4. Cafe

By the time Chat had finished his bath, Marinette had finished warming up a bowl of soup for him.

"Sit," she ordered, pointing to her chaise lounge.

He did as asked, less taking a seat and more collapsing onto the chaise. He'd given up on fighting her, but she couldn't tell if he was sick or just tired of fighting. Maybe both.

She handed him the soup bowl, and he took it with a quiet thank you. But before he took a bite, she placed her hands on his forehead and cheeks, trying to gage his temperature compared to hers.

He did pull away at first, hurting her heart once again, but this time, he eventually relented to her touch.

"You feel too warm," she muttered. "Stay right there; let me go see if I have anything for that."

When she returned with water and some medicine, he was staring at his bowl of soup that still looked quite full.

She frowned as she set the glass and pill on her desk. "Something wrong? Does it not taste good?"

"No, it tastes like the soup from one of my favorite cafes. I'm just…"

"Can't stomach it?"

His eyes closed, shaking his head almost imperceptibly.

Frowning, she sat herself down next to him on the edge of the chaise. "Is it because you're sick? Or stressed?"

He tapped the side of the bowl with his fingers. "More stressed."

She nodded. "I could have guessed that."

He quirked a brow at her.

She tapped his arm. "You're white. Something must have happened."

His eyes hardened, and Marinette instantly worried she shouldn't have said anything. "How do you know I'm not an akuma?"

"You're too lucid for that," she easily dismissed. "You let me drag you up here, and you've said nothing about Ladybug's miraculous."

He sneered, looking almost disappointed by that fact. "How do you know I'm not dangerous, though?"

She scoffed. "Are you?" she sarcastically challenged, already feeling confident in her answer.

"What if I am?"

"Then what are you planning to do?"

He forced a rougish grin, but it looked tired and it didn't reach his empty eyes. "Why would I tell you?"

"Then do it."

His eyes blew wide. "What?"

"Do it," she challenged, leaning closer while a challenging grin grew on her face. "What is a dangerous kitty like you planning to do to little old me?"

She watched a pink creep out from under his mask, his eyes panicked as he leaned away from her.

See, white or black, you're still my good kitty. With a chuckle, she pulled back to give him space again. "You're not dangerous," she said, her smile small but genuine. "So don't even try to pretend you are. You're just trying to push me away, and that won't work on me."

Though caught off-guard for a moment, he soon relaxed with a tired sigh. "Anyone ever tell you you're too smart for your own good, princess?"

She shrugged. "No, but thanks for the compliment."

5. Nightmares

"You're not really leaving, are you?" Despite having rested and eaten a few bites of food, Marinette could tell he was tired. She knew what an adrenaline crash felt like, and Chat was probably in the middle of one. The last thing she wanted was for him to hurt himself while trying to make his way home while under the heavy weight of exhaustion.

But Chat seemed determined to leave as he made his way to her balcony hatch. "I have to."

"No, you don't. You can stay here tonight—"

"Marinette," he interrupted, cutting her off with a firm look. "I can't. I have things to do."

"But you have a fever."

"Even if I didn't!" he firmly cut in. "I can't stay."

A shocking intensity shone in his green eyes that silenced her completely.

He sighed, his angry front fading just a little. "I get nightmares," he admitted. "Bad ones. And unless you want me to wake your parents when I wake up screaming, you'll let me go."

Before she even had the thought to stop him, he'd disappeared. And Marinette was left sitting on her bed in shock.

Her kitty had nightmares? And they were that bad.

"Chat Noir," she muttered under her breath to no one. "What happened to you?"

6. Midnight

When the clock struck midnight, Marinette still could not fall asleep. She partly wondered if Chat had turned back into a pumpkin by now. Hopefully, he had and was at home sleeping after such a rough day.

Too bad she couldn't sleep.

Frustrated by her inability to drift off into dreamland, she decided to stand out on her balcony for a bit. The rain had almost stopped by now, only a drizzle remaining. She really should go grab a coat or just go inside, but the cool, damp air was just what she needed to clear her head.

Chat Noir. Chat Blanc. What had happened to him? And why wouldn't he let her help him? And she meant both Ladybug her and Marinette her. He was hurting badly, yet refusing to lean on anyone. Most he did was allow Marinette to care for him a bit, and she supposed it was better than nothing, but she also could guess that she wouldn't see him again beyond when he returned the clothes to her.

And even then, he might just knock and leave the clothes there without her ever seeing him.

Lastly, there was the issue that her once cuddly kitty now flinched at her touch. Had he taken a beating? Was he hurt? Was he scared? What had happened that made him change so drastically in the course of a day?

It wasn't long before a set of sirens broke her out of her reverie. First it was one fire truck, then two, then an ambulance followed by a couple police.

And curiosity got the better of Marinette.

She called for her transformation before following the vehicles. She normally didn't participate in such endeavors, leaving it to the emergency responders to do their normal job, but occasionally, she would help comfort victims or secure a larger scene. At the moment, she just wanted something to take her mind off the raging questions without answers surrounding her cat.

However, as their destination came into view, her gut twisted into countless knots.

The Agreste mansion was on fire. And it wasn't just a little one.

Adrien.

She remembered him talking about how he was moving out soon, but for the life of her, she couldn't remember if he ever told her the date he was moving. And even if he had, she doubted she could recall today's date, anyway.

Frantic, she swung close to the building, landing on the fiery window sill of his bedroom before breaking the window in. Smoke billowed out into the night, causing her to choke and sputter. Still, she forced past the pain, blinked away the tears trying to flush the smoke from her eyes, and pushed her way into the building.

"Adrien!" she called out, trying to keep low to the floor. The flames roared up the walls, burning everything in sight and covering everything in a thick, black fog that made it almost impossible to see. "Adrien!" she called out again before pulling out her yo-yo to breathe through, just as she would underwater. She scrambled about the room, smoke burning her eyes and the heat overwhelming her as she checked his couch, his bed, the bathroom, but she couldn't find him.

Unable to stay in the building any longer, she made her escape, swinging up to a nearby building's rooftop for a place to land and catch her breath. Her eyes were burning, and even despite her yo-yo, she could still feel the sting in her lungs.

Oh, Tikki was going to give her an earful later.

From where she was kneeling on the nearby rooftop, Ladybug watched the increasing number of emergency responders desperately trying to put out the blazing fire. She watched as firefighters, all suited up and masked, took the brave plunge into the building, but after many excruciatingly long minutes, they emerged with only one body. One that just looked black in the man's arms.

Please don't let that be Adrien. Please don't let that be Adrien. Please don't let that be him!

She couldn't stand it any longer. She had to har Adrien's voice. She had to know he was okay. It was well past midnight by this point, but she was too desperate to care. As fast as she could, she rushed home.

The moment she detransformed, Tikki started her lecture.

"That was wildly dangerous, Marinette," she warned.

"I know, I know," Marinette assured, tearing her room apart as she searched for her phone. "But I just had to know."

Tikki sighed. "I know you know," she relented. "And I know you would have done that for any of your friends. I only say that because I worry for you."

Her phone now in hand, she turned back to Tikki with a somewhat relieved smile. "I know you do. Thanks."

"But please, don't do that again."

"Understood." With that said, Marinette hit the call button next to Adrien's name. Please pick up. Please pick up!

It went to voicemail. Which caused Marinette's stomach to tighten so much she could barely get out a voice message.

She tried again, but to no avail. Ice seemed to creep through her veins, causing her to shake so badly she could barely hit the redial button, desperate to try one last time.

And got an answer.

"Adrien!" she cried, already feeling the tears of relief bubbling up. "Thank goodness you're okay."

"Sorry for scaring you," he said. "I saw your messages."

She felt like she could breathe again as the weight of worry, a weight heavier than she expected, dropped from her shoulders at the sound of his voice. "Yeah. Sorry for calling so late, but I had to know you were okay."

"You don't live that close to me, though. Were you close by? If you were, what were you doing out so late?"

"Um…" Marinette minorly panicked when she realized that technically, she should not know at all. The Agreste mansion was close, but not that close. She should be in bed, or maybe she would have been working on a project this late. Instead, she desperately scrambled for a lie. "I… I was up on my balcony getting some fresh air when I saw several emergency vehicles go by, and then went online to see if I could find anything out. And when I learned it was the mansion, I tried to let it go, but I couldn't and… well… yeah."

"Oh," he said, voice taking on a tired edge again. "No, I'm out of the mansion. So don't worry about it."

"Okay," she said, sighing with relief and feeling a wave of exhaustion slam into her. "Sorry for calling so late. I should have just let it go."

"Don't be," he said. "It just meant you cared."

"Of course, I do. You're one of my closest friends, Adrien."

He hummed. "Thank you, Marinette." His voice was warm, now. Enough to make Marinette's heart melt and remind her once again just why she fell for him all those years ago. "You don't know how much that means to me."

"I think I get the idea," she said. "If the last…what, six years now? are any indication."

He chuckled. "I guess so."

As much as she would have loved to keep talking, she knew it was late and she could feel her body aching. "Hey, sorry if I woke you up. I'll let you get back to sleep now."

"Well, this time, you didn't," he dismissed. "But even if you did, I wouldn't have minded at all."

"Good to know," she hummed, laying down on her bed, smile on her face. "Good night, Adrien."

"Good night, Marinette. And thanks again, for everything."