Deceiver: So, there was this one of the plot points in my ML fanfic Good bye, Happy Days where I had to scrape after watching Robustus because of plot points. I was very proud of it and even wrote it out for my friends to read, only for this to never be published due to me being a very consistent person when it comes to continuity. I don't know, I just wanted to share and don't want it to go to waste, so I decided to add a little bit more things (for background information) before I share it.

Also, I deleted Good bye, Happy Days for a big overhaul on the story. I didn't like where it started so decided to try write more before I start posting again.

Other spoiler is what is heard to happen and already happened in Season 2. That's all.

Enjoy!

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Don't leave me like I did with you

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Once she ran out of the hallway and through the door, Ladybug heard her earrings give out the final beep beep! before she felt her transformation dissolve away. When Tikki flew out, completely exhausted, Marinette caught her at once with her hand. Other than using Lucky Charm and Miraculous Ladybug to fix as much damage as she could, they fought a difficult battle. But she had to continue alone, especially when Hawk Moth was just up ahead. Everyone else was busy fighting their own battles, so she had to deal with him herself.

Sighing, Marinette knew they had to take a break. It was not just Tikki, but she was tired too, both physically and mentally. She needed to sit down and take a breather. In the meantime, Tikki could have her cookies to restore her energy.

"Yo!" The dark bluenette jumped and saw something black fly out of the palm of her hand. Well, not exactly from her palm, it was more from the Cat Miraculous she was squeezing tightly in her fist.

Plagg.

"What's the big idea?" the cat kwami narrowed his green eyes at her, ignoring Tikki's silent gestures for him to zip it. "Why didn't you give the ring back to Adrien?"

She flinched at the question, her body tense. "You should know why," she mumbled, holding the ring tighter.

She really wanted to return it to Adrien, but with how things turned out, she couldn't do it. Before all this he made the difficult decisions to bear the burden for everyone. That and he just came to his senses after she purified the akuma possessing the lucky charm she gave him.

Really, it was a low blow for Hawk Moth to use his son against them. First by deliberately spilling the information on everyone's secret identities for Adrien to hear, before making sweet promises while Adrien was still surprised and worried on the revealing news. Promises on not hurting anyone and just wanted the Miraculouses to get his mother back. Sure, Hawk Moth kept his word on not harming them, but having an akuma possess Adrien once he gave up his Cat ring and send him after her earrings?

Unforgivable.

Marinette could never forget the distraught look on Adrien's face when he realised what he was made to do once he was freed, and how Hawk Moth swooped in to try and snatch the earrings when his son failed. Luckily, Queen B warned her before he could steal anything, which Marinette was very thankful for even though the blonde was still sore on Marinette being Ladybug. With a quick manoeuvre, Ladybug gained the upper hand and somehow managed to steal the ring back. He was cornered at that point, but using his ability, Hawk Moth caused everyone who were once possessed in the past to be supervillains once more, excluding the new superheroes. It was hard enough for Carapace and Rena Rouge to fight against the one claiming to be the owner of the Peacock Miraculous outside, but to also fight against a horde of supervillains across the entire city was a whole new level of insane.

Hawk Moth had retreated to regain his energy, but not without threatening Ladybug to relinquish the Miraculouses she held unless she wanted the entire Paris to be destroyed. He was going back on his words, but he didn't care anymore. He was that close into reviving his wife, but his son and the rest of the superheroes were getting in his way. He would use as much force as necessary to achieve his goal.

And of course, Ladybug wouldn't allow it. She had the mission to stop Hawk Moth, once and for all.

"You take Adrien to safety," Ladybug told Queen B after she gave back Adrien his lucky charm and turn towards where Hawk Moth ran off to. Before any of them could protest, she shook her head before smiling at them. "I'll be fine. Hawk Moth is nothing compared to the villains I fought against before."

"Marinette…" she turned to Adrien when he uttered her name, and she could only offer a softer smile at him.

"I'll be fine. Really!" she winked, showing off her confident Ladybug-self. Her earrings were beeping again, telling her to hurry up. "Queen B, once Adrien is safe, help Rena Rouge and Carapace out, will you?"

"Sure," she shrugged her shoulders. Really, she was only doing this for Adrien.

"Once Hawk Moth is down, everything will be back to normal," she nodded, spinning on her heels to dash out of the room and into the hallway. She never looked back, even when Adrien called out for her as she ran faster.

Being used and betrayed by his father was bad enough, but to have Adrien fight him? To begin with, he didn't want that after learning who everyone was. And to be honest, Marinette was hesitant to fight against Hawk Moth as well. He was Adrien's father, and someone she looked up to as a fashion designer…

But…it had to be done. This was the only way and she was doing this alone.

There was no need for Adrien to be dragged further into this.

An exasperated sigh was heard, with Plagg swaying slightly in the air as he crossed his arms. "Are you just as dumb as the kid to take this on alone?"

"Plagg!"

"It can't be helped!" Marinette shouted over Tikki's disapproving cry. "I mean, everyone else is busy with their own things." Her free hand came up to fiddle with the lucky charm strapped around her wrist. It helped her calm down a bit. "Adrien went through a lot already. It doesn't feel right to make him face his dad…"

"And who decided that for me?"

With a jump, Marinette and the kwamis looked up to see an unamused Adrien standing by the doorway, his piercing green eyes on her. All colour drained from her face as she sat there, frozen on the spot. Plagg let out a happy cry and instantly flew over to him, glad to see his favourite owner back on the feet while casually telling him off on the stupid stunt he pulled. Adrien was surprised at the display of affection, yet just as happy to see his mischievous kwami while being sorry as well.

As the tiny cat settled for resting on Adrien's head, Marinette gulped. "Why…are you here?"

Their eyes met once again. The smile on Adrien's face disappeared as he walked up to her. "I came for you, of course."

"And Queen B…?" She couldn't get up.

There was a hum. "For some reason, she told me to go after you," he kneeled in front of her as he spoke. "She ordered me to actually, before she left me in that room." Now he shot her an unimpressed look. "What were you thinking?"

"What…?"

"Why did you think it was a good idea to fight against my father on your own," he reached for his ring in her hand, only for her to pull back and look away. "Marinette."

"You're tired," she was not giving in. Her grip tightened on the ring. "You've been through too much. I…I can't have you go through with this."

"Why are you deciding that for me!?" He grabbed for the hand where his ring was again. He caught it this time, but only by the wrist when she tried to move away. When she started struggling to escape, he pinned her other wrist down to keep her still. She still refused to look at him, and he got desperate. "We're supposed to face Hawk Moth together! Why…" he desperately tried to make her look at him. "Why are you pushing me away!? Are you mad at me for what I did!?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why-"

"It's wrong!" her sudden cry surprised them both. Marinette glance at Adrien, feeling dread flood the pit of her stomach when she saw the shocked look on his face. "Please, Adrien…" She looked away again quietly, barely whispering out her words. "I know we've always said Ladybug and Chat Noir are a team…but after everything you've been through, I don't want you to get hurt anymore." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "This is your father. You were willing to help him. I'm sorry...maybe we could have done something together under different circumstances, but this time we can't. It's the least I can do when I didn't notice to begin with…"

Silence loomed over them. Marinette tried to will herself to move as each second ticked by with her sitting here. Her wrists were still locked in Adrien's hands, and even though his grip became loss, she didn't move. Once he let go of her, he suddenly pulled her in for an embrace. Before she could react, Marinette felt her Miraculous taken off. "A-Adrien!"

"You're not going alone," Adrien said lowly, keeping her locked in his embrace. "I left you once, and I still feel guilty for that." He buried his face against her shoulder, nuzzling her a bit as he continued. "I know what you're trying to do, but it is not going to help any of us. Trust me…we both know it."

She glanced at him, hesitant to speak. "A-Adrien…"

His hand came up to rest against the back of the head, making Marinette rest against him more. She was still tense, but only a little. "Marinette…Princess…My Lady," he kept on going over the names he called her as Chat Noir, yet his voice was as gently as his civilian self. "Please listen to me. I'm…so sorry for what I did," he apologised. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but learning who you and everyone else were, I panicked…okay, that was just an inexcusable excuse, but I need to explain myself-"

"I don't need to hear it." When Adrien flinched at her words, her arms finally came up to wrap around him too, hugging him back in comfort. "I…I understand…it must had been hard, right? Finding out all at once who everyone was…" she asked him softly. There was silence, and she was only answered by a nod. "You were just trying to protect us when Hawk…your father made that deal with you. I get that…and he's your father anyway, so of course you couldn't go against him. That's why…you don't need to explain, Adrien…"

He shifted a little within the hug. "It's…more than that…"

She nodded understandingly. "Yeah, your mother…"

"Other than that too," he pulled back to look her in the eyes, his hands resting on her shoulders. "When I learnt you were Ladybug, a thought struck me then. About us, you know? How I kept insisting we were just friends." Marinette's breath hitched a bit. "Well, honestly I treasured you as one of my first friends, Marinette. But I didn't notice how much I really felt about you. How I was comfortable with you, drawn to you despite how you first acted around me." There was a sigh. "It was so strange, but when I learnt who you are, I figured it out. Deep down, I must have known…"

She blinked. "Known about…what?"

"Known you were Ladybug," he said, so sounding so affirmative on it that it made Marinette freeze. "When father said it that day, I came to realise both feelings for you and Ladybug were the same. I was actually in love with you…"

Marinette's felt her heart picking up pace, then felt her face turning red as she tried to respond to Adrien's words. But he stopped her. He needed to continue. "And that's why I did what I did. I thought, literally believed everything would be over if I did as my father told. I can get mother back, yes. But I can also protect everyone…you too, of course."

"Protect…me?"

He looked away in shame. "And look how that turn out. I truly believed it was the best choice since no one else could get hurt since father found out. But…" He was trembling. "But I was wrong. I ended up hurting everyone. I betrayed everyone. I betrayed my Lady…you, Marinette."

"Adrien…" she pulled his face up so then he faced her again. His green eyes – those eyes she adored, were wet with tears. And it was making her tear her apart just seeing that.

"I made my mistake," his hand came up to grab hers to hold, the lucky charms they wore barely touching. "I can't let you make the same mistake too. Going off and deciding on your own what is the best thing to do. I won't allow it." He smiled at her softly, pleadingly. "That's not how Ladybug and Chat Noir works, isn't that right, my Lady?"

It was then did Marinette realise she was crying. And she was actually trying very hard to not let the tears spill. She pulled back to furiously try to wipe them away, refusing to cry in front of Adrien when he was the one who had the right to cry. She felt his hand came up to stop her, her eyes meeting his again as he reached out to help her wipe her tears away. He was still smiling kindly at her as he couldn't help it but cry too.

"Honestly, I…" she tried to say, composing herself for a moment before trying again. "I thought I was doing you a favour. Since you know, you were always protecting me as Ladybug. I couldn't do much except brushing you off as her. And I get very overwhelmed as Marinette to the point I never noticed what you were going through…" She closed her eyes as she sighed, lowering her head. "I…I just wanted to be the one to protect you for once, not the one protected…"

There was a small pause between them. And the hand Adrien was still holding was lifted to his lips, giving her a tender kiss on the back of her hand before Marinette could react. In the past, she would have playful rejected his flirtatious gesture with laughs shared between them. But this was different. This one was gentle, with care.

"That is why we must be together…" he whispered to her, staring at the area where he kissed her as he rubbed it with his thumb. "I couldn't protect you when I was doing things alone. And you can't do that either." He looked up at her again, heart set on what he wanted. "Please, let me go with you, Marinette. We must do this together. I won't accept any objections."

Finding it hard to argue anymore, Marinette gave out a sigh, giving in. "Alright…you win, Kitty."

The way Adrien flashed his smile at her made her let out a small giggle. She shouldn't, but she ended up laughing with him. Tikki took this chance to comfort her friend with nuzzles to her cheek, with Plagg complaining how they could take their time to share such a mushy gushy moment together when the two kwamis were starving. Adrien shot the tiny black cat a look to tell him to shut it, making Marinette laugh more.

"Can I have my ring back now?" He asked her once the kwamis were fed and recharged from whatever their owners had on person. Knowing there was no going back, Marinette gave his Miraculous back. He wore it at once, admiring how it was back where it belonged before he handed back his Lady's earrings.

Once he got up, Adrien offered his hand to Marinette to pull her up as well. Hands still linked, they looked into each other's eyes.

"Ready?" They asked each other. And they gave a nod before taking a deep breathe in and stepping back.

"Tikki!"

"Plagg!"

"Transform me!"

Once the bright red and green lights faded, leaving them back in their superhero attires, they started to move out. There was nothing to hold them back anymore. This was their final battle.

And they were doing this together. Proven by how Chat Noir pulled Ladybug along by the hand as they rushed towards their destination.