After their impromptu heart to heart earlier that night as Ladybug and Adrien, Shadowcat couldn't help those old feelings toward Ladybug start to creep into his heart again. He checked himself mentally a couple times as he made his way across the roof tops. She had been confiding in Adrien, not Chat Noir or Shadowcat. There had been a connection between them, and he couldn't deny the hold she still seemed to have over him. They each could relate to each other in the pressure they felt to live up to expectations, sure...but all that pressure and responsibility of being the guardian is what had eroded the already sensitive subject of identities and relationship status between them. He could respect that she needed to focus on what was important. She had the weight of the world on her shoulders...he just wished that she felt he was worthy of shouldering it along with her.
This was his chance! He had a plan! He would start fresh with her, as someone worthy as her equal. He would be cool, collected, and undemanding. A force to be reckoned with! No more jokes, or come-ons. Surely with a strong partner that didn't demand her extra attention and babysitting, she would forget about the old him...the one who had disappointed her and let her handle the weight of the miraculous' for so long. She had important information she was planning on sharing with him tonight! She was willing to trust him with something big! Maybe a mission, maybe some insight on Hawkmoth, or maybe even an issue she was having with another weilder. He would help her and prove she was better off without Chat Noir!
Ladybug was already there, checking her yoyo, glancing down at a coil notebook, and looking a bit like she had been giving herself a pep-talk when Shadowcat arrived.
"What's the big emergency?" Shadowcat crossed his arms, leaning back against the steel garter, watching her closely.
"The big emergency is that I have a jewelry obsessed, crazed maniac on the loose who is likely to send out an army of butterflies at any moment, as soon as he picks up on the fact that I've got a green partner!" Ladybug said, flipping the notebook in her hand open. We've got a lot of work to do!"
"I thought you actually called me about something serious, and now you want me to do drills. No thanks, I think I'll pass," Shadowcat turned up his nose feeling disappointment setting in. She still felt like she couldn't trust him with more.
"Well Chat Noir was an amazing fighter, and had a background in lots of fighting styles like karate, capoeira, kungfu, and fencing. What kind of training have you had?"
"Enough," Shadowcat responded uncooperatively.
"Did you guys like go to the same dojo or something? Maybe have the same sensei?" Ladybug probed.
Shadowcat stared at her calculatingly, "You seem really interested in my...credentials. I thought I proved myself yesterday with that big diamond monster."
"Just trying to figure out if I need to start from square one here," Ladybug flipped her notebook page and moved on. "Chat Noir actually was really great when it came to dealing with kids. Do you have any experience with kids...like maybe a brother or something?" Ladybug looked over the notebook at him.
"I'd say my interactions with other kids growing up was limited," Shadowcat crossed his arms across his chest.
"So Chat Noir and you aren't related or something? He's not like your younger brother?" Ladybug questioned.
"Wouldn't that be a identity-revealing kind of thing?" Shadowcat narrowed his eyes. "What would make you think we were related?"
"Oh I don't know...you kindda have the same nose...not that you really look all that similar...but Chat Noir is kind of goofy and care-free. You have that sort of mature, aloof older brother vibe," Ladybug jotted a note down in her notebook.
"What are you writing down? I didn't answer your question," Shadowcat protested.
"Just observations," Ladybug hummed.
"Another important quality for a cat weilder is intelligence. Chat Noir was always quick to pick things up, and was especially good with physics and calculous. You don't happen to have taken some of those kinds of classes in your school have you?" Ladybug looked up at him for a response.
"Okay, I get it, I get it, you're testing me. Well we can wrap up the pop quiz here. I can assure you that I have no interest in revealing identities. You keep your secrets and I'll keep mine. That eliminates the risk of Hawk Moth using us against each other."
Ladybug snapped the notebook shut, and set her mouth in a straight line. "You really did get the memo on the identity rule, huh. Great." Her tone made it sound like she was more ticked than pleased.
So now for a big question. "Why did Chat Noir choose you?"
"Why did Chat Noir get chosen in the first place?" Shadowcat responded with a question in kind.
"That's not a answer!" Ladybug growled.
"No, but it is a valid question. Answer my question, and it will give you the answer to your own," Shadowcat tapped his baton.
"That is not how this works!" Ladybug clenched her hands at her side.
"Oh, it isn't?" Shadowcat challenged stepping forward boldly in front of her. "And how exactly does this 'partnership' work?"
"I need someone I can count on. Someone I can trust. Someone who will fight with me, rather than against me!" Ladybug stepped up standing toe to toe with his muscular charcoal chest. They were so close it forced her to crane her neck to look up at him. "I don't know you. I don't know this version of my Chat Noir, but you are a pale comparison to the original. You don't even have a bell!"
"I'm no house-pet," Shadowcat smiled down at her cockily.
"That's clear, you've got no manners," Ladybug pouted.
"Oh, and Chat Noir was your knight in shinning armor?!" Shadowcat teased.
"Usually, yes!" she shot back.
"I thought he was more of the 'jester' of the group," he said.
"Where is he? Why are you here in his place?" Ladybug demanded her voice rising.
"So what if Chat Noir is gone for good?! He was getting in your way right. Now I'm here as the new and improved version to take his place, case closed. You should be happy," Shadowcat stuck his lip out defiantly.
"This is your last chance. What happened to Chat Noir!" her eyes narrowed.
"Pft...last chance," Shadowcat scoffed with a smirk. "Call Sass, cuz this is your second chance for better partner. Maybe this time the black cat will be match for you."
From the Eiffel tower elevator Rena Vertive ducked back into her hiding place, and put her orange and white flute to her lips.
"So you want to do this the hard way," Ladybug gritted her teeth.
"Simmer down Spots," Shadowcat said over his shoulder. " I don't feel like dealing with old baggage. Let's just move on, and defend Paris when there is actually an problem..." He frooze when he saw her hands move up towards her ears. "La...Ladybug what are you doing?"
"If Chat Noir isn't coming back, maybe I'll just give up my miraculous too!" she declared.
"What?!"
"Why not? He just walked away without a word and left me behind," Ladybug's voice broke.
"You cant' do that!" Shaowcat burst. "Paris needs you...the world needs you!"
"And I need him!" Ladybug shot back, leaving Shadowcat to fall back on his heels in shock. He was only jolted back to reality when Ladybug grabbed hold of her earrings. As fast as lightning his hand shot up and caught her hands.
"Don't!" Shadowcat said intensely, holding her wrist in a vice-grip.
"I was never supposed to be both Ladybug and Guardian anyway. This way I will just be Guardian, and find a new Ladybug to be your partner," her eyes bore into his intensely and she twisted out of his hold. Her hand went up and she plucked her first earring from her ear. He tried to stop her, regaining a grip on her hands again, but as he held her the red and black suit was already dissolving, revealing the ivory skin on her arm.
Shdowcat let go, jumping back from her as if he had just touched a hot element, and buried his head in his hands. "Stop! If you reveal yourself to me we'll never be able to be partners again!"
"You've only just met me, and I haven't exactly rolled out the welcome mat," Ladybug paused midway to removing her final earring. "Why would you care if thee was a new Ladybug, instead of being stuck with me?"
"You're the reason I put on this ring! I don't want to do this with anyone else!" Shadowcat's voice rose, clamping his eyes even tighter beneath his hands.
"Really?" Ladybug asked, genuinely surprised. "If I was just Guardian though, we could know each other's identities. I wouldn't have to keep secrets from you like I did with the old Chat Noir," she tempted, watching him closely.
Shadowcat paused and considered this. Wasn't that truly what he wanted? It could change everything between them. It would change everything between them!
"No!" Shadowcat yelled, startling himself, as much as Ladybug.
"No?" Ladybug took a step back.
"That's right! No! As much as I want to know you. As much as I want you to trust me with everything, I still can't let you give up being Ladybug! You're the only one who cold ever be the true Ladybug to me!"
"There have been countless other 'Ladybugs' through history," Ladybug reminded him.
"None like you!" I know it must feel so impossible some times to balance being both Guardian and Ladybug, but there is no one else I want to have at my side."
There was silence between them. They stood frozen before each other, crippled by the tension of what might come next.
"That...is how I feel about Chat Noir," Ladybug finally whispered.
Shadowcat gulped. "Well..maybe I can see if I can track him down..."
In one swift movement Shadowcat was hit with the full force of Ladybug's embrace. She threw her arms around him, knocking the wind out of him and making his eyes pop open. She was fully Ladybug again, both earrings restored to their rightful place.
He sighed in relief, and brought his arms around her, enjoying the way she held him so tightly.
"Thank you!" she whispered, emotional tears springing to her eyes.
"Well, I can't let the world loose Ladybug my first week on the job can I?!" Shadowcat mumbled against the impossible softness of her hair.
"I have to admit, I'm pretty impressed," Ladybug smiled against his shoulder.
From across the Eiffel Tower beams Rena Vertive whispered, "Trixx, Let's rest," and her transformation dropped away like the curtain at the end of a magician's show. "I don't know how she does it, but even though that didn't go according to plan, some how it still worked!" Alya smiled at Trixx offering him his favorite treat.
"Our Guardian took more of a risk than usual," Trixx commented taking a thoughtful bite.
"It wasn't our illusion of Ladybug loosing her transformation that made the difference, that just turned up the pressure. Ladybug just had to tell him what Chat Noir meant to her to see what this new Shadowcat was made of," Alya said, sneaking another peek at the two.
"Now we just have to see which cat wins out," Trixx commented, joining his chosen in watching the Cat and the Ladybug.
"You mean which one Ladybug chooses?" Alya asked.
"No," Trixx said, keeping his eye especially on the cat weilder, "which one Chat Noir chooses."
ooooooo
I really hope you're enjoying my story! I've been so sick lately and felt miserable for the last week. I have really tried to put a lot into this story to get my mind off things. It really gives me a boost when I see that readers are getting into what I've put my heart into. If you'd like to see this story keep going please favorite, follow, or even send a review about the parts you've enjoyed. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my story so far!
