9.

They were screwed. Totally screwed.
"Goddamit, Alya!", Nino exclaimed. "Have you gone crazy?"
Did she know? But played along as if she didn't have a clue about their friend's superhero double life? The thought hurt Nino. Did she deliberately make him look like a fool? Because he was not smart enough or she didn't want to share her latest scoop with him?
No.
Nino shook his head.
He had to concentrate.
Never mind feeling small and weak.
Never mind he couldn't protect his friends at the first opportunity.
He wished to rewind time, he wished to bang his head against the nearest wall. He really wished he had kissed Alya senseless two minutes ago.
But first things first.
Because Marinette looked like Alya's words made her worst nightmares come true.

As Adrien tried to process Alya's threat Marinette had already freaked out. Her breath hitched, her face turned white and something in her snapped, taking the ability to speak with her. Adrien ushered her close, but his girlfriend went stiff, lifeless eyes staring into the dark void of her fears. Each ragged breath hurt him like the stab of a knife. Right into his heart.
Dumping his civilian role without second thought Adrien let his true personality take over. Besides, he has dealt as Chat with a lot of dangerous situations. Marinette's safety always was his first objective, now and then.
"Grab Ayla and make her shut up, Nino." He frantically searched for a hide-out, trying to calm Marinette down at the same time. Surprising Ayla and Nino he picked her up without effort and carried her to nearest school's bathrooms. Their friends followed suit as Adrien sprinted down the hall, Marinette clinging to him as he was her lifeline. With a kick he opened the door, silently thanking her luck that there was no teacher or fellow students around.
"Lock it." Nino followed the sharp command immediately.
He crouched down, pulling Marinette in his lap but her hyperventilating even sped up.
„It's alright, princess." Adrien whispered into her messy hair. "I'm here, Plagg and Tikki, too. Nothing bad happened. You are safe. You are safe, princess."
Adrien pushed back his own mental break down as Marinette almost suffocated.

Nino still held Alya's hand as they watched the pair in a mixture of confusion and pure shock.
In some small of his mind he was rejoicing over older facts: Ayla made him look at tons of photos from Ladybug and Chat Noir – he knew that pose by heart, too. His best friends were secretly dating superheroes.
Nino bit his lip, preventing a shout of utter glee. He had been totally right! Holy fuck!
The rest of him desperately wanted to clear up this huge mess. Worry seemed to cloud Alya's mind, Nino though needed to think. Quick.
Deciding that Adrien had to take care of his girlfriend Nino hold Alya's hand tighter and set his other one over her lips. She had done enough damage by blurting out her threat.
"What was that?", he whispered. He shook her a little as if he could cast off every other stupid idea with this.
Alya was acting way to confused. Hadn't she been aware of Marinette's and Adrien's double lifes?
„Rushing headfirst into tragedy like there was no tomorrow, really caring of you," he scolded her but kept his voice down. "It's been years since Nette's last anxiety attack."
Her outraged look bore into his as if she understood his implications at last.
Nino gazed back at Adrien who was reassuring Marinette a safe place without second thought.
"You can't count this as a silly joke, Alya. What were you thinking?"
If he had to choose between the girl he liked, the sister he never had and the dork he loved like a brother ... well ... it frightened him how easily he could stand up against Alya. By all means she had gone too far this time. "Although you read her dreadful survey, you did attack her on the spot." He didn't chose this pun intentionally, but it fit. "Weren't you swooning and cheering for them like what? Twenty minutes ago? Why did you do that? She's your best friend, girl!"
Alya's shoulders slumped down and she did cast her eyes down as Nino talked some sense into her. Hopefully he did. Marinette's hitched breaths wrenched at his heart more than anything.

"Plagg." Nino turned to Adrien, curiosity getting the better of him. They'd rushed into the bathroom without anyone following them ...
Nino let out a startled sound as a black fuzzy dot flew out from Adrien's hoodie and zipped through the air; checking if the stalls were empty. Incredibly fast that Plagg thing rocketed back to Marinette and landed in her lap. She probably strangled him, it, whatever it was, but Plagg started rubbing her fingers gently with its head.
"Breathe, princess." Adrien stroked her back soothingly. "Slowly, yes. One breath after another." Marinette choked out some meaningless syllables, gulping for air as if she was drowning. "Remember what we talked a few minutes ago? A cat of our own. A tiny ball of fur. I would love a white Persian cat, you probably a Siamese. Picture it playing with your dozens of yarn till it's all tangled up. It chases Plagg around the house because he's as grouchy as ever."
The black dot let out a short hiss.
Beside Nino Alya wriggled out of his firm grip. Tears were threatening to roll down her cheeks, but she suppressed a sob.
"And when the freshly baked cookies have cooled down", a tiny voice joined the conversation as a red dot flew out of nowhere, "it will sleep peacefully in your lap. Like a warm breathing cushion."
"But that's my place." Adrien pouted. "No fair."
Giggling the red dot settled in Adrien's hair.
Alya stared at the scene in disbelief at those little Nino-didn't-knew-what, but kept her distance. He released her lips and seized the moment to snatch Alya's phone out of her coat pocket. He would return it to her later, if they evaded the most fatal disaster.
When did his friends change so much without anyone noticing?, Nino asked himself. Ladybug and Chat Noir were protecting Paris for three years now, so Adrien and Marinette started fighting monsters at the age of thirteen. They had been kids, then. Nino remembered his silly worries at this age. Did he pick the right clothes to impress? Was it weird to love music as much as he did? Today, he was still struggling to distinguish the carefree behavior he wanted to keep and the adult he aimed to be. But simply watching Adrien and Marinette, Ladybug and Chat Noir, a unity as strong as a fortress ... everything he did in the last years seemed in vain.
At the same time it showed him things to strive for:
A strong connection.
A partner to love and trust.
A task to prove that he wasn't a fleeting existence among thousands of other young Parisians.
Sighing Nino shook his head. All that superhero stuff messed up his rational thinking. What had gotten into him?
He glanced at Alya who was still lost in her own thoughts, eyes wide in shock. A partner to love and trust would be nice, though.
Probably an eternity or maybe five minutes later, he couldn't tell apart, Marinette whispered: "Thank you, kitty."
A wave of relief washed over Nino as Marinette's panic subdued. He suddenly remembered he had to ease the tension that built up in the bathroom before they would be suffocating again.
Step by step Nino coaxed Alya to approach the couple, finally letting her kneel down in front of Marinette. "Someone wants to apologize."

Adrien looked up as Alya slumped down in front of them. He suppressed his first instinct to defend Marinette from harm, after all Alya was a friend. But Marinette tightened the grip around Plagg and shifted herself in an almost upright position. The strength of his lady never ceased to amaze him.
"I didn't want to trigger a panic attack," Alya started.
At the same time Marinette blurred out: "I didn't lie on purpose, please, you have to keep it a secret that I'm Ladybug."
"I just wanted to tease you because of your secret relationship with Adri…" Alya blinked at her. "What did you say?"
Adrien gaped at Alya's confession. She hadn't suspected that they were ... There was no way to fix their slip, was there?
"I'm Ladybug!" Marinette wailed, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry! I know I'm a disappointment and ..."
Adrien took a metal note to repeat his 'You're awesome'-speech on the girl in his arms. Plus, they had to deal with damage control before Alya did something stupid again. Maybe he should nick her phone for now. And the bag with her laptop and ...
"Fuck!" At last Alya put the pieces of information together. "I've threatened you to tell whole Paris of your secret! I'm the worst!"
Alya snatched her best friend out of Adrien's hold and embraced her as tight she could.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." Marinette was buried into Alya's chest, crying out all pent-up emotions at once. Now and then she hiccupped in a way that raised Adrien's urge to swoop her up and flee to their secret happy place. But he stood up and gave the girls the space and time they needed to reconcile. The superheroes had suffered from similar break-downs after a couple of near-death-moments. He wouldn't rush anything now.
Surprisingly calm he messaged Natalie informing her of Marinette's attack and that he would make sure to take her home first. Seconds later Natalie confirmed the postponing of his photo shoot, whishing that Marinette would be better soon.
Then he realized his mistake.
Nino.
Nino was still there. Watching from the side line, uncertain how to react to Marinette's outburst.
Suddenly Tikki buried herself deeper in his hair, tugging at the blond locks painfully, as if she had the same thoughts. His best friend had seen kwamis floating around. Heard them speaking.
It was too late for creating an extraordinary brilliant excuse, was it?
Nino knew. Nino knew it all. There was no other way explaining why he would stay so composed otherwise. Though 'all' was a dreadful vast description.
"Alya hacked into the security system and we watched longer than we should have," Nino explained, not daring to look Adrien in the eye. "And listened to some surprising ... well ... um ... things."
"Things?"
An unknown nervousness crept up from his stomach, making Adrien's heart beat sped up. He could face akumas, dangerous photographers and even some aimless arguments with his father but the thought that Nino knew his secret was nerve-racking. Was Nino furious because he had lied all this time? Would he wish to end their friendship because Chat Noir was too overbearing?
Had Marinette felt like trapped into a hurricane of emotions, too?
"Um, yes. You shoved it accidentally in our faces." Nino shuffled his feet, still avoiding his gaze. "But Alya didn't get the clues like I did ... really I was not trying to ... um you know ... in the end everything went down the drain. What a -"
"Cat-astrophe?"
A smile tugged at Nino's lip. "Yeah, could say so."
Buried in Adrien's hair Tikki started humming which calmed him down bit by bit. Nino was aware of his real nature and the juggling act between being professional and showing his true self. Hopefully this did count for his superhero persona, too.
"Chat Noir, at your service." Adrien winked in his typical manner, playfully showing his signature move. Suddenly Nino lit up in excitement.

But he didn't have the time to reply. "Oh my GOD!" Alya's head shot up, too. "I'm worse than worse! "
"It's okay", Marinette offered a weak smile. "Nothing really bad happened."
"I turned a blind eye to ... everything!" A second series of crying started leaving the boys confused. "For three years I've hunted your identities and risked your lives."
Adrien shrugged.
Nino let out a relieved sigh.
Marinette grasped Alya's hands and tried to comfort her.
"Yes, I wanted to mess a bit with you sickening sweet lovebirds. How long have been marveling at your dream boy without gathering the courage to even speak with Adrien? And BANG you're all cozy and comfy and snuggling and kissing!"
Adrien smiled at the memory how Marinette confessed her long-term crush to him.
"But I totally honestly definitely swear I just wanted to help you with my survey. You're fighting so hard and everyone believes that you'll can do anything, but at the end of the day you're just human, too, so I thought, you need any support you could get and ... It's not fair that you have to defend yourself all alone. How did you put up with me anyway?"
Marinette pulled the rambling girl into a hug but Alya's words didn't stop as if the discovery of their superhero lives short-circuited her system. in overdrive.

Adrien would convince her later that neither Marinette nor he hated Alya for her guts. She was a nerve-wrecking reporter, also built up their reputation as superheroes. For now he focused on Nino.
Trying to ignore the crying for the time being he turned to his friend. "Got any questions?"
"I guess but … later." They stood side by side in silence waiting for their girls to calm down. Plagg hovered over to them eying Nino critically. With a long hiss he settled on Adrien's shoulder, none of the boys commented this reaction.
"That's Plagg and I'm Tikki" the kwami explained cheerfully, still being cradled into Adrien's hair. "We're guiding our wielders and made of pure magic were several thousand years old …."
"… so don't mess with us or our kids." Plagg growled.
"It's nice that you're at least some kind of cat," Nino joked making Plagg bare his fangs.
Adrien scratched the spot between his ears until he settled into the crook of his neck. It had taken him months to realize how lazy but still protective his demi-god was. Though his antics could chase away Nino who curiously watched the magical creatures.
Still no questions. No reproaches. Not even an angry glare. Adrien's dad would have grounded him by now. Or even locked him inside the basement till he was twenty-one and absolutely submissive.
Clear the misunderstanding, Adrien encouraged himself before the golden opportunity slipped away. He loved Nino like family, if he didn't mess up, Nino wouldn't be caught up between his supermodel and superhero life anymore.
Adrien steeled his resolve and settled for: "Sorry for not telling the truth, bro."
"Nah." Nino tapped Adrien's arm lightly carefully avoiding Plagg. "It's pretty self-explanatory why you lied."
"Thank you." Adrien eased his shoulders and tried to loosen the tension. "Are you sure you're not mad at me? I mean …" He pointed at the spot where Alya dried Marinette's tears with a tissue, a soft giggle escaping her lips while her best friend told her something rapidly. Well, at least all that crying also reduced stress like some crazy messed-up catharsis.
Suddenly Nino changed the topic of their conversation. "Can you do those back flips and parcours stuff as Adrien, too?"
He nodded.
His friend beamed at him. "Then teach me some cool stunts and we're good."


A/N: Almost done with this little story. :)