Watching Over You
Requested by: Shiranai Atsune
*NOTE: Italics take place in the past*

"Miraculous ladybug!"

In a burst of red and black light, the city is back to normal, the Eiffel Tower is standing tall (after an akuma took it down, again), and any injuries sustained in battle are healed up. Ladybug stands rigid still as she watches an ever present figure remain in their spot on the roof of a building across from the tower. Even as Chat Noir approaches her, broad grin and extended fist and smug attitude galore, she doesn't tear her gaze away from the mysterious white shape. "Chat," she begins carefully. "Do you see that? In the distance?"

"Hm?" he lowers his head closer and keeps his voice at a whisper. "That white thing? Yeah, I see it. Do you think it's another akuma?"

"No, Papillon doesn't usually send two in row." Ladybug turns into Chat Noir's embrace as he pulls his staff from the hook on his back. "I'd go check it out, but my transformation's going to wear off and I don't want to risk wasting any more time than I need to."

Chat Noir nods as he pushes the staff against the ground and lifts them into the air. "Well, if you'll allow your knight in shining amour to get you to your tower, I would happily, oblige, princess."

Ladybug giggles. "That would be wonderful, handsome boy. Maybe if we're lucky, we'll catch him on patrol tonight."

Chat Noir simply chuckles as he carries their combined weight over rooftops to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Ladybug nudges her partner in the ribs with her elbow as she points over to a nearby building with her other hand. "Look, there they are."

It's nearing midnight, and on their perch atop the Notre Dame Cathedral, Ladybug can clearly see the white figure, their outfit reflected by the moonlight a few roofs away. They're just standing there, not at all looking suspicious. "Do you want to confront them?" Chat Noir asked.

"What if they're really an akuma?"

"You already ruled that out earlier saying Papillon doesn't usually send two in a row. Besides, they were around during the attack today and did nothing but watch us."

"A spy?"

"Bug."

Ladybug glares at him. "I'm only listing the possibilities!"

"How about instead of guessing," Chat Noir says as he lowers himself into a crouch, backside wiggling as he readies to pounce, "we go up to him as ask what the big deal is?"

Before the spotted hero can reply, he jumps off, using his staff to propel him towards the figure, and she spends a few seconds stomping on the cathedral's roof in frustration. "I'm supposed to be the rash decision maker, I'm the one who uses Lucky Charm." Still, she leaps after him with her yo-yo, intent on letting her fist become acquainted with his stomach. Lightly, of course.

She lands on the roof right before the white figure, next to her partner, and stares at the spy. He—now it's clear, judging from the lean muscles and shaggy hair—looks almost identical to Chat Noir, except his suit is white and his eyes glow an icy blue instead of a vibrant green. She keeps her gaze on those eyes, which seem too familiar. "Who are you?" Chat Noir asks, puffing his chest out.

"Chat Blanc," he replies, not breaking eye contact with Ladybug. "You two are Ladybug and Chat Noir, correct?"

"I'd like to think so."

Ladybug feels the gears in her head turn as she tries to figure out from where she knows those eyes. The hair looks pretty familiar too… the shaggy mess of blond locks atop his head covers his eyes when he moves his head in certain ways. She continues staring at him as Chat Noir continues to speak. "Why have you been following us?"

"I'm watching over Paris," Chat Blanc responds, standing up straight and finally allowing his eyes to leave Ladybug's to look at Chat Noir. Which means he missed the surprised look on her face at those words. "At the same time, I'm watching over the both of you."

"We don't need you to do that; we're fine on our own."

The spotted heroine takes a few silent steps back, hands over her mouth. Chat Blanc meets her eyes again, concern painted over them through the mask. With a slight shake of her head, she turns around, yo-yo flying over to the nearest grabable spot on a building, Chat Noir's cry of her name falling on deaf ears.

She returns to her house purely on autopilot, landing on her bed just as Tikki flies out of her earrings, looking at her charge with big worried eyes. "Marinette, what happened?"

"I didn't—I thought—He's—" her voice breaks with every start to the explanation she was trying to give. With a deep breath, she buries her head in her hands. "Félix."

When she and Félix Agreste first met, he was in his suit and it was on top of a rooftop the first day she had transformed, a complete mess of a spandex-covered superhero with a yo-yo who had just moments before barely missed crashing into the mayor's hotel. She then almost bumped into a black-cat-esque young man who somehow managed to catch her without falling over himself. He didn't crack a single joke about her misstep, instead held her by the shoulders and asked if she was alright.

Before she could reply, the akumatized victim that caused her to become Ladybug to begin with reminded them of their current objective. For their first villain, they did a surprisingly good job, and Chat Noir had bowed at the waist before Ladybug could ask anything further. She'd returned home and had Tikki explain to her what was going on, leaving Marinette more confused than anything.

The next villain they fought was an easier one to defeat, neither superhero really needing to use their special ability which allowed them to have a little more time afterwards to talk about what was going on.

"How old are you?" Ladybug had asked as they sat on top of Notre Dame, looking over the city.

"Fifteen," he replied, looking over at his new partner. "You?"

"Thirteen."

"How do you...feel about all this?"

Ladybug hesitated, bringing her knees up to wrap her arms around them. "At first I wasn't sure if I was cut out for all this, but Tikki—my kwami—told me that every miraculous user is chosen for a reason." She shrugged, turning her head and smiling broadly. "And I haven't done this for very long but I can already tell we're going to be great partners."

There was a brief pause, before Ladybug spoke again. "Should we reveal our other identities?"

Chat Noir shook his head. "No."

And he smiled back, a blush staining his cheeks. Ladybug stood up and stepped back a little, taking a deep breath. "So until the next time we meet, chérie?"

He blinked, his cheeks going a bit darker. "Of course, coccinelle."

The next day, Marinette enters the classroom silently, barely giving her best friend the normal good morning she does, instead choosing to sit down at her table and stare intensely at the board. She feels Alya's stares burn into the side of her head as she rests it in her hands, elbows propped up on the tabletop. She doesn't even react when Adrien walks in with Nino at his side, or when he steps up to her chair and places a hand on her shoulder. "Marinette?" he asks softly, but she doesn't even look up at him, her mind running a mile a minute.

If Chat Blanc was really Félix, she needs to decide whether or not she's going to confront him about what had happened four years ago.

As Alya and Nino engage in a conversation, Marinette turns her head to look out the window, eyes widening at the sight of the all-too familiar white figure on a roof nearby.

She scrambles up out of her seat and grabs her backpack, and sprints out the door and outside, running into an alley to transform and meet up with Chat Blanc. The pair stare at each other for a short while before he smiles gently, his icy eyes warming just a bit. "Hello, coccinelle."

"I didn't believe it. I thought you died," Ladybug manages, biting her lip nervously. "After that last battle we had...I was so worried about you, chérie."

"Shall we take this somewhere more...private?" Chat Blanc asks, nodding his head in the direction of the lycée, where some students were looking up at the pair in awe. "I'd rather your new partner doesn't catch wind of this."

"He probably already knows," Ladybug says, as she pulls out her yo-yo. "It's not hard to look out of a window. Especially when that window opens out to this roof."

Chat Blanc looks around, frowning. "Where can we go?"

"Notre Dame? Like old times?"

"Are you angry?" he asks suddenly. Ladybug turns around to face him with a confused look on her face. "I mean—after what I did four years ago, I wouldn't be surprised if you were angry."

"I won't lie to you, I'm furious." Ladybug shrugs, meeting Chat Blanc's eyes. "I didn't know what happened to you. And now you're just suddenly back. But I know you have a lot to explain, and I'll listen to you before I punch you in the face."

Chat Blanc laughs nervously, his hand going up to scratch the back of his neck, a gesture Ladybug notices is very common with both Agreste siblings. "I'll explain everything when we're alone, alright?"

"Then let's go to my room instead," Ladybug offers with a crooked smile. "You've never been before, have you? I can't get you anything from the bakery since I'm supposed to be in school, but your explanations are far more important to me."

"Lead the way, coccinelle."

"I'm not going to be able to be your partner anymore."

Ladybug looked up at Chat Noir, her blue eyes wide as she tried to make sense of the words he just spit out at her. "Why?"

"Something came up in my personal life."

"We haven't even worked together for a year."

His ears fell flat against his head. "I'm so sorry, coccinelle. I have to admit, it's been a great few months."

Ladybug hummed in response, feeling his presence as he stopped right behind her. She leaned back to rest against his legs, looking up at his blue eyes. "I think we should at least let each other know our identities. So that we can still see each other even when you're not in the suit."

"Alright," he agreed, taking her hand and pulling her to her feet, taking a few good steps back on the cathedral's roof to make sure people wouldn't see them. Together, they linked their fingers and released their transformations, never tearing their gazes from each other. "I'm Félix. Félix Agreste."

Marinette felt her heart beat at the sound of the last name of the designer she admired for so long holy moly she was fighting alongside his oldest son for almost a year. "My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"Like the bakery?" Félix asked excitedly. "I've always loved the cheese danishes from in there, and Plagg does too." As he laughed, the black cat kwami showed himself to the young girl. At the same time, Tikki revealed herself and ended up getting tackled by a black blob. "I guess they're happy to see each other," Félix said happily.

Marinette giggled. "Seems like it. So now that we know each other," she grinned up at him, hands folded behind her back. "We'll be able to see each other more often!"

Félix smiled, and Marinette tried to ignore the fact that it didn't reach his eyes. "Yes, we will."

The next morning, the main news story all across Paris was the sudden death of Félix Agreste and Madam Elaine Agreste.

Ladybug releases her transformation right as she sits on her bed, Chat Blanc closing and locking the trapdoor behind them. He reaches up and ruffles his hair as his fingers slowly peel the mask off of his face. Marinette finally sees the man who had once been her partner, and her hands reach up on their own to cradle his face. "Oh, chérie, what happened to you?"

"Mother and I needed to take care of business," he replies, sitting next to her on the bed, folding his hands on his lap. "There were...issues regarding the family business and money was becoming somewhat of a problem. We're only in Paris for a short while, and so I made it my goal to make sure I saw you once. I wasn't expecting to see you—like this, civilian to civilian like the last day we were together—and I'm so...thankful."

Marinette watches the emotions in his eyes fly by, from remorse, to anger, to true happiness and gratitude. "I really thought you were dead," she whispers, fingers curling into his white suit, which hangs more loosely on his body than the magical one Plagg granted once him. Tikki rested against his other shoulder, nuzzling his cheek. "I got so scared...I'd finally figured everything out, promised that we'd see each other, and then the news was screaming that you and your mother died."

"I'm sorry, Marinette. I'm so sorry."

"Can I...meet her? Before the both of you leave?" She suppresses a giggle at the sight of his wide icy eyes when his head twists down to look at her. "It's only fair that I meet the woman who gave birth to one of my closest friends."

He looks up at the ceiling in thought before sighing. "Why don't we do it now? I doubt you're going to go back to school now that you've got me in your grasp."

She laughs, making sure to be quiet so her parents wouldn't hear her. Félix stands up, replaces the mask on his face and like so long before, extends his hand to her, a soft smile pulled against his lips. She laced their fingers together, and he pulls them through the trapdoor, before picking the young girl up and leaping across the rooftops to an abandoned warehouse. She glances around and notices that it's surprisingly near the Eiffel Tower, and follows him inside quietly.

"Félix, welcome back!" a voice calls out, and the blond man reaches up to remove his mask.

"Hello, mother," he replies. "I brought a friend."

"A friend?" she asks, surprised, and looks up from her book to see Marinette at Félix's side, her blue eyes wide. "Is this...Marinette?"

"Yes," he smiles. He gently pushes the superhero forward. "Marinette, this is Elise, my mother."

The older woman closes her book and smiles at the guest, green eyes twinkling. "Do you know how much my son has been talking about you?"

"Mother."

She laughs. "Sorry, ange. Thank you for keeping an eye on him when he was Chat Noir. And…" she glances over at her eldest, sighing. "Thank you for taking care of Adrien."

"You know my brother?" Félix asks incredulously.

"He's the new Chat, isn't he?" Elise says with a wink, making Marinette blush. She nods. "I knew it."

"I thought Plagg was joking when he told me Adrien would be just as good a chosen," Félix grumbles under his breath. "Stupid cat."

"You were a stupid cat, too," Marinette laughs, poking her old partner's chest.

The three of them burst into laughter and spend the rest of Marinette's school day reminiscing about the past, Marinette sometimes checking her phone when either Alya or Adrien sent her a message wondering where she'd gone to. She doesn't respond directly, instead sends back vague messages saying that something more important came up.

That night, Chat Noir questions her as to why she thinks that Chat Blanc figure doesn't show up. She doesn't give a concrete answer.

The next day, the warehouse is empty when Ladybug goes to visit.

Chat Noir notices that Ladybug has been off the past few patrols and attacks.

It's not normal for him to be late, even with his crazy schedule, so for Ladybug to show up at the most, thirty minutes late for the same nightly patrol they'd been doing for over four years now, sent red alarms ringing in Chat Noir's head. And when she does show up, she's silent, on edge, as if she's looking for something.

Akuma attacks are the same, but she shows up on time. With nothing more than a few words directed to her partner, she'd purify the butterfly and immediately leave. Reporters swarm the black clad hero with questions after every white butterfly flies off, asking him what was wrong with his lady, but what answer can he give when even he didn't know?

Marinette was silent in school, giving the same vague answers she did when she ran out of the room a few days prior. Adrien starts to get worried that maybe she's starting to feel different about their relationship, but he doesn't go to ask whenever she flicks up on her toes and lightly pecks his lips before running home.

He doesn't know when it happens, but one night, probably the sixth night that she shows up late, he cancels patrol right when she steps on the roof he was on. "What's going on?" he asks, green eyes narrowing. "You've been late to patrol all week, and you just leave right after attacks. Is everything alright?"

"Were you and your brother close?" she suddenly asks, not meeting her partner's eyes.

"Félix?" he blinks in surprise. How does she know about him? Admittedly, there's a lot known about the Agreste family, because limelight is limelight and celebrities can't get a break, ever, but he didn't realize that Marinette keeps track of all the stories regarding them. Which means...she knows that Félix isn't around anymore. "Yeah, we were. Why?"

"Just wondering. I read about his death—sudden and unexplained. I...I don't know how that must feel."

"Why are you bringing this up. What is going on?"

Ladybug opens her mouth to answer, but is interrupted by her transformation releasing and Tikki floating in front of her face with her cell phone in her hand. "It's important," she says quietly, and Marinette takes the phone in her hand, unlocking it to see an unread message in her inbox from an unknown number. She frowns and opens it, eyes widening at the picture.

She smiles, motioning for Chat Noir to come closer. She turns the phone to face him, whispering, "Well, he's actually fine."

Chat Noir blinks at the phone, taking it in his hand to look at it more closely. "How did you…?"

Marinette shrugs. "It's a secret."

In the photo, Elise smiles a model Agreste smile at the camera as she presses herself next to Félix, whose icy eyes shone bright with happiness. The caption reads, "Off on another great adventure. See you soon, coccinelle."

A week after the news story broke, a new Chat Noir approached Ladybug, a smug and cocky young man that was her age. The first time he asked to know her behind the mask, she tensed. "No," she replied, remembered the horrible thing that happened to Félix after they revealed themselves. "We are never to know who we are."

author's notes:
diane is back from her depressed hiatus and the con (lessbe real, con ended like two weeks ago bUT IT STILL COUNTS)
this was requested to me by shiranai atsune (this is where my bad grammar comes in because i'm really lazy haha)
i hate present tense, but i wanted there to be a drastic difference between tenses when talking about félix as chat and adrien as chat
i have two one-shots on queue, meaning they're done, so i'll have them posted soon
in other news, send me more requests! i don't have a life. really. i just yell at soccer games