Little collab by my friend Retro and I.
***
All in. He is all in—no questions asked.
Chat's brow furrows in concentration, his forehead slick with sweat, and his mask sticky against his skin as he works at the tight knots binding Ladybug.
'All in,' he chants internally. 'No take-backs, no jokes, and no more lies or deception. Everything is on the table; the stakes cannot possibly be any higher.'
Ladybug tries her best to be patient and not struggle against the tight bonds that bind her to her surely unfathomable fate. Mere minutes. She has but mere minutes before it all comes falling down before her.
What better way to be revealed than being dangled from the Eiffel Tower by her own yo-yo for all of Paris to see?
The rodent-like akuma she and Chat had been fighting off for the past half-hour had moved like nothing Ladybug has ever seen before.
'A good superhero is never taken by surprise,' she had once told herself.
So then why had she faltered, surprised, long enough to give the akuma the chance to take complete advantage of the situation at hand? And just when she had gotten the marbles to summon a Lucky Charm, too! But, alas, she wasn't as unwavering as she should have been, as on guard as she should have been. It had attacked, and she had lost her luck along with her charm as it fell from the tower to the city below, ending up tied to the beam she had been standing on not moments before with her own magical yo-yo.
A situation Marinette never could have conjured up on her own even if she was high.
'That blasted cat,' thinks Ladybug, refraining herself from head-butting him in frustration. 'He just had to rile up that mouse-kid on purpose, didn't he? But... this isn't his fault,' she admits internally, sighing as her wrists don't loosen any more than they have in the past three minutes.
He'd been a couple of minutes late in his arrival, but as soon as the mouse/rat-themed akuma had caught wind of Chat Noir and all of his... cattiness (for lack of a better word), the akuma had quite literally squeaked and had scurried down the back of the tower. Even so, Ladybug is more than a little willing to bet that Hawk Moth will end up forcing that pussy of a mouse—Ladybug internally groans as she realizes she just cracked a pun—back up and at them despite his obvious fear of cats.
But for now, they have bigger issues... Like Ladybug revealing her identity to the whole of Paris.
"All in," Chat mutters.
It's his fault. Ladybug has less than a minute, and he has no more than two. His cataclysm had proven useless against the magical string, and he knows he can't get the knots undone in time.
His claws fumble with the taught wire, desperately searching for a weak spot to yank at.
Ladybug, LB, Buggaboo, his Lady... is about to be revealed to the entire city of Paris, hell, maybe even the world! Chat is more than a little aware of the helicopters circling them on standby, and all of the cameras currently trained on himself and his partner.
And it's all his fault.
"Chat." Ladybug catches his gaze, eyes sparkling with tears of dread. "I don't blame you."
Chat shakes his head, not accepting her answer. No, this is his fault. Of course she doesn't blame him; she would never. She's too good for that.
But he knows that he's the real reason behind the akuma this time. Him and his own stupidity.
Guilt shoots through his veins like an icy poison, rotting his insides with panic and self-loathing. His heart hammers against his rib-cage, the rhythm vaguely reminding him of a runaway train. The guilt leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, and he dry-heaves in distaste.
"Well, you should."
After all this time... not like this. He's wanted it, wanted HER for so long... but not like this. Never like this.
He wraps his arms around her torso as the last spot on her earrings fades into the bright red of her activated jewelry. Chat's rational mind tells him he's holding her so she won't fall from the Eiffel Tower, but his heart objects, insisting that he's really doing it because he just wants to hold her before her world comes crashing down.
'Was is worth it?' Ladybug asks herself.
She's protected her identity for so long. Lied, ran, pretended, faked... all for it to dissolve into nothing because she hadn't been careful.
Ladybug tenses when Chat leans over the railing and holds her. It's just so that she won't fall, right? She dismisses the heat that eagerly rushes to her cheeks stubbornly.
Eyes screwed firmly shut, she concentrates on trying to tune out the thousands of people lingering below her, waiting for her to come undone at the seems. For a second, she even pretends it's a dream, but that crumbles the moment her resolve strengthens.
'No,' she tells herself. 'No more pretending.'
A glassy tear slips down her cheek, leaving the ghost of a silvery trail in its wake. She clenches her fists as her sturdy suit begins to vanish, leaving behind a trail of familiar cotton clothing. Magical pink sparks wash over her, bringing fear instead of relief and pride at a job well-done. The swirl around her body, consuming her, igniting her in the pink fire that burns her superhero identity into ashes around her.
As soon as her yo-yo dissolves with the sparks, Chat pulls them both to safety, away from the edge and away from the prying eyes of the hungry people down below. As soon as he sets her own the floor, he lets go and backs away, as if afraid that he might hurt her.
She dusts herself off, trying to look a lot stronger than she feels. Trying to be Ladybug without the suit.
She vaguely hears shouts from down below.
"Did anyone see her?!"
"I saw pink shoes, but that's it!"
"Who caught it on video?!"
"Did anyone recognize her?!"
The roar of the confused crowd down below gives Marinette hope. Had no one really seen her? Is her identity safe after all?
"Hey! She's in my class! That's Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"
The growing hope in Marinette shrivels, and she caves in on herself. She doesn't care who said it, she doesn't care about what the thousands of people down below are saying, and she just doesn't care anymore.
Marinette falls to the ground, uncontrollable sobs wracking her body.
It's over. It's all over.
Her heart shatters when she hits the floor of the Eiffel Tower, each sob crushing it more than the last. Fingers from down below point up at her as if she is some sort of caged zoo animal; here for their entertainment as judgments fall from their lips.
Marinette...
Chat gapes at his whimpering classmate and friend before the beeping of his own Miraculous jolts him back to reality. He needs to get of here, too, but he can't just leave her...
He makes a quick decision and swiftly approaches Marinette. She looks up at him with glassy eyes as he takes her into his arms, having her straddle his waist. He takes off at sprint and vaults them off and away from the tower as quickly as possible.
Marinette's sobs start up again, and Chat's heart aches.
She doesn't deserve this.
Chat leaps from rooftop to rooftop, looking for a safe place. He spots an indent between two buildings and vaults in himself in that direction. Without a hitch, he drops down into the alley, still clutching Marinette. She's no longer sobbing, but she makes no move to remove herself from Chat.
"Marinette?" asks Chat quietly, placing a hand on her shoulder blade.
Marinette suddenly jumps away, detaching herself from him in favor of gripping her sides. "Sorry," she apologizes quietly, not meeting his gaze.
Chat smiles lightly, but the smile is pained. "Are you okay?"
She snorts. "Do I look okay?"
"You look as beautiful as ever," Chat murmurs, scuffing his boot against the uneven pavement of the alley as a light blush settles over his cheeks.
"Sorry?" Marinette queries curiously. "I didn't catch that."
Chat meets her cerulean-blue eyes, a question glimmering in their depths. "I was just saying that I should even the scale."
Marinette tilts her head adorably, frowning in confusion. "What do you—oh." She shakes her head vigorously when Chat nods. "No. It's bad enough that Paris knows who I am..." She winces. "I don't need to know who you are."
"But it's not fair!" Chat argues, jabbing a thumb over shoulder towards the rest of the city. "The whole of Paris knows who you are! I know who you are! It's only even if you know who I am!"
"I know that Paris knows who I am, Chat!" Marinette shouts angrily, biting back the tears threatening to gloss her eyes anew. "Thanks for the reminder, because I totally forgot what happened less than five minutes ago!"
Chat's Miraculous chirps incessantly, and he's suddenly shrouded in magical green sparks. Adrien blinks.
"Sorry, kid. I held for as long as I could for your dramatic little scene," Plagg sniffs, taking a seat in Adrien's hair.
"Thanks for that sentiment," Adrien deadpans, tempted to swat Plagg out of his hair when he notices Marinette's expression. Adrien immediately stiffens and scratches the back of his head. "Hey," he says awkwardly, waving a hand at Marinette.
Her eye twitches. "A... W-wha—HOW?!"
Adrien shrugs. "Why not?" He sidles up to her. "So...?"
"So what?" Marinette splutters. "You're Adrien! The boy I've been pining after for—" Marinette snaps her mouth shut and shakes her head with pursed lips.
Adrien refrains himself from whooping or fainting and instead sends her a small smile. "So where does that leave us...?"
Marinette looks away. "I... I just need some time to myself for a little while," she says quietly, afraid to meet his expectant gaze. "I need time to think."
"What's there to think about?" Adrien asks incredulously. "I like you, you like me! Simple as that."
"I like Adrien, and you like Ladybug. It's not that simple," Marinette insists, shaking her head. "I just need space. We can come back to this issue later."
Adrien leans back against the wall and shakes his head. "You're running," he states, leaving no room for Marinette to argue.
"No I'm not!" Marinette denies hotly. "I just need space to think!"
And with that, she storms off.
A small, smug smile creeps on to Adrien's face.
"That stubbornness of hers is much too attractive; I'm falling already."
***
Yay! Just a little something we whipped up for an Amino project.
Other things coming soon!
Xoxo, J.