Marinette's nightmares were always bleached white.

The akuma alert blared in her ear, and Marinette bolted upright in bed, heart pounding, blankets twisted around her legs. It had only been another nightmare, but one that could still come true one day.

She rubbed at her eyes to wake herself up and squinted at the bright phone screen to focus on reading the meager scraps of information, while she tried to control her breathing. Someone had been akumatized because of a late-night ticket mixup. The Gare du Nord metro station was currently flooding with water. Lovely.

A trickle of anxiety bubbled through her chest, and she rubbed at the spot to soothe it. The dream hadn't been real. She wasn't going to let it ever become real. She had her rules.

The flit of red in the corner of her eye told her Tikki was waiting for her by the skylight. "Ready?" the kwami asked, far too perky for Marinette's mood. She transformed and took off across the city without a word.

It was close to midnight. Traffic was calm. The sidewalks were quiet. And the stillness of the air and the familiar rhythm of her swinging did nothing to calm her nerves.

"Rule number one," she repeated to herself. It was something she'd done every time she'd gotten anxious over the past month since the Chat Blanc… incident. "Don't fall in love with Chat Noir."

She stopped on the roof of a highrise only long enough to check her coordinates. She was still going in the right direction.

"Rule number two," she said as she jumped off the edge of the building and swung away. "Don't let Adrien find out my identity." It was her least favorite rule, but Bunnyx had been clear on that one. It somehow contributed to Hawk Moth finding out and using it against them. She refused to believe that he was the type to spread her secret around, and the distance she felt between them ached. Another phantom wound that pressed on her.

"Evening, Milady." Chat Noir called from ahead of her. He'd stopped on the top of a burned out street light. Moonlight shone on him from behind, giving his outline an eerie, pale glow. His face was hidden in shadow.

Number three, Ladybug recited to herself, like a desperate prayer. Never, no matter what, let Chat Noir get akumatized.

"You okay?" he asked as she swung past him, eyes ahead of her.

"Fine," she said. That had probably sounded terse and definitely NOT fine, so she quickly added, "Just tired. I want to go back to bed."

"Hawk Moth must think we're all caught up on our beauty sleep. I think I agree with him there."

"He's right about one of us," Ladybug corrected.

Footsteps on ceramic tiles thundered behind her as he ran to catch up with her. "Me-ouch. You wound me, Milady."

"I never said which one of us, Chaton!" She slowed so they reached the edge of the roof together and leapt into the darkness as one. They were almost at the street when Chat Noir caught her around the waist and she threw out her yoyo, swinging them in a deep arc and catapulting them into the open sky.

Try as she might to deny it, seeing Chat Noir, feeling him solidly next to her, letting his gentle smile and warm laughter fill up every space inside her was the best antidote for her anxiety. By the time they reached the station, the knots inside her chest had loosened.

"Ready?" he asked.

They stood on top of the theater next door. The wide roof of the metro station was dark. All the rails leading inside were empty and submerged. The water spilled out into the surrounding streets, leaving floating cars and flickering street lights. The flood covered first floor windows. No people in sight, but no akuma either. That probably wasn't good.

She flipped open her yoyo and pulled out a piece of cheese and a macaron. "Readier than you are," she said, popping the cookie into her mouth before handing the cheese over to him. Her suit transformed, giving her long flippers. "I've got more. We'll replenish your stock after we're done here."

"Great. Can't wait." He held the cheese up to her in a mocking toast before swallowing it with a grimace.

"I hope the lights don't go out completely," she said as they flickered again.

"You'll always have me if they do."

"My helpful kitten. What would I do without you?"

"Probably cry because you miss me so much."

She cannonballed into the water to avoid answering that one. It was warmer than she was expecting, almost pleasant, but it was murky and difficult to see through. When Chat Noir grabbed her hand and led them through the metro's main door, she followed willingly.

Even with her limited sight, she knew the instant they were fully inside. The atmosphere changed immediately. Everything felt too open and exposed. Chat Noir guided her around the tall ceiling's support beams and over ticket counters. Something brushed her leg and she jumped, a stream of bubbles leaving her mouth, and reached for her yoyo. "What is that?"

He tugged on her hand to get her attention, then pointed to the surface.

"What was it?" she asked, wiping water out of her eyes. It didn't make much difference. Only dim light filtered through the upper windows.

"People," he said. "They're all statues. I don't like this akuma." The weight of the water flattened his hair.

"Do you think it's still on the platform?"

"I didn't see anything." He floated closer to her. Their hands brushed as they tread water. "But I saw a sign for the underground lines. I think we should look down there next."

She nodded, took a deep breath, and slipped back beneath the surface. He wasted no time in grabbing her hand again and leading her down. With a few more kicks of their flippers, she saw the dull glow of a red arrow pointing to the lower levels. At the bottom of the wide stairs, the cement roof had collapsed in. Slices of harsh fluorescent lights flashed through the rubble, along with some air bubbles. All good signs. The akuma had probably barricaded itself down here.

Chat Noir let go of her wrist so he could point at his left hand, one shoulder raised in question.

He was right. They probably couldn't get through without his Cataclysm, though she didn't much like the idea of his timer running down under water. They weren't far from the surface, though. He would easily be able to recharge and come back to join her.

No sooner had she nodded her approval than the rubble crumbled to dust, leaving a cloudy slurry for them to swim through.

The hallway lights were submerged completely but still flickered bravely, giving her glimpses of dozens of statues all running for the exit, frozen in stone terror.

Echoes of her nightmare whispered in the back of her mind. And even though she didn't need him to guide her, Ladybug reached for Chat Noir's hand as they swam above the silent crowd, just to have the constant physical reminder that he was there with her. And that he wasn't going to leave her.

The akuma wasn't hard to find.

The first things Ladybug could make out were the glowing red eyes, then the matching red hair that fanned around her in the water. At least they wouldn't lose sight of her easily.

She seemed more fish than human, with oversized webbed hands and feet, and long teeth that glinted hungrily.

One of her hands was clenched tightly around something, and when she pointed at the ticket counter, it was blasted into a hundred pieces. Chat Noir yelled and pushed Ladybug against the nearest wall, shielding her as plastic and stone torpedoes hurdled past them, lines of bubbles streaming after them. Over his shoulder, Ladybug could see the statues of cowering workers.

The akumatized woman turned and saw them. "You two have an appointment with Hawk Moth!" She raised her fist. Ladybug saw it held a small piece of paper. "And I'm going to make sure you aren't late!"

Ladybug and Chat Noir dove in opposite directions as the ceiling above them crumbled, blinding them with dust and bubbles.

Water rippled around her, giving her just enough warning to dodge out of the way of the hand shooting toward her earrings. She spun in the water, giving a good kick to the akuma's side as she propelled herself toward clearer water. Chat Noir was there waiting for her, weapon drawn. He put a finger to his lips and drifted forward.

"Wait," Ladybug whispered, bubbles hissing through her teeth.

Chat Noir turned, but his momentum in the water pulled him away from her.

She pointed at the ring finger of her right hand. He only had two minutes left on his timer. Then she pointed upward.

He shook his head and held up his staff. "I have enough-"

Ladybug swam forward and pushed him toward the exit just as the woman jetted toward them.

"Go!" Ladybug dove to avoid a blast from the paper. She was close enough to see it was a ticket.

"But-"

"Get charged up. I'll hold her off!"

Another shrill beep let him know he only had one minute left, so Chat Noir kicked and disappeared back down the hallway, leaving Ladybug to turn her attention back to the fight. It wasn't time yet to use her Lucky Charm. She had to wait until she had Chat's cover to set up a plan to use it, so for now, she would stall until he got back.

Ladybug's attacks were met with glancing blows from wide fins. The woman's whirlpool kicks were easy to evade with the water powerup.

The water powerup! Chat didn't have another one! And she didn't want him to risk coming back down without it. He was reckless enough to do something like that.

The akuma snarled when she found Ladybug ducking behind an overturned table. She hissed her disapproval, then leveled the ticket at Ladybug's face.

Ladybug had just enough time to knock the woman's hand toward the ceiling. The initial impact of the blast sent a shockwave through the water. Metal and stone cracked and crumbled immediately after. One chunk caught Ladybug on the shoulder, but the suit protected her, and it bounced off. The woman wasn't as lucky. She roared in pain and frustration and headed deeper into the subway, following a line of tracks into the darkness. Ladybug took off toward the surface, following after her partner.

His timer had probably run out already. She hoped he was waiting for her already transformed, and not waiting so he could give Plagg the cheese instead of eating himself. Still, she should close her eyes when she surfaced, just in case.

The walls and ceilings were pockmarked all down the corridor. Several more lights had become flooded and given out since she'd been through here, minutes before. Doors hung from hinges, the rooms behind them even darker and gloomier than the hallway. She thought she saw a shadowy something move behind one of the crooked doors, and she swam faster.

She knew she was out of the hallway when the light became more diffuse and the ripples she made stopped bouncing off the walls back toward her. The water splashed as she broke through the surface, and she kept her eyes closed. "Chat, I have another powerup for you," she called, turning her head to better hear which direction he was in. "The woman slithered off, but she'll probably want to stay in the water, so… Chat?"

Her hand was halfway to her yoyo, ready to grab a wedge of cheese, but he made no answer. "Chat Noir?" Her voice echoed off the ceiling and the slowly rippling water. It was met with only silence. Her breath caught in her throat. Why wasn't he answering? "I'm opening my eyes."

In the dim light of the flooded station, she could see that she was alone. Her body felt heavy in the water. He wasn't there. He wouldn't have left her during a fight, not unless there was an emergency. And he would have told her what had happened–

Unless he couldn't.

Unless his timer—

Ladybug dove back under the water, flipping open her yoyo and using it as a flashlight to guide her way. Where is he? WHERE IS HE?

The panicked plea flooded her thoughts, filling every crack, as she desperately searched the platform.

He hadn't made it to the surface. Dread settled over her, threatening to send her panic over the edge. Without stopping to think about what she was doing, she pushed herself back toward the stairs, into the dark.

She'd missed him. He needed her and she'd swum right past him! How could she!

He hasn't come up yet! Where is he?!

Lights flickered. Ladybug checked every door, eyes wide open, searching for the faintest flutter of movement, any shadow that was the wrong color.

In the watery, flickering light of the hallway, she tried to think this through. His timer had definitely run out by now. If he was untransformed somewhere down here, he wouldn't be able to breathe or get himself to safety. And she wouldn't be able to keep her eyes closed if she wanted to get him to the surface quickly.

A flash of white caught her attention, but it was just the fluttering of paper tickets. She swam faster, the beam of light from her yoyo casting harsh shadows in the jagged holes the akuma had left behind.

Finding out his identity wasn't against her rules. Keeping her eyes open would almost certainly mean she would see his unmasked face, and maybe tell her who he really was.

But the alternative wasn't an option.

She slowed in the middle of the hallway, drifting past doors and broken tiles. A stripe of red kicked out behind one of those doors. Ladybug twisted and sped toward it, heart hammering in her throat, and grabbed a pale hand.

The hand gripped her back and started pulling her up.

Ladybug's head broke the surface, and scraped against a rough ceiling. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Her yoyo was still under the surface, making the water around them glow, casting weak shadows from below. But she could see his face clearly enough.

"Adrien," she said breathlessly.

Water had plastered his hair to his head, and he was shivering in the cold water without his suit, and so much was wrong - how could Chat Noir be Adrien?! - but despite everything, he still smiled at her.

"Sorry," he said. His legs brushed hers as they tread water.

"It's fine," she said, she lied. The response was automatic. Her whole body felt stiff and unreal. Nothing was fine. Chat Noir was Adrien and Adrien could have drowned and she needed to get out of this small room and fight an akuma before she hyperventilated.

She thrust the yoyo at his face. "Use this. To breathe."

He took it wordlessly and started to dip back under the surface.

"Wait!" She grabbed his arm, and he popped up out of the water so fast that they knocked their foreheads together.

"Are you okay?" he asked, rubbing the spot.

"Powerup's in there. There's a powerup in there for you."

"I'll be back quick, I promise." He gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks for the save, Milady." And he disappeared back under the surface and took the light with him, like he hadn't just shattered her understanding of reality. She stayed there for a few more seconds before she shook herself and started groping for the door in the darkness.

The water didn't help clear her mind. It left her feeling as murky and blind physically as she did mentally. It pushed on her. Muffled her senses. Left her disoriented. Weightless and untethered.

The faint flickering light from the hallway was enough to guide her out, but navigating her path wasn't as easy as it had been the first time with her partner by her side.

The atrium the akuma had been destroying when they arrived was quiet. Statues, and pieces of statues, littered the floor. The train tracks she'd disappeared down faded into the black. Ladybug knew she would have to think of a plan to win the fight, but her mind kept spinning back to Chat Noir and Adrien and her rules.

The first rule was definitely broken. If she loved Adrien, that meant she'd been in love with Chat Noir the whole time. Her feelings for Adrien would somehow lead to the end of the world.

She didn't want to believe it. Wouldn't have believed it if she hadn't seen the destruction for herself.

"Ladybug!"

His voice was jarring in the quiet. Adrien's voice. Chat Noir's voice.

It was louder and more energetic than when they were at school, and her heart clenched when she heard it. She'd been so close to him. Why hadn't she figured it out?

"Where'd the akuma go?" he asked. He stopped next to her and rested a hand on her elbow, like he was trying to steady her. His gaze was searching. When she didn't respond to the question he said gently, "Sorry. Akuma, or do you need a minute?"

"Akuma," she said abruptly. She didn't need more time to think. She was thinking too much. And only two things were important. Save Paris. And don't break any more rules. Everything else could wait. "This way."

The water in the tunnel was moving, pulling them toward the fight faster than she was ready.

"What's the plan?" Chat Noir asked. He kept one hand on her shoulder, guiding her in the dark. It had been his idea to keep the lights out, so they could stay hidden as long as possible.

"I have a plan." There was definitely no plan.

The hand on her shoulder gave a brief squeeze. "Does this plan include calling Lucky Charm?"

"Of course." It did now. That would be a smart thing to do.

"Could I suggest cleansing everything first?"

Ladybug put a hand to the wall to steady herself against the current. It was gaining speed. "Why would that help?"

"Is it a bad time to make a fish out of water joke?"

A lock of hair slipped out of her pigtail and fluttered in front of her eyes, barely visible in the gloom. She tucked it behind her ear. "It's never a good time for bad jokes." The strands floated free again, pulled in front her her by the intensifying current.

"All my jokes are great," he said, giving her a gentle hip check. "You just have a bad sense of humor." He was so close to her.

"One of us does, but thank you for the input." And for trying to make me feel normal.

"What's that sound?" He turned away from her, facing down the tunnel.

"I don't-" And then she heard it too: rushing water. She had just enough time to throw her arms around him before they were dragged down into the darkness.

They tumbled together, slamming into walls and pillars. Ladybug gripped him even more tightly, desperate for something to hold onto. They scraped against the subway tracks.

After a few seconds, the tunnel started to rise and opened up above the ground. The tracks dropped out from below them. In the distance, skyscrapers stood like broken teeth, distorted through the surface of the water.

The current was pulling them to the center of a lake, with a large column of water erupting from the middle. It swelled with all the floodwater from the subway and debris it was pulling in.

The akuma floated in the center, glowing and clearly visible in the darkness.

"Ladybug and Chat Noir!" she bellowed once she saw them. Her voice carried through the water, reverberating like ripples.

Chat Noir grabbed his baton and buried it into the lake bottom, using it to anchor both of them. Ladybug slipped, her arms leaving his shoulders only to fasten securely around his waist. His knees knocked into her stomach as they drifted in the pull of the water.

"Give me your miraculous! Or this water will flood all of Paris, starting with City Hall!"

Ladybug was not in the mood for this right now. Hawk Moth was just going to have to find another time, because she was not going to deal with this. His crisis could get in line right after her own.

She called for Lucky Charm, snatching a red and black Jumbo Sticky Hand as it almost floated past her. The gears started spinning. Using it to wrap her up? To slingshot herself to where was suspended in the middle of the column?

The baton shifted in the dirt as the water eroded the anchor they had, and she remembered his suggestion. It was time to take away the akuma's main advantage. Ladybug threw the yoyo as hard as she could and watched as it broke the surface above them. Within seconds, red swarms of magic had returned the world to normal, except for a flailing akuma, who was pushing herself to her feet, getting ready to charge on legs that looked a lot less floppy than Ladybug was expecting.

"Not tonight," she muttered. She gripped one end of the Sticky Hand and threw the other as hard as she could. Her aim was true, and the train ticket stuck fast, and her plan worked perfectly. Within seconds, the butterfly had been free and cleansed, and a woman in a wrinkled red blouse was kneeling in the middle of an abandoned lot.

"I'll take care of her until the police come," Chat Noir said. He wrenched the baton out of the dirt and brushed it off. "You go get charged up."

There wasn't much around that she could hide behind, so she followed the tracks back to the tunnel. Instead of calling off her transformation, she waited it out, watching Chat Noir and the woman from the shadows. Street lights gave her enough illumination to see the gentle way he held her hand, and how she uncurled as he eased whatever pain she'd recently experienced with his Adrien compassion.

Master Fu had been right in choosing him. Adrien had a good heart. And she loved him for it.

The first rule was broken. Had been broken this whole time. She loved him so much.

And that meant the other two rules were even more important if she wanted to prevent a disaster. Adrien couldn't know her identity, even though she was sure Chat Noir would never betray her like that. He understood how important the secret was more than anyone else.

The flash of pink light illuminated the walls around her, temporarily blinding her. Tikki was the first thing she saw.

Marinette fished a cookie out of her pocket. "He's Adrien," she said simply. "Chat Noir is Adrien."

Tikki took the cookie and nodded slowly. "I'm sorry I couldn't tell you."

"I know," Marinette whispered, eyes back on him already.

He and the woman were sitting in the dirt. When she'd first appeared, she'd looked defeated in every way, weighed down with so much anguish that she couldn't stand. After a few minutes of talking to Chat Noir, she sat up straight, leaning back casually as he pointed out faint constellations above them.

"What are you going to do?" Tikki asked after she was done eating.

It was a question she'd been avoiding asking herself. She knew what she had to do, but she didn't want to, for herself and for him. But they were heroes, and sometimes that meant that other people came first, even at her own expense.

She transformed back. Her feet were heavy as she walked back to the pair.

Hawk Moth must have manipulated Adrien somehow. He must have tricked him. Or sent a powerful akuma that could read minds. There was no other explanation. But it didn't change what she had to do. Their love ended the world. She couldn't let that happen.

"So Eléa here-" He nodded toward the woman sitting next to him. "-and I have been chatting. Did you know that Pisces is a constellation and used to be a name for the formal classification for fish?"

"Used to be?" Ladybug settled down on the dirt next to him and watched him out of the corner of her eye, finding Adrien's familiar profile in every plane of Chat Noir's face.

"It's an unofficial superclass now," Eléa finished.

"She was on her way to her new job at the Nausicaá Centre National de la Mer."

"Probably not," Eléa said dully.

"There was an akuma attack at the train station," he told her. "Of course you couldn't get there for an early morning interview."

Eléa poked her toes into a pile of dirt and didn't answer.

"They don't usually publish the civilian's name or the reasons," Ladybug said. "No one will know it was you if you don't tell them. I'm sure they'll reschedule."

"An accomplished scientist like yourself will be a great addition to the best aquarium in Europe," Chat Noir said.

Both women smiled at him.

Ladybug had always loved that about Chat Noir: how gently he dealt with the akuma victims, never blaming them for being so upset, always letting them know it wasn't their fault, and that there was still hope for everything to turn out for the best.

They sat in silence until blue lights flashed on the buildings around them, and the police stepped out of their vehicles.

"Thank you both," Eléa said as she stood and dusted herself off.

"Of course," Ladybug said.

"Always an honor to help," Chat Noir added. "Good luck with your interview, though I know you don't need it."

Eléa gave each of them a quick hug before letting herself be led to the waiting ambulance.

"So, do we need to talk?" he asked as they watched her go.

Ladybug swallowed hard against the lump in her throat, but it didn't budge. She tried once more, then gave up. "Yeah, we do."

Doors slammed, engines revved, and Ladybug and Chat Noir were suddenly alone in the dark in the middle of an abandoned lot. What a depressing place for an even worse conversation.

"Do you want to go somewhere else, or?" he asked.

She grabbed his wrist before he could leap away from her. If only she could keep him here forever in this moment, before she had to ruin everything. Before she had to hurt him.

"So…" he began. "My identity."

"Your identity," she whispered back. Her eyes found his and then skittered away.

"Does this change things between us?" he asked. His breathing picked up its pace. His hand twitched under her grip.

She hated rule number two. She wanted him to know who she was. She wanted to be able to love him freely. This was going to hurt them both so much.

"Yes," she said. The least she could do was look him in the eye when she ruined their relationship. She should do that much for him. So she dropped his wrist and squared her shoulders and held her head high, willing herself not to cry and make this even harder for him. "But not in the way you want."

His disappointment was a subtle thing. A slight drop of his shoulders as he let out a small breath. The curl of his fingers where they hung at his sides. A barely perceptible tightness around his eyes when he gave her a smile.

"I guess that was too much to hope for."

It wasn't. It really, really wasn't.

"You can't wait for me," she said. "You have to move on."

The step back he took was not subtle. "What?"

"I mean it," she said. "I'm sorry, but we're not–"

"Ladybug, I don't think I can."

Her treacherous heart thundered. If Chat Noir had said that an hour ago, she would have turned away with a grimace. But now that it was also Adrien declaring his love for her, she wanted to pull him in and kiss him and never let him go.

All she could do was clasp her hands tightly and lie to him. "I want you to move on." Her eyes dropped to his shoulder. She couldn't face him for her final blow. "I'm not going to return your feelings, and it's not fair for either of us."

At least the last part was true. There was nothing fair about this situation. The best she could do now, even though she hated it, was to let him go. Maybe he could be happy and loved by someone else. She had to be strong for both of them. For Paris.

After Chat Noir had been quiet for several seconds, she chanced a peek at his face. His eyes were fixed on her wringing hands, so she unclenched them and slowly moved them against her sides.

"I'm sorry," she said helplessly. Rule number one said they couldn't be together, but rule three said she couldn't let him get upset enough to be akumatized either.

"It's okay," he said tonelessly. "You can't change how you feel."

The denial she wanted to shout at him pushed against her lips, but she held it back. This wasn't a new wound, so maybe it was better this way.

"Chat?" She stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder, pressing gently, trying to convey comfort and care only, and not all the love she had for him. It was a fine line she couldn't afford to cross.

"I'm okay," he said, passing a hand over his eyes quickly. He cleared his throat and said, "I'm okay," more firmly.

He stepped out from under her hand. It hung between them for a second, before she thought to lower it.

"I-" she started. What was there to say? There was no way for her to make it better. Empty apologies weren't going to help him, and she couldn't make him any hollow promises.

A cold breeze blew the loose lock of her hair into her eyes, and he reached up to tuck it behind her ear. The move was filled with such tenderness she thought her heart would break, and then he stepped back and smiled at her, as hollow and empty and broken as everything she couldn't say to him.

"I'll see you at patrol?" He flashed her a quick thumbs up.

"Sure. See you."

Like nothing had happened. Like it was just a normal goodbye between two friends.

Ladybug was the first to turn and leave. Chat Noir didn't follow her. The way back home was long and lonely.

Every muscle in her body was sore by the time Marinette got back to bed. She'd pushed herself to the edge to outrun the disaster she'd left behind, and it hadn't been enough. She handed Tikki a cookie and said she was going to sleep and laid very still until her kwami's soft snuffles let Marinette know she was asleep.

And finally she was alone with her thoughts. All of Paris was finally still, but Marinette felt like she was in freefall. She would see Adrien in a few hours at school. Would he be too upset to go? Would he think it was just another rejection like all the others and not take her seriously? A piece of her hoped he would, that there might be something salvageable between them, but the flash of white when she closed her eyes pushed that feeling down.

After a few more minutes of tossing and turning, she gave up on her bed and headed out to her balcony. A drizzle had started, but Marinette didn't mind. They were a pair, the city and her.

The streets were empty. Street lights were dampened. Sounds of life were all muffled. Not even the moon was visible.

A small flicker of movement caught her attention, a shadow darker than the others that moved across the rooftops, and a flash of golden hair.

"Chat Noir," she called out before she could tell herself this was a terrible idea.

The shadow stopped and turned toward her.

Hadn't he gone home yet? Had it taken him all this time to come back, or was he just wandering aimlessly? "What are you doing out?" she asked.

He made the jump to her balcony in three short leaps, with none of the theatrics she had come to associate with him.

"Akuma," he said briefly once he'd landed next to her. "But it's gone now," he added as an afterthought. "So you don't need to worry." He stared at her chrysanthemums before sliding down the railing.

She'd never seen him look so defeated in her life. He was a crumpled heap at her feet, hair and ears flat, tail and limbs all limp. It was a bad idea to offer him comfort. It was a bad idea to kneel next to him and wrap her arms around him. But bad ideas were all she had tonight, and she couldn't turn him away when he was upset and it was her fault, no matter what her rules said.

"You don't have to talk about it." Water soaked through to her knees quickly. His leather-clad shoulder against her cheek was hard and cold. "But I'll stay here with you as long as you need me to."

Eyes closed, she felt him nod.

"Why?" His question was only a whisper louder than the rain.

The apology she wanted to give him burned in her stomach. Marinette couldn't give him that without suspicion. "Because you do so much for me - for the city! - that I want to help you too."

"I shouldn't be here." He tried to stand, but Marinette refused to let him rise. "I can't burden a citizen with my problems."

"That's not true," she said. There were a hundred reasons why, but 99 of them were only Ladybug's. "We're friends. That means I care about you and I'm here for you."

And she wanted to know when he was upset. If there was anything she knew about her Chaton, it was that he often stuffed his feelings when they were anything other than glowing. He would hide how hurt he was from Ladybug so she wouldn't have to suffer along with him. Marinette wasn't going to let him do that this time.

Rain pattered around them, making her flowers' petals tremble and plastering her hair to her face.

"Promise me something?" she asked after a few minutes.

"What?"

"Come over whenever you're upset. I don't care if it's personal stuff or superhero stuff. When you feel like you don't have anyone else, remember you have me and come visit." Because she could be with him this way even if she couldn't be with him the way they both wanted. Because he deserved better. Because she loved him.

He rested his head against hers. "I will."

A/N: Welcome to my contribution to this year's Big Bang! Thanks to the team for setting it up. And thanks to khanofallorcs for beta'ing! There will be artwork for the upcoming chapters, so stay tuned for that! I'll link and reblog on Tumblr when they're posted! (I'm sariahsue over there too.)

There will be seven chapters total, and this one's the longest one. :)