Flutter

Chapter 10

Kick

*physical abuse trigger warning*

"We need to talk," Chat's voice was harsh as it rang through Ladybug's yo-yo. She had just transformed moments prior, and wasn't expecting him to reach out so soon. "It's important."

"Ok. Louve at ten, then?"

"No, we need to talk now."

"Ok, then let's meet at the Louve in ten, yeah?"

"Sure," the word was a quick sigh just before he hung up, leaving Ladybug staring down at her phone, brows furrowed and lips pursed. What did he need to talk about?

Was it the kiss? They hadn't talked about it last night, and they'd both been productive enough in stopping petty crimes. Did he have a plan for how to deal with Hawkmoth? That wouldn't be so urgent, though. She sighed, resigning herself to wondering as she did a quick lap around one of the particularly bad neighborhoods. Immediately, her attention was caught by a high pitched, giggling laugh. Chloe's laugh. Ladybug swung towards the sound, settling atop one of the buildings overlooking a small corner tucked away in a bad part of Paris.

"Antoni, stop!" Chloe giggled, wrenching herself away from the older man, who had been tickling her in jest. "You know I'm ticklish!"

"Hey, baby, you're ok." There was an edge to his voice that Ladybug didn't like at all. Chloe seemed too intoxicated to catch on to it. "Come'ere," his words slurred against one another.

"No, wait, let me catch my—" Chloe began.

"I said come here!" Antoni stood hastily, leaving Chloe on the ground. She tried to stumble to her feet, but fell over right away. "Dumb bitch," the words were somehow spat and chuckled out at the same time, his smile wicked in the sparse light of the alleyway.

"Antoni?" Chloe's voice was so small, Ladybug hardly heard it from her resting spot.

The next few moments were a blur of motion; Antoni pulled his leg back to kick Chloe, aiming right for her head. The beginning of a scream painted the dirty brick walls. Ladybug moved with superhuman speed, swinging down in front of the heiress a fraction of a second before his heavy boot would have connected with her head. Instead, Antoni kicked Ladybug, who was crouched down in front of Chloe, right in the side, a series of sickening cracks echoing around in her head. Was that real? Did he really…?

"Fuck, shit," the older man stumbled back upon seeing Paris' hero crouched in front of him, wheezing in pain. "Ladybug, I never meant to—"

"I'll fucking kill you if you hurt so much as a fly," Ladybug growled, standing up and allowing her growing pain to add to her fierce scowl. "Do you understand?"

Antoni opened and closed his mouth like a dying fish, eyes just as glassy as one. "I- I- I—"

"Go!" Ladybug boomed, planting her hands on his chest and pushing him back, hard. Harder than she'd pushed Adrien. Harder than she'd pushed another person in her entire life. She almost wondered if this monster counted as a person.

Antoni flew back into the brick wall, slamming into it hard and crumpling to the ground. Without allowing himself to catch his bearings, he got up and stumbled out of the alleyway as quickly as possible with what looked to be a nasty concussion. Good.

"L- L- Ladybug," Chloe breathed the heroine's name, drawing her attention down to the blonde. "You saved me. Marinette…you saved me. Thank you."

Ladybug nodded tightly, pressing her hand to her side and applying pressure. "I was supposed to be meeting Chat. Go home. Lock your doors, and lose that creep's number. We'll talk tomorrow."

Chloe pursed her lips, contemplating her next words as if she had a hundred things she wanted to say. "Ok," she breathed out, "ok. Thank you."

And with that, Chloe was gone, running hard down the illuminated street. Ladybug let her poised demeanor fall, curling in on her injured left side and whimpering in pain. She did the only thing she could think to in the moment, hands flying to her yo-yo and pressing the communication button.

"Hey Lady, what's taking you so—" Chat began.

"Help," Ladybug interjected, pressing a button that would send him her location. "Ribs. Lots of pain. Might pass out." Her words were clipped and taught with worry, panic creeping into the corners of her vision.

"Holy shit, I'll be right there."

Ladybug lowered herself to the ground, leaning against one of the grimy brick walls. She tried to steady her breathing, but before she could, the ever-present aching in her bones intensified, mixing with the pain of her most-likely broken ribs. Within seconds, her world turned to black, the outside scenery falling from her grasp.

"—dybug? Ladybug!"

Someone was calling Ladybug's name. Marinette's pseudonym. That was the only reason she woke so quickly, panic inflating in her chest like an overfilled balloon.

"Shit!" Ladybug hissed, her eyes flying open and straining hard against the light above her. Obscuring most of the light, the streetlight, she now realized, was Chat, who was biting his lip so hard, it had started to bleed.

"Ladybug," he sighed out in relief, placing a gloved hand on her face and rubbing soothing circles with his thumb. "You're ok."

"Where am I?" She tried to sit up, but the pain in her left side stopped her. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Ladybug took a few moments to contemplate his question. In a sudden flash, the memory of what had happened crashed against her head. Chloe. Antoni. Her ribs. Holy shit. That was real. This was real.

"I do. I was saving a- a civilian. Her abusive piece of shit boyfriend tried to kick her in the head—"

"What the actual fuck—!"

"My thoughts exactly," Ladybug chuckled the words lightly, a coping mechanism she'd picked up since becoming Ladybug. Chat didn't so much as send her a questioning look — he was well aware of how she coped. "I intervened, and he kicked me in the damn ribs. Fuck, this shit hurts."

Chat closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, his minty breath falling onto her face. Wintergreen, with a hint of spearmint. "Why didn't you pull him out of the way? Was it really that…that close? That bad?"

Ladybug nodded slowly. "I didn't know what else to do. The alleyway was too small to pull someone away, and I…"

Chat furrowed his brows when she trailed off without finishing. "Yes?"

"I'm getting weaker," Ladybug admitted, closing her eyes and letting the built up tears escape. "I can hardly lift my own body weight, and that's with the suit affecting my gravity. Another person…I just can't anymore."

Chat's eyes hardened, his bloodied lower lip trembling as he took in a shaking breath. "I'm going to kill him. He should be going through this shit, not you."

"Chat, we—"

"No!" Chat spat, looking away from her now. "He's killing you. This isn't ok. He needs to die if that's what it's going to take."

"But we don't know if that's what it's going to take," Ladybug interjected, drawing Chat's attention towards her own. "What if we can end this without anyone dying?"

"And what if we can't?"

"Chat."

"What?"

Ladybug took a shaky breath in, holding it for a moment before breathing it out carefully. "We have to try. Please. If it's really…if we really can't figure this out without Hawkmoth dying, then I'll be by your side. It's just…" Ladybug trailed off, mind catching on how heavily she had reacted earlier that day, even without an Akuma attack.

"What is it?" Chat's genuine curiosity was evident in his voice.

"I don't know if Hawkmoth is the only one behind this. Or if he's even behind it at all," Ladybug explained, her uncertainty tugging at the pit of her stomach. "What if he's not even involved? We can't kill him…and…and find out later that he was innocent."

"No matter what," Chat said, voice tight, "that bastard isn't innocent. He's hurt so many people."

"Still. There has to be another way."

"Ladybug, what do you mean when you said Hawkmoth might not be behind this? How could he not be?"

"Earlier today…" Ladybug contemplated whether or not to tell him, though she did eventually explain how she was sick without an Akuma causing it. "There hadn't been one in days," she finished, closing her leaking eyes and huffing out a small breath. "What if it's not him causing this?"

There was a long pause, Chat's breaths falling quicker and sharper onto her face. When she finally opened her eyes, she caught a glimpse at the tears in his. "What is it, then?" he asked before Ladybug could comment.

"I wish I knew."

It was midnight by the time Marinette got back to her room, Chat having bandaged her up and set her broken ribs, whatever he'd wanted to talk about before completely forgotten. Usually, they would be healed at that point, especially with the Ladybug suit helping her out, but upon examining them before bed, she noted that they were still bruised black, green, and yellow on the edges. She was about to talk to Tikki about it when she realized she couldn't find her Kwamii.

"Tikki?" her voice was a whisper, but Tikki's ears were far better than any other existing creature. Marinette could have sworn she had been with her when she'd gotten back, but now she was gone. It was like she'd vanished into thin air from her resting spot on Marinette's pillow. "Tikki!"

Again, there was no response, the silence deafening as painful tears dripped down her face. Wiping them away, she hardly even noticed their inky black nature in her grief.

"Tikki…where are you?"

Hey all! What do you think?

I'm so sorry I didn't update on Sunday! I think the extra update on Christmas threw my inner rhythm off, but I will continue to be posting on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

That being said, how does everyone feel about the recent developments? A lot is going on, and a lot more will happen pretty quick, so stay tuned!

A big shoutout to SpidermanLadybug4Eva for consistently commenting! Thank youuuu 3

Until Sunday,

~Ashtyn