AN: Again forgot to update here, too. Whoops...

For this chapter, I thought I go back to the roots. There's been a lot of angst lately, so who's up for some good old Lukadrien fluff and comfort? It certainly was a lot easier to write, too.

. o O o .

Chapter 21: Healing

For a brief moment—a very brief moment—Viperion considered bringing Chat Noir to his own room in the Agreste villa. His own bed, fresh clothes, not having to worry about anyone noticing his absence; there certainly were advantages.

And yet, he dismissed the idea almost as soon as it came up. The simple truth was that he didn't trust Adrien's family. He didn't trust them to take proper care of him—or to actually care about him in the first place—especially since they couldn't know what even happened to him. No, bringing him there wouldn't work, not for Adrien and certainly not for himself.

So instead he brought Chat back to the Liberty. Luckily, Juleka and his mum were already asleep, so he could carry his still-limp form on board without anyone noticing. Having to manoeuvre him through the porthole would have been… interesting.

"Sass, Scales Rest," he murmured after laying Chat down on his bed and actually locking his door for once. Tonight, he didn't want to risk anything on top of what had already happened.

With a deep sigh, Sass appeared from his armring and gave Luka a grateful if tired smile as he landed in his outstretched hand.

"Oh, what an exhausting fight," he hissed, his eyes drooping. "I hope we never have to go through something like that ever again."

"Agreed, my friend," Luka sighed, then frowned. "Huh. Looks like we forgot something. I should have given you back to Ladybug."

But Sass seemed unworried. "Since the guardian now knows who you are, she can come and get me at a later time if that's what she decides."

Despite his weariness, Luka couldn't suppress an amused smile. "You trust her to always make the right decision, despite her only being the guardian for such a short time?"

Sass's brows furrowed in thought, but then he nodded. "I do. She is wise for her age, but even more importantly, she is the guardian. It isn't always about what is right or wrong but about the guardian finding their own way. What matters is that she makes a choice and not so much whether others before her would have made the same choice."

Slowly, Luka nodded. Oddly enough, that made sense. "Well, then I hope she won't decide to take you away from me for good, now that she knows who I am. I'd miss you," he said, then paused. "Either way, until she decides to show up, I've got to find something to eat for you. There's some cheese in one of the drawers if you like some?"

"Sounds like Plagg spends a lot of time here," Sass replied with a hint of amusement in his voice, but then wrinkled his nose. "If there's nothing else available, then the cheese will have to do."

Luka grinned. Personally, he liked cheese, but he couldn't blame Sass for asking for something else, either. Besides, Plagg would need all the food he could get anyway. Rummaging through his wardrobe, drawers, school bag, and jackets, he eventually produced a wrinkly bag of sweets. "I also have these gummy snakes—unless that's weird?" he added, somewhat sheepishly.

Sass blinked, a little bewildered, then poked his head into the bag. There was a distinct slurping sound, then he reappeared, crumbs of sugar all around his mouth. "I'll take these, thanks."

Chuckling, Luka placed Sass and the bag onto his desk. "By all means, help yourself. Eat as many as you want."

Then he turned his attention back on Chat Noir lying on his bed. The brief exchange with his Kwami friend had helped take his mind off reliving the past hour over and over, something he was deeply grateful for. But that didn't mean he could forget what had happened or the task he had now.

Chat was still asleep—he refused to use the word unconscious—his breathing low but even. But as much as Luka wanted to grant him this rest, he had to wake up at least for a moment.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Luka gave himself another minute of gazing at his boyfriend. He focused on how soft he looked, how peaceful. Deliberately ignoring the dirt and scratches, how close they'd been to possibly losing him. The mere thought was… was… unthinkable.

Leaning down, he brought his face closer to Chat's. "Hey," he said in a low voice, brushing a strand of hair out of his eyes and gently cupping his face with his hand. "Can you hear me?"

At first, Chat didn't react, and Luka grew worried. But then he stirred, groaning as he leaned into Luka's touch. "Nng… Luka?" He opened his eyes, slowly. blinking in confusion. "Where… are we?"

"I brought you to my cabin. That way, I can better look after you until you're back up again."

Letting his eyes fall close again, Chat nodded. "Just… give me a few hours rest, then I should be back to normal. Ouch!" He wrapped an arm around his middle, curling in on himself.

Worried, Luka held him until he relaxed again. "How bad is it? Can you… do you need to stay in transformation to heal?"

It clearly took Chat's addled mind a moment to catch up, but then his eyes widened and he let out a silent curse. "Oh, no. Plagg!" Gritting his teeth, he tried to sit up. "Claws in!"

With a flash of green light, Plagg appeared lying on Adrien's chest, trembling weakly.

"Oh, no, Plagg, how do you feel?"

"As if I got caught between two colliding planets," Plagg groaned. "Urgh, I take back what I said before. The dinosaurs were wimps after all. Going extinct after only one cataclysm, pfft."

Luka and Adrien shared a short look, then broke into quiet laughing.

"Seems like you'll be fine, little one," Luka said as he gently lifted Plagg and carried him over to his desk as well.

"Of course I'll be fine. Once I've devoured a wheel of cheese. Or three. I'm the master of destruction. That also means I can't get destroyed. It's literally impossible. Hi, Sass."

Sass replied with a sleepy mumble, and Luka couldn't suppress a smile when he peeked into the bag of gummy snakes and spotted his Kwami curled up and dozing amidst the sweets. He provided Plagg with the requested cheese, then returned to his bed. Adrien had laid down again, but his eyes were open, a soft smile on his lips as he watched his Kwami eat.

"He really is indestructible as it seems."

Humming in confirmation, Luka sat down next to Adrien. "And what about you?" He reached for Adrien's hand and interlaced their fingers. "You're already better, obviously, but… will it be enough?"

Adrien squeezed his hand, a little too weakly to be reassuring. "Yes, I'll be fine. The enhanced healing also works when I'm not wearing the suit—so long as I keep the Miraculous." He held up his hand, his ring catching the dim light, but then grimaced. "These bruises might just take a few hours either way."

"That bad, huh?" Luka said, matching Adrien's light tone. What he'd seen—and heard—still haunted him, but he didn't want to let Adrien know. What he'd been through was bad enough.

Adrien snorted. "You tell me." He shrugged off his jacket and then pulled off his shirt. "If you put the right autograph beneath this, you could probably sell it as expensive modern art."

But Luka didn't react to the joke. He couldn't. His gaze was glued to Adrien's chest, his eyes growing wider and wider as they took in the wide array of bruises. There wasn't a single patch of unblemished skin. Copycat had been meticulous, had spread his treatment carefully all over his victim's upper body. The patches were already fading from dark purple to green in a couple of places, confirming that he was healing more quickly than any normal human being could. But still, the sight was devastating

"Oh, god," he breathed. With a trembling hand, he reached for Adrien's chest, barely daring to touch him lest he would cause even more pain. His vision became blurry, but it wasn't until Adrien wiped a tear from his cheek that he realised he was crying.

"How many times?" Adrien asked in a quiet, almost solemn voice. He tried to catch Luka's eyes, his hand still at his face, but Luka couldn't bear it.

Averting his face and with his eyes closed, he muttered, "Too many…" A lump formed in his throat as his thoughts drifted back to all the erased time loops, and even if he'd wanted to say more, he simply wasn't able to get out another word.

But luckily, that wasn't necessary, anyway.

With gentle force, Adrien turned Luka's head back toward him, and before he even got the chance to open his eyes, their lips were touching. Trembling, Luka gave in to the kiss, though carefully, focused on not hurting Adrien any more.

"Adrien, you—" he muttered, pulling back a little. No matter what he himself wanted, Adrien needed rest.

But Adrien wouldn't have any of that. "Shh. Not now," Adrien whispered, gently shaking his head. "Don't think."

Holding on to him, he pulled Luka down to the bed with him, and too much caught off guard, Luka let it happen. Their lips met again, and this time, Adrien wouldn't settle for careful. He deepened the kiss instantly, his tongue caressing over Luka's lower lip, and with a weak moan, he gave up all resistance.

This was what he needed, feeling Adrien move with him, tasting his kiss and hearing him draw in one breath after the other. He needed to hold him in his arms, his warmth and his scent all around him, needed for his hands to map his body, to make sure he was still whole.

At some point, Adrien's hand wandered beneath his shirt, roaming up his bare back, and with a strange sense of relief, Luka tore the shirt off and threw both his and Adrien's clothes off the bed. He needed to feel him skin on skin, needed for his breath to caress his face, to hear his heart beating.

Time lost all meaning as they kissed, minutes or hours, Luka couldn't tell them apart. All that mattered was that they were together, safe, alive.

"I feared I could lose you," Luka murmured after what could easily have been hours later. They lay cuddled close together beneath his blanket, bare skin touching. "Before, even with all the dangers, there was always this… this conviction that we couldn't lose. But today… today, that conviction wasn't there anymore."

Adrien shuffled around until he lay propped up on one arm, gazing down at Luka next to him. He had his head cocked, brows furrowed in thought. "I'm sorry you had to go though that," he eventually said. "I… I can't imagine how that must have been."

Feeling calmer now, Luka could look back and see Adrien's point. "You always trust that Ladybug will fix everything." It wasn't even a question. He'd seen Chat Noir fight. There was never any hesitation, never any fear.

Smiling sheepishly, Adrien nodded. "I know she will. That's what she does. And any pain that might come is only temporary." He gestured at his chest where the bruises were more yellow than anything else by now. "All that remains are the memories…" He brushed a strand of hair out of Luka's face, his eyes sad. "I just wish there was a remedy for those, too."

Swallowing, Luka closed his eyes and leaned into Adrien's hand. The memories would never leave him again, he knew that. But seeing—feeling—how much better Adrien was already doing did a lot to ease his mind. He hoped they would never have to endure something like this again, but he didn't think anymore that the events and his memories of them would cripple his readiness to fight.

Snuggling closer, Luka laid his head on Adrien's shoulder. "I think I can see your point," he said after another while filled with comfortable silence.

Adrien, having combed through Luka's hair with his fingers, slowed in his movements. "And… on what?"

"On Ladybug. On how you see her. On trusting her. Even when her plans seem strange and incomprehensible, they always work. And she always fixes everything. She… she really is amazing."

Adrien sighed, dreamily. "I know, right?" Then his hand stopped moving. "Wait. Does that mean you're falling for her, too?"

Chuckling sheepishly, Luka shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe? It's hard to not admire her when you get to know her. Although…" His shoulders slumped and he sighed. "It probably doesn't matter anymore."

"Why would you say that?"

"Ladybug knows who I am," Luka said, voice calm, composed. "I had to tell her so she could give me my Miraculous and I could help her rescue you. But with her rule about our identities having to stay a secret… Well, I expect her to demand it back and never give it to me again."

The thought left a strange cold deep within him. He didn't want to give up his Miraculous. He'd follow Ladybug's order if that was what she decided, but… he wanted to keep helping her and Chat Noir. He wanted to keep fighting at their side. He wanted to keep sharing this with Adrien and… yeah, maybe he also wanted to keep spending time with Ladybug. All this made keeping the secret from Marinette even more difficult, and he hated this aspekt. But... but it was still worth it. Their fight was worth it, important, and he was sure that Marinette would understand that—if she ever learned about it all. But who knew, maybe they would find a way to solve this problem, too. Eventually…

Humming thoughtfully, Adrien resumed combing through Luka's hair, making him drop those thoughts. They were a problem for another day.

"We'll have to wait, I guess," Adrien said. "But… There are other heroes whose identity we both know, and she keeps bringing them in, anyway. Like Ryuko or Pegasus. I don't see why it should be different with you. Although…" He frowned, but then shook his head. "Ah, never mind. I'll talk to her, and hopefully can convince her to keep you in the team."

"Thanks!" Remembering Sass's words from earlier, he wasn't sure anyone could really convince the new guardian to do anything, but Ladybug also valued Chat's opinion. Maybe—hopefully—that would be enough.

"Since we're on that topic, though…"

"What about it?" Luka asked when Adrien trailed off. Sitting up, he spotted the blush on Adrien's cheeks as he scratched his neck.

"Well, it's… not really the same topic. Or maybe it is, just a different flavour. "You say you like Ladybug, too, and I…" He took a deep breath before meeting his gaze again. "Being Copycat's captive gave me a while to think. And I… well, there were a few things I should have done when I had the chance instead of putting it off for stupid reasons. And one of those things was… Do you still think I should tell Marinette that I like her?"

Blinking, Luka opened and closed his mouth a couple of times before he managed to form an answer. "I—yes! Yes, I still think you should. But didn't you say that would be too hard, separating Chat Noir from Adrien around her? Don't get me wrong, I want you to talk to her. But how would you go about that? Would you talk to her as Chat Noir so she knows we three can all be together, or as Adrien so you don't have to pretend around her?"

Adrien bit his lip, not quite meeting Luka's gaze. "I… was thinking about telling her the truth. Eventually, at least. I'd first talk to her as Chat, then when I think it's safe I'd reveal to her who I am. I know it's a risk, but… but it's my risk. It's my identity, so I say I'm allowed to decide for myself who knows about it. I hope I don't have to argue with Ladybug about this, but I really don't want this secret to make everything complicated. I don't want to waste any time. If you're right and she likes me, too… then I want us all to be together."

Stunned, Luka couldn't do anything but stare at Adrien. Then, without having room in his mind to even think, he leaned forward and kissed him, holding his face with both his hands. He was trembling, overwhelmed, his heart overflowing. There were just too many emotions running wild inside him; surprise, joy and happiness, gratitude, still the lingering tension and relief from before. It was too much, one of his biggest hopes coming true.

Tears were leaking from his closed eyes, even as he broke out in low chuckling, his forehead resting against Adrien's. "I love you."

Chuckling as well, Adrien brought up his hand to caress over Luka's lower lip. "I love you, too."

. o O o .

There! They are still as adorable as before. I love them so much!

And no cliffie for once! I really restrained myself there. I so easily could have let this end differently, but I think this works better.