Chapter Text
“Summer vacation is cancelled!”
It hadn’t even been five minutes, and Stormy Weather was already way out of control.
She had encased the park’s merry-go-round in a gigantic sheet of ice, imprisoning all of the ride’s occupants. Dozens of cars had already been overturned by waves of wind that she fired out of her parasol, causing thousands of euros worth of property damage on top of the possible injuries and death she was inflicting. Perhaps even more concerning- Stormy Weather didn’t even seem slightly concerned about her rampage.
“Hey Ice Queen!” Chat Noir called out, casually gripping a light post as he twirled his own tail, capturing the villain’s attention, “What’s with all the terrorizing? Shouldn’t you be picking on somebody your own temperature?”
Stormy Weather whirled around to face him, scowling immediately, “That’s Stormy Weather to you, cat!” She pointed the parasol at his face threateningly, but Chat Noir simply yawned in response.
“Really? Stormy Weather? That’s what he called you?” Chat asked incredulously, feigning surprise before smirking again, “I’m just glad that Hawkmoth didn’t name me… oh wait.”
Immediately, a purple outline appeared on Stormy Weather’s face. The girl’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion, as Hawkmoth’s voice exited her mouth, “What have I told you about protecting our identities, Chat Noir?” He sounded pissed, but Chat Noir just shrugged.
“Oh, relax.” Chat Noir dismissed Hawkmoth’s concerns, and gestured at the empty street around them, “There’s nobody around. And it’s not like I used anybody’s real name, anyway.” Before Hawkmoth could respond, Chat added, “And while you’re here: what the heck is this!?” He pointed at the park behind them, “She just attacked a random merry-go-round with kids on it for no reason!”
The purple outline on Stormy Weather’s face vanished- apparently Hawkmoth wasn’t in the mood to explain himself. Not that it was any surprise to Chat Noir. He and Hawkmoth had argued about the damage his villain’s caused many times, and it looked like they would be arguing about it yet again once this battle was over.
“Excuse you!” Stormy Weather was back to her usual voice, “I am not doing this for ‘no reason!’ I was robbed of my rightful role! I was going to be Paris’s number one weather girl, until it was stolen from me by-” She blinked in surprise, interrupted mid-rant when Chat Noir burst out laughing.
“Oh my god.” Chat Noir guffawed, “I’d say that there’s no way you just said what I think you just said- but I have four ears to prove it.” He shook his head, still laughing, “You were gonna- no- I can’t… you’re mad that you don’t get to be a weather girl!?” Chat Noir waved his arms like a madman at the destruction surrounding them, “And because you’re not a weather girl… this!?”
Stormy Weather growled, raising her parasol threateningly, but Hawkmoth’s emblem appeared on her face yet again- almost certainly commanding her not to harm Chat Noir.
But Chat Noir was already not paying attention to her. Stormy Weather was boring- only barely more ridiculous than the usual riff-raff his father cooked up. Her costume was cool, he had to admit, but that was about all he could say. No… Chat Noir’s gaze was reserved for another girl that had entered his line of sight. A girl that he sincerely believed to be the most beautiful in all of Paris- even if she hated his guts.
That didn’t stop him from smiling- grinning, actually- as the girl in the spotted costume finally entered the scene- swinging in on her magical yoyo to save the day. She landed several feet away, a safe distance from himself and Stormy Weather as she regarded both of them warily.
“My Lady…” Chat Noir bowed dramatically, “Just as I was afraid that my life would be forever frozen over by this horrific Ice Queen-”
“That’s Stormy Weather!”
“-your warmth comes to brighten my day and warm my heart.” Chat finished, and took out a rose he’d just barely managed to save from the layer of frost that had taken over the park. Chat Noir took a knee, extending the flower towards the spotted heroine as he placed his other hand on his chest, “For you, Mademoiselle Ladybug.”
Chat Noir could practically hear Hawkmoth fuming from inside his lair, and knew that he was in for one hell of a lecture when he got home tonight.
Ladybug regarded him cooly, crossing her arms rather than accepting the flower, “Not a chance, Alley Cat.”
“Then perhaps that foxy Rena Rouge is around…” Chat Noir held his hand flat over his eyes, making a show of looking around, “Although I would hate to get in the way of Carapace… that turtle has shells in his eyes everytime he looks her way.” He smiled at his own joke, but Ladybug simply rolled her eyes.
Ladybug had been alone for her first few battles, but that quickly changed after the combined powers of Chat Noir and the akuma nearly overwhelmed her. Rena Rouge and Carapace, the wielders of the Fox and Turtle Miraculous respectively, had been recruited to fight alongside her- even if they were nowhere to be seen right now.
“Enough messing around, Chat Noir!” Stormy Weather spoke with Hawkmoth’s voice for a second time. The arch supervillain’s voice was now a low growl, clearly impatient with Chat Noir’s bantering.
What could he say? These things took time.
But before Chat Noir could respond, and explain that this was all part of a grand ploy to seduce the city’s chief defender with his feline charm, Ladybug rushed him.
She grabbed his extended wrist, twisting it behind his back and slamming his face against the same street lamp he’d been hanging from when he first approached Stormy Weather. Ladybug grabbed at his wrist, clearly trying to slip the ring off of his fingers, but Chat was able to close his hand into a fist- easily preventing it, but he was unable to shake her grip.
Damn she’s strong. Chat Noir did his very best not to think about how much he enjoyed the city’s gorgeous heroine holding him in place.
“A little help?” Chat Noir called back to Stormy Weather, who had been simply watching with an amused smile until this point. Hawkmoth’s emblem appeared on her face again, demanding that she intervene.
“Fiiiiiine.” Storm Weather rolled her eyes as she raised her parasol, almost lazily, and unleashed a torrent of wind straight at the both of them. The magical blast was powerful enough to send both of the teenagers flying- several hundred feet into the air, and at least a few blocks away from where they were standing a moment ago.
As they tumbled through the air, Chat Noir managed to wrestle free of Ladybug’s grip with minimal effort. She swung her yoyo, probably intending to rappel away, but Chat managed to swat the string aside, ruining any potential escape. Ladybug’s eyes darted to the side, widening again as she realized that they were about to crash into one of the buildings.
Chat Noir saw it too, and realized that the crash was going to hurt- badly.
He didn’t think about his next move very clearly, and almost certainly wouldn’t have done it if he had: he reached out, wrapping Ladybug in a bear hug as he positioned himself to take the brunt of the impact. Her bright blue eyes stared at him in a mixture of shock and suspicion as they crashed, shattering the outside of the warehouse and tumbling inside. Chat Noir could’ve sworn that he felt something break inside of his chest.
Rubble exploded all around them as they tore through the wall, causing Chat’s grip to almost falter as they rolled to a stop on the concrete floor. His back hit something metal- a machine of some sort? All he knew was that it wasn’t pleasant.
“Ugh…” Chat Noir murmured, not sure if he could get up. Everything hurt.
Ladybug kicked off of him the moment they stopped rolling, sliding back to her feet and assuming a combative stance. She had dropped her yoyo in the impact, but apparently had no problem resorting to hand-to-hand combat in lieu of her traditional methods.
“Give me just a sec...” Chat Noir held up a clawed finger, imploring that she wait before finishing him off, “I’m fine… thanks for asking.”
“Did you take that hit on purpose?” Ladybug demanded, scowling indignantly as he forced himself back to his feet.
Chat Noir winced, both from the pain of the impact and the realization that yes, he had intentionally shielded her from the impact. What the hell was he thinking? He liked to joke around, but at the end of the day Ladybug was still his enemy! The whole point of his mission- the whole point of destroying the city every week- was to get her Miraculous. He couldn’t afford to waste opportunities.
Not while his father grew more and more impatient…
“Hm.” Chat Noir shrugged in response to her question, feigning disinterest, “Maybe.”
“I don’t need any help from you.” Ladybug snapped indignantly, “Why?”
In truth, Chat had no idea why he’d done it. In some ways, he was just as confused as she was about this whole situation. Taking a hit on her behalf didn’t accomplish anything, even though if it felt like the right thing to do at the time and he would totally do it again-
Stop it! Chat Noir shook his head, dismissing those thoughts.
“Perhaps I’m just a gentleman.” Chat Noir suggested, and he was unable to stop his characteristic smirk from returning, “After all: what would my mother think if she saw me let a lady like yourself take the fall?”
“Better question: what would your mother think if she saw you helping Hawkmoth destroy the city on a biweekly basis?” Ladybug growled, unamused by his antics.
A dark look crossed Chat Noir’s face. How dare she? His mother was the entire reason for all of this! When he and Hawkmoth managed to get their hands on Ladybug’s Miraculous, they were going to bring her back! The reason his father had become a supervillain was because he loved her- and Adrien, too. Her absence was the reason things hadn’t been okay at the Agreste house for months, and the reason Adrien could only speak to his father when they were wearing dark masks and magical jewelry.
And once they succeeded, and brought his mother back… Adrien would be getting both of his parents returned to him.
“For your information,” Chat Noir said coldly, “I don’t exactly enjoy being Paris’s most wanted, you know?”
Ladybug had the gall to laugh, “Oh really? Then stop.” Chat Noir scowled, but the superheroine wasn’t finished, “You’re the only one responsible for your actions, Chat Noir. You chose this path- you and Hawkmoth both did. You choose to terrorize innocent people. You choose to destroy so much of this city and enslave your kwamis-”
“Shut up!” Chat Noir growled, clenching his fists- it hurt, because of his injuries, but he only barely noticed, “You have no idea what you’re talking about!”
“Don’t I?” Ladybug arched an eyebrow, her expression finally softening a bit, “Look… Chat Noir. I know you’re not as bad as Hawkmoth- I’ve seen you!” Ladybug paused, clearly waiting for a response, but Chat Noir put on a poker face. She sighed, continuing, “Don’t think we haven’t noticed- just last month, you stopped attacking Carapace so you could save that guy the Mime was after.”
Chat Noir winced at the memory- his father had given him more of an earful for his actions that day.
The Mime had been cheated out of his part for a play by one of his fellow cast members, and was out for blood. The battle had been grueling for a number of reasons (partly because the Mime was silent and didn’t care for Chat’s jokes, but alas), but Ladybug was referring to the end of the battle, when Chat Noir ruined things.
He’d had Carapace on the ropes- the turtle hero was less than a minute from transforming back, and struggling to stop Chat from taking his Miraculous, while Ladybug and Rena Rouge were both moving to stop a runaway bus. This of course left the Mime free to do as he pleased, to the misfortune of his former castmate.
The villain was miming a bow and arrow when Chat Noir realized what he was planning to do.
Rather than simply claiming the Turtle Miraculous and being done with it, Chat Noir had abandoned his prey to rescue the imperiled actor- even going so far as to attack the Mime directly, much to Hawkmoth’s chagrin. Adrien hadn’t been allowed out of his room for an entire month after that, save for school-related activities and meals- a penalty that had only recently ended.
“Maybe I just wanted to see that pretty smile of yours once you won.” Chat Noir tried to deflect, but Ladybug just sighed.
“I just don’t understand.” Ladybug said tiredly, eyeing him with exasperation, “You keep helping Hawkmoth for some reason… even after everything he’s done- even though you clearly have a problem with the things he does.” She paused, “Listen… I’ve told you before: we were supposed to be partners- a team! You’ve made some mistakes, but it’s not too late to do the right thing! It’s never too late…”
Ladybug seemed to take his silence as a sign of encouragement- her blue eyes lit up with hope when Chat Noir didn’t immediately reject the suggestion.
Chat Noir would be lying if he said that the idea wasn’t tempting on some level. Ladybug had indeed mentioned before that the two of them were supposed to be on the same side… he didn’t necessarily believe her, not after his father denied the accusation, but it was clear that she believed it. And regardless of the circumstances, Chat couldn’t deny that the idea of being around Ladybug was something he found… appealing. He was always drawn to her- a reality that he tried to mask with silly jokes and playful flirts while they fought, but never something he could fully deny.
He just hoped that it wasn’t his hormones talking.
Deep down, he knew that she was right… what his father was doing- no, what both of them were doing- was wrong. Taking advantage of emotionally vulnerable people, and then using them to attack teenagers that couldn’t be much older than Chat Noir himself. Sure, he could sleep at night because he tried to keep the mayhem to a minimum, and he convinced himself that it was all for a good reason…
Of course it’s for a good reason! A voice in his head- one that sounded suspiciously like his father’s- was quick to scold him. Ladybug had no idea what she was talking about; she almost certainly came from a warm and loving family. She would never understand his pain.
“What I think doesn’t matter.” Chat Noir countered, keeping his voice even somehow, “I can’t tell you what Hawkmoth and I are after- only that I can’t give up on it.”
In a matter of seconds, Ladybug’s face went from hopeful to harsh. She didn’t frown, but the slight twinkle in her eyes was completely extinguished as soon as the words exited his lips. Chat Noir shifted uncomfortably, already wishing that he could take his words back, but it was too late: Ladybug was moving towards the hole in the wall they’d made.
“Then I’ve wasted too much time here.” Ladybug said coldly, “Rena and Carapace are waiting for me- and I’m sure your pals Hawkmoth and Stormy Weather could use you as well.”
“Ladybug…” Chat started, but the words died in his throat as Ladybug slung her yoyo outside, moving to engage Hawmkoth’s creation.