Hawk Moth had been defeated. After two long years and a strenuous battle, Gabriel Agreste was taken into custody as Ladybug and Chat Noir watched. Blue and red lights flashed and in the light Marinette noticed Chat Noir's devastated face. She had never seen him look more…empty.

"Chat?" she asked tentatively, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you okay? I know that was a rough fight."

He turned and seemed to stare straight through her. "I…don't know. I don't know. Everything is different now."

Marinette hadn't thought of that. He must be worrying about Paris no longer needing them. "Hey, there will always be some sort of crime that needs stopping. This isn't the end."

"Maybe not for you," he muttered. "My life…my whole life…" Chat looked around helplessly, like a lost child.

"Chat?" she asked again, growing more concerned. She had never seen her partner like this. He was always so silly, never acting like anything got to him. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

"I have to go," he said. "Please. Handle the reporters for me. I can't be the one to talk to them."

"We did this together," Marinette protested. "You deserve the credit too."

He shook his head violently. "No. I don't want credit for this. I have to go."

She reached out for him but he was already vaulting over rooftops with his baton.

"Ladybug, how does it feel to have finally discovered Hawk Moth's identity?"

"What will you and Chat Noir do now?"

"Why isn't Chat Noir sharing in your victory?"

The reporters swarmed like bees, buzzing in Marinette's face. She didn't want to answer any questions, she wanted to find her partner and find out what was wrong. "Any questions at this time should be fielded to the police. I have to go."

Voices tripped over each other in protest but Marinette swung away on her yoyo, trying to see if she could catch up to Chat Noir, wherever he went. Half an hour later and she still couldn't find him so she went home, confused and upset. This should have been a good day. First she finds out that the love of her life's father was a supervillain, then her partner went AWOL.

Adrien. This whole time she'd been freaking out about Chat Noir but hadn't even thought of Adrien. He had to have seen the news of his father's arrest. What was he going to do now? How must he be feeling? If she were closer friends with him she'd go try to comfort him but coming from her it would probably seem insincere and gossip-mongering. Maybe she could talk to Nino and see what was going on?

Her phone buzzed with a message from Alya. OMG did you see the news? Poor Adrien!

Marinette sighed. She didn't want Alya to turn her crush into a scoop. Adrien was probably suffering enough. She texted back, Yeah I did. Please tell me you aren't going to ask him about it.

Alya's irritated response came in a minute later. Girl, do you have any idea how conflicted I am right now? This is major Ladyblog news! Ladybug's arch nemesis is defeated! Of course I have to cover it. At the same time, I don't want to bug Adrien. Everyone is going to be all over him tomorrow.

That was very true. Marinette's heart broke for her crush. Everyone would be asking him what happened and if he had any idea what his father was. She wanted to protect him, but how? At least she could bring him some goodies from the bakery. It probably wouldn't mean anything but she couldn't do nothing. It was the least she could do to show she cared.

I know you feel duty-bound to report it, just please leave him out of it. He's going to be getting too much negative attention as it is. Marinette hit send and turned her phone off. She didn't want to discuss it anymore. She was too worried, about Adrien and Chat Noir both. Without any more akumas, who knew when she'd see her feline friend again? It was a disconcerting thought.

School was the madhouse Marinette predicted. Before the bell rang, everyone was crowded around Adrien's desk waiting for him to come in. He slumped into the room, eyes downcast, with Nino protectively in front of him.

"Back off," Nino tried to intervene but no one was listening to him. Everyone's questions bounced off each other's.

Adrien looked so miserable. Marinette couldn't take it. Using her powers as class rep, she silenced everyone with a loud "HEY!"

Dozens of eyes stared at her in shock, which she took as a cue to continue. "Give the guy some space. Go on. In your seats. Now."

Some classmates looked alarmed, others looked annoyed, but to Marinette's relief everyone went to their seats and continued hushed conversations. She smiled softly at Adrien.

"I can't imagine what you're going through right now and my saying sorry will probably be meaningless but I really am sorry for what happened. I brought you these," she said while placing a box of assorted treats on his desk. "If it becomes too much, come find me. I'll scare off anyone nosy." It was the longest coherent speech she'd ever gotten out while speaking directly to Adrien and he looked at her in something akin to awe.

"Thank you," he said fervently, meeting her eyes and giving her a small, grateful smile. Nino put an arm around his friend's shoulders and gave Marinette a thumbs up.

Alya looked at her with a mixture of shock and pride. "You go, girl."

Marinette shrugged. Adrien's need was greater than her own embarrassment and nervousness. He needed someone to stand up for him and she was the only one who would do it. How could she not be there for him when he was so obviously hurting?

When the bell rang for lunch Adrien waved off Nino and waited at his desk for Marinette to gather her things. "Can I come to lunch with you? Normally I go home, but…" He wouldn't look at her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

Marinette's heart constricted. He actually wanted her help. "Of course, come on." She looped her arm through his and glared at anyone from the curious masses who dared try to approach.

On the way to the bakery she made sure to talk about meaningless trivialities, like the upcoming chemistry test, to distract him. He seemed to appreciate the small amount of normalcy.

"Maman, Papa," she announced. "You remember my friend Adrien. Can he stay for lunch?"

Sabine Cheng looked at Adrien in compassion. "You're always welcome here, Adrien. Go on up."

"I left sandwiches on the table," Tom Dupain added. "There should be enough for both of you."

"Thank you," Adrien said in a polite, subdued voice. Marinette didn't like hearing him so downtrodden.

They ate their sandwiches in silence and Marinette desperately wished she could think of something to say, something to do that would actually help. "Do you want to play Ultimate Mecha Stike V?" she blurted. Adrien was in crisis and all she could think of was video games.

He brightened a little. "Yeah, that'd be great!"

Marinette won the first two rounds but as time went on Adrien began playing more aggressively and ended up wiping the floor with her. Her mouth dropped open. "I can't believe you beat me! No one beats me at this game."

"Well I just did," he crowed and struck a pose. "Adrien style!"

She burst out giggling. That was so out of character for the Adrien she knew and yet it was nice to see him being so lighthearted about something.

He suddenly looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"No," Marinette protested, waving her arms about. "Don't apologize. It was actually great seeing you smile." Her face turned bright red. What had possessed her to say that?!

Adrien seized her in a hug and she was stiff for a moment from the unexpected contact before melting into it. "I don't know what I would have done without you today. You're a really great friend."

A great friend. She wilted a little before remembering what Tikki had told her some time ago. A lot of great friendships lead to romance. What was she thinking? The boy had lost everything and she was thinking about being in a relationship! He didn't need that right now. He needed a friend, so a friend she would be.

"I'm happy to help," she said softly. "I care about you." At that, Adrien tightened the embrace and they stood in each other's arms until Sabine called up to remind them it was time to get back to school.

They broke apart, both pink in the face, and quickly grabbed their backpacks before scurrying down the stairs.

Back at school, everyone was just settling into their seats when Madame Bustier came into the room and leaned over the edge of Adrien's desk. Marinette could barely hear what she whispered. "You're needed in the principal's office."

Adrien's shoulders slumped yet again and Marinette wanted to reach out to him, to tell him it would be okay, but she couldn't. He was already out the door and didn't come back for the rest of the day, which really worried her. What could she do? He didn't even know she had his number so she couldn't even text him to ask what was wrong.

She sighed heavily and trudged home, intending to fling herself onto her bed only to find someone was already sitting on it.

"Chat Noir?"