Standard disclaimer: I don't own Miraculous. I'm a fan, writing a fan fiction. This whole website is about fanfiction. Why am I putting this up here again?

A/N: I apologize if I haven't responded to messages or reviews. My email recently went batty, but I think it's all figured out now. I promise I'm not ignoring you guys!

Consequences

Chapter 4: …of Too Much Power

As soon as her parents sent them back to the bedroom to make sure Adrien had all his belongings (he wasn't going to tell them he hadn't come with shoes, even if they figured it out for themselves, it just felt weird), Marinette stormed up the stairs to her room.

"She can't do this!" she raged. "It's not right—it's not…."

"She can do this," Adrien said wearily, following her. "Legally, Natalie's my guardian now. Unless you want to out my father as Hawkmoth so we can say she was an accomplice, and then trust my fate to the system, I—Marinette?" Adrien exclaimed, as Marinette collapsed on her chaise. He ran to her side.

"I'm fine," she groaned. Adrien noticed with alarm that her hands were trembling as she tried to sit back up. "I'm just so tired all the time today… and I-I can't think straight, and there's all this new information floating around in my head, and people out there need us, and I absolutely hate being helpless!" she screamed. The window nearby cracked. She gasped. Adrien eyed it warily.

"Marinette, you need to calm down," Tikki said, swooping up to her wielder.

"Tikki, why does this keep happening?" Marinette cried. "I've been a basket-case before—"

"The Cosmic-Reset Button probably caused a leak," Plagg said, hauling Nooroo on his back. He glowered when he realized that Marinette had squashed the kwami nest on the chaise. She gave him an apologetic grin and quickly re-shaped it.

"Caused a leak?" she asked, once he and the still-sleeping Nooroo settled into the fabric.

"It's like this," Tikki said, settling into her explanation-mode again, "magic runs through a person's system like blood runs in your veins, or like a river runs in a riverbed. A Miraculous can increase it and hold it steady for as long as you're wearing the suit, but when you're not, it's up to you and your body to regulate your normal levels. Since you and Adrien have both used some rather extreme spells in the past 24 hours, not even your Miraculous can get you back to your original levels just yet. Basically, your system is overflowing with magic. And some of it spills out when your emotions get high. Then we get… accidents." She gestured to the broken window.

"Extreme spells?" Marinette asked, looking at Adrien curiously. She knew he had done something last night, but not what.

He flushed. "Tikki called it the Catalyst," he explained, gulping. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on using that one ever again if I can help it," he assured her. "It sucked."

"And I used the… well, the…," Marinette flushed, quickly looking away from Adrien.

"The Cosmic-Reset Button," Plagg finished, grinning at the girl.

"True Love's Kiss," Tikki corrected him, rolling her eyes.

"Meh, I like my name for it better. Much cooler."

"But it's not accurate!" Tikki protested. "It doesn't reset everything! It's a power surge! And she didn't even use it correctly!" She turned to Marinette, her arms folded in disapproval. "You're not supposed to try to hold all the energy inside yourself like that! That's probably what caused the magical leak!"

Marinette felt her face growing redder and redder as she realized that Adrien was listening closely to the conversation now and grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Tikki, can we please talk about this later?" she muttered to her kwami.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Adrien protested, still grinning, "I was half out of it when all this happened! I want details!"

"You were turning into a black-goop monster!" Marinette exclaimed.

"You kissed a black-goop monster?"

"I—ugh! Don't you have somewhere you need to be?!" she asked, her embarrassment making her a bit snappy.

"He can honk the horn for a few minutes," Adrien said, waving carelessly. He leaned closer to her, hands innocently behind his back, still grinning. "Soooo, true love's kiss, huh?"

"I will have to stop saving you if you're gonna be this smug about it…." Marinette muttered. He waggled his eyebrows at her and she spun away from him in a huff. (Ok, so it was mostly to make sure he couldn't see how red her face was right now, but she was still mad at him!) To her surprise, his arms wound around her waist.

"Aww, don't be like that, Bugaboo," he teased, turning her back around. "I love you too."

WILL THERE EVER BE A DAY IN MY LIFE WHERE THIS GUY DOESN'T MAKE ME BLUSH LIKE A LOON? Marinette wondered, covering her face.

"Huh," Adrien said, curiously.

OH GOD, DOES HE SEE ME BLUSHING AND JUST NOW REALIZE WHAT A TOTAL DORKASAURUS I AM?! HOW LONG BEFORE HE RUNS OUT THE—

"I just realized I've never told you that before, have I?"

Marinette looked up at him wildly, pausing her inner screaming for the moment. "Wh-what?"

"I love you," Adrien said simply. (Aaand her blush was back. With a vengeance.) "I mean, you told me—screamed it at me, really—and I teased you about your pictures, but…. After all this—well, craziness these past few days… I forgot to tell you. I love you so much, Marinette." He smiled at her, leaned forward and—

Outside, a car honked. Adrien froze, growled for a moment, and then leaned in again.

The car honked again. Adrien took a deep breath and—was stopped by two fingers pressed against his lips. He blinked at Marinette, who looked as astonished as he was that she'd stopped him.

"Maybe… it's not the best time?" Marinette suggested, proud that her voice only trembled a little.

With a sigh, Adrien dropped his head on her shoulder. "I hate my luck."

"Ahem," Tikki coughed pointedly to get their attention.

"Right—right! Purification! We need to do that first!" Marinette said quickly, stepping away from Adrien. She focused on her kwami (and she was not shooting Adrien embarrassed glances, thank you very much!). "How—um, how exactly do we do that?"

"We'll all need to go visit Master Fu," Tikki said.

Adrien winced. "Not the best time," he reminded her, using his thumb to gesture outside, where another round of honking had just started.

"That's all right," the kwami assured him. "I didn't want to go just yet anyway. We still need to return Nooroo to the Great Guardian, but the little guy's so drained that I wanted Marinette to try something with her Miraculous first. But it's something neither of you are up for just yet," she reminded them sternly, before they could open their mouths, "so, until then, you two should use some meditation techniques to re-take control of your dreams. That should help a bit."

"Tikki…," Marinette started, her eyes already filling with tears.

"Don't apologize," Tikki said firmly. "None of that was you. An akuma's magic is insidious, Marinette. It gets into your system and exploits any and all negative emotions that you might have. Some negative emotions are necessary for everyday life, so I'm certainly not blaming you for anything. Especially something that you and I have already talked about multiple times. I can help walk you through some new techniques, and Plagg will do the same for Adrien. Right, Plagg? You know the ones."

Plagg grumbled a bit.

"Plagg…, I expect you to help him," Tikki growled warningly.

"Fine, fine," Plagg said carelessly.

"For now," Tikki continued, just a bit of growl left in her tone. "We need to try to fix that 'leak.' Marinette, Adrien, you'll need to be in physical contact for this."

Adrien grinned widely again. "More true love's kiss?" he asked hopefully, licking his lips.

"Not this time, tomcat," Tikki giggled. "Holding hands should be enough."

"Dang it."

"If I die when I faint and concuss myself because you couldn't stop making me blush, I swear to God, I'm haunting you," Marinette growled under her breath. She quickly grabbed Adrien's hands before he could get any more ideas. He laughed. She closed her eyes in despair.

"Aaaand I said that out loud, didn't I."

"Yep."

"That's it. I'm done. Just bury me now," she groaned, letting her head fall into his chest so he couldn't see her face anymore.

Adrien let go of her hands to wrap his arms around her shoulders, hugging her tightly. "Not yet, Bugaboo," he murmured, closing his eyes and focusing on memorizing this moment. On how she felt in his arms. Her warmth, her scent…. This was heaven. And if he was gonna be separated from her for the rest of the day… well, he wanted to remember it. Especially after that scare yesterday.

"We've gotta focus on getting you all fixed up first." He felt her body relax against him, her hands coming up to rest on his shoulders, and he gave her a squeeze, desperately hoping that he could do whatever it was the kwamis had planned.

"All right, Tikki," he said. "How do we do this?"

He opened an eye to see both kwamis gaping at them.

"You-you're already doing it," Tikki exclaimed, blinking. She turned to her counterpart. "Plagg, did you teach him how to do that?"

"How to do what?" Adrien asked, confused. Marinette partially turned in his arms to see what was happening.

"Nope," Plagg said smugly, looking proud. "My kid just has a natural gift."

"You two are sharing your energy," Tikki exclaimed. "Like you've known each other for years—like you've trained for it!"

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other.

"Tikki, we're really not doing anything," Marinette said. "It's just a hug." At least, she didn't think so. She was simply with her partner, taking on yet another challenge with him.

"But—but, this," the pink kwami muttered to herself. "Years of training… meditation… they do it second-nature…."

"You really gonna look a gift horse in the mouth?" Plagg pointed out. "We're running out of time."

"Fine," Tikki grumbled. "Adrien, I need you to focus like you did with the Catalyst." Adrien paled a little. She seemed to catch onto his reluctance and smiled at him reassuringly. "Just focus on healing her this time, and your energy will flow automatically. There's no need to give it an extra burst, like last time."

Adrien nodded and looked down at Marinette one more time before he pulled her close and tucked her under his chin, closing his eyes. I would give you a hundred Catalysts if it meant you were okay, milady, he thought, willing his energy into her. Happiness flooded into him when he felt her reach up and return the hug, and his body automatically relaxed. Take it. Take it all. I'm yours, princess.

Even with his eyes shut, he could sense a strange glow in the room and cracked open an eye to see twin streaks of red and black circling him and Marinette. Plagg and Tikki, he realized. They must be doing their own part in this. He smiled and allowed his eye to fall shut again as he focused on Marinette.

She was so small, so sleight in his arms, but at the same time, there was a solid heat that came straight from her heart. Just being in her presence lit up his world. He may be able to surround and protect her, but she…

She was his strength.

The glow around them was just starting to fade when he heard a commotion downstairs.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry, we were just giving them a moment to say goodbye—Marinette! Adrien's bodyguard—!"

Adrien's bodyguard flung open the trapdoor, glaring at his charge. Adrien quickly sprang away from Marinette.

"Sorry! Last hug!" he laughed awkwardly. The Gorilla's expression didn't change. Adrien sighed. "Yeah, okay. I'm coming," he said resignedly. He managed one last smile at Marinette. "See you at school?"

"School. Right," Marinette agreed, waving goodbye.

He hoped she'd be okay as he followed his bodyguard down the stairs.

Marinette didn't dare move. If she went out there to see him off… she had a feeling she might try to grab him in another hug and never let him go. But he had to go. So instead, she listened closely to the sounds below.

Her mother insisting Adrien take a bag of goodies with him. Her father telling him he was welcome anytime. And then, finally, the door downstairs closing and the sound of a car driving off.

He was gone. Adrien was really gone. The whole world seemed darker. Colder. She shivered and hugged herself.

"Tikki," she asked quietly, "did it work?"

"Well, let's test it out," her kwami suggested slyly. "Which will get a more-emotionally-charged response? The idea that Adrien basically asked your parents' permission to marry you—" Marinette squeaked and quickly covered her mouth to stop herself from shrieking in excitement. "—or the fact that he just straight up told you that he loved you?"

Yeah, there was no hiding that squeal of delight.

"~Scream into your pillow,~" Tikki sang, sounding extremely smug.

Marinette ran to her bed to do just that. Amazingly, no electrical appliances short-circuited, and the rest of her windows remained unharmed.

"Tikki, I feel like I could fly!"

Adrien felt as though a million chains were binding him, holding him down as he entered the mansion. Not for the first time, the building seemed more like a jail than a home. And there, waiting for him at the top of the stairs (like his father had countless times before), was Natalie. Adrien narrowed his eyes.

"So, you said you had 'reasons,'" he said, stopping just short of the stairs and giving her his best defiant glare. As usual, Natalie seemed completely unfazed.

"I did indeed," she acknowledged, coming down the stairs to meet him. "Three major reasons. First and foremost: by the time I realized who Hawkmoth was, he had superpowers, and I did not. Tell me, Adrien, do you think any normal citizen would be able to get away from you or best you in a fight while you were in your catsuit?"

Adrien looked away. The simple response to that was a loud, resounding "no." Natalie took his silence for the answer it was.

"Secondly," she continued, "as his right hand, I was able to mitigate damages caused by his akumas."

"Wha—Ladybug and I did that!" Adrien protested. "We always made sure the victim was okay before we left, and her Miraculous Cure fixed everything anyway!"

"The Miraculous Cure can put things back together, but it cannot change the past," Natalie corrected. "Many times, I'm sure you heard the akuma victims say that they didn't remember what happened. Let's just say that it didn't always stay that way. I'm the one who made sure they all got the psychological help they needed afterwards."

"Can you prove that?" Adrien asked, not yet willing to believe that he and his partner had simply left those people with more problems than they'd taken away.

"I'd rather not," Natalie said. "As most of it is very personal. But, as an example, Mr. D'Argencourt has a suicide attempt on police record for 'bringing shame and dishonor upon his house.' Fortunately, the police got there before anything permanent could happen, after they received an anonymous tip."

"Which was you," Adrien said, guilt washing over him. He'd thought he was close to his fencing instructor, and he'd never realized….

"Nobody blames you, Adrien," Natalie assured him, laying a hand on his shoulder. "The magic you wield is enough to keep Paris going, and to fix more damages than we could ever repair on our own. The fact that it comes with a timer is simply a necessary evil."

"Still…," he said miserably. He took a deep breath and looked up at her. "What was the third reason?"

Natalie's hand dropped off his shoulder and she looked uncomfortable for a moment before regaining her composure.

"Your mother was a dear friend of mine for many years," she said quietly. "So I was not entirely against your father's plan of bringing her back."

"Oh," Adrien said quietly. He was still having trouble processing that fact. His father had been trying to bring Mom back… this whole time. Still, he was pretty sure he knew his father well enough to know…. "He wasn't planning on giving up the Miraculous afterwards, though, was he," he said resignedly. It wasn't a question.

"Power is seductive," Natalie said, shrugging. "It's hard to give up something like that. For instance, you still have no intention of giving up your ring, do you? Even though Hawkmoth has been defeated."

"There's still an enemy!" Adrien protested, fingering his ring protectively.

"An enemy that you, in particular, are not well-suited for," Natalie pointed out. "Against a single supervillain, the Cat Miraculous will always come out on top. But, unless you plan on turning all of Paris into a wasteland, your Cataclysm will not be useful against a bunch of random akumas."

"But—"

"But you would make a terrifyingly-dangerous villain if one of them gets a hold of you," Natalie added, narrowing her eyes. "Which is why I must insist you stay home as much as possible until this threat is over. No school, no dates, and I can arrange for your instructors—"

"What?!" Adrien exclaimed. "But Natalie—"

"It's only temporary," Natalie insisted. "Please, Adrien. I was not able to help your mother, or to save your father from himself. At least let me protect you to the best of my ability."

"By putting me back in a cage?!"

"I have no doubt that a new hero will appear soon," Natalie said firmly. "One better-suited to this situation. Once they have things in hand, everything will go back to normal. Just be patient for now. Think of it as a well-earned vacation."

"A vacation from my life," Adrien grumbled, stomping up the stairs. He'd lived with Natalie long enough to know when she'd made up her mind. And he couldn't deny she made some good points. Still, it didn't stop him from slamming his bedroom door shut behind him.

"UGH!" he screamed, as Plagg swooped up to face him. "I'm so sick of this! I'm a superhero, and everyone's treating me like a baby!"

Plagg regarded him for a moment. "So, whatcha gonna do about it?" he asked curiously.

"Do? What can I do about it?!" Adrien moaned, flopping face down on his bed.

"A lot," his kwami snorted. "Listen to me, kid. I've had wielders who had jobs or even families at your age! Don't tell me what can't be done! I'm the incarnation of destruction and bad luck, and my Cats have always made it work! So, Adrien, what's really holding you back?"

"My stupid, dysfunctional family," Adrien grumbled into his pillow.

"And?"

"And the fact that I'm a kid who has to do whatever they say. Photoshoots. Fencing. Chinese!"

"Really…," Plagg said slyly. Adrien raised his head to look at the black cat questioningly. "You have to do those things?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, unless I want to run away…."

"I think we can both safely assume that you wouldn't last one night on the streets," Plagg laughed. "Not to mention you wouldn't have anything to feed me, and then you couldn't even transform."

"So, what are you getting at?" Adrien asked, sitting up.

"Look around," Plagg said, indicating his room. "Anybody who looked at all this would say you're pretty lucky, wouldn't they?"

"I guess so."

"So, you've got a lot to start with," Plagg pointed out. "And as someone who's lived with bad luck for eons, I can tell you: it's not about focusing on the bad. It's about making it work for you. Don't think about what you can't do. Think about what you can!"

Adrien bit his lip, his mind racing.

"I know you like to be the nice guy," Plagg added. "But if you want to take control of your life, you're gonna have to show them all that you're not the baby they're treating you like. You know what you want, right?"

Adrien nodded, Marinette's face flashing before his eyes. He wanted to be with her. Which was looking less and less likely by the minute under Natalie's 'care.' He wanted to help Ladybug. He wanted to be with his friends at school. To be in charge of his own schedule for once.

"Then I'll ask again. What's holding you back? What part of all this," the kwami said, indicating the huge room, "is actually holding you back?"

Adrien narrowed his eyes, thinking.

"And what can you do about it?" Plagg pressed, sniggering at the determined look that appeared on his Cat's face.

"I'll need… my computer and my phone… no, wait, first I need something in front of my door to make sure I have a warning if anyone's coming in…," Adrien said, springing into action. "I just need a few hours… and… I think I'll need your help," he added, looking imploringly up at Plagg.

"Keep me well-fed and you'd be surprised how helpful I can be," Plagg grinned. Adrien grinned right back.

A couple hours later found them finishing up their last emails (and Plagg's latest wedge of camembert). They'd only been interrupted once, for lunch, and Natalie hadn't questioned it when Adrien had simply said he was emailing his friends, telling them he wouldn't be in school. Now, he was exhausted, and Plagg was dozing happily on his head.

"Plagg," the blond yawned. "I think we need to talk more about that whole taking-control-of-your-dreams thing again. I'll need it here soon. I'm gonna be taking a nap whether I want to or not."

"Just focus on purging the evil energy in your system," Plagg said lazily. "Your dreams will take the form of whatever your mind thinks is your greatest foe, and then you can fight it and destroy the evil inside. Just remember that you're in control at all times. You can wake up whenever you want to."

"Thanks, buddy," Adrien said, rolling his eyes. He eyed his bed again with trepidation, and grabbed a nearby waste basket, just in case.

Meanwhile, Marinette was awakened from her own nap by her best friend, who started sobbing as soon as she came down from her bed. Alya ran to her and threw her arms around her.

"Marinette, Marinette!" Alya cried, holding her tightly. "I thought I'd never see you again! I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!"

"I'm happy to see you too, Alya," Marinette managed to gasp out, "but why are you apologizing?"

"It's my fault! It's all my fault! I was the last one to talk to you, and I didn't even notice anything was wrong! And then that picture! Oh, if I'd never posted that stupid picture of you and Cat Noir—"

Marinette started laughing.

"It is, most definitely, not your fault," she said firmly, taking her friend's tear-stained face in her hands. "I wasn't even inside the bakery when we hung up, so there's no way you could've known something was wrong! I didn't know anything was wrong at that point!"

"But, the—"

"The picture? The picture was on the early morning news! Remember, Miss-I'm-Gonna-Scream-At-You-At-Six-In-The-Morning?" Marinette said, giving her bestie a dry stare. She bopped Alya playfully on the nose, earning a smile. "Not your fault, Alya. Besides, Ladybug and Cat Noir saved the day, like they always do."

Alya sniffled and wiped her face. "I—I need all the details about that, by the way."

I knew she'd fall for that distraction. Marinette settled herself in on the chaise for some epic storytelling. (Tikki had already hidden herself and Nooroo up on the bed.) She was glad she and Adrien had already thought up a good story.

"Ok, well, first off, I woke up tied to a chair in the Evil Villain Lair—"

"OMG, WHAT WAS IT LIKE?"

"Totally creepy!" Marinette said, really getting into it. "Cold, dark, you could hear voices echo off the walls… and the only light was through this huge window with a butterfly symbol on it!"

"Holy cow! Doesn't think much of himself, does he," Alya said sarcastically.

"Absolutely arrogant," Marinette agreed. "And, guess what? He thought I was Ladybug!"

"WHAT?" Alya exclaimed. Marinette nodded solemnly, keeping her eyes wide and innocent. Fortunately, she and Alya had already had this conversation, otherwise she never would've let that little tidbit drop. But she knew exactly what her friend would say now.

"But you're too short to be Ladybug!"

"I know, right?" Marinette agreed, pretending not to hear Tikki giggling from where she and Nooroo were hiding.

"And your hair isn't long enough! No offense, girl, you totally rock the pigtails, but still! It's definitely not the same length as hers."

"Exactly!"

"So what happened?!"

"Okay, well, it was really dark, so I couldn't get all the details, but…."

End Chapter 4.

A/N: Again, I apologize for the lack of action. We're getting there.