Chapter 4
Marinette was very satisfied with the disguises she had made up for her and Chat Noir.
She stuffed them deeper into her bag as she sat down on the metro. It was deserted except for a few tourists wearing clubbing clothes and a man that had a questionable smell to him.
The reason she picked Sacre Coeur was because it was well outside of Ladybug and Chat Noir's usual places. And she was glad she did, she's finally watched Alya's broadcast while she was sewing on buttons to Chat Noir's jacket. Apparently the police were on high alert for both of them, with a hotline and a reward for their arrest. They were known to meet up of the Eiffel tower and the landmarks around there, so it didn't surprise her as her train passed the Eiffel tower she could make out the seven cop cars at the base of the tower, just waiting for a ladybug to get caught in their trap.
And the reason she took the metro? It was just too far to run to Sacre Coeur as Ladybug and she really didn't want to be caught racing on top of buildings. She wanted as minimal exposure till she had a chance to clear her name.
Especially since the reward for catching Ladybug was 10,000 euros.
But the Metro at 11:45pm wasn't exactly the safest place for a 15 year old. There were the harmless types, like the tourists and business people going home after a long day. But then there were the unsavory types, the pickpockets and the mentally unstable that yelled people and road the trains until they closed.
Marinette clutched her bag tighter in her arm as the tourist got off and another person got on and sat down right next to her.
She closed her eyes, just one more stop.
Ladybug waited for Chat Noir in the bell tower, checking the time on her yoyo, it read 12:13am.
Marinette had already changed into her disguise. It was a black jacket poncho hybrid with a high collar that she had transformed from one of her old jackets. It was something that could pass her as a fashion forward tourist, or a girl with a weird fashion sense at the worst. While she was designing, her goal was to cover the most of her bodysuit and face, still be able to move around, and something to keep her warm.
There had been a shift in the weather recently, October in Paris was normally pretty mild, with some rain here and there but nothing like it had been recently. There must have been a storm or something moving over them because Marinette couldn't remember the last time the sun broke out from behind the clouds. It wasn't just the cold weather, but the wind that brought in freezing cold temperatures. She had never had a problem being cold as Ladybug before, but suddenly the cold was biting though her suite like it was made of plastic wrap.
To finish off her disguise, she picked out her darkest pair jeans, her mother's old hiking boots and a pair of leather gloves. She had managed to cover up almost all of her signature red and black spots except for her mask.
She contemplated if she should have done with a hood instead.
She leaned against a pillar in the bell tower to brace herself from the wind. She had always loved Sacre Coeur when she passed by it but she had never climbed the limestone steps and been inside the church before.
"My lady? Are you here?" She could barely make out Chat's voice over the howling wind.
"I'm over here!" She stepped out of the shadow of the pillar.
Marinette could see Chat Noir's smile from the other side of the tower, he quickly made his way over to her and grinned.
"Whoa, what's with the getup?" Chat's hair whipped around his head wildly and Marinette could barely hear him.
"Hold on," Marinette grabbed Chat's hand and pulled him behind the pillar, blocking them from the wind. She looked up to him and smiled, "that's better."
Chat noir didn't have a smile on his face anymore. His hair had been tousled and stuck out in every direction. He was slightly winded and she couldn't help but notice the way his chest rise and fall with every breath, how he smelled and his hand lingered on her own. His normally composed and confident face seemed flustered, and his glowing green eyes were wide, completely focused on her face.
She hated when he did this, she couldn't help the way her heart sped up and her throat closed when he looked at her like that.
She quickly broke eye contact, breaking Chat Noir out of his daze and the moment they had just shared.
"Don't be jealous," She pulled her hand out of his and bent down to pick up her stuff off the ground, not catching Chat Noir's heartbroken expression when she moved away. She stood back up and pulled a large piece of black fabric out of her bag, "I got you one to!"
Marinette held out her father's old trench coat to Chat Noir. She had resized it roughly to what she thought his measurements were. He looked down to it curiously and unfolded it in his hands. She didn't have time to redesign him a whole outfit but this would do at least for tonight.
Chat Noir looked down at it and raised an eyebrow.
"What are these for again?" He started to put the coat on, "Not that I'm complaining, it's freezing out here!"
"Disguise," She helped him straighten out the collar, bringing herself close to him again. She ignored her feelings and adjusted the crooked seams down his arms, avoiding eye contact. "Unless you forgot, you and I are wanted criminals with a bounty on our head."
Chat Noir scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "Yeah, now that you mention it I remember something about a reward for anything that would lead to our arrest."
Marinette still didn't look him in the eye, she quickly helped him to button up the front of the jacket, as his claws made it almost impossible to get ahold of them.
"We need to come up with a plan," Marinette reached around and grabbed the fabric belt and tied around Chat Noir's waist. She could hear him let out a 'omph' as she tied it tight. She looked up to him and let out a shy smile, "Sorry! But, wait the transformation isn't over."
She reached back into her bag and pulled out a baseball cap. She reached up and placed it on top of his head, trying not to look at his expression.
When she was done, she took a step back to admire her work.
Chat Noir stared blankly at her, and she could tell he was a bit overwhelmed at it all. Over all she had done an alright job altering the coat, but he was broader in the shoulders then she had remembered. She took a mental note for when she designed the next version of his jacket.
Hopefully she wouldn't have to.
"You're lucky," She looked him up and down one more time before she was satisfied. "Your suit is all black, no red and black spots to cover up."
"Ladybug, what are we going to do about this." He brought the focus right back to the issue at hand.
She looked away from him again, slowly walking over the railing, overlooking all of Paris. Sacre Coeur was built on top of the highest mountain in Paris, she swore she could see the curve of the earth up here.
"I honestly don't have any idea." She whispered.
Chat Noir joined her silently beside her, looking out to the sparking sea of lights.
"Why can't we just tell them it wasn't us?"
"That might work," She picked at the railing with her finger, "But I'm just scared that if they don't believe us they're going to capture us first and ask questions later. Then we'd just be sitting ducks, just waiting in a cell for Hawkmoth to come and take our miraculous."
Chat Noir adjusted the baseball cap on his head, "Do you think this was a akuma attack?"
"I don't know, maybe? It just seems so strange for a akuma to attack a school and blame it on us. How would making the city turn against us be helpful for them to get our miraculous?"
Marinette answered her own question in her mind.
"Ugh," Marinette groaned and put her head in her hands, "Of course they benefit from the city turning on us and all looking for us! It's only a matter of time till they hunt us down and capture us."
Chat Noir nodded, "This doesn't seem like Hawkmoths usual style, are we even sure it's him behind this?"
"Who else is capable of causing so much destruction?"
"I guess you're right," Chat Noir turned away from the railing and looked down at her, eyes hard. "but it wouldn't hurt to check out the crime scene. When I was watching the TVi walk through of the crime scene, it was really weird. Things they claimed that proved that we did it were things we couldn't actually do. Giant claw marks on the wall, looks cool, but isn't really my style."
" Maybe if we check those out we can find some sort of clue of who did this."
"But the place is warming with police!" Chat Noir looked at her like she was crazy.
"Not anymore," Marinette placed her head in her hands, closing her eyes briefly. Everything was catching up to her, the late night, the stress of both Marinette's life and Ladybug's. She tried her best to keep her spirit high, "I passed by it earlier tonight and they were gone."
"This is getting really weird, why would the police stop guarding a crime scene? Especially one so fresh?" He had a point there. She really couldn't think of a reason that all focus had turned away from the damage at the middle school to finding them so quickly. It's like they forgotten why they wanted Chat Noir's and Ladybug's heads in the first place.
"I guess we will just have to go find out." Marinette stood up from the railing, grabbing her bag.
She was throwing her leg over the railing when Chat Noir mumbled something.
"What was that? I can't hear you very well."
"Well, um…" He turned away and clasped his hands behind his back. "Can we first can we get something to eat? I'm starving." He avoided her gaze.
She giggled into her hand, "Do you just want to meet up there later?"
He through his hands out in front of him, "No! I mean, I know a place…it will be really quick I swear!"
Marinette really didn't want to ride the metro back by herself anyways, "Sure why not."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but we are going to have to walk, it's probably best to avoid running along roofs. I can see helicopters in the distance, and they probably aren't looking for a traffic jam to report."
"Ugh, it's going to take forever to get there."
"Well let's hurry up, it's freezing up here!"
Ladybug and Chat Noir were not given a second look walking down the streets of Paris as they made their way to the middle school. Chat Noir had said he knew this great place to get crepes, it was only open from ten in the evening to two in the morning every night, and that he just had to take her there.
Put truth be told, Adrien had never been to this place before. But Nino wouldn't shut up about it and kept trying to get Adrien to sneak out and go with him. Adrien didn't eat meals outside of his house often, he had a strict diet and portion sizes monitored by both his chief and Natalie. But when he did have the chance to eat out he had to make it worth it, cookies, cakes, anything sweet that he wasn't supposed to eat.
He had a feeling any food he ate with Ladybug would be delicious.
Marinette was pleasantly surprised how well their disguises worked. Even as they walked through the popular tourist areas, full of clubbers and food carts, no one shouted their name or called the police, so she took that as a good sign.
Maybe because Chat Noir and Ladybug didn't walk anywhere, everyone else was stuck looking up and didn't think to look around themselves.
"Hey, how much longer till we get there? It's getting late." Marinette couldn't help asking, they were going through the slums of Paris, they hadn't seen anyone else walking for the last five blocks, and she checked her yoyo, 1:07am. No one you wanted to interact with was out at this hour.
"It's just past the river, real close to the Eiffel tower."
They were never going to get there at this pace.
"Hey, wanna take the metro?" Marinette grasped her shoulders, the day was taking a toll on her and her new coat was doing little to block the storm that was coming in.
Chat Noir stopped walking, looking down at her he lifted his baseball cap, his face unsure. "Do you think it's safe? I mean we look normal at a distance and in the dark but up close in bright light we still look like superheroes."
"I think we will be okay, anything is better than walking! Common I saw a entrance on the last block." She really wanted to get out of the streets, she couldn't help this uneasy feeling in her gut that she had as she turned every corner and her heart was about to beat out of her chest the last time she thought her reflection in a car window was a stocker.
"Wait, Ladybug! If you don't want to be recognized…" Chat Noir reached forward with his hand and Marinette stopped herself from taking a step back. She looked up at him, unsure of what he was going but didn't stop him as he brushed his fingers over her cheeks, reaching past her face as he undid the hair ties from around her pigtails, gently pulling them free.
"You should really lose your signature hairstyle, it's a dead giveaway. No one would think that Ladybug would ever let her hair down."
His blush stained his face, lit gently by the faint street lamp overhead. He smiled cautiously, unsure of her reaction.
Marinette couldn't help the blush that coated her cheeks as her hair started to sway around her face. She hadn't worn her hair down for such a long time that she didn't remember what it felt like anymore.
Marinette turned quickly and held her hand to her face, biting her lip.
"Ok-kay I see your point." She grabbed her hair and pulled it to one the side of her head, walking quickly away from him and to the metro entrance. "But let's get going, the metro closes at 2."
Chat Noir sometimes did things to Marinette that made her feel crazy. One moment he's the self-confident partner she has always known. Then the next minute he looks at her with such intensity that it made her stomach flip.
"Wait!" Chat Noir ran to catch up to Ladybug, confusion and regret written all over his face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you."
He grabbed her hand and Marinette paused. She looked back at him, but didn't pull her hand out of his grasp as she normally did. Maybe it was everything that had happened in the last couple of days, or she was tired or going insane. Normally she didn't hang out with Chat Noir like this, so she'd only have to ignore these strange feelings for a short amount of time, or sometimes not at all. Half the time his antics turned her off, like the childish comments he'd make about her being his 'lady' or that he only wanted her.
Maybe it was the cold, and that his hand was so impossibly warm.
Instead of letting go, she gently wrapped her hand around his. She felt a dark blush spread over her face, and she looked away from his glowing green eyes. It was just her luck that this part of the street was almost pitch black, and just maybe he couldn't see her face.
But Chat Noir could see perfectly in the dark.
The words died in his throat and evaporated when he saw the blush escaping the edges of her mask. He was going to apologize for his behavior tonight, tell her that it was just stress about this whole situation and his home life, or that he was just tired. He couldn't help the sly smile that crept up onto his face.
He was tired before, a fourteen-hour shoot could do that to a person, but now he felt like his whole body had just been caught on fire and he could do anything.
He gripped her hand firmer and started charging ahead, pulling her along behind her, practically skipping down the sidewalk.
"Common, the station is this way!"
Ladybug and Chat Noir stood at the station platform next to each other. Marinette pulled her hair to the front of her face and Chat Noir had pulled his baseball cap down and collar up to hide his face. The only other person on the platform was a blind homeless man sitting on the plastic chairs lining the tunnel with a white cane resting in his hands.
Marinette unbuttoned a few of her jacket's buttons, and waved at her face with her hand. She hadn't anticipated how hot it was going to be down here compared to the arctic winter outside, and she was burning up. Sweat started to bead up on her forehead and she used her glove to wipe at it, exposing her face and mask.
"You shouldn't do that," Chat Noir looked down at her and frowned, "It's too risky."
Marinette rolled her eyes and unbuttoned a few more of her jacket buttons, exposing her red spots.
"What? Like that man over there is going to turn us in? The train will be here in two minutes, just try to act natural."
Chat Noir had been all smiles and practically hopped down the stairs to get to the platform. But the second they got into the tunnels they had spotted the large posters that completely covered the walls. They were pictures of both Chat Noir and Ladybug with the words
'Wanted, armed and dangerous. If seen, please call this number. Any tips that lead to the arrest to these terrorists will be awarded'
And they were everywhere, they covered the walls, train advertisements, and littered the floor. No matter where they looked, smiling faces of both Ladybug and Chat Noir stared back at them, with the word 'WANTED' printed over their faces.
But when Marinette had left the metro to go to Sacre Coeur they hadn't been there. And that was just a little over an hour ago.
Ladybug wondered if she watched the same news report as everyone else. That the fake Ladybug and Chat Noir had done to the middle school was a crime, it wasn't something that would get them labeled as terrorists.
Chat Noir clenched his fits, looking around at the platform again.
"I can't believe they're calling us terrorists," He mumbled, "We have protected them for months, almost a year, and they turn on us like it's nothing."
Ladybug started at her face in a wanted poster, unable to fully comprehend what this meant, why this was happening so suddenly.
She looked up at the train's arrival time, one minute.
"Hey, Chat…" She started speaking slowly, a realization slowly coming to her. "Why do you think they're calling us terrorists?"
Chat Noir snapped out of his daze staring at the metro entrance. He glanced at the blind homeless man waiting for the train and then back to Ladybug.
"I honestly have no idea," He readjusted his hat and pulled his collar up higher, "but I don't understand this whole situation at all to be purrrr-fectly honest." A smile crept out of the corner of his mouth.
Ladybug smiled herself, "Couldn't help it, could you?"
He looked down at her and grabbed her hand in his again, "Nope."
He smirked.
Ladybug pulled her hand out of his this time, but the smile on her face didn't drop from her face.
Out of this whole situation, Chat Noir was still was at her side, and it set her heart on ease as she stared at her wanted posters and wondered what exactly was going to happen to them.
"The only thing about the crime scene I didn't see was the letter that was left there," She whispered, the blind homeless man was starting to walk towards them, using his white cane to feel around with. "I didn't watch long enough to find out what was written on it."
"Neither did I," Chat Noir said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin with his hand. "Maybe if we found out what was written on this letter we'd find a motivation or something-"
"Excuse me, could you spare some change for an old blind man?"
He was right behind them, holding out an empty paper cup. Dark sunglasses reflected their faces back at them.
Marinette smiled, holding her hands out in front of her, his breath smelled like acid. "Sorry, I used up all my change getting our tickets-"
She didn't expect the man to shove them, let alone shove them so hard that they tumbled back a few feet. She caught herself just in time not to fall onto the tracks, pulling Chat Noir back to balance as he teetered on the edge of the platform.
Confusion raced across her face, "What are you-"
He charged at them, dropping his paper cup and waving his cane at them.
They dodged his attack easy enough, but Marinette realized too late that he was about to run himself right off the track and onto the platform.
"No!"
She reached out to grab his coat, but she wasn't fast enough. It brushed through her fingers as his feet ran off the cement and he fell full speed into the tracks.
He collapsed, Marinette down the tracks and could see the bright headlights of the train approaching quickly.
"Chat! Help me out!"
Marinette leaped into the train tracks, pulling the half conscious man onto her shoulders. Chat Noir leaned over the platform, sticking his hand out for Ladybug to grasp. But the man was heavier than she had expected and she couldn't pull them both out of the 5-foot trench.
The train lights were getting brighter and brighter, blinding Marinette. She could hear the train gobble up the tracks with every second.
Chat Noir reached down and grabbed the man by his coat, hauling him up. Chat's face scrunched up in effort, his baseball cap on the ground.
The blind man regained enough consciousness to start kicking Marinette in the face as she tried to lift him out.
"Let me go! They're mine! The reward is mine!"
The train was seconds away, this was her last chance to escape being crushed.
She pushed him up with all her might, ignoring the firm kick in the jaw she just got. That was going to show, she knew it. They finally got him out of the tracks, Chat Noir pulling him clear of danger.
"Ladybug!"
He practically screamed her name, the train was close, only feet away. The conductor hadn't even noticed the wild scramble going on in the tracks ahead of him, he was in a daze, picking his nose.
Marinette was able to pull herself out just in time. She could feel the air brush past her body, knowing that she had just barely gotten clear in time to avoid impact.
"Where are you? I won't hurt you I just want the reward! Come back! Come back!" The homeless man was stumbling around the platform, white cane lying forgotten on the floor.
"Are you okay!?" Chat Noir clutched Ladybug's shoulders, his eyes wide. She was taken back slightly, he looked completely frazzled, eyes wide and frantic. "Ladybug, are you okay?!"
The metro doors opened.
"Yes! Now hurry up and grab your hat, common! We need to get out of here!" She shrugged him off and stood up, running over to grab her bag.
Chat Noir was left stunned for a moment.
This is what she does to him, he's going to have a heart attack before he turns 20 at this rate.
He grabbed his hat, Ladybug held the door open for him as he slipped in. She ran in and the doors quickly shut behind them. But they could still hear the blind man screaming for Ladybug and Chat Noir to come back.
Marinette let out a large breath, relieved they had made it in time. She looked around the train, empty. She looked up to Chat Noir, getting a hysterical chuckle escape her lips. He looked at her like she was completely insane.
"Well, that was…fun." She rolled onto the balls of her feet, "C'mon, put your hat on and let's sit down."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him to an empty seat. He just stumbled after her, completely dumbfounded.
"If you ever do that again m'lady I think I'm going to die of a heart attack."
She laughed, hearty and loud. Man, this had been some day so far, and it wasn't even 1:30am yet.
Ladynoir is my favorite ship, I've decided. Or maybe it's Marichat still. Idk.
Don't worry, they'll be Marichat later, I just need some feelings to work with. I tried to make Ladybug's feelings towards Chat as natural as I could without forcing her to like him, because that is really out of her character. But we need some feelings here people, all the feels!
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(Comments really mean a lot to me, they inspire me to keep writing fanfiction instead of essays! So I just wanted to give a shout out to the three commenters I've had so far! Sweetgal4694, 'Guest', and Lucinda! You guys are the best! *Hugs*)
