Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Adrien entered his room, out of breath with hot tears prickling in his eyes. This was so unfair! For fifteen years he was locked up in his own house like a stupid Disney princess, and he smiled and nodded and modeled and did anything he could to appease his father and help him grieve, and the one time he asked for something, he was screamed at for being selfish and self-centered! 

He threw himself onto his bed, latching onto his 5-foot long Neko plushies—he has a collection of them, and he would not be judged for it—before screaming into it, screams eventually dissolving into whimpers and choked sobs as he curled into a ball, mourning the briefest glimpse he had at a better life before it was snatched out of his grasp. 

His tear ducts eventually ran out of tears to shed, and Adrien sighed, slumping on his bed. He turned his head, where he caught sight of a small black box on his desk, lying there unassuming.

He rubbed his bloodshot eyes of any tears left, before getting off of his bed and towards the mysterious little box to inspect it, "Huh? What's this?" He asked, picking up the small... jewelry box?

Upon further inspection, Adrien took note of an ancient Chinese symbol engraved in the box. He learned about it during his Chinese lessons, having to read some mythology and ancient texts in Chinese. It was specifically a stylized 禄 lù symbol, which stood for prosperity. 

Adrien, now much more curious as to what this box was, decided to open it while mumbling under his breath, "Please don't be something for Chinese lessons, please don't be something for Chinese lessons—" before cutting himself off, gasping at the green ball of energy which came from an unassuming ring that decided to circle him and form into a small cat-like creature.

Adrien, already excited at the cartoonish-looking magical Cat, decided to approach it and poke it.

He gasped gently, eyes sparkling, "No way... Death God…?" To which the small creature reply with nudging at the finger while making little angry noises and dusting himself off, and answering Adrien promptly,

"I've met them. So they kill people, big deal! I'm way more personable and have better taste! Plagg. Nice to meet you." Plagg quickly offered his small appendage for Adrien to shake before getting distracted by the various things in Adrien's room "Ooh, swanky…" Plagg started flying around, poking and playing and chewing anything in his reach.

Adrien gasped and started chasing Plagg around his room to make sure he doesn't chew or break anything valuable "No! Don't touch that! Come back here!" He whined.

Plagg did not seem to listen, but instead continued with his charades, "Ohh! So shiny! Can you eat this?" He asked before trying to bite on Adrien's game arcade's joystick and gagging, "No, you can't. Ooh, what about this?"

Adrien quickly caught Plagg, stumbling and falling while still holding onto him, and then sending him the sternest look he could muster, "I still don't know what you're doing here, or even what you are for a matter of fact."

Plagg groaned from Adrien's hands, before relenting. "Look, I'm a kwami. I grant powers. Yours is the power of Destruction, got it?"

Adrien, eyes sparkling, nodded his head silently, afraid he will let out any ridiculous girly screech of joy because  oh my gosh, this is like in those comics! This is too good to be true.  "Uh-uh…" he said, breathless.

Plagg sighed fondly before sending Adrien a very serious look, "Good. Now, you got anything to eat? I'm starving…" he said melodramatically, feigning fainting.

Adrien shook his head back and forth before looking at Plagg again, still shocked, "My Dad's pranking me, right? Wait, he couldn't be. He has no sense of humor." Adrien mused while loosening his grip on Plagg.

Plagg flew out of Adrien's hands in haste, "Your father must never know that I exist! Or anyone for that matter! Not if you want to be a superhero, that is!" Plagg said, squishing Adrien's cheeks.

Adrien pulled away, sobering at the suggestion after remembering the reality, which is his life. "But I'm stuck here! I'm never even allowed to go to school! What good is a superhero who's imprisoned in his own house!" He said, trying to not get too depressing.

Plagg huffed, before floating in front of Adrien's face, little—Paws? Hands? Appendages?—on his tiny hips. "No good. That's why it's all going to change soon. If you're willing to change, that is. Claws out! That's how you transform."

Adrien nodded determined, already having prepared his entire life, watching anime and superhero movies, for this moment. "Got it. Plagg, claws out!"

Plagg looked at Adrien in a panic, waving his arms frantically, "No, wait! I haven't finished explaining—!" yet he couldn't finish his sentence before getting sucked into the ring from the box Adrien put on.

Adrien felt the green energy engulf him while a cat-themed leather suit was forming on him—of course, while he posed appropriately for each part of said outfit. When the transformation completed, Adrien rushed towards a mirror, before squealing happily at how he looked. "Too cool! This is the best thing ever!" He said, twirling to take a full look of his new suit, before remembering he had to actually go save Paris now.

He jumped, "Oh, right!" Before pulling out what seemed like a baton from his belt, with a little paw-shaped button. Pressing on it, the stick extended almost hitting Adrien if it weren't for him pointing it away in the last second. 

Adrien stayed in an awkward position for a bit, inspecting the baton. Taking a deep breath and pressing another button to shorten the stick, Adrien—now Chat Noir, he decided— hopped out of the window, whispering to himself, "You got this" over and over like a mantra.

OoOoO

Today was proving to be far more exciting and joyful than Adrien could have possibly expected. He had a Death God in a ring, the ability to transform, and now he had a superhero partner! This was becoming the best day ever! 

He looked over at his partner, who was behind him, seeming nervous. Of course, she probably hadn't been cooped up and preparing for this her whole life with countless anime, so this was more than likely an unexpected occurrence.

It was at that moment he realized he didn't have a name for her other than clumsy. That felt rude, so for the moment, he chose to identify her as Spots. 

Anyway, he and Spots made it to the stadium just in time to see the massive rock supervillain chasing some kids who, from what Chat could tell, were around his age. He felt eagerness bubbling up—after all, when you're prepared for a situation such as this, the greatest challenge is not showing how excited you are.

Alright, so he had to introduce himself effectively and dramatically at the same time. This was his superhero debut, and he didn't want to be too cliché—he needed to be memorable since it wasn't like he was the first superhero in real life since that honor went to Pixie Girl, Majestia, Sparrow, and the Ghost Force in New York. Now that he thought about it, why were all the superheroes in strictly New York? Maybe that's why Chloe wanted to move there, other than her Mom living there. 

He decided to use his extendable staff to land dramatically between the monster and this student who he assumed, judging by the screaming, was named Kim. He couldn't bring himself to really call it a villain, which would be the mastermind behind who used the... Akuma, right? Chat's first thought was Junko Enoshima since she was always the mastermind, but he pushed those thoughts away, grinning and playing it cool as though this wasn't awesome, and he was internally screaming from sheer glee. 

"Hey, it's not very nice to pick on people who are smaller than you." He taunted, 

"I guess you're talking about yourself." Generic Monster 1 looked down at him and then proceeded to try to punch him, so in retaliation, Chat jumped and flipped expertly, smacking him with his stick, only for the monster to grow.

Alright, so maybe it wasn't as generic as expected and may actually be more than a level one boss. All the better, but he would appreciate some assistance from Spots.

"Where are you, partner?" He shouted in her direction as he did a backhand-spring out of harm's way repeatedly, in hopes of having video game invincibility frames. 

Spots did not seem interested in helping, and Chat Noir felt a little annoyed, before deciding that he was being irrational. This kind of thing just wasn't for everyone, and it wasn't like she had chosen to be the Ladybug holder, just like he hadn't chosen to be the Cat. 

In his enhanced peripheral vision, he saw another girl around his age, filming all of this on her phone.  "Awesome!"  Was his first thought, followed very quickly after once the monster tossed a net her way with,  "What are you doing?!" 

Why was she here? Oh. He realized she must be a journalist, who in his experience were known for breaking the code of ethics, which also specified the safety of themselves and others. 

He threw his stick to save the girl but found himself captured in the monster's grip, who squeezed to the point of actual pain. He sucked in a breath to hide a whimper as his arms were pressed against his ribs far too much for comfort. 

"What are you waiting for, super red bug? The world is watching you!" The girl shouted to Spots, and Chat Noir looked up, hoping that maybe it would have an effect since his current situation was less than ideal. 

And thankfully, after a few moments, it did, with Spots jumping down with her yoyo and sliding under the monster's legs landing gracefully with a small smirk on her face. Chat Noir gave her an encouraging grin to let her know she was doing great. 

"Animal cruelty? How shameful!" She tugged quickly on the yoyo, causing the monster to fall to the ground, and releasing Chat, who took a breath now that he could fully breathe unhindered, and getting up from where he had been launched into the net, "Sorry, it took so long, Chat Noir."

He shrugged, "It's cool, Wonderbug." He looked to where the monster was getting back up, "Now, let's kick his rocky behind!"

He went running for another attack but was suddenly stopped by Spots grabbing onto his belt, which acted as his tail. It caught him off balance, and he pouted, more than a little put-out, but knew whatever Spots had to say was probably necessary.

"Wait! Haven't you noticed?" She let go, which had him stumbling for a moment before regaining his balance, "He gets bigger and stronger with every attack. We have to do something different."

"Different how?"

"Uhhh..." she put a finger under her chin, deep in thought, "I don't know." Chat Noir brightened, suddenly getting an idea,

"Okay, then. Let's use our powers! Cataclysm!" He examined his leather-clad hand, which was covered in blackish-purple bubbles, and he grinned playfully at Spots, feeling a weight off his shoulders, being able to talk to her with no Agreste name to uphold. "Apparently, I destroy whatever I touch."

Spots crossed her arms, "I don't need a superpower to destroy everything." She suddenly straightened as he touched the net to test out his new ability. "No, don't do that!"

He was too busy with the concept that he had real superpowers to wonder why Spots was concerned—to be fair, it was the power of Destruction.

"Cool!" He looked up at the monster, grinning broadly, "It's just you and me now! Time to rumble, soon-to-be rubble!" He charged, just barely hearing Spots calling for him to wait.

He leaped into the air, his hand touching the monster's foot, only for a sinking feeling to set in as he realized the exact reason for the concern, and he had just made a colossal mistake. Maybe he should have listened to Plagg and the rules of how this worked.

"Uh-oh. I guess I only get one shot to use my power." He waved sheepishly, only to get kicked square in the gut and launched back over to Spots, wondering how he was even alive, let alone able to get up without a problem from what should have been a fatal attack.

"And you only have five minutes before you transform back." Spots snapped, borderline condescendingly, "Didn't your kwami explain anything to you?" Chat Noir shrugged, his hands behind his head, another mannerism he had shamelessly picked up from anime.

"I guess I was a little excited about my new life."

Spots smirked a little, and Chat was glad to see she had gained confidence in herself. Maybe all she had needed was a little warming up.

"Well, up to me. Lucky Charm!" She threw her yoyo in the air, and what looked to be a wetsuit appeared, but it was in the Ladybug-themed spotted print, and when he looked at it, the costume looked like it could be a superhero outfit for the Ladybug theme. Still, how was that going to help them?

"Super power." He said sarcastically, curious to see how this could help them, but as it was, he felt slightly underwhelmed.

Spots didn't seem to have any better idea than he did, just shrugging in response to the suit, "My kwami told me I have to break the object where the whatcha ma-call-it... er, the Akuma is hiding."

"Well, he's made entirely out of stone." He gestured over to the monster, which was hunched over, swinging its arms from side to side as it ran at them. It had attained its top speed, which was surprisingly slow and didn't seem much faster than the average person's top speed. So really, he was more briskly walking at them. 

Spots' eyes had a sudden shine to them as she pointed at the monster,

"His right hand, it's still closed. He never opens it. It's like the Russian dolls. The object isn't on him, it's hidden in his fist!"

"So... what's your plan? I personally do not understand how the wetsuit is gonna be any help to us unless it's a factor in a Rube Goldberg machine."

Spots looked around, "Hmmm... I think you're right!" She grabbed a hose and tied it to the suit, almost making it look like a deflated balloon, and she tied his feet with her yoyo. "Don't resist. Trust me."

However, he didn't even have any time to react other than scream, "This girl's crazy!" as she began spinning at such a speed that he was being lifted off the ground and then thrown at the monster and into his fist once again. 

"Catch me if you can!" Spots taunted, leading to the monster opening his other hand and dropping a tainted purple ball of some sort. Chat Noir wasn't close enough to see what it was supposed to be, and didn't have any time to contemplate that as suddenly Spots was in the monster's other hand and shouting to the journalist girl, "Alya, the tap!" 

So Spots knew the reporter girl—Alya apparently. That didn't come as much of a shock since he knew that his own home life of being sheltered and having one friend alongside a bunch of anime characters he liked to sometimes pretend were friends, and otherwise having no human interaction with anyone in his age group, was not normal.  

Alya ran over to the tap, and then suddenly, the wetsuit did indeed inflate like a balloon, leading the monster to let go of Spots, giving her the time to break the object. The stone golem turned back into a human boy as the rocks broke free of his body, all of them falling unceremoniously onto the ground, and seconds later vanished into nothing. 

Chat Noir took a moment to get his bearings, and then stared at Spots in awe, amazed that someone so nervous before could turn out to be a fantastic hero and make it look effortless.

"This girl is awesome. She's crazy awesome." He exhaled, before turning to the victim, 

"What's going on? What am I doing here?" Chat examined him for a moment, but he seemed fine, if not a little dazed, and he was pretty sure Spots would know how to interact with him better than someone whose interactions with another human being besides his father and Nathalie in the last four months since his mother vanished could be counted on one hand. And Spots needed to know how fantastic she had done,

"You were incredible, miss... uh... Spots. You did it!"

Spots had her hands up as though embarrassed to accept the compliment, smiling sweetly at him and bringing a slight blush to his cheeks,

"We both did it, partner." She corrected, and that caused butterflies in his stomach, having been able to help and save people! 

Even better, she went in for a fist-bump at the same time he did! "Pound it!" They both said in synch as Chat's Miraculous began to beep, revealing he only had two paw pads left. 

Spots' expression grew somber, "You should get going. Our identities must remain secret."

That made sense. Chat wanted to know who his partner was behind the mask, but not only would he like to get to know her as his true self before revealing his ties to fame and fortune, but if anyone found out, that could put their families in danger. It was an understandable move, especially since they had just met.

He bowed to her, "Farewell, M'lady." He ran off, waving as he went and extending his stick to get out of the stadium, shouting back, "Let's do this again soon, okay?"

He ran back to his house, jumping in the window just as his transformation wore out, his entire body shaking with glee that he found himself jumping up and down a bit, trying to contain himself, "Plagg, that was amazing! And—And my partner! She's so cool and talented, it's almost hard to believe people like that can exist in real life!"

"Yeah," Plagg moaned, "But fueling those transformations tires me out. I'm starving!" He stressed each syllable in the word, and Adrien shrugged,

"Alright, I'll get you something to eat."

Twenty Minutes Later

"Camembert cheese. Fantastic. All he eats is Camembert, which means I'm gonna smell like stinky old cheese." Adrien grumbled to himself, already scrunching his nose at the terrible smelly cheese Plagg was eating. Plagg continued chewing happily, until a news report came, making them both turn their heads in shock.

"These victims transformed into stone beings are still like statues. The police are perplexed at what will happen to them. Will they come back to life or be frozen in time forever?" Adrien stares silently at the screen, before turning in Plagg's direction, worried.

"Plagg? What's going on? I thought we defeated him." He asked, already getting nervous.

"Did you capture the Akuma?" Plagg asked, munching faster on cheese, preparing himself for another fight. Adrien shook his head before Plagg began to explain, "Ladybug needs to capture and purify the Akuma so it won't spread and multiply."

"So, I can't do anything without Ladybug?" Adrien asked, already getting an icky feeling in the pit of his stomach, and now assuming that Ladybug was indeed his partner's alias. Was he even necessary? Ladybug was the only one required to win this fight, was he just there as a distraction?

Plagg nodded, "Only Ladybug can capture akumas and repair damage caused by supervillains." Before going up to Adrien, giving him an encouraging look to go and make things right. Plagg internally sighed, knowing the kid had already grown on him and owned his poor little Kwami heart.

Adrien nodded with a newfound fervor, "Okay, for tonight we go to rest, but tomorrow we will make things right along with Ladybug, does that sound like a plan?" Plagg smiled already tucking himself into Adrien's bed,

"Sounds good for me! Now come on, kid, you'll need some rest."

OoOoO

Plagg groaned dramatically, "You're such a strange kid. Who would want to be at school when he can stay at home all day?"

"You don't get it, Plagg," Adrien said, dressing up and getting ready for the day. "I've had enough of being shut up at home by my Dad. I want to meet people and make friends! Go to a normal school like everyone else!" He ranted while frantically getting ready.

Plagg sighed theatrically, "Uhhh, I think I'm feeling weak…"

Adrien huffed, "You know what's strange?" He said before stopping to run, unhooking his bag and grabbing a wedge of Camembert, offering it to Plagg. "The fact that all you eat is this disgusting, rotten-smelling Camembert cheese, and then I have to smell like it 24/7. That's strange." Plagg happily snatched the wedge of cheese and swallowed it whole, causing Adrien to gag a bit.

"If you want to be able to transform into a superhero, then stinky cheese is the deal, my friend!" Adrien sneaked out, before continuing to the school, only for Nathalie to call out for him.

"Adrien! Don't do this! Your father will be furious!" She said, clearly not in the mood for this.

Adrien turned to shout back at Nathalie, "Tell him you got here too late. Please!" Before sprinting to the inside of the school while Nathalie is left for herself.

Adrien spotted Chloé among the groups of students, calling out for her, "Hey, Chloé!" He said, waving at her.

Chloe gasped, before going to cling onto his arm and stand on her tippy toes "Adrikins! You came!" She said, frankly quite loudly. Other students noticed Adrien and rushed over toward him, shouting in recognition and starting to ask questions and gossip amongst themselves about the model in their school.

Many people started shouting in his direction, getting him nervous. "Could I have your autograph, please?"

And, "Adrien, can I have an autograph, Adrien, I'm a huge fan!"

Chloé pulled Adrien to a seat in the classroom he believed he would be learning in from now on, assuming his father didn't murder him when he got home. "Wow. This is your seat, Adrikins. I saved it for you. Right in front of me!" She said, fluttering her eyelashes and leaning and touching Adrien's side.

Adrien stepped away, politely, "Thanks, Chloé." Before noticing a boy next to him, scrutinizing him. Adrien tried to smile kindly, to not break under the judgemental gaze, "Uh… Hey! Adrien." He said, offering his hand to shake.

The boy merely looked at the hand, unimpressed before looking at Adrien, "You're friends with Chloé, then, huh?"

Adrien looked like a confused puppy at him, not understanding what the question was implying or why it was being asked in the first place. The boy sighed before patting the seat next to him, offering a seat for Adrien. They both continued talking for a bit, and Adrien made friends with who he now knows is Nino! His first friend.

He quickly noticed Chloé and Sabrina putting gum on a seat near him, and stood up, upset "Hey! What's that all about?" He asked, pointing at the gum attached to the seat, noticing an approving smile from Nino.

Chloé merely scoffed at his question, flipping her hair unbothered. "The brats that sat here yesterday need a little attitude adjustment. I'm just commanding a bit of respect, that's all."

Adrien huffed, trying to puff out his chest and look as stern as possible, "You think that's really necessary?" He asked, already not pleased with Chloé's behavior to other people and realizing why Nino asked him whether he was friends with her.

Chloé laughed theatrically to herself, "Ah, you've got a lot to learn about school culture, Adrikins. Watch the master."

Not even an hour later, Adrien's first day of school couldn't get worse. Not only did he manage to upset a potential friend by not explaining himself, and embarrassing himself when his name was called upon in roll call, he doesn't even make it past it. This was because Ivan—he quickly learned— has gotten akumatized into Stoneheart yet again. Oh, this was all his fault...

Adrien snuck out of class before going to hide in the locker room and let Plagg out of his shirt pocket, who was cheering to himself, "A day off? Now that's what I'm talking about!" He said, smirking.

He shook his head at Plagg, before pointing to his ring. "Oh, no, no, no, no. We've got homework to do. Plagg, claws out!" He said, transforming into Chat Noir.

OoOoO

Half an hour ago, with Ladybug by his side, he had felt as though he could take on anything Hawk Moth threw at them and could take on the world. She truly was a fantastic person, and he wondered if maybe he was developing a bit of a crush on this person who pushed past any fear and bravely stood on the front lines to do the right thing. 

But that was Hawk Moth. His father, Gabriel Agreste, was something else entirely—someone he was entirely helpless against. 

Nathalie had been less than pleased when she had found him trying to get back to school. She had clearly been anticipating this, as though she had known he would be forced to leave by the Akuma, and she had brought him into the car, where his father was waiting for him on a video call.

"You disobeyed me, Adrien." His father scolded, and Adrien sighed, already knowing what was going to happen as his father continued, "Take a look at that school."

He looked out the window absently at all the happy and free people who could go about their normal lives, unaware of how good they had it, "Yes, Father."

"You will never, I say, never go back there again…"

He had known this was going to happen, but he had to consciously fight back a sob as he pleaded to his father, "Father, no…"

But then his father continued, and the additional part brought a shocked smile to Adrien's face.

"Without your bodyguard. He will drop you off and pick you off every day. Nathalie has offered to organize a new schedule. You'll be continuing your music, Chinese, and fencing classes and your photoshoots."

That would be a lot to handle, especially adding on his double-life, but Adrien knew he could do it! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he had no intention of blowing it.

He looked up at Nathalie, who wasn't looking at him, but he already knew she was the one who had convinced his father to allow this. How? He had no idea since both of his parents had been insistent on him staying hidden his whole life, and he thought her disappearance would make his father more strict. But who was he to be questioning this godsend!?

"Thank you, Nathalie. Thank you, Father!" He got out of the car, ready to start the day, but Nathalie stopped him quickly, opening her car door and giving him a black umbrella,

"The forecast says it's probably going to rain today," she said, "So you might need it."

Adrien nodded, thanking her again and tucking the umbrella under his arm as he raced into the building, not wanting to be late for what was left of his first day of school.

OoOoO

Adrien heard the first soft thunderclap overhead as he walked towards the main entrance to the school, glad Nathalie had insisted he pack an umbrella since there was a slight chance of rain. The water didn't particularly bother him, but he would rather be dry than chewed out by his father about getting his designer clothes wet or something along those lines.

He perked up, noticing Marinette was at the entrance, staring at the rain, clearly unprepared for the situation. Maybe he could clear things up with her, and they could be friends? He didn't want to be judged just because he was friends with Chloé, and a misunderstanding had happened.

He approached her, waving awkwardly and trying to get her attention, "Hey." Marinette just looked away from him, hugging herself slightly. Adrien sighed, opening his umbrella, "I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat. I swear. I've never been to school before—I've never had friends. It's all sort of new to me."

An idea popped into his head as he noticed Nathalie and Gorilla waiting for him in the car at the side of the road, and he turned to Marinette, handing her his umbrella, and they shared brief eye contact through the exchange as she took it. He noticed her microexpressions, and she seemed almost shocked—and then the umbrella closed over her head. Despite himself, Adrien found himself laughing a little, which after a moment had Marinette joining in, and he walked down the stairs, smiling and hoping maybe she would give him a chance to be her friend.

"See you tomorrow." He smiled, hearing she sounded much more open as she called after him,

"Uh… see you to…mo… tomo…"

He was stopped briefly by Plagg subtly peeking out of his shirt,

"First day of school, and we already have two lovebirds." Adrien scoffed,

"Whatever. She's just a friend." He paused, realizing what he had just said. He had never been able to really say that before, "Oh… a friend…" He looked back at Marinette, smiling as he entered the car to return home, realizing that this could all be the start of something amazing.

Chapter Text

One thing was for sure, Adrien was more than ready for this photo. With all of the photoshoots he had to endure over the years, school photos should be a breeze! Adrien sighed, seeing his photographer, Vincent, who was shouting at students to smile wide and shout "spaghetti!" It almost felt like he could never escape modeling, no matter how hard he tried.

Well, at least I have friends to go through it, he thought, sighing, before drawing his attention back to Nino, who was ranting excitedly about his new album, and how good he felt about it.

His classmates were already getting in their spots, with Monsieur Vincent trying to "get the photo just right!"

God, Adrien, was already starting to get a headache.

He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Marinette was smiling widely and staring at him, particularly his chest. He was used to such behavior, a lot of people and fans tend to stare and gawk at him, so it should be fine, right? He knew that when he was signing up for when he had began modeling, his body became public property. So this is fine. She can gawk and drool, he supposed. This is fine. Totally fine. I'm okay—

"You boys can go in the middle row!" Vincent exclaimed, snapping Adrien from his downwards spiral of thoughts. He nodded, moving to the middle row, trying to pose casually, as he was taught to "always pose to the camera Adrien, do your job as an Agreste." But it was only a few seconds before he noticed Juleka wasn't even in the photo, he looked over concerned at the girl, the poor girl tried to make herself as invisible as possible.

"Um, excuse me, sir, you forgot Juleka." Marinette pointed out, causing Vincent to notice the girl and position her next to himself. She's such a thoughtful friend! Always thinking about others and being considerate! Really an amazing girl.

Adrien turned to face the photo before Vincent groaned that the camera ran out of battery. Everyone groaned while Vincent excused himself, Juleka also excused herself to the bathroom, Sabrina following quickly after.

While Juleka was gone, Chloé started grabbing Adrien and moving to be next to him, Adrien tried to shake her off, Marinette calling her out while she waved her off saying that no one cares for Juleka. “Chloé please stop—” but he was cut off. “If someone could just—” cut off again. “Please—” and again. Adrien gave up being listened to after yet another attempt. I guess this is really like modeling, he thought, forced to look pretty and not listened to at all.  

In the end, the photo was horrible, but he could care less about it. He was more concerned with Juleka, praying there won’t be an akuma to deal with because of Chloé again. From all of the Akuma since Stoneheart, the majority of them are caused by Chloé, which really showed the extent of Chloé’s cruelty. He knew she wasn’t necessarily an angel, but to be that bad for little to no reason? He understands why everyone asked him about his friendship with Chloé. Let’s just hope this won’t go too badly.

OoOoO

Should he really be surprised that it was clear Juleka had been akumatized? No. And he wasn't shocked in the slightest about anything except the design. With the last couple akumas since getting his Miraculous, it had become something of a guessing game about what the new villain design would be. It ranged from somewhat fashionable to an off-brand 90s children's show logo that was so ugly he wondered if his eyes would burn out of his skull. It was one of the admittedly very few things he and his father could comfortably talk about, and he knew full well that his father was downright insulted by the uglier designs. It was almost funny to watch.

This Akuma, in particular, he couldn't figure out whether he was okay with the outfit or hated it, but it certainly stood out in its own way. He winced, noticing the heels as he saw everyone else who had been turned into copies of Reflekta. He could wear heels and do it well, but platform heels were broken ankles waiting to happen. He could not understand the appeal.

"Chloé Bourgeois? Have you seen Chloé Bourgeois?" He heard Reflekta shout, to the surprise of nobody at all. At this point, Chloe should know better than to antagonize people, especially since that could get them akumatized and endanger not just her but also everybody around her.

He hid in the bathroom, bending down next to Plagg, "Plagg, claws out!" He sighed in bliss as the transformation covered him, the weight of his civilian self melting away, and his true self being able to shine through. 

But now was not the time to prioritize that. Even if his stress as Adrien went away, Chat Noir still had a very real issue to handle, running to the main school entrance and noticing it was blocked. 

"Yo! Check it! Chat Noir is gonna save us!" Chat turned and saw Nino was there, and he fought the urge to groan. Nino was his best friend, and he greatly appreciated that he supported Chat Noir and not just Ladybug like most people seemed to, but didn't he realize that he was drawing unwanted attention? 

He gulped, realizing it was already too late as Reflekta noticed him and fired a beam at him from what seemed to be a jewelry piece on the back of her hand. He remembered seeing Juleka with a piece like that, so he instantly realized where the Akuma must be hiding. But how to get to her without getting hit...?

He got an idea, "Okay, change of plan." And he jumped and wove around the beams Reflekta was firing at him, grabbing the basketball hoop and jumping, slamming it over Reflekta's head and binding her arms to her sides to stop her from using her weapon, if he could call it that. What was the significance of all of the victims turning into other Reflektas? Seeing what Chloe had done to Juleka, he understood it in that regard, but it was much more lackluster and non-threatening than other Akumas that had happened in the last couple weeks.

He sighed, flashing back to Stoneheart as he looked at the Akuma's location. He could destroy it here and now, but then since Ladybug wasn't here, it would multiply, and they would have another disaster on their hands. It was moments like this that he really hated the fact that he was unable to do anything without Ladybug, and understood why people were beginning to see him as just her sidekick.

Maybe he could destroy the Akuma itself with Cataclysm? But then wouldn't it just restore when Ladybug did Miraculous Ladybug, and thus it achieved nothing? Or would she not be able to restore everything back to the way it was if the Akuma had been destroyed instead of purified? The cycle was always purifying and then Miraculous Ladybug, so was it possible to switch it up without ramifications? What were the rules?

As it was, he lacked these answers, so his best option was to get the rest of the students out of the school, so nobody else became a victim. While making copies of herself didn't seem all that intimidating, it did mean she would be able to hide in a crowd even with her very vibrant attire. It was best to get as many civilians out of the building as possible.

That and he just didn't want to hear Chloe screeching and complaining about her hair.

Unfortunately, just as he was about to use Cataclysm, he felt a jolt at his lower back, and he almost fell over as his balance failed him, but he managed to straighten himself moments later. 

"Much better! I hate cats!" He huffed,

"Rude. Cataclysm!" As he had expected, nothing happened, but it was worth a shot. He also looked down at his new body and the changes to his balance. This was going to be interesting, and why did it have to be platform shoes? If it was any other form of a high heel, he would be fine, but never had he used platform shoes.

Reflekta just laughed as he stumbled, "Where is Chloé Bourgeois!?" Probably in the Principal's Office making someone's life hard, or in the bathroom hiding. It was one or the other, but since he wasn't the type of person to throw anyone, especially not his childhood friend, under the bus, he decided to not point this out.

Almost immediately after this, Ladybug appeared to fight Reflekta. While Chat found himself elated to see his partner since it was always a joy to spend time with her, he couldn't help but be a little frustrated that she couldn't have been here two minutes earlier. He knew it was irrational, but they could have gotten this whole situation under control in record time if she had been here just a bit earlier.

Even if he had lost his powers and balance, he had no plans of sitting off to the side looking pretty while Ladybug did all the work. He wasn't a sidekick—he was a superhero just like Ladybug. My powers might be gone, but I can't just stand by and do nothing! 

It only took a few moments to find the other students, and he decided to put his own plans into action, "If you want your faces back, listen up, have you ever heard of safety in numbers?" He was cut off from explaining the plan's full details, but the others seemed to get the gist of it as he heard Reflekta shouting at Ladybug outside,

"Soon, like everyone else, you will look just like me! But first, I'm gonna take your earrings as a trophy!"

Chat Noir gestured for the others to follow him, "Time to face off!" They all got together, ready to go after Reflekta and defend Ladybug. "Catch her!" Reflekta's power wasn't combat-based, so it made sense that she would be at least distracted by the number of attackers, enough so to leave Ladybug alone. If they could all actually apprehend Reflekta, that would be even better, but either way, it was a win.

Sure enough, Reflekta jumped off to escape, laughing down at them, "You're no match for me Ladybug, this will all be over soon for you!" Chat chuckled a little bit, doubting that, but this was going to be interesting either way. If he had his powers, it would be better, so he considered it a good thing that an actual fight would more than likely not be overly tricky—assuming these damn platform heels didn't get in the way. Maybe he could throw them at Reflekta. 

Ladybug began to assure the panicking students that everything would get back to normal, but Chat Noir could hear the screams of people outside and knew they had to get going. He grabbed her wrist and gestured for the others to move, "Excuse us, move out of the way," and led her upstairs so they could talk alone.

Ladybug looked him up and down, "Chat Noir, is it—is it really you?" That was to be expected, but he was a little surprised that nobody had assumed it was Adrien yet. He knew his voice changed a bit as Chat Noir, but it couldn't be too drastic, right? Regardless, he decided to count his blessings and just wink playfully,

"'Course it is! Can't you tell by my swagger?" He taunted, earning a little chuckle out of her. He found himself smiling, glad he could make her laugh.

"I—uh... I don't know what to say!"

"How about a thank you for getting you out of that tight spot." He suggested because while making her laugh was nice, getting sincere appreciation out of her and validation that he was more than just a sidekick would be even better.

Ladybug examined him again and continued laughing, and now he was starting to feel a little insulted, which she seemed to notice, "Sorry, Chat Noir, but you—you just don't look like yourself! But uh... thank you." He softened, soaking up that appreciation from her.

"You're welcome. And in case you've forgotten, we've got to deakumatize Reflekta!" He deflated again when she raised an eyebrow incredulously, 

"We? Your powers are gone, what are you gonna do? Throw your shoes at her?" Once again, she laughed, but this time it was more patronizing, and Chat Noir crossed his arms, smirking despite the hurt he felt, 

"Remind me who just saved you a minute ago?" She ignored him.

"I have to find Reflekta fast! You'd slowed me down!"

"Maybe," he admitted glumly, before brightening, "But you know, sometimes I do have ideas."

Ladybug shrugged a bit, "Okay, sorry, yes?" Chat Noir bit his thumb, which was difficult with these new nails, channeling his inner L to come up with a plan.

"I don't think taking on Reflekta face to face is the best idea," he rolled his eyes, "Unless you want a facelift. And Reflekta doesn't have much of any enhancements physically except for jumping—which in itself is pretty impressive with any heels, especially platform ones."

"Why would you know that?" He tensed at her question, not wanting to risk having screwed up and revealed something about himself, but he quickly brushed it off,

"I know plenty of women who wear heels." This was true, as both his mother and Nathalie wore them all the time. But just as he was about to reveal his own plan for their course of action, Ladybug stopped him from speaking,

"You're right, and that gives me an idea!" She grabbed him and brought them both to the roof. Oh well, she had always been the planner of the two of them.

"Where are we headed?"

"To the TV station! Here goes," she grabbed his waist, "Watch your nails!" She taunted, and Chat narrowed his eyes,

"That's not funny. Fake nails getting ripped off forcefully actually really hurts. Don't ask why I know that because you don't want to know." 

"You haven't just lost your body, Chat Noir." She replied simply, "I think you've lost your sense of humor too." He cocked his head as he was whisked off alongside her, trying to think of a time his jokes had involved the pain of others. 

At the TV station, it hadn't taken any effort to convince the reporters to let them borrow one of the rooms and a camera, where Chat acted as the cameraman while Ladybug talked in a broadcast to all of Paris,

"People of Paris! Reflekta is not invincible! You can help, all you have to do is put on a disguise! Then I'll be able to spot the real Reflekta and bring her down! I'm relying on you all!"

"And cut!" They shared a high five, and Chat frowned, "Sorry for asking, but isn't your plan a bit complicated? Not to mention Reflekta would have heard the broadcast too and would thus wear a disguise just like everybody else, or others may not listen."

"I thought about that," Ladybug replied nonchalantly, "But it doesn't matter, because that isn't my real plan. The actual plan is now that Reflekta knows that we're in the TV station, she'll come right here to get us!"

He brightened, "And fall right into our claws!" He kissed Ladybug's hand, only to groan at her reply,

"You mean, into your nails." He looked up with narrowed eyes and a deadpan expression,

"Still not funny." Ladybug simply giggled in response, and Chat Noir supposed that if he really did have feelings for her, he would have to get used to her sense of humor. 

She didn't respond as they heard loud footsteps from down the hall, and they both hid just in time for Reflekta to storm in, and Ladybug to catch her easily... almost too easily, but Chat decided to count his—hold on a second. 

Just as he realized that Ladybug had broken the mirror on this version of Reflekta's hand and nothing had happened, and Chat looked up to hear Chloe's Dad talking,

"I'm sorry, she promised that she'd changed me back if I tricked you." 

Seriously?! He tried not to think ill of the man he had been around for his entire life, but come on! Did this man have no spine?! How could he have become mayor if he was such a coward and willing to sell out all of Paris, maybe even the world, for his appearance? This whole Reflekta thing took some getting used to, but it wasn't all that bad except for the shoes, so why was everybody acting like it was the end of the world? It was moments like this that he really understood where Chloe got it from, and it made him cringe a lot.

He then noticed the real Reflekta about to go after Ladybug, "There! Look out!" He jumped in front of her and took Reflekta's ray to the stomach, "I've already been changed, so I'm safe." This only goes to show how ultimately useless this power was in the grand scheme of things, especially since it had gotten rid of his Miraculous, so if anything, it made Hawk Moth's goals harder to achieve.

"Thanks, Chat Noir!" He lit up at her gratitude, winking to her,

"Go ahead, use that charm of yours!"

Ladybug nodded, throwing her yoyo in the air, "Lucky Charm!" A camera appeared in her hand, and Chat had to stifle the scream threatening to explode out because he just could not escape the cameras today, now could he? "A camera? Okay... Chat Noir! Turn off the lights quickly!" 

He obeyed, giving her a thumbs-up, finding it unfortunate that he had lost his night vision since he had changed, so all he could see was a few bright flashes and then turned the lights on as he heard Ladybug shout, "Miraculous Ladybug!" and suddenly his balance was restored, and his feet hurt less.

He ran over to her as she beamed, "You were awesome, Chat Noir!"

"And with those shoes on too!" He added, "By the way, those things should be illegal. I'm cool with other forms, but platforms are the worst." He shrugged, "Maybe they just take some getting used to, who knows, but I don't plan to try that any time soon." 

Juleka had returned to normal and looked around, "Where—Where am I?" With a grin, he and Ladybug fist-bumped as per routine,

"Pound it!" Ladybug helped Juleka up and gestured to Mayor Bourgeois,

"Could you take this girl back to her school, please, Mayor Bourgeois?"

"Yes, of course, Ladybug!"

"Thank you! See you later, Chat Noir!" She waved to him, "Bug out!" She ran away, and Chat Noir watched her go before fighting every fiber of his being that wanted to glare at the Mayor for basically backstabbing them. If he won the next election, it would not be for his leadership skills during a time of crisis like a proper leader should.

"Don't worry, Mayor Bourgeois," he insisted, a little firmer than he would have ever dared as his civilian self, "I know where the school is, so I can take her." 

"Alright then, Chat Noir." Chat turned to Juleka, with his hand extended, and he walked down the hallway with her.

"So... what happened that got you so upset? I know it was about Chloé." Juleka sighed, hugging herself,

"It's just this jinx I have with photos, and this time Chloé locked me in the bathroom so I wouldn't be in the photo." 

"Why would she do that?!" He asked, genuinely horrified that she had gone that far. He had assumed Chloé had just said something, but he instantly realized that the moment Sabrina had left right after Juleka, Chloé had whispered something to her. This must have been it. He clenched his fist, and Juleka smiled a little, seeing that someone cared enough to be upset.

"She had been complaining about not getting a spot next to Adrien. I think she has a crush on him."

"I doubt it," Chat replied harshly, "If I had to guess, she's attracted to his status—not to him as a person. Still, it's not right to hurt others because you don't get what you want, and Chloé should know that. But hey," he leaned on the elevator wall as they went down, "If you need someone to talk, I can come and hang out with you for a bit. You live on that boat along the Seine, right?" He had occasionally noticed it on patrols, so it would be nice to know for sure that was where she lived.

Juleka looked towards him with surprise, "You'd do that? You really don't have to, but I actually really appreciate the offer. I'd think you would have better things to do."

"The wellbeing of everyone is important," Chat Noir pointed out, and the elevator door opened, "After you." 

Upon leaving the building, Chat Noir turned, hearing someone shout, "Juleka!" He suddenly took notice of a boy running up to Juleka and hugging her tightly, petting her hair and soothing her gently. The boy looked quite similar to Juleka and quite handsome might he add—he has been in the modeling industry long enough to recognize potential.

The young man was quite lean and pale. But definitely taller than Adrien, with quite lovely and broad shoulders. He was wearing a jean jacket, a Jagged Stone shirt, skinny black jeans, defining his legs so well, and high-top sneakers. His hair was black with teal dyed tips, and upon closer inspection—a perk of cat eyes—Chat noticed the piercings adorning his face. Ear plugs—often mistakes for gauges—and a industrial piercing wrapped with a snake going through his right ear, along with snake bites on his lips and an eyebrow piercing on his left brow. You'd think he's the type to get in trouble, rather than coddle someone. 

Chat should really stop staring at this beautiful man. He forced himself to snap out of it, especially when the man turned to him with a soft smile, still holding Juleka as she had begun to cry a bit, 

"Thank you," he whispered, "For helping my sister." He and Juleka broke the hug, and Juleka wiped her eyes as the man extended his hand to Chat Noir, "I'm Luka."

Hold on... someone was thanking him? Him, and not Ladybug? He looked up, taking Luka's hand, almost too stunned to talk, but soon finding his words,

"I'm Chat Noir, Chat for short." Luka nodded, and Chat cocked his head, "How did you know to find us here?"

"Well, with Ladybug's broadcast, it made sense Reflekta would come here, and then with her in a contained area, you would be able to save her. Thank you again." He turned back to Juleka, "Come on, Jules, let's get back to school. What was troubling you?" He looked back at Chat, waving goodbye, and Chat found himself sheepishly waving back.

He quickly headed back to the school, detransforming in a secluded location and then walking into the courtyard, just in time to hear that they would be retaking the photos after school. Alright! Now Juleka could actually be in the class photo. And this time, Chloé wasn't going to interfere.

He'd make sure of it.

OoOoO

Vincent was preparing everything to retake the class photo before looking at everyone and exclaiming, "Okay, we're all good here, ready?" The entire class nodded, smiling, glad to have a better picture—which was a pretty low bar to clear, but the point still stood.

Adrien turned to smile at Marinette, "This photo was a good idea, Marinette!" Trying to get her comfortable around him, he wouldn't want a friend to feel awkward around him.

Marinette started giggling intensely, looking even more uncomfortable, "Thanks, Adrien!" She said, smiling widely. Adrien sighed internally, knowing Marinette is still so tense around him. Maybe she hasn't forgiven me for the gum incident. She might still believe I was working with Chloé.

Speaking of Chloé, Adrien heard her sulk next to a tree whining about "Like I'd want to be part of their stupid photo anyway! Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" While the photographer took the class' photos. 

Adrien walked towards Chloé after the unofficial photoshoot had ended, trying to muster the sternest expression, hearing Rose exclaim how "The class photo curse is broken!" Not quite knowing what that was about.

He faced Chloé, arms crossed, with the angriest expression he could make, "You know Chloé, that was extremely rude of you! Juleka didn't do anything wrong, and you decided to screw her over for what? A spot next to me? Are you kidding?!"

Chloé withered slightly at Adrien's harsh words, causing Adrien to take a step back and be less commanding and cruel—he knew first-hand how horrible that is— causing Chloé to puff her chest and come back to her snobby senses.

"Hmf! If you think that I'm bad, you should have seen what the Dupain-Cheng girl did! She tried to steal the photographer's memory card to get another photo! She's no better then I am!"

Adrien gasped, trying to comprehend what Chloé said. Steal? Marinette would never steal! He thought, But then again, she did have the memory card, and Vincent never loses his memory cards! He grimaced to himself, shaking away that thought. "There's no way Marinette would steal something, Chloé! And even if she did, it must have been for the greater good, right?"

Chloé scoffed, looking at her nails "I think she's almost as bad as me, Adrikins! But that's up for you to decide!" She said, walking away, Sabrina following her closely, like a little assistant.

Adrien slumped against the tree, deep in thought, before a familiar voice startled him, "I must say, I'm impressed you called out Chloé like that. Not many people call out Bourgeois out of fear of her Dad."

Luka, he realized. The same boy with the ocean eyes and snake piercings and—my god he's distracted. He's also Juleka's brother, which likely explains why he's here, to watch over his little sister. Such a close-knit family, Adrien was almost jealous!

Adrien sighed, turning to face Luka "well yeah, someone had to do it," he said, shrugging weakly, looking at his feet. "I just feel guilty, y' know? Chloé did do all of this because she wanted to sit next to me! Maybe I should have done better, or tried to get their attention or something…" Adrien felt a hand on his shoulder, looking up to see Luka smiling at him fondly.

"It's alright, bud, you didn't know that she would go that far, and I don't think you were being listened to anyways." He said, moving next to him. "Anyways," he said in a nonchalant attitude leaning against the tree, "We wouldn't want a guilt-based Akuma now would we?" His ocean eyes sparkling in amusement.

Adrien chuckled, turning towards Luka, smiling, "I suppose we don't, you're right…?" Of course, he knew Luka's name, meeting him as Chat Noir, but Luka couldn't know that.

"Luka," he said, "Luka Couffaine." He offered his hand to Adrien, which Adrien gladly took and shook.

"Adrien!" He exclaimed happily before trying to seal his excitement, "Adrien Agreste." He said, trying to sound casual.

Both boys talked for a while, before trading numbers when Adrien was called over by his bodyguard and Nathalie that it's time to go home. Adrien walked for the rest of the day with a skip to his step.

…

Luka looked down at his phone, at Adrien's number, coupled with "Adrien Agreste" onto it. He already knew that he was talking to the famous teen heartthrob, but seeing his number was making it sink in. He walked over to Juleka, who was parting with friends, before going to nudge him playfully, smirking. She was still a little sister, after all.

"Why are you smiling at your phone, hm~? Got a hot date, perhaps?" She said, poking his cheek. Luka nudged her back, before putting his phone in his pocket and stroll casually,

"Not a hot date, but I did make friends with a model, so I guess it's a big deal? Adrien seems like a sweetheart." He said, smiling fondly to himself.

"I'd be careful if I were you," she said, "A teen heartthrob has a lot of fans, and I can't fight all of them off!" Luka sighed, shaking his head.

"Nothing happened, Jules, and I anyway have a good feeling about this." He said, ignoring Juleka's "you always have a good feeling about this" commentary, in favor of daydreaming.

He thought about Adrien's pretty smile and laugh like twinkling wind chimes, and a beautiful melody emitting from his heart.

Yep, he thought, I have a good feeling about this.

Chapter Text

Adrien woke up to the sound of his usual alarm. He stretched out, looking around his room groggily, before taking a look on the date. Huh, he thought, September 21st. My birthday. He forgot about it even being a thing, but he supposed it was no brainer. When your father overloads your schedule with responsibilities and lessons, and couldn't care less about your birthday, not to mention do anything about it, your birthday kinda slips your mind.

He sighed before getting out of bed and taking a deep breath. He slumped and stared blankly at the ceiling for a beat, before whispering "Happy birthday, me," quite scathingly before walking to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Plagg looked at Adrien concerned, hoping that his antics would hopefully cheer up his kitten, before quickly grabbing some Camembert and following Adrien to the bathroom.

And while he will never say it aloud, he was hoping to see the smile on the kid's face.

Plagg flew towards Adrien's side, hoping his bravado would make Adrien laugh. "Happy birthday, Adrien!" He said before proudly presenting a piece of Camembert cheese wrapped with a cartoonish looking red bow. 

Adrien drew away before plugging his nose with a scrunched up disgusted expression. "Ugh, Plagg! Get that filthy piece of Camembert out of my face!" "Huh?" Plagg was quite surprised, he could have sworn that would have made Adrien crack a smile! Maybe Brie would have been a better choice… he thought before shrugging and swallowing his cheese whole and moaning in delight at his cheese. 

Adrien sighed fondly, before going to hug Plagg—more like nuzzling him with his cheek really—smiling a bit more brightly. "Thanks, Plagg, it's very kind of yours to remember." Plagg nuzzled back, grinning, "No problem, kid, no problem." 

He walked downstairs to see, surprise surprise, nothing at all. He sighed to himself. Well, he thought, I really shouldn't have expected anything. He sat at the edge of the dining table to have another lonely, mundane breakfast, monitored for his health, and model diet-which honestly didn't fit his superhero life. Still, he couldn't even bring himself to have a bite anymore-before Nathalie walked in, holding out a tablet for Adrien.

"Your schedule, Adrien." She said, as cold as ever. 

Adrien took the tablet, before starting to inspect it, not before offering a "Thanks, Nathalie." Out of politeness. As Nathalie began to leave, Adrien decided to ask Nathalie, "Hey, um, did my father get back to you about my birthday party?" His face lighting up in hope.

Nathalie stammered, refusing to look at Adrien. "Well, um—He doesn't think it would be a good idea." Knowing how terrible it would make him feel.

Adrien slumped, looking away, eyes getting annoyingly glossy, "'Course not." He said, frowning to himself.

Nathalie quickly walked away, saying a "Happy birthday, Adrien." Leaving him in his lonesome. 

Adrien quickly took his phone from his pocket, to open the messenger app, and sigh at one message he had repeatedly been reading all morning long:

Luka Couffaine: Happy birthday Adrien! 😁 Now I’m officially the first to tell you! (Hopefully)

Adrien smiled, putting his phone away. That message was sent at exactly midnight of his birthday, making him both concerned for Luka’s sleep schedule, and really flattered Luka would care so much to stay up late just to be the first to wish him a happy birthday.

And who knows? This might be an amazing birthday. Adrien had a good feeling about it.

Upon getting to school, the first thing Adrien was greeted by was a hug from Nino, "Happy birthday!" 

Adrien chuckled sheepishly, not used to people remembering. Even when his Mom was around, people didn't remember this often. He wondered absently if Chloé was going to remember this year—much like her mother, basic details like dates and names often eluded her. Morbidly, he was almost looking forward to Chloé's attempted coverup this time. 

"So," Nino grinned, "Any plans for your party?" Adrien slumped, shaking his head,

"No. Father said it wouldn't be the best idea, and something tells me what you consider a party, and what he does are two very different things." Nino put his hands on his hips,

"And what would he consider a party?"

"Me smiling and looking pretty while talking to some old rich guys and being forced to dance with their daughters—maybe drink a little depending on what the party's for," he forced a smile at the memories, "But usually I get a headache after those types of parties."

Nino's expression was that of absolute horror, absently blowing bubbles using a little toy that reminded Adrien of his childhood playing with his cousin, Felix, or even Chloé. He hadn't seen or heard from Felix in months—he knew his cousin was mad about him not attending his Dad's funeral, and Adrien just hoped his cousin didn't hate him.

"Dude, seriously?" Nino asked incredulously, "Has your Dad always been such a downer? You'd think he'd remember what it was like to be young and wanna party a little."

He tried to think of anything he could have heard in his lifetime to make him have any reason to believe his father used to actually be an average teenager. "No, I'm pretty sure he was a downer back then too." He shrugged glumly, "Well, at least I tried."

Nino wrapped an arm around Adrien, "It's your b-day, Dude! Insist!" He brightened, and he got that same look on his face that he seemed to always get when he had a terrible idea, "You know what, I'm gonna have a little convo with your pops."

"Don't waste your time." Adrien insisted, "He's not gonna change his mind, and it'll probably make things worse."

Out of nowhere, Marinette launched in front of them, coming to an abrupt halt and looking up awkwardly, "Um, he—hey!" He noticed she had something behind her back but decided that whatever it was, it was none of his business, so why bother asking.

"Hey." He offered as Marinette began to stammer out a sentence that, after a moment of processing, he translated to her wanting to give him a gift she made. He brightened at the idea, curious as to what a creative girl like her could make. He had seen some of her designs and had a feeling that maybe one day, she would give his father a run for his money.

And then before Marinette could give the gift, Chloé shoved her very rudely and then suddenly became uncomfortably sweet, "Happy birthday, Adrien!" She threw herself onto him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Mwah!"

Huh? Chloé actually remembered? Was the world ending or something, because this hadn't happened ever. He looked around before seeing Sabrina. Ah, of course, that made sense. He was pretty sure his own father wouldn't even know if it weren't for Nathalie, so he wasn't particularly offended. 

"Yeah, thanks, Chlo." He forced her off and helped Marinette up, "Are you okay, Marinette?"

Marinette stared down at his hand, her expression that of both joy and panic somehow. How was that...? Why...? He tried to get her to cheer up. Maybe she was nervous about the gift? But maybe... he shook himself, smiling as Marinette made sounds much like a typical anime girl, with a wide grin on her face.

Marinette shoved the gift into his hands, "Happy birthday!" She forced out, before scampering off behind the stairs with a squeal. Adrien cocked his head,

"Okay?" He went to open it, but Chloé snatched it, and Adrien glared, "Chlo, give that back."

She laughed, "Whatever Dupain-Cheng made you is probably worthless."

"No, it wouldn't be," he retaliated, opening the gift and brightening when he saw it was a sky-blue scarf. 

He walked over to where Marinette was hiding, holding the gift, "Thank you, Marinette." He noticed Alya was there too, and the blogger jumped up,

"Put it on, Adrien!" Adrien paused, looking towards the limo that had just come up. Seriously? He hadn't had a single class yet and already a photoshoot? He sighed, folding the scarf with the utmost care and putting it in his messenger bag,

"I'm sorry, but I can't yet. I have a photoshoot, and if I wear anything that's not my father's brand, it could go over really badly. But," he perked up, "I can always wear it tomorrow!" He sighed, seeing the Gorilla waiting impatiently, and he waved to his friends, "Gotta go. Photoshoot."

He sat in the limo, and Plagg pressed himself against Adrien's ribs, purring to calm him down as painful knots started to form in Adrien's stomach. As prepared as he was, that didn't mean he ever felt less uncomfortable every time he did this, given the number of times fans had tried to swarm him or standing perfectly still, and the fact that if he ever heard the word spaghetti, he had been trained to smile like a perfect little doll.

There was no escape from life as a model. That was just how life was, and there was nothing he could do about it. 

He took the scarf out of the bag, taking in the soft fabric, which felt terrific under his fingertips. He also noticed at the bottom was a custom signature of Marinette's. This was clearly not her first rodeo, and she was learning the ropes of being a designer.

Maybe he could convince his father to take Marinette on as an apprentice? He was sure Marinette would appreciate that since she clearly looked up to his father. Her birthday was in July, so he hoped he could muster up the courage to ask about that because she would hopefully appreciate it.

He took a deep breath and also reread the text from Luka, doing everything he could to prepare himself for the long hours ahead.

OoOoO

The photoshoot, all things considered, was not all that bad since it was going to be autumn in two days, and thus, the weather was chillier, so he wasn't overheating from the sun slowly cooking him. You never appreciate how much your skin prickles and burns when still in the sun for too long until moving makes everything worse. 

He hadn't needed to awkwardly change into his outfits in the car this time—which seemed somewhat counterproductive since he had been in this outfit during photoshoots way too many times for it to be anything worthwhile. He would ask his father about it but didn't want to accidentally cause another photoshoot because asking for one day without the cameras on him was apparently too much to ask.

Adrien hadn't expected much when he got home, but he found himself surprised to hear Nino's voice in the foyer,

"That's messed up. Adrien never screws up in class, he always does whatever you tell him: photoshoots, fencing, Chinese, piano—"

"Nino? You're here." He cringed internally, knowing this was already going to end terribly. But Nino—poor, sweet Nino—didn't seem to realize this yet and after giving Adrien a thumbs-up as though there was any hope to be found and this wouldn't end in tragedy.

"Show some awesomeness, du—I mean, sir, please." Nino pleaded, and Adrien already knew all hope was lost, seeing the less-than-pleased expression on his father's face. 

"Forget it, Nino." Adrien begged, knowing what was coming and praying to whatever God was out there besides Plagg for Nino to back down before it came to pass, "Really, it's okay."

He sighed when his father decided to speak, "Listen, young man. I decide what's best for my son. I've just decided that you're a bad influence and you're not welcome in my house ever again. Leave now!" Adrien knew there was no point, and basic communication with his father was like talking to a brick wall ever since his Mom vanished, but this was just not okay.

"Father," he tried, "He was just trying to do something cool for me." But Adrien knew he couldn't push it or he would be forbidden from returning to school, and he honestly didn't know what he would do if that happened. More than likely, be akumatized, and then Ladybug wouldn't have anyone to help her.

Nathalie stepped in front of them, "Goodbye." Nino glared darkly at Gabriel, and a part of Adrien suspected what was about to go down, but hoped it wouldn't. Then again, when had he ever been that lucky for anything to go right? 

He grabbed Nino's hand, forcing a smile in an attempt to assure Nino that it wasn't extremely painful to be pushed aside by his father, who seemed like he couldn't care less about the birthday of his son and the only family he had left.

"Nino, wait! I'm sorry. My father—he's pretty stubborn. It's just best to stay out of his way."

"It's not fair, Adrien." Nino snapped, "Harsh, uncool." He crossed his arms and stormed away, and all Adrien could do was sigh, fighting back the sob that threatened to force its way out. 

"Thanks—Thanks anyway, Nino."

OoOoO

Adrien finished his meal—most of it anyways—before getting up, and spinning lethargically. 

"Wow!" He said sarcastically, "That was a birthday lunch break to remember. Yay…" He walked to the foyer, hoping to come across anyone so he can have some form of human interaction, only to find no one. "Nathalie? Father?" He called out, before shrugging lamely, before walking outside to a crowd of his classmates cheering.

"Happy birthday!"

Adrien looked in shock at his classmates before looking up to see this… anime McDonald's toy that belongs in happy meals? Standing on top of a bubble. "Hey, hey, hey, birthday boy. Guess what? Daddy's gone. While the cat's away, the mice will play." He said smugly, doing "cool" finger guns. Adrien looked at the Come-to-life McDonald's Happy Meal toy with a strange expression before realizing who he is.

"Nino?!" He said, in shock.

Nino shook his head, before approaching Adrien, "The Bubbler's brought all yo homies together for one single-sole purpose, to ce-le-brate!"

All of the teenagers cheered as the Bubbler jumped down from the bubble into a DJ booth. "Let's get this party started!" He shouted, as more people cheered wildly, Adrien was more confused and scared than ever, until he decided to promptly run off. 

The Bubbler looked at everyone, upset. "Come on, everybody, I brought you here to party!" Scaring all of the teens into dancing, while looking quite depressed. "So dance, or you'll join the adults up in the sky!" He said, laughing maniacally as fireworks started to go off.

…

Adrien snuck off to his room, before sighing and looking down at his ring. Plagg floated up to him, nudging his shoulder a bit.

"What's your problem? Relax! You're getting the party you've always wanted!" He said, his little limbs propping up his head, looking laid back and relaxed.

Adrien looked over at Plagg, worried and quite frankly, panicking. "But Nino's been akumatized and forced into an impressively terrible outfit! I've gotta help him!"

Plagg waved him off, before squishing his cheeks and turning his face towards him, "You may never get this chance again! C'mon, let's have a little fun while your father's away! Then we'll save Nino, trap his Akuma, and all will be good!" Adrien turned away, biting his bottom lip, before making his choice.

"Okay, you're right. This might be the first day of my life that I actually get to do what I want for once!" He said, trying to sound determined, seeing how Plagg was cheering and happy for him. I can do this. I can have a bit of fun and then save the day. Easy, right?

Well. It was not.

The minute Adrien approached the party, seeing how depressed everyone is, he booed out of the situation, and positioned himself against a wall, trying to make himself as small as possible, softly whispering "nope, nope, nope." To himself.

"Tough day?"

Adrien perked, eyes lighting up. Oh, karma does give a shit about me, he said, thanking all forces in the universe for letting him have a good friend by his side.

"Luka! What are you doing here?"

Luka shrugged before situating himself against the wall, next to Adrien. "Well, I was invited over, because Nino—er, I mean Bubbler—knows we're friends. I just managed to sneak out of there! A very important skill amongst the introverts." He said matter-of-factly. 

Adrien laughed a bit, relaxing his shoulders—which he hadn't realized were even tense in the first place until now— before adding to the conversation “Same, I wanted to see if I can interact with anyone, but they all seemed…”

“Depressed?” Luka offered.

“Yeah, that’s it! Is that…” he started before pausing to collect his thoughts into a sentence “Is that how all parties are?” He asked, feeling guilty for his classmate's state.

Luka put his hand on Adrien’s shoulder, nudging him slightly, “Hey, I know what you’re thinking and let it be known this is not your fault. Sure, parties are usually more fun and less creepy, but that’s because the Bubbler forced everyone to dance and have fun, something they can’t really do when their families are bubbled and floating in the sky. It is not your fault in any way, bud.” He said, offering a sympathetic smile for Adrien, in hopes of making him feel better.

Adrien smiled sadly, leaning his head against Luka’s shoulder. “Thanks… I just,” he took a deep breath “I just wish this will be over soon.”

Luka nodded, understanding how Adrien felt “Well, look at the bright side! We got to talk a bit!” He tried to offer, quite awkwardly.

Adrien laughed a bit, “That’s a good point you’re making! I never got to thank you for the message you sent me too!”

Luka smiles at Adrien, before ruffling his hair “Come on, it’s nothing! I’ll let you know I take birthdays very seriously my good sir, and you have seen nothing!”

Adrien looked mischievously at Luka, before nudging into him “Oh really~ I suppose I’ll have to emotionally prepare myself for whatever you have in store, Couffaine ~”

“I suppose you shall! Agreste~ ” Luka retorted back, eyes twinkling with amusement. “I guess it’s a parental instinct deeply embedded within me from a young age to coddle anything in my vicinity.” He said, shrugging.

Before he could ask what did that mean, Adrien was pulled away by Chloé, who was saying something about a slow dance.

Adrien looked back at Luka, who was having a staredown with Bubbler. The Bubbler certainly seemed less than pleased with Luka, yet before he could say anything, he was pulled against Chloé, who was rubbing up against him, much to his dismay.

Adrien tried to calm himself, before turning to Chloé, trying to get her to stop and help him. "Is it me, or does everyone seem a bit weird?" He asked, hoping Chloé would agree and help him out, even if out of her infatuation with him. 

Chloé simply scoffed, flipping her ponytail to the side and rubbing against Adrien even more. "Forget about them, let's go dance! C'mon!" She said, pulling Adrien to a slow dance. 

Adrien complied, not before looking in the direction where Luka—had been? The corner where He and Luka we're talking at moments ago had been empty now, Adrien seeing the Bubbler's evil grin, before realization set in. Oh no no no no I've got to do something I've got to get out of here I've got to help him, oh my god he has Luka, oh my god, oh my fucking god— Adrien was so busy panicking he didn't even notice a particularly jealous Ladybug watching over him.

He felt his entire body begin to heat up, and his vision developed dark spots, seeing Juleka had newfound despair on her face. He didn't bother to do anything to stop Chloé from trying to dance with him—there was no reason to care as he took deep breaths to try getting his bearings so he could escape and transform to defeat Bubbler. 

Oh god, what if there was no air in those bubbles? They were just seemingly indestructible helium-filled pockets of soap, so could air even get in? What if Luka or Nathalie or even his father suffocated? Oh god, oh no—!

Out of nowhere, the music changed, and Adrien snapped out of his thoughts, seeing the Bubbler getting mad already,

"Dude! Who just hijacked my mix?"

"Yours truly." Adrien looked up and sighed in relief, seeing Ladybug was here, and then an idea came to him as Ladybug suddenly ran off. 

The Bubbler was akumatized because he wanted to help Adrien. So, by that logic, would Adrien or Chat Noir be a better person for this?

It was worth a try. Worst case, Adrien gets bubbled and uses Cataclysm to get out.

Where did Ladybug go? Oh well, he knew he needed to get his plan into action. 

Admittedly, it didn't take much effort at all to go hide back in the corner and slide down the wall, once again struggling to control his breathing as he thought of the idea of Luka or Nathalie or his father in the Bubbler's grasp, maybe even dying . And his classmates were suffering because of him.

Before he knew it, tears were falling down his cheeks, and the world was spinning. Chloé went over to the Bubbler,

"Uh, excuse me!" She snapped, "But can you liven things up a little? Adrien doesn't seem to be having any fun." She gestured to Adrien, and the Bubbler's expression morphed to concern.

"Adrien, what's wrong?" Bubbler came over, and Adrien looked up, unable to force out any coherent words, noticing Ladybug was finally back after however long it had been. And now it was time to put his plan into action, reaching for Bubbler and clinging to him as he cried, but subtly grabbing the bubble wand, 

"Ladybug, the Akuma!" He shouted, picturing everyone saved as he mustered up his strength and snapped the bubble wand, releasing the Akuma for Ladybug to catch and, clearly shocked, restore everything as Bubbler reverted to Nino, and Adrien saw Luka reappear behind him.

Adrien got up on shaky legs, helping Nino, and then lunged at Luka, clinging to his neck, "You're okay! I-I thought you—"

"I'm okay, Adrien," Luka assured, petting his hair assuringly.

Alya gaped at Adrien, "Adrien... did you just..." her eyes lit up as she got out her phone, "Takedown an Akuma as a civilian! I totally need to get this on the Ladyblog!" 

"Uh... please no..." Adrien hid behind Nino and Luka a bit, but Alya insisted,

"Yes! This is going to be the biggest scoop out there that a civilian can deal with Akumas!"

"No." Ladybug came down, "That would spread a dangerous message. If I hadn't been there, the Akuma would have escaped, and we would have had another Stoneheart. I'm sure Adrien knew that." Adrien nodded meekly, and Alya was squealing as though it was her own birthday, trying to get an interview with Ladybug.

Nino smiled a little at Adrien sheepishly, "Are you okay, Adrien?"

Adrien felt his hands still mercilessly shaking, but he forced on his normal smile, hugging Nino, "I am now that everything's back to normal. Thank you, though, for at least trying to have a party."

"Adrien," he cringed, seeing Nathalie at the stairs, looking disapproving, "Come inside, Adrien. Your father said you've had enough excitement for today."

Adrien sighed, looking at Luka and Nino, waving, "See you tomorrow, guys." Alya was back to trying to interview Adrien, and he was quickly rushing away to the mansion and up to his room, where he saw worried messages from both Luka and Nino. He smiled a bit, assuring them that he was okay, before staring up at the ceiling.

"Good job, Adrien!" Plagg encouraged, and Adrien just turned over, hugging his pillow, "Adrien?"

"What have I done?" He whimpered, "Chat Noir wasn't there and—and people already see him as a useless sidekick, so this is just going to make things worse if people start idolizing me for being a civilian who did it and then hating Chat Noir for not being there!" He checked the Ladyblog on his phone and saw Alya had already put out an enthusiastic report, which was going to make everything so much harder.

Alya seemed nice, but she just didn't understand journalism's code of ethics and how this information was going to hurt people. Adrien, deep down, knew he had done the right thing, but now he felt like a manipulator and a horrible person and terrible partner as he cried into his pillow, knowing that as his civilian self, he was going to be worshipped.

And what if Hawk Moth took this into account and went after his father or Nathalie—no, he was just pessimistic, he tried to convince himself. He reread the text from Luka and wearing the scarf from Marinette, deciding to watch some Ouran High School Host Club to cheer himself up, disappointed to find himself glad to have some time to himself.

…

Gabriel looked over the security cameras, grimacing at the footage of a young girl—Adrien’s classmate, he believed, and the girl who ran the Ladyblog, finding the gallery of his son’s photos after snooping around for whatever reason. The girl ran out for a couple minutes, only to drag in this distressed-looking pigtail girl—another classmate, Marinette apparently. To his mix of horror and surprise, the latter started to drool and take hundreds of photos of his son, quite frankly, disturbing and infuriating him all the same. The former—Alya, he learned—giggled fondly at her creepy behavior. 

He pressed a button that connected him over the intercom to his assistant. “Nathalie? I would like you to search into Adrien’s classmates—particularly two named Alya and Marinette? I found footage of them trespassing for… frankly creepy reasons, and I would like to keep careful watch of them.”

Nathalie replied almost immediately, “Consider it done sir, is there anything else?” She said, in her ever-so-reliable tone. 

Gabriel took a deep breath, trying to ground himself, and not arrest those two on the spot. He would think this through, and when the opportunity was right, he would make sure both girls will learn a lesson of trespassing and messing with the Agrestes. He leaned into the speaker calmly, saying, “Yes, actually, would you mind giving Adrien his birthday present? I would like to know what he thinks of it. After that, you can be dismissed for the day.”

He heard Nathalie say a quick “Thank you, sir, right away, sir.” Before disconnecting the call. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He could only hope that his son will not be so reckless and that all would go well—it’s like nothing today is going right, he thought, first another failed Akuma, then this?

Gabriel sighed to himself. What wouldn’t he do for a drink—or Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculouses. Either worked.

…

Nathalie approached Adrien with a gift from his father—a whole case of pens, which was an improvement from the one pen as a gift he usually got his son. “A birthday present,” she said, trying to smile gently at him “From your father.”

Adrien took the present, unwrapping it to reveal the pens, causing him to sigh but smile slightly. “Thank you. I mean, please say thank you to my father.” He said, going to place his pens in his messenger bag. 

Nathalie nodded, walking away, glad to see Adrien smiling, even if for a bit. The boy has been through a lot today, so it’s good to see him relax even a bit.

OoOoO

The next day in school, as Adrien walked out, wearing the scarf Marinette made him, he was tackled by Nino, who started cheerfully talking about how he will have to get him an awesome gift now and that he swore that he will be there for his bro at all times. Luka had texted him earlier that he had to shut down the idea of a surprise party by his classmates, which was something which Adrien is very thankful for.

Speaking of Luka, as Nino and Adrien, we’re talking—with Alya and Marinette giggling and smiling a bit too wide for his taste—Luka approached both of them, greeting them and gave both of them a hug, staying true to his parental mom-like affectionate tendencies. 

Luka pulled out a box from his pocket, offering it to Adrien, “Here,” he said, “I wanted to give this to you yesterday, but because of everything that happened, I didn’t get the chance, so… yeah.” He said, shrugging awkwardly. 

Adrien smiles, opening the box to see a guitar puck attached to a necklace chain. The guitar pick was slightly heart-shaped, with a light green background and a drawing of an angel halo and two tiny angel wings. Adrien gasped, taking the guitar pick and cradling it close to his chest, eyes sparkling. He looked up at Luka, smiling like a child on Christmas “that is so beautiful, Luka! Is that one of your guitar picks? Did you make it yourself? Oh, this is so cool I have to put this on!” He said, unclasping the necklace before Luka offered to help him put it on, a suggestion he gladly took up.

While Luka was putting the necklace on Adrien, he explained why he gave him that as a gift, “Yes, I made it myself, if you’re wondering! I have a collection of guitar picks, which are really special to me, and I will often bring them as a gift to people I’m really close to! Because I know you don’t play the guitar, I decided to turn it into a necklace, or a good luck charm, if you’d please, to let you know I’m here for you, okay?” He said, adjusting Adrien’s necklace to sit nicely, before turning him around to face him.

Adrien, now extremely touched by the thought behind the present, hugged Luka tightly, standing on his tippy toes to match Luka’s height. Pulling away, he blinked away a few tears threatening to spill over, before laughing a bit to defuse the situation. “That is such a thoughtful gift, Luka! Thank you so much! May I ask why did you choose an angel-themed pick tho?” He asked, now curious for Luka’s reasoning. 

Luka shrugged, flushing a bit, “Well, if the halo fits, am I right? You’re always so kind to everyone and everything, and in general, you’re kind of what I’d imagine when I think ‘angelic,’” he explained, cheeks flushing more, and him rubbing his neck with his hand.

Adrien smiled, cheeks flushing a bit too at the thought. He really thinks of me as angelic? He thought, suddenly feeling special and like some treasure. He was used to compliments from people, but never one so profound and genuine. “Thank you, Luka, you’re quite angelic too! Or maybe heroic! Like… Like an everyday Ladybug!”

Luka looked at Adrien, confused, cocking his head a bit, noticing Marinette’s shocked look from the corner of his eye. “Come on now, angel, I’m not that special!” He said, trying to calm himself from the flattery. 

Adrien looked at Luka determined, taking his face and squishing his cheeks with his hands, “I’m certain of it, Luka! I don’t just throw compliments around!” He said, grinning, “You’re an incredible person, and an even more incredible friend, Luka! I’m certain of it!”

Luka sighed for a moment, so quickly Adrien almost thinks he imagined it, before smiling fondly at Adrien and going to squish his cheeks too “You’re an incredible friend too, angel, okay?” He said, resulting in Adrien nodding his head, giggling.

Adrien smiled, knowing that even if his birthday wasn’t the best, he had incredible people in his life to make it all better. This was truly, the best birthday ever.

Chapter Text

The sounds of swords clashing could be heard throughout the courtyard. The D'Argencourt Academy was the most elite and challenging group of fencers in France, so it's not a surprise to see everyone was so determined to win. While this wasn't exactly what Adrien wanted to do, he found himself enjoying it! It allowed him to make friends while training, and it always made him feel chivalrous! Almost like Utena from Revolutionary Girl Utena, a girl prince who charmed her way into the Rose Bride's heart with chivalry and fencing! If only he could charm his way to his lady's heart using swords…

Adrien's thoughts were cut off by his fencing Master's voice, calling for the group to line up in front of the line of people trying out for the team. He could spot Marinette amongst the group and smiled. She's going to try and fence! I'm so glad she decided to take up a new hobby! Now we can also hang out, and hopefully, she will be comfy around me! 

Mr. D'Argencourt started to pace back and forth, presenting himself and the group. "I am the fencing Master, Mr. D'Argencourt. As I'm sure you're aware, we have only one open spot on the team this year." He stopped to turn and face the beginners. "So, to select the best possible candidate, I will observe the beginners performing a number of attacks on the experienced students."

While students began to fight, Adrien approached Marinette, trying to give himself a mental boost. Alright, Adrien, now, this is "make friends with Marinette" time! You got this! Surely Marinette can't hate you that much if she's here now! "Seems like you're looking for someone?" He asked, still with his mask on.

Marinette jumped before relaxing, and turning to him and explaining herself, making wild hand gestures "Yeah, I thought Adrien was here. You know, a boy this tall, blond, nice, super handsome?" She said, starting to swoon and stare to the distance. Aw! He thought, She's so sweet and flattering!

Adrien lifted up his helmet to reveal his face, before winking mischievously at Marinette "Thanks for the compliments!" He said, before frowning for a fraction of a moment, seeing Marinette freak out and yelp in surprise. I guess she really isn't used to me, he thought sadly.

He decided to brush it off, and start a conversation with her instead; maybe that's what will get her comfortable around him! A common grounds to talk about! "I didn't know you were into fencing, Marinette!" He said, shining brightly. 

Marinette started blabbering and tripping over her words, trying to answer Adrien. "A-Adrien! Nice to fencing, I'm totally into you! Uhh, I mean, nice to see you! Yeah, I'm totally into fencing." She said, trying to make herself as small as possible. 

Adrien decided to chuckle gently and smile, brushing off Marinette's awkward tangent because hey! He isn't really any better with social situations, either. He watches her giggle and flush at him, making him a bit confused.

"Get into position!" Armand shouted, causing Adrien to automatically get into position, which sort of happens when you’re trained to automatically obey whatever you’re told to do… not concerning at all. 

Both Adrien and Marinette fenced for a while, Adrien showing Marinette the ropes of fencing and complimenting her for her good reflexes. Marinette seemed to always giggle and stare at him smiling, which caused Adrien to think. Does she… like me? Like. Like-like me? He thought, trying to analyze Marinette’s behavior, yet failing—so much for becoming an emo detective who lives on cake—leaving him perplexed. No no, he thought, she wouldn’t like me. She looks so uncomfortable every time I’m around her, there’s no way she even likes me like a friend yet, let alone like that ! Yet the staring and giggling continued…

A shout interrupts the fencing try-outs. A figure in red fencing gear stands on the scoring box, carrying a red saber. Adrien turned to look at the mysterious figure, walking with such grace and determination. They seemed to own the court really.

“Hey, you!” They shouted, pointing at Mr. D'Argencourt, “Are you Mr. D'Argencourt, the fencing master? I want to join your team.” The voice, clearly feminine, said with determination. 

Armand scoffed, waving the person away. “Only the best are admitted here, you knave.”

The figure, now clearly furious for being underestimated said, “And I was, everywhere I went.” With a tone so cold it ran chills down your spine.

Armand exclaimed, “Part le fer! This whippersnapper has nerve! All right! I may consider your admission, shall you defeat one of my students.” He said gesturing at his students. 

Utena—a nickname he gave her based on the character from Revolutionary Girl Utena—strode forward to the silent, and frankly terrified students, before shouting, “ Which one of you is the best combatant?!”

All of the students shuffled around, looking at each other and sidling away from Adrien, who yet again lifts up his helmet, confused. Yes, he is technically the best of the group, yet most people would jump at the opportunity to fight and show off their skills. How scared are they?

Armand bows gently in Adrien's direction, smirking. “Adrien, please give our visitor a lesson in chivalry.”

Adrien smirked and lowered his helmet, trying to enter a prince-like confident mindset. I’ve got this, I’ve got this. “ I shall, Master.” He said striding towards his opponent.

Adrien and Utena faced off each other, now attached to the scoring box and standing beside it. Adrien touched his saber to Utena’s shoulder, and she touched him with hers to test the box. Utena and Adrien bowed and walked apart. 

Armand stood on top of the scoring box, refereeing and calling the beginning of the match.

“Prêt... allez!”

In the blink of an eye, Adrien and his opponent lunged at each other and both point buzzers went off at the same time.

Armand, unable to decide who won, called “Simultané! Par un toucher!”

Both fencers return to their starting points.

Armand called again. “En garde! Prêt... allez!”

Again, Utena and Adrien lunge at each other, lighting up both sides of the points box.

Armand, now confused, trying to decipher who won but for no avail, said “Uhh... Abstention!”

Before Master D'Argencourt called out another “En garde!” Utena cut him off, “Wait. I request that we do it the old-fashioned way. We'll be much more at ease without the machine.”

Armand looked over to Adrien, “Adrien?”

Adrien shrugged good-naturedly “Fine with me.” He said, unplugging his body cord.

Utena also unplugs her body cord as well, before backflipping, and showing off her skill with her saber more. This was a game of the mind too. Adrien can’t show weakness. He can’t let her deter him. He won’t give up.

“En garde…”

Both opponents enter fighting positions.

“Prêt…”

It’s so quiet, one could hear their breaths.

“A llez!”

Adrien and Utena lunge at each other a third time, sabers clashing. Adrien hits a post dodging her and the fight makes its way upstairs. Utena jumps ahead up to the second level.

Both continue to chase each other, in a cat-and-mouse-like game, chasing and escaping, attacking and dodging. Adrien must say, this was probably the best person he had ever fought in his life. So quick and determined, so unpredictable! It’s incredible.

But he was just as incredible. And he would reign victorious. 

The fight seems like a blur, with everyone chasing after both fencers to keep track of who is winning. He didn’t even realize that they ended up in the library, reigning havoc everywhere they went, until both touched each other with the sword, Utena, a moment earlier, yet it was imperceptible.

Utena turned, enraged at Marinette, who was the only one present for the fight, and shouted “Who got the first hit?! Who?!”

Marinette started stammering and tripping over her words again, likely due to the pressure.  “Uhhh, I...!”

Armand crawled up the stairs, and next to Marinette—how intensely did they fight?!— started demanding too, “Who touched first? Tell us now!” Adrien really wanted to try and break this up yet he was frozen in his place too.

“I don't know!” Marinette said, looking back and forth between them, “I think…” She looks nervous and uncertain, like she couldn't decide who won but made a choice nonetheless. “It was... Adrien?”

Armand abruptly sprang to his feet. “Ah-ha, wonderful! This victory is an honor to D'Argencourt Academy!” The girl sighed, turning to shake Adrien’s hand—which he, of course, accepted—and walking away in shame, outside of the library.

Adrien was sure she won, she was much better then he was for sure! If he could just…

He quickly removed his helmet, “Are you sure, Marinette?”

Marinette stammered, “Uh, um... Well, I'm not entirely sure. I mean, it looked like it was you, but it went so fast.” She said, looking down almost… guilty?

Adrien turned to Armand, eyes burning with passion. “I think she touched me first.”

Armand shrugged, clearly wanting his student to win “The referee has the last word.”

Adrien was infuriated by this decision. Why won't he just try to give this person a chance?! Even if she didn’t defeat me, she'd make an incredible addition to the team! He went after the mysterious fencer, who, in the middle of leaving school, stabbed her saber into the ground out of anger. "I'm going to offer her a decisive match! She deserves a second chance!" He ran over to the fencer, catching her right before she entered her car, "Hey! Wait! Your saber!"

Utena removed the helmet to reveal her face, which, while unfortunately wasn't Utena Revolutionary Girl, was still beautiful, something he won't deny. Clearly Japanese, with dark blue hair and almond brown eyes staring expectedly at him. Oh shit, she's waiting for him to talk.

"Let's do a... decisive match? He said, noticing Utena's ring. Where has he seen this emblem before? The girl snatched her hand away.

"What's the point? You won. There's no such thing as a second chance in my family. Goodbye." She got into her car, which drove off.

Adrien was not pleased with that answer. As someone who grew up in a family with no second chances, he knew how horribly it affected one, especially a child. He feared the worst for her "H-Hey! What's your name?!" He called, getting no answer.

He quickly gets into his car where the Gorilla is waiting, and points at the car Utena was in "Follow that car!"

While Gorilla was driving, Adrien researched the emblem on that girl's ring. That symbol... Adrien looked up some various symbols and scrolled through the logos on his phone, stopping when he saw the one on that girl's ring.

"She's the only daughter belonging to a family of prestigious fencers." He read aloud for Plagg, "Her mother and grandfather were both world renown champions." He brightened as he realized where he recognized the name Tsurugi. It was a type of Japanese sword, and the surname as a family of fencers... it was a little bit meta when he thought about it. "I've read about them before! She and her mother just moved to Paris! How incredible!"

Suddenly, he jumped back a bit and unbuckled his seatbelt on instinct upon seeing the car get sliced in half. Unbuckling proved to be a terrible choice because he was sent flying out of the vehicle and rolled awkwardly, hurting his shoulder on the road and tearing through his clothing a bit. 

He stayed there a bit, trying to catch his breath because his whole body hurt . He tried to gauge if anything was broken, and the main thing he could tell was an issue was the pain in his neck and arm, and slight tingling in his left ankle and shin. That couldn't be good. 

He forced himself to look up a bit, feeling the wetness on his shoulder and seeing the blood already staining his clothing. There was a shiny-looking Akuma there, and even though he momentarily saw double, he was still able to recognize the emblem and realize who he was dealing with. 

"I'm taking you up on your offer of a decisive match!"

That wasn't good. Not only was that Akuma code for murder, but he wasn't sure he could really move at the moment. Still, he used the saber as slight support to stand up, realizing very quickly that putting weight on his ankle was a terrible idea as it sent shooting pain up the entire leg.

"I-I can't fight you like this! You're not..." he fumbled for something to say, "Yourself." He looked over the Akuma and decided to call it Riposte for simplicity. 

"Fight!" But then the butterfly symbol appeared over her eyes, and she suddenly seemed a little calmer, "Understood, Hawk Moth." Ah, Hawk Moth had probably insisted that Riposte had to get the Miraculouses first. His main concern was whether or not he would be able to fight as Chat Noir or be wholly screwed over.

He decided that it didn't matter, and adrenaline kicked in, so he started speed-walking away as fast as he could without messing up his ankle further. But Riposte blocked him.

"Where do you think you're going? Stay there. Nice and patiently."

Adrien backed up a bit, but then he brightened, seeing Ladybug's yoyo wrap around Riposte's blade,

"How'd you like to start a duel with me?" She shouted, tugging on her yoyo to disarm Riposte, but her yoyo slipped off the blade, which made Adrien instantly realize the Akuma was in the ring, which had now taken the form of the sword. Therefore, the Akuma was in the sword, and it needed to be somehow broken off.

Riposte moved to strike them both, and Adrien dove out of the way, sucking in a breath and prodding his ankle to see if it was sprained or broken. Pain shot up his leg again upon touching it, and he knew that didn't bode well at all. 

"Give me a moment, Adrien. I must finish her off, first!" Riposte turned back to him with a menacing smile that caused knots in his stomach, "But don't worry—I haven't forgotten about you! I won't be long." She lunged at Ladybug and attacked her at such a speed that Adrien's eyes could barely comprehend it. All Ladybug had was her indestructible yoyo, which she was fortunate was unbreakable.

"Don't let her close in on you!" He yelled to her, tossing the saber, "Fight back!" Ladybug caught it,

"Thank you, but now get out of here." First of all, Adrien highly doubted he could. Second of all, the moment he made any move so he could transform, Ladybug was flat on her back, and Riposte was about to go for the kill. No way. Even if he wasn't transformed, he was still Chat Noir, and it was his job to protect his Lady.

"Watch out, Ladybug!" He lunged forward with his right leg and used that to force himself to grab ahold of Ladybug and roll out of danger before Riposte could skewer either of them. And just like every time he saved her life, he, for some reason, ended up on top of her, only this time the pain through his entire body reminded him of its presence. "Gah!"

Ladybug bent down beside him, noticeably more concerned and caring than when he was Chat Noir, "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." He assured her with a small smile, even though he very clearly was not. Hopefully, she'd just ignore that like she did when he was transformed.

"I need to get you as far away from that girl as possible." Ladybug said, looking over to where Riposte was trying to get her sword out of the ground. Adrien just nodded a little because his head was spinning. However, his mind cleared upon realizing Ladybug had stood him up and had pulled him close, wrapping her arm around his waist a little closer to his ass than he had expected, but given that this was Ladybug, he was just surprised.

This was fine. It would be better if Ladybug was not-so-subtly grabbing him there if it was as Chat Noir, but he decided to take what he could get. Besides, it was probably an accident as it was. He still found himself smiling sheepishly at her, noticing she was smiling back in a way she never did to Chat Noir.

Riposte managed to get her bladed arm out of the road just in time for Ladybug to pull herself and Adrien away. The sudden acceleration caused pain to Adrien's neck, but he said nothing to not appear weak in front of Ladybug, who helped him walk to one of the chimneys and sit down.

"What kind of fencing was that?" She asked, and Adrien shook his head,

"Nothing like I've ever seen before."

"It's going to be hard for me to fight and protect you at the same time." She looked at his shoulder, where thankfully, the bleeding had stopped since it was mostly just some bruising and road rash. She pulled out her yoyo, growling a little at the screen, "Where are you, Chat Noir?"

"Maybe he hasn't heard about the Akuma yet," he offered, "If he lives on the other side of the city or something."

She didn't have a chance to reply as Riposte sliced through the chimney, and Adrien barely managed to escape having one of his hands crushed by brick, because that was the last thing he needed was his hand to be broken. Sure, his body had insurance, as most models did, but that didn't mean he wasn't going to avoid getting injured.

"Allow me to explain the rules to you," Riposte said, "You're not allowed to call it quits at any time!" Yeah, when she was akumatized, she just wanted to kill him. "Adrien is mine! I will defeat you. Both of you! I am the best fencer!"

He stepped forward a bit, "Nobody denies that. My friend Marinette made a bad call earlier."

"He's right." Ladybug pitched in, "Referee errors can happen in fencing. You don't have to get so bent out of shape about it." Wait... how did Ladybug know it was a referee error? He brushed it off as she had been paying attention, but it still struck him as odd for some reason

He pushed forward, trying to reason with Riposte, "I'm sure Marinette wasn't trying to humiliate you." And then suddenly Ladybug seemed almost offended, 

"Of course not!" She laughed nervously, "I mean, I'm sure that was the case."

Again, Adrien was unsure how to feel, because something didn't sit right, as though it was right on the tip of his tongue. Little did he know, the glamor because of transformation was literally the only reason he couldn't figure this out right now.

"It's too late!" Riposte shouted, "The damage has been done! This time, I shall be the referee!" She lunged, and Adrien really wanted to point out that those in the match couldn't be the referee due to the inevitable bias. But not only was he in too much pain to do so but had enough self-preservation instinct to know he might as well sign his own death certificate if he did that.

"Stay back, Adrien," Ladybug ordered as she lunged forward to engage Riposte in battle, misstepping for a proper fencing match. It made Adrien twitch just a tiny bit, before realizing this was the perfect chance to get away and transform, so he forced himself to limp away and hide behind another chimney, and Plagg emerged,

"Plagg, I think my ankle is fractured." He whimpered as he accidentally stepped on his bad ankle, "Does the suit provide any supports for that, or am I screwed?"

"It should give you support unless you kick with it, get flung, or step wrong. Then it's still gonna hurt."

He was stopped from saying anything to Plagg or transforming when Ladybug came over,

"Adrien, you okay?" She asked, and Adrien was surprised to be asked that again. Not many people would bother. Still, it was disappointing to not have had enough time to transform.

"Uhh, yeah, and you?"

"I'll feel better once you're safe, far away from that girl." She replied in an almost possessive manner, "Come on, let's go." She swung her yoyo and pulled Adrien close again. He gave an awkward smile as she adjusted her grip to just his lower back, and they were flying off again, this time to the Louvre.

They slid down the Pyramid, and Ladybug supported most of Adrien's weight as she shouted to the people, "Akuma alert! You must leave now! Evacuate the premises calmly!"

The announcement rang through the city as Ladybug brought Adrien down countless stairs, and he had to bite the interior of his cheek to keep from whimpering as it hurt so badly until he was brought into the King Tut exhibit. It reminded him of the Pharaoh Akuma and the intolerable historical inaccuracies that made him cringe when he remembered that guy was supposed to be some form of historian. True, there was no way of knowing for sure what had happened, but there was evidence to disprove what that guy had believed, as Nefertiti was actually King Tut's stepmother and not his lover.

Ladybug helped him into the empty coffin, and already Adrien felt uncomfortable, remembering all those nightmares he had had of being locked up.

"I'm sorry," Ladybug said, "But at least you'll be safe in here!" She began closing the lid, and Adrien felt a sense of panic, grabbing hold and keeping it open a bit, 

"Please be careful, Ladybug." Please don't leave me here. He knew that this was the ideal place to transform and all, but it was getting hard to breathe.

Ladybug hesitated, "Oh... I'll be fine. Thank you, and you stay out of harm's way, okay?" She closed the lid, and already Adrien's breathing was picking up, feeling as though the walls were closing in on him. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting until he heard Ladybug was gone, forcing himself to relax,

"It's time we went and joined Ladybug."

"Didn't you hear what she said?" Plagg insisted, "She said to wait here! You can't disobey her! You're injured!"

"I've gotta help her! Plagg, claws out!" He transformed and eased himself out of the sarcophagus and looked around to make sure the coast was clear. He began running, only to step wrong, and his ankle made sure he knew it. He had to wait for a moment for that to die down, and he could continue running, taking note to be careful on the stairs, and he found Ladybug and Riposte in the painting gallery, just in time to see Ladybug had been knocked to the ground.

He dove in the way of Riposte's blow, blocking it with his staff and jumping back,

"A fencing tournament at the Louvre? How come I wasn't invited?"

Ladybug got to her feet and grabbed the saber again, "Let me guess: you were late because you were at the groomers again?" He wanted to make jokes, but he also didn't want to seem like an idiot since he knew she hated it when he was late, and hearing how frustrated she was when he was Adrien had bothered him, so he needed her to understand that he wasn't useless.

"I got here as soon as I could. It took a little while to realize there was an Akuma since I wasn't in the area. Sorry." Ladybug seemed a bit taken aback by the lack of jokes, but she also appeared... pleased by it? He grimaced a little at the idea, and he went back to attacking Riposte, and with Ladybug's help, they had Riposte pinned against a wall.

"Checkmate, Riposte!" Wait, was that her actual name? Was Ladybug using the same nickname? He hoped it was the latter, because that would mean they had some sort of Brain Bluetooth with the same thoughts. 

"You've got the wrong sport, Ladybug!" Alright, Riposte had a point there, "I think you mean: attaque toi!" She slammed into Chat, knocking him back and making his injured ankle act up. He knew it would be worse if he was in civilian form, but that didn't change the fact it was painful.

Ladybug turned back to him with a look of concern that caused the good kind of butterflies in his stomach, "You okay, Chat Noir?"

Riposte, unfortunately, took advantage of the distraction and attacked Ladybug, which then sent her to fly out of the room. She then stabbed an alarm button with her blade, bringing a gate down between them and Chat.

"Ladybug!" He didn't waste any time, "Cataclysm!" He used it on the bars, rusting them and allowing himself to get through upon making the mistake of kicking them down, leaving him forced to limp after Ladybug and Riposte for a moment, before finally being able to run again and sliding down the railings to avoid the dreaded stairs.

He got there just in time to see Ladybug both panicked and stunned, and upon seeing the sarcophagus in pieces, Chat realized he had escaped a horrible death, but that didn't explain where Adrien Agreste was, which Ladybug didn't know.

"He's gone!"

"Who?"

"Riposte is trying to get revenge on Adrien Agreste!" Ladybug explained, "I hid him inside the sarcophagus!"

Alright, what to do... what to do... maybe now is the right time for a joke?

"Maybe he was feeling a little... clawstrophobic?" Ladybug stared at him speechlessly. He rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry, bad timing." But at least it protected his identity, so that was a plus. "Anyway, I think the Akuma is in Riposte's sword, and if it's merged with her hand, that means we need to break the sword." 

"That's better than nothing. Lucky Charm!" A radiator fell down into her hands. "A radiator?"

Chat knew he should probably be used to the Lucky Charms' obscurity, but he just couldn't get over it sometimes and how it was the ideal inspiration for jokes, "Great. That should really heat things up."

He got an idea to somehow get the sword inserted into the radiator to forcefully break it off, but Ladybug seemed to beat him to it by asking for his belt, which he quickly removed and threw to her, and they both hooked the belt around the sword, forcing it to stay in the radiator,

"Prêt...! Allez!" They both shouted, and Chat was about to comment that they'd said it in synch, but decided against it as the Akuma was trying to fly away, and he really didn't want to deal with an army of Ripostes.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" Chat was dismayed that his injuries weren't healed, but figured that since they hadn't been caused directly by Riposte, rather the force of being flung into the road, it made sense.

"Pound it!"

His ring beeped, "Gotta go. Have a vet's appointment to get to. Take care of the young lady, will you?" He ran out of sight, ducking behind one of the statues, and Plagg moaned, 

"Ohhhh... All this sport has made me hungry."

"Later. Shh!" He watched Ladybug and Utena walk by and heard Ladybug say,

"You go on. I have to find someone." Utena left quietly, and Ladybug looked around, so Adrien peeked out, 

"Ladybug?" She sighed in relief,

"There you are!"

He smiled a little, knowing he had done the right thing, but not wanting her to think lowly of him for disobeying. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I figured it would be better to escape before Riposte came along. Besides, I..." he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, looking up at her nervously, "Hate to be locked up."

Thankfully, she didn't seem to think of him as pathetic, but he was surprised that she did seem remorseful, "I'm so sorry! You did the right thing." She shook her head a bit, and Adrien was about to say something, maybe ask why she cared so much but decided that was overstepping a boundary and decided to change the subject,

"So, uh... So Chat Noir finally turned up, huh?"

Ladybug brightened at the change of topic, "Yes, thankfully! Between you and me, he's much better at fencing!" She mimed fencing and Adrien chuckled,

"And... Riposte?"

"The girl is safe." Her earrings began to beep, "Oh no! I'm about to change back!" She pouted a bit, looking at Adrien intently, which made him cock his head, before she said, "You should be the one to return that." She gestured to the saber, which he picked up, then looked back at Ladybug, who had paused at the stairs, 

"Bug out!"

Adrien smiled as she left, then winced as his adrenaline took the next bus out, and he was left with the soreness and pain. Plagg emerged,

"Kid, you okay?"

"I'm fine," Adrien whispered, "Just a little sore. Do you think you have enough strength for a little bit more once we get out of here? I don't have any cheese. I'm sorry."

"I can do it," Plagg replied with a little more concern than probably intended, "But you will owe me so much cheese for this." Adrien giggled a bit,

"Thanks, Plagg." He looked up at the stairs in determination and forced himself to walk up, leaning heavily on the rails and trying not to aggravate his shoulder or ankle and shin. This proved to be an arduous task, and he only made it up one flight before needing to rest.

"Are you okay?" He looked up and saw Utena was halfway up the stairs to the entrance but was coming back down to check on him. He gave her a smile and a thumbs-up,

"I just got a little banged up, but I'm okay. Won't say stairs aren't the enemy."

Utena stared at him intensely for a moment, her eyes slightly wide as she took in his fencing attire, and the pieces seemed to click into place, and she helped him up, and he yelped as he suddenly ended up in a piggyback ride as she carried him up the stairs.

"I don't really need any help," he tried, but Utena shook her head,

"It's the least I can do, given what I suspect happened." She set him down once they got to the top, and she pulled out her phone to call someone. Adrien took this chance to give her back her saber.

"Excuse me," he held it out, and Utena turned to him,

"Listen, I—" she sighed, and both she and Adrien ended up apologizing to each other, and Utena bowed respectfully to him. He held out the saber again,

"Perhaps you'll agree to take this back now?"

Utena was about to, but then she turned away, clutching her hands to her chest. "No, I lost. You keep it."

"I personally think the point was yours." He defended, and she looked to him,

"That's not what your friend saw."

He grinned, now that he could finally get a chance to explain, "Marinette can get flustered easily. She's kind and means well—she'd never cheat. Today was her first-ever experience with fencing."

Utena didn't seem sure what to make of this, but then she suddenly had a mischievous smile, "You like her a lot, huh?"

"Marinette? Yeah, of course! She's a very good friend, and you'll really like her, too, once you get to know her." Maybe she would be more comfortable around Kagami? Adrien hoped that possibly one day, Marinette would be comfortable around him like she was others, and maybe having a mutual friend through fencing would be a good start. "Please, take it." He insisted more firmly this time, and Utena finally took the saber back,

"I'll be happy to get to know your friend Marinette!" They bowed to each other, and Adrien held out his good hand,

"My name's Adrien. What's yours?"

She took his proffered hand and shook it, "Kagami." She looked him over, "Do you need my driver to take you somewhere like the hospital?"

"No, but thanks for the offer. I'll probably get patched up later."

"If you say so," she said skeptically, before heading to her car, "Get ready for that decisive match! Let me know when you're feeling up for it." She drove away, and Adrien waved,

"I can't wait, Kagami."

He looked around to make sure he was alone and hobbled over to an alleyway, where he transformed. He didn't know how to get many places in Paris, but he did remember how to get to Luka's place from anywhere since that had been something Luka taught him, so if there was ever an emergency, Adrien could get help.

Landing in front of the Liberty, a couple of moments later—this was one of the moments he was ever so grateful for being Chat Noir, or that would be an hour-long train ride to Luka's place. He detransformed, before limping his way to the Liberty's door and knocking on it.

Opening the door was a bedhead Luka, dressed in old sweat pants and a loose band t-shirt and—are those bunny slippers?—grumbling to himself and rubbing his eyes.

...That is before he noticed Adrien and the injuries littering his body.

"Hey, Luka—! "

"Holy fucking shit, what happened to you?!" Luka said, quickly letting Adrien in and helping him lie down on a couch in the living room. "I'm so sorry about the mess, I wasn't expecting people today, but holy fuck what happened?! Were you mugged?! Was it an Akuma?! Why didn't you call the ER?! Oh my god, what if you're slowly dying holy fuck we've got to do something oh my actual fucking god—! " Luka continued to curse like a sailor—no pun intended—while getting a jacket and tying it on Adrien's ankle to support it. 

Adrien tried to soothe Luka while he was having a mental breakdown over his injuries. "Hey Luka, it's alright! It's just a couple of scratches, I'll be fine—"

"Angel, there is no way those are a couple of scratches! Oh, look at your shoulder," he said, grimacing, his breath starting to pick up the pace while looking at it.

Adrien frowned, putting his hand on Luka's shoulder. If it weren't for me being selfish, Luka wouldn't have panicked like that! He looks so terrified over something so small, oh, it's all my fault! "Luka, I'm so sorry I scared you… I didn't mean to send you into a panic, but you really need to breathe right now!"

Luka looked at Adrien, in shock and confused, before taking a couple of deep breaths and grounding himself. "Angel, this is in no way your fault! I'm guessing you got caught up in an Akuma fight?" He said, prompting Adrien to nod. He nodded, taking that information into consideration. "Okay, just know this is not your fault, okay? You did exactly what I asked of you to do in emergencies too! I'm so glad I made you memorize the way to my home!" He said, trying to lightheartedly tease him.  

Adrien giggled, going to lean against Luka's shoulder, retorting to him, "Oh, you don't know how glad I am for that!" He replied, booping Luka's nose.

Luka sighed, petting Adrien's head "I can imagine, bud," he said, before pausing for a beat, and nodding to himself like he was approving something that crossed his mind. "Okay, listen, I know you might not be comfortable doing it, but I need to take off your shirt to inspect your shoulder, okay?" 

Adrien simply nodded, going to take off his shirt. This seemed to throw Luka for a loop, making him frown even deeper, before sighing and getting out a first aid kit.

Luka took a look over Adrien's shoulder, already knowing that the wound was so deep that simple bandages wouldn't do much, yet he would have to settle for it for now. "This is bad, this is really bad, we need a professional to take a look at this…" 

Adrien tensed at the thought of going to a hospital, something which did not escape Luka's attention. He put his hand on Adrien's okay shoulder, rubbing gentle circles around the area. "It will be okay, okay? I know you must be scared, but right now, we really need a professional to fix you up." Luka decided to save asking Adrien why he was so scared of hospitals for a later date, for obvious reasons.

Adrien sighed, before nodding his head, "...alright Luka, let's go to the hospital." he said, exhausted. Luka gave him a gentle side hug as a thank you, before going to clean up and bandage the wound on his shoulder.

He quickly ran to his room, pulling out the biggest and softest hoodie he owned, as well as some sunglasses, tossing them both to Adrien, who caught them with his good arm. "You should put these on, the hoodie will be much more comfortable and allow room for your wound to breathe, but it will also disguise you from the public."

Adrien cocked his head to the side, confused while putting on the hoodie and sunglasses. "Why do I need to be disguised?"

Luka approached Adrien, offering his hand, which Adrien took. "Because my good sir—" he quickly picked Adrien up bridal-style.

"Luka, what—"

"We're running to the nearest train station to get you to the hospital!" he said before getting out of the house with Adrien in his arms.

"Wait what —"

"Too late!" He said, before taking a running leap and sprinting toward the nearest station.

"Luka, wait—" Adrien called, both extremely embarrassed and terrified.

But oh well. Guess he was getting carried one more time today.

Chapter Text

Alright, so all he had to do was run to the nearest train station and ride to the nearest hospital. Wait, fuck, which stop would he need to drop off by? Ugh, why is Paris so fucking big?! 

Luka groaned to himself, trying to get the phone out of his pocket using his elbows, his hands preoccupied with carrying Adrien bridal—oh my fucking god I’m carrying Adrien Agreste bridal-style okay focus focus just keep it casual, Couffaine!

“Hey Adrien, do me a quick favor and take my phone out of my pocket? I need you to open Google Maps, so I’ll know which stop we should drop off in.” Luka said like he was totally not having a sexuality crisis, even after being openly Pan for 3 fucking years.

Adrien nodded quickly, fishing the phone out of his pocket while looking like a distressed blonde tomato. He opened the Google Maps app and searched for a bit before giving Luka a thumbs up and showing him the quickest path to the hospital. Luka nodded before sprinting to the train station just in time to get tickets and catch the train before the doors were closing.

Luka gently placed Adrien on the last remaining seat on the train, before slumping and holding on one of the bars to keep safe. Luka pulled out his phone from his pocket before sighing to himself. 11:15 pm. Thank fuck he brought pepper spray on him. This was not how he thought his night would turn out to be, but hey! When a beautiful model who is also a close friend of yours knocks on your door, all scratched up, you kind of lose track of time or any common sense! I probably embarrassed him so much… Great going, you maternal, horny-as-hell dumbass , Luka lectured himself, you just had to lose control, didn’t you? 

“You can have the seat.”

The sentence snapped Luka from his thoughts, making him look up to see Adrien standing and motioning him to sit down while holding onto the nearest bar, foot slightly lifted in the air. There was no way he was standing up. 

"No, no, no, you need to sit down much more than I do." He said, directing Adrien towards the seat.

"But you're exhausted!" Adrien exclaimed, half jumping around to face him, "You did so much Luka, you bandaged me up, got me a new change of clothes, and ran for ten minutes straight to get to the metro station, and you're likely going to continue carrying me until the ER!" Adrien brow furrowed, features softening, "Please rest too…" 

Luka pouted, sucking in a breath, praying to whatever force or deity out there to make Adrien relent soon and stop with that adorable kitten-like stare. He took a deep breath before asserting himself and putting his foot down "No way. You will sit down and rest your ankle, and I am not taking your spot just because you want me to."

"But Luka!" Adrien exclaimed, waving his good arm around.

"Angel, do not—" Luka started, face completely red with embarrassment before getting cut off by some giggling passengers chatting and whispering about "how adorable this lovers' quarrel is! They're such sweet gentlemen!" And so on and so forth. Both males turned red—if Luka could turn any more red then he already is—when a woman offered the seat next to the empty one, insisting it's fine, and that they should be able to sit and lean next to one another.

Both sat down after stuttering a quick thank you, Adrien trying his best to hide his red face, for more reasons than one. After a beat of silence, seeing everyone has gone back to their business, Luka fishes out a pair of earbuds from his pocket—seriously how much random junk does he carry in his pajama pants?!— and connecting them to his phone.

“Peace offering?” he asked Adrien, holding out one of the earbuds for him to share with. Adrien smiled, nodding and taking the ear bud and inserting it in his ear, and soon both males were leaning against one another listening to various tunes from Luka’s playlists.

Yep, Luka thought, this is going to be a long night.

…

Nathalie paced the foyer of the mansion, waiting for a call from anyone telling her where Adrien was. She had tried the tracker in Adrien's phone, but that had just led to the school. She had talked to Gabriel, who said that Ladybug had been at the Louvre, so it stood to reason Adrien was there, so she had sent the Gorilla only to get a message that Adrien wasn't there.

Ladybug was the only person who might know where Adrien was, but how could they talk to her, and what if even she didn't know? Adrien was famous—he couldn't be in the city late at night on his own, that's how you get trafficked! He didn't know where anything was! He was a child, for crying out loud! What if he had already been kidnapped? What if he was hurt? 

She was about to call all of Adrien's friends when her phone rang. The hospital?! Why the hell—was it about Adrien?! She picked up the phone, not bothering to hide her fear, "Nathalie Sancoeur speaking, how may I help you?"

"Is this Adrien Agreste's emergency contact." She gasped quietly. Why was Adrien at the hospital?! And that would mean he had most likely taken the metro where so many people could have abducted him!

"Yes, it is. I haven't been able to get a hold of Adrien since the Akuma attack. Is he alright?"

"He's getting some X-rays now. He was brought in by a friend since Adrien got a little roughed up by the Akuma, but he isn't fatally injured or needs to stay overnight." She sighed in relief a bit, before realizing that Adrien had been hurt to begin with.

"I'll be there as soon as I can. Thank you for letting me know." She hung up, clenching her fist, and stormed into Gabriel's office, "Adrien was injured by the Akuma?!"

Gabriel moved away from his work, coming over, "He just got some torn clothes, right?"

"No," Nathalie seethed, knowing she had to be careful or not even years of friendship would help her keep her job, "He is currently at the hospital getting X-rays, after being brought in by a friend." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, "They said it's clearly nothing severe, but you can't risk his life like that because what if it is next time. Miraculous Ladybug can't fix everything, and it won't work at all when the day comes that you win."

Gabriel sighed, "If only I could tell Adrien why I'm doing this—he'd understand."

"No," she put her foot down, "You are knowingly endangering your son, and that is abuse, Gabriel. You need to be more careful, or it will just be harder when you get Emilie back, and he most likely finds out the truth."

After a moment of a stare-down between them, Gabriel sighed, making it clear that she had won, "You're right, Nathalie. We should probably head to the hospital to check on him."

"I messaged Gorilla to pick us up, and he's on his way now." 

He smiled a bit, "What would I do without you, Nathalie?"

She smiled a bit in response.

...

Luka and Adrien were now waiting in the patient room for the results of Adrien’s x-ray. After sprinting some more to get to the hospital, Luka rushed inside Saint Louis Ap-Hp hospital, before putting Adrien down gently, and approaching the reception desk. Something Luka did not expect was for Adrien to know how to admit himself into the hospital, and the fact that Adrien’s entire body was insured. That didn’t give him a good feeling, the thought of Adrien’s body being worth a certain amount of money. He understood this was likely something models did, but it didn’t make it any better, especially with the fact a minor has said insurance and for a lot.

X-rays were uneventful, really. Adrien had to change to a hospital gown, and the doctors took x-rays both on his shoulder and ankle. However, Luka was so worried some unrepairable damage was done to Adrien, so he wasn’t talking much as he was anxiously bouncing his leg and asking the doctor here and there if everything will be alright, to which the doctor, of course, replied with yes.

But back to the present.  

While the silence wasn’t necessarily unbearable, it wasn’t entirely pleasant either, and Luka was about to change that!

“So… your entire body is insured?”

Great fucking job Couffaine your idea of a fucking conversation is to ask him “hey why the fuck does your body basically have a price tag on it?!” Because that’s completely fucking normal you fucking doofus—

To his surprise, Adrien just lightly giggled and began to explain, “Yeah, because I’m a model, and a very famous one at that, my body is quite expensive!” He joked lightly, which wasn’t helping Luka.

“I see,” Luka said, pausing for a bit to think through and formulate his sentences “Don’t you think that’s a bad thing? Like, basically having a price tag on your body.”

Adrien shrugged, looking down, “Eh, I guess it’s just is at this point; I got used to that fact and embraced it. When I signed up to be a model, I knew I was signing up to making my body public property, so I guess it’s my fault…” he said, the light from his peridot eyes dimming. He quickly shook it off, “But anyway, why are you asking? Are you trying to guess how much I cost?”

Luka quickly shook his head, flushing “Oh no no, I was just curious, I didn’t even know that insuring your body was a thing, so I was curious!” He said, trying to explain himself, avoiding telling him that “Hey, your body doesn’t have a price, and you shouldn’t be treated like a piece of meat on sale!”

Adrien bumped into Luka’s shoulder, teasing him, “Curious? Well, now, you know! I’m curious to see how much money you think I’m worth,” he said, “Here, try to guess how much my eyes are worth.” He said, turning in his direction.

Luka sighed, moving some of Adrien’s hair away from his eyes, and telling him what he honestly felt. “Putting a price to any part of your body would be putting it to shame, Adrien.” He said gently, “You are worth so much more than any amount of money one might label your body with. You are not some piece of meat for people to ogle at for a price.”

Both boys sat in silence, yet this time it was different. The silence was thick, filled with unspoken questions and feelings, yet it wasn’t necessarily bad. Adrien was shocked at Luka’s statement, never having anyone tell him that so genuinely and not having a motive behind it. He felt… special. Understood. That felt so good too.

The magic lasted for a little bit longer, yet both really lost concept of time. It could have been mere seconds, and it could have been half an hour, and they would be able to tell the difference. That was until Nathalie’s voice cut through the silence.

“Adrien!” Nathalie exclaimed, running as best as she could in her heels towards him, kneeling to his eye level and inspecting all of the wounds, his father hot on her heels, the usually aloof designer and parent, looking frantic and exhausted and worried to death. He does care about me, Adrien thought, smiling gently.

“Are you alright?” His father asked while Nathalie went to talk with the nurses.

“I am, Father, don’t worry! It’s thanks to Luka I was able to get to the hospital in time and get treated! He also bandaged me up and supported my ankle before we even got here!” He said, gesturing at Luka and smiling gently at him, a sweet smile which Luka returns shyly.

Gabriel got up and turned towards Luka, his cold and calculating demeanor returning, “I must thank you for taking action and taking care of my son when I couldn’t…?” He said, offering a hand to shake.

“Luka Couffaine, sir.” He said politely, shaking Gabriel’s hand and catching his gaze with an odd sort of look—little did anyone but Luka know of the guilty, secretive and suspicious melody which came from Gabriel’s heart, which caught Luka’s attention—before snapping out of it and offering a polite smile.

Gabriel turned to face Adrien, a bit frazzled from Couffaine’s stare, yet quickly covering up the effect it had on him. “Adrien,” he said, “Because it is a bit past midnight, and considering the injuries you have, you will be staying at home today to rest your body.” He said, more ordering Adrien to do so if anything.

Nathalie came in informing the group, “The doctors said that you fractured your ankle and will need a medical boot for the next two to three weeks and that while nothing was broken on your shoulder, due to the harsh scrape, you will need creams to heal and you’ll need to have a sling for the next few days just to make sure.” Everyone nodded in agreement that Adrien really needed to rest.

Luka then got up from his chair, stretching out his body, “Well,” he said, looking at the hour of his phone, which was 12:15 am, “I suppose this is my time to leave, I still have to go to school tomorrow.” He turned toward Adrien, parental instinct taking over for the millionth time this evening, “promise me you’ll rest and stay safe? If you need me, just call, and I will be there with some snacks too! Don’t hesitate to call me if anything is wrong, okay?” He said, receiving a gentle smile and tired nod from Adrien.

Luka crouched, hugging Adrien gently, a hug which Adrien melted into and lasted a few moments longer than the norm, before parting with him and walking out of the room, waving at him gently. Adrien, of course, returned it, and then Luka reluctantly left him in the care of his assistant and father.

OoOoO

Adrien looked up at the stairs of the school with a little more trepidation than was probably needed. This was going to be fine. It was just a walking boot and a sling—he didn't even need crutches. The only accommodation was going to be sitting out during PE and missing fencing, but that was it.

Walking up the stairs might be a pain, he realized, since now that he was looking, there was absolutely nothing here to help the actually handicapped. Maybe he could talk to the school about it? After all, the principal was a giant pushover when anyone remotely wealthy or influential was involved, so it stood to reason that he could use his celebrity status for this one thing.

No... that was kind of manipulative. Still, it would be better if they had something here for the disabled—why wasn't that required?

Deciding to contemplate it later and brace himself for the onslaught of fans pretending to be worried so they could get up close with him, he stepped into the school wincing a little bit as he walked up the stairs and into the school.

He was both surprised and not surprised to see everyone waiting for him, "Welcome back, Adrien!" 

"Guys..." he smiled a bit awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his good arm as everyone ran up to him and started asking him how he was feeling and such. He looked around for Nino or Luka to help him out as he began quickly getting uncomfortable, and thankfully Chloé came to his rescue.

"Stay back," she ordered everyone, clinging to Adrien's good arm, "Adrikins, I was so worried about you! Is it serious?"

"It's fine, Chlo," he assured, "The boot is only on for two or three weeks, and the sling comes off in a couple days since it's mostly just scratched." Chloé sighed in relief, smiling genuinely, and Adrien returned it as he slowly walked up the stairs, and she let him wrap his arm around her shoulder for support. This was his childhood friend right now, showing him real kindness. 

Then Chloé looked at the surprised people and scoffed, "What are you all looking at? Scram!" Alright, maybe her kindness was just for him, but perhaps he could help her open up with others.

"I was worried you were seriously injured when you didn't come to school yesterday."

"Oh, sorry for worrying you. I should have been more specific. It was just late by the time I got X-rays done, and Father thought it would be better if I rested. Sorry."

"Don't apologize so much," Chloé chastised a bit, and he flushed,

"Sorry—crap—sorry—gah!" She chuckled a bit, and they walked to the classroom, where Adrien waited and noticed Marinette was there, and she seemed to hide from him as he came in. He deflated as he sat down. Did she hate him? Maybe she felt guilty—even though it wasn't her fault, she was a good person and might blame herself. But if he said something, would that make it worse? He didn't know what to do, so he decided to just say nothing and get ready for class.

Nino came in not long after, "Hey, dude! I missed you yesterday!" They fist-bumped, and Adrien grinned, frowning when he felt eyes on him, and he turned to see Marinette staring intensely at him before shrieking a bit and hiding again. His brow furrowed as Alya came in,

"Are you okay, Marinette?"

"She's fine," Alya assured, pulling Marinette up, "She was just really worried about you." 

"You were?" He put on his friendliest grin, "Thanks for the concern, Marinette. Sorry, I worried you."

"Oh, it's fine. I don't care—I mean, yes, I do care! You're important!"

"Thanks, Marinette," he looked up as Miss Bustier, and everyone else came in.  

"Welcome back, Adrien," she said, clapping her hands a bit, "Let's start with our daily compliments and turn to page 23 in your textbooks." 

Adrien got his book, ready to start the day.

OoOoO

He had to sit out and stay in the nurse's office during PE. That was fine, Adrien supposed, but he found himself sitting alone in the nurse's office with the nurse in question nowhere to be seen. Plagg was eating some cheese, 

"There hasn't been an Akuma today," Plagg said, "Normally there is one by now." Adrien nodded. Hawk Moth usually had Akumas everyday or every other day, depending on the week, so not having one yesterday wasn't unusual. However, so far, they hadn't had one today either, and he was starting to wonder why. Was it because he had gotten injured? No, don't make yourself seem so special, he scolded himself, I'm sure he's just taking a day off, or it's a coincidence. Besides, the day isn't even halfway over, so there might be one this evening.

"Maybe we'll have one later, but I guess I should count my blessings since less Akuma attacks is technically a good thing." He heard the door open, and Plagg hid. "Hello?"

Marinette appeared from the other side of the curtain, "Hey, Adrien!" She giggled with a wide grin, before becoming embarrassed and seemingly uncomfortable, "Alya said I should—I mean, I wanted to come check on you."

Ah. Marinette didn't want to be here. Did she hate him or not? He honestly couldn't tell anymore. 

"I'm okay. Anyway, how have you been doing?" Marinette was scrambling through the cabinets and brought him an ice pack for his shoulder. He didn't need it but didn't refuse it because if this made her more comfortable, that was fine. 

"I'm good—a little bummed I won't make it on the fencing team." He softened, knowing as well as she did that it was very likely Kagami would fill that last spot no matter the results of the decisive match.

"If you like fencing, I could try to carve out some time and teach you," he offered, "I would like it for my friends to know how to defend themselves during Akumas."

He couldn't read her expression as she looked at him with wide eyes, "Friend?" He recoiled, unsure if her tone was excited or horrified,

"Oh! Sorry... I just—I thought that maybe—sorry if it's too soon or—"

"No, no, no!" She frantically shook her hands, "I'm happy I'm your friend—I was just—" she laughed a little too much, and Adrien frowned a bit, deciding to follow along.

"O...kay?" He put a hand on her shoulder, "I'll talk to my father once I'm all healed up."

"I-I-I can't wait!" 

He beamed, hoping that maybe this would be the step in the right direction, and maybe they could regain their progress from before this mess for her being more comfortable around him, "Me neither."

Chapter Text

Placing the final ornament, Luka stepped off the ladder placed on the deck of the Liberty, before observing the fruits of his labor on the deck. Christmas was one of the only times he and his family organized the Liberty, trying to find the Christmas decorations—even if it's less them cleaning up, more like Luka cleaning up, while his mother complained about his need for order. 

The deck wasn't necessarily the traditional either, and more based on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas , if anything. Spider webs with tiny spiders decorated the walls and pine tree instead of Garlands and ribbons adorned with skulls. As for the cherry on top, the star ornament in the shape of the paganism symbol—which is quite similar to a pentagram—and the head of Krampus in the center of it.

Yep. Merry fucking Christmas.

"And to all a happy fucking new year." Luka said to himself, opening a can of soda, and taking a gulp from it.

Luka sighed, walking downstairs to the lower deck, exhausted from the hard work he put into getting the ship ready. He slumped on the couch, hearing his mother distantly make a ruckus in the kitchen, talking about "how much adventure will there be tonight!" Honestly, he could use a migraine pill rather than an adventure. 

He flinched as Juleka placed a hand on his shoulder, turning to face her before relaxing and smiling tiredly at her.

Juleka sighed, before offering some of the pastries she and rose got from the Dupain-Cheng bakery, an offer which Luka gladly took up. "Can't help but overwork yourself, even on Christmas?" She asked.

Luka laughed before slumping against Juleka's shoulder, "you know me too well, Jules!" He exclaimed, causing her to laugh. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly, which Juleka returned fondly—he supposed that having Rose as a girlfriend gets one used to affection and hugs. 

"Merry Christmas, Juleka." He said, pulling away and smiling kindly at her. As Juleka returned the sentiment, Luka couldn't focus, but rather let his thoughts wander to a particular blonde, who was likely spending his Holidays alone. He frowned, looking at his contact list, debating whether to call or text Adrien and perhaps offer him to spend Christmas with him? Was that too weird or forward? He hoped not.

"I think you should call him," Juleka said, patting his head with a teasing smirk. "I think he'd appreciate a certain someone thinking of him~" she mused out loud, trying to get a rise out of her older brother, who only replied with a shake of his head and a fond sigh.

"I'll send him another Merry Christmas text, we have been talking over text all day long, so he might grow tired of me!" he said, fidgeting with his mullet. Juleka sighed before going to help their mom in the kitchen, leaving Luka alone with his thoughts.

He sent one last text to Adrien, praying it will make him feel any better then he must be right now.

Luka: Merry Christmas, Angel! I’m here if you’d like to talk later on! I got you bud☺️

He sighed, going to lay down on the couch, hopefully this Christmas will be a good one for everyone he thought, praying for nothing to go wrong.

…

Adrien held up another plain silver ornament, sighing a bit but forcing a smile. It was Christmas, so he should be happy, right? He looked at the decoration he could see his reflection in, a stark contrast to the rainbow lights and color and joy when his mother had been here. Nearly eight months now, she had been gone.

"Check it out, Nathalie." He looked up to her, "Do you think he will like all the decorations?" These plain decorations that only went to show how much their lives had changed since his mother left.

He thought back to last year. He should have known.

"Mom?" He rushed over to her as they were decorating the tree, and she suddenly fell to her knees, coughing. His father bent down, and she smiled reassuringly to them both,

"I'm fine," she forced a clearly fake smile as her husband brought her to the couch, wrapped in a blanket by Nathalie, "It's just a dizzy spell. Adrien, do you mind finishing up the decorations while I rest for a moment?"

Adrien's brow furrowed, but he perked up since his father had told him the dizzy spells weren't a big deal. "Sure, Mom!"

Snapping back to reality, he looked towards the couch in question. How hadn't he suspected it? He put the last dull ornament on the tree. He had been doing research about these kinds of things as a method of coping, and all he had ever found was that the first Christmas was going to suck. 

And so, the tree was hardly decorated because everybody was too emotionally unavailable to be bothered with getting the box of ornaments from the basement. Adrien had accepted that his father was never going to let the house be decorated again this time of year. He was still unable to bring himself to take his Mom's ornaments from the basement for his own personal use, and the fact that he had yet to get into the holiday spirit was just how it was going to be this year. From here on out, Christmas was not going to be the same, but he hoped it wouldn't always be like this.

Then again, this was his father he was talking about, who had changed completely. It was moments like this that had a mix of anger, and morbid curiosity sparking up, because he was pretty sure that his father knew what had happened to his Mom, and refused to tell—declined to give Adrien any semblance of closure. He wanted to know what had happened and the real reason behind the dizzy spells, but he also knew now was nowhere near the right time to ask. But then again, when was there one?

He decided he didn't care to decorate anymore if it was nothing but a ghost of what had once been, and there was no point in going through the motions. Adrien absently ran a hand over his shoulder, which had long since healed, but there were still slight scars which he noticed in the texture of his skin, which were easily hidden with makeup but still noticeable for him. He couldn't feel it through the thin yet soft fabric of his pajamas, but it still served as a reminder that he had survived that and could 

He was about halfway up the stairs when Nathalie stopped him, "Perhaps we should give your father... a few more minutes." Adrien looked back,

"What's the point? He's not coming." He turned, seeing Gorilla give him a present, "Thank you. Merry Christmas, both of you."

…

Gabriel stared silently at the portrait of Emilie. This would be the first Christmas without her. How was he going to face Adrien about it? It was too much to ask for perhaps the best Akuma yet tonight to return Emilie to them as a Christmas gift, but he couldn't stop himself from dreaming as he heard a knock on the door, suspecting who it would be,

"Yes?"

To his surprise, it was Nathalie who entered the room, not Adrien.

Nathalie stood there, arms crossed, and the dreaded eyebrow of disapproval was raised. Then her expression softened to something more professional, "I can imagine how difficult it must be for you, sir. But it's also Adrien's first Christmas without his mother. I really think, sir..."

"I know, you're right. I'll go see him. I just need a little more time."

"Of course." Nathalie left, and Nooroo emerged,

"Master," he offered an encouraging smile, "I'm sure Adrien will be happy to see you."

"He'd be happier," Gabriel snapped, "If I could get the Miraculous." He grabbed a vase with some flowers off of the table and brought it down to Emilie's coffin, placing them before it, bowing his head, "Merry Christmas, my love. It's been too long, but hopefully, I'll be able to fulfill our promise soon."

He sat on his knees before the coffin, needing a moment as it crashed down how much everything had changed.

…

Adrien hugged himself in bed, curled up with his pillows and blankets, watching White Christmas on his laptop and softly humming along to the melody of the songs. He remembered when he was little, and he would curl up with his Mom, watching it. Maybe he was just trying to maintain a little tradition, but like all things, it just rang hollow.

The one thing that brought him some joy was the message from Luka—a reminder that even if he felt alone, he wasn't.

He barely got twenty minutes before deciding it wasn't worth it to even try anymore, shutting the laptop and sitting up, turning to a concerned Plagg,

"He's still only thinking of himself!" He thought about his father, hiding away and pretending Adrien, like the rest of his problems, didn't exist. Maybe his father wished he had disappeared too, because it sure felt like it, and in a fit of anger, he decided to give his father his wish, "I just want this terrible day to be over and done with! I hate Christmas! Plagg, claws out!" 

He leaped out into the night, unsure of where exactly he was planning to go, but as long as it was far away from a place that barely counted as home, he was satisfied.

As he ran, hopping from the rooftops, he occasionally had his attention caught by the sight of a happy family celebrating the holiday. He perched by one of the windows, watching Chloé and her father enjoy dinner and gifts together. They seemed to be enjoying Christmas just fine without a mother figure in the picture. Maybe he should have asked her how she managed that, but he didn't want to open an old wound. 

His frustration and rage decided to remind himself of its presence, as anger often does, unexpectedly and suddenly supercharging every nerve until the urge to shout or scream or destroy something was the only thing he wanted to do. 

It was around this moment he saw the giant Christmas tree. He felt as though he had been slapped just looking at it, hearing his mother's voice ringing in his head, of memories that would never be made a reality again, because she was gone and never coming back, regardless of what his father seemed to want him to believe. 

Maybe he was still grieving, and perhaps he needed help. But those thoughts were far away as he decided to give in to his emotions on the one night he suspected he would be able to without Hawk Moth butting in.

"Cataclysm!" Oh, how much he longed to see the tree crumble just as his hopes of having a happy family had. Maybe others would be able to understand a bit. 

But it was his mother's face flashing in his mind that stopped him as he staggered back, "I—I can't..." he began to sob, noticing another ad for something with his civilian face on it. That false smile his father forced him to paint on, he wanted to destroy it and did so, watching that image of what he was supposed to be crumbling before him.

Realizing what he had done, his rage vanished abruptly, leaving him shivering as the unusually cold wind blew in his hair and chilled his face. He fell to his knees, his head in his hands as he began to weep, "Plagg... claws in..."

Plagg flew out of the ring, laying in the snow, and Adrien's eyes widened, realizing that his kwami was exhausted. He momentarily ignored the cold seeping into his bones the longer he sat in the snow in thin clothing, which was quickly becoming wet.

"Plagg? Plagg!?" He had a hand over his mouth, seeing Plagg shivering and exhausted, "Oh, what have I done? Wait, I'll help you!" He realized he didn't have any food, but he did have the gift Gorilla had given him, which had been tucked in his belt as he took it with him. He unwrapped it with great haste, finding it was a creatively designed hat, and he only knew one person with that kind of imagination. He scooped Plagg out of the snow, placed him in it, and pulled it close for more warmth for his friend and for himself as he shivered. 

Then he noticed a letter with the hat and read it, "Merry Christmas, signed Marinette." He brightened as this would be a real lifesaver, "She's so awesome! We're going to fix you right up, Plagg!" He put the letter in the waistband of his pants, looking up as he heard the bells saying it was midnight, "Do you hear that? It's Christmas." But at the same time, the sound of the bell brought him a sense of sorrow, as it could mean the chime of midnight, it could mean a wedding, or perhaps a...

He shook himself away from such gloomy thoughts, standing up, grateful for at least having some slippers on which could function as regular shoes, "Merry Christmas, Plagg."

 Plagg smiled up at him, "Merry Christmas, Adrien."

...

Gabriel walked up the stairs, carrying a present. He walks into Adrien's door, pausing before he knocks on it. Maybe Adrien does not forgive my "cold" behavior… if only he knew that I'm trying to give him the greatest gift of all! To reunite our family, just like how it was before! Gabriel shook his head, snapping himself from thinking too much. Adrien will be grateful for this gift! He believes it's one of those "Pokémons" Adrien likes so much, and it can be added to his plushie collection! He still has that, right?

He opened the door, smiling gently, and scanning the room… only to see his son is nowhere to be found...

"Adrien—Adrien?!" Gabriel called, suddenly distressed, scanning the room again, before noticing the open window from the corner of his eyes. "Adrien!" He shouted, causing Nathalie and Adrien's bodyguard to run in, and realize the graveness of said situation. "Go and find him immediately! Immediately!" He barked out, his breathing picking up slightly in distress.

I will not lose him too. Not on this day, especially.

Nathalie quickly speed-dialed people close to Adrien, "Hello? Yes, Merry Christmas."

…

Well, running throughout the streets of Paris a little past midnight to search for Adrien, was not how he envisioned this Christmas. Adrien was pushed to the edge, and that reckless angel just had to jump! Oh, I should have called him! Maybe I would have prevented this! Who knows where Adrien is! He might get mugged, he might get assaulted, he might get killed! Lord knows what can happen!

Many people from Adrien's class and their families were walking around, calling out for Adrien concerned, but mostly trying to stay calm.

That is, except for one very worried Luka Couffaine and Nathalie with Gabriel Agreste on the line, both looking a minute from fainting.

"Angel, I swear to FUCK, where are you?!" Luka screamed at the top of his lungs while sprinting down the street, searching, hoping it would grab Adrien's attention. Oh my fucking god, this is my fault I should have called I should have done something why am I such an incompetent motherf—

"Driving yourself up the wall is no use, Mr. Couffaine," Nathalie said, putting her hand on Luka's shoulders while he took deep breaths. Gabriel looked no better than Luka, his hair frazzled, and while he wasn't as vocal about it, he was panicking too. He looks much like his younger self now, Nathalie thought, reminiscing of their teenage years, hoping to get her mind off of distressing matters even if for a moment. It's quite funny, Couffaine reminds me of Gabriel the time Emilie went "adventuring"—wait. 

...My god.

Nathalie looked over to Luka's mother, Anarka, an old upperclassman of theirs, a Cheshire grin painted on her face as she reached the same conclusion.

This is going to be a long year.

...

Adrien jogged down the streets of Paris, cradling the hat, which served as a makeshift bed. He looked down at the kwami worriedly, "Don't worry, Plagg, I'll find you something to eat. I can't promise it'll be Camembert." He tried to joke, earning a small smile from Plagg, before he looked up to see Santa Claus—or at least, a man dressed as Santa—handing out presents to some frankly shitty children.

"Ho, ho, ho!" He exclaimed joyfully, "No need to grab now, children. Good old Santa has a gift for everyone."

The girl brattily threw the snow globe away, throwing a tantrum, "These gifts are so lame, and I bet this is totally fake!" She said, pulling at his beard, causing him to exclaim in pain.

The boy next to her cackled, "Yeah! Totally. No way you're the real Santa Claus." Proceeding to laugh at the poor fellow.

Adrien intercepted, helping Santa up and looking at the children with a scolding glare, "Hey! What's wrong with you? Even if he's not the real one, what would Santa think of your behavior?"

A man, presumably the kids' father, agreed with him, "The young man's absolutely right. Kids, say sorry right now."

Both kids looked down in shame, mumbling, "Sorry, Santa Claus." To the man, who was frankly too tired to care.

"It's no big deal, children. Merry Christmas anyway." He said, waving it off, to which the father replied with a "Merry Christmas," out of politeness.

Adrien helped Santa into his carriage, asking worriedly, "I'm sorry, sir, are you okay?"

Santa smiled at the young man, trying to ease his concerns, "I'm fine, Don't worry, I'm a tough old Santa. But, what are you doing out at this time of night? Are you lost? You're not exactly dressed for the cold weather. Maybe you'd like some hot chocolate, I've got some left.

Adrien beamed excitedly at the offer, "Yeah, I'd love some, sir! It doesn't get much better than that." He commented to himself, before earning an "ahem!" from Plagg, hunting him to get him some good food.

Adrien turned towards Santa Claus, grinning sheepishly as he was given a cranberry-colored blanket which was draped over his trembling shoulders, "Except maybe a slice of Camembert?"

Santa rummaged through his carriage, pulling out a very smelly sandwich, "Oh, you're in luck! I've still got some sandwich leftovers. This is some of the smelliest cheese I've ever come across. Hmm, that smells… To each its own. So you're not lost then, I hope."

Adrien quickly fed Plagg one slice of Camembert, before frowning to himself, "It's my first Christmas without my mom, sir. And my father…"

"Doesn't know how to move on? I understand. But your dad must be wondering where you are, you know. He must be very worried about you." Santa said, patting Adrien's shoulder, "Now that you've gotten out of the house and cleared your thoughts a bit, don't you think it'd be a good idea to go home?" He asked him gently.

Adrien sighed, knowing he really should he'd home—even if he didn't want to be, maybe his father wouldn't want to think his son was gone for good. "Yeah, you're right." He admitted, sipping on his hot cocoa.

Santa grinned happily, "Atta boy, that's what Christmas is all about. Families together. I'll take you there on my sleigh!" He exclaimed proudly.

Adrien ushered Plagg out of the hat, before offering it to the man, "Alright, but you put this on." He said, offering the hat Marinette made him.

Santa looked at him, confused, "Hmm?" 

"The friend who gave it to me would want you to have it," Adrien said, smiling gently.

"A present for me?" Santa exclaimed, full of wonder.

Adrien shrugged, "Everyone deserves a Christmas present!" He said, nudging the hat at Santa Claus.

Santa smiled warmly at Adrien, "Thanks a lot, son."

Adrien pulled the blanket a little tighter around himself and used the cocoa to warm his hands, "How about you, sir? Where will you be celebrating Christmas?"

"Me?" Santa grinned in a jolly manner, regardless of how tired he looked, "I have all of Paris. The whole world even! Ho, ho, ho!"

"All by yourself, huh?" Adrien looked down at himself, and he bit his lip a bit as he thought, getting an idea that might be terrible, but maybe his father would be so grateful for his return that he'd roll with it? That was, of course, assuming his father even wanted him back, but it was worth a shot, "Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Take me back home and have Christmas with us! I need you to bring the Christmas spirit back into our home."

There was a pause as Santa thought it over, before the elderly man nodded, "All right, then. But I can't stay for too long, you do know that Santa's very busy at Christmas time." Adrien beamed,

"Thank you!" He pulled his knees to his chest, still feeling they were soaked, and trying to maintain as much warmth as possible. He paused, thinking he had heard someone shouting his name, but he shook himself because surely that couldn't be right.

They ended up sitting in comfortable silence the rest of the way to the mansion, however long that was. It could have been five minutes or an hour—he had lost track of time. 

When he finally got to the mansion, it was even further below freezing, and he was glad to be home and eager for his new friend to come inside to get out of this weather too. He rang the doorbell and the little camera-bot which had always given him Star Wars vibes appeared. He expected to hear Nathalie but was surprised to hear his father sounding very worried.

"Adrien, is that you?" Adrien nodded, but the focus was no longer on him, rather Santa, and he could practically feel before he heard the change in tone, "Who are you?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm Santa Claus!"

Adrien already suspected this wasn't going to end well, but he was a little surprised by his father's rationale. "You're here for money, I suppose? I'll get my bodyguard to deal with you." And he cursed under his breath because of course, he should have thought about that conclusion,

"No, you're wrong, father!" He pleaded, "He was just helping me—nothing to do with who I am."

"No, he's not. Your father's got the right idea. He's a supervillain under Hawk Moth's control." Adrien turned to see Ladybug, spinning her toy in circles, both working as a shield and an offensive weapon. 

"What?" Adrien asked softly, going in front of Santa, even to shield him for a bit. It was really to no avail when Ladybug started approaching Santa threateningly.

"You're all totally crazy!" Santa Claus shouted, taking a couple of steps back, and covering himself from the possible onslaught.

Adrien ran up to Ladybug, trying to block her from the poor man. "What? No, Ladybug stop! That man hasn't been akumatized!" He tried to explain himself, yet it seems he wasn't being listened to. As per usual.

Ladybug smirked at him, winking mischievously and much more playfully then she is with Chat Noir, "I know when I'm looking at an Akuma victim, trust me." She said, before running up to Santa, preparing to attack, on for him to run away last minute on his sleigh

Ladybug looked at him, smiling, "You're safe now. Go home."

Adrien grabbed her by the wrist, right before she was about to leave, "Please, just listen to me!" He shouted, before recoiling at Ladybug's shocked—upset? He really hoped not—expression.

Ladybug turned to him, grabbing his shoulders and looking at him straight in the eye. "Alright. I'm listening." She said softly. "What is it you need to tell me?" She asked gently.

He couldn't believe his ears. She wanted to listen to him. She wants to listen! She cares enough to listen! He quickly shook himself out of the lovesick trance to explain himself.

"You must believe me, Ladybug, Santa was not an Akuma! He was helping me get home, not trying to kidnap me!" Adrien exclaimed, "If you could just please check on him instead of attacking! He might be in danger of getting akumatized now!" Adrien explained, already feeling the dread of another Akuma building up inside him. And one so late at night too! No rest for the wicked, he supposed.

Ladybug sighed fondly before going to caress Adrien's cheek. "Alright, alright, I'll go check on him." She said, winking. 

"You will? Thank you so much!" Adrien said. She might not know this, but she might be doing me a favor by cutting work short for me, Adrien thought, eternally grateful for a break. "Thank you for listening, Ladybug. This is important to me." Adrien said shyly, looking to the ground, flushing.

Ladybug lifted Adrien's face, and turned it towards her, before saying with a sweet, saccharine tone, face flushing,

"I will always listen to you, Adrien." 

Adrien was too shocked to reply. Does she like me? Well, like Adrien, but I am Adrien, but she likes Adrien Agreste, not Adrien, but my goodness she likes likes me! He could not reply with anything but a small helpless nod, while he was being carted away by Nathalie and his bodyguard. 

He dazedly walked up the stairs before getting snapped out of his trance by Nathalie, "Where are you going, Adrien?"

Adrien turned to her, sobering, "To my room, of course, since my father isn't celebrating Christmas."

Nathalie frowned, trying to comfort him, "Of course he is, Adrien. Your father came to see earlier, but you'd gone out. I'll tell him that you're waiting for him. Just making sure you'll stay in your room this time."

Adrien tried his best to not roll his eyes, "Yeah, okay." He said, walking up to his room.

Ten Minutes Later

After changing into some warmer pajamas, Adrien decided to curl up in bed, knowing full well that he would have some explaining to do whenever someone came up to talk to him. Gorilla was watching him as though he was about to do a disappearing act from the bed. He just wanted to try warming up and maybe getting some sleep—he knew it was too much to hope he could sleep through all of Christmas because just his luck there was going to be a Christmas photoshoot or something like that.

He didn't know what to expect from the rest of tonight, but for a demon-goat-thing to come in through his window was certainly not one of them. He sat up, gazing at the monster.

It was hairy, with the fur being a mix of brown or black, and had the cloven hooves and horns of a goat. Its long, pointed tongue lolled out in a Genocide Jack manner, and it had fangs. Adrien's brow furrowed, also seeing the demon was carrying chains that it thrashed seemingly for dramatic effect, which was connected to small bells.

However, the most noticeable thing was the large sack, which seemed based on the hat Adrien had given to...

Oh no.

"Santa...?" He asked worriedly, and not-Santa shook his head,

"I'm not Santa anymore. I am Krampus." Adrien got out of bed, scrambling up,

"What happened?!" He looked apprehensively at the sack, which he could already tell wasn't the most welcoming thing in the world. 

"I'll do you no harm, Adrien." Krampus assured, "In fact, I will avenge you! I'll avenge us and punish everyone bad this year." He leaped off into the night, and Adrien ran to the window, seeing that Gorilla had been bound by some chains without Adrien noticing. 

"No, wait!" He ran into the bathroom, "Plagg, claws out!"

He leaped out of the bathroom after Krampus, seeing the demon-goat running through the streets, kind of like a Naruto run. Chat decided not to comment on that or even let himself think it for the sake of taking the situation seriously. Didn't Luka mention Krampus a little while back? He'd have to ask more about it later because he was really curious and hadn't learned much from just a passing comment on Luka's part.

It took all of two seconds to realize where Krampus was going, and he could already tell the Akuma was more than likely in the sack, which had once been a hat. Still, while he could use cataclysm and go in for the attack now, he had to wait for Ladybug to appear. He had seen her earlier, so hopefully, she was still out and about. However, he suspected Krampus was going to have it out for her. This meant he was probably going to be thrown into the sack to cataclysm it from within.

Chat Noir sighed. He knew what was going to happen because something like this always happened when such an option was possible. He was willing to do anything for Ladybug, to seem a fraction as heroic as her, but sometimes he wished his role could be more than get sacrificed and cataclysm things. But the happy and triumphant look on Ladybug's face after they won was always worth it.

Sure enough, they were in Le Grand Paris hotel, and Krampus jumped high in the air and into the main room where Chloé and her father were, which didn't come as a surprise but was still irritating. He knew Chloé wasn't a saint, but this one time, Chloé being attacked was unprovoked, and this made him even more disapproving than usual.

He was about to jump in and save Chloé before she was stuffed into the sack, but Ladybug was the one to grab her, pulling her away. Chat Noir knew his face lit up at the sight of her, and hope blossomed in his chest at what he had realized earlier. 

It was a little drained by her glaring at him, "Chat Noir? Where were you? What happened to Adrien?" Crap, she probably saw my cataclysm, and that's what started this mess of her thinking Santa was... oh... I'm the worst! This is my fault!

"It's a..." he hesitated, scratching the back of his neck with one hand and with the other using his baton to deflect an attack from the chains, "Long story." He perked up, winking playfully and gaining some confidence at the idea that since she loved one side of him, surely she could enjoy the other, "Cats have their little secrets too, y'know?" He turned to Krampus, "Can you please stop attacking? I've been good all year round." 

Ladybug giggled a bit as she too had to dodge, "Not enough, apparently." They got behind a table, and she examined the situation, and Chat decided to pipe up,

"I think the Akuma is in the sack." Ladybug turned to him,

"How can you tell?"

"Gut feeling." He dared to put a hand on her shoulder, smiling, "Just trust me." She looked up at him for a moment of silence, before nodding,

"Alright, Chat Noir." They went back to planning, "So if the Akuma is in the sack, how will we get close to him without getting attacked by those chains?"

He chuckled, "At least the jingle bells are so loud he can't be subtle." Said bells proved a point by loudly announcing the attack coming at them, and Chat groaned a bit, "I'll be right back, get ready to capture the Akuma, create a Lucky Charm and do Miraculous Ladybug." He ran at Krampus, not noticing Ladybug’s shocked expression, jumping in such a way that seemingly made him vulnerable, and he ended up in the sack. "Cataclysm!" And just like that, the sack was no more. 

He fell onto the ground with a yelp, and he grinned to Ladybug, "Merry Christmas, M'lady."

Ladybug ruffled his hair, "Thanks, kitty." She opened her yoyo, a beautiful grin on her face as she captured the Akuma and used the new Lucky Charm to restore everything to normal, and she helped him to his feet for their routine fistbump. 

"Pound it!" She smiled at him, and he felt his heart flutter at the idea that he had already won half the battle in winning the heart of his Lady. So his competition was...himself. He decided not to think about it too much as his ring beeped. He looked down at it,

"It was a gift to see you tonight, Bugaboo," he turned to Santa, "If you don't mind taking him home since you have more time than I do..." he looked down at his ring, knowing he had to get home quickly, and he grinned, "Merry Christmas, Ladybug."

She nodded to him, "Merry Christmas, Chat." 

OoOoO

In the mansion, Gabriel and Adrien stood in front of his mother's portrait in Gabriel's atelier. "Adrien," Gabriel said sternly, "You understand I can't have you disappearing like that. I couldn't bear the thought of losing you." His father looked genuinely worried and honestly looked like a mess, so Adrien nodded, looking down at his feet guilty. Maybe he really does care! I was too quick to judge him… 

The bell rang, causing Nathalie to quickly pick up and listen for a moment before nodding and opening the gate. She turned to him, with the same usually stoic expression of hers, "I think it's for you. Both father and son go to the foyer and open the front door, where they find everyone who searched for Adrien smiling at him, holding plenty of food as well! 

Nathalie explained to both men that "I informed everyone that Adrien was home, safe and sound, sir. They were all worried about their friend." She said, giving Adrien and a quick and short smile, so brief, Adrien thinks he imagined it.

Adrien turned to his father, pulling his best kitty eyes to convince him, "Oh please, father. It's Christmas!" He said, smiling widely, eyelashes fluttering as he feigns innocence and blinks rapidly.

Gabriel sighed before turning to the group of now-guests, "Of course. Come on in." He said, gesturing them to enter the house.

Nino automatically jumped on Adrien, hugging him tightly, shouting, "Brother!" Causing Adrien to giggle and part from him smiling.

He turned to see Luka, who while was certainly happy to see him, looks like he has been through hell and back. Approaching him, Luka engulfed him in a warm hug, petting his head and slightly rocking him from side to side, almost as if to assure himself he's there and not in some alleyway, bruised up.

Adrien melted into the hug, allowing himself to hug back just as tightly before lifting his head to explain himself "Luka I—"

"You can tell me later, Bud, okay? For now, I'm just glad you're okay, so I'm going to lecture your sorry ass when both of us look and feel a little less like hell." He teased, cupping Adrien's cheek, smiling softly, and then pinching his cheek a beat later. This resulted in both boys half wrestling each other and giggling, unaware of eyes looking—and two mother figures smiling to themselves at their realization.

As everyone sat together to have dinner with song and joy, Adrien looked at his mother's portrait one more time, whispering a silent thank you and a "Merry Christmas, Mom." Before continuing to celebrate the holidays with those who cared for him. 

Chapter Text

No… that's not quite right. Raven black? What am I? Some angsty fucking gothic writer creep?

Adrien grimaced, crossing out the phrase and replacing it with "black as night," biting his lip, and frankly, he was a minute away from screaming in rage, crumpling the paper and throwing it at someone before breaking into tears. Nino looked at Adrien, frowning and nonverbally asking if Adrien was okay, which Adrien didn't notice. This was such a stupid idea, why the hell did I even think that this was a good idea—

"Adrien, I hope what you're writing has to do with my lesson." Miss Bustier said, cutting off Adrien's downward spiral of thoughts. He paused immediately, not looking up, but covering the paper he's writing on.

As Miss Bustier approached him, he could hear Marinette gasp theatrically, along with the rest of the class looking at him. Thankfully for him, he was used to people staring. "Can you tell me what I just said?" Miss Bustier said, crossing her arms, giving Adrien a chastising glare.

Adrien sighed, already used to half-listening so people—specifically his father—won't scream at him for not listening. "That's why in most fairy tales, the prince breaks the spell by kissing the princess because only love conquers hate." He recited the teacher's downright false lesson monotonously, frankly being too tired and unmotivated to even look up at her. What was she teaching? Disney? Some tales ended with true loves' kiss, but typically it was something vastly different.

"Very good, Adrien! Now, everyone, don't forget to finish Sleeping Beauty by Charles Perrault tonight, and Happy Valentine's day, students!" Miss Bustier said as the bell rang, notifying the students and teachers of the beginning of nutrition break. 

Students started filing out of the classroom, discussing their plans for the day, their next classes, etc. Adrien stayed back as he continued to write his letter. While Adrien did try writing, it felt like he was always being watched by a million eyes, every sentence becoming increasingly hard to produce. Every word, every syllable, and every letter was so infuriating—

Adrien stood up abruptly, crumpling the paper, muttering angrily under his breath, tears forming in his eyes, before tossing the letter in the garbage can. Why did I even think this was a good idea? This is so fucking stupid. He took a deep breath before rubbing his eyes and striding out of the class, unaware of a particular student who stayed behind and was now scavenging through the trash for his letter.

The beginning of the nutrition break wasn't much, as Adrien was making small talk with Nino, Alya, and Marinette, who came into the conversation late, staying true to her form. After around five minutes, Adrien decided to excuse himself to write this letter for the millionth time this month, saying that he has something important to do.

Promptly sitting on a nearby bench, using his binder as a flat surface to write on, Adrien pulled out a pen and titled the paper "a letter for my lady" in very fancy cursive and some hearts adorning it. I got this! He thought, I will make the best note for my lady, and she will love it and return my feelings, and everything will be great! This will be great! I've got this!

Adrien continued staring at the blank piece of paper, the smile of his face turning into a blank stare.

… oh, he was screwed.

Groaning and smacking his head against his binder, Adrien contemplated why the actual hell did he think this was a good idea until he felt a hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice asking, "Rough day, Bud?"

Scrambling to tear the paper into pieces, crumple it, and shove it in his bag, Adrien turned to Luka, smiling awkwardly at him "H—Hey Luka!" He said, voice cracking.

Adrien watched as realization dawned on Luka's face, his smile widening and eyes twinkling in joy. "No. Way." He said, both shocked and excited. "You're writing a Valentine's card."

"What?! What Valentine's card? W-What is even Valentine's Day, I never heard of it, I didn't even know that thing I've never heard of was today because I've obviously never heard of it… obviously." Adrien tries to cover up, knowing it wasn't working, as Luka continued to look at him, smirking. "...Alright, I might be doing a small Valentine card for someone, and I really don't know what I'm doing." He said, covering his face.

"Alright, so theoretically, if you were making a card for a holiday you've never heard of or knew it was today, because you've never heard of it obviously, and you were having a hard time with it. Would you like me to help you out with it?" Luka offered, teasing Adrien's lack of a filter, which he was working on okay in his defense.

Adrien sighed of relief, hugging Luka tightly, "Thank you so much, Luka, that would be amazing!" He said, melting as Luka returned the hug. God, Luka's hugs are the best.

Luka separates the hug, now very determined, "Alright, so," he said, pulling out a little schedule notebook he always carried with him. "We can work on this, let's say around… lunchtime? We can meet in the library? We could work on your letter then, and a quiet working space will be good for concentrating!" He offered, brightening when Adrien nodded excitedly, thank him over and over. 

The conversation was unfortunately cut short by the bell ringing, notifying students of the next class. Adrien sighed, putting all his things in his back up, before turning to Luka again. "Thank you again, Luka, this is a huge favor!" Adrien said, yet again.

This time, Luka smiled gently, cupping Adrien's cheek, "Hey, it's no biggie, angel! I'm glad I could help! And I'm sure you'll be able to sweep Ladybug off her feet!" He said, winking mischievously.

"Wait—how did you know—!" Adrien exclaimed, watching as Luka walked away to his homeroom class.

"You're not subtle, Angel! Also, I saw the title of the paper!" Luka teases, striding casually to his next class. 

Adrien sighed before walking towards his homeroom class. Well, I really can't pass anything by him, he thought, embarrassed. This is going to be a long lunch period.

OoOoO

Walking into the library, Adrien's eye caught Luka waving at him enthusiastically, motioning him over. Adrien lit up, waving back excitedly, "Hey Luk—!" He called before being shushed by the librarian, causing both boys to shrink into themselves, grimacing. Luka motioned at Adrien to come over theatrically, almost childish motioning him to come and that he saved a sit for him.

Adrien giggled, quietly speed-walking towards Luka, and promptly sitting on the chair next to him, before turning to Luka and grinning. "Hi!" He stage-whispered, blushing of embarrassment.

Luka smiled brightly, greeting him before taking a deep breath, and putting his hands on his hips "Alright, time to make this letter! What have you got so far?" He asked Adrien, which in response sheepishly took out an almost blank piece of paper, with some words and phrases littering the top half of it, all of which were crossed out almost violently, leaving dent marks on the page.

"W-Well, I tried to come up with something, but everything I write out just feels… wrong, somehow. I feel like this should be natural and come easy to me, but it just feels off." Adrien said, frowning and poking at the paper miserably with his pencil.

Luka smiled gently, taking Adrien's hand and holding it close, chuckling gently, "Love isn't necessarily easy, Angel," he said, "Sometimes you really love someone, but you just lack the words to say, or the right tempo and feel to what you want to say! Sure, ideally, it would come easy to someone to express their feelings, but we all know that isn't how it works in real life." He said, ruffling Adrien's hair.

Adrien giggled, swatting Luka's hand playfully, before relaxing, and looking over at his paper. "You're right Luka, I have to put effort into getting this letter right! I have to put all my heart and soul into it!" He exclaimed, before getting shushed again by the librarian.

Luka giggled at Adrien's embarrassment, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "Well, you certainly have the spirit to make an amazing letter, now all you have to do is find the right words to tell her," he said, leaning against the chair and propping up his legs, "I would personally go much deeper than surface level. Sure, praise her looks and tell her how beautiful she is, but also what is it about her core personality, which leads you to want her so much? Is there a certain goal you want to achieve with this note? What is it that really made you fall in love with the lady?" 

As Luka continued to list ideas for a bit, Adrien began writing, finding that it was much easier for him to write when Luka was by his side. Luka eventually paused, turning to start writing something of his own, leaving both boys to write and contemplate in comfortable silence.

After Adrien completed a good chunk of his poem, he tried to peak at what Luka was writing, which Luka caught onto quickly. Luka's eyes twinkled mischievously as he said, "Y'know, you could just ask what am I writing about, right?" He said, causing Adrien to laugh awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Now," he said, "In case you were wondering, though, since you are writing to Ladybug, I've decided to write a letter for Chat Noir." 

Adrien gasped, quickly calming himself down, to not reveal his identity and the sheer irony of the situation. "Y-You're making a letter for—?" Adrien asked, pausing for emphasis, which Luka replied to with a nod,

"I am struggling with the words, though… What would I say about Chat Noir and why I'm giving him a card? At its core, I'm giving the guy a card so he won't feel left out and know that people love and care for him and for all he does to help protect Paris, but that just seems too basic…" he frowned a bit before clearing his throat and starting to write. "'Dear Chat, you have a fine as hell ass—" he started saying out loud before getting tackled by Adrien.

"Oh my gosh, Luka, you can't just give someone such a crude card! Oh my gosh, he'll probably be so embarrassed—" Adrien said, flabbergast while Luka was cackling and continuing to write.

"'Your thighs are absolutely beautiful, and I would like to be crushed by them—"

"You are a menace to society, Couffaine!" Adrien shouted, face completely red at what Luka was saying about— well about his thoughts and… behind.

"Shush, Angel, I'm trying to make a heartfelt letter here, can't you see? Now, where was I—? Oh right! 'Your calves were chiseled by the gods, you can kick me, and I'd thank you'—" Luka continued, smirking at Adrien's reaction.

Adrien was at this point, clinging onto Luka like a koala, hiding his face in his shoulder. "Y-You don't know if Chat Noir is comfortable with such things said about him!" He tried to excuse, but only getting a look from Luka, which screamed, "Do you really think Chat wouldn't love to have that written about him?" Which he, unfortunately, had to agree with. His father always told him that being skinny is much more attractive than his natural curves, but he must admit it's nice having someone praise his natural body shape. Even if it was in an extremely preferred, teasing way.

Both boys continued playfully wrestling, until the librarian violently shushed both men, putting an end to their shenanigans. Adrien pouted, going back to his seat, before breaking into laughter with Luka at their silly argument. Both boys continued to write their letters in silence for the rest of the period, Adrien writing it on a heart-shaped card he bought a couple of days back, Luka now doodling on the page with scratched out jokes and profanities. Adrienlooked at his letter proudly. This is perfect, he thought, nothing could top this!

Hair as dark as night, eyes filled with determination,

A lady both strong and brave in and out of her disguise.

To truly get to know you, I long for, for our heart to dance at the mention of the others name, I will work hard to,

I wish you’d want me as your valentine,

Yet will you be my Valentine too?

Both boys parted when lunch ended, not before Luka gave Adrien a tight and warm hug, smiling gently, cupping his cheek.

“I’m so proud of you, angel, okay? Know that no matter what happens, you got this, and I’m here for you all the way through.” He said, poking the good luck charm he gave Adrien. Adrien wore it every day for school and was never seen without it. He will often fidget with it when he’s nervous or clutch it in his fist when he’s trying to work himself up to a big task.

Adrien smiled, cupping both of Luka’s cheeks, smiling just as warmly at him, “Thank you, Luka, I will tell you how it went as soon as possible, okay?” He said, receiving a nod from Luka before both had to run to their separate classrooms, one feeling lighter and better than ever, and the other, while disappointed, still full of love and support for the one he cares most for.

OoOoO

"So let me get this straight," Plagg looked up from his cheese, "You just spent hours with your boyfriend trying to write a love poem for Ladybug. Do I have that right?"

Adrien rolled his eyes as he looked over the letter again, "Plagg, he's not my boyfriend. You know Ladybug's the one I love." Plagg inhaled what was left of his cheese and flew up towards Adrien, scoffing,

"Please, you're so deep in the closet, you're almost to Narnia," Plagg said this in a very deadpan tone which made it clear he was only slightly joking, yet Adrien found himself laughing out loud at the implications, only managing to calm himself when he heard his phone buzz with a notification, and he groaned when he checked it, seeing it was a message from Chloé on social media, and she had clearly humiliated Kim.

"Chloé, seriously?" He groaned, "Why can she be so considerate with me but not for anybody else?" He shook his head a bit, knowing he had to talk to her about this. But he couldn't at the moment because he had an estimated two minutes before the Akuma was in the area. Hence, all he could really do was transform now and wait around a bit until the inevitable Akuma showed up. How terrible was the outfit going to be this time?

He could already tell it was going to be love-themed. Perhaps Aphrodite or Eros? Probably the latter because of Cupid and such, but Adrien personally preferred the version of Eros that was not Cupid, and yet he found himself disappointed by that fact because Hawk Moth was just not creative.

Well... he transformed and psyched himself up. Now was the perfect time to give Ladybug the poem and confess his feelings to her. He had been waiting five months, almost two of which he was aware of her crush on his civilian self. Part of him wondered if he should give her the card as Adrien for a better chance of success, but decided that no, he was going to do this as himself to show this was more than some celebrity crush.

He jumped out of the house and waited around on a rooftop until the inevitable Akuma showed up. He wondered about names for this one as he took note of said villain flying over the city, and he crawled over to the edge of the roof to get a feel for the villain's powers before jumping into action. Chat Noir smiled to himself, I'm starting to sound like Ladybug.

He observed diligently, and he took note that there was a particular Tell to the villain's power, in the form of black lipstick on the victim's lips. But overall, the ability was hitting someone with arrows to turn love into hate. It sounded like a reverse Cupid situation, which was a little predictable, but understandable given how it happened.

He figured he should just head over to Chloé now—deciding to ignore that he was genuinely curious how this Akuma would affect her—and wait until Ladybug was here to explain the situation and how it came to be. When asked, he could say his civilian self had been in the area at the time and rushed off to transform, knowing what was going to happen. Yeah. There was no reason he had to have seen that message from Chloé. But maybe he was getting ahead of himself, and she would just assume it was Chloé because about a third of the time, the reasons could be traced back to the mayor's daughter.

He didn't have to wait long as he noticed Ladybug and helped pull her to safety behind a chimney, and he smirked a bit as she stumbled, her balance slightly thrown off. He helped her up,

"Falling for me already, my lady?" He thought about the poem in his pocket, "Hey, after the Akuma, I need to talk to you." He looked up, seeing the villain flying around searching, "What's the villain's name?"

"Dark Cupid."

"Boring," he muttered, "Let me guess, he's going after Chloé?"

Ladybug laughed a bit, "I wouldn't be surprised."

"So that means the first place he would think to look for us is—look out!" Without warning, Chat grabbed Ladybug and forced them to fall backward off the roof and into an alleyway before sprinting for dear life, and he managed to grab a large umbrella off a stand and ran with it as a shield to protect them.

They made it to the hotel and saw Chloé was waiting for them in the lobby, and she was clearly annoyed upon seeing them, "Ladybug, it's about time, where have you been?" She saw the umbrella, "And what is with that ridiculous umbrella?" 

"You gotta get out of here." Ladybug explained, notedly saying nothing about the umbrella. "Your friend Kim's turned into Dark Cupid, and I don't know what he'll do if he finds you here."

Chloé put a hand on her chest as though he was offended, "Moi? But how could he possibly have a vendetta against me?"

"Because you caused him to get akumatized?" Chat offered, letting a little of his annoyance be known as he noticed a framed picture of himself off to the side. Despite himself, he smiled a tiny bit, because he knew she probably would have tricked him into signing it, but she did know he hated signing autographs and had respected that. Why couldn't she be so considerate with everybody else? Was it just because he was rich or their parents had worked together?

Chloé just scoffed in response at the idea someone could be against her, but Chat noticed in her eyes that no, she didn't deny the possibility as she actually did know it to be true.

He then noticed said framed picture started moving, and he reacted with speed like a panther as he used the umbrella as a shield from Dark Cupid's arrows, and he tried to get a good look at the design to see where the object was. Regardless, the arrow quiver had to go, but how could he get to it without getting hit and ending up the enemy.

Frankly, the idea of turning love to hate was downright terrifying as it was practically changing a person's morals and values, like educational brainwashing. Thankfully, there was nothing regarding locking in a box for days on end to do so, but the whole premise was still far more disturbing than one would give this ability credit for.

Ladybug grabbed Chloé with her yoyo and dragged her outside, and Chat used his free hand with his baton to extend it and push Dark Cupid back into the wall, stunning him for long enough for Chat Noir to also escape uncorrupted. 

They hid as they noticed Dark Cupid go in search of Chloé, and Chat turned, "Where do you think the Akuma is?"

"Hm..." Ladybug considered, and then she brightened, "It's probably in the pin. You saw that pin, right?" He thought back and remembered it in Chloé's image, and while he hadn't gotten a good look at Dark Cupid from behind the umbrella, that was something that matched the color scheme, and Kim had had on handy, so it made sense.

"Right. Now the main question is how to get close to him and retrieve it without getting hit."

"Hm... Lucky Charm!" Ladybug threw her hand in the air, and a candy apple impressively heart-shaped came down. Chat looked at it,

"What are we gonna do with that? Throw it at him?"

Ladybug looked around, "I can't see anything to do with it at the moment, so I suppose we'll need to find him. Keep your guard up."

They wandered around a minute or two until they found Dark Cupid near a large fountain, and Chat Noir was glad he had tossed the umbrella aside a few seconds ago to maintain as much stealth as he could even in skintight black leather.

He had been joking when he said for Ladybug to just throw the candy apple at Dark Cupid—never had he imagined that was actually what was going to happen.

Dark Cupid tried to fire at them but was unable to do so upon taking the candy apple off his head and his hands getting extremely sticky, so he was washing his hands in the fountain. Chat Noir took the time to activate Cataclysm and destroy the sash, holding the pin and tossing it to Ladybug, "Happy Valentine's Day!"

Ladybug caught it, looking at it sweetly, "Awww, you shouldn't have..." she dropped it and very falsely said, "Whoops!" in such a way that made Chat slightly apprehensive as she stomped on the pin to release the Akuma.

As she purified everything, Chat Noir tried to psych himself up. Alright, you got this. You've been preparing for this all day, and it can't go too bad since you're Adrien, and she clearly likes Adrien.

"Pound it!" Ladybug paused, putting a hand to her earrings, which were flashing, but Chat grabbed her hand quickly, grabbing the poem out of his pocket,

"Wait, Ladybug! I gotta tell you something."

Ladybug scoffed, throwing her yoyo, waving Chat off, "Not now kitty, I had a very long day—"

"Please? It's very important." He asked in a much softer and meeker tone than the usual boisterous attitude he had while being his superhero self.

Ladybug sighed, pulling the yoyo back into her hand, before turning to face Chat, hands on her hips, and her foot stomping impatiently. "Well then, what is it?" She said, gesturing Chat to continue.

"U-Um, could we first go to a less crowded area? I promise this is not to reveal our identities or anything, it's just really private." He explained nervously.

Ladybug sighed, pulling Chat Noir to an alleyway away from the press and people watching them. Before again, gesturing for him to spit it out already. Alright, Chat, you got this, this is the big moment you've been waiting for, this is it just do it, just do it—

He pulled out the card, offering it to her quickly, turning his face away and preparing for the worst.

"Imadeyouthiscardforvalentinesdaypleaseacceptitiworkedonitreallyhardandireallylikeyouandiwanttidateplease!" He said in one breath, before panting heavily.

After a beat of silence from both superheroes, Ladybug started laughing a bit, leaning against the wall. Chat, for the life of him, couldn't see what was so funny. She took a deep breath and sighed, before turning to face him, "I don't have time for your silly games kitty, was that really all of it?" She said, smiling.

Chat bit his lip slightly, feeling both confused and belittled—like when you're a kid and adults laugh at some adult joke you don't understand, and you want to understand it so badly but you can't, and you feel so lost and dumb and, it's not a nice feeling, to say the least. "But it's not games, my lady, I-I… I really like you. Like... Like like you…" 

Ladybug's smile disappeared from her face, turned with a slightly shocked expression, before she frowned and sighed, chucking some more to herself. "You're not really in love with me, Chat." She said, waving her hand as to disregard what he said.

Chat frowned, opening his mouth to say something before getting shut down by Ladybug, "You are not in love with me, okay? You're in love with the idea of me! This fancy magnificent superhero who is a perfect leader and will always save the day, when in reality, you will never be able to love or understand my true self and the struggles I go through." She explained to him as if it was obvious.

"S-So just as friends then! Let's get to know each other, and then I can fall in love with both of you? I'm sure that your "true self" is just as brave and kind as yourself, and then you'd realize that I'm genuine and that I really really want to try!" Chat exclaimed nervously, already shaking and rumbling like an idiot.

"No, you do not love me, and you're just off on some magical fantasy of us being together, but the reality is, it will never work out, and you will never truly understand Chat. So you will drop it this instant. Am I clear?"

Chat froze, shaking and breathing slightly uneven and shaky. He blinked away tears building up in his eyes as he meekly replied with a "yes Ladybug," watching her swing away on her yoyo, before crying and running towards his home, where he can lock himself up to cry in peace.

Upon jumping into his bedroom and detransforming, Adrien slumped and explained to Plagg what had happened, before flopping onto his bed dramatically and hugging his plushies. It didn't make sense. He wanted to get to know her, why couldn't she at least give them a chance as friends? He tried to justify it because maybe she felt the same way about people crushing on Ladybug as he did with people "in love" with his civilian self—that it wasn't real, and they were seeing a perfect person. 

But that wasn't true. Chat Noir had seen, countless times, Ladybug make mistakes. Unlike people who were crushing on Adrien Agreste, he wanted to get to know her as a friend, and she seemed to shut that down too.

"Don't be too down," Plagg tried, "You could always call Luka. Or there are all these cards from your lady fans," he gestured to the pile and brought one over, which was heart-shaped, "Take your pick!"

Adrien frowned at the card, not really interested in reading about the superficial "love" that his fans had for him. But curiosity and a desire to be polite drilled into him by his father and Nathalie his entire life had him sitting up and wrapping a large blanket around himself, but reading the...

"Whoa, hold up! Someone answered my poem?" His brow furrowed, "But I threw it away." He bit his bottom lip as he read, "Your hair shines like the sun, your eyes are gorgeous green, I look at you and wonder your innermost thoughts and dreams. Yes, your Valentine I will be, our love will be so true, together for eternity, my heart belongs to you."

Plagg gagged as Adrien frowned a little, "Who wrote that?"

"It isn't signed." Adrien replied, "For all I know, it came from Ladybug," he laughed bitterly, "And wouldn't that be funny."

"Kid, why not just call Luka?" Plagg urged, "You did say you'd tell him how things went."

"Plagg, I just want to wallow like a pathetic worm for a few minutes, do you mind?"

"Nah, I don't mind. It'll take that long for him to get here," Plagg picked up and unlocked Adrien's phone, "Now, where are the contacts...? Found that, now down to the L..."

Adrien shot upright, "Plagg, no—"

"Where is he?" Plagg scrolled a bit with a slightly confused expression, before pausing and looking up with narrowed eyes and a small smirk on his face, "You named him Orpheus in your contacts?"

While he didn't know for sure, Adrien had a feeling he was turning bright red, "Yeah—I mean, he plays music and—" he paused, "I don't have to explain myself to you." 

"You cheesy fondue," PLagg muttered, rolling his eyes and pressing the call button.

"Plagg!" Adrien snatched the phone from him, but it was too late to stop the call as Luka was already answering, "Oh! Hey, Luka." 

"How did things go, Adrien?" Luka asked, and Adrien slumped, looking towards the note, where he should have thrown it in the trash but hadn't yet,

"I offered the note," he sighed, but clearly, Luka picked up on his depressed tone, as his own became frantic.

"Nononononono, where are you at right now?"

Not entirely understanding the question, Adrien looked around, "I'm at my room?"

"Alright, I'm coming over."

"Wait, Luka!" Adrien protested, "What about Nathalie or my bodyguard?" He then noticed the call had been hung up, and he glared at Plagg, but he still had a little bit of a smile on his face, while Plagg looked extremely triumphant and pleased with himself, "See what you've done?"

"Yes, and do you see me complaining?"

Adrien pouted while Plagg smirked proudly for a few moments before hearing stomps growing louder and louder, until an out-of-breath and exhausted Luka Couffaine barged into his room. He took a minute to catch his breath, before hugging him tightly, petting his hair and whispering soothing words in his ear.

Adrien, now for the second time today, broke down crying, but this time it was full of sobbing, clutching onto Luka's clothing and heaving and crying while he received nothing but kindness from him. There was no pressure to keep a strong face in front of anyone or brush it off like it's nothing. With Luka, he could just… be and exist and feel to his heart's content. With Luka, he wasn't Adrien Agreste or Chat Noir. He was just Adrien. He was just us.

After his crying had calmed down, Luka partially separated the hug, still rubbing soothing circles on Adrien's back, and asked, "Do you want to tell me about it?" To which Adrien nodded gently." Luka positioned Adrien to lean on his shoulder, waiting for him to collect his thoughts and relay them to him.

Adrien took a couple of deep breaths before starting to explain, "S-So, the confession didn't go well," he explained, his voice raw and broken from crying. Luka nodded gently, gently urging him to tell him more. "I—" Adrien tried before a couple more tears slipped down his cheeks as he tried to collect himself. "I gave her the note while being in disguise." 

Luka frowned a bit, quirking his eyebrow, "So she didn't know it was you?" He said, causing Adrien to nod again, and Luka to keep track of the little details.  

"Ladybug already liked Adrien Agreste, I knew that much, so I just—I just… thought that if she could like Adrien Agreste, maybe she could like just Adrien, y'know?" He said, sighing as Luka started to run his fingers through his hair.

Luka smiled gently at him, "If it makes you feel any better, I like just Adrien much more than Adrien Agreste." He offered awkwardly, to which Adrien smiled weakly, thanking him silently for the support. After a beat of silence, Luka decided to ask for a small request. "Could you tell me what happened during the confession? I need to rant and have a good excuse to scream at Ladybug next time I see her, but also, it will give me peace of mind!" He said, "But no pressure, alright? Take it at your own speed." He offered gently.

Adrien nodded, sighing, and letting Luka pet him a little bit more before continuing. "So—I confess to her after the Akuma attack, right? I did it in a private area away from the press, to make sure she was comfy. So I confessed to her, and I'm really nervous and all, and… and she laughed." 

"Laughed?!" Luka exclaimed, shocked, and anger slowly building up within him.

"I-I'm sure she didn't mean it! Maybe it was just how I said it or how stupid I might have sounded, but I'm sure she had a good reason!" Adrien said, causing Luka to take in a deep breath and give him the thumbs up to continue. Adrien, of course, continues, "so she said that I shouldn't be playing games with her, and 'was this really what was the big deal about' and all, to which I say 'yeah because I'm not playing games, I really really like you,' y'know?"

Luka nodded again, trying to focus on his breathing and meditation exercises to not lose it. Adrien caressed Luka's cheek helping him calm down. He smiled gently at the older boy before resuming, "So she goes really silent for a couple of moments, and then she tells me that I'm not really in love with her and that I only love the idea of her and will never understand or love her true self—"

"She what?!"

"Luka, please, it's okay. Just take breaths, okay?" Adrien soothed, while Luka shook his head.

"No, no, no, Angel, that is not right! Like hell, that's okay! Like I get it, you're a superhero, disguises, identities, yadda yadda yadda, but come on that true self thing is bullshit. Being a superhero just allows someone to have a confidence boost and less filter, it's not like you're an entirely new person, because you're as much of a superhero as you are your civilian self!" Luka ranted, growing very angry, before pausing at Adrien's concerned look before inhaling and exhaling to ground himself. 

Adrien took Luka's hand and held it against his chest, "Are you okay? We can stop if you'd like." He offered gently, to which Luka replied with a small, "I'm alright, please keep going," prompting him to keep going. "S-So I understand where she's coming from, so I offered, maybe even just being friends. Getting to know each other's 'true selves' and all and then she'd see I mean every word of what I said! But she just shut me down, saying that I do not love her, and there is no way I will never understand or love her because I love her surface-level hero self, so I should drop it." Adrien completed, looking at Luka, who was staring off to the distance with a look that could only mean trouble. 

Luka pinches the bridge of his nose, turning to face Adrien, "Adrien, do you realize what she's doing right now?" He asked, getting a confused puppy look from Adrien, causing him to sigh and grimace. "Adrien, because she wasn't interested in you, she is literally passing all of the blame onto you, refusing to believe that reality is, she just didn't want to date, and that is fucked up, okay? That's so wrong, and you should know you're not at fault here, okay?" He asked, prompting Adrien to nod his head meekly, wiping some fresh tears away. 

"I-I just—"Adrien started, "I just thought that maybe just maybe this time she'd listen and maybe—" 

"Wait a minute. This time?" Luka said, giving Adriena maternal glare when Adrien won't elaborate.

"Adrien…"

"Alright so maybe I flirted with her in disguise a couple of times—"

"Adrien…."

"And I promise I didn't lien seek her out, but I ended up coming across her, and I was hoping maybe she'd be interested, but it was never something serious and—"

"Adrien," Luka said sternly, causing Adrien to pause his moment of no filter.

Luka sighed, looking at Adrien like a worried doting parent. "If it didn't work before then, why would you think it'd work now?" He asked, Adrien looking away guiltily. "Listen, I don't like to admit it either, but she does have feelings. I know rejections are hard, which is why I don't completely blame you for trying again, but you need to learn when to stop for the sake of both of you guys, okay? It's called impulse control, Angel." He said, prompting Adrien to nod and bury his face in his shirt.

He sighed fondly, ruffling Adrien's hair, "We will talk about this more later, but that being said, what a fucking bitch!" Luka exclaimed, causing Adrien to cover his mouth, chastising him about "potty words" which Luka knows he doesn't mind at all. Luka chuckled, grabbing Adrien from the waist and tackling him into the ground. 

Both boys ended up wrestling while giggling and haphazardly throwing plushies and pillows at one another, before eventually lying on the floor, panting and smiling.

Luka turned to face Adrien, cupping his cheek and smiling warmly at him. "Just know that this isn't your fault, Angel, okay? Sure being so persistent is a bit debatable, but honestly, who the fuck rejects someone by telling them they're in the wrong?!" He exclaimed, gesturing widely, causing Adrien to snickers at his friend's antics

"Thank you, Luka," Adrien said softly, hugging Luka and listening to the boy's heartbeat. 

Luka replied to Adrien with a "You're welcome angel" before pausing for a bit, an idea forming. "And anyway," he said matter of factly, "Tomorrow is a much better holiday!" He said, causing Adrien to turn to look at him, half curious and half "are you serious" kind of look on his face.

"Doubt it all you want angel, but tomorrow is Singles' day! The one day of the year after Valentine's Day, where chocolate, teddy bears and flowers are all cheap as hell because stores have a bajillion of said items because capitalism. So anyone single can run around the city, and have the time of their life buying stuff and hanging out with friends!" He explained to Adrien, watching as his eyes twinkled in awe.

"People really do that?" He asked incredulously, to which Luka responded by nodding very seriously, knowing Adrien is hooked.

"We could actually do it together tomorrow if you'd like? I could get you a nice outfit so you won't get caught, and we could drive around Paris for chocolate, let's say at around… 10am? It's the weekend anyway, so we're good." He offered to Adrien.

Adrien nodded excitedly like a child on Christmas, warming Luka's heart. Luka looked over to the pile of fan letters Adrien received, before offering, "We could set those on fire if you'd like!" Causing Adrien to laugh so hard he snorted.

"Well, I certainly won't miss any of them that's for sure! The only one which really stuck out to me was a letter that answered my poem but besides that—"

"Wait, what?" Luka asked, freaked out because the only other person who was aware of Adrien's letter was Luka himself, and he certainly didn't make a fan letter.

Adrien nodded, grabbing the note and passing it to him, "Yeah, I did end up throwing some rough drafts, so maybe someone found them and replied to them knowing I wrote them!" 

Luka looked over the note, seeing how it corresponded to Adrien's poem and growing increasingly freaked out. "Adrien, that is creepy as hell, you know that, right?" He said, looking over at Adrien.

Adrien only looked at Luka in confusion, causing Luka to take a deep breath before he explained himself. "Adrien, people should not be looking through private rough drafts of yours, and if you've thrown them away, then this person might have dug through a garbage can to get this, which is even more creepy than it already is!" He exclaimed, "You and I really need to have a conversation about consent one day, okay? This is not okay, Angel." He said seriously, putting Adrien deep in thought. 

He looked over at the time before grimacing at how late it was, knowing he has to go home soon, "Listen, we will talk about this more tomorrow, and if anything is wrong, text me, okay? Just remember to meet me tomorrow at 10 at let's say the bridge on the seine river?" He offered, causing Adrien to nod cheerfully. He kept note of this and added it to his schedule notebook, to remind himself of it, before turning towards Adrien giving him one last hug for the day "Alright it's getting late, and I'm afraid I really have to go, but I hope you're feeling better?" He asked, prompting Adrien to nod. 

Luka got up, bidding goodbye to his friend, before exiting the room while dialing his mom, leaving Adrien to smile happily to himself before sinking into his pile of plushies.

Plagg flew over from his hiding spot in the socks drawer, munching on Camembert. "Well I'll be damned, maybe this wasn't a bad Valentine's Day after all! You got yourself a date in the end, and with one hell of a guy, that's for sure!" He teased, swallowing the entire wheel of Camembert and burping slightly.

Adrien groaned into his plushies, unable to wipe the smile off his face for what will be the rest of the night.

"...Shut up, Plagg. Shut up."

Chapter Text

Okay, just five more minutes, and it will all be over! This should be as easy as pie!

  ...Oh, Lord, help me.

Adrien continued to fake a smile to the camera with all the willpower he could muster, as Vincent kept shouting at him to think about spaghetti or whatnot—unsurprisingly, Adrien has grown to hate the dish.

Of course, his father had to do a photoshoot the day after Valentine's Day because "oh yeah, it's the weekend you don't have anything to do!" And it's not like he already had to do millions of Valentine's Day-themed photoshoots this month because of the brand and holiday exclusive items and whatnot! And it's not like Adrien had been growing extremely tired of getting shouted at to smile and told he needed to lose a few pounds for next season's outfit and that guess what? It kinda hurt to hear that!

...God, Adrien needed a break. And someone to tell him his thighs looked great the way they were. Preferably Luka.

Adrien snapped himself from his thoughts, smiling politely at Vincent and going back to position. Why am I still thinking about that?! Luka was probably just joking around! And anyway it wasn't he was talking about my thighs, he was talking about Chat Noir's… ugh, I'm thinking about it again! 

Vincent sighed, approaching Adrien and grabbing him by his shoulders, "Well, we're done for today," he said, before giving Adrien a firm glare, "I hope that next photoshoot, your head will be less in the clouds and more at the moment, you get me? I don't need my favorite muse up in the clouds, I need him here." 

Adrien nodded before while speed-walking away, "Oh yeah, that's great, got that totally. I'll just go now to change and get some water, okay? Okay, see ya!" He quickly said, before turning and running away, unaware of his photographer sighing fondly at his obvious behavior.

Adrien quickly hid behind one of the buildings, pulling out his phone—thank god the photoshoot was outside—and checking the time. 9:50. Okay. It's showtime. Adrien sneaked past the crew and his bodyguard—who bless his soul, while a kind bodyguard, is a bit dense, added with the fact Adrien has grown used to sneaking off at this point, it's a bit too easy for him—to the street on the end of the seine river.

Several minutes later, true to form, a motorcycle drove by, passing Adrien a bit before moving to a pause and parking. The person on the motorcycle took off his helmet, revealing himself as Luka, before grinning and rushing up to Adrien and bear-hugging him.

Adrien returned the bear hug while starting to walk in the circle with Luka, both men giggling while doing so, remaining in the embrace for a moment longer before finally parting to look at one another.

"Well, hello, Angel!" Luka said, grinning brightly, before taking a step back and doing a spin, "Okay, first of all, let's address very important matters. What do you think of my outfit?" He said, posing dramatically, making Adrien laugh.

Adrien had to admit he looked terrific in the outfit. A leather trench coat with the words “broken hearts club”graffitied on it, with a striped crop top, and leather leg-length skirt with a slit on the side, showing off a stocking-clad leg with steel-toe, knee-high combat boots, all of which are adorned with chains and zippers galore. Not to mention the bold makeup with intense eyeliner made to look like it's dripping and the dark lipstick and his hair all done up beautifully and the piercings —it was beautiful, unique, unusual, and androgynous. It was just so Luka.

"You look… Amazing!" Adrien said breathlessly after surveying him for a bit. "I can't wait to see what outfit you've got in store for me!" He said both nervous about wearing something so revealing, yet excited about the rebellious prospect behind it. 

Luka winked mischievously at Adrien, "I did take a couple of liberties, no pun intended, but I went much more mild and soft with your outfit, y' know? We will look quite different, bud." Luka offered his hand for Adrien, "but enough talking about it! Do you want to go see it?" He asked, grinning crookedly.

Adrien took his hand, letting himself be guided towards the motorcycle. Luka opened his trunk box to reveal another black and neon green helmet, offering it to Adrien, saying "safety first!" While Adrien put it on, Luka made sure all the straps of the helmet were fastened and Adrien's size. Both men got onto the motorcycle, Adrien wrapping his arms around Luka's waist.

A quick trip to the Liberty and a change of clothing, Adrien inspected himself in the bathroom mirror. A pink varsity jacket, with the words "Not your angel" written on the back and an angel combined with devil motif on it, a low-cut cream white shirt tucked into baby blue sweatpants was honestly the comfiest outfit he has ever worn. Add that with an Agreste themed belt and sneakers, and his good luck charm adorning his outfit and bringing out his eyes, along with some rose-tinted shades and hair clips, and you've got yourself quite the combo! Not to mention the light blush and makeup Juleka helped to apply on his face, all shimmery and delicate—the two, along with Rose, have grown to be really close over time, and always help each other out! Adrien with Juleka's confidence and modeling technique, and Juleka with… well, whatever this is—Adrien looked as far away as possible from Adrien Agreste.

And god, he loved it.

Alright, Adrien, today is the first day you get to be a normal rebellious teen. You're not Adrien Agreste, you're just Adrien. Let's do this! Adrien spun and hopped in place, before running outside to where Luka was waiting with his motorcycle, equally excited.

"Well, naturally, the first stop would be getting some pastries," Luka announced, and Adrien nodded eagerly as he gripped Luka's waist, looking around the city from the motorcycle. All of this was so new and fascinating. He made an effort not to look down at the road they were racing across so he wouldn't think about crashing on this. He relaxed. Luka wouldn't let anything bad happen.

"Hey!" He shouted to try being heard through the sound of the passing cars, "Marinette's family owns a bakery!" He grinned, and Luka nodded,

"That was the plan. We should be there in a few minutes."

Adrien smiled, looking down at his own outfit and feeling uncomfortable butterflies in his stomach. For the first time, he could have a day of being a normal kid, and he was endlessly grateful to Luka for guiding him through it.

They arrived at the bakery in what could have been minutes or seconds, as time flew while Adrien observed the world around him from another perspective, and Luka parked. Adrien removed his helmet and put the rose-tinted glasses on, looking up at Luka as they walked into the bakery.

"Luka, you wouldn't recognize me if you didn't know, right?" Luka ruffled Adrien's hair,

"Don't worry, Angel, none of your creepy fans are going to recognize you." Adrien looked up and saw Marinette was helping her parents today,

"Hey, Marinette!" 

Marinette jumped and spilled some of the donut glaze she had been working with, "Ah! Adrien—what are you—I mean it's great to see you!" She rushed over, ignoring the mess leaning heavily on the counter with an intense look on her face, "What are you talking about?"

Luka chuckled, "Adrien's creepy fans. I'm assuring him they won't recognize him." Marinette frowned, standing normally now,

"Creepy fans?"

Adrien shrugged, "I honestly don't—"

"Angel, it's an issue," Luka reminded him. Adrien told himself what Luka had said about that kind of thing not being okay, and repeated it to himself under his breath as Luka explained to Marinette. "There were some that wanted to see his feet or something equally bizarre, and one person actually went through Adrien's trash to respond to a draft of a poem."

Adrien heard a buzzing from his phone and checked it to see it was Nathalie, "Hey, I have to take this. I'll be right back." He walked out of the bakery, answering the call, "Hey, Nathalie."

"Hello, Adrien. I was calling to ask when I should expect you home? Your father is busy in meetings today, so you don't have to be home at a specific time, but preferably before sunset."

"Yeah! Don't worry, Nathalie!" He beamed even though Nathalie couldn't see it, "I'll text you the ETA when I talk to Luka!"

"Alright. Have fun, Adrien, and remember to be careful."

"Thank you!"

…

Adrien had walked out to take his call, and Luka noticed something cross Marinette's face, and it vanished almost as quickly as it appeared.

It was as though the puzzle pieces clicked in Luka's mind. He had been trying to think about who would dig through Adrien's trash or had the chance, but that wasn't the first question he should have asked to solve this. He should have been asking who "logically" could.

Marinette and Ladybug, now that he thought about it, had a lot of physical similarities in common, chief among them being the dark hair and the blue eyes. Meaning that Marinette had the ability to respond and to have gone through the trash. He didn't know much about Juleka's friend except that she stammered a lot around Adrien. But he heard her heartsong, and he could tell she knew he knew what she had done.

They stared each other dead in the eye for a moment in a stare-down, which most likely wasn't noticed by Marinette's parents, and Adrien came back in, leading to Luka softening and smiling. But inside, panic coursed through him. Did he tell Adrien that he was pretty sure Marinette was his creepy fan? Logically, yes, he should, but part of him wanted to protect Adrien from doubting the people he wanted as friends, especially since he wasn't positive it was Marinette. Maybe he could deal with the situation, or somehow Adrien figures it out on his own? He didn't know what to do.

"Well, what would you boys like?" Marinette's Dad asked, "Where do you plan on going?"

"Just around," Adrien replied, "This is the first day I get to be a normal kid, and Luka's gonna show me what most people do on singles' day!"

"That sounds fun!" Tom brightened, wrapping an arm around Marinette, "Hey, I know! Marinette can come with you!"

Adrien grinned, and Marinette backed away from her Dad, "What—I mean awesome—huh—Dad no I don't—" 

Luka watched as Adrien smiled brightly at marinette, probably endeared at her shy stuttering. He’ll keep it a secret, he decides. He can handle it. Adrien will be kept safe. He’s got this.

Marinette's Mom chuckled, "Tom, come on, the boys are spending time together." She smiled at them, "So, what would you like?"

Adrien looked over at Luka, before gesturing at the display case filled with different pastries smiling politely. Luka lifted his hands in the air, turning away from Adrien, “Nope, don’t look at me, you’re making the choices.”

Adrien glared, shocked at Luka, “Please tell me you are not doing what I think you’re doing.” He said, puffing up his cheeks.

Luka started inspecting his nails, smirking. “Oh, I don’t know. What do you think I’m doing?” He asked smugly, doing a little mental dance of success.

Adrien groaned, playfully punching Luka’s shoulder “Not everything has to be a life lesson, Mom! And anyway, if I were to use impulse control, I wouldn’t even be buying any of the pastries…” he said, pouting.

Luka turned Adrien’s body towards the display case, before reciting in a very flight attendant-esque manner, “Lesson number one of being a normal person: impulse control. Contrary to popular belief, Impulse control is not doing what everyone thinks you should be doing, because sometimes people suck and are wrong!” He continued in a more genuine tone, “It’s about being able to collect and evaluate all of the information you received and making an educated choice of your own. This is not about what other people want, this is about what you want.” 

Adrien was seemingly staring into the void for a couple of minutes, before breaking the silence, “Y’know, this kind of explains a lot about why I’m like this.” He said, to which Luka nodded very thoughtfully, before gesturing again to the display case, making a goofy face, causing him to giggle.

He continued to inspect the different confections, before turning to Luka and whispering his idea into his ear. Luka nodded, mumbling small “yeah’s” and “we could do that’s” before both turned to Sabine and Tom.

“Alright, so we will have two of those heart-shaped chocolate Éclairs, because this is the day after Valentine’s Day after all, and these guys look marvelous! I will take one box of jam-filled strawberry Madeleines, and… Luka, what do you want?” Adrien turned to look at Luka, who was looking at him in shock and confusion. 

“Me?” Luka asked, pointing at himself innocently. Like sure, people would often ask for his opinion, but no one would necessarily ask what he wanted. He wasn’t the one supposed to want stuff, right? 

It was… nice. It was nice having someone ask what he wants for once. He felt… special.

Luka snapped out of his thoughts, seeing as Adrien was looking at him worriedly. “O-oh yeah, I’ll have one of those lemon and blueberry scones? I don’t know they seem cool, I guess,” he said, continuing to then mumble awkwardly about scones for ten minutes. Adrien giggled softly, taking Luka’s hand and ordering the remaining pastries, before both boys continued in their way, driving off on the motorcycle.

...

Several hours later, Adrien couldn't be happier. He and Luka have been traveling from store to store, buying all the cheap sweets and flowers they could get their hands on, and they even made a stop by Build-A-Bear! Where Adrien got a teal teddy bear with a spotted hoodie and mask—much to Luka's dismay—and dedicated it for his everyday Ladybug—which caused Luka to go soft yet still be a bit grumpy, mumbling something about how he's much better than Ladybug, and therefore she’s the superhero Luka, and not the other way around.

Luka, on the other hand, got the fluffiest Chat Noir teddy bear possible, claiming that they should match and that Adrien shouldn't celebrity-crush shame him—which caused Adrien to go into a fit of embarrassed laughter, going completely red. 

So the day was going great!

...Up until the press found them. 

Of course, seeing Adrien Agreste hang out with someone dressed in punk clothing and makeup, himself also wearing makeup and an outfit of a different brand apparently is such a big scoop, they had to chase down both boys, to the point they were both in now. Hiding in an alleyway. With Luka having a minor panic attack.

God, Adrien hates the press.

Adrien continued cooing and comforting Luka, rubbing circles into his back, while he was hiding his face in Adrien's shoulder, practicing his breathing exercises. "It's alright, Luka, just continue taking deep breaths, you got this, you're doing great, okay? Just keep breathing…"

They continued like this for a few minutes, staying silent with nothing but a few comforting mutters to feel in the quiet. Luka eventually broke the silence, muttering, "I'm so sorry, Adrien, I ruined the day."

Adrien looked at Luka, both extremely concerned and upset with the press, for making Luka feel this terrible. "Oh no, no, it is not your fault Orpheus, I promise you! You couldn't have known the press, and my fans would have chased us down, and your reaction is completely normal!" Adrien hugged Luka from the side, squishing his cheek against his head. 

Luka laughed bitterly, patting and playing with Adrien's hair, "It's kind of ironic though, a musician who hates cameras and attention, isn't it? Kind of sad too…"  

Adrien pouted, hugging Luka more tightly, "There is a large difference between performing and getting attention for your music and getting chased down by people whose entire purpose is to find outrageous personal information about you to share with the world. Hell, I'm still stressed by them!" Luka chuckled a bit, before sighing and cuddling up to Adrien.

"Y'know… I could tell you a little secret I learned about the press," Adrien said, grinning at Luka, seeing his interest peaked. After being prompted by him, he continued, "The press want something outrageous to write about, and then they will likely leave you alone. I noticed how you were blocking every camera, so you were blocking what the press really wanted to see."

"What does that have to do with our situation, Angel?" Luka said, a bit unsure of whatever idea Adrien had in mind.

Adrien got up, offering his hand to Luka "what I'm saying is, if it's a show they want, a show we will give~" he said mischievously, eyes twinkling.

Luka looked at Adrien's hand before taking it and standing up, "I'm listening."

Several Minutes Later

Both boys snuck out of the alleyway, holding hands and clinging onto each other, giggling about how “this is so dumb” and “what have our lives come to” spinning in circles a bit. 

The minute the press noticed them, starting to run towards them like wild animals, both boys looked at each smirking. Luka looked over at Adrien, asking, “Run?” To which Adrien replied with a nod and a mischievous smile, screaming out, “Run!” Before both sprinted off, laughing and singing along to whatever song Luka had on his playlist.

They managed to sneak around, making it look like they were trying to avoid the press, when in reality they were putting on a show, running back and forth like little kids. Not that the press had to know anyways. By the time the press grew tired, both men nodded, sprinting off to Luka’s motorcycle and driving away to the sound of music and laughter. 

When they came to a pause in a hidden spot, in a narrow alleyway, both Adrien and Luka broke down laughing at the press’ stupidity and how much fun they had. “I can’t remember when was the last time I felt so free!” Adrien said, waving his hands around joyfully.

Luka laughed softly at Adrien’s antics, before looking at this angel of the boy softly. “Neither can I, really.” He said, causing Adrien to melt and coo softly at “how kind you are” and “how are you so incredible” and etcetera. 

“So… I suppose you want to finish this day with a bang?” Lika said, blushing. Adrien grinned brightly from ear to ear, taking Luka’s hand in his. 

“I’d love to.”

OoOoO

Adrien had been lying on his bed thinking about everything he had done today when he heard the door open, so he sat up, a little more shocked than he probably should be to see his father, "Hey, father. I'm surprised I'm seeing you this late. What is it?"

His father held up his phone, revealing an image from today, and Adrien cringed as he realized this was bound to end badly, "Care to explain, Adrien?"

"I..." he slumped, "I was just having some fun with my friend, father. He's been helping me a lot." He smiled, "Luka's the one who brought me to the hospital, remember?" He subconsciously moved his hand to the marks at his shoulder.

His father nodded, "Yes, I remember. However, as you represent my company, it sends a message when my own son wears another brand."

"I'm sorry, father," Adrien sighed, "I just..."

"I don't need to hear any excuses, and you won't be getting in trouble for going out since I know Nathalie approved it."

"Please don't be mad at her, father," he pleaded, and his father softened just a tad bit.

"I'm glad you had fun, Adrien," then he left without saying anything else. Adrien's brow furrowed, turning to Plagg,

"So...what just happened?"

"I think your father was almost a decent parent," Plagg replied, earning a small nudge from Adrien, who laughed a bit,

"Plagg, be nice!"

"What? I am being nice."

Adrien rolled his eyes, getting ready for bed before deciding to browse online and realizing that photo had gone viral, and already people were making comments, which thankfully all seemed rather positive. He laughed despite himself,

"Well, looks like Monday’s going to be interesting." 

OoOoO

When Adrien got to school, the first thing he noticed was Nino waiting for him by the stairs, grinning from ear to ear,

"So," Nino was still clearly getting a huge kick out of this, "How was your day yesterday? What was going on?" Adrien rubbed the back of his neck,

"I went out to have some fun with Luka."

"I'm surprised your Dad let you out."

Adrien shrugged, "Nathalie is the one who did the approving, and honestly, she has about as much influence over father as Mom did." 

Nino smirked a little bit, and Adrien was about to comment on that when he heard another voice.

"So, you had fun with your friend?" Adrien turned and saw Alya, who was with Marinette. His brow furrowed as he got the strange feeling from looking in her eyes and her tone that he was being mocked. He shook it off as paranoia,

"Yeah, I had a lot of fun. Thanks for the pastries, Marinette."

"You—You're—I'm glad you—" she continued to stutter until falling quiet, and he smiled,

"Luka and I agreed we would try to come back sometime."

Marinette's expression suddenly changed to something cold for a moment, and Adrien frowned a bit, but then she snapped out of it as though nothing had happened, "I'm glad!"

"Adrikins!" Chloé ran over, and Adrien fought the urge to groan, remembering the Akuma that Chloé had caused on Valentine's Day, "Why didn't you tell me you were allowed out?"

They all turned when they saw Luka had just into the school wearing an orange camp half-blood hoodie and rainbow cat pants. He took in gulps of air, clearly exhausted, but looked up to Chloé, "Adrikins didn't want to talk to you, Chloekins , after you akumatized somebody the other day."

Adrien moved over, seeing the slight tremor of Luka's shoulders and helped him stand fully, "Luka, was the press after you?" Luka nodded just a tiny bit as though he regretted letting it be known the moment he did. Adrien took a moment to hug him, "It's okay, Luka. You're okay," he soothed softly before Luka broke out of the hug,

"I'm alright, Adrien." Adrien relaxed and turned back to Chloé,

"Chloé, what you did the other day wasn't right. You should apologize to Kim."

Chloé scoffed, "Why?"

"Human decency?" Nino offered, and Chloé rolled her eyes, walking up the stairs. Alya sighed, shaking her head,

"That girl will never change." 

Marinette nodded, "And we should probably head to class," she waved a bit at Luka, "It was good to see you, Luka." Adrien could practically feel the tension between his two friends and bit his lip,

"Did I miss something?"

"Not really," Luka replied, "But Marinette's right. We probably should head to class." 

They all walked up the stairs, and Adrien looked to Luka, "Your birthday's coming up soon, right?" Luka shrugged, and Nino beamed,

"Happy early birthday, dude! Eighteen, right?"

"Yeah, but I never make a big deal out of birthdays, so please don't plan anything over the top."

"Of course not. Don't worry," Adrien assured, and his mind began to race, absently holding his lucky charm, which was always around his neck. It meant so much to him to have a gift like this, and he was determined to return the favor.

Chapter Text

Waking up in the morning always sucked, but it seemed that the universe had decided to make it even worse for Luka.

Opening his eyes, Luka winced at the glaring light from his window, covering his eyes and burying his face in the pillow. I guess it's a migraine day for me! Hooray!... Luka thought bitterly. He blindly fumbled his way to his window, before closing the blinds in his room. 

Hesitating for a couple of moments, Luka opened his eyes, preparing to hiss in pain at the light in his room, yet relaxed when he saw the blinds sent the room into darkness. He sat up, criss crossing his legs, looking around, his vision blurry as he tried to remember what was supposed to be important.

Oh, right, it was his 18th birthday. He winced as he fumbled for his phone, and he turned the screen away from him as he lowered the brightness and checked his messages, seeing a message from Adrien that was sent at exactly midnight.

Angel: Happy Birthday, Luka! I'm the first to tell you!

It brought a smile to Luka's face before he forced himself to get up and change out of his sweats into something more presentable. He supposed he could just wear his sweats to school... After a moment of trying to grab something from his closet, he just changed his oversized Atari shirt for something that fit him better, not bothering to make changes to his pale blue sweatpants.

He looked at the door anxiously before opening it and having to bite the interior of his cheek to keep a little cry from slipping out.

Juleka was making breakfast, and she noticed the shadows under his eyes and ashen skin, which were the telltale signs of his migraines. He sat down, and she gave him a croissant, "Happy Birthday, Luka," she bent down to a hidden part of the kitchen, pulling out a small container of CBD Cannabis gummies of the sort that had the look and taste of a starburst.

Cannabis was technically illegal in France, which was why they were so careful, but CBD wasn't the part of the plant to get a person high, and alongside their mother being the Queen of Anarchy, it had been easy enough to get these, since they were the only known remedy at the moment for his migraines. 

His head throbbed like someone had taken a knife to his skull. He leaned his head against the table. Squeezing his eyes shut, he willed the pain to go away as he quickly downed the not-candy. The rest of the world became detached, all he could concentrate on was the pain rooted deep in his head. 

"Happy Birthday, me boy!" Luka internally cried at the loud shout from his mother, who hoisted him up and hugged him, and added onto the lights in the room, all he could do was try not to let his distress be seen as the pain in his brain got worse instead of better.

"Hehe, thanks, Mom..." he tried, grateful for the hug, meaning she couldn't see his face. He waited until she let go, having learned long ago to never be the first one to release a hug, since you never know how much someone needs it, and then he winced, pressing his palm to his eyes.

Of course, his Mom noticed this immediately since it was the closest thing to pain that he would admit if he was still able to stand, "Luka, are ye alright?"

Luka turned towards his room, "I'm fine," he insisted firmly with no room for argument before heading to his room and grabbing his backpack to head to school. He felt knots in his stomach upon coming back out and seeing the worried and almost guilty look on his Mom's face and hearing the distress in her heartsong. He forced a smile, "Don't worry, Mom. I'm okay," before heading out the door.

Walking to school was more of a struggle than Luka would ever admit, using his jacket tied over his forehead, so he was shielded from the sun, so perhaps the insistent pulsing would fade given a little time. 

By some miracle, he made it to class, leaning heavily on the railing to make it up the stairs on shaking legs, and into their history class, where he was greeted with enthusiastic cheers from his friends.

"Happy Birthday, bitch!" Nathan shouted, and Luka fought back the wince as he looked around at the five people who had been his friends since middle school.

Commonly referred to as a cult for the sake of people leaving them alone, it was six people totally, including himself: Ashton, Percy, Danielle, Kiera, and Nathan. It seemed at the moment like Ashton hadn’t arrived yet, but the others were already here and in varying stages of wakefulness.

"Hey, guys," he forced a smile, and Percy was the first one to notice an issue, icy blue eyes twinkling in a mix of frustration and concern

"Oh no, you've got a migraine."

Danielle looked up from where she was sketching her newest D&D character, and she brushed back a strand of her fluffy brown hair behind her ear, "Luka, come on, not again! You've gotta stop coming to school when the inside of your skull is trying to be on your outside." 

Luka sighed, "Guys, I'm fine." He sat at his desk, putting on the best 'fine' face that he could muster, "I'm just tired."

"So are we just ignoring the fact it's your birthday?" Kiera asked, cocking her head in his direction with a lopsided grin, "Eighteen, the age of drinking." Nathan laughed quietly,

"Cheers to that." Percy smacked his forehead,

"We are in class right now, guys."

Luka knew they were mostly just joking around, and they were actually a lot more responsible than one would expect, so he didn't need to take care of them as much as he would care for Juleka. Still, it was moments like this that just brought a little bit of concern.

Thankfully, Ashton walked in a moment later, the other responsible person in this group, and he was in the process of tying his long hair into a bun, before pausing at the sight of Luka,

"Ah great, he's got a migraine."

"Yeah," Percy explained, speaking in a hushed voice, "I give it twenty minutes before he slips and gives us proof and a valid reason to drag his ass back home." 

"Does that mean we'll have to protect him from akumas?" Danielle asked, "I'm down for it, but does Hawk Moth attack those with physical pain too?"

Kiera shrugged, "I don't know, but I have a lighter and some hairspray. Let's see what happens."

Luka smiled a bit, deciding to close his eyes for a little bit before class started and prepare himself for when the bell inevitably rang, and the pain in his head would double. What he did know was already the act of thinking was making the situation worse, and the moment he tried to force himself to sit up anyway, he felt as though his eye were about to pop out of his skull, and he resisted the urge to vomit.

He didn't know how much time passed. It felt like a long time but was probably less than ten minutes before his teeth began to chatter subconsciously, and all of his friends turned to him.

Percy was already trying to hoist him up, which was hard for the small boy to do since Luka was over a foot taller than him, "Luka, you should be at home."

"No, guys, I'm fine," he forced a smile, but none of them were buying it. Ashton crossed his arms, shaking his head in exasperation before heading out of class,

"Let's head to the car."

"I can't miss class..."

"I'll stay and take notes," Danielle promised, and Luka relaxed a bit, subconsciously letting himself get carried away on Nathan's back, too tired to fight back no matter how much he wanted to.

He drifted from awareness a couple times, spacing out from his exhaustion, and the next thing he knew, he was being helped to bed.

He tried to force his shaking hands to grab one of his extra blankets and tie it over his eyes like a blindfold, so none of the light peeking in through the curtains could get to him. Even the act of doing that left him drained, and Kiera bit her lip as she thought,

"How bad is this one? Couple hours, or a couple days?"

Luka was quiet for a few moments, curling up into a ball and clutching his head. It had never made sense to him why that was the go-to response from a human being, to grab at the thing that hurt, as though that would make the agony go away.

It didn't matter, though, and he was still a prisoner locked in a cage of pain. He craved darkness, quiet, and stillness when in this state, and he knew he had maybe an hour before nausea would overwhelm him, and he would vomit.

"I'll be okay," he promised, hearing his mother's heartsong from near the door, knowing she was probably planning some sort of party, "You guys... head back to school... I'm fine." 

"Horseshit." Nathan retorted, "We're staying around here to make sure there's always somebody to help you. We stick together." 

Despite the pain, Luka smiled.

OoOoO

“Come on guys, we’re almost there!” Adrien called, before power-walking to the Liberty, along with a tired Nino, Alya, and Marinette at his tail. After he heard Luka had been practically carried out of school, and on his birthday too, he rushed his friends to visit him, and wish him well. He briefly considered inviting Chloé with him, but after the stunt she pulled on Valentine’s Day, he felt as if she and Luka wouldn’t get along so well.

Stepping onto the Liberty's deck, Adrien noticed a couple people he recognized as Luka's friends moving around and setting things up and helping each other. Adrien looked around, trying to remember their names since he hadn't met any of them officially. He noticed a boy with dyed red hair growing out keeping a ladder still for a girl with faded dyed hair, which was probably once turquoise but was now a pale seafoam green.

"Kiera and Nathan, right?" He asked, and the two turned, brightening visibly,

"Yeah!" Kiera slid down the ladder and into Nathan's arms in a dramatic bridal style before getting to her feet, "Luka talks about you all the time, Adrien! We've wanted to meet you, but he didn't want to push your luck."

Another small boy came over and examined Marinette, who had just given a subtle nod to Luka, "You're the Pink Panther girl, right?" 

"The what?" Nino asked, and the boy looked Nino up and down a bit, biting his lip,

"I'm Percy. Anyway, we call her Pink Panther because sometimes she likes to sneak around the school all dramatic like, and one time Dani followed her around for a solid day with this playing Pink Panther music, and it was amazing." Alya looked clearly infuriated,

"You followed Marinette around?"

"Oh come on," Nathan defended, "We mostly wanted to see if she would notice us, and it was only around the school." 

Marinette was blushing and hiding her face behind her hands before her demeanor changed to a sweetness that Adrien would have seen as fake if not from Marinette, "I'm going to go check on Luka, okay?"

Adrien frowned a bit, wondering if Luka would be comfortable with that since he didn't seem to like Marinette. But maybe they could try to make amends for whatever had happened between them, "Okay, then. Make sure to be quiet if he's got a migraine."

Marinette then walked away with her back straight, and Adrien noticed an odd look in her direction from Luka's Mom, but he was slightly distracted as another young man appeared, holding out his hand for everyone to shake,

"I'm Ashton, and it seems you've met the rest of the cult except Danielle."

"Cult?!" Alya asked with a grin, already whipping out her phone, "Unbelievable, this would be a huge scoop! A real-life cult!"

Percy hid behind Kiera a bit, and that caused Nathan to take Alya's phone out of her hand and hold it just out of her reach, "Back off. How about you fact-check and don't just try to force people on your blogs for clout?"

"Fine, fine," Alya muttered, "Give me back my phone." Nathan obeyed, but Adrien noticed the look on his face that said he would be keeping an eye on Alya.

Percy then sat Adrien down at a table, leaning forward with a grin on his face, "So we saw all those pictures on singles' day, but I want to hear your side of the story."

Adrien instantly relaxed and began to tell his story. 

...

Marinette speed quietly through the liberty, a bit too giddy and excited about visiting someone in absolute pain. After finding Luka’s door, which was covered in half-scratched and worn off stickers, she stilled for a moment

She knew what she was doing wasn’t right, but why was she so excited?  Why was it that it just felt so right to stomp on him for simply existing next to her Adrien? For Adrien thinking about him?

… it was simple anyways. He must have bewitched Adrien. He must be manipulating her love’s poor naive soul into sleeping with him and touching him and so on. Such a predatory monster! And now a pedophile too, turning 18. And she was Ladybug after all, right? It’s her job to defeat such horrible villains because she’s the hero! She’s the best! She’s Marinette!

And that villain Luka better watch his back.

...

Hearing steps and the cream of his door opening, Luka sat up, a small fond smile on his face, preparing for another onslaught of affection by the cult, or maybe even Adrien before he saw who was at his door.

Luka frowned, curling into himself, trying to glare to ward off Marinette. Marinette giggled, closing the door slowly and gently, sending Luka a sugar-coated smile, "Looking forward to someone else?" She asked, before laughing some more to herself, her smile melting into a condescending smirk.

Luka flushed, before a sharp pain in his head caused him to curl up, breathing heavily and shaking into his pillow. Marinette sighed fondly before jumping onto Luka's bed. "Y'know," she said, "It's very sweet you care so much about him! That you want him so much!" She exclaimed very loudly, knowing the amount of pain it puts Luka in. "It makes me wonder if you ever think about how much hearts you'd be bound to break if you take him."

Luka stilled—as much as he could have—realization dawning on him. What did make him feel as if he had the right to flirt and pursue Adrien? What made him deserve being with him?! Adrien is a model, he probably has so many better options, and who's to say he isn't uncomfortable?! He hated to say this, but… Marinette might be right. He tried to blink away tears that threatened to overflow.

He could feel Marinette pat his head gently, before she knelt down, whispering in his ear, "Think about that next time you try to take something that's not yours~" 

Luka grimaced, "H-He is no one's," he growled out, heaving and shaking, "Especially not yours." 

Marinette sauntered to the door, laughing, "Not yet he isn't~" she said before slamming the door.

And no one heard the sobs of a broken heart. 

Nor did the heart think he deserved it.

…

Anarka had seen Marinette walk with a smirk on her face out of Luka's room, seeming far too pleased with herself, and the first instinct was to rush into Luka's room and see what was wrong.

The sight of her son crying was one she had so rarely seen since he was a very young child, and she bent down, "Luka, what's wrong?" She asked in a very quiet whisper, and Luka cracked open a puffy red eye before turning to his other side,

"I'm fine, Mom. " Luka snapped uncharacteristically, which had Anarka recoiling back in surprise before she softened, sighing as she got up to leave and hoped that giving him some space would help him open up given time.

Of all the people on Earth, why did it have to be him who felt as though he had to take the burden of every responsibility? Why her son? He deserved to be free and not worry about everyone else.

Was it something she was doing wrong? Was she the reason that Luka couldn't relax, and he was more of an adult than he should be when he was so young? He was only 18 today, he shouldn't be so stressed that he was suffering alone in bed from a migraine. 

Of all the things she expected as she walked up onto the deck, seeing her son's friends arguing with Officer Roger while Adrien Agreste looked on with both parts concern and confusion were certainly not one of them.

"Who hurt you?" Danielle asked as she walked onto the boat, shoving past the officer before proceeding to also verbally assault him.

"Those speakers are against the law!" Roger insisted, and Kiera scoffed,

"Get bent, hoser," she snapped, "Those have been there for months, and just because we had the audacity to clean doesn't mean we plan to use them. Luka has a migraine for god's sake, so why would we use them?"

Roger tried to protest, but Ashton cut in, "There are actually issues in the world, and someone owning a speaker is not one that you should be concerned about. We won't use the speakers, so can you please leave us alone and actually do your job competently?"

For a moment, Anarka looked to the group that was keeping the officer who loved to abuse his power at bay. Then she looked around for that Marinette girl, only to see her trip in a very suspicious way onto the speaker and turned it on at max power. Adrien immediately ran downstairs, covering his ears and rushing to Luka's side.

...

Adrien threw open the door as quietly as possible with these insanely loudspeakers, checking on Luka and he felt pains in his stomach as he saw Luka clutching his head and crying on the bed, his whole body shaking and Adrien ran a hand through Luka's hair reassuringly,

"Hey, Luka," he whispered, "I'm right here, okay?"

Luka looked up a bit, starting to heave, and Adrien grabbed the empty grey bucket off the nightstand and held it under Luka as he forced out the minimal contents of his stomach. He sat by Luka's side, holding his hair back, the blaring speakers even giving him a bit of a headache now, so he could only imagine what Luka was going through.

Luka slumped, almost falling head-first into the bucket of his own sick, and Adrien's eyes widened as a frightened quaver made itself known in his voice, "Luka?" Luka simply lay there, and Adrien's first response was to lay him on the bed in what he remembered learning was a recovery position. Had Luka just lost consciousness?

He shook Luka a couple times, trying to gain a response from him, and Plagg emerged, "Kid, he's out cold, I don't think you're gonna wake him up."

"But I have to do something," Adrien insisted, "Should I transform and take him to the hospital?" He nodded to himself, "Yeah, I should do that. But how do I explain why Chat Noir was here to take him?"

He was brought from his musings when he heard a loud splash from outside. 

…

While all of that was happening, Anarka watched as Roger started smacking fines as he always did. But what nobody expected was the following,

"Hey, can you stop with your fine kink?" Nathan asked, holding the one that was given as Roger literally specified was just because he was in a bad mood, and another because he hadn't gotten any sleep. "You are screwing people over just because it gets you off, and this could actually get you fired, you know that, right?"

"And that's a fine for being disrespectful to your superior," Roger smacked down another fine, only for Kiera to literally shove him off the platform and into the water below, looking down as he flailed,

"Leave us alone, or I'll toss down a sandbag!" 

Marinette came over after Percy had fixed the speaker, "I am so sorry, guys," Anarka glared at this awful girl Juleka was supposedly friends with. That had clearly not been an accident, and her tone made that clear too. 

Thankfully, it seemed that nobody in Luka's friend cult bought it either, all of them looking at her with varying looks of somewhere between suspicion and straight-up murderous rage.

Anarka stormed off, seeing the fines that Kiera was tearing apart because all of them were honestly nonsense anyway. But she knew the insufferable officer would be back, and to get rid of this awful girl would be going against everything Anarka stood for about freedom.

She checked on Luka to make sure he was alright and asked if he needed any more medication, but it was as though time stopped as she saw a very frightened Adrien trying to rouse Luka, who was so pale and unnervingly still.

Had Luka just passed out from the pain?

Pent up rage and frustration bubbled up towards everything: her own inability to protect her child, that horrible girl, Roger, who would still be back unless somebody actually killed him. Everyone just needed to be quiet so she could take care of her boy!

Adrien looked up, "I think we need to take him to the hospital!" Anarka felt her hands shaking mercilessly, and all she could do was nod absently,

"My phone is upstairs," she went back up and into one of the separate rooms, where she saw her compass, and she slumped as the stress boiled over, and she had to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand, searching for her phone, hoping this would be in Luka's best interest.

She didn't notice the Akuma entering the compass until it was too late.

"Blackout," a deep voice spoke into her mind, alluring in a way that would have been frightening if the siren had not already begun casting his spell, "I am Hawk Moth. Hell hath no fury like a mother's anger. I'm giving you the power to protect your son and silence those who work against you. In return, you must bring me Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculous."

This voice was oddly... familiar. It bothered Anarka somewhat, unable to place where she had heard this voice before, but her priorities were much closer to her anger being strengthened to new levels almost like she was on a high, and Hawk Moth was giving her the chance to do what she had to do for her son.

"Yes, Hawk Moth!" She agreed passionately and transformed.

…

Adrien had instantly noticed when the whole ship became part of an akumatization, as the entire layout of the room change, becoming more colored with dark reds, except for everything that belonged to Luka, which was perfectly organized. The bed was now a four-poster bed with a canopy, and had walls of glass around it, blocking off anyone from getting to Luka, who lay unconscious and unaware of any of this.

"Plagg, claws out!" He shouted, seeing there was a single window he could open, and he looked back to Luka, ready to use Cataclysm to break him free, but then he realized that if this really was Anarka, she probably wanted to protect him, and he couldn't get them both through that one window.

Just the idea of leaving Luka alone in this room in the care of one of Hawk Moth's victims brought him immense discomfort, but for Luka's sake, he had to go and save his Mom.

He absently placed a hand on the glass, "Don't worry, Luka. I swear I'll fix this." He hopped out the window and saw Ladybug was there too, "Good afternoon, Ladybug," he said cheerfully, and she sent him a cold side glance that had him shrinking down a bit before perking up again, "What's got you so uppity?"

"What? No calling me M'Lady?" She asked, and Chat shrugged, knowing that if she didn't care about him like that, Luka was right, and he had to learn to move on.

"Where are you, Marinette?!" Akumatized Anarka shouted, and Chat nodded his silent approval at the outfit. Hawk Moth was finally making things easy to look at. Ladybug smacked his arm,

"Are you approving her?!"

"What? The outfit isn't terrible. It's not the Bubbler."

"Nothing is worse than the Bubbler, Chat," Ladybug crossed her arms with a pout, "And anyway, she's just being immature and dramatic, I don't see what the big deal is."

"Do you know what got her akumatized?" Chat asked, having a couple ideas himself, but part of him wondered if she knew because that could lead him closer to her identity. Then he remembered how that would be overstepping a boundary, so he decided to shut up.

They looked down from the mast and overheard some conversations, they learned the villain was called Blackout. It appeared the entire cult hated Marinette and was more than ready to throw her under the bus. Why did they hate her so much? She had tripped, right? Maybe it was just pent up frustration that led to them taking it out on her?

Apparently, none of them knew where Marinette was, and Chat felt concerned, and Ladybug growled, 

"The Akuma must be in that jar she has at her hip," she insisted, jumping down without telling him a plan, as though she really wanted this fight over and done with more than usual.

Chat decided to wait and observe a bit, knowing that she wouldn't want him to get in her way when she was in a mood like this.

Blackout anticipated this and then opened the jar, and Ladybug gasped as a little squid thing left her throat and entered the jar. It was almost immediate that Chat realized what that power was as soon as Blackout moved onto Alya, who was trying to run away until chains shot out from the ship and binding her.

"Hm, kinky," he heard Nathan muse, earning laughter from Percy and Kiera, the whole group seeming surprisingly calm given their situation. He supposed he should get them out of here, so he hopped down subtly and moved over to them,

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna get you out of here."

"No way," Danielle gestured to Blackout, "I know she's working for Hawk Moth, but it's not every day you can observe the differences in behavior in an Akuma versus a person, and we know Luka's safe."

"Ashton's currently down there trying to get to him in a weird maze," Percy pointed out, "I do wonder where Marinette went."

"Beats me," Nino shrugged, and then Blackout noticed Chat, and Ladybug pulled him back up to the mask, messaging him furiously, and he read her messages explaining she had lost her voice and he had to stop messing around.

"I was trying to get them out," he defended, "They were content to stay since their friend is safe." He looked down, "We need your voice back, and this would be a way to find out if the Akuma is in there. I'll use my Cataclysm to break the jar, can you help distract her and deflect the chains?"

Ladybug looked offended, before rolling her eyes and shrugging, so Chat jumped down with his stick at the ready, "Hey, Blackout!" He immediately had to deflect a large battle-ax being swung his way, and he had to be careful to move to not harm anyone else. It was strange seeing civilians so calm about this, as though they were watching a movie and not witnessing it in real life.

He needed to deflect some chains himself, and he managed to get an opening after a good few minutes of fighting, having gotten a cut across his bicep from the ax at one moment, scampering between her legs, "Cataclysm!" He destroyed the jar, releasing the voices within. No... the Akuma wasn't in the jar.

"Miraculous Ladybug!" He turned, feeling surprising relief when the small scratch on his arm healed up, and saw Ladybug in another room having used her yoyo to break a compass, and she walked out triumphantly as Alya had her phone ready,

"Amazing! Ladybug saves the day again!"

"Okay, what the hell?" Danielle asked, looking to her friends and Nino, "Did you all see what Alya saw, or do I see some rose-tinted glasses?" She leaned forward tauntingly to Alya, "Those aren't great when reporting, sweetie, since they block out the truth." She said this sarcastically, but her face said she was dead serious, and Chat almost didn't notice when Ladybug held her fist out,

He hesitated a bit, noticing she hadn't clarified to Alya that they were a team at all. He supposed that she just assumed this was her way of saying it, so he reciprocated the "Pound it!" but it was a little more reluctant than usual.

"Hey guys," Ashton came up, "Luka's room is back to normal, and he's still asleep for the time being." He looked around, "What did I miss?"

Anarka looked around, dazed and confused, "What... happened?" She asked, her voice uncharacteristically soft. 

Chat quickly turned to help her up, trying his best to ignore Ladybug's glare at his back. "You were akumatized, Miss, but everything is fixed now! Do you want to talk about what got you so upset?" He asked gently, cocking his head to the side.

"I heard that she got upset because an officer gave her fines. Y'know. The man of the law. That gave her fines for doing illegal stuff." Ladybug said sarcastically, cocking her hip and nonchalantly looking at her nails.

"Let the woman speak for herself, dammit!" Percy shouted, tears gathering in his eyes. Danielle went to comfort Percy as Nathan started tying himself and Kiera up with Ladybug's yoyo—which he stole mind you—as both continued giggling like doofuses. 

"Hey, stop harassing Ladybug!" Alya exclaimed, trying to get to Nathan and Kiera, who bumping into Ladybug, screaming, "Nudge!" While she struggles to get her yoyo back, only for the reporter to be held back by Ashton.

Ashton struggled to hold Alya back, stuttering out, "Hey—Hey, could you guys stop playing with the yoyo? Yes, I know it looks like a toy, but it's really not, and you guys should not be messing with powers you don't understand and—" he continued stuttering and rambling until Alya finally stopped struggling, as both Nathan and Kiera untied themselves and handed the yoyo to Ladybug. He relaxed, recollecting himself quickly. "And anyway, what we were doing, while not the nicest, was the right thing to do; Roger was clearly abusing his power by giving everyone fines for retaliating, which is something he could get literally fired for." He explained calmly, a small smile forming on his face as Nathan shouted, "Yeah, what he said!" 

Ladybug scoffed and threw her yoyo, flying away, leaving Chat behind to comfort Anarka. "So you just need to remember to give him space, but also do those small favors for him and let him get a lot of rest, alright? I'm sure he'd appreciate it." Anarka nodded, softly thanking Chat for his help, and his reassurances that she's not a bad parent, but she could always improve.

A groggy voice from the stairs alerted everyone, "Fuck… what happened?" Luka said, wobbling a bit before sliding against the wall into a sitting position. Chat sighed fondly, going to pick up Luka, letting the boy lean on his shoulder,

"Well, hello Monsieur, I believe that the ship got akumatized while you were out, but worry not! Ladybug saved the day," he said, making sure to whisper just in case Luka was still in pain. 

Luka groaned smooshing Chat's cheeks. "It's Ladybug and I, man. Ladybug and I~" he said before flipping off Nathan, who was making very rude gestures telling Luka to "get some."

Chat giggled a bit, making sure to balance Luka, "Why thank you, Monsieur, that's so very kind of yours! I also heard it was your birthday, so I suppose dropping by to wish you a happy birthday is not too late?" He said, continuing with his fancy charades.

Luka looked around, almost half-drunkenly, "Uhuh, yeah that's nice, thank you, you're really hot, now where is Angel~" Luka whined, hiding his face in Chat's neck.

"H-Huh?" Chat asked, both flustered for whatever reason and confused. He turned to Ashton, he explained Luka's reasoning:

"He's asking where his friend, Adrien, is. Both are really close, and Luka nicknames him 'Angel.' I suppose he really misses him." He said the last part almost smugly, as the cult cooed at Luka. 

"O-Oh! I think I saw him in the maze, so he's probably a bit dazed! I'm sure he'll be out soon enough!" Chat explained nervously, face completely red. He quickly laid Luka down on a bench on the Liberty, before turning to everyone, "I'm afraid I have to go now, but promise you guys have it all handled?" He asked, getting noises of agreement and nods and approvals his way. Chat looked at Luka once again, smiling softly, "Happy Birthday, Luka." He said gently, before flying away with his baton, no one noticing when he sneaked into the Liberty again, too distracted by Marinette running back, saying how she went to call for help.

By the time Adrien stepped up to the Liberty, soft music was playing while everyone was already chatting and comforting Luka, save for Marinette and Alya. They were talking amongst themselves sending glares here and there. 

Adrien couldn't dwell on said glares for much longer before hearing a whine from Luka, "Angel cake! You're safe~" Luka whined, making grabby hands at Adrien.

Adrien giggled, going to sit next to Luka, and propping the boy's head on his lap, "Hey Luka! Are you okay? I was sorry worried when I saw you passed out in your room, I freaked out and tried to get some help, but then the entire ship got akumatized into this maze, and I was so lost and—" he was quickly shushed by Luka, causing him to pause and take a deep breath, before smiling and massaging Luka's scalp.

"It's okay, Angel, you're amazing… God, where did you learn head massages?" Luka slurred out, as Adrien could see Alya and Marinette leave the Liberty, mumbling to each other, while Anarka stared them down.

"I-I didn't learn them from anywhere, I guess I've done them a couple times for my Father when he gets his migraines, but thank you! I hope that even if today was bad, we could end your birthday on a positive note?" He asked worriedly, continuing to pet and ran his fingers through Luka's hair.

Luka looked around to see his friends and family chatting amongst themselves, having fun before looking at his angel of a friend, who was pampering him non stop. "I think this has been an incredible birthday. Sure it didn't start good, but it ended amazingly." He said, smiling, trying to avoid thoughts returning to him from a certain chat with Marinette.

Adrien sighed, seeing Luka's tense smile, making a note to ask him about it later, but he conceded for now. He gave Luka a peck on his forehead before whispering oh so gently.

"Happy Birthday, Luka. I'm so glad I'm here to make this one happy for you."

"Hell yes, Happy birthday to me."

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

He should have seen this coming.

When Luka first heard it was Parent Career day, shouldn't he have expected for shit to hit the fan for the cult? Some of the cult's parents weren't the nicest people around, and Nathan's parents were the epitome of neglectful or straight-up abusive assholes, so he should have at least done something.

And shouldn't he have expected Nathan to completely forget about parent day? He should have at least told the poor guy; that way, he wouldn't be as hurt. Ugh, this is all my fault, Luka thought bitterly, knowing it was futile to chase after Nathan, who was power walking out of the school, likely planning to skip school today. It was times like these where it was better to let Nathan deal with his feelings now and talk to him about it later. That didn't make it any less scary because Luka knew full well where he was going and what state he would be in.

That night years ago, that phone call late at night begging for help, flashed into Luka's mind, and he sent a worried look at Kiera's direction as he walked towards the cult, who bared witness to the Nathan situation. Kiera shook her head, confirming that Nathan needs space right now, causing Luka to sigh and slump against the wall.

Out of the corner of his eye, Luka caught Adrien speed walking after Nathan with a determined look in his eye. Luka looked over to the cult, to see they caught sight of this as well, and were grimacing to each other, expecting the worst.

Kiera got up, sighing, before Luka stopped her, motioning her to give Adrien's chance. Kiera raised an eyebrow at Luka, which he ignored, once again asking her silently. Kiera sighed, rolling her eyes before giving Luka a shit-eating grin, as Percy approached the group with a another shit-eating grin, which Luka pointedly looked away from.

He knew letting Adrien after Nathan is a bit of a gamble, but if anyone can help his friend right now, it was his angel.

...

Just as Adrien got into school, he noticed Nathan storming down the stairs and out the door, with Kiera and the others following him worriedly. Kiera chased after Nathan, and he gently removed her hand from his shoulder. Adrien couldn't hear what they were saying, but it wasn't anything good judging by everyone's expressions.

"Morning," he said absently, not taking his eyes from Nathan talking to Kiera before leaving the school until he made it to his classroom and dumped his bag, seeing Marinette was in there already, shockingly on time, "Hey, Marinette!" He waved, "You're here early."

Marinette snapped up from where she had been doodling in her notebook and screamed at the sight of him. He deflated slightly as she started stammering, "Ah—Adrien—what—I'm not drawing you—I mean—it's good to see you!" She laughed awkwardly, "Hehe, Dad's gonna be baking today, so we had to get here early."

Adrien brightened, "That sounds awesome! I'm excited to see what you and your Dad make," then he came crashing down that, oh damn, today was Parent Career Day. Suddenly he grew even more worried about why Nathan had left.

Speaking of which, Percy came in, "Hey, Adrien, I know it's a lot to ask, but can you do us a huge favor?"

"Sure, what is it?" He asked, and Percy had a concerned look towards Marinette.

"Can you go talk to Nathan? He said he wants us to leave him alone, but we all know he shouldn't be. He's probably down by the river by now."

Adrien didn't think about it at all, "Of course," he turned to Marinette, "Can you guard my bag, please?"

"Uh..." Percy bit his lip, "I can keep an eye on your bag, Adrien, I'm sure Marinette can go back to her drawing."

"No!" Marinette protested quickly, "I can absolutely guard his bag... Adrien's bag..." she trailed off a little bit. However, Adrien barely noticed as he was already out the door, knowing full well that his teacher would assume he had another photoshoot and had long since stopped even trying to mark him absent. And it wasn't like his father would leave the house to come to an event like this.

He bumped into Luka, "Oh, hey, Luka! I was gonna go talk to Nathan." Luka hesitated for a moment, before relaxing,

"Yeah... just..." he sighed, "Actually, you might be the best person to talk to him." He was clearly upset, and Adrien was already worried about what he would find as he rushed down to the river and found Nathan sitting at the edge, his feet dangling close to the water, and what caught Adrien off guard was the bottle of pastis in hand. He hadn't drunk much of it, but Adrien knew enough about alcohol to know that stuff was both cheap and strong,

"Hey... Nathan?" He slowly walked forward, hoping to not scare Nathan into falling into the river. Nathan turned, and just from looking at him, he knew Nathan was not at all sober as he raised the body with a lopsided grin and slightly slurred words as he announced, "Butterfly!" He giggled, and Adrien walked forward,

"Butterfly?" He tensed, whirling around in a circle searching for an Akuma since that was bound to show up at any moment now, then he noticed the butterflies on his hoodie and figured maybe that was just it.

"Yeah!" He smirked, "Ya comin' to hang with me?"

Adrien debated mentioning the others asked him to come, but opted against it and sat down next to him, "Yeah, I saw you were upset, and the others were worried." He tried to take the bottle from Nathan's death grip, "Maybe you should slow down with that,"

"Nah, maybe I can actually forget if I drink a little more."

"Forget what?"

"Ya know," he leaned his head on Adrien's shoulder, giggling a little more, "Parent Career Day, it sucks ass!"

"Do your parents not come?"

"Nah, they would, not that it would be worthwhile since I work more than 'em, and what do I get as thanks? Fucking poisoned! Thanks, Mom!"

Was Nathan just drunk and saying things? Adrien's eyes widened considerably, "P-Poisoned?"

In an impression of a woman's voice, Nathan went on, "It was an accident, I didn't know it would do that!" He went back to his normal voice, "Bitch, please, you'd been complaining about my weight and saying I'm fat even though we all know I'm underweight and skinnier than you, bitch, ha!"

The thought made Adrien extremely uncomfortable. He knew his photographers and others had said he was too curvy and needed to lose some weight, but while he knew his father was determined to have him be perfect, he would never go so far as to poison him into losing weight. And how would you even...?

"What happened?" He asked, hoping that maybe talking it out would prevent an Akuma. Nathan looked at Adrien,

"Vyvanse," Nathan replied, "ADHD medication, but you know what else it's for? Binge-eating, which I don't have." He laughed, and his speech became less slurred, but still mumbled or between sobs, "So I'm over here taking this medication until it reaches a point it hurts so badly to eat that I am on the floor thinking I'm gonna die!" He was quickly growing hysterical, and Adrien pulled him into a hug, taking the chance to move the booze away from them, looking up to make sure no Akuma was coming. If Hawk Moth took advantage of a situation like this...

They stayed in silence for a while with the only sound being Nathan's crying and clinging to Adrien before he got up on shaky legs,

"Right, I should get going," he looked around, finding his bottle, "There you are," he reached, but Adrien held it back,

"Nathan, you shouldn't be drinking, especially not now."

"What? I'm eighteen."

"That's not what I meant..." Adrien got up, "Come on, is there somewhere I can take you? I know you don't want to go home..."

"Meh, it's fine. It happened years ago, and Mom's outta town. I can walk."

"Come on," he put Nathan's arm around his shoulder, "I'll help you. Just show me the way." Nathan shoved him off, 

"You don't know me! I shouldn't have even told you any of this." 

"I... I don't know what it's like to have been hurt like that," Adrien said after a moment of thinking about what to say, "I can't give you any silver linings. I don't even know what to say except that I want to help."

"Yeah, thanks," Nathan muttered, sitting on a bench, "I'm gonna have a little lie de down right here,"

"No, no, I'm taking you... um..." he thought about it, he brightened, "The boat!" He helped Nathan up, regardless of his drunken protests, "Anarka will take care of you so you can sleep and get better. I'm sure she's been drunk a bunch of times!"

Thankfully, Nathan just gave in and let Adrien lead him to the Liberty, where it didn't seem much explanation was required, which gave Adrien the sinking feeling that this had happened more than once.

He decided then that he would be checking on Nathan as Chat Noir often, making sure he was okay. Even if he didn't know what to say or do as Adrien, he could still find a way to help Nathan.

He just hoped there wouldn't be an Akuma any time soon.

"Can he stay here?" Adrien asked, and Anarka looked down at Nathan, who was on the couch staring up at the ceiling. Anarka nodded, and Adrien thanked her again before heading back to school, knowing he had to face the discomfort of being the only kid without a parent showing up over with.

What he actually walked in on was nowhere near what he had expected.

Everything was in chaos, and it seemed Marinette and Chloé were shouting at each other, and that alone made Adrien uncomfortable because he didn't want to pick a side in the matter when he had no idea what was going on, so he subtly got into his seat to figure out the situation,

"You purposely tripped on my bag so you could steal my bracelet!" Chloé screamed at Marinette and then turned to Officer Roger, which already gave Adrien a bad feeling about this, remembering Luka's birthday last month. "You're a policeman! Arrest her!"

"My daughter is not a thief!" Marinette's Dad defended. Adrien took in the new info and considered how they had gotten to this point.

It wasn't like Marinette to steal something, right? But Adrien also remembered back at the beginning of the school year, Chloé saying that Marinette had stolen something, so already Adrien could see a reason besides bad blood for Chloé to assume what had happened.

He tensed. Was he actually doubting Marinette? No, even if she had stolen something back then, it was to get Juleka in the class photo, which was a good thing. She would never just steal something if not for the greater good, and she would give it back if she had needed to.

Knowing Chloé, the bracelet probably just fell into an obscure side pocket...

Or not, because he looked down and saw Plagg had the bracelet on his head. That wasn't good. He scooped Plagg up and put him in the bag, wishing he could just get it off and give it back to Chloé, but that might draw too much attention to himself. 

He locked eyes with Miss Bustier, letting her know that he needed to go, but the sound of a whistle split through his skull, drawing his attention. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Roger had been the one to blow it.

"Hold on a minute, Miss Bourgeois, we don't accuse without proof! Now, everyone, calm down, please. Maybe you simply misplaced your bracelet."

Huh? From what Adrien had gathered, Roger loved to give people fines for the smallest of things. It was a "fine kink" as the cult called it, whatever that could possibly mean, but Adrien assumed it meant Roger liked it. So while Adrien was relieved Roger wasn't trying anything, it still struck him as odd.

"You're calling me a liar?!" Chloé snapped, "Daddy!" Adrien only sighed in response, because why couldn't Chloé try to figure out what was going on civilly without calling on her father for it?

Mayor Bourgeois pointed at Marinette, glaring at Roger, "Roger, I demand you search this girl! Need I remind you that as Mayor of this city, I am your superior!"

"But sir, it's against the law!" Roger protested, "I can't just go—"

Mayor Bourgeois crossed his arms, "All right. Then you're no longer a police officer!" Everyone's eyes widened at that, even Chloé, who didn't seem to have expected that at all, and Adrien noticed that for a split second, she looked horrified and glanced in Sabrina's direction, but it was gone as quickly as it appeared.

"Mayor, you can't be serious! Over a missing bracelet?"

"This is my daughter's bracelet we're talking about! You're incompetent, and you're fired! Get out!"

But then Roger did something that both shocked Adrien and really didn't, "Actually, Mister Mayor, you are fired for abuse of power, and as an officer, I have the power to take you from office from this. Deputy Mayor Anne Hidalgo will be taking your place until the election. Who knows, maybe she'll win office this year."

Mr. Bourgeois was clearly horrified, "How dare you?!"

And then Roger went and started giving fines for very little valid reasons. Ah, Roger was back.

But Adrien, while he understood that this was probably inevitable that Chloé's Dad would be fired for abuse of power, still felt like it was his fault, and as Chloé ran after her father, on the brink of tears and clearly humiliated, he chased after her,

"Chlo!" He grabbed her hand, and she turned to him, "Hey... I just..." he trailed off, "I..."

"You don't have to say anything, Adrien," Chloé muttered, before growling to herself, "This is all Marinette Dupain-Cheng's fault."

Adrien wanted to say that this probably wasn't Marinette's fault but knew that would make it seem like he was on Marinette's side and abandoning his childhood friend, so he tried instead, "I'll find your bracelet for you, okay? I can give it to you after school!"

Chloé smiled a bit, "Thanks, Adrien, you're a good friend." She looked towards her father, who was shouting at their driver, "Sorry... but I need some time alone. Head back to class, Adrien, I know you love being there."

"You're important!" Adrien protested, "If you need me, I'll be there with you." He knew that all of this might be shocking to Chloé, as her father had been the Mayor her whole life, and only now had he gone a step too far and gotten himself fired over it. Due to the mess that was cancel culture, all kinds of hate would appear for the Bourgeois family because of it now that someone had knocked the Mayor off his high throne.

Chloé just got in the car, hugging herself as the driver sped away. Adrien opened his bag and looked down at Plagg, but he knew that this wasn't Plagg's fault since it was almost inevitable. That said, he could still be annoyed about the bracelet. Then he noticed a shaking in Plagg’s small shoulders, almost as though he was sad or scared, “Plagg? You okay?”

“Yeah,” Plagg assumed, “I’m fine. This bracelet is just unpleasant.”

Alright then. First thing's first, he had to get it off so Plagg could be free, and to make sure he could return it to Chloé, and so he could transform when there was an Akuma.

He wasn't going to pretend that it was "if." This was going to happen, no matter what he tried, and all he could do was curse Hawk Moth for taking advantage of people at their most vulnerable.

OoOoO

A week after the parent day fiasco, Adrien got out of his bodyguard's car, not before quickly thanking him, both on edge yet hopeful. It has been four days since the Mayor—or more specifically ex-Mayor—has been officially fired from office, and while politics-wise, everything is a bit of a mess now, he was much more concerned with his childhood friend.  

Ever since her Dad got fired, Chloe had not been attending school, nor had she been answering his calls, and even Sabrina didn't know how she was doing. 

Yet Chloé had to come back to school at some point, right? She can't just disappear into thin air or leave Paris. She couldn't. Right?

When Adrien walked in the school to see balloons, streamers, confetti, and everyone celebrating, he was truly hopeful that Chloé came back. He jogged quickly to Marinette, who was laughing with friends and snacking on food. He tapped her on the shoulder gently, "Hey, what's going on here? What are we celebrating?" He asked, looking around to see if he could locate his childhood friend.

Marinette turned to Adrien, smiling brightly—perhaps too brightly?—"Chloé's gone! She's moving to boarding school!" She said, doing a little song and dance to herself.

Adrien stilled as reality began setting in. "Chloé left…? For good?" He asked, in denial, trying to blink away any tears that threatened to spill and slow down his breathing. She can't leave. Not her too. Not again.

Marinette was still as cheerful as ever though, and she didn't stop to think that Adrien might not be as happy or enthusiastic. "Yeah! Isn't it great?" She asked him, eyes sparkling.

Adrien tensed, taking a couple of steps away from Marinette. Something about that bright smile just felt so off. "Uh… no. I think it's terrible! How could people be celebrating her leaving?" He asked, looking around, to hopefully see someone who agreed with him.

Marinette frowned, cocking her head before scoffing, "But, Chloé's a total brat to everyone. She was useless, anyway." She said, waving Adrien's thoughts off. A similar feeling of dread and shame curled in Adrien's gut, similar to the one he felt as Chat Noir.

Adrien hugged himself, looking at Marinette brokenly. "Nobody's useless, not even Chloé. Marinette, I know she hurt you, which is why you have every right to be happy she left, but a party? Do you really think that's right?"

Marinette developed a steely look in eyes, seemingly looking somewhere far away, and she was looking silently enraged. Adrien shrunk into himself, preparing to apologize for anything he ever said or done and to just agree with his friend—he was used to doing so with his father—before Marinette seemingly snapped out of it and poured ashamed "Ow— well, uh… shoot." She said, looking at her fingers as she twiddled with them abashedly. 

Adrien sighed in relief, still maintaining a distance away from Marinette. Something really didn't sit right with him about how easily she switched from angry to shy and cutesy and sad. "Chloé left angry and unhappy," Adrien said, "I can't celebrate that." He turned away, walking sadly to sit on one of the benches on the school ground, waiting for people to tire themselves out so he can start school.

He thought back to Marinette, toying anxiously with his blonde locks. Was Marinette always like this? Was she always so...fake? She just switched from on top of the world, almost manically laughing, to enraged and silent, and then suddenly super regretful. Was she always lying? Did she lie when she said she tripped over the stereo on Luka's birthday? That would explain why she tripped so specifically…

He tried not to think about it.

…

Wait, Marinette is actually upset about Chloé leaving?!

When Luka heard that a party was thrown because of Chloé leaving, he did not expect Marinette to be angry. For once, he would have been okay with her being a dick, because Chloé wasn't really nice to her either.

But… Does Marinette really care about Chloé? Does she really care enough about someone who bullied her for several years?

...Maybe he had been too harsh on her. Everyone else seems to always talk about how nice and sweet Marinette is, so was he the crazy one here? Because what does his single hormone-charged, selfish brain have against a ton of other people who love and appreciate her? Was he the one at fault? Was Marinette actually kind? Even with everything she did? After all, he does have reason to be biased… 

He looked over at Adrien, waving gently, going to sit next to him. Adrien could only smile sadly, peridot eyes warbly and glassy as he laid his head on Luka. Luka pet the blonde's head as Adrien whimpered and tried to blink away tears. "Rough day?" Luka asked, going to wrap an arm around Adrien, tucking his head under his chin. 

Adrien nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Y-Yeah. Rough day." He said, avoiding looking at Luka in the eyes. Luka hugged Adrien tightly, kissing the top of his head. He felt as Adrien relaxed in his arms, whispering him a small "Thank you, Orpheus." Luka sighed fondly, rubbing some circles into Adrien's back, avoiding the feeling of guilt and dread he felt from people looking at him and Adrien. Namely, one particularly upset Marinette.

"Anytime, Angel. Anytime."

OoOoO

Adrien found that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't focus on the lesson he already knew. Normally he would be raising his hand for everything, eager to answer each and every question, but today he just kept glancing to where Sabrina now sat alone since Chloé was gone. He could also feel Marinette or someone staring at him, but he didn't want to turn around and make it known.

Why had Marinette changed her feelings regarding Chloé? She had every right to be happy Chloé was gone, even if a party was a bit much—actually, now that he thought about it, he didn't actually know why Chloé hated Marinette so much.

He planned to go over and try visiting her again as Chat Noir tonight. The last couple of times, she hadn't let him in, and eventually, he left. Maybe this time, she would know that things were definite? He still hoped to change her mind but knew it wasn't very likely.

Adrien mindlessly took notes for a little while longer until, out of nowhere, the door was thrown off its hinges and to the ground as other students and teachers began tearing apart the classroom. He managed to dive past them and slide down the railing of the stairs, glad he had been so bored for most of his life that he mastered the skill, hiding in the janitor closet as he heard a familiar voice,

"Right! Now, where is that girl, Marinette Dupain-Cheng? I've got a special declaration just for her."

"Marinette?" Adrien frowned, looking to Plagg, "If I'm right about that being Chloé's Dad, why is he going after Marinette? I suppose it could be only part of a plan, but..." his eyes widened as he remembered what Chloé had said.

"This is all Marinette Dupain-Cheng's fault."

"Oh no, we have to protect Marinette! Plagg, Claws Out!" Even if he was a little off-put by her sudden change, she was still his friend and an innocent civilian he needed to protect! It wasn't her fault this had happened at all.

He jumped up onto the roof of the school, shouting down, "Hey, you! Do you have a demolition permit for this school?" 

"I don't need a permit. I am Malediktator, the all-powerful supermayor of Paris, and this is my city!"

Malediktator turned, and Chat felt the burning need to cover his eyes. Maybe his mind was dirty, but that hat added onto the shape of Mr. Bourgeois's head made a very unappealing image. The rest of the outfit could be a lot better, but Bubbler had been worse. Honestly, he was just waiting for a dreading the day when something topped Bubbler in awful design.

"Hate to be that guy," Chat shrugged, "But a dictator and a mayor are two very different things. This is kind of why we beheaded the monarchs."

Ladybug appeared next to him, "Paris is our city! It belongs to everyone." She jumped down and landed in front of Malediktator with her yoyo, dodging any blows while Chat knew she would only get annoyed if he interfered, and he ran into the locker room, seeing very few students unaffected, so he looked knocked on the lockers,

"Marinette?" He looked around, hoping she was safe. But he knew he couldn't stay long because Ladybug needed him. He rushed back out and back to the roof, quickly noticing Ladybug's strategy of attacking using her yoyo from afar to wear Malediktator down, to make sure to give herself time to dodge or destroy the bubbles being thrown at them.

Chat Noir slumped, wishing he had a long-range ability like that. Nevertheless, he had to help out, so he jumped down and prayed to not be hit by a bubble, getting behind Malediktator and trying to figure out where the Akuma was. His gut told him it was in the sash, but did he even still have it? Oh well.

Chat Noir dodged a punch, and Ladybug wrapped her yoyo around Malediktator's wrist. Malediktator eventually grabbed Chat's staff and threw him off to the side, even if he skillfully landed on his hands and then his feet, a smirk on his face.

Malediktator paid him no heed and instead grabbed a wooden bench to try and smash Ladybug, who dodged but did release her hold on Malediktator's wrist.

Malediktator put his finger to his lips, "By the power vested in me, I declare that your Miraculous is my property!" He flung the two orbs at them, which were like homing missiles, so he had to smack it with his stick and flee to the roof.

Chat Noir turned to Ladybug, "It's time we impeach him again and declare him powerless!"

"The Akuma has to be in his sash," Ladybug nodded to herself, "Maybe he was still trying to undo the choice today," she scoffed a bit, "Come on, let's handle this. Lucky Charm!" A rope fell into her hands, "Rope?"

"Maybe we're supposed to tie his hands behind his back or gag him?" Chat offered, "From what I gathered, he has to put his fingers to his lips and then say 'by the power vested in me,' which honestly sounds like something for a wedding instead of the mayor, but I digress."

"Now's now the time for your jokes, Cat!" Ladybug snapped, "I'll come up with the plan." She brightened, "That's it! I'll tie his hands behind his back, and you can use your Cataclysm to destroy the sash. Distract him for me." 

"On it, LB," Chat Noir jumped down and attacked, realizing how screwed he was as a bubble was thrown at himself direction… no place to dodge… he won’t be able to resist…

"Chat!" He yelped as he was tackled to the side by a blur, and he realized Luka was on top of him. They both lingered there awkwardly, unsure of what to say, and he felt his face heating up a bit as Luka got off him as they heard Ladybug yelp, and she fell to the ground...

Having been hit in the chest by Malediktator's bubble.

"NO!" Chat lunged for her, instantly tying her up to make sure she couldn't take off her earrings. He pulled her close, sneering at Malediktator, jumping up and running as he tried to think about what to do with this. He couldn't fight and win this on his own! Every now and then, he was able to take a little more charge, but this hadn't happened before!

Where to go... Where to go...? Chloé!

He sprinted to Chloé's, banging on the door with his free hand, "Chloé!" He shouted, and Chloé came over, no makeup on and in her pajamas, hair down. She seemed shocked, and opened the door, 

"Chat Noir? What are you doing here?"

"Your father got akumatized and struck Ladybug!" He was panicking, "I need something else to tie her up so I can use the Lucky Charm and figure out what to do. Oh—Oh, this is bad. This is bad!" He turned to Chloé, "Chlo, can you tell me what happened? Why is Malediktator, so mad and have such an unfortunate hat?" 

Chloé snorted a bit and then caught herself, sighing as she thought back on it, crossing her arms, "It's because of this super lame loser named Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She's this horrible girl in my class, and she hates me. She—"

"Maybe Marinette isn't entirely to blame?" Chat offered, "She couldn't have gotten the Mayor fired, right?"

"Uh! Ugh. Okay, it wasn't totally Marinette's fault. She is really mean to me sometimes, but actually, this time, Daddy got angry because of Roger firing him for trying to help me find my bracelet I was sure Dupain-Cheng stole. You have no idea what kinds of things she steals just for the hell of it every time she starts getting interested in someone."

Chat Noir tensed, but decided to ignore that, "So that means he wants his power back?" He noticed Chloé looking dejected, and he put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Chloé, I know I'm not Ladybug, and you don't look up to me. But I want to help you, and you can trust me. You can tell me the truth."

"I—I—" she forced a small laugh, "You remind me of my friend, Adrien. That sounds like something he would say. But..." she started crying, "It—It was me. I hurt my Daddy's feelings when we got into a fight. Because I want to leave Paris and go to New York with Mom instead of staying in some boarding school."

"Because of what happened in school? Did someone say something?"

"Oh, it's not that. It's because I have no reason to be here: nobody likes me; I have no friends. I'm… useless." Chat Noir hugged her tight, not caring if she somehow figured out his identity.

"Nobody is useless, Chloé."

"It's easy for you to say that. You're a superhero. You serve a purpose."

"I am, but just because I fight the villains doesn't mean that you can't fix your own messes and help others if that's what you want. You, too, can serve a purpose, but you have to want to.

Chloé sniffled, "I do want to."

"Good. Get dressed. I need your help with something." 

Once the plan was in motion, Chat carried Chloé, who was supporting a still tied-up Ladybug.

They made it to the Hôtel de Ville as the sun was beginning to set, and it seemed a lot of guards were guarding Malediktator, who sat on a throne. Chat looked to Chloé,

"Okay, that's a lot of guards. This is not as planned." He gestured to Ladybug, "Guard her and let's hope I don't end up a mindless zombie. Can you distract him a bit?"

"Sure thing, Chat Noir," she stood up, "Here I am, Daddy! I'm sorry I hurt your feelings the way I did. Stop all this nonsense at once! Your powers are ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"

"That's enough!" Malediktator growled, "Now you're going to do what I tell you to do. By the power vested in me, Chat Noir, give me your Miraculous!"

"Here we go," Chat Noir used his staff to propel himself, dodging the orbs and trying to knock the shields down, only to no avail, and he had to land on a ledge a little further down below. 

He moved in again, trying to kick this time, but got blocked by shields a couple more times and needing to dodge to the point he had tears in his eyes from sheer frustration. He had to get through without using Cataclysm. What could he do?

"By the power vested in me, I declare you all my slaves! " Chat Noir's eyes widened as he saw Malediktator was making a huge bubble, which was clearly going to be a tough one to dodge.

No, no, no, no, I can't fail! He punched the ground, fighting back a sob as he tried a few more times, knowing that at least now Malediktator's hands were full so he wouldn't need to dodge smaller bubbles.

It just... it seemed so hopeless. But Chat knew that as long as he was a Miraculous holder, he could never give in! No matter what happened, he would fight!

Suddenly, he felt as though he wasn't in control of his body anymore fully, like something was guiding him and showing him what to do as his ring glowed with even more power than before, and he knew what needed to be done as he jumped into the air,

"Black Storm!"

Dark energy launched out of the ring in a long-ranged attack, decimating the shields and sending the men tumbling to the ground, and the sash was disintegrated, destroying the bubble.

He suddenly realized something was extremely wrong as exhaustion overwhelmed him to the point he couldn't stop himself from crashing to the pavement with a loud 'thud!'

He looked up at the night sky through half-lidded eyes, "Help..." before he slowly faded from awareness, his vision darkening as he slowly drifted to sleep.

Though he didn't stay like that for very long as he felt someone shaking him, "Chat! Chat Noir!"

He opened his eyes and saw Ladybug back to normal and looking annoyed, "Now's not the time to be sleeping."

Chat sat up, rubbing his head and realizing he was lightheaded, "Ladybug?" He got up, beaming, "You're okay!"

"Yeah, and we almost lost the Akuma," Ladybug muttered, "Still..." she looked almost disgusted as she said, "Thank you. We would have lost without you." She looked to him, "Chloé said you activated some power like an enhanced Cataclysm. What was that?"

"I don't know," Chat replied, leaning against a lamppost, "But what I do know is I'm exhausted from using it, but my time isn't running out."

"Why do you get a new power?" She crossed her arms in a huff, and Chat smirked a bit,

"Hey, looks like we're equal with each having two powers now," he leaned on his staff, and then looked up to see a middle-aged woman walking down the stairs,

"Ladybug, Chat Noir," she said, "I'm Mayor Anne Hidalgo, can we speak inside?"

"Of course," Chat offered, eagerly going in, even though Ladybug was clearly against it.

They all stood in the office, and Anne extended her hand to shake, "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I was hoping to talk with you both regarding Hawk Moth."

"We're working on it," Ladybug huffed, and Anne hummed somewhat, taking in this information,

"You don't want me to get involved. But the Paris that was hit is our Paris—it is suffering—but it is standing and looking straight ahead. It is alive, and it will live on as long as we all do our part. I admire what you and Chat Noir have been doing. However, I suggest planning in the long-term instead of per battle."

Chat looked to the new Mayor with a curious expression, "What do you mean?"

"What I like to do," Anne explained, "Is to get in the mind of a terrorist, so I can tell him in his own language that he is wrong. To do this with Hawk Moth, we need to understand his motivations. Why does he want to take your Miraculous?"

The simple answer would be world domination, but now that Anne mentioned it, Chat found he wasn't so sure, "Well, I don't know much about it either, but I would guess maybe there is something special involving getting both of our powers. Maybe... manipulating the powers of life and death? Maybe bring back a lost loved one?"

"Are you serious, Chat?" Ladybug asked, "Hawk Moth wouldn't go through all this trouble over something like that. Surely he wants to take over Paris or even the world!"

"No, actually," Anne smiled, "I'd like to look into Chat Noir's theory. And even if it proves to be wrong, it's still worth looking into. We have to have an open mind if we're going to protect our Paris."

There was a sense of validation being praised over Ladybug by the new Mayor, but Chat kept it to himself and shook Anne's hand again, "Thank you, Mrs. Hidalgo," he said, "It's been a pleasure, and I hope to meet you again soon." 

He raced back to his house and detransformed, his exhaustion creeping up with him even further to the point he could barely pull himself into bed. He didn't even bother to do anything except removing his shoes, noticing his bag in the corner where Nathalie probably grabbed it. He would have to explain how he got into the house, but he was too tired to even think about that.

"Plagg, what was that?" He asked, and Plagg sat on his designated pillow,

"Black Storm. There are hidden powers in your Miraculous for you to activate when you need them most. Though they're harder to obtain for the Cat since... you know... death powers. The bonus powers don't affect the timer, but they do leave you exhausted without practice. You can use Black Storm whenever you want now, but I suggest not doing it unless you really need to."

Adrien yawned, "Is there any other powers like that?"

"Yeah, one or two more for the Cat, and multiple smaller, less powerful ones for the Ladybug. You'll have gotten them all by the time you're an adult at this rate." He nuzzled in Adrien's hair, "We'll talk about this more in the morning. Right now, sleep, kitten."

"Right..." Adrien whispered and was immediately asleep.

OoOoO

Well, Adrien hasn't seen many things in his life, but he never expected someone that wasn't Chloé to make a Chloé themed party.

All of the students, while most were likely there for snacks, gave Chloé the mandatory compliment and how happy they are she's staying with them at school, to which Chloé responded theatrically, trying to cover up how much that means to her.

Adrien snuck behind Chloé, giving her a tackle hug, causing her to laugh and snort, a genuine laugh she rarely shows to anyone outside of close people—so he and maybe Sabrina and Mr. Cuddly, Chloé's teddy bear. "Chloé! I'm so glad you're back!" Adrien exclaimed as Chloé hugged him back. 

"What's this party all about?" He asked, pulling away from the hug. 

Chloé hugged Adrien even tighter, spinning around with him, which made Adrien very dizzy. "Oh, Adrikins, you will not believe this! Apparently, Dupain-Cheng planned this party the minute she heard I came back! I guess that peasant wasn't so bad after all!" She said, laughing so theatrically, it reminded Adrien of the noblewoman's laughter he sees in anime. Shifting to a more serious tone, she said, "I guess I'm just glad that I get to stay here with you. I was stopped from making a very foolish decision." She said, grimacing as Adrien cooed at her softly, telling her how kind that was of hers to say and such.

Adrien continued laughing and talking to his friends, trying to avoid the main problem with this party. Marinette had the idea to make this party. Like, sure, he should be thrilled that Marinette was doing something kind for Chloé, but this doesn't feel right. Added with the sudden shift of behavior after Adrien told her he thought the first party was mean, And then Chloé's comment about how Marinette would lie and steal and hurt just to get on someone's good side, and now this? Things were adding up to much, and he didn't like it. Even the normally chill and joking Nino is looking weirded out by this situation. But Adrien couldn't doubt his friend, could he? It feels as if no matter what opinion he chose, he was hurting someone, and he doesn't want that.

Nino poked Adrien's shoulder, pointing him towards a clearly miffed and slightly concerned Luka, motioning him to go with a shit-eating grin. Adrien sighed, punching Nino's shoulder softly, while Nino continued joking and imitating what Adrien "obviously sounds like when you're around him, dude! All dainty and red!" Which Adrien was not, thank you very much. 

Adrien approached Luka, placing a hand on his shoulder, silently asking what was wrong. Luka sighed, leaning against Adrien, as Adrien patted his head, telling him "there there" and any other soothing words he could think of.

He laughed softly, turning to look at everyone partying. The cult decided to stay out of this, of course, so he'd have to go search for them later, but right now, he was much too comfy next to Adrien. Seeing everyone celebrating left a bitter taste in his mouth though, again feeling like the odd one for not being happy about this. "Am I… Am I the only one with a bad feeling about this?" He asked Adrien, voice rough and tired.

Adrien took a deep breath in, looking at Marinette one more time. "...No. No, you're not." He said, biting his bottom lip. 

Luka heard the nervous and paranoid song in Adrien's heart, and honestly? It comforted him, knowing others are as distressed and questioning as him. Even if he would want Adrien to be completely happy and carefree. He listened to Adrien's song a little longer, relishing in the beautiful melody. It was truly his favorite song. Yet he could have sworn he heard it somewhere else…

It was probably his imagination, he decided. Even if he will keep track of that piece of information for future reference. 

Luka straightened, offering Adrien his hand. "Come on, let's get out of here." He offered, trying to smile casually and totally not trying to make himself look nice or anything, just draping against the wall and casually pointing to his motorcycle. This is great. "Do you want a ride? We can go far for a bit. Maybe get some ice cream? Berry flavored."

Adrien giggled, taking Luka's hand and swinging it back and forth for a bit, "I'd love to."

Chapter Text

The sound of laughter and music could be heard from the Liberty, more so than usual. Kitty Section—a garage band, composed of Adrien's classmates and Luka—were playing several original songs they came up with. It was easy to tell Rose wrote a lot of the lyrics, as the songs were about unicorns and rainbows and such, which contrasts with the rock and roll vibe the band had. With Luka on the guitar, Juleka on the bass, Ivan on the drums, and Rose as lead singer, the band was seemingly complete. They could use a keyboardist, though.

You're a keyboardist, a voice whispered in Adrien's mind as he watched the band play to their heart's content, only for him to wave off the tiny voice—which frankly made a point. He wouldn't fit in well in a rock band, and even if he did, the minute his father found out, he'd be locked up in his room forever. 

He snapped out of his thoughts, noticing Percy giving him a concerned look, to which he replied with a smile politely and assuring him that he was fine. The cult often spent time at the Liberty during band practices, Danielle particularly being responsible for designing many of the logos and outfits in the band. Some other friends, like Mylene and Alix, came by to watch their friends practice, but even that has been decreasing steadily since Luka's birthday. It seemed that Juleka and Rose kept more to themselves nowadays, and Adrien couldn't help but wonder if Alya or Marinette had something to do with it. It seems that every time they were around, things took a turn for the worse, but he didn't want to just assume like that! Just because they act so suspicious doesn't mean they have ill will, right? Right?

...He tried not to think about it too much. He hated feeling so suspicious and cruel towards his friends.

A soft hand placed itself on Adrien's shoulder, pulling him from the mental spiral he was in. "Angel, band practice is over." Luka softly whispered, fondly smiling at Adrien.

Adrien sprung out of his seat quickly, starting to look around frantically, "O-Oh yeah, let me help you guys clean up!" He tried to avoid Luka's eyes to the best of his ability because Luka always seemed to know what he was thinking about. Like some weird, funky, Brain Bluetooth. Was he blushing? Adrien really hoped he wasn't blushing.

His eyes laid on an abandoned keyboard Anarka had lying around. He sighed, biting his lip. It was even a ZX20.4 keyboard, which he could play! Luka approached Adrien from behind. "You know, we could use the keyboardist in the band!" He said nonchalantly, dragging out some of the syllables in a playful manner, obviously suggesting Adrien should join the band. Well, so much for him not figuring you out, Agreste.

Adrien scoffed, raising his eyebrow at Luka. "Oh, really? Why I didn't know, Monsieur! It's not like you asked me how many times now? Four? Five?" He added teasingly, bumping into Luka's shoulder, before walking away with sass.

Luka barked out a laugh, going in front of Adrien, leaning against some boxes stacked on top of one another. "Listen, bud, all I'm saying is that you join us once in a while! Nothing too serious like performing, but just jamming a bit with the group? What do you say?" He said, offering his hand for Adrien to shake. 

Adrien poked his hand, smiling coyly. "Y'know, for someone who preaches about impulse control, you are not really doing it," he said, yet Luka remained undeterred. He sobered a bit, looking bittersweetly at the ground, "I just wish my father would let me join," he said, his voice cracking a bit.

Luka softened, pulling his hand away and trying to get Adrien to look him in the eye. Sighing, he moves to sit on one of the boxes next to Adrien, offering Adrien to sit next to him, which he did. "Okay. I have an offer. One night. You and me. We do a bunch of rebellious fun stuff. We have a good time. If I can prove to you that rebelling against your father is worth it, you can consider joining Kitty Section." Luka turned his head to see Adrien's eyes sparkling in awe, knowing that he's hooked. He offered his hand again. "Do we have a deal?"

And Adrien couldn't help but say yes.

OoOoO

Marc sat in his bedroom closet in the dark with nothing but a small battery-powered lantern next to him as he read through the book of fairy tales. Everything was just too much, it was hard to breathe, and he just wanted to cry.

Everything was just so loud that he couldn't handle it anymore. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't he be like other kids and able to deal with loud noises? At least he had been able to get away before a migraine started up.

He tried to focus on the fairy tales, which he had used to calm his breathing ever since he was a little boy, growing frustrated as his vision blurred from tears in his eyes and left him unable to focus.

If he could just live in these fairy tales, everything would be right in the world. A land of whimsy and wonder, even though he knew this particular copy of the book was the more Disney-fied version they sold in bookstores for children, and not the actual Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen fairy tales.

It was so dark in here that he didn't notice the black butterfly enter his book, until he heard a voice in his head, ringing around in his skull, and he clutched his head, it was too loud.

But then the man in his head seemed to pick up on this and softened his voice, like a father talking to his crying child, "Monsieur Fable, I am Hawk Moth. I am giving you the power to bring these stories to life, and the price of this deal is the Miraculous of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Do we have a deal?"

Bringing these stories to life... his wish coming true... he couldn't bring himself to think about his own end of this, nodding his agreement and feeling his pain and heavy breathing wash away as a newfound calm came to him. He grinned at the book in his hands, plucking a feather from his new hat and writing within the now blank storybook.

…

Under the cover of night, Luka drove towards the Agreste mansion, hoping he would slip by the security system that led to Adrien’s room.

But apparently, now he had to climb it.

When a burst of magic spread all throughout Paris, Luka knew another Akuma attack was in store for tonight—great timing, Hawk Moth—yet what he didn’t expect was the unusual amount of princesses and dragons and such flooding the city. 

And for his poor motorcycle and his outfit to look so...whimsical? It was like his motorcycle is a horse. Hell, it was even named Maximus now! 

So a fairy tale Akuma is affecting the city. It doesn’t really seem like he’s attacking, more like he’s making everything so idealistic and fancy.

In the distance, he saw the Agreste mansion, with one tall tower jutting out of it where Adrien’s room was supposed to be. Great, so Adrien turned into Rapunzel! That’s ironic. Wait, shit, does that mean I’m— Luka looked at his outfit and motorcycle again. Goddammit, yes, it does, okay Luka, don’t panic. You’re just conveniently the love interest for Adrien; this is totally fine and platonic, and you completely okay. He sighed, before continuing his drive to Adrien’s now-tower, repeating that mantra in his head.

Stopping in front of the tower and taking off his helmet, Luka decided to make a small joke to lighten Adrien’s mood. “Blondie, on blondie, let down your hair!” He called out in a sing-song voice, only to see Adrien look outside the tower’s window in an absolute unconcealed rage. And was his hand tied to his hair?

“Luka, I swear to god I’m going to kill someone, and it’s likely going to be my hair. Just help me down,” Adrien said, trying to pull his hand away from his hair, but to no avail.

“Oh, I don’t know, blondie, can you ask nicely?” Luka teased, after Adrien teasing him about impulse control earlier today. Two can play this game, Angel, and I do hate losing.

Adrien pouted, his face putting tomatoes to shame, as Luka sent a shit-eating grin in his direction. “...Please help me, Orpheus,” Adrien said softly, giving Luka the best kitten eyes he could muster

“O-Okay,” Luka stammered, blushing, “Just tie your hair to that hook over at your window and kind of slide down using your hair as a rope, okay? Worst case scenario, I’ll catch you, okay?”

Adrien nods, before sliding down quite clumsily, considering that one hand is out of commission in his hair. Luka held Adrien from his waist and helped him down and helped him untie his hair from the hook.

He looked down at an embarrassed Adrien, still attempting to release his hand. Chuckling, he says, “So… I’m guessing you’ll need help with that hairy situation?” 

Adrien snorts at the dumb pun, “Yes, please.” He said, peridot eyes sparkling with the light of a thousand stars. And god, Luka was a goner.

“Alright, s-so, let’s see what we got here…” Luka said, getting to work.

OoOoO

It took longer than expected to braid all of Adrien's hair, and Luka had to sacrifice his own hair tie and then the emergency bungee cord he kept with him to keep it all contained. Thankfully, after years of braiding Juleka's hair, he had grown to be able to do it efficiently.

The main issue at the moment was whether all of this hair, which alone had to be at least half of Adrien's weight, would work with riding the motorcycle. Adrien gripped onto Luka's waist, and they were both relieved to find that yes, the motorcycle was able to handle the extra weight.

Adrien looked around, "Alright, how do you feel about actually doing something about this? I personally am getting serious vibes from The 10th Kingdom, seeing the buildings being turned into a magical kingdom."

"You've seen that too?" Luka asked, and Adrien beamed,

"Yes! It was my favorite show when I was little! I still love it, and I have the DVD."

"We might have to binge that later." They watched as Chloé's hotel turned into a massive castle, and other buildings became trees with doors. "So anyway, you were saying, Blondie?"

"Anyway," Adrien brushed back a rogue hair, "I handled Bubbler on my own a couple months ago, so wanna try that again?"

"Didn't you handle Bubbler by taking advantage of your personal connection to Nino?" Adrien shrugged,

"Still feel kinda bad about it, but it worked, didn't it?" He slumped, "But since we don't know who the victim is quite yet, I doubt that technique would work." Luka shrugged,

"I'm all for doing this, but didn't Ladybug get annoyed at you last time?"

"Well, what if she got hit or something and can't transform?" Adrien offered, "Or transforming would be hindered. Who even knows."

"Good point." They parked the motorcycle and took to walking for a while, and after a few minutes, saw the Akuma victim sitting in a tall tree humming cheerfully and writing with a feather pen into a book. Adrien nodded a bit, and Luka turned to him, "What?"

"The design is actually pretty good. Not bad at all." Luka snorted a bit at Adrien's priorities. Adrien bit his thumb as he thought, "Looking at the design, and namely the heels, he's probably going to be the bounding around type because trust me, running in heels is a pain. I might be able to use my hair to trip him up."

"Why do you know that?"

Adrien was quiet for a second before shrugging, "I'm an anime and video game nerd, and I am the son of a fashion designer. Father sometimes sits me down at dinner, and we discuss Akuma's designs. Sometimes it's about how ugly it is, or we discuss the practicality."

"Understandable." Luka looked around, "Where are Ladybug and Chat Noir? If you're right about this power hindering transformation, that is going to make things a lot harder for everyone."

"Well, not Hawk Moth," Adrien mused, before laughing quietly, "Oh my god, is Hawk Moth affected by this?" 

"That's an amusing thought, not gonna lie." 

Adrien ran a hand through his hair, "Anyway, plan. I'm not usually the planning kinda guy, as Ladybug made plenty clear." He huffed, "Big thing we need to figure out is the level of aggression. Seeing as this seems to be a more kid-friendly version of fairy tales, I'd say the willingness to kill is pretty low."

"You know the original versions?"

"You can blame my cousin, Felix, for that. He decided to educate me on the horrors of the real Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and such when we were six." Adrien shrugged, "Maybe I can just talk to him to just get a feel for what we're up against? Cover me." He walked over and unbound his hair, tossing it up to a higher branch like a rope, where it tied successfully, and he began climbing. Luka got a great view of Adrien's sculpted legs while he did this and had to consciously fight the blush that was trying to form on his face.

He sat himself on his hair like a swing as he looked to the Akuma, "Hello! How ya doing?" The boy, probably around Adrien's age, turned and brightened, 

"Holla, valorous sir. Lovely evening we're having."

Adrien giggled, "I know, it's nice to see the stars without all the light pollution." He gestured to the book, "So can I get a name for you?"

"I am Monsieur Fable! And thee?"

"Adrien," he leaned forward, "What's that book?"

"This booketh is how these stories can beest toldeth," Monsieur Fable explained, and Adrien hummed a bit as he considered this information, taking a moment to translate the Shakespearen language.

"Right. Hey, you know, I'm having a night out, and I don't get to do this very often, can you please not do any actually attacking for a bit? It'd be much appreciated."

"Nay problem." Monsieur Fable assured him, his French accept noticeable more exaggerated, "Once I receiveth Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculous, thee shall has't nay troubles this evening."

"Right, right," Adrien drawled a bit, knowing he needed to push the limits to figure out what he was handling, even if it made him uncomfortable, "But can you just not? That'd be great."

Monsieur Fable clearly got offended by that and pulled another feather from his hat that was actually a magic wand, "How dareth thee? I'm trying to maketh everything better!"

Adrien dodged the magic blast launched at him, "Ah, I get you now." He let go and fell down into Luka's arms, "Okay, he's chill unless you piss him off."

"And?"

"And I pissed him off. Run!" 

They both broke into a sprint to the motorcycle, gathering up Adrien's hair and sloppily tying it back with the bungee cord as they raced away from the tree, and Monsieur Fable was chasing after them on an enchanted horse.

"Great, just great," Adrien muttered, "It's like that one level in Kingdom Hearts 2 with the Light Cycles in the Tron world. At least I have magic hair to actually heal us."

"Sounds like a pain," Luka looked around, "Blondie, can you use the hair to hook on the lamp post for sharp turns?"

"Got it!" Adrien die just that and had to hold on for dear life with his legs to stay on the motorcycle for the sharp turn, and Monsieur Fable's horse sprouted wings, and Luka looked up,

"We have to get him down from there." He looked around, "I have a terrible idea. Do you trust—turn!"

"What's the plan?"

"There's a skate park not far from here. I'm going to use that to get us up in the air. This is a really bad idea, but can you like, I don't know, tackle him to a post and then tie him up?"

"That sounds insane," Adrien grinned, "Let's do it."

Already regretting this, Luka raced to the skate park and on the ramp, launching up at the perfect time for Adrien to leap off and dive at Monsieur Fable. He was amazed that he could throw his hair without being hindered by the weight, swinging and clinging onto the horse's leg and hoisting himself up to tackle Monsieur Fable.

They weren't very far off the ground, only a couple dozen feet, so it didn't take much for Adrien to grab the book, utilizing his Chat Noir skills to throw his hair to a lamppost and discard the book in Luka's direction. He spun around the post and tied up Monsieur Fable, who was stunned by what just happened.

Adrien shook mercilessly as his adrenaline tried to figure out what had just happened, and he had to lean on a building for a moment to get his bearings as Luka rode back over, having landed safely on another part of the ramp with his bike.

“Angel, are you alright?”

“Yeah, my heart’s just racing.” He beamed as he realized what he and Luka had done, trying not to think about how Ladybug was not going to be happy.

Luka used the bungee cord to properly tie Monsieur Fable up, the latter squawking about the audacity they have to tie him up now that he didn’t have the wind knocked out of him. Adrien cheered and tackle-hugged Luka, rambling on about "Oh my gosh, you actually did that! Did you just take down an Akuma? This is so incredible!" 

Luka hugged Adrien back, careful to not step on his now let-down hair. He brushed a couple of locks behind Adrien's ear, smiling with mirth, "It took the both of us to defeat that guy, Blondie. We make an amazing team, right?" He asked, causing Adrien to nod, a pretty apple blush on his face. 

"Why you certainly did save the day, Couffaine." A condescending female voice rang, ruining the moment. Luka pulled away to see a small ball of energy shift into a Ladybug-themed Tinkerbell sauntering towards him and Adrien. "I'm certainly happy to see that you and your girlfriend—" Ladybug started with a sarcastic melodramatic tone.

"Um, actually not a girl!" Adrien said, raising his hand and laughing nervously. Ladybug froze for a moment that seemingly lasted forever, her face turning bright red as her eye was twitching, before switching to a much more elated and positive tone. 

"Oh, Adrien! I'm sorry for calling you a girl. It's just that all that hair of yours covered your beautiful face! You shouldn't cover such a pretty face, people want to look at it, y'know!" She said, cocking her hip. She helped Adrien up, grabbing him by the waist. She didn't seem to care that Adrien shrunk into himself laughing awkwardly, or that his breathing picked up.

Luka scowled, standing up and dusting himself off. "Well, I think he looks beautiful regardless of the length of his hair and that it's completely fine if he wants to cover his face too." He said matter-of-factly, sending an encouraging smile in Adrien's direction, while Ladybug jingled in rage.

Adrien pulled away from Ladybug, going to check up on Monsieur Fable, who at this point was invested in the drama, yet also pretending to despise Adrien and Luka. "Well, we do need your help to purify the Akuma! Luka and I managed to capture Monsieur Fable, but neither of us can really do anything beyond that." He added, relaxing when he saw Ladybug's chest puff out. She often needs a bit of an ego boost and being her partner really taught him how to work around her and her needs.

She snatched Monsieur's book from Luka, promptly ripping it and capturing the Akuma with much theatrics. Throwing her yo-yo into the sky, she reverted everything into its original form with awfully sparkly ladybugs.

Marc rubbed his head, looking around in confusion, "What… happened? Where am I? Adrien, what are you doing here?" 

Luka looked to Adrien as he explained, "He's in the other class for my grade, but I see him around a lot! Spends a lot of time writing." Luka nodded in understanding, and both guys helped the boy up. 

"You were akumatized, but it's okay now! Everything was purified and fixed, and frankly, your power was kinda cool," Luka said, earning a nudge from Adrien. "What? I'm right! Everything got so whimsical and shit!" 

Adrien sighed fondly, kind of agreeing with Luka, before turning to Marc, "Can we ask what happened? You seemed quite upset."

Marc sighed, looking at his feet. "It was sensory overload. Everything just felt like so much, and I honestly just wanted to read some fairy tales to relax, but then…" he sighed, flinching a bit yet smiling when Luka put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright, dude. Hell, I get sensory overload all the time! Just give yourself some slack, okay? Hawk Moth takes advantage of people's suffering, so taking care of yourself is really important, right?" Luka said, able to tell by the change in heartsong that he was making Marc feel much better with himself.

A notification sound from Marc's phone alerted him. He took out the phone, checking it before getting nervous. "Oh no! Nathaniel is so worried. Oh, I have to go check up on him!" He exclaimed, before passing to frown at Luka and Adrien cooing somewhat at how close Marc and Nathaniel are and teasing him for his obvious crush. 

Luka turned to Ladybug, a fake smile on his face. "Could you please take Marc home? I have to take Blondie over here back to his tower," earning himself a punch on the shoulder from Adrien.

Ladybug gave a tense smile, muttering "Of course" before whisking herself and Marc away. Both boys stood in silence for a bit, before turning to look at one another.

"There's no way we're going home, right?" Adrien said, grinning.

Luka grinned back, eyes sparkling. "No way."

OoOoO

Driving around Paris at night is one of Luka's favorite things to do, and honestly, seeing Adrien laughing and dancing with street performers was honestly so cute. You can tell the performers took a liking to him, some ever flirting with Adrien—not that he would know, just finding them to be really friendly. Luka might have glared them off, but most of them simply replied with an understanding nod and backing off a "taken man," which Adrien was not, but still! 

A little bit after midnight, both boys laid down in an abandoned area near the Eiffel Tower. Many plants grew off old metal, and most were sparkling with dew. It was really the perfect time to lie down and relax after a long period of social interaction.

"Y'know," Adrien said, breaking the peaceful silence, "I don't remember the last time I had so much freedom. Like, I'm able to make my own choices without being judged for it. It's so exhilarating." Luka hummed a small agreement as Adrien sighed, looking at the myriad of stars scattered across the sky. He sucked in a breath, seemingly contemplating something before turning to Luka. "Hey, Luka?"

"Yeah?" Luka asked, eyes closed. He was a bit tired after tonight. But it was to make his angel happy, so it's so worth it.

"...On Single's day. You told me that you haven't felt that much freedom in a while too. What did that mean?" Adrien asked sheepishly.

Luka froze, before going to sit up, a bit of a sad look in his eye. He smiled gently, if not a bit bittersweetly. "I'm surprised you even remembered that." 

"I like to remember small details for future reference. And you're fun to listen to." Adrien said, sitting up and criss-crossing his legs. He prompted him to continue.

Luka chuckled a bit, before looking down at his hands and hesitating for a moment, "What do you suppose a boy whose father left him will grow up to be like?" He asked, voice cracking 

Adrien paused, gasping quietly in shock. He waited a couple of seconds, before moving closer to Luka and holding his hand, "I'd guess that boy might be a bit upset? Or sad?" He suggested.

Luka shrugged a bit, "He left us when I was eight. I was… honestly never close to the guy. He was selfish and irresponsible. He never cared for us, nor was he around to show it." He paused, taking a deep breath. "When he left… I promised myself two things. One: I will never be like him. I will learn to take responsibility for my surroundings and being in control of my life and help others around me."

Suddenly "impulse control" made so much more sense.

"Two: I will always be there to help and support those who need me, no matter the price. Others come before me." He looked at Adrien, brushing his bangs away from his face, "Anyone." He added emphasis. Adrien couldn't help but feel a bit special.

Luka looked away, cheeks a rosy pink. "So I ended up being a mom-in-training from pretty early on. I was the one who drove Juleka around and made her lunches while our mom was busy juggling different jobs to pay for a living. I became the one people came to when they need something, the responsible one, so to speak. But I guess…"

Adrien leaned against Luka's shoulder, "You guess what?" He asked, full of sympathy, possibly tearing up a bit.

"I guess I want to be a kid too. I didn't get to have a conventional childhood, and that's not to say I didn't have a good childhood! It just felt like I was an adult from day one. With you… I felt like a kid again with you. Running around, playing music as loud as I could. It was fun." Luka said, covering his very much red face. "It was probably selfish of me to rope you into trouble, wasn't it?"

Adrien shook his head intensely, grabbing Luka by the shoulders and forcing him to look into his eyes. "Listen to me very carefully, Couffaine! You are in no way selfish for wanting a normal childhood or wanting basic things like love and fun and attention! You deserve it so much, Orpheus." Adrien pleaded. "You help so many people, you literally just saved someone from Hawk Moth!... and you saved me too. I don't feel so alone and trapped with you."

Luka was frankly kind of shocked. Did Adrien just say that? Like really just told him he deserves anything selfish his heart desired? Anything? Even…?

Marinette's voice rang in his head, "It makes me wonder if you ever think about how much hearts you'd be bound to break if you take him."  

...Nevermind that for now. Perhaps it was a gradual process. He was shooting too far. Just knowing Adrien cared that much was enough. 

They sat in silence for a bit, the distant sound of traffic and city life unable to interrupt the peace and quiet.

Adrien looked up to see Luka's eyes, deep in thought. "Your eyes are like the sea… gee." he blurted out without much thought. "T-That's pretty corny, though, huh?" He quickly tried to cover his mistake.

Luka softened, holding Adrien's hand tighter "Oh no, not at all," he assured him, "Anyone would like it," and god did he like it.

Adrien stuttered, mushing Luka's face, "Just—Just remember what I said, okay?"

He chuckled a bit, ruffling Adrien's hair, "Thanks, Blondie," he said, returning to more fun and playful demeanor.

Adrien smiled, tackling Luka and hugging him. "You're welcome! Um… blueberry mullet!" He said, feeling awfully proud of that roast.

Luka snorted out a laugh, messing with his mullet. "What? Is my hair that bad? Are we really stopping this low, Blondie?" He teased, flipping himself onto Adrien. 

Adrien tried his best to look nonchalant. "I'm just calling it when I see it, Mullet! I bet you can't handle my impeccable sense of fashion!" He scoffed, trying to channel an inner Chloé.

Luka quirked his eyebrow "Oh really? Well, I suppose you wouldn't mind betting on it? If I wear whatever and I mean whatever you want me to wear tomorrow for school, you'll have to wear whatever I have in store." He suggested.

Adrien pretended to consider the suggestion, even if he already made his choice, "You got yourself a deal, Couffaine." He said mischievously. 

Luka smiled, getting up, and taking something out of his motorcycle, "And… have I convinced you to join the band?" He asked, offering Adrien a beautiful leather jacket with the Kitty Section Logo on the back of it. 

Adrien paused, gently tracing the intricate details the jacket had, thinking about everything he had learned and done tonight, and how incredibly fun it was. He couldn't help but say yes.

Hours later, Adrien was in his bed going to sleep, and even with Plagg teasing him nonstop about his "boyfriend,” and with only two hours of sleep left, Adrien couldn't be happier.

Chapter Text

The next day at school, the last thing Adrien expected was for Luka to actually go through with the bet. He specifically made sure the outfit Luka would have to wear would be so outrageous, he'd chicken out. So for him and Nino see basically-a-sentient-piece-of-cotton-candy Couffaine with a bubblegum pink leather pencil skirt, pink rubber boots, a rainbow crop top, and star-shaped accessories galore, Adrien didn't know if to laugh or cry.

"No! Oh my god, no, no, you can't do this to me, Couffaine!" Adrien laughed out, clutching his stomach, and curling into the fetal position on the floor.

Luka leaned onto Adrien, sipping on some coffee he bought on the way, "Oh, why Darling! I don't know whatever you could possibly mean!" He exclaimed flamboyantly.

Adrien groaned, feeling conflicted because how the actual hell could Luka make this outfit actually work? "I take everything back. I should have never made this bet with you. I regret absolutely everything." He whimpered, being pulled up by Luka.

Taking another at Luka, he noticed the especially sparkly makeup adorning his face, along with… "Holy fuck, did you curl your hair?!" Adrien shouted, realizing that not only did his friend tolerate the outfit, he liked it.

Luka giggled, running his fingers through his hair. "You could say I took some creative liberties with this bet. Speaking of the bet…" Luka said, handing Adrien a bag full of clothes, and primarily leather and jeans, from what Adrien could see. Luka smirked at the boy's pout and look of dread, sending him off with a "Rebellion angel, rebellion!" While the latter mumbled about how his father was going to kill him.

Nino looked back and forth at the boys' teasing, sending Adrien a shit-eating grin, both knowing full well why. As Adrien walked away, he sighed fondly, starting to blink repeatedly.

Luka looked over, concern evident on his face, "Hey, are you alright, Nino?" He asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

Nino nodded, starting to tear up a bit, "It's just that they grow up so fast, y' know?" He said in a choked voice, "One minute he can't introduce himself properly, and the next he is rebelling against his dumb dad, and I'm too emotional for that!" He said, already crying, thanking Luka as the latter silently offered a tissue.

...

They didn't even notice the enraged Marinette, twitching at the intimacy and affection between the boys. This wasn't right! Adrien was supposed to giggle at her jokes, embrace her, and love her, not that… that witch! She hoped Adrien would burn whatever was in the stupid bag. There is no way he'd comply with Luka just like that!

Let's just say that seeing Adrien get out of the bathroom with an entire punk getup, proceeding to tease Luka and blush gently was the straw to break her back.

He was supposed to wear her designs! Her outfits! Not… this punk mess! It was anyways so inappropriate! It was terrible! Also, not to mention that dumb pink outfit with a crop top and cute accessories!

...Perhaps she could use this.

It was time to put that man to justice! He'd been rebelling left and right, and she couldn't let that pass! She is a hero, after all! She must report this preposterous behavior to Mr. Damocles and save her Adrien from such terrible influence! She pulled out her Polaroid camera, taking a couple of photos, before heading to the principal at once.

And when Luka was called to the principal's office over the intercom, she wasn't surprised one bit either.

...

Walking into Damocles' office, Luka was gestured silently to sit down. Of course, he complied, even if he could already tell what this conversation would be about, judging by the neutral look of displeasure on the principal’s face, scanning his outfit up and down.

"Mr. Couffaine," Mr. Damocles started, breaking his stare from the clothes, "You are a wonderful student, your grades above average, and you are quite a personality in your class—"

"Get to the point, Mr. Owl," Luka cut him off, giving a glare that could quite possibly kill. "Last time I checked, cosplay was also against school protocol, but here we are!" He said in a sugar-glazed tone, while Mr. Damocles went to take a nervous sip of water.

"Mr. Couffaine, I will not be having this discussion with you again. I was able to look past you and your friends' outfits breaking school dress code," he wasn't really. Still, they weren't called the cult for nothing. They knew how to scare, "But to hear you're wearing this pink monstrosity, and now roping in a fellow student into this behavior?! Unacceptable!" he said, presenting polaroid pictures of Luka and Adrien, which were really the last straw.

"Oh, really? So tell me, Mr. Damocles, is it acceptable that there are much worse cases of harassment and bullying in this school, which might I say, are ten times more dangerous with Hawk Moth able to take advantage of negative emotions, and you do nothing about it because the bully's dad had some money?!" Luka said, prickling with rage. "And is it acceptable that the dress code is extremely laced in misogyny and homophobia, deeming women who express themselves as presumptuous whores, and men as either brainless heathens or pansies?!" He screamed, already losing his temper. Usually, he'd be much more quiet and condescending, but Adrien's passion has been really rubbing off on him.

Mr. Damocles looked in shock at the boy. Usually, he'd expect this sort of behavior from his friends, but for Couffaine to lose his head like that? Truly preposterous!

Luka sighed, straightening his outfit, giving Mr. Damocles a disappointed look. "Before you go around reprimanding a guy for wearing pink, make sure there are really no bigger issues in this school," he said darkly, walking out, leaving a shell shocked principal behind.

Exiting the principal's office, Luka didn't even notice anyone was there until Adrien hugged him tightly and started layering him with questions, "Are you okay, Orpheus?! Are you in trouble?! Please tell me the principal is still in one piece because I kinda want to scream at him—he is so frustrating!"

Luka breathed out a gentle laugh, cupping Adrien's cheeks. "I'm alright, Angel, this isn't my first rodeo," he said, his voice with a playful lilt, "The principal apparently can't handle the fact people like to express themselves through clothes, but the cult and I usually handle him." 

Adrien sighed softly before embracing Luka, his face tucked under his chin, while Luka swayed gently, almost rocking him back and forth.

The sweet moment was cut off by enraged screams from a particularly-upset Marinette and tripped on a trashcan and mumbling about how unfair everything is. She dusted herself off before taking Alya's hand and dragging her away.

Adrien looked in both concern and fear as he watched the entire ordeal unfold, before turning towards Luka, "You think she'll be okay?" He asked, eyes misty, breath a little uneven.

Luka pulled Adrien into a little side-hug, soothing his tense shoulders. Adrien didn't even notice he got so rigid. "I'm sure she just had a bad day, right?" Luka said, yet one could still very much tell the ashen look on his face. 

Adrien returned the hug, nuzzling Luka's cheek, having to stand on his tippy toes. He will make things right. But perhaps not as Adrien. He'd have to set his plan into motion tonight rather than now.

OoOoO

Adrien hummed softly as he finished the last of his homework for next week, preferring to keep as far ahead as possible in the event of something happening. If there was one thing he had learned about school, it did not forgive even if a person was even on the brink of death. They would still mark you with missing assignments and bring down your whole overall average. He had made that mistake once with a photoshoot and never again.

Akumas were very consistent at this point, no longer a pattern like when it had started and officially just ranging from every third day to twice in one day. That did bring the whole curriculum down, which gave him even more of an advantage in doing all of next week's lessons early since they would just become homework when Hawk Moth inevitably attacked.

If I force myself to keep working, he considered as he looked at an essay for history that, while it should be easy, his brain was refusing to let words come out, I might be able to get even two weeks ahead.

In the end, procrastination won out, and he sighed, taking a sip of coffee, which today was more sugar and creme than actual coffee.

Plagg sat on his desk, watching him, "Take a break, kid. You've been working for hours now."

Adrien shrugged, turning to his half-eaten dinner, which was already getting cold. Why did it matter if he sat in the dining room? His father wouldn't be there.

Plagg then flew over to the food and stabbed a piece of salmon, hovering it in front of Adrien's face, "Open wide, here comes the food!"

Adrien rolled his eyes, a small smile forming on his face, deciding to play along. He opened his mouth, and Plagg put the piece of salmon in. He quickly swallowed it down, "Thanks, Plagg."

He looked to the window and checked his clock. Three hours until patrol... he remembered seeing Marinette was upset earlier today. Was it safe to leave right now? It would have to be after the daily—

A knock on the door, and Nathalie came in, as she did around this time every day, "Is there anything you need, Adrien?"

"I'm okay, Nathalie," he assured her, "I'm just going to practice my piano for a bit and then get back to my assignments." It would never stop feeling strange, how the lies could roll off his tongue as easy as breathing with no trace of deceit. It was useful, but it still felt wrong.

"Well then, goodnight, Adrien." Nathalie left, and Adrien sighed. Mom would have stayed to hang out with him, but there was no point in longing for the past. His father may say she was just missing, but he knew she was gone and never coming back.

Now that the final goodnight had been said, he wouldn't be bothered for the rest of the evening. So played his recording for piano and quickly transformed, leaping out the window.

He liked to go around and help anyone he saw, to ensure the least akumas. That, and he just enjoyed talking to people.

His first destination was the park where Mr. Ramier was since that man had been akumatized a good few dozen times. Chat wished he could say he was surprised when he heard Roger abusing his power and screaming at the poor man. Chat Noir sighed, pulling some allergy medicine out of his jacket and tossed a pill into his mouth, swallowing it dry.

He had actually looked, and he learned that this one time, Roger was not abusing his power to influence his own personal preferences—which was far more common than expected. He was sure he probably knew more about law at this point than he should. But the fact this actually was illegal made everything all the more difficult.

Chat also looked, and he noticed Danielle sitting on another bench. One would think she was drawing, but from up on this street light, he could see her subtly taking a video. While Roger was technically following the law, he was extremely aggressive and threatening to pull out a taser.

That was when Chat decided enough was enough, and he hopped down, "That'll be all, Roger. It's late, and I am sure you don't want anyone else pointing out your harassment of any passerby." Roger was clearly about to protest or try to give the speaker a fine, but then he turned around and saw the annoyed face of one of the city's heroes.

It was true. After Luka's birthday, the cult had made it their personal mission to get Roger fired. They had waited until they could exploit Roger and time it right, so Mr. Bourgeois was fired, but after that, the mission to get Roger off the force was underway. Last he checked, this had become an entire movement with Anarka being one of the biggest patrons.

"Chat Noir, he's breaking the law!" Roger protested, and Chat narrowed his eyes,

"And you waste my time by harassing people constantly and causing more akumatizations. I'll handle this." 

He moved around Roger as though he was nothing more than a piece of furniture, long since done with being polite to the officer who had proved in the last months to be the biggest reason for anyone to get akumatized. The class and especially Marinette liked to say Chloé caused the most, but Chat had done the math after talking to all the victims, and it was actually Roger who held that record.

Roger was clearly dumbfounded, and Chat noticed Danielle looking surprised but in awe. He sat down next to Mr. Ramier, who offered him some allergy medicine, and Chat grinned, "Don't worry. I already took some. Thank you, though." He sighed, "Roger's getting on your case about feeding the pigeons again?" 

"Yeah," Mr. Ramier replied, "But the pigeons need food too. They didn't do anything wrong."

"I know that," Chat Noir replied, knowing he would need to have the hard conversation he had been delaying for a long time. "I know it's hard, but I am really worried about you. Whether it's fair or not, feeding the pigeons is still illegal, and I know Roger has been fining you constantly. It's..." he tried to remember, "450€ per offense, right?"

"That doesn't matter to me," Mr. Ramier replied, and Chat sighed,

"But it does mean those are going to rack up and really hurt you. The problem with pigeons in Paris is that they have it too hard here. Maybe you should move to the suburbs, or try to make friends with some other type of animal. Like a puppy or a goldfish."

"Perhaps," Mr. Ramier replied, and Chat put a hand on his shoulder,

"I don't want you to get hurt. But..." he smirked a bit, "Roger's off duty at night, and he's the only cop who really cracks down on all the minor laws so he can please his... what's the term... I think it was 'fine kink.'"

He heard Danielle snort in suppressed laughter.

Chat smiled too, "The people have begun feeding the pigeons at night to ensure they aren't caught. How about that? We'll try and think of a solution like moving to the suburbs, and for now, you avoid feeding pigeons until it's later at night. Does that sound like a plan to try?"

Mr. Ramier was quiet for a moment as he considered this, before smiling, "That actually might be a good idea, Chat Noir."

"Great!" He clapped Mr. Ramier on the shoulder, "Try and head home to get some sleep."

"Have a good evening, Chat Noir." 

Chat waved goodbye and approached Danielle, looking down at her drawings, "Whatcha drawing?"

Danielle looked up, "You know full well I wasn't drawing."

"I mean, yeah, but what's the drawing?" Danielle held it up, and it seemed to be a man with a sparkly hat and wizard robe,

"It's one of Percy's D&D characters from a couple months ago. We change them up occasionally for fun, but this one was Ignasis, the time-traveling drug lord." She giggled at the fond memories, "That was a weird and extremely hilarious campaign." Then she held up her phone, "I assume you know why I was really here."

"Finding proof Roger harasses people and goes way overboard?"

"Yup! I had to follow around the shit-shaped walnut shell all afternoon, and I even got some info for the new blog."

"New blog?" He sat down next to her as she showed him a website he hadn't heard of, titled "Miracle News," which had a couple videos. There was also a rule list at the top. The number one rule was that no work will be put into revealing the heroes' identities, and any information that may compromise the heroes will not be shown without permission. No theories, only spreading the truth quickly and accurately.

"Yeah, we saw the god-awful prejudices of Alya worshipping Ladybug, so the cult and I decided to one-up her with video evidence of entire fights. We've even heard Ladybug verbally abusing you a couple times, and the public is starting to take the Ladyblog with a grain of salt."

"Verbally abusing?" Chat asked worriedly, "No, no, you have that all wrong. Turn on the camera. I have to make it clear that's not factual."

"Hey, we never said it," Danielle defended, leaning on the back of the bench, her legs crossed. She cocked her head lazily to the side in what seemed to be a Nathan impression, "But if anyone knows verbal abuse when I see it, it's me. I am, like, the only person in my friend group to not have parent issues."

Chat Noir thought back on his conversation with Nathan at the Seine, and Luka mentioning his father left them. He almost didn't want to know what the others were dealing with. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"Don't be," she replied, "And it is okay for me to post this new video, right? I assume yes since you and Ladybug put up with clout whore, but I feel the need to ask since this was a more personal conversation."

"If you're going to, can you at least mute the conversation? What was said between him and I should remain private, instead of being spread online."

"Got it!" She made a note of that on the edge of a clean piece in her sketchbook, "I'll let the rest of the cult know to keep that in mind. We've had a couple conversations of yours with civilians on camera, but nothing's posted until we could ask you about it."

"Thanks," Chat beamed, "That actually means a lot. Is the site popular at all?"

"Not particularly, especially since Alya's got first sighting of Ladybug to her advantage, and there's the whole fact the whole purpose of this started as spitting Alya, which has led cancel culture to label us Ladyblog Haters. I mean, they're correct, but just because they're right does not mean they're interesting."

"I'll try promoting it next time Alya tries to interview me," Chat replied, "It would be nice if the public would stop thinking I'm a bumbling idiot thanks to the Ladyblog portrayal."

Danielle got up, "Well, I should probably get back to headquarters so we can get all this new information into its files. I've appreciated talking to you."

"Do you need any help?" Chat asked, "An interview, maybe? I know Alya demands those a lot, but they might help you."

"Nah," Danielle shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to, but the cult and I are still new into journalism and all the ethical rules, so we're holding off on asking about interviews until we have set limitations for ourselves."

"Understandable,"

She waved, her fluffy hair bouncing as she walked away, "Adiós!"

He waved back to her, "Seen you soon, Dani,” and he got up to check on others.

Heading to the Liberty was another very common destination on his check-up list. Ever since Reflekta, he has made special care to listen to every Akuma victim and support them. Juleka particularly suffered from a lot of anxiety and social difficulties. Being a member of the LGBTQ community statistically means a person is more likely to have trauma or mental health problems, unfortunately. On the positive side, she is getting slowly better! And it allows him to check on other members of the family. Certainly, not a particular older brother often found wistfully playing his guitar off in Neverland. Not at all.

Knocking on the Liberty's door, he was welcomed into the house by Rose—she often spends time with Juleka, being her girlfriend and all—which he accepted with a flourish and a bow.

Jumping to give Juleka a tight hug, Chat laughed as Juleka returned it with all her might—it's so fun to have such a close friend, and Juleka has proved to be sincere and kind to him, both in and out of costume. "Juleka! How do you do, my good lady-friend?" Chat asked, channeling an inner Animaniac within him.

Juleka snorted, going to sit down, offering to chat a spot in her bed and a pillow to hug, "I've been doing a bit rough actually… I-It's nothing, though. I don't mean to bother." She quickly dismissed herself, hair falling over her face.

Rose cut in, entering the room with a tray of snacks and candy to eat while Chat has late-night talks with them. "She's been rough because both of us have been kind of lonely! There is this girl at our school, let's name her… Marionette!" Juleka stifled a laugh at the poorly concealed name. "She did something not so nice at Luka's birthday, and ever since then, we've been keeping our distance!"

Rose settled on the bed, offering Chat and Juleka food, both of which accepted the offer graciously, "Recently though, it seems that any person around us just takes a couple of steps back and avoids us, especially Juleka! So she's been feeling like she's roping me into this!" She exclaimed dramatically, laying down with a thump.

Chat looked at Juleka with concern, "May I ask why you feel this way, Juleka?" He asked, trying to muster the best kicked-kitty face he possibly can do. Hearing that people have been avoiding two sweet girls like the plague and that this likely tied to Marinette being very popular amongst her peers did scare Chat a bit. Perhaps Marinette was upset with guilt? He could only hope…

Juleka sighed, munching on a gummy worm, "I don't know… I just feel like I'm ruining Rose's social life, and while I can handle being laughed at, Rose is so sweet and kind and social, I feel like this is torture to her…" she muttered sadly.

Rose pouted, going to tackle Juleka, while Chat held on to the snack tray, so it won't fly around, "Well, what I think Juleka hasn't realized yet is that I chose sides and that I don't regret it one bit! If our friends decided to leave at the drop of a hat or fear a threat, then I think it was a good decision to leave! And anyway, we still have the art class! Alix and Marc often spend time there, and recently Nathaniel has been joining in, making a comic with Marc!" Rose started ranting excitedly about each person, Juleka still holding on to her and looking at her so softly. That look reminded him of Luka and how he'd often look when Adrien was all over the place.

...but that couldn't mean anything. Surely Luka was just being kind. He shouldn't be so idealistic.

Chat snapped himself out of his thoughts as quickly as he could, "Perhaps you guys could start a club? A club for artsy introverts! It's kind of alliteration, but not really!" He exclaimed, adding little awkward jazz hands and small vocal sound effects after the title of his idea.

Juleka snorted at the little sound effects, running her fingers through her hair to reveal the other half of her face while Rose clapped excitedly. "Oh my gosh, we could do that! I love the little name and jazz hands and noises, and everything oh my gosh, this is the best idea ever!" She word-vomited excitedly while Juleka nodded her head in agreement.

Chat grinned at both girls' approval, "Then it's settled! Artsy Introvert Club is a go!" He cheered excitedly.

"Artsy Introvert Club?" Luka's voice came from the door, jump-scaring Chat quite literally, as he clawed onto the nearest wall, hissing in distress. Luka raised his hands as a show of peace, "Sorry! Didn't mean to scare! I just eavesdropped on your guys' sleepover for a bit and got curious." He said, leaning against the door frame.

"It was more like couples' therapy with snacks, but alright, please come in and eavesdrop. It's not like this is private or anything," Juleka said, inspecting her nails with a raised eyebrow.

Luka dramatically gasped, feigning fainting against the doorframe, "Oh, why I would never! It's not like I already hear everything regardless, and I just came here for my chips or anything!" He exclaimed theatrically, going to grab a handful of chips, as Juleka playfully flipped him off. He stuffed a couple of chips into his mouth, gladly returning the gesture. He looked over to Chat, who got himself unattached from the wall, with a questioning look, "Gossiping about a highschool now? You must be really invested to hear Rose go on about it and visit very often." He added nonchalantly.

Chat got nervous, averting his eyes, afraid that Luka, yet again will see through him. He quickly got up and walked towards the window, blabbering, "Oh yeah, I guess a cat is curious. Get it? Cats and curiosity? Well, I guess I have to go now oh no, I'd really like to stay more, but my work never ends oh well, bye!" He said before lunging out of the window.

...

Juleka sent a judging look at Luka's direction, "Did you really have to scare him off?" She asked, gesturing at the window.

Luka shrugged, still looking contemplative, "I do not know this scaring off you speak of!" He said, walking away. He could have sworn he heard that heart song before. He recognized it, but it was just on the tip of his tongue. Could it really be? He didn't want to get too hopeful.

OoOoO

A couple of hours later, and it seemed the city of Paris was quite tranquil. Anyone bummed out or angry has been comforted by Chat Noir. And some that were used to it even offered him small snacks and hospitality in return! All is well in the world!

When a scream of rage came from the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Well, he was wrong. Chat swung to see an angry Marinette prowling back and forth in her room, looking a minute away from being akumatized. And while yes, things have been a bit complex with her lately, she is still a person! No one deserves to be taken advantage of in this way, and perhaps as Chat Noir, she would open up!

He hoped he was right. He also hoped Ladybug would mind him being late for patrol tonight.

He gently knocked on the door connecting the rooftop with Marinette's room and could hear a muffled exclaim of surprise. This was his first time here, really, so it was understandable she's scared.

Marinette opened the door, prepared to fight anything, only to frown and roll her eyes when she saw a sheepish Chat Noir on her roof. "What do you want? What are you doing here?" She asked coldly.

Chat attempted to recollect himself standing to offer a hand to Marinette, "Hello, Marinette, I believe? You're the Ladyblogger's friend, right? I couldn't help but hear you were upset—quite loudly, might I add." He got down on his knees, keeping himself at her height level to look less threatening. "Would you like to talk about it? I don't think an Akuma this late in the evening would help anyone." He joked lightly, crestfallen when he saw nothing really cracked a smile on Marinette.

Marinette frowned, going down her ladder and gesturing Chat to get inside. He excitedly entered, deciding to ignore her "Let's get this over with quickly" commentary.

She settled on her desk chair, sighing and looking at… was that photos of him? Oh my god, those are a lot of pictures of me. Why does she have so many photos of me?! Is this for a fashion project?! Those weren't even anything officially released but rather photos of him taken in school. Some photos Adrien had with friends were torn in half, only to have him left. This is absolutely terrifying, he thought, breath picking up. 

He tried to snap himself out of it, yet he still sounded uneasy "Does your anger have something to do with this boy?" He asked timidly, hoping Marinette wasn't planning to assassinate him. 

Marinette groaned, standing up and pacing back and forth, "Ugh, it's just this boy I'm in love with! He's so cute and handsome and honestly really fuckable, and I want him so badly, but I can't because he won't ever notice me, and I absolutely hate everything!" She ranted dramatically.

Chat raised his hand like he was in class. "Did you perhaps attempt to talk to this boy? You seem to have many photos of him, so perhaps you should get to know him first?" He already knew he had no feelings for Marinette, but letting her down gently would be easier if they're close.

Marinette scoffed, going to caress one of his photos, dreamily sighing, "Nah, I like him better in photos! It's fun to take photos of him, and he obviously likes it! He is a model, after all!" Alright, so she liked him for his looks and was saying he likes having his photos taken without his consent. Hooray… Chat shrunk into himself. Being scoffed at or laughed at never gets better, doesn't it?

Marinette started grumbling before letting out a shout, "But that wretched witch—!" She exclaimed, pulling at her hair. "He's been hanging out with this guy who is such a terrible influence and has been clearly taking advantage of him to have sex with him, because why else would he be so affectionate?! And the worst thing is, my Adrien is reciprocating! He embraces and laughs and blushes, and he is supposed to do that with me! He is falling under that villain's spell, and I cannot stand it!" She screamed, going to lay on her bed. 

Luka, he realized. She's talking about Luka. She was saying that terrible stuff about his Orpheus. The one who always helped and smiled and gave snack bags to everyone. He was the one that called him Angel and Blondie, and the one that praised him for his work with Monsieur Fable, the one who has been through so much! 

He had to leave. Fast. He just had to come up with a good excuse and joke and get out and quick. It wasn't like Marinette wanted him here. Or his personality rather than face and status. 

He got up quickly, stretching out, "Well, I am so sorry this is happening to you, Marinette. I couldn't really understand, as I am too terribly attractive to not be noticed," wasn't that too true. "And I am not quite an expert in the love department!" He hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder, "I say you try to talk to him. Getting to know Adrien isn't so bad." He said, eyes glued to the ground.

Marinette slapped his hand away, looking at him scornfully, "Of course, you wouldn't understand… you'd never understand what being rejected by your true love is like." She said, pointedly looking away.

Chat thought back to Ladybug, and her laughter like haunting chimes when he confessed to her.

He thought of Luka, holding him close while he sobbed his heart out.

Of lying under the endless sky, opening up and those beautiful ocean eyes, moving him deeply.

He muttered a soft "Okay," exiting Marinette's room. He had a lot of realizations today. He'd keep that in mind as he moved forward.

...

Behind Marinette's desk, a small red glowing Kwami emerged, going to pat Marinette's shoulder. "Marinette, I think Chat makes a point! You might want to talk to Adrien before taking photos, and you also hurt his feelings very badly! Do you remember Valentine's Day?"

Marinette turned to the small ladybug-themed Kwami aghast, "How dare you side with him, Tikki?! Are you choosing him over me now too?!" She exclaimed, going to pace again.

Tikki flew in front of Marinette. "No, Marinette, not at all! I know how much you love Adrien, and I am sure you know what you're doing!" She soothed.

Marinette gave her a disappointed glare, "So this will not be a conversation again, alright? I know what I'm doing. Now, spots on!" She said, transforming into her alter ego. "It's time to have a talk with an irresponsible cat."

Ladybug swung to her meeting spot with Chat, seeing him already waiting for her patiently. He gave her a kind smile when he noticed her, but she had more important things to do. "Were you going around, pep-talking Akuma victims?!" She accused, disdain clear in her voice.

Chat looked confused and slightly worried at her reaction. "W-Well, yes, you see, I thought that if we comfort people, there will be fewer akumas to take care of—" yet he was cut off by his lady.

"We don't need to be therapists, Chat! This entire thing of yours is completely pointless because regardless, I have lucky charm and Miraculous Ladybug to fix everything!" She said, fidgeting with her yoyo.

"Yes, but this isn't perfect! Miraculous Ladybug doesn't fix everything, and there is always the option where you're out of commission—" Chat Noir tried to explain without much stuttering.

"No! We will not be doing this pointless charade of yours, am I clear?! You were also late for patrol!" Chat decided not to ask how she knew that or mention she was just as late. He simply nodded and went on his usual patrol, trying to not tear up at Ladybug's reckless words.

OoOoO

Late at night, after a long and tiresome patrol, Chat detransformed and went to lie in his bed. Plagg, while exhausted as well, used his remaining energy to steal a piece of camembert and cover Adrien in his sheets, going to sit on the pillow next to him, purring gently.

Adrien quickly considered texting Luka about what he learned but realized there was no way he could tell Luka what happened without revealing his identity. He really didn't need any more lectures from Ladybug. Sending a quick goodnight text, Adrien curled up, an uneasy feeling in his chest.

A feeling that this was just the beginning.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The next couple of weeks were certainly a bit tough for Adrien. After learning Marinette's true nature and opinion towards him, it felt like he was walking on a tightrope. No matter what, a certain someone was almost always watching his every step. A way to relax was something Adrien really needed, to say the least. And when the opportunity to play in Paris' Ultimate Mecha Strike III tournament arose, Adrien knew he had to try out for it. Even if he didn't tell his father about it. 

Hopefully, his father wouldn't ground him forever. Hopefully.

He could hear distant people congregating to see his and Max's battle, and while he wanted to respond to them or at least see who was watching—namely, prepare himself for whoever was near him—he couldn't. He only really knew Nino and Alya were there, as Nino was the loudest of cheerleaders when he wanted to be one, and he was almost always by his girlfriend's side. Ever since Alya's father got akumatized and Nino and Alya were trapped in that zoo cage for a couple of hours, the two seemed inseparable! But he couldn't focus on that now. It's just like fencing practice, Adrien, he thought to himself, Or like fighting an Akuma! You have to focus, wait for the right moment when your opponent just slips up, and then...Strike!

Adrien's robot, NAD03, uses his special attack on Max's robot, MX-01. MX-01 is crushed, and NAD03 wins. Adrien leaped in joy, whooping at his success. His classmates congratulated his win against Max, who'd been training and grinding all year for this match.

Ms. Bustier nodded, jutting down some notes in her binder. "Adrien is in the lead!" She exclaimed to let all students know. She was responsible for much of the event, wanting students to have a bit more fun. And even if her teaching wasn't the best, it was nice to see her try.

Kim laughed, going to lean against Max, squishing him from the side. "What happened, Max?" He asked teasingly while Max pushed the jock away, sticking his tongue out, and then approaching Adrien. "Hmm. Awesome job. We're gonna make a killer combo!" He said, eyes sparkling behind his glasses. Adrien high-fived him, thanking him and everyone else for their kind words and encouragement for the competition.

"So let me get this straight. If someone manages to beat Max's score, they'll team up with Adrien at the tournament?" Marinette turned to Kim, asking innocently. Adrien hoped no one could see his shoulders tense. He didn't even think Marinette realized he listened in on so many conversations.

Kim scoffed, ruffling Marinette's hair. "No one can beat Max. Or rather Max and Adrien. It's a slam dunk. They're our school's dream team!" He exclaimed boisterously.

Marinette pushed past some students, raising her hand and calling out, "Wait! Uh, Is it too late... to try out?" Adrien could hear some people gasp in surprise as the drama unfolded, and people sure do love drama. When she approached the seat he was previously in and started caressing the controller he used, whispering something about "Adrien's joypad! Ohhh...!" Adrien could only really pray Max would beat her. He could see out of the corner of his eye how Kim whispered to Alya if Marinette "Was serious? There's no way!" And Alya sighed, responding with something about Marinette's motive. Yeah, we all know what that is. Thank you very much. 

"The rules are elementary. You battle each other's robots with your own and…" Max started to explain before he was cut off by Marinette. 

"Please... Every time you win, you loot its items and gain XP, which upgrades your mech. I'm not a noob, thank you very much." Marinette said, puffing out her chest.

Max brushed off that remark, impressed by her knowledge. "Ah, sounds like you have a sufficient amount of knowledge. Let's see if it's enough to beat me." He responded, just as smugly.

As both chose their robots, Adrien could see Chloé giving him an odd sort of concerned state, as he quickly motioned her that they will talk about this later as Kim hollered out, "Come on, Max, you can do it!" Chloé scoffed, going away with Sabrina as Marinette and Max started playing. 

Everyone looked as Marinette started winning in awe, as Adrien couldn't feel much but a pit of dread in his gut. "And now, a quarter super plus heavy kick, and Flying Hyper Storm! Triple head combo, Marinette style! Booyah!" Marinette shouted before starting to cheer and do a small dance of victory as she won and gained the top score. "Woo! Yeah! Woo hoo! I win! Uh-huh!" She exclaimed, unaware of Max's shocked broken look.

Adrien could only hear muffled voices of how "she pulverized him!" and an annoying ringing in his head as he realized he would be spending time with someone who has a small shrine of pictures she has taken of him from bushes. He hoped no one could see his breath picking up. 

A dainty comforting hand was placed on his shoulder, snapping him out of the trance. He looked over to see Rose and Juleka give him a type of consoling look, nodding in understanding. He also noticed Nino giving him a worried look and a questioning thumbs-up from Alya's side and assured his best friend that he was alright. He sighed, returning the smile to Juleka and Rose, thankful for such kind people helping him.

Max sighed, standing up to dust himself off, "I accept this defeat. I relinquish my position at the tournament. Congratulations, Marinette. And Adrien." He said solemnly before walking out of the library silently.

Adrien went after Max, calling out to him but to no avail, "Max, wait!" He shouted before seeing the boy say something about needing space and disappearing. He looked to see Kim by his side, mumbling about Max, eyes getting glossy. 

Adrien grabbed the jock by his shoulders, giving him a looking of sheer determination and stubbornness. "Listen, Kim, go after Max, okay? I know he said he needed space, but I find that I doubt that and also now with how everything is, I'm afraid…" he stopped himself, not wanting to complete the horrible thought everyone had on their mind whenever negative emotions came up. Kim gave Adrien a quick nod before going to sprint out of the library, hollering for Max.

Ms. Bustier closed her binder, tucking it under her arm. "So, Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste will represent Françoise Dupont High School at the Paris Ultimate Mecha Strike III Tournament. Good luck to both of you." She said before excusing herself, saying she needs to relay this information to Principal Damocles.

Adrien turned to see Marinette smiling widely, face completely red, and...was she drooling? "Well, I guess I'll be coming over to practice! With my new partner…" he tried to sound as polite as possible, but it seemed Marinette wasn't even listening to his voice but rather was focused on his face.

"Jules? You texted me to come to get you and Rose from the library?" Luka's voice rang through the library, making Adrien sigh in relief and go to greet him. He saw Juleka and Rose giving him a small thumbs-up, looking smug and satisfied with their work. Adrien breathed out a laugh, going to hug Luka tightly.

He tensed at Marinette's suddenly steely glare, going to bury his face in Luka's neck as the latter was asking him about his day with the quizzical look on his face. He lifted his head for a small moment, whispering a single word to let Luka know of his distress:

"Help."

He then pulled away, a bright and plastic smile on his face, "Oh Orpheus, I got accepted into the Ultimate Mecha Strike showdown happening soon! I'll be teamed up with Marinette!" He gave a look of emphasis when mentioning the girl's name, hoping Luka caught on.

Of course, at this point, Luka and Adrien could read each other like an open book.

Luka returned a just as plastic smile. "Oh, Blondie, I'm so proud of you! If we are already speaking, can I pull you to the side for a sec? There are a couple of new pieces I wrote, and I would love to hear your opinion of it." He offered, giving Adrien a means of escape.

Adrien nodded a bit too quickly, taking Luka's hand and walking away from the stressful situation, saying something about how "That sounds amazing, of course, I'll help you out, let's go right now, bye everybody!" Leaving behind his classmates, a particularly miffed Marinette.

And one seriously confused Nino.

…

"This is amazing!" Alya cheered, "All they need is some alone time, and Marinette will be dating Adrien in no time."

Nino thought about all the tells in Adrien's body language. It was a personal hobby to study body language analysis, both for fun and so he could be the best film director he could be one day. He had to make the movements of the actors and therefore characters realistic, after all.

But what he saw from Adrien was extreme discomfort when Marinette went to join the tournament. Did something happen? He had seen Adrien concerned before, but he had seemed genuinely terrified for his life and trying to hide it.

"Alya," he stuffed his hands in his pockets, slumping his shoulders, "I don't think this is a good idea." He looked to where Adrien had fled with Luka, and Alya noticed that, glaring,

"What, and you want him to be with that witch?"

Nino took a step back with a sudden alarm, "First of all, Luka is not a witch. Secondly, I didn't say anything about that. Who Adrien dates is none of my business, and neither is it yours. Just give him time to make his own choice."

"But who cares?" Alya asked, "Everyone knows he and Marinette are made for each other! Might as well speed things along."

Nino thought about that girl he had known since childhood. He and Marinette had been friends for a long time—or if he was honest with himself, positive acquaintances at best—but at the same time, he wasn't sure he wanted her dating Adrien. He remembered what happened to the last boy who Marinette was crushing on back in 6th grade. 

He had ended up moving away with no explanation, but Nino remembered.

He always remembered.

"Don't trust her," he had been told, but since the pronoun game had been played, Nino hadn't known who this girl was, assuming it was Chloé. But...

What if it wasn't Chloé? What if all along, the one he wasn't supposed to trust had been Marinette?

"Alya," he shook his head, "We shouldn't get involved, and from what I saw, Adrien doesn't seem comfortable. He's my friend, and I care what he wants. If they truly are made for each other, it will happen eventually, but you can't push these kinds of things," he chuckled a bit, thinking about the zoo incident. He couldn't help but cringe, looking back on his fleeting crush on Marinette, given potential new information.

He noticed Alya had slumped and was hugging herself, her expression coated with anguish. Nino hesitated because no matter how much she wanted Adrien and Marinette to get together, this kind of reaction about that seemed off. No... something else was going on here.

Nino hesitantly placed his hand on her shoulder, "Hey, you know I love you, right?"

She looked up at him and smacked away his hand, "You don't get it, Nino. You never get it!" And she ran off, leaving Nino alone as the only one in the library, wondering what he did wrong.

He took his cap off and tore at his hair, practically falling into the nearby chair and pulling his knees to his chest, wondering where he had gone wrong. They fought so much whenever the topic of Marinette and Adrien came up. He loved her, and still, there had been times he worried she might leave him over what should be a silly topic.

He held his cap, the last gift he had ever gotten from his older brother. He held it close,

"What would you do, Hassan?"

…

As he pulled Adrien to the side, Luka hugged the boy with all his might before going to check for any injuries or signs of crying. "Are you okay? Did a fight break out? Did Marinette do anything? Why are you freaked out? What can I do to help?" He asked, brushing Adrien's hair away from his face. He saw his peridot eyes glossy and filled with tears and moved to lean him against his shoulders, rubbing small circles in the palm of the blonde's hand while Adrien recollected his breathing.

Adrien took a couple of deep gulps of air, attempting to refocus his vision. After a couple moments, he groaned and hid his face in Luka's neck.

Luka breathed out a small laugh as he laid his head against Adrien's, "You can say that again," he joked, still holding Adrien's hand tightly, "Wanna tell me what happened with Marinette to get you like this?" He asked, mostly nonchalantly.

Adrien pulled himself from Luka and went to slump against that wall. He couldn't really tell Luka the entire truth about Marinette's shrine of him and visit her as Chat, as she would never show him that as Adrien, but he could tell some of the truth.

He started to explain himself, breath slowly catching up, "I noticed lately that… Marinette is following me around a lot. And I think she's been taking photos of me when I don't see. And I know I should be used to it as a model and a celebrity, but this is really scary, and I don't want to be alone in a room with her, and I also think she joined this competition just to be around me more, and—"

"Hey, hey listen," Luka whispered gently, "I need you to breathe okay? Just take a deep breath… there we go, unclench that jaw, relax your shoulders, she isn't here. It's okay…" he continued cooing, guiding Adrien to relax his body. "I've had my suspicions about her already," Luka confessed, "She always seemed to stare at you in a very creepy way, and honestly, it was kinda terrifying. I think that's why she kind of hates me." He ran his fingers through his choppy blue hair. "I heard her calling me a witch on the side for disagreeing with her, too," he laughed, "How ridiculous is that?"

Adrien tried to laugh with Luka, but to see the other with sunken circles beneath his eyes and a slight tremor in his words, Adrien didn't even want to imagine the horrors Luka decided to not tell him about. "Yeah… I guess I just picked up on it lately… I hope I'm just being paranoid if I'm honest. I don't know what to do…" he whimpered, hiding his head between his knees.

Luka bit his lip, seemingly contemplating something. He went into his bag, pulling out a small cylinder covered in glitter, passing it to Adrien. When Adrien looked at him quizzically, he explained, "It's pepper spray. Has really good range, very glittery and hurts like a bitch. Don't ask me how I know the last one; I'm not very smart," he paused, smiling at Adrien's snort and laughter, before resuming, "I'd recommend marking some numbers on your phone as emergency contacts. It's a feature in the contacts list if you'd like me to show you?" He asked as Adrien pulled out his phone and handed it to him.

Unlocking it—Adrien knew the code for his phone as well—Luka went through the demonstration of marking someone as an emergency contact. "So if you go to the contacts list and click on contact info of, let's say, Nathalie? Because your father is a douche, who wouldn't reply—" he was cut off by a little smack to the shoulder and couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I'm right! Anyways, if you click right here where it says 'Add to Emergency Contacts' now by clicking the power and volume up button for a couple of seconds, you will have an emergency option. It will send a call to the nearest emergency number, as well as notify all people on your emergency contact list that you're in danger!" He presented Adrien with the button showing him how it looks and what it does. Adrien had a more recent iPhone, which makes things more automatic, but the emergency button was accessed by clicking on the side button five times for older iPhones.

Adrien nodded in understanding, taking his phone from him, and repeating Luka's demonstration, adding his number onto the emergency list. He knew that Luka would appreciate being informed of his safety, and it was really sweet he didn't try to force it on him.

Luka nodded in approval, feeling touched at the show of trust, before going to place a hand on Adrien's shoulder, "just have a good safety net, okay? You should always protect yourself, and you should always have someone at your side to help you. I want your safety to be your choice, but if things get out of hand, promise me you'll do something okay?" He asked, calming when he saw Adrien nod, as the boy looked a bit… guilty? I'll have to keep my eye out for Marinette because Adrien isn't telling me something.

Adrien went to hug Luka tightly, and he avoided his piercing blue eyes. “I promise.” He said softly, trying to assure Luka just as much as he was assuring himself.

As both boys parted, Adrien pulled his phone adding a couple more emergency contacts, Nino and his father among them—even if someone thought his father wouldn’t care. He paused for a minute, before going to add Kagami too. Both have been training together a lot, and even if she goes to a separate school, they’re fairly close too, bonding over strict parents and fencing.

She would also know how to fight, and I’m sure with the amount of stress Adrien is under, she would be itching to fight whoever hurt her first friend. 

Adrien sighed, truly thankful for the friends he has.

...

Marinette giggled, going to sigh and drool over her photo collection of Adrien. She couldn't help it, of course, it was his fault for being so pretty! "Ah, training with Adrien! Adrien!" she exclaimed as she hugged one of her pillows tightly, giggling.

Tikki flew out of Marinette's handbag, trying to get her attention. "If all you wanted to do is spend time with Adrien, there are other ways to do that!" She said, trying to hopefully knock some sense into the girl.

Marinette pouted, glaring at Tikki. "What are you getting at?" She asked scornfully, crossing her arms.

Tikki backed up a bit, looking away nervously. She knew Plagg had some rough owners in the past, and he always told her she should give a bit of a fight. Let's try to do that , she decided, "You know how much Max wanted to be in that tournament. Kim said he'd been training for it all year." She said, trying to channel an inner sass.

Marinette scoffed, waving her off. "Right, right. All I could think about was Adrien. I'm sure Max can get over it! And Hey! Adrien's coming to my house, and that's what's important, right, Tikki?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet tone. Okay, perhaps fighting back isn't my jam, Tikki thought, nodding quickly.

Marinette suddenly gasped, going to look around her room, "Adrien's coming to my house! No, this is a total disaster! I have to... clean my room!" She started running around, flailing her hands around her Adrien shrine, hoping to hide that many pictures somehow. Oh, if she only knew… Tikki thought back to Chat Noir's visit.

As Marinette cleaned up, screaming about how "Oh, this... is not... happening!" Tikki noticed a small black cat creature looking at Tikki in distress and worry. Tikki flew out, as Plagg hugged Tikki tightly.

Tikki pulled away to greet him with a smile and perhaps a little lecture about staying close to your owner, "Plagg! What are you doing here? You know you have to stay close to your owner in case an Akuma is on the loose!" Even so, she couldn't be happier seeing him.

Plagg shook his head, starting to tug on Tikki's arm. "Come on, I don't care about that, and neither should you right now! My owner lets me travel, and I've informed him of my absence as well! Now come on, we are leaving this terrible place right now!" He shouted, pulling Tikki away.

Tikki struggled and separated herself from Plagg, "No! I can't do that, Plagg! My owner is still Ladybug, and she still needs me to save the day!" She exclaimed before going to fly back inside.

Plagg flew between her and the window, not really blocking her but doing something at least, "It's not worth it, Tikki! I don't care if she can use the cure to heal everything and purify the Akuma while my kit does all the work! Your safety is more important!" He exhaled, voice broken and small "Please Tikki… I had to deal with this sort of owner, but you haven't. Don't give them a second chance because they don't take it and do the right thing all the sudden. Please, Tikki, if not for you, then for me. You're my sister… please." Tikki rarely saw Plagg beg. Or cry. Or be this sincere. This meant a lot… but she couldn't. She had a responsibility to do.

"I'm so sorry, Plagg, but I have to… the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses need each other to balance each other out. It's our duty." She sent Plagg a stern look, showing there was really nothing he could do.

Plagg tensed before sending Tikki the meanest, most heartbroken look she had ever seen on his face, "Call me when you figure out what real balance is. And that it's not this." He flew away with tears and mumbled about how, "Honestly, I can't believe Fu even chose this girl" and whatnot.

Tikki sighed, going inside Marinette's room, hearing her mother call out for her, saying, "Someone's here to see you!" And watched as Marinette continued making final cleanup nervously.

Well, there was truly nothing she could do. She just hoped Plagg would forgive her. Now let's see how this plays out.

...

Adrien played with the pepper spray in his hoodie pocket, praying he wouldn't need to use it, as he gently greeted Marinette's parents. Both of them seemed so kind, but a dark part of his mind couldn't help but wonder if they knew about, or worse, supported Marinette's stalking.

"Marinette and I are finalists in the Paris Ultimate Mecha Strike III Tournament," he explained, praying that nobody would consider this a date.

Already he could tell quite a bit about Marinette's parents from their reactions to this information, with her Dad's being, "No way. Well, she did learn from the best Tom style! Booyah!"

But then her Mom's response brought Adrien both a lot of and no surprise, "Marinette never told us about this Tournament."

"We were just pairing out today," Adrien replied, "She decided suddenly that she wanted to be part of it and beat Max, who had been preparing all year for this." He noticed his tone had a hint of anger as he looked to where Marinette had opened the trapdoor to her room, seemingly just as taken aback by this as Adrien himself was.

Sabine, if Adrien recalled correctly, beamed, "You two are a pair, huh? I'm not surprised. Marinette talks a lot about you, you know?"

"Yeah," he mumbled, "I do know..."

Marinette didn't seem to hear him, practically growling at her Mom, and then gesturing for Adrien to head upstairs with her, "Come up, Adrien!"

"Uh," Adrien smiled softly to Marinette's parents, "Very nice to see you."

Alright, so what was his game plan here? Not just for the game, but how was he going to go about this situation? With Ladybug, flattery and being as passive as possible seemed to be the strategy. With what he knew about Marinette, a similar tactic would apply, but he had to be cautious, or he might give her the wrong idea.

He thought of all the anime he had watched, searching for a situation in which a character had to maintain a friendship with someone they actually didn't trust. When such a circumstance popped up, Adrien brightened, getting into character but knowing he still, unfortunately, had to be himself. This would be so much easier if he could pretend to be another person altogether.

He sat at Marinette's desk, trying not to look around her room too much, but he did find himself staring slightly as he realized the shrine of him was gone. All that was left was a photo of him on one area of her desk. He then noticed the subtle peeking out of polaroids from under various furniture, and he fought back a sigh.

But what was most recent in the room was the thing that shook him to the core. He didn't need to be a designer's son to know what he was looking at.

It was a wedding dress, tinted with pink, and was honestly rather beautiful. Next to it was a complimenting suit.

He couldn't help but observe the suit was in his exact measurements and the dress in Marinette's own.

Maybe before, he would have just said the measurements were because he was a model, and of course, she loved fashion. But given a new context, all he felt was the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

Marinette looked around in slight panic before seeing what he was looking at, "Oh. I decided to branch out my designs." He stood up, examining the dress, deciding to see what would make her somewhat happy.

"Charmeuse, silk, or habutae?"

She blinked, "What?"

Adrien gestured to the skirt of the dress, which he held in his hands, "Judging by the feel of it, I would guess it's either silk or charmeuse. Charmeuse is shinier, right? Habutae is the smoothest of the three, and more lightweight, but sometimes doesn't have as much shine to it, so for a wedding dress, silk or charmeuse would be the better bet."

"That..." her eyes lit up, a rosy blush forming on her cheeks, "That's right! I'm going to be trying all three, but I was using charmeuse today. How do you know so much about fabrics?"

"It's the only way my father will pay attention to me," Adrien replied somberly, "I find that if I show interest in fashion, his chances of coming out to sit with me at dinner can increase by up to 15%." He shook himself, knowing he shouldn't give his stalker this information, "Sorry for the tangent. We should probably get practicing."

They both sat down, and Adrien got loaded into the game, and he channeled his inner confidence, managing to keep his voice steady, "Your parents seem nice."

Marinette shrugged, "Oh yeah, they are. But... sometimes..." she suddenly looked to the side of him and screamed, darting at him with such speed that Adrien's muscle memory kicked in, and he had to stop himself from body-slamming her on instinct.

He noticed she threw the framed photo of him to the other side of the room, and he cringed a bit, knowing that she was hoping he hadn't noticed it. He decided not to say anything on the matter,

"Sometimes, what?" He turned when he noticed Tom come up with a plate of croissants.

"Everything going good? I thought just in case you wanted something to eat—"

"No thanks, Papa," Marinette glared, gesturing to her computer with the game on it, "We're training."

Tom seemed slightly surprised, "Well then, uh, maybe you could use a few tips, you know... Dad style."

Marinette's expression changed to something that had Adrien subconsciously backing up, the room's tension even more tangible than it already was. He was sure he could take a knife and cut through the discomfort, "Thanks, but no thanks! Papa!"

Tom shrugged and closed the trapdoor, and Marinette groaned, "Sometimes, my parents could be a little nosy."

Not nearly as nosy as you, Marinette.

Marinette smiled sweetly to him, placing her hand on his thigh, pulling his chair closer. And... he noticed she had applied lipstick at some point, "Where were we?"

He blinked as innocently as he could, trying not to react to the hand creeping further up his thigh and—

He yelped slightly, "Gah, stop!"

She did, but it took much longer and a look of pained disappointment with a hint of rage for her to finally let go. Adrien decided to pretend that didn't just happen. Alright... you've got this. That was handled. Surely she won't try it again.

But it did. Every time they finished a match, Marinette would rejoice, sit back down, and put her hand on his thigh, fingers aiming for sensitive spots on his inner thigh.

He was used to people at least trying to touch him there, but there was something far more disturbing in knowing his stalker personally instead of it being some random fangirl. It wasn't random this time. He was in her house, where he was becoming more and more aware of each passing moment that she could do anything to him, and to escape would only make things harder.

What if she... he fought back the tears at the idea of one thing that scared him more than even death. She won't try that, right? She hasn't even confessed having feelings for me, at least not to me as Adrien, so she wouldn't go that far, right?

He checked the time, knowing he had to get out of here as fast as possible. This wasn't going well at all. He had to call someone, anyone, save me, save me, save me!

"I guess you wouldn't even need me," Adrien decided to go for what would make Ladybug happy, sighing and turning away from her; this way, she would stop touching him. "I'm so lame compared to you..."

But it seemed she wasn't happy by hearing that like Ladybug would be when hearing it from Chat Noir. Instead, she grew almost panicked, "Um, no, no, no, I... No, you're so good. I mean, I'm the one who's not good. I mean...I'm lucky, that's all." Her expression flickered to something Adrien couldn't identify as he cautiously turned to face her, "Actually, you know what? I've got a secret." She pulled out a little beaded bracelet, "This is why I win. It's my lucky charm. Here," she placed it in his hand, "You can have it. Try playing a match with it."

Sabine came up, "Hey, kids, I cut you some apple slices if you want." Adrien beamed at the idea of an apple and turned to Marinette before she harshly sent her mother away,

"Marinette. A little snack wouldn't hurt, would it?" He checked his phone, feigning disappointment, "Oh... I have to call Nathalie with an update on me being here. You know, what time she will pick me up and such." He held up the lucky charm, "I'm sure it'll be fine, with this lucky charm. Is there anywhere I can..."

He tried not to think about the lucky charm. Whether the reference had been intentional or not, it still brought him discomfort at the idea Marinette would play the games he liked so she could make a reference like this.

Well... maybe that hadn't been intentional. Perhaps he was just slightly paranoid.

Marinette gestured to the trapdoor to her balcony, "You can take your call there."

"Thank you."

He had to get out of here. His vision was blurry through tears, and the moment he had gotten to the balcony, he sank to the ground on top of the trapdoor to make sure Marinette couldn't peek through and listen in. Plagg pressed himself against Adrien's neck, purring gently to soothe Adrien's quickening breathing.

He called the first number to come up, which happened to be Kagami's. It had taken a lot of convincing for her mother to let Kagami have anyone's number, so he hoped he wasn't blowing her chances with this.

He went to instead hang up, but then Kagami answered, "Adrien? What is it? I didn't see you at fencing practice today."

"Sorry, Kagi," he whispered, "I need your help. I'm in a really bad situation."

"Is this about Marinette?" Kagami asked worriedly, "I remember seeing her around during practices."

"Yeah, her. I know you can't do anything, but—"

"I'm on my way."

Adrien's eyes widened, "What?"

"I'll be there in a few minutes. I'm still at the school since practice just ended, so I can say our parents were planning to have our families together for dinner."

"Kagami—"

"You called me, so I'll help you," Kagami replied in a tone that brooked no argument. "Can you get away from her?"

"No." Adrien replied, then he heard the terrified screams from a short distance away when he saw an Akuma villain attacking, "Actually... yes, I can. Stay inside, Kagi, there's an Akuma."

Adrien couldn't help but feel slightly smug, knowing full well who the target of this Akuma was, but he still felt awful that Max had been so upset that he got akumatized. Obviously, the best option was to save him.

He grabbed Marinette's blanket sitting out and covered himself, "Time to transform!"

He did so and opened the trapdoor, "Marinette, you're in danger!"

"Chat Noir?!" Marinette glowered, "Where is Adrien?"

"I got him to safety. An Akuma is looking for you! He might know where you live, so we have to get out of here."

"And why should I listen to you?" She snapped, and Chat shrugged, not wanting to deal with her any more than she wanted to see him,

"Suit yourself," he shut the door and leaped off to handle the robot and get a feel for the situation at hand.

He landed and turned to every civilian in sight.

"Get away from here! As far as you can!" Chat Noir desperately called, using his staff to keep the robot back, "Hurry!" He smirked and leaped up to where he noticed the window was, and clung just above it, knocking on top, "Hey, tin can! Up here!"

He wondered if he could time it correctly and possibly use his staff to decapitate the robot. It didn't matter much, especially if the spawn point glitch came back to bother him, but it would possibly give him time to get a feel for Gamer's powers. From what he was already noticing, Max hadn't become the robot, rather the one behind the wheel. Therefore they just had to break the armor.

The best course of action was to find the weak point on this monstrosity and attack there. He could use Cataclysm or black storm, but he didn't want to risk the time limit or the exhaustion unless necessary.

He led the robot on a blind chase for a while, trying to see if he could get down to the neck without being blasted, but he found himself thrown off by Ladybug, who grabbed the robot's legs, and Chat Noir fell to her feet, and hopped up, hands on his hips as he assessed the situation,

"It's a life-size robot from Ultimate Mecha Strike—"

"I know!" Ladybug snapped, "And it's nearly at level three. Four is the highest level."

"Wait, you know that game?"

She scoffed, "Duh! Of course!"

"No need to be so snappy," he muttered, and Ladybug groaned,

"Come on, let's get this over with."

While they had been talking, Gamer had absorbed a bus and evolved to level three.

"I think our problem just got a whole lot bigger," Chat replied, leaning towards her, "So shall we 'get this over with'?" Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him,

"Don't mock me," she jumped to the rooftops, and Chat couldn't get out of his head what Danielle had said. He shook himself, knowing he had bigger problems, and Ladybug was already dragging him along, "Come on, we're headed to the stadium, and I don't have time for you to make some terrible plan we won't use."

"LB," Chat pointed out as they ran, "We actually use my plans quite a lot."

"Yeah, but that's because I make them better, you damn cat!"

Chat Noir winced and decided to not point out the only change to the plans when Ladybug supposedly made them better was parroting exactly what he had said, just slightly louder so the ever-present Alya could hear.

They landed in the stadium, and Chat could hear the changes in the air above them, and he pulled Ladybug off to the side as Gamer crashed not far from where they had been moments ago, but they did manage to dodge one of the blasts. Chat Noir scoffed, deciding that his opponent was too big to take down by a weak point since he didn't have time to find it.

So it was time to use his new power.

He slid under the robot and managed to attack him from behind, "Black Storm!" 

Gamer turned, trying to blast him, but the destruction energy vanquished even the beam as he turned the entire robot to dust, leaving Gamer behind. Chat leaned on his staff like a cane, "Ladybug, look for the Akuma!" Another bout of exhaustion hit hard, and his legs gave out under him.

But Ladybug stood there, doing nothing, and glaring darkly at him as he shouted for her to do it already!

She slowly walked over to a red sphere that had appeared, using her yoyo to pull him over with her yoyo.

Even Gamer seemed stunned by this, "So you do want to play, after all!" He tapped his glasses, "Respawn!" An even more powerful robot appeared.

Chat Noir turned to Ladybug, "What the hell?! We could have gotten him!" Ladybug made a small 'hmph' noise,

"You don't get to hog all the glory, Cat. Didn't you see the blaster at his wrist?"

"No?"

"Exactly," she scoffed as they both pressed the sphere, landing inside their own robot. The sudden lurch made Chat dizzy as his exhaustion kicked in, and he knew he would need one hell of a power nap when this was over. "If I had done anything, he would have blasted me, and it's not like you could do anything. It's not like you can purify the Akuma."

Chat Noir was more observant than she gave him credit for. Not only had he not seen anything of the sort, he knew full well from her tone away from the baseline, even with her back to him, that she was lying. But why had she chosen not to get it over with like she had so wanted moments ago? Was it really for glory? They were supposed to be doing good things for the sake of being good!

He shrugged, "I'll operate it, you shoot!"

Ladybug scowled, "Why do you get to man it? You're exhausted."

"Because—" his hands moved at the controls, dodging a blow quickly, and he grinned, "This isn't my first time playing games and using the power of rage to annihilate my enemies."

The perks of being an experienced Kingdom Hearts player: superhuman rage comes to you during boss fights like second nature, and you master the ability to play games while extremely sleep-deprived, refusing to let that goddamn boss defeat you.

Nothing can defeat the mashing buttons strategy when the player was angry enough.

He activated the saber and got ready to beat the hell out of this robot. If you're in a fair fight, your tactics suck, and therefore he would not be playing by the rules when he now had new abilities that allowed him to cheese this fight.

It probably wasn't ethical, but he did manage to have Gamer pinned in a matter of minutes dueling, and very few things had been actually damaged. Honestly, he didn't know what he was doing, but he did know by looking at his stats in the corner that he had enough things equipped to make this work.

He used the forcefield against the missiles and turned to Ladybug, letting his hands work on their own to keep Gamer contained, "Do you have any ideas?" He knew this wasn't going to keep Gamer down forever. They had to act fast because Gamer's ability to respawn—and the assumption they could not—would put them in a tricky spot at worst and a stalemate at best.

Gamer's robot suddenly disintegrated and formed again, once again, standing, "I am the strongest player in the world! Hahahaha!"

"How are we supposed to beat him if we can't even catch him?" He flicked one of the joysticks and pressed a button to roll away from an attack, knowing now that pinning to the ground wasn't an option with his enemy.

"We have to beat him harder and jam the system! Tatsu-Lady!" Ladybug pressed one of her weapons, and Chat Noir smiled a bit, knowing that you really should announce your weapons after you fire them. Sure enough, Gamer dodged it. Even if they were a team, he couldn't help but feel slightly happy to be better than her in this instance.

Ladybug huffed, and Chat said nothing, feeling his body becoming extremely heavy. He couldn't help but wish for Monster energy or maybe five-hour energy—which he was very familiar with while working long hours with his job and getting ahead in school work. He smiled at the fond memory of Nathan jokingly tossing him sugar-free Monster energy so his father couldn't be mad at him.

"We've gotta get inside his cockpit!" Ladybug got out of her seat and climbed above, "I'll be right back."

"Right back? Where are you going?!"

He didn't see all of what was happening, just through his screen, watching her run along the arms and do something to get Gamer out of his control area, snapping the glasses, and then capturing the butterfly and setting everything back to normal.

Chat yelped as he was brought back to the ground and blinked rapidly to deal with vertigo.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Ashton silently recording in the stands with a professional camera and Percy next to him taking notes. Alya was off to the side, bouncing with excitement, much closer to them as though she would run over at any second.

He moved to go comfort Max, but he was surprised to see Ladybug hold out her fist. They didn't do that as often lately since they had been fighting more, but he was glad to accept it, 

"Pound it!"

But he couldn't get out of his head the fact she lied earlier.

OoOoO

Standing in the gaming stadium, Adrien rocked back and forth on his feet, emotionally preparing himself for whatever might happen. After the Friday disaster, having a day off of akumas and school was a blessing and a way to emotionally prepare for the showdown. He was surprised the tournament wasn't postponed more due to the video game themed Akuma. However, he supposed that with Ladybug curing mostly everything, no one saw the akumas as a threat anymore… even if she doesn't fix everything and there are still casualties.

He tried not to think about it too much.

"Are all the preparations for the battle set?" Adrien looked over to see Kagami walking up to him with her blade already unsheathed. He sighed, turning to face her, "Thanks, Kagami, but I'm sure the blade won't be necessary. We don't want to cause a scene, you know?" He tried to joke lightly.

Kagami huffed slightly, going to swing her sword around. "Correction: you didn't want to cause a scene. I, on the other hand, would love to see her reaction to the taste of metal." She teased, poking him in the side. "Anyways, I have made a promise to that friend of yours you always tell me about? Blue hair, odd clothing? We met at the entrance to the stadium. A worthy man and he wanted me to protect you with all I can, and I respect a person's wish if it came from love and passion." She explained nonchalantly, practicing her stance and attacks.

Adrien flushed, going to take Kagami's sword, to no avail, "Nobody is killing anyone okay?! And I will have a word with Luka about giving the thumbs up for murder…" he mumbled grumpily, face a very bright tomato. Kagami simply shrugged with a smile on her face and walked away, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

A small tap on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts and put him in a defensive position, only for him to relax when he saw it was only Max, looking a bit sheepish. The latter cleared his throat and started to explain himself. "I-I just wanted to wish you luck. I also wanted to apologize for causing a literal ruckus two days back… I was really full of rage and hurt and…" he paused sighing,

Adrien smiled in understanding, placing a hand on Max's shoulder. "It's okay, I understand. In fact, I think you should be the one playing out there!" He said cheerfully, handing his controller to him.

Max looked at Adrien in shock, "I-I don't know what to say… are you sure? You and Marinette are really good players, and you beat me fair and square! I wouldn't want to ruin this for you!" He exclaimed, and Adrien could see from a distance a very hyped up Kim already putting on a "Go Max!" shirt, and he couldn't help but laugh.

Adrien bumped into Max's shoulder, "I'm sure! And speaking of Marinette…" he didn't complete the sentence, going to approach Marinette.  

The girl started smiling widely and stuttering and giggling as soon as Adrien approached her, "oh h-hey Hot stuff, looking forward to dat—I'm mean working with you, hehe!" She giggled but then stilled when Adrien placed the luck charm she gave him the other day.

He pulled the most plastic smile he could muster, already made up his mind, "I've decided to let Max compete! He's been working so hard to get to this competition all year long, and I couldn't take away something he is so passionate about for a selfish reason, y'know? Therefore, I won't be needing the lucky charm anymore, and I think you will need all the luck you could get!" He pulled his hand away quickly as he tried to stay headstrong at Marinette's concealed rage. "Anyways," he said, walking away, "I have all the luck I already need!" He said, showing the guitar charm Luka gave him on his birthday. 

As Adrien walked away from Marinette, who was this close to screaming, no one would notice one Chloé Bourgeois and Kagami Tsurugi glaring at Marinette in disdain before looking at each other. Both silently nodded to one another and walked away as if nothing ever happened.

Adrien noticed Luka was already waiting for him in a no-guest area. He looked to Kagami, who only shrugged in response before he rolled his eyes and hugged Luka. 

Luka hugged back before looking to Adrien with a question, "Aren't you going to be playing?" He asked, silently asking: "Did she scare you out of playing? Are you okay?"

Adrien fidgeted with his charm, "I've decided to let Max play instead of me. He's been working so hard to get to this tournament, and I don't want him to miss out on it." He explained matter-of-factly.

Luka nodded in understanding before posing Adrien with another question, "I'm guessing Marinette didn't take it well?" He asked sheepishly.

Adrien sighed, knowing Luka was incredibly anxious about his well being and being around Marinette for too long. He decided to spare him the details of two days ago. "Listen. I have made my choice regarding Marinette, and I have made it very clear for her. I don't regret it one bit, either." He said fondly, ruffling Luka's choppy hair.

The latter fixed his hair as Adrien already went ahead to exit the stadium. "So, now what?" He asked, hoping Adrien had a plan in mind.

Adrien thought back to everything that happened. The photos, the stalking, the touching, all of it. He hoped that after today, she would simply stop this behavior, but something told him she wouldn't. 

But he made his choice. He knows that he made the correct one as well. He clutched his good luck charm, taking a deep breath.

"Now? Now it's her turn to make a choice."

Chapter Text

Gabriel sighed as he left his love once again in that coffin. Another day had passed, and he had failed to bring Emilie back, and now she had been gone from them for a year today.

He absently looked out the window in the office, seeing Adrien sitting in the lap of his mother's statue, talking to her. It was a statue of the three of them, though it was pretty old, and the statue of four-year-old Adrien in his father's arms was sitting on the other side.

Nathalie turned to Gabriel, "He's been out there for hours, just talking to her." She looked down at her tablet, "The longer you keep him in the dark about what you're doing, the harder it'll be on him when he finds out."

"I was hoping Emilie would be back to us by now, and I wouldn't need to talk to him about this. But I'm sure he'll understand—he wants her back just as much as we do."

He headed outside, hoping to talk to his son.

...

Adrien hummed slightly, sitting with this statue of his mother. A reminder of happier times. If he closed his eyes and had his jacket under him, he was almost able to make himself believe it was really her.

Plagg rested on Adrien's thigh, offering as much support as he could, but then he quickly hid in Adrien's shirt, and he looked up to see his father coming over.

"Father?"

His father sat next to him on the bench with the statues, watching him, "There is something important I have to talk to you about." He looked absently towards the sky, "I think about telling you every day, but I don't know how to find the right words."

Was this the moment? The answer to the question he had been wondering for a year. "I think I already know, father." 

But when his father jerked as though he had been burnt and replied with a panicked, "But, how?!" Adrien wondered if they were talking about the same thing. Still, this might be the only time he could ask this question without being screamed at. It had been a year. He had the right to ask... right?

He looked up at the statue he was sitting on, "There hasn't been any trace of Mom for a year, and I know she was really sick before she disappeared." He turned back to his father, "I know you want to protect me, but can you just tell me the truth that she's dead? I still have hope that she will come home, even though I know I shouldn't. I think I need to hear it from you, Father, that she's not coming home."

He instantly felt awful for saying anything when his father stood up, clearly offended and enraged, "How could you possibly think such a thing?! As long as she is still in our hearts, she lives on!" He started walking away, then stopped, "Your aunt and cousin are coming soon. Be ready, and remember that Felix may be angry that you didn't come to his father's funeral."

"But you were the one who wouldn't let me go?" Adrien cocked his head but shrunk down when his father sneered at him and then left.

When he was gone, Adrien hugged himself, realizing that what if Felix hated him? He had tried reaching out but got no response, and after the first message, he hadn't really tried again, thinking Felix needed time. What if his cousin hated him?!

Plagg emerged, glaring darkly at Gabriel, and Adrien was actually somewhat terrified to see a dark glow emitting from the small Destruction God, "That man pisses me off," those last three words were growled. Adrien couldn't help but wonder if there was a personal reason Plagg seemed infuriated.

Adrien offered Plagg some cheese to stop the creepy glowing, and then petted Plagg's head, "Don't be so hard on him, Plagg. It's been a year today since Mom... went away forever."

OoOoO

To see so many people on the Liberty was usually not very common. Like sure, Anarka would always welcome anyone aboard and seemed more excited about partying than either of her children, but unless this was a huge organized party, to see his little sister's entire class plus friends from the grade and the cult all at once was a bit overwhelming. Luka was never really one for social gatherings, and let's just say that… a small divide is apparent.

"Ugh, why is Dupain-Chang here?! Literally, Adrikins can't even stand to be around her for long, and she is supposed to be helping?!" Chloé groaned dramatically, draping herself on one of the chairs. Kagami was next to her, cleaning her sword, nodding nonchalantly. Juleka and Rose mostly stayed out of this, but you could tell this was mostly Rose holding her girlfriend back from joining the fight.

"Oh, shut it, Chlorine, you stupid plastic blonde! Marinette is a saint, and she comes up with the best of plans!" Alya shouted, placing a hand on Marinette's shoulder, who wasn't exactly thrilled to be near a certain Couffaine but had to keep up appearances.

Mylene nervously flailed her hands to calm down everyone from her spot next to her boyfriend, Ivan, "I-It's okay you, guys, no one is evil here! Let's just move on, okay?" She stuttered, only to be shut down by Chloé and Alya.

More gossip and segueing circled and got louder and louder and louder. You couldn't even hear the sound of your own voice. One couldn't only hear senseless shouting and static. Luka could see from the corner of his eye his sister defending Rose, the cult by her side, already tired of this. And the voices just got louder, louder, louder!

That's. It.

"Shut it!" Luka screamed, silencing everyone. He heaved and looked around to see everyone looking in concern and fear. He took a deep breath, which sounded more like a gulp if anything, as Nino silently offered him a glass of water. He took it, thanking the boy silently, before continuing, "As you all know, today is the anniversary of Emilie Agreste's disappearance. This is something really personal and painful for Adrien, and therefore I've had you come here to help me with the project, which I already planned." He looked over at Alya, mumbling, enraged.

"Everyone will be making a small video telling Adrien that they care about him, and Max," he gestured to Max, who waved shyly, "Will be editing everything. This is just a way to make sure he's okay, and also a way for him to know he's loved! Of course, I do not need to mention the courtesy when talking to someone in grieving and how one should be considerate of the person's emotions, yadda yadda yadda. Please, just for today, everyone is gonna put aside their opinions and fights for the sake of making someone else's day more bearable. Am I clear?" He asked, and every one replied with nods and mumbles.

He beamed, "Very good! Alya, we'll be using your tablet to film all the videos, because we forgot professional cameras, so we're improvising. Is that good with you?" Alya perked, nodding intensely and sending Marinette a type of look that could only spell trouble. Luka would have to keep an eye out for these two. They will not make some dumb confession on the anniversary of Adrien's Mom's likely death. Not today, Satan.

Luka excused everyone to go on their way and plan their messages before slumping against the wall and pulling out his phone to check for any messages from Adrien. I just hope he's doing better than I am… he sighed, softly banging his head against the wall.

"Luka! You coming?" Kiera hollered at him. He quickly got up, took a deep breath, and joined the rest. He can only hope Adrien was having a moderately good day.

...

Maybe it was irrational to lay in bed, staring at the ceiling and worrying about every possible scenario with Felix. Surely Felix couldn't be taking his Dad's death very well at all.

Plagg watched Adrien, "Kid, you're overthinking this."

"I wasn't there to support him, Plagg!" Adrien turned on his side, "What if father's right and he hates me?!" He hugged his pillow, snuggling in his plushie collection. The only bright side of his situation was being distracted from what day it was.

A knock on the door started Adrien up, and Nathalie came in, "Your father is waiting for you downstairs, Adrien."

He wiped his eyes and tried to psych himself up, "Ah... I'll be right there." She left, and he muttered to himself as he got downstairs, "You can do this, Adrien... it's gonna be okay..." he could feel Plagg purring against his ribs inside Adrien's hoodie.

He looked to his father, who didn't seem pleased by the company. Of course, Adrien knew well enough about his Aunt Amelie's obsession with his father's wedding ring, having gotten a couple dozen calls from her to talk to his father. It was like she didn't know he had to bend over backward to find topics his father would enjoy enough to actually come out for dinner. Change the subject even a little, and he was retreating back to his room.

The door opened, and once again, Adrien was taken aback by just how much like his mother Aunt Amelie looked. He was glad to have known ahead of time, or he may have mistaken the two.

He looked to her black suit, sighing because it was so much like what Mom wore. It felt like a cruel trick to wear such a thing.

Amelie paraded in, arms wide, "My, my! Look at how much you've grown!" She kissed Adrien's cheek, and he felt uncomfortable with being touched for so long, "Gabriel, isn't he just the absolute cutest?"

"I'm sure Adrien is delighted to have such a timely visit from his aunt," Adrien noticed his father grimace, "Today of all days."

Adrien turned out the adults and hesitantly looked behind Gorilla, and then Felix appeared, and he was surprised when Felix was the one to jump at him in a hug, "Good to see you, Sunflower! Long time, no see."

Adrien relaxed instantly and melted into the embrace, shrieking a bit when he was picked up by a couple inches, "Hey! Fefe, put me down!"

Felix smirked, not budging, "I am officially an inch taller than you, cousin! I won the bet!" Adrien narrowed his eyes, squirming to free himself and examining Felix's shoes, disappointed to find they were flat. He crossed his arms grumpily,

"I'm still growing. I could beat you." Felix just ruffled his hair,

"We'll see about that," he looked to Gabriel, "Hello, Uncle. Your favorite detestable fox is back!"

Gabriel narrowed his eyes, "I won't be fooled by your tricks a second time, Felix." He kept his hands behind his back, and Felix's expression changed to something Adrien didn't notice as Amelie looked behind Gabriel's back,

"Oh! How sweet! You're still wearing your wedding band! You must have Emilie's too, I imagine?" She straightened, getting up in his face, "You never replied to my message about that. I'd still like to get the rings back, you know."

Adrien tensed a bit. The topic of the rings being heirlooms came up all the time, even when Mom was still around, and in truth, part of Adrien wondered if his aunt was responsible for Mom's disappearance somehow because she wanted them. Felix said even he had no idea what was so special about them, just that Amelie really liked them.

It still felt a little out of place to be demanding your sister's wedding rings on the anniversary of her death.

When she went into her usual spiel about how they were important to her and Gabriel had no right to have them, Felix nudged Adrien, whispering to him, "I had to listen to this the entire ride here. Let's escape before she tries to get us involved."

"Please," he took Felix's hand, relief making him weak in the knees at the idea Felix didn't seem to be holding a grudge.

When they were alone in his room, Adrien moved to his desk and pulled out the wrapped gift, "Hey, Felix, I wanted to give this to you. I was going to mail it to you for your birthday, but I think now's a good time." He gave the gift to Felix, who sat down and slowly unwrapped the shiny paper with the utmost care before folding it and putting it in his bag, and his eyes lit up when he saw the books inside.

"It's the next two books in the Magic 2.0 series you like." Felix beamed, hugging Adrien,

"I've wanted these for so long!" He flipped through the first couple of pages, "Oh, this is going to be great." Adrien slumped a bit, deciding to at least try to apologize,

"I'm really sorry I didn't come to your Dad's funeral. My father thought it would be too hard on me, considering... everything that's happened this year." He fidgeted with his ring, "You've every right to be mad at me."

Felix scoffed, "You really think I'm mad at you?"

"I should have supported you..."

"I'm pissed at your father," he shrugged, and Adrien looked up to meet his cousin's eyes in shock, "You and I both know he is the most controlling, obnoxious, pompous, overbearing, piece of shit—"

"Felix, no!"

"What?" Felix laughed, "I am still mad at him for eating my cupcake, and now I have more reasons to hate him."

"The cupcake was thirteen years ago!" 

Felix blinked, "Did I stutter?" He hugged Adrien again, "Thanks for the books. I really appreciate it!"

Adrien broke away from the hug after a long moment, "What have you been doing in the last year?" Felix groaned,

"Everything except going outside. I mean, I hate going out, so that's fine, but it's so annoying with Mom being so protective. She doesn't intensely breathe down my neck like a certain uncle that I know, but it's still irritating." He shrugged, "I mean, I got the chances to master multiple forms of martial art and take some acting classes, and I cheated through online school since I finally convinced Mom to let me do that. I also learned different kinds of makeup, read every book I own a couple times, did some writing, made my search history look like that of a serial killer... Oh, and I played all the Danganronpa games, read the series' light novels, and ruined my nonexistent social life. Thanks for that." He counted on his fingers, "Alright, so that's the first month. I learned many skills." He nudged Adrien, "I hear that it turns out the Princess and the Pauper really did switch lives. You've been going to public school?"

"Yeah!" Adrien rolled his eyes a bit at the idea of Felix calling himself a pauper, "And I've made so many friends, Fefe! You'd love them!" He thought about Marinette and tensed a bit but made sure not to let Felix know about his struggles with his stalker.

Felix leaned back on the couch, "Maybe. But you know, that means interacting with people." He looked down at himself, "That said, you know what's worse than human interaction? Being on a train for two hours. I need a shower. D'ya mind?"

"Oh, I don't mind at all!" Adrien gestured to the bathroom, "Make yourself at home." 

"Thanks," Felix got up, grabbing some clothes from Adrien's closet, "You still have khakis?"

"Oh my god, Felix, no," Adrien got up, "Father tells me to keep one pair just in case it comes back into style, but please let the khakis die with Light Yagami."

"Nah, I think I'm gonna wear them," he took the khakis, regardless of Adrien's protests, "Just to get under dear Gabe's skin." He picked out a plain white hoodie with the black butterfly logo, "Thanks, Sunflower! I'm glad we're seeing each other again!"

Once Felix had retreated into the bathroom, Adrien rolled his eyes, "He'll be in there for a while." At Plagg's questioning look, he explained, "He always spends so long in the bathroom after even the slightest interaction." He smiled, "But I am really glad to see him and that he's doing okay."

… 

As everyone filed into the Liberty's deck, Luka counted every one to see who hasn't finished their video yet. Max was already editing all the recordings together, being the first to finish his video, while others also teamed up to make group videos. 

Luka tapped on Nino's shoulder, catching his attention. The latter was the unofficial assistant in this project and took it upon himself to make sure everything was in line, something Luka was honestly grateful for. "So what's the state of recordings? Did everyone submit their video?" Luka asked.

Nino pulled out his phone, showing Luka a list of everyone's names, most of them with the little check mark emoji. "Yeah! From what I gathered, everyone completed the message except…" he scrolled down to two names left unchecked, "Alya And Marinette." Nino cringed as Luka's expression soured.

Luka took a deep breath, putting in a polite smile, "Should I go check on them, or should you?" He asked, voice tight.  

Nino looked away, laughing nervously. If he was being honest, after everything happening between him and Alya, approaching her, especially when she was likely scheming with Marinette, didn't seem like a good idea.  

Luka got the hint and sighed again, patting Nino on the shoulder. "I'll check on them, bud. Just make sure everyone here is calm, okay? Let's send this video as soon as possible!" Nino relaxed, nodding quickly and going to check up on everyone else. I'll have to ask him what's wrong later, Luka thought for himself before going into the Liberty.

As he went deeper into the Liberty, he could hear distant whispers, one voice seeming very insistent, and the other high pitched and panicked, and then suddenly sighing and dreamy. He followed the voices until he came across the small, usually empty guest room at the end of the Liberty.

Pressing his ear against the door, he could hear Alya groaning, "Ugh, girl, you are telling him today! What better time is there? You're Marinette, there's no way Adrien wouldn't fall head over heels for you!" She exclaimed.

He could hear Marinette considering the offer. Maybe she wouldn't go out of her way to do something so inconsiderate on a day where Adrien is grieving? "Well, you are right…" she said cheekily. Oh god fucking dammit Dupain-Cheng.

He could hear the sound of a camera starting and someone walking to the other end of the room. He could hear Marinette's voice, "Adrien... I love you. I'll always be there if you need me." 

No. No, no, no, no, this can't be happening! Luka panicked to himself. Is she genuinely fucking confessing to the guy after everything she did?! And on the anniversary of his mother's disappearance?! 

He has to tell Adrien. But… does Adrien know? He'd be heartbroken if he knew! He needs to think about this. And more importantly, he needed to stop Max before the message was sent!

He ran all the way to the deck, stopping to pant. Wasting no time, he turned to Max, "Max— the video—" he heaved out, passing to take deep breaths.

Max looked at Luka in confusion, "Luka? I already sent the video? Are you alright?" He helped a shocked Luka sit down before welcoming Alya and Marinette, who finally made it to the deck. 

Luka stared at the floor with one thought in mind.

Oh...fuck.

…

As soon as he was alone, Felix slumped against the door and locked it, pulling out the phone he had nabbed from Adrien, and he turned on the shower, stripping down to only his boxers and sitting on the floor while the shower ran off to the side.

Adrien really was in public school... he was making other friends...

He unlocked Adrien's phone, having memorized the code a long time ago, and the first thing he did was check the camera roll and see images of Adrien with his friends. After spending all of last night lowkey internet stalking Adrien's Instagram and using that to find Adrien's other friends and pictures he was in, he was able to name everyone.

He frowned a bit as he got a notification of a new message, blinking as he hid closer to the shower to listen to this video without Adrien knowing, still well away from the far-too-large shower.

The first person to appear was a young man Felix quickly identified as Nino. "Hey, my dude! I'm not sure what to tell you, except that you're my man, dude! And bros are always there for their guys!"

Ah. This was about Emilie's death—Uncle Gabriel could say what he wanted about her being missing, but that woman was dead. He couldn't help but feel bad for Adrien, who had most likely been lied to on the matter. At least Felix's parents were honest with him.

Well... he absently gripped the watch around his neck. It had been parents as in plural.

He watched for a moment, and he frowned a bit as he watched the video, which, while in his opinion, some of the messages were pretty stupid, he could understand that Adrien would love them. Hell, even Chloé had something nice to say!

And then came Marinette's message.

"Adrien... I love you. I'll always be there if you need me."

Felix's blood boiled as he replayed that section a couple of times, instantly deleting the entire video.

Did one of Adrien's "friends" seriously just confess her love to him on the anniversary of his mother's death!?

What. The. Hell.

If that was how it would be, Felix found himself even further justified in feeling resentment towards them all. For nine months, he didn't say anything to his cousin, terrified he had been pushed to the side now that Adrien had shiny new friends.

But now... now he had a valid reason to be mad. Adrien... he wouldn't shove him to the side because now he had a reason to do what he had to do to keep his cousin safe! A dark grin spread on his face as a plot came to his mind.

Those thoughts rampant through his mind for months were really bullshit! Adrien really did need him to keep him safe from insensitive pricks like this Marinette bitch and the people who approved this clearly lusty monstrosity being in a video about grief.

If his plan just happened to have Adrien running back to him, so it could be only the two of them again with no awful people getting in the way, who was he to complain about that?

He quickly rinsed himself because he had been honest about feeling dirty after being on a train so long and then used the hairdryer. He left it on longer than needed as he pulled golden hair chalk out of his bag, running it through his pale blonde hair to make it an identical shade to Adrien's. And then he messed up his hairstyle for good measure.

He slipped on the new clothes, and he checked Adrien's social media to find Marinette's Instagram, quickly realizing that Adrien had Marinette blocked. Oh. So maybe Adrien did know about this situation with the total creep.

This did nothing to dissuade him because surely nobody should have let this crazy woman speak to him!

He used his own phone to see what Marinette was all about, and he very quickly noticed a love of fashion.

Hm... did she love fashion before or after she started lusting for Adrien? He looked down at the khakis he now wore, wondering if she would react anywhere as strongly as Adrien or Gabriel would to this. He decided this would be to make Gabriel squirm and as a test for this hornball.

If she reacted, then she probably knew fashion before lusting after Adrien. Therefore this so-called "love" probably had more to do with business reasons and Adrien being the son of a man in high places in the fashion world. It was a business opportunity made human.

If she didn't react... that meant she was a total fake who was making up everything to try and relate to him.

He put the hoodie on and covered his hair, stuffing Adrien's phone in his pocket, and emerging, "Hey, remember that bakery we went to as kids? Is that still open?"

Adrien looked down from where he had been grabbing the chess set that they always used, "Oh, yeah! It doesn't have as much business anymore since Marinette's family bakery became popular."

"Shocker," Felix muttered darkly, then shrugged, "I'm gonna go buy something. I already traded some pounds for euros."

"When did you have time for that?"

"I've known I was coming down here for a little while," he shrugged, "I'll be back with bread!" Adrien slid down the railing of his spiral staircase,

"I'll go with you."

Maintaining a perfect poker face, Felix smiled, "Do you really think Father Gothel will let you out and not use this day to control you even more? We both know he hates me and will be happy the longer I'm gone." He headed out the door, "Don't worry, Sunflower. I won't be long."

"Fefe!" He turned and saw a worried look on Adrien's face, "Be careful, okay? Hawk Moth is still at large."

"I know," Felix replied, thinking about all the research he had done and theories he had formed on the matter, not that he would tell Adrien, "I'll see you soon."

As soon as he closed the door, he pulled out green colored contacts and put them in, hurrying out the door and having figured out where to go from the video at different angles. It was a boat on the Seine, and from there, he was pretty sure where to go. He was in such a hurry, he didn’t even notice a little black cat who caught him in the act.

OoOoO

Pacing back and forth on the Liberty, Luka kept on checking his phone. No texts from Adrien… god, what is he doing? Is he busy? Is his father being a bitch?! Oh my god, what if he saw the video and never wants to speak to us again?!

He continued pacing, pausing when he saw a head of blonde hair approaching Liberty. He sighed in relief as Adrien walked up to the Liberty, greeting everyone. He turned to give him a hug before still.

This wasn’t his heartsong. This is not Adrien’s heartsong. Adrien’s heartsong consists of delicate pianos and a gentle, sweet melody. This—This imposter’s song consisted of cellos. Adrien never had cellos in his song! Only a soft violin whenever he talked to Luka, but that was beside the point! This was not Adrien.

Marinette approached the imposter, blushing and going to caress his arm, “H—Hi Adrien, you’re really hot—I mean it’s really hot, did you like my—our videos?” She blurted, giggling, and staring at him. So much for loving Adrien… she can’t even recognize this isn’t him! Luka thought for himself. The imposter’s song changed into something more malicious, almost like something was about to pounce on you. 

On second thought, maybe it’s best to lay low! Maybe what Marinette needs is “Adrien,” calling her out a bit to act normal! Luka thought to himself, settling against the wall in preparation for the show.

“Well…” the imposter said, his sweet voice coated with venom, “I saw the video, and if I may just say… what the fuck made you think have you the right to confess to me on the anniversary of my mother’s disappearance?!” He exclaimed, leaving everyone shocked, and a mildly amused Luka, motioning Nino to relax.

“Whatever the fuck made you think you’re so special that you’re allowed to selfishly take advantage of someone’s emotions and confess to them on a day they’re grieving?! What the actual hell?!” He screamed, leaving a shell-shocked Marinette, who looked like she would either hurt him or cry and victimize herself. Fucking typical, Luka thought bitterly to himself. 

Marinette tensed as people started whispering and asking if she really did what he claims she did. How dare he say that?! He should be crying with joy and saying yes to me! Not this! 

Alya barged through the crowd, jabbing a finger in Adrien’s chest “how dare you say that?! Marinette is perfect, and she has every right to confess to you! You should be groveling and telling her how much you want her right now!” She screamed, surprised to see the blonde wouldn’t budge but rather started to laugh.

“This is what you guys support? Wow, I should have never gone to this school if all of you bumbling morons are rooting for a stalker!” He barked out a laugh, “You guys are so fake and terrible! Doing a little cute video set for me and allowing that!”

Luka sighed, knowing the show had to end, or Adrien will be socially-dead before one can say, “Marinette is a stalker.” He scoffed, gesturing at Felix, “You guys seriously believe this is Adrien?” He asked with a raised eyebrow, noticing the imposter momentarily tense. Oh, he is a good actor, but I’m a better detective, he thought smugly to himself.

He got up, vaguely sauntering around The imposter, "Your act is good, but it isn't perfect. Adrien would never go out of his way to actually call out someone like this! He is much more passive and forgiving than that, even though I would understand him calling out her," he paused to bask in Alya's and Marinette's shocked rage, "There are also certain physical differences between the two of you! You're similar to him, but a bit different. For example," Luka said, pulling on one of the imposter's hairs, inspecting it as the latter winced in pain, "Your hair is blonde, but you put hair chalk at the tips to make it fit Adrien's," he said, presenting his now yellowy fingers to the court of teens. "You're also wearing contacts to match the eye color he has!" He exclaimed, poking the imposter's eye, taking out the contact, and presenting it to everyone.

The imposter winced and covered his eye, "Oh bloody hell—!" He shouted, quickly covering his mouth as he let some of his British accent slip.

Luka looked at him with a shit-eating grin, knowing his cover is through "A new accent, perhaps? And for the last, but certainly not least piece of evidence, you're not wearing Adrien's lucky charm because he only has one of those! He wears it wherever he goes and rarely takes it off." He finished smugly, crossing his hands. "You're good at what you do though, I'll give you that. You managed to pick up small mannerisms Adrien has, meaning you're someone close to him. Am I wrong, Felix?" He said, smirking at Felix's shocked expression.

Felix soured, rubbing his eye. What is up with this punk boy?! Adrien did speak a lot about him online and admitted they were close, but for that boy to know him?! And sure, he did come across an article speculating the nature of their relationship, but was that gossip or truth? This mullet Couffaine did seem to care enough to protect his honor and let Felix rake Marinette through the mud. He could use this…

He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair, "Alright, I admit it. I'm a fair man who knows when I've lost. Bravo, Monsieur Couffaine." Everyone gasped, at this point watching this unfold like a BBC Sherlock episode. Luka stilled, sending Felix a dark look, but Felix could not care less, "Oh, you didn't think I know you? Please, you're the only thing Adrien can talk about these days!" He exclaimed flamboyantly, knowing this ought to get under the latter's skin.

“Don’t use flattery to get on my good side. And anyway, don’t you know the saying? Speak of the devil…!” He said, only to be cut off by an angry blonde, carrying a backpack.

“Felix Graham De Vanily, you little shit!” Adrien screamed, tackling Felix into the ground and pulling on his ear, “What did I say about impersonating me to cause trouble, huh?! And what did I say about Hawk Moth?! Do you even realize how much trouble this could land you in?!” He shouted as Felix continued saying a very monotone “ow” a couple of times to express his displeasure.

Luka laughed, looking over at everyone who looked both revealed and extremely perplexed, save for a very entertained Nino and an upset Alya and Marinette. “Oh my gosh, this is amazing! How did you even know Felix was up to something?” He asked, wiping away tears of laughter.

Adrien explained nonchalantly, “I noticed my phone disappeared when Felix left for some food, and if I learned anything, is that when Felix stole my phone, shit is about to go down,” he pulled Felix’s ear a bit more, “So I knew something was up. I hope you haven’t caused much trouble, either Luka?” He asked sweetly.

Luka laughed nervously as Adrien raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. “Have I told you how pretty you look today?” He asked, leaning against the liberty’s railing and doing little finger guns at an unimpressed blonde that already apprehended his own family.

“No, no, no, no! This was not how this was supposed to happen! You’re not supposed to be fucking so much shit up, Felix whatever-your-last-name-is!” Alya screamed, cutting everyone off, “Adrien will see this video, and things will be right!” She said, pulling out her iPad, only for it to be snatched away from surprisingly enough Juleka.

The emo girl groaned, opening the tablet and scrolling to find the camera app, “That’s it! If Felix is telling the truth, then this video should be deleted, and Marinette owes a ginormous apology, not to be praised and get what she wanted! This has been enough idiocy to last everyone in the boat a lifetime!” Adrien looked to Luka in confusion, only to be answered with a “we’ll talk about this later” motion. Even Felix wouldn't tell him what’s going on, which said something. 

As the two girls fought over the tablet, people seemingly started to take sides and argue, while some, specifically Mylene, was trying to stop the fight by taking away the iPad.

Luka saw the Akuma before anyone else did, "Get back!" He shouted, reaching for the iPad, but it was too late as it landed in the tablet that all three girls were now touching. 

But to the shock of everyone, all three girls had the butterfly emblem over their eyes. That hadn't happened before, and already Luka knew this battle was going to be something else entirely.

He turned to Adrien, "Get Felix out of here!" Adrien nodded and took Felix's hand, and they both broke into a sprint. Marinette was staring at the akumatized Alya, and she seemed to be... almost smiling. He found himself sneering at her subconsciously and quickly remedying it, knowing it was pointless to try talking to the akumatized girls. 

Ashton whipped out a large pocket knife from his hip and went for Alya, not hitting her but providing a good distraction as he got behind her and Nathan dove for the iPad, which had now become a holographic sword.

"Go!" Percy shouted to Luka, "We'll keep them back as long as—AH!" Alya used her sword and fired something at him from where she struggled, and Kagami got Percy out of the way.

Luka looked to his friends, who seemed eager to fight an Akuma, and he grinned, breaking into a sprint after Adrien, knowing that if Felix and possibly Adrien had targets on their backs, they would need all the help they could get.

...

"Felix, what the hell is this!?" He gestured to the Akumas already after them, and Felix turned a bit as they ran,

"Oh, that? That, I don't know. I have never seen those people before." He shrugged nonchalantly as though even though he hadn't gone outside much in the last year, sprinting for their lives was barely an inconvenience.

"Then why did you piss them off?"

Felix put a hand on his chest as though offended as they both leaped over a park bench, "Me? Intentionally pissing people off? Pissing people off is my least favorite thing to do!"

"I can't even tell if you're being sarcastic or not."

"You think I do?"

They hid in an alleyway, and they both took a moment to catch their breath. Adrien looked to Felix, "Fefe, I'm serious. What was that for?"

Felix looked away from him, "I saw that video, and Marinette was a massive bitch. That's all I'm saying. I didn't know how much you knew, so I wanted to handle it myself, so I dressed up as you and antagonized her."

"Felix, that akumatizes people!"

"Oh, I didn't know that," he muttered.

"How could you not know that?!"

"Yeah," Felix shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm in the wrong here."

"You're a good liar," Adrien admitted, "But I know you well enough to know there's more to it than just hating Marinette."

"Fine," he crossed his arms, "Maybe I was worried you don't need me anymore now that you've got new friends." He huffed, "Now can you go transform already?"

It took a moment before Adrien processed what Felix had just said, but when he did, he blanched, "You know?! How?!"

"I didn't." Felix replied, smirking, "Until just now. I've suspected for a while, but only now am I sure." He ran a hand through his hair, "Look, I'd love to rub it in, but we only have a few moments before your boyfriend arrives, and if you want to keep your secret, I'd get it over with."

Plagg emerged, "He's got a point, you know. Can we really trust Ladybug after what happened with Gamer?"

Felix cocked his head, "What happened with Gamer?"

"Nothing. Plagg, Claws Out!" He transformed and pulled Felix into a bridal style carry, "If anyone asks, you and Adrien got separated. Can you play the role of a worried cousin?"

"I play that role every day you live with Mr. Ice Cream Swirl."

"Are you capable of being respectful to him?"

"Well, yes, but actually no." Chat Noir rolled his eyes, running across the rooftops and quickly needing to dodge Mylene, whose arms were made of some liquid material that he would much rather not have touched him or his cousin.

He saw Luka below and jumped down to him, "Luka! Take Felix and go, okay?"

"Wait—where's Adrien?!"

"We got separated," Felix explained, looking up at Luka with a pitiful expression, "He said we would have a better chance if we split up, and the damn moron ran off!"

Luka tensed as though panicked, and Chat put a hand on his shoulder, "We'll find him. But right now, we have to deal with this troublesome trio."

He looked up and frowned when he noticed Ladybug sitting above, not doing anything whatsoever. At least she wasn't calling him an idiot for talking to civilians.

He jumped up to her and made sure Luka was running with Felix, and he turned to Ladybug, "So what's the plan, LB?"

"The plan?" Ladybug stood, crossing her arms, "Luka's friends kept Alya busy for a while and tended to the injured." She smirked a little bit, so fast that Chat wondered if he missed it, "At least they won't be reporting anything on that copycat blog of theirs."

"What?!" he debated running to them, but then realized he didn't have time, and if they were directly harmed by Alya, Miraculous Ladybug would fix it. He pulled at his hair, "Okay, so there are three of them. We've never dealt with this before. Do you think we need to split up?"

Ladybug didn't grace him with a response, just remaining pouting, and he hesitantly asked, 

"Hey, LB, what's going on?"

"That Felix guy's a prick," she grumbled, and Chat couldn't help but wonder why she would suddenly know about what happened on the boat. Alya normally filled her in on these things, but she wasn't exactly available right now.

He decided not to ask, responding with, "Even if that's the case, he's a civilian, and it's our job to—"

"Are you doubting me?!" She shrieked, and he backed up a bit before thinking about how Felix wouldn't take this nonsense. Hell, Chat knew he had plenty of people willing to help.

"You know what, Ladybug," he narrowed his eyes, "If you don't want to help me do what's right, fine. But I'm not going to wait around for you to get past any personal bias to do what's right. I am going to go find someone willing to be a hero and help me, and when you're ready to join me, by all means. But don't take the credit."

Ladybug scoffed as he was leaving, "Attention whore." 

His vision started getting blurry, tears in his eyes from hearing that, and he decided not to comment as he ran to find Luka, who had helped him so well in Monsieur Fable, so surely he would be able to assist now.

Along the way of searching, he yelped as he was attacked from the side by Alya, who leaped at him with her sword, and he swerved away but still got cut along the cheek. He winced, gently prodding the wound and pulling out his staff, "Alright then, let's go."

He knew the other two were probably just looking for Felix, and he highly doubted Juleka would attack him with how close they were and the fact he was not involved in her akumatization. Mylene probably was just going to look for Felix.

But Alya? Alya knowingly spread misinformation to make Ladybug seem amazing, so of course, she would not hesitate to go for the kill.

He flipped over her, knowing the akumatized object was the sword, and he knew that from what he gathered, the blade changed tangibility at will, and therefore he had to knock the weapon out of her hand to break the hilt.

"Alya!" He turned and saw Mylene, "He's not our target."

"Yeah, he is!" Alya barked, "We need his Miraculous for Hawk Moth!"

Chat's brow furrowed, "By that logic, wouldn't you also need to betray Ladybug?"

Alya was then running off with Mylene.

Chat Noir groaned as he realized that his chances of getting to Alya and the weapon were slim without Ladybug. The other two didn't have the object on them, so to engage in combat was a waste of time.

He found Luka and Felix after a few minutes, and Felix was backing away from Luka's motorcycle,

"Like hell, you're going to get me on that—" he gestured at the motorcycle, "That moving death trap!"

Chat Noir landed, "Ladybug's not going to—"

"What happened to your cheek?" Luka asked worriedly, and Chat shrugged,

"It will heal. But Ladybug won't be helping, so we need to make a plan. I know you and Adrien were able to take down Monsieur Fable, so you must be the perfect person to help!"

Luka straightened a bit, as though thinking, and then he nodded, "You can count on me, Chat Noir." He gestured to Felix, "So first of all, we have to sacrifice him."

Felix stared at him, slack-jawed, "I'm sorry, what?!"

After Luka explained the plan, Chat Noir watched from a tall building as Luka raced across Paris with Felix clinging to him and petrified on the motorcycle he had been forced onto and clearly detested every second than that.

As Luka had planned, all three troublesome trio members were chasing the bike. However, Chat noted that Juleka and Alya were butting heads while running, which meant Mylene had the lead and used her liquidy limbs to her advantage, being able to swing from lamp posts and make fast turns, quickly gaining on Luka and Felix. 

This is all for the plan, Chat had to remind himself, hating every second of watching his friend and cousin in danger. What if something went wrong and they were killed?!

No... He had to trust Luka on this. 

"Look who's talking." He turned and saw Ladybug sitting next to him, "Watching this happening and doing nothing."

"Unlike you," he muttered, "I am acting on a plan. Are you ready to help?"

"I purify the Akuma and reverse the damage," Ladybug replied smugly, "That's my contribution to helping Felix."

Chat Noir glowered, wondering for a moment what he had ever seen in her. But he then turned back and saw Mylene had caught Felix, grabbing him off the motorcycle, and Chat jumped down to make sure Luka didn't crash.

He looked towards where Felix was being carried away, and to Chat's horror, he seemed to be completely limp, "We have to go!"

...

Felix honestly couldn't be happier to be kidnapped, getting the hell off that motorcycle. His clothes were getting wet, but he was content to play dead, and maybe he could begin dissociating if he tried hard enough. Though it only happened at the most inconvenient times, so he doubted he would be that lucky.

He found himself tossed onto the top of a skyscraper, not tied up. He laid on the ground like a lifeless doll, testing exactly what to expect with each person.

He felt gentle nudging and reluctantly opened his eyes to see the girl, Mylene, smiling sweetly, "Hey! Can we talk?"

He sat up a bit, looking behind him to see Juleka and Alya screaming at each other, "Uh... sure?"

"Listen, I don't know what's going on," Mylene admitted, "But it wasn't very nice to pretend to be Adrien. Can you please say sorry so we can all get along?"

Felix scoffed, "Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said. Marinette's a total creep, and I don't regret pointing out how sick it is to add that to a grief video."

Mylene grimaced, "Yeah... that's not okay, but how about sorry to everyone else?"

"That's it!" Alya roared, charging at him, and he had to jump up to avoid getting stabbed through the heart by a sword, "I'll kill him! He has to die!" He jumped back, knowing he could hold himself in a fight, but then she fired something out of the sword, and only a backhand-spring in khakis kept him from seeing his father earlier than expected,

"He's right, Alya!" Juleka snapped, "Marinette has no right to send that kind of video!"

"Adrien belongs to Marinette! He needs to see it, and this vixen isn't stopping it!"

Felix huffed, "Well, if it's a fight you want, then fine." He was surprised to see Juleka and Mylene by his side against Alya. Juleka turned to him,

"What you did wasn't cool, but you're right about Marinette."

"I'll take it," Felix replied and side-stepped Alya's blow going for the kill, deciding to treat this like a dance, thinking of some Lindsey Stirling music to set the mood for himself. He spun behind Alya, dodging her attacks with no problem whatsoever. Her attacks were wild and without precision, wanting his head on a spike with no actual plan of making that happen.

And then suddenly it was over. Felix blinked, seeing the Akuma left the sword by itself, leaving the three girls on their knees, and a purified butterfly was flying away. Chat Noir and Ladybug arrived at that moment, and Ladybug did her magic reverse dance or whatever that was called and went to help Alya to her feet.

Alya beamed, "Ladybug, you must have saved me!"

"Nah," Felix replied, "Chat helped, and I kinda danced around you for a bit until Hawky got tired." But he frowned when the supposed Ladyblogger who prided herself on getting her facts right was disregarding this account in favor of videoing Ladybug. He did remember reading that Akuma victims didn't remember what happened.

He noticed Chat—Adrien—sitting with Juleka, who was hugging him tightly, and he walked over to Mylene since she was alone, and she seemed decent. He extended his hand to help her up, "Hey."

She took his hand to stand, "Felix, right?"

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say, and he was thankfully stopped from needing to do so by Chat Noir coming over,

"Come on, we should all head downstairs. Luka is waiting for Juleka." 

They all headed downstairs, and Luka was waiting impatiently, and Chat bounded over to him.

...

Chat Noir laughed, going to offer a fist bump, used to doing it after every battle won. When he saw who he was offering it to, he tensed, putting away his hand.

Luka smiled softly, taking Chat's hand and bumping it against his, "Pound it!" He exclaimed, grinning brightly, an infectious smile the Chat couldn't help but reciprocate. Neither of them really cared or noticed the angry buzzing Ladybug, stomping her foot, before turning away with a "hmph" and going to detransform.

Both helped all three girls up, air at least tried as Alya refused to accept any help, comforting them. Juleka embraced her brother tightly, tearing up, "thanks for saving me there, you self-sacrificing, idiotic asshat." She said, punching his shoulder.

Luka laughed, returning the hug, "What are siblings for, to not fight a terrorist for each other, but still absolutely lose their shit when the other uses their mascara?" He joked, getting a wet laugh from his little sister.

Chat knew he would need to appear as Adrien soon to avoid suspicion, "Hey, I'm gonna go find Adrien. Do you think you can escort the ladies back safely to the boat?" He asked sheepishly. Usually, he would just risk it a bit and return the akumatized victim to their original location as soon as possible, but Luka made asking for stuff feel… okay, to say the least.

Luka nodded, separating from Juleka to give Char a warm hug, "Great job today, you tomcat." He said warmly, as Chat melted into his arms.

They both parted and laughed in embarrassment before Chat walked away into a trash can, snapping him out of whatever gushy trance he was in and making him bolt.

Luka laughed softly to himself as all three girls raised their eyebrows. He shrugged, escorting them to the liberty with a smile on his face. As they walked up to the liberty’s deck, Luka was greeted with many questions and congratulations and such. Nathan emerged from the crowd, punching Luka’s shoulder and ruffling his hair. “Well! Who knew you were self-destructive to the point of sprinting towards three akumatized villains and fighting them off for us?” He joked lightly, laughing when Luka punched his shoulder back.

“Oh please, as if none of you didn’t jump at the opportunity to throw hands with supervillains, now you’re criticizing me,” he joked Lightly, “And anyways, I had Chat Noir’s help, so it was a team effort if anything on my part.”

Marinette smiled. Let’s see if Adrien keeps rubbing up against him now! “I saw some of your battle, Luka! You and Chat worked so well together! Gosh, one could mistake you two for a couple if they didn’t know better!” She said, faking innocence.

Adrien raised an eyebrow to himself. Did she really think she could accuse Luka of cheating now? What is she even trying to say?! Both of us are single! He thought to himself. And anyways, a third of the people here don’t even believe her! He looked over to see the cult, Chloé, Kagami, the art students, and some more skeptical students whisper amongst themselves. Well, it doesn’t matter what they think, because I’m about to prove them wrong!

The blonde gasped dramatically, going to hug Luka excitedly, “Oh my goodness, you worked with Chat Noir?! That must have been amazing! You really are a hero, Orpheus!” He said, holding a tomato red Luka and ignoring a certain laughing fox who was all too entertained by this.

Felix sighed, wiping away tears of laughter and straightening his hoodie, “Alright, I’ll admit you guys are very fun. Most of you are decent people, and maybe, just maybe, I shouldn’t have verbally destroyed you that much out of rage. Maybe.” He stretched out, grinning “Yep, anyways, we’re staying here, Sunflower, right? Father Gothel’s tower can be so boring at times, at least here I get entertainment!” He said nonchalantly, settling on a chair, legs crossed.

Luka smirked at Adrien’s direction, “Father Gothel? So I’m guessing the Rapunzel trend wasn’t since Monsieur Fable, Blondie?” He teased.

Adrien scoffed playfully, bumping Luka with his hip, “Not the time, mullet man, and anyways, I’d like to stay a little bit too. I understand my father wants us to grieve and never see the light of day, but if I’m being honest, I could use some friends by my side. Home feels a bit too lonely for me to be there today…” he said, covering his face with his bangs.

Felix got up and looped an arm around Adrien, hugging his side, “Well, it’s decided! We’re gonna stay here for a bit. Thank you for your kind hospitality, Monsieur Mullet!” He ignored Luka’s indignant mumbles about his hair and pushed Adrien towards the latter. “Now! I believe everyone can relax, you two can talk or whatever you guys do instead of admitting you’re a thing, and I am going to change my clothes! Adrien, you got me my change of clothes, right? This isn’t the first time we’re impersonating each other after all!” He said, sauntering in the direction of Adrien’s bag.

Adrien sighed fondly before taking Luka’s hand and pulling him to the side, away from everyone. The latter gave him a look of confusion as he sat him down, “ok, how did you know this was Felix and not me?” Adrien asked sternly.

Luka looked at him nervously, “I-It was small details, and the fact he doesn’t wear your lucky charm and such!” He stuttered, knowing that’s not very believable.

Adrien crossed his arms, looking at the punk male straight in the eyes, “I know you, Luka Couffaine! You’re not confident enough to actually believe I wear my charm every day, even if it is right, and you should be confident about it! Now please, tell me how?” Adrien asked, pulling his best kitten eyes.

Luka bit his lip before sighing and relenting. He offered Adrien a seat, which he gladly took. "So. This might sound a bit crazy. But since I was young, I had this thing of mine." He said, turning to look at Adrien, who was nudging him to continue. "So... whenever I'd come across a person, I'd hear a song. It's a different and special song for each person. No song is ever the same! Sure some might be similar, but each one was unique. When Felix came by, his heart song—that's what I nicknamed those songs, by the way—was way different than yours. So I kind of knew it wasn't you."

He turned to see Adrien looking at him with wonder and sparkles in his eyes. "What is my heart song like?" He asked breathlessly.

Luka smiled, caressing Adrien's cheek, "it's honestly, one of the best songs I've heard. It's so… full of joy. It's so hopeful and insistent of things getting better. It's a song you can help but want to believe. It's… beautiful." He said, sounding lovestruck.

Adrien didn't think before he hugged him. He'll later notice tear streaks down his cheeks and his trembling hands, and Luka will tell him he was thanking him profusely, but for now, all he knew was that he was in the arms of someone who truly cared for him, just for this moment.

Until the sound of a car stopping by the liberty cut through the fantasy. And the sound of all too familiar heels clicking silently in Adrien's direction sobered him. And the dark glare of Gabriel Agreste bore into both boys.

Adrien quickly separated himself from Luka and wiped his tears, looking at his father, "F-Father, I can explain, you see I was just—" 

Gabriel puffed his chest, approaching Adrien, “How dare you go to hang out with friends on a day where you’re supposed to mourn your mother. How dare you go out of my house to relax and dance and party with others when you should be—“

“Fuck off, alright?! Adrien didn’t do shit!” Luka screamed, “It was my idea to send Adrien a message comforting him from all the class, and from a series of complications, he ended up here,” Felix waved in the background. “So, he decided to stay here with a support system instead of being locked up in his room forever!” He shouted, face turning red with anger.

Gabriel looked aghast at the younger male. Who in the world does he think he is to behave like this? I’ll take care of him. My way. He puffed his chest and straightened his back, “I expected better than you, Mr. Couffaine. You would encourage my son to sneak off and fraternize with a man of your stature—“

“We weren’t doing anything. He needed a fucking hug—“ Luka growled out, clenching his fists, while Gabriel waved that comment off.

Gabriel knelt down to his eye level, forcing Luka to look at him straight in the eyes, “What in the world made you think you’re so special to act this selfish?” He asked darkly, staring into Luka.

Luka tried to remain strong, yet this sentence seemed all too familiar talk he had on his birthday with a certain girl. He can’t think about it. He won’t think about it. Not in front of everyone, not in front of him—

“That’s enough, father!” Adrien shouted, “Luka is not selfish for wanting to help me! Luka has been nothing but kind, and strong and brave and compassionate, and the fact he’s willing to bear his neck right now to defend me just proves it!” Adrien said, taking Luka’s hand in his, while everyone else, including Gabriel, looked in shock.

...Well save for Felix, who was a minute from cheering the fight on and upsetting everyone. But he decided to use his time for something much better.

Gabriel straightened himself, seeing as neither his son nor his “friend” would budge. He looked around to see people glaring at him, preparing to kick him out if need be. He had to play his cards right. “We are leaving this insistent, Adrien. Even so...I know when to be lenient. You and your…” he took a deep breath and rolled his eyes, “Friend will be under no trouble, and we will mark this off your record as an unfortunate misunderstanding caused by an Akuma. Make sure it stays that way. And be thankful I am being this generous on you today.” He said darkly, pleased that Adrien nodded in agreement.

He looked at Luka in disdain, “Take it from someone with a bit more experience. Don’t act like you have nothing left to lose when you do.” He threatened. 

Luka laughed, sending Gabriel a mean look, “Oh, I know I have a lot to lose. But unlike you, I’m willing to lose it for what really matters, and I’m willing to move on.” He said, poison-laced in his voice. Gabriel walked away without a response, leaving Adrien to hug Luka and bid everyone goodbye. To the boy’s surprise, Felix also came by, giving him a pat of the shoulder and a small thanks. Maybe that fox isn’t so bad, he thought to himself lightly.

And everyone left feeling a bit lighter.

OoOoO

The next day, at the train station, saying goodbye seemed harder than ever for the two cousins. Adrien held onto Felix while the latter pet his head, soothing him. “Hey, think about it this way, Sunflower! I’m gonna go away for a little bit to get the seal of approval to stay in France with you! Gonna take me a month, tops!” He soothed.

Adrien nodded, pulling away with a weak smile. “I’ll miss you, Fefe…” he said, wiping away tears. 

Gabriel approached the pair with a stern look, “While I don’t return the sentiment as strongly, you are always welcome in France, Felix. You are an utter nightmare, but you’re family, and Adrien cares for you. So I trust I’ll be making room for you soon?” He asked.

Felix sent him a Cheshire grin, offering his hand to shake, “You betcha, you old bitter man.” Gabriel simply poked the hand away, causing Felix to stop in his tracks for a moment. He shook it off, though, bidding his goodbyes and getting on the train.

He pulled out a shiny object, the ring he stole from Gabriel the other day during the fight. He fiddled with it, contemplating what he learned. So Gabriel has Emilie's ring? Why would she even take it off?! Beyond her engagement rings, these were a family heirloom, precious to the Graham De Vanily family! There's no way she would have taken it off. So it's either Gabriel has an extremely good copy of the ring or that he came across Emilie when she disappeared out of nowhere to take the ring, for whatever reason. And even if she just died and he's hiding it from Adrien, why not give the rings back? Does he have a certain reason to keep something that doesn't belong to him?  Things didn't add up. 

He tried not to think about it too deeply or the connotations it might have. He supposed now he has another reason to return to Paris. 

This ought to be interesting.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

As Alya walked into Marinette's room, the latter was pacing around and mumbling to herself. Marinette was always so sweet and contemplative, of course, but lately, she seemed much more tense. 

She supposed it was that stupid Felix's fault. Ever since he visited, Adrien avoided Marinette more than ever, and even some students were anxious around her. That stupid ass was separating her Marinette from her true love! But it was time to fix it. "So we're doing this right? We're really doing this?" She asked, pulling Marinette out of her trance.

Marinette put her hand on her hips, grinning brightly, "Yep! I got everything prepared, so Adrien will love me! Emilie's disappearance anniversary was so not the right time for me, but now when he says yes, everything will be amazing!" She explained, doing an excited little dance.

Alya awed, handing Marinette a notebook that she prepared ahead of time with lines to use, "Just stick to this script, hun! When you two are together, everyone else will finally see you were right!" She knew Marinette was bothered by people avoiding her, especially when it was over a total lie. So hopefully, choosing her words would help her regain popularity.

Marinette scoffed, tossing the notebook on her pink chaise lounge, "Psh, I don't need this script! It'll be fine!" She said as she pressed the call button, preparing for a speech, only to be cut off by voicemail.

"Hey, this is Adrien's voicemail! Leave a message!" The phone chimed sweetly before sounding a beep notifying the phone was recording a message.

Marinette groaned, before recollecting herself and smiling tensely, "It's gone to voicemail! Fine whatever, let's just do it right, hey, Adrien! I know you won't talk to me because you're confused, but I wanted to say I love you and that I want to marry you—" she continued to rant, only to be cut off yet again by voicemail.

Adrien's voicemail chimed, this time in my more robotic voice. "Message recorded. Have a nice day." Before returning to Marinette's contact list.

Marinette looked in confusion at the phone, "What? What's happening? Call him again!" She told Alya, pushing the girl to call the phone again and again to get the same results.

Marinette groaned in frustration, "Ugh, why can't I send him messages! Did he block me?! Did Felix block me from his phone?! That asshat hates me! Me who did nothing wrong!" She started ranting, going back and forth.

Alya nodded. "Girl, you are perfect. How can he?! I'm sure Adrien's just being brainwashed by those villains! Or maybe he's too busy to notice you're blocked!" She explained nicely, petting her shoulders

Marinette perked, brushing Alya's hand away. "Of course!" She exclaimed, pulling her exclusive Adrien calendar, which took her quite a feat to get, "He's got fencing club after school. That's why he didn't pick up! It ends in exactly twenty-two and a half minutes. If I go right before the fencing ends, I can unblock myself, and he'll love me!" She explained, gesturing wildly.

Alya sighed fondly, shaking her head, "You are seriously insane—" she started, before tensing at Marinette's glare, "Insanely in love, hun! You go!" She said, sighing in relief as Marinette giggled.

...

Meanwhile, in the D'Argencourt Academy locker room, a small alarm went off, startling a small cat Kwami, "Reminder! Important event!" It chimed as the small cat moaned, shoveling more cheese into his mouth, turning it off.

Back in the gym, Adrien defeated Kagami in a round of fencing, and even if it was a close call, Adrien counted it as an achievement. He pulled up his mask, gesturing to the locker room, "Gotta get a drink of water, Kagami. I'll be right back." He said quickly before running to his locker and opening his bag to reveal a stuffed Plagg inside, finishing his cheese. "Plagg, you doofus! I needed the reminder to be on time!" He said, scooping his Kwami up to take his phone

Plagg groaned in displeasure before attempting to eat the last piece of cheese in his little paws, "It's fine," he slurred out before burping.

Adrien took a cheese away before he checked the phone and gasped, "Oh no, now we're late! Time to transform, Plagg!" He shouted, his ring flashing and transforming him.

...

As Marinette and Alya were planning, they were cut off by Chat Noir whooping as he leaped over a building, "Woo-hoo! Yeah-ha-ha! Ha! Hahaha!" He laughed before landing in front of the new Ladybug and Chat Noir statue, excitedly waving at everyone, "Hey, everybody!"

Marinette panicked, starting to look around nervously. Alya beamed, pulling out her phone, "They're unveiling Ladybug and Chat Noir's sculptures today! I totally spaced!" She said excitedly.

Marinette sighed, "Me too…" she said distantly to herself, already dreading dealing with the mangy cat taking all her credit.

Alya looked at her friend in confusion, "Uh, you never mentioned going to the unveiling before." she said, raising an eyebrow.

Marinette covered her mouth, trying to look for an excuse, "I'm not, I mean, I am! Uh, I mean, I forgot?" she said, knowing Alya wouldn't buy it but wouldn't question anything further, too busy to get her "scoop." 

Alya clutched her phone, turning to Marinette, "Listen. About Adrien's cellphone, what if we go right after?" she tried asking, pointing at the statue timidly.

Marinette bulked, puffing out her chest, furious, "If we wait after the ceremony, Adrien's fencing training will be over, and I'll never be able to unblock myself again!" She squawked in rage.

Alya looked away nervously, "Shoot. I gotta cover this event for the Ladyblog… Miracle News is already there! I'm sorry, Marinette!"

Marinette smiled sweetly, deciding it would be best to hide the fury she felt towards her supposed best friend, who was abandoning her in her hour of need. 

Of course, Miracle News was becoming a real nuisance as they had increased in popularity rapidly with their formal and well-edited footage. After the Gamer Incident and they tried to expose her, it was best for Alya to maintain the lead. The Ladyblog still overpowered them for the most part, but she knew the inkling of doubt had been planted. None of the fight's details were their business unless they showed her being amazing and claiming the victory. Chat Noir was just a useless sidekick to lighten the mood with his awful puns, so why were they trying to put that alleycat in a positive light?

"Don't sweat it," she said nonchalantly, "I can manage."

Alya paused, "You sure?"

Marinette gave a gesture to shoo her away, "Yes, yes. I'm sure. Go make sure Miracle News doesn't steal the show!"

Alya gave her a thumbs-up. "Cool. Good luck, and stay out of trouble. And don't improv!" She ran off, and Tikki emerged. Marinette already knew her Kwami would be much more help than Alya ever could be.

"Isn't Ladybug supposed to be at the unveiling?"

"Yes, but Marinette needs to be at the school first."

"But it is a ceremony in your honor!" Tikki protested, and Marinette growled,

"And it's my love life that's at stake right now, and that's so much more important! Once I block myself and prove to Adrien how awful the people he surrounds himself with are, he'll rely solely on me! Then, we'll get married! Live happily ever after in a beautiful house and have two kids! No, three. And a dog! Maybe a cat? Nah, forget the cat. A hamster! I love hamsters!" She snapped out of it, knowing now as not the time to imagine that bright future with their beautiful babies, " The ceremony can wait, alright?"

Tikki nodded, but she was clearly stressed. Not that Marinette cared at all. Tikki was meant to make her happy.

And getting Adrien's phone and, therefore, his love and worship and business advantages in the fashion world was exactly what would make her happy.

…

The sculptor, Théo, came over to him with a look of concern on his face, "Excuse me, Chat Noir, but Ladybug's not here." 

Chat smiled a bit, remembering when Théo was working on this statue. He had never let Chat see it but was so nervous about what people would think. Chat gave him a few pep talks and let Théo examine him to make sure he got everything correctly. "Don't worry about Ladybug. I'm sure she'll be here any minute. I can handle this situation alone for now. I'm the one in charge anyway, you know." It felt so weird to say these things, which last week would have seemed so casual. But of course, Ladybug would show up. If she loved the attention so much, it was only natural she would be here.

"It's just that I wanted to ask her to autograph this photo." Théo pulled out a photo, "She's amazing. She's so brave and smart, the way she always saves everyone…"

Chat glared at the photo of Ladybug smiling with her yoyo. It was so clearly something taken from the Ladyblog and photoshopped onto a Paris night sky background. He could tell by the tiny changes in lighting in the two clearly separate images. But he also knew those pictures were on sale at stores.

Something about it just bothered him seeing that picture of Ladybug as though she was this amazing perfect person. But he didn't say anything, and Théo didn't notice. 

Mayor Hidalgo came over, shaking Chat Noir's hand, "I'm glad to see you."

"Good afternoon!" Chat grinned to the Mayor, "Have you made any progress in our theories about Hawk Moth."

"A bit, but it would certainly be more productive if Ladybug would give me a basic rundown of how her powers work so I can fit it into possible theories about Hawk Moth." She looked towards the clothed statue, "Perhaps the ceremony should commence."

"Please, just one minute more, Mayor Hidalgo," Théo pleaded, "She's going to come, I can feel it..."

Chat stifled back a sigh, praying that Ladybug wouldn't show up.

…

Marinette snuck into the locker room, past the fencers still in their matches. She didn't notice Adrien, but that was probably because he had his headgear on. Her eyes widened when she realized for the first time just how large the locker rooms actually were.

Tikki flew out once she knew they were alone, "Oh boy."

Marinette looked around before she found Adrien's locker since she had memorized exactly where his locker was and made sure hers was close to it. She had wanted to be right next to him, but Nino and Juleka already took those spots. She growled at the thought of Juleka, who should have given Marinette her rightful spot next to her future husband!

She went to call Adrien, just to make sure his phone was in there, but nothing was ringing. She groaned, "Stupid Felix! Tikki, open the locker!"

Tikki tried to resist, but the order kicked in, and she had no choice but to obey.

"Hurry, they're finishing up!" Marinette gritted out worriedly as Tikki popped open the locker, sighing as Marinette grabbed the phone.

She had memorized Adrien's pin number by heart after spending months watching him unlock his phone for purposes like this—and to make sure when they were married, she could go through his phone whenever she wanted to make sure he wasn't talking to anyone she didn't allow. So it was easy to go through his contacts and find that, sure enough, she had been blocked.

After quickly unblocking herself, she went to put the phone back, but hesitated. This was the one chance she had to make sure Adrien wasn't being seduced by that witch or anyone else. This was his phone—the gateway to his inner thoughts. Of course, she had to go through it all and see everything that Adrien had said or thought of value.

But... if she was caught, she knew the punishment would be harsh because theft was considered something serious.

She shook the thought away as quickly as it came to mind. She wouldn't get caught—she was too perfect for that—and even if she somehow was, she could easily point out she was just a teenager and didn't know better. She was Ladybug, and that meant she was allowed to do whatever she wanted.

She shut the locker, pocketed Adrien's phone, and hurried home.

...

After Mayor Hidalgo gave her speech to Paris's people, Chat admired the statue and how his features were matched perfectly, except for his height compared to Ladybug. He also noticed the mayor's calm confidence and wondered if he could ask her for public speaking tips since that wasn't one of his strong suits while giving presentations.

Alya was up in Théo's face with her phone, "Can I get some photos for the Ladyblog?" Théo nodded absently, and Danielle came over with a notepad,

"Is it alright if we interview you in the making of this statue?" She gestured to it, "The statues are masterfully done."

Chat sat around and talked to civilians while the ceremony went on, and he realized Ladybug wasn't coming, and he felt a weight lift off his shoulders as the ceremony ended.

When it was over, he noticed Théo looking devastated, and he walked over to him, "Hey, you good?"

"Ladybug didn't show up." He muttered, "I just wanted to express my adoration for her. Let her know that I put everything into her statue. I'm sure if she took a little time to get to know me, she would see how much we have in common—our devotion to the things we love."

Suddenly, it all clicked, and Chat tried to keep his discomfort out of tone and expression, "Hey buddy… you know Ladybug is a minor, right?"

Théo snapped up with horror, "Really?!"

"Yeah, I thought the pigtails kind of gave it away!" He shrugged, "We're both underage."

Théo was clearly uncomfortable with this conversation, "Well, the fact two teens are the ones protecting Paris is a bit concerning…" his expression changed to one of suspicion, "I sure hope you don't have a motive for saying that."

He thought about how Ladybug treated him and the fact he didn't know if he could trust her.

"When you start to wonder whether you can trust someone or not, that is when you already know you don't."

He read that in The School for Good and Evil series, which had been recommended to him by Felix, and he realized that the advice remained sound. He didn't trust Ladybug.

"Oh no, trust me!" he waved his hand around, and it ended up limp in front of him, and he tried not to look at it, "I would never have a motive for that."

Théo was silent for a moment, staring at Chat's hand, "You're gay?"

Panic shot through him as he quickly tried to remedy the situation, "Oh, not at all, never, no way I'm gay, like why would I even be gay?" He rubbed the back of his neck and looked anywhere that wasn't Théo as he felt his breathing pick up, "It's not like dreaming about kissing one guy under the full moon while all of Paris' lights illuminate and enhance the scene is gay, right?" He snapped back down to Théo, "Not gay, not at all!" 

"...Bi?"

He tried not to think about it as he prayed the heat on his face hadn't manifested into a blush. Théo laughed, and Chat noticed out of the corner of his eye, an Akuma was flying away. He relaxed,

"Yeah..." he laughed awkwardly, "I don't really know—but I'm not attracted to her, I promise! She really is just a minor," under his breath, he mumbled, "At least her attitude implies it." Speaking normally, he relaxed, "So... you okay? I should probably get going, but I can stay if you need someone to talk to. I know what it's like to be let down by Ladybug."

"I'm okay," he assured him, "I assume you have homework you need to do."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "Can we keep it between us about the whole minor thing? Ladybug will actually kill me if she finds out I let that slip."

"Alright," Théo waved, "Thanks, Chat Noir."

"No problem!" He leaped off and managed to hide in the storage closet and run down to the locker room, grabbing his bag just in time to have noticed Gorilla waiting in the front.

He hopped in the car, thinking about what Théo had said. He hadn't really thought about his sexuality. After all, his father wanted him to be perfect, an athlete, a genius, a gentleman, and find the best, hottest girlfriends. Or perhaps force him into an arranged marriage with whatever girl benefited the company for him to marry. His future had always seemed so set in stone that thinking about it was far scarier than it probably should be.

He hummed softly as he wondered why Ladybug hadn't shown up for the ceremony today. It was unlike her. Maybe she was sick? Not even a superhero was immune to the flu, after all.

And maybe it was a good thing she hadn't shown up because he had a feeling she would start nitpicking everything about the statue the moment Miracle News wasn't there. However, Nathan and Kiera had moved into an apartment together overlooking the park after Kiera's Mom kicked her out, so they would be able to see everything.

When he got home, he flopped onto his bed, realizing the school year was ending soon, and then summer break. He was almost done with his first year in public high school, and it felt incredible. If he was lucky, he would possibly be in a different class—one without Marinette.

Plagg flew out of Adrien's bag, "Adrien, I just checked your bag, and I can't find your phone."

Eyes snapping open, he dug into his bag too, not out of doubting Plagg, but more praying Plagg was wrong or missed that one pocket they both forgot about all the time. But sure enough, his phone was nowhere to be found.

Maybe he dropped it in a hurry, or it was still in his locker? He felt a nauseous feeling in his gut, knowing his father was going to kill him.

Speaking of the devil, his father stormed into the room, seemingly in a rage, and his face was that of complete seriousness as he stood before Adrien.

"Adrien. Were you at Ms. Dupain-Cheng's house?"

"No, why would I be?" He asked curiously, "She's not really a friend of mine, and I had fencing practice and—" his eyes widened as it clicked. His father had an app installed on his phone that tracked where he was at any given time and even notified him when Adrien got home, which was why he tried to not have his phone on him when he transformed.

So if his father was asking... that meant his phone had been tracked to Marinette's house.

Marinette had his phone.

Marinette probably broke into his locker and stole his phone. But why? What reason would she have to do so?

He began panicking, trying to desperately convince his father that he hadn't gone over to Marinette's house, and he was surprised to have a hand on his shoulder,

"I will believe you and look into this," his father said, then narrowed his eyes, "But if I see you snuck off, there will be consequences," and Adrien sighed. It was as if his father didn't consider he was panicking right now because his phone was stolen by his stalker! Who knew what she would do with it?!

He instantly jumped onto Instagram and into his DMs, glad to see there were no new posts. He sent messages to all his friends that his phone had been possibly stolen by someone, so if they got any messages until Adrien himself confirmed in person that he had his phone, please do not listen to them. 

He sighed in relief when everyone confirmed they would take note of that, and then he disabled his Instagram account, hoping to do as much as he could to prevent damage done. He was relieved to have backed up all his images in case Marinette deleted anything.

He felt like he was going to throw up, his entire body violently shaking as he laid on the floor to ease nausea. Not that it did anything. Now he had no way of talking to his friends without risking alerting Marinette.

Plagg flew down next to him, "Kid, I know this is scary, but if there is anything I can give your bastard father credit for, he will get your phone back."

"But let's see what happens after that," he moaned, and Plagg sat next to him, getting an idea,

"How about you take a bubble bath? I know you like those to calm down. And then have a snack, and watch a movie."

"I need to study for finals and get ahead on homework..." he muttered, but Plagg was having none of it,

"Do you really think you will be able to focus on that? Take tonight for yourself, and we can wait for all this to blow over." He flew to Adrien's television, getting The Princess Bride ready, "I know you love this movie! Come on, Adrien, you need to take a break."

Adrien forced himself to sit up, painting on a small smile, "Thanks, Plagg. You're right... I'll take a break."

"That's the spirit!" Plagg floated lazily, "I'll even share my camembert with you if you want some."

"Thank you, Plagg," he was nudged into the bathroom to fill up the bath and get the bubble bath ready, "What would I ever do without you?"

"Lay on the floor and destroy yourself by wallowing in your anxiety," Plagg replied bluntly, and Adrien couldn't help but laugh.

OoOoO

Adrien felt someone shaking him gently. The sun was out, which was quite unusual considering that Adrien was usually expected to wake up by himself at 5:30am sharp every day to prepare, and he would be lying if he said he liked doing that, but it is what it is, he supposed. 

Opening his eyes, Adrien saw Nathalie staring at him with a type of look almost… pitying? Concerned? Regardless, it was much more than the usual poker face she had and is trying and failing to have now.

"We've arrested Dupain-Cheng." 

And those three words explained it all. She pulled her hand away quickly before turning to leave, not without stilling for a far-too-long moment.

And Adrien, how did he feel? Marinette was a stalker, but she was originally a friend too. Why did he feel so bad for feeling good? And was it bad that he hoped Marinette would 180 her way into being the incredible person everyone believes she was? Was he selfish for wanting to have his cake and eat it too? Why did it feel so hard to separate from someone, who by all means, hurt him?

He touched his cheek to feel a wetness that could only come from tears, and those tears seemed weirdly… pointless? It wasn't like his father and Nathalie are going to be warm and caring overnight, even after a tough experience. 

… And yet it was so hard to not wish for someone to be there for you, isn't it?

…

Fuck fuck fuck, we're almost there, come on, we'll make it! Luka thought, sprinting towards the Agreste mansion's closing gate, Nino by his side. Neither of them had ever been athletes, but fuck if running away from Akumas and training a bit with a surprisingly strong Adrien didn't help him, then he was a lost fucking cause.

Slipping right past the gate, a moment before it turned off, Luka lost balance and skidded unceremoniously on the concrete. He looked up to see Nino on the other side of the gate, already trying to climb it. "Wait, Nino, here, let me help," Luka said, propping Nino's leg up only to be quickly waved off by the latter.

"Go help my bro, Luka! One thing I know is that he needs you more than I need help with this fence right now, and hell, if I'm not going to pole dance my way up this fucking fence for my bro, then I would like my best friend title revoked!" He said, confident.

Luka smiled before nodding and sprinting into Agreste's mansion and running up the stairs, likely leaving a trail of dirt with his heavy combat boots.

He was interrupted by a disapproving all familiar glare. "Mr. Couffaine," Gabriel said coldly.

"Gabe," Luka replied, smirking at Gabriel's face, red with embarrassment and fury. 

"I thought I made myself quite clear when I said—"Gabriel started, only to be cut off by an unimpressed Luka.

"Oh, shut up, Agreste. I'm helping your son by actually being there for him!" He snarled, only to be confronted with an enraged Gabriel, who looked like he was about to pop a vein.

"What do you know about my son?!" He screamed, puffing his chest out.

"Apparently more than you, you clod!" Luka screamed right back, leaving an aghast Gabriel, to go and comfort Adrien.

As Luka barged into Adrien's room, he found Adrien looking distressed and tearing at the seams. He opened his arms for the boy, only for the latter to hug him as tight as he could, sobbing his heart out, as Luka caressed his hair.

Adrien looked up at him with teary eyes, "They wouldn't arrest a kid over a phone, right?" He asked, not sure if he wanted yes or no as the answer. 

Luka sighed, going to wipe tears from Adrien's face, "Angel… they found photos. They found your entire schedule in her room. This was more than giggling when you walked down the hall, and photos on her phone or not wanting to embarrass herself, this was full stalking...and I think you know that too." He tried to explain everything gently to Adrien. 

Adrien nodded slightly, still clearly distressed, yet more content to lean into Luka's shoulder and forgot all his problems.

"I'm afraid Couffaine will have to leave, Adrien." Gabriel's voice cut at the moment. And just when I thought you were finally getting something nice too, prick.

"But father—!" Adrien tried to interject.

"You're not going to school today either. Your safety is our number one priority right now, and therefore you are to stay in the mansion at all costs." Gabriel said, with a type of tone that really gave no space for arguing back.

"It's alright, Angel, I know when it's a bad time," Luka said, taking Adrien's hand, "Just know I'm here for you, okay?" He said softly before he got up and was escorted by Natalie outside the house. 

As Luka approached Nino, who seemed to just now get over the fence, the latter groaned before being dragged out of the estate as well.

So Adrien was yet again alone. With his thoughts. In his room. Great. Plagg flew outside of Adrien's sock drawer and cuddled up to him, grumbling something along the lines of "being a better parent than Gabriel Agreste will ever be," which pulled a laugh out of Adrien.

The moment could not last much longer, though, as Ladybug herself entered the room, heaving like an animal and looking disheveled as hell.

Adrien tensed, standing to greet her politely, "H-Hey, LB! I'm guessing you're here because of the news too?" He asked nervously.

Ladybug waved him off quickly, "Yeah, I'm totally here for that, but more importantly, I'm here to ask you out!" She said, still a bit out of breath.

"...What?" Adrien said after a few moments of silence.

Ladybug smiled maniacally, swaying back and forth on her heels and holding the familiar black umbrella close to her. But Adrien couldn't place where it was from, even though he felt like he should, "Yes! And then we can date, and you'll be mine, and you will always be there on my side and never cheat on me or talk to any stupid boys, and we'll get married and have three kids and a hamster, and it will be perfect!" She rambled on, cornering Adrien against a wall.

And a small part of Adrien almost agreed. Not out of love, of course, that was gone several months ago, but to simply make her happy. If he just said yes and let her go at it, it would be fine, right? No one would get angry, and no one would explode!

"But what about you?" A voice eerily similar to Luka asked softly. He thought back to everything he learned and how far he had gone with Luka.

"You're kind of what I'd imagine when I think 'angelic'"

"You are worth so much more than any amount of money one might label your body with. You are not some piece of meat for people to ogle at for a price."  

"I will always be there to help and support those who need me, no matter the price. Others come before me. Anyone."

"Just know I'm here for you, okay?"

Adrien stopped and pushed away Ladybug's hand, which had been going to caress his cheek, "I don't want that." He said, creating distance between them and standing proud. 

Ladybug stood in silence for a moment that seemed to have lasted forever before starting to growl and breathe heavily, "You… You don't have a choice in this!" She screamed, going to violently grab him. 

Fortunately, Adrien was quicker, grabbing Ladybug's wrist and tying her arms against her back with a shirt lying around and snatching her earrings, throwing her off balance as she continued to use one of her hands to grip the umbrella. As she detransformed, Adrien didn't know if to be surprised or terrified that Ladybug was Marinette.

It made sense when he thought about everything, but to think someone he regarded as both a friend and a partner was simply the same stalker, who didn't truly care about him as a person but as an object? It kinda hurt.

He couldn't think much about it before Nathalie, Gorilla, and Gabriel barged into the room and properly apprehended Marinette, as he pocketed the earrings somewhere discreetly. 

Gabriel approached Adrien, holding him by the shoulders and giving him a stern look, "We just now received the report from the police that Ms. Dupain-Cheng transformed into Ladybug and publicly announced her identity, seemingly in hopes of preventing arrest, and flew off. Naturally, we had to check up on you. It seems that you have handled the situation well." He said, which warmed Adrien's heart. "I have to know where the earrings are, though. Ladybug can definitely no longer hold onto those artifacts, and I need those earrings to report them to the police." 

Something about him looked so desperate and frantic, Adrien couldn't have given him the earrings. Was it selfishness? Fear? He did not know. What he does know is that he needs a diversion. In the form of a sweet distressed son stroking his father's ego.

"I-I don't know, Dad, I was so scared! She just came by and detransformed and tried to g-grab me, and I was so scared, Dad!" He started stuttering before hugging his father and whimpering in his suit.

Something in Gabriel seemed to soften, but also seemed weirdly disappointed? He petted Adrien's head for a bit before separating from him, "It's alright, son. I know you lack much experience in the world, nevermind attackers. We will search Marinette for the earrings, and all you need to do is to stay in your room, am I clear?" He asked, receiving a nod and some tears from his poor son.

...

Gabriel got up to see the Gorilla pulling Marinette away, as the latter was screaming curses and blood murdered, clearly insane. She had the type of scream that chilled one to the bone, which made you almost pity her if it weren't for the colorful death threats sprinkled in for flavor. She will truly make a fine Akuma, especially now with Ladybug gone to save the day. Perhaps today was when I finally won. Everyone except Adrien filed out of the room to attend to their business.

...

When they were all gone, Adrien took a deep breath, wiped any tears on his face, and pulled out the earrings from his pocket. He turned to Plagg in distress, "What should I do?! Marinette obviously gonna get akumatized, but we have no Ladybug to purify it!" He exclaimed, starting to pace back and forth in his room.

Plagg sighed and pulled on Adrien's shirt to get him to stop, "It means you get to decide who's the new Ladybug holder now!" He said, sitting Adrien down.

"How the actual hell am I supposed to do that?!" Adrien shouted in distress.

Plagg thought for himself, rubbing his chin with his little nub, "It's kind of like a gut feeling, you see! You gotta kinda listen with your heart or some shit!" He looked to see a still, very confused Adrien before he murmured something about "Tikki is worlds better at this." 

After a few seconds of seeming to give himself a pep talk, Plagg managed to get out words of guidance for Adrien,

"Listen," he said, "Who is a person you can trust on anything and everything? Who is a person who always has a plan and can think strategically? Who is a person you know you'll be a good team with? Who is, per se, your other half? That person will be your Ladybug." He finished, giving Adrien a moment to think through the statement.

Adrien looked up after a second, giving Plagg a serious look he hadn't seen on the boy before, "...I know what to do," he said, before transforming into Chat Noir.

Time to visit Luka Couffaine.

Chapter Text

Chat Noir quickly took out an extra jewelry box he had laying around for the Ladybug earrings before he bolted out of the window, rushing to the Liberty, clutching the earrings in the box close to his chest.

As he landed near the Liberty, Chat stopped to take a deep breath before leaping to Luka's window, knocking on it gently. When the latter noticed him, Chat climbed through the window the minute it was opened by Luka. 

Luka helped Chat in before closing the window as Chat was pacing back and forth. He watched him for a moment before asking, "Chat? What's wrong? Is there an Akuma coming?" He gently took Chat's wrist to stop his worrying.

He turned to Luka, kicking his leg around, "Yeah, totally, by the way, Ladybug's earrings might have been confiscated from her, and she is kinda Marinette, and she's gonna get akumatized—"

Luka cut him off, "Excuse me, what the fuck?! Is everyone okay?! Are you okay?! Did she do something?! Did it have to do with Adrien?! Is that why you're here? Did she hurt him, did she hurt you? I need answers!" He gripped Chat's shoulders with a look of pure dread.

Chat took Luka's hand, petting it gently, "Hey, don't run yourself up the wall, okay? Ladybug, or well Marinette, attempted to do something inappropriate with Adrien Agreste, but—let me finish please," he said to Luka's protest, "He apprehended her before anything happened okay? He is safe, and he also took her Miraculous away from her!" He said, seeing as Luka's shoulders relaxed. Perhaps a small joke was in order?

Chat cocked his head to the side, "You can really say Adrien Agreste wasn't kitten around!" He grinned as Luka snorted out a laugh, glad someone enjoyed his jokes. "But that's beside the point! I'm here because Adrien wants you to have the earrings!" He said seriously as he pulled out the box with the Ladybug earrings.

Luka stilled, looking at the box with a sort of indecipherable look, "He… wants me to have the earrings?" He asked softly, a gentle blush dusting his cheeks. The unspoken question hung in the air: He trusts me to have the earrings?  

Chat turned red and looked away, "O-Oh yeah, I just thought, because Adrien was kinda harassed by Marinette, both as herself and Ladybug, he should really be the one to choose who gets these, and he really trusts you and wants you to have it so… yeah." Now he was surely a tomato. He could feel the heat emitting from his cheeks! He had to get a hold of himself. It's that stupid comment at the statue event… he tried to convince himself poorly.

Luka looked at Chat in confusion. Why was he blushing all cute? It wasn't as if Luka was talking about him? He was talking about Adrien? Unless that's the same thing? And it's that stupid heartsong he could hear and can't place a name on again… and that pretty violin~ a small voice suggested.

...But he shouldn't get hopeful. Unless?

Luka took a box from Chat, sending him an encouraging smile, "Of course I'll take the earrings! If it is to defend the city and comfort Adrien, then I promise to try my absolute best!" 

Chat smiled graciously, "Thank you so much—" he started before getting cut off by the sound of buildings collapsing in the distance and his staff's Akuma notification going off repeatedly. He quickly exited Luka's room before turning to the latter, "Will I see you soon?" He asked, and Luka nodded, a genuine look in his eyes. After assuring Chat, the latter left.

When he was sure Chat was gone, Luka started flapping his hands and pacing his room in a panic. After letting out stress by silent screaming, Luka plopped on his bed, inspecting the box he received. It looks like a normal box? Nothing quite special in it… "Do I just open this?" He asked no one in particular, opening the box and tensing when a pink ball of light started swirling around him and forming into this… bug chibi creature doll?

The small thing opened their eyes before gasping in horror and looking around frantically. Their eyes stopped on Luka before zipping through the air to create distance. He supposed that this… creature? Person? Pixie? Was the source of Ladybug's powers and being ripped away from the original owner of the earrings—who Luka can't imagine how badly she treated them—and placed in the arms of a random person can't be pleasant.

He approached her slowly, crouching to her eye-level, presenting his hands to them as a show of good intentions, "Hey, it's alright, I'm not here to hurt you, okay? You're safe…" he comforted, frowning when the little pixie thing hadn't relaxed. Perhaps an introduction is in order? "My name is Luka," he said, pointing at himself, before gesturing at the scared pixie, "What is your name? Or well, nickname?" He asked gently, "And if it's not rude to ask, what are you? And do you have pronouns?" He asked, hoping he didn't ask too much.

The little spotted pixie peaked at him before approaching him timidly. "My name is Tikki, and I am a Kwami," they, or now Tikki, said slowly, "Kwamis don't necessarily have a gender of sorts, but I prefer female pronouns? And no nicknames, please." The last statement about nicknames was said quite seriously.

Luka decided to comment jokingly, "Call you Dottie, and I die?" He teased, seeing her confused look.

"No? I do not believe I'll kill you for such a thing! Or at all! What was that supposed to mean?" Tikki asked, flabbergast one would hurt another over a nickname.

Luka snickered a bit, "It's just a reference to a show Tikki, don't worry," he soothed, "But now I believe we have some important stuff to attend to. I know you must be shaken from today, but an Akuma attack is happening soon and your owner, or well previous owner, is likely the one akumatized. I believe the earrings were confiscated from her because she broke into Adrien Agreste's house to likely do something not so good." He said nervously, watching as Tikki mumbled something to herself about "How could she do this" and "I've never seen a Ladybug do this."

He pulled out the earrings, offering them to Tikki, "Will you help me out here and explain to me how these work? I know the basics from the Ladyblog trying to reveal Ladybug's identity, but I do think a thorough explanation would help." He said awkwardly. 

Tikki looked at him, seemingly evaluating him for a moment, before nodding a bit and starting to explain the powers of the Ladybug miraculous. After the explanation, Luka took a minute to organize all the information he received in his mind. Okay. Ladybug Miraculous. The Miraculous of creation. I wear these two earrings and receive said power. My power is "Lucky Charm," which gives me an object to guide me in the right direction, and I can revert damage directly made by the threat I was stopping using said Lucky Charm. The transformation phrase is "Spots on" and "Spots off," as cliche as that is, and because I'm an adult, I get more transformation time and can use Lucky Charm an unlimited amount of times, but still recommended to do so sparingly. Okay. 

Luka looked at Tikki, "Alright, I think I got it now!" He said, "Just one problem, though. My gauges are a couple of sizes larger than the standard earring size? So I can't really put them on unless I pierce my ears again, and that would be noticeable and likely infected." 

Tikki brightened, "Well, there's a solution to that! You see, the Ladybug earrings have existed for a long time now! Many people from different cultures were Ladybugs, and therefore their clothing based on time and place differentiated! That's why every Miraculous…" she placed her little nubs on the earrings, merging them into earplugs, "Can change shape!" 

Luka inspected the new earrings, "oo" ing and "ahh" ing at the magic behind this little object. He quickly put them on, standing up, "Okay, Tikki! Spots on!" He exclaimed as his outfit transformed into a spotted suit with no sleeves and one opera length fingerless glove,many spikes, and an asymmetric spotted hoodie on top of, and little Ladybug wings at his feet and a black and white spotted mask as the final touch. 

He quickly looked at himself in the mirror, playing around with a hoodie before refocusing on his mission. He took the yoyo he had on his hip before throwing it to see it actually went far, really fast, and hit his head. Rubbing the new sore spot, he recollected the yoyo and half climbed out of the window before throwing his yoyo again and wrapping it around a nearby tree. Taking a deep breath, he jumped, swinging and landing on the sidewalk.

He laughed, releasing the yoyo from the tree and playing with it. He took a deep breath and threw it again with more intent, this time swinging with much more force from a lamppost, and slowly gained momentum, using buildings and anything in his path as a crutch to moving forward.

…

It was worse than he could have ever imagined. 

To fight Marinette—to fight Ladybug, who once upon a time, he had valued highly—was something he had barely managed to prepare himself for, thinking about every possible outcome. But this... this was just too much.

He stood on top of a building not far from Notre Dame Cathedral, and in the courtyard of the massive building was a crowd of akumatized people. He couldn't even try to count the sheer number, so he didn't even bother, his mind reeling from what his eyes were telling him was the truth.

In general, he supposed this wasn't much of a shock because Marinette's arrest was a pretty public affair, and her announcing being Ladybug was even more so.

Alright, focus. Chat Noir took deep breaths, crouching lower to avoid being seen as he took in what he was seeing. From what he gathered, this was only a fraction of the total number, and they were confused and unsure of what they were doing. They might have been waiting for Chat to pop up because if Ladybug had been akumatized, how exactly were they gonna get the earrings?

That meant the battle would begin whenever Luka was spotted—no pun intended—or Chat started it. He looked out and saw some of the villains had taken to bounding around the streets of Paris.

Alright... what should he do in this situation? Diving in headfirst was pretty stupid, but then again, it was probably a worse idea to let them find the inexperienced Luka first. Therefore he had to figure out where Marinette was in all of this and what her powers were. Hawk Moth had never akumatized this many people before, and unless he had for some reason been able to bank on exactly this happening, it probably meant this was directly tied to her power.

He glanced down again at the akumas; they were beginning to scatter. Chat Noir decided to stand in hopes of keeping as many of them in the area as possible, grateful for the subtle ridge in his suit, which made the ring nigh impossible to remove while he was transformed.

"Looking for me?" He called, catching their attention, "Hey, Marinette, come on out!" He knew jumping down wasn't wise because he had to figure out how many of them could fly or just jump really high if he wanted any hope of figuring out what exactly he was dealing with.

He wondered if he should use Black Storm to lower the number but decided he needed to figure if Marinette was behind this. Seeing as they all had unique designs, he was beginning to wonder if somehow Hawk Moth had been able to plan for this. He shook himself, deciding that was something to worry about after this was over, and he spun his staff like a disk, having figured out he could do so, and as he flipped down after smacking a few enemies in the face and darting past others.

The whole thing went into a blur after a few moments of fighting for his life in the swarm, ducking, and weaving to avoid attacks. The only fraction of data he got out of the whole thing was that either the akumas were terrible at working together, or they were downright competing for who could get the ring. 

Pushing past as many as possible, he used the masterful strategy of one-handed cartwheels, which allowed him to move fast enough that, for the most part, everything missed him. If he wasn't transformed, there was no way he would be able to keep this up, but with Plagg's power aiding him, it came as natural as breathing.

"Taste my invincibility frames!" He taunted, and he looked up at the top of the cathedral, and he realized that there was a woman up there in vibrant pink, and he ditched the crowd, leaping up there while climbing the cathedral until he was at the top with her. After talking in her outfit, he knew who this was, "Ah, M'Lady, at least your outfit isn't terrible." That nickname he used to say fondly was now spat with such venom it was almost tangible.

She glared, "That's Princess Justice to you."

"Discount Light Yagami?" 

"Enough!" She pointed her sword directly at his neck, and he noticed it was probably the umbrella he had given her, which he realized now may have started this whole mess. He should have let her hate him all those months ago and save everyone from the trouble.

He pushed the blade away from his neck without much thought, knowing enough about his opponent already to know she relied on meat shields and distractions. Here, she had a sword, but she didn't have deus-ex-Machina-the-superpower to give her an automatic win. "Relax, PJ, I just want to talk. I'm just your useless sidekick, now aren't I?" He made his tone that of innocence, and he knew that all he had to do was fuel her overinflated ego, and she would hopefully crash and burn all by herself.

As predicted, she relaxed, and he already knew they were planning the same game as she came up to him, looking ready to feel him up, and he took a loud step back, so she knew what he was doing even if she had a blindfold over her eyes.

"You're right. You are useless without me, and without Ladybug, you have no hope of defeating anything. Can you purify akumas? Or fix the damage?" Chat bit his tongue to keep the sarcasm at bay. She smiled sweetly, contrasting everything else about her, "If you truly care about the real Ladybug, you will give me the ring and help me cleanse Paris!"

Deciding to throw caution to the wind and accepting no amount of manipulation would work on her, he laughed, "Yeah, no." He lunged light on his feet and used his staff to create distractions and make sure she would have difficulty figuring out where he was coming from. She dodged and leaped about three meters into the air, and he was surprised to discover her skirt acted as a parachute and slowed her fall, which seemed to give her time to come up with her own strategy as Chat dove at her, assuming the Akuma had to be in her sword. If he could just get to that, this battle would be over.

She used one of the metal spikes of her dress to stab him in the leg, not enough to hurt but enough to be startling and throw him off balance as he rolled out of the way of what would have been a fatal blow. He hooked his foot around her leg, sending her tumbling to the ground and giving him time to get his footing.

Block, dodge, attack, parry, attack, block, dodge, parry... he smirked a bit, "Are you actually gonna try, or are we gonna do the same song and dance as any other Akuma?"

Princess Justice roared in rage, and as predicted, her blows became more erratic and without a strategy, meaning he had to move faster, but the battle itself wasn't much harder. If anything, it would be easier in the long-run.

What caught him off guard was when two massive hands grabbed him and kept him still as he struggled, and he looked up with horror to see another one of the akumas who seemed to have a werewolf theme.

"Thanks, Papa," Princess Justice pranced over, her sword at Chat's neck, "And now, you die." She was just about to go for the kill when a loud shout stopped her.

"Hey, Ribbons! Guess what?! There's a new polka dot bitch in town! And this one has a hoodie!"

They all turned and saw Luka standing slightly above them, spinning the yoyo, and he swooped down, kicking what Chat assumed was Papa Garou in the face, releasing Chat from the hold just in time to be grabbed by the waist, and they both were launched down from Notre Dame and into the street.

"Nice going..." Chat grinned, then hesitated as he realized he didn't have a hero name for him. Luka returned the broad smile,

"Coccinelle." 

"Well then, Coccinelle, you're doing gre—Look out!" He pulled out his staff and extended it to soften their fall because they just about landed into a wall.

They both took a moment to get their footing, and Chat turned to the courtyard again, seeing that while the Akuma villains hadn't seen them, they were collecting... wood? They were gathering all the wood in a pile as though they were going to start construction.

A thought came into his head, and he wasn't sure where exactly it came from. It was going to be an execution pyre... for Luka.

Because who else would it be for? Luka was the one Marinette called a witch when she thought only Alya could hear. Didn't it make sense that a pyre would be for the person she deemed as a witch?

But if this was the case, Princess Justice was a lot deadlier than he had thought. She knew the Ladybug Miraculous couldn't revert indirect attacks that were not an Akuma's power. She knew this, and she was taking advantage of it now.

Coccinelle came over, "Chat?" He saw the pyre, "Is that what I think it is?"

"I hope not, but given this is Marinette, I can't think of any other possibility." They both heard a loud screech that just sounded like it came from a spoiled brat, and suddenly all the Akumas who had been gathering wood noticed them and went for the attack.

Coccinelle tensed, "This isn't good."

"No, it isn't. Shall we run and come up with a plan?"

"Yeah."

They both broke into a sprint, dashing across the rooftops, and Chat quickly realized that the two who were hot on their heels were Lady WiFi and who he guessed was Sabine.

"Okay!" Coccinelle said to him, "You take Lady WiFi, and I take Verity Queen?"

"Verity Queen?"

"Yeah, I heard it on the way here. I think her power is related to truth and belief and such, so she shouldn't be inherently dangerous. And you beat Lady WiFi before, so this should be easy enough."

"Good plan." He spun and went for Lady WiFi, kicking her phone out of her hand where it landed in one of the roof gutters. She growled with rage and dove at him, and he noticed she was much more violent than normal, so his goal was to keep her far away from the phone, so this was a simple hand-to-hand combat match.

He used his staff to break the phone, and he was both relieved and terrified to find an Akuma came out, only this time it was red. Was that Princess Justice's power, or had Hawk Moth somehow banked on this? If it was the former, it would certainly explain the red color.

Either way, Coccinelle was able to grab and purify the butterfly as he dodged an attack from Verity Queen, who had a crescent moon spade that Chat assumed worked something like Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth. Not inherently dangerous, but it wouldn't be good for someone with a secret identity to be hit by.

But Chat didn't expect for another red Akuma to fly at Alya and akumatize her back into Lady WiFi with a new phone. And he hadn't seen where the butterfly had gone this time. "What?!" He looked to Coccinelle, "We have to get to Princess Justice! If she's the ringleader—" he dodged the pause feature of Lady WiFi's and noticed other Akumas starting to join them and going mostly for Coccinelle. Chat covered him and fought a few villains back, but he had to know exactly what was going on.

Of the few he noticed, there were Stoneheart, Horrificator, Evillustrator, and Stormy Weather. Thankfully, Stormy Weather's wind made it hard for the others to fight, but others were on the way. Chat looked to Coccinelle, and he sucked in a breath, hoping for the best, 

"Black Storm!" The power launched out of his hands, and he felt his energy leave just as quickly, letting adrenaline keep him going, but even that was barely working.

It would only delay the inevitable, but that was enough as Coccinelle helped him run, only for both of them to be pulled down to the ground forcefully and hidden in an alleyway with eight Akumas. Coccinelle was about to fight, but the girl Chat realized was Chloé shushed him.

"Relax, we're on your side," she assured him, and she let her yoyo fall slack, "Here we've got Nino," Nino waved, "Kagami," she did too, "And the cult," the cult all gave varying degrees of greeting, and Chat beamed,

"Nathan, you're a waterbender?" Nathan looked down at his attire and then pulled a strand of his hair, as the red dye had changed to a dark blue,

"I think so. Still haven't figured out if I can bloodbend. That would be sweet." He looked to the others, "We all seem to hate Marinette so much that we have our own minds, but I can't say the same about the others."

"The others?" Coccinelle asked, and Percy explained, tapping his watch and creating a holographic replay of events, such as akumatizations,

"Princess Justice was the first, and the first place she went to was the school, where she began chopping off the heads of children." Chat was horrified as he saw the replay in graphic detail, including seeing Rose was horrifically cut down protecting Juleka. The ground suddenly became impossible to stand on as he fell to his knees, clinging to Coccinelle, who was frozen in shock.

"A lot of us accepted the Akumas for fear of our lives," Kagami added on, "Since Princess Justice was going after specifically women and those closest to Adrien. I became Onichan, Chloé became Antibug, Nino became Hamsa, and many others simply kept their names."

"And some people are still on Marinette's side?!" Coccinelle asked in rage, and Danielle played with her paintbrush,

"You can thank the Ladyblog and her revealing that she's Ladybug. That and Marinette is still popular, and not everyone believes the accusations against her are true. But for the most part, it's die-hard fangirls, her family, and Alya. Everyone else is just picking what they see as the winning team. Most people just want to get your Miraculous and be done with it."

"How many are on our side?"

"Not many who are still alive," Kiera muttered bitterly, "Princess Dictator went on a full-on slaughter. The only reason we survived was jumping for an Akuma and hoping for the best." She clutched her head and turned to the wall. Her body suddenly burst into flames, and Nathan used some water from the nearby Seine to ease the fire, and Chat noticed the butterfly symbol over her eyes. Was Hawk Moth in control or not?!

Chat looked to Hamsa, who had a shield up around them all, and Nathan pulled Kiera close, "Let us out, I'll take her."

"What's—" Coccinelle tried to ask, but Ashton shushed him,

"Hawk Moth isn't a fan of us actively resisting him. I'm not sure how much control he actually has over us or if that's Marinette, but the fact we dove for the Akumas to save ourselves and aren't going after the Ladybug and Cat must have caught his attention. It's not particularly painful, but it kind of causes a headache added onto everything else, and for Kiera and fire powers, she has to strain herself when that happens."

Chat Noir noticed Percy had pulled his holographic hoodie tighter around himself, his form trembling, and he bent down to the small boy, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm scared..." Percy's bottom lip quivered before he started full-blown crying, clinging to Chat's waist, "I don't wanna die... not like this..."

"Percy..." Chat pet his hair, "It's gonna be okay, I promise. Just—" he was cut off by the sound of loud screeching, and he saw Hamsa fighting to use his shields and keep back at least five different Akumas pounding on it.

Ashton whipped out four different types of blades, tossing one to both Percy and Danielle. Danielle looked at the massive switchblade in her hands, "How do you use this?!"

"Act like it's your paintbrush and work from there." He put his hand on Coccinelle's shoulder, "If you don't think you can fight yet, you don't have to. Just get Percy and Dani to safety. Their powers only work on the defense."

"I'm staying," Coccinelle said, sending Chat Noir a reassuring look. Antibug wrapped her arm around Percy's waist,

"I'll take him." She scoffed, "Better Ladybug than Marinette could ever be. Seriously, who was stupid enough to trust Dupain-Cheng with a Miraculous?!"

"Not now, Chloé," Chat said, and he put a hand on Coccinelle's shoulder, "Let's do this." He looked to Hamsa, "You can let the barrier go now."

The barrier released, and a band of what were clearly Ladybug fangirls, which Chat decided to dub the Harpies if their screams were any indication, attacked.

Antibug took Percy and went to flee, but Percy pulled out a disk, not unlike one you would find in Tron, and chucked it like a frisbee, knocking one of their attackers in the face as he came back to him, "I just wanted to feel useful." 

Onichan and Chat Noir were back to back, him using his staff like a saber as they worked in sync to fend off the enemies. Ashton was injuring their enemies enough to make it easy to deal with them, and now that they had an official team, Chat actually had hope they could get out of this alive.

"Good work, girls,"

Oh no. Chat looked up and saw Princess Justice floating down to meet them, sword at the ready, and Ashton barely saved Danielle from a fatal blow, and she had her knife at the ready.

This was the first time the two Ladybugs met each other's gaze, and Chat was dismayed to see Princess Justice was clearly able to put the pieces together as she growled,

"How could Adrien do this to me?! Giving my Miraculous to you, witch!" She charged, and Chat got in the way, blocking the blow,

"It's not your Miraculous, as you have long since lost the right when you abused it because you wanted in a guy's pants!"

"Adrien belongs to me!" She shrieked, "Everyone loves me!" She suddenly had a yoyo wrapped around her waist, and Coccinelle was holding firm,

"Nah, I'm pretty sure I hate your guts." He kicked back one of the Harpies, and Chat fought off another, but he knew his strength was waning fast.

Princess Justice smirked at Coccinelle, going limp and throwing off his balance as she went flying at him.

It was like time had frozen as Chat Noir heard the sound of flesh being torn and saw Princess Justice's bloody sword and the dark stain on Coccinelle's abdomen, which even he wasn't fully processing.

"Coccinelle!" Everyone shouted, and Chat saw red, but it was overridden by the sheer horror. Countless emotions whirled at a rapid pace that he was reeling from the force of it as though he had been the one to strike.

He had never fully believed in the idea of distress causing time to slow. However, he knew that logically there was no way he wouldn't have been killed if it really had been an eternity like he felt it was. He wasn't even in control of his body anymore as he rushed to Coccinelle's side, seeing the wound from his hip to across his stomach. Any deeper, and she very well could have essentially cut him in half.

Princess Justice stalked predatorily closer, sword at the ready and dripping with blood, and Chat wrapped himself around Coccinelle, who was half-conscious from the amount of blood he was losing.

"It's pointless to try and fight me," she taunted, "Not even the witch will save you now, and finally all of your dear supporters will see just how worthless you really are." The harpies were winning in sheer numbers against the allies, and they were watching and cheering, alongside Lady WiFi and others who Chat didn't recognize, to watch her defeat them. 

Chat growled, even though he knew he was nothing but a cornered animal, and he was too exhausted to even consider Black Storm again. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a distant thought came to him, almost like a memory that didn't belong to him, of Black Storm used multiple times, and it having unpleasant consequences, which he supposed made sense.

"Stay back!" He tried instead, hoping it didn't sound as pathetic as it did to his own ears, and he didn't realize he had gotten practically on all fours, and both his hands were on the ground.

Of all the things to happen, what actually occurred was not what he expected. For holes of pure blackness to come from the ground and swallow up all of his enemies, with the exception of Lady WiFi and Princess Justice, who both jumped up to escape.

Princess Justice began to float down safely on a ledge with Lady WiFi, and the latter jumped down and flew at them, only to get pounced at by a blur, and when everything became clear, he saw it was Juleka in her Punisher attire.

She slammed Lady WiFi into the wall, and blood spilled from the lines Juleka gouged across Lady WiFi's cheeks with her nails.

She reached for the dagger at her waist, but Antibug was back and grasped her wrist, "Juleka, stop. Do you really want to stoop to their level?"

"We're better off without her," Juleka snarled, but Antibug shook her head, and Chat was snapped out of his shock and turned to Coccinelle's side.

"Can you stand?" He asked. Coccinelle nodded shakily, trying to pull himself to his feet.

Just as soon as he managed to get to his feet, Coccinelle's knees buckled. His vision went blurry as he tried to grab the wall, or anything, really, to stop him from—

Chat Noir caught him before he hit the ground, pulling him close, easing his hands under Coccinelle's back and legs in a bridal-style carry. Coccinelle had his head rested on Chat's shoulder, looking up at him before opening his mouth, but Chat shushed him gently, "It's okay, I've got you."

"Chat!" He turned and saw Danielle had painted the sewer into a wall just out of Princess Justice's sights. Simultaneously, the villain in question was busy with the combined efforts of Onichan and the returned Nathan, who had collected enough water that he was using it as a rope creeping up to her head to drown her. Percy and Ashton were above fighting back others, back to back, and Chat looked to Danielle, who anxiously gestured for them to go inside.

"Thank you, Danielle," he ran through into the sewer, and the last thing he saw was the ember of flames as he assumed Kiera burned away at the paint to make sure nobody could follow.

As Chat ran through the sewers, carrying Coccinelle, he came across an intersection with a wall that could very easily separate the two and hide his identity from the latter. He placed Coccinelle on one side of the wall before going to the other side, whispering his detransformation phrase and slumping against the wall.

He could distantly hear Coccinelle slurring out the phrase "spots off" and saw from the corner of his eye a bright light flashing before a ladybug themed Kwami flew towards Luka's wounds. Adrien pulled out his ziplock bag of camembert that he kept with him, making sure to feed Plagg quickly before transforming again, walking over to the other side, bag in hand, and he curiously examined what the Ladybug Kwami was doing. Luka was pressing against his wound, trying to keep back hacking coughs and a dark red coloring at his lips where some blood had come up.

When she noticed both men's confusion, she explained, "I'm the Kwami of creation. Just like heroes, Kwamis will have powers based on their Miraculous, though it's much more potent and unstable. I'm right now using the equivalent of the regenerating Ladybugs to heal Coccinelle's wound." She sighed fondly as both boys made noises of understanding.

Luka winced, trying to do his best to curl himself in a ball in hopes of escaping what felt like fire through his abdomen—it was worse than anything... anything he had ever...

Chat bent down at Luka's side, brushing away stray tears of pain, "We can fix this. You can use Lucky Charm unlimited times, right? Can't you just use Miraculous Ladybug to heal yourself?"

"No," Luka insisted, but it sounded a bit more like a whine than had probably been intended. "We can't do that. Even if it would heal me..." he shivered, leaning into Chat's warmth, trying his best to focus on breathing and not his blood squirting out of him in time with his heartbeat. Some distant part of his brain wondered why he hadn't died already but figured it had something to do with Tikki. "Even if we do that, Marinette will just continue to kill and kill and kill," each repetition brought a feeling of complete gut-punching dread to Chat as he realized Luka was right, "And even if..." he coughed, "No matter what, they will all be traumatized. I don't want to make it worse."

"I suppose you're right," Chat muttered, "But Luka, you'll die without help." He looked down at the wound, grateful Luka's clothes before transforming had not been cut, even if his suit had. So much for armor-like suits, he thought bitterly but supposed that magic sword meant specifically for cutting people had different limits than a regular sword.

Tikki tended to his wounds. Luka attempted to nudge the little Kwami away and whispered, "You need food first."

She ignored him, continuing to heal his wounds, "I will eat when I'm done. You need this much more! And you might have forgotten to take a snack." She said sheepishly as Luka groaned, and Chat pulled out the camembert bag.

"I have some extra snacks! I hope you don't mind camembert cheese? My Kwami wouldn't mind sharing." He offered before Tikki gave a little displeased whine.

Luka's chuckle was cut off as he writhed in pain again, trying to lower his body completely on the sewer floor instead of sitting up, whining in anguish as he was denied what felt like the only escape from this physical torment. He could distantly hear Chat's heartsong. Oh, that dreadful song, always on the tip of his tongue. And that stupid pretty violin.

He had heard this violin before. I've heard this song before. He didn't know what had made it click, perhaps that moment of having heard it when Chat was detransformed, and those pieces were lining into place as he realized where he knew this sweet melody.

This was Adrien's violin. This song is Adrien's heart song. Holy shit. Holy fucking shit. This explained everything. The little disappearances, the blushing when he joked about Chat Noir's ass... He joked about Chat Noir's ass to Chat Noir, who just happened to be his very deep crush and minor celebrity crush.

Oh sweet lord.

"Luka?" Chat Noir asked, pulling Luka out of his downwards spiral of thought, "You okay? Are you fainting?" He asked worriedly. Even in and out of costume, he's still caring for everyone, Luka thought absentmindedly.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay, not out for the count yet!" He said, voice cracking. He groaned, covering his face, and avoiding the shocked glare of Tikki, who already figured him out.

Chat Noir contemplated how to comfort Luka. A joke worked before, so maybe it'll work again? He didn't want Luka to hurt again, though… perhaps just keep things light. "Rough first day on the job?" He asked as he slid the piece of Camembert in Luka's direction.

Luka breathed out a laugh, reaching for the camembert, "Yeah. First day on the job and she beheads people. But it could be much worse," instead of reaching for the camembert, he gently took Chat's hand in his, "We still have each other, don't we? Together we can do this." He assured the blonde.

Chat Noir paused for a moment, relishing in the feeling of touch and affection. He's never felt like that with Ladybug. Not that she would be so affectionate in the first place. He never felt that way with Nino or any of his classmates, and he was very caring with them! But it was only with him. Only with him did everything suddenly feel so… nice. Like nice but in a different way. A special way.

...Theo was right.

I love him, Chat felt it hit him like a truck, I love him so much, and I care, and I want him by my side, and… god, I want him. I want him. He thought back to the pyre being built and who it was likely made for. He won't die. He can't die! He has so much to live for, and he has a family that loves him and friends that would take a bullet for him, a career and potential in music, all his life ahead of him! And what do I have? A life set in stone, likely in some loveless marriage, and a father that doesn't care. He continued to mull over the situation for a little bit before coming to a conclusion.

I won't let him die. I'll take his place.

"Hey, Luka? I'm gonna go continue fighting and keep them away from here, while you stay here and tend to your wounds? Only come back if you think you're ready to fight. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore, okay?" He asked him gently.

Luka hummed in approval, giving Chat a weak thumbs-up, "I trust you, Chat." He whispered softly, shaking, and clutching his abdomen. And that was more than Ladybug ever did now, was it? Tikki gave Chat an assuring nod, giving him peace of mind and allowing him to go on his way, a new mission in mind.

He detransformed once he was sure he was a safe distance away from them and quickly fed Plagg once again. Plagg looked around in confusion,

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Chat Noir won't be able to help us," he looked up at the rungs to leave the sewer. He didn't know where he would come out, and he could only hope for the journey to his life's last destination... he could only hope it would end soon.

"Adrien," Plagg seemed to realize there was something else going on, "What are you planning?"

"Nothing for you to worry about, Plagg," Adrien forced a smile, petting Plagg's head, "I just have an idea to end all of this." He began climbing upwards to avoid meeting Plagg's gaze, as though eye contact would reveal what he was planning. It wasn't like Plagg could stop him, but something about letting him know ahead of time seemed almost cruel.

He freed himself from the confines of the sewer, looking down and only able to pray Luka would be well enough to join soon. But perhaps it was better for him to stay down there for a while.

He looked around, getting a feel for where he was as he took off in the direction of Notre Dame, knowing that even if she wasn't there, it was where he was most likely to get her attention.

Plagg followed him, "Kid, what's going on? We have to transform!" Adrien expertly leaped over a fallen tree, getting a good leap out of it to get on top of one of the tipped-over buses and from there into an abandoned car, the keys still thankfully inside.

He didn't actually know how to drive, but he supposed the movies he had watched could give him a good idea as he fumbled with getting the vehicle out of park and then hitting the gas. He raced across the city, progressively bumping into obstacles in the already damaged car. 

"Well, this is working pretty well," he knew he had gotten himself far away from the cathedral, so this was the fastest way to get there besides running, which could very well get him killed before his plan came to fruition. He parked the car and went to get out, turning to Plagg, "We should hurry."

Plagg looked at him, really looked at him for a moment. Then he looked behind Adrien and saw the pile of wood and the semi-build scaffold. His green eyes widened, and within them, Adrien saw more emotions than he could have imagined, "You're planning to die."

Adrien turned away without a word, heading out into the courtyard, focusing on his breathing as he felt his body resisting his desire to move forward, and he had to force each foot to take a step forward.

"Don't you ignore me, Adrien!" Plagg shouted, and suddenly it wasn't his companion who he had known for months—his voice was much different, deeper and as though it had doubled over itself. That was the tone of someone in power, perhaps even a father, and it brought Adrien to a stop, his body still.

Something about that fury he had never heard from Plagg activated a primal part of him. It screamed that he needed to run because, as sarcastic and lazy as Plagg normally was, he was still a very powerful being, capable of destroying the world or sinking a city into the sea.

But another part was touched that someone would be so enraged at the idea of what he was going to do. He knew there was no way his father would display such anger, and he probably wouldn't even care Adrien was gone until long after, if ever.

Was his father or Nathalie or Gorilla even alive right now? He shook his head absently, knowing it was unlikely. But Plagg took that gesture as an acknowledgment to him, and he softened slightly, floating over.

"Oh, Adrien..." his voice was back to normal as though whatever demon that had a hold over him was gone now, "Come on, let's head back to the sewer and think of a better plan."

"Adrien!" He looked up and saw Princess Justice above on a roof, and she floated down, bounding over and going to possibly spin him, but he side-stepped, which was proving to be her weak-point. She quickly righted herself and was overjoyed to see him, "I was looking everywhere for you! Now nobody, not even you, can stop us from being together!" Then she became enraged, "How could you do this to me, Adrien? Giving the Ladybug earrings to that witch!"

Adrien hoped he was maintaining his poker face, "I did no such thing," he lied smoothly, imagining in his mind the image of the lie he was telling to make himself believe it for just a moment. Being honest would infuriate her, and while that was what he wanted, he didn't know if Hawk Moth was listening. "I had planned to use them myself, and the Kwami said it would be too risky to do so, and flew away." 

She growled, "Damn Tikki." Then she relaxed, "Well at least I know you didn't give them to my sworn enemy."

Adrien narrowed his eyes, "I have no intention of accepting your thoughtless lust and plans to use me as a pawn to further your business agenda. I want to make a deal with you."

"A deal?" Her interest was piqued, and Adrien nodded, 

"Yes. I know you plan to have Luka executed and keep this senseless killing to prevent arrest and get the Miraculous. Take me instead. I will die, and you will end all of this."

"And why would I do this?"

Knowing he had to piss her off, he admitted, "I suggested a couple candidates who Tikki should give the Miraculous to. I said I didn't give it to anyone, but that doesn't mean I didn't suggest someone who possibly got the earrings."

She glared, stomping her foot down like a toddler throwing a tantrum, "MOM!" Verity Queen appeared, and Princess Justice pointed at Adrien, "He told my Kwami to give my Miraculous to that witch! And now he won't date me!"

"End all of this, and you can have me killed," Adrien demanded, standing tall and embracing the height difference between them. Princess Justice pointed her sword at him, and the bright red word "Guilty" appeared on it.

"Take him away!" She shrieked, and Adrien took a deep breath, keeping his head held high and trying to conceal that terror he felt, taking control of him and making it hard to breathe.

"When am I going to die?" He fought every fiber of his being trying to sneak another glance at the pyre, reminding himself of what a terrible idea this was.

After a moment's contemplation, Princess Justice replied, "3 o'clock."

He checked his watch. Three hours. His breath hitched. 180 minutes. Counting down... 60... 59... 58... 57...

He calmed himself, "I am content." He noticed Verity Queen holding his hand much gentler than expected, her expression unreadable as she walked him through the city. He noticed that as she passed, every other Akuma parted to make way for her, which he supposed made sense given she was Queen, and her daughter was Princess, even if Marinette clearly had the power here.

"This way," she led him along, and he couldn't help but wonder as he was led away from the cathedral—probably to prevent him from saving his life by claiming sanctuary—where exactly they were going. To ask directly would get him nowhere, so he simplified the question as they suddenly came to a stop.

"Do I go into a dungeon?"

"No." She gestured upwards, her voice soft, and he noticed a slight tremor in it. "There are lodgings made ready for you, or formerly Mr. Couffaine."

He looked up and realized they were at the front door for the Hotel le Notre Dame, with a perfect view of the cathedral, but far enough away that it was unlikely anyone would think to look here specifically.

His knees gave out from under him, and he clung to Verity Queen's skirt, trying to keep the burning behind his eyes at bay, shaking his head softly and trying to calm his breathing,

"Oh, it's too good for me. After—After causing this... I deserve a dungeon."

She bent down, seemingly to comfort him, but he pulled away, regaining composure and this time sure he had a firm enough grip on it until he could be alone if that were possible. He walked into the building, taking a bit of charge, and for the first time, he noticed actual doubt on the face of someone supporting Marinette.

He didn't pay attention to the stairs and steered his eyes away from the decapitated corpses and the blood staining these walls, but his head was held high. He just had to maintain his dignity because even if this was a sacrifice, there was no way he was going to give Marinette the satisfaction of seeing him scared or begging for his life.

He was allowed into a room on the top floor. Rather nice, admittedly, and on the dresser were some white rags for clothing and a brown shirt for underneath. He grimaced at the sight, realizing that was going to be what he died in.

"This is where you will stay," he didn't turn to meet her eyes, "I hope it's acceptable." Acceptable? Oh yes, just perfect for someone who would be burning alive in three hours. If he could get lucky, smoke inhalation would do him in first.

"This will do nicely. Thank you for the arrangements." He looked over his shoulder, "You can leave now. I know there will be a guard at my door, but I do not need company."

To his minor surprise, she simply refused to meet his gaze and nodded, the door shutting and bolting shut behind her. He couldn't help but wonder when the door had been changed but decided it didn't matter as he absently walked over to the nightstand of this plush bed, and he pulled out the bible, as there was in all hotels.

He smiled bitterly as he looked at it. Maybe two years ago, he would have followed his mother's beliefs and taken comfort in the idea of a merciful god watching from above, but not after watching his mother get sick and knowing she had died, and with her his father's love.

"What have you done?" Plagg exhaled as though he was too stunned to process what he had heard before it came back louder, but thankfully not in the demon voice, "What have you done?!"

"I've done what's right," Adrien replied simply, looking down at his watch. 164 minutes.

Dread knotted his stomach painfully, and he felt a choked sob escape as he looked out the window, which worked like a tiny balcony. He forced his shaky legs to walk over, and he noticed that while there was no barrier like he had expected, to jump down was high enough to be a death sentence.

"Jump," a voice in his head commanded, "Don't give her the satisfaction of dying the way she wants you to."

He turned away from the balcony, pushing those suicidal thoughts away, even if some distant part of him knew thoughts of probably needless self-sacrifice is what got him into this situation.

No... this wasn't actually happening, right? This couldn't be real. All of this was just a weird nightmare, and he would wake up and maybe talk to Luka—sweet, not mortally wounded Luka. Luka would assure him that everything would be okay.

But Luka wasn't here right now, now was he? Whether this was a nightmare or a cruel reality, Luka was still bleeding and slashed open where he had been left in a sewer. He felt terrible for leaving Luka in his hour of need, but now that Adrien was to die and this hell to end, he would be able to perform Miraculous Ladybug and save everyone, including himself.

Plagg seemed to realize nothing he said would change the events happening now and settled on helping Adrien sit down on the bed, "You can still get out of this," he offered, "Just transform, Adrien, please."

"I can't, Plagg," he insisted, "If I do, we may never win, especially if we don't know if Marinette is controlling the akumas or if Hawk Moth is."

"Who cares?!" Plagg snapped, "Just cataclysm her and follow the butterflies to Hawk Moth! Look at that: a solution that doesn't involve death."

"And what if I don't actually want to kill her?"

"She's trying to burn you alive. Killing her is justified right now, both legally and morally."

"Just because it's justified doesn't mean I should do it," he stared up at the ceiling, "And there are so many butterflies, there's no way to track any one of them to Hawk Moth's lair. You can't even do that with a normal Akuma without it trying to multiply." He remembered when he had finally talked Ladybug—he shuddered as he even thought about her—but he had convinced her to not purify the Akuma right away and try to follow it. He got the lecture of a lifetime for having such a stupid idea in the first place.

"You can't do this," Plagg pleaded, and Adrien turned his head to look to his Kwami friend.

"Don't worry, Plagg. I'm sure you can find another Chat Noir to give you cheese—hey, what about Kagami? She's really cool, and I'm sure she would be a great Cat!"

Plagg was shaking, "You—You idiot! You really think that's what I'm worried about?! Anyone could give me cheese, but—but it wouldn't be the same as you!"

Adrien was taken aback and blinked a few times. Plagg had been there for him for months, and not once had it even occurred to him that he would be bringing Plagg pain in doing this.

His eyes watered as he pulled Plagg close, Plagg's distress making what was happening sink in for real, that he was going to die today. 

"I'm scared, Plagg. I don't want to die."

"Oh, kitten..." Plagg snuggled closer as Adrien curled himself into a ball and wept for everything. For Luka, for his friends, for the life he had barely begun, for the fact his father wouldn't miss him when he was gone... it all became too much, and he let out an anguished cry.

He knew he was wasting the time he had left, but what did it matter? He could do nothing, so he justified getting this out of his system in the privacy of this new prison that he would call home for the remainder of his fleeting minutes.

OoOoO

Princess Justice groaned as she heard Hawk Moth shouting into her mind,

"This is preposterous!" He roared, "To do something like this is not why I gave you these powers!"

"And what are you going to do?" She taunted, "Take them away? I've already gotten farther than any of your other useless akumas—it figures that only someone as gifted as me could manage to do so. That witch will be found, and as he is mortally wounded, he will not get far, and as long as I keep his name to myself, I am your only hope of securing my Miraculous. You will be giving it back to me once you're done with it."

"That was our agreement, yes. But I will not do anything for you if you kill an innocent like this."

"You think Adrien's innocent? He betrayed me!" She scoffed, "Whatever. I'm just scaring him into accepting my love. I expect we shall be married and conceiving our first child tonight, once he sees that out of the goodness of my heart I will save him from the flames."

"And if he rejects it?"

"Then he burns." She turned to see her mother coming back, "You were gone longer than expected. How is he faring?" Her mother tensed slightly,

"In the first hour of his captivity, he wept and spoke rather wildly. Now, according to his guard and what I heard by lingering near his door, preparations for death have increasingly occupied his thoughts. I believe he is reconciled to it." She approached Princess Justice hesitantly, "Darling, don't you think this is a bit too much? You're killing this boy just for having different feelings. It's not his fault he doesn't feel the same way—sometimes it's just not meant to be."

"Everyone loves me," Princess Justice crossed her arms, "Papa's right about that, so I should be able to pick any boy I want. I want him, so either I'll have him or nobody will!"

"It was never like this with Kieran—" Verity Queen gasped as she had Princess Justice's sword mere centimeters from her throat.

"DON'T TALK ABOUT KIERAN IN FRONT OF ME!" She fumed, "Talk about him again, and you'll find yourself without a head." 

She could sense a change in his mother's emotions. She didn't care enough to identify what it was, just that it could be hindering her power over all of Paris as the most beloved girl she deserved to be. So she gave her best loving smile,

"Mama, it's not personal, but I have to show my power with everyone, and I can't let even my own family get away with talking about something I don't like." She didn't bother to hear what her mother had to say on the matter and floated down to see how her Dad was doing building the scaffold, "How are preparations?"

"They are going just fine," he replied, "I sent out Stoneheart and Horrificator to get some more wood and nails."

"So everything will be ready for the execution?"

"Just as you requested, my dear," he pulled her close, "He'll pay for rejecting you." She hugged him back, glad to have her father, who had helped teach her how perfect she was, helping her get her revenge on those who resisted her. He had been so much help over the years in giving her whatever she wanted, and she couldn't help but be grateful.

...

Adrien was sitting at his desk calculating how much magic Hawk Moth would need to put into Princess Justice's skirt. He had learned this formula so he could check it with Princess Peach in the Mario games. He discovered that when he did the math and made a couple assumptions, like the weight of her hoop skirt being about a kilogram—surprisingly light, but that was the style—and what fabric was used. Then he added it to her weight of what he remembered her mentioning was 45 kilograms. The skirt would mathematically have to have a greater area for the parachute effect to work without Hawk Moth adding in.

Plagg looked over his shoulder in great concern that complicated math and science equations were what he decided to dedicate the last hours of his life to, but he supposed that if it helped Adrien stay calm, this was fine.

When he heard the door unlock, Adrien turned and was surprised to see Onichan and Hamsa being allowed in by the guard whose name Adrien didn't know. Then the door was closed, and he waved a bit, "Hey, guys. What's going on?"

"We're your handmaids," Hamsa explained, "To help you prepare for your execution," he hurried over and whispered, "Or that's our cover. We're getting you out of here!"

"What?" He looked and saw Percy materialize on the balcony with Danielle,

"Rescue mission ready?" Danielle took her hairbrush and painted one of the free walls to a room inside Notre Dame, "If you go in there, you can claim sanctuary and delay execution."

"Do you really think demon bitch Marinette would listen to that?" Hamsa asked, and Danielle shrugged,

"I'm not even religious, but it's the best chance we got. And if she is a demon bitch," she nudged him playfully, "Maybe she'll get smited before she can go inside." Adrien actually laughed a bit at that, but Onichan did not, still speaking softly,

"Let's not waste our time on chattering when we should be escaping." She looked at her sword, "Nino and I were lucky to be assigned as handmaids by Marinette's mother who didn't see us at the fight that got Coccinelle wounded."

Adrien feigned confusion, "What?!"

"Yeah," Percy tapped his watch and showed Coccinelle, "He's the new Ladybug, and is currently probably in the sewers with Chat Noir trying not to die. Now come on, let's go! Nathan, Kiera, Chloé, and Ashton are on—" he was cut off by Ashton swinging down,

"We got a problem. PJ's headed into the hotel now!" Onichan grabbed Adrien's arm and pulled him towards the wall portal,

"We have to hurry, Adrien!"

"No." He pulled away, "I volunteered for this, to end this conflict for everyone."

Hamsa looked like he had been slapped, "What? Marinette's been boasting how she captured you!"

"Yeah, well, she didn't. I surrendered. Now go! I can't see any of you get hurt." He noticed the wall portal slowly started to fade away in soft pastel sparkles, "Go!"

The door flew open as the guards came in, followed by Princess Justice, who laughed,

"Looks like I came just in time. I knew something was wrong when Nino and Kagami volunteered as your handmaids." She sneered, "You're all guilty of treason against your majesty!" She went for the attack, but Onichan blocked with her sword,

"Adrien, you're leaving, end of discussion. Ashton, take him!"

Ashton went to grab him, but in the chaos of the crowded room, he stumbled on the chair, and Percy dove to protect him, shrieking in pain as he got a gash all the way from his shoulder to his wrist from Princess Justice. He whimpered, and Adrien helped Percy up, looking to Ashton. He recognized that look in Ashton's eyes, of horror and unimaginable rage, seeing someone he cared about so dearly be hurt.

"Take him. I need to stay, but Percy needs help. Get Kiera to cauterize the wound." Having not thought about that with Luka, he kicked himself, "And make sure Luka is safe!"

Ashton hesitated for only a moment before leaving, using one strong arm to carry Percy's small body as he held his bleeding arm close to his chest, and he used the other arm to grab Danielle, who had a passive power.

That left Adrien, Hamsa, Onichan, and Princess Justice.

The room was being torn to shreds as Princess Justice and Onichan attacked each other, blades clashing against each other, and it was clear who was better with a sword as a fighting tool versus a death dealer—small difference, but a crucial one in combat. Hamsa used a barrier to protect Adrien from harm and threw other smaller ones to keep Onichan safe and keep other guards back, but it was clear he was becoming exhausted. But overall, things were going fine.

Plagg looked up at Adrien from inside his hood, "Hey, wouldn't now be a good time to transform and help out?"

"I can't, Plagg," he insisted quietly, "Not without revealing my identity!"

He felt useless, but all he could do was watch, and he noticed Hamsa getting increasingly tired from fighting all day and now putting so much energy into different shields that were being beaten on constantly. He hurried over to his best friend, helping steady him,

"Nino, you're exhausted. Get out of here!"

"No way, bro," he steadied himself, "I'm not leaving you." He took off an amulet of a hand with an eye on the palm around his neck, putting it around Adrien's instead, "My culture has often believed this will bring the wearer good fortune, health, and happiness. Right now, I think you need that more than I do."

Adrien looked down at the amulet, "This is your akumatized object, right?" He gasped as it took a soft white glow, and the blackened butterfly seemed to be forced out, turned white once again. Hamsa changed back into Nino, and all of the barriers fell, giving Onichan more room to fight against Princess Justice. Nino put his hand on Adrien's shoulder,

"Come on, Adrien, we can get you out of here. There's a fire exit not far from here, and Nathan is probably still above." 

Too stunned to process anything anymore, Adrien just nodded and let Nino begin to pull him along towards one of two balconies.

He heard it before he felt or saw it. Princess Justice seeing what they were doing, ordering her guards to stay back, and hearing her feet off the ground.

One blow from that mighty sword.

That was all it took to sever Nino's head.

The scream that erupted out of Adrien was one he didn't process at first was coming from him, and by the time he did realize it was his own sound, blackness had overcome him, and the last thing he processed was a pulsing pain in his head.

When he woke up, the first thing he processed was the splitting pain in his skull, and without even opening his eyes, he prodded at where most of it stemmed from, finding a small bump on the back of his head, hidden in his hair. He couldn't figure out if he had a concussion or not. When you're concussed, do you know you're concussed?

It took him a bit longer than he would admit to remember where he was and how he had gotten here. The last thing he remembered was—

His eyes flew open, and he shot upright, ignoring vertigo he gave himself, looking around. The first thing he noticed was Princess Justice sitting uncomfortably close to him, followed by the fact his clothes had been changed into his execution attire. He had most certainly not done that, meaning that someone had when he was out... and his stalker was here with him right now...

He didn't even want to think about what she could have done to him while he assumed he was unconscious. Everything was a little blurry, so he decided that at the moment, he didn't think he had been violated. But then again... he shuddered as he realized he had no way of knowing.

He was brought comfort in the fact Princess Justice looked extremely frustrated. He decided to ask, "Who changed my clothes?"

"I did," she purred, running a hand over his chest, and he shoved her away when she tried to go a little lower, "I wanted to have so much fun with you, but Hawk Moth said I couldn't do that until I gave him the Miraculous," she huffed, "Asshat, not letting me have you."

Oh, thank God for you, Hawk Moth, he found himself thinking and didn't even bother to stop himself because no matter how evil Hawk Moth was, he had saved Adrien from being assaulted in his sleep, and for that, he could admit to being grateful.

But the fact Princess Justice openly admitted having wanted to do that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up more than usual when he was around her, and that was saying a lot.

He looked around the room, anywhere that wasn't her, and realized that while some things had been torn up, the room was surprisingly clean.

But there was a carpet by the balcony that he hadn't seen before.

Nino's demise flashed behind his eyes.

"Where's Kagami?!" He asked immediately upon processing his surroundings, and Princess Justice gave an odd little giggle in response that made Adrien's fight or flight begin to kick in.

"About that," she grinned menacingly, "Your execution is postponed until sunset."

Dread sunk in as he got a good feeling of what that meant. No... no, this couldn't be happening, right? Kagami had tried to save him and was going to pay the price? That wasn't fair at all.

He looked at his captor with doe-like eyes, "You're saying I will not die before sunset." He thought about everything, and he fought a sob, "I thought I would be dead already. I thought I'd be dead at this point and past my pain."

She seemed confused by this response, and Adrien couldn't help but have a little sense of satisfaction from that. If only he meant it as a manipulation tactic. Princess Justice seemed to settle on repeating, "You will not die before sunset."

"No. No, it can't be." He got off the bed, his eyes pleading with her, trying desperately to delay any harm to Kagami, and eager to speed along his own demise instead of this torturous waiting that made him suffer further. "It's not that I want to die, but I—I thought myself prepared to die. I was prepared. I fear—I fear that any further delay, it will weaken my resolve. Please, if it were possible—"

"No, Adrien," she insisted, "You will not die until sunset," she put a finger under her chin, "But perhaps I will spare Kagami from the fire if you confess your sins to me."

Confess his sins? He thought about it for a moment, but if it meant sparing Kagami from joining him in a fate she would not be able to come back from, he would do just about anything.

It felt so sickeningly wrong to get on his knees before her, his head bowed. She looked at him with such a smug expression that for a moment, he wanted to transform and wrap his hands around her little neck and—

He felt the amulet Nino had given him pressed against his chest, and he gripped the guitar pick lucky charm Luka had given him. He absently wondered why Princess Justice hadn't destroyed it, but supposed she probably wanted it to burn with him.

"Are you going to confess?"

"Yes." He looked up at her with a steely gaze and an impassive expression, his hand leaving the guitar pick and resting on his knees, "I confess my innocence. I solemnly swear, on the damnation of my soul, that I have never been unfaithful, as I have no lover—or got to have the one I wanted, to say the least. If I were to have him as my own, I would never offend with my body against him."

It felt like a weight off of his chest to admit openly for the first time that he wanted Luka. He wanted Luka as more than his friend, should that be what Luka desired as well. 

However, that was not what Princess Justice had probably been expecting, or wanting, "What about against me, Adrien?! What about me! Ladybug! The most popular and perfect girl in Paris! You're supposed to confess your sins against me!"

"There is nothing to say." He replied, looking her dead in the eye instead of avoiding her gaze, his voice remaining calm and steady, bordering on monotone but not quite there. "I have always given you more humility than you deserved, considering your general lack of genuine kindness and the great disrespect you have for me and for my personal desires that make me human." He hesitated for a moment, "I will admit that I have often taken it into my head to be jealous of you, but I have not sinned against you in any other way." He looked up towards a small ledge where he saw Plagg watching with something akin to pride as he told her off. "Don't think I say this in the hope to prolong my life—I have been taught how to die." He looked to Princess Justice again and glared, "As for those others who were unjustly condemned, I would willingly have suffered many deaths to spare them. And since it will end everyone's torment, I will willingly accompany them in death."

Silence fell in the room, and he could feel the fury from Princess Justice as he stood up, and he didn't have enough time to brace himself for the harsh slap across his cheek.

"How dare you?! I love you!"

"You don't love me, Marinette. You never have. I sometimes wonder if you love anyone at all besides yourself. If you truly loved me, would you stay with me if I wasn't an attractive model whose status could benefit your goals? Would you be there by my side in sickness if it looked like I was not going to live, or would you take my money and my father's business? Would you respect the fact I dislike the fashion industry and wouldn't model for you, and would not wish that life on any child of mine? And most of all, would you accept that I am not attracted to you and never will be, and wish for my happiness even if it's not with you?"

He seemed to have stunned her to the point that she didn't have anything to say. He had won over her, and even if he was still going to die in eight hours, he was glad to take this victory against her.

She stormed out in a huff, "Kagami's being beheaded publicly in an hour!" And bolted the door shut, and he was left with Plagg, who flew down.

"You have no idea how proud I am of you, Adrien."

Adrien managed to smile and look towards the door, "It felt good to say that." He faltered, "She was being honest about not..."

"She wouldn't be alive to tell the tale if she had," Plagg replied, "I wanted to kill her. Badly. I almost did while she undressed you, but I knew that to dare using my own Cataclysm is risky, and I could have killed you too."

He could only sigh, "Thank you for considering me, Plagg." But perhaps it would be easier to have just died like that while he was passed out. He looked over at where Nino's body had been, lifting up the carpet, and as expected, seeing the stains of blood that couldn't be washed out.

He couldn't help but be relieved for fainting, as humiliating as that was. He was positive that if he had to look at the headless body of his best friend for longer than a second would have shattered him so far beyond repair that he would even welcome the pyre in open arms.

He buried his head in his hands. Even if he had saved Kagami from the pyre, the idea of her being executed brought him indescribable pain. "Please tell me the cult escaped."

"Yeah," Plagg assured him, "Last I saw, Nathan was leading some guards around, and I assume they are laying low to treat Percy and come up with a plan now that they have two dead and one injured."

"They'll probably not be able to save Kagami if they're on the run," he murmured, "But they may try to save me."

"I'd assume so."

Adrien removed his ring, handing it to Plagg, "Take this and find another Chat Noir. Luka will need help, especially if he's still injured."

"No," Plagg growled, closing Adrien's hand, so he was still holding onto the ring, "I'm staying with you until the end. It's not too late to escape, you know..."

"I'm staying here, Plagg. There's nothing else I can do since I already made that deal." Plagg gently touched Adrien's reddened cheek,

"Okay, Adrien."

"Thank you for being with me, Plagg," he forced a smile on his face, "It means a lot."

He didn't know how long he stayed there with Plagg. It was a long time, he supposed, because he heard the sound of bells outside by the time he came back to reality. It took him a moment to realize it wasn't coming from his own mind, as the sound of a bell had been unusually loud today. Maybe a wedding that would never come, or perhaps a funeral that would soon happen.

He looked towards the window, seeing that it was actually coming from outside. He hurried over to the glorified window that this room called a balcony, seeing that Lady WiFi was broadcasting this all over Paris, so even those not at Notre Dame could see it.

He could see Kagami, who must have been deakumatized at some point, being led to the block just as though he was in the front row, and he sobbed, shaking his head and trying to convince himself this wasn't real.

The sounds must have been made public as well because he could hear the people shouting for her death. He also saw Kagami stare at the execution block for a moment, her entire body radiating grace and charm he could only hope to have a fraction of one day. Then she calmly tipped the block over with her foot and nudged it away, looking to Papa Garou, who was there with Princess Justice to ensure she didn't escape. Adrien also noticed a distinct lack of Verity Queen anywhere near this, but didn't pay it much mind.

"That is not how I will die, with the assumption of me bowing to you," she replied calmly, and she turned to the crowd, the blindfold in her hand but not put on yet.

He heard Lady WiFi trying to assure the raging Princess Justice, who was trying to keep calm, knowing that there was no stopping Kagami from saying what she wanted to say. It would ruin the appeal if she refused to get on the block and had enough physical strength that being forced to do so would ruin the point of her showing regret and submission she had none of.

Kagami looked out at the crowd, not a trace of fear in her features. Then he realized from looking at her most subtle microexpressions that to a degree, she was scared. But she had chosen to die with dignity, as her family had believed in for generations.

"I have come here to die," She announced, and Adrien found himself almost mesmerized by her words. "According to a nonexistent law, as you all yield yourself to the will of a conceited tyrant who believes she has greater self-worth than those far more humble and selfless than she pretended to be. Thus I take my leave of the world, and of you. All I can say to you is to not fall for the tricks of this Hannya, for if you all hadn't done so, I think I would still be alive, as you are now."

Adrien felt himself hyperventilating, gripping the bars of the railing to his window to steady himself, pleading to anyone who would listen to just save her. No matter what price he had to pay, just save her now.

Kagami put her blindfold on and got on her knees, clearly more out of comfort than of any semblance of kneeling to someone superior. If anything, even this seemed to be mocking Princess Justice, but with such elegance, you would think you were insane to consider that.

Princess Justice was more than eager to start this execution, and with one blow of that blade, Kagami was no more.

Adrien felt a wail tear out from deep within him as Nino's death flew back into the forefront of his mind. He leaned against the wall in his room to steady himself, the room was suddenly too hot. Soft crying turning into ugly sobbing and hyperventilation as he clutched his chest in an attempt to calm himself. His eyes flew anywhere in the room in search of an escape from this nightmare of today, his mind disconnecting from his body as he heard himself scream "Oh God!" but had no recollection of actually saying it.

This was all his fault. If he had just listened to Plagg and not been a self-sacrificing idiot, Nino and Kagami wouldn't have died, and Percy wouldn't be injured and—and he abandoned mortally wounded Luka in the sewer! What if Luka was dead? What if he had bled to death or tried to hurry along the healing and got up too early? What if something went wrong down there with nobody to protect him?

This is all my fault...

He had made his bed, and even if he had thought the fire was harsh before, he couldn't help but feel he deserved it for all the mistakes he had made today, leading to the deaths of so many innocent people.

He didn't even hear Plagg trying to comfort him as he lost himself in raw despair, unsure now if he was waiting for his own death because it would end this war once it was all over...

Or because a part of him wanted to die.

Chapter Text

Nobody ever thought about how absurdly late in the day sunset was in France. When thinking of sunset, most people thought of around six o'clock, but Adrien was looking out at the sky now when he finally heard the bells chime ten.

Sunset had begun fifteen minutes ago, and Adrien looked from his window at the pyre which had been built and stood waiting for him, taunting him for five hours with its completion.

He stared out at the sky, absently searching for Luka in hopes of the one he loved being alive and well. But as the clock had ticked and ten hours had passed, he lost hope.

He wanted to say that he felt anguish or despair that would drive even the strongest of willed to insanity, but all he could feel was numb. He tried to force a smile that perhaps he had finally gone mad as he had dramatically told his father he would if he was cooped up at home any longer. Instead of any mirth from the memory, he felt nothing at all except the dull bitterness he could barely process.

What would his father think of him now? He could already hear the lecture that he should have been obedient and stayed home, safely locked away from the world where Marinette would have never met him and perhaps never been able to lust for him.

"Are you happy now, Adrien?" He could hear his father's voice, as though those firm hands were gripping his shoulders. If he turned, he supposed he would see a cruel grin of a man who saw himself as having been right all along, "You got what you wanted, to see the dangerous world, and now you are sitting in a cell having lost everything."

Adrien ignored him, watching the crowd gather, knowing the execution was to begin soon. The bells were ringing loudly as he averted his eyes, unable to tell anymore what was real and what wasn't. He decided to sit in the chair by the window,

"So tie me up and try to break me. 

You will never change my mind. 

I'd rather die than let you make me betray him.

The years roll on, with or without me.

I'm already gone, 'cause I'm living on borrowed time."

What was once a song of passion and boundless loyalty was now sung with gentle melancholy and the shadow of a person. Luka's smiling face in his memories... it almost sparked something, but then he was met with the harsh reminder that Luka had likely met the same grim fate as everyone else Adrien held dear.

He pulled the blanket he had draped over his shoulders a little tighter around himself, as the breeze was somewhat chilly. Perhaps he felt safer like this, in an illusion the people he loved were still alive. Even if he knew it wasn't true, he could wish.

Plagg stayed by his side. Whether he was aware of the voices Adrien had been hearing in his head for hours or how his resolve had grown into apathy, Adrien didn't know.

He heard the door open, and he looked up to see Lady WiFi standing there, hatred in her eyes and slight giddiness in her voice, "Adrien, it's time."

He would have expected to feel some jolt of fear or perhaps excitement hearing it was finally time, but he simply stood, his hands folded neatly against his stomach, and his voice monotone,

"Don't worry about me, Alya. I've been ready for a while."

Her expression could be read as confusion and a hint of anger, as though she was unhappy to see he had accepted his fate. "Follow me."

He followed her, not bothering to put his shoes on if they were going to be ruined anyway. He looked up to the golden hour. At least he would see the sunset he had so cherished once.

He didn't pay attention to anything as he walked, his body on auto-pilot, knowing where to go. Whether it was just Lady WiFi with him or an armed guard hid a short distance away to prevent any rescues, he didn't know nor care.

He shuddered a bit when he felt a hand on his and gasped softly to see it was his mother's. He looked up and saw her next to him, even if only for a fleeting moment.

Whether that had been her ghost coming to assure him or a fleeting image conjured up by his tortured mind, it brought him further peace of mind.

Lady WiFi turned to look at him, "What are you looking at, Agreste?"

He didn't grace her with a response, and it seemed she hadn't wanted one anyway, continuing to simply lead him along until the stage of death came into view. He felt some people in the crowd, not many of them being those he immediately recognized, grabbing at him as though trying to touch him one last time, or perhaps a halfhearted attempt at rescue.

There was nothing in his legs as he ascended the stairway, only a sense of ease alongside a blank mind. The roar of the crowd that had moments ago been so very loud quieted in expectation. He didn't meet the eye of Princess Justice or her father, who he dully noticed was holding a lit torch.

He looked to the ground, noticed exactly where Kagami's blood had spilled and had been poorly scrubbed off. He had been so distracted by this, he accidentally stepped on Papa Garou's foot,

"Sorry," he looked up with a genuine look of apology before looking at the pile of wood that would be his pyre.

Lady WiFi went to grab him and force him on, but he pulled back gently before walking onto the pyre himself, wincing slightly as he felt his feet and ankles get small cuts from parts of the wood. His breath hitched for only a moment as he pressed his back to the wooden stake. He wordlessly allowed his wrists to be bound around it behind his back, and another rope a little too tight for comfort wrapped around his waist.

He glanced out at the crowd and noticed that while nobody was doing anything, there was no cheering or indication they wanted this to happen. If anything, they all seemed borderline frozen in shock that this was going to occur.

Princess Justice approached him, and he could feel a spark of something besides apathy finally light in his mind as he met the gaze of the woman he had risked his life for time and time again. He sneered, contempt making itself known.

She seemed to be taking some sick delight in seeing him tied up and vulnerable, unaware that should he so desire, he could transform and free himself instantaneously, which he could tell Plagg wanted more than anything.

"Last chance, Adrien," she purred menacingly, brushing back a strand of his hair and caressing his cheek since he couldn't move to stop her, "Choose me, or the flames."

He spit on her, glaring darkly with bared teeth.

"I would rather burn than be with you." But what he wouldn't tell her or let be seen on his features whatsoever was the fact terror was beginning to make itself at last known the closer that torch got to the pile of wood he was standing on, and he couldn't help but be grateful nothing was being placed between his legs to make the flames rise higher.

And even though she was blindfolded as part of her design, he couldn't help but feel, especially at this moment, that it was at least somewhat see-through. It was as though something changed in her for a moment, and he didn't know how he knew, but he could tell that the lust she bore for him had just vanished.

She must have realized that the Adrien she claimed to love didn't exist, and no amount of bullying and threatening him would make him the meek and subservient spouse she wanted. But he didn't dare let himself hope that would save his life as he saw her expression turn to fury as she shouted, "Light the pyre!" and hopped down to watch the show.

Fear spiked in his chest as he looked to the side, seeing Papa Garou drop the torch and the wood catch fire almost immediately.

He refused to give anyone the satisfaction of seeing his resolve crack. Like Kagami, he would die with dignity. And to accomplish that, he had a trick up his sleeve due to morbid curiosity and a fascination with the Tudor era of history.

He noticed his breathing had already picked up a lot as the fire spread further, his feet subconsciously trying to move away to no avail. This was good, and he focused on hyperventilation and not how his body was heating up painfully as the fire began to lick at his feet.

Everything became blurry after a few moments, and he lost the ability to comprehend the world around him. Some foggy part of his brain comprehended being in blinding pain, but for the most part, his thought process was Woah, woozy...

He couldn't see anything out from the smoke and fire, but everything was blurry anyway. He wasn't sure if he possibly even giggled a bit because, for a moment, it looked like Luka was in the vague distance. Whatcha doing there, Luka?

The world spun, and everything got even blurrier before he let darkness claim him.

...

If anyone asked him, Coccinelle would not be able to explain anything about what had happened in the past what he could only assume by the sunset was around ten hours. Most of what he knew involved needing to limp around the sewer occasionally when Princess Justice's lackeys went looking for him.

By the time he had been decently healed enough to get out of the sewer, he had had no idea where he was because he had gotten pretty far underground, and it took him awhile to find food to feed Tikki while staying out of sight.

He had run into Ashton and Antibug perhaps fifteen minutes ago. They frantically explained that Nino and Kagami were dead, Percy was badly injured, Nathan and Kiera were doing what they could to keep the wound from becoming infected, and Adrien was going to be executed at any minute, by fire no less!

Hearing that last part had him racing across Paris far beyond the speed of Ladybug or Chat Noir normally, traveling like a bullet, leaping and bounding past any attackers, grateful to his companions to take out any attempted opponents.

When he finally made it to the cathedral, he realized to his horror that he had gotten here too late and the execution had begun.

Something snapped inside him, seeing Adrien limp and tied up to the pyre, especially on the high definition announcements of Lady WiFi. He jumped down, pulling out his yoyo and, without even thinking, splitting it in half into two yoyos.

"ADRIEN!" He used one to fly down there and the other as a whip to knock back anyone who dared try to go near him, and he noticed he could barely feel the fire at all due to his suit's protection. He shook Adrien a bit but got no response.

No no no no no, he grabbed Adrien's underarms and yanked with all his might, snapping the already weakening ropes and pulling him off the pyre, throwing one yoyo up to the top of Notre Dame and flying up as fast as possible and away from the fire.

Once he got to the top, he held Adrien's limp body close to his chest, screaming "Sanctuary, motherfucker!" at the top of his lungs so everyone could hear. He couldn't help but notice that only Papa Garou, Lady WiFi, and Princess Justice were fighting Ashton and Antibug. Everyone else seemed scared out of their minds and then relieved to see Adrien saved.

Paying that no heed, he hurried inside, setting Adrien down and frantically checking for a pulse or breathing, only to find a weak pulse and no breathing.

"No no no no no, don't be dead, don't be dead," his breathing quickened as he opened Adrien's mouth, sickened to find black and grey saliva, as well as burns in his throat. Unsure of what he could even do, he tipped Adrien's head back to open his airway a bit more. Fuck, um, would CPR help?

"Coccinelle?"

He snapped up and saw Nathan, Kiera, and Danielle not far in the room from them, and Percy was laying on the floor, whimpering in pain and clutching his bloodied arm, which he could tell even from this distance was cut deep.

Nathan rushed over to Adrien, "What the hell? Ashton and Chloé said they had a plan!" 

"Found me first and we got there too late," Coccinelle snapped quickly, "Please, do you have any water I can use for him?"

"Not much," Nathan replied, "Not much that's clean, anyway," he moved his wrist, and one of the bowls he realized were full of water came to him, the liquid hovering, some of it being eased down Adrien's throat and cleaning it out. The rest was being used around his forehead and his feet.

Coccinelle got a good look at Adrien's feet and was sickened by what he found.

One foot was significantly more burned than the other, probably because of what angle the fire had started at. While his less bad foot was an early second-degree burn, his other foot, and a couple centimeters up his ankle, was a full-on decently charred third-degree burn, thankfully not close enough to fourth-degree. Up to his kneecap he had burns ranging from milder third degree to mild second degree, which would clearly heal faster. He knew a lot about burns while being a Mom-in-training, and he couldn't be more grateful that neither foot had hit fourth-degree because there was no coming back from that. These burns, while nasty and would take time, could be recovered from.

Cleaning out Adrien's airway thankfully brought his breathing back, and a couple moments later, his consciousness. He opened his eyes, and Coccinelle noticed immediately that they were glazed over.

Without thinking, he pulled Adrien into a tight embrace, finally letting out his anger and terror as tears spilled down his face and came out in a choked sob, "Don't you ever sacrifice yourself like this!"

Nathan tensed a bit, "I don't have enough water for them both." Kiera bit her fist,

"Fuck. Coccinelle's gotta go fight, and getting water is a whole mission. Who'll watch our injured?" 

"I'll do it," Percy pleaded, forcing himself to sit up, using his good arm to grab his disk, which he had to put on the ground, and he flicked at it and created a screen around them, and when Coccinelle stepped out, he discovered that it was hiding everyone behind it. "It's not much, but it'll work for like ten minutes, right?"

"Yeah," Danielle pressed her forehead against Percy's, "You're doing great." She hastily painted the Seine on the ground, and a portal opened up. She looked up to Coccinelle, "You should come with us. They'll be expecting an attack from here, but since none of our enemies know that anyone besides you and Adrien are Notre Dame, they won't even think that you could escape."

Coccinelle looked to Adrien, who didn't seem fully aware, and to Percy, who was weakened from blood loss to the point of being almost unconscious again. He sucked in a breath, "Will Ashton and Chloé be able to hold them off? What if others start attacking?"

Nathan took some of the dirty water and threw it up as a thin wall behind Percy's hologram, freezing it. "This will work as a barrier, and I'll be able to sense if it's broken, and we can rush back here."

Coccinelle bent down to Adrien, where he was now laying on his side. "Hey, I'm gonna be gone for a little bit, okay? You're going to be fine."

Adrien just smiled a bit, "Pretty bug," before giggling. Coccinelle kissed Adrien's clammy hand, and nodded to the others, and they all hopped into the portal; he found himself not far from his house. He noticed Juleka was there, calling out for Luka. He hurried over, and Juleka was frantic.

"Miss, what's wrong?" He asked, feeling weird addressing his sister as a stranger. He helped her calm down and take deep breaths, but she was almost hysterical,

"I—I can't find my big brother!" She sobbed into his chest, "Marinette can't have gotten him too. He's all I have left," she began to hiccup, "Mom—Rose—my friends—they're all gone..."

He pet her hair, trying not to think about the wound on his stomach that, while healed enough to not open up, was still aching even with the suit reducing his pain. "I'm sure your brother is fine, okay?" He held her at arm's length, deciding to use the deep care and admiration for Chat Noir he knew Juleka possessed to his advantage, "Hey, do you think you can help me? We're going to beat Princess Justice, and Chat Noir isn't doing so well right now. Do you think you can help me and some others beat Princess Justice?"

Juleka wiped away her tears, regaining confidence, "If it means stopping this madness, I'll do anything."

"You're a brave girl, Juleka."

Her brow furrowed, "How do you know my name?"

"Chat mentioned it," he lied smoothly, having prepared for this while trying to distract himself from the pain in the sewer. He had to come up with a lie in case of an inevitable slip-up, "We know each other as civilians, and he talks about you."

Her eyes lit up, "Really?"

"Yeah, he really values your friendship." He punched her shoulder a bit encouragingly, "Now let's kick some ass, okay?"

She nodded, but then she suddenly let out a pained cry and clutched her head much like Kiera did earlier. Coccinelle turned and, to his horror, saw his friends all were in the same predicament. But he noticed that they did not have the butterfly mask over their eyes. This was something else of red color, and he realized it must be a symbol for all the akumas at once.

Nathan had dropped the water he was collecting, and Coccinelle realized with dread that if they had suddenly stopped using their powers...

Adrien!

...

It took a few minutes, but eventually, the fog over his mind began to slowly fade, and he realized how much pain he was in. It helped when he heard a shout from Percy, and he noticed an unfamiliar mask over the boy's eyes, and he saw what seemed to be an ice wall melt and slosh to the ground.

He blinked a few times, and he realized something big was happening. He tried to get up but screamed when he felt the pain in his feet and fell back to the ground. Plagg glowered at him,

"Yeah, that's what happens when you don't transform and escape execution!" he snapped, then looked towards Percy, "Kid's out cold. Hawk Moth did him in with whatever that red thing was. He'll live, but he won't be up for a while. He's lucky his friends cauterized that before the cut arteries could kill him."

Adrien tried to crawl away, sloshing through the water, but his strength gave out a few feet away, and he crumpled in a heap, helplessly looking up at Plagg, trying to speak or say anything, but saying anything was torture. Even breathing was a struggle. What had happened? He was supposed to be dead by now and not dealing with this. He dully remembered Luka saving him. Luka really was alive? He sighed with relief, but it seemed Plagg was not done giving him a piece of his mind, demon voice active and just as terrifying as the first time. Adrien decided that he would do his best to never piss off Plagg this much again.

"You could have been killed, you fool! What the hell were you doing?! YOU WERE ABOUT TO DIE!" He threw his arms around wildly before breaking down, demon voice faltering before fading, "I almost lost you! If I hadn't used my powers to decay the ropes faster, you could be dead already!"

"Why?" Adrien rasped, and Plagg instantly realized he wasn't asking why he would have died. He was asking why he had been saved.

"Because I actually care about you, doofus," Plagg growled out, floating down to Adrien and cupping his face, "Now come on. Transform. You'll feel better if you do, and you'll be able to breathe a bit easier."

"Luka..."

"No, don't you dare go help Luka. You need to rest."

"I have to—"

Plagg huffed, clearly still unhappy, "If you cripple yourself from pushing yourself too far, you're never going to hear the end of it." He rested atop the ring, "Don't waste your strength on forcing yourself to talk. Just nod if you want to transform, and it'll happen."

Adrien nodded and felt the transformation cover him. He still felt like a trainwreck, but slightly less so as he crawled over to Percy to make sure he was actually not in mortal peril. His breathing and pulse were fine, but Chat Noir still felt bad leaving him, vowing that he would be back to care for him, and at least his friends would be soon.

He remembered dealing with Riposte and the limits to his supports on his feet, which ached constantly. He couldn't take more than a few steps before nausea churned in his stomach, and he ended up vomiting out the minimal contents of his stomach as well as black sludge. That can't be good.

After a few moments of wheezing and trying to get his body back to normal, he managed to wipe his mouth and get up, walking up the stairs, already winded from just that, and looked down at the city below.

Immediately, he noticed that none of the akumas scattered about were doing much of anything. Even Ashton and Antibug—they had taken out both Papa Garou and Lady WiFi by stabbing them in the knees to knock them down, and then tying them up—but now they were almost like puppets without the puppetmaster.

The only active one was Princess Justice, who seemed just as confused by this, and Chat Noir decided it was best to go from behind and hurry around towards the Seine. He didn't know if that was where he should go, but he vaguely remembered something about Nathan needing water, and where else would the group go?

He met up with Coccinelle about halfway there, and they both threw themselves into an embrace, grateful beyond words that the other was alive. Even if he was still unsure about what to feel about being saved, the fact Luka wasn't dead in the sewer brought him to tears.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I shouldn't have left you—I shouldn't have disappeared—I—I—" he coughed, struggling to breathe and making himself dizzy and fell to his knees, with Coccinelle needing to catch him before he fell off the roof they were standing on.

"It's okay," Coccinelle assured him softly, "Just don't scare me like that again. I was afraid I lost you." Chat then noticed there was a soft flush on Coccinelle's cheeks that didn't seem like a blush,

"You okay?"

Coccinelle ran a hand through his hair, "It's been a long day and I am positive I will be feeling it tomorrow." He snapped up, "Anyway, something weird happened to the akumas."

"I noticed," Chat bit his thumb, "It's like they lost motivation or something. The only active one is Princess Justice. But I noticed a weird mask over their eyes."

"You think Princess Justice is doing this?" He asked, and Chat Noir shrugged,

"She could be, and I suppose that makes sense since even before, not all of them were supporting her, and it seemed to happen after her only two allies were down for the count, so it makes sense she would do that. Because either way, why would Hawk Moth do it? Like I get if he was trying to make them fight, but..."

"I know you're there, you witch," they both froze when they heard Princess Justice, who sounded far more deranged than usual, "If you give me your Miraculous, I'll make it quick."

Coccinelle glared in the direction of her voice and broke his yoyo in half into two yoyos, one with each side of the weapon. Chat's eyes widened, "You can do that?!"

"Is that not normal?"

"Ladybug never did that."

Coccinelle chuckled, "Well, I guess I'm superior." He put one at his hip, and they both jumped in fright when Princess Justice jumped up onto the roof with them, her hair no longer styled and instead a disaster blowing in the wind. Her dress was torn up, and the scale in her hair was tilted on one side.

Chat felt terror leave him almost frozen, but Coccinelle grabbed his waist in a fraction of a second and had them rocketing across Paris faster than she could catch up, getting far enough away that they had time to come up with a plan.

"Well," Chat panted, coughing again and needing to sit down to catch his breath, "What's the plan, sexybug?" He didn't even care what he had just said, too damn exhausted and dizzy to think straight.

If Coccinelle reacted to the nickname, Chat Noir didn't see, still trying to breathe instead of wheeze.

Coccinelle sat down with him, "I'm gonna need your help with this since you're the veteran hero. She's clearly nastier than normal, but now she doesn't have anyone's help, so this is like a normal akuma fight, except you're clearly messed up and I have no idea what I'm doing."

Need my help? Chat Noir smiled tiredly, having never expected to hear from his partner that he actually needed help. It made him feel even better about the choice he had made.

Part of him wondered if Luka knew his identity if he wasn't questioning the coughing and general weakness, but even the thought made Ladybug's borderline abusive rants come to mind. He found himself reluctant to ask or do anything to confirm one way or the other if he was Adrien Agreste.

Chat sat up a bit, "Alright. Let's make a plan." He tried to stand up, leaning on his staff, but to no avail, as his body gave out and crumpled on the ground. He groaned, trying to stop the aching and shaking in his body, only to be picked up by Coccinelle, who offered the staff and Coccinelle's side to stabilize him.

He panted, trying to form words, but only managing to breathe out a shaky "Lucky charm." 

Coccinelle nodded, summoning a lucky charm, which turned out to be a tennis ball machine. He looked down at the lucky charm in disdain before saying, "Y'know… I was kinda hoping I would get a gun," getting a shaky laugh from Chat.

Coccinelle smiled warmly before refocusing his attention on the plan, "Alright, so we have a tennis ball machine, and anything in our vicinity could be used. We need a plan that would require little to no moving and give us a decent space away from PJ, as we've seen that she can't really fight from a distance. Princess Justice is really fast though, and we're not really in shape for running… we need to keep her in one place, but how?" He muttered to himself, looking around… laying eyes on a lamppost, his yoyo, and Chat. 

Chat Noir tried to stand up on his own, seemingly getting an idea too. "I could distract her for a bit and tire her out if you'd like—" he started before coughing some more black sludge. Coccinelle cooed and helped Chat lean against him again.

He brushed Chat's hair away from his glazed green eyes as the latter looked borderline deliriously at him. "I do need your help Chat, but not to distract her. I will distract and tire her out, as I'm in slightly better shape of the two of us and I can attack from a distance better," he tried to ignore the building headache and cold sweat on his body, "But I do need your help here. Do you see that lamppost over there?" He asked, pointing at said object as Chat Noir nodded and recollected himself, "Do you think you can take one of my yoyos and tie one end to the lamppost and the other to the tennis machine? I need it stretched out in an angle, so when I say the word, you turn the machine on and throw it to the side. Does that work?" He asked timidly.

Chat finally managed to stand up on his own, giving Coccinelle a shaky thumbs up and a crooked grin, before getting cut off by the taunting voice of Princess Justice cutting through the sound of wreckage. 

Coccinelle quickly placed one of his yoyos in Chat's hand, holding Chat's hand a little longer as a means to comfort him or Chat, "Do you think you got everything? I'll distract her, okay? Just stay safe and away from trouble." He said quickly, kissing the top of Chat's head, before running off to distract Princess Justice, leaving a flushed Chat Noir behind him.

Coccinelle swung himself over to Princess justice, waving his arms around, "Hey, Ribbons! Come and fucking get me!" He screamed, catching her attention. 

Princess Justice charged in his direction, swinging her sword, "This time, I'll make sure I won't miss you, witch!" She screamed, aiming at his neck but missing, as he ducked and kicked her to create distance.

"You know, how is it that I'm one day on the job, and still somehow did worlds better than you did in your entire duration as Ladybug?" Coccinelle asked smugly, preparing for another attack from the deranged Akuma. They continued this back and forth, Princess Justice mostly on the offense wasting energy, while Coccinelle kept to himself, small movements conserving energy.

Suddenly, Coccinelle sprinted off, swinging from building to building as Princess Justice chased him. He landed on the ground, turning to see the Akuma sprinting toward him. Right before Princess Justice could strike, he screamed, "Chat Noir, now!" Causing the tennis machine to hit her square in the side and push her against the lamppost. The tennis machine kept firing, distracting her, and the yoyo string wrapped around her waist and the lamppost, much like a tetherball would, leaving her trapped against the lamppost, screaming and cursing everyone out.

Coccinelle casually approached, snatching the sword from Princess Justice, before he turned to offer it to Chat. "Would you like to finish this?" He asked gently, presenting the sword to not Chat, but to Adrien. 

Chat nodded, weakly muttering "Cataclysm," watching as the sword crumbled and a butterfly flew out of it. Coccinelle quickly caught it with his spare yoyo, purifying the Akuma and flipping off the butterfly as it flew off. A swarm of butterflies seemed to follow it, deakumatizing everyone and fluttering away carelessly. Was this really all just Princess Justice's doing?

Coccinelle went to detach the tennis machine from his yoyo and threw it in the air screaming, "Miraculous Glitterbug!" In a sardonic tone, and watched as a swarm of Ladybugs flew around, fixing some damage, but mostly reviving people, to his boundless relief.

As people woke up to find a ladybug-themed hero letting Chat Noir lean against him and looking intensely to the floor, questions quickly arose. Thankfully, everyone seemed much more preoccupied with dealing with Marinette or finding their families.

It was complete chaos of scattering people and police apprehending Marinette once again and having to fight back against Mr. Dupain trying to rescue his daughter as she was handcuffed and thrown in a police van. The big thing Coccinelle noticed was that it seemed everyone remembered what had happened. Nobody was disoriented about that at all. What was going on?

Chat Noir pulled away from Coccinelle, "I'm gonna go take a little cat nap, okay? I'm tired."

"No," Coccinelle tried to stop him, "You need to go to a hospital. You're clearly unwell." Chat chuckled a bit despite the pain in his chest,

"Don't worry, Mulletbug, I'll be fine. It'll take more than this to knock out all nine of my lives. I just... I can't have you knowing my identity. Not yet at least. I'll take myself to the hospital." He used his stick like a cane, shaking hands with the few people who acknowledged him in the disorder, and he launched himself up towards Notre Dame.

Coccinelle sighed, knowing Adrien would need time before coming clean about his identity. He could only imagine what hell Marinette had put him through since he remembered her being adamant about their identities being secret even from each other—which had always sounded like bullshit to him.

But he would wait as long as Adrien needed to be comfortable, even if it took a long time.

...

As soon as Adrien detransformed in a hidden alcove of Notre Dame, he knew he had made a big mistake as he collapsed onto the ground unceremoniously. The world was spinning, and he just wanted to go to sleep and escape from the pain radiating through his entire body, but something was stopping him.

"Adrien! Don't you dare pass out—stay awake!"

It felt like he was underwater, and he couldn't fight against it even if he wanted to. He didn't know if he shivered or not, but he let his head rest against the stone floor, no longer able to hear the pleas for him to not lose consciousness.

Maybe someone was shaking him or moving him, but he didn't care anymore. It was over. He was done.

...

Luka found an alleyway to hide in and detransform, his adrenaline gone, and he felt waves of heat crashing over him. He absently prodded his abdomen, feeling the scar. Why did he feel so awful right now? He had been healed, right?

He did a small high-five with Tikki, and he offered to let her come close since she looked like she needed a hug. She did, and then jumped back,

"You're burning up!"

"I am?" He sat up a bit, panting slightly from the effort, and Tikki was flying around in circles in a panic,

"Oh no, it must have been from leaving an open wound in the sewer and it got infected and—" Luka smiled,

"It's okay, Tikki," he assured her, "We have hospitals for that, and maybe we can meet Adrien there." He used the wall to stand and forced his weakening body forward through the chaos, noticing that some buildings were still destroyed and people were frantic in the streets.

"Luka!" He spun around and fell to the ground when Juleka threw herself at him in tears, clinging to him like he was going to disappear any second, "I thought—I thought I lost you! I was looking everywhere for you!" She sobbed, making herself as small as possible, and Luka held her,

"I'm okay, Jules. I think I passed out or something because Princess Frollo stabbed me." He lifted up his shirt, and Juleka had eyes wide with both fury and horror. And then she got a good look at him, at his messed-up hair and his fever-flushed skin. She helped him up, supporting him for the most part.

"We have to get you to the hospital."

"It's probably gonna be pretty crowded, you know."

"I don't care! I'm not risking you dying on me." Her breath caught in her throat, "I can't lose you."

"Hey," he offered, "The people Marinette killed came back I think, so Rose is okay." He could tell that was news to Juleka, who hurried her stride,

"I'll look for her once I know you're not going to die. I already have you with me and refuse to take any chances."

Thankfully, the Hôtel-Dieu was only a four-minute walk away. The hospital was massive and looked almost like a castle in fairy tales. Hopefully, its size would allow for a short wait time.

When they got into the lobby, this seemed to be the case because there were only perhaps twenty people there, and they were being filed in pretty efficiently. It would probably become more crowded once people found their families.

Juleka set Luka down in one of the seats, "I'll check you in." He shook his head,

"I can check myself in, Jules, don't worry."

He wasn't able to take more than three steps before vertigo hit him hard, and he came crashing to the ground, Juleka barely managing to save him from slamming into the floor.

That got the attention of one of the nurses, who helped him up, "Hey, sweetie, can you stand on your own?" Luka nodded and went to stand, only to fumble and slump into Juleka's arms.

The nurse seemed to understand the situation was serious and hurried to grab a wheelchair to help him, and she turned to Juleka, "Can you please check him in?"

"Of course, ma'am." Juleka hurried over to the front desk, and Luka felt that migraine that had been developing throughout the day crash into him with a force that made his vision go white. He pressed against his eyes to ease the pain.

He didn't even realize he had been eased onto a hospital bed until the nurse was looking him over. He looked around the room. Where was Adrien? Adrien should be here, right? "Adrien?"

The nurse frowned a bit, "Is Adrien your friend?"

"Adrien?"

She paused, "My name is Abigail, not Adrien." He nodded a bit to acknowledge that, pushing her away as she tried to look him over or hook him up to a heart monitor,

"Don't help me—Adrien needs help," he shuddered, anxiety taking firm hold as he realized Adrien wasn't here. "Why isn't Adrien here?! He needs help!"

"Sweetie, you have to calm down," Abigail tried to assure him, "I'm sure your friend is just in another room."

"Adrien!" He tried to get off the bed to find Adrien and make sure he was getting the care he needed, but his limbs felt like lead, and he could barely move. He felt Abigail's gentle hand on his shoulder,

"Can you tell me your name?"

Name? What was his name? He winced at the pain in his head, and the bright lights above him didn't make it any easier to think. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't recall his name or age. The only thing that stayed in his mind was Adrien, and even that was growing blurry.

He didn't realize he was shivering until he was given a lightweight blanket to keep warm, and suddenly fire coursed through his veins. It faded quickly, which he was glad for because it became hard to move his mouth to let anyone know of the sudden pain. He tried to keep his eyes open. He had to make sure Adrien was okay.

But it grew harder and harder as pain overcame him. He felt a Tikki holding onto his finger...

He tried his damndest to fight against it, but his struggles were to no avail as awareness ebbed away, and all he could do was swear to himself his fight wasn't over yet. Not until he knew everyone was safe.

OoOoO

Nathalie raced through the hospital, not caring in the slightest if Gabriel was following her. Her heels made a soft clicking sound as she walked, her stride powerful but not giving off the amount of panic and fury she felt.

How dare he? How dare Gabriel do this? She had agreed to the plan of being Catalyst to end this insanity. Because Gabriel did have a point, it would actually be suspicious to not akumatize Marinette when it was such a perfect opportunity. 

He had said Adrien wouldn't get hurt. Even when the execution was set to happen, he assured her it wouldn't get that far, and Adrien would be saved, and they could win at last.

She often played the role of submissive assistant. But realizing Gabriel let the execution happen made her snap, ripping the power of Scarlet Moth from him and forcing every Akuma she had control over into dormant, leaving only herself and Princess Justice in his grasp. He could only create one butterfly per transformation normally, but making one and then storing it, and then creating another seemed to work fine.

Why would Gabriel let this happen to Adrien? She had already known that when she got a call from the hospital, it wouldn't be good, but to hear what actually happened...

Her knees became like pudding as she got a look at Adrien, her sweet boy who didn't deserve any of this.

Adrien was on a hospital bed, having several wires hooked up with a ventilator on his face and IVs that led to noisy beeping machines. He looked pale, just like the hospital white sheets. His healthy rosy skin was… gone. Even though the ventilator covered his mouth and nose, Nathalie could see the youthful face underneath it. But he didn't look like he was sleeping peacefully. His feet were peeking out of the sheets, and she immediately noticed the loose bandaging on his feet where he was burned. It was hard to see anything else since he had a hospital gown, and the sheets pulled up to his chest. His arms were pulled out from under the blankets and at his sides.

Approaching the bed turned out to be a difficult task. With each step Nathalie took, her heart beat faster and harder. When she was close enough to Adrien's bed, she hesitantly held Adrien's hand in hers, "Adrien… I'm sorry." She didn't even recognize her own voice as she apologized. It was hard, it hurt, and she wanted to turn back time so bad.

The doctor told her that Adrien had fallen into a coma from severe smoke inhalation. If he pulled through tonight, his chances of waking up would improve, but...

She ran a hand through her hair, which had long since fallen out of its normal tight bun, trying to maintain any semblance of calm, gently stroking Adrien's cheek with the back of her hand,

"You're going to be okay, my boy," she whispered, "I promise."

She heard Gabriel come in even before he said anything, and she refused to acknowledge him. How dare he come in here after what he had done? Did he really value Emilie over his own son?

Gabriel came over, "How is he, Nathalie?" He came to the other side of the bed, taking a seat in the armchair, and she looked away from him. She didn't care if he fired her. The only reason she hadn't quit on the spot was for Adrien's sake. He needed an adult in his life willing to stand up to his bastard father.

"Get out, Gabriel." She seethed, glaring daggers at him as she finally met his eyes.

"He's my son," Gabriel defended, having the audacity to actually be angry, "You have no say in this."

She wanted to scream at him and tell him in detail what he had done wrong and how his only child was on the brink of death because he valued beating up teenagers for magic jewelry over his son not getting burned to death!

But she had also heard that coma patients could hear those around them. She didn't know if it was true, but she would prefer that not to be how he inevitably found out the truth. Just because he was in a coma didn't mean he wasn't still here with them.

At least, she hoped he would still be here with them by morning.

...

Gabriel sometimes forgot the power Nathalie held. Emilie had joked about Nathalie being the diplomat of the three of them, the one with indirect influence over both of them. He was so used to her soft suggestions that her ripping his superpower away from him with rage in her eyes and not treating him with any respect was throwing him for a loop.

He looked down at Adrien, hearing the beeping of the heart monitor and the ventilator keeping his chest rising and falling.

Seeing him so weak like this and close to death... it was just like Emilie. If Adrien died or even just remained in a coma... he shook himself. If that happened, he could use the wish to save them both. Adrien would be fine no matter what.

But why? Why didn't Chat Noir or Coccinelle show up until the execution had begun? He had been hoping to trade Adrien for the Miraculous—so that he would win on both accounts. But not only had he lost control of his akumas, but neither hero was there until it was too late. He understood why Coccinelle wasn't there, but what about Chat Noir?

And more importantly, Marinette Dupain-Cheng knew the identity of the new hero. He wanted nothing to do with her, but could he somehow get the truth out of her so he could go take the Miraculous from Coccinelle?

What was he thinking? This wasn't his concern right now. The important thing was that Adrien was hurt and on the brink of death!

He bowed his head, taking Adrien's other hand, looking to the end of the bed seeing Adrien's feet. He didn't even let himself think about the insurance money from this or the fact Adrien probably wouldn't be able to model for a while. All that mattered was his son's health.

"Don't leave, Adrien," he whispered, wiping away the tears threatening to spill from his eyes, "I don't know what I'll do if you're gone. I'm sorry for not being there for you... just don't let this be my punishment."

OoOoO

When Luka came to, he instantly regretted it, groaning in pain and shivering. He heard chatter and slowly forced himself to open his eyes, seeing he was in a hospital room that he seemed to be sharing with Percy. His Mom, sister, Rose, and the cult were here, and words didn't describe his relief to see that, for the most part, the group seemed unharmed.

Ashton nodded to Luka with a soft smile on his face, "I'm glad to see you're finally awake, Luka." Everyone turned to him, and both Juleka and Danielle threw themselves at him, laughing with relief and delight.

Luka blinked a few times, realizing his throat was extremely dry, and he was thankful for the water Rose offered him. His brow furrowed as he noticed a thick and perfectly line-like scar wrapped all the way around her neck, probably from where she had been beheaded.

"Thank fuck you're up, Luka," Nathan said cheerfully, "How the hell did you manage to give yourself septicemia?"

"Hm?"

"Blood poisoning," Kiera clarified, "Abdomen wound, right?" Luka nodded, seeing he had IVs in his arm and he was hooked up to a heart monitor.

"How long have I been out?"

"Technically only about five hours," Percy waved from his hospital bed, and Luka noticed he had a sling for his badly damaged arm, "But you've been pretty out of it for about forty. Every time you wake up you just writhe and scream for Adrien before you pass out again."

Luka shot upright, "Adrien! Is he okay? He got burned."

There was tense silence, and Luka felt his anxiety increase. Even Mom seemed afraid to say anything.

"Luka," Mom said eventually, "Adrien's in a coma. Nobody besides family is allowed to see him or have any updates on his condition."

Guilt hit him in the gut, and he had to lay back down and process what he was hearing. He must have pushed himself too far, capturing Princess Justice. He should have insisted that Chat Noir rest and not push himself. What if Adrien died?!

"What about Marinette?" He asked, and Danielle perked up,

"She's locked up in a cell awaiting her trial. The trial's gonna take place when the city is a bit put back together. Nino's currently helping the police on a criminal investigation to find as much evidence against her as possible."

"Why is Nino helping with that?"

"Because he has an idea of someone who will be able to testify against Marinette," Nathan replied casually, "Didn't give me any details, but you know what? The more people who hate Marinette, the better." He brightened, "Oh my god, Luka, there's a new superhero! Coccinelle, and oh my god he is hot!"

"Hey," Kiera jabbed her boyfriend playfully, both laughing, "I mean, you're right, but come on!" 

"I'm just saying," Nathan defended, "I'd let him bang me without charge, and I know you would too."

Luka felt his face turn red, and now he understood Adrien's pain of that love letter as he laughed hard enough that he struggled to breathe, "You have no chill, Nathan!"

Nathan bowed playfully, "Thank you, I try." He put his hands on his hips, "So once you get out of the hospital, we're all gonna go drinking, right? Raise a glass to horrific trauma!" He raised his fist to the sky, and everyone continued to smile and nod; Mom even said she'd let them drink at the Liberty, so Rose and Juleka could join in secret if they wanted to. Honestly, after everything, everyone needed a drink.

But Luka grimaced, hearing the heartsongs of his friends, which had a melody to them of pain they were hiding behind smiles and jokes. He knew that even if they were all joking and having a good time right now, none of them were actually okay.

He winced at the pain in his head, grateful he could actually think clearly this time and noticed he was hooked up to morphine. For a moment, he felt some panic because that was the stuff they gave the guy in Saving Private Ryan right before he died, but then he realized the medication was probably to ease his pain and not because he was dying.

But now that he could think, all he could think about was his desire to be at Adrien's side. He needed to know there were people who loved him and would stay at his side while he recovered. What if he felt lonely in his coma?

He refused to even consider the idea Adrien wouldn't wake up. Worst case scenario, he would visit Adrien in the hospital as Coccinelle since it was only natural for a hero to want to visit someone he saved.

That was normal, right? He cringed, knowing Marinette would probably have the same thought process. Was it selfish to go visit him?

Maybe he could just go check on him once. Just once wouldn't hurt, and he would leave if he was asked to.

Please be okay, Adrien.

OoOoO

It took a long time for Adrien to be able to process anything. He dully remembered opening his eyes a few times, but by the time his mind was clear, he didn't know where he was or how he had gotten here. He noticed that Nathalie was asleep in an armchair, her head rested on her fist. He looked out the window, and he instantly realized where he was. Oh, this hospital was lovely! It was like a Princess castle!

It suddenly dawned on him why he was here as he saw in the distance damaged buildings. Then he looked down at his bandaged feet.

He laid back down, and he realized he felt Plagg purring against his hip under the blankets, and he lifted the blanket a bit to acknowledge he was awake. Plagg opened his eyes, and they lit up with delight Adrien hadn't even seen for the best of cheeses. But Plagg wasn't given a chance to say anything because the door was opened, and Adrien was shocked to see Felix was here.

Nathalie snapped awake hearing Felix, and she beamed as well, her hand over her mouth as her eyes were watering, "Adrien!"

Felix grinned, "Have a good nap, Sleeping Beauty?"

Adrien opened his mouth but realized that his throat hurt badly, and even some water to drink didn't help. He tapped his throat, and he was given a piece of paper to write on.

"What happened?"

"You've been out of it for two weeks," Nathalie explained, "First week you were completely comatose, and this week you've been slowly coming out of it but not completely aware."

"Felix?"

"I came as soon as I heard," Felix replied.

"All the way from London? Damn."

Felix snorted a bit in his laughter, "Yeah. I'll have you know the trains and flights weren't going into Paris right after the disaster, so I had to pay to borrow someone's boat and travel across the water and then get a shady ass taxi to bring myself here so I could see you."

"Why did you do that?"

"I'm a spiteful creature and someone telling me I can't do something makes me want to do it even more. And I wanted to see you and make sure you were okay because you got burned alive." He smirked, "And my great spite made me sneak past guards and bring you in a friend," he moved into the hallway, "Luka! He's awake!"

Luka hurried in, and Adrien leaned into the embrace, letting Luka use most of the strength since Adrien was unable, both desperately clinging to the other and Luka speaking about how worried he was. Felix gestured to Nathalie for her to follow,

"Come on, let's give them some time together." He then narrowed his eyes at Luka and pointed at him, "I'm gonna keep watch outside, but if I hear moans, I'm reporting y'all." Nathalie looked towards Luka and Adrien with a smile, clearly reluctant to go, but understood the two would be okay together.

As everyone filed out of the room, Adrien leaned into Luka, laying both of them on the hospital bed with a slight “oomph” sound. He grabbed Luka’s face, frowning at how boiling hot he felt against his skin. He went to grab his notebook and pencil, scribbling a message:

“You’re too warm! You’re hurt and sick!” Adrien tapped the message with his pencil and pouted.

Luka whined, nudging the notebook away and cupping Adrien’s face, “You’re more sick… you rest now…” he whined, hugging Adrien by the waist and laying him down. As Adrien tried to whine, Luka only gently shushed him, going to listen to the sound of his heartbeat. 

Luka reached out to pat Adrien’s head and whined, “Good blondie… Trust me with Ladybug miraculous…” he mumbled against his chest.

Adrien sat upright, covering Luka’s mouth, “Y-You shouldn’t—” he whispered in pain, “S-Say tha—“ he attempted to continue before he was shushed loudly by Luka.

“You shouldn’t say it so loud!” Luka whined, covering Adrien’s mouth. Adrien hugged, shushing Luka even more, which resulted in a back and forth of shushing and rolling around while laughing. Both kept laughing and laughing, laughter turning into tears, hugging turned into holding each other tight, too afraid to let go. No words were exchanged, for they weren’t needed. They knew why they were crying. They knew that right now, they needed the other. Lying down, content in the other’s embrace.

They would joke about this moment later. Even if they knew this wasn’t delirious affection, yet honesty in its rawest form.

Hearing a gentle knock, both boys watched as Gabriel came in silently, seemingly avoiding the gaze of Nathalie and Felix, for whatever reason.

Gabriel took a deep breath and bit his lip, seemingly stopping himself from making commentary, before continuing. “I have arranged for Mr. Couffaine to have overnight visitation rights, as I have received extensive reports of you both calling to one another in a half-conscious state. I believe I do not need to say that maintaining professional behavior is in order—“ he started before quieting at Nathalie’s glare. “But it seems you need one another. Now pardon, as I go attend to preparations for the upcoming trial.” He promptly left the room, followed by his assistant.

As both left the scene, Felix could not help but take note in the back of his mind and maybe even tell Luka.

As Gabriel and Nathalie walked away, Nathalie decided to ask, “What do you plan now, sir?” She said, drawing out the “sir” in a menacing kind of tone, dripping with poison that was almost tangible. 

Gabriel huffed, turning to her with a glare, “Now, we plan our next move. This incident was simply a miscalculation on my part, and I will do it right next time. And no one, not even a mangy cat and a silly bug, can stop me, am I clear?” He barked out.

Nathalie stood proud, clutching the tablet she often walked around with, “...yes, sir.” She said quietly.

Gabriel looked away, going to leave the building, and enter his car. He was seemingly looking at nothing.

“Good. Now let us prepare for Dupain-Cheng’s trial."

Chapter Text

Fairford was a relatively obscure town in England. Mom had told him that time and time again that they wouldn't be found, and the terrain was open enough that it would be easy to run if they were.

He repeated it to himself every day that he wouldn't be found, and yet no matter how hard he tried to push his paranoia away, he still couldn't escape the feeling he was being watched. Sometimes he could hear the giggles of the girl who tormented him whenever she was taking pictures of him from the bushes when she thought he didn't notice.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when he heard it again, letting his hand rest on the hilt of the dagger he kept hidden at his hip as he checked the bush, taking a breath of relief to find nothing.

As much as he wanted to hide in his room and never come out, he had learned the hard way that wouldn't save him. It hadn't before, so why would it now? He had to keep moving, always doing something, always busy...

Always able to run.

He looked up to the sky. The sky was varying shades of pink and orange, meaning night would fall soon, and he should hurry to bring the groceries home for supper.

"You're back late," Dad said worriedly, looking up from his cookbook for dinner, "Everything alright, kiddo?"

"Oh, yeah," he sighed, "Everything's alright, Athair." He smiled softly, "Just... you know... it's acting up again." He felt his breathing pick up as he closed the curtains in the kitchen, "I—I gotta go! Please just put my food in the fridge for when I get back."

He hurried out the door, knowing that even if Mom was home right now, neither of his parents would stop him when he got like this. He hurried to the stable just outside the house, where his loyal horse, Buttercup, was waiting for him.

"Hey, girl," he dug into the small emergency backpack he kept in the stable in a small safe. He held the container for his colored contacts to disguise the eye color that had become a signature trait in the event he was found again or if his paranoia was reaching new heights. He decided he didn't need them right now, stuffing it back in the bag, and quickly threw a blanket over Buttercup's back and put on the bridle. There was no point in a saddle as it took too much time, and he knew how to ride with nothing but a blanket under him as they moved full gallop out of Fairford, past the River Coln, riding alongside it for a short distance as he quickly traveled across the country.

England wasn't too large, and Buttercup was a Thoroughbred horse, bred for horse racing, and thankfully pretty cheap due to how common they were. She had been a gift from his parents for his 14th birthday once their finances were better, which they had drastically since moving out of Paris and into a small town. With her speed and the distance of two hundred miles, they would make it to the coast in a bit over four hours.

Even as he raced across the countryside with the wind in his tousled hair, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched or how there always seemed to be a car behind him. Whether it was the same car, he couldn't tell due to not being able to turn around long enough. Still, even if he wasn't being followed, he made sure to sacrifice the time it would take to get to his destination in favor of making sure anyone following him by vehicle wouldn't be able to catch him.

He looked up at the dark clouds momentarily obscuring the moon, praying that another flash flood wouldn't start now, as they had been getting out of hand this month, but thankfully a safe distance away from Fairford. If he needed to stop for the night, he had money in his backpack, but he would much prefer to not do that.

Should he turn back? He risked a glance behind him, slowing Buttercup's gallop to an eventual halt, sighing with relief when he was pretty sure he wasn't being followed, or if he had, his pursuers had lost him.

"Looks like we lost 'em, Princess," he pulled out some sugar cubes and leaned forward to give them to Buttercup, "Good girl." When he was sure she had eaten them, they kept on riding.

He felt much more at ease while riding, away from the city and the lack of escape he had in 6th grade. He grimaced at even the thought.

"I want you to set a good example for your classmates. Don't give into feelings of anger. Try to forgive her instead."

"But—"

"Come on, there are much worse people out there! People like her are kind and helpful and capable of great things. Even if you think she has done something wrong, we can't force her to change. But perhaps we can set a good example. That's why people like you are so important in today's world because they have a lot of love to give! I'm counting on you!"

He shook those memories away, needing to focus on his breathing to not hyperventilate as his mind tried to remind him of the past. He couldn't help but wonder how much torment she had caused others, especially with that new supervillain at large. He had heard the train between Paris and London was shut down for a time, but he hadn't bothered to learn why and assumed it had something to do with Hawk Moth... that was the villain's name, right?

When he finally made it to the shore, he was relieved to find nobody there, and he didn't bother to tie Buttercup. His stomach growled as he hadn't eaten since breakfast, and he pulled out a granola bar for himself. That should hold him over until morning.

Cornwall was one of the farther shores from his small town, but this was the one place where there was nobody here at night most of the time.

He didn't need to tie Buttercup to anything, knowing she wouldn't stray far from him and would come when he called her. This would give her time to rest.

He pulled out his phone and saw a message from Mom, asking where he was, and he messaged her that he was in Cornwall and would be home before lunch as long as there wasn't a flash flood, and he would let her know if that happened.

Now that he was alone, he heaved a sigh, removing his combat boots and socks, letting the sand get between his toes as he stared longingly at the sea and saw the curve of the Earth in the distance.

He dug into his backpack, smiling hollowly at the message in a glass bottle. It was a stupid little thing from his youth. 

"If you write a wish upon a paper and you place it into a glass bottle and it's washed away by the ocean, someday there's a chance that it'll come true!"

He had thrown many glass bottles with his wish out into the sea over the years as a way to soothe the demons in his head, telling him she was coming for him and would find him. He doubted anything ever came of these little wishes, but it brought him enough peace of mind to do it from time to time.

The waters, it seemed, made this easier tonight as he saw the bottle drifting farther away, riding swiftly on the waves, heading steadily toward the horizon, and gradually fading away.

He stood there, knee-deep in the water for a while, the early summer air warm, and he pulled his baggy jacket tighter around himself, feeling where he had sewn on the purple and black plaid patches to give the black jacket a bit more personality. Besides, it matched his eyes.

He hummed softly until the water became too chilled to stay in, and he stood on the shore, humming a soft lullaby, thinking about the city he had called home for most of his life.

England was his home now, and yet he still couldn't get Paris out of his mind. Perhaps it was because he had had no choice but to leave that he almost longed to go back, even if his last year there had been full of terror and grief.

Why did part of him want to go back? Paris was so much more restrictive and dangerous than the life he led now, even if it was in a sense on the run. Every reason he now only revealed his woes to the sea and to Buttercup lay back in Paris. Even if he wanted closure, to go back there meant to put his new home, his freedom, and potentially even his life in danger if the line between reality and his nightmares wasn't as blurred in some areas as he hoped.

He chuckled quietly to himself as he sat down in the sand, looking up at the stars. Nobody would save him if he was found again. No amount of pleading for adults besides his parents to understand made anything change. Even if some things had changed, and the things she had tried to hold over him didn't have as much weight anymore, she was still dangerous.

He continued humming, listening to the gentle waves and rubbing his thumb across the sand on the seashell in his hand as a form of stimming.

He didn't know how long he sat there. It was a long time, he supposed because he checked and Buttercup was happily grazing or resting above, still within eyeshot. The moon had changed position too, but he didn't particularly care to check the time as he drank from his travel mug that housed enough Monster energy to hold him over until nightfall tomorrow.

"Kieran?"

Kieran straightened suddenly at that voice, his heart suddenly racing as his adrenaline kicked in. He heard the sound of footsteps on the beach, and he estimated that if he made a break for it, he could still get away from this person.

"What do you want?" He asked, not turning away from the water, refusing to confirm his identity. The voice behind him was certainly different than years ago, but he could place it quickly enough as one he had never expected to hear again.

"I've been looking for you."

"Yeah, well I didn't exactly want to be found."

A laugh, "I can tell, especially since you came all the way out here for some alone time. You certainly made it hard to follow you here."

So he had been followed, and they were still able to find him. His breathing picked up, "What do you want, Nino? Why did you come all this way."

"Marinette has been arrested. We need your testimony against her for the trial, and I thought you had a right to know she’s gone."

Dawn on the beach. Kieran watched the sky change colors in preparation for the sunrise as his voice caught in his throat, never having expected to hear those beautiful words.

"She's... She's gone?"

Nino didn't take any steps closer, but Kieran could tell he was relaxing, "Yeah. She is. Come on, Kieran, let's go home."

He didn't know what to do, torn between the options of the revenge he had been craving for so long or the comfort of a safe life. Doing this would put him in danger and make him hated by the people who inevitably still adored that crazy little stalker. With Hawk Moth there, he could be killed.

But this was a chance to make that wish of his come true...

He finally turned to face Nino.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Adrien (spoken):

We’re not what you’d expect from the heroes of Paris

Luka (spoken): 

We’re different people with different lives

Adrien (spoken):

But when our city and the people are in trouble?

Both (spoken):

You know you can count on us!

Adrien:

Another day, another chore

They think they can lock me up forever

When no one’s sees, I’m on the run

My claws are out, and it’s time for fun

Oh-oh-oh!

With him, I’ll never fall

Oh-oh-oh!

Yeah, We will give our all

Oh-oh-oh!

And when danger’s around

That’s when we become…

Chorus:

Miraculous! Simply the best!

Together, a team, we can be strong!

Miraculous, yeah we got this! 

The hero’s inside us all along!

Luka: 

I am not much, I try my best

When the time comes, I'm up to the test

I feel so strong, I feel so free

When no one else knows my identity

Oh-oh-oh!

He is my everything 

Oh-oh-oh!

My heart, it starts to sing

Oh-oh-oh!

And when it’s time to fight

That’s when we become… 

Chorus 2x

Adrien and Luka: 

Miraculous! Simply the best!

Together, a team, we can be strong!

Backup singers:

Miraculous, we can do this

Ohhh!

Everyone:

Miraculous, yeah we got this! 

The hero’s inside us all along!

Miraculous!

OoOoO

Adrien jerked upright in bed, tears spilling down his face. Phantom pains and sensations shot through his muscles and stabbed into his every nerve. The fire on his skin, the splinters in his feet, the crackling of burning wood, Princess Justice's sadistic laughter. Everything about that day still existed in his mind, carving a trench through his chest and leaving him tugging on his hair so hard it hurt, just so long as he was grounded.

It was different every night, but the fire and Marinette's face and her nauseating laugh were there. They were always there.

He stared across the room out the window where it was still dark outside as he finally glanced at the clock. He wouldn't be overly concerned by how he had gotten up earlier than usual if he had actually slept much. But, alas, that time had been spent tossing and turning to the point he didn't remember getting any sleep. He must have if his nightmare was any say, but it wasn't particularly restful.

Nausea churned his stomach as it had without fail every night since returning from the hospital, and he nonverbally transformed. It was far too early for his father or Nathalie to check on him.

Despite the transformation stabilizing him, he wasn't very graceful as he stumbled to the bathroom. His boots snagged on the carpet, causing him to trip over the basket of dirty linens Nathalie planned to clean.

He leaned against the counter, trying to psych himself up so he didn't get sick. Messy golden hair fell around his face, and as he looked up, he almost didn't recognize himself. On a superficial level, he looked the same, but...he shook himself. There was no describing what seemed different. Besides the bags under his eyes that he couldn't see while in costume, he barely knew himself. Maybe it was all in his head. 

The only thing he knew was different were his eyes, and even then, he couldn't say if it was real or his imagination. He had his mother's eyes, peridot green, but Chat Noir feared they had dulled into that same unfeeling gray of his father.

If only apathy could relieve him of his memories and pain. 

The fire…the people…her laugh… All of it swirled in his mind until he didn't know if he could stand to have that dream one more time, and yet those horrid memories continued to mercilessly haunt him to no end. Even if it was a normal response, the movies always portrayed a fire execution as the victim screaming and remaining conscious, which seemed to have seeped into his nightmares and was slowly driving him mad.

He had tried everything from nice-smelling oils in a diffuser to the strongest sleeping pills money could provide to make it stop, but every night, the events of Princess Justice's short reign continued their mission of eating him alive.

He took a deep breath, filling up a glass with water and slowly sipping it. It could have been worse. It wasn't like last night when he had needed to watch Luka die from his wounds or relive Kagami and Nino's deaths. Or the night before, where Marinette hadn't been stopped from—

His body lurched. He ended up stumbling and vomiting into the toilet, grabbing the chilled sides in a death grip, trying to contain the sounds of retching and think past the pain as bile burned his already damaged throat. He continued for about ten minutes, waiting for the retching to subside, for the lingering tremors to spread apart and fade.

He braced himself over the bowl, counting each breath. In through his nose, out through his mouth. Over and over. He paused for a moment when he felt hands soothing him, but he knew it wasn't real. It was those hallucinations that, even after his confinement by Princess Justice had ended, had yet to leave him alone. They persisted, making him feel as though he was going mad.

He forced himself to cough, and that made him heave again.

When he had nothing else left to give, Chat Noir pulled away from the toilet, but he couldn't go far once he was outside of the wretched bathroom. He could hear birds outside the cracked open window, and Adrien detransformed while looking out at the early morning sky. His body slowly slid down the wall as his damaged feet were no longer supported by the transformation, but he didn't pay that any mind as the early July breeze caressed his damp face.

This is real... I'm alive... 

He curled his knees to his chest. I'm alive. This is real. I'm alive.  

He mouthed the words and kept mouthing them until he could loosen his grip on his legs and lift his head. Pain splintered through his hands—he had curled them into fists so tight his nails had punctured his skin, leaving behind little red half-moons in his palms.

Nausea refusing to give him peace , Adrien attempted to crawl back to bed and lay down, but his right knee burned, like the fire was still on his flesh. His body gave out, leaving him unable to move from the floor.

"Don't think about it." Felix hadn't known what to do, and those words were his clueless attempt to help. Adrien had tried hard to forget—make his mind as empty as possible and keep it that way forever and ever. But pretending that day hadn't happened was impossible. What else would he have to erase to deny it all? No... This was reality, and he had to live with it.

Plagg was beside him, trying to encourage him to get up, but Adrien didn't bother to try, curling into a ball and closing his eyes, dreading sleep he hoped being on the floor would prevent.

It seemed Plagg did not agree with this and hurried off, bringing back Felix mere moments later. Adrien looked up at his cousin bent down by his side, a pained expression on his face. And yet, Felix was the only one he lived with who didn't overwhelm him with pity.

"Nightmare?" He asked. Adrien nodded, making small noises of protest as Felix gathered him up in his arms and sat him down in his wheelchair with a blanket. "Are you up for breakfast?" He grabbed a tissue and cleaned off Adrien's face. Adrien shook his head, pulling the blanket tighter around himself as he looked down at his feet. His left was closer to healing... the burns hadn't been as severe, but his right was already scarring, and he couldn't put weight on it.

He grabbed the pressure garment his father insisted he wear. Massively painful to put on, but it supposedly would make sure the scars were nice and smooth. Maybe later he would think about how this was supposed to help the healing process, but the amount of pain just from putting this on made him feel as though his father only cared about his scars looking pretty.

"Adrien, you don't have to put that thing on," Plagg insisted, but it was already on, and Adrien looked up at the ceiling to breathe through the pain and pressure before his leg adjusted.

He looked towards Felix, who had been extremely tense since yesterday when it was publicly announced Marinette decided to plead not guilty to her charges. Princess Justice was still up in the air since many people were positive she did have her own will, but just as many people were unsure. That was going to be part of the trial, no doubt, but Adrien found even the idea of her trying to say she hadn't done anything wrong to be sickening. How was it even possible she was allowed to plead that? There was photographic evidence of her having stolen things from Adrien and his entire schedule, and who knows what else!

If he had to guess, the attorney tried to insist she plead guilty, but either Marinette or her father would not have it any other way than saying she was innocent, but then would go and say she did do it, but she was justified.

He was going to be coming into court to testify today, and already he was dreading it. From what he knew, court was extremely boring, and seeing as the last times he had seen Marinette was when she was either losing her mind from not being allowed to have him or was trying to burn him alive...

Things were different now, he tried to assure himself. She didn't have obsessive lust for him anymore. That could either be a blessing or a curse... he hadn't figured that out yet.

His father assured him the city hired a good prosecutor, and Ms. LaMotte, as she was named, already had a strong case against Marinette for not only the stalking but also Princess Justice, and the trial would go smoothly. It begged the question about what defense attorney in their right mind would take this case, but Adrien supposed that since there was a law stating the defendant was required to have one, it was just as likely the lawyer defending Marinette didn't want to be here.

He made a small gesture asking for help getting dressed. It was humiliating, needing his cousin's help for basic things like getting his clothes for him. The doctors and physical therapists said he would be able to walk and speak again given time, but Adrien was losing hope as each day passed with him unable.

Felix handed him his robes and turned around. Adrien looked at the soft navy fabric as he took off his shirt to put the top on, forced to look at the rope burn on his wrists, which was mostly but not fully healed, and as he lifted his arms, he could see the faded shoulder scars from his encounter with Riposte so long ago.

He thought back on that incident. Marinette probably had intentionally screwed up Kagami's chances. He often looked back on that badly timed joke back when he had hoped she cared for more but his body, and he wondered where he would be now if he hadn't done that, and perhaps Ladybug hadn't disliked Chat Noir as much.

His robes were a lot like Princess Buttercup's red dress in The Princess Bride, except in a navy color, and the skirt was replaced with very loose pants of a matching color, which looked admittedly like a skirt when he was sitting.

Whether the red color had been changed because bright colors weren't recommended in court or because Adrien couldn't stand to look at the color red without panic welling up, he didn't want to think about it.

He struggled to put on his pants but managed and clipped on the gold belt, laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling. He had to put makeup on and tidy up his hair, but he still had five hours before he had to be in court, and the courthouse was within a four-minute walking distance. If he could walk or wouldn't have a microphone shoved into his face by Nadja Chamack, he would have opted to do that. He already knew he would have to somehow get away from his father since it was inevitable Chat Noir would he asked to testify, and this whole thing was just a mess.

He moved himself back into his wheelchair, not caring what Felix did. He eyed his cousin, who was already dressed for court. He had always known about Felix's insomnia, but since Felix had never stayed over for long, he hadn't really seen it. If he had to guess, Felix had been awake for at least an hour already.

Felix clapped his hands together, "Alright. Fancy a cuppa? It might help your voice."

Tea sounded nice. He nodded and let Felix push the wheelchair to the stairs, and he cringed as he needed to be carried down the stairs and into another wheelchair. His father had been planning to have changes done to the mansion so he could get around but decided against it since this wasn't permanent. Thanks, Father, he thought to himself sarcastically, Best Dad Ever.

Felix brought him over to a small table in the kitchen where the cook normally ate while working, but nobody worked in the mansion right now since they were all dealing with damaged homes and traumatized families. Adrien was sure they all would have starved because his father would rather Adrien die than eat fast food from a drive-thru like any other human being if Felix hadn't taken up the mantle of the cook.

"Green tea?" Felix asked, turning towards him, and Adrien shrugged, staring at the wall, "And how about coffee French toast?" He looked to Adrien, who was still staring blankly at a particularly interesting piece of wall, "Alright?"

He only shrugged.

Felix put the tea kettle on the stove and came over, his hands on Adrien's shoulders, "Hey, I know you're not doing great, but you have to eat something."

Adrien shook his head, looking at the floor now, and Plagg growled a bit. Ever since Princess Justice, Plagg had taken the job of a father very seriously, and while it was sweet, it was jarring that his lazy cheese-loving friend was so dedicated to something and wouldn't put up with him skipping meals.

He only squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. His stomach growled, reminding him of how empty it was from the minimal contents of his stomach coming up a few minutes ago. He ignored his body, telling him he needed to eat, but he also knew it was a lost cause because if Felix and Plagg weren't harassing him about food, Luka had his snack bags ready and insisted Adrien eat. Why couldn't everyone leave him alone and not insist he eat?

He hadn't realized he spaced out until Felix was holding french toast in front of his face, a cheeky grin on his face, "You know you want it," he teased, "Open up, Sunflower."

Adrien flushed in shame, but when he noticed the desperation from Felix and Plagg, he hesitantly opened his mouth, doing his best to make his eyes sparkle with delight when he tasted the food. It really was amazing, Felix had outdone himself, but he just didn't have the energy for his normal cheer.

The best way he could show his gratitude was to eat more independently, and Felix and Plagg did a little fist-bump.

"Good morning," they all turned and Plagg quickly hid when they saw Nathalie was up, a tired smile on her face as she made herself some coffee. Felix gestured to the French toast,

"I made some for you, Nathalie. I can't be arsed to make some for dear old Gabe, but you're nice."

"Thank you, Felix," she sat down with them, and Adrien smiled softly. Even at this much smaller table, he was with his cousin and basically his new Mom. He didn't need the massive table to sit alone upstairs. This was just enough. "Are you okay to go to court today, Adrien?" She asked, "I have your testimony ready, so I can go up in your place." Because Adrien couldn't speak, Ms. LaMotte had given Nathalie the list of questions that would be asked, which he answered. Technically he probably didn't have to go.

But... he knew he had to see this through to the end, no matter how much Marinette scared him, and he was afraid he would throw up in his mouth if he saw that smug expression on her face he was bound to.

He nodded his confirmation that he was going, and Nathalie grimaced, "Your father expects you to look your best if you are going to be in public for the first time since..." since he had been publicly executed. He didn't need her to finish that sentence. He remembered it as well as anyone else.

He eyed Nathalie, not seeing the scar around her neck like Nino, Gorilla, and he assumed everyone else who had been beheaded had. Everyone still had scars, and he was both unable and not brave enough to ask where his father and Nathalie had been during all of this. He wasn't sure what was worse—that they had been killed, or that they had hidden and not thought to help him.

Surely it wasn't that. At least not in Nathalie's case; she must have at least looked for him and been powerless to do anything. His father, on the other hand...

He shook those thoughts away. He was just bitter about the pressure garment. His father did love him; he just struggled to show it sometimes.

He tried to not think about the rest of the morning as Nathalie helped him look his best, applying makeup to give the illusion of him being healthy and well, and his hair styled to be more like how he normally brushed it instead of the lifeless locks that fell in front of his face.

Adrien had seen online that he was being held up as a figurehead for Paris, a savior and a saint. They said he represented beauty and virtue, and others said he had never looked so beautiful as before his death, and his kindness was boundless. He had already been popular, but sacrificing his life had turned him into an almost holy being.

He should have known this was how he would be remembered, especially if he had truly died. He morbidly wondered what would happen if the public found out that stunt had been bordering on an assisted suicide attempt.

Part of him just wanted to admit that. He was dancing on a tightrope with the press already, and now that he couldn't run and escape, he had nowhere to go, and media outlets would be at each other's throats to see him.

Regardless of if his father loved him or not, he knew he would be held up to bring people to the Gabriel brand. 

He could only pray that he would one day learn to love the fancy outfits, and the parties, and his role as blushing, pretty St. Adrien Agreste.

His father came in, seeing Adrien as elegant as was expected of an Agreste, especially the embodiment of Paris's hope right now. Looking in the mirror, Adrien plastered on that photoshoot smile he was able to put on like second nature. He could almost convince himself what he saw in the mirror was real.

Almost.

"Are you ready to go, Adrien?" Father asked, and Adrien's painted smile fell as he braced himself to be admired even more than usual. He could only be grateful his father hadn't made his outfit red or white. He wasn't sure he would be able to stand it if that had happened.

It was best to be silent. Father wouldn't listen even if he could speak without pain, and it didn't matter even if anyone else would.

He could only be grateful for Gorilla on the drive and getting into the building. His bodyguard draped his suit jacket over Adrien's head to cover him from the sight of the press and the cameras, carrying Adrien and holding him close, shielding him from the world.

When he was brought to his seat, the first thing he saw was Marinette, wearing a black skirt and a red blouse with little flowery details, almost childlike in design, with those slightly puffy sleeves. Her hair was in its usual ponytail, and she made eye contact with Adrien, and she glowered at him, but her attorney quickly stopped her upon realizing what was going on.

That poor attorney... Adrien got a good look at her, her pale brown hair in a messy bun and her tired hazel eyes, and her general demeanor saying she did not want to be here. Judging by her nice cherrywood suit and pale pink button-up, she was possibly a rookie, which would also explain why she was here if she couldn't refuse. Everything about her radiated nervous energy.

The prosecutor, Ms. LaMotte, on the other hand, was anything but nervous. Both lawyers were very pretty women, but Ms. LaMotte seemed to own up to that much more with her form fitting black suit and white button-up, dark hair in a braided ponytail, and general demeanor emitting confidence. She pushed up her black-rimmed glasses from where she sat, examining what he assumed were her notes.

The two lawyers made eye contact, and he was pleasantly surprised to see them warmly smiling at each other. It wasn't like in the movies with the lawyers against each other and hating everything the other stands for; they seemed to be on good terms even if they were on two opposing sides.

As people filed in, Adrien sighed in relief when he saw Luka in one of the front rows, and he waved. The only time he could really see Luka these days was as Chat Noir and Coccinelle. He wanted to come clean so badly, but every time he tried, he remembered Ladybug screaming at him about how their identities needed to be hidden at all costs.

He looked up and was surprised to see Mayor Hidalgo was the judge. That wasn't normal unless she had studied for this, and Adrien wasn't aware. Or maybe no other judge was willing to sit through this and deal with Marinette.

Mayor Hidalgo looked at some papers from where she sat, and the entire room fell deadly silent so they could hear her speak.

"Let the record show that the defendant and her council are present, and the jury is seated." She looked to Ms. LaMotte, "Counselor LaMotte, you may begin."

Ms. LaMotte stood up, clearing her throat, "Thank you." She walked over to the lectern, smiling to the jury, "Good morning to everyone. My name is Vivian LaMotte, the assistant district attorney; I represent the people. In the case before you, the evidence will show the defendant, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, is, in fact, guilty of the crimes of stalking, trespassing, theft, blackmailing, illegal photography of a minor, sexual harassment, and attempted assault, among other charges." She put more emphasis on her words as she continued. "We will prove she was well aware and in control of her actions as Princess Justice, including a terrorist attack leading to hundreds of casualties as a minimum by her hand alone, the destruction of our Paris, and the almost permanent murder of Adrien Agreste."

There were murmurs in the crowd, as this was the first time everyone heard the sheer number of crimes Marinette was accused of. Adrien had been the victim of all of this and even he was taken aback.

Ms. LaMotte stepped away from the lectern, angling herself, so she was talking to both the audience and to the jury as she paced, "I said a moment ago that I represent the people; we all know what that means, but it's a little obstructed." She gestured to the table where Marinette and her attorney sat. "Ms. Grace, the attorney for the defense, is seated right next to the woman she represents," she then put a hand on her chest, "And I stand here to represent the people..." she hesitated, before admitting, "That's not really why I stand here today. I'm here on behalf of those who were for so long unable to open up about the torments they endured and for those who were afraid of standing up for what is right, dreading the consequences and the failures of our society insisting teenagers are precious babies who can do no wrong. Her victims... everyone in Paris for the trauma she put us all through, but her direct victims were children just like her biological age." She gestured to the jury, "It could have been your son, and it could have been my daughter who found themselves at the mercy of Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Our families have suffered because of the defendant, and that is why I stand here today: to put an end to the paranoia and terror plaguing our families. Thank you."

Adrien smiled when he heard some of his classmates clapping, but they quickly quieted upon realizing that it wasn't called for. Mayor Hidalgo looked to Ms. Grace, whose expression said “How do I respond to this?”

"Is the defense prepared to make its opening statement?"

Ms. Grace stood up, "...Your honor, I would like to reserve the right to reserve my opening statement until the presentation of the defense's case."

"As is your privilege. The prosecution may begin."

Ms. LaMotte had a shadow of a smirk for a moment, "Thank you, your honor. I wish to call into the stands lay witness Adrien Agreste."

Adrien was helped on the witness stand, and next to him was an overhead projector with his writings on it. Ms. LaMotte turned on the projector so the letter's contents could be seen on a screen by everyone in the room, where Adrien explained everything about his experiences with Marinette.

"This is what you have written, correct?" Ms. LaMotte said, "Remember you are still under oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."

Adrien nodded, even though he had needed to lie by omission on some details to conceal his identity like he claimed he had noticed the poorly hidden photo shrine instead of having seen it as Chat Noir, stuff like that.

Everyone read it over. Adrien was already dreading the cross-examination, basically just professional character assassination, praying to Tikki and hoping her luck powers would rub off on him since technically cross-examination was optional. Maybe he could be spared because he couldn't talk?

Ms. Grace stood up, "Alright, well, a lot of those things are just normal paparazzi behaviors. While not all of it is the most legal thing ever, we can't arrest the majority of your fans or we'll be here all day." She chuckled awkwardly, "Do we have any proof this is different than any other celebrity crush?" 

Murmurs in the crowd and among the jury, and Adrien was unable to make out what they were saying and whether they were in his favor. But Marinette's smirk didn't give him much hope.

But he relaxed when he realized Ms. Grace knew full well there was evidence, and Ms. LaMotte put her hands on her hips,

"Alright then, for my second witness, and survivor of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I call Kieran Descônteaux to the stand."

The murmuring intensified at that from the crowd, and this time Adrien noticed that a lot of his classmates knew that name, and Marinette's expression was one of mixed dread and fury.

There was someone else like him to have suffered at her hand? He straightened further as he was brought back to his seat out of the witness stand, eager to see this new person.

The sound of shoes against the courtroom ground was the first thing everyone heard, and through a side door came a very attractive young man. It only took a moment to look over Kieran's features to know exactly why Marinette had targeted him. He was probably only slightly taller than Adrien, with a wiry build made apparent even in the black suit.

But Kieran's most remarkable feature was striking amethyst eyes, unlike anything Adrien had ever seen on a human being. He had thought that color was reserved for anime, but apparently not.

He glanced at Marinette, who looked on the brink of drooling for a moment before Ms. Grace stopped her.

Adrien noticed Nino was smirking, and he realized this must have been what Nino had been doing while Adrien was in a coma, finding Kieran. But why hadn't Adrien ever heard of him?

Kieran sat in the witness stand, and he was very noticeably avoiding Marinette's gaze.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?" Mayor Hidalgo asked, and Kieran nodded.

"I swear."

Ms. LaMotte looked at the clipboard in her hands, "Kieran, can you describe what the defendant did to you? Please start from the beginning and continue in chronological order."

Kieran hesitated for a moment, and Adrien wondered if he was going to speak. But then he took a deep breath and began his story, his eyes flying around the room for a split second, so fast Adrien wondered if he had imagined it.

"It started five years ago. We were in 6th grade at the time. I don't know exactly at what point Marinette started 'crushing' on me, but I assume it was early in the year because around October, I noticed that she would be staring at me from the bushes as I was walking home. I started taking different routes, feeling uncomfortable, and hoping that if I was going a different direction than her house, she wouldn't follow me..." 

As he said this, his voice was impassive as though he had practiced what he was going to say, but his calm expression would occasionally falter as he looked somewhere in the audience.

"She kept following me and coming up with any excuse she could to spend more time with me, and while this was uncomfortable, I didn't think much of it until I caught her digging through my bag and copying down my planner. I confronted her about it, and when I caught her doing it a second time, I told my teacher, Miss Bustier about it, only to be told I had to just forgive her and move along."

Adrien turned to see if he saw Miss Bustier in the crowd. Kieran was under oath, so why would he lie about that? He had considered talking to Miss Bustier about the Marinette problem, but hearing what Kieran was telling him happened in his experience made him glad he had kept quiet.

"I started putting fake activities in my planner," Kieran said, "And I think she caught on after a week because I got home from work early one day about nine days after I started doing this and she was in my room digging through my things. I confronted her, and she told me that my apartment door had been unlocked and I had forgotten my homework. I hadn't, and the door was still locked when I checked, but the window had been left partially open, and it was now fully open."

Adrien froze, the memory of Ladybug jumping through his window to assault him clear as day in his memory. So she wasn't just doing that when she had powers?

"So this behavior is not just related to her attraction to Adrien Agreste?" Ms. LaMotte said, and Ms. Grace stood up,

"Objection! Leading the witness."

Mayor Hidalgo looked to Kieran and then to the two attorneys, "Technically correct, but overruled."

"To answer your question," Kieran said with a bit of inflection, a slight British accent slipping, nowhere near as strong as Felix's, but certainly recognizable as a British accent before it faded with his next words. "This is in no way something that applies strictly to Adrien Agreste. I have collected photo evidence of no less than eight break-ins. As I already discussed with the police and provided evidence of ownership for, multiple items found in Marinette's room do belong to me." His voice suddenly became cold in anger, "She also stole bills from my family and threatened to expose my family's struggling financial situation as well as a personal secret of mine if I did not date her." 

"Why did you leave Paris?" Ms. LaMotte asked, and Kieran glanced into the crowd again, and Adrien followed Kieran's gaze, as many others did both in the audience and the jury, and Kieran locked eyes with Tom Dupain, who was glaring darkly.

"I had reason to believe my life was in danger." Was Kieran's reply, "I was forcefully invited for brunch, and after the meal and I explained Marinette knew full well why I couldn't date her, things took a turn for the worst."

"Why didn't you get help?" Ms. LaMotte asked, and there was the unspoken added part of surely he would have been able to if he had this much evidence.

Kieran smiled hollowly, "Do you think anyone would take me seriously when Marinette painted herself as a cute little child? Even if someone did take me seriously, getting suspended once and almost having it happen a second time for refusing to 'forgive' her made things clear. You will find evidence of those instances assuming the school keeps files for five years."

Ms. LaMotte clearly already knew all of this, but she nodded along as Kieran was revealing information that was beginning to paint a disturbing picture of what the truth was. Adrien had never believed in the movies and video games with people screaming, "you can't handle the truth!" but hearing what Kieran was saying had happened to him and the expressions of their classmates... he almost understood that line.

Kieran continued, "There is one other thing that happened a couple times with Marinette. She loved to touch me, my legs, my arms, my chest, my..." his breath hitched, "Anywhere she could get." He straightened again, back to stating the facts calmly, "There were three times she pulled me somewhere and tried to kiss me, and the one time we were caught, painted herself as the victim when I pushed her away."

Adrien blanched, and he felt bile rise into this throat, remembering when he had needed to go to Marinette's house for the gaming tournament. He had been so terrified that she would assault him. He realized he was lucky to be a celebrity because from what he was hearing, that fact and being protected may very well have protected him from a lot of Marinette's worse behaviors.

He jumped a bit when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and Felix was looking at him, asking with his eyes if he was okay. Adrien forced a nod and wiped his eyes.

"I will be honest," Kieran admitted, "That my family moving is unrelated to Marinette, but rather financial struggles at the time. However, I had initially been planning to stay with my aunt to still finish school in Paris. But with the possible threat to my life, fear of being assaulted or even expelled eventually, and the concern my privacy and possessions would be taken from me, I decided to join my parents."

Ms. LaMotte bowed her head, "No further questions at this time." She looked to Ms. Grace, "Do you wish to do cross-examination?"

Ms. Grace didn't get a chance to respond before the entire courtroom erupted into fighting. Adrien turned from where he was off to the side, and he saw people screaming at each other, Ladybug and Marinette worshippers going against the people with common sense.

But when blows started being exchanged, Adrien caught the attention of Marinette, who seemed to be enjoying the fighting, but her expression towards Kieran was...

It was fury, but also betrayal and hurt. It was as though she didn't understand how he could do this to her. She looked ready to scream at him, and she stood up in her seat, opening her mouth to say something that would probably take several more years of intense therapy to get over, but Ms. Grace stopped her,

"Now, Marinette," she tried, "You don't want to anger the court more than you already have."

Mayor Hidalgo slammed down the gavel, "Order in the court!" After a few moments, there was silence besides angry murmuring. It was clear Mayor Hidalgo was already tired, and Adrien checked the clock on the wall, and it had been barely over an hour. "We have heard some extraordinary testimony today." She said when everything was quieted down, "I think we'll take some time to consider it. The court is adorned until tomorrow morning at 9:30 sharp, at which time we will continue the prosecution, and the defense will give its opening statement and call its first witness. If you are going to attend, please leave your immaturity at home, and if you cannot do that, do not bother to come back."

Adrien was carried by Gorilla, and he noticed Kieran hurry back into the side door where he came from, and Felix caught up with him as they were going down the same path to avoid the press.

"You did well up there," Felix said, and Adrien was supported, and he nodded. Adrien was surprised to see his father shake Kieran's hand,

"My nephew is right about your testimony. With your assistance, Marinette Dupain-Cheng will be brought to justice soon." He began to walk down the path, "Your first photoshoot is in three days time."

"Wait what?" Kieran asked, taking a step back, "What do you mean photoshoot? I didn't agree to that."

"That is your payment for staying in my home until Marinette's sentencing, as per our agreement to harbor you for your safety." Nathalie glared,

"Gabriel, that was not part of the terms at all. Don't try to use him to replace Adrien since he can't model."

Adrien's eyes widened, and guilt ate at him, seeing that expression on Kieran's face that he understandably wanted nothing to do with modeling. If he hadn't been burned, he would still be a model, and his father wouldn't be forcing Kieran into this.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Nathalie, "Why else would I have agreed to care for him, let him stay under my roof, use my water, and eat my food for possibly months?" He sent a pointed look at Kieran, "It's not like he can safely stay anywhere else without being slaughtered by Ladybug's worshippers. Why would I miss the opportunity to have a new model as lovely as the son I cannot have working until further notice?"

"That is a low blow and also the creepiest thing I have ever heard you say, Gabriel," Felix sneered, and Adrien forced himself to speak, but it came out weak and gravely,

"Father—" he tried, but his throat protested, and he couldn't speak anymore. Kieran seemed on the brink of running away,

"I—I—this isn't what—" he was hyperventilating and began walking faster towards the exit and avoiding the Agrestes. Nathalie was still glaring daggers at Gabriel, and if looks could kill, he would be dead tenfold.

This wasn't right. Why couldn't they just take Kieran in out of kindness? Adrien was also surprised his father hadn't told him they would have a long-term guest. Then again, his father also hadn't told him that his Mom was dead, so could he really trust his father to tell him anything?

When they got out of the passageway, he realized Nino, Luka, Kagami, and off to the side Chloé were there. Nino was hugging Kieran, assuring him that he had done well and everything would be better soon. Adrien noticed Kieran was tense in the embrace, not comfortable with it, and it seemed Nino caught onto this too, laughing awkwardly, "Sorry."

"Adrien!" Luka hurried over, "How are you doing? Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

He relaxed seeing Luka, and he hugged him as he forced himself to break free from Gorilla and stand on his less-burned foot. He wasn't able to do it for long before he fell over into Luka's arms. He grinned, leaning against Luka, and was startled when he was picked up by a couple inches and held close. 

He felt his face heat up, being held like this while aware of his feelings for Luka, making him only pray his face wasn't as red as he suspected it was. Kagami smiled,

"Are you doing okay? Yours and Kieran's testimonies are sure to assist the prosecution in the case against Marinette." It took him a few moments to process the question. His gaze had turned to the execution scar around her neck, there for all to see. Nino concealed his scar under a thick choker, so to see Kagami's in all its horrific glory startled him, and he did his best to not let that momentary panic show.

He nodded his confirmation that he was okay, looking towards Kieran again, the one person who understood the pain of being harassed by Marinette and unable to do anything about it. He would have to talk to his father and somehow persuade him to not force Kieran into modeling. It was a miserable profession, and it would only give him more media attention.

He noticed Kieran look towards Chloé, making eye contact from afar. Adrien remembered what Chloé had been saying all along, and she mentioned that Marinette stole things from people she was interested in. Did that mean she and Kieran had a history for her to know that? After all, she had been right about Marinette for years, and from what he gathered, the start of Chloé's bullying of Marinette seemed to line up with when Kieran had been driven out of Paris.

But it seemed Chloé wasn't going to come over, instead shying away. She then froze, eyes wide, and had Nadja Chamack in her face, and it seemed Chloé was trying to steer the reporter away.

"That reporter is incredibly irritating," Kagami stated, and Felix laughed,

"Yeah. Shall we go distract?"

Luka pulled out his phone, sending a message, and within a moment, the cult was by Nadja, bothering her, "They agreed to be on annoying reporter duty."

Felix looked between Nadja and Gabriel before huffing, "Couffaine, take care of Adrien and Kieran. Nathalie, make sure Gabe behaves. I have to go piss off a reporter."

"Don't worry," Gabriel said, an unreadable expression on his face, "She will not be a concern of ours for long." He gestured to Adrien, "Bodyguard, take him."

Adrien clung to Luka, and Gabriel narrowed his eyes before relenting, "Fine. Mr. Couffaine can join us."

Felix nudged Nino, "Ready to go be a distraction?"

Nino grinned, "Always. Kagami, are you gonna join us?"

Kagami bit her lip in contemplation for a moment as though considering if that was a good idea. Adrien supposed that made sense given how strict her mother was, even if her mother was being a bit more relaxed since Kagami had become popular for roasting Princess Justice even in the face of death and had died a "warrior's death." Even if Adrien found it disturbing that Kagami's mother was proud of how her daughter died, if it meant Kagami had a little more freedom, he wasn't going to complain.

She smiled, "Let's go." Felix grabbed her hand and ran over to the corner with her, but not before narrowing his eyes at Luka, "If you do anything with him, I will know about it. I know everything." Then he ran off.

Luka supported Adrien, then held his free hand out to shake for Kieran, "I'm Luka."

"Juleka's brother." Kieran didn't return the handshake, instead crossing his arms almost protectively, "I know. She used to talk about you a lot."

Adrien looked between Luka and Kieran. So they didn't know each other, but Kieran knew Juleka? He really wished he could speak so he could ask all of the questions he craved to know the answers to. When he got home to his notepad, he would maybe try to get to know Kieran a bit. He also wondered what Kieran's heartsong was and decided to ask Luka about it.

But it seemed that the mention of Juleka made Kieran tense up a bit more, "What's her stance on this whole Marinette thing?"

"She hates Marinette and has ever since she realized how bad Marinette's obsession was and it wasn't a cute crush." Luka explained, and Kieran finally looked up from the floor.

"Really? I would have thought she wouldn't be quick to betray a friend." He huffed, "Nevermind." He side-eyed Gabriel, who was still being glared at by Nathalie. 

Gabriel squeezed his eyes shut, massaging his temples, "Let's get going." Luka bounced Adrien into a piggyback ride, and Adrien looked back, seeing Kieran hadn't moved, and Gabriel noticed it too, "Come along, Kieran."

Nathalie gently came over, "It's okay. We aren't going to hurt you."

"I didn't agree to model."

"I know you didn't." She slowly guided him along, "You're safe with us."

After a moment, Kieran decided to follow them, and they were all gathered into the car. Adrien noticed that Kieran was examining the burns and the pressure garment, as though he wanted to ask about it but decided not to.

Adrien grabbed a piece of notebook paper and looked up at Luka, showing his note, which read, "Do you think we could really win this?"

Luka read it over before brushing back a strand of Adrien's hair, "Of course we will. With Kieran here," he gestured to Kieran, "We managed to really turn the tide on what would have been a hard part of this case. Now we can debate the crimes she committed as Princess Injustice, and come on, does anyone support that?"

Adrien shrugged, and he noticed Kieran was staring out the window. Adrien would have offered Kieran more space in the car, but he was already sitting in Luka's lap as it was. From what he saw of Kieran's reflection in the mirror, he was extremely uncomfortable. How long had he been in Paris? Maybe he should message Nino to ask about something to make Kieran feel more welcome.

When they got back to the mansion, Adrien was helped into his room immediately, and Kieran was brought to his own room by Nathalie. Luka sent a concerned look in Kieran's direction but turned back to Adrien, grinning, "How much do you want to bet your father only let me come to give Felix motivation to stay away given car room space, and Felix will be back in five minutes?"

Adrien nodded, laying down on the bed and staring at the ceiling. Things had gone well with the trial, and at this rate, Marinette would be announced guilty by the end of the week. But... that fighting, and how people were ogling at him whenever Kieran wasn't the star of the show...

"Hey, do you need anything?" Luka asked, and Adrien flushed as he realized a bath sounded wonderful, but asking Luka for that almost made him die of embarrassment at the thought.

Thankfully, he was saved by Felix barging in, "Guess who's here! And my expert skills at driving Father Gothel up the wall got a person in here. Now to ruin every photoshoot he tries with Kieran. Nino and I are already plotting." He looked Adrien over, "You need a bath. I know that look when a nice hot bath is just what you need." Adrien wasn't sure if he imagined it, but he could have sworn Luka's cheeks turned pink for a moment.

"Couffaine, can you get one of the bath bombs?" Felix asked, "They're downstairs in the bathroom by the kitchen."

"Uh—sure!" Luka hurried off, stopping in his tracks. "Do you need anything else? Food?"

"How about some cheese," Felix suggested, and Adrien nodded, thinking of Plagg, who was hiding so dutifully until Luka was gone. He wouldn't have to if Adrien just admitted to being Chat Noir already, but...

Luka nodded and headed out the door, and Felix relaxed against the wall, "And now the test of if he is the right man for you." He bent down, "Come on, let's get that damn pressure garment off. I assume I have to cover for you tomorrow so you can transform and testify as Chat Noir." Adrien nodded, and Felix grabbed a plush bathrobe.

Adrien wrote on his notepad, "Did you know about Kieran?"

"I knew we were having a guest, but I didn't think it was a longtime one or that Gabe would try to pull a fast one on us by using Kieran as a model. Don't worry, we won't let him be forced into the model life without putting up a fight."

Plagg emerged, "Maybe a certain cat could go talk to him tonight. But for now, spend some time with Luka."

Adrien brightened at the idea.

…

Kieran would have never expected his room to be this. 

Only after scouring it for any sign of danger, after learning every exit, entrance, and hiding place, did Kieran allow himself to pause in the center to contemplate where he would be staying under terms he hadn't agreed to.

Like the grand foyer he had been welcomed by, the room was massive, with vast windows exposing everything to the brutal world beyond, only concealed by semi-transparent baby-blue curtains that Kieran hastily pulled shut despite their fluttering in the gentle breeze. 

The large bed was a creamy white-and-ivory monstrosity, covered with pillows, blankets, and throws to give some semblance of texture, complementing the twin golden lamps on the nightstands. A wardrobe occupied a wall. Across the room, a bathroom of stylish porcelain appliances lay behind an arched door.

This one room was half the size of the entire house he had lived in for five years. Kieran avoided thinking of the other rooms. Was this how Gabriel treated a guest?

Guest—or free model.

Kieran again surveyed the room and the suit he had needed to wear for court. He noticed his suitcase was at the foot of the bed and had not been touched, at least to his knowledge, but he would investigate that later.

Sitting at the bathroom counter, Kieran rubbed at his scalp, messing it up again after dealing with it being combed for court—maybe once it had been normal, but he was used to being a country boy with the wind in his hair. Even as he ran his fingers through his hair, he could remember applying the dye he had used as highlights to darken his natural strawberry blonde hair to hide his identity...

"You're not gay; you just haven't realized how good we are together! I'll show you! And then we'll get married! Live happily ever after in a beautiful house and have two kids? No, three. Let's name them Emma, Louis, and Hugo! A hamster! I love hamsters!"

Kieran swallowed against the burning in his throat, resting his head in his hands against the counter. Seeing her again after so many years, seeing she had grown from a girl into a woman... they had all grown, but something about seeing Marinette as something besides that tiny eleven-year-old in the pigtails and pink jeans...

Sometimes he tried to convince himself five years ago had all been a bad dream, and he had only moved because of his family's financial struggles. But seeing her in court cemented in his mind that this was real. This was what he wanted, wasn't it? To return to Paris and get closure and see Marinette behind bars? That had been a wish he had been making for five years into the sea, alongside the plea for nobody else to suffer like he did.

Well, that second wish hadn't come true. Adrien had suffered like he did, but so much worse because that threat to his life had become real, and not even magical deus-ex-machina could fix him.

Marinette was Ladybug. When Nino told him about that awful truth, he had done a little research into the matter, and the thought brought tears to his eyes as he fought back a panic attack. If he had stayed in France, she would have found him. He was already so lucky she hadn't started looking for him with that power. His parents would have been killed, and he was sure that if he wasn't, he would wish he was dead.

He would never tell anyone her finding him as Ladybug was a new theme in the nightmares that kept him awake to the point he had developed insomnia. The fear of her finding him was nothing new, but...

Everything was different than five years ago. Everyone understood how awful Marinette was now. He couldn't help but fear what would happen when he met Miss Bustier again, not because he was afraid of her, but because all he wanted was to scream in her face, "Who was right?! I was right! It wasn't a cute little crush and now all of Paris is paying for it! This is all your fault you crazy bitch if you had just believed me instead of punishing me for not submitting to your emotionally abusive worldview, Paris wouldn't be hurting right now!"

As satisfying as the idea was to picture watching her break and cry and realize what she had done to his mind and, in the long run, to Paris by enabling Marinette's criminal behavior, Hawk Moth was still at large. He had to play his cards right as it was. That also meant he had to keep his emotions in check, or he didn't know what he would do under Hawk Moth's influence.

His lower lip trembled, and he began unbuttoning his shirt, then tugged it off his shoulders. Then he removed his pants.

He snatched up the clothes, in nothing but his boxers, storming to the wardrobe, and shoving it inside.

His breath came faster and faster. Kieran didn't realize he was weeping until he grabbed the first bit of fabric within the wardrobe he could find—a set of dusty blue nightclothes—shoving his feet into the ankle-length pants, then pulling the long-sleeved matching shirt over his head. He didn't care that it had to be some old fashion. He didn't care that they were soft and warm. 

He climbed into that big, fluffy bed, the sheets smooth and welcoming, and could barely draw a breath steady enough to focus on anything as he looked around.

There were little to no escapes. As beautiful as this room was, there was nowhere to run, and with that extra term Kieran hadn't heard about before, it made him feel like a prisoner. But Gabriel was right. If he stayed out there, some Ladybug worshipper or maybe even Tom would find him and finish him off.

But if he became a model, he might end up with more stalkers like Marinette. The very thought made his sobs hit in full—great, gasping pants that shuddered through him. He shouldn't have turned to Nino and agreed to go with him. He should have run or just given Nino the photos and been done with it. He should have known better than to think this was going to go well. What if Marinette ended up free anyway? She would know he was alive, and she might try to find him with renewed vigor.

He held his dagger close to his chest where it was in its ornate sheath, shivering from the cold.

He didn't realize he had drifted off until he opened his eyes and saw it was night out. He had gotten over his slight jetlag already, not that it mattered with the late nights he normally had, but now that he was awake, he was overwhelmed by the need to do something, anything, to get out of this room. Could he escape? Would Gabriel let him?

He hurried out the door after he grabbed his shoes and tossed on his usual jacket, hurrying down the stairs and to the front door, forcing it open. 

He turned and saw Adrien's bodyguard sitting in one of the chairs, watching him but doing nothing to stop him. Kieran smiled gratefully before letting his instincts send him running outside, and he cursed when he saw the gate he didn't know how to open. There had to be a button somewhere! Come on, come on, I have to get out of here!

"Need some help?" He looked up and saw a young man standing on the top of the wall before jumping down, his cat-like green eyes watching him in amusement. The man bowed, "Chat Noir, it's nice to meet you. You're Mr. Agreste's ward, correct?"

"Ward is a generous term," Kieran grumbled, trying to get the gate open, "How do you open this thing?"

"You could open it," Chat Noir replied, "Or I can help you over the wall and draw less attention." He held out his hand, and Kieran backed away,

"What's in it for you?"

Chat Noir chuckled humorlessly, "Not everyone's decency comes with strings. Do you trust me?"

"No, why would I? I just met you."

"Touché," Chat Noir shrugged, his hand still extended, "Well, do you dislike me or being locked up more? I know what it's like being locked up, and Adrien does too. If you talk to him, he'll understand."

He contemplated his options and considered the knife at his side. If anything went wrong, he might be able to free himself. He took Chat Noir's hand and was startled by the hand on his waist to steady him as Chat Noir used his staff to bring them both to the top, and then handed him an earpiece.

"I'll drop you off by the Seine, and you can walk around. I'll be on patrol with Coccinelle, so if you need anything at all, just tap the earpiece and I'll be there, alright?"

"Do you do this for Adrien?" He looked to Chat and noticed his surprise,

"I mean, I've run into him a couple times, but normally he knows how to use the gate."

"I'll have to learn." He put the earpiece in as he was placed on the ground by the Seine, "Thank you, Chat Noir."

Chat Noir grinned, "Welcome back to Paris." 

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

The second day of court was, for lack of better word, exhausting. The original plan was to have each day be a technical half-day of four hours, but since yesterday had been cut short, today they had to go all eight hours. They hadn't even gone to the defense yet like had been planned!

Luka had known he would be testifying against Marinette to explain what happened on his birthday. Ashton did as well to add his side of the story, as well as showing the unedited footage from Miracle News, which had been checked by professionals to prove it was unedited, of Ladybug not purifying Gamer's Akuma just because Chat Noir was the one to beat it, or generally being nasty to anyone who tried to help her, with the exception of Adrien.

The thing Luka had worried most about was Kieran's cross-examination, which hadn't happened yesterday. Thankfully, it seemed Kieran had prepared for anything and everything and got through it just fine—if anything, it all ended up making Marinette look even worse.

As he walked, he couldn't help but worry about Adrien, who hadn't appeared at the trial today. He knew why, as Chat Noir was going to be testifying tomorrow, and it made sense he wanted people to be used to him not being there so nobody would question his absence. He was just too famous at this point to be able to successfully swap with Felix, at least right now.

He turned around and saw Kieran staying close to him, but not so close that Luka could actually touch him. He softened at the sight of the meek young man, "You don't have to be afraid of me."

"I'm not." Kieran almost snarled before stopping himself, "If I was, I would have gone back to that prison I made the mistake of accepting shelter from. It doesn't mean I trust you."

Unable to argue with that logic, Luka continued to walk towards the school, where the students planned as a meeting place to discuss what was happening.

When they got to Collège Françoise Dupont's entrance, Luka waited at the stairs as Kieran stared inside the building, shaking as he looked ahead. He decided waiting was the best option to make sure Kieran wasn't left alone with how close they were to the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

Ashton came down the stairs, "Hey, Luka. I hope testimony wasn't too nerve wracking," he looked towards Kieran before signing. Luka looked between the two, knowing Ashton probably wanted to talk to Kieran about how he understood all too well what Kieran had gone through, but didn't know how to start that conversation.

Just that thought of Ashton's ex-girlfriend made Luka's blood boil, and he reminded himself that it was years ago and Ashton was safe now.

Kieran looked in the direction of the bakery and then hurried into the building, and Luka stepped out curiously, seeing Sabine for the first time since this mess. But he noticed she held no hostility at all, and if anything, she seemed to be relieved to see Kieran again—as though she was happy to see he was okay.

Then he noticed Tom in the window, and he figured that was what scared Kieran into the school, even though Officer Roger was watching the bakery from the other block.

Kieran was forcing himself to get up the stairs, and Ashton stayed close to Luka. "You can go talk to him, Ash. I know that conversation is a little awkward, but he seems nice enough." He listened to the gentle harp of Kieran's heartsong, somber and yet sweet all the same, almost as though it was telling a story with only the music, and yet you could still understand the narrative.

"Buddy system, remember? I might talk to him later."

Luka fought back a grimace at the new cult arrangement, of everyone having a buddy. Nathan and Kiera were typically paired, and Luka would switch between Danielle, Percy, and Ashton. It had made being Coccinelle so much harder, and he was pretty sure they were worried he was having a constipation issue with how many times he had needed to use the bathroom as an excuse.

"Well, the testimony was fine. Marinette's face was certainly priceless as she realized the sheer number of witnesses Counselor LaMotte has." He looked up at the sky, "So we're going to Percy's place tonight for dinner, right?"

"Yes. Maxwell is excited to see you again and brag to you about how he stayed alive during Princess Justice." Luka smiled fondly at the thought of seeing Percy's little brother again. It had really been too long since they had all been so busy in the last month.

When they got to the top of the stairs, Luka saw Kieran lingering in the doorway of Miss Bustier's classroom, his eyes wide in horror and rage. That was when Luka heard what Miss Bustier was saying.

"Class, I need you to pitch in," she said, "We're testifying tomorrow in Marinette's defense, after all. We have to support our friend!"

"Teach," Alix leaned on their desk, clearly unimpressed, and gestured to the chokers around the necks of most of the class, "I hate to break it to you, but most of us testified against her today or plan to eventually, and the rest of us don't want to be in her favor. Adrien already testified too and seeing as he got burned alive—"

"Oh, it's okay," Miss Bustier smiled, "I already sent him an email to tell him to recant his statement and focus on forgiveness."

"Recant his statement?"

It took Luka and everyone else a moment to realize Kieran had spoken, voice unnervingly calm as he walked into the room and into the center, narrowing his eyes and taking full advantage of his newfound height over Miss Bustier. "Recant his statement, like asking him to shut up and be compliant to your worldview just like you asked me to do every time I trusted you and pleaded with you to help me?!"

Miss Bustier brightened at the sight of him, not seeming to process what he had said, and she opened her mouth probably to say it was great to see him, and now she was insisting he recanted his statement as well. But he cut her off.

"And what happened? You suspended me for refusing to forgive her, and if it weren't for Chloé, I would have been out of luck to help pay the bills in the long-term too." He nodded aggressively, more a gesture daring her to say what she was planning to than anything, "Did you know that? That suspending a student has an impact on their future? That in those days I was forced to be home, Marinette kept coming to my house again and again even though I asked her to stop? She would let herself in too." Tears were spilling down his face, and his voice was becoming louder, but not screaming. "Picture that, Miss Bustier. A child. Wide-eyed and faith in those in authority, or hoped to have friends." 

Luka looked to the rest of the class and saw tears in the eyes of some, and Mylene had a hand over her mouth. The only people who were not to any degree surprised were Chloé and Sabrina. The rest of the cult had been lingering in corners before this, and Luka noticed Percy's breath catch in his throat, and he inched closer to Danielle.

Kieran chuckled humorlessly, "Well, life isn't that easy, now is it?" He met Miss Bustier's eyes again. "And I worked myself in the ground, day and night, anything if it meant not going home; terrified of going anywhere because of a girl you all chose to believe!" In his last words, he looked at the entire class as he finally shouted, before taking a deep breath and wiping the tears from his cheeks, his voice once again calm. "So, excuse me if I have no intention to take back my testimony or let myself be at your mercy again."

"Kieran," Miss Bustier tried to put her hands on his shoulders, but he took a step back to prevent her from doing so, "Don't you think you're being a bit dramatic? You just need to learn—"

"Dramatic?" He hissed, and while he may have been trying to be calm before, that was out the window now as he was screaming full force, "Dramatic?! Look at your class!" He threw his arm out in their direction, "Wearing chokers from being beheaded! And who's fault is that, Caline? Yours! If you had listened to me, Marinette would have been dealt with five years ago, and guess what? That's four whole years before Hawk Moth! How many lives have you ruined? How many people did you gaslight into your twisted mindset and they grew up to reject promotions? Or better yet! How many times have you ignored your own mindset when someone fights back against their bullies and you punish them? If anything remained the same, I know Kim was picking on Ivan at least until Hawk Moth," he looked towards Ivan, "Tell me, Ivan, did she send you to the principal's office with no desire for an explanation when you decided to fight back?"

Ivan was quiet for a moment, not meeting Kieran's eyes as he admitted, "Yeah, I was the first akuma because of that... but I did try to hit him—"

"Not great, but he probably had it coming."

"Hey!" Kim protested but then shut up when he realized Kieran kind of had a point.

Kieran turned back to Miss Bustier. While Luka couldn't see his face, there was something almost unstable in Kieran's heartsong, an addition of violin, but nothing like Adrien's violin, which happened occasionally and was sweet. Kieran's demonstrated anger mixed with melancholy.

"My point is that Marinette is not going to change ever. No amount of 'setting a good example' is going to make that monster disguised as a sweet little bitch change. All it did was enable her to the point she probably would have started stealing Adrien's things right in front of you, because as long as you forgive people, you can do whatever the fuck you want!"

"STOP IT!" 

Everyone whipped around and saw Percy was hyperventilating, and suddenly Kieran's anger was diffused. Percy hugged himself but winced from the strain on his still-healing arm.

"I—I—I know everyone is mad... Kieran, you have every right to, and yeah her policy is stupid, but can we please not fight? At least..." he hiccuped, "Not right now. Please. I just... I need to go." he took off, and Nathan chased after him,

"Percy, wait!"

Ashton pulled on Luka's sleeve, "Hey, we should go. You and I both know Kieran's not going to be stunned out of his anger for long, and we should not be anywhere near that."

Luka knew Ashton had a point, and if he wasn't Coccinelle, he would be rushing to his friend's side as the rest of the cult followed after Percy. But he knew Kieran was going to be Hawk Moth's target if this kept up. Judging by Kieran's enraged heartsong picking up again because he dully noted Miss Bustier talking and probably trying to chastise him for making someone upset, he knew he had to stay.

"I'll make sure Kieran doesn't get akumatized, you guys take care of Percy."

"I'm not leaving you with a possible akuma!" Ashton whisper-yelled and Luka did his best assuring smile he could muster right now.

"If I can't stop an akuma, I'll come running to you guys. Don't worry about me." Ashton's expression changed to something unreadable, and even his heartsong was impossible to determine, being overpowered by the rampant emotions inside the classroom.

"Fine." Ashton grumbled, then hurried downstairs, and Luka turned back to see Alya and Kieran having a very uncomfortable introduction to each other. From what he gathered, Kieran had probably been making it even clearer that Marinette was a horrible person.

"She's not a monster," he was caught off-guard by how sad Alya sounded, not screaming bloody murder like she often did whenever someone questioned Marinette. There was too much noise and heart songs in the room to focus on her heartsong alone to see if this was genuine or not, so he decided to take it with a grain of salt. Not until the train wreck of a defense tomorrow was she going to realize how this trial was going to end unless she was actually smarter than Marinette.

"I don't believe we've met," Kieran replied simply, and Alya glared,

"I'm Alya. We haven't met. But you're all wrong about Marinette. She looked for you, you know? She's told me about this, how she looked for you tirelessly with all the resources she could muster up, to find you and bring you back to her. She really did love you until Adrien was there to mend her heart."

"You do realize that means she wanted to kidnap him and force him to be with her, right?" Max asked tiredly. Miss Bustier sent him a stern look,

"Don't say that, Max! We have to focus on seeing the best in people."

Kieran's eyes were wide, and he took a few steps back, "She... She was still looking for me?" His breathing was picking up, "If—If it weren't for Adrien—she—she would have found me? She would have been able to find me?" His legs gave out under him, and he hugged himself as he began to spiral into a panic attack. "She—she was trying to find me—she could ha—have found me..."

Luka took a few steps closer, and everyone else was in a debate about whether to approach him since he didn't like being touched, but it was clear he needed some sort of comfort.

Luka looked up, and his eyes widened when he noticed an Akuma in the corner of the room flying towards Kieran. But he wasn't the one to reach Kieran first.

"Kieran, look out!" 

Sabrina launched herself at him and knocked him onto his back just out of reach of where the butterfly was trying to enter an object inside his jacket. She covered him while everyone else got up at the ready.

"Get out of here, Hawk Moth!" Juleka growled, "Haven't you made us suffer enough?!"

The butterfly fluttered for a moment before flying out the door and heading out. Luka watched it go, and he saw Sabrina had pulled Kieran close, trying to soothe him as he began hysterically screaming, too trapped in whatever waking nightmare had a hold of him. Luka noticed Kieran's sleeves ride up, and he grimaced at the sight of slightly bloody bandages and bent down to pull the sleeves back to his wrists so nobody would see what was there.

A thought occurred to him. Kieran was the perfect Akuma victim. Why would Hawk Moth leave? He just wouldn't, especially since he hadn't akumatized anyone in a month.

Unless... unless he found another victim...

Percy!

...

Percy sobbed in the janitor's closet, trying to make himself as small as possible, wincing at the pain in his arm as he hugged his knees close to his chest. His parents had agreed to let him get a tattoo over that, but it was still... it was just...

Why did he have to be the useless one in the group, the one that looked at all the fighting and seeing Kieran tearing Miss Bustier a new one, all he could think of was the terror of what if Kieran was akumatized? What if it was another Princess Justice?

He tried to assure himself that nothing could be as bad as Princess Justice, and she hadn't exactly had a justifiable reason to be upset besides karma being a bitch. Nothing could be that bad, right?

He knew the others were outside the door, probably trying to talk to him. Part of him wanted to go out there and cry in the arms of his friends. But they were all okay. They got out of the fight with only minor injuries. He didn't want to burden them with the fact the memory of his arm being sliced flashed behind his eyes every time he was in a bedroom, remembering that plush prison Adrien had willingly stayed in for execution.

Why couldn't they all have a break? Every day was either about rebuilding the city, questioning by the prosecutor so she could make her case, showing unedited footage from Miracle News, and physical therapy for the arm he had been terrified in the beginning would be crippled. He hadn't enjoyed leisure activities in a month, and the stress was getting to him and making it hard to breathe.

He didn't notice the Akuma enter his slap bracelet until it was too late, and he heard a voice in his head.

"Amet, I am Hawk Moth—"

"Do better."

Hawk Moth seemed taken aback, "Wh-What?" Percy chuckled a bit, using this as an excuse to not think about his turmoil of emotions,

"I know Latin. The class was a pain in the ass, but now I am OP when it comes to language, and you just tried to name me 'fun' and make it sound fancy. Do better." He tried to ignore the terror of what this meant. Nobody had escaped akumatization once it got to this point, right? If there was nothing he could do, he tried to think of that basic ass title meaning this wouldn't be too bad for everyone else. Still, if he was going to end up like this against his will, no way in hell he was going to let Hawk Moth give him a stupid name or costume, "Oh, by the way, what was up with the Bubbler? He basically had a butt plug on his head."

It seemed as though Hawk Moth didn't have a response to this, "You're still upset."

"Do you not know what depression is? Plenty of us crack jokes to hide pain. But I will have you know annoying you is quite amusing."

"You don't have to fight me," Hawk Moth replied smoothly, "I don't want to hurt you or anyone else."

"Tell that to my arm and the rest of Paris," he muttered bitterly, remembering very well what being akumatized was like, and while having superpowers was cool, he did not enjoy it, and that was when he had been able to keep his own mind.

"Don't you want to be able to have fun? To spend a little time away from the scary world out there," his tone was probably trying to be soothing like a parent talking to a child, but it came off as patronizing. But nevertheless, that argument caught his attention, and he felt his resolve weakening.

"I don't want to hurt anyone or get the Miraculous."

"You don't have to. How about it, Animatis?"

Percy chortled a bit at the new name, "Still basic, but it'll work." He yelped when he realized he had accidentally agreed to akumatization, which had not been his intention.

He looked down at his hands and grinned at the clothes he wore now and how he could freely move his arm. He checked to make sure there were no terrible headpieces and was glad to find just his hair. 

Could he really have a little fun? No hurting anyone, he vowed to himself, but everyone could do with a little break, right?

...

Luka sprinted down the hall, dreading whatever Hawk Moth might be telling Percy. They couldn't do it to him! Not again! Out of anyone in Paris, the bitch butterfly could have akumatized. He just had to choose the softest little puffball around the block!

As he finally reached the cult, Luka looked up to see he was too late. He saw Percy hovering on what seems to be a colorful bubble, wearing a Kingdom Hearts-themed outfit combined with subtle armor. Well. Apparently, Hawk Moth keeps up with video games. 

The Percy-Akuma giggled, hopping off his bubble to face the extremely anxious and conflicted cult, looking a minute from a panic attack. He frowned, looking sympathetic to their struggle, before clearing his head and doing a little twirl, "My name is Animatis, even if it's kinda basic! And before you ask, I'm not here for the Miraculouses! My humblest mission is to spread fun across Paris and give anyone suffering an escape from reality!" He cheered, puffing his chest proudly.

Danielle approached Animatis timidly, "Now wait a minute, Percy, you're not fully in control of yourself, and we need you to calm down before reevaluating spreading fun across Paris—"

"Too late!" Animatis chirped, pressing a button on what seemed to be a fancy Apple Watch, releasing various bubbles in different colors with little icons on them. Luka grabbed the remainder of the cult without thinking, sprinting and pulling them into a small classroom away from Percy. 

"Alright so, everyone stay calm, I will try to call for help, in the meantime you stick together and stay away from trouble—" he began walking away before Kiera grabbed his wrist.

"But the buddy system—" she started, before Luka untangled from her and ran towards the door.

"I don't have time for the buddy system, I just need to get help and snap Percy out of it before something bad happens! I can't deal with him being taken advantage of again!" He said, walking out on a concerned and slightly miffed looking cult.

Luka quickly snuck into a janitor's locker, transforming and swinging outside, on the school rooftop, where he found Chat Noir already there, already poking at a bubble with a random stick curiously.

Coccinelle tapped Chat on the shoulder, grimacing when the latter jumped, and quickly covered whatever he was doing, avoiding eye contact and looking redder than his suit. 

He supposed it was only fair since Adrien was Chat Noir and went through a traumatic experience, so he'd automatically be more hesitant about a new partner, even if he knew them. But something about his heartsong sounded so… guilty. Was it not telling Coccinelle his identity? Or guilt over his general fear of a Ladybug superhero?

He wished he could ask him. He wished he could tell him it was okay and that he was allowed to take his time to share his secrets or trust him. 

He wished he could do more.

"Ah! The heroes of Paris!" Animatis cheered, approaching them on a random bubble, cutting Coccinelle out of his thoughts. Both superheroes reached for their weapons before Animatis continued, "Oh no! No need for that, I'm not about your Miraculouses today! I, in fact, wanted to reward you two!" He said, smile wide, revealing some very sharp teeth.

Both heroes looked in confusion at the cheery Akuma. Animatis sighed and pouted, "Oh, look at you two! Working so hard day and night to defend Paris, not allowed to have a break and forced to deal with villains! That is so unfair, isn't it?" He said, crossing his hands.

Coccinelle frowned, looking at Animatis with suspicion. "Listen, Animatis, no offense but why would you not be listening to Hawk Moth? Unless of course you're fighting against him destroying yourself, in which case we need to deakumatize—" he began before being gently nudged by Chat, as Luka quickly realized how tactless he was approaching the situation.

"I think what Coccinelle is trying to say, is that as sweet as a break may sound, we're doing alright and that we would really like to—" Chat began before getting cut off by Animatis.

Animatis giggled, pointing upwards, "Too late!" He grinned before he engulfed both heroes into a bubble and swung them to another building.

Both heroes rolled and bounced in the bubble before they finally escaped from its confines. Luka groaned and rubbed the back of his head before feeling… was that a bow in his hair? 

He quickly inspected himself, finding that he was wearing a distinctly red and black, polka-dotted Sailor Senshi outfit. Fortunately, his mask still remained, along with his usual boots with quite sharp heels and a very short skirt, but honestly? He had worn crazier outfits of his own will. He sighed and went to reach for his yoyo when he found it missing.

Coccinelle frantically looked around to no avail, breath picking up when he realized the Miraculous' powers had changed. He felt a soft tap on his shoulder, flinching before realizing it was only Chat with a similar Sailor Senshi outfit. "Coccinelle—" Chat began, before getting cut off by a panicking Coccinelle,

"We lost our powers, Chat, oh my actual fuck we lost our powers, so now I can't do a lucky charm or purify, and you can't do cataclysm or save the day, and Paris is screwed. I need to figure out a way to not screw this up, I'm a failure, I—"

"Coccinelle!" Chat cried out, gripping Coccinelle by his shoulders. Coccinelle stilled at Chat's… honestly cute, silly glare. He couldn't really expect such an Angel to come off as scary, but he does respect the effort he put into looking serious.

Chat let out the sigh before turning Coccinelle to see the city filled with magic, and sci-fi, and anything one could think of. He could see Animatis helping some children get a hold of their powers, "Look around you," Chat said, "I think Animatis wants us to have fun."

"What?" Coccinelle whispered, clenching and unclenching his hands. He continued mumbling under his breath, trying to make sense of the situation, while Chat fixed his outfit.

Chat Noir hummed, "Well think about it! Anyone at the moment would likely be akumatized due to the immense amount of stress and trauma because of the one who's name we shall not speak for obvious reasons," both teens shuddered at the thought of her. "And if Hawk Moth really wanted our Miraculouses, he wouldn't have made Animatis' power change the Miraculouses! Anyways, I think Percy just translated that into letting people live their fantasies! He wants to help us feel better!" 

Coccinelle nodded meekly, taking a deep breath returning to his usual demeanor, "Sorry, I just… Akumas are a bit of a terrifying concept for once and this is also someone I know that was akumatized, but I'm willing to try your theory. Is that okay?" He asked shyly, smiling when Chat Noir nodded his head in approval. 

Chat took a step back, doing a little twirl, "Now, for the more important question… how do I look?" He asked, starry-eyed. Coccinelle looked Chat up and down, inspecting the black and green-themed Sailor Senshi suit with the usual mask, along with two triangular space buns, meant to resemble cat ears. 

Coccinelle cooed, "You look really good!" He said, before pulling out a teal mirror, with a trident-looking mark, that was attached to his hip, "All I got was this silly little thing," he joked, waving the thing around.

Chat gasped, holding Luka's hand and inspecting the wand with admiration. "You have Neptune's mirror talisman! Oh my gosh, you got water powers now. You can make a fucking tsunami, that's incredible, try it—!" Chat went one before being poked playfully by Coccinelle.

"Yeah, not doing that," Coccinelle said, "I will not be drowning Paris any time soon, thanks a lot." He teased playfully. "But anyways, what powers did you get?" He asked, looking at the sword on Cat's hip.

Chat grabbed his sword before squealing excitedly, "I got Sailor Uranus! You can tell because of the little symbol it has on top," he gestured to the little engraved marks on both talismen. "Wait, but that means I have Sailor Uranus' powers! Oh this is so cool, let me try!"

Before Coccinelle could intervene, Chat was already shouting, "World shaking!" Forming a line green orb of energy caused a mild earthquake, which somehow merged with Chat's original cataclysm and green lightning. Both boys grimaced at the visible crack made in the wall, radiating green energy.

"...Maybe we shouldn't use the Sailor Moon powers?" Luka suggested meekly. Chat nodded before power-walking away, taking Coccinelle's hand in his. 

Both boys went to Inspect other bubbles before deciding to enter the D&D bubble, a franchise they were both familiar with. Coccinelle, of course, turned into a bard, while Chat surprisingly turned into a ranger. He supposed that Adrien resonated more with his Chat identity and hijinks than Adrien Agreste, the trademarked model for abusive father incorporated.

He sighed fondly while Chat was excitedly demonstrating his incredible archery skills. As Adrien, he doesn't really get to do much exciting, outside of struggling to talk and walk along with attending court. Maybe Animatis really did make a point. After all, Chat was much more relaxed around him now, not with that bitter, guilty tone in his heartsong. Maybe… maybe Chat needed this. Maybe they both needed this.

He was interrupted from his inner monologue to be pushed into a random bubble while Chat shouted, "Random bubble time!" Coming out of it with eye bags and a loose long t-shirt and jeans. He slightly panicked as Chat exited the bubble with a black notebook and a very demonic-looking creature before the demon spoke in Plagg's voice.

Chat explained the basics of the bubble—based on an anime called Death Note—and the powers that he received through the death note, being able to kill anyone in 40 seconds minimum with their true name and face. Coccinelle cocked his head, "Well what powers do I get from this then—Oh my actual god," he said, experiencing what he can only describe as a knowledge-themed acid trip. "I can see every fucking equation, this is like a Lucky Charm inside your head amped up to a 1000!" He said, looking around and seeing the percentage of every possible action he could take.

Chat patted him on the shoulder, "Yeah, your character, named L, is an extremely intelligent detective who basically sees everything through a percentage lense, so I guess that the power up you got is a supernatural version of said skill." He explained to Luka, who was nodding his head in understanding. Since when are anime and cartoons so complex?

Plagg, meanwhile, decided to munch on Camembert nearby, frowning at his newfound body, "I'm just bummed out I was turned into my youngest son. Like seriously, bubble? Get creative!" He said nonchalantly, unaware of the shocked looks his way.

Adrien gaped before turning to Plagg, "Excuse me, your what now—?!" He screamed, only to be cut off by another bubble enrapturing both heroes yet again, this time leaving them with matching Hogwarts uniforms. Coccinelle also received what looked like a ladybug themed broomstick to ride on.

He grinned and quickly pulled Chat Noir to ride his broom with him, finding it eerily similar to riding his motorcycle. They laughed as they flew through Paris, moving left and right, between buildings and doing loops in the air. 

They ended up landing less-than gracefully on a random rooftop, laughing so hard, they were clenching their stomachs. Chat sighed, smiling softly at the happy grin on Coccinelle's face, before grimacing and turning away, seemingly from an unpleasant memory. Or perhaps guilt.

"Ah! Look at you two! So happy and relaxed! I hope you guys are enjoying your time! This will of course be the norm from now on, so might as well get used to it, no?" Animatis cheered, helping the two heroes up.

Coccinelle could see Chat Noir's grin out of the corner of his eye, which didn't quite reach his eyes. He supposed it couldn't have been that easy. He was still scared, and admittedly so was he. And no amount of fantasy wonderland reality bubbles could fix that.

Coccinelle got up, brushing off the dust on his clothes, "This is really fun, Animatis. But we have to go to normal soon. This isn't healthy to hide in fantasy to escape your problems." Coccinelle explained, placing a hand on Animatis' shoulder.

Animatis looked over to Chat, who was nodding sadly before he quieted. Animatis removed Coccinelle's hand from his shoulder, his fist clenched, "....why? why would anyone want to go back to their normal life?!" He shouted with tears, "Why would anyone want to return to where everyone is screaming and fighting, and there are courts and death and sadness?! Here it's happy! Here we're free!" He shouted, materializing a keyblade and preparing for an attack. "You're forgetting I have the bubbles' power ups too." He growled out.

Both heroes dodged any swings thrown by Animatis, which were honestly frantic yet still deadly. Coccinelle grabbed Chat's hand, pulling him onto the broomstick and flying off, "Quick! We need to get to the Death Note bubble! I could use the L power up as a way to formulate a plan!" He said, swerving and flying haphazardly to avoid any lasers or weapons thrown their way.

When they finally reached the bubble, Coccinelle dove in, transforming into his prior L clothing, before starting to scan the area for information and percentages about the bubbles and their location and likely movement. After a moment, he turned to Chat, "Chat! Go to the D&D bubble and transform! I'll need your ranger skills to distract Animatis, and help me lead him to somewhere with less people! I'll use the Hogwarts bubble, and fly with my broom, and you could use a ride if you'd like! If we time this out just right we will prevail, got it?" Chat nodded as both ran off to their corresponding bubbles and met, already transformed and ready.

"You're not getting away with this so easily!" Animatis screamed, finally having found the heroes. Coccinelle looked at Chat, "We don't have much time, Chat, hop on!" He said as Chat climbed onto the broom, and both flew off.

Coccinelle explained on the way, "I need you to shoot arrows and distract Animatis while I fly us off to the correct spot! When I say go, I need you to leap off the broom and kick Animatis' ass, okay?" Chat nodded, continuing to shoot arrows Animatis' way, keeping incredible balance on the broomstick.

As they grew nearer and nearer to their destination, Coccinelle counted the seconds before screaming, "Go!" Sending Chat flying off the broom and landing on the ground, and kicking Animatis' shin to throw him off his balance.

Luka dove into the Sailor Moon bubble, transforming into Sailor Neptune, and shouting, "Deep Submerge!" Which sent a funnel of water in Animatis' direction, which eventually disappeared, leaving an exhausted Akuma.

Coccinelle landed on the ground, going to help Animatis up before he was hit square in the face by his akumatized friend, creating more distance and creating a whole new ginormous bubble, "No one is leaving this fantasy! And I'll make sure you two can't fight back by trapping you in a bubble with no superpowers whatsoever!" He screamed.

Coccinelle stood up weakly before he took a deep breath and begged, "Percy! Listen to me! I'm not gonna lie to you, real life sucks! It isn't magical and perfect and you can't solve your problems by shooting laser beams at them, but it has some good! You have your friends, your family, people who love you and care about you! People who will help you through the hard times! Doesn't that make life worth enough?" He asked weakly, tears gathering in his eyes.

And Percy, not Animatis under Hawk Moth's control, grew silent. And he stopped.

Coccinelle continued, "Look around you. Is this really worth it?" He asked, noticing silent tears rolling down Percy's cheeks.

He bent down to Percy's level, "Help us fix this, and I promise you, we'll help you in return." He said gently. Percy nodded, wiping a few tears away and erasing all the bubbles.

Coccinelle placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, "Y'know, I am still grateful for what you did, even if it was an akumatization and you don't deserve it. You were right though, everyone really did need a break. I know I did after getting stabbed in the stomach." He teased lightly, watching a sudden look of shock and understanding on Percy's face that left as soon as it came.

Percy created one last bubble, red and green, and handed it to Chat and Coccinelle, "Here, this will bring you back your powers," he explained quietly, as Coccinelle gave him a little smile.

Both heroes transform back to their original selves before Percy handed the magical Apple Watch looking thing to Coccinelle, who purified the Akuma and used the Miraculous Ladybugs to revert everything to normal. 

He continued to comfort Percy, noticing Chat giving an awkward thumbs up from the side before the entire cult arrived on time.

They all tackled Percy in a group hug, bombarding them with questions and apologies, and compliments. They also quickly thanked Luka, giving him a type of understanding conspirtual look, knowing the message was understood and that Luka's identity is safe with them. The cult eventually waved their goodbyes, leaving Chat and Coccinelle by themselves.

Chat kicked a pebble on the ground, refusing to meet Coccinelle's gaze for one reason or another, "Well… congrats on saving the day, polka dots." He lightly joked, giving Coccinelle a playful punch. 

Coccinelle scoffed, "Are you kidding me? I didn't save the day!" He said. Seeing Chat's confused look, he clarified. "We did. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to do this, okay? Thanks for being an incredible partner, and I'm sorry if it felt like I used you as a meat bag to deliver the final punch. It was never intended and I'm sure you could have done an incredible job yourself, but that was the fastest plan I came up with and—" he was shushed by a blushing Chat Noir.

Chat smiled at Coccinelle, "Thanks, Coccinelle." He said softly before looking away. Coccinelle exhaled under his breath. It wasn't an instant fix, and Adrien was still very much shaken up by the events of his previous partner, but it was a step in the right direction. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

As they parted, Coccinelle swung back to school, finding a good spot to detransform and join his close friends, who were waiting for him.

And he wouldn't change that for any fantasy book.

OoOoO

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury."

Chat Noir listened from where he was concealed off to the side, mostly so Marinette couldn't see him just yet. He took a deep breath. The last time he had testified, he explained everything from his perspective as Adrien on a piece of paper because he couldn't talk, but now it was time for him to testify how Ladybug was normally when his transformation allowed him to talk.

He peeked out at the jury, most of which he could tell had a definite stance on the matter already. Felix had made the point that they were only having this trial for the show at this point. There was no way, no matter how someone sliced it, that Marinette was innocent. There was just far too much evidence against her.

The only thing he knew was lack of witnesses to prove she was a good person led Marinette to call for people to testify her good character, which Felix had explained to Adrien was actually a big mistake. While Ms. LaMotte had already been doing a pretty damn good job tarnishing Marinette's reputation, she had only for now been focusing on the crimes, and there were a lot of them. However, with Marinette making a move into good character, it permitted Ms. LaMotte to find witnesses to state bad character.

He was supposed to be here to testify in Ladybug's favor since he was the only witness Marinette herself hadn't called, rather a desperate attorney. But Ms. Grace hadn't been able to ask him what exactly he could say, so he knew full well he was here to testify against her.

He shook himself and sat in his concealed chair to listen to the opening statement.

"As you know by now, my name is Sara Grace, and I represent the defendant, Marinette Dupain-Cheng." She gestured to Marinette and stepped away from the lectern, and began pacing. "Ms. LaMotte contends that my client is guilty of immeasurable crimes and that my client's action was not ignorant but criminally malicious. I am confident that the evidence will show that the defendant does not possess the mens rea to have committed these crimes, and Princess Justice was not of my client's own mind. Thank you."

Chat Noir paused. Wasn't Marinette testifying not guilty? Because the opening statement said Marinette was guilty but didn't know better, basically the "she's just a child" version of the insanity defense. He messaged Felix, who was sitting in the audience, to ask if this was normal, and all he got was the laugh-crying emoji in response.

Ms. Grace looked at the floor, fidgeting with what looked to be an engagement ring Chat hadn't noticed before now. He couldn't help but feel bad for her because she clearly knew this was a lost cause and probably didn't even want to be here.

"For my first witness, I am going to call Alya Césaire to the stand."

He watched Alya walk up smugly and send a wink in Marinette's direction. He noticed Ms. LaMotte smirk a bit before her face became neutral.

The questioning of Alya went about as well as Chat expected, with Alya praising Marinette and how incredible she was and how she apparently had all the pillars of good character. Chat Noir had a feeling she looked them up last night for the sake of testimony—those pillars being trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship, respectively. The person she was describing was the perfect citizen, but she wasn't even mentioning the stalking or assault or the fact Alya herself had been Adrien's death escort.

When the direct examination finished up, Ms. LaMotte was already standing, ready for the cross-examination.

"Ms. Césaire, you claim that Marinette has not committed any of the crimes she is being accused of, correct? And that there is no real evidence of this besides her 'enemies.' Please remember you are under oath."

"Marinette is the best person I have ever met," Alya insisted, and Ms. LaMotte nodded a bit,

"Right. But that's not what I asked. I asked if you think she has committed these crimes." She made a vague hand gesture, "You're a journalist, and the entire spiel at the beginning of your blog is that you speak the truth about our heroes, so surely you should be one of our most crucial witnesses."

Alya grinned, "I'm glad you understand!"

"Right..." Ms. LaMotte pulled out a remote and gestured to the television off to the side, "So you won't object to me playing the security footage from Gabriel Agreste's office on the day of Adrien's birthday, correct?"

Chat Noir cocked his head at the look of dread on both Alya and Marinette's faces. But when the screen was turned on, he saw what was clearly security footage of Alya sneaking around in his father's office. Then Alya ran out to get Marinette so she could obsessively take photos of the wall. He threw up in his mouth and had to swallow it back, taking a mint out of his pocket and putting it under his tongue.

"So would you like to explain the blatant trespassing in the footage?" Ms. LaMotte asked, "Because so far your testimony has been prejudicial instead of based on facts, such as providing examples, like we need to determine if Marinette truly has good character. And with this footage, we see that you very well knew about her crimes, making you her associate. If you couldn't even tell the truth about this," she gestured to the footage. "What else have you been dancing around instead of revealing the truth on the Ladyblog?"

Alya glared, "You better not be saying I lie in my blogs."

"Forgive me for saying it, but is there any other assumption I can draw from having examined the borderline defamation of Chat Noir and constant praising of Ladybug, which shouts over other sources, not even Miracle News, stating otherwise?" She crossed her arms, "We could go further in-depth, but we'll save that for when we discuss Princess Justice's involvement in all of this. But for now," she looked up at Mayor Hidalgo, "Permission to strike this testimony, and Ms. Césaire's account be removed from the record."

"Permission granted," Mayor Hidalgo replied, looking to the jury, "Nothing said by Ms. Césaire can be taken into account in your final judgement."

Chat felt chills up his spine at the infuriated expression from Alya, and the footage was still playing for a few moments before coming to a stop. He hadn't realized she had gone into his house. He wanted to ask her why. Why was she siding with Marinette? Did Marinette have something over her?

Felix had explained that he got a text from Luka that it seemed Alya genuinely didn't think Marinette was a horrible person and had even protested as such.

He wished he could see Kieran from this angle—see how he felt about all of this. He hoped that eventually, Kieran would trust him, both as his civilian and superhero self, but he understood why there was doubt.

Mayor Hidalgo looked to Ms. Grace, "Counselor Grace, do you have any other witnesses?"

"Oh! Uh—yes—two more witnesses," she chuckled a bit, even if it was clearly self-deprecating, "Sorry, I couldn't find anyone else willing to testify that wouldn't end really badly." Ms. LaMotte whispered something in Ms. Grace's ear, and Ms. Grace's eyes widened in panic, "I—I mean I think these two witnesses should be enough!"

It dawned on Chat suddenly. Ms. Grace wasn't just a rookie. This was her first trial. He almost felt bad because he was probably not going to be able to give the answers she was hoping for. He really hoped her struggles in this trial wouldn't reflect badly on her overall career, especially since Marinette herself had called for Alya and Miss Bustier. That wasn't a selection made by her attorney.

"My next witness I'm calling to the stand is Caline Bustier."

As predicted, it took all of two minutes for everything to go to hell.

"Given what you know about Marinette, do you think she is capable of having committed these crimes."

"Yes," Miss Bustier replied, "But just because she did terrible things doesn't mean we can't forgive her!"

Silence from everyone and Chat Noir had to bite his tongue seeing the expression of sheer horror from Marinette before Ms. LaMotte spoke up,

"Um... Miss Bustier... you do realize that a character testimony is for determining if she's guilty, not anything about lessening her sentence, right? If the verdict is guilty, she's going to jail." Ms. Grace sent Ms. LaMotte a look, pleading for help, and Ms. LaMotte smiled, "Alright. Let me rephrase the question. You agree she committed these crimes, but do you think she knew any better? Is there any reason for the court to think she is unaware what she has done, such as tresspassing, and multiple recorded accounts of theft from multiple victims, and blatant sexual harassment, is wrong?"

Miss Bustier was clearly shocked that her entire worldview was being rejected until she finally said, "I can't say for sure if she knew, but if we provide a good example for her and let her free—"

"No further questions at this time." Ms. LaMotte folded her hands together against her stomach, "Would you like to bring out your final witness?"

Chat's heightened hearing allowed him to hear what Ms. Grace mumbled under her breath, "No need to be smug because my witnesses suck." She raised her voice, "For my final witness, I would like to call Chat Noir to the stand." 

As Chat walked out, he could see the cult's expressions as though saying, "this is gonna be good," and the general surprise from everyone. Chat had spoken to Mayor Hidalgo last night during their monthly meeting and explained he had no intention of actually testifying in her favor.

When he sat down, he cautiously met Marinette's gaze, and she was slack-jawed. Something had changed. Besides the absolute fury radiating off her, there was something else.

"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"I do," Chat replied. Ms. Grace was shaking as she held her clipboard,

"Chat Noir, would you say Marinette was a good partner to you in saving Paris?"

"No, absolutely not." He replied, "For a handful of fights, I can say that yes, she was helpful, but even from the very beginning, I have been left to do the hard work. The moment I truly realized this was when she refused to assist Felix Graham de Vanily, who was the target of three akumas, just because she didn't like he had called her out for an event I don't know the full story of, but I am sure others would be willing to testify what that event was if asked."

"Oh..." Ms. Grace blanched, "Of the pillars of good character, would you say any of them apply to Marinette?"

"From what I have seen, seeing as she knowingly didn't purify an Akuma just because I was the one to finish it off, would consistently give me a hard time and would take my plans and convince me she had come up with them... I cannot say any of the pillars she may have are anything other than a facade. If I had been asked to testify for the prosecution, it would have been preferred, because as I can only speak the truth under oath, I cannot tell you of any good qualities she may have that I can believe are real."

Ms. Grace looked to Mayor Hidalgo, "Can this happen?"

"Did you ask him what he would be testifying?"

"No..." she shrunk down, "I didn't get time to meet with him. This trial isn't exactly normal." Ms. LaMotte put her hand on Ms. Grace's shoulder,

"Hey, don't worry about it. I've got this."

"You can't do that!" Marinette screeched, standing, "He's supposed to—"

"Shush, Ms. Dupain-Cheng," Ms. LaMotte held her finger up to shush her, "You may speak when you are asked questions."

"As this is not normal protocol, and I was aware what Chat Noir's stance would be," Mayor Hidalgo stated, "It makes sense he is a prosecution witness. Counselor Grace, if you wish to do a cross-examination, I will permit you to do so."

"Thank you, Ma'am." She looked to Ms. LaMotte, "The floor is yours then."

Ms. LaMotte stepped forward, "Chat Noir, please explain everything from the beginning regarding your experiences with Ladybug."

Chat nodded, "I can do that."

His explanation went on for hours, and even when his throat was extremely sore, he didn't stop. He elaborated on some parts where there was confusion and made sure to add in things he knew could be backed up by video evidence. He added extra emphasis on how Ladybug would reprimand him for checking on Akuma victims to make sure they were doing okay and wouldn't be preyed on by Hawk Moth again.

As he spoke, he noticed Marinette getting increasingly angry. If it weren't for Ms. Grace, she probably would have snapped when he made the comment of "Coccinelle has been a better partner to me in Princess Justice and Animatis than Ladybug was for the nearly a year I have known her."

"Anything else either of you would like to ask?" He asked, "I believe I have mentioned any information relevant to this case, being most of my relationship with her."

"I have no further questions," Ms. LaMotte shrugged, "Counselor Grace,  do you wish to do a cross-examination?"

"He..." she slumped, "He already clarified things enough that I don't have questions, or anything to really say." She looked to Marinette, "I'm sorry, Marinette. There's nothing I can do to refute him." Marinette was clearly about to talk again but was shushed by Ms. LaMotte again, causing the silver ring on the prosecutor's finger to glisten a bit in the lighting.

Mayor Hidalgo took some notes, "In that case, we should wrap up for the day. Court is—"

She was cut off by a swarm of butterflies flying into the courtroom and forming the face of Hawk Moth, just like what happened with Stoneheart so many months ago, albeit this time smaller. Chat Noir jumped out of the witness stand, ready for a fight, but Hawk Moth disregarded him.

"Your honor, I have a testimony to make."

Mayor Hidalgo was shocked but remained calm, "And why should we hold your testimony with any merit?"

Hawk Moth chuckled, "Because I am the only one able to prove Marinette Dupain-Cheng's will was fully her own during the Princess Justice attack."

Chapter Text

Chat Noir was completely taken aback. Hawk Moth was testifying against Marinette? Why would he do that? Marinette was detestable, sure, but it almost seemed... too decent. It didn't make sense.

He looked off to the side and noticed Ms. LaMotte had stepped protectively in front of Ms. Grace, "Why would you want to testify against her? I would think her release would benefit you more."

The face of Hawk Moth didn't seem amused, "It's insulting that Ms. Dupain-Cheng alongside so many others were able to break from my control during the Princess Justice attack due to a technicality. My point is not to test me." 

Ms. LaMotte gestured to the witness stand, "Can you float over there?"

Ms. Grace grabbed her arm, "Can we trust him?"

"I don't know, but it won't hurt to hear what he has to say." She straightened, "Your honor, permission to question this unexpected witness?"

Mayor Hidalgo was quiet for a moment before deciding, "Permission granted, and we will use Chat Noir as an expert opinion to verify anything he says."

"What?!" Marinette asked loudly, "Why him? I'm Ladybug!"

"You're also the defendant," Ms. Grace pointed out meekly, "Your turn to testify will come tomorrow. Don't worry."

Ms. LaMotte crossed her arms, "Alright, Hawk Moth. You mentioned a technicality allowing multiple people in the Princess Justice attack to have their own will. What is that technicality?"

"Simple. If a person chooses to become akumatized, they have their own will, like someone grabbing the Akuma to develop powers. I am sure plenty people at Collège Françoise Dupont would be able to confirm they grabbed Akumas to save themselves and ended up with their own minds and the ability to remember what happened."

"So you had no control over them at all?"

"The most I was able to do was convince Ms. Dupain-Cheng to not rape Adrien Agreste when he had fainted, something she directly mentioned to him and I am sure he could confirm if he were here right now."

Ms. LaMotte took note of that, "You are mentioning multiple examples of people who could confirm, but is there any reason we should believe what you are saying about Marinette?"

Hawk Moth's face seemed to smirk, but it was hard to tell, given it was a swarm of butterflies. "I'm glad you asked." A couple of the butterflies separated from the main body, carrying a small clouded crystal ball thing, "Using my powers, I was able to collect my unaltered memories of multiple instances during the attack. You will be able to hear Ms. Dupain Cheng's statements. Just tap the ball."

Ms. LaMotte examined the crystal ball in her palm before tapping it, and it took on a pale purple glow as they were able to hear voices.

"This is preposterous!" A voice Chat identified as Hawk Moth's roared, "To do something like this is not why I gave you these powers!"

The second voice was obviously Marinette's. "And what are you going to do? Take them away? I've already gotten farther than any of your other useless akumas—it figures that only someone as gifted as me could manage to do so. That witch will be found, and as he is mortally wounded, he will not get far, and as long as I keep his name to myself, I am your only hope of securing my Miraculous. You will be giving it back to me once you're done with it."

"That was our agreement, yes. But I will not do anything for you if you kill an innocent like this." 

"You think Adrien's innocent? He betrayed me! Whatever. I'm just scaring him into accepting my love. I expect we shall be married and conceiving our first child tonight, once he sees that out of the goodness of my heart I will save him from the flames."

"And if he rejects it?" 

"Then he burns."

Chat Noir bit his tongue to keep back bile, and from the look on Marinette's face that was there for all to see, she knew this memory was real. It was something noted by the entire jury as more memories began to play, each one equally damning.

"Just to clarify," Ms. LaMotte pursed her lips, "You only have control of a victim if it is against their will."

"Correct."

"And Marinette was in complete control of her actions."

"Yes. Why else would Ms. Dupain-Cheng choose to kill Adrien Agreste in a way she of all people would know he cannot be resurrected when that is something my Akumas have not done anywhere close to before now?"

Everyone in the courtroom was stunned into silence as they thought about that in dreadful realization. Before Princess Justice, people actually dying in Akuma attacks were extremely rare, usually only from being caught in the crossfire of building destruction or something along those lines. Hawk Moth knew as well as anyone the loopholes with Miraculous Ladybug, yet Princess Justice was the first one to intentionally exploit them.

"No further questions at this time," Ms. LaMotte replied with a hint of alarm in her tone as she looked to Ms. Grace, "Ready?"

"Yeah..." she stepped forward, "Why should we trust you? Even if Marinette was of her own will, you are the one who supplied her with power. Couldn't you have simply taken it away?"

"I couldn't as she was in full control and able to fight against me. What it does mean is I will have to be more careful of who I select so I can control them."

"Does..." Chat stammered, "Does that mean you're going to try something like this again?!"

Hawk Moth chuckled, and then the butterflies dispersed, the crystal ball disintegrated in Ms. LaMotte's hand. She looked down at where it had been, and Chat Noir sat back in the witness stand, "Well, that was foreboding. In your expert opinion, Chat Noir, as the only person besides the defendant with knowledge of how yours and Hawk Moth's powers work, would you say his statement is reasonable as a limitation of his powerset?"

Chat thought about that, considering what Plagg had told him about how, by design, the Miraculous were not meant to be used for evil, and he had answered some questions about the Butterfly Miraculous. He looked up a bit and saw Marinette glaring darkly at him as though saying, "don't you dare," which gave him the strength to speak up as he also noticed Kieran and the rest of his class, with hopeful expressions.

"Our powers are, by design, not meant to be used for evil," he explained, "What Hawk Moth normally does goes against the Butterfly Miraculous's very purpose. In my expert opinion, it makes perfect sense that someone of their own will would be in perfect control and remember what happened, as it makes no sense given the initial purpose for the champions to be doing this with no control of themselves."

"And what about those memories?" She asked, "Do you believe he could have altered them?"

"I suppose it's technically possible," he admitted, "But given Marinette's expression and multiple of those statements prior to the memories lining up, I don't see why he would lie about that instead of relying on the already existing real evidence he's correct that we can most likely confirm with further testimony tomorrow."

"Alright." Ms. LaMotte wrote this down, "No further questions at this time. Counselor Grace? Anything you want to ask?"

"Is there anyone else who would give an expert opinion?" Ms. Grace asked meekly, "The defendant, Chat Noir, and Hawk Moth must have gotten their powers from somewhere, so someone else has to know."

"In truth, I have no idea." Chat replied, "I never met the person who gave me my Miraculous. There may be someone else out there with more experience than me, but with the knowledge I am given, I believe Hawk Moth is being honest. And if someone else was going to testify the workings of our powers, wouldn't it have happened already?"

"I... suppose that's a good point," Ms. Grace slumped, "I don't really have any other questions."

"So are we concluded for the day?" Mayor Hidalgo asked, and both attorneys nodded. "Today has gone long, but we received very useful testimony. Tomorrow we will have witness testimony in response to attempts at positive character testimony, the defendant's testimony, and accounts of what happened during the Princess Justice attack. Court is adjourned until 9:30am sharp tomorrow." 

Everyone began heading out, and Chat hurried to get home. Home, back to being unable to walk and those voices in his head becoming stronger every moment he was under the impression he was alone. Plagg couldn't be silent for a moment, or the voices would start up again. He could only hope Nathalie or Father hadn't noticed he was gone. Felix had told them that he was going back to sleep after pulling an all-nighter, so if he was lucky, neither of them had checked on him.

...

Gabriel detransformed, satisfied with how well his plan had gone, using one final Akuma in the courtroom to see how everyone reacted to the information he had given them. It truly was irksome that he had had so little power over Marinette, and now he could make a point of it and drag that reporter girl down as well.

"The people respect you as Gabriel a lot now, sir," Nathalie had her arms crossed as her own transformation as a memory-based Akuma fell. Gabriel smirked,

"All according to plan." He had to admit, no matter how much he had wished for Animatis to go for the Miraculous, the boy was nothing more than a distraction for the long-term plan. "And now with my testimony, even if there are people against believing Hawk Moth, the seed has been planted." He chuckled, "I'll let society sort this out for now. I have matters to attend to for the gala. Check on Adrien for me." He left the lair, taking Nooroo with him, leaving Nathalie alone. 

She sighed, heading out as well and hurrying upstairs to check on Adrien. Gabriel didn't need to ask her to check on the poor thing. It was as though he forgot she had used up her vacation time to stay by his side in the hospital while he was in a coma. That she had been the one there when he opened his eyes for the first time while slowly waking up.

It was all for Emilie. She had been given the spiel hundreds of times, and she wanted Emilie back too, but at the same time, was it worth it to have done this to Adrien? It was going to be months, if not years, before he could walk properly again. 

A dark part of her wondered if Gabriel had done it because he had been planning to bring Kieran to Paris ever since he found out about the boy's existence eight months ago, about a month into Nathalie's background check on Marinette. She hadn't thought much of it at the time because all she could find on him was that he left for unknown reasons and had been suspended for an incident involving Marinette.

What scared her about that was while Gabriel wasn't actively searching Kieran out or anything, that was around the time the Princess Justice plan was being formed.

Had this, for some reason, been Gabriel's plan all along?

As she entered Adrien's room, fear spiking when she saw he wasn't in bed. "Adrien?" She called and heard a noise from the bathroom. She hesitantly knocked, looking around the room and seeing Adrien's wheelchair still by the bed. How had he gotten into the bathroom? He couldn't get around without the wheelchair but also hadn't quite figured out using it on his own. 

She tensed when she was against the bathroom door, and she realized what she was hearing was a whispered mantra of "get out of my head, get out of my head, get out of my head," over and over and over again.  

"Adrien, I'm coming in, okay?" She opened the door, lowering her eyes just in case he wasn't fully clothed.

"Nathalie?" She heard the weak, gravelly voice from the other side of the wall, and she walked over, seeing Adrien laying on the ground against the toilet as though waiting to throw up, his eyes squeezed shut and trying to make himself as small as possible. Her heart clenched at the sight of the boy looking so pitiful, his still-healing burns there for all to see, as his loose pant legs had bunched up.

"Did you crawl in here?" She asked, and Adrien nodded a bit. She bent down beside him, rubbing figure-eights on his back, "Nightmare?" He paused, but she had a feeling that was what it was, and she pulled him close, "Do you think you'll be okay if I take you back to bed?"

He nodded a bit, and she pulled him up and carried him just like when he was little and brought him to the bed, but he tapped her arm and gestured to the couch, seemingly at his limit of words together. "You want to watch TV?" She felt him nod, his face buried in her shoulder. She cringed, feeling as she adjusted his weight in her arms that he had lost weight in the last month, and she was beginning to feel his ribs.

Nathalie set him down and gave him a blanket, "I'm going to bring you some lunch, alright?" He slumped, and she bent down to his level, "Adrien, I know you're having a hard time keeping food down, but you need to eat something."

Adrien hugged himself, and Nathalie saw the faint rope burn scars on his wrists. She didn't know what to say, so she forced on a smile,

"Hey, how about I get you some tea for your voice, and you think about any food that will make you feel better. Anything you want, and I'll get it for you."

Adrien nodded meekly, not meeting her eyes as he grabbed the remote for the television. Nathalie sighed as she headed down to the kitchen. Adrien's official screening for PTSD was going to be a couple days before the gala, and from there, his treatment could begin. She supposed it made sense why he hadn't had it happen immediately since he had been recovering from a coma and thrown right into a trial, but she still wished something could be done for him.

Emilie would know what to do. She always did.

But...would she? Emilie had been a massive factor in Adrien being alone his whole life, and isolation was the last thing Adrien needed. Even the idea of him being locked away again made Nathalie afraid. She wasn't a fool. She knew why Adrien had accepted execution, and it wasn't quite as saintly as the media believed.

Adrien, what can I do to help you?

...

Adrien slumped and looked up at the ceiling, not really watching the movie he put on but more using it as a form of white noise. Hawk Moth in court, testifying against one of his own Akumas… but why? It could be out of sheer ego and a flair for drama; Hawk Moth is known for his dramatic speeches. But just that? 

Adrien closed his eyes deep in thought, And the way he smirked when I asked whether he’ll attempt another Akuma like this again… he shuddered, hugging himself tightly. He couldn’t think of the possibility of another Princess Justice. He simply couldn’t.

He could feel his breath pick up, and tears begin to prickle at his eyes. He couldn’t think about it. He just couldn’t think of another Princess Justice or an Akuma out of control and the casualties and his friends getting hurt and the fire and the screaming and—

A gentle knock on his door snapped him out of his thoughts. He quickly wiped the trail of tears running down his face before croaking out a small “come in” before coughing as Nathalie entered, placing a cup of lemon tea next to him and rubbing his back. Adrien buried his face in her shoulder as she kept whispering small comforts and affirmations.

Maybe it was better than he thought. Nathalie was never one to comfort or baby him, but he could tell she’s trying. Maybe things won’t be so terrible.

He could only pray the trial finished soon.

OoOoO

The next day of court went by in a blur for Adrien for the most part. With character testimony opening up new possibilities for Ms. LaMotte, she got every single person who could testify as a character witness. Person after person revealing more damning evidence, including the creepy confession video Adrien had not seen until now, with it being displayed in court for all to see. 

Kieran and Adrien also had to testify again, this time with much more excruciating detail. When Adrien brought up being forced to confess to sins he had not committed to save Kagami from being burned to death—something he had not wished to recall—he already had a good feeling where most people stood.

But then came further talk of Princess Justice. Adrien had to bury his face in Felix's shoulder for most of that discussion, wishing it was Luka who could hold him and assure him everything was okay now.

He shouldn't have been surprised that some survivors had been recording everything and posting it to social media, meaning there was a ton of footage that while YouTube had it taken down because of obvious violence, people still had.

With the newfound information of Marinette being completely culpable for her actions that everyone reluctantly agreed made sense with Chat Noir's logic about the intended purpose of the Butterfly Miraculous, Ms. Grace's only real strategy was to think about psychology. Her main premise was the possibility of mental disturbance having something to do with her crimes. However, Adrien could tell everyone, including Ms. Grace, knew this was all utter nonsense and everyone wanted this to be over already.

Adrien didn't fully understand many words, but what he did get out of it was the goal here was using an extreme emotional disturbance as an excuse for her horrific actions. He remembered Nathalie mentioning he was going to be getting a PTSD screening. Did this mean people would think he was going to snap? Though he was grateful, she avoided using the term Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which was just a subtle enough difference the jury wouldn't assume trauma, just that Marinette was nuts.

But now had come the time that Adrien had been dreading—Marinette's testimony. Did she remember Luka's identity? Would she shout it for all to hear? 

Ms. Grace looked down at her clipboard, "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, you've been charged with multiple capital crimes. You've been called a killer incapable of empathy or remorse."

Marinette crossed her arms with narrowed eyes, "None of that is true, you know."

"Oh. Well...Marinette...may I call you Marinette?"

"You may."

Ms. Grace pursed her lips, pulling out the flower from her hair, which turned out to actually be a pen, as she took some notes, "Alright, Marinette. We've heard a lot about neurochemistry and psychology and all things potentially unfolding scientifically and otherwise inside your brain. I just have a couple questions I want to ask. There is undeniable proof of your crimes, but I would like to understand your motivations."

Marinette stilled, closing her eyes as if to escape the dreadful situation she was in. "You see..." she started, before she looked away, blinking repeatedly as if to stop any tears from overflowing. "It's just—it's was so hard! Always having such responsibilities and tasks and everyone always looking up to you for answers! I'm just a child!" She exclaimed, letting a few tears roll down her cheek. "Stalking Adrien, as you call it, was really a coping mechanism when you think about it..." she laughed bitterly, grimacing a smile. "And when people started accusing me and questioning me, it got even harder, so I persisted! And I just kept going the more they screamed and abused me... when Adrien rejected me... it was really the last straw, allowing that evil villain Hawk Moth to entrap me and force me into Princess Justice! I don't think that idiot even knew I would be useful, just that I'm so heartbroken and an easy target."

Adrien tensed, seeing that there were reactions from everyone watching, some of pity and others of fury. That anger was seeing through her nonsense, right? Felix whispered in Adrien's ear,

"You could tell her to hold your beer," he gave a small smile of appreciation for the joke.

Ms. Grace paused for a few moments before looking at her clipboard, "Do you have a history of such mental breakdowns?" Marinette was silent and began shedding obviously crocodile tears, and Ms. Grace pursed her lips, "Okay...Did anything happening in your life that lead you to an unstable mindset?" 

Marinette only shed more crocodile tears, which may have worked on some people who weren't the direct victims of what she had done. However, Ms. LaMotte was actually chuckling softly as she leaned on her table, gesturing vaguely at Marinette, "Darling, can I handle this?"

Ms. Grace looked at her, "Yeah." She then raised her voice a bit, "No further questions at this time," she rubbed the back of her neck as Ms. LaMotte had a look on her face like a child in a candy store that was also a toy store.

"That was a very interesting testimony, Ms. Dupain-Cheng," she looked at her nails, "Now let's go over it, shall we? You claim that Hawk Moth truly was forcing you into this against your will and that stalking Adrien was a coping mechanism. It is all his fault for not giving you what you wanted that every person in Paris, two million people, have been affected by your attack? You are so stressed out from being Ladybug that you just had to stalk him."

"Yeah, exactly," she wiped away her tears, and Ms. LaMotte nodded as her very blunt rundown of what Marinette said had an impact on the courtroom,

"Victim blaming, a courtroom classic." She looked at her own notes, "We have seen numerous testimonies today confirming what Hawk Moth said about those who chose the Akuma having their own will. Your claim that you were indeed being controlled when we have even seen Hawk Moth's own memories proving the contrary is very interesting to me. Any comment on that?"

"You would believe Hawk Moth over me?!" She asked, and Ms. LaMotte pursed her lips,

"Seeing as there is countless other testimony, including from Chat Noir, giving me reason to believe him, yes. Yes, I will believe Hawk Moth over you, which goes into my next point. You were not Ladybug five years ago, and yet there is a frighteningly identical MO between how you treated your two victims."

Marinette wiped her eyes of further crocodile tears. Adrien didn't know it was possible, but her voice was going even more like putting on a voice of a toddler moments away from throwing a tantrum, "I'm so young and naive, and young people do such stupid stuff all the time."

Ms. LaMotte gave a long-suffering sigh, "Alright. You don't want to give me a real answer, so I'll tell you what I understand, and feel free to correct me." She put her hand out, gesturing to Marinette, "I am going to understand where you are coming from. Are you the kind of person this city needs? Because people of the jury," she looked to the jury, "We all know this city needs help and needs it now. Not tomorrow, not next week, not when the day comes that the corruption Hawk Moth left in his wake is flushed out, and the police force is back on its feet." She turned back to Marinette, "You do agree with me on this, right, Ms. Dupain-Cheng?"

"Of course, I do." Marinette scoffed softly, "It's not like I do this for pay."

Ms. LaMotte gave an almost frightening grin, like a predator catching its prey, "Oh, but you do, Ms. Dupain-Cheng; that is the key issue here. You do this for praise, for fame... to win over the man you wish to have. Tell me, would you be Ladybug if there was no clout or potential men you lust for to gain from it? We need heroes. But being a hero is not about saving people for fame. It's not about letting an Akuma free just because you refuse to let your partner have a victory. It's not about being the most perfect girl in Paris."

Marinette was becoming increasingly enraged, and this was obvious. Adrien turned to his father, who seemed almost... like he was waiting for something. Like he was expecting Marinette to say something. He decided to shake it off as him hoping for her to prove just how crazy she was.

Ms. LaMotte wasn't done, "What your testimony tells us is that being Ladybug is such hard work that we simply have to give you everything your little heart desires as though that is fair to the person you lust after. And if we don't give you everything, you will be so devastated from being just as unlucky as the rest of us in that department that you will slaughter thousands of people and try to burn alive the person who rejected you." 

She paused, her back to Marinette as she paced around the witness stand, and Adrien wasn't sure if he imagined it, but he could have sworn Ms. LaMotte winked at Ms. Grace. Then she said something else that shut down whatever Marinette had been about to say.

"Before you tell me I am wrong and that someone is trying to sabotage your reputation with all these clips of your wrongdoings and the countless testimony proving what happened with Princess Justice, I have a question to ask. Is there any logical reason anyone would invent or lie about everything here and that thousands of people would agree with it?"

Adrien noticed Marinette mouth what he assumed from when he learned to read lips was "the witch," and he noticed his father's interest take a sudden spike at that. Adrien's heart raced. Was Marinette about to blurt Luka's identity? No, no, please no...

But Marinette was quiet. She crossed her arms and looked away, "I'm Ladybug, of course there are reasons people would want to take me down. Like Coccinelle trying to take my spot." But she said nothing more on the matter, even when she was brought back to her regular spot.

He relaxed, but Adrien couldn't help but wonder why Marinette didn't reveal Luka's identity. Was she banking on Hawk Moth saving her to get that answer? And why was his father so interested in what Marinette had been saying? Did he even know how to read lips, or had he been anticipating a breakdown?

Mayor Hidalgo looked around, "I believe we have exhausted all topics of discussion for this trial. Does everyone agree?" Nods from the jury and the audience, "Tomorrow at 9:30am sharp, we will hear the verdict on if Marinette Dupain-Cheng is innocent or guilty. Until then, court is adjourned."

Adrien felt his heart rate pick up. There was still a chance she would be announced innocent? Or that she would get a light sentence? Oh—Oh hell! This had not been expected!

He felt Nathalie's hand on his shoulder, and she smiled gently and gave his shoulder the slightest reassuring squeeze, "Adrien, it's time to go." She helped him up and into Gorilla's arms, and Adrien sent a pleading look to Luka from across the room, grateful to have received one in response.

As they were walking back to the car, Father looked down at Kieran, "And you have to get ready for your photoshoot in an hour." Felix scowled,

"He's not doing anything for you."

"Oh, I believe he is." Father replied, and Kieran glared darkly up at his guardian, and it sent chills up Adrien's spine, the sheer amount of detest and fury in those eyes nearly unmatched.

How did Kieran feel about all of this? Was it as terrified and confused as Adrien himself? He understood the torment of being stalked by Marinette, so surely he had at least some concern.

Deciding not to think about it right now, he shut his eyes in Gorilla's arms with Plagg's gentle purring against his ribs to calm him down. He dully noted Father and Nathalie break away and leave in their own separate car. However, Adrien paid that no mind, trying to do everything he could to keep himself together and not let his mind fly to the worst possible scenarios.

OoOoO

Kieran slammed the door to his room closed as he tore off the clothing Gabriel had forced him to wear. Even with Nino, Felix, and their friends stealing the camera and such, that had not been today's goal, apparently. It was more determining what about him needed to be "fixed" to be the ideal model.

Being told things like he needed to remove the dye from his hair and sleep better were superficial things that didn't bother him. It was the constant praise and talk of his potential that made him want to tear off his skin.

He grabbed his normal hoodie and some yoga pants as he stormed into the bathroom, removing his model shirt and staring down at the bandages around his forearms, sitting against the wall and pulling his knees to his chest.

"You're truly-without-question-no-possibility-of-error the perfect replacement for Adrien."

"You are something of a mess, but the potential is overwhelming."

His breath hitched as panic overwhelmed his senses, fumbling around in his clothing for his knife. If his distress picked up, he could be akumatized. That meant this was good, right?

He removed the bandages and ran his fingertips over the marks he had created on his skin. Nobody could take this away from him. He could control this. 

Nobody would find out if he had a little trick to calm himself down. Dread in the pit of his stomach made him feel nauseous as he comprehended what would happen if someone did find out. Either he would be screamed at for not being perfect and considered a freak, or that bastard Gabriel would romanticize his pain for profit just like he was doing with his own son.

He jumped a bit when he heard a soft knock on the bathroom door, "Hey, Kieran?" It was Chat Noir, "I heard the photo shoot didn't go so well... I wanted to check if you were okay."

Kieran quickly wrapped up his arms again, "I'm fine!" He tugged on his hoodie and jeans, opening the door as he put the knife back in his pocket, seeing the cat hero looking at him with concern, "What?"

Chat Noir smiled, but it reeked of trained charm. There was something else going on in Chat's head that made his smile fake. Kieran took note of how practiced that artificial smile was, as though it had been rehearsed time and time again. It wasn't that he particularly cared, nor was it his business, but it was something noteworthy.

Nevertheless, he put on a matching fake smile, making it clear to Chat that he could see right through that. Chat Noir's smile fell, looking out at the darkening sky outside, "I've been checking in the last few nights to get you out of here... figured you'd really need it tonight..." he laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

Kieran nodded, "Yeah, I do need it." He took Chat's hand, being brought out of the bedroom and onto a roof just outside the mansion.

"So where do you want to be dropped off this time?" Chat asked, handing him the earpiece. Kieran shrugged,

"Just by the usual spot is fine." Chat Noir nodded and dropped him off by the Seine.

Normally, Chat left after dropping him off, but this time he lingered, "I get if you're stressed out about tomorrow, with the jury's decision." Kieran shrugged,

"I'm trying not to think about it." He put his hands in his pockets, "I'll see you in a bit." He began walking away, but Chat's next words caught him off guard.

"I know you're stressed about it, it's written all over your face."

He turned back with narrowed eyes, "And why is that any of your business?"

"Talk to Adrien." Chat Noir insisted bluntly, "Both of you need to find comfort in each other. After all, you're the only one who can understand what he's going through. Talk to him." He jumped off, and Kieran was stunned before pulling his hood up. Why did Chat Noir care so much about this?

He walked across the bridge, looking down at the dark waters. Right now was the time between sunset and the Eiffel Tower lighting up, meaning it was easier to hide.

But on the flip side, it was easier for someone to attack him in this city.

This was supposed to be time to cool off from the events of today, so perhaps he could sleep without a knife to ease his rampant thoughts. But now, all he could think about was Adrien, who he had been doing anything he could to not think about.

Because, of course, it was Adrien that they all believed. The sweet, perfect model showing discomfort made everyone turn against Marinette. But Kieran insisting that Marinette was not a good person, or defending himself when she played the victim, was only met with scorn or disbelief from anyone who didn't already hate Marinette.

Part of him knew it was irrational to hate Adrien for something that was in no way his fault. But why? Why was Adrien the one to be believed? He knew everyone would say they just noticed parallels in Adrien and Kieran's accounts or some other such nonsense, but how many people in his class could he really trust?

Nino at least had admitted to having not paid much attention to the situation years ago until Kieran was leaving, and he realized there was an actual problem and not Marinette or Miss Bustier being dramatic. It had taken a while to put the pieces together past the facade Marinette put up. Kieran had to admit he appreciated that honesty, but how many other people would tell the truth?

He slumped against the Pont de la Tournelle bridge he knew all too well, feeling the breeze in his hair as his gaze moved up to the starless sky. He huffed as he turned to the side and saw Sabrina's father standing guard with other officers outside the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He waved a bit, and Roger noticed him and waved back just like in the old days.

Even if Roger was a little overzealous, Kieran felt safe with his old friend's father guarding his enemy's home.

But seeing that bakery again made his knees go weak as his subconscious forced him to remember tomorrow was the day that would change everything. What if the jury was a bunch of Ladybug stans, or if in the transfer from jail to prison, assuming she was even announced guilty, the Ladybug worshippers freed her? Or worse, if people bought into the "she's just a child" argument as though she hadn't slaughtered and traumatized two million people? What if she got her Miraculous back, and she went after him? She had clearly lost her lust for Adrien, so did that mean she would be back to looking for Kieran?

He tore at his hair, looking towards that bakery. Whether it was his own paranoia or the truth, he didn't care as he swore he saw Tom watching him from the window, and he ran away from the bridge, still remaining near the Seine, so he had an idea of where he was.

"Talk to Adrien. Both of you need to find comfort in each other. After all, you're the only one who can understand what he's going through. Talk to him."

Kieran growled a bit as he thought of Chat Noir's words again. What could Adrien possibly understand? He didn't—

He paused, thinking about it. Even if Marinette's lust was directed at someone else, her wrath was something to behold, as the burns on Adrien's legs proved.

Even if they were the only ones to really understand each other's suffering at her hand, they didn't need to talk at all. What was there to really talk about? That she groped both of them? Brought them to her house by conveniently manipulating the situation or a downright passive-aggressive invite? That Marinette's father was weirdly obsessed with his daughter having an attractive boyfriend? That both of them had PTSD from what she put them through?

Besides their trauma, did they really have anything in common? He supposed maybe having Chloé as a mutual friend could count, but eventually, the conversation would run out.

He didn't need to talk to anyone about what he was going through. The only being he ever needed was Buttercup. Adrien had a huge support system, so why did Chat Noir think they needed each other? They had some shared experiences, but that didn't mean anything.

He glanced back towards the mansion as he continued to think. Maybe talking to Adrien once wouldn't hurt if it meant he could tell Chat Noir he had talked to Adrien and to get off his back...and maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask if Adrien was as concerned as he was about tomorrow.

...

Adrien had watched from the roof as Chat Noir until Kieran began heading back to the mansion on his own and was let in. He swung in and sat on the couch, hoping beyond hope that this meant Kieran would talk to him. He needed to know he wasn't crazy to be terrified of what would happen tomorrow. Please, Kieran, please talk to me. You're the only one who understands.

He turned on a random movie and skipped to about halfway through to hide from the hallucinations that haunted him. Plagg purred on Adrien's arm, which also helped ground him to the reality that he was safe and sound.

He heard the knock on the door, and his heart leaped with hope as he paused the movie, notebook ready to write down words. "Come in!" He managed to force himself to call before coughing and needing to take a drink.

Kieran came in, and Adrien waved, not bothering to put on a smile because he didn't want Kieran to recognize his fake smile again. But then he realized he had no idea what they were going to talk about. Was it weird to want to tell a stranger what he was afraid of?

Thankfully, Kieran noticed the television, and he seemed to recognize the movie "Song of the Sea?"

Adrien turned and noticed that was indeed the movie, nodding as Kieran sat down, and he wrote down in his notebook, "You know it?"

Kieran paused at the note offered and left. Adrien could swear his heart stopped as he watched Kieran hurry out of the room. Plagg brushed away a stray tear from Adrien's eye as Adrien slumped, hating that he got his hopes up. What if he pushed too hard as Chat?

But Kieran came back, this time with a glasses case, and he put on the black-rimmed glasses with violet details inside, "Sorry, I forgot you have trouble talking and had to get my reading glasses." He read the note, "My little cousin, Lilith, loves the movie." He didn't relax in his seat, "So... um... how are you doing?"

Deciding to get it out of the way instead of small talk that would make them both uncomfortable, Adrien passed him the note, "Are you scared about tomorrow?" Was he going to scare Kieran away by asking?

Kieran read the note and fell quiet, leaning back against the couch cushion. Adrien hesitantly offered him some tea from the teapot, but Kieran shook his head to the offer and stared up at the ceiling, knees to his chest and hugging a pillow, now looking up at the ceiling as though it was the most interesting thing ever, or he was using it as an excuse to avoid eye contact.

"I..." he sighed, "Yeah. I'm scared. There's really no way to win, I guess?" Adrien cocked his head, and Kieran elaborated, "No matter who wins this court case, you and I will never be safe in Paris because of rabid Ladybug fans and Tom, or god forbid Marinette herself."

Adrien thought about Marinette's Dad, and he shuddered when he remembered the person Hawk Moth revealed yesterday had lit the pyre of his own will. He remembered Kieran mentioning not feeling safe and then eyeing Tom, and he opted not to ask what exactly had happened.

"I'm sorry for my father."

Kieran looked to Adrien again. "Hm? Oh, it's not your fault," he chuckled humorlessly, "You didn't even know I existed before this, right?" Adrien shook his head, "Thought so. Besides, it's not like your father listens to you either since you are, after all, the original unpaid intern." He hugged the pillow a little tighter, "So what made the rest of the class finally wise up about Marinette?"

"Confessed her 'love' to me on the anniversary of my mother's death. At least I think that was it, or it might have been the literal massacre."

"Wow. Just...wow." He blinked a couple times as he read the note, "I didn't have much in the way of standards for Marinette, but even I find myself disappointed in her." He chewed on his bottom lip, "I assume neither of us is going to even try sleeping."

"Nope. How do you manage to sleep? I've been having trouble." Kieran suddenly tensed far more that question should merit. Adrien remembered the worried looks Felix had sent Kieran since not long after Animatis and refused to explain why. Was it about that text from Luka that Felix was refusing to let Adrien see?

"I just exhaust myself until I pass out most times," Kieran replied. "Not exactly healthy, but it's sometimes the only way I can sleep." He shrugged, "I have drank so much Monster energy to function that I probably have a minor dependence on the stuff." He looked down at Adrien's feet and the bandages he had on the bottoms of his feet since the carpet sometimes scratched at and reopened the burns, "Those bandages are on too tight." He noticed Kieran relax visibly as though something he knew about making him more comfortable. He got up and grabbed the bandaging off the nightstand, quickly removing the old ones from Adrien's feet, "With burns you can't have the bandages too tight. Pressure garments are one thing, but it's another with bandages. I'm actually pretty good at this."

Adrien watched in shock for a few moments, deciding to let Kieran do whatever since he probably knew better, and he was surprised when Kieran spoke again, this time much softer as he worked on wrapping up Adrien's less burned leg.

"I'm sorry." Adrien cocked his head, causing Kieran to sigh, "I'm sorry you had to go through this too. Thinking about it now, I realize I'm kinda lucky. You had to deal with her and Hawk Moth giving her powers, and all I had to deal with was her 'just a perfect child' act and people bending to her will."

"We shouldn't be comparing each other's pain, " Adrien insisted in his next note, "We both went through hell and should acknowledge that, not minimize it because you think someone else has it better or worse."

Kieran stared at the note in shock for a moment before a genuine smile formed on his face, "I guess you're right." His smile died after a few moments as he examined the bottoms of Adrien's feet as he had started wrapping the worse leg, "You have cuts on the bottoms of your feet."

Why did Kieran know all of this? He opened his mouth to ask but was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing, and Kieran answered it in a language Adrien didn't understand, "Dia dhuit, a Athair," he began talking fast, and Adrien had absolutely no idea what he was saying.

He waited until the call was over to make it clear he was curious about what that was. Kieran crossed his arms,

"My Dad needed to know what to feed my horse." Adrien's eyes lit up as he leaned forward. Having a horse sounded so cool! Kieran caught onto this, "Yeah, I have a horse. Her name's Buttercup."

Adrien sucked in a breath as he wrote down another letter. Was this too early to ask? "Can you stay with me tonight if neither of us is going to sleep? I don't want to bother Felix if he's asleep for once."

Kieran read the note and hesitated, looking at the floor and mumbling a bit as he held his left arm as what seemed to be a sort of nervous tick, "Uh... sure, I guess, if neither of us are sleeping anyway." He looked over to the clock, "Ten hours, and we'll know for sure."

Adrien groaned a bit, forcing himself to quietly speak, "Ten hours until we see Marinette." Maybe then, when he knew she would be behind bars for a long time, he and Kieran could finally begin to have some closure.

OoOoO

Court went by in a flash. People filed in and settled in their seats. Adrien could hear distant murmurs and whispers from the court; people were so on edge for the trial results they were even breaking rule etiquette! They kept like this for a while as the lawyers made final preparations for the final verdict, and Adrien could swear he heard Ms. Grace tell Ms. LaMotte, "I know the trial was meant to fail, yet this still feels wrong." Adrien watched as both women went to their stations before Ms. LaMotte gave him a conspiracal wink.

As Mayor Hidalgo entered and walked to her stand, the court fell into an eerie sort of silence. She cleared her throat before beginning, "Ladies and gentlemen of the court, this was a most unusual court case. We had surprise witnesses, continuous debate over the morality and motive of one's behavior, and now, we will hear the jury's decision regarding Ms. Dupain-Cheng. Jury?" She said as she gestured to the jury stand.

A man stood up, reading off some papers they likely prepared beforehand. "After through inspection of evidence, the jury has deemed Marinette Dupain-Cheng's guilty of all crimes she was accused of."

Ruckus began as various people, including Alya and Tom, began to argue and contradict the verdict, pulling others into the fight. As the screams and shouts got louder and louder, Adrien could only shrink into his wheelchair and hope it would stop soon, even if part of him felt immense relief hearing Marinette was truly being deemed guilty. Thankfully Mayor Hidalgo quickly shut any arguments down by slamming her gavel and demanding order in the court. As everyone quieted down, she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "The decision of the jury is final and will not be changed unless stated otherwise. The sentencing will take place November 23rd. Court is dismissed."

As everyone filed out from the court, some with more force than others, Adrien was helped from his stand by Felix and Kieran. Felix gave Adrien a small squeeze, whispering, "You okay?" In Adrien's ear, to only receive a distant nod, much like Kieran.

He was wheeled outside the court, where he was greeted by Luka, who gave him a firm hug, no words exchanged, which he happily returned. Finally pulling away, Luka brushed away some of Adrien's hair, cupping his cheek, "I know it's the most idiotic question ever, but are you okay?" He asked, voice breaking. Adrien could only nod, blinking away any tears that threatened to spill.

"Alya, wait! Let's talk about this! I thought we said to take a break from one another!" The group turned to the sound of Nino's voice as he went after Alya. 

Alya turned towards him in a rage, "No, Nino! You will never understand what I mean! You never truly got what I was going through, and us getting together so abruptly was never a good idea! We are through Nino! We're through…" she said, leaving a devastated Nino behind.

Nino turned to see the group looking at him with concern before giving them a bittersweet smile and walking over to them. When he was given questioning looks, Nino laughed bitterly, "It's okay, dudes. You guys clearly have more on your plate! I shouldn't have insisted so much too! That was a bit much of me." He said, his smile fading away.

All watched as Marinette was led into a police car, surprisingly… smiling, for some reason. She turned to face Adrien, a terrifying grin on her face, "Congratulations, St. Agreste! You've won the case, fair and square~!" She said in a sing-song voice before being pulled away by the police.

Everyone watching tensed, a sick feeling to their stomachs as Marinette was carded away, laughing maniacally.

OoOoO

In the dead of night, Kieran snuck out of the Agreste mansion after asking Felix how to open the gate. He had already called Officer Roger ahead of time, still having his number from all those years ago, to make sure this was okay so late at night. Roger agreed to stay late since he already knew Kieran.

Luckily, the Louis Blanc metro was surprisingly empty tonight, so while Kieran did put on his colored contacts to make his eyes brown, he didn't need to go all out hiding his identity. It also made it easy to keep an eye on the few people here, not that any of them seemed to care and were mostly on their phones or chatting amongst themselves about the trial's outcome.

He made it to the police station in fifteen minutes, and Roger was waiting for him, "It's been a while, Kieran. How are your parents?"

"They're doing good—a lot better since getting back on our feet."

Roger grinned, "I'll tell you, Sabrina's sure missed you a lot. Things got harder at school when Marinette became more popular."

"Looks like nobody has to worry about that now, at least," Kieran chuckled, looking at the door to the holding cells, his breath catching in his throat. Roger put a hand on Kieran's shoulder,

"Are you sure you're ready?"

Kieran sucked in a deep breath, "Yes. It's now or never." After all, in the morning, Marinette was being transferred to America's ADX Florence prison, which was said to be perhaps the most secure prison the world had ever seen. It simply wasn't safe to keep her in Paris where Ladybug fans could attempt to break her out, or Hawk Moth could decide to akumatize her again. Tonight was the last night she could be, which, if he had to guess, was the reason everyone was hiding in their homes tonight.

"Remember. Keep your voice steady," Roger said, and Kieran nodded as he removed his contacts and stuffed the container in his pocket. He took a deep breath and walked into the room, seeing Marinette sitting on her bed, and she looked up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Kieran, I'm surprised you returned. It was a mistake." She got up, wrapping her hands against the bars that separated them, "I hope you're enjoying your temporary win," she chuckled, "Because it's not going to last. You betrayed me, Kieran, and for that, you are going to pay. There are still people who are loyal to me, you know? And by the time they are through with you, you'll be in so much pain you'll be begging for death if you're not dead already. You hear me, you wretched thing?! You and Adrien will beg!"

Kieran already knew the fear was painted all over his face, but he closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he had gained his composure as he truly saw something he hadn't before.

"You. I see you." He straightened from his usual slight hunching, "After all these years, I finally see you, Marinette. You're just a pathetic person trying to make yourself big to compensate for how small your heart is, and how far from perfect you truly are. There is no room in your heart for your friends and allies, your parents, those you claim to love... nobody except yourself." He matched the smirk that had been on her face moments ago but had since fallen in her shock, "You're not going to be able to cry and be a helpless little victim in a max security prison. Nobody is going to pity you or give you what you want. Most of the world recognizes now how truly vile and unlovable you are, and Coccinelle has taken your place as the hero you masqueraded being for so long. So don't tell me you're going to slither out of this because some people are fools. You are going to rot in a cell for the rest of your days, and you'll be lucky to see sunlight again. I win. Goodbye, Marinette."

With that, he turned away, feeling the shock from Marinette as she called after him, "B-B-But—! D-Don't you turn your back on me! Come back and grovel before me! Do you hear me?! Come back and grovel!"

But he didn't even grace her with a glance back as he shut the door to the holding cells, his breathing heavy, and Roger looked at him.

"Are you okay?" Kieran put a hand to his own cheek, realizing he was crying. He smiled genuinely to Roger, 

"I'm better than okay," he controlled his breathing, "She's really going away for good. I win... I win.. I win..." he closed his eyes for a moment, "It's really over." He knew Marinette was right; she had followers who would stand by her forever, and some of them were dangerous, but right now, all he cared about was the ringleader was behind bars. "Thanks for letting me talk to her."

"Of course," Roger helped him stand as his knees had gone weak in relief, "I'll take you back to the mansion."

As they headed out of the police station, Kieran looked up at the full moon and felt the gentle breeze in his hair. It was as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as for the first time in years, he truly wanted to rest, to spend a little time not running.

When he got back to the mansion, he crawled into bed after changing into pajamas and actually managed to sleep peacefully.

Chapter Text

Waking up to the sound of his alarm going off, Adrien groaned, moving to shut it off with a smack. He glanced at the phone to see it was 7:30am. He rolled over, deciding he could afford ten more minutes...or an hour...

Since Marinette's trial a couple weeks ago, Adrien's schedule has been a lot laxer, minus public appearances and interviews and the entire saint shtick that he would rather stop. It wasn't that he minded getting out of bed, now with fewer responsibilities and Kieran and Felix keeping him company, but the bed was so warm, and the sheets smelled so nice, it's so easy to just melt into it and never wake up…

Felix burst into his room, gripping a hissing Kieran. "Morning, sleepyhead! Kieran is being a demon and won't dress up for the gala, and your boyfriend is coming in a couple of hours and I bet your ass wants to look cute for him, so wakey wakey!" He exclaimed, poking Adrien with his foot. 

Well. It looked like sleeping was a lost cause.

Adrien nudged Felix's foot away, giving him the most displeased grimace possible, "You can at least try to wake me up nicely," he said softly, slowly wriggling out of his blanket cocoon.

Felix looped his arm around Adrien's waist, helping him into his wheelchair, "Glad to know your voice is working, Sunshine," he said, pushing Adrien and giving him his medications to take. He also maintained an iron grip on Kieran, who had resorted to the "groan-until-they-let-go" technique.

After a few minutes of dragging Kieran across the mansion and moving Adrien from one wheelchair to another, Felix kicked the door open, wheeling Adrien to some frankly disturbed stylists, "Move! I'm a mom making a difference!" He screamed, plopping a very displeased Kieran on a chair to be styled.

Adrien resigned to letting everyone dress him up, held by the waist as he was measured, and final touch-ups for his outfit were made. However, Kieran has decided to snarl and swat at anyone who dared approach him while messily putting on his purple and black suit.

Adrien sighed, making grabby hands in Kieran's direction, to which Kieran froze like a deer in headlights. He eventually relented, crouching to Adrien's level to let him fix his collar. "You shouldn't hiss and push them all away," he lectured, "They don't exactly want to be here either, and are just doing their jobs."

Kieran huffed as Adrien fixed his tie, "Do you think I don't know that? This is all bullshit... we're not even being paid for this, and they are. I'm just really tired," he said, heaving a sigh and turning away.

Felix patted Kieran's head before going to put on a suit jacket over his black button-up, "Eh, at least it's not one of those bullshit rich people events Adrien and I were forced into! This gala is for everyone, and I am so excited to be everyone's problem now!" He said giddily, doing a little dance to his chair, as a stylist started working on his hair. 

Adrien turned to give the makeup artists a better angle to work with, "All I'm saying is that while this situation isn't exactly the most ideal, we have to find at least some kind of positive in a negative situation, because we can't really escape this." He said as he subtly slipped on his Angel necklace. He sighed, knowing how much he actually agreed with Kieran's points about this event being bullshit and a way to capitalize off of the newest St. Agreste de Paris.

After a while of outfit testing and final touches and accessories, a knock on the door was heard. Nathalie came in, wearing her usual outfit. "Adrien, Mr. Couffaine has arrived and is waiting in the main hall. Would you like to go welcome him?" she asked in a softer tone than usual. Adrien could appreciate the effort she made to be more maternal, but he couldn't figure out why.

He brightened, wheeling himself out the room, ignoring the stifled giggles between Kieran and Felix of his excitement. Adrien turned to the main hall, where Luka was pacing back and forth, rocking on the balls of his feet and shaking his hands. 

Luka stilled when Adrien called out to him and turned to see… Wow.

Adrien pivoted with his wheelchair, doing a little spin, "What do you think?" he asked, gesturing to the angelic robe he was wearing, adorned with gold jewelry and lace, a golden leaf crown, and wing-shaped pins, on a very low v-neck. Luka shook his head in a poor attempt to snap himself out of his trance. "You look amazing—like, you look absolutely incredible, and I know this gala might not be so fun but—but when looking objectively at you, you look… gorgeous."

Adrien blushed, running a hand through his hair, and fidgeted with his angel pick necklace, "Thanks," he said softly, "I think you look gorgeous too." he said, eyes shimmering. He laughed as Luka turned red, mumbling about how he "got some snackie bags in case Adrien isn't in the mood for fancy shrimp cocktails" or whatnot.

"I'm sure Adrien can deal with the high quality food I provide him."

Both turned to the sound of Gabriel's designer shoes walking towards them, a scornful look on the man's face. He looked Luka up and down before making a dissatisfied look and turning to Nathalie. "Have you made preparations for Mr. Couffaine's suit? As he is joining us in the gala, he will be dressed in something fit of an Agreste," he said, moving along as Luka looked at him with a terrifying, almost feral look. 

He looked at Adrien to see his son clutching on that silly necklace for dear life. Before he made a comment, he stilled, feeling Nathalie's glare drilling into his skull. He continued, "If you'd like to have the necklace with you so much, I expect it will be in your pocket. You're a public figure, Adrien, you can't afford to act so childish when Paris is looking to you now." He said as Adrien quickly pocketed the necklace. Suddenly, he could feel Couffaine's glare a lot more clearly, and similar ones from Descôntoux and Felix.

He strode away, not even sparing anyone a second glance. "We will be leaving soon, so make sure everyone is ready for departure. I will be making final preparations before joining you, and we will be driving in the same car for the sake of efficiency." He pointedly brushed off Couffaine mumbling about it also being to survey them as simple immaturity and teen rebellion, "Good day."

When Gabriel exited the room, Luka crouched down to Adrien's level, hugging him tightly and mumbling little assurances. "You okay?" he asked, as Adrien sharply nodded, seemingly too choked up to speak. Nathalie approached the two much more calmly, slightly bowing to their level, "I'm afraid I have to take Mr. Couffaine for final adjustment and styling. Will that be okay?"

Luka turned to Adrien, "You can come with if you'd like! I could use advice on formal wear." He joked a bit, both him and Nathalie breathing in relief to see Adrien brighten.

Adrien nodded, taking out his necklace to fidget with, "Sure!" he said, voice still weak and cracky from the lack of talking. As they walked to the styling room, Adrien only prayed the gala wouldn't be as terrible as he imagined.

OoOoO

The gala was very presumptuous, probably even fancier than some galas Adrien's has been forced to go to over the years. There was a buffet of high-quality cuisine and fine alcohol, huge crystal chandeliers adorning the room, and the lighting making everything shimmer and sparkle as if it's all made of gold. Adrien wasn't sure if the gala was a treat for the people of Paris or a way to show off the immense wealth his father had. 

Nathalie would have probably sighed and shaken her head if she were here, muttering about how simply materialistic and fake it is. Still, as Gabriel was actually making a public appearance, she took his place for the day, taking care of the many responsibilities he had. 

Since Felix made a beeline to the alcohol and Luka had snuck off to fix his outfit, Adrien welcomed early guests. The guests were primarily rich people who donated a handsome amount of money to the gala, a fundraiser to repair Paris, and a chance to make small talk and commentary on the beautiful Saint de Paris.

Kieran groaned, looking to the sky as if he was damning whatever force in the universe was putting him in this situation. Adrien noticed that while Kieran's hair had been brushed and styled, he kept massaging his scalp as a subtle way of messing it all up again. "This is ridiculous. And you're telling me you've dealt with this senselessness before? With more pompous rich people?!" he asked, terrified at the thought of it. 

Adrien shrugged, "Well, galas and fancy parties like this were never fun, but at least now I get to talk to some people who, rather than wanting to benefit off of me, are actually thankful for my existence and bringing hope, as complex and slightly concerning as that is. I know Felix has decided to cope with these parties by drinking, so that's one solution you can resort to? Quick though, before Felix finishes all the drinks."

Kieran shook his head, "No thanks, Adrien, I would much rather be in control of myself before pulling a stunt like Felix is about to. Even if I wanted to drink, I would bring my own flask. You never know if a drink is drugged and someone is out for your head or virginity." He said matter-of-factly. Suddenly, Adrien felt a lot less thirsty than before. He sighed, taking a sip from a bottle of water he brought along. Kieran shrugged as he said, "But I digress."

A few more minutes of conversation was cut off by Nino shoving and profusely apologizing to guests before he tackled Adrien with a hug, "Brother! Gosh I haven't seen you in so long!" He gave Adrien a tight hug, picking him up and spinning him.

"It's only been a couple of days, Nino!" Adrien laughed, wincing at the pain in this throat from the sudden volume, still sore but not agonizing.

As both calmed down and Nino placed Adrien back in his chair, Kieran had an odd sort of endearing grimace as he commented, "That was way too wholesome for my liking. I can't even say anything mean about that."

Nino straightened his blue suit with pins before offering Kieran a stiff handshake, which Kieran returned. Nino left out an awkward whine, "Sorry, I just don't know what your boundaries are with me now and it's awkward so I just gave you a handshake? I probably sound so weird now too, but it is a genuine struggle and—" he was cut off by Kieran giving him a firm hug.

Kieran separated from Nino, shaking his shoulder a bit, "See? You can give me a hug, just… calm down. And no spinning hugs that last too long. Got it?" he said, as Nino shook his head earnestly.

Nino quickly collected himself and fixed his beanie, building confidence, "Okay! Thank you for that, Kieran, I needed that hug! Now pardon me, gentleman, as I go mingle with the crowds." He headed into the main hall, ignoring any protests either Adrien or Kieran made.

Both stood there for a moment before Kieran looked down and said, "A moment of silence for Nino Lahiffe. He died as he lived: being a dumbass." as Adrien nodded solemnly.

As more guests entered and the main hall began to fill up, people started going into groups they were familiar with, creating a noticeable divide between classes, with only a few people going between groups.

Chatter quieted down as Gabriel Agreste walked up to the stage and cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today in this fundraiser gala for the rebuilding of Paris. After the devastating attack that was Princess Justice, or better known as Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Paris has been in shambles. Now, after she was deemed guilty, it is time Paris should come together, unified, to repair what has been broken. I am very thankful for all the generous donors who took from their own money to help their city. I am also proud that my son, Adrien Agreste, continues to be a symbol of hope and virtue for the people of Paris, and I am certain he will continue to do so." 

Adrien bowed his head humbly as everyone gave him a round of applause, more trying to shrink into himself rather than be polite. Kieran has already been separated from Adrien under the watchful eye of Adrien's bodyguard. Adrien must present himself as strong, and that meant support was discouraged.

As Gabriel finished his speech, attention was diverted from Adrien, and people returned to their prior business of gossip and free food. Adrien sighed, trying to maintain proper behavior as more businessmen attempted conversation with him about how virtuous he was, and how successful his father was, and how they have a niece or a daughter he "would just love to meet!" 

Adrien slumped in his wheelchair the minute they left, only to tense as someone tapped his shoulder and turned to see Luka. He gasped before hugging Luka excitedly as the latter laughed, returning the hug.

Luka brushed some of Adrien's hair away, "Tough party, blondie? Before you justify me, I'm so sorry for taking so long because your bodyguard was on me like glue, and then after I changed my outfit, it was like I couldn't be seen with you, and I hate that so much and—" he said, before being gently shushed by Adrien placing a finger on his lips. Well, that's certainly déjà vu, he thought, remembering the last battle with Animatis.

Adrien patted Luka's head, "I'm okay, Orpheus. I promise you I have survived in the solid half hour you weren't constantly present." He teased, before creating distance between them, "Now let's talk about the vastly more important elephant in the room: I love your outfit!" He said, gesturing to a now much more Luka-like design, with a teal iridescent suit jacket draped on his shoulders, white collar shirt slightly unbuttoned, hair more moused and messy. His accessories were in their rightful place, and black lipstick was the cherry on top. Oh lord, I'm staring at his lips too much, aren't I?

He quickly broke eye contact, giggling awkwardly and looking away, completely red. Adrien tugged and fidgeted with hair. Biting his lip, “Sorry, I just really like how you— I mean, your necklace looks! It’s quite nice!” It really was nice, a teal guitar pick with red devil wings, matching to Adrien’s necklace. It felt really special to Adrien, like an inside joke between them: A special bond of sorts.

Luka blushed, moving to touch his necklace, “Thanks, Angel.” He said in a velvety, gentle voice. His smile turned into a more playful smirk after a moment, grabbing several champagne flutes off a fancy-looking tray and offering one to Adrien. "Come on, blondie, we could both use a couple of drinks! I have a gut feeling this will be a long event," he joked, winking when Adrien took the champagne flute and started sipping on it, a red blush on his face.

"This is ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!" a loud voice screeched, turning various heads, including Adrien and Luka. A woman, probably in her mid-forties, wearing a ginormous hat with a glittery rose, sunglasses, a low v-neck black-and-white jumpsuit. She was covered with expensive, flashy jewelry and power walking in her high heels to Gabriel, with Chloé hot on her heels carrying a matching purse to the jumpsuit.

Luka looked at Adrien, who was sucking in a breath, clearly dreading this woman's existence. He leaned to Adrien's height, taking another swig of the champagne, "I'm guessing you're familiar with the crazy lady?" he asked, swirling the rest of his drink in his cup.

Adrien nodded and started to explain, "Audrey Bourgeois, fashionably late as usual and one of the most arrogant people you'll ever meet. She is a fashion sensation in New York, known as Style Queen and basically whatever she deems as fashionable is fashion for the season, as inaccurate as she can be. She is also Chloé's mom, and probably the world's worst parent. I don't even know why Chloé is so hellbent on pleasing her!" Oh, the sweet irony, Luka thought, before humming in understanding, "And she's wearing the marigold dress. No! Don't do it to yourself!" he whined, covering his face.

Luka raised his eyebrow, "What's so wrong with the dress? Sure it's a bit bright for my taste, and not like Chloé at all, but I've seen much worse, like the Bubbler." Adrien pointed in Audrey's direction, and both turned to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Why I can't believe you'd hire a peasant servant to model for your brand! That is absolutely disgusting, terribly ridiculous, and all because your son got a little boo boo?! You are a disgrace, Agreste!" Audrey screamed as Chloé tensed behind her, looking pointedly at the ground.

Gabriel rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Audrey, I do not have the time for your screaming, so if you could just enjoy the venu, I can handle my own company very well." He said, simply walking away.

Audrey gasped, aghast by the treatment she was receiving, "How dare you?! I am Audrey Bourgeois, the Style Queen, the most fashionable person on planet earth, and you will not ignore me! You were nothing before I discovered you, Gabriel! Nothing!" She screamed, going to chase him.

Chloé followed her mom, slightly tripping in the process, "Mom, it's ridiculous to chase Gabriel down, he clearly doesn't want your amazing advice—" she began before being cut off by her mom,

"Oh, shut it, Chlorine, or whatever your name is! You and your ridiculous clown outfit are of no use to me, and there is nothing special about such a pathetic, unoriginal wannabe! I promise I will laugh at your ridiculousness in a moment, but you will not get in my way!" She shouted, quieting Chloé.

Adrien's expression soured, taking a final long gulp of his drink, "How much money am I willing to bet she only donated one euro to this gala to say she donated?" he said, looking tired of her shit already.

Luka nodded, getting round two for the both of them, "Oh, I hate that woman. Like, people like that exist? She's terrible." He said, trying his best to not scream at her.

However, it seemed he didn't have to because as Audrey kept screeching about the atrocity of a peasant modeling for Gabriel, she was cut off by Kieran, who moved Chloé behind him and had a look of murder in his eyes. "Why don't you come and say that to my face, you coward?" he said in a mocking voice.

Audrey looked up and down at Kieran before gagging, "Why, I didn't know they allowed indentured servant rats to any job nowadays," she said, looking at her nails,

Kieran rolled his eyes, "At least I'm not 90% silicone."

Audrey gasped, covering her body as she realized the implication of his words, "Oh how dare you?! I am all natural!" she said, posing flamboyantly.

Kieran barked out a harsh, "Oh, please! Your tits are faker than your personality!" 

Audrey screamed in rage, "That's it! You're fired!" she shouted, expecting Kieran to break into tears or plead with her.

Instead, Kieran grabbed Chloé's hand and ran away faster than Cinderella leaving the ball. He was over the moon with joy and screaming, "Thanks for firing me!" as he made his escape.

Gabriel ran towards the scene in an attempt to stop his runaway ward before groaning and turning to his bodyguard, "Go find Mr. Descônteaux and Ms. Bourgeois immediately. I don't have time to deal with this foolish behavior." He said, walking away yet again.

Audrey turned to Gabriel, "I got rid of that street rat! You should be thanking me, not searching for him!" she exclaimed wildly.

Gabriel turned to Audrey with a steely look. "Audrey, I will not say this again, but I don't have time for your ridiculousness right now. I will not be dealing with your screeching voice, and I expect you to remain in your lane and have a drink. You've caused more trouble than good already…" he said, trying to massage away a growing migraine.

Adrien and Luka sucked in a breath, knowing that Audrey was only bound to get more upset by that comment, as stupid and childish as it was. They watched as she stomped her way to the buffet, only to find a lot of the food already finished. Both boys winced at the return of her screams, sipping on their drinks.

"I knew it was a good idea to get a bunch of drinks beforehand," Luka said proudly while Adrien giggled and elbowed his side playfully. 

They could both see a timid Kagami and Nino walking away from the scene, jumping excitedly at what looked like Kagami's fencing sword with a bunch of shrimp skewered on it. Well, Adrien thought, He is most certainly making friends!

Luka and Adrien kept laughing and teasing one another, unaware of how Audrey was screaming that "His own son, associated with a punk-looking skank!" too in their own world to care. 

The last straw for Audrey was the lack of alcohol.

She grabbed the poor caterer that just happened to walk past her, "Where are all of the drinks?! Is your service simply that incompetent?!" she screamed.

"No no, Miss! The alcohol simply ran out! With the sheer amount of guests in the gala, along with a particularly enthusiastic guest," he said, gesturing at a blackout drunk Felix dancing wildly, his tie wrapped around his head like a bandana. He was singing a very drunk off-key rendition of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," by Marilyn Monroe. One thing that caught Adrien off guard was that Felix was covered head to toe in wallets, watches, necklaces, and anything worth more than a hundred dollars.

That was it. 

Audrey threw the poor waiter to the side, "That is it! You are all ridiculous and you are all fired! I will not be spending another second with you pathetic failures," she screamed, which again got no one's attention but some whispers and gossip. It seems that after a couple of drinks, people mingle with each other a lot more easily, and no one seemed to care. Audrey screamed again, storming out of the building.

Adrien and Luka paid her no heed, laughing about how fast Kieran left the party and how mad Gabriel was about it. "You know," Luka mused, "Maybe if he actually paid his interns, Kieran wouldn't have left and Felix wouldn't be..." they both glanced at Felix, who was spinning on a pole to stay upright.

They both jumped when a puff of glitter was in the center of the room, and both of them grimaced when they processed the glitter-covered woman, who from her obnoxious voice was easily identified as Audrey.

Luka grabbed Adrien and carried him in a piggyback ride, escaping through the emergency exit as fast as possible while Style Queen—as he assumed she was named because Tacky Queen seemed a little too hilarious to be a real thing.

"What about everyone else?!" Adrien protested as Luka ran into a random building and put Adrien inside a storage closet, knowing he would have to transform somewhere.

"Don't worry," he assured Adrien, "I'll go back for them, and I'm sure Chat Noir will be here too, but I figured everyone would agree you were a higher priority since you can't walk. Just stay here. I'll come back for you, I promise!" He shut the closet door, looking for somewhere reasonable to transform, and he decided the bathroom was a good idea, opening his jacket, "Tikki, this is bad!"

Tikki nodded, finishing up one of the palmier cookies that had been on the buffet, which Luka had been feeding her to make sure she was content during this miserable event, "I hope Kieran and Chloé won't be targeted."

Luka felt panic at that because while Adrien could transform, and he had faith in Nino and Kagami to get out of there, most likely with Felix, Kieran and Chloé didn't know what was going on. "You're right! Besides that, I have to help Adrien! Tikki, spots on!"

...

Plagg peaked out of Adrien's pocket, "I bet Ms. Shiny's beat up your dad by now," he gave a sadistic little giggle that Adrien smiled from despite himself. Even if Father was terrible, he didn't deserve to be attacked.

"We have to go help him and Luka, Plagg, you know this!"

"Fine," Plagg grumbled, "Can't we let her smack him around at least a little?" Adrien rolled his eyes,

"She'll have smacked him around enough by the time we get there. Are you ready?" Plagg nodded, and Adrien transformed, hurrying out the door and knowing he didn't have to worry about Luka spotting him since they were both superheroes.

When he got there, he noticed Coccinelle on one of the metal supports above, and only from there did he realize with horror his father and a few other people had been turned into glitter statues. He surveyed and was grateful that none of his friends seemed to have been affected. At least they got out safely. 

They both quietly observed what was going on to determine what her powerset was before jumping in. What neither of them expected was for her to slam her scepter into the ground and the statue of Gabriel crumbled, the glitter entering the staff. Chat Noir covered his mouth with his hand to hide the distressed sounds that came from him of their own accord, and then she teleported away.

"She must be going after Kieran and Chloé," Chat mused, jumping down, "We have to save Mr. Agreste, and for that, we need a plan."

"Well, from what I noticed," Coccinelle said, "She seems to rely on her staff for all her power, and judging by the fact she's made of glitter, I would assume she's at least to some degree intangible."

"Got it! So now we have to catch her."

They both ran out of the building and noticed the glitter spectacle throughout Paris that didn't seem to have any direction. Chat Noir pulled out his staff and messaged Kieran since the baton had a direct function of working as his own phone, warning him about what was going on.

"Where the hell is she going?!" Coccinelle asked as they chased around the rapidly moving glitter, and Chat paused,

"I think she just wants to be noticed and have people admire her or something," he groaned, "Get ready for a lot of cardio." Coccinelle also groaned as they both began running with a renewed pace, "So what's the plan?"

"Take the staff and search her?" Coccinelle offered, and Chat shrugged,

"Sounds good to me!"

By the time Style Queen finally stopped moving, it was at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Both heroes got up there fast enough to watch her throw up a shield around where she had rematerialized Gabriel as though he was asleep on an altar, with a rose in his mouth which must be the akumatized object.

"That's kinda tacky," Coccinelle grumbled and pulled out his yoyo, "Let's just get this over with." He threw the yoyo down, where it went straight through her, and wrapped around the staff, pulling upwards to rip it from her hands. Simultaneously, Chat Noir jumped down and very calmly used cataclysm on the barrier, grabbed the rose, snapped it, and released the Akuma that Coccinelle quickly purified.

"That was pathetically easy. I don't think I even had to be a distraction; you could just walk up to it on your own." Coccinelle laughed, and Chat did too as Coccinelle did Miraculous Glitterbug and returned everything to normal. Gabriel sat on the ground, a bit disoriented but otherwise alright.

Chat bent down beside his father, "Are you okay, Fa—sir?"

Gabriel stood up without assistance, brushing himself down, "Chat Noir, Coccinelle, what happened to me?"

Coccinelle shrugged, "Got turned into a statue by Audrey, who got akumatized." He gestured to Audrey, who was already upset about not being helped up. And when his eyes laid on Audrey's, Gabriel suddenly seemed panicked,

"Where is my son?!"

"Don't worry, sir," Coccinelle assured him, "When I got there, Mr. Couffaine was taking Adrien and getting away from the scene."

Gabriel had his hands on Chat Noir's shoulders, "Nothing must happen to him. He's too precious to me." Chat offered out his hand,

"How about I take you back to the gala? I'm sure Adrien will be back there too. Coccinelle, can you take...?" Coccinelle nodded, picking up Audrey as she protested and whined about how his suit was atrocious.

They landed down in front of the gala venue and were immediately swarmed by the press. Gabriel had mastered the art of smiling and waving before quickly escaping, while Coccinelle and Chat Noir were not as lucky.

Coccinelle's blood ran cold as he realized he was the one being praised between the two of them, "No, you guys are wrong! All I did was purify the Akuma, but Chat did all the work!" He turned towards his partner and noticed the almost heartbroken look on Chat's face as he left the crowd, and Coccinelle chased after him, "Hey, don't listen to them, okay?"

Chat pulled his hand away, refusing to meet Coccinelle's eyes, "I'll be fine, I'm sure I'll be asked by Miracle News about it later...maybe," he hurried off. Coccinelle slumped as he watched Chat go, glaring darkly at the press who had begun following them.

"What just happened?" Nadja asked, but Coccinelle expression made her back off, and he hurried away too to detransform, and Tikki emerged,

"That was fast."

"Yeah," he clenched his fist, "But the press ruined everything. I'll have to talk to Adrien about this later," he strolled over to the closet to make sure Adrien had plenty of time to detransform. When he opened the closet, he noticed Adrien had pulled his knees up to his chest, and his eyes were glossy as though he was trying not to cry. "Angel," he bent over quickly, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," Adrien blinked away any tears, "I just tried to get up and my burns reacted badly to movement." Luka was taken aback by how easily Adrien was able to lie but didn't think much of it as he picked him up again,

"Come on, I'm sure everyone else is worried sick about you."

"Yeah, probably," Adrien whispered, leaning his head against Luka's shoulder until he was placed back in his wheelchair at the venue. He sighed in relief, seeing Nino and Kagami helping Felix sit down in a chair, and he spoke wildly about nothing in particular; his cheeks were a bright red as he hiccuped. Still wasted, but at least he wasn't hurt.

Adrien turned when he heard shouting, "And where have you been, Kylie?!" He hurried to the entrance and saw Gorilla had finally found Kieran and Chloé. Kieran had given Chloé his suit jacket to cover herself with, and if possible, his hair was even messier. Also, for some reason, he was going completely barefoot. Adrien turned and saw Father was a few seconds away from screaming at the disastrous state of his ward. 

However, he was far more distracted by Audrey storming up to Chloé, who pulled Kieran's jacket tighter around her.

"Mom! I...uh...you didn't seem to want me around, so I was with my friend..."

"Friend?!" She eyed Kieran, "That peasant has no business anywhere than the streets where he belongs." Kieran took a step forward to say something, but Chloé stopped him. "And I needed you here to carry my bag!" 

"Is that all I am to you?" Chloé asked meekly, "Just a bag carrier?" She looked towards her Dad, who was doing absolutely nothing to stand up for her against his wife, "I do everything I can to please you, and that's it?!"

"Please me?" Audrey asked, "You're just an unoriginal copycat in that hideous dress. Are you trying to embarrass me? There is nothing special about you, my dear, except your mother."

At this point, people were starting to crowd around to watch, and Adrien forced himself to stand, "Hey—!" But he fell to the floor in his attempt, yelping in pain as his feet protested, but at the very least, it served to divert the attention of the murmuring crowd. Chloé ran over to help him up, getting there alongside Luka.

Chloé wiped away the tears in her eyes, "Mom, I fought in the Princess Justice war, and I survived. I would say that is pretty damn special given most people my age are wearing chokers from being beheaded!" She pointed to herself, trying to match her mother's height, "But I lived!"

There was silence for a few moments, and Adrien noticed the prideful smile on Kieran's face as Chloé stood up for herself. But then Audrey laughed,

"That's a cute joke, Chlorine, but do you really think I'm going to believe someone as worthless as you fought against Princess Justice?"

...

Chloé couldn't believe it. The one thing she had been so excited to tell her mother she had done, to fight that insufferable Dupain-Cheng bitch and not die at any point. She had been thinking for months now that this would be the thing to finally prove she wasn't worthless, and her mother didn't even believe her?

She tore the marigold out of her hair, letting her hair fall freely as she clutched it in her hand. Was she really never going to be good enough?

She didn't hear Kieran and Adrien shouting for her to look out as the black butterfly entered the flower she held, but she was snapped out of her trance when a distinctly female voice, which was not the Hawk Moth she remembered from the trial or the Princess Justice battle, echoed in her head.

"Ice Queen, I am Hawk Moth," the woman said, "I'm giving you the power to ensure everyone in Paris sees you are truly perfection. In return, you must bring me Coccinelle and Chat Noir's Miraculous."

She wanted to refuse, but she felt her resolve weakening, and all she could do was submit.

“Yes, Hawk Moth.” She said, flower in her hand turning ice cold.

Chapter Text

Adrien clumsily rushed towards Chloé, ignoring everyone's shouts and concerns, only noticing out of the corner of his eye that Luka was trying to get some people to hide, a sad and guilty hint in his eyes.

He stopped near her when he saw she seemingly stopped, and he felt the temperature almost drop around him. He watched as Chloe, clutching the now-frozen marigold pin, was engulfed by a purple sort of mist, transforming her into something a lot more glamorous and sinister.

Adrien stiffened, still not running away, not that he would be able to in the first place, "Chloé, please snap out of it! Hurting people for Hawk Moth isn't the way!" He begged her, clutching onto his wheelchair to give himself support and forcing himself to stand, despite his muscles screaming in protest.

Now a glamorous deranged diva queen, covered in luxurious fur and glitter and bearing a ginormous scepter with crystals and frozen marigolds, Chloé laughed, turning towards Adrien. "Why, Adrikins, I think it's quite the way. But for your kindness I shall reward you and take you with me. As for the rest of you…" she turned to all the terrified patrons frozen in place. "You shall make great servants," she mused before wiping her running blood-red, sparkly mascara, which solidified into an intoxicating myriad of glowing red crystals and striking everyone with them. Even those who were not patrons, just other people as well.

Chloé-Akuma grabbed Adrien and used her scepter to blast a slide of ice that whisked her and Adrien away as others writhed in pain.

Adrien could distantly hear someone calling out to him before he was whisked away.

...

Luka got out from his hiding spot behind a table before starting to chase after Adrien and the Ice-Akuma, calling out desperately for Adrien. 

It was no use as the Akuma quickly sped away, leaving Luka helplessly behind. If only he wasn't such an idiot coward and grabbed Adrien. Now, he was undoubtedly in danger and wouldn't be able to transform! Or if he would have talked to Chat more, he wouldn't be so scared of him! It was all his fault! It's all my fault. I should have known better…

He felt a little pull on his sleeve and turned to see a concerned Tikki giving him the most maternal look, "Luka! Luka, are you alright? Your breathing was picking up!" She said nervously, smushing Luka's cheeks with her little nubs.

Luka sighed, petting Tikki on her head, and gave her a tired look, "Yeah, I'm okay, Tikki, I just… I feel like I could have done more to prevent this situation, is all." He said, frowning.

Tikki shook her head, grabbing pastries for her and Luka to eat and placing one in Luka's hand, "That's in the past, Luka, you can't worry about this now! And in general, fear is normal! And after what happened with Chat, it's understandable you're doubting yourself. You think you're not enough for him when you are! And right now, he doesn't only want you, he needs you! So what are you going to do?" 

Luka nodded, swallowing his cookie and taking deep breaths to recollect himself, "You're right, Tikki, I'm going to save him. I can't let my emotions get the better of me now, I have to do something." He stroked Tikki's cheek, giving her a warm smile, "Thanks."

Tikki smiled and started to glow, nuzzling Luka's finger, before quickly finishing her cookie. She gave Luka a little thumbs-up before he hid out of sight and shouted "spots on!" to transform.

As Coccinelle swung and followed the ice trail left behind by Ice Queen—as he so creatively decided to nickname the Akuma—he noticed other people were also following the same trail, with a sort of dead, zombie-esque stature. 

He landed, going to tap on a person's shoulder, "Excuse me," he asked, "But what are you guys doing following the—" he started before his hand was smacked away.

"Piss off, you stupid bug!" The person said, their chest glowing a bright red, before continuing to walk. 

Coccinelle walked away, attempting to talk to another person, this one with glowing red eyes. "Hey, what's going on here?! You guys could get seriously hurt—!"

The second person laughed, looking him up and down judgemently. "Whatever you say, you ugly insect! Seriously you could use a better outfit! Or face," they laughed, "And anyways I don't see what's wrong with what we're doing! Now if you could kindly piss off," they said, walking away.

Coccinelle frowned, trying to think back as to where he had heard of this before.

He kept going, swinging until he came across what looks like an ice castle in the making. He landed on a roof, deciding to survey the situation and decide what he should do. It would have been so much easier if Chat Noir was here… but now was not the time, he reminded himself. 

He watched as Ice Queen sat on what looked like a throne of ice, ordering the brainwashed people of Paris around as they built the castle, occasionally using her scepter to speed up the building process and create more ice for the servants to use.

And right next to her throne was Adrien, shackled by his wrists to a much smaller chair made of ice. He was seemingly reciting something to himself, giving Ice Queen an insistent glare as if to listen to him. "When one of these tiny atoms flew into a person's eye, it stuck there unknown to him, and from that moment he saw everything through a distorted medium, or could see only the worst side of what he looked at, for even the smallest fragment retained the same power which had belonged to the whole mirror."

The story of the Snow Queen! Coccinelle quickly realized. The evil mirror shards that stuck in people's eyes and hearts, just like Coccinelle saw on his way here. 

Adrien continued, "Some few persons even got a fragment of the looking-glass in their hearts, and this was very terrible, for their hearts became cold like a lump of ice. A few of the pieces were so large that they could be used as window-panes—"

"Would you shut up for once?! I can't even understand what you're blabbering on and on about, Adrikins!" Ice Queen exclaimed, throwing a magical ice shard at some poor soul to freeze even further.

Adrien scowled and struggled against his chair, turning to her, "What I'm saying is that you're being cruel and unreasonable! No matter how many people adore the ground you walk on, it will never be love! What you're doing is wrong, and will only leave you lonely." He took a deep breath and softened, "Chloé, you have to listen to me, this is wrong, and this isn't you—"

Ice Queen turned to Adrien and blasted spikes that almost hit Adrien. Seeing his terrified face, she huffed and fixed her hair before turning to Adrien; "First of all, it's Ice Queen for you! Second of all, listen, darling, I don't give a flying fuck as to what you're saying right now. Being loved is pointless! I would much rather people admire me then love me, because someone's love is of no use to me! And as to this not being me…" She got up before leaning towards Adrien, "I'd rather be feared and glamorous, then be loved and being myself." She grabbed his chin, turning him to face her, "I'm afraid your mommy lied to you when she told you to be yourself, Adrikins! Or do I need to do something to make you see that better?" She asked sweetly, eyes glowing red.

Coccinelle swung his yoyo, grabbing Ice Queen's wrist and swinging her into a wall. She looked up at him, enraged, as he pulled his yoyo. "I'm afraid I'll need your scepter, unless you really feel like fighting?" He asked, pointedly avoiding Adrien's worried and confused look.

Ice Queen smirked, getting up, and waved off any ice servants who were angry at Coccinelle for hurting their queen, "Well, well, well… little hero's having trouble with his friend?" She said, noticing the lack of Chat Noir in the fight, "You little semi demi mini bug!" She mocked.

Coccinelle growled, throwing his yoyo at her to just keep her quiet, missing by a lot while she laughed, "What a terrible hit, darling, get the hook!" He tried again, and She grabbed the yoyo wire, "You don't swing like Ladybug used too dear," she chimed, slamming Coccinelle into a wall, and checked the five little crystals on her scepter, three of them glowing.

Coccinelle heaved, taking back his yoyo and clutching onto himself. Why didn't she hit me yet?! He wondered, regaining composure and examining Ice Queen. She works by intervals, of course! I just need to play in the defense until she's hit me and then attack her when she's at her weakest.

Ice Queen yawned, motioning other ice servants to take care of him for her. Coccinelle kept fighting them off, making sure to not kill any of them, while Ice Queen's taunts just kept going—

Ice Queen blasted a stream of ice through the crowd, throwing Coccinelle like a rag doll on the floor. He tried to get up, only to have the tip of Ice Queen's scepter against his throat. "Does it hurt?" She asked, "That all these people have abandoned you? All those people you work so hard for their love? They don't love you, they don't care for you. Not even that stupid cat is here for you—" she said before Coccinelle swung his yoyo directly at her face.

Luka growled, tears rolling down his face, "You… are fucking ridiculous!" He seethed as she spat out a bit of blood.

Ice Queen stared at him in shock, expression twisting into pure rage, "I'll show you who's ridiculous, you little—!" She screamed, shooting a myriad of red shards at him as the other braced for impact.

But the ice shards never came, as Coccinelle was pushed away by Adrien, who had managed to break free of his restraints and slide across the ice to get around without walking. Coccinelle looked in horror as Adrien doubled over, screaming in pain as he was hit in both his eyes and heart, clutching his chest. Coccinelle ran towards him, only to be hit in the left eye by an even more enraged Ice Queen, leaving both heroes writhing in pain on the floor.

Coccinelle used Lucky Charm, summoning a ladybug-themed blindfold, which he weakly offered to Adrien. Adrien pushed it to Coccinelle's chest. 

He looked at Luka, sparkly red tears rolling down his face, "T-Take it, and cover your eyes—you can only save someone with an a-act of—" he was cut off by a cry of pain as his chest and eyes glowed red.

Coccinelle reached out to Adrien, only for him to growl at him, "Just go!" He shouted, under the effect of the ice shards.

Coccinelle covered his affected eye before clumsily escaping and whisking himself away with his yoyo, getting hit in the process.

He couldn't see Adrien crying on the castle floor, slowly turning ice cold.

Unsure of where to go while coming up with a plan and trying to get the pain in his eye under control, he headed back to the gala to see how everyone else was faring, hoping to find someone alright and not zombified.

What he found was surprising, of multiple people who were not zombies but were still freezing to death nonetheless. Kagami's right eye was blood red as she looked at Coccinelle,

"Where's Chat Noir?" She asked sardonically, and Coccinelle was glad for his eye to be covered as he instantly noticed the attitude change.

"We were separated, and I'm trying to think of a plan." He turned and noticed that some people were writhing in pain while freezing, and once they reached a certain point, they began filing into the ice castle. "So is this happening to everyone?"

"Seems like it," Kieran walked over, and Coccinelle instantly noticed the snowflake pattern on Kieran's hands and feet and the red glow from his heart, but he seemed completely fine otherwise. "Yeah, everyone else is either unable to see the good in things, or are freezing to death." He rolled his eyes, "I mean, come on, you can tell that just by looking around."

"And you're not?"

Kieran huffed, "I already hate Paris and the majority of everyone in it, and I actually really care about Chloé. Do you really think a little ice is going to bug me too much?" He gestured to a side of the ground, where Felix was still intoxicated but had a glowing red eye, and then to Nino, who was very clearly freezing to death, his skin freezing over far beyond the subtle frosted look of Kieran's hands.

As Coccinelle looked around, he realized how cold he was, and he shivered subconsciously, but he had to ask, "What is your relationship with Chloé?"

"We became friends because we hated Marinette together, and she gave me a job so I could pay the bills," Kieran replied simply, and he turned to face Nino, who was curled in a ball and trying to retain as much heat as possible. 

Kieran's expression was unreadable as he bent down to Nino's side, removing the jacket that Chloé had dropped when she was akumatized. He put it on Nino and tucked his beanie further on his head, "Can't have you dying on me, Lahiffe," he mumbled as Nino looked up at him through half-lidded eyes and leaned on his chest.

Coccinelle tried to keep himself warm, and he looked in shock as he watched the red glow and the signs of ice leave both Kieran and Nino mere moments after Kieran gifted Nino his jacket. Nino straightened just fine, and both he and Kieran looked at each other,

"Oh...thanks, Ki," Nino said quietly, smiling at the clothing piece he had been gifted for warmth. Kieran crossed his arms and looked away,

"Don't think anything of it, you just needed it more than me. My question is what the hell just happened." Coccinelle tried to think about what transpired, and he recalled what Adrien had said.

"You can only save someone with an a-act of—"

"An act of true love!" he blurted, and both Kieran and Nino looked at him in bemusement, so he clarified, "An act of true love thaws a frozen heart!"

Kieran jumped back from Nino in horror, "No! That is not at all what just happened. You're delusional." Felix giggled and pointed at both of them,

"You bitches are in love!" He teased, and Kieran sent Felix a glare that would make any sane man run away screaming for their mommy. Felix just grinned lazily, and Nino tried to diffuse the situation before Kieran was done squabbling and decided to strangle Felix,

"I think platonic counts too!" He tried, and Coccinelle laughed a bit as he watched his friends bickering and Kieran announcing he regretted giving Nino anything nice and had no qualms letting Felix freeze to death if he didn't shut up.

But he was getting colder by the minute and was beginning to fear he wouldn't be able to move for much longer. He had to sneak back to the castle and save Adrien with an act of true love. 

But how was he going to do that? He felt his joints trying to lock up, and he knew he didn't have time to make a plan.

Coccinelle threw his yoyo and started swinging back in the direction of the ice palace. Did he have a plan? No. Did he really care about that at the moment? Not really.

He stopped near a blind-spot in the castle, only for his knees to buckle, sending him crashing to the floor. He pulled at the collar of his suit to reveal a snowflake frost-like pattern creeping down his collar bones. Oh no... He put on his hood before sneaking past the guards, who were frankly too out of it or freezing to death to notice him.

He snuck into the throne room, finding that Ice Queen had left, probably off to bask in people's praise. 

And there on the throne floor was Adrien, almost completely frozen and blue on his entire body. Coccinelle almost noticed Plagg fly back into hiding yet ignored it for more important matters. 

Coccinelle scampered near Adrien, collapsing on the floor, much colder than before. He shakily got up to his knees and reached out to him, "Adrien, I need you to take my hand, okay?" He asked, only to be greeted with a look of horror from Adrien.

Adrien dragged himself away from Luka, only to stop from exhaustion and attempt to protect himself in the fetal position, "G-Go away! Don't touch me!" He shouted meekly, voice too weak to produce any real sound.

Coccinelle softened, lowering himself to Adrien's level, "Close your eyes, Adrien. Please, look deep within your heart and trust me when I say that things are different. Your fears are important and valid, and I am not the best Ladybug user either, but I want to try and be here for you just like I know you'll be there for me. And I'm here for you right now. And I would never let people belittle you or hurt you again." Coccinelle said, silent tears making their way down his face, some landing on Adrien's hand. "Please. See with your heart."

Adrien curled out of his defensive position to the best of his ability as it was apparent moving was a struggle, and hesitantly closed his eyes. 

...

All he could see was Ladybug, the woman with Marinette behind the mask. He tried to get away to the best of his ability because whether it was in his mind or not, he could see her yearning to grab onto him and hurt him and—

The ice in his heart was pumping throughout his bloodstream, and he let out a quiet whine as his body grew colder and colder, and he felt tired. He just wanted to close his eyes and never wake up, stay away from this unjust world and from Marinette who wanted him.

But he had heard that loving voice before, and it wasn't Marinette. He didn't know where from, but he was able to relax just slightly. It was easier to focus on just that voice when his eyes were closed.

He reached out to the hand belonging to the voice, holding it as best he could with a hand he could barely move, before being pulled into a tight hug feeling hot tears land on his chest. 

...

After a few moments of silence, Adrien suddenly spoke: "Then Kay burst into tears, and he wept so that the splinter of glass swam out of his eye. Then he recognized Gerda and said, joyfully, 'Gerda, dear little Gerda, where have you been all this time, and where have I been?'" He said, pulling away from Luka with the brightest grin one could possibly imagine, the ice coating his skin slowly fading until it was gone entirely. Luka grinned, taking his blindfold off and hugging Adrien as tightly as he could, and spun him around as both laughed and cried tears of joy.

"Is that laughter I hear in my castle?!" the voice of Ice Queen echoed through the castle, reminding both boys of their current situation. 

Coccinelle turned to Adrien, "Okay, we need to bust you out and fast. Are you okay with me carrying you out?" He asked as if he wasn't already holding Adrien by the waist. 

Adrien nodded, grabbing Coccinelle as he whisked him away to a nearby alley, devoid of ice or ice servants. Coccinelle placed him on the ground, "Will you be okay? I feel bad for leaving you in an alley like this." Coccinelle said nervously, rubbing Adrien's hands to get warmth flowing in them again.

Adrien laughed, giving Coccinelle's shoulder a light punch, "Oh please, you're acting like I didn't save your butt an hour ago," he teased, "Go get the bad guy, okay? I'll be right here," he assured Coccinelle, fixing his hair. Coccinelle flushed before awkwardly swinging himself away on his yoyo.

"Um… can I come out now?" Plagg said from within Adrien's pocket.

"Yes, Plagg, you may," Adrien said exasperatedly, as Plagg zoomed out of his pocket, fiddling with Camembert.

Plagg gulped the final piece of cheese before turning to Adrien, "Kid, he knows you're Chat Noir," he said for the umpteenth time this last month.

Adrien scoffed, "Pfft, no way he knows I'm Chat! I'm so totally subtle and he doesn't know!" Adrien said with a plastic grin.

Plagg glared at him, eye twitching, "He does. He literally said he'll never let anyone belittle you, like the press did with Chat. I'd know. I was there. In your pocket!" 

Adrien got up, leaning against the wall, "Oh no, well, guess we don't have time for that, villain's out, Hawk Moth, yada yada, Plagg claws out!" Adrien shouted the transformation phrase, turning into Chat Noir before Plagg could make any more commentary.

He raced to the ice castle and found Coccinelle already there, spinning both yoyos rapidly and using one as a shield. Ice Queen glared, and she looked up to see Chat, "Well, well, well! If it isn't the sidekick!" She smirked at Coccinelle, "Ladybug would just take me on head-on without this alleycat—"

"Shut up!" Chat Noir jumped down, his staff at the ready, knowing she would use her own to block, which he was able to make sure was pointed at the ground so she couldn't attack anyone. "Chloé! I know you hate Ladybug just as much as we do! There's no need to lash out like this!"

Ice Queen's left eye twitched, and she suddenly swung at him, and Coccinelle wrapped one of the yoyos around the staff to take it from her like with Style Queen. However, Ice Queen slid across the floor, her heels working like skates for a moment as she used that, overpowering him and pulling back control of her staff and firing three small ice blasts in the direction of Chat, "Looks like you haven't had time to appreciate me yet!"

Coccinelle dodged many more blasts, and he noticed one of the glowing gems dim, and it dawned on him, "Chat! We have to tire her out!"

"Cheating through the fight by dodging around until there's an opening?" Chat asked, perking up, "Got it!" Instead of letting the slippery ground bother him, he decided to play the same game he had earlier and use that to get around, but he knew he had to be careful, or he'd fall.

He hummed to himself to get himself into the rhythm of how to move, ducking and weaving as needed while Coccinelle swung around, driving Ice Queen insane as her blasts became even more wild and erratic.

Deciding it was worth the risk, Chat went on the offense, he and Ice Queen skating around the floor like a rink, and Coccinelle watched on not because he was letting Chat do all the heavy lifting but because he didn't want to get in the way of Chat's moment to shine.

It was like a dance, using his staff to keep Ice Queen's scepter in place and spun, sending ice flying everywhere around the ceiling and forming icicles above them. He smirked, "Who's the sidekick now?" He made it to the wall, "Coccinelle, now!" He used the side of the wall and kicked off at an angle, doing a barrel roll and pulling up with his staff, sending Ice Queen's launching out of her hands and into the air as she screamed in protest. At the same time, Coccinelle swung to grab it and landed on top of the throne, ready to snap the scepter, but he hesitated. 

For a split second, Chat felt dread, flashing back to Gamer, but as quick as it appeared, his fears relaxed as Coccinelle used one of the yoyos to tie up Ice Queen and jumped down, handing the scepter to Chat Noir,

"I believe that your victory means you should get the credit for freeing the Akuma."

Chat felt a slight heat on his cheeks before stammering, "But—But I couldn't have done it without you!" Coccinelle gave a warm smile, and he put the scepter in Chat's hands. He decided to comply, using Cataclysm to disintegrate the scepter, and the darkened butterfly flew out, where Coccinelle caught and purified it.

"Hey," Coccinelle said before setting everything back to normal, "I'm sorry, about what happened earlier with Tacky Queen. I didn't mean to take all the attention—I don't even want the damn fame, I—"

"I know," he grinned, "The press is just like that after months. Besides, you'll never be like the old Ladybug." He looked down a bit, "I know that now."

"I'm glad," Coccinelle tossed his yoyo in the air, "Miraculous Glitterbug!"

Everything returned to normal around them, and Chloé fell to her knees as her transformation fell, and she looked around in confusion, and Chat put a hand on Coccinelle's shoulder,

"I can help her, Mulletbug; you go rest. I think you need it after today."

Coccinelle laughed a bit, "Maybe Mr. Agreste will know better now than to throw fancy parties while Hawk Moth is still around." He headed off, leaping away to escape the press before they even arrived.

Chat watched him go with a smile on his face before bending down to Chloé, "Hey, are you alright?"

...

Chloé came back to her senses when she felt Chat Noir's hand on her shoulder, and she looked around, realizing she was in a new location and had no idea how she had gotten here.

He dawned on her suddenly what happened, and she had her head in her hands. Even if the last thing she remembered was someone shouting her name, she knew full well that she had been akumatized. How many people had she hurt? Adrien? Kieran? Just the thought of having harmed two of her closest and only friends besides Sabrina brought tears to her eyes, and she realized Chat Noir was hugging her.

"Hey, it's okay, Chloé," he assured her, petting her messy hair, "You're okay now." She heard his ring was beeping, and just as they both began to worry about that, Luka ran over,

"I'll bring her back to the gala, alright? I'm out here looking for Adrien."

Adrien?" Chloé stood up hastily, dread forming knots in her stomach, "What happened to Adrien?"

"Got abducted, but I'm sure he's fine," Luka replied calmly, offering his hand out for her to take, "Let's go look for him together." Chat Noir seemed to take that as his cue to hurry away, and Chloé hesitantly took Luka's hand, and they began walking together. He chuckled a bit, "Today was pretty awful. What did you and Kieran end up doing?"

Chloé smiled to herself as she thought about that two hours feeling freer than she had in years, with her long-lost friend. She would never admit what they did because she knew her parents would lose their minds if they discovered their wealthy daughter enjoying time with a "commoner." Still, she knew Kieran was so much more than his financial status, and even if the boy she knew five years ago was hidden deep under layers of mistrust and trauma, at least some parts of him hadn't changed too much.

"Is everyone else okay?" She asked nervously, and Luka shrugged,

"All of them froze a little, but otherwise okay. Kieran was completely fine besides being mildly chilly." Chloé sighed in relief, but she hugged herself,

"I went too far."

"Yeah," Luka agreed, "But you know, Chloé, you're not as bad as people say." She looked up at him curiously as he clarified, "Besides your own personal reasons hating Marinette, you targeted her because of what happened to Kieran, right? I know you bullied the others too, but the fact you're kind to Kieran, Sabrina, and Adrien shows you're by no means irredeemable. You're just lost and confused, and I think if you apply yourself, you can be an amazing person."

Chloé beamed at the praise but hid her expression just as fast as it appeared to not let him see. But part of her knew he did.

They found Adrien sitting in an alleyway, his white clothing dirty, and Chloé couldn't help but be relieved to see the cloth turned brown at the bottoms because now it was less like the attire he had worn for his execution.

Luka helped Adrien up, pulling him close to carry him, "Angel, are you alright? You aren't hurt, right?" Adrien pressed his forehead to Luka's, smiling,

"I'm okay, blueberry mullet."

Chloé couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, wishing she could have a special someone like Adrien did, but she shook that thought away as they kept walking, and she couldn't help but think. Luka was bringing up similar points as Kieran had earlier.

"Come on, Chlo! I totally get that the majority of our old class sucks, and thank you for giving Marinette hell for me, but if you're going to be a dick, let it be for something they actually did. Not just to please your mother who needs to give Dora the Explorer her hair back."

She giggled a bit at the thought, but she realized that maybe he had a point. She had hurt so many people, not even for revenge, but because that was what her mother would do. And if not even surviving a war with only a small scar on her upper thigh wasn't enough to make her mother proud, and her father wouldn't stand up for her, why bother trying? Why was she sabotaging herself and being nasty for someone who didn't even know her name?

They made it back to the gala venue, and she noticed her mother screaming at her father and using him as a punching bag since Chloé wasn't around to yell at. She also noticed Gabriel informing Kieran that no, he had not been fired, and his stunt meant he had another photoshoot. Chloé felt her blood boil and was ready to storm over there and take Kieran in, but she slumped when she realized even if Gabriel was a prick, his home was also much more secure, so Kieran would be safer there.

She looked around at everyone else, noticed people helping one another, and laughed together as friends. She smiled a bit.

Maybe I will try to improve, not just for Adrien or Kieran or anyone else, but for me. It might take time. I did a lot of bad things...but I think I can get better.

And for a moment, it felt like a weight was off her shoulders with this choice, and it truly did feel better.

Chapter Text

As Coccinelle purified today's Akuma, he and Chat Noir gave each other a high-five. He noticed the young woman they saved was already being comforted by her family, so Chat decided to walk with Coccinelle.

In the three days since Ice Queen, Chat Noir had felt his fears subside. He had always known it was unfounded since he was the one to choose Luka, but hearing the promises of never being belittled made it so much easier to work and feel like a partner.

"Hawk Moth better step it up," Chat grinned, "Because we are smoking them!"

Coccinelle laughed, "Don't jinx it, or he might make the outfits even uglier to assault our eyes." His eyes lit up, "I figured it out! All the hard villains have good outfits, and the easy ones are designed terribly. That must be Hawk Moth's plan all along to distract us with how hideous it is to make up for the easy to defeat powers."

Adrien laughed and ended up snorting a bit, stopping himself when that happened, but Coccinelle had an expression as though he was adorable.

Both were jumped by the press, and Chat Noir grimaced, knowing that even though he had to be polite since this was their job. However, Coccinelle seemed less inclined to be kind,

"We're busy," he growled, wrapping an arm around Chat Noir to guide him away to head to the rooftops, "We need to stop strolling at press-level."

"Wait!" Chat Noir turned to see Nadja had come up to them and looked somewhat desperate. Chat and Coccinelle exchanged a look, and Chat gave him a reassuring smile before turning to Nadja,

"Yes, ma'am?"

Nadja hesitated, fidgeting with her microphone, "I'm creating a new show, and I was wondering if I could interview you two for the premiere."

Chat frowned, considering his options. Ever since Princess Justice, people have been criticizing anyone that interviewed Ladybug for not showing the truth, and while yeah, they didn’t do the best of jobs in the department, they were supposed to give the people what they wanted. And now? Many of them are losing jobs or simply bullied out of them. It won’t hurt to give a helping hand would it?

Chat Noir brightened, "Of course!" Giving his most sunny model smile.

Coccinelle grimaced, "I don't know..." Chat pouted, pleading with his eyes until Coccinelle gave in, "Fine. Let's do this."

He beamed, hugging Coccinelle's neck, "Thank you!" He turned to Nadja, "What time?"

"Tonight at 10pm," Nadja replied excitedly, and Chat tried not to think about what that hour meant to him. He smiled again, even if it was slightly more forced.

"We'll be there."

OoOoO

Nadja paced around her studio, tapping her fingers against the tablet in hand as she tried to remember every single question she planned to ask Coccinelle and Chat Noir, who she still couldn't believe had agreed. They normally only did that for Miracle News. Perhaps they were taking pity on her starting a new show?

She shook herself, deciding not to think about the heroes' motivations, just be grateful they were showing up at all. Now she could ask every question she and most likely the rest of Paris had been dying to know.

She looked down at her tablet. Were any of the questions too much? She shook herself. No, she couldn't worry about that. They were here for an interview and surely knew these kinds of questions would come up, at least that was what she told herself as her eyes lingered on one question in particular that she had been told to add by her boss, Arlette, because it would be a big scoop.

Speaking of the devil, she heard Arlette's voice from her earpiece from where she resided in the box above, watching her with eyes that she knew were judgemental even if she couldn't see it. "You sure you have this in control, Nadja?"

Nadja nodded, "Yes, Arlette. I got this, as promised. Biggest audience of the year!" She blanched a bit as, for the first time, she truly grasped what a potentially impossible vow that was. Oh...what if the power went out in some areas? Or Coccinelle blew her off? Chat Noir wasn't camera shy and clearly appreciated having more attention lately, but it was no secret, especially in the last three days, that Coccinelle hated the media.

She could practically hear Arlette smirk, "Well, let's hope so if you want to keep this show prime-time in the future. You have one chance." She paused, "I thought I told you to wear a dress. Viewers like more feminine reporters."

Nadja looked down at her pantsuit, realizing Arlette was right. "I—Should I go change?"

"Too late now," Arlette replied callously, "They'll be here by the time you get back." Nadja nodded to herself, reading over the questions again, forcing herself to sit down, bouncing her leg, and glancing at the rating watch on her wrist, wondering if the air conditioning had suddenly stopped working. Was she sweating?

You know the rules. Nadja thought to herself, looking down at so many questions regarding the girl she had trusted to watch Manon. Was it really worth it to confront this again? She shook herself. No, she had to do this. This was the scoop everybody wanted, and if she wanted this show to succeed, she had to get that scoop, no matter the cost. Primetime, prime info.

OoOoO

Luka paced back and forth in his room, checking the time in random intervals. It’s 9:00 pm which means I have half an hour until I have to transform and go to the interview. I already told Mom and Juleka I’ll be heading to bed early, so there’s a good chance they’ll leave me alone. Still, even if they check on me, I stuffed my sheets to look like I’m sleeping in them, and even then, if they check and see it’s laundry, I can just say I was with Adrien and because he’s Chat, he’ll go with the alibi as well and—wait, should I pick the cult instead? They already figured out my identity—

Luka slumped on his chair, rubbing his temples. Tikki flew and landed on his leg. She rubbed her little appendages together, creating a little pink glow with ladybugs, “Is this another of your migraines? Do you need my help?” She asked with a worried pout.

Luka softened, shaking his head. “No no, Tikki, I’m okay. Just a bit worried is all,” he said, offering the Kwami an oreo he’s been stashing for her, “And anyways, you shouldn’t use all your powers on me, you’ll get all tired.” He added, giving her a little pat.

He grabbed an oreo, munching on it, deep in thought. Tikki gave him an odd sort of look as if prompting him to admit something. After a bit, she looked away, grabbing another oreo. “So… how are things with Chat?” She said, attempting to sound nonchalant.

Luka sighed, “Things are going well Tikki, also you can just call him Adrien, I already know his identity.” He pointed out, knowing where this conversation was heading to.

Tikki nodded, “Why yes, which reminds me, when will you exactly be telling him that you know his identity exactly? You’ve been keeping it from him for months—“

He groaned, “I know, Tikki, but I just want it to be perfect! I don’t want him to shell up again, because we just got over that hurdle when Ice Queen attacked, and now if I tell him, he will think I’m manipulative and that I’m a terrible liar. I just need to set everything up just right so that when he knows, he won’t freak out and it’ll be fine.” He explained to an unimpressed Tikki.

Tikki raised an eyebrow, “And this is not at all about your own fears and the fact you like Chat’s playful flirting?” She asked as Luka looked away meekly. The Kwami sighed, “Luka, you can’t drag this on forever! The more you delay it the more hurt he will be! This isn’t a thing you can figure out, and you know it.” She said, crossing her little arms.

Luka sighed, “You’re right, you’re right… I guess I am being a bit selfish,” he said, laughing nervously. “I really should tell him, shouldn’t I?” He asked, playing with his hair. She nodded, before going to give his shoulder a tiny pat,

“It’s like a bandaid! You can’t let it sit there for too long, you have to rip it off.” She said matter-of-factly. He smiled, before checking the time,

“You’re right, Tikki, I’ll talk to him after the interview today, but we better transform or we’ll be late.”

Tikki nodded, closing the oreo pack for a later date before Luka said his transformation phrase, transforming into Coccinelle.

Coccinelle jumped out of his window, going to swing back and forth to the studio.

After all, it couldn't be all that bad, could it?

…

"This is the worst thing ever! Why did you agree to this?!" Plagg squawked, dramatically fainting on his makeshift sock bed.

Adrien sighed from where he was sitting on the bed, picking Plagg up, "Plagg, we don't have time for this! Come on, or we'll be late!" He said, handing the little god some cheese.

Plagg continued to munch angrily on Adrien's shoulder, "Let it be known that I do not consent to this tomfoolery," he declared before crawling into Adrien's hood.

Adrien picked him up from his hood, cradling him in his hands, "But why are you so against the idea of an interview? You never seemed to mind the interviews we have with Miracle News."

Plagg grimaced, "Yeah but these camera people are giving me a bad gut feeling! Like rotten vegan cheese," he said, making a face.

Adrien nodded, considering his options, "I'll tell you what! The minute I see Nadja is asking bad or personal questions, I'm busting me and Coccinelle out of there, and you'll get extra cheese as a reward for being right. Deal?" He asked, giving Plagg the biggest puppy eyes he could muster.

Plagg looked at Adrien for a moment before groaning out loud. "Fine, have it your way! I can't deal with those big warbly eyes." He relented.

Adrien cheered, "Yes! I promise you it'll be quick! Now claws out!" He said, transforming into Chat. Felix still had a hangover since while he enjoyed drinking heavily at parties, his body did not appreciate it, and he was nauseous or had a headache for days after the fact. Adrien had asked Kieran to check on him so he could try to get some sleep, and Kieran reluctantly agreed. So he wasn’t worried about his cousin, and had no qualms with heading to the interview.

Because after all, it couldn't go that bad!

OoOoO

Chat slipped through the secret celebrity door, already prepared to use his usual excuse of having asked about it since a surprising amount of Akumas came in this building, and it was a fast entry. However, he hoped he wouldn't be questioned on the matter.

Nadja jumped a bit when she noticed him, nearly dropping it in her surprise. "Which way did you come on?"

"Celebrity door," he replied cheerfully, gesturing to the door in question. He looked around, "Coccinelle isn't here yet?"

Nadja paused, "I thought you'd be arriving together." He shook his head,

"It's sometimes easier for me to slip away than him, but I'm sure he'll be here. He doesn't back down when he agrees to something unless it's for good reason." He pulled out his baton to call but turned when Coccinelle came in and sat down, "Hey, Mulletbug. I was just about to call you."

"Don't worry," Coccinelle assured him, "I told you I would be here, and I'm not going to let you down." Chat sucked in a breath and smirked,

"Well, I'm glad," he then turned when he heard Nadja's earpiece,

"I'm counting on you to boost those ratings sky high." He noticed Nadja look down at an odd-looking watch, biting her bottom lip, "Make that red turn green."

Chat Noir stiffened as he realized fully what he had gotten himself into. This wasn't a normal interview; this was all about ratings. He wasn't sure what exactly he expected, but he already knew this was not something casual like he was used to with blogs that valued the truth. Nadja's goal was to make this sensational no matter what was actually said.

He glanced up at Coccinelle to see if he had heard it, but he didn't seem to have noticed anything except the sudden change in body language, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He forced himself to maintain steady breathing. He had agreed to be here. He couldn't back out now.

But it was too late now as the camera turned on, and he forced himself to relax and convince himself this wasn't going to be too bad.

"Good evening. I'm Nadja Chamack, and this is Face To Face. For our first edition, I welcome the beloved guardians of Paris—Chat Noir and Coccinelle. Thanks so much for accepting this exclusive live interview."

Chat Noir nodded, "Thank you, Nadja. We're honored to be here."

Nadja glanced at her watch and then giggled, "Well, as you surely know, people know you, but they don't really know you. We see you saving Paris, but we don't know anything else about you."

Chat Noir fought a grimace. You have no idea how true that is, Nadja. Instead, he replied, "We'll do our best to answer questions. But please understand there are some things that cannot be elaborated on, such as our identities or the workings of our Miraculous."

"Is that the sizzling hot information I've been promised?" Chat heard Nadja's boss snap through the earpiece, "Primetime, prime info. No info, no more show!"

Nadja straightened, "Well, I think the first thing we should discuss is very simply what it's like being superheroes of Paris. Sure, we hear about it all the time in New York, but you are our first Parisian Superheroes."

Chat grinned, "I will say it is an incredibly freeing experience. There are a lot of things I've wanted to do with my life that I was restricted from doing, and anything from saving people from Akuma to being able to be someone you can talk to is something I have always wanted." Coccinelle nodded,

"I haven't been on the field long enough to see as many benefits as Chat does," Coccinelle replied. "Having powers is cool, and I appreciate being able to help innocents where I was otherwise unable, but I would prefer to only use my powers if I have to and rely on my civilian abilities." Chat Noir smiled reassuringly,

"Well, you're a great hero, so don't worry about it."

Nadja checked her watch again, "You guys seem to be getting quite close. In fact, there is a rumor, Chat Noir, that you handpicked Coccinelle as your partner. Perhaps you two are friends out of the mask, or a couple."

Chat Noir crossed his arms around himself, messing with his ring. Coccinelle was seemingly disturbed by the question, and took a deep breath before replying with a plastic smile, "Neither of us will confirm anything. That is a personal question that ties into our identities, which Chat already made clear was off limits."

"Coccinelle's right," Chat replied, "I'm very sorry, Nadja, but we're not here to answer such personal questions. I am not comfortable answering anything regarding such things."

"Oh." Nadja checked her watch again, "Well—Let's focus on our new hero." She turned to Coccinelle, "I'm sure it must be nerve wracking to be the successor to such a great hero."

"I wouldn't call her a great hero," Coccinelle replied casually, "I'm not saying I'm perfect, but not taking advantage of my powers is easy. Anyways, I'm not here for fame, so I am hoping Hawk Moth will be defeated in the coming months."

"But surely you must be nervous about it," she pushed, "After all," she pulled up images on her tablet of Coccinelle being stabbed by Princess Justice, causing Coccinelle's hand to fly to his hip in response where the scar remained. "Your first day had you near death, and yet you still were the only superhero there to save St. Adrien Agreste from the pyre."

Mention of that made Chat Noir rock his feet back and forth, focusing on the movement and not the image of Coccinelle nearly dying that haunted him for so long. But he promised no matter what happened, he wouldn't let his distress be vocal. He could quietly deal with it.

"Speaking of which, where was Chat Noir for the execution? Nobody saw him for hours between the stabbing and the execution."

"I—I had passed out...overused Black Storm..." he forced out, "I only woke up when Coccinelle stopped the execution. I hate to think what would have happened without him in that instance." He shook himself, "I have been working on endurance training to be able to not be as badly affected by it."

Nadja pursed her lips, "So, Coccinelle, as you must know, there is an incredible amount of controversy regarding you. Some call you an insult to feminism and being nothing compared to Ladybug. And nobody can deny that, thoughts on her aside, she did bring a lot of good to Paris. You have a lot of pressure put on you to get past this."

"You already said that." Coccinelle replied, a tight smile on his face. "If you are asking me to elaborate, I will let you know I’m not here to please the people who don’t see that Ladybug abused her powers for the sake of romance against that person’s consent. And when that inevitably failed, she started a mass genocide that still plagues the city today. I am here to help Paris and defeat Hawk Moth. Not. Fame."

Chat noticed the yellow-green on Nadja's watch go down to yellow and then orange. She looked at it in panic,

"How about we change the topic of discussion to a few questions from your biggest fans? Then we'll see if we have time for further questioning."

"Alright," Chat replied, "That sounds much better." He placed a hand on Coccinelle's thigh. Coccinelle gave Chat a small tired nod and smile as Nadja filed away the images and pulled up a video call with… Alya?!

Nadja smiled politely at the screen, "Hello, viewer! State your name and purpose of this call!"

Alya straightened her back, "My name is Alya Césaire. I'm here to defend Ladybug, as someone is clearly trying to sully her good name. What Ladybug did was out of love! She was nothing but loyal and devoted to Adrien and anyone would be thrilled to have such a sweet girl as their special someone!" She exclaimed dramatically.

Coccinelle sneered, "Even if it was out of love, that doesn't take away from the fact that in the face of rejection, she committed terrible crimes—" he greeted out before Alya cut him off again,

"Love is worth it! You're acting like you would never do something selfish or dumb out of love! How do we know you're any better?" She asked, with tears gathering in her eyes. Why was she getting so emotional over this?

Chat watched as Coccinelle quieted down, almost crouching away from Alya's accusations and Nadja's continuous stream of questions and probes to get the scoop to save her job. He could faintly hear his breath picking up and feel his knee shake. He will not let this stand.

"That's enough."  

Everyone turned to Chat, shocked to see the usually playful cat hero seething. Chat took Coccinelle's hand, helping him stand, "This interview is over, and. I will not let you hurt Coccinelle for some clout! Call us when you want to make an actual respectful interview, that doesn't include pulling someone to tears, but until then? We're done here." 

Nadja panicked as the rating watch went down to red and watched Chat and Coccinelle walk out, and Chat slammed the door behind the two.

…

"Well, say bye bye, Nadja." Arlette taunted as the two superheroes hurried out in a rage, "This is officially your first and last primetime show."

Nadja watched the door slam, eyes wide as all of her dreams left with Coccinelle and Chat Noir. What had gone wrong?! She looked down at the watch. It had only been green for a few moments and then spiraled so quickly. Alya Césaire...if she hadn't brought that girl onto the show, would things have been different? Could she have kept the heroes there longer to ask more questions?

But it was too late now. Arlette would never give her another chance to make her dream come true. What was she going to do? Start a youtube podcast that was doomed to be ridiculed for what happened here? Her career was in shambles.

She sobbed on the couch, not seeing in the darkness, the blackened butterfly enter her watch. She snapped up when she heard the voice she instantly knew was Hawk Moth. 

"Prime Queen, I am Hawk Moth. I see Chat Noir and Coccinelle have denied you the answers you deserve. Steal their Miraculous, and will get any scoop you desire."

Nadja grinned. This was the chance she was hoping for to redeem herself. And she would get that scoop, no matter the cost.

...

Chat Noir seethed as he and Coccinelle landed on a roof away from the building, both taking a moment to calm themselves from that interview. Chat Noir paced, shaking his hands at level with his head and taking deep breaths. 

"That was awful," Chat Noir groaned, "I was trying to be nice, and yet Nadja was willing to do anything to make sure her show would be a success, even when I established boundaries." He looked up at the sky with his hands on his hips. Coccinelle smiled a bit,

"Well, I'm proud of you for standing up for yourself." He thought about what Tikki said, and maybe he should drop some hints he knows Chat's identity, but with the mood they were in right now, he decided against it. That would come later, and Tikki would understand.

Both snapped to the screen when they heard a voice that came from a seemingly neon 50s themed robot. "Hello, people of Paris! It's me, Prime Queen! I'm here tonight to finally reveal your guys' greatest questions and secrets! I will find the greatest of news and reveal the truth, starting with these two little muffins!" She pointed directly at Chat Noir and Coccinelle, "As you know, the heroes deeply disappointed us in the interview tonight, so it's only fair they'll share some of their secrets to repay!"

To their horror, she then walked directly out of the screen and jumped at them. Both jumped back as she tried to touch them, and immediately Coccinelle realized Prime Queen had some sort of touch-based power.

"Chat! She needs to touch us! If she touches us, it's game over!"

"Figured!" Chat used his extended staff to smack Prime Queen to the side, and Coccinelle went to grab her with the yoyo, only for her to jump away and stand on a glowing platform of her own creation a few feet away from the roof.

"Well, I suppose we can't expose our heroes just yet. In the meantime, let's give the dear viewers some tea to work themselves up to!" She then hopped off, and Chat and Coccinelle looked at each other.

"Agreste Mansion?"

"Absolutely." 

They both raced to the mansion, and Chat headed to where his room was, "I'll check on Adrien."

"No need!" Coccinelle shouted, bringing Chat pause, "I swung by on my way there, and he wasn't in his room. Prime Queen is here for instant gratification, like the shooter mindset. If she can't find him immediately, she'll move along." Okay, I dropped a hint that I suspect something. Let's see what he does with it.

Chat Noir nodded, "Got it! You go for Kieran and I'll go for Felix." 

Coccinelle swung through the window and whisper-shouted, "Kieran?" He realized the bathroom door was locked, and he went through the bathroom window to make sure Kieran was safe. "Kieran?"

The room was eerily quiet, and Coccinelle's enhanced hearing allowed him to for a split second hear heavy breathing as he realized Kieran was indeed in here.

Unable to think of anywhere else Kieran was, he checked the bathroom cabinets under the sink and was shocked to see Kieran had made himself small enough to fit inside one, curled up in a ball and breathing heavily with a darkened towel in his mouth.

He jolted when he saw Coccinelle and winced when he hit his head. Coccinelle helped him out, "Hey, hey, you're safe. It's okay."

Kieran pulled away, pulling his arms to his chest protectively, "Is she gone?" 

"I don't know. But Chat sent me to make sure you were safe while he checks on Felix."

Kieran's expression softened ever so slightly before hardening again, "Yeah, well, I'm fine and going back in this cabinet." He started contorting himself, and Coccinelle looked to the walk-in closet off to the side,

"You know, you could hide in the closet."

"I haven't hidden in the closet since I was ten, and I have no intention of doing so again." Coccinelle chuckled a bit, and he hurried off to help Chat Noir.

...

Chat Noir found Prime Queen hovering over Felix, who was looking up at her squinting,

"Can you lower the brightness?" He asked as he rolled over nonchalantly, burying his face in the pillow, "It's too bright."

Chat Noir took advantage of Prime Queen momentarily being surprised, and he used his staff to toss her to the side, letting protective instincts and his own anger well up as he smacked her as hard as he could. It sent her crashing against the wall, where she yelped, and he attacked.

"Get away from him!" He shouted, and he noticed the part of her arm that had once been the watch, and he almost landed the hit, but Prime Queen jumped away on her platforms and stood in the window.

"Why this ain't no good, this is prime time show dearies! People don't just come here for common gossip, I need the best scoop in all of Paris and I will get it one way or another!"  

Coccinelle hurried in, "Is Felix alright?"

"No, I'm not!" Felix moaned dramatically, flipping them both off, "Can you keep it down?"

"Sorry, Felix," Chat replied, and he headed out the window, "Coccinelle, I have a gut feeling where she plans to go next. After all, Alya's the final straw that made us leave, so after not being able to find a scoop on the Agreste family and Kieran..."

"She'll go for revenge."

They both rushed to Alya's house, and because they knew the way, they made it there before Prime Queen actually.

Alya glowered at them both, "What are you two doing here?" Chat Noir began closing the windows, glancing at his former friend. Maybe it was irrational to still be mad that she led him to the pyre of her own free will and to this day defended Marinette, but regardless, he was a superhero, and it was his duty to protect a civilian.

"Listen, I don't want to be here any more than you want me to be here. Prime Queen might come here to attack you, and we are going to protect you because of that."

He felt a minor bit of relief that Alya didn't get her phone out like when it was Ladybug. After being professionally character assassinated in front of an audience for being exposed for contempt of court on top of her other crimes, the court decided to deal with her quickly since it wasn't as severe. She was forced to shut down the Ladyblog, was blacklisted from any form of journalism, and paid a fine of 5000€. All things considered, she got off extremely lightly, which was most likely because the people in charge of determining the sentence didn't want to deal with it when they had the dumpster fire of Marinette to handle.

He glanced around the near-empty room. Besides Alya's bed, desk, some photos, and a laptop, there was nothing in here. Her comic books were gone, as were a lot of her decorations. He supposed her parents hadn't been keen on paying out of their own pocket for her crimes, so she had to sell her possessions to pay it off. Part of him felt pity but decided to not think about it as he turned, and the computer lit up as Prime Queen climbed out of it. So much for blockading doors.

Prime Queen grinned menacingly, "Oh, this is bound to be interesting! After all, wouldn't the people like to know why the greatest Ladybug supporter stands by her side even if it destroys her! What's in it for you, hun?"

Alya glared, "That's none of your business!" She snapped, but Prime Queen just laughed,

"As a fellow media reporter, I would have thought you know what someone's business is doesn't matter at all if it means getting a scoop!" As she said that, she clenched her fist with a smile on her face as though making a point. Then she dove at Alya, who did put up a fight for a few moments, and Chat and Coccinelle quickly realized that in this confined room, it was hard to fight.

Chat Noir noticed Prime Queen grip onto Alya's sweater but then grabbed the bare skin of Alya's hand, making her entire body jolt as though her entire nervous system was shocked, and she fell helplessly onto the floor like a doll. So it has to be skin! Chat realized, and he went running at her but didn't get there in time as Prime Queen pressed her finger to Alya's forehead.

Every single screen in the area turned on, and Alya sat up, looking at her laptop in horror at what was playing. Chat Noir turned as well and turned pale.

It was Marinette, looking far more beautiful than she ever was from Adrien's perspective, as Ladybug or otherwise. She laughed with an innocent smile on her face, her dark hair flowing and some sort of pink sparkle filter around her.

Immediately Chat Noir realized what this was, and his hand flew over his mouth as all the pieces clicked into place. 

Prime Queen brightened at the sight as the band on her arm glowed vibrant green for a split second, "Oh! Falling in love with Paris' most hated individual, yet she didn't love you back!" She turned to look at Alya, "So you just kept going and helping her with her evil deeds, to only be thrown aside, and you still support her, darling? Oh, that's just sad!" She laughed.

Alya was sitting on the floor where she had gotten up, her body completely still beside her quickening breathing as sobs bubbled up. 

Chat Noir felt himself reach out to her silently. He had every reason to despise Alya—and he did dislike her; this revelation changed nothing about what she had done to him and others—but he knew what it was like to want to please Marinette and never having those feelings returned.

Coccinelle glared, "Lucky Charm!" he held a magnet, "Hm?" He looked to Chat, "Alright, we have to get out of this room and have more space."

"On it!" He lunged at Prime Queen, now knowing he was safe as long as she didn't touch his skin, sending them both crashing out of the balcony, and he flipped at the last second to slam her to the roof of another building.

Coccinelle hopped down, "You can touch her?"

"She needs skin to stun you, and the forehead to project." Chat replied, and Coccinelle nodded,

"Right. But let's not take that risk again and avoid touching her just in case."

"Got it!" He jumped up and cut Prime Queen off from where she had been about to get away. "Where are you going?"

Coccinelle tied the magnet to his yoyo and threw it in Prime Queen's general direction. Prime Queen tried to jump away, but Chat Noir grabbed the string of the yoyo and flicked it at just the right angle, so it went up and collided with the rating band, and Coccinelle pulled her over to him with enough force that it snapped the band in half, and the Akuma flew out.

After quickly purifying and returning everything to normal, Coccinelle helped Nadja up but didn't speak to her, quickly hurrying off despite Chat Noir's usual protocol of talking to the victim unless they had someone already doing so.

But after the events of tonight, Coccinelle suspected that Chat Noir needed time to cool off before talking to Nadja, which he was completely in the right for. Besides, there was someone else they needed to talk to. 

They both landed in Alya's room to find her crying in her hands after slamming her laptop closed. Chat Noir bent down beside her, and Coccinelle let him, knowing he was far superior at comforting people and probably had a better understanding of Alya's distress.

Chat laid his hand on Alya's shoulder, only for her to flinch away, looking away from him as though refusing to lift her head from her shame.

"Get out," she swatted them away, "Get out!"

Chat Noir recoiled, and Coccielle wrapped an arm around Chat's shoulder, "Come on, we should go."

"Yeah." The two left the room, and Chat Noir hugged himself, still able to hear Alya crying. He glanced back up to her room. Part of him feared she would be akumatized, but at the same time, would Hawk Moth dare to do so after Princess Justice.

"Are you alright?" Coccinelle asked, and Chat turned to him with a nod,

"Yeah. I'm just tired. I'll probably head to bed when I get home." Coccinelle forced a chuckle,

"Yeah, same here." He glanced at Alya's window too. But in the end, they knew Alya didn't want any comfort, and to force the issue would only anger her. So the best they could do was to head home and hope for a restful sleep.

But Chat Noir couldn't get that revelation out of his head and wondered why Alya ever dated Nino in the first place. But he shook that away, and he could hardly imagine how he would feel if his feelings for Luka were exposed to the public like that. He could understand why she wanted to be alone.

And his personal feelings for her aside, it didn't stop him from wishing there was something more that could be done.

Chapter Text

Enough was enough.

Plagg watched Adrien in his physical therapy, improving his ability to walk and regain muscle strength after using a wheelchair for months. It had been noted Adrien was doing remarkably well, which likely had something to do with him moving around as Chat Noir, and therefore preventing true muscle atrophy.

He observed the young man fumbling like a newborn fawn and figured now was the perfect time to do what he had in mind. Adrien refused to admit his identity or his feelings to Luka, so Plagg decided that it was his job as a father to teach his children that this would not stand. Sometimes a person has to bite the bullet, and it will help in the long run.

He quickly flew to the boat he knew Luka lived in and found him playing guitar in his room while Tikki hummed the melody. "Hello!" He loudly announced his presence, making both his sister and her owner jump in surprise. He chuckled as Luka got his bearings,

"Plagg, right?" He asked after a few moments before his eyes widened, "Is something wrong with Chat? Is he hurt?"

"Besides refusing to admit to anything regardless of the toll on his mental health? Yeah, he's fine. But that's why I'm here. I know you know who Chat Noir is, so maybe you two can hang out tonight? Maybe get some food?"

Luka instantly pulled out a calendar as though he had been waiting for those words for a while, "Okay! I'm hanging out with friends in a couple hours, but afterwards in the evening, we can do it!" Plagg sighed in relief,

"About time this happened." Even with Marinette, this had been a huge annoyance. What kind of sense did it make for them to have their identities hidden from each other? His identity being hidden from that trollop that gave King Henry a run for his money was a relief in hindsight, but the point still stood. "I'll tell Chat! I'm thinking around 9:30?"

"Sounds good!" Luka replied, and Plagg nodded, flying back just in time for Adrien to finish physical therapy for the day. He leaned heavily on his cane as he sat down on the couch. Plagg sat in Adrien's hands,

"You're welcome."

Adrien cocked his head. "For...?"

"For getting you a date with Luka tonight at 9:30."

"What?!" Adrien's eyes widened, and he tore at his hair, "Plagg, why would you do that?! I can't tell him about my identity and especially not my feelings for him! He's going to hate me!"

Plagg hovered in front of Adrien's face with narrowed eyes. "Kid, you've dragged this out for months. You're telling him—I don't care if it's your identity, your feelings, or both, you're talking to him tonight. No more procrastinating and telling me you'll do it next week."

Adrien rocked back and forth as he comprehended the situation he was in, laying down on the couch and staring at the ceiling. Maybe Plagg didn't get it since he had never had a romantic partner, but surely this was a little dramatic. Of course, he wasn't going to use that word the bastard Gabriel loved to use so much when describing any emotion of Adrien's.

"Fine," Adrien groaned after a few moments of contemplation, "I'll think of something." He covered his face with his hands, and Plagg grinned,

"You'll thank me later."

OoOoO

Adrien had ended up lying in the fetal position, clutching onto a notepad filled with scratched-out pick-up lines like his life depended on it. He had initially taken to wobbling around the room, muttering like a mad man, and then screaming at how unfair life was to any deity that could hear—namely Plagg—before crying and moving into his current position.

He perked up at the sound of someone knocking on the door before hearing Felix's voice. "Oh Adrien~!" He called in a sing-song voice, "I'm respecting your privacy by knocking, but asserting my authority as your cousin and coming in anyways!" He said before kicking the door open.

Adrien groaned as Felix picked him up from the couch and examined him, "Wow, you look like shit," he said, looking Adrien up and down. "Well, spruce yourself up, Buttercup, and put on some perfume because we're going to meet with your boyfriend and friends!" Felix exclaimed, taking Adrien to the bathroom as the latter slurred out something along the lines of "not my boyfriend, shut up."

After a couple of minutes, Adrien exited the bathroom, looking more cleaned up, and found Kieran and Felix waiting for him. 

"Before you make fun of me," Kieran huffed, "Let it be known I am being forced into this." He said before heading out of Adrien's room as Felix handed him his cane.

All three eventually headed out to find Adrien's bodyguard waiting for them with the car door opened. Adrien turned to see his father staring out of the window with an unreadable sort of displeased look before disappearing without further thought.

Adrien sighed before turning to enter the car, thanking his bodyguard quickly, while Felix was chanting a weird ice cream mantra, and Kieran was staring at him judgmentally.

Eventually, the three of them were dropped off by the Eiffel Tower, where Luka, Nino, and Kagami were waiting. Nino was the first to notice the trio and started waving excitedly. "The blondies finally arrived! Fashionably late no doubt too!" He teased, giving each blonde a hug.

Luka wrapped his arm around Adrien to stabilize him. "Are you doing okay, Angel? I did some research into physical therapy, and muscle atrophy is a thing, so I don't want you to collapse, and I know you'll be fine, but still—" he continued to babble until Adrien shushed him gently. Meanwhile, Nino and Kagami were satirically reenacting the boys' behavior, unable to hold back their laughter.

Both blushed at the teasing and knowing smirks, laughing awkwardly and separating from one another. Luka clapped his hands together as if to recollect everyone, "Alright! What's the plan for today, people?"

Nino raised his hand as if he was in a classroom, waiting for permission to talk before explaining their mission, "Alright, dudes! Today we will be going to get ice cream! But not just any ice cream! We're getting the most delicious ice cream in Paris, André Glacé's ice cream!" He exclaimed theatrically to receive confused looks from the four kids that were either rich and isolated or didn't live in Paris, and one supportive smile from Luka.

Nino huffed and pulled out his phone to show a map with little photo icons of an ice cream stand in various spots. "André's ice cream, more known as the sweetheart's ice cream, is apparently supposed to tell you your one true love. It's super rad and I wanted to have ice cream." He explained as many gave sounds in understanding. Adrien noticed Kieran perk up ever so slightly as though he recognized that name. "The deal with André and his ice-cream cart is that you never know where he's gonna be!" He displayed the map on his phone for everyone, "You gotta follow his clues to find out where he's going to set up." 

Adrien took Nino's phone, scrolling through the map, "So it's like a treasure hunt?" He asked before Nino's phone made a beeping sound.

Nino took the phone back, "You guys! Somebody posted a photo of André! He's on his way to Pont Des Arts!" He told everyone before they all broke into a sprint, Nino dragging Kieran along, Luka giving Adrien a piggyback ride, and Adrien's bodyguard driving after them.

The group sprinted for a few minutes before coming up to an ice cream stand, where a jolly man was serving ice cream while singing a song, "My name is André! André! Glacé! The sweetheart matchmaker! With one scoop or two, I'll find up for you with magical ice-cream flavors!" He sang, serving various customers, "My name is André! André! Glacé! The sweetheart matchmaker! With one scoop or two, I'll find up for you with magical ice-cream flavors!" 

"Well I think that's André," Kagami said sarcastically, prompting some laughs from the group. Felix giggled,

"I am certainly curious what André will serve me as a sweetheart's ice cream. Watch me make an ice cream man cry, y'all!" He said, walking decisively to the stand, leaning on it, "Hello! I'm the antithesis of everything you stand for and want ice cream—!" Felix said before getting his mouth covered by Luka.

"Hello, sir, I am so sorry for my friend's behavior, I'm Luka, this is Felix and me and my friends were wondering if we could have some of your ice cream!" He said politely while Felix struggled in his arms. The others joined the two, laughing and helping Luka with a grumpy and red Felix.

André laughed, a happy sort of belly laugh, before continuing, "Oh, look at such sweet friends, so close and true! I will make an ice cream, for each and every one of you!" He said jovially.

André promptly scooped a vanilla and sea salt ice cream and offered it to Felix, "For Felix, Vanilla sweet and sea salt ice cream! Love is more than just romance, a lot more than it seems!" He said as Felix mumbled a small thank you and licked on his ice cream.

Before André could begin, Kieran cut him off, "Yeah, no, not having you psychoanalyze my love life, I just want rainbow sherbet," he said tiredly.

André shrugged before doing as Kieran asked, "One scoop of rainbow sherbet for the gentleman in purple! I assure you, that joining hearts with dessert is not in order to startle!" 

Kieran thanked him, going to eat the ice cream on a nearby bench while Felix teased him for god knows what reason. Adrien noted Kieran seemed only mildly annoyed, if not downright amused, by what Felix was saying.

Kagami was next while André inspected the calm girl before gasping with glee, "Grapefruit, orange, and lemon ice cream! I find your future full of love in a citrusy dream!" He said, offering Kagami the ice cream.

Kagami shrugged and took the ice cream, "I don't particularly get the logic behind this ice cream, but I certainly look forward to a citrusy partner? Thank you." she said with a little bow and smile before walking over to her friends.

Nino walked up to the stand, looking quite nervous, and Adrien immediately knew why, as this was the first time he had touched anything remotely love-related since Alya. 

André sighed fondly before repeating his shtick, "For the young man in the hat, matcha and mocha will do! In order to find love, you have to find it in you." He said, giving Nino's shoulder a comforting pat. Nino thanked him, smile not quite reaching his eyes, and joined the others on the bench.

Now Luka! That was the one Adrien was nervous for. He knew he loved Luka, but did Luka love him? And wanted him just like Adrien did? André wasn't wrong so far, but it was vague. Maybe with Luka, he would know for sure. Maybe it would be him.

André didn't need to take a long look at Luka and started making his order as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Coconut ash, mint green, and passion fruit for the hair! He makes you feel free and happy, you'd make a lovely pair!" He cheered, giving Luka a little wink.

Luka laughed, a happy sort of soft expression on his face. Adrien took a good look at the ice cream. Was the ice cream... Chat Noir? Because that would, of course, explain the colors, and Luka made jokes about his celebrity crush on Chat, but would André really make ice cream over a celebrity crush? Was it because Luka was Coccinelle? There was no way he would love Adrien, would he? Adrien could distantly hear Plagg saying for the millionth time that Coccinelle knew who Chat was.

And what if he did know? And he did love Chat and Adrien? Passion fruit was Adrien's favorite flavor, but if Luka really did love him, what did that mean? Would they date? Would his father even approve? Would Luka eventually grow tired of Adrien and leave him behind? Adrien wasn't ready for that! I love Luka...I can't deal with losing him. I'm not ready.

Adrien nervously walked up to the stand, avoiding eye contact as if it would make him any less of an open book. André grinned, doing a little trick with his ice-cream scooper, "And for the Saint of Paris, why so blue? I will make the perfect ice cream, made just for you—!" He said before pausing at the sight of Adrien making little "no" gestures, pointing at Luka with his head.

André paused, thinking for a minute. He then gestured for Adrien to come close to him, patting him on his shoulder, "Will you be okay, my boy? You can just ask for another ice cream, I don't mind," he whispered to him.

Adrien shook his head, "No, no. I need to know."

André nodded before continuing, "Pomegranate, dark chocolate and blue raspberry for you: Don't overthink this love, he loves you too." He tried to say, giving Adrien a quick hug.

Adrien grew silent before hot tears came running down his face. André gasped, terrified to see he had made it worse, offering the young boy a couple of napkins as the latter apologized profusely and hyperventilated.

"What's going on here?" Luka asked, seeing Adrien go into a full-blown panic attack, while André was confused, trying to comfort him. "Angel, are you okay?" He asked, bending down to his height.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Adrien's ice cream. While the colors were similar, the ice cream couldn't be Ladybug; Adrien hated her. And Ladybug didn't have such a dark red suit. Or such bright blue eyes or hair... The ice cream was Coccinelle. Who Adrien knew was Luka. Holy fuck, the sweetheart's ice cream maker made me themed ice cream for Adrien. Holy fuck!

"Do we need to kill an ice cream man?!" Felix shouted as Kagami pulled out her sword from seemingly nowhere. Kieran sucked in a breath while Nino was huddled next to him, taken out from his ice cream moping by the drama.

Adrien separated himself from Luka, balancing himself on his cane, "I'm fine, everybody! I just think I just put a little too much weight on my bad leg!" He said with a forced smile.

Luka has a confused, almost hurt look in his eyes before he sighed and gave Adrien a tired smile. 

Adrien silently took the ice cream from André before apologizing one more time and heading in the direction of the car, struggling with his cane through sobs he did his best to suppress. Kagami came over and helped support him, and Adrien couldn't help but flashback to Riposte...nearly a year ago. Had it already been a year since Hawk Moth came around?

He knew Luka was watching him leave, and Adrien did his best to distract himself, so his heartsong didn't give away what he was feeling. I'm so sorry, Luka. I can't lose you too.

He was helped in the car, staring down at the ice cream while Felix hopped in with Kieran. Felix examined the ice cream, "So is there something you'd like to tell me, Sunshine?"

"I doubt it," Kieran replied, looking out the window and back at Nino and Kagami as they began to drive away. He noticed Luka wasn't there but didn't say anything to Adrien about it.

Adrien looked to his companion, noticing Kieran's breathing had picked up, and he was fidgeting with the knife in his pocket, "Kieran?"

"Nothing."

Adrien took that as a cue to shut up, staring down at the ice cream and knowing he would make a mess if he didn't eat it, but at the same time...

However, he didn't have long to continue contemplating this before the car was forcefully stopped by something. Adrien looked out the window and noticed a massive ice cream snowman creature looking at him.

"Oh Adrien! For the Saint of Paris that won't face his love at last, I shall freeze him if he doesn't do something and if he doesn't do it fast!" The ice cream monster announced in a sing-song voice, trying to grab Adrien through the car.

In the blink of an eye, Felix grabbed Adrien and ran out of the car, carrying his bridal style, "Kieran! Get help!" He screamed at Kieran, who nodded quickly, running off with impressive speed, only glancing back for a split second. 

Felix sprinted with Adrien into an alleyway behind a dumpster to hide, plopping him on the ground once he made sure they weren't going to be found, "And here I thought I'd be the one to akumatize the ice cream man," Felix huffed.

Adrien hissed, "Not the time, Felix!" 

Plagg flew out of his pocket. "Actually, that's exactly the time for that, kid! You had a chance right there to solve all your problems, and you decided to further push Luka away! This isn't healthy for either of you!" He shouted, gesturing wildly in the air.

Adrien groaned. "Alright, whatever, I'll talk to him later, claws out!"

Chat Noir lunged onto the roof of a building, racing across rooftops until he reached Coccinelle, who was hiding behind a chimney, attempting to analyze Glaciator's powers. 

Coccinelle turned to Chat, giving him a little smile, albeit a bit strained, "I'm glad you're safe, Chat. From what I'm collecting here, Glaciator's power is basically freezing people while saying weird rhymes, but that's nothing we can't deal with, right?" He tried, giving Chat's shoulder a little bump.

Chat nodded quickly, a stiff smile on his face as he avoided Coccinelle's gaze, "Yeah, yeah, we can totally do that, let's just finish this quickly,"

Coccinelle raised his eyebrow, "Do you wanna tell me something, perhaps?" He asked with a bit too much emphasis. 

Chat tensed and looked at Coccinelle, flabbergasted, "What do you mean? I'm fine! Let's just get shit over with Mr. Ice Cream Man and—" he was cut off as the chimney covering them was crushed by an ice cream fist. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Chat wondered how this was possible but decided now was not the time when he had dealt with much weirder.

"I've never tasted superhero flavor before. I can't wait to serve myself a double scoop!" Glaciator taunted, trying to grab the two heroes, who snuck away quickly, swinging to the ground. Coccinelle put his hands on his hips,

"We need a plan to defeat Glaciator! We need to find some weak spot or at least what the Akuma is!" 

Chat groaned, "I am getting this over with one way or another!" He leaped at the opponent and cut him in half with his staff, stopping on the impact of something that wasn't ice cream. 

Unfortunately, Glaciator reformed into one piece, leaving Chat's staff stuck in him. He swung it against a wall, taking Chat with him where he almost collided if not being caught at the last moment by Coccinelle, who swung them both behind a building. Both slumped against the wall, heaving for a moment. 

Coccinelle broke the silence, "Well, at least now we know that the Akuma is inside Glaciator right?" He asked jokingly, only receiving a little nod from Chat Noir.

They watched from their hiding spot as Glaciator paced around, seemingly singing an evil version of his original sweetheart's ice cream song. "I'm Glaciator, the mean ice-cream man, escape me if you can! Confront your truths now, or I'll freeze your Paris, and steal your Miraculous!"

Coccinelle could see from the corner of his eye a couple seemingly trying to protect one another, bracing for impact from Glaciator's ice cream blast, yet it never came. Glaciator took a once over on them, proceeded to coo for a moment before continuing on his rampage. Confront your truths now, or I'll freeze your Paris… that's it!

"Glaciator is skipping over couples and families close and true with one another! Maybe we can use that! After all, we are pretty close. Right, Chat?" He faltered when he didn't receive an immediate response. "Chat?" 

He glanced over and saw Chat staring at the ground intensely like he was waiting for the Earth to crack open under him.

Coccinelle frowned and crossed his arms, "Alright, so you're clearly not telling me something," He commented, "We clearly have something to talk about if you won't even look me in the eyes all day long." He said, placing emphasis on the last phrase. Hopefully, that would be enough to send the message across.

Chat made an indignant sort of noise before shouting, "Excuse me, I have been! There is absolutely nothing for us to talk about, and everything's fine!" But Coccinelle immediately wondered which of the two he was trying to convince.

Coccinelle sat in silence for a moment, eye twitching, before getting up and striding in Glaciator's direction, "Well, if there's nothing to talk about, let's fucking go, I guess!" He said in poorly-concealed anger and swung down to the streets.

Chat Noir jumped after him and grabbed his wrist, "What are you doing?! We have no plan, stop being a dumbass!" He shouted, trying to pull Coccinelle into hiding.

Coccinelle turned to Chat with a furious look, "Oh, I'm the dumbass?! You're the one that's been avoiding me like the plague and telling me everything's fine!" He shouted, "Because of that, we can't work this out and we won't be able to unless you admit what's going on!"

Chat bristled, "Oh, am I supposed to tell you everything now?! You're not exactly better at talking about your feelings, Mullet!" He squawked.

Coccinelle gasped, "Are you seriously trying to shift the blame onto me?!"

"Well maybe I am!"

Coccinelle's breath picked up as he pulled on his hair, "That won't help us Chat, you can't just—just—"

"Just what?!"

"You can't just keep hiding! You can't just sit in denial for all eternity and hope that one day you'll be what everyone always wanted you to be, and you can't keep shielding people away because you're afraid they'll hate you! I don't hate you! I trust you, I love you!" Coccinelle shouted, tears streaming down his face, "...I—I already figured shit out, but I need you to actually tell me what's on your mind. You can't… I can't live in denial forever…" he muttered, covering his face.

Chat Noir paused, watching in horror as Coccinelle tried to wipe away tears and smeared eyeliner. He approached him cautiously, holding out a hand for him to hold. "No, no, wait, I trust you… I really do, and I really really care about you too, I… I'm just scared. I thought we had something good and that everything would be fine, and I didn't want to ruin it with stupid feelings. But by avoiding it, I just made it worse! I kept denying it, and that hurt you and me. And… you don't deserve that." 

He gently cupped Coccinelle's cheek as Coccinelle released a little sigh, rubbing his cheek against Chat's palm. He opened his eyes, looking at Chat with a pleading sort of look, "Can we talk about this after the fight?" He croaked softly.

Chat Noir nodded, pulling him into a hug. Both embraced for a moment of peace… a bit too peaceful for the middle of a battle.

Both heroes lifted their heads to see Glaciator sniffing and wiping away syrup tears that threatened to fall out of his eyes, "Oh, embracing your feelings, a love so true! I can't take their Miraculouses way, and neither can you!" Glaciator was saying to Hawk Moth as a butterfly mask appeared over his face.

Both men exchanged a mischievous smirk, walking up to Glaciator hand in hand, before Coccinelle threw his yoyo to tie Galciator, only for it to cut his hand off, while Chat Noir swung his staff and chopped Glaciator's legs off.

As Glaciator struggled, Coccinelle and Chat ran off into an alleyway, and Coccinelle quickly used Lucky Charm, causing a motorcycle helmet to fall into his hands.

After a moment of surveying the area, Coccinelle turned to Chat with an excited grin, not unlike that of a crazy scientist. "Chat, I need you to collect those three signposts, and attach them to your staff! We will be making a propeller!"

Chat nodded, quickly collecting the signposts and stabbing his staff through them, in a propeller shape. He ran back to Coccinelle, seemingly hiding behind a bus, with a bench and a motorcycle. "Prop up the propeller on the bench facing the bus while I remove the wheel from this bike! Also, I'll need your belt." He said. 

Clearly, he’s in the zone . Chat complied immediately, propping up the propeller on the bench, and offered Coccinelle his belt, which he used to connect the propeller's tip to the wheel of the motorcycle. 

They could hear Glaciator's taunts echoing through the streets as both went into positions, Coccinelle on the motorcycle and Chat behind the bus. Just as Glaciator was about to reach them, Coccinelle threw his yoyo to weave between two lamp posts, creating a barrier between them and Glaciator before he started the motorcycle, spinning the propeller.

Chat Noir used cataclysm on the bus blocking the propeller from Glaciator, thus blowing away the ice cream that formed Glaciator, leaving behind André hanging from Coccinelle's yoyo strings, holding what seemed to be an akumatized ice cream scooper.

That's a new one, he realized, as he couldn't think even Stoneheart had been surrounded by the material and not become it. But he decided not to think too much of it as he broke the ice cream scooper and watched as Coccinelle purified the Akuma that came out of it and reversed most of the damage made by Glaciator.

As André woke up, rubbing his head in confusion, Chat offered his hand to help the man up. "You were akumatized, but it's all okay now, Mr. Glacé," he said with a slightly tense smile.

André beamed, giving Chat a bear hug, swinging him from side to side, "Sacré blue! How enchanting! Saved from the cold by a couple of super lovebirds!" 

Coccinelle laughed from the side as this encounter went on, waiting until Chat bit André goodbye to tap his shoulder and get his attention. As Chat looked at him with big sparkly peridot eyes, Coccinelle found himself struggling to find the words to say.

"So… is that talk with food still in the cards?" He asked awkwardly, playing with his hair.

Chat Noir smiled warmly, giggling at Coccinelle's shyness, "Yes, very much on the cards." He offered his hand to Coccinelle, who took it eagerly.

OoOoO

They had been in this garden before, Chat realized. 

After ordering some pizza from the nearest fast-food restaurant, Coccinelle led Chat to the same abandoned garden they had been to the night Monsieur Fable attacked. Many of the plants that climbed up the rusty fence were full in bloom, bringing a spark of life and color to the old metal.

They plopped on the lush grass, silently munching on their respective pizza pieces to fill in the tension. 

Coccinelle makes a silly noise, drawing a snort out of Chat Noir, before turning to face him and turning Chat to face him in the eyes. "Alright, because clearly you're nervous and you don't wanna start, I'll break the ice by opening up about my truths or whatever André was going on about with the ice cream." He said matter of factly, crossing his arms. 

He paused for effect, watching while Chat stared at him with intent, leaking his greasy fingers, never breaking eye contact. Coccinelle tried to not laugh at Chat's antiques as he groped the ground, trying to feel his way to the pizza box, rather than turn his head for a moment. 

He eventually broke when Chat ended up mushing the pizza against his cheek in a poor attempt to eat it without looking. Coccinelle wiped some tears of laughter, giving Chat an endeared sort of look. "Chat, while I'm really glad you're trying to respect me and maintain eye contact and listen, you're allowed to look at your food as you eat it."

Chat replied with a meek "oh" and looked away, bashful, wiping at his cheek with the napkins they got with the pizza.

Coccinelle chuckled as Chat fixed himself up before continuing. "Alright, so my secret, and I swear to god you can't laugh at me, or I will cry!" He warned him playfully as Chat shook his head and propped his head on his hands, leaving the pizza aside. "...I am in love with Adrien Agreste."

Chat Noir gawked, almost losing his balance and flailing his hands, "Wait, what?! I mean, like yeah, I shouldn't be surprised. I saw several articles speculating the nature of your relationship with him, but hearing that from you is quite a lot. Also, you said in love and not dating, and I'm now invested, please tell me more."

Coccinelle heard Adrien's usual heartsong pick up in speed, adding excitement to a now loud and robust orchestra of pianos and violins, so much so that it sounded like Chat's heart was about to burst. "Alright, alright, calm down, kitty. I know you probably have many questions!" He said lightly, helping Chat off of his manic high, "...do you perhaps have any questions?"

Chat Noir took a couple of deep breaths, trying to collect himself as if he didn't just hear his crush saying he was in love with him. "I just really wanna know why, I guess. Was it the entire Saint le Paris thing? I mean, he is a model already, so adding that title on top of that is wild—" he continued before getting cut off by Coccinelle.

"Oh, no, no, not at all! I knew Adrien way before Princess Justice and the Sainthood thing, and even then, him being a gorgeous model was no way the reason I loved him, nor is it the reason I love him now," he explained to Chat.

"Well, what is it then? I need to know now!" Chat Noir whined, needing to know for more reasons than one.

"Well where do I even begin?" Coccinelle asked mostly himself as he began to look back on his relationship with Adrien, "From the day I met him, he kind of caught my eye. Like outside of being a model and all, even if that in itself is a really lovely little bonus, what caught my eye about him was how utterly… sweet and down to Earth he was. When I originally thought of the children of rich people, I was thinking more about Chloé Bourgeois, spoiled with lots of issues covered up with money and aggression, y'know? But he was so sweet. and never seemed to patronize you and think of you as lowly. He was so honest and humble, almost too humble, that you can't help but want to kinda squish his cheeks and give him shelter from the mean parts of the world, right?" He explained.

Chat nodded in understanding, stress-eating his pizza, trying to process the words that were being said, but he was also fully aware it was painted all over his face that he was in shock as Coccinelle continued his tale.

"So I got to know him. But then… he was so much more than what I expected again. He wasn't just this clueless little baby that hasn't seen the outside world, even if that is true to an extent. He was… kind, and bold, and a huge nerd that could talk for hours about a new anime he watched... and you can't help but listen. He's brave, and idealistic, and so so strong and resilient. He keeps believing in the good life has to offer, no matter how much shit the world throws in his direction!" 

Coccinelle sighed, looking at the palms of his hands. 

"He's… there for you. And he laughs at your awkward jokes and flirts. And he tells you it's okay, and that you deserve to want more, and that you deserve to have a good dad that actually sticks around, and that you are so much more than just—just a shoulder to cry on, and—and… you can't help but love him for that. And I love him for that." Coccinelle said, blinking away tears threatening to spill. 

He looked up to see Chat Noir sniffling and trying to muffle his cries with pizza, tears rolling down his cheeks. He swallowed his bite before sobbing out, "You love him so much; you should tell him you love him right away. He'd be so thrilled, tell him!"

Coccinelle cooed, wiping Chat's tears away, "Do you really think so?" He asked, receiving over-enthusiastic nods from Chat. He smiled, patting Chat's head, "Alright, I trust you. Thanks, blondie." 

"You're welcome Blueberry Mullet—oh shit," Chat slapped a hand over his mouth, turning pale as he realized his grave mistake. 

Coccinelle gave him a mischievous look, motioning to continue, "Your turn to live your truth, Angel."

Chat Noir huffed, finishing his last pizza slice and taking a deep breath, "...I'm Adrien Agreste. And I know, you already know that—the nickname gave away that much. But I thought that properly saying it would make it all the more real... Does that make sense?"

Coccinelle smiled to show his understanding. "Yeah, I get that. If it makes you feel any better, though, I will say that I was also afraid to tell you that I knew who you were after the entire Princess Justice deal. You weren't alone in the fear." He placed a hand on Chat's shoulder, petting him almost.

Chat modded, purring at Coccinelle's pets, "I get that. Thank you for being so patient with me through it all, but after that blew over and we grew close, I shouldn't have kept in the denial. Not just about my identity but… my feelings too." He mumbled as Coccinelle looked at him, shell-shocked. He laughed awkwardly, rubbing his neck, "Haha yes I know, surprise, I'm in love with you too! I was, as I already told you before… afraid that by bringing in my messy feelings into the mix, I'd ruin what we already had, and that… I won't get to see you again."

Coccinelle instantly pulled him into a hug, "No, no, I would never leave you just like that, Angel! I care about you too much to ever let you disappear. But… yeah, I love you too." He said as Chat curled up against his side.

They cuddled against each other, basking in the peaceful silence and the other's presence. Chat started fidgeting with Coccinelle's hand, threading his fingers through his. "So… what now?" He asked, looking up at Coccinelle, pulling the latter from his dreamland.

Coccinelle laughed, rubbing his neck, "I didn't plan a confession this far. I just thought I would be rejected!" He joked, eliciting a gentle laugh from Chat. "I say we take our time. Just because we confessed to each other doesn't mean we have to date instantly, y'know? We can get a bit closer… hang out a bit more… and we'll take our time to see where it goes from there. And by the time we want to officially date, it would be a much more sure decision we're both certain of." He suggested, much to Chat's delight.

Chat nodded, "Thanks for being so thoughtful. I'm sure it's a bit hard, wanting to date someone who hasn't even told their closest friends he's bi and has the entire press constantly on his back. I'm surprised you're willing to wait for me and all."

Coccinelle took Chat's palm and kissed it softly, looking at Chat with half-lidded eyes. "I don't think you realize how much you're worth to me. I'll wait a hundred years for you if need be." He said, moving to kiss Chat's wrist.

Chat shivered, melting against Coccinelle's touch. He could only mutter a feeble "okay" as Coccinelle laughed and helped him up. 

"Come on," Coccinelle said, "Let's clean up the mess we made; I still have to bring you back home in time." He teased lightly, rubbing his nose against Chat's.

They spent longer than they should have walking to their houses, joking and hugging, before eventually parting. And if anyone heard screams of joy in the middle of the night? No one would know it was them. 

And if they visited André the day after to apologize and share an ice cream together? No one needed to know but them and André.

And Plagg was right all along.

Chapter Text

Felix groaned as he headed down the stairs to make himself breakfast. Why did that asshole, Gabriel, have to enroll him in public school?! He had been having the time of his life being homeschooled! His only joy could come from Gabriel trying to do the same to Kieran, who explained why he was online, how Gabriel already wasn't paying him and had no right to dictate that kind of thing and, when there was an argument, gave Gabriel a dark look that shut him up.

He didn't know how Kieran did it, just giving a look that managed to strike fear into the old man. It probably had something to do with how Kieran always kept a dagger on him. It hadn't stopped Gabriel from forcing Kieran to be at the school while he did his online work, but he wasn't being forced into any of the actual classes like Felix was.

But Felix wasn't that lucky to strike fear into the hearts of his enemies, so he resigned himself to do whatever possible to avoid the inevitable. Therefore, he decided to make a meal that would take far too long to finish if he was to go to school on time, and Nathalie, who had a respect for food, would let him go late

When he got down the stairs, he heard Gabriel shouting, and his interest piqued as he looked in through the partially-open door. What his uncle was saying meant absolutely nothing, something about samples being wrong and employees being incompetent. Maybe if you paid them, they wouldn't screw up, Gabe. Felix could help but think, hoping this would delay the show at least for another two months so Kieran could get the hell out of dodge. Then he thought about it and decided ruining a full-on fashion show to make a point to Gabriel sounded like fun. 

Felix didn't care what Gabriel was saying because he noticed a large, fancy-looking book that he carried and put in a safe behind the painting of Aunt Emilie. He hid behind a pillar as Gabriel came out, and he smirked as he went in, knowing that while he could use his many tools in his bag to block the security camera, Gabriel would know it was him anyway.

He looked behind the painting and found a safe with a code. He examined the buttons and noticed five that were much more faded than others. There were twenty-five possible combinations, but he realized it was a date when he looked at the numbers again. He put in Gabriel's wedding date, and the safe opened immediately. 

His eyes lit up in excitement when he sat the contents, "My, my, what have we got here?" He said to himself, "A book on Tibet, an old flyer from a hotel, a load of junk..." he noticed a peacock brooch and held it in the palm of his hand. It was beautiful, and he pocketed it before grabbing the book and flipping through it, eyes wide as he realized what this was.

This was a book on the Miraculous. Felix took out the brooch again, noticing it didn't look quite the same as the one in the image. But Adrien's ring had a camouflage mode, so could this...?

He hurried upstairs to Adrien's room with the book, deciding to keep the brooch to himself for now until he was sure. If it was a Miraculous, why wasn't the kwami out? So he kept it quiet as he opened Adrien's door, "Adrien, you'll never guess what I found in your Dad's safe?"

"What?" Adrien asked as he packed up his messenger bag. Felix whipped out the book,

"It's a book on the Miraculous, and he keeps it in a safe behind the painting of Mrs. Agreste," he opened it up and flipped through, "I can't read this."

Adrien looked down at it too, "I can't read it either. I can pick out bits and pieces, but this seems to be a very old dialect. I've never seen something quite like this." He ran a hand through his hair, "Why would my father have this?"

Felix already had a pretty good idea why. First, Gabriel was obsessing over the rings that Mom always said had special powers—it wasn't even just because they were wedding rings, he had been seeking to have those rings, and it had been his verbal desire for those specific rings to be his wedding rings. And now there was a book on the Miraculous and a weird peacock brooch? 

It was painting a disturbing picture that Felix wasn't sure how he would tell Adrien, so he just replied with, "I don't know."

Plagg looked at the book in shock, "I thought this book was lost decades ago. "We're keeping this, and we have to know why Gabriel has this." He pointed at Felix, "Felix, you will be my eyes. Stay here and investigate."

Felix beamed, "Being told by a God of Death to skip school!" He bowed playfully, "Your wish is my command, your majesty," he giggled like a small child as Adrien quickly stuffed the book in his bag as Kieran came in.

"Hey," he analyzed Adrien and Felix's expressions, "Ah great, what happened this time?"

"I'm skipping school," Felix announced, "Adrien's not a fan." Kieran narrowed his eyes,

"Are you really going to get away with that? If so, give me some tips. I'm probably going to ditch an hour in. I've got online and am weeks ahead—thanks, Bustier, for instilling years of paranoia." He pulled up his heavy-duty black backpack, "Let's get going."

Adrien groaned, "So are both of you going to end up ditching me?" Felix nudged him,

"Look on the bright side, that's all the more time with Luka." Adrien relaxed at that, and Felix knew full well Adrien would tell Luka about the book. 

Felix smirked as Adrien waved him off with a blush on his face. Speaking of which, as Luka was Coccinelle—he could sense Adrien’s and Luka’s awkward giggling and flirting a mile away—maybe Felix should call him to bring him on board to this Gabriel investigation.

He waved to his housemates, and once they were gone, he cracked his knuckles. It was time to get to work.

...

Adrien and Kieran walked into school, Adrien holding Kieran's hand, as the other was holding onto his dagger and giving people suspicious glares. Adrien squeezed Kieran's hand, sending him a comforting smile, "Don't worry, Kieran, everything will be alright, and no one will try to jump you."

Kieran looked down at their hands, pulling away and looking around with wild eyes as he looked for an escape, "Well, I don't need to be here. I'll be at a coffee shop far away from here." He turned to flee but then froze when he saw the Dupain-Cheng bakery across the way and then pulled his backpack close as he backed into the school. Adrien noticed his hands were shaking as he tried to make himself as small as possible.

"Come on, I can just take you to the library to do your work."

"I—I—"

"Hey!"

Adrien turned from where he had begun to help Kieran to the cafeteria for a glass of water, struggling a bit to help Kieran with one hand and support his cane with the other. He brightened when he saw Luka. "Luka!" He waved, "I thought you graduated last year!"

"I did," Luka replied, pulling his hands out of his pockets to give Adrien a quick hug, "I'm taking a gap year before university. You know, getting a job as a teaching assistant and trying to get my life together after dealing with Hawk Moth."

"Is the rest of the cult doing that?"

"Most of them actually get paid for Miracle News," Luka replied, "Nathan and Kiera even bought an apartment together. Percy's at university in Montpellier. Dani and Ashton are also taking gap years to figure out what they want in life, and since Paris is still rebuilding, there are a lot of jobs available." 

"Nice!" He suddenly remembered the book. "Hey, Luka, I have to show you something later." He then turned when he felt Kieran's knees buckle, and he struggled to catch him, and Luka dove to steady him.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Kieran gave a forced smile despite his panicked eyes, "Fine! Yea—Yeah!" His breathing picked up, and Luka immediately wrapped his arm around Kieran's shoulder protectively,

"Hey, how about I take you to the nurse so you can lay down."

Adrien watched Luka take Kieran, a lovesick smile on his face. Sweet Luka, a hero in and out of costume.

"What happened?" Nino asked teasingly, nudging Adrien, "I know that look when I see it. Am I to expect some flirting?" Adrien covered his giddy smile with his hand,

"Nino, it's not like that!"

"Sure, sure," Nino replied sarcastically, "And Felix didn't skip today."

"You already know about that?"

"No, I knew it would happen from the moment he told me he was being forced into public school." Nino brightened, "Did you hear we have a new girl?"

Adrien paused. "New girl?"

"Yeah," Nino replied, "Apparently, her name's Lila. She seems nice enough, but I just wanted to give you a head's up just in case she goes all fangirl on you."

"Thank you, Nino," he glanced up at the classroom, "Is Miss Bustier?"

"Not fired?" Nino snarled suddenly, "Yeah, she's here. But on the bright side, there's an ongoing investigation if the people asking students about Bustier, plus the classroom observer, are any say. If we're lucky, she'll be fired before the semester ends."

"I would have thought Damocles would have fired her over the summer."

"Alas, that is not the case," Nino replied, "Kieran's going to be pissed. Speaking of which, is he here?"

"Luka just took him to the nurse," Adrien replied, "I think he started having a panic attack since he can't leave." He moved over to the entrance and noticed Tom was at the bakery's front counter across the street. He ducked inside the school as well.

"What?!" Nino looked between Adrien and the direction of the nurse, "Okay, I'll carry you up the stairs, then I should go check on him."

"Nino, just go see Ki—"

He yelped as he was picked up in a piggyback ride on Nino's back and helped up the stairs and into Miss Bustier's classroom. He was surprised to see Ms. Mendeleiev by the door with a cart of binders. She handed two to Nino,

"The lessons, classwork, and homework for the semester in my class," she explained. "I used to do this for Kieran due to his constant fear of being suspended by Bustier, and I figured I should just do it for everyone since forgiveness isn't really on the table." 

Adrien grimaced at the very real possibility his classmates would need this, and he smiled gratefully, "Thank you, Miss." He made a note to do something nice for his underappreciated teacher if she had taken time to do this for her students.

He was helped to sit down, and immediately, Adrien turned and saw the new girl where Marinette used to sit, writing something down in a notebook. He looked away, unable to think of anything else but Marinette sketching, or as he learned, copying his schedule. 

No, he told himself, I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt. But he also didn't approach to say hello.

He noticed Miss Bustier seemed incredibly tense, and it was then that Adrien realized everyone except Lila was giving variations of either loathing or displeased expressions. He supposed he should detest her for that email, but he already forwarded it to Nathalie upon her request, so that was probably being dealt with. He tried to understand Miss Bustier's thought process, but he truly couldn't.

Alya came in, wearing baggy clothes and refusing to meet anyone's eye as she sat in her spot, noticing Lila, "Who are you?"

Lila looked up, "Oh?" She grinned, offering her hand to shake, "Ciao! You're Ms. Cesairé, right?" Adrien picked up on what he guessed was a slight Italian accent.

Alya seemed interested in Lila's arrival, but she focused more on Nino, who looked away before getting up and leaving.

"Nino!" Miss Bustier called, "Class is about to start." Nino blinked,

"I'm not interested in hearing one of your forgiveness spiels again," he replied coldly, "Right now, I am going to go check on my friend in the nurse's office."

Adrien was taken aback. He knew Nino stood up for what he believed in, but he had never seen his friend so genuinely furious.

Chloé straightened, "Kieran's in the nurse's office?" Adrien decided not to ask how Chloé immediately knew that, and suddenly she and Sabrina were hurrying out with Nino.

Alix stood, "Hey, guys? Who here wants to just leave and not deal with this nonsense?"

There were cheers from everyone except Alya, Adrien, and Lila as everyone started heading out. Lila, understandably, looked extremely confused and just followed everyone. Kim helped Adrien onto his back,

"You don't deserve to deal with that," Kim said cheerfully as they headed out, "Since we're going out for the next few hours, we should all go do something fun."

Adrien relaxed, doing his best not to think about the book in his bag and the implications of it. "I'd love that." When they got to the bottom, he slid off Kim's back and headed into the nurse's office, finding Kieran leaning on Sabrina's shoulder with a glass of water, seeming to have calmed down. "Are you feeling better, Kieran?"

Kieran looked up, "A bit."

"Well, I have good news," Adrien replied, "Everyone's boycotting Bustier's class, so none of us have to deal with that." Even if his own feelings on the matter were conflicted—it felt wrong to cost someone their job because they acted on their beliefs—Kieran would see this as a wonderful event.

Kieran perked up, "So everyone's leaving?"

"Yeah. I mean, we only have art, math, and science besides that, and it's all after the lunch break. So if we all go in a crowd, you and I can hide from others."

"Great," Kieran stood up, "So I can get the hell out of here." Chloé rolled her eyes,

"You really want me to believe you're going to willingly hang out with people? Come on, KiKi, let's go back to the hotel."

"I thought I told you not to call me that."

"You can't stop me," Chloé took Kieran's hand and guided him out of the school. She hesitated seeing Nino, who didn't seem inclined to separate from Kieran. She scoffed, "Come on, Lahiffe, you don't have to look like a kicked puppy. Don't think I'll be this generous again." Nino brightened and followed her with Sabrina.

"I'm probably gonna stay here," Adrien said, "I don't want to trouble anyone with carrying me, and Father would be furious if I left school." Nino crossed his arms,

"Your father lets Felix ditch but won't let you boycott with us?"

"He doesn't know Felix ditched, and I'll probably just be in the library."

"I'll join you," Luka said, remembering Adrien mentioning needing to show him something, "Let me just talk to Juleka quickly so I know where she's going, and I'll meet you there. Or do you need me to carry you?"

"I'll be fine," Adrien struggled to get up the stairs, but he managed, "See?"

Luka didn't seem fully convinced, but he went to go talk to Juleka, winking as he went, and Adrien tried to hide the butterflies in his stomach.

When he made it to the library, he pulled out the book and flipped through it, trying to see what he could translate. But as he wrote down some of the translations onto a piece of lined paper, it all came out as nonsense.

"Ciao!" Adrien looked up and saw Lila smiling sweetly from across the room, and she sat down next to him, "Oh, sorry if I startled you, St. Agreste." She offered her hand, "I'm Lila."

Adrien hid his grimace, shaking her hand, "Please, just call me Adrien."

Lila brightened, and then her brow furrowed, "If you don't mind me asking, why does everyone but Ms. Cesairé hate Miss Bustier?" Adrien rubbed the back of his neck,

"How much do you know about Marinette Dupain-Cheng?"

"I did a little research," Lila put a finger under her chin as though deep in thought, "She was the former Ladybug that started working for Hawk Moth, right?"

"Yeah," Adrien sighed, "There's a bit more to her crimes, but Miss Bustier supported her and tried to force many students on the threat of punishment to not testify against Marinette. Alya is also a Ladybug fan, so it makes sense why she still supports Bustier." Of course, he knew Alya's adoration of Marinette was far more than just being a fan. However, if Lila hadn't been here when Alya's crush was broadcast to the whole city, Adrien didn't think it was his business to disclose that information.

Lila hummed a bit and pulled out her notebook she was writing in, "Alya's an OG Ladybug fan..." she noticed Adrien's curious look, "I'm writing down facts about my new classmates so I can get to know them better. With Hawk Moth at large, I don't want to accidentally upset anyone."

"Makes sense," he began hesitantly, putting the book back in his bag, but Lila noticed.

"What's that?" She looked over his shoulder, "A book on superheroes?"

Adrien tensed immediately and covered the book. "Sorry! I just... I really hate people looking over my shoulder." Lila relaxed and then wrote that down.

Luka came in and waved to Adrien, who waved back. Then he got a message on his phone from Felix that read "Urgent," and he had to hurry out the door.

"Just a second, Luka, Felix's calling!" He hurried out the door, not noticing the book fall out of his bag.

...

Luka watched Adrien go quickly and turned to notice Lila picking up the book Adrien had dropped off the floor. He listened to her heartsong and was alarmed to realize he couldn't pinpoint her emotion. With Marinette, he had always been able to tell despite how erratic it was, but with Lila, she seemed completely neutral in a disturbing way.

Tikki suddenly whispered in Luka's ear, "Luka! We have to get that book back to Adrien, it's important!" 

Immediately, Luka headed over to Lila. That must be the thing Adrien had wanted to show them. "Hey, this is Adrien's book."

Lila looked up from where she had been inspecting it, "I know. He dropped it and I was just about to bring it to him." Luka took the book from her,

"I know where Adrien tends to go for phone calls, I can take it to him, don't worry. Thank you for offering, though."

Lila's innocent expression went completely blank, and it caused Luka to be taken aback. Did he imagine that dark look in her eye or that ever so brief flicker in her heartsong? No, he couldn't be. He'd give her the benefit of the doubt, but he made a mental note to keep an eye on her.

As quickly as that blank look appeared, it was gone, and she grinned, "Thank you! I wouldn't want him to lose something so precious." She pulled out her schedule, "Do you mind pointing me in the direction of the art classroom? It's my soonest class, and I don't want to be late." Luka softened,

"Sure. It's the second door to the left."

Lila nodded, "Thank you, Mr. Couffaine. We'll be seeing more of each other." Luka nodded, unsure if that was a threat or not, as she joyfully hurried off, stuffing her notebook in her bag.

Luka glanced down at the book, putting it in his backpack, and back up to where Lila had run off, but he didn't have long to ponder it before he got a buzz on his phone, and his eyes widened as he saw the message.

OoOoO

Felix hid in the storage room off to the side of the kitchen, his phone on silent after warning Adrien that he may or may not have gotten Gabriel akumatized.

This didn't make sense. After everything, Felix had concluded that Gabriel must be Hawk Moth, so what was going on with this? Was he wrong? No... too much lined up for him to be wrong. Was Nathalie involved? Or could Gabriel akumatize himself? Felix didn't know the full powerset of the Miraculous, so it was difficult to tell.

He had known he was in deep shit when he heard Gabriel screaming earlier about his "book of inspiration" being missing and what a cursed wretch Felix was for taking it. If he was lucky, Gabriel didn't even know he was here and not at school.

He held the peacock brooch in his hand, clipping it on, "Come on, can someone let me know the transformation phrase? Kwami? You here?" He was so busy looking at the door that he didn't notice the brooch flicker between two forms as though glitching, as though the Miraculous was trying to help him but couldn't.

"I know you're here, Felix," Collector, as Felix had heard, said menacingly, and Felix heard the sound of talons scraping across the tile to find him, "Where did you take my book of inspiration?"

Felix looked around and noticed some bamboo that was growing indoors as decoration. He grabbed a knife from a box and cut a piece off, cutting indents into it as he heard the talons getting closer. He hid behind a shelving unit as the door was torn down.

"Where are you, Felix?" Felix had to calm his breathing, knowing help would arrive soon. He held his breath and walked on the balls of his feet as he hurried away as silently as possible, having ditched his shoes in favor of running in socks.

Once he was a safe distance away, he took out his makeshift flute and played it near the vent, where it would echo through the entire lower floor. If they were in the basement, it would be harder for Coccinelle and Chat Noir to fight. They had to get outside.

He kept playing the flute and running outside, noticing Nathalie's desk in the office was trashed, and he couldn't help but worry about what may have happened to her.

He yelped as talons dug into his back where he had been tackled by Collector. At least they were outside.

Collector reached for a book at his hip and forced it against the peacock brooch, "That's better." The gems adorning his body shone, and Felix found himself mesmerized by them momentarily but quickly realized they had some sort of attack quality. He tried to duck but felt burning in his eyes, the pain of which caused him to tear himself free, letting skin and flesh tear as he forced himself from Collector's grasp, knowing that to escape would be futile.

He quickly realized as the burning faded that his vision was completely black, and he looked around wildly. Why can't I see?!

It was hard to move with the immense pain in his back and newfound confusion, and not even adrenaline was able to keep him upright as he fell on his side helplessly. 

"Felix!"

He felt something around his waist as he was suddenly pulled up to the wall into someone's arms.

...

Chat saw Felix's pale face and the blood spilling from deep wounds, drenching his clothes and his eyes that had lost the color in them completely with red around his eyes, making him almost look like a hanged ghost. Just looking at the red made him need to look away and steady his breathing as he focused on the massive bird creature in the courtyard and his annoyance as he sneezed.

"It would be best we keep him in the courtyard," Coccinelle said, passing Felix to Chat, "You have a feather allergy, so take him and I'll keep BirdMan busy."

"Collector," Felix corrected, leaning on Chat Noir for support and feeling at his cousin's face to determine his surroundings, "And don't let those gems hit you; I think they blind people. And don't let the book touch you, it sucks in things." He held up his makeshift flute, "Lemme help... I can use the cat..."

"Felix, you're badly injured," Chat Noir protested, "You're going to be fine, but you have to rest. I can handle this fight." 

"Oh, no you don't!" Coccinelle suddenly shouted as Collector tried to fly at them, tossing his yoyo around Collector's clawed foot and using that to weigh down on him as he suddenly had to change course. He screamed as a flash of light from the gem hit him directly in the eyes, and he dangled uselessly, still clinging to his yoyo.

"Where is my book?!" Collector roared, and Chat Noir sneezed again, gathering Felix in his arms and quickly hurrying to the hotel where he found his friends, fear in his chest as he wondered if Coccinelle would be able to handle himself while blinded.

"An akuma?!" Kieran asked worriedly as Felix was placed on his stomach on the ground, and Chat Noir nodded,

"Yeah. Felix will heal when the fight's over, but can you guys take care of him for the time being?" Chloé nodded,

"You can count on us, Chat Noir!" 

Kieran groaned, "Bastard Gabe forced me to model for him in exchange for protection, and this is the second Akuma in what? A month and a half? To break into the mansion." Chat laughed a bit but then hurried out to help Coccinelle, deciding to take Felix's flute with him just in case.

When he found Coccinelle, he was met with what would be incredibly amusing under different circumstances. Coccinelle was still connected to Collector's talon, and the Akuma fumbled about, trying to reach him to grab at him, but it went in a circle like a dog chasing its tail.

He didn't want to get in the way and accidentally knock Coccinelle off balance, but he had to find a way to help. "Coccinelle!" Coccinelle looked in his direction, but Collector caught him first and charged, gems at the ready, and he just barely managed to dodge, shouting as loud as he could, "Coccinelle! Can you use your second yoyo to control him and follow sounds from me to where we need to go?"

"I think so!" Coccinelle shouted back, "Do you have some sort of signal?" Chat leaped over Collector, assuming the Akuma was in the book at his hip. He looked down at the flute, and he got an idea,

"Yeah, I do. And I'm sorry for how bad this is gonna sound."

"Nothing you do could sound bad, blondie," Coccinelle gave him a charming grin, but the image was marred by his Akuma-blind eyes.

"We'll see," he used his staff to launch himself across the way and behind a chimney as Collector dove for him again, and he repeated this for a few moments, giving Coccinelle time to get his second yoyo ready. At some point, Chat Noir realized he would struggle to throw it. When the yoyo missed, he flipped over Collector. He grabbed it, wrapping it around Collector's wrist, hissing as his cheek was cut, but this wasn't the first time he had gotten cuts on his face, so he didn't pay it much mind. Chat flipped and landed on the ground, using his baton to propel himself to another building and hiding behind the chimney, hoping Coccinelle was ready.

He looked down at the flute, knowing his father would associate it with Felix, and he began to play it, cringing at how awful it sounded. He needed to learn to play the flute because this was making even his ears bleed.

As he glanced to the side, he noticed it had worked, and Collector was flying toward him, but Coccinelle kept him relatively under control, following the sound of Chat's flute to the needed direction. 

Chat Noir was careful to avoid the gems as he did a backflip, shouting "Cataclysm!" and as he began to land, it was just in time for Collector to crash through the chimney, and he was able to reduce the book with the Akuma inside it to dust.

Coccinelle fumbled a bit, and Chat Noir helped him in the direction of the Akuma to purify it, and he threw his yoyo in the air, "Miraculous Glitterbug!" 

Once his vision was restored, he leaned on the chimney to ease his vertigo. He laughed, "I was wrong; that flute playing was pretty bad. I had flashbacks to grade school and being required to learn the recorder." They both laughed, and Chat put his hands on his hips playfully,

"Maybe I sound amazing and was just trying to make BirdMan's ears bleed." He offered his hand out for a high-five, which Coccinelle accepted eagerly,

"Hell yeah! Looks like we really were meant to work together," he smirked. Chat Noir felt the need to join in on the flirting but then noticed his father on his knees and free of akumatization.

"Are you alright, fa—sir?"

Father blinked a few times as he slowly came back to reality, "Coccinelle? Chat Noir? What happened to me?" He looked down at the brooch in his lap and held it close, but Chat Noir didn't get a good look at it. But the coloring made him think of the brooch Mom used to wear before she got sick.

"You were akumatized by Hawk Moth, but it's okay now."

"No, it's not okay!" Father snapped, "My nephew stole my book of inspiration!" Chat's eyes widened when he saw tears in Father's eyes, "It was the last thing my wife gave me before she disappeared..."

Chat Noir and Coccinelle looked at each other and considered this new information. But they couldn't give the book back just yet, but Chat knew he would never be able to live with himself if he was the cause of Father's distress.

He helped Father stand, "Let me take you home, sir. I'm sure your book will turn up." He looked to Coccinelle again, sending him a sort of look, hoping he got his message across, and Luka would take the miraculous book from his bag to discuss the next course of action with Tikki.

Coccinelle nodded and took off, waving, "Bye, Chat! Call you later!" He said, and Chat got the message about the next step.

Chat Noir hurried to take Father home before hiding in the school bathroom, glad it seemed the entire school was for the boycott of Bustier's classes, so there was nobody in the bathroom. He looked down at his cane, relieved it turned into his staff because the last thing he would have wanted was to leave it in this bathroom. All he had to do now was wait for the call from Luka.

...

When Gabriel made it back to the office, he found Nathalie incredibly displeased on the phone.

"Thank you for taking care of him, Chloé," she said, "I'll be there to pick up him and Kieran shortly." She hung up and narrowed her eyes, "Did you seriously injure Felix?"

"I was akumatized," Gabriel replied simply, putting the peacock brooch back in his safe and changing the password. "I couldn't help it. And you refused to play the role of Hawk Moth and stop me." He grabbed the box with the Butterfly Miraculous and clipped it back on.

Nathalie crossed her arms, "Are you seriously blaming me for not helping you when you admitted to being in full control when you accept the Akuma willingly? I already told you I could barely control Ice Queen, and I should have never agreed to that to begin with!"

"I could have chosen to tear out his throat," Gabriel defended, "Back injuries that will heal in exchange for him stealing damning evidence from me, and my book still hasn't been returned, seems like a fair trade. But now, Felix is off my trail and yours since I put you in the book."

She still wasn't convinced, "And Felix wasn't able to activate the peacock?"

"Thankfully," he replied, "I suppose that's one perk for it being as broken as it is. As long as he doesn't know the kwami name or the transformation phrase, it's useless."

Nooroo looked towards the safe, "We are going to fix the Miraculous, right?"

"Yes, Nooroo," Gabriel replied tiredly, "I've already told you that's part of the plan." He shooed Nathalie away as he tried to figure out where Felix could have put the book. He sincerely hoped Felix hadn't brought Adrien into this and poisoned his mind—or worse, the new model. Kieran was unstable enough that Gabriel knew he had to tread carefully. But if he played his cards right, Kieran could be his masterpiece.

But for now, that wasn't his priority. He looked around his trashed office. Right now, he still had to play the role of being incredibly distressed.

...

Coccinelle landed in an alleyway before detransforming with a quick "Spots off." He opened his bag, pulling out a ziplock bag filled with Tikki's cookies and the Miraculous book.  

Tikki quickly ate a couple of cookies before flying onto Luka's shoulder. Luka bit his bottom lip, deep in thought, but was snapped out of it when Tikki patted his cheek gently,

"Whatever you're thinking of doing, you should tell Adrien. Now that you two know each other's identities formally, it would be easier to talk about plans! And of course, I was right the first time I suggested it, so…" she gave a smug little grin.

Luka laughed, poking Tikki's cheek, "I already told you that I'm sorry, and you were right! I even bought you those fancy red velvet cookies you wanted!" He whined as Tikki giggled at his antics.

Tikki flew to face Luka, putting her little nubs on her hips, "Now is no time for goofing, though! We don't usually do this, but considering our circumstances, it's important both you and Adrien meet him!" She declared.

Luka cocked his head to the side, "Meet who?" He asked.

"Meet the Guardian of the Miraculous," she explained, leading him through the streets of Paris.

After running after Tikki into an apartment building, Luka came up to an ornate-looking door, with Tikki waiting for him patiently. After a moment's hesitation, he opened the door slowly before seeing an old man in a Hawaiian shirt, seemingly meditating, before opening his eyes to glance at him. "Hello, Coccinelle," he said with a small and tense smile. 

Tikki flew past Luka, "Master, I know you said they should never meet you, but Coccinelle and Chat Noir found something important!" She said, motioning Luka to present the man the book.

Luka frowned, "Who are you? I'm guessing you have a connection to the Miraculous, considering how you know Tikki," he said, hugging the book against his chest.

"I do believe some introductions are in order," the man said, standing up and approaching Luka. "My name is Master Fu, and as you correctly guessed, I am connected to the Miraculous. I am the Guardian of the Miraculous Box and the one to give Chat and the former Ladybug their Miraculouses." He explained, pointing his hand out for Luka.

"Master Fu is the last known member of the Order of the Miraculous!" Tikki explained, "If anyone would know what this book is saying, it would be him."

Luka nodded in understanding, taking Master Fu's hand for a shake before a green Kwami with a turtle shell flew in front of Luka excitedly, "And I'm Wayzz! Master Fu's Kwami!" He chirped, before laughing nervously at Master Fu's raised eyebrow, "It's an honor to meet you, Coccinelle," He said more respectfully, pointing out their nub for a shake.

He softened, shaking Wayzz's little appendage, and gave him a wink, "Please, just Luka will be fine," he said with a grin, relieved as Wayzz seemed to light up.

Luka turned his attention back to Master Fu, "Alright, let me just call Chat Noir! He found the book after all, and he should probably be a part of this too—" he started before getting cut off by Master Fu,

"You mustn't call him, Luka. It is far too dangerous already that you know me, and it's best to keep everything as secretive as possible," he said, deep in thought.

Luka blinked a few times, unsure if he heard that right, "But… we're both already involved? The minute Chat found this book containing information on the Miraculous, he was already involved. He deserves answers too!" Luka tried to say with an albeit confused smile.

Master Fu shook his head, "Chat Noir is far too inexperienced to know answers—too youthful and unruly! It's best if only you're here." He insisted.

Luka raised his eyebrow, "I'm the newbie here, not him. If anything, he's more experienced and ready for answers!" He put his free hand on his hip, growing increasingly miffed, "And about him being unruly, even with his jokes he has shown to be kind, mature and knows when to fight and work as a team."

Both men stood in silence for a moment before Luka transformed into Coccinelle and turned on his yoyo's phone feature, dialing Chat. After a moment, Chat picked up, "Hello?" He asked, on speaker.

"Hello Adrien Agreste, my Angel, my little panther, partner in fighting crime and equal in every sense of the word," Luka purred out as he heard Chat Noir laugh over the phone.

"That's also a way to start a call," Chat teased, unaware of the dumb grin on Coccinelle's face, "So what's the plan? Did you talk with Tikki about the book?" He asked.

"Yeah, and she led me to this guy that's apparently the Guardian of the Miraculous. He knows a bunch of stuff, and I'm kinda overwhelmed by all the info and could use your help, so can I send over the address, and you can come over?" He asked, giving Master Fu a plastic smile.

"Got it! Be there soon, Mulletbug." Chat chirped before hanging up the phone.

Luka detransformed before giving Master Fu a smile full of teeth, cheerfully saying, "So now everyone is involved!"

After a few moments, Chat came through the window, changing back into Adrien with his cane, "Never fear, for I am here!" He declared proudly before wobbling and balancing on his cane.

Luka laughed, holding Adrien's waist as a means to help him stand, "Let's sit down, shall we? It would be easier to discuss the Miraculous book, and you to teach us what you know." He suggested, moving to sit down with Adrien. Master Fu sat down in front of the two, sipping on a cup of tea he had on the side table.

All three sat in silence, the kwamis already having left to the kitchen for food. Adrien decided to speak up, to cut through the silence, "So what does being the Guardian exactly mean? And how did you even distribute the Miraculouses?"

Master Fu considered the question for a moment before getting up and going to his vintage record player. Pressing a few buttons, the record player's top opened, revealing a box with engravings similar to those Adrien saw on the box he received his ring in.

"This is the Miraculous box. The Guardians of the Miraculous are the ones responsible for protecting the box they were assigned, and when the time comes, distribute them to a worthy hero for the good of humanity." He explained, "Guardians are selected when they are children and train from a young age before they're responsible for guarding a Miraculous box. That was until… until I made a grievous mistake. The Guardians' temple was destroyed, and along with it, the Butterfly and the Peacock Miraculous were lost." He said, looking off to the distance, eyes misty.

Luka and Adrien frowned, giving Master Fu a look of sympathy, before Fu coughed, gesturing for Luka to give him the book. Luka handed it to him as the latter flipped through the pages with much delicacy. "Another thing lost to me that day was the great spell book. This grimoire holds the information for every Miraculous to ever exist, and while at the time, I wasn't allowed to even have a look at it, I know enough of the ancient dialect to translate the book for you."

Adrien smiled to himself. So I was right that it's an old dialect.

"And by translating the book, I could teach you of the various Miraculouses and their hidden powers," Master Fu said, opening the box to show the pair each of the available Miraculouses kept inside. The pair awed at the magic artifacts as Master Fu smiled gently at their youthful excitement.

Adrien raised his hand timidly and spoke when Master Fu nodded at him, "I hate to tell you this, Master, but this book is not really ours… it's actually my father's and my cousin stole it for me, which caused my father to be akumatized. He's still enraged, so we actually need that book back? I'm sorry if that causes problems." He mumbled nervously.

Master Fu stopped him, pulling out his phone, "Every problem has a solution. And these modern devices are quite useful! I'll simply take photos of all the pages, and translate it from my device. That way your father will not be at risk of getting akumatized again." He said as Adrien sighed in relief. Then his expression became somewhat colder. "I can only hope that with knowledge, you will proceed more wisely. You got lucky with Coccinelle, as he proved to be a good enough match," Luka grimaced. "But one must put careful thought into who is the perfect match for a certain Miraculous, lest it falls in the wrong hands."

Adrien withered under Master Fu's gaze and was surprised to hear the pissed-off voice of Plagg.

"Oh, like you did with Marinette? Because that went so well!" Plagg snapped, munching on a last bit of cheese. 

Everyone sat in silent shock, Luka biting his lip to stifle any shocked laughter that threatened to spill out.

Plagg didn't wait for Fu to respond, finishing off his cheese and flying towards the group, "Anyhow, first lesson, kids! Did you know you can transform into any outfit or appearance you choose? That applies to every Miraculous, as long as it's, of course, themed after the Miraculous. But it's really fun!" He cheered, trying to break the tension.

Luka grinned mischievously, rubbing his hands together. "I'm so making an outfit for every occasion! Tikki, a quick heads up, I'll probably take photos and nag you on whether I actually look good in the outfit and you will wanna end me in the process," he said as Tikki playfully groaned. He laughed, promising to pay her with as many sweets as she'd like.

Adrien glanced over to Master Fu, "Will that be alright, Master? I know this isn't exactly a class and all but please?" He sweetly asked as Master Fu nodded, notably avoiding Plagg's gaze.

"It'll be alright, Adrien. I'll take the time to get a head start on photocopying the spell book. I expect you and Luka to come this evening to retrieve the book, alright? It's best to always have someone supervising it."

Both Luka and Adrien nodded in determination before Luka went to check the time, grimacing, "Oh shit! Lunch break is almost over! We have to go, so neither of us will be caught," he said, getting up to dust himself off.

Plagg zipped excitedly in front of Adrien, "Wanna put your lesson to the test, kid?" He asked as Adrien nodded enthusiastically, "Good. Now think about what sort of outfit you'd like, think long and hard about it, okay? Before saying claws out, and voila! New outfit!"

Adrien closed his eyes, concentrating long and hard before shouting, "Plagg! Claws out!" He declared, transforming into his new outfit. It was much more armor-like, with shoulder pads, along with green highlights outlining the suit and a paw-shaped pendant on his now sash with real cat ears and a tail. He did a spin admiring the details on his suit before pausing at the sound of a low wolf whistle and Luka covering his mouth in shame.

He grinned, giving Luka a flirtatious look before the latter transformed, walking towards the window, rambling about how, "It's time for school and education that's super interesting and important, and we love education! Let's go before I humiliate myself beyond repair!" 

Chat Noir giggled, taking Coccinelle's hand, leaving through the window alongside him.

OoOoO

Adrien handed the book back to Father, "I'm sorry, Father. I know I should have given it back when Felix handed it to me, but..." he looked down in shame. What was he supposed to say? That for a moment, he had suspected his father was Hawk Moth?! "I guess I wanted to... you never tell me anything, so I wanted to know."

To Adrien's surprise, Father softened as he put the book back in the safe. "This book...was the very last gift your mother gave to me before...before she disappeared. All I have left of her is this book...and you. I'll cherish it in my heart forever, and after almost losing you because of Ms. Dupain-Cheng..." he squeezed his eyes shut as his breathing picked up. Adrien rushed over to comfort him. The number of times he had seen his father cry could be counted on one hand; he never wanted to be the reason for that distress.

"The book is back," Adrien assured him, "And I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, Father." He hugged him and was shocked when Father returned it in full. Adrien melted into the loving embrace he had wanted for so long, smiling peacefully.

...

Felix had watched the whole interaction from the door and grimaced at the performance Gabriel was putting on. As someone who learned to act, and Gabriel knew that, surely he could do a better job. 

Still, it had Adrien in the palm of his hand, and Felix highly doubted making Adrien see the truth that his father was putting on a show would be easy.

He still needed assistance on his investigation, however, and he shot a text to Luka.

Felix: Hey. I've been investigating Gabriel for a while, and even with the akumatization, he's incredibly suspicious. I need your help.

Chapter Text

Kieran

It was an incredible oversight on the architect's part that there was only one main entrance and exit to Collège Françoise Dupont. The second exit was obscurely hidden inside the pantry of the school kitchen only staff was allowed in. 

Of course, enough staff members knew Kieran well enough to allow him to pass with no issue. As he began sneaking out, Ms. Abadie, the school's head cook, crossed her arms. "So where are you headed off to this early in the day?"

He turned, "Do I have to explain myself? I don't go here. Gabriel just forces me to hang around."

She rolled her eyes, "I know that. I'm just asking where you're headed."

Should he tell her? He decided not to give many details, but then he thought of something, "I'm going to meet someone. Hey... do you mind giving me one of today's lunches? I don't know if she'll have eaten." He dug into his backpack for the money Adrien had given him as the best he could do to make up for Gabriel's lack of payment. "I can actually pay you." He offered her money, and she smiled as though saying it wasn't needed, but he pushed the euros into her hands.

"Alright," she put a meal into a container, "Here you go. It's red bean and corn salad, a chicken skewer with ratatouille, cheese fondue with bread for dipping, and Paris Brest."

Kieran sometimes forgot how nice the school meals in France were. He had grown used to going without lunch unless Chloé forced him to eat her rich people food. But this would work perfectly. "Thank you, ma'am."

"Stay safe, Kieran," Ms. Abadie called, and he hurried down the road through the back so he could stay out of sight of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He didn't bother looking at a map; he knew where he was going as he took the back routes to the apartment. Even after five years, he remembered how to get here, checking the numbers occasionally to ensure nothing changed.

He doubted Aunt Siobhan would answer the door—she was always at work—but he knocked anyway, relatively certain who he was hoping to see was home. He had already ensured his aunt never kept the spare key out. He didn't dare risk Marinette getting in and...

The door opened, and Kieran softened to see how much his little cousin had grown in the five years since he had last seen her.

Lily blinked a few times, staring at him as though he wasn't really there, and he fought against a visible grimace. He should have told her where he was going, despite the risk. Had she begun forming a little fantasy world in her head?

He took a careful step forward, bending down to her level and noticing the long fuzzy white coat she wore. He was glad he made it as big as he did because even though she had been five when he gifted it to her, it still fit at ten.

He brushed her hair out of her face, smiling softly, "You still have the coat I gave you."

He saw the exact moment she realized this wasn't a byproduct of her imagination. He was really here after all this time. Tears welled up in her blue eyes as she ran into his arms, crying. He picked her up with ease, careful to not irritate his arms after being a bit careless last night.

The apartment was the same as he had seen it last, and he sang softly to calm her down, but he knew better than to hush her.

"As an sliogán

Amhrán na farraige

Suaimhneach ná ciúin

Ag cuardú go damanta

Mo ghrá."

He looked around and was surprised to see magazines on the coffee table, all of which being ones he was forced to model in. 

He sighed, wondering if he was even the person she wanted anymore. He had changed so much since the bubbly boy he used to be...Adrien was, in a way, everything he used to be. And Adrien for a time had been mute, so that was another reason for Lily, who was mute as well, to look up to him. Was it a mistake to have come here? Would it only disappoint her?

Supporting her small body on his least injured arm, he used his free hand to reach for a glass and filled it up with water, starting to set the table for her to eat, noticing the lack of dishes in the sink.

When Lily stopped crying, he helped her into her seat, and he pulled out the container with food out of his backpack, "I brought you food."

"You're back." She signed to him, and he nodded,

"Yeah. Sorry, I didn't stop by sooner... I've been kinda busy." She got up and held up the magazines to show him, and he nodded, "That's right. And between you and me, Gabriel Agreste is an awful person. You're a pretty girl, so if you ever have an interest in modeling, don't go to him. He won't pay you." But he quickly turned the conversation away from anything related to Adrien, "Come on, sit and eat. I got you something."

Lily brightened, curious to see what he had gotten her given how much she adored her coat, and she hurried over to eat her meal. He pulled out the box from his backpack and placed it in front of her, and she opened it once she finished eating.

Inside was a small dagger with a coral hilt engraved with silver Celtic knots and tiny seashell embellishments. The sheathe was made of mother of pearl. She beamed when she saw it, tracing the Celtic knots with her finger. He smiled,

"Aunt Siobhan told me you like Song of the Sea, especially since it matches your coat. I figured you'd appreciate a seashell-themed dagger. Besides, nobody should go anywhere unarmed." She jumped up and hugged him, and he hid a wince as he accidentally banged his arm on the table. But any momentary pain was quickly forgotten to see her clinging to him like when they were kids. He picked her up again, and they sat on the couch, "So, what have you been doing the last few years?"

Lily suddenly paused, slumping slightly, and Kieran grimaced.

"Your Mom's been giving you a hard time and just focused on 'curing' you, right?" She nodded, and Kieran sighed. "Nothing's wrong with you, Lily. Don't worry about it. Your Mom just doesn't understand like I do. I'm sorry I haven't been around much, but things will be different now."

"Why did you leave?"

She had been too young to understand last time, so he hadn't told her. He tried to think of how to phrase this so she would understand, but it wouldn't scare her too much. "You know Marinette Dupain-Cheng, former Ladybug and Princess Justice?" Lily nodded, and he bit his lip, "She was hurting me, and I didn't want to put anyone in danger, so I had to leave. I would have told you where I was, but I didn't want you to be targeted."

"She came by asking," Lily said, "She got mad when I didn't talk."

He hadn't thought it was possible, but Kieran felt his fury at that disgusting criminal increase exponentially, hearing she had the audacity to come near Lily, especially getting mad about Lily being unable to talk. It wasn't anyone's fault but Marinette's that she was too busy with her wet dreams to learn sign language.

"Well, she's stupid," he replied casually, wrapping his arm around her, "She didn't hurt you, right?" Lily shook her head, and he sighed in relief.

That relief was immediately ruined when she noticed his other arm and reached for it. He didn't know what she had noticed until she pulled up his sleeve to see the bandages.

Damnit! He knew getting that close to his wrist had been a mistake due to how high he needed to put the bandages. His breathing picked up, pulling his arm away before noticing the deeper cut from last night had started bleeding again.

He forced himself to take deep breaths. Of all the reasons to possibly get akumatized, this was by far the worst way for it to happen. And he was starting to feel Hawk Moth was targeting him because whenever he got even mildly upset, an Akuma was waiting for him to not be on guard. It was getting really annoying.

"Are you okay?" She asked. He turned pale as her eyes settled on the blood, concern and confusion painted all over her face. "Why are you bleeding?"

"Oh, it's nothing," he assured her, "I'm used to this."

Not convinced in the slightest, Lily got up and grabbed a box of large hydro seal bandages from the cabinet and started trying to unwrap the bandages, and he knew it would only dig a deeper hole for himself if he resisted her.

Her eyes settled on the cuts and scars on his arms, not letting him pull away, "Why do you have cuts on your arms? Are they paper cuts?" She examined the cuts further, trying to determine how to apply the band aids to her cousin's injuries.

What could he even say here!? She was too young to understand he had done this to himself, and he had no desire to ruin her innocence. He shouldn't have come. He had forgotten how intuitive she was. Of course, she noticed the cuts! He had been too careless, and now this was happening.

It wasn't his most elegant lie, but he knew it would work decently enough if he relied on omission and Hawk Moth. "They're battle scars."

Lily looked up with panic, "You're fighting in a war?"

Not exactly... "Yeah. A long and hard one, and I can't say Hawk Moth has made that war any easier. Please do not ever get any scars like mine. But I'll tell you what. Whenever you see someone else with battle scars, or even if you can't see any, but someone is upset, I want you to go give them a hug, okay? Can you promise me?"

Lily nodded eagerly, "I promise!" She looked at his arm again, "Will the war be done soon?"

"I don't know," he replied softly, "Coccinelle and Chat Noir are doing their best to defeat Hawk Moth, so hopefully it will be easier soon."

Lily nodded a bit, "Just promise me you'll try not to get hurt anymore."

Kieran froze. He couldn't stop, for everyone's sake, not to mention all the benefits that came from it. Lily wouldn't understand that, and he couldn't exactly explain his justifications without traumatizing her.

But he wasn't sure he could live with himself for denying her request after all the pain he had caused in leaving, so he put on a smile. "I'll do my best." He ruffled her hair, messing up her braids slightly, and she brightened as she finished up her work.

"You'll forever be my war hero." 

He examined his arms and kissed her forehead, "Thank you, Lily. I feel much better now." He stood up, holding her hand, "It gets kind of boring staying in here all day. You're on a hybrid schedule, right?" She nodded, and he winked, "I think you can spare a couple hours. Make sure to bring your knife with you."

She nodded eagerly and put on her shoes, and he hurried out the door with her, tugging down his sleeves again and thinking about where they would go. He had marked on his map where the Dupain-Cheng bakery was with a bright red X, so he knew where he was avoiding and how to go around it.

Deciding to let Lily lead him since she knew Paris better, they walked for a while, and during that time, he purchased some ice cream for both of them from a truck by the Eiffel Tower. Lily held her sheathed dagger protectively in her pocket, and he made a mental note to teach her how to use it properly.

He dreaded the idea some creep would think her autism made her an easy target for sexual harassment. Kieran knew just by looking at his little cousin that one day she would be as sought after as he was, and he wanted to make sure she was able to prove she could defend herself.

Hearing familiar voices, Kieran found himself standing at the stairs, looking down on his former classmates hanging out in the Trocadéro Gardens. After hearing about the boycott, Gabriel had given Adrien permission to join in, so he was down with Luka, who played music while everyone chatted and played games together.

Lily pointed at them, and Kieran nodded, "Yeah, those are my classmates. Let's..." he stopped himself when he noticed Alya Cesairé down there, off to the side, but Rose was talking to her. Kieran pursed his lips and sat Lily down, not going down to meet everyone else. "You know, when I was younger, my friend Chloé gave me a job working as an errand boy. I spent a lot of time with Butler Jean, learning tools for working life." He sighed fondly, "Oh, it was a wonderful time, despite the pageants and dances..." he rolled his eyes, "So many dances. I once ended up with a large sword in my hand, and a crimson headdress with a great plume."

Lily was enraptured in the story he told her, giggling softly as she imagined him when he was younger with such a spectacular headdress. Kieran looked down at his classmates.

"But Jean was wise too, and he told me something very important, and I regret not heeding this advice in regards to Gabriel."

"What did he say?" 

Kieran's expression turned to a sneer, seeing Alya able to mingle with the others who were simply too polite to turn her away. "Trust in those who offer you service and in the end...you will find yourself in the ranks of those who have been deceived."

Kagami and Felix

Felix tried to look at the script he was supposed to read and the animated scene in front of him to give context for how he was supposed to act. He really did try without breaking down in tears, but he just couldn't do it. He had read so many awful books, but the closest thing he could think of that could even compare to his dialogue here was the worst kind of Wattpad fanfiction.

Kagami wasn't faring much better, but she managed to keep an impassive demeanor as expected of her family. However, it was plain as day to Felix that she could barely stomach her lines as Ladybug.

It had been Gabriel's plan before the whole Princess Justice thing to have Adrien voice act this Ladybug and Chat Noir dumpster fire of a movie, and seeing how the only changes made after Princess Justice were only bad things...

Gabriel had hilariously tried to make Kieran voice Basilisk, who was basically Coccinelle with another animal print. However, Kieran pulled out his death stare, and Felix was now voice-acting two characters and, at the moment, having a conversation with himself.

"You can't beat me, Chat Noir," he said in a comically deeper version of his own voice and then morphed his expression to one of panic for his normal voice as the Chat Noir character, "Oh, save me, Ladybug!" He ended up in peels of laughter and had to step away from the microphone, "I'm sorry, I can't do this. It's just too cringey."

"You have to," the director said over the intercom, "The movie's coming out in less than two months."

"And yet we're still voice acting," he grumbled. "We've been doing this for hours, and I still haven't had my third cup of coffee. Can't we at least have a break for a couple hours? This would go faster if I wasn't actively trying not to vomit," he looked at the script, "I mean, honestly, who wrote this?" He put the paper down, unable to stomach looking at it. "If you're going to write a tense scene, you actually need to make the dialogue that is tense and not like the most cliché thing ever. Also, I wasn't going to say anything," he gestured to the screen. "But why does Ladybug look like a little white girl? She's at least half Chinese."

He didn't get a response and took that as an okay to leave, so he grabbed Kagami's hand and pulled her out of the studio so they could go have fun. She looked up at him, "We weren't supposed to leave."

"Come on, could you handle looking at that? Let's just go find a Starbucks or something and eat. If you excuse me, I need to read something actually good." He pulled out the translated version of Mo Dao Zu Shi on his tablet. "I swear, even the cursed smut of the extra chapters is better than that movie's script."

Kagami's brow furrowed, "Cursed...smut?"

Felix realized with sinking dread that Kagami had no idea what he was talking about. But he quickly decided that he might as well destroy that innocence as revenge for being forced to voice-act this movie.

He went on in detail about terms when reading and what exactly he meant by cursed smut. There were some moments when Kagami looked as though she wished for an Akuma to come along and remove the memory.

He rested his head on his hand as he put the tablet down, "So, Kagami, I've told you about my hobbies. What about yours?"

Kagami brightened a bit, "I too enjoy reading. I'll have to look at some of the books you read...smut aside." She giggled, "You really just read that stuff to make fun of it?"

"Oh yeah," he replied casually, "I have a whole essay planned to turn in for Bustier, just to ruin her day a little bit more." He rolled his eyes, "Anything else you like to do?"

She dug into her bag and pulled out a sketchbook, "I like to draw... Mother says I'm not very good." She held out one of her drawings in shame, and Felix's brow furrowed as he looked at the hyper-realistic pencil drawings inside.

"Your mother is literally blind. Why is she judging your incredible art?" Kagami blinked as though she hadn't thought of that before, and Felix gestured to the drawings, "I can kinda draw in a manga art style, but nothing like what you do."

"Can I draw you?" She asked, and he shrugged,

"Alright. Mind if I read while you do that?" She brightened,

"That's you when you're most natural."

Felix gave a thumbs up before picking up his coffee in one hand and his tablet in the other, smirking at the gay romance in this book with the main protagonist more oblivious than Adrien when it came to love life. Starbucks was a little sweeter than was his preference, but he wanted Kagami to enjoy a normal life. And it was nice that they could sit in silence doing their own thing without it being uncomfortable.

"I finished a rough sketch," He looked up, and Kagami held up her drawing of him, and he was amazed by her work.

"You call that a rough sketch, I'd call that a finished product." He perked up, "Hey, Kagami, I want to take you somewhere." She cocked her head.

"Where would that be?" She asked, and he stuffed his tablet in his bag and grabbed her hand,

"I promise you'll like it."

After a bit of a walk trying to figure out where he was going, he brought her to Le Géant des Beaux-Arts, an art supply store. He handed her fifty euros.

"Go crazy."

Kagami hesitated, "Mother wouldn't approve."

"What's she gonna do? It's my money buying this for you." He nudged her inside, "If it's your passion to do so, I don't see why anyone should stop you."

...

Why was Felix so kind to her? Mother always said if she wanted something, she had to earn it. And while she had earned some more freedom facing her execution with dignity, that didn't change how she still needed to practice her fencing.

"If you had been better practiced, you would never have been executed," Mother had told her so many times, insisting she practice as much as possible and not busy herself with her stupid little hobby of drawing. But Felix was not only telling her to go for it; he was using his own money so she could have supplies?

"Why are you giving me your money?" She asked, and Felix smirked,

"If there's one thing I love, it's seeing people pursue passions that piss off their asshole parents." Kagami was just about to get defensive in the face of someone insulting her mother, but then looked at the money again, looking down at her shoes.

Mother didn't have to know, right? She already did everything Mother asked her, so she could afford to have this, right?

She took a step into the store, and Felix clapped her on the back, giving a cheeky grin. "Atta girl."

She didn't get much, just a box of nice colored pencils and another sketchbook. She had to make sure Mother never found out, after all. There was still this feeling she was breaking the rules, but...she liked it? It was so strange, like when she had been spending time with Nino at the gala. Mother would never approve of her lack of elegance, but she had still had fun.

When she was done shopping, she and Felix grabbed some more coffee from another coffee shop—coffee sparked this interesting buzzing like she had more energy, so she understood why Felix enjoyed it so much.

They walked for a little while, and Felix hesitated in front of an old house, and she cocked her head, "Felix?"

"That's a bakery my cousin and I loved going to when we were little," he ushered Kagami along, "I'd get you some, but with the childhood innocence gone, I realized Rolland Dupain's a racist old sod."

"Dupain?" She blinked, and he shrugged as they kept walking.

"Marinette's paternal grandfather. I actually stopped by during the trial, and, hilariously, he hadn't even known he had a granddaughter before that. He still renounced her saying he didn't have a son and therefore granddaughter, and her behavior wasn't how it was done."

"Let me guess, he disowned his son for marrying an Asian woman?"

"You guessed it! He told me it was about rice flour, but we both know what that's code for." Kagami grimaced. She had never understood why people could think differently of others just because of where they came from. It just didn't make sense.

Felix turned, "Oh, hey! Kiki!" Kagami looked where he was waving and saw Kieran sitting next to a little girl who bore a striking resemblance to him. The main differences was her hair seemed to be naturally brunette, unlike Kieran's natural strawberry blonde. But with Kieran's hair dye, the resemblance was evident.

Kieran waved, "Oh, hey guys." The little girl looked at Kagami pensively before running up to her and giving her a hug. Kagami frowned at the small child,

"Why are you hugging me?"

The girl broke away and began speaking in sign language that Kagami only recently had begun to learn. Something about her cousin?

Kieran translated, "She said it's because you have battle scars."

"Like her cousin?" Kagami asked with concern, and Kieran didn't reply for a moment before brightly bending down next to the little girl.

"This is my cousin, Lily. I decided to visit her." 

Kagami decided not to ask why he hadn't answered her question.

...

Ah, so Kieran got caught and came up with a lie. Felix supposed that being given hugs from a kid was by no means a bad thing, but he could tell the fact she knew anything was stressing Kieran out. It was probably best if he wasn't mostly alone until he managed to calm down.

Kagami offered Lily a piece of paper to write on for those who didn't know sign language, and Lily grinned. Felix noticed the soft expression on Kieran's face he wasn't used to seeing, and he gestured to their classmates below. "So are we gonna head down there?"

"Absolutely not," Kieran snapped, "Alya's down there, and I'm not letting that godforsaken criminal near my cousin." He crossed his arms. "She's no better than Marinette, being the lackey just because she, for some reason, was super attracted to a sleazy two-faced whore."

Felix remembered Alya distinctly trying to kill him, and he decided that while he couldn't think of a rebuttal anyway, he wasn't in a place he could exactly argue with that assessment. He looked down at the people again, pretty sure they only brought Alya along to keep an eye on her.

He also noticed a distinct lack of Lila. Just the thought of the new girl made him incredibly excited. Luka had told him there was something weird about her, and while she seemed normal to the naked eye, Felix knew full well that half the time, she was trying her damndest to not roll her eyes. 

He had been at recordings most school days, so he hadn't had time to get a real feel for her, but from the glimpse that he had seen, could she be the one? The nemesis he had been dreaming of his entire life?

Just the thought made his heart flutter in excitement, and he grinned at Kieran, "Come on, let's head down there. If Alya bothers Lily, I'll deal with her."

Kieran fiddled with his knife, "You won't get the chance." Felix frowned at the sadistic glint of murder in Kieran's eyes like he just really wanted to kill Alya and have a valid reason for his behavior. Not that Felix could really judge, and he understood the desire to kill anyone who harmed his cousin.

"So...we're going down there?"

"No." Kieran answered, "Lily!" Lily turned from where she had been showing off her knife to Kagami, who was showing off her sword and offering knife lessons. Lily ran over to Kieran and hugged his legs, and he picked her up effortlessly.

They locked eyes, and Felix gave the nod at Kieran's concerned expression, confirming he did know about Kieran's little habit. Even if Luka hadn't told him during the trial, he would have been able to spot it a mile away.

Kieran turned away from where everyone else was, taking Lily away from any potential threats to her safety. Felix didn't bother calling after him or trying to convince him—he had already made up his mind.

Felix waved as he headed down with Kagami, "Sunflower!" Adrien brightened to see him, and his grin only grew bigger at the sight of Kagami.

He got up, leaning on his cane, "So you both escaped?"

"You know it!" Felix sat down, "Let me tell you, I act for fun, but this script is just so bad I'm in physical pain. I'd complain to you in detail, but I think that's against the rules. I just know that even if I put my all into these roles, it's still a black spot on any potential acting career if I were to have one."

Luka gestured up above, "Kieran was up there a bit ago."

"Yeah, but then he saw Alya and didn't want to endanger his cousin, so they're off doing god knows what. Maybe going to find Chloé?" He looked around, noticing a distinct lack of Chloé, "Where is she, anyway?"

"She said she had something she had to do," Sabrina replied, getting up, "I'm gonna go say hi to Kieran!" Nino followed her quickly.

"Wait for me!"

Kagami pulled out her new colored pencils and began quietly drawing. Adrien sat next to her, "Woah! I didn't know you draw, Kagami!"

Felix noticed Alya get up and leave, realizing she wasn't exactly welcome here. Mildly concerned for Kieran, he shot him a quick text that Alya wasn't here anymore, so keep an eye out just in case. Even if Felix was pretty sure Alya wasn't stupid enough to start a fight against someone she knew was armed, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Mylene sat next to him, "Hey, Felix." She shrunk down a bit, "I know, we haven't really talked in a few months, and you haven't really come to school—"

"I know who you are, Mylene," he assured her, "I don't forget people that easily."

"Well," she fidgeted with a necklace Ivan must have given her, "I just wanted to officially welcome you to our class."

Felix looked around at the people who made Adrien so happy, laughing and having a good time. He didn't fail to notice Luka's lovesick smile in Adrien's direction. 

He had already warned Luka that since he was a TA and Miss Bustier was desperate to keep her job, she might try to throw them under the bus as a punishment for not forgiving Marinette while still looking better. Luka acknowledged the concern, so he and Adrien were going to be careful.

But he realized now that he didn't have to worry. Anyone would step up to go against any claims Miss Bustier made, especially in regards to that. They had Adrien's back and were happy to let Felix in too.

"I'm glad to be here," he said quietly, and it wasn't a lie.

Chloé

As everyone else had hurried out of class for the boycott until lunch, Chloé didn't have much intention of joining the remainder of her classmates. It wasn't like they liked her all that much anyway, even if their perspective had changed since realizing Chloé had reasons to target Marinette outside of generic bullying.

She decided to take a walk downtown to clear her thoughts. Along the way, she passed the Dupain-Cheng bakery, and immediately she crossed to the other side of the street.

"He's going to kill me!" She remembered Kieran crying from sheer terror as he ran into her bedroom when they were children. She recalled plain as day her friend's terror at Marinette's father. Chloé also remembered the events of Princess Justice and how he had lit the pyre under Adrien of his own will. It wasn't just Kieran's paranoia that said Tom Dupain was dangerous.

Then she noticed Sabine struggling to bring some boxes inside of the honestly somber-looking store.

She could really use help… Chloé thought but remembered every reason she had to stay away. But she looked at Sabine again. Sabine never seemed actively dangerous. Even as an Akuma, she seemed more inclined to just see if the accusations were true than actually harm anyone.

And besides, it wasn't like anyone would dare harm her. Even if she wasn't the mayor's daughter, anyone with a brain knew that attacking her was a terrible idea because she was still incredibly wealthy. Not to mention she had survived the war already, so it wasn't like she couldn't defend herself if the need arose.

She headed over to Sabine.

"Need some help?" She picked up the box, years of dance and martial art classes leaving her relatively strong, unburdened by the emotions that were making Sabine's shoulders shake.

Sabine seemed surprised to see her but quickly brushed any dust off herself once she put her own box down on the counter, turning to greet Chloé properly.

"Why hello, dear! What can I do for you today?" She asked with a nervous grin as Chloé set the box down. Chloé couldn't blame her, really. Why would the bully of her criminal daughter appear out of nowhere in the shop, after all?

Chloé fidgeted with her ponytail, averting her eyes away, "I was looking for somewhere to help around shops and charity? Now with the city in shambles, I know there are many jobs available and that anyone could use help, and I saw your shop and thought I could help today since we have the first half of school off?" She asked more than said.

Sabine brightened, her smile turning more genuine and relieved, "Oh, how lovely. We'd love the help!" She set down the boxes and opened the kitchen door for the latter, "Come, let me show you the kitchen!" She said, motioning Chloé to enter.

But when Chloé entered the kitchen, she didn't see what Kieran told her would happen. Or anything of what the media's been saying about the Dupain-Cheng family. In the kitchen, there was Tom Dupain, eyes puffy and red, delicately tying a bow around what seemed to be a box of pink polka-dotted macarons. He looked up to see Chloé before giving her a respectful nod and exiting the kitchen into his house.

Sabine sighed, turning to Chloé with a tired glance, "Things… have been rough for us lately." She said before moving to get things set up.

It's understandable, really, Chloé thought to herself. After all, it can't have been easy to hear your own child did all those terrible things. Like sure, maybe it would have been easy for Chloé's mother or father to hear that, but Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng were kind people, that truly loved their daughter. She couldn't begin to imagine what they must feel like.

"Dear, if you could come over? I could use help with the first task," Sabine said, motioning to a bowl fill with a green colored meringue and a piping bag filled with said mixture, "I already made the meringue mixture but I could use some help piping them, while I work on the filling."

Chloé nodded, rolling up her sleeves and heading to the counter, listening attentively to Sabine's instruction on piping what was apparently a matcha meringue mixture for a macaron shell while she worked on making the red bean paste filling. "It's a comfort food," she admitted bashfully, "Reminds me of both my homes." Chloé could only nod gently and attempt to poorly pipe the mixture.

Both women stood in silence, nothing but a few directional tips from Sabine for Chloé, as the latter slowly managed to improve her technique. Neither quite wanted to address the big elephant in the room, but someone had to.

"Y'know… I wasn't a saint either." Chloé said, sucking in a deep breath.

Sabine looked at her in confusion as though trying to understand where this was coming from. She explained,

"I was too spoiled to cover up for problems, and I hurt many people in my arrogance and pain. So… I'm not here to judge. I made that mistake before and I won't make it again." 

Chloé looked up to see Sabine looking at her with tears in her eyes. Sabine put a hand on Chloé's shoulder, not even trying to cover up her emotions.

"Thank you."

And Chloé could only nod and blink away tears before both turned to work.

Lila

"Oh! There you are, Lila," Alya said as soon as she had found Lila alone in the art classroom. Lila didn't pay Alya any heed, focusing on her notebook and the information she had gathered about her new classmates. 

The only people she was relatively concerned by were Felix Graham de Vanily and Kieran Descônteaux, simply because she didn't know much about them. But from what she did gather, neither of them was trusting. Kieran was most likely not much of a threat because he consistently fled the school whenever possible and wasn't an actual classmate, not to mention he was leaving in about two months after Dupain-Cheng's sentencing.

Alya cocked her head a bit, "Lila?"

Lila untangled her hand from where her chin lay to place it on her lap, calculatingly opening up her body to Alya, eyes immediately brightening up in faux innocence and lips curling into a charming smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said cheerfully, "I sometimes tune out noise when I'm reading."

"Whatever," Alya crossed her arms, "I need your help." Lila blinked before suppressing a smirk. Cesairé must be desperate if she was asking for help. But Lila had played this song and dance long enough to not let her momentary judgment be shown anywhere on her face.

"Oh? What's wrong, Ms. Cesairé?"

"Well," Alya played with a strand of her hair, swallowing, "You know about how nobody can stand to be around me after everything involving Princess Justice... I went down with them earlier, and things were still really uncomfortable. You've started making people like you, and I know at least half the class trusts you—"

"Get to the point." Lila narrowed her eyes, wishing the other girl would leave already. Alya faltered for a moment before taking a deep breath and being far more confident.

"I need your help fixing my reputation."

Lila frowned, "Fix your reputation?" She leaned back in her chair, "You're asking me because I'm new and could get away with that, correct?" Alya nodded, and Lila considered this. "But what makes you think I have any reason to help you, Ms. Cesairé?"

"I saw you that day in the library," Alya explained, "With Adrien's book. You were going to take that book and use it to your advantage."

Lila fell silent as she considered what Alya was saying. She couldn't risk Alya running around and spreading that misinterpretation. The idea that this failure of a journalist kept an eye on her for this purpose, alongside being in love with Marinette Dupain-Cheng, let her know who she was dealing with.

She laughed, her expression becoming cold, "What do you take me for? A pathetic creep like your darling Marinette?" Alya flinched as Lila stood up, running her fingers along the wood of the table, "I'm not a fool, Ms. Cesairé. I was simply going to take the book back to him and use that to engage in conversation. After all, why would St. Agreste have a book on the very thing Hawk Moth is after?"

She headed towards the door. She couldn't have Alya trying to take charge of the situation because while she wasn't a threat, she also didn't want Alya thinking she had any control. Even if she was interested in what Alya may offer in return, she had to put Alya in a desperate mindset to get the best on her end.

"Wait!" Alya grabbed her hand before she reached the door, "I can help you in return."

"Oh?" She turned her head but remained reaching for the door, "And what could you offer me to make risking my own reputation worth it?"

"You want information, right?" Alya asked, "That's what you've been after since you got here. I can tell you everything I know about everyone, including Luka! He must be a threat to you, right?" She gained a bit of confidence, "I don't care what you do with that information once I give it to you."

She's not quite as stupid as I thought... Lila considered the risk and reward of agreeing to help her. But with how hated Alya was, and she knew how much of a lackey Alya had been to Marinette... she could use this.

"I don't have nearly enough influence to convince people to give you a chance if you keep going on with your current Marinette-loving nonsense," she replied, "If I am going to help you, you have to obey everything I tell you to."

"I can do that," Alya held out her hand to shake, "So are you going to help me?"

And that was what she was looking for. Now she had a source of information and someone to do her dirty work should the need ever arise. The reward outweighed the risk, as now she could act relatively freely with a scapegoat at the ready.

She opened up her body language to Alya, turning away from the door and shaking her hand, "I will do my best."

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Idle chatter filled Miss Bustier's class as students filed into the room. It didn't take more than a brief glance to see most students clearly didn't want to be here, sneaking out phones and glancing at the clock occasionally to see when they could leave—if not just leave again as a strike. Alas, the school had pointed out they couldn't afford any more absences.

Miss Bustier waited for everyone to be situated in their seats, before attempting to grab their attention, with "Hello class" and "Excuse me, I have an announcement to make" until the classroom settled down, mostly giving her defensive looks and whispering to each other.

She sighed, before putting on a sugary smile, "I've been noticing lately that relationships in the classroom have been a little strained, so I've decided to bring into the class a new TA! He is someone you know, so you'll all be comfortable and it'll be a great help for me too—" she said before she got cut off by Luka sprinting into the class, enraged.

"I can't believe I was fucking assigned to your class and I am wholeheartedly blaming Felix!" Luka declared before going to take a seat next to the teacher's desk.

Felix only smirked and waved at Luka, "Hi, Luka! I am so glad you could join us here! We missed you!" He chirped before going back to reading his book.

Luka groaned, massaging the bridge of his nose, "I don't deserve this…."

A loud noise came from the intercom before a voice spoke, "Caline Bustier, please come to the principal's office. I repeat, Caline Bustier to the principal's office." 

Miss Bustier tensed, looking around as her students looked at her in confusion, before quickly turning to Luka. "Alright, I'm afraid I have to go, but I trust you can teach the class, can't you, Mr. Couffaine?" She asked sweetly

"Well yea—yeah I guess I could manage but I don't even know the curriculum—" Luka stammered out before he got cut off by Miss Bustier putting a hand on his shoulder,

"I'm sure you'll do fine. It's on my computer, okay? I'm sure you'll be fine until I get back." She said, giving him a distinct sort of insisting look.

Luka sighed, removing her hand from his shoulder, "I...I'll manage," he said with a half-assed smile.

Miss Bustier quickly thanked him before rushing out of class. Luka huffed, putting his hands on his hips, "Alright, listen up. I have no idea what's the curriculum; her computer is locked, and therefore I can't even figure out what the curriculum is, and I'm extremely tired. I'm going to try and bullshit something here, but I'm really gonna need your guys' corporation here." 

He looked up to see Felix reading, with his legs up on the desk. He coughed to try and draw the latter's attention, which didn't work whatsoever.

Luka massaged his temples before saying very loudly, "I'm still gonna figure out what the fuck did you do to the school system to assign me to the class, y'know." 

Felix groaned, closing his book, "Come on, I'm helping here! I only wanted to give you and loverboy a teacher-student romance dynamic for shikes and giggles! Anyway, It's gonna be fun!" He mused as many students tried to hide their snickering from a very red-faced Luka. 

"First of all, no, ew, that's bad, second of all—" Luka said before getting cut off by surprisingly Juleka,

"Yeah, Felix, only I get to harass my brother on shit," she mumbled to herself, blushing when she realized the entire class heard her comment and were laughing even more. She whined, hiding against Rose's shoulder.

Luka groaned, falling back on his chair, "I just wanted to volunteer and work at the library. I don't think I deserve to have to deal with this," he said, covering his face.

"You don't want to deal with us?" Adrien said with uncertain puppy eyes in Luka's direction.

Luka stiffened, trying to explain himself, "No no, that's not what I meant! It's just I don't really know what to do, and I feel kinda stressed and all—" 

Adrien cooed, going to pet Luka's head, "Poor thing, she dumped all her responsibilities on you! Come, you need to rest," he said, taking Luka's chair near his desk, where Nino was barely stifling his laughter.

Luka smiled, taking a seat on his chair, "Thanks, Angel, I can't always count on you to help me," he said, leaning against Adrien's shoulder and closing his eyes before he started hearing familiar music come out of Adrien's phone.

He sat up, giving Adrien an unamused look, "Are you trying to get me to rest so you can play that band game you told me about on your phone?"

Adrien smirked, "Partially... But in all seriousness you need the rest." He said, going back to playing his game. 

Luka sat in silence for a few moments before relenting, "Alright, whatever, y'all get a free period. Play Minecraft or whatever it is that gamers do." Luka bent towards Adrien's phone, watching as he played

God, where is Kieran to be the braincell of the group?

…

Kieran had been moving to leave and spend the day with Lily to make finding him for today's photoshoot a little bit harder when he noticed Caline headed towards Mr. Damocles's office.

Immediately, he got a bad feeling in his stomach. Who was she trying to punish for just going against her views this time? He hurried over to stop whatever this was, hoping it had nothing to do with Luka. He refused to let Caline make anyone else's lives harder because she refused to accept her worldview wasn't universal.

He stayed lingering by the door to see what he could hear, and he was surprised by what it was.

"You're firing me?!" Caline asked with horror, "But why?!"

"Caline..." Mr. Damocles said reluctantly, and Kieran heard the sound of rustling paper, "You know why. Not only does the Ministry of National Education request your immediate dismissal with the number of cases that have come up, but you are to issue a public apology to all parents and students who have attended this school. Not to mention the tech experts who will need to remove any record of suspensions from the files of students who were brought to my office by you."

Caline recoiled as Kieran peeked in, "But—But—"

Mr. Damocles handed her another piece of paper. "This was an email you sent to Adrien Agreste during the trial. You would have been removed anyway, and now we are under threat of a lawsuit by Gabriel Agreste. This may be my last year as principal because of your reasons for the suspensions I took at face value."

Despite himself, Kieran felt a dark laugh bubble up out of his throat as, after all these years, his revenge was coming to fruition. His wish for nobody else to be hurt because of her was coming true, and hearing Caline crying like she had made him cry was the sweetest of music to his ears.

But he knew better than to go in there and celebrate or make it clear how long ago this should have happened. He saw the Akuma flying into the room, and he hurried to the classroom, shutting and locking the door behind him.

...

Felix was pulled from his reading when he heard the door open and Kieran looked out the windows in concern as he began pulling down the curtains. "Guys, I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Good?" Sabrina asked hesitantly, and Kieran shrugged.

"Caline's not a teacher anymore, and probably never will be again."

"Ah, she got akumatized," Felix got up, "Alright, everyone, what's it gonna be this time and how shall we flee?"

"We don't know her powerset," Adrien pointed out, "So getting out of here—"

"Is going to be extremely hard," Kieran pointed out. "Damn school and their lack of emergency exits. The only other exit is through the kitchen, but that will take too long." He hurried over to Miss Bustier's desk chair, picked it up, and tossed it through the window, shattering the glass.

"We're going to jump?!" Rose asked, and Kieran shook his head.

"No, we're climbing." He pulled a long rope out of his backpack and tied it expertly to one of the desks bolted into the floor. At everyone's questioning looks, he explained, "What? I did a lot of things involving escape in the last five years."

"But what about rope burns?" Max pointed out, "Given the gravity and needing to grip onto the rope to avoid sustaining injury—"

"Are we worried about that?" Lila asked, "We need to get out of here!"

"What about Marc?" Nathaniel was hurrying to the door but was held back by Kim. "We can't escape without warning everyone!"

"We have to!" Felix insisted, "If you're worried, take off a sock to deal with rope burn."

As a couple people hurried to take off their socks, Adrien raised a hand worriedly. "I still can't walk on my own," Luka immediately picked him up in a bridal style carry.

"I'll bring you down safely, Angel." He looked up to the others. "Adrien and I will go in another direction to not slow you down. We already have a big group as it is."

"Sounds like a plan," Felix watched in amazement as Kieran grabbed the rope and used it as a guide to jump down without any hesitation. He couldn't decide whether he was extremely concerned about how easily Kieran jumped out the window with barely any grip on that rope or was impressed.

Chloé looked around at everyone, "Alright, those who can't really defend themselves go first, and the fighters stay here as long as possible."

"Who would count as a fighter?" Sabrina asked. "Chloé might since you survived a war."

"I'll stay!" Kim chimed in, but Max protested.

"Kim, no!"

"We don't have time for this," Felix ordered, "Whoever wants to stay, fine, but we're getting out of here."

"Got it!" Everyone reluctantly agreed, and Luka swung down with Adrien next. Felix checked the window and realized immediately from the people walking around that this was something related to mind control or possibly even...

Please let it be zombies, please let it be zombies...

Regardless, they had heard the shattering glass and were coming closer to the door. Felix turned and sighed in relief, seeing Juleka holding Rose to go down together and be more efficient. He yelped a bit as Ivan grabbed Felix.

"Take care of Mylene. She trusts you."

"Wait, what about you?"

"Don't worry," Kim grinned, "Ivan and I will hold them off. Alix is a fighter too, so it's up to you, Kieran, and them to protect everyone."

Felix hesitated, but he nodded and swung down the rope, and immediately Kieran was urging everyone to run. Luka went off with Adrien, splitting from the group, and Kieran turned, bounding a bit and gritting his teeth as his frustration at the others not being able to run as quickly as he could began to show.

After a bit of running and hearing the sounds of crowds of people saying something about kisses, they shut themselves into an abandoned warehouse, heaving for breath.

"Felix," Kieran asked after he got his breath back, "What's going on with the Akuma?"

"I think it has something to do with zombies," Felix said, trying to keep the excitement out of his voice. "Which does mean we need to come up with a plan."

"Alright," Kieran pulled out his knife, gesturing vaguely at Alya, "Step one is get Cesairé out of here."

"What?!" Alya asked, "Why?"

"Gee, I wonder why, Cesairé. What a mystery!" Kieran retorted, still remaining a few feet away from her like he expected she would attack. "Do I really need to explain my reasons? Okay! Let me list the biggest one that you worship Marinette and even willingly led Adrien to be burned alive!" He flung out his arms wildly as he snapped, "Who's to say you won't go and shove us all to Bustier like 'here, I am such a good little girl now let us go get my precious little stalker out of jail!'" He returned to a deadpan expression, "It's not rocket science that you're a detriment to our survival."

Alya looked around desperately for someone to defend her, and it didn't escape Felix's notice that she eyed Lila far longer than the others. However, Lila didn't seem inclined to do anything just yet, assessing the situation. But nobody seemed to know what to do about this because Kieran made a very good point, Alya may very well sacrifice them all for not coming to Marinette's defense after she killed them.

Nino stepped in front of Alya, "Kieran, you make a good point. But that doesn't mean we should sacrifice her right off the bat. I know this doesn't really work since she's already betrayed us," he looked at Alya hesitantly, "But innocent until proven guilty?"

Felix expected Kieran to begin shouting, but he said very calmly, "Nino. Do you not remember she lied about ever caring about you just to please Marinette? How do we know she wasn't invalidating your very identity in her head to justify things working out?" He softened, placing his hands on Nino's shoulders. "You deserve better than someone who would disrespect you and kiss the ass of Marinette, who killed you."

Nino flinched, but he looked up to Kieran's eyes. "I know it's a really bad idea. But...please."

"Agreed!" Rose piped up, "I'll give her a chance since it's all of our lives on the line."

"Right," Juleka quietly agreed, "Marinette's not here for her to betray us anyway."

Lila stepped forward. "How about this? We'll keep Alya with our group, but she will be on the other end of the warehouse, so she can't hear us discussing our plans. I personally don't think it's necessary, but if it would make us feel more comfortable, we may as well."

Felix took immediate notice of how Lila addressed Alya. Lila used their title and surname with everyone unless given permission to call someone by their first name...

When did Alya give her permission to use her first name?

Kieran huffed, crossing his arms. "Fine. Alix, can you take Alya to the back and make sure she can't hear."

"Got it!" Alix hurried over and dragged Alya to the other side of the warehouse. Kieran looked around.

"So we need to come up with a survival plan. We can't rely on the heroes keeping us individually safe, since they need to go for Caline. So how do we outsmart them?"

Sabrina scoffed, "They're zombies, how smart could they be?" Kieran pointed to her encouragingly.

"You're right. Since this is Caline we're talking about, these are 'love'-based monstrosities and all the blood went south. And we are in luck to have Alya as a perfect reference to learn from!" 

"Kieran, no!" Nino smacked his forehead. "Can you please not give Alya shit for five minutes?!"

"You just asked me to not kill her," Kieran reminded him, but at Nino's pleading look, Kieran sighed as he glanced at Felix. "Felix, do you have any ideas?"

Felix's eyes lit up. "Right!" He found some chalk in one of the boxes and started drawing on the wall. "We take the first available car or bus since that might hold all of us better, take care of anyone in our way, grab Adrien and Luka, go back to the mansion, have a nice cup of tea and wait for all this to blow over."

"Why do we have to go to the mansion?" Nino asked, and Felix delighted in the situation at hand and felt like a real zombie survival team. Besides, hopefully they could make some fun references as they went along.

"Because we do."

"But Gabriel won't let all of us in," Chloé pointed out. "Alright, let's revise this plan." She took some of the chalk, "If we hole up, it's best we are somewhere familiar, and we know where all the exits are."

"And we can't bring them back to the hotel," Sabrina chimed in. "That's too easy to get access to."

Felix tapped his foot, looking around at the remainder of his friends. "Where is safe...where is familiar..." it then dawned on him. As much as he wanted to go to the Winchester to order a cold pint and wait for all this to blow over, he had the next best and far safer option, but Juleka said it before he could.

"How about the Liberty?"

Max frowned, "Didn't your Mom ban Alya from the Liberty?"

"And that's a bad thing how...?" Kieran asked, "I for one feel much safer with her banned if we're going to be on a boat she could shove us off of."

"Kieran, please," Nino reminded him, "Remember we're giving her the benefit of the doubt."

Felix cracked his knuckles. "Okay! Here is the revised plan! Take bus, kill opposition, grab Adrien and Luka, go to the Liberty, have some drinks and wait for all this to blow over."

Everyone cheered, only to hear banging at the door. Kieran looked up at the stairs towards the roof, throwing Rose over his shoulder and beginning to run, gesturing for the others to follow. "Sorry, Rose, I don't like this any more than you do, but we'll move faster if I'm carrying you." 

The others hurried after him, but Felix realized very quickly that while Kieran had clearly trained to run quite a bit, the others had not participated in PE nearly enough to be able to run up the stairs that quickly. He did what he could to help people upward, already knowing Kieran was going to be pissed that Alya was making good time, when the zombies managed to burst through the door.

The zombies were much faster than most of them, and despite Felix's efforts, they lost Max and Nathaniel.

Making it to the roof, Felix took a moment to catch his breath and was beyond relieved to see Chat Noir and Coccinelle had found them and were already creating a zipline from the roof to an abandoned bus.

Kieran helped Nino onto the zip line once Chat Noir was down there to catch everyone and began helping Juleka, Rose, Alix, and Sabrina. He was slightly more hesitant with Lila and downright glowered at the sight of Alya. "Fuck off, Cesairé, I don't need you trying to take Chat's ring to give to Hawk Moth."

"Benefit of the doubt, remember?" Alya snapped, and Kieran scoffed.

"You already ruined your chances of being trusted when you tried to justify Marinette to me for the umpteenth time. Who else do you worship? Jodi Arias? I mean, she and Marinette are basically the same person after all!"

"Don't compare Marinette to Jodi Arias!" This only made Kieran laugh.

"You're right! That's not fair to Jodi!"

"Girls, girls, you're both pretty!" Alix snapped, "Can we get going now?" Kieran rolled his eyes and jumped down into Chat Noir's arms, looking up at him for a moment longer than expected before brushing himself down and swinging into the bus, where Felix gestured for Alix to jump down, shoving Alya down as well so he could talk to Coccinelle.

"I'll distract them. You go down there and keep everyone safe. Got it?"

"How are you going to do that?" Coccinelle asked, and Felix grinned, pulling out the flute he had refined after it helped him with Collector.

"I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

The door burst open with zombies, and Felix shoved Coccinelle down, daring to jump across to the other building and playing his flute as loudly as possible, having practiced the flute to be able to actually sound pleasant.

As expected, he got the zombies' attention and watched in sadistic glee as they charged at him and kept falling into the alleyway below. He could deal with the horde this way and join up with everyone else soon. He stopped playing briefly and messaged Adrien that he would meet them at the Liberty and text him if things went wrong.

...

"Felix!" Nino was at the window of the bus, but Lila held his wrist.

"We have to stay safe, Nino. Going out there will only risk more people, and it looks like he's got everything under control."

Rose suddenly screamed, and Nino turned, seeing a zombie had grabbed Alya's leg as she was headed inside and managed to get inside. He grabbed his backpack and smacked the zombie, and Rose tried to pull Alya free.

Chat Noir swung down alongside Coccinelle, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah," Kieran panted, checking both of Alya’s legs for any marks before shoving her into the back of the bus. "So what's the plan to handle Bustier? Sooner we deal with her, the better." He sat down in the driver's seat of the bus, letting Coccinelle in before slamming on the gas and sending them rocketing across the city far faster than Nino would have expected from a bus.

"Why do you know how to drive a bus?" Nino asked, and Kieran was biting his lip as he took a haphazard turn.

"I learned to do just about anything if it means running away," Kieran replied. "I did not waste my time."

"Rose!"

Nino spun around and was horrified to see Rose's eyes the same purple color as the other zombies, alongside Mylene and Juleka.

Sabrina smacked Mylene with her bag as Kieran slammed the bus to a halt, and Chat Noir used his staff to keep them back, helping everyone escape.

Kieran was completely frozen, shaking slightly. Nino realized in dread that the reality of what kind of zombies these were just hit him, and he couldn't deny it any longer.

Chloé, who had been quiet until now, started pulling Kieran out with Sabrina's help. "Damnit, Kieran," she cursed, "Don't go boneless on me right now!"

Zombies were beginning to surround them as Coccinelle kept them back with his yoyos. Nino looked around and spotted a toy store. "There!" He helped Alya and Lila inside and noticed Alix was using their body to keep the other zombies inside the bus as everyone else escaped.

A zombie snuck up on Chloé, and suddenly Sabrina spun around and took the kiss directly to her neck where it would have been to Chloé. Chloé recoiled in shock. "Sabrina?!"

Sabrina only smiled softly. "Keep him safe, Chloé."

Chloé didn't even hesitate as she threw Kieran over her shoulder with little strain. "Don't worry, I don't like this any more than you do." She hurried inside, and Chat Noir used his staff to barricade the door while Nino helped Coccinelle and Lila by putting shelves in the way.

She set Kieran down in the corner of the toy store as he pulled his knees to his chest, mumbling nonsense under his breath as his breathing picked up rapidly. Chloé looked around and grabbed a stuffed bear off the shelf, giving it to him as something to hold onto.

"What are we going to do?" Alya asked. "We're stuck here, and Kieran's down for the count."

Chat Noir sighed, jumping a bit as he heard zombies banging on the door. "I don't know. Coccinelle?"

Coccinelle threw his hand in the air. "Lucky Charm!"

A teapot fell into his hands, and he and Chat Noir looked at each other before exchanging a nod. But then Chat Noir looked behind Nino and brightened. "Felix! Alix!" 

Nino spun around and saw Felix and Alix standing there, clothing dirty and looking tired, but they were otherwise okay. "But how?" He asked. "I at least saw Alix get kissed."

"Yeah," Felix spun his flute, "Well, it turns out Alix and I are immune! Got kissed and nothing happened. Also, you all really need to block off the emergency exit, because that's how we got in."

"How are you immune?" Lila asked, cocking her head as she took in this information. Alix shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe because we're both ace?"

"That...makes some form of sense," Coccinelle brightened. "Okay, so that would be you two and Kieran, right?" Everyone nodded, so Coccinelle pointed to Alix and Felix. "You both are immune, so I'm putting you in charge. Kieran's down for the count, so it's up to you guys to keep everyone safe." 

Felix gave a thumbs-up. "You got it, boss!"

The two superheroes left, and with them, Felix started blocking off the exit with Alix's help.

"Alright!" Felix cracked his knuckles. "What do we do now?" He said, before the sounds of banging rang through the shop. “Okay, so Alix and I are gonna be standing guard in case the STD zombies break in, and you guys just settle down and hopefully figure out a way to help Kieran. Good? Good!”

Alix and Felix went to the front of the store, piling more objects to keep the zombies at bay, with some help from Chloé, who honestly seemed too tense to say anything, leaving Kieran with Alya and Lila.

Lila was seemingly closed off, pretending to be clueless and nervous for a bit before dropping the act and chilling in a corner, examining her nails until anyone looked at her. Alya cautiously bent down to Kieran's level, pausing when he flinched away.

"Li...Listen, okay? I know you kinda hate me, and I honestly don't blame you, but right now, we need you, okay? You're the only one resourceful and smart enough to know how to kick ass, and I trust and believe that you'll find a way to get us out of here, even if it means I get thrown to be wolves—and again! Don't blame you! You have every right to want me dead right now!" She said, her breath picking up, "Just… please. I promise that I won't do anything, even if that doesn't mean shit for you. Just… if not for me, for the ones you care about."

Kieran eventually settled down, shoulders sagging and his breathing slowing down. Alya cautiously offered a hand to Kieran, only for him to smack her away. He got up, walking away, only to turn to glare at her darkly, "I don't need help from you."

Alya looked down at her hand, pointedly avoiding Lila's subtle glare, and surprisingly enough, Chloé's worried look.

God, where are the heroes when you need them?

...

Coccinelle and Chat swung into Fu's apartment, going by air and rooftops to avoid any lovesick zombies. They entered through the window as Master Fu was barricading his apartment door. Fu looked to see the heroes closing the windows. He rushed them in, pressing various buttons to open his gramophone. "I'm glad you could come, heroes. Now I suppose you're in need of a Miraculous to assist in your mission?" 

They nodded, sitting down as Master Fu displayed the Miracle Box, turning to mumble amongst themselves. Coccinelle could see Master Fu biting his lower lip, seemingly avoiding making a comment before the heroes finished their discussion and turned to face him again.

Chat Noir delicately picked up a foxtail shaped miraculous, holding it safe in his palms. Master Fu nodded, deep in bought, "The Miraculous of Illusions I see… quite a tricky one. It takes someone both scheming yet honest to correctly handle it. I'm curious to see what you'll do."

Coccinelle took a small Miraculous box, handing it to Chat to put the Fox Miraculous in, "We have someone for the job," he said with a spark in his eye.

Master Fu nodded before quickly rushing them out of his apartment. Once they were out, Chat turned to Coccinelle, who smirked. "Felix?"

"Felix." They ran in the direction of the store. "So do we give it back to Master Fu after this, or...?"

"Let him keep it if he's a good fit," Coccinelle explained. "Hawk Moth has been getting stronger, and after Princess Justice and what happened there, we need to know we're getting stronger too. Besides, you know Felix would find a way to steal it back."

"Good point." They got to the back with the emergency exit. "Coccinelle, distract the zombies while I get in and take Felix." Coccinelle nodded and hurried the zombies in another direction while Coccinelle snuck in and managed to subtly catch Felix's attention without anyone else noticing. He relaxed slightly, seeing Kieran was up but noticed immediately that he was drained. 

Felix looked to the others, "I'm gonna start distracting them again to get that godawful banging down. It's giving me a headache." He hurried to the back and out the emergency exit, where Chat Noir was waiting. "What do you need?"

Chat looked around to make sure they were alone before holding out the box. "Felix, I need your help. This is the Miraculous of the Fox, which gives the power of illusion."

He didn't even get time to explain before Felix had snatched the box and was examining the necklace, eyes lit up with delight as he watched it glimmer against the small amount of sunlight in the alleyway. He put it on, and the kwami appeared.

"Hi! I'm Trixx," the Fox kwami explained. Felix beamed.

"So how do I use this? I'm guessing the illusion power works like Cataclysm with the five minute rule?"

"That's right!" Trixx nodded. "You catch on quickly. To transform, just say 'Trixx, let's pounce!'"

"One more question," he said, "Do these illusions work as strictly visual, or can I manipulate all the senses."

"You'll get more options when you're eighteen," Trixx replied, "But for now it's just a mirage."

Felix shrugged. "Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers. Trixx, let's pounce!"

He transformed, and Chat Noir immediately grinned as they bounced up onto the rooftops, "So what should I call you, Tuxedo Fox?"

"How about Rusé?"

"Got it, Rusé!" He raced across Paris with his cousin by his side, hearing Rusé cheering with delight. They noticed Coccinelle below, and he used his yoyo to join them.

"Hey, so Chat gave you the rundown?"

"Beat up Bustier? He didn't really, but I got the memo." He twirled his flute, "So the main issue is finding her. If I had to guess her main target is her victims."

"So Kieran and Adrien?" Chat Noir asked, and Rusé nodded, twitching slightly as though he realized just how strange it must be for heroes to refer to themselves as a different person.

"I'm not inclined to waste my power on that or risking those two..." he stopped. "Hold on." He suddenly sprinted back to the toy store. "She's looking for the class!"

Sure enough, when they got back, Zombizou was standing in front of the barricaded door with a loving smile. "Oh, that's where those little cuties are hiding!" She called to the people inside. "I'm not here to hurt you, darlings. I just want you all to feel the love!"

"Yeah, well none of them want it!" Rusé called from where he had the high ground. He glanced at Chat Noir and Coccinelle. "Just relax. I'm immune and I have a plan."

Chat Noir had to admit he was kind of curious what Rusé had in mind, and of the three of them, he was the one who was immune to her attacks. "The floor is yours."

Rusé nodded and hopped down, playing his flute momentarily and charging her, dodging and dancing around similarly as he had handled akumas in the past.

He suddenly stopped, letting her kiss his cheek, but the mark faded with no reaction on him whatsoever.

Zombizou's eyes widened. "What? No! It can't be!" She tried to kiss him on the cheek repeatedly, reapplying her lipstick a handful of times, and Rusé chuckled before beginning to rapidly duplicate.

There had to be at least fifty clones that bounded around and provided a distraction, and Chat Noir's eyes strained to keep track of what exactly was happening. Yet somehow, in the chaos, Miss Bustier returned to normal, and the Akuma was flying away.

Coccinelle purified the Akuma, and he and Chat Noir looked at each other, both impressed and scared. Did Felix really just do that? That tactic was surprisingly effective.

Rusé jumped up to meet them. "Okay listen, I was going to just turn invisible and smack her upside the head, but that was much more fun." He looked down at his flashing necklace. "I can't wait to hide this from Uncle!"

Chat Noir grinned, "Welcome to the team, Rusé." He punched his shoulder playfully, "Next time, save some Akuma fighting for the rest of us." Rusé twirled his flute.

"You're right. My ego is already healthy enough, even if I am sure I will be beloved." He waved. "Well, I should be going. Are we gonna be checking on Bustier, or should I just meet you somewhere?"

Chat Noir sighed as he glanced down at Bustier, and he nodded to himself. "Meet me at the Liberty, Mulletbug."

"You sure?" He asked, and Chat nodded. Coccinelle put a hand on his shoulder.

"I trust you."

"Thanks." He jumped down to where Miss Bustier was, helping her up. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

She smiled at him. "Thank you, Chat Noir." She noticed the barricaded door and the people around her. "Oh...I've hurt so many people here."

"Come on," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Should I..." he had been about to ask if she wanted him to take her back to the school, but would that be rubbing salt on a wound? But he wasn't supposed to know she had gotten fired. "Is there anywhere you want me to take you?"

"Back to the school, please," she said sorrowfully. "I need to pick some things up, and my car is there." Chat Noir hesitated, not knowing what to say. Even after what she had done to him, he didn't want to see her suffer, so while he was relieved she had been fired, he had no intention to give any indication of that feeling.

"Alright, ma'am."

...

Felix detransformed in the back alley, examining the Fox Miraculous as it disguised itself. He estimated how big it was before locking it inside the watch around his neck. Perhaps he would think of something better later, but this worked for now.

He wanted to talk to Trixx, but he knew he couldn't be caught talking to his new kwami. He would have to wait until he got home. Was it too much to hope that school would be out early today?

Well... he chuckled. Even if it wasn't, Luka was still the TA for the day. He supposed most people would be grateful to the person who had granted them superpowers, but where was the fun in that?

OoOoO

Kieran yawned as he sat down in the school library with his laptop and headphones. He couldn't be bothered to watch Caline's public apology when it had been on Face to Face last night, but he had nothing to do while waiting around today.

He already knew this would be complete nonsense, and part of him wanted to lock himself in his bedroom and play a drinking game to make this less miserable. He checked how long it was and saw it was forty minutes long, and he groaned miserably. He took out a piece of scratch paper where he would write down everything he didn't like to tear it apart later.

He only slightly paid attention initially as she went on about how this was incredibly painful to do, and she had avoided doing it. She was struggling quietly to rebuild her "poisoned reputation."

Poisoned reputation? He laughed. What was the poison? Karma? And he was pretty damn sure she had not been quiet since he had read the email she sent Adrien, and it was just as toxic and passive-aggressive as he'd dealt with for an entire school year.

"It's been a long time coming for me to share with you some very, very important things. There is so much going on in the world, and I just... I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry you've had to see some of the less than forgiving moments in my career. I hope my apology will push everyone to the path of forgiveness that has been lost over the last couple of months." 

Apology for being caught? Ha! Nice try, Caline.

"I have missed teaching my students without them looking at me like I have caused them pain. But I ask anyone here who believes in anything higher than themselves, that believes in any higher power... all higher power and all God is love and the root of love. I am a woman of faith, and I have been praying every day over this," she made a vague gesture, "Event. And I just ask that you, for even ten seconds, just cover this in prayer because there is so much healing that needs to take place. It will not be easy, and it's very painful, but we have to do this for the greater good."

Really, Caline? Dragging religion into this? He would be insulted if she decided to pull the card of religion as the reason she acted like this. He could already hear his typically quiet father shouting about how this was no excuse to harm others. Morons thinking they could use freedom of religion to oppress others? A classic, truly. He didn't even care if there was more to the story; the fact she would mention religion for even a second as though that was relevant disgusted him to the very core.

He groaned, taking a swig from his energy drink and putting the video on double speed. She was already talking so obnoxiously slowly. He checked the bingo card Felix gave him for when he watched this. Okay...no makeup... crying or faking it... long awkward silences...

And he was only two minutes in.

"I don't wish harm or hate on anyone; I just want to make that very clear since my actions may have led my students to believe otherwise. I'm an imperfect person, and I do my best to be caring, kind, and loving, and I make mistakes and make bad choices. And it is really easy to make terrible choices depending on what your opinion is instead of accepting the truth, even if you dislike it. With the news and everything you see in the world and the media, be mindful. We're made to feel like we have to follow the herd, like believing the Ladyblog because it was popular, but it did not provide truthful information. It all left me feeling really heartbroken, how I have witnessed that and now experienced that with everything that was revealed at Marinette's trial. I want to inspire everyone to look further into things and don't follow the herd. Follow your heart. I thought I was following mine, but I was listening to the wrong people."

Was she actually going to apologize? Or was this a massive "don't sue me" plea? Kieran didn't know if he was motivated enough to do so, but he knew his parents would not be against suing her if Gabriel didn't. But he did know if they won that lawsuit, he wouldn't be able to come up with excuses about avoiding therapy anymore. He always insisted they needed to save money and therapy was expensive, but if they got money from a lawsuit, he would be highly encouraged to talk to a stranger about his problems as though that wasn't what started this mess.

His interest piqued when he heard Marinette's name, and he rewound briefly to listen to what was being said.

"I knew that there were some very serious accusations involving Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but as my student, she presented herself as a shy girl who just didn't know how to confess to her crush properly. I saw her pain and thought that I could be a positive influence on her. My intentions were good, and I still believe we could help her be good, but now I can see why others may not think so."

Kieran froze. How in God's name was breaking into his house eight times, groping him, trying to force herself on him repeatedly, stealing from him—and he still hadn't gotten all of his stuff back—copying down his schedule and blackmailing him count as not knowing how to confess properly?! How stupid did people have to be to think those behaviors were just cute clueless child behaviors?

He decided to skip to the end, knowing she would never actually apologize and go on about forgiveness the entire time. This was just sounding like one of her many lectures to him, and he had no desire to listen to it. He decided to watch the final two minutes and braced himself when he noticed the tear tracks on her face.

"I want you all to know I love you, and I've loved my career teaching children. Thank you for listening, and I hope this clears up enough for you to feel like you can forgive me," she began crying and taking deep breaths. "That is really important to me." 

Kieran had to pause and blinked a few times. She wanted people to forgive her for harming countless children because it was important to her?! He would have rolled his eyes, but he was so stunned that he was completely frozen from the audacity she displayed. 

He couldn't even watch anymore, reading through the comments about what people were saying. One person called her out for downright lying, saying she promised herself she wouldn't cry and how this had been a lot of pain for her as a manipulation tactic, and also saying she would turn to their Saint to get her through it.

He considered adding a thumbs down to the video, but he looked at the passive-aggressive comment in the description that made it clear not even the Face to Face youtube channel supported this nonsense. So he left no comment and sent the video to his parents to see what they thought.

He checked the bingo card before checking all the boxes and tearing it to pieces and tossing it in the trash. He turned on his headphones and turned on music from Kingdom Hearts that Adrien had sent him links to. 

"It's good studying background music! Especially the character themes."

And it was. Kieran had placed the music in a playlist and hummed the melody of the current song as he studied for his final, absently snapping an elastic hair tie on his wrist repeatedly. The extra workload of taking a semester in a quarter and still trying to be ahead to graduate early was a hassle. Still, it gave him something to do and an excuse to make Gabriel's photoshoots bend to Kieran's own schedule, giving him more control. Statistically, he probably didn't need to study if he relied on guesswork, basic knowledge, and his graphing calculator.

But he couldn't drown out his racing thoughts regarding Caline’s god awful apology, and he snapped his laptop shut and put his headphones back in their case. He looked down at his wrist, observing the bruising along his wrists that did not work nearly enough.

He jumped up when he sensed someone behind him and spun around, sneering when he noticed it was Caline. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked bitterly. "Weren't you fired? What? Are you just going to stay around and keep preaching forgiveness? I will call the police if you're going to pull that shit."

"Kieran—"

"I'm dialing," he showed her his phone and how he was dialing Officer Roger's number, knowing Sabrina's Dad would be faster than the emergency number. His thumb hovered over the call button when she tried to grab his hand, and he backed up.

"Kieran, I just want to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" He noticed the librarian. He did not want to go anywhere with her, but he also knew an argument in the library could make Alya go throw a tantrum about how he was the villain for not putting up with Marinette worshippers. Caline had essentially admitted to trying to help set Marinette and Kieran up because he knew this vile woman well enough to know she would have punished him for rejecting her too—because she did. "What? Because I am pretty damn sure your fake ass apology did all the talking for you."

Caline softened, pleading with him. "Kieran, we really should talk."

"What? So you can take me outside for Tom to kill me because I didn't forgive?" He stormed out and headed into the generator room near the entrance. There were no cameras in here, and he knew he could take her on in a fight should it come to that.

He crossed his arms, gesturing for her to speak. "For the record, we are here, so you can leave immediately. If I see you take a single step near Adrien to gaslight him into giving you another chance after the rubbish you went on about in that email about forgiving Marinette and not letting her be punished, I will not hesitate to make you wish I had called the police." His hand twitched to the knife in his pocket, and she knew she was playing a dangerous game.

"I'm...I'm sorry, Kieran. Truly I am." She looked down with a hand rested against her chest, "And to think my actions turned even the kindest person to bitterness and hate is something I will never forgive myself for." She looked up at him. "I truly just thought Marinette didn't understand social cues; I didn't think she meant any harm."

"And you didn't think she meant any harm when she slaughtered thousands of people over being rejected?" He asked, letting his words cut through her argument as they both knew about the email.

Caline sighed, knowing that to argue her views with him would do nothing but cause another argument. "I hope that I can help you feel like you don't have to hate people. It doesn't fix anything. You can turn away and give your time to yourself or to something else. You don't have to let your eyes and heart remain cold. You're going to destroy yourself if you keep going on like this, Kieran, and I am sorry for inadvertently causing this when I only wanted to help you—"

"Hehe....hehe.... hahahahahahahahaha!" 

Caline recoiled as she heard that sound from Kieran's throat. There was something different about this laugh, bordering between humor and anger that left him shaking as he finally looked up, his laughter turning to demented giggles.

"Trying to help me?" He asked before quickly raising his voice. "Trying to help me?!" His laughter returned briefly. "The only thing you've done to help me is showing me how unfair the world is, and you can't even rely on those we are told we can trust. So you can keep your apologies, because I know the only thing you are sorry for is seeing everything you built, to have perfect subservient children who take any and all abuse thrown at them, blow up in your face. How many, Caline? Give me a number of how many innocent children like myself and Adrien you have thrown to the wolves? I could, of course, ask Damocles how much hard work he has to put in to reverse what you have done, and you know how much he hates to work. But I want to hear it from you."

When she tried to reach out to him, perhaps in some sort of comforting gesture, he squeezed her wrist, feeling the bones grinding against each other.

"So how many, Caline? How many lives did you make a living hell under the guise of being a loving teacher? And more importantly...how many monsters like Alya Cesairé and Marinette Dupain-Cheng did you enable and then let run free, who still need to have justice served against them?"

Caline's eyes widened as she struggled. "Kieran, please. Why are you doing this?"

He smiled menacingly. "Oh, come, come. Surely you of all people must understand. Sometimes such measures are necessary if it means making an environment better for everyone." He squeezed a little harder, hearing her gasp in pain like it was music to his ears.

"I'm sorry, Kieran," she begged, "If I could turn back the clock, I would have helped you. Please, forgive me, and we can start again."

Kieran paused, letting her think he was considering her request before he replied. "Maybe. But not yet. First, I want you to suffer as I suffered. To know what it's like to feel alone and afraid. To be disgusted with yourself and what you bring on your friends and family." 

He turned away to leave, and he heard her on the brink of tears as though him rejecting her apology was this great insult to her.

"Do you really hate me so much?" She whispered, and he turned to face her with an impassive expression.

"You cannot begin to know how much I hate you."

OoOoO

Alya walked out of class by herself, much of the class already gone and talking in their groups. She went to put in earbuds, only to flinch when someone tapped on her shoulder. She turned to see Chloé with an uncharacteristically concerned and conflicted look before she went to silently walk next to her.

They stayed in the silence for a while, somewhere between comfortable and awkward, until Chloé spoke up, "Y'know… from one girl to another, I get falling in love with a straight girl at least once, but Dupain-Cheng was not it," she joked sarcastically, looking down at her nails.

Alya sucked in a break before responding, "I thought… She said she cared about me. She said that I'm someone she could have relied on and someone that would always help her. She said such nice things… I thought—I really thought—"

"You thought that if you gave her everything she ever wanted, if she truly felt like the best thing on this planet and you were her little assistant, if you've given her the cliché romance coupled with best friends having babies of the opposite sex and around the same age and they'd fall in love too, or whatever it is heteronormative romances are like, she'd love you. Maybe not the same way you do, but she'd love you." Chloé turned to see Alya hugging herself.

Chloé placed a hand on her shoulder, "Word of wisdom: Love shouldn't have if's or but's, Césaire. I'm not going to sugarcoat this for you, but I hope you figure that shit out on your own." She said before walking away to her limousine with Sabrina.

Alya watched as the limousine drove away before a chilling voice broke her from her trance. "Well, fuck me in the ass and call me Mary, you actually think they'd forgive you?!" Lila said, approaching Alya.

"Lila, I—" she tried to speak, but Lila snapped her fingers to shut her up.

"Are you forgetting Kieran's reaction to your oh-so-sweet pep talk the other day? He smacked your hand away and waved you off." She placed a cold hand on Alya's shoulder. "They'd never forgive you, and I don't think you should forgive them either. After all, you're the one that has to deal with the love of your life in jail. Not. Them." 

She looked to see Alya's eyes glazed over, walking away with a pleased smirk. But before she left, she said one last thing.

"Don't let them fool you Alya. We still have much to do." She motioned for Alya to follow her, her smirk transitioning seamlessly into a cheerful smile as they got closer to other people.

Alya followed obediently, not fully aware of anything else.

Chapter Text

Gabriel yawned as he finished up working on his designs for the next two weeks. Being Hawk Moth and balancing work was by no means an easy feat, so he had to remain ahead every day so he would always have things to submit during his time as Hawk Moth.

Nathalie came in, "Sir, are you going to be attending the movie premiere celebration in person or via tablet?" Gabriel looked up,

"That's today?"

"Yes, sir, it is today," Nathalie replied, putting down her tablet and checking to make sure the door was shut and locked. "Felix complains quite a lot about it, and it led me to wonder if the script changes we requested were actually listened to. And," she picked up her tablet with the entire script. "It wasn't."

Gabriel took the tablet and skimmed through, realizing Felix wasn't just complaining to be dramatic. "How was this event not canceled? Surely somebody looked over the script. I can’t have this less than two weeks before Dupain-Cheng’s sentencing."

"The director claimed this was written months in advance, and nothing can be changed despite viewer critique." She crossed her arms. "And you never cared enough to look, sir. You said, and I quote, 'It is an excellent opportunity to have Felix out of the house before he suspects anything.'"

Gabriel looked through the script, and he already knew forcing Mr. Descônteaux to attend the event would be a death sentence—something about that boy was absolutely terrifying. It was the same thing that would make him the perfect Akuma if he finally caught him off guard.

He needed to sit down as he examined the dialogue, and he ran a hand through his hair. "This is not good, Nathalie—wait." His grimace turned into a malicious smirk as he glanced at the script again. 

Nathalie's brow furrowed. "What is it, sir?"

"We can use this." Dark laughter bubbled up. "Make a few calls for me, Nathalie. We have much to do in a short period of time."

"Yes..." Nathalie sighed, "Sir."

OoOoO

Felix had made a good point earlier that if he wanted to avoid the press, he couldn't go through the front entrance to the premiere, where reporters from all over Paris were trying to jump him despite the illegality of having minors on camera. Apparently, that law didn't matter as much now that he was a Saint.

Nathalie briefly stopped a few blocks before the theater, allowing Adrien to slip out, adjusting the brunette wig he had on as he hurried into the back alleyway, ready to transform in the event someone tried to jump him. 

Okay, so a door on the right-hand side... he checked his hands to be sure which direction Felix was referring to as his heart began racing, checking his surroundings and holding his cane in such a way that he could swing and attack at a moment's notice.

When he finally got to the door, he knocked hastily, and Felix grinned.

"Good to see you, Sunflower!" He pulled Adrien inside the private room he got for the premiere. "I'll tell you, this whole 'party' is kind of a drag and there is a serious lack of alcohol!" 

"It's good to see you too, Fefe," Adrien laughed before Felix threw a suit in his direction.

"Just make sure to lay low, okay? And get rid of that wig, because let me tell you, brunette is not your color," he sassed, "Tell me when you're ready, so we can go together," he turned to face the door that led to the event.

When Adrien was ready, he and Felix took off before he put his pass around Adrien's neck, "Remember, if anyone catches you, just say you have a special pass and are allowed to be here on my behalf, okay? Now let's go tell the others hi!" 

They weaved through the crowd until they came across Kagami, Chloé, and Luka chatting amongst themselves. The pair greeted the others, exchanging friendly hugs before Chloé looked around. "So, no Kieran?"

"Yeah, no," Felix rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure Kieran would rain hell or have a breakdown if he set foot in this place, and I don't really blame him for it either!" He got a laugh from the group. "On another note, I absolutely can't believe that this movie is still running! Like, yeah it was produced before Princess Justice went down, but that's just all the more reason to cancel and redo it!"

"Eh, I'm actually curious to see what they'd do," Luka pointed out, sipping on a cocktail. "Morbid curiosity and the entire movie was kinda kept on the downlow, y'know? Also it's just another chance to see Chat Noir, and I'm always here for that," he mused to himself.

Adrien snorted, "Oh please, I'm much more looking forward to that snake character Felix said they added! Seems very roguishly charming."

"Or Coccinelle in snake pattern." Luka mumbled underneath his breath.

"Same difference," Adrien said, bumping his hip against Luka's and sticking his tongue out playfully. Luka laughed, wrapping his arm around Adrien's waist, saying something about how they should "Get some snacks before having this argument again."

The rest of the group stood in silence before Kagami decided to address the elephant in the room, "...so something happened between Luka and Adrien, right?"

"I know, right, and they won't say anything! It's like I'm not even Adrikins' childhood friend anymore! I need this gossip!" Chloé dramatically mourned to herself, going to get some snacks from the bouffant available for the crowd.

Kagami turned to Felix, "You're Adrien's cousin, and you knew him the longest out of all of us. Do you have any idea what happened between them?" She said while Chloé made noises of approval from her stuffed mouth.

Felix played with his watch, "Hey, I mean I have a few ideas but—" he said before getting cut off by the girls asking various questions. "Oh, no no no, it's not my place to share, if you wanna find something so bad, figure it out yourselves!" He said, walking away.

Kagami and Chloé watched as Felix left to be everyone else's problem before turning to each other. "We're so figuring this out for ourselves, right? Chloé asked, getting a determined nod from Kagami.

They rushed behind one of the potted plants near the bouffant, watching as Adrien and Luka giggled to themselves and chatted over some patisserie. Kagami entered a squat position, deep in thought, before quickly thanking Chloé, who offered her some food. "There's something different about these two, I'm sure of it! Like before they were more timid and shy even if albeit extremely affectionate, but now it's… confident? They're assured in their relationship with one another! But why?" She said to herself.

"You think they confessed to one another?" Chloé asked, to only get a small "I don't know" from Kagami. Chloé sighed before going to munch on some snacks, looking at the pair. "Honestly kinda jealous of Adrien…" she sighed to herself.

Kagami perked at that statement, "And why might that be?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He just seems so confident in himself, and seems to have figured out everything! I know that's not the case, but I got to see how much he grew, and not to mention the fact he somehow managed to figure out attraction to men, and—!" She said before getting cut off by Kagami.

"You do know you don't 'figure out' an attraction to any gender right?" Kagami commented dryly.

Chloé wilted, "I was kind of in the middle of a sad monologue here, but fucking whatever, I guess," she bit back, "My point is, Adrien has always been kind of what I wanted to be in regards to personality. Sweet, cheery, friendly, and such. And for the record, I haven't figured out how to be attracted to men, so there! You do figure it out!" She harrumphed, crossing her arms.

Both sat in silence for a bit until Kagami relented, "...for the record women are beautiful, so I don't blame you."

"Honestly, I think women being gorgeous and attractive is just a given," Chloé commented before both broke into light laughter. "I'll figure it out one day, though. All about that self-improvement life now."

Kagami looked at the others as if she wanted to say something yet decided against it. "...You've grown a lot, Chloé. I don't fully understand you, but I saw how much you've grown over time, and I have some semblance of a reason as to why you acted the way you did."

"Your point is?"

"You've grown a lot, and I am proud of you. Don't limit yourself, and allow yourself to grow and explore who you are as a person. Or as you would say, 'figure it out'" Kagami said, attempting to make a joke to lighten the mood.

Chloé smiled, bumping her shoulder into Kagami's, "Thanks, Kagami. I will say, you're not escaping my snide comments, though! You were one of the few people to enjoy my presence at my worst—" 

"Even if it was based on our mutual hatred of Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

"My point is that I feel slightly more okay being honest and not always supportive and sweet with you. No, I will not repeat that statement, that was so mushy and gushy!" She exclaimed as Kagami laughed at her antics.

They both turned when they heard the announcement the movie was about to begin, and Chloé grinned. "Do you want to sit next to each other?" Kagami nodded, grimacing.

"If I'm honest, I may need some support, since I already know what to expect. I will warn you ahead of time that it's incredibly kind to Marinette."

Chloé grimaced in complete disgust and glanced at her cocktail. "Suddenly I understand why all of these were gone when I got here."

...

Adrien had between Felix and Luka, unsure how to feel about the movie. He was curious about this snake character Felix mentioned, but he couldn't shake the feeling Father hadn't forced Kieran to attend something. It could be that he would simply escape anyway, and he was only staying with the Agreste household for another two weeks, but somehow, Adrien didn't think so. When he thought about it, Father hadn't even mentioned this event to him either.

Felix squeezed Adrien's hand as he subtly slipped a bit of popcorn to Trixx in his jacket. "Brace yourself. Imagine the Avatar the Last Airbender live-action movie but more offensive." Adrien's head hurt trying to imagine that, and he could only pray Felix was exaggerating.

He wasn't.

Not even five minutes in, and the movie was very strictly from Marinette's point of view. He supposed that made sense since she was the only one with a public identity, but...

From Chat Noir being used as comic relief and a useless sidekick to this "Basilisk" character who was definitely Coccinelle with a different color palate—as attractive as he may be—being the villain... Ladybug was being framed as a hero, and her stalking to Adrien was just a cute quirk. 

The only thing he could really say was that Kagami managed to play the part of a corrupted brat believing she was a hero incredibly well. He would almost believe that was what the movie was going for if not for literally everything else. If anything, Kagami's accurate portrayal of Marinette was an accident, even including the high-pitched voice Marinette put on whenever she wanted to act childlike. Felix did a good job too, but he also had a much easier job of imitating his cousin and then voicing a terrible Wattpad villain with no depth.

Adrien pulled his knees up to his chest as he saw more of Marinette's stalking on the big screen, his breathing picking up as he tried not to think about how real the situation had been. He thought back to Princess Justice in his face, telling him he had to choose between her or the fire. He remembered—

Luka pulled Adrien close and whispered soft assurances to soothe him, reminding him this wasn't real. Marinette was in prison in America, and her sentencing was in less than two weeks, where it would surely be confirmed she was gone for good.

He hadn't realized he had spaced out until the movie had stopped, perhaps at the end of the second act. He turned when he heard shouting and realized it was between his father, who was on a tablet, and the movie's director.

"I cannot believe this," Father seethed. "I demanded changes to the script if I allowed my nephew to be part of this, and the only thing you added was further glorifying the woman who nearly had my son burned alive."

"I couldn't make that many changes," the director insisted. "As I told your assistant before, this was months in the making. It's a miracle I managed to put in the changes I did." But Father was having none of it.

"I can promise you this film will never be seen past the premiere, and a lawsuit will be in the works for you. Consider me getting this out of the way now a favor instead of putting the victims of Princess Justice through any more pain seeing that terrorist painted as the Saint."

"Father—" Adrien tried to protest. Sure, the movie was bad. Really bad, and Father made a point that victims of Princess Justice shouldn't see it. But a lawsuit? He noticed Father had been pulling out lawsuits a lot more lately, like with the school and ensuring Miss Bustier was fired. Was there a reason he was taking this measure?

Father didn't listen to Adrien, still seething at the director. "Expect a call from my lawyers." The director opened his mouth to say something, but Nathalie was the one to talk in her usual monotone voice while being professional.

"I suggest making a few phone calls shortly," she said before turning away, and the director stormed off. Adrien thought about saying something but felt Felix's hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah...that's about what I expected would happen." He gestured to the backdoor, "So he's obviously gonna get akumatized, so let's get you out of here in a headstart."

Adrien nodded. "Yeah...good idea." He sent a look to Luka, who got the message, and Adrien followed Felix into his room as their kwamis emerged.

Trixx flew around. "So we're transforming!" 

"You know it!" Felix turned to Adrien. "So I'm thinking that the default is that unless you need me, I'll be in charge of our alibis. Sounds like a plan?"

"Yeah," Adrien made sure Plagg had finished eating before announcing, "Plagg, Claws Out!"

"Trixx, let's pounce!"

They both met up with Luka above just in time to see the Akuma already attacking and seemed to be taking the form of animated characters.

"Alright," Rusé played his flute, and down below was an illusion of Felix and Adrien running into a taxi and taking off. This didn't mean much, but the press followed this taxi, giving them a bit more room to breathe. He glanced down at his necklace.

"I'll probably have to check out and come back shortly. I'll go after the taxi, and you guys figure out his powerset so we can come up with a plan!" He jumped away, leaving Chat Noir and Coccinelle to handle Animaestro on their own.

As much as Chat wanted to run and get this over with, he knew Rusé was right. They hid behind a chimney and observed briefly as Animaestro took the form of a dinosaur that spat out lasers or something. They glanced at each other as they both took note that shapeshifting seemed to be an important factor in Animaestro's powers.

Chat Noir thought about how to handle this. With Animan, it had been relatively simple, but with 2D characters without the same limits as real animals, he wasn't sure how to handle this.

The best way to do this was to jump in, he supposed. If it came down to it, they had a large target, so he may use Black Storm without much consequence. But Animaestro may transform into something smaller and cause civilians to get caught in the crossfire, so he decided against it.

"We would have come to your movie premiere if we'd have known how upset you were gonna get," he said cheerfully, knowing it was best for his identity to hide how bad he knew the movie was.

"Chat Noir and Coccinelle," Animaestro sneered. "You're no better than all the other haters. You haven't even seen the movie, and you're already slamming it."

Coccinelle used his yoyo to wrap Animaestro to a building. "He just said we would have come if invited, we didn't say anything to slam the movie." Even if he did have quite a bit to say, he knew that was for another time.

"Oh, it's always about you, isn't it?" Animaestro snapped. "From now on, everybody will be looking at me!" He transformed into a cartoon robot. "Let's see how much you enjoy the true power of animation!" 

He shot a laser out of a crescent moon on his head, and Chat Noir quickly moved to push them both out of the way. They crashed onto another roof as Animaestro became a cartoon dog in front of them, and Chat immediately noticed the Ladybug mask was the only thing that didn't change. That was probably where the object was.

"I am the only true hero," he said in a horrible Mickey Mouse impression.

If Animaestro had the same powers as the characters he became, he decided he didn't want to know what this discount Disney mascot's powerset was. He turned to Coccinelle, who nodded as he understood what he was saying as they both took off.

"It's moments like this I wish I wasn't so sheltered in what I watched," Chat Noir said, and Coccinelle shrugged.

"It was fine with Monsieur Fable and Animatis. So we're going for the mask. If we manage to keep him still, the long-range Black Storm may be incredibly useful with a powerset we don't fully understand."

"Good point!" Something came flying at them too fast to process, and they only had enough time to start running. "So how are we going to keep him still?"

"I haven't figured that out." He threw his hand in the air. "Lucky Charm!" A camera fell into his hands. "Huh? Maybe flash photography?" Chat Noir smirked.

"Please no flash photography in a theater." 

"Great," he rolled his eyes, "So we just annoy him into surrendering."

He yelped as a laser was fired at them, and it hit a wooden beam behind them from one of the buildings still under repair after Princess Justice. Chat Noir coughed as he covered his eyes as they stung from dust.

Coughing...can't see...

The fire came to mind again. He knew it was Coccinelle had his back pressed against but added onto everything he had seen in the movie, he could barely think as his only instinct was to guard his ring. He felt his leg start to act up even more than before as he suppressed a cry.

There was a shout, but it didn't come from him. Coccinelle used his yoyo like a fan to clear away the dust, just in time for both of them to see a Black Hole in the ground.

Coccinelle held Chat Noir close. "Hey, hey, it's okay. Deep breaths, okay?" He tried to control his breathing as Coccinelle sat him down and held his hands in front of him. "I'm right here. Focus on me, okay? Can you tell me what you hear?"

"Pe...People..." he whispered, focusing on that. It wasn't the crackling of a fire. It was just chatter from civilians. Coccinelle nodded.

"Good. What do you feel?"

"The ground..." he muttered, taking deep breaths, and he noticed in his peripheral vision, Rusé landed next to them.

"Ah man, I missed it!" He glanced at the Black Hole, "Oh. So that's the infinite pit of misery you mentioned." Chat Noir nodded as he slowly stood up, still holding onto Coccinelle.

"Yeah. I honestly forgot I could do that..."

"I guess it happens when you're panicked," Coccinelle offered. "We'll have to ask about that sometime. But for now, let's get back." He looked down at the camera. "I wonder what this would have been for. Oh well," he threw the camera in the air, "Miraculous Glitterbug!"

Everything went back to normal, and Rusé put his hand on his hip. "Oh, about that, so is that a required thing to say Glitterbug, or...?"

"No," Coccinelle shrugged. "It was going to be a one-time joke at first, but I don't want to say Ladybug and I like glitter, so I guess it stuck around." Rusé laughed but then turned to Chat Noir in concern. "You okay?"

"I've been better," Chat admitted. "Once everything's over, I think I just want to lay down."

"Understandable." He spun his flute, glancing at where the director was back and sitting on the ground. "Well, I should be going. You should too." He ran off, and Coccinelle offered his hand out to Chat to take.

"Shall we get going?"

Chat Noir took his hand gratefully. "Yeah. Let's go."

OoOoO

"Well, my friends," Felix held up his glass since the team had come back to the mansion to recover from what they had experienced and to eat food. They also found a note from Kieran in his bedroom saying he would be visiting someone and wouldn't be back for a while. "We survived!"

Chloé leaned on the table towards Kagami. "I must say, I'm impressed you managed to capture the true essence of how annoying Dupain-Cheng can be." Kagami grinned.

"Did I sound squawky enough?"

"Totally."

"Good because that killed my voice for a few days—I don't know how Marinette kept that up for the entire trial." She took a long drink of water. "I must say, I am impressed in that regard."

Adrien picked at his food absently, getting up and leaving heavier on his cane than usual. "I'm gonna go lay down for a bit, okay?"

Everyone looked at him in concern but didn't fight it. He moved to leave, and Luka heard Felix begin plotting with the girls to make a treat Adrien would enjoy since he went through hell today. Luka followed Adrien, "Hey, do you need any help?"

Adrien looked up at the stairs before reluctantly nodding. "Yeah. Sorry... my leg's just really acting up. People actually justify Marinette..." he covered his mouth with his hand, and Plagg purred against his ribs to soothe him. Luka carefully picked Adrien up in a bridal-style carry, realizing it was much easier than when he had carried Adrien last year when he had hurt his leg during the Riposte incident. He decided to let himself believe it was because he had gotten stronger and not that Adrien was getting lighter.

He sat Adrien down on the bed. "Hey, you don't have to be ashamed for being hurt by that." Adrien gave a teary-eyed laugh.

"When Felix said it was really offensive, I thought he was just being dramatic." He looked down, his bangs curtaining off his eyes. "It didn't even show the Princess Justice stuff, so I guess it wasn't that bad, for me at least, so why was I so bothered?"

"Because it was still invalidating what you went through," he gave a small grin. "Though, there is one thing that I can take away from that awful movie."

Adrien blinked. "What?"

Luka pulled Adrien's hoverboard out from under the bed and laid atop it, slithering around in a snake-like fashion. "I'm a thnakeeeee!"

Adrien laughed harder than he probably should as Luka continued to slither around the room until he got back to Adrien's bed and laughed next to him until they both fell next to each other onto the bed. Adrien grabbed his Coccinelle-themed stuffed bear and hugged it.

"Thanks for making me laugh, Luka." Luka brushed Adrien's bangs out of his face.

"Anytime, Angel." He kissed Adrien's forehead. "Get some rest. It's been a long day."

Adrien hugged the bear a little tighter, his eyelids already drifting closed, and he managed to fall asleep with a smile.

Chapter Text

Adrien sat in the lap of his mother's statue as had become routine when he needed someone to comfort him. It was so easy to close his eyes and pretend the form he was sitting on was flesh instead of stone—Mom, alive and not dead.

He heard the sound of someone walking over, and he opened his eyes to see Kieran, slightly dressed up for court but not nearly as much as the first day they had met or during the gala. His hair was still messed up, and he wasn't wearing his suit jacket. "I thought I'd find you here. Are you okay?"

Adrien shrugged. "You know...Marinette’s back in Paris. I..." he sighed as he leaned against his statue-Mom's chest. "I know if Hawk Moth was going to akumatize her again, he would have last night when she landed, but what if the sentencing... doesn't go as hoped."

Kieran was quiet for a few moments, looking down at his feet before he walked over and put his hand on Adrien's shoulder comfortingly, offering a shaky, assuring smile. "Hopefully, Hawk Moth's not that stupid. And I just got off the phone with Ms. LaMotte. She says they will determine whether Marinette gets the maximum or minimum sentence, but in the long run they're basically the same and she'll be out of our lives for good."

Adrien blinked. "Wow. You're oddly optimistic today." Kieran rolled his eyes with a small laugh.

"I'm leaving Paris next week. No more modeling for me! Besides, if Marinette does somehow get a lighter sentence, I'm pretty good at knife throwing. Not like many people would see a problem with that." Adrien snorted a bit despite himself.

"That's terrible!" Yet, he was still grinning. Kieran helped him up and held Adrien's lucky charm from Luka. Adrien's eyes widened as he checked his pockets where he thought he had left it, and Kieran explained.

"It fell out when you were getting up from breakfast this morning."

Adrien put the lucky charm around his neck, tucking it into his shirt to make sure Father didn't see, and he pulled Kieran into a hug. "Thanks, Kieran. We'll keep in contact when you go back, right?"

Kieran gasped quietly before his body relaxed, and he returned the hug. "Sure."

...

Gabriel sneered as he watched his son and his ward in an embrace. He had tried everything, and nothing had worked to akumatize this boy! Every time he got close, either he was too heavily guarded to let the Akuma touch him, or someone else noticed.

What was worse, the longer it seemed Kieran was forming connections, his negative emotions didn't last for long periods most of the time, especially since he had started with his whole disappearing act.

Nevertheless, he was still incredibly unstable and by far the most powerful Akuma he could make. He had to use this boy's power before he slipped out of his grasp!

He gritted his teeth. He needed to tip Kieran over the edge and exploit his anger and trauma if he wanted his masterpiece to come to fruition. But how was he going to do it?

Nathalie walked over to him. "Sir, it's time." He nodded and approached his desk. As much as he wanted to be there in person to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng suffer or perhaps announce the identity of Coccinelle, he had to be here to akumatize Kieran when the time came.

From his tablet, he observed Kieran's body language in the car. He talked with Felix and Adrien briefly, but when they passed something from where Kieran was looking out the window, he crossed his arms and looked away. Kieran's fists were clenched, and Gabriel grinned.

He texted Nathalie to ask what he was looking at, and he wasn't surprised when Nathalie confirmed they had passed the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Perfect. Now he could engage in the next step of two of his plans simultaneously.

…

Chloé knocked on the door that separated the bakery from the Dupain-Cheng apartment, waiting a moment before Sabine's voice welcomed her in. She opened the door and walked up the stairs to find Sabine tidying Tom's tie before she turned to give Chloé a hug, 

"Hello, dear. We're just about to get ready, and we are thankful that you decided to accompany us on this… less than a nice day. We'll be ready in a moment, alright? I just have to go and fix myself up." She said, going to the bathroom.

Chloé and Tom stood in awkward silence for a moment. Even if they were on mostly good terms, she couldn't forget those memories of Princess Justice or hearing Kieran screaming and crying as a child, terrified for this life. Thankfully, Tom didn't talk much, and Chloé often spent time with Sabine as she helped her around the shop, so they could be at least moderately comfortable around each other. 

"So…" Chloé said, playing with the edge of her hair, "How are you holding up?" She asked with a nervous smile.

Tom sighed, giving Chloé a tired smile, "I've been better… but I've also been much much worse." He looked down to fidget with a pink flower pin. "These last few months have given me time to think about my life and me as a parent and where it all might have gone wrong… and I think I'm ready to move forward. I've come to terms with what happened with Marinette, and I want..." he trailed off, but Chloé understood.

She smiled, giving Tom's shoulder a pat, "I'm... proud of you, okay? You're doing the right thing, and trying to get better as a person too. I respect that and relate to it too." 

Sabine stepped out of the bathroom. “Ready to go?”

Chloé nodded. "Let's get this sentencing over with."

...

Adrien beamed as he noticed his friends waiting for him by the back entrance. He was surprised they had gotten in since crowds of people gathered outside the building waiting to hear about Marinette's sentence. He was relieved to see most people's signs were against Marinette and wanted her to have the longest sentence possible.

He hurried over to Luka, doing the best he could to embrace him while still leaning on his cane. Their foreheads touched, and they giggled as it happened. 

Nino made a move as though he was going to touch Kieran, waiting until he got a small nod that it was okay to actually wrap his arm around Kieran. He grinned, ruffling Kieran's hair and messing it up further, looking Gabriel in the eye through the tablet as he did so.

Felix laughed as he leaned against the wall with Kagami. "Ready to see this absolute dumpster fire?"

Kagami examined her sword since it had been agreed that for this sentencing, anyone who was a victim of Marinette, should they desire to have weaponry in the event of her akumatization, were more than welcome to do so. "I can't tell if I want this to go smoothly or if I want to hunt another creep."

Felix blinked. "Another?!" Kagami just giggled in response while he began cackling as they all headed inside to take their seats. Kieran crossed his arms as soon as they sat down, noticing Tom Dupain. Adrien glanced over at his friend, then brightened when Chloé hurried in to take her seat next to them.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as she dug into her purse. "I had to go check on something before the sentencing." She sat down next to Kieran, giving him a nervous smile, which he gladly returned.

He noticed Ms. LaMotte waiting at her table and examining her ring before going over some papers. She had a satisfied smirk on her face as she nodded towards Mayor Hidalgo, who nodded back. Adrien locked eyes with the Mayor, wishing he had talked to her last night as Chat so he could have heard the sentencing options for himself.

The main door opened, and he turned to see a line of armed guards surrounding Marinette, who was wearing a form-fitting black dress despite her handcuffs. As she sat down next to the clearly uneasy Ms. Grace, Adrien noticed the two attorneys sending each other looks. Despite her typical quiet demeanor, Marinette's defense attorney seemed exasperated by her choice of clothing. Only then did Adrien remember wearing black to court as the defendant was frowned upon because it gave an impression of power.

Once everyone was settled in, Mayor Hidalgo spoke. "We are here this morning in the case of the city of Paris versus Marinette Dupain-Cheng. This matter is set for sentencing. The record will reflect the presence of Paris by prosecuting attorney Vivian LaMotte and the presence of the defendant Marinette Dupain-Cheng and by counsel Sara Grace. Are both parties ready to proceed?"

"Yes, your honor," both women said, and Mayor Hidalgo glanced at some papers.

"Counselor LaMotte, have you received a copy of all forms related to this investigation and had an opportunity to review it?" Ms. LaMotte nodded her confirmation. "Counselor Grace, have you received a copy of all forms related to this investigation and had an opportunity to review it with Ms. Dupain-Cheng?"

Ms. Grace stood up, "Your honor, we have, and we have provided it to my client's family." 

"In the process of reviewing that, did either of you find anything that needed to be corrected or otherwise modified? Are there any needed additions, deletions, or corrections?" Both women shook their heads, and Marinette seemed mildly surprised by that, as though there was something she did want to change. Mayor Hidalgo put her papers down. "That report will then be accepted as submitted."

Adrien glanced towards Felix to see if he had any idea what he was talking about, but when he glanced towards Chloé and Nino, they seemed to be the ones to understand what was happening. Adrien pulled out his notepad to ask Nino, and Nino quickly responded on the paper as well.

"Mostly just an introduction to make sure everything's in order, don't worry about it."

Mayor Hidalgo leaned forward. "In addition, I have received and reviewed a psychological report prepared and submitted by Dr. Kokoro Abreo, showing us the results of her evaluation of the defendant Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I believe I received that yesterday, November 22nd. Counselors, have you both had opportunities to review it?"

"Yes, your honor."

This went on for at least ten minutes, and what Adrien found most interesting was that Marinette had a lot of letters that seemed to be supposedly meant to attest to good character. He cringed at just how many there were. She was guilty!

Mayor Hidalgo sighed when she finished recording all of this. "For what it's worth, actually not much in the eyes of the court, I did receive yesterday the report of an incident that occurred on November 19th at the facility where Ms. Dupain-Cheng resides. I believe a copy of that was provided to both of you?"

"Yes."

"All right, I believe that reflects everything that the court has received since the trial, and today we are here to discuss the sentence. Now, typically we would have time for the victims of Ms. Dupain-Cheng and their families to come forward and speak. However, given the hundreds of victims' crimes alongside our time limit to finish matters before her flight back to America to avoid Hawk Moth's akumatization, the only people permitted to speak were Adrien Agreste and Kieran Descônteaux, who have both denied to speak publicly, and their statements were collected privately. Do not worry, for the voices of Paris' victims are heard in online discussions leading up to this sentencing, with results in one of the files given to both attorneys."  

Adrien glanced at Kieran. He had denied speaking publicly too? Kieran just shrugged a little, as though he had already said everything he needed to with Marinette.

"Ms. Grace, do you have anything you wish to offer by way of testimony proper or statement before sentencing?"

Ms. Grace stood up. "Yes, your honor. Marinette would like to speak to the court first, and then I would like to follow up after she's finished if that's alright."

"Very well," Mayor Hidalgo said. "Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I would advise you at this time of your right to allocution. That is your right to make any statement that you may wish the court to consider before passing a sentence in this matter. You may speak at this time."

Marinette stood up from where she was sitting, sniffing and fixing her hair, staring at everyone judgmentally before continuing. "I, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, have been accused of many crimes over the past few months. I will not attempt to debate my innocence; it's clear the court has made its decision. Rather, I will take whatever punishment you give me, as a true hero would go down with their actions and sacrifice themselves for others' sins, rather than hide amongst the crowd like a coward." She looked over to Adrien before turning away and continuing her speech, "I have nothing left to say except that I hope you'll be forgiven and find good in your hearts. Goodbye."

Ms. Grace stood up before anyone could react to Marinette's statement. "Your honor, I have no plans to excuse or minimize the actions of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, as that is not fair to the people who have suffered. The one thing I can say to this court is it is my belief, knowing the facts that I do, Marinette is on all accounts guilty and should not get a lighter sentence."

Gasps among the court, and everyone sat in disbelief at not only the audacity of Marinette's apology but that not even her own defense attorney could stand by her side.

Mayor Hidalgo looked around at the chaos and huffed. "It is best if we end this sentencing as soon as possible." She looked Marinette in the eye. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng, for your conviction for the offenses of stalking, breaking and entering, multiple accounts of first-degree murder, among many other charges, it is the sentence of the court and the desire to account for every victim, that you be imprisoned for 16,372 years. In other words, you will remain in prison for the rest of your natural life with no possibility of parole. You will continue to work to pay back the legal fines of what has been decided as a low estimate of five million euros. Court is now adjourned."

...

As the court dispatched, Tom stormed out of the building, clutching onto his pink flower pin. He knew that his daughter was guilty. He saw the documents Ms. Grace was kind enough to offer and explain to him. And yet…

Why did it still hurt so much? Why was he still enraged about his daughter's fate? 

He didn't notice as a butterfly entered the flower pin, and a voice rang through his head, "A father with enough love to fight for his daughter and destroy anyone in his way. Your anger is justified, and the court shall pay the price."

Tom shook, clutching the pin in his hand, "B-But… I-I…"

"No use resisting, Papa Garou." Hawk Moth chided.

"…Yes, Hawk Moth." Tom slumped against the wall, letting Hawkmoth overcome him.

...

Adrien knew what had happened from the moment he heard the screaming. The ground shook as vines tore out of the ground. Who had been akumatized? Was it Tom?

The vines grabbed Marinette and pulled her up. Nino sprung into action, throwing Adrien over his shoulder and grabbed Kieran's hand. Kieran didn't recoil away from Nino's grip, but he did end up being the one dragging Nino due to running faster without extra weight.

As they got away from the courthouse, Adrien's eyes widened, seeing a tower of vines heading high into the sky. Nino took a breath of relief and put Adrien down once they were sheltered.

"I had to get you two out of there," Nino said while Kieran was looking at his hand before glancing outside.

"Have either of you seen this before?" Kieran asked. Nino sighed, a hand moving to his neck, where his scar was hidden by the choker.

"Yeah...Yeah, I have. It's Marinette's father."

Kieran crossed his arms, his typical cynicism shining through. "Ah, so he's trying to kill us again. Wonderful." He muttered darkly under his breath. "To think I actually had hope of leaving without an attempt on my life from that bastard."

"Well," Adrien pointed out, "If we're targets, we should probably get out of here." He tried not to think of the memory of Papa Garou holding that torch to light the pyre. To think all this time, he had been so concerned about Marinette being akumatized and hadn't considered this...

Rusé dropped down unexpectedly. "Hey, guys! Glad I found you." He glanced up at the vine tower, "Yeah, so I can assume you all know what's going on." He took Adrien's hand. "We'll split up. I can run faster carrying him, and you two can move pretty quickly on your own. Maybe hide at the Eiffel Tower or something?"

"We'll figure something out," Kieran took Nino's hand again. "Come on, Nino. Let's avoid dying." Nino blinked and grinned.

"Okay, Ki."

Kieran just rolled his eyes fondly as they hurried out, and Rusé shut the door behind him. "Chop chop, Sunflower. We don't have all day."

"Thanks, Rusé," Adrien said. "I wasn't sure what I was going to do about that." Rusé shrugged, and Plagg emerged.

"Kid, be careful." Adrien pat Plagg's head assuringly.

"Don't worry, Plagg. Claws out!"

...

Coccinelle looked up at the tower, contemplating how much of a death sentence it was to go up there without backup from Chat Noir or Rusé. Should he wait? From what he could see, at least for now, Papa Garou didn't seem like he was going to leave his tower where his daughter likely was.

He examined the vine tower and the little pink flowers scattered about alongside the massive blade-like thorns when he heard a voice. "Coccinelle!"

He turned and saw Chloé hurrying over, impressively running in heels.

She stopped a few paces in front of him. "I've fought him before as Antibug with Ashton. Tying him up with the yoyo and incapacitating him at the legs works decently. He relies on jumping, and if he can't do that, it will be easier."

"Got it!" He gave her a thumbs-up. "Thanks, Chloé." Chloé nodded and decided to hurry off, knowing she wouldn't be able to help much at the high altitude of the tower they couldn't see the top of.

"Heyyo!"

He turned and saw Chat Noir and Rusé land in similar poses, and he had to stop himself from giggling at their antics, as this was a serious topic. He glanced upwards.

"Alright, so Chat was passed out last time anyone dealt with him. Chloé gave me some advice, but I can't help but feel this is going to be harder than the first time."

"Oh yeah," Rusé said. "It really is. But hey, there are three of us, and one of him. My main concern is hypoxia."

"We're superheroes," Chat pointed out, "And we've fought weirder things."

"Like Mr. Pigeon?"

"Exactly!" He spun his staff. "Let's get this over with."

But they only got maybe twenty feet up before a massive form that was quickly identified as Papa Garou came crashing down from the tower. Coccinelle looked around him and noticed that he couldn't spot any obvious akumatized object. He glanced upwards. "Should we check up there?"

"Not yet!" Rusé said, playing his flute quickly and conjuring illusions of both Kieran and Adrien. "These are likely his targets, the victims and lead witnesses. I'll use this to lead him into some sort of confined space like the stadium while you two come up with a plan."

"On it!" Rusé sprinted off, making the illusions start running towards the stadium. Papa Garou let out a roar of rage and started chasing after. Coccinelle glanced back at the tower again.

"We don't have much time before the illusion wears off and Rusé has to transform back." They both nodded and took off after Rusé to ensure a trap was waiting at the stadium to keep him contained. Coccinelle remembered Chloé's advice to incapacitate him at his legs and tie him up. He would need something to bring him down like a net. 

A net!

As they got to the stadium, Coccinelle grabbed the goal and started beating it at the edges, forming a haphazard net. It wasn't going to hold him for long, but it wasn't meant to, just enough for Coccinelle to tie him with the indestructible yoyo.

...

Hawk Moth grinned as he watched Kieran and Adrien running. He could ensure Adrien was safe, but surely something like this would light that fire in Kieran that was so perfect for an Akuma. Victory had never been this close!

But as he prepared his backup second Akuma to strike, he realized something. He could feel nothing from Kieran in front of him. No emotion at all when it was normally so strong. When he checked, the same applied to Adrien.

"That fox!" He activated their link. "Papa Garou, that is not the real Kieran and Adrien. The boy with the Fox Miraculous is nearby and trying to trick you!"

...

Rusé knew something was wrong almost immediately as it happened, and Papa Garou suddenly became aware of his presence and jumped at him, managing to scratch into his arm. He yelped and barely managed to dive out of the way before that cut on his arm became a death blow. 

For the first time since becoming a hero, his heart raced, and he felt newfound energy as he ran faster than he had run before, cradling his arm and backflipping behind Papa Garou when he realized his opponent was gaining speed too quickly.

He used his good arm to call Chat Noir. "Guys! The plan's gone to hell! I'll try to get him there since he's chasing me, but—" he looked down at his beeping necklace. "I'm gonna transform back soon."

"Oh! Uh," Chat Noir fumbled. "Hang on! I'll come and get you! Where are you?"

"I'll try to be by Notre Dame," he said, looking down at his bleeding arm. "Hurry."

...

"Oh hell!" Chat Noir turned to Coccinelle, who coached him quickly to calm his racing breathing.

"It's okay, Chat," Coccinelle assured him. "Go pick him up, and I'll take care of things." He threw his yoyo in the air. "Lucky Charm!" A teapot fell into his hands. "Okay then, the universe is saying 'fuck this plan, we need help.'"

They both ran off in separate directions, Chat Noir snagging a first aid kit from a new store and finding Felix hidden inside Notre Dame, feeding Trixx some celery since it was easy to carry and Trixx wasn't picky.

"Are you hurt?" Chat asked worriedly, bending down beside him. Felix shrugged, having taken off his jacket to avoid getting blood on it. 

"Just my arm. It's not deep or at any arteries, but it still hurts like a bitch."

Chat Noir nodded as he quickly cleaned the cut and pulled out some Neosporin, wrapping it like he remembered Kieran teaching him with bandages. "Better?"

"Yeah. Trixx, let's pounce!" He stood up, holding his head momentarily. Chat helped stabilize him.

"You shouldn't be fighting too much. You're already hurt."

"Nah, I'm fine." He waved his arm around. "I'm alright." But his hands were still shaking. "Alright, how about I stay away from the fight, but I go up that tower and try to find the akumatized object." Chat Noir nodded agreement, and they ran in different directions.

...

Coccinelle swung from building to building, eventually landing in Master Fu's apartment, "Master, we need your help! Papa Garou is attacking the city, and we need a Miraculous to match its strength!" He said, going to look at Master Fu's wrist, "Where is Wayzz? We'll need the Turtle Miraculous for this." 

"I often switch out Miraculouses to build a tolerance and connection to all the kwamis and powers they offer, as it's not so easy in my old age," Master Fu explained, bringing out the Miracle Box to display. "The Turtle Miraculous requires someone protective and strong, someone who would stand for others and defend them till the end. I trust you can pick wisely, Ladyb—" he stilled, realizing his mistake.

Both stood in silence for a moment before Master Fu brought out a box to contain the miraculous in, mumbling something about how "He's sure he'll do well." 

Chat Noir leaped into the building, heaving and supporting himself on his staff, "What did I miss?" He asked, to only be quickly assured by Fu nothing much happened and Coccinelle that they would need to decide who gets the Turtle Miraculous, deciding to ignore a soft mumble of how dangerous it was to reveal identities or build a team.

"Who would be a good fit?" Coccinelle wondered. "And while Felix already knew our identities, this does mean it has to be someone we trust. Do we reveal ourselves to them?"

"We'll see, but I lean towards yes." Chat Noir took the box, grinning. "I actually have an idea of who to give it to."

...

Nino and Kieran sat down near the glass windows inside the surprisingly empty Le Jules Verne. It was common for the Eiffel Tower to close and people to be evacuated during Akuma attacks, but if this was where Rusé had suggested they hide, the two didn't see a reason to go against that.

Kieran looked out at the tower of vines in the distance, his expression unreadable but his body language giving away his nerves. Nino sighed as he tried to think of something to assure him.

"It's going to be okay. You know that, right?"

Kieran scoffed. "Not really. I suppose I have faith in the heroes to defeat him, but what if Marinette escapes? I can't...I can't handle her being free again."

"Well..." he tried to think of something to say as Kieran pulled one of his legs close to his chest. He brightened as he got an idea. "Hey, there's a macaron bar here. I know you like that."

Kieran shrugged listlessly, closing his eyes as though trying to sleep. Nino hesitated as he got up, taking one last look as he stepped out of the restaurant, needing to remind himself that he was only going to be gone for a few minutes at most. It wasn't like anything would happen in that time.

He grabbed some macarons from the stand and left money and a quick note explaining what he had taken, heading back when he suddenly yelped at the sight of Chat Noir.

"Woah! Chat Noir?"

"Are you and Kieran safe?" Chat asked, and Nino nodded.

"Yeah, Kieran's inside."

"Good." Chat Noir pulled out a box and handed it to Nino. "This is the Miraculous of the Turtle, granting the power of protection. We need help from someone caring and ready to defend others from Papa Garou. Will you help us?"

Without hesitation, Nino took the box and opened it. A green orb emerged and floated around him before it turned into a chibi turtle.

"Hello," the turtle said, "My name is Wayzz."

Nino beamed. "Hey little guy, what are you, a genie like in those fairy tales?"

"I am a kwami." Wayzz explained. "I can't grant wishes, but I can give you superpowers. All you have to say is: 'Wayzz, shell on!'"

Nino was just about to jump all in on being a superhero but paused as he looked back at the restaurant where Kieran was waiting. "Just...give me a sec." He opened the door to the restaurant and looked inside, where it seemed Kieran was sleeping or close enough to it that it was better to leave him in quiet.

He closed the door then turned back to Chat Noir and Wayzz. "Alright! Wayzz, shell on!" He felt the transformation cover him, and he looked down at himself in amazement. "Awesome!" He looked up. "So do I give this back to you when I'm done with it?"

"Only if you want to," Chat Noir replied. "What should I call you?"

"Um..." he thought about it for a moment. "Carapace! Call me Carapace."

"Alright, Carapace." He jumped down with him, and they ran back towards the tower to meet up with the others. "Let's go." With four heroes, surely they would be able to deal with Papa Garou and have Marinette back in jail before Kieran woke up.

He didn't see that Kieran noticed the flash of green light and stepped out of the restaurant to investigate. "Nino?"

OoOoO

Coccinelle got the call from Chat Noir that Nino had accepted the Turtle Miraculous, and he finished grabbing supplies for a new plan to handle Papa Garou. He wouldn't have expected a man with mostly just jumping, and super strength would give him as much grief as this was.

He had a proper net and an idea of what to do with it as he chased after Papa Garou, where he was heading in the direction of the Agreste mansion. While Coccinelle knew Adrien was safe, he wasn't keen on letting Adrien's home be destroyed.

"Hey! Are you looking for me?" He called, knowing he was someone else Papa Garou probably detested—the one that had "stolen" Marinette's spot as the Ladybug hero. He threw down his yoyo and wrapped it and the net around Papa Garou's hand, anticipating when Papa Garou snarled and tried to throw him. He hooked his legs around the streetlamp he was thrown into and pulled with all his might, sending Papa Garou flying towards the Seine.

Chat Noir and Carapace appeared, and Coccielle continued to struggle with his grip.

"So what's the plan?" Carapace asked, and Coccinelle's eyes widened as Papa Garou tore free of the yoyo and began charging at them. The three heroes jumped onto a large thorn of the tower.

"I'm thinking we force him into the Seine," Coccinelle said. "Rusé's up above trying to find the akumatized object since I doubt it's on his person. But if we get him underwater, we might be able to weigh him down enough or, you know, drown him a little, and that will make things easier for the time being."

"Isn't drowning him a bit harsh?" Chat Noir asked, and Coccinelle shrugged.

"Only drowning him a little, and I really can't think of anything else we can do to contain him with how strong he is. I've been watching him and he tears through buildings effortlessly."

"What do I do?" Carapace asked.

"Use your shield to ensure we don't die horribly," Chat Noir replied. "Sound like a plan?" Carapace nodded, then yelped as Papa Garou jumped at him, and they quickly moved upward to get away. Carapace threw up his shield and took the blow with enough force to break the thorn he was standing on and send him falling to the ground. He caught himself by grabbing one of the vines, hoisting himself up as Coccinelle wrapped his yoyo around Papa Garou's waist and grimaced when he realized this was not going to be easy to drag him to the water. 

Papa Garou pulled on some of the vines. He cracked it like a whip before using it to trip up Chat Noir, who used his staff to bounce around and quickly listened to a message from Rusé saying the only place he could think the Akuma was, was with Marinette or on Papa Garou's person hidden somewhere. Or it could be one of the hundreds of flowers on this tower.

"You betrayed my daughter!" Papa Garou roared, and Chat Noir decided he would see if the object was on his person. If the object was with Marinette, there was no getting it, and it was likely she would break it herself to frame herself as a hero when it suited her.

"She betrayed me first!" He snapped back, hopping onto the ground to bring him back down. He had to keep Papa Garou as far away from Rusé as possible. He called Rusé quickly. "Get down and away. I don't want you to get hurt." He jumped as another vine tried to trip him up below, and he smirked at Papa Garou. "So, what's your plan here anyway? Protect her from prison by keeping her in another prison? Don't you understand what you're doing?!"

"I'm protecting her from people like you who wish to harm her!" He snarled, landing a blow, but Chat Noir danced around it.

"No! I meant what you're doing to yourself and your wife! If you do this and take your anger out of the people Marinette hurt, you're just going to make yourself, and your innocent wife seem like monsters to the public! Do you really want to do that to her? Is Marinette worth that?"

While Chat Noir tried to talk him down, Carapace stood next to Rusé as he jumped down. Rusé blinked and looked him up and down before deciding they'd talk later. "What's the plan?"

"We need to find a way to stun him or get him in the water. But I can't see how we'll do that, especially if he's somehow able to see through illusions."

"I don't think he's the one who did," Rusé said. "I think it was Hawk Moth. He's wanted to akumatize Kieran for a while, so maybe..." his eyes widened. "This is a trap for Kieran."

"Well, Kieran's asleep," Carapace replied. "I doubt he'll get himself in trouble while he's sleeping." At the surprised looks from the other two, he shrugged. "He kinda shuts down sometimes after his adrenaline relaxes."

"So it's Lahiffe," Rusé muttered. "Good to know. So what's the plan? Even if we have the whole 'trap' thing dealt with, we still need a plan."

"Alright," Coccinelle pointed at the river. "So if Kieran is the one Hawk Moth's after, we can still use the illusions of Adrien."

"I'll give you one better," Rusé said, playing his flute. Suddenly, he looked exactly like Adrien. "Now, if Hawk Moth tries to check for emotions, he'll sure as hell find some." He jumped down, and Carapace glanced at Coccinelle.

"I assume I'm protecting Rusé?" Coccinelle nodded, and Carapace jumped down in hiding, ready to attack.

Chat Noir's words hadn't managed to stun Papa Garou for long as he decided it was worth it to attack the heroes if it meant defending a murderer. He pulled at the vines again, and Chat Noir heard Coccinelle shout. "The vines!" 

He understood what that meant. He had to cataclysm the vine around Papa Garou's waist that he was connected to when tripping everyone up. It was the only way to end the fight safely.

"Papa Garou!" 'Adrien' called to Papa Garou. "I'm the one you want. Come take me instead!"

"Adrien, get out of here!" Coccinelle called in a panic to sell the story while Papa Garou grinned maliciously. But that didn't stop him from noticing Chat Noir leaping quietly to cataclysm the vines. He pulled away as he charged, but Chat Noir couldn't stop him cataclysm from landing onto the ground instead, making everything shake. His eyes widened as the tower began to fall.

Everything happened in slow motion. Papa Garou charged at 'Adrien' as Coccinelle leaped in the air and wrapped his yoyo around Papa Garou's waist to pull him further when the time came. Carapace protected Rusé from a blow but ended up directly where the tower was going to land.

"Look out!" 

He didn't realize he had been shoved away from being crushed until he heard the booming echo of the tower falling completely to the ground. As the dust cleared, a scream tore out of his throat, unlike anything he could have imagined he was capable of.

Kieran lay underneath the mass of vines that was once the tower, half of his body seen, unable to get away in time after shoving Carapace to safety.

He didn't even feel himself fighting against the now-slack vines, tearing into them and pulling Kieran out and cradling him in his arms.

Everyone, even Papa Garou, watched, stunned for a few moments as Carapace tried to feel for injuries on Kieran. His spine was broken in his lower back.

"Why—" he wept, "Why would you do that?"

Kieran was still conscious and rested his head on Carapace's shoulder, gesturing weakly up at a butterfly—an Akuma—that was fluttering around. "Not letting you get hurt...bad for everyone."

Carapace didn't have time to process that as he heard Papa Garou snap out of his shock and roar, ready to attack. He gathered Kieran into his arms. He had to get him out of here!

"No hospital." Kieran suddenly ordered through pained gasps. "He'll follow."

Kieran had a point, but if he didn't take him to a hospital, he would—what were the rules with the Miraculous healing?! Did it not count because Kieran jumped in the way or that it hadn't been Papa Garou himself? It had to count. He didn't let himself consider any other alternative. Kieran would be fine.

He brought him to Chloé's hotel in a guest room and laid him down on the bed with the utmost care to keep him comfortable as he hurried towards the door. "Doctor! We need a doctor, please!" He didn't know what this would achieve as they were in a luxury hotel and not a hospital, but surely it would be better than just waiting.

"Nino?" Kieran asked, his eyes glazed over as he tried and failed to sit up. "Where are you? Nino?"

Carapace detransformed and hurried over to Kieran's side, holding his hand desperately. "I'm right here. Do you need anything? Anything at all." He cursed himself. "Why? Why did you...?"

"Didn't know where you were," Kieran replied. "Noticed Akuma. I'd rather be injured for a bit than..." he wheezed, gasping slightly as Nino tried to soothe him. He nervously glanced down at Kieran's legs and moved slowly to lift up his shirt.

"I'm going to check your injuries, okay?" Kieran just shook his head, laying back against the pillow.

Nino sat at Kieran's side, staring helplessly. He remembered what it was like to die, and even as he felt Kieran's hand becoming cold as he clutched onto it like a lifeline, he refused to even consider such a possibility. He would be fine. 

"Lily—!" Kieran suddenly said, but it was soft as though he was struggling to even say one word. Nino remembered meeting Kieran's cousin years ago, so he knew who he was referring to. He held Kieran's hand a little tighter.

"She's okay, Ki. She's safe."

Kieran smiled slightly.

His hand went slack in Nino's grip.

Nino snapped up, his voice cracking. "Ki—Kieran?"

Kieran didn't respond, staring blankly up at the ceiling. But even before Nino noticed his pupils were dilated far more than they should be...he knew.

This can't be real. This isn't real. This—This can't be happening.

With shaky hands, he threw the Turtle Miraculous off to the side by the window, not hearing Wayzz's attempts to console him. If he hadn't accepted that...

A choked sob slipped from his throat, tears sliding down his cheeks. The only sound in the a world otherwise still and quiet.

Slowly, he moved his hand to Kieran's eyes, far duller than they should be, and closed them. He smiled a bit at a more pleasant image.

“Ah…I see. You’re sleeping. That makes sense.” His thumb slipped under Kieran’s sleeve. He could see for himself, far fewer fresh cuts. “You’ve been working so hard to get better, and keep everyone safe. You’re doing everything you can, even with Hawk Moth targeting you. That’s why... no matter how mad you might get later, I’m not afraid. I won’t leave you. I’ll keep you safe…until you wake up. So…rest, Kieran, for as long as you need. I’ll be right here… I’ll be right here…” his voice cracked, but that was the furthest thing from his mind. “I’ll be right here… I’ll…” 

Something inside him broke then, pulling Kieran into his arms and trying to tell himself it wasn't true or everything would be fine later. But if he never brought Kieran back to Paris, this never would have happened...

"I—I'll be right here... I'll be right here... I'll be right here...right here..." 

Rusé hurried into the room from the window. "Carapace! Chat and Coccinelle are fighting Papa Garou in the water. He's surprisingly good at swimming but things still look as planned. How is—" 

He froze, noticing the discarded Turtle Miraculous and Nino holding Kieran desperately, his words unintelligible through sobs. He didn't need to step close to know what had happened.

His breath caught in his throat as he turned on his communicator, unsure if it was shock that allowed him to function as Chat asked about Kieran's condition.

"Kieran is dead."

Chapter Text

"Kieran is dead."

Chat Noir froze when he heard those awful words from Rusé. That...That couldn't be possible. Kieran couldn't be dead—he couldn't be!

He had seen all of it happen but hadn't been fast enough to stop it. That shout of "Look out!" as Kieran flew at Carapace and shoved him, only for vines to detach from the tower and fall on top of him. He had heard the pained yelp...

He hadn't realized he had begun to activate Black Storm until he jumped back into the fight with renewed vigor now that it had ended up out of the water. Papa Garou was heavily weighed down by the water still weighing down his fur, so he wasn't able to fight in time as Chat Noir destroyed the vines around his torso and pushed all of his power into doing so.

"You killed him!" He shrieked. "Kieran's dead because of you! Are you happy now?!"

The Akuma left Papa Garou immediately, as though hearing about the death of a civilian had been enough to end everything. Chat Noir recoiled at the sight of Tom Dupain with wide eyes, as though he had heard Kieran was gone.

But Chat didn't care about him and grabbed onto Coccinelle's hoodie. "Please! Try Glitterbug, maybe it's not too late!" His breathing picked up, pleading that this wasn't true.

He thought about those late nights with Kieran, where he could just come in after a nightmare and find Kieran reading, and they would just talk for a few hours, and Kieran wouldn't complain about it. If he lost that friend he had gotten, the one person who really understood what had happened with Marinette, and in such a violent way...if he couldn't talk to him anymore...

"Miraculous Glitterbug!" The sparkling ladybugs took off around Paris, and Coccinelle helped Chat Noir sit down in a forgotten area of the courthouse. "Angel, I'm going to make sure Marinette doesn't escape from where she landed, okay? Nathalie will be here soon." Chat Noir nodded as he tried to calm himself down, detransforming as Coccinelle took off upon hearing the sound of Nathalie's heels.

"Adrien!" Nathalie hurried over to him and pulled him into an embrace. "I've been looking everywhere for you—I thought you had been killed!"

"I'm the lucky one..." Adrien whispered. "Kieran..."

Nathalie tensed. "What happened to Kieran?"

"He...He..." he couldn't say it, only sobbing against Nathalie's chest, not seeing how her expression was painted with unimaginable fury as she forced her features to soften and carry the young boy she had raised back to the car so he could rest.

"Rest, Adrien," she soothed him, "Do you know where Felix is?" Adrien shook his head, and Nathalie sighed. "Alright. I will sort out everything, but especially since Marinette is not back in custody, I'm going to take you home, alright? I need to have a word with your father."

He didn't think about how it sounded more like "have a word with" was code for "strangle." He stared vacantly out the window, and he looked down at Plagg. Plagg had mentioned being tied to Gods of Death, right? Maybe he could prevent Kieran from being truly gone? Or maybe Tikki could do something?

But maybe that wasn't necessary! Sure...Miraculous Cure was a little iffy about what it healed and what it didn't. However, Adrien had determined the average MO. It healed wounds from the Akuma, but nothing that happened in response to that thing—such as Adrien having wounds after his car was cut with Riposte and Luka still having blood poisoning after Princess Justice. 

Tikki had mentioned the healing also caused a short period where those killed unless their bodies were completely destroyed, could be saved, despite wounds unhealed. If the origin could be tied to the Akuma, there was a chance, albeit small. Maybe that period would be enough?

Please. Adrien prayed for the first time since Mom passed away. Please let Kieran live.

…

Kieran lay with his hands neatly folded over his stomach, and if he ignored the blood staining Kieran's shirt and the sheets, Nino could mistake him for sleeping. Sure, he never slept flat on his back...always on his side and clinging onto something like a pillow...but maybe it was just painful with his injuries.

As he had promised, he stayed by Kieran's side, waiting for him to wake up. He had cleaned the blood from Kieran's lips and his temple, making sure he wasn't a complete mess when he woke up. Maybe they would laugh later about how of course, his button-up had been destroyed...

Rusé lingered by the window and tried to keep his frantic breathing under control as the sight of death sent him flashing back to that day in the hospital when it was his father...or Adrien... where were the sparkly ladybugs to heal Kieran?!

He almost whooped with delight when the Miraculous Cure finally appeared, and Kieran's torso snapped back into its proper place.

Kieran exhaled, but he didn't move otherwise. Nino's breath hitched as he frantically checked for a pulse, laughing in relief when there was one. It was incredibly weak but undeniably there. The same applied to his breathing, which was more of a wheeze, but his chest was rising and falling ever so slightly, and that was good enough.

With care, he turned Kieran onto his side in a recovery position and gently checked his back, cursing himself for not being as careful earlier. Tears welled up in his eyes as he didn't feel anything broken. This was real...he was alive...

But Kieran wasn't waking up, and that scared him more than he could have thought possible.

He jumped a bit when Rusé tossed the Turtle Miraculous at him.

"He needs a hospital now, or he will die," Rusé explained. "Chat told me about this. It's like a boost that won't give him long before he succumbs to what I'm guessing is blood loss."

Nino nodded, clipping on the bracelet again, but not before taking off his beanie and placing it on Kieran's head. "Just hang in there. Wayzz, shell on!" He transformed and rested Kieran's back on the flat part of his shield to stabilize him until they got to the hospital, and he could be sure Kieran would be alright. 

Even if Kieran remained at death's door, having the smallest chance to save him was better than nothing at all, and he refused to waste this chance.

He wasn't fully sure what had happened after that. He must have detransformed not long after getting close to the hospital, running in as a civilian and screaming for doctors to help. He was vaguely aware of people asking him about Kieran's blood type and having him on a blood transfusion. They had needed to perform CPR after losing him a couple times, but they were able to revive him.

At some point, he had noticed Coccinelle hurrying down the hall with an unconscious Marinette in his arms. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to tell if she had any injuries besides a long gash across her face that was probably going to scar. 

But that was the only time he took his eyes off Kieran's far too pale face. The doctor had said something about severe blood loss and a concussion, as well as potential small fractures in his low back. They said once he regained consciousness, it would be easier to tell what condition he was in.

Nino counted the seconds, waiting for Kieran to open his eyes. Just a sliver of that amethyst color was all he was asking. 7620...7621...7622...

A little red version of Wayzz flew in, and Nino didn't look up from Kieran. "Are you Coccinelle's kwami?"

"Yep!" The little ladybug Kwami said. "He wanted to see if I could do anything for Kieran." She looked him over. "Oh no, that's not good." She placed her little nubs on either side of Kieran's head, letting a pink glow come over Kieran's body. Once she was satisfied, she pulled away, briefly turning to look at the far end of the bed, gesturing vaguely, almost as though shooing something away. "There we go!"

"What did you do?" Nino asked, and the ladybug kwami turned.

"I did what I could to heal him since I have a little less restriction in what I can heal with Akumas, and Kieran was already mostly healed so I just had to add some finishing touches. I couldn't do much for his head besides pulling him out of danger, but hopefully he'll be fine by morning." She smiled sweetly. "Just keep an eye on him, okay?"

"You can count on me!" He beamed, pulling the small creature into an embrace. "Thank you."

The kwami was taken by surprise but smiled and waved goodbye, and Nino watched her go before bending down to Kieran's side, brushing his hair out of his face, ending up cupping his cheek. His skin was still pale, but the color was coming back.

He gasped softly as Kieran moved a bit, his hand moving on top of Nino's as he slowly opened his eyes. "Nino?"

He was alive. He was talking. He was even smiling a bit! Tears were spilling down Nino's face, and he couldn't care less. It took all of his willpower to not dive at Kieran and just hold him, so he made the gesture, and Kieran nodded upon sitting up.

"I thought I lost you..." he whispered, burying his face in Kieran's shoulder. "I thought—I thought—"

Kieran let him cry, his brows furrowed. "What happened?"

Nino's eyes widened as he lurched back, looking over Kieran's face, seeing he was genuine about having no idea what happened. He cursed himself. It probably had to do with the concussion since the kwami did say she hadn't been able to fix everything. But besides having no idea what happened, he seemed to be fine. He decided to figure out how bad this was before he panicked.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"I remember..." Kieran thought about it, wincing a bit and rubbing his head. Nino got up and closed the curtain to dim the lights in the room. "I remember you left, and I saw some green flash, and I wanted to find you. I think you were dressed like a turtle and were in danger, but that part's kinda fuzzy."

So Kieran's memory was intact up to the incident. He decided that was good. To even imagine Kieran remembering that after everything he went through...

"You got really badly hurt by Papa Garou while saving me," Nino explained. "I...I wasn't sure you were going to wake up."

Should he tell Kieran that he had died? He shook himself slightly. No, Kieran didn't need to know that on top of everything, so knowing about getting hurt was enough.

Kieran laid back in bed, struggling with the back brace he was wearing. He chuckled slightly. "So is the chibi turtle real, or is my concussion worse than I think?" He pointed at Wayzz, who flew over to Kieran.

"No, I am very much real. I am Wayzz, and I grant Nino the power of protection." Kieran blinked.

"So you're a superhero now?"

"No. Absolutely not," Nino replied, taking off the bracelet and glancing at Wayzz before scoffing. "For someone who's supposed to have the power of protection, I didn't really protect anybody. Hell, you would be a better superhero than me." He offered the bracelet to Kieran.

"I think it would be best to give it back to Chat Noir," Kieran said, "Assuming he's the one who gave this to you." Nino nodded, and Kieran examined the bracelet, which didn't look connected to turtles at all in its camouflaged mode. "So, a Miraculous can hide in plain sight?"

"Yes," Wayzz replied. "That way it won't be as easy to identify."

"Interesting." Kieran closed his eyes. "I'm just going to lay down."

"You can't fall asleep again," Nino warned quickly, sitting down next to him. "You've still got a concussion."

Kieran groaned, trying to get comfortable on his side but struggling. Nino grabbed the blanket off the couch by the window and put it under Kieran, and let him use Nino's body as a pillow to lean against.

"I'm gonna message everyone that you're okay," he pulled out his phone to send a text. "I should probably call your parents too." He blinked when his phone rang, and it was Kieran’s mother. "Hey, Aileen. I assume you got a call from the hospital."

"What happened?!" Aileen demanded. "I—I got a call saying Kieran lost a lot of blood and he was in critical condition! He's not—"

"It's not what you think," he assured her, thanking his lucky stars again for Kieran's health. "Kieran was caught in the crossfire when Marinette's Dad was Akumatized, but he's okay now. I'm with him right now and besides a concussion, he's perfectly fine."

"...." He heard Aileen take a deep breath, the inflection of her voice becoming that of suppressed rage. "I see. Liam and I will be heading down to Paris. Hopefully, the trains are open. Please do me a favor and take care of my son seeing as Gabriel Agreste is clearly unable."

"Of course, ma'am," he handed the phone to Kieran. "Do you want to talk to your Mom?" Kieran nodded and took the phone after turning down the volume, smiling softly as he heard his Mom's voice, resting his head on Nino's chest as he listened to her talk.

Nino tried to suppress a sigh. Seeing Kieran so happy to talk to his Mom was good, but...he knew Kieran was getting homesick. Was it selfish to want him to stay a little bit longer?

...

Felix had watched Adrien pace around his bedroom for no less than two hours. Nathalie was downstairs screaming at Gabriel, and Felix couldn't help but wonder why. Adrien probably assumed it was Gabriel going against his agreement with the Descônteaux family in every way possible. But Felix couldn't help but wonder if there was some other reason Nathalie was absolutely livid.

He heard his phone buzz. Even after Luka confirmed Tikki had been able to help, Adrien had not stopped pacing, as though he expected Kieran to take a sudden and unexpected turn for the worst. He sighed in relief when he saw Nino's message.

"Kieran's awake," he said, and Adrien snapped out of his panicked trance. "He doesn't remember what happened, and he's got a headache, but he's otherwise fine. He's probably not up for visitors until tomorrow, but we can see him tomorrow."

Adrien laughed with relief, his knees going weak as he landed on the bed. "Oh, thank god..."

Plagg sat in Adrien's hair. "I told you he'd be fine."

"I want to see him," Adrien insisted. "I need to see for myself that he's alright. Claws out!" 

He took off without another word. He knew Kieran was at the same hospital he had been, and it didn't take long peeking into windows to find the dark room Kieran and Nino were in, with only a soft light on in the corner. While he was hooked up to a heart monitor and an IV, Kieran was alive, and he was safe.

He pressed his forehead against the glass, his shoulders shaking as he started letting go of his irrational fears that somehow Kieran was going to end up dead. He still couldn't shake the anxiety that something would go horribly wrong... after all, it hadn't been Papa Garou that directly caused the tower to crash to the ground; all he had done was dodge. It had been Chat's own Cataclysm that almost spelled Kieran's death.

He turned off to the side and grimaced at the sight of Notre Dame Cathedral, hurrying off in another direction. Surely his fears were just irrational after what had happened. Everything would go back to normal now. Sure...Kieran was still leaving, but they could keep in contact, and maybe he could visit.

He tossed Plagg some cheese as he got home and noticed Felix reading with Trixx asleep on his shoulder. Felix grinned.

"Satisfied that he's fine?" Adrien nodded and flopped onto his bed, not caring to change out of his court attire that was plenty comfortable anyway.

Yeah...everything will be just fine.

OoOoO

Adrien hurried into the hospital room as soon as he got the room number and threw open the door. "Kieran!" He blinked at the sight in front of him, mildly surprised and yet relieved all the same.

Kieran was standing, and while he was wearing a back brace and Nino was supporting him, he seemed more annoyed than in any actual need of assistance. It also didn't escape Adrien's notice that Kieran was wearing Nino's beanie. 

"Nino, I'm fine," Kieran assured him. "Damn doctor was just stubborn about letting me take it off."

"You never know," Nino insisted, "What if the kwami couldn't heal everything and your spine is still cracked somewhere, and you herniate a disk or something?" He looked up and gave a shaky grin when he saw everyone else. "Hey, guys! Can someone please—"

Chloé threw herself at Kieran, pulling him into a tight embrace and forcing him to sit down. "The media said you were nearly killed!"

Kieran rolled his eyes as they broke apart. "Yeah, not dead yet, just got a headache. Well look at that," he leaned back onto the pillows. "Looks like Dupain was true to his word and tried to kill me. But I'm still alive, so who's laughing now?" He laughed a bit to himself and then smiled lazily to everyone else. "So what have you all been up to while I've been hanging out here?"

"Worrying about you, mostly," Felix replied, nudging Adrien teasingly, "This one wouldn't even think about resting until he knew you weren't going to die." 

Kieran's expression changed somewhat, and Adrien fought back his flinch at the mention of death, but he knew Nino had not hidden his upset at the concept. Those words of Felix announcing Kieran was dead... He remembered Luka's message saying Tikki had been able to fix up the last of his injuries that could have killed him if they hadn't been healed...they had come so close to losing him forever if Tikki hadn't been able to do anything...

Adrien shook those thoughts away and placed his hand on Kieran's. "Yeah, I'll admit I was pretty worried." He laughed. "You should have heard Nathalie screaming at my father all night. I think he actually locked himself in his office to get away from her."

"He had it coming," Kieran replied, holding his head slightly and blinking a couple times. "So what else has been happening?" he snapped up. "Was Marinette captured?!"

"Yeah," Luka replied, crossing his arms. "Coccinelle brought her in not long after you were checked in unconscious. I heard when he found her, just about every bone in her body was broken, and even the cure left a nasty scar across her face."

Kagami chuckled. "I'll have to avoid the news for a while, because I psychoanalyzed her for too long during my acting role to even pretend she won't throw a tantrum about her 'perfect face' being marred." She subconsciously traced the scar around her neck.

Upon hearing about what became of Marinette, Kieran's mouth twisted upwards into a borderline crazed grin. "Good. Let's hope justice can be served, and her bastard father is next. As much as I hate Gabriel, it would be nice if he could do one decent thing and drive him out of Paris since clearly, all Dupain-Chengs are attempted-murderers. Maybe someone can deal with him without people constantly worrying about Akumas."

"I wouldn't think Sabine deserves that," Adrien said warily, "She wasn't part of the whole Princess Justice nonsense or any of this." Kieran waved his hand casually.

"Good point, good point, she hasn't done anything actively harmful. Yet she's still married to that psycho and hasn't denounced the actions of either, so she's still culpable." He shrugged, "Ah well, maybe she can stay. But you can't really expect Tom to have moved on and not try to kill children who didn't give his little 'princess' everything she wanted?"

Chloé raised her hand hesitantly, shrinking down as though to make herself as small as possible as she quietly said, "…actually you can."

Everyone snapped over to look at her in varying degrees of confusion and outrage, and Chloé played with her ponytail as she explained herself.

"Listen, I don't trust that guy either. But something was really weird about this Akuma." She straightened and began explaining with more confidence. "He seemed to have genuinely wanted to move on, and then he's akumatized under the guise of avenging his daughter out of nowhere?" She bit her lip, deep in thought. "Something doesn't add up."

"Well, how would you know that?" Kieran asked, but his tone had changed from joking to something more bitter and almost fearful. "Staring at him during court?" Luka walked over towards the bed, hearing the sudden turmoil in Kieran's heartsong and hurrying over to try and smooth things over before it got out of hand.

"Kieran, Chloé is your biggest supporter and hates Marinette the most. If she thinks something was fishy about this, then maybe we should hear her out." He turned and bent down to Chloé's level. "How would you know that, Chloé? We need proof here."

Chloé looked around the room warily, and her eyes especially rested on Kieran, who was fully aware something was wrong. He ended up reaching a bit towards Nino subconsciously, and Nino sat down next to him on the bed.

Luka gave Chloé a reassuring smile. "It's okay, no one here is against you or angry at you."

After a moment's silence, Chloé took a deep breath. "I know because he told me."

"What?!" Kieran straightened, almost frantic, as he started trying to get out of bed. "Chloé, what the hell are you talking about?!" Adrien had also recoiled, eyes wide as he heard what Chloé was saying, and she refused to meet anyone's eyes as she continued.

"I helped Sabine once with some bakery stuff, and ended up doing volunteer work in the bakery since it was going through a hard time and—"

"Oh hell no!" Kieran grabbed Chloé's shoulders, tears pouring down his face, which had fury and betrayal painted all over it. "You should have walked the other way the moment you saw them or, better yet, got them to shut down that death trap! What were you thinking?!"

"Guys, calm down," Adrien tried desperately while Nino held Kieran back as he looked just about ready to lunge at Chloé as he kept screaming "why?!"

Luka turned to Felix, knowing that nothing he could do would stop the screaming match between Kieran and Chloé of one trying to defend herself against ruthless accusations of being a liar, traitor, and backstabber.

"Were we ever friends?!" Kieran shrieked, "If you're just going to run into the arms of the fucking Dupain-Chengs!" 

"Don't you dare!" Chloé snapped. "You know, it hurts you'd just go assume that after everything I did for you."

"So now you're holding that over my head now too?!"

"Alright, this especially makes me feel like Chloé has a point about Hawk Moth," Luka said as he and Felix both checked the room. Felix hurried over to pull Adrien away from their shouting friends, praying a nurse would come in and stop this before someone got akumatized. 

"If Chloé is right, then why would Hawk Moth purposely paint everything like that?" Kagami asked. "What does he gain from the court case and getting rid of Marinette?"

"Maybe his pride, like he said before?" Adrien asked, but he thought about when he had tried to talk Tom down the day before, and despite a moment's hesitation, he hadn't backed down. He looked back at his friends. If Chloé had seen another side of Tom...but Kieran knew as well as Adrien did that Tom Dupain was more than happy to kill anyone who went against Marinette...who was right? He didn't think of Chloé talking to Tom as a betrayal, but he could see why Kieran did. He hugged himself.

Felix pursed his lips. "And what does that say about Gabriel suing people left and right." Adrien looked up at his cousin as he thought back to Animaestro and the director who was only akumatized after his father...

"What does it say?" He asked. He knew his father wasn't Hawk Moth since he had been akumatized, but could he be unintentionally helping Hawk Moth? But this time, it was Hawk Moth doing some slandering if what Chloé said was true, and Adrien knew that Papa Garou had not been the one to knock down the tower, so he wasn't directly the reason that Kieran had died.

His breath hitched. Was it possible his father was doing this intentionally? He felt Plagg purring against his ribs, and he tried to calm himself down, but it wasn't easy when Chloé and Kieran were still going at it, to the point both of them were crying yet infuriated. Nino was just holding onto Kieran as though praying he wouldn't be called on to pick a side.

"And you chose to hide this from me?!" Kieran threw his hands out wildly. "That just proves you knew this was a downright betrayal to so much as give those murderers the time of day!"

"Or maybe I'm just minding my own damn business! I never judged you for your jobs!"

Adrien hurried over to them before they tore themselves apart. "Guys, I know you both have reason to be mad, but can we just calm down and try to think this through rationally?"

Kieran whirled to face Adrien. "Oh, does it take burning my leg to be justified in anything, St. Agreste?! Shut the fuck up!"

Silence. Everyone was completely stunned by what Kieran said. It would be one thing for him to say something like that towards Chloé, but Adrien?

Kieran seemed to realize what he had done for the briefest of moments as Adrien began to hyperventilate, losing his grip on his cane as he ran out of the room with tears in his eyes, stumbling as he could barely hold weight on his leg, the fire flashing in front of his eyes.

"Adrien!" Luka moved to chase after him, but not before sending Kieran a dark glare that seemed to make the moment of concern and regret disappear and be replaced by anger once again.

A nurse hurried in. "We've heard the commotion, and we don’t think it would be best for Mr. Descônteaux to have visitors besides Mr. Lahiffe for the time being."

Chloé turned to look at Kieran with wide eyes, having known he would be angry when he found out, but nothing could have prepared her for not only him taking it out on Adrien but now shouting for her to get out of his sight. Kagami placed her hand on Chloé's shoulder. 

"I suggest listening to him if he wishes to be alone," she said. "Adrien needs us." 

Chloé sighed and got up, refusing to meet Kieran's eyes. This wasn’t...she had realized after Zombizou that Kieran truly had changed beyond just growing a backbone. When they were kids, he would just let stuff go unless it proved to be a repeated problem. Even though she hoped this would blow over once he realized there was logic in the discussion, she couldn't help but feel he wouldn't forgive her any time soon, if ever.

Nino bowed his head, and Kieran nudged him away, his eyes curtained off by his hair falling in his face. "Go after Adrien. The only reason you would stay with me is an obligation. Go." He shoved the bracelet into Nino's hand, and Nino looked towards the door, knowing both of his closest friends were in serious danger of akumatization. Maybe...Maybe if he was quick to check on Adrien...?

He hurried out after Adrien as well, and Kieran turned over in bed, letting himself truly cry now that he was alone.

...

Gabriel had been hiding in his lair all night from Nathalie's fury as he watched on the tablet everything she wanted to say in person. She seemed to actually detest him, even more than he had expected after Adrien's coma.

The butterfly brooch lit up suddenly with far more blinding light. Gabriel felt emotions he quickly recognized as both Kieran and...Adrien.

"Nooroo, dark wings rise!" He transformed and considered this opportunity he doubted he would have again. He didn't know Kieran's condition and decided it would be best to not akumatize the person in the hospital. If akumatizing Kieran ended in his death due to complications in his condition, he didn't want to think of what Nathalie would do.

Was he really doing this? Was he going to akumatize Adrien?

It was for the best, he decided, and it would assist in hiding his identity.

He sent out the Akuma.

...

This can't be happening. This can't be happening.

Adrien didn't know where exactly he was going as he raced out of the building as quickly as his damaged legs could allow him. He just knew he had to run. He had to get away. Maybe if he could run far enough, the nightmare would end, and maybe he could wake up. This was just a nightmare. He hadn't just seen his friend group implode on itself. No, that hadn't actually happened, right?

He yelped as he landed on an uneven spot in the cement and stumbled onto the ground at the foot of Notre Dame, not that he noticed as he hugged himself and tried to get his breathing under control. Maybe everything he had just seen was worse in his head than it actually was? Kieran had been surprised and lashed out, but everything would still be okay, right?

He could hear someone calling his name, but he couldn't place who it was as he stared up at the cathedral in front of him, the rest of the world melting away, and even the building in front of him began to fade. But who could be calling for him? Did that mean nothing had been real?

His hand moved of its own accord to the charm around his neck, oblivious to the darkened purple hue it had taken or the Akuma that had entered moments ago. His eyes began to drift closed, and he heaved a small sigh. Maybe giving in would be good...then he could wake up, and everything would be okay.

But when he returned to awareness, he looked around with his brows furrowed at the darkness surrounding him from every angle, noticing the faint purple tints. The hair on the back of Adrien's neck stood on end as he looked around for any trace of light that he could escape to. 

But there was nothing, not even a sound, except his own heavy breathing.

"Hello?" He called, trying to stand up as his leg screamed in protest, leaving him trapped helplessly against the almost glassy floor revealing only more darkness.

"Hello, St. Agreste."

Adrien snapped up to identify where that deformed yet distinctly masculine voice came from. He quickly was able to identify a familiar figure of purple mist with a butterfly mask on their face. As he developed a more definite yet still unclear physical form, his patronizing expression as he looked down upon Adrien became far clearer.

He tried to calm his racing heart as he sardonically wondered to himself if this was really how it would end. After everything with Princess Justice and the months of hurling into the toilet after nightmares that plagued him relentlessly, this was how it was going to end?

No. If nothing else, he would protect Plagg and the ring. He had survived worse than this.

"Whatever it is you'll say I won't listen!" He hissed, cutting off Hawk Moth before he even started. And yet, this didn't seem to phase the supervillain, his expression softening ever so slightly yet condescending all the same.

"Many said the same thing before they got akumatized," he said as he stepped closer, his footsteps echoing in Adrien's ears. "They thought they were different much like you do." 

Adrien tried to pull himself away, to run, to get as far away from Hawk Moth as possible. But as he looked around again, he realized there was nowhere to turn to, even if he could bring himself to stand. All he could do was bare his teeth and hope Hawk Moth wouldn't see it for the pitiful display it was.

If Hawk Moth noticed, he didn't comment, far more focused on his own musings. "It's truly something, you know? After everything you do for everyone, constantly trying to make them happy, you're mistreated." He glanced at Adrien briefly to see his reactions to the words being said. "First Ladybug, then Paris, your measly little friends, even your own father!"

"What's your point?" Adrien growled, curling into himself as he looked away from Hawk Moth's steely yet familiar gaze.

Hawk Moth stepped closer, leaning down to the pitiful form in front of him and extending his hand, "Join me and they'll know to not use the St. de Paris anymore—"

"No!" Adrien shouted as Hawk Moth was uncomfortably close. He quickly covered his ring. He frowned when he realized Hawk Moth's hand was shaking slightly, and he glanced up at Hawk Moth, who was looking at his hand. He straightened and leaned on his cane as though he had to steady himself before he collapsed from shock. 

"Oh. I see how it is."

Adrien didn't need to be looking up. He could feel the shadow start to pace around him. He could hear the echo of Hawk Moth's footsteps one by one, closing in on him as it suddenly became hard to breathe. Was this Hawk Moth's power or his own panic?

"Why pardon my manners! St. Agreste would obviously know better than little old me! He's so mature and smart, he obviously knows best! Who am I to possibly question him?" He bent down to look Adrien in the eyes with a sick sort of grin on his face, "So tell me, oh great one, why won't you even face your friends?" He asked, laughing to himself.

Adrien's eyes widened as he found whatever strength he had left to get up, only managing to tumble a few steps away. Hawk Moth's amusement turned to mild annoyance.

"Let me elucidate, your grace: they hate you. I heard what that friend of yours told you, and after that you seriously think any of them would really want to be near such an entitled, arrogant and ungrateful brat like yourself?" He grinned as he saw Adrien curling on himself and tearing at his hair.

Was Hawk Moth right? He thought back on what Kieran said again. Had Adrien really made it seem like he was the only one allowed to be upset? Had he given that impression?

Hawk Moth laughed a crazed sort of laugh, body shaking, "Oh, but you know best, don't you, Angel!" He retorted, "One of the nicknames that boy gave you, isn't it?" He gripped Adrien's arm painfully as Adrien's knees gave out, whispering into Adrien's ear. "He'll leave you too. They all leave you eventually. Best to give up while you can, don't you say?" He suggested, watching as purple mist engulfed his son, who bowed his head as he ran out of the will to fight.

"Yes… it's better that way."

…

"Adrien! Adrien, wake up, fight it!" Luka pleaded as he cradled the limp Adrien in his arms. The only sign that he could be conscious was his half-lidded yet empty eyes and how he was holding his necklace in a death grip.

He had caught up to Adrien quickly upon noticing what direction he was heading, but when he got there, he found Adrien collapsed in the same spot he had almost burned to death in. The purple butterfly mask of akumas was already over his eyes, yet he was barely moving.

Adrien's heartsong was in chaos, mixed with someone else's song that must have been Hawk Moth. It sounded...extremely familiar. But he didn't have time right now to analyze the music and determine where it had come from. He had to wake Adrien up!

Luka looked around to ensure nobody was around. Nobody was since Notre Dame was typically avoided after what many people considered St. Agreste's Night as the more positive of many names for the massacre. He didn't have time to determine whether that was a good thing or not as purple energy engulfed Adrien's body. Suddenly Luka was launched across the courtyard, barely able to throw his arm in front of him to soften the blow, and he didn't mind the scrapes and mild bleeding to turn back with wide eyes to the shell that was his Angel.

Adrien—or the Akuma version of him—was gaunt and pale, and Luka immediately noticed wounds littering his body. He was draped in a tarnished version of his outfit from the gala and adorned with a crown of thorns atop his head.

But the most distinct thing, Luka noted, was the long grey hair connected to black roots that splayed and slithered across the courtyard, making the ground beneath crack and the trees and flowers wither. 

The lights in the area flickered out as Luka pushed himself up with far more effort than anticipated, holding his arm as he limped in Adrien's direction.

"Adrien! I know you're in there!" He called and noticed quickly that, unlike most akumas who would have taken off by now, Adrien couldn't walk. His legs were both burned away completely, and even if that weren't the case, he didn't seem to have any will to move either, as the Akuma simply crouched, whispering to himself that "They'll all leave."

Luka coughed as he struggled to move one foot in front of the other. It can't end like this! I won't let it end like this!  

"Adrien!" He begged, struggling to remain standing as he tried to take another step, stumbling as he did so. "You have to listen to me! I know you must feel terrible right now! Like you're in some pit of darkness that you can't quite escape—like you're a monster! But it's not true, it's not over!"

He kept walking, his body swaying dangerously, and his eyelids grew unbearably heavy. He noticed his skin turning a death-gray color, and he gritted his teeth as he pressed forward. If he closed his eyes now, he knew he would never open them again, which would ensure Hawk Moth's victory.

"Your friends won't leave you just because of one fight! I will never leave you behind! No matter what we do, we will do it together!" 

He forced himself to run, only barely able to make it to Adrien before collapsing roughly to the pavement again. Luka hoisted himself up to pull Adrien into a tight embrace and use whatever life he had left to hug his best friend, praying for some recognition to spark in those empty black eyes.

"I'll never leave... but I need you to stay…." it came out as barely a whisper as his eyes began to close despite his best efforts. Angel, please, come back to me...

And then... a hand slowly moving to hug him back. Luka pulled away to see Adrien with a shocked look on his face, black tears streaming down his face. As he moved to hold onto Luka, he let go of the necklace he was clutching in his hand. Luka watched with wide eyes as the necklace then let out gentle white light, restoring life to the surrounding area as a small white butterfly exiting the object and fluttering away.

As Adrien returned to normal, he pulled away, wiping Luka's cheek with his thumb. "Thank you," he whispered, blinking away any tears that threatened to spill.

Luka laughed, taking Adrien's necklace and placing it around his neck where it rightfully belonged. "No need," he said, cupping his cheek, "That was all your doing." He stood up and offered his hand for Adrien to take, and Adrien grinned as he stood up, only to shriek and fall into Luka's arms.

"Sorry," he winced as he looked down at his legs. "Sorry. I don't think my legs appreciated the movement." He chuckled awkwardly as Luka scooped him into his arms effortlessly.

"I'll take you back to the hospital so you can get looked at." Adrien looked up at him with wide eyes before wrapping his arms around Luka's neck and closing his eyes. "I'm tired."

"Did you sleep last night?" Luka asked, and Adrien shrugged. Of course he hadn't...

"I hope I don't get another day named after me," Adrien muttered, "I can already hear the media turning what happened into something about purity. Maybe I'll get lucky and nobody actually saw anything."

Luka shrugged, figuring that given Adrien's powers while akumatized alongside the general lack of people, they just might be able to get lucky. "Well we could always call the event in May The Red Lady's Slaughter, but I personally like Felix's title for it. King Henry VIII 2: Electric Boogaloo!"

Luka softened when he heard Adrien's laughter, proving his distraction tactic had worked well enough to distract Adrien from his pain. He would have to text the others that he had found Adrien since they had split up to look for him.

Nobody stopped him as he carried Adrien into Kieran's room, knowing the two had to talk before anything festered. Upon hearing Kieran's heartsong and the genuine regret mixed with heartbreak, he was confident that they would be able to sort things out if he gave them a few moments alone.

He glanced at Kieran before stepping out of the hospital room to talk to a nurse, but not before checking to ensure Marinette was still in custody. She was and under heavy guard.

Tikki stared at the guards, shaking her head before looking up at Luka. "I'm really impressed, Luka. I knew you could get through to Adrien."

"About that," Luka whispered as he looked for an available nurse. "What happened? Nino mentioned the same thing happened to him."

"It's part of Nooroo's ability," Tikki explained, "The person can choose even subconsciously to let go of their butterfly. When the Miraculous is used for evil, it's a lot harder since the victim isn't in their right mind, but this proves it can be done if you can get through to the victim in their negative emotions."

"Ah," he looked up. "I'll have to tell Adrien about that later." He glanced back at the door as he pulled out his phone to assure everyone that Adrien was alright.

...

"I'm sorry."

Adrien snapped up to Kieran upon hearing those words. Kieran had sat up and forced himself out of bed to walk over towards Adrien and sat next to him on the couch, running a hand through his hair as he glanced at Adrien.

"What for?" Adrien asked. "I—"

"Don't even try that," Kieran snapped, "I know you're going to go blaming yourself when what actually happened was me lashing out at you for something that was in no way your fault." He rubbed the back of his neck. "So yeah...sorry."

"So...you don't hate me." Adrien looked up hopefully. Kieran blinked.

"See, this is why your father sucks. You seriously think that just because I said one nasty thing that I hate you? I mean yeah it was a dick move on my part but—"

He was cut off by Adrien diving into an embrace, knocking them both to the side. Kieran winced a bit but didn't seem bothered. Adrien then noticed that despite wearing a hospital gown, Kieran was...

He grinned. "Hold on, are you wearing Nino's jacket and beanie?!"

Kieran's eyes widened. "What?" He looked down. "Oh...I forgot about that. Yeah, I don't like short sleeves, and I guess with the beanie… It's been there since I woke up." He laughed a bit, his cheeks slightly more red than they had been a few moments ago.

Before Adrien could begin to tease him about that, the door flew open, and Nino hurried in alongside Felix, followed quickly by Chloé, who both hurried in with shouts of "Adrien!" and hurried over to check on their friend.

Luka lingered in the doorway with Kagami, who looked to each other to not overwhelm the two boys.

"What happened?!" Nino asked, and Adrien noticed Nino subtly remove the turtle Miraculous and stuff it into his pocket. "Are you alright?"

"It's alright," Adrien assured him. "I got akumatized for a moment, but Luka managed to help me before anything bad happened."

His friends took that news with far more horror than Adrien had anticipated. And maybe Adrien should be horrified, as he could remember every detail of his conversation with Hawk Moth, and he knew he would overanalyze every aspect, every tiny detail later. He would likely stay up with Luka and Felix for hours to try and piece together any clues about Hawk Moth they could find. Why had he frozen for a moment? He couldn't have realized Adrien's identity. There was no way he could have, and wouldn't he have said something on the matter if he had realized? So Adrien decided to believe he was safe in that regard, and if he had reason to believe Hawk Moth suspected anything, he could easily use Felix's alibis. And he should be in the clear anyway after what happened with Gorizilla.

For now, Adrien decided to calm himself with the knowledge that everything was okay. His friend group wasn't falling apart. It had just been a fight, and once he explained what happened, nobody would be worried.

Felix pursed his lips, but it quickly gave way to a grin to hide his concerns. "Hell yeah! You fought off an Akuma and probably really annoyed Hawk Moth. I say this calls for celebration. I'll head down to get some celebratory food." He headed out and grabbed Luka's arm to drag him out as well.

A nurse came in moments later. "St. Agreste, I heard your injuries were acting up." Adrien sighed as he took off his shoes to let her inspect the scars.

"Please, just call me Adrien."

The nurse nodded, and after a few moments, she hurried off to get a compression garment. Chloé turned towards Kieran, who glared darkly at her. Noticing this, Nino raised his hand.

"Hey, do you want me to go pick up your cousin, Kieran? I know she makes you feel better." Kieran brightened momentarily.

"Yes, please. She probably heard from the media what happened and not that I'm fine." Nino hurried out, and Kieran's glower returned towards Chloé.

Chloé sighed. "I really wasn't trying to hurt you."

"Get. Out."

Knowing that to argue with him would only cause another fight, Chloé left. Kagami whispered something in Chloé's ear before she gave her an attempted encouraging smile and headed over to sit next to Adrien. Kieran laid back down and seemingly tried to get some sleep.

"I've been thinking," she said to Adrien. "When I was young, my mother would train me to fight even when I had injuries that hindered walking. Do you want me to instruct you in self-defense regardless of your burns?" Adrien beamed.

"You'd do that?"

Kagami nodded. "I've wanted to teach you for a while, and now seems like a good time." She handed Adrien back his cane. "Have you considered having a cane that you can pull a sword from?"

"I have not," he grinned at the idea. "That sounds pretty awesome."

Adrien turned when he heard Kieran giggling, not actually asleep. "Not going to lie, the image of a cane-sword is pretty appealing."

"Exactly!" Kagami said matter-of-factly. "It is both efficient, and makes for an interesting story."

Felix came back with trays of food. "Guess who has snacks Gabriel won't approve of!"

Adrien rolled his eyes as his mouth watered at the sight of the snacks. "Why does my father not approving have to be a selling point?"

"It adds to the appeal," Luka replied. Knowing it was pointless to argue that since not many people had positive feelings about his father, Adrien decided to accept the food.

He glanced upwards again, but Adrien could sense the tension after Kieran's fight with Chloé. Hopefully, Kieran just needed some time to cool off, but since Kieran was leaving in a few days... was there anything he could do to patch things up between them?

He decided not to think about that for now. Their friendship could be fixed; he was sure of it. Everything would be okay after all.

OoOoO

"Adrien," Nathalie walked into Adrien's room as he practiced his physical therapy stretches and the new ones Kagami recommended. "Your father wishes to speak to you in his office."

Adrien examined Nathalie's features to determine what sort of thing his father wanted to discuss. Did it have anything to do with what happened yesterday? So far from what he had seen online, nothing besides rumors made anything about his akumatization public. Anyone who claimed to have seen it didn't have any proof.

Judging by Nathalie's concerned expression, he didn't have much hope of this being anything good as he hurried downstairs. "Father? You wanted to see me?"

Gabriel turned from where he had been staring at the portrait. He gestured for Nathalie to close the door, and Adrien already knew this wasn't going to be good. "Nathalie, stay up here and make sure Felix does not interfere."

"In...Interfere?" Adrien meekly asked as uncomfortable knots twisted in his stomach. What was this about? "With what?" Gabriel gestured for him to come over, and Adrien knew better than to disobey, still shoving his hand with the ring in his pocket. He was pulled next to his father, who suddenly moved to press a few buttons on the portrait, and suddenly the small floor space they were standing on moved downwards. Adrien's eyes widened as they were in a glass chute revealing a massive underground room with something at the end of a walkway in the center. "Father...what is this?"

Gabriel didn't respond immediately, walking forward once they were off the elevator. "There is something I need to show you, Adrien. Something I hadn't been planning for you to ever see, but it seems the situation has changed."

Adrien glanced nervously at Plagg, who was glaring daggers at Gabriel as though he was ready for a fight. Still, Adrien hesitantly followed his father across the walkway, looking down at the bioluminescent green substance seemingly connected to what appeared to be trees across and underneath the platform.

There was something at the far end by the window, but Adrien took a few moments to realize what he was looking at. But when he did, he gasped as he threw his hand over his mouth, leaning heavily on his cane to save himself from collapsing.

It was a glass coffin, and within lay his mother he had for so long believed to be dead. Adrien ran over with his hands on the glass as he tried to reach her. "Mom?!" He snapped up to look at his father, whose expression was unreadable for a few moments. "Father, what is this, what's going on?!" he demanded, tears pouring down his face. "What is Mom doing down here?!"

Gabriel smiled ever so slightly, and what he said made Adrien's blood run cold.

"I know you are Chat Noir." 

Adrien staggered back as he looked between his father, his mother, and the railing that he didn't want to know the consequences of falling over. He wanted to try and say that was ridiculous and what could have made him think that, but instead, he ended up saying. "Does this...Does this mean you're Hawk Moth?" He didn't even know what possessed him to say it, especially because there was no way since his father had been akumatized. Yet he warily looked up at his father, who walked over to him, standing tall and making Adrien feel even smaller than ever as he looked around desperately for someone, anyone, to save him. What was happening?! Felix? Nathalie? Where are you?!

But his father didn't suddenly attack him now that there was nobody to stop him. He simply scoffed, rolling his eyes as though annoyed by the accusation. "Have you taken your medication today, Adrien? I would have thought your delusions would be taken care of."

Adrien pulled his hand back as he stammered. "Yes, I have but—that's not one of my symptoms and—" he gestured wildly at the image in front of him. "Especially since I got akumatized yesterday this really paints a bad picture."

"Perhaps I should have your doctor reevaluate you to be sure." Gabriel snapped before sighing. "However, I suppose you may be right about painting a bad picture, even if your logic is flawed beyond reason," he chuckled. "I will admit your akumatization is the reason I have decided to talk to you. I have known your secret since Christmas. I had been planning to talk with you about it given the less than pleasant implications with Princess Justice, but decided it would be best to not bother you with such a thing in your fragile state." He turned his back to Adrien. "However, what if Hawk Moth found out your identity? After all, hasn't it been made clear he can read emotions and their origins? Surely he could figure out something such as this."

Plagg emerged and sat on Adrien's shoulder, not speaking but also not diverting his gaze from Gabriel, who chuckled. "I take it your kwami has decided to join us." He turned back around. "Pleasure."

"Wait, huh?!" Adrien tore at his hair as he tried to process everything. "Father, you know about kwamis?!"

Gabriel suddenly sighed as he turned back to the coffin, bowing his head. "Unfortunately, I know plenty about kwamis. I brought you down here to explain to you the truth about what happened to your mother." 

Adrien glanced between his father and the coffin again as he slowly stepped away from the edge. Gabriel gestured for him to sit upon the grass, and Adrien obeyed but noticed his father continued to stand and look down upon Adrien.

"How much do you know about the Miraculous?"

"Not much," Adrien admitted as he remembered the book his father had. Was he about to learn why he had that? "Why?"

"Well, when your mother, Nathalie, and myself were not much older than yourself, we heard legends about ancient jewelry called the Miraculous." He smiled wistfully as though fondly remembering the past. "It wasn't long before we ended up discovering the Peacock Miraculous and the book." His smile turned to a grimace. "What we were too young and foolish to understand was that we were messing with things better left alone. The Miraculous was broken, and the more your mother used it, the worse it became and took a severe toll on her health. But at that point... she had grown addicted to using it until she simply didn't wake up one day."

"Duusu..." Plagg whispered, and Adrien wasn't surprised by the horror radiating from his kwami companion. Gabriel nodded.

"That's right. I would offer to let you two talk, but unfortunately the Miraculous has reached a point where you need the transformation phrase to activate, and to my knowledge, Duusu does not emerge anymore."

Adrien glanced back at his mother. "Is she dead?"

Gabriel was silent, and that told Adrien all he needed to know as he stood up.

"So...what now?" He asked hesitantly as he looked up, keeping his hand with the ring away. He couldn't let his father take Plagg away from him.

"I don't know, Adrien," his father replied. "Am I correct in assuming Felix is the fox?" Adrien nodded, earning a grimace. "I had been hoping that wasn't the case. However, I suppose that unfortunately means any attempt I make to prevent you from doing this will be circumvented in one way or another, and that's not even adding your kwami into the matter. So I will allow it—"

"Thank you, Father!"

"On the condition that there will be no more of your disappearing act. What you did at Christmas was unacceptable, and I won't hesitate to confiscate the ring should something like that happen again. If you must transform, you are to either be with Felix or inform myself, your bodyguard, or Nathalie of where to find you when you are done."

Adrien's breath hitched. He knew he had no choice...and Father did have a point that he had made mistakes last Christmas...the idea that his father had known for nearly a year still sent him reeling to think about. A year and his father had done nothing about this? He still had so many questions, and his mind was spinning from the information at hand. His mother had truly been dead for all this time, so why had Father given him that false hope that she was just missing? Nathalie had known about this?

But he knew better than to ask. Father was allowing him to continue being Chat Noir, and while he knew he could run to Luka if he needed to, this arrangement, as suffocating as it felt right now, could be far worse. He didn't want to talk back, and Father would end up reconsidering and taking away his freedom. For Father to continue letting him use the Miraculous even after what happened to Mom was... it was wonderful.

He hugged his father, "Thank you, Father. Hawk Moth doesn't know my identity, so you don't need to worry. I'll be careful."

Gabriel blinked, eyeing Plagg for a few moments before returning the embrace. "That's all I could ask for."

As they stood in silence that allowed Adrien to process everything he had just learned, his bottom lip quivered as he thought about Mom again. Felix had told him to assume she was dead, and...and he had...but—but to have it shown to him like this...

"Shhhh," Gabriel held Adrien close, hoping he would stop crying. "It's going to be alright. Everything will be okay."

...

How dare he?! 

Gabriel had stumbled out of his lair hysterical last night, and it had taken her nearly an hour to calm him down enough that he could tell her what he learned. He said he would tell Adrien the truth. This was supposed to be the end of things, that he would stop this now that he realized his own son was Chat Noir!

Just the thought made her ill, remembering all those times she had seen Chat Noir thrown around by akumas. Or worst of all, that he had known without a shred of doubt that it was unlikely Coccinelle would have been able to save him from the pyre. He had known this and gone through with his suicidal plan anyway.

Letting Adrien continue being Chat Noir wasn't the problem since Hawk Moth retiring would mean no more danger, but Nathalie knew Gabriel far too well to delude herself to that concept for a second. Gabriel would continue being Hawk Moth, knowing full well one of his enemies was his child.

If she had to guess, his plan was for Adrien to offer the wish himself, and he would justify being Hawk Moth now as keeping things natural, so Adrien never finds out. Even if Felix would undoubtedly protect Adrien with his life, these were children fighting for their lives and for Paris!

She slipped back upstairs unnoticed by either father or son, her heart pained to hear Adrien cry the way he did. And to think Gabriel had akumatized him yesterday...it made her blood boil, knowing what he must have done to make such a thing happen. 

This was going too far. They needed Emilie back to make everything right, and to do that, all they needed was to take care of Coccinelle. Or, at this point, Nathalie cared for nothing more than to prevent Gabriel from harming Adrien.

Pulling a replica from the Gabriel jewelry line out of her jacket, she opened his safe and pulled out the Peacock Miraculous, swapping it with the fake. With the Miraculous as damaged as it was, Gabriel would be none the wiser as long as she was careful.

She looked down at the brooch in her hand. The risks that came with using it, not to mention she had only ever used it once before Emilie developed a fascination with it...she needed practice, but to get that practice could be dangerous unless she was careful and spaced it out.

Nathalie hurried to her desk to delete the security footage of Gabriel entering the lair or of her stealing the Miraculous from the safe. Once that was done, she relaxed and glanced at the brooch again.

She had work to do.

Chapter Text

Nino hummed softly as he tried to download the videos from the family camera onto his computer to edit them as necessary, like making them better quality or improving the audio since it wasn't great. He noticed a few butterflies fluttering about and smiled. The park was always so beautiful this time of year with the spring blossoms, and now the butterflies had arrived.

He didn't notice the rustling in the tree he was leaning against until he heard a cheerful "Hey!" next to him. He yelped and turned to see Kieran hanging upside down on the branch above.

"Kieran!"

Kieran flipped up onto the branch to straighten as he swung down and landed next to Nino with a broad grin. Nino tried to calm his racing heart, but he couldn't stop the smile spread across his face as he noticed Kieran's messy strawberry blonde hair had spring blossom petals scattered around.

Kieran giggled as he tied his hair back into a small ponytail to give the failed illusion of it being somewhat neater. "Sorry about that. I was just hiding in the tree to finish transcribing music sheets for work when I noticed you." He pulled out his iPod to show what he meant as he moved to sit next to Nino and noticed what he was working on. "Are those your home movies?"

"Yeah..." Nino sighed, pulling his knee up against his chest. "Mom said I could go through them and delete the ones I don't like since..." he shrugged as he looked down at his chest. Kieran leaned forward to look at the videos.

"Well, your voice is getting deeper if it makes you feel any better. Now you get to suffer with me with voice cracks!" As though to make a point, he cleared his throat loudly and grinned.

Nino managed a chuckle, but he couldn't make it genuine as he looked at the old videos. He glanced at Kieran, and his brow furrowed as he noticed Kieran had bags under his eyes, and his trademark cheeky grin was far more forced than it usually was, eyes flickering to their surroundings when he thought Nino wasn't looking.

"Hey, Kieran...have you been sleeping?"

Kieran blinked as he sat up. "About as much as I always do. And I nap between work."

"I just think you shouldn't be working three jobs, especially since legally you shouldn't be at all. Or at least I know Marinette's been offering you a job at the bakery, so I'm sure her parents would be okay letting you rest." He noticed Kieran's shoulders tense, but he didn't let it change his expression, which was almost eerie to see now that he understood the misalignment in his body language.

"Marinette and I don't get along," Kieran replied simply, "I thought you knew that." Nino shrunk down as he looked back at the videos. It had been stupid to suggest something. It wasn't like he had been paying attention to anything at school since Hassan disappeared.

"Sorry..." he whispered. Kieran shrugged as he leaned against the tree with Nino.

"It's okay! Besides, even if the food would be pretty handy, I'd probably set something on fire." He brushed some of the petals out of his hair. "And the last thing I need is them calling my parents. They don't want me doing this anyway, even if I'm doing it for them. And what else am I supposed to do? Harass Aunt Siobhan to pay back that loan when she might need that money to take care of Lily?" He scoffed. "It's better this way. And I like being busy."

"I see..." he glanced back at his laptop, about to shoo away a butterfly that had landed on it, but Kieran took the butterfly and let it rest on his finger. "Hey, do you think I should add music to some of these? You mentioned transcribing music, so you have to know something, right?"

"A thing or two," he looked at the movies. "For something like this, a subtle instrumental could work. But I'd have to watch to determine what kind, and I can help you out."

"You don't have to bother, you know," Nino said. "I know you're busy."

"It's okay!" Kieran checked the time on Nino's computer. "I have forty-five minutes before I have to be anywhere, and I'm sure Chloé won't mind me being a little late if that happens."

"Chloé?"

"Yeah," he looked up at Nino from where he had started leaning forward. "You know, for the group project since I'm the only one who makes a functioning system with those two work." Nino thought back to earlier in the year when the groups had gotten switched up, and Kieran ended up shouting in German halfway through the presentation, and he laughed as he remembered the look on Miss Bustier's face.

"I'll never understand how you do it," he said after his laughter subsided. "But it's really okay?" Kieran nodded eagerly.

"You're still Nino no matter what people call you in old videos." He moved the mouse on the screen to play the videos. "So can I see?"

Nino bit his lip as he thought about it, pulling down his beanie a bit. Even if everybody in the class had accepted him, hearing Kieran say it like that...hearing Kieran say it even if he had before... Should he tell Kieran how he felt? He already knew Hassan had been telling him to fess up since he had confided in his older brother about it.

In the end, he couldn't do it. He just forced out, "Fine, but don't tell anyone else 'cause it's embarrassing."

Kieran nodded and watched the movies with Nino, humming at some points, earning a smile from Nino. Now that he thought of it, Kieran used to sing all the time, and it had been one of the reasons he wanted to go to the restaurant in Chloé's hotel because sometimes he would be able to hear Kieran cheerfully singing in the kitchen. He had a really good voice, so why did he stop?

He found he wasn't paying attention to the home movies, just observing Kieran, who suddenly asked, "Any leads on Hassan?"

Nino sighed. "No...Nothing yet." But the police were just assuming the worst. Hassan was fine. He must have just collapsed somewhere like he sometimes did and gotten lost, so he needed some help getting home. He wasn't really gone; he couldn't be. "Don't worry about it. He'll be back soon."

Kieran pursed his lips, deep in thought as he tried to figure out what to say, knowing that Nino was already stressed and asking any questions would probably make it worse. He glanced off to the side, and his eyes widened as he suddenly jumped up and grabbed his bag, rubbing his throat.

"Sorry! I just remembered I needed to check in with Butler Jean before working on the project with Chloé. Maybe we can do this another time?"

Nino's brow furrowed. Why had Kieran suddenly turned pale? He looked around, and he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He got up. "Hey, Kieran, are you alright?"

Kieran flinched slightly, his voice somewhat shrill as he forced out, "Fine! See you tomorrow, Nino!" he took off across the park, leaping over a park bench instead of going around it. Nino noticed that Kieran wasn't taking the fastest route to Chloé's hotel, just to head past the bakery.

His shoulders slumped as he looked around again, adjusting his shirt so that it wasn't against his skin. He frowned when he heard rustling in the bush not far from where they had been sitting but decided not to think anything of it. It was probably just a small animal.

Had he said something wrong? Kieran had been happy before. Had he pushed him too much with those questions? Or maybe he was just overthinking things, and Kieran was just stressed about forgetting about one of his errands—yeah, that made sense. Kieran was always working so hard that to mess up anything always bothered him on their tests.

He smiled fondly, feeling more motivated than he had in weeks to actually go to school. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ki."

OoOoO

Nino hadn't slept that night despite how exhausted he was, tossing and turning restlessly on the hospital couch before giving up entirely. He pulled out his laptop with his headphones to watch that video that would not leave his recommended list about what pretending to be "crazy" looked like. But he couldn't focus for long after realizing he wouldn't achieve anything from this besides cringing.

He sighed as he put the computer to the side and glanced up at Kieran, who was half-asleep with Lily clinging to him and refusing to let go.

He squeezed his eyes shut to try and get the sight he had found out of his head. Of that little girl staring at the television with wide eyes, seemingly not even aware of her surroundings. He had seen the news reports and the images of Kieran half-dead being spread all over the media, and he didn't want to imagine what she had seen. She hadn't fought him when he picked her up, whispering assurances in her ear the whole way to the hospital. Maybe he had been trying to assure her, but he wasn't fully sure he hadn't been trying to assure himself as well.

"Kieran's okay; I'm going to take you to him. He's okay."

As soon as she had seen Kieran alive and eager to see her, he still remembered her face lighting up as she ran to him and cried before falling asleep against his chest. Even after waking up, she refused to let go of him.

With luck, Kieran would be discharged in the morning, which meant he would be leaving in two days...Not even two days. Probably like thirty hours. He ran a hand through his hair. Sometimes he forgot that Kieran had been gone so long and that he still had to go back home.

He groaned as he felt something digging into his back pocket, and he pulled out the Turtle Miraculous. He gritted his teeth at the blasted thing, and he clenched his fist around it before shoving it into his backpack. Part of him considered asking Wayzz if he knew how to deliver the Miraculous to Chat Noir to let him know he needed someone, anyone, else.

He remembered a year ago joking with Adrien about how it would be awesome to be a superhero alongside Chat Noir and show off his skills to someone he looked up to. He also remembered Marinette asking about Ladybug, and her body language no longer aligned when Nino had said he preferred Chat.

He had thought Marinette was just a Ladybug fan...and he supposed the fact she was Ladybug didn't necessarily mean she wasn't a fan of herself. How much could he have prevented if he had thought more of that misalignment or paid attention at school all those years ago? The only time he noticed anything was Miss Bustier giving Kieran a hard time for anything she could, and he had always found it unreasonable. To Nino's knowledge, nobody had really known until recently why Miss Bustier hated Kieran so much and had thought it was a poor attempt at getting him to quit his jobs.

He chuckled bitterly. He had mastered a skill to learn people's emotions and often if they were lying, and what good did it serve him? He didn't even have the excuse of just starting to learn five years ago. What about with Adrien? Could he have somehow saved Adrien if he had noticed something off with Marinette?

Maybe he wouldn't have been able to. He had let himself believe Alya's body language being misaligned was her default given how she always was around him when they were dating, and look how that ended up.

He remembered telling Kieran all about Alya while catching him up on things he had missed during the two weeks they were staying together before the trial, and Kieran had immediately said Alya was toxic and Marinette's lackey through and through. He didn't even know Alya personally, and he was right. He had been right about Marinette, he had been right about Alya...both times, Nino had been wrong.

If he couldn't protect anyone as a civilian, why had he thought he could do it as a superhero where there were even bigger consequences for failure? Actually...what had made Chat Noir choose him in the first place, let alone notice him? Chat Noir knew Kieran and that Kieran would very personally want to fight Tom, so why not pick him? Why pick Nino?

He didn't get much time to think about that as he heard footsteps in the hall, and the door flew open with a shout of "Kieran!"

Aileen and Liam were in the doorway for only a second as Kieran blearily opened his eyes, only to be crushed into an embrace by his parents, who looked like they had been through hell and hadn't slept in days. Lily sat up and rubbed her eyes, blinking as she was held in her uncle's arms.

"Ma?" Kieran asked, eyes wide as though unable to believe she was really here. Aileen cupped Kieran's cheek and looked him over to make sure he was well, tears spilling down her face as she whispered assurances and reminded herself that her son was safe.

"We got here as soon as the trains were open, treasure," she said, covering her mouth with her hand to stifle sobs. "I'm sorry. I thought entrusting you to Gabriel would keep you safe..."

"I'm alright, Ma." Kieran whispered. "I didn't think he'd..."

Liam's expression suddenly grew cold. "Didn't think he'd what?"

Nino grinned, already knowing Gabriel would regret his choices when Kieran's parents learned about what had been going on. "So you know how Kieran was a model? Yeah, he was doing that without pay because Gabriel forced him if it meant staying in the Agreste home."

Both parents blinked a few times before Liam pulled out his phone, and Aileen had the same murder stare Kieran had inherited. She pursed her lips as she took Lily and bounced her a bit, pacing the room as she rocked the young girl back to sleep, her expression darkening a bit as she realized how light Lily was. After a few moments, she sat back down with Lily in her lap and pulled a blanket out of her backpack, seemingly made of the same material as Lily's coat. Lily took the blanket with a small smile, using sign language to give gratitude, her bottom lip quivering as though the stress of the last couple days was really getting to her, and crawled back over next to Kieran.

"It appears we're going to have a busy day tomorrow," she said bitterly, and Kieran piped up.

"Can we talk to Aunt Siobhan too? She's..." he grimaced. "I don't want Lily staying with her." Aileen nodded and turned to acknowledge Nino.

"Thank you, Nino, for keeping Kieran safe." She softened, and Nino glanced at Liam, who was on the phone. But Aileen walked over and ruffled his hair.

"When is he leaving?" Nino asked hesitantly, and Aileen turned back to Kieran.

"I'm thinking about the same time as initially planned, so I'll spend the day getting some things in order before we leave, and it will give Kieran time to pack up." She tied her dark hair up into its usual ponytail in preparation for the coming day. "Does that sound good, treasure?"

Kieran grinned, "Sounds good!" But Nino instantly noticed something off about his joy. He was genuine, but...

No...he must be imagining any hesitation. Kieran's wanted to go home for so long, and after being killed by Tom, it was a good idea that he leaves... he looked up again at Kieran, who was still wearing the beanie from Hassan.

Kieran leaving is a good thing, Nino reminded himself in a chant as he forced himself to not let on any of his turmoil, mostly accomplished by imagining what was going to happen in the morning with Gabriel. This was good! Even if...Even if Kieran wasn't going to be around anymore, and everything would go back to how it was like he was still disappeared.

This is a good thing...It's a good thing.

OoOoO

Adrien had to sit down after spending most of the night with his father, just...just talking. It was the most he had spoken to Father since Mom died. Or well, not died, Father explained she may be brain dead, but he kept her body alive in that coffin. Plagg had seemed greatly disturbed by this revelation, and Adrien made a note to ask why.

He didn't know what exactly to do with this information; that changed everything but apparently nothing at the same time. He needed to talk with Felix about this, and since Father was talking to Kieran's parents, it shouldn't be too hard. 

Adrien turned when he heard Kieran come into the room, carrying various hoodies in his hand, “Hey, Adrien. Have you seen any of my hoodies around here? I ended up leaving all of them scattered around the house, and you have a bad habit of hoarding shit for that nest in your bed," he joked, gesturing to the pile of pillows, blankets and more on Adrien’s bed.

“Y'know, I’m not here to be attacked for how I sleep,” Adrien quipped, pouting at Kieran’s laughter while he dug through his nest, taking a few moments before finding what he was looking for, pulling it out, and displaying it triumphantly. “There!” He decreed, going to put it on the growing pile of hoodies in his hand. “I’m never gonna get used to your room,” he said, looking around at the sheer size, “But… I’ll miss the amount of stupid gossip I got, as well as movie nights….” 

“Amongst other things?” Adrien asked knowingly and smirked.

Kieran turned red, giving Adrien a dignified pout, before leaving the room mumbling about, “Not knowing what he’s talking about.” Adrien tried to ignore the slight sadness in Kieran’s eyes as he left.

After a moment of silence, Felix’s voice chimed from the door, “Is the coast clear? Your boyfriend is annoying.”

Adrien sighed, “Yes, Felix, the cost is clear.” He said in exasperation while Felix and Luka tumbled into the room.

“Alright, so what’s the big emergency that you had to call us over here and have me sneak Luka in?” Felix asked, plopping on the couch lazily.

Luka swatted Felix aside, taking a seat on the couch, “Now, I respect his need for secrecy. I’m sure that whatever it is, he knows that we support and love him nonetheless, right?” He said, giving Adrien a bright, supportive, and totally subtle grin.

Adrien smiled before he sat down on a corresponding chair near the couch. He took a deep breath before continuing, “Dad knows I’m Chat Noir.”

Both Luka and Felix sputtered, “Father Gothel knows you’re Chat Noir?!” Felix shouted, “Did he find out?! Did you tell—” he stammered before receiving a smack on the shoulder from Luka.

“What he means to say, Angel, is how could that have possibly happened?” Luka said with poorly concealed panic.

Adrien frowned, crossing his arms. “Orpheus, while I appreciate your effort, you don’t need to sugarcoat everything! I’m aware this is a big deal.”

Luka sighed, playing with his hair. “Yeah, it’s just ever since… y'know what,” Adrien shuddered at the thought of his previous akumatization, “I thought it’d be best to keep everything more positive, y’know? No need to freak you out again,” he explained, hiding his face under his bangs. 

Adrien smiled, going to move Luka’s hair away from his face, “Thank you for caring so much about my health, but I’d rather face any obstacle with you, okay? And that requires your honesty and input,” he said, kissing Luka’s forehead, who in return gave a tired smile.

“Alright, this is all very cute and gay and would probably upset dear old Uncle Gabe, but we really need to know what caused this,” Felix commented, fidgeting with his clock pendant.

Adrien went back into his seat, “After… I was akumatized,” he sucked in a breath as that experience came to mind, “Father called me over, saying he had something to discuss, and he told me everything! Said how he figured out I was Chat Noir since Christmas, and showed me to a secret room with…Mom.”

Both boys and their kwamis gasped. Tikki looked to Plagg to ask wordlessly if it was true, and Plagg only gave a terse nod. Adrien continued, “Turns out he used to share a Miraculous with Mom, and through overuse, Mom eventually went… comatose. Dad was keeping her alive and looking for ways to heal her through the grimoire!”

“Added onto his akumatization, it does rule him out as Hawk Moth….” Luka murmured to himself.

“But that still raises so many questions!” Felix exclaimed, “Where did he find the grimoire? Or the other Miraculous for that fact! And why is he only telling you this now? And—” Felix stopped at a pointed look from Luka, motioning him to look at Adrien’s shaking hand, his sunny disposition cracking.

Luka got up to give Adrien a hug, “We’ll contact Master Fu about this Miraculous, okay? Maybe he’ll know something about it or how your Dad could have gotten it.” He said, seeing Adrien smile in return, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. He engulfed the latter in a hug, sighing in relief as Adrien relaxed, mumbling a thank you.

Looking at Felix, though, he frowned and gave him a little nod, knowing the search into Gabriel Agreste was far from over.

Tikki flew over to Adrien. "Normally, I would suggest telling Master Fu that Adrien's identity was compromised, but given his...distaste for Adrien, I think we need to keep that part to ourselves. We would only need to say something if there was a problem, and if Gabriel's known for nearly a year, it doesn't look like there is one."

"Look at you being a rebel!" Trixx chirped, flying in circles around Tikki. "Wouldn't have expected that from you, Plagg though..."

Plagg remained abnormally silent. Adrien's brow furrowed, "Plagg, you okay?" Plagg snapped up,

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." He sighed, "Adrien...I know your Dad says he's trying to heal your Mom with the grimoire, but he's not going to succeed. Trust me on this." 

Tikki noticed Plagg's distress and took him to the side to talk about something, turning back to Adrien. "You guys can keep talking without us, we'll only be a few minutes."

However, they didn't get a chance to talk further at the sound of shouting from downstairs. On instinct, all three hurried down to see what was going on and realized it was coming from Gabriel's office.

Despite knowing he probably shouldn't, Adrien peeked through the crack in the door and noticed the people he was pretty sure were Kieran's parents shouting at Father. Or, more accurately, Kieran's father was letting his mother do the screaming as she clearly had a lot to say.

"And you forced my son to model?!" Aileen seethed, forcing herself to be slightly quieter, her hands shaking where she leaned against them. "I would have thought you would know better after what happened to your own son, and you did this to my boy without pay?!"

"Madame," Gabriel said in annoyance, but he was cut off by Liam.

"If we had known Kieran had needed to work to stay," he said sternly, "We would have found other arrangements, and in our calls on the matter," he pulled out a piece of paper. "There was never any indication our child would be forced onto cameras. Not to mention everything else that did not happen that you agreed would." 

Aileen nodded to her husband before pacing around the room. "Not to mention you left my son to die! And guess who murdered him?! Oh yes, that's right! The same man we specifically named as someone who wishes harm on my son!"

Gabriel stood up to face the enraged mother. "Are you done? Kieran is fine, and I apologize for losing track of him when there was an Akuma rampant and everyone scattered, however becoming a model for me is the least Kieran could do to repay for my services."

Adrien heard it before he processed it, the sound of his father being slapped with enough force to fall to the floor, and Aileen shaking with unbridled rage as she made very clear who Kieran inherited it from.

"How dare you?" She seethed through clenched teeth, grabbing him by the tie and pulling him up. "Is that all he is to you? A pretty face to give you money?! I hate to think about what your own son goes through if your first thought upon him being injured is how to replace him. I doubt you even pay him too."

"Is the money all you desire?" Gabriel snapped, and Aileen laughed as though he had told a good joke.

"I don't give a damn about the money. My concern is how you used my son as a slave and then left him to die once he was no longer of any use to you. If I were to demand money, it would be to cover our damages, and perhaps as hush money to prevent a lawsuit."

Gabriel was silent for a few moments, looking between the two parents he had so greatly wronged, knowing monetary compensation may be the only way to make them drop this. "What do you want?"

"A million euros."

His eyes widened. "That is grossly over what his salary would have covered in his time working with me."

Aileen chuckled. "Oh, Gabriel, you don't understand. The million is for if our family needs to move again because of stalkers, not to mention it was stated in the contract your assistant gave us, you would attempt to grant our son access to therapy. The money is purely for Kieran and paying therapy and possible escape bills, I have no interest in it."

Adrien turned and noticed Nathalie in one of the seating chairs sipping tea. "Yes, Adrien, there was a contract, and your father was aware of it." She smirked a bit, "Though given how he acted with Kieran, I don't believe he read it or believed I would require him to at least offer assistance. I've been waiting for this conversation for a while."

Felix gaped, a broad grin on his face. "So you basically knew he was going to be an asshole and screwed him over?"

"I would have hoped not, but believe me when I say he will be unable to do anything to me about this since it's nobody's fault but his own for signing onto reasonable terms blindly." Adrien blinked. Was it really that easy to trick Father into signing things? How many field trips could he have tricked Father into letting him attend?!

He listened in on the conversation since Nathalie clearly wasn't going to stop him. "So are you going to pay, or do we need to call our lawyer back about your blatant violation of child labor laws? I think a million is reasonable, given you likely made far more than that on my son's work that was never supposed to happen." Aileen said, an impish grin on her face, leaning forward and, despite being quite a bit shorter, holding power in the room. "Unless, of course, you want me to open a case that would inevitably lead to the treatment of your son."

Gabriel grimaced as he looked at the contract and understood there was no getting out of this, rubbing his swollen cheek. "I will arrange something."

Aileen brightened, clapping her hands together despite the fury in her eyes still. "Excellent!" Her expression darkened again. "But don't think I won't be back if I find out your son suffers like mine did." She turned to leave, her dress swaying with the movement of her hips as she helped Liam out of his chair and turned to leave, beaming at the sight of Adrien, glancing back at the door near Gabriel, quietly counting to three, and hurried over to Adrien. It took Adrien a moment to realize she was making it seem he had come down the stairs and wasn't eavesdropping. 

"Oh, you must be Adrien!" She grinned, offering out her hand to shake. "Kieran's told us a lot about you."

"He did?" Adrien asked, and Aileen nodded, grinning.

"That's right! Thank you for making him feel welcome here. He's had a hard time for the last few years, so it's good to see him making friends."

"Ma!" Kieran hurried down the stairs, "Are you scaring Adrien?"

"Of course not," Aileen replied as Liam took Kieran's suitcase from him, so he didn't have to carry it since he had been told not to do any lifting for the next few weeks just in case.

"Don't worry, Kieran," he assured Kieran, "We're not going to embarrass you around your friend." He wrapped an arm around Kieran's shoulder, giving an approving nod to Adrien. "If your father ever gives you trouble, you can always stay with us for as long as you need."

"Really?" His eyes lit up. Even if he didn't have much trouble with Father, the offer to maybe visit Kieran for a while was extremely appealing, and Kieran had said he was happy to show him around Fairford.

Aileen checked something off in a small notebook she had pulled from her backpack. "Liam, can you please help Kieran back to the hotel? Jean's watching Lily for the time being, but I would hate to leave her while I have a word with my sister."

Kieran walked over to Adrien, hugging him. "Thanks, Adrien."

Felix held out his arms, "Where's my hug?"

"You don't get one." Felix put a hand dramatically on his chest.

"I am offended, Kieran!" He rolled his eyes, "Run along now, I'd hate to keep you from your cousin."

Kieran softened a bit, and he glanced towards Luka before quickly looking away and heading out the door, holding Aileen's hand. Aileen turned back and locked eyes with Nathalie, both giggling a bit before the Descônteaux family left. 

Adrien walked over to Luka, who was leaning on the railing of the stairs. "Luka, are you alright?"

"Yeah," Luka replied immediately. "Don't worry, Angel. I'm just thinking." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I actually wanted to ask you something."

Adrien brightened. "Oh?"

"You know the fireworks that are going to be happening tonight?" He asked and glanced towards Nathalie, and then Gabriel, who exited his office, surprised to see Luka there, but one glance at Felix made him perfectly aware of how Luka had gotten in. "I was wondering if you wanted to go with me tonight."

That...sounded quite a bit like a date. Adrien felt his cheeks flush as he turned to Father and Nathalie. Nathalie nodded that he could go, and Father hesitated for a few moments before deciding,

"Fine. But Felix must go with you."

"Sounds cool," Felix rested his hands behind his head. "How about dinner and then fireworks?" He winked at Adrien, who bowed his head so Father didn't notice how he was blushing. Luka rubbed the back of his neck.

"How about I pick you up around eight for dinner?" He asked, and Adrien nodded quickly.

"Sounds great! See you then!"

Luka headed out, and Adrien didn't notice how Father and Luka locked eyes, trying to figure out the other. Felix noticed but wrapped an arm around Adrien to help him up the stairs, Trixx and Plagg emerging as soon as Luka was gone. "Come on, let's get you ready for your date."

"It's not a date," Adrien insisted, "You're going to be there too." Felix rolled his eyes, whispering in Adrien's ear once they were out of sight of the adults.

"Nobody needs to know if I'm not there for dinner."

Trying to distract himself from the thing that was making butterflies flutter in his stomach, he thought about Kieran. He would be leaving in the morning; that fact was still so foreign to him, but nothing had to change that much, and maybe Kieran would come and visit!

But he couldn't help but wonder, why did Kieran seem so torn?

OoOoO

“Chris, for the last time, we are not going to go see the fireworks!” Nino shouted, groaning at his brother, who was gripping his hand for dear life.

“Okay, but hear me out!" Chris tried, "Mom and Dad already allowed us to go, and if we go to the fireworks, we’ll also get to go to the cool ferris wheel and have cotton candy—“

“Which I’m guessing I’ll have to buy?” Nino retorted, “And Mom and Dad allow us everything, someone needs to be rational—“

“It’s going to the park! Also, making your little brother pay for memories? Not cool, Nino.” Chris tsked and crossed his arms, pretending to be grown up.

Nino softened and knelt to Chris’ level, brushing his younger brother's hair out of his face. “Why don’t we play Minecraft instead? Those are some good memories too!” He attempted but already knew that once Chris got his mind set on something, it was hard to dissuade him.

“But I’ve been doing that all day long!" Chris insisted, gesturing to the television and his current massive builds. "Like, I even made an entire replica of the Millennium Falcon, from the old Star Wars movies you showed me!” 

Nino gasped, “That’s incredible, Chris! Tell you what, I’ll get some snacks ready and you’ll tell me all about your builds, and we avoid our feelings forever and ever—!” He said, attempting to go to the kitchen before being held back by his little brother.

“Nino!” Chris whined, going to give him the best puppy eyes he could muster, “Don't you want to be with me, Nino? Abandon me in my time of need for brotherly love? I missed you so much, but you were at the hospital for days….” He said, twiddling his thumbs.

Nino grimaced at the memory of why. It wasn't like he had wanted to be at the hospital, but Kieran... he relented and met Chris's gaze. “Fine, but we’re back home before night time, okay?” He said, “I could use the distraction and some time with you little shit,” he teased, picking his brother up and messing his hair, while Chris squawked before wiggling his way out and going to get ready.

Nino smiled, fixing his beanie. He looked down at it for a few moments, sighing as he thought back. This would be so easy if Hassan was here—he always knew how to keep Chris happy. He knew how to keep people safe...

He glanced back at his backpack, sucking in a breath as he pulled the Turtle Miraculous out and put it back in his pocket. He wasn't going to need this, he assured himself, he was just bringing it, so if he saw Chat Noir, he could give it back. He forced himself to calm down as he reminded himself everything was going to go smoothly.

After all, what’s the worst that could happen?

…

“For the last time, Alya, you are not going to go see the fireworks!” 

Alya groaned, putting her hair up in a ponytail, “I’ll be fine, Nora! And it’s not like you have to go with me either! I'm just hanging out with Lila!”

Nora sighed and put her hand on Alya’s shoulder, “Listen, while I’m sure Lila is a lovely girl, and I’m glad that you’re making friends, that still doesn’t make going out any less dangerous! Two delicate and sweet girls, late at night, and especially after the sentencing of Dupain-Cheng, and how most of Paris has it out for you? Too risky!” She exclaimed wildly.

“But what if this can be a new start for me, what if—" Alya tried before Nora cut her off.

“Nope, don’t wanna hear any of it! You’ll thank me for this later, I promise,” Nora said, walking out of Alya's room.

Alya groaned, plopping onto her bed. This was the perfect opportunity to make friends and establish her reputation again, and she couldn’t go because of her older sister? How lame was that?!

She perked at chime from her phone and checked her messages to see the text from Lila:

Lila: Are you ready to go? We’re on a short schedule here.

Alya frowned, looking around her room to find a solution to her problem. She looked around a little more to no avail before gripping her sheets, getting an idea. 

If Nora wouldn't let her out, she might need to get a little…creative.

…

Nora toyed with her boxing gloves as she prepared to train to relieve stress. Maybe she was too harsh with her little sister? She knew how hard Alya had it the last few months, and the minute she got a new friend and a chance to socialize, Nora ruined it for her. After everything with Princess Justice, Alya was one of the most hated people in Paris, and as much as she wanted to defend her sister, Nora understood why. How often would Alya get a chance to talk to another girl her age?

Perhaps there’s still time for Alya to go? Or even if there was no time, Nora could at least make it up to her! Maybe some food, or taking her out somewhere nice, right?

Nora went to knock on Alya’s door, “Hey Alya, listen, I’m sorry. I’m just… scared and worried about what could happen to you, and I won’t be there to protect you. Is there any way you could forgive me? Perhaps there’s a bit of time left for you to go see the fireworks?” Nora offered to only receive silence. “Alya?” Nora asked before entering her room, shocked at what she saw.

Alya was nowhere to be seen, her window wide open and a chain of blankets and sheets tied together to form a rope hanging out the window. Nora's eyes widened as she frantically searched the room, hoping beyond hope that this was just a spiteful prank Alya pulled on her, only for reality to sink in.

How could she do this?! How could Alya just get up and leave out of nowhere?! She was only trying to protect her! Was she this overbearing for her to sneak out?!

In her rage and fear, Nora didn’t even notice a butterfly flutter through the window and enter her boxing helmet.

“Hello Anansi, I am Hawk Moth. Your sister betrayed you and left you behind for her friends, when you were only trying to do what’s best for her and keep her safe. I can grant you the power to keep her safe and out of touch, but in return, you must give me the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses. Have we got a deal?” A distorted voice offered.

Nora shook, falling to the ground, her will to fight back-breaking. “Yes… Hawk Moth.” She said before she was engulfed in purple.

...

Kieran sighed as he looked out the window of his family's hotel room in Le Grand Paris, glancing at Lily, who had finally fallen asleep on the bed, curled up hugging the blanket Mom had given her. It was so long ago that he had been able to come here whenever he wanted to, be it for work or because he needed somewhere safe to go when Marinette made going home impossible.

He leaned against the glass, rubbing his still sore arm. Sorry, Lily. I couldn't keep my promise.

Countless questions and emotions ran rampant in his head, he had needed to calm down one way or another to keep from getting akumatized. Why had Chloé turned to the Dupain-Chengs? Why had Gabriel been so insistent for a model? What was Nino hiding from him about what happened with Papa Garou?

And why, after everything, was he not running to the train to get home?

He barely heard the door open, and Dad came in with some trays of food. "Jean made your favorite!" He said cheerfully as he headed over to the table close to where his son was standing. "And the talk with Aunt Siobhan was a success, not to mention with the money from Gabriel, we can get you therapy without you worrying about our finances." He hesitated when he noticed Kieran's desolate expression. "What's wrong?"

"Oh...nothing." He pulled his sleeves down a bit.

"Sabrina was asking about you," Dad tried. "I ran into her when she was on her way to Chloé's room. Honestly, I expected to find you in Chloé's room."

"Chloé and I had a fight..." Kieran explained quietly. "Turns out she's been going to work with the Dupain-Chengs in secret and even had the gall to defend them after everything..." he hugged himself, shaking his head and sitting down.

Dad sat down as well and placed his hand on Kieran's. "I wouldn't think Chloé would do something like that, especially since she was the one who offered for us to stay here tonight. If I had known you two had a fight, I wouldn't have accepted, but maybe you don't have the full story?"

Kieran pulled his arm away bitterly, "What full story could there possibly be?!" Dad shrugged.

"I don't know, but after everything, I doubt she's had a sudden change of heart. Maybe it has something to do with Sabine?"

"Sabine?"

"Don't get me wrong," Dad replied, "Tom Dupain is an awful man, and I will never forgive him for what he has done, but..." he softened slightly, looking down. "Sabine is a kind woman, surely even you can admit that she has done nothing to harm you."

"She still hasn't left her husband." Kieran grumbled, and Dad nodded.

"That is true, but maybe at least try to see the full story before labeling your best friend a traitor."

"It doesn't matter," Kieran replied. "We're leaving tomorrow, and I have no desire to talk to her tonight."

"Alright," Dad ruffled Kieran's hair, checking his phone, "I'm going to help your mother bring Lily's things up. Try to get some sleep, alright?"

"Alright, Athair," he said, pulling his knees up to his chest as he looked out the window, deciding to watch the fireworks from here, but found himself lost in thought quickly.

OoOoO

Adrien pulled his grey cardigan tighter around himself as the chill December air made him shiver slightly. Luka pulled him close as they walked after dinner, and Adrien was still barely able to believe he just had dinner alone with Luka.

"I can pay you back," he offered, and Luka just laughed a bit.

"Nonsense, Angel. It's my treat, though I wonder what Felix has been doing." Adrien gestured to the bookstore they had just passed.

"He's probably in there, lost to us until he decides to emerge." His mind wandered back to dinner. Luka hadn't judged him when he wanted to eat something that diverted from the diet that Father was insistent he stay on whenever possible, and they had been able to talk freely and have a good time. He couldn't help but wish he could go out for dinner with Luka more.

He looked down at Plagg, who was curled up in a pocket Adrien had sewn into his cardigan specifically for his kwami, "Are you feeling better, Plagg?"

"Yeah," he replied cheerfully as he munched on some cheese from the restaurant, and Adrien's brow furrowed.

"What had you so down earlier?"

"I'm the King of Death and father of all death gods, kid," Plagg replied, "Death is a natural part of life, and seeing a human preserving the body of one who has already reached the end of life is deeply unsettling."

Oh...so Adrien had been right about what had Plagg so bothered. Given Plagg's experience in the field of death, if Plagg was this uncomfortable, it meant that no matter what, Father would not succeed in bringing Mom back. She was gone, and there was no bringing her back. Was he a bad person for having already assumed and accepted that?

He didn't have time to linger on that when he noticed Nino with his little brother. "Nino!" 

Nino turned. "Oh! Hey, bro!" He hurried over, carrying Chris on his back. Chris brightened at the sight of Adrien.

"I told you that coming out here was a good idea, Nino!" He beamed. "So are you guys going on the ferris wheel too?"

"I think so," Adrien replied, looking up at Luka for confirmation, and Luka nodded. "Father let me out tonight as long as Felix came with, and as you can see, Felix ditched us for his one true love of books." Nino rolled his eyes.

"Why am I not surprised?" He looked up at the sky, "We should probably get going if we want to have a good view by the time the fireworks start up."

Adrien and Luka got in their own separate car, and once they were inside, Adrien turned. "I should probably talk to Nino tonight as Chat. After what happened with Kieran...he might not want to be a superhero, so I shouldn't burden him." He sat down to rest his leg, and Luka sat down with him. Tikki emerged.

"That's a good idea, Adrien. And if Nino doesn't want to be a superhero, that doesn't mean you made a bad choice." Luka nodded and gestured out the window when the sound of fireworks began. Adrien beamed as he hurried over to the glass, having only ever seen these fireworks from his bedroom window, dreaming of seeing them this close. His eyes lit up as he watched the various colors lighting up the evening sky.

Luka softened seeing Adrien so excited and found himself eager to have far more days like these in the future. Deciding to take a chance, he kissed Adrien's cheek. "I'm glad you're having fun, Angel."

Adrien's hand slowly moved to his cheek and then up at Luka as his mind started to really process that they were on a real date. But before he could try to express how he was feeling, the Ferris wheel suddenly shook, and Adrien yelped in pain as his leg gave out. He had to lean on Luka for support, his cane falling to the floor of the car as they both looked down in panic at the sight of an Akuma that was far larger than others. The Akuma was breaking into one of the lower cars, and they were stuck up here!

Adrien pulled out his phone and called Felix. "Hey! There's an Akuma, but Luka and I are stuck in this Ferris wheel! We need you to cast an illusion to get us out of here, got it?"

"Gotcha! I was just heading out anyway. Trixx, let's pounce!" Adrien heard the sound of Rusé playing his flute. "Mirage! Alright, so you both are invisible, and any onlooker will see fake versions of you in the closed car. Just try to transform and get out quickly."

Both heroes transformed, and Chat forcefully opened the car door, jumping out with Coccinelle and running to the side to be further undetected, just in case this Akuma would be able to sense them despite being invisible. They found Rusé in the alleyway by the bookstore. He detransformed and dropped the illusion, feeding Trixx a grape before transforming again.

"Right then," he spun his flute, "So the Akuma looks like a spider, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah," Chat agreed. "So the first step is to figure out what this Akuma is all about, wouldn't you say?" He hurried over to the Ferris wheel, grinning as he observed the spider-like woman. Judging by her helmet, she was a kickboxer...he noticed the car the spider-woman was at and saw Alya inside with Lila. Oh! This must be Alya's sister, Anansi.

"All those arms, that's convenient," he bounded over, pouting playfully to get Anansi's attention. "But you destroyed my scratching post."

Anansi turned, and the butterfly symbol appeared over her eyes as she suddenly jumped down. "Need a hand, kitty cat?" She jumped down and dove in for an attack, and Chat took advantage of being a smaller opponent to dodge. Coccinelle swung his yoyo at one of Anansi's arms, only for Anansi to scoff and pull on it to send Coccinelle flying into the Ferris wheel, suddenly spitting out a web-like substance. Chat found himself immediately trapped in the webs that left him unable to move. He gritted his teeth. "Cataclysm!"

As the webs disintegrated, Chat noticed instantly that Anansi hadn't been interested in fighting him. Once he had been pinned, Anansi had made no move to take his Miraculous, just going on to attack Coccinelle and Rusé. It was then that Chat noticed the Ferris wheel beginning to fall over. He rushed over with Coccinelle, who ran across the way and up a building, throwing his yoyo to wrap around it to slowly lower it to the ground with Chat's assistance. Chat Noir yelped as he was once again attacked with the webbing, this time with enough force that he was sent reeling back onto the ground, struggling to move.

"Chat!" Rusé hurried over and contemplated how to go about this before turning to a civilian, one of few able to escape their Ferris wheel car. "Excuse me! I need a pocket knife!" He was offered one and used the knife to dig into the webbing before handing it back to the civilian. "Thanks." He helped Chat up, "Seems like Anansi really just wants you out of the way."

"Yeah," he tried not to think about all the times he had been considered useless when his partner was Ladybug. And if Anansi seemed so hellbent on trapping him... he then noticed that Anansi was gone. She had long since left and had taken Alya with her. Okay...so maybe she just didn't care in general and just wanted to take Alya and leave, and it wasn't a personal thing that only Chat had been attacked with webs?

"We've gotta find her," Coccinelle said quickly, and the other two followed him. Chat glanced back at the cars, wondering if Carapace was going to be part of this battle.

...

Nino held Chris close, using his jacket to cover his younger brother from any broken glass. Their car had been covered in some debris, so it was hard to see any light since, despite Coccinelle slowing the descent, it had still been relatively heavy and left damage to the walkways.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, and Chris shook his head, clinging to him and beginning to cry.

"Nino...I'm scared."

"Hassan, I'm scared," ten-year-old Nino whimpered, frightfully clinging onto Hassan during a lightning storm. The power had gone out, causing their smoke alarms to blare loudly, while Mom and Dad were searching the house to see if they had shorted out or if there was a fire. The two of them were in their parents' room as Nino cried in his brother's arms, trembling as he saw the lightning flash again, followed by the loud boom.

"I know," Hassan held him close, "But it's going to be alright."

"But—But what if there is a fire?" He covered his ears as best he could to drown out all the noise.

"Then I'll get you out of here," Hassan vowed. "I'll keep you safe, no matter what, okay? Here," he took off his beanie and put it on Nino's head. "Cover your ears with this on, it might help to drown out the sound."

"O-Okay..." Nino did as he was told and found that it was slightly quieter, staying curled up with Hassan, who didn't let go once even after the smoke alarm had finally gone quiet.

"I'll keep you safe, Nino..."

Nino snapped back to the present as he looked down at Chris, and he realized what he had to do. He had failed Kieran, but he wasn't going to fail Chris, no matter what. Hassan had been able to keep Nino safe. Nino could do the same for Chris.

"Chris," he looked down at the quivering boy, "I'm gonna get us out of here, but I need you to keep a big secret, okay?" Chris nodded, and Nino pulled out the Turtle Miraculous, clipping it on as Wayzz emerged.

"I see you've had a change of heart, Master Nino," Wayzz said, and Nino nodded.

"Yep! Wayzz, shell on!" He transformed and threw his shield up, "Shellter!" The semi-transparent green barrier surrounding himself and Chris as he jumped up a superhuman height, looking down at the ground as he fell, noticing Lila was on a bench not far from everything, talking to some paramedics. But he didn't pay that any mind as he landed on top of a building and put Chris down, deactivating Shellter, and if he was right about what he had observed from the other heroes, he had five minutes before he transformed back.

Chris's eyes lit up, "You're a superhero!?"

"A new one," Carapace said, "Stay here, alright? I'm gonna go help the others and I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

Chris nodded eagerly, "Tell Chat Noir I say hi!" Carapace smiled fondly, knowing Chat had always been Chris's favorite hero. He nodded.

"I will," and with that, he sprinted in the direction he heard the battle from, barely able to process the speed his own legs were moving at, unsure what exactly he was going to find when he got to the battle.

What he found at the Arc de Triomphe made his eyes widen, at the sight of both Alya and Chat Noir trapped on a massive spider web, and he instantly noticed Chat was far more reinforced on it than Alya was, as though he had tried to escape multiple times. He realized if Chat hadn't escaped already, he had probably already used Cataclysm.

He quickly glanced around and noticed Rusé struggling to get up from where he had been thrown into a car with enough force to dent it, and Coccinelle was struggling to break free of webs that bound his legs to the ground like chains. Anansi grabbed a firm hold of the squirming Coccinelle with four of her arms to keep him still.

"Coccinelle!" Chat shrieked, and Carapace instantly threw his shield at Anansi, directly at her neck to send her back with force, and the shield came back to him. He rushed over to pull Coccinelle free.

"Sorry I'm late," he said and looked up at Chat Noir's situation. Then to Alya...he tried not to think about Alya, knowing that regardless of how he felt about her, whether he still cared even a little or could never forgive her, it was going to be distracting. He heard Anansi getting back up, and Coccinelle dove at Carapace to get them both out of the way.

Rusé was up on his feet, swaying a bit but otherwise fine as he grabbed his flute. "Alright! Round three, let's go!"

Anansi scoffed. "You fly-weights seriously still think you can win? Alright, let's go, then!" As she moved, Carapace realized something. He knew Nora well, and he knew her body language, so as she made a vague movement, Carapace was able to dodge perfectly. He knew her mannerisms, so he could predict her movements before she did it.

Coccinelle seemed to catch onto this as well, if his grin was any indication. "I'm gonna go for Chat. Rusé, Carapace, try to distract her."

But suddenly, Carapace felt a boost of confidence that maybe he didn't need to just be a distraction. He looked at his beeping bracelet. He might be able to win this.

Rusé played his flute and created dozens of clones of himself to keep Anansi distracted. Carapace noticed the exact moment she gave up on fighting the Rusé copies and looked up to where Coccinelle was using his Lucky Charm of a knife to cut Chat Noir free. He grinned as he jumped up to meet Anansi, throwing his shield in front of him to take the force of her blow. 

As his feet collided with the walls of the Arc de Triomphe, he had to remind himself that he had superhuman strength now, as he pushed back, and since Anansi hadn't expected that, she was caught off guard. He knew it was a very short window he would have, so he moved his shield to block her dominant hands from being able to punch him, as he, in turn, punched her kickboxing helmet with enough force for the Akuma to fly out.

He looked up as he noticed Chat Noir and Coccinelle looking down at him in pride, and Coccinelle captured the Akuma, quickly shouting "Miraculous Glitterbug!" setting everything back to normal. The two landed on the ground gracefully, Coccinelle catching Alya and setting her down.

Nora blinked. "Huh? What happened?" Her eyes widened as she hurried over to Alya. "Sis, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Nora," Alya assured her, then looked behind her sister to eye Carapace. He had to stop himself from looking away from his ex-girlfriend, meeting her gaze, and walking over.

"I'm Carapace," he said. "Are you alright, Miss?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," she said, checking her phone. "Oh! I should probably go meet with my friend..." she paused and looked up at Nora, "If that's okay."

Nora considered for a moment before sighing, "Go have fun, sis. But I expect you to text me every half an hour to let me know you're still safe and having a good time." Alya hugged Nora before hurrying off, and Carapace watched her go. It was strange...he had never seen her so genuinely happy...

But that didn't bring him as much pain as he had thought. He felt...some form of acceptance. That was how things were, and there were no what-ifs. His eyes widened as he noticed he only had two minutes left.

Chat Noir seemed even more frantic with probably even less time. "Excuse us, Ma'am," he said to Nora, "We've gotta go." Nora waved her hand nonchalantly.

"Don't sweat it, I can get home on my own."

The four heroes ran into an alleyway, and Chat dove behind the dumpster as the bright flash made his detransformation known. Carapace didn't know how to feel, knowing the civilian form of someone he so greatly looked up to was so close, but he made no move to see who it was.

Coccinelle leaned against the wall. "So how was it?" He asked. "Are you okay?"

As his transformation fell, Nino looked down at the bracelet. He had succeeded today. He had been able to keep Chris safe, help the heroes, and...it had actually been a lot of fun. He took a deep breath as he made his decision. "Yeah, I think I am. I was going to give this back to you, but if it's alright, I'll stay to help you."

"I'm glad."

Nino's eyes widened as Adrien stepped out from behind the dumpster where Chat Noir had been. He grinned brightly, and Nino felt his jaw drop as he slowly walked over to his best friend. Just to be sure, he checked behind the dumpster and found there was nobody else. But even before that...he had known it was true.

"Surprise," Adrien said softly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah... that's why I disappear sometimes. And if you're going to be part of the team, you deserve to know."

Coccinelle and Rusé detransformed, and with the context of who Chat Noir was under the mask, he wasn't surprised in the slightest to see Luka and Felix. But it was Adrien that still left him...

He laughed, and upon Adrien's inquiring gaze, he explained. "I always knew you were hiding something, but this is way cooler than I was expecting!"

Adrien grinned. "I'm glad you enjoy it."

"So are there any other big secrets you're hiding from me?" Nino asked, and Adrien shook his head.

"No, no more secrets."

Without thinking, Nino pulled Adrien into a tight embrace as he thought about everything his best friend had needed to do alone and everything he had endured with Marinette both in and out of costume—and what a twist of fate that was.

Adrien took a moment to process the physical contact but quickly returned the hug while Luka and Felix glanced at each other knowingly.

If Nino had any doubts before, they were gone knowing he would be able to fight by his best friend's side.

OoOoO

Kieran gripped onto his suitcase and turned away from where he had been staring at the train he would soon be boarding. “So… this is it I guess?” He said, looking at his friends, who were all varying degrees of sadness. He tried to ignore the pinching feeling in his chest when neither Chloé nor Sabrina was present to tell him goodbye, but he reminded himself why and sighed.

Adrien sniffled, moving to hug Kieran tightly, “Make sure to call us every day, okay? And keep in contact with us! And eat three meals a day, and get lots of water and exercise, and—“ he babbled tearfully before Kieran stopped him with a pat on the back.

“It’s okay Adrien, I’ll live,” he said, guiding Adrien in Luka’s direction. Kieran turned to face Luka, giving him awkward finger guns, “So… I’ll see you around?” He suggested.

Luka patted him on the shoulder, “We will, dude, and keep in touch. Also…” he pulled out a ziplock bag with snacks, a drink, and sticky notes, “On popular demand, I made you a snackie bag for the trip! Hope you’ll enjoy it, and don’t be a stranger, okay?” He said, handing Kieran the bag.

Kieran took it with a gracious smile before Felix barged in, “Yeah, bitch, don’t be a stranger! When I’m done raining hell in Paris, I might have to come and visit you!” He joked, going for a hug, while Kieran feebly pushed him away.

“I’m not even responding to that,” he said before going to face Nino, who was all too quiet and reserved for him to feel okay. “…Nino—“ Kieran began,

“Good luck.” Nino said, giving Kieran a little pat on the shoulder and a weak smile. “In whatever it is you’re going to do. Keep in touch.” He said, almost robotically, retracting his hand away.

Kieran wilted yet quickly covered for it, giving Nino a stiff nod. “Goodbye Nino. Goodbye everyone. I’ll miss you—“ he said before an announcement chimed in: “All passengers to London, the train will be departing in 10 minutes.”

Kieran gave another quick goodbye before grabbing his luggage and walking towards the train, leaving a stiff and shaking Nino behind him. 

He wouldn’t cry, Nino said. He promised himself he wouldn’t cry.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Felix remarked, pulling Nino from his misery. When Nino turned to him confused, he groaned, “Okay, listen, you might not believe me, but Kieran does actually wanna stay for obvious reasons I will not specify. So for fuck’s sake, go after him!” He shouted.

Nino turned to Adrien and Luka, giving him encouraging smiles and thumbs up, before turning to see Kieran in the distance. Kieran would get on that train if he waited any longer, and Nino couldn't help but fear he would never return. His breath picked up, breathing in and out and in and out before he broke into a sprint after his friend.

He ran and ran until he reached the train, watching Kieran about to step into it, before screaming, “Kieran Descônteaux! You absolute shithead!”

When Kieran turned to see Nino, confusion etched on his face, Nino continued, “Yeah! You heard what I said! You’re really leaving again, after everything that happened, and I absolutely hate that!” He shouted, tears gathering in his eyes.

When asked to get on the train, Kieran motioned the driver to wait a minute as he continued to listen to Nino.