"M'lady?" Chat's voice sounded weak and hoarse. He didn't move, but she could hear his breathing was incredibly uneven. This didn't make sense. Not at all. How did Chat get so hurt? Did Hawkmoth find Chat at wherever he was holding Adrien? Where was Adrien? She knelt down and put her hand on his side, where blood was steadily flowing out from his suit. He flinched.

"Chat, what happened?" Ladybug was unable to stop the words from crossing her lips. Deep down she still cared very much for him, and she couldn't help it.

"Haw...Hawkma...Hawkmoth!" Chat Noir managed to gasp. Ladybug pressed her lips together in anger, forming a thin line. Her eyes narrowed.

"Does he have Adrien?" Ladybug demanded.

"Wha...what?"

"Don't play dumb, Chat Noir. You do realize that Adrien went missing the EXACT day you did! Do you think I'm an idiot? I know that fight upset you, but did you really have to kidnap him?" Ladybug yelled at him. She bit her lip. Enemy or not, Chat needed help or he would die. And he needed help fast.

"I...d-din't ki...kidnap...A...Adrien," Chat wheezed. "Hawkmoth...ca...captured...m-me. C-couldn't...get...away...F-finally...esca...escaped."

"What?" Ladybug's eyes widened, and her head began to spin. "Hawkmoth had you? But that note... You sent me a ransom note! It was your paw print! In Adrien's blood! Chat Noir, I can put two and two together, where is Adrien Agreste?"

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"What? Hjadhjakjs? Ghdjs note...Kjjshd your jadhb print! Ob Gdjhskj blood! Chat Noir, h chs jhy two abdjsh hwu together! Where jd Djgnjn Agreste?" Ladybug's voice registered in his head. She was talking to him. He could pick bits and pieces of her words out, but he could not make sense of what she was saying as a whole.

Note? Print? Blood? Oh yeah, that was why his leg hurt so badly. At least his glove wasn't covered with blood anymore. Although blood was beginning to seep through his magic suit. Plagg was weakening fast. Chat Noir? Agreste? Had she figured him out? Did she know who he was?

"WHY DID YOU DO IT?" Her voice rang so loudly in his head that he understood every word and heard every syllable clearly this time. He readied himself, took a breath, and tried to respond.

"Do...wha...what?" he gasped. Ladybug was probably re-furr-ing (I couldn't help it) to why he let himself get captured and made her fight without a shield for a while. Like it was his fault! He had hoped that she might care that he was about to die, but here she was, already yelling at him. If his ears hadn't already drooped as far as they could go, they would have been drooping now.

Why did it still hurt so badly? Not his body, which felt like utter hell at the moment. Why did his heart hurt so badly? It felt like someone was squeezing it, cutting off the blood flow. Pressuring it to the point of explosion. He took a deep breath. His eyes were closed. He wouldn't open them. Not just because it would make his pounding head unbearable, but because he couldn't bear to see the disappointment and rage in her pretty bluebell eyes.

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"WHY DID YOU DO IT?" she yelled at him.

"Do...wha...what?" the black clad boy gasped. Ladybug stopped short.

It should be obvious what she was talking about! Yet Chat seemed not to know. He was a terrible liar, at least when she was concerned. He couldn't lie to her to save his life... So why was he acting oblivious?

Ladybug felt her heart seize up. What if all of this time, Hawkmoth had been deceiving everyone? What if he had kidnapped Chat Noir, kidnapped Adrien, and then made it appear that Chat had kidnapped Adrien so that Ladybug would hate him?! But why? That theory made no more sense than the 'Chat Noir Kidnapped Adrien Agreste' theory.

"L-l-ladybug," Chat gasped. She immediately looked down, scooting closer. "I...I'm...so...sorry."

She finally let a sob escape her. She gathered her poor chaton in her arms, pulling him up so that his head rested upon her chest, arms wrapped around his stomach (oh dear god was that blood coating the left side of his suit)?

"No, kitty. It's me who should be sorry. I should never have doubted you! Oh my god Chat... this is all my fault!" Ladybug was sobbing now, shaking violently and hugging Chat like he would disappear any second. "I'm so, so, so, sorry!"

She buried her face in his blonde hair, crying her heart out. Why was she such a terrible person? She should have realized the set up sooner! That Hawkmoth was the true villain. Chat had loved her so much! She realized that now. And that only made her cry harder.

Ladybug, Marinette, whichever you wanted to call her, had made the biggest mistake of her life. Some might disagree, how was she supposed to have realized that Hawkmoth was behind all of this? The evidence she had did actually line up with her theory of Chat Noir being the kidnapper.

But the mistake she had made was doubting her partner. Doubting his goodness, doubting his honesty, doubting his kind heart, doubting his love. Doubting everything that made him, him! The passion and enjoyment of life that sparkled in his green eyes. Doubting the kindness of his heart, which was overflowing with love not only for her, but the citizens of Paris, whom he did not know but chose to sacrifice himself to protect!

She was despicable. She didn't deserve what she had. She had two loving parents, an amazing best friend, her normal friends at school. They all accepted her for who she was (excepting Chloe and Sabrina, but were they even capable of love)? She had such an easy life. But all she did was complain.

I can't balance being Ladybug and Marinette. I messed up in front of a boy. I am being made miserable by Chloe. I have to put up with saving Chloe from akumas. I have to babysit Manon sometimes. I have to help at the bakery! I, I, I, I, I, I, I !

Marinette had never really stopped to think about how easy her life was. She was well liked at school, had a supportive family whom she could lean upon and trust, very little hardships or responsibilities. She was so selfish!

She knew that there was no creature lower than her on the entire planet. She was such a despicable little bug. Why did Tikki pick her to be Ladybug? She wasn't worthy of this title! She made too many mistakes! She took too much forgranted! She should just give up being a super hero for good. She had never been a real hero...

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Chat didn't know what to do. Was Ladybug even going to help him get somewhere safe? Or was she going to let him bleed to death on this rooftop? Despite his uncertainty, he couldn't let himself let go. But now that he knew how she truly felt about him, he wanted to apologize.

He wanted to apologize for flirting with her. For chasing her, pursuing her. Getting in her way. For making all of those cat puns. For being obnoxious. For trying to make her stay after akuma attacks. For wanting to know her secret identity. For everything.

"L-l-ladybug," Chat Noir gasped. It took everything he had. "I...I'm...so...sorry."

And then he let himself sink back into his sleep chasing, pain wracked state. He didn't need to be strong anymore. And he had apologized. At least his last words would let her know that he understood. So if losing him was even slightly painful, she could feel better about it. Because honestly, she was still all that mattered.

He vaguely felt himself being shifted. He didn't really care. He felt warmer, too. Was this what dying felt like? He was aware of a noise. Someone crying. Or yelling. He couldn't tell. Probably Ladybug yelling. Oh well.

It made him feel better. He deserved to be yelled at. He was such an unbelievably pathetic human being. He let everyone push him around. He wanted love. Nobody would love him. Why would they? He couldn't do anything right. And he was always complaining.

He wanted his father's love. His father didn't love him. He wanted Ladybug's love. She didn't love him. Adrien Agreste was such a needy person. Why couldn't he just be strong and say he didn't need them? And here he was, heart crumbling at the thought that he wasn't needed by either of them. Ready to die because he cared too much.

"No, jsjhf. Igj jh sjn jsiohjs hs sjuid. Jhdhsbj uuyd you! Hg ad qod Chat...hsgdhg ahsg fault! Udb do ao mu al, sorry!"

Ladybug's words were running together again. He didn't care enough to listen. He picked up his name, along with the words 'fault' and 'sorry'. Did she not get it? Chat understood it was his fault! He was sorry! Now could he die in peace?

The pain was reaching a worsening point. Why was there contact on the knife wound on his side? It felt like someone was applying pressure. Too much pressure. It hurt so badly. His pain meter had gone far beyond what he thought he could handle. Chat realized that when you got hurt this badly, it all kind of flowed together in one steady stream of agony, corrupting your skin, muscles, and bones.

The pounding in his head was unbelievable. His eyelids felt heavy, like someone was holding them closed. He was sooo tired. If he could just fall alseep...

But the universe had other ideas. A sound exploded around him, so loud and terrifying that despite his screaming body his senses caused him to try and jerk into a sitting position. His eyes flew open, claws scrabbling at anything they could find. And then the building crumbled beneath him.

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"Chat...oh Chat..." Ladybug took in a shuddering breath. Her eyes were red and puffy beneath her mask. Tear tracks ran down her face. She paused a moment, collecting herself. Then reality dawned. "Omigod, I need to get you help!"

She ran her eyes over her partner. The blood was seeping through his suit in several places, the worst being his side. But was it a knife wound? A bullet wound? Some sort of magical wound she wouldn't even know about? His left leg was bleeding the second worst. She could tell that the rest of his body had minor gashes where the blood had not yet leaked entirely through his suit.

Ladybug flipped Chat over. His eyes were clamped shut, and his face was pale. He had a cut running from his jaw to his ear on the right side of his face. The blood had dried up, but that would make a nasty scar.

"Kitty..." she whispered. She tried to pick him up as gently as possible, but as soon as her arms tightened around his waist (she couldn't avoid his wound) he flinched and she felt so guilty she stopped. Ladybug could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again.

Suddenly, the chimney beside her exploded, sending bits of brick flying everywhere. Ladybug reeled backwards, dragging Chat with her. He jerked upwards, his claws digging into her arms and tearing at them as he struggled to move, his eyes opening slightly.

Ladybug held him tighter, looking around wildly. What had happened? She scanned the rooftop. Absolutely nothing. It was quiet now. Too quiet...

Whatever it was, they weren't safe here. And Chat was clawing her arms to death. She ripped them from his grasp, determinedly wrapped her arms around him again, and prepared to throw her yoyo and disappear over the nearest rooftop. She never got that far. The second she started to stand, the entire building collapsed beneath her. And she felt herself falling...