Author's Note: Dear readers, you and I both owe a huge thank you to my BFF, Airie, for helping this chapter come to life. Please, enjoy! (And reviews are more than welcome!)

Chapter 11

"Do you think it will work?"

"There's only one way to find out. Just hit send."

Alya: Hey girl, u there? Nino and I aren't doing so great and I need a friend.

"Ok, I sent it."

"I guess we have to wait."

Nino and Alya held hands and pretended to watch the news as they tried to ignore Alya's phone. They both jumped about a foot when it made the telltale "ding" of a new text message.

Lila: what's up?

"Yes!" they both gasped. Alya crafted her well-rehearsed text:

Alya: well, I saw on the news that u lost your job (sry!), and he actually sided with stupid Gabriel Agreste! Can u believe it? I'm so mad at him.

Alya: I was like, lila's our friend and we know her. But for some weird reason he's being all horrible to u and I can't get him to shut up

Lila's responses came suddenly. Nino and Alya triumphantly high-fived.

Lila: don't believe a word he says. Gabriel Agreste used me and abandoned me in England. I'm going to sue his pants off

Lila: so glad I have u as a friend

Lila: have u heard from Adrien recently?

Alya: nino won't stop hanging out with him. Says he's going through a hard time.

Lila: did he say anything about me?

Alya: no, I'm not talking to him either

Lila: yeah, I broke up with him when he cheated on me w/ ladybug

"Oh, she's falling for it!" Nino gasped, "ok, let's see what kind of information we can get from her…"

Alya: no, that jerk!

Lila: yeah, he's awful. I don't know what I ever saw in him. And ladybug's even worse. Are u still writing that blog?

Alya: ya, wanna give me an interview about ladybug's fall from grace?

Lila didn't respond for a few minutes. "Dang, we pushed too hard," Nino fretted. Suddenly, Alya's phone started ringing. "Whoops, don't let her know I'm here!" Alya pushed turned it to speaker phone and leaned back on Nino's bed.

"Hey girl," Alya answered expertly, giving Nino a hard look.

"Alya? I… I'd love to give you an interview. Ladybug's not the person everyone thinks she is." Her voice cracked. Was that strain?

Alya gave a little sigh, "I've been noticing that recently too. But I don't have a lot of evidence, and a good reporter always checks her facts."

Lila laughed, "Oh, I can get you ample facts."

"Where? When?"

"That's just the problem; when Gabriel brands dumped me, they abandoned me and I'm stuck in London. Do you think you could… I dunno, I wouldn't want to take advantage of a friendship…"

"What do you need, Lila?"

"Just… a few hundred Euros… once we post your exposé, of course, the LadyBlog will be overrun with sponsorships and publicity, and I'll never forget your decency…"

"Hey, girl, you don't have to beg. I'm not rolling in the dough—babysitting unfortunately doesn't pay very well—but let me see what I can do. Do you have an address?"

"I'll text you the info." Nino's eyes popped and he gave a silent thumbs-up.

"We'll figure out how to get you home, hun, and then we can work on clearing your poor name."

"Thanks, Alya. It's been so hard these last few days. Gabriel Agreste and stupid Nathalie are bent on ruining me… I'm pretty sure it's because I was overtaking Adrien as their top model. I didn't want to; Adrien and I were, as you know, very close, but the boy just wouldn't take modeling seriously. Working with him was so hard sometimes. He's such a diva—so picky and demanding! Just between you and me, the apple didn't fall far from the Agreste tree. But Gabriel insists on spoiling that boy and when they saw how a real model works, they dumped me. Of course, my mother is suing, and as soon as I get back, the world will find out the truth."

"You're so brave!" Alya crooned with a wink to Nino. "I can't believe they'd treat you so bad. Well, I mean, I do, but still. That must have been so hard."

"I'd love to have you as a witness, Alya," she pleaded over the phone.

"I'd be happy to do what I can!"

"I won't forget it. And when I succeed, my friends succeed too. I can't wait to give you your big break."

"Thanks, Lila!"

"I watch out for my friends," she hissed.

Alya and Nino shuddered, but Alya kept her voice light. "Well, I gotta run. Marinette said she had something to talk about—"

"Marinette? You're still hanging out with her?"

"Well, not excessively."

"Alya… I hate to be the one to tell you this, but she's dangerous."

"Uh, what?"

"Yeah, I can't give you all the details right now, but… just be really careful, ok?"

"Uh, ok, Lila, I will be..."

"Good. I'll call you later. Get the cash as soon as you can."

"Ok, Bye then," Alya tried to say, but Lila hung up the phone. Nino and Alya smiled at each other for a moment before both letting out a triumphant wave.

"Lila fell straight into our trap! Who should we tell first?" Alya laughed.

"I think our boy Chat Noir deserves a bit of good news." Alya nodded.

"What's his number?" she asked.

"Nice try. You know I'll never betray his secret."

Her eyes softened and she booped his nose. "That's right. And that's why I love you."

"Perfect timing, Nino!" Adrien welcomed his friend. "I need your help lifting this thing." Adrien was on a step ladder, finishing screwing a heavy-duty-hook into the ceiling next to the spiral staircase that led to his library.

"Dude," he sighed, jogging to his friend's side and helping him hoist the massive punching bag so Adrien could hang it from the hook, "don't you have enough toys in here?"

Adrien laughed. "Marinette's got me hooked," he joked as he tapped the hook hanging from the ceiling. He jumped to the ground gracefully and put the step ladder away.

"I've got good news," Nino offered. Adrien was all ears as Nino recounted the progress Alya and he had made with Lila.

"That's fantastic!" he responded once Nino had finished his story. "We should try to see if we can get her back to Paris. It'll be a lot easier to face her here, on our terms."

"I agree. Were you able to make any headway with the business-side of things?"

Adrien smirked, blew hot air on his fingernails and polished them on his shirt with flair. "Child's play. Next time give me a job fit for a Black Cat." Adrien retrieved his boxing gloves from his desk and tested out his new punching bag. Nino sat down and spun in the computer chair.

"So I guess now we just wait for her to get desperate enough to ask for help."

"Yep, should be easy enough," Adrien puffed through his decimation of the punching bag. "I'll have my miraculous back in no time."

Nino leaned back and put his legs up on the desk. "So whatchya wanna do while we wait?"

Adrien shrugged, "Maybe take Marinette and Alya to the movies?"

Nino raised an eyebrow, but before he could respond, both of Adrien's and Nino's phones buzzed in tandem.

"Oh shoot," Nino gasped, looking at the phone. "AkumaAlert!"

Adrien ripped the glove off his hand and dove for his silver cell phone on the desk. Ladybug answered his call after the first ring. "I can come, just give me three minutes-" he panted, already pulling off his shirt.

"Slow down, Kitty, it's just Monsieur Ramier again; I can handle this."
"Whatever, I'm on my way."

She paused, "Is… Nino there?"

He felt like a knife had just cut through his stomach. "Yeah…"

"Would you bring him with?" Adrien didn't respond. "You know… just as a precaution…" she added as an afterthought.

"Sure," he said blandly.

"Thanks, see you soon," and the line went dead. He slowed down, but kept changing.
"What'd she say?" Nino asked, on the balls of his feet.

"She wants you."

Nino leapt for joy and called, "Wayzz, shell on!" oblivious to the hurt that had settled into Adrien's features.

Chat Noir refused to let Nino carry him, and chose to ride his bike instead. Still, he arrived in time to see Ladybug swinging to the top of the Eiffel Tower to avoid the pigeons that were pelting at her. He watched her motions with envy, but then shook his head and tried to calculate how to get up there. He raced to the bottom level and called an elevator. It felt excruciatingly slow as it clattered upward, and when it finally reached the top, he burst through the door with his muscles braced for battle. But there wasn't a battle raging here. He ran to the fenced in walkway and looked down. Ladybug and Carapace were dueling Mr. Pigeon on his glider built of birds. They were zooming up, down, and around. "You're a few paws short," Hawkmoth jeered through Mr. Pigeon's voice. "Just give me your miraculous now and we can finally end this dreadful charade!"

Chat thought about jumping the fence and trying to help, but then decided that plummeting two hundred and seventy-six meters to the bottom of the Eiffel Tower wouldn't be the most beneficial use of his skills right now. He felt a tug on the back of his jacket and whipped around to see a group of small children huddling on the floor beside him.

"Are you Chat Noir?" the girl who had tugged on his jacket asked. He crouched beside them.

"What are you all doing up here?" he asked quietly.

"We were visiting for a day-care field trip and-" there was a crash from below and the children screamed.

Chat fell to his knees and opened his arms. The kids flocked to him. He wrapped his hands around them. "It's ok, Chat Noir's here. C'mon, I'll get you to safety." He looked around. Taking the glass elevator back down was out of the question-the battle was raging up and down the whole of the Eiffel tower. "Follow me, my little kittens," he said. Crawled on his hands and toes down the walk way. One child started walking, but he shook his head at him playfully, "No, like me," he teased, and the kid got down on his hands and toes. "Meow meow!" he called. All the kids started meowing behind him, crawling along to stay low and out of sight. A thousand or more pigeons zoomed over their heads and his nose tickled, but Chat kept meowing at the kids and they focused on him. Finally, he got them to the end of the walkway and to the door of Gustave Eiffel's office. It was locked. "Cataclysm!" he muttered instinctively. Nothing happened. He looked at his bare right hand and almost cried out in anger, but then remembered the meowing kittens behind him. He knocked and called, "This is Chat Noir, is anyone in there?"

Amazingly, the door cracked open, he was examined by a pair of steely eyes, and then suddenly it flew open with a bang. "Oh!" the adults gasped. They pulled Chat and all the children into the cramped office and locked the door behind them. The four adults hiding in the office hugged the children and checked for injuries. "I thought they'd made it to the bottom with the rest of the kids! Chat, I'm so grateful for you!"

"Just watching out for my kittens," he teased, playfully ruffling the girl who had first reached out to him on the head. "But Milady is waiting for my help, so it's time for me to scat!"

"Chat, what happened to your tail?" he heard as he slipped out to the walkway and closed the door behind him. He ran back to the edge of the walkway and watched as Ladybug caught her lucky charm, Carapace used shell-ter to divide Mr. Pigeon from his birds, and in a few more seconds, they were bumping fists. Chat raced back to the elevator and watched through the glass walls as the sparkling ladybugs set everything aright. By the time he reached the ground, Carapace had already gone to detransform and Ladybug was scanning the crowd of people. Chat walked slowly to his bicycle. He thought he heard the faint beep of her earrings behind him, but when he turned, she wasn't there.

Adrien pulled the mask tighter over his face and took a deep breath. Part of his brain was screaming at him to stop and turn around, but he pushed it away. The anger gripping his chest right now was searing his nerves. He hid his bike behind a bush, then jumped to grab the fire escape. He hurled himself to the third floor, then used a downspout to reach the window ledge.

This isn't me… this is wrong… his brain wouldn't shut up.

This is the only way. She's already moving on, choosing Carapace to replace me. I'm already a lost cause. If I wait any longer, I may never get the Miraculous back!

The first voice got a little firmer. At least call her first! She would want to help!

He sneered at that thought. Like she wanted to this afternoon? She didn't even say hello. But the bitter thoughts couldn't turn in Ladybug's direction. No. He refused to believe even his most desperate fears about her. He resolved that he would win back her trust-and the only way he could see to do that was inside. He bristled slightly, then slipped the window open.

Max was sleeping in a neat bed. Markov was charging in a plug near a desk loaded with computer equipment. Adrien's green-soled feet hit the carpet without noise. He looked around, trying to locate where it was. He opened some dresser drawers and looked under Max's bed, but found nothing. But then, Max snored softly and rolled over, and his hand loosened. He was holding the hexagonal box next to his chest.

Adrien's heart skipped a beat. Max was protecting that miraculous with every ounce of strength he had, even in sleep. But he bit the inside of his lip and shook his head. This was the only way. Adrien carefully lifted Max's fingers and extracted the box. He put the glasses on before he even made it out the window. The brown suit shimmered to life at his command. He could hear Max stirring as he pulled himself to the rooftop and could hear Max's cry of alarm behind him as he called "Voyage!" into the night.

The address Adrien had managed to weasel out of his father's lawyer during the excruciating deposition turned out to be a run-down, seedy looking warehouse, quite similar to the one Chat Noir had followed Lila to in Birmingham. Adrien felt far more fear tonight than he had then-which, he realized, had been less than two weeks ago. It felt like a lifetime. He swallowed hard, called off his transformation, then wordlessly fed Kaalki a carrot stick before tucking the glasses in his pocket so that she couldn't try to talk him out of his plan. He strode forward, through the gate, up to the large building, and pushed the door open.

He heard voices, talking in excited, angry whispers.

"I'll never do it!" he heard a very familiar voice saying.

"You will, or I'll destroy him!"

"Oh Plagg, we could have so much fun!" an unfamiliar, squeaky voice trilled.

"Shut up, Duusu!"

Adrien followed the conversation to the back of the warehouse. He crouched behind a barrel and peeked around it to see Lila hunched on the ground with a thin blanket pulled up over her head. She was rocking back and forth on her heels. "As soon as that idiot girl sends me my money, we're getting out of here and you will do as I say," she was growling. "And if you try to pull another stunt like you did at the airport, Adrien Agreste will be-"

"What? I'll be what?" Adrien spat. She jumped at his voice. But when she bounced to her feet and the flickering light from the one working lightbulb in the room glinted off the ring on her hand, his courage faltered.

"Adrien Agreste." She sneered. "I didn't think you'd have the courage to come face me alone. Or, should I say stupidity."

He clenched his fists. "I don't want to fight you, Lila-not unless you force me."

She laughed the icy laugh that plagued his nightmares. "You really don't get it, do you? Sheesh, I'm so glad I never took you up on that math homework help because you are probably the biggest idiot I've ever met. You've lost. It was your 'I'm-too-good-to-fight' attitude that lost you this-" she lifted her hand to show off the ring.

He clenched his teeth. Plagg and Duusu were hovering by Lila with wide eyes. "But what I said, I meant. You don't have to be a villain. We can help you!"

Lila's eyes narrowed on him. "Are you joking? You're still using that ridiculous line?"

He pulled the glasses out and placed them on the bridge of his nose. "Kaalki, full gallop," he commanded and charged at her. All he could see was red; the anger was overtaking him. He lifted her off her feet and slammed her into the wall of the warehouse. "Give it back!"

She curled her lip back and growled, "Plagg, Claws out."

Adrien heard Plagg's squeal of hate as he was sucked into the ring. He dropped Lila and took a step back as she was transformed… it was his suit, almost exactly, on her body. The boots, the collar, the baton, the jaunty ears tucked in her hair… and the bell at her chin.

"No!" he howled, then bolted at her, slashing his hands through the air in fury. But she jumped and gripped the rafter above her. She hung upside down from her knees and the tail swished behind her. "Take it off! Give it back!"

She laughed. "Here's what we're going to do. You're going to transfer all your trust fund to me. And you're going to give me the horse miraculous to boot. Then, you're going to go back to Paris and tell Ladybug everything that happened here."

He jumped but she evaded his grasp. "Why would I ever do that?"

She extended her baton and it knocked him back to the wall. She did a barrel roll and landed in front of him, pressing the baton to his throat. "Because, Adrien Agreste, Ladybug would be just thrilled to find out who hid under that kitty mask… along with the rest of the world."

He pushed out hard and she flew backwards, but skidded to a halt and tore after him. "I don't care, unmask me if you want, but I'll never help you!"

He threw the horseshoe at her, but he'd never used the weapon before and it missed her by a meter.

"Maybe you won't for Ladybug-" she said, jumping to the rafters again. He jumped up after her, "-but there's another young lady who might be a bit less keen on finding out her piano partner is also her biggest crush. Can you imagine how hard that must be on a girl? Especially if her parents suddenly disintegrated."

The blood drained from Adrien's face. "No-you leave Marinette alone…"

"Now can you understand why you might want to turn over your trust fund to me and give me the horse miraculous?"

"Aaah!" Adrien jumped to her rafter and charged, throwing his fists. Her eyes flew open in shock and she spun the staff, clocking him in the ribs and flinging him to the side. But he'd not spent a year as Chat Noir for nothing-he was able to hold on to the rafter beam and use his momentum to swing around it and land back on his feet. He raced toward her and tried to throw the horseshoe again. She knocked it out of the air with the staff. He managed to knock her to her back and he pounced, holding her down with his right arm and grasping for the ring with the left.

"Cataclysm!" she screamed and the ring was surrounded with a deadly black aura. He recoiled and scrambled backward on the rafter. She crawled forward toward him, her right arm extended with tiny black wisps of energy bubbling from her hand. "You've got nowhere to go. The horse miraculous. Now." She was right on top of him. Her hand reached for his throat. It was centimeters away. There was no escape. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"No. I won't do it. I'd rather die," he whispered.

"Argh!" she yelled and he felt her fingers touch him. He winced… but then realized that it was only her fingers and nothing more. "What?" She screamed, then pressed her hand to his throat twice more. "NO! PLAGG! NO!"

Adrien opened her eyes and she was looking at her hand, which was no longer charged with cataclysm energy, but rather had started glowing a fiery red.

"YOU STUPID CREATURE! GIVE ME THE POWER BACK!" she continued screaming at the ring. Her eyes fixed on Adrien. "That dumb kwami might be able to prevent me from cataclysming you, but he can't hold off forever. Every day I get stronger, and every day I tear down his defenses. Give me the miraculous now and I'll consider letting him retain his voice once he comes out of the ring."

The image of Lila torturing Plagg made Adrien want to vomit. He got to his feet and started hurling punches and kicks again, but she jumped even higher. He followed her, and higher still, until they were a solid three stories off the ground. "You're coming back to Paris with me," Adrien sneered, "and you're going to stand trial for your crimes."

She cackled. "I don't think you realize I've got the upper paw."

He wanted to destroy her. "Voyage!" he growled and pointed the horseshoe underneath them so the portal appeared below the rafters. He jumped at her, but she sunk her claws into the wooden rafter and dropped below it so he barreled into the air. He slipped, fell into the well of light, and watched the portal close around him, separating him from Lila's smirking face.

Max heard a crash on his rooftop and raced to the window. He and Luka jumped out the window and managed to climb the drainpipe to the roof. A very familiar boy in a dark glasses and a brown suit was lying on the rooftop, clutching his ribs and moaning.

"Chat Noir?" Luka asked, running to his side.

"Whoa, Kaalki," he moaned, and the transformation dropped to reveal Chat in his not-Chat attire. "I am such an idiot," he growled at himself.

Max helped him to a sitting position. "Are you hurt?"

"I've...had worse," he grumbled. Then he locked eyes with Luka. "What're you doing here? Oh shoot, did Max call the team?"

"No," Luka said quietly, "just me. He called me when you stole his miraculous. I told him we should figure out what you were trying to do before we called Ladybug."

"So you didn't call Ladybug?"

Luka gave him a knowing look, and suddenly Adrien felt a great deal of gratitude for the level-headed hero. "No. I figured you'd had a rough enough time recently and deserved a second chance."

Adrien lifted an eyebrow at the pun, but didn't laugh. Lila's jab at his humor was still too fresh to find anything funny right now. "I..." he started, feeling terribly stupid, "went after my miraculous."

Luka pursed his lips. "Tell us something we don't know."
Max scoffed, "I didn't know!"

Luka just patted Max on the back softly and gestured for Adrien to continue. "I couldn't stand it, ok? I couldn't stand knowing that she had my miraculous and that she was torturing my kwami and that I just had to sit here and wait for her to come to us. I thought that maybe if I went and got the ring back, that… that…"

"That Ladybug would notice you again. Maybe even fall in love with you for real." Luka's words were spoken softly, but they pierced him in his gut.

He nodded, unable to voice a reply. Finally, his voice returned shakily, "I can't go on watching Ladybug save the day knowing that I should be by her side. She's moved on, but I can't."

Max started to say something, but Luka silenced him with a soft look.

"Do you really think Ladybug has moved on?"

Chat Noir tried to give a hot, angry response, but the words caught in his throat. "No… and that's the worst part of it. I know she's doing everything she can to get my miraculous back for me. She's putting herself at risk because of my stupidity."

"So you went to get the miraculous because you wanted to spare her."

"Yes."

"Chat?" Max spoke very softly.

"What?"

"That's about the most heroic thing you've ever done."

Lila: I thought I said cash!

Alya: my uncle works for StarTrain and got us a really great deal, I thought you'd be happy!

Lila: But this ticket is for tomorrow!

Lila: I just got an audition! I can't leave tomorrow!

Alya: sorry, i knew how eager you were to come home so i thought this would be easier.

Lila: sometimes u r super dense.

Lila: but I'm thankful u tried

Alya: is your mom able to pick you up at the station? If not, can I come get you? I'm dying to see my bestie!

Lila didn't respond immediately. Marinette was pacing. "What if she doesn't take the ticket? What if she tries to bolt again? We need to get her back here to Paris," she was fretting under her breath.

"It's going to be ok, she'll come. She's pretty desperate," Alya reminded her. "Also, she's no criminal mastermind. Chat Noir's ensured that she has no other resources—I still have no idea how he managed to steal all the Gabriel brand records regarding her termination! But once he shut down the credit card she'd stolen, she's been asking for money non-stop. She'll be coming back. Where else could she go?"

"She could stay in London, I suppose—"

"And if she does, what's our plan?" Alya spoke softly in a rhythmically soothing voice. Marinette calmed down at once.

"We'll go to her."

"That's right. Of course it would be better if we could face her here, on our turf, but if she wants to keep making this difficult, then…"

"We'll show her what difficult means."

Alya's phone dinged. The two girls scrambled to get the new text message open.

Lila: just u? yah, I'd love a ride

Alya beamed. "See? I told you!"

Ladybug's eyes flashed from one person to the next and tried to hold back the tears. She'd asked more of them than seemed fair, and yet they kept coming back, kept giving their all. "Are there any other questions?" Everyone simply smiled quietly. "I know—trust me, I know that the best laid plans sometimes go awry-" (Chat Noir coughed a word that sounded like 'Reflekdoll!' and earned a playful glare from Ladybug, who forged forward with her pep talk) "but we've never had this amount of information before. If we all stick to our posts, and keep lines of communication open, I feel confident we'll be victorious. And, if all else fails, just pull a Classic Chat Noir."

Everyone nodded in understanding except for Chat, who looked baffled, "A what?" They laughed as Ladybug held her fist out and everyone crowded in. "No seriously, what's a Classic Chat Noir?"

"Pound it!"

"Isn't anyone going to tell me what a Classic Chat Noir is?" The team cleaned up as they murmured words of excitement and resolution to each other.

"Now, get on home and rest up—it's going to be a big day tomorrow!" Ladybug waved goodbye to the team members.

"Please tell me! Ryuko! Viperion! What's a Classic Chat Noir?"

"Talk to your kwamis and bring plenty of snacks! Have a good afternoon!"

"Wait, King Monkey, c'mon, take pity on this kitty…"

"You're awesome! Be safe as you go home—remember, different routes…"

Chat Noir chased after Carapace and Rena Rouge briefly with his hands clasped in a desperate plea. He was reaching after them when Ladybug placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Chat—" she said quietly. He spun around with a smile plastered to his face.

"We've got such a great plan for tomorrow, Milady! We're going to get my miraculous back, I can feel it." He sounded hollow, like a windup toy.

She cocked her head to one side and looked deeply into those green, masked eyes.

"Do you still have a little time?"

He shook the surprise from his face and checked his watch. "Uh yeah… my dad has been a lot more lenient since I scared him to death by coming home via superhero. I've got a couple hours still."

She smiled a crooked little smile. "Wanna hang out?"

His jaw slackened slightly. All he could manage was a nod.

"Great. Just give me a second to change."

Again he nodded. She ran into the next room of their 'secret hideout' for the day—an empty elementary school that they'd managed to commandeer by popping open a window. Adrien, all dressed up in his Chat suit, started sweating profusely. Ladybug wanted to hang out with him—no patrol, no agenda, just a hang-out. He didn't know what to say or do, so he just walked around aimlessly.

There was a mirror on the wall and he caught his reflection in it. His eyes were bloodshot. His skin was paler than normal and his hair was greasy. The emptiness of the last twelve days-sixteen thousand, nine hundred and four minutes-were pressing on him. After finally accepting that his miraculous was gone and chasing after Lila himself was a bad idea, Adrien had tried to stay busy. But his Father's generous leniency-apparently to make up for the disastrous forced trip to London-had turned into an unexpected curse, as he was given hours upon hours of free time to berate himself. Nino, Ladybug, the team, and even Marinette had all volunteered to stay with him and keep him company, but inevitably, night would come, the lights would fade, and his brain would scream at him until his thoughts turned into nightmares.

"Chat, are you alright?" Ladybug's gentle voice said behind him. He looked down and realized he'd stopped pacing and instead was clinging to the edge of a teacher's desk, gasping for air.

He shook his head and let his hair fall over his forehead. "Yes, fine, never better," he laughed in a much-too-high voice.

Her hand traced a line from his shoulder to the small of his back and made him shiver from head to toe. "No, you're not. C'mon, let's go somewhere nicer." She wrapped her hand around his bicep but didn't pull. He took a deep breath and followed her out the window and to a quiet, meandering pathway. They walked, arm-in-arm, for quite a while in silence. He was lost in his thoughts, not trusting himself to look her in the eye—knowing he was only avoiding the panic attack of failure by a tiny margin as it was.

Finally, she found a secluded park bench that was quite hidden from view and guided him to sit with her. "Chat," she started, "talk to me."

"Wh-what do you want me to say?"

"Whatever it is you're feeling."

He laughed bitterly. "You don't want to hear that."

"I really do."

He turned away from her. "You… deserve better."

"Deserve better? Than what?"

"Me. This. No miraculous. No Chat Noir."

"Would you let me be the judge of that?"

He dropped his face in his hands, finally letting out the anger and frustration that had settled in his chest. "I'm totally useless, Ladybug! I can't do anything without my ring. I let her steal it from me, and now you're gearing up to confront Lila and you all have your powers and purpose and I… can't do anything! You've got this great plan and everyone has their place except me. I've failed you as your partner. I've… failed."

It was quiet for a few minutes. Chat felt Ladybug's arms rustle and he snuck a peek to see her hands holding her silver cellphone. She was opening up a group text.

"What are you doing?" he muttered, feeling completely miserable.

"Calling Viperion. Maybe Carapace too. I need them to come beat up the guy who's insulting my partner and best friend."

He felt his lips curve into a smile. He reached out and took the phone from her and his fingers brushed against hers-which, he realized with a start, were bare. He'd never seen Ladybug's bare hands. His eyes darted up her arms, which were clad in a flowing, black satin kimono-style tunic. The fabric was vaguely familiar. He turned to get a better look at her. She had red and black spotted leggings, and her mask was much more artistic than the straightforward domino mask she typically wore as Ladybug. This one was pointed at the edges and had intricate embroidery all across it. From this distance, Chat could see the patterns of tiny ladybugs clustered together to form larger spots on the red velvet background. Her hair was adorned with a ladybug clip.

He couldn't take his eyes off her. "You're… you're not…"

She laughed. "I had someone else who wanted to talk to you, who couldn't do so if I was transformed."

His eyebrow peaked and Ladybug opened a small black handbag and a tiny red kwami flew out. Chat Noir suddenly found Tikki nuzzling his cheek.

"Whoa!" he gasped, recoiling slightly and blushing. But Tikki didn't care. "Tikki! Hey!"

"Oh Chat Noir," the tiny creature crooned.

Chat patted her back slightly and she settled onto Ladybug's shoulder.

Tikki took a deep breath through her nose and her eyes popped open. "You're still carrying camembert!"

Chat Noir absentmindedly rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I hardly feel like myself without a fresh supply of camembert on hand…"

"Plagg misses you," Tikki said.

Chat's eyebrows flew to his hairline. "You… you've talked to him?"

"Only indirectly. He's awfully far away, and bluprbp-whoops, I mean, his new master is getting better at controlling him. He has been able to send me a couple of messages, though."

"Still, that's something! Is he ok? What's she doing to him?" The words fell out of Chat's mouth in a torrent.

Tikki smiled and flew to pat Chat's hand. "He's a tough old thing; trust me, he's had his fair share of difficult masters and he's always managed to come back to me. He can't tell me exactly where he is or what is happening. But he did say he misses you and something about his mini-fridge?" Chat's eyes popped in surprise and he burst out laughing. Ladybug smiled quietly at the interaction. "He wants to come home," Tikki added softly. "He's going to come home."

"Thanks, Tikki." She nodded enthusiastically, and took this moment as her time to exit. She flew back to the little purse and gave Ladybug and Chat some privacy.

They leaned into the bench, but now Chat had a smile on his face and his shoulders seemed a little higher. "Chat," Ladybug whispered, "You're not worthless."

He took a deep breath but didn't respond.

"You've always been so strong and skilled. I know that doesn't come exclusively from the miraculous. There's got to be some extensive training in there somewhere."

He shrugged.

"And we both know that Master Fu chose both of us on criteria other than just our ability to leap tall buildings."

His face was softening.

"But do you know what makes you Chat Noir, above all else?"

"What?"

She reached into her bag and pulled out a wrapped gift. A child had clearly scrawled 'To Chat Noir, Love, the Kittens' on a homemade tag.

"You should've seen them, Chat. They tracked me down via the Ladyblog, and when I told them that you weren't available, all the kids were crying. They all got on their hands and knees and started meowing. They love you, Chat." He pulled the paper off the gift and found a long leather belt inside, decorated with the fingerprints that had been given glittery ears and whiskers. He stood and wrapped it around his waist. It clashed horribly with the exquisite suit Marinette had made for him, but he didn't care. Putting on the tail was like wrapping himself in Paris' love. "They all love you, Chat," Ladybug continued. "Your kindness and compassion, your indomitable spirit, your humor, and the way you see the best in everyone… That's what really makes you Chat Noir."

He admired the kids' handiwork, and then looked up into Ladybug's stunning blue eyes. "Ladybug, I have to tell you something. A few days ago, I stole Max's miraculous and-"

She stood and pressed a finger to his lips. "I know, Chat. I knew before you'd even decided to do it."
"What? And you didn't try to stop me?"

"When will you realize what I mean when I say that I trust you? You needed to face her, you needed to try. I just hope this next time, you'll let me fight by your side."

He looked down at her soft features, the curve of her lips and jaw, the lusciousness of her hair and skin, and those rich, glorious bluebell eyes. Her hand caressed his cheek. She wrapped her arms around his back and nuzzled her face into his chest. He melted into her hug.