Alya is NOT Disloyal!

[peppermint_shamrock]

Alya loves to flirt with her boyfriend when he's suited up as Carapace. Chat Noir, for some reason, is upset by this.

Written for DJWifi December Day 28 Prompt - Loyalty

Canon Divergent, takes place after Anansi but before Heroes' Day, so Alya knows Nino is Carapace but he doesn't know that she is Rena Rouge

AO3 Link

----------------------------------------------------------------

Supervillains were really good for her fitness, Alya had to say. She’d never been a couch potato, but the distance she could run without getting out of breath had noticeably improved since the start of the school year. She wondered if the same was true for others. Hmm. Maybe she could do a piece on it for the Ladyblog…

Of course, she wasn’t running away from the supervillains like most people were. She was running after them, to get the best on-scene footage for her blog. And today’s was unfortunately quite fast, so Alya found herself running all over the place just to get a glimpse. She was also on the lookout for Nino, having (unsurprisingly) gotten separated from him in all the chaos.

She grumbled as the supervillain jumped away again and Chat Noir chased after him. This fight was making for terrible viewing. Sprinting off to follow them as best as she could from the streets, she could really feel it catching up with her as her legs began to burn.

Two shadows flew over her, and Alya stopped to catch her breath and look up.

Well. That answered where Nino was.

Carapace and Ladybug landed neatly on a nearby rooftop, and Alya started climbing the access ladder on the side of the building to make her way up to them as Ladybug flagged Chat Noir down. She could hear the sound of their voices, but couldn’t make much out of what they were saying from her position.

She reached the top just as Ladybug left, much to Alya’s disappointment. However, Chat Noir and Carapace remained behind, holding what Alya assumed was the result of Ladybug’s latest Lucky Charm.

Well, even if Ladybug left, she still had heroes to interview…or tease, in Carapace’s case. This could be fun…

“Heeeey boys,” she said as she pulled herself up onto the roof. Both heroes jumped and whirled around to face her as she held up her phone. “Are we gonna get to see another amazing takedown of Papillon’s latest supervillain by our iconic duo…ooh, and our favorite new hero, Carapace, too!”

She barely hid her grin as Carapace blushed.

“Hey, Miss Ladyblogger!” Chat Noir said, grinning broadly as he waved at the camera. “Hello to all my fans on the Ladyblog!”

Carapace seemed to recover, and he added on, “Stand back. Ladybug is having us set a trap, and I don’t want you…any civilians in danger!” he quickly corrected himself, but Alya smiled knowingly at the small slip.

“As long as I get a clear shot of the action, I’ll be staying out of the way, so don’t you worry about that. And of course, I’ll have you to protect me, handsome.”

Carapace blushed again. Chat Noir’s grin disappeared instantly, and suddenly he was unusually businesslike as he directed Carapace to help him set up the trap. Alya just smiled. Chat Noir was probably just jealous that his flirtations didn’t have that kind of effect on Ladybug.

Careful not to disturb their preparations, Alya continued with her “interview”.

“So, we’ve been seeing a lot of new heroes lately. What brought on the change?” she asked. She was genuinely curious, but also didn’t want to tip them off to how much she actually knew about that. Nino may not have been successful in hiding his identity, but that didn’t mean she could be careless about her own. “And why not all the time?”

Chat Noir shrugged.

“It’s Ladybug’s call. You’d have to ask her.”

“Aw. Well,” Alya said, sidling unsubtly closer to her unsuspecting boyfriend. “I hope we’ll be seeing more of you, Carapace.”

Carapace’s blush deepened as he gave off that nervous laugh she knew well. Chat Noir’s hands slipped on the part of the trap he was working on.

“Uh, well, I don’t know…as my bud Chat Noir said, it’s Ladybug’s call,” Carapace said. He met her eyes briefly, and she could see the unspoken suspicion written in his.

You totally know, don’t you?

Alya only grinned as a response.

“I hope she calls more often, then,” she said. “You’re got all the right qualities – smart, strong, handsome…” She should probably stop before she flattered him into being unable to do his job, but dammit, this was just too much fun! She lowered her voice as she leaned in, “I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing a lot more of you…”

“Stop that.”

Alya jumped back, and turned in surprise at Chat Noir’s uncharacteristic harsh tone. He was practically glaring at her, and she immediately tried to wave off the tension.

“Hey, hey, no need to be grumpy that I flirt better than you,” she said, teasingly. “It’s just a matter of practice. I’ll give you some tips if you want – I’ll get you wooing Ladybug in no time…”

He cut her off unexpectedly, growling through gritted teeth.

“You. Have. A. Boyfriend.”

Alya blinked, then laughed. That certainly wasn’t what she expected the issue to be! She wondered how Chat Noir even knew that, but didn’t, it seemed, know that Carapace was her aforementioned boyfriend.

“Oh, I’m sure he doesn’t mind in the slightest,” she said, tossing a wink at Carapace, who gave off a nervous laugh again.

Chat Noir, however, did not appear to be reassured. But before he could protest further, the incoming supervillain took his attention away. Of course, it also took away Carapace’s, so Alya couldn’t exactly continue her flirting anyway, but on the upside, she had a great shot of the action for the Ladyblog.

Two close calls and one purified butterfly later, Alya was back down on the ground, waiting for Nino to return. She knew he probably had to return his Miraculous first, so she was patient, making sure she stayed where he’d last seen her.

She wondered if he’d go on pretending nothing had happened, or if he’d confront her about it. She’d all but admitted to him that she knew, after all, but there was still something to be said for keeping up appearances.

When Nino finally ran up to her, he stopped short and they simply stared at each other for a few moments. Alya could see the struggle written on his face, before he looked around to make sure they were alone, and sighed.

“How’d you know?”

“Know what?” Alya asked innocently. He raised an eyebrow at her, and she couldn’t keep her composure for even a moment longer. “Oh, alright. It was…everything, I guess. The way you talk, the way you move, the way you look at me…I’ve known since the time Nora was akumatized.”

“That long?” Nino said, crestfallen. “Man…couldn’t keep my identity a secret for even five minutes, I’m an awful superhero…”

“No! No,” Alya said, approaching him quickly to reassure him. “Come on, it’s not like that! You’re a great hero, even if I did figure you out so easily. How could I not, though, with how determined you were to protect me? I’m sure if I ever became a superhero and rescued you, you’d see right through it, too.” In fact, she had half a mind to test that, next time she became Rena Rouge…

He smiled hesitantly.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “And definitely if you decide to be so…forward, like today.”

Alya laughed. “Well, what’s the point of having a superhero boyfriend if you don’t flirt him up?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Nino said, blushing slightly. “but I’m afraid if I try to reciprocate, Chat Noir will Cataclysm me for stealing my own girl.”

“Ah, don’t worry about him,” Alya said, waving it off. “I think he just wishes he could be that smooth. Besides, Ladybug’ll keep him in line.”

“If you say so.”

.

.

.

As it turned out, some weeks later when Carapace was next called in to help, they should’ve worried a bit more.

“Aw, was I distracting you?” Alya teased as Carapace set her down firmly, far from the supervillain currently rampaging around the city.

“Yes,” he said. “You definitely were.”

“Mission accomplished, then.”

He shook his head, but a smile tugged at his lips. “Come on, Alya, I just want you safe.”

“And I want to watch you save the world, what’s so wrong with that?”

“I’m hardly saving the whole world, I mean, just the city, right?” Carapace said, deflecting the praise. “And Ladybug and Chat Noir are doing most of the work, I’m just…”

“None of that,” Alya said, moving forward to cup his face. “You do plenty of good, and you’re my favorite hero.”

He smiled. “I think you’re biased.”

“Oh, I know I am,” Alya said quietly, before leaning in for a quick kiss. Carapace eagerly reciprocated.

A flash of bright silver cut through the air and the couple broke apart and each jumped back. Carapace whirled and raised his shield in front of Alya to protect her.

But it wasn’t an Akuma that had found them. It was Chat Noir. A very, very displeased Chat Noir.

“What are you doing‽” he demanded, his tail lashing as he looked back and forth between Alya and Carapace.

“Sorry,” Carapace said quickly. “I know, I should be helping you guys out with the Akuma, I just wanted to get her to safety…I got distracted, that’s my fault, I…”

Chat Noir interrupted. “I didn’t hold it against you the first time, because you couldn’t have known. But I told you, she has a boyfriend. And he’s a good guy and I’m not going to let you help hurt him like this. I thought you were cool at first, but this…this isn’t okay! How can you call yourself a superhero?”

Carapace floundered for words. Alya could almost laugh at the situation. Just what was he supposed to say in his own defense when accused with stealing his own girlfriend?

Chat Noir rounded on her. “And you! Why are you doing this to Nino? Why would you go behind his back like this? And continue to date him the whole time you’re having this…this affair!” The last word was said in what could only be described as a scandalized whisper, and Alya couldn’t restrain her laughter anymore.

Unfortunately, it just set him off more. “You’re not even taking this seriously! Didn’t you even consider what you’re doing to him? How he’d feel if he knew? Nino deserves better than this!”

Alya knew she should probably stop laughing, but the whole situation was just too funny. She’d never seen Chat Noir this angry or serious before, and all over her having a bit of fun with Nino. But, she supposed, she couldn’t just rat out Carapace’s identity, so she had to diffuse the situation somehow.

“Look,” she said. “It’s sweet that you’re so worried about my boyfriend, but he’s fine with it, I swear! You can go and ask him if you want, after you’re done fighting the Akuma. He’ll tell you the same.”

But Chat Noir was too agitated to believe her. “You’re hurting him!” he insisted. “He cares about you so much, and you can’t even be loyal to him!”

“You haven’t even asked him!” Alya said.

“I don’t need to to say that being disloyal to your boyfriend is wrong!”

“I am NOT disloyal!”

“What is going on here?”

The three of them all turned to Ladybug, newly arrived on the scene, as she looked between them in confusion, clearly thrown by the unusual tension.

“Chat Noir, Carapace, I need your help right now. Is there a problem that’s preventing that?” she asked.

“Yes,” Chat Noir said stiffly. “Those two are having an affair!”

“I…what?” Ladybug said, practically choking at the unexpected response. Alya started laughing again.

“I can’t work with someone who enables someone to so unrepentantly betray her boyfriend!” Chat Noir insisted, and Alya practically doubled over at the scowl he shot her on the word ‘unrepentantly’. Ladybug’s eyes narrowed, and she turned to Carapace.

“Carapace,” she said, delicately. “I think we need to have a talk about safeguarding your identity…”

“I didn’t tell her!” he said, finally managing to speak up in his defense. “She figured it out all on her own, I swear!”

“Is that true?” Ladybug asked Alya, who nodded.

“Of course,” she managed, after stifling her laughter. “You think I wouldn’t recognize someone I spend every day with?”

“…Right,” Ladybug said, with a slight cough. “Well, you both should be more careful. It’s not just Chat Noir who might start asking questions, you know.”

“We were just having a bit of fun,” Alya grumbled, but assented.

The ire drained out of Chat Noir as realization began to show on his face. Had he been an actual cat, and had actual fur, Alya was certain it would be slowly settling down from its puffed out state.

“Oh…so you, this whole time, you…”

“Yeah,” Carapace said, awkwardly. “I…uh, appreciate you looking out for me and all, dude, but really, it was completely fine. Alya wasn’t really messing around behind my back.”

“Sorry,” Chat Noir said in a subdued tone. “And I owe you an apology as well, Alya.”

“Apology accepted,” she said, smiling. “I get how it could have looked bad.”

With the conflict resolved, Ladybug and the boys left to go deal with the rampaging supervillain. Alya tried to keep up as best she could, but Carapace really had brought her a ways away from the battle zone. She didn’t get a chance to see him again until after the battle was over and he’d already detransformed.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Nino said. “Long day, huh? Sorry I wasn’t much help with…that whole mess.”

She waved him off. “Eh, I started it.”

“That whole thing was so unreal. Never thought I’d find myself in a situation like that, that’s for sure.”

Alya nodded, and they began walking back together, easily falling into stride beside one another.

“You know…” Alya said after a moment. “Chat Noir was really protective over you.”

Nino shrugged. “Yeah, well he’s a good dude. That’s just what he’s like.”

“No, but he seemed personally invested,” Alya insisted, old theories resurfacing in her mind. “And you know who’s been kind of distant with me lately…?”

“No,” Nino said blankly. “Who?”

“Adrien.”

Nino stopped dead in his tracks as he burst out laughing.

“What? What?” Alya said.

“No way,” Nino said. “Come on, Alya, there’s just no way.”

“I’m telling you, it’s a possibility…”

“No way,” Nino repeated, still laughing. “When would he ever have the time? Besides, it’s like you said – wouldn’t we recognize someone we saw every day?”

“They do look similar,” Alya pointed out, and began digging for her phone. “Here, I made these ‘shops way back with him…”

“Was this back when you were on the Chloé-is-Ladybug theory?” Nino teased. Alya stopped reaching for her phone, and mock scowled at him. He wasn’t exactly wrong, that was the thing…

“I know better now,” she said. “And anyway, this is way better evidence than what I had for Chloé…”

“I’m telling you, it’s not him,” Nino said. “I’d know.”

“Oh, alright,” Alya conceded, and dropped the subject. Nino was probably right, the chances of them actually knowing the superheroes in real life was really low. No sense in trying to make superheroes where none existed.

She already had one superhero in her daily life, after all, and he was more than enough for her.