Chat had no idea what he was doing. He hadn't exactly been...thinking when he carted Chloe off. All he knew is that he need to get Marinette (because he still refused to think of her as Silent Night, she wasn't gone yet) away from the other students. And the best way to that was with bait. Thus, Chloe.
If Ladybug were around, she'd probably smack him over the head with her yo-yo. As it was, Ladybug wasn't around, for whatever reason, and Chat could get away with indelicate tactics. He didn't have time to stop and call her, knowing Marinette was likely hot on his trail. So he jumped over rooftops, keeping an eye out for the familiar flash of red and hoping that she wouldn't be too mad with him once she eventually showed up.
(There was another reason he took Chloe, albeit a more subconscious one that Chat wasn't really ready to recognize. Without Ladybug, he wasn't able to pull some of the more...reckless stunts he usually did. His sense of self preservation was next to none, he'd never hesitated to throw himself into the way of danger for the sake of his lady. Totting Chloe around insured that he had a reason not to get hurt, and to watch his back, albeit a weak one.)
They had been running for a while when Chloe finally seemed to come to her senses and react.
"Put me down, put me down!" Chloe was slamming her fists into Chat's back and, while he had certainly taken worse blows, it wasn't the most comfortable thing.
Chat rolled his eyes, looking around for somewhere safe they could hide. "Okay, okay, give me a second."
He found a little alcove and hopped in, setting Chloe down after a moment of listening for the sound of Marinette approaching. Though, Chat thought, he probably wouldn't be able to hear her anyways.
"We really should get going again, I don't know how far off-ohmygod are you crying?" Chat had turned to see Chloe Bourgeois, the sole cause of a good 70 percent of all akuma victims, sniffling to herself.
The fact that she wasn't making a big deal out it was maybe more startling than anything else. Adrien had seen Chloe cry before and she was dramatic about it. Her eyes would well up and she would break into full body (and faked) sobs. She 'ho-ed' and 'ha-ed' and sounded a bit like a stuck up, teenaged Santa Claus. But this was different.
Chloe just sat there, arms wrapped around her center, head bowed as she tried to sniff away the snot that began to drip down from her nose. Her tears fell silently, and for once, she didn't make any sound while she cried other than occasional sniffles. Chat honestly didn't know how to handle a genuinely upset Chloe. (If he were being honest, he didn't know how to handle a genuinely upset anyone.)
"Are...you...okay?" Chat knew he sounded painfully awkward but he really didn't know what else to say.
"Obviously, I am not." Chloe's voice was just as sharp as usual, but there was something behind the biting tone that was a little more...vulnerable.
"Um." Chat blinked, ever eloquent in times of distress. "Can I ask...what's wrong?"
Chloe didn't respond at first, instead hugging herself a little tighter. She hiccuped, a real, genuine hiccup, and shuddered a little. One hand came up to tug at her ponytail (a true sign of her distress, Chloe Bourgeois would never think of messing up her own hair in normal circumstances) and she glanced up at Chat.
"I. Uh. I may have lost my one of my best friends today."
"...what?"
"You heard me the first time!" Chloe snapped, though her shoulders slumped slightly. "I don't even know why I'm tell you this, it's not like you'd understand."
Chat was, frankly, floored. Chloe was crying because she lost a friend? Was she talking about Adrien? Him yelling at her and calling her out on her bullshit had resulted in, what ever this was? Even with Chloe sitting in front of him, looking lost and a little confused, he still couldn't make the pieces click. Chat couldn't really imagine her valuing their friendship enough to get upset to the point of crying.
In fact, Chat couldn't imagine her valuing anything enough to cry.
"I'm sorry?" He tried and Chloe gave a snort.
"Don't apologize for something you didn't do, that's stupid."
But I did do it. I think? Chat wasn't really sure what to think. "Um, does this have something to do with the akuma?"
Adrien knew that it did, but Chat didn't, so he figured he may as well play it safe.
"Ugh, of course she turned into this super powerful villain that can make people do whatever she wants, of course." Chloe threw a hand out, suddenly agitated. "Like she doesn't do that enough already."
"..what."
"That girl, the aku-whatever, her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's awful." Chloe enthused and Chat was almost surprised that it looked like she meant it.
"Um. Really?" Chat frowned, trying to think of a way that Marinette, sweet and kind and gentle (and admittedly very powerful now that she was an akuma) Marinette, was 'awful'.
Chloe tugged on her hair more fiercely. "Everybody likes her and talks to her and she has friends."
"You...don't have friends?"
"Not really. Sabrina only hangs around because I give her free stuff and she's got some weird, hero worship thing going on. And Adrien...well. I guess he probably never really was my friend."
Chat was, again, floored. He didn't know that Chloe had the self awareness to pick up on the fact that her thing with Sabrina was, frankly, unhealthy. Or the self awareness to realize that their friendship was fairly shallow and mostly one sided. Ever since he'd started public school, the time he'd spent with Chloe had been dwindling and he'd seen her more and more for the selfish person she was. The fallout from earlier that day had been a long time coming.
"This Adrien guy..." Chat winced, both at having to refer to himself in the third person and the fact that he was still pressing, for some reason. "...is he the one-"
"Yes. Marinette has him now too, I guess." Chat was affronted at being referred to as property, but Chloe plowed on. "She gets everything. She's class president, is friends with everybody in our class, and knows Jagged Stone personally. Her best friend, you know, that girl that runs the Ladyblog? She's got influence and she yelled at me cause I upset Marinette or whatever today."
Chat was silent as Chloe seemed to think. "Adrien did too, she managed to turn him against me."
"None of those things sound like they have to do with you, though." Chloe didn't notice that his words came out a little too harsh for an unbiased party. "And the Adrien thing. It just sounds like she made friends with him."
"She doesn't need more friends, she has plenty! She's just being greedy." Chloe argued with a huff. "Plus, she already has her happy little family or whatever, she doesn't need more."
The 'happy little family' line stopped Chat short, especially considering what Chloe had said earlier that day.
"Are you...jealous of her, Chloe?"
"What?! No!" Chloe sputtered, waving her hands around. "Why would I be jealous of her? She's just...lucky...I guess..."
Her voice got a little weaker with every pause, and her reaction was telling enough.
Chat...understood, to an extent. There were often times that he looked at Marinette's parents, or Alya's siblings, or even Nino and his easy friendship with just about everyone and felt jealous. No, jealous wasn't the right word...maybe longing. He wished for those things, for parents to greet him when he came home from school, to pester him and his friends with food and company. For siblings to run around his legs and break his things and play with him. For someone to talk to. For someone to love him.
But he had his friends and he had Ladybug. Chloe didn't have anybody, other than Sabrina and, well, Adrien. And even then, she seemed to know she didn't even really have them. Her father was dotting, but distant, gave her expensive gifts but was too busy being a politician and a businessman to pay attention to her.
To look at Marinette, to see a girl with friends and loving parents and a fairly happy life, it must have been hard for someone who got everything she wanted but never anything she really needed.
"You're jealous of her." Chat said again, though this time it wasn't a question.
Chloe stared down at her hands like she was seeing them for the first time. "...yeah. I'm...I'm jealous of her."
Before Chat could speak, he noticed something odd, feeling his ears (the cat ones) prick without his control. He glanced up, frowning at the area around them.
"That's weird..." Chat muttered, pulling out his baton and extending it.
"What? What's wrong?" Chloe looked up, her expression panicked again.
"I can't hear anything."
The silence was heavy, oppressive, and most of all, familiar. Even though Chat could see people on the street from his place in the alcove, cars driving by and pigeons bobbin along, he couldn't hear any of it. Chloe was still sort of sniffling and Chat knew he needed to get her somewhere safer, and be able to listen.
"Chloe, be quiet and get behind me." Chat started backing deeper into the alcove, pulling up the girl and herding her behind him.
"Wait, Chat Noir-"
"Chloe, quiet!" He turned to her, his voice a little harsher than necessary.
Her face scrunched up like she was sucking on a lemon, and she pointed at the street. "Look at the cars."
Chat turned to look, not sure of what she was trying to point out, until it dawned on him. The cars near the building a few down from their own would slow, as if traveling through mud, before picking up speed once they passed it. This happened in every lane of traffic, and the wave of slowing cars was starting to get closer to their own building.
"She's coming." Chat grabbed Chloe up, and this time she didn't argue when he took off.
Chat was too focused on running to really pay attention to where they were going, as long as it was away, he was good with it. And he still hadn't formulated a plan. He mentally cursed himself, wishing he had spent the moments they were stopped trying to contact Ladybug rather than needling Chloe. His grip tightened on her carefully as he felt her slipping.
Mon petit chat, why are you so sad?
Chat flattered, nearly fumbling as he landed on a rooftop. Marinette had been...silent whilst pursuing him. At least, up until that point. Her sudden not-voice had startled him, but he righted himself as he continued to run.
Why was he so sad? What is she talking about? Chat could feel his brows furrowing in confusion.
Mon petit chat, you mustn't cry like that.
Something about the words Marinette was saying was familiar. Chat couldn't quite place them, but he recognized them. The cadence at which she spoke seemed, rehearsed, like reciting a poem maybe? He tried to push it from his mind, focus on making the jumps.
Over the divides, underneath awnings, Chat knew the city like the back of his hand, and made good use of his knowledge. He could probably navigate it blindfolded, which he nearly had to because Chloe's shoulder was riding ever higher into his face.
Your mama will come back...
Chat almost missed a jump entirely, gasping for breath. It was a rhyme, a nursery rhyme, something his mother used to tell him when he was younger. He could feel Chloe's grip his shoulders tightened as his lopes became less even, as his breath came faster and more frantically.
How had he forgotten about it? How did Silent Night, no, Marinette, know?
...she'll comfort you.
Where was he, where did he need to jump next? Chat was having a hard time focusing on anything other than Marinette's voice and the words she spoke. Her not-voice morphed, until it was no long Marinette's, but his mother's, as clear and strong in his mind as the days before she disappeared.
Chat knew his jumps were becoming more erratic and his pace shifting by the way Chloe clung to him, and by the way panic rose in his throat. His arms were beginning to ache, and he only just realized that Chloe was becoming a deadweight on his shoulder. The suit may have given him near-invulnerability and super strength to a degree, by carrying a teenaged girl over the rooftops of Paris whilst being chased by a possessed classmate would tire anyone eventually.
In the warmth of your basket...
Chat heard it then, the zip of a yo-yo, and for a second let himself hope that Ladybug had arrived. Let himself wish that his lady had arrived and that everything would be alright. But he knew that Marinette (for a reason he didn't have time to study indepth) had a yo-yo as well. For the first time, that little buzzing sound that usually brought him happiness and anticipation, filled him with dread.
He stumbled on a shingle, nearly dropping Chloe and tripping into the space between buildings. He had to stop a moment to right himself, but that moment was all it took for a black figure to catch up and drop in the darkened alcove before him. Chat flinched back, holding Chloe a little tighter, as Silent Night stepped out of the shadows.
The first thing he noticed was her eyes, bright and fiery in contrast to the darkness of her mask. They were blown wide with panic and Chat knew it was because the suit had extended so far across her arms and legs. Really, the only sign that Marinette was still there and still kicking was the fear in her eyes. He noticed the strange familiarity of seeing that face masked, of the way she swung her yo-yo and moved towards him, steps sure and strong.
But most of all, Chat Noir noticed the cruel smile on her face, curling like her words coiled through his mind and made everything stop.
...you'll dream.
AN: If you're curious about the nursery rhyme, I actually fund it while looking through French nursery rhymes and kinda exploded with excitement when I read it. It's literally so perfect? Like holy smokes, I kinda screamed about it to my little brother for a while (he's my 'editor' and let's me bounce idea off him, bless).
Camembert621: Okay, so this fic is working under the assumption that Marinette and Silent Night can't tell what the other is thinking? My reason for that is, the people don't remember what happened to them after they've being purified, so I just sorta assume that they're usually not 'present' for their alter ego's rampage. Since Marinette's situation is very...unique, I'm having it be that Silent Night can't tell what Mari is thinking and that she's Ladybug.
ALSO, same kinda goes for Hawk Moth. The only person he has direct contact with is the Silent Night part of Mari, so he can't hear what Marinette is thinking. I hope that clears things up a bit?
TrimusicaDrag00n90: I hadn't considered the bat kwami, that's a cool idea though! But I already know how things are gonna be 'resolved', so it probably won't come in. Nice work picking up on the lack of distinction between Silent Night and Mari at the end of last chapter, things are definitely getting fuzzy there.
Guest: Oooh! That's a cool thought. I already have that bit of the fic planned out, but that's a really interesting concept. Hmm...
XxAceLawxX:I honestly don't have anything against Chat Blanc stuff, except for that fact that Chat literally is always being taken control of and hasn't gotten a chance to prove he can do stuff on his own! Everytime I see him akumized I just think 'let him prove himself!' And thus this fic was born ahaha.
ALSO, everybody talking about how much they hate Chloe, I'm sorryyyy, I don't know what happened but she's been kinda sorta redeemed? We'll see if I ended up doing more in that department ahaha. And thank you for all the kind comments and encouragement, they keep me going and make me smile :)
As always, I track 'all is calm ml' on tumblr and you can come talk to me at mazberrypie. OH! I drew a lil Silent Night over there too, so you should go check it out if you wanna see how I picture the suit.
