This is not a two shot. I lied. I kept getting ideas and it kept growing. I have no control with this fandom, someone stop me.

An Act of Protection

Part Two

Adrien heard his Lady's bold declaration through the door. He heard her as she all but dared the reporters to try and discover his civilian identity. He heard her as she stated her full name.

Plagg had burst out of his ring and was floating by his head. The kwami was surprisingly silent as his chosen processed what had happened.

Adrien stared at the door in shocked, "Marinette."

Marinette was Ladybug, Ladybug was Marinette. Two of the most incredible girls in his life were one and the same.

Adrien rested his head against the door, his eyes screwed shut as he grimaced at the situation, "Marinette, Marinette, no."

With the beauty of hindsight, it was painfully obvious to see that his classmate was his Lady. They had the same kindness, the same determination, the same beautiful smile, the same clear blue eyes. For goodness sake, they even had the same hairstyle and Adrien hadn't managed to piece it together!

He hadn't made the connection. He hadn't seen that his Princess was his Lady and he hadn't gotten away in time. Because of him, Ladybug – Marinette, beautiful, kind, passionate, quirky, Marinette – had sacrificed her secret identity.

"I'm sorry, kid," Plagg spoke up, his tone of voice unusually soft. "Sometimes this just happens."

"This is my fault, Plagg. She did it for me, she sacrificed herself for me!"

Guilt gnawed at him. He was supposed to protect her! He was the one who was supposed to take the hits, despite how often Ladybug complained about him doing so. This wasn't supposed to have happened and it was all his fault.

"It's not your fault," his kwami disagreed, "it's just bad luck."

"Plagg, we are bad luck! We literally embody bad luck!"

"It's not your fault, Chaton," Marinette's voice came through the door. "Don't you dare say that this is your fault, you stupid cat. This was my choice and I'd choose it again in a heartbeat. I won't let them see you."

He could tell that there was forced bravado in her voice, but he didn't fault her for that in the slightest. Adrien could only imagine what she was feeling. Fear, anger, resignation, determination. And strength. God, what strength must she possess to stand there in front of all those people and practically dare them to try and see into the cupboard she guarded?

Was it possible to fall in love with a person even more? Because Adrien was pretty sure he was 250%, head over heels in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

"Here," Adrien said as he gave a piece of camembert to his kwami. "Please, eat quick."

Plagg ate.

"Marinette, I –"

"It's okay, mon Minou," she cut him off and to his dismay, he could hear that her voice was breaking. "It's okay, it's gonna be okay. It'll be f-fine."

It was hard to tell if she was telling that to him or herself by that stage. He heard her take a deep breath before she addressed the crowd again.

"Leave," she told them and although Adrien could tell she was close to breaking down, there was steel in her tone. It was not a request; it was a command. "Don't you think you've seen enough? You have my identity, but I won't let you have Chat Noir's. Leave."

Anger began to burn in Adrien's veins as he listened to Marinette speak through the door. The guilt, surprise and despair he felt at their situation quickly turned into a righteous fury. He had never been one who was quick to anger, and had always tried to be a calm and understanding person. But as he thought over what had happened, over how they'd been denied the comfort of secrecy and how his Lady had been forced to reveal herself, he began to seethe.

"Plagg," Adrien all but ordered the kwami to hurry up and eat. He needed to get out there. He needed to help her. He needed to give those reporters a piece of his mind because how dare they do that Marinette?!

He could hear Alya talking and his impatience grew tenfold. He needed to get out there.

"Ready, kid," his cat-like companion said once he'd finished his mouthful.

Adrien nodded, a frown marring his usually genial features "Plagg! Transformez moi!"

Marinette stared out at the sea of people before her.

She was trying so, so, so hard to be strong, but she could feel her bravado failing. Her resolve wouldn't waver. No, she'd stay in front of that door until Chat Noir was ready to come out suited up and with his secret identity secure. She just wasn't sure if she'd handle it for much longer without bursting into tears.

She'd been exposed as Ladybug. Hawkmoth would know who she was. He could target her friends and family, he could hurt them and it was all her fault. She lowered her head and blinked tears out of her eyes, desperately trying to compose herself before she had to look up to face them all again.

"Marinette?" Alya's voice forced her to do just that and her head snapped up.

Her best friend was inching towards her, phone no longer in sight and an expression of immense concern on her face.

"You okay?" Alya asked when she reached Marinette's side.

Encouraged by someone approaching the now-revealed Ladybug, a few reporters stepped forward and Alya immediately glared at them. "Back. Off."

Marinette put a shaking hand on the bloggers shoulder, needing some sort of contact and comfort. This, of course, sent the reporters into another tizzy, as flashes of cameras went off and videos cameras hefted to get the best picture possible.

She tried very hard – and only partially succeeds – to keep her expression blank and not frown at the crowd around her. She took another deep breath and attempted, once again, to get them to leave her alone, "I said –"

A flash of green light shone from underneath the door and Marinette cut herself off. She turned to face the cupboard, breath caught in her throat because she knew what that light meant and it terrified her. Facing down journalists was one thing, but this was her Chaton, the person she especially didn't want to let down with her identity. The person she was terrified would be disappointed with clumsy, awkward, shy Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

The handle to the cupboard door seemed to turn in slow motion and Marinette's heart hammered in her chest. She didn't know what to expect, she didn't know what to say, she didn't know what to do, but her – and everyone else's – attention was riveted to the door; everyone was waiting for Chat Noir to appear.

And appear he did.

To Marinette, Chat Noir always seemed like a cheerful, bright and easy going person. He always had a ready smile and a pun ready to be told. He was life and laughter and Marinette was certain she'd never seen him anywhere close to remotely angry. Frustrated, perhaps, but never angry.

The Chat Noir that stood before her now was furious.

Marinette felt her breath leave her as she took in her partner's appearance. His usually handsome features were marred by an intense frown, his feline eyes were glaring and his lips were pulled back in a snarl. For one terrifying, heartbreaking moment, Marinette thought his anger was directed at her, but then he opened his mouth and spoke.

"Leave," he spat, "My Lady told you to leave."

Relief flooded through Marinette. My Lady, he'd called her his Lady. Surely, if he referred to her by his usual nickname, he wasn't angry at her? He wasn't disappointed in her identity?

"Ch-Chat?" She choked out, tears blurring her vision; she hurriedly blinked them away.

He turned his gaze to her then. His furious look melted away into the tender, loving expression that he so often wore around her. Chat held his arms open and Marinette automatically went into them, burying her face into his chest and taking comfort in the warm familiarity of her partner.

"Thank you, Princess," he murmured into her ear, his tone soft and soothing. "You shouldn't have had to do that for me."

"I couldn't let them see you. I had to protect you."

"I know, and now it's my turn to protect you."

He pressed a gentle, comforting kiss to her forehead. The action surprised her, as Chat had never done it before, but she welcomed it. He then faced Alya and gave her a short, accepting nod. However, once Chat turned to the crowd once more, all traces of his calm, comforting self were gone.

"How dare you?" He seethed at them, "How dare you? We've dedicated our lives to protecting this city from Hawkmoth and you repay us by not even giving us the courtesy of keeping our civilian lives to ourselves?"

Perhaps what was the worst thing was that he never raised his voice. Oh, the anger was clear in his tone and it was obvious to everyone in the room that Chat Noir was furious, but he never shouted. Instead, his voice was carefully controlled while he tore into the gathered reporters.

"Why didn't you let us leave? You know we value our privacy. It's called a secret identity for a reason. It's there to protect our friends, family and ourselves. You've just given Hawkmoth an advantage over Ladybug. Those she knows in her private life could potentially become targets. Furthermore, my partner is more important than I am. She's the one that can restore Paris to normal, not me –"

"Chat Noir, you're just as important as I am!" Marinette interrupted.

Chat broke himself off and stared at her in surprise. Gone was her upset and near-tears expression. Now she just seemed affronted that he thought such a thing. "Just because I can restore all the damages, doesn't mean I'm more important than you! We have been through this, Chaton, you're my partner, my equal. We are team and neither of us is more important than the other."

"If we could just ask a few questions," a daring (or perhaps foolhardy) reporter interjected, "we'd just like –"

He was cut off by Chat Noir baring his teeth and hissing at him, the very picture of an angry cat.

"Hush now," Alya glared at the reporter, "the adults are talking."

The journalist looked insulted and drew breath to reply, but before he could do anything, Marinette put a calming hand on both Alya and Chat Noir. "Enough," she said, "this situation is bad enough as it is without my two best friends attempting to take out a reporter."

Chat took a deep breath and let it out with a huff. He turned away from the one reporter who dared to speak and addressed the rest of the room once more. "You disappoint me. I hope you understand the consequences of your actions today."

"I have nothing to say about my identity," Marinette continued when her Chaton fell silent and seemed content to just keep glaring at the crowd. "Nor will I answer any more of your questions." She paused to take a deep breath and put on a brave face. On the inside she was trembling and close to breaking down, but she wouldn't let them see that. "However, I will say one more thing: Don't you dare try and pull a stunt like this again and try and find out Chat Noir's identity."

The crowd broke out in murmurs, but Marinette ignored them and continued on, "Our identities are precious. We protected them for a reason, even from each other."

That comment sent the reporters into another frenzy.

"You didn't know each other's identities?"

"Do you know who Chat Noir is?"

"Why did you keep if from each other?"

"Who do you think is under Chat Noir's mask?"

"Who do you want to be under Chat Noir's mask?"

"Enough!" Marinette shouted over the clamour. "Just stop. You've done enough damage for one day. My friends, my family, you've put them all in danger. I won't let you have Chat Noir too and his friends and family too."

Chat Noir tensed and shifted slightly beside her, as if what she said made him uncomfortable (not that she could blame him; the idea of Hawkmoth going after her loved ones made her uncomfortable too).

"Please," she went on, "just leave."

"But-" Someone objected.

"Leave," she and Chat chorused, their tones forceful.

Grumbling in complaint, the reporters began to file out, some more reluctantly than others. A few stayed behind to offer their apologies to the heroes, claiming they never meant for the reveal to have happened. Those sincere few received thanks and grateful smiles from the two miraculous wielders and their blogger friend, but nothing else.

Finally, when the three of them were alone, Marinette broke down.

"Chat!" She sobbed into her partner's chest.

He clung to her, murmuring, "Thank you," in her ear, along with sweet nothings to calm her down. It didn't work; if anything she tried to shove her face further into his chest in an attempt to block out the rest of the world.

Alya looked stricken as she watched her best friend cry, but she stood and waited for Marinette to get it all out of her system. This was a Ladybug and Chat Noir moment and she wasn't going to interfere.

"They know, Chat!" Marinette cried. "Everyone knows! He'll know! He'll go after my friends, my family –"

"We won't let anything happen to them, Buginette-"

"But what if he does?!"

"We'll protect them."

"Yeah," Alya interjected, "and we'll protect you!"

Marinette lifted her head up from Chat's chest and blinked at Alya in confusion, "Huh?"

Alya's expression was a strange combination of guilty and determined. "I was livestreaming when your transformation dropped. I'm partially responsible for this happening, even if I wasn't the only one recording you."

"Alya, it's not your fault, you tried to help us leave-"

The blogger shook her head, "No, I could have done more and I didn't. But you bet I'm gonna look after you now! You're my best friend, girl. People are gonna be all over you after this and I'm not gonna let them get you down. I'm officially the president of the Marinette Dupain-Cheng Protection Squad."

Chat cleared his throat and gave Alya a pointed look.

"Okay, co-president," she amended.

Chat nodded, "Better."

Their words comforted her and Marinette wiped her eyes in an attempt to compose herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned to her partner and said, "I'm sorry."

He frowned in confusion, "What for? I should be saying that to you."

She looked down, "I'm sorry I'm just me."

"Girl, don't say that!" Alya protested.

"My Lady –"

"But I'm not!" Marinette cried, bulldozing over whatever Chat was about to say and rapidly losing the little composure she'd just gained moments before. "I'm not your Lady. That's Ladybug. Ladybug is strong and confident and put together, Marinette is a mess."

"No, you're not!" A new, instantly recognisable voice piped up, halting whatever protests Chat and Alya were about to make.

Marinette looked at the ever-present purse that hung at her hip. It opened and Tikki floated out of it, looking seriously at her charge. "Marinette, you are the hero, Ladybug is the mask."

Both Chat and Alya looked curiously at Tikki and Marinette introduced them, "This is Tikki, my kwami." For Alya's benefit, she added, "Tikki helps me transform into Ladybug."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Chat Noir, Alya," Tikki greeted. "Marinette speaks very highly of the both of you and I'm always around when you're with her."

"Where I go, Tikki goes," Marinette explained, seeing the brief moment of confusion on Alya's face.

"The pleasure is ours," Chat said with a smile. "You seem much nicer than Plagg," he turned to Alya and clarified, "my kwami. Plagg just likes to complain and demand camembert all the time."

Tikki giggled, "He never changes."

"No, but I'm lucky to have Plagg. I don't know what I'd do without him." The fond look that was on Chat's face as he spoke about his kwami morphed into a frown and he turned to Marinette, "But what do you mean you're a mess? You're not a mess. I couldn't think of a better person to be Ladybug."

"Yeah!" Alya chimed in. "You're the perfect person to be Ladybug and I can't believe I didn't see it sooner!"

"Me too," Chat agreed.

Self-doubt waged war inside her and her first instinct was to deny their claims, but she pushed it aside. She couldn't afford to think like that. Not now. "Thank you," she said to them instead.

Her two best friends gave her wide smiles and despite everything, Marinette felt a glimmer of hope. They could get through this. They would. She'd make sure of it.

"My Lady, I know who you are. It's only fair that –"

She shook her head, already answering his unasked question. "One identity reveal is enough for one day. It's not safe to know who you are, even if you know who I am."

"But –"

"Sometimes your heart tells you one thing, but a great superhero always listens to her head," Marinette said, repeating the words she'd once said to Tikki. "I want you to know, Chaton, and one you will, but not now. It's too dangerous for me to know your identity, no matter how much I want to."

Chat looked disappointed, but she also saw acceptance and understanding in his expression. "I look forward to that day, Princess."

She smiled and leant forward to press a quick kiss to his cheek, "Me too."

Chat Noir clearly wasn't expecting that, because he blushed and stood there with his mouth agape and a clawed hand pressed against where her lips had been.

(Marinette could tell by the expression on Alya's face that she was trying really hard not to take a photo of Chat looking so shocked).

"Come on," she said, getting the attention of her two best friends. "Let's get out of here."

Both Chat and Alya were reluctant to part ways with her, but all Marinette wanted to do was go home. She transformed (Alya had been delighted to see it) and with the promise to see the two the next day, she left. To her horror, reporters were already staked out in front of her parent's bakery, but she ignored them (and the dozens of photos of her they took), swung into her room via her skylight and transformed back to her civilian self in a shower of sparkles.

Her mother was waiting for her there, sitting on her chaise lounge in silence. When Marinette arrived, Sabine called out, "Tom! She's here!" and after a series of hurried footsteps, her father appeared in her room.

"I waited here and your Father waited downstairs in case you came home that way," Sabine explained.

"Maman … Papa," to her frustration, tears swam in Marinette's eyes, "I'm sorry."

Her parents gave her identical, reassuring smiles and enveloped her in a hug; she returned the gesture desperately, taking in their warmth and the familiar smells of the bakery that clung to them.

"Oh, Marinette," Sabine said, "you have nothing to be sorry about."

"We're so proud of you," Tom added, "We love you."

With that, they fell into a silence; there'd be time to talk later. For now, the family of three were content to stay in the quiet comfort of each other's arms.

A/N:

This fic was originally supposed to just be a two shot, but I kept getting ideas and oh god why can't I just stop? It was meant to be short and sweet. It was meant to be a two shot!

Regardless of me clearly being unable to write a short story to save myself, I hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know what you thought in the reviews and thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed or favourited this fic so far. Get ready for the next part where in the Marinette Dupain-Cheng Protection Squad comes out in force.

Much love,

Leisey.

P.S: Again, sorry if there's mistakes in this, but it's like one o'clock in the morning (why do I keep updating so late?), I'm super tired and I probably missed heaps.