AN: If you haven't read there was a kid (with a head full of doubt) yet, I would recommend doing that for context about Chat/Adrien's behavior.

In the past few months, Marinette found her thoughts drifting to Chat Noir more and more often. It wasn't completely unusual for her to think about him, they were partners after all. Most of the time her thoughts of him were cursory, where was he, what was he up to, would he be ready when the next akuma attacked.

But as of late, Marinette found herself thinking a little further. She wondered what he was doing during that day, if he was sitting in class like her and hanging out with friends. He'd hinted before that the person in the suit was different from the person out, so she wondered if he was cracking jokes or keeping silent. Was he sleeping alright? Did he eat enough? Whenever she hugged him he seemed so thin-

Needless to say, it was becoming a bit of a Problem.

Marinette managed to get her thoughts under control most of the time, though when she was bored they tended to wander. Bored, like she was at the moment, standing in the top floor of an office building and listening to Max's dad talking about the importance of accountants or fractions or something.

Instead of listening in like the rest of the class was doing, Marinette stared out the window across the tops of the buildings. It was strange to be in the business district, the familiar rooftops and Eiffel Tower standing off in the distance. All the skyscrapers were clumped together so they wouldn't ruin the famous Parisian skyline. Though she had been to this side of the city in akuma attacks, her trips were brief and infrequent. For whatever reason, akumas tended to stick to the more central areas of Paris. Maybe because it was were the most people gathered.

As her mind drifted, Marinette thought, once again, about Chat Noir. He'd been acting strangely lately, almost guilty around her. He definitely was flirting less and tended to stare off into the distance as if lost in thought. Marinette couldn't say for sure that she missed his goofy pick up lines and constant invasion of her personal space, but in all their partnership they had been a constant. For him to just suddenly stop was a bit disquieting.

Marinette wasn't quite sure why it bothered her. Should she be happy that Chat was backing off, or at least toning it down? But so much she knew about her partner was based in his puns and his flirting, his laughter and his cheeky grins. It shouldn't bother her as much as it did but it did bother her and that just made her more confused.

I wonder what he's doing now. Marinette glanced back to Max's father and the rest of class.

Not many were actually paying attention, except for Max as he nodded along to his father illustrated the benefits of statistics (or something) and a few others. Alya was on her phone (hiding it behind Nino's back, clever girl) and Nino in turn had an ear piece in and was bouncing along to some song. Chloe was whispering to Sabrina, Kim was arguing about something with Alix, Nathanael was doodling in his sketchbook, Rose and Juleka were attached at hip and actually listening, and Ivan and Mylene were staring into each other's eyes.

All of it was fairly standard.

Except for Adrien, who, when Marinette looked over, whipped his head the opposite direction and stared at Max's dad. His cheeks were faintly pink and he was biting his lip, looking like he was trying hard to pay attention.

That was another thing that was off recently. 'That' being Adrien Agreste. For whatever reason he'd been acting oddly around her. He was friendly, as always, but he tended to...linger? Yeah, that was the right word. He'd look in her eyes a little longer, draw out their usually brief interactions to full fledged conversations. Ask about her day, her projects. Simple things.

Part of her was over the moon that he seemed to be taking an interest in her. And part of her was upset that it was happening now that she-

Now that she what? Now that she nothing, there was nothing else going on. Any...unwanted feelings were just that, unwanted. They didn't even exist, in fact! There was no reason that she should be disappointed now that Adrien was starting to pay attention now that Chat was-

Marinette snapped her head up, and shook it out. Let's not follow that line of thought.

Deciding that she really really needed to start paying attention, Marinette redirected her gaze (which had been focused on Adrien while she was zoning out, oops) on Max's father. He was currently detailing-okay she didn't really care what he was talking about, something businessy that wouldn't matter when she was a famous fashion designer.

She was much more interested in the fact the building seemed to sway underneath her feet and that everyone around her was stumbling over each other. Marinette reached out to steady herself on a desk, which proved to be unhelpful when the desk started sliding. And the floor started pitching sideways.

"I am the Number Crusher, and revenue statements aren't the only thing I'll be crunching today!" A deep voice called out from within the building and Marinette rolled her eyes.

Marinette was just about to duck out to transform when, in their haste to leave the area, a group of business people knocked her over. She rolled under a table, trying to gain her bearings when she realized her purse had been thrown from her shoulder. Her purse with Tikki inside.

"Tikki!" Marinette hissed, frantically looking around the room.

She caught sight of the purse halfway across the room, thankfully not trampled by the mob of people evacuating the building. Crouching out from under the desk, Marinette crept across the room, avoiding feet as she tried to reach her purse.

Another shock wave hit the the building and Marinette gasped as the walls started to break apart. The ground gave out from underneath her and she lost her balance again. She let out a yelp as she slid across the floor, desperately grabbing for something to steady her.

"Oh my god, oh my god." Marinette reached for a desk and managed to hang on, papers and desk supplies rolling past her face.

She curled up and attempted to protect herself from the onslaught of rubble. When she finally looked up, Marinette saw her purse tip over through a crack and off the side of the building.

"No!"

With a shout and a shove, Marinette pushed herself towards the growing fracture, now a gaping hole in the wall.

Marinette saw her purse dropping through the sky, falling towards the ground. "NO!"

While she was busy staring at Tikki tumbling down the side of the building, Marinette failed to notice that she was also beginning to fall until she was halfway out the hole. She managed to grab hold of a chunk of wall before she fell out.

"Oh my god, oh my god." She gasped as she hung from the building.

It was the highest she'd ever been up as Marinette, and with Tikki long gone, there was no way she could transform and save herself. Her shoulders twinged from holding herself up and she gasped, trying to reign in her panic. With both hands, she tried to heave herself up, but without the added strength of her suit, Marinette couldn't get back in the building.

"Wooo, okay, okay. Don't freak out, don't freak out." Marinette was definitely freaking out, trying to suck in even breaths from where she hung.

A glance down had her gasping for air. "Oh my god."

Her hands were already beginning to sweat and she tried to tighten her grip. Her flats did nothing as to help as she tried to lift herself up by pushing against the wall. That attempt only sent her swinging back and forth, leaving her hands feeling raw and scraped.

"Marinette?!" A panicked and familar voice called from below her.

"Chat!" Her own voice was rough as she stared down a few floors below her.

"Don't move!"

Marinette huffed and adjusted her grip. "Wasn't planning on it!"

She could hear the familiar spring of his baton extending under her, slowly coming closer. Marinette closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing while she waited. Soon, there was a clattering under her as Chat landed on the next level down.

"Are you okay?" He called up and she gave him an incredulous look. "Right, sorry."

"Can you just get me down?" Marinette knew she sounded desperate but she didn't care.

"Okay, um." Chat was floundering, she could hear it in her voice.

There was another clack as he attempted to extend further, and then a crashing sound.

"Chat?"

"Sorry, but I don't think I can get up there. There's a chunk of building that's keeping me from getting-"

There was another crash, this time much louder, and the building lurched. Marienette choked as she swayed, her hands scrambling along the ledge. She could hear Chat yowl underneath her, unable to look down and see what was happening.

Marinette wheezed when the building settled, her arms shaking now. "Oh my god."

"Hang on a second." Chat's voice called. "Wait, actually, let go!"

"...what?!"

"Marinette, I'm right underneath you. The easiest way for you to get down is to drop in my arms."

"Now is not the time to be joking around, Chat!" Marinette kicked her feet, a bad idea because it sent her swaying.

If she was Ladybug, she would have let go without question. Because Chat was always there to save Ladybug, he'd never let her down in the past. But she was Marinette and Chat didn't owe her anything. He could miss, or not even try, or her clumsiness could somehow get them both hurt. The idea of putting it up to chance, to Chat, to trust him to be there for her as a civilian, scared Marinette more than she would ever admit.

"I'm being serious. Marinette, I swear, I will catch you."

Maybe it was the sincerity in his voice that helped to calm her. Or maybe it was the fact that he ignored the perfect opportunity to make a cat pun in favor of reassuring her. Maybe it was the fact that he'd been on her mind more than he should have been recently, or that he was her partner and deep down, she'd always trust him and believe in him.

Maybe it was a long time coming.

"Okay."

Marinette could hear Chat's sigh of relief. "Let go on three, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

She heard more shuffling, maybe Chat getting into a better position. "One. Two."

There was another shake as the building tipped more and Marinette held on tighter before-

"Three!"

-she let go and let herself fall.

For one terrifying moment, Marinette was in free fall. She had no yo yo, no assurance that she'd land safely, it was just her and the open air. The building was crumbling above her, rubble falling with her, and the rush of wind past her ears.

But then she was jolting, captured by two strong arms and pulled out of the way of the falling stone and onto another floor. Chat had caught her (he caught her) around her back and knees and was staring down at her with wide eyes. Her arms came up around his neck, holding on tightly as he held her close to his chest.

"We're going to have to get down to the ground." Chat adjusted, lowered her onto her shaking legs, arms still around her to help her stand upright. "Is that alright?"

Marinette could hardly breathe, but she nodded and let Chat scoop her up once more. He launched out and away from the building, baton extending to steady them before slowly bringing them to the ground. Chat got her on the ground and closed up his baton, turning to look back at the building.

"Ladybug's probably already waiting for me, will you be alright now?"

Marinette nodded, silent still, her whole body shaking.

"Hey," Chat reached out and grabbed her shoulders, kneading them soothingly, "you're alright now, Princess. You made it."

She was okay, she was on the ground, everything was fine. But her body was still in panic mode and Marinette couldn't stop trembling. To her horror, her face felt wet and she realized that she was crying.

"Sorry." Marinette brought unsteady hands to wipe at her eyes. "I was just so scared."

"I know, but you were also incredibly brave." Chat's gentle smile was like being doused in cold water, it was so much softer than his usual grins. "Not a lot of people would trust someone to catch them like that."

And that was the ticket, wasn't it? She did trust Chat, with or without the mask. No matter what happened, no matter how many times he was taken control of, or how much he joked and teased, she trusted him with her life.

It wasn't much of a revelation, but it was still enough to cause her to throw her arms back around Chat's neck and pull him close. She could feel him freeze, before he practically melted and scooped her up, head tucked close to her head.

"Thank you." Marinette whispered into his neck and his grip tightened a moment.

He was so close that she could feel his heartbeat, and was glad that hers wasn't the only one racing. Though he didn't know it, she was thanking him for more than just catching her. She was thanking him for being there, for Ladybug and the girl behind the mask that he didn't even know was in his arms. Every save, every sacrifice, Marinette was so thankful and she could only convey it by hugging him and hoping he understood. Part of her knew he would.

They held each other a moment, neither moving until there was another crash behind them.

Chat jerked, pulling away and turning to the building. "Oh, um. I have to..."

Marinette let go, albeit reluctantly, and wiped at her eyes once more. "Go ahead, go save the day."

The look Chat gave her was unbearably fond, a gloved hand coming up to cup her face. His thumb swiped away a tear. Marinette wondered, not for the first time, if they knew each other outside of the suits. Because the way he looked at her and held her, it wasn't a superhero comforting a random citizen. It was a friend holding a loved one close, to assure them both that they were alright.

"Stay safe, okay Princess?" He asked seriously, like he was telling her to protect something precious.

"I will, now go."

Chat stared at her one last moment before reaching for his baton and shooting off towards the building. Marinette's breath left her in one big sigh as she watched him go, another shudder shaking through her.

As she looked towards the building, she caught sight of something pink dangling from loose pipe, swinging slightly in the breeze.

"Tikki!" She cried, and raced forwards, scrambling over some pieces of building to reach the purse.

Tikki flew out of the purse, looking a little dizzy, but rushed to Marinette's face. "Marinette! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Marinette assured her and the kwami snuggled up to her face, pressing little kisses on her cheek. "Chat got me out."

"Oh thank goodness for that boy." Tikki nuzzled her once more before floating in front of her face. "But we should really go!"

"Right." Steeling herself, Marinette glanced up at the building.

She could see a speck of black near the top and hear the familiar sounds of Chat calling out to the akuma, baiting and bantering. He could hold his own, she knew, but he needed Ladybug to take down the akuma. Shaking the last bit of fear from her body, Marinette stood up straight with a determined expression.

Her partner, one of her closest friends, needed her help, and she needed to return a favor.

"Tikki, transform me!"

AN: This was part of my follower milestone give away over on tumblr! Alyseb630 asked for Marichat and fluff and I mostly delivered?