A/n: I am back this time with a much more emotionally heavy story. This idea was inspired largely by the scene in Season 1 Episode 6, The Pharaoh, in which Cat Noir asks Ladybug how old she really is. It sparked the idea of an age gap between the main characters. The Revivalists' Wish I Knew You also inspired a few things about this fic, including the title. I believe that the quoting of this song falls under Fair Use. I do not own this song or the Miraculous universe.

.: Chapter 1 - Introduction :.

*flash-forward*

"Oh, I hope you don't mind? We can share my mood, yeah," a voice crooned softly over the radio. Marinette was ultra-aware of the heartbeat in her chest; she could physically feel the pulses moving her body's blood around, keeping her alive.

"Two strangers in the bright lights!" She thought of Cat and herself, back-to-back, surrounded, against the odds, and out of time. They had been in some sticky situations. But somehow they always pulled out of it fine. She blushed when she realized the now-accurate double entendre.

"I wish I knew you,

I wish I knew you,

Oh! I wish I knew you when I was young!"

Desire and extreme sadness coursed through her, for the dark hero and the young love they had missed out on. Even though she shared a special bond with him as a fellow superhero, she wished she had actually gotten to know him - the real him - especially before sleeping with him. Her heart ached for their lost innocence, tears gathering in her eyes. Just who was the person behind the mask?

Luka's face swam up in her mind's eye and broke her reverie. Patient Luka, caring Luka. She suddenly loathed herself, crying in earnest. Why was she pining for this man she didn't know when she had one so fabulous right in front of her? Tears stained her pillow as Tikki snuggled close, sadly stroking her human's hair.

*/end*

She had a love-hate relationship with this time of day. The magnificent, sprawling metropolis was always somewhat bathed in a glow due to all of the city lights. Still, the atmosphere was sleepy and quiet. The Earth wasn't ready to wake up yet; the sense of an almost-dawn and hope for the new day lingered in the air.

Jumping from building to building, she let the rhythm of the patrol calm her nerves. There was something about wearing the skintight bodysuit - which always magically seemed to stretch in just the right places - that kept her adrenaline pumping. But ever since the akuma had almost turned her at 24 years old, after the death of her mother, Master Fu was strict about her meditating. She almost thought she had gotten the hang of it now, four years later. It helped keep her calm in stressful situations, and to keep her emotions in check.

Abruptly, her mind was broken out of autopilot by a strange sight. She came to a halt and ducked for cover behind a chimney, trying to see what had captured her attention. It was a fast-moving black blob, a few rooftops away, that was quickly approaching her position. She almost never encountered other people walking around high above the city. In all her years of patrolling, about twelve now, she could only remember a few people with legitimate reasons for being on a roof.

The figure was definitely human, she thought, as he or she stepped onto the neighboring rooftop. It was an androgynous and sinister figure in the predawn light, approaching her spot with the quick jumps that Ladybug herself normally used to move. As the figure neared and stepped onto her own rooftop, her communicator started to ring. Crap! She thought. She didn't normally have to worry about it making noise. The only person who had called her was Master Fu, and less than the amount of times she could count on one hand. The sound abruptly cut off as she silenced it, wincing. It looked like whoever was on the roof with her had already heard the sound.

"Ah," the figure shouted. holding up a cellphone-looking device to his ear - quite long and bulky for a cellphone, admittedly - maybe more like a radio? "Found ya, Ladybug!" He was definitely male. Black shiny material swathed the tall form. His shoulders were broad but not bulky, and his abdomen tapered pleasantly to graceful hips; he had a fit and athletic profile. He was slender but not scrawny, and well-defined muscles bunched under the tight bodysuit as he moved gracefully towards her. Definitely a dancer. Or a fighter.

She frowned and stepped out from behind the chimney, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who are you?" Ladybug asked, trying not to sneer at the other strangely-dressed person. Her hand wandered towards her yo-yo. She had only seen a handful of akumatized victims, and he didn't seem like any of them. A blond, spiky mane hid his human ears, and he wore cat ears and a tail. If she didn't know better... Had Master Fu given out the Cat miraculous without telling her?

"What, you're not going to answer me?" He interrupted her introspection, annoyingly not answering her question. He grinned at her, still rather stupidly, she thought, clutching the….gray metal stick… up to his ear. She supposed it had went to voicemail as he snapped it shut.

"That's you calling me? So he did give out the Cat miraculous," she said in amazement, eyeing his ring.

Cat looked back at her hungrily. "So, you can tell me more about this, then? My Kwami is the only one who has been able to tell me anything yet."

She frowned. "I can tell you a few things. A lot you will have to learn on your own as each Miraculous is different. What do I call you?"

"You can call me Lover Boy," he arrogantly cocked his hip and rested a fist on it. Pursing his lips, he let his eyes rove up and down her frame. "But my name is Cat Noir!"

Ladybug raised her eyebrows at his exclamation, fingers gripping her biceps in annoyance. She studiously ignored the first half of the comment. "Really? 'Cat Noir'?"

"Well… you have to admit, it sounds pretty badass."

"Black Cat?"

"Hmm…. well, it might be a work in progress. Anyway, we've got to go! Someone from my - I mean, a new villain called Stoneheart has popped up and he's got a high-school student named Myléne in his grasp… literally! They're at the Eiffel Tower right now!"

"Oh, wow! Not that I would wish anyone to be akumatized, but it is cool to finally get a chance to test out my powers! And you're already proving useful, Kitty," she teased.

If he was a real cat, he would have strutted around, so pleased he was at her praise. She rolled her eyes and took off, and he had to hustle to keep up with her.

When they arrived, the police were trying to contain the scene. Stoneheart actually had two high-school girls in his grip! He had them both clutched in his fists. Before she knew what was happening, Ladybug sprinted to catch the blond-haired girl that Stoneheart mercilessly hurtled to the ground. From Ladybug's arms, the girl, Chloé, Ladybug thought, beamed at her as she realized that her body wouldn't be broken in a heap. "Ladybug! My hero!" She cried.

"No problem, just run for cover, ok?" Ladybug instructed, setting the frightened girl down. The girl followed her instructions eagerly, running to seek shelter with her father, the mayor.

The police were preparing to fire at the stone monster. Ladybug managed to stall them for a short amount of time, exchanging some heated words, but was filled with doubt after the argument. Cat was quick to reassure her, taking her aside and holding her shoulders. "You've got this, LB," he said softly. "You're a real pro. I know you've already purified a few akumas before. And now you have me on your side, too. Ladybug and Cat Noir!"

As she smiled her thanks, a swarm of black butterflies made their way out of Stoneheart's mouth. Ladybug and Cat Noir exchanged a glance. "Now that's just disgusting," she commented.

Hawk Moth introduced himself to the city of Pairs via the butterfly swarm, projecting his voice to the group. Ladybug was filled with righteous indignation at his words. "Let's not reverse the roles here," she started, launching into an inspiring speech about how herself and Cat Noir would always protect and defend the innocent. Cat Noir could only stare at the red-clad supero. He realized he had fallen for her, hard.

After it was over, Ladybug parachuted to the ground, the other high-school girl in her arms, akuma in her yo-yo. She released the white butterfly and threw her parachute into the air. Cat met her on the ground with the now-purified high-school boy.

The duo made sure everyone was ok, and then had to go their separate ways. Cat Noir had gripped Ladybug's forearm, stalling her for a precious few seconds. "I'll see you soon, my Lady," he winked at her before letting her go.

If she was being honest with herself, a slight thrill ran through her before she swung away, trying not to grin.

"Babe? I'm home!" Marinette shouted as she ducked through the rooftop entrance to her shared bedroom, detransforming instantly. They had put the rooftop entrance in shortly after she had revealed her superhero identity to the love of her life. Tikki shook herself and smiled at her human, zipping off into the rest of the house to look for something to eat.

Marinette pounded downstairs and found Luka sitting at the dining table, having breakfast. She hugged him exuberantly, combing through his messy-yet-perfect hair with her fingers. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind and planted a kiss on his stubbly cheek. Helping herself to a croissant, she took a seat next to him. Tikki was munching on a cookie happily on the kitchen counter.

"Close call with that," Luka nodded at the TV, frowning. "Good catch." Chloé hurtled to the ground again on the news. Even though Marinette knew Ladybug would intercept her, her stomach still dropped a bit watching it.

She knew Luka got live updates from the Ladyblog that sent notifications to his phone, so she wasn't surprised he knew about what had happened before it aired on the news. She was a bit surprised that Alya had been so quick, though. "Thanks," Marinette responded. "That was scary. It's the first time something I've done has been so… public."

"Maybe," he agreed, clasping her hand across the table and squeezing. "You've definitely been in the limelight before. But, nothing like this. Especially with a new… partner," he tried to tread carefully. "You will probably attract more attention as a duo."

His lover made a face. "Ick, that guy is so full of himself. I'm already tired of him," she complained, smiling in spite of herself.

Tikki giggled. "Believe it or not, he's not the worst Cat so far."

"As hard as it is to admit with you gallivanting around with this new, toned, good-looking chap, I really am glad you're getting some help," Luka said after eyeing the Kwami. " If that Hawk Moth is serious, then I would be worried if only you stood between Paris and that monster."

"That's a pretty good point. It looks like we won't be going on vacation anytime soon," Marinette frowned, sighing. "And I won't be able to see you on your tour! Agh."

The guitarist was a part of a moderately successful rock band, and they were starting their third world tour in a few months. "I know it sucks," he started. "But tour always sucks. You can see me at the Paris show," he suggested.

"That's a wonderful idea. I absolutely hate being away from you for so long."

"Look on the bright side, it might not be that different than normal. Master Fu has only let you off duty for about a week at a time in all your years of being Ladybug," Luka reasoned.

"Yeah, but one week and zero weeks are very different," she pouted.

"I admit, never being able to take a vacation again sounds a bit daunting. Although, it's not gonna be forever, right? Even superheroes have to retire at some point."

Tikki and Marinette glanced at each other, the former serene and ponderous and the latter gritty and determined.

Back in his room, Adrien flung himself onto his bed. "Plagg, she's so wonderful!" Adrien gushed.

"I'm telling you, man," Plagg reproached. "Don't get too into her. You and her are going to be working together for a long time. You don't want that to be complicated by romantic feelings."

"I don't think I'll be able to ignore it. She's too awesome!"

Later, Adrien was shocked by the news that he was actually going to be allowed to attend school. Real school, where real, live, other human teenagers attended! This was the best day ever!

Later that week, Marinette had to become Ladybug again. She wasn't used to having more than a few villains each year. If Hawk Moth had been behind the akumas this entire time, he had merely been testing his powers before now. The onslaught began in earnest ever since the Stoneheart incident.

Unfortunately, Luka's best friend had been eating dinner with them, so she had to make a lame excuse to get out of the house.

Nathan eyed his buddy. "Emergency Lamaze class? Really? Is this her way of saying something?"

He choked on his wine, slightly embarrassed. "I know, Nate, I know. She's not pregnant!" "It's for a friend." The white lie came out easily in defense of his love's alter-ego.

"But, what's the emergency? I thought those classes were planned far in advance."

"You know Marinette can be forgetful. Sometimes I think it's kind of cute."

Nathaniel made a face and flipped his long red bangs out of his eyes. "Whatever you say, Luka. But, try seeing it from my point of view. She definitely comes and goes at odd hours," looking not-so-furtively at the clock. It was 20:07.. Quite late for an 'emergency Lamaze class'.

Luka got the hint, though still felt protective of his partner and her secret. He definitely appreciated his friend's point of view, though. It wasn't unreasonable. "I know it might look strange to someone with a normal schedule. But that's a freelancer for you." He beamed while talking about his woman, he just couldn't help it. "I trust her completely."

Nathan sighed. "I'm glad for that, my friend."

The super-duo had a bit more work cut out for them this time. Apparently another high-school student, Nino, had been akumatized into a supervillain named The Bubbler. He was targeting Gabriel Agreste for not allowing his son, Adrien, to have any fun on his 17th birthday.

"Seriously? Seventeen years old and still treating him like a child? That Gabriel has a stick up his-"

Cat Noir choked.

"-um. Are you ok, Cat Noir?"

After everything was back to normal, Ladybug split quickly, much to Cat's dismay.

Marinette really didn't want to keep Luka waiting. It was Thursday night, and they had a routine. Unfortunately, by the time the crimefighting was over and she returned home, she had missed their show. Instead of being upset, he cracked up at her pout. "Don't worry, Mari," he reassured her. "I didn't watch it without you. We can stream it tomorrow and catch up."

Later, while getting ready for bed, he smiled deviously. "If you're still upset, I can think of something else we can do to take your mind off of it." The words came out slightly distorted because his face was pressed into her skin.

"Luka, it's late and I have a meeting early tomorrow" she protested slightly, smiling in spite of herself, but waning under his feather-light touch.

She gave in. He was a great masseuse.

A/n: I actually have a story planned out this time haha - at least 10 chapters or so. A bit of thought went into this, for sure, and it's going to take me a while to write. Thanks for reading and drop me a line if you'd like :)