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Determination

It couldn't be just anyone. It had to be someone dependable. Someone smart. Someone courageous.

And lying there, the answer came to him all of a sudden. With an excited smile, he looked over at the sleeping kwami next to him. "Plagg, claws out!"

So intent on completing his task, Chat Noir didn't want to waste any more time. So he climbed out through his bedroom window and traveled across the city.

It was meant to be. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was perfect. She was dependable, smart and courageous. Just hours earlier she saved him from being attacked by one of those winged creatures. It ended up being an illusion, but she didn't know that at the time. She risked her own safety to protect him, and that type of courage was exactly what they needed.

Not to mention, she already had some experience with the Mouse Miraculous. Marinette would simply have to pick another costume to use so Ladybug wouldn't recognize her. But that would be easy enough. After all, Adrien himself had to use another costume when he became Cat Walker.

Before long, he reached Marinette's balcony. He knew she was awake because the lights inside her room were still on, so with a smile on his face he knocked on the hatch.

But there was only a look of surprise on her face when she opened it up and saw him. "Chat Noir?"

"Hi Marinette, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm fine." A beat of silence before "Wh... why are you here?"

"I need to talk to you." He held out his hand toward her.

She immediately clasped his hand and let him pull her up to the balcony. Once there, she put one arm across her stomach to grab her opposite arm, suddenly a little embarrassed to be seen in her pajamas. "Uh, what do you want to talk about?"

Chat Noir smiled. He knew that he definitely picked the right person this time. "Well I'm sure you've seen the news about how Monarch stole all the Miraculouses a few days ago and about how Ladybug and I have been getting a few of them back."

"Yes, I saw."

"Now that we have them, we need some new holders to help us..."

Marinette felt a jolt of panic as she finally realized why he was there.

"... and I was wondering if you'd like to be one of them." He stopped to hold the Mouse Miraculous out to her.

Her eyes darted between him and the necklace and back. After a minute of trying to think of something to say, she got a word out. "No."

His smile fell from his face. "No?" he repeated, not believing it.

"I... I mean, yes I would like to help. Love to help. I mean, anyone would. But uh... but Ladybug told me that I can't have a Miraculous again. You... you saw what happened last time."

His smile returned. "Don't worry about that. I'm in charge of finding a new holder for this one. Ladybug will have no idea that it's you. Besides, it was only me that saw you detransform. It's not like Monarch knows."

"Bu... but..." she stuttered, racking her brain for an excuse. "But Ladybug will recognize me and I uh... I don't want you to get into trouble."

"It's no trouble. You just need to change your costume so she doesn't realize that it's you. Problem solved. Here," he continued, taking a step closer. "Try it on."

"Oh no, I couldn't."

Chat Noir's smile fell again.

Seeing his expression, Marinette kept talking. "I'm sorry, I... I'm very... honored that you would pick me Chat, but this really isn't a good idea. I would mess something up and be a burden to you and Ladybug. The last thing I'd want is to get in your way..."