The summer air was heavy, it clung to the skin of every Parisian out on the streets, creating a sluggish pace throughout the day. Most people had opted to stay indoors, baring out the stifling air.
The streets that night ran cold. Any heat left from the day was swept away in an evening breeze. Chat panted as he pushed himself faster towards Ladybug's tracker location. Her call dropping out had left him in a heightened state of worry, a slight panic creeping up his back.
He leaps across one final rooftop until he's seemingly right on top of her signal, "Ladybug?" He looks down into the alley below before waiting for an answer. He stifles a cry at the sight of his Lady sprawled out on the pavement below. He leaps down and immediately starts to access the situation, wondering the extent of what befell here.
He notices her communicator resting against her chest under a limp hand. Without thinking he holds her wrist, searching for a pulse or any sign of life. He can feel his own heart pounding against his chest as he searches for hers. He readjusts his hand one last time, finally feeling a dim pulse from within. A sigh of relief rushes from him, but is immediately replaced with other fears. He watches the slight rise and fall of her chest, unnoticeable if not focused on. "Ladybug, I'm here. Chat Noir. Come on, bug-a-boo..." he holds her cool cheek.
Her eyelids stir, fighting their way open. "C-chat," she says quietly, barely over a whisper.
"I'm here." He holds her hand firmly. "What happened?"
She closes her eyes, trying to remember, "I-I didn't sleep last night, or the night before that. And it was so hot out...I think I just kinda blacked out and missed the landing" she gazes up towards the rooftops above them. I woke up here on the ground..." she trails off, losing her train of thought.
"Then you called me." He reminds her, "You called me saying you needed help."
Her eyes soften, looking off somewhere past Chat's silhouette above her. "I did?" Just then their Miraculous' beep.
Chat's heartbeat picks up, "We're about to transform back. What do you want me to do?"
Her eyes open again, "I couldn't sleep. I couldn't sleep because of you."
He's taken aback for a second, but quickly realizes he can't be distracted. "Ladybug, we're going to transform back any minute now. We need to get you help." Their Miraculous' beep again.
"I couldn't sleep... I couldn't sleep..." She mumbles, fading away.
Chat feels the panic rise in him. He starts to get up to go find help, but is surprised to feel Ladybugs hand still gripped tightly to his. His heart skips a beat, unsure of what to do.
With her eyes still closed, her lips part and whisper, "Stay..."
Everything about the situation was telling him that he had to leave her side, either to get help or to prevent revealing their identities.
But she and his heart told him to stay.
He lay down next to her, caressing her cheek as the last warning beep goes off.
He closes his eyes.
In a flash of light, he could feel himself transform back, and a skin to skin contact between his hand and Ladybug.
They lay there in silence for what feels like forever before Adrien breaks it, "M'lady? Ladybug?" He asks, his eyes still closed, "A-are you going to be okay? Should I leave? I can keep my eyes closed if you want..." Silence. "Ladybug?" Still no answer.
His eyes fly open in panic.
He feels all his bodily functions cease except for the thudding of his heart in his ears. He brushes her hair back from her face, taking her in. "Marinette." He says quietly to himself, associating the feel of her name with his idea of Ladybug for the first time. "Marinette" he sighs contently, before being thrown back into reality.
He looks her over before he picks her up in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder, and walks out towards the main street and flags down a passing car. They're driven to the hospital in a tense silence, as he still supports her unconscious body. Every few seconds he checks for her pulse or makes sure she's breathing, comforting her the best he can.
No sooner than they arrive at the hospital, Marinette is whisked away for examination, leaving Adrien standing alone in the corridor. A nurse invites him to take a seat in the waiting room. The fluorescent lights buzz softly overhead, the white noise dulling his senses.
He pulls out his phone and checks the time. 10:46pm.
He scrolls through his contacts until hovering over the one he was looking for. He exhales, pressing the contact and holding the phone to his ear.
"...Adrien?" Alya picks up in an alert, but unsure, voice.
"Alya..." he mentally runs through a lie to tell her, "it's Marinette. I think there was an accident."
"What?!" She exclaims. He can hear the rustling of movement through the phone. "Where is she? I'm coming."
"We're at the hospital across from the park."
He hears a car door shut and the start of an engine. "Were you with her? What happened?" He hesitates a split second too long. "Adrien Agreste I swear to god-"
"Yes, well, I found her. It was really lucky I did." He pauses, when she doesn't interrupt he quickly continues, "I was walking downtown, snuck out to get some fresh air, when I saw her laying in an alleyway. She was unresponsive so I got her to the hospital."
"Oh my god," he can hear her voice wavering, she sniffles, "I'll be there in a few."
"Alya, hold on." He catches her before she hangs up, "Part of the reason I called was because I was hoping you knew her home or her parents phone number."
"I think her parents are out of town for the week but I can give you Mrs. Dupain-Cheng's cell number. I'll text it to you at the next light." She hangs up promptly.
He pulls his phone away from his ear, staring at the black screen until he gets the text from Alya. His thumb hesitates a second before pressing the 'call' button, but follows through, knowing he must.
It goes right to voicemail. "Hi, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. This is Adrien from Marinette's class. Alya gave me your number because there's been an accident involving Marinette. No one's sure exactly what happened yet but she's in the St. Fraces Hospital. I found her unconscious and brought her in. Please call me back when you get this." He rushes, still unsure of how to handle the situation.
After a few minutes of hand wringing, Alya arrives, blowing through the automatic doors and immediately homing in on Adrien. "Any word? Did you call her mom? How did this happen? What happened? Tell me everything you know!" She demands before pacing back and forth in front of him, as if venting her pent-up anxieties.
He leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees, "I was just out walking when I noticed someone in the alleyway. You can imagine how unsettling it was to see it was Marinette. She was a little banged up but everything on her seemed intact; her clothes, purse, everything. I tried to get her attention but she was unresponsive so I picked her up and hitched a ride over here where the doctors took over." He can feel his throat constrict, his mouth dry.
Alya runs up to him and wraps her arms around his shoulders, "Thank god you saw her. Who knows how long she would have been left alone if you weren't there." He can feel her body shake with silent sobs. "I don't want to begin to imagine what happened to her."
He holds her in a reassuring hug, trying to suppress his own tears and worry. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
She breaks from their hug, "I'm going to go talk to the doctor" she says, as if breaking back into her usual sure self. "Go get a drink of something" she says with a somber smile before she goes to the desk and is lead behind the set of swinging doors.
He nods, even though she has already turned away. He follows a sign to the restrooms and takes a sip of water from the fountain outside the single stalls. He enters one and locks the door behind him before collapsing to his knees on the tile floor.
Plagg flies out from his pocket, "So, secret's out I guess."
Adrien leans back against the door, "Not like this..." he holds his head in his hands, the reality of the situation crashing in on him.
"So you never imagined you'd finally find out Ladybug's identity by finding her unconscious in an alley?" Plagg prods.
Adrien turns away from him.
Plagg sighs, "You know I'm joking. Ladybug is going to be fine. Her Kwami will help her heal up and be good as new."
"She said she couldn't sleep" He shakes his head, "She said she couldn't sleep because of me. What does that mean?! It's my fault this happened."
"Don't be silly-"
"The rooftop, the other night, when I set up those candles and flowers, that's what she must be talking about. I freaked her out, came on too strong-"
"Or," Plagg interrupts, "she has insomnia. Not everything is about you, you know?" He doesn't respond. "...So, 'Marinette'. Was this a good reveal or... Adrien, give me something to work off here-"
"It's incredible." He lifts his head, a slight smile on his lips, "She's incredible."
Plagg zooms around to look at him, "Good good, focus on that. We're super happy it's Marinette."
His smile falls, "But that means Marinette could be in pain right now, or this might ruin our friendship. How am I going to tell her that I'm Chat? What if she didn't want me to know her identity yet?-"
"Then she'd probably be dead right now" Plagg puts bluntly. After the shock of the statement settles, he continues, "You did the right thing, kid. The only reason you're able to worry about all of these things is because she is still alive, and that's all because of you. So worry away, but keep in mind we could be having a much different conversation right now."
Adrien can feel his nerves settling. Until he hears Alya's voice calling for him on the other side of the door. He splashes some water on his face and heads back to the lobby.
"There you are," Alya spies him coming back, "I've got to go, I've left my sisters unguarded too long." She looks at some notes she took on her phone, "The nurses said Marinette's been taken care of. She's all hooked up on fluids and stuff. They said she seemed to be a little banged up, but nothing too bad, thank god. She's still unconscious but they're confident she could wake at any minute now." She puts her hand on his shoulder, "Be there for her when she wakes up. They'll probably want to ask her questions about what happened; just make sure she takes it easy," she laughs to herself, "and that she thanks her knight in shining armor." She drops her hand and starts for the door, "Keep me updated!" she says before exiting through the automatic doors.
He's guided back to the patient rooms. He nods in thanks to the nurse, and takes a deep breath before entering Marinette's room.
She lay on the far side of the room near the windows. The bed next to her is empty but prepared in case of need. He sits in an uncomfortable chair between Marinette and the window. He leans back in the chair, keeping distance between themselves. The paper gown hangs loosely around her frame, allowing her bruised arms to be visible. For a moment he found it hard to think of Ladybug as anything but strong and resilient, even second guessing everything that had happened in the last few hours.
But he knew it was true. His friend and partner is human after all.
He reaches towards her hand, hesitating a moment before tucking his hand under hers and holding it there, glad to feel some semblance of warmth coming from her.
He can feel himself start to nod off, physically and emotionally exhausted from everything. He closes his eyes for what feels like a second before he's jumpstarted awake by his hand being squeezed.
Her hand retracts with surprising energy. Adrien locks eyes with a suddenly very alert Marinette.
"Wha-why, what are you doing here? How did I get here?" She asks, looking around the room and at the state of herself.
"S-Sorry," he stutters out.
She focuses back on him, "What?"
"What?" He repeats. He shakes his head, "I mean, I brought you here."
Her eyebrows furrow, and suddenly her eyes go wide. "You? I mean, how? I mean..." she trails off, "I think I may be a little fuzzy on the details still..." she plays it off.
He leans forward, closing some of the space between them, "I found you in an alley... and brought you to the hospital." He decides carefully the story he tells.
"Oh. Good, er, thanks." She smiles softly.
He clears his throat, bowing his head a bit, away from Marinette, "There's more."
Her smile immediately falls, she tenses up, anticipating what she's afraid to hear.
"I...you..." he squeezes his eyes shut, "I'm sorry."
"Why do you keep saying that?" She pauses, "Just say it."
He takes a short breath, "I'm Chat Noir."
He waits in agonizing silence for a response. After what feels like millennia, he looks up at her. Her mouth hangs slightly agape, her eyes slightly unfocused looking off to the side of him. He tries to catch her gaze, "Marinette? Ladybug...?"
This seems to shock her out of whatever place she was at. Her eyes seemingly lock to his against her will.
Adrien speaks softly, "I don't know how much you remember. It seems like a blur to me now too." He tries to smile to lighten the tense atmosphere that has settled around them. "I found you as Ladybug in the alley. You seemed off, you said you couldn't sleep. That you couldn't sleep because of me..." He clears his throat, "Then you were unconscious...and we de-transformed. I knew I had to get you help and I couldn't help you without opening my eyes so-"
"Thank you."
"Huh?" Adrien's mind comes to a screeching halt.
"Thank you for everything." She smiles, "Thanks for always being there for me as Chat and Adrien" she takes his hand in hers.
He kisses her hand, "Always."