Five Days Earlier

She didn't think she could miss Chat Noir's smile.

She never thought she would have to...

He had always been there beside her, with that was unfailingly irrepressible and irreverent grin, no matter if the task of the day was an easy patrol or the direst of threats they were struggling to take down.

She bit her lip, reshuffling her hold on the bundle in her arms as she settled into a seat on the metro.

Her eyes scanned the windows as the light and dark of the underground rushed past, puzzling out her next move.

It didn't feel like all that long ago that they had started on this madcap adventure, keeping their city and their loved ones safe from a villian with unbelievable powers.

They had been chosen, for reasons she was never quite clear on, to bear their own
powers in order to shield and repair the city from the madness

She had barely been a teenager at the start of all this, and had spent almost half of her life at Chat Noir's side. But it was never more clear than now that they must have been of a similar age.

It was easier to stand side by side so long ago, before he had shot up, towering well over a full head taller than her. Making that smile just the littlest bit more smug as it gleamed through the midnight black sky.

It generally had become their standard practice that a pair from the city's resident band of superheroes would go out on a run as dusk fell over the streets of Paris, watching for villains and deterring more than a little bit of crime. Any more, it was a question of whoever had the time. With a band of five teammates, the duties were split up so they could mask their own superheroic lives with greater ease.

So she wasn't always with Chat Noir, but when she was, it always made her a little nostalgic for the quiet patrols of the past, with just the pair of them.

That's how tonight was supposed to have been.

Her Chaton might tease and play coy - and unleash an unholy number of bug puns to pester her about her far more diminutive size - but he'd learned to read her long ago. Quick to turn on the charm, his tendency to bow low, pressing his lips to her knuckles, had returned with a vengeance.

Nearly a decade's worth of practice disarming villains, and he'd turned it around on her.

She grumbled as tiny fingers grasped onto her own, tugging her focus down to him and back to the present.

A halo of soft blonde peeked over the top of her jacket, babbling and focusing on her eyes.

Marinette blew out a shaky breath, cuddling him a little bit closer and barely holding off a snorted laugh.

He couldn't even stand, but it was clear he hadn't lost that ability to disarm her.

She smirked, barely suppressing the snort that threatened to sneak past her lips.

Somehow that was typical Chat Noir.

When Wayzz went silent, hovering at attention and ill at ease, Master Fu stroked his beard. The young master was away on travel with Trixx's holder, and so he had taken over guardian duties until his young protege could return to the city and his training.

Something clearly was wrong. "What is it, old friend?"

Wayzz's eyes widened, his head cocked slightly. "I cannot feel Chat Noir."

Fu's brows furrowed. "He de-transformed?"

Wayzz shook his head. "Plagg is quiet. Unnaturally so."

Steadying himself against his cane, Master Fu righted himself. That had to mean that Ladybug would not be far behind. "I think it must be time to prepare some tea."

The sight of Marinette panicked and anxious at his door was nothing new.

But the pallor of her face - and the infant cradled, fast asleep in her arms - did give him pause.

Master Fu blinked. "Is that…?"

Nodding, Marinette stepped through the door. "It's Chat Noir."

Glancing over at Wayzz, Master Fu's brows rose. "I suppose you better sit down. Let me get you some tea and you can tell me how this came about."

When he returned, the very young Chat was still bundled up inside a pool of clothing, with a far smaller version of Plagg, curled up at his side. Tikki was nestled beside the pair, watching both anxiously.

Marinette didn't sit down at all. Her shoes were off, but she was pacing the floorboards with a surfeit of nervous energy.

Fu kneeled down without a word, pouring tea while she continued her anxious shuffle.

"We were both on patrol when we neared the tourist district. We found a few squad cars near the museum, who mentioned a pair of thieves they were monitoring had disappeared in the vicinity and we offered to go in and check. The surprise of our appearance usually gives police the edge to take down crooks with far less collateral damage.

Besides, they don't know most of our secrets, but the police have been aware of Chat's night vision ability for a while now." Her eyes drifted down to the baby. His halo of blonde hair was ruffled as he shifted slightly in his sleep. "We didn't expect to find anyone there, but they were inside, actively gathering up a haul to sneak outside."

His own lips slightly curved at the barest hint of a smirk that crossed her lips.

"Obviously, I was not about to let that happen," she halted mid-stride, her eyes growing distant. "My yo-yo had the two I could see bound together within that very minute. I even did a clean up with the Lucky Charm to put all the artifacts back in their glass cases. Of course, that also put their weapons back in their holsters, so I leaned down to confiscate those to give to the police. Chat had called them and they were on their way inside."

Master Fu slid her cup of tea over patiently, waiting for her to continue.

"The problem was that neither of us had noticed the third, who must have been hiding in the next room." Marinette's eyes had drifted entirely over to the sleeping infant. "We were lucky… well, I suppose I was." Crouching down, she worried her lip as she crept a bit closer to check on him. Chat seemed bent on trying to escape the confines of the pool of clothes she'd hastily swaddled around him even as it made him shiver. She fussed with the fabric until he'd settled back again. "I didn't see the third burglar. But Chat must have heard him. The guy must have panicked and tossed the first thing he could find...or at least everything he could get his hands on when Chat got close. Chat caught one of them in his hands, but Cataclysm was still up...and from there, I'm still not entirely sure what I saw."

Wayzz spoke up then. "Whatever you can recall will be fine, Ladybug."

She blinked, dropping down to the floor to sit beside her tiny partner. "It was like the item disintegrated in his hands like normal...but then the ash started to billow up around him like smoke."

She shook her head. "Even as he was coughing, Chat waved me off, but the smoke seemed focused on him...if that makes sense…? I'm still not sure it does to me. It was almost as if the smoke was headed to him directly."

Wayzz's eyes narrowed. "I'm not sure that I've heard of a smoke like this before, Master."

"Nor I, old friend," Master Fu sighed, "but there are many traditions outside of the Miraculous where we are far less versed. We'll just need to figure out where to begin our research. Continue if you would, Marinette."

Marinette's hand lingered by Chat Noir, hovering just above his forehead as if she was almost afraid to touch him. "Well, the police had finally come in and dealt with the third guy, who had been trying to run. My earrings had already started to chime but the smokey fog didn't show much sign of letting up. At least not right away. I call out for Chat again, but he didn't answer. He didn't even cough." Her fingertips grazed lightly over his cheek. "It wasn't clear why right away. Not until the smoke cleared after maybe a minute more...leaving a tiny Chat Noir in his place."

Master Fu asked, "He was still transformed?"

She nodded. "I swooped him up and hightailed out of there. I even managed to get to an alley before my transformation failed. Tikki dove into my purse and grabbed a cookie to get her energy back up."

"But he's definitely a boy." A dark blush stained her cheeks. "Chat's transformation fell apart in my arms, leaving a mess of clothes, his wallet, his phone, and the ring. Tikki helped me find it and then she zoomed in to cuddle with Chat's Kwami. I managed to scoop up what I could, but Chat himself and the ring were my primary concern." Marinette hands dropped to her knees. "I didn't want to look at the wallet. After so long keeping this secret, it just wouldn't be fair to him to find out that way. We came straight here, because we both weren't sure what else to do. But I never put him down. Not until we got here, so he has to be Chat, right?"

Master Fu accepted the phone and wallet she'd handed to him, peering into it quickly before setting it at his side. "That is Chat Noir. For certain."

Marinette's eyes grew a bit haunted by the confirmation, tugging him up onto her lap.

The Guardian could barely hear her whispered. "I'm so sorry, Kitty…" But he could understand feeling just as helpless.

Tikki chimed in from her place at Plagg's side, desperate to fix the tension permeating the air. "Plagg's quite a bit smaller, too, Master Fu."

"I can see that." A sad smile spread across his face. "Quieter, too. I think."

"I've been trying to share my energy with as best as I could." Tikki frowned as the Guardian hovered near. "Because he's so small, I'm not sure what to give him to help get his energy back up. He looks to be a kitten again, so I'm not sure how well he'd be able to chew and swallow for now."

Master Fu nodded, standing himself up with the aid of his cane. "Let me see what I might have the kitchen for now."

Marinette might have nodded, but she had hardly noticed Master Fu leaving the room.

A part of her had hoped that somehow, someway this was just one of Chat Noir's jokes. That he would just pop out of nowhere, claiming it was all a joke.

A really, really awful joke.

She wanted nothing more than to be able to smack him on the shoulder and tell him he should never scare her like that again.

It had been bad enough at any of the too close calls they had mid-battle. The day that Alix had been Akumatized had haunted her own nightmares for years. But at least then she'd still been in the middle of battle. She'd had a chance to save him with her Lucky Charm.

To put everything back to rights…

But now? It had been scary enough watching Chat succumb to the that weird smoke.

Cuddling him close helped to calm her own panic, but she didn't have the first clue how to help him. She wasn't even sure who he was. If he had a family member - or a significant other - who would be desperately wondering where he was.

"Master Fu will have an idea," Tikki comforted, cuddling into Plagg a little more tightly. "You'll see. Until then, just keep the cookies coming and I'll do all I can to help Plagg, so he can help Chat Noir."

The Guardian returned from the kitchen with a bit of milk in a bowl for Plagg. "I'm afraid I don't have anything that might suffice as a bottle, but Chat Noir might take a bit of soft fruit if he awakens."

"Okay," Marinette breathed.

Master Fu tilted his head. "It may take some time to get into his phone. It would be easier if Plagg was awake, but Wayzz will do all he can. Once we are in, I will contact his family and buy us as much time as he can to get him back to himself."

"But where will he stay?" She grimaced. Though he was usually the one who blocked all the tougher hits, right now he was the one who was small and defenseless. He needed to be protected.

Master Fu arched his brows. "I should have thought that obvious. Chat Noir and Plagg will need to stay next to you so that Tikki may be of assistance whenever Ladybug is not needed."

Marinette just gaped at him, floundering. "I don't want to leave him alone. Really, I don't, but I'm not really sure how to explain to my parents if I come back home with a baby."

"There's no telling just how long this may take to right itself, Marinette." Master Fu mused. "And as Plagg is so hampered, I wouldn't feel right taking the Miraculous away from your Chat Noir without knowing how it might affect him. I may be able to help at times, but I need to commit myself to doing research in how we might be able to return him to his usual size."

She blinked, rocking backward slightly. "I get that. But it isn't like I'm exactly used to handling a baby myself. Or have anything that I would need at the house to help take care of him. I'm not even sure I could sneak him up to my room, but it is definitely too much to hope that my parents won't notice whenever he needs to cry."

Master Fu stroked his beard. "I understand your conundrum. But your parents are likely far more understanding and they would know what a young baby might need as they raised you so well. Tell them only as much as they need to know. I trust your judgement - and Tikki's."

Marinette's shoulders fell, feeling a little helpless as she'd looked down at her tiny partner in her arms.

"We can do this, Marinette." Tikki comforted. "I'll be there, too. Right beside you."

Righting himself, Master Fu stood up. "Perhaps I ought to get you a blanket for him and hold on to the rest of it for safekeeping?"

On her winding path home, Marinette stuck to as many alleyways as she could, so she and Tikki could discuss her plan.

But as much as she had worried and fretted, all it had taken was two simple words: "Ladybug asked", and her parents had offered their help without further question.

For now anyways.

It hadn't hurt that Chat had woken up, cooing and squealing happily as he grabbed her Father's finger.

She had breathed a long sigh of relief, patting Chat Noir's Miraculous that felt heavy in her pocket.

She only had to hint that she'd run into Ladybug tonight as she was coming home from sketching. Her sketchbook had been abandoned when she'd accepted the task.

Sabine hovered right at her shoulder. "The poor thing must have been abandoned in the chaos of the break in they saw on TV."

Marinette nodded. "Ladybug mentioned that the police seemed to be busy. And her powers only last for so long, and it was a little hard for her to swing around the city with a baby in hand. I'm guessing she'll be back to pick him up soon, but she was in a hurry and didn't say when."

Her father had nodded, closing up the shop to help. "We'll help out with what we can, Marinette. But I'm not sure how much of your own baby stuff we might have on hand."

Sabine just grinned. "I think there's a family a few blocks over with a little one who must be a few sizes bigger. Let me go see what I might be able to borrow to help take care of this little darling."

They'd have to get him a bit of formula - hopefully he'd take it - and find something to help mush up some bland table food for him to eat, too.

It had only taken an hour, but her father had pulled most of the few remaining items of Marinette's own baby stuff out of storage. And the neighbors had been generous with clothes and toys and a few larger items, although her Mother had also popped out to the store for a package of diapers.

Her mother's enthusiasm was infectious. They already managed to get Chat to take the bottle of formula, with Tikki and Plagg's kwami cuddled up together in her purse and out of sight.

Chat ate the food eagerly, but even now was so tired that he'd barely opened his eyes. She'd gotten a peek to see the slivers of ice blue of his irises.

Marinette hummed, musing aloud. "So you have blue eyes, huh."

Sabine just chuckled. "When you were growing up, so many of my friend's children had blue eyes at first. But most of them did change over time. I'm afraid, there is no telling what color he will end up with."

Ruffling Chat's hair, her mother prepared to turn in for the night, but not before she showed Marinette how to change his diaper.

When she had balked at this, she was sure that her Mother had misunderstood why. Sure changing a diaper would be a little gross, but she had dealt with messier situations than this over the years.

It was more unsettling to know she'd have this burned into her brain...whenever Chat Noir came back to her.

If he came back to her.

Marinette bit her lip. There was still no way to be sure he ever would.

She leaned her head softly against his, cuddling him back into her arms once he was clean and dry. He was more active, happily babbling and cooing for an hour before his little eyes started to drift closed.

She held him like that for a half an hour at least, before she was sure he was truly asleep.

Only then did she nestle Chat Noir down into the borrowed pack and play that had been set up in the living room, wrapping a blanket around herself as she sank back onto the couch to lay beside him in his crib.

Her hand crept up the mesh side of the crib, to meet his tiny fist where it was poking out against the cloth, in a somber parody of their long-time, post-battle ritual.

Marinette inhaled sharply. She hadn't abandoned her partner before, and she wasn't about to start now.