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The rubble shifted ominously above them. Adrien was concerned that he was crushing his classmate with how quiet she was being.
“Marinette, are you okay?”
“Yeah!” she squeaked faintly. It...wasn’t very convincing, but at least now he knew she could breathe. He tried to figure out if there was a way to shift away from her enough to move his arm without dislodging a chunk of ceiling directly onto Marinette’s face.
If he could just turn enough to cataclysm it away…
Several layers of rubble above them, a chunk of stonemasonry fell onto the pile.
“Urk!” The suit gave him extra strength and protection, but even that was being put to the test as he suddenly found himself hard pressed to keep from completely smushing his classmate. His arms hurt from straining to push back on the collapsed ceiling.
Something creaked and rumbled and tilted and suddenly he found himself relieved of the weight even as (‘uh-oh.’) the chunk of cement settled downwards.
Chat’s voice cracked in a startled yelp and Marinette wheezed out a scream. He fell flat on top of her while his claws scrabbled uselessly out to either side.
The rumbling stopped.
They both breathed. Not in relief, quite, but… hey, they were still breathing!
“This isn’t how I expected this day to go,” said Chat.
“Hneek,” said Marinette.
“Are you still okay?” He had to check. Even feeling a bit scraped and bumped himself, at this point, but she didn’t have the benefit of a magical suit to ward off surface damage, and he couldn’t imagine that having another person squashed on top of her was doing her any favors.
“Nnnnn,” whined Marinette. Okay, she was really going to have to start speaking French soon to convince him she was actually uninjured at this point. “...nnnnnnnn….”
“Can you breathe? ...Mari?”
“..nnnnNNo I’m not fine, Chat! What do you think?!” She finally strained out from somewhere just below his ear. He counted them fortunate that neither of them had been suffocated in this position. His Lady must be nearby to count such luck, or maybe Marinette was just that worthy. At any rate, it gave them precious seconds until Ladybug could find them and rescue them.
“Sorry,” he said.
Marinette was doing a careful inventory of how much movement was available to her in her current position. It... wasn't much. Chat's weight was pretty much pinned solidly over her entire body. It didn't help that she was a touch shorter than he was. The floor pushed uncomfortably on her tailbone and Chat's belt was biting into her stomach. She was trying not to focus too much on these painful parts of the situation but it was still a step up from thinking too hard about the rest of it.
“We have to get out of here.”
Her breath puffed into the confined space. He wasn’t certain, but it seemed like she sounded less afraid than angry. Good. One of them had to be okay with being trapped under kilos upon kilos of collapsed building.
Especially since, now that the initial rush of adrenaline was leaving him, he so very, very much wasn’t.
But this was really not the time for claustrophobia. Marinette needed him to keep a level head. And Ladybug would doubtless be coming to their rescue any minute now.
“Ladybug will get us out one way or another.” He poured all the confidence he had into his voice, reminding himself of that fact as well. Unalterable. She would dependably save them like always. He could be tracked via his baton, which he was certain was somewhere buried just beyond his fingers. She'd find them! No big deal. Great!
“How much air do you think we have?”
He could feel her chin moving against the fabric of his suit as she talked and the heat of her suddenly made the lack of airflow seem overwhelmingly suffocating. His brain leapt at some chance for distraction from the tiny and terrifyingly enclosed space they were in.
“Not enough air. Why - do I take your breath away?”
It… just kinda slipped out. No no no bad timing. Why do you do this to yourself?
She spasmed a little underneath him, probably with frustration at the awful line, but the unfortunate side effect was that he noticed all the places they were pressed together.
Never mind breathing. He was gonna die.
Ladybug wouldn’t make it in time. He would be dead. And it was his own damn fault for not moving himself and Marinette out of the way fast enough.
“Chat, I think I can wiggle your arm free.”
Her hand was reaching up under his right arm and cautiously pressing on the loose bits of stonemasonry next to his elbow. He heard something grind eerily like a brick against a chalkboard. He winced.
“Uhhh-” but before he could come up with actual words of protest her fingers had wrapped around his forearm and, with a shudder of effort that he could feel all-too-well through every part of his suit, tugged it loose of the weight pinning it.
The strain of the odd angle had left her huffing, and she couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen to make up for it in the closed space, but he wasn’t wasting any time.
“You’re a marvel, Princess. Thank you. Cataclysm!”
The instant her hand slid far enough from his, he activated his power and slapped his hand onto the cement overhead, willing the entire pile of debris to crumble into dust.
He forgot to fill his lungs, first. A mistake.
The stone dissolved into powder and sand, but the two of them were still left partially smothering underneath it.
The difference was that now it was now malleable. Marinette, unlike him, had apparently inherited the genius gift of forethought, and was already rolling them to the side even as the sand collapsed over them. It was her quick thinking that allowed her to push up out of the pile of cement and metal sand, dragging him with her an instant later. They gasped and hacked up dust.
“You saved our lives, Kitty.” She said, squeezing his arm. He felt like he was being given a participation prize.
“I (cough) didn’t (pant) do anything. You got my arm free. Way to be a hero, Marinette.” He managed a smile, even still choking a little. He was glad she wasn't mad at him, at least. He had intended to save her. Even if he did a bang-up job of it.
Oddly enough, the compliment seemed to distress her. This was confusing, so he decided that it was time for a quick exit to go recharge and then find Ladybug.
“I’d better go before my transformation starts running out.”
Her eyes widened and she started waving her hands frantically in a very Marinette-ish way.
“Oh! Yes! There’s still an akuma to defeat! You'd better not waste any more time on top of me-"
Chat wheezed. Her eyes widened in horror "Nooo- Go back to getting on top of things- no- STOP GOING and and waste back in time! I mean-"
They both turned bright red under their ridiculous-looking coating of pulverized cement.
"Uhhhh... thanks?"
Right. Yes. Deal with that whole experience… uh… later. Chat gave a final cough. Ladybug was probably wondering where he was by now. At least saving civilians from death by falling building was a good excuse for his lateness.
He spied his baton poking out of the sand and snatched it up. Ahh, normalcy.
“Well, then. Be seeing you, Marinette!” He said, mustering a customary grin as he dashed away.
She stood there for a second scanning the patch of gray dunes he’d created amid the rubble.
“Tikki?” She called out hesitantly. The little red kwami appeared from behind a piece of exposed rebar and zipped over to her.
“Thank goodness, Marinette! I was so worried!” Tikki’s eyes shone with unshed tears as she gave Marinette’s cheek a little hug.
“I’m all right, Tikki. Chat was there for me as always.”
“You were almost crushed!”
“It's not a cru-” her protest cut off in realization of what Tikki had actually said, followed by narrowed eyes and bright red flush.
The kwami eyed her knowingly, but quickly switched to business.
“Are you ready to defeat the akuma, Marinette?”
Marinette nodded, falling back into familiar territory.
“Transform me, Tikki,” she said, and her smile was fierce.