Author's Note: MR: Just another nice piece of Christmas Fluff. Also… this story is one of the reasons for the T rating. There is definitely violence. And injury. But *shrug* nobody dies.

Lyra: …. Here we go again, pulling on my heartstrings ….

Ep: Why do I always grow suspicious when MR says "nobody dies?" That's too close to being "mostly dead" in my book...

Ic: "Nobody dies" is one of the worst things Malcolm can say. It means all the murder energy is being saved for the next story.

MR: My next story involves a wedding? So, yeah. Expect death.

Reveal: Pretty much all the good guys

This akuma was one of the toughest that they had faced in their three years of fighting. Hawkmoth had been escalating, and it was only a matter of time before they encountered their first fatality. Chat Noir and Ladybug had recruited Rena Rouge, Carapace, Viperion, Pegasus, and even Queen Bee, but the fight was still a tough one. Death Metal's saw blades had come to close to many of them, and Queen Bee's Venom had bounced off the armor plated body.

Ladybug's lucky charm, a diamond saw, was small, as it was most commonly used by jewelers, and required her to get in very close. Leaning upon distractions by Rena and Chat, Ladybug was able to sneak in close, and reach up, slicing away the brooch that was melded with the armour. She felt a blow to her back as she was swinging away, but thought nothing of it, until she collapsed upon landing. Ladybug went to push herself back up but couldn't make her legs do what she was asking of them.

Pushing herself into a sitting position, she started coughing. To her surprise, her glove came away bloody, a fine mist of red floated to the ground around her. As she scrabbled on the ground next to her, trying to grab her lucky charm, Chat slid to a stop in front of her, looking horrified. Viperion dropped to the ground next to the black cat, with the others rushing up behind. Viperion's hand was darting towards his wrist, and Ladybug reached up to stop him.

"No 'Rion!" Ladybug's hand reached towards the snake hero. "We won." She held the brooch out towards Chat. "Would you?"

With a call of 'cataclysm' the brooch disintegrated, and a black butterfly fluttered out. Viperion lifted Ladybug, so that she was standing, keeping one arm around her waist, her back against his chest to hold her up, so she was able to catch and purify the butterfly. As she bid the butterfly goodbye, she started coughing, and the blood spray was worse this time. Struggling to catch her breath, she waved her diamond saw, weakly. Rena stepped forward and took it, looking around the group nervously, before tossing it into the air with a cry of "Miraculous Ladybug!"

The burst of red beetles was weaker than normal, but still flew over the city, repairing the enormous amount of destruction throughout the city. Only a few beetles trickled over Ladybug, before they disappeared, leaving her still gasping and weak, her entire weight being supported by Viperion's deceptively casual arm around her.

Rena Rouge looked around in a panic. "Why didn't they finish? Why didn't they fix everything? What did I do wrong?"

Ladybug shook her head and managed to wheeze out a reply between coughs. "Nothing. Harder to heal myself than everything else."

Viperion scooped Ladybug up into his arms, and whispered something into her ear that nobody else could hear. She shook her head, which caused her to cough, and elicited a small moan from deep in her throat.

"Angel." Viperion gently chastised. Ladybug's eyes flew to his in shock, before another coughing fit wracked her body, leaving her gasping for air. Taking control, Viperion started issuing orders. "Queen Bee. You're almost out of time. Head out, and one of us will check in with you soon. Pegasus, can you create a portal to College Francoise Dupont, and then head out yourself? I promise someone will be by and keep you updated. Rena, Cap, Chat… come with me."

The authority in his voice, combined with a semi-conscious Ladybug in his arms had even Queen Bee following directions without question. She waved to the others and took off towards the Grand Paris Hotel. Pegasus, likewise, conjured the requested portal, ushering the others through, Rena and Carapace leading the way.

They landed on the roof of the school, and the portal closed behind them. Once the five heroes were alone, Chat turned to Viperion. "Where are we going?"

"I'm taking her home."

Chat thought about the houseboat that Viperion lived on. "Do you think that your house is the best place? I could take her to mine, she'd get the best…"

Viperion interrupted. "No. I'm taking her to her home. Ladybug's parents will want to know. I am assuming that one of you know where we can find someone to help heal her?"

"Yeah." Carapace argued. "The hospital."

"Babe." Rena pointed out, quietly. "We can't take her there like this. It would be all over the news everywhere when her transformation drops. And even if people don't put it together, fear will spread because of the fact that Ladybug left someone injured."

Chat had been quiet, thinking hard, when he turned to Viperion, looking even more exhausted and shattered that he had moments before. "You said take her to HER house. You know who she is." Practically spitting the last three words, he added, "She told you."

Shifting the now unconscious Ladybug to a more comfortable position, he nodded his head, while denying Chat's statement. "I know who she is, yes, but she didn't tell me. I don't think she even realized I knew until I told her a few minutes ago that I was taking her home."

Rena glared at him. "And how exactly did you figure it out? I've been following her since the first time she appeared and even I don't know!"

Viperion shuffled his feet uncomfortably, but was saved by the beeping of various miraculous. "I'll explain fully later, but, well, we've been dating for almost two years. Once I met Ladybug, I knew she couldn't be anyone else."

Chat gasped, looking back and forth between Viperion and Ladybug, and the other three turned to him. He blushed, and shook his head, looking sad. "We should go. I can lead the way."

They followed, but Rena was asking questions the whole time. "Wait. You know who she is, too? I thought you two always claimed not to know who the other was. Why didn't you tell us? Does everyone know but me?"

Laughing bitterly, Chat called back to her over his shoulder. "I didn't know who Ladybug was. That part was never a lie. I do, however, know who Viperion is. And he's right. Ladybug couldn't be anyone else." Sighing, he landed on the balcony at the top of the Tom and Sabine Boulangerie-Patisserie. The 4 heroes dropped down into the alley beside the bakery.

Viperion lead the way inside. Fortunately the bakery was empty, being only a few minutes before closing time. Sabine Cheng looked up at her visitors and gasped. She asked Carapace to lock the door behind him, and was calling out for her husband as she ushered the small party into their living space.

Viperion set Ladybug gently down on the couch, and knelt next to it, stroking her hand. Carapace was comforting Rena who had been muttering a steady stream of 'No!'s ever since they landed on the bakery. Chat was pacing the floor by the fallen hero's feet. The beeps from various miraculous were coming much faster now, but it was Viperion's that ran out first in a flash of teal light, leaving Luka Couffaine kneeling beside Ladybug. Tom was on his knees beside him, his arm slung around the younger man's shoulders, looking down at the girl that they both would do anything for.

A couple of moments later, and a pink flash filled the room, confirming beyond a doubt that Ladybug was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Rena Rouge buried her face in Carapace's chest and remained that way as they reverted back into Alya and Nino. Chat was just staring around, chuckling disbelievingly to himself. When his miraculous gave its final beep, the green light flashed revealing Adrien Agreste. Alya, ever the reporter, looked up and goggled at him, shaking her head, wondering out loud how she never realized that two of her closest friends were the saviors of Paris.

Moaning, Marinette opened her eyes and blinked up at her friends, not entirely sure what was going on. Tikki was looking worse for wear as she lay curled on her chosen's stomach. Plagg flew over next to her, and called out to Adrien that Tikki was injured as well as Marinette. "You need to take her to the guardian. He can heal her. Adrien, will you take her?"

At these words, Marinette struggled to sit up, but was unable to feel or move anything below her waist. Luka moved to sit behind her and pulled her up to sit against his chest, gently kissing her hair and whispering in her ear, reassuring murmurings to help keep her calm. When she started coughing up more blood, Sabine grabbed a towel for her daughter to cough into, gently wiping her mouth and hands as Marinette caught her breath.

Nobody noticed that Tom had slipped from the room, until he returned with a variety of pastries, both sweet and savory. None of the kwami's complained if their favorite food was not present, they just took the closest they could find, and thanked the baker for thinking of them. Tikki remained unmoving, not stirring as Plagg threatened to eat all her chocolate chip cookies if she didn't open her eyes.

Scooping the little red kwami up in her hand, and hissing at the movement, Marinette stroked her head gently. Plagg flew over to sit next to Tikki, patting her gently. "Chaton, um, A-Adrien?" Marinette called, looking at her partner. Another coughing fit wracked her body as she struggled to get the words out. Sabine took the kwami from her hand, and Luka's large hand covered Marinette's tiny one as she held the rapidly reddening towel up to her face.

She smiled as brightly as she could at him. "I know this isn't how we planned to tell each other. I'm sorry."

Adrien shook his head. "Don't apologize. You have nothing to be sorry for. We WILL figure out a way to fix this."

Marinette nodded, then regretted her action, groaning as it shot a spike of pain down her back. Luka ran his hand comfortingly down her arm, not letting her see the tears running down his face. "Take Tikki to Master Fu. If anyone can help her, it's him."

Plagg nodded. "We should go. Take Turtle Boy with us. We, uh, may need to leave the miraculous with their wielders for a while, but Master Fu will want to talk to Wayzz."

The boys nodded. Nino transformed first, having transformed in front of both Alya and Ladybug before, but Chat still hesitated, even as he chided himself that they all knew his identity now. Marinette smiled again and reached out to stroke his cheek. "It's OK, Kitty. You're safe here. Please."

Once again, the effort it took to speak made Marinette cough, and as she was gasping, trying to compose herself, Adrien pushed himself up, and called for his transformation. He took Tikki from Sabine, and cradled her close, pulling out his baton with his other hand. Nodding to Carapace, who squeezed Alya's hand, Chat led them up through Marinette's bedroom to the balcony, and they headed off to find the Guardian of the Miraculous.

Back downstairs in the living room, Marinette tried to get the others organized. "Luka I need you to go…" A cough cut her off, and Luka continued stroking her arms.

"Stop talking, Angel. I'm not going anywhere. And I know what you're going to say. Alya." He turned stormy blue eyes on her. "We're going to need you to help fulfill a promise. I need you to collect the miraculous from Queen Bee and Pegasus. We all know Queen Bee is Chloe. Marinette, who is Pegasus?"

With a sigh, that surprisingly did not lead to more coughing, Marinette smiled. "I can't believe I'm giving away all our secrets. Max is Pegasus."

Alya stared at her in shock. "Max Kante? But Pegasus is so smooth! And really? Max? Max!"

Marinette's laughter at her best friend's shock quickly devolved into coughs that shook her whole body. Luka wrapped both of his arms around her to keep her upright, knowing that if she folded herself over too much, she wouldn't be able to sit back up. Sabine quietly exchanged the soiled towel for a clean one, and Tom paced nervously, unable to settle on anything.

Once Alya recovered from yet another shocking reveal, she looked back at Marinette, who was slumped back, eyes closed, breath shallow. Luka's face was buried in his girlfriend's hair, tear tracks visible on his cheeks, and trying hard to keep himself together. Alya stood, walked to where they sat on the couch, and rested her hand on his shoulder. "She will be OK. She's strong. Stronger than I ever realized. I'll let them know Ladybug will be alright, and bring their miraculous back here."

Luka raised his eyes to meet hers. "Thank you Alya. I appreciate it. Marinette does, too."

Alya nodded and headed out the front door, preferring to head to the alley to transform, rather than risk being spotted leaping from the roof. The amount of superhero activity around the Dupain-Cheng's house was sure to attract attention.

After a few more minutes of inactivity and worry, Sabine turned to her husband, and suggested that they make dinner. Nothing fancy, just bread and soup, but it would give them something to do with their hands, as well as something to feed the hungry heroes when they returned, as she knew they would.

After checking in with Luka to see if he needed anything, and to stroke the cheek of her fitfully sleeping daughter, Sabine and Tom headed for the family kitchen. Their daughter being injured was something they had often worried about, and always breathed a sigh of relief, whenever they saw the red beetles cleansing the city. They'd been fairly certain that Luka was out there fighting by her side, but they talked about what could have happened in soft voices in the kitchen, knowing they'd get the answers eventually.

Cooking soothed Tom, and when Alya returned, he no longer had the aura of nervous energy, and enveloped his daughter's best friend in a bear hug. The boys returned several hours later, to find Tom, Luka and Marinette sleeping, and Sabine and Alya conversing softly. Nino looked hopeful, and Adrien opened his bag, allowing Plagg and a healthy Tikki to fly free. Floating over to her chosen, Tikki settled on her chest.

Opening his eyes, Luka smiled to see the kwami looking so healthy. Tikki smiled back at him. "I'm going to try and heal Marinette. She wouldn't let me earlier, when she was trying to heal the rest of Paris. You may feel warm, but nothing I do will hurt you."

The sound of the kwami's voice woke Tom, and everyone sat to watch Tikki work. A pink glow lit up her body, and she placed both arms against her chosen. The light glowed brighter, and a gentle wave of heat rolled off of Tikki, reminiscent of the sun warming the earth, coaxing the spring blooms out of their tight buds. Luka felt it, and the latent snake curled inside him rejoiced in the warmth.

Marinette let out a gasp, and then a moan, and reached for the blanket Sabine had placed over her, turning onto her side with a groan. "Five more minutes. Then I'll get up." Those words were such a relief that the whole room burst out laughing. Marinette sat bolt upright, narrowly missing smashing the top of her head on her boyfriend's nose. Catching sight of Tikki, she smiled and reached for the little red kwami nuzzling her, right as her stomach let out a loud rumble in her chosen's ear, causing Marinette to giggle, and Tom to snatch up the closest sweet treat and offer it to the little ladybug.

Marinette sat up and stretched and was surprised to see 5 hands being offered to help her to stand. With a smile, she grabbed Adrien's hand, and he pulled her to her feet before wrapping her in a hug. Laughing, Marinette reached up and scratched his head. "Hi Kitty." He smiled back at her, and she turned to help Luka up. He stretched, and then wrapped her in a hug as well, leaning down to rest his forehead against hers, holding her tight.

"I'm glad you're alright now, Angel, but please don't ever scare me like that again."

She smiled up into his eyes. "No promises, but that wasn't an experience I care to repeat." At that moment, Tom's stomach rumbled, and the whole group laughed as they headed to the kitchen for dinner, smiling because they were all together.