Beep.

In the darkness and shadows, Ladybug hesitated.

After her Ladybugs had chased through the city, repairing all the damage they could, they had escaped down here together. Today's battle might have ended, but the war was far from over.

Her hand tightened, threading her fingers between his claws and tugging him along beside her in the dwindling light.

She wasn't about to leave him alone. Not after what they had both just endured.

Beep.

"Ladybug?" Chat Noir's voice echoed in the tunnels around them.

Recklessly, she sped onward, rushing through maze-like tunnel after tunnel, searching for the words that proved elusive.

I'm sorry just didn't seem like enough.

She bit her lip, magic nearly spent. She was all out of answers…all out of solutions.

"I'm sorry," he murmured.

She shook her head. "Don't be."

His meaning hadn't really been clear. Not until the electric green light of his transformation rapidly washed over him.

Ladybug looked away.

Only… not quickly enough.

Worry clouded his all-too familiar features as the soft glow raced past, indelibly etched that image into her own memory.

Her heart leapt up in her chest, the rush of words she always stumbled over were mired at her throat. Leaving her breathless.

Her hands braced on either side of Adrien's face.

He looked shocked by the action at first, but he didn't back away. Not even a centimetre.

Beep.

A sharp inhale slipped past her lips, as she stared up at him in stunned disbelief. It was the only thing that silenced the thrill of panic in her veins. "Adrien?"

He gazed back at her, ever-hopeful. His heart very much on a heartrendingly familiar pair of Gabriel-branded sleeves.

Beep.

A slow, secret smile curved Ladybug's lips as her fingertips gently ghosted over his cheekbones. "You really are…?"

His eyes widened in silent question, ungloved fingers lifting to match hers. Willing her fingers to linger. "My Lady?"

She beamed back at him, tears already welling in her eyes.

There was so much now that made such awful sense…

"Are you still with me?" His voice was quieter, far more vulnerable that the boisterous partner who kept her on her toes.

Ladybug swallowed heavily, bravely keeping her eyes on him as the periphery of her vision was bathed in pink.

As the gloves fades from existence, Marinette's palms now pressed to his warm skin. Her fingertips growing wet with his tears.

"For as long as you need me." She swore.

Adrien tilted his head, leaning in to her fingertips.

Though her muscles were starting to ache, she didn't dare to move. Not until she was sure he understood that she meant every word.