Ladybug held her back stiff and straight as the last of the of her power swept past the boy that she knew was huddled on the ground less than four meters away. Oddly enough, she didn't feel any temptation whatsoever to turn around; she was more concerned about Chat Noir than anything.

She stayed there for what felt like an eternity, listening to the faint mumbles of Chat conversing with his kwami. Finally, she heard a weak, broken voice cry out, "Plagg, claws out…" Her heart broke at the sound. Oh, minou…

She stayed as she was, not wanting to risk turning around mid-transformation, until her partner tentatively called out, "Ladybug?"

Faster than she probably should have, Ladybug whirled around and threw her arms around her partner, holding him tight to her. A single tear leaked down her cheek as she murmured, "Kitty."

Chat Noir took a shuddering gasp, his entire frame wracking with emotion, before his arms closed around her just as tightly, if not more so. She felt a dampness on her shoulder where he silently cried. She rubbed calming circles on his back, trying to keep her own emotions under control.

They stayed there for a while before Ladybug's Miraculous beeped. The sudden sound startled both heroes, causing them to freeze.

Ladybug was at a loss of what to do; there was no way that she would be leaving Chat Noir alone on tonight of all nights, but she needed to take care of Tikki.

Her dilemma was solved for her. Chat pulled back, his head hung low, his hands desperately gripping her biceps. "You…you need to go take care of your kwami." He seemed to force the words out. "Don't… don't worry. I'll be f-fine."

Another beep sounded. Ladybug crunched her face in determination. Gently taking his hands from her arms and grasping them, she stated firmly, "Don't you dare move, Chat Noir. I'll be right back." When she didn't get any sort of reaction, she dropped one of his hands and lifted his chin, forcing him to look her in the eye. "I swear to you," she vowed, "I. Will. Come. Back."

Somehow, her conviction must have broken through to him, because he searched her face for a minute before soundlessly nodding.

Nodding her head both in acknowledgment and satisfaction, she squeezed his hand once before running off.

She had barely made it down to street level before her last warning beep. Quickly, Ladybug disappeared and Marinette stood in her place. Exhaling sharply, she leaned against a building. "Tikki?" she questioned. "What are we going to do?"

The little spotted kwami zoomed over to hover in front of Marinette. "Do you have anything on you?"

Marinette looked down at her attire: pajama pants and a tank top. "No. No food, and no money. And the bakery's too far away."

Tikki shrugged. "Right now, it looks like our only option."

Marinette sighed. "Great! And I get to roam the Parisian streets at night, by myself!" Groaning, she made an about face and set off at a clip. "Come on, Tikki."

They had just gone a little over a block when her foot kicked something on the sidewalk. Looking down, they saw a shiny wrapper. Likely, someone had dropped a piece of candy, but also… super sketchy. She and Tikki looked at each other before the kwami swooped down and picked it up. Tikki had started to unwrap it before Marinette hesitantly asked, "Uh, Tikki? You sure about this?"

The kwami popped the candy in her mouth. "Desperate times call for desperate measures!" she crowed around the candy. "Besides, your human drugs shouldn't affect me too much, if this is tainted."

Marinette could hardly protest (shouldn't? too much?) as the kwami had already swallowed the treat. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she asked, "Are you okay now?"

Tikki swallowed her treat before offering up a small smile. "Yes! You need to go help Chat Noir now."

Marinette spared a moment to scratch Tikki's head with a finger. "Thank you." Stepping back a bit, she said, "Tikki, spots on!"

Transformation complete and her identity firmly intact, Ladybug rushed back to her kitty.

As soon as Ladybug ran off, Chat collapsed on the viewing deck. Pulling his legs up to his chest, he clapped his hands over his ears and clamped his eyes shut. You screwed up majorly this time, idiot, he thought to himself.

All around him, Paris was slowly starting to come alive again, street lights coming back on, cars starting up. Everyone moving on.

Everyone except Chat.

His hands migrated from his ears to his eyes. You thought Chat Noir was free? he thought bitterly. Think again. He can fail just as much as Adrien can.

And when he fails, he fails harder.

Chat Noir was so caught up in his thoughts that he practically leapt into the air when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Springing to his feet, he wildly looked around before he finally noticed Ladybug watching him sadly, her hand stretched out before her.

He crossed his arms tightly across his chest before offering an awkward wave. "H-hey, m'lady. Don't you look purr-ty tonight."

She cocked her head, examining him, and Chat Noir did his best not to flinch under her gaze (you screwed up, you screwed up, screwed up, screwedup). He had absolutely no idea what was going through her mind at the moment.

The moment was broken when Ladybug sighed before plopping herself down, her legs out before her and her arms out back, supporting her. She surveyed the Paris skyline as she requested, "Sit with me?"

Hesitantly, Chat sat down cross-legged next to her. He startled when she leaned her head on his shoulder. His breath shuddering, he stilled for a moment, before resting his cheek on her soft hair. They sat in silence and watched the city below them.

Suddenly, Ladybug said, "I didn't know you liked the stars."

Char Noir nearly laughed at the ridiculousness of it. Of all the things that she could have said, she choose that? "I, yeah, I really do."

Another breath of silence, before, "What constellation is your favorite?"

He opened his mouth to answer before she cut him off. "And don't you just tell me a generic one. I know you, minou, and I can guarantee that Orion or the Big Dipper is not your favorite."

He chuckled bitterly and turned his face into her fair, breathing in her scent, a smell of bread and lavender. "Oh how you would me, m'lady. I wouldn't dream of lying to you." He paused. "My favorite constellation is Eridanus, the king of rivers."

Ladybug hummed. "I can't say I'm familiar with it."

Chat shrugged, bobbling both of their heads with the movement. "I can't say I'm surprised. It's not really well known." Chat hesitated for a second before lifting his arm and pointing to the sky. "If we could see the stars, it would be right there, one long string of lights between Orion and Cetus, the longest constellation in the sky."

To his silent shock, Ladybug reached up and grabbed his hand, cradling it in one of hers. "Tell me about it?"

For several moments, all Chat Noir could do was look at their hands, before he launched into the story. "Well, Phaethon, he was the son of Apollo, the sun god, right? So for his birthday, he told Apollo, hey, prove I'm your son." At this, Ladybug offered a little giggle. The sound lightened the darkness on his soul, just a little. He continued. "Well, Apollo, being a great dude, said he would give Phaethon anything he wanted. Phaethon, keeping in character, asked to drive the chariot of the sun. Though he was reluctant, Apollo kept his word, allowing Phaethon to steer the chariot, despite knowing that no mortal man could."

Ladybug fidgeted a bit. "Oh no."

Chat gave a breathless chuckle. "Yeah. Anyway, Phaethon lost control pretty quickly, as you would expect. He flew too low, scorching the earth and freezing the heavens, before flying too high, freezing the earth and scorching the heavens. Eventually, Zeus shot him from the sky and he fell, 'just as a star, though it does not really fall, could yet be thought to fall from a clear sky,' as Ovid wrote, before landing in a new land, the Italian river Eridanus soothing his charred features."

The two heroes sat in companionable silence for several more minutes, until Ladybug lifted her head and grabbed Chat's chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. Solemnly, she said, "Let me be your Eridanus, kitty."

He started, but found he couldn't look away from her gaze. "What do you mean?"

Her hand moved to cup his cheek. "You've lost control. Your emotions are all over the place, and this last blow, Hawkmoth's strike, has thrown you out of the sky." He eyes were soft, her voice tender. "Let me be a balm to your charred features, Chat Noir. Let me ease your suffering. Let me be your Eridanus."

Chat Noir swallowed hard before he threw his arms around his partner, his face screwed up in an effort to not cry. She murmured meaningless phrases as she patted his back and ran a hand threw her hair. "It will be okay, minou. Everything is fine." She paused for a second before adding meaningfully, "I will always be here to catch you."

When he had finally calmed down, Chat Noir pulled back and was able to offer her a shaky smile. "Thank you, bugaboo."

She nodded to him, her face completely serios. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Chat instantly shook his hand. "Not…not really."

She smiled softly at him. "Then we won't." She resumed her pervious position, laying her head back on his shoulder. "Tell me about another constellation."

The next day at school, all anyone could talk about was the akuma attack.

"Oh my gosh, Marinette, you would not believe it! I was a constellation!" Alya seemed absolutely thrilled at the thought.

Marinette laughed nervously. "I…can't believe I missed it."

Alya threw her arm around Marinette's shoulders. "I can't believe you did either, girl! Practically everyone in the class got hit!"

"Dude, Adrien escaped too!" a voice called out from behind them. Both girls whirled about to see Nino and Adrien approaching. "It seems like you two always miss the most exciting stuff."

The conversation hitting a little close to home, Marinette desperately changed the topic. "Hey Alya, did you remember Mme Mendeleev's quiz over polyatomic ions?"

Her friend accepted the topic change with surprising ease. "Girl, if I have to tell one more perbromate from a bromate, I'm gonna scream."

Inwardly, Marinette sighed with relief.

She made it through most of the day without a hitch, managing to avoid all sorts of awkward questions from her classmates, until she was in the last class, literature with Mme Bustier.

"Mankind has passed stories down throughout the ages," she began, "using many different mediums. Who can name one?"

"Ooh, ooh, poetry!" Rose piped up excitedly from the back, her hand in the air.

Mme Bustier smiled. "Yes, what else?"

"Novels?" Mylene suggested.

"Good," Mme Bustier said, "but get more creative. There are lots of ways, class!"

"Art," Nathaniel offered, at the same time the Nino said, "Music."

"Now you're getting it," the teacher encouraged, "What else?"

Gaining confidence, the class began to offer up answers rapidly.

"Religion!"

"Dance?"

"Plays."

"Architecture!"

"Constellations."

Marinette whipped her head around to look at who had offered up this last one, and her gaze landed squarely on Adrien, who was innocently engaged in the lesson. No one else seemed to find his answer odd, but to Marinette…

She buried her head in her arms. She had tried to ignore all of the signs, from Chat's hair and build to the victims of his akuma attacks, but really, this was the last straw.

As soon as the last bell rang, Marinette shoved her stuff in her bag and sprang from her seat, ambushing Adrien as he was leaving the classroom. Ignoring Alya and Nino's shocked looks, she grabbed the blond's arm and yanked him into an empty classroom, telling him as they went, "We need to talk."

Poor Adrien seemed completely and utterly confused as she slammed the door and whirled around to face him. She advanced toward him, poking him in the chest as she said, "You really need to be more careful, kitty."

Marinette could see the surprise in his eyes, and she knew for sure that once the idea that Chat Noir and Adrien were one and the same set it she'd be practically comatose with shock, but for right now, her emotions were running rampant.

"I tried to ignore the fact that Nino and Alya were your first victims, I never actively thought about how familiar Chat's voice was, but your answer was the breaking point. Constellations? Practically no one would have though of that. No one but Chat Noir, who I happen to know has an oddly in-depth knowledge of constellations." She huffed and murmured under her breath, "I swear, if I wasn't such a nice person…"

Some sort of distressed noise was eeking it's way out of Adrien's throat and Marinette glared at him until he was finally able to squeak out, "M'lady?"

And that's it! This story was loads of fun to write. If you enjoyed it, please review!