"Is that blood?"

"No?"

"Chat, that's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question."

(This chapter contains mentions of blood).

—

On Marinette's mission for fabric, she did not expect to come face to face with a thief in an alleyway.

Perhaps that's why it happened.

To a normal teenager, this thief would have definitely freaked them out. But to her, the hooded figure was not entirely threatening in the grand scheme of things. No, Ladybug had been in far worse situations than this. Far, far worse.

However, at the moment she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

A normal teenager.

A civillian.

Not her spandex-covered alter ego.

So if she decided to give this guy a roundhouse kick, it would certainly raise some questions if word got out. How did a baker's daughter stop a fully grown adult? Does she take Karate? Hey, don't you think she looks a little like Ladybug?

And BOOM! Ladybug's identity wouldn't be so secret anymore.

Then her parents and friends could be kidnapped by Hawkmoth who would then demand for her miraculous in return for her parents return so she would have to go to his creepy weird secret lair that most villains like him would have and end up having to give up her miraculous which meant no more Tikki and GOODBYE WORLD BECAUSE OH MON DIEU HE WOULD PROBABLY USE HER EARRINGS AND CHAT'S RING FOR WORLD DOMINATION OR SOMETHING!

Jeez, that was a mouthful.

"Alright kid, just hand over your purse and all of your other valuables so you can be on your way," The gravely voice snapped Marinette out of her internal conflict and into the present.

She was about to be robbed.

This robber wanted her purse and earrings.

Said purse currently had an anxious kwami inside. An anxious kwami who was about to become property of a common thief.

Hmm… a tall, shady, middle-aged man who liked to steal from teenaged girls.

Not exactly Ladybug worthy.

Marinette hesitantly placed a hand to her small, pink bag, more than aware that the man was growing ever more impatient. She needed time. A distraction. Just something so she could escape!

"Are you deaf or something? Gimme your stuff kid!"

"Hmm, how about no?" Marinette gasped, that voice was certainly not hers. Familiar though-

"Chat Noir?!" Oh yeah. That guy. "Look, I don't want any trouble, sir!"

The cat in question raised a brow as he hopped down into the alleyway. His usually cheerful and unique eyes were now glinting with a dangerous edge to them. "Then I suggest that you leave this girl alone."

The stranger shuffled uncomfortably, as if analysing his situation. Then, decidedly giving up on the situation altogether, he ran for it. The pitter-patter of his shoes on the concrete could be heard for all of ten seconds, before he disappeared into the lively streets of Paris.

Marinette suddenly felt Chat's gaze as he directed his attention to her. Now he bore a concerned look - far less terrifying than the glare he'd given the thief just seconds before.

"Marinette, right?"

"Mhm," The girl nodded, voice apparently unable to work for the time being.

"Are you okay?"

"Urm," She cleared her throat. "Yeah, um… fine thanks?" It came out as more of a question than a statement.

The blonde's body instantly relaxed at her words, and she became aware that her own muscles were actually quite tense.

"Sooooo, how are you?" Wow, way to go Dupain-Cheng. Go and make this situation awkward.

A small smirk made its way onto Chat's face, and Marinette just knew - knew - that he was going to say something that he thought was 'clever'. He had that 'let's-make-a-really-witty-quip' face on in which he oh so regularly used.

"Better now that I've crossed paths with you," Called it. "Say, you don't suppose I could get a thank you for saving your life back there?"

"Pfft, you hardly 'saved my life' Chat Noir. And besides, with a cliche pick-up line like that, you've worn off your thanks."

"Me-ouch! You wound me-" Chat's face suddenly contorted into a wince, as a rush of pain flew through his body.

Wait, what?

"Chat?" All joking thrown aside, Marinette rushed towards her partner, a look of worry and compassion on her features.

He took a stiff step backwards, brushing the girl off gently. "Nothing to worry about! This cat is feline fine!"

Choosing to let the pun slide just this once, Marinette continued. "No. You're in pain, let me look at-"

Her eyes brushed over his spandex-clad form, hunting for the source of his pain. Really, she reasoned, this would be so much easier if this cat wasn't all stubborn and trying to hide his injuries from me.

"No! I'm okay!"

"No you're not! You're-" Her voice cut off.

Oh mon Dieu! His shoulder, it was-

"Is that blood?" She gasped.

"No?"

"Chat, that's not a question you're supposed to answer with another question." Marinette's voice was firm, commanding even.

Chat Noir huffed indignantly, before removing his clawed hand from its spot on his shoulder blade. The fabric was torn and was very clearly tinted a dark scarlet red.

"It's really not that bad," He tried to reason, though Chat himself didn't sound entirely convinced. "Just a graze."

The raven head spluttered, tone rising. "Not that bad? Not that bad? Chat, that's clearly not a graze! You've been cut!"

The superhero, a little taken aback by her outburst, rubbed the back of his neck. A nervous habit.

"Okay, yes it's a cut I got from earlier on. It's my patrol night tonight and I… I came across these two guys trying to break into this shop," He paused a moment, before carrying on. "Stopped them of course, but one of them had this knife I didn't know about. Heh, that kind of surprised me."

A wave of irritation rushed over Marinette's body. Trust her partner to be so careless.

"But I'm a superhero! And I can handle this sort of stuff," Sounded like he was trying to assure himself more than her.

Marinette shot him a dubious look as she crossed her arms.

"You need to get that looked at."

"I know."

"Hmm…" She grew thoughtful. "What if I asked you to stay the night?"

"WHAT?!" Really, if it hadn't been for the situation, his expression would have been quite comical.

"You're injured, please stay the night."

"But I…"

"Please," She pleaded, eyes now interlocked with his. "My house isn't too far and I know a few things about stitching up injuries." This was actually true. Marinette spent a lot of time out on patrol and had gained herself a fair share of scratches and scrapes. Small injuries like that which she was unable to use Lucky Charm for since it wasn't an akuma attack. She'd had to teach herself a little bit of first-aid as a result.

Chat's gaze gradually softened, thankfulness evident on his face.

"Okay then Princess," He waved a hand out in motion towards the street. "Lead the way."

—

AN: Please pretend that the suits are not indestructible for the sake of this story. Thank you.