In the midst of an Akuma attack our favorite crime fighting duo find themselves handcuffed together. Chat Noir breaks the cuffs with cataclysm only to be duped by the devious Akuma, who had predicted his actions. Now handcuffed AGAIN, Ladybug rolling her eyes aggressively at him and his transformation wearing off Chat Noir follows his Lady's wishes for their identities to be unknown and blindfolds her.

What shenanigans can these two get into as they sneak through the streets of Paris, looking for cheese to help Plagg regain his strength? After all, people have a tendency to call you out when you're seen together with Ladybug, let alone when you are Adrien Agreste.

Chapter 1: Home is where the heart is

Marinette had counted on more bad things happening that day. This morning, her parents had accidentally burnt the first batch of croissants. In class, she had spilled her thermos of pink lemonade all over her work for the day. Alya was in a state of emotional turmoil because the servers supporting the Ladyblog were down. Nino's headset became the victim of one of Chloe's temper tantrums and ended up in two pieces. And Adrien… Well she couldn't exactly pinpoint what bad thing had happened but the boy seemed to be in a sad mood all day.

Now what she didn't count on, was the situation she found herself in. Sure Akuma's attacks were what she'd consider bad luck despite their (at most frequent) weekly appearances. And this particular Akuma had given them quite a lot of trouble. But this… This situation was absolutely ridiculous.

She should've been more careful, both her and Chat. Knowing the nature of this Akuma they should have known better than to fight so closely together. All those months of being partners and fighting alongside each other though, it was practically extinct by now to be side by side when it came to a defense tactic.

And now, here they were, handcuffed together, for the second time. Chat felt hot irritation with himself creeping along his neck. 'A mere pair of handcuffs can't keep me and my Lady confined! This is too easy!' He thought to himself as he had used his cataclysm to break the binds. Too easy. He should have seen the follow up attack coming; or at least waited so that he could break both of the cuffs at the same time. Yet now here he was, hot with so much guilt and shame he could not look at his Lady. And even worse, this time on Ladybug's end of the cuffs, it was her dominant hand that was trapped.

Marinette's throat tightened as she felt Chat's guilt, palpable in the air between them. 'He probably puts all of them blame on himself. He shouldn't…' She thought to herself. 'We both should have moved out of the way as soon as the chain was broken… and now-' A beep coming from Chat's ring brought her out of her thoughts. They only had four minutes left.

He hovered over them with a large smirk forming on his adolescent face. "Y'know, my parents found my obsession with locks and keys weird. They didn't quite get that some things should remain under… lock and key. The divorce surprised me but with my new powers I guess you could say now their marriage is... secure."

Marinette had to hold back the eye rolling instinct that surfaced when she heard the puns within the villain's speech, but gave Chat Noir a glaring side-eye as she heard him unsuccessfully hold back a chuckle.

The villain or The Locksmith, as Hawkmoth and himself had declared, hovered smugly over the pairs of handcuffed Parisians. Arguments within the duo's could be heard becoming louder and louder. "An absolute nightmare!" a man complained as he struggled against the chains linking him to a very angry woman. "Excuse me?!" A woman shouted. "Do you think that being trapped with you is a pleasure!?"

The Locksmith's gaze then landed on Ladybug and Chat Noir a solemn expression starting to show. "You know," He began. "Have you ever heard of the saying that home isn't a place, that it's a person." Chat Noir... Adrien, felt his face heating up at that remark. He pictured his cold, vast and empty mansion, not ever feeling remotely close to a home. He glanced at Ladybug, who was tense with the desire to jump towards The Locksmith and continue the fight. He had to literally stomp on the feelings that rose in his chest when he looked at her. Suddenly, his Miraculous beeped it's warning for the second time. He had three minutes left.

The Locksmith's evil smirk returned as he locked eyes with Chat. "Well," he muttered darkly as smoke started to form around him.

"Enjoy house arrest."