Look What You Made Me Do

Plagg Isn't Ready For It

(A/N: Jason reflects on his late night cookie meeting with Marinette. Meanwhile Tikki and Plagg are worried.)

Marinette had stayed in the kitchen with Jason eating cookies and talking before excusing herself to go to bed since she had to be up in the morning. She told him more about her life, both good and bad. And in return Jason told her what he could about his own life. Jason wasn't sure what it was about this girl from Paris, but it felt like they were connected in some way It was hard to explain. They were strangers, well had been before this, but he felt at ease around Marinette Dupain-Cheng in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time. It made him wish he could share his entire life with her, but a small part of him worried what Marinette would think about him being Red Hood. Yeah he hurt people and even killed, they were bad people but Marinette might not see it that way.

Some of the things Marinette had told him had him seeing red. What was going on with her class was total bullshit! He didn't understand how people she had known for years in some cases could just turn their back on her, even her supposed best friend. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Tim's told him punching a bunch of high school kids in the face was wrong. Fucking killjoy. What about the school system? It had completely failed Marinette with all this sort it out yourself nonsense.Okay yes in the real world when there was someone you didn't like you just had to deal with it. But these kids weren't in the fucking real world yet!

He couldn't help but admire how strong Marinette was to stand up against her bullies. It couldn't be easy to have everyone turn on you and Jason knew that a lot of others would have crumbled under that kind of pressure. But not Pixie Pop. Jason was glad she had Chloe. After setting the kitchen back to rights, minus the missing cookies, Jason headed off to bed.

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Marinette was sleeping peacefully. But the two kwamis watching her sleep felt anything but peaceful. The black cat kwami was especially fretful. "My miraculous is starting to affect her!" Plagg hissed to Tikki, his other half. He couldn't do this again.

"What are we going to do?" Tikki asked in a whisper, not wanting to wake Marinette now that she was able to get to sleep.

Plagg was at a loss. "I...I'm not going to stick around for this." he decided as he went for the hand that wore his ring causing Tikki to gasp.

"Plagg you can't run away!" she protested. "Where will you go? Plus the cat and ladybug miraculouses must be in circulation at the same time!"

"I don't care about that." Plagg insisted. "I'm not going to let this happen again! I'm not going to let Marinette end up like Adrien!"

Tikki was surprised. "What do you mean?" she asked quietly watching as Plagg soon gave up on pulling at the ring on Marinette's finger.

"I always knew Adrien wasn't a true holder." Plagg admitted. "Master Fu must have sensed something was coming because for weeks he sent me out to see if I could sense a true holder. Adrien was the best I could find. I knew what was going to happen to him eventually but Master Fu told me we would figure something out." But what if they hadn't? What if Adrien had gone insane? It had been a serious possibility. "We took his miraculous just in time. I can't let that happen to Marinette. She's our future guardian!"

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Tikki looked at Plagg sadly. She knew him better than anyone and for him to be this worried was still surprising. Plagg always just went with the flow. Once again she was in awe over how amazing Marinette was, to inspire such a reaction from Plagg was something else.

"There is one thing you can do." she said softly.

"What?!" The desperation in his voice broke her heart. "You need to ask permission to see if you can see if there is a true holder nearby." Anyone could wield a miraculous, some more than others. So every kwami worked on not focusing. It was like holding your hand in a fist. Because if you let go sensing all those holders at different levels would be too distracting.

"You think Marinette will let me?" Plagg asked her a little anxiously.

"We'll convince her." Tikki said, feeling hopeful. "She won't like it at first but she'll see reason." Marinette was the best Ladybug Tikki had ever had, but even she was starting to fray at the seams. No one could be strong all on their own forever. They just needed to find the right time

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When her alarm went off Marinette sat up and stretched with a yawn. Shewas a little tired but felt good. Staying up talking to Jason really helped her out last night. She had really been feeling the after effects of the cat miraculous. She had never had after effects last so long, but then again she didn't normally have to recharge and transform again. It was a little scary but at the same time she was glad Adrien wasn't feeling this strain anymore.

Getting up she started to stretch, she planned to take advantage of the time change to bake a couple of things. She really missed being able to bake every day and was glad she would get the chance to make something. Though when she got out of bed and finished with some light stretches she was a little surprised to see Tikki and Plagg both looking like they had something to say.

"Um.....good morning." she said. Normally the two would both be in their miraculouses like they agreed since there was a bigger chance of someone walking by the door and getting confused at hearing other voices besides her and Chloe.

"Good morning Marinette." Tikki began. "There is something Plagg and I would like to talk to you about."

Marinette felt her confusion grow but nodded. "What's going on?" She expected Tikki to take the lead as usual, so it was a little surprising when Plagg spoke up.

"Marinette....we.....I think using my miraculous is getting too dangerous!" the little cat kwami blurted out.

Marinette was shocked and a little hurt. Was she not doing a good enough job so Plagg and Tikki were doubting her? As usual Tikki seemed to know exactly what was going on in her mind.

"Marinette you are amazing and are going to make a great future guardian." Marinette opened her mouth but Tikki quickly continued. "But not only are you not meant to permanently wield the cat miraculous you shouldn't be combining it so often. It's dangerous and we are getting worried about the negative side effects."

"Sugarcube is right Marinette." Plagg said, looking miserable. "I....I let things with Adrien go on too long. Master Fu brushed aside all my concerns saying it was for the greater good. But...if something happened to you...I'd never forgive myself!"

Marinette instantly felt the feeling of hurt fade away. It wasn't that Plagg and Tikki thought she wasn't doing a good job, they were just worried about her. "But what can we do?" she asked. "The cat and ladybug miraculouses must be in circulation together!"

Plagg raised his hand. "I didn't sense a true black cat in Paris....but maybe there's one here? I want permission to look."

Marinette thought about it. She wasn't thrilled with this idea. What if something happened? But did it really hurt to at least look around. "Okay Plagg, but I want you to be careful."

"I will, I promise!" Plagg exclaimed.