Author's Note: This is a fic based off of a comic written and drawn by hogeky on tumblr by the same name. Please go there to view images and support her comic!

Permission was received to write this fic.

Thank you to Misheru Haruno for correcting my misuse of the word chagrined! Fixed it~

I have to protect Tikki at all costs.

Marinette went speeding down the back alleys of Paris.

What should I do? Just run?

Her lungs were beginning to protest, as was her heart, though for two different reasons. Adrenaline pumped through her faster than she would have liked, and it made thinking very difficult. As Ladybug, she could have at least had the power to fight back. But as Marinette… her options were limited.

"You can't get away from me in this part of town, Little Missy!" her attacker called from behind her, his voice growing closer. He was right.

How did I end up in the worst part of town? I can't keep running forever.

She looked ahead into the seemingly never-ending street.

The alley is long, he'll catch up in no time.

Marinette clenched her eyes shut and clenched her teeth.

I just have to FIGHT.

When she felt that he was near enough to her, Marinette came to a halt and whipped her leg up into the air with the full intent to knock her attacker in the face with the heel of her foot. She let momentum take the weight of her leg into the air and added as much muscle as her tired body would allow.

And yet it had all been for naught.

As a reflex, the man in black caught her leg with his right hand, allowing it to strike his left arm. Unfortunately for her, he was also able to angle the knife in his free arm so that it dug significantly into a gash right above her knee.

Blood rushed from her cheeks and seemed to pour out through the wound. Alarms sounded in her mind and she could feel the burning pain split through her entire being.

There was little time to panic or consider the agony blooming through her as the man reached out and grabbed at her exposed and defenceless neck. Marinette's body went slack, the nerves in her system in too much shock to function. The gash at her leg was starting to go numb, but had also somehow dispersed the pain away from the injury and to the rest of her body instead.

"I just want your money kid, so stop struggling. Give me your bag and it'll all be over." His voice was sounding more and more faint to her ears while she hung in the air by her neck. It didn't help that there wasn't a terrible amount of oxygen reaching her brain.

I can't move… it hurts…

Marinette held desperately onto the arm at her neck, pushing down as much as she could to alleviate some of the weight at her spine. Through the blur of the tears forming in her eyes, she could see his gaze dart to the side of her head briefly.

"I'll take these pearl hair-ties while I'm at it." There was an annoyingly triumphant tone in his voice; a tone she wished she could beat out of him. The mugger reached out and pulled at one of her pigtails, causing a light pain in her head. "Hey, look at that, they come with matching pearl earrings too. Jackpot." Any remaining blood in her cheeks fell into the pit of her stomach, and she went cold, her eyes widening in panic. He seemed to enjoy the look on her face. It only made him want the earrings more.

No! What can I do? It hurts too much to move! I can't move! I can't!

"Don't worry kid, I'm just going to take this and leave." He sounded serious. He was done with her. Done with hurting her and done with dealing with her. He was probably leaving more tracks than he had intended. Marinette could feel her heart in her throat. She wanted to throw up. Shutting her eyes as tightly as she could, she fought back the tears of defeat that threatened to spill over.

But his hand never touched her ear. She felt nothing at all. In fact, instead of feeling anything, she heard something first.

A loud thwap sounded through the air, and the release on her neck was a great relief. What was less of a relief was the sudden collapse of her person onto the pavement below. Her knee burned harshly as it made contact with the bits of debris on the ground. A part of her could feel the bacteria entering her wound, needle like prickles decorating the gash.

Eyes open now, she watched her attacker grab the side of his head, a glaring look on his face.

"Who the hell!" he exclaimed. His grip on the knife tightened as he turned to look for his aggressor. Behind him, stood a very irascible Chat Noir.

Sometimes, Chat Noir wished he hadn't had such clear night vision. Sometimes, there were certain things he wished he hadn't seen. One of those things was the blood that covered his classmate's pantleg. The other was the pure, unadulterated fear in her eyes. He hated that he could make out the tears at the edge of them. He hated that she seemed to shake and shiver. He hated that she looked so weak and abused, half of her hair taken out of it's usual appearance.

He hated all of it. And he was about make the man that did this to her, pay.

His breath was ragged, not because he was tired, but because he was angry. Chat Noir stared down the man, who had not long ago been lifting Marinette up by the neck, with eyes full of hatred and fury.

"You're dead."

Without realizing what he had done, or what he was doing, Chat Noir's baton had flown back and forth several times, making contact with the mugger's face more often than he had initially intended. This did not feel like an issue to him. He found himself unable to stop for a while. This still did not feel like an issue to him.

The mugger deserved it. He deserved to be hurt for hurting Marinette. He deserved all of it.

But Chat Noir was a superhero. Regardless of what this man deserved, he had a reputation to uphold.

"Run." The mugger didn't have to be told twice. Given the opportunity, he high-tailed it out of the alley as fast as his wobbly legs could carry him.

Chat Noir watched until the man left his sight, and sighed deeply. He had to calm himself before going back to Marinette. She was probably frightened out of her mind. In fact, he was probably the last person she'd want to see, given that she had just watched him beat a man down. His eyes slowly rose to look at her.

"Marinette, I hope I wasn't…" There was something in him that didn't allow him to speak anymore. A gut wrenching sense of guilt perhaps. Or maybe it was fear and regret. Fear that she would fear him, and regret that his actions had been so vulgar.

Marinette was looking up at him from her seat on the floor of a back alley in Paris, and there was distress in her eyes. There was weakness in her expression. He approached her with extreme caution; as if her fragility would cause her to crack and fall to pieces at a breath of air.

"Mari…" he whispered. And that had been all it took.

Gone was her shock. Gone was her mask of calm and steadiness. Gone was any sign of strength. And all that had been left for him was her.

Despite the laceration in her leg, Marinette limped rather quickly into him, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into a desperate embrace. She shook violently and sobbed. He could feel the wetness on his shoulder. Slowly coming out of his own shock, he returned her grip, taking in all of her fears and worries.

He wanted to take them all from her. Even though he barely knew her. Even though they were only a little more than acquaintances, something in him wanted to protect her and make all this pain disappear.

In the midst of her sobbing, she was speaking. She was thanking him. And she said words that made little sense to him, but he didn't say much in return. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to do. He only knew he wanted to do something; anything to make the pain go away.

"How are you always there when I need you."

Author's Note: I've only had small to medium sized wounds, never anything major. For this description, I exaggerated the time I scrapped my shin on a piece of metal so badly that it didn't bleed for a solid ten seconds. It was just white for a while. I don't think my body realized it had even been cut… Lol nobody needed to know this but there is it.

I changed a couple of details in this chapter but it all kind of makes sense…