Hey guys. Time to get really serious.

This fic contains so many triggers. I'm warning you now, as I care too much about all of you to allow you to get triggered because of my writing.

This fic contains:

•rape

There is a good amount of detail gone into what happens in the beginning. Not super detailed, but it is described enough for it to be obvious what the hell is going on.

•self-harm

Mari at one point starts to cut herself. It is a short scene, but is mentioned later when the cuts are being treated.

If any of the above can trigger something in you, please, please, PLEASE, don't read this fic. You lovely people don't deserve to be triggered by something as simple as a fanfiction.

If you are able to read this, I hope you enjoy it (I guess?).

I do not own Miraculous, otherwise Gabe would be a better father.

THIS IS YOUR LAST TRIGGER WARNING, FOR THOSE WHO SKIPPED THE AUTHOR'S NOTES. LAST WARNING!

Screams.

Pain.

Bruises.

Deflowered.

A constant nightmare on an infinite loop, with no plans to leave the poor girl alone. Her usually peaceful mind was anything but. Sleep evaded her—or maybe she evaded it. It wouldn't bring the peace she so desperately craved. It wouldn't allow her to escape from the turmoil in her brain that was making her life hell. It would only force her to relive every horrific detail.

Taken advantage of.

Held down against her will.

She had heard Tikki's yelp when her purse was ripped from her body. Had heard her screaming and crying. Had been able to sense the dilemma the kwami was facing.

Help her charge, someone she loved with all her immortal being, or keep the Ladybug secret safe as if this male found out he would certainly use it to his advantage.

So she stayed put.

Tikki tried to get Marinette's phone working. Tried to call 112. But she didn't know the password. So she could only sit and cry, whimpering at every scream, unable to help.

Marinette didn't blame the demigod. How could she, after she found Tikki crying her eyes out, unable to stop for hours. And even after she calmed down, she couldn't bring herself to speak without the formation of tears.

Of course, the girl fought back. She bit, hit, punched, and kicked. She kneed him in the groin, screamed into his ears, spat in his face. But to no prevail.

He kept going. Kept murmuring how beautiful she was. How deliciously tight she felt. All she could do was try and free her hands from his strong grip. Try to move the legs he had pinned down with his own.

This monster. This shitty, pathetic excuse of a life. He ruined her. He ruined her and she couldn't tell a soul. After all, no one would believe her.

She had heard the stories. Seen the news. Women humiliated in front of a jury. The men walking away, free to continue their life as normal. The rapist painted as the victim in the scenario where he truly was the thief.

So she kept it to herself.

She went to school, not bothering to care for how she looked. Having brushed hair is for people who aren't tainted. Having nice clothing is for those who don't have to worry about whether their birth control is going to prevent them from carrying the seed of a monster.

Worry was evident on every familiar face she passed.

Alya tried to pry out what was wrong. Tried to comfort when she started to cry. Tried to give the girl the space she requested. Tried to understand when Marinette refused to let her in.

Nino tried a different approach. As he had known Marinette longer than the other two, he simply tried observation. He saw how she gave up caring for her physical well-being. Saw how she didn't answer questions like she usually did. Watched as she didn't move when the lunch bell rang. Noticed she didn't go home to eat or leave the school to go find a meal.

Adrien tried to be extra nice. He didn't want to do something and make her feel worse, so he became The Perfect Gentleman. Gave her the answers to the questions she left blank. Kept people from bothering her all day. Opened doors and carried anything she couldn't bring herself to pick up.

Even Chloé was worried. Marinette never was like this. Even when angry, she still managed to take care of herself. Even when depressed, managed to defend herself when Chloé teased her, instead of just drawing into herself. Worry evident on her face, she berated Alya, demanding to know who hurt Marinette. Alya, to her dismay, knew nothing. They both had tears in their eyes as they turned to look at the girl they both wanted so desperately to help.

The trio stayed after school to converse, wanting nothing more than to help their friend.

Alya sobbed as Nino tried to comfort her, Adrien looking down, no one able to bring themselves to voice the obvious.

Something tragic had happened to Marinette.

But what that something was would be nearly impossible to figure out. She hadn't spoken one word all day, other than to tell Alya to lay off.

Adrien, desperate for answers, tried to suggest a family member she was close to had perished, leaving her in a state of depression.

Quick to dismiss the idea, Alya reasoned that Marinette would be willing, at least with her, to talk about it.

Sighing, Adrien continued to stare off into space. He knew she was right. Knew there was nothing they could do at the moment. But that didn't stop the gut-wrenching feeling of guilt that continued to traverse through his body. He wasn't helping his princess. Wasn't protecting her from all harm. What kind of 'knight in shining armor' was he?

Nino, breaking the silence, said he was going to take Alya home. Telling Adrien they'd talk later, he started the slow process of getting Alya up and helping her walk home.

The second they turned the corner, Adrien ran to an alley and transformed, determined to help, even if he got shouted and kicked out of her life forever for it.

Tapping at her trap door, he waited.

And waited. . .

And waited. . .

He knew she was home, having seen her head into the bakery himself not even 30 minutes ago. Shaking his head, he clambered down the side of the building.

Not caring about people questioning him anymore, Chat Noir walked into the bakery. Greeting Mrs. Dupain-Cheng, he inquired as to the whereabouts of Marinette.

She was hesitant at first, but he reassured that he just wanted to check up on her. He simply wanted to make sure she was okay but had no clue as to where he could find her.

Relaxing, she pointed to the back door and said she was up in her room. With a grateful smile, he thanked the kind woman and headed up the stairs.

...oOo…

Marinette sat in her chair, trembling. She knew the people at school had only wanted to help, but they instead made everything worse.

Tap-tap.

She knew who was there. Knew who wanted to help. But her kitty wouldn't want to help after he found out what happened. He would stare at her in disgust, and run away, never daring to look at her again.

And she wouldn't even blame him, that was the worst part. Hell, she would stare at herself in disgust if she could even gather the courage to look in a mirror.

As memories started to resurface, Marinette clenched her hair as she grimaced, phantom pain covering her body.

In an attempt to rid herself of the pain, she grasped for her exacto knife she kept with her sewing kit and cut a small slit in her wrist.

Letting out a relieved sigh as the pain started to centralize, she cut another. And another. And another. The pain left her private area, left the bruises and scrapes she had littering her body and all went to the cuts on her wrist.

Marinette brought the knife back up to her wrist to cut another when her trap door slammed open. Snapping her head to see who dared intrude when she specifically told her parents she wanted to be left alone, she was surprised to see Chat Noir standing there.

His jaw was dropped, which left her a little confused. Yes, she knew she looked horrible. Knew she wasn't looking like her normal self. But that didn't warrant a reaction like—oh.

Setting the knife down, she looked down, shame pooling in her stomach. Tears slowly started to form, quietly sliding down her face.

She heard her partner closing the distance between them. Clenching her eyes, she prepared for him to scold her or shout at her in disgust.

What she hadn't been expecting, was a hug.

Looking down, she saw the man hugging her as tightly as he could without causing her more pain, balling his eyes out. She was at a loss with what to do, unsure as to what the next move to make was.

They sat in that uncomfortable silence for a long time, Chat sobbing and Marinette unsure of what to do.

"Talk to me, princess." Chat croaked out, looking up at her with his tear-filled eyes. "What's wrong? Please talk to me, let me help."

Looking down, Marinette closed her eyes as she weighed her responses. Taking a steadying breath, she muttered: "You wouldn't believe me." Her voice was raspy from not using it all day, but she couldn't bring herself to care. "And even if you did, you wouldn't want to help me after you knew what happened."

"Marinette?"

No response.

"Marinette? Princess? Look at me, please."

Opening one eye, she saw Chat kneeling on the floor in front of her, tears still falling rapidly.

"Princess, I would never, ever, ever turn my back on you. In fact, you have no idea how guilty I feel at the fact that I wasn't there to prevent whatever happened from happening.

"I can tell you want help. You want someone to fix this. I may not be able to reverse what happened, but I can help get the weight off your shoulders."

His breathing hitched as he spoke his next words with so much conviction that she felt herself starting to believe him.

"Princess, you mean too much to me for me to even consider leaving you when you're hurting this much."

At that, the floodgates opened. Tears pouring out, Marinette couldn't do anything but cry. Chat wrapped his arms around her, and they sobbed together.

They sat like that for almost an hour, both crying, although each for separate reasons.

As Marinette started to calm down, with Chat rubbing his thumbs in soothing circles on her back, the man gently asked where her spare blankets, a first aid kit, and a kettle were.

After receiving the locations of each request, Chat promised the girl he would be back in around 15 minutes.

13 minutes later, the superhero walked in with 5 blankets over his shoulders and a tray filled with snacks and tea.

Setting the tray down on her desk, Chat asked Marinette to change into her pajamas so she was still comfortable but didn't overheat.

It took her almost ten minutes to complete that simple task, but nevertheless, it was completed. Smiling warmly at the fragile girl before him, Chat beckoned her over.

Stumbling over, she was brought into a hug from the boy, and he led her over to her chaise. He helped her sit down, and brought out some cotton balls, rubbing alcohol, and band-aids.

"Princess?"

She hummed in response.

"This is going to sting. If you want, you can clench onto my shoulder. I just don't want your parents to come up, ready to murder me for hurting you." He said the last part with a small chuckle and gave her an encouraging smile as she held onto his shoulder.

Pressing the alcohol soaked cotton down, he gently dabbed at the cuts she had inflicted. He felt her body tense, but she didn't respond in any other way again.

He noticed fresh bruises and scrapes that weren't from her but decided to keep quiet about them, figuring she'd tell him when she was ready.

After everything was cleaned up, and her cuts were properly covered, Chat sat down next to her, gently pulling her into a cuddling position. Laying the blankets strategically over them, he also set the tray on their laps for easy access.

Pouring the tea and rationing out the snacks was the easy part. Getting her to eat them was a whole other challenge in itself.

Although the cookies were enticing, Marinette made it clear she didn't deserve them. Going so far to state it aloud, to which the alley cat retorted, "There is not a single person in this world more deserving of your parent's treats than you, Mari."

Reluctantly, the girl took a small bite out of a cookie. Still warm, the cookie left a pleasant taste in her mouth. Slowly, she kept taking bite after bite until the cookie was gone. Thirsty, she took a small sip of the tea until that was gone as well.

Looking up, she blushed at the expression the cat sat beside her was giving her. Full of pride, the man started to rub her arm, making it clear he was proud of her and ready for her to talk whenever.

Taking a deep breath, the girl started to reassure herself. This is Chat Noir, your trusted partner. He would never judge you, he even said so himself. Besides, wouldn't it be nice to have someone to talk to?

"Last night," she started, "I was walking home. I sometimes take walks at night to clear my head and was only a couple minutes away from returning home. Suddenly, someone—" she stopped there, unable to continue as panic overtook her body.

Rigid in his arms, Chat Noir continued to rub at her arm, attempting to gain her attention.

"Princess, hey princess. Listen to me. Alright, we're going to take a deep breath in . . . and a deep breath out. Deep breath in . . . deep breath out. That's it! Deep breath in . . . deep breath out . . ."

Slowly, but surely, the boy brought her back to reality, helping her keep her anxiety at bay. Smiling gratefully at him, she snuggled closer to him. She laid there, listening to his heartbeat, for a long time. After some time, she attempted to finish her story.

"I had been walking when I fe-felt someone grabs my wrist and pulls me into an alley. I started to scream, but he clamped a hand over my mouth as he ripped my purse from my body. Th-then his hands started to wander and—"

She started to panic again, but Chat rubbing her back and quietly shushed her, encouraging her to get it all off her chest.

"And he ripped my, ripped my jacket and shirt off, and then pulled my jeans down and started, started to plea-pleasure himself."

Chat pulled her closer to him, rubbing circled on her back. She felt her hair start to get wet, and she realized he had started to cry again. That triggered her tear ducts too, as she started to whine unabashedly.

"He took advantage of me Chat! He-he used my body and I couldn't get him off! He was," gulp, "he was too strong! And now I'm tainted and no one will ever—"

"Woah, woah, woah." Chat started, gently moving her head to meet his eyes. Seeing the sadness in her eyes was a punch to his gut. Hearing her say she was tainted was a gunshot in his chest.

"None of this makes you any less human, you got that? You are still the same, sweet, beautiful, Marinette I call princess. Yes, what that monster did was shitty and if I ever find him he will learn the true meaning of pain.

"But you? You are not tainted. You are simply someone who has gone through a horrific experience no one should ever have to go through. Do you understand me?"

The ferocity behind his words moved her. The love and sadness in his eyes moved her. And before she knew it, she had tackled him in a hug, not caring for the tray she knocked off of their laps.

Hugging her back just as hard, Chat asked why she hadn't told anyone.

"No one would believe me. You know the world, you know how it works. No one would believe me, and no one can help me either."

"Not even your friends? Not Alya, or Nino? Not Adrien?"

Looking down, Marinette's lips started to tremble.

"They might believe me. But they can't help. No one can."

"Bullshit."

Hearing such a fierce exclamation from him startled her, forcing her to shoot her head upwards. Her eyes locked with his, she saw fire behind the words that tumbled out next, him speaking so quickly she could barely understand.

"Sure, maybe they can't help legally. Maybe you can't get the justice you five-thousand percent deserve. But they can do what I did. They can listen. Help you get the weight off your chest. Be there for you, like all friends should be.

"They can help you avoid situations like this again. Checking up on you. Hell, I'll walk around with you every night if you want. They can make sure people at school don't bother you. They can make sure you don't feel the need to inflict pain on yourself.

"Maybe you can't get the full justice you deserve. But they're your friends, Princess. They'll do whatever it takes to protect and help you, no matter what."

Tears dripping down his face, Marinette had never seen Chat so passionate about something before. He was so sure of himself, so confident in what he was saying.

Slowly but surely, Marinette felt the confidence oozing into her body, taking the reins. With her tears blurring her vision, she wrapped her arms around the boy. Feeling him hug her right back, she couldn't help but smile.

When he kissed the top of her head, massaging small circles into her back, Mari felt some of the pain float away, no longer weighing her down.

"Thanks, Chaton." She mumbled into his chest. "You really are the best, you know."

"Anything for you, Princess." He muttered, too preoccupied with the cuddling to notice the footsteps coming towards the trapdoor.

Knock-knock.

Marinette looked up at Chat, alarm replacing the warm feeling for the time being.

"Yes?" Marinette called out, hoping no one came in.

"We were just making sure you were okay, sweetie! Chat came in earlier, and he never came out. He seemed so desperate to talk to you, is all." Her mom called out, muffled a little because of the barrier.

"I'm all good Maman! Chat left through the balcony a while ago."

"Okay, sweetheart. Dinner will be ready within the hour!"

"Got it, Papa!"

As the footsteps returned, this time going away from the door, Marinette sighed, looking back at the cat with confusion on her mind.

"How did you know something was wrong with me?" She asked, remember how he slammed the door open earlier, obviously wanting to get in quickly.

"Adrien."

Tilting her head, she asked what he meant.

Looking away from her a blush spreading across his face, he explained: "Your friends were all extremely worried about you. Adrien didn't know how to help, so he contacted me, saying he didn't want you to become an Akuma."

Glancing back down at her, it was his turn to be confused. "Princess?"

"I, I'm good. I'm good." She whispered, obviously off in her own world.

Laughing to himself, he stretched his neck before grabbing her hand and kissing it, coyly saying: "Well, Princess. If you really wanted me to leave earlier, you should have just asked."

Rolling her eyes, she mimed anger, saying, "That was only to get rid of my parents, silly."

With a loud laugh, Chat threw his arms back around Marinette, kissed the top of her head, before promptly standing up and bowing.

"Well, as much as I love your company, I really better be off. My owner will, quite literally, kill me if I stay out too late. And I really don't want a tracker implanted in me."

Giggling, Mari retorted, "Maybe you need it then."

With her expression softening, she got up to hug him one last time, whispering: "Thank you, Chat. For everything. And, did you really mean it?"

"I'm not sure which part you're talking about, but I meant every word I said."

With a chuckle, she bopped his nose before turning and walking over to her desk.

"See you tomorrow night then!"

His bell jingling softly as he quirked his head, a soft 'huh' could be heard from across the room.

"You did say you would accompany me on my late night strolls, no? So, see you tomorrow!"

With a happy smile on his face, the boy bowed once more, before responding, "I'll be counting down the seconds, Princess."

He...he.

So, that was the fic. I'm debating making it chaptered. Let me know what you think in the replies!

I'm sorry if I made anyone upset because of this story. It came to me a week or so ago, and I worked very hard on this in order to make sure it was good.

If I make more chapters, it would be Mari telling her friends, family, and slowly becoming herself again.

ALSO:

IF I SEE ANY, AND I MEAN AANNYYYYYY, VICTIM BLAMING REPLIES ON MY STORY, I WILL NOT HESITATE TO GO OFF. IT IS NEVER THE PERSON WHO WAS RAPED'S FAULT. ALWAYS THE FUCKING RAPIST.

Okay! PSA over!

I hope you lovelies have a wonderful rest of your day, and see you in the next fic!