Fifty-Two: Feline Intervention

Author's Note: Guilty at how hard Marinette worked on the fashion show – and concerned at how much her first year at Chateau Le Blanc has taken out of her, Chat decides to try and de-stress her as only a feline can.

Mayura had gotten too much of a head start for us to catch her; circling the city once, we found no trace of Hawkmoth's henchwoman, despite my fear that she would drop another sentimonster in our path. On our way back to the fashion show, I openly wondered to Ladybug whether she had seen the upgrade to my secret powers and had decided to hightail her feathers back to the boss.

"It's possible," Ladybug had agreed as she called for her Lucky Charm (it was, unironically, a pair of fabric shears) and then the Miraculous Cure to put the stage right once more. "But that also means Hawkmoth will factor that into his next attack. We'll need to be ready."

Sadly, her spell didn't extend to my ruined outfit, but other than that one casualty, no one had been hurt in the attack. Somewhat troubling, we were unable to locate who had spawned the sentimonster, and for the rest of the day, I kept my eyes peeled for anything extraordinary.

In between clothing changes, I caught Alya backstage, camera in one hand, notebook in the other and her press credentials around her neck. "Adrien!" she called out as I tried to hurry toward the rack of clothing. "Got a moment?"

I waved her over. "As long as you have no qualms with me changing in front of you," I said as I trained a Chat smile on her.

"I'll avert my gaze at the proper time," she laughed as I plucked the next outfit from the rack and began to shuck out of my current one. "Tell me a bit about this line..." she started.

Over the course of the next four outfits, I filled her in on the partnership with Chateau Le Blanc and how impressed I was with the designs Marinette had come up with. "I knew she had what it took back at Dupont," I told the journalist as I donned a v-neck polo that caught her gaze. I tried not to smirk as her eyes followed the neckline right to my six-pack of abs that were highlighted by the form-hugging sport fabric Marinette had chosen. Clearing my throat caused her to snap her attention back to me, and I chuckled.

"Sorry," she said, slightly flustered.

"I've been known to have that effect on women," I replied. "But shame on you! Aren't you engaged?" I joshed.

Her face flamed a bit deeper.

"Your secret is safe with me," I said softly as I pulled my friend to me and hugged her. "Did you get everything you needed?" I asked as I headed back to the stage.

"Yes," she said. "I've got some shots from your first few runway walks and will get a few more."

"Cool," I smiled. "If you need any other angles, let my office know and we'll send them over."

"I'll do that," she nodded. "I won't be able to use everything in the print version but we can add a gallery to the online article."

"I love modern journalism," I laughed before pausing at the stage entrance. "I don't know why you happened to be here today," I added, "but I'm glad you are. It's important to me that Marinette breaks through."

Something crossed Alya's face before she smiled. "I was... outfoxed by a cat," she said rather deliberately.

I felt the color drain from my face; fortunately, I was wearing enough makeup to hide it. Keeping my model smile up, I replied with a hint of curiosity: "Indeed? That sounds like a story and then some."

"You have no idea," she laughed. "I'll catch you later," she continued, subtly emphasizing what only I would see as a pun as she closed her notebook and headed around to the front of the stage.

I stood there, frozen, one hand on the curtain, knowing I had somehow overplayed my hand with Alya.

Shit.

"I might have blown it," I said to Ladybug many, many hours later.

"Oh?" she asked dreamily.

She was leaning across me sideways, her head cradled against my lap, and I was carefully rubbing the soft pads of my paws on either temple. The accumulated tension of the past few weeks was slowly easing in her body, but she was still far too tense for my tastes – despite the fashion show in the end being a smashing success (pun intended). "What did you do this time, kitty?"

I had my back up against a crossbeam of the Eiffel Tower, lounging in our favorite late-night hangout with the best views of the city lights. "Well," I started, "I don't know if you noticed Alya at our little soiree today-"

"I did, actually." She snuggled closer into me, and for a moment I laughed a bit at the flip in our positions. Normally I was the one languidly relaxing upon her lap. "It's almost like she can sniff when Hawkmoth is going to appear."

"True," I said, dithering a bit. I wasn't very good with confessions.

"She had quite the article in the online version of the paper," Ladybug said with tired excitement, ignoring the trace of hesitation in my voice. "I can't wait to see what is in print tomorrow."

"It should be good," I said, having actually already read it and knowing it would send our sales through the roof.

Something in my tone finally caused Ladybug turn her head up. "What did you do?"

"Uh..." I swallowed. "I, uh, might have gone to her as Chat to ask her to be there?"

"That was thoughtful," she murmured as she swiveled back into position. "And so Chat."

"Yeah."

The silence stretched for a long moment.

"I think she knows who Chat Noir is."

Ladybug sat up. "Shit," she said.

"Yeah," I hung my head, bangs falling forward. "That was my thought exactly."

Sliding out of my embrace, Ladybug settled next to me on the wide beam, eyes searching my face. "How?" she asked simply.

"I don't know exactly," I sighed. "I'm sure it wasn't any one thing, just a bunch of tiny things that must have suddenly popped together as a complete picture for her." I reached over to play with the ribbon on her ponytail – it was a new style she was experimenting with as Ladybug, and I had to admit I really liked it – and continued. "Our friend is a smart fox, anyway."

"Oh kitty," she said as she leaned her head into me. "This could be bad."

A thought struck me as we sat there. "Maybe not," I said thoughtfully. "It was more of a wink-wink moment, to be honest. A hint that she knew? But that was as far as it would go?"

Ladybug sat up again, nodding as she looked at me. "Alya is well aware how important you are to me – well, both versions of me, now that I think about it – as well as to the city," she said slowly. "I don't think she would willingly put that in jeopardy."

"I agree," I said, eyes widening slightly at the thread Ladybug started. Swearing, I continued. "If she's made one connection…?"

"Shit," Ladybug said with emphasis as she squeezed her eyes shut and smacked her forehead into my costumed chest. "Well, there's nothing for it. We need to come up with a way to find out if they know without us knowing that we know they know."

I groaned. "That sounds confusing. And something from a movie I love."

"Yes," she moaned as she slowly hit her head against my chest repeatedly. "I think I need a vacation."

I leaned down and breathed into her ear. "Got you covered," I whispered.

She looked up at me. "We can't leave Paris right now," she said. "Especially if Alya has ferreted out your identity. We need to deal with that and any fallout."

"Sure we can," I smiled wider. "We happen to know two heroes who might be available. In fact, it could be a blessing. Rena still needs to impart her news to Ladybug; having her cover the weekend for us will let you reaffirm your faith in her and solidify her resolve to keep our secrets."

"Sounds like emotional blackmail, kitty," Ladybug said skeptically. "That's not my trade-in-stock."

"No, bugaboo, it's not. But I happen to be well versed in it," I replied as I kissed the top of her head. The soft fragrance that was my partner made it hard to focus on what I was saying. "Honestly, if what Carapace told me stands up – and I have no reason to doubt my friend – Alya will protect me—protect us—for as long as is necessary."

"Chat—"

"I've already reserved the cottage," I said. "We leave Thursday night after work."

Ladybug started to protest again. "There's no way—"

I put a claw tip to her lips. "Are you honestly going to tell me that after the month we've had – hell, the last ten days we've been through – a little time on the beach would be unwelcome?" I leaned a little closer, and nibbled at the edge of her nose. "Forty-eight hours of my undivided feline attention catering to your every whim?"

Ladybug's eyes narrowed and got a familiar evil gleam to them. "Every whim?" she asked carefully.

Warning bells went off in my feline brain, but I nodded eagerly, nonetheless. "Absolutely, Milady. You are worth it."

She nodded, the evil gleam seamlessly transitioning into her gleeful expression. "All right. Let's pay a quick visit to our friends and see if they are up to babysitting Paris for a few days."

"Funny you should put it quite that way..." I laughed as she pulled out her Bug Phone.

We met Carapace and Rena on the wall overlooking the Trocadero Plaza later that evening. If they thought it was unusual for Ladybug to call them out late on a random Tuesday night without an akuma alert, they gave no indication at all.

I wasn't surprised they were there ahead of us, actually; Alya had been wearing an unusually loose outfit when I'd seen her at the show earlier, and wondered how she would try to mask her pregnancy from us. It had been a bit since Ladybug had called them to duty, and given that my partner was, technically, unaware of Rena's change in parenthood status, I understood why she was using Carapace's form to partially shield the torso of her rather form-fitting fox outfit.

Catching Cap's eye as I landed in a crouch beside him, he frowned slightly. I shot him a questioning look, but there was no time to follow-up before Ladybug bookended us by landing beside Rena. "Hey guys," I said warmly. "Thanks for meeting us."

"Anytime," Rena said brightly. "What's up?"

"We want to take a long weekend," Ladybug said. "Do you feel up to covering for us?" she asked as she glanced meaningfully at Rena, pointedly avoiding looking at what I could easily see from my angle was a definite baby bump.

"Yes," Rena said quickly.

"No," Cap said almost as immediately.

I felt my mane bobbing as I looked from face to face. "Okay," I smiled slightly. "What do we do in cases of ties?"

"I trump my partner," Rena said as nudged him in the ribs. "We'll do it."

"Rena, honey, I'm not sure—"

"It will be fine," the fox replied hotly, reflecting her coloring for once. "We're not talking weeks here, shell."

My ears shot up. Rena only called him shell when they had been arguing. "Guys…" I started, eyes darting to Carapace. "Is… is everything all right?" I asked despite Carapace's frantic expression.

"Yes," Rena said, smacking Cap.

"Totally," Carapace said, though his eyes spoke to something else.

I looked to Ladybug, who had picked up the same vibe. Clearly Carapace's discussion with Rena about balancing family and superhero work hadn't gone as well as I'd hoped. Rena caught my glance again and flushed deeper as she twisted away from my slightly; it wasn't hard for me to have second thoughts about putting her and her child at risk for the sake of my weekend.

"Rena," I said softly, as I looked to Cap. He looked away, putting his hand to his head. I turned back to the fox. "This is one secret you can't keep."

I caught Ladybug nodding. "How far along are you?" Ladybug asked. There was no reproach in her voice, no judgement; just warmth at the joy Rena was experiencing.

Rena smiled slightly, and moved out of Carapace's shadow. "Three months," she said as she cradled her tummy. Now fully exposed, I could see it was actually larger than I expected.

"He's going to be one big kitten," I said appreciatively.

"Who says it's going to be a boy?" Rena laughed.

"Do you know?" Ladybug asked.

"Not yet," Rena smiled wistfully. "I've been going back and forth. He-" she nodded to Cap, "desperately wants to know. It's sort of fun keeping him guessing."

"No," Carapace replied. "It isn't."

"Look," Ladybug said as she slid over to her best friend, placing a gloved hand on her shoulder. "I would totally understand if you wanted to step back for a bit. Take some time." She paused. "Be a mom."

Rena sighed. "Cap and I had this very talk already," she said, looking to her fiancé and reaching for his hand. "I'd like to still be part of the team, Ladybug. But why do I feel guilty for wanting to do both?"

Ladybug smiled slightly. "It's what women have had to deal with for hundreds of years. A career or motherhood. There never seems to be a middle road for us."

For a moment, I felt a flame of anger, for Rena was right. And if I could stop it-

"So do both," I interjected.

All three of them turned to look at me.

"Take some time off when the kitten is born," I offered. "Then we'll ease you back into the rotation. We'll make it work, even if we have to press every temporary holder into babysitting service." I smiled. "Just wait until Uncle Chat teaches it how intriguing a ball of yarn can be."

Rena chuckled. "That might be harder if it's a fox."

"Or a turtle," Carapace added.

"Kitten," I said firmly.

Ladybug chuckled. "I can't believe you aced Biology, Chat. Your lack of understanding around genetics is a bit shocking."

"It's a feline," I shrugged with a smile, though I caught a nod from Rena at that.

Oops. Ladybug is gonna need to be more careful...

"You might be projecting a bit," Rena said, looking at Ladybug pointedly.

I coughed and changed directions. "Do you feel up to covering for us?" I asked. "We'd completely understand-"

"I do," Rena replied. "To be honest, I'm not sure how much longer I can – or should – transform. This might be my last chance for a bit."

"Are you certain?" Ladybug pressed.

"Yes," Rena said firmly. "I've got Carapace to look after me-"

"Which I plan to do forever, love," he reminded her with a squeeze to her gloved hand.

"-so we should be just fine."

"Okay," I smiled. "While we'll be out of Paris we won't be out of contact. If you need us—"

"Chat will have his baton on him at all times," Ladybug interjected. "So you can call us."

My masked green eyes snapped to hers. "That's not a whim I was expecting," I said. "You are likely to have a rather hot and bothered kitty on your hands-"

"I know," she smirked. "You agreed, however."

"I guess," I said, masked eyes widening in wonder at what exactly Ladybug had planned now.

"Uh…" Carapace said, clearing his throat.

"Sorry," Ladybug said before locking eyes on Rena. "Are you both sure you can cover? For us?" she asked one last time. "It could take us hours to return if you get into trouble."

"We'll be fine," Rena said, turning to Carapace. "Won't we?"

Carapace looked at me, and we both shared a moment as we realized we would do pretty much whatever our girlfriends asked. "Yes," he nodded, saying more than just agreeing with Rena.

"Okay," I smiled. "Hopefully we'll see you in a few days – and not before."

We did a repeat of the train maneuver from our first trip to Nice, enjoying a private berth on the nonstop bullet train Thursday evening. The only change happened once we arrived in Nice; just outside the station, Marinette transformed and the two of us moved through the gathering darkness toward the isolated cottage on the outskirts of town. I couldn't deny the extra burst of excitement seeing Ladybug just ahead of me, and the anticipation of spending the whole weekend with her as just myself.

It wasn't that the first visit had been anything but exceptional; so much had changed since then, though, and I was defelinely happy I'd not have to be careful to keep from exposing my alter-ego. As we landed atop the decorative fence separating the cottage from the lane, I found myself smiling. She needed the time off, for sure, but I was starting to realize I did, too. I sent up a tiny prayer that Hawkmoth would be otherwise occupied for the next few days.

I landed at the foot of the front door in a crouch, and Ladybug glided down her yo-yo beside me. As soon as her feet hit the paving stone, she quietly said: "Tikki, spots off."

The pink flash of transformation surrounded her, and Marinette reappeared in the cute casual outfit she'd designed. "You look amazing," I said as I stood and put my paws around her shoulders. "Plagg—"

"Uh, no," she smiled, putting a finger to my lips. "This is my weekend, right?"

I nodded, masked eyes widening. "I thought you were kidding," I said around her finger.

"No," she smiled wider. "I wasn't."

"I didn't tell Plagg about that," I cautioned. "He won't be very happy with me. It's been months since I spent back-to-back days transformed."

"I warned him last night," Tikki replied sweetly. "I may have even bribed him."

"You… you bribed him…?" Feline eyes looked between the two of them, and I felt my jaw drop open with dawning recognition. "This… this is not exactly how I thought this weekend was going to go…" I said.

"Everyone needs a surprise from time to time," Marinette said as she pulled me down to kiss her. "Even you, kitty."

I let my tail snake around her. "As you wish, Milady," I smiled as I scooped her up in my paws and pushed through the door.

"Chat!" she squeaked as I left our luggage on the portico and bounded up the steps to the loft with my precious cargo. "What are you doing?"

"Getting the weekend underway," I purred, nuzzling her as I pushed into the master bedroom. The king bed was made and waiting, and in two leaps I was there. "Surprise…" I said softly as I gently deposited her and started to move away.

"Oh kitty," she smiled as she reached for my bell, gently pulling me back toward her. "Not so fast, you. Come hither."

I happily complied.