Chapter Text
"M'lady." Chat drops into a bow before joining her on the rooftop.
"Hey Kitty. Sorry about the urgent call, something came up that I had to talk to you about." Ladybug pats the space next to her and motions for Chat to sit. "So you're a student here, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"You're going on the study abroad trip, right? I mean everyone is pretty much no matter the school. Wait—" Ladybug covers her mouth with her hand. "— I forgot you told me how strict your mom and dad are. Are they even going to let you go?"
Chat nods. "Actually yeah. My parents said it would be good for me to get a new experience." He uses the term "parents" rather loosely, referring more to Nathalie than to his father. She was the one who had convinced his father it would be good for him to get out of Paris for a while, to spread the Gabriel brand elsewhere. "I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go to Canada or Australia. Both sound amazing, and so different!"
Ladybug's eyes light up and she grins. "I'm in the group going to— actually I shouldn't tell you, you could figure out my identity." She clears her throat and blinks a few times nervously when she realizes Chat's waiting for her to explain the meeting "But back to the reason I called you here. We're going to be gone for three weeks and so are the majority of the heroes of Paris. All except for Viperion are going on the trip, but I don't know if it would be the best idea to entrust him with either of our miraculous."
"Meaning we have to trust adults with the miraculous," Chat concludes. "Because our locations are way too far away from Paris to allow us to fly back every time there's a Megakuma attack. At least, I'm assuming yours is, since I don't actually know."
"Exactly." Ladybug lets her legs dangle off the building as she thinks. She couldn't choose a teacher at school as they were going on certain trips as well. She trusted her parents but that would raise too many questions, plus she didn't want to put them in danger. Chat hums in thought and Ladybug turns her head towards him. "You have an idea?"
"Yeah, I do actually. For my miraculous. The person I'm thinking of is smart, loyal, and she already has some martial arts training so she knows how to fight. I've seen her take on akuma victims to protect her family, she would be a great choice!"
"She sounds perfect, who is it?"
Chat hesitates on whether telling Ladybug would jeopardize his identity. He already basially told her where he was going, he didn't want to let slip anything else. "You trust me, right M'lady?"
"Of course, Kitty." Her eyes met her Cat's and he smiles gently.
"Then trust that I've made the right decision. If I tell you, you might figure out who I am. But I know she's the right choice. She's always going out of her way for other people and she works for someone that pushes her to her limits, this will be a good thing for her. What about you? Do you have a temporary holder in mind?"
Ladybug grimaces as she thinks of all the things that could go wrong if she made an incorrect choice. Finally, she nods. "I think so. He's not an obvious choice by far, but he has good work ethic. He's been akumatized before but has always accepted our help afterwards." Ladybug looks at her reflection in a puddle beneath them. "We'll go them in person, leaving instructions for when they will receive their miraculous."
"We'll need to establish a meeting point so they can get to know each other before Monarch sends out a Megakuma. It'll help them to work better together." Chat stifles a laugh. "You remember how pawsitively terrible we were together when we first started fighting Hawkmoth?"
Ladybug chuckles too, leaning into him. "I specifically remember accidentally tying you up with my yo-yo and leaving you to hang for twenty minutes from a lamppost." Any passerby would have sworn they could hear Chat's eyes rolling as he recalled the incident. "We can have them meet on top of the Eiffel Tower tomorrow since we all leave Tuesday." Today was Sunday which left them with one day to make sure their plan worked. Ladybug cringed at the short notice, hating when Marinette's poor sense of time got in the way of Ladybug's perfection.
"Sounds purrfect, Bugaboo. Just let me know what to tell her and Plagg." Chat stands up, offering a hand to his partner to help her up as well. "Until we met again." He bows again, placing a gentle kiss to the top of her hand. "If you need me before then…" he digs something out of his pocket, "…it's an email account I created." The scrawling script read [email protected]. "It's not connectd to my real identity in any way so there's no way anyone can trace it.
"Kitty, this is brilliant!" Ladybug exclaims, taking the paper. "Here." She pulls a pen and paper out of her yo-yo and writes something quickly. "So you can reach me. I'll make the account tonight."
"[email protected]?" Chat raises an eyebrow. "Very claw-ver."
"The twenty-two is in case for some reason twenty-one other people like that username." Ladybug winks before saluting him and dropping over the edge of the building with her trademark cry of, "Bug out!"
"Kid are you sure this is the right choice?" Plagg asks Adrien once they're back in his room. "I mean Nathalie's great and all but she has things to do." He leaves out the part where he's very aware that she aided Hawkmoth in his plans, the damn Kwami Curse.
"Plagg, she's a great choice," Adrien grins, "She would do anything to protect me and my father, you've seen how devoted she is to him."
"And you don't think that's an issue?"
Adrien shrugs. "Why would it be?"
Plagg gulps, considering the fact that giving Nathalie the miraculous of the black cat could very likely lead to the heroes' downfall. Sure, she was a loyal person, loyal to the man trying to destroy all of Paris. He would have to visit Tikki, get her opinion on the ordeal.
"It's late," Adrien tells him with a yawn. "I'm going to shower and go to bed, feel free to go find something to eat, I know we're almost out of cheese up here." Adrien waves his hand dismissively before sliding the bathroom door closed and starting the water.
Before the door is even closed, Plagg takes off, passing through the glass and soaring out to the city to find Tikki.
"Marinette think about this!" Tikki exclaims in a panic. "You're thinking of giving Adrien's father your miraculous! You see the way he treats Adrien, why would he care about saving Paris?" She tries to sound serious but the squeaky voice does nothing for her. "Marinette this doesn't make sense!"
"Tikki, relax." Marinette opens her palm for her kwami to come sit in. "It's not like Gabriel Agreste is Monarch." Marinette rolls her eyes, not noticing how Tikki stills. "That would be ridiculous. A fashion designer making ugly akumas?" Marinette giggles, letting Tikki go. "It'll all work out okay."
"I hope so…" Tikki mumbles.
"Now, I promised mom and dad I would watch a movie with them tonight. I left some macaroons in my desk drawer dad baked this morning if you'd like." Marinette looks back at Tikki floating in the middle of the room. "I know it's not the most obvious choice but I think Mr. Agreste could do good. He has passion and drive, he just needs to use it right. You'll see." She shuts her trap door softly, not noticing how her red creature takes off the second it clicks shut.
Plagg spots Tikki before she notices him. They're closer to Marinette's than Adrien's but he has no doubt she had the same idea to come see him that he did to go and see her. "Sugarcube!" He calls before she can pass by him. "We have a problem."
"I know," Tikki cries. "My holder wants to give her miraculous to Monarch! I mean, she doesn't know Adrien's father is Monarch but we know! But we can't say anything because of the stupid kwami curse."
"And it gets worse," Plagg admits. "My holder wants to give his to his father's assistant!"
"Nathalie?!" Tikkie squeaks, her little arms shooting up to cover her face in dismay. "Plagg this could be the end and there's nothing we can do about it!" Tikki shoots back and forth across the sky a few times, like a eprson would if they were pacing. "What are we gonna do?" She cries.
"We'll figure something out," Plagg reassures her gently. "If it's any consolation I don't think Nathalie's very happy with Gabriel right now. I hear them fighting all the time when I go to the kitchen to get Camembert. We have to trust out holders, as scary as it is…" he trails off. "Do you ever wonder what he wants to wish for?"
"Of course I wonder!" Tikki snaps, "But that doesn't mean I want to know."
Plagg goes quiet, looking out over the cityscape. Plagg had spent many hours eavesdropping over the two adults of the Agreste household, knowing he couldn't tell Adrien anything he heard. It still made him feel better to know if anything big was being planned, at least then he could advise Adrien to be ready, even if he couldn't explain why he needed to be. The secret weighed on him every day, seeing Adrien wake up and look up to the woman who was helping to destroy him and his friends. He wished there was some way he could tell Adrien, but there wasn't. He tried everything he could think of. Say it out loud? The only thing that came out was a burp of bubbles. Write a letter? The ink erased itself as it was being written. Send a text? Whatever letter he clicked would change to something else, utter gibbersh. Nothing worked.
Then Plagg thinks of all the times he had seen Adrien's father be kind to Nathalie. Bringing her tea when she was sick, carrying her to her room when she collapsed, simply sitting with her and making small talk when they were working. There was no doubt that there was some love left in Gabriel Agreste, he just didn't know how much.
And then there was Nathalie. Plagg stopped going to her room when she was there alone because it made him sad. He'd leafed through her journals to see if she had any information on Monarch's plans, but all that was there were sad stories about how much she missed the man Gabriel was before all this began. The man she had somehow fallen in love with. Plagg called it quits one night when he popped in on her crying. He didn't even know Nathalie could cry. But she was human after all.
He couldn't quite make out the specifics but he deduced that she was angry at Gabriel for putting Paris in danger for someone who was never coming back. He was pouring all his energy out on a dead woman, a woman Adrien missed but had healed from the loss of, a woman that would have wanted Gabriel to be happy. Plagg had heard stories about Emilie Agreste and all her glory, but something in his gut told him that Nathalie would be just as devoted, if not more (granted she did help him destory teenagers because she loved him).
"What are you thinking about?" TIkki interrupts.
"What if we're wrong." Plagg states. "What if this ends well? I mean… I've seen firsthand the lengths that Nathalie would go to protect my holder, I can't guarantee that she'll turn over her miraculous like that. Maybe.."
"Maybe?" Tikki prompts, wanting to know more.
"Maybe being superheroes will help them see the better side of things."
Tikki hums in agreement before freezing in mid air. "There won't be any akumas as long as they're holders."
"You're right!" It made sense, of course it did. Gabriel wouldn't make a villain he had to fight, and he certainly wouldn't if Nathalie told him she would be out of the house. He was too worried for her safety. "And if Adrien's father is personally visited by Ladybug, he'll know he'll be exposed if he makes the wish!"
Tikki nods in agreement, hope flooding her little lungs. "So all we have to do is cross our fingers that it all works out."
"It'll work out," Plagg says gently. "It always does. Besides," he grins, "if something goes wrong I'm sure Bunnix will have no problem snatching Ladybug and Chat Noir and getting them to fix everything like she always does."
Monday. One day until departure.
At exactly eight AM, forty minutes after Adrien was dropped off at school, Chat dropped silently into the bedroom of Nathalie Sancouer. It felt weird being there without Nathalie's permission, but he would have to let it slide for the moment. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Adrien knew her morning routine by heart, return from dropping him off at 7:30, eat breakfast at 7:45, do her morning journaling and drink her tea at 8.
At 8:02, the door creaked open and Nathalie entered with her tea and a pen. She didn't look up until she was halfway into the room, and when she did, the sight of Chat nearly gave her a heart attack. It took all her coordination not to drop the hot liquid un her cup as she regained her compsure.
"Didn't mean to scare you," Chat apologizes profusely.
"No, it's okay," Nathalie says shakily, placing her tea on a coaster and setting her pen atop her journal. "I wasn't expecting company." She takes a tentative step towards him, afraid of the news he was bringing. "What can I do for you?"
"I'm sure you're well aware of the study abroad opportunity that local students are going on," Chat starts. "Me and My Lady are taking the trip as well, and so are the others we entrust our miraculous to. With the latest development that is Monarch, we need to make sure Paris is in safe hands while we're gone."
Nathalie's eyes widen and she shakes her head, holding up a hand to stop him from saying anything else. "Oh no. That is not a good idea."
"Ladybug and I have talked it over and we've decided you're the right choice. You protect Adrien and are loyal to Mr. Agreste, there's no one better for the job."
Nathalie's eyebrow shoots up and she gestures to the fact she has to wear a mechanical walking aid. "Except I'm a liability."
Chat curses silently. He hadn't even thought about that! He must seem like a terrible person, asking a sick woman to risk her life more. He also hated the idea that she thought of herself as a liability, but that wasn't the focus of the conversation. "Oh, I didn't even think— that never crossed my mind, I'm sorry. You're right, that's a crazy ask." It hadn't crossed his mind beause he stil lwasn't used to Nathalie needing help or being weak. She had always been the rock of their family, giving comfort rather than receiving it.
"I am sure you can find someone more suited for the job," Nathalie says kindly. Chat nods, turning away from her to leave and for some reason a part of Nathalie's brain tells her to accept. She's going to die anyways, so why not help out the heroes while she could? She almost laughed at the idea of being the one to defeat Monarch. But how would she explain it to Gabriel? He would be furious, hearbroken. But then again… he hadn't exactly been the kindest towards her lately. He was doing things she didn't agree with and it nagged at her heart everytime she closed her eyes. "Chat Noir wait." She reaches out a hand like that would bring him back quicker and he turns from his post on the windowsill. "I'll do it."
"No, it's too risky for your health."
"I am so tired of people these days telling me what is and is not good for me. I can make my own choices. I will do it."
Chat hesitates before asking, "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely," Nathalie says with certainty.
Chat jumps off the windowsill and lands with a soft thud on her carpet. After digging in his pocket for a second he produces a folded up piece of paper that Ladybug had written for him. "These are the instructions for your meet with the temporary holder of the Laadybug miraculous. Plagg will bring you the ring as soon as I get home. If you have any other questions you can ask him."
He leaps out the window without another word, leaving Nathalie with the piece of paper and her mind racing. Nathalie unfolds the paper gently, the handwriting is in a beautiful cursive she didn't even know was taught any longer, the seal of the black cat miraculous was set as a signature at the bottom of the page. She reads through the instructions, meet on the Eiffel Tower the day after receiving the miraculous, don't reveal your identities, whatever whatever. The idea of holding another miraculous should have stressed Nathalie, but it did the opposite. Maybe this would finally give her the outlet she needed to legally beat Gabriel up.
A little later than eight (Marinette would refuse to acknowledge how late of a start she had gottten to her day) Ladybug dropped into an open window of Mr. Agreste's atelier. Unlike his companion, he was not spooked to see the hero arrive.
"Ladybug?" He raises an eyebrow. "What must I have done to warrant such a visit?"
Ladybug cringes internally, thinking maybe Tikki was right and this was a bad idea. "You are aware of the impending trip that your son and many of his classmates will be going on?"
"I am." He puts down his pen but doesn't leave his spot at the giant tablet, beckoning for Ladybug to come to him.
"Well, because of this trip the previous holders of all the miraculous are unavailable, leading us to look for other options."
"Adults," Gabriel summarizes.
"Exactly. We know how much keeping your son safe means to you and Chat Noir and I thought that would make you the perfect candidate for the temporary holder of the Ladybug miraculous, if you choose to accept." Ladybug hands him an envelope with her seal on it.
Gabriel's eyes widen as he looks her over, making sure this wasn't some kind of joke. His hands work at the seal gently, careful not to rip it in half, and slides the letter out. It's short and sweet, detailing some guidelines of holding the miraculous. Reading it was quite funny when he realized he never did any of the things it was saying he should do. His fingers whitened as they gripped the paper tighter. After all this time he thought. He had hunted down the miraculous and here was one being delivered right to him, if he chose to take it.
Which of course he did. "I accept," he says without another thought.
Ladybug's straight face grows into a grin. "Good. Tikki will bring you the earrings as soon as I get home." She pulls her yo-yo out, keeping it close to her as to not knock down any of Gabriel's precious statues over. "I knew you were a good choice," she says before hooking her weapon on to something and launching to the sky.,
Gabriel takes the paper and reads it over twice more until he's sure of what it says. Meet at five PM tomorrow at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Little did Ladybug know that was the last time she would ever see her and Chat Noir's miraculous. It made him as giddy as a child, the idea of all that power being handed to him.
"My dear Emilie," he whispers triumphantly to her painting. "This is what we have been waiting for. The moment we can finally be reunited, the moment all our work comes to a close. Being a public supporter of Ladybug does have it's perks, I will—" his monolouge is cut short by a knock on the door. Nathalie doesn't wait for a response before pushing it open, not noticing how Gabriel stuffed the paper in his pocket and out of view. He didn't want her knowing about this, not yet. He had to make sure his plan would work or he would simply dissapoint her for the hundreth time.
"Sir, sorry to interrupt," Nathalie apologizes.
"It is never an interruption," Gabriel says mostly honestly.
Nathalie nods, not believing it in the slightest. She really didn't know why she was in here asking his permission for something. She was a grown adult with a big-girl life, she didn't need her boss's permission to get out of the house. Yet here she was, asking. "Tomorrow at five, if there's nothing you need I have an appointment I need to see to."
Five? Gabriel thought, that would be perfect. Get Nathalie out of his hair and he was free to meet his hero companion. "Yes of course, is everything all right?"
"Quite." Nathalie says tightly, annoyed that he now deicded to care about her. "I shouldn't be more than an hour or two." She turns on her heel to leave but freezes when she reaches the door. "Sir?"
"Yes?"
"If you so much as think about releasing an akuma while I'm out, I swear to you that I will not hesitate to reveal your identity to the people of Paris." She straightens her suit jacket and makes eye contact with him. "Do not ruin my day or I will ruin the rest of your life." She doesn't wait for an answer as she slams the door behind her.
Monday afternoon, seventeen hours until departure.
"You ready, Plagg?" Adrien asks as he throws his last sweatshirt in his bag. Plag was not, in fact, ready. Plagg was scared out of his little Kwami mind. Nathalie's intentions seemed good enough but… intentions could be deceiving. Plagg nods anyways. "We won't be gone that long, there's nothing that you and Tikki can't handle."
"Stay safe kid," Plagg says as he reluctantly nuzzles his holder. "You'll have a great time."
Adrien grins, tugging the ring off his hand and handing it to his kwami. "So will you. I'll see you in two weeks."
Plagg flies outside the room before he takes a turn and goes in through Nathalie's window. She's not in her room when he gets there so he slips under the door to search for her. When he finally finds her, she's sitting in the garden with her laptop and calendar. "Nathalie Sancouer?" He asks as he flies up to her. "You've been told about the arrangement? I'm here to officially present you with the miraculous." Plagg bows to her slightly, holding it out. Her hands are colder than they should be when she touches her. "Plagg, the kwami of destruction," he introduces himself.
"Nathalie," She says gently, slipping the ring on her ring finger. Instead of the plain ring Adrien normally wore, it transformed into a small silver band with a white stone. Her eyes widen as she watches the change, wondering if Gabriel would say anything, if he would even notice her new jewelry. "It's nice to meet you. Is there anything specific you like to eat?" Duusu always preferred pretzels and, for some odd reason, fruit roll ups.
"Aged cheese," Plagg says proudly. "The older the better. Especially kinds such as Brie and Camembert." He rubs his stomach as it grumbles, grinning wildly.
Nathalie shakes her head in disbelief. "Adrien, Mr Agreste's son, loves cheese. He has a whole cupboard in the kitchen filled with it. Absolutely putrid if you ask me, but he seems to enjoy it. I'll bring some up next time I go in there, if you can wait that long?"
Plagg's smile drop as he groans in frustration. "I suppose."
"Good." Nathalie opens her jacket for him and ushers the kwami inside. "I have a meeting with Gabriel and Tomoe Tsurugi in ten minutes, make yourself scarce." Nathalie realized the risk of brining the creature into a meeting with two of the most powerful people in Paris, but she also knew kwami's had a tendency to get into trouble if they're left on their own, and she really didn't have the time to deal with that.
She took the long way to the atelier, choosing to walk through the gardens for a moment before going in. It was the beginning of fall and the Cosmos bloomed brilliantly, shades of pinks and yellows lighting up the northernmost corner of the garden. It was also the quietest part of the garden where Nathalie often went to clear her head. Gabriel had found her out on the benches after nightfall too many times to count when Emilie was still here. She lets out a heavy sigh before turning away from the flowers and into the cold, marbled walls of the mansion.
Gabriel had just finished creating a shell-ter that wouldn't allow the Ladybug kwami accidentally go exploring in the basement, although he had no doubt that she had some idea of who he was. Kwami's had ways of communicating that he never understood and, although Nooroo couldn't say his name, it was likely he had found a way to tell Tikki who was behind the butterfly mask. Before he could even fully rirght himself at his podium, the little bug popped through the wall.
"Hi!" She says cheerfully, no indication that she knew who he was. "I'm Tikki, the kwami of creation, it's a pleasure to meet you!" She extends the two earrings out to him and he takes them from her, sticking them into his ears where they turned into small diamond studs. The look reminded him of his time as a youth when he decided purple hair, pierced ears, and black clothes were a good fashion choice.
"Gabriel," he responds back. "Good to meet you. I must let you know that my job requires me to talk to high level individuals who absolutely cannot know I possess you."
"May I remind you that kwami's cannot be filmed or photographed? I will hide if that is what you wish, but there's no real reason to worry." Her smile is sickly sweet and, if Gabriel was a better man, he would have smiled back, but he's not a better man and he does not smile back.
"My assistant cannot know, either, she would never approve of me risking my life to fight crime." That part was true, at least. At the mention of his assisstant, she walks in, tablet in hand.
"Your meeting with Tsurugi starts soon," she deadpans. "I hope you didn't forget."
"I didn't. I am not completely incompetent." He narrows his eyes at her. "Go check on Adrien, see how his packing is coming along."
Nathalie doesn't say another word as she slams the door behind her.