One Hour Earlier

Plagg spiraled out from the ring into Adrien's cavernous bedroom. The kid was stunned, staring in the darkness at the box that now rested on his desk as if it might bite him.

The kwami crossed his tiny arms and stifled a grin at the gold etched into the side, as he sped over to the desk lamp. Master Fu's little gift might sting a bit, but it would definitely not bite.

Plagg sighed. As Ladybug left the battle injured and even now, some three hours later, the boy was still reeling. It clearly wasn't the time for jokes. He'd just have to make sure Adrien was in a good enough mood to appreciate his cleverness later.

Adrien's drawn face was startlingly pale even in the dim light. With the way his jaw was clenched and the way his knuckles tightened on the edge of the desk, there was no doubt in Plagg's mind that his charge was replaying the image of Ladybug hitting the wall over and over in his mind.

He's seen that sight himself more than once in the past, when Tikki took a hit and the transformation released it's hold because she lost consciousness. When he'd lost one of his charges to untimely death. Those were the times that he felt the darkness of his destruction creeping in, when he felt the full brunt of his ill-fated luck. But neither he nor Adrien could afford to let them down right now. Ladybug was okay. Injured but okay.

Plagg's brows furrowed in exasperation. He himself had more than enough cause to question how Tikki was holding up. Her creation powers should have easily covered Ladybug's injury. The failure to complete the miraculous cure was troubling. Plagg had hoped that Master Fu would have bothered to shed some light, or at least made some further effort to aid communication between himself and Tikki even if only through Wayzz. This game of telephone through their charges was maddening.

At least with his heightened senses, he knew Tikki was always nearby. Somewhere in the same school at least. He could at least reassure himself that she was well tomorrow. Until then, he'd need to get Adrien going in a more productive direction. Since he had a few thousand years on the kid, it fell on him to be the adult. For now. "You're going to have to decide sometime, kid."

"I know." Adrien cleared his throat, shaking his head to clear the dazed look from his eyes. He turned back to Plagg more sure of himself this time. "Really, I know.

"Then what's the problem?" Plagg half-hissed, betraying his own anxiety. He took a deep breath. "Ladybug has already gotten injured once, which is one more time than either of us would like. But what's worse is that even a hint of trouble for her and you get rash and lose focus. We lose the opportunity to deal with the Akuma before it can multiply."

Adrien slumped into his computer chair, dejected. "It happened once, Plagg."

"Almost twice that I can recall offhand. Don't tell me you already forget that whole thing with the dinosaur?" Plagg chided, turning his back to lessen the burden of the confrontation. If it also meant a healthy dose of Camembert in his future, all the better. "And that's only when we've been aware enough of our actions to count. I haven't always been able to be aware when an Akuma manages to sway us. And if I am not, you are definitely not."

He peered over his shoulder as his charge grew silent, his blonde head dropping atop the desk itself. Plagg sighed, hurriedly snagging a piece from his camembert stash and popping a tiny bite into his mouth. This was not going as well as he'd hoped. "Look. We both know you need to keep your head at all times, or you are no good to Ladybug. And we both know that saving Paris will always be her number one priority."

Plagg grimaced, glad his back was turned as he took another bite. He at least had to assume that was the case. Tikki wasn't really telegraphing her intentions nearly as well as she had in the past. The new technology and the lightning fast spread of information clearly had her more on edge than normal. Master Fu hadn't been any help in the matter, opting instead to be nearly as cryptic as Tikki. The old man hadn't bothered to reach out to him at all, so he was truly flying blind.

Plagg shook his head, quickly swallowing back the final bite. He'd have to wait to actually savor his reward later, once they had a solid plan to protect both of their girls. Adrien kept stealing furtive glances over his shoulder, clearly expecting some bit of hope and direchere. "For as often as you've told me you are head over heels for her, you can't tell me you wouldn't do whatever is needed to keep her safe."

The kid shot up in his chair with a wince, clearly hurt that he would even question that fact. "Of course I would."

"Right. So," Plagg prodded. "Logic it out. You have the time to consider, so you can avoid the hasty actions. Think of it like a Physics problem. What is missing from your team?"

Adrien arched a brow; this wasn't really in the ballpark of physics, although he could try to break it down in the same type of way. "A healer."

Plagg exhaled into a half-smile. "Not the way our powers work, unfortunately. Shielding is the best we all can do, even with these two added into the mix."

The chair tilted back as Adrien whirled it in a circle, the motion spurring his mind into action. "So, should I guess they would need to be able to step into our usual roles if either of us was down?"

Plagg crossed his arms and hovered above his shoulder. "Your choice should be someone you can trust with the responsibility. Someone capable of handling the hours and the occasional bad day. But anymore than that, and I can't really tell you, kid. Not any better than I can tell you what kind of Akuma Hawkmoth is going to send at you next. You need to be prepared for anything and everything. Just be aware that even with these two new miraculous in the mix, only Ladybug has the ability to purify the Akuma."

Adrien frowned, but was pleasantly surprised to find Plagg more helpful than usual. There were only a few people that he could trust with a responsibility of this magnitude and of those only two who he had seen capable enough of dealing with Akuma as civilians-with a level head. But which one?

Plagg tossed his head back toward the television. "You play all those video games, right? I know I've watched you play a few where you make a group and attack."

"Oh," Adrien murmured, tapping a finger on the desk. "So what kind of power does this one have?"

Plagg tapped his tiny chin thoughtfully, arms otherwise crossed as he hovered above the computer screen.

"They both have the ability to manage or influence others, although Ladybug's kwami and I would make you both immune to those effects."

Adrien smiled. Crowd control? That actually would be useful. Keeping the general public safe or just away from the scene would make it so much easier to focus in on the Akuma and on protecting his Lady.

"But," Plagg continued, "I've not really seen this kwami for a while now. Best to assume the miraculous holder would also be able to do a lot of damage."

Adrien frowned, settling back down at the desk his mind now wavering. Damage was a trickier thing. Even with Ladybug's magic cure on clean up, he made every effort to keep everyone he could from getting hurt. On the rare occasion someone got hurt because he didn't get there fast enough, it hit him like a punch to the gut. It made him run all that much faster the next time. Whoever he tapped needed to have that same kind of approach.

Plagg was grinning down at him. "So you have someone in mind then?"

"Well, I had three in mind." Adrien paced the floor. "But one isn't nearly as observant as the other two. And one isn't exactly a great...team player."

Plagg quirked a brow. "Which leaves one. Can they be trusted?"

Adrien grinned. "She's already helped Chat out in the past."

"Ah." His kwami had the oddest smile on his face. "Your little girlfriend?"

Adrien blinked. "Hmm?"

Plagg smirked, jade eyes gleaming. "The one with the pigtails and the bright blue eyes. Who sits behind you?"

"Marinette?" Adrien directed his frowned over at his kwami, and resented for not the first time that Chloe's callous actions had apparently permanently altered his potential friendship with Marinette. "She's just a friend, remember. Even now, she doesn't really talk to me all that often."

Still smirking, Plagg seemed less than impressed. "Uh-huh."

Adrien rolled his eyes, putting Plagg's more usual ribbing out of his mind. "But she would definitely be the best bet here. She basically did a lot of the heavy lifting for Evillustrator and kept her cool for when her own Uncle was Akumatized."

"She's definitely a more level headed option than Chloe ." Plagg practically spit out Chloe's name. "I have no issues with Marinette filling the role."

Adrien released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. For as much of a pain as Plagg could be, he really did value his opinion. His kwami really didn't apply the brakes without good cause, even if it was only clear in retrospect.

"But," Plagg hedged, lifting a shoulder nonchalantly. "You might have a bit of a challenge though."

His eyes shot up to meet Plagg's, head tilted. "Meaning what exactly?"

Plagg lifted a brow innocently. "Just that she must have a lot on her plate. She is already on time nearly as much as you are. I'd guess she must help her parents in the bakery quite a lot as I can always scent the aroma of fresh baked bread when she's nearby."

Adrien groaned, smacking his hand to his forehead. "And she's class president. And an avid designer on top of that." His mental tally flashed through hats, album covers, and banners-and that's just what he could recall offhand. She really was so accomplished that it was sometimes hard to remember all she really did. It was a wonder she had any time at all to sleep, but it made her late arrivals make all the more sense.

Dismayed, Adrien shut his eyes and tried to think. Chloe was the next best option in terms of capability. But she did not play well with others. Ladybug already was not a huge fan. Would that get in the way of the-

He was so distracted, he failed to notice Plagg hovering mere inches in front of his face until his kwami pressed a furry finger to his nose. "Kid, I'm not telling you to give up. I'm just telling you that you need to figure out how best to convince her."

Adrien's eyes widened, as inspiration came mercifully quick. Plagg grinned in sync with him as their forms melded together.

Ladybug would get the support she needed. He and Plagg could watch over her as much as she would need to keep her safe.

And maybe-just maybe-this could be the opportunity he needed to finally help patch things over with Marinette.

Notes:

We'll be back to where I ended chapter one in the next installment!

I'm still really working to find the right voices (a real challenge without a beta reader!), so any constructive feedback that will help me improve is totally appreciated.