AN: There is one chapter left in "Milady" after this one. The sequel is already written (I finally picked a title a couple days ago: "Mind Games"), and it will start being published on Sunday. The third story in the series is planned out, but a little more standalone, so I won't publish it right away unless I get it completely written in the next 2 weeks (which is unlikely). It will probably be ready by January.

Marinette looked around the room, into the faces of her friends, gauging their reactions to Adrien's announcement. Chloe looked about to faint from shock; Marinette felt a twinge of guilt for having thrown so many shocks at her after the excitement of the night, especially after Chloe had actually called them her "friends." Alya's face combined recognition and surprise, as did Nino's. Marinette supposed that after the events of that night both of them must have at least suspected that she and Adrien were Ladybug and Cat Noir. She could tell by the troubled look in Nino's eyes, however, that he was disturbed by the realization that his best friend's father was actually Hawk Moth – as much as they all disliked how domineering and controlling Adrien's father was, none of them wanted to imagine such evil of him. Master Fu, however, looked horrified by this entire turn of events.

"Your father, Adrien?" he asked, eyes wide. "And he knows who you are? But this is terrible!"

"Believe me," Adrien retorted, "I know." He lifted his shirt to reveal angry yellow bruising along the bottom of his ribcage. "I had the cracked ribs to prove it! He kicked me right where I broke those ribs on a photo shoot a couple years ago." His gaze turned dark. "He knew exactly who I was and how that kick was going to hurt me."

"But, Adrien," Master Fu began gently, "if that is the case, then there is no way for you to keep your miraculous and return home. It is not even a risk of danger; the moment he sees you, he will take your miraculous away!"

"He can try," Adrien grinned, though the grin stopped at his mouth and didn't touch his still-dark eyes. "But after tonight I don't think he'll be too keen on trying that again. Maybe next time I'll actually Cataclysm the house apart… But no, I know. I knew my time as Cat Noir was over the moment I transformed, maybe even the moment my father transformed. But I don't regret it. That's the least I would do to save my Ladybug."

In that moment, when Adrien smiled at her, Marinette felt her heart flutter. Then the import of what he had said hit home. She was going to lose her Cat Noir? After really finding him, finding out who he was? After everything he'd done for her – and not just tonight? After everything she'd done to keep him safe since they fled his father's mansion? Seeing Adrien reaching to take off his ring propelled her forward. Marinette stepped up to stand next to Adrien and took his hand away from the ring, interlacing her fingers with his as she did so.

"No," she said firmly, ignoring the surprise in Adrien's face and staring straight at Master Fu fiercely. Master Fu looked at her in concern, then gave her a patronizing smile. "You can't take Adrien's miraculous away from him. Especially not now. We know who Hawk Moth is, and we can stop him! But we can't train a new Cat Noir right now. And we can't take down Hawk Moth without our Cat Noir." I can't do this without my partner. "Besides, Adrien can't return home now; he knows our identities."

"And whose fault is that?" Master Fu replied testily. "Whose idea was it to reveal everyone to Adrien, knowing that he was compromised? Knowing that his father was Hawk Moth?"

"I would never tell my father!" Adrien interrupted hotly. Marinette squeezed his hand. "And I am not like my father!"

"Can you really say you would not tell him to save your friends' lives?" Master Fu asked calmly, a sad smile on his face. "If he threatened to kill them if you refused to tell? I don't doubt that you would be willing to die for your friends, but are you willing to watch them die when you can save them? If you can do that without breaking, you are a braver man than most – or else more heartless."

Adrien's face fell.

"It's not like there was much choice," Marinette retorted, shifting closer to Adrien and squeezing his hand tightly. "I had to take him somewhere to patch him up, and the dojo was too far. When he woke up he was going to figure out my identity pretty quickly. And Hawk Moth finding out my identity now would be so much worse than the others, since he only really cares about acquiring the ladybug and cat miraculous. What's done is done." I can't lose my partner. Not now.

Master Fu furrowed his brow. "You realize that we are all in much greater danger now, don't you?"

Marinette nodded and took a deep breath. "I know," she said. "But we would be in that danger with or without Adrien – and the danger would be worse if he hadn't done what he did! But I've thought about what to do now, and I think," she looked away from Master Fu, at her other friends, "I think it's time for Alya, Nino, and Chloe to keep their miraculous with them permanently. Who knows when they will need them next, or whether Adrien or I will be able to fetch them!" Marinette was heartened to see her friends smile excitedly at that pronouncement.

When Marinette looked back, Master Fu was nodding thoughtfully. "Very well, Marinette. I can accept your reasoning in this, but you must all be careful not to allow Hawk Moth to get his hands on your miraculous. Even just one more miraculous in his hands would make stopping him that much more difficult."

"Don't worry, Master Fu," Marinette told him. "We'll be careful. Stay together. Watch each other's backs. Keep each other safe."

Adrien looked over at her. "So what am I going to do now? I mean, I can't exactly go home…"

"Hey, don't worry, bro!" Nino grinned. "You can always stay with me!"

Marinette shook her head. "You're his best friend. That's the first place his father would look for him."

"Do you have an extra room, Milady?" Adrien asked her. "I could stay with you."

Marinette blushed deeply, trying not to imagine having Adrien stay at her house for the summer. But that wouldn't work either, and for a lot of reasons, she added. "No, I don't think that's the best idea, either," she finally said aloud.

Adrien nodded in resignation. "Yeah, I guess you're right. And if your parents find out about us, it could easily get back to my father."

Marinette blanched. "If anyone finds out about us… after tonight your father would realize that I'm probably Ladybug," she finally said.

"So I guess we can't tell any more of our friends until Hawk Moth's defeated," Adrien replied, grinning. "No big deal."

Marinette smiled at his bravado. "Instead of Adrien, I think Chloe needs to stay with me. After all the trouble we went to getting her out of Hawk Moth's sight, she can't go home now, either – not until we defeat Hawk Moth and reclaim the butterfly and peacock miraculous."

"Wait, me stay with you?" Chloe's look of confusion transformed into one of shock and outrage. "At that messy, floury bakery!? No, no. Ladybug or not, there is no way I'm staying at your house, Dupain-Cheng! Utterly ridiculous! Why can't I stay with Sabrina?" she asked hopefully.

"Wasn't she the one Volpina-Chameleon used to knock you unconscious?" Alya asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well, there's that," Chloe replied, looking crestfallen.

"Besides, the fact that it's unacceptable to you makes my house the perfect place to hide you!" Marinette giggled. "But I guess it will take a few days before we know whether this plan is brilliant or terrible…"

Adrien chuckled. "This I've got to see! But," he went on soberly, "where does that leave me to stay? Alya's?"

Marinette shook her head. "You can't stay with any of our friends or classmates; your father and Nathalie know all of them. Actually," she looked over at Master Fu, "I think you should stay here. Hawk Moth doesn't know this place yet, and all the miraculous in the box should be more than enough to keep both you and them safe if he ever finds the dojo."

Master Fu shrugged, fingering the various miraculous he was still wearing, and nodded. "I supposed it was going to happen eventually," he said. To Marinette's questioning look he explained, "The holder of the ladybug miraculous has always been the leader among miraculous holders, even at times has acted as a leader over the Order of the Guardians. I had not expected you to take on that responsibility for many years yet, but these are unusual times, and you have all been called on to mature beyond your years and experience tonight. You have grown into this role far more quickly than I could have imagined. Yes, Adrien can and must stay here. But," he added, "I hope you have thought about what needs to happen past tonight, Marinette."

"I'm… working on it," she said nervously. "But we need to defeat Hawk Moth and take his miraculous before the end of the summer. That's when Adrien will have to go back to school, and then his father will be able to find him any day he wants."