A/N: [Akuma attacks mentioned in this chapter— Copycat. If you have not watched this episode, I suggest you do.] What if Marinette wanted to thank Chat for writing the letter?🤔😏

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Marinette 🍪

Tikki and I ran out of the boys' locker room at school, careful not to be caught. I had Adrien Agreste's phone in my hand and felt so bad for taking it out of his locker surreptitiously.

I made a huge mistake, you see— I sent Adrien this voice mail and accidentally admitted my feelings to him over my phone. The whole thing was sent to his device so I had to do everything in my power to steal it before he left his fencing lessons (I have a whole poster of his schedule in my room, so what?).

"What are you going to do with Adrien's phone now?" Tikki asked me as we sneaked out of the school.

"I-I don't know, Tikki," I stammered nervously, "I guess I'm going to have to ask Alya if she could help me crack Adrien's password."

Alya is a phone boffin and technical specialist in complex devices. If anyone could hack into someone else's lock screen, it would be her— or Max (the Gamer) from class, but no way was I going to ask him. It's already embarrassing enough as it was.

"Marinette," Tikki squeaked, looking up at the rooftop above them, "Chat Noir's headed our way!"

I ordered Tikki to hide in my bag and carefully placed Adrien's cellphone in besides her. Chat Noir sent me that letter a few days back and I had not had the chance to thank him for it. He looked as if he were in a hurry— maybe he needed to get somewhere fast.

Chat Noir hesitated over the rooftops, looking around the area, until he fixated his eyes in the direction that he had come from. He was holding a square canvas in his arm.

"Chat Noir!" I called out, waving my hand in the air to grab his attention, "Chat, over here! Can I have a word?"

The superhero looked down at me in confusion and stared after sensing my presence. At first, I was convinced he had already forgotten about me and the letter— how stupid of me: I did not even consider the fact that Chat might have possibly sent many people letters other than me. He then hesitantly made his way towards me.

My heart started to beat unevenly, which was a surprise to me because I saw him almost every day when fighting crime through Paris as Ladybug. Now that I was Marinette, it was like I was a completely different person. And as Marinette, I could not leave an incomplete 'thank you' to a person who deserves it.

Chat Noir walked up to me with wide eyes, looking eager to be somewhere else. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and found my voice.

"I just wanted to say thank you," I said,  playing with the strap of my bag, "for a few nights ago when you slipped that letter through my trap door after the Evillistrator incident. That was a really nice thing for you to do because you really didn't have to—"

"He sends you letters at night?" Chat Noir asked, suddenly...angry.

"He?" I asked, puzzled, "You mean...you?"

"I knew it," Chat hissed, "Chat Noir never loved Ladybug. He cheats on her with other girls behind her back!"

I stepped back worriedly and suddenly afraid. Why was Chat Noir talking in the third person and why was he so angry at himself for Ladybug (me) being cheated on with Marinette (myself)? Ugh, he was confusing me.

It all started to make sense once a purple lining of a butterfly appeared in front of Chat's face. The worst part, however, was when he said, "I understand, Hawkmoth, I shall take his Miraculous and he will pay."

I thought immediately, This isn't the real Chat Noir.

Just then, I heard sirens wailing from a distance in the direction of the Louvre museum. I looked down at the canvas Chat had in his arm and realised in great horror that it was a painting of the Mona Lisa.

I held my breath in shock, turned around and started to run away from the Copycat I had just discovered. I could sense him chasing after me, catching up. I tried looking for an appropriate place for me to transform into Ladybug, but it was too late...

"LET ME GO!" I shouted as Copycat grabbed me around my waist and held me back with the painting.

He picked me up roughly while I tried to kick and punch my way out of his grip.

"You'll be perfect," Copycat sneered, "in able for me to get rid of Chat Noir. And then Ladybug will love me instead of that liar."

I was a split second away from screaming out at him that I was Ladybug and he was actually making a big mistake...but I knew better than to uselessly waste my secret on an imposter like that.

Even if I did tell, the akumatized victim was now controlled by Hawkmoth, whoever he was, so I could not afford to blurt my secret out in front of him; therefore, I could not transform into Ladybug or try talking my way out of it.

"HELP!" I shouted, hoping that someone would hear my terror, "PLEASE, LET ME—"

Copycat covered my mouth with his leather-gloved hand. My screams were then muffled and all I could do was kick and try wriggling my way out. So much for luck.

"He must have heard your shouts by now," he whispered in my ear and carried me towards the rooftops, "You and I will have so much fun together."

***

I did not know where he was taking me. The one moment, I was flying in the air and the next I was carried to a fancy three-story building with beautiful bushes and trees surrounding it.

Copycat jumped through one of the windows of the house on the second floor. We entered a huge, colourful  room in which a queen-sized bed was situated in the corner. The walls were painted a dark purple and covered with posters of rock bands and different designs for clothing items. A mahogany desk sat in the opposite corner of the bed with a lamp and a variety of fictional books.

He then dropped me and the Mona Lisa onto a mat once we made it inside. I gasped as I realised that I had almost fallen onto my bag where Tikki was in. When I opened it up she was thankfully unharmed, but she looked worried for me. Although, I could tell she wanted to help, we both knew that it would be too risky to bring out a kwami during a time in which an akuma was present.

"What am I doing here?" I asked Copycat angrily—well, mostly fearfully.

"You're here as my bait," Copycat explained, taking something out of his cupboard, "Now...hold still."

***

The metal felt heavy and cold around my wrists. Copycat did not give me a chair to sit on and the bed was too far for me to reach because the end was attached to his desk.

I refused to sit down on the floor because every time I wanted to, Copycat would sit down next to me and play with my hair. If it were the real Chat Noir, I wouldn't have minded, but since I was aware that he was an imposter who kidnapped me, it just felt creepy.

"Who has chains in their cupboard?!" I wanted to yell at Copycat, "What kind of psycho are you?!"

I couldn't say anything, however, because after her chained me, Copycat put duct-tape over my mouth. I could not tear it off because my hands were locked behind my back by intertwined chains.

Thankfully, five minutes later, another figure appeared at the window and stared guiltily at me. It was Chat Noir— the real one. I felt immediately embarrassed, being the damsel in distress. When I was Ladybug I'd always be able to save him, but as Marinette I was nothing.

Chat turned to Copycat angrily and jumped into the room, fists at his side.

"Let her go, Théo," Chat commanded furiously, "She has nothing to do with this."

Théo? That must have been the name of the akumatized victim. From what I had picked up, 'Théo' had a soft spot for Ladybug and had gotten jealous of Chat Noir. He probably transformed into Copycat because he wanted to make Chat 'pay'... For what exactly? I did not know.

"Tell me," Copycat spat, "when you sent love letters at night to this girl over here," he gestured to me, "did you think you'd get away with it without Ladybug finding out?"

My eyes widened, noticing that the conflict between the identical figures came to one person: me...as both Ladybug and Marinette.

Copycat thought Ladybug liked Chat Noir so he kidnapped Marinette to get back at Chat for cheating on Ladybug. It was quite confusing, but I had gotten the understanding of the situation.

"She's innocent," Chat insisted, "Whatever she told you, you must've taken it in the wrong way. I wanted to check if Marinette was safe—"

"So you do like her!" Copycat laughed maniacally, "You know her name and care for her wellbeing. You don't love Ladybug like that. I love her! I wrote my own love letter for her!"

"Ladybug can take care of herself!" Chat growled, "You kidnapped an innocent girl for no reason!"

I could not help but look to the ground in guilt. Marinette couldn't protect herself— she's a weak, bakers' daughter with a fragile heart; whereas Ladybug was the complete opposite.

"If you want her free," Copycat said, making his way towards me, "we're going to have to make a deal."

He stood next to me and pressed his body towards mine. I cringed in embarrassment and tried wriggling away from him. I didn't want him to touch or come near me.

"Take me instead of her," Chat said after he stepped forward, "Let Marinette go. I'm the one you want."

He must have noticed my discomfort and decided that it's either me or him. I shook my head violently, attempting to shout a series of disagreements through the duct-tape.

"How do I know you won't use your Cataclysm?" Copycat interrogated.

"If I had my Cataclysm, I would have used it to free her."

I shook my head again, stepping away from Copycat who took something out of his pocket: it was a key to the chains. I moved back, resisting the deal. Chat Noir was not going to treat me like a damsel in distress.

I glanced back at Copycat's pocket and saw something sticking out of it...a piece of paper? No, an envelope. He said he wrote a love letter to Ladybug. The akuma must have been in there.

"If you do anything fishy," Copycat warned, "I won't hesitate to find out if my Cataclysm truly works as well."

Chat nodded understandingly, walking towards us. He turned around (back facing towards us) and knelt down with his knees to the floor. Chat reached both his hands behind his back willingly as Copycat unlocked my chains. I tore the duct-tape away from my face and yelped in pain.

Copycat took my chains and attached it to Chat Noir's wrists easily. I needed to do something. I could not just stand there... I had to change into Ladybug ASAP.

"You won't get away with this," I said to Copycat, "Ladybug will come and she will purify the akuma."

"Ladybug's not here now, is she?" Copycat chuckled evilly, "The next time she sees me, she'll think I'm Chat Noir."

No, I thought, I won't.

"Let Marinette go, Théo," Chat ordered, "It's part of our deal."

"Yeah, yeah," Copycat answered, grabbing me by the waist, "but when I come back, I still expect you to be here, ready for when I take your Miraculous."

Copycat pulled me towards his window forcefully. I wanted to reach out to the chained Chat Noir— thank him for saving me and tell him that I'll come back for him. I wanted to protect him because the next time we would see each other, it might be too late.

***

Copycat dropped me outside his home and jumped back up into his window. Tikki quickly appeared in front of me from my bag and I transformed into Ladybug.

I jumped into the room just in time because Copycat was only seconds away from removing Chat's Miraculous. The two identical disguises stared at me in admiration, different to the way they stared at Marinette.

I stared at both of them and pretended to be confused at which Chat was which. They both claimed to be the true superhero but I knew who the imposter was.

When Copycat wasn't paying attention, I made a flirtatious remark to distract him. He flirted back and that's when I managed to secretly steal the letter from his pocket. His reaction was priceless.

I tore up the letter and we all stared in shock as the purple butterfly fluttered it's way out. I used my yoyo to purify the akuma and shouted 'Miraculous Ladybug'. Everything went back to normal— the Mona Lisa was transported back to the Louvre, the chains were removed from Chat Noir and the akumatized victim transformed back into his original self.

"Thank you, My Lady,"Chat sighed in relief, "I knew you would remember me."

"I'd never forget about you, Chaton," I said, happy that I was able to save him just in time.

I helped Chat up from his position on the ground and we both turned to face the victim. In all honesty, Copycat's true self looked quite familiar and attractive. Théo... As in Théo Barbot? Spanish-American singer and model! I could not believe my eyes! Théo Barbot was in love with Ladybug— me. He wrote me a love letter and chained up Marinette Dupain-Cheng— also me!

"You might want to talk to him," Chat said sadly, "I think his crush had just been crushed."

I heard him mumbling something before jumping out of the window, but could not catch it.

"Théo, is it?" I asked confidently, walking up to the victim as Ladybug.

"L-Ladybug?" the boy asked, blinking a few times, "W-why are you here? What happened?"

"It's a long story," I said with a smile, "I heard that you wanted to give me a letter?"

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