This is a little gift that I wrote for my good friend Lily . It was her idea, so have an angsty midair transformation prompt ;)

The first thing Nino felt when being airborne was a very uncomfortable tug on his stomach and that his feet suddenly lost the floor. The world spun around him too fast to see anything but the change between blue sky and grey ground. He couldn't even scream because his voice was caught in his throat. It had all happened too fast.

At one moment he had stood on the highest platform of the Eiffel Tower, watching his friends trying to calm the Akuma who had taken him hostage.

Nino had – admittedly – merely rolled his eyes. He was Carapace, an Akuma holding him hostage didn't freak him out. He had been annoyed, at most, that he had been stuck there in his civilian form, unable to help his friends.

Though, as the Akuma had blasted away the railing behind him and had taken Nino to the edge with him he had gotten scared. He knew he could transform at any time if the Akuma shoved him but would it be enough time before he would hit the ground?

And how would he explain to his teammates that Nino had survived while he was nowhere to be found? How would he lie to them to protect his secret identity?

He had finally began struggling as the Akuma had held him on his neck, just the tips of his sneakers still on the metal platform of the tower. Firena had begun screaming but was being held back by Ladybug while Chat heatedly discussed a plan with her. Queen B hadn't shown up yet, she could've saved him in an instant because she was able to fly.

And then suddenly, everything had begun getting out of control. The Akuma had turned to him, had placed his hand on his chest and had grinned. Firena had cried out, Ladybug and Chat had surged forward but before anyone had been able to get to him the world had begun spinning.

As his body was played with by the air he barely realized he had been thrown. He didn't fall off the Eiffel Tower, no, he flew through the air horizontally. Everything was too fast, his chest hurt and he didn't know where anything was. A quick glimpse of the Eiffel Tower at some point told him he was far gone already.

The Tower was merely a stick against the blue as far as Nino had seen. His feet felt so heavy as he continued spinning and his head felt as if someone had placed a giant rock on his cheeks. He gulped, unable to breathe in, to scream, to do anything.

Until he felt a sharp pinch on his leg.

Wayzz.

Nino tried to get his thoughts together, tried closing his eyes but that was worse. He opened the widely again, seeing that he now spun slower. He could try to stabilize again and concentrate on talking. Like sky diving. He had never done that but he was a superhero, he should be able to do it.

So he concentrated, tried to find a point where he could find the air slashing against him. The direction in which he flew. Since he still spun around his whole body he needed to tense his muscles accordingly. Wasn't there something about cats using their tail to turn in midair?

Damn, where was Chat when he needed him…

He found the air stream, finally, and adjusted his body so he could slowly begin to stop the spinning. By tensing and relaxing his muscles he managed to spin slower, use his back as a shield. He now fell backwards, the shadow of wind on his face enabling him to force out the desperate words.

"Wayzz, shields up!"

The wind grabbed his words and blew them away as he felt how gravity took a hold of him again, making the angle to the floor higher. He felt himself falling more towards the ground now than he had flown before and as he turned his head he saw the buildings quickly closing in.

"Wayzz… Wa-… Wayzz-… Shields-…", he choked, fear blocking his throat. The Kwami couldn't hear him. The buildings came closer and closer, faster than he had imagined. Now he passed the roofs. Luckily for him he aimed at a street.

The people started looking up but he couldn't hear their screams over the strong wind in his ear.

In a last desperate attempt not to die he curled himself up, starting to spin again. Then he yelled at his pocket.

"WAYZZ, SHIELDS UP!"

A flash of green shone behind his eyelids and the familiar feeling of the suit building up around his body washed over him. His hands were coated with gloves, his chest protected with armor, his back covered with plates-

His head snapped back as he hit the ground.

The asphalt partly gave way under his indestructible suit but partly still stayed unmoving. He felt his body slamming down on the concrete, then flipping and sliding further. The angle in which he had hit the ground had been flat enough to not pancake him into the ground but rather let him flip like a rock on a frozen lake. He just didn't know which he would've preferred.

The street ended after some time and he was thrown against a house wall, his body finally coming to a halt.

He fell to the floor with loose limps and slack muscles, his shoulder and hips hitting hard on the sidewalk. His head mostly landed on his arm but he still felt the hard impact.

His mind was dangerously close to shutting down but he willed himself to get up, to get to his knees at least. His body wouldn't move, wouldn't even give the slightest attempt as people started gathering around him, rolling him onto his back.

He groaned and whimpered as his bones were moving, as his body was straightened out. People were calling for help, were attempting to call an ambulance but he shook his head, finding back to his conscious. His transformation and Wayzz' energy helped massively keeping him in the game, but he knew he'd pass out and need medical attention in the second he detransformed.

"Monsieur, Monsieur Carapace! You need an ambulance!"

He sat up with the help of a few people and numbly shook his head, testing his toes and fingers. Then he went up to ankles and wrists, knees and elbows, until he could roll his shoulders with a pained hiss.

He got a few helping hands as he leant forward, getting out of his sitting position to kneel.

"I-… I'm okay… I'm good… N-No ambulance, I'm-… F-Fine…", he mumbled before getting straightened up by the civilians, thanking them with a slight nod.

As he felt the ground beneath his feet again he sighed in relief, shaking his shoulders out and patting on his chest.

"I just-… Need to-… Breathe… That's all… No ambulance, please, I'll-…"

"Carapace, what happened?!"

"Monsieur, Monsieur, don't stand up!"

"Here, I'll hold you, I'll hold you up-"

"Please, you need an-"

"Leave him alone!"

"Don't you see he's-"

"But what if-"

"Where-"

He squinted his eyes as the voices now slowly sounded through his numbness and the blood rushing in his ears. At least ten hands on his back, sides and shoulders held him up and he swayed but as soon as his brain had a little more oxygen again he shook his head, getting his concentration back.

"People, please…", he tried and a man next to him straightened up.

"He wants to say something!"

Everyone listened up and they turned their heads to him as he parted himself from all the supporting hands.

"Don't-… Don't worry, I'm okay… I had the suit. No ambulance."

"But Monsieur, you need to get checked, you're obviously-"

"I'm fine.", he smiled at the panicking woman with a phone, "Or wait, no, call an ambulance, please. I'm sure a lot of people here are shocked."

Her eyes wandered around and she slowly nodded, then turned back to him.

"What about you, Carapace?"

He gave her a strained grin and put a hand on his side, nodding at her.

"Don't worry, I'll survive. I'm a hero, that happens daily.", he lied, relieved as her gaze got softer.

"Alright. But please get yourself checked up as soon as you can. We don't want to lose you."

He merely chuckled, nodding as he once again straightened his body, already feeling better as his system got used to being still again. His brain was balanced now that he could breathe again and even though his chest hurt he felt okay enough to join his teammates.

Not necessarily fight but at least tell them Nino would be okay.

He thanked all the people who had cared for him and stayed until the ambulance arrived to be as fit as he could with a few more minutes of a break, then he grabbed his shield and jumped onto the next rooftop, running and jumping and gliding on his shield towards the city center again.

When he arrived the team already was in the middle of fighting the Akuma.

Well… Three out of five. Ladybug, Chat Noir and-… Queen B? Where was Firena?

"Hey, uh-"

"CARAPACE!", even though they all looked like they wanted to kill him right now they all looked at least a bit relieved to see him but still concentrated on taking down the Akuma. It pretty much looked like they had everything under control, her gladly noted, so he wouldn't have to give his all. But before he could even analyze where his place on the battlefield was, Queen B came jumping to him, a concerned expression on her face.

"Listen, Cara, we can take the Akuma, no problem. You might not have heard it yet but a boy died today… Uhm, if you could go see Firena? She's kinda upset and we're all caught up in the fight."

He gave her a puzzled look, then nodded slowly.

"Uhm-… Yes, of course. Where is she?"

"Still on top of the Eiffel Tower. We kinda-… Well… We had to tie her up there. We didn't want her to see how the boy must-…", she broke off as Carapace nodded again, quicker this time to interrupt her.

"Yes, clear. I'll care for her."

Queen B gave him a brief salute and surged into the fight again while he fought his own by trying to keep his mind together. But he managed to concentrate until he set foot on the metal platform of the Eiffel Tower, where he had been in his civilian form mere minutes ago. The busted off railing gave him a weird feeling in his stomach but his gaze was immediately drawn to the sunken together girl that was tied to one of the poles on the inner construction of the Tower. She sobbed, her ears flatly laying on her head. Carapace gulped.

Yes, they had met a few times in his civilian form. She had visited him twice or so, on a lonely evening. So why was she so upset now?

"Firena?", he carefully approached her, his steps soft and soothing as he got closer to her, "What-… What's up?"

She looked up, her nose running and her eyes reddened and swollen from all the crying. Her arm was outstretched because she sat as far from where their teammates had tied her to the building, creating a heartbreaking picture of how desperate she was to get away. With a second gaze he recognized Ladybug's yoyo. Of course, something had to hold her here that she couldn't break.

If that meant that Ladybug was giving up her weapon to fight then it must've been urgent to keep Firena here.

He knew Ladybug and Firena knew each other's identities, as the only ones out of their group, but he didn't know if that had anything to do with keeping her here.

"Rena, hey, what's-"

"Why are you here?! What're you doing here now?!", she immediately snapped, her voice already hoarse and broken from crying. She once again tugged on the yoyo but it wouldn't come free, "You weren't here! You could've saved him! We-… We could've saved him…"

She once again subsided to her sobs, lowering her head. Her body language said more than obviously that he shouldn't come closer. Her ears were flattened down to her hair and her tail was wrapped around herself but he couldn't help it. He kneeled down and tightly hugged her.

Out of the first animalistic instinct that all of the heroes had transferred to their behavior to some degrees she bit him. He felt her two shard fangs sink into his suit on his shoulder, with her and Chat's claws and fangs the only thing except weapons that could cut through the material. He clenched his teeth as he only tightened her bite but then let go of him to bury her forehead on his shoulder, sobbing heartbreakingly. He held her close and felt her tail lashing to the side only to include him in the hug. He was now officially allowed to touch her so he nuzzled her ear, bringing his face deeper into her fluffy hair. Her ponytail had come loose, probably from fighting (against their teammates?) and thus she wore it open.

"It's gonna be okay, Firena… It's gonna be okay…", with a short glance he assured himself that they were alone. Obviously, the highest platform had been blocked by the police because of the Akuma attack, "It's gonna be okay, Firena…"

"N-N-Nothing-… Nothing's gonna-… B-Be okay-…", she sobbed against his chest plates, her hands weakly pounding on his arms, "… H-He-… H-He's d-dead n-now and he's m-m-my b-boyfriend and I j-just w-w-want him b-back and-"

Carapace couldn't hear the following rambling. His eyes shot widely open and he grabbed her shoulders, staring into her eyes.

"He's your boyfriend?!", he asked unbelievingly, the blood uncomfortably rushing in his ears again. Bad reminder.

"Y-Yes-… H-H-He was my b-boyfriend and-… I k-know he w-w-wanted to p-propo-ose to me and I j-just want him b-b-back b-because I c-can't imagine a life w-without him…"

His eyes went even wider and he gulped, cupping her face. He knew she spoke of Nino Lahiffe, of himself in civilian form. He knew he had a girlfriend. One girlfriend.

One that he wanted to propose to.

Alya Césaire.

And here she kneeled before him.

"How in the hell did you find the ring in my nightstand?!", he busted out, terrified. He had hidden it so well! Well, that was probably a part of being the partner of a journalist. Slash superhero, he reminded himself.

As she looked up he didn't even let her have the time to process what he had said. With a green flash he detransformed, his golden eyes clashing with hers before he squinted them, pressing his lips against hers.

He had never been so glad to have her figure out one of his secrets, honestly. Or two, now.

Even if he lost his consciousness about .2 seconds later.