The downside to having heroes in the new millennium, Marinette quickly discovered, was that there was generally a reason they hang around. Namely, the villains. Nothing on par with Hawkmoth, but an annoyance all the same.
"My lady." Chat Noir said when he came to pick her up from the cafeteria, "We've been called to the field."
"Really?" She asked, and tucked her unopened pudding cup into her purse. She hadn't changed out of her Ladybug costume since her awakening, except to put on her military uniform and go to the memorial.
"Yep," Chat said, his popped 'p' managed to come through the his mechanical voice, "It's going to be exciting! Not the villain, it's just Stormy again, but I've been developing a way to travel with you, since you don't want to get your motorcycle."
"Stormy?" Marinette asked, and gestured for him to lead the way to the exit.
He seemed slightly put out that she hadn't asked about his new transport method, judging by the way his tail and ears sagged slightly, "Stormy Weather, otherwise known as Aurore Borell. She has an umbrella that can control weather, but it's easy to get it from her. Unfortunately, she has friends in high places, she's keeps getting released from prison. Today, she's decided to freeze the park."
"Sounds easy enough, what do you need me for?"
"She may," Chat said, rubbing the back of his helmet, "may, have figured out that my suit has a slight, uh, problem with frost."
"Problem?" Marinette asked with a raised eyebrow.
"In that, if I get covered in Frost, my suit will lock up." He explained, averting his eyes, "I can fix it! But, I just don't have the material right now."
"I understand," She assured him, "So, we're off to the park, I'll distract Stormy Weather, and you sneak up to her and steal her umbrella."
"Ah, okay!" He smiled, and she could see the way his shoulders relaxed. His suit was fascinating, pitch black and elegant. It didn't make a noise, she had noticed that right away. He moved like he was dressed in casual clothes, instead of metal armor that his file estimated to be anywhere from 70 to 100 pounds.
He was probably tiny, like a jockey, he'd have to be to look so lithe in the suit. Maybe he'd open up the suit and turn out to be three feet high. Maybe he'd open the suit and there wouldn't be anything in there at all. The future was a strange place where no one seemed willing to share basic information. They hadn't told her about Felix, would they bother to tell her that her partner was a robot?
Or worse, what if he couldn't open the suit? What if it was life support? Like an iron lung he could walk around in. God, she hoped not.
"So, are you curious why we're on the tenth floor?" Chat asked, paused by a door which bore numerous warnings not to open.
"Huh?" She asked, narrowly managing not to run into him, "Sorry, I was lost in thought."
"Do you want to know why we're on the tenth floor?" He tilted his head to the side, and even through his helmet she could feel his teasing grin.
"I assume so you can show me how we're getting to the park." Marinette replied easily, one eyebrow raised.
"Correct!" He announced, then turned and gestured to his back, where with a steam-like hiss, two handles appeared, while two rests rose from his legs, "See, I installed handles! This way, I can fly us to the park."
"I am not doing that." She informed him immediately.
He pouted, which was to say that his cat ears sagged down and he clutched at his tail as he turned towards her, "You won't fall off! It's a short flight, and I've studied your files, you should be able to handle an hour long flight! Purr-ease my lady? Even if you did fall off, you're ladybug! You would survive!"
"You're really not helping your case pal," She informed him, but she could feel herself wavering as his ears sagged lower and lower, she frowned at him and hissed out, "You get one chance. If you drop me, I swear I'm not going near that suit again."
Chat perked up immediately, though his helmet remained smooth and expressionless.
"Thank you my lady, I won't betray your trust!" He assured, and turned to allow her to climb up once more.
"You better not cool cat." She mumbled.
Flying on Chat Noir's back was a bit like skydiving from a plane, just more horizontal than she was used to. He had been right of course, the flight from SHIELD HQ to the frozen-over park was less than five minutes. A short time when it came to travel, but an eternity when spent in silence.
"Remind me to build you a headset," Chat said, once they touched down and the wind that head deafened them before cleared out of their ears.
"I'll hold you to it fly boy," Marinette replied, "You know the plan?"
"Yes."
"Good!" She said, and took off.
"Wait!" He shouted, but seemed to realize she was already out earshot.
Marinette had seen Stormy Weather in the corner of the park, with a man in a suit fancier than the SHIELD agents wore. Stormy was cackling something about revenge and news, but Marinette couldn't hear it clearly.
And to be honest, she didn't care to what justification Stormy had. For the first time in the weeks since she'd been stranded away from everyone she knew and loved, she was allowed to fight without holding back. She had destroyed a punching bag, and been forced to punch softer for fear of it happening again. She had dragged the field agents in for spars, but every time she was reminded that they were good, human people.
They only people Marinette wanted to punch were dead, so Stormy would have to take one for the sake of her sanity.
"Hey, ice queen!" She shouted, her hand brushed her gun when she shoved it into her purse, but she went for her yoyo instead, and slung it straight into Stormy's forehead.
"Who dares-?" Stormy demanded, and aimed a blast of ice towards her.
"I dare!" Marinette replied, and whipped her returning yo-yo into an arc to rebound the icy blast away from her.
"Why you!" Stormy shrieked, and threw more blasts.
"Come and catch me!" Marinette laughed, and took off.
Chat Noir maybe waited a few moments longer then he needed to in order to jump in and grab Stormy's umbrella. There were reasons for it, of course, it was just that if Ladybug asked he wasn't sure he was going to be able to explain that the reasons could be summed by pointing at her.
Ladybug was fluid and agile, she jumped from tree to tree, slowly leading Stormy closer to his hiding spot without revealing him or making it obvious she was leading Stormy anywhere except for away from civilians.
In his bedroom, back at the manor, he had a poster of her in her uniform. She had several, he knew, but the one she preferred was the one in his poster and the one she wore know. The simple ladybug jumpsuit, a pair of pants stolen from Grandfather Felix, and a pair of combat boots that looked old enough to have come out of World War 1.
It was her most attractive outfit, nor the best outfit for her to fight in, but watching her graceful, gravity-defying jumps, he found his mouth dry, his heart beating so fast that he could almost feel the arc reactor heat up. Ladybug could fight crime in a paper bag and he would still find her attractive.
Though, if she ever wanted to switch to her more famous costume, the jumpsuit combined with thigh-high boots and a combat vest, he sure as hell wouldn't complain.
Eventually, he managed to wrench himself out of his musings and leap forward to grab the umbrella. The cops took Stormy away quickly, while clean up crews arrived to defrost the park. They moved so quickly, he wouldn't have been surprised to learn they had been waiting a block away from them to finish.
"Good job cool cat," Ladybug said.
He could have died happy right there, "Thank you! You did amazing as well, of course!" He cheered, and held out his hand for a fistbump.
She tilted her head in confusion, and then reached out and grasped his fist in hers to give it a shake. He allowed it, but pulled his hand away and returned it once again with a fist.
"This is called a fist bump." He said, "Place your fist against mine. It's like this century's version of a high five."
"Isn't that more of a sporty thing?" She asked, and wrinkled her nose.
"We just battled a crazy person who controlled weather with an umbrella," Chat laughed, "I'm not sure what else you could classify as a sport my lady."
She rolled her eyes with a small grin and returned his fist bump without much more prodding.
"I wouldn't call it a sport," She said, dropping her fist, "More like a warm up. How do you feel about sparring a bit?"
He grinned wide, his heart seemed to want to burst through his suit and straight into Ladybug's arms, "Of course! If you don't mind flying back my lady?"
He gestured to his back and she shrugged.
"Sure, just don't drop me cool cat."
"I promise."
AN: xposted to AO3, and also I post there first so if you want it like ten minutes before users then read it there haha.
Art posted under the "Captain-ladybug" tag my tumblr StrawberryDecaf