Work Text:
She didn’t realise she had chosen the same pillar to transform behind until she saw the flash of green out of the corner of her eye. Her eyes closed quickly as she heard him walk around to her, then stop abruptly.
“Don’t- don’t say anything. Just go. Run. Get out of here.” She said into the cold night air. Her earrings let out their second to last warning, but the silent figure before her didn’t retreat immediately. A hand grasped hers, cold ring contrasting warm skin, raising it so her knuckles met a pair of soft lips before releasing it once more. The footsteps rapidly retreating into the night soon after were her only indication that it was safe once more, but she didn’t open her eyes until the pink light shone behind them and she was herself once more.
***
They were stuck in the same alleyway, her transformation a minute nearer to running out than his. She didn’t have time to find somewhere else; this was the most secluded alleyway in the centre of Paris at this time of night, she didn’t have time to swing home.
A hand on her shoulder interrupted her panicked thoughts, her partner’s bright eyes looking reassuringly into hers. He made a show of closing his eyes, screwing them tightly shut.
“You go first, my lady. I can wait.”
She smiled, giving him a brief hug to silently show her appreciation as the light washed over her. On impulse, she pressed her lips to his cheek as she retreated, turning to run down the alleyway before she had time to analyse what or why.
***
She was seeing that green light too often for comfort nowadays.
The akumas were getting harder to beat, her teammate’s use of his power far more frequent. She learned to quickly calculate where the nearest cheese shops were in the town centre, and he learned where the nearest bakeries were. The number of times she had slid a packet of camembert around a corner were increasing, the wait until the green flash allowed her to go around and look happening more frequently, because there was only so much cheese he could carry as a civilian without it being obvious.
Of all the things being a superhero might have led her to, being a cheese courier was not one which she would have expected in a million years.
But then, he did much the same for her. The wait sitting casually at a corner of an alleyway, while not looking too suspect, was fraught with terror when you were the one waiting. She was so relieved when the clawed hand slid a small paper bag of cookies into sight, and she tried so hard not to snatch them from the ground immediately. The number of times she had seen a pale hand grab at the cheese she had procured was to many to count, and she was almost sure she recognised the unpowered version of her partner’s ring adorning it, though from where she wasn’t quite sure.
***
His civilian self seemed to manage just fine to keep up Chat’s flirting even without words, it seemed.
They had, eventually, developed a system; de-transforming in the same alleyway was sometimes more convenient, as long as one transformed first and the other waited behind. It was often Chat going first, since he often had to use Cataclysm well before she used Lucky Charm, and if there was time, he would always double back to kiss her hand by way of a silent farewell before he left.
It was always the same; raise her hand with the one with his ring, brush lips against knuckles, a ghost of a breath leaving goosebumps under her suit, and release her hand gently before the fading footsteps told her it was safe.
She wasn’t sure why, but more and more frequently those kisses in the dark were churning up butterflies in her stomach.
***
By some twist of fate, both their miraculouses were down to one spot at the same time.
There was no time to find somewhere else to hide; they were stuck in the same dark closet for as long as the akuma was around and until they had their powers back.
“Have you got your cookies?” He asked at a whisper.
“Yes, as a civilian. You’ve got cheese?”
“Mmhmm.” His hand reached for hers, and she gave it a reassuring squeeze in response before they closed their eyes simultaneously as the light flashed around them. She savored the warm hand around hers for a second before pulling away to fumble for her purse, listening as something small wooshed around her head as she worked to open it, eyes still tightly shut.
“I thought it might be you.” She heard a voice near her ear, not Tikki but not in the right place to have been Chat’s civilian form.
“Plagg, you know she wants to keep it a secret, don’t spoil it.” She heard her kwami admonish what she now assumed was Chat’s.
“But Tikki, don’t you realise? They’re so close, it would be a shame to-”
“Plagg!” This time the harsh whisper came from what could only be Chat, still rustling something fabric beside her. “You can’t!” She heard a whistle in the air as he blindly tried to swat at the kwami, and she couldn’t help but giggle, the mental picture too good to pass up. She managed to offer Tikki her cookie before collapsing completely into laughter, and noticed after a moment her companion joining her, a laugh full of heart and strangely familiar joining her own. Thankfully the kwamis settled down to eat their food while they finished laughing, her lungs feeling like she’d run a mile by the time she could transform again. Her companion had a lingering smile on his face when she opened her eyes again, his twinkling behind his black mask as they readied themselves to face the akuma once more.
***
He didn’t have enough time to get somewhere to safely detransform. They both knew that, standing on the Eiffel tower side by side as his ring gave its final beep. Without a second’s hesitation, she motioned him closer. He looked at her in confusion for a second before obeying, tucking his face into her neck as the light flashed around them.
“Can you hold on? I can take us somewhere safe…”
He silently nodded against her neck, winding himself around her, the blond hair under her chin all she could see of him as she swung her yoyo and took them across town, one arm used to hold him close around her as they flew through the air. Hopefully if anyone took any pictures they wouldn’t be able to make out anything which identified exactly who was clinging to her like a limpet, but his head stayed nestled in the crook of her neck nevertheless.
They landed in an alleyway a few minutes later, just around the corner from her house, and she shut her eyes as he lifted his head.
“You know, you can look, my Lady. I don’t mind.” The boy whispered against her ear after seeing her eyes tight shut.
“But I do, minou . I won’t put you in danger like that. Now stop talking and go.” She answered in a whisper. She heard his head move, a nod in response, before his lips brushed her cheek and the footsteps retreated once more. Her eyes opened a fraction too soon, and she saw a boy rounding the corner, a flash of blue jeans and a white shirt and a mop of blond hair haunting her dreams that night.
***
She wasn’t quite sure what she was still doing, standing before the masked boy with his eyes screwed tight shut, her transformation already gone. They had just defeated Hawkmoth, his miraculous returned to the Guardian, Chat delivering the man himself home (something about knowing him in his civilian life). Now after cleaning up the city together, they were back in the same alleyway they usually stopped off at, him closing his eyes as if by rote as the light from her swept the alley.
She looked back to the exit to the street, the lights of the city glowing in the distance. She could disappear now. Ladybug was no longer needed, not any more, not now the threat was well and truly vanquished. Chat need never know her true identity.
But there was no need to hide, not anymore. She was safe now, her family and friends no longer in danger. And if Ladybug was truly not needed any more, this may be the last time she saw him, her loyal Chat whose eyes were still closed, confusion spreading across his face at not hearing her retreating footsteps.
That confirmed her decision. She stepped towards him, into him, pressing feather-light kisses to his closed eyelids.
“It’s okay. We’re safe now. Open them, if you want.”
“A- are you sure?” He stuttered slightly, taken by surprise.
“I think so.” She replied. He didn’t open his eyes immediately, but reached for her hand first, gloved hand caressing hers with gentle reassurance before his eyes fluttered open, going wide in the low light as he saw her.
“P-Plagg? Claws in.” He whispered, eyes glued to hers as the light washed over him, leaving a wide-eyed Adrien in his place. She let out a small gasp, nearly a squeak, and waited for a moment to see the smile rolling across his face before letting her own break free.
“I thought that your laugh sounded familiar.” He said, bringing a hand up to cup her cheek. “I’m glad it’s you.”
She nodded, feeling like her grin was now permanently plastered across her face. “Me too. How on earth did we manage to keep this a secret for so long?”
He chuckled, bringing her hand up to kiss, his eyes in contact with hers making her feel weak at the knees. “A series of close calls, I believe. May I walk you home this time, my lady?”
She nodded, and they walked out of the alley together this time, arm in arm.