Author's note: This story is a series of one-shots that sorta-kinda can go together. Generally the ideas come out of whoever I want to slap some sense into on the show. I did a whole lot of editing/rewriting recently (September 2016), so if parts of the story seem the same but other parts are wildly different...yeah, that's why. I'm leaving this marked as incomplete for the time being since I get the feeling that I'll probably get more ideas during seasons 2 and 3 (and hopefully beyond), but I really will only be updating when I get ideas I like.

Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't even pause for their traditional fist-bump as their Miraculous beeped out a frantic warning. The reporters were too close, and they needed to get away before their time was up.

"This following us thing needs to stop," Chat Noir gasped, clinging to Ladybug as she swung them up onto the nearest rooftop. He glanced behind them as they shot up into the air. "Oh god, they're following us. And the Ladyblogger is leading the charge."

"Split up or stay together?" Ladybug asked as their feet hit the roof and they started running.

"Together. We can pretend to be a couple caught in a closet if all else fails." Chat Noir grimaced at how that came out. Who was he to say if Ladybug would actually be willing to go along with that? They would find out each other's identities if they did that, and he knew perfectly well what Ladybug's feeling were about that. Still, if she was forced to choose between him finding out her identity and the whole world finding it out, he was 99.99% certain that she would rather have just him find out. "Granted, if it gets in the news my friends would never believe- I mean-"

Ladybug laughed a bit breathlessly as they leapt in unison over a street. They could still hear the shouts of the reporters intent on following them. "You mean you aren't normally found with cute girls in secluded closets?

"Hah. No."

They somersaulted through a window of the Grand Paris and into a dark hotel room. They had just landed and checked to make sure the room was actually empty and there weren't any reporters in the shadows when Ladybug's transformation released in a flash of sparkly pink light. Chat Noir spun away respectfully, his eyes squeezed shut.

"Go ahead," Chat Noir said as he faced the wall. "Just make sure the hall is clear, I know the owner's daughter and she would make a huge fuss if someone strange was in the hotel."

Much to Chat Noir's disappointment, Ladybug didn't come back with a tart "Are you calling me strange?" She simply made a quiet noise of acknowledgement. Her footsteps padded quietly towards the door. It opened with a small squeak- Mr. Bourgeois wouldn't be happy about that- and shut a moment later with a small thud and a click. His own transformation released moments later and he exited a full thirty seconds later to a mercifully empty hallway.

Their secret identities were still intact.

For now.

Marinette really had to do something.

For the last few fights, Alya and the other reporters had been practically hounding her and Chat Noir at the end of each fight, following the superhero duo far too close for comfort as they tried to get away to release their transformations. Chat Noir had had to distract Alya several times in order to let Ladybug get away when he had more time left. Several times, too-eager reporters tried to get too close before the fight ended, putting themselves in danger. This couldn't go on forever. It was exhausting, and Ladybug and Chat Noir wouldn't be able to get away every time. The last time had been cutting it far too close.

And much to the superheroes' annoyance, the reporters showed no sign of stopping.

"Don't you think that there might be a reason why Ladybug and Chat Noir hide their identities?" Marinette spoke up as soon as Alya paused partway through a breathless rendition of the most recent fight. "They go out of their way to leave before turning back to their normal selves."

Alya waved a dismissive hand as Nino and Adrien turned around to follow the conversation. "They're just being humble. Maybe they just don't want fans following them in their day-to-day lives." Nino nodded in agreement.

"I feel like it might be important to respect that, though," Marinette argued. "They risk their lives to save Paris almost weekly, don't they deserve a bit of peace and quiet when they aren't fighting?" Before Alya could say anything, she pulled out her best argument. "And don't you think that it would be dangerous for them if people knew who they were? Supervillains could attack them while they're sleeping at night or Hawkmoth might attack them directly."

Alya froze, her mouth open. The finger that had been hovering mid-air, ready to protest, dropped into her lap. Her shoulders drooped sadly, and Marinette could tell that she had gotten her point across.

"That…. is a good point." From the look on Alya's face, it was easy to tell that she had never considered the (very obvious, in Marinette's mind) danger that would come from people knowing who the superheroes were in real life. But then she perked up. "What if I found out and just didn't post it? It wouldn't hurt, right?"

Marinette frowned. Really? Couldn't Alya just drop it? She probably shouldn't have been surprised, considering that Alya could be as stubborn as a bulldog protecting a prized bone when it came to juicy superhero-related scoops, but she wasn't sure how much more she could say before she started to look suspicious.

"You'd still be making Ladybug and Chat Noir uncomfortable by following them when they don't want to be followed," Marinette blurted out before almost slapping her hand over her mouth. She wasn't supposed to know how the superheroes felt! Say something else, anything else, keep Alya from connecting the dots! "And you would still be in danger, I think. What would happen if Hawkmoth suspected that you knew who Ladybug is? He'd probably find akumas to target you and get the information anyway. And I don't think anybody knows for sure whether or not Hawkmoth can akumatize people more than once."

Alya's expression fell again. Marinette felt horrible for crushing her best friend's dreams like this, but it really was for the greater good. Alya would doubtless feel even worse if she found out that Marinette was Ladybug and that information got Marinette injured or killed.

"I think Marinette's right," Adrien spoke up. She glanced over at him and he was smiling at her. Her heart skipped a beat. Smiles like that should be outlawed. "I mean, Hawkmoth might target their friends and family if he knew who Ladybug and Chat Noir are. Even if just a few people knew, who knows? It might accidentally slip out somehow, especially if one of them is in danger of getting hurt during a fight."

Alya looked completely tearful now. "I can't believe I never thought of that! I wanted to be one of their biggest fans, not put them in danger!"

The expression on Adrien's face immediately melted into concern. "I'm sure they understand that, Alya," he assured her hastily. "They'd probably appreciate it more if you were just documenting them, though, not trying to out them."

"I….. I suppose," Alya sighed. She looked absolutely miserable. "I've just been hoping to figure out who they are for so long! And the other reporters are still going to chase after them, and the Ladyblog will lose traffic because people want to know and-"

"People visit the Ladyblog to see your videos and photos, Alya," Marinette said before Alya could really get going. "Sure, they look at your theories and whatnot but I really don't think that's the main attraction."

Alya looked uncertain. "But it's something that other news sources don't have! News stations have video too, and a lot of them have Ladybug and Chat Noir-specific archives that people can look through. And they have places to leave comments, which the Ladyblog doesn't have."

"Do you know how to add the ability to comment?" Marinette asked, all too happy to divert the conversation even just a bit. "I feel like that would require a lot of coding, since people would need accounts to comment, right?"

"It's actually not that hard. I looked into it when I first started the Ladyblog, but there was just so much else going on at the time that I felt like adding a comments section would just be too much work all at once." Alya grimaced. "And then the Ladyblog crashed after I fiddled with it too much one time, so I decided to just leave it as-is for now."

Marinette blinked. "The Ladyblog crashed?"

"It was a while ago, but yeah." Alya winced at the memory. "I was trying to add some coding to my page and inserted it in the wrong place. The whole site was a mess until Max came over and helped me figure out where I had gone wrong. It was a stupid error, really. I've taken a couple coding classes since so I don't do that again."

"So you can add comments now, then!"

Alya's face fell again. "I just don't know if comments are enough to make up for me dropping my search to figure out who Ladybug and Chat Noir are. That'll just make me like every other Ladybug archive out there, and it'll put me behind the reporters that are trying to figure it out."

"Except you have original footage," Marinette pointed out.

"News sites sometimes post it, too, especially if I was closer than they were." Alya let out a frustrated breath. "I just don't know what else I can do to stick out! Finding out who is behind Ladybug's mask is so much part of what the Ladyblog is! I don't want it to flop and for me to just totally drop off the reporting radar because I'm not trying to figure out who Ladybug is!"

"Alya, you know I want your blog to succeed," Marinette said, trying her best not to sound too desperate. "I just don't think that, uh, you know-"

"That throwing Ladybug and Chat Noir under the bus in the process is the best way to do it?" Nino suggested. Marinette sent him a glare.

"I wasn't going to say it like that."

"But the intent is there."

"I'm not throwing them under the bus!" Alya protested. "I mean, it would be the scoop of the century and all, but even I can admit that Marinette has a point. I'll stop trying to unmask them. I'm just worried about the future of the Ladyblog."

"I still don't think you have that much to worry about," Marinette muttered. The Ladyblog had gotten its followers after Alya provided footage, not after anyone had been revealed.

Nino raised his hand. "I have an idea for something else you can add! I know that on some band sites I visit, they show a Twitter feed on the side with tweets that have their hashtag. I don't think a lot of news sites have that on their Ladybug archives."

"You could have feeds for both the Ladybug and Chat Noir hashtags," Marinette suggested, pouncing on the idea. "News sites definitely don't have both."

"I feel like that's a bit redundant, though," Alya said, frowning. "I mean, I'll check to see for sure before saying no for sure but aren't they pretty much always seen together?"

Marinette shrugged with a sheepish look. "I've never checked."

Alya gave her a light shove, laughing. "I know you haven't! It's like pulling teeth just trying to get you to read the Ladyblog sometimes!"

Marinette pouted, about to protest, when Miss Bustier walked into the room. The class quieted down quickly. Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw Alya pull out a piece of paper and start to draft what looked like a letter to go on the Ladyblog.

As the class started, Marinette let herself smile. She and Chat Noir wouldn't have to evade Alya after fights now, and she could only hope that the other reporters would follow suit. Maybe she and her partner could do an exclusive interview with Alya after she posted the letter she was currently drafting as a sort of reward to the Ladyblogger and as a way to encourage the other reporters to back off. Besides, then Ladybug could use that same excuse without looking suspicious when she decided to favor the Ladyblog with exclusive interviews in the future.

It wouldn't fix all of the problems she had, but it was a start.

That night, Alya sat at her computer, typing and re-tying the letter she had written for her blog. She had put this moment off as long as she could (homework for tomorrow, the next night, and the next week had all come first, as had adding the coding for comments to the Ladyblog, followed by searching the internet for codes she could use to pull off the other ideas she had, followed by editing and re-editing her letter until she could find no more wrongs to right), but there was no more avoiding it. Now that it was nearing two o'clock in the morning, she had to upload the post she had finally settled on to announce the end to her quest to unmask Ladybug.

She could only hope that it wouldn't result in her blog tanking overnight.

Taking a deep breath, Alya read over her post one more time. Her mouse hovered over the buttons at the bottom of the screen, ready to post it as soon as she worked up the nerve.

Dear followers of the Ladyblog:

First off, I want to thank everyone for their continued support of Paris' favorite superheroes! It means a lot to me that you would follow my blog, and I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir appreciate it as well! However, I do have some news that may disappoint some of you.

As of right now, I'm no longer going to be trying to figure out who Ladybug and Chat Noir are.

I didn't realize until earlier today how much I, and the other reporters in the city, have been making our superhero duo very uncomfortable when we follow them at the end of a fight. I thought that their desire to stay anonymous was entirely out of humbleness, and didn't consider any other possibilities. I was very wrong to do so, and not just because my attempts to follow them were putting them at risk of de-transforming while they were trying to escape reporters, which in itself is very dangerous considering that they are jumping across rooftops.

If nothing else, they deserve to be able to live a normal life when not behind the mask. And, more importantly, as one of my dear friends pointed out to me, unmasking Ladybug and Chat Noir could actually put them at risk of being killed. If Hawk Moth knew who they were, he could attack them in their sleep and even kill them. Even if you knew and didn't tell anyone, you could be akumatized or be targeted by an akuma- and believe me, that's no fun! So, for the sake of the safety of our beloved superheroes, I will no longer be trying to figure out who they are and I ask that all of you do the same.

Don't worry- I will still be posting exclusive coverage of the fights and hope to add some new sections to the Ladyblog in the near future so that it can remain your best Ladyblog news source!

Thanks,

Alya.

This was it. The post that could send everything she had been working for down the drain. Her cursor hovered over the Post button, but her eyes slid over to the Delete button right next to it. Her traitorous brain whispered to her.

Do you really need to post this now? Why not later? Put it off, keep your followers and your traffic for just a bit longer, does it really hurt anyone if you don't post it for another day or another week…

It was inevitable, Alya knew that. Her followers would notice the minute that she just let Ladybug and Chat Noir leave without following them. It would be better to make the post before and not after the next akuma attack that she filmed, but there was no way of predicting when that would be. It could be the next day, or not until later in the week. If she was really unlucky (or lucky, her brain whispered), she might miss an attack or two because of school and there wouldn't be any video evidence that she had abandoned her quest to find out who the superheroes were.

Still, if she missed too many attacks, Alya knew full well that there were plenty of other Ladybug blogs that would be all too happy to fill in the sudden gap in coverage. They hadn't been as quick on the uptake as Alya herself had been and their 'reporters' weren't as daring as Alya, which accounted for at least part of the disparity in popularity, but she had noticed several of them joining in the chase after Ladybug and Chat Noir after fights were over.

(She had also noticed some reposting of some of her Ladybug articles, especially as of late. She'd have to look up the rules about copying blog posts to see if she could get those taken down. Plagiarism wasn't real reporting.)

This was the same dilemma that had plagued Alya all day, that had made her appear indecisive and insensitive to Ladybug and Chat Noir's safety, that had made Nino accuse her of throwing Ladybug and Chat Noir under the bus just to further her own journalism career. Alya knew full well that she had to do what was right.

Besides, all of her friends had looked over her letter and been positive that it would persuade the Ladyblog's followers that she was doing the right thing.

If they can't respect your reasoning, they were never really fans of Ladybug and Chat Noir, Adrien had assured her. It's their loss, not yours.

As Alya battled her inner demon (you can do this tomorrow, or maybe the next day, or the day after that…), her phone chimed. A text popped up on the screen.

Just post it already, silly! I'm sure it'll be fine - Marinette

Alya snorted. Of course her friend would have stayed up to check the Ladyblog. She probably had picked up on how reluctant Alya was to actually post anything. Alya wouldn't be surprised if Marinette had been planning on keeping an eye on the comments as well, planning on shooting down anyone who dared to protest. It was such a Marinette thing to do.

Uncertainty momentarily banished, Alya hit the Submit button. She waited until the screen came up confirming that her post had been made before picking her phone back up and texting Marinette back.

Just posted! Go to bed already!

Alya shut down her computer as she waited for a response from Marinette. Part of her wanted to stay up all night and watch as the comments came in, just so she could respond to any negative comments, but the other part knew that there was no point. Most of Paris was asleep right now, after all.

She had to stay positive. Most of her followers- most of Paris, really- wouldn't want to put their beloved superheroes at risk. Maybe her follower count would drop a little bit, but the Ladyblog would still survive and push on. She was planning some pretty neat additions to the Ladyblog, after all. If a couple of her followers left, it was their loss.

Besides, Alya thought to herself as she slipped into bed and turned off the lights. Who knows? Maybe someday after Hawkmoth is defeated, Ladybug and Chat Noir will trust me enough to tell me who they really are.

It doesn't hurt to hope, right?