A/N: Scroll to the endnote for a Trigger Warning (not major, just trying to be safe).

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The evening Chat Blanc landed on her balcony, agitated and frantic, Marinette jumped up quickly from her seat, surprised to see him so late.

"Chat, what's wrong?" She reached for his hand, trying to slow his pacing. He ignored her attempt, continuing to move angrily back and forth. "Chaton…"

He ran his hand through his hair. "He nearly took away my freedom to come here, today." He shot her a look then, filled with anger and desperation. "I can't fucking lose you. Not now. I don't know what I'd…" He cut off, turning away again with a frustrated noise.

Cautiously, Marinette asked, "I thought you said he didn't control you."

"He doesn't!" When he turned to look at her again, she was alarmed to see white bleeding into his eyes, sucking away the blue.

Marinette wasn't sure what would happen if his emotions controlled him now, but she didn't want to find out and risk having to transform. She quickly stepped forward, wrenching him down into a harsh kiss.

He froze for a moment, before the tension she could feel radiating off him melted. His arms came up around her, and they were locked in the fiercest kiss they'd had yet. Her tongue darted out, seeking his and meeting it in a rush of heat.

Marinette yanked back, but when she met his pure-blue eyes, she dove right back in, kissing him deeply and eliciting a groan from him. The danger past, she quickly went under the rising tide of desire brought on by his touch. Chat's hand climbed up the back of her shirt, the leather of his gloves caressing the bare skin of her back.

She pressed her chest against his, wanting him closer than she ever had before. Reaching down, she tugged her shirt up, tearing away from him as she yanked it all the way off. He froze for just a moment, taking in the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra under her pajama top with a shocked but heated gaze, before he was kissing her again.

Marinette jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist as he caught her and held her up with one hand while the other pressed against her back. He leaned against the balcony wall as she kissed him quite thoroughly, until he groaned deeply and released her lips, moving to her throat.

Marinette let out a moan as his teeth bit into her skin and he pushed off the wall.

Lips still at her neck, Chat guided them over to their corner, holding her as he dropped to his knees and laid her back into their nest of blankets. After kissing her once again, his head moved down, teeth scraping against her nipple before his tongue soothed it over. She gasped, arching against his mouth.

Marinette probably should have stopped him well before then.

She simply didn't want to.

The world filled with the sensation of his lips on her skin, his claws scraping lightly as he ripped through her remaining clothing.

She simply didn't care.

All she wanted at the moment was all of him.

Marinette hadn't known what to expect from her first time.

One thing was for certain: she never would have expected it to be quite so intense.

Rough, yet gentle, Chat Blanc exuded the same contradictions she had felt from him at every step of their time together.

Every scrape by his claws was matched by a soothing caress, every harsh word by soft kiss.

It was beyond anything she had ever hoped for.

It took her several moments to come back to earth when they finally stilled.

She slowly opened her eyes. "That was–" Her words cut off as she met his gaze, his eyes a shocking white.

Something within her shouted a warning. Be careful! You know what he's capable of when he loses control.

Marinette fought back the instinct to transform, carefully relaxing each piece of her that had tensed up. Slowly, she reached a hand up to his face, noting his quick, harsh breaths. When had he lost control? "Chat, are you in there?" His breathing didn't change as his eyes remained intensely on hers. "Chaton, come back to me. Please?"

Blue lines began shooting across his irises like falling stars, coalescing together until the bright color had pushed every speck of white away.

His expression slowly shifted to terror as he looked down at her, taking in their position. "Marinette, what did I—" His eyes snagged on her bare shoulder and he stiffened. "Fuck! I hurt you?"

She only had time to glance down to see the scratches on her skin she barely remembered before he tried to pull away from her. She twisted her hand to grab his wrist. "No, Chat. You didn't hurt me. The opposite. Tell me; what do you last remember?"

His panicked gaze darted around her. "I dropped you down here and kissed you. The rest… behind that veil." He seemed to catalog every mark on her body then.

Marinette let out a breath. "Chat, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize what happened, or I would have pulled you out of it sooner."

He let out a breath in a huff, finally moving back and laying beside her as he pulled her against him, arms around her tightly. "You're sorry? You're not the one who–"

She tilted her head back, pushing out of his arms slightly to look up at him, her hand tugging his chin down. "You did not hurt me, Chaton. It was wonderful."

He finally calmed down, his breathing slowing as his gaze dropped, lingering on her body half-covered by a falling blanket. "You're beautiful," he whispered. "I'm sorry I lost control. I can remember… some. If I focus."

"We'll do better, next time," she said, though his eyes tightened. "Now that I know to pay attention, I won't let you disappear on me." When his expression didn't relax, she added, "Only if you want to."

He let out a slight groan at that. "I want to, Marinette, that's not it. I just don't trust myself."

"Do you trust me?"

Chat leaned up on his elbow, bringing the back of his clawed finger to caress the side of her face. "Yes."

Warmth smoldered within her at his answer, warring against the guilt that crackled beneath it.

Pushing both feelings away, she brought her hand up to grip his hand. "I won't let it happen, next time. This one was on both of us. Not just you, alright?"

He looked conflicted, so she let it drop, glancing down at him. "Do you… want to borrow something to get home in?"

She tried not to laugh as he looked down at his ripped suit and groaned. "Aw, shit." He tucked the frayed piece together, but it clearly wouldn't last long, especially once he started running.

A giggle escaped her despite her attempts. "Maybe next time you can will yourself a zipper. Come on, I'll find you something."

Marinette stood up, crossing the balcony to find her shirt. After putting it on, she heard him curse again. When she walked back over, she saw him holding the remains of the bottom half of her outfit. "I ripped your clothes, too?"

Unable to resist, she smirked at him. "Don't be upset. It was pretty sexy. Might ask you to destroy more, next time."

He narrowed his eyes on her as he stood up, the corner of his mouth lifting. "Don't tempt me, Reaper." He lifted a claw, placing it in the middle of her shirt and pressing in.

"I dare you," she said brazenly, shoving her chest forward just a tiny bit.

Chat stayed put for a second before pulling his hand back with a dramatic sigh. "Aren't you supposed to be helping me find something to wear? Or am I gonna have to flash half of Paris on my way home?"

She laughed, grabbing his hand and tugging him behind her as she climbed through her trapdoor.

He hesitated above her, until she gave him a look. "Well, come on down. My room isn't that scary, I promise."

He waited until she was out of the way before dropping down to her bed.

Marinette walked to her dresser, replacing her underwear and shorts as Chat slowly walked around her room.

She was rifling through another drawer when she noticed he had stopped in front of her desk, staring at her inspiration board on the wall behind her computer.

Shutting the drawer, Marinette walked over to him and looked at the board. She had quite a few newer pieces pinned to the main section, but his gaze was on the side section dedicated to her schoolgirl crush.

"You're… a fan?"

Marinette felt her cheeks turn pink. "No judging. Everyone's got a celebrity crush, yeah?"

The model Adrien Agreste was an easy celebrity to admire because he didn't contradict any of the positive attributes projected upon him. He and his father, the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, were both very reclusive, staying out of the public eye.

Marinette expected Chat to tease her, but when he remained quiet, her eyes glanced over at him. He seemed almost bewildered, which didn't make sense to her; he knew the line of work she was studying to go into, surely it wasn't that surprising that she took inspiration from a local model?

Perhaps it had something to do with his aversion he didn't talk much about. "I'm sorry, I know you're not a fan of fashion." She tugged on his arm lightly, hoping to break him out of his trance. He turned to her then, a hint of vulnerability showing through as he stared at her. Threading her fingers through his, she asked, "Are you okay?"

He blinked, glancing around the room as his expression cleared up. "Yeah. It's nothing."

Pulling him over to her chaise, Marinette sat down. "You didn't tell me what happened tonight. What he did to get you worked up."

His mood darkened and he looked away. "He was musing that he should stop letting me go out on my own. Seems to think my time is better spent elsewhere. I told him how much I fucking disagreed, and then he threatened to do it. I reacted… strongly. But he finally let me go."

Marinette pursed her lips. "I'm sorry." She had to bite back the desire to ask more, to try and understand the strange relationship between the two.

Chat squeezed her hand tightly. "I've been… difficult, lately. It's getting harder to stay the course."

After a pause, she said, "I doubt you want to hear what I think about that."

He sighed, slumping forward. "I know. I just can't give up. If I do, it means…" he trailed off before continuing, voice low, "–it means I can't fix everything I've done. It would all be for nothing." He looked back up at her, eyes tight. "But if I keep going, and succeed…" His hand left hers, fingers sliding across her cheek and into her hair as he held her. "...I could lose you. I can't do that, either. I–" He cut off abruptly. Marinette stayed quiet, watching the conflict in his gaze.

Finally, she broke the silence. "I don't want to lose you, either." The truth of the statement hit her hard. Her throat tightening, she said, "Ladybug could help you, if you let her."

For once, he didn't shoot her down. But he didn't seem fully swayed, either.

He finally stood up. "I should get back."

Marinette sighed, but handed him the pair of white gym shorts she'd dug out. "Here, take these."

"Thanks." After slipping them on, he dropped his head to hers, kissing her long and slow. Then he left through the trapdoor.

After waiting a few minutes, she followed, gathering her things from the balcony before returning below.

Tikki finally flew out. "Sounds like you're really close to getting him on your side, Marinette! How are you feeling?"

Marinette sighed happily, leaning against a wall. She could barely believe it; she'd actually slept with Chat Blanc. And was quickly on the path to deeper feelings.

Her plan was definitely nowhere to be seen. While part of her wanted to berate herself for being so irresponsible, the other part cheered her on, recognizing that whatever she was doing seemed to be working.

Taking a deep breath, she locked eyes with her Kwami. Time to be a little more responsible, at least. "Tikki, spots on."

She called for a lucky charm, throwing the roll of gauze that appeared into the air and releasing her cure.

Letting go of her transformation, she was almost sad to discover the cure had also healed the marks he'd left on her. If Chat noticed, she'd have to claim a coincidental miraculous ladybug cure.

At least she was protected from any other consequences of the night.

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A/N: Trigger Warning: slight dubcon, they both consent beforehand, it's just that there's a bit of loss of control and memory loss during the actual act (which is still enjoyed by both).

Would love to know what you think in a review!