Ladybug and Chat Noir were struggling a bit with Princess Ivy. Her powers were botany related, being able to control and shoot vines with thorns in them from the ground at her will and the flowers that bloomed from her palm seemed to let out different colored hazes, depending on the color of the flower and had different effects. A yellow flower paralyzed the victim, a red one controlled and brainwashed them and the purple one caused illusions.

"Shit." Ladybug was hiding behind a large tree, panting and holding her right shoulder. She had taken a hit for Chat Noir from one of the thorn vines, a thorn digging into her shoulder. Ladybug hissed as she grabbed the largest end of it and yanked it out, blood seeping out of the wound and staining her red suit.

"My lady!" Chat was quick to get to Ladybug's side, looking down at her wound. "You shouldn't have taken that hit for me. You're bleeding." She shrugged with her good shoulder.

"I would have still felt the pain anyway, remember?" Another small side effect of their red strings being connected, if one of them got a surface injury, the other would have a bruise in the same location of the injury.

Chat brought his hand to his own shoulder, feeling how it was hot and throbbed. "Still, it would have hurt you less if I would have taken the hit."

"Chat, please stop talking about it, it's making it hurt worse." Princess Ivy was summoning her vines from under the ground, tearing the ground apart and breaking all the things in the park.

"How can we stop her? If only we had fire." Chat murmured. Ladybug hummed, throwing her yoyo up with her good arm.

"Lucky Charm!" Out of a small cloud appeared a fire hose and dropped into Chat Noir's arms.

"Thirsty?" He teased and Ladybug rolled her eyes, looking around at what she could do. Her eyes found two fire hydrants, the vines and Princess Ivy herself.

"Plants are weak to fire but they're also weak to very large amounts of water. Plants are capable of drowning if there's too much water." She turned to Chat. "I need you to use your Cataclysm on that fire hydrant over there, it should create mud, making it hard for Ivy to bring out anymore thorn vines. Chat nodded and was about to head out but stopped, looking down at her.

"But what about this?" Ladybug tried to take the fire hose in one arm, but she failed, not being able to use her other arm much. "Let me help." Ladybug let out a sigh and nodded as Chat took the hose in his arms again.

"You see that other fire hydrant over there?" Ladybug pointed and Chat nodded. "I need you to attach the hose there. I'll try to bring her down to the ground and if I looked correctly, she has a rose necklace I think might hold the akuma." Chat nodded.

"Got it." Before Chat left, he got close to her and one hand hovered over her shoulder and then up to her cheek, but he sighed and shook his head, going to do his job. He attached the hose to the fire hydrant before crossing the park and dodging any vines that would shoot at him.

"Cataclysm!" In Chat's hand, a black magic grew and he swiped his hand on the fire hydrant, making it rust. He got onto his hands and kicked the hydrant, causing the water to shoot upwards and to the sides.

"You rotten cat!" Ivy yelled at him and tried to shoot a vine at him, but the vines were lethargic with the weight of the newly formed mud on them. Ivy growled and opened her palm, a purple flower blooming in her hand.

"Chat! Don't breathe in that haze!" Ladybug called out. Ivy shot the haze at Chat and he quickly covered his nose, running out of the cloud perimeter just in time. Ivy snarled and looked over at Ladybug.

"Why you-!" Ivy turned towards Ladybug and Ladybug angled the hose to Ivy and let the water run. A hard spray knocked Ivy off balance and she hit the muddy ground. Ladybug turned off the power and just as Ivy was going to get up and attack, Chat swiped for her necklace and tossed it to Ladybug.

Ladybug caught the necklace and threw it to the ground, stomping on it. The small rose charm was crushed and a small black butterfly emerged from it.

"That's enough harm, little akuma. I'm freeing you from evil!" Ladybug held her yoyo in her hand and swiped her finger through the middle of it, opening the yoyo and revealed a pure white light. She spun her yoyo rapidly and the akuma was caught in the light. Ladybug brought her yoyo back to herself. "Gotcha. Bye bye, little butterfly." Ladybug pressed on her yoyo and it opened up, releasing a cleansed butterfly.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Ladybug tossed the hose into the air and it disappeared, a red and black spotted magic flourishing all around the park, fixing the attractions and releasing the people out of whatever state they were put.

"Good job." Ladybug and Chat Noir gave each other a fist bump and the girl who was Princess Ivy started getting up.

"W-What happened?" Chat and Ladybug took the girl back to her home after she explained what made her feel so ill-willed. The girl bid them a good night and went into her home.

"Well, another day's work, done." Chat stretched before getting close to Ladybug. "How's your shoulder feeling?" He asked softly. Ladybug had forgotten about it until he mentioned it. She brought her hand up to it, feeling it burn dully.

"It's..." She felt the burn grow stronger and coursed down her arm and across her chest. She could feel the scorching heat go up her neck and filled her head up. She lost her balance momentarily and stumbled forward, Chat catching her.

"Are you okay, my lady?" He asked, genuinely concerned. Ladybug tried to play it off, standing upright.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I-It's fine." She stammered. Chat didn't believe her and was going to convince her to take her some place safe, until his miraculous beeped.

"I hate to do this, but I have to go soon, my lady." He took her hand and kissed the back of her hand. "Will you be all right?" Ladybug nodded.

"Of course." He didn't want to believe her, but he knew his lady was tough. Chat nodded and let out a sigh.

"Well good night then, my lady." Chat turned and Ladybug's eyesight blurred momentarily. When her eyesight cleared, she saw a huge vine shoot from the ground and wrap it's thorny self around Chat Noir.

Blood was everywhere and Ladybug's source of oxygen was gone.

"Chat!" She cried and reached towards the bloody boy. But as she reached out for him, her vision cleared she found herself hugging his back.

"M-My lady?" Chat had been startled by her outburst and the sudden hug.

"Can... Can we just stay like this... only for a little bit?" Her voice was quiet, pleading.

Chat Noir wasn't dead. He was there with her, the sound of his breathing was slightly accelerated and as was his heartbeat. But there it was. A heartbeat. He was alive and well and everything was a bad hallucination. One big, bad dream.

This time, Ladybug's miraculous beeped and she didn't want to move. All she wanted was to be embraced by the person she was embracing, in the warmth he was providing.

She slowly removed her arms from around him and took a couple steps back.

"I'm sorry." She spoke quietly. Chat turned to her but by that time, she had was already zipping through buildings to her home.

"My lady." Chat Noir whispered, concerned.

Ladybug had barely made it inside her room when her transformation quickly wore off. Marinette's vision was blurred and she tried to navigate through her dark room. She didn't see her chaise and tripped over it, making a loud noise.

"Marinette!" Tikki was quick to fly to her, floating by her face to see if she was okay. "Marinette, you have a fever!"

"Marinette? Are you all right?" A feminine voice came from downstairs. Tikki gave a gasp and hid in under the pillows of the chaise. The hatch to Marinette's room opened and in popped in Marinette's mother. She gasped when she saw her daughter draped over the chaise and rushed to her side. "Marinette, sweetie, are you okay? Oh, you have a fever." She murmured as she pulled her daughter upright and leaned her against her.

"Mama.." Her mother shushed her gently.

"Tom, get me a fever reducer and some water, please." Her mother called down the hatch. While she moved Marinette to her bed, her father came up with a cup of water and some small pills.

"Is she okay Sabine?" Her father asked quietly. She nodded, pulling the blankets over her shivering daughter.

"It's nothing that rest and medicine can't fix." Sabine reassured her husband as she put the pills to her daughter's mouth and ushered her into drinking the water. "If you need anything, don't hesitate on calling us." She kissed Marinette's forehead gently before her and her husband went back to bed.

Once Marinette was alone, Tikki came out of her hiding and went to the sleeping Marinette.

"Was it the thorn that had poison in it?" She asked herself quietly. Remembering Marinette's wound, she flew around the room, looking for gauze and bandage to dress her wound. It took a lot for Tikki to wrap Marinette's shoulder, but she managed, without waking her.

Marinette's sleep that night was a fitful one. Her body was cold and shivering. She could feel the writing on her arm and she tried to stir awake but her eyelids were heavy. Black clouds filled up her mind and in the color that soon began to bloom in her mind was just Chat Noir being injured. She screamed and screamed but nothing was coming out.

"Chat! Chat!" Her mind echoed.

"What? Marinette's not coming to school today?" Alya was at the Dupain-Cheng residence, looking for her friend.

"No, Marinette has a fever she caught last night and she's going to be staying home today." Sabine told her. Alya frowned.

"I hope she feels better soon. I'll grab any homework and class work she has and bring it after school." Sabine smiled.

"That would be wonderful, thank you." Alya smiled and waved goodbye.

"Alright! See you after school mom!"

"Oh so you're going to Marinette's house after school?" Nino and Alya had met up outside the school doors just as Adrien was coming up.

"Yeah, mom said she has a fever so I'm gonna collect her things and head over there once school ends."

"What? Marinette is sick?" Adrien couldn't help but ask. Alya and Nino nodded.

"Yeah, apparently it hit hard around midnight." Adrien wondered where he was at that time of night - he has just gotten home from the akuma attack in the park with Ladybug.

"Adrien?" The blond looked up, the voice taking him out of his thoughts. "Alya asked if you want to go with us over to Marinette's." He would love to go, but he would prefer to be with her by himself.

"I don't know what my schedule enlists me to, but I'll try." Adrien gave an apologetic smile and Alya frowned, Nino nudging her to smile.

During class, Adrien's mind could think of the sick Marinette. He thought of bringing her something to make her feel better, perhaps some roses or a teddy bear. He shook his head, discarding the idea. He wished he would have been available earlier that day so he could have helped her himself.

Adrien's mind began to replay the akuma attack and the hit that Ladybug had taken for him. His shoulder was bruised and sore to movement, but he was able to go about it fine. He was worried about his lady though; she took the direct hit and her behavior after the battle was strange.

Once he got home that night, he wrote messages to his lady, but to no response. The whole night he felt his shoulder faintly burn and he wished his lady was safe and tending to her injury.

The rest of the school day came and went, Alya and Nino heading to Marinette's house in hopes to see her. Adrien couldn't go due to Nathalie's insistence of coming home.

Throughout the middle of a photo shoot, Adrien received a text from Nino. "Couldn't see her. She's still doing pretty bad. Thought you'd want to know since you're so worried." There was a wink included at the end of the text and it was visible that half the message was written by someone else. Adrien let out a soft chuckle and went back to the photo shoot, cooperating with the camera crew to get out of there quicker.

As soon as Adrien got home, dinner had been prepared and served. He had to eat at a moderate rate, trying to be as unsuspicious as possible. Once he finished, he feigned fatigue and retreated to his bedroom.

"Wow, I've never seen you so quick paced before. It wouldn't happen to be regarding Marinette, would it?" The small kwami had a teasing smile and Adrien couldn't help the smile on his lips.

"Plagg, transform me." Seconds later, Chat Noir was jumping from building to building across Paris to get to the terrace of the Dupain-Cheng residence.

The terrace was empty when he arrived and he knocked gently on the hatch door that lead into Marinette's room. There was no response so he tried the door and it opened.

As the moonlight filled in the bedroom, Chat was able to look into Marinette's room and saw a figure a stirring on the bed. He decided to step inside, closing the door quietly behind him and sneak over the her bed.

Chat went to Marinette and could feel the heat radiating off of her, yet she was shivering and was restless. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips seemed to whisper something, tears coming from her closed eyes.

"Marinette, Marinette." Chat spoke softly. He kneeled closer and he nudged her gently and she sat up suddenly with a gasp, looking around deliriously before her eyes met his.

"Chat?" She whispered. The boy smiled and nodded.

"Good evening princess." He whispered back. She let out a choked sob and she threw hers arms around his neck, crying into his shoulders. Chat was caught off guard and fell back, bringing the girl toppling over him.

"I-I thought I lost you. " She cried. Marinette nuzzled into him and Chat felt his grip around her tighten as he sat up.

"Please, don't cry princess." He shushed her gently, standing up and sitting on the bed. She kept repeating those same words, crying and holding tighter. "It's okay, I'm here. I'm here and you're not going to lose me. I'm not going anywhere." Chat repeated his words several times as well, until Marinette's sobs decreased into small sniffles and hicks.

"I'm so glad you're here." Marinette whispered. Chat smiled softly and laid her down, tucking her in.

"I'm glad to be here too." Chat whispered back, tucking her hair behind her ear. Marinette leaned into his touch, humming.

"You're so warm... I'm so cold..." She shivered and Chat couldn't find anymore blankets to put on her. With a sigh, he asked her to scoot over and he laid right beside her.

Not seconds after he pulled the blanket over himself, Mariette was pressed into him, nuzzling herself under his chin and taking in a deep breath. Chat's face reddened as she pressed up against him, being able to feel almost all of her, all his senses being clouded up by her.

"So warm." She mumbled sleepily. Chat listened to the sounds of Marinette's breathing, calm and completely unlike the ones she had whenever he first arrived. Her shivers had ceased and she no longer stirred.

Not before long, Chat had fallen asleep too, his miraculous having beeped and his transformation became undone. Luckily, Adrien woke up before Marinette did and he escaped for the night, leaving Marinette with a sweet kiss on the lips.