See below for Author's Notes
Chapter Two: Borrowed Claws
Marinette hugged her pillow as she lay on her back, staring at one of Adrien's many faces on her ceiling. She knew she was tired, that she should really get some sleep, but the feeling of incompleteness, of not finishing something that she was supposed to do, was making it too hard to settle down.
"Merry Christmas, Marinette," Tikki wished, her small voice friendly and inviting, initiating a conversation if Marinette wanted to talk.
"You too, Tikki," she responded, trying to get a grip on her emotions enough that she could start sorting them out.
"Are you all right?"
"Tikki, what happened tonight?" Her words sped up as she went through it, spreading all the mess out like mis-matched fabric she was trying to make a skirt out of. "Adrien went missing; Chat Noir destroyed that kiosk by the hotel but he won't tell me why or what happened there, but it hurt him and his kwami enough that I had to go for Master Fu. And the woman who was with him knew all about him, and what's with that? Who is she? And when I do come back Chat Noir has just left his Miraculous and kwami with her? Tikki, what do you make of it?"
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Marinette. The important details are that Adrien is safe and sound, and you saved Chat Noir's kwami. You did a great job."
"It doesn't feel like I did a great job, though."
She felt a light fluttering on her cheek as Tikki kissed her. "Not every battle ends with a Lucky Charm, you know? Sometimes things just work out because you brought the right person to the right place."
"Maybe, but I'd feel better if I could find Chat Noir. What if he didn't make it home?"
"Well," Tikki paused, pressing her little paws together as she hesitated to bring any ugliness to the comfort she was trying to give. "Technically, there is no Chat Noir right now."
"What? What are you talking about Tikki?" Marinette cupped her hands around her kwami, bringing her from the air at her ear to directly in front of her face. "I mean, I'm still Ladybug even with my spots off."
"That's true, but you're still wearing the Miraculous. Chat Noir took his off and left it with Master Fu, who might have returned it to the others. Until he gives it back or to someone else, you're the only superhero in Paris."
"But of course he'll give it back. Why wouldn't he?"
Again Tikki hesitated. Marinette knew she didn't like giving her sad details; she liked for Marinette to be positive and upbeat. But then there were times like these when some things just had to be said.
"I don't know exactly what happened tonight, so we can't get too upset before we learn all the details, ok, Marinette, but there's a possibility that whoever had the Chat Noir Miraculous might not be able to take it back. It's happened before; the last time to poor Trixx."
"What happened?" The soft red spirit wouldn't look at her. "Tikki, what happened to Trixx's Chosen?"
"She had to transform in an emergency, but she was sick. Nothing horrible, nothing she wouldn't have healed from if she'd had time to rest. But the energy she used to transform, and the battle that followed, escalated her existing infection. When she went back to herself, the virus already in her body had completely taken over. We were busy helping Trixx; we didn't know what was going on. By the time we discovered what was wrong, it was too late to save her."
"No. You think that's what happened to Chat Noir?" She let go of Tikki to cover her mouth with both hands, tears blurring her vision immediately. That couldn't be true. The thought of never fighting with Chat Noir again. "No."
"Shh. Calm down, Marinette, or you'll wake up your parents. I can't know for sure, but it sounds the same to me."
"We have to find him, Tikki! We have to find him tonight!" She declared her intentions as she threw her bedspread off her legs, swinging to the side to stand and launch herself out her skylight.
"Wait, Marinette! You forget that he's not Chat right now. You have no idea where to start looking or who you're looking for. We have to trust Master Fu. He'll take care of him."
"But," Marinette knew she was definitely not sleeping after all this. She had to do something! Maybe she could go to Master Fu. He'd be home by now, right? He could explain to her what was going on, tell her if Chat Noir were all right. Tikki pulled the blanket back over Marinette, struggling with the heavy cover.
"Maybe I shouldn't have told you," she regretted, looking sympathetically into Marinette's teary eyes. "I just want you to be prepared in case he doesn't come during the next akuma attack."
"I can't fight without him. We do everything together; we're supposed to be a team!"
"Don't forget; I might have got you all worked up for nothing. It could be that Master Fu has returned Plagg to him already, and we have absolutely nothing to worry about. Get some rest, Marinette. Tomorrow is Christmas morning, and your parents will want to share it with you. Sleep so you can be cheerful for them."
"I don't know if I can, Tikki." Marinette obediently curled around her pillow again, not at all sleepy. "Are you sure we can't go talk to Master Fu?"
"He sent you home, Marinette. Either there's nothing for you to do because everything is fine or he needs every bit of his concentration to fix what went wrong and you could get in his way. It's best to wait for him to come to you. Now sleep."
"Tikki."
"Close your eyes and try," Tikki commanded. Marinette took a deep breath, nowhere near calm. She looked at Adrien's photo on her wall and took comfort when she remembered that he was safe tonight. But when she drifted off a while later, she was picturing a completely different set of green eyes.
BB
"You're going in, right?" Plagg asked, a shrill voice in her ear. Now that he was feeling better, he sounded much different. The ritual had lasted less than twenty minutes and included what Master Fu called a 'protective charm' that would hopefully prevent the same thing from happening again. "It's freezing out here."
"Right," Valerie agreed, urging herself to take the last step that would activate the automatic doors of the hospital. Most of it was dark, this late on a holiday. Only the barest essential of the staff would be on call tonight, she'd counted on that, and her desire to check on Adrien had made her volunteer to return his Miraculous. Master Fu hadn't wanted her to take on this task at first, and they'd spent almost an hour back and forth. She'd had to explain herself, where she'd been, most of what had happened to her, but in the end, she hadn't begged, and he had relented to her request. Yet now that she was on the threshold, she hesitated, thinking maybe she should have left this task to Master Fu after all. How would she return it without anyone seeing her? Was Gabriel there? Would she be allowed in to see him at all?
"Valerie?" Plagg prodded her, tugging her hair just slightly. "Let's go in."
Ducking her head, she slipped inside, feeling Plagg grip the hair at the back of her neck tighter as the rush of hot air blew directly on them in the entryway, keeping the drafts of winter outside as best it could. The after-hours entry was through the emergency room at St Simons and guarded by a security officer. The only other people in the room were a large man with sideburns and a woman in glasses and a sharp dark suit with a streak of red in her hair who was on the phone.
"Can I help you?" The security guard asked immediately, half standing as he took in her face and cane, trying to decide what sort of crisis had brought her to the emergency room in the middle of Christmas night. She held out her good hand to indicate he could return to his seat as she closed the distance to his desk. The door to the patient rooms was two steps on her right, but she knew without this man's say so, it would remain locked to her.
"I came to check on Adrien Agreste," she declared boldly, and noticed that both the other heads in the room snapped up when she said it. The woman in the suit put down her phone. "He was brought here earlier by ambulance. Is he still in triage or has he been assigned a room yet?"
"Are you family?" The guard checked, and she considered lying. How would he know?
"It's you," the suit woman said, coming to stand next to her. She was staring at her in amazement, her mouth slightly open and marring the cold beauty of her features. "You're the one who called me."
"That's right," Valerie confessed, recognizing the woman's voice the same as her own voice had been recognized. "Can I see him?"
The woman's eyes opened wide at the request, then darted quickly to the ground as she deliberated. Obviously, Gabriel had laid down the order that no one should be allowed to visit him, but it looked as though his assistant might just disregard it. Valerie stared at her hard, knowing that whoever spoke next would be the loser of this interaction. If she said one word now, even a please, she would be turned outside. So she watched acquiescence and denial cross back and forth in the blue eyes. This was why she'd been Chosen at the beginning, for her ability to read the thoughts and emotions of others.
The assistant exchanged a quick glance with the security guard before taking a deep breath. Valerie kept her face calm.
"Very well," she granted, nodding slightly. "A few minutes."
The guard buzzed them through the door, and the woman took off at a brisk clip, only realizing after several steps that Valerie could not keep up with her. She blushed and slowed her pace.
"I'm so sorry," she apologized.
"It's nothing," Valerie dismissed.
"How did you find him?" She asked as they walked.
"I was watching the snow from my window and happened to see him wandering outside. It looked odd, a young man with no coat, alone on Christmas Eve. I thought I'd better check on him."
"We're so grateful you did." There was a darkness in those words, and Valerie knew that if she hadn't found him, if she hadn't sent him off in the ambulance, they probably would not be visiting him right now.
"He seemed confused," she said, gently guiding their conversation to his current condition. "I hope he's doing better now?"
Instead of answering, the assistant opened a door to a patient triage room. The hallway lights were all on and bright, but this room was dark. Only a small light behind the mobile bed was on, casting a bit of illumination over Adrien's face. There was a mask strapped there, and a meter for oxygen levels over his left index finger. A cuff around his left bicep connected to a portable monitor of his heart rate and blood pressure. Valerie gasped when she saw him, and noticed the woman bowing her head against the sight. Immediately, Valerie took his right hand in both of hers, gently avoiding the IV taped down along his cephalic vein near his wrist. She felt Plagg, hidden in her hair, fidgeting in distress.
"I waited too long," she heard herself whisper, amazed at the damage. "Do they know what's wrong?" She raised her voice slightly, not turning her head away from Adrien.
"Yes," the woman confirmed. "A septic infection. He's getting massive doses of antibiotic and fluid now. Plus something else to keep his blood pressure up. It will be hard, but he will recover thanks to you."
"Why did you leave your house?" Valerie asked his sedated form. Plagg sniffled softly near her ear. Surprisingly, so did the assistant. Valerie kept Adrien's hand, but shifted her attention to where the polished woman was pulling a handkerchief from a pocket inside her blazer.
"It's my fault," she said, as if she had been waiting to confess this for a long time. "I knew he wasn't feeling well, but he was trying to ignore it so I did too, and it didn't seem that it would be so serious. I thought when he went to his room that he'd lie down and rest, not disappear. I left him alone. I should have checked on him sooner."
"I bet it happened so fast," Valerie assured her. The blue eyes met hers, full of gratitude. Valerie returned her attention to Adrien, second guessing her mission. She wasn't too concerned about the extra person in the room. She was sure that she could slip off the ring from her own finger and onto Adrien's with no trouble, that Plagg could duck under his pillow if she bent down to kiss his forehead. But she didn't think she could now that she saw the severity of his condition. It would be too much of a risk to leave the kwami here. Adrien couldn't take care of himself, much less a secret spirit of destruction. But she'd promised Master Fu that she would return him.
"How long will he have to stay here?" She asked as the assistant replaced her handkerchief.
"Ten days, maybe more." Valerie felt Plagg's tiny claws on the back of her neck. She wished she could be alone with Adrien for just a moment so she could conference with the kwami about what to do. Should she leave the ring anyway, hoping that Paris would be quiet and safe? What if there was an akuma attack? What if Adrien tried to transform like this? The protection charm Master Fu had cast on Plagg was only for the kwami; it actually would be worse for the Chosen than before. As she deliberated, they were suddenly interrupted by the cold arrival of Gabriel.
"Nathalie, please work with the administration to have Adrien transferred home as soon as – What is she doing here?" Adrien's father marched into the room covered in authority. Nathalie jumped at his sudden appearance, and Valerie felt herself shrink. She turned her head away, gripping tight to Adrien's hand.
"Sir, this is the woman who found Adrien," Nathalie explained, her voice full of attempted boldness. "She called in the ambulance. I thought I'd give her a few minutes."
"I told you no visitors. Especially her. You," he barked at Valerie. "Leave immediately."
Valerie bent over Adrien, kissing his brow. "Be strong," she whispered to him, including herself in her blessing. She released his hand and stood straighter to leave. "Thank you," she said to Nathalie and began limping her way from the room, Plagg clinging tight to the back of her neck. She kept her face down but her back straight as she passed Gabriel, but just as she was about to take the last step into the hallway, he caught her by the shoulder and rather roughly turned her to look at him.
"I made it very clear," he growled, and Valerie knew he'd recognized her. "You were never to contact my family again." The tone of his voice, the arrogance, sent a spike of hot anger through her. She'd returned his son to him, and this is what he was going to say to her?
"Technically, the terms were limited to Emilie," she said coldly, watching his eyebrows lift in surprise. "Who wasn't your family at the time, and I have kept my end of the deal. I wouldn't have ever spoken to you again as a matter of principle not condition."
"How dare you?" She had no idea, but now that she'd started, she wasn't stopping.
"Because your son deserves better. Now take your hands off me; I'm leaving." She just barely caught Nathalie's shocked face as she turned away from Gabriel, who also had his mouth open. She shrugged him off and did her best to walk straight. It wasn't until they had stepped again outside that she realized she was shaking.
"That . . . didn't go the way I thought it would," Plagg sighed as he tucked himself into the collar of her sweater. "You just yelled at Adrien's father."
"He was kicking me out either way; what difference does it make?" Valerie snapped, still furious without anyone to take it out on now. "The worst part is that I wasn't able to return you to Adrien."
"What are we going to do?" Plagg asked, high pitched, as if the thought of being stuck with Valerie had just occurred to him.
"Go home for now. In ten days, or less if Gabriel manages it, Adrien will be out of the hospital, and I'll think of a way to sneak you in to him. Unless Master Fu comes for you first." She felt a pang of guilt as she said his name. She'd promised to return the Miraculous; he'd gone home thinking that the task was as good as done. But here she was on the sidewalk on her way back to her house.
"Valerie!"
She pulled her shoulders back and kept walking, forcing Gabriel to jog in the slush in order to catch her. Even when he came to her side, she did not stop.
"Are you certain," he asked her, his voice hard and forceful. "Absolutely certain that you kept to the terms?" She bristled. He'd come rushing out into the cold after her to ask her something like that? He may not be true to his word, but she certainly had been true to hers.
"How can you ask me that? I lost everything!"
"It just seems unnaturally convenient that you were the one to find my son tonight." The unspoken accusation brought a snarl to Valerie's lips, so she bit them. Did he think that she'd been stalking them?
"You should be grateful that someone was looking out for him." And just like that, with those words, Valerie broke Gabriel Agreste without even meaning to. He stopped walking, hands at his sides, loosely curled into fists. She didn't know what she'd intended her comment to do, but this reaction was a surprise. It had been a long time since she'd used the power of her words like this. She paused, seeing Gabriel as if he were nineteen again, the last time they'd spoken.
"I don't know where Emilie is, Gabriel," she told him, not without sadness. "She never came to me; I assumed you told her I was dead. It was a coincidence that I happened to see Adrien tonight, and I didn't even know it was him until I'd already decided to help him. I'm glad I did, for both your sakes, truly."
But he wasn't actually listening to her anymore. He'd seen a spark of hope when he'd recognized her, a tiny possibility that he hadn't entertained before that she'd now taken away from him just as quickly as he'd found it. She decided to leave him to his thoughts there on the pavement.
"I hope Adrien makes a full and quick recovery," she wished him, sincerely, before starting to walk again. "He's a wonderful boy."
"He – he is," Gabriel acknowledged, shaking himself slightly and pulling a phone from his pocket. "Let me call a driver for you. I didn't know you meant to walk home."
"Please don't, Gabriel," she dismissed. "As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather not be indebted to you for anything else."
"Valerie."
"Good-bye."
As quickly as she could without putting herself in danger of slipping, Valerie made her way from the hospital. Gabriel did not follow and Plagg remained quiet until they were about halfway home. Valerie was panting by this time, the cold stiffening her already stiff leg.
"You should have just let him drive you," Plagg told her.
"Absolutely not," Valerie huffed. "I don't want him to know where I live, and I don't want to owe him anything."
"Then maybe we could call a taxi?"
"No," Valerie growled, knowing there was nothing preventing her from doing that except her own pride. Once she had been a protector of Paris. Sometimes she thought that she was settled into her life, knowing that she was no longer a Chosen, no longer deserved to be. But then something like tonight would happen and she would resist settling. Accepting help was something she struggled with the most.
So by the time she finally reached her apartment and unlocked the door, she was completely numb and exhausted. Her home was comfortably warm, though dark and empty. Her clock told her it was almost three in the morning. Plagg left the security of her shoulders to return to the remnants of cheese on a platter she'd given him earlier. While he ate, she removed her boots, stretching her leg out on the sofa Adrien had rested on. She let her head fall back, draping her arm over her eyes.
"So what is this deal you have with Adrien's father?" Plagg broke in. "You didn't tell Master Fu about it."
"That's because it has nothing to do with the Miraculous," Valerie said. "He just didn't want me to talk to Emilie again."
"Why? What happened? Were you friends or something?"
"Or something. Look, I'm going to bed, ok? I'll try to find you more cheese at work tomorrow, do you think you'll have enough until then?"
"I'll live. I think."
"Good-night, then." Instead of going to her bedroom proper, she just pulled the afghan over herself, letting her eyes close. She would probably regret this in the morning, sleeping on the sofa, but she couldn't entertain the idea of getting up again right this second.
Plagg watched her, chewing slowly the last of his cheese, watching as her breathing deepened. What other information had she kept from Master Fu? She'd explained how she'd lost her Miraculous, where her scars had come from. There had been nothing about Gabriel, about why he would want to tell Emilie she had died.
He had few memories of his own. He'd been awoken with the other kwamis when Master Fu introduced Valerie to them, back when Chosen were groomed for instead of surprised with a Miraculous. She'd been fourteen at the time, just like Adrien. A dark-haired, dark-eyed girl with pale skin and sharp wit. He'd looked into her soul, as they all had, seeking out her best qualities, the strongest characteristics. She was good at emotion, at reading it in others. She'd come several times for training before she was Chosen. He hadn't entertained the idea of choosing her himself for very long. There had been something in her anger that fully decided him. She would succumb to darkness if he had given it to her. He wondered if it were still there. Maybe he would look. Tomorrow.
His hunger sated, he lazily drifted over to her, curling up beside her head on the cushions. It was warm here and Valerie was still very kind. He trusted her, but he missed Adrien. He didn't like seeing him there in the hospital with his eyes closed. He hoped they wouldn't be separated for very long.
BB
"Hey girl! Welcome back!" Alya wrapped an arm around her friend as she sat down, pressing their cheeks together.
"Alya, how was your break?" Marinette asked, pushing close before they both separated again to talk in the minutes before class.
"Chaotic," Alya answered, rolling her eyes playfully. "The twins got a set of musical instruments from our aunt this year."
"Ouch."
"Tell me about it. What about you? Did you hear back about your gift? Any good news?"
Marinette felt her smile fade. She'd actually not heard anything from Adrien about the present she'd made for him. And he'd been missing from Chloe's New Year's party too.
"You did sign the card this time, right?" Alya asked.
"No, I did. I know I did this time. I actually did that first," Marinette sputtered.
"Maybe his bodyguard didn't give it to him?" Alya guessed, making Nino turn around.
"If you're talking about Adrien, there's a good chance he didn't get it yet."
"Maybe we were and maybe we weren't," Alya countered, though playfully. Nino gave her a loving sort of look that caught in Marinette's throat. "But if you know something, give us the scoop."
"His father took him to Switzerland for the holiday," Nino said. "He told me he wasn't sure when he'd be back. From what it sounded like, it might not be for a while yet. It was kind of a surprise, and I think that whole thing where Adrien disappeared on Christmas Eve made his father a little bit weird. It might be another one of those things where he won't allow him to go to school for a while."
"No!" Marinette squeaked, covering her mouth with her hands.
"Sorry, Marinette," Alya comforted just as their teacher arrived to call roll. Nino also mouthed an apology before turning back to the front. Marinette forced a smile and a shrug, as if it meant nothing to her, as if coming back to school to see Adrien hadn't been part of her thoughts every single day of break. She didn't think she could get any more disappointed, so she just let herself be upset at his father instead. Why did he always think to punish Adrien by keeping him away from them? It was so unfair. She was so caught up in thinking about it that she missed half of the lesson notes.
"Marinette, don't be sad," Tikki consoled from her bag as she walked home for lunch. "You know Mr. Agreste does this sort of thing all the time."
"Yeah, but I was really looking forward to seeing Adrien today. I mean, we still can't find Chat and now Adrien can't come to school and it's like all my friends are disappearing one by one."
"You're calling Chat your friend now?"
"Don't tease me, Tikki. You know I'm still worried about him."
"It'll be all right, Marinette. It's not unusual to not see Chat around when Paris is quiet, and Adrien loves coming to school; he'll work it out with his father. You just need to be patient."
"Ugh, patience."
Someone ran past Marinette, almost knocking her down. Then a couple sprinted by her, screaming. Marinette looked down at Tikki as more and more people continued to run past them.
"Guess it's time to find out if Chat Noir is around or not," Marinette said, surprised how excited she was about that, ducking behind a dumpster and watching the flood of Parisians trying to escape the newest akuma victim. "Tikki, spots on!" She swept her fingers over her cheeks, checking that the mask had appeared. Her clothes smoothed under the spotted bodysuit and her yo-yo snugged around her hips. She checked her hands, ready for action.
Ladybug decided against running into the crowd on the ground and opted instead for seeing the situation from above. With the help of her yo-yo, she found herself on a rooftop, scanning for the source of the panic. It was a woman in a nightgown (a nightgown?), and a belt with a bag dangling from it. She kept reaching her hand into it and blowing dust into the crowds. Where ever it settled, the people's eyes closed and they fell into the streets.
"Looks like sleeping dust," Ladybug guessed. "But where is the akuma?" She looked unconsciously behind her, waiting for Chat Noir before she engaged. It felt wrong for him not to arrive at this moment with some horrific pun and a smug look. She hated how much she missed it.
"Come on, Chat," she begged, watching as another man toppled over on the cement. But he wasn't coming, just as Tikki had predicted weeks ago on Christmas Eve. She'd have to fight this one on her own. Taking a deep breath, she ziplined on her yo-yo to the ground. Maybe she could just take her down from behind? Quick and painless?
BB
When the akuma siren had gone off in the city, Valerie turned off the heat to the soup she was making and flipped on the news. Plagg woke up and floated over to see what was going on. They'd been together all through Christmas, New Year's, and now they were well on their way into the second week of January. They were being deliberately gentle with each other, but it was clear to both of them that they really needed to return Plagg to Adrien soon. If only Valerie could manage it. She knew he was home now, but she'd been turned away by Nathalie three times with the threat of a restraining order the last visit, and Adrien never left the house. Plagg had even suggested she throw the ring through the main gate, but she'd turned him down with a glare. And since neither one of them could find Master Fu either, they'd both just fallen into the daily routine of scoping out the Agreste mansion for a sign of Adrien, Valerie actually showing up to her normal job at the hotel so she could keep buying Plagg cheese, and whining together about how much they missed Chat Noir. Fortunately, there hadn't been any akuma attacks.
Until today.
Valerie watched the snippets of amateur footage from ground zero where Ladybug was doing her best alone against the newest villain, a woman with the ability to put people to sleep by blowing dust on them. She was obviously having trouble getting close enough to grab a potential akuma vessel without being touched by the dust that zipped along in the villain's wake.
"Come on, Ladybug," she encouraged to the screen, amazed at her disorganized attacks. What was she doing? It was almost a disgrace. Had she always fought like this or was she having a really bad day?
"Valerie, we have to help her," Plagg finally said, resigned.
"What? How?" Valerie squawked, being deliberately ignorant about what Plagg was implying. She still wore the Miraculous on her hand. Plagg stared at her, obviously not happy about this either.
"It's ok, Valerie. Claws out - just say it."
"I can't do that." She backed away, covering the ring.
"I don't like it either, but she needs Chat Noir. We're meant to be a team."
"I didn't take the ring to do this."
"I know. But Adrien can't right now."
"I'm not fourteen anymore, Plagg. Have you looked at me lately? I'm –"
Plagg zoomed right into her face, putting both his little paws on her nose. She shook him off her, not willing to look at him cross-eyed. He backed up a few inches, but stayed right in her line of vision, his green eyes practically sparking.
"You're not broken, Valerie," he scolded impatiently. "I can make up for what you don't have. It won't be like Adrien. I have a protective charm and you're healed enough – just take it easy on the left."
"Why are you pushing this?"
"Because I wouldn't be able to face him if something happens to her, that's why."
She remembered the look on his face, how in love with her he was, the reckless kind. The kind that makes people do things that aren't good choices. If he knew that she had been too afraid to help. If something happened. She didn't think she could face him either.
"This is a horrible plan," she told Plagg, and he just nodded.
"No one's denying that," he agreed. "But it's the only one we have."
"Ok, fine. Let's help her."
"Easy on the left," Plagg warned again.
"Plagg – Claws out!" The kwami grinned at her before shooting into the ring. Valerie watched as darkness gloved her hands, soaking her in borrowed power. For several seconds, she just stood in her apartment, looking at herself, testing what Plagg had given her. She put weight on her left leg, gasping as she bent her knee almost to the ground without pain. Her hand was still missing fingers, but the three she had remaining flexed perfectly sound. She blinked repeatedly as Chat's vision came to both her eyes. She was, in this moment, restored enough that it made her giddy. Her only sadness was that she was now alone. Plagg was busy keeping her battle ready; she couldn't share this triumph with him even though he was the one giving it to her.
Her other Miraculous had allowed her the power of flight, but Chat Noir did not have that. She reached behind her for the baton, extending it until it was just taller than she was. How did he do this? Cautiously, she went outside, trusting everyone to be so distracted by what was going on elsewhere in the city to notice Chat Noir stepping out of her apartment. She jogged across the courtyard rather awkwardly at first but picked up speed as she began to trust in her body again. She planted the baton and vaulted herself into the sky, not quite flying but not far from it. Amazingly, there was still some muscle memory in her for this. She clutched the baton, ready to plant it again for another leap. The cold snapped her face, but she just laughed. She didn't really know how much she had missed this until it was hers again.
BB
Ladybug was stuck in a stalemate. She had to get close to the akuma, but she couldn't. She'd tried masking the dust with an umbrella, which had only sent it up and almost over her before she'd danced back. She'd tried tying the woman up with her yo-yo string, but then she'd turned to dust and rematerialized elsewhere. She was out of ideas and getting tired.
"What do I do?" She asked the air as she crouched behind a building. The akuma was calling to her, offering her safe passage away if she'd hand over her Miraculous.
"Need some help?" said a voice close to her, and she jerked to a standing position, arms up for defense, until she recognized the black cat in front of her.
"Chat Noir!" She yelped, throwing herself at him. But the arms she expected to open for her simply grabbed her biceps and held her back. She felt her relief melt.
"Only temporarily," was the answer and Ladybug took another good look at her teammate. This wasn't her Chat. The voice was older, a woman's voice, and she was a bit taller than Chat Noir with darker hair. "Now let's get that akuma."
"But who are you? Where's Chat Noir?"
"He's unable to help you. I've been entrusted with the Miraculous in his place. I'm Chat Noir right now." She held out her hand, presenting the ring for Ladybug's inspection.
Ladybug swallowed her worry and tears, knowing this was the last place she could afford to break down. She felt as though something important had been stolen from her, something she would never find again, a piece of memory ripped away. She disliked this Chat Noveau (she would never call her Chat Noir, not ever) immediately, but what choice did she have? She needed a partner, and the Miraculous was his.
"Let's go," Ladybug commanded bravely, impulsively dashing from the protection of the building and almost right into a cloud of sleeping dust. She yelped, leaping backward, as a dart of black whipped around her, baton spinning as a huge fan, blowing the dust away from them.
"Use your power!" Chat Noveau yelled as she spun, trying to move forward to put more distance between the akuma and Ladybug. She'd been avoiding doing that, knowing it would leave her only five minutes to work and also knowing that Chat usually bought her time while she puzzled out whatever landed in her hands. But now she had backup.
"Lucky Charm!" She yelled, tossing her yo-yo into the air and catching . . . a baby doll?
Chat Noveau continued to keep the akuma victim at bay, trying to blow her dust back into her face with the obvious intent that maybe it would also put her to sleep. Ladybug looked at them long enough to register her temporary teammate's moves. She used a fighting style different than Chat Noir; she was clumsier with his baton as if she were used to a different weapon. But she was still getting the job done in keeping their enemy distracted. Ladybug scanned her surroundings, her Charmed eyesight landing on the canopy of a crepe stand, Chat's baton, and the woman's belt of sand. She flipped the doll over, noticing a switch that would turn it on and off. She used her thumb to activate it.
The doll had a surprisingly realistic cry to it. Ladybug instinctively cradled it in her arms before realizing what she was doing. The akumatized woman stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide at the sound as she looked for its source. Her lips pursed into an automatic shush.
"The canopy!" Ladybug yelled at Chat Noveau as she began running towards them. Chat gave her a puzzled look for only an instant before ripping it off and flapping it down, causing all the sand between Ladybug and the woman to blow away, leaving her path clear. The woman had her hands outstretched, reaching for the doll. Ladybug threw it to her, causing her to slide to her knees in order to catch it before it touched the ground, not realizing it was not a real child. Ladybug raced past her, grabbing Chat's baton out of her hand and slipping it underneath the woman's belt, using its leverage to break it off of her. She scooped it off the ground and tossed it over to Chat Noveau.
"All yours," she invited, and again Chat Noveau looked at a loss of what she was supposed to do, but then she nodded.
"Cataclysm!" She yelled, and though she winced as she did it, she put her palm over the bag, turning the dust black and forcing the akuma into the air. Ladybug used her yo-yo to snatch it midflight.
"Bye-bye, little butterfly," she said to the now white and harmless creature as it fluttered from the purification. Chat Noveau had her mouth open, one of her hands outstretched to the insect, her eyes wide and hurt. The butterfly hovered close to her momentarily, almost landing on her fingers before flying away. Ladybug was about to ask her what was going on, but the woman on the ground distracted her.
"Where am I? What am I doing here?" She considered the now quiet doll in her arms. "Where's my baby?"
"It's all over," Ladybug told her gently. "I'm sure your baby is fine and waiting for you at home." She took the doll, helping the woman to her feet and letting her hurry back to where she'd come from before all this had started. Then she threw her Lucky Charm into the air with the incantation that would restore Paris and its victims to where they were before the attack began.
She then turned to her new partner, unsettled. Automatically, she'd brought her fingers together for a fist bump, but she stopped herself. Not with this one. That was something special she shared with her other partner, her real one. She didn't like how this Chat was looking at her, wild and disappointed.
"Thanks for backing me up," she said, trying to let go of her hostile feelings. After all, she had come to help her when she needed it. It wasn't her fault that she had the Miraculous right now.
"You fight like this?" Chat Noveau asked, her tone disgusted.
"Um, the doll was a surprise, but the charm is sort of unpredictable." She wasn't sure what she was getting at, or why she sounded like that.
"But he'll do it that way for you," she went on, more talking to herself now. "He'll sacrifice himself every time."
"What are you talking about?" Ladybug asked, uncomfortable, irrationally defensive without knowing why.
"You're sloppy. Undisciplined," Noveau told her. "And you can be that way because of how you let him pick up the slack – how your charm will fix your damage. That won't always work for you."
"Why are you telling me this?" Ladybug demanded, upset. It wasn't like her Miraculous had come with an instruction manual or anything. It wasn't like she'd been prepared for her role as a superhero or had much time to dedicate to being a better one. She'd just had to fake it. And it had turned out all right, hadn't it? The woman was saved. No one had been permanently hurt.
This time.
The green cat eyes softened then closed. "Never mind," she said quietly, putting a hand on Ladybug's shoulder. "It's not my place. We're about to change back. Hopefully, we won't have to work together again."
She held out her hand for her baton, which Ladybug handed over numbly. Then she disappeared over a building, leaving her alone on the street. She heard people calling to her, asking her questions about Chat, about her battle, calling out thanks and admiration. She felt the corners of her mouth turn up in a smile, felt her hand lift in a gentle wave. She bowed to the gathering crowd without looking at any one person before she too grabbed tight to her yo-yo and let it pull her away.
By the time she arrived back at school, everyone was buzzing over the latest fight and Chat Noir's new look.
"Check it out!" Alya invited, pulling Marinette by the wrist so she could look at her phone. "He's so different! Do you think his hair is going dark because he's Chat Noir or do you think he's going goth or something?"
"Maybe it's not really him," Marinette suggested, her voice much more bitter than she wanted it to be.
"Don't be silly. Ladybug wouldn't have fought with him if he weren't the real one. And only Chat Noir can do that cataclysm thing. I wonder if I could get an interview somehow? Man, I wish I knew how to find them when they aren't in costume."
"Me too," Marinette sighed, tired and hungry, thinking of her Chat. She hadn't had time for lunch. She felt Alya peck her kindly on the cheek.
"Well if you ever do have a meet up with one of them, you'll call me first, right?"
"You know I will."
"Good girl. Now come on before we're late to Physics."
BB
"The bloodwork came back perfect. It looks like we can discontinue the antibiotics now, but I'd like to come back in a week for another check up."
Adrien was only half listening to the physician, just as the physician was only half speaking to Adrien. Mostly, he was talking to Gabriel, who stood to the side of Adrien's bed, hands behind his back. But he had heard the most important things. Perfect. Discontinue. Future.
"Does that mean I can go back to school?" Adrien put out the question to both of them, though he was already anticipating the answer. Two days ago, he'd needed help going to the bathroom, after all.
"Out of the question," Gabriel began just as Adrien knew he would, but the doctor stopped him.
"I highly recommend that he does," he countered, and Adrien felt a burst of gratitude towards him. He rarely got to see anyone contradict his father's wishes once they'd been spoken. "Getting back to his normal routine will be the best recovery. However, you do need to take it easy for a while. No sports and give yourself more time for your usual activities. You'll probably need breaks."
"I think he would rest better if he stayed here," Gabriel protested.
"If we were dealing with a different type of illness, I'd agree with you," explained the doctor, the one that Gabriel had personally selected for this. "However, the majority of cases like Adrien's have lingering symptoms that resolve best if the patient is not isolated." And now he had Adrien's full attention.
"Like what?" He asked, a bit frightened. He was more than done with being sick.
"There's some you would expect like fatigue, joint and muscle pain, but for some reason sepsis patients also experience insomnia, anxiety and depression, some have panic attacks and hallucinations. They have trouble concentrating. Some have nightmares. Sometimes it takes up to eighteen months for these things to fully go away, or even longer, but the research is clear that contact with friends and adhering as much as possible to a normal routine diminishes these symptoms at a faster rate. I'll be checking for these things next week when I come back. In the meantime, if you'd like to go to school, Adrien, I think you should go. But pay attention to your body. Go half a day if you're too tired. Invite your friends here instead of going out if you're in pain. Build yourself a support team at school. I'm sure you have close friends you can talk to about this?"
"Um, yeah? I think so," Adrien said, thinking of Nino.
"Good. I know you wanted to keep this secret," and here he was speaking to Gabriel again. "So you don't need to tell everyone, but someone should know how to help Adrien since he will be going about his daily activities outside of the home. If I were you, I'd consider meeting with them here before Adrien starts going outside, just to make sure everyone is on the same page and plans are in place in case something happens where he needs to come home quickly."
He stood up then, ready to leave, patting Adrien on the shoulder. "You're recovering fine, Adrien, so be patient with yourself. All right?"
"All right," Adrien nodded, looking at his bedspread.
"I'll see you next week, then, after school."
"I'll have Nathalie arrange for you to return tomorrow," Gabriel gave in after the doctor left. Adrien smiled at him.
"Thank you, Father," he said, truly grateful. He received a quiet nod in return.
"But until then, rest as much as possible. I'll have lunch brought up to you later." He turned on the spot and left Adrien with the expectation that he would sleep, which Adrien had no intention of doing. First, he sent a text to Nino, asking him to come over after school today, knowing he was in class and wouldn't be able to respond for several hours. Then he stood up to take an experimental lap around his room without someone hovering over him while he did it. The first steps were wonky, but he straightened up as he went, his breathing even, his vision clear. He could totally do this. He was so ready to get back to his life.
He'd been told how close he came to losing it.
His sense of time for the past several weeks was sketchy; there were only certain images and feelings that stood out to him. Apparently, he'd tried to claw his IV out on multiple occasions. He'd asked his nurses about Ladybug a lot. He remembered his father's hand on his chest, a surprisingly calming feeling steadying his breathing that he wished he felt more comfortable asking for again. Gabriel had also played the piano for him after he'd been cleared to receive treatment at home with a full staff instead of staying at the hospital. Most of his holiday break, he'd been sedated or sleeping. It was impossible for him to determine what had been real during that haze.
He did remember waking up in his room one night screaming. Both his father and Nathalie had come to his side. Nathalie taking one hand while his father threw his arms around him, holding him tightly and whispering in his ear. He didn't know what he said, but he had calmed down at the pressure. They'd all fallen asleep in a tangled pile that way, waking several hours later to find Nathalie's glasses askew, her head over his hand as she slept kneeling by his bed. Gabriel had stretched out next to him.
That was the first morning where his memories stayed. He remembered being told that his eyes were clearer. The first time his temperature had remained normal all day. He'd been allowed ice chips and sips of a fruit smoothie. Nathalie told him what happened to him and how much time had passed. She told him about the woman who had found him on Christmas Eve, but couldn't answer all the questions he asked about her. He remembered her face, the scar across it. He remembered some of what happened the night she found him. He remembered Ladybug coming to see him, but nothing after she left.
And his ring was missing.
Adrien paused in his second trip walking around his room, looking at his right hand, at the place where his Miraculous should be. He couldn't do it long before getting dizzy. He remembered Plagg, what he'd done to him, even after he'd been warned. He didn't remember losing the Miraculous, but he remembered enough to know that it had probably been taken from him. That he was no longer worthy to be a Chosen, to be Chat Noir, that his mistake had cost him Plagg.
The room was full on spinning now, so he sat down on the floor, trying to get a grip on his breathing, wondering where his kwami was now, who he was with. Was he ok? Would he ever see him again? How could he have screwed up like that? He curled up on the floor, pressing his hands against his chest to try and calm himself down. This is what his doctor was telling him about before. But had he told him what to do to stop it? Had that been part of the conversation?
His phone buzzed, distracting him from worrying about Plagg. Nino had replied to his request to come over later. Apparently he was jazzed to see Adrien again and hear all about his time in Switzerland. Adrien wondered if he had actually texted Nino that he was in Switzerland or if someone else had done it to prevent questioning as to where he actually was. He texted that he was excited to see Nino too, then let his hand and his phone fall onto his stomach as he turned over on his back on his floor.
Don't think about Plagg, he warned his mind, trying to keep it together now that he had a slippery hold on himself. Don't think about scars. Don't think about IVs. Don't think about snow. Don't think. Don't think. Don't. He closed his eyes and felt the memory of Ladybug's kiss on his forehead. He took a deep breath.
BB
Valerie practically fell through her door seconds before her transformation wore off, landing in a heap on her rug as Plagg plopped on top of her. Her cheeks were half frozen from flying through Paris. She was practically drunk with the excitement of what she'd just done.
"Plagg, we did it!" She gushed, not even trying to get off the floor. "You were incredible! OH!" She sat up suddenly, plucking Plagg off her lap and into her hands. "Are you ok, though? Was it too hard? Did I hurt you?"
"Cheese?" Plagg asked instead of answering.
"Of course. Give me a minute," Valerie said as she pulled herself to her feet. She took one step with her left leg and only barely caught herself on her table as it buckled under her, crying out in surprise and pain. She'd forgotten, just that quickly. "Guess I still need this," she joked around a whimper, stretching to reach the cane she'd left balanced against her chair. With one hand around her cane and the other supporting her on the table, she limped her way around to her kitchen to pull out some cheese for the kwami. He floated listlessly to his usual place as she supplied him with his favorite after-battle fuel-up. Valerie sat down awkwardly, watching him as he ate with her hand pressed against her stinging left eye.
"You're ok?" She asked again.
"It's harder," Plagg confessed, his mouth full. "You take more energy, but I'm ok, it didn't hurt me or anything." He swallowed. "You?"
"I'm fine," she said, willing it to be true. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, her body felt tingly and weird. Not pain exactly, or at least not deep pain, but definitely off somehow. "But Plagg, did you see the butterfly?"
"I was focused on other things," he admitted. "Like helping you walk." Right. Kwamis didn't get to actually witness what was going on while they were assisting a transformation. She'd have to tell him.
"It came to me," she explained, remembering the creature's pause as it passed her, how it almost had landed on her hand. "Like it remembered. Tell me. Have you and Adrien ever strategized on how to find Hawkmoth? Do you have any idea where or who he is?"
"No. We're busy enough with keeping Paris safe one monster at a time and making sure Adrien keeps up appearances as a normal teenager. We don't really have any extra time to go on a search. We have absolutely no clue."
"But you know he's in the city," Valerie pressed, massaging her left hand. "We could do this."
"Do what?" Plagg said sleepily.
"Find Hawkmoth. Find my Miraculous. We could get it back. You and me together; we could do it."
"Valerie," Plagg lectured, his eyes closed, obviously not taking her as seriously as she meant to be taken. "You need to return me to Adrien. We worked together today to save Ladybug for him. He's still my Chosen."
"I know that," Valerie said, slightly crestfallen. "But until I can get you back to him, don't you think it would help him in the end if we made some progress on discovering where Hawkmoth is?"
Plagg opened one eye to stare at her, a searching, piercing gaze. One she remembered him giving her before, before she'd been Chosen, when the kwamis were all looking at her one by one. The look he used to peer into her soul. The look right before he'd rejected her.
"One week," he granted. "And we are keeping transformations at a two-hour minimum. You take a lot of effort."
"Thank you, Plagg! I am going to buy you so much cheese."
"You'd better."
She picked up the plate as the dark kwami drifted off, placing it quietly into her sink and turning the burner back on under her almost forgotten soup. The clock on the stove told her she still had a little over an hour before work. Absently, she rubbed her left eye, but when she reached for her spoon afterward she did a double take. There was blood on her hand. She turned the spoon, trying to use it as a mirror, surprised to see crimson staining the milky white film on her eye. It wasn't much, just a bit, obviously from the strain of being Chat Noir. She ran some water, washed her hands, and pressed a warm wet cloth to her face. Not a big deal, she assured herself. Not that bad, considering. Not even worth mentioning to Plagg. She looked over at the table, but Plagg wasn't there anymore. He had taken up his usual favorite spot by Valerie's fireplace. Fast asleep. Definitely not worth mentioning. She picked up her spoon again and stirred her soup.
Author's Note: I've asked my daughter's permission to take this story forward since she has other interests now (Like Barbie – what in the world? You make me obsessed with this ridiculous show and then you stop watching it? Then you make me LOVE your original character and now you're abandoning her? For Barbie?) She gave me the events of this chapter and a bit of where she thought it should go in the end, though. In grudging little snippets. I'm giving you a sample so you know how our creative process goes. I stick her in the bathtub where she can't get away from me and get my Notebook of Interrogation.
Me: So if Valerie has Plagg, should she have to use him to fight an akuma with Ladybug?
Her: Yeah, but Ladybug is going to HATE IT, and Valerie won't like it either because Ladybug doesn't fight like she used to fight and she thinks her way is better.
Me: Will everyone know that she isn't the real Chat Noir?
Her: No, people are really easy to trick if someone is wearing a mask in this show. They won't notice. Except for Ladybug. She knows Chat Noir best.
Me: So Ladybug will know that Valerie is the new Chat Noir?
Her (rolling her eyes): No, Mom. She's wearing a Mask. She just knows it's not the same one.
Me: Ok, got it. So what sort of an akuma? What powers should it have? How did the person become an akuma victim in the first place?
Her: Um, she should be a mom with a brand-new baby. And she gets really mad because the baby was finally sleeping but then something woke her up. And the mom is grumpy because she's super tired, so Hawkmoth makes her an akuma who can make everyone go to sleep so everything will be quiet.
Me: Are you talking about me? When your brother was brand new?
Her: Yep.
Me: Fine, but how will Ladybug and Chat Noir beat her?
Her: You figure it out.
Love my girl! Hope you like her story as much as I do.