A/N: So, I'm returning to my favored format of a series of (vaguely) connected one-shots along one theme for this story! Just as a heads-up now so that people don't get confused, there will be time/location jumps between each chapter. I plan on five chapters total for the story.

Thanks for reading!

"It's so cool that we get to do a meet-and-greet with the actors here!" Nino exclaimed as the class settled down in their seats. "Did you ask about interviewing them, Alya?"

"Miss Bustier said that I would have to ask the actors. She said some might be fine with video, but it was more likely that I'll have to take notes, or maybe just do a voice recording, and that some of them might be too busy to answer any questions, especially questions from a student reporter." Alya still looked incredibly excited. Marinette knew that her friend had been brainstorming up a list of questions all week, even asking other students for suggestions. Her notebook with the questions written in her best handwriting was already in her lap, just in case she came up with more questions during the performance.

"I'm sure they'll take questions from you, Alya," Adrien said, leaning around Marinette to add to the conversation. His arm brushed up against Marinette's as he twisted around and Marinette suppressed a squeal. "After all, you're the famous reporter and owner of the Ladyblog! You're always getting exclusive interviews from Ladybug."

Marinette tried not to wince at that. She had kind of been hoping that no one was noticing how much she- well, Ladybug- favored Alya when giving interviews. Maybe they would write it off as Ladybug being more comfortable with someone her own age, someone who was better at respecting boundaries than many of the seasoned television and magazine reporters.

(Thankfully, Alya had never asked how Marinette had managed to set up an interview for her after the Mime's attack. Hopefully she never would.)

The teachers shushed them as the lights started to dim. Adrien settled back into his seat before leaning over to speak in Marinette's ear.

"Have you ever been to a live play before?"

Marinette nodded before realizing that Adrien might not be able to see her in the dark. "Yeah, my parents love plays. We can't always go because they need to keep the shop open, but sometimes a play is late enough or on one of the nights we close earlier and we can go." She turned to Adrien, nearly jumping out of her skin when she found him so close. "H-have you been before?"

"Occasionally." Adrien glanced behind them, where Madam Mendeleiev was giving them the evil eye. He lowered his voice and leaned in closer, his hair brushing against Marinette's face. "They've always been boring plays though, those philosophical adult plays. Good for naptime."

Marinette smothered her giggles with her hand. "Hopefully you'll enjoy this play more."

Adrien sent her a heart-stopping smile. "I'm sure I will."

The play would have been flawless and incredibly enjoyable, if it weren't for Chloe. The spoiled girl spent the entire first half of the play whispering to Sabrina about "unfashionable costumes" and "stupid lines" and even pulling out her phone and browsing on it. More than one actor noticed it, it was obvious from their subtle glances. All of the students noticed when the manager approached Miss Bustier. They had a quiet argument, the whisper of their voices barely audible.

Still, it didn't take a genius to figure out what they were saying. Even if Chloe wasn't paying attention, she wasn't going to willingly leave. If anyone tried to escort her out, she would make a fuss and call her father just so she could stay in the theater.

Still, more than a few people were probably wishing that they could throw Chloe out on her tail.

Chloe flounced out as soon as intermission started, pushing other people aside so that she could be first to the bathroom. She dragged Sabrina out behind her, only to shove the other girl off in the direction of the concessions stand with some money and an order for what Chloe wanted.

"If I were management, I'd just try to lock her out," Nino commented as they watched Chloe leave, leaving a trail of grumbling people behind her. "She's a real nightmare. Surely her dad would understand that she's behaving inappropriately in a theater?"

Alya snorted. "He never cares when Chloe acts up at school, why would he care now? He'd probably just say the actors are paid to do their job and ignore the audience, and completely ignore that Chloe is ruining the experience for everyone else."

The rest of them nodded in agreement before their conversation veered away from Chloe and onto pleasanter subjects as they waited for the intermission to end. Adrien spent the entire fifteen minutes sitting sideways in his seat, one arm over the back of Marinette's chair and his knees centimeters from hers. Marinette was practically in heaven thanks to the proximity between her and Adrien and Alya sent more than a few knowing looks in their direction.

Much to everyone's disappointment, Chloe made it back into the theater with plenty of time left. Sabrina slunk back in behind her, avoiding eye contact with anybody.

"D'you think Sabrina ever gets embarrassed by Chloe?" Nino asked, watching as the girls got settled again, ignoring the evil eyes they were getting from the students and adults around them. "I mean, she can't be completely oblivious to how other people feel about Chloe."

"She probably does," Adrien said. "I mean, she did seem like she could be pulled away that one time when she and Chloe were doing a project with Mari. I think she knows that friends aren't supposed to be like that, but..."

The lights dimmed, cutting off any further conversation. There were a few moments of silence, broken only by some quiet rustling in the audience and on stage, and then the play restarted.

Twenty minutes into the second half, some of the actors were starting to have more trouble masking their displeasure. There were more and more unscripted glares into the audience. Twenty-five minutes into the second half, an actor finally got fed up and jumped offstage instead of exiting. He made a beeline to Chloe and ripped the phone out of her hand, chucking away from them. The entire theater could hear the crack as it landed, screen probably smashed to pieces.

"HEY!" Chloe yelled, effectively bringing the play to a halt as the eyes of everyone in the audience and on stage were drawn to her. "What do you think you're doing? That phone was expensive, idiot!"

"Use of cell phones in the theater is strictly prohibited," the actor snapped back. "Talking during the performance is strictly prohibited. You are distracting the actors and disrupting the performance. If you can't follow the rules, get out."

"Oh boy," Alya muttered. "Here we go."

"Don't you know who my father is?" Chloe demanded, shooting up to her full height and planting her fists on her hips. "You can't just treat me like anyone. You're the one being rude."

The actor scowled. "The rules apply to everyone. I don't particularly care who your father is or isn't. Clearly he hasn't raised you right if you think this is appropriate behavior at a play."

Chloe gasped, furious. "How dare you! I'll have you know that my daddy is the mayor of Paris-"

"Thank you for letting me know who I shouldn't be voting for in the next election, then. If he can't raise a kid right, then I have my doubts about his ability to run a city." The actor was impressively composed. Not a flicker of surprise had crossed his face at Chloe's proclamation.

"Buuuuurn," Alya sang quietly. She was grinning broadly. "Oh, I wish I could have recorded that!"

The manager was hurrying down the aisle, looking distressed as Chloe stomped her foot, glaring at the much taller actor. "How dare you! I'll have my daddy rip away all the funding for this stupid place for treating me like this!"

The actor didn't look particularly perturbed. "Well, you can tell your daddy that-"

"Arnold! Enough!" the manager hissed, finally reaching the arguing pair and pulling the actor away from Chloe. "Just drop it, ignore her, and get back on stage! It's not worth it."

Arnold snarled one more time at Chloe before stalking away. The manager returned Chloe's phone to her with an apology and a promise to pay for the screen repair before waving at the actors on stage to continue with the act.

Two minutes later, the whole theater shook. The play ground to a halt once again as everyone froze.

"Akuma," Alya whispered excitedly as the ground shook again and a couple screams sounded from the hallway. She tugged her phone out of her pocket. "That's so cool!"

Marinette bit back a sigh. Cool? Hardly. Disastrous, maybe. Time-consuming. Exasperating. She had been enjoying watching the play with Adrien at her side, even if Chloe had been making it less than an optimal performance.

"I am the Actor!" a voice boomed, rattling the walls as a figure clad in what looked like a velvet robe swept into the room. Glowing eyes glared out from behind a theatrical mask. "And you will not interrupt my performance!"

Adrien and Marinette both let out exasperated groans as panic spread throughout the theater. The actors onstage were the first to vanish, since their path backstage was unhindered. The audience, however, was not so lucky. The auditorium was packed and with the akuma blocking one exit, there was only one other main exit plus two smaller emergency exits. The light techs had already fled from their box, leaving the auditorium in the same dimly lit state it had been in during the performance. The aisles became congested within moments as people pushed and shoved to get out of the way of the rampaging akuma. Making matters even worse, the Actor was freezing people with a hit from the crop he carried. It had to have the akuma, Marinette was positive. The actor Arnold's character had been carrying a crop and he had been clutching it as he stormed out of the theater.

"Alya, don't you dare get any closer!" Nino's hiss yanked Marinette abruptly out of planning mode. Nino reached out for Alya's arm, his fingers snagging her sleeve. Alya scowled and pulled her arm away. "You'll get frozen, and then how will you get any footage?"

"You can go back by the emergency exit and film from there," Adrien suggested, catching Alya's arm before she could bolt. "That exit isn't blocked, and you could get out fast if the akuma gets too close."

Alya opened her mouth to argue, but Adrien didn't let her. Tightening his hold on her arm, he pulled her down the aisle and up the stairs, away from the akuma and against the flow of people. From where she stood, Marinette could almost see people catching on to where Alya and Adrien were going. Almost as one, the crowd turned and headed for the back of the theater.

Marinette let herself get caught up in the sweep of people rushing for the exit. She lost sight of her friends quickly, which didn't bother her at all. It would make getting away and transforming that much easier if she didn't have to come up with some half-baked excuse. They would get out, she was sure of it.

Well, Adrien and Nino would. Alya would probably circle back around to get Ladyblog footage.

The hallways were utter chaos. Most people were streaming for the building's exits, which made it difficult for Marinette to fight her way to the edge of the crowd and back into an less crowded hallway. The fact that she didn't know the floor plan of the theater made it difficult to come up with a place that might work for transforming. The hallways, even the smaller ones, still had people running through them. When Marinette stuck her head into a bathroom, she found it full of people hiding from the akuma. Transforming in a closet had the same problem as transforming in a hallway: there were too many people who could see her going into the closet and Ladybug going out.

If Alya hadn't been filming in the auditorium, she would have considered diving between two rows and transforming there. It was dark enough and panicky enough that people probably wouldn't have even noticed.

Marinette pounded down another short set of stairs, weaving around people going in the opposite direction. It took a moment for her to realize that the people she was passing weren't just any people. They were actors.

And just like that, her mind lit up.

Everyone was too panicked to notice Marinette sneaking behind racks of clothing to the stage doors. Opening the door just a crack, she slipped backstage.

The auditorium was still chaos. Statues were everywhere, clogging the aisles and exits. The back exit was clearly blocked off now. People hid behind chairs and under knocked-over statues as the Actor raged on, still looking for Chloe.

Marinette hoped that Alya had had the common sense to get out before all of the exits were blocked. Something told her that that probably wasn't the case.

Carefully picking her way forward so that she wouldn't be seen by either Ladyblogger or akuma, Marinette ducked behind the theater screen. She carefully backed up once she was hidden behind the heavy fabric, hoping that she wouldn't trip over anything. Even with all of the noise the Actor was making, the clatter from tripping over the mess of cords and equipment would inevitably draw unwanted attention.

Once she was about halfway behind the curtain and definitely hidden from view, Marinette opened her purse and peered inside. Tikki was finishing off a cookie, crumbs decorating her red face as she shoved the rest in her mouth. She beamed up at Marinette as she dusted off the crumbs. "I'm ready!"

"Good," Marinette breathed, before straightening up and crying, "Tikki, transform me!"

Adrien had lost track of Nino and Marinette quickly after he paused to try to persuade Alya to leave the auditorium. His other friends had managed to get out the back exit, he was sure. They were safe.

He, on the other hand, was stuck.

The Actor had started towards the emergency exit as soon as he noticed the stream of people trying to leave that way. Adrien dove into a row before he could get within hitting distance, leaving him safe but without an exit. He was too close to Alya to be able to transform, and in the dimly-lit room, he had no way of knowing whether or not her camera (or the camera of anyone else in the audience) was pointed at him. Besides, he also didn't know if the frozen people could still see. It wasn't something he wanted to risk.

He had to move. There was no way of knowing how soon Ladybug might arrive, so he had to get out of his current hiding spot and find somewhere to transform. Mind racing, Adrien surveyed the theater. The audience exits were all blocked, but the stage exits weren't. A couple other people had also headed that way, slinking forward until they could get onto the stage and run.

Perfect.

Shoving a bit of Camembert in his pocket for Plagg, Adrien took one last glance at the Actor to make sure he was sufficiently far enough away and distracted before half-jumping, half-climbing over the rows of seats. He was making more of a clatter than he would have liked, but the continuing screams both in the auditorium and the hallway helped hide his noise. Once he got going, it didn't take long for Adrien to reach the stage.

Climbing up on the stage was the difficult part. Adrien took a running jump, scrabbling for a handhold so he could pull himself up the rest of the way. His knee smacked painfully against the side of the stage, but he ignored it. It would bruise, but it wasn't like Adrien was going to be doing any photoshoots with shorts anytime soon.

Once he got onto the stage, Adrien bolted. If the Actor hadn't already heard him climbing over the seats, there was no way that he had managed to also miss the sound of Adrien's knees hitting the wooden stage. Adrien wove between stage props, his eyes trained on the curtains at the back of the stage. When he got to the last bit of scenery between him and the curtain, he paused to make sure that the Actor's back was turned. As soon as he was positive that the akuma was distracted, Adrien darted from his hiding spot to the dark space between the wall and screen. He turned around to back in, making sure that no one had followed him onstage and behind the curtain. The last thing he wanted to do was transform in front of someone and reveal his identity.

Slowly, Adrien picked his way back, squinting at his feet to make sure he wouldn't trip. Once he was sure he was far from prying eyes, he tugged Plagg out. The small black kwami floated up in front of Adrien's face, grinning about something as his eyes flicked between Adrien and the space behind him. Adrien didn't take the time to wonder what Plagg had found so amusing before he thrust his hand out with a cry of "Plagg, transform me!"

At the same time, right behind him, came a higher cry of "Tikki, transform me!"

As the twin flashes of light lit up the cramped space, the two superpowered teens jumped and spun around in shock, eyes wide. Their outfits settled into place just in time, the last of the light dying down just as they faced each other. Both blinked in shock to find their partner only centimeters away.

"I didn't see anything," Chat Noir said immediately, taking a step back to give Ladybug her space even as his heart raced from the shock of finding her so close. "I promise."

"Me neither." Ladybug looked just as startled as he felt. At least she could pull off the deer-in-the-headlights expression well. "Well, should we?"

"Of course. Lead the way, my Lady."