A discovery is made, hopes are raised, a promise is kept, and a choice needs to be made.

Chapter Text

Plagg was hungry, and found himself staring disappointedly into a cabinet in Adrien’s room.

Hmm… no Camembert here either. I must have finished this stash off as well. Kid’s asleep, again. With everything he has going on, it’s not a surprise. I don’t want to wake him up… he won’t mind if I find where the kitchen is and bring some cheese back here. Poor guy’s gotta sleep sometime. I’ll just go through this wall… down the hall, make a left… another left… through this door… bingo! Now let’s see what’s in these cabinets...

He was so obsessed with his stomach that he didn’t hear the kitchen door open behind him. He also didn’t hear the small gasp from the person who had come into the kitchen.

Only a handful of people in Paris knew what kwamis were and what purpose they served. It was the bad luck of the Black Cat that three of them lived under the same roof.

Nathalie Sancoeur, girl Friday to fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste and devoted assistant to Hawk Moth, backed out of the kitchen as quietly as she had come in, and darted off to her employer’s office. He was going to want to know about this.

Gabriel looked up from his computer screen at his assistant, who had uncharacteristically burst into the office. Raising an eyebrow at her flushed face, he snapped, “What is it, Nathalie?”

“Sir,” she breathed. “I found him.”

“Found who?” he responded, raising an eyebrow.

“Cat Noir. I found him and I know who he is.”

Gabriel strode over to her and gripped her by the shoulders. “You’ve… found him? One-half of the key to my greatest desire?” He resisted the urge to begin shaking her. “Where? Where is he? Who is he?”

The slim, raven-haired woman swallowed. “He’s here, sir. It’s… it’s Adrien. Adrien is Cat Noir.”

Gabriel’s hands fell to his sides and his mouth dropped open. That’s not possible, how could it be? I saw Adrien and Cat Noir in the same place when I made Gorizilla! It’s true I had suspected him, but… no! Unless… “How sure are you? How did you find out?”

“His kwami, sir. I found it in the kitchen looking for something. It was the kwami of the Black Cat. I’m certain of it.”

“Did you see the kwami with Adrien?” snapped Gabriel.

Nathalie hesitated. “...No, sir. I just saw the kwami.”

“So the kwami could belong to someone else. You’re not 100 percent sure,” Gabriel mused. “Before we jump to any conclusions, we’ll have to know beyond a doubt that Adrien is the fabled Cat Noir.”

“If he isn’t, sir?”

“Then nothing changes. It will be business as usual, of course.”

“And if he is?” Nathalie braced herself for the response.

“We will have to win him over to our side. Nothing will stand between a united Hawk Moth and Cat Noir… not even Ladybug and her team of heroes.”

“How can we confirm that Adrien is Cat Noir?”

“Leave that to me, Nathalie. I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve. Now, go… I’ve got work to do.” I have to play this exactly right, or my greatest fortune could become my greatest downfall! I know just how to lure Cat Noir… and I have a few options to get him over to my side. Once he knows why I want the Miraculous, he’ll be falling over himself trying to get them to me!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was sleeping in her bed, oblivious to both the alarm clock going off next to her and the increasingly frantic red-with-black-spots kwami flitting about her head. Both were trying their best to wake Marinette up, but with schoolwork, fashion design, baking, friends, and superheroing, Marinette could barely get up on time for school every morning.

The kwami of the Ladybug Miraculous, which Marinette wore in her ears, was named Tikki. Tikki was kind and sweet and patient and everything that the young superheroine needed.

And she was frustrated.

This girl could sleep through an explosion. Tikki drew herself up to her full height and shouted in her charge’s ear, “MARINETTE! YOU’RE GOING TO BE LATE AGAIN!”

Marinette flew out of bed, saving herself from a nasty fall by grabbing the railing of her loft ladder at the last moment. Ladybug was graceful, elegant, and agile. Marinette was… a klutz. She stumbled down the stairs and half-consciously began the morning routine of teenage girls all around the world: hair, makeup, and clothes.

After that was done, and with Tikki safely hidden in her shoulder bag, Marinette went downstairs for breakfast. Eyes half closed, she poured some milk into a bowl and began adding chocolate powder to it.

“Sleep well, dear?” Her mother, Sabine, asked.

“Mmmph,” she got in reply.

“Anything special going on today at school?”

School. Marinette used to enjoy going to school. She saw her friends there. Her class had been extremely close. She wanted to get extremely close to one classmate in particular, and had even managed to give him a kiss on the cheek a few weeks ago. But things had changed since then. The new girl in class, an Italian named Lila Rossi, was on a mission to turn Marinette’s classmates against her. Marinette hated liars more than anything else, and Lila tested that every day. From fake injuries to world travels, Lila was able to win the sympathy and admiration of her peers.

Marinette hated it, and Lila knew it. “People can't resist when they hear what they like to hear,” Lila had told her. “If you don't want to be my friend, fine! But soon you won't have any friends left at all, and trust me, I'll make sure you never get close to Adrien in class or anywhere. You seem a little less dumb than the others so I'll give you one last chance. You're either with me or against me.” The Adrien that Lila was referring to was Adrien Agreste, boy of her dreams.

“Mmm,” Marinette hummed in response to her mother.

“Well, dear, I hope today goes better for you. You’ve had a really rough time of it these past few days, and if you ever want to talk more about it, your father and I are here for you.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Marinette drained her bowl, stuffed a croissant in her mouth, and headed downstairs. Waving to her dad as she passed through the bakery, she headed across the street to school.

At the foot of the steps, Marinette’s friends Alya Césaire and Nino Lahiffe were standing around, talking with Adrien. Alya waved at Marinette as she approached the group.

“Hey, girl, glad to see you made it on time again today! That’s, what, three days in a row? A new personal record!” Alya teased, putting her arm around Marinette’s shoulders.

“Hey, Marinette!” Adrien said. He had the beginnings of dark circles under his eyes, but Marinette’s heart still skipped a beat when he said her name. She smiled shyly and waved back at him.

“Nino was just telling us about Lila’s latest adventure,” Adrien said, smiling with one corner of his mouth. Marinette knows as well as I do that Lila’s full of it. I wish she’d come around, though. Everybody in the class seems to find her irresistible for some reason.

“Yeah, dudes,” Nino began obliviously. “It sounded really amazing! She was in the park last night and saw a little girl climbing a tree to rescue a cat, and…”

Marinette tuned Nino out and shared a look with Adrien. It seemed that most of the rest of the class was enamored with Lila’s tales. Stories, that’s all they are, stories, Marinette thought to herself. Thankfully, Adrien knew that Lila was all talk, and shared Marinette’s opinion of liars. The only difference between the two was that Adrien wasn’t bent on exposing Lila, while Marinette was determined to make the rest of the class see Lila for who she really was.

The bell rang, and the four friends went up the stairs into the school, and sat down in Ms. Bustier’s classroom for the first class of the day.

At lunchtime, Marinette packed up her bag and prepared to head home.

“See you after lunch, girl!” Alya called, skipping out the door with Nino trailing behind her.

“Here, Lila, let me help you with that,” came a voice from behind her. Marinette glanced over her shoulder and saw Kim picking up a stack of books.

“Thanks, Kim. You’re so sweet for helping me out here. You’ve certainly made me feel more welcome than our class representative ever did.” Her eyes briefly darted to Marinette, and she sniffed. “This project needed a lot of research, and I had to get all these sources from the library! Of course, with my parents traveling the world with me, I could have just written down what I saw myself, but firsthand accounts can’t be cited for this project.” Lila and Kim moved to the front of the classroom, with Kim giving Marinette a small frown as he passed by.

Once the room was clear, Marinette opened her purse and glared inside. “Tikki, I can’t stand this anymore! Kim has known me for years and it’s not fair how Lila is worming her way into my relationships with my friends!”

“You’re right, Marinette, it’s not fair,” Tikki sympathized. “You have every right to be mad, but Adrien’s right -- exposing her as a liar isn’t going to make it stop! In fact, it might even make you look worse to your friends. There’s got to be another way to get Lila to stop -- or at least get your friends back,” Tikki demurred.

“I’m going to go kill her! With kindness,” Marinette added quickly, tossing her backpack onto her shoulders and heading out the door towards where Lila and Kim were headed.

“Hey guys!” Marinette called out. Catching up to Lila and Kim, she asked, “How do you think you did on that project? It was pretty tough, don’t you agree?”

Kim’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you so interested all of a sudden, Marinette? Do you want to know if Lila got a bad grade so you can hold it over her head, too? You know, ever since she came back, you’ve had it in for her. Maybe you should just leave her be. Not everybody is interested in being your friend.”

Marinette started. “Kim, it was just a simple question! I can’t believe you’d jump down my throat like that.”

“Like I said, Marinette, I’m not interested.” He turned and continued toward the library. Lila turned around and for the briefest of moments gave Marinette a sly smile, one that said I’m keeping my promise, and I’m winning.

“Did you want to join us tonight, Lila?” Kim asked her. “A bunch of us are getting together to hang out and play games. You’re more than welcome.”

“No thanks, Kim… I have plans tonight. Since I missed so much school, I have a private tutor who is helping me catch up. He’s helping me learn so much,” she purred.

Anybody watching Marinette closely would have sworn they saw steam coming out of her ears.

After lunch, the rest of the school day passed uneventfully. When the final bell rang, Kim, Max, Rose, Juleka, and Mylène all left in a group, headed over to Kim’s house to hang out. Lila watched them go, and smirked at Marinette before she headed out the door herself. Alya and Nino left hand-in-hand, as was the usual for the past couple of weeks. Adrien begged off doing anything, saying that he had extra piano practice that night to prepare for a charity recital that his father was holding in a couple of weeks. Dejected, Marinette headed home, climbed up to her room, and pulled out her homework.

It’s starting to feel like being Ladybug is my only refuge from this hell that Lila is putting me through. Granted, she doesn’t like me as Ladybug either, but at least I get to interact with people who like me and are happy to see me! Right now all I seem to have is Alya and my parents. And Alya has Nino, so she’s busy more often than not, and my parents have the bakery, so they’re always working. Even if I were closer to Adrien, his father has him so busy these days I don’t think I’d see much of him either. Where did all of this go wrong? Should I have just let Lila steamroll the class and keep my friendships, or should I have stood up for what I believed was right? I certainly can’t have it both ways…

...But standing up for what I believe is right is what makes me Ladybug. If I had given up when Stoneheart and his minions were rampaging through the city, or not gotten all the allies I could have to face Hawk Moth at the Tower, we’d all be in a much different place right now! And I’m not sure I could live with myself if that happened…

Cat Noir said it was him and me against the world when we fought Scarlet Moth. I could use a partner against the world right now, because mine is crashing down. Maybe Hawk Moth will send an akuma and Kitty and I can talk through some of this. Plus, kicking akuma butt would certainly help me get rid of some of this pent-up tension…

Having failed to even write her name on the top of her worksheet, Marinette stared off into space, wondering what her Kitty was doing at that moment, not knowing that her life as she knew it was about to permanently change.

Adrien was working through a particularly difficult arpeggio sequence. I give my hand about five more minutes before it cramps up… and then I’ll have to look at my homework. At least I don’t have a photoshoot this weekend… maybe I can finally get some R&R time. Or just transform and run the rooftops for a bit as Cat Noir. I haven’t seen Ladybug in a couple of days. I wonder if she’s having as much trouble as I am right now? It wouldn’t hurt to talk to her, but I have no way of getting in touch with her outside of the costume. Maybe it would actually be a good thing to see an akuma tonight. I’ll probably faceplant on my desk again, but seeing my Lady is totally worth it...

Sequestered in a dimly-lit, cavernous room, Lila watched a purple and black butterfly approach her. As she had done so many times before, she grabbed the butterfly and placed it on her earring. An energy signature flared over her face as she waited for instructions from Hawk Moth.

“Volpina, my prize pupil,” he began. “You have a very special job tonight. I need your power to cast an illusion of Ladybug in danger.”

“As you wish, Hawk Moth,” Lila responded. Black and purple magic enveloped her as she assumed her form as Volpina, akuma specializing in illusions and deception.

“One more thing, Volpina: you must cast this illusion outside the bedroom window of Adrien Agreste. And you must not, under any circumstances, be discovered. Do you understand?”

“Loud and clear, Hawk Moth,” Volpina smiled. “Let’s get to work.”

A large blur of blue, followed by a smaller blur of red and black, caught Adrien’s attention as he sat at his piano, rubbing his hands. What was that? It looked like Ladybug and an akuma -- right in my backyard!

A shriek and a loud crash echoed throughout the neighborhood.

“Cat Noir! HELP!” Ladybug’s voice came from outside.

“Plagg! Ladybug’s in trouble! We need to go help, now! CLAWS OUT!” Adrien scrambled up from the piano bench and transformed into Cat Noir as he ran to the window. Before he could leap out and join the fight, a metal security shield slammed over the windows and trapped him in his bedroom!

“That won’t be necessary, Adrien,” a deep voice from behind him spoke up.

Cat Noir whirled on his heels and saw Hawk Moth standing in his room. His brain went into full panic mode. How did Hawk Moth get into my bedroom? How does he know who I am? What is happening with Ladybug? I need to save her, I need to get out of here, I need to get some help! Hawk Moth kicked both Ladybug’s and my butts at the Eiffel Tower… I’m no match for him, even on my home turf! Oh no! Father -- Nathalie -- my bodyguard! I hope they’re alright!

“Stand down, Adrien. I’m not here to hurt you.” The energy signature illuminated his face and he muttered something under his breath. Once the energy signature faded, he looked at Adrien again. “In fact, I’m here to help you. You have great talent, Adrien. By all accounts you are an excellent Cat Noir. Wouldn’t you like to be an even better Cat Noir? You are nowhere near the limits of your powers. I can help you cultivate them, master them, develop the abilities that the Miraculous grants you. You have barely scratched the surface.”

“Why would you want to make me better? The only reason why I have the Miraculous in the first place is to stop you! Are we not enough of a challenge for you? Aren’t you sick of losing yet? Because we will always win!”

“That’s where I was going with this, Adrien -- we will always win. Join me,” Hawk Moth offered.

“Why would I help you destroy Paris? This is my home!”

“Who said anything about destroying Paris? That’s not what I’m looking for. Don’t you know why I want your Miraculous? Why I want Ladybug’s Miraculous?”

“You want to rule the world, I assume, like every other two-bit supervillain. I’ve seen enough movies.”

“Hardly. Has the Guardian not told you what happens when you get both the Ladybug and the Black Cat Miraculous?”

“N… n… no…”, Cat Noir stammered. Where is he going with this? Doesn’t he just want to stop us from superheroing? And how does he know about the Guardian?

“Has Ladybug not told you what happens when you combine your Miraculous?”

“I’m sure she would have told me if it were more important than getting yours!”

“Adrien, Adrien… why do they not trust you? Are you nothing more than a sidekick to them? Expendable? Replaceable?”

“I’M NOT! I’M NOT JUST A SIDEKICK!”

Struck a nerve there, Hawk Moth noted. “Adrien, it’s OK. I trust you. More than your so-called partner and Guardian do.” His words dripped with venom. “When you combine the two Miraculous, you are granted a wish. Your wish can be anything you want… wealth… power…” He paced back and forth, approaching Cat Noir with each pass. He stopped and fixed the young superhero with his gaze. “You can even bring back someone from the dead.”

Hawk Moth’s voice became gentle. “Is there anyone you miss, Adrien? More than anything in the world?”

Cat Noir’s eyes opened wide. Yes, he thought to himself.

“What would you give to bring her back, Adrien?”

How did he know…? Well, it’s pretty common knowledge that Mother has been gone for a while. And to be honest, I would love to have her around again. Father would be more pleasant. LIFE would be more pleasant. I’m getting used to how it is now, but to have what I have now and also have my Mother would be amazing. “I… don’t know,” he admitted. “It would make me happy. It would make my father happy.” His voice broke. “I try so hard to make Father happy, but I know I can’t give him what he really wants deep down. I’ll never replace her.”

“Actually, Adrien… you can give him what he really wants. What I really want. Emilie Agreste.”

Adrien froze. “What could you possibly want with my mother?”

“I want her back more than anyone else in the world, Adrien.”

“More than Father? I doubt that,” Adrien scoffed.

“I would say I want her back as much as Gabriel Agreste wants her back, Adrien. And I’m one hundred percent certain on that, because… I am Gabriel Agreste. Detransform, Adrien, and we’ll talk more. Now.”

Father… is Hawk Moth? Hawk Moth is my father? I’ve been fighting HIM for how long, now? I’ve been living under the same roof as my most hated enemy for months! Can I take him now? Can I call Ladybug and get her over here? Cat Noir reached behind his back for his baton.

“Don’t be foolish, Adrien. Your hero friends barely escaped when they faced me at the Eiffel Tower. You know that alone, you are no match for me. Detransform. NOW,” Hawk Moth ordered.

I’m trapped. Sometimes, the best offense is a good defense. Let’s see where this goes, and if I can get out of this with my Miraculous and my life. “Claws in,” Cat Noir muttered. A flash of green light later, and Adrien stood in his bedroom, with Plagg floating next to, him, wide-eyed and mouth open.

“Good… good… now, let’s get right to your training as a Miraculous holder. Your inexperience and lack of understanding of the relationship between a Miraculous holder and a kwami is holding you back. Command your kwami that he not do anything reckless. You can do that, you know. You’re not subject to your kwami’s whims. In fact, as long as you wear your Miraculous, your kwami must obey you.”

“I’d never do that to him! I know too well what it’s like to be caged up and told what to do all the time. I could never do that to my friend!”

“But Adrien, your kwami owes you. Don’t you know that it’s because of your kwami not staying close to you that we found out about you?”

“Wait, what are you talking about? His fault? We?”

Nathalie entered the room behind Hawk Moth. “I saw it in the kitchen last night, looking for food. Really, Adrien, you must take better care of your things.”

Adrien sputtered. “Plagg’s not a thing! And, and…” He looked at Plagg. “You wandered the house without me?”

“Sorry, Adrien,” Plagg whispered. “You were asleep and I was hungry and out of cheese.”

“Plagg! Oh, man… oh, man. And Nathalie? You’re in on this, too?”

“I support your father in all of his endeavors,” she replied simply.

Adrien sighed. I’m really stuck, here. I don’t see a way out. I hope this works. “Plagg, I order you to stay within earshot at all times… and to not use Cataclysm when I am not transformed.” He wiped a tear from his eye. “I’m sorry, too, Plagg.”

“Adrien… you must convince Ladybug to give you her Miraculous. Or take them from her. One way or another, they will be mine. And you will help.”

“What if I don’t want to help? Why don’t you just akumatize me and have me fight her?”

“You are far more valuable to me as a Miraculous holder than as a mindless akuma, Adrien.”

Adrien flinched.

“Speaking of akumas,” Hawk Moth continued, “...ah, yes, here she is. Volpina, come in and meet our new friend.”

Volpina entered the room and flanked Hawk Moth on the other side of Nathalie. Hawk Moth raised his arms, causing Volpina to transform back to Lila. A black butterfly flew away, magic slowly dissolving behind it as it became pure again. Lila watched it and whispered, mockingly, “Bye-bye, little butterfly.” She chuckled and fixed Adrien with a gaze that was part mirthful, part dangerous. “Hello, Adrien.”

Oh, crap. How long has she been working with him? I know she was Volpina throughout the whole Heroes Day fiasco, and she was Chameleon after that… but she was working WILLINGLY with him? Or was Hawk Moth just taking advantage of the poor girl? Anger bubbled up inside Adrien and he hissed, “Hello, Lila.”

“Now, now, children, we have to play nice together if we need anything done. Lila, you and Adrien are going to be spending a lot of time together.” He chuckled and turned to Adrien. “You don’t have to decide right now. But like I said earlier, I trust you more than your partner and Guardian ever did. You may give me your answer tomorrow night.”

“And what if I decide to not join you?”

“Then I’ll take your Miraculous by force,” Hawk Moth said casually. “It might put a cramp in your fencing and piano lessons, though… and you’d have to learn to write with a different hand, too.”

That’s very clearly a threat. Well, then. Where would I go if I said no? I don’t have any friends that I could stay with, and they’d be suspect first, anyway. If I tapped into my money, I’d leave a paper trail and be found immediately. I could shack up with Master Fu, but I don’t even know how to get in touch with him! Plus, I don’t want to accidentally lead Hawk Moth to the Guardian of the Miraculous… I bet if he has the other three Miraculous, there’s probably more somewhere. Or worse, Hawk Moth would probably force him to give up everything he knows about the Miraculous, and then things would REALLY go off the deep end. I’m so screwed.

Becoming Cat Noir is the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time. If I give up the Miraculous, then that ends, and not only have I failed Paris, I’ve also failed myself as a person. I’ll have failed Ladybug, Master Fu… I won’t be able to show my face anywhere.

But on the other hand, I’ll have Mother back. Father and I will have a chance at a normal relationship. It’s not like akumas leave any permanent damage, other than people’s memories of what happened. But they’re all healed, and if Hawk Moth just stops with the attacks, then the past couple of years will be nothing more than a memory, or funny stories to tell the grandkids. “Hey, did we ever tell you about the time a giant ice cream monster attacked Paris?”

WE’LL know, though… Father and I. I don’t know if he’ll tell Mother or not. What would she say if she knew that her husband spent months on end terrorizing Paris to get a couple of teenagers to give him jewelry? I’m not sure if she would approve of that… but all I’ve wanted for the longest time now is to be part of a family.

Would Father actually be a parent to me? Or would he continue on his current path? Minus the super-villainry, of course. Or maybe he keeps being a super-villain part time until he gets all of the Miraculous?

This is so hard. I’m in an impossible position here. I’m being forced to choose between my greatest desire and my best self. I need to find a way to talk to Master Fu tomorrow… and Ladybug, if she’ll let me.

“Very well, Hawk Moth. I’ll give you your answer tomorrow night.”

“In the meantime, Adrien, send your kwami with me. If you shout, your kwami will still be within earshot, but then again… so will I. So, don’t try anything. Give Nathalie your phone as well. You can have both back in the morning.”

“See you tomorrow at school, Adrien,” Lila smirked, turning on her heel and leaving.

Adrien handed his phone to Nathalie and watched her leave. “Go with Hawk Moth, Plagg. I’ll see you in the morning.” He choked back a sob as the kwami slowly floated out of the room, followed by Hawk Moth.

The bedroom door closed and locked.

The metal over the windows remained.

And Adrien Agreste, hero of Paris, threw himself onto his bed and cried his eyes out.

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