Bring her Back: Chapter One (AU)

Because even main characters can die

Marinette was so close to getting a trip to Mr Damocle's office that day. She knew every excuse in the book, but even the best didn't work when she used them two or three times per month. She was lucky that Alya stepped in for her.
"She was caught up in the akuma attack Miss," Alya called, "She texted me a few minutes ago." She elbowed Marinette in the ribs.
"Uh, yeah, that's right!" Marinette stammered, "Some roads were um... Blocked um... By the police... And... er..." Before Marinette could finish properly she was yanked to her seat by Alya.
"Argh, there was another attack today that I couldn't get to!" Alya said in frustration. "I have to use the media's footage AGAIN! That's the third time this week!"
"Alya, it's not too bad!" Marinette exclaimed. "You're bound to miss some fights. It's amazing that you get to film as many as you do already!"
"I have no idea how Ladybug and Cat Noir get to all of them!" Alya sighed. "What other superpowers do they have? Teleportation? How do they get out of school all the time?"
"What makes you think they go to school Alya?" Marinette asked, carefully hiding the hints of fear in her voice.
"Well, they don't look old enough to be adults yet, and they're definitely not five year olds, so I can safely assume that they're still in school," Alya replied.
"They would need more excuses than me to be out and about that much!" Marinette joked.
"Definitely! Unless they're home-schooled! Then they could go out whenever they please! Nino told me that Adrien could have like a two hour lunch break if he wanted it when he was home-schooled! But then their parents might get suspicious..." Alya mused.
Well, you never know, they might..." Marinette started, but was interrupted by the teacher starting the lesson.
"Good morning students!" Miss Boustier called. "As you may know already, there was a staff meeting last night concerning the constant danger of Akuma attacks. There have been a number of times when our students have been put in danger by these attacks, and we need to prevent them from causing so much harm to our school. Therefore, we decided that if there is an akuma attack a certain radius from the school, you will all be sent home immediately. Your parents will be notified about this change to the rules. These are NOT opportunities to observe the akuma attack, so we expect you all to stay away from the affected sites," she finished with a pointed glare at Alya.
"You're going to be doing just that aren't you," Marinette sighed, even though she knew it was a bit hypocritical.
"Yep!" Alya whispered. "Did you really think I'd miss out on such an amazing opportunity? And if Ladybug really DOES go to our school it'll be an opportunity for her too!"
Alya entirely missed the shiver that went down Marinette's back.

It was 6 PM and soaking wet when the next akuma appeared. It was winter, so it was darker than usual for a fight, but the lights of the city were still around to provide Ladybug with enough light. It looked like some sort of magician had been akumatized, the victim was female, black with electric blue around the arms, legs and waist. Instead of turning into hands and feet, her legs and arms tapered to sharp points.
She only had two powers, but they were hard to fight. She could shoot black bolts of energy which could put people to sleep, and conjure up seemingly random items from her hands. She threw these immediately each time, which wasn't a problem when she summoned a pillow, but it definitely was when she narrowly missed Ladybug with a butcher's knife.
"Guess who just ruined my beauty sleep!" Cat Noir yawned behind Ladybug. "We need to get this battle over and done with so I can get back to bed!"
"Well, if you really want to catch a few winks then all you have to do is wait in the open for Conjurer to catch you," Ladybug pointed out.
"Frankly I'd rather stay awake for now," Cat Noir replied.
"We need a plan," Ladybug mused, "I haven't seen any potential weaknesses yet, or where her vengeance streak might originate from. Do you have anything?"
"The randomness of her objects could affect her," he replied, "But we have no way of telling what she'll get next, so that's no good."
"At least we know where the akuma is," Ladybug pointed out, "The only jewellery on her is her necklace, and she has no weapons."
"We have to get back out there!" Cat Noir said.
"You're right," Ladybug sighed, "We have to stop her before she hurts any more civilians!" The two heroes stepped out from behind the chimney and immediately saw Conjurer not five metres away. After a few seconds of frantic dodging, they were back to back spinning their weapons to shield themselves from the projectiles launched from Conjurer's hands.
Her hands...
"Cat Noir!" Ladybug gasped, "If we tie up her hands she won't be able to fight! That's where both of her attacks come from!"
"Of course!" Cat Noir realised, "If you can... argh, she's getting away!" Conjurer, it seemed, had heard their conversation and made a run for it.
"Even though she knows our tactic, there's nothing she can do to stop us!" Ladybug yelled over the pouring rain. "We need to follow her!" It took a few minutes before Conjurer stopped in a dark alley lit by a single light. A large dumpster was the only thing in the alley, apart from one or two back doors to a few shops.
"Cornered!" Cat Noir said victoriously. Conjurer snarled and started flinging items at them. Ladybug put up her shield to sling away the projectiles, then slowed it down slightly so she could wrap it around Conjurer. But then she threw out some sort of baton, and Ladybug could feel and see her yoyo wrapping around it, useless. A wave of terror washed over her as conjurer jumped towards her... and yanked out her earrings.
A flash of bright pink light and her transformation was down.
"Marinette?" Cat Noir said in shock.
"Of course I'm someone you know," Marinette sighed, "But we can save it for later. Right now we have a huge problem." She pointed to conjurer, who was getting ready to throw something. Marinette instinctively reached for her waist before remembering her transformation was down. Cat Noir jumped in front of her, baton spinning.
"I can still beat you," Conjurer scowled, "Your precious little bug doesn't have her miraculous. You were struggling against me before, and now with ladybug holding you down, you don't have a chance!" Then she threw the random item at the only streetlight, and Marinette never saw what it was before her world went dark.
"We have to run!" Cat Noir yelled as he grabbed her arm. Marinette nodded, knowing he would be able to see. She felt a sharp tug on her hand and she started running. It wasn't long before she heard the distinctive shwap of Conjurer summoning something else, and knew they were being followed. Marinette could hear item after item hitting the ground, but as far as she knew, none of them struck home. But then Cat Noir let out a gasp, and severely jerked his arm.
"Are you OK?" Marinette coughed frantically.
Cat noir hesitated for a moment before rasping out a sharp "Yes." Marinette wasn't sure that he was telling the truth, but she kept running anyway. The shwapping got fainter and fainter, until she couldn't hear it at all. The only thing she could hear was their own footsteps thundering against the rough asphalt.
And then she felt Cat Noir stumble. It was like watching a video in slow motion, but without sight, only sound and feel. She could feel him trying to scramble back up, but he couldn't. He slumped against a wall next to another dumpster, and Marinette frantically tried to figure out what was wrong.
She knelt down, and felt her hands slip into water.
Wait a minute... that wasn't water, it was too thick.
It was blood. A lot of it.
"Cat Noir!" Marinette cried. "What happened?"
"I... She... Conjurer hit me with a tessen," Cat Noir coughed, "A Japanese war fan. Instead of harmless sticks to spread out the cloth, they have sharp knives. I... I didn't dodge it... didn't reslise what it was until it was too late." Marinette was struggling to breathe, she was so panicked. Tears were running down her face in a river of sadness.
"Where did it hit?" Marinette cried, "We can still bandage it! Stop the blood! Oh my god why is it spreading so fast?"
"It's too late," Cat Noir rasped, "It hit me on the side of my chest and one of my arms. I'm going to die before you can do anything."
"And... I can't even... my miraculous..." Marinette blubbered, her chest racked with heart wrenching sobs.
"Calm down," he beseeched, "It's OK. You're still alive. You can still get your miraculous back, and stop Hawkmoth. When... when I'm gone, you need to hide me. Then..." he had to break off at that point to catch his shallow breath, and Marinette started a new bout of crying.
"But... I can't..." Marinette wailed.
"Listen, Marinette," Cat noir coughed, "I would die to save you over and over again if I had to. I would use up every one of my nine lives so you could live yours. But... I don't want you to be... unhappy. Pretend nothing... is wrong... I love you... Bugaboo..." And then he fell silent. Even in the dark, Marinette could tell that his eyes had closed.
A blinding flash of green light and then she knew that lying there was another person. Someone she might know. Someone she might not.
Someone who had sacrificed his life to save her.
She felt for a pulse, but she knew before she tried, there was none. There were only three reasons a miraculous holder detransformed, by will, by loss of the miraculous... Or death. And Marinette knew which one had taken away Cat Noir's costume.