That night before patrol Chat made sure he looked his best. He combed through his hair and washed his face. He smiled at the mirror. Tonight was the night he'd be free. He'd be completely vulnerable and give Ladybug his whole heart and if she didn't accept it he'd be okay with it. Tomorrow he'd tell Marinette the truth to get it off his chest and move on. He just hoped it wouldn't affect their friendship too much. He took a single rose from the bushes outside his house. This wouldn't be the first time he had given her a rose but this time it meant more than just a simple gesture. It represented his heart. He glided through the air like a jet. He was practically flying he was going so fast. He hopped on the designated building the second Ladybug's foot reached the top. The moonlight lit her silhouette beautifully. She looked like an angel. Her smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen but for some reason it seemed familiar. He walked up to her and took her hand. He knelt down and presented the rose to her.
"M'lady, you look paw-sitively purrfect," he meowed. She laughed and took the rose gratefully.
"Thanks kitty." She didn't try to put down his love gesture. This gave Chat a new burst of confidence. He was now only 95% sure she'd reject him instead of the 100% he felt earlier.
"M'lady, I've got to tell you something."
"Okay Kitty. Shoot."
"I know you don't love me but tonight I've decided to put my whole heart forward and get the feelings off my chest so I can move on..." Ladybug looked sad. She knew she'd be breaking her best friends heart tonight.
"Chat plea..."
"No Ladybug I've got to get this off my chest or I'll never be able to start my search for the real love of my life. Since the day I've met you I've been hopelessly in love with you. Who wouldn't be? You're perfect in every way. Brave, beautiful, smart, and the most responsible and loyal person I've ever met. You put your job as a hero above everything but somehow you also manage to follow your heart through it all and find balance between being strong minded and doing what's right for the people you love and care for. You're a natural born leader and know how to get us out of every situation we've been put in. Ladybug, you're perfect and I love you." They we're both crying at this point. She knelt down and hugged him.
"Chat, you're perfect too. I love you like I've known you my entire life but we're just going to happen romantically. Our identities are too important and I love someone else. I hope you understand. You're my best friend and I'd never want to lose you ever."
"I know," he choked out through his sobs. He didn't expect to cry this much and he definitely didn't expect Ladybug to. They didn't let go for dozens of minutes. Chat suddenly fell back out of Ladybugs arms and landed on his back. He had fainted. This wouldn't have been such a huge problem if his head wasn't bleeding but it was. He'd hit it on the sharp edge of the building.
"Chat! Chat! Wake up!" He wouldn't budge. Her only choice was bringing him to the hospital. He hadn't cataclysmed so his identity was safe. She picked him up onto her back and rushed him there as fast as she possibly could. She ran into the ER crying for help. Paramedics immediately came to the scene to help the suffering hero. His head was bleeding pretty bad. "Please help him!" Was all she could say. She sat in the emergency room waiting for hours. She wasn't allowed to see him while operations were taking place. It was 3am when she finally heard news. She hadn't fallen asleep because she was too worried about him. A doctor came over to her calmly and stated the news.
"He's in stable condition. We've stitched up his head but we had to shave some of his hair off. He lost a lot of blood by the time you came. If you'd been a little later he might've been dead right now. We've got him hooked up to an IV. He'll have to stay in bed for at least a week but he'll be ready to go home by morning if all the tests come back positive. You can see him now ma'am."
"Thanks doctor." She made her way to his room quickly. When she reached the door she hesitated but headed in. He looked so peaceful. She knew he was doing well. She sat on the edge of his bed. He was sleeping.
"You're gonna be okay Kitty," she said softly. She examined the wires going into his arm and his bandaged head. She gently swept a piece of loose hair out of his face. "I'm so sorry." His eyes fluttered.
"Ladybug?" He asked.
"Yeah Chat. I'm here."
"I'm sorry for all of this. I over exerted myself and ended up getting hurt. This is such a huge injury for such a stupid reason. I'm sorry I made you worry."
"You have no need to apologize. I should have realized you didn't look well before if happened. I'm a terrible friend." He sat up.
"Ladybug look at me. You're an amazing friend," he said holding her hands. "Without you I would've died over fainting. Now that's a sucky way to go, don't ya think?" They laughed together. "Thanks for sticking by my side." The waterworks returned.
"I'd never leave you in your time of need." They fell asleep on the hospital bed together until early in the morning. At around seven am Ladybug woke up to ask the doctors for permission to bring him home. When it was granted she went to get her partner and leave.
"Can we stop at the wig store before I go home?" Chat asked. "I don't want my father to know about this or anyone else. It could expose my secret identity."
"Sure." They went to purchase a similar looking wig to his hair and found their way back to where they had started patrol last night. "Are you sure you can get home on your own? I know I'd know your identity if I brought you home but It'd be worth it if I knew you were safe."
"I'll be fine M'lady. I promise I'll call you the moment I get home."
"Okay... remember to stay in bed for a few weeks kitty."
"I will bugaboo." She kissed his cheek goodbye and waved as she hopped off into the distance.
"Claws off." Plagg came out of the ring completely exhausted. Adrien handed him a piece of Camembert and arranged the wig over his remaining hair.
"Adrien... are you okay?" Plagg asked worriedly. He'd never sounded so serious in his life. "I'm so happy Ladybug took care of you."
"Thanks Plagg I'm fine. Let's go home."
"How are you gonna get out of school for that long?"
"I don't know. Father might believe I hate school and take me out if I pretend to be sick that long."
"We'll figure out something."
"I hope so." He got in his bed and slept for hours. Nathalie didn't even try to get him up for school. She sensed something was wrong and let him stay home that day.
Meanwhile at school all Mari could do was worry about Chat. He'd forgotten to call her when he got home.
"Hey beautiful girl," Luka said when he saw her. "Looks like something's on your mind. What's up?"
"Oh my friend is just dealing with some serious injuries right now and I'm a little worried about them."
"I'm sorry baby but you should just remain calm. Worrying won't do anything but make time go slower. You also look like you could use a nap. What time did you get to sleep last night?" She hadn't slept more than 4 hours on an uncomfortable hospital bed. Then she got home and was already late to school so she booked it and hardly made it to second period on time but she obviously couldn't tell him that.
"Oh I went to bed around midnight. I was just so worried about them."
"I have an idea. Meet me in the supply closet on the second floor next hour. You have a study hall then right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay see you then."
"Okay baby." She kissed him bye and went to third hour class. She hadn't even noticed Adrien was absent yet.
"I thought for sure he'd be here by now. It's not like him to miss this much school even when he is sick," Nino said to Alya halfway though science class.
"Who are we talking about again?" Mari asked sleepily. The we're supposed to be in a group discussion about molecules but were just socializing instead.
"Umm Adrien. My dudes is sick," Nino said questioningly.
"Have you really not noticed his absence Mari? It's not like you to be so unobservant," Alya asked.
"Oh sorry I've been distracted," Mari mumbled. She hardly heard them. "Yeah. Adrien. sick. weird."
"She's just been too occupied with her new love to notice any of us," Alya teased.
"Uh huh for sure," Marinette said half asleep.
"WAKE UP!" Alya screamed. She jumped.
"Yeah?! Where's the fire?"
"Has Luka been keeping you up with late night video chats?" Alya smirked.
"Chats?" Mari mumbled back and fell asleep on her desk.
"Let's let her sleep for now. If the teacher comes round we'll wake her up," Alya whispered. Nino agreed and Mari slept through the rest of class. "Time to go Mari," Alya said when class ended. The bell ringing woke her up.
"Thanks for letting me sleep. I had a rough night."
"It's all good girl." Mari told her study hall teacher she would be in another class for the hour and went to find Luka. He had set up a pile of pillows he'd found in the library and the softest table cloths the cafeteria had to make a bed for Mari.
"That's so sweet baby," she told him when she saw it.
"You can sleep in here through study hall and lunch and I'll keep guard so no one interrupts and bring you food 15 minutes before you head to your next class."
"You're the best boyfriend I could ever ask for!" She squealed hugging him. She jumped onto the pile and closed her eyes. He closed the door and sat down to read and do homework right outside. No faculty questioned him because of how great of a student he'd proven to be over the years.
When Mari got home she immediately transformed to check if Chat had tried to call or leave a message. Nothing.
"Spots off," she said. "Oh tikki what if something's wrong with him? What if he didn't make it home last night! I knew I should've walked with him!" She sighed and dramatically fell on her couch.
"I'm sure he's fine Marinette. He was very tired last night." Her phone suddenly beeped. She recognized the noise as an alert to check her yo-yo messages.
"SPOTS ON!" It was a message from Chat! It read [[[Sorry for worrying you bugaboo. I was so tired I forgot about reminding you of my getting home last night. I'm doing fine. ? ﾟﾘﾘ]]] She was ecstatic. "Silly kitty," she mumbled to herself. "Making me worry like that." She sent a reply that said [[[You're lucky I didn't call the police to look for you. You gave me a heart attack I was so worried. Glad to hear you're doing better.]]] Seconds later she got [[[Awwww was M'lady worried about me? How paw-sitively adorable! ?]]] "I'm glad to see he's feeling good enough to mess with me," she laughed to herself. "Spots off. He's doing fine Tikki."
"I knew you were worrying too much." She hugged her arm.
The next day Adrien has absolutely no idea how to convince the household that he'd need to stay at home for a week. He decided his best option was to fake a fever. Wasn't serious enough for the hospital but serious enough to stay at home and knowing Gabriel he'd definitely make a big deal out of it and cancel all his photo shoots and stuff. He made some fake barf with some snacks he had stashed in his room including some stinky cheese and blew dry his face so it'd be red and hot. He then yelled in pain for someone to come to the bathroom. Almost instantaneously Nathalie, gorilla, and Gabriel were there. Nathalie looked suspicious but Gabriel called off school for the day after feeling his son's forehead.
"Get some rest," was all he said while leaving. The rest of the week Adrien used the same technique to stay home. He kept in touch with Ladybug to assure her he was doing fine and throughout the week only one person was akumatized multiple times. Ladybug was able to handle Mr. Pigeon's glorious returns easily and made sure Chat knew it. She'd didn't want to risk his health. On the day Adrien did finally decide to back to school Gabriel stopped him abruptly before exiting the door.
"Son I need you to answer something honestly. Why have you been wearing an ugly wig ever since you've been sick?" Adrien gulped. He was caught.
"So you noticed?" He asked wearily.
"How could I not? That's a fashion atrocity. Now tell me the truth or no school." Adrien wasn't stupid. He knew he'd eventually need an excuse for if someone noticed. He'd prepared it on the very first day. He peeled off the front of the wig to reveal his hair buzzed and dyed black but not to reveal his scar.
"I wanted to change up my hair a bit but it looked awful so I tried to hide it. I'm sorry father." Gabriel was absolutely speechless. After a moments silence Adrien spoke up again. "Father are you mad?"
"I do believe I'm disappointed in you. Your hair was fine before and you disobeyed me by not asking permission before changing your looks. I'll get a stylist to shave off the rest of that black mess so it can start to regrow to the way it was. Until it's regrown I'll be purchasing you a better quality hair piece than that ugly cheap monstrosity. No one will want to photograph you with that on your head. You'll be staying home from school today so we can get a new wig and your punishment will be no spending time with your friends for the next month. You may return to your room." And with that Gabriel went back to his study.
"I think I got off pretty easy. He hardly lets me go out as it is and I'll get a more realistic wig," Adrien told Plagg as he entered his room. "Maybe I'll keep the cheap one to wear as Chat Noir so it's harder to recognize me."
"No need to worry about that," Plagg said as he stuffed a fresh piece of Camembert into his mouth. "The miraculous changes everything about you when you transform so your wig will change styles like your natural hair did."
"That's great news Plagg! I can't wait to see Ladybug tomorrow. I've missed her like crazy."
"What happened to 'I'm getting my feelings for her off my chest and then finding someone new'?" Plagg mocked.
"I know. I know. But we're still friends and I still love her no matter what. I just don't know if I'll be confessing to Marinette anymore. When Ladybug brought me to the hospital that night I realized just how important good friendships are and I'd never want to do anything to jeopardize one. And anyways she's completely and entirely in love with Luka."
School was pretty great the next day. Everyone had missed him and welcomed him back with open arms. Marinette had even baked apricot macaroons for everyone to celebrate his health.
"What's all this for?" He asked her.
"I'm just in such a joyous mood today I got up early to make these for your return," she told him. Chat had messaged her the night before and said he'd be returning to patrol the next day.
That night she arrived to patrol a whole half an hour early and Chat Noir was already there!
"Kitty!" She screamed with delight. "I missed you so much! I'm so glad to see you're doing okay now!" She jumped into his arms and hugged him.
"I missed you too bugaboo." He looked down at her and kissed her forehead gently. "A week without you was like a year without rain."
"You're so poetic," she said rolling her eyes. "Let's get this patrol done and over with. I have a surprise for you. He giddily awaited the surprise all throughout the night. When patrol ended she brought him to a colorfully decorated rooftop with a projector and blow up mattress set up. "I thought you could use a movie night to get over some of the past week's stress and trauma. You once mentioned you'd never seen Notebook. How bout we watch that?"
"You remembered! I'd love to!" He'd never been so in love with her than at that moment. They snuggled up in the pillows and blankets she'd brought, took out some snacks, and watched some movies. They watched Notebook and cried together, Meg and screamed together, and then watched Bambi and fell asleep together. Chat woke up with Ladybug's head resting on his chest. "She's so perfect. Get up love bug." She slowly blinked and got up.
"Oh what time is it?" It was still dark out.
"5:30. We should clean this up and get going."
"But I don't want to," she said tired.
"Me either," he said as he reluctantly got up and started picking up everything. He let her sleep until only the mattress needed to be undid. He gently lifted her up and sat her on the packed box of decorations.
"Thanks Kitty," she said when she realized she'd forgotten to help him clean up. "You're the best."
"No, you are," he said. He was standing above her looking into her eyes. He had the urge to kiss her and did. He leaned and his lips met hers in the most tender kiss he'd ever experienced. Her lips tasted so sweet, like the watermelon chapstick she was wearing. He suddenly jumped back realizing what he had just done. "Oh my god! Ladybug, I'm so so sorry!" They both just stayed out looking shocked for a moment. Ladybug could see the guilt Chat felt.
"It's okay Chat. We're both tired and I shouldn't have just let it happen." She looked just as embarrassed as him. "Let me help you finish packing," she said as she stood up. He nodded and they finished in silence. "See you tonight Chat!" She said while leaving.
"How could I let that happen," he thought to himself. "Stupid cat."
During school Mari could only concentrate on how she'd cheated on Luka. Her grades were really slipping these last couple weeks. Every time she saw him she lit up but then immediately went back to totally devastated. She was a cheater and she knew it. She enjoyed kissing Chat and she let it happen. She was a terrible girlfriend. During lunch she sat across from him just studying his face. Could he tell she was guilty? What would he do if he found out? Would he dump her? Just the thought made her stomach twist. She couldn't imagine being dumped again. He noticed her staring after awhile.
"Like the view?" He teased. Her mind jumped back to reality.
"Oh of course," she laughed. He had a way of making her smile no matter what mood she was in. "Hey umm if you cheated on me what would you do? Would you tell me? Would you think I should break up with you?"
"I'd never do that so I've never really thought of it. You're the perfect girl. Why would I want to ruin our relationship?" He smiled at her. "Don't worry. As much as it may seem like I don't I actually pride myself on being an A+ boyfriend," he joked.
"I love you," she said quietly.
"I love you too," he kissed her hand. "And I'm for real. I'd never even think of cheating on you. You're everything I could ever want." Why did he have to be so amazing? He just made her feel guiltier.
"Luka I've got to tell you something... I-" she was interrupted by a giant crash. A huge monster was on the school roof. It scooped up Alya, Nino, Chloe, Luka, Max, and Kim in its tentacles.
"MARINETTE! RUN!" Luka yelled. Even as he was being kidnapped by an akumatized monster he still managed to be the perfect boyfriend he was and think of her first. She dashed for the locker room and transformed.
"Come on Tikki we've got to save my friends! Spots on!"
Meanwhile Adrien was in the boys side of the locker room doing the same thing. When they came back outside they found eachother in the back field and chased the monster hoping to save their friends from what was to come. When they arrived at the Eiffel Tower they saw something they would have never expected. Hawkmoth and Mayura in the flesh. Hawkmoth used the fear the monster brought to their friends to akumaztize all of them with the help of Mayura. Then before Chat and Ladybug had time to react, each of the new villains were handed a miraculous they had been previously granted. The monster was master Fu!
"How could this of happened?" Ladybug shrieked. She was panicking. She didn't know how they'd manage to stop Hawkmoth, Mayura, Queen Bee, Rena Route, Carapace, and Master Fu all on their own. The situation seemed hopeless. "We can't do this!" She yelled. She couldn't calm down. "There's no way we'll be able to defeat them all!" She started sobbing with panic.
"Hey, look at me!" Chat yelled. He pulled her close and stared at her tear stained face. "There's nothing we can't do when we work together. We can do it. We just might need a little back up." He pulled her off the building and into the subway.
"Where are they going!?" Hawkmoth screamed viciously.
"Don't worry sir. I'm sure they'll return. There's no possible way they can beat us. We've just got to stand ready," Mayura assured him. He nodded slightly irritated. "Just think. Tomorrow you'll have all you ever wanted," she reminded him. He breathed deeply and went to talk with his new allies.
Meanwhile Ladybug and Chat Noir were off finding officer Rodger and the mayor.
"We need as much help as we can get. Call in the army, the national guard, the FBI. Anyone," she told them. "All the akumatized villains have miraculous," she explained. Mr. Bourgeois immediately agreed.
"Anything to save my precious daughter," he said. "Call in all your officers Rodger. I'll call the president."
"What a genius plan M'lady," he said kissing her hand. "Distract them with fighting the military while we get rid of the akuma."
"Actually I had a much bigger idea than that. We're gonna take down Hawkmoth once and for all." She had an excited grin on her face. He knew she had a plan and he trusted it completely. "We've got to stop at Marinette Dupain-Cheng's house real quick," she told the mayor. "We'll be back soon to tell the troops our plan."
"What's at Marinette's house?" Chat asked.
"Supplies." She landed on the roof and went through the ladder to her room. She immediately ran to the closet and grabbed the fabric she needed. "Can you take that sewing machine on the desk? Make sure it has thread in it." He looked at her confused. She sighed and showed him where to look. "Lets go. We've also got to stop at Adrien Agreste's estate, Wayhem's, Alya's, and Mirielles." Ladybug's plan just became more and more confusing to Chat.
"What exactly is your plan bugaboo?"
"I'll tell you when the time is right." When they got to Adrien's house they went straight to Gabriel's design room. "Find me those masks they used in the music video!" Chat slowly began to understand her plan. They ran to Alya's to grab her "Signed one of a kind Chat Noir and Ladybug weapons replicas mint condition!" That she had bought off eBay.
"I definitely didn't sign this," Chat laughed. "My handwriting is way better than this copy cat's." Ladybug giggled. 'Wait till Alya finds out,' she thought to herself. Ladybug told Chat to fetch Wayhem while she got Mirielle. They met up back at the mayor's office after they'd gotten them.
"Here get into costume she told them."
"Okay I get Wayhem but why Mirielle?" Chat asked her.
"She uh... looks the most like me. Similar hair color and eyes."
"What about Marinette? She sort of looks like you."
"Oh she is way too clumsy to imitate me."
"Good point. Marinette may be awesome but she can't stay on her feet for longer than 5 minutes," Chat joked.
"Do you... do you know her personally?"
"Um no! I was just speaking from the few times I've seen her. Ya know like the times she's helped us with plans."
"Oh okay." Mirielle And Wayhem exited the changing rooms looking fabulous. "Wow they really do look like us," Ladybug breathed.
"Yeah but they'd definitely never fool me. I know my lady way too well," Chat announced smugly. Ladybug rolled her eyes.
"Yeah sure, let's get this plan started."