The day was busy for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, who spent most of it inside her office on the thirteenth floor of Style Queen. Her sole focus had slowly honed in on finishing the suit for Lucas as the weeks gone by. His measurements were pretty easy to work with, and to her surprise it was nearly done. 

Her main concern for the whole commission was running out of time for the suit as a whole and rushing to finish last minute. Yet she once again had surprised herself with being ahead of the game and ahead of her deadline. The suit itself was basically done, really only needing a final fitting for final adjustments. 

Let's set up a day and time to make the final adjustments on your suit. -Marinette

She pressed send as she stepped onto the subway to head home for the day. This was her new normal, work and going home. She didn't mind the normalcy it came with, and the sense of calm she hadn't had in a while. The guilt was there though, a dull reminder that she was ignoring the bigger picture.

This sense of normal was temporary. Eventually she had to go back to finish what she started with Chat Noir. She had to defeat Hawkmoth and get back the miraculous that was lost. It was her duty, her responsibility. Even if it was one she never wanted to begin with, it was hers now. Marinette would never trade it for the world though, not when the kawmi's held a piece of her heart and she couldn't bare the thought of them falling into the wrong hands again.

The thought of going back to Paris wasn't as nerve racking anymore though. A part of Marinette had accepted everything that happened, that it all happened for a reason and she grew from it. Surely she felt a loss, but she had also gained. 

She gained a job in her dream field. 

She gained friends.

She gained a great teacher. 

She gained Peter. 

In the end Marinette knew that she had a reason to come back to New York after she left to deal with Paris. She had a reason to stay, and it was because she was herself. Peter nor anyone else here knew about Ladybug. To them Ladybug didn't exist, and never would. They only knew Marinette, and they accepted her. 

It felt nice to be accepted. No one here asked anything from her. No one asking her to babysit, or to make outfits in her free time, or to arrange something. There was no expectations, just the ones that Audrey had of her and that was it really. Plus her responsibility of learning with Stephen, but that was something she didn't mind.  

Her thoughts were abruptly stopped as she felt her body fly to the side when the subway suddenly hit the breaks to stop. Air left her body as she collided into one of the poles used to hold onto, sliding down into a fetal position as she held her side trying to get air back into her lungs. Briefly she felt Tikki stirring in her purse, but there wasn't much the kawmi could do. 

Only Marinette realized three seconds later that it wasn't because of the breaks she flew, but because there was a gapping hole in the side of the other subway unit. Smoke filled her nostrils, making her cough the air she just regained back out. Groaning, she sat back up to yelp back down when the sounds of gun shots rang about.

"Judge Robert, I know you're here!" A man yelled, voice full of hatred and a promise of pain. The anger radiated off of him, so strong that not even if Marinette dared to look up. She could feel it wafting off of him, the hatred and malice. She couldn't help but flinch hearing a gun shot ring out. 

It was different than Paris, this waiting around and holding her breath. She was helpless here, truly helpless because a gun was something she hardly dealt with in Paris. She couldn't run here to transform, she couldn't be Ladybug without potentially risking her life. She also was not trained enough with Stephen to use any type of magic, so here she was like a sitting duck.

"You're the reason why I lost my daughter!" 

Marinette risked looking up, her blue eyes widening when she saw the man grab another man. by the collar of his shirt. He shook the judge, who's eyes were wide with fear as his life flashed before his eyes. 

"You gave her back to a mother who cared nothing for her well being!" The man yelled, and the pain turned into greif. Marinette's heart suddenly ached. "My little girl is six feet under now. And it's. Your. Fault." 

"I'm s-sorry-"

The man was quick to put the gun to the judges head and pull the trigger. Marinette couldn't help the scream that left her lips, watching the life leave the judge's eyes and the blood pool on the floor from where his body was dropped. She felt her body shake, suddenly revolted as her stomach churned with the urge to throw up. 

"Forgive me." The armed man whispered, looking up at the roof of the subways as he put the gun to his head. Only he was never able to pull the trigger as a web shot out and yanked the gun from his hand. 

"Sorry, I can't let you do that." Spider-Man's voice says, his eyes scanning around to look over the civilians in the subway car. He saw no real injuries despite the explosive, yet the explosive had been more for stopping the subway train. His eyes then landed on someone, and for a moment his heart stopped. 

Marinette was on the floor, blood on her forehead and watching. She had been caught up in everything and he wasn't sure if she was okay. Her eyes, though, gave way that she was shaken up and by the way she was looking at the dead body he figured it was her first time seeing a one.

"You can just relax here until the police come for you." Spider-Man says, webbing the guy to the roof of the subways.

Now that that initial threat was over, Peter knew her could refocus his attention on the girl he knew he was fond of. The police would take care of the rest that needed to be taken care of, his part was done as the neighborhood friendly spider. He watched as Marinette slowly stood, wincing as she touched her head tentatively. 

"Are you okay Miss?" Spider-Man asked her, regaining Marinette's attention from the dead body.

It was different here. In Paris she had seen dead bodies, she had seen blood and she had seen death. She also brought it back, and that was what always kept her grounded and focused on the task. She had magic to bring those people back, but here she didn't. The man was had his head blown up with a bullet and she knew that the blood stain would never really come out of this car. This...this was permanent.

"I..I don't know?" Marinette titled her head, unsure as her eyes flickered up to gaze at the masked hero in front of her. 

She saw that he made to reach out to touch her forehead, so she let him. She let this young hero touch her forehead knowing this was part of his duty. What she didn't expect was a familiar tingly feeling at first contact. It caused her to let out a small gasp, in turn causing Spider-Man to pull his hand away quickly.

"Looks like a bad bump." He was quick to take a step back, ready to spring away. "Probably a concussion. Let the paramedics take a look at the please Ms?"

"Marinette." She says, feeling her head tentatively. 

"Marinette." Spider-Man repeats, and somehow she just knows he's smiling under that mask. "Stay safe in these parts."

She watched as he swung out of the car and away from the subways as police officers rolled in with paramedics and news outlets. She could understand not wanting to be around the media after something has happened. They were vultures at times for any information that had nothing to do with the incident. 

The paramedics were good to her, looking her over and giving her some pain medication to get at a local pharmacy with a prescription. She felt shaken up, and now the subway was out of order so she wasn't sure how to get home without a taxi- and that racked up a fee quickly. Taking a deep breath she decided to make that choice when she got out of the subway, and so she did. She went back up into the city and took a deep breath.

"What a day." She muttered, looking down when she felt Tikki press against her and scolded herself for not checking on. the kwami sooner.

"How are you Tikki? You okay?" The sincerity in her eyes caused Tikki to nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay Mari." She says softly, moving to push Marinette's cell phone to her. "Call Peter, see if he's free."

Apparently it might have been a sign, at least to Marinette when her phone screen lit up with Peter's profile picture. It was a picture of him with cookie dough all over from a flour war. He was laughing at something she couldn't remember, but she remembered feeling at home. How precious those moments had become to her. 

"Hello?" She answered the phone softly.

"Mari, were you on that subway? Are you okay?" Peter's voice was worried, and it broke her heart all at once as she realized how close she been to that gun. How real it was out here outside Paris and her magic bubble.

"I was, and I have a concussion. Probably some bruising on my back too." Marinette couldn't help but grip her phone tighter, "I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Come over. Aunt May already says you have extra clothes from other time you've stayed. We can do our Star Wars marathon and bake something. Unless you want to rest, which is understandable-"

"I'll be there Peter." Marinette couldn't help the smile that graced her lips. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

................

Luka had itched the past few days to just grab his phone and contact Marinette, but what could he really say to her? She knew his feeling and now he knew hers, and he respected that. He respected that she was happy, that she was healing and that her heart was never truly his to have. Not completely. 

"It's okay Marinette. You deserve to be happy, and you weren't happy here in Paris anymore. Not truly. You perfected the smile and the I'm fine's. I saw the signs, and now I can relax in knowing you're healing. You're okay and safe and have someone there for you who cares about you. You're an extraordinary young woman Marinette, you just need to believe in your abilities more."

"Luka-"

"I'm glad you're finally well. I have to go to band practice. I'll talk to you later."

He always knew that she more that met the eye at first glance, that there some was something extraordinary about her. The thought was only solidified when he met Ladybug, he would recongize those blue bell eyes anywhere and the song that played in her melody.  He couldn't refuse when she offered him the snake miraculous. How could he? She was trusting him to protect the city, to aid her in the mission of stopping Hawkmoth.

Yet it caused him to worry those months she started to spiral, when her melody started to flicker and her smile became the perfection of emulation. It wasn't the girl he had meet before, and he knew she was a ticking time bomb. She was the one who couldn't lose her cool, she had to have a grip on her emotions. Realistically how much could one take before they broke?

Luka had tried to be there for her. Tried to correct his sister when she said false things about Marinette. He had done his best, but Marinette never let anyone in. It took him a moment to realize she never truly let anyone in, not deeply anyone. She gave general knowledge, hung out with others enough to pass as normal.

 She had truly perfected the act here in Paris, and something snapped. Chloe stepped in, having been the first one to piece it together and got her the hell out of Paris before Hawkmoth could make a move against her. In that time in New York she had found peace, healed a bit and part of him was upset he wasn't part of that process. He was useless to her as Marinette, and he had wanted to be more. 

He felt guilty for those feelings, but logically he knew there was nothing wrong feeling the way he did. He just wanted to make sure  Marinette knew he was okay, that they were okay. He could only image the guilt she felt seeing him as an akuma. A part of him was touched she showed back up in Paris for him. It never escaped his knowledge that she never came back for an akuma, but she did for him. He knew she cared about him, but he just didn't know how to approach her anymore.

"Guilt tripping yourself isn't going to help you." Kagami's voice echoed through his head. The girl in front of him that was usually cold had started seeing through him as if her was transparent. She was one of the only ones that  really could. "Text her when you're ready, she'll understand."

If only it were as simple as it sounded.

................

It was weird to Peter how much he had come to care about Marinette in such a short time. There was a part of him that knew she needed to stay in his life, no matter what. It was this instinctual feeling of just knowing she was supposed to be here in this like with him. He got that small spark when they first touched when they meet. A little jolt that woke every nerve in his body.

Then he got it again with her as Spider-Man. He was convinced that it meant something because he honestly never had the sensation with anyone else. He refused to tell Aunt May about it, knowing she would just say it was part of his Peter Tingle. It was bad enough she already let it slip to Marinette. 

Today was enough to him really let him know how he felt for Marinette, cementing those feelings to heart. When he saw her there on the train, blood on her forehead because she hit her head, he grew worried. He worried now that she would be caught up in these crimes that popped up, and it was a worry he never had before. He lost his parents at a young age in a plane crash, it was why his Aunt May took him in and practically raised him to the best of her ability with her nursing shifts. He was young then, and where he missed his parents now he could never really saw he mourned them. He hardly remembered Richard and Mary Parker.

Yet the thought of losing Marinette didn't settle well. He couldn't lose her, or his aunt, or Ned or MJ. He had a short list of people he was close with and loved, so he couldn't bare the thought of losing anyone of them. It wasn't even something he wanted to think about. Maybe that was why he pulled out his cell phone, brought Marinette's contact up and pressed the dial button.

"Hello?" She answered the phone softly.

"Mari, were you on that subway? Are you okay?" Peter could hear the worry  in his own voice. Hearing her voice sound so soft, subtly shaken, it made him worry that she might leave New York now. As selfish as that sounded. 

"I was, and I have a concussion. Probably some bruising on my back too." Marinette paused for a second, "I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Come over. Aunt May already says you have extra clothes from other time you've stayed. We can do our Star Wars marathon and bake something. Unless you want to rest, which is understandable-"

"I'll be there Peter." Marinette cut his rambling off, "I'll see you in a few minutes."

Peter knew she was close by, given the location of the subway incident and how he felt the bomb go off. It was what alerted him before the media did, and why he was on the scene so fast. He just hadn't expected Marinette to be on that subway. It was also then he realized how little time he had to clean up his room, and so like a mad man he ran about. 

Aunt May heard the commotion from the living room that came from Peter's room. She shook her head out of amusement. She already knew that if her superhero nephew was running around like a chicken without its head that it only meant one thing, Marinette was on her way over. Grabbing the phone, she made the choice to order the two teens a pizza, or three before her shift. Surprisingly the two could eat. May knew about Peter's appetite but Marinette also had one too. Not that she was one to judge. 

"Ordering pizza!" May called out, dialing the one spot the two liked. 

"Pepperoni, cheese and supreme please!" Peter called back, throwing a pile of clothes into his closet to hide.

May didn't even bother to reply as she gave pleasantries to the pizza worker and placed the order for delivery. She knew most people might judge on her leaving two teens alone in the apartment while she worked her graveyard shift at the hospital, but honestly Peter and Marinette were mature enough to leave alone. They were both interning somewhere where it would give them career. Of course she knew Peter was really swinging around half the time, but Marinette was a promising young woman. She had to trust the two were responsible. 

Plus it was amusing watching them go through their awkward phase of being attracted to each other and not knowing what the hell to do about it. She often liked to remind Peter that protection was key, and that there was some under the sink in the restroom. Of course that often got him burning at the cheeks and stuttering away that it wasn't like that. Yeah, May remembered what it was to be a hormonal teenager. She lived it, and she reminded him of that and it only caused Peter to walk away acting like he didn't hear a word she said.

"Pizza will be here in forty minutes to and hour!" May called, grabbing her purse and stopping at the door of his bed room. "Be safe, make good choices and don't do anything that I wouldn't."

"May!" Peter groaned and gave her a look that was a little more serious, "Marinette was caught up in the subway incident today. She was shaken up."

"She met Spider-Man?" May wiggled her eyebrow for a second, but she saw how he never lost the serious look, "Is she okay?"

"She has a concussion, and was shaken up witnessing a murder. I didn't think she'd want to be alone after that." Peter admits softly, "She isn't the type who likes to be alone."

May looked over him, really taking in the boy she raised. He never spoke of anyone like this before, not even when he saved people on a daily base. It made her lips curl into a knowing smile, yet she knew better than to say anything more. 

"Don't stay up too late tonight. Money is on the table for the pizza." May says, turning to walk out of the apartment for her shift. 

Peter heard the front door click shut, then kicked into hyperdrive. He ran to the restroom, took a quick body shower and got ready quick. He estimated Marinette would be here any moment, and he was only off about five minutes. When she knocked on the door, Peter was right there to open it. 

Once again he looked her over, not really seeing any other injury but the bruising on her forehead where she hit the side of her head. He couldn't help but reach out to gently touch her forehead, watching how her eyes contorted in pain that she tried to fight off her facial features. It was enough to have him pull his head back. 

"Are you feeling light headed? Tired? Nauseous?" He questioned her, wanting to make sure she wasn't putting up a front.

Marinette gave a tired smile, "Tired. A little light headed, probably from not really eating. Nauseous, no. I'm okay Peter." She tired to come off as reassuring but even she could hear her tone, "But I'll probably fall asleep watching the movies, unless I have-"

"No coffee." Peter left no room for her to try to argue about it, shaking his head. "You don't need to be awake, you need to rest. Aunt May already ordered us pizza, food is covered. We have some sodas and juices but no caffeine for you."

He booped her nose at the end of his sentence,