Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

This akuma had been a tough one, a teaching assistant who worked at the school had just been fired, unfortunately Hawkmoth had decided to use them and take it literally, unfortunately due to the extensive amount of buildings in flames even Marinettes "Miraculous Ladybug" couldn't clean up the mess.

The school behind ladybug and Chat Noir was engulfed in flames, Alya stood before them with her camera out, once again catching every single second of their battle with this akuma.

"Is everyone here?!" Marinette yelled over the crowd of classmates and students,

"Ladybug!" Alya exclaimed, "My friend Marinette, she was right next to me - "

Marinette quickly interrupted her, "Don't worry, she's safe!"

"But -"

" - Anyone else!" she shouted as she scanned the crowd, looking for every possible face she knew, even Chloe's. Suddenly realisation hit her... Adrien. She had not seen his familiar locks of blond poking above the crowd, or his sparkling emerald eyes. "Adrien! Where's Adrien? Does anyone know where he is - "

" - M'Lady - " Chat tried to interrupt,

"When was the last time someone saw him!?" ... Silence. Marinette was starting to panick now, stood before a crowd of blank faces all trying to think back to the last time they saw this boy. All Adrien could do was stand there, he couldn't understand how Ladybug could get so worried over him, well his civilian alter ego, when all they have really had are a few encounters.

Finally someone spoke up, Nino's eyes widened and his face paled as it struck him, "In the school..." he muttered just loud enough for those surrounding him to hear, those surrounding him including Alya, Ladybug, Chat and a few other classmates. Marinette turned to face the crumbling, burning wreck of a school in horror, her class mates gasping and tearing up as the thought the worst.

"No..." she mutteted to herself, turning on her heels towards the school, "No no no no, please no...", her legs starting to carry her into a run, Chat on her tail.

"Ladybug!" Chat caught up to her and grabbed her wrist, yanking her out of her run "Ladybug don't worry, I'm sure he is fine - "

"How to you know!" She stated, eyes full with panick and impulse,

"Uh..." Adriens mind was blank, searching for any plausible reason or excuse as to why his alter ego is out of harms way.

Ladybug had waited long enough searching his blank face, how could he possibly know if he was safe or not, Nobody had seen him so he must still be in the building. She snatched her hand away and sprinted towards the entrance to the building.

Chat saw everything in slow motion, the flames picking up heat, the flickers indicating more than just a flame, and Ladybug running towards them, "Ladybug!" He screamed, "NO!"

To late, he saw the explosion, the shrapnel flying in all directions, the blast throwing Ladybug back five meters just before the shock wave hit him as well. It took a good few seconds to come back to reality, the crowd of students behind him all crouched, some screaming, the one or two crying, Chloe wailing for her 'Daddy'. He could hear Police and Fire Sirens in the distance, and before him was Ladybug, kneeling before the rubble... starring. Her face grey, Chat picked him self up and cautiously made his way over to her before getting down on one knee behind her and placing a hand on her shoulder.

"This is all my fault..." She whispered,

"M'Lady - "

" - Chat... Please..." she hummed, to weak to really say any more,

Chat slowly stood up, but before he disapeared he softly told her, "Trust me Ladybug, he's fine, I can just... feel it" He didn't know what else to tell her other than revealing his identity to her, and that wasn't an option, "also..." he stopped to turn around to her "please don't take the blame for such things, nothing is ever your fault..." and with that he slipped away behind the demolished school and into an alleyway to de-transform back into Adrien.

Plagg fell into his hands exhausted "wow that was eventful... need some camembert..." he whined, Adrien chuckled as he gently placed him into his shirt pocket, "don't worry Plagg, we'll get some when we are home".

Nino was the first one to spot Adrien as he ran round the corner, "Adrien!" This caught Marinettes attention, she was still in front of the school, although now standing. Nino, Alya ran over to him followed by some other classmates. "Hey" Adrien puffed out of breath from the longer sprint he had just done since many roads had been blocked off and not being Chat Noir meant her had to take the long way round, "sorry guys... I must of got separated from you guys, and got somehow got stuck in the science labs round the back" He laughed nervously, hoping they didn't see through his lie, although the back of the school was still fully in tacked.

"Adrikins!" Chloe's shriek was heard from across the crowd, her fake wailing noises unsettling Adriens stomach as she through herself at him, "Oh I was so worried about you!" she carried on screaching and Adrien attempted and finally succeeded in pulling her of him.

Nino slung his arm around Adriens shoulders, pulling him away from group. "you okay dude?"

"Yeah..." He replied, his attention drifting over to the red and black spotted super hero still standing in the spot where she had been kneeling, but now she was staring at him, as he was her, looking and tracing and tacking in every little detail about her as Nino was blabbing on about how 'cool' Ladybug and Chat Noir were. Ladybug has tears of relief slowly forming in her eyes, she turned to go and threw her yo-yo up on to building before turning back to look once more at Adrien, his soft emerald eyes still on her. She jumps up allowing her yo-yo to pull and swing her onto a roof. She glanced down one last time at the boy standing next to his best friend before she too slipped into an alleyway to de-transform.

She stood there for a minute to calm her breathing, Tikki anxiously looking up at Marinette from her cupped hands where she was holding the kwami. "Marinette?"

"I'm okay Tikki, I'm okay, just a little shaken" she reassured her, "we better get back there otherwise Alya will probably start to worry"

She helped Tikki into her purse before jogging to where the rest of her class was, "Alya!" she shouted as she got closer,

"Marinette!" Alya had split from the group as soon as she heard her best friends voice" What happened?"

"Oh uhh" Marinette started, "I got separated in the crowds..." She laughed nervously as she tried to quickly think up and excuse, "Uh ladybug, yeah Ladybug helped me escape out the back, haha yeah..." She knew it was a bad excuse but it worked, Alya just shrugged happy to see her best friend was okay as she link their arms, leading her back to the group, rambling on about all the amazing, close ups she got of Paris' hero's. Marinette wasn't really listening, her attention was on Adrien, she watched him sigh, a sad smile on his face, his eyes still fixed on that roof, the last visible spot she stood in as Ladybug.

Chapter Text

When Marinette finally made it home that afternoon she had barely opened the door before being  trampled on when her mum and dad had tackled her into a hug.
"We heard everything on the news, we're so glad you're okay" Sabine, Marinettes mother, spoke into Marinettes hair. Tom, Marinettes father pulled back from the group hug to inspect his daughter, checking for any injuries.
"Are you okay? Nothing broken?"
"I'm fine papa don't worry, just a little tired from all the action" she gave them a cheesy smile just to convince them before proceeding to push between her parents and make her way to the stairs leading to her attic room, "I'm just going to lie down for abit"
"Okay sweetie, me and your father will be down stairs to re-open the bakery for the afternoon, if you need anything just shout"
Marinette replied with a nod and forced grin before her parents gave her one last smile and proceeded back down stairs.

Once the door had finally shut behind them, she let out the exhausted sigh that had been sitting behind her teeth ever since she had de-transformed. Slowly and painfully lifting her legs the last few stairs she stumbled the last few steps before collapsing onto her chaise lounge and Tikki darting out of her handbag.
"Tikki everything hurts" she moaned,
"Oh Marinette, don't worry just rest, that Akuma was very powerful, just fixing everything took more energy on its own than everything usually put together!" Tikki chirped as she munch on her cookies next to Marinettes head.

Marinette lay there for a few minutes, staring at the floor boards, playing back and analysing the fight in her head. She couldn't get over how one akuma could cause so much destruction, of course some previous akumas had deffiantly come close, but this one was stronger, smarter, methodical, the ex-english-lit teacher hadn't ran in all guns blazing, which is the usual method of attack with these akumas; Hawkmoth tells them what he wants and plays them into obeying him causing akumas to race in reaking un-planned havoc and chaos - giving ladybug and chat noir the advantage to swoop in with a somewhat improvised yet rehearsed plan of attack.
But this one, he was clever, almost as if he was playing off Hawkmoth, using the skills, powers and resources he had been given to devise his arsenic attack. Nobody knew of the Akumas existence until it was almost too late, by that time 3 classrooms and an unused staff corridor was in flames.

The teacher, Mr Fiáp, was known to the whole school, especially since his angry outburst after emerging from the headmasters office where a meeting had been taking place with school governess; once he had collected all his personal items and stormed out the school, the pupils could assume nothing but him loosing his job.
But these events took place the previous Friday, and it was now Tuesday, meaning Mr Fiáp must have been akumatized all this time, lying in wait for an opportunity.

"Tikki, what if Hawkmoth or his Akumas get any stronger? I purified the Akuma but barely even fixed a door frame on the school! And most of the students and teachers injury's weren't fully healed either!"
"Honestly Marinette, I'm not fully sure. This has happened in the past when a battle's been tough, but it wasn't this bad"
Marinette groaned into the seat cushion of her chaise long,
"Don't worry Marinette" Tikki soothed, "tomorrow we can visit Master Fu, he will help us"

Marinette nodded her head in agreement, making a mental note to walk round to his shop on the way home after school tomorrow.
She rolled onto her back to get up but stopped and hissed when a sharp, stinging pain rippled from her left shoulder down her back. She might of mostly healed everyone else's injuries, but not all of hers it seems,
"Ouch Marinette, that looks nasty! I'll get some Aloe Vera and bandages"
Marinette gave Tikki a grateful smile as she flew off to the sink to grab what supplies her little arms could carry,
Marinette pattered over to the mirror, twisting herself to get a closer look at her back.
The burn wasn't too big, spanning from her shoulder blade to near her spine in the centre of her back; she had defiantly sped up the healing when she purified that Akuma, but only by a few days at most.

Out the the corner of her eye she saw Tikki juggling with the supplies, she rushed over to take them before Tikki dropped them,
"Thanks Tikki" Marinette gave Tikki a peck on her forehead,
"let's get some rest before patrol tonight, I want to double check round the city to make sure everything's okay"
"Sure Mari! Here, let me" Tikki offered, taking some Aloe Vera and putting it on the burn and helping Marinette bandage it before they settled on the bed for a well deserved nap before the inevitable inspection of a patrol that awaited them in about 4 hours.