Happy birthday to 11JJ11! I hope you like what I've done with your prompt! And thank you to AgresteBug for betaing!

From a far-off rooftop, Chat Noir took a moment to let his gaze rest on Ladybug's small figure. For the first time since he decided to move on from her, he didn't want to go see his partner. Closing his eyes, Chat took in a deep breath to gather his courage, before vaulting to her.

Ladybug jumped in surprise as he landed on the rooftop with a thump.

"Chaton! There you are, I thought you weren't going to show today!" She greeted him, a warm smile on her face.

Looking into her bright face, any thoughts of hiding the truth vanished from Chat's mind. "I have to confess something," he choked out, already having a lump in his throat at the very thought.

"Chat, are you crying?" Ladybug asked, sounding quite alarmed. "Hey, what's wrong? What could you have to confess that has you so upset?"

Chat bit his lip, swiping a hand over his eyes. "I...I don't know how to say this to you."

Ladybug rested a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Chaton. You can tell me anything," Ladybug promised. His eyes caught hers. Seeing the warmth and trust in them almost made Chat want to break down further.

"I know who Hawkmoth is," he blurted out, trying to hold in a sob, tears leaking out from the corners of his eyes.

"What?" Ladybug shot up excitedly. "That's great news! We can finally bring the fight to Hawkmoth and be done with fighting akuma villains forever!" She paused, turning back to Chat who was still crying.

"Oh...you don't think this is great news. W-why isn't knowing who Hawkmoth is a good thing?"

"Because, I know who they are as a civilian," Chat took in deep breaths, trying to calm himself. He was a sorry excuse for a superhero if he couldn't even handle a mature conversation about this with his partner.

"Oh no, I'm sorry," Ladybug said, her voice tinged with genuine regret. "Are you two close in your civilian identities?"

Chat let out a bitter laugh. "You could say that. I...they're the closest thing I have to a father figure."

Ladybug let out a gasp. "Oh, Minou," she sighed, wrapping him in a hug. He knew Ladybug was thinking about how he relied on his father figures after his own father had made a mess of their relationship. He was lucky that he had made amends with his father but things had been rough for a very long time.

"It's going to be okay, you're going to get through this," Ladybug told him soothingly, rubbing circles on his back in an effort to calm him down.

At those words, Chat frantically shook his head. "No! Nothing will ever be alright again."

Ladybug stiffened before releasing her breath slowly. "I...I know this is hard but Chat, you can't think that way!"

"It's my father-in-law. How am I supposed to face my wife knowing I put her father away? She'll hate me forever and then we'll get divorced and she'll take custody of the hamster and I'll have to move away to Australia because all our friends will be on her side–," Ladybug squeezed him tighter, bringing an end to his rambling.

"Mon Minou, as someone who catastrophizes all the time, I promise you nothing of the sort will happen." She stroked his hair slightly, in the one way that had never failed to calm him down before. Ladybug seemed to hesitate before taking a deep breath and pulling away from him.

"So, I take it you haven't told your wife of your suspicions yet?"

"How could I? I had to tell you first, you know that."

Ladybug bit her lip. "I think it's time then."

He'd finally stopped crying and looking up at her puzzled. "Time? Time for what?" Then horror filled his eyes. "Don't tell me we're about to go fight," he bit his tongue, unable to say his father-in-law's name, "him, right now!"

"No, no!" Ladybug rushed to placate him. "No, neither of us is ready for that tonight. We need a plan and if Hawkmoth is that close to you…" She paused to take another deep breath. "I think we need to reveal our identities to each other."

Chat blinked. "Are you sure?" To think there had been a time he would have been ecstatic to finally find out who his Lady was. If only Hawkmoth were anyone else.

"We have to. I mean," she fidgeted with her fingers, her eyes flitting to his and away sheepishly. "You've already told me that you think Hawkmoth is your father-in-law. I think I'm finding out either way."

"But you don't have to reveal yours," Chat protested.

"Of course, I do. I trust you completely, Chaton. So if I know your identity, you get to know my identity," Ladybug declared. Despite the pain Chat was going through, he couldn't help the rush of warmth that filled him at Ladybug's words.

"You're right. We're partners, let's act like it," Chat nodded and Ladybug held up her fist in response.

"We've always said it was you and me against the world," She smiled back at him as he pounded his fist against hers. "Guess it was about time we had to prove it."

Chat prepared to release his transformation but Ladybug grabbed his arm before he could. "Not here!" She hissed. "Let's go to the sewers, no chance of anyone else seeing us there."

Together they used their favourite entrance into the Paris sewers, until they reached the fork in the wall. They ducked to opposite sides instinctively and released their transformations.

"Come out at the count of three?" Ladybug proposed.

Adrien took a deep breath, starting the count as his response. "One."

"Two," Ladybug continued.

"Three," they said together, walking the last few steps so that there would no longer be a wall between them. Then they reeled back in shock.

"Marinette?" Adrien gasped. How had he not known his wife was Ladybug?

"Adrien," Marinette stared at him with wide eyes. Suddenly, a look of horror crossed Marinette's face, making Adrien shrink back. "My Papa is not Hawkmoth!" Marinette cried and Adrien's stomach dropped.

In the shock of finding out Marinette was Ladybug, he'd nearly forgotten that Tom was Hawkmoth. If it had hurt him, it must be destroying Marinette. Tikki and Plagg looked at each other uncertainly but Adrien's focus was on Marinette.

"Marinette," he reached out for her but she threw her hands up as she stepped away from him.

"He can't be Hawkmoth! How would he even have the time to go akumatize people, he's always with my maman!"

Adrien wanted to point out that someone had to be Mayura but Marinette turned her blazing eyes onto him. "What would they even want to wish for? This doesn't make any sense, Adrien!" She poked him in the chest. "What proof do you have?" She demanded.

Adrien simply grabbed Marinette's hands and tugged her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Marinette. I'm so sorry."

She struggled against him for a moment, before she slumped into him. Her angry tension transformed into loud, heartbroken sobs as she cried against his chest. Adrien could only hold Marinette, feeling his own heart breaking once again.

"How do you know?" Marinette whispered, her pleading eyes begging for him to deny it.

Adrien backed them to the wall, so they were sitting down. "You remember how I took the job baking with your parents?" Marinette nodded, he'd wanted to stop modelling for his father and it was supposed to be a temporary job at the bakery until they found out that Adrien had a natural talent for baking.

"Well, for the past few weeks Tom has been disappearing upstairs at the same time akuma attacks have been happening."

"Coincidence," Marinette tried to dismiss.

"But then why would he not let me come in and see what's happening?" Adrien pointed out. They both knew that the Dupain-Chengs didn't hide anything from Adrien.

"Maybe he's planning a surprise for you?" Marinette tried weakly.

"It's not my birthday," Adrien sighed. "And…I saw him with a butterfly. A pure white butterfly, he was speaking to it. My Lady, I've seen you say goodbye to those butterflies enough to know what they look like."

"It's Papa! He speaks to the squirrels, pigeons and rats as well! That's all circumstantial evidence, that doesn't prove he's Hawkmoth!" Marinette protested.

"It's suspicious but it isn't proof, I've been telling the kid that for days," Plagg added his input, Tikki immediately hushing him to prevent him from speaking further.

"I know, I know there's no proof but that's enough evidence to make him a prime suspect."

"Then we'll just have to make sure he's innocent!" Marinette declared. Adrien gave her a sad look, making her deflate. "I promise I won't let my emotions cloud my judgment. I may hope for innocence but I know my duty."

Adrien gave Marinette another hug in an effort to comfort her, while Tikki snuggled to Marinette's cheek trying to do the same. "So, what's the plan?"

"We'll stake the place out. The bakery isn't that big, we'll find either an explanation for what you've seen or…proof you're right," Marinette decided.

"Whatever happens we'll get through it," Adrien asked quietly, his throat feeling dry. Marinette didn't look at him, her eyes resolutely on the ground but she gave him a tiny nod. Without saying another word, Marinette called for her transformation and swung out.

"Adrien?" Plagg worried but Adrien shook off his kwami's concern.

"Marinette is very close to Tom. This must be hurting her a lot more than it hurt me," Adrien sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Come on, let's go home, Plagg." Adrien called his own transformation, knowing he was in for a night of seeing his wife miserably cry herself to sleep.

"Hi, Maman! Hi, Papa!" Adrien watched Marinette greet her parents.

"Marinette!" Sabine gasped in delight, as she hurried from behind the counter to go hug her daughter. "Adrien, why didn't you tell us Marinette was coming to visit?"

"She wasn't sure she'd be able to get time off, so she told me not to get your hopes up," Adrien lied smoothly.

"Well, you're here now!" Tom beamed, making the queasy feeling in Adrien's stomach grow further. "How about joining us in the kitchen?"

"Oh, do join them, Marinette. Tom's been wanting to bake with you for ages now," Sabine agreed.

Marinette laughed and nodded at her father. "Let's find me an apron!" She agreed readily, giving Adrien a covert glance. He knew she was agreeing to bake so that Adrien would have time to snoop and look for evidence.

He blinked at her to reassure Marinette that he remembered the plan.

"What are we baking, Papa?"

"How about some macarons? Those were always your favourite to make," Tom suggested, leading Marinette away into the kitchen. Beside him, Sabine gave a soft, contented sigh.

"It's nice that they're still so close," she hummed happily. "I'm really glad Marinette was able to get some time off today."

Adrien threw his mother-in-law a puzzled glance. "Why? Is there something special about today?"

She slowly blinked back at him and Adrien could almost see the gears whirring in her mind. "No!" Sabine exclaimed. "Take care of the counter for me, would you dear? I just need to check something upstairs," Sabine pushed him behind the counter.

Adrien wanted to protest, he had to go upstairs himself and look for clues! But before he could say a word, Sabine rushed away.

"Marinette's going to kill me for not sticking to the plan," Adrien grumbled to Plagg.

"What's the rush? Marinette obviously doesn't want to fight her father and this way she gets more time to avoid doing it! Plus I get to keep having his delicious cheese Danishes. I say it's a win-win!" Plagg declared.

Adrien rolled his eyes at his kwami, nudging at him to go hide when he noticed a customer wander into the bakery.

"Hello, Madame! How may I help you?" Adrien asked, giving the woman his best customer service smile.

She smiled back. "Is my daughter's birthday cake ready?"

Adrien paused, looking at the order list. "Which one was that?"

The woman laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't even tell you my name. I have an order under Roussel." She waited patiently for Adrien to find her name.

"There it is!" He exclaimed. "Let me just go and check." Before Adrien could head into the kitchen, Tom came out.

"Just need to grab some flour," he said offhandedly, his eyes falling on Madame Roussel. "Oh, Madame! I have your cake ready! Adrien, could you get me a box?"

Adrien nodded, running to get the large cake boxes while Tom took the cake out of the kitchen. At the sight of the cake, Adrien stopped dead in his tracks.

"Butterflies?" He whispered in confusion.

The woman flushed. "I know they have a striking resemblance to the akuma butterflies, but my daughter is four years old and she insisted," she shrugged, a little helplessly.

"I've had to hide this cake away to not scare away the other customers," Tom admitted to Adrien once Madame Roussel had paid and left the shop. "I would have said no to the cake, but I couldn't break a little girl's heart."

Adrien nodded absentmindedly to acknowledge Tom's point. Tom thumped Adrien on the back in approval, heading back to Marinette with his flour.

"Plagg, did I misunderstand everything?" Adrien felt faint, with disbelief or relief, he wasn't quite sure.

The kwami stuck his head out of the pocket on Adrien's apron. "Who knows," he yawned. "Have any cheese for me?" Adrien gave Plagg an unimpressed look but tore off a bit of cheese Danish for him anyways.

While he was still trying to comprehend the fact that the butterflies he had seen had just been icing butterflies, Sabine had come back down.

"Is everything okay?" He checked with her, a little worried about her. She had disappeared at an astonishing speed.

Sabine waved away his worries. "Are we done with today's pick-ups?" Adrien checked the order book, giving Sabine a thumbs up to confirm they were finished for the day. She smiled at him and walked over to the door, flipping the sign to 'closed'.

"We're closing now? Why so early?" Adrien frowned at her.

Sabine ignored him, dragging him upstairs with her.

"Sabine, what's going on? I'm sure we can talk about this," Adrien tried to say, unable to resist against his mother-in-law's strength. They burst through the door and Adrien's jaw dropped.

"Surprise!" Tom cheered while Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. There were balloons and streamers everywhere with a giant 'Congratulations' banner hung up.

"What's going on?" Adrien breathed out.

Marinette and Sabine turned towards Tom, who grabbed Adrien into a gigantic bear hug. "You're being promoted!" He boomed.

"Promoted?" Adrien parroted.

"You're a full baker now!" Sabine gushed. "You don't have to come to us and check in anymore. We trust you to do all your baking yourself!" She explained.

Feeling overwhelmed, Adrien turned towards Marinette. "Did you know about this?" He demanded to know.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Of course not. It's just as much a surprise to me as it is to you." They watched as Tom wheeled out a sizable cake.

"It's a vanilla cake with passion fruit flavoured frosting," Sabine said proudly.

Tom rubbed the back of his neck "Sorry, for disappearing on you so often. We've been experimenting to make sure the cake tastes right."

"My favourites," Adrien said in awe. How had he gotten things so wrong? Marinette was giving him a rather smug look but he couldn't begrudge her at all.

Adrien rushed to give Tom and Sabine another hug, silently apologizing to them for letting his imagination get the best of him and getting things so wrong. Then he grabbed Marinette into a hug, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

"Silly Kitty," she laughed. "I'm so proud of you," Marinette whispered.

"I'm really sorry for all this, Bugaboo."

"We'll talk later," Marinette promised before she released him. "That looks delicious, Papa," she complimented her father who beamed at her with pride.

"It's been made Tom-style! Of course, it's great! Boo-yah!" He dabbed making Marinette burst into laughter.

Sabine had Adrien slice the cake while Marinette and Tom talked. They played several rounds of UMS as they talked and ate cake. Adrien had never been happier.

Marinette and Adrien stumbled into their apartment, tripping over themselves in their laughter mingled with their relief. Meanwhile, Tikki and Plagg zipped away to go to bed, exhausted from gorging themselves on pastries.

"I can't believe them throwing you a surprise party had you worrying my Papa was Hawkmoth," Marinette gasped for breath.

"I thought the evidence was very compelling," Adrien tried to get out, amidst a fit of giggles. They both collapsed onto the couch, holding onto each other as they tried their best to calm down.

Eventually, they did manage to calm down, realizing it was time they had a serious conversation.

"I'm sorry I jumped to conclusions," Adrien apologized once again, feeling guilty for how much he had caused Marinette to cry.

His lovely wife shook her head. "It's fine, Chaton. I'm glad you brought your worries to me, that's how we know we can trust each other." Marinette paused giving him a once over and then shaking her head. "I can't believe that you're Chat Noir, let's talk about that instead."

"How do you think I feel? We married each other and didn't realize we were partners," Adrien shook his head in disbelief. He looked at her and sighed. "Of course, I'd fall for you twice."

Marinette flushed a very pretty pink, making Adrien smirk in victory. "You fell for me twice too," Adrien continued cheerfully, making Marinette frown at him.

"How do you know that?" She challenged him.

"Well, first as Chat Noir and then again as Adrien?" He raised his eyebrows at her. Marinette frowned and he could pinpoint the exact moment the memory came back to her. Her blush turned a deep red, as she sputtered unintelligible noises at him.

Marinette took a deep breath, her hands going to her face in defeat. "I did fall for you twice, but not then. I may have lied to protect my secret identity."

Adrien wagged a finger at her. "I want to say I'm surprised but that makes a lot of sense. Wait, we know each other's identities. Is that okay?"

"It's fine. Honestly, we should've revealed identities ages ago. I was just too afraid and worried things would change too much," Marinette affirmed.

"I'm glad," he smiled at her before laughing again. "How did I not notice the box of kwamis?"

"You know my sewing kit? The one that I told you to never touch unless you wanted to make me cry for months on end?" Marinette asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"No!" Adrien gasped, sitting up. "In there?" She nodded proudly. "No way," Adrien muttered in awe. "Were we just blind?"

Marinette could only shrug at him in response. Snatches of memory were coming back to Adrien. "Hold on, Ladybug said she married the other boy. You're telling me I was the other boy all along?"

Marinette snickered at him as she confirmed it. Adrien groaned. "I'm not sure if I'm happy or exasperated about that," he complained.

"I'm happy it's you, I can't imagine it having been anyone else," Marinette told him, resting her head on his shoulder.

He wrapped her in a hug, cuddling into her. "Me too, Bug. Me too."

They stayed there, enveloped in each other's warmth all night.

About a week later, they'd decided to meet up for patrol on the same rooftop after work, so they could go home and relax together.

He landed on the rooftop to see Ladybug sitting on the edge of the roof. The sight of her made him smile and he moved to sit down next to her.

"Hey, Bugaboo. You ready?" He smiled at her but his smile disappeared when he looked into her face. She looked terrified, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. He let himself observe her body language for a moment, she was gripping tightly onto the edge of the roof and she was shivering.

"Ladybug? What's wrong?" Chat Noir was starting to feel very worried.

"Chaton…Adrien," Ladybug gasped and Chat stiffened. It had been one of her rules to never use civilian identities in the suit, so for her to break her own rule...things must be very wrong.

"Ladybug, you're scaring me."

"Mon Minou, I have bad news," Ladybug cried, her hands coming up to cover her face.

"What is it? We can get through anything together, just tell me what's going on," Chat rested a hand on her knee, his other hand grabbing hers in an effort to reassure her and give her the support she needed, but Ladybug shook her head furiously.

"I think I know who Hawkmoth is," she was sobbing now, looking at him fearfully.

"Who is it?" His voice felt detached, even to him, as he waited for the other shoe to drop. If Ladybug had suspicions about someone, the chances of her being right were exceptionally high.

Ladybug bit her lip before taking in a deep breath. After a long moment, she finally said the name.

"Gabriel Agreste," and Chat Noir's world exploded.