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Her
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Pastures broke into hamlets and trees popped up along what Ladybug was sure was the south end of the Seine river. They had passed the famous Fontainebleau palace, its old stone uprooted before it popped out of existence.
"I'm a little nervous about what Paris is going to look like when we get there," Chat Noir had said when a forest sprung up in its place, quickly taking over the manicured grounds.
The akuma had attacked the palace from afar. They couldn't find her, just her ever growing trail of trees.
Ladybug had had it.
"I am so done," she growled, swinging among the newly growing trees along the river. One sprouted up from the center of the water.
"It's like she's dropping breadcrumbs," said Chat Noir, ears twitching as he catapulted ahead of her. He extended his staff, balancing atop of it on all fours to get a better look. "We're just about to hit the 'burbs."
"She's leading us to Hawkmoth," Ladybug muttered.
"And Mayura," Chat Noir echoed darkly as his baton let him back down to ground level. "I've got a bad feeling about all these trees. Quaint though."
"The trees?" Ladybug asked, hearing his voice go flat. It wasn't something she got to hear often, those moments he let down his guard (the humor or the anger) and something sad poked through.
"The town. Being out of the city. I wouldn't mind living out here someday."
"You wouldn't miss Paris?" Ladybug couldn't imagine living anywhere else. She loved the city, the bakery, the plants on her balcony and the busy streets filled with people.
"I'd miss the lights," he said. "My friends, of course, and the food. The Eiffel tower. You."
She flushed and threw her yo-yo at a nearby tree, letting it connect, but before she swung away she gave him a long look. "So why would you want to leave?"
He gave a shrug. "I don't know. Sometimes I just want things to be slower, you know? Not quieter, definitely not quieter. Just less."
"And here I thought you lived for the action," she teased, although her voice had gone quiet by the end. For the boy underneath the mask, the one akumatized in another timeline.
"Oh, never fear, this cat is still all about defending his territory. Speaking of..." He gave her a salute and expanded his baton. "We've got a mouse that's getting a bit too far in the maze."
"Maybe she smells the cheese you left out."
"Ha!"
Ladybug watched as Chat Noir catapulted away from her. Without the tail, he seemed less comical…the lines in his back more tense. And as just a girl she wished she could know more, to help him, but she wasn't just anything. She was Ladybug.
She thought about Master Fu and all the responsibility on their shoulders, and felt young.
The closer they got to Paris, the more dense the forest became, which was the exact opposite of normal. Pieces of asphalt crumbled above newly sprung tree roots. Cars were upturned from low growing limbs. Everything was green. They only knew where they were through her yo-yo's GPS (which finally worked, thank goodness).
In a commune just outside the city limits, an emergency shelter had been erected in the form of a giant tent. People were lined up, waiting to enter, homeless. When they caught sight of Ladybug and Chat Noir, they erupted in cheers.
A reporter waved them down and they gave a short explanation to where they had been and asked everyone to stay indoors, to which they were told: Paris had little indoors left.
"Is anyone missing here?" Ladybug had asked.
"We had a few school children that couldn't find their way home when the akuma first hit our area. But they've all been accounted for now."
Chat Noir shared a look with Ladybug, cat ears twitching. "So not one missing person?"
"Paris has located a number of theirs as well," said the reporter, "but I imagine they are going to take a little longer to find due to the nature of the city right now. At least we can be thankful that this akuma is mostly attacking buildings rather than the people."
They won't find Marinette, Ladybug thought. Were Chat Noir and her really the only ones teleported somewhere else?
She took a deep breath. "We need to end this ASAP."
"Sap," snorted Chat Noir.
She ignored him.
By the time they arrived in Paris, they couldn't be sure they had arrived. The monuments of the city were gone, every bit of history wiped out by green. Vines crawled over cars and up the sides of the few buildings that remained. Grass sprung through cracked pavement, uplifted by the roots of newly grown trees. Tents were erected on every street corner and people yelled and hollered as they went by.
Ladybug wanted to tell them to return to their homes for safety, but there were no homes to return to.
"Welcome to the jungle," muttered Chat Noir.
Ladybug sighed as they perched together at the top of a tree. "Ready to rough it again?"
Chat Noir gave a choking cough.
She flipped open her yo-yo to find a map and looked at him out of the side of her eye, watching him turn red. "You okay?"
"Mmhm." He coughed a few more times and his face started to return to its normal color. "Yep. Just oaked a little."
She rolled her eyes with a smile. "At least you didn't bark."
"I wish I could've caught that on camera," Chat Noir said fondly.
"My puke?"
"Your pun." He looked all googly eyed and it was so cute she almost hit him.
Changing the subject, Ladybug grumbled, "I really don't like akumas that don't attack us."
"Hm." Chat Noir's ears twitched and Ladybug found she sorely missed the tail.
His hand cupped around his mouth. "Don't you want our miraculous?!" He shouted into the city-forest. "They're tree for the taking!"
She glared at him.
"What?" He shrugged. "Just helping moo-ve things along."
"That is not going to work without the cows."
"Worth a shot." His ears twitched as he surveyed the city, one hand tucked behind his back, ready to grab his weapon in a moment's notice. His face went quiet, still and concentrated. And for too long all Ladybug could do was watch him.
Until something came between a row of buildings at his side.
"Vines!" she shouted.
A tangle of greenery reached Chat Noir just as she did. Grasping his shoulders they both tumbled out of the tree and landed on the broken pavement beneath. Ladybug could feel the wind fly out of Chat Noir's lungs beneath her and her head whipped backwards to see the vines wrap around the limb they had been perched on and twist, slowly stopping their growth.
She rolled off Chat's stomach and crouched defensively, spinning her yo-yo in front of her.
He sprung to his feet, coughing a bit. "Did I ever tell you you take my breath away?"
"Not now, Kitty."
"Sorry." A grim smile slipped over his mouth. "Old habits die hard, LB."
"I don't—" She faltered and chopped a newly incoming vine in half with her spinning yo-yo string. "I'm not—it's the timing, Chat!"
The grim look on his face flashed into something much sweeter as he smacked another vine down with his staff.
"I'll keep that in vine."
At that, the vines seemed to stop growing, withering at their feet. Ladybug somersaulted behind a vehicle with Chat Noir on her heels.
"That pun was awful," she muttered.
He shrugged and looked borderline giddy. "Well, I can't be a ten all the time." He peeked over the hood of the car, searching, cat ears erect.
"Who ever told you that you were a ten?" Ladybug teased, looking around the back bumper.
The alleyway was filled with vegetation, vines crept up the sides of the buildings and brush sprung between cracks in the pavement. She couldn't make out the akuma.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a mischievous grin creep onto Chat Noir's face.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" He squatted back down to her level to give her a wink.
"Not really," she lied, feeling heat rush into her chest. Focus, she told herself. She tore her eyes away from Chat Noir to watch the alley. "What is she waiting for?"
"Us to let down our guard, I'm assuming."
Focus. Focus. Focus.
Ladybug shook away the suspicions popping into the back of her head. Now was not the time. They had to defeat the akuma… and Hawkmoth.
"He's leading us in," she said suddenly.
"I thought we already guessed that. Wait, he? You mean Hawkmoth. So her going rogue is out then?"
"I think…" Her mind raced and dread fluttered into her chest. "I think he's trying to figure out who we are."
Chat Noir's ears went back, eyes glued to the alley. Nothing more happened.
"Great," he muttered. "Weed us out, watch the news for missing persons. Narrow it down. Perfect."
"Not everyone will make the news," Ladybug said quickly, remembering how quickly Chat Noir had noticed Marinette. "Just families that come forward. And, I mean, it makes sense we'd see a report on Adrien, he's famous."
Chat Noir gave a loud snort. "For all we know he's just lost in that giant mansion of his," he said. "Maybe Hawkmoth has other connections. He could be a dirty cop for all we know."
"We need to stop the akuma before he figures us out."
"Ladybug," Chat Noir's voice went grave. "If he…we need to talk when this is over."
She knew exactly what he meant and their conversation in the bakery came back.
"Master Fu knew who we were. The same rules don't apply anymore, do they?"
Her heart pounded, remembering cold blue eyes and her real name on Chat Blanc's lips.
"Okay," she choked out. "We will."
Chat Noir nudged her shoulder with the side of his fist, green eyes still reflecting the dark alley ahead. "We've got this, LB."
Her heart fluttered in so many ways.
"Always," she whispered.
When they took the offensive down the alley, it was silent. Greenery had sprung everywhere: in the street, through broken windows, in the mortar of the bricks. The buildings looked like enormous chia pets.
"I should ask her for some gardening tips," Chat Noir mused when they came to a dead end. "Anytime I try to have a houseplant, it dies."
"You're probably over or under watering it." The yo-yo twitched in Ladybug's hand. "Let's try to find a better position."
Chat Noir snorted again, but whatever pun he'd imagined, he kept to himself this time.
They vaulted to the top of the building, crouching low on the roof. The heating system whirred noisily, attempting to work through the tangle of vines surrounding it.
The sky had begun to darken as evening approached and clouds moved in low overhead.
"I hope that's not rain," said Chat, bristling a little.
Ladybug usually liked the rain, but just the mention of it shot a pang through her heart. It reminded her of Adrien and thinking of him reminded her of Chat and wine and tears in cold blue...
"Ladybug watch out!"
The building beside them burst open, like it had been attacked from the inside, sending an entire wall hurtling above her.
She heard Chat Noir call on his cataclysm as he slammed her out of the way. Brick and mortar turned to dust over her head and before she had managed to regain her composure a tree sprung from where the building once stood, shooting parallel to the earth.
The trunk burst into Chat Noir's chest, pummelling him through the air so quickly that by the time she had shouted his name, he was nearly a block away.
His strangled shout was followed by a deep sickening sound that almost wasn't human.
Ladybug soared after him on her yo-yo string, not sure if the noises that followed were coming from her, him or the buildings decaying in the tree's path.
She searched for Treehugger, waiting for her to attack while they were shaken.
But she didn't.
Ladybug was left to find Chat Noir gasping for air, caught between the sharp needles of an evergreen and the wall of a building. She staggered to a stop, heart caught in her throat.
Bricks crumbled at his back from the impact as the tree expanded. The branches still grew, twisting and winding into a barrier between them. The wood of the trunk shredded beneath Chat's claws as he scratched into it in desperation, eyes wide and face purpling as it continued to crush him.
His name came out on air through Ladybug's lips, her vocal cords suddenly not working. Panic fled over her as her eyes darted for a solution, mind suddenly blank.
This was when the akuma would attack again. She had to act. Now. Get the akuma, purify it, fix him.
But the akuma was nowhere and after a moment, Ladybug could no longer bear to hear Chat Noir's terrible wheezing.
"Hang on, Kitty." She managed to choke out, trying her best to sound calm. "I've got you." She was about to call her lucky charm when the branches ceased their growth and shuddered to a pause.
Icy wind swept from the dark clouds above.
Desperate, Ladybug searched, eyes darting back and forth for something to free him. A piece of shrapnel lit up in her vision, sharp and heavy, lying in the debris from the collision and, with only the strength Tikki lended, was she able to chop through the tree in a few good strokes.
She pried away the branches, shoving her feet into the brick for support until the wood snapped and cracked just enough for Chat Noir to fall free.
He collapsed, eyes rolling into the back of his head, air wheezing terribly into his lungs. Ladybug whipped away from him, spinning her yo-yo defensively as she waited for the akuma to attack.
"Chat?" she called over her shoulder.
For a long time, he only coughed and gasped and then he went silent. He didn't move and neither did the akuma.
"Chat Noir!" Her voice cracked. "Please answer me!"
When nothing happened she finally turned all her attention toward him. He lied face forward, slumped over pieces of wood and brick. She collapsed on her knees beside him and heaved him into her arms.
His eyes seemed to roll back to life, head leaning into her chest. He sucked in a sharp breath.
"Owwwwwww."
Her heart missed a few beats. "You stupid cat!" she hissed, unable to find her own breath. "You scared me."
He squeaked out something that sounded remotely like an apology.
Ladybug scooped him over her shoulder, clinging tight to the staff strapped to his back to get him steady. Hisses and wheezes of pain shot out of him so oddly that she nearly lost any sense of calm. She shot out her yo-yo and took off, praying the akuma wouldn't follow and, if it did, that she would end this. Now.
"What is she waiting for?" she cried out loud, hearing her own voice go shrill. Her arm tightened around Chat Noir's back. "Chat, I swear if you're not okay."
His ring beeped in response.
"No, no no no," she groaned.
They took off, flying through the forest that was now Paris. Her eyes searched for a safe place, for the akuma, for anything.
"I'm okay," Chat Noir gasped into her back.
Ladybug could feel a strange shudder in each of his breaths.
"You are not," she managed to choke out. "You are not okay—you—it's, it's my fault. I was distracted, I—"
"I can fight," he wheezed.
"Shut up," she said. "You're going to transform back. You're out for this one, Chat. Do you understand me?"
A cough shuddered over her shoulder and a weird bubbling sound came up his throat.
"Chat."
"I think," he swallowed and gasped, "I might bark."
"Hold it in!"
"Ughhhhhh."
It felt like an eternity before she had put enough distance between them and the place the akuma attacked. Chat Noir had gone strangely quiet (maybe because he was trying not to puke) and he didn't protest about being carried, which just affirmed the fact that he was very not okay. His ring gave another beep.
"I have to hide you," she muttered, feeling tears bite at her eyes.
This is what Hawkmoth wanted. To root them out. Root. Ha! She swore thinking about puns made her eyes sting more. She kept thinking of the look in Chat's eyes as he scrambled to breathe.
"Just… just leave me… I'll find a place," he choked out, squirming over her arm. His claws dug into her back, trying to lift himself off.
"I'm getting you somewhere safe."
"I'll transform back."
"It's fine, you've still got the other mask. Let me just find somewhere." She swallowed. "I told you not to be the fall guy today."
"Can't"—he coughed—"help myself."
Her eyes scanned the street and finally found it.
Beneath freshly sprung greenery there was a manhole cover, only half of it visible. Checking for any sign of the akuma, she lowered them carefully down into the brush, setting Chat Noir on the pavement so she could open it. Out of the corner of her eye she could see him struggle to rise to his knees, trying to hide the way his breath went oddly in and out of him.
"Stop squirming," she spat, wishing he had his tail to grab him by. She lifted his arms around her neck and scooped him bridal style. His ring chimed in her ear.
"If this didn't"—he winced and gasped—"hurt so bad, I'd think I'd gone to heaven."
"Yeah, you're fine," she muttered.
They dropped into the hole and Ladybug immediately recognized the sewer as the same one they had retreated to when they had battled Desperada.
"Déjà vu," Chat Noir said dryly. His eyes clenched shut.
"Let's get you to the locker room," said Ladybug, glancing over her shoulder. The lights in the tunnels flickered and deep roots had broken through the ceiling, reaching for the water below.
Nothing followed.
She hurried down the walkway and heard Chat Noir wince with each stride, even though he didn't complain.
"Here," she said, hitting her back against the door to the locker room, busting inside. She settled them on the ground. Chat Noir tried to sit up, but he hissed so loudly with pain that she wouldn't let him go.
"Ladybug," he gasped.
"I'm not hearing anything about how you want to fight, Cha—"
Her words sucked inward, the world pulled through her throat and into her lungs and everything ended.
Chat Noir was looking at her with nothing on but slim-fit dark-wash jeans, the hoodie she'd made, and Adrien Agreste's face.
