Ladybug and Chat Noir are watching the dinosaur lying on the ground with tied legs.

"Well, that's weird, we didn't have to use this," says Ladybug, looking at her Lucky Charm - a car jack. "What does that mean?"

"Well, I guess it only means we rock as a team," answers Chat Noir confidently, heading towards the T-Rex. Ladybug suddenly comes up to the realization.

"Chat Noir, wait!" She yanks him backwards by his tail. "I know what to do," she says, and she is off towards the akuma.

"Ladybug!" cries Chat Noir. She ignores him. She is totally concentrated on the task.

"Bon appetite, T-Rex!" she shouts almost victoriously, and her partner is left to watch in horror how she jumps right into the dinosaur's mouth. Its jaws come together, mainly by instinct, right after her.

"Nooooo!" Chat Noir is scared, he is in panic, he can't understand. "You're so gonna pay for this!" That's certainly a given.

Akuma's eyes widen in pain, and the boy watches with immense relief how Ladybug sets the car jack the way to hold dinosaur's jaws fixed apart. Ladybug breaks the bracelet, purifies the akuma and settles everything in order in Paris. She then turns to her partner.

"Pound it?"

He can't take it anymore, and instead of fist bump he gives her a hug.

"Ladybug! It was a wild ride..."

She relaxes in his arms, wanting to savor the moment, but his ring beeps in warning. One pad left.

"Oops, better take my whiskers away," he says and in a moment he is gone.

Ladybug watches him, warmth spreading over all her body, smile on her face.

"See you next time, Chat Noir."

After fighting alongside with Ladybug for more than a year now, it is still the most vivid memory of his lady in Chat Noir's mind.

Not even the moment he realized he was in love with her can compare to that. Then, in the beginning, she was the embodiment of confidence and strength, and it should have been Chat's brightest memory of Ladybug due to all logical things, but he just loves her too much and pays way lot of attention to her, so there are a lot of moments like this to him.

So his brightest memory of her stays the scariest one. The one where he almost lost her forever.

Chat hopes it doesn't change.

But apparently, fate has other plans.

Marinette was smart. Well, maybe not quite enough to figure out her partner's identity when it was right under her nose, but still. Smart enough to figure out how to use her Lucky Charm, where the akuma is hiding and who is the akumatized person.

Smart enough to understand that for taking down Hawkmoth they needed different strategy.

So one Sunday morning she sat down with her notebook and a pen and started thinking.

Hawkmoth wanted their miraculous. Given fact. What he had to do with them was an unsolved mystery, but Marinette wasn't focused on this right now. What else?..

That's when she realized that they knew nothing more for sure. Nothing else about his motives and aims, so she and Chat Noir had to work with that single fact.

If Hawkmoth wanted the miraculous, started Marinette another thought, then what can be done about this fact to stop him? Giving him what he wanted was certainly not the way. Convincing the villain that he didn't need their jewelry seemed stupid and unattainable.

...Unattainable?

What if... What if their miraculous became unattainable? Putting on a show, making one of those disappear? Marinette waved away that thought. Hawkmoth would still look for it. He had to believe it was gone forever.

...gone forever...

It was a moment of perfect clarity, when Marinette knew for sure what to do. What would work against Hawkmoth's goals.

She had to fake her death.

God, it was going to be a very complicated mission.

Ladybug just hoped for it to work out.

The opportunity presented itself three weeks later.

The akuma called itself Fire Fury and was causing fires and explosions, but luckily still didn't hurt any civilians. Still, it was aiming to get to College Francóis-Dupont and destroy the school for whatever reason.

All the students were already evacuated from the building, most of them watching the fight by Alya's side, who was filming the whole thing. Ladybug and Chat Noir tried at least to distract Fire Fury, but it was evident that their attempts were in vain.

"I will get my sweet, hot revenge!" shouted the akuma, throwing something similar to fireball in the school's direction.

Upon hitting one of the walls, the fire exploded, causing one of the classrooms flash like a paper plane. Fire Fury watched it for a moment with a satisfied smirk playing on her face.

That moment was enough for Chat Noir to cataclysm her jacket. Evil butterfly flew out of the possessed object. Ladybug caught her, de-evilized and set free with her usual 'bye-bye, little butterfly'.

She almost regretted the missed opportunity. Fire Fury was violent enough to be a perfect excuse for faking her death. Ladybug glanced at her Lucky Charm - a shield which she tried to use, but it still felt like she was doing it wrong.

A scream could be heard from the room which was still on fire. Right! Ladybug thought. I purified the akuma, but still haven't erased her effects.

Now THAT was a perfect excuse. Despite the logical decision - tossing the shield in the air and fixing the mess - Ladybug flew herself in the open window of the room.

Of course it was Chloé who was left behind. That girl just loved causing troubles, didn't she?

"Ladybug! Help!" the blonde cried out, being cornered by fire.

The spotted heroine jumped on the bookcase and yo-yoed Chloé out of the fire and down on relatively safe ground.

Tick-tock.

The girls'eyes narrowed on the source of the sound.

Little ball, hardly even on fire anymore, ticking ten seconds to zero.

Ladybug barely had time think, she had to act.

The girl subtly dropped a pair of earrings, exact replica of hers, to the ground. (Once she chose to fake her death, she immediately made a pair and took them everywhere with her. Made of iron, they weren't easy to destroy.)

She shoved Chloé out of the classroom and put her on the ground one floor lower in the hall, facing the ground.

"Gotta stop that thing!" Ladybug shouted, and Chloé heard the zip of yo-yo pulling Ladybug upwards.

'What does she think she is doing? She is going to die!' were blonde's ultimately scared thoughts. Surely Ladybug always managed to win, but this time?.. It was very stupid of her.

Meanwhile, once upstairs, Ladybug ran as fast and as quietly as she could away from the fire. Four... Three... Two... She threw herself on the ground, putting the shield above herself. One...

BOM!

The explosion was earth-shattering. She hoped Chloé was okay... But the mission was still incomplete, she had other things to worry about.

"Miraculous Ladybug," the heroine whispered, tossing the shield only several centimeters in the air. "Tikki, spots off."

With all her luck, the door next to her turned out to be girls' bathroom. Marinette managed to open the door quietly and roll in the bathroom, still not standing up. Only once inside, door closed, the girl pulled herself on her feet and let out a breath. It went perfect.

"Pound it," she whispered to herself.

"LADYBUG!"

Two equally terrified voices reached Marinette's ears. First Chloé's from the downside, second ...

The second belonged to Chat Noir, who she assumed was now in that classroom.

"LADYBUG, NO!"

The crowd outside gasped at the implication of Chat Noir's cry. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

"MY LADY! NO, YOU CAN'T! LADYBUG! Ladybug! La-dy..."

OH MY GOD, realized Marinette with growing horror. I'm the worst partner in the world. I...

I forgot to tell Chat Noir about my death.

She hoped, she prayed that her kitty would survive it.

The crowd downstairs exploded in the mix of terror cries, gasps and tears.

Marinette's heart sank down.

What had she done?!