Chapter One: Stay With Me

Paris was pitch black, the street lights shot out and shattered amongst the pavement. Shrill laughter echoed through the alleyways as a masked figure in red dashed desperately away from the darkness, carrying a young masked man in black.

"Laaaadybuuug…!" a young woman's voice chimed like a mad melody through the darkness.

The masked girl gasped when the sound reached her ears. She was already panting for breath, a cold sweat running down her face as her arms and feet ached from the weight of the young man in her arms. Her heart raced at a dangerous pace and the cold night air pierced her lungs with each gasp for breath. If Ladybug could hear her, she still hadn't run far enough. Chat Noir, her partner, her friend, was bleeding in her arms and struggling for breath. Though she had done her best to wrap the wound at his side to stop the blood, it was still dripping out and marking their trail.

"Come on, Chat. Stay awake…" she pleaded in a desperate whisper, pressing on through the alleys after only a moments pause to catch her breath.

"…you…need to leave me…" Chat breathed out weakly.
He opened his eyes as best he could, but to his dismay, was unable to see her face clearly. His vision was blurred and with every conscious second, the pain of his wound shot through him without mercy. Though he never wanted to deny a request from his princess, his eyelids were heavy and his strength slipping from him without his consent.

"I can't," insisted Ladybug quietly. It was true enough. She couldn't bring herself to leave him behind. This wasn't supposed to happen. This was supposed to be easy. It was supposed to be like every other mission, but it wasn't. There was no akuma to capture this time. The villain wasn't even after their miraculous'. This masked woman struck so quickly and without reason. Her target was Ladybug for sure, but Chat had gotten in the way. Everything happened so quickly that Marinette barely had time to process what had happened or see the girls face. All she could do was focus on getting her partner out of there. They had been hit before by many weapons, but somehow, this woman was able to deeply wound Chat. Which meant she was very dangerous and Ladybug's main objective had to be getting Chat Noir some help.

"…sh…she'll…catch up…" Chat tried protesting, but his strength was fading fast and his voice barely audible over Ladybugs gasps for breath as she ran away with him.

"Stop talking!" Ladybug ordered in a gasp, her voice cracking as she choked back tears. This was the first time Marinette had seen so much blood and she was doing her best to keep her head. She had to get Chat to the hospital. She'd used her lucky charm already and had very little time to get him there before she returned to normal. Still, her identity was of little consequence right now. Chat took priority and she wasn't about to stop until she could get him some help. Her strength was leaving her as well, having carried Chat as far as she could with all her might.

When Marinette could no longer hear the strange woman calling for her, she stopped and knelt down to carefully place Chat down against the brick wall of a dark alley. She left him alone for only a moment as she grabbed the nearby dumpster and pulled it over to quickly devise a cover of some sort.
Chat watched with shallow breath as Ladybug heaved trash bags at his sides to stack them around her friend. She had to hide him from that woman and then lead her away. Chat couldn't take another hit. She wouldn't let him.

"My lady….stop…" he pleaded weakly. Chat may have been too weak to move, but he could hear the faint beeping of her Miraculous. She would soon be defenseless. "You need…to…-"

Without allowing him to finish speaking, Ladybug kneeled down and covered his mouth with her hand. Chat was surprised by her reaction, but more so when he began to feel her hand trembling as she covered his lips. He struggled to open his eyes and though it was dark, his night vision allowed him to just barely see the face of the woman he loved. Blurry as it was, he could see her.

"Chat…j-just please…don't speak." Ladybug implored with a shaky voice, unable to hold back her tears any longer. She was scared. In times of self-doubt, Chat was the one to give her strength, but she had to keep it together for him now. She kept her hand over his mouth as she pulled out her yo-yo with her other hand and called the police chief. She had to make the most of the time she had before her miraculous ran out.
"Lieutenant Roger! We need an ambulance! The alley just off of 7th Avenue! A boy has been hurt, the criminal is still at large! Hurry!"

Ladybug only waited for the officer to confirm an ambulance was on the way before she cut off the call and turned her attention back to Chat. He kept his gaze on her face and his heart ached when he noticed the blurred stream of tears that left her beautiful blue eyes. She was so close. So close that he could reach out and touch her, but he hadn't the strength. It broke his heart. The woman he loved was upset and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her. To tell her that everything was going to be okay, to kiss her lips and silence her sobs.

Her expression was wracked with pain, but she refused to look away from her friend. Even as she took her hand from his face and pressed at his wound with both hands to add a little more pressure.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered when she saw him wince painfully. "I-I need to stop the bleeding. …here." She gulped down a sob and took his hands, placing them over the wound in her place. "Put pressure on it."

He did as he was told, but it was difficult with what little strength he had left.
"…W..what are you…?"

"I'm going to lead her away," answered Marinette without giving him the time to finish. "Take off your miraculous when you hear the sirens…that way, they won't know who you are. You'll be fine. Y-you'll be okay…" Her miraculous beeped again and Chat tried to move. She grabbed his shoulders and forced him to stay seated. The transformation was wearing off, she could feel it, but even if she changed back to plain old Marinette, she could still lead that woman away from Chat to buy the ambulance time.

"Princess…please…don't go." Chat pleaded. Not out of fear for his life, but out of fear for her. She was about to run off where he could not follow. He didn't have the strength and who knows what would happen to her. She could get hurt just like this and he wouldn't be there to help her this time. Even if it was dangerous for him, his heart screamed out for her to stay near him. So he could look into her eyes and know she was going to be okay, even if it might be the last thing he saw.

"For once Chat…please…shut up…" replied Ladybug, placing her trembling palm against his cheek to keep his attention. Forcing a smile, she met his eyes with her own and tried to appear brave for him.
"...I can do this. …and when you're all better…we'll fight together again. Even if…I'm not Ladybug…I can do this for you…"

Her voice shook while she attempted a brave front and while she spoke, a faint red glow began to rush up her body. Her transformation was wearing off and their time was running out. It was harder than anything she had done before, but Marinette pulled what little strength she had in order to pull away from her injured friend and get to her feet. Despite his best efforts, Chat was losing consciousness and everything seemed to get darker. Her bright blue eyes were still a point of focus for the masked young man however, and he watched as she stood up. The red light reached her face and unmasked the young girl. She was only in sight briefly before she wiped her eyes and turned to run from the alley.
Adrien heard her voice calling out and taunting the villain as she ran off. It wasn't until his ears picked up on the sirens that he forced himself to move. It was the last thing his princess told him to do. With an unsteady hand, he slowly pulled his ring from his finger and felt his transformation leave him. Once he knew he was back to being Adrien Agreste, he slipped the ring back on slowly.

"Adrien?!" Plagg exclaimed in a panic when he returned to his proper form and saw the damage on the young boy. The sirens were louder now and when Plagg saw humans rushing into the alleyway, he quickly hid in Adriens shirt. "Help is here…hang on!" Plagg whispered urgently.

Adrien saw blurry figures looming over his body now and a light shined in his face. They were speaking to him, no doubt asking him questions or trying to keep him conscious, but it sounded as if they were speaking to him through a thick glass. Without his Cat-like senses, it was more difficult to hear them.
He could feel them move his body and as the darkness began to cover his vision, he allowed himself one last thought. Her black hair, her crystal blue eyes, the way she smiled at him as tears rolled down her cheeks…it was the last thing he wanted to remember. Even the vision he was granted before she ran off, he burned that into his memory as well. He didn't have the strength to react at the time, nor did he have the breath to speak, but he saw her. He was sure that he saw her face, not matter how blurry it may have been to him at the time.

"…Marinette…" breathed Adrien softly. It was the last thing he said aloud before his eye closed and he finally lost consciousness. His voice was barely above a whisper and with all the commotion, the paramedics didn't register that he even spoke as they quickly rushed him into the ambulance.

A/N: It's a short first chapter, but I promise there will be more. I hope you all will enjoy this story as it unfolds. For updates and art, please check out my Tumblr. (same username)
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