Gonna admit, I was not looking forward to this chapter. Action scenes are not my specialty, so... yeah... Hope you all like!

Chapter 6: I'm Her

Marinette felt the fabric of her suit materialize over her skin and immediately bounded in the same direction as Chat. She had already lost him among the dust in the time it took her to transform, but she knew he was headed towards the explosions. Her heart pounded in her chest with every second that passed. Finally the dust seemed to be settling since the last explosion and she saw a dark figure kneeling on the ground. Her blood was instantly spiked with fear. She walked towards it, and then she saw that it wasn't Chat, but the figure was clad in orange, black, and white. One that was too focused on whatever was under her to notice Ladybug's approach. The blonde-haired body under her. The unmoving blonde-haired body underneath her. The heroine sprinted towards them, panic infused in the yoyo that she threw forward. Fortunately it hit the akumatized villian square in the skull and they recoiled in pain, briefly letting go of their victim on the ground. Ladybug took the chance to tackle them, knocking them off Chat and to the ground. It was just as she suspected as soon as she saw the costume. Vulpina. Her face was curled into an ugly sneer as she stared up at the furious heroine. Ladybug's knee was digging into the other girl's chest, pinning her to the ground. She could feel her chest heaving, pure rage shaking her body. The idea, the raw temptation to ground her heel into the villain's throat until her windpipe crushed under pressure suddenly seized her. For a second she shifted her weight to do just that.

"Bitch," Vulpina spat, snarling. Ladybug's temper flared, but she could feel Tikki still inside her, the tiny god trying to ease the anger away from murderous. Akuma. Item. She just needed to break the item. Just break the item and it will be over. Her eyes scanned down to the same necklace it was last time. This time it was the same deep purple that akumatized items usually are. Grasping the pendent in her hands, she ripped it harshly from the girl's neck and crushed it in her palm. A small butterfly fluttered out and without a word, she tossed her yoyo in the air and caught it. She barely even watched the purified one fly away. She just stared down at Lila, chest still heaving underneath her knee. She stared down at her for a few seconds and the purified "victim" stared back just at hatefully. Finally Ladybug stood,

"Leave." The girl curled her lip at her but she had already turned around to Chat, now detransformed. He was still laying on the ground, looking even more fragile without the suit and mask. He hadn't moved. Suddenly the panic in Marinette's veins returned. She rushed over to the limp boy, trying to shake him. No response. If he was breathing, it was too shallow for her to be able to see. The blurring tears in her eyes weren't helping any. She pressed her hand to his chest, and just barely, just barely there was a flutter. She was gulping down air and staring down at his unresponsive face. What could she do? What could she do? What do you do when someone isn't breathing? CPR. She took a few more deep breaths and thought back to those mandatory classes during health. She laid him down, hands shaking. Interlock her hands. Center of his chest. Breath in. Breath out. She gulped hard and felt hot wet tears gather in the corners of her mouth. With one last deep breath she leaned down and blew into his mouth as hard she could then broke away and started pushing. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. When was she supposed to give another breath? Was it better too early or too late? All the information she had so meticulously studied had drained with the blood in her pallid face. Screw it, she took another deep breath and tried to transfer it to him. Back to pumping. 1. 2. His chest rose against her hands and she heard the intake of breath. A little cry escaped her mouth and she lifted her hands. Another breath. She had to hold her hands against her mouth to stop the sob of relief from coming out. His eyelids fluttered and he groaned. She watched as he slowly blinked and looked up at her. His eyes shone like underwater emeralds,

"Ladybug?" his voice was hoarse. She nodded, waiting on his every word as tears rolled down her face uncontrollably. "We're... dead... aren't we?" he whispered. She shook her head. His head moved a bit, what she assumed might be him trying to tilt it, "But... you..." The wet coating on his eyes pooled into tears and slid down his cheeks.

"I'm okay. You're okay. Oh thank God," she breathed. She reached out with one hand to brush the tears from his cheeks.

"I wasn't... I didn't protect you though... You were..." A coarse little cry came from his throat and he struggled to his elbows, dragging himself towards her. His head laid on her lap and she cradled him close, too shaken to be worried or ashamed. She could feel his tears falling on her suit and held him as tightly as she dared.

"You both deserved to die," came a hiss from behind them. Lila was sitting on the ground still, fists clenched at her sides. Ladybug and Adrien both turned their heads and the former felt her anger immediately build back up.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ladybug snapped back at her. Her patience was close to breaking. It was like the only difference between Lila and Vulpina was appearance.

"Wrong with me? Wrong with me?!" her voice rose, "You were the ones who ruined me! You embarrassed me in front of the only boy worthy of my attention, only for me to find out that he was one of the very ones that victimized me! Time and time again! I'm sick and tired of both of you getting in my way!" Ladybug just shook her head, lips curled in disgust.

"Go home, Lila. If you try something like this again, I will report you to the police." Lila huffed, but stood and walked away, apparently having no more to say. Marinette couldn't help but feel relief bubble up in her as she turned her focus back to Adrien. He was laying there, an unreadable expression on his face as he stared up at her. She gazed back down at him, heart swelling with all the emotion that had passed through her in the last few minutes. "Adrien... How are you feeling?" she murmured. He stared up at her for a second in confusion, then laboriously raised his hands. His breath caught in his throat. "...Chat?" she asked, wondering if he would respond better to his other name. Instead, tears welled in his eyes as he stared up at her, not speaking. Her heart jumped, "Are-are you ok? What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry..." he croaked, voice thick with damage and emotion.

"Oh kitty, sorry for what? You haven't done anything wrong," she stroked his hair, hoping that it would calm and comfort him.

"I... I didn't protect you. I failed you again..." There were track lines now through the dust and grime on his face.

"What do you mean? You didn't fail me at all."

"No... I, one of my friends, she found out who I am... And now you know too, I failed you," a little whimper came out of his mouth with the words.

"You didn't fail me, I promise you didn't. I'm just glad you're alive, ok?" she whispered. She took a deep breath and threw her yoyo up, calling upon miraculous ladybug. The insects swarmed with magic and buzzed around them repairing the damages. "There, now I'm the only person who knows." He looked up at her with pained confusion etched on his face. She glanced around first, then called down her transformation. "I told you I'm the only one who knows. Lila will forget since she found out when she was akumatized." He stared up at her, eyes impossibly wide in surprise. Suddenly embarrassment shot through her veins as she realized that she was holding his head. On her lap. Detransformed. And he knew who she was now. Ohgodohgod-

"Marinette!" came a scream from the distance. Both Adrien and Marinette jumped and turned their heads to see Alya clambering over the debris that had settled all around them. Adrien propped himself on his elbows with a small grimace and even with the filth covering his skin it was visibly red. "What are you two doing all the way over here?! You're hurt!" Alya came at them like a cheetah that smelled blood, only with opposite intents. Poor Nino was trying to keep up with his girlfriend and make sure she wasn't added to the list of injuries. Adrien managed a smile at his two friends and turned his eyes to Marinette, still half in shock. Marinette on the other hand could feel her eyes drifting closed, the post-adrenaline crash hitting her like a train. When Alya wrapped her arms around her best friend, she went limp in the safe embrace.

Woo! Not dead! Revived! And no this is not the end, there's gonna be a little after story. No the after story will have ~nothing~ to do with Lila because tbh... I don't know what else to do with her. Yeah, I'm being lazy, but let's just pretend she's scheming in the corner and licking her wounds while we focus on the lovebirds.