(Hey guys! I've been up in the mountains, taking a break from reality. I'm back and ready to write <3)

"Hello bug."

The voice rung in her ears like a tolling bell. It was deep and dark and it had the rough cut of gravel shaking through it.

It was a voice she had heard before.

Ladybug frantically looked around, her eyes unable to focus on a singular object. There was dust and dirt all around her, and the air was thick with soot.

Her hands were covered in black ash, and she could feel the same ash falling from her hair as she turned her head rapidly.

Standing there behind her, was the holder of the butterfly miraculous, a tall, dark figure that she could barely make out in the darkness of the cloud of smog around her.

"Look at you." He laughed, leaning over her.

It was now that she realized she was on the ground, and try as she might she couldn't move her legs. Looking down at them, they were so covered in dirt and ash that she couldn't tell if they were in tact or not.

Her body felt incredibly heavy.

"Look how pathetic you are." His mouth was pulled into a grin, and he kneeled in front of her.

"Try as you might, you can't get me."

Ladybug flinched as the figure uncurled his fist, revealing a thick silver band.

"But I got him."

Ladybug jolted, her voice bubbling from her throat in a broken cry.

She felt her lungs heave against her ribs, as if they were trying to push them through her skin.

When she felt a hand touch her shoulder, she flailed her arm outwards, violently slamming into the figure next to her.

A pair of worried green eyes were caught staring at her.

"Ladybug. It's me."

Chat hovered his hand above her shoulder, as if he were afraid to touch her.

"You're safe...you just had a nightmare." He whispered, worried that if he spoke too loudly she would startle.

"A nightmare?" She breathed.

Her voice came out like a child's, when they believe there is a monster in their closet. Begging someone to go and check for them.

"I was asleep?"

Why hadn't she known? Most people don't know when they're asleep of course, but how come she hadn't noticed that she had woken up?

"Yeah. You said you were tired. I...you don't remember?" He finally placed his hand on her shoulder, taking note of the way her body tensed.

"No..."

He blinked, mask pulling against the contours of his changing expression.

"I told you that you should head home, but you said that you needed to watch out for evil. And then you dozed off on my shoulder." He explained.

"You didn't try to wake me up?"

His face scrunched uncomfortably.

"I...I did."

"What?" She felt her face scrunch too.

"You started freaking out so I tried to wake you up."

"I....oh." She sighed.

It was just a nightmare. That was all. A dream. Not reality.

"Ladybug I think you should go home. Please? I'll hold down the fort." Chat spoke quietly.

He kept saying that she should go home. Everyone wanted her home. Inside. Resting.

How could she rest when her dreams were so awful? How could she?

"I don't want to go home..." she whispered.

"I know bug, but you're shaking."

She looked into her lap, where her trembling hands lay. Why was she shaking?

Thinking about it, Ladybug realized that she couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. Or the last time she had slept. Like really slept. She couldn't recall a time that she had woken up without being drenched in sweat or struggling to breathe.

"I don't want to be alone." She felt her chest tighten, realizing how desperately she wished to be in the presence of another person right now.

Chat could see the gears turning in her mind, and the way her face was slowly growing paler, and her knuckles fading to white.

"Woah woah. Okay. You don't have to go home. We can stay here." He gripped her other shoulder, containing her eyes within his.

"We?"

"Yes we. We can stay here. Okay? Is that okay?" He was nodding now, trying to reassure her that he wasn't going anywhere and that she didn't have to.

She didn't say anything, but she mimicked the way he nodded his head.

*****
Ladybugs head was rested against Chat Noirs shoulder. The poor girl was exhausted, and he could tell by the weight on his arm that she hadn't planned on sleeping, but rather she had no choice.

Her body was going to rest regardless of what she wanted.

Ladybug had been adamant about staying right where she was.

He sighed into her hair, which smelled faintly of vanilla. She always smelled like fresh pastries, a detail that he hadn't had an explanation for a few months ago.

There were so many things to think about right now.

While she slept, he contemplated telling her the truth. Telling her what he knew. Perhaps he should wake her up, and try and have the conversation with her. Looking down at her fluttering eyelids, he decided to wait.

If he could hear Plagg right now, he'd probably saying something snarky. Maybe a little unhelpful. But he kind of wished he would talk to him.

Sitting right next to her, with her body weight against him, he felt helpless here.

What could he do to help her?

He was so afraid of hurting her again.

As he thought, he could hear her gentle breathing. For the past few days, every time he'd seen her, her face was holding a broken expression. Sadness, confusion, whatever it might have been. But right now, she was silent. And her face looked peaceful.

He looked out into the sky, a cool breeze tickling his nose. The city noise had been drowned out, and the whole world felt silent.

For a moment, he felt as peaceful as she looked.

The body against him began to stir slightly.

The once gentle breathing was now growing ragged and broken. Her eyes were darting beneath her eyelids, and her mask was tightened against them in a deep furrow.

Chat sat himself up straighter, gently holding her closer to him. Pulling her to his chest, he could feel the heavy thumping of her heart.

"Ladybug." He spoke, gently squeezing her arm.

Her chest was rising and falling alarmingly fast.

"Ladybug." He spoke louder, pushing her body a little further from his to shake her.

Her eyes were tightly shut, but her mouth was slightly opened against her hard breathing.

"Ladybug?!"

He was shaking her, nearly shouting, but there was nothing. Were her breathing not so prominent, he would've fully believed her to be dead.

The panic she was showing was quickly spreading into him, as his heart began to pound faster.

"Wake up."

Just then, a heart wrenching cry escaped her throat, eyes bolting open, body tensing.

Chat, shocked at her sudden movement, reached his own hand out to touch her.

The second his fingers grazed her, her arm whipped at him with a violent smack. It hit him right in the shoulder, vibrating down the rest of his arm.

"Ladybug. It's me."

His voice came out far shakier than he had intended, but with the fear pulsing through him, and the ache spreading through his arm, he found himself in less control than he had thought.

He managed to calm her down, as much as he could.

Watching her slowly come back to her senses, deeply afraid of being left alone.

Honestly, he was terrified to leave her on her own right now too.

Whatever internal conflict he had before had disintegrated. There was no way he could tell her now. After seeing the way she had responded to that nightmare, how could he expose the reality?

No, in that moment, he instead decided that he was going to everything in his power to make sure that she didn't find out what he knew. He had to protect her.

He had to.

He watched her calm herself, staring into the sky longingly. He is wasn't sure what she was longing for. Maybe she didn't know either.

She promised she would talk to him. She did.

He didn't need to ask her for answers right now. He could wait.

He wanted to know what she had dreamt, but looking at her right now, he couldn't bring it up. He couldn't be the reason for that awful expression she had held just moments before.

Marinette had shown her feelings before. He'd seen it, even as Adrien.

But he'd never seen Ladybug so vulnerable before.

Part of him felt honored, to have been the one to see her that way. But more than that, he felt the sting in his heart for her have ever having felt that way before.

Why was this happening to her?

Chat knew that bad things could happen to good people. And good things to bad people.

But Ladybug...Marinette didn't deserve it.

He was a superhero, his whole job was to ensure safety and justice.

But none of this felt like justice right now. None of this felt fair. Maybe justice wasn't always fair. Maybe this wasn't justice at all.

Maybe it wasn't.

He broke away from looking at her, unable to keep himself from feeling like a piece of him was breaking along with her.

A distant scream broke the silence.

They shared a quiet knowing glance.

"Let's go bring some justice." She smiled weakly.

"Yeah...justice..." He nodded, watching as she leapt away.