Running away probably wasn't the smartest move, but Adrienne didn't know what else to do. She acted on impulse, and knew that she would probably regret this decision. She had made it quite far, ending up at least half a mile, if not further from the school. She looked around. She was in some kind of park, though she wouldn't be able to name it. She recognized it. She had modeled in it multiple times before. She took a deep breath as she halted, panting slightly to try and regain a steady breathing pattern. 

She looked at one of the trees, analyzing it for a moment. It seemed easy enough to climb, she figured, and began to hoist herself up the trunk of the tree. There was no one else around, for whatever reason. She found it quite odd. As soon as she reached the first sturdy branch, she sat down upon it, her legs dangling off the sides for a moment before she moved them to be secured on top of the branch. She let out a sigh.

She was definitely terrified, to say the least. Here she was, just trying to figure out how to get all her relationships and friendships in check, and then someone comes along and tries to shoot her. It was completely ridiculous. She didn't understand what she had done to anger someone enough to want her dead. "Have I been mean enough to someone to make them want to kill me?" She whispered, intending for Plagg to answer, but when she heard a different voice, she was slightly surprised. 

"You? Mean? Impossible." Adrienne glanced down to where the voice came from, slightly surprised to see a certain hero waiting on the ground with his arms crossed. Ladybeetle. "And may I ask why my fair maiden is in a tree?" He laughed a little, leaning on the trunk of the tree.

"There's no fair maiden in this tree, m'lady." She replied with a little bit of sass, then covered her mouth. She was doing it; she was letting her Chat show. And she wasn't the only one who caught it. Ladybeetle noticed her comment sounding awfully similar to something Chat would say. No one else called him "M'lady," just Chat. That can't be right.

He didn't comment on his observation though. He didn't want to go and put that kind of accusation on her shoulders when she, A, most likely not Chat, and B, already dealing with enough stress. "I'm looking right at her." He smiled flirtatiously, making Adrienne's cheek turn a light shade of pink. "Can you come down, or do I need to rescue you?"

Adrienne wanted to laugh. Here he was trying to get her out of a tree. It was very similar to the movie trope in which a fire-fighter would save an old woman's kitten from a tree. It was quite hilarious to her. She barely realized that she was laughing. She felt so tired from today that she didn't really have to energy to stop herself from doing so.

"What's so funny?" Ladybeetle asked, laughing a little himself. He had never seen Adrienne laugh this much before and it was honestly one of the most amusing things he had ever seen. 

She shrugged a little, even though she was still laughing. She even let out a small snort, which the hero on the ground thought was incredibly adorable. "I just think it's funny. You're all dressed in red like a firefighter and I'm like a kitten stuck in a tree. Like in all those movies and books." She continued with her giggling, but it slowly started to settle down.

It was now Ladybeetle's turn to blush. Her analogy made him think of that same thought that seemed to always come back no matter how hard he wanted it to go away. Adrienne is Chat Noire. "Come on, let's get you out of there then, kitten." He said in a joking manner. He didn't expect for that simple joke to make Adrienne blush as much as she was. He mentally told himself to get a grip. It was not the time to be flirting without even intending it. He wanted to keep her relaxed and keep her mind off of the shooter, but she also needed to make sure she was safe. Her safety was his top priority. 

He made his way up the tree, sitting in front of her. "It's time to get down. You could fall, and I don't want you getting hurt today." He gave her a comforting smile, and she nodded. "Can you get down on your own?" Once again, she nodded without a word. He sensed something was off with her, but disregarded it for the time being. He would definitely go back to it if it continued. The first thing on his to-do list though, was to get Adrienne down from the tree. 

He hopped down on the ground, then glanced back up at the blonde as he waited for her to come down as well. She stood up to get to one of the lower, smaller branches that she had used to help get herself up there. As she went to put her foot on the branch, her foot slipped, resulting in her losing her balance and falling. 

Of course, there was no way Ladybeetle was going to let her get hurt. He quickly moved closer to the tree and caught her perfectly in his arms, holding her bridal style. He stared down at her and she looked up at him. 

They were completely lost in each other's eyes, the rest of the world was the farthest thing in their minds. At this moment, it was just them. The two of them all alone. No one else. Ladybeetle started to lean his head down to plant a small kiss on her lips, his eyes closing slightly, as well as Adrienne's. Less than a foot separating them. Inches. Centimeters. Nothing. 

Ladybeetle took note of the soft texture, the warmth, the relaxing feeling, the sweet taste of her lips. It was everything he had imagined it would be and more. He just didn't think he would ever do something like this with her while he was hiding behind the mask. He thought their first kiss would be with her as Marin, not as Ladybeetle. 

Eventually they parted. The two stared at each other for a while, until they heard a small screech, or rather two, from next to them. Ladybeetle quickly put Adrienne on the ground and she took a couple steps back, their faces both beet red. 

Nina and Alyn were there of course. Alyn had his phone held up still from the picture he had taken. "Oh, my god, Marin is going to freak out. His chances are ruined."

At the name, Adrienne's head perked up a bit. "Marin? Where is he? Did he get home safe?" Adrienne moved closer to Nina, leaving Ladybeetle with an shocked expression.

She's worried about me? He thought to himself as he smiled. "Hey, can you guys make sure she gets home safely? I need to meet with Chat about this." He walked up to Adrienne, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Stay near them, okay? I just want to make sure you're safe." He kissed her forehead then took off, using his yo-yo to swing from building to building.

"Marin..." Adrienne whispered almost silently to herself. Those were the exact words Marin had told her at the school. She stared off in the direction that he had come from. "W-Well, I'll be heading home then." She turned and started to walk in the direction of her house, her thoughts racing through her mind a mile a minute. It was just a coincidence. 

"Oh, no, you don't." Nina grabbed Adrienne's collar, pulling her back. "There is no way you're going on your own." She let go of the shirt and crossed her arms. "We are following Ladybeetle's orders, and Ladybeetle said to make sure that you are safe and sound at home, and we must take you there."

Adrienne laughed softly. There was no way she could have them with her constantly. She needed to transform into Chat and meet up with Ladybeetle. There was no way she could tell them that, of course. "Alright. Let's get going then." She sighed. She would just have to be a little late. 

~~~

"I think it's a good time for a break." Ladybeetle let out a small sigh. "Spots off, Tikki." He de-transformed and sat down on the roof of the building he had found himself atop. He reached into his bag and handed Tikki a cookie.

"But isn't Chat supposed to meet you? If you're here as Marin--" Tikki started to talk, but was cut off by Marin shaking his head. She took a small bite. "I'm confused."

"You can't tell me it isn't not blatantly obvious to you? I mean, I could be completely wrong, but I think I'm right with this. Adrienne is Chat Noire. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I think it's true. I can't ignore all the signs. The bruise in the same place. She hugged me the exact same way Chat did. She called me, m'lady. She made the analogy to the cat in the tree. Cat. Chat. Chat Noire!" Marin groaned, slapping his cheeks. "I don't know, Tikki, I think I'm going crazy. It's just, last night when Chat came over, I saw a side of her I don't see as Ladybeetle. I... I don't know. Help me, Tikki."

Tikki frowned, hugging Marin's cheek comfortingly. "It's okay, Marin. Just don't jump to conclusions too quickly. And don't get too stressed out about it. It's probably the stress just getting to you. It is hard to balance between being Ladybeetle and Marin."

Marin took a deep breath. "You're right. Adrienne is nothing like Chat. Too different. And besides, Adrienne is too busy to--" He cut himself short, worrying Tikki - she didn't know what he was thinking and that can be quite frightening for her at times. "Adrienne is with Nina and Alyn! So that means, if I can just make sure she's with them, and then Chat Noire shows up here. It'll prove Chat isn't Adrienne!"

He pulled out his phone and dialed Alyn's number, putting the phone to his ear. The ringing went on for no more than a few seconds before Alyn picked up. "Dude, where did you disappear to? We're taking Adrienne home. She's safe, don't worry. Ladybeetle was with her until we came. Oh, and do I have something to show you."

Marin rolled his eyes, as he already knew what he had to show him. The Ladybeetle and Adrienne kiss that would most likely be all over the Ladyblog within the next hour. "Sorry, man, my dad called about the shooting and was worried, so he asked me to come home. Hey, can you do me a favour?"

"Yeah, sure thing. What d'you need?" Alyn asked. There was some background noise, but Marin couldn't pick up what was being said.

"Can you stay with Adrienne? Don't just drop her off at home, I need you to stay with her. At least until we hear more on this shooter. I want to make sure she's always with someone." Marin really did sound like an overprotective parent - or rather a boyfriend.

"No problem. Hey, I'll talk to you later. See you, bro." 

Marin said his goodbye's as well and then hung up the phone. He put his phone away and then stood up. "Alright, Tikki, Chat Noire should be here anytime. I sent a location to her staff. She should be able to see it as long as she's transformed. And since there was an attack on someone, she should have transformed by now. Besides, we have patrol at 3:00. And it is almost 3:30." 

"Marin, what if Adrienne is Chat Noire? What will you do then?" Tikki asked softly, resting on Marin's shoulder.

"I have no idea." Marin shrugged. Even though he had thought about her being Chat Noire, he didn't exactly have a planned out course of action if she was. He didn't know how it would affect their relationship. It could make it so much better, or it could make it significantly worse. Either way, it would probably be awkward at first. He wouldn't be able to even look at Chat or Adrienne the same again. He was still worried that even right now he would have trouble communicating with Chat, because all he could see when he looked at Adrienne was Chat, and if he looks at Chat, chances are that all he'll see is Adrienne, and he'll become a blushing, stammering mess. 

"Marin, let's just transform before you lose your head and fall off of the roof." Tikki noticed the unusual amount of time he spent silent, and knew he was overthinking. She had to get his mind back on track.

"Right. Spots on, Tikki." He nodded and transformed, knocked out of his thoughts by Tikki's words. As soon as he finished transforming, he paced the roof of the building. "Okay, so I've been thinking and my plan isn't exactly a surefire plan. Because even if Chat doesn't show, she might just be busy with something else, it doesn't automatically mean that she's Adrienne." He mumbled to himself. He felt better when he spoke out loud instead of just thinking it.

He paced the roof for at least ten minutes. He was sure she was not going to show. This didn't exactly prove his theory correct, but it helped justify it. Just as he was about to leave the rooftop to go investigate the shooter himself, he heard a high pitched scream, followed by a, "Watch out!"

Next thing he knew, he was laying on his back on the rooftop. He let out a short series of coughs. He had been knocked to the ground by something, or rather someone. And that someone was now right on top of him. "C-Chat? You're late-!"

"Ow..." Chat groaned as she lifted herself off from on top of Ladybeetle. "Sorry, I was busy, calm down." Chat was in fact busy. It was easy enough to get off Nina and Alya's back, but she wanted to go and check in with Marin. Alyn had told her that he was at home with his parents, but when she checked at the bakery, they told her that he wasn't home yet. Of course, this just added to her suspicion that Marin was Ladybeetle. But she didn't have enough evidence to back herself up. They had the same eye colour, which could be a significant piece of evidence, but many people have the same coloured eyes. And they say uncannily similar things at times, but that was probably because they were friends, or so she was told. "So, m'lady, have you figured out who we're hunting down yet? I'm dying to kick some akuma butt."

"That's the thing, Chat. I don't think it was an akuma." Marin muttered, loud enough for Chat to hear. 

Ladybeetle was looking at the ground, so he didn't see Chat's look of pure terror. "What do you mean it's not an akuma? Why else would it attack someone unprovoked?" It was her own life that had been out in danger, it was reasonable for her to feel more than scared. She looked down at her hands.

"This person had a set target. If he wanted, he could have hurt anyone. There were much easier targets. It was too planned out. He knew who he was after, and he was after her and her alone." Ladybeetle looked over at Chat, now noticing the terrified look in her eyes. He didn't want to say anything to make that worse, but he had to say what he was thinking. "This man either has something against Adrienne, or he was hired to kill her by someone. I don't know who it is yet or where he is now. But once I do, he's going to wish I didn't."