilian life had just been ripped away from her, sacrificed so her Chaton could be saved. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to run far, far away from there, but she didn't. She couldn't.

Protectprotectprotect, she repeated the mantra in her mind.

She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, steeling herself. When she opened them, she stared down the people around her. She raised herself up and she issued a challenge.

"My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I am the superheroine Ladybug and if you want to open this door to find out the identity of Chat Noir, you're going to have to go through me."

A/N:

This is my first attempt at a twoshot. Normally I just write long oneshots, but I was determined to try and do a short twoshot for something different.

I'm sorry if there's a few mistakes. I've tried going over this but it's like two o'clock in the morning here and I'm super tired. I need sleep. I'm sure I'll notice them when I go over this later.

Please let me know what you thought in the reviews. I should have the next part up within the next few days.

Much love,

Leisey.