The last thing I should be doing is starting another story, but this is an idea that I needed to write down and share. I don't really have anything else to say but just to explain a few things.

Marinette has been Ladybug longer than the show, and slightly older being maybe 17. Her attitude is also slightly different, but mainly everything else is still the same or will be explain through the story, if this idea takes off with the readers.

Hope you enjoy!

What The Cat Dragged In

Prologue

When the new Chat Noir came into the superhero world, Ladybug noticed the differences nearly immediately. He was too excited, too naive and too reckless. That alone could get him hurt, or in a worst case scenario, it could get him killed. Hadn't Plagg explained to the new guy the rules and ways of being a miraculous holder?

This is Plagg we're talking about Marinette, of course he didn't.

The cat puns were too much for Ladybug, puns she found that she didn't like very much anymore. Her Chat, the old Chat, he would crack puns at the worst moment as well, but they slowly came to an end about five months ago. In fact, their whole dynamic had seemed to change. As a team, they drifted. As partners, they were no longer in sync. It was the worst feeling Ladybug had ever felt, not knowing what had been going on with her partner, because even in his civilian form he had turned cold to her as well.

Maybe it was Plagg, when he transformed his miraculous holder they became cat pun machines, that were also outgoing flirts. It couldn't be a coincidence that this other Chat Noir loved puns too and was extremely outgoing with advances. Not to mention he was also blonde.

Of course that was the one thing that had caught Ladybug's attention nearly immediately, the striking similarities. The old Chat Noir, he had blue eyes with his long blond hair a untamed mess. This Chat Noir, the new one, had vivid green eyes that seemed to glow like an actual cat's with the sclerae of the leather mask, his blond hair a bit shorter but also untamed.

It's too much too bare right now.

It was uncanny, really, how much this stranger could remind her of her partner of two and a half years. What she could tell was that the current Chat Noir was around her age, while her old partner was nearly two years older. Yet the immaturity radiating off Chat now was something Ladybug would never think to witness.

He was amazed at his powers, recklessly and thoughtlessly using his Cataclysm to use against Stone Heart, who Ladybug knew was her fellow classmate Ivan. Yet Ladybug couldn't exactly stop Chat from activating his power to begin with and destroying the goal post of the soccer field.

"Did you see that LB!?" Chat exclaimed, practically beaming.

Ladybug stiffened at the name, body rigid at the name only he was allowed to call her. It didn't sound right for this guy, the newbie, to use her nickname so personally and so intimately. Yet she didn't have the heart to correct him or tell him not to call her that, not when half of Paris called her the same name.

"It was a waste of your power." Ladybug stated bluntly, giving Chat an annoyed look as she ignored his proud smile. "Didn't your kwami explain to you once you activate your power, you have five minutes before transforming back into your civilian self?"

Chat seem to pause in his movement for a second, then sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "I was a little too excited and didn't exactly let him finish explaining."

Ladybug had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes. For once it wasn't completely Plagg's fault. That alone was new. Not commenting on it, Ladybug tossed her yoyo in the air as she focused the familiar warm pull of her power.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug yelled out, the pink shimmers revealing what looked to be a wet suit before it fell into her hands.

"That looks helpful." Chat muttered sarcastically. "What do you do with that?"

Ladybug gave him a vexed expression, gathering the suit in her hand as she looked at various spots trying to determine what exactly she do right then and there, now limited on time since her new, seemingly impulsive partner, used his power.

"Use it to break the object where the akuma is located at." Ladybug explained just incase this Chat needed to know the basic on what to do.

"Well where is it located?" Chat questioned, tilting his head as he scanned Stone Heart. "He's made entirely out of stone."

"Right there, Captain Obvious." Ladybug nodded towards Stone Heart's hand. "His right hand is still close, and he hasn't opened it once. Basically like the Russian Dolls, it's not always on him but hidden in his fist."

"So what's your plan?" Chat already knew she had a plan, she always had a plan from what he'd seen before in his civilian self.

In the distance Ladybug could see Alya, the new girl in her class that was in love with superheros. The blue eyes super hero already know this girl would become a problem in the future, a possible liability that was endangering herself. She would only get in the way.

Without answering Chat Noir's question, Ladybug grabbed the water hose by their feet and worked in concentration. Fast movements, concentrated on the task, and a few moments later Ladybug had her solution with the wetsuit tightly tied to the end if the water hose.

Swinging her yoyo, Ladybug wrapped it around Chat's leathered clad legs and pulled sharply. "Trust me on this and don't resist!" Was all she said as she threw him right at Stone Heart.

"This girl's crazy!" Chat yelled as he soared through the air towards the stone giant, who caught him with his left hand.

"Catch me if you can!" Ladybug yelled as she quickly jumped into action with her tied wetsuit in hand.

She had a moment of satisfaction as Stone Heart went to grab her with his right hand, smirking slightly as the object fell to the floor. With a quick shout, Ladybug barked her orders. "Alya, the tap!"

Alya was quick to obey the orders, running to the right to turn the water faucet on before Stone Heart realized his mistake. The water flowed rapidly into the wetsuit, forcing it grow in the grip of Stone Heart to open just enough for Ladybug to squeeze herself through to jump to the ground and run towards Ivan's object. Not even hesitating, she stomped on the object, freeing the dark little butterfly.

"No more evil doing for you little butterfly." Ladybug muttered softly, activating her catcher that lead to the successful capture and cleansing of the akuma. "Miraculous Ladybug!"

With that, Ladybug tossed the wetsuit back into the air; resulting into the hundreds of ladybugs running across the sky and fixing the damage that was done to the city by Stone Heart. Smiling briefly, Ladybug looked over at a confused Ivan asking where he was and what happened.

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Maybe Ladybug could work with what she had been given. Only that thought was short lived as Chat Noir wrapped his arm around her shoulder, grinning in triumph at their victory.

"Nice job Ladybug." Chat praised, looking at her with those very green eyes. "Question though. Do we reveal who we are?"

The question brought back so many bittersweet memories. It helped knowing who your partner was both inside and outside the mask. Really it did, because it allowed the freedom to vent and talk about troubles with someone else who understood how hard it was to balance two lives.

And it sucked when they left.

Perhaps that was why Ladybug said what she did. It wasn't because she didn't want too, hell she really would, maybe it was to save herself this time. Maybe it was to save herself the heartache if this one decided to leave.

"It's better if we don't."

Saved by the beeping of her earrings and his ring, she gave a soft smile. "Until next time, Chat Noir."

The next day Marinette went back to Collège Françoise Dupont, early for once this year and meeting Alya on the bottom steps. It was rare really, for the young fashion designer to ever be early on a school morning. Over the past two and half years, Marinette's attendance had flipped and flopped a few times with the annual intervention if her parents and teachers.

It was all a balancing act that she had to perfect, being Marinette; the daughter of a bakers, a students with a passion for fashion and being Ladybug; her superhero alter ego that protected Paris and the people no matter what time of day it was or what she was currently doing in that time.

This city was her life now, her job, responsibility and obligation. Tikki was the only one she could fully talk too now about her on and off stress, the only one who understood. It was something that was difficult, but Marinette knew how to deal with it now the more older she got, growing more mature as well. Sometimes more mature than she should be.

"Did you see Ladybug yesterday on my Ladyblog!?" Alya excitedly asked, nudging Marinette.

Apparently Alya never believed she'd see a real life superhero, and since she moved to Paris she now had a local superhero. Thus the inner reporter in her had sprung to life, creating the Ladyblog as the first and number one news station and updates on Ladybug,

Of course Marinette worried for her new found friend's safety. Yesterday Alya had gotten a little too close for Marinette's comfort. It was a dangerous hobby, one that Marinette never had to deal with before. The past two years Chat and herself never had to deal with civilians being so close, since their natural reaction was to run.

Then came Alya, the bravest civilian to probably walk the earth.

"Yeah, I think it's cool!" Marinette praised her, offering an encouraging smile. "But promise to be careful if you follow into her battles? You could get hurt."

Alya merely rolled her eyes and waved her hand in dismissive gesture. "Girl, you're working too much! I know my limits, trust me."

Marinette nodded, dropping the subject since she always knew the outcome for her convincing Alya to not follow would not get great.

Inside the classroom, Chloe was forcing a smile onto her face as she caught sight of Adrien Agreste.

"This is your seat, Adrikins. I saved it for you. Right in front of me!" Chloe sweetly said, sweeping her arm to present the seat right in front of the one she forced herself to own this year.

Adrien nodded, unsure. "Thanks Chloe." He then slid into the seat besides the other boy, offering a slight smile. "Uh, hey- I'm Adrien."

The other boy glanced the blond model up and down, as if analyzing him in that quick of a moment, then taking a look back at Chloe. Adrien wasn't sure why this made him uneasy, but it did.

"You're friends with Chloe now, huh?" He stated more than asked, watching how Chloe went from her seat to the seats aside from his own and now Adrien's.

Adrien could feel the double meaning of his question. Was this how public schools were? It felt a bit judgmental, but then again he should have expected that. At least he wasn't getting so much attention from girls, ignoring those who asked for autographs. He had been nervous walking into the place, but now he wasn't so sure.

Looking back at Chloe, Adrien found her gone from her spot and frowned. He didn't like feeling as if she were up to something. His intuition hardly ever let him down. When he heard a snicker, her turned around to find Chloe sticking gum on the seat with the girl she told him about before, Sabrina.

"Hey, what's all this about?" He inquired.

Chloe snickered again. "The brats that sat here yesterday need a little attitude adjustment. I'm just commanding a bit of respect, that's all."

Adrien wasn't so sure about that. He knew personally you couldn't exactly command respect, it was earned- just like trust. "You think that's really necessary?"

"Ah, You've got a lot to learn about school culture, Adrikins. Watch the master." The tone of her voice was so confident that he almost believed her for a moment, but Chloe wasn't nice.

Adrien already knew that for a while at least. Sighing, He knelt down to pulled the gum off as the classroom's door opened with a loud, hey! The sound of a girl yelling had Adrien stand up so fast as if he was being caught red handed.

Might as well had been.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Marinette eyed the blond boy, momentarily wondering if all the boys she meets would be blond. It had to be a major coincidence.

Only when he turned around to look at her in alarm, she froze in her spot. Those green eyes, the blond hair were very familiar. Quick not to dwell on it for the moment, Marinette snapped back into reality.

"Uhh..I." He flopped for words while Chloe and Sabrina cackled in laughter.

"Okay. I get it. Good job, you three. Very funny." Marinette muttered darkly, using a tissue from her purse to cover the chewed piece of gum.

"No, I was just trying to take this off!" Adrien defended.

"Oh really?" Marinette asked, disbelieving. "You're friends with Chloé, right?"

Adrien opened his mouth, closed it and went back to his seat. "Why do people keep saying that?"

"Now do you see what I mean about respect?" Chloe sneered shamelessly, glaring at Marinette, who wasn't even focused on either of the blondes.

Instead Marinette was focused on Alya's phone, displaying multiple photo shoot spreads of someone Marinette merely heard stories about. It all made sense, perfect sense.

"I knew I have seen him somewhere before... Of course! He's the son of my fave fashion designer, Gabriel Agreste!" Marinette played the part, feigning false surprise and recognition.

Maybe it wasn't fake recognition, because she'll admit that she didn't exactly realize or was familiar with the blond model; really she was a huge fan of his father's work. Other than that, he wasn't the blond she was familiar with.

"He's Daddy's boy, teen supermodel and Chloe's buddy? Forget it." Alya crossed her arms, clearly drawing a metaphorical line that existed for just the two of them.

"Why didn't you tell her it was Chloé's idea?" The boy next to asked, seeing how sad Adrien got when Marinette wouldn't listen. Of course he also knew Marinette was very kind and forgiving, positive she'd give Adrien a chance when she understood what had happened.

Adrien sighed, giving the other boy a defeated look. "I've known Chloe since I was a little kid. And I know she's not perfect, but I can't throw her under the bus. She's like my only friend."

Jeez, sad story.

"I'm Nino, and it's time for you to make some new friends, dude." Nino offered a hand, a hand Adrien gladly accepted into a firm handshake, a silent promise.

From the side as Ms. Bustier came into the classroom and started her introductions and attendance sheet, Marinette couldn't help but take a glance at Adrien Agreste, knowing exactly who he was. It all made sense, so much sense that Marinette wondered if the world was just trying to screw her over.

Because across from her seat on the left sat her new Chat Noir, the younger brother of Felix Agreste, her older partner in fighting crime who left her.

I really hope you like this idea for a story, since I haven't really seen one like this very much. I just recently became interested with Felix, and this whole concept with Marinette having a partner before Adrien.

Please tell me if I should continue with a review, they encourage me to continue stories and to write- letting me know someone is actually reading.

Thank you again! Please review!