Eighty: Lumps and Bumps

Battling an akuma that appeared shortly after the House of Gabriel Board Meeting leaves Chat battered, bruised and little time to contemplate his recent turn of events.

Hawkmoth appeared to have some major level of anger to work out the afternoon I became CEO of House of Gabriel. The akuma he dialed up turned out to be a real doozy — capable of absorbing pure electrical energy from any source and then, helpfully able to redirect that same energy against a certain feline superhero Thankfully, my costume protected me against the worst of it, but that paled in comparison with the complimentary sentimonster that had run around central Paris turning citizens into animated lollipops. The mind-bending juxtaposition of the two disparate attacks we had to deal with wound up becoming a featured article on the Ladyblog, which I found myself scanning on the small screen of the baton some hours after finally managing to defeat both threats to the city.

It was rather fortunate that the rest of my day had been open; somewhere close to ten that evening, I was sitting cross-legged atop a random roof nursing several bruises and multiple sore muscles. Based on how tender my exposed cheek felt, it seemed reasonable I'd not be able to do the photoshoot I was scheduled for in the morning; at least, not without an amazing amount of makeup. Ladybug, somewhat fortunately, had not yet seen the bumps and scrapes I'd obtained as her alter ego had needed to return to work to finish the project that had been interrupted by Hawkmoth's efforts. I knew she was going to be upset, especially since most of my scars had been the result of me taking a blow or two intended for my partner; even after all this time, she couldn't stand the pummeling I routinely took to ensure she was able to concoct the perfect Lucky Charm.

She was Ladybug, and I was Chat Noir; it was what I did, and I did it willingly and without reservation. Normally. That evening, though, I was reasonably sure I had a rib or two out of alignment and nowhere near enough analgesic balm to treat muscles that had been pushed well beyond their usual limits.

Movement in the building opposite caught my feline attention, revealing that maybe I'd not alighted on a random rooftop at all. That I had, in fact, taken up watch over my girlfriend out of an abundance of caution given the akuma/sentimonster combo had for some oddball reason decided to seek out and raze Chateau Le Blanc as part of its marauding across Paris. Ladybug's Miraculous Cure had restored it, of course, but the fact it had happened at all had left me unsettled in a way I'd not felt since my early days as Chat.

A very recognizable head of raven hair was moving among the cubicles along the wall of windows facing my position; judging from how Marinette had slung her purse over her shoulder, hope stirred within my feline heart that maybe her day had finally drawn to a close. Her pace slowed, though, and then she came to a stop in front of one of the tall panes of glass where she fished out her cell phone from her purse.

Uh oh, I thought as my baton started to buzz. Tapping my small screen, Marinette's beautiful face burst into being. "Hey kitty," she said. "Want to tell me why you're not home?"

Smiling my most disarming smile, I cocked my head. "What makes you think I'm not lounging on the couch in our apartment with a bottle of wine just offscreen?"

"I can see your eyes from over here."

I looked up sheepishly. "Oops."

"So," she laughed slightly as I watched her start toward the elevators, "the question remains. Why are you here?"

"Can't a feline just want to hang out with his girl?"

"Sure," she said as I lost sight of her moving into another part of the building. "But I know you well enough to suspect you were keeping watch. Why?"

Knowing I couldn't hide anything from her even if I wanted to, I sighed. "The attack on your building," I said simply. "It's troubled me all afternoon that Hawkmoth targeted Chateau Le Blanc."

"We don't know that's what he did," Marinette countered. I could hear the chiming of the elevator as it arrived on her floor. "There was a rather significant trail of destruction if I recall correctly."

"That's part of what troubles me. The path led right here, and this is the only building the akuma turned it's full attention to. I can't help but feline it's significant."

"It's hard sometimes to understand Hawkmoth's motivation," she said thoughtfully. "Maybe it was just the only structure that caught its fancy."

"Most go for the landmarks," I reminded her. "Not a standard ugly modern office building."

"True," she mused. "I wonder if Alya managed to chart the actual waypoints of the akuma attack?"

"Her blog was rather amazingly accurate," I said. "Setting aside for the moment that she felt comfortable leaving the twins with Nino, from what I was reading, she managed to cover the entire attack from multiple angles."

Marinette smirked. "It helps when the journalist can leap tall buildings in a single bound."

"I don't think Rena got a byline," I laughed, "but it was good having her help today – and an even better sign, maybe, that she and Carapace are thinking about sticking around. Even if she was snapping photos like a demon. I had no idea she had a camera built into that flute."

"Clearly Plagg isn't the only one doing upgrades on equipment," Marinette laughed. "But I think we still are going to need to have a little chat with our teammate about appropriate use of a Miraculous."

"As long as there's still a huge exclusion for anything a certain black cat does," I added.

"I'll take it under advisement," she chuckled. "See you at home?"

I blinked. "You're not-"

"No," she replied. "Tikki's dead to the world in my purse and I don't have the heart to wake her."

"Then let me take you home," I said. "It'll be like the old days."

Marinette paused. "All right," she smiled slightly. "Meet me in the courtyard."

Leaping into the air, I managed to hold the baton out long enough to visually show her I was on the way before I needed to extend it into helicopter mode; I had to admit, the screeching howl of concern it garnered me each time always made me smile. Slowing my descent, I landed softly in my cat crouch and waited for my lady to appear through the glass double doors of the building. At that late hour, I pretty much had the space to myself save for a handful of pigeons picking through the remains of someone's lunch beneath a bench that sat along the wide concrete pathway. Not wanting to greet Marinette with a series of sneezes, I made a sizable backflip to put myself out of the allergy-triggering circle of doom and resumed my patient cat-stance for my girlfriend.

The world always seemed to take on a warm, gauzy glow when Marinette stepped into my view; more so when I was Chat, for I felt like my Miraculous seemed to heighten my overall awareness of, well, everything. She smiled as she walked toward me, her high heels clicking along the concrete as she moved. Much like her heroic alter-ego, my girlfriend was smooth and self-assured, confident and, quite possibly, the Most Beautiful Person In The World™.

Not that I was biased in any way.

"Kitty," she said softly as I stood up and into her embrace. "Finally," she sighed as I flipped her into my arms; I waited a moment for her to slide the heels off into her hand so she wouldn't inadvertently poke me with them. "What a day! You should have been celebrating your new position, not fighting back the worst of Hawkmoth."

I hugged her close to me while I reached behind me for my baton. "It was a day for the ages, indeed," I smiled as I leapt into the air smoothly, careful to keep from jiggling my precious cargo too much. Rising up on the baton, I hit the first roof and started to slowly jog toward home. "I'm still in a state of disbelief, frankly. I expected to have to do more of a sales job; it does seem, though, that the Board had been paying far closer attention to my efforts than I realized."

"They know a good thing when the see it," Marinette said, yawning.

"Even with all of my absences," I continued. "I've been thinking about this today – it might be harder for me to keep up with my superhero duties now that the buck stops on my desk."

"How is that different than before?" she asked, yawning again. "Your father has been MIA for years now. If you think about it, you've already been doing the gig. The Board just made it official."

I blinked and skidded to a rubbery halt at the edge of a rooftop. "Holy shit. I suppose I have been..."

"You have."

A sly Chat smile appeared on my masked face. "And now I'm thinking the Board never intended to go through with any sort of arrangement with Felix, either."

"Nope. If anything, I suspect he just moved up their timeline to shake up management." She smiled. "You should send Felix a thank-you note."

"I don't think he'd see the humor in that," I laughed as I leapt into the air again. "On the other hand, I need to dig a bit more deeply into this ring thing that started the whole mess. I had no idea my parents had something that he now feels was taken from his family."

"Yeah – I wonder what that was all about. From what you said, though, he seemed pretty adamant about your father returning it to him one way or the other."

I landed on the building across from ours, waited to make sure the coast was clear, and then deftly leapt across to my balcony, landing perfectly on the railing. One more hop and I was on the tile, gently releasing Marinette before bowing grandly. "I trust you had a pleasant flight, Milady," I said as I reached for her hand and softly kissed the back of it.

"I did indeed," she smiled before yawning so wide, I was sure I could see her tonsils.

Before she emitted so much as a squeak, I lifted her back into my arms and swiftly moved through the balcony door. "Hey!" she managed to say before another yawn hit. "Whaddya doing?"

"I am putting my princess to bed," I replied as I made my way through what had become the new home for Marinette's design studio. "Do you want a bath first?" I asked as I bounded across the living room to her suite.

She looked at me with those devilish eyes. "It depends. Are you planning on giving me one-holy hell!"

In a blur of motion, she managed to get out of my arms and had pulled me beneath the overhead can lights of the kitchen, then reached up and twisted my face toward the light. "Sweet holy croissants," she breathed, all traces of her fatigue erased as I felt her gently press at my cheek. "When did this appear?"

"It looks better now than it did a few hours ago," I admitted. "The swelling has gone down."

"The Miraculous Cure didn't fix it, did it?"

"No," I shook my mane. "But it's not the first time. And like I said, it's already healing."

"You look like you were in a bar brawl!" she cried. "You've got that catalog shoot tomorrow."

"I know," I smiled. "My makeup expert will be challenged, no doubt."

"Chat," Marinette said softly, turning my masked face to hers. I could see her eyes glistening. "How badly are you hurt this time?"

"Barely a scratch otherwise," I smiled wider.

She looked at me. "You were favoring your left side all the way over here," she said as she slowly ran her hands along the fabric of my costume. "Where does it hurt?"

"Mari, Princess, I'm fine—"

Her fingers paused above a small lump that I'd already found myself. "Like Hell," she cursed, her eyes moving to mine. "How bad does it hurt?"

The lie was right there, on the tip of my tongue, but the look she gave me demanded honesty. "A bit," I said, unconsciously sagging finally against the breakfast bar. "You should see what it looks like on my civilian body," I added softly. "After Plagg got one look at it, he bolted his cheese and more or less commanded me to transform again so he could put my quick healing ability into overdrive."

"When was that?"

I tried to look away, but she pulled my head back to hers.

"When?" she asked again.

"Right after you left me at the scene," I replied. "Nearly eight hours ago."

"Oh, Chat," she said softly. "This is—"

"No," I said firmly. "Don't even go there. I won't abide it."

"But—"

"This was my choice," I replied, running my claw tip through her hair. "And I would do it a thousand times more if it meant keeping you safe. So stop. Right now."

"Kitty—"

I leaned down and kissed her, silencing her rather effectively; she reached her hands up and pulled me even closer, extended the moment before we parted slightly. "That is starting to make me feel much better," I smiled slyly. "I would recommend further therapy."

"Would you now?" she replied, softly smiling. "I'm still unhappy, but you've managed to mollify me. But only temporarily. We're going to have a long chat about this at some point."

"But not tonight."

"No," she smiled. "Not tonight. And yes, I do recommend further therapy – provided you let the lady of the house do all of the driving, as it were."

"That is a plan I can get behind," I said as I kissed her once more.

"Good," she smiled as she gently tugged me toward her suite. "This way, then, kitty. The therapist will see you now…"