Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the universe of Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Warning: This will be romantic, slow-burn, angsty, dark, hurt-comfort, coming of age, with eventual happy ever after with exchange of identities and "I love yous". Everyone is older (senior year of school). Potential triggers throughout the story include explicit violence, sexual harassment, attempted rape, consensual magic-assisted euthanasia of an old person, discussion of mental illness and attempted suicide of a side character, and terrorism/bombing. I'll warn for individual chapters.

I hope you enjoy it a lot!

Anywhere, I would have followed you (Say Something)

A Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir Fanfiction

By Indygodusk

Chapter 1: Fencing

"Do you fence?" Chat Noir asked, sprawling back against the railing with his ankles lazily crossed. Considering how his heart pounded, he was rather proud with the nonchalant image he currently portrayed. If he turned around, he knew he'd see the Seine River transformed by the setting sun into glittering ribbons of gold, red, and violet. It probably looked like a postcard.

Chat didn't care. It couldn't compare to his current view. Vermilion and gold sunlight gilded the tips of Ladybug's eyelashes and the curve of her cheeks, transforming them into a velvet nap that made his fingers twitch in yearning to touch. Twilight zephyrs brought out split-second sparks of bright red in her normally blue-black hair. She'd even left her hair down for once and the difference made her look more relaxed, mature, and exceptionally beautiful.

When Ladybug turned to respond to his question, an ebony strand of hair caught on the curve of her lower lip. He couldn't help his spike of want or the way his breathing sped up. Yes, watching the sun-kissed slopes of her cheeks would win over a river every time. Chat tried to hide the way his eyes drank her in by keeping his eyes at a seemingly lazy half-mast, but he had a feeling that she could see right through him.

"I'm not really into swords," Ladybug answered with a mysterious half-smile as she stepped closer. The look she gave him next almost seemed sultry. His stomach flipped over in anticipation.

Then she ruined the effect by crossing her eyes, looking down her nose with annoyance, and trying to blow the hair off her mouth. It clung stubbornly. She twisted her mouth and blew again. Ladybug looked completely unselfconscious and absolutely adorable.

"Here, let me," Chat chuckled softly. He couldn't help but reach out with one gloved fingertip to carefully brush the hair off her lip. Red bloomed over her cheeks at his touch. Seeing his black gloves contrasted against her strawberry and cream complexion made him swallow hard. Chat desperately wished he could feel her skin to skin. Dropping his hand, he curled his fingers into a fist and tried to breathe normally.

Staring out at the river, Ladybug tilted her head and gave him a sideways look as she returned to his question. "Are you looking for a fencing partner?"

"Well, I mean, I do fencing and I thought, well, I thought we could train together as practice against Hawk Moth's super villains or- or something… but if you don't want to, that's fine," Chat stuttered out awkwardly. What was wrong with him? Usually he didn't have problems smooth-talking. He tried to think of at least a good cat pun, but his mind came up blank.

Rubbing her lip thoughtfully with one, red-gloved finger, Ladybug seemingly came to a decision. Abruptly she dropped her hand to her hip and sashayed closer. She didn't stop until the tips of her toes rested on either side of his crossed black boots. Chat's body tensed. This close, he could see the triangles of gray and marine that normally hid in her bright blue eyes. Golden clouds made glittering stars in her black pupils. He felt dazzled by her nearness, his normal confidence nowhere to be seen.

When she reached forward and flicked the bell at his throat, his mouth went dry. Chat cleared his throat unsteadily. Ladybug's mouth curved in a self-satisfied smile.

"No swords," she murmured as her red gloved fingers walked up his throat to tap on his lower lip. Chat stopped breathing. "But I don't mind fencing with words." Her white teeth flashed as she grinned slyly. "We seem to be pretty good at doing… that. Together."

"Yeah," he breathed out shakily. His fingertips dug into the stone railing at his back in a desperate attempt to stop himself from picking her up plastering her flush against his body, that or kicking out his feet to trip her into falling on top of him. Chat wanted almost nothing in the world more than he wanted to be closer to the woman in front of him.

Of course, that didn't mean much unless she also wanted to be there.

As if reading his mind, Ladybug dropped her arms, planting her hands on the slice of balcony between his torso and arms. In a testament to her core body strength, she effortlessly kept her body hovering just above his in a flat line. If he breathed just a little bit harder, they'd touch.

Then she breathed against his ear, "Or we could try fencing with something else." Her loose hair brushed against the side of his jaw, soft and sweet-smelling. He wanted to turn and bury his face in the strands, but she had him paralyzed.

"W-with what?" he asked hoarsely. Chat shivered as she responded by huffing a small laugh that pushed warm arm across his cheek. Her forearms shifted to press warmly against his sides. He felt the cloth of her mask glance across his temple. Then she pushed herself up until her face hovered mere inches from his lips. A tremor of want shook his body and her smile went sharp.

"Fencing with tongues," she pronounced naughtily, her mouth practically licking the syllables as they rolled from her mouth.

Chat's control snapped. Arms surging up, he swung her around until he had her trapped between his body and the railing. Ladybug didn't bother struggling. Eyes glittering with delight and desire, she giggled, relaxing into his hold with a minxish look, as if this had been her plan all along.

"You tease," he hissed against her pink lips as his heart went wild.

Two small, warm hands cupped his face. "Not a tease when I really do want to pet and kiss you, mon petite chaton." Her bare fingers reached up and slid his mask off his face, tossing it into the molten river below. Adrien stopped breathing.

The saucy look on Ladybug's face faded into one of extreme fondness. "You have to know how much I care about you. I've always cared about you. Oh Adrien, you know we're meant to be. What's coming is hard, but we'll beat it together, as partners, both in and out of costume." Her fingers brushed intimately against his skin as her hands smoothed down his jaw and back to caress his neck beneath the edges of his suit. "You just have to wake up." Her thumbs slid up and down his throat, prompting him to breathe in and out with the motion.

"Wake up, Adrien. Adrien, Adrien…."

Sliding his hands down her waist and over the plush curve of her hips, he couldn't keep his eyes from slipping closed. He felt a strange mixture of sweet peace and hot anticipation at having her in his arms and hearing Ladybug finally say his real name. It was everything he'd ever wanted. It felt like belonging and home, but a home and security he hadn't experienced in years. Savoring the feeling, Adrien lowered his mouth to finally taste her lips. He wanted to memorize every second of their first true kiss.

"Oh Adrien, Adrien, Adrien!" The voice unexpectedly morphed from feminine softness into a masculine snap.

"Wake up, Adrien!"

Jerking, his hands closed on pillow instead of feminine curves as he abruptly came awake in bed. Dawn light faintly illuminated his room and his father standing by his bed. Gabriel Agreste, dressed in a charcoal and lavender suit, loomed over his son unhappily. Adrien's eyes flitted around his room. A black blur in the corner showed Plagg ducking down to hide.

But no red. No Ladybug. Disappointment crashed down on his chest like a vice.

Of course Ladybug didn't want to kiss him, either side of him. Ladybug didn't know he was Adrien and wouldn't care if she did. It had only been a dream. He was a delusional fool.

Sitting up, Adrien rubbed his face briskly, forcing the wrenching disappointment away before looking up at his father. "Dad?" Then his mind caught up with the situation. "Wait, I haven't seen you in weeks, or is it even months at this point? What are you doing in my room now? At not even seven in the morning?"

Their last meeting had been tense. Adrien had just run in after fighting as Chat Noir and had been in a bad mood. When he'd been recharging from a Cataclysm attack, he'd tripped and his Miraculous ring had fallen off (again) and rolled beneath a dumpster. The cursed ring seemed to fall off two or three times a year, and always during a battle.

Then he'd had to listen to Plagg's relentless mocking about thin fingers and clumsiness as he got on his belly to retrieve it, all the while trying to ignore the stench of garbage and the feel of things squishing and soaking through his clothes. Plagg had even started calling out insulting limericks until Adrien finally gotten the ring back on his finger. If he heard one more rhyme about, 'Adrien and Chat, their fingers aren't fat,' he'd threatened to take Plagg to a veterinarian to get his mutant cat neutered.

Chat finally rejoined the battle, but by that time Ladybug had already defeated the villain all by herself. Needless to say, by the time he got home, he hadn't been in a mood for conversational gymnastics with his father. As usual, he father didn't care about Adrien's wants.

"I'm going to be out of touch for a while, Adrien. Nathalie will keep you on track while I'm gone. Don't forget that you're going to be the face of Agreste's new jewelry campaign. Nathalie will inform you when they decide on a date for the photoshoot. I'm not involved beyond approving you for it, so I'm counting on you to be professional and make a good impression."

"Yes, Sir," Adrien answered, desperate to shower off the stench of the alleyway and trying to keep his distance so his father didn't notice and ask questions.

"Since you'll be representing our jewelry line, make sure to be careful what accessories you wear out in public from now on," his father added. Then his eyes narrowed and became cold. "You're still wearing that silver ring, I see. Where did you get it again?"

Fighting not to fidget nervously, Adrien lied, "I've had it so long I don't even remember. I probably picked it up during some shopping excursion with Chloe."

"Hmm," lips thinning, his father answered him skeptically. "Whatever the case, I may be out of sight, but I don't want you to take that as carte blanche to ignore your schedule and the time tables set up for you. Your schedule and bodyguard are there for a reason."

As the conversation went on, his father kept flicking increasingly unnerving little glances at the Miraculous ring on Adrien's hand. Adrien met Plagg's uneasy gaze behind his father's back and then thumbed the ring off into his pocket. His father had become more and more short-tempered and suspicious, asking more forcefully than usual about where Adrien kept disappearing to and blatantly showing skepticism of his answers.

When the conversation came back around to jewelry again, his father started making noises about confiscating all of Adrien's accessories to make sure they were appropriate for the face of the Agreste fashion brand. A bead of cold sweat trickled down Adrien's spine. The ring felt unusually heavy in his pocket.

Then his father thrust his hand in Adrien's face and snapped coldly, "Give me the ring, Adrien."

"What? No," Adrien refused, taking a step back.

"Now," his father demanded with a terrifying glint in his eye as he dropped his gaze to Adrien's pocket and advanced.

All of a sudden, Plagg flew up into the air behind his father's back. His matte back body glowed like a star. Plagg then performed some strange gymnastic routine that left red afterimages of mystical runes on the back of Adrien's eyelids. Then all of the energy and fire abruptly left the kwami. His body dropped out of the air like a rock. Landing on the desk with a thump, he rolled off sluggishly into an overturned bag of cheese with a loud rustle.

Head snapping up, his father started to turn.

Then Adrien had a stroke of pure luck.

His father's phone rang. Seconds later, Adrien's phone chirped with a scheduling reminder. Then Nathalie appeared in the open doorway with a quiet, "Mr. Agreste?" Producing a frustrated and disappointed sigh for his son, the great Gabriel Agreste had left.

Plagg had been too busy stuffing his face to answer questions about what he'd done. Then Plagg had fallen asleep. Every time after that Adrien thought to ask about it, something interrupted. He still didn't know what Plagg had done.

Since that day, Adrien had only communicated with his father through texts, emails, and orders relayed through Nathalie. Adrien knew intellectually that his father loved him, but sometimes he felt more like an expensive curio his father occasionally found a use for than a son he wanted a relationship with. Other families didn't act like this, but other families didn't have mothers who disappeared unexpectedly either. His father was the only family he had left. Adrien had to take what he could get.

Returning to the present, Adrien blinked. "Is something wrong?" he asked hesitantly. Then he looked more carefully at his father and seriously began to worry. Although the man was already dressed for the day in his normal three-piece suit, he'd misbuttoned his vest. His hair also looked damp and had a wave, as if he'd just stepped from the shower without styling it dry or applying his usual hair cream. Adrien had never, in eighteen years as his son, seen him look less than perfectly immaculate.

Bare chest prickling with goosebumps, Adrien asked again with rising fear, "Dad?" He reached out to touch his father's hand. Between their bodies lay a shaft of predawn light from a crack in the curtains. When Adrien's hand crossed the beam, his silver Miraculous ring shone for a second like a full moon.

His father looked down at the ring. Lips parting on a soft gasp, his eyes narrowed. Then he leaned forward with what Adrien could only describe as menace.

Suddenly, Adrien felt strange. Time became thick. Adrien's fingers, on their way to brush his father's hand, slowed as if moving through dark molasses. It felt as if his ears needed to pop at the heavy pressure. The air became almost too dense. Adrien couldn't breathe.

Something unnerving swam up behind his father's eyes, something ravenous, bleak, and cruel. Instinctively Adrien snatched his fingers back, fighting through the pressure to clench them in a fist by his side. The ring's gleam disappeared into the shadows of his duvet. Adrien sucked in air, with a ragged gasp. Only after the rush of oxygen did he realize that the pressure had lifted, gone as mysteriously as it had arrived.

His father took an unsteady step back, face gone slack. Then he shook his head sharply. Folding his arms, he focused back on his son. "Adrien, have you been keeping up with your swimming lessons?" He had a strange, thin tone to his voice that Adrien had never heard before.

Completely nonplussed, Adrien blinked up at his father and clenched his hand into the sheets, winding the fabric around his fingers. "What lessons? I haven't had swimming lessons since that refresher course you insisted on right after mo-," he barely cut himself off before mentioning his mother, knowing that his father neither tolerated nor reacted well to any reference of her disappearance, "I mean, a few months before I started going to public school. My personal trainer has me swim laps and doing sprints in a pool every other month, but-"

"No, never mind," his father cut him off, smoothing a hand over his hair and looking away. "Are you healthy?"

"Yes," Adrien answered slowly, unsure where these questions were leading.

Nodding sharply, his father turned to examine his desk. "What about your educational plans?"

"I'm still waiting to hear back from the colleges I applied to," Adrien replied carefully. "I'll make sure to keep you informed once I know who has accepted me."

His father scoffed. "You're an Agreste. You're attractive, intelligent, and wealthy. No one would dare refuse to take my son."

Adrien didn't know how to answer that, so he kept his mouth shut. He didn't think his father would appreciate the fact that Adrien was hoping that college would give him the chance to get out of his father's shadow. His mother had once said that college had been the best time of her life because she could finally learn things and meet people for herself instead of just for her family. Adrien wanted that too. If she were still around, Adrien liked to think that she'd support his secret plans.

"We also need to discuss your major," his father added insistently. "I have a few ideas of useful majors for you, but nothing too strenuous, nothing that might tax your mind unnecessarily."

What was that supposed to mean? Adrien bit his tongue hard to keep his opinions about it all bottled up in his chest.

When his father kept looking at him expectantly, waiting for an answer, Adrien choked out another, "Yes, Sir." It wasn't worth fighting that battle right now. Once away at college, hopefully one that mandated that first-years live in on-campus housing, he'd worry about it.

Nodding sharply, his father turned on his heel and strode to the door. However, he stopped with one hand on the frame, face still turned away. "Adrien?"

"Yes, Sir?"

His father stood silently silhouetted in the doorway, his shoulders high and tense. Then he spoke. "Everything I do, I do for you, for our family. I couldn't bear to lose you, too. I love you, my son."

Before Adrien could reply, his father stepped out into the hall and firmly closed the door. Tears stung Adrien's eyes, a pain that matched the ache in his chest. He loved his father, but thinking too hard about their relationship just made him miserable. Pressing a hand hard over his eyes, he tried to push back the tears. Crying never did anything but give him a headache.

After the strange encounter with his father, Adrien knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, despite it being the weekend. Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he stood up and went to the closet. Adrien grabbed the first shirt he saw to cover his bare chest from the morning chill. Then he went to his desk and pulled over the nearest schoolbook.

Over the next couple of hours, he plowed through his weekend homework. By the time he finished, it was the time he normally went downstairs for breakfast on the weekends. Adrien didn't have much of an appetite today. Nevertheless, he finished getting dressed and went downstairs. He knew what was expected of him as Adrien Agreste. As always, those expectations never catered to his personal feelings or desires.

As he ate, Nathalie came in to remind him of the schedule. Adrien nodded where appropriate. Then his mind drifted to his strange encounter with his father that morning and he found himself interrupting her. "Nathalie? Have you noticed anything wrong with my father lately?"

Nathalie blinked rapidly behind her glasses. Her eyebrows flicked up for a moment before narrowing back down. "Why do you ask?"

Meeting her gaze steadily, he pressed, "I talked to him this morning for the first time in forever and he seemed… off, you know, stressed. Have you talked to him lately?"

Looking away, she pushed her glasses up her nose and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. However, her face otherwise remained smooth. "As one of his assistants, I talk to him regularly. I'm sure if there is a problem you need to know about, he will tell you. Is there anything else? Or are you ready to finish hearing about your schedule?"

Frustration slid down his throat bitterly. Adrien could tell that she knew something, but she wouldn't tell him. Why did his father make it so hard to care about him?

Nathalie's loyalties always lay with his father first and her own opaque agenda second. Despite speaking with him almost daily for years, she held no special fondness for him. Sometimes he could move her to pity or outmaneuver her, but he could never force her to speak when she didn't want to.

"Fine," he gave in wearily.

Nathalie's tense shoulders loosened just a fraction as she resumed. After going over the upcoming week's schedule, she finished with, "Your two biggest time commitments are the fencing tournament this afternoon and the photo shoot for the new Agreste jewelry line next month."

A hot flush spread across his cheeks as he remembered his dream about Ladybug and fencing. He'd certainly rather fence with her than with his usual competitors, even if it only involved foils. Before Nathalie noticed his inattention, he wrenched his mind back to his schedule. He tried to console himself with thoughts of seeing the new female fencing star of the junior team in action, the one everyone had been talking about, but it didn't really work. He still felt too warm.

Returning to his room after breakfast, Adrien wondered if he could recapture his dream and get that kiss if he tried for a nap. Before he could make up his mind, his phone chimed with a news alert. Sighing regretfully, he pulled it out.

"What's up?" Plagg asked from over his shoulder.

"Looks like a super villain attack. Hopefully we can take care of it before we're supposed to leave for the tournament. I don't think my father will take well to a report of my absence after this morning," Adrien said.

"Just don't forget my extra cheese," Plagg prompted as he flopped out onto the desk. "You barely fed me at all this morning. That weird talk with your father made you all distracted and broody. Don't forget the cheese!"

"I know, Plagg," Adrien huffed at the kwami, rolling his eyes.

The small black creature gave him a sideways look, "At least you'll get to see Ladybug today, though she'll probably be late again. But late Ladybug is better than no Ladybug, right? Maybe that'll cheer you up and make you more generous."

"She promised to try harder to be on time, so… yeah," Adrien breathed, focusing more on his Ladybug dream than the topic of conversation. The corners of his mouth tipped up in a dreamy smile and his eyes went unfocused.

The low chime of another news alert broke him from his stupor, though it couldn't completely banish his smile. After making sure to pack his pockets with extra cheese, a hard-earned lesson from three years of battles and Plagg's ceaseless nagging, Adrien held out his ring and called, "Plagg, claws out!"

An hour later, thoughts of Ladybug no longer had him grinning. In fact, they did nothing but make him scowl. In between dodging attacks, that is. She was late again, very late, despite her promises.

In the last few months, she'd made it a habit to show up later and later to fights. She'd even tried to claim it was just bad luck, as if Ladybug, the embodiment of good luck, would suffer from such a thing. How someone so amazing could also be so aggravating escaped him. No one else ever made him feel such strong swings of emotion. Ladybug was just special like that. She always seemed sorry and surprised by her own tardiness afterwards, but that didn't stop her from doing it again. Their opponents hadn't been that difficult lately, so he hadn't bothered pushing it beyond the occasionally voicing of his disappointment and frustration.

Dodging a sharp stake right before it thunked into his heart, Chat really regretted not being more firm. Sweat rolled down his face and stung in the small slices caused by his opponent's needle-like pencil shavings. Broken trees crisscrossed the street along with crushed cars filled with crumpled bits of paper. Everything around this lady was getting destroyed.

Chat Noir had never fought a super villain this vicious before. Even with his suit, her attacks hurt. He needed Ladybug to get here. Soon.

Lungs heaving, he succeeded in tripping the villain with his baton, only for her to unexpectedly catch his ankle and send him down to the ground next to her. He tried to roll away from the metal pencil sharpener swinging towards his face, but he wasn't going to make it. Chat braced himself for a broken nose or worse.

Just before the weapon hit, a ladybug patterned yoyo wrapped around the swinging arm and yanked the villain away. She screamed in rage as Ladybug flung her into the air and on trajectory to land in the Seine river. Dropping his head down to the ground, he let himself just breathe for a moment before dragging himself up to his feet.

Seconds later, a small woman with the body of a gymnast covered in a red leotard with black spots dropped down by his side. "Ladybug," he panted, "nice of you to finally show up."

Wincing, she spun her yoyo in front of them in a defensive shield. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry I took so long. I thought I'd get here on time, but I was in the middle of-" Chat felt his lips thin with displeasure as she started with her usual vague excuses. He had to sneak away too, but you didn't see him showing up almost an hour late. Seeing his flat expression, her words trailed off.

"Alright, I'm sorry," she began again in a much smaller voice. "What do I need to know to help?" Remorse and determination shone from her big, blue eyes.

Chat's anger dissolved like sugar in hot tea. Sighing, he brushed the back of his fingers down Ladybugs arm in forgiveness. Chat could never stay mad at his partner for long. Gesturing at their opponent, he summed up what he knew.

Unlike other super villains, Pencil Pusher didn't seem upset at a specific person or institution. She just wanted to revenge herself on the permanence of pens and steal Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous. Yet somehow, every living thing, whether plant, animal, or person, became a target for her to destroy, as if life itself offended her.

Everything she hit with her pencil gun became a crumpled scrap of paper. Additionally, her other attacks left a swathe of physical destruction in her wake like a shrapnel bomb. Pencil Pusher threw both dart- and spear-sized pencils with sharp tips, paper airplanes with razor-sharp folds, and erasers harder than rocks. The constant barrage had damaged buildings, broken windows, and knocked dangerous debris onto pedestrians. So far, everyone had either managed to take cover or been turned into scraps of paper, but Chat feared that soon the attacks were going to start sending people to the hospital.

"Ladybug, nice of you to finally show up," the sopping wet super villain interrupted unconsciously echoing Chat's words and causing Ladybug to flinch. "As Pencil Pusher, I'm taking your Miraculouses for Hawk Moth. Now!" Then she picked up a large, broken tree like it weighed nothing and quickly flung it at them.

Chat Noir and Ladybug sprang back as the tree crashed down at their feet. Looking around, Chat cursed inwardly as he saw that Pencil Pusher had trapped them between the tree, a broken down car, and the side of a building.

Then his stomach dropped as he saw another tree falling straight for them overhead. Rearing back, Ladybug frantically kicked at the car once, twice, but it only budged a few inches before rocking back into place. They couldn't escape that way.

They were out of time.

"Under the car!" Ladybug ordered desperately, reaching to pull him down, but the space was too small. Even Ladybug's small frame probably wouldn't fit, much less his larger one. He dodged her fingers and looked up.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir cried, jumping up and bouncing off the wall to get high enough into the air and at the right angle to touch the tree before it smashed into his partner. He had to protect her. Nothing else mattered.

Black destruction pooled in his palms. A hard branch banged into his hip painfully, twisting him midair away from his goal. Snarling, he arched, reaching back with blind desperation. Chat would protect his Lady. He would. Hissing fingertips caught and dragged across something rough seconds before he slammed hard against the ground.

White lightning sparked painfully through his skull. He couldn't catch his breath and his mouth tasted like sawdust. Black spots filled his eyes. Then familiar hands turned him over and began dragging him backwards by the armpits. Ladybug pulled him up and over something metal, probably the car, though he couldn't care past the desperate burning in his chest.

"Breathe, Chat!" Ladybug ordered through a cough of her own. "I've got you. Just breathe!"

Finally his body rebooted, allowing his diaphragm to stop spasming and drag in a desperate lungful of air. "There you go, now do it again," she ordered with clear relief as she kept dragging him. The skin of her jaw dragged across his face each time she spoke. He wished he could enjoy it more.

Chat opened streaming eyes just as Ladybug propped him up against a wall in a shadowed alleyway. A dumpster shielded them from the street. Hovering over him with worry, the light haloed Ladybug's hair. Sawdust from the tree he'd disintegrated with his Cataclysm covered her in white. Placing a hand lightly on his chest, Ladybug hovered over him protectively. She looked like an angel escaped from the ceiling of one of the cathedrals down the street.

Suddenly the Miraculous ring on his finger beeped, warning him that he'd used up all of his power and would transform back soon. Ladybug's hand spasmed on his chest. Startled from his revere, Chat once more noticed the strain in his lungs and coughed. Her frown deepened. "I'm fine, LB," he gasped. He didn't want her to worry.

Sliding her hands up to cradle his jaw, she tipped his chin up with her fingers and examined his face carefully. "You hit the ground pretty hard. Are you sure?" Her gloved fingers moved gently over his hair and then swept back across his face, brushing away splinters and sawdust. He trustingly closed his eyes. Unwittingly his hands came up to rest on the curve of her hips. Her fingers stuttered on his skin, but didn't stop until they'd completed their task.

Chat felt breathless for a reason that had nothing to do with hitting the ground. Opening his eyes, he looked up at Ladybug. A strange expression hovered behind her mask and dark eyelashes. He felt like he should be able to read it, but couldn't.

Before he could decide what to do about it, his ring beeped its warning again, followed by the electric whine of a pencil sharpener from the street. Ladybug surged to her feet and placed herself in front of him protectively. "You go take care of yourself and recharge. I'll keep her busy until you come back." Giving him a firm nod, she turned and ran around the dumpster and back out onto the street without waiting for his reply.

Seconds later he heard a triumphant cry from Pencil Pusher, followed by an angry screech. As the sound of battle faded into the distance, he sighed and released his transformation. Plagg plopped into being on his thigh and began moaning piteously. "Cheese, I need my cheese!" he gasped weakly.

"You're such a drama queen," Adrien rolled his eyes and reached into his pockets. "Here's your cheese."

The kwami stuffed a triangle into his mouth and chewed rapturously. "At least I don't look like Casper the friendly sawdust ghost," Plagg mocked mid-chew, exposing a disgusting blob of cheese. Used to the routine, Adrien merely wrinkled his nose, ignored the insult, and handed Plagg another wedge. As soon as he finished recharging, Adrien would transform into Chat Noir again. Then they'd team back up with Ladybug and get rid of Pencil Pusher for good.