A Time and a Place

A Miraculous Ladybug Fanfiction

By Mintaka14

"Second Chance."

Viperion released his bracelet and time jolted backwards.

Chat Noir turned and grinned at Ladybug for the eighth time, but before he could say anything, Viperion had a grip on his cat suit, his fist over Chat's heart.

"What the hell?!" Chat yelped.

"We need to have a talk," Viperion said grimly.

The muscles in his shoulders bunched, and Chat backed up involuntarily. Viperion's eyes behind his mask were like ice.

"Viperion?" Ladybug asked warily, and the ice melted a little as he gave her a tiny smile.

"Don't worry, it's just a bit of guy talk." That would have been a whole lot more reassuring if he didn't still have Chat's suit bunched in his fist. Ladybug shot a quick glance at the open air around them, but there didn't seem to be any sign of black butterfly wings.

Viperion moved Chat backwards with grim purpose. Once they were out of earshot he released his hold with a slight shove, and Chat snarled at him.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"If," Viperion said in a voice of cold, deep certainty, "you get her killed again with your flirting and jokes and distractions, you won't have to worry about Hawkmoth. Because I will end you myself."

"I- what? Killed?" Chat stumbled in confused horror.

"Seven times."

There was no sympathy or leniency in Viperion's eyes.

"Ladybug has just died seven times over, and I had to watch it happen, because you seem to have no idea that there is a time and a place for playing games, and the middle of a battle isn't it. And because you just don't know how to take no for an answer."

Chat sputtered.

"The first time," Viperion went on relentlessly, "you tried to kiss her hand and the akuma got her because she was distracted trying to get you to let go. The second time, you were busy coming up with puns and the akuma went for you. She died trying to protect you."

Chat was silent.

"The third time." Viperion looked like he was going to be sick at the memory. "She was thrown into a wall while you were arguing about whether she trusted you or not and she didn't make it. The fourth time-"

"Stop!" Chat shouted. He clapped his hands over his ears and then dropped them again, glaring at the taller boy. "I get it."

"Do you?" Viperion raised an eyebrow, his eyes still cold. He stepped back, glancing over his shoulder to where Ladybug was watching them with a deep frown. "We still have a battle to fight here, and the lady is waiting."

The akuma was dealt with swiftly after that, and if Chat Noir was more subdued than usual, Ladybug didn't comment on it. Chat Noir cataclysmed the object, releasing the butterfly without fanfare, and took off the moment that the flurry of ladybugs vanished. Viperion noticed that Ladybug didn't make a move to follow her partner.

Instead, she turned to meet his eyes as her earrings gave a warning beep.

"How many times did you have to reset?" she asked, and Viperion drew a sharp breath.

"That was the eighth."

"And it was because of Chat?"

Viperion said nothing. Eventually he sighed, raking his hands through his hair, and gave her a wry smile, nodding at her earrings. "You'd better get going."

She gave him a look that suggested she wasn't letting it go. "Viperion-"

"I'm fine. Go."

Her earrings became more insistent, and Ladybug swung away without any further argument, but Luka wasn't surprised when she dropped onto the deck of his houseboat later with that look of steel in her eyes. He was sitting on one of the deck chairs with his guitar leaning silently beside him, his elbows resting on his knees as he stared at his chipped black nailpolish, but he looked up as she landed.

The first thing she said, her blue eyes fixed on him, was, "I haven't seen you like that since - since Silencer. Should I be worried?"

There was a long moment. Luka took a deep breath, trying to pick his words.

"This isn't about jealousy," he said carefully. "I need you to know that."

Behind the red and black mask, her eyes were bewildered and a little wary.

"I've kept out of things between you and Chat Noir. He loves you, he's trying to win you, and I can sympathise with that even if I don't like the way he's going about it. I know you care about him even if it's maybe not the way he wants. But he's putting you in danger. Today wasn't the first time I've had to use second chance to fix the damage he's done, but it was the worst so far. It wasn't one moment of miscalculation or distraction; it just kept happening over and over again, and Chat just got worse."

"What happened?" she asked quietly. His eyes dropped to his hands again. There was really no easy way to say it.

Luka said baldly, "You died. Seven times."

"And this was not the first time."

It wasn't a question. He clasped his hands tighter to stop the shaking.

"Why didn't you say anything before?" Her voice was a little strained, and she dropped to kneel before him, tilting to look him in the eyes. "Luka?"

His usual calm smile twisted a little. "I'm not exactly a disinterested party here."

She was still watching him, frowning slightly.

"I don't exactly enjoy watching another guy putting the moves on my girlfriend, but I wasn't going to act like the jealous boyfriend and give all your secrets away. As long as you weren't in serious danger I figured I should stay quiet, and mostly it's just close calls, but today was bad."

Ladybug sucked in a sharp breath, rocking backwards on her heels. He caught her as she nearly fell over.

"How long have you known?" she breathed, and his smile grew a little more genuine.

"It's been a while," he admitted. "I had my suspicions, back when you fought Captain Hardrock. I don't know exactly when I knew for sure. I just know that the more I came to know you, the more I heard Marinette's song, the more certain I was that I heard the same music in Ladybug. The same music, just in a different key. And I've seen things as Viperion that confirmed it." His hand reached automatically for the comfort of the guitar beside him.

"I know how to keep a secret," he reassured her, and in front of him, Marinette smiled behind her Ladybug mask.

"I know you do. You didn't give any hints as either Luka or Viperion that you were onto me."

"I didn't want to make your job any harder than it is."

"Do you… do you know who Chat is?" she asked quietly, and he levelled a look at her.

"You know I'm not going to tell you that, even if I know."

"See? Good with secrets." Her smile fell away. "I'm not looking forward to talking to Chat about today, though."

"Do you want me to come too?" he asked, and she shook her head.

"I'd better do this alone. He deserves that much. And besides, I think you scared him a bit."

"Good," Luka muttered.

"I swear, I've told him that I don't love him like that." The anxiety in her blue eyes as she looked at him almost broke his heart, and Luka reached out to her. He suddenly found himself with a lap full of red and black superhero and Ladybug's hands bunched in his Jagged Stone t-shirt. He wrapped his own arms around her and held her close.

"I know, babe. He's just… persistent."

"I've tried to tell him nicely. I've told him I'm in love with someone else. I don't want to hurt him. I thought he understood and he'd accepted it, but he just keeps pushing it, so now I'm going to have to be brutal and it's going to hurt."

He saw her shoulders tense up, and there was an angry huff into his shirt. "Why do I have to be the bad guy here?"

"Sweetheart, you're not," Luka sighed into her hair. "Maybe he really gets it now. I know he doesn't want you to get hurt – I've seen it every time something happens. Maybe he'll settle down and you can be proper partners again. "

"Maybe," Ladybug said sceptically. Luka gave her a swift, tight hug.

"And the sooner you go talk to him, the sooner you can come back for cuddles."

Her face lit up with a sudden smile, the way he'd hoped it would, and she pushed herself to her feet.

"There's something to look forward to," she grinned at him, and Luka was smitten all over again. She leaned down to drop a kiss on the corner of his mouth, and he fought to not follow and claim more.

"You'd better get going," he said lightly. "My girlfriend might get jealous if she catches me kissing random superheroes."

"Oh, might she?" Ladybug arched an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah. She's pretty scary, too. And gorgeous, and kind, and crazy smart, and she could come up with fifteen ways to take you down with just the contents of her sewing kit…"

Ladybug was giggling as she spun around and swung away from the houseboat, and as she vanished among the city rooftops Luka spared a sigh and an eye roll for the other man in her life. As Adrien, he hadn't seen or loved Marinette the way she deserved, and as Chat Noir he had put Ladybug at risk. Either way, he'd missed his chance with this amazing girl, and Luka couldn't help feeling a little sorry for him.

Luka reached for his guitar and settled back to wait for Marinette to return. She was safe, she was coming back to him, and there would be cuddles, and Luka's smile broke into a dopey grin at the thought. That was worth every second chance he could make.