PART TWO: ANSWERS
"Lahiffe; Nino Lahiffe" He repeated for the tenth time to the secretary at the front desk
"Lahiffe" She repeated to the phone she was holding "How do you spell that, honey?"
Nino rolled his eyes and sighed
"L-A-H-I-F-F-E" He spelled, he was about to lose his mind "Just tell her my name, she knows who I am"
The secretary looked him down as she spelled Nino's last name to the person at the other side of the phone.
Nino was really mad at her; he understood that she could be tired, and maybe a little stressed, after all Alya was her boss and he knew Alya too well, he knew how stressful she could be. Also it was almost eight thirty, it was obvious that she wasn't supposed to still be there, but the pile of papers on her desk told Nino enough to understand why she was still chained to the office. Still it didn't give her any right to judge him and look at him like he was an annoyance.
"Okay, Mr. Lahiffe" The woman said "She will be waiting for you in her office"
Nino smiled back at the secretary just to be polite, something that after many years of being in the public eye just came natural. He never acted rude or mean around paparazzi, journalists or reporters, he preferred to brush them off being polite than an insufferable jerk. If he was nice then the paparazzi tended to be nice, as nice as they could be, of course.
Nino was glad that the paparazzi population was minor in Paris than in LA. He had been hunted a few times. now that the word that he was in the city had spread, but nothing compared to LA, and being able to transform into a superhero was always a plus for his escapades. A plus that he hadn't been able to put in practice today, the paparazzi chased him like crazy today, if he alone got followed, to go for a walk with Adrien Agreste and Chloé Bourgeois didn't help.
So right now he needed to be calm, once he got rid of the group who was chasing him he finally made it to the place he wanted to be.
Nino took the elevator and pushed the button to the eight floor and waited for it to lift for what it seemed like an eternity. He really wanted to see Alya. Especially because it felt like she was ignoring him.
That night a week ago where they had hang out together, where they had spoke about almost everything that time let them, joked around and watched some movies, Nino thought it would be a good idea to ask her about Ladybug, after all there wasn't a time when Alya didn't wanted to talk about Ladybug, and indeed she had talked but she only told him lies. Alya was good at creating stories, she was fantastic at giving stories more color and action, Nino gave her that, but lies? Lies were here Achilles' heel.
After that Alya had been distant, barely acknowledging his existence and replying to his texts a day later, if she replied at all. Something was off and he wanted, no, he needed to know why.
The elevator reached the floor and the doors opened, Nino crossed the doors and walked down the hall at the speed of light, stopping only at the front of a glass door. Behind that glass door you could see her, with her feet on top of her desk, her laptop on her lap and her hands moving fast as she typed down on the keyboard. Also there was a younger girl with big curly hair inside the office, and she was looking directly at him, her mouth wide open and excitement on her eyes.
Nino waved and smiled at her, pointing out at the doorknob as he shrugged, trying to make his question only with those movements.
The girl nodded and ran to the door, opening just seconds later
"H-hello" She stuttered as she let him in "Mademoiselle Césaire—
"If you are going to act like a doorman, you gotta let me know there's someone before you open the door, girl" Alya smiled at the girl and then to Nino "Charlene I present you Monsieur Lahiffe. Monsieur Lahiffe this is my intern Charlene" She teased as she smirked at him
"Nice to meet you, Charlene, is this workaholic keeping you for going out like a normal young adult? I wouldn't be surprised" He teased back
"N-no, she is gre-at, I want t-to be here" Charlene answered, she was playing with her hands and smiling nervously, it remind him of how Marinette acted around Adrien years ago
"Yeah, but he is right, you should take a break" Alya left the laptop on her desk and jumped out of her chair "Go home, Charlene"
"Sure, Mademoiselle Césaire" She nodded at her and then turned once again to Nino "It was a meet you to pleasure, I mean a pleasure to meet you" She shook her head and ran out off the office
Nino and Alya laughed
"Got yourself another Mari, Mademoiselle Césaire?" Nino chuckled
"I can't get her to call me Alya and the stutter it's a new thing, she is a fan, Monsieur Lahiffe"
"Next time I'll give her an interview" Nino flashed a smile
"Bet you will" She sighed "Enough formalities, what are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see you" He simply stated
"Really?" Alya raised her brow at him and Nino couldn't help but smile wider
"Yeah, why wouldn't I? In fact I would be the one who should ask something like that, since it seems that you've been ignoring me"
"Me?! Ignoring you? What are you talking about?" Alya said and sighed almost immediately, the face Nino had made was enough for her to lose it "I'm so bad at this"
"Lying? Yeah, the worst, especially when you try to lie to me" Nino shook his head as he gave a little laugh "Yet you've been lying to me a lot lately"
"That's not true" Alya put her hands on her hips and leaned forward to him
"It is true, you are lying to me" Nino said
"Whoa, we are not playing around here, uh? Straight to the point"
"I know how much you despise when people aren't straight forward"
"Well, yeah, still you could have been more subtle about it"
"Why would I? I know you are lying, you know about what you are lying, without any words we know about we are talking about, why would I go around other things when I can discuss what I came to discuss?"
"I thought you wanted to see me" Alya said between her teeth
"I wanted to" He assure her, because it was true that he needed to talk to her, as a miraculous holder he needed the information Alya was hiding, but his desire to see her was bigger than anything else, no matter how selfish that was to Adrien and the others.
"I don't believe you" Alya said back
Alya walked at the opposite side of the room, if he didn't knew her better he would have thought that she was kicking him out. It wasn't the case, Alya wanted to keep talking, but she didn't want to guide the conversation, not just yet.
"I wanted to see you and I wanted to know why did you lie to me, you are not a good liar as I already pointed out and you haven't been subtle by ignoring me" Nino sighed "I asked a lot of questions that night, and I got many lies back, I just want to know why"
"I haven't seen or talked to you in years, Nino" Alya turned around in a fast movement. She had her arms crossed against her chest and a deep frown decorated her face. Alya took off her glassed, placing them on top of her head, she rubbed her eyes and sighed before speaking again "And you come back and it feels like you had never been gone… but you were gone, and we cut connections and as much as I wanted it to be like old times, it's not old times"
"It could be" Nino whispered
"I think there's too many secrets in between us" She whispered back, looking at the ground
Nino narrowed his eyes, Alya was hugging herself but she didn't look sad, she looked nervous maybe even excited… like when she was afraid she could be wrong, yet hopeful because she could be right
"What do you know?" Nino asked, he changed his posture to a more relaxed one so Alya couldn't feel like she was being threatened by his curiosity.
"I know many, many things, you'll have to be more specific"
"What did you figure it out that you won't talk to me anymore?"
Nino took a step forward so he could be in front of Alya. Alya's sight was fixed on the ground, avoiding him at all cost, but Nino kept looking down at her face, hoping she could look up and find his eyes.
Alya could play the tough girl really well, she was strong and independent but she was vulnerable too, a part of her she didn't let many people see, a side that she was afraid to show even to the ones she trusted the most. Nino liked to believe he was in the last category but after her words he wasn't so sure anymore.
"Alya, what do you know?"
"I have no idea what you are talking about, be more specific" She repeated
"I haven't been specific in this whole talk. Why? Because I know that you know what I'm talking about"
"How are you so sure?"
"You can't fool me, wifi"Alya reacted at the nickname "You love talking and theorizing about LB, what did you found out that made you stop doing it around me? What did you figure it out that made you lie to me?"
Alya pursed her lips and wrinkled her nose. And finally she looked up, right into his eyes. And in that moment both knew Alya couldn't keep dodging the question anymore.
Alya took a step backward, leaning against her desk and extended her hand to reach for a black paper folder. As soon as she untied the elastic around it she showed Nino a picture
"One of the reasons I took Charlene is because she has her camera everywhere she goes" She said as he showed him the photography that showed a blurry shadow close to the Seine "And also because she is not afraid to take risks and follow mysterious shadows in the middle of the night" Alya took other picture, this time it wasn't blurry, in fact it was so good quality that Nino was impressed.
The photography showed a man dressed in green, a hoodie over his hair and glasses on his face, on his back a shield in form of a shell. That last description of the suit was only known by Nino, of course, because he was looking at a picture of himself.
"Nice picture" That was the only thing Nino was able to say to Alya, he couldn't lie to her face, but he had to say something.
"Don't play dumb" Alya clenched her hands into fists "You think I wouldn't recognize you? You think I wasn't going to put two and two together?"
Alya stepped forward, standing closer, her nose almost bumping into his, mainly because she was stepping on the points of her feet.
"How?" Nino asked, he was in a point of no return , it made no good to anyone if he lied to Alya, and after all he trusted her, it was lucky that she had figure it out that it was him behind the mask and not someone else
"Appears at the same time you return, and while my pictures are blurry I swear I'm thinking it is you, then you come over to my apartment and have a million questions about Ladybug and you are very invested on the subject, you were never that interested, that was the second warning, and at the other day after our talk, Charlene comes up with these photos" She shook the photos on her hands "Better quality than mines so I can pay attention to the little details, and oh! What is that?" Alya pointed at the picture, right on his neck "Is that a scar? So I zoom the digital picture Charlene gave and bang! A scar in the shape of a thunder! Who else has a scar in the shape of a thunder?"
"Uh, Harry Potter, literally it is his most known feature" Nino answered back winning a frown from Alya "Sorry"
"You got that scar at the last battle against Papillon" Alya whispered, her tone still demanded respect but she was softer when she named the event "It's a different scar, it is purple, a strange bruised scar… Bet your makeup team always hides it"
"Yeah" Nino sighed. He extended his hand to catch Alya's hair in between his fingers, but stopped only a few centimeters from her red colored waves, asking for permission to continue. Alya took his hand in between hers and put it down
"I have my reasons to lie, as well as you have yours"
Silence reigned in between them for long minutes, something that almost never happened in between them; they were both loud and always ready to talk, if they weren't the ones making sound it was something else, being in complete silence was weird for them, which mean that something was really wrong or really important.
Nino was trying to find a way for Alya to talk, but deep down he knew nothing could ever trick her into talking. If Alya was keeping something a secret it would be hard to make her spill the truth, she wasn't good with lies but she was good with secrets.
To get closer to open a secret you had to give a secret.
"Did you ever find out how Chat Noir and Ladybug got their powers?"
"The miraculous?" Alya asked rolling her eyes, as his question was stupid
"But that's not the only thing" Nino said.
He gave a few looks at the office and outside at the other side of the glass door, making sure there was no one around. Once he was sure that him and Alya were the last in the floor, he opened one of the big pockets on his jacket let him give a sign to Wayzz.
The little green kwami flew out of its hide place and stopped right in front of Alya's eyes who were growing in size
"What is that?!" She asked excited, her eyes shining as she had neon signs inside them
"Wayzz, this is Alya, Alya this is Wayzz" He introduced them
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mademoiselle Alya" Wayzz made a little bow at her, Alya giggled
"Finally meet me? You talk about me a lot, don't you Lahiffe?" Alya threw that as a joke but the hope cling to her voice
Nino rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from her, making her laugh
"So what exactly are you and what do you do, little guy?"
"I'm a kwami, I'm the protector of the Turtle miraculous and I'm the reason why Master Nino can transform" Wayzz explained in a calmed tone. Nino wasn't scare of what could he reveal to Alya, he was sure he wouldn't say much, after all he had been in the job for much longer than him.
"Master Nino, you sound important" Alya laughed and pushed Nino on his shoulder as she smirked at him
"I am important" Nino smiled, now he was really relaxed since the tension in between them had fade away.
"Yeah, sure" Alya rolled her eyes "So, how does this all work? How do you become cool?"
"I'm already cool, I just become cooler"
"Keep telling that to yourself, Lahiffe"
"Wanna bet?" Nino raised a brow at the same time she did. He forgot how nice it felt to challenge each other.
Before Alya could come up with a sassy comeback he shouted the words
"Wayzz transformez-moi!"And then he was in costume in front of a shocked Alya.
"Oh mon dieu! Oh mon dieu!" Alya gave little jumps on her spot, covering her mouth her hands. She was trying hard to keep her cool but this situation was something that went beyond her control
"So, I guess I win" Nino laughed
"Shut up! Oh mon dieu! This is amazing! Is this how Ladybug and Chat Noir transformed too?"
"Yes, it is a miraculous thing"
"I can't believe this, it's like… oh I can't put it into words" Alya grabbed pieces of her hair and pulled them softly "I can't believe this is happening, little Alya would be losing her mind"
"I'm pretty sure adult Alya is losing her mind too, she just got better at hiding it" Nino tickled her nose making her flinch away "So how many questions do you have?"
"A million" Alya gasped, not worrying about keeping her excitement a secret anymore
"Alright, but I can't answer everything… and then you'll speak, deal?"
"I'll consider it; give me the basics first" Alya said
Nino knew there was no way that he would win this battle, so he spoke. He told her all the details that he knew wouldn't get him in trouble, he verified a few of her theories along the years and explained her a little bit about how the butterfly miraculous worked, so she could understand the difference between the akumas and it's real power.
But Nino kept all the important information to himself, he knew Alya had more information that she make it seem and if he choose to go into that path he knew he would have to dodge lots of tramps. When Alya wanted something she did almost everything on her power to get it, and Alya was good with words, not only good she was an enchantress, her words became a spell to obtain her goals, Nino knew that, yet he still wasn't immune to them so he had to be careful with his own words.
Alya was in the middle of a question when Nino stopped listening. It was like a fire alarm had started on his mind. Something was wrong.
"Nino?" Alya clapped in front of his face, making him focus on her once again "Something wrong?"
"I think so" Nino admitted "There's a weird energy… something that shouldn't be there"
"Oh" Alya whispered "You have to go" She stated, still sounded as it was a question
"Yes" Nino answered
Nino walked to the windows at Alya's office and opened one, it wasn't hard to get out of here, there was enough tall buildings in this part of the city which made it easier to hide but still move along the rooftops.
"We can have lunch tomorrow… I'm not busy" Alya said from behind "I mean, if you want…"
"I want" Nino nodded, turning to her one more time he noticed she was closer than he had thought
"Goodbye, then" Alya leaned to him, leaving a kiss on the curvature of his lips
"Who says it is goodbye?" Nino smirked at her. "Do you trust me?
"About what?!" Alya squealed
"Do you trust me?" He repeated, extended one hand to her
Alya nodded and took his hand on a strong embrace
"I hope you haven't grown to be scared of heights, wifi"
"I'm not afraid of anything, and you know it"
Nino crossed one arm around her waist, bringing her closer to him. She wrapped her arm around his neck, and they were off. Jumping across rooftops, admiring the Parisian night sky.
xx
Nights on Paris were rarely dark, after all the city of lights wasn't just a romantic name, it was a reality. But in a city with so many lights there are also many shadows, shadows that create dark corners on the streets, corners where people hide, and usually not the good kind.
Citizens knew that well, on the other side tourists were blinded by the beauty of the city to remember that it wasn't a magical place, it was just a city as any other, and just as any other city, crime could be found just around the corner.
Marinette knew that, that's why she usually chose the bad neighborhoods and patrolled over their rooftops, she kept eyes wide open and all her senses were focused and looking for a sign of trouble, but today she was failing at that. Her mind was somewhere else and her heart ached at the memories that kept playing over and over again.
Break ups were hard.
If she was feeling devastated, she didn't wanted to know how Nath was dealing with it.
That evening at the café he was wearing a smile, the lovely and sweet smile he always wore when he was around her. A smile that was like a lullaby for Marinette, a lullaby that she didn't deserve to hear anymore.
Nathanael was one of the best things that had happened to Marinette, he supported her and helped her through the hard times, he was the best person she had ever met and she loved him so much. Yeah, she still loved him, with every piece of her heart and soul but she wasn't in love with him anymore; to stay on a relationship with him was selfish for both of them so Marinette had ended things.
The conversation had been nice and mature, Marinette explained everything she could and made sure to point that the reasons behind her decision were all related to her and nothing to do with her finding someone else. She told the truth and exposed all her feelings, after all their relationship was build in honesty and love, both things were very important to her and to end the relationship without any of those factors was just wrong.
As she expected, Nathanael had been respectful of her decision and her feelings, and he agreed with many things that Marinette had said. He talked about his feelings and his worries too, and thought he had been sad he kept composure and gift her smiles the whole time, those smiles that made her so calm and at peace, those smiles that she loved so much.
She sighed. The break up was amicable and maybe that was one of the factors that made the pain worst. They decided to stay as friends, both of them knew that it would take time, after all they had spent four years of their lives together, but they promised to be for each other if anything happened, and Marinette knew he wasn't lying about that and she knew he believed her too.
With all those thoughts, her mind wasn't in the best place and she shouldn't be playing superhero if she wasn't fully aware of her surroundings, she knew that, but at the same time, just being out of the house and on the rooftops made her calm.
Marinette couldn't connect the dots when it came to her need of fighting crime. What was old Marinette doing with her life that chasing bad guys was so satisfying? Why did all of these fights gave her so much peace inside? She knew all those feelings weren't tied to the actual situation, it was the sense of familiarity that made Marinette so happy. The familiarity made Marinette dress up and put on a mask every night.
Marinette had spent running and climbing the top of the houses for two hours and she hadn't run into any crime and maybe that was the reason why Chat Noir wasn't around. Marinette sighed, just the thought of the guy on the black cat suit made her thoughts ten times more complicated.
Marinette hadn't lie when she told Nathanaël that there wasn't any other boy, it was a hundred percent true that she wasn't breaking up with him to date another guy. But it was a truth that questioned in a different way became a lie… which made her percent a total fake. Marinette couldn't stop thinking about Chat Noir, in the late days after the break up as she worked on her designs, as she sewed and she draw, the superhero had spent time with her. He told her stories about him and Ladybug, as requested by her, he cooked for her when she was too busy and made sure that she went to bed at a right time. Their relationship had grown, they had become closer not only as friends but also partners.
She knew she would never be able to replace Ladybug, she didn't want to either, but their partnership against crime was almost as strong, or so Marinette thought.
There were still secrets in between them, most of them were related to Ladybug, Chat didn't say much besides the stories of them and that he missed her; when Marinette tried to ask for his advances on the searching, Chat changed the subject.
She felt sad about that, it seemed like Chat didn't thought of her as trust worthy, not when it came to his lady.
Marinette shook those thoughts away, or at least she tried, because even if they weren't the focus thought on her mind they still were on the second panel, whispering words to her that made her emotions revolve and choose a jealous path.
As she tried to find any other thought to occupy her mind, she stumbled into another complicated aspect of her life: Adrien Agreste.
God damn she hated Adrien Agreste, she hated how nice he was, she hated how much she wanted to laugh around him, she hated how gentle he was, she hated how he looked, she hated how much she liked him and how he was all the opposite of how her sensations made her think he was.
They had spent a few hours together a week ago when she took his measures once again, and they ran into each other outside their doors too a few times too, they had little talks and it was nice. Because Adrien Agreste was nice.
Marinette threw all the air she had on her lungs out, she was so frustrated with herself, she wished her life was easier, but of course not, it had to be a continuous wrecking mess.
The ring of a scream made Marinette get out of her head and focus once again on patrolling, what she was supposed to be doing.
She ran in the direction of the scream, her thoughts still swirling in her head making it hard for her to maintain calm and analyze the situation, things she always did when she ran into a crime scene, but somehow her feelings were suffocating her, it felt like she was drowning on them, and when she saw the owner of the scream she felt like something had explode inside her.
She was so angry, no, not angry, furious. How could someone be so horrible? How could someone be such a monster?
A man was holding a girl against a wall, forcing himself on her as she tried to escape from his grip. The girls shirt was ripped and the man had just hit her trying to shut her up.
Marinette felt so sick at the scene, her emotions collapsed together and a bold sensation took over her.
Without thinking it through, Marinette jumped from the tall building directly to the alley the man had the girl. Only by a miracle Marinette didn't broke a foot or any other bone for the matter, or maybe it was just the adrenaline running through her veins that made it impossible for her to feel any pain.
Marinette took the man from the collar of his shirt and pulled him to the floor with all the strength she had. Thanks to it, the girl the man was attacking also fell, something that surprised her, yet she still managed.
She freed the girl from the man's grip and pushed her away from them
"Go somewhere safe!" Marinette heard herself screaming, something on her voice was off but she didn't have time to give it importance.
When the girl left the alley, Marinette focused once again on the man.
"Let me go!" He shouted trying to push Marinette away
Marinette looked at him and felt fire burn through her body. The look on the man's eyes changed, the fear on them was undeniable
"WHAT ARE YOU!?" He screamed once again but Marinette shut him up fast enough with a punch on his face. And that punch was only the beginning, once she hit him she was unable to stop.
xx
there you have :D
also on AO3 as LilaacStars
find me on tumblr : buginettte
