Day 21: Trusting

Runaway: Part 5

Adrien could have kicked himself for not putting two and two together sooner. He blamed it on the summer photoshoot schedule his dad and Nathalie had put together for him. His vacation from school had focused on two things: work and… well, being Chat Noir was work, too, a lot of the time. Any spare moment had been spent at the Cattery with Ladybug, or in related errands: picking up dinner for the two of them, finding a small dorm fridge so she could keep cold drinks, searching out a second-hand camp stove so she could cook a little.

The girl really was miraculous, he thought, remembering when she requested eggs and then managed to bake a delicious dessert for the two of them in her dutch oven, right there on an open flame. Adrien shook his head. Don't get distracted. You're angry, remember?

He paced his room, waiting for the sun to go down. There was hardly any traffic in the warehouse district Ladybug stayed in, but there was even less at night. They needed to talk seriously and he wouldn't be surprised if he put her on the defensive. He was usually content to back down, seeing as how she was the tactician of the two in battle, but this was different. She was going back to her parents. He'd make sure of it.

The moment the sun dropped below the horizon, Chat Noir leapt free of his narrow window and started the long trek across the city. His first clue about Ladybug's identity had come a week ago, when Nathalie had taken a call for him from Marinette's parents, looking for their daughter. Nathalie had spoken to them and later communicated the information to him, but something must have gotten lost in translation. He didn't understand then that they'd been looking for their daughter for weeks, not hours. It wasn't until today, when Alya called in desperation, that he found out Marinette had run away from home. Alya started out calm and collected, but by the end of the call she was a sobbing mess of worry. She hadn't bothered to try him earlier, she said, because he'd been working all summer and no one from school had seen him. It was a last ditch effort. No one could find a trace of Marinette. He could still see Alya's fearful eyes on the phone screen.

"I k-know you two aren't all that close, b-but honestly, you could totally hide someone in your house. At least, Nino thinks so. You aren't hiding her, are you?"

Adrien shook his head no, aghast. "I'd never do that to her parents - or you! I promise I would tell you if I knew where she was, Alya. I'm sorry I don't have a lot of time, but I'll try to help search, too. Keep me updated, okay?" The broken-hearted girl nodded curtly and cut off the call. Adrien had an odd moment of confusion as he pondered why Marinette's disappearance felt so familiar. He sucked in a deep breath as the two halves of his life collided and coincidence became too improbable to ignore. "She's Ladybug," he said out loud to his empty bedroom.

"What?" Plagg looked up from his tray of camembert on the sofa.

"Marinette is Ladybug." Adrien turned to his kwami and swiped both hands down his face with a sigh. Guilt hit hard as he realized the huge lie he had just told Alya.

"The klutz? You've got to be kidding."

"Well, if I want confirmation, I suppose I could try to get a list of all the 16 year olds reported missing in Paris on the exact day she left. I was trying to respect her secret identity."

"So what does it matter? Ladybug asked you for help to run away. It's what she wants. Knowing who she is doesn't change anything."

"Yeah, it does, actually. I wish I'd thought harder about Ladybug having friends and family from the beginning. It… totally makes sense now why she's been holed up in that little room and hardly gone anywhere. Her family - her whole support network is amazing. Now she's only got Chat Noir. It isn't enough. I'm not enough. She needs to go back home."

Plagg harrumphed and muttered something about fragile human emotions.

"Plagg, you haven't seen the change in her. She's still good in a fight, but… it's like all the color's washing out of her. I know what this is. I fought to go to school because of it. She can't take being lonely like this for much longer. And it's not right, what she's doing to her parents." Adrien stared through the floor as he thought hard.

"So what are you gonna do? Drag her bodily from that little room?" Adrien's green eyes grew hard as he looked at his kwami.

"We'll start with talking."

Ladybug started when she glanced at her window and saw Chat Noir sitting on the sill. How long had he been there? The daylight had long since gone and his black costume nearly melted into the night as he watched her with green glowing cat's eyes. "Geez, Chat, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" She brought a hand dramatically to her chest. Ladybug was still wearing the "daywear" Tikki had concocted for her to keep her cool in the un-airconditioned warehouse - it fit like running shorts and a tank top, with enough ease to let her skin breathe, unlike what she now considered her "work suit".

Chat Noir was silent for another moment and she uneasily tried to gauge his expression. Then his face blossomed into a smile and she wondered if she had imagined the serious look in the half-dark. "Sorry about that," he apologized, stepping into the room. "How was your day?"

"Uneventful - after we took down that akuma, of course." Ladybug smiled again, but still got the same weird vibe off of Chat when he was slow to smile back. "What's up with my favorite Kitty?"

Even that comment got no response as he stepped closer, coming into her space until they were nearly nose-to-nose. Ladybug fought the urge to step back.

"Not much. I had a tough phone call with a friend earlier. It reminded me how hard it can be when no one is looking out for you."

Ladybug's expression turned sympathetic. "Is that… what it's like for you?" She shook her head, "Scratch that, pretend I didn't ask. I don't want-"

"-me to reveal my identity. I know, Ladybug. But to answer your question, which is personal, not specific, yes, it was like that for me for a long time. It's not anymore, in part because I have you, and in part because I have really good friends. It makes up for the missing pieces." He held her eyes for a beat, searching them, but Ladybug couldn't take his intense scrutiny. Instead, she dropped into her seat at the table, where her half-finished dinner sat. She faced her plate and picked up her utensils, avoiding his gaze. Chat Noir sighed and took the other seat.

"Ladybug, you don't know anyone else anymore. Can't you tell me who you are?" He'd never pressured her so directly. Chat Noir felt absolutely certain of his knowledge, but he'd feel better if it came from her lips, her own admission.

"No." She didn't even look up, slipping a bite of salad in her mouth.

"No?"

"No, Chat. This situation is temporary. I'm going to be Ladybug until I'm old and gray. In two years, it'll be like this summer never happened. I can re-establish myself in Paris and no one can make me leave. We'll be the same as before." She still refused to look up, taking a sip of water to wash down her bite.

Chat Noir sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. She had no idea how much that hurt, her desire to erase all the moments this summer had brought them. Even when she had no one else in the world, she still couldn't bring herself to trust him. "Good God, you're stubborn. Look, Marinette, I know it's you."

Ladybug choked on her sip of water, face turning red and eyes streaming as her throat made little noises trying to cough it back out. Startled, Chat Noir jumped up and whacked her hard on the back. She finally emitted a cough and drew in a ragged breath, then coughed in earnest, doubling over the edge of her seat. Chat Noir continued to slap her back until she filled her lungs up enough to splutter, "That-doesn't-help!" before leaning over to cough some more. Unsure, he stood over her until the fit finally eased and she leaned back in her chair with an exhausted groan. "Tikki, spots off," she said, clearing her throat roughly. A small red creature tumbled away as she transformed. Chat Noir stared in wonder at the girl before him. Of course it was Marinette. How had he never seen it? The final proof brought it home to him in a way his supposition hadn't. No longer hypothesis, but proven theory.

"Chat Noir, so good to see you!" Tikki enthused, bobbing toward him. "Marinette, you didn't offer him dinner," she chided, looking down at her chosen with a frown.

"I'm good," Chat Noir replied, holding up one hand. "It's great to meet you, Tikki, but we're not done here. Marinette, the friend that called me today is Alya. She's falling apart worrying about you."

Marinette turned wide, stricken eyes up to him. "Alya?" she repeated in a hollow tone. "I never- I just- wait, how do you even know her? Did she contact you through the Ladyblog or something?"

"The answer's a lot more obvious than that. Plagg-"

"No, wait! Please, I don't want to endanger you or your family, Chat."

"It's too late, Marinette. I can't walk away knowing what I know. Plagg, claws off." As a swirl of green light traveled up from his feet to ruffle his hair, Adrien watched Marinette, who had closed her eyes. For a second, he thought she might keep them closed out of stubbornness, but then he saw the silent tears that tracked down her cheeks. She blinked and her beautiful blue bell eyes snapped fully open when she saw his face.

"Adrien? I can't believe this. All this time…"

"Yeah, I know. I was literally under your nose." Marinette barely managed a smile in response. "Marinette, your family's going crazy searching for you. Our whole class is looking. If I weren't busy working for my father this summer, I'd have known a lot sooner. It's ridiculous for you to think you could disappear from your life and then waltz back in two years later like nothing happened. It was ridiculous of me to go along with it. You're hurting people, Marinette. I know that's not Ladybug, and I know that's not you."

Marinette's face fell, her cheeks burning with shame. She rubbed her elbow as she stood before Adrien, trying to squeeze back tears. Oh, Alya… knowing how badly she'd wounded her friend was almost worse than knowing what her parents were going through. Marinette was a tangle of embarrassment and sadness… but relief was mixed in, too. No more pretending, no more bravery as she lay alone in the warm, quiet nights. She met his eyes, nodding assent. "Chat - Adrien, please take me home."