A Masked Getaway

Chat Noir

Over the years he'd worried about Ladybug. She'd taken on a lot when Fu handed over guardianship, and he hated that he couldn't be there for her as much as he wanted to. Yes, she had the girl she'd revealed herself to, and he hoped she was helping out as much as possible, but to see her now made him feel like someone had reached into his gut and pulled out his stomach.

She looked broken. Not just heartbroken, but everything broken. Like someone had grabbed her reality and torn it to pieces.

He tried to keep focus on his partner, to soothe her the way he always did. He was good at it, and it took his mind off the facts she'd just spilled. As he tried to help her through an impending panic attack, he couldn't stop his mind from spinning faster than Max Vestappen on his final lap of the Monaco Grand Prix.

She knew things only a select few knew.

She knew things he didn't want to reveal to the public.

She knew what his favourite colour was and why.

Though, the why was now debatable. He'd believed for four years that the scarf was made by his father for his birthday. Something special and something meaningful. Something that took time and commitment to make. Something that showed his father loved him...

His friend made it for him. It's been his favourite colour since.

The race car in his head was losing control, and he was sure he was about to crash. Chat Noir studied his partner's face. The quantum mask over her eyes flickered like a bad signal on TV. There was only one friend talented enough to make something like that, and now he knew it was from a friend. It didn't take a lot to figure it out.

She wasn't a crazed fan or a stalker. She was someone he knew, someone who knew him and cared about him enough to listen and learn.

He knew it was Marinette that had made the scarf for him and, for some reason, allowed him to believe it was from his father.

He thinks it's from his father and she never wanted to tell him about the mix up because it made him happy.

Marinette and Ladybug must be close friends for her to know this much, but the way the red around her eyes was trying to turn off made him think there was more to it, more than he had time to think about right now.

The crowd were going wild for his prick of a cousin, chanting his name and applauding like their lives depended on it. He hadn't answered one question right, but she had. Ladybug had known everything. She seemed so proud of herself for saying the answers before Kagami revealed, yet the disappointment grew with every wrong answer.

He looked at Ladybug again, the mask dropping for slightly longer this time, but before he could look any closer he felt a hand on his back and a hefty push up the stairs and onto the stage, the bright lights startling him, causing him to cover his eyes.

"Finally, the couple you've all been waiting for: Ladybug and Chat Noir." The wild cheers made him jump, his eyes unable to see anything in front of him except dark shadows. He stretched out to the side, searching for his partner's hand and sighing with relief when she'd slotted her smaller one into his.

"Are you ready?" the presenter said. Chat Noir nodded.

"To your cubicles then."

As they went to move, Chat Noir stopped and pulled Ladybug to him, pressing a long kiss to the side of her head.

"Pretend you're Marinette," he whispered, her body stilling.

"What?" she asked, her own lips skimming his ear and almost knocking him into next week.