Marinette was feeling better than she had in years. Although they were tourists, and she knew they wouldn't be in Paris forever it felt good to have friends again. It felt good to not have to worry about Lila at every turn or keeping her emotions buried from Hawkmoth. The only thing that concerned her was learning about vigilantes in her city. She'd avoided going out for a few nights after first spotting them hoping they were simply here on vacation and restless, but when she'd gone back to patrolling, they'd each tried to seek her out.

She'd managed to give them each the slip never letting them get to close. She'd carried her identity close to her heart ever since Master Fu had passed on Guardianship to her. Chat Noir was benched after his transformation into Chat Blanc. He didn't remember much, or her identity, but he knew he'd been compromised, and with that knowledge he'd slowly withdrawn more into himself. Anytime she tried to encourage him to come back even just for patrols. He refused saying he wasn't a hero; by giving into Hawkmoth he'd forfeited the title of hero. Chat had gone so far as to try and give his miraculous back, but she'd refused to take it, saying that it was safer for the moment with him. In the end she promised to look for a new Chat Noir, but she never could bring herself to see anyone as a potential black cat. All the temporary holders had lost their positions when Hawkmoth had used Chloe to expose everyone, and her heart still hadn't healed from that betrayal.

"You should leave soon if you don't want to keep Chat waiting." Tikki softly spoke from where she was nestled into a pile of scrap fabric. Marinette quickly glanced up from her project and sighed. This wasn't a conversation she was looking forward too. Although maybe it would finally convince Chat that his help really was needed. She called for her transformation and was headed off toward The Eiffel Tower. Tikki was right, Chat was already atop the tower, legs hanging over the end as he looked out over the city.

"Hey Chat, thanks for meeting me tonight." She plopped herself down next to him and left herself think back to old times where they'd sit and talk for hours, about anything they could without sharing their identities.

"Of course, M'lady, I saw some interesting news earlier, apparently some people have seen Batman around a few times." He gave her a smile that made her heart clench. His smile was rare nowadays, often he wore a fake smile that would've fooled anyone else, but she'd seen the same smile on her own face too many times to ever think it was real.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, they've offered their help to us. I think we could do it, Tikki and I talked it over, we both think it's a good idea, especially if they can help from outside Paris. We could- "

Chat cut her off, "Ladybug, if you think it's a good idea, I'll support you. Have you given anymore thought to who would be able to take over as the Black Cat?"

"I don't want another Black Cat." She spoke softly watching as he fiddled with his ring.

"I know bugaboo." Without any ceremony he pulled the ring off his finger, leaving Adrien Agreste in his spot. Plagg floated silently to the side looking more depressed than she'd ever seen the small cat god. "I can't be a hero anymore. I've been a terrible friend, left someone I deeply care about on their own, and I've even betrayed you, my best friend, all because I couldn't control my emotions. I don't know your identity even if I got akumatized now I wouldn't be able to tell Hawkmoth anything. I don't have the strength to keep fighting him." He slid his hand into hers forcing her to wrap her fingers around the silver ring.

"Please don't leave me alone." Her voice was smaller than she intended. She couldn't do this alone. How many times had she had this nightmare? Now she was truly going to be alone. Even Chat was abandoning her.

"You're not alone, if the Bat's have offered their help take it. You don't need me holding you back. You've always been stronger than any of the rest of us. You know Chloe's sorry. She's always avoided you after she was akumatized, but she's changed a lot. She just doesn't know how to apologize. I know it's not the same as hearing it from her, but I figured at least now you know."

Marinette sat staring at the ring in her hands letting the tears drip down silently. She felt numb, like no emotion rested under the surface. "Please take it back, keeping being Chat Noir, I'm not strong enough to do this alone."

She felt a small vibration on her neck as she felt Plagg nuzzle himself as close as possible. Adrien pulled her into a tight hug but didn't respond. There was no changing his mind, and now that she knew it was him, her first love, there was no way she could give it back. He'd abandoned her in class, an unfortunate pawn in the game Lila played. He was tangled up in her web held there in shackles by his father, unable to escape and help her. She wouldn't be able to look at him the same. Instead they sat there in silence as she calmed her breathing and pushed all her feelings into a neat little box inside her heart, held under lock and key, to keep Hawkmoth from sensing her.

She wasn't sure how long they sat there, but it was long enough that she'd begun to feel the wind nipping at her through her suit. It was at that point she pulled back, wiped her tears, and smiled, "You'll always be my partner, even if you don't want to be Chat Noir anymore."

She helped him back to his house, allowed him to say his final goodbyes to Plagg, kissed his cheek and waving before darting off with ring still held tightly in her hand. She fell through her skylight onto her bed and dropped the transformation as she curled up and stared numb to everything around her. She heard Tikki gently guide Plagg away and pulled a blanket over her chosen before disappearing herself. Marinette stared at her pink walls until her eyes burned. Tomorrow she'd see Adrien at school and pretend that everything was fine. She'd walk past her parents and pretend that their words hadn't hurt her. She'd meet with Nightwing and accept his help and pretend that she felt strong enough to keep going. At this point she was a master at pretending.

Morning came to quickly, and before her alarm had managed to wake her, she dragged herself into the shower and sat under the hot water trying to keep the chill from settling in her bones. She softly ushed Tikki and Plagg into her bag and made her way out the door. She didn't even stop to say goodbye to her parents, she didn't want to look at them and see the disappointment that never seemed to leave their faces. She wandered over to her favorite coffee shop, asking for twice her usual amount of caffeine, and made her way to a nearby jewelry shop that she'd visited a few times for her commissions. The woman who owned the shop was kind and helped made her ideas for accessories into reality. She quickly bought a chain necklace that was long enough to be hidden beneath her shirt and looped Plagg's ring onto it before clipping it around her neck. It weighed heavily against her chest.

Ping.

Her phone gave a soft chime and see looked down to see 'The Favorite Brother' displayed on her phone screen. She opened the message and for the first time today smiled. As alone as she felt the last few days were like finally getting to breath after being underwater for too long.

Tonight, she'd meet with Nightwing, and start working even harder towards catching Hawkmoth. Soon she'd be able to unlock all the emotions in her heart, and slowly start feeling them once she's finally defeated him. She was determined not to let everyone's faith in her be in vein.