Chapter 2: You're injured. Please stay the night. Chapter by beccalovesyuge
Summary:
"You're injured," she gasped. Her mind raced to think of their encounters in her other form, but she had not hurt him. She couldn't bring herself to do so.
He winced at being caught before shrugging. "Like I said, I had to fight to escape his…lair and I twisted my ankle. No big deal. Just," he nodded towards the letter. "Just make sure she gets that, okay?"
Marinette frowned as she glanced down at the forgotten letter. "Please," she mumbled before looking back up at him. "Stay the night. Please."
When Hawkmoth managed to akumatized her partner, Marinette blamed herself. Maybe if I had not kept him in the dark about Fu from the beginning, she had tried to explain to Tikki. Tikki adamantly denied that. Then it became, maybe I should have returned his affections. Tikki had said Marinette had no control over Chat Noir's feelings and Marinette couldn't help who she herself loved. Marinette had noted the slight glimmer of humor in the goddess' eyes, but chose to focus on the problem at hand. Namely, purifying her partner without exposing either of their identities to Hawkmoth. Though, as Tikki had already pointed out, there was a serious risk that Hawkmoth already knew who Chat Noir was beneath his currently white mask.
Marinette had once or twice wondered about the boy hidden behind that black mask, but she always shoved those thoughts aside. She was the one who insisted on the secret identities and she would uphold that rule. Even when the cat had come to her aide while she was a civilian. How had he found her so quickly when her grandmother had been akumatized? Maybe he had been at the park or her party- No. No. She would not think about the possibility that she knew him or how he seemed surprised that night on her balcony that she had recently had her heart broken. Even though there was no reason for his surprise, she found herself puzzled over his own puzzlement. They were both teenagers and obviously at their age, they would crush on people. Why would he not think she liked someone? Sure, she had been surprised about his own confession, but he flirted with every girl. Even Rena!
She huffed and slammed her sketchbook shut. That was enough thinking about that tomcat for one night. Marinette carefully dropped her book and pencil to the small floor space near her bed before burrowing into her covers. She glanced at Tikki who was curled on a small red pillow near where her bed met the wall. She smiled softly at her friend before closing her eyes. She would focus on her Chat Blanc issue in the morning, but tonight she would try to get some much-needed rest.
The stillness of her room was disturbed before she even had a chance of falling asleep. With another huff, she cracked one eye open at the sudden and infuriating knock above her. The taps increased in tempo and sound, therefore, causing the girl to jerk up in bed; her covers flying towards the foot of her bed and one disgruntled goddess to phase through the bed and presumably to hide elsewhere in the room. Above her, the very cat that had been plaguing her, was staring down at her with those glowing toxic eyes of purple. She drew in a breath to call for her transformation, but it seemed the cat took it a different way and hastily moved his hands in a time-out manner. Her breath stuttered out in an odd wheeze as he reached a hand into a pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper that he waved extravagantly at her.
Standing, she reached up to unlock the skylight before shoving it up. It nearly knocked the cat in the chin and she just barely contained her smug grin at that. "What do you want, Chat Blanc?" Give me one good reason to not transform and kick your butt, she wanted to add.
The boy waved the paper once again. "I have a letter for Ladybug," he explained.
Ice ran through her veins and her throat burned on vile. He knew. Oh god, he knew who she was and he's come to take Tikki away because there was no way she could fight him and Hawkmoth was going to win because she was the worst hero ever and she had tried to tell Tikki and Chat Noir this in the beginning but they never listened but now it had finally proved true and-
"You're friends with her, right?" He asked hopefully.
"Friends. Right. Yes," she babbled. Was that a smart move? Should she admit that to Chat Blanc? Was Hawkmoth listening?
He shoved the paper in her face and she numbly took it. "Please, give this to her, Princess. I don't have much time before Hawkmoth controls me again and I can't risk contacting her directly like this."
She blinked up at him. "You mean…" She held her breath on a silent prayer. Her kitty could fight him. He was either stronger than the other victims (with help from his kwami or just his positive attitude) or Hawkmoth's control was getting weaker as the days dragged on.
"I'm trying," he answered her silent question. "I…" he trailed off as his face heated on a blush. "I had to fight him and this is a huge risk to come to you. He could find you and I couldn't…" He trailed off again as a shaky hand reached out to stroke her cheek with the back of his fingers. The deadly claws that were sharper than his Noir form were mere centimeters away from her delicate skin. But something told her that he would not hurt her even as his fingers trembled before drawing away. "I should go," he whispered.
Marinette watched him stand and the wince that crossed his face once his weight had shifted from his crouch. "You're injured," she gasped. Her mind raced to think of their encounters in her other form, but she had not hurt him. She couldn't bring herself to do so.
He winced at being caught before shrugging. "Like I said, I had to fight to escape his…lair and I twisted my ankle. No big deal. Just," he nodded towards the letter. "Just make sure she gets that, okay?"
Marinette frowned as she glanced down at the forgotten letter. "Please," she mumbled before looking back up at him. "Stay the night. Please." It was a quiet beg.
They both knew he shouldn't, couldn't, stay with her. Hawkmoth could regain control at any second and Blanc could hurt her, or worse. And yet, her heart still lurched at his sad smile.
"I won't come back until I'm me again," he vowed. "I don't want to hurt you." With that, he was flipping away and disappearing over her balcony rail.
She swallowed thickly and pulled her skylight shut as she slunk back into her bed. Tikki appeared at her shoulder to glance at the note. "Open it," the little bug suggested. Marinette's fingers shook as she tried to unfold the note.
My Lady,
I'm sorry I failed you once again. And I'm sorry to involve Marinette in this, but I know her in my real life and felt I could trust her to find you.
Plagg can hold off some of the akuma's magic for small periods of time where I'm able to be me again. He's running out of power and I'm not sure if I'll be myself again before our final battle.
I need you to believe me when I say this is never how I wanted to reveal myself to you. And please, my Lady, don't stop reading because you're scared of finding out who I am. It's very important to our mission and stopping Hawkmoth once and for all.
I'm being held in a secret room at his civilian home. My civilian home. Yes, my Lady, he's my father. And I would like to point out the Luke Skywalker-Vader irony now.
I know you're probably disappointed in me. How could I have lived with him and never noticed? He's apparently known my identity for months. Again, I'm so sorry. But, I promise neither of us have any idea who you are. At least, I'd like to think my own father would not torture me to the extent he has if he didn't already know you. I've never been so happy to not know your real name than those first few hours.
If there is any part of you that still cares for me, I want you to know that even if you decide to take my ring away after all of this, I will never hate you for it. I will still always love you and I will do whatever I can to protect you. I'm sorry if I ever hurt you during our battles while I'm like this. I'm sorry for every time I've gotten mad at you or disappointed you. And I just hope you can forgive me.
You were right, my Lady, about Hawkmoth's identity. He's exactly who you said that day on the rooftop. If you can't remember that particular day, then this is my last clue:
I don't like being locked up.
Yours fur-ever,
Chat Noir
When Marinette glanced back up to meet Tikki's eyes, she could not stop the sob of despair that tore out of her throat or the tears that ran down her face.
"Adrien…"