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mistkittEnemies AU Part 4
~*~
Ladybug is used to Chat making reckless decisions. She’s used to akumatized villains getting so riled by their emotions that they cause their own defeat. She’s used to her opponents being human, flawed.
Golden Boy is neither reckless nor flawed. He is the perfect, dutiful son. He analyzes her every move and grows in confidence as she grows in desperation. And that damnable purple mask keeps appearing around his eyes–those eyes that had recently looked at Ladybug with so much warmth. She can only imagine what Hawk Moth whispers in his son’s ear, the sinister praises he lavishes upon him.
But she fights anyway. She’ll fight as long as she has to if it means she gets Chat back in the end.
“You don’t want this,” she tells him. “This isn’t you!”
She thinks of their silent patrols, of how happy he was taking on the Puppeteer alongside her, of the way he embraced her and thanked her for giving him the benefit of the doubt. Whoever the boy behind the mask is, Ladybug is certain he more closely resembles the grinning joker in the Kids+ building than the stoic and rational predator who closes in on her now.
And that boy needs her more than ever.
She makes her choice then and there. She reins in her yo-yo, drops her defensive stance, and takes a direct hit from his baton that steals the breath from her lungs and sends her sprawling to the floor.
He advances. She rolls to one side, then the other, gasping for air. He crouches beside her. She’s in so much pain. He reaches a golden glove towards her earrings.
And stops.
The purple mask appears around his eyes, but he doesn’t respond to it. He gets no closer. His serene expression contorts into confusion, then anger, then anguish. Ladybug takes his outstretched hand. “Chat…” She brings it to her earring.
He rips his hand away and staggers back, breathing hard. The purple mask doesn’t fade. He clutches his head. “No,” he whispers. “No, no, no, no!”
A howl tears from his throat, and the akuma bursts out of his ring.
Everything happens in a blur. Chat collapses. Ladybug purifies the butterfly on autopilot and bids it no farewells in her haste to get to him. The gold melts off his suit and she’s never been so happy to see the color black in her life. Ignoring her aching torso, she pulls his head into her lap and lays a hand on his cheek, pleading with him to wake up.
No one has ever rejected an akuma out of their own volition. Ladybug is overwhelmed with fear that he won’t wake up, that he’ll be damaged somehow.
Chat’s eyes open. He looks at her, takes in their surroundings, then covers her hand with his. “Are you alright?” he asks.
And with that simple question, she knows her partner is here to stay.
~
She carries him across the rooftops of Paris on her back. He’s too weak to move around much.
He tells her he has a place to stay during daylight hours as a civilian. A childhood friend who doesn’t mind having him over. But he can’t stay with her at night, and after this evening’s events, he can’t go home. Ladybug has a solution.
She lands on a rooftop terrace atop a bakery and tells Chat to hold on. “I know the person who lives here,” she says. “Once I explain the situation, she’ll be more than happy to help.”
“She?” Chat asks, but Ladybug swings over the railing and out of sight. He hears her knock on a window. A creak, followed by her hushed voice, then another creak and a click. He looks around the terrace. There’s a lounge under a small awning, a few flower pots and boxes, a watering can.
A few minutes later, a hatch opens up in the floor and Ladybug reemerges. “You’re all set,” she says. “Since you didn’t use cataclysm, your transformation won’t wear off during the night. You can sleep here for as long as you need to. Wait five minutes before knocking on the skylight. She’ll let you in.”
Chat nods. He wants to say more, but the words won’t come. Ladybug seems to understand. She steps forward and throws her arms around his neck. “I’m glad to have you back, partner,” she whispers, then pulls away and takes a running leap off the building.
Chat is so overcome with love for her that he almost forgets to knock on the skylight. When he does, it takes seconds for the girl on the other side to open it. He almost topples over backwards in shock at the sight of her.
“Hello, Chat Noir,” she says in her all-too familiar voice. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”
