I'm back, I'm happy and here's some more stuff I couldn't fit in the author's note during the last chapter (it's probably too long already anyway).
As you might have noticed, I didn't settle on a secondary genre just yet. I imagined a more humorous tone for this FanFiction, but I'm not sure yet where to go with all my ideas. That will hopefully change soon enough, so please be patient ^^

Reviews:
At Guest: Don't be mean to France, they're our besties D=

Disclaimer: In an incredible plot twist, I don't actually own this show. Which is sad, but probably for the best too. Also, this story is still nowhere to being historically accurate, so, please keep that in mind ^^

Vive La République!

Chapter 2

"Can I have breakfast?"
"You already had breakfast."
"But what about second breakfast?"
Lazily, Plagg floated towards Adrien, looking at him expectantly. The black Kwami had the unfortunate habit of showing up exactly then when he wasn't supposed to show up.
So bascially whenever Adrien was busy doing things. Which was more often than he'd like to.
"You're not getting a second breakfast, Plagg."
"But I'm huuuuuuuuungry!"
"Plagg, no!"
Annoyed, Adrien turned around (but at least he turned around, Plagg noted self-amused) and shot his Kwami an angry glare.
"I have work to do. Father will murder me – or worse, expelled from any social gathering – if I don't get this finished on time."
"If you hadn't wasted all your time yesterday writing a love-struck poem to Ladybug, you'd have had enough time! I need food! I need cheese! I need energy, before my pathetic life force withers away!"
"And I need a box you can't phase through...", Adrien murmured, before turning and glaring at Plagg. The Kwami seemed to be rather unimpressed by it.
"Fine!", Adrien eventually huffed. Then he got up, quickly strolled towards one of the many cabinets in his room and took some cheese from one of the more hidden compartments. He didn't need anyone asking why he was hording cheese in his room. His spontaneous exits already made people ask way too many questions anyway.
"Next time just get it yourself!", Adrien said while handing the cheese to the glutenous Kwami.
"Ah, but you see! I have to rest and save my energy for when you have to transform. I simply couldn't get the..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it."

Adrien sat down again, staring at the piece of paper in front of him. Plagg wasn't completely wrong. He had wasted a significant amount of time on writing a pointless poem. He didn't even know whether Ladybug enjoyed poetry. She stroke him as someone who held a deep respect for the finer arts of life, but he wasn't sure. Did she like poems? Would she prefer to be serenaded under a full moon? But then he'd have to know where she lifed or he had to make her stand on someone else's balcony and Adrien was pretty sure being put one someone else's balcony, having to fear they might get thrown out at any second, would kill the mood rather quickly.
Did she even have a balcony? If he were to serenade her, he had to find a balcony. He just had to, Romeo and Juliet were to iconic to pass out on that chance and...
"What even are you doing?" The cat Kwami flew up to him, still munching on his cheese. Adrien was half surprised he hadn't finished it yet. A sigh escaped his lips and he put away the ink. There was no point in trying to concentrate. Not with Plagg being bored and his mind set on a certain elusive lady. They had patrol tonight. At least it kept him from secretly wishing for another Akuma.
"Business", Adrien answered simply. He resorted to starring outside and watching some bees in their noble efforts to make the world such a prettier and nicer place and he felt peace descent onto him. He stretched a bit, examining every single petal in his sight, a relaxed smile spreading on his face. Surely, his father wouldn't ban him from visiting Francoise Dupont's school just because of one missed deadline, right?
Well, Adrien knew better, but decided to stay willfully ignorant.
"Business, hmm? What even does that mean? It doesn't help you survive, y'know? And it'S not about cheese."
The Kwami decided to sit down in the middle of the piece of paper laying in front of him, demanding attention like the insufferable cat that he was.
"Well, for one, I can calculate how much your eating habits cost my family."
"And how much is that?"
"Too much."
"Pah!", the Kwami grumbled:"As if! I'll let you know, I've been partnered with people that have been way worse of than you! Whose biggest problem wasn't their actual sworn enemy! I bet your father hasn't even noticed a dent in his fortune!"
"He may not, but Nathalie certainly does. She keeps eyeing me suspiciously…."
Adrien's voice trailed off and he stared at the piece of paper in front of him, shooing Plagg away. Alright. Enough procrastination. He had to get this done.
He got exactly half an hour of quiet work time before he was interrupted once more.
To Plagg's defense, it wasn't him this time.
"Is that...shouting?"
Adrien frowned and got up. He leaned out of the window, in a futile attempt to snatch a view from whatever was going on. Of course he couldn't. His window faced the gardens and he could only see a sliver of the streets below. It was easy for sneaking out but annoying whenever one wanted to be on the lookout.
But regardless of what he was seeing, he knew what he heard. A determined expression settled in on his face. Plagg knew that face. And he knew what the noise meant. He almost didn't have enough time to down the entirety of the cheese he had yet to swallow when Adrien's command already echoed through the room.

"Plagg! Claws out!"

.o.O.o.

He arrived late to the scene. He knew from the screaming, which only grew in volume the more people the Akuma got under control and from the many, many letters that showed up out of nowhere, telling him his lady was waiting for him and needed his help.
It was nice to know. She needed his help. She needed him. They were a team.
Just as he had expected, Ladybug was already battling the Akuma, an elderly man, dressed in ill-fitting clothes. From the looks of it he was a factory worker, something with coal probably, from the dark spots and somewhat fiery-theme, though his uniform made him look like a supervisor. He even held a baton in his hand. Though his own was obviously cooler.

"STOP JUMPING AROUND, STUPID BUG!", the man shouted lashing out at Ladybug, who gracefully evaded him, her loose pants flitting through the air. It wasn't hard to guess why this man had gotten akumatized.
"IF YOU DON'T OBEY ME, I WILL FIRE YOU!"
Yeah, it wasn't hard at all.
And from the looks of it, his powers included to turn people into willful workers that did his very bidding. Amazing.
Ignoring the plenty of voices screaming bloody murder at him, Chat hastily made his way over to his lady, who was trying to convince the Akuma to not give in. To shut Hawkmoth out. To ignore his false promises.

He couldn't help but smile at her antics. She was so innocent. She was too good for this world.

"Hello there, Bugaboo. Need a helping hand? Because it looks like this battle's all fired up already..."
She simply glanced at him, her expression showing her annoyance by his pun, just like he was used to. Then she simply huffed a "You're late" before dodging another attack from the rather slow man.

The Akuma was a giant. He stood at at least four metre height and toered over all his loyal subjects, manipulated to do his very bidding. It was probably supposed to be a metaphor for how his height made him intimidating and unapproachable for a normal human, squashing all and any resistance, but Chat had neither the time nor the nerve to wonder about any deeper-going meaning behind the Akuma's outfit. He was destroying buildings, he was terrorizing innocent people and worst of all – he was attacking his lady.
There was no way he'd let him get away with that.

Quickly, Chat jumped to his lady's side once more, blocking an incoming hit with his baton and shooting her a grin. Much to his delight her expression softened and she whispered a quick "Thank you" before focusing on the task at hand again. They had relocated on a house a bit farther away, observing the situation from a distance.
"Any plan so far?", he asked. She shook her head.
"The usual. I'm pretty sure the Akuma's in that key he's wearing..."
She nodded at the object she was talking about and without a doubt, there was a purple key hanging around his neck, barely noticeable. She had good eyes.
"Hm...He probably got fired and that's the key to his work place, what do you think?"
"Without a doubt. So we'll do the usual..."
Ladybug got rudely interrupted by yet another order by the gigantic man. They both ignored it. It was the typical. How he'd take their miraculous and stuff. Really, it had grown boring by now. This one didn't even seem to have any special cool extra powers.
"You do your thing and distract him and I'll try to sneak up on him."
Chat nodded in agreement. Then he frowned.
"Wait, why do I have to be the one distracting all the time?"
A sly smile graced her features and his presence. He was time and time again mesmerized by how expressive her expressions could be.
"Why, are you saying you're bad at distracting people?"
"No. I'm just saying you should do it, considering you're distracting me all the time."
This time, she scoffed at his antics, but he was also pretty sure he could see a blush adorning her cheeks. Pride swelled in his chest. That's right, he, Adrien Agreste, Chat Noir, savior of Paris, had made his Lady blush. He couldn't wait to tell the entire world about his…
"Beat you to the Akuma", Ladybug suddenly declared. And then she zoomed of, making her way back into the thick of the action. She didn't even give him time to respond.
Not that she had to, of course.

.o.O.o.

The fight wasn't going necessarily bad. It wasn't going necessarily well either. They had tried their best to employ their usual strategy but it just didn't work out this time. While it was true that the man had sacrificed a great deal of speed in favor of strength, it was also true that he was, well, huge and sneaking up on him wasn't easy at all. It didn't help that he had a whole lot of rioting minions on his side by now too.
They dodged and tried to attack time and time again, but to no avail. At some point Chat Noir was slammed into a wall, shortly knocking him out and only Ladybug's fast reflexes had stopped him from getting cornered.
Easily she had carried him away from the mob of screaming and shouting workers, easily swinging around a corner with her yo-yo. He still remembered the first time she had done that and he had gone completely and utterly crazy afterwards. By now he was sued to it.
They fought some more, dodging and trying their best to get a hit in on the akumatozed man, but to no avail.
It was only when Ladybug decided to make use of her Lucky Charm that things went awry. Chat saw the swing of the Akuma's fist first. And just like she did, he reacted as fast as he could, diving for her and tackling her out of the way, catapulting both of them through an open window of one of the apartment compartments that were so typical for this part of the city. They tumbled into the room, but not without the akumatized man shouting once more, ordering his minions to get him their miraculous. He then stormed off, god knew where he was going. He probably thought they were knocked out for good. Well, they weren't.
"Chat!", Ladybug hissed. She jumped to her feet and eyed him angrily.
"Why did you do that? I was perfectly safe! Do you really think I wouldn't notice that fist?! What has gotten into you?! And look at yourself! You could have gotten hurt!"
His face lit up when she expressed her concern for him. Her brows furrowed ever so much and she gazed at him, trying to see if he had gotten hurt, her eyes not letting go of him. To the devil with that Akuma, as long as she'd just look at him for the rest of his life, he'd die a happy man. But, alas, Chat was nothing but an unlucky black cat and the magic of the moment passed in an instant, interrupted by small, hesitant sobs.
Quickly, Chat jumped to his feet, trying to find the source for the unhappy sound and soon he spotted it. A small girl, barely hidden beneath the kitchen/dining/living room table. Her knees were drawn in and her eyes were already red with tears. Immediately his ears perched up and he shuffled closer, being next to her in a matter of seconds.
And of course, just a bit slower than Ladybug had been.
"Hey, hey...", she cooed. She stretched her hands out in a rather awkward gesture, clearly unsure whether she should touch the child or not.
"Don't cry, little one. All will be well. The Akuma won't last for…"
"My….My dad", the girl simply sobbed. Ladybug's brows furrowed and Chat couldn't help but notice how cute and, no! No! Wrong time. Wrong place. So instead he opted for trying to comfort the small girl too. He shot Ladybug a questioning expression, but she simply shrugged her shoulders.
"Aww, is he one of the minions? There is no need for concern, purrincess!"
He hoped she might chuckle at the pun or at least react, but the girl didn't. She just stared straight ahead, her head buried between her arms. Not even Ladybug looked up.
"Just wait a bit and Ladybug and I will free him from the Akuma's control. Really, you just have to..."
"He...He got so mad...And...And then- then - then there was that butterfly and then he got all black and purple and – and – and..."
Ladybug's lips formed a silent "Oh".
"And...And...And..."
The girl was interrupted by her own, desperate sobs.
"I just want him to come back home!"
"Don't worry, we'll save your mum!", Ladybug chimed in. The heroine plastered a bright smile all over her face, before shuffling even closer and finally putting a hand on her shoulder. She nudged the girl to look her in they eyes but failed to do so. A warm smile lit up Adrien's face as he joined his lady, wondering if she was always so kind to everyone – surely, she had to, right? No one could put on a show like that? Surely, she'd be the brightest heroine wherever she went – Adrien was surprised no one had ever figured her out. Including him. Maybe she was part of Paris' lower classes. Maybe she was part of the working quarters. It made her even more heroic in his eyes.
Because right now, there was an Akuma on the loose, but she still found the time to take care of a small, frightened girl.

The magic moment of admiration didn't last long though, as they were – rudely! - interrupted by banging on the door. The minions had caught up to them, as it seemed. Worried, Ladybug shot the door a glance, before returning her attention to the girl that had yet again started to cry. His lady seemed to be torn between what she had to do. She shot the window a glance too and they couldn't necessarily ignore the screaming and shouting all the time. She needed to be out there, she needed to protect the people and she needed to act fast. That door wouldn't stay shut forever.
"Alright, Chat, here's the plan. I..."
"Don't worry, my lady", he interrupted her I'll get her purrfectly safe!" Then he snatched the girl up in his arms and shot Ladybug the most brilliant and flirtatious smile he could muster.
"As meuch as I'd like to protect you, I feel like this purrincess is in grave danger. I'd hate to see her get hurt and we seem to not have much time left anynoir."
He gestured to the banging on the doors. Ladybug simply rolled her eyes, before swiftly dancing around him and jumping onto the windowsill. He didn't miss the light sensation of her patting his shoulder though. He wondered whether one could get blinded by a radiant smile alone. If so, he felt sorry for the small girl clutching onto him.
"Wrong time, wrong place, Chat. We've got an Akuma to take care of."
And then she was off, not giving him another second to think off a clever pun. He shrugged and decided to take his leave as well. He had just jumped out of the window when he heard the crashing of wood and he knew that yet another door had been destroyed.
Shooting another glance at Ladybug, who was dancing across the rooftops like she'd never done anything else before, he decided it was time to concentrate on the girl at hand. Or rather, in his hands.
Soothingly he stroked her hair, hoping it'd make her relax, hoping it would stop the steady stream of tears making their way down puffy cheeks.
"Don't cry, princess. We'll save your dad. Ladybug will de-evilise that mean Akuma in no time!"
The girl didn't stop crying though. Instead, it go even worse. Chat was at a loss for words.
"He'll come back. He'll come back, don't worry!", he tried again, but to no avail. And her next words chilled him to the bone.
"But they never do", the girl responded quietly:"They never do."
She looked up at him and for the first time, Chat understood what she meant. He gulped, before pressing her closer.
"Don't worry. All will be fine. All will be fixed."

.o.O.o.

Once he had taken the girl to safety he made a beeline – or a catline? - back to where the Akuma seemed to be. The battle had moved away, from where it had originally started, now closer to the Paris' centre. Adrien wasn't surprised at all by that. It wasn't the first time an Akuma wanted to take revenge on someone specific and it wasn't the first time that person happened to live in the upper parts of Paris. Probably a factory owner.
Akuma's tended to be rather repetitive sometimes. Hawkmoth really should start getting a little bit more creative.
He spotted Ladybug standing not to far away when he heard the familiar words of "Lucky Charm" echo through the streets of Paris. Smiling he made his way to her. He was glad she hadn't tried to fight on her own and instead had decided to wait on him. He couldn't bear seeing her get hurt just because he hadn't been there on time. Landing next to her, he eyed the item she received suspiciously. No, scratch that. He eyed both objects suspiciously. Ladybug was holding a top hat and a fancy jacket. Confused he cocked his head. What…
"What's the plan, bugaboo?"
She didn't answer directly as she stared at the articles in clothing in her hand, deep in though, only to be interrupted by a, by now, rather obnoxious Akuma.
"GIVE ME YOUR MIRACULOUS! THIS IS AN ORDER!"
He swung at the two of them and they dodged easily, gasping as the akumatized man pulverized the roof they had been standing on. Chat cringed inwardly. God praise his partner's "Miraculous Ladybug" ability.
They relocated to yet another building, this time the man followed them. Hawkmoth had probably talked to him about his job. Namely, miraculous first and then personal revenge. Not that it mattered. They were fairly safe. Or so he thought, until he heard a familiar peeping. Ladybug winced glancing to the Akuma and then to the clothes in her hand.
"We need to hurry", she said. She started feeling around the clothes and suddenly her eyes lit up and she shot him this analyzing expression that made him shift uncomfortably. What was she…? He didn't get to finish his though though, as Ladybug promptly shoved the jacket into his hands and put the top hat on his head.
It even had two holes for cat ears.
"There you go. Now put that jacket on and pretend you're his boss. Then all you have to do is tell him your fired him and demand that stupid key back."

.o.O.o.

Ladybug was down to three spots when they finally had managed to free the Akuma and fix all the damage that had been done. Two spots. He knew that wasn't enough time for them to have a nice little chat, but he also knew it hardly mattered. Or so he hoped.
Brushing aside some journalists that had found their way to the location of the battle, he caught up to his lady, who had alright ran away to prevent of de-transforming in public.
Or so he thought.

"So, uh, we'll see each other for paw-trol tonight?", he asked, hoping she'd say yes. He enjoyed patrol a lot. It usually meant they could spent some time together without having to worry about time limits, without having to worry about dodging attacks or saving the city. It allowed him to admire her without any restraints and express just how amazing he thought she was and sometimes she'd play along and it would make his entire week.
She didn't answer though. Confused he cocked his head.
"Ladybug? Bugaboo? Is everything alright?"
She snapped out of her absence and just stared at him, seemingly still in thought, before answering.
"What? Oh, paw-trol..."
Her expression changed from absent to annoyed.
"Patrol. Yeah. We'll still be patrolling tonight."
"Amazing! I can't wait to..."
But she already wasn't listening anymore. Instead, she just stared at the akumatized person, currently getting apprehended by the police. Did she know the man? Did she...did she still think about the sobbing girl?
He knew he did. And it made his stomach turn and twist uncomfortably.

.o.O.o.

Marinette knew she should listen to what Chat was saying and she also knew that she should get the hell out of here, if she wanted to stay safe and secure. But she couldn't bring herself to just leave right now, as she watched the elderly man get apprehended by the police.
"I'm innocent! I don't remember! I wasn't myself, I, I...", he called out again and again, but no one bothered to listen. He was just another Akuma after all. He had let Hawkmoth get to him after all.
Without as much as considering the man's point of view he was taken away, dragged through the streets, the soldiers spurred on by aggressive howling by the mob that had been controlled by the man not a minute earlier. Marinette's eyes followed him and something in her told her that this was wrong. That the man couldn't have changed anything about it. That he was innocent. The damage was undone after all, wasn't it?
"Is everything ok, bugaboo?" A familiar voice snapped Marinette out of her thoughts and she quickly turned around to face her partner once more. She gave him a quick smile, though her heart was not in it and she knew Chat would notice, before turning back again, her eyes following the wailing man. She couldn't possibly tell him how she felt, could she?
"What is it? Cat got your tongue? You don't want to chat?"
This time, she didn't even turn around. She didn't even roll her eyes. Something was off, that was for sure. The only reaction he got came from her earrings, beeping another time.
"What's bugging you, my lady? Pawrdon my..."
She didn't let him finish. Instead she just cast him this enigmatic, hollow expression. He didn't even get an eye roll and she sure did not seem to be interested in playful banter.
"Wrong time and place, Chat. Wrong time and place", she simply murmured, before zooming off. There were lots of things that felt wrong, right? That didn't mean anything, right?

Did people in 1850s already know about the importance of bees? I don't know. Could I have googled it? Probably. But whatever.
Also, I'm not sure whether I should say whose POV it is? I plan on changing from time to time, depending on the situation and I fell like it's mostly self-explanatory who the narrator is, but do you think I should add this information?
Other than that, thank you for reading this chapter ^^ I hope you enjoyed it (I hope it was a bit more interesting than the first one) and if you did, please give me a review ^^ And if you didn't enjoy, please give me a review too. They're always much appreciated!

Stuff I want you guys to know:

a) I know that Akuma victims don't actually get blamed for anything in the show, but I changed that for plot-reasons. Please forgive me, but it's kind of important (it's also kind of obvious why it's important).

b) Now, I don't know whether the clothes/uniforms of Ladybug/Chat Noir actually change, however I would argue that they should. Having a girl run around, dressed in nothing but spandex, showing off every part of her body, may not be an issue nowadays (and rightfully so!), but, these are the 1850s we're talking about and they were kind of well-known to being very, very, prude. The same goes for Chat Noir's clothes, though I doubt people would have taken that much of an issue with it. Nonetheless, I decided to alter their clothes a bit. Chat Noir's clothes are pretty much similar to what people would have worn nonetheless, though a bit more practical. No heeled shoes, no top hats, also I didn't keep the jacket/coat that was usually worn. It would be just a bit too flowy.
When it comes to Marinette, I decided to change the entire outfit into something that existed back then but wasn't mainstream. As a woman you usually wore a crinoline (stiff petticoat) and another few additional petticoats to get that typical dome-shaped look. Now, I'd argue wearing up to seven petticoats at a time is rather impractical and therefore, I decided to just ditch that idea and go for another style, namely the so called "Bloomers style" (I hope I got the name right). If you want to know more about it, you can look up "Bloomers" or "Reform style" on Wikipedia.

Things I know I got historically wrong:

a) Not sure about this one, but if I recall correctly you usually had attendants in your room (if you were rich, that is), meaning that Adrien jumping out of a window unnoticed would probably not a thing.

b) The bee stuff. Not sure whether they knew they were important to nature.

c) That crying girl would most likely be working and not hanging out in her apartment all by herself.