Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Ladybug, watch out!”

She barely heard the words when a dark object collided with her, forcefully knocking her back. She realized belatedly that it was Chat Noir who had swung into her and held her to his chest. Before she could say anything, she felt him throw her. She landed with a roll, quickly getting up to her feet, only to watch as the akuma, Battering Ram, swung its heavy arm the size of a tree trunk at her partner. The blow caught him in his chest, altering his trajectory until he crashed into the pavement below, cracks radiating out from around his still body.

“Chat!” she screamed. “Chat, get up!” Her voice was hysterical, but she didn’t care. Other than the uneven rise and fall of his chest, he didn’t move. He would never ignore her. Something was wrong. “Chat, please!”

She ran to him, knees crashing into the pavement as she knelt beside him. Tentatively, she reached a hand to his shoulder and shook him, but got no response. He was out cold. Already, she could see his usually tan skin was pale, his lips turning slightly blue. She could hear him breathing, though, so she knew he was alive, but the fact that she could hear his breaths so well was not good. It sounded difficult for him to breathe. Fear struck through her like lightning. Neither of them had ever been this injured in an akuma attack. 

Eyes swiveled to her, but they weren’t the ones she wanted. Battering Ram stared her down, literal fire in its eyes. “Give me your miraculous!” it boomed, shaking the ground like an earthquake. The akuma was almost the size of King Kong.

She had to get the akuma away from Chat Noir. She didn’t want to accidentally injure him more than he already was if they stayed too close to him. She took one last look at her partner. His eyes were still closed. Her heart pounded, but she forced herself to shove down the panic. She could panic later. Chat needed her.

Glancing up at the akuma, she steeled herself. Now or never.

“Hey! If you want it, then come and get it!” As soon as she noticed the akuma lumbering toward her, she swung her yo-yo and bounded away, hoping her partner wasn’t as bad off as he seems and will join her when he wakes. If not, well, she’d better hurry this up and hope her magic ladybugs would heal him. She worried what would happen if they couldn’t.

*

Pain was the first thing Chat Noir was aware of when he woke. Blinding pain. To say his chest was on fire wasn’t enough. It was worse. So much worse. Each shallow, gurgling breath was a fight, barely enough air to keep him going, and each breath caused his chest to shift. He could feel bone rubbing against bone. He knew he had several broken ribs, and one had most likely decided to turn a lung into its own personal pin cushion, stabbing it so it couldn’t inflate. The pressure, pain, and hardness of his abdomen suggested internal bleeding. Whether it was from the force of the impact or more broken ribs puncturing other organs, he didn’t know. But what he did know was that he wasn’t going to last much longer.

He knew the thought should scare him. He didn’t even know if the magic of Ladybug’s lucky charm was capable of bringing back the dead, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care. He was too tired, too weak, and in too much pain to care about anything outside of himself lying on the pavement, broken. His sight wavered in and out of focus. Despite the bright sun, everything was dim.

He was lying half curled on his side, which las lucky because liquid began clawing up his throat making him cough. If he were on his back, he’d drown. Blood sprayed from his lips as he hacked, his lung protesting as his ribs jostled inside of him. He barely managed to catch his breath after the coughing was over, but his breathing was worse, rattling ominously.

A sudden, bright green light made him shut his eyes. He could feel his transformation drop. He didn’t know why. He wasn’t timing out yet. But he didn’t care. It didn’t matter much to him right then.

“Kid!”

He felt something small, warm, and fuzzy pat his cheek.

“Kid, open your eyes!”

The voice was loud and the creature pulled at his face. He wanted it to stop, so he grudgingly opened his eyes, which ended up being harder than he had anticipated.

“Plagg,” he slurred. He tried to smile, but was sure it looked more like a grimace.

“I couldn’t hold the transformation any longer, not after…you know. Give me some cheese and you can transform again. I can help you hang on for Ladybug.”

Even in his slower than normal processing, he knew by “hang on” he meant “not die”. Although, Adrien didn’t feel any different transformed than he did as himself. He didn’t really care one way or the other.

“You know,” he coughed painfully, “where to find it,” he finished with a wheeze.

Not needing to be told twice, Plagg dove under his white shirt. Although, he now realized it was no longer white. It was soddened and red, and his black shirt was shiny wet with blood. And, oh, there was a growing red puddle spread all around him.

Plagg munched on the cheese, trying to stuff it in his mouth faster than he usually did. His big green eyes never left his kid as he ate. Adrien knew Plagg was worried. Figured he probably felt guilty, too, for some reason, but he couldn’t find the words to comfort his little kwami. He had accepted that he was probably going to die. He didn’t think Plagg would be okay with him admitting that out loud. It would probably make him worry even more.

Plagg downed the last bite and rubbed his hands together. “Ready?”

Adrien blinked at him. “It’s okay,” he slurred, barely a whisper. He was sure Plagg was about to burst into tears, but his expression was quickly replaced with determination.

“Come on, kid. Say it.”

“Claws,” his breath stuttered. “Claws out.”

Green light enveloped him in a flash. With Plagg gone, he was alone. He didn’t want to be alone. The pain was getting harder to ignore. He dreaded each breath, but he knew he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t do that to Ladybug. He groaned as the pain flared. He grabbed at his chest, but there wasn’t a shirt to fist in his fingers. His slick suit didn’t have anything to grab.

His lids felt heavy. He wanted to sleep. He’d feel better after a catnap, right? He longed for the blissful unawareness that came with sleep, but he couldn’t. A deep part of his brain screamed at him to stay awake. Maybe that was Plagg. Or just a deep survival instinct to keep him from dying.

He hoped Ladybug was okay. He hated that she was on her own. He wished so badly that he could go help her.

Coughs wracked his body again. He trembled as he tried to breathe, broken bones rubbing in ways that will forever haunt his nightmares if he somehow survives this. More blood splattered the pavement and covered his lips. He couldn’t take much more of this. His brain was becoming fuzzy, blood loss taking its toll.

“—at, please!”

What was that? Was he hallucinating now? It almost sounded like Ladybug.

“CHAT!”

He felt a hand cradle his cheek gently, felt fingers swipe what was probably blood from the corner of his mouth. He opened his eyes that he didn’t remember closing. The image in front of him was blurry, going in and out of focus, but it was most definitely Ladybug.

“M’lady,” he rasped.

“Shh! Don’t try to talk.” Her gentle fingers stroked through his hair. Her eyes scrunched shut, a tear falling down her cheek. He wanted to wipe it away, but he only managed to twitch his finger.  She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “The lucky charm. I came back for the lucky charm. I need to….” She trailed off.

She got up and walked out of his line of sight. She must have found the object because the next thing he knew, glowing pink ladybugs were everywhere. They filled his vision and covered his body completely.

After a solid couple of minutes, they disappeared. He took an experimental breath and relished the feel of air flowing freely in and out of his lungs. He looked up and saw Ladybug staring down at him. She almost looked afraid to approach him.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” He said cheekily.

Without a word, she closed the distance between them and crushed him to her in a tight hug. He was still lying on the ground, so it was awkward, but neither of them cared.

Chat groaned as she squeezed him tighter, making her let go immediately.

“What is it? Are you okay? Is something still bothering you? Is—”

“I’m fine. I mean,” he stopped, trying to take stock of his body. He felt better. Healed. He knew he didn’t have any more broken bones or internal bleeding, but that didn’t explain why he still felt pain. Not the excruciating, all-consuming pain of before, but a deep ache all throughout his body. “I dunno, princess. Just sore, I guess.”

She stared at him wide eyed for a moment. Her brows scrunched as she thought about it. “I guess that makes sense. I think I remember Master Fu once saying that even though the miraculous can heal, it still takes a toll on your body. And you’ve sure been through a lot, Chat.”

“Makes sense.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Mind helping me up?”

“Of course.”

She reached down and pulled him up. He immediately pulled out his baton to lean on. He didn’t expect the level of pain to be so bad once he got moving. He was glad to be healed, but he wished the cure could’ve done more. But if that was the price to pay to stay alive, he’d take it. Anything to be able to spend more time with Ladybug. 

“You good?” she asked skeptically. He nodded, but her hand on her hip told him she didn’t buy it. “How bad is it?”

He shrugged. “Like I got hit by a truck but somehow escaped without any broken bones? Something like that.”

“My poor kitty.” It sounded teasing, but she actually looked upset. “Let me help you get home.”

The thought of leaping out of here on his pole didn’t sound very fun, so he would very much like her help. Except for one problem. “But, my lady, you can’t know where I live.”

She sighed. “I know, kitten, but I’ll take you close enough so I can know you are able to make the rest of the way on your own, okay? Tell me where to go, but just not the whole way.”

“Got it.”

She wrapped an arm around his waist and used the other to swing her yo-yo. He pointed.

“That way, bugaboo.”

She swung them across Paris, following Chat’s directions. He knew he shouldn’t let her get too close to the mansion, but he was seriously doubting his ability to walk very far on his own, not with how much his body still hurt. He had her stop a little way down the street from his home, figuring she wouldn’t just assume the Agreste mansion was his house. There were other houses a little farther down, after all.

“Here’s good.”

“You sure? I can go a little farther, if you want? I don’t want you to have to go too far on your own.”

Any closer and she’d take him directly to his door.

“No, no. This is fine. I’ll take it from here.”

Her look was doubtful, but his smile seemed to convince her. “Well, okay then. Get some rest. I don’t want to see you on patrol for a couple of days at least. I’ll see you when you’re better.”

He saluted at her and she took off, swinging over the skyline.

He dropped his transformation and limped to the mansion, glad for once that he didn’t run into anyone on his way to his room. Plagg crashed on the pillow on the bed while Adrien took the time to change into pajamas, even though it was the middle of the afternoon.

“Hey, Plagg?”

When he got no response, he looked over at his kwami, seeing him already fast asleep. Adrien smiled. He climbed into bed beside him and was asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

He missed the next couple of days of school, staying in bed to rest. It wasn’t hard to convince Nathalie that he had the flu, considering how achy he was. When he finally felt better, he savored the feeling of vaulting up to the Eiffel Tower, immediately getting crushed into a hug by his lady.

“Glad to have you back, Chat.”