Ladybug wiped the sweat out of her eyes. The afternoon sun was beating down on her, and the akuma was merciless. They hadn't had much time to stop and think of a plan. The entire fight so far was dodging and weaving, making sure they weren't hit with the sparkling blue beam that meant instant, and maybe permanent, sleep.

"No one's gonna make me take a nap!" the akuma yelled, and shot another beam, this time at a car that was speeding by. It turned sharply, the driver incapacitated. Ladybug had just enough time to wrap her yoyo string around the vehicle to stop it before it hit one of the glass walls that made up the National Library.

If she had to guess an age, Ladybug would probably say the akumatized girl was about four. Fairy wings gave her the ability to fly, and she used it well. Her pajama pants and top were both pink, and her face was flushed red with anger.

To top it off, her army of animated toys (all ten times their normal size, of course) was helping in her quest to stay awake, terrorizing citizens, running around making noise, and generally being nuisances.

Hawk Moth was just the worst.

Ladybug retracted her yoyo and leaped off the library's roof to avoid the teddy bear scrambling toward her, its black button eyes locked onto her.

She let her yoyo fly, then smiled as she felt the familiar tug that meant she'd found a solid anchor.

She arced, pulled into an upward swing, just in time to see the blue beam headed toward her. She didn't have time to

Chat Noir watched as Ladybug's grip on the line went slack and then slipped completely. A graceful swing turned into a jumbled dive, and he ran, snatching her limp body out of the air. Her arms and legs dangled, and his grip around her waist was precarious, but he didn't have time to stop. The akuma was lurking nearby, and he wasn't sure how quickly the toys would be able to report the direction he'd taken.

He looped around the library. The walls were mostly windows, and the building was several stories high. He only had to round two corners before he saw an open one on the fourth floor and jumped inside. Stopping only long enough to adjust Ladybug in his arms, he kept running. Her head bobbed. Her body sagged.

The library was silent. Everyone was either gone or hiding, or maybe there hadn't been anyone here in the first place. It would be safe enough. While the windows made him feel visible and vulnerable, rows and rows of shelves offered him good cover, so he dove in between them and set her down.

He needed to get the earrings, but if he did that, he'd risk seeing her as a civilian. He shook his head. It wasn't like he had much of a choice. She wasn't going to wake up on her own. He'd just close his eyes so he couldn't see her and apologize later.

Glass shattered somewhere behind him, and he crouched low over Ladybug, listening. They weren't visible from the window, but the toys must have seen him enter and followed him inside. Their padded footsteps were soft but quickly getting closer. It sounded like there were at least five. He couldn't leave an untransformed Ladybug here alone.

He grabbed a hardcover book that was laying on its side on the shelf and crawled toward the back of the row and poked his head out. No one was there. Perfect. He hurled the book as far as he could. It fell with a heavy thud. Padded footsteps rushed toward the sound. Chat Noir quickly stood and shoved the bookcase, starting a cascade toward the toys, trapping them underneath.

They couldn't cry out, and he wasn't sure he would have heard them over the drumming of thousands of books hitting the floor and metal racks crashing into their neighbors. When the room had settled back into quiet, he picked Ladybug up and raced toward the stairwell. If they knew he was here, they would expect him to leave the building, so therefore, the safest place was right here. Right?

Three floors up, he stopped (How many books were in this place?!) and pushed open the squeaky stairwell door. This floor looked similar to the first, though it had fewer shelves and more desks. He found a quiet corner, tucked out of the way behind a long table, and set Ladybug down again.

"Claws in," he whispered.

"I don't like this," Plagg said as Adrien pocketed his ring. He wished he could leave it with Ladybug, to give her some sort of protection, but he knew he couldn't just leave it (or Plagg) behind unguarded.

"Me neither." He put his hands on her ears, and closed his eyes, pushing the studs out from behind.

"Adrien?" Plagg said.

"It's fine. I can't see anything." He felt the rush of power at his fingertips, heard the crackle of electricity that meant that Ladybug was no longer transformed, and he shut his eyes more tightly. The earrings were heavy in his palms.

Plagg grumbled but didn't say anything else as Adrien put the earrings on, quickly transforming into Mister Bug so he wouldn't have to hear Tikki tell him this was a bad idea, too. He straightened, backing away until he hit the table and started to slide around it, eyes still closed.

"Adrien! Look out!"

Mister Bug's eyes flew open. Toys were flooding through the doorway at the far end of the room, dozens of them, their padded and plastic feet thrumming against the carpet.

And Ladybug wasn't transformed.

There wasn't any time for anything else. He threw himself down, scooping her up in his arms even as he tried to cover as much of her from sight as possible.

Marinette.

Even though he kept his eyes firmly away from her face, he recognized the clothes she'd worn that morning and the bag that she'd designed herself, and his prickling sense of dread mixed with pure elation. But the soft stampede was almost on top of them and he didn't have any time, so he made sure his grip was tight and jumped out the nearest window.

The whistling of the wind mixed with the rushing of his thoughts. This was why Marinette had been so hesitant. This was why she'd asked for time. He was prepared to give her that, though he understood now it might be a lot of time.

All that would have to wait. First, he had to find a safe place for her. Everything would work out between them after that.

The first thing Marinette felt was a rushing tide that swept around her. The second was cold, hard stone against her cheek. She blinked, surrounded by a flood of ladybugs, which flew off as quickly as they'd come. The beating of their wings fading away, so all that she could hear was the steady flapping of one corner of the tarp she was under.

She slid out from under her makeshift shelter, really just the green tarp thrown over a tied-up stack of lumber, and looked around. It was twilight. And she was on top of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Scaffolding almost as tall as the bell towers stretched in front of her. And she had no memory of how she'd gotten here.

The last thing she remembered was fighting an akuma. Glancing down at her hands confirmed the worst. She wasn't transformed, and she hadn't gotten here alone. Someone knew.

He knew.

The wind blew. It was strong at that height, and she dropped low, pushing her palms flat against the metal roof as she tried to push down her rising panic. Rule number two was broken, which meant that there was only one rule left between them and disaster. She took a breath, which was shaky instead of calming. One rule, and it was the only one she had no control over. It was up to Adrien, and Hawk Moth. They still couldn't be together. Would he be able to keep his negative emotions quiet enough so they didn't attract attention? How could she ask him to shove his feelings down, just like his father always did?

Her fingers curled, nails scraping against the metal.

Heavy boot landed in front of her.

Chat Noir faced her, mirroring her crouch, quietly staring, before he slowly extended his hand to her. In his upturned palm were her earrings. She grabbed them hesitantly, avoiding his intense gaze.

"Sorry," he said. And when she looked up again, he was gone.