Welcome to Miraculous one shots! Unless otherwise stated, these will be stand alone. I'll be exploring all sides of the love square and even reveals of others included in this. I am also open to requests! Leave me a review or shoot me a message. Enjoy!

Marinette raced forward, eyes scanning the area for a good hiding spot, desperate to stop the akuma as fast as possible. She suddenly stopped, hard enough for Tikki to float out and look at her.

"Marinette? The akuma!"

She didn't respond right away and Tikki followed her gaze. Chat was surrounded by dogs of all sorts, keeping them at bay with a swirl of his baton. Why did it have to be a dog akuma? Chat hated dogs, especially in the suit.

"He'll be fine once you transform. Come on!"

Tikki was right, she sighed. But before she could turn, one particularly large dog grabbed his baton and yanked it out of his grasp. Fear flitted across her partner's face. Marinette didn't have time to think. She whistled as loud as possible. Ten pairs of eyes all swiveled to her, including her favorite green ones. Momentarily forgetting their prize, they advanced on Marinette.

She squeaked, not quite thinking this through, and ran, hyper aware of the snarls behind her. If she was in her suit, it would be no problem outrunning these hounds, but well, her civilian identity had other plans. One loose stone and she fell face first to meet pavement. Did it give Chat enough time to secure his baton? Did he get away okay? She really hoped the next Ladybug managed not to fall over her own two feet.

Before she could reach the unrelenting street, gloved hands grabbed her around the waist as teeth grabbed her leg. She yelped, kicking the dog latched on her leg and soared through the air with Chat. That was way too close.

He stopped on a nearby roof, hidden from the akuma yelling at him. "What were you thinking Marinette?!"

She winced, "I was thinking you were in a bad situation and Ladybug was gonna need your help."

"You could have been killed!"

"So could you!"

"It's my job!"

"Dying is not your job!"

There was a roar from the akuma and both hid behind a chimney. She winced as the roof scraped her leg. That was going to be fun dealing with. "Go help Ladybug. I'm safe here."

He hesitated, "You better be here when we're done."

She rolled her eyes, "Go kitty."

Chat sighed and leapt off the roof with only one glance back. Marinette stood, careful on her injured leg, "Well this is going to be fun. Tikki, spots on!"

The suit washed over her and braced her leg enough to run head long into battle. It was a difficult akuma and took way too long to cleanse, but they prevailed as the sun began to set on Paris. She smiled as the ladybugs surrounded her leg, fixing the broken tissue. Chat watched curiously.

"Bien Joue!" they said, their miraculous giving their first warning beep. Chat backed up.

"Gotta go bugaboo. Try not to miss me too much!" He gave his salute and vaulted towards the parisian skyline.

Ladybug paled, "Chat, wait!"

She cursed and swung after him, knowing which roof he was heading for. If she was clever, she could just beat him. She rolled onto the roof less than gracefully, light flashing, ushering Tikki into her purse.

"Marinette?" Chat called, looking around for her. She took a moment to catch her breath and then called out to him.

He was by her side in a flash, checking her leg, "Chat, I'm fine. Miraculous ladybug fixed me up brand new. I wouldn't say no to a ride home as a thank you though."

"You're very calm about nearly dying by dog," he said, studying her critically.

"Probably just shock. So... ride home?"

His eyes narrowed, but complied, "The best ride I can offer a princess."

At that, he scooped her up, bridal style, and hurried to her house. By the time they arrived, there was little time for chit chat, his miraculous beeping urgently. He gave a salute as she dropped into her trap door. Tikki floated out, stern.

"What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking my partner was in danger."

"He'd be in more danger if you got too hurt to transform. Marinette, if you are hurt or unable to perform as Ladybug, all would be lost."

Marinette's eyes flashed to her kwami. Three years of being Ladybug and she knew the routine. Tikki was always telling her how reckless she was, but in that moment it didn't matter. She saw her partner in danger. Her partner. The one who was constantly taking the fall, constantly throwing himself in front of her. How could she not do the same?

"He's my partner. He takes so many falls and hits for me, it's only fair that I do the same. If something happened, he would have thought of something."

"He doesn't know who you are, though. He wouldn't know why if you didn't show up."

"Maybe that needs to change."

"Marinette..."

She ignored the concerned kwami, opening up her the recent akuma, she knew they would meet for patrol tonight. Patrols after akumas were more about recovery than patrolling. Maybe she would bring cookies. Chat loved the salted caramels she brought last time. Her eyes drifted from her screen to her Adrien wall. It had morphed over the years. From stolen magazine articles and photoshoots to goofy shots of her friends and random design pieces. She sighed. She loved Adrien, but...

Ten minutes before patrol, she stretched and grabbed a few different types of cookies. Her hands lingered over the frosted Ladybug and Chat Noir cookies her parents put out for Miraculous Day next week. Smiling, she stashed one of each in the nondescript box.

It was a little harder swinging over Paris with a box of cookies, but Marinette made it work. She even beat Chat there. She sat on their spot, legs dangling over the edge, lost in thought. Was she really going to do this? It would change everything. But... things were bound to change. They had been the cat and bug team for three years now and had only grown closer. She was finally ready to get to know her partner as a friend, someone she knew in and out of the mask. Yes, this was the right thing to do.

"My Lady, you brought cookies?" Chat landed softly beside her, ears perked at the box in her hands.

She laughed, opening the box for him, "Special ones just for us."

"You do love me!" His eyes roved over the different types, settling on the Ladybug cookie. He gave a groan of approval, "These are the best."

Nerves got the better of her. They always do. Her smile became strained and stretched as it lingered, "Yeah. yep. They're great."

His head cocked to the side and he sat beside her, "You okay bugaboo?"

"Um, yeah. Hard akuma today, huh? I thought you were kibble for sure." The joke was lame and she knew it, but why was this so hard? Chat's eyes furrowed.

"What's wrong?"

Of course he knew she was trying too hard. Chat was always able to read her like an open book. She sighed, setting aside the cookies, "Today was hard kitty. I saw you cornered...before I transformed and...how long have we known each other?"

"Uh, almost three years I guess. Feels like a lifetime."

"Three years of you taking the falls for me."

"Well, yeah, it's part of the job. I distract, you cleanse." He grinned, as if that made it better, like he was fine being the fall guy.

She looked at him, hurt, "Dying isn't your job."

Connections were going off in his brain, she could see his wheels turning, but he wasn't quite there yet, "My Lady? What brought this on?"

"You, you dumb cat. You were surrounded by those dogs, lost your baton and then had the nerve to scold me for rescuing you! I don't care if I have the magic cure, I can't do this without you either, okay?"

Silence stretched between them, she hugged her middle. Unable to sit, she stood and faced away from him, looking over the Parisian skyline. This was such a bad idea. Bad marinette! This is what happens when you don't think!

"...Marinette?"

She turned instinctively at her name, met his gaze and nodded. He scrambled up to her. When had he gotten so tall? She had to crane her neck to look up at him. "Hello chaton."

A smile crept up his face and he suddenly wrapped her in a hug, shouting and twirling, "Princess! My Lady! It's you!"

She laughed, the tension breaking in her. This. This was right. She felt whole, complete, ready to take on the world with him at her side. She hugged him fiercely. Whoever he was under the mask, she loved this boy.