"And he said you both were about right here." The courtyard in front of city hall was mostly empty, although a few other early birds and press outlets were staking a claim on their spaces.

Alya's eyes narrowed as she drained the dregs of her coffee, wincing at the bitter grinds that had settled at the bottom of the cup as Adrien not so subtly marked off their exact staging. Honestly, there were times where it was a wonder that everyone thought he was so cool and collected. "So he helped you from your house?"

Adrien scratched at the nape of his neck through the hoodie, offering an awkward half smile. "I might have been playing hooky from work. Nathalie thinks I'm still asleep in my room right now, so I don't have a huge amount of time to stay here and help before she thinks to actually check in on me."

Nino didn't even look up as he fiddled with the camera settings for optimal visibility. "How early did they schedule the photo shoot this time?"

"Six am. Which means I had to be up and out of the house at least an hour earlier. And earlier still if I wanted to get something for breakfast first."

"That's ridiculous, dude."

Alya groaned in sympathy. Bad enough that the poor boy couldn't eat like the rest of them. Apparently he wasn't allowed to sleep either.

"It could be worse, really." Adrien conceded, dropping his arms to his side. "But it just means that I need to avoid being on my usual side of the camera. Luckily, our friend in black said Marinette and I headed away from the crowd towards the food vendors, so dodging the cameras should be relatively easy."

Alya couldn't keep from grinning. Chat Noir had been hiding some great intel. Too bad he hadn't been inclined to share, so she could have worked on getting Marinette a little more into the right frame of mind first. And-assuming that he hadn't been hiding anything else major-that she'd probably not remember come the next day. Or was it the same day? Nino peered over at her subtly, unconsciously slowing the speed of his camera assembly as she shook her head, clearing her focus.

Adrien carried on, entirely oblivious. Not that that was anything new. "I guess we head over to grab snacks and drinks or something."

Nino's gaze sharpened, no longer subtle in trying to wave her off.

Alya pretended not to notice. "Drinks would be awesome. Our friend in black needs us to be super focused."

Adrien grinned over the top of his sunglasses.

"Besides," Alya's lips curled upwards, "you don't usually get to hang out with Marinette all that much. I think it would do you both good."

He frowned slightly. "I'm not sure. She always seems to avoid me a little bit."

Alya raised a very interested brow. So he had noticed after all.

"Well, man." Nino jumped in quickly, his eyes darting to hers clearly anxious to keep her from pushing things along too quickly, "you two did manage to get off on the wrong foot initially, so maybe that is part of it." Nino wouldn't meet her eyes, focusing his attention exclusively on Adrien. "She knows that she misjudged you, so maybe she just isn't entirely sure how to act around you."

She nudged into Nino's shoulder, impressed. Her boy knew how to observe and kept a surprisingly level head. "If you want to make sure that you both are understanding each other, then hanging out with her on a one-on-one basis is the best. I know that from experience."

Adrien nodded, but grew quietly introspective, watching the incoming foot traffic.

Not that she really had much time to press the issue anyhow. If Chat Noir was right, it probably wouldn't matter what they did on this particular version of the day anyways. Not unless they found some amazing scoop. Besides, if the vibration from her pocket was any indication, Marinette clearly had to be freaking out right now. She dug out her cell phone to check.

OMG

Alya

Alya why?

why did you send Chat here?

Okay. So she was panicking a lot. With a sigh, Alya's fingers flew across her keypad. Calm down, and get down here. We're on a mission to save Paris.

But Adrien!

Will also be on the same mission. C'mon, girl. Didn't Chat fill you in on the deets?

Right but we're supposed to be alone together

Working together. You'll be fine.

Alya shook her head fondly. One of these days, Marinette will look back on this and laugh. Provided she could pull herself together first.

Adrien was watching her, lips pressed firmly together. Clearly he had a bit more on his mind than he had been letting on.

"It looks like Marinette's on her way. But knowing her, she'll probably be at least a few minutes late. She's a little panicked about that." The smirk was plastered on her face, so she didn't even bother to play coy. "Did Chat mention if he had issues getting Marinette up?"

Adrien blinked, wide-eyed and looking more than a little stunned. He stared at her for more than a few moments before carefully selecting his words. "You sent him into her room to wake her up?"

Crossing her arms over her chest, she regarded him with more than a little suspicion. Adrien was surprisingly protective. Would he be doing the same for her or was there just more to it than all that? "I certainly have no reason to doubt that one hero of Paris would be on anything other than purely gentlemanly behavior, especially given the situation. I wouldn't put Marinette at risk like that."

Nino scoffed, as he locked his camera into place on the tripod. "Alya is always telling me that Marinette is just a nightmare to wake up."

"She is seriously not a morning person. I can't tell you how many times I've literally had to pull the blankets off her myself and tug her out of bed." Alya grinned fully. "And that itself could be even after I send her message after message to try to get her moving. Considering how many Akuma our friend has helped take down, I just was curious how he would be up to the challenge without waking up the rest of the block."

Adrien chuckled ruefully, although he still didn't look entirely comfortable. He scratched at the nape of his neck. "I think our friend might have mentioned something about her parents?"

"That would make sense." Alya chuckled. "Besides, Chat Noir is so obviously enamored with Ladybug that he probably doesn't even see anyone else."

Adrien coughed, suddenly focused on fussing with his hair. "You really think he is in love with Ladybug?"

"Dude?" Nino didn't even look up. The tripod assembly was nearly complete with his camera ready to load on to capture all the action on the stage. "Anyone with eyes thinks that. Especially if they've spent any time looking at Alya's Blog. I mean, I know you've seen some of the pictures, man."

"Yeah, I have, but-"

"And partners or not, Ladybug totally freaks out when he steps into the line of fire for her, especially when he takes a hit." Alya grinned over at Nino, her arms falling to her hips. "I am betting she caves one of these days. Seriously. Where there's smoke, there's fire."

"Since Alya opened it up for submissions, there have been way more pictures from the battles themselves from people with legit, super expensive camera gear." Nino spoke proudly. "Some of the lenses must be crazy to get that level of detail at a safe enough distance."

"I've missed out on way too many photo opportunities far too often not to do it, really," she mused. "My bike and I just can't always get there that fast. Who knows what we haven't been missing out on all this time. Besides, they both leave the scene super fast and they don't always head in the opposite directions."

Adrien still looked a little dumbfounded. "You've...been thinking about this a lot."

She shrugged. "Enough to write, well-researched blog posts on it."

"And ship it." Nino coughed.

Alya shrugged. "Like half of Paris ships it."

Nino chuckled. "Well, that's true."

Alya's phone buzzed. Adrien still looked more than a little bit dazed, but Nino could handle that.

I'm not sure I can do this.

Alya started typing into her phone. She wanted nothing more than to tell her best friend just how protective Adrien had been. Mulling over the words, Alya thought better of it, opting instead to start from scratch. Marinette was anxious enough right now.

Don't get worried. Get focused.

Let him see you doing your level best to help Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Your effort will speak for itself.

Alya….

Just pretend he is someone else to get through this. Like one of the other guys from class.

Our heroes are counting on us this time.

As her fingers dug into the strap of the purse that held Tikki, Marinette's feet carried her the distance without thought or much in the way of effort - it was amazing what being a superhero did for endurance and stamina - but the weight of anxiety had her subconsciously slowing her speed. She checked her phone, fretting anxiously as Alya had been slow to respond and then had told her to slip into her class rep mode.

She could do this. Probably.

She'd kept feet moving to keep from thinking too much. This all was getting her nowhere - fast.

She needed a plan. A plan helped her feel confident and in control. Exactly what would help her survive heading on to only Chat knew where with Adrien - at least until she could sneak away. And how exactly would that work?

She sighed heavily. Why wouldn't her mind move as quickly as it did in costume, instead of the circles of self-doubt she kept spinning inside?

She needed Alya to respond again. Tikki was helpful with confidence building and mission planning. But Alya had an investigator's eye and an inclination to watch for the slightest hint of hope.

Sensing Marinette's anxiety, Tikki popped her head out of the purse, when she slowed down. "Alya is right, Marinette? Why don't you pretend he's Nino? Or Chat? You don't have any trouble talking to either of them."

Marinette bit her lip. Chat was so easy to talk to, but they were almost always on mission mode. Could she just pretend that he was? Was it really that simple?

Maybe if she tried really, really hard not to look at Adrien?

Despite her indecision, she still ended up in front of City Hall before she felt prepared to handle all this.

Alya spotted her first, waving her down. "There you are, girl."

Nino and Adrien turned her way. She tried not to stumble when Adrien's smile turn full force onto her. But outside of the suit, she seemed entirely lack in that luck at the moment.

Nino - bless him - spoke to cover her misstep as Alya pulled her into their makeshift huddle. "We're just about set up here, but we can't really leave the gear. I don't want to risk losing the good position. Would you mind grabbing something for us?"

"Marinette, you should go, too." Alya made a production of bumping Marinette's shoulder with a wink. "If you leave now, you can grab something before the lines get too long."

"I-" She peeked over into Adrien's emerald eyes, and then immediately pinched herself to keep from getting lost in them. 'This is not how you interact with Chat!'

Her eyes widened as she noted with consternation that Adrien looked as bit worried on her account, sending a seeking glance over to where Alya stood.

She shut her eyes, drawing a steadying breath and plastering on a wide smile. She needed to stay calm. Stay focused. What she wouldn't do for an obnoxious pun to force her focus off balance right about now. "O-okay. Let's go."

At the first opportunity, a taller building only a half block away from City Hall, Adrien ducked into a doorway, tugging Marinette by the arm so she would follow behind him.

She studiously avoided looking at him, watching the hallways as they moved with a purposed towards the elevator.

"Are you alright?"

She smiled, but still wouldn't look his way. "Just...anxious."

"Not to worry." Adrien smiled, holding open the elevator door as she trailed behind him. She was still quiet - far quieter than she usually was in class - making him worry again that she still seemed to have some issue with him. "Need a lift?" he quipped nervously, hoping to diffuse the situation.

She looked up at him, blinking in surprise for a split second before snorting indelicately. She rolled her eyes up to the ceiling but her smile had only grown wider. "Really?"

Far more pleased than he would have like to admit, he leaned back against the elevator wall, removing the Gabriel sunglasses into the pocket of his hoodie. "Chat Noir said he had scoped this place out in advance. It is right across from City Hall and has a decent view of the stage. He said he could even get us down later if we run into any trouble getting past the guard in front once he'd back from his break."

Marinette hardly dared to breathe until the elevator doors drew back open on the rooftop level and Adrien stepped out first. Chat must have come and then gone to re-charge his Kwami before the ceremony. He'd left a bag of snacks and a pair of chairs beside the rooftop edge. "I guess he knew it wouldn't rain."

"Guess so," Adrien murmured, tugging his own chair slightly back from the edge. She raised a brow but didn't say anything as she took the second seat. "I might have played sick earlier this morning, so I'm trying to avoid recognition.

Marinette nodded, still not entirely meeting his eyes for very long. He must have been excited at the prospect of helping out Ladybug and Chat Noir to skip out on his regular schedule. "We can switch chairs if you'd like. I think this one is a little further from the crowds but has a better view of the stage."

He offered her one of the drinks from the bag as she stood up to switch seats, which she'd accepted as they fell into companionable silence people watching. It really was hard searching for some elusive...thing, when you really had no idea what to be watching for.

"Doesn't it seem weird to you, though?"

Adrien frowned. "What do you mean?"

She frowned. "This Akuma power that Chat mentioned. Assuming that is even what it is."

Adrien was silent, watching her in earnest.

Marinette shuffled uncomfortably under his scrutiny, sliding a finger through the condensation on the half-chilled bottle of juice just to stay focused. "I mean, maybe it is all the time I've spent reading over Alya's blog posts, but there was one Akuma before with a time component, right? I think Ladybug herself must have said so when Alya interviewed her a few weeks back. One that had to steal power from others just to turn back the clock, even for a few minutes. If this really is an Akuma, why it is driving it? What happened for... the villain that keeps creating the Akuma to press his advantage?"

His eyes widened, lips curving upward. "That's a really good question."

She tore her eyes away, certain she was blushing. "I know Alya has a pretty good list of the fights and it seemed like most of them could be tracked down to revenge or a darker hope for empathy and understanding - like Reflekta or Horrificator."

"With some exceptions." Adrien murmured. "I know Nino just wanted me to be able to have a birthday. My father basically kicked him out of the house and tried to keep him from being friends with me."

Marinette gaped, her hand reaching out comfortingly before she was even self-aware of the action. She retracted her hand quickly once awareness hit, and focused back across the way, and solidify blush settling permanently onto her cheeks. "I'm glad Nino has still been a good friend to you, Adrien. You deserve better than that."

His silence was deafening, despite the milieu of people in the streets below.

"Thanks, Marinette." Adrien murmured finally. "I never knew how much I needed to have people around me until I was finally able to start going to college. After Mom, well…" he trailed off. "Nino just made things really easy for me to feel like I could catch up with everyone. To not really feel like an outsider. I'm really glad he never gave up on me."

She smiled softly, daring to meet his eyes. They were that same softness he'd had that day all those many months ago - or was it a year already now? - but his focus was mercifully turned out across the way, tempering some of its force.

She felt her cheeks heat when he turned back her way and noticed her gaze. If her noticed her growing embarrassment, he was gentleman enough not to mention. "But Nino did get angry enough for Hawkmoth to press advantage. So, all that is needed is for some strong enough emotion for him to use to corrupt that person, if only briefly."

Marinette nodded. "Like a broken watch."

"Or an election they felt was stolen unfairly."

Arms crossed, Marinette settled her head down on the rooftop ledge. "But every Akuma has also been really ostentatious. A crazy costume, actively creating chaos that would draw Ladybug and Chat Noir in to help. It is so weird that there is not anything. And, considering the only other Akuma like it if it is looping, it must be taking some crazy amount of power to reset the clock. Chat must have been looking for something big. But what if it isn't?" Worrying her lip, Marinette's eyes glazed over, lost in thought now leaning back in her chair. "What if the Akuma's power is mostly consumed by resetting the day?"

"So the outfit isn't nearly so obvious or different?"

"Maybe? Maybe not."

"I can see where he would have trouble. I mean, if that's the case, where would you even start to look?"

"If the Akuma is going to all this trouble to repeat the day, there must be something particular it wants. Or wants to avoid."

Adrien hummed, frowning as he looked down at his cellphone and then back out into the crowd. "So we find out what it wants…"

"Yeah." She glanced down at her own, her foot tapping the ground restlessly. There wasn't much time left before the ceremony was due to start...and she still had to figure out some subtle way to sneak way from Adrien and transform. Her eyes darted back towards the elevator. "And once it figures how to pull that all off, it is just a matter of time before it starts to come after Ladybug and Chat Noir."

Adrien tilted his head. "But if it doesn't have powers? Wouldn't they be able to take it out easily?"

Marinette shook her head. "We're assuming that. But it probably does. It probably has all the time in the world."

Author's Notes:

I've tinkered with this chapter a lot. I'm not sure I'm totally satisfied with it, so I might do some minor edits tomorrow when I can look again with fresh eyes.

This is a super long day, honestly, but it will take a lot of set up to make the future chapters run more smoothly. I've got this rough schedule plotted out into "day 1.11" or so and the mystery is still only partly revealed. This will definitely be upwards of ten chapters, but the size and speed of the days will vary widely as different plot events occur.

Thank you so much for bearing with me during this set up and for following me despite the inconsistent updates. Your comments and reviews really mean a lot and have really kept me focused. 3