Only Human: A Miraculous LadyBug Fanfiction

Chapter 2

Something was rattling. It continued for a couple minutes before Marinette opened her eyes, having finally been annoyed into consciousness. She sat up and waited for the rattling to happen again. There were three loud raps from the rooftop hatch. It took less than two seconds for Marinette to realise who it must have been. She flung herself out of bed and opened the hatch to see Chat Noir's smiling face looking back at her.

"Hello, Marinette. It's a nice night, why don't you come up?" He extended his hand and she took it, letting him pull her up onto the roof.

"It's good to see you, kitty. I'm glad you're okay. I thought you were seriously hurt." She stood up and felt the night breeze all over her bare arms.

"Not a chance, Bugaboo, but I see you've been roughed up." Marinette covered her arms with her hands.

"Yeah, about that." She sighed and looked at her feet. "Thank you for saving my life. I don't think I'd be here if it weren't for you, Chat." He smiled and took her hand in his.

"Any time, my lady." Marinette took her other hand and placed it over his heart.

"Are you sure it doesn't hurt?" She looked into his eyes, so green and vibrant.

"Not as much as it would have hurt to lose you." Tears filled her eyes, but the touching moment was abruptly ended when the feeling of hot wetness coated Marinette's fingers. She looked down and gasped, pulling away when she saw that her hand and Chat's entire chest were covered in thick, crimson blood.

"Chat!" She cried. He coughed and blood dribbled down his chin. His knees gave out one after another.

"I'm okay, LadyBug. Just find the akuma." Tears flooded Marinette's vision as Chat fell face down to the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath him. When she wiped the tears from her eyes, she was surrounded by unfamiliar buildings. She looked up just in time to see the bullet headed straight for her chest, and Chat Noir jumping right into it's path.

***

Marinette awoke to the sound of her own screams. In a matter of seconds, she could hear her parents rushing upstairs to help her. The door flung open to reveal Tom and Sabine in their pajamas looking highly distraught.

"Honey, what's going on?" Her father asked worriedly. The two of them stood in the doorway until Marinette began to sob hysterically. They came over and sat on the edge of her bed, putting their arms around her.

"A very bad dream, it seems," Sabine said softly. "It's okay honey, everything is okay. You're safe. Daddy and I won't let anything happen to you." Marinette wiped her eyes and looked at her parents, who she loved dearly.

"Thank you. I just," she sniffled and took a few breaths to settle herself. "I had a nightmare about one of my friends. Someone I'd do anything for. They got hurt protecting me, and I couldn't help them. I felt helpless and useless..." Tom rubbed her back gently.

"There are some thing out of our control my love. Like dreams. But dreams are more than just your imagination. They're gateways into a world we can't understand, with infinite wisdom to bring back to consciousness with us." He smiled at her and wiped a tear off of her cheek. "Your friends are fiercely loyal, and if you're worried they might put themselves in harm's way for you, I'd hardly call that an issue. It's rare to find people who truly, deeply care about you enough to jeopardize their own safety for you. Hold onto them and don't let go, Marinette." He yawned and looked to his wife. "Now, if you think you'll be okay, it's four in the morning and your mom and I need to get some sleep before we open up the bakery in the morning." Marinette hugged her parents and thought about how lucky she was to have them both.

"Goodnight, honey," Sabine whispered.

"Goodnight," Marinette whispered back. "I love you."

"I love you too." The two of them left the room and closed the door, leaving Marinette alone with her thoughts and her dad's words to ponder. He was right about her friends' loyalty. Chat Noir especially always had her back. Sometimes literally. He was all she could think about until she eventually fell asleep again.

***

School was about as interesting that day as it was the day before. Thankfully, Marinette was able to stay awake. Adrien was absent from school again, and Marinette was starting to get worried about him. She hoped he hadn't caught a cold or something. Nino had no idea what happened, when asked, and even after mustering up the patience to deal with Chloe long enough to ask her too, Marinette still got no answers.

When two weeks passed without either an akuma victim or word about Adrien, most everyone in class was extremely concerned. Some people suggested he had gone on vacation while others were utterly convinced that he had cancer or some other terrible disease. Marinette was just worried.

On the fifth day of the third week, Adrien finally showed back up at school. Everyone asked him where he'd been, why he didn't talk to anyone, what had happened. All he said was that he'd gotten in a training accident and suffered a serious injury. He didn't say where, but most people suspected it was a spinal injury since it appeared he had full use of all of his limbs, but had some trouble sitting up straight and breathing deeply.

It was also the night Chat Noir showed up on Marinette's balcony in real life. She was sitting on the roof letting the moonlight soak into her skin when she noticed a presence behind her.

"Hello?" She said into the warm spring night, turning around to face whoever was there. She saw no one and let go of the breath she was holding.

"Good evening." Her breath caught in her throat. It was him. She turned around again to find him leaning back against the railing, smiling at her.

"Long time, no see," she said, trying to keep cool and not break down in front of him. He'd have no idea why seeing him was so emotional to her.

"It's beautiful tonight, isn't it?" He turned around to look at the moon, pale and full. Marinette struggled to keep it together, but managed somehow.

"It is. What are you doing up here, Chat Noir?" She looked at him, legitimately curious as to why Chat Noir wanted anything to do with her.

"I'm just kind of lonely. I haven't heard from LadyBug in a couple weeks. I tried reaching her but I can't get through. It's like she isn't even there," he confided to her.

"I'm sorry. Nobody has seen LadyBug. The akumas stopped coming so abruptly, and so did she I guess. I thought you'd bounce too." He frowned and glanced to the side.

"I'd never do that. Not intentionally anyway." The two stared at the night sky for a few minutes. Silently enjoying each other's company. Eventually, Marinette's curiosity got the better of her.

"But why would you want to hang out with me? I'm not really all that special." Marinette didn't even feel like she was worth being in his presence. He was a hero. He risked his life to save hers, and all she could do was shut down and abandon him. He looked at her and smiled solemnly.

"I guess in some ways you remind me of her. You're both smart, you're both kind, you're both witty, you're both passionate..." He traced off but kept her gaze. "Sincere..." Like a magnet, they were drawn together. Marinette couldn't look away from his eyes. The movement was so subtle, so agonizingly slow, that Marinette only noticed she'd been inching closer toward him when she felt the electric tingle of Chat Noir's skin on the very tip of her nose.

She closed her eyes and felt his lips brush hers lightly. She slowly pressed her lips to his, savoring their decadence. He pushed back gently, but all too soon it was over. Marinette looked at him with watery eyes.

"You should go, Chat. It's getting late and I have school tomorrow." He looked hurt, but he didn't argue. The night swallowed him whole as he stepped off the edge of the roof.

"Goodnight," he called from somewhere below.

"Goodnight," Marinette replied softly to herself. She wondered what the hell she had just gotten herself into.