Being a physics teacher, Adrien was used to solving problems. Yet, finding a competent assistant for Marinette fast enough was proving to be more difficult than he'd ever thought possible.
Sure, there were hundreds of applications and resumes stored in Gabriel's database but none of the qualified people contacted in the last two days had agreed to come for an interview. Most had already had a job. Others, though jobless, were not willing to give a seemingly doomed company a chance.
Adrien shouldn't despair though… or at least, that what his HR manager had said as he left for the day. Surely, tomorrow they would find a person crazy enough to jump on board. They might need a little training and time to work on their skills but at least they would be there. Right?
Adrien sighed, leaning into his chair. No. Marinette needed a professional, not a student to teach right now. At any other time, that might have worked but not this close to the show that bore her professional future on its metaphorical shoulders.
Adrien glanced at the clock. Half an hour until nine. A smile found its way on his face, his mouth salivating from just the memory. Yesterday's meal was the best he'd had in a long time. Marinette was an amazing cook. Adrien knew his cuisine. He could recognize quality when he tasted it.
"Time to go." Adrien stretched, standing up. "Ready, guys?"
"What's the rush?" Plagg yawned, lazily flying out of his basket. "You need five minutes to get there, tops."
"We need to drop by a store and my apartment first."
"What for?" the kwami grumbled. "Didn't you run enough today?"
"I thought it'd be polite for us to bring a dessert," Adrien replied. "And Duusu needs more grapes."
"Yippie!" The peacock kwami flew out from one of the shelves, doing a flip in midair. "Can I get the sweet green kind with a little pinkish tint on them?"
"They are called Cotton Candy, Duusu," Nooroo said, getting out of his pile of fabric. "And they're not in season now. You know that."
"But what if they are?"
"They are not."
"But what if they are?"
"Duusu—"
"If they're in stock, I'll make sure to buy you enough for a week," Adrien interrupted, putting on his jacket. "Otherwise, I'll stock on a variety for you to try. Sounds good?"
"Yes!" Duusu squealed. "Thank you! You're the best Master ever!"
"Nooroo, you can take some of those cuts before we leave. I noticed you like them."
Nooroo's eyes lit up. "You're so generous, Master! Thank you!" He dove into the pile to gather as many pieces of silk as he could.
Plagg huffed, rolling his eyes. "Nuisances. Did we really have to take them with us? They would've been perfectly fine staying home. Better yet dormant back in their miraculouses."
"They've been isolated for long enough," Adrien replied. "I think they deserve some freedom for once."
"Not at the expense of my peace," Plagg grumbled.
Adrien reached over and scratched his kwami under the chin, evoking an involuntary purr from him. "You'll benefit from being around other kwamis, Plagg. Maybe then you'll become less grumpy."
"Being grumpy is not art just anyone can muster," Plagg mumbled under his breath, flying into Adrien's bag. Duusu and Nooroo, with his pile of silk cuts, joined him a moment later. Adrien turned the light off and walked out of the office. After a quick visit to a nearby grocery store, he transformed around the corner and headed home to drop off Nooroo and Duusu. Appeasing the kwamis with food and Netflix, Adrien changed into his loungewear so he'd be able to just plop into a bed right after Marinette's, then headed off to collect his rent fee.
At exactly nine o'clock, Chat Noir knocked on her window.
"Good evening, Chat," she greeted with a smile.
Chat grinned and inhaled, stepping into the room. Delicious. His mouth watered. "What's for dinner?"
"Quiche Lorraine."
"Sounds yummy. Smells heavenly."
She giggled. "It is yummy. Go wash your paws while I set the table."
Chat obeyed, though it was awkward at best to wash his gloved hands, but he supposed it was justified, seeing as he touched all kinds of surfaces on his way here. As he settled down in front of a steaming slice of quiche, Chat could hardly contain his excitement. This genius rent fee was his best idea ever. Period. "Itadakimasu."
Marinette snickered, putting a slice of quiche on her plate. "Careful, Chat. Your weeb's showing."
He grinned. "But it's you. You know all my flaws already. I don't have to pretend."
She cocked her head to the side. "I thought you would have overgrown that stage by now."
Chat gasped dramatically. "You can never outgrow the wonder that is anime! It's not a phase. It's a part of me! How could you imply so, Princess?"
Marinette laughed. "Alright, alright. Eat before you choke on your drool."
"Don't mind if I do." Chat grinned before stuffing his mouth full of what he immediately judged to be the food of angels. "This is good. Very good. I could live off this my whole life."
Marinette started on her own meal. "I learned my quiches from Papa. He's the real deal when it comes to those. Mine aren't up to his standard yet."
"Says who? I remember your dad's pies. They were delicious, but they weren't better. In fact, in addition to being delicious, this quiche is also somehow different. There is something distinctly yours about it. So don't you go selling yourself short."
"You think so?"
He nodded. "You could make a fortune selling these. Marinette the Quiche Queen. I can see it now."
Marinette laughed. "Dork. Don't talk with your mouth full."
"Then tell me how your day was while I indulge myself in this heavenly food."
Marinette frowned, shifting her eyes to the side immediately.
"That bad?"
She nodded. "Since my assistant quit, I have to do twice the work now. And I was already struggling to keep up with my own portion. That's why I'd stay overtime to finish whatever I couldn't during the day, but now I can't do even that so I'm falling behind already, and it's only the first day."
"Because of me and my rent fee?"
She shook her head. "Even if I didn't have to cook for you, today my new boss enforced a curfew for us to leave the premises at the end of each working day. I have to be out of the building by eight or risk being sent on a mandatory day off the next day. And if that happens, I'll fall even further behind which means Gabriel's women's line won't make it to Paris' Fashion Week at the end of summer."
"It's good for your health and sanity, though, no? To get enough rest."
"Not if I spend all of my 'rest' time worrying sick over not finishing my collection on time and losing my job, possibly my career, as a result," Marinette grumbled. "Stupid curfew. Stupid Adrien. It's like he doesn't care in the slightest. Then, why should he care? Gabriel's men's line is on time and looks good. Adrien has nothing to worry about. It's not like his whole future career hangs on that damned line."
"I'm sure he realizes how important this is for you," Chat said carefully. "Maybe he's just trying to prevent you from killing yourself by introducing this curfew? Overworking and exhaustion can kill you, you know."
"Then he could've just hired a new assistant for me instead," Marinette murmured. "It would've been more effective."
"And I'm sure he's realizing that too and I won't be surprised if he's trying to find you one as fast as he can."
Marinette fell silent as they continued to eat. When her plate was clean, she quietly added. "Sorry for being a downer. It's just that… my whole career, my entire future is tied to that stupid line and this upcoming Paris Fashion Week. It will either make me or break me and after how much I've invested in this already… I'm not sure if I can handle the failure."
Chat reached out, putting his hand over Marinette's. "If I can help in any way, just tell me."
She lifted her eyes full of tears to him, a sad smile on her lips. "You're already helping, Chat. You gave me a roof over my head and a bed to sleep in. And honestly, this ridiculous rent fee of yours is kind of a godsend. I always enjoyed cooking. It helps me relax after a stressful day and knowing I have a friend to share my dinner with gives me the strength to hang on. So, thank you."
"No need to thank me." Chat shoved the last piece of his quiche in his mouth. "It's not like I am not the one benefiting from this arrangement the most. Can I have one more slice, please?"
Marinette giggled, ruffling his hair. "Sure. And I'll pack you some to take home."
He closed his eyes in delight. "Thank you. Now I don't have to admit I was already thinking of ways to beg you for thirds. This is undoubtedly the best meal I've had in the past few years."
"Speaking of meals," Marinette perked. "There is one good thing Adrien did with all the changes he'd implemented today."
Chat quirked an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it?"
"Well, I have no idea why since Gabriel is a huge company but his father never had a cafeteria on site. We had to either go out for lunch or bring our own, and with all the stress and rush, I did tend to forget my meals until I was starving. But then with all the work on my plate, I wouldn't have time to go out, so I'd settle for a snack from a vending machine. But today, Adrien announced that starting tomorrow, we'll have our own cafeteria with freshly cooked meals on-site. The best part—the company pays. All employees get food for free."
"Wow," Chat tried to look surprised. "Isn't Gabriel in trouble? How can he afford that?"
"I have no idea," Marinette replied. "But I'm not complaining. It'll be nice to eat normal meals again."
Chat Noir smirked. Money wasn't an issue. Having a cafeteria on-site didn't cost as much as everyone thought, and his father had left behind a far bigger fortune than anyone had realized. It was only fair that some of it would go into replenishing the health of employees who'd sacrificed their wellbeing catering to his father's every whim.
But!
Marinette thought he had a good idea! Huh! What happened to that annoyed and grumpy Marinette that glared at him at this morning's meeting when he gathered his lead employees and announced new implementations?
"Seems like this new boss of yours isn't so awful after all. Those new rules don't sound too bad."
"Free food—yes, not bad at all. Curfews—no. Burn them with fire."
Chat cocked his head to the side. "I suspect there is a reason you're huffy about the curfew. Don't tell me you were planning to sneak back in to work after feeding me?"
Marinette stilled for a brief moment, then cleared her throat. "That's ridiculous. Why would you think such a thing? Are you done with that?" She pointed to his plate, standing up.
"Marinette, no," Chat sighed, now reassured he'd made the right decision with that curfew. It seemed ridiculous to enforce it in the first place since all but Marinette left work at a decent hour, but it was the only way Adrien could think of forcing Marinette to go home and rest. "Please, promise me you won't do that. You have all day for work. At night, you need to rest. You already collapsed once. Let's not repeat that."
"Don't worry, Chat. I wouldn't sneak back in." Marinette shrugged. "I can't afford to get caught and be sent home for a day. Not this close to my goal, but—" she smirked, "—a curfew doesn't mean I can't take work home, right?"
"I guess it doesn't." Chat sighed, standing up. "I'd better get going then. We wouldn't want you to spend all your evening entertaining me and then lose sleep working."
"You know if not for work, I'd totally kick your ass in a video game now."
"Well, then let's hope your boss will find you an assistant soon, so you'll have free time to do that."
"Let's do that."
Marinette packed him half of the leftover quiche and half of the macarons he'd brought her, both of them agreeing that they were too full after the main meal to have dessert right away. Then, she promised him not to stay up too late, and with that Chat Noir departed. He did have a patrol to get to.
Chat stopped at a nearby roof, wondering if he should even bother with patrolling. Hawkmoth was gone. So was Mayura. Whatever small crime was going on, the police could handle it. Paris didn't need Ladybug and Chat Noir anymore. They didn't have to patrol. They could go back to a somewhat normal life. Take those masks off. Maybe, finally, start a relationship. They could be free.
He only wished he could tell that to Ladybug.
But…
That sort of revelation would entail a conversation Adrien wasn't sure he was ready for yet. He would eventually… if only because Nooroo and Duusu needed to go back to the Guardian. But not now. Not yet. He needed time to wrap his mind around it all himself first before opening up to someone else. It pained him to keep a secret from his Lady. He wasn't sure he'd be able to look her in the eye next time they met, but what could he do? How would he explain? Would she understand the shame and anger and confusion that was consuming him?
His baton beeped.
Ladybug: I hope you're enjoying the weather, Chaton, and I'm sorry to ask, but would it be okay for me to miss a few more days? Work's gotten harder for me to manage.
Chat Noir: Of course, my Lady. Take all the time you need.
Ladybug: I really am sorry. Message me if something happens.
Chat Noir: Not a problem. Good luck with your work! Hope it goes well.
Ladybug: Thanks. I'll see you in a few days. 3
Chat Noir: 3
That settled it. Patrol abandoned, Chat Noir headed straight home. Once back at his apartment, he detransformed and plopped on his bed.
"Are you alright, Master?" Nooroo asked, floating closer.
"He's fine," Plagg grumbled from nearby. "It's his normal state of brooding."
"Are you sure?" Duusu frowned from his place in front of Adrien's laptop. "My wielders—"
"Your miraculous was broken at the time, Duusu, wasn't it?" Plagg rolled his eyes. "I know my kitten, and I'm telling you he's fine."
"I am fine," Adrien decided to end the argument before it started. "Just tired. Lots of work. Lots of things I have to think about."
Once again trying to concede his own father was Hawkmoth, Adrien's mind raced to the events of the past. Little details. Tiny hints. Bigger slip-ups. How could he never have suspected anything? Even Ladybug figured him out that one time until…
"Say, Nooroo?" Adrien turned over and propped himself up to lean on his elbows. "If my father was Hawkmoth, how could he be akumatized? The Collector?"
"It can be done," Nooroo nodded. "The butterfly wielder's power is to give supernatural abilities to anyone, including themselves."
"As long as there are strong negative emotions, right? That's what we gathered over the years."
Nooroo shook his head. "Not necessarily. Your father searched for people who were upset and angry because they were easier to manipulate. But when he akumatized himself or Mme Nathalie, for example, neither of them had strong negative emotions, just a goal in mind."
"Wait!" Adrien sat up. "Nathalie? Are you saying Nathalie knew and was helping him?"
Nooroo lowered his eyes, glancing at Duusu, who promptly bowed his head.
Gears clicking in his head, Adrien stared in shock at the peacock kwami. His eyes bulged. "Mayura… Nathalie was Mayura, wasn't she?"
Neither kwami spoke. Neither looked at Adrien.
Silence enveloped the room, no one daring to move or say anything until a quiet why slipped Adrien's lips.
"We don't have a choice but to follow the orders of our masters," Nooroo mumbled.
Adrien shook his head. "I know that. I don't blame you. I just… I don't understand. Why would Father want to terrorize the city in his spare time? Why would Nathalie… She was… Why would she help him? Why would she know and do nothing about it? I just can't…"
"For your mother," Duusu spoke, flying closer. "Your mother was her best friend and your father had a special place in her heart. Everything she did was for them."
"My mom?" Adrien frowned. "What does Mom have to do with all of this? She disappeared when I was fourteen…" His eyes widened as he sucked in the air. "A few months before Hawkmoth first attacked." Looking straight at the butterfly and peacock kwami, he pressed his lips together. "What am I missing? Tell me everything."
Nooroo glanced at Duusu before murmuring, "I don't think that's—"
Adrien stood up, a tight, uncomfortable feeling gripping at his chest. "This is my family we're talking about, my father and his assistant who terrorized this city and tried to kill me for years, supposedly for my mother. Don't you think I have the right to know?"
"Spill it, guys," Plagg said, flying to sit on Adrien's shoulder. "I'm rather interested myself."
Duusu lowered his head even further as Nooroo sighed and gave in, disclosing to Adrien the story of a young Gabriel and Emilie, two adventurers in love who found Duusu and him buried under the snow on a random Tibetan mountain on one of their expeditions. They brought them back to Paris, Gabriel choosing Nooroo as Emilie favoured Duusu. Only the peacock miraculous was broken and an unfortunate accident soon after left Emilie in a magical coma.
"She didn't disappear?" Adrien whispered, his head feeling dizzier and dizzier with every word that left Nooroo's mouth.
The kwami shook his head. "Your father put her on life support and hid her in the basement under your house."
Adrien's eyes widened. "No. That can't be."
"He hoped that by obtaining Ladybug and Chat Noir's miraculouses he'd be able to bring her back to life."
"Why didn't he take her to a hospital? They could've saved her."
"A coma caused by magic cannot be resolved by human medicine," Nooroo sighed.
"No." Adrien backed away, shaking his head. "This can't be right. You're mistaken. My mom disappeared when I was fourteen. They pronounced her legally dead a few years ago. We even had a funeral! I attended that funeral! Don't tell me she's still in a coma in the basement of my father's house!"
"She's not," Nooroo replied. "There was a really bad rainy season a few weeks before that funeral. The basement flooded. The system that kept her alive was damaged. The back-up sustained substantial water damage as well and couldn't kick in when her life support failed. Every minute counted, and your father and Nathalie were both out of the house that day. When they got back, it was already too late."
Nooroo paused for a moment, letting his words settle in before adding, "Your mother's coffin at her funeral wasn't closed because it was empty. It was because your father had no way of explaining how after years of claiming his wife was missing, he suddenly had her body, looking just as young as the day she'd disappeared. I'm sorry, Adrien."
Stunned, Adrien continued to shake his head, his feet and hands going cold. A chill ran down his spine, skin tingling with discomfort as he struggled to breathe. "No. You're lying."
"Kwamis can't lie," Duusu whispered. "We can avoid saying things but we can't lie."
"No," Adrien kept repeating. "This… this can't be true."
"That's why Hawkmoth vanished around that same time," Nooroo said. "Your father had no one to save anymore."
"No!" Adrien swore under his breath, turning away. This was too much. His mom had still been alive all those years. In a coma but still alive. His father fought them all that time to save her? Was it even possible? Ladybug explained the whole "ultimate wish" to him once, and if Adrien remembered correctly it was more of an 'equal exchange' deal than a wish. Was his father aware? He must have been. He had that book on miraculouses. Was he then ready to sacrifice another life for Mom? Someone just as dear to him?
Nathalie?
Or him?
His head spun, stomach violently churning. He leaned against the wall. Neither of those choices made it right. Mom would've never wanted that. She'd hate him for doing so. Heck! She'd snatch those miraculouses off him and reverse the wish! Adrien could see it even now. Fierce, always ready to defend justice, and immeasurably kind. His mother was his role model. And as much as Adrien would love to see her again, he knew she'd never let someone else die for her sake. Father should've known it as well. How could he claim to have loved her if he was ready to violate something so fundamental to her beliefs? And at a price she'd never agreed to pay?
"Adrien?" Plagg appeared in front of his face, looking rather distressed himself.
Adrien raised his watering eyes to his kwami. "He was a monster," he whispered. "He was insane. I need… I need to go. Plagg, claws out!
A bright flash of green and Chat Noir sprinted across Paris, not bothering to choose a direction. He just ran. Ran until he collapsed from exhaustion on a random roof, unable to contain his tears anymore.