Cupid Stunt cackled and flew swiftly away, leaving Ladybug limp against Chat's chest. With her incapacitated, he could take on Chat Noir with ease, and steal both of their miraculouses to turn the city into a love-struck mess. When he was finished, Paris truly would be the city of love.
Chat Noir paid no attention to the villain slipping away, even as he fired arrow after arrow into the streets below. More important things were happening. Ladybug's fingers curled around his shoulder, struggling to hold herself up. Her face was against his collar bone as a dull ache began to burn at her tightly shut eyes. The only way to cure it would be to open them.

"Chat Noir... I..."

Chat's heart beat hard and his breath shook as he desperately tried to gather her up into his arms. He scowled furiously at Cupid Stunt as he shrunk into the distance. He was going to get revenge for this. He focused his attention on her as the worry made his chest tight. Ladybug, however, was getting stronger. She pulled away from Chat's chest for a moment, rubbing her eyes as they ached harder. Chat gasped again as she staggered backwards, darting forward to take her hands eagerly, and keep her away from the edge of the rooftop.

"Are you ok Ladybug?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah... Yeah, Chat, I'm fi-"

"NO DONT OPEN YOUR EYES-"

Chat's heart stopped when her shining bluebell eyes opened and blinked innocently, before focusing on him. There was a long, tense pause, as his stomach twisted with confusion, trying to figure out if he should hope she loved him, or hope she did not. His ears flattened with concern. Her beautiful blue eyes met his emerald greens and he dared to hope she was unaffected, like Tom had been. She blinked slowly at the bright green eyes staring at her. Her heart fluttered. She beamed brightly.

"kitty!" She squealed.

Ladybug threw her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. He staggered backwards in surprise, and she pulled back for long enough to reach up, pull his face down towards her, and lay a kiss against his cheek. The rosy lipstick the akuma had given her left a mark on his cheek.

For one blissful moment it was all real.
Ladybug - his Ladybug - loved him. She adored him so much, so deeply, so desperately, that she kissed him here on this rooftop, during an akuma attack. All of her was so wonderfully close against him. Her fingers on his ear, her palm on his cheek, her knee against his, her chest against his, her lips... Her wonderful, soft, pink lips...
In his dreams she was everything. She tasted like strawberry macaroons, she smelled of baking cookies, and she was as soft as a silk scarf. She was perfect in every way.

And she was kissing him, because she loved him.

Chat pulled away as he desperately willed himself to believe this could be real, and that Cupid had no effect on her. Ladybug giggled as he stepped back, trying to hope this was real.

Her giggle was all he needed to know he was wrong. "What's wrong kitty? Don't you love me?"

He felt his heart wither. All he'd ever done was love her. All he'd ever wanted was this. Her to love him like this. But it took an akuma to get her to love him. It wasn't real. It took a trick for her to fall for him in return. That hurt more than her never falling for him.

He pushed her back, "Ladybug-"

"Call me bugaboo!" She cooed.

His chest ached as he repeated, "Ladybug-"

Ladybug folded her arms and pouted at him. "Kitty."

Chat felt his shoulders deflate. She never looked at him like that. She hated his nicknames. This wasn't her. This was hell. He couldn't look her in the eye as he muttered, "Bugaboo..."

"Yes kitty witty?"

He flinched as she darted forward and linked herself onto his arm, trying to reach up and kiss him again. He wanted nothing more than to lean down and kiss her. To feel the affection, he so desperately longed for...

Chat shook his head and reminded himself that this wasn't real. She didn't love him. "You need to sit this one out."

She gasped in horror. "But I wanna be beside you honey bunch! I never want to leave your side, I love you too much!"

Chat Noir winced again and tried to push her away. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't make me go!" She whined, "we could be together kitty! Together forever!"

She clung onto his arm desperately, burying her face in his chest, making him simultaneously delighted and destroyed. Ladybug was stubborn. He knew that. He knew her. He could use that to his advantage. Although doing so would be so incredibly painful. Gently Chat eased her off of his arm.

"Cupid makes sure no one falls in love with him by blinding them with the silver in his wings. Can you get me some sunglasses?" He asked.

Ladybug gasped in delight, "Absolutely! I made sunglasses for Jagged Stone once, and he adored them! I'll make an extra special pair for my little pussycat!"

Chat winced again. "You shouldn't have told me that."

"Don't be silly kitty! I would never keep secrets from you!" She promised.

That was going to make things harder. The temptation to know who she was, was one of the hardest things he had to fight. The only reason he did was because it was so important to her. Here she was telling him it was alright, that she wanted him to know, and he so desperately wanted it to he true because he so desperately wanted him to know, but he couldn't because this wasn't real.
He had to get the real Ladybug back before this one killed him.

"Ladybug-"

"Ut-uh-uh!"

"Bugaboo..."

"Yes pussycat?"

Chat hesitated as she grabbed onto his arm to lift herself up and push her face into his. She was so close now he could smell the macaroons...

Chat leapt back from her sharply and asked, "Please will you get my sunglasses?"

"I'll be back in two shakes of a tail!" She booped his nose playfully. "Don't go anywhere!"

She tried to lean in for a kiss but Chat backed away. There was no way he was going to let his first and second kiss with the girl of his dreams be because of an akuma.

"Hurry now, its very important," he urged.

Ladybug giggled but she obeyed. She went swinging across Paris, ready to find some sunglasses. Crowds were filling the street now, starting fights with each other while trying to win someone else's affections. Police were out in force, unable to be hit through their armour, which was lucky for them. apparently impenetrable cloth like Ladybug's didn't have that benefit. Unaware she was giddy with love (despite the rosy lips that every affected victim appeared to share and leave over everyone they were trying to kiss) the police stepped aside to let her through, but closed ranks again to stop Chloe's new vendetta against Ladybug.

Chat shuddered as he heard Chloe scream, "BUT I WANT MY NI-NI BACK!"

He had no idea who "Ni-Ni" was, but he'd seen Nino hiding on a rooftop to avoid someone, so it didn't take him long to guess who Chloe was so hopelessly in love with. He felt a little sorry for Nathanael chasing after her like that. he'd already been akumatized for one girl who didn't love him, and now he was chasing another.
If only he had Marinette to help him now…

Chat fixed his sights on Cupid stunt in the distance. He was the cause of this. Chat Noir was along, dying inside, and he couldn't let this villain get away with this. This was unforgivable. Chat kept Cupid Stunt in his sights and raced across the rooftops, ready to fight him alone. He was barely six buildings away when a black and red blur threw herself through the air and tackled him to the ground. They ended up in a tangled mess on the floor of the roof.

"What the-" chat gasped.

"I told you not to go anywhere naughty kitty!" Ladybug giggled.

Chats eyes widened to see her, and he dropped his head on the roof with a groan, "Oh, Ladybug-"

"I forgive you pussycat," she purred, leaning over him as she pushed herself to her feet.

She held out a hand to help him up, so he took it uncertainly. "Oh, um, thanks-"

She fussed over him, her fingers dusting him down making him blush, and her hands winding through his hair to shake it out, all the while asking, "Did you get hurt? Did you get a boo-boo? Show me where and I'll kiss it better!"

A dozen flirty responses came flooding into his mind, but the idea of her agreeing to them made him turn a deeper shade of red under his mask so he leapt to his feet and turned away from her.

"I need you to do something for me," he declared.

"Anything honey, look!" She wound her arms around his middle, pressing herself against his back and holding up the Char Noir themed plastic sun glasses she had found, "I got your sunglasses!"

With her entire body pressed against him it was hard to remember how to breath as well as talk, so he choked out, "That's great, thanks!"

The giggle that won from her vibrated through him to his heart. The burning desire he had to turn around and scoop her up into his arms and accept that this wasn't real, never would be real, and she didn't actually love him, was slowly decaying him from the inside out. Little giggles like this made it spread faster.

"What else do you need? Tell me and I'll do it! I'll do anything for you because I lo-"

"Don't say it!"

"Why not? I love you!"

He winced. More black sludge went pulsing through his veins as his heart crumbled up again. He took a deep breath and turned to face her, placing each hand on each of her shoulders and pushing her back to a respectable distance. The only thing he could think to do to fix this was risky. Really risky. But it was all he had.

"Bugaboo, babe, you've gotta transform for me, ok?" He said.

She tilted her head, "Transform?"

"Yeah, I mean, no secrets, right?" Chat gave a queasy smile that broke him up more than she did.

Ladybug on the other hand, absolutely lit up. "Yeah! Tikki-"

"No! No, not here!" Chat insisted. He glanced about for somewhere to hide and the only place he could see was the stair well. He pushed her through the door urgently. "In here. You go in there and transform and I'll come in and transform too, so we'll have no secrets! You first though, so it's a surprise!"

"Good idea kitty!" She beamed.

Chat shut the door with such brisk power that the bricks shuddered. There was a bright flash of pink under the door, and Chat leaned his head against it, desperately hoping she had escaped the infection. He needed her to. He needed her to be her, not in love with him, because if she still was, she would could out onto this rooftop and he would know who she was and it would be his fault. Everything would change...
She couldn't be infected anymore.
He couldn't know who she was.
She would never forgive him.

"What... what happened?" A quiet and confused voice asked through the door.

Chat pressed himself against it hopefully, his voice shaking a little. "Ladybug?"

Marinette frowned at the closed door behind her. She had no idea how she got here, but if that was who she thought it was on the other side, things would make more sense.

"Chat?"

No nickname. She was herself again. Chat Noir practically collapsed with relief. "Oh thank God!"

Marinette frowned, baffled, "What's going on?"

"You got hit and you kept trying to tell me who you were so there would be no secrets between us," Chat explained.

"So you locked me in a stairwell?" Marinette leaned back against the door, and lifted Tikki to see if she was ok.

"I was hoping you wouldn't be affected if you weren't transformed," Chat explained.

Marinette's voice filled with concern as Tikki could barely open her eyes. She had seen her like this once before. She needed help. Urgently.

"I'm not, but Tikki is sick. I can't transform without her," Marinette said.

Chat bit his lip, laying his head against the door. "I need to get you home-"

"No!"

The shout from Marinette made Chat bounce backwards anxiously, away from the door. Marinette lifted Tikki up to her chest, cupped in her hands like Tinkerbell when her light started to fade. Chat couldn't know who she was. she could be useful as Marinette until she got to Master Fu. Master Fu could fix this…

"No, I'll stay low and keep out of the way until we figure out how to cure this. You find where the akuma is hidden," Marinette ordered.

"Ladybug its not safe-"

"You need me to cure it remember?"

The long pause between them was caused by Chat struggling to find an argument that would beat that. it wasn't safe. he was already tangled up inside that she had been hit and fallen for him, what if she got hit again and he wasn't there to defend her, so she fell for someone else, and he'd lose her twice. Paris would lose her. But Paris wouldn't be Paris if she wasn't there to fix it.

"Try the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Tom the baker was hit by not affected. It's a good place to start looking for a cure!" Chat suggested.

"Great, I will! Marinette can help!" Marinette's voice was tight as she tried to throw him off in case he suspected her.

Chat didn't notice. "Good luck my lady."

Marinette was about to run down the stairs when something stopped her. a pull towards Chat. something that needed to be said. "Wait! Chat!"

"I'm here, I'm here!" he sounded as though he'd just come running back towards her. "What's wrong?"

She had no idea what she wanted to say, but she needed to say something. Something that let him know that she did value him. she didn't know why, but it felt important. "It was a good idea to make me transform back in to me. Thank you for not trying to figure out who I am."

"It's important to you. I'd never betrayed that," he shrugged.

"Thanks Chat. you're a good partner," she said.

She laid a hand on the door, and on the other side, Chat laid his on the same spot.

"Good luck bugaboo," his smile leaked into his voice.

"Don't call me that."

Chat chuckled warmly. It might have hurt that she didn't love him without an akuma to make her love him, but damn it was good to have her back.

…

Marinette ran across the street trying to avoid people throwing punches in all directions. The mimes were worse than anyone because they were throwing fists wildly instead of actually hitting anyone. police were trying to keep the victims within a barrier but closing them off like this was causing more fights. it was worse than the drunks on Bastille Day.

"MARINETTE!"

"Alya?!"

"MARI- Marinette!"

Marinette swore inwardly as Alya wrapped her arms around her and nuzzled against her neck affectionately. Alya threw her arm up in the air, holding her phone up to record the moment she'd found her "true love" Marinette. Marinette shielded Tikki with her hand and glanced about anxiously. Master Fu's house was so close. so, so close. she could see it from here, she just had to avoid the crowds.

"How lucky am I that my best friend is my true love?!" Alya laughed.

Oh yeah, the crowds, and Alya.

Marinette gave her a nervous smile, and laughed, "Y-yeah, sure, whatever, hey – wanna see something cool?"

"Hey, ladybug fans are always down for something cool, right guys?" Alya smiled down her phone camera.

"no, um, something just for you – sweetie – you and me to share?" Marinette said.

"ooh, babe! You got me a present? You're the greatest," Alya beamed.

"yeah… put the phone down, and close your eyes," Marinette instructed.

Alya did as she was told, squealing excitedly. Marinette felt bad, but it couldn't be avoided. She turned on her heels, and dashed away from her best friend, leaving her alone. Cupid had moved on for the moment, so Marinette didn't have to worry about dodging flying arrows, which meant she could make a bee-line for Master Fu's building and focus on speed.

"MARINETTE?!"

Marinette felt a spring of guilt in her chest as she heard Alya cry for her, but this was more important. Marinette dashed up the stairs two at a time, racing for Master Fu. When the door flew open he didn't seem that surprised to see her.

"I got hit!" she cried.

"You do not appear to be infected," Master Fu said, calmly.

Marinette fell to her knees too far from the cushion and had to crawl the rest of the way, "I need help. Tikki needs help."

Marinette laid Tikki down on the cushion as gently as she possibly could and sat back on her haunches watching anxiously as Master Fu closed his eyes and held his hands over Tikki's limp little body. After a moment or two, he rested his hands on his lap, and shook his head solemnly.

"this is akuma power. I cannot help."

Marinette's heart stopped in her chest. "you – what do you mean you can't help?!"

"An akuma gets their power from Nooroo, the kwami. A kwamis power is a dangerous thing. Gifting it to someone makes them powerful too, and if they then cause evil to another kwami, that cannot be cured by me. I am not powerful," Master Fu explained.

"so… so I can't cure Tikki until Ladybug cures the akuma?" Marinette asked.

"It would appear so," Master Fu nodded.

"wonderful!" Marinette groaned sarcastically, "What do I do?!"

"You were affected by the Pixelator. How did you defeat him?" he asked.

"that was different! I lost an arm, big deal, I can work with one, but no Tikki?! No powers?!" Marinette cried.

"Chat Noir defeated the Evillustrator alone," Master Fu reminded her.

"No he didn't I was with him! just me though, not Ladybug!" Marinette argued.

"You are Ladybug, with or without your mask. I have faith you will find a way to cure this," Master Fu said.

Marinette groaned, covering her face with her hands. Tikki was no help. It wasn't her fault, but it wasn't useful. Chat Noir needed her. Chat Noir had dealt with her being hit by himself. She needed to be there for him now. an asset, not a hinderance. Which meant she had to calm down.

"Chat Noir says my father wasn't affected by Cupid Stunt's arrows. Why not?" she wondered aloud.

"why could that be?" Master Fu asked, calmly.

"I don't know. It's all messed up, Nathanael loves Chloe, Chloe loves Nino, Ladybug loves Chat Noir, Alya loves me, and I don't know how to save them!" Marinette groaned.

"Think about this rationally. Your father was not affected by the love arrows, whereas you were. What is the difference between you and your father?" Master Fu asked.

He was older, he was male, he had a job, he was married, he had children, he was larger, he was taller, he had a moustache, his hair was a different colour -

"So many things!" Marinette groaned.

"then might I suggest you go out and find people who haven't been affected, and figure out why they haven't been affected?" Master Fu offered.

"That will take too long, especially since I can't swing anymore," Marinette said.

"If only you had a partner who could help you," Master Fu said, pointedly.

Marinette's face fell as she realised she could still work with Chat, just not as Ladybug. she scooped up Tikki gently and slipped her into her pocket instead of her bag. She wouldn't be so badly jostled if she was in her pocket. Marinette stood up.

"Thank you, Master Fu. I won't bother you again," she said.

Master Fu just chuckled to himself as she hurried out of the door. She would be back to bother him again, and he would be waiting, just as he was now. that was the way of the Guardian after all.