Running from the Night (A Ladybug and Chat Noir Fanfic)

Chapter 7

"Marinette, the feeling of betrayal and anger, so much rage to be tapped into," Hawkmoth's words laced with the magic of his miraculous lulled Marinette into a sense of comfort, with his help she would feel better again, "Together we could take the miraculous jewels and you would never have to face public backlash for your relationship. With his miraculous, Chat Noir-" at the sound of his name she felt some of Hawkmoth's grip on her mind loosen. She would never betray Chat Noir and take his miraculous right? Hawkmoth paused as if he sensed her reluctance.

"Why fight me, you could have everything you always wanted, unless... what are you fighting so hard to keep from me, do you know Chat Noir's secret identity?"

"Get out of my head!" Marinette yelled trying to keep herself from thinking about anything related to the miraculous'. She didn't know how much information he could get from her but she was terrified he would find something he didn't even know to look for, her identity as Ladybug, as the guardian. She could feel the cold sensation invading her thoughts and any sense of the outside world began to fade to black.

Her phone buzzed loudly. The sound snapped Marinette back to the world, she could see the name Kitty brightly lit as Chat Noir was calling her. She focused on the sound, on the love she felt for the dumb superhero who was saving her once again from a threat he didn't even know about.

"NO!" The sharp yell of hawkmoth losing his connection to her rung in her head. She dived for the phone and answered the call before it could hang up.

"Marinette?" The soft concerned voice of Chat Noir was music to Marinette's ears.

"Chat," she sobbed, she collapsed to her bed cradling the phone to her ear. She was exhausted and couldn't fight the sobs that began to rack her body.

"I saw the blog post Mari, it'll be okay we can figure it out," Chat Noir said quietly with a gentle hope in his voice. Marinette did her best to gain control of her voice again as Chat waited patiently on the other side of the line. Once she got over the lump in her throat she began to form the words that had been playing in her head.

"Does this mean we'll have to stop seeing each other," she asked, holding back the hot tears that threatened to fall.

"What no of course not!" His voice came through forcefully, she could picture him standing up as he said it. It occurred to her for a moment that she was picturing him in his superhero outfit but he had to be a civilian right now. The thought broke some of the tension but not all of it, "Marinette it will be okay! And nothing will stop me from being with you."

"But Chat I could never forgive myself if Hawkmoth used me to get to you," she said quietly, unable to say the rest of her thought. If Hawkmoth went after her he would also be going after Ladybug. She realized he had paused, she waited for his response with her fists clenched.

"The photo is too blurry to see any details, there's nothing about you specifically and the blog is mainly discussing Ladybug being a scorned lover," Chat said with a hint of amusement. She released a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

"O-okay," she stuttered, she suddenly felt too tired to disagree, she was too tired to do anything really.

"I love you Mari," his voice was soft and comforting.

"I love you too, Chat," she replied quietly. She saw red out of the corner of her eye and lifted her head to see Tiki floating up to her with a hesitant smile. Marinette gave her a nod to indicate she was okay, Hawkmoth hadn't gotten to her, and Tiki floated back to the scared kwamis to relay the news.

"Oh and Chat," Marinette said softly, she heard the hum of acknowledgement from him, "you look good without a shirt." A strangled sound followed by coughing overtook the line while Marinette laughed at the reaction.