Ladybug was the one who called the first emergency meeting; the evening after Chat Blanc. She hadn't really expected him to be transformed, and thus able to answer her when she called him on her bug-phone, but he was.

She didn't think much of it.

The second time, Ladybug just wanted to be around someone who trusted her above else. She had gotten sick of Lila and her classmates as they doted over the phony vixen.

The third time, she had finally given up on Adrien, and desperately needed someone to support her through her tears.

The fourth time, she had a rough day. She just needed a friend.

She wasn't sure how many emergency meetings she had called - somewhere between two dozen and thirty; she knew that much - before Chat Noir summoned her.

She hadn't been transformed at the time - like he literally always was - so it took her about an hour to hear his voice message.

When she did, her heart just about stopped.

Chat Noir sounded so tiny and scared on the other end, a rough cough breaking him off every few seconds. "You don't have to come," he told her, audibly fighting to keep his voice smooth, "I just… sorta want to talk to someone? …it's not a big deal; not really."

Chat Noir was a terrific actor; he was. But even he couldn't keep the tremor out of his voice at all times.

Ladybug was already bounding off her balcony towards his tracker's signal before the voice mail had even finished rehearsing his words.

When she got to the quiet neighborhood, Chat Noir was sitting with his back to her, hugging himself and letting out strained sobs.

One glove was removed, his own bare hand cupping his cheek, savoring whatever physical touch he could get, even if it were just his own. His other arm, fully clothed in leather, was wrapped around his torso, though it looked dislocated.

"Chat?" She offered timidly, already preparing herself to hug him for however long he needed. (She had a feeling he wouldn't want to let go until dawn.)

Her partner whipped around before he could stop himself, eyes connecting with hers.

Before he turned away, shamefaced, she managed to spot - even past his mask - the bruises and cuts littering his entire face, the eye bags that threatened to overtake his cheeks, and his puffy eyes.

It was obvious he had gone through quite a beating.

"Alright." Ladybug announced, scooting herself beside him. "Whom do I need to kill?" (To be honest, she knew it was his father who beat him so soundly. Chat Noir has only mentioned his father once, when they were first starting out, but he hadn't finished explaining the usual "father-son experience" before the horrified look on Ladybug's face had silenced him.)

Presently, Chat Noir flinched slightly at Ladybug's words, but didn't answer. He simply rested his forehead on her shoulder, drooping tiredly.

Ladybug gave him a side-hug, unable to envelope him completely in her arms for fear of disturbing him.

"I'm sorry." He croaked out after hardly a moment of silently sitting, slipping his glove back on. "I'm sure you were busy; I shouldn't have called."

"Oh, for-" Ladybug takes a sharp inhale to stop herself from exploding; she really did have a short temper, and Chat Noir always lifts up his hands weakly to protect his face whenever she starts to get a little mad. The one time she asked him, he ran. She didn't see him for a week, the short Akuma attacks not included.

"Chat." She said slowly, trying not to sound angry. He was already tense from her two-word outburst, and much more might trigger a panic attack or worse. "Do you remember what the last meeting I called was about?"

"We hadn't had an Akuma in three days, and were taking a break from patrolling." Chat Noir said, his voice becoming quite clear as if he was trying to impress her; prove he could do whatever was asked of him. "And you missed me."

"That's right!" Ladybug praised, marveling at how much brighter Chat was already; by her praise if by nothing else. She wasn't sure he had even registered his last words. "Chat, if I can call you just because I missed you, you may certainly summon me whenever your dad-" she swallowed, doing her best not to finish the sentence. "Chat, I can summon you whenever, and you can summon me whenever, too."

"I thought you got extra privileges because you're team leader." Chat Noir whispered, turning to look at her quietly, one eyebrow raised. "Right?"

"We're partners." Ladybug hissed, clasping his right hand tightly. "We are the team leaders, alright?" She sighed quietly. "You're my best friend, Chat; of course I'd always be there for you. I don't care if it's the middle of the night or during school; I'll come running at any time to make sure you're alright. No matter what the true reason is, I won't get mad." She hesitated, then sighed. "Okay; I may get mad if you wake me while I'm catching up on lost sleep, but that's only because 1) I'm cranky when I first wake up. 2) You should be sleeping, too!" She teased leaning into him playfully.

He seemed to glow at that, smiling slightly. "If you're sure."

"Tell you what;" Ladybug determined, wringing her hands together. "I'm going to run home real quick and grab some first aid supplies. When I get back, we're going to start researching messenger apps so we can always be in contact, even while we're not transformed."

"O-okay!" Chat Noir agreed instantly, pulling back from her and already digging for his cat-phone.

"Alright, wait for me!" Ladybug instructed, waving cheerfully as she stood and unfurled her yo-yo. "Be back soon, kitty!"

(:)

It was still rare for Chat Noir to call an emergency meeting. For the next week, even though he didn't summon her, she could still see the fresh bruises that appeared on his skin every night when they patrolled. (On the nights they didn't patrol, Ladybug summoned a meeting herself. He didn't.)

Ladybug was terrified for him, and almost kidnapped him the second night. It wasn't until his gentle reassurance that she let him go home.

On the third day, Chat Noir was beaming with such force, despite bleeding from at least three different areas that had gotten very raw from the increasing bruises, that Ladybug thought he was going to burst. She thought he had brought good news, like his dad died or something, but instead he said "I haven't seen my father so many days in a row since I was in second grade!"

Fourth day, Ladybug winds up hugging him all night, despite his protests that he was fine. That his father simply being there was an improvement.

Fifth night, Chat Noir is holding his stomach tightly, and it takes a great deal of pastries - which Ladybug knows he'll hoard instead of eating right away - to be able to coax him into unzipping his suit down to his stomach, revealing that his entire body was a greenish-purplish hue.

Ladybug promised herself she'd kill his father.

The sixth night, Chat Noir comes to patrol without a single visible bruise. Ladybug guesses what happened, and when she touches his face, she's not surprised at all to find that his cheekbones are covered with makeup. He apologizes; he meant to wash it off before patrol but forgot that day. Ladybug wonders if he chooses to apply makeup, or if his dad forced him to.

The seventh night, Chat Noir is an hour late to patrol, stumbling and dry-heaving as he came. Ladybug manages to get him to a nearby garbage can before he vomits; nothing but bile coming up. He admits that his father had ordered him not to eat that day, and the only thing he was able to get his hands on were the hidden pastries from Ladybug. He's worse then she's ever seen him; he's skinner then normal, too, and she wonders if he has eaten at all that week.

The eighth night Chat Noir cries in her arms, gripping her like she would slip away. "I didn't see father tonight." He wails, shivering, "Did I do something wrong? Why isn't he coming anymore?"

Ladybug just hugs him and doesn't respond; she doesn't know how. She's surprised he came to her in the first place instead of concealing his true emotions. She doesn't know what to say to make it better. So she holds him and cries along with him.

(:)

Chat Noir didn't summon her again for over a year. She summoned him plenty; especially when she thought he was particularly sad or when she got a gut feeling that he was hurt, even without seeing him.

The second time he summons her, his hair is disheveled like he had been in a tussle, and his lip was bloodied and raw from him biting it too hard.

"M'la-" he cuts himself off, clenching his fists and eyes shut. "Ladybug, I've got… my father… I just found out he's Hawkmoth."

Ladybug doesn't miss a beat. "Finally!" She whoops, finding she isn't surprised, "a way to beat him into the ground without the cops on my tail!"

After he tells her that his father is Gabriel Agreste, her plan gets modified. There was no way Mr. Agreste was surviving the night.