"I thought I might find you up here." Chat Noir collapsed his baton, and hooked it at his belt. "I went by the hospital as soon as I heard, but they said you'd left a few hours ago."

Ladybug glanced up at him with a wan smile. "I couldn't stay there. I had to get out."

"I get that." He sat next to her, and draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "Why didn't you call me?"

"Too raw." She shrugged. "How was maman?"

"Scared. Exhausted. Worried about you."

"I should be there with her," she sighed guiltily. "I'm being selfish."

"She understands, Mari. And you know she'd still be worrying for you, even if you were there."

Ladybug laughed a little at that, recognizing the truth of his observation. "Yeah, probably."

"So, how are you holding up?"

"I don't know, honestly. It feels surreal." She leaned her head on his shoulder, and relished the warmth and comfort in his embrace.

He squeezed her shoulder. "He'll pull through, Marinette."

"Will he? You didn't see him, Adrien. He—" She cut herself off, swallowing her sob, pushing down the awful memory of her father's broken body splayed out in the street. Numbly, she stared out over the rooftops of a slumbering Paris. How it could all seem so normal when her world was crumbling beneath her? "The doctor in the emergency room wasn't nearly so optimistic," she said flatly.

"Hey, your dad is a strong guy. I know it's bad, but they said that if he can survive the night, he'll be ok. He's already made it through the early hours, Bug. Dawn isn't far off."

"I'm afraid to hope."

"Can…can you tell me what happened?"

She closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath through her nose and blew it out the same way. "We went for a walk after dinner last night. He needed to put something in the post box, and it was such a nice night. We got only as far as the next corner. The car came from the other direction, so we didn't see it coming. The driver had been drinking."

"Merde."

"He was going too fast, and lost control. Papa, he…he pushed me out of the way."

Understanding washed over him, and he closed his eyes in resignation. "You're not responsible."

"It should have been me."

He wrapped his other arm around her, shivering at the prospect of her being the one lying broken in a hospital bed. "No! Marinette, you can't think that way."

"How can I not?" The trapped sob finally broke free, and the flood gates opened. "I'm the super hero, I should have protected him," she cried, clinging to him.

"My lady, please. You'll make yourself crazy with that. There was nothing you could have done. You weren't transformed, and there was no time. Please don't do this to yourself."

For many long minutes, he held her as she cried, stroking her back and murmuring his love and support into her hair. They stayed that way even after she'd quieted, holding one another as the sky began to brighten, ever so slowly.

Finally, Ladybug stirred in the gray predawn, shifting to sit next to him once more and sighing heavily.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Chat asked, settling her next to him and leaning his cheek on her head.

She sighed again. "Even if he does survive—"

"He will."

"—it will be weeks before he can even leave the hospital, and weeks more before he'll be able to go back to work. Maman can't run the bakery by herself. Even she and I together couldn't do it."

"Don't worry about that. The bakery should be the last thing on your mind."

She lifted her head to look at him. "We can't afford—"

"But I can."

"I can't ask—"

"You don't have to."

She frowned. "Adrien, I—"

"Marinette, I love you. I love your parents. I love your bakery. If nothing else, you have to let me help so as not to deprive me of my favorite pastries."

She laughed, just as he'd intended. "You're shameless."

"I am," he replied, smiling. "I really am."

They slipped back into silence, watching as the eastern sky slowly brightened with the coming dawn. When the sun at last peeked up over the horizon, Ladybug stirred again. "Daybreak," she murmured.

"Are you ready to go back?"

She sighed, and climbed wearily to her feet. "Ready or not, I need to go back. I've hidden away long enough."

"Courage, my lady. We'll go together."