#mistermouse

“I’m the professional here.  That means it’s my job to stop clowning around and get us out safely.”  His voice was uncharacteristically serious.  

She wished she could catch a flash of his green eyes, his smile, anything.  But the darkness was too heavy for even his yo-yo to illuminate.  Stormlight’s power fed on any kind of light that came on in the building, shooting it up towards the thunderstorm brewing in the sky.

“If only I had my night vision.”  He pounded a fist on the locked door.  “Or my Cataclysm.  It’s too early to use my Lucky Charm now.  Or at least, I think it is…”  

He trailed off with a sigh.  “I wish Ladybug were here.”

Marinette scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder.  She knew they needed to get out and defeat Stormlight, but they’d never win if her partner felt he wasn’t up to the task.

“I bet she wishes she was here, too,” she murmured.  “She wouldn’t have lent you her miraculous if it weren’t important.”

He laughed hollowly.  “I’m surprised she trusted me with it at all.  The last time I was Mister Bug, all I did was screw things up.”

Her eyes widened, not that it helped her see any better.  “No you didn’t.  You and Lady Noire beat the akuma and sentimonster just fine.”

“Only because she figured out my Lucky Charm for me,” he said.  “Why didn’t she give the ladybug miraculous to you?  You pulled off that crazy plan when we fought Kwami Buster.  I bet you’d make a great Ladybug.”

Her face heated under the praise.  Of course, the whole reason he had her miraculous right now was because she couldn’t be Ladybug.  Lila was too close to figuring out her secret identity, and she felt like she could hardly breathe at school anymore.  If Marinette could lose her trail by being Multimouse for a few weeks, maybe things could go back to normal.

But either way, she needed Mister Bug.  What if something terrible happened to her?  She was the Guardian and Ladybug.  She needed someone ready to take her place if the worst happened.  Under Wayzz’s direction, she’d already begun to train Nino as an apprentice Guardian.  

But being Ladybug was in many ways more difficult.  She needed someone who could think on their feet, who wouldn’t flinch at running into danger.  Someone who understood how important it was to keep their identity secret.

As much as she hated to ask it of him, there was no one else who could do her job better than Chat Noir.

“You’re going to make a great Ladybug too, Mister Bug.”  She smiled reassuringly before remembering he couldn’t see it.  “Don’t get discouraged.  We’ve always been able to win together.”

“I don’t think one time counts as always,” he muttered.  “And like I said, you came up with that plan.  Do you have any more big ideas?”

She bit her lip.  “Not really.  I can’t see a thing in here either, and I can’t feel enough space under the door to crawl through if I use Multitude.”

“Great,” he grumbled.  “How long do you think it’ll be before Stormlight shows up and puts us out of our misery?”

“Don’t talk like that Chat—uh, Mister Bug!  We’ll find a way out… somehow.”  She rested her forehead against the door.  “I trust you.”

He’d always been there for her.  During Stoneheart, Gamer 2.0, Miracle Queen—like the tide, he always rose when she fell. 

“...Thanks, Multimouse.  Sorry for bugging you with my problems.”

She laughed even though the pun wasn’t that funny.  It was just a relief to hear a fraction of her partner’s humor return.

“I’ll go ahead and use my Lucky Charm.”

She heard his yo-yo whizz up into the air, though it was weird not to see any pink flashes as the Lucky Charm materialized.

He yelped as the object bounced off his head and landed in her arms.

“What even is this?”  She felt the soft object—no, multiple objects, bound together, like a… “A bouquet of flowers?”

“Now I really wish Ladybug were here.”  He sighed wistfully.

She was grateful he couldn’t see her cheeks pinken.  “Keep your pining to yourself, Buggaboy.  It’s time to use that big brain of yours and get us out of here.”

“You really think my brain’s big?”

“Focus.”

“Right, right.”  He took the bouquet back from her.  “Huh… these aren’t real flowers.”  She heard the distinctive sound of him sniffing.  “Yep, definitely fake.  The petals smell like fabric, and there’s some kind of wire in the stems… that’s it!” 

“What?  What’s it?”

“Use your Multitude, and take this.”  He squeezed her shoulder with one hand, the other pressing a wire into her palm.  “You can get inside the lock and pick it!”

She grinned.  “Sounds like you’ve unlocked your true powers already.  Get ready to pick me up.”

“Of course, Mousinette.”

She unhooked the jump rope from her waist.  There wasn’t much room in the closet, but hopefully she’d still be able to pull off her power.

“Stand back,” she warned.  Her side grew cold as he retreated.

Her jump rope thwaped against shelves and other unseen objects, but she still managed to shout “Multitude!” and toss it into the air.  It wrapped around her seconds later, and then she was splitting apart.

She’d only used Multitude once before, and it felt just as weird the second time.  It was almost like her appendages had each disconnected, but were controlled by her same mind.  At least the darkness meant she didn’t get disoriented by seeing out of eight sets of eyes.

Mister Bug’s hands finally bumped into her.  Well, one of her anyway.  She honed her focus on the Multimouse in his palm.

“Gotta be around here somewhere… ha!”  He slid her into the lock.  “You think you can get that picked before I transform back?”

“Piece of cake.  Or should I say piece of cheese?”

“You know, I’m almost starting to miss the smell of stinky cheese…”

Her heart twinged.  He was probably missing Plagg as much as she missed Tikki.

She pushed that thought aside and focused on bending the wire to fit the tumblers.  Without her sight, it was more difficult than she’d anticipated.

“Need an extra paw—er, hand?”  Mister Bug asked.

“Paw is right.  Can you lift a couple of my duplicates up here?”

“I’ll carry you anywhere, little Mouse.”

She bit the inside of her cheek.  Because she was distracted, each of her duplicates ended up mimicking the action.  Why did it feel so much different when her partner flirted with Multimouse than with Ladybug?  ...Would he just flirt with any girl he partnered with?

Stop that.  Chat Noir—er, Mister Bug—can flirt with whoever he wants.

She split her attention between three pairs of arms, weaving the wire through the lock.  His miraculous beeped just slightly off-beat from hers.  Why was this taking so long?  Surely she should just be able to twist the tumblrs and— 

The lock finally clicked.

“Phew.”  Mister Bug pushed open the door.  No light came out the other side, but she could feel a faint breeze.  Stormlight’s tempest must be picking up.  “I guess I shouldn’t have worried.  Even if we detransformed in there, we wouldn’t have been able to see each other.”

“I wouldn’t have been able to see you, you mean.”  The three of her duplicates leapt out of the lock, joining back with the rest of them.  It was easier to focus once all of her was in one piece.

“Right.  After you, my La—er, Multimouse.”

She froze in the doorway.  “What did you just say?”

“Um, after you?”

“No, after that.”

“...Multimouse?”

Maybe she’d misheard, or imagined his slip.  That had to be it.  There was no way he could know her identity, right?  She’d feel so much better if she could see his face.

“Sorry.  I shouldn’t lie to you.  I almost called you my Lady, but don’t—don’t read too much into that,” he said quickly.  “Your voices sound so similar, and I guess I just miss her too much.  Not that I don’t appreciate you!  You’re amazing, Mari—er, Multimouse.  I couldn’t do this without you.”

Phew.  She was safe for now, but maybe she should try disguising her voice more in the future.  In the dark, it must be even easier to hear her as “Ladybug.”

“Er, ah—no worries, Mister Bug.  I know how important she is to you.”   

Come to think of it, his voice had sounded awfully familiar himself… no, just wishful thinking again.

“Heh.  Thanks for understanding.”

Thunder cracked outside, making her jump.  

“We better get moving,” she said.  “There’s no telling how much power Stormlight has by now.”

“And we’ve still got to recharge before we face him.”  He squeezed her hand.

Then he lifted it to his lips.  

Her own lips parted at the gentle kiss he left on her knuckles.  Her heart beat fast and hard enough to match the thunder outside.

“I… don’t suppose that was because I reminded you of Ladybug, was it?”  She asked.

“No.  That was a thank you.  For believing in me.”  

Though she couldn’t see his smile, she could hear it in his voice.  A soft smile spread across her face in return.