Welcome to my brain! I don't own Miraculous Ladybug. (Oh that I did!) Thank you to HoldTightAndPretendItIsAPlan for giving me the kick in the rear to put this out there... even if this isn't the one you were expecting!

"Miraculous Ladybug!"

Throwing the pepper grinder into the air, Ladybug watched as her swarm of magical beetles put to rights all the havoc that the akumatized victim had wrought. She turned to her partner for their traditional fist bump, but was distressed to see Chat Noir cradling what appeared to be a badly broken arm.

She ran to him as he gave her a dazed smile, and slowly collapsed. Diving, Ladybug caught her partner before he hit the ground, cradling him protectively, only to he met by the sound of her earrings, and his ring, chirping their warning. Chat really needed the hospital, but she couldn't take him transformed, there would be too much explaining for both of them. She needed a safe place to leave him. Looking around, Ladybug realized she was only a few streets from her friend Nino's house. He was the protector of their hero group, kind and caring, and as Carapace, he knew a thing or two about keeping secrets.

Gingerly lifting Chat, Ladybug swung them over a few rooftops to land on the Lahiffe's balcony, peering inside. When she saw only Nino, with his headphones off, she tapped gently at the window. He jumped and spun to face her, but upon seeing Ladybug, gripping an unconscious Chat Noir in her arms, he ran to the window, threw it open, and stepped back, allowing Ladybug to carry her partner inside. She set him gently down on the couch, her hand automatically scratching his head by his kitty ears, whether to comfort him or herself, Nino couldn't tell.

"Nino, he's hurt, and we are both about to transform back." Worry lines etched themselves into Ladybug's expression. "I trust you. I need you to take Chat's civilian self to the hospital. You will see who he is, but that can't be helped right now… medical treatment is much more important. He needs help, and could probably use a friend. I don't know if you will know him, or if he will have a wallet or anything that says his real name, but I know that you can help."

"You can count on me, Ladybug".

"I will check in with you as soon as I can, I hope tonight, but there are things I need to do, to find out first," her earrings let out their penultimate beep, and she strode towards the window. "Thank you, Nino. Bug out."

Ladybug stepped out onto the balcony, and swung herself down the street. Nino watched her for a moment, then turned and looked at the prone body of Chat Noir laying on his couch. A few seconds, and one last mournful chirp later, a flash of green light flooded the room. Nino turned away, until he heard an agonized moan. He spun back towards the couch to stare down at the body of his best friend: Adrien Agreste.

"Dude" breathed Nino.

"Cheese!" A small black figure demanded, as it hovered a few inches above Adrien's (CHAT'S!) chest.

"Huh?"

"I'm Plagg, and I need cheese to restore my energy" grumbled Plagg. "And Adrien probably should see a doctor soon."

That snapped Nino out of his shock. His best friend was Chat Noir, and Chat Noir needed Nino. He snatched some cheese from the fridge, and called an ambulance, telling them that his friend had been caught in an Akuma attack and needed help, which was technically not a lie. He decided he would let the hospital notify Adrien's father… Gabriel Agreste was not someone he wanted to give bad news to.

As Nino waited for the ambulance, he had a few minutes to stop and wonder. He knew he'd been injured in akuma attacks before, as had Rena Rouge, his girlfriend Alya. Neither of them carried so much as a scar. He'd seen the way that Chat Noir was often thrown around in fights, as he dove in to distract the akumatized, or to protect Ladybug, but he'd never even seen a strange bruise on Adrien, either. (Thinking about Adrien as Chat Noir was really odd, but getting easier). He didn't know Ladybug's identity, but he'd never noticed her limping from past battle wounds, even after fighting back to back Akumas. Miraculous Ladybug always seemed to heal them, as well as Paris… so why had it not worked on Chat today?

"Why didn't it work?" Marinette cried to Master Fu, as she paced around his shop. "It has always worked! Why is Chat still hurt? Why wouldn't I fix him? This is all my fault!" She slumped to the ground, tears streaming down her face."

"Miraculous Ladybug has never been perfect or complete", admitted Master Fu, stroking his goatee. "The more you are consciously aware of, the more will be repaired, but there are always small marks left behind; scars on a healing city. Nothing can ever revert back to exactly the way it was before. This usually manifests as a car with a flat tire, a broken window in an office building, or there was the case with the last Ladybug of the purple elephant." Master Fu trailed off.

"But Chat is still hurt", was Marinette's anguished response.

"Marinette. If you tear a dress, and you sew it back together, is it ever exactly the same? Healing skin can often leave scars. If you break a plate, you can glue it back together, but it is never quite the same. Arguments can tear a friendship. Apologies repair it, but the feelings are still there. Nothing is ever exactly the way that it once was, this is the way of the world, no matter how much we may wish it otherwise. Chat Noir being hurt was in no way your fault, he was just unlucky enough to be the element that was missed this time."

After another cup of tea for Marinette, and some sweet treats for Tikki, provided by Wayzz, Marinette was calm enough to leave Master Fu's place without hyperventilating or bursting into tears. She wandered home in a daze, and it wasn't until after she reached the bakery, that she realized she had several messages on her phone. Glancing down curiously, she realized they were from Nino. "Oh! He must be letting me know about Chat Noir!" She thought. Then, "Wait! He knows who I am? How?"

Squeaking, Marinette dropped her phone and proceeded to hyperventilate for a few minutes, until Tikki was able to talk her down. Between bites of cookie, Tikki pointed out that Nino was her friend, and he often texted her. They talked about homework, music, Alya and Adrien, and a thousand other topics. Just because she had interacted with Nino as Ladybug earlier in the day, did not mean he was texting Ladybug now.

Taking a deep breath, Marinette looked at her phone, and exhaled on a sigh of relief. 28 missed messages, but in a group chat with Nino, Alya and Adrien. Nino had left the last message, which is why his name had shown up. Realizing that there would be many more messages if Nino had mentioned Chat Noir, Marinette was almost smiling as she opened the group text.

Nino: Guys, bad news. Adrien got caught in the Akuma Attack. I ran into him a street away from my house. He's currently in the hospital.

Alya: What happened? Doesn't Miraculous Ladybug usually fix everything?

Nino: I don't know what happened. I called the ambulance, and he's in surgery right now.

The phone dropped from Marinette's nerveless fingers, but she didn't notice. Why had Nino taken Adrien to the hospital? What had happened to Chat Noir? How could both of her favorite boys be hurt? But what if… she looked at Tikki, who was watching her, having read the messages from the phone on the floor. Taking a shaky breath, she thought about all the similarities between the two boys, really thought about it. Yes, they were similar in appearance, but when Chat turned serious, or nervous, she'd seen many of Adrien's mannerisms. Dropping heavily into her desk chair, she looked at her friend, "Tikki? Is, could, no. Yes! Is Chat Noir… Adrien?"

"You know I can't answer that Marinette, but what do your instincts tell you? Trust yourself."

Marinette's phone starting ringing, and she let out a little shriek, as Tikki giggled. Glancing at the screen, she saw that it was Alya, and with trembling fingers, she reached to answer it.

"Hey girl! Have you seen your messages?"

"Y-yes. I just looked at them. What happened?"

"We aren't sure", Alya admitted, "We're at the hospital right now. You should come down here."

Knowing that she needed some extra time to process what had been a day of revelations, as well as time to regain her equilibrium, Marinette hedged. "It has been a very busy day, uh, in the bakery, and my parents need me here for a while. Uh, I don't know if I can, but you will let me know how he's doing, right?"

Internally, she was freaking out Chat is Adrien… Adrien is Chat! He's hurt and he won't want me there. I can't visit him as Ladybug, everyone would know. What if everyone already knows? Who saw that Chat was hurt? I can't go. People would know. It would be weird, and he would hate me. He probably already hates me. I couldn't fix him. I can't do it. I can't go as Marinette. I can't handle it, and he wouldn't want Marinette there, anyway.

Alya sighed, "I can hear you panicking girl. Just come by when you can. We'll be here. He won't be out of surgery for a while yet, anyway."

"I-I can do that. I'll bring some cookies."