"Adrien?"

Partner. Friend. Something more.

How had he never recognized that voice?

"Adrien, look at me." Something small brushed against Adrien's hand. Blinking away tears, he saw Marinette's unbandaged hand covering his own. In his realization, he'd gripped the side of the hospital bed so hard his knuckles turned white. Mari's touch was light as a feather, and Adrien couldn't tell if it was because she was nervous about scaring him off or she didn't have the strength to truly hold his hand.

He couldn't form words yet. Not when the visual of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Ladybug were still busy fusing together in his mind. Every shared trait, every teasing comment, every hint that he should have seen, that he'd guessed at but failed to follow through. He was her partner, he should have known, regardless of her intelligent tricks to lead him away from her true identity.

"I'm fine," Marinette insisted. Adrien couldn't look at her face… not yet. His failure as a partner was too fresh. Instead, he released one of his hands from the hospital bed to hold hers loosely just in case her hand was injured as well. He watched as his tears continued to stream freely onto her sheets. "I'm safe."

"B-but," Adrien's words came out broken. He took a deep breath, releasing it as Marinette's hand squeezed his own. Offering him her strength while she was lying in a hospital bed. "I should have saved you."

"There was nothing you could have done—"

"Yes there was!" Adrien bit out, wiping tears away forcefully with the back of his other hand. His breath was coming faster now, chest heaving as he continued to come to terms with… this. This new reality. "I should have saved you. I'm so sorry, Marinette, it's all my fault. It's my job to protect you… that's the only thing I had to do, and I failed you."

"Adrien, protecting me isn't anyone's job, especially not yours," Marinette said.

Because she didn't know how many times she had saved Paris, and she didn't know her feline partner was standing beside her. She didn't understand the magnitude of his failure. "Yes, it is. It always has been. You just don't remember."

"You don't mean…" Adrien whipped his head up to find Alya and Nino staring at him, slack jawed. Alya raised a hesitant hand to cover her mouth, eyes wide in shock. He'd forgotten that they were in the room, he was so caught up in his own emotions. "No way."

"Guys, I don't get it," Marinette said softly. The three teenagers looked at their small friend, even smaller in her hospital bed, looking unnerved and scared. Adrien hated himself for being part of what made her feel that way. "What am I missing?"

"It's nothing, 'Nette," Nino stepped forward, fluffing Marinette's pillow with a smile that would only be viewed as forced by his best friend. "We've been going a little crazy in the waiting room, I think it's just catching up to us. You just get some rest, okay? We'll be back soon."

Mari nodded once, her limp hair falling slightly into her face. Adrien couldn't help himself from pushing some of it behind one of her ears. Some color returned to her cheeks at the soft gesture, but he just wanted one last look at her face to make sure he wasn't imagining things, that this wasn't a coincidence.

His lady and his princess and his partner and his friend and… the love of his life.

Mari blinked at him owlishly as Alya leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to the girl's forehead. Nino patted Marinette on the head, and with that the three teenagers exited the room in a charged silence.

Adrien walked without thinking. Somehow, through no effort of his own, he escaped the hospital to the outside street. As soon as the sun hit his face, he fell to his knees, eyes dry of tears. There was nothing left but an empty hole in his chest. How had this all happened? Why had this all happened?

"Holy shit. You're Chat Noir."

This wasn't how anyone was supposed to find out. It was going to be just him and his lady after they defeated Hawkmoth, facing each other on their special roof opposite the Eiffel Tower. They were going to do it on their own terms.

It was too late for that now. He was just alone.

"And Marinette is—"

"Ladybug," Adrien said softly, putting his head in his hands. He felt Nino and Alya's presence behind him, watching as he finally allowed himself to crumble. "She doesn't remember. Any of it."

Nino crouched down beside Adrien, putting a hand on the blonde's shoulder to grab his attention. Adrien caught the DJ's eyes, finding not suspicion or frustration, but only a deep concern just behind his glasses. "And you didn't know it was her."

Adrien shook his head. The hole in his chest continued to grow as he forced the words out. "We never told each other. She thought that was for the best, since that was how the old Guardian wanted things done."

Nino positioned his hand behind Adrien's neck, holding him in place. Adrien expected his touch to feel suffocating in this state, but it was oddly comforting. "Maybe we should talk about this somewhere more private. Alya, your place or mine?" Nino glanced back at his girlfriend, Adrien following his gaze. "Alya?"

The reporter was staring off into space, her brow furrowed and lip trembling. She ran a shaking hand through her hair as she spoke through what sounded like a strangled sob. Her words were rushed, panicked. Adrien had never heard her speak like that before. "My best friend… is in the hospital. Because she puts her life in danger every single day. I had no idea. I can't believe—"

"None of us did," Nino assured her, ever the voice of reason. Still, he remained by Adrien's side even as he addressed Alya. "But let's get out of this parking lot, okay?" He held out a hand, waiting patiently for Alya to shake away her anxiety. She approached Nino slowly, and he only stood once her hand was firmly grasped in his. He extended his other hand for Adrien and helped him stand.

Hand in hand, Nino led the teenagers away from the hospital parking lot. Was the walk long? Short? Hot? Windy? Adrien couldn't say. He used Nino's hand as a lifeline to pull him forward until he could rest again and really try to figure out what to do next. How he was supposed to move forward with a partner who was…

"Adrien?" Adrien blinked at Nino as his words woke up from his fog. They were inside. When had that happened? He'd been in Nino's bedroom a few times when his father allowed him out of the house, so he recognized it once he was actually paying attention to his surroundings. "You should probably sit down. You still look a little shaky."

Adrien hummed in affirmation, sitting down on Nino's bed. Alya had released Nino's hand as well and was leaning against the wall opposite him, raking her hands through her auburn hair with her eyes blown wide. Nino took a seat at his desk, turning the swivel chair so he could face the others.

They were only silent for a moment before Nino, the most level-headed of the group in the moment, tried to take charge and get the others to focus. "So, we should probably get a couple other things out of the way," Nino cleared his throat, turning towards Adrien and sticking out his hand. "Nice to meet you Chat Noir. My name's Carapace, and I'm the holder of the Turtle Miraculous."

Adrien was left blinking at his best friend in surprise again. Nino was Carapace? Adrien tried to think back on all the times Ladybug (Marinette) had brought Carapace along to an akuma fight. He was steady, protective, and got the job done… it made sense that he was Nino. As much as Nino joked around and relaxed, his steady presence with Adrien as a civilian allowed him to relax more from his perfect-model persona. Marinette picking Nino to be Carapace, their shield, made sense.

Adrien shook his best friend's hand, nodding in acceptance of yet another revelation. He turned toward Alya, who was staring pointedly at the floor. "She chose me to be Rena Rouge, holder of the Fox Miraculous." Marinette's first choice of someone else holding a miraculous was her best friend—also made sense. And Rena Rouge's first job was when Alya's sisters were akumatized, so asking Alya to help was another smart move.

Adrien glanced between Nino and Alya. They didn't look surprised by these new revelations. "You know each other's identities?"

"During one of Hawkmoth's big fights, Ladybug said she didn't have enough time to wait to give them to us separately," Nino explained, adjusting his glasses with a sigh. He seemed hesitant to admit this. "We've known about each other for years."

Ladybug had never told Chat about that. Adrien frowned, running a hand through his hair. Maybe she assumed that he would have been frustrated, considering Rena Rouge and Carapace could know each other's identities and Ladybug and Chat Noir still had to wait.

Maybe, maybe, maybe. So many questions that would never be answered.

"Part of me always wondered why she would pick me, of all people, to be the first miraculous holder other than Ladybug and Chat Noir, even if it was just for one night. It makes more sense now that I know Marinette was Ladybug—"

"Is."

"What?" Alya raised her eyebrows at Adrien, who had tensed in his position on the bed.

He scowled at her, a growl rising out of his throat before he could stop it. "Marinette is Ladybug."

Alya and Nino shared a cautious look. "You might know more about this than us… but Mari lost all her memories. When she first became the Guardian, Ladybug told us she wouldn't be the Guardian forever. That one day, she'd have to pass on her duty to someone else, and she'd no longer be a miraculous holder. That means she isn't the Guardian anymore, and she isn't—"

"Marinette is my Ladybug, my Guardian. She will always be my Ladybug," Adrien bit out, his hands tightening into fists on Nino's sheets. If he'd been transformed, his claws would have ripped through the fabric right now. "Nothing will ever change that."

"But Adrien—"

"I don't give two shits about proper miraculous procedure—Marinette is Ladybug. That's all there is to it."

There was no one else Adrien would choose to fight by his side. No one else he could picture himself protecting, time and time again. Of course, it was Marinette, his sweet, generous, clumsy friend. The girl who was always so kind to him, who snuck him sweets in the middle of class. His eyes were drawn to her whenever she was in the room, spots or not.

Hadn't he called her his everyday Ladybug before? It was the truest thing he'd ever said in his entire life.

"Fine," Nino conceded, crossing his arms as he stared hard at Adrien. "She's your Ladybug. But right now, she's not anyone's Guardian… which means we have no idea where the Miracle Box is."

Adrien couldn't argue with that. It was just that he didn't care about it all that much. He knew that logically, the location of the Miracle Box and the identity of the new Guardian should be his top priority. As a superhero, he needed to protect the remaining miraculouses from Hawkmoth and continue to protect Paris to the best of his ability.

But there was something else he needed to do first. "I don't care. I need to find Ladybug's miraculous and give it to Marinette. That's more important."

"What do you mean you don't care?" Alya asked Adrien, eyes blazing. "If Hawkmoth gets his hand on the Miracle Box—"

"Then we'll need Ladybug to set everything back to the way it was," Adrien cut in, standing up with his nails digging into his palm. It was the only thing that kept him from biting their heads off, he was so on edge. He needed to be somewhat calm to move forward, but the visual of Marinette lying in that hospital bed wouldn't leave his head. "I can train her, show her the ropes to remind her how things are done. We'll be in it together from the beginning."

They wouldn't be two kids struggling through it on their own, confused and lost and trying their best. She would have him to support her through it all, in and out of the mask.

"That all depends on the new Guardian."

"Why the hell—"

"Because Marinette wasn't wearing her earrings," Alya whispered, eyes widening in shock. The group paused in panicked thought. Adrien hadn't even noticed Mari always wore earrings as her civilian self, but he knew that Ladybug's earrings were her miraculous, just like his ring. If Marinette didn't have her earrings…

"The Guardian has her miraculous," Adrien barely restrained himself from punching a wall, aware of his own actions enough that he knew Nino wouldn't be very forgiving of a hole beside his bed. "And we don't know who the Guardian is."

"Are you sure it's not you?" Nino asked warily, leaning back in his chair as if he wanted to get as much space between himself and the prowling cat as he could. "I figured if Ladybug would have trusted anyone with that kind of responsibility, it would have been Chat Noir. Which reminds me… what the fuck happened yesterday? Mystery akuma, Ladybug giving up being the Guardian… sounds like something pretty serious."

"I don't know." Adrien was too stuck on Nino's first question to even begin to tackle the second. He didn't feel any different, but maybe becoming the Guardian wasn't like that. Ladybug had never quite explained the mechanics of her position other than her protection of the Miracle Box. "Plagg? Am I the Guardian?"

After being addressed, the tiny kwami joined the group, flying out of Adrien's pocket to hover near his head. An uncharacteristic frown was on the kwami's face as he stared at his holder. "Sorry kid, but no dice. You're still just a kitten."

That meant that for some reason, Ladybug didn't choose to pass on her role of the Guardian to her partner. Adrien had to be honest—it stung. They'd stuck together through everything—the battles, the bloodshed, the teasing jokes when they found time in between. They trusted each other with everything but their civilian identities.

The fact that she didn't trust him with this last responsibility hurt his pride.
"Can you sense where the Miracle Box is?" Nino addressed Plagg. Civilians being unsurprised to see a tiny god of destruction was odd enough, but Nino speaking so casually to Plagg was something Adrien never could have imagined.

Plagg's ears flattened on his head as he turned toward the DJ. "No, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, I can't." Plagg admitting he couldn't do something was rare.

"Just saying my name would have been shorter," Nino grumbled as Plagg offered him a fiendish grin.

"But not nearly as fun." For anyone else, Plagg's grin would have been out of place given the negative energy in the room. Adrien knew his kwami better than that—he was compensating for a missing Tikki, his other half. The more Plagg hurt on the inside, the more attitude he featured on the outside. This turn of events wasn't just a blow to Adrien—it hurt Plagg too.

"Trixx is nicer," Alya muttered, wiping her face with the back of her hands. She was still crying, the tears falling soundlessly from her eyes to the floor.

Before Plagg could interject and pick a sarcastic fight with Adrien's friends, the model stepped in. "So, we have no Ladybug miraculous. No Miracle Box. No clue what happened yesterday that led to my lady lying in a hospital bed, memory gone. That about sums it up, right?"

"There's something I need to say," Alya said softly, crossing the room to stand right in front of Adrien. Her cheeks were wet, but her eyes filled with a familiar fire. "As angry and confused as I am right now, you know I still love you, right Sunshine?"

Adrien's lips quirked up of their own accord from Alya's term of endearment. "Thanks, Al."

"I'm not finished," Alya frowned. "Nino and I love you, and the three of us are going to have to be there for each other more than we ever have been before. But I need to know one thing, because Marinette is my best friend. Moving forward, are you going to treat our girl like Marinette, or like Ladybug?"

Adrien raised his eyebrows as he looked down at her. "What do you mean?"

Nino joined them so they were standing in a circle. He looked a bit more anxious about broaching this topic. "Everyone knows Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug, man. And now, you just found out our best friend is Ladybug."

"They're the same person, so quit treating them like they're different," Adrien snapped, the words setting a fire in his gut. "I've suspected her in the past, and every time I thought Marinette might be Ladybug, I was the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. The only reason I never confirmed it is because she's so damn smart she tricked me into thinking she was Multimouse."

He understood their concern, he really did, but they needed to know that although Chat Noir has been in love with Ladybug for years, his love for Marinette was softer, slower, a gradual change. It wasn't love at first sight—it was their shared appreciation of video games and anime. It was the way she grew confident enough to tease him, joke around. It was the feel of her hair in his hands when she let him try to braid it, and it was the way she complimented his messy, clumsy efforts.

She was just… Marinette. There was no one else.

"Marinette is the only person I ever wanted Ladybug to be." It was a statement he'd never been able to voice out loud before, but now that he could, a weight lifted off his chest. "I always told Ladybug that I'd love her, spots or not, but if I'm being completely honest… I would have been disappointed if it wasn't Marinette."

Nino whistled low as he and Alya stared at him in surprise. "Shit, dude. I had no idea."

"Me neither," Alya murmured. "What's next for us? Marinette's Support Squad? Ladybug Training School? Miraculous Box Hunters?"

"We do one thing at a time," Adrien said, his mind spinning as he tried to focus on the best way to move forward. Ladybug was the planner of their duo, but he'd have to step up his game until she could join him again. "First up is finding Ladybug's miraculous. If that brings us to the Guardian, great. If not, we do that next. But we need our Ladybug for whenever Hawkmoth decides to send out the next akuma."

"There is no way Marinette is going to fight an akuma in her condition," Alya argued. "The suits make us stronger than usual, but still."

Adrien nodded along with her. He agreed—there was no way in hell his lady was fighting fresh out of the hospital. "Mister Bug can handle the akumas until Marinette gets better. Chat Noir can't purify akumas, so he'll step out of the lime light for the time being."

Plagg flew closer to Adrien's face, poking him in the cheek to get his attention. His eyes were concerned—another rare expression from the kwami. "Ladybugs always need their kittens. You sure you can do it on your own?"

"I won't be on my own," Adrien looked at his two friends, smiling for the first time in what felt like forever. "I've got you two."

"But we don't have our miraculouses," Alya said.

Nino nodded with a hesitant frown. "She never made us permanent holders, so Carapace and Rena Rouge can't help you out, dude."

"Who said anything about Carapace and Rena Rouge?" Adrien asked, leaping forward to pull the two into a group hug. He had never been so grateful for the friendships he'd been allowed to build over the years. He had people to support and people that supported him.

If anyone had taught him that civilians could be just as strong with or without their miraculous, it was Marinette. In order to bring her back to herself, they'd have to borrow her strength, her courage, her enduring positivity. It was the only way they were going to get through this. "Alya and Nino will do just fine for now."

Alya and Nino returned the hug in full force.

The had a plan… an incredibly vague one, but still. They had an idea of what to do next after the entire world flipped upside down.

That had to mean something, right?

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Welcome to chapter 2! Portraying all these characters in varying degrees of pain is difficult but I tried to find a way to make them all stay true to themselves while dealing with this situation.

Updates aren't going to be incredibly regular, considering I'm (slightly) making this up as I go, so just keep an eye out for the next one. Until next time, lovely readers!