"I brought you some flowers." Adrien stood before her, holding a beautiful bouquet of roses towards her. She sat up, not knowing how she ended up in a secluded corner of the Eiffel Tower's observation deck. The sky around them suggested night had fallen. She'd been asleep for some time.
"What happened?"
Adrien smiled a sad smile and settled down beside her.
Alya had been the first to move after she ran, but Adrien and Nino followed quickly. They wanted to visit her, but she hadn't gone home. Only Alya had understood why.
She had no choice but to explain it to the boys.
The three of them scoured the twenty-first arrondissement, separating it into sectors to make searching easier. He'd taken the tower. It was luck that he found her napping on a bench beneath it. He carried her to a better place to rest and kept watch over her until she awoke, only leaving to buy her food and water and gifts for when she did. Alya and Nino came and stayed as long as they could, but had to leave once night fell.
Marinette wiped tears from her eyes as he finished his story.
"You did all that for me?" she asked.
"I'd do it again, too." he answered.
She leaned on his shoulder, hiding her face, letting his shirt catch her tears.
=•=•=•=
Marinette Dupain-Cheng had disappeared.
No one knew where she went. No one knew why. No one knew how.
Her parents had no idea, even though they'd been there, in the same room, the night she disappeared. They'd been standing with her in the kitchen, their fighting drawing them to silence, and then she was gone.
They were devastated.
Her class got together and looked. They pooled their money and promised a reward for her return. They missed her. Even Chloé couldn't keep up her normal attitude without someone to challenge her.
But no one could ever claim the meager reward. There were no leads, no trails, nothing to find her with.
She was just gone.
=•=•=•=
Gabriel Agreste was in a good mood.
Adrien just didn't understand. Had a collection gone especially well? Did he land a collaboration with an international superstar? Had he been replaced by an alien or robot?
Okay, that last theory wasn't as plausible as the others.
But it was still odd to see his father's face every night at dinner. Or at his piano concerts. Or basketball games. Or fencing matches. Or... Anywhere, really.
Aside from magazines, of course.
Oh, well. The reason didn't matter. He was paying attention to Adrien, asking about his day and offering advice and just being there, and Adrien couldn't ask for more.
=•=•=•=
Adrien Agreste was happy.
His father was spending more time with him, of course he would be.
Marinette tried to soak in his happiness, letting it be her fuel to face her daunting home life. She let thoughts of him and his father fill her mind. If they could be happy without his mother, she could be happy without hers, right?
Or maybe she would be without a father soon.
Hopefully, she would keep both of her parents. The divorce was still just in the discussion phase, after all. Just an idea brought up when neither thought Marinette was awake and listening.
She really, really hoped it wouldn't come to that.
The fighting had come about so suddenly, a simple request to repaint the bakery that had been blown out of proportion. It was like a cascade of pain and fury after that, with every conversation quickly devolving into shouting and yelling. It was unexpected, it was scary.
Marinette definitely won't deny that it was scary. They had been together twenty years, after all. What could have driven them to divorce in the span of two months? It hurt just to think about it.
But only Alya knew about all this. She wouldn't want to spoil Adrien's good mood with something like this. He worried about her too much sometimes.
In fact, remembering the way he rushed to her apartment after learning she needed a translator was one of the few things that made her feel better. It seemed like only he could put a smile on her face now.
And she felt horrible about it. Shouldn't her family be able to do that, even in times like these? If not them, then memories of them should do, but they didn't. They didn't and she couldn't stand it and she wanted to cry and scream and just beat her frustrations away but she couldn't even do that because Hawkmoth wouldn't get off his lazy ass and send an akuma out and she was going fucking crazy and-
And she couldn't stand the stress right now, there were tears in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks and every eye was on her. Alya's hand was on her back, rubbing useless circles into her shoulders but she couldn't stay, the stares weighed on her chest and made it impossible to breathe and she needed out-out-out!
So she gathered her things and left, the eyes of her classmates following her every step.
=•=•=•=
Ladybug was there.
That was her, wasn't it?
It had to be. She had the same height, same build. She had the same mask, she was dressed in the same clothes.
It was her eyes, however, that made Adrien doubt her. They were once so full of life, with stars hidden in them, but now they stared blankly ahead.
"Ladybug?" he asked, his voice below a whisper. She turned to him.
"Monsieur Agreste." Her voice was cold, detached. "What a pleasure to meet you." She smiled, the corners of her lips raising only the smallest bit, and he swore she was closing to crying.
"Ladybug!" someone cut in. She faced the speaker, arms at her side in attention. Adrien turned to see his father at the top of the steps, smiling coldly. He started to step down, speaking as he did so. "You are relieved of duties for now. I want you to relax, continue hiding. You are more than welcome to stay here."
Adrien's eyes jumped between Ladybug and Gabriel, the question on his lips dying as soon as he tried to speak it.
"I am Hawkmoth," his father answered anyway, pulling off his tie. Underneath was a small kwami hovering over a pin.
Oh, that hurt.
It hurt in the worst ways. Adrien felt his heart stutter, felt darkness creep into its every crevice. He felt it drop into despair, he felt it chill into betrayal, he felt it roar in anger.
He wanted to voice his feelings. He wanted to let his father know he was disappointed, to tear into him with words sharper than knives, but he didn't get the chance.
Ladybug was transforming.
But no, that was not how she was supposed to do it. Her transformation was supposed to be pink and sparkles. He knew that; she'd told him it was the most ridiculous thing.
It wasn't supposed to be slimy and black, it wasn't supposed to drip off her skin in murky clouds of dark power, retreating into the rose tucked behind her ear.
It wasn't supposed to reveal Marinette, her expressive face now a mask of ice and stone.
=•=•=•=
"I brought some flowers." Marinette mirrored what had happened earlier. There was a bundle of red roses in her hands, arms outstretched to give it to her parents. They reached for the bouquet at the same time, brushing the tips of their fingers together. Whipping their hands back, they glared at each other, then turned back to what they were doing.
Sabine kneading dough, Tom separating it into pans. Silence settled over the kitchen, and Marinette wilted in the tense atmosphere. She set the flowers on the counter and took her seat on the stool between them.
She was able to wait until the bread was in the oven before breaking the silence.
"Uncle Cheng put the flowers I got him in his Celestial Soup," she said. "Maybe we could decorate some of our bread with the roses?"
Tom and Sabine looked at her, then the roses. Together, they reached out to gather a few petals, their hands touching on the stem of the biggest flower as a black butterfly landed on it.
Marinette felt her eyes widen, and then she was screaming.
=•=•=•=
The boy was young.
But he had experienced the pain of heartbreak yet again.
Was he just not lovable? Was he too headstrong, too much of a pushover? What had he done to deserve being saddened like this?
He didn't blame his ex. No, he was just too sensitive. It hurt so. Fucking. Much. But it was his fault.
It didn't make him feel any better when he saw couples walking hand-in-hand down the street. Or kissing beneath the stars. Or snuggling in the shade of a tree.
But it was all his fault.
But it's not, said a voice in his head. They could be more considerate of you. They could watch what they do or say. They could make sure it would help you, rather than ignore you. I can help you break apart even the most loving of families. But I just need you to do something for me, first. Something secret. You must be subtle. You can't let anyone know what you're doing. Can you do that, Rifter?
Rifter smiled. "Yes, Hawkmoth."
=•=•=•=
"Mama! Papa! Don't listen to him! Don't listen to him!" she screeched, her voice rising and her throat raw. Without thinking, she tore the tainted rose from their hands - and immediately stilled.
What do we have here? whispered a voice in her mind. I've never noticed your presence before. How have you hidden from me all this time?
"I-"
There's some strong magic here, isn't there? She could feel Hawkmoth's cruel smile. Magic that can only come from another Miraculous. Have I finally found you, Ladybug?
"No..." she whispered, but Hawkmoth taunted her more. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no, No!" Her voice grew louder, louder, loud enough to snap her parents out of their daze. Finally, she shouted, clutching her head, thorns digging into her palms.
"I am not Ladybug!"
Dark mist exploded from her hands at her outburst, swallowing her, suffocating her.
She was drowning.
=•=•=•=
Gabriel Agreste had magic.
It was he that terrorized Paris. It was he that set civilians' inner demons free. It was he that took advantage of the weak.
Yes, he was Hawkmoth.
And he wasn't sure if it was just latent power he'd always had, or if it was a side effect of wielding his Miraculous, but he could sense people.
He couldn't tell who they were, he couldn't tell what they were feeling, but he could tell they were there.
It was a useful ability, if somewhat limited. He could tell when someone was about to knock on his door. He could examine his whole house if he stretched his senses to the max. He could check on Adrien, Nathalie, and his other employees by doing that, but it wore him out.
But the best thing?
The best thing that had happened had been finding out Ladybug's identity.
How had he done it?
Observational skills. She'd been close the few times he'd met her. Close enough to feel the warmth radiating from her body.
But she gave off no aura.
There was nothing, no hint of life coming from where she was. He concentrated on her, testing his power, trying to sense something, but he failed. It was like she didn't exist. Like he was gazing upon the ghost of a girl with pale skin and blue eyes and dark hair tied into ponytails. Empty. Void.
Even Chat Noir had a faint presence.
Ladybug did not.
He never got an answer as to why - the book he'd learned about the Miraculous from had disappeared. And he could never get much out of Nooroo. But when he told the kwami about it, he'd smiled. A small smile, a gloating smile, one that only reached his eye for a moment before his worries settled in again.
"Tikki is a master of shielding magic," he'd said. "Her charge is invisible to you."
"But what about you?"
His smile returned for half a second. "She can even fool me."
Gabriel walked away in disgust.
Weeks passed, the summer turning to fall before he came across Ladybug's lack of presence again.
Only this time, she wasn't wearing her suit.
She was just the ghost of a girl, with pale skin and blue eyes and dark hair tied into ponytails. She stood in the foyer of his home alongside Adrien, his friend Nino, and one other girl. He almost hadn't noticed her.
It was only after she spoke up, with sparkling eyes and gentle voice, that he even knew she was there. His eyes caught hers, giving her an intimidating stare that she met head-on. He'd been on the verge of kicking them out when she told him all they wanted to do was study. It would help Adrien as well, right?
It took him mere seconds to realize he was looking at Ladybug.
He'd been so elated, he allowed their request.
He asked Adrien about her.
He learned her name.
He kept an eye on her.
And now he had the perfect opportunity to draw her in.
"Well then, Rifter," Hawkmoth whispered, "your mission is to tear apart the Dupain-Cheng family."