AN: I have recent fallen into the pit that is Miraculous Ladybug (if you haven't watched it, you should). Knowledge of the show isn't really needed to understand this fic, but I had a Tumblr request for Emma/Killian as the super hero team from the show. So what was supposed to be a crack fic became a serious thing, and there will probably be a part 2 coming.
Miraculous
Emma had never really planned on getting into the whole "saving the world" business. For one thing, she was a kid – just seventeen.
For another, the title of "saviour" didn't seem like something that would ever be given to the orphan outcast of the city's biggest group home.
But despite those two things, somehow Tikki had made the choice that Emma was worthy of being Ladybug, and despite never really having had much faith in Emma Swan, having faith in herself as Ladybug?
It was so incredibly easy.
That's not to say that being a masked heroine didn't come with its pitfalls, of course. She had to lie, a lot. Lying to the adults in charge of the group home wasn't such a big deal, but lying to Mary Margaret, who was pretty much the only friend Emma had ever had?
Well, that was tough.
And then there was her partnership with Chat Noir. Which, really, was more of a bonus in a lot of ways… except for Emma's kind of huge crush on him. She couldn't help it, really. He was just so… gallant. And she could always trust him to have her back in a pinch. For Emma, who had never been able to count on anyone to be there for her? Chat's presence in her life was a miracle.
So yeah, she called it a crush, but really she was more head over heels in love with him. Which sucked, because yeah, he smiled at her, and hugged her and she knew he cared about her… but she also knew that for all that he called her My lady, he didn't return her feelings.
He had spoken about her, the girl he had a crush on, a few times. And each time it was like an arrow to her heart. Because this girl? She was apparently everything Emma wasn't… well, at least everything Emma wasn't outside her life as Ladybug: beautiful, smart, witty, courageous.
The list never ended, spoken in Chat's charming accent, while he looked out with heart eyes as he talked about the girl he loved.
When he asked her if there was anyone that she was in love with… all Emma wanted to say was you, you idiot. I'm in love with you! Instead, she shrugged and gave Chat the smile she would never wear as Emma and told him that she wasn't really interested in love, not until they beat the Queen of Hearts at least.
"You say that now, but someday someone is gonna sweep you off your feet, My Lady," Chat had retorted with an easy grin. "You're too spectacular to not fall in love."
He had left her, leaping across the rooftops of Chicago, while Emma had rubbed her chest and wished that the one person whose love she cared about would love her in return.
"Swan?" Emma blinked as a piece of paper bounced off her head, accompanied by the call of her name. Her head snapped up, thoughts of Chat Noir replaced by irritation with her smirking classmate.
Killian Jones. His accent almost reminded her of Chat's, though he wasn't nearly as good with words as her charming partner. Instead, he was only good at annoying her.
"What do you want, Jones?" she growled in return, swooping down to pick up the ball of paper and lobbing it back at him. He caught it easily and leaned back in his chair so they were closer together.
"You looked like you were off in dream world, Swan. That just won't do. The only dreams you should be having should all revolve around me."
Emma snorted at that, while David Nolan groaned from his spot next to Killian.
"Seriously, Kill?" he asked with rolled eyes. "That was bad."
"You don't get an opinion on flirtation, Dave. You've been with your fair Mary Margaret since before the two of you even knew what flirting was" – Killian waved his hand, as though waving away David's very valid, in Emma's opinion anyway, point – "so what you think doesn't matter."
"I think it does," Emma replied, smirking against her better judgement. She wasn't the type to give any boy false hope, and even if she wasn't completely in love with Chat, Killian still wouldn't be her type… but for some reason she could never quite resist the voice of the devil that whispered to her in her battles of wits with Killian. "After all, he actually has the girl. And you have… a nice smile, I guess?"
"Did you hear that, Dave?" Killian asked, shooting Emma a wink. Even though he spoke to his friend, he never actually took his gaze from her. "Swan thinks I have a nice smile."
Emma groaned, sending out a silent prayer of thanks as the door burst open and Mary Margaret came rushing in. She paused briefly by David, kissing him a kiss on the cheek, before taking the seat next to Emma and smiling at her.
"Oh, Killian, what did you do?" Mary Margaret asked after a quick glance at Emma's frustrated expression told her that she'd had one of her (many) encounters with their dark haired classmate.
"Swan is just upset that I bested her, Mary Margaret. You know I have to enjoy such occasions – they happen so rarely."
The teacher entered the class, and Killian turned back around in his seat. Mary Margaret shot Emma a glance with raised brows, but the blonde ignored her in favor of attempting to glare holes into the back of Killian's head.
He was just so frustrating! Why couldn't he be more like Chat? Sure, her partner could be flirtatious every now and then, but he also knew when to be solemn. And never once had he hesitated to put his own neck on the line when Ladybug was in trouble, willingly sacrificing himself more than once so Emma could save the day.
Killian, on the other hand, was always conveniently absent whenever an akuma attack occurred… and okay, maybe that wasn't fair. How many times had Emma wished that Mary Margaret would get clear of the line of fire rather than searching out the perfect shot for her LadyBlog? Killian was just smart… but that didn't stop Emma from comparing him to the courageous Chat Noir.
She was still brooding an hour later when the bell signalled the end of the class. Choosing to avoid any further interaction with Killian, she remained in her seat and let the rest of her classmates rush by her. It meant she had a front row seat when Belle went rushing down, only to find herself tripped by Zelena. One of Belle's overlarge books went flying, landing on the corner of its cover with an ominous tear.
"Oh no," the brunette murmured, her eyes wide. "Oh no, oh no, oh no."
Emma stood up, ready to run interference… but Killian of all people beat her to it, picking up the book gently, so that the cover wouldn't tear anymore. He held it out to Belle, who accepted it with shaking hands. Everything might have been okay, except that Zelena let out a snort of laughter. Belle's face fell, and she went running out of the class. Killian looked after her, his jaw tense, and then turned fierce blue eyes towards Zelena.
"What was that for?" he demanded of the redhead, who just tossed her head and glared back.
"I was bored. Why does it matter to you anyway, Killian? Surely you don't have a crush on the sad little bookworm?"
Killian's eyes flashed with temper, reminding Emma that besides David, Belle was probably the best friend the guy had. She moved quickly to play interference between Killian and their cruel classmate, pressing her palms onto his chest.
"Zelena is a horrible person, Jones," Emma pointed out. "But provoking her won't help Belle."
"Aye. You're right, Lass," Killian agreed after a long moment, his gaze finally dropping from Zelena to Emma's own eyes. His expression softened, and Emma felt her breath catch. She had seen that expression before. She had seen it a hundred times, after a hundred fights and –
The glass in the windows of the classroom shattered, and Emma ducked, throwing her arms over head to protect herself. Her gaze shot around wildly to see who was left. Zelena, of course, and Killian. And then David and Mary Margaret hovering in the doorway, but they had taken cover outside of the classroom, well out of range of the glass.
And then there was the girl that levitated through the window, in a blue and green costume, her face covered by a mask that looked like it belonged at a masquerade ball.
"I'm the Librarian. And you've been treating your books very poorly," she said to Zelena. She opened the book in her hands, and Emma let out a low oath, because she recognized that book.
The Akuma was Belle, and Emma really needed to get out of here to transform.
She glanced around, to see that she and Zelena were alone in the room. Killian was gone – of course – but at least he had dragged David and Mary Margaret away with him.
The revelation she had been on the verge of earlier tried to rear its head, but Emma ignored it, instead looking for a way to distract Belle. She needed to buy Zelena time to get away.
"You need to get out of here."
Emma blinked at the familiar leather clad form that crouched next to her. Chat.
She had never interacted with Chat outside of her role as Ladybug, and he found herself suddenly speechless. He gave her a smile, his blue eyes warm. He had looked at her with warmth, but never quite like this. Yet despite that, she had seen those eyes hold this expression before.
(So familiar. Too familiar.)
"I can distract the Librarian until My Lady comes. You get yourself and your… friend to safety."
It was on the tip of Emma's tongue to tell Chat that Zelena was no friend of hers, but he had already given the other girl a gentle shove in Emma's direction, and arguing now would just be a distraction.
Chat needed Ladybug, not an argument.
"Move," she commanded Zelena in a voice that told the redhead exactly what would happen if she disobeyed. Zelena, who had been on the receiving end of Emma's foul temper more than once after her typical awful acts, wisely decided not to argue, even when Emma shoved her into a classroom for her own safety.
A quick trip to the washroom for privacy, and Emma was finally free to rush back to the classroom, now in full Ladybug mode.
She rushed in just as Chat was tossed into the wall next to the door. She winced as he slumped to the floor, and held her hand out to him.
"Ah, My Lady has arrived to be the brave knight" – Chat winced as he let her pull him to his feet, and then cracked his back before adjusting his hold on his sword and looking at The Librarian – "any ideas?"
Emma considered the situation. It would be nice, if they could keep it in the classroom. Sure, her magic always undid the worst of the damage caused by the Akumas… but it didn't erase the fear the attacks caused. Or the guilt of the infected ones in the aftermath.
"Can you distract her some more?" she asked. Chat winced slightly but gave a nod.
"Of course, My Lady."
It was a whim that had Emma reaching out and grasping his wrist before he could rush headlong at the akuma. She wasn't entirely sure why, but she just…
He looked back at her, so she was looking into brilliant blue eyes again. And they softened, like they had when she was Emma… but there was something different there. Something just not quite the same.
And maybe that's why she hadn't seen it before. The revelation from earlier was reverberation in her heart, because when Chat had looked at Emma.
Killian looked at her like that.
"My Lady?" he asked, confusion written across his face, and Emma dropped his wrist as though she had been burned. The Librarian took advantage of their distraction, sending an attack at them that Emma and Chat both just barely managed to avoid.
"Distract her!" she ordered again, her focus once more where it should be. "But… be careful, Chat."
"Never, My Lady," Chat replied with an easy smirk and a wink. "But you know this cat hasn't used up his nine lives yet."
He leapt into action, and Emma didn't waste any time on watching or worrying. There would be time for that later.
"Luck Charm!" she shouted, and she tossed her own weapon, a grappling hook it had taken her a good three months to master, into the air.
A garden hose landed in her hands.
"I hate my job," she muttered as she stared down at it, because of course she would get a garden hose. The Lucky Charm could never give her something obviously useful… like a flamethrower, or a crossbow or something. No, it was always something that required enormous amounts of thought and luck.
Then again, the one thing she had in spades as Ladybug was luck.
"Chat, I need you to use cataclysm on that wall!"
One destroyed wall and a tied up akuma later, Emma held the Librarian's book in her hands. She ripped it in half, ignoring Chat's wince at the action. Her magic would fix it, and right now she was more interested in the red butterfly that came fluttering out – the Queen of Heart's way of darkening her victims' hearts. Emma threw her grappling hook, and the moth was caught in the glowing white ball that had overtaken it. When Emma reeled the book back in, it was too release the now white butterfly.
"Try and stay out of trouble," she muttered as she watched it fly away, then she tossed up the garden hose, and let the magical healing take place.
"Pound it," she said to Chat, holding out her fist. Chat knocked her fist into his, the relief on his face when he saw that Belle's book was no longer ripped in half very clear. "I didn't realize you were such a book lover, Chat."
"That's a copy of the entire works of William Shakespeare, My Lady. One from the 1800s. You don't have to be a book lover to appreciate that."
She gave him a long look, and Chat blinked at her.
"What?" he asked in confusion.
"Nothing," she replied quickly, and moved towards Belle, who was sitting up, looking around in confusion. Emma kneeled next to her, making sure she was okay, but her mind was whirling.
How had Chat known what the book was? Unless, of course, he knew Belle well enough to know what book would be important enough to turn her into an akuma.
And she couldn't think about that.
But the thought stuck with her, even as she was rushed by Mary Margaret and David, who demanded to know she was okay. The lies came out almost too easily now, and then Killian joined them, and it was his turn to be questioned. She watched him, with his easy grin, and the way he rubbed his neck as he spoke.
He did that when he was uncomfortable.
But why would talking about taking cover from a dangerous attack make him uncomfortable… unless he was lying.
Emma watched him, and when he caught her gaze, he smiled at her, his expression going soft, and her breath caught. Just like when Chat had looked at her… in the exact same way.
"Killian," she blurted out when he began to walk away with David. He stopped, and looked at her, a smile on his lips, curiosity in his eyes, and Emma suddenly didn't know what she planned to say.
Were you really hiding?
Are you Chat Noir?
Do you recognize me?
None of which she could ask, of course. Not with Mary Margaret and David standing right there.
And not when she had been the one so determined to keep their identities secret. Because Chat had asked more than once to know who she was. But Emma had been afraid, because he had his dream girl in real life, and she already felt so insecure… what if he didn't like who she was, when she wasn't Ladybug?
Yet… now there were all these suspicions. And she couldn't speak a single one.
"I… Belle, she could probably use a friend after all of this."
She thought that Killian might look disappointed, and Emma couldn't understand why. He was Chat Noir – he was, and how was she supposed to deal with that? – which meant he had that perfect girl he was in love with, and…
"Aye, Swan," Killian murmured. "She probably could."
He moved past her, and their hands brushed. Emma felt a jolt through her whole body, and she turned to watch him go.
Killian Jones, eternal pain in her ass.
Chat Noir, her best friend and partner… the first boy she had ever loved.
What the hell was she supposed to do?
AN: So, you can see where I left room for a follow up. And now you should all go and watch Miraculous. Or leave a review. Or both.