Chapter One:
"Nino, can you pass me the sugar?"
"Sure thing 'Nette!"
"Adrien can you add some more flour?"
"Gladly."
"Nino where is your girlfriend? I need to set her to work."
Nino laughed at Marinette's grouchy expression.
"No idea. I think she's just late. I would blame an akuma, but you took care of that so.." Mari smirked and Adrien chuckled.
Three months after defeating Hawkmoth, things were going incredibly well. Adrien, for his part, was still holding it together, though if you asked him, even he wasn't sure how he was doing it. He had yet to visit his father in prison. He had staunchly refused to talk to him, even to hear him out, though he knew Gabriel asked about him constantly. But he would. Just not yet.
As for his three friends, they had treated him like he was made of glass the first week after the battle. They'd avoided saying the word akuma, avoided mentioning Hawkmoth, avoided literally anything that could possibly hurt Adrien. Adrien had sat them all down and told them to "stop treating me like I'm going to shatter. If anything you're making it worse. Just let me be another Paris citizen. Gossip to me." And they had. It wasn't that they weren't worried about him, he caught them all staring at him more than once, but they had eventually fallen into normalcy, which Adrien was all too happy to embrace.
Which was why, as March began to draw to a close, the group of friends found themselves closer than they had ever been. Thanks to Alya's new access to Ladybug and Chat Noir, the Ladyblog had somehow managed to skyrocket even higher in popularity, and was now widely accepted as the main place to get news on the two heroes.
Nino was currently writing music, and thanks to Mari, had managed to hook Jagged Stone on one of his songs, and was now sponsored by the rock star.
Marinette was still designing, which Adrien was all too happy to support, though he did occasionally complain about how she would disappear into her room for hours at a time. She had sent some to the best design school in France, and was expecting to hear back any day.
As for Adrien, he was still modelling. His friends had been adamant that he shouldn't, but they relaxed when he reassured them it was still on his own schedule, and that it was completely voluntary on his part.
The main reason he was doing it though, was that he was still unsure if he would be able to access his father's bank accounts. The police had been investigating his father, and while they hadn't found anything, he dreaded the thought of suddenly having nothing at the age of seventeen. Natalie had been an absolute godsend, staying with him despite having every possible reason to leave all but adopting him. The two were now living in an apartment three blocks from the Dupain-Cheng's.
As for Marinette and Adrien, the two were with each other constantly. Once the identity drama had been cleared, the two could be found together in either form at all hours. Hilariously, as Adrien told his friend group one morning, the editor of a magazine had gotten into an argument with the owner about which couple should be on the cover, the owner voting for the name brand of Ladybug and Chat Noir, while the editor vied for the two teenagers. Both pictures were stunning, and in the end, the magazine decided to print two versions of the same issue.
This had sent Marinette into a panic, Alya and Nino into a laughing fit, while Plagg pretended to not find it funny as Tikki poked him playfully. Plagg and Tikki had reassured Mari that nobody would notice, and when confronted as to why, simply gave each other knowing smirks. Thus, Mari forced it out of her mind, and their lives continued.
The Dupain-Chengs were quickly learning how to dodge the paparazzi, though they had to admit their daughter dating Adrien was providing a boost to their sale numbers. Adrien had volunteered his services one afternoon, and not long after that, he was working their part time. "I'm here most of the time anyway." He had pointed out to them, when they originally shot down his idea. Of course, being the sunshine child (as Alya loved calling him) that he was, when they first offered to pay him, he refused, until a week later, they refused to let him work until he accepted a paycheck, which he did. Reluctantly.
But through all of this, more than anything, he had been happy. He'd been content for the first time he could remember in forever. It was hard to believe that he and Marinette had only been together for less than six months. It felt like so much longer. Everyone around them seemed to feel the same way. It had been commented on by many a person over the past few months. Even Chloe had admitted that the two were amazing together. Reluctantly.
At the present moment, it was past 8 pm, which meant the bakery was closed. Marinette however, was still stressing over food. In this case, chocolate chip cookies for her kwami and the bake sale at school the ensuing day. They had already made several various other baking articles, like croissants, (chocolate covered and otherwise), and a multitude of other cookie types. But now, Alya was an hour late, and Marinette was determined to make sure Alya did something.
"Shall I call her?" Adrien asked timidly. Marinette could get a bit scary when it came to her best friend.
"Yes." Marinette growled. "That girl is going to do something damn it, I don't care what her reason is."
"I got it." Nino said, reaching for his phone. Marinette slapped his hand away.
"The hell you will. She'd just use her sultry voice and you'll agree with whatever she says." She fixed Nino with a glare that brooked no argument and Adrien snickered as he selected Alya's contact in his phone.
After several rings, he was greeted with her answering machine.
You have reached the voicemail of Alya Cesaire. Please leave a message at the beep. *Beep*
"Hey Alya, we're at the bakery, and you are supposed to be here. You should be lucky that I called because if it was Mari she would be chewing your ear off." A glance over at his girlfriend elicited a firm nod, and Adrien stifled a laugh. "Basically for your sake you should get here ASAP." He hung up and shrugged. Mari rolled her eyes, while Nino shrugged back helplessly.
"It is a bit weird though." Marinette commented. "She's always on her phone, so why wouldn't she be answering?"
"Maybe she hates all of us now." Nino said, reaching for a dough covered spoon. Adrien and Marinette simultaneously batted his hand away.
"Somehow I doubt it." Adrien chuckled.
"Here turn on the news." Mari said, throwing a remote at Nino, who caught it. He pushed the on button, and surfed through the channels, looking for the desired news station. He got there a few moments later, with the reporter Nadja Chamack on screen.
"-election is currently being labeled as too close to call. Mayor Andre Bourgeois was a heavy favorite to win, but the newcomer Natalia Dorsen made an incredible run over the past three months. She burst onto the political scene after Ladybug and Chat Noir were victorious over Hawkmoth. She is a strong advocate of the Revealing Group of Paris Vigilantes, having stated that she thinks Ladybug and Chat Noir should reveal themselves to the public. She has also been a strong supporter of the idea that the son of Hawkmoth son, one Adrien Agreste, needs to be investigated."
Marinette, Adrien, and Nino, stared at the screen in abject shock as Nadja continued.
"While it seemed these controversial ideas would eliminate her at the beginning of the race, she hung around by proposing more popular legislation. Despite this, Mayor Bourgeois was projected to win by a 60-40 majority. Our experts are wondering if her earlier controversial ideas have been forgotten in the long race, which could have lead to this unexpected close race."
"She could win?" Nino asked in disbelief. "She's so unpleasant."
"Well people haven't exactly been thrilled with Mayor Bourgeois." Marinette said thoughtfully. "But even still I didn't think that she would actually have a chance."
"It's not that surprising honestly." Adrien commented. "After that whole thing that came out about how he and Chloe caused their fair share of akumas."
"I suppose that's true." Mari murmured. "You don't think she'll actually.. Investigate you do you Adrien?"
Adrien stared at the screen pensively for a few moments before answering.
"I think.. Even if she does, it won't matter. I don't have anything to hide."
"She'll be biased though." Nino pointed out.
"She won't be leading the investigation." Adrien said confidently, though he felt anything but. It was at that moment that Nino's phone began buzzing.
"It's Alya." Nino announced, answering and putting it on speaker.
"I am legally obligated to inform you that you are on speaker phone." Nino said.
"Yeah yeah." Alya replied. She sounded exhausted. "Guys listen. I got caught up in the election thing and I lost track of time. And I hate to say it but from the latest figures it seems like Dorsen is going to win. It might be close enough for a recount, but it really does look like she's got it."
"Shit." Marinette muttered, pointing at the screen.
"Are they calling it?" Alya asked.
"Yeah they are." Adrien replied.
"We can call it now." Nadja said, trying, and somewhat failing, to keep a neutral look on her face. "With 99% in, we can now project that Natalia Dorsen will be the next Mayor of Paris."
Alya got to the bakery twenty minutes later, face grim. She glanced at Adrien, who could only shrug. Tom and Sabine had joined the teenagers a few minutes prior, and while they hadn't said anything to Adrien directly, they kept glancing at him worriedly. A sense of gloom had settled across the Dupain-Cheng household, as well as a good portion of the Parisian population.
XxXxXxXxXx
Natalia Dorsen was a beautiful woman. She was also very used to getting what she wanted. And tonight, she had gotten exactly that.
As she strode towards the podium, she was greeted to a roar of approval. She smiled broadly, flashing a thumbs up to her left. As she got to the microphone, she held up a hand and waited for silence to fall upon the crowd.
"Thank you! Thank you. Thank you so much." She shouted, as the crowd fell silent. "Thank you Paris. Thank you for having faith in me to lead you for the next few years. Your faith in me has helped us set Paris on a new path." She continued to speak and the crowd ate up every bit of it. She called for reform, but carefully left out any mention of Ladybug and Chat Noir, despite every fiber in her being crying for her to proclaim them as vigilantes and put a warrant out for their arrest.
No. As Daphne had told her. Patience. She had to be patient. She shot a glance behind her and met the eyes of a smiling Daphne, who gave her a thumbs up. Daphne practically got me this nomination. She mused. I really should reward her. Unbeknownst to her, Daphne already had all of the reward that she wanted.
Finally. Daphne thought, her grin becoming slightly manic. A puppet for me to control. What now Ladybug and Chat Noir? What will you do when I use my mayor who genuinely believes in my agenda to bring down legislation for your arrest. When I bring down the full force of an investigative team on Adrien Agreste? She reached into her pocket and clutched the butterfly miraculous for a moment. Paris is all but mine, and you don't even know it. And if things go according to plan, you never will.