One last thing, one of you passed my challenge! Good job!

(:)

This is a...fairly angst-y chapter. Prior to what I usually do, I tried to cut back on the angst and bloody scenes in this book compared to pretty much any other one I have posted. (Save the occasional fluffy ones.) So...I guess I got the angst out of my system with this chapter.

You have been warned!

(:)

1994

-Alec Benjamin

Marinette remembered that school day vividly, she always would. It was the first time she had survived the entire day sitting next to Adrien, forcing herself not to excessively giggle almost whenever she looked at him.

There was more to distract her from schoolwork that day then just sitting next to him, however. Almost everyone in class mumbled about Chat Blanc, talking about how terrible he was.

It looked like Marinette and Adrien were the only ones to stand up for him.

Even Rena Rouge and Carapace were against him. Marinette thought, looking up at the two teenagers behind her. The sidekicks. Our friends. They just shoved him aside…like they don't even know him. Like she hadn't joked around with him, like Nino hadn't protected him. Maybe Chloe…

Marinette glanced over to Chloe, who was shaking her finger at Sabrina.

She's probably against him. She concluded, crossing her arms. Her father made a speech yesterday about how horrid Chat has become, and she was right behind him the entire time. Not even speaking up. Besides, she's done being Queen Bee anyway. It's too dangerous.

After school, which had seemed to last an eternity, Marinette left school as quickly as she could, but still managed to be one of the last people out of the building, due to her forgetful memory and the lack of backpack in hand.

As she passed Nino and Alya, the latter grumbled under her breath, shaking her head. "Great."

"What is it?" Marinette paused in her tracks, tilting her head at Alya as she made her way over.

"Chat Noir's out and about. Near the Louvre." Alya growled, obviously furious by the male-hero's appearance.

Marinette felt her heart squeeze, relief sweeping over her. She had been afraid, after all, that Chat Noir wouldn't show up for a long time because of the negative response the city had given him.

"I don't understand why he even wants to show his face. We've made it clear as day that we don't welcome him as a hero anymore. Maybe we never should have in the first place." Alya hissed, exchanging an annoyed look with Nino.

Marinette didn't have time to argue, already running towards the nearest ally. As she rushed for the opening, she opened her purse part way.

The moment she was secure and away from prying eyes, Tikki shot out of her purse, blue eyes alight with a mix of relief and worry. "You've got to hurry, Marinette! He may not stay there for long with all the mobs." The Kwami warned, trembling gently.

"Right! Tikki; spots on!" Marinette didn't waste time with dramatic poses, hardly giving Tikki three seconds to transform her before her yo-yo was wrapping around gargoyles and chimneys, drawing her close and closer to the Louvre with each passing second.

She heard the mob yelling before she saw them.

"Get out of here, you mangy cat!"

"Yeah! Go back into the hole you came from!"

"You should just leave!"

"Boo! How can we trust you?"

"You betrayed us!"

Ladybug missed Chat Noir on her first swing over, keeping her eyes peeled for a dark suit and blond hair. It was no wonder she took no notice of who the crowd was gathered around, the civilians shouting and throwing tomatoes at the figure they had managed to catch. Somehow.

Once Ladybug did a retake, she realized, with dread, that, with the help of rotten tomatoes and other fruits, Chat Noir's hair had been bleached red, and his suit resembled that of Anti-Bug's, red dots littering it.

Ladybug landed beside him, hardly noticed by any of the crowd except for the few civilians facing the place she landed in.

Chat Noir was crouching, cat ears dropped against his scalp, eyes downcast as he allowed the crowd to ridicule him, a few of the onlookers cursing him and spitting on the ground nearest him.

Ladybug felt no mercy for the citizens, her yo-yo coming undone from her string belt, the weapon seeming to heat up with her fury. While the metaphor was not true, a simple swipe of the weapon caused all people closest to Chat Noir fell back with a cry of alarm, gazing at the heroine as she stepped over Chat, glaring daggers down at the mob.

It was like looking at an angel, except, this angel took the form of a demon. Her eyes pierced their souls, her frown caused them to slink away, and her yo-yo brought fear to those who recognized its power.

Chat Noir only stared up at her with awe and confusion, as if he believed that she, too, had been against him.

"You." She began, tone blazing with fury. "Are all. Absolute. Idiots!"

She announced, the last word pronounced with a dramatic wave of her yo-yo, the weapon making a dangerous arc over the heads of the onlookers. Her voice raised, also, but everyone's focus remained on her key to defeating the akuma.

"Maybe you al-" Ladybug paused, looking over her shoulder at the crowd of people outside of her regular line of sight. "All of you. Move up front, where I can see you. Chat, for heaven's sake, get up off the ground."

Chat obeyed, as did the hundred some people she had commanded. Once everyone had moved into their new spots, Ladybug restarted her angry rant. "Maybe you'd all prefer it if Chat Noir didn't protect you. Maybe you'd all rather that Chat Noir stop going out of his way to help and serve you. Maybe you'd all be happier if he never existed."

The crowd didn't deny it.

"Well, guess what? I can't do my job without him. Without him, in fact, I fail. And if I fail, this city falls. I'm not exaggerating. I'm being serious. Chat Noir is my partner. So, what if he had a bad day?"

"He killed my family!"

"He killed me!"

"I watched my daughter die because of him!"

"He's a monster, Ladybug!"

"You're so hateful and ungrateful, all of you!" Ladybug growled, backing off as she glared at the onlookers. "Sometimes it's hard for me to remember why we're protecting you."

"Well, we don't want his protection anymore!"

"Chose another Chat Noir!"

"Down with Chat Noir!"

Ladybug frowned, closing her eyes in annoyance.

Once the shouting had cleared up a bit, she began shouting at them again.

She spent a few more minutes chastising the mob, then turned her attention to the empty spot behind her, Chat Noir having long since retreated.

Ladybug inwardly groaned, using her yo-yo to propel herself several blocks away from the still-infuriated mob. Then, she called Chat Noir, praying he would pick up. He did, after the third ring, his delay telling her he really didn't want to talk. However, she ignored this fact.

Before he could get a word in, Ladybug charged in. "You shouldn't listen to what people think of you, Chat. Those dorks were wrong. Everyone who criticizes you for being akumatized is wrong. They're idiots."

Chat Noir spoke, his voice sounding chocked up, like he wanted to cry. "No, they're…they're right. They know what they're talking about, Ladybug." The lack of a pet name shocked Ladybug, making her worry even more for her partner. "I killed a hecka lot of people. I…I whipped out half of the city's population, Ladybug. They deserve to hate me."

"You're not the only akuma to kill people!" Ladybug protested, anger rising in her voice. "Think of Befana, Style Queen, Frighningale, Collector! They all killed people, too."

"It's different. They weren't heroes. They...Ladybug. It's betrayal. Betrayal is one of the things that hurts the most. It breaks trust, family, friends. I just betrayed an entire city." Chat Noir gulped, before finishing with, "I think it's best for you to stay away from me."

"No way." Ladybug refused, anger rising. "Chat, tell me where you are, or I'll go to you myself."

Hesitation. "Okay. Notre Dame. It's still barren of anybody as they're still repairing it, so there aren't very many prying eyes. Fifteen minutes?"

"Ten." Ladybug argued, growling with fury.

"Fine. Ten." Chat Noir sighed, sounding doubtful. "Ten minutes. Yeah. I'll…I'll see you then." Chat Noir hung up on the last word, once more surprising Ladybug. Usually he let her hang up first, just in case she had a last-minute announcement or something else of the sort.

Ladybug sighed to herself, sitting down in the middle of the roof. Since she could make the journey in five minutes, she decided to detransform and talk to Tikki for a bit, and probably check her phones for messages..

"Spot off." She hummed, reaching for where her purse would appear.

The moment the green purse jacket appeared, she pulled out her phone and a macaroon, feeding Tikki while she checked her texts.

Her phone hummed to life, flashing new messages up at her.

Juleka had sent her a text, asking if she wanted to head over to the goth girl's boat/house the next day for a Kitty Section rehearsal, since they still needed a camera man. After a quick confirmation of her free schedule, Marinette agreed, before checking the other messages, both of them normal questions from her mother and Alya.

Marinette responded, then put away her phone, staring at Tikki thoughtfully.

"What is it, Marinette?" Tikki asked after a moment, raising her head to look at Marinette as well.

"I'm worried about Chat Noir."

"I am, too." Tikki mused, her antennas twitching. "Things like this – Chat Noirs being shunned for mistakes – happen all the time in the past. All of them added very badly."

"Like…death badly?"

"No! Well…" Tikki paused, sighing. "There's been many Chat Noirs in the past, and it is hard for me to recall all of them. I think…Death has been the result three times. The first, Black Wrath, gave up his ring and died three days later when he couldn't protect himself against the sorcery cast by Morgon Le Fay. The second was Queen Noir, who, upon realizing just how serious her mistake was, killed herself."

"And-and the third?"

"He was beaten to death by a mob. While he was transformed, no less." Tikki admitted, what shoulders she had sagging. "Plagg loved that kid. I think he was Plagg's favorite until your Chat Noir."

"Do you think these mobs will beat Chat Noir to death?" Ladybug asked, straightening in horror.

"Mobs in Paris aren't that friendly…" Tikki finished up her macaroon, shaking her head. "I bet they would. Ladybug, you're going to need to protect Chat Noir as best as you can until this all blows over. I don't think Plagg could handle it if his chosen died while being Chat Noir again…"

"Right. I better head over right now to check up on him." Marinette straightened, uttering the familiar code to don her superhero uniform.

A flash of red later, and Ladybug stood on the roof, rushing for Notre Dame.

Only a few months ago, the monument had encountered a serious fire, which toppled over the tower and had destroyed much of the structure. While the damage hadn't been as terrible as previously believed, part of it was only a wooden frame, all new wood and filled with extra safety measures.

Chat Noir was crouched on the top of the wooden skeleton when she arrived, frantically scrubbing at the red tomato juice smeared across his suit and hair, trying to get it all off.

He was bandaged up all over; she could even see the creases of some underneath his suit, crisscrossing his chest. She briefly wondered how he managed to get them there by himself but shook it off. He had an icepack wrapped securely to his skull, his left forehead. On top of it all, he had two metal bars holding his right leg straight, obviously from a twisted leg or something else of the sort. She hoped it wasn't broken.

Ladybug approached, pulling a peel from his back and laying it in the disposal pile Chat Noir had started.

Only a few tomatoes were still on Chat, and only a few lay in the pile. Obviously, before they met up, he had removed most of them elsewhere.

"Hey." She greeted him, slipping down beside him.

"Hey." Chat responded, growling in frustration as he smeared more tomato juice across his suit once more.

"Need some help?" Ladybug inquired, easily wiping away the red off of his arm after he dully nodded. "Okay. First things first; are you okay?"

Chat Noir blankly nodded. "Yes…? I…I don't know. I guess."

"Can't blame you. If I were you, it'd be hard to be okay right now." Ladybug admitted before shifting to a very serious topic. "Let's talk about how idiotic people are."

Chat didn't even get a chance to nod; Ladybug was on a role.

"People can get pretty stupid and judgmental no matter what you do. Maybe they don't necessarily believe you were in the wrong, but they'll do whatever everyone else does. They'll try to impress all their peers. But it doesn't matter how people treat you, what they believe. The point is, if you find the people who respect you no matter what happens, you find the people who love you. The people who truly care for you. As long as there's still people who believe in you, then nothing else matters."

Chat straightened slightly. "A girl in class stood up for my superhero-persona today."

"And a boy in mine did the same." Ladybug agreed, beaming. "See? As long as people still care for you, mistakes or no, then everything is okay."

Chat Noir sat in silence for a bit, then stood up, brushing her off. "Just because a few people still care doesn't mean I should still be around."

"What? But-" Ladybug objected, raising her head to stare at him.

"Let me finish." Chat Noir's eyes flickered to the side, his shoulders tensing. "This whole thing has been really difficult for me, and really hard to manage. I think…I think the best thing for me to do is go into hiding."

Ladybug choked on air, spluttering for a bit before gathering herself together. "Chat! Yo-you can't be serious!"

"I am." Chat Noir said, deadly serious. "Not forever, but until this whole thing blows over. Until everyone can let me come outside as Chat and not feel the urge to chuck tomatoes at me. Hopefully, it'll only take two or three weeks. Once the next big news comes out, people will forget this ever happened. I mean, I did kill a lot of people, and that's not something you can just forget. But maybe they'll be ready to forgive." Chat Noir hesitated again, then quietly continued. "I killed people I knew and love without care or mercy. I can't forget what I've done, but…maybe, I can forgive myself, as well the people of Pairs."

"What am I going to do when you're gone?" Ladybug asked, managing to peel off the last bit of tomato remains off of him. "I—you're my partner, and I can't do this without you. I wasn't lying earlier. Every time I try, I end up barely surviving. Or I need to recruit help. How am I going to manage three weeks without you?"

"Simple. It's just like you said; recruit help. Rena Rouge pairs up with you nicely, and so does Carapace. Heck, people believed I was being replaced the moment he showed up! You could even partner with Queen Bee."

"I am not partnering up with them." Ladybug hissed, eyes glazing over with fury. "They've been…been… well, they're on the side of the city. All of them. Traitors."

"Oh. Then…I don't' know what you're going to do." Chat Noir admitted, for the first time doubting his plan to leave his position as Chat Noir.

"Recruit someone new! That's what I'm going to do!" Ladybug snapped her fingers, and Chat Noir internally groaned. If Ladybug kept on recruiting a new hero every month, he would soon lose track of them all. He was comforted, somewhat, as Ladybug continued. "Someone I trust almost as much as I trust you, someone who doesn't hold your akumatization against you. Someone brave, loyal, who I know you'd love."

"Really?" Chat Noir perked up, delighted to know his lady would be taken care of until he got back. "Who?"

"You know I can't tell you that." Ladybug chided playfully, smirking. Prior to her first idea of Adrien, she had settled on Luka for a temporary partner. If she chose Adrien, she most likely wouldn't be able to focus on the mission at hand, after all. Besides, Luka agreed with her in most things and actually was a perfect backup while Chat Noir was gone.

While Chat Noir was gone…

Her face crippled. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"I'm going to miss you, too." Chat Noir breathed, heart skipping a beat as Ladybug put her hand over his.

"I've…I've never told you how much you mean to me. You're my best friend, and I don't want you to be hurt in any way, be it mentally, emotionally, or physically." Ladybug told him, keeping her eyes lowered. "You're my partner, my sword and my shield. I don't want you to be replaced or feel like you are being replaced. You're too precious to me."

"I know." Chat Noir purred, joy sweeping over him. "I can't tell you how much that means to me. But it means a lot. So…thank you, M'lady."

Ladybug nodded. It took a moment, but she realized with surprise that he had returned to calling her by his nickname for her. It was a shock, but not an unwelcome one. In fact, the heroine was filled with relief. In a few weeks, he'd return. And they'd be a duo again. But until then…