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Chapter Text

A wave of fear swept across her body as soon as she opened her eyes. The thoughtless bliss accompanied by total lack of consciousness came to an end as she sat up in bed. Something was wrong. Her eyes surveyed the room as she struggled to piece together her scattered memories from the previous night.

Her thoughts came in bursts, flashes of unfamiliar faces, nonsensical blurs. Nothing of use to her. Nothing to explain how she ended up in this strange, all white room. Her surroundings appeared medical: white brick walls surrounded her and met a cold, tile floor of the same color, and the only thing besides her in the room was a white cot, on which she was currently seated. As she racked her brain, a loud, intelligent voice spoke, jolting her out back into the present.

“Good morning, patient. How are you feeling?” The voice didn’t appear to be coming from anywhere in particular, but it filled the whole room with its authority. She spoke for the first time since regaining consciousness, “What’s going on?” Her voice was raspy and soft, but the disembodied voice heard her nonetheless.
“How are you feeling?” It sounded like a recording.

“I’m feeling… Confused.”

“Confused is not a physical state.” Well, a recording with an attitude, at least. “Confused is a mental state of being. What is your physical condition?”

“I’m sorry? I don’t know where I am, how I got here, and most importantly who I am. My physical state of being is, um, dizzy?”

“What can we do for you to make you feel less… dizzy, as you put it?”

“Can you tell me where I am?” She pressed urgently, and the voice paused for a moment before chuckling softly. “Can you tell me your name?” At this, she fell silent. Her thoughts ran amok as the voice continued to say, “If you tell me your name. I can disclose to you your current location.” The lights in the room began to dim, making her feel drowsy as her scattered memories and chaotic, desperate attempts to produce her own name began to fade as quickly as the lights were. Her heavy eyelids closed slowly as she drifted back into the thoughtless bliss of unconsciousness to the faint sound of subdued laughter.
. . . . . . . .

“Good morning, patient. How are you feeling?” The loud voice startled the boy awake.

“What is going on?” The boy questioned with utter confusion and uncertainty. He couldn’t retrieve any memories, but he knew he should have been able to. The voice chuckled, low and calculative.

“That’s what everyone wants to know, isn’t it?” It’s laughter continued, bringing his unease to a whole new level. Amongst the millions of questions circling around in his head, the one that kept appearing the most frequently was: who am I? It only seemed natural to voice his question, so he did.

“Who am I?”

“Well, now, I can’t just tell you that. It would defeat the purpose of this whole extravaganza, wouldn’t it?” The boy became visibly frustrated. The purpose of what? “Oh dear, I didn’t mean to upset you. Can you tell me how you’re feeling?” At this query, he actually laughed.

“How I’m feeling? Wow, ok, let’s see. I’m awful? How am I supposed to be feeling?”

“What specifically is awful?”

“What?” He all but shouted at the voice. Everything? He didn’t know who he was, and now he’s being accosted by a voice that he had dubbed the asshole, as it had no regard for him whatsoever. “I don’t know, I guess my head?” Not exactly a lie; he was extremely dizzy from all the mind racking.

“Interesting. Would you say you’re,” the voice paused, as if checking something for reference. The boy could hear the faint sound of paper flipping. “Dizzy?” Dumbfounded didn’t begin to describe his state of being. Could this asshole read minds? Before he could respond, his consciousness began to abandon him as quickly as it had found him.

Chapter Text

She was awake again. She had been awake for longer this time, and hadn’t been questioned by the voice that brought goosebumps to her skin yet. Her thoughts drifted between theories of where she might be and theories of who she could be. Her end goal was to escape, but she had come to the conclusion that the voice would not give her clues until she had some information to exchange for them. She closed her eyes, not wanting to look at the room again; it made her ill. She had it committed to memory already anyway. One cot, four walls, and zero doors. With both eyes squeezed shut, she’d hoped to drift away again. No such luck. 

“Sleeping again? One would think that fourteen hours was enough for humans to function. Is this normal for you?” The voice was back, and she now had the first piece of information about herself: she’d slept for fourteen hours. Great. That wasn’t much help. 

“How can I know if it’s normal if I don’t remember anything before here?”

“Touche.” Her eye roll was practically audible, which made the voice chuckle. The sound making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. “Do you feel any better, physically, than you did the last time I talked to you?”

“A little, I guess. I think I’m just not as disoriented because I’m expecting to be here. What am I doing here?”

“Glad to know you’re feeling better. I want you to be in prime condition.” She rolled her eyes again as the voice completely disregarded the question she asked.

“What am I doing here?” She repeated herself louder this time, more confident.

“Now, I want to ask about your mental state. Are you able to tell me your name now?” She groaned in annoyance and shook her head. “Do you have any memories outside of this room?” 

“What do you think?” She sneered at the empty room. “If you won’t tell me my name, will you tell me yours?” Any clue would help, she decided. The voice repeated its now infamous chuckle.

“Interesting. Not that it will mean anything to you, but you can call me Gabriel.”

.                       .     . .               . . .             .

He perked up in his cot when he heard the sound of a voice. Not /the/ voice, but /a/ voice. A new one. It sounded like a female; someone who’s situation, as it sounded, was just as dire as his. It was muffled. He couldn’t make out any words that were said, but he could easily distinguish the voice he’d come to loathe from /hers/. He pressed his ear into the cold brick that made up the walls to try and hear her better. The only two voices he could ever remember hearing were having a conversation. One that he wanted to decipher desperately. One that could consist of clues as to where he was and who he was. He leant too heavily against the wall, and his cot shot out from under him, making a loud screech. The voices on the other side of the wall had stopped talking. Shit.

“Patient? What is going on? Are you alright?”

“Nothing. I’m fine. Go back to what you were doing.” To prove the ‘casualty’ of the situation he began comically whistling to throw off the asshat, a new name for the voice that the boy added to the ever growing list of insults. He just wanted to hear her again. He just wanted to hear something other than this asshole. Curiously, though, an asshole who seemed to care a lot about his well being. 

“What I was doing?” He could hear the smirk in the voice. The shit-eating grin that was most likely covering this asshole’s face made him less than willing to divulge any reasoning for his previous actions. “I’m only asking for research. Don’t worry I don’t particularly care about what goes on in here when I am not present.” Once again, proving why he was dubbed the asshole.

“I already told you I wasn’t doing anything,” he grumbled and crossed his arms in annoyance.  He wasn’t going to give this guy anything to work with. He already had him held captive, and that was more than enough.

“Someone is quite pouty today. Judging from your defensiveness and your urging for me to return to my previous activity, you must have been able to hear me speaking to my other, ahem, patient.” So he wasn’t crazy; there were two of them. His mood improved immensely at the brief mention of the distinctively female voice he had listened to moments prior. 

“Aw, you have another patient? I thought what we had was special,” he mocked as he returned the fallen cot to its previous position. “If I could be so bold as to ask, in this,” he paused, searching for the right word to describe their situation. “Place,” he continued, “Are there more than two patients, oh mighty one?” He tried to keep his mood light and comical to mask his fear and uncertainty about his time in this god forsaken room. 

“Somethings are better left unsaid. Now, child, do you know your name?” The boy crossed his arms defiantly yet said nothing. “I will take that as a no,” the voice continued after a brief pause. “Can you, by any chance, produce any information about yourself?” His silence told the voice all that he needed to know. “Alright then, carry on.”

Once he was sure that Asshat was done speaking to him, the boy pressed himself against the wall one more time, hoping to hear the other voice again. After a few minutes of absolutely nothing, he was about to slump back to his cot when he heard something. Something indiscernible. It could have been her, but it also could have been faulty pipes, or just any noise that an old building makes. He listened in, harder this time, if that were even possible, and was blessed with the lovely sound of her voice. He was certain this time. He would never forget that voice.

Chapter Text

What the hell? This dude just dropped his name and left? She didn’t even have time for a witty comeback. The first and only piece of information she has gotten thus far is the crazy guy’s name? 

“Of course his name is Gabriel. I mean, can’t he at least have a cool name like Vlad or something?” She huffed aloud to herself. The more time she spent here, the more she could feel her sanity dwindling away. To keep said sanity in check, she began to go over the facts. Fact number one: she was in an empty room by herself. Number two: she was being held captive by some guy named Gabriel. Number three: she slept a lot. Not a lot to work with considering she had no idea who she was. The more her thoughts circled, the more frustrated she became, and eventually, she felt the need to express her feelings audibly with a loud, cathartic, “UAAAAAGHH!” A noise more primal than anything else, but she felt a little better nonetheless.

“Ok, if I keep quiet, I’m afraid I may lose my ability to speak entirely, so I’m just going to think out loud. Does that make me crazy? Probably a little bit, but I’m bEING HELD CAPTIVE BY A PSYCHOPATH WHO DOES NOT TELL ME ANYTHING!! AHem, so I think I have the right to be a little crazy.” She already felt her mood improving by being even the tiniest bit vocal, so she decided to continue. “This is the longest I’ve been conscious… I wonder if there’s a reason for that? Up to now, I felt as though I wasn’t in control of consciousness, and I kept slipping in and out whenever it was most convenient for, well, Gabriel.” She hated calling him that. It was too kind, too respectful to her captor. She felt like that’s what she would call a buddy. No, she would have to come up with another name. Her thoughts of various name alternatives were interrupted by a loud banging coming from the wall to her right. 

“Hello?” She questioned tentatively. The noise was not violent, and therefore, she determined that it could not have been Gabriel’s doing. In fact, if she were to describe it at all, she would say that it was pressing. It almost sounded like it could be Morse Code or something along those lines. Slowly, but purposefully, she made her way across the small room to the wall the sound was coming from. The whole way there, her heart rate increasing rapidly, filling her with hope that there was something, or even someone else there with her. When she arrived, the noise stopped just as suddenly as it had arrived. Her hope deflated. Desperately, she looked around the room for a way she could make that noise in return. The cot! Of course, the metal frame against the brick wall is sure to replicate the noise. She allowed herself to hope one more time, that this was not Gabriel playing a trick on her. 

She made quick work of bringing the cot over to her new favorite wall, and took a deep breath before she did anything else. What if she was imagining this? What if this was her human interaction, memory deprived subconsciousness that convinced her this whole thing was real. No, she couldn’t think like this. She had to allow herself to believe this. Carefully, she picked up the cot, and repeated the pattern she had heard previously, and waited. If she was right. They would respond. All she wanted was for them to respond. Less than a minute later she heard it again, and she couldn’t suppress her joy.

“OH MY GOD!!” She squealed and giggled, not believing her good luck. She spun around the room, forgetting she was still holding the cot. The added weight quickly threw her off balance, and it wasn’t long before she was on the ground. “Ouch,” she mumbled from underneath the cot. 

“ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” She froze when she heard another voice. A male voice that wasn’t Gabriel. It was muffled due to the wall, but she could tell they screamed so she could hear it. Her hopes were confirmed. Officially. She was not alone. She found it difficult to contain herself and wanted to respond, but didn’t know how. Yes, she’d heard him through the wall, but she could barely understand him, and definitely did not feel like blowing her voice out trying to hold a conversation with a stranger through thick, brick walls. She heard his voice again, but this time could not for the life of her make out what he was saying, so it sounded like, “AUGHHF DFREALFHU JDDYOWNF!!??” A sentence she found incredibly comical, despite the bizarre nature of their current situation. She could not control her laughter, and it felt nice to have something to smile about. 

…………….

The frown of concern on his face as he pressed his ear against the wall began to fade when he heard the faint, but recognizable sound of laughter. Even through the wall, it sounded like heaven, music to his ears. It sounded like bells ringing, and immediately he knew that he never wanted to stop hearing her laugh. He vowed to himself to do anything and everything to make sure that he could hear it again. He tapped the wall with his cot again, restlessly, wanting to have another interaction with her more than anything. It wasn’t long before she responded back, and he could tell she was still laughing as she did so. Nothing could wipe the Cheshire cat grin off his face. Well, nothing except the asshat who took it upon himself to interrupt his joy with another unpleasant interaction. 

“I hate to interrupt, really I do, but I do have to ask you a few questions.”

“Something tells me you don’t hate to interrupt.” He rolled his eyes before continuing, “What other questions about me that I can’t answer do you have today?” 

“Today is more of a visual journey. I’m going to show you some pictures, and I would very much appreciate it if you could tell me what you see.” The boy perked up at the mention of any sort of visual stimulation, though he didn’t want to show it. Anything that gave this dude satisfaction was not something he wanted to give. 

“Do your worst,” he leaned back in his cot and put his arms behind his head with a smile. Out of nowhere, a picture of the Eiffel Tower appeared on the wall opposite him. It was as if there was a projector hidden in the room. In hopes of escape, he disregarded the photo and looked around the room fervently. Located in the top left corner of his room, there it was: a small hole, big enough for the lens of a projector, but too small for anything else. Bingo, he thought, My ticket out of here. His thoughts were interrupted by the asshat.

“What do you see?” 

“The Eiffel Tower. Now, can you tell me more about that other patient you mentioned earlier?” Asshat said nothing, but changed the photo on the wall to one of piano keys. Realizing he had to comply to get what he wanted, he verbalized this. “Piano keys. This is getting boring, Mr. Voice. How about we spice it up a little?” The next photo took all the quips out of his mouth. It was a simple photo: one of a beautiful woman with large green eyes and blonde hair.  He didn’t know who she was, but something in his heart clenched. Hard. 

“What do you see?” The same question as before, but this time, he couldn’t answer it. He tried. He even opened his mouth three or four times in hopes of a response, but nothing came. He was transfixed on this woman. He was vaguely aware of Asshat saying something else probably ominous and threatening, but his vision began to tunnel taking all of his senses with it. In an instant, he lost consciousness for what felt like the millionth time. The voice spoke to the boy though he was passed out, “Thank you for your… cooperation. I have what I need. Before long you will discover who you are, and take down all of Paris with your powers. Sleep well, son. I’m going to need you well rested and angry.”

Chapter Text

When he woke up he was dazed and confused, literally. The last thing he remembered was his discovery of the hole in the wall, but he had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that more happened. He was so frustrated that he’d lost more of what little memory he had, and all he wanted to do was talk to whoever was on the other side of the wall. Whoever they were, he was convinced they were the only good thing in his messed up world. Calling on his seemingly one and only memory, he stood up on his cot to locate the hole where the projector had been. His fingers found a small circle covered by a thin piece of plastic. 

“Come on, Asshat, don’t tell me that you didn’t think this through? You’re beginning to disappoint me as a villain,” he said quietly to himself as he moved the plastic to the side with ease. The projector inside the wall was far enough back that he could just barely see the outline of a circle on the wall adjacent. “No way…” He couldn’t believe his luck; if he could just move the other plastic circle aside, he might be able to have an actual conversation with someone who doesn’t entirely creep him out. He pushed until he heard a faint click. He steadied himself before getting as close to the wall as possible. “He- Hello,” his voice sounding timid and foreign. He heard rustling and then, the loveliest sound he’s ever heard.

“Hi, uh, I can hear you?” Her confusion was so sweet he could’ve sworn his teeth hurt.

“Yes you can,” he laughed as he felt all of his nerves and frustrations melt away. “It’s so nice to hear your voice. Like actually this time.” He scratched the back of his neck while enjoying the sound of her giggling. He almost forgot where he was. Almost. 

“How did you find these?” Her voice was a little clearer, and he could tell she’d moved closer. His heartbeat sped up at the thought, but his mind quickly shut him down. Seriously? You’re being held captive, and you’re getting excited about the girl in the cell next to yours? Real class act bro. 

“Uh, our kindly captor decided to put on a show for me last night using a projector. I just paid close attention, I guess.”

“Nice work, stranger. Now I can have conversations with someone other than myself and Gabriel.”

“Gabriel?” 

“Right, well you managed to find an easier way to communicate, and I found out our, how is it you put it? Our kindly captor’s name. It’s Gabriel.” Asshat’s name was Gabriel? God what a tool. “Hey, uh, if we’re going to be working together, can I know a little bit about you… I don’t know my name, but do you know yours?” The soothing timbre of her voice softened the blow of the reality of her question. It was hitting him for the first time: they had absolutely no idea who they were. He didn’t even know what he looked like.

“I, uh, I don’t remember my name. Or anything really. But, I found out I am a great whistler, and not to brag, but I do a pretty mean cat impression.” Once again, masking any and all negative emotions with humor. It was most definitely a coping mechanism. “What about you?”

“No No, we are not just going to breeze past your cat impression like its nothing,” she giggled, and man, he felt his heart shatter, put itself back together again, and skip a beat all at once. “If I don’t hear this right now, I’m going to stop talking to you.” By the teasing lilt of her voice, he knew where he stood, and tried to get even closer.

“As you wish, but remember, you asked for this.” He cleared his throat dramatically and geared up for his performance. She yawned in anticipation, exaggerating it audibly to ruffle his feathers. He let out a short, soft, “meow?” that sounded absolutely nothing like a cat, and she lost it. The sounds coming from her cell were the embodiment of happiness. “What? It wasn’t believable enough for your high standards?” 

“More like, it didn’t sound anything like the animal, kitty!” His heart fluttered at his new nickname. He felt as though he’d never had a more meaningful interaction in his life. Which was kind of true, seeing as he couldn’t remember anything else.

“Kitty?” He couldn’t stop smiling.

“Well… I think we should have names, but seeing as we don’t remember ours, I thought your oscar-winning performance deserved to be reflected in your namesake. Kitty, Chat, maybe even Garfield if you’re particularly lazy.” Overcome with joy, he was unable to form a response for a bit. “Is, is that alright with you?” She sounded hesitant as she second guessed her bold decision.

“yES! IT”S AMAZING. Ahem, um, I mean yeah that works,” he burst out and quickly tried to recover cooly. “Although, now you need a name for fairness sake.” He could hear her sigh in, relief? 

……………

Her mind raced, trying to think of names to offer up, or anything interesting about herself, so there wouldn’t be a single moment of silence. Silence always brought her back to reality, and she couldn’t have that. Not right now, at least. She kicked herself mentally for not having a funny fact readily available like he had had. The truth was, she had almost resigned from trying to escape or fighting back against Gabriel when she had her first interaction with him. As silly as it sounds, she hadn’t cared as much about saving herself, but now that Chat (she decided calling him Chat wasn’t as weird as kitty in her head) was involved, she would put her life on the line for him. Now, she would stop at nothing to be able to save him and escape from this hellhole.

“Sorry, kitty, it seems as though I’m not as equipped with talents as you are.”

“Something tells me that is not at all true.” She felt herself blush, and even though he couldn't see her, she felt embarrassed.

“W-well, uhm, I’m sure my name will come in time. For meow, er- for NOW, I can just be some random lady in the cell next to yours.”

“You’d never be some random lady. You’re the only thing keeping me sane, so if anything you’re my lady. Or, sorry, I don’t mean to be like possessive I just-”

“I like it.” She loved it. 

“C-c-cool. Right, well now that we both have n-names, we can get down to business.” Her neck felt hot and her cheeks were on fire. “I MEAN, uhh, NOT LIKE IN THAT WAY, just, uh, like as in let’s figure out why we’re here?”

“Y-yeah, I, I didn’t think any other day, I mean WAY! Um, yeah so do you have any theories as to why we’re here?”

“Well, he keeps calling me, and I’m assuming you, patient?”

“Yeah, he does, but he doesn’t ever do any tests or treatments. He just asks questions and laughs creepily. You said earlier that he showed you pictures? What were they of?” He sighed, and she could feel his frustration through the wall.

“I’m getting really tired of saying this, but I don’t remember. All I remember is the projector. I’m pretty sure it was something from my old life though because I think I passed out.” She barely had time to process what he said when her thoughts were interrupted.

“Ah, I see the two of you have met. It took you longer than I expected it to,” the deep voice of none other than Gabriel, her favorite captor, reverberated through both her room and Chat’s. 

“Asshat! Long time, no speak! I was wondering why you hadn’t interrupted this, but hey, you never let me down, man,” Chat quipped. “What mildly disappointing act of villainy do you have for us today?”

Chapter Text

“I would like to give you a friendly reminder that you do not want me on your bad side,” Gabriel said ominously. She was still having trouble wrapping her head around Gabriel speaking to them both at once. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

“So this is us on your good side?” Her question seemed to amuse both her captor and her new friend, as both of them laughed. However, Chat seemed to stop as soon as he realized Gabriel was laughing as well. “What do you want from us?” She pressed further, hoping to get something else to work with. 

“Finally, you’re asking the right questions. All will be revealed in time, but for now, I need you to eat. Neither of you have eaten in your time here, and, well, I’m beginning to worry.” 

“Careful, Gabe, your nice guy is showing,” Chat scoffed. Instead of responding, Gabriel, as she assumed, pressed a button, and suddenly, a doorway appeared on their shared wall. Neither she nor Chat moved, thinking it could be a trap. 

What felt like hours, but was only a minute or two, passed before she broke their standstill. She had to trust that Chat was really on her side, and in order to get them out, she had to play along with Gabriel, who obviously wanted them to interact. Tentatively, she crept down from her cot and towards the newly opened doorway. Whoever Gabriel was, he must have had a lot of money to have this high tech hideaway because she could not tell that door was there previously. It was like the bricks just disappeared.

“Chat?” She peered through the doorway without crossing through it, but all she saw was a mirror image of her room. “Chat I’m, uh, standing in the doorway. I think it’s safe?” She heard the faint sounds of him stepping off his cot and padding over to the doorway. Her heart stopped as did her breathing when he came into view. Her eyes took in the sight of him. If they weren’t being held captive, she would have mistaken him for a supermodel or a moviestar. He was tall, at least he was taller than her, and he had tan skin and blond hair with jade green eyes that were so beautiful she almost had to look away. But she couldn’t force herself. The only thing stopping her from swooning at the sight of him was his attire. He was in a white, ill fitting hospital gown.

“Like what you see, my lady?” His words were flirty, but his tone was insecure. She wanted to tell him he had nothing to be insecure about, but she couldn’t get past the hospital gown. It was wrong. They shouldn’t be here; they shouldn’t be in this situation.

…………...

Adorable. That was the first word that popped into his head when he saw his counterpart for the first time. As she stood in front of him slightly pigeon-toed, he studied her, committing her features to memory in case he never saw her again. Her pale skin was covered in constellations of freckles and a light pink flush that made her bright blue eyes stand out even more. Her dark, silky hair made him think of the night sky; not quite blue, but not quite black. Her left hand firmly clamped around her right elbow and her pained expression gave him the idea that she wasn’t in the mood for jokes. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, I just thought-” She cut him off by wrapping her small arms around his waist and pressing her face into his chest. Her body shook like she was crying. “Woah woah hey, it’s alright. It’s alright,” he assured her into her hair, as he refused to let her go. She was the only thing that made sense here, and he wasn’t about to let Asshat take her away.

“I promise, I’m going to get us out of here. And I’m so sorry that we’re even in this shitty place.” She said into the thin layer of cotton covering his chest. Before either one of them could say anything more, a hatch opened in each of their rooms. Hers contained a ham sandwich, a bag of chips, and a chocolate chip cookie, and his held a grilled cheese sandwich, chips, and a slice of cheese to top it off.

“Hey! How come she gets a cookie?” He shouted at the ceiling, causing her to smile and wipe her tears away. He felt better about himself whenever he was able to cheer her up successfully. He watched her in confusion as she tiptoed over to the hatch in her room and quickly removed the food from it. She peered into the hatch as if her life depended on it. His ears twitched. “Watch out!” He shouted as he dove across the room to pull her head away, and almost as rapidly as it had opened, it slammed shut, nearly hitting her in the face. 

“How did you…?” she trailed off as she looked at him in bewilderment. 

“I could sense it somehow...” He shrugged before continuing, “Sorry for being so… forward.” He looked down at their current position: her head firmly held in his arms with his body laying on top of hers, his body weight pinning her down. Clearing his throat, he swiftly moved off of her, grabbed his plate of food, and sat back down next to his lady. 

“Strange,” she remarked as she watched him tuck into his sandwich. He ate ravenously, for it was at this moment he realized that he was starving. It wasn’t long before she followed his lead, and they were munching together in comfortable silence. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was sure that everything in his body told him he could trust her. He felt a level of comfort around her that could have only been established over many years of friendship. Or maybe something more than friendship. He put his sandwich down and stared at her fondly. Suddenly, something indescribable came over him, making him blurt:

“I think I know you!” 

Chapter Text

“You think you… what? Do you remember me?!” She exclaimed, obviously excited for any new clue to their identity.

“W-well, I don’t know. I think so? I mean, I’m pretty sure that I did… Maybe in another life?” He looked down at the floor, sheepishly second guessing himself. “It’s just, I have this feeling in my gut, and I’m pretty sure it means you were in my life before,,, here.”

“Are you sure that feeling isn’t just too much cheese, kitty?” She teased, but he could tell that her thoughts were running with the possibility of his revelation.

“Pretty sure, my lady. I don’t think I’d forget a face like yours for very long,” he wiggled his eyebrows and leaned into her. She smiled, rolled her eyes and quickly pushed him away by his nose. “But, in all seriousness, I seriously feel, almost drawn to you? Like I’ve known you for centuries. Like we walked together with dinosaurs-” he cut himself off, realizing how ridiculous he sounded, and braced himself for her reaction. She was silent and thoughtful.

“Maybe… we did?” She said after a while. He quirked his head in response, quietly showing her that he wanted her to continue. “I mean, why is it us here? Why are we the only two here?”

“We don’t know that. I didn’t know you were on the other side of the wall for a while.”

“But we figured it out, didn’t we?”

“Yeah, we did,” he mused with a smile. She returned his smile, but it quickly faded as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she gathered her thoughts. The sight was so breathtaking, he almost purred. This girl would be the death of him. Head outta the gutter, man, he thought. He shook his head and continued, “Should we try to get information out of Gabri-douche?”

“Gabri-douche?” She giggled, and he merely shrugged. “And, I don’t think it could hurt. He’ll probably mess with us, but any information is more than we have now.” Chat wasted no time.

“HEY BUDDY!!” He shouted at the ceiling in an attempt to get his attention. He could practically hear her eye roll, which, in all fairness, only egged him on. Filled with renewed hope and some smelly cheese, not to mention the support of his lady, he continued. “I know you’re listening, crazy dude. I would greatly appreciate it if you make yourself present again so we can ask you some questions,” he finished, hiding his fear with a smirk. However, the blue-haired girl next to him could see past his assured front for reasons beyond her comprehension.

The voice in the sky was silent, which unnerved both of them immensely. Instinctively, they both moved closer together, and waited not very patiently for the voice to speak. The silence was deafening, making their stark rooms feel like a vacuum. He didn’t like it one bit, and he felt himself start shivering, his facade crumbling by the second. His thoughts began to spiral through various possibilities of never escaping, of living the rest of his life out here, and finally, of losing the few memories he’s made in his time here. The spiral came to a halt when he felt a small, strong hand rubbing small circles on his back.

“It’s ok, Chat. Maybe it’s a good thing he’s being quiet. I mean, maybe we can just talk to each other instead,” she soothed. He knew she was just trying to calm him down, but he appreciated it nonetheless and nodded slightly. She carried on, “Sooo, what if we ask each other questions back and forth like it’s a game?” She looked so hopeful, he couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll go first, if you could have any superpower, what would it be?”

“Hmmm, definitely super strength.” She cocked an eyebrow, urging him to continue. “Alright ok, so I feel like you could help the most people with that, and I think that’s what I would want to do.” She grinned, somehow using her whole face, and it was the brightest thing he’s ever seen. So full of glee, he almost forgot where he was, and suddenly, he was very aware of their close proximity. He cleared his throat. “What about you?”

“I think I would want to create? I don’t know how that is a superpower, but don’t people always need specific things to solve their problems?” He made himself focus on her words instead of her demeanor because he would get too distracted otherwise. He nodded fervently. “Your turn,” she sing-songed.

“Alright, milady, you asked for it,” he paused for dramatic effect. “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?” She, and there is no other word for this, cackled loudly at this. A sound so full of simultaneous joy and fury. “What?”

“Chaaaat, that’s not how you plaaay,” she whined, but was still giggling. “Ask me something real. I’m ready.” He took a deep breath.

“Do you think we’re ever going to get out of here?” A heavy question that surmounted a heavy silence, and immediately he regretted asking it. After a long time of Chat desperately searching for a readable emotion on her face she responded simply.

“We don’t have a choice.”

Chapter Text

She didn’t remember losing consciousness, and sadly, that was becoming a pattern here in this hellscape that was her new reality. It must’ve been induced by the food they ate, because she had slept on the hard tile floor, and her back was killing her. She looked to her left, where Chat had been when she last remembered, to see if he was in the same predicament, but he was nowhere to be found. Her heart raced as she stupidly searched the two cots, blankets, and even the floor for any place he could be hiding. Maybe he was pulling a dumb prank on her, trying to lighten the mood, or something ridiculous like that. She focused on her breathing to refrain from losing her shit.

“Chat?” She said aloud to no one in particular. When she was met with no response, her blood ran cold as the realization that Gabriel may have Chat held by himself settled upon. Merde, she cursed. Her wild eyes explored the room for anything he may have left behind as a clue to settle her nerves, but it was to no avail. Dejected, she laid down on her cot and put her hand between the cot and the pillow only to find her hand closed around a small hexagonal box.

“What is this?”

………………………..

He woke up before his eyes opened because someone was brushing his hair. Quickly realizing it was a ploy from Gabriel, he pretended to remain unconscious. Whoever was styling his hair was doing so tenderly, as if any sudden movements could break him, which he supposed was fair given his emotional state and the fact that this person thought he was asleep. What was it with Gabriel and knocking him out cold? He was tired of being tired.

“I wish things had gone down differently,” the voice that he had come accustomed to being far removed was coming from directly behind him. Gabriel was the one brushing his hair., the thought sending shivers down his spine, but he didn’t dare move. Partly because he could learn something from this, and also because there was something eerily familiar about Gabriel’s voice. Something more than the familiarity of the Asshat.

“Sir, you couldn’t have known they would react that way. We didn’t even know the miraculous could do that. Things happened the way they did, and there is nothing we can do about it. All we can do now is go with the plan. We need them to be upset, and we both know this is the only way,” a second, much softer voice replied. It sounded feminine, and also familiar in a similar way Gabe’s voice was to him. He heard the man behind him sigh, put the hairbrush down, and cross the room to the other voice.

“You’re right, Nathalie. It’s just,” he sighed again, “beginning to get harder to stick to the plan when I see how vulnerable he is.”

“With all due respect, he’s not your son anymore.”

“He sure as hell looks like him. He sure as hell looks like her.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss, sir, but he is part of the reason why what happened happened.” Chat’s mind was reeling. The only thing going through his head was: what the fuck. Suddenly, he felt himself start sweating; it was really hot in here, and somehow he was fully clothed. He couldn’t tell what he was wearing, but it was much more than a hospital gown. He knew he should keep playing the part to find out more, but he couldn’t take it anymore.

He opened his eyes, and made eye contact with himself in the mirror, or at least he thought it was him? The person in the mirror didn’t look anywhere near as tired as he felt. In fact, this person looked like some sort of ken doll: so perfect it was almost unsettling. He was wearing a three piece dark purple suit, with a button down shirt of a slightly lighter shade of purple underneath. The abundance of purple made the green eyes staring back at him seem almost neon, and he had to look away.

“Ah. He’s up,” Gabriel briefly regarded him whilst he was wiping his eyes. Gabriel was not as threatening in appearance as his voice made him seem. He was wearing a similar suit, but instead of being purple, it was pitch black with a dark purple tie. His white blond hair was slicked back, revealing an angular widow’s peak that framed his equally as angular face. The only thing about his appearance that was unsettling was his grey eyes. They had absolutely no life behind them, and there was something about those cold eyes that struck Chat square in the chest. He knew them.

“It’s good to see you, Adrien.”

Chapter Text

Dread started to settle into his body. Adrien. His name was Adrien. His name was Adrien, and his dad’s name was Gabriel. Asshat was his father. He was the son that the woman said was “no longer his son.” He didn’t know why or how he knew, he just knew. Why the FUCK was his dad holding him hostage and calling him patient? And why the FUCK was he playing dress up with him?! Suddenly, kind green eyes flashed through his head, making his chest hurt again. A picture from the slideshow jumped out at him, one he’d forgotten until this second. One of a woman with the same eyes he had just seen in his head.

Realizations were hitting him one after another like a ton of bricks. His brain, aching from the gaps, began to bring up flashes of his memories with this woman, all of them tinged with sadness for reasons unknown to him. Playing piano, reading fantasy novels, watching French Cinema, attending fashion shows, all with her. It hurt to remember these things both emotionally and physically, but he didn’t want to stop. He was finally learning things about himself, and for that he would endure any and all kinds of pain.

“Don’t think too hard, son. I’m here to answer any questions you may have,” Asshat- or Gabriel- or his father, said softly. This only infuriated Adrien, and he stood up as his breathing picked up pace. He paced the room, taking in his surroundings as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Not too much, you don’t want to mess up your hair.”

Adrien ignored the superficial comment his dad made and suppressed an urge to vomit as he realized (mainly through context clues) that the room they were currently in was his. His bedroom from before all of this, whatever this was, happened. He spotted a grand piano out of the corner of his eye, and the thought that he may have spent time in here with the woman from his sparse memories was too much to bear. He swallowed thickly and was able to croak out a, “what am I doing here?” Gabriel chuckled lowly in response.

“You are quite the curious one aren’t you? You know what they say about curiosity and cats.” This earned a laugh from Nathalie and a quizzical glare from Adrien.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” He stopped pacing to ask this question, and Gabriel’s head snapped up as if to scold him.

“We don’t use language like that in this house.”

“OH!!! I’m SO sorry if I have offended you after you’ve held me PRISONER for what I assume is weeks! My deepest apologies, Senor. Ahem, FUCK FUCK FUCKITY FUCK FUCK!!!” It was fair to say that he was upset at his father.

“You need to calm down in the next,” Nathalie paused while checking her watch, “Fifteen minutes.”

Adrien wanted to shout at the top of his lungs to distract them long enough for him to make a break for it, but his mind immediately turned to the girl being held where he was not too long ago. Was she up here too? He took a few deep breaths and decided to play this strategically. Gabriel clearly had some sort of attachment to him, and he could most definitely exploit that. Maybe he could get information from Gabriel that could help them escape. He sank down into a chair, appearing defeated to the two adults in the room.

“We’re going to have a press conference,” Gabriel spoke calmly which ruffled Adrien’s feathers exponentially. “All you have to do is sit still. This is about appearances, and I need the world to see you.” Nathalie approached him with a pair of sunglasses, and he took them hesitantly. “Wear these, boy. The whole time. Do NOT take them off at any point tonight. Do you understand?” As much as he was angry, hurt, and confused, Adrien nodded and took the glasses. They, like the rest of his ensemble, were a dark shade of purple that infuriated him. Something about this color, especially on his body, was setting him on edge.

“Sir, if we don’t leave now, we will be late.”

“Very well.” Gabriel stood up and offered Adrien his right hand. After staring at it for a good twenty seconds, he took it and was pulled to his feet by his father. He gave Adrien a once over to ensure he was looking picture perfect, took the glasses out of his hand, and gently placed them on Adrien’s face, who scrunched his nose in response. Although he was immensely uncomfortable, somewhere very deep down, he was weirdly satisfied that this man was paying this much attention to him.

…………………

She turned the box every direction she could, attempting to make sense of what it could be. She knew this, or at least she was pretty sure she did. The red symbol on the top of the box gave her the same warm feeling in the back of her head as Chat did. It had been at least ten minutes since she found this mysterious box, and she had yet to work out its purpose. Had she left this here for herself? Did Gabriel leave it for her to find to mess with her? These questions and many more filled her head as she fiddled with the mahogany hexagon. Her fingers found a latch of some sort, and she stopped cold.

Anticipation filled her chest as she lifted the top of the box to reveal a plush red velvet interior but dissipated as quickly as it arrived when she saw that the box was empty. Her eyes welled up with tears of disappointment, and she threw the box across the room. The moment the box hit wall she felt something on the top of her head move which made her jump out of her skin. Heart racing, she slowly brought her hands to her head to investigate. She was surprised and terrified to find that two very long and thin antennae sprouting from the top of her head.

“EWWWW WHAT THE HELL????? AM I BEING EXPERIMENTED ON??? IS THAT WHERE CHAT WENT??? THIS IS A DISASTER! A DISASTER! A DISASTER!!!” She screeched, frantically feeling around the rest of her body to find anything else bug-like in nature, and much to her relief, she found nothing. Chill out! This is new for me too! A voice in her head responded to her freak out. Her eyes widened as she pondered this voice.

Hello person in my head… She thought as she tested her hypothesis.

Hello person whose head I am in.  It's nice to finally be addressed.

Chapter Text

Her chest heaved as she attempted to calm herself down. Ok so, there was someone in her head, and she had antennae like a literal bug. Not anything too crazy, right? And the voice in her head sounded like an adorable, but wise little mouse?

You’re allowed to be freaked out. I know I am.

You’re freaked out!? I’m the one who has some bug spirit in her head.

At least you’re not the said bug spirit who doesn’t know where their body went. This made her let out a resigned sigh. She shouldn’t be so selfish; she wasn’t the only person struggling with their situation. She wondered if Chat had someone in his head like she did. She remembered his sweet, impish appearance in hope of some bug-like features standing out, but it was to no avail. The only thing she could think of were his eyes, so green they bored into her very being.

Are there more of you?

You mean does your friend have me?

Yes, I suppose.

Not that I know of. I am me, and there are no more. However, I think there might be more of my kind.

Isn’t that the same thing?

Not quite. All of my knowledge and memories are fuzzy.

Welcome to the club. They’re fuzzy? That means they exist, right?!

I have a vague sense of who I am, and what we have to do.

That’s more than me. Care to share? She sat down, realizing all this back and forth with her head was making her dizzy.

I think, er, I’m pretty sure that I am some sort of magical being that can give you powers?

Right, yes, of COURSE! Why didn’t I think of that?

Sarcasm isn’t going to help you; I’m trying my hardest!

Sorry. I’m just-

Overwhelmed? I understand this situation is extremely unnerving, but please don’t take it out on me, ok? I only want what’s best for you.

I won’t, I promise. Before you continue, do you have a name I can call you?

That I do. My name is Tikki, and I will do everything in my power to make sure you and your friend escape this place!

Well, Tikki, it’s wonderful to meet you. Tell me how we’re going to save Chat and get the hell out of here.

……………………………

The lights were bright, even through his sunglasses. He kept his head down as he, his father, and Nathalie were escorted by a giant bodyguard through a crowd of people all shouting his name, along with Gabri-douche’s, and various questions he could barely make out.

“Was anyone killed in the explosion here two weeks ago?”

“Adrien! Over here!” Flashes from what he assumed were cameras went off in his face. His eyes hurt.

“Gabriel! Is it true that you sent off the bomb as a publicity stunt for your new line?” The questions came to a deafening crescendo as they sat down at the chairs placed at the front of the large room. Adrien’s head hurt. Explosion? Is that what instigated Gabriel to keep him and his lady captive? Why would his father do this in the first place? Most importantly, who was he for everyone in this room to know who he was. His nostrils flared in anger at the realization that these reporters knew more about him than he did. His father cleared his throat.

“Thank you all for coming out, I know the weather has been quite horrendous these past few days.” His father gave the room a sympathetic smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “The Agreste family is happy to answer any questions you may have. I will preface this with a quick explanation about my son, Adrien. He bravely protected me when the blast went off by placing himself in front of me, however, he did receive some injuries to his face. Therefore he is wearing sunglasses today, and we would prefer it if you refrained from mentioning this or asking him any questions directly. Thank you.”

Adrien’s blood boiled, and his chest ached. Something was telling him that isn’t what happened at all, and the proof was in his eyes. He had no visible injuries around his eyes when he saw himself in the mirror earlier. The only thing wrong with his appearance was the strange way the whites of his eyes were green. A reporter spoke up, breaking the silence.

“Where have you been for two weeks? No one has seen you, or anyone come in or out of this big mansion of yours,” she finished triumphantly, obviously proud of herself for being the first one to speak with Gabriel. His head perked up at the sound of her voice, and he locked eyes with her immediately. Even through his sunglasses and her glasses, her gaze was petrifying. He felt a pain in the back of his head, and he knew he had known this person before all of this happened.

“Ms. Césaire, how nice to see you again. You seem to have answered this question yourself. No one has seen anyone come out of this house because no one has. We’ve been recovering. Right here.”

“Is that true, Adrien?” Her gaze remained fixated on him, almost pleading. She was trying to get a signal from him. A signal saying he wasn’t ok. Adrien opened his mouth to respond, but his was cut off.

“As I politely prefaced this press conference, we would prefer if you didn’t address Adrien directly.”

“We or you?” She boldly proposed. Adrien smirked at this, and he thought Hell yeah! He wanted to cause as much of a stir over the crowd as she had just now. Why don’t you? A voice that was definitely not his thought. Adrien was pretty sure his voice wasn’t as mischievous or gravely.

Um, excuse me? I think you may have gotten lost; you see this is my head? You might have mistaken this body for another fucked up amnesiac, but this is definitely mine.

I know that douche face, you think I don’t know that?

OK bro chill? Who are you then?

Ugh we have to do this again? It’s even worse this time, now that I’m in your head. My name is Plagg, I give you powers, and I don’t know much else. My brain feels like warm cheese so…

WHAT?!

“Right, son?” His father placed a hand on Adrien’s shoulder causing a chill to rip through his body. He must have zoned out and missed what his father was referring to while he was TALKING TO SOMEONE IN HIS HEAD? He figured the only response that could work either way was a shrug, so he did just that.

You shouldn’t put up with that.

With what?

Your asshat of a father. You’re suppressing your anger and you shouldn’t.

I call him an asshat too!

I know, doofus. I’m in your head.

Oh, right.

You should take off your glasses. It would cause a stir. I know how much you wanna do that.

Plagg, he told me not to.

And? He also HELD YOU CAPTIVE?! Or are you forgetting this?

I’m pretty sure I’ll never forget that.

So?

I don’t know if it’s a good idea.

Pussy.

What?

I said…. Pussy,,,,, cat.

Why?

Because that’s what you are. A. Pussy. Cat.

I’m not!

Yes, you are. It’s a pity.

I’m not, and I’ll prove it! Adrien huffed, and stood up abruptly. His right hand flew up to take off his glasses, but his father was quicker. He pulled Adrien into what must have looked like a hug to the reporters, but whispered something that made Adrien’s blood run cold.

“You do anything, and I mean anything like what you were about to do, and I promise you I’ll hurt her. I have no attachment to the girl, and therefore no problems with killing her.”

Chapter Text

Adrien gulped as Gabriel’s words slapped him across the face. He wouldn’t. There had to be a reason why he’d kept both him and his lady alive all this time; surely it wasn’t for his sake entirely. Was it?

Oops.

Nice going, Plagg. You got me all riled up, and now my lady could be in danger.

Why do you keep calling her that?

Well, I don’t know her name.

Ugh, I forgot about that. Oops, sorry I forgot about that in a different way than you forgot about it.

“I suggest you play along, son.” Adrien took a deep breath to clear his head from both Plagg and his father. He put all his willpower into maintaining a straight face, and Gabriel smirked, obviously pleased by Adrien’s compliance. When he was certain his father was not looking, he caught the inquisitive reporter’s eye one last time, and contorted his face into a grimace. Not too large, but enough that she noticed it.

“My apologies, Gabriel. I know this time has been tough for you,” she said with a tone pointed toward Adrien. With that, she sat down, but he was sure that this reporter would help him get out. Now, all he needed was the missing information about the explosion they were talking about, and he was sure that he could figure a way out of this mess.

“It appears Adrien is feeling a little under the weather; I’m afraid we only have time for one more question,” his father stated, putting an arm around him. Adrien felt like jumping out of his skin but stayed put. He knew he had to play along with his father’s sick game if he wanted to make it out unharmed. Well, that is if you don’t count the psychological wounds.

“Gabriel! Nadja Chamack, TVi news. What do you think about Ladybug and Chat Noir not being seen since the time of the explosion at your house?” Gabriel shifted uncomfortably, and Adrien nearly choked at the mention of these names. They made his head feel like someone was hammering around inside, trying to get out. It couldn’t be a coincidence that his lady called him Chat, and he called her his lady. Ladybug. The name made his heart pound. He knew this name; it was one that was important to him. A raspy voice cut off his thoughts.

Let me tell you. Not a coincidence. Adrien’s mind reeled. Was there a possibility that he was Chat Noir? Not that he had any idea who that was, but still. Gabriel stood to address Nadja.

“I have not seen them since either. I have been very worried as of late that something bad may have happened to the two of them, but we have searched the wreckage countless times for them with no luck. No remains or hints that they were even there. This gives me hope that they escaped and have been tending to their wounds as we have. Our thoughts and prayers are with the pair in this terrifying time, and the Agrestes hope that they are doing better than we are,” Gabriel finished his psychopathic speech with a perfectly timed sigh that, to the untrained eye, looked genuine. Adrien shivered as his father approached him, helped him stand, and posed with him for the cameras that surrounded them.

“Thank you for coming,” Adrien said through his teeth much to Gabriel’s surprise. He forced a smile and prayed for this event to be over so he could see his lady again. Before his father pulled him toward the exit, he spotted the reporter his father called Ms. Césaire sneaking into the parlor of the mansion.

Nice job, kid. Let’s hope she helps you out.

……………………….

It’s only been a few hours I’m sure of it!

Tikki, if I have to go one more second without reassurance that he’s ok, I’m going to scream.

It’s alright! Don’t worry, I think we would feel it if he were dead.

DEAD?! WHY WOULD HE BE DEAD?!!

I said he’s not. We would feel it.

Right because we’re connected in some way? Some magical connection you can’t explain.

I wish I could, but it’s as if the memory is just out of reach. Like a top shelf of a pantry, but I’m too short to grab it. All I know is that, I can give you enhanced strength and battle strategy, and that boy is linked to us somehow. I’m pretty sure he has one of me too. Just a different kind.

I hope he’s ok, Tikki.

I know. I do too.

As if Gabriel could read her mind, one of the walls on Chat’s side of the room slid open revealing a very dapper but distressed Chat. As he walked into the room, the wall shut behind him. He walked slowly, tentatively like any sudden movements he made would scare her off. She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach and the heart at the same time. He was beautiful. She couldn’t describe him any other way. His golden skin seemed to radiate warmth in the cold room, and he looked like he’d gotten rest. The circles under his eyes from before were gone now, and his hair was perfectly styled to compliment the deep purple tailored suit he’d donned. She unknowingly took a step back to see him better; she couldn’t believe he was back.

“Please don’t be afraid of me. I don’t think I could take it if you were,” he whispered so soft, so vulnerable that she felt like weeping. His face was covered in a look so full of pain, she rushed over to him to stop it immediately. Wrapping her arms around him, she felt herself breathe for the first time since he had disappeared. He gasped at her sudden movements but wasted no time in returning the embrace. Neither of them moved for a few minutes. Each hoping that in preserving this moment, they could forget the reality of their situation. She felt her antennae move slightly, and Chat jumped back in surprise.

“WHAT IS THAT!?” He shouted and began swatting at her. She dodged every one of his attacks with ease and laughed.

“I really don’t super know… I noticed them after you left. I hope it’s not too jarring,” she trailed off and pulled them down self-consciously. He quirked his head to one side as he bent over, getting on her level.

“Not anymore jarring than my eyes are, I’m sure,” he smiled at her. He had a point. She had gotten used to the way his eyes were entirely green, but initially, it had been a bit of a shock.

“I thought something bad happened to you,” she exhaled.

“You’re not entirely wrong. It wasn’t pleasant.” His demeanor changed, as if she had touched a sore spot. He looked down at himself, huffed in annoyance, and began removing his jacket. Her cheeks flushed.

“W-what are you doing, Chat?” He looked up at her has he was halfway through unbuttoning the vest that had been under the jacket. His face turned scarlet.

“I- I uh, well, I am- was extremely uncomfortable, and I didn’t want to wear that anymore,” he finished unbuttoning his vest, and cleared his throat, daring to be flirty. “Why? What did you think, my lady?”

“NOTHING I WAS JUST CONFUSED!” She shouted louder than she intended to and averted her gaze. A few moments passed, and the silence was broken by Chat’s chuckling.

“You can look now. Not like you couldn’t earlier, though.” She looked at him again and had to suppress a smile. He looked much more Chat than he had a second ago. His hair was slightly messy, his shoes kicked off, his lilac shirt rumpled, and his vest and jacket were discarded onto the floor. “I learned quite a bit while I was away, and the first thing may come as a shock to you.”

“Hit me, I can take it,” she challenged. He took a deep breath before speaking.

“Gabriel is my father.” She couldn’t take it.

Chapter Text

“My lady?” He was freaking out. When he dropped the f-bomb, she immediately crumpled to the ground. He was quick enough, luckily, that he caught her, but she had been unresponsive since. “Are you alright?” He felt stupid asking such a question when she obviously was not.

“Are you?” Her query took him aback. That was not what he was expecting her to say. She continued, “Chat, you just found out that your father is holding you and one other person hostage.” Her words broke the emotional dam he had built in his time with his father. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away from her to hide from her blue gaze.

“I’m sorry I just-“ He couldn’t finish his sentence, but she didn’t seem to mind. They didn’t need words. In a situation where there were no explanations, touch and simply being there are the two things that really mattered. Words were just an added plus. She reached out, grabbed his hand, and rubbed small circles into his palm with her thumb. They leaned into each other, resting their heads on one another and sat there for a while holding hands. He silently wept, letting everything hit him for the first time. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but after a long while, he felt ready enough to speak again.

“One more thing, my lady.”

“Yes?”

“My name. I- I know my name now.” He moved his head to look her in the eyes. “It’s Adrien.” He watched as her eyes moved through a slew of emotions before landing on a soft smile.

“Adrien,” she repeated softly. He almost purred. Until this moment, anytime he had heard his name being said, it felt as though they only said it because they wanted something: an answer, perfect behavior, or almost anything else. However, when she said it, it felt like he was finally being seen as a person for the first time. Her teasing voice brought him out of his stupor, “Well, Adrien, as lovely as it is to meet you, I might still call you kitty from time to time. It just fits so well.” He grinned, the last of his tears evaporating. It was like she knew exactly what he needed and wanted to hear.

“Thank you kindly, my lady. I just wish I could call you by your name as well…” Her smile dimmed slightly, but she recovered just as quickly.

“What all happened in the world outside this room?” Her tone was tentative, and it was obvious that she didn’t want to make him upset. He took a deep breath and began the story from when he gained consciousness. She was mostly quiet as he spoke, but every now and then she would make a small comment of, “oh,” or maybe even a sympathetic, “Adrien,” or the occasional sound of agreement. Things like that told Adrien he was alright. He wasn’t dealing with this alone, he had her to lean on. He left out the part about the superheroes because he wasn’t sure what to make of that at this point and didn’t think it was necessary. When he finished relaying the events to her she was quiet. Not in a bad way, just in a processing way with a cute little frown plastered across her face. She finally broke the silence.

“This might sound crazy, but I need to know one more thing.”

“I’ll tell you anything.”

“Is there…. A sort of… voice? In your head? One that’s almost prodding you to things, but it isn’t your voice at all. I mean I can even have conversations with it…” She trailed off, but he knew what she meant.

“Yes,” he spoke without hesitation. If she was dealing with the little guy in her head like he was, it was not going to be healthy for either of them to keep it a secret. “I started realizing it when I was with Gabri- er, my father.” The word turned his mouth sour.

“I heard it when I realized I was a freakin’ bug mutant. She’s like a wise little bug mouse.”

“She?”

“Yeah, her name is Tikki. Is yours not a girl?”

“Well, I mean I don’t know what it identifies as, but uh it definitely gives me bro vibes.” Hey Plagg, what are your pronouns?

Well, technically since I’m a supernatural being, I don’t have a ‘sex’ but I identify with the male gender.

Plagg, that was surprisingly helpful. Thank you!

Don’t get used to it, dummy. Adrien laughed slightly, and his lady looked at him quizzically.

“He’s a he. Oh, and his name is Plagg.”

“Did you talk to him just now?” Adrien nodded. “Hmmm. Is Plagg bug related? Because I’m pretty sure that Tikki is, hence the uh antennae.” She averted her gaze, as if she didn’t want him to think about her appearance. Her shyness made him smile, and it also made him momentarily forget the dire nature of their situation. She had that effect on him.

“For what it’s worth, I think you look really cute.” She wrinkled her nose in response, so he bopped it lightly with the tip of his index finger causing the both to turn bright red. Adrien cleared his throat. “And, uh, I don’t think he has anything bug-like about him. At least to my knowledge.” I don’t. “He doesn’t,” he finished sincerely.

“Well, I wonder if he’s the reason your eyes are so,” she paused. “Vibrant.” He blushed for what felt like the fiftieth time in the last ten minutes.

“What kind of animal do I remind you of, my lady?” He leaned his face close to hers so she could get a better look. This action flustered him more than he had anticipated, His heartbeat picked up significantly, and the sight of her bluebell eyes in such close proximity was almost too much for him to handle. She appeared unaffected by this as she studied him with clinical sincerity. After a few moments, she groaned, and Adrien backed up quickly, suddenly insecure. “What’s wrong?”

“The only thing I’m getting is cat! I know that it’s just my bias, though, because of your name, and-“ she cut herself off, as if she was listening to something. Her eyes grew wide, and she exclaimed, “Chat!”

“Yes?”

“No! Chat! That’s what Tikki just told me… Well she said something about a counterpart? It’s fuzzy to her, but she’s pretty sure that her partner is a black cat.” Adrien stopped breathing. A black cat? The literal translation of Chat Noir. And his lady has antennae like a bug. Ladybug. Ladybug and Chat Noir. The pair of heroes Nadja mentioned. No, that’s not possible. We couldn’t be. I don’t feel super.

I hate to break it to you, but you are. Well, as far as powers go. Personality wise, your super-ness is highly debatable.

Chapter Text

It was fair to say she was freaking out. He hadn’t said a word for at least three minutes, and she was worried she’d done something wrong.

Stop worrying! You’re only going to make yourself sick.

How can I not worry? He’s dead silent!

He doesn’t look upset.

He doesn’t exactly look happy either.

Calm down and let him speak to you. He’s going through a lot.

Ugh you’re right, Tikki. So she waited. She was patient, and the only thing keeping her sane was the knowledge that this was what he needed. Two more minutes passed before she couldn’t take it anymore. She hesitantly broke the silence, “Chat?”

“Yes?” His voice was breathy, as if he’d just had a revelation.

“Uhm, well, it’s just you’ve been really quiet for a while, and I was worried. I wasn’t implying that, like, you were my partner or anything I just-”

“I am.” She stared at him blankly. “I am your partner. At least I’m about 90% sure about it.” His eyes met hers, and the intensity of his gaze wavered on the precipice of overwhelming. It felt like he was silently daring her to look away first, which only made her want to hold his gaze for longer. He smiled slightly, and the skin around his eyes got all crinkly in a way that made her heart flutter.

“Wh-what does that mean, exactly?”

“I’m not sure, but I know that it’s going to get us out of here.” He sounded so sure of himself.

“But how? I mean sure it’s nice to think about us, you know, together, but I don’t see how that’s going to get us out of here.” They both blushed and looked away at her word choice.

“There was something else that I heard when I was outside with Ass- with my dad.” She turned her body to face him so that she was sitting crisscross on the cot. She was granted with a better view of him and suddenly felt a little insecure, as she was only wearing an old hospital gown whilst he was clad in the finest of men’s dresswear. “One of the reporters mentioned something about a pair of superheroes and how they hadn’t been seen since ‘the explosion.’ And-” he faltered for a moment. “And their names were Ladybug and Chat Noir.” She physically felt that statement sink in, and her brain began moving at a million miles an hour.

That’s you two! I know it.

NO! Tikki, there’s no way that we’re- that we’re superheroes?! She expected this word, superheroes, to feel foreign to her. To feel so outlandish that she could laugh it off and tell Adrien he’s playing a prank on her, but it didn’t. Not really. It almost felt like a relief. Like it was the most logical explanation for this whole scenario. They were superheroes. She was a superhero. She could save them. And what’s more? She had a name now. Ladybug. Not much different from Adrien’s nickname for her, but it was still something.

………………………………

Adrien’s body tensed in anticipation of her reaction to his bombshell, but instead, his lady just sat there, looking down. He had a feeling she was talking to her, uh, her head voice. They hadn’t given their species a name yet. He decided to cope with the slightly awkward situation in the same way he always did, with humor. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but if you think about it, I am pretty super, aren’t I?” She snapped her head up, rolled her eyes, and smirked at him. Not what he was expecting.

“Well that’s a relief, I was worried it was only me. Glad to know I’ve got a partner who may be able to keep up with me,” she teased with a tone so confident, Adrien gulped.

“YEP!” He croaked louder than he intended to and tried to steady himself, but her relaxed, self-assured demeanor was almost too much for him to get over. How could a person switch from shy, timid, and blushy to a teasing, confident badass in the span of a few minutes? Maybe that’s her superpower!

You’re an idiot.

Am not!! It could be! We don’t know what our powers are, just that we have them.

Then try doing a bunch of stuff to figure it out! Don’t just sit here and oogle. Might I remind you that you’re literally being held captive?

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Her voice didn’t sound shaken up like he was at all.

“That we’re super?”

“No, well, yeah, I mean the fact that we have superpowers. That we’re, you know.”

“Partners?” He smirked at her, hoping to get a reaction out of her, but he was, sadly, ignored.

“Right. I mean, why else would we be in here together? Obviously, something happened at your dad’s house with all three of us that led to us getting captured and losing our memories.”

“Yeah, I thought that as well. They said something about an explosion?”

“Maybe we were the cause of it. Maybe he got mad at us because we blew up his house?”

“I dunno,” he was following her train of thought, but felt a tad bit useless in comparison to her.

“No, that isn’t enough motivation to hold us like this for weeks. Hmmm,” she trailed off, thinking hard. He thought of the stereotypical superheroes, and he thought of a theory.

“Don’t superheroes always have supervillains that are antagonizing them and stuff?” When he said it aloud, it didn’t sound as groundbreaking as he had first thought, but his lady felt differently.

“Chat! You might be onto something!” His heart danced when she called him Chat again. It felt right knowing that she had subconsciously known that was his superhero name. “Gabriel is the villain!” Aaaaaaand his heart stopped dancing.

“Well now, wait a minute. We don’t know that. Maybe he’s just a henchman, or a producer or something?” He knew his father was bad, but he didn’t want to think that his father was the villain.

“Chat, since when do villains have producers?”

“Uh, maybe it’s a new development?” For a second she looked incredulous, but sympathy quickly filled her eyes when she visibly noted that Gabriel was his father. She gently placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, maybe.” An awkward silence settled between them, and he didn’t like it. He was supposed to feel comfortable with her, but this moment didn’t feel comfortable. He coughed lightly trying to break the silence without actually breaking it. She changed the subject breezily. “So if we were partners, do you think we did the whole ‘secret identity’ thing?” He was grateful for the change.

“Nah. I mean we probably did with everyone else, but between the two of us? That’s dumb. Why would we keep something like that a secret? I can’t imagine a world where we didn’t know each other.” She smiled and nodded. She looked nervous again but spoke once more regardless.

“Do you- do you think that we were, uhm, together?”

“Oh yeah! All the time! I mean we’d have to fight together, and I would imagine we trained or something together. We probably spent loads of time together. I wish I could remember those times.” She blushed.

“No, I meant- like, do you think we were together together?” His eyes widened, and his mouth parted. Plagg was right: he was an idiot. He quickly understood what she’d meant, and it was now his turn to blush. She looked up at him like she was afraid of his answer and tucked her hair behind her ear habitually. She looked so sweet that he was sure his teeth were hurting. His heart was hammering against his chest so hard he was sure she could hear it, and he decided to act on his heart and gut feeling. He spoke quickly before he could talk himself out of it.

“Without a doubt. If- if I feel the way I do about you now with no memories, I can’t imagine not feeling anything for you with all of my memories of you.” You’re so sappy.

Shut up, Plagg!

“I think so, t-too,” she was looking down as if she was embarrassed to admit it. Impulsively, he leaned over and tilted her head back up to look him in the eye with his left hand. The momentary contact solidified the electric feeling in his stomach. He let his hand fall away, but she caught it with hers and tentatively laced her fingers in his. They were both flushed, invigorated, and smiling like toddlers which made the sudden announcement all the more jarring.

“Hello? Is anyone here? I don’t know what the hell this sick place is, but I think I was supposed to find it?” They jumped at the voice, but they didn’t stop holding hands. It wasn’t Gabriel, but it was familiar to him. Ms. Césaire.

Chapter Text

She watched Adrien’s face change to one of recognition as she felt a surge of adrenaline flow through her veins. This could only mean they were close to breaking out which meant they were one step closer to getting their memories back and defeating Gabriel. Or, well, whoever the villain was. She tried not to stay hooked on him as the villain for Adrien’s sake. The boy stood up and, sadly, let go of her hand.

“Ms. Césaire!” He exclaimed. OK so he knew this voice’s name? She vaguely noted a ping of sadness shoot through her chest knowing they had yet to find out her real name. It seemed everyone had one except her. She shook her head to clear the distracting thought from her head. They probably didn’t have long until Gabriel came back.

“ADRIEN???? What the hell is going on?” Ladybug took this as her time, and she stood up to respond.

“Ms. Césaire, my name is Ladybug, and Adrien and I are being held captive by a man named Gabriel. I don’t know where you are, but we would GREATLY appreciate it if you could search around you for some sort of release button? Look for anything that may hint to the unlocking of the cells or things of that nature,” she spoke confidently, not realizing where all the strategy was coming from. Her voice even sounded slightly different.

Tikki, is this partly you?

Oh you know it. We’re going to get out of this, Ladybug, I promise. She smiled and looked over at Adrien who was looking back at her in amazement.

“You’re so awesome,” he almost mumbled.

“We’re gonna get out of here, Chat,” she assured him.

“LADYBUG?? Holy shit, ok I’m looking around, but it’s basically an empty room… WAIT! There’s a box attached to the wall, with, a OH MY GOD there’s a switch in here! What is Gabriel into??” The pair heard a faint clicking noise, and the wall that Adrien had entered in after his expedition with his father opened up once again. They made eye contact for a moment like they couldn’t believe their luck, grabbed each other’s hands, and made a mad dash for the door. To her surprise, they made it through.

“This way!” Adrien pulled her to the left. He had been here earlier therefore was the current leader. The pair ran faster than she thought anyone could possibly run; she figured it was their superpowers kicking in, and it felt awesome. As they reached the end of the hallway, it widened into a large room with one wall that was entirely made up of screens, probably ten in total. The creepiest thing was what was on them: ten different angles of the rooms they had been held captive in. He had seen everything. “What the-”

“No time, Chat! Let’s go!” They looked around feverishly, before spotting a spiral staircase and leaping up to the top. The room they entered was a muted shade of purple with a couple of bookshelves, a painting of a beautiful woman, and someone she assumed was the saint to who helped them escape. She was about Ladybug’s height with caramel skin, dark orange hair, and hazel eyes surrounded by dark glasses. Her hourglass figure was clad in jeans, an orange flannel, and a black blazer atop in an attempt to dress up. To top it all off, she wore a name tag the conveniently read Alya. She noted this woman's name, and wanted to say something, but Ladybug and Chat were a little out of breath from their sprinting after weeks of no physical activity whatsoever.

“MARINETTE????????” Alya gasped. “YOU’RE LADYBUG??????? NO way... No WAY Oh I CANNOT believe you kept this from me! I’m your best friend, you didn’t think to tell me the BIGGEST thing about you? Girl, is this why you’re so flaky and late all the time?!!” Marinette? Was that her name? Her head spun at all the new information that was being dumped on her in such a short span of time. Before anyone had the chance to do anything, an alarm started ringing throughout the house, and somewhere around them, they heard muted panicked voices.

“DID THEY GET OUT??”

“No way, sir. It’s impossible. I’m sure it’s just a minor breach, maybe a rat or something?” The three of them froze. She shook her head and searched for a way out. The room’s color shifted to grey until one of the bookshelves appeared to light up red with black polka dots. Bingo. Letting her instincts take over, she pulled the darkest book out, and the shelf twisted leaving room for two people in a hollowed part of the wall.

“We don’t have time for any of this; we have to get out of here,” she remarked and gestured at her find. The remaining two ran to the shelf to see for themselves what Marinette had found. 

“There’s only room for two. I’ll stay back and play the dumb reporter. You two go! When you get out of the house, meet me at the park by the carousel! If I’m not there, I trust you two will find another way!” Marinette felt awful leaving her behind but could feel that this was their highest chance of success. She nodded curtly, stepped into the shelf, and pulled Adrien with her. He resisted.

“No! You’ve already risked too much! He’s my dad, I’ll stay.”

“Adrien, you’re sweet, but there is no time for your bravery. You have to get out. Now!” She pushed him into Marinette with her last word and used all her strength to move the shelf back. As soon as she finished, they heard a door slide open and four footsteps. Two people had entered. She shivered as nerves, adrenaline, and fear swept over her that began to fade when she felt Adrien’s hand lace through hers.

“Ms. Césaire. What in god’s name are you doing here?!” Gabriel shouted

“Gabriel!! It is good to see you again! I hope you’ll forgive me for snooping around, I was just looking to find the site of the explosion. I was trying to get pictures for my blog, but I was obviously unsuccessful. Whoops! I stumbled into your study I guess, and I couldn’t find the way out! Silly me! Would you mind showing me out?” Alya’s voice was as sweet as pie. They heard a deep sigh.

“I believe she’s telling the truth, sir,” a woman said. A moment passed so slowly she was sure they were caught. They were screwed. Doomed to spend eternity in their cells with little memories to keep them company.

“Fine. This way. Nathalie, turn the alarm off it’s giving me a headache. I’ll show this nosy reporter out and then check on-“ he caught himself. “our new collection. I hope Mary Jane Watson here didn’t mess anything up. I would hate to spoil the reveal.”

“Yes sir.” Marinette and Adrien waited until they were certain the room was empty before exiting their hiding spot. As they emerged carefully, Marinette spotted the well hidden door they were unable to previously due to the noise she’d heard when it opened. Hand in hand, the pair creeped over to it, and it opened, obviously by motion sensor. They exhaled and quietly made their way out.

The door led them to a bright, open entryway where there was a grand set of stairs leading down to an equally grand set of doors. The room was stunning; under different circumstance, she would have loved being in a house of this level of grandeur. Marinette pulled her focus back to the larger doors. She gasped quietly at the prospect of getting out so quickly. The problem now lay in the 300-pound mass of muscle guarding the door, who was conveniently asleep, but they both knew that wouldn’t last.

“What do we do, my lady?” Adrien whispered. Her brain desperately tried to some up with a sort of elaborate solution for all of their problems, but her need to escape was too strong. It overpowered her strategy. Marinette shrugged.

“We go for it.” With that, the two leapt into action. Silently leaping and bounding all over the room eventually making it down the stairs in perfect unison. Despite their lack of knowledge, this clearly wasn’t the first time they had been in a dire situation like this. When they reached the door, they each took a handle and pulled. To their surprise it opened. Unfortunately, the gorilla of a man’s eyes also opened.

Marinette did not see this and successfully ran out the door, but Adrien locked eyes with him. The man grabbed Adrien’s wrist firmly. He looked angry at first, but the anger melted into something else, something Adrien could easily recognize by now: pity. The tight grip on his wrist released, and the man jerked his head in the direction of the door. His mouth opened and only one word flew out of it.

“Run.”

Chapter Text

They didn’t stop running until they reached the park that Ayla told them about. When they did, they collapsed onto a bench a few feet away from the carousel, feeling the adrenaline fading into exhaustion. Neither one spoke for a minute or two as they let their breath catch up to them. Adrien didn’t love the silence, so her was the first one to break it.

“We made it.” His statement felt simple in comparison to the events that just occurred, but it did the job. All he got in response was a weak smile from Marinette. Marinette. The name tugged at his heart in the most familiar way. He would never get tired of hearing it. He almost felt like that was the best thing to come out of their escape: her name. He almost liked it more than being free. If he was ever held captive again, he made a silent vow to hold onto that name more than his own. It symbolized hope.

“I think people are scared of us…” she noted, her voice barely above a whisper. Adrien looked around, and sure enough, the park patrons were gawking. They must have looked rather strange: Adrien in a formal shirt and pants with no shoes, and Marinette in her old hospital gown. “I hope Alya comes soon,” she remarked as she crossed her arms self-consciously.

As if on cue, Alya sauntered up to them holding hands with one of the coolest looking dudes Adrien had seen. He was tall, like Adrien, but this guy walked with so much confidence, he seemed taller. He, like his girlfriend (Adrien assumed) wore thick black glasses and jeans, but he wore a graphic tee and had over-the-ear headphones casually slung around his neck like he’d just finished listening to a really awesome album. His hair was shorter than Adrien’s, which isn’t saying much because his hair was getting pretty shaggy, but was a deep brown and styled up in a hardly trying way that Adrien’s never could. One thing was certain: Adrien immediately really liked this guy.

Careful bro, you’re drooling.

Plagg! Definitely not like that!

I’m just stating the obvious. Adrien brushed Plagg’s voice away even though there might have been truth in his statement. This dude was wicked cool, and this wicked cool dude was rushing over to Adrien very quickly. Before he knew it, this guy had his arms wrapped around him.

“DUDE!!!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? Game night HASN’T been the same, and I can’t justify watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba without you.” Adrien smiled weakly and wished he had something to contribute.

“Nino, I told you already. They are NOT in any shape to be socializing this much off the bat. We need to take them back to our place ASAP. You can do all the socializing you want there. Just help me with Marinette,” Alya chided. Marinette? What was wrong with her?? He looked at where she was sitting on the bench and kicked himself for losing his focus on her. She was completely passed out. Unconscious.

“MY LADY!” Adrien shouted and put his arms around her, but his vision began to be polluted with black spots. Alya, Nino, and Marinette faded from sight.

…………………..

When he opened his eyes, he was supine on a couch with a cold rag on his forehead and a weight pressing down on his body from his chest down. He managed to lift his head to see that Marinette was nestled comfortably on his chest which made him sigh in relief.

“Oh epic bro! You’re up!” Nino acknowledged Adrien briefly in between kills on the videogame he was playing.

“Yeah… hey.” Adrien tried to mimic Nino’s level of chill, but he did not succeed. He looked around for Alya, but she was nowhere to be found. They were in a comfortable, well decorated living room. It was jarring how cozy this place was in comparison to where they had come from. His dad’s mansion was stark and cool colors adorned every surface, but this place was all warm oranges, browns, and reds. It looked loved and lived in. Something his father’s house clearly lacked.

His gaze fell to the sleeping girl on his chest. She was no longer wearing a hospital gown, but instead, she had adorned a large, red flannel long enough to be a dress. For Adrien’s sake, he assumed she had shorts on as well, but he wasn’t going to check or anything. That would be creepy. And weird. His cheeks began to heat up quickly at his creeper thoughts in addition to their current position. He cleared his throat nervously.

“Oh yeah, sorry about that, I dunno if you guys have that sort of relationship, but uh. I don’t know how to say this, but you guys were kind of calling to each other? And then both of you started to get all feverish, and it didn’t start to go down until we like put you guys next to each other. The position though that was all you, and we felt weird enough witnessing all this and yeah. You get it.” Somehow Nino had managed to say all of this without looking up from his game.

“Nino! You were supposed to call me over if they woke up!” Alya said entering with four glasses of water balanced elegantly on a tray. She set them down on the coffee table and wrapped her arms around Nino from behind to plant a kiss on his cheek. Nino blushed and turned his head to give her a quick peck in return. Adrien averted his gaze to the television. He felt strange, like he shouldn’t have seen that, or like he was immature for thinking so far into his interactions with Marinette. They hadn’t even kissed or anything, hand holding was a big deal for them, and here was Alya and Nino kissing so comfortably and casually.

“Well it’s just Adrien, babe. It’s not both of them,” Nino quipped earning a smack from his girlfriend. Alya looked over at Adrien for the first time since she entered.

“How are you feeling?” She seemed concerned.

“I’m alright, I don’t know why we blacked like that. Thanks for taking care of us. I-I feel like I’ve been blacking out a lot lately,” he felt like a child getting taken care like this, but there was something comforting knowing someone else cares about him. Nino finished his game and exited to the menu.

“I know what will make you feel better, bro. I’ll make you some of Chef Nino’s famous burgers!” He laughed and walked to the kitchen. Alya smiled and rolled her eyes.

“No one calls him Chef Nino, but he insists they do. His burgers are great though,” she explained. A semi-awkward silence fell over them. He felt like she wanted to ask about his eyes and Marinette’s antennae, and he did NOT want to admit that he didn’t know. “Sooooo, are you and Marinette finally a thing? It sure seems that way. Which is fine, and actually really awesome she, Nino and I have wanted this for forever, but let me tell you if you hurt her I swear to god I don’t care how super you are, I am going to rip you apart limb from limb. Got it?” She said all of this with the scariest grin plastered across her face sending shivers down his spine comparable to how he felt at Gabriel’s house. He gulped.

“Um… First of all, I would never do any harm to her but, it’s…. complicated. Neither of us can remember well, anything from before the time we were held captive by- er- my dad.”

“WHAT?” Alya screeched.

………………

Marinette’s consciousness returned slowly, but surely after an outburst she can only hope was from Alya. Additionally, the thing she was laying on was talking and the low vibrations of the pillow kind of woke her up. She quickly came to the flustering revelation that she was laying on top of Adrien which made her feel all fluttery, but her head was more awake than her tired body. She could not get it to move yet, so she found herself listening to Adrien’s calming voice to help her wake up more.

“Yeah,,, we just- we kind of just met and a lot of what we know is assumptive. All I know is that I would do anything for her. She’s, amazing, and it feels like she’s all I have. That much I know for sure,” he stated softly. The fluttering she already felt in her stomach increased when she felt him brush her hair out of her face, and her eyes slowly opened. “Hey, sleepyhead,” he addressed her. “Y-you didn’t hear any of that did you?” Adrien sounded slightly panicky which Marinette found amusing.

“Every word,” she smirked. Even though her voice was raspy, Adrien heard her loud and clear.

Chapter Text

1 HOUR BEFORE THE EXPLOSION

Ladybug paced the rooftop restlessly. They were so close. They had been on Mayura’s tail, and her gut told her she was going back to Hawk Moth. It wasn’t until Chat had spotted a young couple falling from a rooftop that they had to lose her. Their villains had gotten increasingly more sinister as the years went on, and to say Ladybug was fed up would have been an understatement. Five years was entirely too long to be fighting one evil. Additionally, she resented Hawk Moth for making her go through puberty in spandex.

“We’ll get them eventually, my lady. Good always wins,” Chat commented from his cross-legged position. She acknowledged him briefly with a scratch on the head; he loved when she did that. He was sweet, but his optimism was fading fast. It had been too long. A seemingly never-ending fight had no real room for positivity.

It had definitely changed the playfulness of their relationship. When they were younger, half of their battles were spent in as much of a verbal battle as a physical one. The two making it a competition to see who can get the wittiest jabs at their opponent in one battle. However, as the years passed, and the akumas got stronger and more vicious, there was little room for word play.

Despite this, they had grown extremely close. She wasn’t going to lie and say she wasn’t attracted to Chat, and the two of them growing up did nothing to subdue any feelings they had for each other. There had been a few hookups on patrol duty over the years, and they still bring a blush to her cheeks. Their physical relationship had also dwindled similarly to their playfulness. The stakes were just too high to risk anything that could lead to revealing their identity. It was also distracting. Really distracting.

“I think Mayura was headed toward the Agreste estate,” she revealed upon recollection of her last interaction with Mayura. Chat’s head snapped up to look at her.

“She wasn’t going there as an end destination though, was she?” His voice was shaking slightly with something she may have mistaken for incredulousness but was fear.

“It can’t hurt to check. We don’t have any other lead do we?”

“Bug, I don’t know if I feel good about this. We should just go home, and pick this up tomorrow.” She cursed herself for the flutter she felt in her heart at the nickname.

“Why not? We can just check in with the family, and I think the boy who’s our age still lives there. He’s always pretty helpful with all this.” She mentions Adrien casually, but it was a sore spot for her. She spent years pining after this guy, and as soon as he starts to pay attention to her, they started college and became too busy for anything to really happen. He comes into her wing of the university on occasion for the rare times fashion students got to work with a real model.

“He has his own place, he just goes to the mansion on business,” Chat remarked under his breath. Ladybug shot him a glance that said, “Does it matter? We’re going,” without words. Reluctantly he stood up and the two shot off the rooftop towards the Agreste estate.

………..

Chat did not want to be at his childhood home with the love of his life as his alter-ego. In fact, it was the very last place he wanted to be in the world. He wanted to be on the top of the Eiffel Tower with his lady, reliving the first time they had ever kissed outside of battle. (He really didn’t count Dark Cupid because he didn’t even know about it until he was shown a picture during an interview. And don’t get him started on Oblivio. A picture was all he got, but that picture definitely helped him through his senior year of high school.) His gaze landed everywhere but the front door, upon which Ladybug was currently knocking.

“No answer,” she stated after a few minutes. He knew that but she liked to think aloud, and he liked to hear her talk. She turned her piercing gaze his way, and he knew what she was going to say before she said it. “Let’s find another way. The family might be in trouble.” She leaped gracefully until she reached the roof. “CHAT! You coming or what?” He followed her without remark, just wanting this to be over.

He watched Ladybug explore the roof, searching for a way inside the house. After a few moments, scoffed. “Why is it that this is the only place in Paris with an observation tower?”

“I think we’ve had this conversation before. Gabriel Agreste is a weird introverted lone artist type who never leaves his house. I’m sure it’s just for his to have a better view of the city for inspiration.”

“Sure, but a window would do that just fine,” she was lost in thought. He could tell there was no getting her off this train of thought anytime soon. “Let’s go look in it.” She was off before Chat could protest.

……………..

When she felt Chat’s presence behind her, she peered into the large, circular window thinking she would see just what Chat had described: the designer sketching or maybe draping some clothes for his winter line. She did not see this. Instead, she saw the outline of Mayura speaking to someone who was disguised by shadows. They were too cloaked in darkness for her to tell who this person was, but she KNEW one of them was Mayura.

“Kitty! I think Mayura is going to hurt the Agrestes…” She trailed off warily. At this, Chat Noir sprung out of his languid position leaning on the wall to see what she saw. His eyes widened, and he let out a gasp. “Or maybe… Hawk Moth lives there,” she gasped as well.

“No way he lives there, Bugaboo. I just think she’s talking to Gabriel Agreste, but it’s clearly threatening. He’s in danger! We have to do something!” Chat jumped into action working on opening one of the window panels. Ladybug pushed the panel lightly and it flipped with ease. Chat shot her a wavering smirk and said, “Let’s do this!” The pair crashed through the window in perfect synchronicity.

Chapter Text

“Mayura! You can’t run anymore!! We’re here and-“Ladybug stopped herself when she noticed the large circular room was empty. “Chat?” The room was too dark. She couldn’t make out details of anything, but she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when Chat didn’t answer her. He always answered. “CHAT?!” She called with more desperation this time, if anything happened to him… Well, she wasn’t going to let herself think of that.

“Are you looking for a lost kitten, Ladybug?” She recognized the voice as Mayura’s. Panic flared up in her chest.

“Don’t hurt him!” Her voice was small, and she didn’t feel 20 anymore, she felt 15 again: facing a threat she had no idea how to conquer.

“You know how this works by now: hand over your miraculous and we will let him go.” Ladybug groaned and ran around the room uselessly, looking for where they could be, until it hit her: the rafters! They weren’t around, they were up. She pulled out her yoyo and hoisted herself up. When she landed on a dusty beam, twenty or so white butterflies scattered. Her thoughts raced. This was Hawk Moth’s place. Five years had led up to this moment. She was closer than they had ever been, but she couldn't allow herself to celebrate until Chat was safe.

She closed her eyes and listened for the sound of butterflies fleeing. After a few moments, she heard movement directly to her left, and she shot out her yoyo. She felt it wrap around something, so she pulled hard. Flinging what(or who)ever was at the other end of her yoyo over the edge of the rafter, she lowered her prey into the large beam of moonlight streaming in from the window. It was the only light source in the room, and she needed to know if she had gotten what she needed to.

Sure enough, coiled at the end of her yoyo was an angered looking Mayura. Unfortunately, Chat Noir was nowhere to be found. Ladybug cursed under her breath. What the hell? A cold feeling of dread settled over her as she realized the other figure that had been in here earlier was Hawk Moth. He had Chat Noir, and Mayura was just distracting Ladybug. Hawk Moth was somewhere in the house with Chat, and she was going to find them if it killed her.

……………

Chat hadn’t even gotten the chance to strike his cool ‘I’m going to take you down’ landing pose. He was knocked out of midair in a flash of darkness. A gloved hand clamped over his mouth before he could warn Ladybug, and he was whisked out of the room. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, but he could make out the familiar architecture of his father’s wing of his childhood home. He didn’t have the best relationship with his dad, but he certainly didn’t want Hawk Moth to kill him or even injure him.

As the man who Chat just assumed was Hawk Moth carried him into his father’s study, Chat tried to free himself from this guy’s grip, but man this guy was strong. Chat swung his leg and managed to kick the guy where it really hurts, and it was enough for him to drop Chat. Landing gracefully on his feet, as cats always do, he landed a solid punch square in the middle of his face. He could now see Hawk Moth in all his awfulness and wanted to kick him down once and for all.

“This is going to be our last fight Hawk Moth. I know it,” Chat promised in between kicks and punches. Hawk Moth, who had a bloody nose, smirked evilly as he looked up at Chat.

“Oh, believe me. It will be.” Hawk Moth launched forward to attack, but Chat sidestepped him. He was granted with a new view of the study in which he could see the life-sized painting of his mother that his father had hung up years ago. It was jarring to see her right now; in the middle of the battle he had been working towards for years when she hated violence. Seeing her had made Chat hesitate for a second too long, and Hawk Moth tackled Chat sending the both of them hurling toward the painting.

Chat closed his eyes and braced for impact, but didn’t feel the pain of the wall, instead felt his stomach drop like he was falling. He opened his eyes to a large garden growing rapidly closer to him, and he realized he was falling a moment too late. He landed hard into a bush and gagged when he noticed all of the cocoons and butterflies around him. Hawk Moth had built his lair in his dad’s house! WHAT THE HELL?

Chat coughed loudly and stood up slowly. He was lucky his miraculous made him a little more immune to injuries than the normal guy, but that was a big fall. The ceiling was so high, they must be underneath the house. He imagined Hawk Moth was in a similar situation and spun around to see him. He was not greeted with Hawk Moth. What he was greeted with was much worse.

A long glass cylinder rimmed in gold was sitting in the middle of the garden framed by white flowers. Chat felt like throwing up as he approached this foreign object. It almost looked like a coffin. Almost. When he was close enough to see inside, he warily let himself bring his gaze to the top of the object. His breath caught in his throat at the sight of his own mother’s face. Someone who was supposed to be dead. She died 6 years ago. He grieved her every day. This couldn’t be real, but he placed his hand on the cool glass by her face. There she was. Very much real. His knees crumpled, and his head spun.

From the ground, he noticed a thick, black chord coming from the bottom and plugging into the wall behind them. His heart raced. Was she alive? Was this thing a complex life support chamber? What the FUCK was it doing in Hawk Moth’s lair. Using all of his strength, he pulled himself up to stand. He felt tears pouring from his eyes.

“Mom,” he sobbed. He didn’t notice Hawk Moth watching this whole ordeal, nor did he notice Ladybug silently drop in from the ceiling. All he noticed was the pain he felt. It ran deep. Deeper than any feeling he’d ever had. He was sure he would split in half from the pressure of it all. He screamed at Hawk Moth, “YOU DID THIS TO HER? MY MOM!? WHY? I WASN’T EVEN CHAT NOIR THEN. WHAT ARE YOU GETTING OUT OF THIS???”

“Well, this certainly is a surprise. I hate to say this because it seems so, overdone. Or even cliché. Chat Noir, I’m afraid that’s my wife you’re referring to. Which, unfortunately, makes me your father,” Hawk Moth’s voice was cold.

……..

Ladybug watched in horror as her worst fears played out in front of her. Chat Noir was clutching a large coffin? And he was sobbing. Harder than she’d ever seen him sob before. The noises he was making were so painful for her to hear she almost plugged her ears. She broke into a run, crossing the room faster than she’d ever run before, but she was too late. She froze as the purple akuma washed over Chat Noir.

“CHAT!!!!!!” She cried. Hawk Moth laughed dryly at her pitiful cries as they observed Chat morph into something scarier than something grotesque. He was even more beautiful now than he was before. His suit was similar, but it was now covered in a pattern resembling piano keys. His hair was shorter, more like it was when she met him years ago, and his mask was now pure white. A green light surrounded him making him appear to be glowing, and she felt drawn to him now more than ever, but kept her distance, knowing he was akumatized. She had to fight him.

“Chat Nucléaire, I am giving you the power of destruction amplified. You can get revenge for your mother, or you can get the miraculous, and use the ultimate power to help your mother.” Ladybug felt sick as Chat continued to writhe in pain, clearly not wanting to give in.

“STOP! You’re hurting him!” She ran to his side, ignoring all the red flags in her head, and put her arms around his shoulders. “Chat, it’s ok I’m here you can shake this off, and we can fight our way out like we always do. We can win. The good guys always win, remember?” She whispered these things to him hoping he was still present somewhere in there. For a brief moment, it worked.

“My lady,” he pushed out. “It’s too much. He’s my father. I can’t-” He was losing the battle, and she couldn’t imagine what he was going through. Neither of them had ever been akumatized before. It was painful for both of them. Angry, she turned her attention to Hawk Moth.

“How dare you?! I won’t let you get away with all the suffering you’ve caused over the years. It’s time we end this.” A surge of strength pulsated through her veins. “Lucky Charm!” A singular red and black rose landed in her hands. What? She tucked it into her yoyo to deal with in a bit and moved away from Chat to fight Hawk Moth. The two sparred intensely, neither one having anything to lose. Their fighting took them all over the garden as Chat battled the akuma. Hawk Moth and Ladybug bounded back over to the coffinlike contraption just as Chat stood up.

“I accept your power,” his voice was amplified; it sounded like there were five of him.

“NO!” She leaned toward him as he walked to the two people he cared most for. Chat lifted a hand and Ladybug flinched, reaching for the rose attached to her waist. She offered it to him, and he took it. A roaring silence settled over the three of them as he observed this rose. No one moved. No one breathed. Both Ladybug and Hawk Moth knew the power Chat held right now. The boy looked at each of them before he gently placed the rose on his mom’s stomach. He focused back on Hawk Moth and raised a fist.

“This is for mom.” They didn’t have the time to blink before they were absorbed in a giant ball of green light. The last thing she saw was the thick black plug coming out of the wall as her world went dark.

Chapter Text

After his lady had woken up, Adrien began to notice how awful he felt, physically. Although the two had been wrapped around each other for a while now, he was suddenly self-conscious of his hygiene. They were out of danger for the time being thus giving him room to realize that he did not know when the last time he showered was. In fact, even though Marinette had changed clothes, or rather been changed, he was still wearing what he wore to the press conference yesterday. The thought getting under his skin and distracting him from participating in the conversation between Marinette and Alya.

“Hey, uh, I don’t want to interrupt or impose or anything, but would it be too much trouble to ask if I could use your shower?” He felt a little uncomfortable asking because despite their friendly exchanges and being told otherwise, he felt like he didn’t know Alya or Nino very well. Alya smiled guiltily.

“Of course! I’m so sorry I didn’t offer sooner. You must feel all nasty… Last night, when we got home, you were out cold, but Marinette was like half-awake for about 30 mins. She probably doesn’t remember, but I helped her out as you can see. You were unrousable. Total dead weight. Our bathroom is down the hall to the right attached to our room, and feel free to help yourself to any of Nino’s clothes in the top drawer!”

“Thank you so much, Alya. I feel like a garbage can,” he laughed while awkwardly trying to maneuver himself out from underneath Marinette without hurting her. She softly whined at the loss of contact, and the noise sent Adrien’s brain into a frenzy. “I’ll be back, don’t worry my lady,” he managed to whisper as he lightly pressed a kiss to her temple.

……..

Marinette watched Adrien leave with worry in her eyes. She knew he would be fine, but the last time they were apart, he got hurt by his father. She rubbed her eyes as she crossed her legs to get more comfortable. Alya had her gaze fixated on her.

“What? What’s wrong?” Marinette asked, prompted to speak from the sheer ferocity with which Alya was looking at her.

“GIRL?!! Last time I saw you, we were on our way to see a movie, but there was an akuma causing you to make some dumb excuse, I now know why, to ‘run home,” she relayed, placing air quotes around words Marinette supposed came from her own mouth. “Then you disappear for weeks and Nino and I go crazy looking for you. And then I find you in a creepy lair underneath Gabriel Agreste’s house, find out you’re LADYBUG and ADRIEN is CHAT NOIR. YOU HAVE BUG THINGS ON YOUR HEAD AND HE HAS CAT EYES I MEAN WHAT IS GOING ON????” She exclaims.

“They’re called antennae,” Marinette corrects her softly.

“WHATEVER, GIRL!” Her shouting causing Marinette to jump slightly, and Alya sighed deeply. “I’m trying to say that I’m worried about you. Nino wouldn’t shut up about his worry for Adrien. We just want to help.”

“Well, unless you can tell me who I am and what happened to me, then I don’t know if you can,” she whispered sadly.

“I don’t know what happened to you, but I do know you’re Marinette Dupain-Cheng. You’re the strongest, most talented woman I know, and you just so happen to be my best friend going on five or six years now.” A warm feeling spread through her body starting from her chest. She and Adrien weren’t alone in this.

 “And as far as Ladybug goes,” Alya started up again and pulled out her phone. “She’s the coolest superhero out there. She and her partner Chat Noir have been fighting Hawk Moth and his partner Mayura for five years. She was last seen going into the Agreste mansion about an hour before there was a large explosion in the basement.” Marinette watched in fascination as her friend flipped through photos of a superhero clad in red with black spots all over performing amazing feats.

“That’s m-me?” Her eyes widened as Alya nodded. She opened her mouth to ask more questions but was unable to due to Nino’s flourishing entrance.

“Chef Nino presents: the best hamburger you will ever have the luxury of tasting.” The chef places a large platter filled with six delicious looking burgers onto the coffee table. Alya shook her head, smiling.

“You’re ridiculous,” she commented.

“You love it, though,” Nino stated proudly crossing his arms, admiring his girlfriend who merely sighed heavily.

“That I do, babe. That I do.” Marinette blushed at their outward display of affection and couldn’t help but think if she would ever be this way with Adrien.

She took a strand of her hair in her hand and nervously pulled at it. Her body felt better than yesterday, but she was still weary. While she was safe now, in a happy environment, she knew it couldn’t last. There was an incoming, inevitable conflict that she had a bad feeling about. She was jerked out of her thoughts when Nino loudly placed a plate in front of her with a smile that she returned politely. The food looked delicious, and she realized she hadn’t eaten in such a long time. She was just about to grab the sandwich when she froze at the sight of a shirtless, sopping wet Adrien padding down the hallway.

“Hey, man, I, uh, I don’t think the top drawer is your clothes? Unless you wear, um, lacy things….” Adrien trailed off awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck, and Alya burst out laughing. Nino chuckled as well, but Marinette could not focus on anything other than the sight of him. She was sure her face was beet red, but she couldn’t pull her focus away from him to save her life.

Adrien was just standing there. In only a towel. And NOBODY WAS REACTING TO IT??? She watched in captivation as he shifted under the gaze of all three of them. A water droplet fell from his hair and she followed it with her eyes as it traced the outline of his collarbones, then his chest, then his abdomen, and feverishly looked away when she realized where it was going.

“Sorry about that, bro. It seems Alya thought it’d be funny to pull a fast one on you. I’ve got some joggers and tees in the bottom drawer,” Nino laughed. Marinette picked up her burger and took a large bite, hoping to distract herself.

“Thanks, I- figured as much,” Adrien nodded, and Marinette couldn’t help herself and found herself looking back at him, figuring he was walking away. He wasn’t. He appeared to be waiting for her to make eye contact with him with a smug, but slightly insecure smile. When their eyes met, he winked at her and turned to leave. Unfortunately, Marinette was eating, and so she choked on her food and coughed loudly.

“You ok, girl?” Alya shot her a knowing smile as Marinette pulled herself back together and nodded. “You’re welcome, by the way,” she says cheekily, earning a nudge from Nino. The two of them laughed as Marinette’s face turned red yet again. They all continued eating happily for a few minutes until Adrien returned, now clad in black sweatpants that hung low on his hips paired with a simple black shirt that didn’t do much to hide the male’s physique. He managed to make such a simple outfit look like high fashion. She was glad he was back as she noticed she felt slightly incomplete without him.

…………….

Adrien made his way over to reclaim his spot next to Marinette, smiling at her sweet expression. Despite the slight tension between them that he couldn’t place, he, and she as he could tell, was just relieved to be next to her again. He sat close, but not too close to his lady and grabbed a burger with a growling stomach. He took a bite and his eyes widened.

“Holy shit, Nino. You weren’t playing around with these,” he complimented with a full mouth. Nino merely smirked and shrugged in response.

“Not too much, Agreste, or it’ll go to his head,” Alya warned, playfully. All of them laughed comfortably, and Adrien was overwhelmed with the amount of comfort he felt with all of them. He couldn’t believe that less than 24 hours ago he was still being held captive. He looked at Marinette through the corner of his eye and marveled at their sudden change in situation. She must have been thinking the same thing because she timidly placed her left hand on top of his leg, letting him know she was there. They both smiled sheepishly.

…….

Adrien’s face was sore from smiling so much. The foursome had spent the last hour or so talking, eating delicious food, and laughing at the tiniest things. Adrien felt more awake than he had in weeks, and everything seemed too good to be true. Though they were no longer laying on the couch, he made sure he was always touching Marinette in some way. Be it a comforting hand on the small of her back, holding her hand, or just their thighs touching, he needed an anchoring point, otherwise he was sure he would slip away.

“Not to bring the mood down, but I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room,” Alya trailed off. Marinette chuckled warily in response causing Alya to clarify herself, “Or rather the bug…”

“Ah, yeah… that… Well, we don’t have much of an idea, but we’ll tell you all we know,” Marinette begun. As she continued to explain their situation, Adrien watched her in fascination. She looked as good as he felt; the color had returned to her face. He smiled as the light pink blush across her cheeks grew darker as she noticed him staring. The contrast making her light dusting of freckles more visible and her eyes look significantly bluer.

Dude. We get it. You think she’s sooooo pretty, and you want to kiss her. We’ll have time for that later AFTER we figure out what is going on with us!

W-what? I wasn’t thinking about kissing her, Plagg! Adrien’s blush was beginning to match Marinette’s.

Yeah yeah yeah it was coming though wasn’t it? I think Alya and Nino know more about superheroes than they’re letting on. Can you just put your hormones aside for just ONE moment, for me?

“Holy shit. I knew something bad happened to Ladybug and Chat Noir, but I never could have imagined this,” Alya murmured. She walked over to sit next to Marinette on the couch and brushed her friend’s hair behind her hear softly. Her attention moved to Marinette’s earrings. Adrien couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed them before, but they were glowing. It was a soft, pulsating glow, almost like it was indicating something was wrong. “Weird…” The orange-haired girl mused.

“What? What’s wrong?” Marinette questioned, worry thick in her voice.

“I’ve never seen the miraculous do this before.”

“Miraculous?” Adrien and Marinette asked in unison.

Chapter Text

“Yeah? Do you guys not… Oh shit,” Nino sat back in his chair as he spoke. “Well, from my experience, miraculous are magical jewels. Worn as jewelry, they have the ability to transform their users, with the help of the Kwamis, into animal-themed, super-powered beings. Usually, they look different when they’re active versus when they’re not, but you’re not transformed… There’s no reason it should look like… that.” The super-duo had the same expression of shock on their face, and Alya was prompted to chip in.

“He’s telling the truth. Adrien, let me see your ring,” she affirmed. The green-eyed hero offered up his right hand, and sure enough, it was glowing similarly to the earrings. The black metal and neon green paw pulsing the same way Marinette’s was. This new information made his head hurt, and he had no words. His lady found her voice first.

“How do you know these things?” Alya and Nino chuckled awkwardly at her question.

“Well, we kind of… Have them too?” Nino held up his wrist, and Alya grabbed her necklace. “That’s kind of how we knew there was something really bad going on. Ever since the explosion, our miraculous haven’t been, well, working.” Nino continued. “We tried to transform to help out, but after the explosion,” he looked at Alya sadly. She picked up his cue flawlessly.

“Trixx, let’s pounce!” They all watched, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did. “Our kwamis have even disappeared. We were getting really worried, and we still are. Now that we know what happened to you guys, I think it definitely has something to do with this whole thing.”

“Kwamis?” Adrien finally found his voice. “Do these things happen to like, talk to you in your head?” He shot Marinette a glance, and she knew what he meant immediately. She jumped in to clarify.

“He means, are these, uh, kwamis, like a voice in your head, but they have their own distinct voice? A- and your power seems to stem from them?” Their gracious hosts looked at the duo in confusion.

“Uh, they’re not in our heads. Usually they fly around us. They’re about this big,” Nino made a small space between in hands to indicate what he meant. “They’re ancient little guys if what they’ve told us is true, and yeah they give the user power.” Adrien’s head was spinning. Annoyingly, Plagg was quiet.

“If you have miraculous, then why were you surprised to find out we were, well us?” Marinette asked, boldly. She was so strong. Adrien could tell she was dealing with this whole thing better than he was. His brain felt mushy and rock hard at the same time.

“We didn’t know, honest.” Alya held her hands up in mock surrender. “Secret identity was something Ladybug insisted on. We, well, we were an accident. She -er- you had to give us our miraculous at the same time once, so that’s how we found out. Other than that, no one knew anyone’s identity. Ladybug knew ours, but that’s it. Ladybug used to give us our miraculous on occasion, but recently, I would say about six months ago, we got to have them 24/7. She said it was because the akumas were getting more dangerous.”

“I also have this book?” Nino paused to walk over to the cabinet that housed the TV, reached behind a lose plank of wood, and pulled out a thick, brown book before continuing. “Chat Noir gave it to me when I was transformed around the same time we got to keep our miraculous. He was really worried Hawk Moth would get it, and asked me to hold onto it. Before this all happened Ladybug and Chat Noir…. You guys, seemed on edge constantly. Every time we fought with them, they were dead serious. They’ve almost never been dead serious. You really can’t remember anything from before the explosion?”

“We can’t even remember the explosion. But, it’s weird… Ever since we’ve eaten, I feel different. Like before there simply wasn’t any memory, but now it kind of feels like I have some memories they’re just out of reach…” Marinette thought aloud.

“Me too!” Adrien blurted before he could think it through. She was right. “I don’t feel as tired or weak either. Before, I felt as though I was fighting unconsciousness every second my eyes were open, but not anymore. Maybe how we were feeling and the losing consciousness stuff was because of something in the food...” He felt his lady thread her fingers through his as Nino placed the book he’d picked up in his lap. Adrien opened it curiously with the hand that was not currently holding Marinette’s. It was obviously very old, and it was filled with pictures of ancient superheroes captioned in a language he couldn’t read. Marinette gasped.

“I’ve seen this logo before,” she said, her fingers tracing the intricate circle that was printed on every page. “It was on a box in my cell at the mansion. The box was shaped like a hexagon, and it was empty.”

“That sounds like the boxes the miraculous are held in!” Alya exclaimed. “This book must have explanations for the powers of the miraculous or something…” Adrien figured he’d try asking the grumpy voice in his head.

Plagg, anything familiar?

I’ve seen this before!! It’s… uhm, a SPELLBOOK yeah!!!

Yeah sure it is, Plagg. Stop messing around.

I’m serious! I- I can’t read it, but I know you need to find someone who can. I’m sure this book contains the answers to what is going on with us. Everything these people have told you today… is true. I know I’m not usually in your head, kid, and I don’t want to be here much longer. We need to find a way to fix this. It may just be the cheese from that burger talking, but I believe in you.

……………

How are we going to find someone to read this, Tikki?

Ok, I’m about to tell you to do something that you may think is crazy, but you’re just going to have to trust me. Some things are coming back to me very slowly, and I think the clue to what you need can be given to you.

Great! How? By who? Her heart rate increasing rapidly at the thought of an answer.

You. I think that you’ll get it if you say, “Lucky Charm,” out loud. Don’t ask how I know this because I don’t really know, I just have a feeling.

Marinette took a deep breath before uttering the words Tikki told her under her breath. In a flash of pink, a large, round teapot appeared in her lap. She stared at the polka-dotted object with bewilderment. Adrien spoke before anyone else could.

“What the fuck?” He let go of her hand to turn and fully face her, getting a better view of the object. Alya and Nino stared with wide eyes.

“H-How did you do that? You’re- you’re not transformed,” she trailed off. Marinette shrugged awkwardly. “Holy shit, wait a minute.” Her gaze turned to the green-eyed boy. “Adrien, say cataclysm, but DON’T touch anything with your right hand.”

“What? Are we just moving on from the legitimate magic Mari just did or-?” Alya cut him off with a look. Marinette smiled at the nickname he’d given her. It felt right.  Adrien took a deep breath, held out his right hand and said, “Cataclysm?” As soon as the word left his mouth, black dots surrounded his hand until you could barely see his skin anymore. “Uhhhh… guys?!” Adrien looked around for help.

“I got you, bro,” Nino promised handing Adrien a napkin from earlier. When it touched his hand, it disintegrated. Instantly turned to dust. Marinette could not believe her eyes. “Damn, so you have powers as civilians… Well, civilians with cat eyes and bug things.”

“They’re antennae,” Marinette mindlessly corrected without moving a muscle. Eyes wide, mouth agape, and her body clutching the teapot. She felt Alya place a hand on her shoulder.

“Do you feel ok?” Her heart ached at the concern in her friend’s voice.

“I- think so? But, I’m a little more tired than I was… Do you have any cookies?”

“Ditto. But, uh, maybe some cheese?” Adrien chimed in. Neither one had moved. The pair were so frozen in shock it was almost comical. Alya wasted no time.

“I’ll go check, but I'm pretty sure we should,” she responded already halfway out of the room. Nino coughed apprehensively before speaking up.

“Can I see that?” He gestured toward the teapot in her lap. Wordlessly, she handed it to him and sunk back into the couch, feeling overwhelmed. She closed her eyes, desperately trying to guess the meaning of the clue. The couch moved a bit as she felt Adrien do the same, and she jumped slightly when he put an arm around her. An exhale left her lips as the two of them leaned into each other for support. Relaxing so much so quickly that when Nino spoke again, she nearly jumped out of her skin. “I think I recognize this from that tea shop down the road!”

“Tibetan Tea?” Alya offered as she entered with the snacks they had requested. “Didn’t that used to be a massage place?” Marinette and Adrien tore into their respective snacks as their friends brainstormed, feeling slightly useless.

“Yeah! They always serve tea by the pot instead of the cup, and they use ones just like this. Theirs are dark green, though,” Nino continued. Swallowing the last of her cookie, Marinette chimed in hopefully.

“Looks like that’s where we’re headed.”

Chapter Text

After Marinette had a brief change of clothes, the foursome was off to have a cup of tea. It was lightly raining outside, so it was deemed by the group that she shouldn’t wear shorts. Alya had a surprisingly large selection of clothes for Marinette to choose from, but she wasn’t feeling too cute. After a brief moment of pondering, she settled on a pair of leggings and a cropped sweatshirt from their school.

She felt weirdly normal as they walked down the street, like they weren’t off to find someone who could translate an ancient language for them but were instead a group of friends on break from university to study. She smiled while Adrien held her hand tightly, and she was thankful for the comfort. Without him, she would’ve spent the whole walk over tugging on the beanie she wore to cover her antennae. The pair could have passed for celebrities (though they actually were) because of the way they kept their head low. Alya and Nino attempted to keep the mood light.

“I’m serious, this place has the best tea in Paris. We go here all the time to study, or chill or...” Nino trailed off and Alya picked up.

“Update my blog. Things like that,” she finished, pride lacing her voice. Before Adrien and Marinette could ask, she continued. “It’s where I post updates about Ladybug and Chat Noir. It started as The Ladyblog: dedicated to discovering Ladybug’s identity, but well… The more I worked with them- you, the more I felt guilty, so I changed to a more informational site. It’s totally respectful I promise!”

“She’s great at what she does, bro, it’s so cool to watch her work,” Nino added. Marinette had to admit it felt a little weird when Nino and Alya talked about Ladybug and Chat. They would always reference to them like they were so high up and so not- Marinette and Adrien. She knew they didn’t mean anything by it, but it felt strange nonetheless.

“That’s awesome, Alya,” Adrien reassured with a smile. Marinette looked up at him through the drizzle. He was so handsome, and the dark sunglasses he wore made him look so much more mysterious than she knew he was. She kept her grip on his hand and moved her free hand to grab his upper arm so she could lean into him more comfortably as they walked. The store wasn’t far, but she felt much better when she was close to him.

“It’s so weird seeing you guys like this. Good weird, but still weird,” Nino commented.

“Right! It seems like only yesterday that Marinette couldn’t even form a whole sentence in front of him!” The couple laughed, cooing about how sweet the duo was. What? Marinette couldn’t imagine not being able to talk to Adrien. He was the person she felt most comfortable around. Granted, seeing him in compromising situations made her very flustered, but she didn’t think too much into that, and it always went away fairly quickly.

“Yeah sure, guys. Real funny. That’s totally what happened,” Adrien joked awkwardly. This made the couple start laughing even harder, and Marinette had had just about enough. She pulled on Adrien’s arm as she stopped walking entirely.

“Alright, are you guys going to explain this whole thing to us or not? I’m getting tired of these jokes seeing as we clearly don’t know what you’re talking about. I know we’re friends and everything, but right now, I’m feeling put down. Adrien and I don’t even know who we are, and we’ve just been blindly accepting things people tell us. The only constant we have is each other. Do you know how weird it feels to not know anything about yourself? Not even your name?” Marinette huffed. The three of them looking back at her with mouths agape. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap, I’m just- really stressed and scared...I-” She sighed at herself. “What did that mean earlier?” Adrien rubbed small circles into her hand with his thumb as they started walking again.

“We’re so sorry, Marinette. We didn’t mean-” Alya was cut off by Nino.

“This is awful timing dudes, but we’ve arrived.” Marinette gave Alya a look that said everything was alright, mad at herself for her outburst. Sure enough a glowing sign read Tibetan Tea in neon orange, shining through the grey afternoon, hung over the doorway in front of them. She gulped nervously as they entered, hoping with all her might that this was the right place.

………

Adrien felt a little uncomfortable after Marinette’s outburst a moment ago, but mainly because he was worried about her. He had noticed that she was feeling strange as they left the apartment, and it only grew on the walk. He was also a little worried about being out in public like this. If the press conference was anything to go by, his face was one people vaguely knew, and he was worried someone would take a picture and alert his father or something.

The café was small, warm, cozy, and it wasn’t too crowded: maybe two or three people in total studying alone. It smelled so amazing that he could feel his mouth watering the further they got into the place. The dark wood floors contrasted the crème walls nicely, and the tables were low to the ground and surrounded by plush pillows begging to be sat upon. When they reached an open table, they were about to sit down when someone from behind them asked, “What are you doing here?”

The quartet turned around instantly to see who had inquired such a thing; all of them surprised to see a very short man in a red Hawaiian shirt with grey hair both on his head and his chin. They were quiet as he continued speaking, “It’s not safe for you to be out like this.” He looked around wearily and stated, “Follow me,” just loud enough so they could hear. Then said much louder, almost for the whole café, “Ah! Job applicants must interview in the back!”

They hesitantly followed the man through a doorway near the back of the shop into a hallway that lead to a room that was almost completely empty. The only thing in it besides some screens and a rug was a dresser on top of which sat an old phonograph. The gramophone drew everyone’s attention. It was so regal it demanded to be looked at, and the group stepped towards it without realizing. Engraved in the body of the object was the same symbol that Marinette had pointed out earlier in the book Nino said he’d gotten from Chat Noir pre-amnesia. Adrien’s heartbeat picked up at this realization.

“That symbol…” Adrien trailed off in wonder.

“The symbol of the miraculous,” the elderly man spoke with sadness laced in his voice. Adrien absentmindedly reached up and took his sunglasses off to get a better look at it. He heard the man gasp lightly and gently place a hand on Adrien’s arm. “Adrien, your eyes… What happened at your father’s mansion?” The question earned a resounding sigh from the group. They, especially Adrien and Marinette, did not really want to talk about this with some stranger. Adrien swallowed thickly and placed the glasses back on the bridge of his nose.

“Um, I’m sorry do- do we know you?” His lady was the one to break the silence.

“Ah, Marinette. I didn’t realize this had gotten so bad. My name is Wang Fu. I am the last guardian of the miraculous. There’s something I need to tell you about the miraculous.”

Chapter Text

Marinette stared at the elderly man, perplexed. All of this seemed so coincidental to her. There was no way they just so happened to be led to the one and only man in the world who was an expert in the subject they needed to know the most about.

Well it was your lucky charm that led you guys here, Marinette. You keep forgetting that you have magical powers, silly. Tikki spoke, calm and thoughtful as usual.

You’re right, Tikki. It just, so much to process, you know? As she thought this, she felt Adrien slip his fingers between hers instinctively and squeezed her hand, bringing her back to reality.

“Alya and Nino have filled us in on a lot of things, but what is going on with us? Clearly, we have to stop Hawkmoth from hurting anyone else, but it seems like that’s impossible without our memories, mainly because we REALLY don’t know what we’re doing.” Adrien’s voice was steady, but he was clearly very panicked. Fu studied the boy’s expression carefully before responding.

“What is happening to the two of you is something only fabled in the miraculous grimoire, a book that is passed down from guardian to guardian.” The foursome exchanged worried glances as Fu opened one of the drawers in the dresser and pulled out a torn piece of paper. The guardian extended his arm to show the group what he was holding.

The tattered, tan page had clearly once resided in the book they’d seen in the apartment earlier. It contained the same unknown language and symbols. The only difference was that the page seemed to shimmer as if it were woven from thin, silk, golden threads. In the center of the page was the two symbols that Marinette recognized to be those of the ladybug and black cat miraculous.

The longer she looked at them, the less clear the symbols became. It looked like they were getting smudged: like they had been drawn in oil pastels and someone was running their finger across them. The room was silent until Marinette found it in herself to respond.

“What does this mean?”

“This, Marinette, is what can happen to the ladybug and black cat miraculous in times of extreme stress. When a kwami and a miraculous holder have a strong enough bond and there is trouble that is dangerous enough to kill the holder and/or obliterate the miraculous entirely, the kwamis can fuse with the holders through the power of the miraculous.”

“Doing so prevents anyone, including the holders, from removing the jewels, and grants the holder the powers they have when transformed whilst still maintaining the appearance of their civilian selves. This is something only mentioned in legend, so there isn’t much more known about it than what I just told you. I didn’t think it was possible,” he paused briefly, and looked the duo up and down.

“A clear side effect is, well, some minor physical deformities.” The man’s eyes were fixed on the ground, as if he was afraid to see the reaction he was getting. But there was no reaction. Nobody moved. Nobody knew how to react. It felt like time froze until the sunshine boy himself melted the ice with a humorless chuckle.

“Even though this was obvious in hindsight, this whole thing is really freaking meow-t.” His pun jolted Marinette out of her stupor. She glanced in his direction quizzically to be greeted with a shrug and a sheepish smirk. A short, bubble of a giggle slipped out of her mouth causing Adrien to do the same. In a spilt second the two were cracking up. Laughing uncontrollably, the way you do when there’s nothing else you think you can do. They were greeted with concerned expressions from their friends.  

“Are you guys…… alright?” Alya questioned.

“No!” They both squealed through bursts of laughter. As they slowly quelled their giggles, the orange-haired reporter turned to Fu.

“How can they fight Hawkmoth if they can’t transform?”

“Can they not transform?” Fu responded, on high alert.

“You just said-”

“I said nothing of the sort. I said they have powers when they aren’t transformed, but I don’t know if they have the ability to transform in the first place,” he shifted his focus to the now recovered Marinette and Adrien. “Can you try transforming?”

“How do we do that?” Marinette asked tentatively, earning a look of pity from Fu.

“Right, I’m so sorry. You just say the phrase, ‘Tikki, spots on!’ Adrien you say, ‘Plagg, claws out!’ This is just a trial run. There is a lot we don’t know.” After a quick glance at each other, Adrien smiled and nodded at her slightly.

“You first, my lady,” She felt him squeeze her hand again and confidence surged through her veins.

“Tikki, spots on,” she spoke barely above a whisper with her eyes squeezed shut.

…………….

Adrien couldn’t look away from her. Something deep inside of him told him that this was an incredibly intimate moment even if he couldn’t fully understand it right then. Watching her transform was something out of a daydream. He knew he would never forget this moment no matter how many Hawkmoths took his memory. He watched as pink light traveled over her form starting from the top of her head, to her fingertips, and eventually to her toes.

He watched rapturously as the Marinette he’d come to know was replaced with someone who he longed to know, desperately. Her hair, that previously hung loose past her shoulders, was swept up into an effortless ponytail, and her wispy bangs framed her face so perfectly Adrien couldn’t stop smiling at her. Her antennae now stood atop her head with purpose.

A red mask covered in black spots materialized around her large, cerulean eyes, and Adrien felt his cheeks flush as he watched her lips turn from her usual pink to a deep red. The magic covered the rest of her body much quicker than her head, and it left behind a spotted suit in its wake. The suit was slightly different from the pictures Alya had shown them earlier in that the suit had black opera gloves, tall black boots reaching just above her knee, and in the center of her chest, there was a circle resembling a yin and yang symbol that had the symbol of the lady bug and…

“Holy shit,” he whispered. He felt his heart try to escape his chest when he realized she had the symbol of the black cat alongside her own.

Chapter Text

The woman staring back at him was no longer Marinette, but she was most definitely his lady. He’d never felt more sure of anything in his entire life. Her cheeks flushed as she took in her own appearance, and when she was finished, she turned her focus to him. A timid smile etched into her lovable features.

“Well?” She questioned, attempting to gauge his reaction. Adrien couldn’t contain himself as he felt an overwhelming wave of joy wash over him larger than he could fully comprehend. His memories, still out of reach, were still very much in effect emotionally. His elation bubbling over into his actions as he excitedly took her hands in his in a weird little dance, giggling.

“You look amazing! This- I mean you- you just- how?” Adrien gushed, noting the change in her demeanor as she visibly gained confidence. Rightfully so, Adrien had never seen anyone so breathtaking. The more he discovered about this woman, the more he was jealous of his former self for having already spent five years with her. “How does someone look this… perfect,” he whispered more to himself than anything, earning a playful twirl from his lady and a groan from Plagg. He was vaguely aware of Alya and Nino commenting on the changes that had been made to her suit, but he couldn’t focus on anything other than her.

As pleasant as it is to read your many, many thoughts on her wardrobe change, do you maybe wanna get a move on? Try and transform for ourselves?

Right. Sorry, Plagg I just- She’s just so wonderful I don’t know how to behave…

I know, kid. The bond between you two was quite literally written in the stars, and I know plenty about how that feels. Now, come on! Let’s show them how much better looking we are when transformed.

Adrien decided to skip over Plagg’s admission about stars and fate for the time being. He took a deep breath and looked into Mar- Ladybug’s eyes, almost as if asking for permission. She shot him one of her signature smiles, the kind that made Adrien feel the need to grab hold of something to make sure he didn’t fall down. The kind that simultaneously made him feel like he could disintegrate and conquer the world at the same time. He adored that kind. Reassurance flowed through him due to the knowledge that his lady could transform, therefore so could he.

“Your turn, kitty,” Ladybug prompted, endearingly. She made him feel like he could do anything. Screw what his dad did to them, screw not having any memories, in fact, screw the whole damn world, all of that was nothing if he had her by his side. He cocked his hip dramatically and smirked.

“Plagg, claws out!”

………………………

Ladybug couldn’t have prepared herself for this moment. Sure, she had a vague idea of what would happen based on her own transformation that had occurred moments prior, but Adrien’s transformation was so incredibly him that it surely made her turn the same color as her suit. Naturally, he struck a dramatic pose that would put any one of the characters in Sailor Moon to shame. It was clear that he subconsciously remembered all the anime Nino said they’d watched together. Ladybug grinned widely as he ran his fingers through his hair, leaving the cutest and most fitting ears behind. She watched curiously as his left ear, his human one, was left with a single dangly earring, the charm of which she couldn’t quite see.

Bright green light illuminated the room as a pointed black mask surrounded his green cat eyes, now looking much more at place behind the mask. While her transformation was fully top down, once his head was equipped, his transformation started from his feet and travelled upwards. His borrowed sneakers stylishly replaced with heavy combat boots with green laces and cat paws on the bottom Stella McCartney would have been jealous. Chat struck another pose, this one placing his left hand (gloved with claws) at his hip, his weight on that leg, and his right hand (also gloved with claws) effortlessly held up to his face, as the magic traveled up his legs covering them in black leather. Ladybug’s blush deepened when she realized the fabric choice.

The leather pants had piping up the sides that was so thin, you almost couldn’t see it, but Ladybug could, as her heart stammered because of it. The piping, differing from the rest of the colored accents, was not green. It was red. The same red that could be found on her suit. The pants were finished with a thick, leather belt covered in silver grommets that was so long, it extended down acting like a tail. His upper body was quickly clad in, to her delight, more black leather. Instead of the one piece they’d seen  in photos of him from before, his torso was left by the magic in a perfectly tailored motorcycle jacket barely unzipped near the top, revealing a thick, black choker with a comically large gold bell which he flicked with a wink as his transformation ended.

She felt faint. No human being should be allowed to walk around the earth looking like this. He was unreal. If she thought he looked like a model before, then after his transformation, he looked like an alien from a planet full of the most beautiful people in the universe. Not her best simile, but her brain from fried from the overload of well- hotness emanating from the man in front of her. Unlike her, he didn’t even look at himself. He just turned to her immediately, crossed his arms (she tried to ignore the way she could see all of the muscles in his arms through the leather), and cocked his head to the left with a smile.

“Well?” He questioned in a teasing mockery of her earlier statement. He seemed like a different person, much more confident and smug, but in the most endearing way possible. She wanted to ruffle his hair, scratch behind his ears, and give him a kiss on the cheek simultaneously. Chat flexed his muscles jokingly, “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?” Ladybug wanted to respond to him; she really did. Unfortunately, her cavewoman ooga-booga brain inhibited her from saying anything intelligent.

“Not yet,” she murmured in a daze. Chat quickly dropped his act with a cough and a beet red face. “I-I MEAN UM CLOCHETTE f-for the, um bell,” she recovered, not well though. “Anyways, um, you- you look… Y-you know like a superhero w-would look. So that’s a win, huh? Super-guy, heh,” she trailed off awkwardly and punched his shoulder much like an awkward uncle would do when he doesn’t have any other ideas to engage with his cool nephew.

“This is painful to watch,” Alya chimed from across the room. Chat turned his head to look at their friend, and Ladybug was greeted with a closer look at his earring. It was a mirror image of the yin and yang symbol she sported on her chest containing the symbols for both of their miraculous. Without thinking, she reached out to grab the jewelry to better compare the two symbols. Unfortunately for Chat, she just ended up yanking his ear.

“OW OW OW OWWwww,” he whimpered, his behavior a total 180 from the Chat Noir they’d witnessed a few minutes prior. He ducked down to stop her pulling, but he misjudged their height difference and crashed his head into hers.

“AHHH!” They both screeched, recoiling to rub their own collision sites. In a flash, Alya and Nino were there standing between them.

“The bumbling was cute ONE time! Now it’s getting ridiculous, bro… There’s a lot we have to do guys, you can oogle each other later, preferably when I am NOWHERE in the vicinity. Thank you. Master Fu, take it away!” Nino monologued like a man who’d seen one too many bashful looks. Ladybug felt extremely guilty and very sheepish that she’d basically forgotten there were other people in the room earlier, but she really couldn’t help herself. One look at Chat or Adrien and she was a total goner. She heard Master Fu chuckle lightly.

“So now we know the two of you can transform.”

Chapter Text

Ladybug felt her eyes growing tired. After Alya and Nino left, Master Fu had spent the rest of the day helping them rediscover their powers, and while she was excited to learn more about what they could do, there was only so much information she could take. At the moment, Master Fu was tending to his shop, and the duo were slumped against the back wall taking a much needed break. She turned her head to look at her partner and let herself observe him. The superhero was leaning his head back against the wall and had his eyes pinched shut. He looked just as tired as Ladybug felt.

“How are you holding up, kitty?” She asked wearily. Her voice sounded foreign to her own ears as no one had spoken for the last ten or so minutes. Chat turned his head to her without opening his eyes and smiled, looking half-asleep but determined nonetheless.

“I’m great, my lady. I can’t wait to keep training,” he trailed off as if he was actually being taken over by sleep causing Ladybug to smile and lightly tap his cheek with her right hand.

“Hey, dummy, if I have to be awake, so do you,” she teased. She noticed their dynamic was slightly different when they were transformed, and it was really sweet to see him be this dopey. Not that he wasn’t when he was Adrien, but as Chat, it was like that side of himself was amplified to the tenth power. She smiled as she watched him struggle to pry his eyes open.

“I’m sorry, my lady. I’m right here I swear I-”

“It’s okay, kitty,” she cut him off and instinctively scratched behind his ears. “I was only teasing.” A comfortable silence settled over the pair as Ladybug realized she hadn’t heard from Tikki since she transformed. Tikki? She thought. After a few minutes passed with no response, she came to her own conclusion that she wasn’t going to hear anything from her kwami until she detransformed, something she had yet to do. Her thoughts were interrupted by her partner.

“This is the first time we’ve been alone since we were in there. In,” he hesitated painfully. “In my dad’s place.” She felt him look at her, turning his whole body to do so, but she couldn’t return the favor. She knew the look that would be in his eyes, and she couldn’t bear to see him in pain like that. Instead, she just wrapped an arm around him and encouraged him to lie in her lap as he continued. “I think I remember more now. I don’t know if this is happening to you, but the longer we’re transformed, the more of my memories I feel coming back to me. Like, like it’s healing us or something.”

“Me too, kitty,” was all she could say as she absentmindedly scratched his ears. “I remember a few things, but they’re mostly, uh about you.” Chat turned in her lap so he was looking up at her, silently urging her to continue. “Just little random things, like how you like your coffee or how you modeled some of my designs when we were in school. You’re just like, this grounding point for me I guess? All the things I can remember can be linked to you either as Chat or Adrien.” She looked down at him as she finished to see a beaming grin covering his face.

“I am? I knew I meant the world to you, my lady,” he flirted with a smirk, something she’d noticed him doing a lot more when transformed, earning an eyeroll from Ladybug. “Seriously though, without you, I- I don’t know what I would do. I’m remembering things about my dad, and they’re not, well, good. Not like lock us underground bad, but like, they’re another kind of abusive bad. I- don’t really want to talk about it, but I know that you- Marinette and Ladybug- were how I got through things.” He moved to sit directly in front of her, crossing his legs and grabbing her hands as he looked so sincerely in her eyes, it almost hurt. “Thank you,” is all he said, but it felt heavier than that. To both of them. Before Ladybug could respond, Master Fu entered the backroom.

“Ladybug, Chat Noir, I’m sorry for the delay, I had to close the shop for the night. I thought you would have detransformed by now, you must be tired,” he finished, and then read the room. “Oh, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything. I can leave for a bit longer if you like…”

“No!” The duo responded in unison out of embarrassment, though not having anything to really feel embarrassed about.  Master Fu chuckled knowingly, and Ladybug felt compelled to voice a concern.

“Master, how, uh, I don’t remember how to, detransform,” she mumbled as she awkwardly removed her hands from Chat’s and crossed the room to address the guardian.

“You say, Tikki, spots off and Plagg, claws in, for you Chat Noir.” As soon as the words left the elderly man’s mouth, Ladybug and Chat uttered them quietly and without hesitation. Ladybug felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as the effects of the miraculous lessened in her civilian form. Her knees buckled, but before she could even stumble slightly, strong arms wrapped around her own.

“Woah, Mari. Don’t worry, I’ve got you,” Adrien’s voice reassured her. Her heart fluttered in her chest. She knew he must have felt as weak as she did, and yet he was able to be there for her in more ways than one. “Thanks for helping us, Master. Um, I hate to ask because you’ve already done so much, but is there a place we can sleep for the night?”

“I have arranged for someone to take you to my apartment, and I will stay here. Alya dropped off bags there for each of you with clothes and other things you may need. She also told me to tell you to ‘not get too crazy you lovebirds.’ Her words. Anyway, here’s a key for you, and the car should be waiting outside.” Marinette blushed as she took the keys from the elderly man’s outstretched hand.

“Thank you so much. I don’t know how to properly thank you for everything you’ve done-“ she was cut off before she could finish her sentiment.

“It’s nothing. I’m doing my duty as a guardian. You can thank me by kicking the, how do you kids say, living crap out of Hawkmoth,” he finished earning a tired laugh from the pair. With a brief hug and a wave, they walked out of the back exit of the shop to find a silver car waiting for them. The two locked eyes, each one silently promising to protect the other in case this plan went south, and then Adrien opened the door.

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

The heart attack that Adrien felt when he saw who was driving the car would’ve killed anyone who wasn’t conveniently merged with an ancient cat god of destruction. The man in the driver’s seat was none other than the 300 pound mass of muscle who was last seen guarding the door of his evil, abusive, Hawkmoth of a father’s house. Before Adrien could shriek or transform or something of that nature, Marinette spoke up.

“Hi there! Thank you for driving us to the apartment, I know it’s kind of late, and I hope we’re not keeping you,” her voice sounded cheery and genuine, proving to Adrien that she didn’t recognize this probable threat. He turned to her with wide eyes, but she didn’t get his message. He frantically looked at the man to see if he would crash the car or something, but he simply nodded, non-verbally saying, “No problem.”

“Uh,,, heyyyy..” Adrien got his attention uneasily. “Do you, remember us? Or me at least?” He nodded again. “Are you, going to take us to my father?” Marinette sat up straight at this query, worry clouding her face as her adrenaline began to visibly remove all traces of tiredness from her demeanor. The man shook his head. “Why not?” He looked at Adrien very briefly before placing his eyes back on the road silently. He reached for something in the passenger seat, and Adrien instinctively placed his arm over Marinette.

“Ergg,” the man grunted as he reached his arm back to place something in Adrien’s lap. It was a small plastic figurine that, upon closer inspection resembled a superhero clad in what he assumed was the old Ladybug costume. Confusion filled his mind as he studied this strange present. So, is this guy a double agent, or…

Maybe he’s trying to say he’ll help you because he knows who you are, dingus.

Maybe… I mean, he did help me escape from Asshat’s house. Well, I guess my old house. Adrien’s thoughts were put to a halt by Marinette’s bubbling laughter.

“That was Adrien’s?” She laughed, pointing the question towards the quiet man who nodded with a small smile on his large face. “That’s priceless,” Marinette managed through giggles. Adrien lifted an eyebrow hoping to get an explanation. “He worked for your dad as your bodyguard when you were younger, and well, he was going to quit but he saw how you were being treated so he stayed. He’s actually the only person who could logically drive us, I mean… If your dad has as much pull as you say he does… This is kind of the perfect plan,” she finished and directed her attention again to the man in the front seat. “Thank you for protecting this cinnamon roll for as long you did.”

“Ok,” Adrien laughed awkwardly, not knowing what to do with himself as the man smiled widely at him through the rearview mirror. “Thanks…” He nodded again as the car came to a stop in front of a small coffee shop. “Is this…?” Adrien didn’t finish asking his question before his bodyguard nodded (is that all this guy does???) and pointed up with his hand indicating it was a studio apartment on top of the café. Adrien opened the door and nodded in appreciation at the man (he figured he would understand it more than words) before stepping into the cold air and offering his hand to his lady to help her out of the car. They waved as it pulled away, and the night grew silent.

“I never thought I would want to sleep again considering how much we did, uh, you know where, but I am actually going to pass out I think,” Marinette remarked coolly while pulling Adrien along with her to the door. Disbelief at her understanding anything that happened in the car must have been all over his face because his lady laughed softly after unlocking the door. “Don’t worry about it, kitty, just keep being being my biggest fan, and everything will be fine.” She held up the Ladybug toy from the car, winked, and walked through the door.

“Ughhh,” he groaned. “I’m never going to hear the end of this am I?” They laughed as the ascended the stairs and entered the cozy apartment.

Chapter Text

Adrien was happy. In fact, he couldn’t recall a time in which he’d felt this happy. To be fair, he couldn’t recall a lot of times he’d had, so there wasn’t much competition. After he and Marinette entered the apartment, they (mostly she because Adrien didn’t think he could actually in the first place) came to the conclusion that they had reached the level of tired at which they couldn’t sleep.

Due to this, they had explored the place until they found out it had a rooftop balcony, sparking some memory too deep down in both of their psyches to really comprehend, and made quick work of gathering blankets and mugs for hot chocolate. Currently, he was snuggled far into a very soft blanket in a chair only a few inches away from his counterpart. They were quiet, enjoying the view around them, for they weren’t sure if they would get this time again. As the moon steadily rose in the sky, the soft, cool breeze quickly escalated into a wind, and Adrien found himself buried in a memory.

TWO MONTHS EARLIER

Chat Noir sat next to his lady in a pleasant silence atop Le Grand Paris Hotel watching Paris slowly wind down to go to sleep. Each building slowly turning off their lights whilst others turned them on, resulting in a never-ending twinkling lightshow. The two had been on patrol on a relatively quiet night, but each one claimed they felt like there would be an akuma and had grabbed a coffee before landing in their current spot. Neither one was telling the truth, and they both knew that. However, neither cared, for they were just happy to spend some uninterrupted time together no matter how tired they would be for their respective university classes in the morning.

“I like seeing Paris like this,” Ladybug murmured looking wistfully out into the horizon, the lights of the city reflecting in her large eyes. Chat was suddenly struck with the realization that she should be the subject of a painting. A beautiful subject who appears serene, calm, and gentle with a quiet, but persistent source of power emanating from her. He had to take a large sip of his scalding hot coffee to jerk himself out of the trance she had inadvertently lulled him into. Me-ouch.

“Like what, bug?”

“Peaceful? Quiet? Happy?” She paused long enough to look Chat directly in the eyes. “Safe.” He knew what she meant. Hawkmoth had made sure the two of them would have their hands full just trying to keep Parisian citizens from dying, let alone ensuring safety. “I want it to be like this indefinitely.” Her posture drooped as Chat picked up on her frustrations and tried his best to make it go away, even if it was only temporary.

“It will be. It’s thanks to you that it’s even momentarily like this at all. Annnd somedaaaaayy… it will be like this…… Indefinitely,” he reassured her, infusing his voice with as much optimism as he could manage. She stayed quiet and returned her focus to the horizon. An unvoiced question five years in the making loomed over the two of them like a tropical storm cloud, just barely holding off the rain before the inevitable downpour.

“I just- don’t know how much longer I can balance everything. How long is it going to last? I really just, I really just want this to be over,” she finished with a sigh, resting her head on her right hand as she looked at Chat, who was trying his hardest not to show the hurt radiating from his chest.

“This?” He turned his head the other way to hide his eyes from her inquisitive gaze, not yet picking up on his intent. “Us?” There it was. That word, us. That one word haunted the two of them like the ghost of Catherine Earnshaw to the residents of Wuthering Heights, unrelenting and desperate. That one word that carried so much weight Ladybug set her coffee down but said nothing in response. Chat took a deep breath and continued, “What are we without Hawkmoth?”

“We’re Ladybug and Chat Noir. The protectors of Paris,” she began matter-of-factly. Chat Noir couldn’t help himself any longer.

“Is that all we are?”

“Chat-”

“I know I joke around a lot, but I-” he corrected himself. “Do you know how much you mean to me? How I don’t know where I would be without you? I can’t speak for you, but I know I need this- whatever this is- in my life,” he halted his confession and looked around the rooftop insecurely. His eyes landed on a rosebush planted near the pool area, and wordlessly, he leapt over to it, plucked a rose, and returned to their perch. He rolled the stem between his gloved hands, eyes never leaving the bright red bloom. His lady made no move to chime in, so he laughed humorlessly, “I feel like I’m fifteen.” He heard Ladybug exhale softly through her nose and extended his arm to offer her the rose with the words, “Can you promise me that, no matter what, we will have each other?”

Seconds felt like hours as she studied the bloom in his outstretched hand, and he studied her face. Her mouth was slightly agape, but other than that, there was no discernable emotion on her face. Her hand twitched, and they locked eyes. It was one of those moments where Chat was certain she was the only other person on the planet. Her bright, blue eyes were filled with something, but he couldn’t for the life of him make out what it was. He saw out of the corner of his eye that she brought her hand up to his, and his heart fluttered in hopes she would accept the rose. But she didn’t. At least he didn’t think she did.

“I think it’s impossible for anything else,” she remarked quietly, almost shy as she laced her fingers through his around the rose. “You will always have me, and I will always have you. It’s how we work.” He couldn’t feel anything whilst simultaneously feeling every little thing. “Chat, you’re my partner. Without you, I know for a fact I wouldn’t even be alive. I… I don’t know if I can promise that exactly, but I’m gonna promise that I will do everything in my power to keep you in my life.” She brought her eyes up to his again, then the two intuitively leaned their foreheads together. They both sighed.

They stayed there like that for a while, two superheroes sitting next to each other, holding hands around a rose that symbolized an eternal bond, romantic or not, signifying their importance to one another. After a while, she momentarily broke contact to lay her head on his shoulder as the two watched the moon make it’s slow journey across the sky. Chat was in a state of comfortable bliss, the feeling almost  comparable to the few (unfortunately) times they had kissed over the years but not quite. In this moment, it didn’t matter to him if they were never romantic ever again. Her presence was enough for him.

“Thank you, my lady. For everything,” he whispered just loud enough for her to hear. She nuzzled closer to him clearly, despite the coffee, getting tired as she hummed softly.

“You mean everything to me. We’ve been through so much, and you’ve held up so well. You’re like… the strongest thing in the world… like a diamond or something,” she trailed off as he could tell her eyelids were growing heavy. He turned his head slightly to plant a kiss on top of her head and laced his fingers through her other hand. Her hair smelled like wind and her fingers were numb from the cold. He thought about how he wanted everyone to experience this feeling he got when someone compares you to something invincible or unbreaking. Love like this is the most amazing thing.

…………………….

Adrien sat upright in his chair, overwhelmed at the feeling of memory. At the feeling of love. Despite the chill in the air around him, he felt warm and looked toward the chair Marinette was in to recount the new information he had recovered to her, but his stomach dropped when he found the chair empty. He stood up fiercely.

“Mari?” He called into the night with no response. He sprinted into the apartment as he began his frantic search for her, tearing the place apart in the process. The more he looked, the worse he felt for getting so swept up in the past and leaving her on her own. After searching the apartment three different times, he came up with nothing, and Plagg was being annoyingly silent. “She’s gone. Holy shit. What am I gonna do? What am I supposed to do?” He was losing it as he slowly realized how isolated he was, he didn’t even have a phone to call anyone with. His breathing became increasingly faster, and the apartment felt to him as though the walls were closing in. He climbed up to the roof to get some air as he realized that he was having a panic attack.

“Did she leave you?” A voice he knew too well spoke, cutting through the night like a blade. “I knew she would, that’s why I wanted to keep you where you were. To protect you. You can’t trust her, Adrien.” Adrien steadied his breath with great effort and shouted into the night.

“Plagg, claws out!” He felt power wash over him as the miraculous took effect and turned to face the man who had easily become the bane of his existence. Hawkmoth took a step towards him while a bloodcurdling smile and gave him a once over.

“I like your new look, son. It suits you well, pun intended.” Oh no, this asshat did NOT just make a fucking pun.

“Don’t call me son,” Chat seethed before launching himself clumsily at his father who dodged his attack with ease. “Where is she?!”

“Son, I didn’t come here to fight. I came here to help you. We can help each other, I believe.” Chat actually laughed at this.

“Yeah, right. That makes total sense, like you didn’t just KIDNAP MY PARTNER!” Chat continued to jump, run and flip around the roof in attempts to tackle or at least catch Hawkmoth, but he sidestepped every attempt made.

“Adrien-”

“I’m not Adrien.” He stopped trying, as he was getting nowhere.

“Chat Noir,” Hawkmoth started in a mocking tone. “I didn’t kidnap her. She left you. I saw you up here alone and came to check on you.”

“And why the fuck would you do that?”

“Because you’re my son, and I,” the villain hesitated. “I love you.” Chat Noir felt something deep down snap, and tears began streaming down his face.

“W-what’s happening?” Chat sputtered out. Hawkmoth didn’t say anything, but he stiffly crossed the roof to wrap his arms around his son who began to realize that was the first time his father had said those words to him.

“Come home,” was all that came out of Hawkmoth’s mouth, buried in Chat’s hair as the superhero cried into his chest. He was overwhelmed by so many emotions that flew threw his mind, his chest, his whole being. This man holding him was insane. He was abusive, Chat knew this, but he was also his father. There was something comforting to Chat about this embrace, and that fact scared him immensely. But not enough to move. “I’m sorry for my, dire actions. I felt as though I had no other options available to me. I was only doing what was best for you. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“But I did,” Chat sobbed silently, shaking as anger began to take residence in his veins.

“Because of her.”

“What?”

“It’s all because of her, son.”

Chapter Text

Gabriel Agreste didn’t think he was a bad person. In actuality, he saw himself as a family man. The affluent designer had spent his days and nights pouring over his notes about what the miraculous were capable of all in hopes to get his wife back to complete his family once again. For years, he told himself that once Emelie was back, she would unite their family, and he could stop worrying about how to talk to his son, something that he really did not know how to do.

He’d had it all planned out, he was going to use the miraculous’ power to bring back his love, finally have a relationship with his son, and then retire to some lovely island country where no one he loved could escape him ever again. He’d experienced too much loss to allow anyone out of his grasp. The man could afford anything in any store, but the one thing he simply couldn’t afford was to lose his family.

What he didn’t plan for was the very large fact that Chat Noir would be the son he had so desperately wanted to connect with. A large- small snag, he’d told himself at the time. Surely if his son knew why he had to chase after the miraculous for all these years, he’d want to help, right? Unfortunately, things weren’t so simple. He’d gone through the events of that night over and over again in his head every day since, seething in anger. It wasn’t until the night that those pests had escaped his hold that he realized something new.

………………………. THE NIGHT OF THE EXPLOSION……………………………..

Chat Nucléaire had just uttered the only five words that could briefly stun the experienced villain’s heart, “This is for my mom.” Pain that Hawk Moth had been feeding on for years came bursting up like blood seeping out of an old wound, freshly ripped open. In a flash of neon green, the three miraculous users were thrown in different directions. As the dust cleared, Hawk Moth slowly opened his eyes to see his two adversaries disoriented and slowly gathering their bearings, but something was different about them. The pair appeared to be glowing, and the formerly akumatized Chat Nucléaire was back to his Noir self.

Frantically, Hawk Moth ran to the pair, fully intending to rip the jewels off of their lifeless forms but was greeted with a surprise he did not know what to do with. When he reached Ladybug and grabbed her earrings, they were not budging, as if they’d been glued to her earlobes. He drew his hand back in horror as he slowly began to realize what had occurred. Terrified, he approached Chat Noir to confirm his fears, the ring that had consumed his waking consciousness was not moving from the superhero’s finger.

“No,” he whispered as his eyes scanned the room, taking in the situation. Chat Noir was out cold, clearly not waking up for quite some time, but Ladybug began to stir slowly. Hawk Moth stood over her menacingly as her eyes fluttered open, a determined look present even in her weakened state.

“You won’t win. No matter what you do, I won’t let you win. Even if it kills me,” she muttered as she wobbled to her feet. A dark cloud washed over Hawk Moth, thoughts spurred into the depths as he considered something seriously for the first time in five years. What if it did kill her? Could the kwami stay fused to a corpse? He watched in twisted glee as the spotted super stepped back in fear of his demonic expression. In one second, they both held their weapons, poised in a stance ready for combat.

“It just might, Ladybug,” Hawk Moth growled, and they both leapt into action. It had been different fighting Chat Noir, his weapon was the most useful for up close combat, staff meeting cane in hard clashes, but Ladybug was better suited for strategy, for distance. They got in equal hits on each other before she shot into the rafters, leaping from beam to beam with the poise of a jaguar never losing sight of her prey. But then again, neither did he. He watched her as he mimicked her movements from the ground, not paying attention to where he was stepping.

“Give it up, pest. You’re just biding time. You can’t use your lucky charm again without detransforming first. Come down here and fight me, so you can lose with a shred of dignity.” He heard her let out a sharp bark of laughter.

“Dignity? Like you know anything about that. Tell that to the civilians who will be in therapy indefinitely for the psychological trauma you put them through!” She exclaimed as she continued shifting her position above him. For the life of him, Hawk Moth could not figure out her endgame; what was she trying to achieve? He stayed just beneath her, focus never straying as she moved about the conservatory. It wasn’t until Hawk Moth tripped slightly that he looked at his own feet. In chasing her, he’d loss sight of what was truly important: Emilie, his love, his reason for living.

Blood roared in his ears as he stared at the plug no longer attached to the wall, hanging motionless as the little life left in his love drained along with his own. The only thing keeping her alive was gone, and it was his fault. No, it was Ladybug’s fault. It was her plan all along to get him to do this, to lose her.  Tears blurred his vision as he whirled around to face Ladybug who’d silently dropped down beside him.

“What have you done?” He accused as his head reeled. She looked at him with, was that pity? She took a step toward him gently, and he all but hissed as he retreated violently, not knowing what to do for the first time in five years.

“I, I didn’t know that would happen. I promise I-’

“She was what this was for. All of this. For her, and for,” he trailed off in disbelief as he looked at the immobile Chat Noir. “Him.” A moment of silence, of pause passed between the two as they both assessed the ruins of what once was the Agreste family. Ladybug wore a grimace on her face as silent tears poured out from behind both of their masks. Hawk Moth couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t focus. Couldn’t speak. What was the point of living if there was no hope for his family?

 Suddenly, blind rage flooded over him in a tsunami. She had killed his wife. Impulsively and too quickly for Ladybug to comprehend, he raised his cane high above his head before crashing it down onto hers as he succumbed to his own anger, much like his victims over the years had. He chuckled humorlessly as he watched the great Ladybug crumple to the ground like a marionette with no strings.

………………………………………….

Gabriel had known it was because of Ladybug, because of Marinette Dupain-Cheng that his wife, the mother of his child was dead for some time, but it wasn’t until Adrien had so blatantly chosen her, his mother’s killer, over him, his own father, that he knew he had to tell him the truth. Over the next few days, he’d spent copious amounts of time and money to learn the whereabouts of that disrespectful but horribly uninformed son of his. Now, he had him, literally. He sighed as his son sought comfort in his arms for the first time in years. All Gabriel had to do was tell him the truth. His ‘love’ and partner was evil, far more evil than Gabriel could ever be.

“Adrien, do you remember your mother?” Gabriel started softly, flinching when his son ripped away from him, any warmth that was previously there dissipating quicker than it arrived. Chat’s face was black, strategically so.

“What do you mean?” Chat inquired, and Gabriel could tell his son was trying not to spit in his face. Progress, he supposed.

“Do you remember her?”

“I remember flashes. It’s coming back, but not fast enough. I know that I loved her. A lot. I know that she’s gone. She left?” He sighed in defeat. “I don’t know I just know I miss her. Do you know where she is?” The question made Gabriel’s eyes water. Chat Noir looked so sad, so broken, Gabriel could barely contain his anger. This was Ladybug’s fault, and he would make her pay. They both would.

“She… Son, this is what I’ve been trying to tell you. Your mother, is dead,” Gabriel broke slightly as this was the first time he had said this a loud. He broke more when he saw what it did to his son. Chat fell back into the chair on the roof as sobs racked his body. “I can take you to her, if you want.” Chat shook his head passionately.

“What happened to her?” He croaked angrily. “What did you do to her?”

“I didn’t do anything; I was trying to save her. Ladybug, she-”

“What? She what? What about her?”

“She killed your mother. I didn’t know how to tell you, but when you left with her- You had to know. That’s why I was looking for you. That’s why I held you two the way I did. I just didn’t know how to go about this situation. I lost my wife, your mother, my family…” Not entirely a lie, but not the whole truth either. If Gabriel wanted to get her back, he needed Chat Noir, and he needed him angry. Angry at Ladybug in particular.

“WHAT YOU LOST?” Chat roared. “Wha- what the fuck is going on- She would never do that!”

“With all due respect, you don’t know her,” Gabriel said as gently as he could. He knew this situation needed to be handled with care. Chat Noir was a bomb, they both knew this., but Gabriel needed to make sure he wasn’t the target. “I understand this is hard to hear. I only ask you to come with me. I need to protect you from her-”

“If that were true why did you keep us together like that?” Chat Noir spat, but Gabriel could tell the anger was not entirely placed his way. He could work with this.

“Son, you don’t understand how hard it was to see you that lonely. I had to-”

“NO! You didn’t have to do anything. You held us HOSTAGE! If this is true-”

“It is.”

“Let me FINISH!” Chat stood up angrily and paced across the rooftop. “What did you hope to achieve?” Chat could read his father well, so Gabriel chose his next words carefully. Lacing just enough truth to sway his son’s allegiance.

“To put it plainly, I wanted revenge. Revenge that you deserve as well, and you can help me.” His son stared at him incredulously before turning away to look out onto the horizon.

“I need time to think there’s too much- There’s too much in my head, and I don’t know what’s true… Where did you take her? Don’t bullshit me. I need to see her.”

“Why would you want to see her? She left you, son. She- She killed your mother.”

“SHUT UP! I just- I need to look her in the eyes to see the truth. Take me to her. If you don’t have her, get her. I won’t go with you until you have her.” Chat spoke evenly, so much so that even Gabriel was a little unnerved. “I will stay here until you have her, and then we can talk about revenge."

Chapter Text

Ladybug panted heavily as she desperately tried to run away from the dark blue figure that was chasing her. It pained her to leave Adrien behind, but she had to lead the threat away from him. She was currently bounding over the rooftops surrounding their ‘safe’ house which was apparently never safe at all. It wasn’t long after she and Adrien had nestled into their respective chairs on the patio that she began to feel something was slightly off, but she had brushed it off as survivor’s guilt and sipped her hot chocolate as Adrien hadn’t seemed bothered. In fact, he hadn’t seemed anything. It was like he wasn’t there. So far away that when this dark blue shadow landed on their patio he didn’t react. He didn’t even blink.

“We have to transform!” She screamed at him, but he remained immobile. Seeing no other option, she transformed and made quick work of engaging this ominous figure in hesitant combat. She didn’t know who they were, but she knew deep down that they were bad, and they meant to do harm to Adrien. She couldn’t let that happen. The brief training they had received earlier in the night came in handy as she clumsily got back into her muscle memory of how to use her weapon. Throwing her yoyo out, she swung away from her partner, hoping the figure would follow. They did.

What she hadn’t thought about was how tiring this would be. It’s one thing to hear about how she was a superhero, but it’s another to be fully swinging from the rooftops, running for her life. Her body was tired from the two weeks of inactivity juxtaposed with the past few days being chock full of activity. Her tired feet landed a bit too hard on the top of a store about ten rooftops away from where they started. Her lungs ached as they tried to supply enough oxygen to her muscles to allow them to continue her efforts to keep this figure at bay.

“Wh- who are you?” She managed to bark.

“Do you truly not remember me? I’m hurt, Ladybug. It appears that my partner did quite the number on your psyche,” the figure paused to let out an unnerving chuckle. “My name, dear bug, is Mayura. The last time we met things went… Awry. That will never happen again.” A cold smile slowly stretched across Mayura’s cheeks. It was at that moment, Ladybug noticed the fan in her hands. What appeared to be soft feathers at first glance turned to razors at the smallest, inconceivable flick of the villain’s wrist. The superheroine gulped nervously and gripped her yoyo, taking a deep breath to calm herself before spinning the weapon furiously, creating a shield.

“No matter what you may do to me, I will never stop fighting you.” This statement appeared to bore Mayura as she sighed.

“I suppose you don’t need any memories to spout overused cliches. In any case, I’m counting on it, insect.” The spotted hero didn’t have a chance to ponder what that meant before her makeshift shield was put to the test. Sweat beaded her brow as she struggled to hold off the older miraculous user. Mayura fought offensively, causing Ladybug to stay reactionary, something she eventually realized was to her detriment, so she used her remaining strength to vault over her opponent, effectively dodging her attack and landing safely a few feet away. Using their temporary distance, she called on her own power.

“Lucky charm!” In a flash of pink, she found herself holding a spotted coffee mug. Now what the hell am I gonna do with this? Understanding hit her like a ton of bricks. Mayura was distracting her. Keeping her away from Adrien. Cursing under her breath, she threw her yoyo and pulled herself in the direction of where she left him. Ladybug felt like an idiot. She fell prey to Hawk Moth and Mayura yet again, and if something were to happen to Adrien while she was gone, she would never forgive herself. As she neared her destination, her stomach dropped when she could make out two figures on the patio. Landing in the shadows of a neighboring rooftop, she felt ill as she watched Chat Noir shake violently while their enemy, his father, wrapped his treacherous arms around his son.

“No,” she whispered in disbelief to herself as she noted what felt like betrayal settled in her stomach. What was going on? She was just out of earshot, so she couldn’t make out what they were saying. Her ears perked up as she crept closer to the edge of her perch and watched as Chat straightened out and took a small step away from his father. Her heart stopped when she heard him clear his throat and speak the words that would have caused Ladybug to lose her balance had her life not depended on it. 

“What do you want me to do?” His voice was steel. Ice cold metal under the brief guise of Chat Noir, and it cut her. Deep. There was no emotion behind his words. No hints to the cheshire cat she knew. The only detectable emotions he may be feeling lay in the tears drying on his mask and cheeks. Her brow furrowed as she tried to understand what was happening, but nothing made sense. The Chat she had come to know in her limited memories was not the Chat she watched from away at this very moment. Horror covered her features as she witnessed what was left of her sanity crumble before her eyes.

“Come home with me. I can explain whatever else you need and answer any questions you may have.” She shuddered at Hawk Moth’s proposition. Chat Noir scoffed humorlessly.

“Go with you to the place where you held me hostage? Where you held her hostage?” Ladybug held her breath as a realization visibly dawned on Chat Noir. “Were you holding my mom hostage?” At this last query, an inkling of emotion worked its way back into his voice. Hawk Moth took a step toward him, but it was countered with a step back from his son. “Don’t-” he sighed. “Don’t answer that, I- I need to be alone.”

“Of course, son-”

“DON’T call me son!” He roared. Ladybug felt like a spectator, an audience member instead of a partner and it tore her heart in two. She covered her mouth to silence her frantic breathing.

“Of course, Chat Noir. You can take as much time as you need in your old room-”

“No. I am not going back there. Back to that place,” he spat. “I need to be alone on my own terms. When- if I want to talk to you, I’ll find you. But you have to promise me you will not look for me or pay off drivers or do whatever the hell you did to find me here.”

“This situation calls for-”

“Promise me!”

“I promise.”

“That goes for her too,” he added quietly. Her spirit soared at his mention of her.

“Chat Noir, she killed your mother.” She what? It was as if the floor dropped from underneath her. In all the horrible things she’s experienced or imagined, she could never have anticipated that. Had she? There’s no way. She may not know herself, but if there was one thing she knew it’s that she wasn’t a murderer. Right? Before she could hear what Chat said in response, her mind flooded with images, disconnected, blurry, and tinged green. A flash of her fist colliding Hawk Moth’s, a fleeting memory of her taunting him from far below her, and a painful visual of a plug coming loose from the wall. A plug? She closed her eyes and focused to follow the chord to the coffin it connected to. A coffin containing a beautiful woman with the same golden hair and skin as her partner. 

Bile rose in her throat as she registered that Hawk Moth, for all his bullshit, may be right about her.

………….

“I don’t know that! You don’t know that!” His throat was scratchy from all his yelling, and he was tired.

“Yes I do!”

“You don’t! I don’t want to hear anything else, this is all too much for me to handle… I need to be alone- I am going to be alone. Leave me be, and most importantly, leave her be. ” Using the remainder of his strength, he lept into the night with tears unshed as he had none left to give. Before he knew what was happening, his muscles had taken him to the top of Le Grand Paris Hotel, and he collapsed onto a random balcony, too exhausted and upset to truly register what was happening. His eyes fluttered uncontrollably as he heard a nasal voice behind him. 

“Chat Noir?” He could barely find it in him, but he turned his head with great effort to look at the person behind him. She was tall and quite beautiful in a supermodel kind of way, with her blonde hair pulled up into a tight ponytail, leaving just the right amount of hair framing her face. Her slender figure was clothed in a fuzzy yellow bathrobe and matching slippers adorned the feet placed impatiently near his head. On another night, he probably would have at least greeted or apologized to the person who’s balcony he crashed onto. But this was not another night. He stayed silent after assessing her appearance, and closed his eyes. 

“Oh no you don’t,” she remarked and shocked him by kicking him in the head which may have hurt had she not been wearing such large slippers. “I don’t know what you’re doing here or where you’ve been for the last couple weeks, but you do NOT get to just show up here like this on spa night!” She punctuated her statement by leaning towards his face and pointing to her own, which he could now see was covered in a thin veil of semi opaque white cream. All he could manage was:

“Sorry.” 

“Sorry?! Sorry doesn’t-” she stopped short of her threat to really look at his face. “Chat, what’s going on? Are you in trouble? Do you need help?” She not-so-subtly pointed to a comb in her hair. He scoffed at her. “OK no need to be rude… You clearly are not ok, though,” she looked around, paranoia apparent on her features. “Come in.” She motioned to her open glass door. He did not move, causing her to roll her eyes. “This is utterly ridiculous,” she murmured as he felt her grab his arm and pull with all her might until he was fully inside her hotel suite. He watched her with disinterest through tired eyes as she closed the door and the blinds respectively.

“Chlo? What’s going on? Are you ok?” Great. Another person he has to interact with. From his place on the floor, he couldn’t see the person speaking, but their voice suggested they were typically quite serious. Chat just wanted to sleep.

“This doofus just showed up on our balcony, unannounced,” she regarded him with playful disdain, but her features softened when he didn’t react. “I think something is really wrong, Tsurugi.” He couldn’t keep his eyes open, but he kept listening to the pair as they discussed the state of him, something he didn’t even know. Their words faded in and out of his mind as he tried to put the last hour out of it.

“His suit…”

“I know…”

“Is she..?”

“I don’t think so…”

“We have to help….” was the last thing he heard before he passed the fuck out on the blonde’s living room floor.

…….

When he woke up, he didn’t recognize his surroundings. God, he was tired of that. Is it too much to ask to go to sleep and wake up in the same place multiple nights in a row? The darker place of his mind reminded him of his father’s house, but he pushed the thought away as quickly as it arose. Somehow, he had been moved from the floor (things were coming back to him) to a couch. He was still transformed, and he was wrapped from head to toe in a taupe fuzzy blanket. As annoyed as he was, there are worse things he could have woken up to. The blinds were still closed, but he could see slivers of sunlight breaking through the cracks. 

“Good morning, alley cat,” he recognized the blonde’s voice from the night prior. He merely nodded, not feeling the urge to speak. “Care to tell me why you’re here?” He shrugged. She rolled her eyes. “Look, you and I, we don’t have this kind of relationship. If it were Ladybug, I’d be different, but-” His breath caught at the mention of her. He felt torn. He knew he shouldn’t listen to his dad, and everything in him said he could trust her, but why would he lie about something so real?

“Yeah well I don’t remember you at all so…” He watched her mimic the reactions of Nino and Alya: shock, disbelief, pity. He didn’t want anyone’s pity. “Look, sorry about last night, it was an accident, thanks for taking me in, but I’ll just get out of your hair now.” He tried to stand, but found he could barely lift his own legs. 

“You’re hurt.” He scoffed, yet again.

“No shit.”

“You can stay here with me and my girlfriend as long as you need to, I guess. I-,” she sighed. “I don’t know what happened to you, but I know you haven’t detransformed since yesterday. Coming from someone who knows, that shit takes a lot out of you.” She gestured once again to the comb in her hair, and he briefly wondered if that was a miraculous. “If you don’t want to reveal yourself that’s cool, but at least take a shower.” Chat shrugged, not caring either way, and uttered the magic words to drop his transformation.

Chapter Text

He didn’t bother to stick around to know how the blonde and her girlfriend felt after seeing his whole face for the first time (? maybe? He really didn’t know where he stood with anyone anymore), and instead hauled himself off the couch and over to a door he severely hoped was a bathroom. Much to his relief, it was, and he ignored distant shouts while he fumbled with the controls of the shower, clawing his clothes off his body. His eyes ached, no actually, his whole body ached, but it seemed to be really concentrated in the backs of his eyes. As he numbly stepped into the stream of boiling water, he heard a dull banging against the door and closed his eyes, ignoring the noises that sounded suspiciously like his name, to let the full force of the water hit him directly in the face.

Adrien stood there, encouraging the water to suffocate him, for far longer than he would care to admit. The loss of breath gave him something to concentrate on, something he could control when his own life felt like it was spiraling into territory he could barely even reach. He only moved his face away from the water when he felt his own legs give out from underneath him, leaving him in an awkward position on the shower floor. 

Great. As if I wasn’t enough of a goddamned mess, I have to shower sitting down, he thought, unconsciously hoping to prompt some guidance from Plagg. The cat god was disturbingly quiet, but the pain behind Adrien’s eye grew tenfold as if he were trying to tell Adrien something, but it was just out of reach. This only added to the extreme feeling of loneliness that permeated his entire being. The only thing he thought he knew about himself was that he could trust Ladybug, he could trust Marinette. Though he knew his father wasn’t a great guy, (holding anyone hostage let alone his son tends to sway the scales towards this fact), Adrien couldn’t figure out a reason why he would lie about someone as important as his wife, the mother of his son. 

In a daze, he used the lavish soaps and shampoos in the shower until he no longer felt the physical grime on him, only his head felt like it wouldn’t feel fresh again. With considerable effort, he turned off the water in time to hear a muffled shout through the door.

“AGRESTE I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!” Adrien couldn’t help but briefly consider letting her. “God, why are things so complicated? I can’t-” she sighed. “I left some clothes for you outside the door. I get that you need space. I don’t know what happened or what has been going on, but I want you to know that I’m here. Childhood best friend. Totally unbiased. Great hair. Ready to listen to you when you’re ready. Until then, you have free roam of the suite, there’s coffee, tea, food, anything you want really. I’m leaving for the day.” He listened as her footsteps faded and quickly snagged the aforementioned clothes, throwing them on before hesitantly creeping into the living room, finding it empty as promised. 

Adrien made quick work of fixing himself a tea before settling in on the couch with his thoughts. He was quite annoyed at how quiet Plagg had gone, but to some extent he relished the silence. He realized the last time it was this silent was with Marinette, and he’d remembered things from his old life. The diametric of the then and now was beginning to make him feel dizzy. With some distance between him and his father, he was able to think more critically on what he’d said. Something about protecting him from Marinette because she’d-

“Fuck!” He interrupted his own train of thought. He didn’t believe that. Did he? He couldn’t believe that. She was the only thing that made sense in his ever changing world and sense of self. Also the memory he’d had right before his father had intruded on his solitude proved that her intentions were pure, so there was no way that she would do anything to intentionally hurt him, let alone anything as drastic as murder. No, he wouldn’t let his father get to him; something somewhere deep inside him told him that he couldn’t listen to anything his father said, like he’d done that before.

Feeling calmer than he had in the morning, Adrien set his now empty cup of tea on the coffee table and settled into his corner of the couch to rest a bit before the blonde inevitably came back to talk to him, all the while attempting to ignore the pang of longing he felt at the distance from Marinette.

……….

Marinette awoke on Nino and Alya’s couch with a sore neck. Sleeping so forcefully on a surface only intended for a light nap really did a number on one’s spinal alignment. Immediately, she felt her anxiety over Adrien’s well-being leak back into her consciousness, and she tried her best to put on a smile as she watched Nino walk through the living room into the kitchen, starting his morning routine. She felt it necessary to make her presence known because he had slept through her arrival the night prior.

“Hey, Nino!” He visibly jumped before turning around to face her hesitantly.

“Marinette! I did not know you were joining us today… Can I, uh, get you anything?”

“Um, no, it’s ok. I just didn’t want to scare you.”

“Little late for that,” he grumbled sleepily. “Where’s the other half?” An awkward beat passed before Marinette found it in her to respond. 

“He’s not here. I was actually going to enlist your help to find him…” Nino rubbed his eyes, waking up to the reality of the situation quickly.  “His father may or may not have told him something that is not true in the slightest about me and I’m worried the damage has already been done.” 

As Marinette brought Nino up to speed on the situation, she found herself wondering where this whole thing went wrong. could she have done anything differently? Would that have changed anything? Guilt built up in her throat as she spun the story, feeling so helpless for one who had such immense power. She hadn’t even noticed the tears rolling down her face until Nino handed her a tissue. 

“Marinette, Señor Agreste is a major douchebag who clearly has no qualms setting other people up for things that he’s responsible for. I know it’s a sucky situation, but it’s Adrien we’re talking about here. He’s always-“ Nino’s attempt at finding the bright side was cut off by a knock at the door. Sniffling, Marinette attempted to make herself more presentable while Nino grabbed the door.

”You have a lot of explaining to do, Nino. Did you know? Be honest with me! Did you know?” A flash of bleach blonde hair stormed into the small apartment, plopping herself on the plush couch.

”Chloe! Yes of course you can come in! Good morning to you too,” the man uttered under his breath. 

“I don’t have time for pleasantries, Lahiffe. Did you know?”

”You’re gonna have to be more specific, dude. Know what?”

”Don’t play dumb, it doesn’t suit you. I’m talking about Agreste.” At this, Marinette perked up, suddenly more interested in this blonde than she was previously.

”Adrien? Do you know him? Do you know where he is?” She blurted before nino could respond. Chloe slowly turned her face toward Marinette.

”Dupain-Cheng, I’m shocked.” She did not seem shocked. “How could I not have seen this coming, I mean really should have thought a little harder. That poor kid.” Nino sat down across from them.

”Chloe, that’s not fair to her, and you know that. Cut the shit, do you know where he is?”

”Number one, yes I know him, I’ve known him since diapers and you know that. Two, of course I do that is LITERALLY why I’m here. And three, see subsection fucking two.” 

“Marinette doesn’t have any memories. Er- well she does, just not really the ones you think she should have.” At this, Chloe studied Marinette as if she could be lying. A beat too long later, she slightly nodded her head, as if she’d found what she wanted to find. Marinette felt her antennae twitch, drawing Chloe’s eyes to her head, eyes widening. 

“I can’t believe you’re her. I mean I very much can because that’s 100% something that would happen to me. My biggest hero is… you.”

”You know me?”

”Ugh. Yes. Unfortunately I know you in and out of the suit. I’m- I’m really sorry Marinette. For everything. I know we haven’t seen each other that much over the years since then, but I’m still really sorry.” Chloe looked emotional, and Marinette had no idea how to handle that. “Anyway, I don’t mean to overwhelm you, I only-“

”Chloe?” Alya’s sleepy voice preceded her as she walked into the living room. Nino put his hand out, gesturing for her to have a seat. ”Why on God’s green earth are you in my living room at this ungodly hour. I haven’t even had any of my-“

“Adrien is at Le Grand Paris right now. In my room. Probably making himself some tea or coffee or asking for one of those idiotic energy drinks he loves so much that it will kill him one day.” Chloe’s outburst silenced the journalist, and Marinette stood so abruptly her head went a bit fuzzy.

”I’m going.” She made towards the door only to be stopped by a manicured hand curling around her wrist. 

“Ladybug-“

”My name is Marinette.”

”Dupain-Cheng-“

”Mari-nette.”

”Ugh! M-m-marinette! You, uh, you can’t.”

”I absolutely can, and I am. Listen, I don’t know what kind of history you and I have, but I don’t have time to reminisce on old times right now. I have to go to Adrien and make this right.”

”And tell him what exactly?” Nino piped up.

”Tell him-:

“Tell him that you don’t think you killed his mother, but you can’t be certain? I don’t think that will be good for anyone, especially my boy. His mom’s always been a sore spot for him.” Chloe’s head whipped around to Marinette.

”WHAT IS-“ She stopped herself, taking a deep breath before the heiress continued. “I’m just going to pretend I know what you guys are talking about. You can’t see him because he’s a total zombie. He pretty much washed up on my doorstep, transformed and passed out. He needs time. I know we all don’t have the best relationship, but we do have a professional one. Trust me on this.”

”Do you think I can just sit here quietly knowing what he must be thinking? How lonely he must be? After what we’ve been through, he can’t- we can’t be alone.”

”Is anyone there with him?” Alya chimed.

”Not right now. My girlfriend left for work so…”

”I’ll go.” All heads turned to Nino. “I think he just needs a third party source. I’ve got a bias against asshat obviously, but he probably just needs a shoulder.”

”I have a shoulder!” Marinette cried.

”Not your shoulder. At least not right now. You two haven’t been apart since you were held captive. That can’t be healthy, and I think taking some space might do him some good. And you,” Alya stated pointedly. Marinette felt her shoulders drop. They were right. He didn’t need her. Not right now. The thought stung as it passed through her head, and Tikki remained eerily silent. The hero nodded in agreement.

”Right. It’s settled then. Lahiffe, you’re with me. Cesaire, you’re on bug duty. Byeeeeeeeeeee,” Chloe dragged Nino out by his wrist, slamming the door behind her. His voice could be heard beyond the door shouting expletives and complaints about his lack of shoes. It was all so sudden, she felt like she’d gotten whiplash from the blonde’s presence. Alya stood and walked to the kitchen, spurring Marinette to follow her like a lost dog. 

“I need coffee. Tea doesn’t do shit for me anymore,” she grumbled. As Alya went about making herself some coffee, Marinette walked herself through her possible course of actions, and she came up with absolutely nothing. Nothing felt right. nothing was right. 

Marinette hadn't felt this lost since she was losing consciousness constantly and being held alone in a cell. Being without Chat, without Adrien for an unforeseeable amount of time felt wrong. It felt messy. Her antennae twitched, and Tikki still remained silent. She groaned in frustration, plopping her head into her hands and looking over to Alya. Her best friend raised a brow.

"Want a coffee?"

Chapter Text

Adrien was making a list. Well sort of. On one list, he had his information about his father: conniving,  literal supervillain, asshat, liar (proven), father. The other list was about his lady: strong, intelligent, loyal, honest (proven),  and... Well. He was having trouble placing her into a category. Yes, she was his lady, but she wasn't really his girlfriend. She felt like she should be 1000%, but she wasn't. They hadn't had the labels talk yet. If Plagg were talking, he would've mocked Adrien for this.  He needed to speak or he was going to go crazy.  He decided he was a good enough audience. 

"So my father, probably clinically insane, tells me that my.... uh... partner? Killed my mother. And this does not make sense. This is not something I thought she'd be capable of doing. Though, why would he lie about this? Why wouldn't he admit he did anything wrong? HA! My father admitting wrong. Imagine that.” Adrien paced the length of the living room in the suite. As he glanced around, his thoughts then turned elsewhere.

”What was it she said? Childhood best friend?” He searched his seemingly empty head for any information about the blonde he was enjoying the hospitality of. His eyes landed on the mantle of the fireplace and the photos there. 

Among the many, many photos of the blonde and a dark haired woman that Adrien assumed was her aforementioned girlfriend, he found a magazine cover of the two of them. A much younger version of himself stared back at him from the frame. Behind the jovial expression plastered across his face, there was a deep sadness. One he knew all too well. He felt pulled into the throws of a memory.

———————

Bright flashes burned Adrien Agreste’s corneas as he felt a bead of sweat trace its way down the side of his face. He hated this. He’d wanted to go to school. He’d wanted to be normal, but his father had- Well his father had said no, and apparently his entire life is dictated by that man. He was briefly aware of the man behind the camera grumbling something to his assistant.

”We’re going to take a lunch break, and when we come back I hope our models are more…. inspired,” he’d trailed off, making direct eye contact with Adrien. The crew and the talent began to disperse, and he felt his shoulders slump, back aching from the perfect posture that he was forced to maintain for the past few hours.

Moving quickly, he strode to the doors, bursting through them and taking a deep breath of fresh air to clear out the hairspray in his lungs. Hands on his knees, he tried to steady his breathing, just barely staving off a panic attack as he registered the clicking of heels to pavement approaching. A cool towel pressed against his neck.

”I have to say, for a man of his taste, your father is utterly ridiculous.” Yellow pumps entered his frame of vision. “If he can’t see what modeling is doing to you then his taste surely doesn’t extend to his brain. He’s an idiot.” Feeling calmer, he straightened to meet the eyes of his only friend. 

“Hey Chloe.” Her gaze softened as she put a hand on his shoulder. 

“I asked the photographer if he needed a stunning model about my height, blonde of course to compliment you. He said, well after a phone call from daddy, that I would be such a perfect fit for this campaign. I am so honored.” Adrien felt like he could breathe for the first time all day, relieved that he wasn’t alone in this. He held her eye contact.

”Thank you, Chloe.” She smiled briefly before rolling her eyes.

”Please, Agreste. As if this is about you.I’m going to be on the cover of Vogue!” The two turned to head inside, only to be stopped by the chilling voice of Gabriel Agreste. 

“What is this? Son, I thought you were supposed to be on set right now?”

”Father, we’re on a lunch break.”

”And yet, there is not a morsel in sight. Explain.” His father took an intimidating step forward, grabbing Adrien’s arm aggressively. Chloe puffed up her chest.

”Gaaaaaaabriel! You clearly must have forgotten the child labor laws in Paris, I mean my daddy is the one who fought for them after all. I was simply here enforcing it when the photographer practically begged me to join the shoot. Congrats! You’re going to have me model your female line.” Adrien could have sworn he heard his father’s jaw clench.

”I am ecstatic,” he gritted in reply.

————————

Chloe. Her name was Chloe. and she’d been protecting him for years from his father. He could practically still feel his father’s ironclad grip on his arm. grief and relief coursed through him as he felt certain in his decision that his father was a lying piece of shit who killed his mother. Could Marinette have been there? Yes, but he was pretty sure if she was there, Adrien himself was there as well and he knew he did not kill his mother. 

The sound of a keycard unlocking the door drew his attention as Chloe herself strode in. She looked hardly any different from the memory he’d had or the picture in his hand. He quickly made to put down the photo he was embarrassingly still holding, but she stopped him.

”I remember that day. it was before you knew anyone else your age. It was really just me and you.”

”You stood up to him. my father. More than I ever could.”

”Someone had to. I mean I have more balls than you ever will.” They chuckled, and Adrien’s chest felt warm with familiarity. “Are you alright? I mean you- Well-“ she held his gaze.

”Oh these?” he pointed to his eyes. “Oh yeah it’s a state of the art new uh plastic surgery procedure. Trust me in ten years everyone who’s anyone will have these.”

”How did I not see that you’re Chat Noir before? You’re so stupid,” she sighed dramatically, hiding a laugh underneath.

”By that logic you’re the dumb one, huh?” He got an actual smile out of her this time. “I’m better than the last time you saw me. Thanks for-“

”I swear to God you and I are so far past thank you’s that if you finish that sentence I will flip you onto the floor.” Crossing the room quickly she wrapped her arms around him. “I was so worried about you.” He sighed, returning the hug, and feeling like a real person for the first time in a long time. 

“I’m a strong guy, I can take it.” She released him.

”But you shouldn’t have to. Not anymore. You’ve taken so much.” He shrugged, uncomfortable with the intensity of her gaze.

”All good, Chlo.”

”So you remember me, but she doesn’t.” He perked up at the mention of Marinette.

”You saw her? Is she ok? Is she hurt?” Chloe scoffed.

”God, you sound just like her! Badgering me with questions about each other I mean come on!” His heart fluttered despite himself knowing she was asking about him. He quirked an eyebrow. “UGH! Number one, yes I saw her. Number two, yes she’s ok and number three SEE SUBSECTION FUCKING TWO. God I hate being the messenger.”

”Sorry Chlo I just-“

”I know I know you’re worried about her. Don’t be, she’s fine. Also… Well, I brought someone to talk to you,” she trailed off crossing the room to the door. Nino walked in with the air of a dude who didn’t get enough sleep.

”Hey bro,” he began, a smile spreading across both of their faces. They briefly hugged before all three of them sat on the couches. A slightly awkward silence fell over them as no one knew what to say or how to begin. 

“We know,” Chloe began. “About your dad. What he told you. About your mom.” The shock that rippled through his body felt like ice cold water. How could they know? He was alone on that rooftop, just him and his father. Unless…

”Marinette was there? I mean- Ladybug was there?” He couldn’t hide the hurt in his voice. Why didn’t she follow him? Why didn’t she step in? Defend herself? Did he mean nothing to her? No, he knew that wasn’t true. Couldn’t be true. 

“Oh drop it, we all know your identities. Marinette was there, and she’s a wreck. Almost as bad as you just, you know, not quite.” Adrien looked down at his hands in his lap, speechless. “ We didn’t know how you were, and the last time I’d seen you- you were a wreck and-“

”And we did want to rush you or push you. We figured you wanted space or you wanted-“

”To be alone? Why the fuck would I want to be alone? I’ve been alone my entire life I can’t- I can’t be,” his breathing quickened. Panic rising in his throat, filling him up with anxiety. Chloe put a hand on his leg, soothing him.

”I know, I know. You’re not alone. He’s not here. He can’t hurt you.” His heart rate began to slow.

”She wanted to come. We pretty much had to restrain her to keep her at my apartment.” He managed a weak chuckle at Nino’s comment.

”Sounds like her.”

”I told her to stay. If you want to be mad, be mad at me,” Chloe sighed.

“I’m not mad I-“ He took a deep breath. “I’m exhausted. I’m terrified. I’m confused. I mean I don’t think it was Mari. There’s no way she would’ve… But I don’t know how to get out of this. If I fight with her, like we used to, united against him. I just know he’ll go after her. He won’t just lock her up this time. He’ll use that against me, and I can’t do that to her. She’s smart, but he’s bigger with more resources.”

”So what, you’ll work with him? Cuz right now that seems like the other option and that is in no way something you can do,” Nino folded his arms.

”Maybe that’s exactly what I need to do.”

”What?”

”Adrikins, you couldn’t possibly-“

”Think about it, I’ve been acting for my father’s benefit my entire life, why not for my own? If I can convince him, make him believe, he’ll lower his defenses. He’ll have to let me in. That’s the only way we can take him down.”

”Bro, even if I was on board with this, what do you mean by take him down?”

”Whatever it takes to stop him.” HIs tone of voice so cold Chloe covered her mouth to stifle a gasp. “He killed my mother. Whether or not he pulled the plug, he killed her. He spent his life messing with literal magic instead of paying DOCTORS! He had the means, he could have done something, but he didn’t. He’s put Paris in danger at every person’s whim for nothing! He deserves whatever comes his way.”

A stillness fell over the trio as they considered the option. Adrien had convinced himself at this point that it was his only option, and he only wondered the best way to go about it. Much to the surprise of the other two, the first person to break the stillness was Chloe.

“What do we tell Marinette?” Adrien hesitated, feeling the pit in his stomach deepen.

”We don’t.” 

Chapter Text

She couldn’t take much more silence. Silence gave her time to think, and thinking, while it was one of her powers, was a dangerous thing she could not do until she knew Adrien was ok. Maybe couldn’t is the wrong word; didn’t want to is a better turn of phrase. 

“What if he never wants to speak to me again?” She breathed, terrified. Alya chuckled at this.

”I don’t think that's even an option he has. However he feels about the situation, you’re two sides of a coin. That isn’t something either one of you takes lightly.”

The sound of a door opening had both of the girls turning their attention elsewhere. Chewing on her lip, Marinette tried to calm herself down before anyone spoke. She may not remember everything about herself, but she knew that if anyone tried to talk to her right now, she would start crying. Especially when Nino walked in alone.

”Hey baby,”Alya began, crossing to wrap her arms around Nino. Marinette closed her eyes to spare herself from the unfair jealousy she felt rising up in her. It’s not their fault she’s in this situation, but man did it sting.

”Uh, hello. Hey, Mari.”  All she could spare in response was a slight nod. “Long time no see, eh?”

”Cut the shit, babe. What’d he say?” Marinette held her breath, anxiously awaiting his reply.

“He didn’t. Er- I mean he wouldn’t see me. He’s self isolating pretty bad right now. But- but that doesn’t mean that he’s mad or anything-“

”It just means he’s hurt. That I hurt him.”

”Mari-“

”No, Nino. It’s true. I was there. On that roof, and I did FUCK ALL!”

”Gabriel hurt him,” Alya lay a hand on Marinette’s shoulder.

”Yes, he did. But I let it happen.”

”And both of you left the situation with your life. You did the right thing.” Marinette shrugged her hand off.

”I’m going to him.”

”Mari! You can’t-“

”Who says?! Who says I can’t? I’m fucking Ladybug, and my job is to protect the people of Paris. He is a citizen of Paris, no? What kind of hero would sit back, leaving him to fall victim to his father? Look me in the eyes and tell me you don’t think Gabriel knows where he is.” The silence was deafening.

”I don’t know if-“

”If it’s a good idea? Neither do I. But I can’t sit here, waiting, any fucking longer.” Marinette took a deep breath. “Spots on.” Power washed over her, illuminating the room in a flash of pink before dying down. Her friends stared at her in disbelief. “I have to try,” she murmured before flinging the door open, making a swift escape.

She was partially aware of the protests coming from the apartment behind her as she found the nearest window, diving out of it into the open sky. As she threw her yoyo, she made quick work of crossing the city to the luxury hotel. Her brain fluttered with possible scenarios of what awaited her upon her arrival. Would he welcome her? Scream at her? Kiss her? She shook her head. That was stupid. Would he?

In the midday sun, Le Grand Paris glittered, signaling Ladybug like a beacon of hope. She had to keep her chin up. She knew him. He would never let her down. He can be upset, but surely he couldn’t push her away. Her stomach in knots, she freefalled, landing on the rooftop deck, and took a moment to compose herself before scaling down the side of the building to land on Chloe’s balcony. She was about to open the door when she caught a flash of purple behind the blinds.

Her hand fell off the door handle like she’d been burned. Cautiously, she leaned into peer through the slats of the blinds, crouching to hide her presence. All her overthinking could not have prepared her. She had severely underestimated her opponent. Hawk Moth, all dressed up for his son, stood in front of Adrien who was seated on the couch. There was something so unsettling seeing a transformed Gabriel juxtaposed against a detransformed Adrien. He looked so small. So young. They shouldn’t have had to grow up this fast.

Holding down the impulse to storm in, she rested her hand on her yoyo as she observed the elder Agreste hold out his hand, a clear offering. Ladybug scoffed, waiting for Adrien to transform and kick his ass, but after a brief moment, Adrien took his hand. Rising to his full height, a flash of green left him transformed. Ladybug held her breath, suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed. Unable to hear them, she had to rely on body language.

A nod from both of them sent chills down her spine. A brief embrace made her nauseous. The pair turning to face the door had her scrambling backwards, falling out of her crouch. Through the blinds, she was sure they were looking straight at her, and she rose, steadying herself in shock. What was going on? Hawk Moth smiled like a madman before his mouth moved, clearly reading, “Get her.” Chat Noir grimaced almost imperceptibly before he launched himself her way.

”No,” Ladybug breathed before Chat broke through the glass door, tackling her to the ground. Her body went limp like a rag doll, refusing to react. This couldn’t be real.

”Fucking fight back,” Chat grit out. His voice broke through her shock. There was no way he- “FIGHT BACK!” He shouted, panic lacing through the anger in his tone. She shoved him off of her. He let her, rolling back like she’d hit him. Had she? She couldn't remember. She was tired of not remembering things. Somehow, she found her way to her feet, grabbing her yoyo to make her retreat.

”Good kitty. Catch the vermin.” The vile voice of Hawk Moth sliced through the air, taunting her as she launched herself away. Judging by the heavy footfalls on the roofs behind her, she assumed Chat Noir was following her. Swallowing her anger, her confusion, she continued her escape, flying through Paris until she landed on a rooftop that the pair used as their starting point for patrols before all of this, brain buzzing with many new memories racing back to her. She took a moment to turn, seeing Chat Noir rapidly approaching. Hawk Moth was notably nowhere to be seen. 

With a thud, Chat landed a mere feet away from her, baton extended, poised for combat. Her heart was racing from both their chase and their proximity. He raised a hand to wipe the sweat off his brow, and she flinched. For a brief moment, she swore she could see hurt flash in his eyes before he cemented his walls, leaving his face carefully blank. Panting, they stared each other down.

”I won’t fight you, Chat.” Their chests rose and fell in sync. 

“Why not?” He pleaded before quickly continuing in a much darker tone. “I guess this will be over quickly.” He took a step towards her. She took a step back, feeling the brick wall behind her. He took another step towards her, pressing her against the wall with his baton. She knew deep down that she should be terrified. He could take her out before she could blink. After all, he was always better at hand to hand than she was. Despite the weapon at her throat, she felt a familiar thrill, as if she’d been here before. 

“Go ahead then,” she breathed. “Take my miraculous.” He scoffed, shaking his head.

”That’s what you want right now?” Not trusting her voice, she nodded. “Nothing else?” He leaned in, a menacing grimace painted across his face, but his eyes told a different story. His eyes were full of fire. “Fight me.” A demand. Her head shook. “Fight me.” A plea. He sighed sharply, exhaling in her face due to their proximity, and her eyes were drawn to his mouth, his lips. Unconsciously, her chin tilted up, barely grazing his.

”Make me.” Though impossible, his eyes flared with more fire. She knew hers matched his. Chaos and confusion was all they’d had. Consistently placed in situations neither of them knew how to navigate. She was fucking sick of it. He growled as though their thoughts were aligned, crashing his lips onto hers. If there was fire before, it was an explosion now. She kissed him back, fervently, reverently matching him in every way.

He took one of his hands off his baton, landing on her hip as he pressed her harder into the wall, though the weapon never left her throat. Anger coursed its way through her veins, intertwining with her desire. Why was he doing this? Why now? Her kisses turned more violent as she bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. He groaned, pressing further into her. Her head hurt against the wall, but she couldn’t think of anything other than wanting him to make that sound again. 

Quickly turning her face away to break the kiss, she took a deep breath, intending to find a way to get out of this even if that wasn’t what she wanted. He was undeterred by her pause, moving down to her neck, voracious in his war path. Not. Fucking. Fair. He moved toward her ear, nipping it lightly before whispering to her.

”You were supposed to fight me,” allowing his lips to touch her neck at every syllable. She whimpered, hating herself the minute she let out the sound.

”Give me a good reason and I will,” she grit out, trying to get a hold of herself. He chuckled, languidly making his way back towards her face. 

“Because I’m working with Hawk Moth.” Her eyes flew open, making contact with his, searching for a sign that this was all a ruse. He pressed his forehead into hers, aligning their lips but not connecting them. He spoke directly into her mouth. “That means I betrayed you. That means you hate me.” Neither of them moved. Finding her voice, she swallowed before replying.

”Is that what you want? For me to hate you?” 

“Yes,” he whispered. “You have to.”

”I can’t-“ He cut her off with another kiss, one much softer than the others. He seemed to be begging her. 

“Say it.” She felt his hand press harder into her hip. “Say you hate me.” She shook her head. He released her hip and trailed his hand slowly up her side. Goosebumps rose on her skin in its wake. He briefly paused at her waist to trace the dots on her suit before continuing up to land on the side of her face. His brows knit together as he studied her face. She swallowed her pride.

”I hate you.” It was hardly more than a breath, but he heard her. He felt her say it. His thumb moved back and forth on her cheek, and her eyes fluttered closed. She didn’t hate him, but she hated where they were. This situation still made no sense to her. She hated that she didn’t know what was going on. She hated that the more memories that returned to her just made her fall for him more. She hated him for making her say it.

——————

Chat Noir stared at his lady. She was so beautiful. His breath caught for what felt like the millionth time that day, and he tried to get his wits about him. Tried to find it in him to pull away from her. Already, he was on borrowed time. Hawk Moth would get tired of waiting eventually and go searching. But the way she leaned into his hand, the way she breathed, the way she kissed him. Fuck.

”I don’t believe you,” he remarked as he closed the distance between them, kissing her again. Kissing Ladybug- kissing Marinette was unlike anything in his limited memory. It was maddening. It was powerful. It was perfect. He felt delirious as he dove in for more.

”I hate you,” she murmured between kisses. “I hate you.” Her tongue met his, and he was undone, letting go of his baton to worship her with both hands. The loud clatter as it landed on the rooftop made both of them jump, pulling away quickly. They were further apart now, only inches instead of millimeters. The space allowed him to chastise himself. Why the fuck did he do that? Sure, it was something he’d wanted for as long as he could think, but it was not the plan. 

He held her glare as the pair struggled to catch their breath. Confusion, lust, and pain filled her eyes, and he could see the cogs turning in her head. Trying to put the pieces together. Trying and failing it seemed. Come on, Ladybug , he thought. Make the jump, I know you can. Her brows rose almost imperceptibly. 

“I hate you,” she said, assuring herself. It was a statement, not a fact, and they both knew it. There ya go, my lady. He smirked. “I hate you.” A smile, the first he’d seen from her all day.

”You know what they say,” he trailed off as she raised a brow. “Girls only say they hate you when they love you.” This earned him an elbow in the ribs, a smile threatening to break his face in half. She set her brows in a firm line, determined.

”You’re working with him.”

”I am.” In a flash, she had him up against the wall, his baton laying useless on the ground. His heart rate jumped as she leaned in.

”You fucking traitor,” fell from her lips, and he’d never heard a more attractive sound.  He tried to kiss her, desperate to close the minimal space between them, but she pulled her face away at the last second. “Does he know where we are right now?”

“He does not. He knows I’m in pursuit, that’s all.” She increased the pressure of her arm on his chest, holding him in place. 

“What a shame he can’t save you.”

”I don’t need saving.” He felt her yoyo bind his hands to his sides. Fuck. 

”You sure look like you do.”

“Trust me, I’m exactly where I want to be.” It was her turn to smirk. Taking a small step away, she appraised her work briefly before her face fell.

”Why didn’t you tell me?”

”He needed to see your reaction. It had to be real. He can sense emotions from all over Paris. He needed to feel your pain to believe it. I’m sorry I-“

”Don’t be sorry for playing the game better than I was.” His heart thrummed at her praise, flexing his hands to try and encourage blood circulation. 

“Are you going to fight me?” She stepped in close.

”Real fighting?” He nodded, and she tightened the string holding his hands down. He sucked in a breath. “Or the kind we were doing earlier?” Her red lips were tantalizingly close, but he couldn’t move with how she was holding him. It was the sweetest kind of torture. She brought her lips to his, kissing him softly. He wished he could stay in that moment forever. As swiftly as she’d started, she pulled away, causing an incredibly embarrassing whine to leave his throat. 

“My lady-“

”You can’t call me that. Not until he’s gone. Come on, kitty. Let’s give him a show.” She tugged her yoyo as she walked to the other side of the roof, pulling him along as if he were nothing. Suddenly, her yoyo was no longer around him, but fully retracted in the hands of Paris’s hero. He rolled his shoulders, and, deciding to show off, backflipped to land perfectly in front of his baton. Ladybug scoffed. 

“He told me to herd you towards the Arc de Triomphe.” She smiled at him.

”So why aren’t you?” She threw her yoyo out, swinging away. He extended his baton, following the flash of red in the sky and feeling alive. She wasn’t going easy on him, and it took all his focus to keep her in his sights. They were in her element after all. Ladybugs fly, and cats… Well cats don’t. He almost wiped out three times before they made it to their destination. Did someone call action?