"Ladybug?!" Chat yelled in a panic as he searched a local rooftop for his partner. He had watched as she desperately threw her yo-yo in that direction while keeping one hand clutched to her stomach after calling for the miraculous cure. It was unlike her to leave so abruptly, without even doing their congratulatory fist bump. Something had to be wrong.

"LB, where are you?" Chat shouted again. This time he was met with a weak voice calling out for him in reply. The frailty of the voice caused his heart to drop to his stomach.

"Over here," Chat heard from behind the chimney. Rushing to her, Chat found his partner propped up against the chimney with her hand cupped to her stomach; her fingers stained with a crimson red liquid.

"Hey Kitty," she greeted softly with a weak smile. His brows furrowed in disbelief as he took light steps towards her.

"No," he gasped, kneeling down next to her. "We need to get you to the hospital," Chat said urgently as he moved to pick her up only to be stopped with a steady hand on his forearm.

"I'm about to transform back, Chat, and I don't need to bring any suspicious attention to my civilian self," Ladybug explained, letting her thumb carass his arm from underneath her grip. Chat, for once, sat speechless as he looked down at his injured partner. Sensing his shock, Ladybug decided to continue.

"But I could use your help," she whispered, feeling more vulnerable than ever before in her career as a superhero. Before he could reply, a series of beeps sounded from her earrings.

"I'm sorry you have to find out this way, Chaton" Ladybug whispered solemnly as the last beep sounded.

Chat could only stare at the young woman in front of him as his thoughts ran wild. He was going to find out his lady's identity. Under any other circumstance, he would be absolutely elated but this wasn't right. This reveal wasn't by choice.

A bright pink flash of light engulfed the teenage girl, beginning at her toes and moving up her body. Chat quickly shut his eyes before he could make out any important details while her weakened kawami slowly made her way into Marinette's trusty purse.

"No," Chat said firmly, "you didn't want this. I won't look, my lady."

His words made Marinette's heart swell with pride. She knew he had been dying to figure out her identity for quite some time now, and finally when she was sitting barefaced directly in front of him, he chose not to look.

"It's ok, Chat," she whispered fondly as she lifted her hand from his arm to run her now bare fingertips across his cheek. "You can look. You have to so you can help me," her voice now becoming hoarse from exhaustion. Marinette kept her eyes focused on Chat's face, trying to ignore the warm liquid that slowly puddled into the hand resting on her stomach.

Slowly, Marinette watched as his bright green eyes began to peek out from underneath blackclad eyelids. Chat held his breath as he took in every detail of his partner sitting in front of him. He couldn't help but think how familiar the pink capris looked. Her once white shirt was now stained crimson around her injury.

"Marinette?!" Chat gasped as his eyes shot wide open in shock. If she hadn't of felt so woozy, Marinette might have cared enough to blush at his reaction, but the blood loss was beginning to take its toll.

"Can we talk about this later, Chat? I need to get home," Marinette replied tiredly. Chat immediately snapped back into hero mode, his eyes narrowing in determination. With one gentle swoop, Chat scooped Marinette up into his arms as he had done many times before, but this time was different. This time the girl in his arms wasn't his close friend, but instead, the girl he had been pining desperately after for years.

Chat reached Marinette's balcony in record time, landing as softly as possible. He assisted her through the skylight window, helping to gently lower her onto the bed below. Marinette had never felt more relieved to be back in her bedroom. She laid back comfortably in her bed as Chat made his way down to the lower part of the room.

"Do you have a first aid kit, Marinette?" he asked as he began to shamelessly rummage through her belongings.

In his search, Chat couldn't help but notice the three small picture frames resting on her desk. The first picture was of a group of their friends while out at the park one day after class. The second was of Alya, Nino, Marinette, and himself as Adrien. It was taken during one of their trips to The Louvre. But the middle picture was the one he was most interested in. It showed himself as Adrien dressed in his fencing attire with his arm draped around Marinette's shoulders. A bright red flush stained her cheeks, and she looked mid-giggle when the photo was taken. He remembered that day vividly. It was the day he made finalist of a fencing competition, and while his father wasn't there to cheer for him, his friends never let him down. He was smiling fondly at the picture when he heard her reply.

"It's in the middle dresser drawer on the left," Marinette answered. Chat was quick to retrieve it before returning to her side on the bed. He couldn't help but notice how clammy and pale his friend looked as she rested with her eyes closed.

"I need to see what we're working with," Chat whispered, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. With a half-lidded gaze, Marinette looked down and inched her shirt up just enough to reveal the slash to her stomach. To her surprise, Chat let out a breath of relief.

"It's not as bad as it looked with the red suit," he decided to answer her unspoken question. "This will sting a bit, Bug," Chat warned softly, using one of his familiar pet names for her, hoping it would somehow bring a bit of comfort. Marinette gave a weak nod to let him know she heard him. With the lightest touch of one of the antiseptic pads, Marinette let out a small hiss through her teeth as she tried not to pull away.

"I know it hurts," Chat mumbled softly to her, his voice lined with sympathy. He had cleaned his own wounds plenty of times in the past because it was part of the job. It was his job to take the hits, not Ladybug's...not Marinette's.

Silently, Chat patched up the gash on Marinette's body. Once he was done, Marinette lifted a hand to his cheek. He looked up at her wearing a worried expression on his face.

"Thanks, Chaton," she said with a smile, her voice sounding a bit more sturdy. Chat nodded, hesitantly lifting a hand of his own before letting one of his clawed fingers gently swipe back her bangs. The small sign of affection caused the lightest shade of pink to stain Marinette's cheeks. Chat looked down at his partner and wondered why he had never realized just how amazing his classmate truly was.

"I should let you get rest now, purrincess," Chat purred before giving her a tiny smirk. The sun had set while he was bandaging her up.

His heart fluttered at the sound of her quiet laughter, but as he made the slightest movement to leave her hand gripped his forearm.

"Will you stay, Chat? Just little while longer," Marinette asked. Her bright blue eyes filled with hope stared up at him as she waited for his answer. Chat's heart began to pound as he found himself getting lost at sea in those ocean blue eyes.

"As you wish, my lady," he replied in a whisper. Slowly, he lifted one her hands to his lips as he placed a feather light kiss to her knuckles.

A/N: This takes place three years after receiving their Miraculouses. Also, I'm seriously considering writing a second chapter to cover the events that follow this one. If you'd be interested in that please let me know! Thanks for reading!