For @littlestartopaz (who requested it) and @twistedangelsays (who wanted to read it). Chat Noir/Ladybug with G from this post, Chat says the line (“Don’t you ever do that again!”)
All right yeah, look, I really like reveal fics and I really like pain, so this is the product of that. Also, these two kids need to get their shit together and cuddle and care about each other and stuff. I am a simple woman with simple needs. AND this is your friendly reminder that I am taking prompts and there’s a masterlist of ships/fandoms on my blog! Hit me up!
“This guy needs to chill out,” Chat Noir said, shooting a smirk at Ladybug to see her nose crinkle up. Her look of fond distaste was the highlight of his day, every day, the kind of friendly teasing Adrien had always wished for as a little boy. The only thing better was when she actually shot a joke back at him, leaving a warm weight in his chest and a smile on his face.
“That wasn’t even clever, Chat,” she said, spinning her yoyo and letting it fly at the shell of ice between them and the rest of the world. He spun his baton overhand and slammed it into the crack she had left, and as he pulled back the yoyo lashed out again.
“So you think my puns are usually clever?” he asked, grinning, and hit the ice again. “You know, I could have us out of here–”
“This guy is really dangerous, Chat,” she said sharply, and he went serious, his eyes trailing up to where a launched icicle had managed to take a chunk out of a building’s concrete façade. It was true, this akuma was violent and lethal like relatively few they had encountered, with no apparent goal other than engulfing whatever could be managed in ice, and destroying whatever couldn’t. On top of that, he had shown no interest in taking either of them alive, remarking baldly that it would be easier to take the Miraculous’ off their bodies anyway. “I want to have Cataclysm as an option later.” She glanced over her shoulder at him and struck the ice again. “Just…in case.”
“Whatever you say, my lady, but it could take us an hour to get through this ice,” he said, frowning.
She sighed. “All right,” she said, stepping back. “But we’ll have to finish the fight fast once you’ve gotten us out.”
“Cataclysm!” he cried, and the green and black magic clustered around his hand, prickling up his arm like pins and needles. He pressed his palm to the ice and it exploded into steam with a hiss, until they were at the center of a cloud of fast-vanishing fog. “Is that satisfactory, LB?”
“It’ll do, kitty,” she said with a wry smile, and he sketched a bow. Ladybug was out in a heartbeat, glancing back to make sure he was free before pointing up to the closest roof. He nodded and braced his staff against the ground, waiting until she was already on her way up to start up after her.
The street they had been caught on was heavily iced over, the doors of buildings blocked beyond hope of opening them and a handful of people frozen mid-step. The ice was chewing its way up the buildings like a sentient thing and, even though it moved slowly, it was disturbingly inexorable. From their vantage point on the roof, as yet clear of ice, they could see the movement of the akuma, trailing a thick layer of glossy ice behind him, headed for the Seine.
“Makes sense, I guess,” Ladybug said as they started running. Her voice was rough and faint, breathless from the fight and the necessary acrobatics for crossing the wide boulevards, but he could hear every word. Plagg granted him enhanced senses along with the rest of his tricks, but Adrien privately thought that he’d probably hear her just fine even if he was in a coma. “Biggest body of water available to him.”
“On a scale of one to disastrous, how bad do you think it’ll be if he makes it to the river?” Adrien called across to her as he threw himself into the air and landed on another roof with a roll.
“Let’s not find out, yeah?” she said, and she was laughing, and it was like a drug, better than the shot of adrenaline any day.
“Sounds purrfect,” he shouted as they closed on the akuma, and she groaned.
“You’re the worst.”
“Only for you, my lady,” he said with a wink, drawing to a halt at the edge of a building. The pair of them peered over the eave, down at the akuma. He had identified himself as Ice Age which, while uncreative, had a worrying edge to it, and he was dressed in unusually plain clothing, all in white. He was also unnervingly calm about the whole thing. Adrien never thought he’d see the day when he missed the ranting, but Ice Age was steady and toneless and emotionless, and it was creeping the pair of them right the hell out. “Thoughts?”
Ladybug scowled. “Other than the fact that I’d probably feel pretty homicidal too if a bunch of jackasses locked me in a freezer for being gay? Not really.”
“Fair,” Adrien granted. He couldn’t even blame the kid for going off the deep end with Hawk Moth’s help. If any akuma had an excuse for taking the deal offered to them, it was definitely this one. “Where do you think the akuma is?”
She cast an eye over the boy as he swept a hand forward and the ice swallowed a trio of parked cars. “I can’t tell.”
“I saw a necklace, earlier,” Adrien offered. “Silver chain, some kind of knotwork pendant. Didn’t quite go with the aesthetic.” Ladybug cracked a small grin, eyes still fixed on Ice Age below them. “Come on, LB,” he said, bumping her with his shoulder. “You’ve got to admit that they usually stick with the aesthetic.”
“I can’t believe I like you,” she muttered, and he mocked a swoon to cover up the fact that he could barely contain a delighted yelp. “Okay, we’re going to go for the pendant. Keep him distracted while I try to get close enough to make sure it’s holding the akuma.”
“Your every waking wish is my command,” he said, and vaulted off the roof to land in the street in front of Ice Age.
Looking back, the fight was a blur. He was good at keeping eyes off Ladybug, because he would be good at anything if she asked him to, he had genuinely managed to be halfway decent at flight a few times when she requested it. Adrien stayed just out of reach, darting past and calling insults to drag Ice Age’s attention away while Ladybug slipped into position to attack, but he didn’t remember what he’d said, nor if Ice Age had answered.
What he remembered was Ice Age missing his shot, sending a lethally sharp spear of ice into the wall just feet in front of Adrien and making him skid to a sharp halt.
What he remembered was the blank grin on the boy’s face as he threw another spear directly at Adrien’s chest.
What he remembered was the streak of red that crashed into him and bowled him over onto the frigid ground, a tangle of limbs.
What he really remembered was opening his eyes, regaining his bearings, and watching her finish the fight with brutal efficiency, leaving her standing mere feet in front of him with the Lucky Charm in her hands and Ice Age laid out at her feet.
“Sorry about that,” she panted, looking over at Adrien as the purified akuma fluttered away. “I think I knocked you over harder than I meant to. Are you okay, Chat?”
“Ladybug, you’re bleeding,” he said, scrambling to his feet, the aches of hitting the ground fading instantly. She raised a hand numbly to her ribs, where a ragged gash had been opened through the tough material of her costume, and her eyes went wide when she saw the smear of red over her fingers.
“I—ha,” she laughed, breathless. “I didn’t even notice.”
“Okay,” Adrien said, darting over. She wavered a little, as if dizzy. “Okay. Can you do the Miraculous Cure? Will that fix it?”
“It might,” she said, unsure. “It makes you better after you get hurt in a fight, right?” Adrien didn’t answer, lips thinning, and her eyes fixed on his. He glanced away. “Right, Chat?”
“Do the Cure,” he said. At the edge of his attention, his ring beeped warningly, and he ignored it. “It might work differently on you.”
“Fine,” she said, and hurled the Charm into the sky. The red and black light swarmed out, dissolving the ice and swirling around them, but when it faded, Ladybug was still pale and shaky with blood loss. “Or not,” she muttered, touching her ribs again. She tried to take a step and threw out a hand, squeezing her eyes shut. “I’m…really dizzy,” she half-laughed.
Adrien cursed under his breath and made a mental note to discover a sudden, culturally excusable interest in first aid at some point in the immediate future. He could probably spin it to his father if he gave it some thought. “Well, our Miraculous’ are going to run down any minute.” His ring beeped again and Ladybug flapped a hand at him.
“Go, Chat.”
“Ha-ha-ha,” he deadpanned. “You’re funny. I’m going to pick you up and get us out of the street, all right?” She sighed, but nodded. “It’s—um, it’s probably going to hurt.”
“Do it,” she ordered, pragmatic as ever, and he crouched down, scooping her up bridal style, one of her hands still pressed against her side and the other leaving a bloody handprint on his neck. The hand on his neck clenched around his shoulder with every step, her muscles so taut with pain he could feel them tremble. “Chat, your Miraculous is going to stop working in a second, just–”
“Shush,” he said absently, darting around a lamppost toward the mouth of a narrow alley, well-hidden from the street by an unusually constructed storefront.
“Chat, I’ll be fine.” His arms tightened convulsively and she managed a grin. “Come on, Chat, I won’t drop dead the second you put me down.”
“That wasn’t funny, my lady,” he forced out, and her grin faded.
“I know. Sorry. But you shouldn’t out yourself for me.”
Adrien held back a growl as he set her down, leaning against a wall. “I’m not leaving you here while you’re hurt, and I don’t care what you say about it. You can hate me for breaking the secrecy agreement later. I’d rather you be around to be furious with me anyway.” He replaced her palm with his, pressing down over the gash. “Why did you push me away?” he demanded quietly. “I could have gotten out of the way in time.”
“You’re fast, but not that fast,” she said on a hiss as he pressed against her ribs. “You’d have been hit worse. I don’t think anything’s broken, it’s just a nasty cut.”
“Don’t you ever do that again!” he snapped, feeling terror try to claw its way out of his throat. “I’m supposed to protect you, that’s what I’m for, I can’t—you can’t do this. Not ever again. I’d rather take the hit a thousand times over.”
The ring beeped a final time and Adrien felt the transformation sweep up his body, leaving him crouching in front of Ladybug in his civilian clothes. For once in his life, Plagg kept his mouth shut, apparently opting to table his usual complaints in the face of the situation.
“Oh, thank God,” Adrien said, and immediately stripped out of his button down, balling it up and pressing it against her side. He heard a high sound, somewhere between a gasp and a screech, and looked up, alarmed. “Did I hurt you?” She was staring at him, mouth open and eyes wide. “Oh,” he said, looking back down. “I’m—um, I’m sorry,” he muttered.
“I’m hallucinating,” Ladybug said, tipping her head back and shutting her eyes. Her earrings beeped and neither of them paid any attention.
“Open your eyes,” he said, feeling the fear return, hard and fast as a punch to the chest. “I don’t know how much blood you’re losing, don’t—don’t do that, look at me or yell at me or something.”
“You’re Chat Noir,” she said, looking at him. “You. Adrien Agreste.”
“I know I’m probably not what you expected,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry,” she repeated blankly, and burst into giggles, half-hysterical and breathless with pain. “Oh my God.” Adrien started to pull back and she flapped a hand at him, still giggling so hard he could feel her muscles jump under his palms. “No, no, I’m not mad, I’m not, I just—oh my God, you’ll get it in just a second, you will, I swear. Tikki, Tikki, spots off so I can go to the hospital and get stitches or something.” Her costume vanished in a whirl of pink and red, a black-spotted kwami joining Plagg hovering in the air, and leaving…
“Marinette?” he said, staring, and she burst into another fit of laughter, significantly more hysterical this time.
“Oh God, and you thought I’d be upset,” she panted, blue eyes closing. “You probably expected someone way more impressive, I’m sorry to disappoint.”
“You’re impressive,” he said, frowning. “You’re brilliant. Why would I be disappointed? Stop laughing, you’re making the bleeding worse, please.”
“Sorry, kitty,” she said, but her laughter faded. “Ow,” she said, sounding surprised.
“Yeah, I bet.” Adrien shifted his grip so that only one hand pressed the shirt against her side and scrabbled through his pocket for his phone with the other, leaving bloody smears over the fabric. That would be a fun conversation with his father. “I’m going to call an ambulance, all right? We can say we were in town when Ice Age came through and we got in his way, okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, eyes fluttering closed again for a moment.
“Hey, my lady,” he said warningly as he dialed. “Eyes on me.”
“We’re going to need to have a conversation about the whole secret identity thing, aren’t we,” Marinette said, opening her eyes—Ladybug’s eyes, because Marinette was Ladybug, kind and clever Marinette was his fierce lady and, far from being disappointed, Adrien was pretty sure this was the best of all possible worlds. He wasn’t entirely sure how he’d missed it for so long.
“Probably,” Adrien said, raising his phone to his ear, and she gave him a shy grin. “Yes, hi, we need an ambulance down by where Ladybug and Chat Noir were fighting earlier…”
