Chapter Text
A light pattering against her balcony windows drew Chloé's attention away from the magazine she had been idly flipping through. In the span of time that it took for her to look up, it started raining much harder. She made a face, realizing that it had turned into a miserable night. There went any idle thoughts about calling Sabrina for a movie night: Sabrina's father didn't like it when Sabrina went out at night, but he really didn't like her going out when the weather wasn't very nice.
"Oh well. I guess I didn't want to watch a movie anyway," Chloé grumbled under her breath. Closing the magazine, she dropped it on her bed and flopped over backwards to stare up at the ceiling.
Her room was quiet. So quiet.
And then it wasn't, because the balcony door burst open and a gust of wind and rain shot into the room.
"What the fuck!" Chloé shrieked in surprise, scrambling up.
"Chloé! I need your help." A dripping wet Chat Noir shoved his way into the room. There was a body slung over his shoulder and something fat and red tucked underneath his right arm. He kicked the balcony door shut with such force that Chloé honestly wouldn't have been surprised to see the glass shatter, then moved further into the room. Away from the windows.
"What are you doing here?" Chloé said, somewhere between bafflement and fear. Chat Noir showing up so suddenly couldn't be a good thing.
"Close the curtains!" he snapped instead, and Chloé found herself jumping off the bed and hurrying to do just that. She securely drew the curtains across the balcony windows, taking a quick peek through as she did. Even though all the usual lights were on, Paris looked dark and stilted beneath the stormy clouds. It was raining so hard now she wouldn't have been able to see Chat Noir passing by had he not stopped in.
By the time Chloé turned back around, Chat Noir had set the body down - Chloé was honestly a little relieved to see that it was still a living body. She was less relieved when she realized that it was Marinette.
"Okay, make that what are you doing here and what is she doing here?" Chloé said, annoyed.
Chat Noir took a deep breath but said nothing, instead setting the round red object on Chloé's bed. Chloé opened her mouth to object to the fact that her bed was going to get all wet, then paused when it occurred to her that the object was red with black spots. Just like Ladybug's suit. Obviously whatever it was had some special meaning, but she couldn't figure out what it was.
"Hawkmoth and Mayura attacked us," Chat said heavily, and Chloé's head whipped around to stare at him.
At him... and at Marinette.
"Us?" she whispered faintly.
She expected Marinette to start demanding that Chloé never tell anyone about this, but Marinette didn't say anything at all. When Chloé glanced expectantly in her direction, it was to find that Marinette wasn’t paying attention to them at all. Instead, Marinette was wandering around Chloé's bedroom. Chloé watched her for a few seconds, confused, before she turned back to Chat.
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Chloé demanded.
"It's me, Chloé," Chat said miserably. "I'm Adrien."
Chloé swallowed.
So it had come to this.
"I know," she admitted reluctantly. "I remembered your signature."
"I wondered if you had, but you never said anything," Chat said.
She shrugged, looking down at her own arm. The thick black band around her wrist was virtually identical to the one that everyone else wore. It was one of the first things that a doctor did when a baby was born in the hospital. The name that lay underneath that band was considered intensely sacred, to the point where even parents weren't supposed to know what it said... but that hadn’t stopped Chloé and Adrien from showing each other their wrists not long after they met. After all, at the age of five, soulmates weren't really an understandable concept.
She would never forget the signature written across Adrien's inner wrist in a delicate, feminine script.
Ladybug.
Because of that, Chloé had wondered, right from day one, if maybe Adrien was Chat Noir. As time went on, her suspicions had only become stronger. There were just too many things that added up for Adrien to not be Chat Noir. In spite of that, had never asked him about it. She hadn’t been sure whether Adrien would tell her the truth, and she wasn’t ready for him to lie to her face.
And if Adrien was Chat Noir, and Ladybug was his soulmate...
Then that meant that Marinette and Adrien were soulmates.
Of course they were.
Chat seemed to realize she wasn’t going to say anything because he kept talking. His voice rose sharply in distress as he said, "Anyway, Hawkmoth attacked us tonight. Ladybug was cornered. I tried, but with the akuma… it was too much. I couldn't get to her. She - she made me the guardian to keep them from - from -" He shook his head. "Chloé, she forgot everything."
"Wait. What?" Chloé said, her mouth falling open.
"She didn't even know her name was Marinette," Chat said. His shoulders slumped, and he suddenly looked about a hundred years old. "It's supposed to be a safety feature so that ex-guardians can’t tell any secrets."
"That's - oh my god," Chloé said, staggered. She didn't even know how to begin to wrap her mind around that.
But at least it explained why Marinette was walking around her bedroom with such ease. Even as Chloé looked on, Marinette reached out and picked up a necklace from Chloé's dresser. Marinette admired it for a moment, letting the charms on the necklace swing back and forth in the lamplight. When she smiled because of the way the charms changed colors, it was a very innocent smile. The sort of smile that Chloé hadn't seen from Marinette Dupain-Cheng in years. That, more than anything, told Chloé that Chat was telling the truth.
"I couldn't help her. I tried to, but I couldn't," Chat was saying. "I got away from the akuma and Cataclysmed the building they were standing on. Then I grabbed her and ran. We weren't too far away when her transformation dropped. She used her Lucky Charm trying to get away from Hawkmoth. I didn't know what to do. I just - I went to her house to grab the Miracle Box. I detransformed to feed Plagg, and then I came here."
Chloé sucked in a sharp breath. "You went to her house? Chat, what if Hawkmoth or Mayura followed you?"
"I didn't know what else to do!" Chat said shrilly. "I told you, I Cataclysmed the building they were on. I’m pretty sure they fell into the rubble. I just – I panicked, Chloé. You were the only other miraculous holder I know. Ladybug -" He visibly shuddered when he spoke the name. "Ladybug never told me the identities of anyone else. And it wasn't like I could go home."
Of course he couldn’t, but that wasn’t much consolation right then. Was Hawkmoth about to burst in through the balcony doors too? Her stomach churned at the thought, and she clenched her hands into fists. If that happened, Chloé had no way of defending herself and Chat was in no shape to fight...
Marinette picked that moment to come over, looking curiously at Chloé. "Hello. Have we met before?"
It was on the tip of Chloé’s tongue to be rude, but she restrained herself. Instead, she just said, “Yes, we have.”
"My name is Marinette," Marinette said, pointing at herself. "Sorry, I don't remember your name."
"It's Chloé," Chloé said after a moment, unable to parse just how incredibly weird this moment was. Marinette was smiling at her. When was the last time that had happened?
"Chat, are you okay?" Marinette asked, turning to Chat. He clearly wasn't, obviously having some sort of internal breakdown.
Not that Chloé could blame him, considering the circumstances. Hawkmoth and Mayura were prowling around, there was an akuma out there, Marinette didn’t know anything anymore which meant Ladybug couldn’t help, and on top of it all Chat had just discovered that Ladybug really was his soulmate - and that Ladybug was none other than Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It was a lot for Chloé to take in, and she wasn’t even the one in the middle of it.
“I’m fine,” Chat said finally, forcing a smile. “I just need you to stay here for a little while, Marinette. Chloé will keep you safe. I have to go deal with something.”
“Wait, what? You can’t go out there alone!” Chloé said.
Chat’s smile faded. “I have to. I can’t leave the akuma to terrorize the city. I have to stop it.”
“Well, give me the Bee miraculous. I’ll help you. Marinette will be fine here alone,” said Chloé, but Chat was already shaking his head.
“I can’t. The miraculous are locked in the Miracle Box. I don’t know what the combination is.” Chat gestured to the object on Chloé’s bed. Water droplets were rolling off of it still and soaking into the blankets underneath, but Chloé couldn’t bring herself to be mad. She walked over to her bed and put a hand on the Miracle Box. It was smooth and hard and cold to the touch.
“Ladybug never told you?” Chloé said finally, wondering why there had been so many secrets between them. Why didn’t Chat know the identities of the other miraculous holders? Why didn’t he know how to get to the other miraculous? That seemed really dangerous and short-sighted. Now that Ladybug was out of commission, it essentially left Chat helpless…
“No. I never thought that there would be a reason she would have to, but…” Chat looked helplessly at Marinette.
“Can I help then?” Marinette asked, right on cue.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Chat said quickly.
Marinette pursed her lips, her cheeks puffing up. “I could do it.”
“I’m sure you could,” Chloé said before Chat could say anything. “But it’s safer if you don’t. Chat would have to split his attention between you and the akuma. That would make things a lot harder for him. It’s better if you stay here.”
Marinette didn’t look very happy at that, but all she said was, “Then I agree that you need to go. I don’t want Chat to go alone.”
It was amazing, Chloé thought, how quickly Marinette had come to worry about him. So far as Marinette was concerned, they didn’t even know each other. Yet she was already concerned enough to argue about something that she really didn’t understand. Was that the power of a soulmate bond, even one that they had just discovered? Or was that something unique to Marinette?
“Chloé can’t go. I can’t open the Miracle Box,” Chat said.
“We can’t break it open?” Chloé said. It was hard knowing that Pollen was so close, but that Chloé couldn’t get to her.
Chat frowned before he shook his head again. “I don’t think so. I’m not even sure if Cataclysm would do anything, and I really don’t want to risk damaging the miraculous inside.”
“Right.” Chloé sighed with frustration and finally took her hand off of the Miracle Box, realizing that it just wasn’t going to happen. She couldn’t help wondering what Chat planned to do if Marinette never got her memories back. How would he ever get to the miraculous?
“But you can use this, right?” Marinette thrust a hand out. Chloé stared at her in shock. Nestled in the palm of Marinette’s hand was the Ladybug miraculous.
“I – uh – what?” Chloé stammered, backing up a step.
Chat looked equally thrown. “Marinette, no. That’s not a good idea. I’ll borrow it. I’ll take care of things.”
“No!” Marinette said stubbornly. “If you won’t let me go, then Chloé goes. I won’t let you go out there alone.” She thrust her chin out defiantly and clenched her hand into a fist, practically daring Chat to try and get the miraculous away from her.
“But –” Chat looked back and forth between them helplessly.
Chloé didn’t know what to say. She just shrugged, too shocked to really offer up an opinion either way. Chat frowned and looked back at Marinette, who scowled back at him.
“… Fine,” Chat said finally, his shoulders slumping. “Okay, Marinette, you win. If Tikki agrees, then Chloé can use your miraculous to help me.”
“She will,” Marinette said confidently, grabbing Chloé’s hand. She dumped the miraculous into Chloé’s palm and said, “Go ahead, Chloé! Put them on!”
Chloé looked at Chat. He shrugged and nodded.
Well, this was definitely going to the number one spot on the list of things that Chloé had never thought would happen.