Marinette Dupain-Cheng hardly ever felt that her responsibilities as Ladybug were too much for her to handle. Hardly ever, because when she did feel the weight of Paris' safety on her shoulders, she reminded herself that all that stood between Hawk Moth's spread of anger and evil was her and Chat Noir. That, and she actually liked doing it.

Or at least she kept repeating this to herself as she rushed into her classroom at the collège, arms carrying the pages of school work that her mother had shoved into her arms, as well as a chocolate croissant. The entire week had been full of assignments needing to be turned in, or akuma attacks needing to be de-akumatized, and sometimes they happened both at the same time. Between being a superhero and a less-than-super student, sleep was a luxury she wasn't affording.

"Cutting it close Ms. Dupain-Cheng," Madame Bustier said without turning around. Marinette caught the words Candide and Voltaire, written on the board and her eyes widened as she slid into her seat beside Alya. Was that reading due today?

"You look stressed. Even your pigtails are a little crooked," Alya whispered to her as she took the liberty to lean over and tighten one of the tails into a better position. She then had to flick her fingers when water ran onto them; someone had managed a quick shower before class.

"I'm not stressed," Marinette told her automatically as she sorted her papers properly.

"You better not be," Alya told her. "You know what they say about being stressed. That it weakens your immune system."

"Yeah, and Nino's playing this weekend," Adrien reminded them, taking Madame Bustier's distracted state to talk to his friends. "We're all still going right?"

"Dude you better be," Nino replied with a grin.

"Of course we will," Marinette assured with a weak smile. She really did want to go, especially to support Nino, who was her friend. But that was the weekend before their final practice test of the diplôme national du brevet, and she needed to do well on it. The actual exam for the national diploma was only a month away, and so far her scores on the previous practice ones had not been what she was expecting. She needed to score well, not just the minimum 190 points to pass the exam.

Marinette shivered as a bead of cold water rolled down her back, and she realized taking the extra minute to actually dry it out would have probably been a great idea. To prove the point, Marinette let out a small sneeze.

By the end of the day, her sneezing was anything but small. Her shivers seemed perpetual, her sneeze had turned cough, and she could barely keep her eyes open during math class. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn that the math equation on the board (10x2 + 5x – 6 = 8x – 2) was trying to solve itself.

Finally when the time for classes to end arrived, Marinette was more than ready to go home. She leaned her head against her locker, the metal cool against her skin. She took a longer second to press her cheek against it until her entire face was almost being smooshed against the locker.

"Marinette are you sure you're okay?" Adrien's voice came up from behind her, startling her away from the locker. She rubbed her face, feeling the indentations in her skin. Marinette was sure her cheeks flushed with embarrassment with having him see her like this.

"O-o-of course," Marinette stumbled over the word. "I'm f-f-fine," she tried to assure him. And then she coughed, the sound coming deep from her chest, causing it to ache. Marinette turned her head and into the crook of her shoulder. When she was done, she turned back to Adrien who had a worried look on his face. "I'm fine."

"Let me give you a ride home," Adrien offered. He turned towards the large windows and Marinette's gaze followed. "It looks like it could rain any second."

Normally, Marinette would have politely declined. Or basically died from having Adrien offer to take her home. Just her. And him. In the back of his limo. Alone. Yeah, that alone would have killed her. But instead, Marinette thought about the long walk she was going to have home, the amount of homework and studying she had to get done, and just nodded her head. "A ride home would be great."

The ride itself wasn't that long. Or at least it didn't feel that way as she basically fell asleep the moment she fell back onto the soft seats and her head rested against the cool window. Not long after the car had started to move, was Adrien shaking her awake, a worried look on his face as he leaned over her. "We're here," he said softly as she yawned, rubbing sleep away from her eyes.

"Already?" Marinette asked as she allowed herself to be led out of the limo. She didn't realize that she was leaning on Adrien, being half-carried by him as he also carried her bag. Marinette didn't realize she was being handed off to her now worried parents by a more than perfectly polite friend. Marinette barely realized as her mother helped her up the stairs to her room, where she was put in to bed almost immediately, with the promise of a wet cloth on her forehead soon.

"Are you alright Marinette?" Tikki's voice was soft against her ear as her Kwami rested against her, small arms stretched out as if giving her a hug.

Marinette opened her eyes weakly and caught the sound and sight of the rain pitter pattering off her windows. "I will be Tikki," Marinette finally responded to her friend truthfully.

Chat Noir landed in a crouch, his hand holding the silver staff, and looked at the scene before him. Or tried to. The rain poured around him, dampening his sight if only slightly. He would have made a cats-hate-getting-wet joke if Ladybug was around. Or if he wasn't slightly distracted with worry over his friend.

Marinette hadn't been looking very well when he dropped her off at her parents' bakery that afternoon. He remembered feeling the warmth coming off her as he helped her out of the car. And he remembered her face, because she looked very un-Marinette. Her face had been flushed, her eyes droopy and half closed. Even her pigtails weren't up to their usual height and spunk. Adrien had never seen anyone that sick before. He always lived in a world of four people: his father, Nathalie, the mute bodyguard and himself. For a long time those had been the only people his world consisted of, with occasional guests coming and going from time to time; the photographer, stylists, workers, Chloé.

"Head in the clouds Kitty?" her voice pulled Chat Noir out of his thoughts as he turned his head to the side. He looked over at the red and black spotted suit, his ears twitching slightly at the noises he caught off of her.

"My lady," he grinned. Raindrops slid down her face, over the bridge of her nose and her lips. God he loved her. "Just waiting on you to get here."

"Sorry I was late for patrol. You could have started without me," Ladybug responded, her voice slightly weary.

"It's alright," Chat Noir rushed to reassure her. "I haven't been here that long. Besides, I love being in the rain," Adrien confessed to her. "I used to go dancing in it with ma mère. Well before she was gone." The words slipped out before his brain could think about it. Slightly panicked, he side-glanced at Ladybug, wanting to see how she would react to this information. His partner had always been very serious about keeping their civilian life a secret. He also didn't want to see the pity in her eyes; the one people gave him when they found out he didn't have a mom. Very few people didn't look at him like that, and Ladybug was one of them. "Ladybug?" he said, his voice confused as he looked at his partner. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to sway slightly.

"There," Ladybug said, her eyes opening and she pointed in the direction of Adrien's school. Chat Noir turned to where she pointed just in time to see a large yellow ball appear in the sky. It disappeared in a blast, pushing away the rainy clouds right around the floating figure in the sky.

"Good eye," Chat Noir told her impressed. He stood and expanded his rod, before turning and holding out one had towards Ladybug. "Need a ride bugaboo? The rain makes it hard for you to see, unlike my flawless cateye," he punned. If he'd been anyone else, Chat Noir might have thought his lady looked a bit relieved, instead of annoyed, by his pun. She took his hand and he pulled her in towards him, the movement familiar for the two of them as he took a running start and leapt off the building.

He felt Ladybug's grip tighten around him as they took air. In return, he did the same, wanting to reassure her that he had her. Chat Noir had only dropped her once, and it wasn't from that high and they were really just practicing how to do it so it had been bound to happen, but he still felt awful that he did it.

They landed on one of the roof buildings, and immediately had to each dive in a different direction to avoid being hit. "What was that?" Ladybug asked, standing up, yo-yo in hand. Chat Noir squinted, trying to figure out what it was they were seeing.

"It looks like he has one of those t-shirt cannons," Chat Noir told her, just as the akumatized villain aimed it in their direction and fired. "Ladybug watch out!" He yelled, too late as this colorful ball zoomed towards them. More specifically at her.

It hit her straight in the chest, her reflexes hadn't been quick enough to move out of the way. The force pushed her backwards and almost off the building if Chat Noir hadn't been there to grab her. "Thanks," Ladybug said, a hand rubbing her chest where the ball had hit. "What was that?"

"It looks like…a sock ball?" Chat Noir replied, skeptical. Not too far, after it had bounced off Ladybug, was there a ball of socks. Around the ball was an almost protective ring of warmth or something of the sort. There was no rain falling around it, and the ground it was on seemed to be dry.

"I guess it could be worse?" Ladybug figured before her attention turned towards their villain.

"Ladybug, Chat Noir, give me your miraculouses!" The bad guy yelled, zooming towards them. As he got closer, the two superheroes realized that their villain rode a small yellow ball, which upon closer inspection was made of socks. Even he wore a custom made of socks. And like the projectile he had thrown at them, warmth and dryness surrounded him.

"Well he is quick to the point," Chat Noir heard his partner say.

"We didn't even get an introduction," He replied, bouncing his staff slightly in his hand.

"I am the Sockinator!" The villain yelled, aiming his sock ball cannon at them once more. "The day of splashing dry socks with puddles of rain is over! All puddle jumpers and fast cars must be gone!" He turned his attention to the Parisian traffic and started firing off, sock balls flying out one after the other. They crashed into cars and people scurried their puddle-jumping children out of the way, yelling and screaming in the process.

"That's enough!" Ladybug shouted and her yo-yo shot out, wrapping itself around the cannon and with a hard yank she changed its line of fire into the side of a building.

The villain growled at her and yanked his cannon, dragging Ladybug with her stuck yo-yo. The rain was slick under her and she had a hard time regaining her footing. This was Chat Noir's call to action and he ran at them both, using his rod to pole vault of the building and into the air where he then slammed his rod into the side of the cannon, giving Ladybug time to recall her weapon.

"We have to get his -" Ladybug was cut off as she dove and rolled out of the way of a sock ball.

"I don't even know what it would be!" Chat Noir yelled over the storm.

"It'll be on him. Just look for something that doesn't look like it's supposed to be there," Ladybug yelled back as she threw her yo-yo once more.

Chat quickly scanned the Sockinator, trying to find something that wasn't supposed to be there. Which was hard, since everything seemed to be made of socks, so none of it was really supposed to be there. His gaze changed from the Sockinator to Ladybug, making sure she was keeping up. There was something off about his partner tonight; she wasn't as fast as usual, and sometimes it seemed like her balance was off. Chat didn't know what was wrong with his Lady, but he knew that this was one fight that had to end quickly.

He saw it when the bad guy turned. Chat couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Right in his back pocket was a sock that did not look like the rest. It was dark and soggy, unlike the rest of the dry and bright colors of the man. The cat hero leaped from his spot and launched himself at the man, holding onto his back. "I am a catboy," he said, moving his arm like he had an invisible lasso.

"I think that's an actual comic superhero," Ladybug called out as their villain bucked to try and get that testy cat off of him. "Lucky charm!"

Chat Noir kept one eye on his current horse of choice and another one on his lady. He never knew how the charm would work, and he wanted to be ready to help her any way he could. First action, was to get rid of the sock cannon. Using the moment of the bucking, Chat Noir flipped off of the Sockinator and used his rod to slam down into the cannon's barrel. The machine made an awful, stuck sound as the Sockinator tried to fire again with no avail.

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug yelled just as she pulled the sock out of the back pocket and into the air. Poised on the end of the cannon on all four, Chat Noir grinned and pounced into the air.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir yelled, his claws out and scratching the sock, cutting it to threads. The Sockinator yelled in defeat and he landed on the building roof, transforming back into a small, chubby man.

"What happened?" the Parisian asked as Chat Noir landed at his side to make sure he was okay.

"You were akumatized," Chat Noir told him. "But don't worry, you're okay now."

"I just hate when my socks get wet," the man said rather sadly and Chat just nodded in comprehension. He turned around to see Ladybug throw up the Lucky Charm and the millions of magical ladybugs explode from it, fixing tonight's damages. Even the rain seemed to lessen, clearing enough for even Ladybug to be able to see.

The fire department had a ladder already up to get the man down when Chat Noir went over to Ladybug. He put his fist out and grinned, and Ladybug did the same. "Bien joue!" The both said in unison.

"Pawesome job as always LB," Chat Noir complimented. His smile faltered slightly as he noticed how Ladybug seemed to sway a bit. She looked exhausted, drained almost now that the fight was over. "Are you alright Ladybug?" he asked, worried. Did she get injured in the fight? Did the magic ladybugs not work on them?

"I'm fine," Ladybug reassured him. Their miraculouses beeped, signaling that their time as heroes was coming to an end. "Gotta go Kitty. See you tomorrow," she bid adieu, though with her less than usual vigor. She didn't wait for him to say anything, and took off, using her yo-yo to swing off into the night.

Chat turned in the opposite direction to the do same, but Adrien had a feeling in his gut that going home now would be the wrong thing to do. Hoping he wouldn't regret it later, he turned and followed Ladybug.

He tailed her for about two blocks, keeping a safe distance away. He just wanted to make sure…to make sure what? That she got home? That she was safe? How could he do either of those without finding out her secret identity? And while he really wanted to know who the girl under the mask was, he respected his partner enough not to. His own ring beeped again, another paw disappearing and he turned to go home. One last look over his shoulder, he watched as Ladybug took her yo-yo for one last swing into the alleyway that was no doubt going to be her cover spot. He watched as she swung from the roof towards the ground, and she was almost there when she let go.

Adrien's eyes went wide. Ladybug never fell from her swings, not unless she meant to. And he knew she didn't mean to right now. Mostly because she wasn't getting up. "No," Adrien whispered as he ran and jumped off the building towards her. Looking around, he saw no one else as he came to her side and sat her up.

"Ladybug, Ladybug," he repeated, his partner unconscious in his arms. "Wake up. Are you alright?"

A miraculous beeped once more and a bright light of pink blinded Chat Noir who had to look away from the Ladybug in his arms.

"Oh Marinette!" the voice was small, and unknown to him and Chat Noir quickly turned back to see a small red and black spotted kwami floating nervously over a girl.

"Marinette," Chat Noir's voice was barely above a whisper, his body filling with emotions he was too stunned to comprehend at that moment. It was his Marinette. His Lady was also his Princess. His friend was his partner. Marinette Dupain-Cheng was Ladybug.

"She was so sick today at school," her kwami told him, resting over Marinette's cheek. "I told her to stay home, to rest, but she didn't want to let you down. She collapsed from exhaustion." The kwami was talking to Adrien now.

"We have to get her out of the rain," Adrien said quickly, picking her up in his arms. He moved them underneath the small roof of a closed boutique. His own miraculous beeped once more and Adrien just held her tightly as his own transformation dropped.

"Adrien?" the ladybug Kwami said surprised. "Plagg!"

"Hey Tikki," Plagg replied, hovering over to her. "What's wrong with Marinette?"

"She's sick," Adrien replied. "I can't believe she came out here tonight. When I took her home earlier she could barely walk or keep her eyes open." He rethought the battle that had just happened, seeing all the signs. "I should have known something was wrong when she was Ladybug. She wasn't as fast, she seemed off, tired perhaps. I wasn't paying attention like I should have," Adrien said mostly to himself as he swept Marinette's wet hair out of her face. He felt the heat that radiated off of her, and he was surprised she'd been able to fight with a fever. He was surprised she hadn't collapsed earlier. The thought made his heart stop; thank god she hadn't. The other roofs had been much higher, a fall from there would have definitely left her injured. "I have to get her home."

"How?" Plagg asked. "How are you going to explain being out here at this hour? Especially in the rain?"

"I'll have to take her home as Chat Noir," Adrien said after a thought. He looked at his own Kwami, who was tired. "I don't have any Camembert though."

"Marinette keeps cookies in her bag!" Tikki said suddenly and zoomed down to the small purse at her side. Adrien realized that Marienette always had that pink purse with her, and now he knew it was because that was where Tikki stayed. Just like how Plagg was always in his own school bag.

"Plagg…"Adrien started, knowing his Kwami's specific desire to only eat Camembert cheese.

"Don't think you can get away with feeding me cookies from now on," his black Kwami said immediately as Tikki pulled out the cookie. Amazingly enough, Plagg broke it half and shared it with his long time friend. While they ate, Adrien turned his attention back to Marinette.

Guilt overcame his as he cradled his friend in his arms. It overcame the confusion he was having about her being Ladybug. About his feelings for Ladybug. He didn't think right now about if his feelings for Ladybug also transferred to Marinette; after all, they were the same person. He didn't think about how he would act now at school, now that he knew. He didn't think about all the signs there were before that she was Ladybug. He didn't think about any of that right now as he gently caressed her cheek, apologizing for not noticing something was wrong sooner.

"You couldn't have sent her home," Tikki told him gently. "You know Marinette, she would have fought you to stay. Besides, you wouldn't have been able to stop the akuma attack without her."

"I know," Adrien whispered. "I just want her to be ok."

"Then let's get her home," Plagg said, finishing the last of the cookie. "Also, that was delicious!"

"Marinette bakes them from scratch," Tikki informed him as Adrien leaned Marinette against the storefront for a moment.

"Plagg! Claws out!" His magic-girl transformation began and in a light of green Chat Noir appeared. He lifted Marinette into his arms, Tikki tucking herself safely between them. The rain had started up again, which Chat Noir was a little grateful for. It would provide them the cover needed to get her home without pictures being taken and questions being raised.

He knew exactly how to get back home, and with Tikki's help, got the roof hatch open and got Marinette inside. Marinette stirred a little once they were inside and Chat Noir turned to the worried kwami. "Don't tell her," he said quickly. "Don't tell her I know. I don't want to, not like this," he said referring to the reveal. Tikki nodded as Marinette came to.

"Chat?" she asked, her voice soft and confused.

"Hey there princess," Chat grinned as if nothing was really wrong. "Glad to see you're awake."

"What are you doing here?" Marinette asked, then realized she was in his arms. Panic overcame her, and he saw it on her face.

"I was just swinging by when I saw you 'd collapsed on your roof," he reassured her. "Were you waiting up for this cat? In the rain?"

Relief came to Marinette in the form of a sigh as she extracted herself from his arms. She couldn't remember much after the akuma attacked had ended. She remembered saying goodbye to Chat Noir, and that was about it. She was glad she'd made it this far to her home, though she wished she would have made it inside.

"It was a little too hot in here and I thought I'd get some fresh air," Marinette told him. "Thank you Chat." There was a gleam in his eyes as Chat Noir took her hand and kissed it.

"Anything for you, my Princess," he told her. "I have to go now though. Will you be okay?"

Marinette nodded, feeling her head heavy as she moved it. Now that she was home, she'd be able to change and get back into her warm bed. Hopefully, she could get a couple hours of sleep before waking up to study tomorrow.

"Take care of yourself Marinette. Bonne nuit," Chat Noir bid her as he went back up through the skylight and back into the night.

Marinette shut the window and locked it, as Tikki came out of hiding. "Marinette!" she said, hugging her friend. "You have to take better care of yourself."

Marinette nodded her head as she coughed, deeply and painfully. "I will Tikki," she promised as she trudged into her bathroom to dry off and change.

"Marinette is still home sick?" Adrien asked Alya on the third day of her absence. Alya shrugged.

"I talked to her last night and she said she was going to try and convince her parents to let her come today. She really wants to make sure she doesn't miss too much school before the diplôme national."Alya told him as Madame Bustier walked into the room.

Adrien frowned as he turned back around to face the front of the room. He'd been worried about Marinette ever since he'd taken her home three days ago. And he hadn't seen Ladybug since then either. Thankfully, everything had been quiet on the war front so he hadn't needed her to de-akumatize anyone. He just hoped she got better quick for her own sake.

The sound of running feet down the empty hall was unmistakable. Nino elbowed him and raised an eyebrow in hopeful question. They both turned back to Alya who was raised in her seat, eyes wide as she waited to see who was going to come through those doors.

Adrien was never more glad to see those pigtails as Marinette slid to a stop at the door and walked quickly in. She waved at her friends as she hurried to her seat, sliding in just as the morning bell rang.

"Cutting it close once again Marinette," Madame Bustier said as she turned around. But the teacher was far from looking angry, a small smile on her lips. "Welcome back."

"Thank you, madame," Marinette grinned as she pulled out her school books. When Madame Bustier turned back around, Alya threw herself onto her friend in a big hug.

"I missed you! Chloe has been exceptionally painful to tolerate without you," Alya informed her.

"We're glad you're back Marinette," Adrien agreed, feeling lighter than he had in three days. He hadn't realized how worried he had been for Marinette. "You look a lot better."

"T-thanks Adrine," Marinette stuttered at the compliment, her own cheeks going red. "I feel a lot better," she said more to Alya than Adrien and Nino. But she smiled at her friends to let them know she was doing just fine.

A/N: I got this idea, and actually started writing it, for ML week on tumblr. But I didn't get around to finishing it until now. Sorry my villain sucks. Sorry the ending kind of runs out of fuel, because I did. I figured the story might never get better than it does now so I might as well post it.

Thanks so much for having gotten this far! R&R much appreciated.