Matthew was lucky
He knew he was
Thirty-one years old, slender build, carefully cropped brown hair, warm hazel eyes, a pen always sticking out of his pocket.
He had a wife, Evie, a lithe, brown skinned woman with flashing green eyes and an attitude bigger than the Eiffel Tower, curly black hair in a braid that he swore never came off.
He was lucky, no doubt about it
Lucky he worked at the Dupain-Cheng Bakery. Lucky to have his side job as an animator and cartoonist. Lucky his days were filled with laughter and smiles and kisses.
He was blessed in small ways too.
Catching his drink before it fell, remembering his wallet just as he stepped out the door (Evie always laughed when he rushed back in to get it), having extra money to spare for his friend's birthday.
Matthew knew what he had, and was careful not to take it for granted.
After all, what he had witnessed in the past existed in sharp contrast to the life he led now.
And they still had bad days, reminders from the universe not to get to comfortable, because anything could happen at any time.
Hawkmoth had definitely brought that idea into focus
But then there's Ladybug and Chat Noir
Matt doesn't know if the day they appeared was a good day or a bad day.
Lives are shattered by akumas on a daily basis, only to be mended once more by Miraculous Ladybug.
A swarm of red meant another battle fought and won.
But sometimes, at a cost.
He's never been caught up in an attack (lucky huh?), but he's witnessed his fair share of battles. Some, up much closer than preferred (having a table launched at your head isn't very fun).
But any damage would be undone the moment the battle ended.
Hawkmoth retreats, and the superheroes recover
Then the cycle begins anew.
It's been like that for a while, and Matthew can see the effect it has on the city.
The atmosphere is tense, but relaxed as well.
They can count on another akuma at any moment, and they can count on the heroes to be there to stop it.
It was strange, but most things in life are.
Like Matthew's luck.
But he's seen stranger, and this is Paris after all.
So when a blur of red is thrown into a building Matthew was just walking by, his brain goes okay then and starts filing away everything to be processed later. Right now, he only feels alarm as the shop breaks into rubble, effectively trapping the (he assumed) superheroine underneath.
He doesn't know if today is a good or bad day.
Matthew has no clue what just happened, but he runs towards the rubble anyway, shouting for the girl underneath.
He stops by the edge of the pile and scans it for any signs of movement
"Ladybug! Where are you?!"
There's a grinding noise to his left and a small cough as the teenager shifts the slab of stone that landed on top of her.
"H-here"
Matthew spots her bright red outfit at once, kneeling next to her head. Blue eyes peer at him warily from behind the mask, and her shoulders slump in relief when she sees that he was here to help.
Matthew never thought he'd be so grateful for those three years of medical school, as his eyes take in the situation before him.
It seems that she rolled away before most of the rubble landed, which is good, but her left arm is bent at an unnatural angle. Less good. She's breathing steadily, no signs of a concussion, though there's some blood, it doesn't seem to be spreading.
Alright, he could work with this.
Don't mind the fact that one half of the city's superhero duo is trapped under a pile of rocks right in front of him.
The fact that a teenage girl is lying crushed under a pile of rocks right in front of him.
That realization hits him almost as hard as she hit the building.
But now is not the time to have an epiphany
"Okay, okay, it isn't that bad." he says, hating the uncertainty in his voice
Ladybug grimaces, "I hope you're right, Chat can't hold off the akuma for long. And I was not expecting to get thrown across half of Paris" She gumbles the last part, coughing a bit as the stone shifted above her, "...alright maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but still."
Matthew breathes out a faint laugh, teenage girl all right. "How much of your body can you move? Don't try your left arm yet, that's broken for sure. But the rest of you?"
Ladybug wiggles her right arm, then scrunches her face up in what appears to be concentration as she focuses on the rest of her body, and the expression on her face is just like a child's, Matthew realizes, an image of his younger sister a few decades ago flashing in her place for a moment, eyes squinted, face tilted, staring at a math problem she didn't understand.
Children like her are the ones diving into battle everyday for the sake of Paris
Then Ladybug is talking again, "I think my legs are okay, just sore and bruised, the blood's probably coming from the gash on my hip from her weapon- stupid knife throwing akumas- but it's not bleeding as heavily." she shrugs the best she can and winces, "could be a lot worse."
Matthew's head is spinning right now as he desperately shoves away realizations and tiny details and panicked thoughts, clearing room for (he hoped) clear, coherent words.
"...Right, t-that's good, we need to get this off you first though."
Ladybug gives the rubble a good shove with her right hand, and it shifts a bit, drawing out a little huff of frustration from the heroine, much like what he hears when his niece just smeared a drawing that she-
Nopenopenopenope file that away for later.
After a few more minutes, a weirdly resilient metal meter stick (Matt doesn't ask), and lots more huffing, Matthew manages to clear enough stone for the superheroine to pick herself up off the ground and dust off the remaining bits of concrete.
"Thanks so much for that, it would've taken so much longer if I had to move it all one-handed"
Ladybug smiles gratefully, then winces at the reminder of her left arm, which is hanging limply by her side. She seems a little unsteady, but Matthew trusts she can handle herself.
Besides, he has a whole lot of stuff he has to sort through mentally. Preferably with his wife. Over coffee and some cheesecake.
"Of course, you keep us safe every day, at least I can try and repay you." His smile falters a bit, his niece coming to mind, "But be careful out there, please." Because right in front of him is a child. A child whose heart is too big to allow Paris to suffer when she can do something about it, no matter how dangerous.
Ladybug pauses in the process of testing out her yo yo, looking mildly surprised, but she smiles back at him, confident and reassuring, and it's not hard to see how most people forget that their heroes are just children. She looks like an adult. "I'll try, Thank you. Now I need to find that stupid kitty and make sure he didn't get himself killed. Oh, and the akuma too I suppose, bug out!"
She zips away in a blur of red and black, leaving Matthew with a pile of rubble, and a whole new view on Paris' dynamic duo.