The Loss

She could hear the crumbling of support beams and inner concrete. The building was being evacuated quickly, but not fast enough. Civilians ran for the doors as both she and Chat struggled to hold the main support beam upright, trying to buy more time for the people and first responders to get out. She could feel Tikki in the back of her subconscious grow weaker by the minute. She couldn't speak to her telepathically, but she prayed to whatever deity that heard her that her thoughts got to the red and black kwami.

Stay strong.

Just a bit longer.

She felt the fear, though. She felt it in her bones and mind and muscles. As more people got out, she felt the string attached to her yo-yo begin to strain as the beam fought against them and for gravity. Chat grunt, pulling harder as he struggled to make one of his feet step back again. She looked over at him, the fear evident in his eyes though they were narrowed in determination. She could see his own muscles straining, sweat dampening the blonde hair on his head and dripping into his leather suit. He looked over at her and saw the same thing.

"CHAT NOIR! LADYBUG!" One of the firefighters whom had been on the scene when the akuma they had been fighting had attacked shouted to them. "Come on, we gotta go! The building's gonna go down any minute!" Ladybug shook her head frantically. If even one of them made a move to leave their post, the building would collapse instantly. She hadn't even had time to do use her cleansing powers before it started.

"We can't," she shouted, "the building will crush us if we move! Get out of here!" The firefighter looked conflicted. One the one hand, he couldn't leave them to die. One the other hand, Ladybug was right. All that standing between them and a couple dozen deaths were two super powered teenagers. Chat grunted.

"Just go!" That command snapped the man out of it and he rushed from the building, hoping the cranes and bulldozers that had been ordered were outside. Now all they heard and saw were more crumbling pieces of steel and concrete as more people got out. Chat looked at her, seeing her eyes begin to fill with tears of dread and that's how he knew.

This was it.

He looked away and laughed humorlessly, "not exactly the way I expected this to end." She smiled.

"Oh? I thought you wanted to bring the house down." He smiled back at her, tears welling in his own eyes.

"Not literally...well, if this is it...then...it's been an honor, my lady." Two whole sentences and not one pun. Ladybug sighed. She really was going to die. They stayed quiet, still straining against their fate.

"Marinette..."

"What?"

"That's my name...Marinette." She slowly let one hand go and swiped at her face, dissolving her mask and letting Chat see her face for the first time. Or so she thought. Chat's eyes widened as he took in the face of his sweet classmate. The girl who sat behind him, who could barely keep a five minute conversation with him, who had proven that she could beat him at any game (be it Connect Four or Dance Dance Revolution) was also the girl he was undeniably in love with. Tears ran down her cheeks, "sorry if I'm not all that you thought I was." Chat shuffled closer, risking speeding up their deaths just to be close. Once Ladybu-Marinette put her hand back to stabilize the yo-yo, he took his clawed hand off the string that they had both been holding for over an hour and removed his mask. Marinette's eyes widened as she took in his face.

"Adrien Agreste...but I think we already know each other."

"...Adrien..." Her voice was hoarse and thick with tears. "I'm so sorry...maybe if I had been faster, I-"

"Hey...this is the best case scenario, Bugaboo...your powers deal with good luck...there was no getting out of this." He leaned over and rested his forehead with hers. "I'm just glad the girl I love is also the other girl I've been getting a crush on for the last six months." She smiled sadly.

"...Really?" He nodded solemnly, "then I'm glad the partner I can always trust to have my back and tell me bad jokes is the guy I've been in love with for a year." He laughed at that. A loud crack snapped through the air and they both stiffened up. It was like a toll from a gong, letting them know that their time was going to be up.

"...Can I kiss you...?" His eyes were now filled with tears. All this time...she had been so close and now, now that he knew that she did love him, they weren't going to be able to live happily ever after.

Marinette nodded and leaned forward as he did. Adrien met her lips with his, savoring the softness and sweet taste as the yo-yo snapped and the building fell around them.

"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villian."

Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight

I am officially Ladybug Trash. (sighes and puts on Cone of Shame) Anyway, this story has been bugging me for some time now and since I've come to run into a Writer's Block with Night Speed, I decided to write it. That's the secret, when you have Writer's Block, write a short story.

I AM WORKING ON NIGHT SPEED'S NEXT CHAPTER, CALM YOUR INSANE TITS.

This will be a multi chapter story, but I don't plan on making it longer then...let's say 10 chapters (but who knows?) There will be tears, violence, and possibly a chance of OTHER shows being referenced to (whoever guesses what shows those are will get a one-shot request written for them.)