Chapter one:

Mistakes

She'd been so stupid! She'd known better than this! She should have waited for Chat to show up. She shouldn't have tried to do it alone.
And now she was paying the price.

It had started out like any other day. Marinette had just gotten out of school when she'd heard the screams. Without a thought, she'd transformed and hurried off to the sound of the disturbance.

Marinette stumbled forward, hoping that the rain that had threatened all day would hold off just a little bit longer. Just until she got home. She struggled to walk, half of her concentration focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and the other on keeping up her transformation. In the end, however, the effort of it was too great and soon she felt her transformation being ripped away from her. It was painful and harsh. Not at all gentle as it was when she chose to release it.

'It must have been because of how desperately I was trying to hold on to it.'

It was almost as painful as the throbbing pain in her side and it nearly brought her to her knees. She leaned against the wall of the alley she'd found herself in as she caught her breath.

A flash or red caught her eye and she just barely managed to catch Tikki as the kwami fell. "Oh Tikki, I'm so sorry," she whispered, holding the small creature carefully to her chest. As if that would help her. As if that would undo her mistakes.

Marinette gasped as she heard movement behind her and carefully, quickly, stashed Tikki away and stood as straight as she could without trembling. "Wh-who's there?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling with limited success.

"Just an alley cat," said a familiar voice as a familiar face slunk out from the shadows.

"C-chat Noir! You startled me!" she said with a strained smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I was gonna investigate a disturbance but it seems Ladybug already took care of it. But then I saw you, and wondered why the lovely princess was walking down alleys by herself?"
He cocked his head to the side, pricking up his ears as he waited for an answer.

"O-oh is that all?" she asked. "I was just heading h-home…" Her sentenced ended in a groan as she slowly moved her hand to hold her side, hoping that Chat wouldn't notice anything odd. She just wanted to get home as fast as she could. Already her world was swimming.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking at her properly at last. How tense she was. His eyes followed the line of her arm and noticed her side looked a bit damp. 'But the rain hasn't started yet,' he thought.

"I'm fine," she said through gritted teeth. She fought the urge to double over from the pain, but couldn't keep her eyes from watering. Despite her best efforts, a line of blood had started to spill between her clutching fingers.

"No you're not! What happened?!" he gasped, rushing forward when he saw the slow drip of blood. He pried her hands away from her side, ignoring her yelp of protest, to examine the gash in her stomach. "This looks bad! Like, really bad!"

"I'm fine," she insisted again, though this time her voice wavered. "Really."

"I'm taking you to the hospital, Marinette," he said firmly, moving to pick her up.

That got her hazy mind to work again, if only for a moment. She couldn't go there. Not with Tikki in her purse.
"No! Please! Just… Take me home. No hospitals. Please. It's not as bad as it looks. I just want to go home."

He looked at her face for a long moment, examining closely as he made a decision. He let go of a long breath and looked at her glassy eyes. "Alright. Let's take you home," he conceded at last.

She relaxed in his arms, smiling a bit with relief. "Thank you," she murmured.
She felt him hook his arm under her knees, holding her like a bride, but the last thing she remembered was the rushing of wind and the warm, strong arms that held her as she felt the first drops of rain press her into sleep.

"Princess…."

'Who is that? So far away…. let me sleep…'

"Princess….!"

'Go away. It hurts…. Stop shaking me…'

"Marinette!"

Her eyes snapped open to focus on a pair of bright green eyes staring down at her. She gasped and choked in surprise and curled into herself as it made her side throb.

"I'm sorry," Chat said with a frown, sounding a bit panicked. "I was worried. I didn't mean to startle you." He reached out as if to touch her but then thought better of it and let his arms drop again.

She gasped and regained her breath. "What happened?" she asked, her voice rough as she tried to focus on him.

"That's a good question, and one I expect an answer to later. But for now we need to get you taken care of."

She looked around and saw she was in her bedroom. Lightning flashed and thunder rumbled outside, shaking her windows and the roof hatch in an unsettling way.

"Princess," Chat spoke again with a sheepish grin spreading on his lips. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I need you to take off your shirt."

"Wh-what?!" she spluttered, looking at him in shock. She knew he was a flirt, but…

"I need to see that wound and patch it up."

oh.

"I found a first aid kit in your bathroom, but I need you to take off your shirt first. I won't look so you can keep covered up. Cat's honor." He held up a solemn hand and placed the other against his heart as she regarded him suspiciously.
When she didn't give, his look softened. "Please, Marinette. Before it gets worse."

She regarded him for a moment longer, then gave in. It made sense. "Alright but don't look."

He bowed with a flourish and turned his back, his heels clicking together as he stood at attention. "Just let me know when I can turn around."

She watched him to make sure he wouldn't peek, then slowly, painfully, sat up and pulled her ruined shirt over her head only to hold it tight to her chest to remain as covered as she could without hindering Chat.
"I…. it's safe…" she said in a small voice.
Chat glanced over his shoulder to make sure before turning completely around to see a very red Marinette.

"Alright, this might sting but I've got some experience with this so just try to relax. I'll be as gentle as I can."

"Just do it," she answered, the bite in her voice more from pain and embarrassment than actually wanting to snap at him.
He flashed her a grin and set to work cleaning and tending to her wound.
"You're lucky," he said after a moment or two of silent work. "It's wide but not deep. It'll heal up just fine but you probably should still go to the doctor."
"If it doesn't get better. I don't want my parents to worry."
He smiled kindly at her and decided not to press it.

It was a very un-chat-like expression, she thought, and it caught her off guard. It wasn't cocky or flirty or anything like that.
But then, she relented to herself, he's worried.'I guess it makes sense…'
But soon, she noticed, his smile grew into a smirk that she was far more accustomed to seeing.

"Staring?" he teased, chuckling when she turned a nice apple red once more.
"Of course not!"
"I wouldn't blame you," he said, his smirk growing even wider. "I'm quite the CAT-ch." He made a paw with his hand to complete the pun and laughed when she rolled her eyes.
"Yeah yeah," she said, wishing he would finish so she could put on a shirt. The room was getting uncomfortably warm and Chat being so close to her wasn't helping. And was all that touching really necessary?
"There. That should be good," he said as he smoothed the bandages over her wound. His hands lingered on her skin a moment longer than they needed to before he pulled away from her entirely.
His smile returned to the kind one from before and she realized he'd been distracting her from the pain while he worked. Her heart softened a little towards him for that.

"Thank you," she said, feeling suddenly shy. She was very aware that she was still half-naked, and no matter the necessity, Chat was still a handsome boy who was staring her down.
"Of course. Anything for my princess."
"No, Chat Noir. I mean it. Thank you. For bringing me home. For taking care of me."
He opened his mouth to say something but was distracted by the sound of a soft beep. His transformation was running out.
Instead of saying what he'd originally intended, he moved closer to kiss her cheek.
"You're welcome," he whispered into her ear before pulling back.

Without quite looking at her, he crossed the room in three long strides to where the roof hatch was.
"I'll come see you again soon to make sure you're okay," he said. "Until next time, Princess."
He turned to give a curt wave and grinned when he found that Marinette was once again very, very red. She also, he noted, was looking absolutely anywhere but at him now.

She jumped a bit when she heard the roof hatch open and caught a glimpse of Chat Noir's tail as he rushed out into the night.
"Good bye," she whispered, far too late for him to hear, then carefully slid back onto her pillows, eager to get more sleep.