Alya filmed from what she deemed a "safe" distance, by Marinette's request. She was on Marinette's roof patio (Marinette was supposed to meet her there, but was running late), so it gave her a really good vantage point for the latest Akuma attack.

She stopped filming to dash out with a quick, "Be right back!" to Marinette's parents. Alya followed the action as it went through the streets of Paris, but the fight was over quickly. She'd taken cover in a narrow alley and didn't have time to move from behind her dumpster before Chat Noir ran in, leaned against a wall, and sighed as his disguise fell.

Alya had even caught it on tape, but she didn't know if she should consider herself lucky or unlucky. The moment she knew Adrien was out of earshot, she cursed.

For three days, Alya deliberated. She paid the minimum amount of attention required by her surroundings. She didn't even answer Marinette when she asked her what was wrong.

When Alya finally broke her silence, her words were a hushed, "Marinette, I need to tell you something."

Their classes had just let out. When Marinette tried to ask what it was about, Alya just shook her head and muttered, "In private. Can we go to your place?"

Marinette nodded, unsure of what it could be about.

As soon as the trap door was shut, Alya blurted, "I know who Chat Noir is."

Marinette's stomach dropped, but she couldn't let Alya know. "Yeah?" she said simply.

"I even have him on freaking tape," Alya continued, "but I can't put it on the Ladyblog!"

Marinette sighed. A ray of hope. "Why not?"

Alya pulled the video up on her phone. "See for yourself."

Marinette wished she could have unsaid that "Why not," but it was far too late. She settled for promising herself to apologize to Chat later (after telling him off for being careless, of course). She took the phone in her hands, her heart rising up into her throat as she pressed play. It quickly sank to her shoes as she watched Chat's detransformation. She reflexively threw Alya's phone to her chaise and covered her red face with both hands. "Oh, my god."

Alya mistook Marinette's horrified tone for shock and replied, "Right? I'm willing to bet anything that saving the city isn't on his dad's list of approved activities."

Marinette forced a laugh.

"Anyway," she strolled over to the chaise and picked up her phone, "you can see why I can't tell anyone else. I can't throw my friend under the bus like that."

Another ray of hope. At least Alya wouldn't tell anyone she was Ladybug if she ever found out.

"Are you going to say anything to him?" Marinette asked nervously.

"Yeah, for example, 'You are so lucky that the Ladyblog is run by your friend and not some stranger,'" Alya answered, readying herself to leave. "Are you ok, by the way? I didn't mean to scare you with this; I just had to tell someone."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. I'll just act a little weird around Chat Noir too, but I can pass that off as being star-struck." As long as I'm not Ladybug, she mentally added. That's going to be trickier.

"Ok, just making sure. I'll see you later," Alya said as she lifted the trap door and headed out.

The moment Marinette was alone with Tikki, she took a deep breath and held it until she could hear her pulse beating in her ears. She let the breath out slowly and said, "I don't know whether to be upset with myself for not noticing that Adrien's been flirting with me this whole time as Chat Noir, or to be upset with him for being so careless!"

Tikki landed softly on a cushion. "It's ok, Marinette. There's really nothing we can do about it now."

"I can yell at him for being an idiot," she replied, plopping onto the chaise next to her kwami, who giggled.

"Something tells me Alya's got that covered. Besides, Alya's not releasing the video, so how would Ladybug know enough about it to yell at him?" Tikki asked.

Marinette sighed. "You're right. At least Alya can scare him into being more careful."