(My apologies for the wait! Life has been busy, then I got the worst sun burn! Chapter Five is halfway done.)

Chapter Four

She slowly opens her eyes to see an old man poking her with instruments. For a moment, she thinks it's Master Fu. 'Oh, how disappointed in me he'd be!' She sighs, before pushing the man's hand off her.

"Gettroff me!" She snaps as she sits up slightly. She doesn't know how long she's been asleep this time, not that it matters. She's annoyed she keeps waking up.

"Ah, feisty! I like it. I am your Dr Marinette. I have been treating you for the last month and a half." His smile is a sad one. Like he understood her pain.

He sits back on his heels and watches her. Her sad and tired eyes, her thin and dropping body, the never ending trickle of tears.

"My wife died 5 years ago. We had a fight the night before. She said I didn't love her anymore, and I was only with her as I was too old to get a divorce. I told her she was stupid. That was a stupid thing to say. She went to bed angry with me. I wanted to go talk to her. But I was a coward. So, I went to bed and decided to spoil her in the morning and love her. But, when I woke up, she was cold and stiff. She'd died in the night, while I slept. Died thinking I didn't love her. I hated her and thought she was stupid. The love of my life was dead, and I was alone. If only I'd gone in and said something. No one can tell me she didn't die of a broken heart. So, I laid down next to her, held her in my arms and slept. I'd still be there, but my maid came in a week later to find us. She thought I was dead. I wasn't. I wished I was. I was so angry that she'd called the police that I fired her without pay. Now, I won't be able to die in her arms like I wanted to." He pulls out a pink handkerchief and wipes his eyes. "I had no reason to live. At her funeral, the Pastor had a heart attack, and I saved his life. So, I decided. If I couldn't die, then I'd help ppl save them. It's been a good 5 years, but it still hurts. And I still want to die. The best thing to do is to keep busy."

"My Mama told me to move on with my life. I don't want to, I can't!" Her voice broke as she sobbed into her knees.

"People were telling me as I viewed her body at the funeral home to move on. She'd been dead a week. People mean well, don't listen to them. Move on or not. Take your time, grief is not something that has a timetable. You could be fine tomorrow, or still sobbing in 10 years. This is your life, no one else's. Only reason I'm still here, is because my wife was against suicide. And if I killed myself. She'd spend all of eternity hating me!" He cracks a small smile as he puts away the handkerchief.

"Tell my parents, I'm not going back to school. I'm not even leaving my bed!" She says, as she lies back down and hugs her stuffed Cat Noir doll.

"I found this one the floor." He holds up a charm, the charm she had made for Adrien.

"The charm!" She snatches it and hugs it tightly. Must have been thrown when she yelled at her Mama. "Thank you, it was his." She looks down at the doll and sniffs.

"It hurts so much, I can't breathe…" She gasps and looks up at the dr who is holding out an inhaler.

"It will help clear your lungs when they close from the pain. The pain is literally causing your body to stop breathing. This will force it to relax." He hands it to her.

She takes it and take two puffs, relaxing as she can breathe again. "Thanks…"

"I'll leave a script with your Mother. I gave her sleeping pills for you. You no more then 1!" He points at her sternly, she couldn't help the small smile that appeared on her face.

"Thank you..." She sobs, as she throws herself into his arms. He smiles kindly as he holds her.

"Anytime Ladybug, anytime." He smiles, as she sits up slowly and looks at him, confused.

"You're Mother called me the night they found you. Your friends. You were Ladybug. Took us forever to figure out how to get the suit off. One of your Kwarmi friends finally spoke up to help us. I'm so sorry. After everything you've been through, you deserved to spend your life with Cat Noir. The fact that was stolen from you angers me enough to get me akumatised." He chuckles at his own joke before slowly standing.

"They're honouring him in the media. He will get a military funeral. Well, Cat will. Adrien will get a small thing for friends and family.

"Your wife will be proud of you when she sees you." Marinette yells, as he opens the trapdoor.

"Thank you. I believe she would be." He smiles as he closes the door behind him.

"Mama knows I'm Ladybug? I don't have the energy for that conversation." She grabs her phone and lies back down. Taking a deep breath and she post to the group chat. "I'm alive!" #NOVISITORS #NOCALLS. Hoping they listen.

It was liked almost immediately by everyone, followed by a few 'We love you!' replies. But, no calls so far.

A private message pops up. "Hey gurl! I'm so sorry! What happened?" It was Ayla. She knew she wasn't asking for the Lady Blog. And the only one who knew, knew, But she couldn't, not yet.

Marinette sighs and replies with a simple "No!". She closes the message and opens up the Lady blog. It's filled with theories on what happened, why, when, where and how. None of it anywhere near the truth. Which made her happy. She likes the theory that Monarch killed them both and escaped after Ladybug kicked his ass. That one, she will tell Ayla, is closest to the truth. A good nudge is all she'll need.

We will hold a funeral for Cat Noir in 2 weeks at Noon. They hope that Ladybug can make it. 'Can she make it? Could she handle it? Hundreds of people wanting to touch her, hug her, tell her they're sorry. Her and Cat's relationship wasn't exactly common knowledge. Which will make it harder. But she owes it to Cat, and she knows she'll regret not going. As long as Adrien's funeral isn't at the same time.'

Attached to the announcement is an obituary for Adrien and Gabriel, and a separate one for Cat Noir. Quickly closing the page and closing her eyes. She fights the fresh wave of tears threatening to take over her. She knows it's been 2 months, but the idea of her Kitty actually being dead, for real this time. Is just too much for her to bear. She's not ready, although. To be fair, she doesn't think she'll ever be ready. And, that's okay. Like the doctor said, grief is lifelong, not timed.

Suddenly feeling like she can't breathe and is overwhelmed with claustrophobia. She sits up and calls Tikki to her. Knowing her civilian body is too weak to go outside, she opts to be Ladybug anyway.

Landing on their rooftop, she sits down and pulls her knees to her chest. She should have left a note, her Mama will worry. She needed to get out of there, needed to be somewhere he was. She knows he's not here, but they spent so much time together here. That she can feel his presence there with her.

"Kitty, everyone is mourning you… crying over you like they knew you or something. No-one knows, they will never know how I feel. Nor do they care. I kept the secret, like I promised my love. As far as the world knows, you and Gabriel died fighting Monarch. Just the way you wanted. I just, I did what you asked. Please, please come back. Please, I promise to love you always. Never take you for granted again. Ever! Just please, come home… please…" Her face grows wet as the fresh wave of tears escape her eyes, coating her face. "… Please… "

Ladybug once again, sits on their rooftop, hugging her knees, sobbing uncontrollably waiting for her lost kitty to return to her.