Author's Notes: Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir is an ongoing series by creator Thomas Astruc and produced by Zagtoon, Method Animation, Toei Animation, and more. Please support the official properties.

Public Enemy

Chapter 7: What Falls

"Is it better to be feared or respected? I say, is it too much to ask for both?"

-Anthony 'Tony' Stark, The Iron Man

As soon as school ended, Marinette quietly made her way out. Alya planned to walk her home, worried that her friend wouldn't make the trip home safe by herself. At least she tried to until they found Adrien waiting for them at the school entrance, "Hey Marinette!"

The sound of her name had her jumping again, this time out of surprise that Adrien was calling out to her with a smile. She felt Alya nudge her forward from behind and the boy asked, "I was wondering if you'd like a ride home? You've been jumpy all day so I thought maybe you shouldn't be walking home by yourself."

"That sounds like a good idea, Adrien. I was planning on walking her but I think a ride would do her some good," Alya answered for her, once again pushing Marinette forward. She forced a smile. Normally, Marinette would've jumped this chance but…not like this. She wanted to hurry home as fast as possible. She already had a plan but…no, maybe she should take the ride? When else would a chance like this come up?

She nodded quietly and Adrien smiled, "Okay. My driver's waiting."

There was something about seeing his smile that calmed her, even if she felt a little selfish and guilty. She was practically taking advantage of his kindness like this. That wasn't her. Was it? Right now, she wasn't sure of anything about herself.

She tried to focus on the thought that maybe her mom was happy for her right now. But part of her knew her mom didn't feel anything, even after everything that happened. When they got to his car, his bodyguard was holding the door open for him with usual stern demeanor. He raised an eyebrow upon seeing her and grunted his disapproval. However, Adrien offered his explanation, "My friend just needs a ride home. It's on the way to my next photo shoot so we'll still get there on time in case that's what you're worried about."

The driver looked at her with a grim frown, weighing the wrath of Adrien's father versus doing him a small favor. After what she was sure was a torturous mental battle, he nodded and let her in. Adrien guided her in, silently mouthing a thanks to his driver before closing the door. They rode in silence for the first part of the drive, trying her best to stay calm as Adrien kept shooting looks her way. It seemed like he wanted to tell her something, but wasn't quite sure how to say it.

And the fact he wasn't saying anything made it more awkward. Any other time, she would've wanted to talk to him. But she couldn't bring the words out - her thoughts still racing between her plans for later and her mother. After the longest time, he finally began, "Marinette, I understand what you're going through. I think I get it better than anyone else. My mom…well, she's not around. I'm sure you figured that out. I don't know if she's alive or dead. If she's okay or not. And I'm sorry. For what you're going through."

He paused again. Looking out his car window anxiously before stammering out, "I'm your friend, Marinette. And I want you to know that I'll be here for you if you need to talk."

She remembered he mentioned his mother went missing some time ago. She was so wrapped up in her own mother's passing that she'd forgotten all about how Adrien must've gone through something similar. Was still going through it - because he didn't know what happened to his mother. Was it better to have some hope that his mother could still be alive, or worse because that hope was meaningless if she already was. It was terrible. She wouldn't wish this kind of sadness or despair on anyone. But this wasn't the time to dwell on that. The silence lingered a little longer she tried to think of what to say and in the end she could only manage, "Thank you. For everything."

They stopped at her home and she let herself out quietly, unsure of what else she could've said but happy she got to spend at least a little time with Adrien. But there wasn't time for that now, and she hurried upstairs to her room and made sure to lock the trapdoor behind her. Once she was sure she was alone, she opened up her purse and Tikki flew out, "I know what you're thinking Marinette. Please don't do it. Please. Just don't."

"I have to Tikki. If anything like what happened to me happened to anyone else, I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I need to do this," she answered definitively, retrieving the phone from her bedside table he shouting, "Tikki! Spots on!"

As soon as Adrien was done with his photo shoot for the day, he thought to go out and find Ladybug again. No sooner after he transformed and took off running through the Parisian rooftops, he received a message on his staff. From Ladybug. His heart raced as he listened, "Chat. I'm sorry I haven't been around. Meet me at the Eiffel Tower."

Help with what? He adjusted his staff in his hands and used it to pole vault to the next roof, wondering just what his lady had in mind. He knew he would give her a piece of his when he found her. He found her atop the tower, the place where they would usually begin and end their patrols as they protected the city. And he found her with an unfamiliar look he hadn't quite seen on her before, "Hi Chat. It's been a while. How are you?"

"Me? What's going on with you? You dropped a guy off the roof and vanished! What happened? Where were you?"" he answered quickly, realizing he'd never spoken to her like this.

Her expression didn't change, continuing to survey the city solemnly as she answered, "I'm sorry I haven't been keeping in touch Chat. I needed some time alone. But I'm here now."

That didn't really answer his question, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head, "It's personal."

"Is that why you dropped a guy off a roof?" he asked, still trying to prod her in the hopes of getting an answer out of her. She didn't answer this time and that just bothered him more. He knew she had her secrets - especially when it came to her identity and information about the Miraculouses. But dropping a man off the roof? The least she could do is talk to him about it, "M'lady, you know you can talk to me if anything's bothering you."

"I'm fine, Chat," she insisted. That was enough for him, "No, you're not! M'lady, you don't show up for days after dropping a guy off the roof, and now that you're back, you won't tell me where you've been or what's going on! We're partners, aren't we? So talk to me! Tell me what's wrong!"

She turned away from him, continuing to look down at the city. She was avoiding looking at him, and that was worrying. Then she asked, "Do you think we do enough to protect the people of Paris?"

That question struck him. After all, she wasn't her usual cheery self, "Well, we are superheroes.. We deevilize Akumas and help the people of Paris on the regular. And we do it all on school nights! Uh, not that we go to school or anything. Not that it's a bad thing. What I'm trying to say is I think we do a lot!"

"But is it enough?" she asked again, putting a lot of emphasis on the last word, "People get robbed all the time in Paris. People get hurt all the time. People die! We're superheroes aren't we? Shouldn't we do more than just fight super villains and help people cross the street?"

"Well, we did catch all the animals after they got out of the zoo that one time. And that time we stopped the run away bus. And then there was that time-," he stopped listing things when her frown persisted. That wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. She repeated, "Is that enough?"

He didn't know how to answer that. He thought it was enough but she didn't seem to think so. What had come over her? She readied her yo-yo and added, "I don't think it is."

"Where are you going?" He asked, worried for his lady and suspecting she was about to engage in another bout of violence. She spun her yo-yo and threw it out towards a nearby building, "To visit a friend."

Adrien swallowed a growing lump in his throat. He couldn't let her go off on her own. Not with the way she was. She might hurt herself. Or, more realistically, someone. He took a few steps back to give himself a running start and leapt into the air after her. They ran from rooftop to rooftop, silhouetted by the setting sun until they reached a familiar apartment block. The home of one of his classmates, Max Kanté. He could see Max through his bedroom window, tinkering on a phone with his robot friend connected to it through a series of cables. Now he was more alarmed - she wasn't thinking of throwing him off a roof too, was she?

Before he could even ask, she leapt off the rooftop and proceeded towards the window, landing with all the grace and skill of a trained acrobat. Unfortunately, their landing was far from quiet as Ladybug tapped on his window and Max leapt our of his chair in a panic. She gestured at him to open the window, something that he hesitated with. Whether it was fear or respect, Adrien wasn't sure. What he was sure of was that Max had never looked at her like that.

"Ladybug? Chat Noir? What're you doing here?" he asked once he finally found the nerve to open the window and let them in. Before she even set her foot on the floor, she produced a cellphone from...where did she keep that? An old flip phone that was bigger than anything either of them owned. She offered it to Max, "I need your help tracing a number on this phone."

"Phone? Tracing? What do you need that for?" He asked curiously.

"I think Paris is in danger and this phone is our only lead on finding out who and why," she answered. Max turned the phone over in his hand, "I'd be happy to help but what kind of danger?"

"I'm not sure yet," Ladybug answered, crossing her arms, "But the sooner we find out, the sooner we can stop it."

"It just so happens that I was working on such a project and this would make an excellent test," he declared, bringing the phone to his computer and connecting the two devices, "Markov! Launch the tracer!"

"Already on it Max!" the bot declared, humming along as the machines worked in tandem, "Hm…interesting. The number is a vine."

"What's a vine?" Adrien leaned in closer to inspect the screen but was unable to make sense of anything flashing across the screen. Just random numbers and lines tracing themselves across the map. The robot answered, "A vine is a masking technique to prevent tracing. Trace this number and it branches to ten other numbers. Trace those numbers and you get more. Whoever is on the other end of this line really doesn't want to be found."

"Where did you get this?" Max asked Ladybug. Once again, she didn't answer the question. She stared at the screen intently before asking, "Can you break the vine and find the source?"

"No, but I can give you the phone's ping history - a list of all the cell towers it connected to and their history," Markov answered, continuing to hum before it stated, "It looks like it spent a lot of time around two different locations: a cell tower in a residential area-"

"Probably where the guy lived," Ladybug said.

"-and a cell tower in the warehouse district."

"That's where we're going," Ladybug said, disconnecting the phone and heading back for the window. Adrien grabbed her hand to stop her, "M'lady, shouldn't we tell the police about this? Or…y'know, bring back up?"

"We're superheroes. We can handle it," she insisted, pulling her hand free. She wasn't listening and he called her name, "Ladybug!"

"WHAT!?" she snapped back. She was angry. She'd been frustrated with him before, but always in a friendly and playful manner. Never angry. And that look he gave her - the same look his dad would give him if he were being disobedient. He steeled himself, "We're not going to drop people off rooftops are we?"

She didn't answer and continued out the window, "If you don't want to come, you don't have to."

He watched her swing off into the darkening Paris. Behind him, Max asked, "What's going on with her? First the roof, now this. Is she okay?"

"I don't know," he answered, "Thanks for your help Max. I'd better go with her before she gets herself hurt."