I use Google Translate, so I apologize for any errors.

Enjoy reading!

I don't own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir

I don't remember if Marinette and Adrian were in any kind of relationship at the time of the "Desperada" episode, but in this fanfiction, I believe they are not in any kind of relationship.

Marinette must have misheard. The sewage and echoes from the rounded ceiling must have distorted his words. He probably said twenty-five, thirteen attempts, or something like that. Well, in the extreme, most unlikely case, there were two hundred and fifty-nine attempts.

But there was no way in hell it could have been twenty-five thousand nine hundred and thirteen attempts. No one could be so loyal, or so masochistic, or so deranged, or all of them at once.

Especially Adrien. He's a sunny boy who was kind and sincere. Yes, he was also loyal to his friends, but loyal to Lady Bug? Probably yes, but not so much. Lady Bug and Adrien had only met a couple of times, and they were hardly friends. So, she didn't see any reason why he would try to save her so many times.

Having fixed these thoughts in her head, the girl left the topic, assuming that everything was fine.

If the issue with Adrien was resolved, then two days later there were problems with her partner. Well, "problems" is too strong a word, but still. In general, the Chat did not come to the patrol and did not get in touch. She honestly wasn't ready for this. Her partner, unlike her (she still guiltily admitted it),always came on patrol and responded to her messages within a few hours, so girl was concerned, since this was the first time. She was tempted to send Tikki to Plagg to see if everything was all right, but she decided that her partner would explain if necessary. He never pressed her about the reasons for her being late or absent (okay, sometimes he did when he was in a bad mood (which wasn't often)), so she wouldn't either.

So, Lady Bug was patrolling alone. It seemed strange not to hear puns and various comments from Chaton, or the clatter of his boots on roofs, or the sound of a baton being thrown open.

She finished her patrol, pausing for an extra thirty minutes at the Eiffel Tower, hoping that the Chat would still join in. And if he did, she would just hug him and not scold him for making her worry.

But he didn't come, and there was no message from him either. The girl sighed and headed home.

Well, if Marinette thought her problems ended with her partner, then she was wrong.

In her second lesson, music, she noticed Adrien flinching at every sound that sounded like a trumpet. She didn't think much of it.

At the end of the lesson, the girl saw that the guy was still sitting at his desk, despite the fact that Nino had tried to call him before. Marinette paused in the aisle, looking directly at her classmate, who ignored her altogether, continuing to stare at the wall.

"Adrien!" She called loudly when nothing changed five minutes later.

The guy started and looked in her direction. Only now did she notice that he was twirling his left wrist. He caught her gaze and pulled his hand away before she could form a definite thought.

"Adrien!" she called out again, her hand going to his face for some reason, namely his chin.

As soon as she touched him lightly, the guy jerked away from her and hissed furiously, which now made Marinette flinch and take a step back, raising her hands so that he could see them.

"Oh, oh! Adrien, I won't hurt you," the classmate just narrowed his eyes at her, as if he didn't trust her, so she continued, holding out her hand a little in his direction, "It's me - Marinette."

If she thought she was getting his attention now, she was both right and wrong. Wrong, because again he didn't answer, just stared. She was right, so he was looking ather. He was watching her intensely, which made her uneasy.

"Um... Adrien?" she called out when she couldn't take this look anymore, which was gradually making her blush.

"H-hi, Mari," the boy said softly, which was a stark contrast to his earlier hiss.

"Well, now we can talk," she sighed.

"Are you all, right?" she asked, worried for her lover.

"Yeah, I'm just tired," he said, smiling a smile that wavered for a second. "I have a crazy schedule," he chuckled without humor. – I'm sure it will stop soon.

"Yes, that sounds like it," she thought, remembering the past times when his condition was similar.

"Are you sure?" - the girl decided to clarify, frowning. " If something's wrong, you can always talk to me... or Nino, or Alya. In general, with someone you trust.

"Better talk to me," though, she thought, wanting to help him.

"Thank you, Mari, but I'm fine," he said, his voice breaking on the last word.

"I ... ah, okay, " the girl sighed. "Just please rest, Adrien.

"I'm fine," the guy said instantly, as if he answered automatically without thinking. "But thank you, Marinette. That's very nice of you.

The girl blushed and nodded hesitantly as she left the classroom. Her concern for Adrienne increased.

Once she was alone, Marinette leaned against the wall and opened her hip bag, where her kwami was.

"I'm worried about Adrien, Tikki," the blue-eyed girl confessed. – He's had a rough week. If I'd known, I wouldn't have given him the wonderful snake.

"Do you regret it?" Kwami of Creation asked.

"No," she said, shaking her head. – I just didn't want to overexert him when he's already having a hard time."

"Adrien is strong," Kwami reminded him.

"Yes, I know," the girl said.

Marinette was furious with the two people. Chat Noir, who hadn't been in touch or on patrol for a week. She watched the Ladyblog every couple of hours, but there wasn't a single post about it. The next time she sees her partner, she will rip off his ears and tail, and then kick his ass for such behavior.

The second person she was angry with was Gabriel Agreste, Adrien's father. Although, in fact, she felt that he didn't deserve the word "father", but rather a sperm donor.

For a week, the girl saw how bad it was for her classmate. She'd seen him leave during almost every other break and arrive a few minutes late for class. She'd seen Nino ask him why, but he'd just shrugged it off.

This went on for a long time, but one day Adrien was late for most of class. But that wasn't what attracted Marinette, it was the fact that his face was clearly heavily made up. She'd seen him use it before, but never this much.

It looks like his desk mate noticed it too, because he turned his head and whispered something as Adrien sat down at the desk. The guy said something, and judging by the supportive pat on his shoulder, it wasn't a wake-up call.

The girl spent the entire lesson on pins and needles, also watching her classmate tremble. After class, he quickly packed up and left the classroom, so Marinette walked over to Nino.

"I saw you and Adrien talking, what's the matter?" the girl asked.

"Did you also notice that he was obviously wearing makeup?" The DJ asked and got a nod. – From what he told me, he had a serious argument with his father.

Marinette felt herself bursting with anger at Gabriel Agreste. He may have been a great designer and fashion designer in all of Paris, maybe even in France, but as a father and as a person in general, he was disgusting. How could he possibly be related to such a beautiful and wonderful Adrien?

But it's always been this way, and the guy hasn't put on this kind of makeup before. The conclusion is obvious: because of some quarrel with his father, Adrien was forced to make up his face. The girl had a very unpleasant thought.

"What if... if he hit him?" Marinette shared a terrifying thought, and then thought to herself, "If that's the case, I'll transform into Lady Bug and beat his stupid dad to a pulp, ignoring Tikki's displeasure."

"It would make sense," Nino said, " if Adrien wore heavy makeup all day." But it only appeared now.

"Good," she breathed. – But we need more if we want to help Adrienne."

"Have you noticed that he often leaves during breaks, too?" Nino asked.

"Of course," Marinette said. "He literally just left… Okay, if he tells you anything, let me know, okay?

The DJ nodded silently.

It had been a week since that day, and Marinette was completely terrified and worried.

The worry and fear were caused by the fact that the Chat still did not get in touch and did not appear on patrols. The girl practically begged Tikki for his civilian identity so that she could check on him. She was afraid that he might be seriously injured, fall into an unexpected coma, or worse, die. But all she got was a sad look and a reminder that they shouldn't reveal each other's identities. If earlier the girl thought that when they met, she would seriously scold her partner, now she just wanted to hug him tightly and ask him never to scare her like that again.

The next problem was related to Adrien. And she was horrified by her discovery. She reproached herself for her stupidity and lack of understanding that she hadn't realized this sooner.

It was because her classmate's state of health had seriously deteriorated. He disappeared more and more often during breaks and was late for classes. His heavy makeup has become permanent. He started to flinch at any loud enough sound, and he would often switch off and start shaking. But the worst part was that she noticed that he was spinning his wrist furiously, almost scratching. The wrist where the wondrous snake she'd given him during his fight with Desperada had been.

Marinette began to notice the redness of his eyes, as well as the bags under them, despite the makeup. Several times she saw him on the verge of tears, but he ran away before she could react.

All of this kept her going back to that dark and wet sewer where she'd asked him how many attempts he'd made. Twenty-five thousand nine hundred and thirteen.

And with each passing day and the disappearance of Adrien, she was more and more certain that there had been so many attempts.

This was almost completely confirmed on the day when Marinette, by some miracle, was able to follow the guy unnoticed and quickly.

He hid in the school bathroom. It was only a few minutes before the next class started, so there was no one there. She gently opened the door and heard a sob that broke her heart.

She was determined to correct her mistake.

Marinette had originally planned to come to Adrien's house later that day, but she had patrol duties in the evening and didn't want to disturb him, knowing that he especially needed to get some sleep. So, it was decided that tomorrow, Sunday, she would visit him.

"I have to go and help him," Marinette said firmly. – He needs help."

For some reason, Tikki didn't want to let her in at first, but then she gave up because there were no feelings involved. The girl should have gone to see Adrien right away, after the fight, she should have found out if he was okay after using the miraculous snake, she should have fucking made sure of that! She should have done her duty, not been happy about the fact that she was fighting alongside her crush for a while (even if she didn't remember it due to taking a Second Chance). As always, she had to think with her head, not with her heart. She'd let him down, and it was all her fault.

The girl reincarnated and was about to fly out of the window to the balcony to go to Adrien, but a black dot suddenly flew into the room.

"Plagg?" Lady Bug called out somewhat doubtfully.

"Hi, Pigtails," Kwami said, then belched.

- Is everything okay with the chat? Is he all right?" - it started to start. "He's..."

"No," Plagg said sharply."And all because of your stupidity!"

"What?" the girl asked, taking a step back. – How could I harm the Chat in any way? In the last battle, we barely interacted with each other!

"Yes, but you're still an idiot!" - Plagg started up - "I told you right away that secret identities are an extremely idiotic idea! But no, Master Fu drummed that stupid idea into Tikki, and now we have to abide by it!

"Hey, don't insult her!" Marinette asked.

"Agrhh," the kwami growled, sparks of pure Destruction crackling around him. – We don't have time for that right now. My holder is very ill, and I intend to inform you of his identity in any way possible.

"But you can't!" she protested, even though part of her wanted to know, too. - This is to protect our families and friends from Hawkmoth!

"Shut up, Pigtails," Plagg said.

It started flying around her room, looking around, but then it reached her board above the bed, where there were pictures of her friends, Adrien and Chat Noir. He was about to say something, but the Akuma warning went off.

"Don't think this conversation is over," Kwami growled. – As soon as you're done with the Akuma, I'll be back."

"What do you mean, me?" Marinette asked. "And Chaton?"

"My holder isn't up to fighting the Akuma right now, but first I need to help him deal with the problems you've caused," he reminded her. – You can bring in some other hero, I don't care.

With that, Plagg flew out, apparently heading for the Chat Room. To say that the girl was surprised and broken, to say nothing. She wanted to cry that she'd ruined everything with two of the most important people in her life: her partner and Adrienne.

But now was not the time. She sucked in a breath and quickly left the room to find out about Akuma first and then use the other hero.

Well, no other hero was needed. First, because the Akuma this time was quite simple. He was some soft toy salesman, and his ability was to turn everyone into these very toys. In general, nothing special.

Secondly, her partner still showed up. Marinette felt both relieved and guilty. Relief, because once the Chat appeared, it means that he was physically healthy. Guilt, because he'd shown up even when she'd messed up everything between them (even if she still didn't know when it was done).

Over the course of the fight, it quickly became clear that the girl had jumped to conclusions about his physical health. Her partner often clutched his head, frowning and muttering to himself, and covered his ears with his hands at loud noises. More than once, he tripped over his own feet, or swayed from side to side, especially when he was using his baton. Sometimes, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that he was reaching for his wrist, but quickly pulled it back.

For these reasons, she sometimes had to save him from the Akuma beam, which made a simple fight last longer.

Fortunately, her Lucky Charm was also simple, and she didn't have to think long about how to use it. She quickly defeated Akuma, then carried Chaton to a nearby rooftop, asking him to wait for a while.

When she took care of the victim by giving an accelerated lecture that he wasn't to blame, the girl also fed kwami and reincarnated as Lady Bug again so as not to worry about time, and then returned to the roof where the guy was sitting with his back against the wall.

"Chaton, what's wrong with you today?" Marinette asked, deciding to try to find out some answers directly from her partner.

"I'm fine," Chaton said sleepily, closing his eyes.

"I can see you're lying," Lady Bug sighed, putting her hand on her hip and sending a serious look that was ignored.

"I'm... ahh..." he yawned, stretching out a little.

"We should try another way, a milder one," the girl thought.

"Chat, I know you're obviously not okay," Marinette explained. "You think I didn't notice..."

"My lady, let's do it another time," her partner groaned.

"I see, it looks like I won't be able to find out anything," she sighed, thinking, but then an idea came to her. "I can try to invite him out now! He's never refused my attention before. Then he'll tell me everything, we'll solve the problems between us, and Plagg won't come tell me his identity. Super!"

"Listen..." she began softly but stopped abruptly when she saw that her partner had not only gotten up and was leaving, but was clearly about to pass out, given his uneven gait and swaying from side to side.

A second later, he tripped over the ledge of the roof.

-Chaton!– she shouted, pulling out her yo-yo abruptly and throwing it.

Fortunately, the girl managed to secure the thread around Chaton's ankle, so he didn't have time to fall into the alley. She sighed and started pulling him on top of her.

After less than a minute, Lady Bug exhaled and relaxed as her partner was unconscious at her feet. Well, she probably didn't relax, he was still unconscious.

"So, what do I do now?" she thought, sitting up and cradling the boy's head in her lap. "I can't just sit here and wait for him to wake up. It may take too long."

As if at her request, the ring began to beep furiously, and a second later, the silhouette of her partner glowed green, signaling the reincarnation, so she closed her eyes and turned her head away so that she wouldn't be tempted to peek.

"Damn It, Kid!" A voice that sounded like Plagg shouted. "Damn, damn, damn!"

After a moment, Kwami turned his attention to her.

"Pigtails, if you don't open your eyes right now, I'll bite you," he said seriously.

"I don't think I'll feel it through the suit… Ouch! Marinette cried out as she felt a rather strong bite on her forearm. "Plagg!

"It's your own fault, Pigtails," Kwami Destruction clarified, then grinned. – But you still opened your eyes!"

The girl gasped as she didn't remember it at all due to the pain. She wanted to close her eyes again, but the little god spoke.

"You'd better think twice," he warned. – My kitten needs help. And if you don't give it to him, I'll cause a cataclysm to your earrings.

Marinette didn't really believe in his threat, but he didn't want to check it out either. So, she turned her head. Her eyes widened in shock.

A blonde girl was lying on her lap. Adrien. She wanted to squeal with delight that her partner (whom she was starting to like (not that she was going to admit to him and boost his ego, considering she loved Adrien)) turned out to be her love interest. But she forced herself to calm down. Now you need to help her kitten, who turned out to be her classmate, and then you can shout.

"What's wrong with him?" Marinette asked, looking him over.

Apparently, he hadn't had time to apply makeup, so there were dried tear tracks on his cheeks and black circles under his eyes.

"What do you think is wrong with him?!" - Plagg asked sarcastically - "The guy just watched you die twenty-five thousand nine hundred and thirteen times in a row."

Marinette's heart sank and her skin turned cold with terror. She wanted so badly for Kwami to be wrong, but it didn't look like he was lying.

"I'm so -" her eyes watered with a huge sense of guilt.

"We already established that you're an idiot last time," Plagg interrupted.

- What are our options?

"There are only two of them, Pigtails," the Kwami of Destruction said. – We can get him to a hospital where he'll be properly cared for, but then his stupid dad can get him. Or you can take him to your house, but we don't know how long he'll be like this, and you might get yourself into trouble.

"If I take him in, nothing terrible will happen," the girl asked, just in case.

"He's not terminally ill, if that's what you're asking," Plagg said.

"What would you do?"

"To be honest, I'd like to send him to a hospital first to have his physical health corrected," Kwami clarified. – Then you'd pick him up to take care of his mental health.

"Mental health?" Marinette asked.

"Did I mention how many times he saw you die?" "Don't think about it now, or you won't be able to help him enough when he wakes up in the hospital." You will cross this bridge later.

Lady Bug nodded silently, then picked up her partner and ran across the rooftops to the nearest hospital.