Chapter 11


Adrien drummed his hands along his thighs, staring at the wall straight ahead of him. Glared would be the better word, he couldn't keep himself from feeling anything but anger. Anger at himself, anger at his father, anger at everything. He wanted to do nothing more but allow himself to break through his emotions, to scream, to yell, to cry, but he couldn't. Not when everyone else was around. He had to distance himself from them.

He had to.

Or else his father would hurt him.

Adrien's teeth clenched as he thought about what his father had told him after interrupting his conversation with Marinette. He had watched as Marinette went downstairs and out of ear shot .Then he turned back to his father in time to catch another punch to the eye, causing Adrien to fall to the side. Adrien had the thought that his father seemed to really enjoy hitting him in the face for someone who was doing his best to keep the secret of abusing his son.

Adrien crashed onto the stairs and a low moan escaped his lips before he was kicked in the stomach. Gabriel then leaned down, grabbing his son by the hair and lifted his head up. Adrien's green eyes locked onto his gray ones and he trembled, seeing how much fiery anger was in them. "How many times do I have to tell you to stop making me angry?" Gabriel tightened his grasp in Adrien's hair. "It's like you're doing it on purpose!"

A cry escaped Adrien's lips as he felt his scalp pulled back. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"How do you think it makes me feel to know that you've skipped out on multiple photo shoots?" Gabriel hissed with such ferocity that spittle landed on the side of Adrien's face. "To know that everything that I've carefully set up for my company that has my name on it, for you to help promote has been cancelled because of you! It makes me look like a fool!" He shoved Adrien down once more. "You're costing me my reputation."

Swallowing thickly, Adrien forced himself, painfully, to face his father. "I don't want to be a model," he finally said to his father. He watched as Gabriel's face continued to hold a stern expression as if carved out of granite. "I don't want to be the face of your fashion line. I want to be able to do what I want." He found himself spilling out everything he had kept inside as long as he could remember. "I don't want to do any of that anymore. I wasn't to go to school, I want to hang out with my friends, I want to play the piano, and fence, and maybe play some of the sports that I couldn't before because I wasn't allowed to potentially hurt myself. I want to be able to be a teenager! I want—"

"I don't give a damn what you want!" Gabriel snapped back at him.

"You don't care what anyone wants!" Adrien snapped back. He pushed himself upwards, causing Gabriel to take a step back. "You don't care about anyone but yourself. It's probably why Mom's gone…" he knew he had made a mistake as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Gabriel's face slackened then reddened with rage.

"Don't you dare bring your mother into this!" Gabriel spat. "You don't know what you're talking about. She has nothing to do with this. This has everything to do with you. This is about you being an ungrateful, unselfish little fucker! You can't do a single thing you're asked of. And it seems your cousin is no better; no wonder her father sent her out here."

Adrien's eyebrows furrowed together. "What…what do you mean?"

Now a sneer crossed Gabriel's face. "It must run in the family. Both of you are so disrespectful. Now her parents are getting a divorce, all because she can't take a bit of harsh words and discipline. I don't see you complaining about it, you take it like a man." Gabriel turned and started to talk to himself, muttering something about 'your mother' and 'couldn't take it' and 'wasn't a real woman'. But Adrien's mind swirled, so that was why Cassie had suddenly decided to go back to Lyon and Paris Her father was beating her, her parent were getting a divorce…Adrien suddenly had thoughts of his mother enter his head.

He hadn't allowed himself to think about her for a long time. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened to her, why she left. If he asked his father, the topic of conversation would be changed, his relatives would all frown and turn away, his butlers and maids looking uncomfortable. Had he done the same thing to his mother? If so, why didn't' she take him? Had Gabriel threatened her so badly she felt she couldn't take Adrien with her? Tears started to well up in Adrien's eyes. He could've had a good life, he could've been living with someone that really loved him and wanted nothing more than to see him thrive. Not beat him down; physically, mentally, literally…

Adrien could feel himself starting to snarl, to glare, to shake with the strongest amount of anger and frustration he had ever felt before. He saw red. And before he knew it, he launched himself towards his father, ready to punch him, to do whatever it took to get Gabriel to shut up, to realize that he wasn't a punching bag anymore. But Gabriel out maneuvered him and grasped Adrien around the neck, shoving him against the wall of the stairwell. Adrien gasped in shock and pain and put his face close to Adrien's glaring at him.

"You do that again," Gabriel whispered. "You try to touch me again and you'll live to regret it. I'm your father, you'll respect me and you'll do as I say. You are not to skip out on anymore photo shoots; you will not hang out with your friends anymore." Adrien's eyes widened, despite his best efforts to keep his face neutral. Gabriel smiled, realizing he had hit a weak spot. "I know how precious your friends are to you, especially Marinette. Am I right? That girl has been getting too close to you. And you seem to be growing fond of her as well."

Adrien took in a deep breath through his nose. "Don't you dare—"

"You're not in the position to tell me what to do," Gabriel said, tightening his grip along Adrien's neck, causing him to cough. "You keep away from your friends. They're not to get even closer than they already are. As a matter of fact, I know something about your precious Marinette that I'm sure she wouldn't want anyone else to know. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to her."

"You can't—"

"—Stay away from them. I mean it." To prove his point, Gabriel pressed harder against Adrien's neck, bringing him to the brink of passing out before letting go. Adrien fell to his knees, taking in as much air as he could in ragged gasps. He watched as Gabriel walked away from him, straightening his clothes as he if had just gone on a stroll.

That had been the day before and now Adrien was doing his best to keep from making things worse. He had already blown off Marinette the day before; he was doing his best to avoid her now. He couldn't stand to look at her. To see the pain in her eyes, knowing he had done that. He absolutely hated the way she looked at him as he snapped at her, telling her to forget about him and the kiss they shared. It was hard, harder than anything he ever had to do. Then that morning he had to do it all over again; blow her off, snap at his friends, keep Nino, Alya, and Cassie away. Pretend with his Aunt Melinda that everything was okay when all he wanted to do was strangle his father.

So he barricaded himself into his room, doing nothing more than glaring at the wall in front of him, tried to keep his hands moving, tried to find something to do, or else he would blow up. He barely looked up when Nino entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Nino demanded.

"Nothing!" Adrien snapped.

"I know you, man," Nino insisted, walking over and standing next to his best friend. He clenched his hands into fists, standing above him. Without looking at him, Adrien could tell he was glaring. "I know this isn't you. I know you would never speak to Marinette like that, or avoid us like you've been doing. There's something going on."

"Nothing's going on," Adrien insisted. He started to wring his hands together. "I just don't want to be here anymore."

"So why don't you just leave?"

"I can't."

"Why can't you?"

"I just can't, okay." Adrien started to feel pressure bubbling up in his chest. He could feel his resolve breaking, the culmination of his long kept secret starting to break him down. "You know I can't, Nino. So why don't you just leave it."

"I knew it. This has to do with your father." Nino moved to Adrien's other side and he turned his head away so that he didn't have to look his best friend in the eye. He got up and started to pace the floor, like a cat stalking its prey. "What'd he do? I saw the bruising on your face, yesterday."

"I ran into…" Adrien started and trailed off. He clenched his hands into fists repeatedly, running his hands through his hair. He scrubbed his scalp with his fingers as hard as he could, then lowered them, feeling the stinging plan his father had bestowed upon him. Nino blocked his way as he continued to pace, causing Adrien to take a step back.

"What?" Nino demanded. "A door? A wall? Your father's fist? His foot?" Adrien didn't reply. He wasn't sure what to say. What could he say? If he said anything it would get back to his father. And then he would be beaten again…or worse. No. No. Don't say anything, Adrien. He'll give up. He'll stop asking about it and you won't have to worry about it anymore.

At Adrien's silence, Nino crossed his arms over his chest. "When you first told me what was going on, I promised I wasn't going to say anything," he said in a low, serious tone. As he continued to speak his words came out faster and faster causing Adrien to turn his gaze to his feet. He could hear Nino's anger and frustration in his voice. "And I've kept that promise. But you haven't kept yours. You promised that after a few months you would say something about what was going on. You promised you would tell someone, call the police and you haven't. And that was a long time ago. You're constantly in pain, he's always beating you up and now you can't see your friends?"

"No," Adrien murmured.

"Why?" Nino then paused. "That's why you were so mean to Marinette. He threatened her didn't he?" Nino demanded. Adrien shook his head once more. "What then? You can't expect your father to sit there and keep you from being with your friends—"

"He threatened everyone," Adrien murmured, keeping his gaze at the floor. He could feel tears start to prick at his eyes and he forced them away. He was tired of crying. He couldn't cry anymore. Didn't want to cry anymore. "He threatened me, you, Alya…M-Marinette if I told. If I didn't do what he said."

"Then you have to tell someone!"

Fear surged through Adrien's body and he felt himself starting to shake from a mixture of fear and anger. "No!" He lifted his gaze and looked at Nino with despair. "I can't! If I tell someone he'll do something. I know he would. He has that power, he knows a lot of people…" he took a deep breath, giving a weak smile. "I can handle it," he said in a calmer tone. "I promise."

"You can't promise that, Adrien," Nino said slowly.

Okay, don't panic, Adrien thought, frowning. He's trying to help you. He's just trying to help. But you can't let him do that. He's your best friend; you can't let anything happen to him. "I know, but I'm doing what I can. I know what I'm doing. I'm just trying to keep him from getting mad. I can't…I don't…" he blew out a long breath, moving his bangs off his forehead. "You're my best friend; I told you everything that's been going on with my father because I trust you. And you've been helping me since I told you. I want to thank you for that."

"You'd fucking thank me better if you would tell someone," Nino practically yelled.

Adrien shushed him, waving a hand. Nino froze, eyes widening as the two turned their attention to the door to their room. Adrien was sure he had heard footsteps out the door, coming towards them, and his hair stood on end. The same thing happened every time his father came near. After a few minutes with no sounds coming close to or away from the door they relaxed.

Taking a deep breath, Adrien turned back to Nino, staring hard at him. He had to make him understand. "Nino, look, I—"He was cut off by a sudden commotion coming on from downstairs. Nino and Adrien looked at each other and hurried down to the living room where everyone was gathered around a TV. Adrien glanced around and relaxed, seeing his father wasn't there. His Aunt Melinda noticed his gaze and she said, "Your father said he had some work that he had to do. He took the limo into town."

"Shh!" Alya whispered, her eyes glued to the screen.

"What's going on?" Nino moved to his girlfriend's side to get a better look at the TV screen. As he moved, Adrien found himself eye to eye with Marinette. He opened his mouth to say something and then closed his mouth once more. She continued to look at him and turned away, lowering her head.

His heart hurt.

She looked so sad.

Then he turned his attention to the TV and his mouth dropped open as he spotted the news headline, running along the bottom of the screen: Paris under Attack. Adrien took a step closer and it was like all of the sound finally reached his ears. "Again for those who are just tuning in; Paris is under attack from monsters sent down by Hawk Moth. Unlike the other monsters that have been sent through the city in the years before, taken down by Ladybug and Cat Noir, there is an invasion of monsters coming in through the city. There doesn't appear to be an end in sight. If you are out you need to get to safety immediately. Paris has been declared to be in a state of emergency—"

"Oh my God," Adrien whispered.

First his father, and now this.

And yet he was stuck in Lyon with no way to get out.

"That's what that was." Adrien nearly jumped as Plagg whispered in his ear. "That sudden akumatized monster yesterday was a distraction," Plagg explained. "Hawk Moth sent it out to keep you and Ladybug from Paris so that you couldn't stop him before he could do it."

"So what are we going to do now?" Adrien whispered back. "I can't leave…"

"Go find your father."

The perfect excuse. Adrien must have made a sound because all eyes turned his way. "I have to go!" He said. "I have to find my father. I have to…we need to…" He raced out of the living room before anyone could stop him. But as soon as he got outside he realized that the attacks weren't only going on in Paris. With his enhanced hearing from his Cat Noir abilities, he could hear screaming and sounds of destructing coming in from the city. "He's attacking Lyon, too," Adrien murmured. "He knows we're here."

"It looks like we don't have a choice but to try and take them on," Plagg said.

Adrien nodded, though deep within him he started to worry. He had seen the images on screen, people bleeding and crying, and a wall of akumatized monsters converging upon Paris. It was horrifying. If that was going on there, then Hawk Moth was doing his best to take him and Ladybug down. It must've been his plan all along.

"You're right, Plagg," Adrien declared. "Let's get going." He held out his hand. "Plagg, claws out!" He morphed into Cat Noir and leapt onto the roof of the nearby building, looking over Lyon. His heart dropped into his stomach; akumatized monsters were already coming towards the neighborhood. In the distance he could see smoke, fires burning out of control. This was much worse than he originally thought. "I have to get everyone to safety."

He flipped back down to his cousin's house and pushed the door open, hurrying inside. "Quick, everyone needs to get out of here."

"Cat Noir!" Alya cried.

"We have to get going," Cat Noir repeated. "Hawk Moth is attacking this city, too. His monsters are already on their way. You need to leave before you're captured, or worse." He held out his arm and started to wave it aside. "Come on, let's go."

"But what about Uncle Gabriel and Adrien?" Cassie asked, grabbing onto her mother's arm. Adrien watched as she turned to him and her upper lip curled as if annoyed by his presence. But he could also see in her eyes that she was more concerned about him and his father.

"We don't have a choice," Marinette said quickly, bravely. Tilting his head to the side, Adrien looked at her and found she didn't appear afraid. As a matter of fact, her eyes blazed with courage. "We need to get to safety and if Cat Noir says something's coming this way, then we have to believe him."

"But where can we go?" Nino asked.

"We'll figure it out," Aunt Melinda said quickly, grabbing her purse and car keys. "There are a few places in town we can go. If not, we may have to travel to another city. Gabriel and Adrien can catch up, I'm sure Gabriel was already on his way back once he saw everything that was going on and caught up with Adrien."

Cat Noir nodded and led everyone outside. He looked up and immediately jumped out of the way once he saw an akumatized monster send a blast of what looked like sand his way. Getting to his feet, he found five or six monsters heading their way.

"Hurry!"

Twisting around, Cat Noir watched as Marinette ushered her friends into Aunt Melinda's waiting car. She turned back towards Cat Noir and caught his eye, the courageous fire still burning within them. For a moment, Cat Noir was struck with an odd notion, that, maybe, if she had a mask on and a red cat suit covered in black polka dots…

"Cat Noir, look out!" Marinette raced forward and leapt into him, catching him in the chest and he fell backwards onto the ground. The sand monster had sent another wave of an attack his way, while his back was turned, and she had just saved him. Crouching over him, Marinette waved her hand towards the others. "Go! Go!" Aunt Melinda nodded and leapt into the driver's seat as the others piled inside. Marinette took one last look at Cat Noir before following them and leaping into the car.

Cat Noir watched it leave before turning back in enough time to leap out of the way of an attack an insect akuma sent towards him.

"Heads up!"

Tilting his head back, Cat Noir watched as Wolfsbane landed on the ground in front of him, her scythe n hand. She twirled it around her head and started to slash towards the monsters that converged around them. Cat Noir took that as his cue to take on the others that were coming up behind him. The two continued to fight the monsters before turning the other way to aid each other. They managed to push the monsters back far enough so that they had some breathing room. Cat Noir glanced over at Wolfsbane as she fought to catch her breath.

"Why…?" He asked. He had expected her to immediately turn to him and snatch his Miraculous, or try to attack him hard enough to destroy him. But she turned and looked at him with a serious expression.

"Because Lyon is my home," she explained. "And saving it is much more important to me than destroying you."

Cat Noir nodded.

He understood.

Hold off on the battle until they could stop all of the akumas.

No matter how long that took.


Marinette alternated between chewing her lower lip and her nails as Adrien's aunt continued to drive away from the chaos going on behind them. Somewhere within the chaos they had managed to lose Cassie as well. She had wanted to go back and help Cat Noir protect Lyon but she couldn't. She couldn't get away without revealing her secret. And she couldn't live with herself knowing she abandoned some of her best friends as they tried to get to safety.

Cat Noir can handle it, she reminded herself. He can hold them off until I can get there. But still she worried. Could he handle it himself? This wasn't just a few monsters that were attacking at once, this was an entire army. In Lyon and in Paris. He couldn't purify any of them, only she could. And here she was, riding in a car along with Alya and Nino, wondering how long it would be until they got to safety. Finally, they pulled off into another city and the police immediately drew them into an area that was housing those injured and was a safe place for any of those that came in. Once inside, Marinette hurried to the bathroom, pleased to find it empty.

"Tikki, what am I going to do?" She asked her kwami, who left her purse and moved in front of her. "I can't transform with all of these people around and I'm not going to be able to get out of here."

"I could cause a distraction."

With a loud gasp, Marinette whirled around to find Alya standing in the doorway to the bathroom. Marinette watched her face as Alya closed the door behind her, leaning against it to keep anyone from coming in. Her face was blank and she locked her eyes on Marinette. Marinette felt herself starting to tremble. She took a deep breath.

"Alya…" She whispered.

"Its okay, Marinette," Alya continued. She took a deep breath, pushing her hair away from her eyes. "It's okay," She repeated. "I know."

"You know?" Marinette still couldn't get her voice above a whisper. She looked over at Tikki and her kwami stared back at her, unsure about what to do or say. She was already seen, there was no point to hide. But she still seemed as shell-shocked as her ward.

"I know." Alya took a deep breath. "I know you're Ladybug."

Now Marinette found her voice. "W-w-what? I—What? No! Pshhht!" She waved her hand. "No, I'm not Ladybug. What makes you think that?" Alya's eyes shifted over to Tikki and Marinette mentally slapped herself. "Right, well. You see. My uncle from China…there are a lot of weird pets and things in China and—"

"Marinette," Tikki said. It was all she had to be said and Marinette knew the jig was up.

Shoulders slumping, Marinette lowered her head. "Okay," she said. "Okay. You're right. I'm Ladybug."

"I know," Alya repeated.

A wave of relief washed over her. She didn't have to keep up the charade anymore. She no longer had to continue to make strange disappearances, make up strange lies, and excuses that made no sense to anyone but her. No more having to lie to her best friend all the time. But…there was something that didn't make a lot of sense. "How'd you know?"

"It was pretty obvious after a while," Alya said as if she had been waiting to reveal it as well. "You and Ladybug were never in the same room, you didn't seem as enthused to talk about her as much as the rest of us were. But when you did talk about her, you praised her all the time. But then you started to slip up; there were things that y knew that only Ladybug should have known. Or vice-versa. Ladybug was always so eager to help me with my blog. You lied all the time, you were always skipping school, you freaked out whenever I was trying to figure out who Ladybug was, being the first to say it wasn't you. Even when I hadn't asked." Alya crossed her arms. "Eventually I figured it out."

Marinette's mouth dropped open. Had she really been that obvious? She thought she had been really careful with it. "Alya… I'm sorry I lied."

"Don't be," Alya said quickly. "This was something that you had to keep a secret. If anyone figured out who you were, even me, a lot of bad things could happen." She looked at the door behind her. "Like what's happening right now. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know," Marinette admitted. She and Tikki exchanged a glance. "There are more akumas that I've ever fought before. Than Cat Noir or I have ever fought before. But all of Paris and Lyon are being attacked, I don't know if we can stop Hawk Moth this time."

"You can do it Marinette," Tikki reassured her. "We all believe in you."

"She's right," Alya agreed. "If you need help getting out of here, Nino and I can help you." Marinette's eyebrows slammed together and Alya flushed. "Oh, yeah. Right. Nino knows about you, too. He knew just as long as I have. We were talking about Ladybug once and it just came out." Marinette nodded. "So we know that. And we also know…" Alya trailed off, shaking her head.

"Know what?" Marinette pressed.

"It doesn't matter. What matters now is that you need to go and save Paris. Save our home." She reached out and placed her hands on Marinette's shoulders. "You've done it before; I know you can do it again. I have faith in you, Ladybug."

Marinette smiled and hugged Alya before taking a step back and nodding to Tikki, who hovered by her side. "Are you ready?"

"Try and stop us," Tikki replied.

"Tikki, spots on!"


A/N: So what do you guys think?

Cheers,

-Riles