A/N: Again, responding to guest reviews or users I cannot reach through PM.

Guest: :D

Love bug: But will he admit it?

miaturtle: Thank you!

Enjoy!

Adrien is Chat.

Chat is Adrien.

How did she not see it coming? She figured that the universe would like to screw with her this way. He rejected her for her. She liked him, but it wasn't really him. And they met in the middle on her balcony during stolen nights to fulfill their fantasies.

She tried so hard to find a discrepancy with her reasoning, tried to disprove her own theory. So what if Adrien often arrived late to class, under-eye circles coinciding with late-night akuma attacks few civilians knew about? It didn't matter if Adrien was so interested in what she thought of Chat Noir, and that Chat Noir occasionally asked her what she thought of Adrien.

It didn't matter that Adrien and Chat Noir were so physically similar that they could've been twins, that they both fenced, played piano, and spoke Chinese.

And it most certainly didn't matter that she fell for him...twice.

Anger clouded her vision, the snow bleeding into red. She blinked, clearing her vision. He never did told her why he left her, and she wanted to know why. He wasn't surprised when he saw her as Marinette-he said as much. How and when did he manage to learn her identity? She wouldn't be surprised if it had been a while now.

"Chat!" Ladybug skidded in front of Adrien, too angry to care that she could be wrong. This was where she had last seen Chat, and Chat couldn't have gone far. Knowing him, he would have de-transformed to throw her off his trail. "Chat, what did Volpina tell you?"

Adrien looked up. "Ladybug? What are you doing here? There's an akuma, isn't there?" He sounded frightened, his voice shivering on the cold wind.

"Stop playing dumb, Chat!" Ladybug resisted the urge to hit Adrien upside the head.

"I'm not Chat," he replied. "You keep calling me Chat, though. Did the two of you get into a fight?"

"As a matter of fact, yes, we did! And you were there!" She stomped her foot, exasperated.

"I'm not Chat," he repeated. "Ladybug, are you sure you're alright?"

Two can play at that game, she thought. If he won't admit he's Chat, I'll trick him into admitting it.

Ladybug looked at him again. His eyes were still guarded and downcast. "Sorry, I must be confusing you. So, where do you live? You should be getting home." She would act normally-apologizing as if Adrien wasn't Chat.

"It's fine, Ladybug." Adrien removed himself from Ladybug's hold. "You're probably busy fighting an akuma, and I don't want to distract you." He turned away from her, in a move so reminiscent of Chat's rejection it took her breath away.

"It's not safe this late. Let me take you home," she insisted. Pestering Chat always shortened his temper, and an angry Chat was a Chat prone to making mistakes.

"It's none of your business," Adrien snapped suddenly. His shoulders hunched and he ducked his head down. "I'm sorry-I-I guess I'm a little out of it today." His tone was remorseful.

Good, she thought. He was getting irritated.

"It's fine," she waved it off. "Everyone has their bad days. But this one seems especially bad for you. Do you mind telling me how you got here?"

"Ladybug." Adrien's voice was exasperated. "I told you, I'll be fine. I'm tougher than I look."

"You may claim that you're tough, but I still don't feel good about leaving you in the cold. Why don't I bring you home?"

Adrien fixed his face into a tight, forced smile. "Of course. I live in the mansion on the corner."

"Perfect," Ladybug purred. She wrapped her hands around his waist, as if they were dating each other again. Her hand came to a rest on his hip, and she tugged him close to her until their sides were flush with each other. She gave him a dazzling smile, winking at his obvious displeasure.

"Hold on tight, now," she grinned lasciviously. "I don't want you to fall off."

Adrien wiggled. "Can you loosen your grip a bit, Ladybug? It's a bit tight."

Ladybug looked at him. "Of course," she apologized. She then proceeded to hold him even closer. She snickered at his discomfort.

"So, Adrien," she began, swinging across the rooftops, taking the long way back to his house. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

That must have been the worst pick-up lines in the history of pick-up lines, I thought disgustedly. What the hell was Ladybug doing?

"Yes," I lied. "I do." So shove off, I thought.

"Mmm," Ladybug hummed. "Too bad for me, eh? I'll bet that you're the cat's meow."

What the-? I had to close my mouth to stop the stream of swear words leaving my mouth. The Ladybug I knew would never make a cat pun, much less flirt. What did she want?

"I could be your girlfriend," she suggested. "You'll just have to keep it a secret, hmm?"

I looked at her carefully. Was she suggesting that I cheat on Marinette...with Marinette as Ladybug? Her blue eyes were full of lust, and the slightest veneer of lies. So she still thinks I'm Chat, I realized. She was trying to trick me into admitting it, whether by making me lose my temper, or being so exasperated with her to make her stop. Two can play at that game, Ladybug.

"Sounds purrfect to me," I whispered. "In fact, why don't we start now?"

I hugged her closer, my mouth latching on to the skin of her neck. Flicking out my tongue to taste her flesh, the flavors of sugar and spice bloomed on my tongue. A trail of fire was left on her throat as I made my way, nipping and sucking, to her cheek.

She gasped, the yo-yo string slacking for a moment, before tightening again. Clearly, of all the responses she had been expecting, it hadn't been this. Ladybug set us onto the roof of the Agreste mansion before she lost all concentration and dropped us onto the ground.

"What are you do-" I cut her off, much preferring her moans to her incessant questions. I kissed her lips softly, hoping that she would take a hint and enjoy the moment. In response, Ladybug clutched me closer. She fitted herself into my body, molding her curves into mine. Tilting her head, she slanted her lips over mine, stroking and caressing, tongue probing in curiosity.

A burst of spice filled my mouth as I felt her anger. Burning, roasting, her fury flowed into me, and soon the kiss became something much more heated. Our tongues twined, muscles fighting for dominance. When I refused to cede, she playfully nipped my tongue, and I switched to tasting her neck instead. She made a small sound of protest and she nipped my ear instead when I refused to budge.

I looked up at her in surprise. "What?" she responded. "You weren't kissing me."

I stared at her in response. "So that justifies nipping at my ear?"

She chuckled, a light, flirty sound that I only heard when I was charming her as Chat Noir. "Yes? No? Maybe?" Ladybug sighed, leaning her head into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her back, reveling in the comfort.

"So, Adrien, what do you do?" I was jerked out of my reverie. There was a glimmer in her eyes that suggested that she still thought I was Chat Noir. I had hoped kissing her would make her forget, but that had been in vain.

"Student," I replied.

"So why are you out so late?" A seemingly innocuous question.

"I had a fight with a friend," I answered honestly. "I had to do something that was for their good but they wouldn't listen to me." Perhaps Ladybug would be more open to my reasoning when I was Adrien.

A look of concentration marred her features. "So you didn't discuss it with them first?"

"Why would I?" I laughed harshly. "I left because if I did explain it to them, they'd never accept the solution."

"Maybe it's because your solution is wrong."

I shook my head. "I've done the calculations, thought through the possible scenarios. There's no other way."

"There almost always is," she responded. She shrugged her shoulders, adding, "Though it's not my place to say."

"Do you want to do something?" She asked suddenly.

I nodded, grateful for the change in topic. "Can you show me some of your yo-yo attacks? I've always been interested in them."

"Really?" She smirked. Suddenly, a yo-yo came whipping towards me.

"Claws out, Plagg!" I shouted instinctively, the burst of energy from the transformation refreshing me. I dodged under the yo-yo, simultaneously sweeping my staff in front of me.

When I met Ladybug's eyes, I saw the glimmer of a smirk. She had tricked me into revealing my alter ego. I never guessed she would be so slippery.

Ladybug could see his anger. Quickly, she grabbed his shoulders, cornering him in place. She would finally get her answers. "What did Volpina tell you?"

"She told me things that I already knew," he hissed. "Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"No," Ladybug retorted. "That doesn't tell me anything at all. What did she actually tell you?"

Adrien-no, Chat, she corrected herself-wrenched himself from her grip. "Think, Marinette! What happens during akuma battles each and every time?"

"What do you mean?" she yelled back at him. "We win! We defeat the akuma every time, I use Lucky Charm and you use Cataclysm, and I purify the akuma. That's what happens, it's what's going to happen each time!"

"Think further, deeper!" he demanded. "What actually happens?"

"We put ourselves into risky and dangerous situations!" She snapped back, not knowing where he was going. "I get hurt and you get hurt but my Miraculous Cure makes everything alright again!"

"No, it doesn't!" She'd never seen Chat so close to tears. "What happens if you get hurt and you can't use your cure? What happens then?"

"That will never happen!" Ladybug looked at him furiously, trying to deny the traitorous whispering in her head that agreed with him. "Hawkmoth'll have to catch me off guard to even have a chance."

"And how do you think he's going to have to catch you off guard?" Chat suggested, twirling his baton. "Do you know how you're controlled by akuma victims?"

"No." She shook her head. "What are you getting at?"

"It's what happens when you can't get out of the way fast enough, when you're such a liability that your partner has to constantly sacrifice themselves to make sure that you're alright." He sobbed, clutching his stomach and bending into the snow.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug gasped. "Snap out of it!"

"Life isn't a fairytale, Marinette, no matter what you'd like to believe. And you better trust me when I say that I'm a liability." Chat looked up again, his eyes torn in fury and sadness. "You'll be better off without me."

"You're not a liability!" Ladybug angrily denied. "You're my partner, my equal!"

"Am I really?" He questioned. "You know as well as I do that I'm a distraction for the akumas so you can figure out how to defeat them. I don't mind, seeing as that's my job, but seeing you in danger every day? Do you know how much that hurts me?"

"Clearly, it doesn't hurt you enough!" Damn. In an effort to hurt him as much as he had just hurt her, she stuck her foot in her mouth again, a side effect of the anger clouding her brain. "I mean, if you just thought about it, I need you there!"

"No, you don't," Chat countered. "I'm just a buffer, extra padding against akumas. I make your job easier, but that doesn't mean you need me."

"That's not the point!" she pleaded. "I like having you there! You do just as much as I do!"

"I also place you in danger," he noted. "By neutralizing myself early on, I can't help you. Instead, I work against you. Can't you see that by taking me out of the equation, you gain more than you lose?"

"No! Paris is safer because of our efforts." She stressed the word, trying to convey how important she thought they were as a team.

"I usually get controlled by akuma victims during those efforts. Do you know what that does to me?" He tilted his head.

"No, what?" Ladybug had no idea what he was getting at.

"I succumb more easily to Hawmoth's power," he said softly. "His butterflies call to me, Ladybug. They offer promises of sweet, sweet, power. It's becoming harder and harder to fight his influence."

He saw her jaw drop. "It's true. Sometimes, I just want to give in to the feeling of it all, to let myself go. It's very relaxing, you see. You hardly remember what you've done, but those memories are better left forgotten anyways. You see why I left you now? I'm so weak, he could akumatize me without much effort. "

Silence. And then-

"Chat! Adrien! I don't care what you prefer to call yourself right now-"

"Chat."

"Fine! Chat! This is not you, do you hear me? You don't give up, and you don't run away from your problems. There are times when problems are hard, but I'm there to help you shoulder the burden. That's what friends are for, and I'm your friend, damn it!" She panted, finishing her tirade.

"And I'm not always going to be in control of myself, Ladybug! I've thought for a solution and if I had one we wouldn't be standing here, would we?"

"Actually-"

"That was a rhetorical question!"

"I knew that was a rhetorical question!"

"Then why did you try to answer it?"

"Because-because I wanted to!"

They were at a standstill. Ladybug could feel her frustration leaking through her ears. It seemed that there had to be a different way to approach things. Seeing each other in costume obviously brought out the latent fighting attitudes, but seeing each other in civilian clothing wasn't going to work, either.

She sighed. Maybe a little more patience this time around would work. "What I meant, chaton, was that I transform quickly so it's hard to injure me, even when I'm in civilian form. Even if you're akumatized, I'm willing to bet that you can and will go against Hawkmoth. That'll give me enough time to transform and cleanse the akuma from your system. It's still possible to fight Hawkmoth's plans."

Ladybug had a point, but there was a problem. "We're partners, we usually need to work together to take care of the akumatized victims. How are you supposed to succeed if you're working against me? We'd be evenly pitched against each other."

"You forget that desperation and a clever mind has saved me more than a few times against you when you were akumatized," she countered.

He shook his head. "You don't understand. When I was controlled by akumatized victims, I was a puppet. I did what they wanted to because I had no control over my own mind. When I'm an akuma victim, you'll find that I won't be so easily beaten. I know how you fight, Ladybug, and Hawkmoth will command me to put every ounce of that knowledge to use to defeat you."

"I'll just use Lucky Charm as many times as I need to, Chat. I've asked Tikki before; she won't mind. Maybe Master Fu will have a solution."

"You think?"

Did she detect a hint of sarcasm there? "Yes, I think."

"There's nothing we can do to protect against being akumatized. You can run away from the akuma, you can capture it, you can even try to stop carrying around objects important to you. But, akumas can possess just about anything and that includes your body. Just think what would happen if the akuma possessed your heart. Unless you cleanse it or Hawkmoth willingly releases the akuma from his spell, there's no way to avoid it. The akuma will attempt to possess its victim as long as its victim is alive."

"And where did you learn this?" She asked skeptically.

"Remember that book you stole from me?" He lifted an eyebrow. Ladybug had the good grace to look ashamed. "Yeah, that one. I also read that the butterfly Miraculous also grants the user with a physic connection to his victims. It's not strong enough to control the victims, but the user can definitely see and hear through the victim."

"You mean those purple masks that appear in front of each akuma victim."

"Yes. I can be controlled and harm you. Do you understand now? Why I left?"

"No," she snapped. "I'm clearly capable of protecting myself, and even if you do attack me when you're akumatized, I have faith that I'll win. We both know that I'm better than you, Chat. You don't need to protect me."

"I can see where you're coming from," she continued. "But it's not necessary. Trust me when I say that we're equals, Chat Noir. We have each other's backs, and I won't let you run away from me."

"Well said, My Lady," Chat said, running his fingers through his hair. "But I'm still leaving you anyways."

The mood was somber. Ladybug stared into Chat's eyes, finding nothing but regret. She sighed, resigning herself to accept his decision-for now.

"You know I won't give up," Ladybug started. She never did finish her speech because of a sight she thought she'd never see-two black butterflies flapping their way straight for them.

A/N: Just as heads up, I may not be able to update for a week or two because it's testing season at school. *hides under blankets* Thoughts, anyone?