It can't be happening.
It can't be.
But it was.
Ladybug landed, a triumphant smile already in place as the pin in her hands dissolved into a simple circle, a pink kwami popping out. A flash of purple filled her vision, leaving after images of feathers floating through the air. She blinked them away to look at Papillon's unobstructed face.
And she gasped.
"Gabriel Agreste?"
Chat Noir, poised behind him to tackle him, slid when he tried to pounce and hit the ground with a thud. He propped himself up on his elbows, inspecting the back of the man before him. His eyes widened in horror as he took in the familiar suit, the rigid posture. The man turned to glare at the boy sprawled on the ground, and Chat Noir's heart jumped into his throat.
"Father?"
Gabriel blinked and walked over to him. Kneeling down, he took Chat Noir's chin between his fingers. Tilting it left and right, he hissed under his breath. "Adrien?"
"Adrien?" They both jumped at Ladybug's soft voice. Chat Noir hopped to his feet and stared at her, his eyes glowing as they reflected the little light seeping in through the window. He stepped towards her, his arm extended, as Gabriel stood behind him and glared.
The sight scared her, to say the least.
Gasping, hyperventilating as Chat Noir neared her, she stepped back. Chat Noir paused and looked between her and his father.
"Don't you miss your mother? I need the Miraculous. I'll find her. I'll bring her back. But I need the Miraculous to do it."
Sucking in a breath, Chat Noir turned back to her, pleading with his eyes. "Ladybug... I..." He glanced down at his ring. His fingers wrapped around it and tugged, and with a broken voice he whispered, "Please."
Marinette almost took her earrings out there and then.
But she didn't.
She ran.
She jumped out the window and ran away.
She didn't know what was guiding her.
All she knew was that she had to get away.
So she ran. Squeezing the pin so tight it cut into her palm, she ran. She swung from her yoyo with no destination in mind, but found herself hanging upside down outside Alya's bedroom window. The lights were off, the room empty.
Ladybug waited five minutes. Then ten. Then she repositioned herself, settling with her back against the glass when being upside down gave her a headache. Twenty minutes after that is when Alya finally walked in.
She immediately recognized the back filling her window. Gasping in excitement, she rushed to open it, and Ladybug fell against the floor, hitting it with and audible Thump! Alya gasped again and started apologizing until she noticed the way Ladybug rolled onto her side and curled into herself.
"Ladybug?" Ladybug started mumbling, shaking as she gripped her arms.
"It was him all along. It was... God I'm so stupid. And now..." She sniffed, and finally let the dam burst, wrapping herself around Alya as she cried into her shoulder. Her hands pulled against the plaid shirt as her tears drenched it, and she felt Alya rubbing her back.
"It's ok, Ladybug. I'm sure whatever it is, it can be fixed. Where's Chat Noir? He can help."
Ladybug flinched, her sobs turning into muffled screams.
"Alya, he can't. He can't help. He's so loyal, he'd choose his father over anyone how am I... How am I supposed to..."
"Ladybug, what... What happened?" Ladybug shuddered against her, burying her head in the crook of her neck.
"It's his father, Alya. Papillon is his father."
"Whose?"
"Chat Noir's. Adrien's."
"Adrien... Agreste? Ah! Your earrings!" They were beeping at her, but she ignored it. Shivering again, Ladybug disappeared behind of wall of pink sparkles. Alya gasped. "Marinette?"
"Just a little while longer."
"Woah, dude! You look horrible!"
"Yeah, I- uh, I had a rough night."
"Didn't we all," Alya muttered behind them. Nino and Adrien looked back at her, curious, but she'd turned her attention to Marinette. Waves of ice fell from her shoulders as she took in Marinette's lackluster eyes and swollen lids. Her gaze turned to acid as she eyed the boys, and they shrank back, watching the front of the room instead.
No one noticed the way Marintte clutched her arms or blinked away tears.
A/N: I am not a fan of the "Gabriel Agreste is Hawkmoth" theory. Not at all. Every fic I write, I write based on him being someone else. (Minus this one, of course.) I just think it's too obvious, as well as overdone, not to mention it would take focus off of Marinette as the main protagonist. I want it to be a big fat red herring. But, I had an idea and I had to write it. What can I say?