"Please, don't leave."

Ladybug turns at her partner's words, the raw desperation in his voice causing her to look back when she really shouldn't; her earrings are beeping urgently, and she knows she doesn't have the time to stay.

But she spins back to face Chat Noir nonetheless. His hand is outstretched towards her, and drops back to his side as she turns to him. Chat's hand tightens around the baton he's holding when he looks at Ladybug, whose eyebrows raise in exasperation at her partner.

"Chat, I'm sorry, but I need to leave before my transformation drops!" Ladybug says, tension steeling her body as she prepares to flee the second the beeps by her ear become more frequent.

Chat Noir scratches the back of his head, smiling awkwardly as he does so.

"I know, it's just - I was thinking, maybe you… don't have to." He shuts his eyes for a second, shoulders tensing before he looks back at Ladybug with a nervous smile. "I just want to know who you are, without the mask. Please."

"Chat-"

"I wouldn't tell anyone," Chat Noir says earnestly, and Ladybug can hear the honesty in his words as he dips forward in a bow. "You can trust me. I promise." He winks at her, and Ladybug lets out a soft huff of amusement, laced with sadness at the fact she knows exactly what she's going to say to him.

They've had this conversation before. Her answer hasn't changed.

Despite her time rapidly running out, Ladybug moves over to Chat Noir, footsteps echoing in the vacant building which is empty but for the two of them. When she reaches her partner, Ladybug meets his gaze. Hope lights up his face at her actions, but the look in her eyes causes his enthusiastic smile to falter, just a bit.

"I know I can," Ladybug replies, and she means it; Chat Noir has his flaws, but he's never been anything but loyal to his word. He would keep her secret to the grave, if he had to.

But she's seen him betray her before, if not by choice, when an arrow pierced his back and turned him against her. Fighting Chat Noir had been difficult, and if she hadn't managed to pull him into a kiss (the memory of which still slips into her mind when she lets her guard down, and Marinette has to take a moment to remind herself that it means nothing. I love Adrien. It meant nothing), Ladybug has to question whether or not her trusted partner would have managed to take her Miraculous.

It had showed Ladybug that neither her nor Chat Noir are immune to Hawkmoth's powers. And knowing each other's identity is a risk too great to take, just in case they fall victim to him again.

So she rests her hands on Chat Noir's shoulders, her ribbons swaying as she shakes her head at his suggestion.

"I trust you with my life, Chat, but it's too dangerous." Ladybug lets go of her partner, whose eyes have shut as he nods his head once in acceptance. Her earrings start to beep faster, and she knows she only has one spot left on them. Ladybug takes a step back.

"I have to go," she says, and begins to move away, her steps breaking into a run as she leaves Chat Noir in the empty room. When she reaches the doorway she pauses, looking back at him.

"Chat?" she calls, and he looks up to meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry," Ladybug says, and runs out of the building to transform in an alleyway before he can respond.

She doesn't see Chat Noir's sad smile as she leaves, or hear the soft sigh he emits as he turns to leave through the back door, careful to avoid anywhere she might be de-transforming.

"It's okay," Chat Noir replies to the girl who's no longer by his side, letting his transformation drop in the back room of the building before slipping away, unnoticed. He knows Ladybug can't hear him, isn't anywhere near him, but he needs to say it anyway.

"I understand."